Sample records for avoid blackout due

  1. Communications Blackout Predictions for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morabito, David D.; Edquist, Karl

    2005-01-01

    The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is expected to be a long-range, long-duration science laboratory rover on the Martian surface. MSL will provide a significant milestone that paves the way for future landed missions to Mars. NASA is studying options to launch MSL as early as 2009. MSL will be the first mission to demonstrate the new technology of 'smart landers', which include precision landing and hazard avoidance in order to -land at scientifically interesting sites that would otherwise be unreachable. There are three elements to the spacecraft; carrier (cruise stage), entry vehicle, and rover. The rover will have an X-band direct-to-Earth (DTE) link as well as a UHF proximity link. There is also a possibility of an X-band proximity link. Given the importance of collecting critical event telemetry data during atmospheric entry, it is important to understand the ability of a signal link to be maintained, especially during the period near peak convective heating. The received telemetry during entry (or played back later) will allow for the performance of the Entry-Descent-Landing technologies to be assessed. These technologies include guided entry for precision landing, hazard avoidance, a new sky-crane landing system and powered descent. MSL will undergo an entry profile that may result in a potential communications blackout caused by ionized plasma for short periods near peak heating. The vehicle will use UHF and possibly X-band during the entry phase. The purpose of this report is to quantify or bound the likelihood of any such blackout at UHF frequencies (401 MHz) and X-band frequencies (8.4 GHz). Two entry trajectory scenarios were evaluated: a stressful entry trajectory to quantify an upper-bound for any possible blackout period, and a nominal likely trajectory to quantify likelihood of blackout for such cases.

  2. Blackouts among male and female youth seeking emergency department care.

    PubMed

    Voloshyna, Diana M; Bonar, Erin E; Cunningham, Rebecca M; Ilgen, Mark A; Blow, Frederic C; Walton, Maureen A

    2018-01-01

    Alcohol-related blackouts are a common consequence of heavy drinking, and these blackouts pose risk for injury and other adverse health outcomes. To examine the prevalence and correlates of blackouts among underage drinkers. Youth (ages 14-20) presenting to a suburban Emergency Department (ED) completed screening surveys. Among those reporting past-year alcohol consumption, we examined past 3-month blackouts in relation to: background characteristics (e.g., demographics, fraternity/sorority involvement), substance use, sexual risk behaviors and incapacitated sexual assault (unaware/unable to consent due to alcohol/drugs), forced sexual assault, positive depression screening, and reason for ED visit (injury vs. medical). In total, 2,300 past-year drinkers participated: 58% female, 75% Caucasian, and mean age = 18.4. Regarding past 3-month blackouts, 72.7% reported none, 19.3% reported monthly or less, and 8% reported monthly or more. Multivariate cumulative logit regression indicated that blackout frequency was positively associated with: college involvement in Greek life, alcohol use severity, prescription drug misuse, marijuana, screening positive for depression, incapacitated sexual assault, and a gender by alcohol use severity interaction. With one-quarter of this clinical sample reporting recent blackouts, as well as the association between blackout frequency and health risk behaviors and other outcomes, findings underscore the need for programs focusing on substance use, depression, and preventing sexual assault. Interventions should also address poly-substance use and drinking motives. Although findings highlight how college students in Greek life may be at high risk for blackouts, many participants not in college also reported blackouts, suggesting that interventions in other settings are also needed.

  3. Preventing Blackouts by Building a Better Power Grid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Huang, Henry

    America’s power grid is undergoing significant change. New mixes of electricity generation, as well as evolving consumer demand, make it even more challenging to manage. Moment-to-moment changes in electricity supply and demand can vary drastically, challenging power grid operators who must maintain a balance—in real time—to avoid disruptions and blackouts. Enter Senior Power Engineer Zhenyu (Henry) Huang. Henry leads PNNL’s initiative to develop technologies that will shape the future of the power grid, and he’s part of a team that is determined to make our nation’s grid more reliable and secure.

  4. Health Impact in New York City During the Northeastern Blackout of 2003

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Shao; Fletcher, Barbara A.; Luo, Ming; Chinery, Robert; Hwang, Syni-An

    2011-01-01

    Objective This study assessed the health effects of the 2003 Northeastern blackout, the largest one in history, on mortality and hospital admissions due to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal diseases in New York City (NYC), and compared the disease patterns and sociodemographic profiles of cases during the blackout with those on control days. Method We investigated the effects of the blackout on health using incidence rate ratios to compare the disease on blackout days (August 14 and 15, 2003) with those on normal and comparably hot days (controls). Normal days were defined as summer days (June–August) between the 25th and 75th percentiles of maximum temperature during 1991–2004. Comparably hot days were days with maximum temperatures in the same range as that of the blackout days. We evaluated the interactive effects of demographics and the blackout using a case-only design. Results We found that mortality and respiratory hospital admissions in NYC increased significantly (two- to eightfold) during the blackout, but cardiovascular and renal hospitalizations did not. The most striking increases occurred among elderly, female, and chronic bronchitis admissions. We identified stronger effects during the blackout than on comparably hot days. In contrast to the pattern observed for comparably hot days, higher socioeconomic status groups were more likely to be hospitalized during the blackout. Conclusions This study suggests that power outages may have important health impacts, even stronger than the effects of heat alone. The findings provide some direction for future emergency planning and public health preparedness. PMID:21553667

  5. Application of Advanced Wide Area Early Warning Systems with Adaptive Protection

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Blumstein, Carl; Cibulka, Lloyd; Thorp, James

    2014-09-30

    Recent blackouts of power systems in North America and throughout the world have shown how critical a reliable power system is to modern societies, and the enormous economic and societal damage a blackout can cause. It has been noted that unanticipated operation of protection systems can contribute to cascading phenomena and, ultimately, blackouts. This project developed and field-tested two methods of Adaptive Protection systems utilizing synchrophasor data. One method detects conditions of system stress that can lead to unintended relay operation, and initiates a supervisory signal to modify relay response in real time to avoid false trips. The second methodmore » detects the possibility of false trips of impedance relays as stable system swings “encroach” on the relays’ impedance zones, and produces an early warning so that relay engineers can re-evaluate relay settings. In addition, real-time synchrophasor data produced by this project was used to develop advanced visualization techniques for display of synchrophasor data to utility operators and engineers.« less

  6. Acute Alcohol Effects on Narrative Recall and Contextual Memory: An Examination of Fragmentary Blackouts

    PubMed Central

    Wetherill, Reagan R.; Fromme, Kim

    2011-01-01

    The present study examined the effects of alcohol consumption on narrative recall and contextual memory among individuals with and without a history of fragmentary blackouts in an attempt to better understand why some individuals experience alcohol-induced memory impairments whereas others do not, even at comparable blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). Standardized beverage (alcohol, no alcohol) administration procedures and neuropsychological assessments measured narrative recall and context memory performance before and after alcohol consumption in individuals with (n = 44) and without (n = 44) a history of fragmentary blackouts. Findings indicate acute alcohol intoxication led to impairments in free recall, but not next-day cued recall. Further, participants showed similar memory performance when sober, but individuals who consumed alcohol and had a positive history of fragmentary blackouts showed greater contextual memory impairments than those who had not previously experienced a fragmentary blackout. Thus, it appears that some individuals may have an inherent vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments due to alcohol’s effects on contextual memory processes. PMID:21497445

  7. Acute alcohol effects on narrative recall and contextual memory: an examination of fragmentary blackouts.

    PubMed

    Wetherill, Reagan R; Fromme, Kim

    2011-08-01

    The present study examined the effects of alcohol consumption on narrative recall and contextual memory among individuals with and without a history of fragmentary blackouts in an attempt to better understand why some individuals experience alcohol-induced memory impairments whereas others do not, even at comparable blood alcohol concentrations (BACs). Standardized beverage (alcohol and no alcohol) administration procedures and neuropsychological assessments measured narrative recall and context memory performance before and after alcohol consumption in individuals with (n=44) and without (n=44) a history of fragmentary blackouts. Findings indicate that acute alcohol intoxication led to impairments in free recall, but not next-day cued recall. Further, participants showed similar memory performance when sober, but individuals who consumed alcohol and had a positive history of fragmentary blackouts showed greater contextual memory impairments than those who had not previously experienced a fragmentary blackout. Thus, it appears that some individuals may have an inherent vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments due to alcohol's effects on contextual memory processes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Investigation of plasma-surface interaction effects on pulsed electrostatic manipulation for reentry blackout alleviation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krishnamoorthy, S.; Close, S.

    2017-03-01

    The reentry blackout phenomenon affects most spacecraft entering a dense planetary atmosphere from space, due to the presence of a plasma layer that surrounds the spacecraft. This plasma layer is created by ionization of ambient air due to shock and frictional heating, and in some cases is further enhanced due to contamination by ablation products. This layer causes a strong attenuation of incoming and outgoing electromagnetic waves including those used for command and control, communication and telemetry over a period referred to as the ‘blackout period’. The blackout period may last up to several minutes and is a major contributor to the landing error ellipse at best, and a serious safety hazard in the worst case, especially in the context of human spaceflight. In this work, we present a possible method for alleviation of reentry blackout using electronegative DC pulses applied from insulated electrodes on the reentry vehicle’s surface. We study the reentry plasma’s interaction with a DC pulse using a particle-in-cell (PIC) model. Detailed models of plasma-insulator interaction are included in our simulations. The absorption and scattering of ions and electrons at the plasma-dielectric interface are taken into account. Secondary emission from the insulating surface is also considered, and its implications on various design issues is studied. Furthermore, we explore the effect of changing the applied voltage and the impact of surface physics on the creation and stabilization of communication windows. The primary aim of this analysis is to examine the possibility of restoring L- and S-band communication from the spacecraft to a ground station. Our results provide insight into the effect of key design variables on the response of the plasma to the applied voltage pulse. Simulations show the creation of pockets where electron density in the plasma layer is reduced three orders of magnitude or more in the vicinity of the electrodes. These pockets extend to distances up to three times the electrode length normal to the vehicle surface. Based on our results, we postulate that pulsed electrostatic manipulation (PEM) may be a viable candidate for reentry blackout alleviation in the future.

  9. Public Health Concerns Associated with the New York City Blackout of 1977.

    PubMed

    Imperato, Pascal James

    2016-08-01

    The 1977 New York City blackout began at 9:36 p.m. on 13 July and lasted some 25 h until 10:39 p.m. on 14 July. The New York City Department of Health rapidly set up a Blackout Contingency Plan, established priorities, and mobilized its staff to address remedial interventions. Top priorities included water supplies, sewage disposal, perishable food supplies, hospital and emergency room services, solid waste disposal, beach contamination with untreated sewage , and assisting those on electrically powered home life support systems. The 1977 blackout occurred during an extended heat wave. An analysis of total deaths and deaths due to pulmonary and cardiovascular/renal diseases by day correlated with temperatures. However, there was no direct correlation with the blackout itself, in part perhaps because of the confounding influence of high temperatures. The increase of deaths on very hot days outside of the blackout period lends strong support to the relationship between increased deaths and high ambient temperatures. The 1977 New York City blackout was distinguished from those of 1965 and 2003 by violence, arson, and looting that occurred in several areas. These acts resulted in 204 civilian injuries, 436 police injuries, 80 firefighter injuries, and 1037 fires. The violence, arson, and looting caused extensive long-term physical and functional damage to certain areas of two boroughs of the city, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Although the New York City Department of Health had not previously established a disaster preparedness plan, its professionals quickly rose to the occasion because they were able to draw upon vast public health practice experience and ingenuity.

  10. Quantifying the daily economic impact of extreme space weather due to failure in electricity transmission infrastructure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oughton, Edward J.; Skelton, Andrew; Horne, Richard B.; Thomson, Alan W. P.; Gaunt, Charles T.

    2017-01-01

    Extreme space weather due to coronal mass ejections has the potential to cause considerable disruption to the global economy by damaging the transformers required to operate electricity transmission infrastructure. However, expert opinion is split between the potential outcome being one of a temporary regional blackout and of a more prolonged event. The temporary blackout scenario proposed by some is expected to last the length of the disturbance, with normal operations resuming after a couple of days. On the other hand, others have predicted widespread equipment damage with blackout scenarios lasting months. In this paper we explore the potential costs associated with failure in the electricity transmission infrastructure in the U.S. due to extreme space weather, focusing on daily economic loss. This provides insight into the direct and indirect economic consequences of how an extreme space weather event may affect domestic production, as well as other nations, via supply chain linkages. By exploring the sensitivity of the blackout zone, we show that on average the direct economic cost incurred from disruption to electricity represents only 49% of the total potential macroeconomic cost. Therefore, if indirect supply chain costs are not considered when undertaking cost-benefit analysis of space weather forecasting and mitigation investment, the total potential macroeconomic cost is not correctly represented. The paper contributes to our understanding of the economic impact of space weather, as well as making a number of key methodological contributions relevant for future work. Further economic impact assessment of this threat must consider multiday, multiregional events.

  11. Exploring Complex Systems Aspects of Blackout Risk and Mitigation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Newman, David E; Carreras, Benjamin A; Lynch, Vickie E

    2011-01-01

    Electric power transmission systems are a key infrastructure, and blackouts of these systems have major consequences for the economy and national security. Analyses of blackout data suggest that blackout size distributions have a power law form over much of their range. This result is an indication that blackouts behave as a complex dynamical system. We use a simulation of an upgrading power transmission system to investigate how these complex system dynamics impact the assessment and mitigation of blackout risk. The mitigation of failures in complex systems needs to be approached with care. The mitigation efforts can move the system tomore » a new dynamic equilibrium while remaining near criticality and preserving the power law region. Thus, while the absolute frequency of blackouts of all sizes may be reduced, the underlying forces can still cause the relative frequency of large blackouts to small blackouts to remain the same. Moreover, in some cases, efforts to mitigate small blackouts can even increase the frequency of large blackouts. This result occurs because the large and small blackouts are not mutually independent, but are strongly coupled by the complex dynamics.« less

  12. Communications Blackout Prediction for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morabito, David; Edquist, Karl

    2005-01-01

    When a supersonic spacecraft enters a planetary atmosphere with v >> v(sub sound), a shock layer forms in the front of the body. An ionized sheath of plasma develops around the spacecraft, which results from the ionization of the atmospheric constituents as they are compressed and heated by the shock or heated within the boundary layer next to the surface. When the electron density surrounding the spacecraft becomes sufficiently high, communications can be disrupted (attenuation/blackout). During Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL's) atmospheric entry there will likely be a communication outage due to charged particles on the order of 60 to 100 seconds using a UHF link frequency looking out the shoulders of the wake region to orbiting relay asset. A UHF link looking out the base region would experience a shorter duration blackout, about 35 seconds for the stressed trajectory and possibly no blackout for the nominal trajectory. There is very little likelihood of a communications outage using X-band (however, X-band is not currently planned to be used during peak electron density phase of EDL).

  13. Alcohol-induced blackouts: A review of recent clinical research with practical implications and recommendations for future studies

    PubMed Central

    Wetherill, Reagan R.; Fromme, Kim

    2016-01-01

    Background Alcohol-induced blackouts, or memory loss for all or portions of events that occurred during a drinking episode, are reported by approximately 50% of drinkers and are associated with a wide range of negative consequences, including injury and death. As such, identifying the factors that contribute to and result from alcohol-induced blackouts is critical in developing effective prevention programs. Here, we provide an updated review (2010–2015) of clinical research focused on alcohol-induced blackouts, outline practical and clinical implications, and provide recommendations for future research. Methods A comprehensive, systematic literature review was conducted to examine all articles published between January 2010 through August 2015 that focused on examined vulnerabilities, consequences, and possible mechanisms for alcohol-induced blackouts. Results Twenty-sex studies reported on alcohol-induced blackouts. Fifteen studies examined prevalence and/or predictors of alcohol-induced blackouts. Six publications described consequences of alcohol-induced blackouts, and five studies explored potential cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced blackouts. Conclusions Recent research on alcohol-induced blackouts suggests that individual differences, not just alcohol consumption, increase the likelihood of experiencing an alcohol-induced blackout, and the consequences of alcohol-induced blackouts extend beyond the consequences related to the drinking episode to include psychiatric symptoms and neurobiological abnormalities. Prospective studies and a standardized assessment of alcohol-induced blackouts are needed to fully characterize factors associated with alcohol-induced blackouts and to improve prevention strategies. PMID:27060868

  14. Alcohol-Induced Blackouts: A Review of Recent Clinical Research with Practical Implications and Recommendations for Future Studies.

    PubMed

    Wetherill, Reagan R; Fromme, Kim

    2016-05-01

    Alcohol-induced blackouts, or memory loss for all or portions of events that occurred during a drinking episode, are reported by approximately 50% of drinkers and are associated with a wide range of negative consequences, including injury and death. As such, identifying the factors that contribute to and result from alcohol-induced blackouts is critical in developing effective prevention programs. Here, we provide an updated review (2010 to 2015) of clinical research focused on alcohol-induced blackouts, outline practical and clinical implications, and provide recommendations for future research. A comprehensive, systematic literature review was conducted to examine all articles published between January 2010 through August 2015 that focused on vulnerabilities, consequences, and possible mechanisms for alcohol-induced blackouts. Twenty-six studies reported on alcohol-induced blackouts. Fifteen studies examined prevalence and/or predictors of alcohol-induced blackouts. Six publications described the consequences of alcohol-induced blackouts, and 5 studies explored potential cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced blackouts. Recent research on alcohol-induced blackouts suggests that individual differences, not just alcohol consumption, increase the likelihood of experiencing an alcohol-induced blackout, and the consequences of alcohol-induced blackouts extend beyond the consequences related to the drinking episode to include psychiatric symptoms and neurobiological abnormalities. Prospective studies and a standardized assessment of alcohol-induced blackouts are needed to fully characterize factors associated with alcohol-induced blackouts and to improve prevention strategies. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  15. Latent Growth Classes of Alcohol-Related Blackouts over the First Two Years of College

    PubMed Central

    Merrill, Jennifer E.; Treloar, Hayley; Fernandez, Anne C.; Monnig, Mollie A.; Jackson, Kristina M.; Barnett, Nancy P.

    2016-01-01

    Alcohol-related blackouts are common among college student drinkers. The present study extends prior work by examining latent growth classes of blackouts and several predictors of class membership. Participants (N=709 college drinkers) completed a baseline survey at college entry and biweekly online assessments throughout freshman and sophomore years. Results revealed five latent growth class trajectories, reflecting varying experiences of blackouts at the beginning of college and differential change in blackouts over time. The largest class represented a relatively low risk group (LOW DECR; 47.3%) characterized by endorsement of no or very low likelihood of blackouts, and decreasing likelihood of blackouts over time. Another decreasing risk group (HIGH DECR; 11.1%) initially reported a high proportion of blackouts and had the steepest decrease in blackout risk over time. A small percentage showed consistently high likelihood of blackouts over time (HIGH STABLE; 4.1%). The remaining two groups were distinguished by relatively moderate (MOD STABLE; 14.9%) and lower (LOW STABLE; 22.6%) likelihood of blackouts, which remained stable over time. Comparisons between classes revealed that students with greater perceived peer drinking, perceived peer approval of drinking, and enhancement motives upon entry to college tended to be in higher-risk groups with consistent experiences of blackouts over time, whereas blackout likelihood decreased over time for students with greater conformity motives. Findings suggest that pre-college preventive interventions may be strengthened by considering not only factors related to current risk for blackouts and other alcohol-related consequences, but also those factors related to persistence of these behaviors over time. PMID:27736145

  16. 47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Application of sports blackout rules. 76.128... Sports Blackout § 76.128 Application of sports blackout rules. The cable and satellite sports blackout rules (§§ 76.111 and 76.127) may apply when the sports event is not available live on any of the...

  17. 47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Application of sports blackout rules. 76.128... Sports Blackout § 76.128 Application of sports blackout rules. The cable and satellite sports blackout rules (§§ 76.111 and 76.127) may apply when the sports event is not available live on any of the...

  18. 47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Application of sports blackout rules. 76.128... Sports Blackout § 76.128 Application of sports blackout rules. The cable and satellite sports blackout rules (§§ 76.111 and 76.127) may apply when the sports event is not available live on any of the...

  19. Complex systems analysis of series of blackouts: cascading failure, critical points, and self-organization.

    PubMed

    Dobson, Ian; Carreras, Benjamin A; Lynch, Vickie E; Newman, David E

    2007-06-01

    We give an overview of a complex systems approach to large blackouts of electric power transmission systems caused by cascading failure. Instead of looking at the details of particular blackouts, we study the statistics and dynamics of series of blackouts with approximate global models. Blackout data from several countries suggest that the frequency of large blackouts is governed by a power law. The power law makes the risk of large blackouts consequential and is consistent with the power system being a complex system designed and operated near a critical point. Power system overall loading or stress relative to operating limits is a key factor affecting the risk of cascading failure. Power system blackout models and abstract models of cascading failure show critical points with power law behavior as load is increased. To explain why the power system is operated near these critical points and inspired by concepts from self-organized criticality, we suggest that power system operating margins evolve slowly to near a critical point and confirm this idea using a power system model. The slow evolution of the power system is driven by a steady increase in electric loading, economic pressures to maximize the use of the grid, and the engineering responses to blackouts that upgrade the system. Mitigation of blackout risk should account for dynamical effects in complex self-organized critical systems. For example, some methods of suppressing small blackouts could ultimately increase the risk of large blackouts.

  20. Two-key concurrent responding: response-reinforcement dependencies and blackouts1

    PubMed Central

    Herbert, Emily W.

    1970-01-01

    Two-key concurrent responding was maintained for three pigeons by a single variable-interval 1-minute schedule of reinforcement in conjunction with a random number generator that assigned feeder operations between keys with equal probability. The duration of blackouts was varied between keys when each response initiated a blackout, and grain arranged by the variable-interval schedule was automatically presented after a blackout (Exp. I). In Exp. II every key peck, except for those that produced grain, initiated a blackout, and grain was dependent upon a response following a blackout. For each pigeon in Exp. I and for one pigeon in Exp. II, the relative frequency of responding on a key approximated, i.e., matched, the relative reciprocal of the duration of the blackout interval on that key. In a third experiment, blackouts scheduled on a variable-interval were of equal duration on the two keys. For one key, grain automatically followed each blackout; for the other key, grain was dependent upon a response and never followed a blackout. The relative frequency of responding on the former key, i.e., the delay key, better approximated the negative exponential function obtained by Chung (1965) than the matching function predicted by Chung and Herrnstein (1967). PMID:16811458

  1. Graphical Contingency Analysis for the Nation's Electric Grid

    ScienceCinema

    Zhenyu (Henry) Huang

    2017-12-09

    PNNL has developed a new tool to manage the electric grid more effectively, helping prevent blackouts and brownouts--and possibly avoiding millions of dollars in fines for system violations. The Graphical Contingency Analysis tool monitors grid performance, shows prioritized lists of problems, provides visualizations of potential consequences, and helps operators identify the most effective courses of action. This technology yields faster, better decisions and a more stable and reliable power grid.

  2. Alcohol-induced blackout as a criminal defense or mitigating factor: an evidence-based review and admissibility as scientific evidence.

    PubMed

    Pressman, Mark R; Caudill, David S

    2013-07-01

    Alcohol-related amnesia--alcohol blackout--is a common claim of criminal defendants. The generally held belief is that during an alcohol blackout, other cognitive functioning is severely impaired or absent. The presentation of alcohol blackout as scientific evidence in court requires that the science meets legal reliability standards (Frye, FRE702/Daubert). To determine whether "alcohol blackout" meets these standards, an evidence-based analysis of published scientific studies was conducted. A total of 26 empirical studies were identified including nine in which an alcohol blackout was induced and directly observed. No objective or scientific method to verify the presence of an alcoholic blackout while it is occurring or to confirm its presence retrospectively was identified. Only short-term memory is impaired and other cognitive functions--planning, attention, and social skills--are not impaired. Alcoholic blackouts would not appear to meet standards for scientific evidence and should not be admissible. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  3. The AP1000{sup R} nuclear power plant innovative features for extended station blackout mitigation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vereb, F.; Winters, J.; Schulz, T.

    2012-07-01

    Station Blackout (SBO) is defined as 'a condition wherein a nuclear power plant sustains a loss of all offsite electric power system concurrent with turbine trip and unavailability of all onsite emergency alternating current (AC) power system. Station blackout does not include the loss of available AC power to buses fed by station batteries through inverters or by alternate AC sources as defined in this section, nor does it assume a concurrent single failure or design basis accident...' in accordance with Reference 1. In this paper, the innovative features of the AP1000 plant design are described with their operation inmore » the scenario of an extended station blackout event. General operation of the passive safety systems are described as well as the unique features which allow the AP1000 plant to cope for at least 7 days during station blackout. Points of emphasis will include: - Passive safety system operation during SBO - 'Fail-safe' nature of key passive safety system valves; automatically places the valve in a conservatively safe alignment even in case of multiple failures in all power supply systems, including normal AC and battery backup - Passive Spent Fuel Pool cooling and makeup water supply during SBO - Robustness of AP1000 plant due to the location of key systems, structures and components required for Safe Shutdown - Diverse means of supplying makeup water to the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCS) and the Spent Fuel Pool (SFP) through use of an engineered, safety-related piping interface and portable equipment, as well as with permanently installed onsite ancillary equipment. (authors)« less

  4. 47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... exclusivity and sports blackout rules for satellite carriers: Definitions. 76.120 Section 76.120... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

  5. 47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... exclusivity and sports blackout rules for satellite carriers: Definitions. 76.120 Section 76.120... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

  6. 47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... exclusivity and sports blackout rules for satellite carriers: Definitions. 76.120 Section 76.120... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

  7. 47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

  8. 47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

  9. 47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

  10. 47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

  11. 47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

  12. 47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

  13. 47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

  14. 47 CFR 76.111 - Cable sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Cable sports blackout. 76.111 Section 76.111... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.111 Cable sports blackout. (a) No community unit located in whole or in part within the specified...

  15. 47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

  16. 47 CFR 76.127 - Satellite sports blackout.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Satellite sports blackout. 76.127 Section 76... Sports Blackout § 76.127 Satellite sports blackout. (a) Upon the request of the holder of the broadcast rights to a sports event, or its agent, no satellite carrier shall retransmit to subscribers within the...

  17. Alcohol-induced blackouts, subjective intoxication, and motivation to decrease drinking: Prospective examination of the transition out of college.

    PubMed

    Marino, Elise N; Fromme, Kim

    2018-05-01

    We prospectively examined whether subjective intoxication serves as a risk factor for experiencing alcohol-induced blackouts. We then examined whether subjective intoxication and/or blackouts predicted motivation to decrease their drinking, and whether this motivation to change would promote future changes in drinking behavior. Participants (N=1854, 62.1% female, 53.2% Caucasian, M age =21.8) were recruited the summer prior to matriculating into a large, public university to complete a 6-year longitudinal study. Self-reported motivation to decrease their drinking behavior, their frequency of blackouts, quantity of alcohol consumption, and subjective intoxication (i.e., feeling drunk) were assessed annually during the transition out of college (Years 4-6). In a cross-lagged model, subjective intoxication (i.e., feeling drunk) prospectively predicted experiencing blackouts (p<0.001). Controlling for both objective (e.g., quantity) and subjective intoxication, blackouts at Year 4 predicted greater motivation to decrease drinking behavior at Year 5 (p<0.01), but this motivation did not predict less quantity of alcohol use by Year 6 (p=0.076). Subjective intoxication is a robust predictor of blackouts across time. Additionally, blackouts are modest, developmentally-limited predictors of motivation to change drinking behavior, but blackouts do not predict future behavior change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Margin and sensitivity methods for security analysis of electric power systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greene, Scott L.

    Reliable operation of large scale electric power networks requires that system voltages and currents stay within design limits. Operation beyond those limits can lead to equipment failures and blackouts. Security margins measure the amount by which system loads or power transfers can change before a security violation, such as an overloaded transmission line, is encountered. This thesis shows how to efficiently compute security margins defined by limiting events and instabilities, and the sensitivity of those margins with respect to assumptions, system parameters, operating policy, and transactions. Security margins to voltage collapse blackouts, oscillatory instability, generator limits, voltage constraints and line overloads are considered. The usefulness of computing the sensitivities of these margins with respect to interarea transfers, loading parameters, generator dispatch, transmission line parameters, and VAR support is established for networks as large as 1500 buses. The sensitivity formulas presented apply to a range of power system models. Conventional sensitivity formulas such as line distribution factors, outage distribution factors, participation factors and penalty factors are shown to be special cases of the general sensitivity formulas derived in this thesis. The sensitivity formulas readily accommodate sparse matrix techniques. Margin sensitivity methods are shown to work effectively for avoiding voltage collapse blackouts caused by either saddle node bifurcation of equilibria or immediate instability due to generator reactive power limits. Extremely fast contingency analysis for voltage collapse can be implemented with margin sensitivity based rankings. Interarea transfer can be limited by voltage limits, line limits, or voltage stability. The sensitivity formulas presented in this thesis apply to security margins defined by any limit criteria. A method to compute transfer margins by directly locating intermediate events reduces the total number of loadflow iterations required by each margin computation and provides sensitivity information at minimal additional cost. Estimates of the effect of simultaneous transfers on the transfer margins agree well with the exact computations for a network model derived from a portion of the U.S grid. The accuracy of the estimates over a useful range of conditions and the ease of obtaining the estimates suggest that the sensitivity computations will be of practical value.

  19. Alcohol-induced memory blackouts as an indicator of injury risk among college drinkers.

    PubMed

    Mundt, Marlon P; Zakletskaia, Larissa I; Brown, David D; Fleming, Michael F

    2012-02-01

    An alcohol-induced memory blackout represents an amnesia to recall events but does not involve a loss of consciousness. Memory blackouts are a common occurrence among college drinkers, but it is not clear if a history of memory blackouts is predictive of future alcohol-related injury above and beyond the risk associated with heavy drinking episodes. To determine whether baseline memory blackouts can prospectively identify college students with alcohol-related injury in the next 24 months after controlling for heavy drinking days. Data were analysed from the College Health Intervention Project Study (CHIPS), a randomised controlled trial of screening and brief physician intervention for problem alcohol use among 796 undergraduate and 158 graduate students at four university sites in the USA and one in Canada, conducted from 2004 to 2009. Multivariate analyses used generalised estimating equations with the logit link. The overall 24-month alcohol-related injury rate was 25.6%, with no significant difference between men and women (p=0.51). Alcohol-induced memory blackouts at baseline exhibited a significant dose-response on odds of alcohol-related injury during follow-up, increasing from 1.57 (95% CI 1.13 to 2.19) for subjects reporting 1-2 memory blackouts at baseline to 2.64 (95% CI 1.65 to 4.21) for students acknowledging 6+ memory blackouts at baseline. The link between memory blackouts and injury was mediated by younger age, prior alcohol-related injury, heavy drinking, and sensation-seeking disposition. Memory blackouts are a significant predictor of future alcohol-related injury among college drinkers after adjusting for heavy drinking episodes.

  20. Prevention for College Students Who Suffer Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Could Deter High-Cost Emergency Department Visits

    PubMed Central

    Mundt, Marlon P.; Zakletskaia, Larissa I.

    2012-01-01

    Fifty percent of college students who drink report alcohol-induced blackouts, and alcohol abusers in general put a heavy burden on the medical care system. Using data drawn from a randomized, controlled alcohol intervention trial at five university sites, our study quantified the costs of visits to emergency departments by college students who experienced blackouts from drinking alcohol. Of 954 students in the study, 52 percent of males and 50 percent of females at the outset of the study had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout in the past year. Of 404 emergency department visits among the study participants over a two-year observation period, about one in eight were associated with blackout drinking. Injuries ranged from broken bones to head and brain injuries requiring computed tomography. We calculate that on a large university campus having more than 40,000 students, blackout-associated emergency department visit costs would range from $469,000 to $546,000 per year. We conclude that blackouts are a strong predictor of emergency department visits for college drinkers and that prevention efforts aimed at students with a history of blackouts might reduce injuries and emergency department costs. PMID:22422503

  1. Sex and Drugs and Starting School: Differences in Precollege Alcohol-Related Sexual Risk Taking by Gender and Recent Blackout Activity.

    PubMed

    Haas, Amie L; Barthel, Jennifer M; Taylor, Stephanie

    2017-01-01

    Research has demonstrated a link between alcohol use and multiple forms of risky sexual behavior, particularly among college-age individuals. Studies have also linked heavy alcohol use to other problems, such as impaired consciousness resulting from an alcohol-induced blackout, which may impact sexual decision making. However, research has rarely examined sexual risk taking (SRT) in relation to blackouts, nor has it examined this construct during the precollege transition (i.e., the interval of time between high school graduation and college matriculation). This study examined the intersection between alcohol-involved SRT, blackouts, and gender in a sample of precollege individuals with prior alcohol use (N = 229; 54% male, 63% White). Results indicated that, despite drinking less per occasion, women reporting recent blackouts were at increased risk for experiencing unwanted, unsafe, and regretted sexual behaviors compared to men with recent blackouts and their peers with no recent blackouts. Women with recent blackouts also reported differences in alcohol expectancies that may increase their risk for experiencing negative consequences while drinking, including higher social expectancies and lower negative expectancies of danger. Future directions for research and implications for precollege interventions are discussed.

  2. Blackouts

    MedlinePlus

    Blackouts Before the blackout... - If you have an electric garage door opener, locate the manual release lever and learn how to operate it. - Keep your car’s gas tank at least half full; gas stations ...

  3. Enhancing sexual desire and experience: an investigation of the sexual correlates of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use.

    PubMed

    Kapitány-Fövény, Máté; Mervó, Barbara; Corazza, Ornella; Kökönyei, Gyöngyi; Farkas, Judit; Urbán, Róbert; Zacher, Gábor; Demetrovics, Zsolt

    2015-07-01

    Various studies have dealt with gamma-hydroxybutyrate's (GHB) potential role in sexual assaults, while the sexual correlates of intentional recreational GHB use have not well been highlighted. Our study aims to explore GHB's sexual effects, the patterns of choice of sexual partners, the frequency of experienced blackouts, and endured sexual or acquisitory crimes as a result of GHB use. Sixty recreational GHB users filled out a questionnaire on experienced subjective, somatic, and sexual effects of GHB, the frequency of blackouts due to their GHB use, and items on their sexual experiences in relation to GHB use. Of the sample, 25.9% reported increased sexual arousal as well as more intense attraction towards their sexual partners and increased sexual openness when using GHB; 34.8% had sexual intercourse with strangers, or with others, but not with their partners when using GHB; and 8.6% were victims of acquisitory crimes, whereas 3.4% were victims of a sexual assault. Furthermore, 24.6% typically experienced blackouts when using GHB. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate seems to be a potential substitute for both stimulant and depressant substances. Increased sexual desire and disinhibition may lead to a more frequent and potentially more riskful sexual activity. Experienced blackouts need to be considered as risk factors for suffering sexual or acquisitory crimes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Blackouts as a Moderator of Young Adult Veteran Response to Personalized Normative Feedback for Heavy Drinking.

    PubMed

    Miller, Mary Beth; DiBello, Angelo M; Carey, Kate B; Pedersen, Eric R

    2018-06-01

    Blackouts-or periods of alcohol-induced amnesia for all or part of a drinking event-have been identified as independent predictors of alcohol-related harm that may be used to identify individuals who would benefit from intervention. However, little is known about the prevalence and impact of blackouts among Veterans. This study examined blackouts as a moderator of young adult veteran response to a brief, online personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention for heavy drinking. Veterans scoring ≥3/4 (women/men) on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test completed a baseline and 1-month assessment as part of a larger intervention trial (N = 571; 83% male; age M = 28.9, SD = 3.3). Participants were randomized to alcohol PNF (n = 285) or a video game attention control (n = 286). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the interaction between intervention condition and blackouts on alcohol-related outcomes at 1-month follow-up. At baseline, 26% of participants reported loss of memory for drinking events in the past 30 days. The interaction between condition and blackouts was significant, such that PNF participants who had experienced blackouts at baseline reported greater decreases in drinking quantity at 1 month than those who had not, and only PNF participants who had experienced baseline blackouts reported a decrease in alcohol problems at follow-up. PNF appears to be particularly effective for individuals who have experienced alcohol-induced blackout, perhaps because blackouts prime them for feedback on their alcohol use. While other negative consequences may also prime individuals for behavior change, blackouts are posited as a particularly useful screening tool because they are prevalent among young adults, have a strong association with alcohol-related harm, and are assessed in widely used clinical measures. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  5. Atypical Neural Activity during Inhibitory Processing in Substance-Naïve Youth Who Later Experience Alcohol-Induced Blackouts

    PubMed Central

    Wetherill, Reagan R.; Castro, Norma; Squeglia, Lindsay M.; Tapert, Susan F.

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND Alcohol-induced blackouts are associated with the development of alcohol abuse and dependence, so it is important to consider potential neurobiological risk factors for experiencing this problem prior to the onset of substance use. This study examines whether neural activity during inhibitory processing might be atypical in substance-naïve youth who later experience alcohol-induced blackouts. METHODS We examined inhibitory processing during fMRI with a go/no-go task that requires withholding a prepotent response in substance-naïve youth who would later transition into heavy drinking (n=40) and youth who remain abstinent (n=20). After approximately 5 years of annual follow-up assessments, youth were classified as nondrinkers (n=20), and heavy drinking youth were classified as having experienced an alcohol-induced blackout (blackout+; n=20) or not (blackout−; n=20). Groups were matched on demographic variables, and youth who experienced blackouts were matched on follow-up substance use. RESULTS Prior to initiating substance use, blackout+ youth showed greater activation during inhibitory processing than nondrinkers and blackout− youth in frontal and cerebellar brain regions. Mean activation during correct inhibitory responses relative to go responses in the left and right middle frontal gyri at baseline predicted future blackout experience, after controlling for follow-up externalizing behaviors and lifetime alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS Substance-naïve adolescents who later experience alcohol-induced blackouts show increased neural effort during inhibitory processing, as compared to adolescents who go on to drink at similar levels but do not experience blackouts and healthy, nondrinking controls, suggesting a neurobiological vulnerability to alcohol-induced memory impairments. PMID:23021773

  6. Alcohol-Induced Memory Blackouts as an Indicator of Injury Risk among College Drinkers

    PubMed Central

    Mundt, Marlon P.; Zakletskaia, Larissa I.; Brown, David D.; Fleming, Michael F.

    2011-01-01

    Objective An alcohol-induced memory blackout represents an amnesia to recall events but does not involve a loss of consciousness. Memory blackouts are a common occurrence among college drinkers, but it is not clear if a history of memory blackouts is predictive of future alcohol-related injury above and beyond the risk associated with heavy drinking episodes. This analysis sought to determine if baseline memory blackouts can prospectively identify college students with alcohol-related injury in the next 24 months after controlling for heavy drinking days. Methods Data were analyzed from the College Health Intervention Project Study (CHIPS), a randomized controlled trial of screening and brief physician intervention for problem alcohol use among 796 undergraduate and 158 graduate students at four university sites in the US and one in Canada, conducted from 2004 to 2009. Multivariate analyses used generalized estimating equations (GEE) with the logit link. Results The overall 24-month alcohol-related injury rate was 25.6%, with no significant difference between males and females (p=.51). Alcohol-induced memory blackouts at baseline exhibited a significant dose-response on odds of alcohol-related injury during follow-up, increasing from 1.57 (95% CI: 1.13–2.19) for subjects reporting 1–2 memory blackouts at baseline to 2.64 (95% CI: 1.65–4.21) for students acknowledging 6+ memory blackouts at baseline. The link between memory blackouts and injury was mediated by younger age, prior alcohol-related injury, heavy drinking, and sensation-seeking disposition. Conclusions Memory blackouts are a significant predictor of future alcohol-related injury among college drinkers after adjusting for heavy drinking episodes. PMID:21708813

  7. Foul WX Underground: The Dynamics of Resistance and the Analog Logic of Communication during a Digital Blackout

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-05-21

    32 Sigmund Freud , Civilization and Its Discontents (New York: W.W. Norton, 1962) and Abraham Maslow, ―Theory of Human...Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations. New York: Basic Books, 1996. Freud , Sigmund . Civilization and Its Discontents. New York: W.W...better than a one-to-one scale map? Return to the factor of change over time and even a stable model of human behavior, whether from Freud or Maslow

  8. Eye movements as a function of response contingencies measured by blackout technique1

    PubMed Central

    Doran, Judith; Holland, James G.

    1971-01-01

    A program may have a low error rate but, at the same time, require little of the student and teach him little. A measure to supplement error rate in evaluating a program has recently been developed. This measure, called the blackout ratio, is the percentage of material that may be deleted without increasing the error rate. In high blackout-ratio programs, obtaining a correct answer is contingent upon only a small portion of the item. The present study determined if such low response-contingent material is read less thoroughly than programmed material that is heavily response-contingent. Eye movements were compared for two versions of the same program that differed only in the choice of the omitted words. The alteration of the required responses resulted in a version with a higher blackout ratio than the original version, which had a low blackout ratio. Eighteen undergraduates received half their material from the high and half their material from the low blackout-ratio version. The order was counterbalanced. Location and duration of all eye fixations in each item were recorded by a Mackworth Eye Marker Camera. On high blackout-ratio material, subjects used fewer fixations, shorter fixation time, and shorter scanning time. High blackout-ratio material failed to evoke the students' attention. PMID:16795275

  9. Applications of the RELAP5 code to the station blackout transients at the Browns Ferry Unit One Plant

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schultz, R.R.; Wagoner, S.R.

    1983-01-01

    As a part of the charter of the Severe Accident Sequence Analysis (SASA) Program, station blackout transients have been analyzed using a RELAP5 model of the Browns Ferry Unit 1 Plant. The task was conducted as a partial fulfillment of the needs of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in examining the Unresolved Safety Issue A-44: Station Blackout (1) the station blackout transients were examined (a) to define the equipment needed to maintain a well cooled core, (b) to determine when core uncovery would occur given equipment failure, and (c) to characterize the behavior of the vessel thermal-hydraulics during the stationmore » blackout transients (in part as the plant operator would see it). These items are discussed in the paper. Conclusions and observations specific to the station blackout are presented.« less

  10. Alcohol-induced blackouts as predictors of other drinking related harms among emerging young adults

    PubMed Central

    Hingson, Ralph; Zha, Wenxing; Simons-Morton, Bruce; White, Aaron

    2016-01-01

    Background Alcohol-related blackouts are periods of amnesia that reflect the failure of the brain to record memories of what transpires while drinking. This paper examined the incidence, predictors, and behavioral correlates of blackouts among emerging adults and examined whether questions about blackouts could serve as better markers of risk for other alcohol related harms than questions about levels of consumption. Methods In 2012-2013, 1,463 (68%) of 2,140 respondents one-year past high school reported having consumed alcohol. They were asked whether, in the past six months because of drinking, they forgot where they were or what they did. The survey also explored demographics, substance use behaviors, and other alcohol-related problems in the past six months. Chi square and logistic regression analyses explored bivariate and multivariate predictors of blackouts and other alcohol-related problems. Results Twenty percent of respondents who ever drank alcohol reported a blackout in the past six months. Blackouts were more prevalent among females and those who, in the past 30 days, used multiple drugs, more frequently binged, were drunk, smoked, had lower body weight, and lived in college dorms. After controlling for drinking levels, having a blackout was the strongest independent predictor of most other alcohol problems examined, including in the past six months because of drinking, missing class or work, getting behind in work or school, doing something respondents later regretted, arguing with friends, experiencing an overdose, and total number of alcohol problems reported. It was also an independent predictor of hangovers, damaging property, getting hurt, and trouble with police. Conclusion Because blackouts indicate drinking at levels that result in significant cognitive and behavioral impairment, questions about blackouts could serve as important, simple screeners for the risk of experiencing other alcohol related harms. Additional work on this subject is warranted. PMID:27012148

  11. Alcohol-Induced Blackouts as Predictors of Other Drinking Related Harms Among Emerging Young Adults.

    PubMed

    Hingson, Ralph; Zha, Wenxing; Simons-Morton, Bruce; White, Aaron

    2016-04-01

    Alcohol-related blackouts are periods of amnesia that reflect the failure of the brain to record memories of what transpires while drinking. This paper examined the incidence, predictors, and behavioral correlates of blackouts among emerging adults and examined whether questions about blackouts could serve as better markers of risk for other alcohol related harms than questions about levels of consumption. In 2012 to 2013, 1,463 (68%) of 2,140 respondents 1-year past high school reported having consumed alcohol. They were asked whether, in the past 6 months because of drinking, they forgot where they were or what they did. The survey also explored demographics, substance use behaviors, and other alcohol-related problems in the past 6 months. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses explored bivariate and multivariate predictors of blackouts and other alcohol-related problems. Twenty percent of respondents who ever drank alcohol reported a blackout in the past 6 months. Blackouts were more prevalent among females and those who, in the past 30 days, used multiple drugs, more frequently binged, were drunk, smoked, had lower body weight, and lived in college dorms. After controlling for drinking levels, having a blackout was the strongest independent predictor of most other alcohol problems examined, including in the past 6 months because of drinking, missing class or work, getting behind in work or school, doing something respondents later regretted, arguing with friends, experiencing an overdose, and total number of alcohol problems reported. It was also an independent predictor of hangovers, damaging property, getting hurt, and trouble with police. Because blackouts indicate drinking at levels that result in significant cognitive and behavioral impairment, questions about blackouts could serve as important, simple screeners for the risk of experiencing other alcohol related harms. Additional work on this subject is warranted. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  12. Alcohol-Induced Blackouts and Other Negative Outcomes During the Transition Out of College

    PubMed Central

    Wilhite, Emily R.; Fromme, Kim

    2015-01-01

    Objective: There is considerable debate about the prospective association between alcohol-dependence symptoms and alcohol-related blackouts. The goal of this study was to examine the associations among alcohol-dependence symptoms, blackouts, and social and emotional consequences during the transition out of college. Method: Participants (N = 829; 66% female) were part of a 6-year longitudinal study designed to explore alcohol use and risky behaviors during and after college. Data for these analyses were from Years 4 and 5 of data collection, which most closely corresponded to the transition out of college. Using cross-lagged models, we tested the prospective associations of alcohol-dependence symptoms, blackout frequency, and social and emotional consequences. Results: Alcohol-dependence symptoms in Year 4 predicted increased frequency of blackouts and social and emotional consequences during the subsequent year. Blackouts during Year 4 also significantly predicted increased alcohol-related social and emotional consequences, but not dependence symptoms, in Year 5. Conclusions: Although blackouts do not predict the development of alcohol-dependence symptoms, they increase the risk for less severe alcohol-related consequences during the transition out of college. This may result from the cognitive reconciliation of negative behaviors that occur during these episodes of amnesia. PMID:26098026

  13. Hypersonic Cruise and Re-Entry Radio Frequency Blackout Mitigation: Alleviating the Communications Blackout Problem

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Manning, Robert M.

    2017-01-01

    The work presented here will be a review of a NASA effort to provide a method to transmit and receive RF communications and telemetry through a re-entry plasma thus alleviating the classical RF blackout phenomenon.

  14. Chemical Safety Alert: Chemical Accidents from Electric Power Outages

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Incident data from the National Response Center (NRC) shows that during 2000 there were about 240 chemical releases reported due to an electric power interruption, as well as resumption/restart; only a few were related to planned rolling blackouts.

  15. Alcohol-induced blackouts and maternal family history of problematic alcohol use.

    PubMed

    Marino, Elise N; Fromme, Kim

    2015-06-01

    Consequences of heavy drinking include alcohol-induced blackouts, which are periods of amnesia for all or part of a drinking event. One risk factor for blackouts is family history of problematic alcohol use (FH+); however, research rarely distinguishes maternal from paternal FH+. The objective of this study was to examine whether maternal or paternal FH+ better predicts likelihood of experiencing blackouts than a general measure of overall FH+, and whether gender moderates this association. Participants (N=1164; 65.4% are female) were first-time college freshmen (age range=17-19) who participated in a 6-year, 10-assessment, longitudinal study in the United States. Alcohol-induced blackouts, the dependent measure, were dichotomized (yes/no) based on endorsement of memory problems after drinking using a single item during Years 4-6. FH+, captured at baseline, was coded if participants self-reported that their mother, father, or any of their four grandparents were a possible or definite problem drinker. Overall, 773 (66.4%) participants reported experiencing blackouts during Years 4-6. Women were more likely to report blackouts than men; however, compared with women with a maternal FH+, men with a maternal FH+ were more than twice as likely to report blackouts. Men appear to be more susceptible than women to the effects of a maternal FH+. Genetic and environmental explanations for this finding are discussed. In sum, these findings are an important step toward understanding a significant yet understudied negative consequence of heavy alcohol use. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. 76 FR 75920 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-05

    ... (1,230 blackout period x 5 notices x 5 minutes) for a total reporting burden of 512 hours. The... Management and Budget for extension and approval. Regulation Blackout Trade Restriction (``Regulation BTR..., selling or otherwise acquiring or transferring any equity security of the issuer during any blackout...

  17. 17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

  18. 47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Network non-duplication protection, syndicated... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

  19. 47 CFR 76.120 - Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Network non-duplication protection, syndicated... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.120 Network non-duplication protection, syndicated exclusivity and sports blackout rules for...

  20. 17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

  1. 17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

  2. 17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Prohibition of insider trading... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONTINUED) REGULATION BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.101 Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided...

  3. Separating the effects of interreinforcement time and number of interreinforcement responses1

    PubMed Central

    Neuringer, Allen J.; Schneider, Bruce A.

    1968-01-01

    The relative importance of interreinforcement time and interreinforcement responses was evaluated by varying each independently. To do this, a blackout was presented after each nonreinforced response under both fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. Manipulating the blackout duration under the fixed-ratio schedule caused interreinforcement time to vary without affecting the number of interreinforcement responses. Pigeons' post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies were found to increase linearly with interreinforcement time. Under the fixed-interval schedule, the same blackout manipulations changed the number of interreinforcement responses without affecting interreinforcement time. Post-reinforcement and post-blackout response latencies under this condition were approximately constant. These results suggest that responding is controlled by interreinforcement time and is not influenced by the number of responses emitted between reinforcements. PMID:16811313

  4. 77 FR 6152 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-07

    ... estimated 5 minutes per notice (1,230 blackout period x 5 notices x 5 minutes) for a total reporting burden... Blackout Trade Restriction (``Regulation BTR'') (17 CFR 245.100-245.104) clarifies the scope and... executive officers and to the Commission of the imposition of a blackout period that would trigger the...

  5. GRID BLACKOUT IN VACUUM TUBES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hardin, K.D.

    1961-06-01

    A method which gives quantitative data is presented which allows for characterization of the grid blackout effect and is applicable to calculation of circuit degradation. Data are presented for several tube types which show developed bias and discharge time constants as a function of pulse input conditions. Blackout can seriously change the performance of any vacuum tube circuit which utilizes the tube in positive grid operation. The effects on CW oscillators and UHF mixers are discussed. An equivalent circuit which simulates some portions of the blackout phenomenon is presented and used to calculate effective capacitance and resistance associated with themore » grid surface. (auth)« less

  6. Quasi-reinforcement: control of responding by a percentage-reinforcement schedule1

    PubMed Central

    Neuringer, Allen J.; Chung, Shin-Ho

    1967-01-01

    When a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement was segmented into small fixed-interval components, with reinforcements following some components and brief blackouts following the others, rate of responding doubled and a positively accelerated pattern within each component was obtained. Presented according to this percentage reinforcement paradigm, the blackouts approximated the functions of a food reinforcer. These effects occurred only when the behavior sequence required to produce reinforcement was identical to that required to produce blackout. The quasi-reinforcing effects of these blackout stimuli suggest that a neutral stimulus need not occasion or accompany a primary reinforcer to acquire reinforcing properties. PMID:16811304

  7. Signal functions in delayed reinforcement

    PubMed Central

    Lattal, Kennon A.

    1984-01-01

    Three experiments were conducted with pigeons to examine the role of the signal in delay-of-reinforcement procedures. In the first, a blackout accompanying a period of nonreinforcement increased key-peck response rates maintained by immediate reinforcement. The effects of dissociating the blackout from the delay interval were examined in the second experiment. In three conditions, blackouts and unsignaled delays were negatively correlated or occurred randomly with respect to one another. A signaled delay and an unsignaled delay that omitted the blackouts were studied in two other conditions. All delay-of-reinforcement conditions generally produced response rates lower than those produced by immediate reinforcement. Signaled delays maintained higher response rates than did any of the various unsignaled-delay conditions, with or without dissociated blackouts. The effects of these latter conditions did not differ systematically from one another. The final experiment showed that response rates varied as a function of the frequency with which a blackout accompanied delay intervals. By eliminating a number of methodological difficulties present in previous delay-of-reinforcement experiments, these results suggest the importance of the signal in maintaining responding during delay-of-reinforcement procedures and, conversely, the importance of the delay interval in decreasing responding. PMID:16812387

  8. Investigations on optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident in a VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tusheva, P.; Schaefer, F.; Kliem, S.

    2012-07-01

    The reactor safety issues are of primary importance for preserving the health of the population and ensuring no release of radioactivity and fission products into the environment. A part of the nuclear research focuses on improvement of the safety of existing nuclear power plants. Studies, research and efforts are a continuing process at improving the safety and reliability of existing and newly developed nuclear power plants at prevention of a core melt accident. Station blackout (loss of AC power supply) is one of the dominant accidents taken into consideration at performing accident analysis. In case of multiple failures of safetymore » systems it leads to a severe accident. To prevent an accident to turn into a severe one or to mitigate the consequences, accident management measures must be performed. The present paper outlines possibilities for application and optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident. Assessed is the behaviour of the nuclear power plant during a station blackout accident without accident management measures and with application of primary/secondary side oriented accident management measures. Discussed are the possibilities for operators ' intervention and the influence of the performed accident management measures on the course of the accident. Special attention has been paid to the effectiveness of the passive feeding and physical phenomena having an influence on the system behaviour. The performed simulations show that the effectiveness of the secondary side feeding procedure can be limited due to an early evaporation or flashing effects in the feed water system. The analyzed cases show that the effectiveness of the accident management measures strongly depends on the initiation criteria applied for depressurization of the reactor coolant system. (authors)« less

  9. Aids for the Study of Electromagnetic Blackout

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1975-02-25

    to gamma rays, 1-MT burst at 20 km 5-32 5-23B One-way absorption due to gamma rays. o-MT hurst at ’O km 5-32 5-23C One-way absorption due to ga’ma...0 2- F ( n)z I I L -I 0. 0.2L.~ INTEGRAL VALUES OF EXPONENT n Figure 6-13. Multiplying factors for refraction and range errors in a spherically

  10. Evaluating the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts.

    PubMed

    Su, Jinni; Hancock, Linda; Wattenmaker McGann, Amanda; Alshagra, Mariam; Ericson, Rhianna; Niazi, Zackaria; Dick, Danielle M; Adkins, Amy

    2018-04-01

    To evaluate the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts at a large, urban, public university. 4,172 college students (1,208 freshmen, 1,159 sophomores, 953 juniors, and 852 seniors) who completed surveys in Spring 2015 for the Spit for Science Study, a longitudinal study of students' substance use and emotional health. Participants were e-mailed an online survey that queried campaign readership, perception of peer alcohol use, alcohol consumption, frequency of consumption, and frequency of blackouts. Associations between variables were evaluated using path analysis. We found that campaign readership was associated with more accurate perceptions of peer alcohol use, which, in turn, was associated with self-reported lower number of drinks per sitting and experiencing fewer blackouts. This evaluation supports the use of social norms marketing as a population-level intervention to correct alcohol-use misperceptions and reduce blackouts.

  11. Fixed-ratio discrimination: effects of response-produced blackouts1

    PubMed Central

    Lydersen, Tore; Crossman, E. K.

    1974-01-01

    For three pigeons, reinforcement depended upon a left side-key response after execution of a fixed ratio 10 on the center key, and upon a right side-key response after fixed ratio 20. Each response during the fixed ratios produced a 0.5-sec blackout. The time between the first and last response in fixed ratio 10 was then equated with the time between the first and last response in fixed ratio 20 by increasing the blackout duration. The accuracy of side-key choice was disrupted, thereby suggesting that time, rather than number of responses, controlled choice responding. When the time between the first and last response was equated during both ratios, asymptotic accuracy was approximately equal to (two birds) or somewhat higher than (one bird) that obtained previously. The results of probes with intermediate fixed ratios and blackouts suggested that control of side-key choice had transferred from the time between the first and last response in ratios to blackout duration. PMID:16811819

  12. Investigations into the Properties, Conditions, and Effects of the Ionosphere.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-01-15

    Innovative Approaches to Direct Measurement of N e 28 ]- J FEASIBILITY OF RADIO BLACKOUT MITIGATION IN THE BRAKING PHASE 28 OF AOTV OPERATIONS 1. Brief...Cell could be tested under simulated flight conditions in the SAIC plasma laboratory facility. AJ. FEASIBILITY OF RADIO BLACKOUT MITIGATION IN THE...enable calculation of chemical modification techniques ,. on phenomena of radio blackout during re-entry of orbiting spacecraft . * ,1. Brief

  13. 47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

  14. 47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

  15. 47 CFR 76.130 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout..., syndicated program exclusivity, or sports blackout rules, a satellite carrier is required to delete a...

  16. The effect of the blackout method on acquisition and generalization1

    PubMed Central

    Wildemann, Donald G.; Holland, James G.

    1973-01-01

    In discrimination training with the Lyons' blackout method, pecks to the negative stimulus are prevented by darkening the chamber each time the subject approaches the negative stimulus. Stimulus generalization along a stimulus dimension was measured after training with this method. For comparison, generalization was also measured after reinforced responding to the positive stimulus without discrimination training, and after discrimination training by extinction of pecks to the negative stimulus. The blackout procedure and the extinction of pecks to the negative stimulus both produced a peak shift in the generalization gradients. The results suggest that after discrimination training in which the positive and negative stimulus are on the same continuum, the blackout method produces extinction-like effects on generalization tests. PMID:16811655

  17. Altered anterior cingulate neurochemistry in emerging adult binge drinkers with a history of alcohol-induced blackouts

    PubMed Central

    Silveri, Marisa M.; Cohen-Gilbert, Julia; Crowley, David J.; Rosso, Isabelle M.; Jensen, J. Eric; Sneider, Jennifer T.

    2015-01-01

    Background Binge alcohol consumption is associated with multiple neurobiological consequences, including altered neurophysiology, brain structure and functional activation. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies have demonstrated neurochemical alterations in the frontal lobe of alcohol users, although most studies focused on older, alcohol dependent subjects. Methods In this study, neurochemical data were acquired using MRS at 4T from emerging adults (18–24 years old) who were binge alcohol drinkers (BD, n=23) or light drinkers (LD, n=31). Since binge drinking is also associated with increased prevalence of experiencing an alcohol-induced blackout, BD were stratified into alcohol-induced blackout (BDBO) and non-blackout groups (BDN). Results Overall, BD had significantly lower gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA) and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than LD. When stratified by blackout history, BDBO also had lower ACC glutamate (Glu) than LD. No group differences in MRS metabolites were observed in the parietal-occipital cortex. Lower ACC GABA and glutamate remained significant after accounting for lower grey matter content in BD, however NAA differences were no longer evident. In addition, low ACC GABA levels were associated with greater alcohol use consequences, and worse response inhibition and attention/mental flexibility in BD. Conclusions These data indicate that binge drinking affects frontal lobe neurochemistry, more so in those who had experienced an alcohol-induced blackout. Characterization of the neurochemical profiles associated with binge alcohol consumption and blackout history may help identify unique risk factors for the later manifestation of alcohol abuse and dependence, in young individuals who are heavy, frequent drinkers, but who do not meet the criteria for alcohol use disorders. PMID:24512596

  18. The association of alcohol-induced blackouts and grayouts to blood alcohol concentrations.

    PubMed

    Perry, Paul J; Argo, Tami R; Barnett, Mitchell J; Liesveld, Jill L; Liskow, Barry; Hernan, Jillian M; Trnka, Michael G; Brabson, Mary A

    2006-07-01

    The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between measured blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the presence and degree of amnesia (no amnesia, grayout, or blackout) in actively drinking subjects. A secondary aim was to determine potential factors other than BAC that contribute to the alcohol-induced memory loss. An interview questionnaire was administered to subjects regarding a recent alcohol associated arrest with a documented BAC greater than 0.08 g/dL for either public intoxication, driving under the influence, or under age drinking was administered. Demographic variables collected included drinking history, family history of alcoholism, presence of previous alcohol-related memory loss during a drinking episode, and drinking behavior during the episode. Memory of the drinking episode was evaluated to determine if either an alcohol-induced grayout (partial anterograde amnesia) or blackout (complete anterograde amnesia) occurred. Differences in (1) mean total number of drinks ingested before arrest, (2) gulping of drinks, and (3) BAC at arrest were found for those having blackouts compared with no amnesia; while differences in drinking more than planned were found between the no amnesia and grayout groups. A strong linear relationship between BAC and predicted probability of memory loss, particularly for blackouts was obvious. This finding clinically concludes that subjects with BAC of 310 g/dL or greater have a 0.50 or greater probability of having an alcoholic blackout.

  19. Matched Filtering of Visual Evoked Potentials to Detect Acceleration (+Gz) Induced Blackout

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-01-03

    FILTERING OF VISUAL EVOKED POTENTIALS rO DETECT ACCELERATION ( + Gz) INDUCED BLACKOUT John Q. Nelson, Leonid Hrebien and Joseph P. Cammarota Aircraft...8217: , r .,.V -. 1-». .v. IE •> _"->.-"*« A^V :j% _"«;_"V X~«. _~»^"V.i.~» iuTtuTii i."»..-^. .-*._> r /; NOTICES REPORT NUMBERING SYSTEM - The...Potentials to Detect Acceleration (+G2) Induced Blackout 12 PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) John G. Nelson, Leonid Hrebien, Joseph P. Cammarota 13* TYPE OF REPORT

  20. Control and prediction for blackouts caused by frequency collapse in smart grids.

    PubMed

    Wang, Chengwei; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S

    2016-09-01

    The electric power system is one of the cornerstones of modern society. One of its most serious malfunctions is the blackout, a catastrophic event that may disrupt a substantial portion of the system, playing havoc to human life and causing great economic losses. Thus, understanding the mechanisms leading to blackouts and creating a reliable and resilient power grid has been a major issue, attracting the attention of scientists, engineers, and stakeholders. In this paper, we study the blackout problem in power grids by considering a practical phase-oscillator model. This model allows one to simultaneously consider different types of power sources (e.g., traditional AC power plants and renewable power sources connected by DC/AC inverters) and different types of loads (e.g., consumers connected to distribution networks and consumers directly connected to power plants). We propose two new control strategies based on our model, one for traditional power grids and another one for smart grids. The control strategies show the efficient function of the fast-response energy storage systems in preventing and predicting blackouts in smart grids. This work provides innovative ideas which help us to build up a robuster and more economic smart power system.

  1. Mitigating reentry radio blackout by using a traveling magnetic field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Hui; Li, Xiaoping; Xie, Kai; Liu, Yanming; Yu, Yuanyuan

    2017-10-01

    A hypersonic flight or a reentry vehicle is surrounded by a plasma layer that prevents electromagnetic wave transmission, which results in radio blackout. The magnetic-window method is considered a promising means to mitigate reentry communication blackout. However, the real application of this method is limited because of the need for strong magnetic fields. To reduce the required magnetic field strength, a novel method that applies a traveling magnetic field (TMF) is proposed in this study. A mathematical model based on magneto-hydrodynamic theory is adopted to analyze the effect of TMF on plasma. The mitigating effects of the TMF on the blackout of typical frequency bands, including L-, S-, and C-bands, are demonstrated. Results indicate that a significant reduction of plasma density occurs in the magnetic-window region by applying a TMF, and the reduction ratio is positively correlated with the velocity of the TMF. The required traveling velocities for eliminating the blackout of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the typical telemetry system are also discussed. Compared with the constant magnetic-window method, the TMF method needs lower magnetic field strength and is easier to realize in the engineering field.

  2. Control and prediction for blackouts caused by frequency collapse in smart grids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Chengwei; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S.

    2016-09-01

    The electric power system is one of the cornerstones of modern society. One of its most serious malfunctions is the blackout, a catastrophic event that may disrupt a substantial portion of the system, playing havoc to human life and causing great economic losses. Thus, understanding the mechanisms leading to blackouts and creating a reliable and resilient power grid has been a major issue, attracting the attention of scientists, engineers, and stakeholders. In this paper, we study the blackout problem in power grids by considering a practical phase-oscillator model. This model allows one to simultaneously consider different types of power sources (e.g., traditional AC power plants and renewable power sources connected by DC/AC inverters) and different types of loads (e.g., consumers connected to distribution networks and consumers directly connected to power plants). We propose two new control strategies based on our model, one for traditional power grids and another one for smart grids. The control strategies show the efficient function of the fast-response energy storage systems in preventing and predicting blackouts in smart grids. This work provides innovative ideas which help us to build up a robuster and more economic smart power system.

  3. CFD Analysis of the Anti-Surge Effects by Water Hammering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Tae-oh; Jeong, Hyo-min; Chung, Han-shik; Lee, Sin-il; Lee, Kwang-sung

    2015-09-01

    Water hammering occurs due to the surge effect that comes from operating the pump, sudden stop during the operating due to a blackout and rapid open and close of the valve. By the water hammering of the pipeline and the pump, the valve are damaged. In this paper, transient analysis is conducted by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The purpose of this paper is to provide the research data about the change of the pressure and flow in the pipe that caused by the water hammering.

  4. Blackout 2003: preparedness and lessons learned from the perspectives of four hospitals.

    PubMed

    Klein, Kelly R; Rosenthal, Marc S; Klausner, Howard A

    2005-01-01

    The blackout in North America of August 2003 was one of the worst on record. It affected eight US states and parts of Canada for >24 hours. Additionally, two large US cities, Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio, suffered from a loss of water pressure and a subsequent ban on the use of public supplies of potable water that lasted four days. A literature review revealed a paucity of literature that describes blackouts and how they may affect the medical community. This paper includes a review of after-action reports from four inner-city, urban hospitals supplemented accounts from the authors' hospital's emergency operations center (EOC). Some of the problems encountered, included: (1)lighting; (2) elevator operations; (3) supplies of water; (4) communication operations; (5) computer failure; (6) lack of adequate supplies of food; (7) mobility to obtain X-ray studies; (8) heating, air condition, and ventilation; (9) staffing; (10) pharmacy; (11) registration of patients; (12) hospital EOC; (13) loss of isolation facilities; (14) inadequate supplies of paper; (15) impaired ability to provide care for non-emergency patients; (16) sanitation; and (17) inadequate emergency power. The blackout of 2003 uncovered problems within the US hospital system, ranging from staffing to generator coverage. This report is a review of the effects that the blackout and water ban of 2003 had on hospitals in a large inner-city area. Also discussed are solutions utilized at the time and recommendations for the future. The blackout of 2003 was an excellent test of disaster/emergency planning, and produced many valuable lessons to be used in future events.

  5. Causes and mitigation of radio frequency (RF) blackout during reentry of reusable launch vehicles

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-01-26

    The Aerospace Corporation was tasked to assess radio frequency (RF) blackout phenomena caused by plasma generation around vehicles during reentry and presently known methodologies for mitigation of this condition inhibiting communications. The purpos...

  6. Air ingression calculations for selected plant transients using MELCOR

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kmetyk, L.N.

    1994-01-01

    Two sets of MELCOR calculations have been completed studying the effects of air ingression on the consequences of various severe accident scenarios. One set of calculations analyzed a station blackout with surge line failure prior to vessel breach, starting from nominal operating conditions; the other set of calculations analyzed a station blackout occurring during shutdown (refueling) conditions. Both sets of analyses were for the Surry plant, a three-loop Westinghouse PWR. For both accident scenarios, a basecase calculation was done, and then repeated with air ingression from containment into the core region following core degradation and vessel failure. In addition tomore » the two sets of analyses done for this program, a similar air-ingression sensitivity study was done as part of a low-power/shutdown PRA, with results summarized here; that PRA study also analyzed a station blackout occurring during shutdown (refueling) conditions, but for the Grand Gulf plant, a BWR/6 with Mark III containment. These studies help quantify the amount of air that would have to enter the core region to have a significant impact on the severe accident scenario, and demonstrate that one effect, of air ingression is substantial enhancement of ruthenium release. These calculations also show that, while the core clad temperatures rise more quickly due to oxidation with air rather than steam, the core also degrades and relocates more quickly, so that no sustained, enhanced core heatup is predicted to occur with air ingression.« less

  7. Securing the Heavens: A Perspective on Space Control

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1999-06-01

    transmission , command and control, as well as their supporting infrastructure—which should all be considered potential targets. The appeal of physically ...to 64 exposure to x - rays , gamma rays and neutrons (as well as trapped radiation that lingers above the atmosphere) include electronic upset...data links due to the associated scintillation (distortion of radio waves) and absorption/ blackout (denial of communications ) effects. High-altitude

  8. 77 FR 16175 - Station Blackout

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-20

    ... not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact... with turbine trip and unavailability of the onsite emergency ac power system). Station blackout does... powered, such as turbine- or diesel-driven pumps. Thus, the reliability of such components, dc battery...

  9. Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : August 2003 northeast blackout, New York City

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-04-01

    This report documents the actions taken by transportation agencies in response to the August 14, 2003, Blackout throughout the Northeast. It is part of a larger effort to examine the impacts of catastrophic events on transportation system facilities ...

  10. Station blackout transient at the Browns Ferry Unit 1 Plant: a severe accident sequence analysis (SASA) program study

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schultz, R.R.

    1982-01-01

    Operating plant transients are of great interest for many reasons, not the least of which is the potential for a mild transient to degenerate to a severe transient yielding core damage. Using the Browns Ferry (BF) Unit-1 plant as a basis of study, the station blackout sequence was investigated by the Severe Accident Sequence Analysis (SASA) Program in support of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Unresolved Safety Issue A-44: Station Blackout. A station blackout transient occurs when the plant's AC power from a comemrcial power grid is lost and cannot be restored by the diesel generators. Under normal operating conditions, fmore » a loss of offsite power (LOSP) occurs (i.e., a complete severance of the BF plants from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power grid), the eight diesel generators at the three BF units would quickly start and power the emergency AC buses. Of the eight diesel generators, only six are needed to safely shut down all three units. Examination of BF-specific data show that LOSP frequency is low at Unit 1. The station blackout frequency is even lower (5.7 x 10/sup -4/ events per year) and hinges on whether the diesel generators start. The frequency of diesel generator failure is dictated in large measure by the emergency equipment cooling water (EECW) system that cools the diesel generators.« less

  11. 17 CFR 245.102 - Exceptions to definition of blackout period.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Exceptions to definition of blackout period. 245.102 Section 245.102 Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE... not purchase, sell or otherwise acquire or transfer an interest in any equity security of an issuer...

  12. Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : August 2003 northeast blackout, Great Lakes region

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-05-01

    This report documents the actions taken by transportation agencies in response to the August 14, 2003 blackout that affected the Northeastern United States. It is part of a larger effort to examine the impacts of catastrophic events on transportation...

  13. 17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... blackout period: (1) With respect to the equity securities of any issuer (other than a foreign private... temporary suspension exceeds 15% of the total number of employees of the issuer and its consolidated...

  14. Station blackout calculations for Browns Ferry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ott, L.J.; Weber, C.F.; Hyman, C.R.

    1985-01-01

    This paper presents the results of calculations performed with the ORNL SASA code suite for the Station Blackout Severe Accident Sequence at Browns Ferry. The accident is initiated by a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel generators to start and load. The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion (at six hours) and without DC power, cooling water could no longer be injected into the reactor vessel. Calculations are continued through the period of core degradation and melting, reactor vessel failure, and the subsequent containment failure. An estimate ofmore » the magnitude and timing of the concomitant fission product releases is also provided.« less

  15. Engaging Honors Students through Newspaper Blackout Poetry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ladenheim, Melissa

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the author's attempt to convince her students that poetry can be "their thing," and also show them how much it can shape the way they think about the world and their place in it. In this article Melissa Ladenheim describes the technique known as "newspaper blackout" poetry. The exciting thing about this…

  16. 77 FR 24989 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Notice of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-26

    ... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Notice of Blackout Period Under ERISA,'' to the Office of... likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the...

  17. 10 CFR 50.63 - Loss of all alternating current power.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ..., Limitations, and Conditions of Licenses and Construction Permits § 50.63 Loss of all alternating current power... manufacturing license under part 52 of this chapter must be able to withstand for a specified duration and recover from a station blackout as defined in § 50.2. The specified station blackout duration shall be...

  18. An electromagnetic method for removing the communication blackout with a space vehicle upon re-entry into the atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Jianjun; Jin, Ke; Kou, Yong; Hu, Ruifeng; Zheng, Xiaojing

    2017-03-01

    When a hypersonic vehicle travels in the Earth and Mars atmosphere, the surface of the vehicle is surrounded by a plasma layer, which is an envelope of ionized air, created from the compression and heat of the atmosphere by the shock wave. The vehicles will lose contact with ground stations known as the reentry communication blackout. Based on the magnetohydrodynamic framework and electromagnetic wave propagation theory, an analytical model is proposed to describe the effect of the effectiveness of electromagnetic mitigation scheme on removing the reentry communication blackout. C and Global Positioning System (GPS) bands, two commonly used radio bands for communication, are taken as the cases to discuss the effectiveness of the electromagnetic field mitigation scheme. The results show that the electron density near the antenna of vehicles can be reduced by the electromagnetic field, and the required external magnetic field strength is far below the one in the magnetic window method. The directions of the external electric field and magnetic field have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the mitigation scheme. Furthermore, the effect of electron collisions on the required applied electromagnetic field is discussed, and the result indicates that electron collisions are a key factor to analyze the electromagnetic mitigation scheme. Finally, the feasible regions of the applied electromagnetic field for eliminating blackout are given. These investigations could have a significant benefit on the design and optimization of electromagnetic mitigation scheme for the blackout problem.

  19. A Case Report of Dissociative Neurosis (Depersonalization Disorder) in an Adolescent Treated with Family Therapy and Behavior Modification.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dollinger, Stephen J.

    1983-01-01

    Describes the use of behavioral procedures as part of systems-oriented family therapy for the treatment of an adolescent girl's functional blackouts. Treatment successfully eliminated blackouts without directly addressing clear psychosexual issues. Discusses the case in terms of conceptualizing etiology and treatments and advocates working with…

  20. 29 CFR 2520.101-3 - Notice of blackout periods under individual account plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... paragraph 4. of the model notice in paragraph (e)(2) of this section will satisfy this requirement); (v) In.... of the model notice in paragraph (e)(2) of this section will satisfy this requirement), and (B) An... three consecutive business days. (ii) Exclusions. The term “blackout period” does not include a...

  1. Communications Blackout Predictions for Atmospheric Entry of Mars Science Laboratory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morabito, David D.; Edquist, Karl T.

    2005-01-01

    The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is expected to be a long-range, long-duration science laboratory rover on the Martian surface. MSL will provide a significant milestone that paves the way for future landed missions to Mars. NASA is studying options to launch MSL as early as 2009. There are three elements to the spacecraft; carrier (cruise stage), entry vehicle, and rover. The rover will have a UHF proximity link as the primary path for EDL communications and may have an X-band direct-to-Earth link as a back-up. Given the importance of collecting critical event telemetry data during atmospheric entry, it is important to understand the ability of a signal link to be maintained, especially during the period near peak convective heating. The received telemetry during entry (or played back later) will allow for the performance of the Entry-Descent-Landing technologies to be assessed. These technologies include guided entry for precision landing, a new sky-crane landing system and powered descent. MSL will undergo an entry profile that may result in a potential communications blackout caused by ionized particles for short periods near peak heating. The vehicle will use UHF and possibly X-band during the entry phase. The purpose of this rep0rt is to quantify or bound the likelihood of any such blackout at UHF frequencies (401 MHz) and X-band frequencies (8.4 GHz). Two entry trajectory scenarios were evaluated: a stressful entry trajectory to quantify an upper-bound for any possible blackout period, and a nominal trajectory to quantify likelihood of blackout for such cases.

  2. Blackout cloth for dormancy induction

    Treesearch

    Tom Jopson

    2007-01-01

    The use of blackout cloth to create long night photoperiods for the induction of dormancy in certain conifer species has been an established practice for a long time. Its use was suggested by Tinus and McDonald (1979) as an effective technique, and the practice has been commonly used in Canadian forest nurseries for a number of years. Cal-Forest Nursery installed its...

  3. Evaluating the Effect of a Campus-Wide Social Norms Marketing Intervention on Alcohol-Use Perceptions, Consumption, and Blackouts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Su, Jinni; Hancock, Linda; Wattenmaker McGann, Amanda; Alshagra, Mariam; Ericson, Rhianna; Niazi, Zackaria; Dick, Danielle M.; Adkins, Amy

    2018-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts at a large, urban, public university. Participants: 4,172 college students (1,208 freshmen, 1,159 sophomores, 953 juniors, and 852 seniors) who completed surveys in Spring 2015 for the Spit for Science…

  4. Effects of catastrophic events on transportation system management and operations : executive summary of the August 2003 northeast blackout, Great Lakes and New York City regions

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-05-01

    On Thursday, August 14, 2003, a series of seemingly small events, happening in concert, produced the largest blackout in American history. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on August 14, a brush fire caused a transmission line south of Columbus, Ohio, to go ou...

  5. Review of Leading Approaches for Mitigating Hypersonic Vehicle Communications Blackout and a Method of Ceramic Particulate Injection Via Cathode Spot Arcs for Blackout Mitigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gillman, Eric D.; Foster, John E.; Blankson, Isaiah M.

    2010-01-01

    Vehicles flying at hypersonic velocities within the atmosphere become enveloped in a "plasma sheath" that prevents radio communication, telemetry, and most importantly, GPS signal reception for navigation. This radio "blackout" period has been a problem since the dawn of the manned space program and was an especially significant hindrance during the days of the Apollo missions. An appropriate mitigation method must allow for spacecraft to ground control and ground control to spacecraft communications through the reentry plasma sheath. Many mitigation techniques have been proposed, including but not limited to, aerodynamic shaping, magnetic windows, and liquid injection. The research performed on these mitigation techniques over the years will be reviewed and summarized, along with the advantages and obstacles that each technique will need to overcome to be practically implemented. A unique approach for mitigating the blackout communications problem is presented herein along with research results associated with this method. The novel method involves the injection of ceramic metal-oxide particulate into a simulated reentry plasma to quench the reentry plasma. Injection of the solid ceramic particulates is achieved by entrainment within induced, energetic cathode spot flows.

  6. Effects of the August 2003 blackout on the New York City healthcare delivery system: a lesson for disaster preparedness.

    PubMed

    Prezant, David J; Clair, John; Belyaev, Stanislav; Alleyne, Dawn; Banauch, Gisela I; Davitt, Michelle; Vandervoorts, Kathy; Kelly, Kerry J; Currie, Brian; Kalkut, Gary

    2005-01-01

    On August 14, 2003, the United States and Canada suffered the largest power failure in history. We report the effects of this blackout on New York City's healthcare system by examining the following: 1) citywide 911 emergency medical service (EMS) calls and ambulance responses; and 2) emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions to one of New York City's largest hospitals. Citywide EMS calls and ambulance responses were categorized by 911 call type. Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) ED visits and hospital admissions were categorized by diagnosis and physician-reviewed for relationship to the blackout. Comparisons were made to the week pre- and postblackout. Citywide EMS calls numbered 5,299 on August 14, 2003, and 5,021 on August 15, 2003, a 58% increase (p < .001). During the blackout, there were increases in "respiratory" (189%; p < .001), "cardiac" (68%; p = .016), and "other" (40%; p < .001) EMS call categories, but when expressed as a percent of daily totals, "cardiac" was no longer significant. The MMC-ED reflected this surge with only "respiratory" visits significantly increased (expressed as percent of daily total visits; p < .001). Respiratory device failure (mechanical ventilators, positive pressure breathing assist devices, nebulizers, and oxygen compressors) was responsible for the greatest burden (65 MMC-ED visits, with 37 admissions) as compared with 0 pre- and postblackout. The blackout dramatically increased EMS and hospital activity, with unexpected increases resulting from respiratory device failures in community-based patients. Our findings suggest that current capacity to respond to public health emergencies could be easily overwhelmed by widespread/prolonged power failure(s). Disaster preparedness planning would be greatly enhanced if fully operational, backup power systems were mandated, not only for acute care facilities, but also for community-based patients dependent on electrically powered lifesaving devices.

  7. Real-Time Smart Grids Control for Preventing Cascading Failures and Blackout using Neural Networks: Experimental Approach for N-1-1 Contingency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zarrabian, Sina; Belkacemi, Rabie; Babalola, Adeniyi A.

    2016-12-01

    In this paper, a novel intelligent control is proposed based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to mitigate cascading failure (CF) and prevent blackout in smart grid systems after N-1-1 contingency condition in real-time. The fundamental contribution of this research is to deploy the machine learning concept for preventing blackout at early stages of its occurrence and to make smart grids more resilient, reliable, and robust. The proposed method provides the best action selection strategy for adaptive adjustment of generators' output power through frequency control. This method is able to relieve congestion of transmission lines and prevent consecutive transmission line outage after N-1-1 contingency condition. The proposed ANN-based control approach is tested on an experimental 100 kW test system developed by the authors to test intelligent systems. Additionally, the proposed approach is validated on the large-scale IEEE 118-bus power system by simulation studies. Experimental results show that the ANN approach is very promising and provides accurate and robust control by preventing blackout. The technique is compared to a heuristic multi-agent system (MAS) approach based on communication interchanges. The ANN approach showed more accurate and robust response than the MAS algorithm.

  8. Performance Evaluation of Target Detection with a Near-Space Vehicle-Borne Radar in Blackout Condition.

    PubMed

    Li, Yanpeng; Li, Xiang; Wang, Hongqiang; Deng, Bin; Qin, Yuliang

    2016-01-06

    Radar is a very important sensor in surveillance applications. Near-space vehicle-borne radar (NSVBR) is a novel installation of a radar system, which offers many benefits, like being highly suited to the remote sensing of extremely large areas, having a rapidly deployable capability and having low vulnerability to electronic countermeasures. Unfortunately, a target detection challenge arises because of complicated scenarios, such as nuclear blackout, rain attenuation, etc. In these cases, extra care is needed to evaluate the detection performance in blackout situations, since this a classical problem along with the application of an NSVBR. However, the existing evaluation measures are the probability of detection and the receiver operating curve (ROC), which cannot offer detailed information in such a complicated application. This work focuses on such requirements. We first investigate the effect of blackout on an electromagnetic wave. Performance evaluation indexes are then built: three evaluation indexes on the detection capability and two evaluation indexes on the robustness of the detection process. Simulation results show that the proposed measure will offer information on the detailed performance of detection. These measures are therefore very useful in detecting the target of interest in a remote sensing system and are helpful for both the NSVBR designers and users.

  9. Performance Evaluation of Target Detection with a Near-Space Vehicle-Borne Radar in Blackout Condition

    PubMed Central

    Li, Yanpeng; Li, Xiang; Wang, Hongqiang; Deng, Bin; Qin, Yuliang

    2016-01-01

    Radar is a very important sensor in surveillance applications. Near-space vehicle-borne radar (NSVBR) is a novel installation of a radar system, which offers many benefits, like being highly suited to the remote sensing of extremely large areas, having a rapidly deployable capability and having low vulnerability to electronic countermeasures. Unfortunately, a target detection challenge arises because of complicated scenarios, such as nuclear blackout, rain attenuation, etc. In these cases, extra care is needed to evaluate the detection performance in blackout situations, since this a classical problem along with the application of an NSVBR. However, the existing evaluation measures are the probability of detection and the receiver operating curve (ROC), which cannot offer detailed information in such a complicated application. This work focuses on such requirements. We first investigate the effect of blackout on an electromagnetic wave. Performance evaluation indexes are then built: three evaluation indexes on the detection capability and two evaluation indexes on the robustness of the detection process. Simulation results show that the proposed measure will offer information on the detailed performance of detection. These measures are therefore very useful in detecting the target of interest in a remote sensing system and are helpful for both the NSVBR designers and users. PMID:26751445

  10. Asystole and increased serum myoglobin levels associated with 'packing blackout' in a competitive breath-hold diver.

    PubMed

    Andersson, Johan P A; Linér, Mats H; Jönsson, Henrik

    2009-11-01

    Many competitive breath-hold divers use 'glossopharyngeal insufflation', also called 'lung packing', to overfill their lungs above normal total lung capacity. This increases intrathoracic pressure, decreases venous return, compromises cardiac pumping, and reduces arterial blood pressure, possibly resulting in a syncope breath-hold divers call 'packing blackout'. We report a case with a breath-hold diver who inadvertently experienced a packing blackout. During the incident, an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood pressure were recorded, and blood samples for determinations of biomarkers of cardiac muscle perturbation (creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB), cardiac troponin-T (TnT), and myoglobin) were collected. The ECG revealed short periods of asystole during the period of 'packing blackout', simultaneous with pronounced reductions in systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures. Serum myoglobin concentration was elevated 40 and 150 min after the incident, whereas there were no changes in CK-MB or TnT. The ultimate cause of syncope in this diver probably was a decrease in cerebral perfusion following glossopharyngeal insufflation. The asystolic periods recorded in this diver could possibly indicate that susceptible individuals may be put at risk of a serious cardiac incident if the lungs are excessively overinflated by glossopharyngeal insufflation. This concern is further substantiated by the observed increase in serum myoglobin concentration after the event.

  11. A Study of the Impact of Peak Demand on Increasing Vulnerability of Cascading Failures to Extreme Contingency Events

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vyakaranam, Bharat GNVSR; Vallem, Mallikarjuna R.; Nguyen, Tony B.

    The vulnerability of large power systems to cascading failures and major blackouts has become evident since the Northeast blackout in 1965. Based on analyses of the series of cascading blackouts in the past decade, the research community realized the urgent need to develop better methods, tools, and practices for performing cascading-outage analysis and for evaluating mitigations that are easily accessible by utility planning engineers. PNNL has developed the Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool (DCAT) as an open-platform and publicly available methodology to help develop applications that aim to improve the capabilities of power planning engineers to assess the impact and likelihoodmore » of extreme contingencies and potential cascading events across their systems and interconnections. DCAT analysis will help identify potential vulnerabilities and allow study of mitigation solutions to reduce the risk of cascading outages in technically sound and effective ways. Using the DCAT capability, we examined the impacts of various load conditions to identify situations in which the power grid may encounter cascading outages that could lead to potential blackouts. This paper describes the usefulness of the DCAT tool and how it helps to understand potential impacts of load demand on cascading failures on the power system.« less

  12. Radiation Characteristics of Antennas Embedded in a Layer with Two-Temperature Electron Population

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-10-01

    high that the microwave signals are completely cut off. This is the famous `` communication blackout’’ encountered during the Apollo missions in the...1960s. Indeed issues with communication with reentry vehicles were studied even before Apollo missions [3]. Such communication blackout problems are...during Apollo missions [24], [25]. Although there are now other means to communicate (via satellite) the sensor needs for modern hypersonic vehicles

  13. Blast and Penetration Resistant Tactical Shelters

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-07-01

    2. Hardened Wall Material Properties 32 3. S-280 Shelter Panal Properties 33 4. Results Zor Dynamic Response of Complete S-280 Shelters 32 £-". In...insulation from a -6501 low to a 120 0F high plus a solar heating load 7. Corrosion resistance including salt fog 8. Blackout capability 9. Fungus...65 0 F), high temperature (120 0 F) plus a solar heating (BTU) load. g. Corrosion resistance (salt fog). 19 h. Blackout capability. i. Fungus

  14. What Happened to Our Environment and Mental Health as a Result of Hurricane Sandy?

    PubMed

    Lin, Shao; Lu, Yi; Justino, John; Dong, Guanghui; Lauper, Ursula

    2016-06-01

    This study describes findings of the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on environmental factors including power outages, air quality, water quality, and weather factors and how these affected mental health during the hurricane. An ecological study was conducted at the county level to describe changes in environmental factors-especially power outages-and their relationships to emergency department (ED) visits for mental health problems by use of a Poisson regression model. We found that many environmental hazards occurred as co-exposures during Hurricane Sandy in addition to flooding. Mental health ED visits corresponded with the peak of maximum daily power blackouts, with a 3-day lag, and were positively associated with power blackouts in Bronx (prevalence ratio [PR]: 8.82, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27-61.42) and Queens (PR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.05-5.82) counties. A possible dose-response relationship was found between the quantile of maximum blackout percentage and the risk of mental health in the Bronx. We found that multiple co-environmental hazards occurred during Hurricane Sandy, especially power blackouts that mediated this disaster's impacts. The effects of power outage on mental health had large geographic variations and were substantial, especially in communities with low sociodemographic status. These findings may provide new insights for future disaster response and preparedness efforts. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:314-319).

  15. Shuttle communications design study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cartier, D. E.

    1975-01-01

    The design and development of a space shuttle communication system are discussed. The subjects considered include the following: (1) Ku-band satellite relay to shuttle, (2) phased arrays, (3) PN acquisition, (4) quadriplexing of direct link ranging and telemetry, (5) communications blackout on launch and reentry, (6) acquisition after blackout on reentry, (7) wideband communications interface with the Ku-Band rendezvous radar, (8) aeroflight capabilities of the space shuttle, (9) a triple multiplexing scheme equivalent to interplex, and (10) a study of staggered quadriphase for use on the space shuttle.

  16. Adapting an Agent-Based Model of Socio-Technical Systems to Analyze Security Failures

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-10-17

    total number of non-blackouts differed from the total number in the baseline data to a statistically significant extent with a p- valueɘ.0003...the total number of non-blackouts differed from the total number in the baseline data to a statistically significant extent with a p-valueɘ.0003...I. Nikolic, and Z. Lukszo, Eds., Agent-based modelling of socio-technical systems. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013, vol. 9. [12] A. P. Shaw

  17. Effects of nonequilibrium ablation chemistry on Viking radio blackout.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Evans, J. S.; Schexnayder, C. J., Jr.; Grose, W. L.

    1973-01-01

    The length of the entry blackout period during descent of the Viking Lander into the Mars atmosphere is predicted from calculated profiles of electron density in the shock layer over the aeroshell. Nonequilibrium chemistry plays a key role in the calculation, both in the inviscid flow and in the boundary layer. This is especially true in the boundary layer contaminated with ablation material, for which nonequilibrium chemistry predicts electron densities two decades lower than the same case calculated with equilibrium chemistry.

  18. Early postnatal exposure to methylphenidate alters stress reactivity and increases hippocampal ectopic granule cells in adult rats

    PubMed Central

    Torres-Reveron, Annelyn; Gray, Jason D.; Melton, Jay T.; Punsoni, Michael; Tabori, Nora E.; Ward, Mary J.; Frys, Kelly; Iadecola, Costantino; Milner, Teresa A.

    2009-01-01

    To mimic clinical treatment with methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rat pups were injected with MPH (5 mg/kg, I.P.) or placebo twice daily during their nocturnal active phase from postnatal day (PND) 7 to 35. Thirty-nine days after the last MPH administration (PND76), four litters of rats experienced stressful conditions during the 2003 New York City blackout. MPH-treated rats that endured the blackout lost more weight and regained it at a slower pace than controls (p<0.05; N=7–11/group). Furthermore, MPH-treated rats had elevated systolic arterial blood pressure (from 115.6 ± 1.2 to 126 ± 1.8 mmHg; p<0.05), assessed on PND130 by tail cuff plethysmography. Immunocytochemical studies of transmitter systems in the brain demonstrated rearrangements of catecholamine and neuropeptide Y fibers in select brain regions at PND135, which did not differ between blackout and control groups. However, MPH-treated rats that endured the blackout had more ectopic granule cells in the hilus of the dorsal hippocampal dentate gyrus compared to controls at PND 135 (p<0.05; N=6/group). These findings indicate that early postnatal exposure to high therapeutic doses of MPH can have long lasting effects on the plasticity of select brain regions and can induce changes in the reactivity to stress that persist into adulthood. PMID:19100815

  19. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tan, Jin; Zhang, Yingchen; Krad, Ibrahim

    Power system frequency needs to be maintained close to its nominal value at all times to avoid machine damage, under-frequency load-shedding and even blackouts. Adequate primary frequency response and secondary frequency response are the primary forces to correct an energy imbalance at the second to minute level. As wind energy becomes a larger portion of the world's energy portfolio, there are greater oppotunities for wind to provide frequency response services. This paper addresses one area of frequency control that has been missing in previous work - the reliabilty impacts and interactions between primary and secondary frequency control. The lack ofmore » a commercially available tools to simulate the interaction of these two responses has limited the energy industry's understanding of when the depletion of primary control reserve will impact the performance of secondary conrol response or vice versa. To investigate this issue, in this paper we develop a multi-area frequency response integration model with combined primary and secondary frequency control capabilities.« less

  20. Analysis of the FeCrAl Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept Benefits during BWR Station Blackout Accidents

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Robb, Kevin R

    2015-01-01

    Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered for fuel concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. FeCrAl alloys have very slow oxidation kinetics and good strength at high temperatures. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). To estimate the potential safety gains afforded by the FeCrAl concept, the MELCOR code was used to analyze a range of postulated station blackout severe accident scenarios in a BWR/4 reactor employing FeCrAl. The simulations utilize the most recently known thermophysical properties and oxidation kinetics for FeCrAl. Overall, when compared to the traditionalmore » Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box, the FeCrAl concept provides a few extra hours of time for operators to take mitigating actions and/or for evacuations to take place. A coolable core geometry is retained longer, enhancing the ability to stabilize an accident. Finally, due to the slower oxidation kinetics, substantially less hydrogen is generated, and the generation is delayed in time. This decreases the amount of non-condensable gases in containment and the potential for deflagrations to inhibit the accident response.« less

  1. Characterization of weakly ionized argon flows for radio blackout mitigation experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steffens, L.; Koch, U.; Esser, B.; Gülhan, A.

    2017-06-01

    For reproducing the so-called E × B communication blackout mitigation scheme inside the L2K arc heated facility of the DLR in weakly ionized argon §ows, a §at plate model has been equipped with a superconducting magnet, electrodes, and a setup comprising microwave plasma transmission spectroscopy (MPTS). A thorough characterization of the weakly ionized argon §ow has been performed including the use of microwave interferometry (MWI), Langmuir probe measurements, Pitot probe pro¦les, and spectroscopic methods like diode laser absorption spectroscopy (DLAS) and emission spectroscopy.

  2. Behavioral contrast with timeout, blackout, or extinction as the negative condition1

    PubMed Central

    Sadowsky, Stephen

    1973-01-01

    When either a timeout period (darkening the response key) or a blackout period (darkening both chamber and response key) was alternated with a stimulus associated with variable-interval reinforcement, behavioral contrast was obtained. Either peck contrast or maintained contrast occurred, depending on whether or not responding was evidenced during the negative condition. These results are contrary to recent accounts emphasizing the role of non-reinforced responding in the production of contrast, but are consistent with interpretations emphasizing the aversiveness of the negative condition. PMID:16811680

  3. Comparison of MELCOR and SCDAP/RELAP5 results for a low-pressure, short-term station blackout at Browns Ferry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carbajo, J.J.

    1995-12-31

    This study compares results obtained with two U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-sponsored codes, MELCOR version 1.8.3 (1.8PQ) and SCDAP/RELAP5 Mod3.1 release C, for the same transient - a low-pressure, short-term station blackout accident at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant. This work is part of MELCOR assessment activities to compare core damage progression calculations of MELCOR against SCDAP/RELAP5 since the two codes model core damage progression very differently.

  4. A quantitative analysis of sensitivity to the conditioned reinforcing value of terminal-link stimuli in a concurrent-chains schedule.

    PubMed Central

    Omino, T

    1993-01-01

    Pigeons were exposed to a concurrent-chains schedule in which a single variable-interval 30-s schedule was used in the initial links and fixed-time schedules were used in the terminal links. Three types of keylight conditions were used in the terminal links. In the first condition, different delays were associated with different keylight stimuli (cued condition). In the second condition, different delays were associated with the same stimulus, either a blackout (uncued blackout condition) or a white key (uncued white condition). Paired values of terminal-link fixed-time schedules differed by a constant ratio of 3:1, while the absolute value of delays was varied from 3 s to 54 s. The results showed that choice proportions for the shorter of two delays increased when the absolute size of the delays was increased for all keylight conditions. Further, the choice proportions for the shorter delay increased from the uncued blackout condition, to the uncued white condition, to the cued condition. A modified version of Fantino's (1969) delay-reduction model (expressed as a function relating the response ratio to the delay-reduction ratio) can be applied to these data by showing that sensitivity to delay reduction increased from the uncued blackout condition, to the uncued white condition, to the cued condition. Thus, the present study demonstrated that a modified version of the delay-reduction model can be used to assess quantitative differences in the terminal-link keylight condition in terms of sensitivity to delay reduction (i.e., the conditioned reinforcing value of the terminal-link keylight stimuli). PMID:8283150

  5. Crisis management and recovery from the damage to the laboratory animal production facility due to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

    PubMed

    Ikeda, Takuya

    2012-01-01

    Charles River Laboratories Japan produces laboratory animals, mainly mice and rats. In its history, we have experienced many crises such as mass food poisoning of staff and contamination of animals. However, we overcame these crises, accomplishing our corporate missions to secure steady supply of healthy animals. Under such circumstances, in 2008, we faced an unprecedented crisis involving a novel influenza possibly becoming pandemic. Therefore, we prepared a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to avoid the worst case scenario. Fortunately, the novel influenza did not develop into a pandemic and no major problems occurred in production of our laboratory animals. In March 2011, our Tsukuba Breeding Center was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many cages fell from racks, and consequently, 14,000 mice and rats were euthanized. Moreover, this animal production facility experienced not only blackouts and water outage but also various maintenance problems. After triage of the animals, almost half of the animals kept were eventually lost. However, we recovered and resumed shipment of animals two weeks after the disaster by utilizing the CMP and BCP we initially created as a countermeasure against novel influenza. After two months, our production volume returned to normal except for two strains. I sincerely hope this review, which highlights our experience and related issues, will be a useful resource in regard to crisis management for people who are engaged in laboratory animal care and use.

  6. Assessing the Cost of Large-Scale Power Outages to Residential Customers.

    PubMed

    Baik, Sunhee; Davis, Alexander L; Morgan, M Granger

    2018-02-01

    Residents in developed economies depend heavily on electric services. While distributed resources and a variety of new smart technologies can increase the reliability of that service, adopting them involves costs, necessitating tradeoffs between cost and reliability. An important input to making such tradeoffs is an estimate of the value customers place on reliable electric services. We develop an elicitation framework that helps individuals think systematically about the value they attach to reliable electric service. Our approach employs a detailed and realistic blackout scenario, full or partial (20 A) backup service, questions about willingness to pay (WTP) using a multiple bounded discrete choice method, information regarding inconveniences and economic losses, and checks for bias and consistency. We applied this method to a convenience sample of residents in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, finding that respondents valued a kWh for backup services they assessed to be high priority more than services that were seen as low priority ($0.75/kWh vs. $0.51/kWh). As more information about the consequences of a blackout was provided, this difference increased ($1.2/kWh vs. $0.35/kWh), and respondents' uncertainty about the backup services decreased (Full: $11 to $9.0, Partial: $13 to $11). There was no evidence that the respondents were anchored by their previous WTP statements, but they demonstrated only weak scope sensitivity. In sum, the consumer surplus associated with providing a partial electric backup service during a blackout may justify the costs of such service, but measurement of that surplus depends on the public having accurate information about blackouts and their consequences. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  7. Station Blackout Analysis of HTGR-Type Experimental Power Reactor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Syarip; Zuhdi, Aliq; Falah, Sabilul

    2018-01-01

    The National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia has decided to build an experimental power reactor of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) type located at Puspiptek Complex. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate a small modular nuclear power plant that can be operated safely. One of the reactor safety characteristics is the reliability of the reactor to the station blackout (SBO) event. The event was observed due to relatively high disturbance frequency of electricity network in Indonesia. The PCTRAN-HTR functional simulator code was used to observe fuel and coolant temperature, and coolant pressure during the SBO event. The reactor simulated at 10 MW for 7200 s then the SBO occurred for 1-3 minutes. The analysis result shows that the reactor power decreases automatically as the temperature increase during SBO accident without operator’s active action. The fuel temperature increased by 36.57 °C every minute during SBO and the power decreased by 0.069 MW every °C fuel temperature rise at the condition of anticipated transient without reactor scram. Whilst, the maximum coolant (helium) temperature and pressure are 1004 °C and 9.2 MPa respectively. The maximum fuel temperature is 1282 °C, this value still far below the fuel temperature limiting condition i.e. 1600 °C, its mean that the HTGR has a very good inherent safety system.

  8. Reproducing continuous radio blackout using glow discharge plasma

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xie, Kai; Li, Xiaoping; Liu, Donglin

    2013-10-15

    A novel plasma generator is described that offers large-scale, continuous, non-magnetized plasma with a 30-cm-diameter hollow structure, which provides a path for an electromagnetic wave. The plasma is excited by a low-pressure glow discharge, with varying electron densities ranging from 10{sup 9} to 2.5 × 10{sup 11} cm{sup −3}. An electromagnetic wave propagation experiment reproduced a continuous radio blackout in UHF-, L-, and S-bands. The results are consistent with theoretical expectations. The proposed method is suitable in simulating a plasma sheath, and in researching communications, navigation, electromagnetic mitigations, and antenna compensation in plasma sheaths.

  9. Station blackout at Browns Ferry Unit One: iodine and noble-gas distribution and release

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wichner, R.P.; Weber, C.F.; Lorenz, R.A.

    1982-08-01

    This is the second volume of a report describing the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to a postulated Station Blackout, defined as a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel-generators to start and load. The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion and the completely powerless state leads to core uncovery, meltdown, reactor vessel failure, and failure of the primary containment by overtemperature-induced degradation of the electrical penetration assembly seals. The sequence of events is described in Volume 1; the material in this volumemore » deals with the analysis of fission product noble gas and iodine transport during the accident. Factors which affect the fission product movements through the series of containment design barriers are reviewed. For a reactive material such as iodine, proper assessment of the rate of movement requires determination of the chemical changes along the pathway which alter the physical properties such as vapor pressure and solubility and thereby affect the transport rate. A methodology for accomplishing this is demonstrated in this report.« less

  10. Resonant interaction of electromagnetic wave with plasma layer and overcoming the radiocommunication blackout problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bogatskaya, A. V.; Klenov, N. V.; Tereshonok, M. V.; Adjemov, S. S.; Popov, A. M.

    2018-05-01

    We present an analysis of the possibility of penetrating electromagnetic waves through opaque media using an optical-mechanical analogy. As an example, we consider the plasma sheath surrounding the vehicle as a potential barrier and analyze the overcoming of radiocommunication blackout problem. The idea is to embed a «resonator» between the surface on the vehicle and plasma sheath which is supposed to provide an effective tunneling of the signal to the receiving antenna. We discuss the peculiarities of optical mechanical analogy applicability and analyze the radio frequency wave tunneling regime in detail. The cases of normal and oblique incidence of radiofrequency waves on the vehicle surface are studied.

  11. Optimal Management and Design of Energy Systems under Atmospheric Uncertainty

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anitescu, M.; Constantinescu, E. M.; Zavala, V.

    2010-12-01

    The generation and distpatch of electricity while maintaining high reliability levels are two of the most daunting engineering problems of the modern era. This was demonstrated by the Northeast blackout of August 2003, which resulted in the loss of 6.2 gigawatts that served more than 50 million people and which resulted in economic losses on the order of $10 billion. In addition, there exist strong socioeconomic pressures to improve the efficiency of the grid. The most prominent solution to this problem is a substantial increase in the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar. In turn, its uncertain availability—which is due to the intrinsic weather variability—will increase the likelihood of disruptions. In this endeavors of current and next-generation power systems, forecasting atmospheric conditions with uncertainty can and will play a central role, at both the demand and the generation ends. User demands are strongly correlated to physical conditions such as temperature, humidity, and solar radiation. The reason is that the ambient temperature and solar radiation dictate the amount of air conditioning and lighting needed in residential and commercial buildings. But these potential benefits would come at the expense of increased variability in the dynamics of both production and demand, which would become even more dependent on weather state and its uncertainty. One of the important challenges for energy in our time is how to harness these benefits while “keeping the lights on”—ensuring that the demand is satisfied at all times and that no blackout occurs while all energy sources are optimally used. If we are to meet this challenge, accounting for uncertainty in the atmospheric conditions is essential, since this will allow minimizing the effects of false positives: committing too little baseline power in anticipation of demand that is underestimated or renewable energy levels that fail to materialize. In this work we describe a framework for the optimal management and design of energy systems, such as the power grid or building systems, under atmospheric conditions uncertainty. The framework is defined in terms of a mathematical paradigm called stochastic programming: minimization of the expected value of the decision-makers objective function subject to physical and operational constraints, such as low blackout porbability, that are enforced on each scenario. We report results on testing the framework on the optimal management of power grid systems under high wind penetration scenarios, a problem whose time horizon is in the order of days. We discuss the computational effort of scenario generation which involves running WRF at high spatio-temporal resolution dictated by the operational constraints as well as solving the optimal dispatch problem. We demonstrate that accounting for uncertainty in atmospheric conditions results in blackout prevention, whereas decisions using only mean forecast does not. We discuss issues in using the framework for planning problems, whose time horizon is of several decades and what requirements this problem would entail from climate simulation systems.

  12. Blackout Drinking Predicts Sexual Revictimization in a College Sample of Binge-Drinking Women

    PubMed Central

    Valenstein-Mah, Helen; Larimer, Mary; Zoellner, Lori; Kaysen, Debra

    2016-01-01

    Sexual victimization is prevalent on U.S. college campuses. Some women experience multiple sexual victimizations with heightened risk among those with prior victimization histories. One risk factor for sexual revictimization is alcohol use. Most research has focused on associations between alcohol consumption and revictimization. The current study’s objective was to understand potential mechanisms by which drinking confers risk for revictimization. We hypothesized that specific drinking consequences would predict risk for revictimization above and beyond the quantity of alcohol consumed. There were 162 binge-drinking female students (mean age = 20.21 years, 71.3% White, 36.9% juniors) from the University of Washington who were assessed for baseline victimization (categorized as childhood vs. adolescent victimization), quantity of alcohol consumed, and drinking consequences experienced, then assessed 30 days later for revictimization. There were 40 (24.6%) women who were revictimized in the following 30 days. Results showed that blackout drinking at baseline predicted incapacitated sexual revictimization among women previously victimized as adolescents, after accounting for quantity of alcohol consumed (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.07, 3.01]). Other drinking consequences were not strongly predictive of revictimization. Adolescent sexual victimization was an important predictor of sexual revictimization in college women; blackout drinking may confer unique risk for revictimization. PMID:26401899

  13. Station Blackout at Browns Ferry Unit One - accident sequence analysis. Volume 1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cook, D.H.; Harrington, R.M.; Greene, S.R.

    1981-11-01

    This study describes the predicted response of Unit 1 at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant to Station Blackout, defined as a loss of offsite power combined with failure of all onsite emergency diesel-generators to start and load. Every effort has been made to employ the most realistic assumptions during the process of defining the sequence of events for this hypothetical accident. DC power is assumed to remain available from the unit batteries during the initial phase and the operator actions and corresponding events during this period are described using results provided by an analysis code developed specifically for this purpose.more » The Station Blackout is assumed to persist beyond the point of battery exhaustion and the events during this second phase of the accident in which dc power would be unavailable were determined through use of the MARCH code. Without dc power, cooling water could no longer be injected into the reactor vessel and the events of the second phase include core meltdown and subsequent containment failure. An estimate of the magnitude and timing of the concomitant release of the noble gas, cesium, and iodine-based fission products to the environment is provided in Volume 2 of this report. 58 refs., 75 figs., 8 tabs.« less

  14. Research on Resilience of Power Systems Under Natural Disasters—A Review

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wang, Yezhou; Chen, Chen; Wang, Jianhui

    2016-03-01

    Natural disasters can cause large blackouts. Research into natural disaster impacts on electric power systems is emerging to understand the causes of the blackouts, explore ways to prepare and harden the grid, and increase the resilience of the power grid under such events. At the same time, new technologies such as smart grid, micro grid, and wide area monitoring applications could increase situational awareness as well as enable faster restoration of the system. This paper aims to consolidate and review the progress of the research field towards methods and tools of forecasting natural disaster related power system disturbances, hardening andmore » pre-storm operations, and restoration models. Challenges and future research opportunities are also presented in the paper.« less

  15. Spatial correlation analysis of cascading failures: Congestions and Blackouts

    PubMed Central

    Daqing, Li; Yinan, Jiang; Rui, Kang; Havlin, Shlomo

    2014-01-01

    Cascading failures have become major threats to network robustness due to their potential catastrophic consequences, where local perturbations can induce global propagation of failures. Unlike failures spreading via direct contacts due to structural interdependencies, overload failures usually propagate through collective interactions among system components. Despite the critical need in developing protection or mitigation strategies in networks such as power grids and transportation, the propagation behavior of cascading failures is essentially unknown. Here we find by analyzing our collected data that jams in city traffic and faults in power grid are spatially long-range correlated with correlations decaying slowly with distance. Moreover, we find in the daily traffic, that the correlation length increases dramatically and reaches maximum, when morning or evening rush hour is approaching. Our study can impact all efforts towards improving actively system resilience ranging from evaluation of design schemes, development of protection strategies to implementation of mitigation programs. PMID:24946927

  16. 47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

  17. 47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

  18. 47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

  19. 47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

  20. 47 CFR 76.110 - Substitutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... carried under the Commission's rules, such community unit may, consistent with these rules and the sports...

  1. The Threshold of the State: Civil Defence, the Blackout and the Home in Second World War Britain.

    PubMed

    Greenhalgh, James

    2017-06-01

    This article reconsiders the way that the British state extended its control of the home during the Second World War, using the implementation of air raid precautions and the blackout as a lens through which to view the state's developing attitudes to domestic space. Presented here is not the familiar story of pitch-dark, dangerous streets or altered cityscapes of fear and destruction; instead, by examining personal testimony the article inverts traditional treatments of the blackout to look at the interior of dwellings, demonstrating how the realities of total warfare impinged upon the psychological elements that constituted the home. What emerges not only expands historical understandings of the wartime experience of civilians, it also shows civil defence measures as highly visible points on an often antagonistic trajectory of state interactions with citizens concerning the privacy and security of the dwelling in the modern city. The requirements of civil defence, I argue, were not merely the product of exceptional wartime circumstances, but symptomatic of long-standing attempts to open up dwellings to state scrutiny. These attempts had both a significant pre-war lineage and, crucially, implications beyond the end of the war in private homes and on social housing estates. © The Author [2017]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. 47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

  3. 47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

  4. 47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

  5. 47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

  6. 47 CFR 76.95 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout... priority station for one hour following the scheduled time of completion of the broadcast of a live sports...

  7. A survey of customers of space weather information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schrijver, C. J.; Rabanal, J. P.

    2013-09-01

    We present an analysis of the users of space weather information based on 2783 responses to an online survey among subscribers of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center e-mail services. The survey requested information focused on the three NOAA space weather scales: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms, and radio blackouts. Space weather information is most commonly obtained for reasons of human safety and continuity or reliability of operations. The information is primarily used for situational awareness, as aid to understand anomalies, to avoid impacts on current and near-future operations by implementing mitigating strategies, and to prepare for potential near-future impacts that might occur in conjunction with contingencies that include electric power outages or GPS perturbations. Interest in, anticipated impacts from, and responses to the three main categories of space weather are quite uniform across societal sectors. Approximately 40% of the respondents expect serious to very serious impacts from space weather events if no action were taken to mitigate or in the absence of adequate space weather information. The impacts of space weather are deemed to be substantially reduced because of the availability of, and their response to, space weather forecasts and alerts. Current and near-future space weather conditions are generally highly valued, considered useful, and generally, though not fully, adequate to avoid or mitigate societal impacts. We conclude that even among those receiving space weather information, there is considerable uncertainty about the possible impacts of space weather and thus about how to act on the space weather information that is provided.

  8. 77 FR 23161 - Onsite Emergency Response Capabilities

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-04-18

    ... entire facility. The emergency diesel generators started at all six units, providing alternating current... known as station blackout (SBO). One diesel generator remained functional on Unit 6. Despite the actions...

  9. Intelligent decision support algorithm for distribution system restoration.

    PubMed

    Singh, Reetu; Mehfuz, Shabana; Kumar, Parmod

    2016-01-01

    Distribution system is the means of revenue for electric utility. It needs to be restored at the earliest if any feeder or complete system is tripped out due to fault or any other cause. Further, uncertainty of the loads, result in variations in the distribution network's parameters. Thus, an intelligent algorithm incorporating hybrid fuzzy-grey relation, which can take into account the uncertainties and compare the sequences is discussed to analyse and restore the distribution system. The simulation studies are carried out to show the utility of the method by ranking the restoration plans for a typical distribution system. This algorithm also meets the smart grid requirements in terms of an automated restoration plan for the partial/full blackout of network.

  10. Towards designing robust coupled networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schneider, Christian M.; Yazdani, Nuri; Araújo, Nuno A. M.; Havlin, Shlomo; Herrmann, Hans J.

    2013-06-01

    Natural and technological interdependent systems have been shown to be highly vulnerable due to cascading failures and an abrupt collapse of global connectivity under initial failure. Mitigating the risk by partial disconnection endangers their functionality. Here we propose a systematic strategy of selecting a minimum number of autonomous nodes that guarantee a smooth transition in robustness. Our method which is based on betweenness is tested on various examples including the famous 2003 electrical blackout of Italy. We show that, with this strategy, the necessary number of autonomous nodes can be reduced by a factor of five compared to a random choice. We also find that the transition to abrupt collapse follows tricritical scaling characterized by a set of exponents which is independent on the protection strategy.

  11. 78 FR 44035 - Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-23

    ... the actions stemming from the NRC's lessons- learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima..., 2011, Fukushima Dai-ichi accident in Japan. By making these documents publicly available, the NRC seeks...

  12. 48 CFR 14.402-3 - Postponement of openings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ....g., flood, fire, accident, weather conditions, strikes, or Government equipment blackout or... preclude amendment of the solicitation as prescribed in 14.208, the time specified for opening of bids will...

  13. 48 CFR 14.402-3 - Postponement of openings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ....g., flood, fire, accident, weather conditions, strikes, or Government equipment blackout or... preclude amendment of the solicitation as prescribed in 14.208, the time specified for opening of bids will...

  14. 78 FR 21275 - Station Blackout Mitigation Strategies

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-10

    ... stemming from the NRC's lessons-learned efforts associated with the March 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan. DATES: Submit comments by May 28, 2013. Comments received after this date...

  15. An adaptive reentry guidance method considering the influence of blackout zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Yu; Yao, Jianyao; Qu, Xiangju

    2018-01-01

    Reentry guidance has been researched as a popular topic because it is critical for a successful flight. In view that the existing guidance methods do not take into account the accumulated navigation error of Inertial Navigation System (INS) in the blackout zone, in this paper, an adaptive reentry guidance method is proposed to obtain the optimal reentry trajectory quickly with the target of minimum aerodynamic heating rate. The terminal error in position and attitude can be also reduced with the proposed method. In this method, the whole reentry guidance task is divided into two phases, i.e., the trajectory updating phase and the trajectory planning phase. In the first phase, the idea of model predictive control (MPC) is used, and the receding optimization procedure ensures the optimal trajectory in the next few seconds. In the trajectory planning phase, after the vehicle has flown out of the blackout zone, the optimal reentry trajectory is obtained by online planning to adapt to the navigation information. An effective swarm intelligence algorithm, i.e. pigeon inspired optimization (PIO) algorithm, is applied to obtain the optimal reentry trajectory in both of the two phases. Compared to the trajectory updating method, the proposed method can reduce the terminal error by about 30% considering both the position and attitude, especially, the terminal error of height has almost been eliminated. Besides, the PIO algorithm performs better than the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm both in the trajectory updating phase and the trajectory planning phases.

  16. SOARCA Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Long-Term Station Blackout Uncertainty Analysis: Convergence of the Uncertainty Results

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bixler, Nathan E.; Osborn, Douglas M.; Sallaberry, Cedric Jean-Marie

    2014-02-01

    This paper describes the convergence of MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System, Version 2 (MACCS2) probabilistic results of offsite consequences for the uncertainty analysis of the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) unmitigated long-term station blackout scenario at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. The consequence metrics evaluated are individual latent-cancer fatality (LCF) risk and individual early fatality risk. Consequence results are presented as conditional risk (i.e., assuming the accident occurs, risk per event) to individuals of the public as a result of the accident. In order to verify convergence for this uncertainty analysis, as recommended by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisorymore » Committee on Reactor Safeguards, a ‘high’ source term from the original population of Monte Carlo runs has been selected to be used for: (1) a study of the distribution of consequence results stemming solely from epistemic uncertainty in the MACCS2 parameters (i.e., separating the effect from the source term uncertainty), and (2) a comparison between Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) in order to validate the original results obtained with LHS. Three replicates (each using a different random seed) of size 1,000 each using LHS and another set of three replicates of size 1,000 using SRS are analyzed. The results show that the LCF risk results are well converged with either LHS or SRS sampling. The early fatality risk results are less well converged at radial distances beyond 2 miles, and this is expected due to the sparse data (predominance of “zero” results).« less

  17. 47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  18. 47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  19. 47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  20. 47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  1. 47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  2. 47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  3. 47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  4. 47 CFR 76.106 - Exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Exceptions. 76.106 Section 76.106 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  5. 47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  6. 47 CFR 76.94 - Notification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Notification. 76.94 Section 76.94 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  7. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

    Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

  8. Amnesia for violent offenses: factors underlying memory loss and recovery.

    PubMed

    Pyszora, Natalie M; Fahy, Tom; Kopelman, Michael D

    2014-01-01

    Amnesia for violent offenses is common, but little is known about underlying causes or whether memory can recover. In this study, 50 violent offenders were interviewed with neuropsychological and psychometric measures, to determine the factors that underlie amnesia and the recovery of memory in these cases. The results showed that amnesia for a violent offense was associated with crimes of passion and dissociative symptoms at the time, but not with impaired neuropsychological functioning. Long amnesic gaps were associated with a state of dissociation surrounding the offense and with previous blackouts (whether alcoholic or dissociative). Memory often recovered, either partially or completely, especially where there was a history of blackouts or a lengthy amnesic gap. Brief amnesic gaps were likely to persist, perhaps as a consequence of faulty encoding during a period of extreme emotional arousal (or red-out). © 2014 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  9. An insurance perspective on U.S. electric grid disruption costs

    DOE PAGES

    Mills, Evan; Jones, Richard B.

    2016-10-12

    Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events.more » Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.« less

  10. A matching approach to communicate through the plasma sheath surrounding a hypersonic vehicle

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gao, Xiaotian; Jiang, Binhao, E-mail: jiangbh@hit.edu.cn

    2015-06-21

    In order to overcome the communication blackout problem suffered by hypersonic vehicles, a matching approach has been proposed for the first time in this paper. It utilizes a double-positive (DPS) material layer surrounding a hypersonic vehicle antenna to match with the plasma sheath enclosing the vehicle. Analytical analysis and numerical results indicate a resonance between the matched layer and the plasma sheath will be formed to mitigate the blackout problem in some conditions. The calculated results present a perfect radiated performance of the antenna, when the match is exactly built between these two layers. The effects of the parameters ofmore » the plasma sheath have been researched by numerical methods. Based on these results, the proposed approach is easier to realize and more flexible to the varying radiated conditions in hypersonic flight comparing with other methods.« less

  11. Business interruption impacts of a terrorist attack on the electric power system of Los Angeles: customer resilience to a total blackout.

    PubMed

    Rose, Adam; Oladosu, Gbadebo; Liao, Shu-Yi

    2007-06-01

    Regional economies are highly dependent on electricity, thus making their power supply systems attractive terrorist targets. We estimate the largest category of economic losses from electricity outages-business interruption-in the context of a total blackout of electricity in Los Angeles. We advance the state of the art in the estimation of the two factors that strongly influence the losses: indirect effects and resilience. The results indicate that indirect effects in the context of general equilibrium analysis are moderate in size. The stronger factor, and one that pushes in the opposite direction, is resilience. Our analysis indicates that electricity customers have the ability to mute the potential shock to their business operations by as much as 86%. Moreover, market resilience lowers the losses, in part through the dampening of general equilibrium effects.

  12. Space shuttle entry and landing navigation analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, H. L.; Crawford, B. S.

    1974-01-01

    A navigation system for the entry phase of a Space Shuttle mission which is an aided-inertial system which uses a Kalman filter to mix IMU data with data derived from external navigation aids is evaluated. A drag pseudo-measurement used during radio blackout is treated as an additional external aid. A comprehensive truth model with 101 states is formulated and used to generate detailed error budgets at several significant time points -- end-of-blackout, start of final approach, over runway threshold, and touchdown. Sensitivity curves illustrating the effect of variations in the size of individual error sources on navigation accuracy are presented. The sensitivity of the navigation system performance to filter modifications is analyzed. The projected overall performance is shown in the form of time histories of position and velocity error components. The detailed results are summarized and interpreted, and suggestions are made concerning possible software improvements.

  13. The Rising Frequency of IT Blackouts Indicates the Increasing Relevance of IT Emergency Concepts to Ensure Patient Safety

    PubMed Central

    Sax, U.; Lipprandt, M.

    2016-01-01

    Summary Introduction As many medical workflows depend vastly on IT support, great demands are placed on the availability and accuracy of the applications involved. The cases of IT failure through ransomware at the beginning of 2016 are impressive examples of the dependence of clinical processes on IT. Although IT risk management attempts to reduce the risk of IT blackouts, the probability of partial/total data loss, or even worse, data falsification, is not zero. The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art with respect to strategies, processes, and governance to deal with the failure of IT systems. Methods This article is conducted as a narrative review. Results Worst case scenarios are needed, dealing with methods as to how to survive the downtime of clinical systems, for example through alternative workflows. These workflows have to be trained regularly. We categorize the most important types of IT system failure, assess the usefulness of classic counter measures, and state that most risk management approaches fall short on exactly this matter. Conclusion To ensure that continuous, evidence-based improvements to the recommendations for IT emergency concepts are made, it is essential that IT blackouts and IT disasters are reported, analyzed, and critically discussed. This requires changing from a culture of shame and blame to one of error and safety in healthcare IT. This change is finding its way into other disciplines in medicine. In addition, systematically planned and analyzed simulations of IT disaster may assist in IT emergency concept development. PMID:27830241

  14. The Rising Frequency of IT Blackouts Indicates the Increasing Relevance of IT Emergency Concepts to Ensure Patient Safety.

    PubMed

    Sax, Ulrich; Lipprandt, M; Röhrig, R

    2016-11-10

    As many medical workflows depend vastly on IT support, great demands are placed on the availability and accuracy of the applications involved. The cases of IT failure through ransomware at the beginning of 2016 are impressive examples of the dependence of clinical processes on IT. Although IT risk management attempts to reduce the risk of IT blackouts, the probability of partial/total data loss, or even worse, data falsification, is not zero. The objective of this paper is to present the state of the art with respect to strategies, processes, and governance to deal with the failure of IT systems. This article is conducted as a narrative review. Worst case scenarios are needed, dealing with methods as to how to survive the downtime of clinical systems, for example through alternative workflows. These workflows have to be trained regularly. We categorize the most important types of IT system failure, assess the usefulness of classic counter measures, and state that most risk management approaches fall short on exactly this matter. To ensure that continuous, evidence-based improvements to the recommendations for IT emergency concepts are made, it is essential that IT blackouts and IT disasters are reported, analyzed, and critically discussed. This requires changing from a culture of shame and blame to one of error and safety in healthcare IT. This change is finding its way into other disciplines in medicine. In addition, systematically planned and analyzed simulations of IT disaster may assist in IT emergency concept development.

  15. Two New R&D 100 Awards Uphold NREL Winning Streak - Continuum Magazine |

    Science.gov Websites

    -effective and meet the demand for power. Solution: NREL, in partnership with Solar Junction, a manufacturer escalating power costs, brownouts, and rolling blackouts. Solution: NREL and its partners, AILR Research, Inc

  16. 47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  17. 47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  18. 47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  19. As Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Increases, So Does Impairment | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

    MedlinePlus

    ... Impairment – 0.16 - 0.30% Speech, memory, coordination, attention, reaction time, balance significantly impaired All driving-related skills dangerously impaired Judgement and decision making dangerously impaired Blackouts (amnesia) Vomiting and other signs ...

  20. 47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  1. 47 CFR 76.107 - Exclusivity contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Exclusivity contracts. 76.107 Section 76.107 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout...

  2. Hurdling barriers through market uncertainty: Case studies ininnovative technology adoption

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Payne, Christopher T.; Radspieler Jr., Anthony; Payne, Jack

    The crisis atmosphere surrounding electricity availability in California during the summer of 2001 produced two distinct phenomena in commercial energy consumption decision-making: desires to guarantee energy availability while blackouts were still widely anticipated, and desires to avoid or mitigate significant price increases when higher commercial electricity tariffs took effect. The climate of increased consideration of these factors seems to have led, in some cases, to greater willingness on the part of business decision-makers to consider highly innovative technologies. This paper examines three case studies of innovative technology adoption: retrofit of time-and-temperature signs on an office building; installation of fuel cellsmore » to supply power, heating, and cooling to the same building; and installation of a gas-fired heat pump at a microbrewery. We examine the decision process that led to adoption of these technologies. In each case, specific constraints had made more conventional energy-efficient technologies inapplicable. We examine how these barriers to technology adoption developed over time, how the California energy decision-making climate combined with the characteristics of these innovative technologies to overcome the barriers, and what the implications of hurdling these barriers are for future energy decisions within the firms.« less

  3. Visceral predictors of cardiovascular deconditioning in late middle-aged men

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldwater, D. J.; De Roshia, C.; Natelson, B. H.; Levin, B. E.

    1985-01-01

    A number of visceral and behavioral factors connected with cardiovascular deconditioning were investigated, in order to identify a method for predicting the degree of orthostatic intolerance to spaceflight in several late-middle-aged men (55-65 years). Preliminary measurements were made of: mean arterial blood pressure plasma cortisol levels; and norepinephrine levels. Measurements of core temperature; plasma epinephrine level and subjective arousal from sleep were also obtained. Pairwise correlations were found for each of the variables and the time-to-blackout due centrifugal acceleration of up to +3 Gz. It is shown that the men with relatively low resting blood pressure were at greater risk of developing the clinical signs of cardiovascular deconditioning than were the men with higher basal blood pressure. Some applications of the experimental results to the development of selection criteria for Shuttle crews are discussed.

  4. Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Detection in Low-Income, High-Rise Apartments Using Four or Fewer Passive Monitors.

    PubMed

    Vail, K M; Chandler, J G

    2017-06-01

    Bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., management in low-income, high-rise housing for the elderly and disabled can be difficult. Early detection is key to slowing their spread, and reducing management cost and time needed for control. To determine the minimum number of passive monitors needed to detect low-level bed bug infestations in this environment, we evaluated three monitors placed one, two, or four per apartment in a 3 by 3 experimental design. One sticky monitor, The Bedbug Detection System, and the two pitfall monitors, ClimbUp Insect Interceptors BG and BlackOut BedBug Detectors, were evaluated. Bed bugs were trapped by the ClimbUp Insect Interceptors BG and the BlackOut BedBug Detector in 88% and 79% of apartments, respectively, but only in 39% of the apartments monitored with The Bedbug Detection System. The Bedbug Detection System required significantly longer time to detect bed bugs than either the ClimbUp Insect Interceptor BG or the BlackOut BedBug Detector. With the less effective Bedbug Detection System data removed from analyses, detection rates ranged from 80 to 90%, with no significant differences among one, two, or four monitors per apartment. Results indicate it is especially important to include a bed placement when only placing a few monitors. Future work should compare the combination of cursory visual inspections with various monitor numbers and placements per apartment to determine the most efficient, cost-effective system that will be accepted and implemented in low-income housing. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Demonstration of fully coupled simplified extended station black-out accident simulation with RELAP-7

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin; Zou, Ling

    2014-10-01

    The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The RELAP-7 code develop-ment effort started in October of 2011 and by the end of the second development year, a number of physical components with simplified two phase flow capability have been de-veloped to support the simplified boiling water reactor (BWR) extended station blackout (SBO) analyses. The demonstration case includes the major components for the primary system of a BWR, as well as the safety system components for the safety relief valve (SRV), the reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC)more » system, and the wet well. Three scenar-ios for the SBO simulations have been considered. Since RELAP-7 is not a severe acci-dent analysis code, the simulation stops when fuel clad temperature reaches damage point. Scenario I represents an extreme station blackout accident without any external cooling and cooling water injection. The system pressure is controlled by automatically releasing steam through SRVs. Scenario II includes the RCIC system but without SRV. The RCIC system is fully coupled with the reactor primary system and all the major components are dynamically simulated. The third scenario includes both the RCIC system and the SRV to provide a more realistic simulation. This paper will describe the major models and dis-cuss the results for the three scenarios. The RELAP-7 simulations for the three simplified SBO scenarios show the importance of dynamically simulating the SRVs, the RCIC sys-tem, and the wet well system to the reactor safety during extended SBO accidents.« less

  6. Investigation of the possibility of using residual heat reactor energy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aminov, R. Z.; Yurin, V. E.; Bessonov, V. N.

    2017-11-01

    The largest contribution to the probable frequency of core damage is blackout events. The main component of the heat capacity at each reactor within a few minutes following a blackout is the heat resulting from the braking of beta-particles and the transfer of gamma-ray energy by the fission fragments and their decay products, which is known as the residual heat. The power of the residual heat changes gradually over a long period of time and for a VVER-1000 reactor is about 15-20 MW of thermal power over 72 hours. Current cooldown systems increase the cost of the basic nuclear power plants (NPP) funds without changing the amount of electricity generated. Such systems remain on standby, accelerating the aging of the equipment and accordingly reducing its reliability. The probability of system failure increases with the duration of idle time. Furthermore, the reactor residual heat energy is not used. A proposed system for cooling nuclear power plants involves the use of residual thermal power to supply the station’s own needs in emergency situations accompanied by a complete blackout. The thermal power of residual heat can be converted to electrical energy through an additional low power steam turbine. In normal mode, the additional steam turbine generates electricity, which makes it possible to ensure spare NPP and a return on the investment in the reservation system. In this work, experimental data obtained from a Balakovo NPP was analyzed to determine the admissibility of cooldown of the reactors through the 2nd circuit over a long time period, while maintaining high-level parameters for the steam generated by the steam generators.

  7. Effect of a blackout in pediatric patients with home medical devices during the 2011 eastern Japan earthquake.

    PubMed

    Nakayama, Tojo; Tanaka, Soichiro; Uematsu, Mitsugu; Kikuchi, Atsuo; Hino-Fukuyo, Naomi; Morimoto, Tetsuji; Sakamoto, Osamu; Tsuchiya, Shigeru; Kure, Shigeo

    2014-02-01

    during the eastern Japan earthquake in 2011 and the following prolonged blackout, pediatric patients with home medical devices sought electricity at the pediatric department. We retrospectively studied the effect of this earthquake and the following blackout. we hand-reviewed pediatric admission records in Tohoku University Hospital for new inpatients attributed to the earthquake from March 11, 2011 to April 12, 2011. A survey by questionnaire regarding the situation during the earthquake was performed for parents of technology-assisted patients. during the study period, 24 pediatric patients were admitted to the pediatric department. Eighteen technology-assisted pediatric patients, including those with home respirators, accounted for 75% of new pediatric admissions. Patients who were admitted for electricity shortage stayed in the hospital for a mean of 11.0days (3-25days). The questionnaire survey showed that 55% of technology-assisted patients were admitted to medical centers for evacuation. The majority of patients (89%) with ventilators were eventually admitted to medical centers during the earthquake. Most of the parents of technology-assisted patients experienced a prolonged petrol shortage and difficulty in communications with medical centers. the current study suggests that technology-assisted pediatric patients with neurological disorders as the primary disease can overwhelm the capacity of hospital inpatient facilities in certain situations. Disaster preparedness should consider assuring power requirements in healthcare facilities and preparing backup power generators lasting for at least 24h for these patients. Preparing alternative measures for emergent electricity and communications could remedy serious conditions during a disaster. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Final Report: Assessment of Combined Heat and Power Premium Power Applications in California

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Norwood, Zack; Lipman, Tim; Marnay, Chris

    2008-09-30

    This report analyzes the current economic and environmental performance of combined heat and power (CHP) systems in power interruption intolerant commercial facilities. Through a series of three case studies, key trade-offs are analyzed with regard to the provision of black-out ridethrough capability with the CHP systems and the resutling ability to avoid the need for at least some diesel backup generator capacity located at the case study sites. Each of the selected sites currently have a CHP or combined heating, cooling, and power (CCHP) system in addition to diesel backup generators. In all cases the CHP/CCHP system have a smallmore » fraction of the electrical capacity of the diesel generators. Although none of the selected sites currently have the ability to run the CHP systems as emergency backup power, all could be retrofitted to provide this blackout ride-through capability, and new CHP systems can be installed with this capability. The following three sites/systems were used for this analysis: (1) Sierra Nevada Brewery - Using 1MW of installed Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells operating on a combination of digestor gas (from the beer brewing process) and natural gas, this facility can produce electricty and heat for the brewery and attached bottling plant. The major thermal load on-site is to keep the brewing tanks at appropriate temperatures. (2) NetApp Data Center - Using 1.125 MW of Hess Microgen natural gas fired reciprocating engine-generators, with exhaust gas and jacket water heat recovery attached to over 300 tons of of adsorption chillers, this combined cooling and power system provides electricity and cooling to a data center with a 1,200 kW peak electrical load. (3) Kaiser Permanente Hayward Hospital - With 180kW of Tecogen natural gas fired reciprocating engine-generators this CHP system generates steam for space heating, and hot water for a city hospital. For all sites, similar assumptions are made about the economic and technological constraints of the power generation system. Using the Distributed Energy Resource Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM) developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we model three representative scenarios and find the optimal operation scheduling, yearly energy cost, and energy technology investments for each scenario below: Scenario 1 - Diesel generators and CHP/CCHP equipment as installed in the current facility. Scenario 1 represents a baseline forced investment in currently installed energy equipment. Scenario 2 - Existing CHP equipment installed with blackout ride-through capability to replace approximately the same capacity of diesel generators. In Scenario 2 the cost of the replaced diesel units is saved, however additional capital cost for the controls and switchgear for blackout ride-through capability is necessary. Scenario 3 - Fully optimized site analysis, allowing DER-CAM to specify the number of diesel and CHP/CCHP units (with blackout ride-through capability) that should be installed ignoring any constraints on backup generation. Scenario 3 allows DER-CAM to optimize scheduling and number of generation units from the currently available technologies at a particular site. The results of this analysis, using real data to model the optimal schedulding of hypothetical and actual CHP systems for a brewery, data center, and hospital, lead to some interesting conclusions. First, facilities with high heating loads will typically prove to be the most appropriate for CHP installation from a purely economic standpoint. Second, absorption/adsorption cooling systems may only be economically feasible if the technology for these chillers can increase above current best system efficiency. At a coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.8, for instance, an adsorption chiller paired with a natural gas generator with waste heat recovery at a facility with large cooling loads, like a data center, will cost no less on a yearly basis than purchasing electricity and natural gas directly from a utility. Third, at marginal additional cost, if the reliability of CHP systems proves to be at least as high as diesel generators (which we expect to be the case), the CHP system could replace the diesel generator at little or no additional cost. This is true if the thermal to electric (relative) load of those facilities was already high enough to economically justify a CHP system. Last, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the modeled CHP and CCHP systems provide some degree of decreased emissions relative to systems with less CHP installed. The emission reduction can be up to 10% in the optimized case (Scenario 3) in the application with the highest relative thermal load, in this case the hospital. Although these results should be qualified because they are only based on the three case studies, the general results and lessons learned are expected to be applicable across a broad range of potential and existing CCHP systems.« less

  9. Alcohol Problems in Alaska Natives: Lessons from the Inuit

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seale, J. Paul; Shellenberger, Sylvia; Spence, John

    2006-01-01

    In this Alaska Native study, cultural "insiders" analyzed problems associated with increased alcohol availability, factors which have reduced alcohol-related problems, and ideas for improving treatment in an Inuit community. Participants described frequent bingeing, blackouts, family violence, suicide, loss of child custody, and feelings…

  10. 47 CFR 76.122 - Satellite network non-duplication.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Satellite network non-duplication. 76.122... MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.122 Satellite network non-duplication. (a) Upon receiving notification pursuant to...

  11. 47 CFR 76.122 - Satellite network non-duplication.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Satellite network non-duplication. 76.122... MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.122 Satellite network non-duplication. (a) Upon receiving notification pursuant to...

  12. 76 FR 28168 - Securities of Nonmember Insured Banks

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-16

    ... November 30, 2010. The final rule adopts amendments to the FDIC's securities disclosure regulations... bonuses and profits), 306 (insider trades during blackout periods), 401(b) (disclosure of pro forma... financial officers), and 407 (disclosure of audit committee financial experts) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act...

  13. Lights out: Impact of the August 2003 power outage on mortality in New York, NY

    PubMed Central

    Anderson, G. Brooke; Bell, Michelle L.

    2012-01-01

    Background Little is known about how power outages affect health. We investigated mortality effects of the largest US blackout to date, August 14–15, 2003 in New York, NY. Methods We estimated mortality risk in New York, NY, using a generalized linear model with data from 1987–2005. We incorporated possible confounders, including weather and long-term and seasonal mortality trends. Results During the blackout, mortality increased for accidental deaths (122% [95% confidence interval = 28%–287%]) and non-accidental (i.e., disease-related) deaths (25% [12%–41%]), resulting in approximately 90 excess deaths. Increased mortality was not from deaths being advanced by a few days; rather, mortality risk remained slightly elevated through August 2003. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of power outages and non-accidental mortality. Understanding the impact of power outages on human health is relevant, given that increased energy demand and climate change are likely to put added strain on power grids. PMID:22252408

  14. Understanding the response of commercial and institutional organizations to the California energy crisis. A report to the California Energy Commission - Sylvia Bender, Project Manager

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lutzenhiser, Loren; Janda, Kathryn; Kunkle, Rick

    2002-07-24

    Beginning in the summer of 2000, California experienced serious energy supply problems, sharp increases in wholesale (and retail) electricity and natural gas prices, and isolated blackouts. In response to the rapidly worsening electricity situation in California in late 2000, the state set, as an initial goal, the reduction of the state's peak demand for the summer of 2001 by 5,000 megawatts. To meet this goal, the governor and legislature took a variety of steps to enhance supply, encourage rapid voluntary reductions in demand, and provide incentives for actions that would result in load reductions. Three bills-Assembly Bill 970, Senate Billmore » X1 5 and Assembly Bill X1 29-allocated roughly $950 million for consumption and demand reduction programs. The governor also enacted a variety of additional measures, including the ''Flex Your Power'' (media awareness and direct business involvement) campaign, requirements for retail sector outdoor lighting reductions, and toughening of energy efficiency building codes. There were, in fact, significant reductions in electricity demand in California during the summer of 2001 and the large number of expected supply disruptions was avoided. To understand the nature of these demand reductions and the motivations for consumer response, Washington State University (WSU) undertook a study for the California Energy Commission (CEC) focusing on conservation behavior in the residential, commercial, and agricultural sectors. The research presented in this report represents an exploration of the response of commercial and institutional organizations to the California energy situation and the unique set of influences that existed during this time. These influences included informational messages and media attention, program interventions, price changes, and external triggering events (e.g., blackouts). To better understand the effects of these influences on organizational response to the energy situation, we conducted 84 semi-structured inter views with members of commercial and institutional organizations (many of which participated in three different California Energy Commission Programs) and with 21 key informants representing program managers, administrators, and aggregators as well as a small number of energy service providers and utilities. Separate reports examine the consumer response in the residential and agricultural sectors.« less

  15. Aerobot Autonomy Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Elfes, Alberto; Hall, Jeffery L.; Kulczycki, Eric A.; Cameron, Jonathan M.; Morfopoulos, Arin C.; Clouse, Daniel S.; Montgomery, James F.; Ansar, Adnan I.; Machuzak, Richard J.

    2009-01-01

    An architecture for autonomous operation of an aerobot (i.e., a robotic blimp) to be used in scientific exploration of planets and moons in the Solar system with an atmosphere (such as Titan and Venus) is undergoing development. This architecture is also applicable to autonomous airships that could be flown in the terrestrial atmosphere for scientific exploration, military reconnaissance and surveillance, and as radio-communication relay stations in disaster areas. The architecture was conceived to satisfy requirements to perform the following functions: a) Vehicle safing, that is, ensuring the integrity of the aerobot during its entire mission, including during extended communication blackouts. b) Accurate and robust autonomous flight control during operation in diverse modes, including launch, deployment of scientific instruments, long traverses, hovering or station-keeping, and maneuvers for touch-and-go surface sampling. c) Mapping and self-localization in the absence of a global positioning system. d) Advanced recognition of hazards and targets in conjunction with tracking of, and visual servoing toward, targets, all to enable the aerobot to detect and avoid atmospheric and topographic hazards and to identify, home in on, and hover over predefined terrain features or other targets of scientific interest. The architecture is an integrated combination of systems for accurate and robust vehicle and flight trajectory control; estimation of the state of the aerobot; perception-based detection and avoidance of hazards; monitoring of the integrity and functionality ("health") of the aerobot; reflexive safing actions; multi-modal localization and mapping; autonomous planning and execution of scientific observations; and long-range planning and monitoring of the mission of the aerobot. The prototype JPL aerobot (see figure) has been tested extensively in various areas in the California Mojave desert.

  16. 47 CFR 76.93 - Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Parties entitled to network non-duplication... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.93 Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection...

  17. 47 CFR 76.92 - Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Cable network non-duplication; extent of... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.92 Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection. (a...

  18. 47 CFR 76.93 - Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Parties entitled to network non-duplication... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.93 Parties entitled to network non-duplication protection...

  19. 47 CFR 76.92 - Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Cable network non-duplication; extent of... RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Network Non-duplication Protection, Syndicated Exclusivity and Sports Blackout § 76.92 Cable network non-duplication; extent of protection. (a...

  20. ESBWR response to an extended station blackout/loss of all AC power

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Barrett, A. J.; Marquino, W.

    2012-07-01

    U.S. federal regulations require light water cooled nuclear power plants to cope with Station Blackouts for a predetermined amount of time based on design factors for the plant. U.S. regulations define Station Blackout (SBO) as a loss of the offsite electric power system concurrent with turbine trip and unavailability of the onsite emergency AC power system. According to U.S. regulations, typically the coping period for an SBO is 4 hours and can be as long as 16 hours for currently operating BWR plants. Being able to cope with an SBO and loss of all AC power is required by internationalmore » regulators as well. The U.S. licensing basis for the ESBWR is a coping period of 72 hours for an SBO based on U.S. NRC requirements for passive safety plants. In the event of an extended SBO (viz., greater than 72 hours), the ESBWR response shows that the design is able to cope with the event for at least 7 days without AC electrical power or operator action. ESBWR is a Generation III+ reactor design with an array of passive safety systems. The ESBWR primary success path for mitigation of an SBO event is the Isolation Condenser System (ICS). The ICS is a passive, closed loop, safety system that initiates automatically on a loss of power. Upon Station Blackout or loss of all AC power, the ICS begins removing decay heat from the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) by (i) condensing the steam into water in heat exchangers located in pools of water above the containment, and (ii) transferring the decay heat to the atmosphere. The condensed water is then returned by gravity to cool the reactor again. The ICS alone is capable of maintaining the ESBWR in a safe shutdown condition after an SBO for an extended period. The fuel remains covered throughout the SBO event. The ICS is able to remove decay heat from the RPV for at least 7 days and maintains the reactor in a safe shutdown condition. The water level in the RPV remains well above the top of active fuel for the duration of the SBO event. Beyond 7 days, only a few simple actions are needed to cope with the SBO for an indefinite amount of time. The operation of the ICS as the primary success path for mitigation of an SBO, allows for near immediate plant restart once power is restored. (authors)« less

  1. The equal load-sharing model of cascade failures in power grids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scala, Antonio; De Sanctis Lucentini, Pier Giorgio

    2016-11-01

    Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing power demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into ;super-grids;.

  2. Abruptness of Cascade Failures in Power Grids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

    2014-01-01

    Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into ``super-grids''.

  3. Abruptness of cascade failures in power grids.

    PubMed

    Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

    2014-01-15

    Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into "super-grids".

  4. Abruptness of Cascade Failures in Power Grids

    PubMed Central

    Pahwa, Sakshi; Scoglio, Caterina; Scala, Antonio

    2014-01-01

    Electric power-systems are one of the most important critical infrastructures. In recent years, they have been exposed to extreme stress due to the increasing demand, the introduction of distributed renewable energy sources, and the development of extensive interconnections. We investigate the phenomenon of abrupt breakdown of an electric power-system under two scenarios: load growth (mimicking the ever-increasing customer demand) and power fluctuations (mimicking the effects of renewable sources). Our results on real, realistic and synthetic networks indicate that increasing the system size causes breakdowns to become more abrupt; in fact, mapping the system to a solvable statistical-physics model indicates the occurrence of a first order transition in the large size limit. Such an enhancement for the systemic risk failures (black-outs) with increasing network size is an effect that should be considered in the current projects aiming to integrate national power-grids into “super-grids”. PMID:24424239

  5. 38 CFR 38.618 - Findings concerning commission of a capital crime where a person has not been convicted due to...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... commission of a capital crime where a person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid... of a capital crime where a person has not been convicted due to death or flight to avoid prosecution... unavailability for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution, the cemetery director, with the assistance...

  6. You're Distracted. This Professor Can Help

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parry, Marc

    2013-01-01

    The e-mail drill was one of numerous mind-training exercises in a unique class designed to raise students' awareness about how they use their digital tools. Colleges have experimented with short-term social-media blackouts in the past. But Ms. Hill's course, "Information and Contemplation," goes way further. Participants scrutinize their…

  7. 17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 4 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

  8. 17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

  9. 17 CFR 245.100 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Definitions. 245.100 Section... BLACKOUT TRADING RESTRICTION § 245.100 Definitions. As used in Regulation BTR (§§ 245.100 through 245.104... issuer), means any period of more than three consecutive business days during which the ability to...

  10. The Blackout of Native American Cultural Achievements.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogel, Virgil J.

    1987-01-01

    Notes that American Indian achievements are overlooked and even specifically denied in the face of overwhelming evidence of their reality. Examines the denials of Indian originality in three specific matters that have been controversial in recent decades: medicine, the manufacture of maple syrup, and the use of fertilizer. (JHZ)

  11. Do Conditional Reinforcers Count?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davison, Michael; Baum, William M.

    2006-01-01

    Six pigeons were trained on a procedure in which seven components arranged different food-delivery ratios on concurrent variable-interval schedules each session. The components were unsignaled, lasted for 10 food deliveries, and occurred in random order with a 60-s blackout between components. The schedules were arranged using a switching-key…

  12. A QUANTITATIVE MEASURE FOR PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    HOLLAND, JAMES G.

    IN AN ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE AN OBJECTIVE MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING THE DEGREE TO WHICH MATERIAL CAN BE TECHNICALLY TERMED "PROGRAMMED", THE SO-CALLED "BLACKOUT" TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED. ALL WORDS IN A PROGRAM WHICH ARE NOT DIRECTLY NEEDED IN ORDER TO PROVIDE THE REQUIRED ANSWERS ARE COVERED WITH BLACK CRAYON, AND THIS EDITED…

  13. Quantifying Improbability: An Analysis of the Lloyd’s of London Business Blackout Cyber Attack Scenario

    DTIC Science & Technology

    Scenarios that describe cyber attacks on the electric grid consistently predict significant disruptions to the economy and citizens quality of life...phenomena that deserve further investigation, such as the importance of some individual power plants in influencing the adversarys probability of

  14. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sarrao, J.; Kwok, W-K; Bozovic, I.

    As an energy carrier, electricity has no rival with regard to its environmental cleanliness, flexibility in interfacing with multiple production sources and end uses, and efficiency of delivery. In fact, the electric power grid was named ?the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th century? by the National Academy of Engineering. This grid, a technological marvel ingeniously knitted together from local networks growing out from cities and rural centers, may be the biggest and most complex artificial system ever built. However, the growing demand for electricity will soon challenge the grid beyond its capability, compromising its reliability through voltage fluctuations thatmore » crash digital electronics, brownouts that disable industrial processes and harm electrical equipment, and power failures like the North American blackout in 2003 and subsequent blackouts in London, Scandinavia, and Italy in the same year. The North American blackout affected 50 million people and caused approximately $6 billion in economic damage over the four days of its duration. Superconductivity offers powerful new opportunities for restoring the reliability of the power grid and increasing its capacity and efficiency. Superconductors are capable of carrying current without loss, making the parts of the grid they replace dramatically more efficient. Superconducting wires carry up to five times the current carried by copper wires that have the same cross section, thereby providing ample capacity for future expansion while requiring no increase in the number of overhead access lines or underground conduits. Their use is especially attractive in urban areas, where replacing copper with superconductors in power-saturated underground conduits avoids expensive new underground construction. Superconducting transformers cut the volume, weight, and losses of conventional transformers by a factor of two and do not require the contaminating and flammable transformer oils that violate urban safety codes. Unlike traditional grid technology, superconducting fault current limiters are smart. They increase their resistance abruptly in response to overcurrents from faults in the system, thus limiting the overcurrents and protecting the grid from damage. They react fast in both triggering and automatically resetting after the overload is cleared, providing a new, self-healing feature that enhances grid reliability. Superconducting reactive power regulators further enhance reliability by instantaneously adjusting reactive power for maximum efficiency and stability in a compact and economic package that is easily sited in urban grids. Not only do superconducting motors and generators cut losses, weight, and volume by a factor of two, but they are also much more tolerant of voltage sag, frequency instabilities, and reactive power fluctuations than their conventional counterparts. The challenge facing the electricity grid to provide abundant, reliable power will soon grow to crisis proportions. Continuing urbanization remains the dominant historic demographic trend in the United States and in the world. By 2030, nearly 90% of the U.S. population will reside in cities and suburbs, where increasingly strict permitting requirements preclude bringing in additional overhead access lines, underground cables are saturated, and growth in power demand is highest. The power grid has never faced a challenge so great or so critical to our future productivity, economic growth, and quality of life. Incremental advances in existing grid technology are not capable of solving the urban power bottleneck. Revolutionary new solutions are needed ? the kind that come only from superconductivity.« less

  15. Using backup generators for meeting peak electricity demand: a sensitivity analysis on emission controls, location, and health endpoints.

    PubMed

    Gilmore, Elisabeth A; Adams, Peter J; Lave, Lester B

    2010-05-01

    Generators installed for backup power during blackouts could help satisfy peak electricity demand; however, many are diesel generators with nonnegligible air emissions that may damage air quality and human health. The full (private and social) cost of using diesel generators with and without emission control retrofits for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were compared with a new natural gas turbine peaking plant. Lower private costs were found for the backup generators because the capital costs are mostly ascribed to reliability. To estimate the social costs from air quality, the changes in ambient concentrations of ozone (O3) and PM2.5 were modeled using the Particulate Matter Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (PMCAMx) chemical transport model. These air quality changes were translated to their equivalent human health effects using concentration-response functions and then into dollars using estimates of "willingness-to-pay" to avoid ill health. As a case study, 1000 MW of backup generation operating for 12 hr/day for 6 days in each of four eastern U.S. cities (Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and New York) was modeled. In all cities, modeled PM2.5 concentrations increased (up to 5 microg/m3) due mainly to primary emissions. Smaller increases and decreases were observed for secondary PM2.5 with more variation between cities. Increases in NOx, emissions resulted in significant nitrate formation (up to 1 microg/m3) in Atlanta and Chicago. The NOx emissions also caused O3 decreases in the urban centers and increases in the surrounding areas. For PM2.5, a social cost of approximately $2/kWh was calculated for uncontrolled diesel generators in highly populated cities but was under 10 cent/kWh with PM2.5 and NOx controls. On a full cost basis, it was found that properly controlled diesel generators are cost-effective for meeting peak electricity demand. The authors recommend NOx and PM2.5 controls.

  16. Wulff Dieter Heintz (1930-2006)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Augensen, Harry J.; Mason, Brian D.; Hartkopf, William I.

    2007-08-01

    Wulff Dieter Heintz, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Swarthmore College, passed away at his home on 10 June 2006, following a two-year battle with lung cancer. He had just turned 76 a week earlier. Wulff was one of the leading authorities on visual double stars, and was also a chess master. A prominent educator, researcher, and scholar, Wulff was noted for being both succinct and meticulous in everything he did. Wulff Heintz was born on 3 June 1930 in Wcorrectly” using his right hand, and so he became ambidextrous. During the 1930s, Wulff's family saw the rise of Adolph Hitler and lived under the repressive Nazi regime. Conditions were austere, and it was often difficult to find fuel to keep the house warm. As a teenager during World War II, Wulff listened to his family radio for any news from the outside world. He used to say that he loved the blackouts during the bombing runs because it made it much easier to see the stars. One night, an incendiary bomb landed on the roof of his family home, and Wulff climbed up to the roof and extinguished it. The next morning, he saw that his high school had been completely leveled by Allied bombs. As Germany continued to suffer massive losses on the Russian Front, primarily due to unexpectedly severe winters, teenage boys were inducted into the military and sent off to replenish the troops. To avoid an uncertain fate, Wulff hid out in a farmhouse in the countryside outside Munich. When the Allied troops invaded Germany in 1945, the young Wulff volunteered to translate information from the American and British soldiers to the local villagers. During this time, the soldiers taught Wulff how to smoke cigarettes, a habit which he continued until his final days, even after having been diagnosed with lung cancer.

  17. Modernizing Distribution System Restoration to Achieve Grid Resiliency Against Extreme Weather Events: An Integrated Solution

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chen, Chen; Wang, Jianhui; Ton, Dan

    Recent severe power outages caused by extreme weather hazards have highlighted the importance and urgency of improving the resilience of the electric power grid. As the distribution grids still remain vulnerable to natural disasters, the power industry has focused on methods of restoring distribution systems after disasters in an effective and quick manner. The current distribution system restoration practice for utilities is mainly based on predetermined priorities and tends to be inefficient and suboptimal, and the lack of situational awareness after the hazard significantly delays the restoration process. As a result, customers may experience an extended blackout, which causes largemore » economic loss. On the other hand, the emerging advanced devices and technologies enabled through grid modernization efforts have the potential to improve the distribution system restoration strategy. However, utilizing these resources to aid the utilities in better distribution system restoration decision-making in response to extreme weather events is a challenging task. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated solution: a distribution system restoration decision support tool designed by leveraging resources developed for grid modernization. We first review the current distribution restoration practice and discuss why it is inadequate in response to extreme weather events. Then we describe how the grid modernization efforts could benefit distribution system restoration, and we propose an integrated solution in the form of a decision support tool to achieve the goal. The advantages of the solution include improving situational awareness of the system damage status and facilitating survivability for customers. The paper provides a comprehensive review of how the existing methodologies in the literature could be leveraged to achieve the key advantages. The benefits of the developed system restoration decision support tool include the optimal and efficient allocation of repair crews and resources, the expediting of the restoration process, and the reduction of outage durations for customers, in response to severe blackouts due to extreme weather hazards.« less

  18. Effects of optimism on creativity under approach and avoidance motivation

    PubMed Central

    Icekson, Tamar; Roskes, Marieke; Moran, Simone

    2014-01-01

    Focusing on avoiding failure or negative outcomes (avoidance motivation) can undermine creativity, due to cognitive (e.g., threat appraisals), affective (e.g., anxiety), and volitional processes (e.g., low intrinsic motivation). This can be problematic for people who are avoidance motivated by nature and in situations in which threats or potential losses are salient. Here, we review the relation between avoidance motivation and creativity, and the processes underlying this relation. We highlight the role of optimism as a potential remedy for the creativity undermining effects of avoidance motivation, due to its impact on the underlying processes. Optimism, expecting to succeed in achieving success or avoiding failure, may reduce negative effects of avoidance motivation, as it eases threat appraisals, anxiety, and disengagement—barriers playing a key role in undermining creativity. People experience these barriers more under avoidance than under approach motivation, and beneficial effects of optimism should therefore be more pronounced under avoidance than approach motivation. Moreover, due to their eagerness, approach motivated people may even be more prone to unrealistic over-optimism and its negative consequences. PMID:24616690

  19. Tents and Shelters

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-07-15

    Electromagnetic Interference ( EMI ), Transportability, Environmental, Human Factors Engineering (HFE), Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM), and...vehicles and trailers to store, protect, and secure equipment, tools, and other theft-prone items. CBCs are designed not to interfere with the carrier’s...Transportability Test Facility. d. Electromagnetic Interference ( EMI ) Test Facility. e. Areas capable of conducting Blackout, Sound, Sand and Dust tests

  20. 47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... stations within whose specified zone the community of the community unit or the community within which the... other than major markets as defined in § 76.51, television broadcast stations within whose Grade B... specified zone. [65 FR 68101, Nov. 14, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 68951, Nov. 14, 2002] ...

  1. 47 CFR 76.128 - Application of sports blackout rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... stations within whose specified zone the community of the community unit or the community within which the... other than major markets as defined in § 76.51, television broadcast stations within whose Grade B... specified zone. [65 FR 68101, Nov. 14, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 68951, Nov. 14, 2002] ...

  2. Non-iterative Voltage Stability

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Makarov, Yuri V.; Vyakaranam, Bharat; Hou, Zhangshuan

    2014-09-30

    This report demonstrates promising capabilities and performance characteristics of the proposed method using several power systems models. The new method will help to develop a new generation of highly efficient tools suitable for real-time parallel implementation. The ultimate benefit obtained will be early detection of system instability and prevention of system blackouts in real time.

  3. 17 CFR 245.101 - Prohibition of insider trading during pension fund blackout periods.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... equity securities in connection with a merger, acquisition, divestiture or similar transaction occurring... from section 306(a)(1) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: (1) Any acquisition of equity securities... acquisition is made pursuant to a plan providing for the regular reinvestment of dividends or interest and the...

  4. Blackouts to Lifelong Memories: Digital Storytelling and the College Alcohol Habitus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burnett, Audrey J.; Walter, Katherine Ott; Baller, Stephanie L.

    2016-01-01

    Digital stories (N = 71) were created in partial fulfillment of undergraduate coursework at a large mid-Atlantic university. Based on the alcohol habitus, two major themes emerged: the content present (e.g., dissonance between visual and narrative representations) and the content conspicuously absent from the stories (e.g., first-person…

  5. 49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

  6. 49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

  7. 49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

  8. 49 CFR 583.7 - Procedure for determining major foreign sources of passenger motor vehicle equipment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., oil, blackout, phosphate rinse, windshield washer fluid, fasteners, tire assembly fluid, rivets... equipment, and the U.S. and Canada are treated together. (d) Determination of the percentage of the total... basis by— (1) Adding up the total value of all of the passenger motor vehicle equipment (regardless of...

  9. Terminal Blackout: Critical Electric Infrastructure Vulnerabilities and Civil-Military Resiliency

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-10-01

    William R. Graham, Robert J. Hermann, Henry M. Kluepfel, Richard L. Lawson, Gordon K. Soper , Lowell L. Wood, Jr., and Joan B. Woodard, Report of the...R. Graham, Robert J. Hermann, Henry M. Kluepfel, Richard L. Lawson, Gordon K. Soper , Lowell L. Wood, Jr., and Joan B. Woodard, Report of the

  10. BWR station blackout: A RISMC analysis using RAVEN and RELAP5-3D

    DOE PAGES

    Mandelli, D.; Smith, C.; Riley, T.; ...

    2016-01-01

    The existing fleet of nuclear power plants is in the process of extending its lifetime and increasing the power generated from these plants via power uprates and improved operations. In order to evaluate the impact of these factors on the safety of the plant, the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) project aims to provide insights to decision makers through a series of simulations of the plant dynamics for different initial conditions and accident scenarios. This paper presents a case study in order to show the capabilities of the RISMC methodology to assess impact of power uprate of a Boiling Watermore » Reactor system during a Station Black-Out accident scenario. We employ a system simulator code, RELAP5-3D, coupled with RAVEN which perform the stochastic analysis. Furthermore, our analysis is performed by: 1) sampling values from a set of parameters from the uncertainty space of interest, 2) simulating the system behavior for that specific set of parameter values and 3) analyzing the outcomes from the set of simulation runs.« less

  11. Constraining response output on conjunctive fixed-ratio 1 fixed-time reinforcement schedules: Effects on the postreinforcement pause.

    PubMed

    Lopez, F; Pereira, C

    1985-03-01

    Two experiments used response-restriction procedures in order to test the independence of the factors determining response rate and the factors determining the size of the postreinforcement pause on interval schedules. Responding was restricted by response-produced blackout or by retracting the lever. In Experiment 1 with a Conjunctive FR 1 FT schedule, the blackout procedure reduced the postreinforcement pause more than the lever-retraction procedure did, and both procedures produced shorter pauses than did the schedule without response restriction. In Experiment 2 the interreinforcement interval was also manipulated, and the size of the pause was an increasing function of the interreinforcement interval, but the rate of increase was lower than that produced by fixed interval schedules of comparable interval durations. The assumption of functional independence of the postreinforcement pause and terminal rate in fixed interval schedules is questioned since data suggest that pause reductions resulted from constraining variation in response number compared to equivalent periodic schedules in which response number was allowed to vary. Copyright © 1985. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. Dynamic instability of cooperation due to diverse activity patterns in evolutionary social dilemmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xia, Cheng-Yi; Meloni, Sandro; Perc, Matjaž; Moreno, Yamir

    2015-03-01

    Individuals might abstain from participating in an instance of an evolutionary game for various reasons, ranging from lack of interest to risk aversion. In order to understand the consequences of such diverse activity patterns on the evolution of cooperation, we study a weak prisoner's dilemma where each player's participation is probabilistic rather than certain. Players that do not participate get a null payoff and are unable to replicate. We show that inactivity introduces cascading failures of cooperation, which are particularly severe on scale-free networks with frequently inactive hubs. The drops in the fraction of cooperators are sudden, while the spatiotemporal reorganization of compact cooperative clusters, and thus the recovery, takes time. Nevertheless, if the activity of players is directly proportional to their degree, or if the interaction network is not strongly heterogeneous, the overall evolution of cooperation is not impaired. This is because inactivity negatively affects the potency of low-degree defectors, who are hence unable to utilize on their inherent evolutionary advantage. Between cascading failures, the fraction of cooperators is therefore higher than usual, which lastly balances out the asymmetric dynamic instabilities that emerge due to intermittent blackouts of cooperative hubs.

  13. Our Lyrics Will Not Be on Lockdown: An Arts Collective's Response to an Incarceration Nation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Keisha

    2010-01-01

    Recognizing the unprecedented proliferation of prisons in the United States, Blackout Arts Collective (BAC), a grassroots organization working to empower communities of color through the arts, education, and activism, launched a national tour--"Lyrics on Lockdown (LOL): Slamming the Prison Industrial Complex." As a BAC member, I participated in…

  14. Priority One: Environment. The Energy Challenge.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Augis, Lynne; And Others

    This unit is one of a series in environmental education for grades 1-12. The unit is designed to be used with secondary school students and includes the following sections: (1) Preface; (2) Foods, Fuels, and You; (3) Blackout in the City; (4) Conservation and Efficiency; (5) Our Present Sources; (6) The Oil Crisis; (7) The Nculear Controversy; (8)…

  15. 77 FR 53886 - February 2011 Southwest Cold Weather Event Follow-up Technical Conference; Notice of Technical...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-09-04

    ... Southwest Cold Weather Event Follow-up Technical Conference; Notice of Technical Conference Take notice that... August 16, 2011 Report on Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1... severe cold weather issues that led to rolling blackouts affecting over 4 million customers and natural...

  16. Maternal Nutrition and Four-Alternative Choice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davison, Michael; Krageloh, Christian U.; Fraser, Mhoyra; Breier, Bernhard H.

    2007-01-01

    Two groups of 10 male rats were trained to nose poke for food pellets at four alternatives that provided differing rates of pellet delivery on aperiodic schedules. After a fixed number of pellets had been delivered, 5, 10 or 20 in different conditions of the experiment, a 10-s blackout occurred, and the locations of the differing rates of pellet…

  17. 77 FR 66641 - In the Matter of Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC; Entergy...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-06

    ... Unit 1 structure. However, neither the diesel generator fire zone nor any OMAs related to the Unit 2 station blackout diesel generator were included in the licensee's request for exemptions. As a result, the... ``However, neither the diesel generator fire [DELETED (area)] zone * * *'' Response Fire zones are subsets...

  18. Seizure, Fit or Attack? The Use of Diagnostic Labels by Patients with Epileptic or Non-Epileptic Seizures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Plug, Leendert; Sharrack, Basil; Reuber, Markus

    2010-01-01

    We present an analysis of the use of diagnostic labels such as "seizure", "attack", "fit", and "blackout" by patients who experience seizures. While previous research on patients' preferences for diagnostic terminology has relied on questionnaires, we assess patients' own preferences and their responses to a doctor's use of different labels…

  19. Pearl Harbor and America's Homefront Children: First Fears, Blackouts, Air Raid Drills, and Nightmares.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuttle, William M., Jr.

    In conducting research about U.S. homefront children during the Second World War, a professor of history wrote to the 100 largest-circulation newspapers in the United States as well as 75 African-American, Hispanic American, and Jewish-American newspapers and magazines seeking letters from people who experienced the War as children. More than…

  20. Research Program Review. Aircrew Physiology.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-06-01

    15 Visual and Auditory LocaizationrNormal and Abnormal Relation Leonard Detection of Retinal Ischemia Prior to Blackout by Electrical Evoked...parameters and provision of auditory or tactile feedback to the subject, all promise some improvement. Measurement of the separate responses at 01...Work in Progress A centrifuge program designed to evaluate two different electrode placements and four different frequencies of stimulation is now in

  1. Dominican Republic: Political and Economic Conditions and Relations with the United States

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-03-08

    Killed in Dominican Republic Prison Fire,” The New York Times, March 8, 2008. 8 See Gerardo Reyes, “Esclavos en Paraíso,”El Nuevo Herald, Jan. 9... Perez , “Widespread Blackouts Leave President Scrambling to Boost Power,” Agence France-Presse, Feb. 8, 2000. 13 Jose de Cordoba, “Caribbean Cloud,”Wall

  2. The Mini Dark Room from Holywell High

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lane, Frank

    2011-01-01

    The mini dark room from Holywell High School costs nothing to make and has a construction time of 10 min. In spite of progress, or perhaps because of it, light experiments often have to be performed without blackout. Put this idea into practice and each pupil can have a dark room--and best of all, it's free. In this article, the author describes…

  3. Analysis of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in a Magnetized Re-Entry Plasma Sheath Via the Kinetic Equation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Manning, Robert M.

    2009-01-01

    Based on a theoretical model of the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a hypersonically induced plasma, it has been demonstrated that the classical radiofrequency communications blackout that is experienced during atmospheric reentry can be mitigated through the appropriate control of an external magnetic field of nominal magnitude. The model is based on the kinetic equation treatment of Vlasov and involves an analytical solution for the electric and magnetic fields within the plasma allowing for a description of the attendant transmission, reflection and absorption coefficients. The ability to transmit through the magnetized plasma is due to the magnetic windows that are created within the plasma via the well-known whistler modes of propagation. The case of 2 GHz transmission through a re-entry plasma is considered. The coefficients are found to be highly sensitive to the prevailing electron density and will thus require a dynamic control mechanism to vary the magnetic field as the plasma evolves through the re-entry phase.

  4. Space Science

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2001-04-02

    The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

  5. Largest Solar Flare on Record

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2001-01-01

    The largest solar flare ever recorded occurred at 4:51 p.m. EDT, on Monday, April 2, 2001. as Observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite. Solar flares, among the solar systems mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds, solar flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities, almost to the speed of light, and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees. The recent explosion from the active region near the sun's northwest limb hurled a coronal mass ejection into space at a whopping speed of roughly 7.2 million kilometers per hour. Luckily, the flare was not aimed directly towards Earth. Second to the most severe R5 classification of radio blackout, this flare produced an R4 blackout as rated by the NOAA SEC. This classification measures the disruption in radio communications. Launched December 2, 1995 atop an ATLAS-IIAS expendable launch vehicle, the SOHO is a cooperative effort involving NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (Image courtesy NASA Goddard SOHO Project office)

  6. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Smith, Curtis; Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven

    The existing fleet of nuclear power plants is in the process of extending its lifetime and increasing the power generated from these plants via power uprates. In order to evaluate the impact of these factors on the safety of the plant, the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) project aims to provide insight to decision makers through a series of simulations of the plant dynamics for different initial conditions (e.g., probabilistic analysis and uncertainty quantification). This report focuses, in particular, on the application of a RISMC detailed demonstration case study for an emergent issue using the RAVEN and RELAP-7 tools.more » This case study looks at the impact of a couple of challenges to a hypothetical pressurized water reactor, including: (1) a power uprate, (2) a potential loss of off-site power followed by the possible loss of all diesel generators (i.e., a station black-out event), (3) and earthquake induces station-blackout, and (4) a potential earthquake induced tsunami flood. The analysis is performed by using a set of codes: a thermal-hydraulic code (RELAP-7), a flooding simulation tool (NEUTRINO) and a stochastic analysis tool (RAVEN) – these are currently under development at the Idaho National Laboratory.« less

  7. Experimental and code simulation of a station blackout scenario for APR1400 with test facility ATLAS and MARS code

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yu, X. G.; Kim, Y. S.; Choi, K. Y.

    2012-07-01

    A SBO (station blackout) experiment named SBO-01 was performed at full-pressure IET (Integral Effect Test) facility ATLAS (Advanced Test Loop for Accident Simulation) which is scaled down from the APR1400 (Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe). In this study, the transient of SBO-01 is discussed and is subdivided into three phases: the SG fluid loss phase, the RCS fluid loss phase, and the core coolant depletion and core heatup phase. In addition, the typical phenomena in SBO-01 test - SG dryout, natural circulation, core coolant boiling, the PRZ full, core heat-up - are identified. Furthermore, the SBO-01 test is reproduced bymore » the MARS code calculation with the ATLAS model which represents the ATLAS test facility. The experimental and calculated transients are then compared and discussed. The comparison reveals there was malfunction of equipments: the SG leakage through SG MSSV and the measurement error of loop flow meter. As the ATLAS model is validated against the experimental results, it can be further employed to investigate the other possible SBO scenarios and to study the scaling distortions in the ATLAS. (authors)« less

  8. Blackout detection as a multiobjective optimization problem.

    PubMed

    Chaudhary, A M; Trachtenberg, E A

    1991-01-01

    We study new fast computational procedures for a pilot blackout (total loss of vision) detection in real time. Their validity is demonstrated by data acquired during experiments with volunteer pilots on a human centrifuge. A new systematic class of very fast suboptimal group filters is employed. The utilization of various inherent group invariancies of signals involved allows us to solve the detection problem via estimation with respect to many performance criteria. The complexity of the procedures in terms of the number of computer operations required for their implementation is investigated. Various classes of such prediction procedures are investigated, analyzed and trade offs are established. Also we investigated the validity of suboptimal filtering using different group filters for different performance criteria, namely: the number of false detections, the number of missed detections, the accuracy of detection and the closeness of all procedures to a certain bench mark technique in terms of dispersion squared (mean square error). The results are compared to recent studies of detection of evoked potentials using estimation. The group filters compare favorably with conventional techniques in many cases with respect to the above mentioned criteria. Their main advantage is the fast computational processing.

  9. Station Blackout: A case study in the interaction of mechanistic and probabilistic safety analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Curtis Smith; Diego Mandelli; Cristian Rabiti

    2013-11-01

    The ability to better characterize and quantify safety margins is important to improved decision making about nuclear power plant design, operation, and plant life extension. As research and development (R&D) in the light-water reactor (LWR) Sustainability (LWRS) Program and other collaborative efforts yield new data, sensors, and improved scientific understanding of physical processes that govern the aging and degradation of plant SSCs needs and opportunities to better optimize plant safety and performance will become known. The purpose of the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) Pathway R&D is to support plant decisions for risk-informed margin management with the aim tomore » improve economics, reliability, and sustain safety of current NPPs. In this paper, we describe the RISMC analysis process illustrating how mechanistic and probabilistic approaches are combined in order to estimate a safety margin. We use the scenario of a “station blackout” wherein offsite power and onsite power is lost, thereby causing a challenge to plant safety systems. We describe the RISMC approach, illustrate the station blackout modeling, and contrast this with traditional risk analysis modeling for this type of accident scenario.« less

  10. SOARCA Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Long-Term Station Blackout Uncertainty Analysis: Knowledge Advancement.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gauntt, Randall O.; Mattie, Patrick D.; Bixler, Nathan E.

    2014-02-01

    This paper describes the knowledge advancements from the uncertainty analysis for the State-of- the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) unmitigated long-term station blackout accident scenario at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. This work assessed key MELCOR and MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System, Version 2 (MACCS2) modeling uncertainties in an integrated fashion to quantify the relative importance of each uncertain input on potential accident progression, radiological releases, and off-site consequences. This quantitative uncertainty analysis provides measures of the effects on consequences, of each of the selected uncertain parameters both individually and in interaction with other parameters. The results measure the modelmore » response (e.g., variance in the output) to uncertainty in the selected input. Investigation into the important uncertain parameters in turn yields insights into important phenomena for accident progression and off-site consequences. This uncertainty analysis confirmed the known importance of some parameters, such as failure rate of the Safety Relief Valve in accident progression modeling and the dry deposition velocity in off-site consequence modeling. The analysis also revealed some new insights, such as dependent effect of cesium chemical form for different accident progressions. (auth)« less

  11. Substance use, sexual behaviour and prevention strategies of Vancouver gay and bisexual men who recently attended group sex events.

    PubMed

    Rich, Ashleigh J; Lachowsky, Nathan J; Cui, Zishan; Sereda, Paul; Lal, Allan; Birch, Robert; Montaner, Julio; Moore, David; Hogg, Robert S; Roth, Eric A

    2016-01-01

    Group sex events are an epidemiologically important part of some gay and bisexual men's sexual culture in Canada. Associated with condomless anal intercourse and polysubstance use, such events have been cited as disproportionally contributing to HIV infection rates. We analysed questionnaire data from the Momentum Health Study in Vancouver, Canada, to understand substance use, sexual behaviour, psychosocial variables (Sexual Sensation Seeking, Sexual Escape Motivation, Treatment Optimism) and HIV prevention strategies (sero-sorting, strategic positioning, avoiding anal sex, disclosure, treatment as prevention) of men attending such events, which were defined as group (n ≥ 4 partners) sex parties, blackout events and darkrooms. Analysis by multivariable logistic regression compared men attending group sex events within the past six months (n = 180) with non-attendees (n = 539). Results showed that attendees reported: (1) significantly higher use of sex drugs and alcohol consumption, (2) higher scores on the Sexual Sensation Scale, more anal sex partners, greater odds of any condomless anal sex with sero-discordant partners and greater odds of reporting fisting and sex toy use and (3) different prevention practices that varied by HIV-serostatus. Findings are interpreted in light of the importance of pleasure, sociality and HIV/STI prevention strategies associated with group sex events. Findings contribute to the development of appropriate education and intervention for attendees.

  12. Changing patterns in deforestation avoidance by different protection types in the Brazilian Amazon.

    PubMed

    Jusys, Tomas

    2018-01-01

    This study quantifies how much deforestation was avoided due to legal protection in Legal Amazon in strictly protected areas, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands. Only regions that are protected de jure (i.e., where deforestation is avoided due to effective laws rather than remoteness) were considered, so that the potential of legal protection could be better assessed. This is a cross-sectional approach, which allows comparisons in terms of avoided deforestation among the different types of protection in the same period. This study covers three different periods. Regions protected de jure were sampled by estimating a threshold distance at which deforestation starts to diminish and retaining all pixels up to that distance, and deforestation that has been avoided due to legal protection was estimated by matching. Indigenous lands avoided the highest percentage of deforestation during the 2001-2004 and 2005-2008 periods, followed by those under strict protection and sustainable use areas, in respective order. Shifting patterns in deforestation avoidance are clearly noticeable for the 2009-2014 period when 1) strictly protected areas outperformed indigenous lands in terms of the percentage of saved forests, 2) some protected regions began to attract deforestation instead of avoiding it, and 3) sustainable use areas, on average, did not avoid deforestation.

  13. Changing patterns in deforestation avoidance by different protection types in the Brazilian Amazon

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    This study quantifies how much deforestation was avoided due to legal protection in Legal Amazon in strictly protected areas, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands. Only regions that are protected de jure (i.e., where deforestation is avoided due to effective laws rather than remoteness) were considered, so that the potential of legal protection could be better assessed. This is a cross-sectional approach, which allows comparisons in terms of avoided deforestation among the different types of protection in the same period. This study covers three different periods. Regions protected de jure were sampled by estimating a threshold distance at which deforestation starts to diminish and retaining all pixels up to that distance, and deforestation that has been avoided due to legal protection was estimated by matching. Indigenous lands avoided the highest percentage of deforestation during the 2001–2004 and 2005–2008 periods, followed by those under strict protection and sustainable use areas, in respective order. Shifting patterns in deforestation avoidance are clearly noticeable for the 2009–2014 period when 1) strictly protected areas outperformed indigenous lands in terms of the percentage of saved forests, 2) some protected regions began to attract deforestation instead of avoiding it, and 3) sustainable use areas, on average, did not avoid deforestation. PMID:29689071

  14. Natural hazard impact on the technosphere: "blackouts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petrova, E. G.

    2012-04-01

    In recent years, natural-technological accidents (NTA) and disasters are increasing in their number and severity all over the world. The term "natural-technological accident (disaster)" applies for an accident (disaster) in the technosphere triggered by any natural process or phenomenon. Their growth is caused, on the one hand, by observed increasing in the frequency and intensity of some natural hazards and hazardous events due to climate change and, on the other hand, by a growing complication of the modern technosphere exposed to natural impacts and advancement of economic activities into the area at natural risk. The most large-scaled natural-technological disaster happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan, as a result of a massive earthquake and tsunami that caused a number of serious technological accidents, including accidents at "Fukushima-1" nuclear power plant, etc. Severe social, ecological and economic consequences of large-scaled NTA make investigation of these events especially important. The most frequent among NTA occurring in Russia are breakdowns in electric power supply systems that lead to so-called "blackouts" (accidental power outages). They are mainly caused by strong winds, snowstorms, deposition of ice, sleet, and snow, rainfalls, floods, and hailstones. Among other triggers earthquakes, hard frost, fierce heat, thunderstorms, landslides, snow avalanches, and debris flows should be mentioned. The great part of transmission facilities in Russia falls on overhead lines that are especially vulnerable to natural impacts. In general, natural triggers are responsible for more than 70 percent of all accidents in power supply systems. They occur more often in Far East, in the Southern and North-Western federal districts, and in some regions of the Central Russia, which are prone to hurricanes, cyclones, snowstorms, and heavy rainfalls accompanying by hailstones, icing, and sleet. A distinctive feature of these events is their synergistic nature, as power outages can cause a chain of other accidents at heat- and water supply, industrial plants, transport and communication facilities, producing so-called "domino effect". A modernization of facilities, replacement of overhead lines by underground cables and protection from falling trees can reduce the problem.

  15. About the Power Generation Confirmation of the Induction Motor and the Influence on the Islanding Detection Device

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Igarashi, Hironobu; Sato, Takashi; Miyamoto, Kazunori; Kurokawa, Kousuke

    The photovoltaic generation system must have protection device and islanding detection devices to connect with utility line of the electric power company. It is regulated in the technological requirement guideline and the electric equipment technology standard that the country provides. The islanding detection device detected purpose install for blackout due to the accident occurrence of the earth fault and the short-circuit in the utility line. When the islanding detection device detects the power blackout, it is necessary to stop the photovoltaic generation system immediately. If the photovoltaic generation system is not stopped immediately, electricity comes to charge the utility power line very at risk. We had already known that the islanding detection device can't detect the islanding phenomenon, if is there the induction motor in the loads. Authors decided to investigate the influence that the induction motors gave to the islanding detection device. The result was the load condition that the induction motors changed generator the voltage is restraining. Moreover, it was clarified that the time of the islanding was long compared with the load condition of not changing into the state of the generator. The value changes into the reactance of the induction motors according to the frequency change after the supply of electric power line stops. The frequency after the supply of electric power line stops changes for the unbalance the reactive power by the effect of the power rate constancy control with PLL of the power conditioner. However, the induction motors is also to the changing frequency, makes amends for the amount of reactive power, and the change in the frequency after the supply of electric power line stops as a result is controlled. When the frequency changed after the supply of electric power line stopped, it was clarified of the action on the direction where it made amends from the change of the constant for the amount of an invalid electric power, and the possession of the characteristic in which the continuance of the individual operation was promoted.

  16. Observing power blackouts from space - A disaster related study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aubrecht, C.; Elvidge, C. D.; Ziskin, D.; Baugh, K. E.; Tuttle, B.; Erwin, E.; Kerle, N.

    2009-04-01

    In case of emergency disaster managers worldwide require immediate information on affected areas and estimations of the number of affected people. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, wind and ice storms often involve failures in the electrical power generation system and grid. Near real time identification of power blackouts gives a first impression of the area affected by the event (Elvidge et al. 2007), which can subsequently be linked to population estimations. Power blackouts disrupt societal activities and compound the difficulties associated with search and rescue, clean up, and the provision of food and other supplies following a disastrous event. Locations and spatial extents of power blackouts are key considerations in planning and execution of the primary disaster missions of emergency management organizations. To date only one satellite data source has been used successfully for the detection of power blackouts. Operated by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) offers a unique capability to observe lights present at the Earth's surface at night. Including a pair of visible and thermal spectral bands and originally designed to detect moonlit clouds, this sensor enables mapping of lights from cities and towns, gas flares and offshore platforms, fires, and heavily lit fishing boats. The low light imaging of the OLS is accomplished using a photomultiplier tube (PMT) which intensifies the visible band signal at night. With 14 orbits collected per day and a 3.000 km swath width, each OLS is capable of collecting a complete set of images of the Earth every 24 hours. NGDC runs the long-term archive for OLS data with the digital version extending back to 1992. OLS data is received by NGDC in near real time (1-2 hours from acquisition) and subscription based services for the near real time data are provided for users all over the world. Elvidge et al. (1998) first demonstrated that under certain conditions a detection of power outages is possible using OLS data. A standard procedure for visual detection of power outages has been developed. The procedure is based on identifying locations where consistently observed lighting is missing or reduced following a disaster event. Visible and thermal spectral bands of the event-related OLS data are compared to a recent cloud-free composite of nighttime lights by producing a color (RGB) composite image. For the cloud-free nighttime lights composite serving as reference information both monthly and annual composites can be used, depending on the respective availability and suitability of OLS data. The RGB color composite uses the reference lights as red (R), the current visible band as green (G) and the current thermal band as blue (B). The thermal band is typically inverted to make clouds appear bright. As clouds are typically colder than the surface of the Earth, in the thermal band higher values are observed on cloud-free areas, which thus appear brighter in standard visualization modes. The resulting color composite is visually interpreted to identify power outages, which show up as red lights on a dark (cloud-free) background. Red color stands for high values in the reference data (red band of the RGB composite) compared to low values in the event data (green and blue bands of the RGB composite), thus showing the disaster-related absence or reduction of lighting. Heavy cloud cover also obscures lights, resulting in red lights on a blue background. Yellow color in the RGB composite indicates areas where the lights are on, i.e. both red and green band (reference composite and visible band of the event image) feature high values with no cloud cover present (low values in the blue band). Under ideal conditions the presented procedure detects individual cities and towns where power has been lost or has been reduced. Conditions reducing or eliminating the capability of detecting power blackouts in OLS data have been identified (e.g. sunlight, heavy cloud cover and bright moonlight). Furthermore, the change detection procedure only works when power blackouts happen or still persist at night at the time of an OLS overpass. In some cases (e.g. Hurricane Katrina) it has been possible to track the gradual recovery of power by repeating the procedure on nights following a disaster event. In this paper several examples of successful power blackout detection following natural disasters including hurricanes (e.g. Isabel 2003 and Wilma 2005 in the USA) and earthquakes (e.g. Gujarat Earthquake 2001 in India) will be presented, whereas overlaid hurricane paths and earthquake epicenters serve as landmarks and indicate locations around the potential highest impact. Disaster impact assessment and post-disaster research is strongly related to impacts on population, related infrastructure and activities (Kerle et al. 2005, Zhang and Kerle 2008). In particular in the case of emergency management and response humans are the main actors and first-pass assessment of affected population and locations of affected areas are essential. Space-based power blackout detection, as described above, has the potential to delineate the spatial extent of the disaster impact. Overlaying the respective OLS data with regional population data such as LandScan (Dobson et al. 2000) or Gridded Population of the World (CIESIN and CIAT 2005) allows estimating a potential number of affected people. Without a doubt such estimates comprise a considerable number of uncertainties. However, the capability of providing the information in near-real time as offered by using DMSP-OLS makes the presented approach very valuable for emergency and disaster managers worldwide. REFERENCES Center for International Earth Science Information Network CIESIN at Columbia University, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT (2005). Gridded Population of the World Version 3 (GPWv3). Palisades, NY: Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University. Available at http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw (last visited 01/08/2009). Dobson, J.E., E.A. Bright, P.R. Coleman, R.C. Durfee, and B.A. Worley (2000) LandScan: A Global Population Database for Estimating Populations at Risk. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing 66(7), 849-857. Elvidge, C.D., K.E. Baugh, V.R. Hobson, E.A. Kihn, and H.W. Kroehl (1998) Detection of Fires and Power Outages Using DMSP-OLS Data. In: Lunetta, R.S., and Elvidge, C.D. (eds.) Remote Sensing Change Detection: Environmental Monitoring Methods and Applications. Ann Arbor Press, pp 123-135. Elvidge, C.D., C. Aubrecht, K. Baugh, B. Tuttle, and A.T. Howard (2007) Satellite detection of power outages following earthquakes and other events. 3rd International Geohazards Workshop. GEO & IGOS Geohazards. Proceedings. ESA/ESRIN, Frascati (Rome), Italy, November 6-9, 2007. Kerle, N., R. Stekelenburg, F. van den Heuvel, and B.G.H. Gorte (2005) Near - real time post - disaster damage assessment with airborne oblique video data. In: van Oosterom, P.J.M., Zlatanova, S., and Elfriede, M. (eds.) Geo-information for disaster management Gi4DM : Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Geo-Information for Disaster Management. Berlin: Springer, pp 337-353. Zhang, Y., and N. Kerle (2008) Satellite remote sensing for near-real time data collection. In: Zlatanova, S., Li, J. (eds.) Geospatial information technology for emergency response. Berlin: Springer, pp 75-102.

  17. Years of Life Lost (YLL) in Colombia 1998-2011: Overall and Avoidable Causes of Death Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Castillo-Rodríguez, Liliana; Díaz-Jiménez, Diana; Castañeda-Orjuela, Carlos; De la Hoz-Restrepo, Fernando

    2015-01-01

    Objective Estimate the Years of Life Lost (YLL) for overall and avoidable causes of death (CoD) in Colombia for the period 1998-2011. Methods From the reported deaths to the Colombian mortality database during 1998-2011, we classified deaths from avoidable causes. With the reference life table of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 study, we estimated the overall YLL and YLL due to avoidable causes. Calculations were performed with the difference between life expectancy and the age of death. Results are reported by group of cause of death, events, sex, year and department. Comparative analysis between number of deaths and YLL was carried out. Results A total of 83,856,080 YLL were calculated in Colombia during period 1998-2011, 75.9% of them due to avoidable CoD. The year 2000 reported the highest number of missed YLL by both overall and avoidable CoD. The departments with the highest YLL rates were Caquetá, Guaviare, Arauca, Meta, and Risaralda. In men, intentional injuries and cardiovascular and circulatory diseases had the higher losses, while in women YLL were mainly due to cardiovascular and circulatory diseases. Conclusions The public health priorities should focus on preventing the loss of YLL due to premature death and differentiated interventions by sex. PMID:25942009

  18. Power system voltage stability and agent based distribution automation in smart grid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nguyen, Cuong Phuc

    2011-12-01

    Our interconnected electric power system is presently facing many challenges that it was not originally designed and engineered to handle. The increased inter-area power transfers, aging infrastructure, and old technologies, have caused many problems including voltage instability, widespread blackouts, slow control response, among others. These problems have created an urgent need to transform the present electric power system to a highly stable, reliable, efficient, and self-healing electric power system of the future, which has been termed "smart grid". This dissertation begins with an investigation of voltage stability in bulk transmission networks. A new continuation power flow tool for studying the impacts of generator merit order based dispatch on inter-area transfer capability and static voltage stability is presented. The load demands are represented by lumped load models on the transmission system. While this representation is acceptable in traditional power system analysis, it may not be valid in the future smart grid where the distribution system will be integrated with intelligent and quick control capabilities to mitigate voltage problems before they propagate into the entire system. Therefore, before analyzing the operation of the whole smart grid, it is important to understand the distribution system first. The second part of this dissertation presents a new platform for studying and testing emerging technologies in advanced Distribution Automation (DA) within smart grids. Due to the key benefits over the traditional centralized approach, namely flexible deployment, scalability, and avoidance of single-point-of-failure, a new distributed approach is employed to design and develop all elements of the platform. A multi-agent system (MAS), which has the three key characteristics of autonomy, local view, and decentralization, is selected to implement the advanced DA functions. The intelligent agents utilize a communication network for cooperation and negotiation. Communication latency is modeled using a user-defined probability density function. Failure-tolerant communication strategies are developed for agent communications. Major elements of advanced DA are developed in a completely distributed way and successfully tested for several IEEE standard systems, including: Fault Detection, Location, Isolation, and Service Restoration (FLISR); Coordination of Distributed Energy Storage Systems (DES); Distributed Power Flow (DPF); Volt-VAR Control (VVC); and Loss Reduction (LR).

  19. High-Tech, Low-Tech, No-Tech: Communications Strategies During Blackouts

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-12-01

    share radiation measurements; it was created within a week of the Fukushima nuclear disaster . More than 3.5 million data readings have already been...national nuclear crisis, especially as the extent of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant became known. This is where hyper-local communication...accompany major crises, particularly natural disasters such as severe weather events. Thus, during crises, communications are often severely hampered

  20. Cerebral-Body Perfusion Model

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-07-01

    to simulate flow and pressure interaction between the cerebral and the body systems. its objective is to study the dynamic interaction between the...single model. The objective is to enable the study of the dynamic interaction between these two systems. In this model, relevant parts of the brain and of...34blackout, can also be investigated. For example, the effect can be studied of different inhale/exhale and/or different relative positioning betwoen head-body

  1. RELAP5/MOD2 analysis of a postulated cold leg SBLOCA'' simultaneous to a total black-out'' event in the Jose Cabrera Nuclear Station

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rebollo, L.

    1992-04-01

    Several beyond-design bases cold leg small-break LOCA postulated scenarios based on the lessons learned'' in the OECD-LOFT LP-SB-3 experiment have been analyzed for the Westinghouse single loop Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant belonging to the Spanish utility UNION ELECTRICA FENOSA, S.A. The analysis has been done by the utility in the Thermal-Hydraulic Accident Analysis Section of the Engineering Department of the Nuclear Division. The RELAP5/MOD2/36.04 code has been used on a CYBER 180/830 computer and the simulation includes the 6 in. RHRS charging line, the 2 in. pressurizer spray, and the 1.5 in. CVCS make-up line piping breaks. The assumptionmore » of a total black-out condition'' coincident with the occurrence of the event has been made in order to consider a plant degraded condition with total active failure of the ECCS. As a result of the analysis, estimates of the time to core overheating startup'' as well as an evaluation of alternate operator measures to mitigate the consequences of the event have been obtained. Finally a proposal for improving the LOCA emergency operating procedure (E-1) has been suggested.« less

  2. RELAP5/MOD2 analysis of a postulated ``cold leg SBLOCA`` simultaneous to a ``total black-out`` event in the Jose Cabrera Nuclear Station

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rebollo, L.

    1992-04-01

    Several beyond-design bases cold leg small-break LOCA postulated scenarios based on the ``lessons learned`` in the OECD-LOFT LP-SB-3 experiment have been analyzed for the Westinghouse single loop Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant belonging to the Spanish utility UNION ELECTRICA FENOSA, S.A. The analysis has been done by the utility in the Thermal-Hydraulic & Accident Analysis Section of the Engineering Department of the Nuclear Division. The RELAP5/MOD2/36.04 code has been used on a CYBER 180/830 computer and the simulation includes the 6 in. RHRS charging line, the 2 in. pressurizer spray, and the 1.5 in. CVCS make-up line piping breaks. Themore » assumption of a ``total black-out condition`` coincident with the occurrence of the event has been made in order to consider a plant degraded condition with total active failure of the ECCS. As a result of the analysis, estimates of the ``time to core overheating startup`` as well as an evaluation of alternate operator measures to mitigate the consequences of the event have been obtained. Finally a proposal for improving the LOCA emergency operating procedure (E-1) has been suggested.« less

  3. Effect of prolonged bedrest and plus Gz acceleration on peripheral visual response time

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Haines, R. F.

    1973-01-01

    Peripheral visual response time changes during +G sub z acceleration following fourteen days of bedrest are considered as well as what effect prolonged bedrest has upon this response. Eighteen test lights, placed 10 deg are apart along the horizontal meridian of the subject's field of view, were presented in a random sequence. The subject was instructed to press a button as soon as a light appeared. Response time testing occurred periodically during bedrest and continuously during centrifugation testing. The results indicate that: (1) mean response time is significantly longer to stimuli imaged in the far periphery than to stimuli imaged closer to the line of sight; (2) mean response time at each stimulus position tends to be longer at plateau g than during the preacceleration baseline period; (3) mean response time tends to lengthen as the g level is increased; (4) peripheral visual response time during +G sub x acceleration at 2, 3.2, and 3.8 g was not a reliable advanced indicator that blackout was going to occur; and (5) the subject's field of view collapsed rapidly just before blackout. Bedrest data showed that the distribution of response times to stimuli imaged across the subject's horizontal retinal meridian remained remarkably constant from day to day during both the bedrest and recovery periods.

  4. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  5. Transmission properties and physical mechanisms of X-ray communication for blackout mitigation during spacecraft reentry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Yunpeng; Li, Huan; Li, Yanlong; Hang, Shuang; Tang, Xiaobin

    2017-11-01

    Recent advances in X-ray science have witnessed the X-ray communication (XCOM), a new revolutionary technology first proposed by NASA since 2007. In combination with the advanced modulated X-ray source, XCOM shows a promising prospect for helping to alleviate the occurrence of inevitable blackout communication by using the regular radio frequency (RF) signal, paving the way towards realizing real-time communication during spacecraft reentry into atmosphere. Here, we acquired the detailed information of electron density distribution of plasma sheath encountered during vehicle reentry through Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. Based on these derived parameters, Finite-difference Time-domain method was employed to investigate the transmission properties of X-rays through the plasma sheath, and the results indicated that X-ray transmission was not influenced by the reentry plasma sheath at different reentry altitudes and spacecraft surface positions compared with RF signal. In addition, 2D Particle-In-Cell simulation was also adopted to provide deeper insight into the transmission properties and physical mechanisms of X-ray carrier propagating through the plasma sheath, and results showed that the transmission coefficient was over 0.994 and the observation of plasma channel effect was also an important signature, which was of great importance to X-ray propagating through the plasma sheath.

  6. Analyzing simulation-based PRA data through traditional and topological clustering: A BWR station blackout case study

    DOE PAGES

    Maljovec, D.; Liu, S.; Wang, B.; ...

    2015-07-14

    Here, dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (DPRA) methodologies couple system simulator codes (e.g., RELAP and MELCOR) with simulation controller codes (e.g., RAVEN and ADAPT). Whereas system simulator codes model system dynamics deterministically, simulation controller codes introduce both deterministic (e.g., system control logic and operating procedures) and stochastic (e.g., component failures and parameter uncertainties) elements into the simulation. Typically, a DPRA is performed by sampling values of a set of parameters and simulating the system behavior for that specific set of parameter values. For complex systems, a major challenge in using DPRA methodologies is to analyze the large number of scenarios generated,more » where clustering techniques are typically employed to better organize and interpret the data. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of two nuclear simulation datasets that are part of the risk-informed safety margin characterization (RISMC) boiling water reactor (BWR) station blackout (SBO) case study. We provide the domain experts a software tool that encodes traditional and topological clustering techniques within an interactive analysis and visualization environment, for understanding the structures of such high-dimensional nuclear simulation datasets. We demonstrate through our case study that both types of clustering techniques complement each other for enhanced structural understanding of the data.« less

  7. A Passive System Reliability Analysis for a Station Blackout

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brunett, Acacia; Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David

    2015-05-03

    The latest iterations of advanced reactor designs have included increased reliance on passive safety systems to maintain plant integrity during unplanned sequences. While these systems are advantageous in reducing the reliance on human intervention and availability of power, the phenomenological foundations on which these systems are built require a novel approach to a reliability assessment. Passive systems possess the unique ability to fail functionally without failing physically, a result of their explicit dependency on existing boundary conditions that drive their operating mode and capacity. Argonne National Laboratory is performing ongoing analyses that demonstrate various methodologies for the characterization of passivemore » system reliability within a probabilistic framework. Two reliability analysis techniques are utilized in this work. The first approach, the Reliability Method for Passive Systems, provides a mechanistic technique employing deterministic models and conventional static event trees. The second approach, a simulation-based technique, utilizes discrete dynamic event trees to treat time- dependent phenomena during scenario evolution. For this demonstration analysis, both reliability assessment techniques are used to analyze an extended station blackout in a pool-type sodium fast reactor (SFR) coupled with a reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS). This work demonstrates the entire process of a passive system reliability analysis, including identification of important parameters and failure metrics, treatment of uncertainties and analysis of results.« less

  8. Rolling blackout is required for synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

    PubMed

    Huang, Fu-De; Woodruff, Elvin; Mohrmann, Ralf; Broadie, Kendal

    2006-03-01

    Rolling blackout (RBO) is a putative transmembrane lipase required for phospholipase C-dependent phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-diacylglycerol signaling in Drosophila neurons. Conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) rbo mutants display complete, reversible paralysis within minutes, demonstrating that RBO is acutely required for movement. RBO protein is localized predominantly in presynaptic boutons at neuromuscular junction (NMJ) synapses and throughout central synaptic neuropil, and rbo TS mutants display a complete, reversible block of both central and peripheral synaptic transmission within minutes. This phenotype appears limited to adults, because larval NMJs do not manifest the acute blockade. Electron microscopy of adult rbo TS mutant boutons reveals an increase in total synaptic vesicle (SV) content, with a concomitant shrinkage of presynaptic bouton size and an accumulation of docked SVs at presynaptic active zones within minutes. Genetic tests reveal a synergistic interaction between rbo and syntaxin1A TS mutants, suggesting that RBO is required in the mechanism of N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE)-mediated SV exocytosis, or in a parallel pathway necessary for SV fusion. The rbo TS mutation does not detectably alter SNARE complex assembly, suggesting a downstream requirement in SV fusion. We conclude that RBO plays an essential role in neurotransmitter release, downstream of SV docking, likely mediating SV fusion.

  9. Ecotoxicity of wastes in avoidance tests with Enchytraeus albidus, Enchytraeus crypticus and Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta).

    PubMed

    Kobeticová, Klára; Hofman, Jakub; Holoubek, Ivan

    2010-04-01

    Contact bioassays are important for testing the ecotoxicity of solid materials. However, survival and reproduction tests are often not practical due to their duration which may last for several weeks. Avoidance tests with soil invertebrates may offer an alternative or extension to the classic test batteries due to their short duration (days rather than weeks) and due to a sensitive sub-acute endpoint (behavior). (a) to evaluate the effects of three solid industrial wastes (incineration ash, contaminated wood chips and contaminated soil) on three Oligochaeta species (enchytraeids Enchytraeusalbidus, Enchytraeus crypticus and earthworm Eisenia fetida) in avoidance tests; (b) to compare the sensitivity among the species and to compare results of avoidance test to reproduction tests; (c) to elucidate if measuring the weight in the earthworm avoidance test could be reasonable additional endpoint. Avoidance mostly increased with the increasing percent of waste in the mixture showing a dose-response curve. E. fetida was the most sensitive species and E. crypticus the least one. An additional endpoint, (changes in weight after two-day exposure) was not found to be more sensitive than avoidance reaction, but it confirmed that earthworms staying in the highest concentrations of the waste mixture were affected showing apparent weight reduction. Our results indicate that avoidance tests with earthworms and enchytraeids are feasible for waste testing. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Deterrence Without Escalation:A Case for the Arctic in 2040

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-04-08

    electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a nuclear blast.69 Typical shielding used to protect an asset from an EMP generated by a nuclear blast is...weapons could travel at hypersonic speeds, but the beam must propagate through a plasma field—the same plasma field that causes the ‘radio blackout...Blechman and Stephen S Kaplan, Force Without War: U.S. Armed Forces as a Political Instrument. (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1978), 4

  11. Proceedings of the Annual ONR/CADRC Decision-Support Workshop (6th), Held in Quantico, Virginia, on 8-9 Sep 2004. Interoperability

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-11-01

    fixed schedule checkups and overhauls), Underway Replenishment (the goal being operation in sea states 3 and higher via technical improvements to...determine whether sufficient local resources are available to deal with current conditions. Scheduling Agent: Assists the Emergency Operations Bureau to...will commence per predefined schedule within 15 minutes) and subsequently alerts its subscribers that the rolling power blackout has commenced. The

  12. Does social approval stimulate prosocial behavior? Evidence from a field experiment in the residential electricity market

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoeli, Erez

    At least since Veblen (1899), economists have proposed that people do good because they desire "social approval" and want to look good in front of others. Evidence from the laboratory supports this claim, but is difficult to generalize due to the unrealistic degree of scrutiny in a laboratory environment. I administer a field experiment to test the potency of social approval in a realistic and policy relevant setting. In the experiment I solicit 7893 customers of a large electric utility for a program that helps prevent blackouts. I vary whether their decision to participate in the program is revealed to their neighbors. Customers whose decision is revealed are 1.5% more likely to sign up than those whose decision is anonymous when their decision is framed as a contribution to a public good. Social approval increases participation more than offering subjects a $25 incentive, and its effect is large relative to the mean sign-up rate of 4.1%. I explore whether social approval contributes to crowding out and conditionally cooperative behavior, but the evidence is inconclusive.

  13. The Personal and Health Service Impact of Falls in 85 Year Olds: Cross-Sectional Findings from the Newcastle 85+ Cohort Study

    PubMed Central

    Collerton, Joanna; Kingston, Andrew; Bond, John; Davies, Karen; Eccles, Martin P.; Jagger, Carol; Kirkwood, Thomas B. L.; Newton, Julia L.

    2012-01-01

    Introduction Falls are common in older people and increase in prevalence with advancing old age. There is limited knowledge about their impact in those aged 85 years and older, the fastest growing age group of the population. We investigated the prevalence and impact of falls, and the overlap between falls, dizziness and blackouts, in a population-based sample of 85 year olds. Methods Design: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from Newcastle 85+ Cohort Study. Setting: Primary care, North-East England. Participants: 816 men and women aged 85 years. Measurements: Structured interview with research nurse. Cost-consequence analysis of fall-related healthcare costs. Results Over 38% (313/816) of participants had fallen at least once in the previous 12 months and of these: 10.6% (33/312) sustained a fracture, 30.1% (94/312) attended an emergency department, and 12.8% (40/312) were admitted to hospital. Only 37.2% (115/309) of fallers had specifically discussed their falls problem with their general practitioner and only 12.7% (39/308) had seen a falls specialist. The average annual healthcare cost per faller was estimated at £202 (inter-quartile range £174–£231) or US$329 ($284–$377). ‘Worry about falling’ was experienced by 42.0% (128/305) of fallers, ‘loss of confidence’ by 40.0% (122/305), and ‘going out less often’ by 25.9% (79/305); each was significantly more common in women, odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for women: men of 2.63 (1.45–4.55), 4.00 (2.27–7.14), and 2.86 (1.54–5.56) respectively. Dizziness and blackouts were reported by 40.0% (318/796) and 6.4% (52/808) of participants respectively. There was marked overlap in the report of falls, dizziness and blackouts. Conclusions Falls in 85 year olds are very common, associated with considerable psychological and physical morbidity, and have high impact on healthcare services. Wider use of fall prevention services is needed. Significant expansion in acute and preventative services is required in view of the rapid growth in this age group. PMID:22427954

  14. Blood Pressure Control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    Engineering Development Laboratory developed a system for the cardiovascular study of weightless astronauts. This was designed to aid people with congestive heart failure and diabetes. While in space, astronauts' blood pressure rises, heart rate becomes unstable, and there are sometimes postflight lightheadedness or blackouts. The Baro-Cuff studies the resetting of blood pressure. When a silicone rubber chamber is strapped to the neck, the Baro-Cuff stimulates the carotid arteries by electronically controlled pressure application. Blood pressure controls in patients may be studied.

  15. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    Zoom in on the flare in ultraviolet (SDO/AIA), X-rays (Hinode) and gamma-rays (RHESSI) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  16. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    A combination of many (but not all) of the datasets which observed this flare. -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  17. Rolling blackout is required for bulk endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses

    PubMed Central

    Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Woodruff, Elvin A.; Broadie, Kendal

    2009-01-01

    Summary Rolling blackout (RBO) is a Drosophila EFR3 integral membrane lipase. A conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) mutant (rbots) displays paralysis within minutes following a temperature shift from 25°C to 37°C, an impairment previously attributed solely to blocked synaptic-vesicle exocytosis. However, we found that rbots displays a strong synergistic interaction with the Syntaxin-1A TS allele syx3-69, recently shown to be a dominant positive mutant that increases Syntaxin-1A function. At neuromuscular synapses, rbots showed a strong defect in styryl-FM-dye (FM) endocytosis, and rbots;syx3-69 double mutants displayed a synergistic, more severe, endocytosis impairment. Similarly, central rbots synapses in primary brain culture showed severely defective FM endocytosis. Non-neuronal nephrocyte Garland cells showed the same endocytosis defect in tracer-uptake assays. Ultrastructurally, rbots displayed a specific defect in tracer uptake into endosomes in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. At the rbots synapse, there was a total blockade of endosome formation via activity-dependent bulk endocytosis. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis was not affected; indeed, there was a significant increase in direct vesicle formation. Together, these results demonstrate that RBO is required for constitutive and/or bulk endocytosis and/or macropinocytosis in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and that, at the synapse, this mechanism is responsive to the rate of Syntaxin-1A-dependent exocytosis. PMID:19066280

  18. Rolling blackout is required for bulk endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses.

    PubMed

    Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Woodruff, Elvin A; Broadie, Kendal

    2009-01-01

    Rolling blackout (RBO) is a Drosophila EFR3 integral membrane lipase. A conditional temperature-sensitive (TS) mutant (rbo(ts)) displays paralysis within minutes following a temperature shift from 25 degrees C to 37 degrees C, an impairment previously attributed solely to blocked synaptic-vesicle exocytosis. However, we found that rbo(ts) displays a strong synergistic interaction with the Syntaxin-1A TS allele syx(3-69), recently shown to be a dominant positive mutant that increases Syntaxin-1A function. At neuromuscular synapses, rbo(ts) showed a strong defect in styryl-FM-dye (FM) endocytosis, and rbo(ts);syx(3-69) double mutants displayed a synergistic, more severe, endocytosis impairment. Similarly, central rbo(ts) synapses in primary brain culture showed severely defective FM endocytosis. Non-neuronal nephrocyte Garland cells showed the same endocytosis defect in tracer-uptake assays. Ultrastructurally, rbo(ts) displayed a specific defect in tracer uptake into endosomes in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. At the rbo(ts) synapse, there was a total blockade of endosome formation via activity-dependent bulk endocytosis. Clathrin-mediated endocytosis was not affected; indeed, there was a significant increase in direct vesicle formation. Together, these results demonstrate that RBO is required for constitutive and/or bulk endocytosis and/or macropinocytosis in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and that, at the synapse, this mechanism is responsive to the rate of Syntaxin-1A-dependent exocytosis.

  19. Active avoidance from a crude oil soluble fraction by an Andean paramo copepod.

    PubMed

    Araújo, Cristiano V M; Moreira-Santos, Matilde; Sousa, José P; Ochoa-Herrera, Valeria; Encalada, Andrea C; Ribeiro, Rui

    2014-09-01

    Several oil spills due to ruptures in the pipeline oil systems have occurred at the Andean paramo. A sample of this crude oil was mixed with water from a nearby Andean lagoon and the toxicity of the soluble fraction was assessed through lethal and avoidance assays with a locally occurring copepod (Boeckella occidentalis intermedia). The integration of mortality and avoidance aimed at predicting the immediate decline of copepod populations facing an oil leakage. The 24-h median lethal PAH concentration was 42.7 (26.4-91.6) µg L(-1). In the 12-h avoidance assay, 30% avoidance was recorded at the highest PAH concentration (19.4 µg L(-1)). The mortality at this PAH concentration would be of 25% and, thus, the population immediate decline would be of 55%. The inclusion of non-forced exposure testing with the quantification of the avoidance response in environmental risk assessments is, therefore, supported due to underestimation of the lethal assays.

  20. Breath-Hold Diving.

    PubMed

    Fitz-Clarke, John R

    2018-03-25

    Breath-hold diving is practiced by recreational divers, seafood divers, military divers, and competitive athletes. It involves highly integrated physiology and extreme responses. This article reviews human breath-hold diving physiology beginning with an historical overview followed by a summary of foundational research and a survey of some contemporary issues. Immersion and cardiovascular adjustments promote a blood shift into the heart and chest vasculature. Autonomic responses include diving bradycardia, peripheral vasoconstriction, and splenic contraction, which help conserve oxygen. Competitive divers use a technique of lung hyperinflation that raises initial volume and airway pressure to facilitate longer apnea times and greater depths. Gas compression at depth leads to sequential alveolar collapse. Airway pressure decreases with depth and becomes negative relative to ambient due to limited chest compliance at low lung volumes, raising the risk of pulmonary injury called "squeeze," characterized by postdive coughing, wheezing, and hemoptysis. Hypoxia and hypercapnia influence the terminal breakpoint beyond which voluntary apnea cannot be sustained. Ascent blackout due to hypoxia is a danger during long breath-holds, and has become common amongst high-level competitors who can suppress their urge to breathe. Decompression sickness due to nitrogen accumulation causing bubble formation can occur after multiple repetitive dives, or after single deep dives during depth record attempts. Humans experience responses similar to those seen in diving mammals, but to a lesser degree. The deepest sled-assisted breath-hold dive was to 214 m. Factors that might determine ultimate human depth capabilities are discussed. © 2018 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 8:585-630, 2018. Copyright © 2018 American Physiological Society. All rights reserved.

  1. Research report: variations on the theme of avoidance as compensations during unsuccessful reading performance.

    PubMed

    Damico, Jack S; Abendroth, Kathleen J; Nelson, Ryan L; Lynch, Karen E; Damico, Holly L

    2011-08-01

    This research report provides additional data, manifestations and discussion about avoidance strategies employed by a language-learning disabled student during reading activities. Rather than seeing avoidance as due to random distractions or oppositional behaviours, these data provide a rationale for viewing many types of avoidance as systematic and compensatory efforts to sustain interactional success in the emergence of linguistic difficulty.

  2. Analytical Approaches for Identification and Representation of Critical Protection Systems in Transient Stability Studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hedman, Mojdeh Khorsand

    After a major disturbance, the power system response is highly dependent on protection schemes and system dynamics. Improving power systems situational awareness requires proper and simultaneous modeling of both protection schemes and dynamic characteristics in power systems analysis tools. Historical information and ex-post analysis of blackouts reaffirm the critical role of protective devices in cascading events, thereby confirming the necessity to represent protective functions in transient stability studies. This dissertation is aimed at studying the importance of representing protective relays in power system dynamic studies. Although modeling all of the protective relays within transient stability studies may result in a better estimation of system behavior, representing, updating, and maintaining the protection system data becomes an insurmountable task. Inappropriate or outdated representation of the relays may result in incorrect assessment of the system behavior. This dissertation presents a systematic method to determine essential relays to be modeled in transient stability studies. The desired approach should identify protective relays that are critical for various operating conditions and contingencies. The results of the transient stability studies confirm that modeling only the identified critical protective relays is sufficient to capture system behavior for various operating conditions and precludes the need to model all of the protective relays. Moreover, this dissertation proposes a method that can be implemented to determine the appropriate location of out-of-step blocking relays. During unstable power swings, a generator or group of generators may accelerate or decelerate leading to voltage depression at the electrical center along with generator tripping. This voltage depression may cause protective relay mis-operation and unintentional separation of the system. In order to avoid unintentional islanding, the potentially mis-operating relays should be blocked from tripping with the use of out-of-step blocking schemes. Blocking these mis-operating relays, combined with an appropriate islanding scheme, help avoid a system wide collapse. The proposed method is tested on data from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. A triple line outage of the California-Oregon Intertie is studied. The results show that the proposed method is able to successfully identify proper locations of out-of-step blocking scheme.

  3. Use of Two-Way Time Transfer Measurements to Improve Geostationary Satellite Navigation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-03-01

    lo ck E rro r ( m et er s...clock measurement blackouts. 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 -100 -50 0 50 100 GEO Clock Bias Error Time (hours) C lo ck E rro r ( m et er s...20 GEO Clock Bias Error Time (hours) C lo ck E rro r ( m et er s) Filter-Computed Covariance 0 5 10 15 20 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 GEO

  4. Adapting an Agent-Based Model of Socio-Technical Systems to Analyze System and Security Failures

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-09

    statistically significant amount, which it did with a p-valueɘ.0003 on a simulation of 3125 iterations; the data is shown in the Delegation 1 column of...Blackout metric to a statistically significant amount, with a p-valueɘ.0003 on a simulation of 3125 iterations; the data is shown in the Delegation 2...Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems: volume 1-Volume 1, pp. 1007- 1014 . International Foundation

  5. Development and Field Test of Task-Based MOS-Specific Criterion Measures. Volume 1. Appendixes A-E

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-04-01

    WOUND 081-831-1033 APPLY A DRESSING TO AN OPEN HEAD WOUND 081-831-1005 PREVENT SHOCK 081-831-1034 SPLINT A SUSPECTED FRACTURE 081-831-1007 GTVE FIRST...Check seat belts and shoulder harnesses Check unit vehicle/trailer blackout system Service refrigeration unit Check and clean cab interior/exterior...DRESSING TO AN OPEN HEAD WOUND 081-831-1040 TRANSPORT A CASUALTY USING A ONE MAN CARRY 081-831-1041 TRANSPORT A CASUALTY USING A TWO MAN CARRY OR

  6. The Coast Artillery Journal. Volume 82, Number 1, January-February 1939

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1939-02-01

    commerce has been created , assisted and jealously guarded by a powerful fleet, and history shows that England has alw~vs resorted to war whenever her...p3rt in modern warfare. Creating 3n inrerest in w3rning nets and blackouts directed the public mind roward the entire subject of passive defense...causes of currem events in Palestine, which h,l\\’e created a condition that borders on anarch\\’ and h.ls forced the introduction of martial law, lie in

  7. Modified incision for maxillectomy: our experience.

    PubMed

    Bhavana, Kranti; Tyagi, Isha; Ramani, Mukesh Kumar

    2012-06-01

    Radical maxillectomy has usually been done by the classical Weber Ferguson incision since age old times and still is being used widely due to its advantage of excellent exposure and minimal scarring as the incision follows the natural skin crease. In our modification of radical maxillectomy incision we avoid a scar on the midface by performing a midface degloving and combining it with a subconjunctival eye incision thus avoiding any cosmetic deformity and associated eye complication. It also avoids the late complication of cutaneous fistula following radiotherapy to these areas and due to early healing of the wound, early radiotherapy can be started.

  8. Modeling of a Flooding Induced Station Blackout for a Pressurized Water Reactor Using the RISMC Toolkit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven R; Smith, Curtis L

    2011-07-01

    In the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach we want to understand not just the frequency of an event like core damage, but how close we are (or are not) to key safety-related events and how might we increase our safety margins. The RISMC Pathway uses the probabilistic margin approach to quantify impacts to reliability and safety by coupling both probabilistic (via stochastic simulation) and mechanistic (via physics models) approaches. This coupling takes place through the interchange of physical parameters and operational or accident scenarios. In this paper we apply the RISMC approach to evaluate the impact of amore » power uprate on a pressurized water reactor (PWR) for a tsunami-induced flooding test case. This analysis is performed using the RISMC toolkit: RELAP-7 and RAVEN codes. RELAP-7 is the new generation of system analysis codes that is responsible for simulating the thermal-hydraulic dynamics of PWR and boiling water reactor systems. RAVEN has two capabilities: to act as a controller of the RELAP-7 simulation (e.g., system activation) and to perform statistical analyses (e.g., run multiple RELAP-7 simulations where sequencing/timing of events have been changed according to a set of stochastic distributions). By using the RISMC toolkit, we can evaluate how power uprate affects the system recovery measures needed to avoid core damage after the PWR lost all available AC power by a tsunami induced flooding. The simulation of the actual flooding is performed by using a smooth particle hydrodynamics code: NEUTRINO.« less

  9. Public health benefits of reducing air pollution in Shanghai: a proof-of-concept methodology with application to BenMAP.

    PubMed

    Voorhees, A Scott; Wang, Jiandong; Wang, Cuicui; Zhao, Bin; Wang, Shuxiao; Kan, Haidong

    2014-07-01

    In recent years, levels of particulate matter (PM) air pollution in China have been relatively high, exceeding China's Class II standards in many cities and impacting public health. This analysis takes Chinese health impact functions and underlying health incidence, applies 2010-2012 modeled and monitored PM air quality data, and estimates avoided cases of mortality and morbidity in Shanghai, assuming achievement of China's Class II air quality standards. In Shanghai, the estimated avoided all cause mortality due to PM10 ranged from 13 to 55 cases per day and from 300 to 800 cases per year. The estimated avoided impact on hospital admissions due to PM10 ranged from 230 cases to 580 cases per day and from 5400 to 7900 per year. The estimated avoided impact on all cause mortality due to PM2.5 ranged from 6 to 26 cases per day and from 39 to 1400 per year. The estimated impact on all cause mortality of a year exposure to an annual or monthly mean PM2.5 concentration ranged from 180 to 3500 per year. In Shanghai, the avoided cases of all cause mortality had an estimated monetary value ranging from 170 million yuan (1 US dollar=4.2 yuan Purchasing Power Parity) to 1200 million yuan. Avoided hospital admissions had an estimated value from 20 to 43 million yuan. Avoided emergency department visits had an estimated value from 5.6 million to 15 million yuan. Avoided outpatient visits had an estimated value from 21 million to 31 million yuan. In this analysis, available data were adequate to estimate avoided health impacts and assign monetary value. Sufficient supporting documentation was available to construct and format data sets for use in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's health and environmental assessment model, known as the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program - Community Edition ("BenMAP-CE"). Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. Naturalistic Decision Making For Power System Operators

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greitzer, Frank L.; Podmore, Robin; Robinson, Marck

    2009-06-23

    Abstract: Motivation -- As indicated by the Blackout of 2003, the North American interconnected electric system is vulnerable to cascading outages and widespread blackouts. Investigations of large scale outages often attribute the causes to the three T’s: Trees, Training and Tools. A systematic approach has been developed to document and understand the mental processes that an expert power system operator uses when making critical decisions. The approach has been developed and refined as part of a capability demonstration of a high-fidelity real-time power system simulator under normal and emergency conditions. To examine naturalistic decision making (NDM) processes, transcripts of operator-to-operatormore » conversations are analyzed to reveal and assess NDM-based performance criteria. Findings/Design -- The results of the study indicate that we can map the Situation Awareness Level of the operators at each point in the scenario. We can also identify clearly what mental models and mental simulations are being performed at different points in the scenario. As a result of this research we expect that we can identify improved training methods and improved analytical and visualization tools for power system operators. Originality/Value -- The research applies for the first time, the concepts of Recognition Primed Decision Making, Situation Awareness Levels and Cognitive Task Analysis to training of electric power system operators. Take away message -- The NDM approach provides an ideal framework for systematic training management and mitigation to accelerate learning in team-based training scenarios with high-fidelity power grid simulators.« less

  11. Wide-area measurement system-based supervision of protection schemes with minimum number of phasor measurement units.

    PubMed

    Gajare, Swaroop; Rao, J Ganeswara; Naidu, O D; Pradhan, Ashok Kumar

    2017-08-13

    Cascade tripping of power lines triggered by maloperation of zone-3 relays during stressed system conditions, such as load encroachment, power swing and voltage instability, has led to many catastrophic power failures worldwide, including Indian blackouts in 2012. With the introduction of wide-area measurement systems (WAMS) into the grids, real-time monitoring of transmission network condition is possible. A phasor measurement unit (PMU) sends time-synchronized data to a phasor data concentrator, which can provide a control signal to substation devices. The latency associated with the communication system makes WAMS suitable for a slower form of protection. In this work, a method to identify the faulted line using synchronized data from strategic PMU locations is proposed. Subsequently, a supervisory signal is generated for specific relays in the system for any disturbance or stressed condition. For a given system, an approach to decide the strategic locations for PMU placement is developed, which can be used for determining the minimum number of PMUs required for application of the method. The accuracy of the scheme is tested for faults during normal and stressed conditions in a New England 39-bus system simulated using EMTDC/PSCAD software. With such a strategy, maloperation of relays can be averted in many situations and thereby blackouts/large-scale disturbances can be prevented.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy management: flexibility, risk and optimization'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  12. Drosophila Rolling Blackout Displays Lipase Domain-Dependent and Independent Endocytic Functions Downstream of Dynamin

    PubMed Central

    Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Phillips, Scott E.; Broadie, Kendal

    2010-01-01

    Drosophila temperature-sensitive rolling blackout (rbots) mutants display a total block of endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and a weaker, partial defect at neuronal synapses. RBO is an integral plasma membrane protein and is predicted to be a serine esterase. To determine if lipase activity is required for RBO function, we mutated the catalytic serine 358 to alanine in the G-X-S-X-G active site, and assayed genomic rescue of rbo mutant non-neuronal and neuronal phenotypes. The rboS358A mutant is unable to rescue rbo null 100% embryonic lethality, indicating that the lipase-domain is critical for RBO essential function. Likewise, the rboS358A mutant cannot provide any rescue of endocytic blockade in rbots Garland cells, demonstrating that the lipase-domain is indispensable for non-neuronal endocytosis. In contrast, rbots conditional paralysis, synaptic transmission block and synapse endocytic defects are all fully rescued by the rboS358A mutant, showing that the RBO lipase-domain is dispensable in neuronal contexts. We identified a synthetic lethal interaction between rbots and the well-characterized dynamin GTPase conditional shibire (shits1) mutant. In both non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses, shits1;rbots phenocopies shits1 endocytic defects, indicating that dynamin and RBO act in the same pathway, with dynamin functioning upstream of RBO. We conclude that RBO possesses both lipase-domain dependent and scaffolding functions with differential requirements in non-neuronal versus neuronal endocytosis mechanisms downstream of dynamin GTPase activity. PMID:21029287

  13. Treatment of avoidance behavior as an adjunct to exposure therapy: Insights from modern learning theory.

    PubMed

    Treanor, Michael; Barry, Tom J

    2017-09-01

    Pathological avoidance of benign stimuli is a hallmark of anxiety and related disorders, and exposure-based treatments have often encouraged the removal of avoidance, or safety behaviors, due to their negative effects on extinction learning. Unfortunately, empirical evidence suggests that avoidance behaviors can persist following treatment, and the mere availability of avoidance behavior can be sufficient to renew fear following successful extinction learning. The present paper critically examines the function of avoidance behavior through the lens of modern learning theory, and speculates on novel behavioral and pharmacological strategies for targeting avoidance as an adjunct to current evidence-based treatments. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Deep convolutional neural network processing of aerial stereo imagery to monitor vulnerable zones near power lines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qayyum, Abdul; Saad, Naufal M.; Kamel, Nidal; Malik, Aamir Saeed

    2018-01-01

    The monitoring of vegetation near high-voltage transmission power lines and poles is tedious. Blackouts present a huge challenge to power distribution companies and often occur due to tree growth in hilly and rural areas. There are numerous methods of monitoring hazardous overgrowth that are expensive and time-consuming. Accurate estimation of tree and vegetation heights near power poles can prevent the disruption of power transmission in vulnerable zones. This paper presents a cost-effective approach based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm to compute the height (depth maps) of objects proximal to power poles and transmission lines. The proposed CNN extracts and classifies features by employing convolutional pooling inputs to fully connected data layers that capture prominent features from stereo image patches. Unmanned aerial vehicle or satellite stereo image datasets can thus provide a feasible and cost-effective approach that identifies threat levels based on height and distance estimations of hazardous vegetation and other objects. Results were compared with extant disparity map estimation techniques, such as graph cut, dynamic programming, belief propagation, and area-based methods. The proposed method achieved an accuracy rate of 90%.

  15. Optimizing the robustness of electrical power systems against cascading failures.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yingrui; Yağan, Osman

    2016-06-21

    Electrical power systems are one of the most important infrastructures that support our society. However, their vulnerabilities have raised great concern recently due to several large-scale blackouts around the world. In this paper, we investigate the robustness of power systems against cascading failures initiated by a random attack. This is done under a simple yet useful model based on global and equal redistribution of load upon failures. We provide a comprehensive understanding of system robustness under this model by (i) deriving an expression for the final system size as a function of the size of initial attacks; (ii) deriving the critical attack size after which system breaks down completely; (iii) showing that complete system breakdown takes place through a first-order (i.e., discontinuous) transition in terms of the attack size; and (iv) establishing the optimal load-capacity distribution that maximizes robustness. In particular, we show that robustness is maximized when the difference between the capacity and initial load is the same for all lines; i.e., when all lines have the same redundant space regardless of their initial load. This is in contrast with the intuitive and commonly used setting where capacity of a line is a fixed factor of its initial load.

  16. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gevorgian, Vahan; Zhang, Yingchen

    The electrical frequency of an interconnected power system must be maintained close its nominal level at all times. Excessive under- and overfrequency excursions can lead to load shedding, instability, machine damage, and even blackouts. There is a rising concern in the electric power industry in recent years about the declining amount of inertia and primary frequency response (PFR) in many interconnections. This decline may continue due to increasing penetrations of inverter-coupled generation and the planned retirements of conventional thermal plants. Inverter-coupled variable wind generation is capable of contributing to PFR and inertia with a response that is different from thatmore » of conventional generation. It is not yet entirely understood how such a response will affect the system at different wind power penetration levels. The modeling work presented in this paper evaluates the impact of wind generation's provision of these active power control strategies on a large, synchronous interconnection. All simulations were conducted on the U.S. Western Interconnection with different levels of instantaneous wind power penetrations (up to 80%). The ability of wind power plants to provide PFR - and a combination of synthetic inertial response and PFR - significantly improved the frequency response performance of the system.« less

  17. Incorporation of Tropical Cyclone Avoidance Into Automated Ship Scheduling

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-06-01

    damage and even sink ships. Avoiding TCs adds to fuel costs and causes delays. In the private sector, commercial shipping uses automated routing...improvements in forecasting have enabled ships to avoid TC-impacted areas altogether. Avoiding TCs does not come without a cost . Delaying departure or...steaming around a TC results in more fuel being burned at a high cost , plus the cost due to the delay in arrival at the destination, and the associated

  18. Virtual reality-based navigation task to reveal obstacle avoidance performance in individuals with visuospatial neglect.

    PubMed

    Aravind, Gayatri; Darekar, Anuja; Fung, Joyce; Lamontagne, Anouk

    2015-03-01

    Persons with post-stroke visuospatial neglect (VSN) often collide with moving obstacles while walking. It is not well understood whether the collisions occur as a result of attentional-perceptual deficits caused by VSN or due to post-stroke locomotor deficits. We assessed individuals with VSN on a seated, joystick-driven obstacle avoidance task, thus eliminating the influence of locomotion. Twelve participants with VSN were tested on obstacle detection and obstacle avoidance tasks in a virtual environment that included three obstacles approaching head-on or 30 (°) contralesionally/ipsilesionally. Our results indicate that in the detection task, the contralesional and head-on obstacles were detected at closer proximities compared to the ipsilesional obstacle. For the avoidance task collisions were observed only for the contralesional and head-on obstacle approaches. For the contralesional obstacle approach, participants initiated their avoidance strategies at smaller distances from the obstacle and maintained smaller minimum distances from the obstacles. The distance at detection showed a negative association with the distance at the onset of avoidance strategy for all three obstacle approaches. We conclusion the observation of collisions with contralesional and head-on obstacles, in the absence of locomotor burden, provides evidence that attentional-perceptual deficits due to VSN, independent of post-stroke locomotor deficits, alter obstacle avoidance abilities.

  19. Interviewing insights regarding the fatalities inflicted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ando, M.; Ishida, M.; Hayashi, Y.; Mizuki, C.; Nishikawa, Y.; Tu, Y.

    2013-09-01

    One hundred fifty survivors of the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (Tohoku-oki earthquake) (Mw = 9.0) were interviewed to study the causes of deaths from the associated tsunami in coastal areas of Tohoku. The first official tsunami warning underestimated the height of the tsunami and 40% of the interviewees did not obtain this warning due to immediate blackouts and a lack of communication after the earthquake. Many chose to remain in dangerous locations based on the underestimated warning and their experiences with previous smaller tsunamis and/or due to misunderstanding the mitigating effects of nearby breakwaters in blocking incoming tsunamis. Some delayed their evacuation to perform family safety checks, and in many situations, the people affected misunderstood the risks involved in tsunamis. In this area, three large tsunamis have struck in the 115 yr preceding the 2011 tsunami. These tsunamis remained in the collective memory of communities, and numerous measures against future tsunami damage, such as breakwaters and tsunami evacuation drills, had been implemented. Despite these preparedness efforts, approximately 18 500 deaths and cases of missing persons occurred. The death rate with the age of 65 and above was particularly high, four times higher than that with other age groups. These interviews indicate that deaths resulted from a variety of reasons, but if residents had taken immediate action after the major ground motion stopped, most residents might have been saved. Education about the science behind earthquakes and tsunamis could help save more lives in the future.

  20. Implementing renewable energy in Cuba

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hawthorne, W.; Stone, L.; Perez, V.B.H.

    Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the US embargo, Cuba has found itself in an energy crisis of enormous magnitude. Faced with this energy crisis and its ensuing black-outs and productivity reductions, Cuba has developed a national energy plan which focuses on energy self-sufficiency and sustainability. Energy efficiency, solar energy, wind power, micro-hydro, and biomass are each included in the plan. Implementation of renewable energy projects in each of these areas has begun throughout the country with the enthusiastic support of Cubasolar, the Cuban renewable energy professional association.

  1. Battery Electric Vehicles can reduce greenhouse has emissions and make renewable energy cheaper in India

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gopal, Anand R; Witt, Maggie; Sheppard, Colin

    India's National Mission on Electric Mobility (NMEM) sets a countrywide goal of deploying 6 to 7 million hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) by 2020. There are widespread concerns, both within and outside the government, that the Indian grid is not equipped to accommodate additional power demand from battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Such concerns are justified on the grounds of India's notorious power sector problems pertaining to grid instability and chronic blackouts. Studies have claimed that deploying BEVs in India will only

  2. Measurement of Exhaust Emissions from Diesel-Powered Forklifts during Operations in Ammunition Storage Magazines.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-05-01

    to CO over a work period can cause central nervous system depression , blackouts, coma, and eventual death at the concentrations that could be reached...Camel, Jr., Eds., National Cancer Institute Monograph No. 9, p. 225, 1962. 11.6 Sawicki, E., R. C. Corey, A. E. Dooley,J. B. Gisclard, J. L. Monkman, R...tum wmammmmm ~m mamas aB-mm7 B-27 1K PEDCO INVIRONMENTAL. INC ARMY DIESEL FORKLIFT STUDY Location THREE TOt Description TEST SI Date: DECEMIER 6. 1103

  3. A Smoothed Eclipse Model for Solar Electric Propulsion Trajectory Optimization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Aziz, Jonathan D.; Scheeres, Daniel J.; Parker, Jeffrey S.; Englander, Jacob A.

    2017-01-01

    Solar electric propulsion (SEP) is the dominant design option for employing low-thrust propulsion on a space mission. Spacecraft solar arrays power the SEP system but are subject to blackout periods during solar eclipse conditions. Discontinuity in power available to the spacecraft must be accounted for in trajectory optimization, but gradient-based methods require a differentiable power model. This work presents a power model that smooths the eclipse transition from total eclipse to total sunlight with a logistic function. Example trajectories are computed with differential dynamic programming, a second-order gradient-based method.

  4. Use of artificial intelligence in severe accident diagnosis for PWRs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wu, Zheng; Okrent, D.; Kastenberg, W.E.

    1995-12-31

    A combination approach of an expert system and neural networks is used to implement a prototype severe accident diagnostic system which would monitor the progression of the severe accident and provide necessary plant status information to assist the plant staff in accident management during the accident. The station blackout accident in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is used as the study case. The current phase of research focus is on distinguishing different primary system failure modes and following the accident transient before and up to vessel breach.

  5. Steam plant startup and control in system restoration

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mello, F.P. de; Westcott, J.C.

    1994-02-01

    The IEEE Working Group on Power System Restoration developed a panel session for the Summer Power Meeting on July 14, 1992 on Special Considerations in Power System Restoration. One of the contributions to this session is presented in this paper dealing with aspects of steam plant startup and control in scenarios of system restoration. The topics addressed include the complexity of a steam plant, the contrast between normal plant startups and shutdowns and those following major system blackouts including the effects of plant design, automatic controls, bypass valving and operator training.

  6. Optimal Black Start Resource Allocation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Qiu, Feng; Wang, Jianhui; Chen, Chen

    The restoration of the bulk power system after a partial or complete blackout relies on black-start (BS) resources. To prepare for system restoration, it is important to procure the right amount of BS resources at the right locations in the grid so that the total restoration time can be minimized. Achieving this goal requires that resource procurement planning takes the restoration process into account. In this study, we integrate the BS resource procurement decision with a restoration planning model and develop an optimization model that produces a minimal cost procurement plan that satisfies the restoration time requirement.

  7. Drinking game play among first-year college student drinkers: an event-specific analysis of the risk for alcohol use and problems.

    PubMed

    Ray, Anne E; Stapleton, Jerod L; Turrisi, Rob; Mun, Eun-Young

    2014-09-01

    College students who play drinking games (DGs) more frequently report higher levels of alcohol use and experience more alcohol-related harm. However, the extent to which they are at risk for increased consumption and harm as a result of DG play on a given event after accounting for their typical DG participation, and typical and event drinking, is unclear. We examined whether first-year students consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience consequences on drinking occasions when they played DGs. Participants (n = 336) completed up to six web-based surveys following weekend drinking events in their first semester. Alcohol use, DG play, and consequences were reported for the Friday and Saturday prior to each survey. Typical DG tendencies were controlled in all models. Typical and event alcohol use were controlled in models predicting risk for consequences. Participants consumed more alcohol on DG versus non-DG events. All students were more likely to experience blackout drinking consequences when they played DGs. Women were more likely to experience social-interpersonal consequences when they played DGs. DG play is an event-specific risk factor for increased alcohol use among first-year students, regardless of individual DG play tendencies. Further, event DG play signals increased risk for blackout drinking consequences for all students, and social-interpersonal consequences for women, aside from the amount of alcohol consumed on those occasions as well as typical drinking behaviors. Prevention efforts to reduce high-risk drinking may be strengthened by highlighting both event- and person-specific risks of DG play.

  8. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    IBIS can focus in on different wavelengths of light, and so reveal different layers at different heights in the sun's lower atmosphere, the chromosphere. This image shows a region slightly higher than the former one. Credit: Lucia Kleint (BAER Institute), Paul Higgins (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  9. The propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves through plasma in the near-field region of low-frequency loop antenna

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu, DongLin, E-mail: donglinliu@stu.xidian.edu.cn; Li, XiaoPing; Xie, Kai

    2015-10-15

    A high-speed vehicle flying through the atmosphere between 100 and 20 km may suffer from a “communication blackout.” In this paper, a low frequency system with an on-board loop antenna to receive signals is presented as a potential blackout mitigation method. Because the plasma sheath is in the near-field region of the loop antenna, the traditional scattering matrix method that is developed for the far-field region may overestimate the electromagnetic (EM) wave's attenuation. To estimate the EM wave's attenuation in the near-field region, EM interference (EMI) shielding theory is introduced. Experiments are conducted, and the results verify the EMI shielding theory'smore » effectiveness. Simulations are also conducted with different plasma parameters, and the results obtained show that the EM wave's attenuation in the near-field region is far below than that in the far-field region. The EM wave's attenuation increases with the increase in electron density and decreases with the increase in collision frequency. The higher the frequency, the larger is the EM wave's attenuation. During the entire re-entry phase of a RAM-C module, the EM wave's attenuations are below 10 dB for EM waves with a frequency of 1 MHz and below 1 dB for EM waves with a frequency of 100 kHz. Therefore, the low frequency systems (e.g., Loran-C) may provide a way to transmit some key information to high-speed vehicles even during the communication “blackout” period.« less

  10. Drosophila rolling blackout displays lipase domain-dependent and -independent endocytic functions downstream of dynamin.

    PubMed

    Vijayakrishnan, Niranjana; Phillips, Scott E; Broadie, Kendal

    2010-12-01

    Drosophila temperature-sensitive rolling blackout (rbo(ts) ) mutants display a total block of endocytosis in non-neuronal cells and a weaker, partial defect at neuronal synapses. RBO is an integral plasma membrane protein and is predicted to be a serine esterase. To determine if lipase activity is required for RBO function, we mutated the catalytic serine 358 to alanine in the G-X-S-X-G active site, and assayed genomic rescue of rbo mutant non-neuronal and neuronal phenotypes. The rbo(S358A) mutant is unable to rescue rbo null 100% embryonic lethality, indicating that the lipase domain is critical for RBO essential function. Likewise, the rbo(S358A) mutant cannot provide any rescue of endocytic blockade in rbo(ts) Garland cells, showing that the lipase domain is indispensable for non-neuronal endocytosis. In contrast, rbo(ts) conditional paralysis, synaptic transmission block and synapse endocytic defects are all fully rescued by the rbo(S358A) mutant, showing that the RBO lipase domain is dispensable in neuronal contexts. We identified a synthetic lethal interaction between rbo(ts) and the well-characterized dynamin GTPase conditional shibire (shi(ts1)) mutant. In both non-neuronal cells and neuronal synapses, shi(ts1); rbo(ts) phenocopies shi(ts1) endocytic defects, indicating that dynamin and RBO act in the same pathway, with dynamin functioning upstream of RBO. We conclude that RBO possesses both lipase domain-dependent and scaffolding functions with differential requirements in non-neuronal versus neuronal endocytosis mechanisms downstream of dynamin GTPase activity. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  11. Following of conspecific and avoidance of predator chemical cues by pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus).

    PubMed

    Burger, J

    1989-03-01

    The ability of hatchling pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) to follow or avoid the chemical trails of conspecifics and a king snake (Lampropeltis getulus) on paper substrates was investigated inY-maze experiments. Hatchlings entered the arm with the adult conspecific trail and avoided the arm containing the king snake trail at a frequency much greater than that due to chance. The data support the hypotheses that pine snakes follow the chemical trails of adult conspecifics and avoid the chemical trails of a predator.

  12. Unified method to integrate and blend several, potentially related, sources of information for genetic evaluation.

    PubMed

    Vandenplas, Jérémie; Colinet, Frederic G; Gengler, Nicolas

    2014-09-30

    A condition to predict unbiased estimated breeding values by best linear unbiased prediction is to use simultaneously all available data. However, this condition is not often fully met. For example, in dairy cattle, internal (i.e. local) populations lead to evaluations based only on internal records while widely used foreign sires have been selected using internally unavailable external records. In such cases, internal genetic evaluations may be less accurate and biased. Because external records are unavailable, methods were developed to combine external information that summarizes these records, i.e. external estimated breeding values and associated reliabilities, with internal records to improve accuracy of internal genetic evaluations. Two issues of these methods concern double-counting of contributions due to relationships and due to records. These issues could be worse if external information came from several evaluations, at least partially based on the same records, and combined into a single internal evaluation. Based on a Bayesian approach, the aim of this research was to develop a unified method to integrate and blend simultaneously several sources of information into an internal genetic evaluation by avoiding double-counting of contributions due to relationships and due to records. This research resulted in equations that integrate and blend simultaneously several sources of information and avoid double-counting of contributions due to relationships and due to records. The performance of the developed equations was evaluated using simulated and real datasets. The results showed that the developed equations integrated and blended several sources of information well into a genetic evaluation. The developed equations also avoided double-counting of contributions due to relationships and due to records. Furthermore, because all available external sources of information were correctly propagated, relatives of external animals benefited from the integrated information and, therefore, more reliable estimated breeding values were obtained. The proposed unified method integrated and blended several sources of information well into a genetic evaluation by avoiding double-counting of contributions due to relationships and due to records. The unified method can also be extended to other types of situations such as single-step genomic or multi-trait evaluations, combining information across different traits.

  13. Beyond Attributable Burden: Estimating the Avoidable Burden of Disease Associated with Household Air Pollution.

    PubMed

    Kuhn, Randall; Rothman, Dale S; Turner, Sara; Solórzano, José; Hughes, Barry

    2016-01-01

    The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies have transformed global understanding of health risks by producing comprehensive estimates of attributable disease burden, or the current disease that would be eliminated if a risk factor did not exist. Yet many have noted the greater policy significance of avoidable burden, or the future disease that could actually be eliminated if a risk factor were eliminated today. Avoidable risk may be considerably lower than attributable risk if baseline levels of exposure or disease are declining, or if a risk factor carries lagged effects on disease. As global efforts to deliver clean cookstoves accelerate, a temporal estimation of avoidable risk due to household air pollution (HAP) becomes increasingly important, particularly in light of the rapid uptake of modern stoves and ongoing epidemiologic transitions in regions like South and Southeast Asia. We estimate the avoidable burden associated with HAP using International Futures (IFs), an integrated forecasting system that has been used to model future global disease burdens and risk factors. Building on GBD and other estimates, we integrated a detailed HAP exposure estimation and exposure-response model into IFs. We then conducted a counterfactual experiment in which HAP exposure is reduced to theoretical minimum levels in 2015. We evaluated avoidable mortality and DALY reductions for the years 2015 to 2024 relative to a Base Case scenario in which only endogenous changes occurred. We present results by cause and region, looking at impacts on acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) and four noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). We found that just 2.6% of global DALYs would be averted between 2015 and 2024, compared to 4.5% of global DALYs attributed to HAP in the 2010 GBD study, due in large part to the endogenous tendency towards declining traditional stove usage in the IFs base case forecast. The extent of diminished impact was comparable for ALRI and affected NCDs, though for different reasons. ALRI impacts diminish due to the declining burden of ALRI in the base case forecast, particularly apparent in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Although NCD burdens are rising in regions affected by HAP, the avoidable risk of NCD nonetheless diminishes due to lagged effects. Because the stove transition and the decline of ALRI are proceeding more slowly in Sub-Saharan Africa, avoidable impacts would also be more persistent (3.9% of total DALY due to HAP) compared to South Asia (3.6%) or Southeast Asia (2.5%). Our results illustrate how a temporal dynamic calculation of avoidable risk may yield different estimates, compared to a static attributable risk estimate, of the global and regional burden of disease. Our results suggest a window of rising and falling opportunity for HAP interventions that may have already closed in Southeast Asia and may be closing quickly in South Asia, but may remain open longer in Sub-Saharan Africa. A proper accounting of global health priorities should apply an avoidable risk framework that considers the role of ongoing social, economic and health transitions in constantly altering the disease and risk factor landscape.

  14. Disruption avoidance by means of electron cyclotron waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esposito, B.; Granucci, G.; Maraschek, M.; Nowak, S.; Lazzaro, E.; Giannone, L.; Gude, A.; Igochine, V.; McDermott, R.; Poli, E.; Reich, M.; Sommer, F.; Stober, J.; Suttrop, W.; Treutterer, W.; Zohm, H.; ASDEX Upgrade, the; FTU Teams

    2011-12-01

    Disruptions are very challenging to ITER operation as they may cause damage to plasma facing components due to direct plasma heating, forces on structural components due to halo and eddy currents and the production of runaway electrons. Electron cyclotron (EC) waves have been demonstrated as a tool for disruption avoidance by a large set of recent experiments performed in ASDEX Upgrade and FTU using various disruption types, plasma operating scenarios and power deposition locations. The technique is based on the stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes (mainly m/n = 2/1) through the localized injection of EC power on the resonant surface. This paper presents new results obtained in ASDEX Upgrade regarding stable operation above the Greenwald density achieved after avoidance of density limit disruptions by means of ECRH and suitable density feedback control (L-mode ohmic plasmas, Ip = 0.6 MA, Bt = 2.5 T) and NTM-driven disruptions at high-β limit delayed/avoided by means of both co-current drive (co-ECCD) and pure heating (ECRH) with power <=1.7 MW (H-mode NBI-heated plasmas, PNBI ~ 7.5 MW, Ip = 1 MA, Bt = 2.1 T, q95 ~ 3.6). The localized perpendicular injection of ECRH/ECCD onto a resonant surface leads to the delay and/or complete avoidance of disruptions. The experiments indicate the existence of a power threshold for mode stabilization to occur. An analysis of the MHD mode evolution using the generalized Rutherford equation coupled to the frequency and phase evolution equations shows that control of the modes is due to EC heating close to the resonant surface. The ECRH contribution (Δ'H term) is larger than the co-ECCD one in the initial and more important phase when the discharge is 'saved'. Future research and developments of the disruption avoidance technique are also discussed.

  15. [Mortality by avoidable causes in preschool children].

    PubMed

    Lurán, Albenia; López, Elizabeth; Pinilla, Consuelo; Sierra, Pedro

    2009-03-01

    The infant-mortality rate in children aged less than five is an indicator of the general state of health of a population and directly reflects the quality of life and the level of socio-economic development of a country. Avoidable mortality was assessed in preschool children as a reflection of Colombia quality of life and socio-economic development. Mortality trends were analyzed in preschool children aged less than five throughout Colombia during a 20-year period from 1985-2004, and focused on mortality causes that were considered avoidable. This was a descriptive, retrospective study; the sources of information were Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística records of deaths and population projections 1985-2004. Mortality rate due to avoidable causes was the statistical indicator. In children aged less than one, the reducible mortality due to "early diagnosis and medical treatment" occupied the first place amongst causes for every year of the study period and accounted for more than 50% of recorded deaths. In children aged 1 to 4, the category "other important reducible causes" was associated with 40% of recorded deaths-deaths due mainly to respiratory diseases. Over the 20-year period, the avoidable mortality rate decreased by 34% in children aged less than one, in children 1-4, it decreased by 23%. Although the infant-mortality rate in preschool children was reduced, the decrease was small, from 80% to 77%. The situation requires more analysis with respect to strategies in public health, particularly concerning preventable diseases of the infancy.

  16. Cooperative intersection collision avoidance system limited to stop sign and traffic signal violations (CICAS-V).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2008-09-30

    The objective of the Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System for Violations (CICAS-V) Project is to develop and field-test a comprehensive system to reduce the number of crashes at intersections due to violations of traffic control device...

  17. Comparison of the Media Coverage of the Vietnam War to the Media Coverage of the Invasions of Grenada and Panama: A Question of Legacies

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-01-01

    Applying lessons learned from the Vietnam experience, the media blackout was thought to be in Washington’s and the Pentagon’s best interest. But cries of...can be learned through the study of past actions. And interpretations of current affairs often become clearer after historical scrutiny. However, when...only one portion of the war. Part of the problem may be related to the economic motives of the media. "So deep is the fascination in war and all things

  18. Development and Validation of Accident Models for FeCrAl Cladding

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gamble, Kyle Allan Lawrence; Hales, Jason Dean

    2016-08-01

    The purpose of this milestone report is to present the work completed in regards to material model development for FeCrAl cladding and highlight the results of applying these models to Loss of Coolant Accidents (LOCA) and Station Blackouts (SBO). With the limited experimental data available (essentially only the data used to create the models) true validation is not possible. In the absence of another alternative, qualitative comparisons during postulated accident scenarios between FeCrAl and Zircaloy-4 cladded rods have been completed demonstrating the superior performance of FeCrAl.

  19. Systems-level study of a nonsurvivable Jupiter turbopause probe. Volume 1: Summary

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wiltshire, R. S.

    1972-01-01

    The design of a space probe to explore the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter is discussed. Five major areas were considered: (1) definition of science requirements, (2) mission evaluation, (3) definition of probe system, (4) definition of spacecraft support requirements, and (5) nonequilibrium flow field analysis for communications blackout evaluation. The overall mission and system design are emphasized. The integration of the various technologies into complete systems designs is described. Results showed that a nonsurvivable turbopause probe mission to Jupiter with adequate data return to meet the science objectives is feasible and practical.

  20. Space Shuttle orbiter entry heating and TPS response: STS-1 predictions and flight data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ried, R. C.; Goodrich, W. D.; Li, C. P.; Scott, C. D.; Derry, S. M.; Maraia, R. J.

    1982-01-01

    Aerothermodynamic development flight test data from the first orbital flight test of the Space Transportation System (STS) transmitted after entry blackout is given. Engineering predictions of boundary layer transition and numerical simulations of the orbiter flow field were confirmed. The data tended to substantiate preflight predictions of surface catalysis phenomena. The thermal response of the thermal protection system was as expected. The only exception is that internal free convection was found to be significant in limiting the peak temperature of the structure in areas which do not have internal insulation.

  1. Faster Finances

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1976-01-01

    TRW has applied the Apollo checkout procedures to retail-store and bank-transaction systems, as well as to control systems for electric power transmission grids -- reducing the chance of power blackouts. Automatic checkout equipment for Apollo Spacecraft is one of the most complex computer systems in the world. Used to integrate extensive Apollo checkout procedures from manufacture to launch, it has spawned major advances in computer systems technology. Store and bank credit system has caused significant improvement in speed and accuracy of transactions, credit authorization, and inventory control. A similar computer service called "Validata" is used nationwide by airlines, airline ticket offices, car rental agencies, and hotels.

  2. Planning and Execution for an Autonomous Aerobot

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gaines, Daniel M.; Estlin, Tara A.; Schaffer, Steven R.; Chouinard, Caroline M.

    2010-01-01

    The Aerial Onboard Autonomous Science Investigation System (AerOASIS) system provides autonomous planning and execution capabilities for aerial vehicles (see figure). The system is capable of generating high-quality operations plans that integrate observation requests from ground planning teams, as well as opportunistic science events detected onboard the vehicle while respecting mission and resource constraints. AerOASIS allows an airborne planetary exploration vehicle to summarize and prioritize the most scientifically relevant data; identify and select high-value science sites for additional investigation; and dynamically plan, schedule, and monitor the various science activities being performed, even during extended communications blackout periods with Earth.

  3. The X-33 Extended Flight Test Range

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mackall, Dale A.; Sakahara, Robert; Kremer, Steven E.

    1998-01-01

    Development of an extended test range, with range instrumentation providing continuous vehicle communications, is required to flight-test the X-33, a scaled version of a reusable launch vehicle. The extended test range provides vehicle communications coverage from California to landing at Montana or Utah. This paper provides an overview of the approaches used to meet X-33 program requirements, including using multiple ground stations, and methods to reduce problems caused by reentry plasma radio frequency blackout. The advances used to develop the extended test range show other hypersonic and access-to-space programs can benefit from the development of the extended test range.

  4. Geomagnetic storms: Potential economic impacts on electric utilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barnes, P. R.; Vandyke, J. W.

    1991-03-01

    Geomagnetic storms associated with sunspot and solar flare activity can disturb communications and disrupt electric power. A very severe geomagnetic storm could cause a major blackout with an economic impact of several billion dollars. The vulnerability of electric power systems in the northeast United States will likely increase during the 1990s because of the trend of transmitting large amounts of power over long distance to meet the electricity demands of this region. A comprehensive research program and a warning satellite to monitor the solar wind are needed to enhance the reliability of electric power systems under the influence of geomagnetic storms.

  5. Impact winter and the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinctions: Results of a Chicxulub asteroid impact model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pope, Kevin O.; Baines, Kevin H.; Ocampo, Adriana C.; Ivanov, Boris A.

    1994-01-01

    The Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico is the site of the impact purported to have caused mass extinctions at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. 2-D hydrocode modeling of the impact, coupled with studies of the impact site geology, indiate that between 0.4 and 7.0 x 10(exp 17) g of sulfur were vaporized by the impact into anhydrite target rocks. A small portion of the sulfur was released as SO3 or SO4, which converted rapidly into H2SO4 aerosol and fell as acid rain. A radiative transfer model, coupled with a model of coagulation indicates that the aerosol prolonged the initial blackout period caused by impact dust only if the aerosol contained impurities. A larger portion of sulfur was released as SO2, which converted to aerosol slowly, due to the rate-limiting oxidation of SO2. Our radiative transfer calculations, combined with rates of acid production, coagulation, and diffusion indicate that solar transmission was reduced to 10-20% of normal for a period of 8-13 yr. This reduction produced a climate forcing (cooling) of -300 W/sq.m, which far exceeded the +8 W/sq.m greenhouse warming, caused by the CO2 released through the vaporization of carbonates, and therefore produced a decade of freezing and near-freezing temperatures. Several decades of moderate warming followed the decade of severe cooling due to the long residence time of CO2. The prolonged impact winter may have been a major cause of the K/T extinctions.

  6. Smart Ultrasound Remote Guidance Experiment (SURGE) Preliminary Findings

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hurst, Victor; Dulchavsky, Scott; Garcia, Kathleen; Sargsyan, Ashot; Ebert, Doug

    2009-01-01

    To date, diagnostic quality ultrasound images were obtained aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using the ultrasound of the Human Research Facility (HRF) rack in the Laboratory module. Through the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) and the Braslet-M Occlusion Cuffs (BRASLET SDTO) studies, non-expert ultrasound operators aboard the ISS have performed cardiac, thoracic, abdominal, vascular, ocular, and musculoskeletal ultrasound assessments using remote guidance from ground-based ultrasound experts. With exploration class missions to the lunar and Martian surfaces on the horizon, crew medical officers will necessarily need to operate with greater autonomy given communication delays (round trip times of up to 5 seconds for the Moon and 90 minutes for Mars) and longer periods of communication blackouts (due to orbital constraints of communication assets). The SURGE project explored the feasibility and training requirements of having non-expert ultrasound operators perform autonomous ultrasound assessments in a simulated exploration mission outpost. The project aimed to identify experience, training, and human factors requirements for crew medical officers to perform autonomous ultrasonography. All of these aims pertained to the following risks from the NASA Bioastronautics Road Map: 1) Risk 18: Major Illness and Trauna; 2) Risk 20) Ambulatory Care; 3) Risk 22: Medical Informatics, Technologies, and Support Systems; and 4) Risk 23: Medical Skill Training and Maintenance.

  7. Integrated DEA models and grey system theory to evaluate past-to-future performance: a case of Indian electricity industry.

    PubMed

    Wang, Chia-Nan; Nguyen, Nhu-Ty; Tran, Thanh-Tuyen

    2015-01-01

    The growth of economy and population together with the higher demand in energy has created many concerns for the Indian electricity industry whose capacity is at 211 gigawatts mostly in coal-fired plants. Due to insufficient fuel supply, India suffers from a shortage of electricity generation, leading to rolling blackouts; thus, performance evaluation and ranking the industry turn into significant issues. By this study, we expect to evaluate the rankings of these companies under control of the Ministry of Power. Also, this research would like to test if there are any significant differences between the two DEA models: Malmquist nonradial and Malmquist radial. Then, one advance model of MPI would be chosen to see these companies' performance in recent years and next few years by using forecasting results of Grey system theory. Totally, the realistic data 14 are considered to be in this evaluation after the strict selection from the whole industry. The results found that all companies have not shown many abrupt changes on their scores, and it is always not consistently good or consistently standing out, which demonstrated the high applicable usability of the integrated methods. This integrated numerical research gives a better "past-present-future" insights into performance evaluation in Indian electricity industry.

  8. The Planeterrella: an Analog Model for Teaching About the Invisible Electromagnetic Processes Driving Space Weather

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Masongsong, E. V.; Glesener, G. B.; Angelopoulos, V.; Lilensten, J.; Bingley, L.

    2015-12-01

    The Planeterrella can be used as an analog to help students visualize and understand the electromagnetic processes driving space weather that affect our daily lives. Solar storms and solar wind charged particles (plasma) cause "space weather" via their interaction with Earth's protective magnetic shield, the magnetosphere. The Planeterrella uses magnetized spheres in a vacuum chamber to demonstrate solar wind energy transfer to Earth and planets, with polar localization of aurora due to charged particles traveling along geomagnetic field lines. The Planeterrella provides a unique opportunity to experience and manipulate plasma, the dominant form of matter in our universe, yet seldom observable on Earth. Severe space weather events produce spectacular auroral displays as well as devastating consequences: radiation exposure to air and space travelers, prolonged radio blackouts, and damage to critical GPS and communications satellites. We will (1) discuss ways in which the Planeterrella may be most useful in classroom settings, including large lecture halls, laboratories, and small discussion sessions; (2) provide information on how instructors can produce their own Planeterrella for their courses; and (3) invite meeting attendees to engage in a discussion on how we might be able to improve on the current design of the Planeterrella, and how to reach students in more parts of the world.

  9. Excessive Heat Events and National Security: Building Resilience based on Early Warning Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vintzileos, A.

    2017-12-01

    Excessive heat events (EHE) affect security of Nations in multiple direct and indirect ways. EHE are the top cause for morbidity/mortality associated to any atmospheric extremes. Higher energy consumption used for cooling can lead to black-outs and social disorder. EHE affect the food supply chain reducing crop yield and increasing the probability of food contamination during delivery and storage. Distribution of goods during EHE can be severely disrupted due to mechanical failure of transportation equipment. EHE during athletic events e.g., marathons, may result to a high number of casualties. Finally, EHE may also affect military planning by e.g. reducing hours of exercise and by altering combat gear. Early warning systems for EHE allow for building resilience. In this paper we first define EHE as at least two consecutive heat days; a heat day is defined as a day with a maximum heat index with probability of occurrence that exceeds a certain threshold. We then use retrospective forecasts performed with a multitude of operational models and show that it is feasible to forecast EHE at forecast lead of week-2 and week-3 over the contiguous United States. We finally introduce an improved definition of EHE based on an intensity index and investigate forecast skill of the predictive system in the tropics and subtropics.

  10. Studies on the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized inhomogeneous plasma sheath

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuan, Kai; Shen, Linfang; Yao, Ming; Deng, Xiaohua; Chen, Zhou; Hong, Lujun

    2018-01-01

    There have been many studies on the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) wave transmission in reentry plasma sheaths. However, only some of them have paid attention to the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheaths. In this paper, the transmission of sub-THz waves in both unmagnetized and magnetized reentry plasma sheaths was investigated. The impacts of temporal evolution of the plasma sheath on the wave transmission were studied. The transmission of "atmospheric window" frequencies in a magnetized plasma sheath was discussed in detail. According to the study, the power transmission rates (Tp) for the left hand circular (LHC) and the right hand circular modes in the magnetized plasma sheath are obviously higher and lower than those in the unmagnetized plasma sheath, respectively. The Tp of LHC mode increases with both wave frequency and external magnetic field strength. Also, the Tp of LHC mode in both magnetized and unmagnetized plasma sheaths varies with time due to the temporal evolution of the plasma sheath. Moreover, the performance of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheath hints at a new approach to the "blackout" problem. The new approach, which is in the capability of modern technology, is to utilize the communication system operating at 140 GHz with an onboard magnet installed near the antenna.

  11. Integrated DEA Models and Grey System Theory to Evaluate Past-to-Future Performance: A Case of Indian Electricity Industry

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Chia-Nan; Tran, Thanh-Tuyen

    2015-01-01

    The growth of economy and population together with the higher demand in energy has created many concerns for the Indian electricity industry whose capacity is at 211 gigawatts mostly in coal-fired plants. Due to insufficient fuel supply, India suffers from a shortage of electricity generation, leading to rolling blackouts; thus, performance evaluation and ranking the industry turn into significant issues. By this study, we expect to evaluate the rankings of these companies under control of the Ministry of Power. Also, this research would like to test if there are any significant differences between the two DEA models: Malmquist nonradial and Malmquist radial. Then, one advance model of MPI would be chosen to see these companies' performance in recent years and next few years by using forecasting results of Grey system theory. Totally, the realistic data 14 are considered to be in this evaluation after the strict selection from the whole industry. The results found that all companies have not shown many abrupt changes on their scores, and it is always not consistently good or consistently standing out, which demonstrated the high applicable usability of the integrated methods. This integrated numerical research gives a better “past-present-future” insights into performance evaluation in Indian electricity industry. PMID:25821854

  12. Results of a Demonstration Assessment of Passive System Reliability Utilizing the Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bucknor, Matthew; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia

    2015-04-26

    Advanced small modular reactor designs include many advantageous design features such as passively driven safety systems that are arguably more reliable and cost effective relative to conventional active systems. Despite their attractiveness, a reliability assessment of passive systems can be difficult using conventional reliability methods due to the nature of passive systems. Simple deviations in boundary conditions can induce functional failures in a passive system, and intermediate or unexpected operating modes can also occur. As part of an ongoing project, Argonne National Laboratory is investigating various methodologies to address passive system reliability. The Reliability Method for Passive Systems (RMPS), amore » systematic approach for examining reliability, is one technique chosen for this analysis. This methodology is combined with the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) approach to assess the reliability of a passive system and the impact of its associated uncertainties. For this demonstration problem, an integrated plant model of an advanced small modular pool-type sodium fast reactor with a passive reactor cavity cooling system is subjected to a station blackout using RELAP5-3D. This paper discusses important aspects of the reliability assessment, including deployment of the methodology, the uncertainty identification and quantification process, and identification of key risk metrics.« less

  13. SOLAR COSMIC RAYS AND SOFT RADIATION OBSERVED AT 5,000,000 KILOMETERS FROM EARTH

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arnoldy, R.L.; Hoffman, R.A.; Winckler, J.R.

    1960-09-01

    During the period Mar. 27 to Apr. 6, 1960, the integrating ionization chamber and Geiger counter in Pioneer V detected solar cosmic rays and some soft- radiation effects associated with a high level of solar activity. The space probe was 5 x 10/sup 6/ km from the earth, approximately in the plane of the ecliptic, and located somewhat behind the sunearth radius toward the sun. The solar activity was associated with McMath plage region 5615 and was characterized by numerous flares of all sizes, large loops and surge prominences, and strong emission over a wide range of frequencies. On Mar.more » 31 at 0800 UT, a severe geomagnetic storm began on earth accompanied by major earth-current disturbances, a complete blackout of the North Atlantic communications channel, and auroral displays. At the same time, a large Forbush decrease occurred in the galactic cosmic radiation. An intense series of balloon flights was conducted to record the counting-rate increases at high altitudes due to solar cosmic rays and auroral x rays. Explorer VII showed substantial changes in the radiation belts and detected the solar cosmic rays. The observations of Pioneer V are summarized and compared to the findings of Explorer VII for the same period. (B.O.G.)« less

  14. Acquisition and extinction of human avoidance behavior: attenuating effect of safety signals and associations with anxiety vulnerabilities.

    PubMed

    Sheynin, Jony; Beck, Kevin D; Servatius, Richard J; Myers, Catherine E

    2014-01-01

    While avoidance behavior is often an adaptive strategy, exaggerated avoidance can be detrimental and result in the development of psychopathologies, such as anxiety disorders. A large animal literature shows that the acquisition and extinction of avoidance behavior in rodents depends on individual differences (e.g., sex, strain) and might be modulated by the presence of environmental cues. However, there is a dearth of such reports in human literature, mainly due to the lack of adequate experimental paradigms. In the current study, we employed a computer-based task, where participants control a spaceship and attempt to gain points by shooting an enemy spaceship that appears on the screen. Warning signals predict on-screen aversive events; the participants can learn a protective response to escape or avoid these events. This task has been recently used to reveal facilitated acquisition of avoidance behavior in individuals with anxiety vulnerability due to female sex or inhibited personality. Here, we extended the task to include an extinction phase, and tested the effect of signals that appeared during "safe" periods. Healthy young adults (n = 122) were randomly assigned to a testing condition with or without such signals. Results showed that the addition of safety signals during the acquisition phase impaired acquisition (in females) and facilitated extinction of the avoidance behavior. We also replicated our recent finding of an association between female sex and longer avoidance duration and further showed that females continued to demonstrate more avoidance behavior even on extinction trials when the aversive events no longer occurred. This study is the first to show sex differences on the acquisition and extinction of human avoidance behavior and to demonstrate the role of safety signals in such behavior, highlighting the potential relevance of safety signals for cognitive therapies that focus on extinction learning to treat anxiety symptoms.

  15. Acquisition and Extinction of Human Avoidance Behavior: Attenuating Effect of Safety Signals and Associations with Anxiety Vulnerabilities

    PubMed Central

    Sheynin, Jony; Beck, Kevin D.; Servatius, Richard J.; Myers, Catherine E.

    2014-01-01

    While avoidance behavior is often an adaptive strategy, exaggerated avoidance can be detrimental and result in the development of psychopathologies, such as anxiety disorders. A large animal literature shows that the acquisition and extinction of avoidance behavior in rodents depends on individual differences (e.g., sex, strain) and might be modulated by the presence of environmental cues. However, there is a dearth of such reports in human literature, mainly due to the lack of adequate experimental paradigms. In the current study, we employed a computer-based task, where participants control a spaceship and attempt to gain points by shooting an enemy spaceship that appears on the screen. Warning signals predict on-screen aversive events; the participants can learn a protective response to escape or avoid these events. This task has been recently used to reveal facilitated acquisition of avoidance behavior in individuals with anxiety vulnerability due to female sex or inhibited personality. Here, we extended the task to include an extinction phase, and tested the effect of signals that appeared during “safe” periods. Healthy young adults (n = 122) were randomly assigned to a testing condition with or without such signals. Results showed that the addition of safety signals during the acquisition phase impaired acquisition (in females) and facilitated extinction of the avoidance behavior. We also replicated our recent finding of an association between female sex and longer avoidance duration and further showed that females continued to demonstrate more avoidance behavior even on extinction trials when the aversive events no longer occurred. This study is the first to show sex differences on the acquisition and extinction of human avoidance behavior and to demonstrate the role of safety signals in such behavior, highlighting the potential relevance of safety signals for cognitive therapies that focus on extinction learning to treat anxiety symptoms. PMID:25309373

  16. Non elective re-admissions to an acute hospital in people with diabetes: Causes and the potential for avoidance. The WICKED project.

    PubMed

    Gillani, Syed M R; Aziz, Umaira; Blundell, David; Singh, Baldev M

    2015-10-01

    Managing people with diabetes is a health priority worldwide. Cost benefit attempts at avoiding non elective admissions (NEA) have had some success. To develop an NEA avoidance service, we audited multiple NEA in those with diabetes. All people with diabetes who had ≥3 NEA to our hospital over 12 months were identified (n=418); 104 (1 in 4) patients were randomly selected and retrospective data collected in 98 subjects on their index (latest, 3rd) admission. Of 98 subjects (50 males, 60 Caucasians, 86 type 2 diabetes, aged 69±16 years).Conditions contributing to admission included: Significant co-morbidities in 95 patients (≥2 in 57, ≥4 in 24). Only 14 admission were directly due to diabetes: hypoglycaemia (5); hyperglycaemia (6); DKA (2), Infected foot ulcer (1).97 admissions were justified at the time of presentation. However whilst 78 were unavoidable, 19 were deemed avoidable amongst whom 10 were diabetes related. The majority of re-admissions were due to multi-morbidity and were often non-diabetes related. The concept of avoidability must be distinguished from point justification at the time of acute need. This would allow the prospective identification of high risk patients and requires an integrated working process to avoid NEA. Copyright © 2015 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    This combined image shows the March 29, 2014, X-class flare as seen through the eyes of different observatories. SDO is on the bottom/left, which helps show the position of the flare on the sun. The darker orange square is IRIS data. The red rectangular inset is from Sacramento Peak. The violet spots show the flare's footpoints from RHESSI. -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  18. Resistance to reinforcement change in multiple and concurrent schedules assessed in transition and at steady state.

    PubMed

    McLean, A P; Blampied, N M

    1995-01-01

    Behavioral momentum theory relates resistance to change of responding in a multiple-schedule component to the total reinforcement obtained in that component, regardless of how the reinforcers are produced. Four pigeons responded in a series of multiple-schedule conditions in which a variable-interval 40-s schedule arranged reinforcers for pecking in one component and a variable-interval 360-s schedule arranged them in the other. In addition, responses on a second key were reinforced according to variable-interval schedules that were equal in the two components. In different parts of the experiment, responding was disrupted by changing the rate of reinforcement on the second key or by delivering response-independent food during a blackout separating the two components. Consistent with momentum theory, responding on the first key in Part 1 changed more in the component with the lower reinforcement total when it was disrupted by changes in the rate of reinforcement on the second key. However, responding on the second key changed more in the component with the higher reinforcement total. In Parts 2 and 3, responding was disrupted with free food presented during intercomponent blackouts, with extinction (Part 2) or variable-interval 80-s reinforcement (Part 3) arranged on the second key. Here, resistance to change was greater for the component with greater overall reinforcement. Failures of momentum theory to predict short-term differences in resistance to change occurred with disruptors that caused greater change between steady states for the richer component. Consistency of effects across disruptors may yet be found if short-term effects of disruptors are assessed relative to the extent of change observed after prolonged exposure.

  19. Predictors of Patterns of Alcohol-Related Blackouts Over Time in Youth From the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism: The Roles of Genetics and Cannabis

    PubMed Central

    Schuckit, Marc A.; Smith, Tom L.; Shafir, Alexandra; Clausen, Peyton; Danko, George; Gonçalves, Priscila Dib; Anthenelli, Robert M.; Chan, Grace; Kuperman, Samuel; Hesselbrock, Michie; Hesselbrock, Victor; Kramer, John; Bucholz, Kathleen K.

    2017-01-01

    Objective: Alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs) are anterograde amnesias related to heavy alcohol intake seen in about 50% of drinkers. Although a major determinant of ARBs relates to blood alcohol concentrations, additional contributions come from genetic vulnerabilities and possible impacts of cannabis use disorders (CUDs). We evaluated relationships of genetics and cannabis use to latent class trajectories of ARBs in 829 subjects from the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Method: The number of ARBs experienced every 2 years from subjects with average ages of 18 to 25 were entered into a latent class growth analysis in Mplus, and resulting class membership was evaluated in light of baseline characteristics, including CUDs. Correlations of number of ARBs across assessments were also compared for sibling pairs versus unrelated subjects. Results: Latent class growth analysis identified ARB-based Classes 1 (consistent low = 42.5%), 2 (moderate low = 28.3%), 3 (moderate high = 22.9%), and 4 (consistent high = 6.3%). A multinomial logistic regression analysis within latent class growth analysis revealed that baseline CUDs related most closely to Classes 3 and 4. The number of ARBs across time correlated .23 for sibling pairs and -.10 for unrelated subjects. Conclusions: Baseline CUDs related to the most severe latent ARB course over time, even when considered along with other trajectory predictors, including baseline alcohol use disorders and maximum number of drinks. Data indicated significant roles for genetic factors for alcohol use disorder patterns over time. Future research is needed to improve understanding of how cannabis adds to the ARB risk and to find genes that contribute to risks for ARBs among drinkers. PMID:27936363

  20. Drinking game play among first-year college student drinkers: An event-specific analysis of the risk for alcohol use and problems

    PubMed Central

    Ray, Anne E.; Stapleton, Jerod L.; Turrisi, Rob; Mun, Eun-Young

    2014-01-01

    Background College students who play drinking games (DGs) more frequently report higher levels of alcohol use and experience more alcohol-related harm. However, the extent to which they are at risk for increased consumption and harm as a result of DG play on a given event after accounting for their typical DG participation, and typical and event drinking, is unclear. Objectives We examined whether first-year students consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience consequences on drinking occasions when they played DGs. Methods Participants (N = 336) completed up to six web-based surveys following weekend drinking events in their first semester. Alcohol use, DG play, and consequences were reported for the Friday and Saturday prior to each survey. Typical DG tendencies were controlled in all models. Typical and event alcohol use were controlled in models predicting risk for consequences. Results Participants consumed more alcohol on DG versus non-DG events. All students were more likely to experience blackout drinking consequences when they played DGs. Women were more likely to experience social-interpersonal consequences when they played DGs. Conclusion DG play is an event-specific risk factor for increased alcohol use among first-year students, regardless of individual DG play tendencies. Further, event DG play signals increased risk for blackout drinking consequences for all students, and social-interpersonal consequences for women, aside from the amount of alcohol consumed on those occasions as well as typical drinking behaviors. Prevention efforts to reduce high-risk drinking may be strengthened by highlighting both event- and person-specific risks of DG play. PMID:25192202

  1. An uncertainty analysis of the hydrogen source term for a station blackout accident in Sequoyah using MELCOR 1.8.5

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gauntt, Randall O.; Bixler, Nathan E.; Wagner, Kenneth Charles

    2014-03-01

    A methodology for using the MELCOR code with the Latin Hypercube Sampling method was developed to estimate uncertainty in various predicted quantities such as hydrogen generation or release of fission products under severe accident conditions. In this case, the emphasis was on estimating the range of hydrogen sources in station blackout conditions in the Sequoyah Ice Condenser plant, taking into account uncertainties in the modeled physics known to affect hydrogen generation. The method uses user-specified likelihood distributions for uncertain model parameters, which may include uncertainties of a stochastic nature, to produce a collection of code calculations, or realizations, characterizing themore » range of possible outcomes. Forty MELCOR code realizations of Sequoyah were conducted that included 10 uncertain parameters, producing a range of in-vessel hydrogen quantities. The range of total hydrogen produced was approximately 583kg 131kg. Sensitivity analyses revealed expected trends with respected to the parameters of greatest importance, however, considerable scatter in results when plotted against any of the uncertain parameters was observed, with no parameter manifesting dominant effects on hydrogen generation. It is concluded that, with respect to the physics parameters investigated, in order to further reduce predicted hydrogen uncertainty, it would be necessary to reduce all physics parameter uncertainties similarly, bearing in mind that some parameters are inherently uncertain within a range. It is suspected that some residual uncertainty associated with modeling complex, coupled and synergistic phenomena, is an inherent aspect of complex systems and cannot be reduced to point value estimates. The probabilistic analyses such as the one demonstrated in this work are important to properly characterize response of complex systems such as severe accident progression in nuclear power plants.« less

  2. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    Like almost all solar observatories, NASA's IRIS can provide images of different layers of the sun's atmosphere, which together create a whole picture of what's happening. This image shows light at a wavelength of 1400 Angstrom, which highlights material some 650 miles above the sun's surface. The vertical line in the middle shows the slit for IRIS's spectrograph, which can separate light into its many wavelengths to provide even more information about the temperature and velocity of material during a flare. Credit: NASA/IRIS/Goddard Space Flight Center -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  3. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    The March 29, 2014, X-class flare appears as a bright light on the upper right in this image from SDO, showing light in the 304 Angstrom wavelength. This wavelength shows material on the sun in what's called the transition region, where the chromosphere transitions into the upper solar atmosphere, the corona. Some light of the flare is clearly visible, but the flare appears brighter in other images that show hotter temperature material. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  4. Effects of drinking patterns on prospective memory performance in college students.

    PubMed

    Zamroziewicz, Marta; Raskin, Sarah A; Tennen, Howard; Austad, Carol S; Wood, Rebecca M; Fallahi, Carolyn R; Dager, Alecia D; Sawyer, Broderick; Leen, Samantha; Pearlson, Godfrey D

    2017-02-01

    Traditional college students are at a critical juncture in the development of prospective memory (PM). Their brains are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. There were 123 third and fourth year college students, 19-23 years old, who completed the Self-Rating Effects of Alcohol (SREA), Modified Timeline Follow-back (TFLB), Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Scale (BYAACS), and Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ) once per month on a secure online database, as reported elsewhere (Dager et al., 2013). Data from the 6 months immediately before memory testing were averaged. In a single testing session participants were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (MINI-DSM-IV-TR), measures of PM (event-based and time-based), and retrospective memory (RM). Based on the average score of six consecutive monthly responses to the SREA, TLFB, and AEQ, students were classified as nondrinkers, light drinkers, or heavy drinkers (as defined previously; Dager et al., 2013). Alcohol-induced amnesia (blackout) was measured with the BYAACS. We found a relationship between these alcohol use classifications and time-based PM, such that participants who were classified as heavier drinkers were more likely to forget to perform the time-based PM task. We also found that self-reported alcohol-induced amnesia (blackouts) during the month immediately preceding memory testing was associated with lower performance on the event-based PM task. Participants' ability to recall the RM tasks suggested the PM items were successfully encoded even when they were not carried out, and we observed no relationship between alcohol use and RM performance. Heavy alcohol use in college students may be related to impairments in PM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  5. 45 CFR 3.2 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... § 3.42(f) Smoking. (c) All regulations in this part are in addition to the provisions in the United.... Drivers to exercise due care Transportation, Sec. 21-504 Drivers shall exercise due care to avoid...

  6. 76 FR 9076 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Regulation Project

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-16

    ... soliciting comments concerning an existing final regulation, REG-120168-97 (TD 8798), Preparer Due Diligence...: Preparer Due Diligence Requirements for Determining Earned Income Credit Eligibility. OMB Number: 1545-1570... due diligence requirements in this regulation will avoid the imposition of the penalty section 6695(g...

  7. A Survey on Urban Traffic Management System Using Wireless Sensor Networks.

    PubMed

    Nellore, Kapileswar; Hancke, Gerhard P

    2016-01-27

    Nowadays, the number of vehicles has increased exponentially, but the bedrock capacities of roads and transportation systems have not developed in an equivalent way to efficiently cope with the number of vehicles traveling on them. Due to this, road jamming and traffic correlated pollution have increased with the associated adverse societal and financial effect on different markets worldwide. A static control system may block emergency vehicles due to traffic jams. Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) have gained increasing attention in traffic detection and avoiding road congestion. WSNs are very trendy due to their faster transfer of information, easy installation, less maintenance, compactness and for being less expensive compared to other network options. There has been significant research on Traffic Management Systems using WSNs to avoid congestion, ensure priority for emergency vehicles and cut the Average Waiting Time (AWT) of vehicles at intersections. In recent decades, researchers have started to monitor real-time traffic using WSNs, RFIDs, ZigBee, VANETs, Bluetooth devices, cameras and infrared signals. This paper presents a survey of current urban traffic management schemes for priority-based signalling, and reducing congestion and the AWT of vehicles. The main objective of this survey is to provide a taxonomy of different traffic management schemes used for avoiding congestion. Existing urban traffic management schemes for the avoidance of congestion and providing priority to emergency vehicles are considered and set the foundation for further research.

  8. A Survey on Urban Traffic Management System Using Wireless Sensor Networks

    PubMed Central

    Nellore, Kapileswar; Hancke, Gerhard P.

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays, the number of vehicles has increased exponentially, but the bedrock capacities of roads and transportation systems have not developed in an equivalent way to efficiently cope with the number of vehicles traveling on them. Due to this, road jamming and traffic correlated pollution have increased with the associated adverse societal and financial effect on different markets worldwide. A static control system may block emergency vehicles due to traffic jams. Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) have gained increasing attention in traffic detection and avoiding road congestion. WSNs are very trendy due to their faster transfer of information, easy installation, less maintenance, compactness and for being less expensive compared to other network options. There has been significant research on Traffic Management Systems using WSNs to avoid congestion, ensure priority for emergency vehicles and cut the Average Waiting Time (AWT) of vehicles at intersections. In recent decades, researchers have started to monitor real-time traffic using WSNs, RFIDs, ZigBee, VANETs, Bluetooth devices, cameras and infrared signals. This paper presents a survey of current urban traffic management schemes for priority-based signalling, and reducing congestion and the AWT of vehicles. The main objective of this survey is to provide a taxonomy of different traffic management schemes used for avoiding congestion. Existing urban traffic management schemes for the avoidance of congestion and providing priority to emergency vehicles are considered and set the foundation for further research. PMID:26828489

  9. Havana: A Bike-Friendly City?

    PubMed

    Coyula, Miguel

    2016-07-01

    The abrupt breakup of the USSR and socialist bloc in the early 1990s dealt a devastating blow to the island's economy. Almost overnight, beneficial aid and trade provided by the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ground to a halt, including 80% of foreign trade previously conducted as barter and sales of 13 million tons of oil per year at preferential prices. When the Cuban economy bottomed out in 1993, oil imports had dropped from 13 to 4 million tons annually. At the time, Cuba depended almost entirely on imported oil and the dramatic decline in imports created massive blackouts, leaving most Cuban homes without electricity 12 hours a day.

  10. Temporal characteristic analysis of laser-modulated pulsed X-ray source for space X-ray communication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hang, Shuang; Liu, Yunpeng; Li, Huan; Tang, Xiaobin; Chen, Da

    2018-04-01

    X-ray communication (XCOM) is a new communication type and is expected to realize high-speed data transmission in some special communication scenarios, such as deep space communication and blackout communication. This study proposes a high-speed modulated X-ray source scheme based on the laser-to-X-ray conversion. The temporal characteristics of the essential components of the proposed laser-modulated pulsed X-ray source (LMPXS) were analyzed to evaluate its pulse emission performance. Results show that the LMPXS can provide a maximum modulation rate up to 100 Mbps which is expected to significantly improve the data rate of XCOM.

  11. Adolescence: booze, brains, and behavior.

    PubMed

    Monti, Peter M; Miranda, Robert; Nixon, Kimberly; Sher, Kenneth J; Swartzwelder, H Scott; Tapert, Susan F; White, Aaron; Crews, Fulton T

    2005-02-01

    This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, organized and chaired by Peter M. Monti and Fulton T. Crews. The presentations and presenters were (1) Introduction, by Peter M. Monti; (2) Adolescent Binge Drinking Causes Life-Long Changes in Brain, by Fulton T. Crews and Kim Nixon; (3) Functional Neuroimaging Studies in Human Adolescent Drinkers, by Susan F. Tapert; (4) Abnormal Emotional Reactivity as a Risk Factor for Alcoholism, by Robert Miranda, Jr.; (5) Alcohol-Induced Memory Impairments, Including Blackouts, and the Changing Adolescent Brain, by Aaron M. White and H. Scott Swartzwelder; and (6) Discussion, by Kenneth Sher.

  12. [Case report: Aneurysmatic subarachnoid hemorrhage -- complicated course due to coincidental manifestation of an inverted Tako-Tsubo-cardiomyopathy].

    PubMed

    Zech, Nina; Kieninger, Martin; Seemann, Milena; Künzig, Holger; Bele, Sylvia; Dietl, Alexander

    2014-07-01

    We report the case of a patient who suffered a serious subarachnoid hemorrhage with a cardialaffection and development of an inverted Tako-Tsubo-cardiomyopathy. To avoid apparent cerebral ischemia due to severe cerebral vasospasm after exhaustion of conservative therapeutic options a temporarily endovascular therapy with continuous intra-arterial application of Nimodipine was necessary. In the overall protracted and complicated course the special challenge were the therapeutic efforts to avoid apparent cerebral ischemia in context to the significant cardial affection. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.

  13. A Management Project to Determine the Potential Cost Avoidance Due to the Application of Managed Care Mechanisms on CHAMPUS Inpatient Mental Health Care in Colorado Springs, Colorado

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-05-11

    PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE POTENTIAL COST AVOIDANCE 0 aDUE TO THE APPLICATION OF MANAGED CARE MECHANISMS C 0 ON CHAMPUS INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN m...endeavor to make this project clear, M z -4 consistent and accurate. I would also like to thank Captain Mike mx ~ T Rogers and his staff in the Evans...D-1 E. Diagnostic Criteria and Treatment Screens for Diagnoses Code 2962, Major Depression ........ E-1 Mental Health 1 Abstract Managed

  14. [Beyond eugenics: posthumanism as Homo patiens denials].

    PubMed

    Ballesteros Llompart, Jesús

    2012-01-01

    Throughout history there have been attempts to overcome human limitations by means of technique. The novelty of the 20th century has been to try to extirpate all the faults, the suffering, the disease, and even the death. This power has been attributed successively to machines (the futurism), to the genetic information (the eugenism) and to the electronic information (the posthumanism). In all cases, it's unknown the distinction between inevitable faults, ontological deficiencies, as the reality of death, and avoidable ones, sociological deficiencies, as the deaths due to circumstances as lack of drinkable water, of medicaments, wars or any other type of violence. The due way of confronting the human faults is to try to eradicate their avoidable causes and at the same time to understand the sense of those that cannot be avoided, as occasion of the self-overcoming and the opening to the Transcendence.

  15. A space-efficient quantum computer simulator suitable for high-speed FPGA implementation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Frank, Michael P.; Oniciuc, Liviu; Meyer-Baese, Uwe H.; Chiorescu, Irinel

    2009-05-01

    Conventional vector-based simulators for quantum computers are quite limited in the size of the quantum circuits they can handle, due to the worst-case exponential growth of even sparse representations of the full quantum state vector as a function of the number of quantum operations applied. However, this exponential-space requirement can be avoided by using general space-time tradeoffs long known to complexity theorists, which can be appropriately optimized for this particular problem in a way that also illustrates some interesting reformulations of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we describe the design and empirical space/time complexity measurements of a working software prototype of a quantum computer simulator that avoids excessive space requirements. Due to its space-efficiency, this design is well-suited to embedding in single-chip environments, permitting especially fast execution that avoids access latencies to main memory. We plan to prototype our design on a standard FPGA development board.

  16. The Perfect Aspect as a State of Being.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moy, Raymond H.

    English as second language (ESL) learners often avoid using the present perfect or use it improperly. In contrast with native speakers of English sampled from newspaper editorials, of whom 75 percent used the present perfect, only 22 percent of ESL college students used the present perfect correctly. This avoidance is due in part to lack of…

  17. A field test for host discrimination and avoidance behavior for Rhagoletis pomonella flies in the western United States

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Prezygotic isolation due to habitat choice is important to many models of speciation-with-gene-flow. Habitat choice is usually thought to occur through positive preferences of organisms for particular environments. However, avoidance of non-natal environments may also play a role in choice and have ...

  18. 75 FR 14103 - Version One Regional Reliability Standard for Resource and Demand Balancing

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-24

    ... meant to maintain scheduled frequency and avoid loss of firm load following transmission or generation... capacity is available at all times to maintain scheduled frequency, and avoid loss of firm load following... the possibility that firm load could be shed due to the loss of a single element on the system.\\40...

  19. Effects of large Saduria entomon (Isopoda) on spatial distribution of their small S. entomon and Monoporeia affinis (Amphipoda) prey.

    PubMed

    Sparrevik, Erik; Leonardsson, Kjell

    1995-02-01

    We performed laboratory experiments to investigate the effects of predator avoidance and numerical effects of predation on spatial distribution of small Saduria entomon (Isopoda) and Monoporeia affinis (Amphipoda), with large S. entomon as predators. The horizontal distribution and mortality of the prey species, separately and together, were studied in aquaria with a spatial horizontal refuge. We also estimated effects of refuge on mortality of small S. entomon and M. affinis by experiments without the refuge net. In addition, we investigated whether predation risk from large S. entomon influenced the swimming activity of M. affinis, to clarify the mechanisms behind the spatial distribution. Both small S. entomon and M. affinis avoided large S. entomon. The avoidance behaviour of M. fffinis contributed about 10 times more to the high proportion in the refuge than numerical effects of predation. Due to the low mortality of small S. entomon the avoidance behaviour of this species was even more important for the spatial distribution. The combined effect of avoidance behaviour and predation in both species was aggregation, producting a positive correlation between the species in density. M. affinis showed two types of avoidance behaviour. In the activity experiments they reduced activity by 36% and buried themselves in the sediment. In the refuge experiments we also observed avoidance behaviour with the emigration rate from the predator compartment being twice the immigration rate. The refuge did not lower predation mortality in M. affinis, probably due to the small scale of the experimental units in relation to the mobility of the species. Predation mortality in small S. entomon was higher in absence of a refuge and especially high in absence of M. affinis.

  20. Risk Analysis and Forecast Service for Geomagnetically Induced Currents in Europe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wik, Magnus; Pirjola, Risto; Viljanen, Ari; Lundstedt, Henrik

    Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC), occurring during magnetic storms, pose a widespread natural disaster risk to the reliable operation of electric power transmission grids, oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication cables and railway systems. The solar magnetic activity is the cause of GIC. Solar coronal holes can cause recurrent inter-vals of raised geomagnetic activity, and coronal mass ejections (CME) at the Sun, sometimes producing very high speed plasma clouds with enhanced magnetic fields and particle densities, can cause the strongest geomagnetic storms. When the solar wind interacts with the geomag-netic field, energy is transferred to the magnetosphere, driving strong currents in the ionosphere. When these currents change in time a geoelectric field is induced at the surface of the Earth and in the ground. Finally, this field drives GIC in the ground and in any technological conductor systems. The worst consequence of a severe magnetic storm within a power grid is a complete blackout, as happened in the province of Québec, Canada, in March 1989, and in the city of Malmü, Sweden, in October 2003. Gas and oil pipelines are not regarded as vulnerable to the immediate impact of GIC, but the corrosion rate of buried steel pipes can increase due to GIC, which may thus shorten the lifetime of a pipe. European Risk from Geomagnetically Induced Currents (EURISGIC) is an EU project, that, if approved, will produce the first European-wide real-time prototype forecast service of GIC in power systems, based on in-situ solar wind observations and comprehensive simulations of the Earth's magnetosphere. This project focuses on high-voltage power transmission networks, which are probably currently the most susceptible to GIC effects. Geomagnetic storms cover large geographical regions, at times the whole globe. Consequently, power networks are rightly described as being European critical infrastructures whose disruption or destruction could have a significant impact. The project includes six research institutes and one SME, within Europe and US. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Swedish civil contingencies agency (MSB), and representatives from the European Commission are collaborating with the NOAA National Weather Service and other research institutes on various space weather scenarios -geomagnetic storms with widespread blackouts and disruptions in communications. The aim of this new project is to conduct a risk analysis from GIC on critical infrastructure. Large amounts of natural gas are transported from Russia to Central Europe. Those long pipelines are prone to GIC impacts, which should also be evaluated quantitatively. We will use the EURISGIC project to inform the pipeline community of present European capability in GIC modelling, forecasting and in developing mitigation measures.

  1. Cryptic effects of habitat declines: coral-associated fishes avoid coral-seaweed interactions due to visual and chemical cues.

    PubMed

    Brooker, Rohan M; Brandl, Simon J; Dixson, Danielle L

    2016-01-04

    Seaweed-dominated coral reefs are becoming increasingly common as environmental conditions shift away from those required by corals and toward those ideal for rampant seaweed growth. How coral-associated organisms respond to seaweed will not only impact their fate following environmental change but potentially also the trajectories of the coral communities on which they rely. However, behavioral responses by coral-associated organisms to seaweeds are poorly understood. This study examined interactions between a guild of obligate and opportunistic coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) and scleractinian corals to determine whether fishes continue to interact with corals in contact with seaweed or if they are avoided. Under natural conditions, all species interacted almost exclusively with seaweed-free corals. In a controlled patch reef experiment, fishes avoided corals in physical contact with seaweed, irrespective of dietary preferences. When visual seaweed cues were removed, butterflyfish continued to avoid corals that had been in contact with the allelopathic Galaxaura filamentosa, suggesting that chemical cues produced by coral-seaweed interactions are repellent. These findings suggest that, due to deleterious visual and chemical cues produced by coral-seaweed interactions, coral-associated organisms may struggle to locate resources as seaweed-free corals decline in abundance.

  2. Medical cost and frequent mental distress among the non-elderly US adult population.

    PubMed

    Bruning, John; Arif, Ahmed A; Rohrer, James E

    2014-03-01

    Frequent mental distress (FMD) is an important measure of perceived poor mental health. With the rising cost of health care, it is not uncommon for working adults to delay seeking care. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between avoidance of medical care due to cost and FMD among the non-elderly US population. We analyzed data from 282 044 non-elderly US population from a 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the association between avoidance of medical care due to cost and FMD adjusted for covariates. The overall prevalence of FMD in the non-elderly population was 11.1%; whereas it was 24.2% for those reporting avoiding medical care due to cost. Approximately 18% of the population had no health insurance coverage and the prevalence of FMD was significantly greater in this group. The odds of FMD were >2-fold elevated for respondents who were unable to see a doctor because of cost (adjusted odds ratio: 2.40, 99% confidence interval: 2.19, 2.63). These findings highlight the need for affordable medical care for reducing mental distress and improving population health.

  3. [When and how is medical teleconsultation to doctors practising in remote areas of developing countries convenient and reliable? About eight clinical cases].

    PubMed

    Campanella, Nando; Francioni, Orestina; Taus, Marina; Giovagnoli, Moreno; Morosini, Pierpaolo

    2004-01-01

    A poorly equipped internal medicine doctor (IMD), practising in remote areas of developing countries, can be assisted with expertise teleconsultations by using the common analogical telephone lines. By that way, the clinical cases he challenges became multidisciplinary and the success of the treatment enhanced. Eight cases are reported as examples. The expertise is made up by eight remote-access experts on different medical fields. The effectiveness of the support of the consultants is compared one to the other. In laboratory, dermatology and, partly, cyto-pathology fields the teleconsultations are reliable and not time-consuming, for the key tool is the digital picture sent by e-mailing. In cardiology (heart ultrasound scan) and radiology fields both effectiveness and benefit-cost ratio are disputable. Heart ultrasound scan is a dynamic test and filming is needed to provide the consultant with good records. In radiology field, the upper digestive tract X-ray scan is usually carried out with few shots, due to the unsustainable charges on the patient. That matter impairs the consultant's effectiveness to support. Although the black-outs of the transmission were common throughout IMD-consultant videoconferences, the physical examination of the patient, performed by the IMC under consultant's direct supervision, is highly supportive both in neurology and paediatric fields. The physiotherapist's show of physical rehabilitation exercises by videoconference is highly supportive as well.

  4. Did Geomagnetic Activity Challenge Electric Power Reliability During Solar Cycle 23? Evidence from the PJM Regional Transmission Organization in North America

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Forbes, Kevin F.; Cyr, Chris St

    2012-01-01

    During solar cycle 22, a very intense geomagnetic storm on 13 March 1989 contributed to the collapse of the Hydro-Quebec power system in Canada. This event clearly demonstrated that geomagnetic storms have the potential to lead to blackouts. This paper addresses whether geomagnetic activity challenged power system reliability during solar cycle 23. Operations by PJM Interconnection, LLC (hereafter PJM), a regional transmission organization in North America, are examined over the period 1 April 2002 through 30 April 2004. During this time PJM coordinated the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the United States. We examine the relationship between a proxy of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) and a metric of challenged reliability. In this study, GICs are proxied using magnetometer data from a geomagnetic observatory located just outside the PJM control area. The metric of challenged reliability is the incidence of out-of-economic-merit order dispatching due to adverse reactive power conditions. The statistical methods employed make it possible to disentangle the effects of GICs on power system operations from purely terrestrial factors. The results of the analysis indicate that geomagnetic activity can significantly increase the likelihood that the system operator will dispatch generating units based on system stability considerations rather than economic merit.

  5. Decision Support from Genetic Algorithms for Ship Collision Avoidance Route Planning and Alerts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsou, Ming-Cheng; Kao, Sheng-Long; Su, Chien-Min

    When an officer of the watch (OOW) faces complicated marine traffic, a suitable decision support tool could be employed in support of collision avoidance decisions, to reduce the burden and greatly improve the safety of marine traffic. Decisions on routes to avoid collisions could also consider economy as well as safety. Through simulating the biological evolution model, this research adopts the genetic algorithm used in artificial intelligence to find a theoretically safety-critical recommendation for the shortest route of collision avoidance from an economic viewpoint, combining the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea (COLREGS) and the safety domain of a ship. Based on this recommendation, an optimal safe avoidance turning angle, navigation restoration time and navigational restoration angle will also be provided. A Geographic Information System (GIS) will be used as the platform for display and operation. In order to achieve advance notice of alerts and due preparation for collision avoidance, a Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) operator and the OOW can use this system as a reference to assess collision avoidance at present location.

  6. Formation flight and collision avoidance for multiple UAVs based on modified tentacle algorithm in unstructured environments

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a method for formation flight and collision avoidance of multiple UAVs. Due to the shortcomings such as collision avoidance caused by UAV’s high-speed and unstructured environments, this paper proposes a modified tentacle algorithm to ensure the high performance of collision avoidance. Different from the conventional tentacle algorithm which uses inverse derivation, the modified tentacle algorithm rapidly matches the radius of each tentacle and the steering command, ensuring that the data calculation problem in the conventional tentacle algorithm is solved. Meanwhile, both the speed sets and tentacles in one speed set are reduced and reconstructed so as to be applied to multiple UAVs. Instead of path iterative optimization, the paper selects the best tentacle to obtain the UAV collision avoidance path quickly. The simulation results show that the method presented in the paper effectively enhances the performance of flight formation and collision avoidance for multiple high-speed UAVs in unstructured environments. PMID:28763498

  7. The relationship between knowledge of pain neurophysiology and fear avoidance in people with chronic pain: A point in time, observational study.

    PubMed

    Fletcher, Claire; Bradnam, Lynley; Barr, Christopher

    2016-05-01

    Chronic pain is prevalent in the western world; however fear of pain often has a greater impact than the degree of initial injury. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between knowledge of the neurophysiology of pain and fear avoidance in individuals diagnosed with chronic pain. Twenty-nine people with chronic musculoskeletal pain were recruited and completed questionnaires to determine their understanding of pain neurophysiology and the degree of their fear avoidance beliefs. There was an inverse relationship between knowledge of pain neurophysiology and the level of fear avoidance. Patients with higher pain knowledge reported less fear avoidance and lower perceived disability due to pain. There was no relationship with the educational level or compensable status for either variable. The findings suggest that fear avoidance is positively influenced by neurophysiology of pain education, so that a higher level of pain knowledge is associated with less activity-related fear. The clinical implication is that reducing fear avoidance/kinesiophobia using neurophysiology of pain education in people with chronic pain may provide an effective strategy to help manage fear avoidance and related disability in the chronic pain population in order to improve treatment outcomes.

  8. High Fidelity, “Faster than Real-Time” Simulator for Predicting Power System Dynamic Behavior - Final Technical Report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Flueck, Alex

    The “High Fidelity, Faster than Real­Time Simulator for Predicting Power System Dynamic Behavior” was designed and developed by Illinois Institute of Technology with critical contributions from Electrocon International, Argonne National Laboratory, Alstom Grid and McCoy Energy. Also essential to the project were our two utility partners: Commonwealth Edison and AltaLink. The project was a success due to several major breakthroughs in the area of large­scale power system dynamics simulation, including (1) a validated faster than real­ time simulation of both stable and unstable transient dynamics in a large­scale positive sequence transmission grid model, (2) a three­phase unbalanced simulation platform formore » modeling new grid devices, such as independently controlled single­phase static var compensators (SVCs), (3) the world’s first high fidelity three­phase unbalanced dynamics and protection simulator based on Electrocon’s CAPE program, and (4) a first­of­its­ kind implementation of a single­phase induction motor model with stall capability. The simulator results will aid power grid operators in their true time of need, when there is a significant risk of cascading outages. The simulator will accelerate performance and enhance accuracy of dynamics simulations, enabling operators to maintain reliability and steer clear of blackouts. In the long­term, the simulator will form the backbone of the newly conceived hybrid real­time protection and control architecture that will coordinate local controls, wide­area measurements, wide­area controls and advanced real­time prediction capabilities. The nation’s citizens will benefit in several ways, including (1) less down time from power outages due to the faster­than­real­time simulator’s predictive capability, (2) higher levels of reliability due to the detailed dynamics plus protection simulation capability, and (3) more resiliency due to the three­ phase unbalanced simulator’s ability to model three­phase and single­ phase networks and devices.« less

  9. Difference in health inequity between two population groups due to a social determinant of health.

    PubMed

    Moonesinghe, Ramal; Bouye, Karen; Penman-Aguilar, Ana

    2014-12-01

    The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as "complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems" that are responsible for most health inequities. Similar to the individual-level risk factors such as behavioral and biological risk factors that influence disease, we consider social determinants of health such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence and power as risk factors for risk of disease. We operationally define health inequity in a disease within a population due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable as the difference between the disease outcome with and without the risk factor in the population. We derive expressions for difference in health inequity between two populations due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable for a given disease. The difference in heath inequity between two population groups due to a risk factor increases with increasing difference in relative risks and the difference in prevalence of the risk factor in the two populations. The difference in health inequity could be larger than the difference in health outcomes between the two populations in some situations. Compared to health disparities which are typically measured and monitored using absolute or relative disparities of health outcomes, the methods presented in this manuscript provide a different, yet complementary, picture because they parse out the contributions of unfair and avoidable risk factors.

  10. Difference in Health Inequity between Two Population Groups due to a Social Determinant of Health

    PubMed Central

    Moonesinghe, Ramal; Bouye, Karen; Penman-Aguilar, Ana

    2014-01-01

    The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems” that are responsible for most health inequities. Similar to the individual-level risk factors such as behavioral and biological risk factors that influence disease, we consider social determinants of health such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence and power as risk factors for risk of disease. We operationally define health inequity in a disease within a population due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable as the difference between the disease outcome with and without the risk factor in the population. We derive expressions for difference in health inequity between two populations due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable for a given disease. The difference in heath inequity between two population groups due to a risk factor increases with increasing difference in relative risks and the difference in prevalence of the risk factor in the two populations. The difference in health inequity could be larger than the difference in health outcomes between the two populations in some situations. Compared to health disparities which are typically measured and monitored using absolute or relative disparities of health outcomes, the methods presented in this manuscript provide a different, yet complementary, picture because they parse out the contributions of unfair and avoidable risk factors. PMID:25522048

  11. An Avoidance Model for Short-Range Order Induced by Soft Repulsions in Systems of Rigid Rods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, Jining; Herzfeld, Judith

    1996-03-01

    The effects of soft repulsions on hard particle systems are calculated using an avoidance model which improves upon the simple mean field approximation. Avoidance reduces, but does not eliminate, the energy due to soft repulsions. On the other hand, it also reduces the configurational entropy. Under suitable conditions, this simple trade-off yields a free energy that is lower than the mean field value. In these cases, the variationally determined avoidance gives an estimate for the short-range positional order induced by soft repulsions. The results indicate little short-range order for isotropically oriented rods. However, for parallel rods, short-range order increases to significant levels as the particle axial ratio increases. The implications for long- range positional ordering are also discussed. In particular, avoidance may explain the smectic ordering of tobacco mosaic virus at volume fractions lower than those necessary for smectic ordering of hard particles.

  12. An efficient approach for inverse kinematics and redundancy resolution scheme of hyper-redundant manipulators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chembuly, V. V. M. J. Satish; Voruganti, Hari Kumar

    2018-04-01

    Hyper redundant manipulators have a large number of degrees of freedom (DOF) than the required to perform a given task. Additional DOF of manipulators provide the flexibility to work in highly cluttered environment and in constrained workspaces. Inverse kinematics (IK) of hyper-redundant manipulators is complicated due to large number of DOF and these manipulators have multiple IK solutions. The redundancy gives a choice of selecting best solution out of multiple solutions based on certain criteria such as obstacle avoidance, singularity avoidance, joint limit avoidance and joint torque minimization. This paper focuses on IK solution and redundancy resolution of hyper-redundant manipulator using classical optimization approach. Joint positions are computed by optimizing various criteria for a serial hyper redundant manipulators while traversing different paths in the workspace. Several cases are addressed using this scheme to obtain the inverse kinematic solution while optimizing the criteria like obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance.

  13. The 3-year disease management effect: understanding the positive return on investment.

    PubMed

    Nyman, John A; Jeffery, Molly Moore; Abraham, Jean M; Jutkowitz, Eric; Dowd, Bryan E

    2013-11-01

    Conventional wisdom suggests that health promotion programs yield a positive return on investment (ROI) in year 3. In the case of the University of Minnesota's program, a positive ROI was achieved in the third year, but it was due entirely to the effectiveness of the disease management (DM) program. The objective of this study is to investigate why. Differences-in-differences regression equations were estimated to determine the effect of DM participation on spending (overall and service specific), hospitalizations, and avoidable hospitalizations. Disease management participation reduced expenditures overall, and especially in the third year for employees, and reduced hospitalizations and avoidable hospitalizations. The positive ROI at Minnesota was due to increased effectiveness of DM in the third year (mostly due to fewer hospitalizations) but also to the simple durability of the average DM effect.

  14. Objective measurement of human tolerance to +G sub z acceleration stress. Ph.D. Thesis - Univ. of N. Indiana

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rositano, S. A.

    1980-01-01

    The efficacy of a new objective technique using a transcutaneous Doppler flowmeter to monitor superficial temporal artery blood flow velocity during acceleration was investigated. The results were correlated with current objective and subjective G tolerance end points. In over 1300 centrifuge runs, retrograde eye level blood flow leading to total flow cessation was consistently recorded and preceded visual field deterioration leading to blackout by 3 to 23 seconds. The new method was successfully applied as an objective indication of tolerance in a variety of test situations including evaluation of g-suits, straining maneuvers, and 13 deg, 45 deg and 65 deg set back angles.

  15. Childhood Trauma and Dissociative Intimate Partner Violence.

    PubMed

    Webermann, Aliya R; Murphy, Christopher M

    2018-04-01

    The present study assesses childhood abuse/neglect as a predictor of dissociative intimate partner violence (IPV) among 118 partner-abusive men. One third (36%) endorsed dissociative IPV, most commonly losing control (18%), surroundings seeming unreal (16%), feeling someone other than oneself is aggressing (16%), and seeing oneself from a distance aggressing (10%). Childhood physical abuse/neglect predicted IPV-specific derealization/depersonalization, aggressive self-states, and flashbacks to past violence. Childhood emotional abuse/neglect predicted derealization/depersonalization, blackouts, and flashbacks. Childhood sexual abuse uniquely predicted amnesia. Other potential traumas did not predict dissociative IPV, suggesting dissociative IPV is influenced by trauma-based emotion dysregulation wherein childhood abuse/neglect survivors disconnect from their abusive behavior.

  16. Major Solar Flare

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-09-11

    A large sunspot was the source of a powerful solar flare (an X 9.3) and a coronal mass ejection (Sept. 6, 2017). The flare was the largest solar flare of the last decade. For one thing, it created a strong shortwave radio blackout over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. Sunspot 2673 has been also the source of several other smaller to medium-sized solar flares over the past few days. Data from the SOHO spacecraft shows the large cloud of particles blasting into space just after the flare. Note: the bright vertical line and the other rays with barred lines are aberrations in our instruments caused by the bright flash of the flare. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21949

  17. Verification of voltage/frequency requirement for emergency diesel generator in nuclear power plant using dynamic modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hur, Jin-Suk; Roh, Myung-Sub

    2014-02-01

    One major cause of the plant shutdown is the loss of electrical power. The study is to comprehend the coping action against station blackout including emergency diesel generator, sequential loading of safety system and to ensure that the emergency diesel generator should meet requirements, especially voltage and frequency criteria using modeling tool. This paper also considered the change of the sequencing time and load capacity only for finding electrical design margin. However, the revision of load list must be verified with safety analysis. From this study, it is discovered that new load calculation is a key factor in EDG localization and in-house capability increase.

  18. Challenges Concerning the Energy-Dependency of the Telecom Infrastructure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fickert, Lothar; Malleck, Helmut; Wakolbinger, Christian

    Industry worldwide depends on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Through large-scale blackouts of the public electricity supply telephone services and Internet connections are massively reduced in their functions, leading to cascading effects. Following analysis of selected, typical failure situations counter-measures to re-establish the public electricity supply in Austria to consumers are identified. This can serve also as an example for other countries. Based on the existing public electricity supply system, a sensitivity analysis both in power and in the ICT sector for the mobile and the fixed network is carried out. As a new possible solution ”smart grid” or ”microgrids” and the controlled operation of decentralized stable islands are investigated.

  19. Locking-In Effects Due to Early Interventions? An Evaluation of a Multidisciplinary Screening Programs for Avoiding Long-Term Sickness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johansson, Per; Lindahl, Erica

    2012-01-01

    Objective: In this article, we estimate the effect of a multidisciplinary collaboration program on the length of sickness absence. The intention with the program was to avoid long-term sickness absence by providing an early and holistic evaluation of the sick-listed individuals' conditions. The target group was individuals who were at risk of…

  20. Why revisit your cost-accounting strategy.

    PubMed

    Arredondo, Ricky

    2014-07-01

    Healthcare entities seeking to develop effective cost-accounting systems should take six steps to avoid potential pitfalls: Secure broad executive-level support for the effort. Ensure systems are in place to analyze the disparate data. Define measurable objectives to ensure that implementation achieves desired results. Give due consideration to implementation planning. Train support staff sufficiently to avoid underutilization. Develop a sufficiently broad base of staff support for the system.

  1. Under-Pressured and Avoiding Interaction: How Magmatic Storage Regions Can Deflect Dikes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pansino, S.; Taisne, B.

    2017-12-01

    It has been shown through numerical techniques that ascending dikes can be attracted to a pressurized magma storage region. This is due to the state of stresses around such a region, in which the minimum compressive stress is tangential to reservoir boundary and dikes thereby prefer to propagate radially. We show that the reverse scenario has a reverse effect. A storage region that has under-pressurized, perhaps due to an eruption, rotates the stresses in the crust to deflect dikes away; this inhibits interaction with the reservoir and favors other behaviors like intrusion or monogenetic eruptions. We demonstrate through analogue experiments the ability for a dike to avoid a magmatic reservoir, which depends in part on the internal pressure as well as on the initial dike orientation. We show that dikes have the potential to change orientation, curling and twisting to avoid the pressure sink, or to propagate preferentially at their sides, allowing them to slide away laterally.

  2. Influenceable and Avoidable Risk Factors for Systemic Air Embolism due to Percutaneous CT-Guided Lung Biopsy: Patient Positioning and Coaxial Biopsy Technique—Case Report, Systematic Literature Review, and a Technical Note

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Following the first case of a systemic air embolism due to percutaneous CT-guided lung biopsy in our clinic we analysed the literature regarding this matter in view of influenceable or avoidable risk factors. A systematic review of literature reporting cases of systemic air embolism due to CT-guided lung biopsy was performed to find out whether prone positioning might be a risk factor regarding this issue. In addition, a technical note concerning coaxial biopsy practice is presented. Prone position seems to have relevance for the development and/or clinical manifestation of air embolism due to CT-guided lung biopsy and should be considered a risk factor, at least as far as lesions in the lower parts of the lung are concerned. Biopsies of small or cavitary lesions in coaxial technique should be performed using a hemostatic valve. PMID:25431666

  3. Environmental assessment of farm-scaled anaerobic co-digestion for bioenergy production

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lijó, Lucía, E-mail: lucia.lijo@usc.es; González-García, Sara; Bacenetti, Jacopo

    Highlights: • Anaerobic monodigestion and codigestion were compared. • The environmental advantages of suitable waste management were proved. • The use of cereal crops as feedstock improves biogas yield. • Cultivation step implies the most important environmental hotspot. • Digestate management options were evaluated. - Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the environmental profile of a bioenergy system based on a co-digestion plant using maize silage and pig slurry as substrates. All the processes involved in the production of bioenergy as well as the avoided processes accrued from the biogas production system were evaluated. The results evidencedmore » the environmental importance of the cultivation step and the environmental credits associated to the avoided processes. In addition, this plant was compared with two different plants that digest both substrates separately. The results revealed the environmental benefits of the utilisation of pig slurry due to the absence of environmental burdens associated with its production as well as credits provided when avoiding its conventional management. The results also presented the environmental drawbacks of the utilisation of maize silage due to the environmental burdens related with its production. Accordingly, the anaerobic mono-digestion of maize silage achieved the worst results. The co-digestion of both substrates was ranked in an intermediate position. Additionally, three possible digestate management options were assessed. The results showed the beneficial effect of digestate application as an organic fertiliser, principally on account of environmental credits due to avoided mineral fertilisation. However, digestate application involves important acidifying and eutrophicating emissions.« less

  4. Avoiding Low Falling Numbers Problems in Wheat

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Hagberg-Perten Falling Number (FN) method is used to detect starch degradation due to ''-amylase enzyme activity in wheat meal. Wheat can be severely discounted when the FN is below 300 seconds. Farmers in the northwest wheat-growing states suffered serious economic losses due to widespread pro...

  5. Straightforward assay for quantification of social avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Fernandez, Robert W; Nurilov, Marat; Feliciano, Omar; McDonald, Ian S; Simon, Anne F

    2014-12-13

    Drosophila melanogaster is an emerging model to study different aspects of social interactions. For example, flies avoid areas previously occupied by stressed conspecifics due to an odorant released during stress known as the Drosophila stress odorant (dSO). Through the use of the T-maze apparatus, one can quantify the avoidance of the dSO by responder flies in a very affordable and robust assay. Conditions necessary to obtain a strong performance are presented here. A stressful experience is necessary for the flies to emit dSO, as well as enough emitter flies to cause a robust avoidance response to the presence of dSO. Genetic background, but not their group size, strongly altered the avoidance of the dSO by the responder flies. Canton-S and Elwood display a higher performance in avoiding the dSO than Oregon and Samarkand strains. This behavioral assay will allow identification of mechanisms underlying this social behavior, and the assessment of the influence of genes and environmental conditions on both emission and avoidance of the dSO. Such an assay can be included in batteries of simple diagnostic tests used to identify social deficiencies of mutants or environmental conditions of interest.

  6. NASA's Best-Observed X-Class Flare of All Time

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-07

    This close-up of the sunspot underneath the March 29, 2014, flare shows incredible detail. The image was captured by the G-band camera at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. This instrument can focus on only a small area at once, but provide very high resolution. Ground-based telescope data can be hindered by Earth's atmosphere, which blocks much of the sun's ultraviolet and X-ray light, and causes twinkling even in the light it does allow through. As it happens, the March 29 flare occurred at a time of day in New Mexico that often results in the best viewing times from the ground. Credit: Kevin Reardon (National Solar Observatory), Lucia Kleint (BAER Institute) -- On March 29, 2014 the sun released an X-class flare. It was observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS; NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO; NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI; the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hinode; and the National Solar Observatory's Dunn Solar Telescope located at Sacramento Peak in New Mexico. To have a record of such an intense flare from so many observatories is unprecedented. Such research can help scientists better understand what catalyst sets off these large explosions on the sun. Perhaps we may even some day be able to predict their onset and forewarn of the radio blackouts solar flares can cause near Earth - blackouts that can interfere with airplane, ship and military communications. Read more: 1.usa.gov/1kMDQbO Join our Google+ Hangout on May 8 at 2:30pm EST: go.nasa.gov/1mwbBEZ Credit: NASA Goddard NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  7. Enhancement of NRC station blackout requirements for nuclear power plants

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McConnell, M. W.

    2012-07-01

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established a Near-Term Task Force (NTTF) in response to Commission direction to conduct a systematic and methodical review of NRC processes and regulations to determine whether the agency should make additional improvements to its regulatory system and to make recommendations to the Commission for its policy direction, in light of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. The NTTF's review resulted in a set of recommendations that took a balanced approach to defense-in-depth as applied to low-likelihood, high-consequence events such as prolonged station blackout (SBO) resulting from severe natural phenomena. Part 50,more » Section 63, of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 'Loss of All Alternating Current Power,' currently requires that each nuclear power plant must be able to cool the reactor core and maintain containment integrity for a specified duration of an SBO. The SBO duration and mitigation strategy for each nuclear power plant is site specific and is based on the robustness of the local transmission system and the transmission system operator's capability to restore offsite power to the nuclear power plant. With regard to SBO, the NTTF recommended that the NRC strengthen SBO mitigation capability at all operating and new reactors for design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NTTF also recommended strengthening emergency preparedness for prolonged SBO and multi-unit events. These recommendations, taken together, are intended to clarify and strengthen US nuclear reactor safety regarding protection against and mitigation of the consequences of natural disasters and emergency preparedness during SBO. The focus of this paper is on the existing SBO requirements and NRC initiatives to strengthen SBO capability at all operating and new reactors to address prolonged SBO stemming from design-basis and beyond-design-basis external events. The NRC initiatives are intended to enhance core and spent fuel pool cooling, reactor coolant system integrity, and containment integrity. (authors)« less

  8. Use of VIIRS DNB Data to Monitor Power Outages and Restoration for Significant Weather Events

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jedlovec, Gary; Molthan, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    NASA fs Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) project operates from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The team provides unique satellite data to the National Weather Service (NWS) and other agencies and organizations for weather analysis. While much of its work is focused on improving short-term weather forecasting, the SPoRT team supported damage assessment and response to Hurricane Superstorm Sandy by providing imagery that highlighted regions without power. The team used data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. The VIIRS low-light sensor, known as the day-night-band (DNB), can detect nighttime light from wildfires, urban and rural communities, and other human activity which emits light. It can also detect moonlight reflected from clouds and surface features. Using real time VIIRS data collected by our collaborative partner at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin, the SPoRT team created composite imagery to help detect power outages and restoration. This blackout imagery allowed emergency response teams from a variety of agencies to better plan and marshal resources for recovery efforts. The blackout product identified large-scale outages, offering a comprehensive perspective beyond a patchwork GIS mapping of outages that utility companies provide based on customer complaints. To support the relief efforts, the team provided its imagery to the USGS data portal, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies used in their relief efforts. The team fs product helped FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Army monitor regions without power as part of their disaster response activities. Disaster responders used the images to identify possible outages and effectively distribute relief resources. An enhanced product is being developed and integrated into a web mapping service (WMS) for dissemination and use by a broader end user community.

  9. Cryptic effects of habitat declines: coral-associated fishes avoid coral-seaweed interactions due to visual and chemical cues

    PubMed Central

    Brooker, Rohan M.; Brandl, Simon J.; Dixson, Danielle L.

    2016-01-01

    Seaweed-dominated coral reefs are becoming increasingly common as environmental conditions shift away from those required by corals and toward those ideal for rampant seaweed growth. How coral-associated organisms respond to seaweed will not only impact their fate following environmental change but potentially also the trajectories of the coral communities on which they rely. However, behavioral responses by coral-associated organisms to seaweeds are poorly understood. This study examined interactions between a guild of obligate and opportunistic coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) and scleractinian corals to determine whether fishes continue to interact with corals in contact with seaweed or if they are avoided. Under natural conditions, all species interacted almost exclusively with seaweed-free corals. In a controlled patch reef experiment, fishes avoided corals in physical contact with seaweed, irrespective of dietary preferences. When visual seaweed cues were removed, butterflyfish continued to avoid corals that had been in contact with the allelopathic Galaxaura filamentosa, suggesting that chemical cues produced by coral-seaweed interactions are repellent. These findings suggest that, due to deleterious visual and chemical cues produced by coral-seaweed interactions, coral-associated organisms may struggle to locate resources as seaweed-free corals decline in abundance. PMID:26725835

  10. Greater avoidance behavior in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

    PubMed Central

    Sheynin, Jony; Shind, Christine; Radell, Milen; Ebanks-Williams, Yasheca; Gilbertson, Mark W.; Beck, Kevin D.; Myers, Catherine E.

    2017-01-01

    While avoidance is a core symptom of PTSD, little is known about whether individuals with PTSD show a general cognitive bias to acquire and express avoidance, in situations not related to trauma or fear. Here, we used a computer-based task to examine operant acquisition and extinction of avoidance in participants with and without severe self -reported PTSD symptoms. A total of 119 participants (77 male, 42 female; 74 veteran, 45 civilian) with symptoms (PTSS; n=63) or with few/no symptoms (noPTSS; n=56) performed a task, in which they controlled a spaceship and could shoot a target to gain points or hide in “safe areas” to escape or avoid on-screen aversive events. Results show that participants with PTSS exhibited more avoidance across trials than no PTSS participants, particularly due to more avoidance behavior in PTSS females compared to noPTSS females. Avoidance behavior decreased across extinction trials but interactions with PTSS and gender fell short of significance. Overall, PTSD symptoms were associated with propensity to acquire and express avoidance behavior, in both civilians and veterans, and even in a cognitive task that does not explicitly involve trauma or fear. This effect was more pronounced in females, highlighting the role of gender differences in PTSD symptomatology. Importantly, this study also demonstrates the potential of an objective assessment of avoidance behavior, which could be used to supplement the common but limited self-report tools. PMID:28322068

  11. Greater avoidance behavior in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.

    PubMed

    Sheynin, Jony; Shind, Christine; Radell, Milen; Ebanks-Williams, Yasheca; Gilbertson, Mark W; Beck, Kevin D; Myers, Catherine E

    2017-05-01

    While avoidance is a core symptom of PTSD, little is known about whether individuals with PTSD show a general cognitive bias to acquire and express avoidance, in situations not related to trauma or fear. Here, we used a computer-based task to examine operant acquisition and extinction of avoidance in participants with and without severe self-reported PTSD symptoms. A total of 119 participants (77 male, 42 female; 74 veteran, 45 civilian) with symptoms (PTSS; n = 63) or with few/no symptoms (noPTSS; n = 56) performed a task, in which they controlled a spaceship and could shoot a target to gain points or hide in "safe areas" to escape or avoid on-screen aversive events. Results show that participants with PTSS exhibited more avoidance across trials than noPTSS participants, particularly due to more avoidance behavior in PTSS females compared to noPTSS females. Avoidance behavior decreased across extinction trials but interactions with PTSS and gender fell short of significance. Overall, PTSD symptoms were associated with propensity to acquire and express avoidance behavior, in both civilians and veterans, and even in a cognitive task that does not explicitly involve trauma or fear. This effect was more pronounced in females, highlighting the role of gender differences in PTSD symptomatology. Importantly, this study also demonstrates the potential of an objective assessment of avoidance behavior, which could be used to supplement the common but limited self-report tools.

  12. [Rehabilitation prognosis in the patient with bilateral cortipathy due to prematurity].

    PubMed

    Trejo Rayón, S; Peñaloza, Y; Balderas Gil, A

    1979-01-01

    Thirty cases of bilateral corticopathy due to prematurity were studied at the Instituto Nacional de la Comunicación Humana. Taking into account all predisposing features, it is concluded that with adequate preventive measures, it is possible to avoid this pathology and thus obtain a favorable rehabilitation prognosis.

  13. Assessing the clinical utility of agoraphobia in the context of panic disorder.

    PubMed

    Schmidt, Norman B; Cromer, Kiara R

    2008-01-01

    In the DSM-IV, a panic disorder (PD) diagnosis includes specification of agoraphobia, which is primarily an index of situational avoidance due to fear of panic. No other anxiety diagnosis requires specification of level of avoidance. This raises the question as to whether agoraphobia provides unique information beyond the core features of PD (i.e., panic attacks and panic-related worry). The incremental validity of agoraphobia, defined using DSM-IV specifiers versus level of situational avoidance, was examined in relation to the expression and treatment of PD (N=146). Analyses indicate that agoraphobia status adds uniquely to the prediction of PD symptoms, impairment, and response to treatment. However, level of situational avoidance, defined either as a continuous or dichotomous variable, appears to have greater utility compared to the DSM-IV method of classifying agoraphobia. In summary, the agoraphobia specifier seems to have clinical utility but this could be improved by focusing on a dimensional assessment of situational avoidance.

  14. Dissociation of conditioned taste avoidance from conditioned disgust reactions induced by wheel running in rats.

    PubMed

    Grant, Virginia L; McDonald, Sarah V; Sheppard, Robyn C; Caldwell, Catherine L; Heeley, Thomas H; Brown, Adam R; Martin, Gerard M

    2012-06-01

    It is well established that wheel running in rats produces conditioned taste avoidance; that is, rats that run in wheels after consuming a novel-tasting solution later consume less of that solution than rats that do not run. In experiment 1, we found that wheel running also produces conditioned disgust reactions, indicated by gapes elicited by both the taste and context that were experienced before running. Experiment 2 showed that the conditioned disgust reactions were likely not due to running itself but to a by-product of running, the rocking of the wheel that occurs when the running stops. When rocking was reduced, the disgust reactions were also reduced, but consumption of the taste solution was not changed, showing dissociation of conditioned taste avoidance and disgust. These findings indicate that the taste avoidance induced by wheel running itself is more like the taste avoidance produced by rewarding drugs than that produced by nausea-inducing drugs. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. PURPA 210 avoided cost rates: Economic and implementation issues

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Devine, M.D.; Chartock, M.A.; Gunn, E.M.

    The purpose of Section 210 of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) was to promote the utilization of waste and renewable fuels and cogeneration processes for increasing electric power supplies. It represents a radical change in policy by allowing financially unregulated parties to generate power in ''qualifying facilities'' and by requiring utilities to purchase this power at the utilities' marginal (or ''avoided'') cost. PURPA 210 has clearly had a major impact as measured by the actual and proposed number of new qualifying facilities; however, implementation has been difficult due to the adversarial nature of the process for negotiating ormore » setting the avoided cost rates. This paper reviews the pertinent PURPA rules and regulations, analyzes the status of current avoided cost rates that have been established, and discusses implementation issues and options for resolving those issues.« less

  16. Avoiding Communication in the Lanczos Bidiagonalization Routine and Associated Least Squares QR Solver

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-04-12

    Avoiding communication in the Lanczos bidiagonalization routine and associated Least Squares QR solver Erin Carson Electrical Engineering and...Bidiagonalization Routine and Associated Least Squares QR Solver 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d...throughout scienti c codes , are often the bottlenecks in application perfor- mance due to a low computation/communication ratio. In this paper we develop

  17. Evaluation of earthquake and tsunami on JSFR

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chikazawa, Y.; Enuma, Y.; Kisohara, N.

    2012-07-01

    Evaluation of earthquake and tsunami on JSFR has been analyzed. For seismic design, safety components are confirmed to maintain their functions even against recent strong earthquakes. As for Tsunami, some parts of reactor building might be submerged including component cooling water system whose final heat sink is sea water. However, in the JSFR design, safety grade components are independent from component cooling water system (CCWS). The JSFR emergency power supply adopts a gas turbine system with air cooling, since JSFR does not basically require quick start-up of the emergency power supply thanks to the natural convection DHRS. Even in casemore » of long station blackout, the DHRS could be activated by emergency batteries or manually and be operated continuously by natural convection. (authors)« less

  18. The construction of power grid operation index system considering the risk of maintenance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Jihong; Wang, Canlin; Jiang, Xinfan; Ye, Jianhui; Pan, Feilai

    2018-02-01

    In recent years, large-scale blackout occurred at home and abroad caused widespread concern about the operation of the grid in the world, and the maintenance risk is an important indicator of grid safety. The barrier operation of the circuit breaker exists in the process of overhaul of the power grid. The operation of the different barrier is of great significance to the change of the power flow, thus affecting the safe operation of the system. Most of the grid operating status evaluation index system did not consider the risk of maintenance, to this end, this paper from the security, economy, quality and cleanliness of the four angles, build the power grid operation index system considering the risk of maintenance.

  19. Physiologic bases of G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC).

    PubMed

    Werchan, P M

    1991-07-01

    Exposure of pilots to high sustained +Gz (head to feet) or rapid onset of +Gz can produce a variety of pathophysiologic effects ranging from the loss of peripheral vision to total blackout and, finally, G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC). A G-LOC research program divided into four phases has been organized at USAFSAM/Crew Technology Division. In contrast to previous studies in acceleration, this program will focus exclusively on the ultimate problem in G-LOC; namely, inadequate cerebral perfusion leading to impaired brain energy metabolism, structure and function. The primary objective of this research program is to identify and arrange chronologically the numerous physiological and biochemical alterations in the brain that comprise the mechanism of G-LOC.

  20. Effects of Salinity on the Habitat Selection and Growth Performance of Mediterranean Flathead Grey Mullet Mugil cephalus (Osteichthyes, Mugilidae)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardona, L.

    2000-05-01

    Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus L. 1758) are commonly found in tropical and temperate estuaries. In spite of their ecological and economical importance, little is known about the effects of salinity on growth performance and habitat selection. Laboratory experiments revealed that the metabolic rate of young specimens was negatively affected by high salinity levels and that an improved growth performance was achieved in fresh water and oligohaline water. A stratified study on microhabitat use, carried out on the island of Minorca (Balearic archipelago), demonstrated that juvenile specimens, shorter than 200 mm (total length), concentrated all year round in fresh water or oligohaline sites. Mesohaline areas were usually avoided, except in summer. Immature fish, with a total length between 201 and 300 mm, show a similar pattern although in some seasons avoided freshwater sites. The habitat selection pattern of adults, i.e., fish longer than 301 mm, changed seasonally due to their offshore migration during the spawning season (from late summer to early winter). However, they usually showed a greater preference for polyhaline areas and strongly avoided freshwater sites. Euhaline areas were also avoided in autumn and summer. These results suggest that the young of this species are highly dependent on areas of low salinity and any factor which reduces the availability of such areas will, in turn, affect their fishery. Adults depend on polyhaline areas, although the avoidance of freshwater areas might be due to their shallowness. The situation might be different in some areas of the Indo-Pacific. These differences are discussed.

  1. Burden of road traffic injuries related to delays in implementing safety belt laws in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

    PubMed

    Martin, Aurélie; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Salmi, L Rachid

    2018-02-28

    Delayed implementation of effective road safety policies must be considered when quantifying the avoidable part of the fatal and nonfatal injuries burden. We sought to assess the avoidable part of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to road traffic injuries related to delays in implementing road safety laws in low- and lower-middle-income countries. We chose one country for each of the regions of the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank (WB) country income levels. We used freely available data sets (WHO, International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group, the WB). Delays in implementation were calculated until 2013, from the year mandatory use of safety belts by motor vehicle front seat occupants was first introduced worldwide. We used life expectancy tables and age groups as social values in the DALY calculation model. From the estimated total burden, avoidable DALYs were calculated using estimates of the effectiveness of seat belt laws on fatal and nonfatal injuries combined, as extracted from published international reviews of evidence. From the reference year 1972, implementation delays varied from 27 years (Uzbekistan) to 41 years in Bolivia (no seat belt law as of 2013). During delays, total absolute numbers of DALYs lost due to road traffic injuries reached 8,462,099 in Nigeria, 7,203,570 in Morocco, 4,695,500 in Uzbekistan, 3,866,391 in Cambodia, 3,253,359 in Bolivia, and 3,128,721 in Sri Lanka. Using effectiveness estimates ranging from 3 to 20% reduction, the avoidable burden of road traffic injuries for car occupants was highest in Uzbekistan (avoidable part from 1.2 to 10.4%) and in Morocco (avoidable part from 1.5 to 12.3%). In countries where users of public transport and pedestrians were the most affected by the burden, the avoidable parts ranged from 0.5 to 4.4% (Nigeria) and from 0.5 to 3.4% (Bolivia). Burden of road traffic injuries mostly affected motorcyclists in Sri Lanka and Cambodia where the avoidable parts were less than 2% in both countries. In all selected countries, burden of traffic injuries mostly affected men (about 80%) as well as young people (15-34 years). Despite limited data availability in low- and middle-income countries, the avoidable part of the burden related to delayed intervention is measurable. These results can be used to convince countries to avoid delaying the provision of better protection to road users.

  2. Requiring both avoidance and emotional numbing in DSM-V PTSD: will it help?

    PubMed

    Forbes, David; Fletcher, Susan; Lockwood, Emma; O'Donnell, Meaghan; Creamer, Mark; Bryant, Richard A; McFarlane, Alexander; Silove, Derrick

    2011-05-01

    The proposed DSM-V criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) specifically require both active avoidance and emotional numbing symptoms for a diagnosis. In DSM-IV, since both are included in the same cluster, active avoidance is not essential. Numbing symptoms overlap with depression, which may result in spurious comorbidity or overdiagnosis of PTSD. This paper investigated the impact of requiring both active avoidance and emotional numbing on the rates of PTSD diagnosis and comorbidity with depression. We investigated PTSD and depression in 835 traumatic injury survivors at 3 and 12 months post-injury. We used the DSM-IV criteria but explored the potential impact of DSM-IV and DSM-V approaches to avoidance and numbing using comparison of proportion analyses. The DSM-V requirement of both active avoidance and emotional numbing resulted in significant reductions in PTSD caseness compared with DSM-IV of 22% and 26% respectively at 3 and 12 months posttrauma. By 12 months, the rates of comorbid PTSD in those with depression were significantly lower (44% vs. 34%) using the new criteria, primarily due to the lack of avoidance symptoms. These preliminary data suggest that requiring both active avoidance and numbing as separate clusters offers a useful refinement of the PTSD diagnosis. Requiring active avoidance may help to define the unique aspects of PTSD and reduce spurious diagnoses of PTSD in those with depression. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. The effectiveness of health systems in influencing avoidable mortality: a study in Valencia, Spain, 1975-90.

    PubMed Central

    Albert, X; Bayo, A; Alfonso, J L; Cortina, P; Corella, D

    1996-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To measure variations in the Holland and Charlton classifications of avoidable death causes and to estimate the effect of the Spanish national health system on avoidable mortality. DESIGN: Mortality in the Valencian Community was assessed between 1975 and 1990. The classifications of Holland and Charlton, used to assess avoidable causes of death, were compared. Holland's classification was then used to divide avoidable mortality into two groups--medical care indicators (MCI), which show the effectiveness of health care, and national health policy indicators (NHPI), which show the status of primary prevention. Comparisons were made with rates, group rates, and population rates. Trends and indices were also studied. SETTING: Valencia, Spain, 1975-90. RESULTS: During the study period, avoidable morality (only assessed by MCI) fell 63%, whereas the remainder of the mortality (non-MCI causes, that is all the non-avoidable causes together with the NHPI group) fell by 17%. If it is assumed that the mortality due to non-MCI causes indicates the overall effect of the environmental, social, nutritional, and genetic influences, then the difference between this and the MCI group would take us nearer the actual effect of the intervention of the health system. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that in this community, the health system has been responsible for approximately 47% of the total reduction in mortality from avoidable causes in the period studied. PMID:8935465

  4. Autonomous dynamic obstacle avoidance for bacteria-powered microrobots (BPMs) with modified vector field histogram

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Hoyeon; Cheang, U. Kei

    2017-01-01

    In order to broaden the use of microrobots in practical fields, autonomous control algorithms such as obstacle avoidance must be further developed. However, most previous studies of microrobots used manual motion control to navigate past tight spaces and obstacles while very few studies demonstrated the use of autonomous motion. In this paper, we demonstrated a dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm for bacteria-powered microrobots (BPMs) using electric field in fluidic environments. A BPM consists of an artificial body, which is made of SU-8, and a high dense layer of harnessed bacteria. BPMs can be controlled using externally applied electric fields due to the electrokinetic property of bacteria. For developing dynamic obstacle avoidance for BPMs, a kinematic model of BPMs was utilized to prevent collision and a finite element model was used to characteristic the deformation of an electric field near the obstacle walls. In order to avoid fast moving obstacles, we modified our previously static obstacle avoidance approach using a modified vector field histogram (VFH) method. To validate the advanced algorithm in experiments, magnetically controlled moving obstacles were used to intercept the BPMs as the BPMs move from the initial position to final position. The algorithm was able to successfully guide the BPMs to reach their respective goal positions while avoiding the dynamic obstacles. PMID:29020016

  5. Autonomous dynamic obstacle avoidance for bacteria-powered microrobots (BPMs) with modified vector field histogram.

    PubMed

    Kim, Hoyeon; Cheang, U Kei; Kim, Min Jun

    2017-01-01

    In order to broaden the use of microrobots in practical fields, autonomous control algorithms such as obstacle avoidance must be further developed. However, most previous studies of microrobots used manual motion control to navigate past tight spaces and obstacles while very few studies demonstrated the use of autonomous motion. In this paper, we demonstrated a dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm for bacteria-powered microrobots (BPMs) using electric field in fluidic environments. A BPM consists of an artificial body, which is made of SU-8, and a high dense layer of harnessed bacteria. BPMs can be controlled using externally applied electric fields due to the electrokinetic property of bacteria. For developing dynamic obstacle avoidance for BPMs, a kinematic model of BPMs was utilized to prevent collision and a finite element model was used to characteristic the deformation of an electric field near the obstacle walls. In order to avoid fast moving obstacles, we modified our previously static obstacle avoidance approach using a modified vector field histogram (VFH) method. To validate the advanced algorithm in experiments, magnetically controlled moving obstacles were used to intercept the BPMs as the BPMs move from the initial position to final position. The algorithm was able to successfully guide the BPMs to reach their respective goal positions while avoiding the dynamic obstacles.

  6. No evidence for postcopulatory inbreeding avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Ala-Honkola, Outi; Manier, Mollie K; Lüpold, Stefan; Pitnick, Scott

    2011-09-01

    Selection to avoid inbreeding is predicted to vary across species due to differences in population structure and reproductive biology. Over the past decade, there have been numerous investigations of postcopulatory inbreeding avoidance, a phenomenon that first requires discrimination of mate (or sperm) relatedness and then requires mechanisms of male ejaculate tailoring and/or cryptic female choice to avoid kin. The number of studies that have found a negative association between male-female genetic relatedness and competitive fertilization success is roughly equal to the number of studies that have not found such a relationship. In the former case, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The present study was undertaken to verify and expand upon a previous report of postcopulatory inbreeding avoidance in D. melanogaster, as well as to resolve underlying mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance using transgenic flies that express a sperm head-specific fluorescent tag. However, siblings did not have a lower fertilization success as compared to unrelated males in either the first (P(1) ) or second (P(2) ) mate role in sperm competition with a standard unrelated competitor male in our study population of D. melanogaster. Analyses of mating latency, copulation duration, egg production rate, and remating interval further revealed no evidence for inbreeding avoidance. © 2011 The Author(s).

  7. Advanced Reactor Passive System Reliability Demonstration Analysis for an External Event

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bucknor, Matthew D.; Grabaskas, David; Brunett, Acacia J.

    2016-01-01

    Many advanced reactor designs rely on passive systems to fulfill safety functions during accident sequences. These systems depend heavily on boundary conditions to induce a motive force, meaning the system can fail to operate as intended due to deviations in boundary conditions, rather than as the result of physical failures. Furthermore, passive systems may operate in intermediate or degraded modes. These factors make passive system operation difficult to characterize within a traditional probabilistic framework that only recognizes discrete operating modes and does not allow for the explicit consideration of time-dependent boundary conditions. Argonne National Laboratory has been examining various methodologiesmore » for assessing passive system reliability within a probabilistic risk assessment for a station blackout event at an advanced small modular reactor. This paper provides an overview of a passive system reliability demonstration analysis for an external event. Centering on an earthquake with the possibility of site flooding, the analysis focuses on the behavior of the passive reactor cavity cooling system following potential physical damage and system flooding. The assessment approach seeks to combine mechanistic and simulation-based methods to leverage the benefits of the simulation-based approach without the need to substantially deviate from conventional probabilistic risk assessment techniques. While this study is presented as only an example analysis, the results appear to demonstrate a high level of reliability for the reactor cavity cooling system (and the reactor system in general) to the postulated transient event.« less

  8. Testing Realistic Disaster Scenarios for Space Weather: The Economic Impacts of Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Failure in the UK

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gibbs, M.; Oughton, E. J.; Hapgood, M. A.

    2017-12-01

    The socio-economic impacts of space weather have been under-researched, despite this threat featuring on the UK's National Risk Register. In this paper, a range of Realistic Disaster Scenarios due to failure in electricity transmission infrastructure are tested. We use regional Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) studies to identify areas in the UK high-voltage power system deemed to be high-risk. The potential level of disruption arising from a large geomagnetic disturbance in these `hot spots' on local economic activity is explored. Electricity is a necessary factor of production without which businesses cannot operate, so even short term power loss can cause significant loss of value. We utilise a spatially disaggregated approach that focuses on quantifying employment disruption by industrial sector, and relating this to direct Gross Value Added loss. We then aggregate this direct loss into a set of shocks to undertake macroeconomic modelling of different scenarios, to obtain the total economic impact which includes both direct and indirect supply chain disruption effects. These results are reported for a range of temporal periods, with the minimum increment being a one-hour blackout. This work furthers our understanding of the economic impacts of space weather, and can inform future reviews of the UK's National Risk Register. The key contribution of the paper is that the results can be used in the future cost-benefit analysis of investment in space weather forecasting.

  9. Religiosity for promotion of behaviors likely to reduce new HIV infections in Uganda: a study among Muslim youth in Wakiso District.

    PubMed

    Kagimu, Magid; Guwatudde, David; Rwabukwali, Charles; Kaye, Sarah; Walakira, Yusuf; Ainomugisha, Dick

    2013-12-01

    The study was done to determine the association between religiosity and behaviors likely to reduce new HIV infections among 1,224 Muslim youth. Respondents with Sujda, the hyperpigmented spot on the forehead due to prostration during prayers, were more likely to abstain from sex, be faithful in marriage, and avoid alcohol and narcotics. Males wearing a Muslim cap were more likely to abstain from sex and avoid alcohol and narcotics. Females wearing the long dress (Hijab) were also more likely to avoid alcohol. This data should be used by stakeholders in promoting behaviors likely to reduce new HIV infections among Muslims.

  10. Lack of behavioural evidence for kin avoidance in mate choice in a hymenopteran parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

    PubMed

    Bourdais, D; Hance, T

    2009-05-01

    Mechanisms for inbreeding avoidance should be prevalent in insects that reproduce by arrhenotokous haplodiploidy because of the higher potential production of unviable diploid males in inbred matings. Few studies have focused on mating strategies in insect parasitoids and even less on kinship relationships during mate choice. In this study we tested avoidance of kin as mate in the parasitic wasp Aphidius matricariae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) using an ethological approach. Key mating parameters, such as male wing fanning, latent period before genitalia contact and duration of copulation were measured. No evidence for kin avoidance in mate choice in both A. matricariae males and females was observed in our behaviour (no choice or choice tests) tests. This lack of ethological sib mating avoidance could be due to different factors such as sex determination rule different than the single locus complementary sex determination, making lower the proportion of diploid males in case of sib matings and thus its negative consequence. The existence of other inbreeding avoidance strategies and mechanisms that reduce the probability of 2 receptive relatives meeting in nature may be common, for example, inbred mating may be rare through differential dispersal, delayed maturation, or protandry.

  11. Millimeter wave backscatter measurements in support of collision avoidance applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, Ram M.; Snuttjer, Brett R. J.

    1997-11-01

    Millimeter-wave short range radar systems have unique advantages in surface navigation applications, such as military vehicle mobility, aircraft landing assistance, and automotive collision avoidance. In collision avoidance applications, characterization of clutter due to terrain and roadside objects is necessary in order to maximize the signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR) and to minimize false alarms. The results of two types of radar cross section (RCS) measurements at 95 GHz are reported in this paper. The first set of measurements presents data on the normalized RCS (NRCS) as well as clutter distributions of various terrain types at low grazing angles of 5° and 7.5°. The second set of measurements presents RCS data and statistics on various types of roadside objects, such as metallic and wooden sign posts. These results are expected to be useful for designers of short-range millimeter-wave collision avoidance radar systems.

  12. The contribution of embarrassment to phobic dental anxiety: a qualitative research study.

    PubMed

    Moore, Rod; Brødsgaard, Inger; Rosenberg, Nicole

    2004-04-19

    Embarrassment is emphasized, yet scantily described as a factor in extreme dental anxiety or phobia. Present study aimed to describe details of social aspects of anxiety in dental situations, especially focusing on embarrassment phenomena. Subjects (Ss) were consecutive specialist clinic patients, 16 men, 14 women, 20-65 yr, who avoided treatment mean 12.7 yr due to anxiety. Electronic patient records and transcribed initial assessment and exit interviews were analyzed using QSR"N4" software to aid in exploring contexts related to social aspects of dental anxiety and embarrassment phenomena. Qualitative findings were co-validated with tests of association between embarrassment intensity ratings, years of treatment avoidance, and mouth-hiding behavioral ratings. Embarrassment was a complaint in all but three cases. Chief complaints in the sample: 30% had fear of pain; 47% cited powerlessness in relation to dental social situations, some specific to embarrassment and 23% named co-morbid psychosocial dysfunction due to effects of sexual abuse, general anxiety, gagging, fainting or panic attacks. Intense embarrassment was manifested in both clinical and non-clinical situations due to poor dental status or perceived neglect, often (n = 9) with fear of negative social evaluation as chief complaint. These nine cases were qualitatively different from other cases with chief complaints of social powerlessness associated with conditioned distrust of dentists and their negative behaviors. The majority of embarrassed Ss to some degree inhibited smiling/laughing by hiding with lips, hands or changed head position. Secrecy, taboo-thinking, and mouth-hiding were associated with intense embarrassment. Especially after many years of avoidance, embarrassment phenomena lead to feelings of self-punishment, poor self-image/esteem and in some cases personality changes in a vicious circle of anxiety and avoidance. Embarrassment intensity ratings were positively correlated with years of avoidance and degree of mouth-hiding behaviors. Embarrassment is a complex dental anxiety manifestation with qualitative differences by complaint characteristics and perceived intensity. Some cases exhibited manifestations similar to psychiatric criteria for social anxiety disorder as chief complaint, while most manifested embarrassment as a side effect.

  13. The contribution of embarrassment to phobic dental anxiety: a qualitative research study

    PubMed Central

    Moore, Rod; Brødsgaard, Inger; Rosenberg, Nicole

    2004-01-01

    Background Embarrassment is emphasized, yet scantily described as a factor in extreme dental anxiety or phobia. Present study aimed to describe details of social aspects of anxiety in dental situations, especially focusing on embarrassment phenomena. Methods Subjects (Ss) were consecutive specialist clinic patients, 16 men, 14 women, 20–65 yr, who avoided treatment mean 12.7 yr due to anxiety. Electronic patient records and transcribed initial assessment and exit interviews were analyzed using QSR"N4" software to aid in exploring contexts related to social aspects of dental anxiety and embarrassment phenomena. Qualitative findings were co-validated with tests of association between embarrassment intensity ratings, years of treatment avoidance, and mouth-hiding behavioral ratings. Results Embarrassment was a complaint in all but three cases. Chief complaints in the sample: 30% had fear of pain; 47% cited powerlessness in relation to dental social situations, some specific to embarrassment and 23% named co-morbid psychosocial dysfunction due to effects of sexual abuse, general anxiety, gagging, fainting or panic attacks. Intense embarrassment was manifested in both clinical and non-clinical situations due to poor dental status or perceived neglect, often (n = 9) with fear of negative social evaluation as chief complaint. These nine cases were qualitatively different from other cases with chief complaints of social powerlessness associated with conditioned distrust of dentists and their negative behaviors. The majority of embarrassed Ss to some degree inhibited smiling/laughing by hiding with lips, hands or changed head position. Secrecy, taboo-thinking, and mouth-hiding were associated with intense embarrassment. Especially after many years of avoidance, embarrassment phenomena lead to feelings of self-punishment, poor self-image/esteem and in some cases personality changes in a vicious circle of anxiety and avoidance. Embarrassment intensity ratings were positively correlated with years of avoidance and degree of mouth-hiding behaviors. Conclusions Embarrassment is a complex dental anxiety manifestation with qualitative differences by complaint characteristics and perceived intensity. Some cases exhibited manifestations similar to psychiatric criteria for social anxiety disorder as chief complaint, while most manifested embarrassment as a side effect. PMID:15096278

  14. Ketamine facilitates extinction of avoidance behavior and enhances synaptic plasticity in a rat model of anxiety vulnerability: Implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of anxiety disorders.

    PubMed

    Fortress, Ashley M; Smith, Ian M; Pang, Kevin C H

    2018-05-08

    Anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) share a common feature of pathological avoidance behavior. The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat has been used as a model of anxiety vulnerability, expressing a behaviorally inhibited temperament, acquiring avoidance behavior more rapidly and displaying extinction-resistant avoidance compared to Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Subanesthetic levels of ketamine have gained attention as a rapid antidepressant in treatment-resistant depression. While traditional antidepressants are commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and PTSD, the therapeutic utility of ketamine for these disorders is much less understood. The hippocampus is critical for the actions of antidepressants, is a structure of implicated in anxiety disorders and PTSD, and is necessary for extinction of avoidance in SD rats. WKY rats have impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), suggesting that persistent avoidance in WKY rats may be due to deficient hippocampal synaptic plasticity. In the present study, we hypothesized that ketamine would facilitate extinction of avoidance learning in WKY rats, and do so by enhancing hippocampal synaptic plasticity. As predicted, ketamine facilitated extinction of avoidance behavior in a subset of WKY rats (responders), with effects lasting at least three weeks. Additionally, LTP in these rats was enhanced by ketamine. Ketamine was not effective in facilitating avoidance extinction or in modifying LTP in WKY non-responders. The results suggest that subanesthetic levels of ketamine may be useful for treating anxiety disorders by reducing avoidance behaviors when combined with extinction conditions. Moreover, ketamine may have its long-lasting behavioral effects through enhancing hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Neurobehavioral impairments produced by developmental lead exposure persisted for generations in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

    PubMed

    Xu, Xiaojuan; Weber, Daniel; Burge, Rebekah; VanAmberg, Kelsey

    2016-01-01

    The zebrafish has become a useful animal model for studying the effects of environmental contaminants on neurobehavioral development due to its ease of breeding, high number of eggs per female, short generation times, and a well-established avoidance conditioning paradigm. Using avoidance conditioning as the behavioral paradigm, the present study investigated the effects of embryonic exposure to lead (Pb) on learning in adult zebrafish and the third (F3) generation of those fish. In Experiment 1, adult zebrafish that were developmentally exposed to 0.0, 0.1, 1.0 or 10.0μM Pb (2-24h post fertilization) as embryos were trained and tested for avoidance responses. The results showed that adult zebrafish hatched from embryos exposed to 0.0 or 0.1μM Pb learned avoidance responses during training and displayed significantly increased avoidance responses during testing, while those hatched from embryos exposed to 1.0 or 10.0μM Pb displayed no significant increases in avoidance responses from training to testing. In Experiment 2, the F3 generation of zebrafish that were developmentally exposed to an identical exposure regimen as in Experiment 1 were trained and tested for avoidance responses. The results showed that the F3 generation of zebrafish developmentally exposed as embryos to 0.0 or 0.1μM Pb learned avoidance responses during training and displayed significantly increased avoidance responses during testing, while the F3 generation of zebrafish developmentally exposed as embryos to 1.0 or 10.0μM Pb displayed no significant changes in avoidance responses from training to testing. Thus, developmental Pb exposure produced learning impairments that persisted for at least three generations, demonstrating trans-generational effects of embryonic exposure to Pb. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  16. Personality affects aspects of health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease via psychological coping strategies.

    PubMed

    Whitworth, Stephanie R; Loftus, Andrea M; Skinner, Timothy C; Gasson, Natalie; Barker, Roger A; Bucks, Romola S; Thomas, Meghan G

    2013-01-01

    Personality traits influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Further, an individual's personality traits can influence the strategies they use to cope with a particular stressful situation. However, in PD, the interplay between personality traits, choice of coping strategy, and their subsequent effect on HRQoL remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine whether personality (neuroticism and extraversion) indirectly affects HRQoL through the use of specific psychological coping strategies. One hundred and forty-six patients with PD completed questionnaires on personality (Big Five Aspects Scale; BFAS), coping (Ways of Coping Questionnaire; WCQ), and mood-specific (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; DASS-21) and disease-specific HRQoL (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire; PDQ-39). After controlling for gender, age at diagnosis, and age at testing, the emotion-focused coping strategy of escape-avoidance was significantly correlated with neuroticism and certain aspects of HRQoL (cognitive impairment and social support). This suggests that neurotic personality traits may negatively impact on some aspects of HRQoL due to an increased use of escape-avoidance coping strategies. By contrast, planned problem-solving and escape-avoidance coping strategies were both significantly linked to extraversion and interpersonal and mood-related domains of HRQoL. This suggests that extraversion may positively impact on some aspects of HRQoL due to patients adopting greater planned, problem-solving coping strategies, and using fewer escape-avoidance coping mechanisms. Psychological interventions aimed at targeting maladaptive coping strategies, such as the use of escape-avoidance coping, may be effective in minimising the negative impact of neuroticism on HRQoL in PD.

  17. Predictors of burnout and health status in Samaritans' listening volunteers.

    PubMed

    Roche, Adeline; Ogden, Jane

    2017-12-01

    Samaritan listening volunteers provide emotional support to people in distress or suicidal. Samaritans' has high volunteer turnover, which may be due to burnout. This study evaluated the role of demographic and psychosocial factors in predicting Samaritans listening volunteers' burnout and health status. Samaritans' listening volunteers (n = 216) from seven branches across UK completed an online survey to assess their levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, personal accomplishment), subjective health status, coping, empathy and social support. Overall, listeners showed low levels of burnout and good health. Regression analysis revealed that higher emotional exhaustion was predicted by younger age and avoidant coping style; higher depersonalisation was predicted by lower empathy fantasy and higher avoidant coping style; lower personal accomplishment scores were predicted by higher empathy personal distress and worse health status was predicted by more hours per week spent on listening duties, lower social support and higher avoidant coping style. Overall, different factors influenced different facets of burnout. However, higher use of avoidant coping style consistently predicted higher burnout and worse health status, suggesting avoidant coping is an important target for intervention.

  18. Food taboos and myths in South Eastern Nigeria: The belief and practice of mothers in the region.

    PubMed

    Ekwochi, Uchenna; Osuorah, Chidiebere D I; Ndu, Ikenna K; Ifediora, Christian; Asinobi, Isaac Nwabueze; Eke, Christopher Bismark

    2016-01-27

    Poor nutritional practices especially in pregnancy and early childhood can result in dire consequences in the growth and development of a child. This study using purposive sampling enrolled 149 women who had carried at least one pregnancy to term in Enugu south east Nigeria. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess association between avoidance of certain food in pregnancy and selected socio-demographic factors. Approximately 37 % of respondents avoided some foods in pregnancy due to food taboos and no relationship was seen between this avoidance of food and maternal educational attainment, parity (number of obstetrics deliveries) and occupation. Snail and grass-cutter meat were the commonly avoided food in pregnancy while egg were commonly avoided in children under-two years old. Some respondent believed eating snail and grass-cutter meat makes a child sluggish and labour difficult respectively while starting egg early for a child could predispose them to stealing later in life. Discussion about food taboos during antenatal care visits and during community education can help reduce the traditional belief about certain food in pregnancy and early childhood.

  19. Avoidable mortality among First Nations adults in Canada: A cohort analysis.

    PubMed

    Park, Jungwee; Tjepkema, Michael; Goedhuis, Neil; Pennock, Jennifer

    2015-08-01

    Avoidable mortality is a measure of deaths that potentially could have been averted through effective prevention practices, public health policies, and/or provision of timely and adequate health care. This longitudinal analysis compares avoidable mortality among First Nations and non-Aboriginal adults. Data are from the 1991-to-2006 Canadian Census Mortality and Cancer Follow-up Study. A 15% sample of 1991 Census respondents aged 25 or older was linked to 16 years of mortality data. This study examines avoidable mortality among 61,220 First Nations and 2,510,285 non-Aboriginal people aged 25 to 74. During the 1991-to-2006 period, First Nations adults had more than twice the risk of dying from avoidable causes compared with non-Aboriginal adults. The age-standardized avoidable mortality rate (ASMR) per 100,000 person-years at risk for First Nations men was 679.2 versus 337.6 for non-Aboriginal men (rate ratio = 2.01). For women, ASMRs were lower, but the gap was wider. The ASMR for First Nations women was 453.2, compared with 183.5 for non-Aboriginal women (rate ratio = 2.47). Disparities were greater at younger ages. Diabetes, alcohol and drug use disorders, and unintentional injuries were the main contributors to excess avoidable deaths among First Nations adults. Education and income accounted for a substantial share of the disparities. The results highlight the gap in avoidable mortality between First Nations and non-Aboriginal adults due to specific causes of death and the association with socioeconomic factors.

  20. Cutthroat trout avoidance of metals and conditions characteristic of a mining waste site: Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Woodward, Daniel F.; Goldstein, Jack N.; Farag, Aïda M.; Brumbaugh, William G.

    1997-01-01

    The South Fork basin of the Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho has been an area of heavy mining activity since the 1880s. The mining operations have resulted in elevated concentrations of metals in surface water, most notably cadmium, lead, zinc, and, to a lesser extent, copper. The metals affected surface water quality downstream in the Coeur d'Alene basin and are suspected to be one of the primary reasons for the reduction in populations of native westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi. The avoidance response of a surrogate species, Snake River cutthroat trout O. clarki (unnamed subspecies), was evaluated against conditions simulating those in the Coeur d'Alene River basin. Cutthroat trout avoided a metals mixture of these concentrations: Cd (0.30 ??g/L), Cu (6.0 ??g/L), Pb (0.6 ??g/L), and Zn (28 ??g/L). The avoidance response to either Cu or Zn alone was similar to the avoidance response to the mixture, suggesting that avoidance to the mixture was due to these metals. After acclimation to Zn at 55 ??g/L for 90 d, cutthroat trout detected and preferred a lower Zn concentration of 28 ??g/L. The lowest Zn concentrations avoided (28 ??g/L) were 1/6 to 1/78 the Zn concentrations measured in the South Fork and lower Coeur d'Alene River basins. Avoidance of metals-contaminated habitats by cutthroat trout may be, in part, responsible for reduced fish populations.

  1. Stuck in the spin cycle: Avoidance and intrusions following breast cancer diagnosis.

    PubMed

    Bauer, Margaret R; Wiley, Joshua F; Weihs, Karen L; Stanton, Annette L

    2017-09-01

    Theories and research regarding cognitive and emotional processing during the experience of profound stressors suggest that the presence of intrusive thoughts and feelings predicts greater use of avoidance and that the use of avoidance paradoxically predicts more intrusions. However, empirical investigations of their purported bidirectional relationship are limited. This study presents a longitudinal investigation of the reciprocal relationship between intrusions and avoidance coping over a 6-month period in the year following breast cancer diagnosis. Breast cancer patients (N = 460) completed measures of cancer-related intrusions and avoidance at study entry, 3 months, and 6 months later (i.e., an average of 2, 5, and 8 months after diagnosis, respectively). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that intrusive thoughts, feelings, and images at study entry predicted greater avoidance 3 months later, and avoidance coping at study entry predicted intrusions 3 months later, controlling for the stability of intrusions and avoidance as well as time since diagnosis. Findings were not statistically significant for avoidance predicting intrusions, or vice versa, between the 3-month and the 6-month assessment period, during which they declined. These findings provide empirical support for the theoretical contention that avoidance and intrusive thoughts and emotions reciprocally influence one another following stressful events. Additionally, in the months shortly after breast cancer diagnosis, intrusions and avoidance are positively related. However, the relationships attenuate over time, which could indicate resolved cognitive and emotional processing of the cancer experience. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Following stressful life events, individuals often experience intrusive thoughts and feelings related to the event and they report avoidance of such reminders. Many studies demonstrate that greater intrusions predict more subsequent use of avoidance coping, and other studies show that greater use of avoidance predicts more intrusions. Their reciprocal relation has not been examined, however. What does this study add? This is the first examination of the concurrent, reciprocal influence of intrusions and avoidance. Findings suggest that accounting for the bidirectional influence of avoidance and intrusions best estimates hypothesized models. Higher intrusions and avoidance predicted each other for the first 3 months after study entry, but the relationship diminished 6 months after study entry, perhaps due to productive mental processing of the stress of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  2. A comparative analysis of avoidable causes of childhood blindness in Malaysia with low income, middle income and high income countries.

    PubMed

    Koay, C L; Patel, D K; Tajunisah, I; Subrayan, V; Lansingh, V C

    2015-04-01

    To determine the avoidable causes of childhood blindness in Malaysia and to compare this to other middle income countries, low income countries and high income countries. Data were obtained from a school of the blind study by Patel et al. and analysed for avoidable causes of childhood blindness. Six other studies with previously published data on childhood blindness in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Indonesia, China and the United Kingdom were reviewed for avoidable causes. Comparisons of data and limitations of the studies are described. Prevalence of avoidable causes of childhood blindness in Malaysia is 50.5 % of all the cases of childhood blindness, whilst in the poor income countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Indonesia, the prevalence was in excess of 60 %. China had a low prevalence, but this is largely due to the fact that most schools were urban, and thus did not represent the situation of the country. High income countries had the lowest prevalence of avoidable childhood blindness. In middle income countries, such as Malaysia, cataract and retinopathy of prematurity are the main causes of avoidable childhood blindness. Low income countries continue to struggle with infections such as measles and nutritional deficiencies, such as vitamin A, both of which are the main contributors to childhood blindness. In high income countries, such as the United Kingdom, these problems are almost non-existent.

  3. Three-dimensional time-dependent STAR reactor kinetics analyses coupled with RETRAN and MCPWR system response

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Feltus, M.A.

    1989-11-01

    The operation of a nuclear power plant must be regularly supported by various reactor dynamics and thermal-hydraulic analyses, which may include final safety analysis report (FSAR) design-basis calculations, and conservative and best-estimate analyses. The development and improvement of computer codes and analysis methodologies provide many advantages, including the ability to evaluate the effect of modeling simplifications and assumptions made in previous reactor kinetics and thermal-hydraulic calculations. This paper describes the results of using the RETRAN, MCPWR, and STAR codes in a tandem, predictive-corrective manner for three pressurized water reactor (PWR) transients: (a) loss of feedwater (LOF) anticipated transient without scrammore » (ATWS), (b) station blackout ATWS, and (c) loss of total reactor coolant system (RCS) flow with a scram.« less

  4. The USGS geomagnetism program and its role in space weather monitoring

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.

    2011-01-01

    Magnetic storms result from the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Large storms represent a potential hazard for the activities and infrastructure of a modern, technologically based society [Baker et al., 2008]; they can cause the loss of radio communications, reduce the accuracy of global positioning systems, damage satellite electronics and affect satellite operations, increase pipeline corrosion, and induce voltage surges in electric power grids, causing blackouts. So while space weather starts with the Sun and is driven by the solar wind, it is on, or just above, the surface of the Earth that the practical effects of space weather are realized. Therefore, ground-based sensor networks, including magnetic observatories [Love, 2008], play an important role in space weather monitoring.

  5. The USGS Geomagnetism Program and its role in Space-Weather Monitoring

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.

    2011-01-01

    Magnetic storms result from the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the coupled magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Large storms represent a potential hazard for the activities and infrastructure of a modern, technologically based society [Baker et al., 2008]; they can cause the loss of radio communications, reduce the accuracy of global positioning systems, damage satellite electronics and affect satellite operations, increase pipeline corrosion, and induce voltage surges in electric power grids, causing blackouts. So while space weather starts with the Sun and is driven by the solar wind, it is on, or just above, the surface of the Earth that the practical effects of space weather are realized. Therefore, ground-based sensor networks, including magnetic observatories [Love, 2008], play an important role in space weather monitoring.

  6. Vulnerability and cosusceptibility determine the size of network cascades

    DOE PAGES

    Yang, Yang; Nishikawa, Takashi; Motter, Adilson E.

    2017-01-27

    In a network, a local disturbance can propagate and eventually cause a substantial part of the system to fail in cascade events that are easy to conceptualize but extraordinarily difficult to predict. Furthermore, we develop a statistical framework that can predict cascade size distributions by incorporating two ingredients only: the vulnerability of individual components and the cosusceptibility of groups of components (i.e., their tendency to fail together). Using cascades in power grids as a representative example, we show that correlations between component failures define structured and often surprisingly large groups of cosusceptible components. Aside from their implications for blackout studies,more » these results provide insights and a new modeling framework for understanding cascades in financial systems, food webs, and complex networks in general.« less

  7. Identifying Factors That Increase the Likelihood for Alcohol-Induced Blackouts in the Prepartying Context

    PubMed Central

    LaBrie, Joseph W.; Hummer, Justin; Kenney, Shannon; Lac, Andrew; Pedersen, Eric

    2015-01-01

    The present study examined risk factors related to “blacking out” (e.g., temporary periods of memory loss during drinking) during preparty drinking events (i.e., pregaming, predrinking). Participants were students from two universities on the West Coast who reported past month prepartying (N = 2,546) in online surveys administered in the fall of 2008. Among these students, 25% (n = 636) reported blacking out during at least one occasion in which they prepartied in the past month. A logistic regression model underscored that Greek student affiliation, family history of alcohol abuse, frequency of prepartying, and both playing drinking games and consuming shots of liquor while prepartying increased the likelihood of blacking out. Limitations and implications for future research and collegiate prevention strategies are discussed. PMID:21222521

  8. Parametric and experimentally informed BWR Severe Accident Analysis Utilizing FeCrAl - M3FT-17OR020205041

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ott, Larry J.; Howell, Michael; Robb, Kevin R.

    Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are being considered as advanced fuel cladding concepts with enhanced accident tolerance. At high temperatures, FeCrAl alloys have slower oxidation kinetics and higher strength compared with zirconium-based alloys. FeCrAl could be used for fuel cladding and spacer or mixing vane grids in light water reactors and/or as channel box material in boiling water reactors (BWRs). There is a need to assess the potential gains afforded by the FeCrAl accident-tolerant-fuel (ATF) concept over the existing zirconium-based materials employed today. To accurately assess the response of FeCrAl alloys under severe accident conditions, a number of FeCrAl properties and characteristicsmore » are required. These include thermophysical properties as well as burst characteristics, oxidation kinetics, possible eutectic interactions, and failure temperatures. These properties can vary among different FeCrAl alloys. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has pursued refined values for the oxidation kinetics of the B136Y FeCrAl alloy (Fe-13Cr-6Al wt %). This investigation included oxidation tests with varying heating rates and end-point temperatures in a steam environment. The rate constant for the low-temperature oxidation kinetics was found to be higher than that for the commercial APMT FeCrAl alloy (Fe-21Cr-5Al-3Mo wt %). Compared with APMT, a 5 times higher rate constant best predicted the entire dataset (root mean square deviation). Based on tests following heating rates comparable with those the cladding would experience during a station blackout, the transition to higher oxidation kinetics occurs at approximately 1,500°C. A parametric study varying the low-temperature FeCrAl oxidation kinetics was conducted for a BWR plant using FeCrAl fuel cladding and channel boxes using the MELCOR code. A range of station blackout severe accident scenarios were simulated for a BWR/4 reactor with Mark I containment. Increasing the FeCrAl low-temperature oxidation rate constant (3 times and 10 times that of the rate constant for APMT) had a negligible impact on the early stages of the accident and minor impacts on the accident progression after the first relocation of the fuel. At temperatures below 1,500°C, increasing the rate constant for APMT by a factor of 10 still resulted in only minor FeCrAl oxidation. In general, the gains afforded by the FeCrAl enhanced ATF concept with respect to accident sequence timing and combustible gas generation are consistent with previous efforts. Compared with the traditional Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box system, the FeCrAl concept could provide a few extra hours of time for operators to take mitigating actions and/or for evacuations to take place. A coolable core geometry is retained longer, enhancing the ability to stabilize an accident. For example, a station blackout was simulated in which cooling water injection was lost 36 hours after shutdown. The timing to first fuel relocation was delayed by approximately 5 h for the FeCrAl ATF concept compared with that of the traditional Zircaloy-based cladding and channel box system.« less

  9. Human Factors for Situation Assessment in Grid Operations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Guttromson, Ross T.; Schur, Anne; Greitzer, Frank L.

    2007-08-08

    Executive Summary Despite advances in technology, power system operators must assimilate overwhelming amounts of data to keep the grid operating. Analyses of recent blackouts have clearly demonstrated the need to enhance the operator’s situation awareness (SA). The long-term objective of this research is to integrate valuable technologies into the grid operator environment that support decision making under normal and abnormal operating conditions and remove non-technical barriers to enable the optimum use of these technologies by individuals working alone and as a team. More specifically, the research aims to identify methods and principles to increase SA of grid operators in themore » context of system conditions that are representative or common across many operating entities and develop operationally relevant experimental methods for studying technologies and operational practices which contribute to SA. With increasing complexity and interconnectivity of the grid, the scope and complexity of situation awareness have grown. New paradigms are needed to guide research and tool development aimed to enhance and improve operations. In reviewing related research, operating practices, systems, and tools, the present study established a taxonomy that provides a perspective on research and development surrounding power grid situation awareness and clarifies the field of human factors/SA for grid operations. Information sources that we used to identify critical factors underlying SA included interviews with experienced operational personnel, available historical summaries and transcripts of abnormal conditions and outages (e.g., the August 14, 2003 blackout), scientific literature, and operational policies/procedures and other documentation. Our analysis of August 2003 blackout transcripts and interviews adopted a different perspective than previous analyses of this material, and we complemented this analysis with additional interviews. Based on our analysis and a broad literature review, we advocate a new perspective on SA in terms of sensemaking, also called situated or ecological decision making, where the focus of the investigation is to understand why the decision maker(s) experienced the situation the way they did, or why what they saw made sense to them at the time. This perspective is distinct from the traditional branch of human factors research in the field which focuses more on ergonomics and the transactional relationship between the human operator and the systems. Consistent with our findings from the literature review, we recognized an over-arching need to focus SA research on issues surrounding the concept of shared knowledge; e.g., awareness of what is happening in adjacent areas as well as one’s own area of responsibility. Major findings were: a) Inadequate communication/information sharing is pervasive, b) Information is available, but not used. Many tools and mechanisms exist for operators to build awareness of the physical grid system, yet the transcripts reveal that they still need to call and exchange information with operators of neighboring areas to improve or validate their SA. The specific types of information that they request are quite predictable and, in most cases, cover information that could be available to both operators and reliability coordinators through readily available displays or other data sources, c) Shared Knowledge is Required on Operations/Actions as Well as Physical Status. In an ideal, technologically and organizationally perfect world, every control room and every reliability coordinator may have access to complete data across all regional control areas and yet, there would still be reason for the operators to call each other to gain and improve their SA of power grid operations, and d) Situation Awareness as sensemaking and shared knowledge.« less

  10. Problems with vision associated with limitations or avoidance of driving in older populations.

    PubMed

    Satariano, William A; MacLeod, Kara E; Cohn, Theodore E; Ragland, David R

    2004-09-01

    This report examines the role of (a) disease processes affecting vision, (b) reported troubles with vision, (c) physical symptoms affecting the eyes, and (d) objective measures in reported driving limitation due to problems with eyesight among older drivers. Data for this study (N = 1,840) were obtained from participants in a community-based study of aging and physical performance in people age 55 or older in the city of Sonoma, California. Each of 16 visual conditions was assessed for impact on reported driving limitation due to eyesight by calculating a "risk" ratio. Then, prevalence of the condition was combined with the ratio to generate an attributable risk for that condition for vision-related limitations in driving. Each condition was significantly associated with reported limitations in driving due to eyesight. "Avoiding physical activity due to vision" (ratio = 3.4) and "trouble seeing steps up/down stairs" (ratio = 2.9) had the strongest association. However, "glasses/contacts required for driving" and "trouble with glare from sun/lights" had the highest attributable risks (35.8 and 29.4). The risk ratio is relevant for evaluating individuals; the attributable risk is relevant to planning countermeasures in populations. Addressing specific problems related to vision should substantially reduce driving limitations due to eyesight.

  11. [Virtual bronchoscopy in the child using multi-slice CT: initial clinical experiences].

    PubMed

    Kirchner, J; Laufer, U; Jendreck, M; Kickuth, R; Schilling, E M; Liermann, D

    2000-01-01

    Virtual bronchoscopy of the pediatric patient has been reported to be more difficult because of artifacts due to breathing or motion. We demonstrate the benefit of the accelerated examination based on multislice spiral CT (MSCT) in the pediatric patient which has not been reported so far. MSCT (tube voltage 120 kV, tube current 110 mA, 4 x 1 mm Slice thickness, 500 ms rotation time, Pitch 6) was performed on a CT scanner of the latest generation (Volume Zoom, Siemens Corp. Forchheim, Germany). In totally we examined 11 patients (median age 48 months, range 2-122 months) suspected of having tracheoesophageal fistula (n = 2), tracheobronchial narrowing (n = 8) due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors or injury of the bronchial system (n = 1). In all patients we obtained sufficient data for 3D reconstruction avoiding general anesthesia. 6/11 examinations were described to be without pathological finding. A definite diagnosis was obtained in 10 patients. Virtual bronchoscopy could avoid other invasive diagnostic examination in 8/11 patients (73%). Helical CT provides 3D-reconstruction and virtual bronchoscopy in the newborn as well as the infant. It avoids additional diagnostic bronchoscopy in a high percentage of all cases.

  12. Learned parasite avoidance is driven by host personality and resistance to infection in a fish–trematode interaction

    PubMed Central

    Karvonen, Anssi

    2016-01-01

    Cognitive abilities related to the assessment of risk improve survival. While earlier studies have examined the ability of animals to learn to avoid predators, learned parasite avoidance has received little interest. In a series of behavioural trials with the trematode parasite Diplostomum pseudospathaceum, we asked whether sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta) hosts show associative learning in the context of parasitism and if so, whether learning capacity is related to the likelihood of infection mediated through host personality and resistance. We show that animals are capable of learning to avoid visual cues associated with the presence of parasites. However, avoidance behaviour ceased after the likely activation of host resistance following consecutive exposures during learning, suggesting that resistance to infection outweighs avoidance. Further, we found a positive relationship between learning ability and boldness, suggesting a compensation of risky lifestyles through increased investment in cognitive abilities. By contrast, an increased risk of infection due to low resistance was not balanced by learning ability. Instead, these traits were positively related, which may be explained by inherent physiological qualities controlling both traits. Overall, the results demonstrate that parasitism, in addition to other biological interactions such as predation, is an important selective factor in the evolution of animal cognition. PMID:27605504

  13. Geographic tongue

    MedlinePlus

    ... be due to irritation from hot or spicy foods, or alcohol. The condition appears to be less common in ... Avoid irritating your tongue with hot or spicy food or alcohol if you are prone to this condition. Alternative ...

  14. Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome by fish: Not necessarily a restricted diet.

    PubMed

    Infante, S; Marco-Martín, G; Sánchez-Domínguez, M; Rodríguez-Fernández, A; Fuentes-Aparicio, V; Alvarez-Perea, A; Cabrera-Freitag, P; Morales-Cabeza, C; Zubeldia, J M; Zapatero, L

    2018-03-01

    Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) is a non-IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food hypersensitivity usually due to cow's milk or soy. Recent researches show that fish is 1 of the most important triggers of FPIES in the Mediterranean countries. Due to the risk of multiple-food FPIES, avoiding foods in the same category or that often occur together may be reasonable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution and follow-up of FPIES related to fish over a period of 20 years. We describe the clinical features of our population, discuss different approaches to oral food challenges, and analyze the possibility of introducing the culprit fish or other nonrelated fish to avoid unnecessary restricted diets. © 2017 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

  15. Experimental investigation of strain errors in stereo-digital image correlation due to camera calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shao, Xinxing; Zhu, Feipeng; Su, Zhilong; Dai, Xiangjun; Chen, Zhenning; He, Xiaoyuan

    2018-03-01

    The strain errors in stereo-digital image correlation (DIC) due to camera calibration were investigated using precisely controlled numerical experiments and real experiments. Three-dimensional rigid body motion tests were conducted to examine the effects of camera calibration on the measured results. For a fully accurate calibration, rigid body motion causes negligible strain errors. However, for inaccurately calibrated camera parameters and a short working distance, rigid body motion will lead to more than 50-μɛ strain errors, which significantly affects the measurement. In practical measurements, it is impossible to obtain a fully accurate calibration; therefore, considerable attention should be focused on attempting to avoid these types of errors, especially for high-accuracy strain measurements. It is necessary to avoid large rigid body motions in both two-dimensional DIC and stereo-DIC.

  16. Automated vehicle for railway track fault detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bhushan, M.; Sujay, S.; Tushar, B.; Chitra, P.

    2017-11-01

    For the safety reasons, railroad tracks need to be inspected on a regular basis for detecting physical defects or design non compliances. Such track defects and non compliances, if not detected in a certain interval of time, may eventually lead to severe consequences such as train derailments. Inspection must happen twice weekly by a human inspector to maintain safety standards as there are hundreds and thousands of miles of railroad track. But in such type of manual inspection, there are many drawbacks that may result in the poor inspection of the track, due to which accidents may cause in future. So to avoid such errors and severe accidents, this automated system is designed.Such a concept would surely introduce automation in the field of inspection process of railway track and can help to avoid mishaps and severe accidents due to faults in the track.

  17. Healthy young adults implement distinctive avoidance strategies while walking and circumventing virtual human vs. non-human obstacles in a virtual environment.

    PubMed

    Souza Silva, Wagner; Aravind, Gayatri; Sangani, Samir; Lamontagne, Anouk

    2018-03-01

    This study examines how three types of obstacles (cylinder, virtual human and virtual human with footstep sounds) affect circumvention strategies of healthy young adults. Sixteen participants aged 25.2 ± 2.5 years (mean ± 1SD) were tested while walking overground and viewing a virtual room through a helmet mounted display. As participants walked towards a stationary target in the far space, they avoided an obstacle (cylinder or virtual human) approaching either from the right (+40°), left (-40°) or head-on (0°). Obstacle avoidance strategies were characterized using the position and orientation of the head. Repeated mixed model analysis showed smaller minimal distances (p = 0.007) while avoiding virtual humans as compared to cylinders. Footstep sounds added to virtual humans did not modify (p = 0.2) minimal distances compared to when no sound was provided. Onset times of avoidance strategies were similar across conditions (p = 0.06). Results indicate that the nature of the obstacle (human-like vs. non-human object) matters and can modify avoidance strategies. Smaller obstacle clearances in response to virtual humans may reflect the use of a less conservative avoidance strategy, due to a resemblance of obstacles to pedestrians and a recall of strategies used in daily locomotion. The lack of influence of footstep sounds supports the fact that obstacle avoidance primarily relies on visual cues and the principle of 'inverse effectiveness' whereby multisensory neurons' response to multimodal stimuli becomes weaker when the unimodal sensory stimulus (vision) is strong. Present findings should be taken into consideration to optimize the ecological validity of VR-based obstacle avoidance paradigms used in research and rehabilitation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Comparison of five video-assisted intubation devices by novice and expert laryngoscopists for use in the aeromedical evacuation environment.

    PubMed

    Wallace, Matthew C; Britton, SSgt Tyler; Meek, Robbie; Walsh-Hart, Sharon; Carter, Col Todd E; Lisco, Steven J

    2017-01-01

    The critically ill or injured patient undergoing military medical evacuation may require emergent intubation. Intubation may be life-saving, but it carries risks. The novice or infrequent laryngoscopist has a distinct disadvantage because experience is critical for the rapid and safe establishment of a secured airway. This challenge is compounded by the austere environment of the back of an aircraft under blackout conditions. This study determined which of five different video-assisted intubation devices (VAIDs) was best suited for in-flight use by U.S. Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Teams by comparing time to successful intubation between novice and expert laryngoscopists under three conditions, Normal Airway Lights on (NAL), Difficult Airway Lights on (DAL) and Difficult Airway Blackout (DAB), using manikins on a standard military transport stanchion and the floor with a minimal amount of setup time and extraneous light emission. A convenience sample size of 40 participants (24 novices and 16 experts) attempted intubation with each of the 5 different video laryngoscopic devices on high-fidelity airway manikins. Time to tracheal intubation and number of optimization maneuvers used were recorded. Kruskal-Wallis testing determined significant differences between the VAIDs in time to intubation for each particular scenario. Devices with significant differences underwent pair-wise comparison testing using rank-sum analysis to further clarify the difference. Device assembly times, startup times and the amount of light emitted were recorded. Perceived ease of use was surveyed. Novices were fastest with the Pentax AWS in all difficult airway scenarios. Experts recorded the shortest median times consistently using 3 of the 5 devices. The AWS was superior overall in 4 of the 6 scenarios tested. Experts and novices subjectively judged the GlideScope Ranger as easiest to use. The light emitted by all the devices was less than the USAF-issued headlamp. Novices intubated fastest with the Pentax AWS in all difficult airway scenarios. The GlideScope required the shortest setup time, and participants judged this device as the easiest to use. The GlideScope and AWS exhibited the two fastest total setup times. Both devices are suitable for in-flight use by infrequent and seasoned laryngoscopists.

  19. Solar energy estimated from geostationary satellites and its application on the energy management system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nakajima, T. Y.; Takamatsu, T.; Funayama, T.; Yamamoto, Y.; Takenaka, H.; Nakajima, T.; Irie, H.; Higuchi, A.

    2017-12-01

    Recently, estimating and forecasting the solar radiation in terms of the electric power generation by photovoltaic (PV) systems is needed for the energy management system (EMS). The estimation technique depends on the latest atmospheric sciences. For instance, when one like to estimate solar radiation reached to ground surface, one will focus on the existence of clouds and their properties, because clouds exert an important influence to the radiative transfer. Visible-to-infared imaging radiometer aboard the geostationary satellites, Himawari, GOES, and Meteosat are useful for such objective, since they observe clouds for full disk of the Earth with high temporal frequency and moderately spatial resolution. Estimation of solar radiation at the ground surface from satellite imagery consists of two steps. The first step is retrieval of cloud optical and microphysical properties by use of the multispectral imaging data. Indeed, we retrieve cloud optical thickness, cloud particle sizes, and cloud top height from visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared wavelength of the satellite imageries, respectively. The second step is the radiative transfer calculation. We will obtain solar radiation reached to the ground surface, using cloud properties retrieved from the first step, and radiative transfer calculations. We have built a system for near-real time estimation of solar radiation for global scale, named the AMATERASS system, under the support of JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency), CREST/EMS (Energy Management System). The AMATERASS dataset has been used for several researches. For example, Waseda University group applied the AMATERASS data in the electric power system, considering accidental blackout in the electric system for local scale. They made it clear that when AMATERASS data exists the chance of electric voltage deviancy is mitigated when the blackout is over. We have supported a solar car race in Australia, named World Solar Challenge (WSC) 2013, 2015, and 2017, by suppling the AMATERASS solar radiation and some meteorological data along the race track, dynamically following the location of the solar car. This experience is important because the era of electric vehicles equippe with PV panels will come soon.

  20. Alcohol-Related Blackouts, Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences, and Motivations for Drinking Reported by Newly Matriculating Transgender College Students

    PubMed Central

    Tupler, Larry A.; Zapp, Daniel; DeJong, William; Ali, Maryam; O’Rourke, Sarah; Looney, John; Swartzwelder, H. Scott

    2017-01-01

    Background Many transgender college students struggle with identity formation and other emotional, social, and developmental challenges associated with emerging adulthood. A potential maladaptive coping strategy employed by such students is heavy drinking. Prior literature has suggested greater consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences (ARCs) in transgender students compared with their cisgender peers, but little is known about their differing experiences with alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs). We examined the level of alcohol consumption, the frequency of ARBs and other ARCs, and motivations for drinking reported by the largest sample of transgender college students to date. Methods A Web survey from an alcohol-prevention program, AlcoholEdu for College™, assessed student demographics and drinking-related behaviors, experiences, and motivations of newly matriculating first-year college students. A self-reported drinking calendar was used to examine each of the following measures over the previous 14 days: number of drinking days, total number of drinks, and maximum number of drinks on any single day. A 7-point Likert scale was used to measure ARCs, ARBs, and drinking motivations. Transgender students of both sexes were compared with their cisgender peers. Results 989 of 422,906 students (0.2%) identified as transgender. Over a 14-day period, transgender compared with cisgender students were more likely to consume alcohol over more days, more total drinks, and a greater number of maximum drinks on a single day. Transgender students (36%) were more likely to report an ARB than cisgender students (25%) as well as more negative academic, confrontation-related, social, and sexual ARCs. Transgender respondents more often cited stress reduction, social anxiety, self-esteem issues, and the inherent properties of alcohol as motivations for drinking. For nearly all measures, higher values were yielded by male-to-female than female-to-male transgender students. Conclusions Transgender compared with cisgender first-year students engage in higher-risk drinking patterns and experience more ARBs and other negative ARCs. Broad institutional efforts are required to address the unique circumstances of transgender men and women and to reduce negative ARCs in college students, regardless of their sex or gender identity. PMID:28324915

  1. Four Essays on Applied Energy Economics and Policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buenestado, Raul Bajo

    This thesis is divided in two parts. The first part (chapters 1 and 2) studies capacity payments in the electricity sector. The second part (chapter 3 and 4) is on gasoline retail markets. The first chapter explores welfare implications of capacity markets in the electricity sector. We propose a theoretical model with cost heterogeneous firms, for which price and quantity equilibria are obtained both with and without a capacity market. The consequences for consumers are assessed using three different measures: consumer surplus, probability of blackout and price volatility. We conclude that a capacity market is able to reduce extreme events. Under some circumstances, we show that a capacity market is also efficiency enhancing. In the second chapter, we use data from the Texas ERCOT to study the impact of capacity payments in a stylized wholesale electricity market. We find that the introduction of capacity payments has two countervailing effects. On the one hand, it increases consumers' bills. On the other hand, it reduces price volatility and blackout probability. We find that the net impact on consumer surplus is negative both in a perfectly competitive market and in the presence of market power. In the third chapter, we use monthly data from the Spanish gasoline retail market to explore asymmetries in consumers' responses to changes in gasoline prices and taxes. We investigate whether an increase in taxes has a more negative impact on the demand than an increase in the "pre-tax" price of gasoline. We estimate consumers' behavioral responses using a rich set of robust models. We find evidence of asymmetric responses for the demand of unleaded fuels and agricultural diesel fuel. In the final chapter we study a game of spatial competition in prices. We focus on the linear city duopoly model to see what we can learn about the distribution of consumers, which is approximated using variation in equilibrium prices and costs. We apply our methodology to a dataset on prices of a pair of gas stations in a straight highway. Using our approximation, we are able to calculate where should be located an entrant gas station to maximize welfare.

  2. Alcohol-Related Blackouts, Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences, and Motivations for Drinking Reported by Newly Matriculating Transgender College Students.

    PubMed

    Tupler, Larry A; Zapp, Daniel; DeJong, William; Ali, Maryam; O'Rourke, Sarah; Looney, John; Swartzwelder, H Scott

    2017-05-01

    Many transgender college students struggle with identity formation and other emotional, social, and developmental challenges associated with emerging adulthood. A potential maladaptive coping strategy employed by such students is heavy drinking. Prior literature has suggested greater consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences (ARCs) in transgender students compared with their cisgender peers, but little is known about their differing experiences with alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs). We examined the level of alcohol consumption, the frequency of ARBs and other ARCs, and motivations for drinking reported by the largest sample of transgender college students to date. A Web survey from an alcohol-prevention program, AlcoholEdu for College™, assessed student demographics and drinking-related behaviors, experiences, and motivations of newly matriculating first-year college students. A self-reported drinking calendar was used to examine each of the following measures over the previous 14 days: number of drinking days, total number of drinks, and maximum number of drinks on any single day. A 7-point Likert scale was used to measure ARCs, ARBs, and drinking motivations. Transgender students of both sexes were compared with their cisgender peers. A total of 989 of 422,906 students (0.2%) identified as transgender. Over a 14-day period, transgender compared with cisgender students were more likely to consume alcohol over more days, more total drinks, and a greater number of maximum drinks on a single day. Transgender students (36%) were more likely to report an ARB than cisgender students (25%) as well as more negative academic, confrontation-related, social, and sexual ARCs. Transgender respondents more often cited stress reduction, social anxiety, self-esteem issues, and the inherent properties of alcohol as motivations for drinking. For nearly all measures, higher values were yielded by male-to-female than female-to-male transgender students. Transgender compared with cisgender first-year students engage in higher-risk drinking patterns and experience more ARBs and other negative ARCs. Broad institutional efforts are required to address the unique circumstances of transgender men and women and to reduce negative ARCs in college students, regardless of their sex or gender identity. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  3. Oxytocin attenuates social and non-social avoidance: Re-thinking the social specificity of Oxytocin.

    PubMed

    Harari-Dahan, Osnat; Bernstein, Amit

    2017-07-01

    Re-examining decades of the social construal of Oxytocin, the General Approach-Avoidance Hypothesis of Oxytocin (GAAO) predicts that Oxytocin will modulate responding to emotionally-evocative and personally-relevant social and non-social stimuli due to its action on the neural substrate of approach and avoidance motivation. We report the first critical experimental test of GAAO predictions by means of a double-blind intra-nasal administration of Oxytocin vs. placebo in 90 healthy adults (N=90, 50% women). As predicted, we found that among men and women for whom negative emotion (anxious arousal) is motivationally-relevant, intra-nasal administration of Oxytocin reduced behavioral avoidance of emotionally-evocative negatively-valenced social and non-social stimuli, but not closely matched emotionally-neutral stimuli. Findings cannot be explained by extant social theories of Oxytocin. We discuss the implications of the present findings for basic and translational clinical Oxytocin research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Chemical Safety Alert: First Responders’ Environmental Liability Due To Mass Decontamination Runoff

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    CERCLA's good Samaritan provisions protect responders such as the Chemical Weapons Improved Response Team during lifesaving actions. Once imminent threats are addressed, responders should contain contamination and avoid/mitigate environmental consequences.

  5. A proposal for a separative network to evacuate drainage waters and pluvial waters of stagnation in arid zones (Ain Sahra locality, Touggourt, Algeria)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nettari, Kamel; Boutoutaou, Djamel; Rezagui, Djihed

    2018-05-01

    Many agglomerations of the Algerian Sahara, are currently affected by a rise of waters of the superficial aquifer. This rise is due to discharges of drainage water and urban wastewater. In addition, the rare stormy rains that occur in these areas cause very high material damage. To avoid this damage, it is essential to propose a separative network to evacuate the drainage andpluvial stagnant waters and propose some adequate solutions to avoid potential flooding.

  6. Inbreeding avoidance influences the viability of reintroduced populations of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus).

    PubMed

    Becker, Penny A; Miller, Philip S; Gunther, Micaela Szykman; Somers, Michael J; Wildt, David E; Maldonado, Jesús E

    2012-01-01

    The conservation of many fragmented and small populations of endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) relies on understanding the natural processes affecting genetic diversity, demographics, and future viability. We used extensive behavioural, life-history, and genetic data from reintroduced African wild dogs in South Africa to (1) test for inbreeding avoidance via mate selection and (2) model the potential consequences of avoidance on population persistence. Results suggested that wild dogs avoided mating with kin. Inbreeding was rare in natal packs, after reproductive vacancies, and between sibling cohorts (observed on 0.8%, 12.5%, and 3.8% of occasions, respectively). Only one of the six (16.7%) breeding pairs confirmed as third-order (or closer) kin consisted of animals that were familiar with each other, while no other paired individuals had any prior association. Computer-simulated populations allowed to experience inbreeding had only a 1.6% probability of extinction within 100 years, whereas all populations avoiding incestuous matings became extinct due to the absence of unrelated mates. Populations that avoided mating with first-order relatives became extinct after 63 years compared with persistence of 37 and 19 years for those also prevented from second-order and third-order matings, respectively. Although stronger inbreeding avoidance maintains significantly more genetic variation, our results demonstrate the potentially severe demographic impacts of reduced numbers of suitable mates on the future viability of small, isolated wild dog populations. The rapid rate of population decline suggests that extinction may occur before inbreeding depression is observed.

  7. Avoidance behaviour of Enchytraeus albidus: effects of benomyl, carbendazim, phenmedipham and different soil types.

    PubMed

    Amorim, Mónica J B; Römbke, Jörg; Soares, Amadeu M V M

    2005-04-01

    Enchytraeids are typical inhabitants of many soils, contributing to vital processes of this environmental compartment. Indirectly they are involved in regulating the degradation of organic matter, as well as improving the pore structure of the soil. Due to their behaviour, they are able to avoid unfavourable environmental conditions. Avoidance tests with enchytraeids, initially developed with earthworms by several authors, are quick and easy to perform. With these tests a first assessment of the toxicity of a (contaminated or spiked) soil is possible in just 48 h by using the reaction of the enchytraeids as measurement endpoint. In this period of time the organisms can choose between the control soil and the other soil (a contaminated or spiked or another soil with different physico-chemical properties). In the tests reported here, the enchytraeids were exposed to control soils spiked with the fungicides Benomyl and Carbendazim and the herbicide Phenmedipham. Several chemical concentrations were tested in order to evaluate the avoidance behaviour to toxic substances. In fact, often these short-term screening tests gave results showing avoidance at concentrations in a range similar to the acute test results but, higher than in chronic tests. Further tests are needed to decide whether the results gained in this study can be extrapolated to other chemicals. It is proposed to standardize the Enchytraeid Avoidance Test as it is currently done for the Earthworm Avoidance Test by the International Standard Organization (ISO).

  8. Symptoms of cybersex addiction can be linked to both approaching and avoiding pornographic stimuli: results from an analog sample of regular cybersex users.

    PubMed

    Snagowski, Jan; Brand, Matthias

    2015-01-01

    There is no consensus regarding the phenomenology, classification, and diagnostic criteria of cybersex addiction. Some approaches point toward similarities to substance dependencies for which approach/avoidance tendencies are crucial mechanisms. Several researchers have argued that within an addiction-related decision situation, individuals might either show tendencies to approach or avoid addiction-related stimuli. In the current study 123 heterosexual males completed an Approach-Avoidance-Task (AAT; Rinck and Becker, 2007) modified with pornographic pictures. During the AAT participants either had to push pornographic stimuli away or pull them toward themselves with a joystick. Sensitivity toward sexual excitation, problematic sexual behavior, and tendencies toward cybersex addiction were assessed with questionnaires. Results showed that individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction tended to either approach or avoid pornographic stimuli. Additionally, moderated regression analyses revealed that individuals with high sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior who showed high approach/avoidance tendencies, reported higher symptoms of cybersex addiction. Analogous to substance dependencies, results suggest that both approach and avoidance tendencies might play a role in cybersex addiction. Moreover, an interaction with sensitivity toward sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior could have an accumulating effect on the severity of subjective complaints in everyday life due to cybersex use. The findings provide further empirical evidence for similarities between cybersex addiction and substance dependencies. Such similarities could be retraced to a comparable neural processing of cybersex- and drug-related cues.

  9. Symptoms of cybersex addiction can be linked to both approaching and avoiding pornographic stimuli: results from an analog sample of regular cybersex users

    PubMed Central

    Snagowski, Jan; Brand, Matthias

    2015-01-01

    There is no consensus regarding the phenomenology, classification, and diagnostic criteria of cybersex addiction. Some approaches point toward similarities to substance dependencies for which approach/avoidance tendencies are crucial mechanisms. Several researchers have argued that within an addiction-related decision situation, individuals might either show tendencies to approach or avoid addiction-related stimuli. In the current study 123 heterosexual males completed an Approach-Avoidance-Task (AAT; Rinck and Becker, 2007) modified with pornographic pictures. During the AAT participants either had to push pornographic stimuli away or pull them toward themselves with a joystick. Sensitivity toward sexual excitation, problematic sexual behavior, and tendencies toward cybersex addiction were assessed with questionnaires. Results showed that individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction tended to either approach or avoid pornographic stimuli. Additionally, moderated regression analyses revealed that individuals with high sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior who showed high approach/avoidance tendencies, reported higher symptoms of cybersex addiction. Analogous to substance dependencies, results suggest that both approach and avoidance tendencies might play a role in cybersex addiction. Moreover, an interaction with sensitivity toward sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior could have an accumulating effect on the severity of subjective complaints in everyday life due to cybersex use. The findings provide further empirical evidence for similarities between cybersex addiction and substance dependencies. Such similarities could be retraced to a comparable neural processing of cybersex- and drug-related cues. PMID:26052292

  10. Validation of the Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale (AIS) among Treatment-Seeking Smoker

    PubMed Central

    Farris, Samantha G.; Zvolensky, Michael J.; DiBello, Angelo M.; Schmidt, Norman B.

    2015-01-01

    The Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale (AIS; Gifford et al., 2004) was derived as smoking-specific measure of experiential avoidance. However, there has been little investigation of the psychometric proprieties of the AIS and no published work on the topic. The current study aimed to test the reliability and validity of the AIS among a sample of adult treatment-seeking daily smokers (n = 465; 48.1% female, 17.8 [SD = 9.60] cigarettes per day). The AIS was administered at three time points (Baseline, Quit day, 1 month post-quit) as part of a larger smoking cessation trial. An exploratory factor analysis indicated a two-factor solution, described by inflexibility and avoidance due to smoking related “thoughts/feelings” (9 items) and “somatic sensations” (4 items). Results revealed that the AIS-total and factor scores demonstrated high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The AIS total and factor scores also displayed high convergent, discriminant, and incremental predictive validity with theoretically-relevant smoking and affective variables. The present data suggest that the AIS measure appears to be a valid and reliable smoking-specific index of experiential avoidance. PMID:25642937

  11. Flooding Experiments and Modeling for Improved Reactor Safety

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Solmos, M.; Hogan, K. J.; Vierow, K.

    2008-09-14

    Countercurrent two-phase flow and “flooding” phenomena in light water reactor systems are being investigated experimentally and analytically to improve reactor safety of current and future reactors. The aspects that will be better clarified are the effects of condensation and tube inclination on flooding in large diameter tubes. The current project aims to improve the level of understanding of flooding mechanisms and to develop an analysis model for more accurate evaluations of flooding in the pressurizer surge line of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR). Interest in flooding has recently increased because Countercurrent Flow Limitation (CCFL) in the AP600 pressurizer surge linemore » can affect the vessel refill rate following a small break LOCA and because analysis of hypothetical severe accidents with the current flooding models in reactor safety codes shows that these models represent the largest uncertainty in analysis of steam generator tube creep rupture. During a hypothetical station blackout without auxiliary feedwater recovery, should the hot leg become voided, the pressurizer liquid will drain to the hot leg and flooding may occur in the surge line. The flooding model heavily influences the pressurizer emptying rate and the potential for surge line structural failure due to overheating and creep rupture. The air-water test results in vertical tubes are presented in this paper along with a semi-empirical correlation for the onset of flooding. The unique aspects of the study include careful experimentation on large-diameter tubes and an integrated program in which air-water testing provides benchmark knowledge and visualization data from which to conduct steam-water testing.« less

  12. Individual and Medical Characteristics of Adults Presenting to an Urban Emergency Department in Ghana.

    PubMed

    Oteng, R A; Whiteside, L K; Rominski, S D; Amuasi, J H; Carter, P M; Donkor, P; Cunningham, R

    2015-09-01

    The aims of this study were to characterize the patients seeking acute care for injury and non-injury complaints in an urban Emergency Department in Ghana in order to 1) inform the curriculum of the newly developed Emergency Medicine resident training program 2) improve treatment processes, and 3) direct future community-wide injury prevention policies. A prospective cross-sectional survey of patients 18 years or older seeking care in an urban Accident and Emergency Center (AEC) was conducted between 7/13/2009 and 7/30/2009. Questionnaires were administered by trained research staff and each survey took 10-15 minutes to complete. Patients were asked questions regarding demographics, overall health and chief complaint. 254 patients were included in the sample. Participants' chief complaints were classified as either medical or injury-related. Approximately one third (38%) of patients presented with injuries and 62% presented for medical complaints. The most common injury at presentation was due to a road traffic injury, followed by falls and assault/fight. The most common medical presentation was abdominal pain followed by difficulty breathing and fainting/ blackout. Only 13% arrived to AEC by ambulance and 51% were unable to ambulate at the time of presentation. Approximately one-third of non-fatal adult visits were for acute injury. Future research should focus on developing surveillance systems for both medical and trauma patients. Physicians that are specifically trained to manage both the acutely injured patient and the medical patient will serve this population well given the variety of patients that seek care at the AEC.

  13. Does blood pressure variability affect the summer associated symptoms amongst females?

    PubMed

    Sinha, Pragya; Singh, N P; Taneja, D K; Sah, Renuka

    2010-04-01

    Blood pressure usually increases in winter and decreases in summer i.e, shows seasonal variation. In a tropical country like India women often complain off prominent symptoms like dizziness, giddiness, fainting and weakness during summer months. The objective was to study the prevalence of above symptoms which are common during summer and its association with variation in blood pressure among normotensive healthy females aged 18-40 years. The present study was carried out on 132 women as a prospective observational study which included 2 home visits to the participants in the two different seasons in the months of May-June (summer) and December-January (winter) based on the data provided by the meteorological department of Government of India. Blood pressure and pulse rate (hemodynamic variables) was measured in these seasons and information was collected on the occurrence of the symptoms in these seasons. There was mean decrease of 11.07 +/- 10.29 mm of Hg in Systolic blood pressure & 6.79 +/-6.88 mm of Hg in diastolic blood pressure in summer as compared to winter. The symptoms in the form of weakness, dizziness and blackout which are generally perceived by women in this area to be due to low blood pressure were observed in 32.6% of the study subjects in summer compared with 2.3% in winter. The difference was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the mean value of electrolytes, creatinine and urea in the cases and the controls. Thus the seasonal variation in blood pressure rather than electrolytes abnormality may be responsible for these symptoms.

  14. Cost and benefit estimates of partially-automated vehicle collision avoidance technologies.

    PubMed

    Harper, Corey D; Hendrickson, Chris T; Samaras, Constantine

    2016-10-01

    Many light-duty vehicle crashes occur due to human error and distracted driving. Partially-automated crash avoidance features offer the potential to reduce the frequency and severity of vehicle crashes that occur due to distracted driving and/or human error by assisting in maintaining control of the vehicle or issuing alerts if a potentially dangerous situation is detected. This paper evaluates the benefits and costs of fleet-wide deployment of blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, and forward collision warning crash avoidance systems within the US light-duty vehicle fleet. The three crash avoidance technologies could collectively prevent or reduce the severity of as many as 1.3 million U.S. crashes a year including 133,000 injury crashes and 10,100 fatal crashes. For this paper we made two estimates of potential benefits in the United States: (1) the upper bound fleet-wide technology diffusion benefits by assuming all relevant crashes are avoided and (2) the lower bound fleet-wide benefits of the three technologies based on observed insurance data. The latter represents a lower bound as technology is improved over time and cost reduced with scale economies and technology improvement. All three technologies could collectively provide a lower bound annual benefit of about $18 billion if equipped on all light-duty vehicles. With 2015 pricing of safety options, the total annual costs to equip all light-duty vehicles with the three technologies would be about $13 billion, resulting in an annual net benefit of about $4 billion or a $20 per vehicle net benefit. By assuming all relevant crashes are avoided, the total upper bound annual net benefit from all three technologies combined is about $202 billion or an $861 per vehicle net benefit, at current technology costs. The technologies we are exploring in this paper represent an early form of vehicle automation and a positive net benefit suggests the fleet-wide adoption of these technologies would be beneficial from an economic and social perspective. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Calcium oxalate crystal related kidney injury in a patient receiving Roux-en Y hepaticojejunostomy due to gall bladder cancer.

    PubMed

    Tsai, Jun-Li; Tsai, Shang-Feng

    2017-03-29

    Calcium oxalate nephropathy is rare in current practice. It was a common complication during jejunoileal bypass, but much less seen in modern gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity. The major cause of it is enteric hyperoxaluria. We report on a patient here with acute kidney disease due to calcium oxalate nephropathy, rather than the conditions mentioned above. The male patient received a Roux-en Y hepaticojejunostomy and common bile duct drainage. In addition to enteric hyperoxaluria, chronic kidney disease related metabolic acidosis, chronic diarrhea related volume depletion, a high oxalate and low potassium diet, long term ascorbic acid intake and long term exposure to antibiotics, all predisposed him to having oxalate nephropathy. This is the first case with such conditions and we recommend that similarly diagnosed patients avoid all these predisposing factors, in order to avoid this rare disease and its undesired outcome.

  16. TDRS-1 Going Strong at 20

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    This video presents an overview of the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-1) in the form of text, computer animations, footage, and an interview with its program manager. Launched by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, TDRS-1 was the first of a network of satellites used for relaying data to and from scientific spacecraft. Most of this short video is silent, and consists of footage and animation of the deployment of TDRS-1, written and animated explanations of what TDRS satellites do, and samples of the astronomical and Earth science data they transmit. The program manager explains in the final segment of the video the improvement TDRS satellites brought to communication with manned space missions, including alleviation of blackout during reentry, and also the role TDRS-1 played in providing telemedicine for a breast cancer patient in Antarctica.

  17. Binge Drinking.

    PubMed

    Siqueira, Lorena; Smith, Vincent C

    2015-09-01

    Alcohol is the substance most frequently abused by children and adolescents in the United States, and its use is associated with the leading causes of death and serious injury at this age (ie, motor vehicle accidents, homicides, and suicides). Among youth who drink, the proportion who drink heavily is higher than among adult drinkers, increasing from approximately 50% in those 12 to 14 years of age to 72% among those 18 to 20 years of age. In this clinical report, the definition, epidemiology, and risk factors for binge drinking; the neurobiology of intoxication, blackouts, and hangovers; genetic considerations;and adverse outcomes are discussed. The report offers guidance for the pediatrician. As with any high-risk behavior, prevention plays a more important role than later intervention and has been shown to be more effective. In the pediatric office setting, it is important to ask every adolescent about alcohol use.

  18. Recycling of metals: accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions.

    PubMed

    Damgaard, Anders; Larsen, Anna W; Christensen, Thomas H

    2009-11-01

    Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to recycling of metals in post-consumer waste are assessed from a waste management perspective; here the material recovery facility (MRF), for the sorting of the recovered metal. The GHG accounting includes indirect upstream emissions, direct activities at the MRF as well as indirect downstream activities in terms of reprocessing of the metal scrap and savings in terms of avoided production of virgin metal. The global warming factor (GWF) shows that upstream activities and the MRF causes negligible GHG emissions (12.8 to 52.6 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) recovered metal) compared to the reprocessing of the metal itself (360-1260 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of recovered aluminium and 400- 1020 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(- 1) of recovered steel).The reprocessing is however counterbalanced by large savings of avoided virgin production of steel and aluminium. The net downstream savings were found to be 5040-19 340 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of treated aluminium and 560-2360 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of treated steel. Due to the huge differences in reported data it is hard to compare general data on the recovery of metal scrap as they are very dependent on the technology and data choices. Furthermore, the energy used in both the recovery process as well as the avoided primary production is crucial. The range of avoided impact shows that recovery of metals will always be beneficial over primary production, due to the high energy savings, and that the GHG emissions associated with the sorting of metals are negligible.

  19. Automated Demand Response Approaches to Household Energy Management in a Smart Grid Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adika, Christopher Otieno

    The advancement of renewable energy technologies and the deregulation of the electricity market have seen the emergence of Demand response (DR) programs. Demand response is a cost-effective load management strategy which enables the electricity suppliers to maintain the integrity of the power grid during high peak periods, when the customers' electrical load is high. DR programs are designed to influence electricity users to alter their normal consumption patterns by offering them financial incentives. A well designed incentive-based DR scheme that offer competitive electricity pricing structure can result in numerous benefits to all the players in the electricity market. Lower power consumption during peak periods will significantly enhance the robustness of constrained networks by reducing the level of power of generation and transmission infrastructure needed to provide electric service. Therefore, this will ease the pressure of building new power networks as we avoiding costly energy procurements thereby translating into huge financial savings for the power suppliers. Peak load reduction will also reduce the inconveniences suffered by end users as a result of brownouts or blackouts. Demand response will also drastically lower the price peaks associated with wholesale markets. This will in turn reduce the electricity costs and risks for all the players in the energy market. Additionally, DR is environmentally friendly since it enhances the flexibility of the power grid through accommodation of renewable energy resources. Despite its many benefits, DR has not been embraced by most electricity networks. This can be attributed to the fact that the existing programs do not provide enough incentives to the end users and, therefore, most electricity users are not willing to participate in them. To overcome these challenges, most utilities are coming up with innovative strategies that will be more attractive to their customers. Thus, this dissertation presents various demand response schemes that can be deployed by electricity providers to manage customer loads. This study also addresses the problem of manual demand response by proposing smart systems that will autonomously execute the DR programs without the direct involvement of the customers.

  20. Influence of interspecific interactions on avoidance response to contamination.

    PubMed

    Silva, Daniel C V R; Araújo, Cristiano V M; Marassi, Rodrigo J; Cardoso-Silva, Sheila; Neto, Morun B; Silva, Gilmar C; Ribeiro, Rui; Silva, Flávio T; Paiva, Teresa C B; Pompêo, Marcelo L M

    2018-06-17

    An increasing number of studies have shown the ability of organisms to escape from toxic effects due to contamination, by moving spatially towards less contaminated habitats. However, this issue has been investigated in monospecific scenarios, without considering possible interactions between species during the contamination avoidance process. It is widely known that the spatial distribution of one species can be affected by another one, in different ways. Therefore, the main question addressed in the present study was as follows: Might interspecific interaction between the freshwater fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) and Poecilia reticulata (guppy) change their behavior patterns in terms of avoidance in the presence of a copper gradient? Zebrafish and guppies exposed to a copper gradient were tested for avoidance responses in a free-choice, non-forced, static, multi-compartmented exposure system, using two distinct approaches: (1) monospecific tests, in which only one species was exposed to the copper gradient, at two different population densities; and (2) multispecific tests, in which both species were tested simultaneously. In the control (with no copper) monospecific tests, both species were randomly distributed; however, in the control multispecific test, P. reticulata tended to aggregate. In the monospecific tests with a copper gradient, both species avoided copper in a similar way, with AC 50 (concentration triggering avoidance in 50% of the exposed population) values between 15 and 18 μg·L -1 , irrespective of the population density. However, in the multispecific tests, P. reticulata displaced D. rerio to previously avoided copper levels, consequently increasing the AC 50 of D. rerio to 75 μg·L -1 . This study shows the importance of understanding the interactions among species in contaminated areas, and the way that one species can prevent the avoidance behavior of another. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. [Incidence and causes of early end in awake surgery for language mapping not directly related to eloquence].

    PubMed

    Villalba, Gloria; Pacreu, Susana; Fernández-Candil, Juan Luis; León, Alba; Serrano, Laura; Conesa, Gerardo

    2016-01-01

    The incidence and causes that may lead to an early end (unfinished cortical/subcortical mapping) of awake surgery for language mapping are little known. A study was conducted on 41 patients with brain glioma located in the language area that had awake surgery under conscious sedation. Surgery was ended early in 6 patients. The causes were: tonic-clonic seizure (1), lack of cooperation due to fatigue/sleep (4), whether or not word articulation was involved, a decreased level of consciousness for ammonia encephalopathy that required endotracheal intubation (1). There are causes that could be expected and in some cases avoided. Tumour size, preoperative aphasia, valproate treatment, and type of anaesthesia used are variables to consider to avoid failure in awake surgery for language mapping. With these results, the following measures are proposed: l) If the tumour is large, perform surgery in two times to avoid fatigue, 2) if patient has a preoperative aphasia, do not use sedation during surgery to ensure that sleepiness does not cause worse word articulation, 3) if the patient is on valproate treatment, it is necessary to rule out the pre-operative symptoms that are not due to ammonia encephalopathy. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  2. Case report of a near medical event in stereotactic radiotherapy due to improper units of measure from a treatment planning system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gladstone, D. J.; Li, S.; Jarvis, L. A.

    2011-07-15

    Purpose: The authors hereby notify the Radiation Oncology community of a potentially lethal error due to improper implementation of linear units of measure in a treatment planning system. The authors report an incident in which a patient was nearly mistreated during a stereotactic radiotherapy procedure due to inappropriate reporting of stereotactic coordinates by the radiation therapy treatment planning system in units of centimeter rather than in millimeter. The authors suggest a method to detect such errors during treatment planning so they are caught and corrected prior to the patient positioning for treatment on the treatment machine. Methods: Using pretreatment imaging,more » the authors found that stereotactic coordinates are reported with improper linear units by a treatment planning system. The authors have implemented a redundant, independent method of stereotactic coordinate calculation. Results: Implementation of a double check of stereotactic coordinates via redundant, independent calculation is simple and accurate. Use of this technique will avoid any future error in stereotactic treatment coordinates due to improper linear units, transcription, or other similar errors. Conclusions: The authors recommend an independent double check of stereotactic treatment coordinates during the treatment planning process in order to avoid potential mistreatment of patients.« less

  3. Vertigo in Vestibular Schwannoma Patients Due to Other Pathologies.

    PubMed

    Sahyouni, Ronald; Moshtaghi, Omid; Haidar, Yarah M; Mahboubi, Hossein; Moshtaghi, Afsheen; Lin, Harrison W; Djalilian, Hamid R

    2017-12-01

    To report findings from a cohort of vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients presenting with vertigo from a secondary comorbid vestibular disorder; and to discuss management strategies for this subset of patients presenting with both episodic vertigo and VS. All VS patients who presented with vertigo as the primary symptom from 2012 to 2015 and endorsing no other major complaints were examined. Treatment with migraine lifestyle and prophylactic therapy, or Epley maneuver. Resolution of vertigo following medical treatment alone. Of the nine patients studied, seven (78%) suffered from vestibular migraine, and two (22%) experienced benign positional vertigo. All patients experienced complete resolution of symptoms after treatment. As a result of symptomatic improvement, seven patients (78%) avoided surgery in favor of observation, while two patients (22%) underwent radiosurgery due to continued tumor growth and other nonvertigo symptoms. VS patients can sometimes present with a history of recurrent episodic vertigo. The etiology of the vertigo could be due to the tumor itself or may be due to an underlying comorbidity such as vestibular migraine or benign positional vertigo. VS patients presenting with vertigo should undergo a standard vertigo history and examination to identify other potential causes of vertigo. Most VS patients in our cohort avoided intervention and had resolution of their vertigo.

  4. Limitations on Ku-band communications due to multipath

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lindsey, J. F.; Rudnicki, J. F.

    1977-01-01

    The earth and orbiter body reflections involving the Tracking Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)/orbiter communications link are evaluated. Recommendations address operational conditions in order to avoid critical multipath impacts, modulation preferences during acquisition, and preferred scan limit implementation.

  5. Removing Tenured Faculty for Cause.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hendrickson, Robert M.

    1988-01-01

    Reviews 41 cases involving removal of tenured faculty for cause decided since 1982 to clarify the specific requirements institutions must meet to guarantee due process to tenured faculty and to avoid the infringement of constitutional rights of faculty at public institutions. (MLF)

  6. When Teachers Falter.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Neil, I. Riley; Adamson, David R.

    1993-01-01

    Administrators cannot avoid disciplining and dismissing teachers who lack the skill to teach or the judgment to conduct themselves professionally. Central office administrators at a Salt Lake City school district developed "corrective discipline" procedures to help principals incorporate just cause, due process, and progressive…

  7. Incidence of potentially avoidable urgent readmissions and their relation to all-cause urgent readmissions

    PubMed Central

    van Walraven, Carl; Jennings, Alison; Taljaard, Monica; Dhalla, Irfan; English, Shane; Mulpuru, Sunita; Blecker, Saul; Forster, Alan J.

    2011-01-01

    Background: Urgent, unplanned hospital readmissions are increasingly being used to gauge the quality of care. We reviewed urgent readmissions to determine which were potentially avoidable and compared rates of all-cause and avoidable readmissions. Methods: In a multicentre, prospective cohort study, we reviewed all urgent readmissions that occurred within six months among patients discharged to the community from 11 teaching and community hospitals between October 2002 and July 2006. Summaries of the readmissions were reviewed by at least four practising physicians using standardized methods to judge whether the readmission was an adverse event (poor clinical outcome due to medical care) and whether the adverse event could have been avoided. We used a latent class model to determine whether the probability that each readmission was truly avoidable exceeded 50%. Results: Of the 4812 patients included in the study, 649 (13.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 12.5%–14.5%) had an urgent readmission within six months after discharge. We considered 104 of them (16.0% of those readmitted, 95% CI 13.3%–19.1%; 2.2% of those discharged, 95% CI 1.8%–2.6%) to have had a potentially avoidable readmission. The proportion of patients who had an urgent readmission varied significantly by hospital (range 7.5%–22.5%; χ2 = 92.9, p < 0.001); the proportion of readmissions deemed avoidable did not show significant variation by hospital (range 1.2%–3.7%; χ2 = 12.5, p < 0.25). We found no association between the proportion of patients who had an urgent readmission and the proportion of patients who had an avoidable readmission (Pearson correlation 0.294; p = 0.38). In addition, we found no association between hospital rankings by proportion of patients readmitted and rankings by proportion of patients with an avoidable readmission (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.28, p = 0.41). Interpretation: Urgent readmissions deemed potentially avoidable were relatively uncommon, comprising less than 20% of all urgent readmissions following hospital discharge. Hospital-specific proportions of patients who were readmitted were not related to proportions with a potentially avoidable readmission. PMID:21859870

  8. Unusual Internal Astigmatism Due to Severe Capsule Contraction Syndrome.

    PubMed

    Zéboulon, Pierre; Gatinel, Damien

    2018-01-01

    To describe a case of severe capsule contraction syndrome causing significant astigmatism due to intraocular lens (IOL) folding. Case report. Capsule fibrosis and contraction resulted in bending of the hydrophilic IOL along its long axis. Anterior Nd:YAG capsulotomy resolved the situation and restored the patient's visual acuity. Hydrophilic IOLs are more susceptible to capsule contraction due to the increased flexibility of highly hydrated materials. They should be avoided in patients at risk of capsule contraction to prevent ocular complications. [J Refract Surg. 2018;34(1):65-67.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

  9. Inbreeding Avoidance Influences the Viability of Reintroduced Populations of African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus)

    PubMed Central

    Becker, Penny A.; Miller, Philip S.; Gunther, Micaela Szykman; Somers, Michael J.; Wildt, David E.; Maldonado, Jesús E.

    2012-01-01

    The conservation of many fragmented and small populations of endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) relies on understanding the natural processes affecting genetic diversity, demographics, and future viability. We used extensive behavioural, life-history, and genetic data from reintroduced African wild dogs in South Africa to (1) test for inbreeding avoidance via mate selection and (2) model the potential consequences of avoidance on population persistence. Results suggested that wild dogs avoided mating with kin. Inbreeding was rare in natal packs, after reproductive vacancies, and between sibling cohorts (observed on 0.8%, 12.5%, and 3.8% of occasions, respectively). Only one of the six (16.7%) breeding pairs confirmed as third-order (or closer) kin consisted of animals that were familiar with each other, while no other paired individuals had any prior association. Computer-simulated populations allowed to experience inbreeding had only a 1.6% probability of extinction within 100 years, whereas all populations avoiding incestuous matings became extinct due to the absence of unrelated mates. Populations that avoided mating with first-order relatives became extinct after 63 years compared with persistence of 37 and 19 years for those also prevented from second-order and third-order matings, respectively. Although stronger inbreeding avoidance maintains significantly more genetic variation, our results demonstrate the potentially severe demographic impacts of reduced numbers of suitable mates on the future viability of small, isolated wild dog populations. The rapid rate of population decline suggests that extinction may occur before inbreeding depression is observed. PMID:22615933

  10. Learning processes underlying avoidance of negative outcomes.

    PubMed

    Andreatta, Marta; Michelmann, Sebastian; Pauli, Paul; Hewig, Johannes

    2017-04-01

    Successful avoidance of a threatening event may negatively reinforce the behavior due to activation of brain structures involved in reward processing. Here, we further investigated the learning-related properties of avoidance using feedback-related negativity (FRN). The FRN is modulated by violations of an intended outcome (prediction error, PE), that is, the bigger the difference between intended and actual outcome, the larger the FRN amplitude is. Twenty-eight participants underwent an operant conditioning paradigm, in which a behavior (button press) allowed them to avoid a painful electric shock. During two learning blocks, participants could avoid an electric shock in 80% of the trials by pressing one button (avoidance button), or by not pressing another button (punishment button). After learning, participants underwent two test blocks, which were identical to the learning ones except that no shocks were delivered. Participants pressed the avoidance button more often than the punishment button. Importantly, response frequency increased throughout the learning blocks but it did not decrease during the test blocks, indicating impaired extinction and/or habit formation. In line with a PE account, FRN amplitude to negative feedback after correct responses (i.e., unexpected punishment) was significantly larger than to positive feedback (i.e., expected omission of punishment), and it increased throughout the blocks. Highly anxious individuals showed equal FRN amplitudes to negative and positive feedback, suggesting impaired discrimination. These results confirm the role of negative reinforcement in motivating behavior and learning, and reveal important differences between high and low anxious individuals in the processing of prediction errors. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  11. Enterobius Vermicularis as a Cause of Intestinal Occlusion: How To Avoid Unnecessary Surgery.

    PubMed

    Adorisio, Ottavio; De Peppo, Francesco; Rivosecchi, Massimo; Silveri, Massimiliano

    2016-04-01

    Enterobius vermicularis may cause infections of the gastrointestinal tract and occurs approximately in 4% to 28% of children worldwide. It is most common in children aged 5 to 14 years.The most commonly reported symptoms are pruritus in the perianal region, abdominal pain, urinary tract infection, insomnia, irritability, salpingitis, and appendicitis, whereas intestinal obstruction is a very rare but would be considered to perform the right instrumental examination avoiding unnecessary surgical exploration.We report a case of an 8-year-old boy with an intestinal occlusion due to a colonic intussusception by Enterobius vermicularis managed conservatively.

  12. Aversive olfactory associative memory loses odor specificity over time

    PubMed Central

    König, Christian; Antwi-Adjei, Emmanuel; Ganesan, Mathangi; Kilonzo, Kasyoka; Viswanathan, Vignesh; Durairaja, Archana; Voigt, Anne

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Avoiding associatively learned predictors of danger is crucial for survival. Aversive memories can, however, become counter-adaptive when they are overly generalized to harmless cues and contexts. In a fruit fly odor–electric shock associative memory paradigm, we found that learned avoidance lost its specificity for the trained odor and became general to novel odors within a day of training. We discuss the possible neural circuit mechanisms of this effect and highlight the parallelism to over-generalization of learned fear behavior after an incubation period in rodents and humans, with due relevance for post-traumatic stress disorder. PMID:28468811

  13. Avoiding revenue loss due to 'lesser of' contract clauses.

    PubMed

    Stodolak, Frederick; Gutierrez, Henry

    2014-08-01

    Finance managers seeking to avoid lost revenue attributable to lesser-of-charge-or-fixed-fee (lesser-of) clauses in their contracts should: Identify payer contracts that contain lesser-of clauses. Prepare lesser-of lost-revenue reports for non-bundled and bundled rates. For claims with covered charges below the bundled rate, identify service codes associated with the greatest proportion of total gross revenue and determine new, higher charge levels for those codes. Establish an approach for setting charges for non-bundled fee schedules to address lost-revenue-related issues. Incorporate changes into overall strategic or hospital zero-based pricing modeling and parameters.

  14. Robot body self-modeling algorithm: a collision-free motion planning approach for humanoids.

    PubMed

    Leylavi Shoushtari, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Motion planning for humanoid robots is one of the critical issues due to the high redundancy and theoretical and technical considerations e.g. stability, motion feasibility and collision avoidance. The strategies which central nervous system employs to plan, signal and control the human movements are a source of inspiration to deal with the mentioned problems. Self-modeling is a concept inspired by body self-awareness in human. In this research it is integrated in an optimal motion planning framework in order to detect and avoid collision of the manipulated object with the humanoid body during performing a dynamic task. Twelve parametric functions are designed as self-models to determine the boundary of humanoid's body. Later, the boundaries which mathematically defined by the self-models are employed to calculate the safe region for box to avoid the collision with the robot. Four different objective functions are employed in motion simulation to validate the robustness of algorithm under different dynamics. The results also confirm the collision avoidance, reality and stability of the predicted motion.

  15. Voltage control on a train system

    DOEpatents

    Gordon, Susanna P.; Evans, John A.

    2004-01-20

    The present invention provides methods for preventing low train voltages and managing interference, thereby improving the efficiency, reliability, and passenger comfort associated with commuter trains. An algorithm implementing neural network technology is used to predict low voltages before they occur. Once voltages are predicted, then multiple trains can be controlled to prevent low voltage events. Further, algorithms for managing inference are presented in the present invention. Different types of interference problems are addressed in the present invention such as "Interference During Acceleration", "Interference Near Station Stops", and "Interference During Delay Recovery." Managing such interference avoids unnecessary brake/acceleration cycles during acceleration, immediately before station stops, and after substantial delays. Algorithms are demonstrated to avoid oscillatory brake/acceleration cycles due to interference and to smooth the trajectories of closely following trains. This is achieved by maintaining sufficient following distances to avoid unnecessary braking/accelerating. These methods generate smooth train trajectories, making for a more comfortable ride, and improve train motor reliability by avoiding unnecessary mode-changes between propulsion and braking. These algorithms can also have a favorable impact on traction power system requirements and energy consumption.

  16. Method of managing interference during delay recovery on a train system

    DOEpatents

    Gordon, Susanna P.; Evans, John A.

    2005-12-27

    The present invention provides methods for preventing low train voltages and managing interference, thereby improving the efficiency, reliability, and passenger comfort associated with commuter trains. An algorithm implementing neural network technology is used to predict low voltages before they occur. Once voltages are predicted, then multiple trains can be controlled to prevent low voltage events. Further, algorithms for managing inference are presented in the present invention. Different types of interference problems are addressed in the present invention such as "Interference During Acceleration", "Interference Near Station Stops", and "Interference During Delay Recovery." Managing such interference avoids unnecessary brake/acceleration cycles during acceleration, immediately before station stops, and after substantial delays. Algorithms are demonstrated to avoid oscillatory brake/acceleration cycles due to interference and to smooth the trajectories of closely following trains. This is achieved by maintaining sufficient following distances to avoid unnecessary braking/accelerating. These methods generate smooth train trajectories, making for a more comfortable ride, and improve train motor reliability by avoiding unnecessary mode-changes between propulsion and braking. These algorithms can also have a favorable impact on traction power system requirements and energy consumption.

  17. Efficient high density train operations

    DOEpatents

    Gordon, Susanna P.; Evans, John A.

    2001-01-01

    The present invention provides methods for preventing low train voltages and managing interference, thereby improving the efficiency, reliability, and passenger comfort associated with commuter trains. An algorithm implementing neural network technology is used to predict low voltages before they occur. Once voltages are predicted, then multiple trains can be controlled to prevent low voltage events. Further, algorithms for managing inference are presented in the present invention. Different types of interference problems are addressed in the present invention such as "Interference. During Acceleration", "Interference Near Station Stops", and "Interference During Delay Recovery." Managing such interference avoids unnecessary brake/acceleration cycles during acceleration, immediately before station stops, and after substantial delays. Algorithms are demonstrated to avoid oscillatory brake/acceleration cycles due to interference and to smooth the trajectories of closely following trains. This is achieved by maintaining sufficient following distances to avoid unnecessary braking/accelerating. These methods generate smooth train trajectories, making for a more comfortable ride, and improve train motor reliability by avoiding unnecessary mode-changes between propulsion and braking. These algorithms can also have a favorable impact on traction power system requirements and energy consumption.

  18. Food avoidance and restriction in adults: a cross-sectional pilot study comparing patients from an immunology clinic to a general practice.

    PubMed

    Fitzgerald, Michael; Frankum, Brad

    2017-01-01

    With the introduction of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - fifth edition, there is an increased need to understand the prevalence and pattern of food avoidance and restriction in adults. High rates of food allergy and intolerance in immunology clinic populations, and subsequent high rates of elimination diets, place these individuals at a greater risk of developing pathological eating behaviours. This descriptive cross sectional pilot study aims to provide preliminary data on the prevalence and nature of food avoidance and restriction in an adult population, and to explore the reasons for this behaviour. A self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed to adults presenting to an immunology clinic and a general practice over the course of 6 months to describe the prevalence and nature of avoidant and restrictive eating behaviours in this population. Pearson's chi square test was used to examine the strength of a potential link to a formal diagnosis of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder in these patients. A total of 102 completed questionnaires were used for data analysis. Food avoidance or restriction was detected in 81 respondents (79%), with rates not significantly higher in the immunology clinic group compared to the general practice group ( p  = .242). Food allergy and intolerance were the most common reasons for disturbed eating patterns. Life impact secondary to food avoidance and restriction was reported by 26% of respondents, with significantly higher rates observed in the immunology clinic cohort compared to the general practice ( p  = .011). Eating disturbances similar to those characteristic of ARFID are very common in adults. Food avoidance and restriction due to perceived food allergy and intolerance are significant reasons for such disordered eating patterns, particularly in an immunology clinic population. Further investigation is needed to determine if such eating behaviours are pathological and whether they qualify for a diagnosis of ARFID.

  19. Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience and Sustainability in Midsize Cities

    EPA Science Inventory

    Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight...

  20. False capacity for lane drops : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2005-02-01

    Lane drops downstream of signalized intersections are found on many urban and suburban streets and highways. Since : drivers tend to avoid using the short lane due to the potential for stressful merges downstream of the signal, the short lane is : ty...

  1. The Admissions Process: New Legal Questions Creep up the Ivory Tower.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bunting, Elizabeth

    1989-01-01

    Challenges to the admissions processes of colleges and universities have been successfully lodged on both contract and due process (14th Amendment) grounds. Reviews and categorizes these cases and suggests steps institutions can take to avoid litigation. (MLF)

  2. Evolutionary Responses to Invasion: Cane Toad Sympatric Fish Show Enhanced Avoidance Learning

    PubMed Central

    Caller, Georgina; Brown, Culum

    2013-01-01

    The introduced cane toad (Bufo marinus) poses a major threat to biodiversity due to its lifelong toxicity. Several terrestrial native Australian vertebrates are adapting to the cane toad’s presence and lab trials have demonstrated that repeated exposure to B. marinus can result in learnt avoidance behaviour. Here we investigated whether aversion learning is occurring in aquatic ecosystems by comparing cane toad naïve and sympatric populations of crimson spotted rainbow fish (Melanotaenia duboulayi). The first experiment indicated that fish from the sympatric population had pre-existing aversion to attacking cane toad tadpoles but also showed reduced attacks on native tadpoles. The second experiment revealed that fish from both naïve and sympatric populations learned to avoid cane toad tadpoles following repeated, direct exposure. Allopatric fish also developed a general aversion to tadpoles. The aversion learning abilities of both groups was examined using an experiment involving novel distasteful prey items. While both populations developed a general avoidance of edible pellets in the presence of distasteful pellets, only the sympatric population significantly reduced the number of attacks on the novel distasteful prey item. These results indicate that experience with toxic prey items over multiple generations can enhance avoidance leaning capabilities via natural selection. PMID:23372788

  3. Carryover effects associated with the single-trial passive avoidance learning task in the young chick.

    PubMed

    Crowe, Simon F; Hale, Matthew W

    2002-09-01

    The single-trial passive avoidance task is a useful procedure for examining learning and memory in the young chick. However, it has recently been suggested that discrepant results reported by different laboratories are due to differences in training procedure. The present study investigated a number of parameters surrounding the passive avoidance task, using day-old White Leghorn, Black Australorp cockerels. The results suggested that presentation of a water-dipped bead immediately after the aversive bead significantly altered retention levels. In addition, when the water-dipped bead was presented after the aversive bead, chicks failed to discriminate between beads for a period of 10 min following exposure to the aversant experience. A novel variant of the passive avoidance procedure, involving pretraining with a water-dipped red bead, training with an aversant-coated red bead, and testing with a dry red bead, was evaluated. A measure of avoidance was calculated using all three trials. It is suggested that the use of a single bead, measured both before and after the training experience and using both aversant- and water-trained controls, results in the most concise characterization of memory-related phenomena in the chick which is not contaminated by a carryover effect from the aversive training experience to the nonaversive bead.

  4. Willingness to pay for avoiding infection of climate change diseases, in particular tsutsugamushi disease.

    PubMed

    Rhee, Hae-Chun

    2013-02-01

    As the prevalence of tsutsugamushi disease has tripled over the past decade to affect 8307 people in October 2012, this study is conducted to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease in order to analyze the loss of value caused by climate change diseases. The double-bounded dichotomous choice of contingent valuation method was used to estimate the WTP to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease, through surveys conducted in the patient group (n = 120) and the control group (n = 240). More young people in the family, higher level of awareness of risks caused by climate change, more male members (as opposed to female), higher income, lower suggested bid, and greater WTP, is better positioned to avoid infection of disease. The mean of the amount of WTP has been estimated to be 3689 Kwon per month. As people have become increasingly aware of climate change diseases, WTP to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease has increased accordingly. The implicit loss of value due to climate change diseases is becoming increasingly higher. Therefore, there should be stronger and more aggressive promotional activities to prevent people from being infected with tsutsugamushi disease and to build a healthier society free from climate change diseases.

  5. Medical students' and residents' clinical and educational experiences with defensive medicine.

    PubMed

    O'Leary, Kevin J; Choi, Jennifer; Watson, Katie; Williams, Mark V

    2012-02-01

    To assess medical students' and residents' experiences with defensive medicine, which is any deviation from sound medical practice due to a perceived threat of liability through either assurance or avoidance behaviors. Assurance behaviors include providing additional services of minimal clinical value. Avoidance behaviors include withholding services that are, or avoiding patients who are, perceived as high risk. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of fourth-year medical students and third-year residents in 2010. Respondents rated how often malpractice liability concerns caused their teams to engage in four types of assurance and two types of avoidance behaviors using a four-point scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often). Respondents also rated how often their attending physicians explicitly recommended that liability concerns be taken into account when making clinical decisions. Overall, 126 of 194 medical students (65%) and 76 of 141 residents (54%) completed the survey. Of the responding medical students, 116 (92%) reported sometimes or often encountering at least one assurance practice, and 43 (34%) reported encountering at least one avoidance practice. Of the responding residents, 73 (96%) reported encountering at least one assurance practice, and 33 (43%) reported encountering at least one avoidance practice. Overall, 50 of 121 medical students (41%) and 36 of 68 residents (53%) reported that their attending physicians sometimes or often explicitly taught them to take liability into account when making clinical decisions. Medical trainees reported frequently encountering defensive medicine practices and often being taught to take malpractice liability into consideration during clinical decision making.

  6. Risks and injuries in laser and high-frequency applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giering, K.; Philipp, Carsten M.; Berlien, Hans-Peter

    1995-01-01

    An analysis of injuries and risks using high frequency (HF) and lasers in medicine based on a literature search with MEDLINE was performed. The cases reported in the literature were classified according to the following criteria: (1) Avoidable in an optimal operational procedure. These kind of injuries are caused by a chain of unfortunate incidents. They are in principle avoidable by the 'right action at the right time' which presupposes an appropriate training of the operating team, selection of the optimal parameters for procedure and consideration of all safety instructions. (2) Avoidable, caused by malfunction of the equipment and/or accessories. The injuries classified into this group are avoidable if all safety regulations were fulfilled. This includes a pre-operational check-up and the use of medical lasers and high frequency devices only which meet the international safety standards. (3) Avoidable, caused by misuse/mistake. Injuries of this group were caused by an inappropriate selection of the procedure, wrong medical indication or mistakes during application. (4) Unavoidable, fateful. These injuries can be caused by risks inherent to the type of energy used, malfunction of the equipment and/or accessories though a pre-operational check-up was done. Some risks and complications are common to high frequency and laser application. But whereas these risks can be excluded easily in laser surgery there is often a great expenditure necessary or they are not avoidable if high frequency if used. No unavoidable risks due to laser energy occur.

  7. A Compact Magnetic Field-Based Obstacle Detection and Avoidance System for Miniature Spherical Robots.

    PubMed

    Wu, Fang; Vibhute, Akash; Soh, Gim Song; Wood, Kristin L; Foong, Shaohui

    2017-05-28

    Due to their efficient locomotion and natural tolerance to hazardous environments, spherical robots have wide applications in security surveillance, exploration of unknown territory and emergency response. Numerous studies have been conducted on the driving mechanism, motion planning and trajectory tracking methods of spherical robots, yet very limited studies have been conducted regarding the obstacle avoidance capability of spherical robots. Most of the existing spherical robots rely on the "hit and run" technique, which has been argued to be a reasonable strategy because spherical robots have an inherent ability to recover from collisions. Without protruding components, they will not become stuck and can simply roll back after running into bstacles. However, for small scale spherical robots that contain sensitive surveillance sensors and cannot afford to utilize heavy protective shells, the absence of obstacle avoidance solutions would leave the robot at the mercy of potentially dangerous obstacles. In this paper, a compact magnetic field-based obstacle detection and avoidance system has been developed for miniature spherical robots. It utilizes a passive magnetic field so that the system is both compact and power efficient. The proposed system can detect not only the presence, but also the approaching direction of a ferromagnetic obstacle, therefore, an intelligent avoidance behavior can be generated by adapting the trajectory tracking method with the detection information. Design optimization is conducted to enhance the obstacle detection performance and detailed avoidance strategies are devised. Experimental results are also presented for validation purposes.

  8. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sathaye, Jayant; Andrasko, Ken; Chan, Peter

    Greenhouse gas emissions from the forestry sector are estimated to be 8.4 GtCO2-eq./year or about 17percent of the global emissions. We estimate that the cost forreducing deforestation is low in Africa and several times higher in Latin America and Southeast Asia. These cost estimates are sensitive to the uncertainties of how muchunsustainable high-revenue logging occurs, little understood transaction and program implementation costs, and barriers to implementation including governance issues. Due to lack of capacity in the affected countries, achieving reduction or avoidance of carbon emissions will require extensive REDD-plus programs. Preliminary REDD-plus Readiness cost estimates and program descriptions for Indonesia,more » Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guyana and Mexico show that roughly one-third of potential REDD-plus mitigation benefits might come from avoided deforestation and the rest from avoided forest degradation and other REDD-plus activities.« less

  9. The Role of Patient Activation in Contraceptive Use.

    PubMed

    Bello, Jennifer K; Lapin, Brittany; Poston, Lindsay; Hirshfeld, Meredith; Hosack, Allison

    2016-01-01

    Many unintended pregnancies occur due to to contraceptive misuse and nonuse, which is partly due to to lack of knowledge and low self-efficacy related to contraception. We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional study among low-income women to examine the relationship between knowledge, skills, and confidence in managing one's health, measured using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) and factors that influence contraceptive use. A survey and chart review were conducted among 18- to 45-year-old women from a community health center in Chicago, Illinois, to measure the relationship between activation, self-confidence in avoiding pregnancy, contraception use, and contraceptive counseling. Associations between PAM and outcomes were evaluated using the χ(2) test and adjusted logistic regression models. Among 112 participants (61% Latina, 15% Black, 14% White), we found no differences in PAM by age, race/ethnicity, or parity. Women with higher PAM were more likely to be confident they could avoid pregnancy compared with women with lower PAM (50% vs. 7%; p = .02). Higher PAM remained a significant predictor for self-confidence after risk adjustment (odds ratio, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.11-8.78; p = .031). Greater confidence in avoiding pregnancy was associated with using a moderately or highly effective contraceptive method (43% vs. 14%; p = .047). Women with lower PAM were less likely to receive contraceptive counseling in the prior month (0% vs. 57%; p < .01). Patient activation may be an important construct for understanding factors that influence women's contraceptive use, including self-confidence in avoiding pregnancy until it is desired and receiving contraceptive services in primary care. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Environmental impacts of food waste: Learnings and challenges from a case study on UK.

    PubMed

    Tonini, Davide; Albizzati, Paola Federica; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

    2018-06-01

    Food waste, particularly when avoidable, incurs loss of resources and considerable environmental impacts due to the multiple processes involved in the life cycle. This study applies a bottom-up life cycle assessment method to quantify the environmental impacts of the avoidable food waste generated by four sectors of the food supply chain in United Kingdom, namely processing, wholesale and retail, food service, and households. The impacts were quantified for ten environmental impact categories, from Global Warming to Water Depletion, including indirect land use change impacts due to demand for land. The Global Warming impact of the avoidable food waste was quantified between 2000 and 3600 kg CO 2 -eq. t -1 . The range reflected the different compositions of the waste in each sector. Prominent contributors to the impact, across all the environmental categories assessed, were land use changes and food production. Food preparation, for households and food service sectors, also provided an important contribution to the Global Warming impacts, while waste management partly mitigated the overall impacts by incurring significant savings when landfilling was replaced with anaerobic digestion and incineration. To further improve these results, it is recommended to focus future efforts on providing improved data regarding the breakdown of specific food products within the mixed waste, indirect land use change effects, and the share of food waste undergoing cooking. Learning from this and previous studies, we highlight the challenges related to modelling and methodological choices. Particularly, food production datasets should be chosen and used carefully, to avoid double counting and overestimation of the final impacts. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Sneaky Gamma-Rays: Using Gravitational Lensing to Avoid Gamma-Gamma-Absorption

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boettcher, Markus; Barnacka, Anna

    2014-08-01

    It has recently been suggested that gravitational lensing studies of gamma-ray blazars might be a promising avenue to probe the location of the gamma-ray emitting region in blazars. Motivated by these prospects, we have investigated potential gamma-gamma absorption signatures of intervening lenses in the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from lensedblazars. We considered intervening galaxies and individual stars within these galaxies. We find that the collective radiation field of galaxies acting as sources of macrolensing are not expected to lead to significant gamma-gamma absorption. Individual stars within intervening galaxies could, in principle, cause a significant opacity to gamma-gamma absorption for VHE gamma-rays if the impact parameter (the distance of closest approach of the gamma-ray to the center of the star) is small enough. However, we find that the curvature of the photon path due to gravitational lensing will cause gamma-ray photons to maintain a sufficiently large distance from such stars to avoid significant gamma-gamma absorption. This re-inforces the prospect of gravitational-lensing studies of gamma-ray blazars without interference due to gamma-gamma absorption due to the lensing objects.

  12. 21 CFR 529.1030 - Formalin.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... when pond is heavily loaded with fish or phytoplankton. (ii) For control of fungi of the... the lower concentration when ponds, tanks, or raceways are heavily loaded with phytoplankton or fish to avoid oxygen depletion due to the biological oxygen demand by decay of dead phytoplankton...

  13. 21 CFR 529.1030 - Formalin.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... when pond is heavily loaded with fish or phytoplankton. (ii) For control of fungi of the... the lower concentration when ponds, tanks, or raceways are heavily loaded with phytoplankton or fish to avoid oxygen depletion due to the biological oxygen demand by decay of dead phytoplankton...

  14. Eliminating sun glare disturbance at signalized intersections by a vehicle to infrastructure wireless communication : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-05-01

    Due to sun glare disturbances, drivers may encounter fatal threats on roadways, particularly at signalized intersections. Many studies have attempted to develop applicable solutions, such as avoiding sun positions, road geometric redirections, and we...

  15. The effects of habitat fragmentation on the social kin structure and mating system of the agile antechinus, Antechinus agilis.

    PubMed

    Banks, S C; Ward, S J; Lindenmayer, D B; Finlayson, G R; Lawson, S J; Taylor, A C

    2005-05-01

    Habitat fragmentation is one of the major contributors to the loss of biodiversity worldwide. However, relatively little is known about its more immediate impacts on within-patch population processes such as social structure and mating systems, whose alteration may play an important role in extinction risk. We investigated the impacts of habitat fragmentation due to the establishment of an exotic softwood plantation on the social kin structure and breeding system of the Australian marsupial carnivore, Antechinus agilis. Restricted dispersal by males in fragmented habitat resulted in elevated relatedness among potential mates in populations in fragments, potentially increasing the risk of inbreeding. Antechinus agilis nests communally in tree hollows; these nests are important points for social contact between males and females in the mating season. In response to elevated relatedness among potential mates in fragmented habitat, A. agilis significantly avoided sharing nests with opposite-sex relatives in large fragment sites (but not in small ones, possibly due to limited nest locations and small population sizes). Because opposite-sex individuals shared nests randomly with respect to relatedness in unfragmented habitat, we interpreted the phenomenon in fragmented habitat as a precursor to inbreeding avoidance via mate choice. Despite evidence that female A. agilis at high inbreeding risk selected relatively unrelated mates, there was no overall increased avoidance of related mates by females in fragmented habitats compared to unfragmented habitats. Simulations indicated that only dispersal, and not nonrandom mating, contributed to inbreeding avoidance in either habitat context. However, habitat fragmentation did influence the mating system in that the degree of multiple paternity was reduced due to the reduction in population sizes and population connectivity. This, in turn, reduced the number of males available to females in the breeding season. This suggests that in addition to the obvious impacts of reduced recruitment, patch recolonization and increased genetic drift, the isolation of populations in habitat patches may cause changes in breeding behaviour that contribute to the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation.

  16. Nonlinear unbiased minimum-variance filter for Mars entry autonomous navigation under large uncertainties and unknown measurement bias.

    PubMed

    Xiao, Mengli; Zhang, Yongbo; Fu, Huimin; Wang, Zhihua

    2018-05-01

    High-precision navigation algorithm is essential for the future Mars pinpoint landing mission. The unknown inputs caused by large uncertainties of atmospheric density and aerodynamic coefficients as well as unknown measurement biases may cause large estimation errors of conventional Kalman filters. This paper proposes a derivative-free version of nonlinear unbiased minimum variance filter for Mars entry navigation. This filter has been designed to solve this problem by estimating the state and unknown measurement biases simultaneously with derivative-free character, leading to a high-precision algorithm for the Mars entry navigation. IMU/radio beacons integrated navigation is introduced in the simulation, and the result shows that with or without radio blackout, our proposed filter could achieve an accurate state estimation, much better than the conventional unscented Kalman filter, showing the ability of high-precision Mars entry navigation algorithm. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Recurrent syncope and chronic ear pain

    PubMed Central

    Clegg, Andrew; Daverede, Luis; Wong, Winson; Loney, Elizabeth; Young, John

    2010-01-01

    An elderly gentleman presented to hospital with recurrent blackout episodes consistent with syncope and a 3-month history of right ear pain. Significant postural hypotension was recorded. White cell count and C reactive protein were elevated. MRI of the head and neck revealed a soft tissue abnormality in the right nasopharynx and base of skull. Tissue biopsies were obtained and microbiology specimens revealed a mixed growth of pseudomonas and diphtheroids. There was no histological evidence of malignancy. A diagnosis of skull base infection was made. Infective involvement of the carotid sinus was considered to be the cause of the recurrent syncope and postural hypotension. The patient responded well to a 12-week course of intravenous meropenem. Inflammatory markers returned to normal and a repeat MRI after 3 months of treatment showed significant resolution of infection. The syncopal episodes and orthostatic hypotension resolved in parallel with treatment of infection. PMID:22791782

  18. SIADH and partial hypopituitarism in a patient with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma: a rare cause of a common presentation

    PubMed Central

    Akhtar, Simeen; Cheesman, Edmund; Jude, Edward B

    2013-01-01

    Hyponatraemia is a very common electrolyte abnormality with varied presenting features depending on the underlying cause. The authors report the case of a 75-year-old, previously fit, gentleman who presented with weight loss, lethargy and blackouts. He required four admissions to the hospital over an 8-month period. Investigations revealed persistent hyponatraemia consistent with a diagnosis of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, macrocytic anaemia and partial hypopituitarism. Unfortunately, all other investigations that were performed failed to identify the underlying cause and a diagnosis of intravascular large B-cell lymphoma was only confirmed following postmortem studies. The authors recommend that endocrinologists should be involved at the outset in the management of patients with persistent hyponatraemia and that intravascular large B-cell lymphoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hyponatraemia. PMID:23362070

  19. A flooding induced station blackout analysis for a pressurized water reactor using the RISMC toolkit

    DOE PAGES

    Mandelli, Diego; Prescott, Steven; Smith, Curtis; ...

    2015-05-17

    In this paper we evaluate the impact of a power uprate on a pressurized water reactor (PWR) for a tsunami-induced flooding test case. This analysis is performed using the RISMC toolkit: the RELAP-7 and RAVEN codes. RELAP-7 is the new generation of system analysis codes that is responsible for simulating the thermal-hydraulic dynamics of PWR and boiling water reactor systems. RAVEN has two capabilities: to act as a controller of the RELAP-7 simulation (e.g., component/system activation) and to perform statistical analyses. In our case, the simulation of the flooding is performed by using an advanced smooth particle hydrodynamics code calledmore » NEUTRINO. The obtained results allow the user to investigate and quantify the impact of timing and sequencing of events on system safety. The impact of power uprate is determined in terms of both core damage probability and safety margins.« less

  20. The particular use of PIV methods for the modelling of heat and hydrophysical processes in the nuclear power plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sergeev, D. A.; Kandaurov, A. A.; Troitskaya, Yu I.

    2017-11-01

    In this paper we describe PIV-system specially designed for the study of the hydrophysical processes in large-scale benchmark setup of promising fast reactor. The system allows the PIV-measurements for the conditions of complicated configuration of the reactor benchmark, reflections and distortions section of the laser sheet, blackout, in the closed volume. The use of filtering techniques and method of masks images enabled us to reduce the number of incorrect measurement of flow velocity vectors by an order. The method of conversion of image coordinates and velocity field in the reference model of the reactor using a virtual 3D simulation targets, without loss of accuracy in comparison with a method of using physical objects in filming area was released. The results of measurements of velocity fields in various modes, both stationary (workers), as well as in non-stationary (emergency).

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