75 FR 14103 - Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Resource and Demand Balancing

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-24

... current regional Reliability Standard was developed and used under a manual interchange transaction...] Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Resource and Demand Balancing March 18, 2010. AGENCY... section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Commission proposes to remand a revised regional Reliability...

A standard for test reliability in group research.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Jules L

2013-03-01

Many authors adhere to the rule that test reliabilities should be at least .70 or .80 in group research. This article introduces a new standard according to which reliabilities can be evaluated. This standard is based on the costs or time of the experiment and of administering the test. For example, if test administration costs are 7 % of the total experimental costs, the efficient value of the reliability is .93. If the actual reliability of a test is equal to this efficient reliability, the test size maximizes the statistical power of the experiment, given the costs. As a standard in experimental research, it is proposed that the reliability of the dependent variable be close to the efficient reliability. Adhering to this standard will enhance the statistical power and reduce the costs of experiments.

76 FR 16277 - System Restoration Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-23

... electric system. Blackstart units are essential to restart generation and restore power to the grid in the... Standard EOP-007-0. \\2\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, 72 FR... = $5,894,624. Title: Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System. Action: FERC 725A...

76 FR 66057 - North American Electric Reliability Corporation; Order Approving Regional Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-25

... Reliability Standard that is necessitated by a physical difference in the Bulk-Power System.\\7\\ \\7\\ Order No... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242, order on reh'g... electric system event analyses and thereby improve system reliability by promoting improved system design...

76 FR 58101 - Electric Reliability Organization Interpretation of Transmission Operations Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-20

....C. Cir. 2009). \\4\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC... for maintaining real and reactive power balance. \\14\\ Electric Reliability Organization Interpretation...; Order No. 753] Electric Reliability Organization Interpretation of Transmission Operations Reliability...

78 FR 44475 - Protection System Maintenance Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-24

... that the performance or product has some reliability-related value, then the requirement will have...] Protection System Maintenance Reliability Standard AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy... Commission proposes to approve a revised Reliability Standard, PRC-005- 2--Protection System Maintenance, to...

76 FR 42534 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits; System...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-19

... Reliability Operating Limits; System Restoration Reliability Standards AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory... data necessary to analyze and monitor Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits (IROL) within its... Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits, Order No. 748, 134 FERC ] 61,213 (2011). \\2\\ The term ``Wide-Area...

76 FR 16240 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-23

... identified by the Commission. \\5\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693... reliability of the interconnection by ensuring that the bulk electric system is assessed during the operations... responsibility for SOLs. Further, Bulk-Power System reliability practices assign responsibilities for analyzing...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roy Jean-Sébastien

2011-01-01

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

75 FR 14386 - Interpretation of Transmission Planning Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-25

...] Interpretation of Transmission Planning Reliability Standard March 18, 2010. AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory... transmission planning Reliability Standard TPL-002-0 provides that planning authorities and transmission... Reliability Standard TPL-002-0. In this order, the Commission proposes to reject NERC's proposed...

18 CFR 39.7 - Enforcement of Reliability Standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... audits of compliance with Reliability Standards by users, owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System... resolved by an admission that the user, owner or operator of the Bulk-Power System violated a Reliability...-Power System for a violation of a Reliability Standard approved by the Commission if, after notice and...

Standardizing the practice of human reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallbert, B.P.

1993-01-01

The practice of human reliability analysis (HRA) within the nuclear industry varies greatly in terms of posited mechanisms that shape human performance, methods of characterizing and analytically modeling human behavior, and the techniques that are employed to estimate the frequency with which human error occurs. This variation has been a source of contention among HRA practitioners regarding the validity of results obtained from different HRA methods. It has also resulted in attempts to develop standard methods and procedures for conducting HRAs. For many of the same reasons, the practice of HRA has not been standardized or has been standardized only to the extent that individual analysts have developed heuristics and consistent approaches in their practice of HRA. From the standpoint of consumers and regulators, this has resulted in a lack of clear acceptance criteria for the assumptions, modeling, and quantification of human errors in probabilistic risk assessments

78 FR 76986 - Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-20

...; Order No. 791] Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards AGENCY: Federal Energy... 72755). The regulations approved certain reliability standards proposed by the North American Electric... Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards, 145 FERC ] 61,160 (2013). This errata notice serves to correct P...

Reliability programs for nuclear power plants. Regulatory standard S-98 revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-07-01

The purpose of this regulatory standard is to help assure, in accordance with the purpose of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA), that a licensee who constructs or operates a nuclear power plant (NPP) develops and implements a reliability program that assures that the systems important to safety at the plant can and will meet their defined design and performance specifications at acceptable levels of reliability throughout the lifetime of the facility. This regulatory standard describes the requirements of a reliability program for a nuclear power plant. The licensee shall implement the requirements described in this regulatory standard when a condition of a licence or other legally enforceable instrument so requires.(author)

78 FR 27113 - Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-09

... approve certain reliability standards proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation... Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards, 143 FERC ] 61,055 (2013). This errata notice serves to correct P... Commission 18 CFR Part 40 [Docket No. RM13-5-000] Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability...

75 FR 71625 - System Restoration Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-24

... to start operating and delivering electric power without assistance from the electric system... and system restoration and reporting following disturbances. \\3\\ North American Electric Reliability... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System and determined that the proposed requirements are necessary to...

75 FR 35689 - System Personnel Training Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-23

... planning staff at control areas and reliability coordinators concerning power system characteristics and... Coordination--Staffing). \\11\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, Federal... American bulk electric system are competent to perform those reliability-related tasks.\\22\\ The proposed...

76 FR 23470 - Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Transmission Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-27

...; Order No. 752] Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Transmission Operations AGENCY: Federal... Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves regional Reliability Standard TOP-007-WECC... purpose of this regional Reliability Standard is to ensure that actual flows and associated scheduled...

78 FR 45447 - Revisions to Modeling, Data, and Analysis Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-29

...; Order No. 782] Revisions to Modeling, Data, and Analysis Reliability Standard AGENCY: Federal Energy... Analysis (MOD) Reliability Standard MOD- 028-2, submitted to the Commission for approval by the North... Organization. The Commission finds that the proposed Reliability Standard represents an improvement over the...

75 FR 72664 - System Personnel Training Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-26

...--Staffing). \\2\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, 72 FR 16416 (Apr... on the North American bulk electric system are competent to perform those reliability-related tasks... PER-004-2 will achieve a significant improvement in the reliability of the Bulk- Power System and...

Standard Hardware Acquisition and Reliability Program's (SHARP's) efforts in incorporating fiber optic interconnects into standard electronic module (SEM) connectors

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, William R.

1994-05-01

SHARP is a Navy wide logistics technology development effort aimed at reducing the acquisition costs, support costs, and risks of military electronic weapon systems while increasing the performance capability, reliability, maintainability, and readiness of these systems. Lower life cycle costs for electronic hardware are achieved through technology transition, standardization, and reliability enhancement to improve system affordability and availability as well as enhancing fleet modernization. Advanced technology is transferred into the fleet through hardware specifications for weapon system building blocks of standard electronic modules, standard power systems, and standard electronic systems. The product lines are all defined with respect to their size, weight, I/O, environmental performance, and operational performance. This method of defining the standard is very conducive to inserting new technologies into systems using the standard hardware. This is the approach taken thus far in inserting photonic technologies into SHARP hardware. All of the efforts have been related to module packaging; i.e. interconnects, component packaging, and module developments. Fiber optic interconnects are discussed in this paper.

18 CFR 292.308 - Standards for operating reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... reliability. 292.308 Section 292.308 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY... SMALL POWER PRODUCTION AND COGENERATION Arrangements Between Electric Utilities and Qualifying... may establish reasonable standards to ensure system safety and reliability of interconnected...

Improvement of standards on functional reliability of electric power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barinov, V.A.; Volkov, G.A.; Kalita, V.V.; Kogan, F.L.; Makarov, S.F.; Manevich, A.S.; Mogirev, V.V.; Sin'chugov, F.I.; Skopintsev, V.A.; Khvoshchinskaya, Z.G.

1993-01-01

Analysis of the most principal aspects of the existing standards and requirements on assuring safety and stability of electric power systems (EPS) and effective (reliable and economical) power supply of consumers is given. The reliability is determined as ability to accomplish the assigned functions. Basic recommendations on improving the standards regulating the safety and reliability of the NPP functioning are formulated

18 CFR 39.6 - Conflict of a Reliability Standard with a Commission Order.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Reliability Standard with a Commission Order. 39.6 Section 39.6 Conservation of Power and Water Resources..., APPROVAL, AND ENFORCEMENT OF ELECTRIC RELIABILITY STANDARDS § 39.6 Conflict of a Reliability Standard with... Transmission Organization determines that a Reliability Standard may conflict with a function, rule, order...

77 FR 64920 - Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission Vegetation Management

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-24

... reliability of the Bulk Electric System.'' NERC defines ``System Operating Limit'' as ``[t]he value (such as... values or gives reason to revisit the Reliability Standard. Accordingly, consistent with the activity...] Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission Vegetation Management AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory...

78 FR 21929 - Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-12

... Relay Loadability Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing Take notice that on February 19... Relay Loadability Reliability Standard, Order No. 733, 130 FERC ] 61,221 (2010) (Order No. 733); order..., 136 FERC ] 61,185 (2011). \\2\\ Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard, 138 FERC ] 61,197...

78 FR 55249 - Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-10

...; RM11-16-000] Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing Take.... \\1\\ Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard, Order No. 733, 130 FERC ] 61, 221 (2010..., Order No. 733-B, 136 FERC ] 61,185 (2011). \\2\\ Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard, 138...

78 FR 44909 - Regional Reliability Standard BAL-002-WECC-2-Contingency Reserve

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-25

...\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242...-002-WECC-2 (Contingency Reserve). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and... (Technical Information), Office of Electric Reliability, Division of Reliability Standards, Federal Energy...

78 FR 73112 - Monitoring System Conditions-Transmission Operations Reliability Standards; Interconnection...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-05

...\\ \\8\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, 72 FR 16416 (Apr. 4... operators and reliability coordinators to ``plan and operate the interconnected Bulk Electric System in a... mandated in the currently- effective standards, thereby improving reliability of the bulk power system...

78 FR 22773 - Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission Vegetation Management; Correction

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-17

...; Order No. 777] Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission Vegetation Management; Correction... modifying certain Reliability Standards. DATES: Effective on May 28, 2013. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT... Requirement R2 of Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 within 45 days of the effective date of the Final Rule, while...

Standardization of reliability reporting for cochlear implants: an interim report.

Science.gov (United States)

Backous, Douglas D; Watson, Stacey D

2007-04-01

To propose a standard definition of "out of specification" for cochlear implants and a paradigm for inclusion of category C of the ISO standard 5841-2:2000 for reporting in cumulative survival statistics. A standard definition of "out of specification" and consistent reporting by manufacturers of cochlear implants will create a fair and consistent representation of cumulative survival. This will allow discernment of differences between manufacturers for reliability and for detection of trends in reliability between model types from the same manufacturer. Three separate meetings with representatives of the three manufacturers of cochlear implants marketed in the United States were staged over a 13-mo period. Standard questions, created by the authors, were addressed by each representative to determine the current state of device reliability reporting. Results were presented to clinicians at the William House Cochlear Implant study Group and the Implantable devices sub-committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology (2004, 2005) and at the 8th International Cochlear Implant Conference (2004) for feedback. After assimilation of feedback by all parties, the standard was written and reviewed by representatives from each manufacturer for accuracy of data. A complaint-driven standard was developed. A "cochlear implant" as an internal device placed and skin closed in surgery. An internal device is "out of specification" when one or more technical characteristics is outside the limits of normal function and results in explantation or non-use by the patient." Children will be reported separately from adults, each model of device will be reported on annually, a minimum of 200 devices must be in each model group for Cumulative Survival Reporting (CSR). Confidence limits are set at 95%. Explants will be determined to be "biological" or "technical." Technical explants are included in CSR reports. Devices failing to meet specifications set by the manufacturer, not in use but

Improvement of AC motor reliability from technique standardization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muniz, P.R.; Faria, M.D.R.; Mendes, M.P.; Silva, J.N.; Dos Santos, J.D.

2005-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explain the increase of reliability of motors serviced in the Electrical Maintenance Shop of Companhia Siderurgica de Tubarao by standardization of the technique based on Brazilian and International Standards, manufacturer's recommendations and the experience of the maintenance staff. (author)

Summary of component reliability data for probabilistic safety analysis of Korean standard nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, S. Y.; Han, S. H.

2004-01-01

The reliability data of Korean NPP that reflects the plant specific characteristics is necessary for PSA of Korean nuclear power plants. We have performed a study to develop the component reliability DB and S/W for component reliability analysis. Based on the system, we had have collected the component operation data and failure/repair data during plant operation data to 1998/2000 for YGN 3,4/UCN 3,4 respectively. Recently, we have upgraded the database by collecting additional data by 2002 for Korean standard nuclear power plants and performed component reliability analysis and Bayesian analysis again. In this paper, we supply the summary of component reliability data for probabilistic safety analysis of Korean standard nuclear power plant and describe the plant specific characteristics compared to the generic data

78 FR 44557 - Revision to Transmission Vegetation Management Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-24

... Transmission Vegetation Management Reliability Standard; Notice of Compliance Filing Take notice that on July 12, 2013, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), pursuant to Order No. 777 \\1... Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 to its Web site. \\1\\ Revisions to Reliability Standard for Transmission...

Reliability and Validity of 10 Different Standard Setting Procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Halpin, Glennelle; Halpin, Gerald

Research indicating that different cut-off points result from the use of different standard-setting techniques leaves decision makers with a disturbing dilemma: Which standard-setting method is best? This investigation of the reliability and validity of 10 different standard-setting approaches was designed to provide information that might help…

Open and Distance Education Accreditation Standards Scale: Validity and Reliability Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Can, Ertug

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop, and test the validity and reliability of a scale for the use of researchers to determine the accreditation standards of open and distance education based on the views of administrators, teachers, staff and students. This research was designed according to the general descriptive survey model since it aims…

Critical Assessment of the Foundations of Power Transmission and Distribution Reliability Metrics and Standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Nateghi, Roshanak; Guikema, Seth D; Wu, Yue Grace; Bruss, C Bayan

2016-01-01

The U.S. federal government regulates the reliability of bulk power systems, while the reliability of power distribution systems is regulated at a state level. In this article, we review the history of regulating electric service reliability and study the existing reliability metrics, indices, and standards for power transmission and distribution networks. We assess the foundations of the reliability standards and metrics, discuss how they are applied to outages caused by large exogenous disturbances such as natural disasters, and investigate whether the standards adequately internalize the impacts of these events. Our reflections shed light on how existing standards conceptualize reliability, question the basis for treating large-scale hazard-induced outages differently from normal daily outages, and discuss whether this conceptualization maps well onto customer expectations. We show that the risk indices for transmission systems used in regulating power system reliability do not adequately capture the risks that transmission systems are prone to, particularly when it comes to low-probability high-impact events. We also point out several shortcomings associated with the way in which regulators require utilities to calculate and report distribution system reliability indices. We offer several recommendations for improving the conceptualization of reliability metrics and standards. We conclude that while the approaches taken in reliability standards have made considerable advances in enhancing the reliability of power systems and may be logical from a utility perspective during normal operation, existing standards do not provide a sufficient incentive structure for the utilities to adequately ensure high levels of reliability for end-users, particularly during large-scale events. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

78 FR 24107 - Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-24

...-Power System.\\6\\ In Order No. 706, the Commission approved eight CIP Reliability Standards (CIP-002-1... documentation requirements to allow entities to focus on the reliability and security of the Bulk Power System... reliability of the bulk electric system. Requirement R1 includes controls to protect data that would be useful...

Standardization, Validity and Reliability Study of Gülhane Aphasia Test-2 (GAT-2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

İlknur Maviş

2007-04-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Gülhane Aphasia Test-2 (GAT-2 has been developed to show the presence of a language disorder ‘aphasia’ and to give the clinician implications for the accompanying speech disorders such as apraxia and dysarthria. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to report standardization, validity and reliability study of GAT-2. METHODS: : 10 healthy individuals were tested initially for the pilot study. 134 healthy individual was included to the standardization study and 30 individuals with aphasia and 11 individuals with right brain injury was included to the validation study. The inter group GAT-2 score differentiations and the effects of age, years of education, sex variances were observed. GAT-2 cut-off scores were calculated by the scores of healthy individuals. GAT-2 test-retest reliability and inter-observer reliability was calculated. RESULTS: Healthy individuals’ GAT-2 scores were significantly different from the GAT-2 scores of aphasic patients, but not from right brain injured patients’. Healthy individuals’ GAT-2 scores were not affected from the sex, age variances but from years of education, so cut-off scores were calculated by this variance. GAT-2 scores of aphasic patients were not affected from age, sex and years of education. Test-retest and inter-observer reliability and internal consistency results showed that GAT-2 is a highly reliable aphasia screening test. CONCLUSION: GAT-2 was found to be a standardized, highly reliable and a valid aphasia test for Turkish stroke patients with aphasia

Reliability Standards of Complex Engineering Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Galperin, E. M.; Zayko, V. A.; Gorshkalev, P. A.

2017-11-01

Production and manufacture play an important role in today’s modern society. Industrial production is nowadays characterized by increased and complex communications between its parts. The problem of preventing accidents in a large industrial enterprise becomes especially relevant. In these circumstances, the reliability of enterprise functioning is of particular importance. Potential damage caused by an accident at such enterprise may lead to substantial material losses and, in some cases, can even cause a loss of human lives. That is why industrial enterprise functioning reliability is immensely important. In terms of their reliability, industrial facilities (objects) are divided into simple and complex. Simple objects are characterized by only two conditions: operable and non-operable. A complex object exists in more than two conditions. The main characteristic here is the stability of its operation. This paper develops the reliability indicator combining the set theory methodology and a state space method. Both are widely used to analyze dynamically developing probability processes. The research also introduces a set of reliability indicators for complex technical systems.

Reliability studies in a developing technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, L.A.; Osgood, C.; Radcliffe, S.J.

1975-01-01

The standard methods of reliability analysis can only be applied if valid failure statistics are available. In a developing technology the statistics which have been accumulated, over many years of conventional experience, are often rendered useless by environmental effects. Thus new data, which take account of the new environment, are required. This paper discusses the problem of optimizing the acquisition of these data when time-scales and resources are limited. It is concluded that the most fruitful strategy in assessing the reliability of mechanisms is to study the failures of individual joints whilst developing, where necessary, analytical tools to facilitate the use of these data. The approach is illustrated by examples from the field of tribology. Failures of rolling element bearings in moist, high-pressure carbon dioxide illustrate the important effects of apparently minor changes in the environment. New analytical techniques are developed from a study of friction failures in sliding joints. (author)

Developing safety performance functions incorporating reliability-based risk measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Shewkar El-Bassiouni; Sayed, Tarek

2011-11-01

Current geometric design guides provide deterministic standards where the safety margin of the design output is generally unknown and there is little knowledge of the safety implications of deviating from these standards. Several studies have advocated probabilistic geometric design where reliability analysis can be used to account for the uncertainty in the design parameters and to provide a risk measure of the implication of deviation from design standards. However, there is currently no link between measures of design reliability and the quantification of safety using collision frequency. The analysis presented in this paper attempts to bridge this gap by incorporating a reliability-based quantitative risk measure such as the probability of non-compliance (P(nc)) in safety performance functions (SPFs). Establishing this link will allow admitting reliability-based design into traditional benefit-cost analysis and should lead to a wider application of the reliability technique in road design. The present application is concerned with the design of horizontal curves, where the limit state function is defined in terms of the available (supply) and stopping (demand) sight distances. A comprehensive collision and geometric design database of two-lane rural highways is used to investigate the effect of the probability of non-compliance on safety. The reliability analysis was carried out using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM). Two Negative Binomial (NB) SPFs were developed to compare models with and without the reliability-based risk measures. It was found that models incorporating the P(nc) provided a better fit to the data set than the traditional (without risk) NB SPFs for total, injury and fatality (I+F) and property damage only (PDO) collisions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reliability Evaluation for Optimizing Electricity Supply in a Developing Country

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Ndubuka NWOHU

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The reliability standards for electricity supply in a developing country, like Nigeria, have to be determined on past engineering principles and practice. Because of the high demand of electrical power due to rapid development, industrialization and rural electrification; the economic, social and political climate in which the electric power supply industry now operates should be critically viewed to ensure that the production of electrical power should be augmented and remain uninterrupted. This paper presents an economic framework that can be used to optimize electric power system reliability. Finally the cost models are investigated to take into account the economic analysis of system reliability, which can be periodically updated to improve overall reliability of electric power system.

Test-Retest Reliability of Standard and Emotional Stroop Tasks: An Investigation of Color-Word and Picture-Word Versions

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Gregory P.; Allen, Daniel N.; Jorgensen, Melinda L.; Cramer, Stacey L.

2005-01-01

Previous studies have examined the reliability of scores derived from various Stroop tasks. However, few studies have compared reliability of more recently developed Stroop variants such as emotional Stroop tasks to standard versions of the Stroop. The current study developed four different single-stimulus Stroop tasks and compared test-retest…

Innovation and reliability of atomic standards for PTTI applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kern, R.

1981-01-01

Innovation and reliability in hyperfine frequency standards and clock systems are discussed. Hyperfine standards are defined as those precision frequency sources and clocks which use a hyperfine atomic transition for frequency control and which have realized significant commercial production and acceptance (cesium, hydrogen, and rubidium atoms). References to other systems such as thallium and ammonia are excluded since these atomic standards have not been commercially exploited in this country.

76 FR 64082 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System; Notice of Staff Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-17

... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System; Notice of Staff Meeting Take notice that the Federal Energy... R1.3.10 of Commission-approved transmission planning Reliability Standard TPL-002- 0 (System... additional actions necessary to address the matter.\\3\\ \\1\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power...

A survey of NASA and military standards on fault tolerance and reliability applied to robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Cavallaro, Joseph R.; Walker, Ian D.

1994-01-01

There is currently increasing interest and activity in the area of reliability and fault tolerance for robotics. This paper discusses the application of Standards in robot reliability, and surveys the literature of relevant existing standards. A bibliography of relevant Military and NASA standards for reliability and fault tolerance is included.

Standardization of domestic human reliability analysis and experience of human reliability analysis in probabilistic safety assessment for NPPs under design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, D. I.; Jung, W. D.

2002-01-01

This paper introduces the background and development activities of domestic standardization of procedure and method for Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) to avoid the intervention of subjectivity by HRA analyst in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) as possible, and the review of the HRA results for domestic nuclear power plants under design studied by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. We identify the HRA methods used for PSA for domestic NPPs and discuss the subjectivity of HRA analyst shown in performing a HRA. Also, we introduce the PSA guidelines published in USA and review the HRA results based on them. We propose the system of a standard procedure and method for HRA to be developed

78 FR 30747 - Reliability Standards for Geomagnetic Disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-23

... that the scientific understanding of GMDs is still evolving, we recognize that Reliability Standards... by solar events, results in distortions to the earth's magnetic field, can be of varying intensity... systems.\\4\\ The interaction of the earth's magnetic field and solar events can cause low frequency GICs to...

The two errors of using the within-subject standard deviation (WSD) as the standard error of a reliable change index.

Science.gov (United States)

Maassen, Gerard H

2010-08-01

In this Journal, Lewis and colleagues introduced a new Reliable Change Index (RCI(WSD)), which incorporated the within-subject standard deviation (WSD) of a repeated measurement design as the standard error. In this note, two opposite errors in using WSD this way are demonstrated. First, being the standard error of measurement of only a single assessment makes WSD too small when practice effects are absent. Then, too many individuals will be designated reliably changed. Second, WSD can grow unlimitedly to the extent that differential practice effects occur. This can even make RCI(WSD) unable to detect any reliable change.

Development of reliability-based load and resistance factor design methods for piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayyub, Bilal M.; Hill, Ralph S. III; Balkey, Kenneth R.

2003-01-01

Current American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) nuclear codes and standards rely primarily on deterministic and mechanistic approaches to design. The American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Concrete Institute, among other organizations, have incorporated probabilistic methodologies into their design codes. ASME nuclear codes and standards could benefit from developing a probabilistic, reliability-based, design methodology. This paper provides a plan to develop the technical basis for reliability-based, load and resistance factor design of ASME Section III, Class 2/3 piping for primary loading, i.e., pressure, deadweight and seismic. The plan provides a proof of concept in that LRFD can be used in the design of piping, and could achieve consistent reliability levels. Also, the results from future projects in this area could form the basis for code cases, and additional research for piping secondary loads. (author)

Standards and reliability in evaluation: when rules of thumb don't apply.

Science.gov (United States)

Norcini, J J

1999-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to identify situations in which two rules of thumb in evaluation do not apply. The first rule is that all standards should be absolute. When selection decisions are being made or when classroom tests are given, however, relative standards may be better. The second rule of thumb is that every test should have a reliability of .80 or better. Depending on the circumstances, though, the standard error of measurement, the consistency of pass/fail classifications, and the domain-referenced reliability coefficients may be better indicators of reproducibility.

77 FR 53884 - Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding and Load Shedding Plans Reliability Standards; Notice of...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-04

... Underfrequency Load Shedding and Load Shedding Plans Reliability Standards; Notice of Compliance Filing Take notice that on August 9, 2012, North American Electric Reliability Corporation submitted a compliance... Load Shedding Plans Reliability Standards, 139 FERC ] 61,098, (Order No. 763) (2012). Any person...

78 FR 71448 - Regional Reliability Standard BAL-002-WECC-2-Contingency Reserve

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-29

...; Order No. 789] Regional Reliability Standard BAL-002-WECC-2--Contingency Reserve AGENCY: Federal Energy... (Contingency Reserve). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Western Electricity... Region and is meant to specify the quantity and types of [[Page 71449

Development of a Standardized Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment Tool for Radiologists: Validation, Multisource Reliability, and Lessons Learned.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Stephen D; Rider, Elizabeth A; Jamieson, Katherine; Meyer, Elaine C; Callahan, Michael J; DeBenedectis, Carolynn M; Bixby, Sarah D; Walters, Michele; Forman, Sara F; Varrin, Pamela H; Forbes, Peter; Roussin, Christopher J

2017-08-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a standardized communication skills assessment instrument for radiology. The Delphi method was used to validate the Kalamazoo Communication Skills Assessment instrument for radiology by revising and achieving consensus on the 43 items of the preexisting instrument among an interdisciplinary team of experts consisting of five radiologists and four nonradiologists (two men, seven women). Reviewers assessed the applicability of the instrument to evaluation of conversations between radiology trainees and trained actors portraying concerned parents in enactments about bad news, radiation risks, and diagnostic errors that were video recorded during a communication workshop. Interrater reliability was assessed by use of the revised instrument to rate a series of enactments between trainees and actors video recorded in a hospital-based simulator center. Eight raters evaluated each of seven different video-recorded interactions between physicians and parent-actors. The final instrument contained 43 items. After three review rounds, 42 of 43 (98%) items had an average rating of relevant or very relevant for bad news conversations. All items were rated as relevant or very relevant for conversations about error disclosure and radiation risk. Reliability and rater agreement measures were moderate. The intraclass correlation coefficient range was 0.07-0.58; mean, 0.30; SD, 0.13; and median, 0.30. The range of weighted kappa values was 0.03-0.47; mean, 0.23; SD, 0.12; and median, 0.22. Ratings varied significantly among conversations (χ 2 6 = 1186; p communication skills assessment instrument is highly relevant for radiology, having moderate interrater reliability. These findings have important implications for assessing the relational competencies of radiology trainees.

Review of cause-based decision tree approach for the development of domestic standard human reliability analysis procedure in low power/shutdown operation probabilistic safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, D. I.; Jung, W. D.

2003-01-01

We review the Cause-Based Decision Tree (CBDT) approach to decide whether we incorporate it or not for the development of domestic standard Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) procedure in low power/shutdown operation Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). In this paper, we introduce the cause based decision tree approach, quantify human errors using it, and identify merits and demerits of it in comparision with previously used THERP. The review results show that it is difficult to incorporate the CBDT method for the development of domestic standard HRA procedure in low power/shutdown PSA because the CBDT method need for the subjective judgment of HRA analyst like as THERP. However, it is expected that the incorporation of the CBDT method into the development of domestic standard HRA procedure only for the comparision of quantitative HRA results will relieve the burden of development of detailed HRA procedure and will help maintain consistent quantitative HRA results

Development of web-based reliability data analysis algorithm model and its application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Seok-Won; Oh, Ji-Yong; Moosung-Jae

2010-01-01

For this study, a database model of plant reliability was developed for the effective acquisition and management of plant-specific data that can be used in various applications of plant programs as well as in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). Through the development of a web-based reliability data analysis algorithm, this approach systematically gathers specific plant data such as component failure history, maintenance history, and shift diary. First, for the application of the developed algorithm, this study reestablished the raw data types, data deposition procedures and features of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system process. The component codes and system codes were standardized to make statistical analysis between different types of plants possible. This standardization contributes to the establishment of a flexible database model that allows the customization of reliability data for the various applications depending on component types and systems. In addition, this approach makes it possible for users to perform trend analyses and data comparisons for the significant plant components and systems. The validation of the algorithm is performed through a comparison of the importance measure value (Fussel-Vesely) of the mathematical calculation and that of the algorithm application. The development of a reliability database algorithm is one of the best approaches for providing systemic management of plant-specific reliability data with transparency and continuity. This proposed algorithm reinforces the relationships between raw data and application results so that it can provide a comprehensive database that offers everything from basic plant-related data to final customized data.

Development of web-based reliability data analysis algorithm model and its application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Seok-Won, E-mail: swhwang@khnp.co.k [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., Jang-Dong 25-1, Yuseong-Gu, 305-343 Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Ji-Yong [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., Jang-Dong 25-1, Yuseong-Gu, 305-343 Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Moosung-Jae [Department of Nuclear Engineering Hanyang University 17 Haengdang, Sungdong, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2010-02-15

For this study, a database model of plant reliability was developed for the effective acquisition and management of plant-specific data that can be used in various applications of plant programs as well as in Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). Through the development of a web-based reliability data analysis algorithm, this approach systematically gathers specific plant data such as component failure history, maintenance history, and shift diary. First, for the application of the developed algorithm, this study reestablished the raw data types, data deposition procedures and features of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system process. The component codes and system codes were standardized to make statistical analysis between different types of plants possible. This standardization contributes to the establishment of a flexible database model that allows the customization of reliability data for the various applications depending on component types and systems. In addition, this approach makes it possible for users to perform trend analyses and data comparisons for the significant plant components and systems. The validation of the algorithm is performed through a comparison of the importance measure value (Fussel-Vesely) of the mathematical calculation and that of the algorithm application. The development of a reliability database algorithm is one of the best approaches for providing systemic management of plant-specific reliability data with transparency and continuity. This proposed algorithm reinforces the relationships between raw data and application results so that it can provide a comprehensive database that offers everything from basic plant-related data to final customized data.

The international development of forensic science standards - A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson-Wilde, Linzi

2018-04-16

Standards establish specifications and procedures designed to ensure products, services and systems are safe, reliable and consistently perform as intended. Standards can be used in the accreditation of forensic laboratories or facilities and in the certification of products and services. In recent years there have been various international activities aiming at developing forensic science standards and guidelines. The most significant initiative currently underway within the global forensic community is the development of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. This paper reviews the main bodies working on standards for forensic science, the processes used and the implications for accreditation. This paper specifically discusses the work of ISO Technical Committee TC272, the future TC272 work program for the development of forensic science standards and associated timelines. Also discussed, are the lessons learnt to date in navigating the complex environment of multi-country stakeholder deliberations in standards development. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

76 FR 58716 - Interpretation of Transmission Planning Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-22

..., Western Public Agencies Group, Western Montana Electric G&T Cooperative, Inc., Oregon Municipal Electric... Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g... FERC ] 61,062, order on reh'g & compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa, Inc. v...

Reliability Evaluation for Optimizing Electricity Supply in a Developing Country

OpenAIRE

Mark Ndubuka NWOHU

2007-01-01

The reliability standards for electricity supply in a developing country, like Nigeria, have to be determined on past engineering principles and practice. Because of the high demand of electrical power due to rapid development, industrialization and rural electrification; the economic, social and political climate in which the electric power supply industry now operates should be critically viewed to ensure that the production of electrical power should be augmented and remain uninterrupted. ...

75 FR 81152 - Interpretation of Protection System Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-27

..., generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative or similar organization to accept compliance responsibility on... Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC... reh'g & compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa, Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 (DC...

Development of standardized radioactive 46Sc solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Hongshan; Jia Zhang; Yu Yiguang; Sun Naiyao

1988-01-01

A method of preparation of standardized radioactive 46 Sc solution is developed. The separation of 46 Sc, the composition of 46 Sc solution and its stability, and radioactivity measurement of 46 Sc are systematically studied. The results obtained in the study and in the applications in many laboratories have shown that our method is effective and reliable

Development, standardization and validation of social anxiety scale ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Little attention has been given to social anxiety in Nigeria despite its debilitating effects on the sufferers. The objective of this study was to develop, standardize and validate an instrument (Social Anxiety Scale) with high coefficients of Cronbach Alpha Internal Consistency Split-half reliability and construct validity.

Developing Reliable Life Support for Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Harry W.

2017-01-01

A human mission to Mars will require highly reliable life support systems. Mars life support systems may recycle water and oxygen using systems similar to those on the International Space Station (ISS). However, achieving sufficient reliability is less difficult for ISS than it will be for Mars. If an ISS system has a serious failure, it is possible to provide spare parts, or directly supply water or oxygen, or if necessary bring the crew back to Earth. Life support for Mars must be designed, tested, and improved as needed to achieve high demonstrated reliability. A quantitative reliability goal should be established and used to guide development t. The designers should select reliable components and minimize interface and integration problems. In theory a system can achieve the component-limited reliability, but testing often reveal unexpected failures due to design mistakes or flawed components. Testing should extend long enough to detect any unexpected failure modes and to verify the expected reliability. Iterated redesign and retest may be required to achieve the reliability goal. If the reliability is less than required, it may be improved by providing spare components or redundant systems. The number of spares required to achieve a given reliability goal depends on the component failure rate. If the failure rate is under estimated, the number of spares will be insufficient and the system may fail. If the design is likely to have undiscovered design or component problems, it is advisable to use dissimilar redundancy, even though this multiplies the design and development cost. In the ideal case, a human tended closed system operational test should be conducted to gain confidence in operations, maintenance, and repair. The difficulty in achieving high reliability in unproven complex systems may require the use of simpler, more mature, intrinsically higher reliability systems. The limitations of budget, schedule, and technology may suggest accepting lower and

System reliability developments in structural engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, F.

1982-01-01

Two major limitations occur in present structural design code developments utilizing reliability theory. The notional system reliabilities may differ significantly from calibrated component reliabilities. Secondly, actual failures are often due to gross errors not reflected in most present code formats. A review is presented of system reliability methods and further new concepts are developed. The incremental load approach for identifying and expressing collapse modes is expanded by employing a strategy to identify and enumerate the significant structural collapse modes. It further isolates the importance of critical components in the system performance. Ductile and brittle component behavior and strength correlation is reflected in the system model and illustrated in several examples. Modal combinations for the system reliability are also reviewed. From these developments a system factor can be addended to component safety checking equations. Values may be derived from system behavior by substituting in a damage model which accounts for the response range from component failure to collapse. Other strategies are discussed which emphasize quality assurance during design and in-service inspection for components whose behavior is critical to the system reliability. (Auth.)

Standard semiconductor packaging for high-reliability low-cost MEMS applications

Science.gov (United States)

Harney, Kieran P.

2005-01-01

Microelectronic packaging technology has evolved over the years in response to the needs of IC technology. The fundamental purpose of the package is to provide protection for the silicon chip and to provide electrical connection to the circuit board. Major change has been witnessed in packaging and today wafer level packaging technology has further revolutionized the industry. MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology has created new challenges for packaging that do not exist in standard ICs. However, the fundamental objective of MEMS packaging is the same as traditional ICs, the low cost and reliable presentation of the MEMS chip to the next level interconnect. Inertial MEMS is one of the best examples of the successful commercialization of MEMS technology. The adoption of MEMS accelerometers for automotive airbag applications has created a high volume market that demands the highest reliability at low cost. The suppliers to these markets have responded by exploiting standard semiconductor packaging infrastructures. However, there are special packaging needs for MEMS that cannot be ignored. New applications for inertial MEMS devices are emerging in the consumer space that adds the imperative of small size to the need for reliability and low cost. These trends are not unique to MEMS accelerometers. For any MEMS technology to be successful the packaging must provide the basic reliability and interconnection functions, adding the least possible cost to the product. This paper will discuss the evolution of MEMS packaging in the accelerometer industry and identify the main issues that needed to be addressed to enable the successful commercialization of the technology in the automotive and consumer markets.

Standards Performance Continuum: Development and Validation of a Measure of Effective Pedagogy.

Science.gov (United States)

Doherty, R. William; Hilberg, R. Soleste; Epaloose, Georgia; Tharp, Roland G.

2002-01-01

Describes the development and validation of the Standards Performance Continuum (SPC) for assessing teacher performance of the Standards for Effective Pedagogy. Three studies involving Florida, California, and New Mexico public school teachers provided evidence of inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity, and criterion-related validity…

Observations on the Reliability of Rubidium Frequency Standards on Block 2/2A GPS Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Dieter, Gary L.

1996-01-01

Currently, the block 2/2A Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites are equipped with two rubidium frequency standards. These frequency standards were originally intended to serve as the back-ups to two cesium frequency standards. As the constellation ages, the master Control Station is forced to initialize and increasing number or rubidium frequency standards. Unfortunately the operational use of these frequency standards has not lived up to initial expectations. Although the performance of these rubidium frequency standards has met and even exceeded GPS requirements, their reliability has not. The number of unscheduled outage times and the short operational lifetimes of the rubidium frequency standards compare poorly to the track record of the cesium frequency standards. Only a small number of rubidium frequency standards have actually been made operational. Of these, a large percentage have exhibited poor reliability. If this trend continues, it is unlikely that the rubidium frequency standards will help contribute to the navigation payload meeting program specification.

Reliability databases: State-of-the-art and perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Akhmedjanov, Farit

2001-01-01

The report gives a history of development and an overview of the existing reliability databases. This overview also describes some other (than computer databases) sources of reliability and failures information, e.g. reliability handbooks, but the mainattention is paid to standard models...... and software packages containing the data mentioned. The standards corresponding to collection and exchange of reliability data are observed too. Finally, perspective directions in such data sources development areshown....

To the problem of reliability standardization in computer-aided manufacturing at NPP units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yastrebenetskij, M.A.; Shvyryaev, Yu.V.; Spektor, L.I.; Nikonenko, I.V.

1989-01-01

The problems of reliability standardization in computer-aided manufacturing of NPP units considering the following approaches: computer-aided manufacturing of NPP units as a part of automated technological complex; computer-aided manufacturing of NPP units as multi-functional system, are analyzed. Selection of the composition of reliability indeces for computer-aided manufacturing of NPP units for each of the approaches considered is substantiated

Development of reliability-based safety enhancement technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kil Yoo; Han, Sang Hoon; Jang, Seung Cherl

2002-04-01

This project aims to develop critical technologies and the necessary reliability DB for maximizing the economics in the NPP operation with keeping the safety using the information of the risk (or reliability). For the research goal, firstly the four critical technologies(Risk Informed Tech. Spec. Optimization, Risk Informed Inservice Testing, On-line Maintenance, Maintenance Rule) for RIR and A have been developed. Secondly, KIND (Korea Information System for Nuclear Reliability Data) has been developed. Using KIND, YGN 3,4 and UCN 3,4 component reliability DB have been established. A reactor trip history DB for all NPP in Korea also has been developed and analyzed. Finally, a detailed reliability analysis of RPS/ESFAS for KNSP has been performed. With the result of the analysis, the sensitivity analysis also has been performed to optimize the AOT/STI of tech. spec. A statistical analysis procedure and computer code have been developed for the set point drift analysis

78 FR 30804 - Transmission Planning Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-23

... shedding firm load versus planning to shed firm load, while still ensuring that the decision-making process... load loss. NERC states that it developed this information to ensure that an entity adequately... adverse reliability impacts. While consumers and local communities should be able to make decisions about...

75 FR 39244 - Reliability Standards Development and NERC and Regional Entity Enforcement; Further Notice...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-08

... Standards Development and NERC and Regional Entity Enforcement; Further Notice Concerning Technical... convene a Commissioner-led technical conference regarding issues pertaining to the development of... Corporation and the Regional Entities as previously announced.\\1\\ \\1\\ Notice of Technical Conference, 75 FR 35...

Reliability database development and plant performance improvement effort at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, S. J.; Hwang, S. W.; Na, J. H.; Lim, H. S.

2008-01-01

Nuclear utilities in recent years have focused on improved plant performance and equipment reliability. In U.S., there is a movement toward process integration. Examples are INPO AP-913 equipment reliability program and the standard nuclear performance model developed by NEI. Synergistic effect from an integrated approach can be far greater than as compared to individual effects from each program. In Korea, PSA for all Korean NPPs (Nuclear Power Plants) has been completed. Plant performance monitoring and improvement is an important goal for KHNP (Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company) and a risk monitoring system called RIMS has been developed for all nuclear plants. KHNP is in the process of voluntarily implementing maintenance rule program similar to that in U.S. In the future, KHNP would like to expand the effort to equipment reliability program and to achieve highest equipment reliability and improved plant performance. For improving equipment reliability, the current trend is moving toward preventive/predictive maintenance from corrective maintenance. With the emphasis on preventive maintenance, the failure cause and operation history and environment are important. Hence, the development of accurate reliability database is necessary. Furthermore, the database should be updated regularly and maintained as a living program to reflect the current status of equipment reliability. This paper examines the development of reliability database system and its application of maintenance optimization or Risk Informed Application (RIA). (authors)

Reliability improvement: where do we go from here. The role of codes and standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, R.H.

1976-01-01

The role of codes and standards in contributing to the future improvement is discussed. The Nuclear Plant Reliability Data System is examined. It is suggested that two systems of the type are needed. One system should focus on component and system reliability while the other should focus on system availability, capacity factor, and fixed outage rate assessment

75 FR 65964 - Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Resource and Demand Balancing

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-27

... this record and, thus, does not persuade us.\\35\\ \\33\\ WECC's analysis shows that, over the past 15... notes that the currently approved regional Reliability Standard was established through negotiations in...

Development and standardization of Indian aphasia battery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harsimarpreet Kaur

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Aphasia is a language disorder which may disrupt an individual's functioning. To plan a mode of therapeutic/rehabilitative work, it is important to assess problems from a neuropsychological perspective focused on remediation of the impaired processes or compensation through the intact processes or both. Aim: Due to the paucity of tests available for the assessment of aphasia in the Indian population with specific colloquial expression, the aim of the present study was to develop an aphasia test for Hindi-speaking population and to provide evidence with its reliability and validity. Methods: The conception of the test took place in two phases: Phase 1 was the development of Indian Aphasia Battery (IAB and Phase 2 was its standardization. IAB was administered along the Hindi adaptation of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB-H on participants with aphasia, probable aphasia, and healthy volunteers. Outcomes and Results: Based on the results of this study, IAB has a high concurrent validity and test–retest reliability in comparison to WAB-H. The subtests are sensitive enough to contribute to global aphasia quotient as a functional measure of aphasia in Indian brain-damaged patients. Conclusion: IAB is a quick and easy to administer measure for assessment of aphasia in Hindi-speaking population with high reliability and validity.

Inter-examiner reliability of a standardized Ultra-sonographic method for classification of changes related to supraspinatus tendinopathy – a pilot study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Camilla Marie; Ingwersen, Kim Gordon; Hjarnbæk, John

2015-01-01

Inter-examiner reliability of a standardized Ultra-sonographic method for classification of changes related to supraspinatus tendinopathy – a pilot study Ingwersen KG1, 2, Hjarbaek J3, Eshøj H1, Larsen CM1, 4, Vobbe J5, Juul-Kristensen B1, 6 1Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics......, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. 2Physiotherapy Department, Hospital Lillebaelt, Vejle Hospital, Vejle, Denmark 3Department of Radiology, Musculoskeletal section, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark 4Health Sciences Research Centre, University College Lillebaelt, Odense Denmark 5...... athletes. For optimizing rehabilitation to the different stages of tendinopathy (1) ultra-sonography (US) may be used. Reliability of such method for RT is lacking. Aims. To develop and test inter-examiner reliability of US for classifying RT. Materials and Methods. A three-phased standardized protocol...

Inter-rater reliability of three standardized functional tests in patients with low back pain

Science.gov (United States)

Tidstrand, Johan; Horneij, Eva

2009-01-01

Background Of all patients with low back pain, 85% are diagnosed as "non-specific lumbar pain". Lumbar instability has been described as one specific diagnosis which several authors have described as delayed muscular responses, impaired postural control as well as impaired muscular coordination among these patients. This has mostly been measured and evaluated in a laboratory setting. There are few standardized and evaluated functional tests, examining functional muscular coordination which are also applicable in the non-laboratory setting. In ordinary clinical work, tests of functional muscular coordination should be easy to apply. The aim of this present study was to therefore standardize and examine the inter-rater reliability of three functional tests of muscular functional coordination of the lumbar spine in patients with low back pain. Methods Nineteen consecutive individuals, ten men and nine women were included. (Mean age 42 years, SD ± 12 yrs). Two independent examiners assessed three tests: "single limb stance", "sitting on a Bobath ball with one leg lifted" and "unilateral pelvic lift" on the same occasion. The standardization procedure took altered positions of the spine or pelvis and compensatory movements of the free extremities into account. The inter-rater reliability was analyzed by Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) and by percentage agreement. Results The inter-rater reliability for the right and the left leg respectively was: for the single limb stance very good (κ: 0.88–1.0), for sitting on a Bobath ball good (κ: 0.79) and very good (κ: 0.88) and for the unilateral pelvic lift: good (κ: 0.61) and moderate (κ: 0.47). Conclusion The present study showed good to very good inter-rater reliability for two standardized tests, that is, the single-limb stance and sitting on a Bobath-ball with one leg lifted. Inter-rater reliability for the unilateral pelvic lift test was moderate to good. Validation of the tests in their ability to evaluate lumbar

Inter-rater reliability of three standardized functional tests in patients with low back pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tidstrand Johan

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Of all patients with low back pain, 85% are diagnosed as "non-specific lumbar pain". Lumbar instability has been described as one specific diagnosis which several authors have described as delayed muscular responses, impaired postural control as well as impaired muscular coordination among these patients. This has mostly been measured and evaluated in a laboratory setting. There are few standardized and evaluated functional tests, examining functional muscular coordination which are also applicable in the non-laboratory setting. In ordinary clinical work, tests of functional muscular coordination should be easy to apply. The aim of this present study was to therefore standardize and examine the inter-rater reliability of three functional tests of muscular functional coordination of the lumbar spine in patients with low back pain. Methods Nineteen consecutive individuals, ten men and nine women were included. (Mean age 42 years, SD ± 12 yrs. Two independent examiners assessed three tests: "single limb stance", "sitting on a Bobath ball with one leg lifted" and "unilateral pelvic lift" on the same occasion. The standardization procedure took altered positions of the spine or pelvis and compensatory movements of the free extremities into account. The inter-rater reliability was analyzed by Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ and by percentage agreement. Results The inter-rater reliability for the right and the left leg respectively was: for the single limb stance very good (κ: 0.88–1.0, for sitting on a Bobath ball good (κ: 0.79 and very good (κ: 0.88 and for the unilateral pelvic lift: good (κ: 0.61 and moderate (κ: 0.47. Conclusion The present study showed good to very good inter-rater reliability for two standardized tests, that is, the single-limb stance and sitting on a Bobath-ball with one leg lifted. Inter-rater reliability for the unilateral pelvic lift test was moderate to good. Validation of the tests in their

Development status of component reliability database for Korean NPPs and a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, S. Y.; Yang, S. H.; Lee, S. C.; Kim, S. H.; Han, S. H.

1999-01-01

We have applied a generic database to the PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment) for the Korean Standard NPPs (Nuclear Power Plant) since there is no specific component reliability database. However generic data is not enough to reflect the specific characteristics of domestic plants since it is collected by foreign plants. Therefore we are developing the plant-specific component reliability database for domestic NPPs. In this paper, we describe the development status of the component reliability database and the approach method of data collection and component failure analysis. We also summarize a case study of component failure analysis. We first collect the failure and repair data from the TR (Trouble Report) electronic database and the daily operation report sheet. Now we add a data collection method that checks the original TR sheet to improve the data quality. We input the component failure and repair data of principal components of about 30 systems into the component reliability database. Now, we are analyzing the component failure data of 11 safety systems among the systems to calculate component failure rate and unavailability etc

Validity and Reliability of Baseline Testing in a Standardized Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, Kathryn L; Caze, Todd; Maerlender, Arthur

2017-08-11

The Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) is a computerized neuropsychological test battery commonly used to determine cognitive recovery from concussion based on comparing post-injury scores to baseline scores. This model is based on the premise that ImPACT baseline test scores are a valid and reliable measure of optimal cognitive function at baseline. Growing evidence suggests that this premise may not be accurate and a large contributor to invalid and unreliable baseline test scores may be the protocol and environment in which baseline tests are administered. This study examined the effects of a standardized environment and administration protocol on the reliability and performance validity of athletes' baseline test scores on ImPACT by comparing scores obtained in two different group-testing settings. Three hundred-sixty one Division 1 cohort-matched collegiate athletes' baseline data were assessed using a variety of indicators of potential performance invalidity; internal reliability was also examined. Thirty-one to thirty-nine percent of the baseline cases had at least one indicator of low performance validity, but there were no significant differences in validity indicators based on environment in which the testing was conducted. Internal consistency reliability scores were in the acceptable to good range, with no significant differences between administration conditions. These results suggest that athletes may be reliably performing at levels lower than their best effort would produce. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

76 FR 23801 - North American Electric Reliability Corporation; Order Approving Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-28

... have an operating plan and facilities for backup functionality to ensure Bulk-Power System reliability... entity's primary control center on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System. \\1\\ Mandatory Reliability... potential impact of a violation of the Requirement on the reliability of the Bulk-Power System. The...

76 FR 23171 - Electric Reliability Organization Interpretations of Interconnection Reliability Operations and...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-26

... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242, order on reh'g...-Power System reliability may request an interpretation of a Reliability Standard.\\7\\ The ERO's standards... information in its reliability assessments. The Reliability Coordinator must monitor Bulk Electric System...

Establishment of quality, reliability and design standards for low, medium, and high power microwave hybrid microcircuits

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, E. A.

1973-01-01

Quality, reliability, and design standards for microwave hybrid microcircuits were established. The MSFC Standard 85M03926 for hybrid microcircuits was reviewed and modifications were generated for use with microwave hybrid microcircuits. The results for reliability tests of microwave thin film capacitors, transistors, and microwave circuits are presented. Twenty-two microwave receivers were tested for 13,500 unit hours. The result of 111,121 module burn-in and operating hours for an integrated solid state transceiver module is reported.

IEEE standard requirements for reliability analysis in the design and operation of safety systems for nuclear power generating stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1976-01-01

The purpose of this standard is to provide uniform, minimum acceptable requirements for the performance of reliability analyses for safety-related systems found in nuclear-power generating stations, but not to define the need for an analysis. The need for reliability analysis has been identified in other standards which expand the requirements of regulations (e.g., IEEE Std 379-1972 (ANSI N41.2-1972), ''Guide for the Application of the Single-Failure Criterion to Nuclear Power Generating Station Protection System,'' which describes the application of the single-failure criterion). IEEE Std 352-1975, ''Guide for General Principles of Reliability Analysis of Nuclear Power Generating Station Protection Systems,'' provides guidance in the application and use of reliability techniques referred to in this standard

Standardized Patients Provide a Reliable Assessment of Athletic Training Students' Clinical Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Kirk J.; Jarriel, Amanda J.

2016-01-01

Context: Providing students reliable objective feedback regarding their clinical performance is of great value for ongoing clinical skill assessment. Since a standardized patient (SP) is trained to consistently portray the case, students can be assessed and receive immediate feedback within the same clinical encounter; however, no research, to our…

Managing realities of the new market uncertainty : standards development in the North American electricity industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Green, B.

2003-01-01

Standards for the electricity industry are developed to ensure quality and serve as a basis to which utilities should conform. Standards specify agreed upon properties for a manufactured product. They should be used for equipment specifications as well as operational procedures. Standardization is performed by regulators, transmission owners/operators, and organizations such as the National Electric Reliability Council (NERC), the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC), the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB), and the Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO). Before markets were opened to competition, operational standards were dictated by transmission owners and reliability issues were dealt with by NERC and NPCC. This presentation explained the process of standardization in the electric power industry in Canada, the derivation of standards, moving beyond NERC, and the transmission owners. Issues for Ontario Power Generation were highlighted. In contrast to the situation in the United States, there is no federal government backstop for developing Standards in Canada. There is no federal initiative toward open access. Canadian utilities participated in NERC, but compliance was voluntary. It is still questionable if Canadian utilities will implement NERC and NAESB Standards if they are codified

Reliability benefits of dispersed wind resource development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milligan, M.; Artig, R.

1998-05-01

Generating capacity that is available during the utility peak period is worth more than off-peak capacity. Wind power from a single location might not be available during enough of the peak period to provide sufficient value. However, if the wind power plant is developed over geographically disperse locations, the timing and availability of wind power from these multiple sources could provide a better match with the utility's peak load than a single site. There are other issues that arise when considering disperse wind plant development. Singular development can result in economies of scale and might reduce the costs of obtaining multiple permits and multiple interconnections. However, disperse development can result in cost efficiencies if interconnection can be accomplished at lower voltages or at locations closer to load centers. Several wind plants are in various stages of planning or development in the US. Although some of these are small-scale demonstration projects, significant wind capacity has been developed in Minnesota, with additional developments planned in Wyoming, Iowa and Texas. As these and other projects are planned and developed, there is a need to perform analysis of the value of geographically disperse sites on the reliability of the overall wind plant.This paper uses a production-cost/reliability model to analyze the reliability of several wind sites in the state of Minnesota. The analysis finds that the use of a model with traditional reliability measures does not produce consistent, robust results. An approach based on fuzzy set theory is applied in this paper, with improved results. Using such a model, the authors find that system reliability can be optimized with a mix of disperse wind sites

77 FR 25164 - Revision to Transmission Vegetation Management Reliability Standard; Notice Inviting Comments on...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-27

... mathematics and documentation of the technical justification behind the application of the Gallet equation and... application in NERC- approved Reliability Standard FAC-003-2 reasonable to address the minimum distance...

Development of the design and reliability analysis of a seabed repository system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-06-01

This study examines the seabed repository scheme proposed in 1979 for the long term disposal of heat generating radio-active waste and develops it to a standard sufficient to compare its reliability with the drilled emplacement and penetrator schemes. The reinforced concrete repositories contain 324 waste canisters and weigh 982 tonnes fully loaded in water. The repositories are transported up to 6000 km to the disposal area by a special purpose ship and lowered 5.5 km to the seabed on six braided nylon ropes by traction winches. Reliability of the seabed repository system, measured in terms of accidents per year involving loss of one or more canisters, was comparable with the other systems. (author)

78 FR 58492 - Generator Verification Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-24

... power capability that is available for planning models and bulk electric system reliability assessments... of generator equipment needed to support Bulk-Power System reliability and enhance coordination of... support Bulk-Power System reliability and will ensure that accurate data is verified and made available...

76 FR 23222 - Electric Reliability Organization Interpretation of Transmission Operations Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-26

....3d 1342 (DC Cir. 2009). \\5\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System. Action: FERC-725A. OMB Control No.: 1902-0244. Respondents...] Electric Reliability Organization Interpretation of Transmission Operations Reliability AGENCY: Federal...

Standard high-reliability integrated circuit logic packaging. [for deep space tracking stations

Science.gov (United States)

Slaughter, D. W.

1977-01-01

A family of standard, high-reliability hardware used for packaging digital integrated circuits is described. The design transition from early prototypes to production hardware is covered and future plans are discussed. Interconnections techniques are described as well as connectors and related hardware available at both the microcircuit packaging and main-frame level. General applications information is also provided.

Development of reliability and probabilistic safety assessment program RiskA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Yican

2015-01-01

Highlights: • There are four parts in the structure of RiskA. User input part lets users input the PSA model and some necessary data by GUI or model transformation tool. In calculation engine part, fault tree analysis, event tree analysis, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, importance analysis and failure mode and effects analysis are supplied. User output part outputs the analysis results, user customized reports and some other data. The last part includes reliability database, some other common tools and help documents. • RiskA has several advanced features. Extensible framework makes it easy to add any new functions, making RiskA to be a large platform of reliability and probabilistic safety assessment. It is very fast to analysis fault tree in RiskA because many advanced algorithm improvement were made. Many model formats can be imported and exported, which made the PSA model in the commercial software can be easily transformed to adapt RiskA platform. Web-based co-modeling let several users in different places work together whenever they are online. • The comparison between RiskA and other mature PSA codes (e.g. CAFTA, RiskSpectrum, XFTA) has demonstrated that the calculation and analysis of RiskA is correct and efficient. Based on the development of this code package, many applications of safety and reliability analysis of some research reactors and nuclear power plants were performed. The development of RiskA appears to be of realistic and potential value for academic research and practical operation safety management of nuclear power plants in China and abroad. - Abstract: PSA (probabilistic safety assessment) software, the indispensable tool in nuclear safety assessment, has been widely used. An integrated reliability and PSA program named RiskA has been developed by FDS Team. RiskA supplies several standard PSA modules including fault tree analysis, event tree analysis, uncertainty analysis, failure mode and effect analysis and reliability

Assessing the reliability of the borderline regression method as a standard setting procedure for objective structured clinical examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Mortaz Hejri

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the methods used for standard setting is the borderline regression method (BRM. This study aims to assess the reliability of BRM when the pass-fail standard in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE was calculated by averaging the BRM standards obtained for each station separately. Materials and Methods: In nine stations of the OSCE with direct observation the examiners gave each student a checklist score and a global score. Using a linear regression model for each station, we calculated the checklist score cut-off on the regression equation for the global scale cut-off set at 2. The OSCE pass-fail standard was defined as the average of all station′s standard. To determine the reliability, the root mean square error (RMSE was calculated. The R2 coefficient and the inter-grade discrimination were calculated to assess the quality of OSCE. Results: The mean total test score was 60.78. The OSCE pass-fail standard and its RMSE were 47.37 and 0.55, respectively. The R2 coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 0.79. The inter-grade discrimination score varied greatly among stations. Conclusion: The RMSE of the standard was very small indicating that BRM is a reliable method of setting standard for OSCE, which has the advantage of providing data for quality assurance.

Russian standards and design practice of ensuring NPP reliability under severe external loading conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birbraer, A N [St. Petersburg Research and Design Institute Atomenergoproject, St. Petersburt (Russian Federation)

1993-07-01

Russian Standards and design practice of ensuring NPP reliability under severe external loading conditions are described. The main attention is paid to the seismic design requirements. Explosions, aircraft impact, and tornado are briefly examined too (author)

Russian standards and design practice of ensuring NPP reliability under severe external loading conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birbraer, A.N.

1993-01-01

Russian Standards and design practice of ensuring NPP reliability under severe external loading conditions are described. The main attention is paid to the seismic design requirements. Explosions, aircraft impact, and tornado are briefly examined too (author)

Development of a reliable simulation-based test for diagnostic abdominal ultrasound with a pass/fail standard usable for mastery learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Mia L; Nielsen, Kristina R; Albrecht-Beste, Elisabeth

2018-01-01

training can benefit from competency-based education based on reliable tests. • This simulation-based test can differentiate between competency levels of ultrasound examiners. • This test is suitable for competency-based education, e.g. mastery learning. • We provide a pass/fail standard without false...... from The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Four groups of experience levels were constructed: Novices (medical students), trainees (first-year radiology residents), intermediates (third- to fourth-year radiology residents) and advanced (physicians with ultrasound...

Development of a highly reliable CRT processor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimizu, Tomoya; Saiki, Akira; Hirai, Kenji; Jota, Masayoshi; Fujii, Mikiya

1996-01-01

Although CRT processors have been employed by the main control board to reduce the operator's workload during monitoring, the control systems are still operated by hardware switches. For further advancement, direct controller operation through a display device is expected. A CRT processor providing direct controller operation must be as reliable as the hardware switches are. The authors are developing a new type of highly reliable CRT processor that enables direct controller operations. In this paper, we discuss the design principles behind a highly reliable CRT processor. The principles are defined by studies of software reliability and of the functional reliability of the monitoring and operation systems. The functional configuration of an advanced CRT processor is also addressed. (author)

76 FR 66055 - North American Electric Reliability Corporation; Order Approving Interpretation of Reliability...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-25

...\\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242... materially affected'' by Bulk-Power System reliability may request an interpretation of a Reliability... Electric Reliability Corporation; Order Approving Interpretation of Reliability Standard; Before...

Performance, compliance and reliability of Waste stabilization pond: Effluent discharge quality and environmental protection agency standards in Ghana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owusu-Ansah, Emmanuel de-Graft Johnson; Sampson, Angelina; Amponsah, Samuel K.

2015-01-01

function to establish the relationship between the statistical coefficient of variation and the coefficient of reliability based on rth moment about the origin in the moment of generation function to generate the functions of the mean and standard deviation, properties of the standard Z normal distribution...... were used to establish the coefficient of reliability relationship depending on the coefficient of variation influenced by the standard of deviation. Discharge values of Physico-chemical Parameters measured from the WSP were found be performing acceptably based on the EPA standards, whereas only four......Measuring performance has been arguerably, one of the metric with many facets with different school of thoughts, as there exist different approaches of measuring it. Several of the existing approaches measure such metric by comparison with standards esherined in policy documents and as a result...

Intra- and interobserver reliability of gray scale/dynamic range evaluation of ultrasonography using a standardized phantom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Song; Choi, Joon Il; Park, Michael Yong; Yeo, Dong Myung; Byun, Jae Young; Jung, Seung Eun; Rha, Sung Eun; Oh, Soon Nam; Lee, Young Joon

2014-01-01

To evaluate intra- and interobserver reliability of the gray scale/dynamic range of the phantom image evaluation of ultrasonography using a standardized phantom, and to assess the effect of interactive education on the reliability. Three radiologists (a resident, and two board-certified radiologists with 2 and 7 years of experience in evaluating ultrasound phantom images) performed the gray scale/dynamic range test for an ultrasound machine using a standardized phantom. They scored the number of visible cylindrical structures of varying degrees of brightness and made a pass or fail decision. First, they scored 49 phantom images twice from a 2010 survey with limited knowledge of phantom images. After this, the radiologists underwent two hours of interactive education for the phantom images and scored another 91 phantom images from a 2011 survey twice. Intra- and interobserver reliability before and after the interactive education session were analyzed using K analyses. Before education, the K-value for intraobserver reliability for the radiologist with 7 years of experience, 2 years of experience, and the resident was 0.386, 0.469, and 0.465, respectively. After education, the K-values were improved (0.823, 0.611, and 0.711, respectively). For interobserver reliability, the K-value was also better after the education for the 3 participants (0.067, 0.002, and 0.547 before education; 0.635, 0.667, and 0.616 after education, respectively). The intra- and interobserver reliability of the gray scale/dynamic range was fair to substantial. Interactive education can improve reliability. For more reliable results, double- checking of phantom images by multiple reviewers is recommended.

76 FR 66220 - Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding and Load Shedding Plans Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-26

.... I. Background A. Underfrequency Load Shedding 4. An interconnected electric power system must... generation and load within an interconnected electric power system is shown in the frequency of the system.\\4... Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242, order on reh'g...

Composite Reliability and Standard Errors of Measurement for a Seven-Subtest Short Form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Schretlen, David; And Others

1994-01-01

Composite reliability and standard errors of measurement were computed for prorated Verbal, Performance, and Full-Scale intelligence quotient (IQ) scores from a seven-subtest short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Results with 1,880 adults (standardization sample) indicate that this form is as reliable as the complete test.…

77 FR 59151 - Regional Reliability Standard PRC-006-NPCC-1-Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-26

... approval. The proposed regional Reliability Standard applies to generator owners, planning coordinators... Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. Instructions: For... Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6750, [email protected

78 FR 38851 - Electric Reliability Organization Proposal To Retire Requirements in Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-28

... either: Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or are redundant with other aspects... for retirement either: (1) Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or (2) are... to assure reliability of the Bulk-Power System and should be withdrawn. We have identified 41...

Nuclear standardization development study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Jianjun

2010-01-01

Nuclear industry is the important part of national security and national economic development is key area of national new energy supported by government. nuclear standardization is the important force for nuclear industry development, is the fundamental guarantee of nuclear safe production, is the valuable means of China's nuclear industry technology to the world market. Now nuclear standardization faces to the new development opportunity, nuclear standardization should implement strategy in standard system building, foreign standard research, company standard building, and talented people building to meet the requirement of nuclear industry development. (author)

Contribution to high voltage matrix switches reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lausenaz, Yvan

2000-01-01

Nowadays, power electronic equipment requirements are important, concerning performances, quality and reliability. On the other hand, costs have to be reduced in order to satisfy the market rules. To provide cheap, reliability and performances, many standard components with mass production are developed. But the construction of specific products must be considered following these two different points: in one band you can produce specific components, with delay, over-cost problems and eventuality quality and reliability problems, in the other and you can use standard components in a adapted topologies. The CEA of Pierrelatte has adopted this last technique of power electronic conception for the development of these high voltage pulsed power converters. The technique consists in using standard components and to associate them in series and in parallel. The matrix constitutes high voltage macro-switch where electrical parameters are distributed between the synchronized components. This study deals with the reliability of these structures. It brings up the high reliability aspect of MOSFETs matrix associations. Thanks to several homemade test facilities, we obtained lots of data concerning the components we use. The understanding of defects propagation mechanisms in matrix structures has allowed us to put forwards the necessity of robust drive system, adapted clamping voltage protection, and careful geometrical construction. All these reliability considerations in matrix associations have notably allowed the construction of a new matrix structure regrouping all solutions insuring reliability. Reliable and robust, this product has already reaches the industrial stage. (author) [fr

Problem of nuclear power plant reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popyrin, L.S.; Nefedov, Yu.V.

1989-01-01

The problem of substantiation of rational and methods of ensurance of NPP reliability at the stage of its designing has been studied. It is shown that the optimal level of NPP reliability is determined by coordinating solution of the proiblems for optimization of reliability of power industry, heat and power supply and nuclear power generation systems comprising NPP, and problems of reliability optimization of NPP proper, as a complex engineering system. The conclusion is made that the greatest attention should be paid to the development of mathematical models of reliability, taking into account different methods of equipment redundancy, as well as dependence of failures on barious factors, improvement of NPP reliability indices, development of data base, working out of the complec of consistent standards of reliability. 230 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

Reliability and validity of the Korean standard pattern identification for stroke (K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kang Byoung-Kab

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The present study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the ‘Korean Standard Pattern Identification for Stroke (K-SPI-Stroke’, which was developed and evaluated within the context of traditional Korean medicine (TKM. Methods Between September 2006 and December 2010, 2,905 patients from 11 Korean medical hospitals were asked to complete the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire as a part of project ' Fundamental study for the standardization and objectification of pattern identification in traditional Korean medicine for stroke (SOPI-Stroke. Each patient was independently diagnosed by two TKM physicians from the same site according to one of four patterns, as suggested by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine: 1 a Qi deficiency pattern, 2 a Dampness-phlegm pattern, 3 a Yin deficiency pattern, or 4 a Fire-heat pattern. We estimated the internal consistency using Cronbach’s α coefficient, the discriminant validity using the means score of patterns, and the predictive validity using the classification accuracy of the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire. Results The K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire had satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.700 and validity, with significant differences in the mean of scores among the four patterns. The overall classification accuracy of this questionnaire was 65.2 %. Conclusion These results suggest that the K-SPI-Stroke questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for estimating the severity of the four patterns.

Reliability issues : a Canadian perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konow, H.

2004-01-01

A Canadian perspective of power reliability issues was presented. Reliability depends on adequacy of supply and a framework for standards. The challenges facing the electric power industry include new demand, plant replacement and exports. It is expected that demand will by 670 TWh by 2020, with 205 TWh coming from new plants. Canada will require an investment of $150 billion to meet this demand and the need is comparable in the United States. As trade grows, the challenge becomes a continental issue and investment in the bi-national transmission grid will be essential. The 5 point plan of the Canadian Electricity Association is to: (1) establish an investment climate to ensure future electricity supply, (2) move government and industry towards smart and effective regulation, (3) work to ensure a sustainable future for the next generation, (4) foster innovation and accelerate skills development, and (5) build on the strengths of an integrated North American system to maximize opportunity for Canadians. The CEA's 7 measures that enhance North American reliability were listed with emphasis on its support for a self-governing international organization for developing and enforcing mandatory reliability standards. CEA also supports the creation of a binational Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) to identify and solve reliability issues in the context of a bi-national grid. tabs., figs

Effect of standardized training on the reliability of the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool: a prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

da Costa, Bruno R; Beckett, Brooke; Diaz, Alison; Resta, Nina M; Johnston, Bradley C; Egger, Matthias; Jüni, Peter; Armijo-Olivo, Susan

2017-03-03

The Cochrane risk of bias tool is commonly criticized for having a low reliability. We aimed to investigate whether training of raters, with objective and standardized instructions on how to assess risk of bias, can improve the reliability of the Cochrane risk of bias tool. In this pilot study, four raters inexperienced in risk of bias assessment were randomly allocated to minimal or intensive standardized training for risk of bias assessment of randomized trials of physical therapy treatments for patients with knee osteoarthritis pain. Two raters were experienced risk of bias assessors who served as reference. The primary outcome of our study was between-group reliability, defined as the agreement of the risk of bias assessments of inexperienced raters with the reference assessments of experienced raters. Consensus-based assessments were used for this purpose. The secondary outcome was within-group reliability, defined as the agreement of assessments within pairs of inexperienced raters. We calculated the chance-corrected weighted Kappa to quantify agreement within and between groups of raters for each of the domains of the risk of bias tool. A total of 56 trials were included in our analysis. The Kappa for the agreement of inexperienced raters with reference across items of the risk of bias tool ranged from 0.10 to 0.81 for the minimal training group and from 0.41 to 0.90 for the standardized training group. The Kappa values for the agreement within pairs of inexperienced raters across the items of the risk of bias tool ranged from 0 to 0.38 for the minimal training group and from 0.93 to 1 for the standardized training group. Between-group differences in Kappa for the agreement of inexperienced raters with reference always favored the standardized training group and was most pronounced for incomplete outcome data (difference in Kappa 0.52, p training on risk of bias assessment may significantly improve the reliability of the Cochrane risk of bias tool.

High-Reliable PLC RTOS Development and RPS Structure Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohn, H. S.; Song, D. Y.; Sohn, D. S.; Kim, J. H. [Enersys Co., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-04-15

One of the KNICS objectives is to develop a platform for Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) I and C(Instrumentation and Control) system, especially plant protection system. The developed platform is POSAFE-Q and this work supports the development of POSAFE-Q with the development of high-reliable real-time operating system(RTOS) and programmable logic device(PLD) software. Another KNICS objective is to develop safety I and C systems, such as Reactor Protection System(RPS) and Engineered Safety Feature-Component Control System(ESF-CCS). This work plays an important role in the structure analysis for RPS. Validation and verification(V and V) of the safety critical software is an essential work to make digital plant protection system highly reliable and safe. Generally, the reliability and safety of software based system can be improved by strict quality assurance framework including the software development itself. In other words, through V and V, the reliability and safety of a system can be improved and the development activities like software requirement specification, software design specification, component tests, integration tests, and system tests shall be appropriately documented for V and V.

High-Reliable PLC RTOS Development and RPS Structure Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, H. S.; Song, D. Y.; Sohn, D. S.; Kim, J. H.

2008-04-01

One of the KNICS objectives is to develop a platform for Nuclear Power Plant(NPP) I and C(Instrumentation and Control) system, especially plant protection system. The developed platform is POSAFE-Q and this work supports the development of POSAFE-Q with the development of high-reliable real-time operating system(RTOS) and programmable logic device(PLD) software. Another KNICS objective is to develop safety I and C systems, such as Reactor Protection System(RPS) and Engineered Safety Feature-Component Control System(ESF-CCS). This work plays an important role in the structure analysis for RPS. Validation and verification(V and V) of the safety critical software is an essential work to make digital plant protection system highly reliable and safe. Generally, the reliability and safety of software based system can be improved by strict quality assurance framework including the software development itself. In other words, through V and V, the reliability and safety of a system can be improved and the development activities like software requirement specification, software design specification, component tests, integration tests, and system tests shall be appropriately documented for V and V.

Monitoring system for accuracy and reliability characteristics of standard temperature measurements in WWER-440 reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanc, S.; Repa, M.

2001-01-01

Description of a monitoring system for accuracy and reliability characteristics of standard temperature measurements in WWER-440 reactors and benefits obtained from its use are shown in the presentation. As standard reactor temperature measurement, coolant temperature measurement at fuel assembly outlets and in loops, entered into the In-Reactor Control System , are considered. Such systems have been implemented at two V-230 reactors and are under implementation at other four V-213 reactors. (Authors)

NDE reliability and SAFT-UT final development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doctor, S.R.; Deffenbaugh, J.D.; Good, M.S.; Green, E.R.; Heasler, P.G.; Reid, L.D.; Simonen, F.A.; Spanner, J.C.; Taylor, T.T.; Vo, T.V.

1990-01-01

The Evaluation and Improvement of NDE Reliability for Inservice Inspection of Light Water Reactors (NDE Reliability) program at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) was established by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to determine the reliability of current inservice inspection (ISI) techniques and to develop recommendations that will ensure a suitably high inspection reliability. This is a progress report covering the programmatic work from October 1987 through September 1988. The program for Validation and Technology Transfer for SAFT-UT is designed to accomplish the final step of moving research results into beneficial application. Accomplishments for FY88 in Synthetic Aperture Focusing of Ultrasonic Test data (SAFT-UT) under this program are discussed in this paper. The information is treated under the copies of Code Activities, Field Validation, and Seminars. (orig.)

Approach to developing reliable space reactor power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mondt, J.F.; Shinbrot, C.H.

1991-01-01

The Space Reactor Power System Project is in the engineering development phase of a three-phase program. During Phase II, the Engineering Development Phase, the SP-100 Project has defined and is pursuing a new approach to developing reliable power systems. The approach to developing such a system during the early technology phase is described in this paper along with some preliminary examples to help explain the approach. Developing reliable components to meet space reactor power system requirements is based on a top down systems approach which includes a point design based on a detailed technical specification of a 100 kW power system

Validity, Reliability and Standardization Study of the Language Assessment Test for Aphasia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bülent Toğram

2012-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Aphasia assessment is the first step towards a well- founded language therapy. Language tests need to consider cultural as well as typological linguistic aspects of a given language. This study was designed to determine the standardization, validity and reliability of Language Assessment Test for Aphasia, which consists of eight subtests including spontaneous speech and language, auditory comprehension, repetition, naming, reading, grammar, speech acts, and writing. METHODS: The test was administered to 282 healthy participants and 92 aphasic participants in age, education and gender matched groups. The validity study of the test was investigated with analysis of content, structure and criterion-related validity. For reliability of the test, the analysis of internal consistency, stability and equivalence reliability was conducted. The influence of variables on healhty participants’ sub-test scores, test score and language score was examined. According to significant differences, norms and cut-off scores based on language score were determined. RESULTS: The group with aphasia performed highly lower than healthy participants on subtest, test and language scores. The test scores of healthy group were mostly affected by age and educational level but not affected by gender. According to significant differences, age and educational level for both groups were determined. Considering age and educational levels, the reference values for the cut-off scores were presented. CONCLUSION: The test was found to be a highly reliable and valid aphasia test for Turkish- speaking aphasic patients either in Turkey or other Turkish communities around the world

The reliability and validity of the standardized Mensendieck test in relation to disability in patients with chronic pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Keessen, Paul; Maaskant, Jolanda; Visser, Bart

2018-08-01

The standardized Mensendieck test (SMT) was developed to quantify posture, movement, gait, and respiration. In the hands of an experienced therapist, the SMT is proven to be a reliable tool. It is unclear whether posture, movement, gait, and respiration are related to the degree of functional disability in patients with chronic pain. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and convergent validity of the SMT in a heterogeneous sample of 50 patients with chronic pain. Internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's α and interrater reliability by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Convergent validity was assessed by determining the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between the movement quality measured in the SMT and functional limitation measured on the disability rating index (DRI). The internal consistency was Cronbach's α 0.91. Substantial reliability was found for the items: movement (ICC = 0.68), gait (ICC = 0.69), sitting posture (ICC = 0.63), and respiration (ICC = 0.64). Insufficient reliability was found for standing posture (ICC = 0.23). A moderate correlation was found between average test score SMT and the DRI (r = -0.37) and respiration and DRI (r = -0.45). The SMT is a reasonably reliable tool to assess movement, gait, sitting posture, and respiration. None of the items in the domain standing posture has sufficient reliability. A thorough study of this domain should be considered. The results show little evidence for convergent validity. Several items of the SMT correlated moderately with functional limitation with the DRI. These items were global movement, hip flexion, pelvis rotation, and all respiration items.

75 FR 61478 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Notice Allowing Post-Technical...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-05

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket Nos. RM06-16-010; RM06-16-011] Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Notice Allowing Post-Technical Conference Comments September 24, 2010. On September 23, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conducted a...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-03-01

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

Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

1995-01-01

A number of software reliability models have been developed to estimate and to predict software reliability. However, there are no established standard models to quantify software reliability. Most models estimate the quality of software in reliability figures such as remaining faults, failure rate, or mean time to next failure at the testing phase, and they consider them ultimate indicators of software reliability. Experience shows that there is a large gap between predicted reliability during development and reliability measured during operation, which means that predicted reliability, or so-called test reliability, is not operational reliability. Customers prefer operational reliability to test reliability. In this study, we propose a method that predicts operational reliability rather than test reliability by introducing the testing environment factor that quantifies the changes in environments

75 FR 59261 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Supplemental Notice of Technical...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-27

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket Nos. RM06-16-010; RM06-16-011] Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference September 17, 2010. On August 19, 2010 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that a Technical...

75 FR 57764 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Supplemental Notice of Technical...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-22

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket Nos. RM06-16-010; RM06-16-011] Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference September 14, 2010. On August 19, 2010 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that a Technical...

Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility: Linking Goals to Standards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radostina Bakardjieva

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Corporate social responsibility (CSR is the core of sustainable development of companies. On one hand, the corporate social responsibility of companies is a prerequisite for sustainable business, on the other - sustainable development sets specific requirements for the development of businesses in the context of increasing requirements to the degree of quality and reliability of financial information. In recent years, sustainable development has become a strategic issue for companies and this trend applies to Bulgarian companies too. Development of non-financial reporting is a very dynamic process, whose peak is the establishment of an integrated system of accountability. Current paper makes analyses of advantages of CSR linking it to the implementation of sustainable development goals through the integrated reporting following the requirements of the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI.

Reliability on the move: safety and reliability in transportation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guy, G.B.

1989-01-01

The development of transportation has been a significant factor in the development of civilisation as a whole. Our technical ability to move people and goods now seems virtually limitless when one considers for example the achievements of the various space programmes. Yet our current achievements rely heavily on high standards of safety and reliability from equipment and the human component of transportation systems. Recent failures have highlighted our dependence on equipment and human reliability. This book represents the proceedings of the 1989 Safety and Reliability Society symposium held at Bath on 11-12 October 1989. The structure of the book follows the structure of the symposium itself and the papers selected represent current thinking the the wide field of transportation, and the areas of rail (6 papers, three on railway signalling), air including space (two papers), road (one paper), road and rail (two papers) and sea (three papers) are covered. There are four papers concerned with general transport issues. Three papers concerned with the transport of radioactive materials are indexed separately. (author)

The role of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) in providing standards to support reliability technology for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steele, L.E.

1978-01-01

ASTM is an international society for managing the development of standards on characteristics and performance of materials, products, systems and services and the promotion of related knowledge. This paper provides on overview of ASTM, emphasizing its contribution to nuclear systems reliability. In so doing, the author, from his perspective as chairman of ASTM committee E 10 on ''Nuclear Applications and the Measurement of Radiation Effects and the Committee on Standards'', illustrates ASTM contributions to the understanding and control of radiation embrittlement of light-water reactor pressure vessels. Four major related taks are summarized and pertinent standards identified. These include: (1) surveillance practice (5 standards), (2) neutron dosimetry (8 standards), (3) specification for steels for nuclear service (7 standards) and (4) basic guidelines for thermal annealing to correct radiation embrittlement (1 standard). This illustration, a specific accomplishment using ASTM standards, is cited within the context of the broader nuclear-related activities of ASTM. (author)

Instant standard concept for data standards development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Folmer, Erwin Johan Albert; Kulcsor, Istvan Zsolt; Roes, Jasper

2013-01-01

This paper presents the current results of an ongoing research about a new data standards development concept. The concept is called Instant Standard referring to the pressure that is generated by shrinking the length of the standardization process. Based on this concept it is estimated that the

Mechanical development for reliable reactor components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross-Ross, P.A.; Metcalfe, R.

1983-09-01

The CANDU reactor has achieved worldwide distinction because of its reliable performance. To achieve this, special attention was given to the reliability and maintainability of components in the heavy water circuits. Development programs were initiated early in the history of the CANDU reactor to improve the effectiveness of pump seals, valves, and static seals because of unacceptable performance of the commercial equipment then available. As a result, pump seals with a five year life now appear achievable, and valves and static seals are no longer a significant concern in CANDU reactors. Increasing effort is being given remotely operated tools and fabrication systems for radioactive environments

Reliability of the individual components of the Canadian Armed Forces Physical Employment Standard.

Science.gov (United States)

Stockbrugger, Barry G; Reilly, Tara J; Blacklock, Rachel E; Gagnon, Patrick J

2018-01-29

This investigation recruited 24 participants from both the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and civilian populations to complete 4 separate trials at "best effort" of each of the 4 components in the CAF Physical Employment Standard named the FORCE Evaluation: Fitness for Operational Requirements of CAF Employment. Analyses were performed to examine the level of variability and reliability within each component. The results demonstrate that candidates should be provided with at least 1 retest if they have recently completed at least 2 previous best effort attempts as per the protocol. In addition, the minimal detectable difference is given for each of the 4 components in seconds which identifies the threshold for subsequent action, either retest or remedial training, for those unable to meet the minimum standard. These results will educate the delivery of this employment standard, function as a method of accommodation, in addition to providing direction for physical training programs.

[The analytical reliability of clinical laboratory information and role of the standards in its support].

Science.gov (United States)

Men'shikov, V V

2012-12-01

The article deals with the factors impacting the reliability of clinical laboratory information. The differences of qualities of laboratory analysis tools produced by various manufacturers are discussed. These characteristics are the causes of discrepancy of the results of laboratory analyses of the same analite. The role of the reference system in supporting the comparability of laboratory analysis results is demonstrated. The project of national standard is presented to regulate the requirements to standards and calibrators for analysis of qualitative and non-metrical characteristics of components of biomaterials.

Cultural Adaptation and Reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for Nurses in Brazil 1

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Fernanda Maria Vieira; Lam, Simon Ching; Gir, Elucir

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: this study aimed to carry of the cultural adaptation and to evaluate the reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for nurses in Brazil. Method: the adaptation process entailed translation, consensus among judges, back-translation, semantic validation and pretest. The reliability was evaluated by internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and stability (test-retest). The instrument was administered to a sample group of 300 nurses who worked in a large hospital located in the city of São Paulo/SP, Brazil. Results: through the semantic validation, the items from the scale were considered understandable and deemed important for the nurse´s clinical practice. The CSPS Brazilian Portuguese version (CSPS-PB) revealed excellent interpretability. The Cronbach`s alpha was 0.61 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.85. Conclusion: the initial study showed that CSPS-PB is appropriate to assess compliance with standard precautions among nurses in Brazil. The reliability was considered acceptable. Furhter study is necessary to evaluate its comprehensive psychometric properties. PMID:28301030

Development of a standard equipment management model for nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Hee Seung; Ju, Tae Young; Kim, Jung Wun [KHNP Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-10-15

Most utilities that have achieved high performance have introduced a management model to improve performance and operate plants safely. The Nuclear Energy Institute has developed and updated its Standard Nuclear Performance Model (SNPM) in order to provide a summary of nuclear processes, cost definitions, and key business performance measures for business performance comparison and benchmarking. Over the past decade, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) has introduced and implemented many engineering processes such as Equipment Reliability (ER), Maintenance Rule (MR), Single Point Vulnerability (SPV), Corrective Action Program (CAP), and Self Assessment (SA) to improve plant performance and to sustain high performance. Some processes, however, are not well interfaced with other processes, because they were developed separately and were focused on the process itself. KHNP is developing a Standard Equipment Management Model (SEMM) to integrate these engineering processes and to improve the interrelation among the processes. In this paper, a draft model and attributes of the SEMM are discussed.

Development of a standard equipment management model for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Hee Seung; Ju, Tae Young; Kim, Jung Wun

2012-01-01

Most utilities that have achieved high performance have introduced a management model to improve performance and operate plants safely. The Nuclear Energy Institute has developed and updated its Standard Nuclear Performance Model (SNPM) in order to provide a summary of nuclear processes, cost definitions, and key business performance measures for business performance comparison and benchmarking. Over the past decade, Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) has introduced and implemented many engineering processes such as Equipment Reliability (ER), Maintenance Rule (MR), Single Point Vulnerability (SPV), Corrective Action Program (CAP), and Self Assessment (SA) to improve plant performance and to sustain high performance. Some processes, however, are not well interfaced with other processes, because they were developed separately and were focused on the process itself. KHNP is developing a Standard Equipment Management Model (SEMM) to integrate these engineering processes and to improve the interrelation among the processes. In this paper, a draft model and attributes of the SEMM are discussed

Effect of standardized training on the reliability of the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool: a study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

da Costa, Bruno R; Resta, Nina M; Beckett, Brooke; Israel-Stahre, Nicholas; Diaz, Alison; Johnston, Bradley C; Egger, Matthias; Jüni, Peter; Armijo-Olivo, Susan

2014-12-13

The Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool has been widely embraced by the systematic review community, but several studies have reported that its reliability is low. We aim to investigate whether training of raters, including objective and standardized instructions on how to assess risk of bias, can improve the reliability of this tool. We describe the methods that will be used in this investigation and present an intensive standardized training package for risk of bias assessment that could be used by contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration and other reviewers. This is a pilot study. We will first perform a systematic literature review to identify randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that will be used for risk of bias assessment. Using the identified RCTs, we will then do a randomized experiment, where raters will be allocated to two different training schemes: minimal training and intensive standardized training. We will calculate the chance-corrected weighted Kappa with 95% confidence intervals to quantify within- and between-group Kappa agreement for each of the domains of the risk of bias tool. To calculate between-group Kappa agreement, we will use risk of bias assessments from pairs of raters after resolution of disagreements. Between-group Kappa agreement will quantify the agreement between the risk of bias assessment of raters in the training groups and the risk of bias assessment of experienced raters. To compare agreement of raters under different training conditions, we will calculate differences between Kappa values with 95% confidence intervals. This study will investigate whether the reliability of the risk of bias tool can be improved by training raters using standardized instructions for risk of bias assessment. One group of inexperienced raters will receive intensive training on risk of bias assessment and the other will receive minimal training. By including a control group with minimal training, we will attempt to mimic what many review authors

Standard for supply security. A minimum standard to guarantee the balance between electricity demand and supply for the long term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheepers, M.J.J.; Van Werven, M.J.N.; Seebregts, A.J.; Poort, J.P.; De Nooij, M.; Baarsma, B.E.

2004-05-01

The development and use of a minimum reliability standard in the Dutch electricity market to guarantee an adequate balance between electricity demand and supply in the longer term are discussed. This standard can be based on the duration of a power outage and the related costs for society relative to the costs to prevent the power outage. The reliability standard can be translated in an adequacy standard when the reliability of foreign electricity supply to the Dutch market is taken into account. With a theoretical analysis and an assessment of the use of standards in foreign electricity markets and other sectors this study provides a survey of the use of standards in securing public interests. In electricity markets reliability standards can be used obligatory or only to inform market participants of the adequacy of supply preferred by consumers. If no standard is used, the market should rely on the economic incentives provided by contracts and liability. This study proposes to use a reliability standard for calculating the required generation capacity in an ex-ante market analysis using different future scenarios. On the basis of several market indicators, expected market developments can be monitored. Assessment of the market developments relative to the required generation capacity will give a signal to market participants with respect to the expected adequacy in the longer term (7 to 10 years). The assessment and the resulting signal should help to improve market transparency and assist producers, suppliers and consumers in their decisions towards an effective and efficient response on long-term market developments. Market monitoring results can be used by the government to take specific action, if necessary, to reduce barriers to invest. However, more general policy measures should not be linked to the monitoring results since this could provoke strategic behaviour [nl

75 FR 71613 - Mandatory Reliability Standards for Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-24

... Interconnection to relieve overloads on the facilities modeled in the Interchange Distribution Calculator (IDC... for other SOLs. But the Functional Model assigns a much broader role to the reliability coordinator to...

The Children's Body Image Scale: reliability and use with international standards for body mass index.

Science.gov (United States)

Truby, Helen; Paxton, Susan J

2008-03-01

To test the reliability of the Children's Body Image Scale (CBIS) and assess its usefulness in the context of new body size charts for children. Participants were 281 primary schoolchildren with 50% being retested after 3 weeks. The CBIS figure scale was compared with a range of international body mass index (BMI) reference standards. Children had a high degree of body image dissatisfaction. The test-retest reliability of the CBIS was supported. The CBIS is a useful tool for assessing body image in children with sound scale properties. It can also be used to identify the body size of children, which lies outside the healthy weight range of BMI.

Developing a certifiable UAS reliability assessment approach through algorithmic redundancy, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Manned aircraft, civilian or military, are required to meet certain reliability standards specified by the FAA in order to operate in the US national airspace. These...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-05-01

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

Test-retest reliability of the assessment of postural stability in typically developing children and in hearing impaired children.

Science.gov (United States)

De Kegel, A; Dhooge, I; Cambier, D; Baetens, T; Palmans, T; Van Waelvelde, H

2011-04-01

The purpose of this study was to establish test-retest reliability of centre of pressure (COP) measurements obtained by an AccuGait portable forceplate (ACG), mean COG sway velocity measured by a Basic Balance Master (BBM) and clinical balance tests in children with and without balance difficulties. 49 typically developing children and 23 hearing impaired children, with a higher risk for stability problems, between 6 and 12 years of age participated. Each child performed the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance (mCTSIB), Unilateral Stance (US) and Tandem Stance on ACG, mCTSIB and US on BBM and clinical balance tests: one-leg standing, balance beam walking and one-leg hopping. All subjects completed 2 test sessions on 2 different days in the same week assessed by the same examiner. Among COP measurements obtained by the ACG, mean sway velocity was the most reliable parameter with all ICCs higher than 0.72. The standard deviation (SD) of sway velocity, sway area, SD of anterior-posterior and SD of medio-lateral COP data showed moderate to excellent reliability with ICCs between 0.55 and 0.96 but some caution must be taken into account in some conditions. BBM is less reliable but clinical balance tests are as reliable as ACG. Hearing impaired children exhibited better relative reliability (ICC) and comparable absolute reliability (SEM) for most balance parameters compared to typically developing children. Reliable information regarding postural stability of typically developing children and hearing impaired children may be obtained utilizing COP measurements generated by an AccuGait system and clinical balance tests. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 15371 - Time Error Correction Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-29

... Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 22 million Texas customers. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that... Coordinating Council (WECC) is responsible for coordinating and promoting bulk electric system reliability in...

[Development of a software standardizing optical density with operation settings related to several limitations].

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Xiao-Ming; Zhang, Zuo-Heng; Wan, Cheng; Zheng, Yu; Xu, Jin-Mei; Zhang, Yuan-Yuan; Luo, Jian-Ping; Wu, Hai-Wei

2012-12-01

To develop a software that can be used to standardize optical density to normalize the procedures and results of standardization in order to effectively solve several problems generated during standardization of in-direct ELISA results. The software was designed based on the I-STOD method with operation settings to solve the problems that one might encounter during the standardization. Matlab GUI was used as a tool for the development. The software was tested with the results of the detection of sera of persons from schistosomiasis japonica endemic areas. I-STOD V1.0 (WINDOWS XP/WIN 7, 0.5 GB) was successfully developed to standardize optical density. A serial of serum samples from schistosomiasis japonica endemic areas were used to examine the operational effects of I-STOD V1.0 software. The results indicated that the software successfully overcame several problems including reliability of standard curve, applicable scope of samples and determination of dilution for samples outside the scope, so that I-STOD was performed more conveniently and the results of standardization were more consistent. I-STOD V1.0 is a professional software based on I-STOD. It can be easily operated and can effectively standardize the testing results of in-direct ELISA.

Scale for positive aspects of caregiving experience: development, reliability, and factor structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kate, N; Grover, S; Kulhara, P; Nehra, R

2012-06-01

OBJECTIVE. To develop an instrument (Scale for Positive Aspects of Caregiving Experience [SPACE]) that evaluates positive caregiving experience and assess its psychometric properties. METHODS. Available scales which assess some aspects of positive caregiving experience were reviewed and a 50-item questionnaire with a 5-point rating was constructed. In all, 203 primary caregivers of patients with severe mental disorders were asked to complete the questionnaire. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, cross-language reliability, split-half reliability, and face validity were evaluated. Principal component factor analysis was run to assess the factorial validity of the scale. RESULTS. The scale developed as part of the study was found to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, cross-language reliability, split-half reliability, and face validity. Principal component factor analysis yielded a 4-factor structure, which also had good test-retest reliability and cross-language reliability. There was a strong correlation between the 4 factors obtained. CONCLUSION. The SPACE developed as part of this study has good psychometric properties.

Development of RBDGG Solver and Its Application to System Reliability Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Man Cheol

2010-01-01

For the purpose of making system reliability analysis easier and more intuitive, RBDGG (Reliability Block diagram with General Gates) methodology was introduced as an extension of the conventional reliability block diagram. The advantage of the RBDGG methodology is that the structure of a RBDGG model is very similar to the actual structure of the analyzed system, and therefore the modeling of a system for system reliability and unavailability analysis becomes very intuitive and easy. The main idea of the development of the RBDGG methodology is similar with that of the development of the RGGG (Reliability Graph with General Gates) methodology, which is an extension of a conventional reliability graph. The newly proposed methodology is now implemented into a software tool, RBDGG Solver. RBDGG Solver was developed as a WIN32 console application. RBDGG Solver receives information on the failure modes and failure probabilities of each component in the system, along with the connection structure and connection logics among the components in the system. Based on the received information, RBDGG Solver automatically generates a system reliability analysis model for the system, and then provides the analysis results. In this paper, application of RBDGG Solver to the reliability analysis of an example system, and verification of the calculation results are provided for the purpose of demonstrating how RBDGG Solver is used for system reliability analysis

Suncor maintenance and reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Little, S. [Suncor Energy, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2006-07-01

Fleet maintenance and reliability at Suncor Energy was discussed in this presentation, with reference to Suncor Energy's primary and support equipment fleets. This paper also discussed Suncor Energy's maintenance and reliability standard involving people, processes and technology. An organizational maturity chart that graphed organizational learning against organizational performance was illustrated. The presentation also reviewed the maintenance and reliability framework; maintenance reliability model; the process overview of the maintenance and reliability standard; a process flow chart of maintenance strategies and programs; and an asset reliability improvement process flow chart. An example of an improvement initiative was included, with reference to a shovel reliability review; a dipper trip reliability investigation; bucket related failures by type and frequency; root cause analysis of the reliability process; and additional actions taken. Last, the presentation provided a graph of the results of the improvement initiative and presented the key lessons learned. tabs., figs.

Hawaii Electric System Reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loose, Verne William [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Silva Monroy, Cesar Augusto [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2012-08-01

This report addresses Hawaii electric system reliability issues; greater emphasis is placed on short-term reliability but resource adequacy is reviewed in reference to electric consumers’ views of reliability “worth” and the reserve capacity required to deliver that value. The report begins with a description of the Hawaii electric system to the extent permitted by publicly available data. Electrical engineering literature in the area of electric reliability is researched and briefly reviewed. North American Electric Reliability Corporation standards and measures for generation and transmission are reviewed and identified as to their appropriateness for various portions of the electric grid and for application in Hawaii. Analysis of frequency data supplied by the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is presented together with comparison and contrast of performance of each of the systems for two years, 2010 and 2011. Literature tracing the development of reliability economics is reviewed and referenced. A method is explained for integrating system cost with outage cost to determine the optimal resource adequacy given customers’ views of the value contributed by reliable electric supply. The report concludes with findings and recommendations for reliability in the State of Hawaii.

Motor Importance of motor assessment in school children: analysis of the reliability of the motor development scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kassandra Nunes Amaro

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the motor performance of school chil-dren aged 6 to 10 years without learning difficulties (n=101, and to analyze the reliability of the Motor Development Scale (MDS (Rosa Neto, 2002. Descriptive statistics with calculation of the mean, standard deviation, and range was used for data analysis. The internal consistency of the MDS was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and the correlation between variables was determined by Pearson’s linear correlation, with p<0.05. The results showed (1 that motor development was within normal limits in 96% of the children, and (2 a high correlation betwe-en chronological age and general motor age, indicating good internal consistency. These data demonstrate the logic and structured design of the MDS, confirming its reliability.

Reliability and reproducibility of subaxial cervical injury description system: a standardized nomenclature schema.

Science.gov (United States)

Bono, Christopher M; Schoenfeld, Andrew; Gupta, Giri; Harrop, James S; Anderson, Paul; Patel, Alpesh A; Dimar, John; Aarabi, Bizhan; Dailey, Andrew; Vaccaro, Alexander R; Gahr, Ralf; Shaffrey, Christopher; Anderson, David G; Rampersaud, Raj

2011-08-01

Radiographic measurement study. To develop a standardized cervical injury nomenclature system to facilitate description, communication, and classification among health care providers. The reliability and reproducibility of this system was then examined. Description of subaxial cervical injuries is critical for treatment decision making and comparing scientific reports of outcomes. Despite a number of available classification systems, surgeons, and researchers continue to use descriptive nomenclature, such as "burst" and "teardrop" fractures, to describe injuries. However, there is considerable inconsistency with use of such terms in the literature. Eleven distinct injury types and associated definitions were established for the subaxial cervical spine and subsequently refined by members of the Spine Trauma Study Group. A series of 18 cases of patients with a broad spectrum of subaxial cervical spine injuries was prepared and distributed to surgeon raters. Each rater was provided with the full nomenclature document and asked to select primary and secondary injury types for each case. After receipt of the raters' first round of classifications, the cases were resorted and returned to the raters for a second round of review. Interrater and intrarater reliabilities were calculated as percent agreement and Cohen kappa (κ) values. Intrarater reliability was assessed by comparing a given rater's diagnosis from the first and second rounds. Nineteen surgeons completed the first and second rounds of the study. Overall, the system demonstrated 56.4% interrater agreement and 72.8% intrarater agreement. Overall, interrater κ values demonstrated moderate agreement while intrarater κ values showed substantial agreement. Analyzed by injury types, only four (burst fractures, lateral mass fractures, flexion teardrop fractures, and anterior distraction injuries) demonstrated greater than 50% interrater agreement. This study demonstrated that, even in ideal circumstances, there is

Tracking reliability for space cabin-borne equipment in development by Crow model.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J D; Jiao, S J; Sun, H L

2001-12-01

Objective. To study and track the reliability growth of manned spaceflight cabin-borne equipment in the course of its development. Method. A new technique of reliability growth estimation and prediction, which is composed of the Crow model and test data conversion (TDC) method was used. Result. The estimation and prediction value of the reliability growth conformed to its expectations. Conclusion. The method could dynamically estimate and predict the reliability of the equipment by making full use of various test information in the course of its development. It offered not only a possibility of tracking the equipment reliability growth, but also the reference for quality control in manned spaceflight cabin-borne equipment design and development process.

Development, reliability, and validity of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese refugees: a diagnostic instrument for Vietnamese refugees.

Science.gov (United States)

Dao, Tam K; Poritz, Julia M P; Moody, Rachel P; Szeto, Kim

2012-08-01

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview for Vietnamese Refugees (PTSD-IVR) was created specifically to assess for the presence of current and lifetime history of premigration, migration, encampment, and postmigration traumas in Vietnamese refugees. The purpose of the present study was to describe the development of and investigate the interrater and test-retest reliability of the PTSD-IVR and its validity in relation to the diagnoses obtained from the Longitudinal, Expert, and All Data (LEAD; Spitzer, 1983) standard. Clinicians conducted the diagnosis process with 127 Vietnamese refugees using the LEAD standard and the PTSD-IVR. Assessment of the reliability and validity of the PTSD-IVR yielded good to excellent AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; .86, .87) and κ values (.66, .74) indicating the reliability of the PTSD-IVR and the agreement between the LEAD procedure and the PTSD-IVR. The results of the present study suggest that the PTSD-IVR performs successfully as a diagnostic instrument specifically created for Vietnamese refugees in their native language. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Reliable LC-MS quantitative glycomics using iGlycoMab stable isotope labeled glycans as internal standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Shiyue; Tello, Nadia; Harvey, Alex; Boyes, Barry; Orlando, Ron; Mechref, Yehia

2016-06-01

Glycans have numerous functions in various biological processes and participate in the progress of diseases. Reliable quantitative glycomic profiling techniques could contribute to the understanding of the biological functions of glycans, and lead to the discovery of potential glycan biomarkers for diseases. Although LC-MS is a powerful analytical tool for quantitative glycomics, the variation of ionization efficiency and MS intensity bias are influencing quantitation reliability. Internal standards can be utilized for glycomic quantitation by MS-based methods to reduce variability. In this study, we used stable isotope labeled IgG2b monoclonal antibody, iGlycoMab, as an internal standard to reduce potential for errors and to reduce variabililty due to sample digestion, derivatization, and fluctuation of nanoESI efficiency in the LC-MS analysis of permethylated N-glycans released from model glycoproteins, human blood serum, and breast cancer cell line. We observed an unanticipated degradation of isotope labeled glycans, tracked a source of such degradation, and optimized a sample preparation protocol to minimize degradation of the internal standard glycans. All results indicated the effectiveness of using iGlycoMab to minimize errors originating from sample handling and instruments. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Review of ANS-10 standards and activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poetschat, G.R.

1981-01-01

The ANS-10 Standards Subcommittee is sponsored by the Mathematics and Computations Division of the American Nuclear Society. The scope of the ANS-10 Subcommittee includes the development of standards which will promote effective utilization and enhance the reliability of computer programs throughout the nuclear community. The intent of such standards is to improve ease of use, facilitate the exchange, and simplify the conversion of programs. These standards are to be applied during the computer program development process. The development process is the mechanism that creates special properties such as adequate documentation, verification and validation results, ease of use and portability in computer programs which improve reliability and promote effective use. ANS-10 has developed standards for Documentation of Digital Computer Programs, Programming Practices to Facilitate the Interchange of Digital Computer Programs, and Guidelines for Considering User Needs in Computer Program Development. The Documentation and Programming Practices Standards are presently being revised. ANS-10 is presently writing a new standard on verification and validation of computer programs. (orig.) [de

Safety and reliability in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colombo, A.G.

1985-01-01

This volume contains the papers presented at the ESRA Pre-Launching Meeting. The meeting was attended by about eighty European reliability and safety experts from industry, research organizations and universities. This meeting was dealing with the following subjects: the historical perspective of safety and reliability in Europe and to the aims of ESRA. Status and Trends in Research and Development; Codes, Standards and Regulations; Academic and Technical Training. National and international Organizations. Twenty six papers have been analyzed and abstracted for inclusion in the data base

Guarantee of reliability of devices complexes for plastic tube welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voskresenskij, L.A.; Zajtsev, A.I.; Nelyubov, V.I.; Fedorov, M.A.

1988-01-01

Results of calculations and experimental studies on providing reliability of complex for plastic tube welding are presented. Choice of reliability indeces and standards is based. Reliability levels of components are determined. The most waded details are calculated. It is shown that they meet the reqrurements of strength and reliability. Service life tests supported the correct choice of springs. Recommendations on elevating reliability are given. Directions of further developments are shown. 8 refs.; 2 figs.; 1 tab

Development of a Secondary Neutron Fluence Standard at GELINA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heyse, Jan; Eykens, Roger; Moens, Andre; Plompen, Arjan J.M.; Schillebeeckx, Peter; Wynants, Ruud; Anastasiou, Maria

2013-06-01

The MetroFission project, a Joint Research Project within the European Metrology Research Program, aims at addressing a number of metrological problems involved in the design of proposed Generation IV nuclear reactors. One of the objectives of this multidisciplinary project is the improvement of neutron cross section measurement techniques in order to arrive at uncertainties as required for the design and safety assessment of new generation power plants and fuel cycles. This objective is in line with the 'Uncertainty and target accuracy assessment for innovative systems using recent covariance data evaluations' published by a working party of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency in 2008. These requests are often very challenging, being at or beyond the state-of-the-art in neutron measurements, which is set by self-normalizing methods and the neutron data standards used at laboratories where the data are measured. A secondary neutron fluence standard has been developed and calibrated at the neutron time-of-flight facility GELINA of the JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM). It consists of a flux monitor, a reference ionization chamber containing a 10 B layer and a 235 U layer, and a parallel plate ionization chamber with 8 well characterized 235 U deposits. These devices are used to determine the neutron fluence, based on the well-known neutron induced fission reaction on 235 U. All deposits have been prepared and characterized at the IRMM target preparation lab. The secondary fluence standard at the GELINA facility can be used for reliable determination of the efficiency of fluence measurement devices used in neutron data measurements at IRMM and elsewhere. It is an essential tool to reliably calibrate fluence normalization devices used in neutron time-of-flight cross section measurements. (authors)

Developments in Levee Reliability and Flood Risk Analysis in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkman, S.N.; Schweckendiek, T.

2015-01-01

This paper presents and overview of advances in flood risk and levee reliability analysis in the Netherlands. It is described how new safety standards – in the form of a target failure probability – have been derived on the basis of nationwide flood risk assessments which taken into account both

Development of a Reliability Program approach to assuring operational nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, C.J.; Bezella, W.A.

1985-01-01

A Reliability Program (RP) model based on proven reliability techniques used in other high technology industries is being formulated for potential application in the nuclear power industry. Research findings are discussed. The reliability methods employed under NASA and military direction, commercial airline and related FAA programs were surveyed with several reliability concepts (e.g., quantitative reliability goals, reliability centered maintenance) appearing to be directly transferable. Other tasks in the RP development effort involved the benchmarking and evaluation of the existing nuclear regulations and practices relevant to safety/reliability integration. A review of current risk-dominant issues was also conducted using results from existing probabilistic risk assessment studies. The ongoing RP development tasks have concentrated on defining a RP for the operating phase of a nuclear plant's lifecycle. The RP approach incorporates safety systems risk/reliability analysis and performance monitoring activities with dedicated tasks that integrate these activities with operating, surveillance, and maintenance of the plant. The detection, root-cause evaluation and before-the-fact correction of incipient or actual systems failures as a mechanism for maintaining plant safety is a major objective of the RP

Standards and Professional Development

Science.gov (United States)

Zengler, Cynthia J.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the professional development that has taken place in conjunction with Ohio adopting the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards. The professional development (PD) has changed over time to include not only training on the new standards and lesson plans but training on the concepts defined in the…

Reliability evaluation of high-performance, low-power FinFET standard cells based on mixed RBB/FBB technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tian; Cui, Xiaoxin; Ni, Yewen; Liao, Kai; Liao, Nan; Yu, Dunshan; Cui, Xiaole

2017-04-01

With shrinking transistor feature size, the fin-type field-effect transistor (FinFET) has become the most promising option in low-power circuit design due to its superior capability to suppress leakage. To support the VLSI digital system flow based on logic synthesis, we have designed an optimized high-performance low-power FinFET standard cell library based on employing the mixed FBB/RBB technique in the existing stacked structure of each cell. This paper presents the reliability evaluation of the optimized cells under process and operating environment variations based on Monte Carlo analysis. The variations are modelled with Gaussian distribution of the device parameters and 10000 sweeps are conducted in the simulation to obtain the statistical properties of the worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage for each cell. For comparison, a set of non-optimal cells that adopt the same topology without employing the mixed biasing technique is also generated. Experimental results show that the optimized cells achieve standard deviation reduction of 39.1% and 30.7% at most in worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage respectively while the normalized deviation shrinking in worst-case delay and input-dependent leakage can be up to 98.37% and 24.13%, respectively, which demonstrates that our optimized cells are less sensitive to variability and exhibit more reliability. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61306040), the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2015CB057201), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 4152020), and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2015A030313147).

Hawaii electric system reliability.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva Monroy, Cesar Augusto; Loose, Verne William

2012-09-01

This report addresses Hawaii electric system reliability issues; greater emphasis is placed on short-term reliability but resource adequacy is reviewed in reference to electric consumers' views of reliability %E2%80%9Cworth%E2%80%9D and the reserve capacity required to deliver that value. The report begins with a description of the Hawaii electric system to the extent permitted by publicly available data. Electrical engineering literature in the area of electric reliability is researched and briefly reviewed. North American Electric Reliability Corporation standards and measures for generation and transmission are reviewed and identified as to their appropriateness for various portions of the electric grid and for application in Hawaii. Analysis of frequency data supplied by the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is presented together with comparison and contrast of performance of each of the systems for two years, 2010 and 2011. Literature tracing the development of reliability economics is reviewed and referenced. A method is explained for integrating system cost with outage cost to determine the optimal resource adequacy given customers' views of the value contributed by reliable electric supply. The report concludes with findings and recommendations for reliability in the State of Hawaii.

Developing Ultra Reliable Life Support for the Moon and Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Harry W.

2009-01-01

Recycling life support systems can achieve ultra reliability by using spares to replace failed components. The added mass for spares is approximately equal to the original system mass, provided the original system reliability is not very low. Acceptable reliability can be achieved for the space shuttle and space station by preventive maintenance and by replacing failed units, However, this maintenance and repair depends on a logistics supply chain that provides the needed spares. The Mars mission must take all the needed spares at launch. The Mars mission also must achieve ultra reliability, a very low failure rate per hour, since it requires years rather than weeks and cannot be cut short if a failure occurs. Also, the Mars mission has a much higher mass launch cost per kilogram than shuttle or station. Achieving ultra reliable space life support with acceptable mass will require a well-planned and extensive development effort. Analysis must define the reliability requirement and allocate it to subsystems and components. Technologies, components, and materials must be designed and selected for high reliability. Extensive testing is needed to ascertain very low failure rates. Systems design should segregate the failure causes in the smallest, most easily replaceable parts. The systems must be designed, produced, integrated, and tested without impairing system reliability. Maintenance and failed unit replacement should not introduce any additional probability of failure. The overall system must be tested sufficiently to identify any design errors. A program to develop ultra reliable space life support systems with acceptable mass must start soon if it is to produce timely results for the moon and Mars.

Development and Evaluation of a Training Program for Organ Procurement Coordinators Using Standardized Patient Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Odabasi, Orhan; Elcin, Melih; Uzun Basusta, Bilge; Gulkaya Anik, Esin; Aki, Tuncay F; Bozoklar, Ata

2015-12-01

The low rate of consent by next of kin of donor-eligible patients is a major limiting factor in organ transplant. Educating health care professionals about their role may lead to measurable improvements in the process. Our aim was to describe the developmental steps of a communication skills training program for health care professionals using standardized patients and to evaluate the results. We developed a rubric and 5 cases for standardized family interviews. The 20 participants interviewed standardized families at the beginning and at the end of the training course, with interviews followed by debriefing sessions. Participants also provided feedback before and after the course. The performance of each participant was assessed by his or her peers using the rubric. We calculated the generalizability coefficient to measure the reliability of the rubric and used the Wilcoxon signed rank test to compare achievement among participants. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS software (SPSS: An IBM Company, version 17.0, IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). All participants received higher scores in their second interview, including novice participants who expressed great discomfort during their first interview. The participants rated the scenarios and the standardized patients as very representative of real-life situations, with feedback forms showing that the interviews, the video recording sessions, and the debriefing sessions contributed to their learning. Our program was designed to meet the current expectations and implications in the field of donor consent from next of kin. Results showed that our training program developed using standardized patient methodology was effective in obtaining the communication skills needed for family interviews during the consent process. The rubric developed during the study was a valid and reliable assessment tool that could be used in further educational activities. The participants showed significant improvements in

Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS) were proposed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kottner, Jan; Audigé, Laurent; Brorson, Stig

2011-01-01

Results of reliability and agreement studies are intended to provide information about the amount of error inherent in any diagnosis, score, or measurement. The level of reliability and agreement among users of scales, instruments, or classifications is widely unknown. Therefore, there is a need ......, standards, or guidelines for reporting reliability and agreement in the health care and medical field are lacking. The objective was to develop guidelines for reporting reliability and agreement studies....

Reliable change indices and standardized regression-based change score norms for evaluating neuropsychological change in children with epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Busch, Robyn M; Lineweaver, Tara T; Ferguson, Lisa; Haut, Jennifer S

2015-06-01

Reliable change indices (RCIs) and standardized regression-based (SRB) change score norms permit evaluation of meaningful changes in test scores following treatment interventions, like epilepsy surgery, while accounting for test-retest reliability, practice effects, score fluctuations due to error, and relevant clinical and demographic factors. Although these methods are frequently used to assess cognitive change after epilepsy surgery in adults, they have not been widely applied to examine cognitive change in children with epilepsy. The goal of the current study was to develop RCIs and SRB change score norms for use in children with epilepsy. Sixty-three children with epilepsy (age range: 6-16; M=10.19, SD=2.58) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations at two time points an average of 12 months apart. Practice effect-adjusted RCIs and SRB change score norms were calculated for all cognitive measures in the battery. Practice effects were quite variable across the neuropsychological measures, with the greatest differences observed among older children, particularly on the Children's Memory Scale and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. There was also notable variability in test-retest reliabilities across measures in the battery, with coefficients ranging from 0.14 to 0.92. Reliable change indices and SRB change score norms for use in assessing meaningful cognitive change in children following epilepsy surgery are provided for measures with reliability coefficients above 0.50. This is the first study to provide RCIs and SRB change score norms for a comprehensive neuropsychological battery based on a large sample of children with epilepsy. Tables to aid in evaluating cognitive changes in children who have undergone epilepsy surgery are provided for clinical use. An Excel sheet to perform all relevant calculations is also available to interested clinicians or researchers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reliability of linear distance measurement for dental implant length with standardized periapical radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakoh, Mamoru; Harada, Takuya; Otonari, Takamichi

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of distance measurements of implant length based on periapical radiographs compared with that of other modalities. We carried out an experimental trial to compare precision in distance measurement. Dental implant fixtures were buried in the canine and first molar regions. These were then subjected to periapical (PE) radiography, panoramic (PA) radiography conventional (CV) and medical computed (CT) tomography. The length of the implant fixture on each film was measured by nine observers and degree of precision was statistically analyzed. The precision of both PE radiographs and CT tomograms was closest at the highest level. Standardized PE radiography, in particular, was superior to CT tomography in the first molar region. This suggests that standardized PE radiographs should be utilized as a reliable modality for longitudinal and linear distance measurement, depending on implant length at local implantation site. (author)

Parts and Components Reliability Assessment: A Cost Effective Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Lydia

2009-01-01

System reliability assessment is a methodology which incorporates reliability analyses performed at parts and components level such as Reliability Prediction, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to assess risks, perform design tradeoffs, and therefore, to ensure effective productivity and/or mission success. The system reliability is used to optimize the product design to accommodate today?s mandated budget, manpower, and schedule constraints. Stand ard based reliability assessment is an effective approach consisting of reliability predictions together with other reliability analyses for electronic, electrical, and electro-mechanical (EEE) complex parts and components of large systems based on failure rate estimates published by the United States (U.S.) military or commercial standards and handbooks. Many of these standards are globally accepted and recognized. The reliability assessment is especially useful during the initial stages when the system design is still in the development and hard failure data is not yet available or manufacturers are not contractually obliged by their customers to publish the reliability estimates/predictions for their parts and components. This paper presents a methodology to assess system reliability using parts and components reliability estimates to ensure effective productivity and/or mission success in an efficient manner, low cost, and tight schedule.

IEEE guide for the analysis of human reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dougherty, E.M. Jr.

1987-01-01

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) working group 7.4 of the Human Factors and Control Facilities Subcommittee of the Nuclear Power Engineering Committee (NPEC) has released its fifth draft of a Guide for General Principles of Human Action Reliability Analysis for Nuclear Power Generating Stations, for approval of NPEC. A guide is the least mandating in the IEEE hierarchy of standards. The purpose is to enhance the performance of an human reliability analysis (HRA) as a part of a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), to assure reproducible results, and to standardize documentation. The guide does not recommend or even discuss specific techniques, which are too rapidly evolving today. Considerable maturation in the analysis of human reliability in a PRA context has taken place in recent years. The IEEE guide on this subject is an initial step toward bringing HRA out of the research and development arena into the toolbox of standard engineering practices

78 FR 72755 - Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-03

... impact on Bulk-Power System reliability. However, the Commission is concerned that the proposed language... focus on the reliability and security of the Bulk Power System.'' \\26\\ Accordingly, NERC requests that...-002-5 through CIP-011-1, submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the...

Structural Reliability of Wind Turbine Blades

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimitrov, Nikolay Krasimirov

turbine blades. The main purpose is to draw a clear picture of how reliability-based design of wind turbines can be done in practice. The objectives of the thesis are to create methodologies for efficient reliability assessment of composite materials and composite wind turbine blades, and to map...... the uncertainties in the processes, materials and external conditions that have an effect on the health of a composite structure. The study considers all stages in a reliability analysis, from defining models of structural components to obtaining the reliability index and calibration of partial safety factors...... by developing new models and standards or carrying out tests The following aspects are covered in detail: ⋅ The probabilistic aspects of ultimate strength of composite laminates are addressed. Laminated plates are considered as a general structural reliability system where each layer in a laminate is a separate...

Research Review: Test-retest reliability of standardized diagnostic interviews to assess child and adolescent psychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Laura; Comeau, Jinette; Wang, Li; Vitoroulis, Irene; Boyle, Michael H; Bennett, Kathryn

2018-02-19

A better understanding of factors contributing to the observed variability in estimates of test-retest reliability in published studies on standardized diagnostic interviews (SDI) is needed. The objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to estimate the pooled test-retest reliability for parent and youth assessments of seven common disorders, and to examine sources of between-study heterogeneity in reliability. Following a systematic review of the literature, multilevel random effects meta-analyses were used to analyse 202 reliability estimates (Cohen's kappa = ҡ) from 31 eligible studies and 5,369 assessments of 3,344 children and youth. Pooled reliability was moderate at ҡ = .58 (CI 95% 0.53-0.63) and between-study heterogeneity was substantial (Q = 2,063 (df = 201), p reliability varied across informants for specific types of psychiatric disorder (ҡ = .53-.69 for parent vs. ҡ = .39-.68 for youth) with estimates significantly higher for parents on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and the broad groupings of externalizing and any disorder. Reliability was also significantly higher in studies with indicators of poor or fair study methodology quality (sample size reliability of SDIs and the usefulness of these tools in both clinical and research contexts. Potential remedies include the introduction of standardized study and reporting requirements for reliability studies, and exploration of other approaches to assessing and classifying child and adolescent psychiatric disorder. © 2018 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Reliability of Pressure Ulcer Rates: How Precisely Can We Differentiate Among Hospital Units, and Does the Standard Signal‐Noise Reliability Measure Reflect This Precision?

Science.gov (United States)

Cramer, Emily

2016-01-01

Abstract Hospital performance reports often include rankings of unit pressure ulcer rates. Differentiating among units on the basis of quality requires reliable measurement. Our objectives were to describe and apply methods for assessing reliability of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcer rates and evaluate a standard signal‐noise reliability measure as an indicator of precision of differentiation among units. Quarterly pressure ulcer data from 8,199 critical care, step‐down, medical, surgical, and medical‐surgical nursing units from 1,299 US hospitals were analyzed. Using beta‐binomial models, we estimated between‐unit variability (signal) and within‐unit variability (noise) in annual unit pressure ulcer rates. Signal‐noise reliability was computed as the ratio of between‐unit variability to the total of between‐ and within‐unit variability. To assess precision of differentiation among units based on ranked pressure ulcer rates, we simulated data to estimate the probabilities of a unit's observed pressure ulcer rate rank in a given sample falling within five and ten percentiles of its true rank, and the probabilities of units with ulcer rates in the highest quartile and highest decile being identified as such. We assessed the signal‐noise measure as an indicator of differentiation precision by computing its correlations with these probabilities. Pressure ulcer rates based on a single year of quarterly or weekly prevalence surveys were too susceptible to noise to allow for precise differentiation among units, and signal‐noise reliability was a poor indicator of precision of differentiation. To ensure precise differentiation on the basis of true differences, alternative methods of assessing reliability should be applied to measures purported to differentiate among providers or units based on quality. © 2016 The Authors. Research in Nursing & Health published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27223598

Cross-cultural validity of standardized motor development screening and assessment tools: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendonça, Bianca; Sargent, Barbara; Fetters, Linda

2016-12-01

To investigate whether standardized motor development screening and assessment tools that are used to evaluate motor abilities of children aged 0 to 2 years are valid in cultures other than those in which the normative sample was established. This was a systematic review in which six databases were searched. Studies were selected based on inclusion/exclusion criteria and appraised for evidence level and quality. Study variables were extracted. Twenty-three studies representing six motor development screening and assessment tools in 16 cultural contexts met the inclusion criteria: Alberta Infant Motor Scale (n=7), Ages and Stages Questionnaire, 3rd edition (n=2), Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition (n=8), Denver Developmental Screening Test, 2nd edition (n=4), Harris Infant Neuromotor Test (n=1), and Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition (n=1). Thirteen studies found significant differences between the cultural context and normative sample. Two studies established reliability and/or validity of standardized motor development assessments in high-risk infants from different cultural contexts. Five studies established new population norms. Eight studies described the cross-cultural adaptation of a standardized motor development assessment. Standardized motor development assessments have limited validity in cultures other than that in which the normative sample was established. Their use can result in under- or over-referral for services. © 2016 Mac Keith Press.

Reliability and validity of the Farsi version of the standardized assessment of personality-abbreviated scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Sepehri

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: A short screening tool for high-risk individuals with personality disorder (PD is useful both for clinicians and researchers. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Farsi version of the Standardized Assessment of Personality-Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS. Methods: The original English version of the SAPAS questionnaire was translated into Farsi, and then, translated back into English by two professionals. A survey was then conducted using the questionnaire on 150 clients of primary health care centers in Tabriz, Iran. A total of 235 medical students were also studied for the reliability assessment of the questionnaire. The SAPAS was compared to the short form of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI. The data analysis was performed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve technique, operating characteristic for diagnostic efficacy, Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest for reliability evaluation. Results: We found an area under the curve (AUC of 0.566 [95% confidence intervals (CI: 0.455-0.677]; sensitivity of 0.89 and specificity of 0.26 at the cut-off score of 2 and higher. The total Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.38 and Cohen's kappa ranged between 0.5 and 0.8. Conclusion: The current study showed that the Farsi version of the SAPAS was relatively less efficient, in term of validity and reliability, in the screening of PD in the population.

The development and standardization of Self-assessment for Hearing Screening of the Elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Gibbeum; Na, Wondo; Kim, Gungu; Han, Woojae; Kim, Jinsook

2016-01-01

The present study aimed to develop and standardize a screening tool for elderly people who wish to check for themselves their level of hearing loss. The Self-assessment for Hearing Screening of the Elderly (SHSE) consisted of 20 questions based on the characteristics of presbycusis using a five-point scale: seven questions covered general issues related to sensorineural hearing loss, seven covered hearing difficulty under distracting listening conditions, two covered hearing difficulty with fast-rated speech, and four covered the working memory function during communication. To standardize SHSE, 83 elderly participants took part in the study: 25 with normal hearing, and 22, 23, and 13 with mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss, respectively, according to their hearing sensitivity. All were retested 3 weeks later using the same questionnaire to confirm its reliability. In addition, validity was assessed using various hearing tests such as a sentence test with background noise, a time-compressed speech test, and a digit span test. SHSE and its subcategories showed good internal consistency. SHSE and its subcategories demonstrated high test-retest reliability. A high correlation was observed between the total scores and pure-tone thresholds, which indicated gradually increased SHSE scores of 42.24%, 55.27%, 66.61%, and 78.15% for normal hearing, mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe groups, respectively. With regard to construct validity, SHSE showed a high negative correlation with speech perception scores in noise and a moderate negative correlation with scores of time-compressed speech perception. However, there was no statistical correlation between digit span results and either the SHSE total or its subcategories. A confirmatory factor analysis supported three factors in SHSE. We found that the developed SHSE had valuable internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and construct validity. These results suggest that

Reliable Change Indices and Standardized Regression-Based Change Score Norms for Evaluating Neuropsychological Change in Children with Epilepsy

Science.gov (United States)

Busch, Robyn M.; Lineweaver, Tara T.; Ferguson, Lisa; Haut, Jennifer S.

2015-01-01

Reliable change index scores (RCIs) and standardized regression-based change score norms (SRBs) permit evaluation of meaningful changes in test scores following treatment interventions, like epilepsy surgery, while accounting for test-retest reliability, practice effects, score fluctuations due to error, and relevant clinical and demographic factors. Although these methods are frequently used to assess cognitive change after epilepsy surgery in adults, they have not been widely applied to examine cognitive change in children with epilepsy. The goal of the current study was to develop RCIs and SRBs for use in children with epilepsy. Sixty-three children with epilepsy (age range 6–16; M=10.19, SD=2.58) underwent comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations at two time points an average of 12 months apart. Practice adjusted RCIs and SRBs were calculated for all cognitive measures in the battery. Practice effects were quite variable across the neuropsychological measures, with the greatest differences observed among older children, particularly on the Children’s Memory Scale and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. There was also notable variability in test-retest reliabilities across measures in the battery, with coefficients ranging from 0.14 to 0.92. RCIs and SRBs for use in assessing meaningful cognitive change in children following epilepsy surgery are provided for measures with reliability coefficients above 0.50. This is the first study to provide RCIs and SRBs for a comprehensive neuropsychological battery based on a large sample of children with epilepsy. Tables to aid in evaluating cognitive changes in children who have undergone epilepsy surgery are provided for clinical use. An excel sheet to perform all relevant calculations is also available to interested clinicians or researchers. PMID:26043163

Standards development status. Summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-12-01

The Standards Development Status Summary Report is designed for scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the process by which Regulatory Standards, Guides, Reports, Petitions, and Environmental Statements are written. It is a summary of the current schedule plans for development of the above products

Developing a reliable signal wire attachment method for rail.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-11-01

The goal of this project was to develop a better attachment method for rail signal wires to improve the reliability of signaling : systems. EWI conducted basic research into the failure mode of current attachment methods and developed and tested a ne...

The development of a reliable amateur boxing performance analysis template.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Edward; Lamb, Kevin; Nicholas, Ceri

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to devise a valid performance analysis system for the assessment of the movement characteristics associated with competitive amateur boxing and assess its reliability using analysts of varying experience of the sport and performance analysis. Key performance indicators to characterise the demands of an amateur contest (offensive, defensive and feinting) were developed and notated using a computerised notational analysis system. Data were subjected to intra- and inter-observer reliability assessment using median sign tests and calculating the proportion of agreement within predetermined limits of error. For all performance indicators, intra-observer reliability revealed non-significant differences between observations (P > 0.05) and high agreement was established (80-100%) regardless of whether exact or the reference value of ±1 was applied. Inter-observer reliability was less impressive for both analysts (amateur boxer and experienced analyst), with the proportion of agreement ranging from 33-100%. Nonetheless, there was no systematic bias between observations for any indicator (P > 0.05), and the proportion of agreement within the reference range (±1) was 100%. A reliable performance analysis template has been developed for the assessment of amateur boxing performance and is available for use by researchers, coaches and athletes to classify and quantify the movement characteristics of amateur boxing.

Achieving Innovation and Affordability Through Standardization of Materials Development and Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Bray, M. H.; Zook, L. M.; Raley, R. E.; Chapman, C.

2011-01-01

The successful expansion of development, innovation, and production within the aeronautics industry during the 20th century was facilitated by collaboration of government agencies with the commercial aviation companies. One of the initial products conceived from the collaboration was the ANC-5 Bulletin, first published in 1937. The ANC-5 Bulletin had intended to standardize the requirements of various government agencies in the design of aircraft structure. The national space policy shift in priority for NASA with an emphasis on transferring the travel to low earth orbit to commercial space providers highlights an opportunity and a need for the national and global space industries. The same collaboration and standardization that is documented and maintained by the industry within MIL-HDBK-5 (MMPDS-01) and MIL-HBDK-17 (nonmetallic mechanical properties) can also be exploited to standardize the thermal performance properties, processing methods, test methods, and analytical methods for use in aircraft and spacecraft design and associated propulsion systems. In addition to the definition of thermal performance description and standardization, the standardization for test methods and analysis for extreme environments (high temperature, cryogenics, deep space radiation, etc) would also be highly valuable to the industry. Its subsequent revisions and conversion to MIL-HDBK-5 and then MMPDS-01 established and then expanded to contain standardized mechanical property design values and other related design information for metallic materials used in aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles. It also includes guidance on standardization of composition, processing, and analytical methods for presentation and inclusion into the handbook. This standardization enabled an expansion of the technologies to provide efficiency and reliability to the consumers. It can be established that many individual programs within the government agencies have been overcome with development costs

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Standardized Assessment of Severity of Personality Disorder (SASPD).

Science.gov (United States)

Olajide, Kike; Munjiza, Jasna; Moran, Paul; O'Connell, Lesley; Newton-Howes, Giles; Bassett, Paul; Akintomide, Gbolagade; Ng, Nicola; Tyrer, Peter; Mulder, Roger; Crawford, Mike J

2018-02-01

Personality disorder (PD) is increasingly categorized according to its severity, but there is no simple way to screen for severity according to ICD-11 criteria. We set out to develop the Standardized Assessment of Severity of Personality Disorder (SASPD). A total of 110 patients completed the SASPD together with a clinical assessment of the severity of personality disorder. We examined the predictive ability of the SASPD using the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Two to four weeks later, 43 patients repeated the SASPD to examine reliability. The SASPD had good predictive ability for determining mild (AUC = 0.86) and moderate (AUC = 0.84) PD at cut points of 8 and 10, respectively. Test-retest reliability of the SASPD was high (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.93, 95% CI [0.88, 0.96]). The SASPD thus provides a simple, brief, and reliable indicator of the presence of mild or moderate PD according to ICD-11 criteria.

Using standardized video cases for assessment of medical communication skills: reliability of an objective structured video examination by computer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulsman, R. L.; Mollema, E. D.; Oort, F. J.; Hoos, A. M.; de Haes, J. C. J. M.

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Using standardized video cases in a computerized objective structured video examination (OSVE) aims to measure cognitive scripts underlying overt communication behavior by questions on knowledge, understanding and performance. In this study the reliability of the OSVE assessment is

A pilot study to explore the feasibility of using theClinical Care Classification System for developing a reliable costing method for nursing services.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykes, Patricia C; Wantland, Dean; Whittenburg, Luann; Lipsitz, Stuart; Saba, Virginia K

2013-01-01

While nursing activities represent a significant proportion of inpatient care, there are no reliable methods for determining nursing costs based on the actual services provided by the nursing staff. Capture of data to support accurate measurement and reporting on the cost of nursing services is fundamental to effective resource utilization. Adopting standard terminologies that support tracking both the quality and the cost of care could reduce the data entry burden on direct care providers. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of using a standardized nursing terminology, the Clinical Care Classification System (CCC), for developing a reliable costing method for nursing services. Two different approaches are explored; the Relative Value Unit RVU and the simple cost-to-time methods. We found that the simple cost-to-time method was more accurate and more transparent in its derivation than the RVU method and may support a more consistent and reliable approach for costing nursing services.

Reliability Engineering

CERN Document Server

Lazzaroni, Massimo

2012-01-01

This book gives a practical guide for designers and users in Information and Communication Technology context. In particular, in the first Section, the definition of the fundamental terms according to the international standards are given. Then, some theoretical concepts and reliability models are presented in Chapters 2 and 3: the aim is to evaluate performance for components and systems and reliability growth. Chapter 4, by introducing the laboratory tests, puts in evidence the reliability concept from the experimental point of view. In ICT context, the failure rate for a given system can be

ANS-10 standards - current status and future direction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poetschat, G.R.

1988-01-01

The ANS-10 Standards Subcommittee is sponsored by the Mathematics and Computation Division of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). The scope of ANS-10 activities includes the development of standards that will promote effective utilization of and enhance the reliability of computer programs throughout the nuclear community. The application of ANS-10 standards during the computer program development process creates coding and documentation for the program product that promotes effective use and enhances reliability. The end product is a program package that contains adequate documentation, includes verification and validation results, is easy to use and maintain, and is easy to transfer from one hardware-software system to another

Custom high-reliability radiation-hard CMOS-LSI circuit design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnard, W.J.

1981-01-01

Sandia has developed a custom CMOS-LSI design capability to provide high reliability radiation-hardened circuits. This capability relies on (1) proven design practices to enhance reliability, (2) use of well characterized cells and logic modules, (3) computer-aided design tools to reduce design time and errors and to standardize design definition, and (4) close working relationships with the system designer and technology fabrication personnel. Trade-offs are made during the design between circuit complexity/performance and technology/producibility for high reliability and radiation-hardened designs to result. Sandia has developed and is maintaining a radiation-hardened bulk CMOS technology fabrication line for production of prototype and small production volume parts

Planning is not sufficient - Reliable computers need good requirements specifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matras, J.R.

1992-01-01

Computer system reliability is the assurance that a computer system will perform its functions when required to do so. To ensure such reliability, it is important to plan the activities needed for computer system development. These development activities, in turn, require a Computer Quality Assurance Plan (CQAP) that provides the following: a Configuration Management Plan, a Verification and Validation (V and V) Plan, documentation requirements, a defined life cycle, review requirements, and organizational responsibilities. These items are necessary for system reliability; ultimately, however, they are not enough. Development of a reliable system is dependent on the requirements specification. This paper discusses how to use existing industry standards to develop a CQAP. In particular, the paper emphasizes the importance of the requirements specification and of methods for establishing reliability goals. The paper also describes how the revision of ANSI/IEE-ANS-7-4.3.2, Application Criteria for Digital Computer Systems of Nuclear Power Generating Stations, has addressed these issues

Crisis Reliability Indicators Supporting Emergency Services (CRISES): A Framework for Developing Performance Measures for Behavioral Health Crisis and Psychiatric Emergency Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Balfour, Margaret E; Tanner, Kathleen; Jurica, Paul J; Rhoads, Richard; Carson, Chris A

2016-01-01

Crisis and emergency psychiatric services are an integral part of the healthcare system, yet there are no standardized measures for programs providing these services. We developed the Crisis Reliability Indicators Supporting Emergency Services (CRISES) framework to create measures that inform internal performance improvement initiatives and allow comparison across programs. The framework consists of two components-the CRISES domains (timely, safe, accessible, least-restrictive, effective, consumer/family centered, and partnership) and the measures supporting each domain. The CRISES framework provides a foundation for development of standardized measures for the crisis field. This will become increasingly important as pay-for-performance initiatives expand with healthcare reform.

24 CFR 598.615 - Economic development standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Economic development standards. 598... DESIGNATIONS Empowerment Zone Grants § 598.615 Economic development standards. (a) Economic development... the planned use of HUD EZ Grant Funds must meet one of the following economic development standards...

Development of core technology for KNGR system design; development of quantitative reliability evaluation methodologies of KNGR digital I and C components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seong, Poong Hyun; Choi, Jong Gyun; Kim, Ung Soo; Kim, Jong Hyun; Kim, Man Cheol; Lee, Seung Jun; Lee, Young Je; Ha, Jun Soo [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-03-01

For the digital systems to be applied to the nuclear industry, which has its unique conservertive to safety, reliability assessment of digital systems is a prerequisite. But, because digital systems show different failure modes from compared to existing analog systems, the existing reliability assessment method cannot be applied to digital systems. It means that a new reliability assessment method for digital systems should be developed. The goal of this study is development of reliability assessment method for digital systems on board level and related software tool. To achieve the goal, we have conducted researches on development of a database for hardware components for digital I and C systems, development of a reliability assessment model for the reliability prediction of digital systems on board level, and the applicability to KNGR digital I and C systems. We developed a database for reliability assessment of digital hardware components, a reliability assessment method for digital systems with consideration of software and hardware together, and a software tool for the reliability assessment of digital systems, which is named as RelPredic. We plan to apply the results of this study to the reliability assessment of digital systems in KNGR digital I and C systems. 13 refs., 71 figs., 31 tabs. (Author)

Adaptation and standardization of a Western tool for assessing child development in non-Western low-income context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teklu Gemechu Abessa

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Due to lack of culturally relevant assessment tools, little is known about children’s developmental profiles in low income settings such as Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to adapt and standardize the Denver II for assessing child development in Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia. Methods Culture-specific test items in Denver II were modified. After translation into two local languages, all test items were piloted and fine-tuned. Using 1597 healthy children 4 days to 70.6 months of age, the 25, 50, 75 and 90 % passing ages were determined for each test item as milestones. Milestones attainment on the adapted version and the Denver II were compared on the 90 % passing age. Reliability of the adapted tool was examined. Results A total of 36 (28.8 % test items, mostly from personal social domain, were adapted. Milestones attainment ages on the two versions differed significantly on 42 (34 % test items. The adapted tool has an excellent inter-rater on 123 (98 % items and substantial to excellent test-retest reliability on 119 (91 % items. Conclusions A Western developmental assessment tool can be adapted reliably for use in low-income settings. Age differences in attaining milestones indicate a correct estimation of child development requires a population-specific standard.

Development of Standardized Power Electronic Components, Subsystems, and Systems for Increased Modularity and Scalability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chakraborty, S.; Pink, C.; Price, J.; Kroposki, B.; Kern, G.

2007-11-01

Power electronics devices hold substantial promise for making distributed energy applications more efficient and cost effective. This project is motivated towards developing and testing inverters that will allow distributed energy systems to provide ancillary services such as voltage and VAR regulation, and increased grid reliability by seamlessly transitioning between grid-tied and stand-alone operation modes. The objectives of this project are to identify system integration and optimization issues and technologies and to provide solutions through research, analysis, and testing of power electronic interfaces for distributed energy applications that are cost-competitive and have substantially faster response times than conventional technologies. In addition, the testing of power electronics interfaces will develop a technical basis for performance assessment for distributed energy systems, subsystems, and components that will finally create a foundation for standardized measurements and test procedures. The ultimate goal for this research is to advance the potential benefits of distributed energy to provide ancillary services, enhance power system reliability, and allow customer choice.

Reliability Analysis of Adhesive Bonded Scarf Joints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kimiaeifar, Amin; Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Lund, Erik

2012-01-01

element analysis (FEA). For the reliability analysis a design equation is considered which is related to a deterministic code-based design equation where reliability is secured by partial safety factors together with characteristic values for the material properties and loads. The failure criteria......A probabilistic model for the reliability analysis of adhesive bonded scarfed lap joints subjected to static loading is developed. It is representative for the main laminate in a wind turbine blade subjected to flapwise bending. The structural analysis is based on a three dimensional (3D) finite...... are formulated using a von Mises, a modified von Mises and a maximum stress failure criterion. The reliability level is estimated for the scarfed lap joint and this is compared with the target reliability level implicitly used in the wind turbine standard IEC 61400-1. A convergence study is performed to validate...

Use of reliability engineering in development and manufacturing of metal parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, A.; Iqbal, M.A.; Asif, M.

2005-01-01

The reliability engineering predicts modes of failures and weak links before the system is built instead of failure case study. The reliability engineering analysis will help in the manufacturing economy, assembly accuracy and qualification by testing, leading to production of metal parts in an aerospace industry. This methodology will also minimize the performance constraints in any requirement for the application of metal components in aerospace systems. The reliability engineering predicts the life of the parts under loading conditions whether dynamic or static. Reliability predictions can help engineers in making decisions about design of components, materials selection and qualification under applied stress levels. Two methods of reliability prediction i.e. Part Stress Analysis and Part Count have been used in this study. In this paper we will discuss how these two methods can be used to measure reliability of a system during development phases, which includes the measuring effect of environmental and operational variables. The equations are used to measure the reliability of each type of component, as well as, integration for measuring system applied for the reliability analysis. (author)

Development of Markov model of emergency diesel generator for dynamic reliability analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Young Ho; Choi, Sun Yeong; Yang, Joon Eon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea)

1999-02-01

The EDG (Emergency Diesal Generator) of nuclear power plant is one of the most important equipments in mitigating accidents. The FT (Fault Tree) method is widely used to assess the reliability of safety systems like an EDG in nuclear power plant. This method, however, has limitations in modeling dynamic features of safety systems exactly. We, hence, have developed a Markov model to represent the stochastic process of dynamic systems whose states change as time moves on. The Markov model enables us to develop a dynamic reliability model of EDG. This model can represent all possible states of EDG comparing to the FRANTIC code developed by U.S. NRC for the reliability analysis of standby systems. to access the regulation policy for test interval, we performed two simulations based on the generic data and plant specific data of YGN 3, respectively by using the developed model. We also estimate the effects of various repair rates and the fractions of starting failures by demand shock to the reliability of EDG. And finally, Aging effect is analyzed. (author). 23 refs., 19 figs., 9 tabs.

Development of a Conservative Model Validation Approach for Reliable Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

CIE 2015 August 2-5, 2015, Boston, Massachusetts, USA [DRAFT] DETC2015-46982 DEVELOPMENT OF A CONSERVATIVE MODEL VALIDATION APPROACH FOR RELIABLE...obtain a conservative simulation model for reliable design even with limited experimental data. Very little research has taken into account the...3, the proposed conservative model validation is briefly compared to the conventional model validation approach. Section 4 describes how to account

The development of specific reliability database for a Korean Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S.K.; Park, B.L.; Kim, M.R.; Jeong, B.H.; Kwon, J.J.

2001-01-01

The object of this study is to develop reliability database for PSA application such as failure rate for safety related components, test and maintenance unavailability and common cause failure factors except for initiating event frequencies during the period of 10 years from 1990 to 1999. In this study we developed plant-specific reliability database for PSA (Probabilistic Safety Assessment) application and compared it with generic reliability database developed in the US such as EPRI-URD, IEEE-500, NUCLARR etc, in the component type basis. We have found that there are some general differences in the component failure rate and test and maintenance unavailability. We described the characteristics of differences for some important component types. We also analyzed the reasons for the differences in the aspect of maintenance terms such as maintenance policy and maintenance practice. We found that maintenance terms are important factors for the numbers of plant-specific reliability database. (author)

Reliability of containment and safety-related structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nessim, M.A.

1995-09-01

A research program on Reliability of Containment and Safety-related Structures has been developed and is described in this document. This program is designed to support AECB's regulatory activities aimed at ensuring the safety of these structures. These activities include evaluating submissions by operators and requesting special assessments when necessary. The results of the proposed research will also be useful in revising and enhancing the CSA design standards for containment and safety-related structures. The process of developing the research program started with an information collection and review phase. The sources of information included C-FER's previous work in the area, various recent research publications, regulatory documents and relevant design standards, and a detailed discussion with AECB staff. The second step was to outline the process of reliability evaluation, and identify the required models and parameters. Comparison between the required and available information was used to identify gaps in the state-of-the-art, and the research program was designed to fill these gaps. The program is organized in four major topics, namely: development of an approach for reliability analysis; compilation and development of the required analysis tools; application to specific problems related to design, assessment, maintenance and testing of structures; and testing and validation. It is suggested that the program should be supported by an on-going process of communication and consultation between AECB staff and industry experts. This will lend credibility to the results and facilitate their future application. (author). 1 fig

Reliability study: digital engineered safety feature actuation system of Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudarno; Kang, H. G.; Jang, S. C.; Eom, H. S.; Ha, J. J.

2003-04-01

The usage of digital Instrumentation and Control (I and C) in a nuclear power plant becomes more extensive, including safety related systems. The PSA application of these new designs are very important in order to evaluate their reliability. In particular, Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants (KSNPPs), typically Ulchin 5 and 6 (UCN 5 and 6) reactor units, adopted the digital safety-critical systems such as Digital Plant Protection System (DPPS) and Digital Engineered Safety Feature Actuation System (DESFAS). In this research, we developed fault tree models for assessing the unavailability of the DESFAS functions. We also performed an analysis of the quantification results. The unavailability results of different DESFAS functions showed that their values are comprised from 5.461E-5 to 3.14E-4. The system unavailability of DESFAS AFAS-1 is estimated as 5.461E-5, which is about 27% less than that of analog system if we consider the difference of human failure probability estimation between both analyses. The results of this study could be utilized in risk-effect analysis of KSNPP. We expect that the safety analysis result will contribute to design feedback

Development of the software for the component reliability database system of Korean nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Sang Hoon; Kim, Seung Hwan; Choi, Sun Young [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-03-01

A study was performed to develop the system for the component reliability database which consists of database system to store the reliability data and softwares to analyze the reliability data.This system is a part of KIND (Korea Information System for Nuclear Reliability Database).The MS-SQL database is used to stores the component population data, component maintenance history, and the results of reliability analysis. Two softwares were developed for the component reliability system. One is the KIND-InfoView for the data storing, retrieving and searching. The other is the KIND-CompRel for the statistical analysis of component reliability. 4 refs., 13 figs., 7 tabs. (Author)

The Comprehensive Snack Parenting Questionnaire (CSPQ: Development and Test-Retest Reliability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorus W. M. Gevers

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The narrow focus of existing food parenting instruments led us to develop a food parenting practices instrument measuring the full range of food practices constructs with a focus on snacking behavior. We present the development of the questionnaire and our research on the test-retest reliability. The developed Comprehensive Snack Parenting Questionnaire (CSPQ covers 21 constructs. Test-retest reliability was assessed by calculating intra class correlation coefficients and percentage agreement after two administrations of the CSPQ among a sample of 66 Dutch parents. Test-retest reliability analysis revealed acceptable intra class correlation coefficients (≥0.41 or agreement scores (≥0.60 for all items. These results, together with earlier work, suggest sufficient psychometric characteristics. The comprehensive, but brief CSPQ opens up chances for highly essential but unstudied research questions to understand and predict children’s snack intake. Example applications include studying the interactional nature of food parenting practices or interactions of food parenting with general parenting or child characteristics.

Validity and reliability of Preschool Language Scale 4 for measuring language development in children 48-59 months of age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nuryani Sidarta

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Prevalence rates for speech and language delay have been reported across wide ranges. Speech and language delay affects 5% to 8% of preschool children, often persisting into the school years.  A cross-sectional study was conducted in 208 children aged 48-59 months to determine the validity and reliability of the Indonesian edition of the Preschool Language Scale version 4 (PLS4 as a screening tool for the identification of language development disorders. Construct validity was examined by using Pearson correlation coefficient. Internal consistency was tested and repeated measurements were taken to establish the stability coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC for test-retest reliability. For construct validity, the Pearson correlation coefficient ranged from 0.151-0.526, indicating that all questions in this instrument were valid for measuring auditory comprehension (AC and expressive communication skills (EC. Cronbach’s alpha level ranged from 0.81-0.95 with standard error of measurement (SEM ranging from 3.1-3.3. Stability coefficients ranged from 0.98-.0.99 with ICC coefficient ranging from 0.97-0.99 both of which showed an excellent reliability. This study found that PLS-4 is a valid and reliable instrument. It is easy to handle and can be recommended for assessing language development in children aged 48-59 months.

The reliability of the newly developed bending tester for the measurement of flexural rigidity of textile materials

Science.gov (United States)

Haji Musa, A. Binti; Malengier, B.; Van Langenhove, L.; Stevens, C.

2017-10-01

A new automated bending tester was developed in Ghent University, Belgium to reduce the human interference in the bending measurement. This paper reports the investigations made on the tester in order to confirm the reliability of its measurement. For that, 11 types of fabrics with different construction parameters were tested for their bending length and flexural rigidity using the new bending tester and the results were compared with that of the standard or manual bending tester, which were conducted in accordance with BS 3356:1990 standard method. Statistical analysis confirms that both measurements are strongly correlated with Pearson’s R≥ 0.90 for all the measurements made. It means that the results from the new automated tester show good correlations with the standard measurement. Nevertheless, this prototype version of the new tester still needs to be adjusted to optimise the functionality of it and further investigations should be done to justify the robustness of the results.

Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised Edition online comment bank: development and reliability analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodger, Sylvia; Turpin, Merrill; Copley, Jodie; Coleman, Allison; Chien, Chi-Wen; Caine, Anne-Maree; Brown, Ted

2014-08-01

The reliable evaluation of occupational therapy students completing practice education placements along with provision of appropriate feedback is critical for both students and for universities from a quality assurance perspective. This study describes the development of a comment bank for use with an online version of the Student Practice Evaluation Form-Revised Edition (SPEF-R Online) and investigates its reliability. A preliminary bank of 109 individual comments (based on previous students' placement performance) was developed via five stages. These comments reflected all 11 SPEF-R domains. A purpose-designed online survey was used to examine the reliability of the comment bank. A total of 37 practice educators returned surveys, 31 of which were fully completed. Participants were asked to rate each individual comment using the five-point SPEF-R rating scale. One hundred and two of 109 comments demonstrated satisfactory agreement with their respective default ratings that were determined by the development team. At each domain level, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ranging between 0.86 and 0.96) also demonstrated good to excellent inter-rater reliability. There were only seven items that required rewording prior to inclusion in the final SPEF-R Online comment bank. The development of the SPEF-R Online comment bank offers a source of reliable comments (consistent with the SPEF-R rating scale across different domains) and aims to assist practice educators in providing reliable and timely feedback to students in a user-friendly manner. © 2014 Occupational Therapy Australia.

ASSESSING AND COMBINING RELIABILITY OF PROTEIN INTERACTION SOURCES

Science.gov (United States)

LEACH, SONIA; GABOW, AARON; HUNTER, LAWRENCE; GOLDBERG, DEBRA S.

2008-01-01

Integrating diverse sources of interaction information to create protein networks requires strategies sensitive to differences in accuracy and coverage of each source. Previous integration approaches calculate reliabilities of protein interaction information sources based on congruity to a designated ‘gold standard.’ In this paper, we provide a comparison of the two most popular existing approaches and propose a novel alternative for assessing reliabilities which does not require a gold standard. We identify a new method for combining the resultant reliabilities and compare it against an existing method. Further, we propose an extrinsic approach to evaluation of reliability estimates, considering their influence on the downstream tasks of inferring protein function and learning regulatory networks from expression data. Results using this evaluation method show 1) our method for reliability estimation is an attractive alternative to those requiring a gold standard and 2) the new method for combining reliabilities is less sensitive to noise in reliability assignments than the similar existing technique. PMID:17990508

A construction of standardized near infrared hyper-spectral teeth database: a first step in the development of reliable diagnostic tool for quantification and early detection of caries

Science.gov (United States)

Bürmen, Miran; Usenik, Peter; Fidler, Aleš; Pernuš, Franjo; Likar, Boštjan

2011-03-01

Dental caries is a disease characterized by demineralization of enamel crystals leading to the penetration of bacteria into the dentin and pulp. If left untreated, the disease can lead to pain, infection and tooth loss. Early detection of enamel demineralization resulting in increased enamel porosity, commonly known as white spots, is a difficult diagnostic task. Several papers reported on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to be a potentially useful noninvasive spectroscopic technique for early detection of caries lesions. However, the conducted studies were mostly qualitative and did not include the critical assessment of the spectral variability of the sound and carious dental tissues and influence of the water content. Such assessment is essential for development and validation of reliable qualitative and especially quantitative diagnostic tools based on NIR spectroscopy. In order to characterize the described spectral variability, a standardized diffuse reflectance hyper-spectral database was constructed by imaging 12 extracted human teeth with natural lesions of various degrees in the spectral range from 900 to 1700 nm with spectral resolution of 10 nm. Additionally, all the teeth were imaged by digital color camera. The influence of water content on the acquired spectra was characterized by monitoring the teeth during the drying process. The images were assessed by an expert, thereby obtaining the gold standard. By analyzing the acquired spectra we were able to accurately model the spectral variability of the sound dental tissues and identify the advantages and limitations of NIR hyper-spectral imaging.

Reliability and validity of the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nguyen Chau

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wolfram syndrome (WFS is a rare, neurodegenerative disease that typically presents with childhood onset insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, followed by optic atrophy, diabetes insipidus, deafness, and neurological and psychiatric dysfunction. There is no cure for the disease, but recent advances in research have improved understanding of the disease course. Measuring disease severity and progression with reliable and validated tools is a prerequisite for clinical trials of any new intervention for neurodegenerative conditions. To this end, we developed the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS to measure the severity and individual variability of WFS symptoms. The aim of this study is to develop and test the reliability and validity of the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS. Methods A rating scale of disease severity in WFS was developed by modifying a standardized assessment for another neurodegenerative condition (Batten disease. WFS experts scored the representativeness of WURS items for the disease. The WURS was administered to 13 individuals with WFS (6-25 years of age. Motor, balance, mood and quality of life were also evaluated with standard instruments. Inter-rater reliability, internal consistency reliability, concurrent, predictive and content validity of the WURS were calculated. Results The WURS had high inter-rater reliability (ICCs>.93, moderate to high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.78-0.91 and demonstrated good concurrent and predictive validity. There were significant correlations between the WURS Physical Assessment and motor and balance tests (rs>.67, ps>.76, ps=-.86, p=.001. The WURS demonstrated acceptable content validity (Scale-Content Validity Index=0.83. Conclusions These preliminary findings demonstrate that the WURS has acceptable reliability and validity and captures individual differences in disease severity in children and young adults with WFS.

Developing MESA : an accelerated reliability test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baskoro, G.; Rouvroye, J.L.; Bacher, W.; Brombacher, A.C.

2003-01-01

This paper describes the on-going research on an accelerated reliability test strategy called MESA (Multiple Environment Stress Analysis) intended to find in a fast and efficient manner (potential) reliability problems during the design phase of high volume consumer products. This test has shown

Standards development for the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domondon, D.B.

The ushering of nuclear era in the Philippines with the construction of the PNPP-I (Philippine Nuclear Power Plant) necessitates the evolvement and use of nuclear standards as a tool for safety evaluation in the licensing process. The Department of Nuclear Regulation and Safeguards under the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission has as one of its responsibilities the establishment of regulatory standards to ensure safe operation of nuclear facilities. This article points out the needs for nuclear standards and the steps in standard development which involve an enormous amount of resources in terms of manpower, expertise and money. The staff of the Department of Nuclear Regulations and Safeguards (DNRS) does not intend to engage in the original development of standards; rather, it reviews standards in use elsewhere, specifically in the U.S. and adopts to local conditions. (author)

Development in structural systems reliability theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murotsu, Y

1986-07-01

This paper is concerned with two topics on structural systems reliability theory. One covers automatic generation of failure mode equations, identifications of stochastically dominant failure modes, and reliability assessment of redundant structures. Reduced stiffness matrixes and equivalent nodal forces representing the failed elements are introduced for expressing the safety of the elements, using a matrix method. Dominant failure modes are systematically selected by a branch-and-bound technique and heuristic operations. The other discusses the various optimum design problems based on reliability concept. Those problems are interpreted through a solution to a multi-objective optimization problem.

Development in structural systems reliability theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murotsu, Y.

1986-01-01

This paper is concerned with two topics on structural systems reliability theory. One covers automatic generation of failure mode equations, identifications of stochastically dominant failure modes, and reliability assessment of redundant structures. Reduced stiffness matrixes and equivalent nodal forces representing the failed elements are introduced for expressing the safety of the elements, using a matrix method. Dominant failure modes are systematically selected by a branch-and-bound technique and heuristic operations. The other discusses the various optimum design problems based on reliability concept. Those problems are interpreted through a solution to a multi-objective optimization problem. (orig.)

Concept development of the human reliability data bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, D.P.

1984-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Sandia National Laboratories initiated a three-phased research program in 1981 to develop a plan for a human reliability data bank. This research initiative was in response to the data needs of the nuclear power industry's probabilistic risk assessment community. The three phases are: (1) develop the data bank concept; (2) develop an implementation plan and conduct a feasibility test; and (3) assist the sponsor in implementing the data bank. This paper briefly describes some of the results of the work performed during Phase A and outlines the program elements schedules for Phase B

Reliability and maintainability data acquisition in equipment development tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haire, M.J.; Gift, E.H.

1983-10-01

The need for collection of reliability, maintainability, and availability data adds a new dimension to the data acquisition requirements of equipment development tests. This report describes the reliability and maintainability data that are considered necessary to ensure that sufficient and high quality data exist for a comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of equipment and system availability. These necessary data are presented as a set of data collection forms. Three data acquisition forms are discussed: an inventory and technical data form, which is filed by the design engineer when the design is finished or the equipment is received; an event report form, which is completed by the senior test operator at each shutdown; and a maintainability report, which is a collaborative effort between senior operators and lead engineers and is completed on restart. In addition, elements of a reliability, maintainability evaluation program are described. Emphasis is placed on the role of data, its storage, and use in such a program

Applicability of the “Gallet equation” to the vegetation clearances of NERC Reliability Standard FAC-003-2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirkham, Harold

2012-03-31

NERC has proposed a standard to use to specify clearances between vegetation and power lines. The purpose of the rule is to reduce the probability of flashover to a calculably low level. This report was commissioned by FERC’s Office of Electrical Reliability. The scope of the study was analysis of the mathematics and documentation of the technical justification behind the application of the Gallet equation and the assumptions used in the technical reference paper

Stand development and reliability tests of the thermal monitoring means for NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nalivaev, V.I.; Nikul'shin, V.S.; Kichigin, A.B.; Dirin, V.F.

2003-01-01

The paper is devoted to the reliability tests of thermoelectric thermometers and resistance thermometers during their operation in the nominal mode. Five stands Reliability are developed and operate for realization of tests of all manufactured thermal converters. delivered at NPP. Description of all stands are presented [ru

Ontology-based information standards development

OpenAIRE

Heravi, Bahareh Rahmanzadeh

2012-01-01

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University. Standards may be argued to be important enablers for achieving interoperability as they aim to provide unambiguous specifications for error-free exchange of documents and information. By implication, therefore, it is important to model and represent the concept of a standard in a clear, precise and unambiguous way. Although standards development organisations usually provide guidelines for th...

Reliability Engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Yong

1992-07-01

This book is about reliability engineering, which describes definition and importance of reliability, development of reliability engineering, failure rate and failure probability density function about types of it, CFR and index distribution, IFR and normal distribution and Weibull distribution, maintainability and movability, reliability test and reliability assumption in index distribution type, normal distribution type and Weibull distribution type, reliability sampling test, reliability of system, design of reliability and functionality failure analysis by FTA.

Development of Tsunami Trace Database with reliability evaluation on Japan coasts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwabuchi, Yoko; Sugino, Hideharu; Imamura, Fumihiko; Imai, Kentaro; Tsuji, Yoshinobu; Matsuoka, Yuya; Shuto, Nobuo

2012-01-01

The purpose of this research is to develop a Tsunami Trace Database by collecting historical materials as well as documents concerning tsunamis which had hit Japan and, of which the reliability of tsunami run-up and related data is taken into account. Based on acquisition and surveying of references, tsunami trace data over past 400 years of Japan has collected into a database, and reliability of each trace data was evaluated according to categorization of Japan Society of Civil Engineers (2002). As a result, trace data can now be searched and filtered with reliability levels accordingly whilst utilizing it for verification of tsunami numerical analysis and estimation of tsunami sources. By analyzing this database, we have quantitatively revealed the fact that the amount of reliable data tends to diminish as it goes older. (author)

Implosion lessons from national security, high reliability spacecraft, electronics, and the forces which changed them

CERN Document Server

Temple, L Parker

2012-01-01

Implosion is a focused study of the history and uses of high-reliability, solid-state electronics, military standards, and space systems that support our national security and defense. This book is unique in combining the interdependent evolution of and interrelationships among military standards, solid-state electronics, and very high-reliability space systems. Starting with a brief description of the physics that enabled the development of the first transistor, Implosion covers the need for standardizing military electronics, which began during World War II and continu

Development of seismic technology and reliability based on vibration tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Youichi

1997-01-01

This paper deals with some of the vibration tests and investigations on the seismic safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Japan. To ensure the reliability of the seismic safety of nuclear power plants, nuclear power plants in Japan have been designed according to the Technical Guidelines for Aseismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants. This guideline has been developed based on technical date base and findings which were obtained from many vibration tests and investigations. Besides the tests for the guideline, proving tests on seismic reliability of operating nuclear power plants equipment and systems have been carried out. In this paper some vibration tests and their evaluation results are presented. They have crucially contributed to develop the guideline. (J.P.N.)

Development of seismic technology and reliability based on vibration tests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sasaki, Youichi [Nuclear Power Engineering Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-03-01

This paper deals with some of the vibration tests and investigations on the seismic safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Japan. To ensure the reliability of the seismic safety of nuclear power plants, nuclear power plants in Japan have been designed according to the Technical Guidelines for Aseismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants. This guideline has been developed based on technical date base and findings which were obtained from many vibration tests and investigations. Besides the tests for the guideline, proving tests on seismic reliability of operating nuclear power plants equipment and systems have been carried out. In this paper some vibration tests and their evaluation results are presented. They have crucially contributed to develop the guideline. (J.P.N.)

Transmission control unit drive based on the AUTOSAR standard

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Xiucai; Qin, Zhen

2018-03-01

It is a trend of automotive electronics industry in the future that automotive electronics embedded system development based on the AUTOSAR standard. AUTOSAR automotive architecture standard has proposed the transmission control unit (TCU) development architecture and designed its interfaces and configurations in detail. This essay has discussed that how to drive the TCU based on AUTOSAR standard architecture. The results show that driving the TCU with the AUTOSAR system improves reliability and shortens development cycles.

A System Approach to Advanced Practice Clinician Standardization and High Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Okuno-Jones, Susan; Siehoff, Alice; Law, Jennifer; Juarez, Patricia

Advanced practice clinicians (APCs) are an integral part of the health care team. Opportunities exist within Advocate Health Care to standardize and optimize APC practice across the system. To enhance the role and talents of APCs, an approach to role definition and optimization of practice and a structured approach to orientation and evaluation are shared. Although in the early stages of development, definition and standardization of accountabilities in a framework to support system changes are transforming the practice of APCs.

77 FR 16435 - Transmission Relay Loadability Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-21

... conditions on all applicable transmission lines and transformers. I. Background A. Relay Protection Systems 2... and a power swing. If a power swing is detected, the protection system, ``blocks,'' or prevents the... to the reliability of the Bulk-Power System by requiring load-responsive phase protection relay...

Dependability of technical items: Problems of standardization

Science.gov (United States)

Fedotova, G. A.; Voropai, N. I.; Kovalev, G. F.

2016-12-01

This paper is concerned with problems blown up in the development of a new version of the Interstate Standard GOST 27.002 "Industrial product dependability. Terms and definitions". This Standard covers a wide range of technical items and is used in numerous regulations, specifications, standard and technical documentation. A currently available State Standard GOST 27.002-89 was introduced in 1990. Its development involved a participation of scientists and experts from different technical areas, its draft was debated in different audiences and constantly refined, so it was a high quality document. However, after 25 years of its application it's become necessary to develop a new version of the Standard that would reflect the current understanding of industrial dependability, accounting for the changes taking place in Russia in the production, management and development of various technical systems and facilities. The development of a new version of the Standard makes it possible to generalize on a terminological level the knowledge and experience in the area of reliability of technical items, accumulated over a quarter of the century in different industries and reliability research schools, to account for domestic and foreign experience of standardization. Working on the new version of the Standard, we have faced a number of issues and problems on harmonization with the International Standard IEC 60500-192, caused first of all by different approaches to the use of terms and differences in the mentalities of experts from different countries. The paper focuses on the problems related to the chapter "Maintenance, restoration and repair", which caused difficulties for the developers to harmonize term definitions both with experts and the International Standard, which is mainly related to differences between the Russian concept and practice of maintenance and repair and foreign ones.

Reliability of the k{sub 0}-standardization method using geological sample analysed in a proficiency test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pelaes, Ana Clara O.; Menezes, Maria Ângela de B.C., E-mail: anacpelaes@gmail.com, E-mail: menezes@cdtn.br [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)

2017-11-01

The Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) is an analytical technique to determine the elemental chemical composition in samples of several matrices, that has been applied by the Laboratory for Neutron Activation Analysis, located at Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear /Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (Nuclear Technology Development Center/Brazilian Commission for Nuclear Energy), CDTN/CNEN, since the starting up of the TRIGA MARK I IPR-R1 reactor, in 1960. Among the methods of application of the technique, the k{sub 0}-standardization method, which was established at CDTN in 1995, is the most efficient and in 2003 it was reestablished and optimized. In order to verify the reproducibility of the results generated by the application of the k{sub 0}-standardization method at CDTN, aliquots of a geological sample sent by WEPAL (Wageningen Evaluating Programs for Analytical Laboratories) were analysed and its results were compared with the results obtained through the Intercomparison of Results organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2015. WEPAL is an accredited institution for the organisation of interlaboratory studies, preparing and organizing proficiency testing schemes all over the world. Therefore, the comparison with the results provided aims to contribute to the continuous improvement of the quality of the results obtained by the CDTN. The objective of this study was to verify the reliability of the method applied two years after the intercomparison round. (author)

Mobile phone radiation health risk controversy: the reliability and sufficiency of science behind the safety standards.

Science.gov (United States)

Leszczynski, Dariusz; Xu, Zhengping

2010-01-27

There is ongoing discussion whether the mobile phone radiation causes any health effects. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and the World Health Organization are assuring that there is no proven health risk and that the present safety limits protect all mobile phone users. However, based on the available scientific evidence, the situation is not as clear. The majority of the evidence comes from in vitro laboratory studies and is of very limited use for determining health risk. Animal toxicology studies are inadequate because it is not possible to "overdose" microwave radiation, as it is done with chemical agents, due to simultaneous induction of heating side-effects. There is a lack of human volunteer studies that would, in unbiased way, demonstrate whether human body responds at all to mobile phone radiation. Finally, the epidemiological evidence is insufficient due to, among others, selection and misclassification bias and the low sensitivity of this approach in detection of health risk within the population. This indicates that the presently available scientific evidence is insufficient to prove reliability of the current safety standards. Therefore, we recommend to use precaution when dealing with mobile phones and, whenever possible and feasible, to limit body exposure to this radiation. Continuation of the research on mobile phone radiation effects is needed in order to improve the basis and the reliability of the safety standards.

Mobile phone radiation health risk controversy: the reliability and sufficiency of science behind the safety standards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leszczynski Dariusz

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract There is ongoing discussion whether the mobile phone radiation causes any health effects. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and the World Health Organization are assuring that there is no proven health risk and that the present safety limits protect all mobile phone users. However, based on the available scientific evidence, the situation is not as clear. The majority of the evidence comes from in vitro laboratory studies and is of very limited use for determining health risk. Animal toxicology studies are inadequate because it is not possible to "overdose" microwave radiation, as it is done with chemical agents, due to simultaneous induction of heating side-effects. There is a lack of human volunteer studies that would, in unbiased way, demonstrate whether human body responds at all to mobile phone radiation. Finally, the epidemiological evidence is insufficient due to, among others, selection and misclassification bias and the low sensitivity of this approach in detection of health risk within the population. This indicates that the presently available scientific evidence is insufficient to prove reliability of the current safety standards. Therefore, we recommend to use precaution when dealing with mobile phones and, whenever possible and feasible, to limit body exposure to this radiation. Continuation of the research on mobile phone radiation effects is needed in order to improve the basis and the reliability of the safety standards.

The development and standardization of Self-assessment for Hearing Screening of the Elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim G

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Gibbeum Kim,1 Wondo Na,1 Gungu Kim,1 Woojae Han,2 Jinsook Kim2 1Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Hallym University Graduate School, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea; 2Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Research Institute of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Natural Sciences, Hallym Universtiy, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea Purpose: The present study aimed to develop and standardize a screening tool for elderly people who wish to check for themselves their level of hearing loss. Methods: The Self-assessment for Hearing Screening of the Elderly (SHSE consisted of 20 questions based on the characteristics of presbycusis using a five-point scale: seven questions covered general issues related to sensorineural hearing loss, seven covered hearing difficulty under distracting listening conditions, two covered hearing difficulty with fast-rated speech, and four covered the working memory function during communication. To standardize SHSE, 83 elderly participants took part in the study: 25 with normal hearing, and 22, 23, and 13 with mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss, respectively, according to their hearing sensitivity. All were retested 3 weeks later using the same questionnaire to confirm its reliability. In addition, validity was assessed using various hearing tests such as a sentence test with background noise, a time-compressed speech test, and a digit span test. Results: SHSE and its subcategories showed good internal consistency. SHSE and its subcategories demonstrated high test–retest reliability. A high correlation was observed between the total scores and pure-tone thresholds, which indicated gradually increased SHSE scores of 42.24%, 55.27%, 66.61%, and 78.15% for normal hearing, mild, moderate, and moderate-to-severe groups, respectively. With regard to construct validity, SHSE showed a high negative correlation with speech perception scores in noise and a moderate negative

Development of high-reliability control system for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asami, K.; Yanai, K.; Hirose, H.; Ito, T.

1983-01-01

In Japan, many nuclear power generating plants are in operation and under construction. There is a general awareness of the problems in connection with nuclear power generation and strong emphasis is put on achieving highly reliable operation of nuclear power plants. Hitachi has developed a new high-reliability control system. NURECS-3000 (NUclear Power Plant High-REliability Control System), which is applied to the main control systems, such as the reactor feedwater control system, the reactor recirculation control system and the main turbine control system. The NURECS-3000 system was designed taking into account the fact that there will be failures, but the aim is for the system to continue to function correctly; it is therefore a fault-tolerant system. It has redundant components which can be completely isolated from each other in order to prevent fault propagation. The system has a hierarchical configuration, with a main controller, consisting of a triplex microcomputer system, and sub-loop controllers. Special care was taken to ensure the independence of these subsystems. Since most of the redundant system failures are caused by common-mode failures and the reliability of redundant systems depends on the reliability of the common-mode parts, the aim was to minimize these parts. (author)

A RELIABILITY TEST USED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOYALTY SCALE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florin-Alexandru LUCA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The development of a loyalty model involves the construction of a proper research instrument. For the loyalty model of the clients for financial services, the pre-testing of the research questionnaire represents a significant stage. This article presents the methodology used in this stage for testing the reliability of a loyalty scale. Firstly, this implies choosing the appropriate scales for each variable included in the suggested research model. Secondly, the internal consistency for each of these scales is measured as an indicator of their reliability. The reliability analysis described represents an essential stage in building a measurement instrument for a loyalty model.

Visualization of postoperative anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction bone tunnels: Reliability of standard radiographs, CT scans, and 3D virtual reality images

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D.E. Meuffels (Duncan); J.W. Potters (Jan Willem); A.H.J. Koning (Anton); C.H. Brown Jr Jr. (Charles); J.A.N. Verhaar (Jan); M. Reijman (Max)

2011-01-01

textabstractBackground and purpose: Non-anatomic bone tunnel placement is the most common cause of a failed ACL reconstruction. Accurate and reproducible methods to visualize and document bone tunnel placement are therefore important. We evaluated the reliability of standard radiographs, CT scans,

Reliability of high power electron accelerators for radiation processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zimek, Z. [Department of Radiation Chemistry and Technology, Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw (Poland)

2011-07-01

Accelerators applied for radiation processing are installed in industrial facilities where accelerator availability coefficient should be at the level of 95% to fulfill requirements according to industry standards. Usually the exploitation of electron accelerator reviles the number of short and few long lasting failures. Some technical shortages can be overcome by practical implementation the experience gained in accelerator technology development by different accelerator manufactures. The reliability/availability of high power accelerators for application in flue gas treatment process must be dramatically improved to meet industrial standards. Support of accelerator technology dedicated for environment protection should be provided by governmental and international institutions to overcome accelerator reliability/availability problem and high risk and low direct profit in this particular application. (author)

Reliability of high power electron accelerators for radiation processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zimek, Z.

2011-01-01

Accelerators applied for radiation processing are installed in industrial facilities where accelerator availability coefficient should be at the level of 95% to fulfill requirements according to industry standards. Usually the exploitation of electron accelerator reviles the number of short and few long lasting failures. Some technical shortages can be overcome by practical implementation the experience gained in accelerator technology development by different accelerator manufactures. The reliability/availability of high power accelerators for application in flue gas treatment process must be dramatically improved to meet industrial standards. Support of accelerator technology dedicated for environment protection should be provided by governmental and international institutions to overcome accelerator reliability/availability problem and high risk and low direct profit in this particular application. (author)

Behavioral reliability program for the nuclear industry. Technical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchanan, J.C.; Davis, S.O.; Dunnette, M.D.; Meyer, P.; Sharac, J.

1981-07-01

The subject of the study was the development of standards for a behavioral observation program which could be used by the NRC licensed nuclear industry to detect indications of emotional instability in its employees who have access to protected and vital areas. Emphasis was placed on those observable characteristics which could be assessed by supervisors or peers in a work environment. The behavioral reliability program, as was defined in this report, encompasses the concept and basic components of the program, the definition of the behavioral reliability program, the definition of the behavioral reliability criterion, and a set of instructions for the creation and implementation of the program by an individual facility

Distribution-level electricity reliability: Temporal trends using statistical analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eto, Joseph H.; LaCommare, Kristina H.; Larsen, Peter; Todd, Annika; Fisher, Emily

2012-01-01

This paper helps to address the lack of comprehensive, national-scale information on the reliability of the U.S. electric power system by assessing trends in U.S. electricity reliability based on the information reported by the electric utilities on power interruptions experienced by their customers. The research analyzes up to 10 years of electricity reliability information collected from 155 U.S. electric utilities, which together account for roughly 50% of total U.S. electricity sales. We find that reported annual average duration and annual average frequency of power interruptions have been increasing over time at a rate of approximately 2% annually. We find that, independent of this trend, installation or upgrade of an automated outage management system is correlated with an increase in the reported annual average duration of power interruptions. We also find that reliance on IEEE Standard 1366-2003 is correlated with higher reported reliability compared to reported reliability not using the IEEE standard. However, we caution that we cannot attribute reliance on the IEEE standard as having caused or led to higher reported reliability because we could not separate the effect of reliance on the IEEE standard from other utility-specific factors that may be correlated with reliance on the IEEE standard. - Highlights: ► We assess trends in electricity reliability based on the information reported by the electric utilities. ► We use rigorous statistical techniques to account for utility-specific differences. ► We find modest declines in reliability analyzing interruption duration and frequency experienced by utility customers. ► Installation or upgrade of an OMS is correlated to an increase in reported duration of power interruptions. ► We find reliance in IEEE Standard 1366 is correlated with higher reported reliability.

Reliability data banks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cannon, A.G.; Bendell, A.

1991-01-01

Following an introductory chapter on Reliability, what is it, why it is needed, how it is achieved and measured, the principles of reliability data bases and analysis methodologies are the subject of the next two chapters. Achievements due to the development of data banks are mentioned for different industries in the next chapter, FACTS, a comprehensive information system for industrial safety and reliability data collection in process plants are covered next. CREDO, the Central Reliability Data Organization is described in the next chapter and is indexed separately, as is the chapter on DANTE, the fabrication reliability Data analysis system. Reliability data banks at Electricite de France and IAEA's experience in compiling a generic component reliability data base are also separately indexed. The European reliability data system, ERDS, and the development of a large data bank come next. The last three chapters look at 'Reliability data banks, - friend foe or a waste of time'? and future developments. (UK)

China's High-technology Standards Development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2007-01-01

There are several major technology standards, including audio video coding (AVS), automotive electronics, third generation (3G) mobile phones, mobile television, wireless networks and digital terrestrial television broadcasting, that have been released or are currently under development in China. This article offers a detailed analysis of each standard and studies their impact on China's high-technology industry.

75 FR 66038 - Planning Resource Adequacy Assessment Reliability Standard

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-27

..., providing a common framework for resource adequacy analysis, assessment, and documentation) effectively and...://www.nerc.com/commondocs.php?cd=2 . D. Proposed Effective Date 24. Proposed regional Reliability...

European Reliability Data System: main developments and use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amesz, J.; Capobianchi, S.; Kalfsbeek, H.W.; Mancini, G.

1985-01-01

The paper revises the aims and objectives of the European Reliability Data System (ERDS), a centralized system collecting and organizing information related to the operation of light water reactors. The paper first describes the recent developments of the four data banks constituting the system: Component Event Data Bank, Abnormal Occurrences Reporting System, Operating Unit Status Report and Reliability Parameters Data Bank. Then several issues are discussed referring mostly to the status of classification schemes and their use, to the operation of the banks (data input and transcoding) and to the retrieval and utilization of the information; in this latter case particularly the analysis potential of the data collection scheme of the AORS (Abnormal Occurrences Reporting System) is demonstrated. Finally, emphasis is given to the increasing role which artificial intelligence techniques such as natural language and expert systems and fuzzy logic may play in improving the future capabilities of the system

Techniques, processes, and measures for software safety and reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sparkman, D.

1992-01-01

The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed survey of current recommended practices and measurement techniques for the development of reliable and safe software-based systems. This report is intended to assist the United States Nuclear Reaction Regulation (NRR) in determining the importance and maturity of the available techniques and in assessing the relevance of individual standards for application to instrumentation and control systems in nuclear power generating stations. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provides technical support for the Instrumentation and Control System Branch (ICSB) of NRRin advanced instrumentation and control systems, distributed digital systems, software reliability, and the application of verificafion and validafion for the development of software

Development of a quantitative risk standard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Temme, M.I.

1982-01-01

IEEE Working Group SC-5.4 is developing a quantitative risk standard for LWR plant design and operation. The paper describes the Working Group's conclusions on significant issues, including the scope of the standard, the need to define the process (i.e., PRA calculation) for meeting risk criteria, the need for PRA quality requirements and the importance of distinguishing standards from goals. The paper also describes the Working Group's approach to writing this standard

Digital Processor Module Reliability Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Yong; Jung, Jae Hyun; Kim, Jae Ho; Kim, Sung Hun

2005-01-01

The system used in plant, military equipment, satellite, etc. consists of many electronic parts as control module, which requires relatively high reliability than other commercial electronic products. Specially, Nuclear power plant related to the radiation safety requires high safety and reliability, so most parts apply to Military-Standard level. Reliability prediction method provides the rational basis of system designs and also provides the safety significance of system operations. Thus various reliability prediction tools have been developed in recent decades, among of them, the MI-HDBK-217 method has been widely used as a powerful tool for the prediction. In this work, It is explained that reliability analysis work for Digital Processor Module (DPM, control module of SMART) is performed by Parts Stress Method based on MIL-HDBK-217F NOTICE2. We are using the Relex 7.6 of Relex software corporation, because reliability analysis process requires enormous part libraries and data for failure rate calculation

Reliability database development for use with an object-oriented fault tree evaluation program

Science.gov (United States)

Heger, A. Sharif; Harringtton, Robert J.; Koen, Billy V.; Patterson-Hine, F. Ann

1989-01-01

A description is given of the development of a fault-tree analysis method using object-oriented programming. In addition, the authors discuss the programs that have been developed or are under development to connect a fault-tree analysis routine to a reliability database. To assess the performance of the routines, a relational database simulating one of the nuclear power industry databases has been constructed. For a realistic assessment of the results of this project, the use of one of existing nuclear power reliability databases is planned.

RTE - 2013 Reliability Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denis, Anne-Marie

2014-01-01

RTE publishes a yearly reliability report based on a standard model to facilitate comparisons and highlight long-term trends. The 2013 report is not only stating the facts of the Significant System Events (ESS), but it moreover underlines the main elements dealing with the reliability of the electrical power system. It highlights the various elements which contribute to present and future reliability and provides an overview of the interaction between the various stakeholders of the Electrical Power System on the scale of the European Interconnected Network. (author)

Development of the Centralized Reliability Data Organization (CREDO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haas, P.M.; Bott, T.F.; Knee, H.E.; Manning, J.J.; Hudson, S.D.; Greene, N.M.; Woodside, M.A.

1979-01-01

CREDO has been established to meet the needs of the US Breeder Reactor Program and the advanced reactor community for a centralized source of accurate reliability/maintainability data and data-related services. The center provides for a comprehensive program of collection, evaluation, and dissemination of data and for necessary user services. A steering committee of nationally recognized experts has been formed to guide CREDO development and operation. Historic data have been collected, analyzed, and published. Routine, continuous data collection and processing has been initiated at US sites. Interfaces with existing data bases have been established. Special user services are under development

A reliability analysis tool for SpaceWire network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qiang; Zhu, Longjiang; Fei, Haidong; Wang, Xingyou

2017-04-01

A SpaceWire is a standard for on-board satellite networks as the basis for future data-handling architectures. It is becoming more and more popular in space applications due to its technical advantages, including reliability, low power and fault protection, etc. High reliability is the vital issue for spacecraft. Therefore, it is very important to analyze and improve the reliability performance of the SpaceWire network. This paper deals with the problem of reliability modeling and analysis with SpaceWire network. According to the function division of distributed network, a reliability analysis method based on a task is proposed, the reliability analysis of every task can lead to the system reliability matrix, the reliability result of the network system can be deduced by integrating these entire reliability indexes in the matrix. With the method, we develop a reliability analysis tool for SpaceWire Network based on VC, where the computation schemes for reliability matrix and the multi-path-task reliability are also implemented. By using this tool, we analyze several cases on typical architectures. And the analytic results indicate that redundancy architecture has better reliability performance than basic one. In practical, the dual redundancy scheme has been adopted for some key unit, to improve the reliability index of the system or task. Finally, this reliability analysis tool will has a directive influence on both task division and topology selection in the phase of SpaceWire network system design.

Development and interrater reliability testing of a telephone interview training programme for Australian nurse interviewers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahern, Tracey; Gardner, Anne; Gardner, Glenn; Middleton, Sandy; Della, Phillip

2013-05-01

The final phase of a three phase study analysing the implementation and impact of the nurse practitioner role in Australia (the Australian Nurse Practitioner Project or AUSPRAC) was undertaken in 2009, requiring nurse telephone interviewers to gather information about health outcomes directly from patients and their treating nurse practitioners. A team of several registered nurses was recruited and trained as telephone interviewers. The aim of this paper is to report on development and evaluation of the training process for telephone interviewers. The training process involved planning the content and methods to be used in the training session; delivering the session; testing skills and understanding of interviewers post-training; collecting and analysing data to determine the degree to which the training process was successful in meeting objectives and post-training follow-up. All aspects of the training process were informed by established educational principles. Interrater reliability between interviewers was high for well-validated sections of the survey instrument resulting in 100% agreement between interviewers. Other sections with unvalidated questions showed lower agreement (between 75% and 90%). Overall the agreement between interviewers was 92%. Each interviewer was also measured against a specifically developed master script or gold standard and for this each interviewer achieved a percentage of correct answers of 94.7% or better. This equated to a Kappa value of 0.92 or better. The telephone interviewer training process was very effective and achieved high interrater reliability. We argue that the high reliability was due to the use of well validated instruments and the carefully planned programme based on established educational principles. There is limited published literature on how to successfully operationalise educational principles and tailor them for specific research studies; this report addresses this knowledge gap. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier

Dynamic reliability networks with self-healing units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenab, K.; Seyed Hosseini, S.M.; Dhillon, B.S.

2008-01-01

This paper presents an analytical approach for dynamic reliability networks used for the failure limit strategy in maintenance optimization. The proposed approach utilizes the moment generating function (MGF) and the flow-graph concept to depict the functional and reliability diagrams of the system comprised of series, parallel or mix configuration of self-healing units. The self-healing unit is featured by the embedded failure detection and recovery mechanisms presented by self-loop in flow-graph networks. The newly developed analytical approach provides the probability of the system failure and time-to-failure data i.e., mean and standard deviation time-to-failure used for maintenance optimization

A New Tool for Nutrition App Quality Evaluation (AQEL): Development, Validation, and Reliability Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

DiFilippo, Kristen Nicole; Huang, Wenhao; Chapman-Novakofski, Karen M

2017-10-27

The extensive availability and increasing use of mobile apps for nutrition-based health interventions makes evaluation of the quality of these apps crucial for integration of apps into nutritional counseling. The goal of this research was the development, validation, and reliability testing of the app quality evaluation (AQEL) tool, an instrument for evaluating apps' educational quality and technical functionality. Items for evaluating app quality were adapted from website evaluations, with additional items added to evaluate the specific characteristics of apps, resulting in 79 initial items. Expert panels of nutrition and technology professionals and app users reviewed items for face and content validation. After recommended revisions, nutrition experts completed a second AQEL review to ensure clarity. On the basis of 150 sets of responses using the revised AQEL, principal component analysis was completed, reducing AQEL into 5 factors that underwent reliability testing, including internal consistency, split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability (IRR). Two additional modifiable constructs for evaluating apps based on the age and needs of the target audience as selected by the evaluator were also tested for construct reliability. IRR testing using intraclass correlations (ICC) with all 7 constructs was conducted, with 15 dietitians evaluating one app. Development and validation resulted in the 51-item AQEL. These were reduced to 25 items in 5 factors after principal component analysis, plus 9 modifiable items in two constructs that were not included in principal component analysis. Internal consistency and split-half reliability of the following constructs derived from principal components analysis was good (Cronbach alpha >.80, Spearman-Brown coefficient >.80): behavior change potential, support of knowledge acquisition, app function, and skill development. App purpose split half-reliability was .65. Test-retest reliability showed no

Development of a valid and reliable test to assess trauma radiograph interpretation performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neep, M.J.; Steffens, T.; Riley, V.; Eastgate, P.; McPhail, S.M.

2017-01-01

Objectives: The purpose of this investigation was to develop and examine the preliminary validity and reliability among radiographers of a test to assess trauma radiograph interpretation performance suitable for use among health professionals. Methods: Stage 1 examined 14,159 consecutive appendicular and axial examinations from a hospital emergency department over a 12 month period to quantify a typical anatomical region case-mix of trauma radiographs. A sample of radiographic cases representative of affected anatomical regions was then developed into the Image Interpretation Test (IIT). Stage 2 involved prospective investigations of the IIT's reliability (inter-rater, intra-rater, internal consistency) and validity (concurrent) among 41 radiographers. Results: The IIT included 60 cases. The median (interquartile range) clinical experience of participants was 5 (2–10) years. Case scores were internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90). Favourable inter-rater reliability (kappa > 0.70 for 58/60 cases, Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) > 0.99 for total score) and intra-rater reliability (kappa > 0.90 for 60/60 cases, ICC > 0.99 for total score) was observed. There was a positive association between radiographers' confidence in image interpretation and IIT score (coefficient = 1.52, r-squared = 0.60, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The IIT developed during this investigation included a selection of radiographic cases consistent with anatomical regions represented in an adult trauma case-mix. This study has also provided foundational preliminary evidence to support the reliability and validity of the IIT among radiographers. The findings suggest that it is possible to assess image interpretation performance of adult trauma radiographs with this test. - Highlights: • Development of an Image Interpretation Test (IIT). • Cases consistent with anatomical regions represented in a typical adult trauma case-mix. • Development of a

Software reliability evaluation of digital plant protection system development process using V and V

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Na Young; Hwang, Il Soon; Seong, Seung Hwan; Oh, Seung Rok

2001-01-01

In the nuclear power industry, digital technology has been introduced recently for the Instrumentation and Control (I and C) of reactor systems. For its application to the safety critical system such as Reactor Protection System(RPS), a reliability assessment is indispensable. Unlike traditional reliability models, software reliability is hard to evaluate, and should be evaluated throughout development lifecycle. In the development process of Digital Plant Protection System(DPPS), the concept of verification and validation (V and V) was introduced to assure the quality of the product. Also, test should be performed to assure the reliability. Verification procedure with model checking is relatively well defined, however, test is labor intensive and not well organized. In this paper, we developed the methodological process of combining the verification with validation test case generation. For this, we used PVS for the table specification and for the theorem proving. As a result, we could not only save time to design test case but also get more effective and complete verification related test case set. Add to this, we could extract some meaningful factors useful for the reliability evaluation both from the V and V and verification combined tests

Advances in developing rapid, reliable and portable detection systems for alcohol.

Science.gov (United States)

Thungon, Phurpa Dema; Kakoti, Ankana; Ngashangva, Lightson; Goswami, Pranab

2017-11-15

Development of portable, reliable, sensitive, simple, and inexpensive detection system for alcohol has been an instinctive demand not only in traditional brewing, pharmaceutical, food and clinical industries but also in rapidly growing alcohol based fuel industries. Highly sensitive, selective, and reliable alcohol detections are currently amenable typically through the sophisticated instrument based analyses confined mostly to the state-of-art analytical laboratory facilities. With the growing demand of rapid and reliable alcohol detection systems, an all-round attempt has been made over the past decade encompassing various disciplines from basic and engineering sciences. Of late, the research for developing small-scale portable alcohol detection system has been accelerated with the advent of emerging miniaturization techniques, advanced materials and sensing platforms such as lab-on-chip, lab-on-CD, lab-on-paper etc. With these new inter-disciplinary approaches along with the support from the parallel knowledge growth on rapid detection systems being pursued for various targets, the progress on translating the proof-of-concepts to commercially viable and environment friendly portable alcohol detection systems is gaining pace. Here, we summarize the progress made over the years on the alcohol detection systems, with a focus on recent advancement towards developing portable, simple and efficient alcohol sensors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reliability Calculations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Kurt Erling

1986-01-01

Risk and reliability analysis is increasingly being used in evaluations of plant safety and plant reliability. The analysis can be performed either during the design process or during the operation time, with the purpose to improve the safety or the reliability. Due to plant complexity and safety...... and availability requirements, sophisticated tools, which are flexible and efficient, are needed. Such tools have been developed in the last 20 years and they have to be continuously refined to meet the growing requirements. Two different areas of application were analysed. In structural reliability probabilistic...... approaches have been introduced in some cases for the calculation of the reliability of structures or components. A new computer program has been developed based upon numerical integration in several variables. In systems reliability Monte Carlo simulation programs are used especially in analysis of very...

Developing a system engineering program to improve performance and reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keuter, D.

1985-01-01

After several maintenance, operational, and equipment problems last year, Trojan set out on a mission to improve plant performance and reliability by strengthening its on-site engineering organization. This paper presents Trojan's plans in developing an on-site system engineering organization

Development and Validation of a Standardized Tool for Prioritization of Information Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Akwar, Holy; Kloeze, Harold; Mukhi, Shamir

2016-01-01

To validate the utility and effectiveness of a standardized tool for prioritization of information sources for early detection of diseases. The tool was developed with input from diverse public health experts garnered through survey. Ten raters used the tool to evaluate ten information sources and reliability among raters was computed. The Proc mixed procedure with random effect statement and SAS Macros were used to compute multiple raters' Fleiss Kappa agreement and Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance. Ten disparate information sources evaluated obtained the following composite scores: ProMed 91%; WAHID 90%; Eurosurv 87%; MediSys 85%; SciDaily 84%; EurekAl 83%; CSHB 78%; GermTrax 75%; Google 74%; and CBC 70%. A Fleiss Kappa agreement of 50.7% was obtained for ten information sources and 72.5% for a sub-set of five sources rated, which is substantial agreement validating the utility and effectiveness of the tool. This study validated the utility and effectiveness of a standardized criteria tool developed to prioritize information sources. The new tool was used to identify five information sources suited for use by the KIWI system in the CEZD-IIR project to improve surveillance of infectious diseases. The tool can be generalized to situations when prioritization of numerous information sources is necessary.

Development of fusion safety standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longhurst, G.R.; Petti, D.A.; Dinneen, G.A.; Herring, J.S.; DeLooper, J.; Levine, J.D.; Gouge, M.J.

1996-01-01

Two new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) standards have been prepared to assist in the design and regulation of magnetic fusion facilities. They are DOE-STD-6002-96, 'Safety of Magnetic Fusion Facilities - Requirements,' and DOE-STD-6003-96 'Safety of Magnetic Fusion Facilities - Guidance.' The first standard sets forth requirements, mostly based on the Code of Federal Regulations, deemed necessary for the safe design and operation of fusion facilities and a set of safety principles to use in the design. The second standard provides guidance on how to meet the requirements identified in DOE-STD-6002-96. It is written specifically for a facility such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the DOE regulatory environment. As technical standards, they are applicable only to the extent that compliance with these standards is included in the contracts of the developers. 7 refs., 1 fig

Toward developing a standardized Arabic continuous text reading chart.

Science.gov (United States)

Alabdulkader, Balsam; Leat, Susan Jennifer

Near visual acuity is an essential measurement during an oculo-visual assessment. Short duration continuous text reading charts measure reading acuity and other aspects of reading performance. There is no standardized version of such chart in Arabic. The aim of this study is to create sentences of equal readability to use in the development of a standardized Arabic continuous text reading chart. Initially, 109 Arabic pairs of sentences were created for use in constructing a chart with similar layout to the Colenbrander chart. They were created to have the same grade level of difficulty and physical length. Fifty-three adults and sixteen children were recruited to validate the sentences. Reading speed in correct words per minute (CWPM) and standard length words per minute (SLWPM) was measured and errors were counted. Criteria based on reading speed and errors made in each sentence pair were used to exclude sentence pairs with more outlying characteristics, and to select the final group of sentence pairs. Forty-five sentence pairs were selected according to the elimination criteria. For adults, the average reading speed for the final sentences was 166 CWPM and 187 SLWPM and the average number of errors per sentence pair was 0.21. Childrens' average reading speed for the final group of sentences was 61 CWPM and 72 SLWPM. Their average error rate was 1.71. The reliability analysis showed that the final 45 sentence pairs are highly comparable. They will be used in constructing an Arabic short duration continuous text reading chart. Copyright © 2016 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Reliability analysis of microcomputer boards and computer based systems important to safety of nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrikhande, S.V.; Patil, V.K.; Ganesh, G.; Biswas, B.; Patil, R.K.

2010-01-01

Computer Based Systems (CBS) are employed in Indian nuclear plants for protection, control and monitoring purpose. For forthcoming CBS, Reactor Control Division has designed and developed a new standardized family of microcomputer boards qualified to stringent requirements of nuclear industry. These boards form the basic building blocks of CBS. Reliability analysis of these boards is being carried out using analysis package based on MIL-STD-217Plus methodology. The estimated failure rate values of these standardized microcomputer boards will be useful for reliability assessment of these systems. The paper presents reliability analysis of microcomputer boards and case study of a CBS system built using these boards. (author)

A Scale for E-Content Preparation Skills: Development, Validity and Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Tekin, Ahmet; Polat, Ebru

2016-01-01

Problem Statement: For an effective teaching and learning process it is critical to provide support for teachers in the development of e-content, and teachers should play an active role in this development. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable Likert-type scale that will determine pre-service teachers'…

The rating reliability calculator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solomon David J

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rating scales form an important means of gathering evaluation data. Since important decisions are often based on these evaluations, determining the reliability of rating data can be critical. Most commonly used methods of estimating reliability require a complete set of ratings i.e. every subject being rated must be rated by each judge. Over fifty years ago Ebel described an algorithm for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data. While his article has been widely cited over the years, software based on the algorithm is not readily available. This paper describes an easy-to-use Web-based utility for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data using Ebel's algorithm. Methods The program is available public use on our server and the source code is freely available under GNU General Public License. The utility is written in PHP, a common open source imbedded scripting language. The rating data can be entered in a convenient format on the user's personal computer that the program will upload to the server for calculating the reliability and other statistics describing the ratings. Results When the program is run it displays the reliability, number of subject rated, harmonic mean number of judges rating each subject, the mean and standard deviation of the averaged ratings per subject. The program also displays the mean, standard deviation and number of ratings for each subject rated. Additionally the program will estimate the reliability of an average of a number of ratings for each subject via the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. Conclusion This simple web-based program provides a convenient means of estimating the reliability of rating data without the need to conduct special studies in order to provide complete rating data. I would welcome other researchers revising and enhancing the program.

Development and validation of a HPLC method for standardization of herbal and commercial extracts of Myrcia uniflora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea N. de L. Batista

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Myrcia uniflora Barb. Rodr., Myrtaceae, popularly known as "pedra-hume-caá" in Brazil, is sold as dry extracts in capsules or as tinctures for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Previous phytochemical studies on this species described the occurrence of the flavonoids mearnsitrin and myricitrin. In the present study, the chromatographic profiles of M. uniflora leaves and commercial extracts were determined using HPLC-PAD. Myricitrin was used as an external standard in the development and validation of the HPLC method. The proposed method is simple, rapid and reliable and can be successfully applied in industry for standardization of herbs and phytomedicines commercialised in Brazil as "pedra-hume-caá".

Development and validation of a HPLC method for standardization of herbal and commercial extracts of Myrcia uniflora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea N. de L. Batista

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Myrcia uniflora Barb. Rodr., Myrtaceae, popularly known as "pedra-hume-caá" in Brazil, is sold as dry extracts in capsules or as tinctures for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Previous phytochemical studies on this species described the occurrence of the flavonoids mearnsitrin and myricitrin. In the present study, the chromatographic profiles of M. uniflora leaves and commercial extracts were determined using HPLC-PAD. Myricitrin was used as an external standard in the development and validation of the HPLC method. The proposed method is simple, rapid and reliable and can be successfully applied in industry for standardization of herbs and phytomedicines commercialised in Brazil as "pedra-hume-caá".

First reliability test of a surface micromachined microengine using SHiMMeR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanner, D.M.; Smith, N.F.; Bowman, D.J. [and others

1997-08-01

The first-ever reliability stress test on surface micromachined microengines developed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has been completed. We stressed 41 microengines at 36,000 RPM and inspected the functionality at 60 RPM. We have observed an infant mortality region, a region of low failure rate (useful life), and no signs of wearout in the data. The reliability data are presented and interpreted using standard reliability methods. Failure analysis results on the stressed microengines are presented. In our effort to study the reliability of MEMS, we need to observe the failures of large numbers of parts to determine the failure modes. To facilitate testing of large numbers of micromachines. The Sandia High Volume Measurement of Micromachine Reliability (SHiMMeR) system has computer controlled positioning and the capability to inspect moving parts. The development of this parallel testing system is discussed in detail.

MDP: Reliable File Transfer for Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Rash, James; Criscuolo, Ed; Hogie, Keith; Parise, Ron; Hennessy, Joseph F. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presents work being done at NASA/GSFC by the Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) project to demonstrate the application of the Multicast Dissemination Protocol (MDP) to space missions to reliably transfer files. This work builds on previous work by the OMNI project to apply Internet communication technologies to space communication. The goal of this effort is to provide an inexpensive, reliable, standard, and interoperable mechanism for transferring files in the space communication environment. Limited bandwidth, noise, delay, intermittent connectivity, link asymmetry, and one-way links are all possible issues for space missions. Although these are link-layer issues, they can have a profound effect on the performance of transport and application level protocols. MDP, a UDP-based reliable file transfer protocol, was designed for multicast environments which have to address these same issues, and it has done so successfully. Developed by the Naval Research Lab in the mid 1990's, MDP is now in daily use by both the US Post Office and the DoD. This paper describes the use of MDP to provide automated end-to-end data flow for space missions. It examines the results of a parametric study of MDP in a simulated space link environment and discusses the results in terms of their implications for space missions. Lessons learned are addressed, which suggest minor enhancements to the MDP user interface to add specific features for space mission requirements, such as dynamic control of data rate, and a checkpoint/resume capability. These are features that are provided for in the protocol, but are not implemented in the sample MDP application that was provided. A brief look is also taken at the status of standardization. A version of MDP known as NORM (Neck Oriented Reliable Multicast) is in the process of becoming an IETF standard.

Personnel involved in nuclear standards development: 1980 directory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, S.J.

1980-03-01

The development of nuclear standards is an active and necessary endeavor that is concerned with the safe, orderly, and economic development of nuclear potential. There are almost 4100 people from the teachnical community who are presently involved either in writing nuclear standards, including codes, or in the management and processing roles necessary for their approval and promulgation. This document identifies the current participation of each individual as member, chairman, cochairman (vice-chairman), or secretary of about 700 standards development committees and groups. The standards committees and groups are identified with the organizations that are responsible for the preparation, review, and maintenance of the standards and that provide support through supervisory committees and headquarters staff. This directory includes four major sections: personnel, employers, committees, and a Key-Word-in-Context (KWIC) Index of committee titles. It can also be used to identify the participation of employers as well as to recognize the contributions of individuals to the often interdisciplinary activity of standards development

Personnel involved in nuclear standards development: 1980 directory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carr, S.J. (ed.)

1980-03-01

The development of nuclear standards is an active and necessary endeavor that is concerned with the safe, orderly, and economic development of nuclear potential. There are almost 4100 people from the teachnical community who are presently involved either in writing nuclear standards, including codes, or in the management and processing roles necessary for their approval and promulgation. This document identifies the current participation of each individual as member, chairman, cochairman (vice-chairman), or secretary of about 700 standards development committees and groups. The standards committees and groups are identified with the organizations that are responsible for the preparation, review, and maintenance of the standards and that provide support through supervisory committees and headquarters staff. This directory includes four major sections: personnel, employers, committees, and a Key-Word-in-Context (KWIC) Index of committee titles. It can also be used to identify the participation of employers as well as to recognize the contributions of individuals to the often interdisciplinary activity of standards development.

Standards application and development plan for solar thermal technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Cobb, H. R. W.

1981-07-01

Functional and standards matrices, developed from input from ST users and from the industry that will be continually reviewed and updated as commercial aspects develop are presented. The matrices highlight codes, standards, test methods, functions and definitions that need to be developed. They will be submitted through ANSI for development by national consensus bodies. A contingency action is proposed for standards development if specific input is lacking at the committee level or if early development of a standard would hasten commercialization or gain needed jurisdictional acceptance.

Development and reliability testing of a food store observation form.

Science.gov (United States)

Rimkus, Leah; Powell, Lisa M; Zenk, Shannon N; Han, Euna; Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam; Pugach, Oksana; Barker, Dianne C; Resnick, Elissa A; Quinn, Christopher M; Myllyluoma, Jaana; Chaloupka, Frank J

2013-01-01

To develop a reliable food store observational data collection instrument to be used for measuring product availability, pricing, and promotion. Observational data collection. A total of 120 food stores (26 supermarkets, 34 grocery stores, 54 gas/convenience stores, and 6 mass merchandise stores) in the Chicago metropolitan statistical area. Inter-rater reliability for product availability, pricing, and promotion measures on a food store observational data collection instrument. Cohen's kappa coefficient and proportion of overall agreement for dichotomous variables and intra-class correlation coefficient for continuous variables. Inter-rater reliability, as measured by average kappa coefficient, was 0.84 for food and beverage product availability measures, 0.80 for interior store characteristics, and 0.70 for exterior store characteristics. For continuous measures, average intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.82 for product pricing measures; 0.90 for counts of fresh, frozen, and canned fruit and vegetable options; and 0.85 for counts of advertisements on the store exterior and property. The vast majority of measures demonstrated substantial or almost perfect agreement. Although some items may require revision, results suggest that the instrument may be used to reliably measure the food store environment. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Children's Play Therapy Instrument (CPTI). Description, development, and reliability studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kernberg, P F; Chazan, S E; Normandin, L

1998-01-01

The Children's Play Therapy Instrument (CPTI), its development, and reliability studies are described. The CPTI is a new instrument to examine a child's play activity in individual psychotherapy. Three independent raters used the CPTI to rate eight videotaped play therapy vignettes. Results were compared with the authors' consensual scores from a preliminary study. Generally good to excellent levels of interrater reliability were obtained for the independent raters on intraclass correlation coefficients for ordinal categories of the CPTI. Likewise, kappa levels were acceptable to excellent for nominal categories of the scale. The CPTI holds promise to become a reliable measure of play activity in child psychotherapy. Further research is needed to assess discriminant validity of the CPTI for use as a diagnostic tool and as a measure of process and outcome.

18 CFR 39.3 - Electric Reliability Organization certification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... operators of the Bulk-Power System, and other interested parties for improvement of the Electric Reliability... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Electric Reliability..., Reliability Standards that provide for an adequate level of reliability of the Bulk-Power System, and (2) Has...

Technology development of maintenance optimization and reliability analysis for safety features in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Tae Woon; Choi, Seong Soo; Lee, Dong Gue; Kim, Young Il

1999-12-01

The reliability data management system (RDMS) for safety systems of PHWR type plants has been developed and utilized in the reliability analysis of the special safety systems of Wolsong Unit 1,2 with plant overhaul period lengthened. The RDMS is developed for the periodic efficient reliability analysis of the safety systems of Wolsong Unit 1,2. In addition, this system provides the function of analyzing the effects on safety system unavailability if the test period of a test procedure changes as well as the function of optimizing the test periods of safety-related test procedures. The RDMS can be utilized in handling the requests of the regulatory institute actively with regard to the reliability validation of safety systems. (author)

Development of reliable pavement models.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-01

The current report proposes a framework for estimating the reliability of a given pavement structure as analyzed by : the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The methodology proposes using a previously fit : response surface, in plac...

A Validity and Reliability Study of the Attitudes toward Sustainable Development Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Biasutti, Michele; Frate, Sara

2017-01-01

This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes toward Sustainable Development scale, a quantitative 20-item scale that measures Italian university students' attitudes toward sustainable development. A total of 484 undergraduate students completed the questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the scale was statistically…

Development of a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies: reliability and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Andreas; Raphael, Karen G; Glaros, Alan; Axelsson, Susanna; Arima, Taro; Ernberg, Malin; Farella, Mauro; Lobbezoo, Frank; Manfredini, Daniele; Michelotti, Ambra; Svensson, Peter; List, Thomas

2013-01-01

To combine empirical evidence and expert opinion in a formal consensus method in order to develop a quality-assessment tool for experimental bruxism studies in systematic reviews. Tool development comprised five steps: (1) preliminary decisions, (2) item generation, (3) face-validity assessment, (4) reliability and discriminitive validity assessment, and (5) instrument refinement. The kappa value and phi-coefficient were calculated to assess inter-observer reliability and discriminative ability, respectively. Following preliminary decisions and a literature review, a list of 52 items to be considered for inclusion in the tool was compiled. Eleven experts were invited to join a Delphi panel and 10 accepted. Four Delphi rounds reduced the preliminary tool-Quality-Assessment Tool for Experimental Bruxism Studies (Qu-ATEBS)- to 8 items: study aim, study sample, control condition or group, study design, experimental bruxism task, statistics, interpretation of results, and conflict of interest statement. Consensus among the Delphi panelists yielded good face validity. Inter-observer reliability was acceptable (k = 0.77). Discriminative validity was excellent (phi coefficient 1.0; P reviews of experimental bruxism studies, exhibits face validity, excellent discriminative validity, and acceptable inter-observer reliability. Development of quality assessment tools for many other topics in the orofacial pain literature is needed and may follow the described procedure.

Standard error of measurement of 5 health utility indexes across the range of health for use in estimating reliability and responsiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Palta, Mari; Chen, Han-Yang; Kaplan, Robert M; Feeny, David; Cherepanov, Dasha; Fryback, Dennis G

2011-01-01

Standard errors of measurement (SEMs) of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) indexes are not well characterized. SEM is needed to estimate responsiveness statistics, and is a component of reliability. To estimate the SEM of 5 HRQoL indexes. The National Health Measurement Study (NHMS) was a population-based survey. The Clinical Outcomes and Measurement of Health Study (COMHS) provided repeated measures. A total of 3844 randomly selected adults from the noninstitutionalized population aged 35 to 89 y in the contiguous United States and 265 cataract patients. The SF6-36v2™, QWB-SA, EQ-5D, HUI2, and HUI3 were included. An item-response theory approach captured joint variation in indexes into a composite construct of health (theta). The authors estimated 1) the test-retest standard deviation (SEM-TR) from COMHS, 2) the structural standard deviation (SEM-S) around theta from NHMS, and 3) reliability coefficients. SEM-TR was 0.068 (SF-6D), 0.087 (QWB-SA), 0.093 (EQ-5D), 0.100 (HUI2), and 0.134 (HUI3), whereas SEM-S was 0.071, 0.094, 0.084, 0.074, and 0.117, respectively. These yield reliability coefficients 0.66 (COMHS) and 0.71 (NHMS) for SF-6D, 0.59 and 0.64 for QWB-SA, 0.61 and 0.70 for EQ-5D, 0.64 and 0.80 for HUI2, and 0.75 and 0.77 for HUI3, respectively. The SEM varied across levels of health, especially for HUI2, HUI3, and EQ-5D, and was influenced by ceiling effects. Limitations. Repeated measures were 5 mo apart, and estimated theta contained measurement error. The 2 types of SEM are similar and substantial for all the indexes and vary across health.

Software Development Standard Processes (SDSP)

Science.gov (United States)

Lavin, Milton L.; Wang, James J.; Morillo, Ronald; Mayer, John T.; Jamshidian, Barzia; Shimizu, Kenneth J.; Wilkinson, Belinda M.; Hihn, Jairus M.; Borgen, Rosana B.; Meyer, Kenneth N.;

Standard development at the Human Variome Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Timothy D; Vihinen, Mauno

2015-01-01

The Human Variome Project (HVP) is a world organization working towards facilitating the collection, curation, interpretation and free and open sharing of genetic variation information. A key component of HVP activities is the development of standards and guidelines. HVP Standards are systems, procedures and technologies that the HVP Consortium has determined must be used by HVP-affiliated data sharing infrastructure and should be used by the broader community. HVP guidelines are considered to be beneficial for HVP affiliated data sharing infrastructure and the broader community to adopt. The HVP also maintains a process for assessing systems, processes and tools that implement HVP Standards and Guidelines. Recommended System Status is an accreditation process designed to encourage the adoption of HVP Standards and Guidelines. Here, we describe the HVP standards development process and discuss the accepted standards, guidelines and recommended systems as well as those under acceptance. Certain HVP Standards and Guidelines are already widely adopted by the community and there are committed users for the others. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Critical element development of standard pipe connector for remote handling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taguchi, Kou; Kakudate, Satoshi; Kanamori, Naokazu; Oka, Kiyoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Obara, Kenjiro; Tada, Eisuke; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi; Seki, Masahiro

1994-08-01

In fusion experimental reactors such as ITER, the in-vessel components such as blanket and divertor are actively cooled and a large number of cooling pipes are located around the core of reactor, where personnel access is prohibited. Mechanical pipe connectors are highly required as standard components for easy and reliable connection/disconnection of cooling pipe by remote handling. For this purpose, a clamping chain type connector has been developed with special mechanisms such as plate springs and guide structures so as to enable concentric and axial movement of clamping chain for easy mounting and dismounting. The basic performance test of a prototypical connector for a 80-A pipe shows sufficient leak tightness and proof pressure capability as well as simple connection/disconnection operation. In addition to the clamp chain type connector, design efforts have been made to develop a quick coupling type connector and a preliminary model of air-actuated quick connector has been fabricated for further investigations. This paper gives the design concept of mechanical pipe connectors such as clamping chain type and quick coupler type, and the basic performance tests results of clamping chain type connector. (author)

Materials and Reliability Handbook for Semiconductor Optical and Electron Devices

CERN Document Server

Pearton, Stephen

2013-01-01

Materials and Reliability Handbook for Semiconductor Optical and Electron Devices provides comprehensive coverage of reliability procedures and approaches for electron and photonic devices. These include lasers and high speed electronics used in cell phones, satellites, data transmission systems and displays. Lifetime predictions for compound semiconductor devices are notoriously inaccurate due to the absence of standard protocols. Manufacturers have relied on extrapolation back to room temperature of accelerated testing at elevated temperature. This technique fails for scaled, high current density devices. Device failure is driven by electric field or current mechanisms or low activation energy processes that are masked by other mechanisms at high temperature. The Handbook addresses reliability engineering for III-V devices, including materials and electrical characterization, reliability testing, and electronic characterization. These are used to develop new simulation technologies for device operation and ...

[Reliability and validity of the standardized Mini Mental State Examination in the diagnosis of mild dementia in Turkish population].

Science.gov (United States)

Güngen, Can; Ertan, Turan; Eker, Engin; Yaşar, Resmiye; Engin, Funda

2002-01-01

Reliability and validity of the Mini Mental State Examination in differentiating mild dementia from normal controls in Turkish population. The Standardized Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE) and its instruction were translated into Turkish. A total of 212 subjects with mean age of 77 +/- 6, were recruited for the study. 71 were diagnosed to be demented and 141 were evaluated as normal controls. The scale total score was analysed for discriminant validity using Student's t-test. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and kappa score were calculated for all of the scores between 18 and 29. Kappa value was calculated for the comparison of the dementia diagnosis between the two investigators using the best cut off score obtained in the analysis above. Statistical analysis revealed that the Turkish version of the SMMSE has high discriminant validity and interrater reliability in the diagnosis of mild dementia. The cut off score 23/24 was found to have the highest sensitivity (0.91), specificity (0.95), positive and negative predictive values (0.90 and 0.95) and kappa score (0.86). Interrater reliability analysis showed high correlation (r:0.99) and kappa value (0.92). The results of this study showed that the Turkish version of the SMMSE has high reliability and validity for the diagnosis of mild dementia in Turkish population.

A reliability simulation language for reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deans, N.D.; Miller, A.J.; Mann, D.P.

1986-01-01

The results of work being undertaken to develop a Reliability Description Language (RDL) which will enable reliability analysts to describe complex reliability problems in a simple, clear and unambiguous way are described. Component and system features can be stated in a formal manner and subsequently used, along with control statements to form a structured program. The program can be compiled and executed on a general-purpose computer or special-purpose simulator. (DG)

Development of Probabilistic Reliability Models of Photovoltaic System Topologies for System Adequacy Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Alferidi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The contribution of solar power in electric power systems has been increasing rapidly due to its environmentally friendly nature. Photovoltaic (PV systems contain solar cell panels, power electronic converters, high power switching and often transformers. These components collectively play an important role in shaping the reliability of PV systems. Moreover, the power output of PV systems is variable, so it cannot be controlled as easily as conventional generation due to the unpredictable nature of weather conditions. Therefore, solar power has a different influence on generating system reliability compared to conventional power sources. Recently, different PV system designs have been constructed to maximize the output power of PV systems. These different designs are commonly adopted based on the scale of a PV system. Large-scale grid-connected PV systems are generally connected in a centralized or a string structure. Central and string PV schemes are different in terms of connecting the inverter to PV arrays. Micro-inverter systems are recognized as a third PV system topology. It is therefore important to evaluate the reliability contribution of PV systems under these topologies. This work utilizes a probabilistic technique to develop a power output model for a PV generation system. A reliability model is then developed for a PV integrated power system in order to assess the reliability and energy contribution of the solar system to meet overall system demand. The developed model is applied to a small isolated power unit to evaluate system adequacy and capacity level of a PV system considering the three topologies.

Quality assurance requirements for the reliability of nuclear power plants in developing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhutta, S.M.

1978-01-01

Quality Assurance (QA) has not been taken very seriously in developing countries despite their having significant nuclear power programmes. This may affect plant reliability and demands that urgent and serious attention be given to the development and implementation of Quality Assurance programmes according to local conditions. Confusion has been created by the differences in definitions and interpretations of terminologies of Quality Assurance and Control. Problems have been aggravated by the lack of clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities during the projects execution phases of site selection, data collection, design, equipment fabrication and construction, etc. Therefore, reliability of nuclear power plants in developing countries is relatively low. But whenever some programme of QA has been implemented it has helped to improve the plant performance. This is highlighted in this paper by the practical examples for the experience of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant whose forced outages have been reduced by over a half within a period of 3 years. In view of the benefits, a QA programme for Chashma Nuclear Power Project has also been initiated. In this paper urgency is emphasized for the establishment and implementation of a formal QA programme in the developing countries if the reactor suppliers and purchasers both want to ensure higher reliability of their plants. The best way that management can play its role effectively is by setting up a strong QA organization with local personnel, thus helping to attain self-reliance and higher reliability during plant operation. (author)

Accelerating nuclear power standards development and promoting sound nuclear power development in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Changli

2008-01-01

The paper expounds the importance of quickening establishment and perfection of nuclear power standard system in China, analyzes achievements made and problems existed during the development of nuclear power standards, put forward proposals to actively promote the work in this regard, and indicates that CNNC will further strengthen the standardization work, enhance coordination with those trades related to nuclear power standards, and jointly promote the development of nuclear power standards. (authors)

Development of the Test Of Astronomy STandards (TOAST) Assessment Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Timothy F.; Slater, S. J.

2008-05-01

Considerable effort in the astronomy education research (AER) community over the past several years has focused on developing assessment tools in the form of multiple-choice conceptual diagnostics and content knowledge surveys. This has been critically important in advancing the AER discipline so that researchers could establish the initial knowledge state of students as well as to attempt measure some of the impacts of innovative instructional interventions. Unfortunately, few of the existing instruments were constructed upon a solid list of clearly articulated and widely agreed upon learning objectives. This was not done in oversight, but rather as a result of the relative youth of AER as a discipline. Now that several important science education reform documents exist and are generally accepted by the AER community, we are in a position to develop, validate, and disseminate a new assessment instrument which is tightly aligned to the consensus learning goals stated by the American Astronomical Society - Chair's Conference on ASTRO 101, the American Association of the Advancement of Science's Project 2061 Benchmarks, and the National Research Council's National Science Education Standards. In response, researchers from the Cognition in Astronomy, Physics and Earth sciences Research (CAPER) Team at the University of Wyoming's Science & Math Teaching Center (UWYO SMTC) have designed a criterion-referenced assessment tool, called the Test Of Astronomy STandards (TOAST). Through iterative development, this instrument has a high degree of reliability and validity for instructors and researchers needing information on students’ initial knowledge state at the beginning of a course and can be used, in aggregate, to help measure the impact of course-length duration instructional strategies for courses with learning goals tightly aligned to the consensus goals of our community.

Development of nano-roughness calibration standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baršić, Gorana; Mahović, Sanjin; Zorc, Hrvoje

2012-01-01

At the Laboratory for Precise Measurements of Length, currently the Croatian National Laboratory for Length, unique nano-roughness calibration standards were developed, which have been physically implemented in cooperation with the company MikroMasch Trading OU and the Ruđer Bošković Institute. In this paper, a new design for a calibration standard with two measuring surfaces is presented. One of the surfaces is for the reproduction of roughness parameters, while the other is for the traceability of length units below 50 nm. The nominal values of the groove depths on these measuring surfaces are the same. Thus, a link between the measuring surfaces has been ensured, which makes these standards unique. Furthermore, the calibration standards available on the market are generally designed specifically for individual groups of measuring instrumentation, such as interferometric microscopes, stylus instruments, scanning electron microscopes (SEM) or scanning probe microscopes. In this paper, a new design for nano-roughness standards has been proposed for use in the calibration of optical instruments, as well as for stylus instruments, SEM, atomic force microscopes and scanning tunneling microscopes. Therefore, the development of these new nano-roughness calibration standards greatly contributes to the reproducibility of the results of groove depth measurement as well as the 2D and 3D roughness parameters obtained by various measuring methods. (paper)

Development of slim-maud: a multi-attribute utility approach to human reliability evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embrey, D.E.

1984-01-01

This paper describes further work on the Success Likelihood Index Methodology (SLIM), a procedure for quantitatively evaluating human reliability in nuclear power plants and other systems. SLIM was originally developed by Human Reliability Associates during an earlier contract with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). A further development of SLIM, SLIM-MAUD (Multi-Attribute Utility Decomposition) is also described. This is an extension of the original approach using an interactive, computer-based system. All of the work described in this report was supported by the Human Factors and Safeguards Branch of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Software reliability

CERN Document Server

Bendell, A

1986-01-01

Software Reliability reviews some fundamental issues of software reliability as well as the techniques, models, and metrics used to predict the reliability of software. Topics covered include fault avoidance, fault removal, and fault tolerance, along with statistical methods for the objective assessment of predictive accuracy. Development cost models and life-cycle cost models are also discussed. This book is divided into eight sections and begins with a chapter on adaptive modeling used to predict software reliability, followed by a discussion on failure rate in software reliability growth mo

The Development of the Standard Lithuanian Language: Ecolinguistic Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaida Buivydienė

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The theory of standard languages is closely linked with the standardization policy and prevailing ideology. The language ideology comprises its value, experience and convictions related to language usage and its dis - course being influenced at institutional, local and global levels. Recently, in the last decades, foreign linguists have linked the theories of the development of standard lan- guages and their ideologies with an ecolinguistic approach towards language standardization phenomena. The article is based on Einar Haugen ’s theory about the development of standard languages and ecolinguistic statements and presents the stages of developing the standard language as well as the factors having an influ - ence on them. In conclusion, a strong political and social impact has been made on the development of the standard Lithuanian language. The stages of the progress of the standard Lithuanian language have rapidly changed each other, some have been held very close to one another and some still have been taken part.

Reliability of nuclear power plants and equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-01-01

The standard sets the general principles, a list of reliability indexes and demands on their selection. Reliability indexes of nuclear power plants include the simple indexes of fail-safe operation, life and maintainability, and of storage capability. All terms and notions are explained and methods of evaluating the indexes briefly listed - statistical, and calculation experimental. The dates when the standard comes in force in the individual CMEA countries are given. (M.D.)

Standards life cycle and a methodolgy and infrastructure for standards development and implementation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Cooper, Antony K

2006-02-01

Full Text Available -practice methodology and infrastructure for selecting, developing, implementing and refining standards across Stats SA. The life cycle for standards in an organisation is also described...

Structural reliability methods: Code development status

Science.gov (United States)

Millwater, Harry R.; Thacker, Ben H.; Wu, Y.-T.; Cruse, T. A.

1991-05-01

The Probabilistic Structures Analysis Method (PSAM) program integrates state of the art probabilistic algorithms with structural analysis methods in order to quantify the behavior of Space Shuttle Main Engine structures subject to uncertain loadings, boundary conditions, material parameters, and geometric conditions. An advanced, efficient probabilistic structural analysis software program, NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) was developed as a deliverable. NESSUS contains a number of integrated software components to perform probabilistic analysis of complex structures. A nonlinear finite element module NESSUS/FEM is used to model the structure and obtain structural sensitivities. Some of the capabilities of NESSUS/FEM are shown. A Fast Probability Integration module NESSUS/FPI estimates the probability given the structural sensitivities. A driver module, PFEM, couples the FEM and FPI. NESSUS, version 5.0, addresses component reliability, resistance, and risk.

Reliability calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petersen, K.E.

1986-03-01

Risk and reliability analysis is increasingly being used in evaluations of plant safety and plant reliability. The analysis can be performed either during the design process or during the operation time, with the purpose to improve the safety or the reliability. Due to plant complexity and safety and availability requirements, sophisticated tools, which are flexible and efficient, are needed. Such tools have been developed in the last 20 years and they have to be continuously refined to meet the growing requirements. Two different areas of application were analysed. In structural reliability probabilistic approaches have been introduced in some cases for the calculation of the reliability of structures or components. A new computer program has been developed based upon numerical integration in several variables. In systems reliability Monte Carlo simulation programs are used especially in analysis of very complex systems. In order to increase the applicability of the programs variance reduction techniques can be applied to speed up the calculation process. Variance reduction techniques have been studied and procedures for implementation of importance sampling are suggested. (author)

Validity and reliability of 3D US for the detection of erosions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using MRI as the gold standard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ellegaard, K; Bliddal, H; Møller Døhn, U

2014-01-01

PURPOSE: To test the reliability and validity of a 3D US erosion score in RA using MRI as the gold standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RA patients were examined with 3D US and 3 T MRI over the 2nd and 3rd metacarpophalangeal joints. 3D blocks were evaluated by two investigators. The erosions were...... estimated according to a semi-quantitative score (SQS) (0 - 3) and a quantitative score (QS) (mm²). MRI was evaluated according to the RAMRIS score. For the estimation of reliability, intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were used. Validity was tested using Spearman's rho (rs). The sensitivity...... and specificity were also calculated. RESULTS: 28 patients with RA were included. The ICC for the inter-observer reliability in the QS was 0.41 and 0.13 for the metacarpal bone and phalangeal bone, respectively, and 0.86 and 0.16, respectively, in the SQS.  The ICC for the intra-observer reliability in the QS...

Prediction of software operational reliability using testing environment factor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung

1995-02-01

Software reliability is especially important to customers these days. The need to quantify software reliability of safety-critical systems has been received very special attention and the reliability is rated as one of software's most important attributes. Since the software is an intellectual product of human activity and since it is logically complex, the failures are inevitable. No standard models have been established to prove the correctness and to estimate the reliability of software systems by analysis and/or testing. For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there are many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. User's interest is on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability, however. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, testing environment factor comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are defined in this work to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factor Test reliability can also be estimated with this approach without any model change. The application results are close to the actual data. The approach used in this thesis is expected to be applicable to ultra high reliable software systems that are used in nuclear power plants, airplanes, and other safety-critical applications

The Children's Play Therapy Instrument (CPTI): Description, Development, and Reliability Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Kernberg, Paulina F.; Chazan, Saralea E.; Normandin, Lina

1998-01-01

The Children's Play Therapy Instrument (CPTI), its development, and reliability studies are described. The CPTI is a new instrument to examine a child's play activity in individual psychotherapy. Three independent raters used the CPTI to rate eight videotaped play therapy vignettes. Results were compared with the authors' consensual scores from a preliminary study. Generally good to excellent levels of interrater reliability were obtained for the independent raters on intraclass correlation coefficients for ordinal categories of the CPTI. Likewise, kappa levels were acceptable to excellent for nominal categories of the scale. The CPTI holds promise to become a reliable measure of play activity in child psychotherapy. Further research is needed to assess discriminant validity of the CPTI for use as a diagnostic tool and as a measure of process and outcome.(The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 1998; 7:196–207) PMID:9631341

[Attempt for development of rapid word reading test for children--evaluation of reliability and validity].

Science.gov (United States)

Hashimoto, Ryusaku; Kashiwagi, Mitsuru; Suzuki, Shuhei

2008-09-01

We developed a rapid word reading test for examining the phonological processing ability of Japanese children. We prepared two versions of the test, version A and B. Each test has word and non-word tasks. Twenty-two healthy boys of third grade in primary schools participated in this validation study. For criterion related validity, we performed the serial Hiragana reading test, the sentence reading test, Raven's coloured progressive matrices (RCPM), the Token test for children, the Kana word dictation test, the standardized comprehension test of abstract words (SCTAW), and Trail Circle test. The reading times of the newly developed test correlated moderately or highly with those of the serial Hiragana reading test and the sentence reading test. However, the scores of the other tests (RCPM, Token test for children, Kana word dictation test, SCTAW, Trail Circle test) did not correlated with the reading time of the rapid word reading test. Test-retest reliabilities in the word tasks were more than moderate: 0.52 and 0.76 in versions A and B, while those in the non-word tasks were high: 0.91 and 0.88 in versions A and B. The correlation coefficient between versions A and B was 0.7 for the word tasks and 0.92 for the non-word tasks. This study showed that the rapid word reading test has substantial validity and reliability for testing the phonological processing ability of Japanese children. In addition, the non-word tasks were more suitable for selectively examining the speed of the grapheme to phoneme conversion process.

Development of reliability databases and the particular requirements of probabilistic risk analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meslin, T.

1989-01-01

Nuclear utilities have an increasing need to develop reliability databases for their operating experience. The purposes of these databases are often multiple, including both equipment maintenance aspects and probabilistic risk analyses. EDF has therefore been developing experience feedback databases, including the Reliability Data Recording System (SRDF) and the Event File, as well as the history of numerous operating documents. Furthermore, since the end of 1985, EDF has been preparing a probabilistic safety analysis applied to one 1,300 MWe unit, for which a large amount of data of French origin is necessary. This data concerns both component reliability parameters and initiating event frequencies. The study has thus been an opportunity for trying out the performance databases for a specific application, as well as in-depth audits of a number of nuclear sites to make it possible to validate numerous results. Computer aided data collection is also on trial in a number of plants. After describing the EDF operating experience feedback files, we discuss the particular requirements of probabilistic risk analyses, and the resources implemented by EDF to satisfy them. (author). 5 refs

High inter-rater reliability, agreement, and convergent validity of Constant score in patients with clavicle fractures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ban, Ilija; Troelsen, Anders; Kristensen, Morten Tange

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: The Constant score (CS) has been the primary endpoint in most studies on clavicle fractures. However, the CS was not developed to assess patients with clavicle fractures. Our aim was to examine inter-rater reliability and agreement of the CS in patients with clavicle fractures...... standardized CS assessment at a mean of 6.8 weeks (SD, 1.0 weeks) after injury. Reliability and agreement of the CS were determined by 2 raters. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1), standard error of measurement, minimal detectable change, Cronbach α coefficient, and Pearson correlation coefficient...... were estimated. RESULTS: Inter-rater reliability of the total CS was excellent (interclass correlation coefficient, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-0.97), with no systematic difference between the 2 raters (P = .75). The standard error of measurement (measurement error at the group level) was 4...

Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS: A Study on Development, Validity and Reliability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cemalettin Kalyoncu

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to develop a scale to measure knowledge about hypertension among Turkish adults. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS was generated based on content, face, and construct validity, internal consistency, test re-test reliability, and discriminative validity procedures. The final scale had 22 items with six sub-dimensions. The scale was applied to 457 individuals aged ≥18 years, and 414 of them were re-evaluated for test-retest reliability. The six sub-dimensions encompassed 60.3% of the total variance. Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.82 for the entire scale and 0.92, 0.59, 0.67, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.76 for the sub-dimensions of definition, medical treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications, respectively. The scale ensured internal consistency in reliability and construct validity, as well as stability over time. Significant relationships were found between knowledge score and age, gender, educational level, and history of hypertension of the participants. No correlation was found between knowledge score and working at an income-generating job. The present scale, developed to measure the knowledge level of hypertension among Turkish adults, was found to be valid and reliable.

Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS): a study on development, validity and reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Erkoc, Sultan Baliz; Isikli, Burhanettin; Metintas, Selma; Kalyoncu, Cemalettin

2012-03-01

This study was conducted to develop a scale to measure knowledge about hypertension among Turkish adults. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) was generated based on content, face, and construct validity, internal consistency, test re-test reliability, and discriminative validity procedures. The final scale had 22 items with six sub-dimensions. The scale was applied to 457 individuals aged ≥ 18 years, and 414 of them were re-evaluated for test-retest reliability. The six sub-dimensions encompassed 60.3% of the total variance. Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.82 for the entire scale and 0.92, 0.59, 0.67, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.76 for the sub-dimensions of definition, medical treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications, respectively. The scale ensured internal consistency in reliability and construct validity, as well as stability over time. Significant relationships were found between knowledge score and age, gender, educational level, and history of hypertension of the participants. No correlation was found between knowledge score and working at an income-generating job. The present scale, developed to measure the knowledge level of hypertension among Turkish adults, was found to be valid and reliable.

Multinomial-exponential reliability function: a software reliability model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saiz de Bustamante, Amalio; Saiz de Bustamante, Barbara

2003-01-01

The multinomial-exponential reliability function (MERF) was developed during a detailed study of the software failure/correction processes. Later on MERF was approximated by a much simpler exponential reliability function (EARF), which keeps most of MERF mathematical properties, so the two functions together makes up a single reliability model. The reliability model MERF/EARF considers the software failure process as a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP), and the repair (correction) process, a multinomial distribution. The model supposes that both processes are statistically independent. The paper discusses the model's theoretical basis, its mathematical properties and its application to software reliability. Nevertheless it is foreseen model applications to inspection and maintenance of physical systems. The paper includes a complete numerical example of the model application to a software reliability analysis

Maturity index on reliability: covering non-technical aspects of IEC61508 reliability certification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brombacher, A.C.

1999-01-01

One of the more recent developments in the field of reliability and safety is the realisation that these aspects are not only a function of the product itself, but also of the organisation realising this product. A second development is a trend from an often predominantly qualitative analysis towards a quantitative analysis. In contrast to the (older) DIN 0801, the (more recent) IEC61508 requires, on product level, also a quantitative analysis and, on organisational level, an assessment of the lifecycle of a product by analysing the (maturity of the) relevant business processes (DIN V VDE 0801. Grundsaetze fuer Rechner in Systemen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben, 1990; DIN V 0801. Grundlegende Sicherheitsbetrachtungen fuer MSR-Schutzeinrichtungen, 1994; DIN V VDE 0801 A1. Grundsaetze fuer Rechner in Systemen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben, Aenderung A1, 1994; IEC 61508 Functional Safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems, draft 4.0, 1997). The IEC standard 61508 covers: (i) technical aspects, both on a quantitative and a qualitative level; (ii) organisational aspects, both on aspects of maturity of business processes (quantitative) and on aspects of the definition and application of procedures (qualitative). This paper shows the necessity for an analysis on all aspects in a safety certification process, and presents an overview of the available tools and techniques for the various quadrants. As methods and tools for especially quadrant C are currently unavailable, this paper will propose a method to assess and improve the maturity of an organisation on reliability management: the maturity index on reliability (MIR)

A simple, robust and reliable wind diesel concept for remote power supply

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundsager, P.; Bindner, H.

1994-01-01

The paper introduces a Wind Diesel concept suitable for remote communities, the 'Simple, Robust and Reliable Concept' developed at Riso. All components are standard components, the system is self regulating using the component controllers and there is no power electronics. The paper documents...

Photovoltaic performance and reliability workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mrig, L. [ed.

1993-12-01

This workshop was the sixth in a series of workshops sponsored by NREL/DOE under the general subject of photovoltaic testing and reliability during the period 1986--1993. PV performance and PV reliability are at least as important as PV cost, if not more. In the US, PV manufacturers, DOE laboratories, electric utilities, and others are engaged in the photovoltaic reliability research and testing. This group of researchers and others interested in the field were brought together to exchange the technical knowledge and field experience as related to current information in this evolving field of PV reliability. The papers presented here reflect this effort since the last workshop held in September, 1992. The topics covered include: cell and module characterization, module and system testing, durability and reliability, system field experience, and standards and codes.

ISO: international standards development for nuclear technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, K.

1981-01-01

The importance of internationally recognized standards for nuclear technology and safety is rapidly increasing for technical as well as economical and political reasons such as public acceptance and nuclear technology transfer to developing countries. The need for such standards is also evident because of the large number of nuclear installations sited close to international borders, and the export of nuclear installations from relatively few supplier countries to a large number of user countries. It is the purpose of this report to describe briefly the history, organizational structures and procedures, goals, accomplishments, problems, and future needs of the relevant activities of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO is composed of the partly governmental, partly non-governmental national standards bodies of 86 countries including China. The work of its Technical Committee (TC) 85 'Nuclear Energy' is mostly concerned with industrial applications, contractual aspects and international communication, for the benefit of both developed and developing countries. It works in close liaison with IAEA, which develops Codes and Guides addressed mainly to the regulatory aspects of nuclear power plants in developing countries. ISO/TC 85 has four sub-committees dealing with: (a) Terminology, Definitions, Units and Symbols (Secretariat USA, four working groups (WGs)); (b) Radiation Protection (Secretariat France, ten WGs); (c) Power Reactor Technology (Secretariat Sweden, nine WGs); (d) Nuclear Fuel Technology (Secretariat F.R. Germany, seven WGs). (author)

Progress on standardization and automation in software development on W7X

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kühner, Georg; Bluhm, Torsten; Heimann, Peter; Hennig, Christine; Kroiss, Hugo; Krom, Jon; Laqua, Heike; Lewerentz, Marc; Maier, Josef; Schacht, Jörg; Spring, Anett; Werner, Andreas; Zilker, Manfred

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► For W7X software development the use of ISO/IEC15504-5 is further extended. ► The standard provides a basis to manage software multi-projects for a large system project. ► Adoption of a scrum-like management allows for quick reaction on priority changes. ► A high degree of software build automation allows for quick responses to user requests. ► It provides additional resources to concentrate work on product quality (ISO/IEC 25000). - Abstract: For a complex experiment like W7X being subject to changes all along its projected lifetime the advantages of a formalized software development method have already been stated. Quality standards like ISO/IEC-12207 provide a guideline for structuring of development work and improving process and product quality. A considerable number of tools has emerged supporting and automating parts of development work. On W7X progress has been made during the last years in exploiting the benefit of automation and management during software development: –Continuous build, integration and automated test of software artefacts. ∘Syntax checks and code quality metrics. ∘Documentation generation. ∘Feedback for developers by temporal statistics. –Versioned repository for build products (libraries, executables). –Separate snapshot and release repositories and automatic deployment. –Semi-automatic provisioning of applications. –Feedback from testers and feature requests by ticket system. This toolset is working efficiently and allows the team to concentrate on development. The activity there is presently focused on increasing the quality of the existing software to become a dependable product. Testing of single functions and qualities must be simplified. So a restructuring is underway which relies more on small, individually testable components with standardized interfaces providing the capability to construct arbitrary function aggregates for dedicated tests of quality attributes as availability, reliability

Progress on standardization and automation in software development on W7X

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuehner, Georg, E-mail: kuehner@ipp.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Wendelsteinstrasse 1, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Bluhm, Torsten [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Wendelsteinstrasse 1, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Heimann, Peter [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Hennig, Christine [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Wendelsteinstrasse 1, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Kroiss, Hugo [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Krom, Jon; Laqua, Heike; Lewerentz, Marc [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Wendelsteinstrasse 1, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Maier, Josef [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Schacht, Joerg; Spring, Anett; Werner, Andreas [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Wendelsteinstrasse 1, D-17491 Greifswald (Germany); Zilker, Manfred [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

2012-12-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer For W7X software development the use of ISO/IEC15504-5 is further extended. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The standard provides a basis to manage software multi-projects for a large system project. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Adoption of a scrum-like management allows for quick reaction on priority changes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A high degree of software build automation allows for quick responses to user requests. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer It provides additional resources to concentrate work on product quality (ISO/IEC 25000). - Abstract: For a complex experiment like W7X being subject to changes all along its projected lifetime the advantages of a formalized software development method have already been stated. Quality standards like ISO/IEC-12207 provide a guideline for structuring of development work and improving process and product quality. A considerable number of tools has emerged supporting and automating parts of development work. On W7X progress has been made during the last years in exploiting the benefit of automation and management during software development: -Continuous build, integration and automated test of software artefacts. Ring-Operator Syntax checks and code quality metrics. Ring-Operator Documentation generation. Ring-Operator Feedback for developers by temporal statistics. -Versioned repository for build products (libraries, executables). -Separate snapshot and release repositories and automatic deployment. -Semi-automatic provisioning of applications. -Feedback from testers and feature requests by ticket system. This toolset is working efficiently and allows the team to concentrate on development. The activity there is presently focused on increasing the quality of the existing software to become a dependable product. Testing of single functions and qualities must be simplified. So a restructuring is underway which relies more on small, individually testable components with standardized

The USCG/environment Canada/ASTM standards development program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whittaker, H.

1992-01-01

Environment Canada's Emergencies Engineering Division (EED) has been charged, as a result of the Public Review Panel on Tanker Safety and Marine Emergency Response report, with increased R ampersand D in marine oil spills. This activity will, of necessity, include development of standards and guidelines for the testing and/or usage of oil spill cleanup equipment. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been charged with implementing the provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA-90), as it pertains to marine transportation vessels and facilities. Among the provisions are requirements for vessel and facility owners and operators to develop comprehensive response plans that specifically match response resources to spill removal requirements. Meeting the response plan provisions of OPA-90 requires common standards for testing, selecting and assigning resources to anticipated response needs and objectively evaluating response plans for adequacy. In August of 1991, the USCG OPA-90 office approached ASTM to determine the feasibility of developing standards through that organizations procedures. Meetings were then held between the OPA-90 staff and members of the ASTM Committee F-20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response. An agreement was reached to commence standards development in the areas of: Barriers, Skimmers, Treating Agents, Pumps, Beach Clean-up, Sorbents, Bioremediation, In-situ Burning, Temporary Storage Devices, Communications, Remote Sensing. It was recognized that ASTM and other organizational standards existed in several of these areas, but there were those where none were known to exist. Standards development was, therefore, expected to be a complicated and time-consuming process. Both the USCG OPA-90 and EC/EED offices required standards to be developed quickly, without subverting the ASTM process. Mechanical containment and recovery was considered to be the primary area of concern for both groups

Systems reliability analysis: applications of the SPARCS System-Reliability Assessment Computer Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Locks, M.O.

1978-01-01

SPARCS-2 (Simulation Program for Assessing the Reliabilities of Complex Systems, Version 2) is a PL/1 computer program for assessing (establishing interval estimates for) the reliability and the MTBF of a large and complex s-coherent system of any modular configuration. The system can consist of a complex logical assembly of independently failing attribute (binomial-Bernoulli) and time-to-failure (Poisson-exponential) components, without regard to their placement. Alternatively, it can be a configuration of independently failing modules, where each module has either or both attribute and time-to-failure components. SPARCS-2 also has an improved super modularity feature. Modules with minimal-cut unreliabiliy calculations can be mixed with those having minimal-path reliability calculations. All output has been standardized to system reliability or probability of success, regardless of the form in which the input data is presented, and whatever the configuration of modules or elements within modules

Accredited Standards Committee N15 Developments And Future Directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathews, Caroline E.; May, Melanie; Preston, Lynne

2009-01-01

Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) N15, Methods of Nuclear Material Control, is sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) to develop standards for protection, control and accounting of special nuclear materials in all phases of the nuclear fuel cycle, including analytical procedures where necessary and special to this purpose, except that physical protection of special nuclear material within a nuclear power plant is not included. Voluntary consensus standards complement federal regulations and technical standards and fulfill an important role for the nuclear regulatory agencies. This paper describes the N15 standards development process, with INMM as the Standards Developing Organization (SDO) and the N15 Committee responsible for implementation. Key components of the N15 standards development process include ANSI accreditation; compliance with the ANSI Essential Requirements (ER), coordination with other SDOs, communication with stakeholders, maintenance of balance between interest categories, and ANSI periodic audits. Recent and future ASC N15 activities are discussed, with a particular focus on new directions in anticipation of renewed growth in nuclear power.

Cultural Adaptation and Reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for Nurses in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Fernanda Maria Vieira; Lam, Simon Ching; Gir, Elucir

2017-03-02

this study aimed to carry of the cultural adaptation and to evaluate the reliability of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) for nurses in Brazil. the adaptation process entailed translation, consensus among judges, back-translation, semantic validation and pretest. The reliability was evaluated by internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and stability (test-retest). The instrument was administered to a sample group of 300 nurses who worked in a large hospital located in the city of São Paulo/SP, Brazil. through the semantic validation, the items from the scale were considered understandable and deemed important for the nurse´s clinical practice. The CSPS Brazilian Portuguese version (CSPS-PB) revealed excellent interpretability. The Cronbach`s alpha was 0.61 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.85. the initial study showed that CSPS-PB is appropriate to assess compliance with standard precautions among nurses in Brazil. The reliability was considered acceptable. Furhter study is necessary to evaluate its comprehensive psychometric properties. adaptar culturalmente y evaluar la confiabilidad de la Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS) para enfermeros en Brasil. el proceso de adaptación abarcó la traducción, consenso entre jueces, retrotraducción, validación semántica y pretest. La confiabilidad fue evaluada mediante la consistencia interna (alfa de Cronbach) y estabilidad (test-retest). El instrumento fue administrado a una muestra de 300 enfermeros actuantes en un gran hospital ubicado en la ciudad de São Paulo/SP, Brasil. a través de la validación semántica, los ítems de la escala fueron considerados comprensibles e importantes para la práctica clínica enfermera. La versión en portugués de Brasil de la CSPS (CSPS-PB) reveló excelente posibilidad de interpretación. El alfa de Cronbach correspondió a 0.61 y el coeficiente de correlación intraclase fue 0.85. el estudio inicial mostró que la CSPS-PB es

Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neil, Graham; Orr, James K.; Watson, Steve

2007-01-01

A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details.

Reliability and maintainability assessment factors for reliable fault-tolerant systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bavuso, S. J.

1984-01-01

A long term goal of the NASA Langley Research Center is the development of a reliability assessment methodology of sufficient power to enable the credible comparison of the stochastic attributes of one ultrareliable system design against others. This methodology, developed over a 10 year period, is a combined analytic and simulative technique. An analytic component is the Computer Aided Reliability Estimation capability, third generation, or simply CARE III. A simulative component is the Gate Logic Software Simulator capability, or GLOSS. The numerous factors that potentially have a degrading effect on system reliability and the ways in which these factors that are peculiar to highly reliable fault tolerant systems are accounted for in credible reliability assessments. Also presented are the modeling difficulties that result from their inclusion and the ways in which CARE III and GLOSS mitigate the intractability of the heretofore unworkable mathematics.

Development and Reliability Testing of a Fast-Food Restaurant Observation Form.

Science.gov (United States)

Rimkus, Leah; Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam; Powell, Lisa M; Zenk, Shannon N; Quinn, Christopher M; Barker, Dianne C; Pugach, Oksana; Resnick, Elissa A; Chaloupka, Frank J

2015-01-01

To develop a reliable observational data collection instrument to measure characteristics of the fast-food restaurant environment likely to influence consumer behaviors, including product availability, pricing, and promotion. The study used observational data collection. Restaurants were in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area. A total of 131 chain fast-food restaurant outlets were included. Interrater reliability was measured for product availability, pricing, and promotion measures on a fast-food restaurant observational data collection instrument. Analysis was done with Cohen's κ coefficient and proportion of overall agreement for categorical variables and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for continuous variables. Interrater reliability, as measured by average κ coefficient, was .79 for menu characteristics, .84 for kids' menu characteristics, .92 for food availability and sizes, .85 for beverage availability and sizes, .78 for measures on the availability of nutrition information,.75 for characteristics of exterior advertisements, and .62 and .90 for exterior and interior characteristics measures, respectively. For continuous measures, average ICC was .88 for food pricing measures, .83 for beverage prices, and .65 for counts of exterior advertisements. Over 85% of measures demonstrated substantial or almost perfect agreement. Although some measures required revision or protocol clarification, results from this study suggest that the instrument may be used to reliably measure the fast-food restaurant environment.

Applying consensus standards to cask development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leatham, J.; Abbott, D.G.; Warrant, M.M.

1987-01-01

The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management is procuring cask systems for transporting commercial spent nuclear fuel and is encouraging development of innovative cask designs and materials to improve system efficiency. New designs and innovative materials require that consensus standards be established so that cask designers and regulators have criteria for determining acceptability. Recent DOE experience in certifying three spent fuel shipping casks, NUPAC-125B, TN-BRP, and TN-REG, is discussed. Certification of the NUPAC-125B was expedited because it was made of conventional American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) materials and complied with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guides. The TN-BRP and TN-REG cask designs are still being reviewed because baskets included in the casks are made of borated stainless steel, which has no ASTM Specification or ASME Code approval. The process of developing and approving consensus standards is discussed, including the role of ANSI and ANSI N14. Specific procedures for ASTM and ASME are described. A draft specification or standard must be prepared and then approved by the appropriate body. For new material applications to the ASME Code, an existing ASTM Specification is needed. These processes may require several years. The status of activities currently in progress to develop consensus standards for spent fuel casks is discussed, including (1) ASME NUPAC, and (2) ASTM Specifications for ductile cast iron and borated stainless steel

Developing standards for malaria microscopy: external competency assessment for malaria microscopists in the Asia-Pacific.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashraf, Sania; Kao, Angie; Hugo, Cecilia; Christophel, Eva M; Fatunmbi, Bayo; Luchavez, Jennifer; Lilley, Ken; Bell, David

2012-10-24

Malaria diagnosis has received renewed interest in recent years, associated with the increasing accessibility of accurate diagnosis through the introduction of rapid diagnostic tests and new World Health Organization guidelines recommending parasite-based diagnosis prior to anti-malarial therapy. However, light microscopy, established over 100 years ago and frequently considered the reference standard for clinical diagnosis, has been neglected in control programmes and in the malaria literature and evidence suggests field standards are commonly poor. Microscopy remains the most accessible method for parasite quantitation, for drug efficacy monitoring, and as a reference of assessing other diagnostic tools. This mismatch between quality and need highlights the importance of the establishment of reliable standards and procedures for assessing and assuring quality. This paper describes the development, function and impact of a multi-country microscopy external quality assurance network set up for this purpose in Asia. Surveys were used for key informants and past participants for feedback on the quality assurance programme. Competency scores for each country from 14 participating countries were compiled for analyses using paired sample t-tests. In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants including the programme facilitators and national level microscopists. External assessments and limited retraining through a formalized programme based on a reference slide bank has demonstrated an increase in standards of competence of senior microscopists over a relatively short period of time, at a potentially sustainable cost. The network involved in the programme now exceeds 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific, and the methods are extended to other regions. While the impact on national programmes varies, it has translated in some instances into a strengthening of national microscopy standards and offers a possibility both for supporting revival of national microcopy

Developing standards for malaria microscopy: external competency assessment for malaria microscopists in the Asia-Pacific

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashraf Sania

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Malaria diagnosis has received renewed interest in recent years, associated with the increasing accessibility of accurate diagnosis through the introduction of rapid diagnostic tests and new World Health Organization guidelines recommending parasite-based diagnosis prior to anti-malarial therapy. However, light microscopy, established over 100 years ago and frequently considered the reference standard for clinical diagnosis, has been neglected in control programmes and in the malaria literature and evidence suggests field standards are commonly poor. Microscopy remains the most accessible method for parasite quantitation, for drug efficacy monitoring, and as a reference of assessing other diagnostic tools. This mismatch between quality and need highlights the importance of the establishment of reliable standards and procedures for assessing and assuring quality. This paper describes the development, function and impact of a multi-country microscopy external quality assurance network set up for this purpose in Asia. Methods Surveys were used for key informants and past participants for feedback on the quality assurance programme. Competency scores for each country from 14 participating countries were compiled for analyses using paired sample t-tests. In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants including the programme facilitators and national level microscopists. Results External assessments and limited retraining through a formalized programme based on a reference slide bank has demonstrated an increase in standards of competence of senior microscopists over a relatively short period of time, at a potentially sustainable cost. The network involved in the programme now exceeds 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific, and the methods are extended to other regions. Conclusions While the impact on national programmes varies, it has translated in some instances into a strengthening of national microscopy standards and offers a

18 CFR 39.4 - Funding of the Electric Reliability Organization.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... CERTIFICATION OF THE ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION; AND PROCEDURES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, APPROVAL, AND ENFORCEMENT OF ELECTRIC RELIABILITY STANDARDS § 39.4 Funding of the Electric Reliability Organization. (a) Any... Reliability Organization. 39.4 Section 39.4 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY...

Standard error of measurement of five health utility indexes across the range of health for use in estimating reliability and responsiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Palta, Mari; Chen, Han-Yang; Kaplan, Robert M.; Feeny, David; Cherepanov, Dasha; Fryback, Dennis

2011-01-01

Background Standard errors of measurement (SEMs) of health related quality of life (HRQoL) indexes are not well characterized. SEM is needed to estimate responsiveness statistics and provides guidance on using indexes on the individual and group level. SEM is also a component of reliability. Purpose To estimate SEM of five HRQoL indexes. Design The National Health Measurement Study (NHMS) was a population based telephone survey. The Clinical Outcomes and Measurement of Health Study (COMHS) provided repeated measures 1 and 6 months post cataract surgery. Subjects 3844 randomly selected adults from the non-institutionalized population 35 to 89 years old in the contiguous United States and 265 cataract patients. Measurements The SF6-36v2™, QWB-SA, EQ-5D, HUI2 and HUI3 were included. An item-response theory (IRT) approach captured joint variation in indexes into a composite construct of health (theta). We estimated: (1) the test-retest standard deviation (SEM-TR) from COMHS, (2) the structural standard deviation (SEM-S) around the composite construct from NHMS and (3) corresponding reliability coefficients. Results SEM-TR was 0.068 (SF-6D), 0.087 (QWB-SA), 0.093 (EQ-5D), 0.100 (HUI2) and 0.134 (HUI3), while SEM-S was 0.071, 0.094, 0.084, 0.074 and 0.117, respectively. These translate into reliability coefficients for SF-6D: 0.66 (COMHS) and 0.71 (NHMS), for QWB: 0.59 and 0.64, for EQ-5D: 0.61 and 0.70 for HUI2: 0.64 and 0.80, and for HUI3: 0.75 and 0.77, respectively. The SEM varied considerably across levels of health, especially for HUI2, HUI3 and EQ-5D, and was strongly influenced by ceiling effects. Limitations Repeated measures were five months apart and estimated theta contain measurement error. Conclusions The two types of SEM are similar and substantial for all the indexes, and vary across the range of health. PMID:20935280

Flexible, reliable software using patterns and agile development

CERN Document Server

Christensen, Henrik B

2010-01-01

…This book brings together a careful selection of topics that are relevant, indeed crucial, for developing good quality software with a carefully designed pedagogy that leads the reader through an experience of active learning. The emphasis in the content is on practical goals-how to construct reliable and flexible software systems-covering many topics that every software engineer should have studied. The emphasis in the method is on providing a practical context, hands-on projects, and guidance on process. … The text discusses not only what the end product should be like, but also how to get

The Trends and Prospects of Health Information Standards : Standardization Analysis and Suggestions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chang Soo

2008-01-01

Ubiquitous health care system, which is one of the developing solution technologies of IT, BT and NT, could give us new medical environments in future. Implementing health information systems can be complex, expensive and frustrating. Healthcare professionals seeking to acquire or upgrade systems do not have a convenient, reliable way of specifying a level of adherence to communication standards sufficient to achieve truly efficient interoperability. Great progress has been made in establishing such standards-DICOM, IHE and HL7, notably, are now highly advanced. IHE has defined a common framework to deliver the basic interoperability needed for local and regional health information networks. It has developed a foundational set of standards-based integration profiles for information exchange with three interrelated efforts. HL7 is one of several ANSI-accredited Standards Developing Organizations operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance transactions. HL7's domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is an international community of healthcare subject matter experts and information scientists collaborating to create standards for the exchange, management and integration of electronic healthcare information. The ASTM specification for Continuity of Care Record was developed by subcommittee E31.28 on electronic health records, which includes clinicians, provider institutions, administrators, patient advocates, vendors, and health industry. In this paper, there are suggestions that provide a test bed, demonstration and specification of how standards such a IHE, HL7, ASTM can be used to provide an integrated environment.

The Trends and Prospects of Health Information Standards : Standardization Analysis and Suggestions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Chang Soo [Dept. of Radiological Science, College of Health Science, Catholic University of Pusan, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

2008-03-15

Ubiquitous health care system, which is one of the developing solution technologies of IT, BT and NT, could give us new medical environments in future. Implementing health information systems can be complex, expensive and frustrating. Healthcare professionals seeking to acquire or upgrade systems do not have a convenient, reliable way of specifying a level of adherence to communication standards sufficient to achieve truly efficient interoperability. Great progress has been made in establishing such standards-DICOM, IHE and HL7, notably, are now highly advanced. IHE has defined a common framework to deliver the basic interoperability needed for local and regional health information networks. It has developed a foundational set of standards-based integration profiles for information exchange with three interrelated efforts. HL7 is one of several ANSI-accredited Standards Developing Organizations operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance transactions. HL7's domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is an international community of healthcare subject matter experts and information scientists collaborating to create standards for the exchange, management and integration of electronic healthcare information. The ASTM specification for Continuity of Care Record was developed by subcommittee E31.28 on electronic health records, which includes clinicians, provider institutions, administrators, patient advocates, vendors, and health industry. In this paper, there are suggestions that provide a test bed, demonstration and specification of how standards such a IHE, HL7, ASTM can be used to provide an integrated environment.

Reliability, standard error, and minimum detectable change of clinical pressure pain threshold testing in people with and without acute neck pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, David M; Macdermid, Joy C; Nielson, Warren; Teasell, Robert W; Chiasson, Marco; Brown, Lauren

2011-09-01

Clinical measurement. To evaluate the intrarater, interrater, and test-retest reliability of an accessible digital algometer, and to determine the minimum detectable change in normal healthy individuals and a clinical population with neck pain. Pressure pain threshold testing may be a valuable assessment and prognostic indicator for people with neck pain. To date, most of this research has been completed using algometers that are too resource intensive for routine clinical use. Novice raters (physiotherapy students or clinical physiotherapists) were trained to perform algometry testing over 2 clinically relevant sites: the angle of the upper trapezius and the belly of the tibialis anterior. A convenience sample of normal healthy individuals and a clinical sample of people with neck pain were tested by 2 different raters (all participants) and on 2 different days (healthy participants only). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement, and minimum detectable change were calculated. A total of 60 healthy volunteers and 40 people with neck pain were recruited. Intrarater reliability was almost perfect (ICC = 0.94-0.97), interrater reliability was substantial to near perfect (ICC = 0.79-0.90), and test-retest reliability was substantial (ICC = 0.76-0.79). Smaller change was detectable in the trapezius compared to the tibialis anterior. This study provides evidence that novice raters can perform digital algometry with adequate reliability for research and clinical use in people with and without neck pain.

Developing Reliable Telemedicine Platforms with Unreliable and Limited Communication Bandwidth

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

AFRL-SA-WP-TR-2017-0019 Developing Reliable Telemedicine Platforms with Unreliable and Limited Communication Bandwidth Peter F...Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-7913 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. STINFO COPY NOTICE AND...invention that may relate to them. Qualified requestors may obtain copies of this report from the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) (http

Human reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embrey, D.E.

1987-01-01

Concepts and techniques of human reliability have been developed and are used mostly in probabilistic risk assessment. For this, the major application of human reliability assessment has been to identify the human errors which have a significant effect on the overall safety of the system and to quantify the probability of their occurrence. Some of the major issues within human reliability studies are reviewed and it is shown how these are applied to the assessment of human failures in systems. This is done under the following headings; models of human performance used in human reliability assessment, the nature of human error, classification of errors in man-machine systems, practical aspects, human reliability modelling in complex situations, quantification and examination of human reliability, judgement based approaches, holistic techniques and decision analytic approaches. (UK)

A Primer for DoD Reliability, Maintainability, Safety, and Logistics Standards, 1992

Science.gov (United States)

1991-10-01

Application of Reliability-Centered Maintenance to Naval Aircraft Weapon Systems and Support Equipment "* FMD -91 Failure Mode/Mechanism...Distributions ( FMD -91) available from the Reliability Analysis Center, HIT Research Institute, 201 Mill St., Rome, NY 13440-8200. 14.4 PHYSICAL...Fault Tree Analysis ( FTA ) (9) Sneak Circuit Analysis (10) Design Reviews Items (1) and (2) are addressed in Section 7 largely by reference to MIL

Development of web-based reliability data base platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Seok Won; Lee, Chang Ju; Sung, Key Yong

2004-01-01

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is a systematic technique which estimates the degree of risk impacts to the public due to an accident scenario. Estimating the occurrence frequencies and consequences of potential scenarios requires a thorough analysis of the accident details and all fundamental parameters. The robustness of PSA to check weaknesses in a design and operation will allow a better informed and balanced decision to be reached. The fundamental parameters for PSA, such as the component failure rates, should be estimated under the condition of steady collection of the evidence throughout the operational period. However, since any single plant data does not sufficiently enough to provide an adequate PSA result, in actual, the whole operating data was commonly used to estimate the reliability parameters for the same type of components. The reliability data of any component type consists of two categories; the generic that is based on the operating experiences of whole plants, and the plant-specific that is based on the operation of a specific plant of interest. The generic data is highly essential for new or recently-built nuclear power plants (NPPs). Generally, the reliability data base may be categorized into the component reliability, initiating event frequencies, human performance, and so on. Among these data, the component reliability seems a key element because it has the most abundant population. Therefore, the component reliability data is essential for taking a part in the quantification of accident sequences because it becomes an input of various basic events which consists of the fault tree

WP1 Development of New Standardization Process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2016-01-01

The purpose of this work package can be divided into two main areas: 1. Review of existing standardization procedures with focus on leading edge fatigue cracks and recommendations / rules for avoiding leading edge cracks. 2. Development of a new standardization process focusing on leading edge...

Development of Chinese Military Personnel Social Support Scale and tests for its reliability and validity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai-hong TANG

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective 　To develop Chinese Military Personnel Social Support Scaleand verify its reliability and validity. Methods 　The Chinese Military Personnel Social Support Scalewas initiated, organized and compiled based upon open-ended questionnaire survey done in a systematic manner, and previous researches were taken as references. A total of 630 military personnel were chosen by random cluster sampling and tested with the Scale, among them 50 were tested with Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS and Chinese Military Psychosomatic Health Scale(CMPHS simultaneously, and the test was done solely a second time with CMPHS 2 weeks later. The reliability and validity were assessed and verified by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis. Results 　The Chinese Military Personnel Social Support Scalecomprised three factors, namely subjective support, objective support and utility of social support. Eighteen items were left in official scale after amendment by factor analysis, and one lying subscale was added. The correlation coefficients between the public factors ranged from 0.477 to 0.589 (P<0.01, and the correlation coefficients between factors and total scale ranged from 0.721 to 0.823 (P<0.01. The test-retest correlation coefficients of total scale and subscales ranged from 0.622 to 0.803 (P<0.01, the Cronbach α coefficients ranged from 0.624 to 0.874, and the split-half correlation coefficients ranged from 0.551 to 0.828. Significant correlation existed between this Scale and two criterion scales, namely SSRS and CMPHS. Conclusion 　It is verified that the Chinese Military Personnel Social Support Scalehas excellent reliability and validity, and complying with psychometric standards, it may be used to evaluate the social support level of Chinese military personnel.

78 FR 34423 - Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) Airman Testing Standards and Training Working Group...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-07

... the relevance, reliability, validity, and effectiveness of the FAA's aeronautical testing and training... Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) Airman Testing Standards and Training Working Group (ATSTWG) AGENCY... Certification Standards (ACS) documents developed by the Airman Testing Standards and Training WG for the...

Development and initial standardization of Ayurveda child personality inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Suchitra, S P; Jagan, Arati; Nagendra, H R

2014-01-01

Ayurveda inventories for prakriti (constitution) have been developed and validated for adults. Children, however, require different categories of quarter and questions, for example, to assess the intelligence, the questions can be related to their scholastic performances. To develop and standardize an inventory to assess the prakriti of the children, and to compare with Child Personality Questionnaire (CPQ). A 135-item Ayurveda child personality inventory (ACPI) scale was developed on the basis of translation of Sanskrit verses describing vataja (A), pittaja (B), and kaphaja prakriti (C) characteristics and by taking the opinions of experts (ten Ayurveda experts and three psychologists). Study was carried out in Maxwell public school, Bangalore. The scale was administered on parents of children of the age group 6-12 years. CPQ was administered on children of the age group 8-12 years. The ACPI was associated with excellent internal consistency. The Cronbach's alpha for A, B, and C scales were 0.77, 0.55, and 0.84, respectively, and the Split-half reliability scores were 0.66.0.39 and 0.84, respectively. Factor validity coefficient scores on each items was above 0.5. Scores on vataja, pittaja and kaphaja scales were inversely correlated. Items of V, P, and K scales showed significant correlation (values ranging from 0.39 to 0.84) with subscales of CPQ, which indicates that Eastern and Western psychology concept have good correspondence. The prakrti of the children can be measured consistently by this instrument. Scores on V and P scale showed good correlation with the anxiety primary scale of CPQ.

USL/DBMS NASA/PC R and D project C programming standards

Science.gov (United States)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Moreau, Dennis R.

1984-01-01

A set of programming standards intended to promote reliability, readability, and portability of C programs written for PC research and development projects is established. These standards must be adhered to except where reasons for deviation are clearly identified and approved by the PC team. Any approved deviation from these standards must also be clearly documented in the pertinent source code.

Some recent developments in the risk- and reliability analysis of structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, J.; Choi, H.S.; Kappler, H.; Melzer, H.J.; Panggabean, H.; Reichmann, K.H.; Schueller, G.I.; Schwarz, R.F.

1979-01-01

This report consists of six contributions divided into four general topics. While Part I concentrates on the development of Analytical Methods in Structural Reliability, Part II to IV are devoted to the application of these methods to Offshore-, Nuclear - and generally to Wind- and Earthquake Exposed Structures. (orig.) [de

Reliability demonstration of imaging surveillance systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheridan, T.F.; Henderson, J.T.; MacDiarmid, P.R.

1979-01-01

Security surveillance systems which employ closed circuit television are being deployed with increasing frequency for the protection of property and other valuable assets. A need exists to demonstrate the reliability of such systems before their installation to assure that the deployed systems will operate when needed with only the scheduled amount of maintenance and support costs. An approach to the reliability demonstration of imaging surveillance systems which employ closed circuit television is described. Failure definitions based on industry television standards and imaging alarm assessment criteria for surveillance systems are discussed. Test methods which allow 24 hour a day operation without the need for numerous test scenarios, test personnel and elaborate test facilities are presented. Existing reliability demonstration standards are shown to apply which obviate the need for elaborate statistical tests. The demonstration methods employed are shown to have applications in other types of imaging surveillance systems besides closed circuit television

Development of Creative Behavior Observation Form: A Study on Validity and Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

Dere, Zeynep; Ömeroglu, Esra

2018-01-01

This study, Creative Behavior Observation Form was developed to assess creativity of the children. While the study group on the reliability and validity of Creative Behavior Observation Form was being developed, 257 children in total who were at the ages of 5-6 were used as samples with stratified sampling method. Content Validity Index (CVI) and…

Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS): A Study on Development, Validity and Reliability

OpenAIRE

Erkoc, Sultan Baliz; Isikli, Burhanettin; Metintas, Selma; Kalyoncu, Cemalettin

2012-01-01

This study was conducted to develop a scale to measure knowledge about hypertension among Turkish adults. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) was generated based on content, face, and construct validity, internal consistency, test re-test reliability, and discriminative validity procedures. The final scale had 22 items with six sub-dimensions. The scale was applied to 457 individuals aged ≥18 years, and 414 of them were re-evaluated for test-retest reliability. The six sub-dimensio...

A criterion of the performance of thermometric systems of high metrological reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sal'nikov, N.L.; Filimonov, E.V.

1995-01-01

Monitoring temperature regimes is an important part of ensuring the operational safety of a nuclear power plant. Therefore, high standards are imposed upon the reliability of the primary information on the heat field of the object obtained from different sensors, and it is urgent to develop methods of evaluating the metrological reliability of these sensors. THe main sources of thermometric information at nuclear power plants are contact temperature sensors, the most widely used of these being thermoelectric converters (TEC) and thermal resistance converters (TRC)

Developing standardized facility contingency plans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, D.A.

1993-01-01

Texaco consists of several operating departments that are, in effect, independent companies. Each of these departments is responsible for complying with all environmental laws and regulations. This includes the preparation by each facility to respond to an oil spill at that location. For larger spills, however, management of the response will rest with corporate regional response teams. Personnel from all departments make up the regional teams. In 1990, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act. In 1991, the US Coast Guard began developing oil spill response contingency plan regulations, which they are still working on. Meanwhile, four of the five west coast states have also passed laws requiring contingency plans. (Only Hawaii has chosen to wait and see what the federal regulations will entail). Three of the states have already adopted regulations. Given these laws and regulations, along with its corporate structure, Texaco addressed the need to standardize local facility plans as well as its response organization. This paper discusses how, by working together, the Texaco corporate international oil spill response staff and the Texaco western region on-scene commander developed: A standard contingency plan format crossing corporate boundaries and meeting federal and state requirements. A response organization applicable to any size facility or spill. A strategy to sell the standard contingency plan and response organization to the operating units

Countermeasures for Developing New Energy Bus Standards in China

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Xin

2018-01-01

With the rapid development of new energy vehicle technology, new energy bus has become more and more popular in China, and the relevant standards and policy are urgently needed to guide the market. According to the assessment of the development situation on new energy vehicle technology and new energy bus, combing with traffic policy guidance and the development trend of new energy vehicles, this paper aims to put forward the countermeasures of the new energy bus standard in China, including standard system, key standards and relevant recommendations. Research result is expected to provide decision support for the wide application of new energy bus in China.

Reliability analysis techniques for the design engineer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corran, E.R.; Witt, H.H.

1980-01-01

A fault tree analysis package is described that eliminates most of the housekeeping tasks involved in proceeding from the initial construction of a fault tree to the final stage of presenting a reliability analysis in a safety report. It is suitable for designers with relatively little training in reliability analysis and computer operation. Users can rapidly investigate the reliability implications of various options at the design stage, and evolve a system which meets specified reliability objectives. Later independent review is thus unlikely to reveal major shortcomings necessitating modification and projects delays. The package operates interactively allowing the user to concentrate on the creative task of developing the system fault tree, which may be modified and displayed graphically. For preliminary analysis system data can be derived automatically from a generic data bank. As the analysis procedes improved estimates of critical failure rates and test and maintenance schedules can be inserted. The computations are standard, - identification of minimal cut-sets, estimation of reliability parameters, and ranking of the effect of the individual component failure modes and system failure modes on these parameters. The user can vary the fault trees and data on-line, and print selected data for preferred systems in a form suitable for inclusion in safety reports. A case history is given - that of HIFAR containment isolation system. (author)

Interrater reliability assessment using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Lisa M; Minto, Christine; Lander, Natalie; Hardy, Louise L

2014-11-01

The aim was to examine interrater reliability of the object control subtest from the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 by live observation in a school field setting. Reliability Study--cross sectional. Raters were rated on their ability to agree on (1) the raw total for the six object control skills; (2) each skill performance and (3) the skill components. Agreement for the object control subtest and the individual skills was assessed by an intraclass correlation (ICC) and a kappa statistic assessed for skill component agreement. A total of 37 children (65% girls) aged 4-8 years (M = 6.2, SD = 0.8) were assessed in six skills by two raters; equating to 222 skill tests. Interrater reliability was excellent for the object control subset (ICC = 0.93), and for individual skills, highest for the dribble (ICC = 0.94) followed by strike (ICC = 0.85), overhand throw (ICC = 0.84), underhand roll (ICC = 0.82), kick (ICC = 0.80) and the catch (ICC = 0.71). The strike and the throw had more components with less agreement. Even though the overall subtest score and individual skill agreement was good, some skill components had lower agreement, suggesting these may be more problematic to assess. This may mean some skill components need to be specified differently in order to improve component reliability. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental education curriculum evaluation questionnaire: A reliability and validity study

Science.gov (United States)

Minner, Daphne Diane

The intention of this research project was to bridge the gap between social science research and application to the environmental domain through the development of a theoretically derived instrument designed to give educators a template by which to evaluate environmental education curricula. The theoretical base for instrument development was provided by several developmental theories such as Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Developmental Systems Theory, Life-span Perspective, as well as curriculum research within the area of environmental education. This theoretical base fueled the generation of a list of components which were then translated into a questionnaire with specific questions relevant to the environmental education domain. The specific research question for this project is: Can a valid assessment instrument based largely on human development and education theory be developed that reliably discriminates high, moderate, and low quality in environmental education curricula? The types of analyses conducted to answer this question were interrater reliability (percent agreement, Cohen's Kappa coefficient, Pearson's Product-Moment correlation coefficient), test-retest reliability (percent agreement, correlation), and criterion-related validity (correlation). Face validity and content validity were also assessed through thorough reviews. Overall results indicate that 29% of the questions on the questionnaire demonstrated a high level of interrater reliability and 43% of the questions demonstrated a moderate level of interrater reliability. Seventy-one percent of the questions demonstrated a high test-retest reliability and 5% a moderate level. Fifty-five percent of the questions on the questionnaire were reliable (high or moderate) both across time and raters. Only eight questions (8%) did not show either interrater or test-retest reliability. The global overall rating of high, medium, or low quality was reliable across both coders and time, indicating

Development of IT-based data communication network technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Seok Boong; Jeong, K. I.; Yoo, Y. R.

2010-10-01

- Developing broadband high-reliability real-time communications technology for NPP - Developing reliability and performance validation technology for communications network - Developing security technology for NPP communications network - Developing field communications network for harsh environment of NPP - International standard registration(Oct. 28, 2009, IEC 61500

Allied health clinicians using translational research in action to develop a reliable stroke audit tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Abery, Philip; Kuys, Suzanne; Lynch, Mary; Low Choy, Nancy

2018-05-23

To design and establish reliability of a local stroke audit tool by engaging allied health clinicians within a privately funded hospital. Design: Two-stage study involving a modified Delphi process to inform stroke audit tool development and inter-tester reliability. Allied health clinicians. A modified Delphi process to select stroke guideline recommendations for inclusion in the audit tool. Reliability study: 1 allied health representative from each discipline audited 10 clinical records with sequential admissions to acute and rehabilitation services. Recommendations were admitted to the audit tool when 70% agreement was reached, with 50% set as the reserve agreement. Inter-tester reliability was determined using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) across 10 clinical records. Twenty-two participants (92% female, 50% physiotherapists, 17% occupational therapists) completed the modified Delphi process. Across 6 voting rounds, 8 recommendations reached 70% agreement and 2 reached 50% agreement. Two recommendations (nutrition/hydration; goal setting) were added to ensure representation for all disciplines. Substantial consistency across raters was established for the audit tool applied in acute stroke (ICC .71; range .48 to .90) and rehabilitation (ICC.78; range .60 to .93) services. Allied health clinicians within a privately funded hospital generally agreed in an audit process to develop a reliable stroke audit tool. Allied health clinicians agreed on stroke guideline recommendations to inform a stroke audit tool. The stroke audit tool demonstrated substantial consistency supporting future use for service development. This process, which engages local clinicians, could be adopted by other facilities to design reliable audit tools to identify local service gaps to inform changes to clinical practice. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reliability Analysis of Safety Grade PLC(POSAFE-Q) for Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J. Y.; Lyou, J.; Lee, D. Y.; Choi, J. G.; Park, W. M.

2006-01-01

The Part Count Method of the military standard MILHDK- 217F has been used for the reliability prediction of the nuclear field. This handbook determines the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) failure rate by summing the failure rates of the individual component included in the PLC. Normally it is easily predictable that the components added for the fault detection improve the reliability of the PLC. But the application of this handbook is estimated with poor reliability because of the increased component number for the fault detection. To compensate this discrepancy, the quantitative reliability analysis method is suggested using the functional separation model in this paper. And it is applied to the Reactor Protection System (RPS) being developed in Korea to identify any design weak points from a safety point of view

Estimation of structural reliability under combined loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinozuka, M.; Kako, T.; Hwang, H.; Brown, P.; Reich, M.

1983-01-01

For the overall safety evaluation of seismic category I structures subjected to various load combinations, a quantitative measure of the structural reliability in terms of a limit state probability can be conveniently used. For this purpose, the reliability analysis method for dynamic loads, which has recently been developed by the authors, was combined with the existing standard reliability analysis procedure for static and quasi-static loads. The significant parameters that enter into the analysis are: the rate at which each load (dead load, accidental internal pressure, earthquake, etc.) will occur, its duration and intensity. All these parameters are basically random variables for most of the loads to be considered. For dynamic loads, the overall intensity is usually characterized not only by their dynamic components but also by their static components. The structure considered in the present paper is a reinforced concrete containment structure subjected to various static and dynamic loads such as dead loads, accidental pressure, earthquake acceleration, etc. Computations are performed to evaluate the limit state probabilities under each load combination separately and also under all possible combinations of such loads

Standard setting: comparison of two methods.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Sanju; Haque, M Sayeed; Oyebode, Femi

2006-09-14

The outcome of assessments is determined by the standard-setting method used. There is a wide range of standard-setting methods and the two used most extensively in undergraduate medical education in the UK are the norm-reference and the criterion-reference methods. The aims of the study were to compare these two standard-setting methods for a multiple-choice question examination and to estimate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the modified Angoff method. The norm-reference method of standard-setting (mean minus 1 SD) was applied to the 'raw' scores of 78 4th-year medical students on a multiple-choice examination (MCQ). Two panels of raters also set the standard using the modified Angoff method for the same multiple-choice question paper on two occasions (6 months apart). We compared the pass/fail rates derived from the norm reference and the Angoff methods and also assessed the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the modified Angoff method. The pass rate with the norm-reference method was 85% (66/78) and that by the Angoff method was 100% (78 out of 78). The percentage agreement between Angoff method and norm-reference was 78% (95% CI 69% - 87%). The modified Angoff method had an inter-rater reliability of 0.81-0.82 and a test-retest reliability of 0.59-0.74. There were significant differences in the outcomes of these two standard-setting methods, as shown by the difference in the proportion of candidates that passed and failed the assessment. The modified Angoff method was found to have good inter-rater reliability and moderate test-retest reliability.

Developing global health technology standards: what can other industries teach us?

Science.gov (United States)

Masum, Hassan; Lackman, Rebecca; Bartleson, Karen

2013-10-17

There is a lack of effective and affordable technologies to address health needs in the developing world. One way to address problems of innovation and affordability is to design global health technologies to follow agreed-upon standards. This Debate article argues that we can better develop standards for global health technologies if we learn lessons from other industries. The article's Background section begins by explaining why standards are needed in global health. For example, if global health technologies can be modularized into independent interfacing parts, these parts can then interact via well-defined standards in a "plug and play" fashion. This can avoid development of mutually incompatible solutions by different organizations, speed the pace of innovation, unlock health systems from single providers and approaches, and lower barriers to entry. The Background then gives a brief primer on standards and discusses incentives for health standards. The article's Discussion section begins with brief relevant cases of standards development from other industries, including electricity, container shipping, CD standards, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and the Internet. It then explores lessons from these and other industries that suggest how to develop standards for global health technologies. The remainder of the Discussion considers intellectual property and regulatory issues and standards-based global health business models, and ends with a checklist of considerations for health standards development leaders. (The associated Additional file discusses observations from standards development for cell phones and semiconductors, as well as challenges in the standards development process itself.) Throughout the article, point-of-care diagnostics are used as an illustrative example. An initiative is already underway to explore standardized diagnostics platforms. This Debate article aims to convince the reader that standards can benefit global health technologies if we

Development of prognostic occupational air standards for nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radilov, Andrey S; Glushkova, Anzhela V; Dulov, Sergej A; Khlebnikova, Nataliya S

2011-01-01

The intensive progress of nanoindustry in the Russian Federation makes quite urgent the problem of development and especially express development of occupational exposure standards for nanoparticles and nanoaerosols in the workplace air. We developed an approach to comparative toxicity assessment and express calculation of occupational exposure standards for nanoaerosols, based on criteria for the development of maximum allowable concentrations (MACs) of aerosols in the workplace air. The developed approach was used to obtain prognostic MACs of certain aerosols in the workplace air, mg/m 3 : nano-Ag 0.08, nano-TiO 2 0.19, and C 60 0.08.

Prediction of safety critical software operational reliability from test reliability using testing environment factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Hoan Sung; Seong, Poong Hyun

1999-01-01

It has been a critical issue to predict the safety critical software reliability in nuclear engineering area. For many years, many researches have focused on the quantification of software reliability and there have been many models developed to quantify software reliability. Most software reliability models estimate the reliability with the failure data collected during the test assuming that the test environments well represent the operation profile. User's interest is however on the operational reliability rather than on the test reliability. The experiences show that the operational reliability is higher than the test reliability. With the assumption that the difference in reliability results from the change of environment, from testing to operation, testing environment factors comprising the aging factor and the coverage factor are developed in this paper and used to predict the ultimate operational reliability with the failure data in testing phase. It is by incorporating test environments applied beyond the operational profile into testing environment factors. The application results show that the proposed method can estimate the operational reliability accurately. (Author). 14 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig

DEVELOPING VISUAL PRESENTATION ATTITUDE RUBRIC: VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY

OpenAIRE

ATEŞ, Hatice KADIOĞLU; ADA, Sefer; BAYSAL, Z. Nurdan

2015-01-01

Abstract The aim of this study is to develop visual presentation attitude rubric which is valid and reliable for the 4th grade students. 218 students took part in this study from Engin Can Güre which located in Istanbul, Esenler. While preparing this assessment tool with 34 criterias , 6 university lecturers view have been taken who are experts in their field. The answer key sheet has 4 (likert )type options. The rubric has been first tested by Kaiser-Meyer Olkin and Bartletts tests an...

Development and Reliability Analysis of HTR-PM Reactor Protection System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Duo; Guo Chao; Xiong Huasheng

2014-01-01

High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor-Pebble bed Module (HTR-PM) digital Reactor Protection System (RPS) is a dedicated system, which is designed and developed according to HTR-PM NPP protection specifications. To decrease the probability of accident trips and increase the system reliability, HTR-PM RPS has such features as a framework of four redundant channels, two diverse sub-systems in each channel, and two level two-out-of-four logic voters. Reliability analysis of HTR-PM RPS is based on fault tree model. A fault tree is built based on HTR-PM RPS Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and special analysis is focused on the sub-tree of redundant channel ''2-out-of-4'' logic and the fault tree under one channel is bypassed. The qualitative analysis of fault tree, such as RPS weakness according to minimal cut sets, is summarized in the paper. (author)

Cost analysis of reliability investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, F.

1981-01-01

Taking Epsteins testing theory as a basis, premisses are formulated for the selection of cost-optimized reliability inspection plans. Using an example, the expected testing costs and inspection time periods of various inspection plan types, standardized on the basis of the exponential distribution, are compared. It can be shown that sequential reliability tests usually involve lower costs than failure or time-fixed tests. The most 'costly' test is to be expected with the inspection plan type NOt. (orig.) [de

Space solar array reliability: A study and recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Brandhorst, Henry W., Jr.; Rodiek, Julie A.

2008-12-01

Providing reliable power over the anticipated mission life is critical to all satellites; therefore solar arrays are one of the most vital links to satellite mission success. Furthermore, solar arrays are exposed to the harshest environment of virtually any satellite component. In the past 10 years 117 satellite solar array anomalies have been recorded with 12 resulting in total satellite failure. Through an in-depth analysis of satellite anomalies listed in the Airclaim's Ascend SpaceTrak database, it is clear that solar array reliability is a serious, industry-wide issue. Solar array reliability directly affects the cost of future satellites through increased insurance premiums and a lack of confidence by investors. Recommendations for improving reliability through careful ground testing, standardization of testing procedures such as the emerging AIAA standards, and data sharing across the industry will be discussed. The benefits of creating a certified module and array testing facility that would certify in-space reliability will also be briefly examined. Solar array reliability is an issue that must be addressed to both reduce costs and ensure continued viability of the commercial and government assets on orbit.

Final report on reliability and lifetime prediction.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gillen, Kenneth T; Wise, Jonathan; Jones, Gary D.; Causa, Al G.; Terrill, Edward R.; Borowczak, Marc

2012-12-01

This document highlights the important results obtained from the subtask of the Goodyear CRADA devoted to better understanding reliability of tires and to developing better lifetime prediction methods. The overall objective was to establish the chemical and physical basis for the degradation of tires using standard as well as unique models and experimental techniques. Of particular interest was the potential application of our unique modulus profiling apparatus for assessing tire properties and for following tire degradation. During the course of this complex investigation, extensive relevant information was generated, including experimental results, data analyses and development of models and instruments. Detailed descriptions of the findings are included in this report.

Development of the private practice management standards for psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Rebecca; Stokes, David; Littlefield, Lyn; Collins, Leah

2011-01-01

This paper describes the process of developing a set of private practice management standards to support Australian psychologists and promote high quality services to the public. A review of the literature was conducted to identify management standards relevant to psychology, which were further developed in consultation with a panel of experts in psychology or in the development of standards. Forty-three psychologists in independent private practice took part in either a survey (n=22) to provide feedback on the relevance of, and their compliance with, the identified standards, or a 6-month pilot study (n=21) in which a web-based self-assessment instrument evaluating the final set of standards and performance indicators was implemented in their practice to investigate self-reported change in management procedures. The pilot study demonstrated good outcomes for practitioners when evaluation of compliance to the standards was operationalized in a self-assessment format. Study results are based on a small sample size. Nevertheless, relevance and utility of the standards was found providing an initial version of management standards that have relevance to the practice of psychology in Australia, along with a system for evaluating psychological service provision to ensure best practice in service delivery. © 2010 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

Development and Reliability of a Preliminary Foot Osteoarthritis Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score.

Science.gov (United States)

Halstead, Jill; Martín-Hervás, Carmen; Hensor, Elizabeth M A; McGonagle, Dennis; Keenan, Anne-Maree; Redmond, Anthony C; Conaghan, Philip G

2017-08-01

Foot osteoarthritis (OA) is very common but underinvestigated musculoskeletal condition and there is little consensus as to common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features. The aim of this study was to develop a preliminary foot OA MRI score (FOAMRIS) and evaluate its reliability. This preliminary semiquantitative score included the hindfoot, midfoot, and metatarsophalangeal joints. Joints were scored for joint space narrowing (JSN; 0-3), osteophytes (0-3), joint effusion/synovitis, and bone cysts (present/absent). Erosions and bone marrow lesions (BML) were scored (0-3) and BML were evaluated adjacent to entheses and at sub-tendon sites (present/absent). Additionally, tenosynovitis (0-3) and midfoot ligament pathology (present/absent) were scored. Reliability was evaluated in 15 people with foot pain and MRI-detected OA using 3.0T MRI multi-sequence protocols, and assessed using ICC as an overall score and per anatomical site. Intrareader agreement (ICC) was generally good to excellent across the foot in joint features (JSN 0.90, osteophytes 0.90, effusion/synovitis 0.46, cysts 0.87), bone features (BML 0.83, erosion 0.66, BML entheses 0.66, BML sub-tendon 0.60) and soft tissue features (tenosynovitis 0.83, ligaments 0.77). Interreader agreement was lower for joint features (JSN 0.43, osteophytes 0.27, effusion/synovitis 0.02, cysts 0.48), bone features (BML 0.68, erosion 0.00, BML entheses 0.34, BML sub-tendon 0.13), and soft tissue features (tenosynovitis 0.35, ligaments 0.33). This preliminary FOAMRIS demonstrated good intrareader reliability and fair interreader reliability when assessing the total feature scores. Further development is required in cohorts with a range of pathologies and to assess the psychometric measurement properties.

The Development of a GaAs MMIC Reliability and Space Qualification Guide

Science.gov (United States)

Ponchak, G.; Kayali, S.; Huang, H-C.

1994-01-01

This paper discusses the need for a space qualification guide, provides a brief description of some common GaAs failure mechanisms, the approach that the NASA MMIC Reliability Assurance Program is following to develop the guide, and the status of the program.

Reliability Analysis of the CERN Radiation Monitoring Electronic System CROME

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2126870

For the new in-house developed CERN Radiation Monitoring Electronic System (CROME) a reliability analysis is necessary to ensure compliance with the statu-tory requirements regarding the Safety Integrity Level. The required Safety Integrity Level by IEC 60532 standard is SIL 2 (for the Safety Integrated Functions Measurement, Alarm Triggering and Interlock Triggering). The first step of the reliability analysis was a system and functional analysis which served as basis for the implementation of the CROME system in the software “Iso-graph”. In the “Prediction” module of Isograph the failure rates of all components were calculated. Failure rates for passive components were calculated by the Military Standard 217 and failure rates for active components were obtained from lifetime tests by the manufacturers. The FMEA was carried out together with the board designers and implemented in the “FMECA” module of Isograph. The FMEA served as basis for the Fault Tree Analysis and the detection of weak points...

75 FR 80391 - Electric Reliability Organization Interpretations of Interconnection Reliability Operations and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

... transmission (G&T) cooperative or similar organization to accept compliance responsibility on behalf of its... be found on the Commission's Web site; see, e.g., the ``Quick Reference Guide for Paper Submissions... Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672...

Development of Extended Content Standards for Biodiversity Data

Science.gov (United States)

Hugo, Wim; Schmidt, Jochen; Saarenmaa, Hannu

2013-04-01

Interoperability in the field of Biodiversity observation has been strongly driven by the development of a number of global initiatives (GEO, GBIF, OGC, TDWG, GenBank, …) and its supporting standards (OGC-WxS, OGC-SOS, Darwin Core (DwC), NetCDF, …). To a large extent, these initiatives have focused on discoverability and standardization of syntactic and schematic interoperability. Semantic interoperability is more complex, requiring development of domain-dependent conceptual data models, and extension of these models with appropriate ontologies (typically manifested as controlled vocabularies). Biodiversity content has been standardized partly, for example through Darwin Core for occurrence data and associated taxonomy, and through Genbank for genetic data, but other contexts of biodiversity observation have lagged behind - making it difficult to achieve semantic interoperability between distributed data sources. With this in mind, WG8 of GEO BON (charged with data and systems interoperability) has started a work programme to address a number of concerns, one of which is the gap in content standards required to make Biodiversity data truly interoperable. The paper reports on the framework developed by WG8 for the classification of Biodiversity observation data into 'families' of use cases and its supporting data schema, where gaps, if any, in the availability if content standards have been identified, and how these are to be addressed by way of an abstract data model and the development of associated content standards. It is proposed that a minimum set of standards (1) will be required to address the scope of Biodiversity content, aligned with levels and dimensions of observation, and based on the 'Essential Biodiversity Variables' (2) being developed by GEO BON . The content standards are envisaged as loosely separated from the syntactic and schematic standards used for the base data exchange: typically, services would offer an existing data standard (DwC, WFS

Working group 2: regulatory and standards development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bunch, Chad; Lee, Shu; Peters, Mike; Parsonage, Kevin; Saad, Ziad

2011-07-01

This second workshop explored regulatory standards and developments in the pipeline industry. New methods of improved damage prevention for regulators and pipelines to implement were presented. First, incident trends were discussed, using incident analysis to identify the possible causes and solutions of incidents. The determination of realistic goals was attempted. Next, leak detection was discussed with the presentation of current work in annex E which will form part of the new CSA Z662 standard in a few years time. New testing methods such as external methods of leak detection were studied. A third presentation showed the recent development in overpressure protection with reference to the new annex M incorporated in the CSA Z662-11 standard. The last presentation introduced the topic of public safety issues associated with CO2 pipelines with regard to different failure scenarios and the appropriate emergency responses.

Development of component reliability data for PSA and risk based management in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshihiro Tomioka; Mitsumasa Hirano; Shunsuke Kondo

1997-01-01

The author presents the outline of development of the component reliability data for PSA and risk based management in Japan. In the first part following the introduction, the development process is described. The next part describes issues discussed in the course of the development, which are treatment of zero failure data, error factor, estimation of unavailable failure rate and integral test

Standard setting: Comparison of two methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oyebode Femi

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The outcome of assessments is determined by the standard-setting method used. There is a wide range of standard – setting methods and the two used most extensively in undergraduate medical education in the UK are the norm-reference and the criterion-reference methods. The aims of the study were to compare these two standard-setting methods for a multiple-choice question examination and to estimate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the modified Angoff method. Methods The norm – reference method of standard -setting (mean minus 1 SD was applied to the 'raw' scores of 78 4th-year medical students on a multiple-choice examination (MCQ. Two panels of raters also set the standard using the modified Angoff method for the same multiple-choice question paper on two occasions (6 months apart. We compared the pass/fail rates derived from the norm reference and the Angoff methods and also assessed the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the modified Angoff method. Results The pass rate with the norm-reference method was 85% (66/78 and that by the Angoff method was 100% (78 out of 78. The percentage agreement between Angoff method and norm-reference was 78% (95% CI 69% – 87%. The modified Angoff method had an inter-rater reliability of 0.81 – 0.82 and a test-retest reliability of 0.59–0.74. Conclusion There were significant differences in the outcomes of these two standard-setting methods, as shown by the difference in the proportion of candidates that passed and failed the assessment. The modified Angoff method was found to have good inter-rater reliability and moderate test-retest reliability.

Standards and Development : Perspectives from Kenya’s Horticultural Export Industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G. Otieno (Gloria)

2016-01-01

markdownabstractThis thesis examines perspectives on standards and development in Kenya’s horticulture sector. The debate on standards and development is at the forefront of global policy discussions. The proliferation of trade standards is often seen as a threat to poor countries that will diminish

Development and initial standardization of Ayurveda child personality inventory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S P Suchitra

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Ayurveda inventories for prakriti (constitution have been developed and validated for adults. Children, however, require different categories of quarter and questions, for example, to assess the intelligence, the questions can be related to their scholastic performances. Objective: To develop and standardize an inventory to assess the prakriti of the children, and to compare with Child Personality Questionnaire (CPQ. Materials and Methods: A 135-item  Ayurveda child personality inventory (ACPI scale was developed on the basis of translation of Sanskrit verses describing vataja (A, pittaja (B, and kaphaja prakriti (C characteristics and by taking the opinions of experts (ten Ayurveda experts and three psychologists. Study was carried out in Maxwell public school, Bangalore. The scale was administered on parents of children of the age group 6-12 years . CPQ was administered on children of the age group 8-12 years. Results: The ACPI was associated with excellent internal consistency. The Cronbach′s alpha for A, B, and C scales were 0.77, 0.55, and 0.84, respectively, and the Split-half reliability scores were 0.66.0.39 and 0.84, respectively. Factor validity coefficient scores on each items was above 0.5. Scores on vataja, pittaja and kaphaja scales were inversely correlated. Items of V, P, and K scales showed significant correlation (values ranging from 0.39 to 0.84 with subscales of CPQ, which indicates that Eastern and Western psychology concept have good correspondence. Conclusions: The prakrti of the children can be measured consistently by this instrument. Scores on V and P scale showed good correlation with the anxiety primary scale of CPQ.

Electric Power Infrastructure Reliability And Security Research And Development Initiative. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dale, S.; Meeker, R.; Steurer, M.; Li, H.; Pamidi, S.; Rodrigo, H.; Suryanarayanan, S.; Cartes, D.; Ordonez, J.; Domijan, A.; Liu, W.; Cox, D.; McLaren, P.; Hovsapian, R.; Edwards, D.; Simmons, S.; Wilde, N.; Woodruff, S.; Kopriva, D.; Hussaini, Y.; Mohammed, O.; Zheng, J.; Baldwin, T.L.

2008-01-01

This is the final scientific/technical report for the Electric Power Infrastructure Reliability and Security R and D Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, under award number DE-FG02-05CH11292. This report covers results from the FSU-led, multi-institution effort conducted over the period 8/15/05 to 10/14/2007. Building upon existing infrastructure for power systems research, modeling, and simulation, the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) at Florida State University (FSU) is developing world-class programs in electric power systems research and education to support future electric power system needs and challenges. With U.S. Department of Energy Support, FSU CAPS has engaged in a multi-faceted effort to conduct basic and applied research towards understanding, developing, and deploying technologies and approaches that can lead to improved reliability and security of the North American electric power generation and delivery infrastructure. This wide-reaching project, through a number of carefully selected thrusts cutting across several research disciplines, set out to address key terrestrial electric utility power system issues and challenges. The challenges and the thrusts to address them were arrived at through analysis of a number of national reports and recommendations combined with input from an experienced multi-disciplined team of power systems research staff and faculty at FSU CAPS. The resulting project effort can be grouped into four major areas: - Power Systems and New Technology Insertion - Controls, Protection, and Security - Simulation Development - High Temperature Superconductivity (HTS)

Engineering Design Handbook: Development Guide for Reliability. Part Three. Reliability Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

1976-01-01

to t is pa(t)=l-qa(t) (10-6) This is the reliability of being closed, defined for this interval. 2 The probability that a contact viH be open...Monte Carlo simulation. Few people can know all about all available programs. Special- ists can assist in selecting a few from the avail- able many

Sense of competence in dementia care staff (SCIDS) scale: development, reliability, and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Schepers, Astrid Kristine; Orrell, Martin; Shanahan, Niamh; Spector, Aimee

2012-07-01

Sense of competence in dementia care staff (SCIDS) may be associated with more positive attitudes to dementia among care staff and better outcomes for those being cared for. There is a need for a reliable and valid measure of sense of competence specific to dementia care staff. This study describes the development and evaluation of a measure to assess "sense of competence" in dementia care staff and reports on its psychometric properties. The systematic measure development process involved care staff and experts. For item selection and assessment of psychometric properties, a pilot study (N = 37) and a large-scale study (N = 211) with a test-retest reliability (N = 58) sub-study were undertaken. The final measure consists of 17 items across four subscales with acceptable to good internal consistency and moderate to substantial test-retest reliability. As predicted, the measure was positively associated with work experience, job satisfaction, and person-centered approaches to dementia care, giving a first indication for its validity. The SCIDS scale provides a useful and user-friendly means of measuring sense of competence in care staff. It has been developed using a robust process and has adequate psychometric properties. Further exploration of the construct and the scale's validity is warranted. It may be useful to assess the impact of training and perceived abilities and skills in dementia care.

No-gold-standard evaluation of image-acquisition methods using patient data.

Science.gov (United States)

Jha, Abhinav K; Frey, Eric

2017-02-11

Several new and improved modalities, scanners, and protocols, together referred to as image-acquisition methods (IAMs), are being developed to provide reliable quantitative imaging. Objective evaluation of these IAMs on the clinically relevant quantitative tasks is highly desirable. Such evaluation is most reliable and clinically decisive when performed with patient data, but that requires the availability of a gold standard, which is often rare. While no-gold-standard (NGS) techniques have been developed to clinically evaluate quantitative imaging methods, these techniques require that each of the patients be scanned using all the IAMs, which is expensive, time consuming, and could lead to increased radiation dose. A more clinically practical scenario is where different set of patients are scanned using different IAMs. We have developed an NGS technique that uses patient data where different patient sets are imaged using different IAMs to compare the different IAMs. The technique posits a linear relationship, characterized by a slope, bias, and noise standard-deviation term, between the true and measured quantitative values. Under the assumption that the true quantitative values have been sampled from a unimodal distribution, a maximum-likelihood procedure was developed that estimates these linear relationship parameters for the different IAMs. Figures of merit can be estimated using these linear relationship parameters to evaluate the IAMs on the basis of accuracy, precision, and overall reliability. The proposed technique has several potential applications such as in protocol optimization, quantifying difference in system performance, and system harmonization using patient data.

Comparison of methods for dependency determination between human failure events within human reliability analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepis, M.

2007-01-01

The Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is a highly subjective evaluation of human performance, which is an input for probabilistic safety assessment, which deals with many parameters of high uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to show that subjectivism can have a large impact on human reliability results and consequently on probabilistic safety assessment results and applications. The objective is to identify the key features, which may decrease of subjectivity of human reliability analysis. Human reliability methods are compared with focus on dependency comparison between Institute Jozef Stefan - Human Reliability Analysis (IJS-HRA) and Standardized Plant Analysis Risk Human Reliability Analysis (SPAR-H). Results show large differences in the calculated human error probabilities for the same events within the same probabilistic safety assessment, which are the consequence of subjectivity. The subjectivity can be reduced by development of more detailed guidelines for human reliability analysis with many practical examples for all steps of the process of evaluation of human performance. (author)

Comparison of Methods for Dependency Determination between Human Failure Events within Human Reliability Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepin, M.

2008-01-01

The human reliability analysis (HRA) is a highly subjective evaluation of human performance, which is an input for probabilistic safety assessment, which deals with many parameters of high uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to show that subjectivism can have a large impact on human reliability results and consequently on probabilistic safety assessment results and applications. The objective is to identify the key features, which may decrease subjectivity of human reliability analysis. Human reliability methods are compared with focus on dependency comparison between Institute Jozef Stefan human reliability analysis (IJS-HRA) and standardized plant analysis risk human reliability analysis (SPAR-H). Results show large differences in the calculated human error probabilities for the same events within the same probabilistic safety assessment, which are the consequence of subjectivity. The subjectivity can be reduced by development of more detailed guidelines for human reliability analysis with many practical examples for all steps of the process of evaluation of human performance

Reliability of the test of gross motor development second edition (TGMD-2) for Kindergarten children in Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Aye, Thanda; Oo, Khin Saw; Khin, Myo Thuzar; Kuramoto-Ahuja, Tsugumi; Maruyama, Hitoshi

2017-10-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate reliability of the test of gross motor development second edition (TGMD-2) for Kindergarten children in Myanmar. [Subjects and Methods] Fifty healthy Kindergarten children (23 males, 27 females) whose parents/guardians had given written consent were participated. The subjects were explained and demonstrated all 12 gross motor skills of TGMD-2 before the assessment. Each subject individually performed two trials for each gross motor skill and the performance was video recorded. Three raters separately watched the video recordings and rated for inter-rater reliability. The second assessment was done one month later with 25 out of 50 subjects for test-rest reliability. The video recordings of 12 subjects were randomly selected from the first 50 recordings for intra-rater reliability six weeks after the first assessment. The agreement on the locomotor and object control raw scores and the gross motor quotient (GMQ) were calculated. [Results] The findings of all the reliability coefficients for the locomotor and object control raw scores and the GMQ were interpreted as good and excellent reliability. [Conclusion] The results represented that TGMD-2 is a highly reliable and appropriate assessment tool for assessing gross motor skill development of Kindergarten children in Myanmar.

Urban travel time reliability at different traffic conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zheng, Fangfang; Li, Jie; van Zuylen, H.J.; Liu, Xiaobo; Yang, Hongtai

2017-01-01

The decision making of travelers for route choice and departure time choice depends on the expected travel time and its reliability. A common understanding of reliability is that it is related to several statistical properties of the travel time distribution, especially to the standard deviation

Evaluation of research reactor fuel reliability in support of regulatory requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokolov, Eugene N.

2005-01-01

This standards, codes and practices survey is devoted to the problem of reliability of R and D especially research reactor fuel (RRF) performance-related processes. Regulatory R and D evaluations were based on one standard and just few of them provide correlation to other relative standards whereas synthetic process approach reflects actual status of particular R and D practices. Fuel performance regulatory parameters are based on quality standards. A reliability process-based method similar to PSA/FMEA is proposed to evaluate RRF performance- related parameters in terms of reactor safety. (author)

Evaluation of research reactor fuel reliability in support of regulatory requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sokolov, Eugene N [Chalk River Laboratories, AECL, Chalk River, ON, K0J 1J0 (Canada)

2005-07-01

This standards, codes and practices survey is devoted to the problem of reliability of R and D especially research reactor fuel (RRF) performance-related processes. Regulatory R and D evaluations were based on one standard and just few of them provide correlation to other relative standards whereas synthetic process approach reflects actual status of particular R and D practices. Fuel performance regulatory parameters are based on quality standards. A reliability process-based method similar to PSA/FMEA is proposed to evaluate RRF performance- related parameters in terms of reactor safety. (author)

Suggested improvements to the definitions of Standardized Plant Analysis of Risk-Human Reliability Analysis (SPAR-H) performance shaping factors, their levels and multipliers and the nominal tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laumann, Karin; Rasmussen, Martin

2016-01-01

This paper discusses the definitions and content of eight performance shaping factors (PSFs) used in Standardized Plant Analysis of Risk-Human Reliability Analysis (SPAR-H) and their levels and multipliers. Definitions of nominal tasks are also discussed. The discussion is based on a review of literature on PSFs, interviews with consultants who have carried out SPAR-H analysis in the petroleum industry and an evaluation of human reliability analysis reports based on SPAR-H analysis. We concluded that SPAR-H definitions and descriptions of the PSFs are unclear and overlap too much, making it difficult for the analyst to choose between them and select the appropriate level. This reduces inter-rater reliability and thus the consistency of SPAR-H analyses. New definitions of the PSFs, levels and multipliers are suggested with the aim to develop more specific definitions of the PSFs in order to increase the inter-rater reliability of SPAR-H. Another aim was to construct more varied and more nuanced levels and multipliers to improve the capacity of SPAR-H analysis to capture the degree of difficulty faced by operators in different scenarios. We also suggest that only one of two nominal SPAR-H tasks should be retained owing to the difficulty in distinguishing between them. - Highlights: • The SPAR-H guidelines should be revised. • Descriptions of the PSFs should be improved. • New definitions should reduce overlap between the PSFs. • The multipliers are based on an “old” method and should be revised. • Some PSF levels and multipliers in SPAR-H are not logical.

Validity and reliability of balance assessment software using the Nintendo Wii balance board: usability and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Dae-Sung; Lee, GyuChang

2014-06-10

A balance test provides important information such as the standard to judge an individual's functional recovery or make the prediction of falls. The development of a tool for a balance test that is inexpensive and widely available is needed, especially in clinical settings. The Wii Balance Board (WBB) is designed to test balance, but there is little software used in balance tests, and there are few studies on reliability and validity. Thus, we developed a balance assessment software using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board, investigated its reliability and validity, and compared it with a laboratory-grade force platform. Twenty healthy adults participated in our study. The participants participated in the test for inter-rater reliability, intra-rater reliability, and concurrent validity. The tests were performed with balance assessment software using the Nintendo Wii balance board and a laboratory-grade force platform. Data such as Center of Pressure (COP) path length and COP velocity were acquired from the assessment systems. The inter-rater reliability, the intra-rater reliability, and concurrent validity were analyzed by an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) value and a standard error of measurement (SEM). The inter-rater reliability (ICC: 0.89-0.79, SEM in path length: 7.14-1.90, SEM in velocity: 0.74-0.07), intra-rater reliability (ICC: 0.92-0.70, SEM in path length: 7.59-2.04, SEM in velocity: 0.80-0.07), and concurrent validity (ICC: 0.87-0.73, SEM in path length: 5.94-0.32, SEM in velocity: 0.62-0.08) were high in terms of COP path length and COP velocity. The balance assessment software incorporating the Nintendo Wii balance board was used in our study and was found to be a reliable assessment device. In clinical settings, the device can be remarkably inexpensive, portable, and convenient for the balance assessment.

Reliability of the standard goniometry and diagrammatic recording of finger joint angles: a comparative study with healthy subjects and non-professional raters.

Science.gov (United States)

Macionis, Valdas

2013-01-09

Diagrammatic recording of finger joint angles by using two criss-crossed paper strips can be a quick substitute to the standard goniometry. As a preliminary step toward clinical validation of the diagrammatic technique, the current study employed healthy subjects and non-professional raters to explore whether reliability estimates of the diagrammatic goniometry are comparable with those of the standard procedure. The study included two procedurally different parts, which were replicated by assigning 24 medical students to act interchangeably as 12 subjects and 12 raters. A larger component of the study was designed to compare goniometers side-by-side in measurement of finger joint angles varying from subject to subject. In the rest of the study, the instruments were compared by parallel evaluations of joint angles similar for all subjects in a situation of simulated change of joint range of motion over time. The subjects used special guides to position the joints of their left ring finger at varying angles of flexion and extension. The obtained diagrams of joint angles were converted to numerical values by computerized measurements. The statistical approaches included calculation of appropriate intraclass correlation coefficients, standard errors of measurements, proportions of measurement differences of 5 or less degrees, and significant differences between paired observations. Reliability estimates were similar for both goniometers. Intra-rater and inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.69 to 0.93. The corresponding standard errors of measurements ranged from 2.4 to 4.9 degrees. Repeated measurements of a considerable number of raters fell within clinically non-meaningful 5 degrees of each other in proportions comparable with a criterion value of 0.95. Data collected with both instruments could be similarly interpreted in a simulated situation of change of joint range of motion over time. The paper goniometer and the standard goniometer can

Motor Importance of motor assessment in school children: analysis of the reliability of the motor development scale doi: 10.5007/1980-0037.2010v12n6p422

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Rosa Neto

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the motor performance of school chil-dren aged 6 to 10 years without learning difficulties (n=101, and to analyze the reliability of the Motor Development Scale (MDS (Rosa Neto, 2002. Descriptive statistics with calculation of the mean, standard deviation, and range was used for data analysis. The internal consistency of the MDS was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and the correlation between variables was determined by Pearson’s linear correlation, with p<0.05. The results showed (1 that motor development was within normal limits in 96% of the children, and (2 a high correlation betwe-en chronological age and general motor age, indicating good internal consistency. These data demonstrate the logic and structured design of the MDS, confirming its reliability.

Developing and enforcing internal information systems standards: InduMaker’s Standards Management Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Loebbecke

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is widely agreed that standards provide numerous benefits when available and enforced. Company-internal Information Systems (IS management procedures and solutions, in the following coined IS ‘standards’, allow for harmonizing operations between company units, locations and even different service providers. However, many companies lack an organized process for defining and managing internal IS standards, which causes uncertainties and delays in decision making, planning, and design processes. In this case study of the globally operating InduMaker (anonymized company name, an established manufacturing supplier, we look into the company-internal management of IS standards. Theoretically grounded in the organizational and IS-focused literature on business process modelling and business process commoditization, we describe and investigate InduMaker’s newly developed Standard Management Process (SMP for defining and managing company-internal business and IS standards, with which the multinational pursues offering clear answers to business and IT departments about existing IS standards, their degree of obligation, applicability, and scope at any time.

In-plant reliability data base for nuclear power plant components: data collection and methodology report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drago, J.P.; Borkowski, R.J.; Pike, D.H.; Goldberg, F.F.

1982-07-01

The development of a component reliability data for use in nuclear power plant probabilistic risk assessments and reliabiilty studies is presented in this report. The sources of the data are the in-plant maintenance work request records from a sample of nuclear power plants. This data base is called the In-Plant Reliability Data (IPRD) system. Features of the IPRD system are compared with other data sources such as the Licensee Event Report system, the Nuclear Plant Reliability Data system, and IEEE Standard 500. Generic descriptions of nuclear power plant systems formulated for IPRD are given

Towards an Operational Definition of Effective Co-Teaching: Instrument Development, Validity, and Reliability

Science.gov (United States)

La Monte, Michelle Evonne

2012-01-01

This study focused on developing a valid and reliable instrument that can not only identify successful co-teaching, but also the professional development needs of co-teachers and their administrators in public schools. Two general questions about the quality of co-teaching were addressed in this study: (a) How well did descriptors within each of…

A New Mobile Application for Standardizing Diabetic Foot Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Yap, Moi Hoon; Chatwin, Katie E; Ng, Choon-Ching; Abbott, Caroline A; Bowling, Frank L; Rajbhandari, Satyan; Boulton, Andrew J M; Reeves, Neil D

2018-01-01

We describe the development of a new mobile app called "FootSnap," to standardize photographs of diabetic feet and test its reliability on different occasions and between different operators. FootSnap was developed by a multidisciplinary team for use with the iPad. The plantar surface of 30 diabetic feet and 30 nondiabetic control feet were imaged using FootSnap on two separate occasions by two different operators. Reproducibility of foot images was determined using the Jaccard similarity index (JSI). High intra- and interoperator reliability was demonstrated with JSI values of 0.89-0.91 for diabetic feet and 0.93-0.94 for control feet. Similarly high reliability between groups indicates FootSnap is appropriate for longitudinal follow-ups in diabetic feet, with potential for monitoring pathology.

Validation of a standard forensic anthropology examination protocol by measurement of applicability and reliability on exhumed and archive samples of known biological attribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Francisco, Raffaela Arrabaça; Evison, Martin Paul; Costa Junior, Moacyr Lobo da; Silveira, Teresa Cristina Pantozzi; Secchieri, José Marcelo; Guimarães, Marco Aurelio

2017-10-01

Forensic anthropology makes an important contribution to human identification and assessment of the causes and mechanisms of death and body disposal in criminal and civil investigations, including those related to atrocity, disaster and trafficking victim identification. The methods used are comparative, relying on assignment of questioned material to categories observed in standard reference material of known attribution. Reference collections typically originate in Europe and North America, and are not necessarily representative of contemporary global populations. Methods based on them must be validated when applied to novel populations. This study describes the validation of a standardized forensic anthropology examination protocol by application to two contemporary Brazilian skeletal samples of known attribution. One sample (n=90) was collected from exhumations following 7-35 years of burial and the second (n=30) was collected following successful investigations following routine case work. The study presents measurement of (1) the applicability of each of the methods: used and (2) the reliability with which the biographic parameters were assigned in each case. The results are discussed with reference to published assessments of methodological reliability regarding sex, age and-in particular-ancestry estimation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photovoltaic and Wind Turbine Integration Applying Cuckoo Search for Probabilistic Reliable Optimal Placement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. A. Swief

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient Cuckoo Search Optimization technique to improve the reliability of electrical power systems. Various reliability objective indices such as Energy Not Supplied, System Average Interruption Frequency Index, System Average Interruption, and Duration Index are the main indices indicating reliability. The Cuckoo Search Optimization (CSO technique is applied to optimally place the protection devices, install the distributed generators, and to determine the size of distributed generators in radial feeders for reliability improvement. Distributed generator affects reliability and system power losses and voltage profile. The volatility behaviour for both photovoltaic cells and the wind turbine farms affect the values and the selection of protection devices and distributed generators allocation. To improve reliability, the reconfiguration will take place before installing both protection devices and distributed generators. Assessment of consumer power system reliability is a vital part of distribution system behaviour and development. Distribution system reliability calculation will be relayed on probabilistic reliability indices, which can expect the disruption profile of a distribution system based on the volatility behaviour of added generators and load behaviour. The validity of the anticipated algorithm has been tested using a standard IEEE 69 bus system.

Reliability risks during the transition to competitive electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, J.P.

2005-01-01

The Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON) is a U.S. association representing industrial consumers of electricity, and is a long-standing advocate of competition in the electric power industry. However, because a reliable grid is necessary to support competitive wholesale markets, ELCON believes that the transmission system is an essential facility that must remain regulated. The initiatives discussed in this white paper represent significant steps that the National Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and the industry have taken to improve reliability in a competitive and restructured electric industry. Strategic manoeuvres of incumbent utilities to maintain market share were evaluated, as well as discrimination against potential competitors. It was suggested that, occasionally, indecisive federal policies have been taken advantage of by utilities. The unintended consequences of state restructuring policies that allow utilities to over-earn their revenue requirements were reviewed. NERC reliability standards will remain unenforceable until a new Electricity Reliability Organization has been certified. Flawed market designs and inadequate market power mitigation, as well as the financial distress of merchant generators, pose considerable risks. It was suggested that these risks could trigger transmission loading relief incidents, local outages or widespread outages. In the absence of mandatory reliability standards with penalties, and complementary market rules for mitigating generation and transmission market power, economic incentives will encourage other forms of opportunistic behavior that may be the root cause of other outages. Public concern regarding these risks to grid reliability may result in lost public support for competitive electricity markets. Proposed solutions include the certification of a new Electric Reliability Organization to establish and enforce mandatory reliability standards, and granting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Development of a LED based standard for luminous flux

Science.gov (United States)

Sardinha, André; Ázara, Ivo; Torres, Miguel; Menegotto, Thiago; Grieneisen, Hans Peter; Borghi, Giovanna; Couceiro, Iakyra; Zim, Alexandre; Muller, Filipe

2018-03-01

Incandescent lamps, simple artifacts with radiation spectrum very similar to a black-body emitter, are traditional standards in photometry. Nowadays LEDs are broadly used in lighting, with great variety of spectra, and it is convenient to use standards for photometry with spectral distribution similar to that of the measured artifact. Research and development of such standards occur in several National Metrology Institutes. In Brazil, Inmetro is working on a practical solution for providing a LED based standard to be used for luminous flux measurements in the field of general lighting. This paper shows the measurements made for the developing of a prototype, that in sequence will be characterized in photometric quantities.

Reliability: How much is it worth? Beyond its estimation or prediction, the (net) present value of reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleh, J.H.; Marais, K.

2006-01-01

In this article, we link an engineering concept, reliability, to a financial and managerial concept, net present value, by exploring the impact of a system's reliability on its revenue generation capability. The framework here developed for non-repairable systems quantitatively captures the value of reliability from a financial standpoint. We show that traditional present value calculations of engineering systems do not account for system reliability, thus over-estimate a system's worth and can therefore lead to flawed investment decisions. It is therefore important to involve reliability engineers upfront before investment decisions are made in technical systems. In addition, the analyses here developed help designers identify the optimal level of reliability that maximizes a system's net present value-the financial value reliability provides to the system minus the cost to achieve this level of reliability. Although we recognize that there are numerous considerations driving the specification of an engineering system's reliability, we contend that the financial analysis of reliability here developed should be made available to decision-makers to support in part, or at least be factored into, the system reliability specification