Size-Dependent Biexciton Quantum Yields and Carrier Dynamics of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Core/Shell Nanoplatelets

DOE PAGES

Ma, Xuedan; Diroll, Benjamin T.; Cho, Wooje; ...

2017-08-08

Quasi-two-dimensional nanoplatelets (NPLs) possess fundamentally different excitonic properties from zero-dimensional quantum dots. We study lateral size-dependent photon emission statistics and carrier dynamics of individual NPLs using second-order photon correlation (g( 2)(τ)) spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) intensity-dependent lifetime analysis. Room-temperature radiative lifetimes of NPLs can be derived from maximum PL intensity periods in PL time traces. It first decreases with NPL lateral size and then stays constant, deviating from the electric dipole approximation. Analysis of the PL time traces further reveals that the single exciton quantum yield in NPLs decreases with NPL lateral size and increases with protecting shell thickness, indicatingmore » the importance of surface passivation on NPL emission quality. Second-order photon correlation (g( 2)(τ)) studies of single NPLs show that the biexciton quantum yield is strongly dependent on the lateral size and single exciton quantum yield of the NPLs. In large NPLs with unity single exciton quantum yield, the corresponding biexciton quantum yield can reach unity. In conclusion, these findings reveal that by careful growth control and core–shell material engineering, NPLs can be of great potential for light amplification and integrated quantum photonic applications.« less

Yeast hnRNP-related proteins contribute to the maintenance of telomeres

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

Lee-Soety, Julia Y., E-mail: jlee04@sju.edu; Jones, Jennifer; MacGibeny, Margaret A.

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Yeast hnRNP-related proteins are able to prevent faster senescence in telomerase-null cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The conserved RRMs in Npl3 are important for telomere maintenance. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Human hnRNP A1 is unable to complement the lack of NPL3 in yeast. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Npl3 and Cbc2 may work as telomere capping proteins. -- Abstract: Telomeres protect the ends of linear chromosomes, which if eroded to a critical length can become uncapped and lead to replicative senescence. Telomerase maintains telomere length in some cells, but inappropriate expression facilitates the immortality of cancer cells. Recently, proteins involved in RNA processing and ribosome assembly, such asmore » hnRNP (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein) A1, have been found to participate in telomere maintenance in mammals. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Npl3 shares significant amino acid sequence similarities with hnRNP A1. We found that deleting NPL3 accelerated the senescence of telomerase null cells. The highly conserved RNA recognition motifs (RRM) in Npl3 appear to be important for preventing faster senescence. Npl3 preferentially binds telomere sequences in vitro, suggesting that Npl3 may affect telomeres directly. Despite similarities between the two proteins, human hnRNP A1 is unable to complement the lack of Npl3 to rescue accelerated senescence in tlc1 npl3 cells. Deletion of CBC2, which encodes another hnRNP-related protein that associates with Npl3, also accelerates senescence. Potential mechanisms by which hnRNP-related proteins maintain telomeres are discussed.« less

Uncoupling of the hnRNP Npl3p from mRNAs during the stress-induced block in mRNA export.

PubMed

Krebber, H; Taura, T; Lee, M S; Silver, P A

1999-08-01

Npl3p, the major mRNA-binding protein of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. A single amino acid change in the carboxyl terminus of Npl3p (E409 --> K) renders the mutant protein largely cytoplasmic because of a delay in its import into the nucleus. This import defect can be reversed by increasing the intracellular concentration of Mtr10p, the nuclear import receptor for Npl3p. Conversely, using this mutant, we show that Npl3p and mRNA export out of the nucleus is significantly slowed in cells bearing mutations in XPO1/CRM1, which encodes the export receptor for NES-containing proteins and in RAT7, which encodes an essential nucleoporin. Interestingly, following induction of stress by heat shock, high salt, or ethanol, conditions under which most mRNA export is blocked, Npl3p is still exported from the nucleus. The stress-induced export of Npl3p is independent of both the activity of Xpo1p and the continued selective export of heat-shock mRNAs that occurs following stress. UV-cross-linking experiments show that Npl3p is bound to mRNA under normal conditions, but is no longer RNA associated in stressed cells. Taken together, we suggest that the uncoupling of Npl3p and possibly other mRNA-binding proteins from mRNAs in the nucleus provides a general switch that regulates mRNA export. By this model, under normal conditions Npl3p is a major component of an export-competent RNP complex. However, under conditions of stress, Npl3p no longer associates with the export complex, rendering it export incompetent and thus nuclear.

77 FR 57495 - National Priorities List, Final Rule No. 55

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-18

... EPA is responsible for preparing a Hazard Ranking System (``HRS'') score and determining whether the... an NPL construction completion list (``CCL'') to simplify its system of categorizing sites and to...). Inclusion of a site on the CCL has no legal significance. Sites qualify for the CCL when: (1) Any necessary...

Further evidence for the increased power of LOD scores compared with nonparametric methods.

PubMed

Durner, M; Vieland, V J; Greenberg, D A

1999-01-01

In genetic analysis of diseases in which the underlying model is unknown, "model free" methods-such as affected sib pair (ASP) tests-are often preferred over LOD-score methods, although LOD-score methods under the correct or even approximately correct model are more powerful than ASP tests. However, there might be circumstances in which nonparametric methods will outperform LOD-score methods. Recently, Dizier et al. reported that, in some complex two-locus (2L) models, LOD-score methods with segregation analysis-derived parameters had less power to detect linkage than ASP tests. We investigated whether these particular models, in fact, represent a situation that ASP tests are more powerful than LOD scores. We simulated data according to the parameters specified by Dizier et al. and analyzed the data by using a (a) single locus (SL) LOD-score analysis performed twice, under a simple dominant and a recessive mode of inheritance (MOI), (b) ASP methods, and (c) nonparametric linkage (NPL) analysis. We show that SL analysis performed twice and corrected for the type I-error increase due to multiple testing yields almost as much linkage information as does an analysis under the correct 2L model and is more powerful than either the ASP method or the NPL method. We demonstrate that, even for complex genetic models, the most important condition for linkage analysis is that the assumed MOI at the disease locus being tested is approximately correct, not that the inheritance of the disease per se is correctly specified. In the analysis by Dizier et al., segregation analysis led to estimates of dominance parameters that were grossly misspecified for the locus tested in those models in which ASP tests appeared to be more powerful than LOD-score analyses.

Roles for the VCP co-factors Npl4 and Ufd1 in neuronal function in Drosophila melanogaster.

PubMed

Byrne, Dwayne J; Harmon, Mark J; Simpson, Jeremy C; Blackstone, Craig; O'Sullivan, Niamh C

2017-10-20

The VCP-Ufd1-Npl4 complex regulates proteasomal processing within cells by delivering ubiquitinated proteins to the proteasome for degradation. Mutations in VCP are associated with two neurodegenerative diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and inclusion body myopathy with Paget's disease of the bone and frontotemporal dementia (IBMPFD), and extensive study has revealed crucial functions of VCP within neurons. By contrast, little is known about the functions of Npl4 or Ufd1 in vivo. Using neuronal-specific knockdown of Npl4 or Ufd1 in Drosophila melanogaster, we infer that Npl4 contributes to microtubule organization within developing motor neurons. Moreover, Npl4 RNAi flies present with neurodegenerative phenotypes including progressive locomotor deficits, reduced lifespan and increased accumulation of TAR DNA-binding protein-43 homolog (TBPH). Knockdown, but not overexpression, of TBPH also exacerbates Npl4 RNAi-associated adult-onset neurodegenerative phenotypes. In contrast, we find that neuronal knockdown of Ufd1 has little effect on neuromuscular junction (NMJ) organization, TBPH accumulation or adult behaviour. These findings suggest the differing neuronal functions of Npl4 and Ufd1 in vivo. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the Nanopulse Lithotripter to the Holmium Laser: Stone Fragmentation Efficiency and Impact on Flexible Ureteroscope Deflection and Flow.

PubMed

Kaplan, Adam G; Chen, Tony T; Sankin, Georgy; Yang, Chen; Dale, Joanne A; Simmons, W Neal; Zhong, Pei; Preminger, Glenn M; Lipkin, Michael Eric

2016-11-01

The Nanopulse Lithotripter (NPL; Lithotech Medical, Israel) is a novel intracorporeal device that uses a nanosecond duration electrical discharge through a reusable flexible coaxial probe to endoscopically fragment urinary stones. This device was compared with a holmium laser lithotripsy (HoL) with regard to stone fragmentation efficiency (SFE) and its impact on flexible ureteroscope (URS) deflection and flow of irrigation. Using a custom bench model, a 6 mm BegoStone cylindrical phantom (mixture 5:2) was confined under 0.9% saline atop sequential mesh sieves. The SFE of two NPL probe sizes (2.0F, 3.6F) and two HoL fibers (200, 365 μm) was evaluated using concordant settings of 1 J and 5 Hz. URS deflection and irrigation flow with NPL probes in the working channel were tested in five new fourth generation flexible URS and compared with other adjunct endourologic instruments. The 2.0F NPL showed improved SFE compared with the 200 μm laser (86 mg/min vs 52 mg/min, p = 0.014) as did the 3.6F NPL vs the 365 μm laser (173 mg/min vs 80 mg/min, p = 0.05). The NPL created more 1 to 2 mm fragments; the laser created more dust. URS deflection reduced by 3.75° with the 2.0 NPL probe. URS irrigation flow reduced from 36.5 to 6.3 mL/min with the 2.0F NPL probe. NPL shows improved SFE compared with HoL. Flow with the 2.0F probe is akin to a stone basket. NPL offers an effective alternative to HoL.

Structural insights into the p97-Ufd1-Npl4 complex

PubMed Central

Pye, Valerie E.; Beuron, Fabienne; Keetch, Catherine A.; McKeown, Ciaran; Robinson, Carol V.; Meyer, Hemmo H.; Zhang, Xiaodong; Freemont, Paul S.

2007-01-01

p97/VCP (Cdc48 in yeast) is an essential and abundant member of the AAA+ family of ATPases and is involved in a number of diverse cellular pathways through interactions with different adaptor proteins. The two most characterized adaptors for p97 are p47 and the Ufd1 (ubiquitin fusion degradation 1)-Npl4 (nuclear protein localization 4) complex. p47 directs p97 to membrane fusion events and has been shown to be involved in protein degradation. The Ufd1-Npl4 complex directs p97 to an essential role in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation and an important role in mitotic spindle disassembly postmitosis. Here we describe the structural features of the Ufd1-Npl4 complex and its interaction with p97 with the aid of EM and other biophysical techniques. The Ufd1-Npl4 heterodimer has an elongated bilobed structure that is ≈80 × 30 Å in dimension. One Ufd1-Npl4 heterodimer is shown to interact with one p97 hexamer to form the p97-Ufd1-Npl4 complex. The Ufd1-Npl4 heterodimer emanates from one region on the periphery of the N-D1 plane of the p97 hexamer. Intriguingly, the p97-p47 and the p97-Ufd1-Npl4 complexes are significantly different in stoichiometry, symmetry, and quaternary arrangement, reflecting their specific actions and their ability to interact with additional cofactors that cooperate with p97 in diverse cellular pathways. PMID:17202270

Cleanups In My Community (CIMC) - Superfund National Priority List (NPL) Sites, National Layer

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This data layer provides access to Superfund National Priority List Sites as part of the CIMC web service. Superfund is a program administered by the EPA to locate, investigate, and clean up worst hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. EPA administers the Superfund program in cooperation with individual states and tribal governments. These sites include abandoned warehouses, manufacturing facilities, processing plants, and landfills - the key word here being abandoned.Only NPL sites have been included in Cleanups in My Community thus far. EPA maintains the NPL, which identifies for the States and the public those sites or other releases that appear to warrant remedial (long term) actions. These NPL sites fall into the following categories:Proposed: Sites may be proposed for the NPL and then may be placed on the NPL as final or be removed from the Proposed NPL.Final: Those sites placed on the NPL are called final, and for these sites, a cleanup remedy is selected and implemented. However, it may be several years after construction of the remedy is completed before the hazardous substances are completely cleaned up or controlled in place.Deleted: After the clean up process is complete, and appropriate reviews confirm the area is cleaned up or the hazards are controlled, sites can be deleted from the NPL.For more information on the data provided through this web service, please see the processing steps below, and see more information here: https://www.

Arabidopsis nph1 and npl1: blue light receptors that mediate both phototropism and chloroplast relocation.

PubMed

Sakai, T; Kagawa, T; Kasahara, M; Swartz, T E; Christie, J M; Briggs, W R; Wada, M; Okada, K

2001-06-05

UV-A/blue light acts to regulate a number of physiological processes in higher plants. These include light-driven chloroplast movement and phototropism. The NPH1 gene of Arabidopsis encodes an autophosphorylating protein kinase that functions as a photoreceptor for phototropism in response to low-intensity blue light. However, nph1 mutants have been reported to exhibit normal phototropic curvature under high-intensity blue light, indicating the presence of an additional phototropic receptor. A likely candidate is the nph1 homologue, npl1, which has recently been shown to mediate the avoidance response of chloroplasts to high-intensity blue light in Arabidopsis. Here we demonstrate that npl1, like nph1, noncovalently binds the chromophore flavin mononucleotide (FMN) within two specialized PAS domains, termed LOV domains. Furthermore, when expressed in insect cells, npl1, like nph1, undergoes light-dependent autophosphorylation, indicating that npl1 also functions as a light receptor kinase. Consistent with this conclusion, we show that a nph1 npl1 double mutant exhibits an impaired phototropic response under both low- and high-intensity blue light. Hence, npl1 functions as a second phototropic receptor under high fluence rate conditions and is, in part, functionally redundant to nph1. We also demonstrate that both chloroplast accumulation in response to low-intensity light and chloroplast avoidance movement in response to high-intensity light are lacking in the nph1 npl1 double mutant. Our findings therefore indicate that nph1 and npl1 show partially overlapping functions in two different responses, phototropism and chloroplast relocation, in a fluence rate-dependent manner.

Localization of a Susceptibility Gene for Familial Nonmedullary Thyroid Carcinoma to Chromosome 2q21

PubMed Central

McKay, James D.; Lesueur, Fabienne; Jonard, Laurence; Pastore, Alessandro; Williamson, Jan; Hoffman, Linda; Burgess, John; Duffield, Anne; Papotti, Mauro; Stark, Markus; Sobol, Hagay; Maes, Béatrice; Murat, Arnaud; Kääriäinen, Helena; Bertholon-Grégoire, Mireille; Zini, Michele; Rossing, Mary Anne; Toubert, Marie-Elisabeth; Bonichon, Françoise; Cavarec, Marie; Bernard, Anne-Marie; Boneu, Andrée; Leprat, Frédéric; Haas, Oskar; Lasset, Christine; Schlumberger, Martin; Canzian, Federico; Goldgar, David E.; Romeo, Giovanni

2001-01-01

The familial form of nonmedullary thyroid carcinoma (NMTC) is a complex genetic disorder characterized by multifocal neoplasia and a higher degree of aggressiveness than its sporadic counterpart. In a large Tasmanian pedigree (Tas1) with recurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the most common form of NMTC, an extensive genomewide scan revealed a common haplotype on chromosome 2q21 in seven of the eight patients with PTC. To verify the significance of the 2q21 locus, we performed linkage analysis in an independent sample set of 80 pedigrees, yielding a multipoint heterogeneity LOD score (HLOD) of 3.07 (α=0.42), nonparametric linkage (NPL) 3.19, (P=.001) at marker D2S2271. Stratification based on the presence of at least one case of the follicular variant of PTC, the phenotype observed in the Tas1 family, identified 17 such pedigrees, yielding a maximal HLOD score of 4.17 (α=0.80) and NPL=4.99 (P=.00002) at markers AFMa272zg9 and D2S2271, respectively. These results indicate the existence of a susceptibility locus for familial NMTC on chromosome 2q21. PMID:11438887

Genomewide Linkage Scan for Split–Hand/Foot Malformation with Long-Bone Deficiency in a Large Arab Family Identifies Two Novel Susceptibility Loci on Chromosomes 1q42.2-q43 and 6q14.1

PubMed Central

Naveed, Mohammed; Nath, Swapan K.; Gaines, Mathew; Al-Ali, Mahmoud T.; Al-Khaja, Najib; Hutchings, David; Golla, Jeffrey; Deutsch, Samuel; Bottani, Armand; Antonarakis, Stylianos E.; Ratnamala, Uppala; Radhakrishna, Uppala

2007-01-01

Split–hand/foot malformation with long-bone deficiency (SHFLD) is a rare, severe limb deformity characterized by tibia aplasia with or without split-hand/split-foot deformity. Identification of genetic susceptibility loci for SHFLD has been unsuccessful because of its rare incidence, variable phenotypic expression and associated anomalies, and uncertain inheritance pattern. SHFLD is usually inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with reduced penetrance, although recessive inheritance has also been postulated. We conducted a genomewide linkage analysis, using a 10K SNP array in a large consanguineous family (UR078) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who had disease transmission consistent with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. The study identified two novel SHFLD susceptibility loci at 1q42.2-q43 (nonparametric linkage [NPL] 9.8, P=.000065) and 6q14.1 (NPL 7.12, P=.000897). These results were also supported by multipoint parametric linkage analysis. Maximum multipoint LOD scores of 3.20 and 3.78 were detected for genomic locations 1q42.2-43 and 6q14.1, respectively, with the use of an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance with reduced penetrance. Haplotype analysis with informative crossovers enabled mapping of the SHFLD loci to a region of ∼18.38 cM (8.4 Mb) between single-nucleotide polymorphisms rs1124110 and rs535043 on 1q42.2-q43 and to a region of ∼1.96 cM (4.1 Mb) between rs623155 and rs1547251 on 6q14.1. The study identified two novel loci for the SHFLD phenotype in this UAE family. PMID:17160898

Prevalence of non-polypoid colorectal neoplasms in southern Brazil.

PubMed

dos Santos, Carlos Eduardo Oliveira; Malaman, Daniele; Mönkemüller, Klaus; Dos Santos Carvalho, Tiago; Lopes, César Vivian; Pereira-Lima, Júlio Carlos

2015-03-01

Several studies suggest that non-polypoid lesions (NPL) show higher aggressiveness than polypoid lesions, particularly depressed lesions. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of NPL and the presence of advanced histology in a Brazilian population. Two thousand and sixty-seven superficial neoplastic lesions diagnosed in 1135 patients were analyzed. Lesions were classified as polypoid and non-polypoid (flat and depressed) types, and evaluated for site, size, and histology (adenoma with grade of dysplasia, or early cancer). Prevalence of NPL was 46.5%. NPL predominated in the right colon (62.9%), whereas polypoid lesions were detected mainly in the left colon (53.2%) (P < 0.001). NPL had a 34% higher probability of occurring in the right colon than polypoid lesions (P < 0.001). NPL were smaller than polypoid lesions (P = 0.03). There were 208 lesions >10 mm, of which 40 (19.2%) had advanced histology: 13% (18/138) of polypoid lesions; 27.3% (18/66) of flat lesions; and 100% (4/4) of depressed lesions (P < 0.001). Among 1859 neoplasms ≤10 mm, only 18 (1%) had advanced histology, and 15 of them were depressed lesions (P < 0.001). Advanced histology was more commonly detected in NPL than in polypoid lesions (P = 0.007), with significant difference in size (P < 0.001). NPL showed more advanced histology than polypoid lesions (OR 2.06; P = 0.01), especially depressed lesions (OR 36.35; P < 0.001). Among all neoplasms, the prevalence of depressed lesions was 2.2%. NPL showed high prevalence and higher aggressiveness than polypoid lesions, especially the depressed type. © 2014 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2014 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

Arabidopsis nph1 and npl1: Blue light receptors that mediate both phototropism and chloroplast relocation

PubMed Central

Sakai, Tatsuya; Kagawa, Takatoshi; Kasahara, Masahiro; Swartz, Trevor E.; Christie, John M.; Briggs, Winslow R.; Wada, Masamitsu; Okada, Kiyotaka

2001-01-01

UV-A/blue light acts to regulate a number of physiological processes in higher plants. These include light-driven chloroplast movement and phototropism. The NPH1 gene of Arabidopsis encodes an autophosphorylating protein kinase that functions as a photoreceptor for phototropism in response to low-intensity blue light. However, nph1 mutants have been reported to exhibit normal phototropic curvature under high-intensity blue light, indicating the presence of an additional phototropic receptor. A likely candidate is the nph1 homologue, npl1, which has recently been shown to mediate the avoidance response of chloroplasts to high-intensity blue light in Arabidopsis. Here we demonstrate that npl1, like nph1, noncovalently binds the chromophore flavin mononucleotide (FMN) within two specialized PAS domains, termed LOV domains. Furthermore, when expressed in insect cells, npl1, like nph1, undergoes light-dependent autophosphorylation, indicating that npl1 also functions as a light receptor kinase. Consistent with this conclusion, we show that a nph1npl1 double mutant exhibits an impaired phototropic response under both low- and high-intensity blue light. Hence, npl1 functions as a second phototropic receptor under high fluence rate conditions and is, in part, functionally redundant to nph1. We also demonstrate that both chloroplast accumulation in response to low-intensity light and chloroplast avoidance movement in response to high-intensity light are lacking in the nph1npl1 double mutant. Our findings therefore indicate that nph1 and npl1 show partially overlapping functions in two different responses, phototropism and chloroplast relocation, in a fluence rate-dependent manner. PMID:11371609

GROUNDWATER DATA - CERCLA NPL SITES - USEPA REGION 10

EPA Science Inventory

Information has been compiled for a subgroup of the National Priority List (NPL) Superfund sites located in Region 10. You can also view the current list of all NPL Sites in Region 10 along with general reference maps for the region with enlarged views for the Puget Sound, Portla...

Comparison of the NIST and NPL Air Kerma Standards Used for X-Ray Measurements Between 10 kV and 80 kV

PubMed Central

O’Brien, M.; Lamperti, P.; Williams, T.; Sander, T.

2000-01-01

A direct comparison was made between the air kerma primary standards used for the measurements of low-energy x rays at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The comparison was conducted at the NPL using NPL reference radiation qualities between 10 kV and 80 kV. The results show the primary air-kerma standards to agree within 0.6 % of their values for beam qualities up to 80 kV. PMID:27551632

Improvement, Verification, and Refinement of Spatially-Explicit Exposure Models in Risk Assessment - SEEM

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

hazard quotient HSI Habitat Suitability Index LOAEL lowest observed adverse effect level mg/kg milligrams per kilogram NOAEL no observed adverse... effect level NPL National Priorities List PRR Patuxent Research Refuge QA quality assurance QC quality control ACRONYMS AND...mean and maximum) for each individual for the exposure period; EHQs are then compiled to arrive at a modeled population— effects curve. Figure 1

Improvement, Verification, and Refinement of Spatially Explicit Exposure Models in Risk Assessment - SEEM Demonstration

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

hazard quotient HSI Habitat Suitability Index LOAEL lowest observed adverse effect level mg/kg milligrams per kilogram NOAEL no observed adverse... effect level NPL National Priorities List PRR Patuxent Research Refuge QA quality assurance QC quality control ACRONYMS AND...mean and maximum) for each individual for the exposure period; EHQs are then compiled to arrive at a modeled population— effects curve. Figure 1

Distinct conformations of the protein complex p97-Ufd1-Npl4 revealed by electron cryomicroscopy

PubMed Central

Bebeacua, Cecilia; Förster, Andreas; McKeown, Ciarán; Meyer, Hemmo H.; Zhang, Xiaodong; Freemont, Paul S.

2012-01-01

p97 is a key regulator of numerous cellular pathways and associates with ubiquitin-binding adaptors to remodel ubiquitin-modified substrate proteins. How adaptor binding to p97 is coordinated and how adaptors contribute to substrate remodeling is unclear. Here we present the 3D electron cryomicroscopy reconstructions of the major Ufd1-Npl4 adaptor in complex with p97. Our reconstructions show that p97-Ufd1-Npl4 is highly dynamic and that Ufd1-Npl4 assumes distinct positions relative to the p97 ring upon addition of nucleotide. Our results suggest a model for substrate remodeling by p97 and also explains how p97-Ufd1-Npl4 could form other complexes in a hierarchical model of p97-cofactor assembly. PMID:22232657

Protein arginine methylation of Npl3 promotes splicing of the SUS1 intron harboring non-consensus 5' splice site and branch site.

PubMed

Muddukrishna, Bhavana; Jackson, Christopher A; Yu, Michael C

2017-06-01

Protein arginine methylation occurs on spliceosomal components and spliceosome-associated proteins, but how this modification contributes to their function in pre-mRNA splicing remains sparse. Here we provide evidence that protein arginine methylation of the yeast SR-/hnRNP-like protein Npl3 plays a role in facilitating efficient splicing of the SUS1 intron that harbors a non-consensus 5' splice site and branch site. In yeast cells lacking the major protein arginine methyltransferase HMT1, we observed a change in the co-transcriptional recruitment of the U1 snRNP subunit Snp1 and Npl3 to pre-mRNAs harboring both consensus (ECM33 and ASC1) and non-consensus (SUS1) 5' splice site and branch site. Using an Npl3 mutant that phenocopies wild-type Npl3 when expressed in Δhmt1 cells, we showed that the arginine methylation of Npl3 is responsible for this. Examination of pre-mRNA splicing efficiency in these mutants reveals the requirement of Npl3 methylation for the efficient splicing of SUS1 intron 1, but not of ECM33 or ASC1. Changing the 5' splice site and branch site in SUS1 intron 1 to the consensus form restored splicing efficiency in an Hmt1-independent manner. Results from biochemical studies show that methylation of Npl3 promotes its optimal association with the U1 snRNP through its association with the U1 snRNP subunit Mud1. Based on these data, we propose a model in which Hmt1, via arginine methylation of Npl3, facilitates U1 snRNP engagement with the pre-mRNA to promote usage of non-consensus splice sites by the splicing machinery. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Social equity and environmental risk

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

Zimmerman, R.

1993-12-01

Social equity has become an important concern of the environmental movement over the past decade. The equity issue is analyzed here for practically all of the inactive hazardous waste disposal sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) regulated under the Comprehensive Response Compensation and Liability Act and its 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (CERCLA/SARA). Two dimensions of equity are emphasized, namely, site location relative to the location of minority population and the distribution of cleanup plans or Records of Decision (ROD) across communities with NPL sites that have different socioeconomic characteristics. With respect to site location, the percentage ofmore » Blacks and Hispanics aggregated at the Census Place or MCD level in communities with NPL sites was greater than is typical nationwide (largely attributable to the concentration of minority populations in a few large urban areas with NPL sites). The percentage of the population below the poverty line in communities with NPL sites largely matched that of the nation as a whole. With respect to site cleanup, communities with relatively higher percentages of racial minority population have fewer cleanup plans than other communities with NPL site. Whether a ROD exists is influenced by when the site was designated for the NPL: sites designated earlier are more likely to have RODs and less likely to have high proportions of racial minority populations than sites designated later. This implies that initially the designation process may have resulted in NPL sites being located disproportionately in minority areas, but this pattern seems to be reversing itself in more recently designated sites. Racial and ethnic disproportionalities with respect to inactive hazardous waste site location seem to be concentrated in a relatively few areas. 35 refs., 12 tabs.« less

SUPERFUND TREATABILITY CLEARINGHOUSE: SOIL STABILIZATION PILOT STUDY, UNITED CHROME NPL SITE PILOT STUDY AND HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAM, UNITED CHROME NPL SITE PILOT STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

This document is a project plan for a pilot study at the United Chrome NPL site, Corvallis, Oregon and includes the health and safety and quality assurance/quality control plans. The plan reports results of a bench-scale study of the treatment process as iieasured by the ...

Design and Performance Checks of the NPL Axial Heat Flow Apparatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J.; Clark, J.; Stacey, C.; Salmon, D.

2015-03-01

This paper describes the design and performance checks of the NPL axial heat flow apparatus developed at the National Physical Laboratory for measurement of thermal conductivity. This apparatus is based on an absolute steady-state technique and is suitable for measuring specimens with thermal conductivities in the range from to and at temperatures between and . A uniform heat flow is induced in a cylindrical bar-shaped specimen that is firmly clamped between a guarded heater unit at the top and a water-cooled base. Heat is supplied at a known rate at the top end of the specimen by the heater unit and constrained to flow axially through the specimen by a surrounding edge-guard system, which is closely matched to the temperature gradient within the test specimen. The performance of this apparatus has been checked against existing NPL thermal-conductivity reference materials NPL 2S89 (based on Stainless Steel 310) and BSC Pure Iron (pure iron supplied by the British Steel Corporation with 99.96 % purity). The measured data produced by the newly designed NPL axial heat flow apparatus agree with the reference data for NPL 2S89 within 2 % and with that of BSC Pure Iron to within 3 % at temperatures from to . This apparatus is being used to provide accurate measurements to industrial and academic organizations and has also been used to develop a new range of NPL reference materials for checking other experimental techniques and procedures for thermal-conductivity measurements.

Overall Water Splitting with Room-Temperature Synthesized NiFe Oxyfluoride Nanoporous Films

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

Liang, Kun; Guo, Limin; Marcus, Kyle

Freestanding and lightweight thin-films were rationally designed to serve as robust electrodes for renewable energy applications. A facile and scalable nanomanufacturing process was developed to fabricate these transformative thin-film electrodes (iron group mixed oxides) that exhibit a nanoporous structure and controllable composition. More specifically, electrodeposition and anodic treatments were employed to produce freestanding and lightweight metal oxides nanoporous layers (NPL). These NPL can be directly used as flexible and additive-free electrodes for renewable energy generation (water splitting) and storage (supercapacitor) applications without requiring binders and current collector and other additives. Significantly enhanced electrochemical performance was achieved due to the uniquemore » merits of the NPL: i) highly porous structure considerably increases the electrode/electrolyte interface, which facilitate electrochemical reactions; ii) NPL substantially increase the number of active sites that are favorable in electrochemical reactions; iii) residual metal network within the NPL forms a conductive framework, drastically improving electrode strength, flexibility and conductivity.« less

Preliminary evidence for linkage to chromosome 1q31-32, 10q23.3, and 16p13.3 in a South African cohort with bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Savitz, Jonathan; Cupido, Cinda-Lee; Ramesar, Raj Kumar

2007-04-05

Although the genetic variants predisposing to the development of bipolar disorder (BPD) have yet to be conclusively identified, replicated reports of linkage to particular chromosomal regions have been encouraging. Here we carried out a non-parametric linkage analysis of nine of these candidate loci in a unique South African sample of 47 BPD pedigrees (N = 350). Three polymorphic markers per region of interest (3 x 9) were typed in a Caucasian cohort of Afrikaner and British origin. Statistically significant evidence for linkage was obtained at 1q31-32, 10q23.3, and 16p13.3 with maximum NPL scores of 2.52, 2.01, and 1.84, respectively. Our results add to the growing evidence that these chromosomal regions harbor genetic variants that play a role in the development of bipolar spectrum illness. Negative results were obtained for the remaining six candidate loci, possibly due to limited statistical power. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Superfund: National Priorities List (NPL)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Sites are listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening, public solicitation of comments about the proposed site, and after all public comments have been addressed.

An evaluation in a modern wind tunnel of the transonic adaptive wall adjustment strategy developed by NPL in the 1940's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, M. C.

1988-01-01

The first documented wind tunnel employing a flexible walled test section for the purpose of eliminating wall interference was constructed in England by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) during the late 1930's. The tunnel was transonic and designed for two-dimensional testing. In an attempt to eliminate the top and bottom wall interference effects on the model NPL developed a strategy to adjust two flexible walls to streamlined shapes. This report covers an evaluation of the NPL wall adjustment strategy in a modern wind tunnel, e.g., the Transonic Self-Streamlining Wind Tunnel (TSWT) at the University of Southampton, England. The evaluation took the form of performance comparisons with other modern strategies which have been developed for use in, and proven in, the TSWT.

NPL scoops £25m for advanced metrology centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh Chadha, Kulvinder

2013-03-01

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, UK, is to receive £25m towards the construction of an Advanced Metrology Laboratory (AML) that will contain up to 20 labs and be complete by 2017.

Abandoned Mine Lands: Site Information

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A catalogue of mining sites proposed for and listed on the NPL as well as mining sites being cleaned up using the Superfund Alternative Approach. Also mine sites not on the NPL but that have had removal or emergency response cleanup actions.

NPL-PAD (National Priorities List Publication Assistance Database) for Region 7

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

THIS DATA ASSET NO LONGER ACTIVE: This is metadata documentation for the National Priorities List (NPL) Publication Assistance Databsae (PAD), a Lotus Notes application that holds Region 7's universe of NPL site information such as site description, threats and contaminants, cleanup approach, environmental process, community involvement, site repository, and regional contacts. This database used to be updated annually, at different times for different NPLs, but it is currently no longer being used. This work fell under objectives for EPA's 2003-2008 Strategic Plan (Goal 3) for Land Preservation & Restoration, which are to clean up and reuse contaminated land.

The Conserved ATPase Get3/Arr4 Modulates the Activity of Membrane-Associated Proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PubMed Central

Auld, Kathryn L.; Hitchcock, Amy L.; Doherty, Hugh K.; Frietze, Seth; Huang, Linda S.; Silver, Pamela A.

2006-01-01

The regulation of cellular membrane dynamics is crucial for maintaining proper cell growth and division. The Cdc48-Npl4-Ufd1 complex is required for several regulated membrane-associated processes as part of the ubiquitin–proteasome system, including ER-associated degradation and the control of lipid composition in yeast. In this study we report the results of a genetic screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for extragenic suppressors of a temperature-sensitive npl4 allele and the subsequent analysis of one suppressor, GET3/ARR4. The GET3 gene encodes an ATPase with homology to the regulatory component of the bacterial arsenic pump. Mutants of GET3 rescue several phenotypes of the npl4 mutant and transcription of GET3 is coregulated with the proteasome, illustrating a functional relationship between GET3 and NPL4 in the ubiquitin–proteasome system. We have further found that Get3 biochemically interacts with the trans-membrane domain proteins Get1/Mdm39 and Get2/Rmd7 and that Δget3 is able to suppress phenotypes of get1 and get2 mutants, including sporulation defects. In combination, our characterization of GET3 genetic and biochemical interactions with NPL4, GET1, and GET2 implicates Get3 in multiple membrane-dependent pathways. PMID:16816426

Investigations at INRIM on a Pd-C cell manufactured by NPL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battuello, M.; Florio, M.; Machin, G.

2011-10-01

One of a set of metal-carbon eutectic cells (a Pd-C cell, 1765 K) manufactured by NPL and used for a previous comparison of temperature scales with NIST has been investigated at INRIM. There it was implemented in two different furnaces, namely a single- and a three-zone, and measured with a standard radiation thermometer operating at 900 nm and 950 nm. Both ITS-90 and thermodynamic melting temperatures of the cell were determined by means of an extrapolation approach. The thermodynamic temperature differs by only -0.31 K from the NIST value whereas the ITS-90 temperature differs by only -0.46 K from the NPL value. The agreements, within the combined expanded uncertainties, are particularly significant, because of the different approach followed at INRIM, namely the extrapolation of multi-fixed-point scales (n = 3 and n = 4), as compared with a direct radiometric method at NIST and an ITS-90 realization traceable to the gold point at NPL.

Results of Testing the Relative Oxidizing Hazard of Wipes and KMI Zeolite

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

Ams, Bridget Elaine

This report includes the results from testing performed on the relative oxidizing hazard of a number of organic sorbing wipe materials, as well as KMI zeolite. These studies were undertaken to address a need by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Hazardous Materials Management group, which requires a material that can sorb small spills in a glovebox without creating a disposal hazard due to the potential for oxidation reactions, as requested in Request for Testing of Wipes and Zeolite for Los Alamos National Laboratory Hazardous Materials Group (NPl-7) (NPl-7-17-002) and Request for Testing of Chamois Material for Los Alamos Nationalmore » Laboratory Hazardous Materials Group (NPl-7) (NPl-7-17-005). This set oftests is a continuation of previous testing described in Results from Preparation and Testing of Sorbents Mixed with (DWT-RPT-003), which provided data for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Basis of Knowledge. The Basis of Knowledge establishes criteria for evaluating transuranic (TRU) waste that contains oxidizing chemicals.« less

REGION 8 NPL SITE BOUNDARIES 2003

EPA Science Inventory

The National Priorities List is a list published by EPA ranking all of the Superfund sites. A site must be added to this list before remediation can begin under Superfund. The polygons in this coverage represent the location of the 'functional extent' of each NPL site a...

Guidance: Policy for Municipality and MSW CERCLA Settlements at NPL Co-Disposal Sites

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Transmittal memorandum and policy supplementing the 9/30/89 Interim Policy on CERCLA Settlements Involving Municipalities and Municipal Wastes. 1998 MSW Policy states that EPA will continue its policy of generally not identifying generators and transporters of MSW as PRPs at NPL sites.

FOCUSED FEASIBILITY STUDY OF PHYTOREMEDIATION ALTERNATIVE FOR THE INDUSTRIAL EXCESS LANDFILL SITE IN STARK COUNTY, OHIO.

EPA Science Inventory

Focused feasibility study of phytoremediation alternative for the Industrial Excess Landfill site in Stark County, Ohio. More information can be found on the NPL Fact Sheet for this site at www.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/ohio/OHD000377971.htm

REGION 8 NPL SITE LOCATIONS 2003

EPA Science Inventory

The National Priorities List is a list published by EPA ranking all of the Superfund sites. A site must be added to this list before remediation can begin under Superfund. The points in this file represent the location of the 'functional extent' of each NPL site as defi...

Meta-analysis of genome-wide linkage studies in BMI and obesity.

PubMed

Saunders, Catherine L; Chiodini, Benedetta D; Sham, Pak; Lewis, Cathryn M; Abkevich, Victor; Adeyemo, Adebowale A; de Andrade, Mariza; Arya, Rector; Berenson, Gerald S; Blangero, John; Boehnke, Michael; Borecki, Ingrid B; Chagnon, Yvon C; Chen, Wei; Comuzzie, Anthony G; Deng, Hong-Wen; Duggirala, Ravindranath; Feitosa, Mary F; Froguel, Philippe; Hanson, Robert L; Hebebrand, Johannes; Huezo-Dias, Patricia; Kissebah, Ahmed H; Li, Weidong; Luke, Amy; Martin, Lisa J; Nash, Matthew; Ohman, Miina; Palmer, Lyle J; Peltonen, Leena; Perola, Markus; Price, R Arlen; Redline, Susan; Srinivasan, Sathanur R; Stern, Michael P; Stone, Steven; Stringham, Heather; Turner, Stephen; Wijmenga, Cisca; Collier, David A

2007-09-01

The objective was to provide an overall assessment of genetic linkage data of BMI and BMI-defined obesity using a nonparametric genome scan meta-analysis. We identified 37 published studies containing data on over 31,000 individuals from more than >10,000 families and obtained genome-wide logarithm of the odds (LOD) scores, non-parametric linkage (NPL) scores, or maximum likelihood scores (MLS). BMI was analyzed in a pooled set of all studies, as a subgroup of 10 studies that used BMI-defined obesity, and for subgroups ascertained through type 2 diabetes, hypertension, or subjects of European ancestry. Bins at chromosome 13q13.2- q33.1, 12q23-q24.3 achieved suggestive evidence of linkage to BMI in the pooled analysis and samples ascertained for hypertension. Nominal evidence of linkage to these regions and suggestive evidence for 11q13.3-22.3 were also observed for BMI-defined obesity. The FTO obesity gene locus at 16q12.2 also showed nominal evidence for linkage. However, overall distribution of summed rank p values <0.05 is not different from that expected by chance. The strongest evidence was obtained in the families ascertained for hypertension at 9q31.1-qter and 12p11.21-q23 (p < 0.01). Despite having substantial statistical power, we did not unequivocally implicate specific loci for BMI or obesity. This may be because genes influencing adiposity are of very small effect, with substantial genetic heterogeneity and variable dependence on environmental factors. However, the observation that the FTO gene maps to one of the highest ranking bins for obesity is interesting and, while not a validation of this approach, indicates that other potential loci identified in this study should be investigated further.

Intercomparison of standards of absorbed dose between the USSR and the UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berlyand, V. A.; Bregadze, J. I.; Burns, J. E.; Dusautoy, A. R.; Sharpe, P. H. G.

1991-05-01

A comparison of national standards of absorbed dose was carried out between the All-Union Research Institute for Physical Technical and Radiotechnical Measurements (VNIIFTRI), USSR, and the National Physical Laboratotry (NPL), UK (United Kingdom). Absorbed dose to water for cobalt 60 gamma radiation was compared by means of Fricke dosimeters and ionization chambers in 1985 and 1986. The primary standards used to derive absorbed dose to water were cavity ionization chambers at NPL and a graphite calorimeter at VNIIFTRI. The ratio of absorbed dose to water, NPL to VNIIFTRI, using Fricke dosimeters was 1.008; using ionization chambers it was 1.007. This agreement is within the estimated uncertainties of the standards and measurement methods.

Tabulation of data from tests of an NPL 9510 airfoil in the Langley 0.3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, R. V.

1983-01-01

The tabulated data from tests of a six inch chord NPL 9510 airfoil in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel. The tests were performed over the following range of conditions: Mach numbers of 0.35 to 0.82, total temperature of 94 K to 300 K, total pressure of 1.20 to 5.81 atm, Reynolds number based on chord of 1.34 x 10 to the 6th to 48.23 x 10 to the 6th, and angle of attack of 0 deg to 6 deg. The NPL 9510 airfoil was observed to have decreasing drag coefficient up to the highest test Reynolds number.

Complex of Fas-associated Factor 1 (FAF1) with Valosin-containing Protein (VCP)-Npl4-Ufd1 and Polyubiquitinated Proteins Promotes Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Degradation (ERAD)*

PubMed Central

Lee, Jae-Jin; Park, Joon Kyu; Jeong, Jaeho; Jeon, Hyesung; Yoon, Jong-Bok; Kim, Eunice EunKyeong; Lee, Kong-Joo

2013-01-01

Fas-associated factor 1 (FAF1) is a ubiquitin receptor containing multiple ubiquitin-related domains including ubiquitin-associated (UBA), ubiquitin-like (UBL) 1, UBL2, and ubiquitin regulatory X (UBX). We previously showed that N-terminal UBA domain recognizes Lys48-ubiquitin linkage to recruit polyubiquitinated proteins and that a C-terminal UBX domain interacts with valosin-containing protein (VCP). This study shows that FAF1 interacts only with VCP complexed with Npl4-Ufd1 heterodimer, a requirement for the recruitment of polyubiquitinated proteins to UBA domain. Intriguingly, VCP association to C-terminal UBX domain regulates ubiquitin binding to N-terminal UBA domain without direct interaction between UBA and UBX domains. These interactions are well characterized by structural and biochemical analysis. VCP-Npl4-Ufd1 complex is known as the machinery required for endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. We demonstrate here that FAF1 binds to VCP-Npl4-Ufd1 complex via UBX domain and polyubiquitinated proteins via UBA domain to promote endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. PMID:23293021

Correlating Inertial Acoustic Cavitation Emissions with Material Erosion Resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibanez, I.; Hodnett, M.; Zeqiri, B.; Frota, M. N.

The standard ASTM G32-10 concerns the hydrodynamic cavitation erosion resistance of materials by subjecting them to acoustic cavitation generated by a sonotrode. The work reported extends this technique by detecting and monitoring the ultrasonic cavitation, considered responsible for the erosion process, specifically for coupons of aluminium-bronze alloy. The study uses a 65 mm diameter variant of NPL's cavitation sensor, which detects broadband acoustic emissions, and logs acoustic signals generated in the MHz frequency range, using NPL's Cavimeter. Cavitation readings were made throughout the exposure duration, which was carried out at discrete intervals (900 to 3600 s), allowing periodic mass measurements to be made to assess erosion loss under a strict protocol. Cavitation measurements and erosion were compared for different separations of the sonotrode tip from the material under test. The maximum variation associated with measurement of cavitation level was between 2.2% and 3.3% when the separation (λ) between the transducer horn and the specimen increased from 0.5 to 1.0 mm, for a transducer (sonotrode) displacement amplitude of 43.5 μm. Experiments conducted at the same transducer displacement amplitude show that the mass loss of the specimen -a measure of erosion- was 67.0 mg (λ = 0.5 mm) and 66.0 mg (λ = 1.0 mm).

Visualization of melanoma tumor with lectin-conjugated rare-earth doped fluoride nanocrystals

PubMed Central

Dumych, Tetiana; Lutsyk, Maxym; Banski, Mateusz; Yashchenko, Antonina; Sojka, Bartlomiej; Horbay, Rostyslav; Lutsyk, Alexander; Stoika, Rostyslav; Misiewicz, Jan; Podhorodecki, Artur; Bilyy, Rostyslav

2014-01-01

Aim To develop specific fluorescent markers for melanoma tumor visualization, which would provide high selectivity and reversible binding pattern, by the use of carbohydrate-recognizing proteins, lectins, combined with the physical ability for imaging deep in the living tissues by utilizing red and near infrared fluorescent properties of specific rare-earth doped nanocrystals (NC). Methods B10F16 melanoma cells were inoculated to C57BL/6 mice for inducing experimental melanoma tumor. Tumors were removed and analyzed by lectin-histochemistry using LABA, PFA, PNA, HPA, SNA, GNA, and NPL lectins and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. NPL lectin was conjugated to fluorescent NaGdF4:Eu3+-COOH nanoparticles (5 nm) via zero length cross-linking reaction, and the conjugates were purified from unbound substances and then used for further visualization of histological samples. Fluorescent microscopy was used to visualize NPL-NaGdF4:Eu3+ with the fluorescent emission at 600-720 nm range. Results NPL lectin selectively recognized regions of undifferentiated melanoblasts surrounding neoangiogenic foci inside melanoma tumor, PNA lectin recognized differentiated melanoblasts, and LCA and WGA were bound to tumor stroma regions. NPL-NaGdF4:Eu3+ conjugated NC were efficiently detecting newly formed regions of melanoma tumor, confirmed by fluorescent microscopy in visible and near infrared mode. These conjugates possessed high photostability and were compatible with convenient xylene-based mounting systems and preserved intensive fluorescent signal at samples storage for at least 6 months. Conclusion NPL lectin-NaGdF4:Eu3+ conjugated NC permitted distinct identification of contours of the melanoma tissue on histological sections using red excitation at 590-610 nm and near infrared emission of 700-720 nm. These data are of potential practical significance for development of glycans-conjugated nanoparticles to be used for in vivo visualization of melanoma tumor. PMID:24891277

A miniature TDCR system dedicated to in-situ activity assay.

PubMed

Johansson, Lena; Bakhshandeiar, Eleanor; Pearce, Andy; Collins, Sean; Orlandini, Pascal; Sephton, John

2014-05-01

In the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), the Joint Research Project MetroFission has a dedicated work package for the development of a portable Triple-to-Double-Coincidence-Ratio (TDCR) system dedicated to in-situ activity measurements of low-energy beta emitters arising from the operation of the next generation of nuclear power plants. In the design phase of the NPL version of the mini-TDCR, a wide range of metrological aspects and detector types was considered. This paper summarizes these aspects of design, in the light of previous experience with the primary TDCR system at NPL. For example, in this miniature version of the TDCR, the optical chamber was simplified and cylindrical geometry was deemed sufficient. The reflectivity of the surface was increased by painted layers of Spectraflect(®), a specially formulated barium sulphate coating with high reflectivity across a wide range of wave lengths including UV. This option was chosen rather than the high performing and more expensive Spectralon(®) material used for the primary NPL TDCR. The miniature TDCR system is intended for on-site monitoring and will not require as high a performance as the primary system. Other factors that were considered included sample changing, light tightness, type of photo detector, method for varying the detection efficiency, shielding and the possible addition of an internal gamma-ray source for determination of the quench parameter of the source. In this version, the sample changing is performed using a piston and an automatic shutter. Significant design effort has been applied to ensure minimal ingress of light from the piston. Efficiency variation is accomplished by increasing the vertical displacement of the vial. Provision has been made to automate this at a later stage. Maximum light transmission to the photo-multiplier tubes is obtained at the "zero" reference height. Validation measurements were successfully performed using four different radionuclides: (3)H, (241)Pu, (63)Ni, and (99)Tc. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

75 FR 26131 - National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-11

... publishing a direct final Notice of Deletion of the Asbestos Dump Superfund Site (Site), located in Long Hill... Deletion of the Asbestos Dump Superfund site (Site), from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL... discusses the Asbestos Dump Superfund Site and demonstrates how it meets the deletion criteria. Section V...

77 FR 37630 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-22

... in other nearby soil samples. Surface water within three (3) miles downstream of the Site is used for... Superfund Site and demonstrates how it meets the deletion criteria. II. NPL Deletion Criteria The NCP... of a site from the NPL does not in any way alter EPA's right to take enforcement actions, as...

Remedial Design Optimization Review Report: East 67th Street Ground Water Plume NPL Site, Odessa, Ector County, Texas, EPA Region 6

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The East 67th Street Ground Water Plume Superfund Site (East 67th Street Site) is located in Odessa, Ector County, Texas in EPA Region 6. The site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) on March 7, 2007, and is managed as a fund-lead site.

Characteristics of a newly released runner-type peanut cultivar ‘AU-NPL 17’

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Auburn University- National Peanut Laboratory (‘AU-NPL 17’) was developed from a pure line population intended for cultivar release. The original pure line, AU14-29, originated as an F6 single-plant selection from the cross of Tifguard (Holbrook, et al. 2008) x York (Gorbet, et al., 2011) and was c...

A Distinct and Parallel Pathway for the Nuclear Import of an mRNA-binding Protein

PubMed Central

Pemberton, Lucy F.; Rosenblum, Jonathan S.; Blobel, Günter

1997-01-01

Three independent pathways of nuclear import have so far been identified in yeast, each mediated by cognate nuclear transport factors, or karyopherins. Here we have characterized a new pathway to the nucleus, mediated by Mtr10p, a protein first identified in a screen for strains defective in polyadenylated RNA export. Mtr10p is shown to be responsible for the nuclear import of the shuttling mRNA-binding protein Npl3p. A complex of Mtr10p and Npl3p was detected in cytosol, and deletion of Mtr10p was shown to lead to the mislocalization of nuclear Npl3p to the cytoplasm, correlating with a block in import. Mtr10p bound peptide repeat-containing nucleoporins and Ran, suggesting that this import pathway involves a docking step at the nuclear pore complex and is Ran dependent. This pathway of Npl3p import is distinct and does not appear to overlap with another known import pathway for an mRNA-binding protein. Thus, at least two parallel pathways function in the import of mRNA-binding proteins, suggesting the need for the coordination of these pathways. PMID:9412460

Letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about potentially adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Feb. 23, 2016: added letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

The IPEM code of practice for determination of the reference air kerma rate for HDR 192Ir brachytherapy sources based on the NPL air kerma standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bidmead, A. M.; Sander, T.; Locks, S. M.; Lee, C. D.; Aird, E. G. A.; Nutbrown, R. F.; Flynn, A.

2010-06-01

This paper contains the recommendations of the high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy working party of the UK Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM). The recommendations consist of a Code of Practice (COP) for the UK for measuring the reference air kerma rate (RAKR) of HDR 192Ir brachytherapy sources. In 2004, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) commissioned a primary standard for the realization of RAKR of HDR 192Ir brachytherapy sources. This has meant that it is now possible to calibrate ionization chambers directly traceable to an air kerma standard using an 192Ir source (Sander and Nutbrown 2006 NPL Report DQL-RD 004 (Teddington: NPL) http://publications.npl.co.uk). In order to use the source specification in terms of either RAKR, \\dot K_R (ICRU 1985 ICRU Report No 38 (Washington, DC: ICRU); ICRU 1997 ICRU Report No 58 (Bethesda, MD: ICRU)), or air kerma strength, SK (Nath et al 1995 Med. Phys. 22 209-34), it has been necessary to develop algorithms that can calculate the dose at any point around brachytherapy sources within the patient tissues. The AAPM TG-43 protocol (Nath et al 1995 Med. Phys. 22 209-34) and the 2004 update TG-43U1 (Rivard et al 2004 Med. Phys. 31 633-74) have been developed more fully than any other protocol and are widely used in commercial treatment planning systems. Since the TG-43 formalism uses the quantity air kerma strength, whereas this COP uses RAKR, a unit conversion from RAKR to air kerma strength was included in the appendix to this COP. It is recommended that the measured RAKR determined with a calibrated well chamber traceable to the NPL 192Ir primary standard is used in the treatment planning system. The measurement uncertainty in the source calibration based on the system described in this COP has been reduced considerably compared to other methods based on interpolation techniques.

Scintigraphic Evaluation of Esophageal Motility and Gastroesophageal Reflux in Patients Presenting with Upper Respiratory Tract Symptoms

PubMed Central

Amalachandran, Jaykanth; Simon, Shelley; Elangoven, Indirani; Jain, Avani; Sivathapandi, Thangalakshmi

2018-01-01

Purpose of Study: The purpose is to evaluate the findings and utility of esophageal transit scintigraphy (ETS) and gastroesophageal reflux scintigraphy (GES) in patients presenting with upper respiratory tract (URT) symptoms suspected to be due to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) disease. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients aged between 19 and 60 years underwent nasopharyngolaryngoscopy (NPL), ETS, and GES. Correlation between GER, esophageal motility, and NPL was evaluated. Inclusion criteria include patients with recurrent URT symptoms such as chronic dry cough/hoarseness of voice and itching/foreign body sensation in throat. Those with typical gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms of GER, URT symptoms relieved by antibiotics, surgical intervention in abdomen, cardiac/hepatobiliary diseases, etc. were excluded from the study. Results: Significant correlation was found between GER and NPL in 28/30 patients. More the grade of reflux, more severe was the NPL findings. Two patients with Grade II reflux had normal NPL suggesting structural inflammatory changes due to acidic pH of refluxate which have not yet manifested or symptoms could be due to nonacid refluxate. Incidence of esophageal motility disorder was statistically significant in patients with GER disease (GERD). Patients who had symptoms, but no demonstrable GER showed delayed ET in supine position suggesting the presence of esophageal motility disorder even before GERD. Conclusion: GES demonstrated GER in patients presenting with URT symptoms without typical GI symptoms. ETS showed coexistence of esophageal motility disorder in most patients presenting with URT symptoms even without an associated reflux disease. We hypothesize that primary abnormal esophageal motility leads to delayed esophageal clearance and consequently to URT symptoms. Addition of ETS to GES is easily feasible with no significant additional cost, time, or radiation burden. PMID:29430111

Metrological Characterization of the Vickers Hardness Primary Standard Machine Established at CSIR-NPL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titus, S. Seelakumar; Vikram; Girish; Jain, Sushil Kumar

2018-06-01

CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) is the National Metrological Institute (NMI) of India, which has the mandate for the realization of SI units of measurements and dissemination of the same to the user organizations. CSIR-NPL has established a hardness standardizing machine for realizing the Vickers hardness scale as per ISO 6507-3 standard for providing national traceability in hardness measurement. Direct verification of the machine has been carried out by measuring the uncertainty in the generated force, the indenter geometry and the indentation measuring system. From these measurements, it is found that the machine exhibits a calibration and measurement capability (CMC) of ±1.5% for HV1-HV3 scales and ±1.0% for HV5-HV50 scales and ±0.8% for HV100 scale.

Calorimetry of electron beams and the calibration of dosimeters at high doses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humphreys, J. C.; McLaughlin, W. L.

Graphite or metal calorimeters are used to make absolute dosimetric measurements of high-energy electron beams. These calibrated beams are then used to calibrate several types of dosimeters for high-dose applications such as medical-product sterilization, polymer modification, food processing, or electronic-device hardness testing. The electron beams are produced either as continuous high-power beams at approximately 4.5 MeV by d.c. type accelerators or in the energy range of approximately 8 to 50 MeV using pulsed microwave linear accelerators (linacs). The continuous beams are generally magnetically scanned to produce a broad, uniform radiation environment for the processing of materials of extended lateral dimensions. The higher-energy pulsed beams may also be scanned for processing applications or may be used in an unscanned, tightly-focused mode to produce maximum absorbed dose rates such as may be required for electronic-device radiation hardness testing. The calorimeters are used over an absorbed dose range of 10 2 to 10 4 Gy. Intercomparison studies are reported between National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL) graphite disk calorimeters at high doses, using the NPL 10-MeV linac, and agreement was found within 1.5%. It was also shown that the electron-beam responses of radiochromic film dosimeters and alanine pellet dosimeters can be accurately calibrated by comparison with calorimeter readings.

Genetic evidence of multiple loci in dystocia - difficult labour

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Dystocia, difficult labour, is a common but also complex problem during childbirth. It can be attributed to either weak contractions of the uterus, a large infant, reduced capacity of the pelvis or combinations of these. Previous studies have indicated that there is a genetic component in the susceptibility of experiencing dystocia. The purpose of this study was to identify susceptibility genes in dystocia. Methods A total of 104 women in 47 families were included where at least two sisters had undergone caesarean section at a gestational length of 286 days or more at their first delivery. Study of medical records and a telephone interview was performed to identify subjects with dystocia. Whole-genome scanning using Affymetrix genotyping-arrays and non-parametric linkage (NPL) analysis was made in 39 women exhibiting the phenotype of dystocia from 19 families. In 68 women re-sequencing was performed of candidate genes showing suggestive linkage: oxytocin (OXT) on chromosome 20 and oxytocin-receptor (OXTR) on chromosome 3. Results We found a trend towards linkage with suggestive NPL-score (3.15) on chromosome 12p12. Suggestive linkage peaks were observed on chromosomes 3, 4, 6, 10, 20. Re-sequencing of OXT and OXTR did not reveal any causal variants. Conclusions Dystocia is likely to have a genetic component with variations in multiple genes affecting the patient outcome. We found 6 loci that could be re-evaluated in larger patient cohorts. PMID:20587075

Time and Frequency Activities at the National Physical Laboratory

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-12-01

TWSTFT ) time transfers are routinely forwarded to BIPM. The TWSTFT and GPS common-view measurements are used in the calculation of TAI. During recent...accuracy time and frequency dissemination methods in the UK. Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer ( TWSTFT ) has been under development at NPL...since 1992, and regular TWSTFT sessions began in 1993. NPL was heavily involved in the early TWSTFT work, in particular studies of closing errors

Some experience with Barnwell-Sewall type correction to two-dimensional airfoil data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenkins, R. V.

1984-01-01

A series of airfoils were tested in the Langley 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel (TCT) at Reynolds numbers from 2 to 50 million. The 0.3-m TCT is equipped with Barnwell slots designed to minimize blockage due to the tunnel flow and ceiling. This design suggests that sidewall corrections for blockage is needed, and that a lifting airfoil produces a change in angle of attack. Sidewall correction methods were developed for subsonic and subsonic-transonic flow. Comparisons of theory with experimental data obtained in the 0.3-m TCT for two airfoils, the British NPL 9510 and the German R-4 are presented. The NPL 9510 was tested as part of the NASA/United Kingdom Joint Aeronautical Program and R-4 was tested as part f the DFVLR/NASA Advanced Airfoil Research Program. For the NPL 9510 airfoil, only those test points that one would anticipate being difficult to predict theoretically are presented.

PHOTON SPECTRA IN NPL STANDARD RADIONUCLIDE NEUTRON FIELDS.

PubMed

Roberts, N J

2017-09-23

A HPGe detector has been used to measure the photon spectra from the majority of radionuclide neutron sources in use at NPL (252Cf, 241Am-Be, 241Am-Li, 241Am-B). The HPGe was characterised then modelled to produce a response matrix. The measured pulse height spectra were then unfolded to produce photon fluence spectra. Changes in the photon spectrum with time from a 252Cf source are evident. Spectra from a 2-year-old and 42-year-old 252Cf source are presented showing the change from a continuum to peaks from long-lived isotopes of Cf. Other radionuclide neutron source spectra are also presented and discussed. The new spectra were used to improve the photon to neutron dose equivalent ratios from some earlier work at NPL with GM tubes and EPDs. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Sanity check for NN bound states in lattice QCD with Lüscher's finite volume formula - Disclosing Symptoms of Fake Plateaux -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, Sinya; Doi, Takumi; Iritani, Takumi

2018-03-01

The sanity check is to rule out certain classes of obviously false results, not to catch every possible error. After reviewing such a sanity check for NN bound states with the Lüscher's finite volume formula [1-3], we give further evidences for the operator dependence of plateaux, a symptom of the fake plateau problem, against the claim [4]. We then present our critical comments on [5] by NPLQCD: (i) Operator dependences of plateaux in NPL2013 [6, 7] exist with the P value of 4-5%. (ii) The volume independence of plateaux in NPL2013 does not prove their correctness. (iii) Effective range expansions (EREs) in NPL2013 violate the physical pole condition. (iv) Their comment is partly based on new data and analysis different from the original ones. (v) Their new ERE does not satisfy the Lüscher's finite volume formula.

Trilateral Intercomparison of Photometric Units Maintained at NIST (USA), NPL (UK), and PTB (Germany)

PubMed Central

Ohno, Yoshi; Goodman, Teresa; Sauter, Georg

1999-01-01

A trilateral intercomparison of photometric units between NIST (USA), NPL (UK), and PTB (Germany) has been conducted to update the knowledge of the relationship between the photometric units disseminated in the three countries. The luminous intensity unit (cd), the luminous responsivity scale (A/lx), and the luminous flux unit (lm) maintained at each laboratory were compared by circulating transfer standard lamps and photometers. The results showed that the relative luminous intensity values, with respect to the average, measured by NIST, NPL, and PTB were 1.0014, 1.0021, and 0.9966; the relative inverse values of the luminous responsivity (corresponding to illuminance) were 1.0023, 1.0011, and 0.9965; the relative luminous flux values were 0.9994, 1.0034, and 0.9972, respectively. The results agreed within the stated uncertainties of the units maintained at the three laboratories.

Calibration of the NPL secondary standard radionuclide calibrator for 32P, 89Sr and 90Y

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woods, M. J.; Munster, A. S.; Sephton, J. P.; Lucas, S. E. M.; Walsh, C. Paton

1996-02-01

Pure beta particle emitting radionuclides have many therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine. The response of the NPL secondary standard radionuclide calibrator to 32P, 89Sr and 90Y has been measured using accurately calibrated solutions. For this purpose, high efficiency solid sources were prepared gravimetrically from dilute solutions of each radionuclide and assayed in a 4π proportional counter; the source activities were determined using known detection efficiency factors. Measurements were made of the current response (pA/MBq) of the NPL secondary standard radionuclide calibrator using the original concentrated solutions. Calibration figures have been derived for 2 and 5 ml British Standard glass ampoules and Amersham International plc P6 vials. Volume correction factors have also been determined. Gamma-ray emitting contaminants can have a disproportionate effect on the calibrator response and particular attention has been paid to this.

Nucleoplasmin-like domain of FKBP39 from Drosophila melanogaster forms a tetramer with partly disordered tentacle-like C-terminal segments

PubMed Central

Kozłowska, Małgorzata; Tarczewska, Aneta; Jakób, Michał; Bystranowska, Dominika; Taube, Michał; Kozak, Maciej; Czarnocki-Cieciura, Mariusz; Dziembowski, Andrzej; Orłowski, Marek; Tkocz, Katarzyna; Ożyhar, Andrzej

2017-01-01

Nucleoplasmins are a nuclear chaperone family defined by the presence of a highly conserved N-terminal core domain. X-ray crystallographic studies of isolated nucleoplasmin core domains revealed a β-propeller structure consisting of a set of five monomers that together form a stable pentamer. Recent studies on isolated N-terminal domains from Drosophila 39-kDa FK506-binding protein (FKBP39) and from other chromatin-associated proteins showed analogous, nucleoplasmin-like (NPL) pentameric structures. Here, we report that the NPL domain of the full-length FKBP39 does not form pentameric complexes. Multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation (SE AUC) analyses of the molecular mass of the full-length protein indicated that FKBP39 forms homotetrameric complexes. Molecular models reconstructed from small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) revealed that the NPL domain forms a stable, tetrameric core and that FK506-binding domains are linked to it by intrinsically disordered, flexible chains that form tentacle-like segments. Analyses of full-length FKBP39 and its isolated NPL domain suggested that the distal regions of the polypeptide chain influence and determine the quaternary conformation of the nucleoplasmin-like protein. These results provide new insights regarding the conserved structure of nucleoplasmin core domains and provide a potential explanation for the importance of the tetrameric structural organization of full-length nucleoplasmins. PMID:28074868

Structural studies of a crystalline insulin analog complex with protamine by atomic force microscopy.

PubMed Central

Yip, C M; Brader, M L; Frank, B H; DeFelippis, M R; Ward, M D

2000-01-01

Crystallographic studies of insulin-protamine complexes, such as neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin, have been hampered by high crystal solvent content, small crystal dimensions, and extensive disorder in the protamine molecules. We report herein in situ tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) studies of crystalline neutral protamine Lys(B28)Pro(B29) (NPL), a complex of Lys(B28)Pro(B29) insulin, in which the C-terminal prolyl and lysyl residues of human insulin are inverted, and protamine that is used as an intermediate time-action therapy for treating insulin-dependent diabetes. Tapping mode AFM performed at 6 degrees C on bipyramidally tipped tetragonal rod-shaped NPL crystals revealed large micron-sized islands separated by 44-A tall steps. Lattice images obtained by in situ TMAFM phase and height imaging on these islands were consistent with the arrangement of individual insulin-protamine complexes on the P4(1)2(1)2 (110) crystal plane of NPH, based on a low-resolution x-ray diffraction structure of NPH, arguing that the NPH and NPL insulins are isostructural. Superposition of the height and phase images indicated that tip-sample adhesion was larger in the interstices between NPL complexes in the (110) crystal plane than over the individual complexes. These results demonstrate the utility of low-temperature TMAFM height and phase imaging for the structural characterization of biomolecular complexes. PMID:10620310

Co-Administration of TiO2 Nanowired Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Cerebrolysin Potentiates Neprilysin Level and Reduces Brain Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Sharma, Hari Shanker; Muresanu, Dafin Fior; Lafuente, José Vicente; Patnaik, Ranjana; Tian, Z Ryan; Ozkizilcik, Asya; Castellani, Rudy J; Mössler, Herbert; Sharma, Aruna

2018-01-01

Neprilysin (NPL), the rate-limiting enzyme for amyloid beta peptide (AβP), appears to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and/or cerebrolysin (CBL, a combination of neurotrophic factors and active peptide fragments) have neuroprotective effects in various CNS disorders, we examined nanowired delivery of MSCs and CBL on NPL content and brain pathology in AD using a rat model. AD-like symptoms were produced by intraventricular (i.c.v.) administration of AβP (1-40) in the left lateral ventricle (250 ng/10 μl, once daily) for 4 weeks. After 30 days, the rats were examined for NPL and AβP concentrations in the brain and related pathology. Co-administration of TiO2-nanowired MSCs (10 6 cells) with 2.5 ml/kg CBL (i.v.) once daily for 1 week after 2 weeks of AβP infusion significantly increased the NPL in the hippocampus (400 pg/g) from the untreated control group (120 pg/g; control 420 ± 8 pg/g brain) along with a significant decrease in the AβP deposition (45 pg/g from untreated control 75 pg/g; saline control 40 ± 4 pg/g). Interestingly, these changes were much less evident when the MSCs or CBL treatment was given alone. Neuronal damages, gliosis, and myelin vesiculation were also markedly reduced by the combined treatment of TiO2, MSCs, and CBL in AD. These observations are the first to show that co-administration of TiO2-nanowired CBL and MSCs has superior neuroprotective effects in AD probably due to increasing the brain NPL level effectively, not reported earlier.

Real Property Survey, Federal Prison Camp Nellis, Las Vegas, Nevada

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-26

Release Frequency: Semi-Annually Uranium ore was mined by private companies for federal government use in national defense programs. When the mills...databases: FEDERA.L ASTM STANDARD NPL •••••.••.•. ---·--------- National Priority List Proposed NPL _ •••••••. •.. . . Proposed National Priority... National Priority List Deletions FINDS •• •••••••.. -----·-···-- Facility Index System/Facility Registry System HMIRS

Reliability of High-Temperature Fixed-Point Installations over 8 Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, C. J.; Ford, T.; Ongrai, O.; Pearce, J. V.

2017-12-01

At NPL, high-temperature metal-carbon eutectic fixed points have been set up for thermocouple calibration purposes since 2006, for realising reference temperatures above the highest point specified in the International Temperature Scale of 1990 for contact thermometer calibrations. Additionally, cells of the same design have been provided by NPL to other national measurement institutes (NMIs) and calibration laboratories over this period, creating traceable and ISO 17025 accredited facilities around the world for calibrating noble metal thermocouples at 1324 {°}C (Co-C) and 1492 {°}C (Pd-C). This paper shows collections of thermocouple calibration results obtained during use of the high-temperature fixed-point cells at NPL and, as further examples, the use of cells installed at CCPI Europe (UK) and NIMT (Thailand). The lifetime of the cells can now be shown to be in excess of 7 years, whether used on a weekly or monthly basis, and whether used in an NMI or industrial calibration laboratory.

Toxicological profile for jet fuels (JP-4 and JP-7)

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

NONE

1995-06-01

This statement was prepared to give you information about jet fuels JP-4 and JP-7 and to emphasize the human effects that may result from exposure to them. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,397 hazardous waste sites as the most serious in the nation. These sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term federal clean-up activities. JP-4 has been found in at least 4 of these sites. JP-7 has not been found in any NPL site.

The BNM-LPTF software for the frequency comparison of atomic clocks by the carrier phase of the GPS signal.

PubMed

Taris, F; Uhrich, P; Petit, G; Jiang, Z; Barillet, R; Hamouda, F

2000-01-01

This paper describes the software and equipment used at the Laboratoire Primaire du Temps et des Frequences du Bureau National de Metrologie (BNM-LPTF), Paris, France. Two H-masers in short baseline, one located at the BNM-LPTF and the other at the Laboratoire de l'Horloge Atomique du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS-LHA), Orsay, France, were computed in parallel with the BNM-LPTF software and with the BERNESE V 4.1 software. The comparison of the results issued from both computations shows an agreement within 100 ps (1 sigma). In addition, comparisons with the BNM-LPTF software were made over 10 days with the H-masers located at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany, and another at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, United Kingdom. The data collected show that a modulation with an amplitude of 50 ps and a period of 700-800 ps affects the equipment of the NPL. In addition, these comparisons show that the noise of the instruments together with the environmental conditions at the PTB was higher than that of the NPL and the BNM-LPTF during the observation period. The best relative frequency stability obtained, in the BNM-LPTF/NPL comparison, is about 3x10(-15) for averaging periods between 6x10(4) s and 3x10(5) s. This result is in good agreement with the expected stability of H-masers. It demonstrates that the noise brought by the GPS carrier phase measurements can be averaged out at this level.

Field programmable gate arrays-based number plate binarization and adjustment for automatic number plate recognition systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Xiaojun; Bensaali, Faycal; Sotudeh, Reza

2013-01-01

Number plate (NP) binarization and adjustment are important preprocessing stages in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems and are used to link the number plate localization (NPL) and character segmentation stages. Successfully linking these two stages will improve the performance of the entire ANPR system. We present two optimized low-complexity NP binarization and adjustment algorithms. Efficient area/speed architectures based on the proposed algorithms are also presented and have been successfully implemented and tested using the Mentor Graphics RC240 FPGA development board, which together require only 9% of the available on-chip resources of a Virtex-4 FPGA, run with a maximum frequency of 95.8 MHz and are capable of processing one image in 0.07 to 0.17 ms.

Health assessment for Colbert Landfill NPL (National Priorities List) Site, Spokane, Washington, Region 10. CERCLIS No. WAD980514541. Final report

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

Not Available

1988-07-25

The Colbert Landfill NPL site is located about fifteen miles north of Spokane, Washington. Area ground water is contaminated with several volatile organic chemicals. The medium of most concern regarding potential health effects is the ground water. Potential exposure pathways include ingestion and inhalation of volatiles from contaminated ground water and dermal exposure to contaminated ground water. The susceptible populations are remedial workers performing well water sampling on-site and populations off-site utilizing contaminated wells at levels that are of a potential health concern, for drinking, bathing, and irrigation purposes.

ATP Binding to p97/VCP D1 Domain Regulates Selective Recruitment of Adaptors to Its Proximal N-Domain

PubMed Central

Chia, Wei Sheng; Chia, Diana Xueqi; Rao, Feng; Bar Nun, Shoshana; Geifman Shochat, Susana

2012-01-01

p97/Valosin-containing protein (VCP) is a member of the AAA-ATPase family involved in many cellular processes including cell division, intracellular trafficking and extraction of misfolded proteins in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). It is a homohexamer with each subunit containing two tandem D1 and D2 ATPase domains and N- and C-terminal regions that function as adaptor protein binding domains. p97/VCP is directed to its many different functional pathways by associating with various adaptor proteins. The regulation of the recruitment of the adaptor proteins remains unclear. Two adaptor proteins, Ufd1/Npl4 and p47, which bind exclusively to the p97/VCP N-domain and direct p97/VCP to either ERAD-related processes or homotypic fusion of Golgi fragments, were studied here. Surface plasmon resonance biosensor-based assays allowed the study of binding kinetics in real time. In competition experiments, it was observed that in the presence of ATP, Ufd1/Npl4 was able to compete more effectively with p47 for binding to p97/VCP. By using non-hydrolysable ATP analogues and the hexameric truncated p97/N-D1 fragment, it was shown that binding rather than hydrolysis of ATP to the proximal D1 domain strengthened the Ufd1/Npl4 association with the N-domain, thus regulating the recruitment of either Ufd1/Npl4 or p47. This novel role of ATP and an assigned function to the D1 AAA-ATPase domain link the multiple functions of p97/VCP to the metabolic status of the cell. PMID:23226521

Chicken Fetal Liver DNA Damage and Adduct Formation by Activation-Dependent DNA-Reactive Carcinogens and Related Compounds of Several Structural Classes

PubMed Central

Williams, Gary M.; Duan, Jian-Dong; Brunnemann, Klaus D.; Iatropoulos, Michael J.; Vock, Esther; Deschl, Ulrich

2014-01-01

The chicken egg genotoxicity assay (CEGA), which utilizes the liver of an intact and aseptic embryo-fetal test organism, was evaluated using four activation-dependent DNA-reactive carcinogens and four structurally related less potent carcinogens or non-carcinogens. In the assay, three daily doses of test substances were administered to eggs containing 9–11-day-old fetuses and the fetal livers were assessed for two endpoints, DNA breaks using the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay and DNA adducts using the 32P-nucleotide postlabeling (NPL) assay. The effects of four carcinogens of different structures requiring distinct pathways of bioactivation, i.e., 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and diethylnitrosamine (DEN), were compared with structurally related non-carcinogens fluorene (FLU) and benzo[e]pyrene (B[e]P) or weak carcinogens, aflatoxin B2 (AFB2) and N-nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA). The four carcinogens all produced DNA breaks at microgram or low milligram total doses, whereas less potent carcinogens and non-carcinogens yielded borderline or negative results, respectively, at higher doses. AAF and B[a]P produced DNA adducts, whereas none was found with the related comparators FLU or B[e]P, consistent with comet results. DEN and NDELA were also negative for adducts, as expected in the case of DEN for an alkylating agent in the standard NPL assay. Also, AFB1 and AFB2 were negative in NPL, as expected, due to the nature of ring opened aflatoxin adducts, which are resistant to enzymatic digestion. Thus, the CEGA, using comet and NPL, is capable of detection of the genotoxicity of diverse DNA-reactive carcinogens, while not yielding false positives for non-carcinogens. PMID:24973097

ATP binding to p97/VCP D1 domain regulates selective recruitment of adaptors to its proximal N-domain.

PubMed

Chia, Wei Sheng; Chia, Diana Xueqi; Rao, Feng; Bar Nun, Shoshana; Geifman Shochat, Susana

2012-01-01

p97/Valosin-containing protein (VCP) is a member of the AAA-ATPase family involved in many cellular processes including cell division, intracellular trafficking and extraction of misfolded proteins in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). It is a homohexamer with each subunit containing two tandem D1 and D2 ATPase domains and N- and C-terminal regions that function as adaptor protein binding domains. p97/VCP is directed to its many different functional pathways by associating with various adaptor proteins. The regulation of the recruitment of the adaptor proteins remains unclear. Two adaptor proteins, Ufd1/Npl4 and p47, which bind exclusively to the p97/VCP N-domain and direct p97/VCP to either ERAD-related processes or homotypic fusion of Golgi fragments, were studied here. Surface plasmon resonance biosensor-based assays allowed the study of binding kinetics in real time. In competition experiments, it was observed that in the presence of ATP, Ufd1/Npl4 was able to compete more effectively with p47 for binding to p97/VCP. By using non-hydrolysable ATP analogues and the hexameric truncated p97/N-D1 fragment, it was shown that binding rather than hydrolysis of ATP to the proximal D1 domain strengthened the Ufd1/Npl4 association with the N-domain, thus regulating the recruitment of either Ufd1/Npl4 or p47. This novel role of ATP and an assigned function to the D1 AAA-ATPase domain link the multiple functions of p97/VCP to the metabolic status of the cell.

Simulation and characterization of silicon nanopillar-based nanoparticle sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasisto, Hutomo Suryo; Merzsch, Stephan; Huang, Kai; Stranz, Andrej; Waag, Andreas; Peiner, Erwin

2013-05-01

Nanopillar-based structures hold promise as highly sensitive resonant mass sensors for a new generation of aerosol nanoparticle (NP) detecting devices because of their very small masses. In this work, the possible use of a silicon nanopillar (SiNPL) array as a nanoparticle sensor is investigated. The sensor structures are created and simulated using a finite element modeling (FEM) tool of COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3 to study the resonant characteristics and the sensitivity of the SiNPL for femtogram NP mass detection. Instead of using 2D plate models or simple single 3D cylindrical pillar models, FEM is performed with SiNPLs in 3D structures based on the real geometry of experimental SiNPL arrays employing a piezoelectric stack for resonant excitation. In order to achieve an optimal structure and investigate the etching effect on the fabricated resonators, SiNPLs with different designs of meshes, sidewall profiles, lengths, and diameters are simulated and analyzed. To validate the FEM results, fabricated SiNPLs with a high aspect ratio of ~60 are employed and characterized in resonant frequency measurements. SiNPLs are mounted onto a piezoactuator inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) chamber which can excite SiNPLs into lateral vibration. The measured resonant frequencies of the SiNPLs with diameters about 650 nm and heights about 40 μm range from 434.63 kHz to 458.21 kHz, which agree well with those simulated by FEM. Furthermore, the deflection of a SiNPL can be enhanced by increasing the applied piezoactuator voltage. By depositing different NPs (i.e., carbon, TiO2, SiO2, Ag, and Au NPs) on the SiNPLs, the decrease of the resonant frequency is clearly shown confirming their potential to be used as airborne NP mass sensor with femtogram resolution level.

[Evaluation on running status of Chinese Polio Laboratories Network in 2008].

PubMed

Zhu, Shuang-li; Yan, Dong-mei; Zhu, Hui

2010-04-01

In order to evaluate the running status and provide the laboratory data for maintaining polio-free status in China, the virology surveillance database of Chinese Polio Laboratories Network (not include Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)in 2008 were analyzed. The case investigation data of Acute Flaccid Paralysis(AFP)cases reported by 31 provinces (municipal, autonomous regions) through EPI surveillance information management system and the database of National Polio Laboratory (NPL) were analyzed, and the indicators of running status of Chinese Polio Laboratories Network were evaluated. 10,116 stool samples were collected from 5116 AFP cases by Chinese Polio Laboratories Network in 2008, and viral isolation and identification of all stool samples were done according to 4th World Health Organization (WHO) Polio Laboratory Manual. The rate of viral isolation and identification performed within 28d was 94.9%. 189 polioviruses (PV) and 597 of non-polio enteroviruses (NPEV) were isolated from AFP cases, the isolatien rates were 3.72% and 11.74% respectively. 251 polio positive isolates were sent to NPL from 31 provincial polio laboratories. There were 318 single serotype PVs were performed VPI sequencing. And no wild polioviruses and Vaccine-derived Polioviruses (VDPVs) were found in 2008. NPL passed the proficiency test and got full accreditation for on-site review by WHO experts in 2008. All 31 provincial Polio laboratories passed the proficiency test with the same panel as NPL, and 13 provincial Polio laboratories joined and passed the on-site review by WHO experts. The running status of Chinese Polio Laboratories Network was good, polio-free status was maintained in China in 2008. The Chinese polio laboratories network running is normaly, the laboratory surveillance system was sensitive and laboratory data were provided for maintaining the polio-free status in China.

Public health assessment for Tutu Wellfield, St. Thomas, St. Thomas County, Virgin Islands. Cerclis No. VID982272569. Final report

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

NONE

1996-05-14

The Tutu Wellfield National Priorities List (NPL) site is in east-central St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Island. Twenty-two wells in the Turpentine Run Basin contain at minimum a trace of volatile organic contaminants. Volatile and chlorinated hydrocarbons including benzene; toluene; 1,2-trans-dichloroethene (DCE); trichloroethene (TCE); and tetrachloroethene (PCE) were detected in several of the wells. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has concluded that the Tutu Wellfield National Priorities List (NPL) site, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, poses a public health hazard for past, present, and possible future ingestion of contaminated groundwater.

Building a discovery partnership with Sarawak Biodiversity Centre: a gateway to access natural products from the rainforests.

PubMed

Yeo, Tiong Chia; Naming, Margarita; Manurung, Rita

2014-03-01

The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) is a state government agency which regulates research and promotes the sustainable use of biodiversity. It has a program on documentation of traditional knowledge (TK) and is well-equipped with facilities for natural product research. SBC maintains a Natural Product Library (NPL) consisting of local plant and microbial extracts for bioprospecting. The NPL is a core discovery platform for screening of bioactive compounds by researchers through a formal agreement with clear benefit sharing obligations. SBC aims to develop partnerships with leading institutions and the industries to explore the benefits of biodiversity.

PREFACE AND CONFERENCE SUMMARY: Advanced Metrology for Ultrasound in Medicine, 27 28 April 2004

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Adam

2004-01-01

AMUM 2004 proved to be a great success and provided a fantastic opportunity for the world's ultrasound experts from medicine, industry and academia to explore the measurement challenges presented by new and emerging clinical ultrasound equipment. There were a total of 88 attendees. Of these 39 were from the UK, 22 from the rest of Europe, and 27 from outside Europe. 31 of the delegates were from industry, 22 were university-based, 18 from hospitals, 10 from other National Metrology Institutes and regulatory bodies, and 7 from NPL. Test your knowledge of the ultrasound community by trying to name all the faces in the group photograph! It was especially gratifying to see so many major medical equipment manufacturers represented—including Siemens, Philips, Esaote, Kontron, Pie Medical, G.E., Hitachi, Aloka and Imasonic—since it is essential that there is a good dialogue between industry and the measurement community. The presentations were split into 8 oral sessions—Hydrophones, Hydrophone measurements, Safety and thermal hazard, Measurement challenges for diagnostic ultrasound, Measurement of therapy fields, Tissue interaction, Novel measurement methods, and Measurement challenges for therapeutic ultrasound; and 3 poster sessions—Performance of diagnostic equipment, Measurement and safety, and Field modelling. It was always my hope that this conference would provide a framework for the development of measurement methods to meet the metrological challenges we face over the next decade. To this end, I have asked the Chairs of each oral and poster session to give their views of their own session and of the more general requirements in that topic area. The feedback I received both during and subsequent to the meeting was almost uniformly good; this was borne out by the returned questionnaires, with most categories being scored excellent or good. I was delighted at the high standard of the presentations and to see delegates of such reputation and experience in the audience. This clearly shows that there is a need for such a conference. The commercial exhibition, although small, gave delegates the opportunity to discuss their requirements with three of the most important suppliers of ultrasound measuremnt devices—Precision Acoustics, Onda Corporation, and Sonora Medical Systems—and to see the latest developments. It also gave the companies concentrated access to a large number of important customers and potential customers. Socially, also, the event was a great success. The welcome reception (plus miniature `Big Band') was sponsored by Precision Acoustics and held in Bushy House, site of the original NPL; the gala dinner in Hampton Court Palace was attended by more than 70 delegates who were treated to guided tours of the magnificent gardens and an address by Dr Bob McGuinness, the Director of NPL. My thanks to everyone who attended or otherwise contributed to the success of AMUM2004. I would particularly like to acknowledge the contributions of the guest speakers, the scientific advisory board members, NPL colleagues and the AMUM secretariat, who made the whole thing run so smoothly.

Health assessment for Kaiser Steel Corporation Fontana, San Nernadino County, California, Region 9. CERCLIS No. CAD008274938. Preliminary report

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

Not Available

1989-10-25

The Kaiser Steel Corporation (KSC) site was included in the Update 7, proposed National Priorities List (NPL). The site was subsequently dropped from the proposed NPL on October 4, 1989. The site is located near Fontana, California, in San Bernardino County, approximately 45 miles east of Los Angeles. The on-site environmental contamination in groundwater and soil consisted of volatile organic compounds, organic acids, aluminum, barium, iron, lead, manganese, cadmium, and chromium compounds. The site is of potential health concern because of the risk to human health resulting from possible exposure to hazardous substances at concentrations that may result in adversemore » health effects.« less

The CTLA4/CD28 gene region on chromosome 2q33 confers susceptibility to celiac disease in a way possibly distinct from that of type 1 diabetes and other chronic inflammatory disorders.

PubMed

Naluai, A T; Nilsson, S; Samuelsson, L; Gudjónsdóttir, A H; Ascher, H; Ek, J; Hallberg, B; Kristiansson, B; Martinsson, T; Nerman, O; Sollid, L M; Wahlström, J

2000-10-01

The effect of the gene region on chromosome 2q33 containing the CD28 and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated (CTLA4) genes has been investigated in several diseases with chronic inflammatory nature. In addition to celiac disease (CD), type I diabetes, Grave's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis have all demonstrated associations to the A/G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in exon 1, position +49 of the CTLA4 gene. The purpose of this study was to investigate this gene region in a genetically homogeneous population consisting of 107 Swedish and Norwegian families with CD using genetic association and linkage methods. We found a significant association with preferential transmission of the A-allele of the exon 1 +49 polymorphism by using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT). Suggestive linkage of this region to CD was moreover demonstrated by non-parametric linkage (NPL) analysis giving a NPL-score of 2.1. These data strongly indicates that the CTLA4 region is a susceptibility region in CD. Interestingly, of the several chronic inflammatory diseases that exhibit associations to the CTLA4 +49 A/G dimorphism, CD appears to be the only disease associated to the A allele. This suggests that the +49 alleles of the CTLA4 gene are in linkage disequilibrium with two distinct disease predisposing alleles with separate effects. The peculiar association found in the gut disorder CD may possibly relate to the fact that the gastrointestinal immune system, in contrast to the rest of the immune system, aims to establish tolerance to foreign proteins.

EDITORIAL: Nano Meets Spectroscopy Nano Meets Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birch, David J. S.

2012-08-01

The multidisciplinary two-day Nano Meets Spectroscopy (NMS) event was held at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, UK, in September 2011. The event was planned from the outset to be at the interface of several areas—in particular, spectroscopy and nanoscience, and to bring together topics and people with different approaches to achieving common goals in biomolecular science. Hence the meeting cut across traditional boundaries and brought together researchers using diverse techniques, particularly fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy. Despite engaging common problems, these techniques are frequently seen as mutually exclusive with the two communities rarely interacting at conferences. The meeting was widely seen to have lived up to its billing in good measure. It attracted the maximum capacity of ~120 participants, including 22 distinguished speakers (9 from outside the UK), over 50 posters and a vibrant corporate exhibition comprising 10 leading instrument companies and IOP Publishing. The organizers were Professor David Birch (Chair), Dr Karen Faulds and Professor Duncan Graham of the University of Strathclyde, Professor Cait MacPhee of the University of Edinburgh and Dr Alex Knight of NPL. The event was sponsored by the European Science Foundation, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry, NPL and the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance. The full programme and abstracts are available at http://sensor.phys.strath.ac.uk/nms/program.php. The programme was quite ambitious in terms of the breadth and depth of scope. The interdisciplinary and synergistic concept of 'X meets Y' played well, cross-fertilization between different fields often being a source of inspiration and progress. Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy provided the core, but the meeting had little repetition and also attracted contributions on more specialist techniques such as CARS, super-resolution, single molecule and chiral methods. In terms of application the event bridged as far as medical application of nanotechnologies. It could have turned out that such a hotchpotch produced an incoherent event that lacked direction and focus, but in truth, as the feedback showed, the delegates revelled in the diversity and depth of quality. Excellent speakers, the common application to biomolecules and common language of spectroscopy were probably the reasons why things worked out so well. I am delighted to bring together in this special feature in Measurement Science and Technology a selection of contributions from the meeting and I thank all the authors for their excellent contributions. Included are papers on nanoparticles, plasmonics, sensing and imaging. This special feature, and indeed similar meetings in the future, will undoubtedly help sustain the 'nanomeeters' message of NMS.

Chicken fetal liver DNA damage and adduct formation by activation-dependent DNA-reactive carcinogens and related compounds of several structural classes.

PubMed

Williams, Gary M; Duan, Jian-Dong; Brunnemann, Klaus D; Iatropoulos, Michael J; Vock, Esther; Deschl, Ulrich

2014-09-01

The chicken egg genotoxicity assay (CEGA), which utilizes the liver of an intact and aseptic embryo-fetal test organism, was evaluated using four activation-dependent DNA-reactive carcinogens and four structurally related less potent carcinogens or non-carcinogens. In the assay, three daily doses of test substances were administered to eggs containing 9-11-day-old fetuses and the fetal livers were assessed for two endpoints, DNA breaks using the alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay and DNA adducts using the (32)P-nucleotide postlabeling (NPL) assay. The effects of four carcinogens of different structures requiring distinct pathways of bioactivation, i.e., 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and diethylnitrosamine (DEN), were compared with structurally related non-carcinogens fluorene (FLU) and benzo[e]pyrene (B[e]P) or weak carcinogens, aflatoxin B2 (AFB2) and N-nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA). The four carcinogens all produced DNA breaks at microgram or low milligram total doses, whereas less potent carcinogens and non-carcinogens yielded borderline or negative results, respectively, at higher doses. AAF and B[a]P produced DNA adducts, whereas none was found with the related comparators FLU or B[e]P, consistent with comet results. DEN and NDELA were also negative for adducts, as expected in the case of DEN for an alkylating agent in the standard NPL assay. Also, AFB1 and AFB2 were negative in NPL, as expected, due to the nature of ring opened aflatoxin adducts, which are resistant to enzymatic digestion. Thus, the CEGA, using comet and NPL, is capable of detection of the genotoxicity of diverse DNA-reactive carcinogens, while not yielding false positives for non-carcinogens. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Larval exposure to 4-nonylphenol and 17β-estradiol affects physiological and behavioral development of seawater adaptation in Atlantic salmon smolts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lerner, Darrren T.; Bjornsson, Bjorn Thrandur; McCormick, Stephen D.

2007-01-01

Population declines of anadromous salmonids are attributed to anthropogenic disturbances including dams, commercial and recreational fisheries, and pollutants, such as estrogenic compounds. Nonylphenol (NP), a xenoestrogen, is widespread in the aquatic environment due to its use in agricultural, industrial, and household products. We exposed Atlantic salmon yolk-sac larvae to waterborne 10 or 100 μg L-1 NP (NP-L or NP-H, respectively), 2 μg L-1 17β-estradiol (E2), or vehicle, for 21 days to investigate their effects on smolt physiology and behavior 1 year later. NP-H caused approximately 50% mortality during exposure, 30 days after exposure, and 60 days after exposure. Mortality rates of NP-L and E2 fish were not affected until 60 days after treatment, when they were 4-fold greater than those of controls. Treatment with NP-L or E2 as yolk-sac larvae decreased gill sodium-potassium-activated adenosine triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase) activity and seawater (SW) tolerance during smolt development, 1 year after exposure. Exposure to NP-L and E2 resulted in a latency to enter SW and reduced preference for SW approximately 2- and 5-fold, respectively. NP-L-exposed fish had 20% lower plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels and 35% lower plasma triiodothyronine (T3). Plasma growth hormone and thyroxine (T4) were unaffected. Exposure to E2 did not affect plasma levels of IGF-I, GH, T3, or T4. Both treatment groups exhibited increased plasma cortisol and decreased osmoregulatory capacity in response to a handling stressor. These results suggest that early exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of NP, and other estrogenic compounds, can cause direct and delayed mortalities and that this exposure can have long term, “organizational” effects on life-history events in salmonids.

Cavitation occurrence around ultrasonic dental scalers.

PubMed

Felver, Bernhard; King, David C; Lea, Simon C; Price, Gareth J; Damien Walmsley, A

2009-06-01

Ultrasonic scalers are used in dentistry to remove calculus and other contaminants from teeth. One mechanism which may assist in the cleaning is cavitation generated in cooling water around the scaler. The vibratory motion of three designs of scaler tip in a water bath has been characterised by laser vibrometry, and compared with the spatial distribution of cavitation around the scaler tips observed using sonochemiluminescence from a luminol solution. The type of cavitation was confirmed by acoustic emission analysed by a 'Cavimeter' supplied by NPL. A node/antinode vibration pattern was observed, with the maximum displacement of each type of tip occurring at the free end. High levels of cavitation activity occurred in areas surrounding the vibration antinodes, although minimal levels were observed at the free end of the tip. There was also good correlation between vibration amplitude and sonochemiluminescence at other points along the scaler tip. 'Cavimeter' analysis correlated well with luminol observations, suggesting the presence of primarily transient cavitation.

Aerofoil testing in a self-streamlining flexible walled wind tunnel. Ph.D. Thesis - Jul. 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Mark Charles

1988-01-01

Two-dimensional self-streamlining flexible walled test sections eliminate, as far as experimentally possible, the top and bottom wall interference effects in transonic airfoil testing. The test section sidewalls are rigid, while the impervious top and bottom walls are flexible and contoured to streamline shapes by a system of jacks, without reference to the airfoil model. The concept of wall contouring to eliminate or minimize test section boundary interference in 2-D testing was first demonstrated by NPL in England during the early 40's. The transonic streamlining strategy proposed, developed and used by NPL has been compared with several modern strategies. The NPL strategy has proved to be surprisingly good at providing a wall interference-free test environment, giving model performance indistinguishable from that obtained using the modern strategies over a wide range of test conditions. In all previous investigations the achievement of wall streamlining in flexible walled test sections has been limited to test sections up to those resulting in the model's shock just extending to a streamlined wall. This work however, has also successfully demonstrated the feasibility of 2-D wall streamlining at test conditions where both model shocks have reached and penetrated through their respective flexible walls. Appropriate streamlining procedures have been established and are uncomplicated, enabling flexible walled test sections to cope easily with these high transonic flows.

The power and robustness of maximum LOD score statistics.

PubMed

Yoo, Y J; Mendell, N R

2008-07-01

The maximum LOD score statistic is extremely powerful for gene mapping when calculated using the correct genetic parameter value. When the mode of genetic transmission is unknown, the maximum of the LOD scores obtained using several genetic parameter values is reported. This latter statistic requires higher critical value than the maximum LOD score statistic calculated from a single genetic parameter value. In this paper, we compare the power of maximum LOD scores based on three fixed sets of genetic parameter values with the power of the LOD score obtained after maximizing over the entire range of genetic parameter values. We simulate family data under nine generating models. For generating models with non-zero phenocopy rates, LOD scores maximized over the entire range of genetic parameters yielded greater power than maximum LOD scores for fixed sets of parameter values with zero phenocopy rates. No maximum LOD score was consistently more powerful than the others for generating models with a zero phenocopy rate. The power loss of the LOD score maximized over the entire range of genetic parameters, relative to the maximum LOD score calculated using the correct genetic parameter value, appeared to be robust to the generating models.

Superfund Relocation Information

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Superfund’s relocation policies and guidance provide EPA staff with tools on when to consider permanent relocation of residents and businesses living near or on NPL sites as part of a Superfund remedial action.

Land Use in the CERCLA Remedy Selection Process

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This directive presents additional information for considering land use in making remedy selection decisions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.

Differential Absorption Lidar Measurements of Fugitive Benzene Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, R. A.; Innocenti, F.; Helmore, J.; Gardiner, T.; Finlayson, A.; Connor, A.

2016-12-01

The Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) technique is based on the optical analogue of radar; lidar (light detection and ranging). It provides the capability to remotely measure the concentration and spatial distribution of compounds in the atmosphere. The ability to scan the optical measurement beam throughout the atmosphere enables pollutant concentrations to be mapped, and emission fluxes to be determined when combined with wind data. The NPL DIAL systems can operate in the UV and infrared spectral, enabling the measurement of a range of air pollutants and GHGs including hazardous air pollutants such as benzene. The mobile ground based DIAL systems developed at NPL for pollution monitoring have been used for over 25 years. They have been deployed for routine monitoring, emission factor studies, research investigations and targeted monitoring campaigns. More recently the NPL DIAL has been used in studies to validate other monitoring techniques. In support of this capability, NPL have developed a portable, configurable controlled release system (CRF) able to simulate emissions from typical sources. This has been developed to enable the validation and assessment of fugitive emission monitoring techniques. Following a brief summary of the technique, we outline recent developments in the use of DIAL for monitoring fugitive and diffuse emissions, including the development of a European Standard Method for fugitive emission monitoring. We will present the results of a number of validation exercises using the CRF presenting an update on the performance of DIAL for emission quantification and discuss the wider validation of novel technologies. We will report on recent measurements of the emissions of benzene from industrial sites including a large scale emissions monitoring study carried out by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and will report on the measurement of emissions from petrochemical facilities and examine an example of the identification and quantification of a significant benzene release from a facility in Europe. We will discuss the use of advanced techniques such as DIAL in support of the recently introduced EPA refinery rule (and the long term sampling approach in EPA method 325) and explore the role these techniques can have in providing improved data on emissions.

Evaluation of factors to convert absorbed dose calibrations from graphite to water for the NPL high-energy photon calibration service.

PubMed

Nutbrown, R F; Duane, S; Shipley, D R; Thomas, R A S

2002-02-07

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) provides a high-energy photon calibration service using 4-19 MV x-rays and 60Co gamma-radiation for secondary standard dosemeters in terms of absorbed dose to water. The primary standard used for this service is a graphite calorimeter and so absorbed dose calibrations must be converted from graphite to water. The conversion factors currently in use were determined prior to the launch of this service in 1988. Since then, it has been found that the differences in inherent filtration between the NPL LINAC and typical clinical machines are large enough to affect absorbed dose calibrations and, since 1992, calibrations have been performed in heavily filtered qualities. The conversion factors for heavily filtered qualities were determined by interpolation and extrapolation of lightly filtered results as a function of tissue phantom ratio 20,10 (TPR20,10). This paper aims to evaluate these factors for all mega-voltage photon energies provided by the NPL LINAC for both lightly and heavily filtered qualities and for 60Co y-radiation in two ways. The first method involves the use of the photon fluence-scaling theorem. This states that if two blocks of different material are irradiated by the same photon beam, and if all dimensions are scaled in the inverse ratio of the electron densities of the two media, then, assuming that all photon interactions occur by Compton scatter the photon attenuation and scatter factors at corresponding scaled points of measurement in the phantom will be identical. The second method involves making in-phantom measurements of chamber response at a constant target-chamber distance. Monte Carlo techniques are then used to determine the corresponding dose to the medium in order to determine the chamber calibration factor directly. Values of the ratio of absorbed dose calibration factors in water and in graphite determined in these two ways agree with each other to within 0.2% (1sigma uncertainty). The best fit to both sets of results agrees with values determined in previous work to within 0.3% (1sigma uncertainty). It is found that the conversion factor is not sensitive to beam filtration.

Expiratory and phonation times as measures of disease severity in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. A case-control study.

PubMed

Nordio, Sara; Bernitsas, Evanthia; Meneghello, Francesca; Palmer, Katie; Stabile, Maria Rosaria; Dipietro, Laura; Di Stadio, Arianna

2018-04-21

Speech disorders are common in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). They can be assessed with several methods, which are however expensive, complex, and not easily accessible to physicians during routine clinic visits. This study aimed at measuring maximum phonation times, maximum expiratory times, and articulation abilities scores in patients with MS compared to healthy subjects and at investigating if any of these parameters could be used as a measure of MS progression. 50 MS patients and 50 gender- and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Maximum expiratory times and maximum phonation times were collected from both groups. Articulation abilities were evaluated using the articulation subtest from the Fussi assessment (dysarthria scores). MS patients were evaluated with the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Correlations between EDSS scores and maximum expiratory times, maximum phonation times, and dysarthria scores were calculated. EDSS scores of MS patients ranged from 4.5 to 7.5. In MS patients, maximum expiratory times, maximum phonation times, and dysarthria scores were significantly altered compared to healthy controls. Moreover, the EDSS scores were correlated with the maximum expiratory times; the maximum expiratory times were correlated with the maximum phonation times, and the maximum phonation times were correlated with the dysarthria scores. As the expiratory times were significantly correlated with the EDSS scores, they could be used to measure the severity of MS and to monitor its progression. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

List of the Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket Facilities comprised of four lists: National Priorities List (NPL), Non-National Priorities List, Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Final report, on-going key comparison BIPM.QM-K1, ozone at ambient level, comparison with NPL, April 2017

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viallon, Joële; Idrees, Faraz; Moussay, Philippe; Wielgosz, Robert; Sweeney, Bryan; Quincey, Paul

2018-01-01

As part of the ongoing key comparison BIPM.QM-K1, a comparison has been performed between the ozone standard of the United Kingdom maintained by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the common reference standard of the key comparison, maintained by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The instruments have been compared over a nominal ozone amount-of-substance fraction range of 0 nmol/mol to 500 nmol/mol. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Improving thermal and detergent stability of Bacillus stearothermophilus neopullulanase by rational enzyme design.

PubMed

Ece, Selin; Evran, Serap; Janda, Jan-Oliver; Merkl, Rainer; Sterner, Reinhard

2015-06-01

Neopullulanase, a glycosyl hydrolase from Bacillus stearothermophilus (bsNpl), is a potentially valuable enzyme for starch and detergent industries. However, as the protein is not active at elevated temperatures and high surfactant concentrations, we aimed to increase its stability by rational enzyme design. Nine potentially destabilizing cavities were identified in the crystal structure of the enzyme. Based on computational predictions, these cavities were filled by residues with bulkier side chains. The five Asp46Glu, Val239Leu, Val404Leu, Ser407Thr and Ala566Leu exchanges resulted in a drastic stabilization of bsNpl against inactivation by heat and detergents. The catalytic activity of the variants was identical to the wild-type enzyme. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An evaluation of remote sensing technologies for the detection of fugitive contamination at selected Superfund hazardous waste sites in Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slonecker, E. Terrence; Fisher, Gary B.

2014-01-01

This evaluation was conducted to assess the potential for using both traditional remote sensing, such as aerial imagery, and emerging remote sensing technology, such as hyperspectral imaging, as tools for postclosure monitoring of selected hazardous waste sites. Sixteen deleted Superfund (SF) National Priorities List (NPL) sites in Pennsylvania were imaged with a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Airborne Real-Time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance (ARCHER) sensor between 2009 and 2012. Deleted sites are those sites that have been remediated and removed from the NPL. The imagery was processed to radiance and atmospherically corrected to relative reflectance with standard software routines using the Environment for Visualizing Imagery (ENVI, ITT–VIS, Boulder, Colorado) software. Standard routines for anomaly detection, endmember collection, vegetation stress, and spectral analysis were applied.

Techniques for Reducing Thermal Contact Resistance in Steady-State Thermal Conductivity Measurements on Polymer Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stacey, C.; Simpkin, A. J.; Jarrett, R. N.

2016-11-01

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has developed a new variation on the established guarded hot plate technique for steady-state measurements of thermal conductivity. This new guarded hot plate has been specifically designed for making measurements on specimens with a thickness that is practical for advanced industrial composite materials and applications. During the development of this new guarded hot plate, NPL carried out an experimental investigation into methods for minimising the thermal contact resistance between the test specimen and the plates of the apparatus. This experimental investigation included tests on different thermal interface materials for use in another NPL facility based on a commercial guarded heat flow meter apparatus conforming to standard ASTM E1530-11. The results show the effect of applying different quantities of the type of heat transfer compound suggested in ASTM E1530-11 (clause 10.7.3) and also the effect on thermal resistance of alternative types of thermal interface products. The optimum quantities of two silicone greases were determined, and a silicone grease filled with copper was found to offer the best combination of repeatability, small hysteresis effect and a low thermal contact resistance. However, two products based on a textured indium foil and pyrolytic graphite sheet were found to offer similar or better reductions in thermal contact resistance, but with quicker, easier application and the advantages of protecting the apparatus plates from damage and being useable with specimen materials that would otherwise absorb silicone grease.

Some Operational Aspects of the International Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT) Experiment Using INTELSAT Satellites at 307 Degrees East

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeYoung, J. A.; McKinley, A.; Davis, J. A.; Hetzel, P.; Bauch, A.

1996-01-01

Eight laboratories are participating in an international two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) experiment. Regular time and frequency transfers have been performed over a period of almost two years, including both European and transatlantic time transfers. The performance of the regular TWSTFT sessions over an extended period has demonstrated conclusively the usefulness of the TWSTFT method for routine international time and frequency comparisons. Regular measurements are performed three times per week resulting in a regular but unevenly spaced data set. A method is presented that allows an estimate of the values of delta (sub y)(gamma) to be formed from these data. In order to maximize efficient use of paid satellite time an investigation to determine the optimal length of a single TWSTFT session is presented. The optimal experiment length is determined by evaluating how long white phase modulation (PM) instabilities are the dominant noise source during the typical 300-second sampling times currently used. A detailed investigation of the frequency transfers realized via the transatlantic TWSTFT links UTC(USNO)-UTC(NPL), UTC(USNO)-UTC(PTB), and UTC(PTB)-UTC(NPL) is presented. The investigation focuses on the frequency instabilities realized, a three cornered hat resolution of the delta (sub y) (gamma) values, and a comparison of the transatlantic and inter-European determination of UTC(PTB)-UTC(NPL). Future directions of this TWSTFT experiment are outlined.

Interim Guidance: Municipal Solid Waste Exemption under Superfund

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Interim guidance discusses the statutory provisions of CERCLA § 107(p) and identifies some factors to be considered by EPA and DOJ staff in exercising their enforcement discretion of MSW at an NPL site.

40 CFR 300.525 - State involvement in removal actions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...) SUPERFUND, EMERGENCY PLANNING, AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW PROGRAMS NATIONAL OIL AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES... removal is conducted at an NPL site that was operated by a state or political subdivision at the time of...

Risk management: Reducing brownfield cleanup costs

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

Graves, N.

Balancing environmental protection with economic vitality is crucial to maintaining competitiveness in world markets. One key initiative that has been identified as important to both environmental protection and the economy is the redevelopment of brownfields. Brownfield redevelopment can stimulate local economies that have been devastated by lost jobs and can recycle industrial land use, thereby preserving undeveloped lands. Many existing brownfield sites appear on the US Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA) National Priority List (NPL), which designates over 1200 sites and is expected to grow to more than 2000 by the end of the decade. EPA estimates the cost of remediatingmore » the sites on the current list will approach $30 billion, with the average cost of remediating a site close to $25 million. Thousands of additional brownfield sites that do not appear on the NPL are listed under state cleanup programs.« less

MTDATA and the Prediction of Phase Equilibria in Oxide Systems: 30 Years of Industrial Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gisby, John; Taskinen, Pekka; Pihlasalo, Jouni; Li, Zushu; Tyrer, Mark; Pearce, Jonathan; Avarmaa, Katri; Björklund, Peter; Davies, Hugh; Korpi, Mikko; Martin, Susan; Pesonen, Lauri; Robinson, Jim

2017-02-01

This paper gives an introduction to MTDATA, Phase Equilibrium Software from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and describes the latest advances in the development of a comprehensive database of thermodynamic parameters to underpin calculations of phase equilibria in large oxide, sulfide, and fluoride systems of industrial interest. The database, MTOX, has been developed over a period of thirty years based upon modeling work at NPL and funded by industrial partners in a project co-ordinated by Mineral Industry Research Organisation. Applications drawn from the fields of modern copper scrap smelting, high-temperature behavior of basic oxygen steelmaking slags, flash smelting of nickel, electric furnace smelting of ilmenite, and production of pure TiO2 via a low-temperature molten salt route are discussed along with calculations to assess the impact of impurities on the uncertainty of fixed points used to realize the SI unit of temperature, the kelvin.

Broadband interferometric characterisation of nano-positioning stages with sub-10 pm resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhi; Brand, Uwe; Wolff, Helmut; Koenders, Ludger; Yacoot, Andrew; Puranto, Prabowo

2017-06-01

A traceable calibration setup for investigation of the quasi-static and the dynamic performance of nano-positioning stages is detailed, which utilizes a differential plane-mirror interferometer with double-pass configuration from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). An NPL-developed FPGA-based interferometric data acquisition and decoding system has been used to enable traceable quasi-static calibration of nano-positioning stages with high resolution. A lockin based modulation technique is further introduced to quantitatively calibrate the dynamic response of moving stages with a bandwidth up to 100 kHz and picometer resolution. First experimental results have proven that the calibration setup can achieve under nearly open-air conditions a noise floor lower than 10 pm/sqrt(Hz). A pico-positioning stage, that is used for nanoindentation with indentation depths down to a few picometers, has been characterized with this calibration setup.

Public health assessment addendum for Letterkenny Army Depot, USA Letterkenny Southeast Area, Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Region 3. CERCLIS No. PA6213820503 and USA Letterkenny, Property Disposal Office Area, Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. CERCLIS No. PA2210090054. Final report

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

Not Available

1993-05-25

The Letterkenny Army Depot (Letterkenny) is five miles north of Chambersburg, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The US Army Depot consists of two National Priorities List (NPL) sites: USA Letterkenny Southeast Area (hereafter referred to as the SE Area) and USA Letterkenny - Property Disposal Office Area (hereafter referred to as the PDO Area). A public health assessment of those combined sites was released by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on September 30, 1988 (Appendix 1). The previous public health assessment combined discussion of both NPL sites due to similar contaminants and pathways. Since the release of themore » previous public health assessment, new environmental, community health concerns, and health outcome data have become available, warranting this addendum.« less

Serial evaluation of the MODS, SOFA and LOD scores to predict ICU mortality in mixed critically ill patients.

PubMed

Khwannimit, Bodin

2008-09-01

To perform a serial assessment and compare ability in predicting the intensive care unit (ICU) mortality of the multiple organ dysfunction score (MODS), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and logistic organ dysfunction (LOD) score. The data were collected prospectively on consecutive ICU admissions over a 24-month period at a tertiary referral university hospital. The MODS, SOFA, and LOD scores were calculated on initial and repeated every 24 hrs. Two thousand fifty four patients were enrolled in the present study. The maximum and delta-scores of all the organ dysfunction scores correlated with ICU mortality. The maximum score of all models had better ability for predicting ICU mortality than initial or delta score. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for maximum scores was 0.892 for the MODS, 0.907 for the SOFA, and 0.92for the LOD. No statistical difference existed between all maximum scores and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score. Serial assessment of organ dysfunction during the ICU stay is reliable with ICU mortality. The maximum scores is the best discrimination comparable with APACHE II score in predicting ICU mortality.

Structural Finite Element Model Updating Using Vibration Tests and Modal Analysis for NPL footbridge - SHM demonstrator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barton, E.; Middleton, C.; Koo, K.; Crocker, L.; Brownjohn, J.

2011-07-01

This paper presents the results from collaboration between the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the University of Sheffield on an ongoing research project at NPL. A 50 year old reinforced concrete footbridge has been converted to a full scale structural health monitoring (SHM) demonstrator. The structure is monitored using a variety of techniques; however, interrelating results and converting data to knowledge are not possible without a reliable numerical model. During the first stage of the project, the work concentrated on static loading and an FE model of the undamaged bridge was created, and updated, under specified static loading and temperature conditions. This model was found to accurately represent the response under static loading and it was used to identify locations for sensor installation. The next stage involves the evaluation of repair/strengthening patches under both static and dynamic loading. Therefore, before deliberately introducing significant damage, the first set of dynamic tests was conducted and modal properties were estimated. The measured modal properties did not match the modal analysis from the statically updated FE model; it was clear that the existing model required updating. This paper introduces the results of the dynamic testing and model updating. It is shown that the structure exhibits large non-linear, amplitude dependant characteristics. This creates a difficult updating process, but we attempt to produce the best linear representation of the structure. A sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the most sensitive locations for planned damage/repair scenarios and is used to decide whether additional sensors will be necessary.

Final report on key comparison EURAMET.M.P-K13 in the range 50 MPa to 500 MPa of hydraulic gauge pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kocas, I.; Sabuga, W.; Bergoglio, M.; Eltaweel, A.; Korasie, C.; Farar, P.; Setina, J.; Waller, B.; Durgut, Y.

2015-01-01

The regional key comparison EURAMET.M.P-K13 for pressure measurements in liquid media from 50 MPa to 500 MPa was piloted by the TÜBİTAK UME Pressure Group Laboratories, Turkey. The transfer standard was a DH-Budenberg pressure balance with a free deformation piston-cylinder unit of 2 mm2 nominal effective area. Six laboratories from the EURAMET region, namely PTB, INRIM, SMU, IMT, NPL and UME, and two laboratories from the AFRIMETS region, NIS and NMISA participated in this comparison. Participant laboratories and countries are given in the bottom of the page. PTB participated in this comparison to provide a link to corresponding 500 MPa CCM key comparison CCM.P-K13. The results of all participants excepting NMISA and NPL were found to be consistent with the reference value of the actual comparison and of CCM.P-K13 within their claimed uncertainties (k = 2), at all pressures. Compared in pairs all laboratories with exception of NPL and NMISA demonstrate their agreement with each other within the expanded uncertainties (k = 2) at all pressures. The results are therefore considered to be satisfactory. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

75 FR 55479 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-13

... surface media (soil, surface water, sediment) and structures (both former structures that have been... . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The portion of the site to be deleted from the NPL is the surface media (soil...

Egg components and hatchling lipid reserves: parental investment in kinosternid turtles from the southeastern United States.

PubMed

Nagle, R D; Burke, V J; Congdon, J D

1998-05-01

We measured egg components and pre-ovulatory parental investment in kinosternid turtles (Kinosternon baurii, Kinosternon subrubrum, Sternotherus minor, and Sternotherus odoratus) from the southeastern USA. Allocation patterns were determined by comparing lipid content of eggs and hatchlings, to determine whether females of species with hatchlings that exhibit a delayed nest-emergence strategy: (1) allocate higher proportions of energy storage lipids to eggs, (2) produce hatchlings with higher levels of storage lipids, and (3) have higher levels of pre-ovulatory parental investment in comparison to species whose hatchlings exhibit immediate emergence. Whereas total non-polar lipid (NPL) proportions by dry mass of eggs varied significantly among species, NPL proportions of hatchlings were not significantly different. Pre-ovulatory parental investment in care (proportion of hatchling NPL to egg NPL) was 40, 50, and 55% for K. subrubrum, S. minor, and S. odoratus, respectively. Lipid class composition of eggs and hatchlings was studied to distinguish lipids allocated for energy storage from those allocated to other functions. For both eggs and hatchlings, individual lipid classes (triacylglycerol, triacylglycerol fatty acid, cholesterol, cholesterol ester, and phospholipid) as proportions of total lipid, were similar among species. The major lipid class component of eggs and hatchlings of all species was triacylglycerol (> 83%), an energy storage lipid. Substantial changes in lipid classes during embryogenesis were similar among species and included: (1) depletion of triacylglycerol, (2) increase in cholesterol esters, and (3) changes in phospholipid composition. Incubation time varied significantly among species, and appeared to be responsible for differential energy utilization during embryogenesis. Our results are inconsistent with the previously observed pattern that hatchlings exhibiting a delayed nest-emergence strategy are allocated higher proportions of energy storage lipids than those that exhibit immediate emergence. However, because the species that overwinters in the nest (K. subrubrum) hatches approximately 40 days later than the species that typically does not (S. odoratus), hatchling K. subrubrum may contain higher non-polar lipid proportions than hatchling S. odoratus during similar winter time periods. Kinosternid hatchlings contain enough stored lipids to support basal maintenance costs for substantial time periods. We suggest that such reserves may be critical to hatchling survival during a period of negative energy balance, regardless of nest emergence strategy.

Remedy Selection and Land Use at Federal Facilities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Analysis of approximately 98 percent of the interim and final source control Records of Decision signed at Federal Facilities on the NPL from the beginning of Superfund through August 1995. PB96-963309. EPA/540/R-96/020. August 1996

Spatial clustering of pixels of a multispectral image

DOEpatents

Conger, James Lynn

2014-08-19

A method and system for clustering the pixels of a multispectral image is provided. A clustering system computes a maximum spectral similarity score for each pixel that indicates the similarity between that pixel and the most similar neighboring. To determine the maximum similarity score for a pixel, the clustering system generates a similarity score between that pixel and each of its neighboring pixels and then selects the similarity score that represents the highest similarity as the maximum similarity score. The clustering system may apply a filtering criterion based on the maximum similarity score so that pixels with similarity scores below a minimum threshold are not clustered. The clustering system changes the current pixel values of the pixels in a cluster based on an averaging of the original pixel values of the pixels in the cluster.

Automated Classification of Selected Data Elements from Free-text Diagnostic Reports for Clinical Research.

PubMed

Löpprich, Martin; Krauss, Felix; Ganzinger, Matthias; Senghas, Karsten; Riezler, Stefan; Knaup, Petra

2016-08-05

In the Multiple Myeloma clinical registry at Heidelberg University Hospital, most data are extracted from discharge letters. Our aim was to analyze if it is possible to make the manual documentation process more efficient by using methods of natural language processing for multiclass classification of free-text diagnostic reports to automatically document the diagnosis and state of disease of myeloma patients. The first objective was to create a corpus consisting of free-text diagnosis paragraphs of patients with multiple myeloma from German diagnostic reports, and its manual annotation of relevant data elements by documentation specialists. The second objective was to construct and evaluate a framework using different NLP methods to enable automatic multiclass classification of relevant data elements from free-text diagnostic reports. The main diagnoses paragraph was extracted from the clinical report of one third randomly selected patients of the multiple myeloma research database from Heidelberg University Hospital (in total 737 selected patients). An EDC system was setup and two data entry specialists performed independently a manual documentation of at least nine specific data elements for multiple myeloma characterization. Both data entries were compared and assessed by a third specialist and an annotated text corpus was created. A framework was constructed, consisting of a self-developed package to split multiple diagnosis sequences into several subsequences, four different preprocessing steps to normalize the input data and two classifiers: a maximum entropy classifier (MEC) and a support vector machine (SVM). In total 15 different pipelines were examined and assessed by a ten-fold cross-validation, reiterated 100 times. For quality indication the average error rate and the average F1-score were conducted. For significance testing the approximate randomization test was used. The created annotated corpus consists of 737 different diagnoses paragraphs with a total number of 865 coded diagnosis. The dataset is publicly available in the supplementary online files for training and testing of further NLP methods. Both classifiers showed low average error rates (MEC: 1.05; SVM: 0.84) and high F1-scores (MEC: 0.89; SVM: 0.92). However the results varied widely depending on the classified data element. Preprocessing methods increased this effect and had significant impact on the classification, both positive and negative. The automatic diagnosis splitter increased the average error rate significantly, even if the F1-score decreased only slightly. The low average error rates and high average F1-scores of each pipeline demonstrate the suitability of the investigated NPL methods. However, it was also shown that there is no best practice for an automatic classification of data elements from free-text diagnostic reports.

75 FR 74053 - Availability of Final Toxicological Profiles

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-30

... priority hazardous substances comprising the twenty-first set prepared by ATSDR. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... final toxicological profiles of priority hazardous substances comprising the twenty-first set prepared... that are most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL). Among these...

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

Walker, Randy M; Hill, David E; Gorman, Bryan L

As a proof of concept tested in an operational context, the Global Radiological Source Sorting, Tracking, and Monitoring (GRadSSTraM) Project successfully demonstrated that radio frequency identification (RFID) and Web 2.0* technologies can be deployed to track controlled shipments between the United States and the European Union. Between November 2009 and May 2010, a total of 19 shipments were successfully shipped from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and tracked to their delivery at England's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) by the United Kingdom Royal Mail. However, the project can only be viewed as a qualified successmore » as notable shortcomings were observed. Although the origin and terminus of all RFID-enabled shipments were recorded and no shipments were lost, not all the waypoints between ORNL and NPL were incorporated into the pilot. Given limited resources, the project team was able to install RFID listeners/actuators at three waypoints between the two endpoints. Although it is likely that all shipments followed the same route between ORNL and NPL, it cannot be determined beyond question that all 19 shipments were routed on identical itineraries past the same three waypoints. The pilot also raises the distinct possibility that unattended RFID tracking alone, without positive confirmation that a tagged item has been properly recorded by an RFID reader, does not meet a rigorous standard for shipping controlled items. Indeed, the proof of concept test strongly suggests that a multifaceted approach to tracking may be called for, including tracking methods that are capable of reading and accepting multiple inputs for individual items [e.g., carrier-provided tracking numbers, Universal Product Codes (UPCs), and RFID tags]. For controlled items, another apparent requirement is a confirmation feature, human or otherwise, which can certify that an item's RFID tag, UPC, or tracking number has been recorded.« less

SOLIDIFICATION/STABILIZATION: A LOW COST TREATMENT FOR WOOD PRESERVING SITES

EPA Science Inventory

Over 600 curent and former wood preserving sites have been identified across the U.S. Many of these have been placed on the EPA Superfund NPL (National Priorities List). Most of these sites contain soils contaminated with pentachlorophenol, dioxins, and/or creosote. Treatability...

75 FR 54779 - National Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-09

... appropriate. The NPL is designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist EPA management. Section... Packaging). OU3 GT Car Shop/Aspen 1235 South Jason Design and Street. Manufacturing. OU3 Denver right-of-way... radiation. [[Page 54785

Treatment Technologies for Site Cleanup: Annual Status Report, Twelfth Edition

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The ASR is based on the analysis of over nearly 3,000 RODs signed since 1982 at 1,536 NPL sites. The online version includes new downloadable spreadsheets with the data for several of the key tables and figures in the report.

Establishment of the Co-C Eutectic Fixed-Point Cell for Thermocouple Calibrations at NIMT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ongrai, O.; Elliott, C. J.

2017-08-01

In 2015, NIMT first established a Co-C eutectic temperature reference (fixed-point) cell measurement capability for thermocouple calibration to support the requirements of Thailand's heavy industries and secondary laboratories. The Co-C eutectic fixed-point cell is a facility transferred from NPL, where the design was developed through European and UK national measurement system projects. In this paper, we describe the establishment of a Co-C eutectic fixed-point cell for thermocouple calibration at NIMT. This paper demonstrates achievement of the required furnace uniformity, the Co-C plateau realization and the comparison data between NIMT and NPL Co-C cells by using the same standard Pt/Pd thermocouple, demonstrating traceability. The NIMT measurement capability for noble metal type thermocouples at the new Co-C eutectic fixed point (1324.06°C) is estimated to be within ± 0.60 K (k=2). This meets the needs of Thailand's high-temperature thermocouple users—for which previously there has been no traceable calibration facility.

Alcohol-abuse drug disulfiram targets cancer via p97 segregase adapter NPL4

PubMed Central

Skrott, Zdenek; Mistrik, Martin; Andersen, Klaus Kaae; Friis, Søren; Majera, Dusana; Gursky, Jan; Ozdian, Tomas; Bartkova, Jirina; Turi, Zsofia; Moudry, Pavel; Kraus, Marianne; Michalova, Martina; Vaclavkova, Jana; Dzubak, Petr; Vrobel, Ivo; Pouckova, Pavla; Sedlacek, Jindrich; Miklovicova, Andrea; Kutt, Anne; Li, Jing; Mattova, Jana; Driessen, Christoph; Dou, Q. Ping; Olsen, Jørgen; Hajduch, Marian; Cvek, Boris; Deshaies, Raymond J.; Bartek, Jiri

2017-01-01

Cancer incidence is rising and this global challenge is further exacerbated by tumour resistance to available medicines. A promising approach to such unmet need for improved cancer treatment is drug repurposing. Here we highlight the potential for repurposing disulfiram (Antabuse), an old alcohol-aversion drug effective against diverse cancer types in preclinical studies. Our nationwide epidemiological study reveals that patients who continuously used disulfiram have a lower risk of death from cancer compared to those who stopped using the drug at their diagnosis. Moreover, we identify ditiocarb-copper complex as the metabolite of disulfiram responsible for anticancer effects, and provide methods to detect its preferential accumulation in tumours and candidate biomarkers for impact in cells and tissues. Finally, our functional and biophysical analyses reveal the long-sought molecular target of disulfiram’s tumour suppressing effects as NPL4, an adapter of p97/VCP segregase essential for protein turnover involved in multiple regulatory and stress-response cellular pathways. PMID:29211715

IPEM guidelines on dosimeter systems for use as transfer instruments between the UK primary dosimetry standards laboratory (NPL) and radiotherapy centres1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, A. M.; Aird, E. G. A.; Aukett, R. J.; Duane, S.; Jenkins, N. H.; Mayles, W. P. M.; Moretti, C.; Thwaites, D. I.

2000-09-01

United Kingdom dosimetry codes of practice have traditionally specified one electrometer for use as a secondary standard, namely the Nuclear Enterprises (NE) 2560 NPL secondary standard therapy level exposure meter. The NE2560 will become obsolete in the foreseeable future. This report provides guidelines to assist physicists following the United Kingdom dosimetry codes of practice in the selection of an electrometer to replace the NE2560 when necessary. Using an internationally accepted standard (BS EN 60731:1997) as a basis, estimated error analyses demonstrate that the uncertainty (one standard deviation) in a charge measurement associated with the NE2560 alone is approximately 0.3% under specified conditions. Following a review of manufacturers' literature, it is considered that modern electrometers should be capable of equalling this performance. Additional constructural and operational requirements not specified in the international standard but considered essential in a modern electrometer to be used as a secondary standard are presented.

An Evaluation of Public Preferences for Superfund Site Cleanup, Volume 1: A Preliminary Assessment (1995)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The purpose of the project is to develop a methodology for determining the cleanup options for National Priority List (NPL) sites governed under Superfund legislation that are acceptable to the public. A survey instrument was developed for the study.

Letters to the New Mexico congressional delegation regarding the long-term monitoring activities and claims for reimbursement

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Feb. 23, 2016: added letters to the state of Utah, the Ten Tribes Partnership, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Tribe about adding the Bonita Peak Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).

Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Listing of RCRA Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.This page provides links to Region 8 Superfund site pages and lists: site name, city, county and NPL status.

Optimization Review, Optimization Review, Sidney and Richardson Hill Road Landfills, Delaware County, New York

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Sidney Landfill site is located on Richardson Hill Road approximately 10 miles southeast of Sidney, New York. In March 1989, the site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) based on investigations completed by the New York State Department...

Health assessment for Lang Property National Priorities List (NPL) site, Pemberton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, Region 2. CERCLIS No. NJD980505382. Final report

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

Not Available

1989-04-17

The Lang Property National Priorities List Site is located in Pemberton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. Unauthorized disposal of hazardous wastes occurred on approximately two acres of the 40-acre site. The contaminant classes that were identified on the site are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (semi-VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and metals. The contaminant classes of concern are PCBs, VOCs, and semi-VOCs for on-site ground water. VOCs is the contaminant class of concern for sediments and surface water. The on-site ground water is highly contaminated; at the maximum chemical concentrations detected, use of thismore » water without treatment would pose a human health concern. The potential does exist for human exposure to ground water contaminants by ingestion, inhalation of volatilized VOCs from ground water, and dermal absorption. The surface soils are also highly contaminated and represent a current possible as well as future human health concern for trespassers, blueberry farm workers and harvesters, and construction and remedial workers.« less

Genome-wide linkage and copy number variation analysis reveals 710 kb duplication on chromosome 1p31.3 responsible for autosomal dominant omphalocele

PubMed Central

Radhakrishna, Uppala; Nath, Swapan K; McElreavey, Ken; Ratnamala, Uppala; Sun, Celi; Maiti, Amit K; Gagnebin, Maryline; Béna, Frédérique; Newkirk, Heather L; Sharp, Andrew J; Everman, David B; Murray, Jeffrey C; Schwartz, Charles E; Antonarakis, Stylianos E; Butler, Merlin G

2017-01-01

Background Omphalocele is a congenital birth defect characterised by the presence of internal organs located outside of the ventral abdominal wall. The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying genetic mechanisms of a large autosomal dominant Caucasian family with omphalocele. Methods and findings A genetic linkage study was conducted in a large family with an autosomal dominant transmission of an omphalocele using a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. The analysis revealed significant evidence of linkage (non-parametric NPL = 6.93, p=0.0001; parametric logarithm of odds (LOD) = 2.70 under a fully penetrant dominant model) at chromosome band 1p31.3. Haplotype analysis narrowed the locus to a 2.74 Mb region between markers rs2886770 (63014807 bp) and rs1343981 (65757349 bp). Molecular characterisation of this interval using array comparative genomic hybridisation followed by quantitative microsphere hybridisation analysis revealed a 710 kb duplication located at 63.5–64.2 Mb. All affected individuals who had an omphalocele and shared the haplotype were positive for this duplicated region, while the duplication was absent from all normal individuals of this family. Multipoint linkage analysis using the duplication as a marker yielded a maximum LOD score of 3.2 at 1p31.3 under a dominant model. The 710 kb duplication at 1p31.3 band contains seven known genes including FOXD3, ALG6, ITGB3BP, KIAA1799, DLEU2L, PGM1, and the proximal portion of ROR1. Importantly, this duplication is absent from the database of genomic variants. Conclusions The present study suggests that development of an omphalocele in this family is controlled by overexpression of one or more genes in the duplicated region. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first reported association of an inherited omphalocele condition with a chromosomal rearrangement. PMID:22499347

40 CFR 300.415 - Removal action.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., provision for post-removal site control following a CERCLA Fund-financed removal action at both NPL and non... lead agency shall conduct an engineering evaluation/cost analysis (EE/CA) or its equivalent. The EE/CA...) Fences, warning signs, or other security or site control precautions—where humans or animals have access...

USEPA'S SITE PROGRAM IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF INNOVATIVE HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA's SITE Program was created to meet the increased demand for innovative technologies for hazardous waste treatment. The primary mission of the SITe Program is to expedite the cleanup of sites on the NPL. The SITE Program has two components: The Demonstration Program and ...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 National Priorities List (NPL) Sites - 05/12/2014

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Point locations for sites in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 which are documented as being part of the National Priorities List as of May 12, 2014. The locations were determined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 Superfund RPMs.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 National Priorities List (NPL) Boundaries - 05/12/2014

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Boundaries of sites in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 which are documented as being part of the National Priorities List as of May 12, 2014. The locations were determined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6 Superfund RPMs.

USEPA SITE PROGRAM APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND REGULATORY ACCEPTANCE

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA's SITE program was created to meet the demand for innovative technologies for hazardous waste treatment. The primary mission of the SITe Program is to expedite the cleanup of sites on the NPL. These sites often have multiple contaminants in soil and groundwater, and few...

SOLVENT EXTRACTION AND SOIL WASHING TREATMENT OF CONTAMINATED SOILS FROM WOOD PRESERVING SITES: BENCH SCALE STUDIES

EPA Science Inventory

Bench-scale solvent extraction and soil washing studies were performed on soil samples obtained from three abandoned wood preserving sites that included in the NPL. The soil samples from these sites were contaminated with high levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pentachlo...

40 CFR Appendix C to Part 307 - Notice of Limitations on the Payment of Claims for Response Actions, Which Is To Be Placed in the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Are Added to the Final NPL C Appendix C to Part 307 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT (CERCLA) CLAIMS PROCEDURES Pt. 307, App. C Appendix C to...

40 CFR Appendix C to Part 307 - Notice of Limitations on the Payment of Claims for Response Actions, Which Is To Be Placed in the...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Are Added to the Final NPL C Appendix C to Part 307 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT (CERCLA) CLAIMS PROCEDURES Pt. 307, App. C Appendix C to...

Impact of Clinical History on Maximum PI-RADS Version 2 Score: A Six-Reader 120-Case Sham History Retrospective Evaluation.

PubMed

Shankar, Prasad R; Kaza, Ravi K; Al-Hawary, Mahmoud M; Masch, William R; Curci, Nicole E; Mendiratta-Lala, Mishal; Sakala, Michelle D; Johnson, Timothy D; Davenport, Matthew S

2018-04-17

Purpose To assess the impact of clinical history on the maximum Prostate Imaging Recording and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 (v2) score assigned to multiparametric magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the prostate. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort study included 120 consecutively selected multiparametric prostate MR imaging studies performed between November 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016. Sham clinical data in four domains (digital rectal examination, prostate-specific antigen level, plan for biopsy, prior prostate cancer history) were randomly assigned to each case by using a balanced orthogonal design. Six fellowship-trained abdominal radiologists independently reviewed the sham data, actual patient age, and each examination while they were blinded to interreader scoring, true clinical data, and histologic findings. Readers were told the constant sham histories were true, believed the study to be primarily investigating interrater agreement, and were asked to assign a maximum PI-RADS v2 score to each case. Linear regression was performed to assess the association between clinical variables and maximum PI-RADS v2 score designation. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were obtained to compare interreader scoring. Results Clinical information had no significant effect on maximum PI-RADS v2 scoring for any of the six readers (P = .09-.99, 42 reader-variable pairs). Distributions of maximum PI-RADS v2 scores in the research context were similar to the distribution of the scores assigned clinically and had fair-to-excellent pairwise interrater agreement (ICC range: 0.53-0.76). Overall interrater agreement was good (ICC: 0.64; 95% confidence interval: 0.57, 0.71). Conclusion Clinical history does not appear to be a substantial bias in maximum PI-RADS v2 score assignment. This is potentially important for clinical nomograms that plan to incorporate PI-RADS v2 score and clinical data into their algorithms (ie, PI-RADS v2 scoring is not confounded by clinical data). © RSNA, 2018 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

76 FR 60777 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-30

... property located at 11701 Mount Holly Road in Charlotte, North Carolina, from the National Priorities List..., maintenance, and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, this deletion does not preclude future..., located at 11701 Mount Holly Road, Charlotte, NC, from the NPL and requests public comment on this...

SUPERFUND TREATABILITY CLEARINGHOUSE: EVALUATION OF AN ENGINEERED BIODEGRADATION SYSTEM AT THE NASHUA, N.H. SITE

EPA Science Inventory

The treatability study report presents the results of both laboratory and field studies conducted by Koppers on soils from the Nashua, N.H., NPL site. The purpose of these studies was to provide the necessary data to evaluate a ull-scale design for the Engineered Biodeg...

MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM; PHOSPHATE STABILIZATION OF HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATED MINE WASTE YARD SOILS, JOPLIN, MISSOURI NPL SITE

EPA Science Inventory

This document summarizes the results of Mine Waste Technology Project 22-Phosphate Stabilization of Heavy Metals-Contaminated Mine Waste Yard Soils. Mining, milling, and smelting of ores near Joplin, Missouri, have resulted in heavy metal contamination of the area. The Joplin s...

76 FR 64943 - Proposed Cercla Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement; ACM Smelter and Refinery Site, Located...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-19

... Settlement; ACM Smelter and Refinery Site, Located in Cascade County, MT AGENCY: Environmental Protection... projected future response costs concerning the ACM Smelter and Refinery NPL Site (Site), Operable Unit 1..., Helena, MT 59626. Mr. Sturn can be reached at (406) 457-5027. Comments should reference the ACM Smelter...

Impaired ERAD and ER stress are early and specific events in polyglutamine toxicity

PubMed Central

Duennwald, Martin L.; Lindquist, Susan

2008-01-01

Protein misfolding, whether caused by aging, environmental factors, or genetic mutations, is a common basis for neurodegenerative diseases. The misfolding of proteins with abnormally long polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions causes several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Huntington’s disease (HD). Although many cellular pathways have been documented to be impaired in HD, the primary triggers of polyQ toxicity remain elusive. We report that yeast cells and neuron-like PC12 cells expressing polyQ-expanded huntingtin (htt) fragments display a surprisingly specific, immediate, and drastic defect in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD). We further decipher the mechanistic basis for this defect in ERAD: the entrapment of the essential ERAD proteins Npl4, Ufd1, and p97 by polyQ-expanded htt fragments. In both yeast and mammalian neuron-like cells, overexpression of Npl4 and Ufd1 ameliorates polyQ toxicity. Our results establish that impaired ER protein homeostasis is a broad and highly conserved contributor to polyQ toxicity in yeast, in PC12 cells, and, importantly, in striatal cells expressing full-length polyQ-expanded huntingtin. PMID:19015277

Options for streamlining the site assessment process

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

Myers, R.

The current site assessment process consists of entry into the CERCLA Information System (CERCLIS) database; completion of the Preliminary Assessment (PA), Site Inspection (SI), and Hazard Ranking System (HRS) documents; and placement on the National Priorities List (NPL). The purpose behind site assessment has been to identify sites for the NPL, not identify the most appropriate means for clearup. Several developments have led EPA to consider redesigning the process, including; the need to encourage brownfields redevelopment; the unintended stigma associated with being on CERCLIS; and the increased expertise of State and some Tribal programs. (For purposes of this paper, brownfieldsmore » are considered abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.) EPA has begun various site assessment pilots to aid in developing a more efficient and effective Superfund site assessment program. Key goals are to give States increased responsibility, encourage early/more efficient cleanups, reduce costs, and promote environmental recovery and economic revitalization. Possible components of a revised site assessment program are presented.« less

Remedial investigation/feasibility study of the Clinch River/Poplar Creek operable unit. Volume 1: Main text

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

NONE

This report presents the findings of an investigation into contamination of the Clinch River and Poplar Creek near the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. For more than 50 years, various hazardous and radioactive substances have been released to the environment as a result of operations and waste management activities at the ORR. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), established and maintained under the federal Comprehensive environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Under CERCLA, NPL sites must be investigated to determine the nature and extentmore » of contamination at the site, assess the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site, and, if necessary, identify feasible remedial alternatives that could be used to clean the site and reduce risk. To facilitate the overall environmental restoration effort at the ORR, CERCLA activities are being implemented individually as distinct operable units (OUs). This document is the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the Clinch River/Poplar Creek OU.« less

Alcohol-abuse drug disulfiram targets cancer via p97 segregase adaptor NPL4.

PubMed

Skrott, Zdenek; Mistrik, Martin; Andersen, Klaus Kaae; Friis, Søren; Majera, Dusana; Gursky, Jan; Ozdian, Tomas; Bartkova, Jirina; Turi, Zsofia; Moudry, Pavel; Kraus, Marianne; Michalova, Martina; Vaclavkova, Jana; Dzubak, Petr; Vrobel, Ivo; Pouckova, Pavla; Sedlacek, Jindrich; Miklovicova, Andrea; Kutt, Anne; Li, Jing; Mattova, Jana; Driessen, Christoph; Dou, Q Ping; Olsen, Jørgen; Hajduch, Marian; Cvek, Boris; Deshaies, Raymond J; Bartek, Jiri

2017-12-14

Cancer incidence is rising and this global challenge is further exacerbated by tumour resistance to available medicines. A promising approach to meet the need for improved cancer treatment is drug repurposing. Here we highlight the potential for repurposing disulfiram (also known by the trade name Antabuse), an old alcohol-aversion drug that has been shown to be effective against diverse cancer types in preclinical studies. Our nationwide epidemiological study reveals that patients who continuously used disulfiram have a lower risk of death from cancer compared to those who stopped using the drug at their diagnosis. Moreover, we identify the ditiocarb-copper complex as the metabolite of disulfiram that is responsible for its anti-cancer effects, and provide methods to detect preferential accumulation of the complex in tumours and candidate biomarkers to analyse its effect on cells and tissues. Finally, our functional and biophysical analyses reveal the molecular target of disulfiram's tumour-suppressing effects as NPL4, an adaptor of p97 (also known as VCP) segregase, which is essential for the turnover of proteins involved in multiple regulatory and stress-response pathways in cells.

New blackbody standard for the evaluation and calibration of tympanic ear thermometers at the NPL, United Kingdom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEvoy, Helen C.; Simpson, Robert; Machin, Graham

2004-04-01

The use of infrared tympanic thermometers for monitoring patient health is widespread. However, studies into the performance of these thermometers have questioned their accuracy and repeatability. To give users confidence in these devices, and to provide credibility in the measurements, it is necessary for them to be tested using an accredited, standard blackbody source, with a calibration traceable to the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90). To address this need the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK, has recently set up a primary ear thermometer calibration (PET-C) source for the evaluation and calibration of tympanic (ear) thermometers over the range from 15 °C to 45 °C. The overall uncertainty of the PET-C source is estimated to be +/- 0.04 °C at k = 2. The PET-C source meets the requirements of the European Standard EN 12470-5: 2003 Clinical thermometers. It consists of a high emissivity blackbody cavity immersed in a bath of stirred liquid. The temperature of the blackbody is determined using an ITS-90 calibrated platinum resistance thermometer inserted close to the rear of the cavity. The temperature stability and uniformity of the PET-C source was evaluated and its performance validated. This paper provides a description of the PET-C along with the results of the validation measurements. To further confirm the performance of the PET-C source it was compared to the standard ear thermometer calibration sources of the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), Japan and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany. The results of this comparison will also be briefly discussed. The PET-C source extends the capability for testing ear thermometers offered by the NPL body temperature fixed-point source, described previously. An update on the progress with the commercialisation of the fixed-point source will be given.

The AAA-ATPase molecular chaperone Cdc48/p97 disassembles sumoylated centromeres, decondenses heterochromatin, and activates ribosomal RNA genes.

PubMed

Mérai, Zsuzsanna; Chumak, Nina; García-Aguilar, Marcelina; Hsieh, Tzung-Fu; Nishimura, Toshiro; Schoft, Vera K; Bindics, János; Slusarz, Lucyna; Arnoux, Stéphanie; Opravil, Susanne; Mechtler, Karl; Zilberman, Daniel; Fischer, Robert L; Tamaru, Hisashi

2014-11-11

Centromeres mediate chromosome segregation and are defined by the centromere-specific histone H3 variant (CenH3)/centromere protein A (CENP-A). Removal of CenH3 from centromeres is a general property of terminally differentiated cells, and the persistence of CenH3 increases the risk of diseases such as cancer. However, active mechanisms of centromere disassembly are unknown. Nondividing Arabidopsis pollen vegetative cells, which transport engulfed sperm by extended tip growth, undergo loss of CenH3; centromeric heterochromatin decondensation; and bulk activation of silent rRNA genes, accompanied by their translocation into the nucleolus. Here, we show that these processes are blocked by mutations in the evolutionarily conserved AAA-ATPase molecular chaperone, CDC48A, homologous to yeast Cdc48 and human p97 proteins, both of which are implicated in ubiquitin/small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-targeted protein degradation. We demonstrate that CDC48A physically associates with its heterodimeric cofactor UFD1-NPL4, known to bind ubiquitin and SUMO, as well as with SUMO1-modified CenH3 and mutations in NPL4 phenocopy cdc48a mutations. In WT vegetative cell nuclei, genetically unlinked ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci are uniquely clustered together within the nucleolus and all major rRNA gene variants, including those rDNA variants silenced in leaves, are transcribed. In cdc48a mutant vegetative cell nuclei, however, these rDNA loci frequently colocalized with condensed centromeric heterochromatin at the external periphery of the nucleolus. Our results indicate that the CDC48A(NPL4) complex actively removes sumoylated CenH3 from centromeres and disrupts centromeric heterochromatin to release bulk rRNA genes into the nucleolus for ribosome production, which fuels single nucleus-driven pollen tube growth and is essential for plant reproduction.

78 FR 33276 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-04

... deletion pertains to soils, dust and deteriorating lead-based paint, where applicable, of the 1,154... residential parcels and associated soil, dust and deteriorating lead- based paint will remain on the NPL and... Background and History The Omaha Lead Site (OLS or Site [CERCLIS ID NESFN0703481]) includes surface soils...

76 FR 50414 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-15

...://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your... hazard ranking system. III. Deletion Procedures The following procedures apply to deletion of this Site... Delete the Site from the NPL. (4) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed deletion in...

76 FR 20370 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Normally Pressured...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-12

... Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Normally Pressured Lance Natural Gas...) Natural Gas Development Project and by this notice are announcing the beginning of the scoping process to... the NPL Natural Gas Development Project by any of the following methods: E-mail: [email protected

76 FR 70170 - Proposed Alternative Soils Standards for the Uravan, Colorado Uranium Mill

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-10

... identified four discrete areas that are not in full compliance with the soil remediation standards. The... State of Colorado and the EPA to proceed with delisting the Uravan site from the NPL. Four discrete... four discrete areas are referred to as: the Mill Hillside Area; A-Plant North Area; River Ponds Area...

40 CFR 35.4165 - When does EPA award a TAG?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false When does EPA award a TAG? 35.4165... does EPA award a TAG? (a) EPA may award TAGs throughout the Superfund process, including during... the site is proposed for listing on the NPL. (b) Based on the availability of funds, EPA may delay...

Development of the High-Temperature Dew-Point Generator Over the Past 15 Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosma, R.; Nielsen, J.; Peruzzi, A.

2017-10-01

At VSL a humidity generator was designed and constructed in the early 1990s. This generator was of the re-circulating-single-pressure type. Over the years, the generator has been thoroughly revised and several critical components have been replaced. Among others the pre-saturator and the change from re-circulation to single-pass mode. Validating experiments showed that the range of the new setup could be extended from 70 {°}C to 95 {°}C dew-point temperature, and the last modification allows an uncertainty of 0.048 {°}C (k = 2) at the maximum temperature. In 2009 the setup was used in the Euramet-T-K8 humidity intercomparison at temperatures up to 95 {°}C. In the period from 2003 to 2015, four state-of-the-art chilled mirror hygrometers were regularly calibrated with the generator. One of these was also calibrated with the primary dew-point standards of several other European National Metrology Institutes, which made it possible to link the VSL generator to the generators used in these institutes. An analysis of the results of these calibrations shows an agreement in calibration capabilities within 0.01 {°}C with PTB and NPL.

A general formula for computing maximum proportion correct scores in various psychophysical paradigms with arbitrary probability distributions of stimulus observations.

PubMed

Dai, Huanping; Micheyl, Christophe

2015-05-01

Proportion correct (Pc) is a fundamental measure of task performance in psychophysics. The maximum Pc score that can be achieved by an optimal (maximum-likelihood) observer in a given task is of both theoretical and practical importance, because it sets an upper limit on human performance. Within the framework of signal detection theory, analytical solutions for computing the maximum Pc score have been established for several common experimental paradigms under the assumption of Gaussian additive internal noise. However, as the scope of applications of psychophysical signal detection theory expands, the need is growing for psychophysicists to compute maximum Pc scores for situations involving non-Gaussian (internal or stimulus-induced) noise. In this article, we provide a general formula for computing the maximum Pc in various psychophysical experimental paradigms for arbitrary probability distributions of sensory activity. Moreover, easy-to-use MATLAB code implementing the formula is provided. Practical applications of the formula are illustrated, and its accuracy is evaluated, for two paradigms and two types of probability distributions (uniform and Gaussian). The results demonstrate that Pc scores computed using the formula remain accurate even for continuous probability distributions, as long as the conversion from continuous probability density functions to discrete probability mass functions is supported by a sufficiently high sampling resolution. We hope that the exposition in this article, and the freely available MATLAB code, facilitates calculations of maximum performance for a wider range of experimental situations, as well as explorations of the impact of different assumptions concerning internal-noise distributions on maximum performance in psychophysical experiments.

SUPERFUND TREATABILITY CLEARINGHOUSE: PILOT STUDY OF ENCLOSED THERMAL SOIL AERATION FOR REMOVAL OF VOLATILE ORGANIC CONTAMINATION AT THE MCKIN SUPERFUND SITE

EPA Science Inventory

This paper reports on the results of a pilot study that treated vadose zone soil contaminated with VOCs in an enclosed thermal aeration system. The McKin site, an NPL site in Grey, Maine, was the location of the pilot study. The pilot study was chosen to demonstrate the viabili...

EPA Guidance on the Transfer of Federal Property by Deed Before All Necessary Remedial Action Has Been Taken Pursuant to CERCLA Section 120(h)(3) -- (Early Transfer Authority Guidance)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This guidance addresses the transfer of real property listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) held by a federal agency where the release or disposal of hazardous substances has occurred, but where all necessary remedial action has not yet been taken.

Remedial investigation/feasibility study of the Clinch River/Poplar Creek Operable Unit. Volume 3. Risk assessment information. Appendixes E, F

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

NONE

1996-03-01

This report presents the findings of an investigation into contamination of the Clinch River and Poplar Creek near the U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. For more than 50 years, various hazardous and radioactive substances have been released to the environment as a result of operations and waste management activities at the ORR. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), established and maintained under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Under CERCLA, NPL sites must be investigated to determine the nature and extentmore » of contamination at the site, assess the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site, and, if necessary, identify feasible remedial alternatives that could be used to clean the site and reduce risk. To facilitate the overall environmental restoration effort at the ORR, CERCLA activities are being implemented individually as distinct operable units (OUs). This document is Volume 3 of the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the Clinch River/Poplar Creek OU.« less

Remedial investigation/feasibility study of the Clinch River/Poplar Creek operable unit. Volume 3: Appendixes E and F -- Risk assessment information

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

NONE

1996-06-01

This report presents the findings of an investigation into contamination of the Clinch River and Poplar Creek near the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. For more than 50 years, various hazardous and radioactive substances have been released to the environment as a result of operations and waste management activities at the ORR. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), established and maintained under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Under CERCLA, NPL sites must be investigated to determine the nature and extentmore » of contamination at the site, assess the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site, and, if necessary, identify feasible remedial alternatives that could be used to clean the site and reduce risk. To facilitate the overall environmental restoration effort at the ORR, CERCLA activities are being implemented individually as distinct operable units (OUs). This document is the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the Clinch River/Poplar Creek OU.« less

CDC-48/p97 coordinates CDT-1 degradation with GINS chromatin dissociation to ensure faithful DNA replication.

PubMed

Franz, André; Orth, Michael; Pirson, Paul A; Sonneville, Remi; Blow, J Julian; Gartner, Anton; Stemmann, Olaf; Hoppe, Thorsten

2011-10-07

Faithful transmission of genomic information requires tight spatiotemporal regulation of DNA replication factors. In the licensing step of DNA replication, CDT-1 is loaded onto chromatin to subsequently promote the recruitment of additional replication factors, including CDC-45 and GINS. During the elongation step, the CDC-45/GINS complex moves with the replication fork; however, it is largely unknown how its chromatin association is regulated. Here, we show that the chaperone-like ATPase CDC-48/p97 coordinates degradation of CDT-1 with release of the CDC-45/GINS complex. C. elegans embryos lacking CDC-48 or its cofactors UFD-1/NPL-4 accumulate CDT-1 on mitotic chromatin, indicating a critical role of CDC-48 in CDT-1 turnover. Strikingly, CDC-48(UFD-1/NPL-4)-deficient embryos show persistent chromatin association of CDC-45/GINS, which is a consequence of CDT-1 stabilization. Moreover, our data confirmed a similar regulation in Xenopus egg extracts, emphasizing a conserved coordination of licensing and elongation events during eukaryotic DNA replication by CDC-48/p97. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Remedial investigation/feasibility study of the Clinch River/Poplar Creek Operable Unit. Volume 2. Biota and representative concentrations of contaminants. Appendixes A, B, C, D

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

NONE

1996-03-01

This report presents the findings of an investigation into contamination of the Clinch River and Poplar Creek near the U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. For more than 50 years, various hazardous and radioactive substances have been released to the environment as a result of operations and waste management activities at the ORR. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), established and maintained under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Under CERCLA, NPL sites must be investigated to determine the nature and extentmore » of contamination at the site, assess the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site, and, if necessary, identify feasible remedial alternatives that could be used to clean the site and reduce risk. To facilitate the overall environmental restoration effort at the ORR, CERCLA activities are being implemented individually as distinct operable units (OU`s). This document is the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the Clinch River/Poplar Creek OU.« less

Denver Radium Site -- Operable Unit X closeout report for the US Environmental Protection Agency

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

Not Available

1992-03-01

The Denver Radium Site consists of properties in the Denver area having radioactive contamination left from radium processing in the early 1900s. The properties are divided into 11 groups or operable units'' to facilitate remedial action management of the Site. Under the provisions of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to respond to a release of a hazardous substance or to a substantial threat of such a release into the environment. EPA or the state conducts a site inspection and uses the Hazard Ranking System to determine placement onmore » the EPA National Priorities List (NPL). In 1983, EPA placed the Denver Radium Site on the NPL, making it eligible for cleanup under the EPA Superfund Program. Through a series of interagency agreements,EPA has enlisted the support of the US Department of Energy Grand junction Projects Office and Chem-Nuclear Geotech, Inc., for remedial design and remedial action activities at the Denver Radium Superfund Site.The US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) is managing the waste transportation and disposal contract.« less

Denver Radium Site -- Operable Unit X closeout report for the US Environmental Protection Agency

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

Not Available

1992-03-01

The Denver Radium Site consists of properties in the Denver area having radioactive contamination left from radium processing in the early 1900s. The properties are divided into 11 groups or ``operable units`` to facilitate remedial action management of the Site. Under the provisions of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to respond to a release of a hazardous substance or to a substantial threat of such a release into the environment. EPA or the state conducts a site inspection and uses the Hazard Ranking System to determine placement onmore » the EPA National Priorities List (NPL). In 1983, EPA placed the Denver Radium Site on the NPL, making it eligible for cleanup under the EPA Superfund Program. Through a series of interagency agreements,EPA has enlisted the support of the US Department of Energy Grand junction Projects Office and Chem-Nuclear Geotech, Inc., for remedial design and remedial action activities at the Denver Radium Superfund Site.The US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) is managing the waste transportation and disposal contract.« less

Remedial investigation/feasibility study of the Clinch River/Poplar Creek Operable Unit. Volume 2. Appendixes A, B, C, and D-Biota and representative concentrations of contaminants

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

NONE

1996-06-01

This report presents the findings of an investigation into contamination of the Clinch River and Poplar Creek near the U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in eastern Tennessee. For more than 50 years, various hazardous and radioactive substances have been released to the environment as a result of operations and waste management activities at the ORR. In 1989, the ORR was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL), established and maintained under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Under CERCLA, NPL sites must be investigated to determine the nature and extentmore » of contamination at the site, assess the risk to human health and the environment posed by the site, and, if necessary, identify feasible remedial alternatives that could be used to clean the site and reduce risk. To facilitate the overall environmental restoration effort at the ORR, CERCLA activities are being implemented individually as distinct operable units (OUs). This document is Volume 2 of the combined Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for the Clinch River/Poplar Creek OU.« less

Viscosity and Structure of CaO-SiO2-P2O5-FetO System with Varying P2O5 and FeO Content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diao, Jiang; Gu, Pan; Liu, De-Man; Jiang, Lu; Wang, Cong; Xie, Bing

2017-10-01

A rotary viscosimeter and Raman spectrum were employed to measure the viscosity and structural information of the CaO-SiO2-P2O5-FetO system at 1673 K. The experimental data have been compared with the calculated results using different viscosity models. It shows that the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Pal models fit the CaO-SiO2-P2O5-FeOt system better. With the P2O5 content increasing from 5% to 14%, the viscosity increases from 0.12 Pa s to 0.27 Pa s. With the FeO content increasing from 30% to 40%, the viscosity decreases from 0.21 Pa s to 0.12 Pa s. Increasing FeO content makes the complicated molten melts become simple, and increasing P2O5 content will complicate the molten melts. The linear relation between viscosity and structure parameter Q(Si + P) was obtained by regression analysis. The calculated viscosity by using the optimized NPL and Pal model are almost identical with the fitted values.

Genomewide scan for gout in taiwanese aborigines reveals linkage to chromosome 4q25.

PubMed

Cheng, Li Shu-Chuan; Chiang, Shang-Lun; Tu, Hung-Pin; Chang, Shun-Jen; Wang, Tsu-Nai; Ko, Allen Min-Jen; Chakraborty, Ranajit; Ko, Ying-Chin

2004-09-01

Gout is a disorder of uric-acid metabolism. The Pacific Austronesian population, including Taiwanese aborigines, has a remarkably high prevalence of hyperuricemia and gout, which suggests a founder effect across the Pacific region. We report here a genomewide linkage study of 21 multiplex pedigrees with gout from an aboriginal tribe in Taiwan. From observations of familial clustering, early onset of gout, and clinically severe manifestations, we hypothesized that a major gene plays a role in this trait. Using 382 random polymorphic markers spread across 22 autosomes, we demonstrated a highly significant linkage for gout at marker D4S2623 on chromosome 4q25 (P=.0002 by nonparametric linkage [the NPL(all) statistic]; empirical P=.0006; LOD=4.3, P=4.4x10-6 by logistic regression). When alcohol consumption was included as a covariate in the model, the LOD score increased to 5.66 (P=1.3x10-6). Quantitative traits, including serum uric acid and creatinine, also showed a moderate linkage to this region. To our knowledge, this is the first genome-scan report to identify a genetic locus harboring a gout-susceptibility gene.

Genome-wide linkage meta-analysis identifies susceptibility loci at 2q34 and 13q31.3 for genetic generalized epilepsies.

PubMed

Leu, Costin; de Kovel, Carolien G F; Zara, Federico; Striano, Pasquale; Pezzella, Marianna; Robbiano, Angela; Bianchi, Amedeo; Bisulli, Francesca; Coppola, Antonietta; Giallonardo, Anna Teresa; Beccaria, Francesca; Trenité, Dorothée Kasteleijn-Nolst; Lindhout, Dick; Gaus, Verena; Schmitz, Bettina; Janz, Dieter; Weber, Yvonne G; Becker, Felicitas; Lerche, Holger; Kleefuss-Lie, Ailing A; Hallman, Kerstin; Kunz, Wolfram S; Elger, Christian E; Muhle, Hiltrud; Stephani, Ulrich; Møller, Rikke S; Hjalgrim, Helle; Mullen, Saul; Scheffer, Ingrid E; Berkovic, Samuel F; Everett, Kate V; Gardiner, Mark R; Marini, Carla; Guerrini, Renzo; Lehesjoki, Anna-Elina; Siren, Auli; Nabbout, Rima; Baulac, Stephanie; Leguern, Eric; Serratosa, Jose M; Rosenow, Felix; Feucht, Martha; Unterberger, Iris; Covanis, Athanasios; Suls, Arvid; Weckhuysen, Sarah; Kaneva, Radka; Caglayan, Hande; Turkdogan, Dilsad; Baykan, Betul; Bebek, Nerses; Ozbek, Ugur; Hempelmann, Anne; Schulz, Herbert; Rüschendorf, Franz; Trucks, Holger; Nürnberg, Peter; Avanzini, Giuliano; Koeleman, Bobby P C; Sander, Thomas

2012-02-01

Genetic generalized epilepsies (GGEs) have a lifetime prevalence of 0.3% with heritability estimates of 80%. A considerable proportion of families with siblings affected by GGEs presumably display an oligogenic inheritance. The present genome-wide linkage meta-analysis aimed to map: (1) susceptibility loci shared by a broad spectrum of GGEs, and (2) seizure type-related genetic factors preferentially predisposing to either typical absence or myoclonic seizures, respectively. Meta-analysis of three genome-wide linkage datasets was carried out in 379 GGE-multiplex families of European ancestry including 982 relatives with GGEs. To dissect out seizure type-related susceptibility genes, two family subgroups were stratified comprising 235 families with predominantly genetic absence epilepsies (GAEs) and 118 families with an aggregation of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). To map shared and seizure type-related susceptibility loci, both nonparametric loci (NPL) and parametric linkage analyses were performed for a broad trait model (GGEs) in the entire set of GGE-multiplex families and a narrow trait model (typical absence or myoclonic seizures) in the subgroups of JME and GAE families. For the entire set of 379 GGE-multiplex families, linkage analysis revealed six loci achieving suggestive evidence for linkage at 1p36.22, 3p14.2, 5q34, 13q12.12, 13q31.3, and 19q13.42. The linkage finding at 5q34 was consistently supported by both NPL and parametric linkage results across all three family groups. A genome-wide significant nonparametric logarithm of odds score of 3.43 was obtained at 2q34 in 118 JME families. Significant parametric linkage to 13q31.3 was found in 235 GAE families assuming recessive inheritance (heterogeneity logarithm of odds = 5.02). Our linkage results support an oligogenic predisposition of familial GGE syndromes. The genetic risk factor at 5q34 confers risk to a broad spectrum of familial GGE syndromes, whereas susceptibility loci at 2q34 and 13q31.3 preferentially predispose to myoclonic seizures or absence seizures, respectively. Phenotype- genotype strategies applying narrow trait definitions in phenotypic homogeneous subgroups of families improve the prospects of disentangling the genetic basis of common familial GGE syndromes. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 International League Against Epilepsy.

Lod scores for gene mapping in the presence of marker map uncertainty.

PubMed

Stringham, H M; Boehnke, M

2001-07-01

Multipoint lod scores are typically calculated for a grid of locus positions, moving the putative disease locus across a fixed map of genetic markers. Changing the order of a set of markers and/or the distances between the markers can make a substantial difference in the resulting lod score curve and the location and height of its maximum. The typical approach of using the best maximum likelihood marker map is not easily justified if other marker orders are nearly as likely and give substantially different lod score curves. To deal with this problem, we propose three weighted multipoint lod score statistics that make use of information from all plausible marker orders. In each of these statistics, the information conditional on a particular marker order is included in a weighted sum, with weight equal to the posterior probability of that order. We evaluate the type 1 error rate and power of these three statistics on the basis of results from simulated data, and compare these results to those obtained using the best maximum likelihood map and the map with the true marker order. We find that the lod score based on a weighted sum of maximum likelihoods improves on using only the best maximum likelihood map, having a type 1 error rate and power closest to that of using the true marker order in the simulation scenarios we considered. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evaluation of native microbial soil populations at a trichloroethylene contaminated Superfund site in the presence of a permeable reactive barrier (biowall) using a metagenomics approach

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Beaverdam Road Landfill occupies 3.5 acres and was an active disposal site for miscellaneous non-hazardous waste from 1943 to 1990, before being capped. In 1994, this site was included on the Nation Priorities List (NPL) for periodic inspection and remediation in accordance with the program regu...

The Relation between Factor Score Estimates, Image Scores, and Principal Component Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velicer, Wayne F.

1976-01-01

Investigates the relation between factor score estimates, principal component scores, and image scores. The three methods compared are maximum likelihood factor analysis, principal component analysis, and a variant of rescaled image analysis. (RC)

An exploration of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young multiethnic Muslim-majority society in Malaysia in relation to reproductive and premarital sexual practices

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The increasing trend of premarital sexual experience and unintended pregnancies in Malaysia warrants sustained and serious attention. The sensitivities of sex-related issues in a Muslim-majority country create various types of barriers to sexual and reproductive health information, support and practices. This study aims to gain understanding of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young women in Malaysia concerning reproductive, contraception and premarital sexual practices. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed, using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire carried out among 1695 female university students in a public university in Malaysia. Results Respondents had low scores for knowledge of reproduction and pregnancy (median=4, of maximum score 10), contraceptive uses (median=6, of maximum score 16) and contraceptive availability (median=3, of maximum score 13). The majority of women surveyed do not have liberal values in relation to premarital sexual behaviour (median=37, of maximum 40); higher scores on this scale corresponded to opposing premarital sex. The multivariate analyses showed that ethnic group was the strongest correlate of knowledge and attitude scores; being of Malay Muslim ethnicity was associated significantly with lower knowledge scores and premarital sex permissiveness. Other significant correlates were year of study, maternal occupational groups, level of religious faith, dating status and urban–rural localities. Level of premarital sex permissiveness was inversely correlated with reproduction and pregnancy knowledge score, and contraceptive knowledge scores. Conclusion Reproductive health knowledge and attitudes were intricately linked to religious values and cultural norms differences surrounding sexual issues. PMID:23057505

An exploration of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young multiethnic Muslim-majority society in Malaysia in relation to reproductive and premarital sexual practices.

PubMed

Wong, Li Ping

2012-10-11

The increasing trend of premarital sexual experience and unintended pregnancies in Malaysia warrants sustained and serious attention. The sensitivities of sex-related issues in a Muslim-majority country create various types of barriers to sexual and reproductive health information, support and practices. This study aims to gain understanding of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young women in Malaysia concerning reproductive, contraception and premarital sexual practices. A cross-sectional study was performed, using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire carried out among 1695 female university students in a public university in Malaysia. Respondents had low scores for knowledge of reproduction and pregnancy (median=4, of maximum score 10), contraceptive uses (median=6, of maximum score 16) and contraceptive availability (median=3, of maximum score 13). The majority of women surveyed do not have liberal values in relation to premarital sexual behaviour (median=37, of maximum 40); higher scores on this scale corresponded to opposing premarital sex. The multivariate analyses showed that ethnic group was the strongest correlate of knowledge and attitude scores; being of Malay Muslim ethnicity was associated significantly with lower knowledge scores and premarital sex permissiveness. Other significant correlates were year of study, maternal occupational groups, level of religious faith, dating status and urban-rural localities. Level of premarital sex permissiveness was inversely correlated with reproduction and pregnancy knowledge score, and contraceptive knowledge scores. Reproductive health knowledge and attitudes were intricately linked to religious values and cultural norms differences surrounding sexual issues.

Novel Method for Analyzing Locomotor Ability after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats: Technical Note

PubMed Central

Shinozaki, Munehisa; Yasuda, Akimasa; Nori, Satoshi; Saito, Nobuhito; Toyama, Yoshiaki; Okano, Hideyuki; Nakamura, Masaya

2013-01-01

In the research for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI), the evaluation of motor function in model rats must be as objective, noninvasive, and ethical as possible. The maximum speed and acceleration of a mouse measured using a SCANET system were previously reported to vary significantly according to severity of SCI. In the present study, the motor performance of SCI model rats was examined with SCANET and assessed for Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score to determine the usefulness of the SCANET system in evaluating functional recovery after SCI. Maximum speed and acceleration within the measurement period correlated significantly with BBB scores. Furthermore, among several phased kinematic factors used in BBB scores, the capability of “plantar stepping” was associated with a drastic increase in maximum speed and acceleration after SCI. Therefore, evaluation of maximum speed and acceleration using a SCANET system is a useful method for rat models of SCI and can complement open field scoring scales. PMID:24097095

Determining the linkage of disease-resistance genes to molecular markers: the LOD-SCORE method revisited with regard to necessary sample sizes.

PubMed

Hühn, M

1995-05-01

Some approaches to molecular marker-assisted linkage detection for a dominant disease-resistance trait based on a segregating F2 population are discussed. Analysis of two-point linkage is carried out by the traditional measure of maximum lod score. It depends on (1) the maximum-likelihood estimate of the recombination fraction between the marker and the disease-resistance gene locus, (2) the observed absolute frequencies, and (3) the unknown number of tested individuals. If one replaces the absolute frequencies by expressions depending on the unknown sample size and the maximum-likelihood estimate of recombination value, the conventional rule for significant linkage (maximum lod score exceeds a given linkage threshold) can be resolved for the sample size. For each sub-population used for linkage analysis [susceptible (= recessive) individuals, resistant (= dominant) individuals, complete F2] this approach gives a lower bound for the necessary number of individuals required for the detection of significant two-point linkage by the lod-score method.

National priorities list sites: North Carolina, 1995

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

NONE

1995-05-01

The fact sheets describe hazardous waste sites on the NPL and their locations, as well as the conditions leading to their listing (Site Description). The summaries list the types of contaminants that have been discovered and related threats to public and ecological health (Threats and Contaminants). Cleanup Approach presents an overview of the cleanup activities completed, underway, or planned. The fact sheets are arranged in alphabetical order by site name.

Yeast proteins Gar1p, Nop1p, Npl3p, Nsr1p, and Rps2p are natively methylated and are substrates of the arginine methyltransferase Hmt1p.

PubMed

Yagoub, Daniel; Hart-Smith, Gene; Moecking, Jonas; Erce, Melissa A; Wilkins, Marc R

2015-09-01

The Hmt1 methyltransferase is the predominant arginine methyltransferase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. There are 18 substrate proteins described for this methyltransferase, however native sites of methylation have only been identified on two of these proteins. Here we used peptide immunoaffinity enrichment, followed by LC-ETD-MS/MS, to discover 21 native sites of arginine methylation on five putative Hmt1 substrate proteins, namely Gar1p (H/ACA ribonucleoprotein complex subunit 1), Nop1p (rRNA 2'-O-methyltransferase fibrillarin), Npl3p (nucleolar protein 3), Nsr1p (nuclear localization sequence-binding protein), and Rps2p (40S ribosomal protein S2). The sites, many of which were found to be mono- or di-methylated, were predominantly found in RGG (Arg-Gly-Gly) motifs. Heavy methyl-SILAC validated the majority of these peptides. The above proteins, and relevant sites of methylation, were subsequently validated by in vitro methylation with recombinant Hmt1. This brings the total of Hmt1 substrate proteins for which native methylation sites have been identified to five. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

[Role of the National Poliovirus Laboratory for the Program of eradication and poliomyelitis surveillance].

PubMed

Trallero, Gloria; Cabrerizo, María; Avellón, Ana

2013-01-01

The Spanish acute flaccid paralysis surveillance network is coordinated by the National Poliovirus Laboratory (NPL), which, since 1998, carries out polioviruses (PV) and other enteroviruses detected characterization by cell culture and molecular techniques. A total of 110,725 (70046+40679) samples were studied between 1998-2012 and enteroviruses were detected in 8% of these. Among these enteroviruses 241 PV were characterized as PV Sabin-like, except samples belong to an imported poliomyelitis case, all of which were characterised as vaccine derived PV type 2. The NPL has carried out the serotyping and the intratypic differentiation of all the isolated PV in Spain of any syndrome. It is shown that wild PV has not circulated in our country during the 15 years studied and that has led to the signing of the Act of the "eradication of poliomyelitis in Spain" by WHO in 2001, and the /"certification of the eradication of wild PV free for European countries" on 21 June 2002. Currently only 3 countries have endemic transmission of wild PV (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria). Until a complete worldwide eradication, was achieved, Spain will actively continue to participate in the maintenance of the poliomyelitis eradication infrastructure by monitoring and vaccination as well as the wild PV containment plan to avoid the spread of wild PV.

In Vivo Ubiquitin Linkage-type Analysis Reveals that the Cdc48-Rad23/Dsk2 Axis Contributes to K48-Linked Chain Specificity of the Proteasome.

PubMed

Tsuchiya, Hikaru; Ohtake, Fumiaki; Arai, Naoko; Kaiho, Ai; Yasuda, Sayaka; Tanaka, Keiji; Saeki, Yasushi

2017-05-18

Ubiquitin-binding domain (UBD) proteins regulate numerous cellular processes, but their specificities toward ubiquitin chain types in cells remain obscure. Here, we perform a quantitative proteomic analysis of ubiquitin linkage-type selectivity of 14 UBD proteins and the proteasome in yeast. We find that K48-linked chains are directed to proteasomal degradation through selectivity of the Cdc48 cofactor Npl4. Mutating Cdc48 results in decreased selectivity, and lacking Rad23/Dsk2 abolishes interactions between ubiquitylated substrates and the proteasome. Among them, only Npl4 has K48 chain specificity in vitro. Thus, the Cdc48 complex functions as a K48 linkage-specifying factor upstream of Rad23/Dsk2 for proteasomal degradation. On the other hand, K63 chains are utilized in endocytic pathways, whereas both K48 and K63 chains are found in the MVB and autophagic pathways. Collectively, our results provide an overall picture of the ubiquitin network via UBD proteins and identify the Cdc48-Rad23/Dsk2 axis as a major route to the proteasome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A novel method for determining calibration and behavior of PVDF ultrasonic hydrophone probes in the frequency range up to 100 MHz.

PubMed

Bleeker, H J; Lewin, P A

2000-01-01

A new calibration technique for PVDF ultrasonic hydrophone probes is described. Current implementation of the technique allows determination of hydrophone frequency response between 2 and 100 MHz and is based on the comparison of theoretically predicted and experimentally determined pressure-time waveforms produced by a focused, circular source. The simulation model was derived from the time domain algorithm that solves the non linear KZK (Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov) equation describing acoustic wave propagation. The calibration technique data were experimentally verified using independent calibration procedures in the frequency range from 2 to 40 MHz using a combined time delay spectrometry and reciprocity approach or calibration data provided by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK. The results of verification indicated good agreement between the results obtained using KZK and the above-mentioned independent calibration techniques from 2 to 40 MHz, with the maximum discrepancy of 18% at 30 MHz. The frequency responses obtained using different hydrophone designs, including several membrane and needle probes, are presented, and it is shown that the technique developed provides a desirable tool for independent verification of primary calibration techniques such as those based on optical interferometry. Fundamental limitations of the presented calibration method are also examined.

Neutron spectroscopy measurements of 14 MeV neutrons at unprecedented energy resolution and implications for deuterium-tritium fusion plasma diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigamonti, D.; Giacomelli, L.; Gorini, G.; Nocente, M.; Rebai, M.; Tardocchi, M.; Angelone, M.; Batistoni, P.; Cufar, A.; Ghani, Z.; Jednorog, S.; Klix, A.; Laszynska, E.; Loreti, S.; Pillon, M.; Popovichev, S.; Roberts, N.; Thomas, D.; Contributors, JET

2018-04-01

An accurate calibration of the JET neutron diagnostics with a 14 MeV neutron generator was performed in the first half of 2017 in order to provide a reliable measurement of the fusion power during the next JET deuterium-tritium (DT) campaign. In order to meet the target accuracy, the chosen neutron generator has been fully characterized at the Neutron Metrology Laboratory of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, United Kingdom. The present paper describes the measurements of the neutron energy spectra obtained using a high-resolution single-crystal diamond detector (SCD). The measurements, together with a new neutron source routine ‘ad hoc’ developed for the MCNP code, allowed the complex features of the neutron energy spectra resulting from the mixed D/T beam ions interacting with the T/D target nuclei to be resolved for the first time. From the spectral analysis a quantitative estimation of the beam ion composition has been made. The unprecedented intrinsic energy resolution (<1% full width at half maximum (FWHM) at 14 MeV) of diamond detectors opens up new prospects for diagnosing DT plasmas, such as, for instance, the possibility to study non-classical slowing down of the beam ions by neutron spectroscopy on ITER.

Nurse-led epistaxis management within the emergency department.

PubMed

Hakim, Navid; Mummadi, Sangha Mitra; Jolly, Karan; Dawson, Julian; Darr, Adnan

2018-01-11

the incidence of epistaxis has increased secondary to increased life expectancy and morbidities. This study sought to assess the knowledge, practice and opinion relating to adequacy of training of advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) and staff nurses (SNs) in the emergency department. a national survey was distributed over an 8-week period; this included a 3-point scoring system based on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Clinical Knowledge Summaries guidance on epistaxis management to assess overall performance. analysis included 109 ANPs and 101 SNs; 12% of ANPs achieved the maximum score, 40% scored 2, 25% scored 1, and 23% scored 0, while 14% of SNs achieved the maximum score, 24% scored 2, 29% scored 1, and 32% scored 0. Overall 88% of respondents advocated further training. significant deficits in knowledge regarding epistaxis management were highlighted. Further training could help to empower patients in basic first aid measures, subsequently reducing admissions rates.

Like Peas and Carrots: Combining Wellness Policy Implementation With Classroom Education for Obesity Prevention in the Childcare Setting.

PubMed

Cotwright, Caree J; Bales, Diane W; Lee, Jung Sun; Parrott, Kathryn; Celestin, Nathalie; Olubajo, Babatunde

We evaluated an intervention combining policy training and technical assistance for childcare teachers with a nutrition education curriculum to improve (1) the knowledge and self-efficacy of childcare teachers in implementing obesity prevention policies and practices, (2) the quantity and quality of nutrition and physical activity education, and (3) the childcare wellness environment. Thirteen teachers and 8 administrators (2 of whom were also teachers) from 8 childcare programs in Clarke County, Georgia, participated in the Healthy Child Care Georgia intervention during June-October 2015. The intervention included (1) training and technical assistance on obesity prevention policies, systems, and practices and (2) direct education by teachers using the Eat Healthy, Be Active curriculum. We assessed changes in program wellness policy adoption and teacher knowledge and self-efficacy from pre- to post-intervention through self-report questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Teachers' knowledge scores (maximum score = 100) rose significantly from a mean (SD) pre-intervention of 67.1 (14.6) to post-intervention of 83.2 (14.3) ( P < .001). The mean score for "teaching nutrition and activity to children" (maximum score = 105) rose significantly from 86.9 (8.2) to 93.5 (5.2) ( P = .011) and for "modeling and supporting children" (maximum score = 63) from 55.8 (5.1) to 59.5 (4.5) ( P = .015). The mean (SD) scores for breastfeeding and infant feeding policy/practice adoption (maximum score = 6) increased significantly from 2.5 (1.8) to 3.7 (1.9) ( P = .043) and for nutrition education policy/practice adoption (maximum score = 4) from 2.0 (1.3) to 3.3 (1.4) ( P = .019). The combined approach enhanced classroom nutrition education and improved the adoption of best practices. Future studies should examine the effects of using a combined approach to promote nutrition and physical activity policies and practices in the early care and education setting.

Effect of modified atmosphere packaging on Quality Index Method (QIM) scores of farmed gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) at low and abused temperatures.

PubMed

Campus, Marco; Bonaglini, Elia; Cappuccinelli, Roberto; Porcu, Maria Cristina; Tonelli, Roberto; Roggio, Tonina

2011-04-01

A Quality Index Method (QIM) scheme was developed for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) packed gilthead seabream, and the effect of MAP gas mixtures (60% CO2 and 40% N2; 60% CO2, 30% O2, and 10% N2), temperature (2, 4, and 8 °C), and time of storage on QI scores was assessed. QI scores were crossed with sensory evaluation of cooked fish according to a modified Torry scheme to establish the rejection point. In order to reduce redundant parameters, a principal component analysis was applied on preliminary QIM parameters scores coming from the best performing MAP among those tested. The final QIM scheme consists of 13 parameters and a maximum demerit score of 25. The maximum storage time was found to be 13 d at 4 °C for MAP 60% CO2 and 40% N2. Storage at 2 °C do not substantially improved sensory parameters scores, while storage under temperature abuse (8 °C) accelerated drastically the rate of increase of QI scores and reduced the maximum storage time to 6 d.

Five Methods for Estimating Angoff Cut Scores with IRT

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyse, Adam E.

2017-01-01

This article illustrates five different methods for estimating Angoff cut scores using item response theory (IRT) models. These include maximum likelihood (ML), expected a priori (EAP), modal a priori (MAP), and weighted maximum likelihood (WML) estimators, as well as the most commonly used approach based on translating ratings through the test…

75 FR 43082 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan; National Priorities List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-23

... pertains to the soil and groundwater of parcels 24, 27, 28, 2-53, 2-53L, 2-54, 2-54L, 2-70, 2-70L, 3-89, 3... Priorities List (NPL). This partial deletion pertains to the soil and groundwater of parcels 24, 27, 28, 2-53... 24 Phase I ROD, SEP 1998.. Soil & Groundwater. Phase III ROD, AUG 2003 Soil & Groundwater. 27, 2-27B...

Community Relations Plan: Galena Airport and Campion Air Force Station, Alaska

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-11-11

toxic 0k Corporations that are not wastes at any facility listed or proposed for incorporated for the specific listing on the NPL and where site work ... working toward for awarding a TAG, and how to obtain incorporation under state laws. additional information are described. The Applications are...for similar work in the area. Notification Procedures and In special cases, where an applicant Evaluation Criteria group intends to apply for a single

Predicting procedural pain after ureteroscopy: does hydrodistention play a role?

PubMed Central

Gul, Zeynep; Alazem, Kareem; Li, Ina; Monga, Manoj

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: To identify perioperative predictors of immediate pain after ureteroscopy, specifically evaluating the impact of hydrodistention from irrigation on pain. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively identified patients who underwent ureteroscopy for the treatment of calculi. Data recorded for these patients included their maximum pain score in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), average flow rate of irrigant used during the procedure, patient and stone characteristics, operative procedure, and details of patients' immediate, post-operative course. Spearman's rho was used to determine the relationship between non-parametric, continuous variables. Then, a linear regression was performed to assess which variables could predict the peak pain score. Results: A total of 131 patients were included in the study. A non-parametric correlation analysis revealed that maximum pain score was negatively correlated with being male (r = −0.18, p=0.04), age (r = −0.34, p<0.001), and post-op foley placement (r = −0.20, p=0.02) but positively correlated with the preoperative pain score (r = 0.41, p<0.001), time in the PACU (r = 0.19, p = 0.03), and the morphine equivalent dose (MED) of narcotics administered in the PACU (r = 0.67, p<0.001). On linear regression, the significant variables were age, preoperative pain score, and stent placement. For every ten-year increase in age post-operative pain score decreased by 4/10 of a point (p = 0.03). For every 1 point increase in preoperative pain score there was a 3/10 of a point increase in the maximum pain score (p = 0.01), and leaving a stent in place post-operatively was associated with a 1.6 point increase in the maximum pain score. Conclusions: Hydrodistention does not play a role in post-ureteroscopy pain. Patients who are younger, have higher preoperative pain scores, or who are stented will experience more post-operative pain after ureteroscopy. PMID:27564284

Use of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score for evaluating outcome among obstetric patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

PubMed

Jain, Shruti; Guleria, Kiran; Suneja, Amita; Vaid, Neelam B; Ahuja, Sharmila

2016-03-01

To evaluate the prognostic value of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score among obstetric patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). A prospective study was conducted among 90 consecutive obstetric patients who were admitted to the ICU of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India, between October 6, 2010, and December 25, 2011. Maximum SOFA score was calculated for each of the six organ systems. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine critical cutoff values for total, maximum total, and mean total SOFA scores at various time points. Total SOFA score at admission displayed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.949, a cutoff value of at least 8.5, sensitivity of 86.7%, and specificity of 90.0%. Maximum total SOFA score had an AUC of 0.980, a cutoff value of at least 10.0, sensitivity of 96.7%, and specificity of 90.0%. Mean total SOFA score had an AUC of 0.997, a cutoff value of at least 9.0, sensitivity of 96.7%, and specificity of 96.7%. In terms of discriminatory power for predicting mortality among obstetric patients admitted to the ICU, total SOFA score at admission was the most relevant, simple, and accurate measure. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Long Term Performance of Continuously Running Atomic Fountains

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-28

at least on the time frame of the accuracy evaluations. For example, the PTB has produced an excellent timescale based on a single caesium fountain...at PTB , which are beam standards. Figure 7. Relative frequency of NRF5 and each caesium fountain measurement reported to TAI. The (three) fountains...at LNE-SYRTE and (the two) at PTB are differentiated from the other labs reporting (NIST, NPL and one report from NICT). 6. Conclusion To summarize

The Sensitivity of Wave Force Computations to Common Errors, Uncertainties, and Hydrodynamic Approximations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-10

32 Appendix B - EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS .......................... 36 Accession For NTIS GRA&I DTIC TAB 0 Unannounced...structure exposed to a wave/current system or one experiencing oscillatory motion as well. The history term will not be considered further in this...Analysis of Wave Loading Data Obtained from Model Tests," NPL Report Mar Sci R136 (June 1976). 3. Morison, J.R., O’Brien, M.P., Johnson, J.W., and

Dimensional nanometrology at the National Physical Laboratory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yacoot, Andrew; Leach, Richard; Hughes, Ben; Giusca, Claudiu; Jones, Christopher; Wilson, Alan

2008-10-01

The growth in nanotechnology has led to an increased requirement for traceable dimensional measurements of nanometre-sized objects and micrometre-sized objects with nanometre tolerances. To meet this challenge NPL has developed both purpose built instrumentation and added metrology to commercially available equipment. This paper describes the development and use of a selection of these instruments that include: atomic force microscopy, x-ray interferometry, a low force balance, a micro coordinate measuring machine and an areal surface texture measuring instrument.

KEY COMPARISON Update of the BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Tc-99m comparison of activity measurements for the radionuclide 99mTc to include new results for the LNE-LNHB and the NPL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michotte, C.; Courte, S.; Ratel, G.; Moune, M.; Johansson, L.; Keightley, J.

2010-01-01

In 2007 and 2008 respectively, the Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais-Laboratoire national Henri Becquerel (LNE-LNHB), France and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK, submitted ampoules with between 10 MBq and 130 MBq activity of 99mTc to the International Reference System (SIR), to update their results in the BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Tc-99m comparison. Together with the four other national metrology institutes (NMI) that are participants, thirteen samples have been submitted since 1983. The key comparison reference value (KCRV) has been recalculated to include the latest primary results of the PTB and the LNE-LNHB as this makes the evaluation more robust. The degrees of equivalence between each equivalent activity measured in the SIR are given in the form of a matrix for all six NMIs. A graphical presentation is also given. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCRI Section II, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

Superfund Reform 1995. Principles for a new Superfund program

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

Bresnick, W.

1995-11-01

Superfund Reform `95 is a broad coalition of small and large businesses and local governments. Superfund Reform `95 believes now is the time for a new law to be drafted based on the principles and programmatic elements described below. Superfund Reform `95 believes that the program they are proposing will generate efficiencies and cost savings that will permit it to be implemented without the need to increase the total amount of taxes currently being levied to support the Superfund. The current federal Superfund program is badly broken and in need of major restructuring. The existing Superfund program must be replacedmore » by a new program in which the benefits justify its cost and which is equitable, cost-effective, and limited in size and scope so that it is targeted to address real, current, and significant risks to human health and environment posed by the past disposal of hazardous substances. The size of the federal National Priorities List (NPL) should be capped so that the remedial response program is phased out over time. Retroactive liability should be repealed and the remedy selection process significantly reformed. States should be given the opportunity to be delegated implementation of the reformed federal Superfund program at NPL sites as well as provided with incentives to implement their own similarly reformed programs in a fair and cost-effective manner.« less

Nonylphenol and estrogenic activity in aquatic environmental samples

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

Tanghe, T.; Devriese, G.; Verstraete, W.

1999-03-01

The authors surveyed a series of surface waters and sewage treatment plants in Flanders (north of Belgium) for the presence of estrogenic activity and a xeno-estrogenic compound para-nonylphenol (NP), respectively. The surface waters of rural origin, used for drinking water production were free of significant levels of estrogenic activity and NP. Domestic sewage, after proper treatment, appeared to be no major source of this chemical. Yet, in some industrial effluents and surface waters of highly industrialized regions, NP and/or estrogenic activity was prominent, that is, <1 to 122 {micro}g NP/L and 11 to 42 {micro}g NP/L, respectively. This is becausemore » of the ongoing use of NP polyethoxylates in industry. The response of the recombinant yeast estrogen assay to the environmental samples tested was not consistent with the detected concentrations of NP. Standard addition of a natural estrogen, 17{beta}-estradiol, generated no or a reduced response compared to the standard curve concentration. Application of humic acids to standard series of NP and 17{beta}-estradiol resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of the estrogenic response. It appears that this bioassay is subject to considerable interferences due to the complexity of environmental samples. Parallel implementation of extensive chemical screening for xenobiotics and use of the bioassay are needed for adequate assessment of the potential estrogenic hazard to avoid false negative evaluations.« less

Comparison of IPSM 1990 photon dosimetry code of practice with IAEA TRS‐398 and AAPM TG‐51.

PubMed Central

Henríquez, Francisco Cutanda

2009-01-01

Several codes of practice for photon dosimetry are currently used around the world, supported by different organizations. A comparison of IPSM 1990 with both IAEA TRS‐398 and AAPM TG‐51 has been performed. All three protocols are based on the calibration of ionization chambers in terms of standards of absorbed dose to water, as it is the case with other modern codes of practice. This comparison has been carried out for photon beams of nominal energies: 4 MV, 6 MV, 8 MV, 10 MV and 18 MV. An NE 2571 graphite ionization chamber was used in this study, cross‐calibrated against an NE 2611A Secondary Standard, calibrated in the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Absolute dose in reference conditions was obtained using each of these three protocols including: beam quality indices, beam quality conversion factors both theoretical and NPL experimental ones, correction factors for influence quantities and absolute dose measurements. Each protocol recommendations have been strictly followed. Uncertainties have been obtained according to the ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. Absorbed dose obtained according to all three protocols agree within experimental uncertainty. The largest difference between absolute dose results for two protocols is obtained for the highest energy: 0.7% between IPSM 1990 and IAEA TRS‐398 using theoretical beam quality conversion factors. PACS number: 87.55.tm

Analysis of state Superfund programs: 50 state study. 1998 update

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

NONE

States have remediated over 40,000 contaminated sites not on the federal Superfund list. ELI`s latest analysis of state Superfund programs examines the cleanup programs of all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The study provides the most current data on state statutes, program organization, staffing, funding, expenditures, cleanup standards, and cleanup activities, voluntary cleanup programs and brownfields programs. State and federal policymakers and attorneys working on non-NPL sites should find this study useful.

How to save the national priorities list from the D.C. Circuit -- and itself

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

Applegate, J.S.

1993-12-31

This article considers the National Priorities List (NPL) and its fate at the hands of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This author describes how the statutory structure of CERCLA, its bureaucratic implementation, and its juducual mistreatment have combined to focus enormous resources on the decisionmaking steps along the way, instead of the actual clean-up. This has contributed to the embarrassingly unproductive system whose reauthorization is now before Congress. 123 refs.

Clinical Indicators of Psychosocial Distress Predict for Acute Radiation-Induced Fatigue in Patients Receiving Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer: An Analysis of Patient-Reported Outcomes

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

Kishan, Amar U.; Wang, Pin-Chieh; Sharif, Jamal

Purpose: To assess the magnitude and predictors of patient-reported fatigue among breast cancer patients receiving radiation therapy (RT). Methods and Materials: Patients receiving breast RT completed a survey querying fatigue at each weekly on-treatment visit. Patient-reported fatigue severity and interference was assessed on an ordinal scale of 0 to 4, using a validated scoring system. Baseline anxiety and depression scores were also obtained. The kinetics of mean fatigue scores per week and the maximum fatigue scores over the course of the entire treatment were assessed, and clinical predictors were identified by univariate and multivariate regression. Results: The average fatigue severitymore » and interference scores were 0.6 and 0.46. The average fatigue scores increased to an equivalent extent from week to week, with expected increases of 0.99 in fatigue severity and 0.85 in interference over 7 weeks. Patients treated with hypofractionated RT (HF-RT) versus conventionally fractionated RT (CF-RT) had significantly fewer maximum fatigue severity or interference scores that were >2 (ie, severe or very severe; 29% vs 10% for severity, and 26% vs 8% for interference, P<.01). Age ≤45 years, presence of psychiatric/pain-related comorbidities, and baseline sadness and anxiety severity were predictive of average and maximum fatigue scores (P<.05), but variables related to treatment intensity (eg, mastectomy vs lumpectomy, chemotherapy use, radiation target volumes) and other host factors (working, children, marital status, proximity to RT facility) were not. Conclusion: Patient-reported fatigue modestly increases over RT courses, with less maximum fatigue reported with HF-RT. Younger age and baseline sadness, anxiety, and psychiatric/pain-related comorbidities are powerful predictors of fatigue, whereas other factors, such as treatment intensity, are not. Future studies will investigate interventions for patients at high risk for fatigue.« less

Controlled, cross-sectional MRI evaluation of joint status in severe haemophilia A patients treated with prophylaxis vs. on demand

PubMed Central

Oldenburg, J; Zimmermann, R; Katsarou, O; Theodossiades, G; Zanon, E; Niemann, B; Kellermann, E; Lundin, B

2015-01-01

In patients with haemophilia A, factor VIII (FVIII) prophylaxis reduces bleeding frequency and joint damage compared with on-demand therapy. To assess the effect of prophylaxis initiation age, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to evaluate bone and cartilage damage in patients with severe haemophilia A. In this cross-sectional, multinational investigation, patients aged 12–35 years were assigned to 1 of 5 groups: primary prophylaxis started at age <2 years (group 1); secondary prophylaxis started at age 2 to <6 years (group 2), 6 to <12 years (group 3), or 12−18 years (group 4); or on-demand treatment (group 5). Joint status at ankles and knees was assessed using Compatible Additive MRI scoring (maximum and mean ankle; maximum and mean of all 4 joints) and Gilbert scores in the per-protocol population (n = 118). All prophylaxis groups had better MRI joint scores than the on-demand group. MRI scores generally increased with current patient age and later start of prophylaxis. Ankles were the most affected joints. In group 1 patients currently aged 27−35 years, the median of maximum ankle scores was 0.0; corresponding values in groups 4 and 5 were 17.0 and 18.0, respectively [medians of mean index joint scores: 0.0 (group 1), 8.1 (group 2) and 13.8 (group 4)]. Gilbert scores revealed outcomes less pronounced than MRI scores. MRI scores identified pathologic joint status with high sensitivity. Prophylaxis groups had lower annualized joint bleeds and MRI scores vs. the on-demand group. Primary prophylaxis demonstrated protective effects against joint deterioration compared with secondary prophylaxis. PMID:25470205

The normalization of data in the Constant-Murley score for the shoulder. A study conducted on 563 healthy subjects.

PubMed

Grassi, F A; Tajana, M S

2003-01-01

The study was conducted in order to evaluate the theoretical design of the Constant-Murley system and to reveal any difficulties in obtaining data when it is used in 563 subjects not affected with shoulder pathology. The total mean score for the subjects examined was 85.2 points (minimum 75, maximum 100 points). Values revealed a decreasing trend beginning at 50 years of age for men and 30 for women. Only 4 subjects achieved a maximum score of 100. The measurements taken allowed us to elaborate a reference table based on sex and age, which was required to calculate the correct score. These values differ from those reported by the inventors of the system and they reveal the need to compile personal tables for the normalization of scores.

Frequency Comparison of [Formula: see text] Ion Optical Clocks at PTB and NPL via GPS PPP.

PubMed

Leute, J; Huntemann, N; Lipphardt, B; Tamm, Christian; Nisbet-Jones, P B R; King, S A; Godun, R M; Jones, J M; Margolis, H S; Whibberley, P B; Wallin, A; Merimaa, M; Gill, P; Peik, E

2016-07-01

We used precise point positioning, a well-established GPS carrier-phase frequency transfer method to perform a direct remote comparison of two optical frequency standards based on single laser-cooled [Formula: see text] ions operated at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), U.K. and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany. At both institutes, an active hydrogen maser serves as a flywheel oscillator which is connected to a GPS receiver as an external frequency reference and compared simultaneously to a realization of the unperturbed frequency of the (2)S1/2(F=0)-(2)D3/2(F=2) electric quadrupole transition in [Formula: see text] via an optical femtosecond frequency comb. To profit from long coherent GPS-link measurements, we extrapolate the fractional frequency difference over the various data gaps in the optical clock to maser comparisons which introduces maser noise to the frequency comparison but improves the uncertainty from the GPS-link instability. We determined the total statistical uncertainty consisting of the GPS-link uncertainty and the extrapolation uncertainties for several extrapolation schemes. Using the extrapolation scheme with the smallest combined uncertainty, we find a fractional frequency difference [Formula: see text] of -1.3×10(-15) with a combined uncertainty of 1.2×10(-15) for a total measurement time of 67 h. This result is consistent with an agreement of the frequencies realized by both optical clocks and with recent absolute frequency measurements against caesium fountain clocks within the corresponding uncertainties.

Vocal cord paralysis post patent ductus arteriosus ligation surgery: risks and co-morbidities.

PubMed

Rukholm, Gavin; Farrokhyar, Forough; Reid, Diane

2012-11-01

1. To determine the prevalence of left vocal cord paralysis (LVCP) post patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation at a Tertiary Care Centre. 2. To identify risk factors associated with LVCP. 3. To identify co-morbidities associated with LVCP. 4. To determine the frequency of pre- and post-operative nasopharyngolaryngoscopic (NPL) examination in this patient population. Retrospective chart review of all infants who underwent PDA ligation surgery at a tertiary care academic hospital between July 2003 and July 2010. Data on patient age, gender, weight, method of PDA ligation, and results of NPL scoping were collected, as well as patient co-morbidities post PDA ligation. One hundred and fifteen patients underwent PDA ligation surgery. Four patients were excluded due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis. Of the remaining 111 patients, nineteen patients (17.1%) were found to have LVCP. Low birth weight was identified as a significant risk factor for LVCP (p=0.002). Gastroesophageal reflux was identified as a significant co-morbidity associated with LVCP post PDA ligation (p=0.002). Only 0.9% of patients were scoped pre-operatively, and 27.9% were scoped postoperatively. LVCP is associated with multiple morbidities. The authors strongly recommend routine post-operative scoping of all patients post PDA ligation surgery, and preoperative scoping when possible. A prospective study is warranted, in order to confirm the prevalence of LVCP as well as risk factors and associated co-morbidities. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[3-D analysis obtained in mandible movements in children 7-15 years old with different types of occlusion].

PubMed

Matveev, V M; Dzaraev, Ch R; Persin, L S

2007-01-01

60 children with different types occlusion--normal, distal, mesial and transverse between the ages 7-15 years were selected. Using unique computer software programme and 3D digitizer MicroScribe-G2 (Company Immersion, USA) on the articulator with mounted casts, persuaded measuring the scores in different movements of mandible habitual occlusion, maximum forward movement and maximum lateral movements. Scores were calculated and results interpreted.

Comparison of empirical strategies to maximize GENEHUNTER lod scores.

PubMed

Chen, C H; Finch, S J; Mendell, N R; Gordon, D

1999-01-01

We compare four strategies for finding the settings of genetic parameters that maximize the lod scores reported in GENEHUNTER 1.2. The four strategies are iterated complete factorial designs, iterated orthogonal Latin hypercubes, evolutionary operation, and numerical optimization. The genetic parameters that are set are the phenocopy rate, penetrance, and disease allele frequency; both recessive and dominant models are considered. We selected the optimization of a recessive model on the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) data of chromosome 1 for complete analysis. Convergence to a setting producing a local maximum required the evaluation of over 100 settings (for a time budget of 800 minutes on a Pentium II 300 MHz PC). Two notable local maxima were detected, suggesting the need for a more extensive search before claiming that a global maximum had been found. The orthogonal Latin hypercube design was the best strategy for finding areas that produced high lod scores with small numbers of evaluations. Numerical optimization starting from a region producing high lod scores was the strategy that found the highest maximum observed.

Transformation of binaural response properties in the ascending auditory pathway: influence of time-varying interaural phase disparity.

PubMed

Spitzer, M W; Semple, M N

1998-12-01

Transformation of binaural response properties in the ascending auditory pathway: influence of time-varying interaural phase disparity. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 3062-3076, 1998. Previous studies demonstrated that tuning of inferior colliculus (IC) neurons to interaural phase disparity (IPD) is often profoundly influenced by temporal variation of IPD, which simulates the binaural cue produced by a moving sound source. To determine whether sensitivity to simulated motion arises in IC or at an earlier stage of binaural processing we compared responses in IC with those of two major IPD-sensitive neuronal classes in the superior olivary complex (SOC), neurons whose discharges were phase locked (PL) to tonal stimuli and those that were nonphase locked (NPL). Time-varying IPD stimuli consisted of binaural beats, generated by presenting tones of slightly different frequencies to the two ears, and interaural phase modulation (IPM), generated by presenting a pure tone to one ear and a phase modulated tone to the other. IC neurons and NPL-SOC neurons were more sharply tuned to time-varying than to static IPD, whereas PL-SOC neurons were essentially uninfluenced by the mode of stimulus presentation. Preferred IPD was generally similar in responses to static and time-varying IPD for all unit populations. A few IC neurons were highly influenced by the direction and rate of simulated motion, but the major effect for most IC neurons and all SOC neurons was a linear shift of preferred IPD at high rates-attributable to response latency. Most IC and NPL-SOC neurons were strongly influenced by IPM stimuli simulating motion through restricted ranges of azimuth; simulated motion through partially overlapping azimuthal ranges elicited discharge profiles that were highly discontiguous, indicating that the response associated with a particular IPD is dependent on preceding portions of the stimulus. In contrast, PL-SOC responses tracked instantaneous IPD throughout the trajectory of simulated motion, resulting in highly contiguous discharge profiles for overlapping stimuli. This finding indicates that responses of PL-SOC units to time-varying IPD reflect only instantaneous IPD with no additional influence of dynamic stimulus attributes. Thus the neuronal representation of auditory spatial information undergoes a major transformation as interaural delay is initially processed in the SOC and subsequently reprocessed in IC. The finding that motion sensitivity in IC emerges from motion-insensitive input suggests that information about change of position is crucial to spatial processing at higher levels of the auditory system.

An iterative procedure for obtaining maximum-likelihood estimates of the parameters for a mixture of normal distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, B. C., Jr.; Walker, H. F.

1975-01-01

A general iterative procedure is given for determining the consistent maximum likelihood estimates of normal distributions. In addition, a local maximum of the log-likelihood function, Newtons's method, a method of scoring, and modifications of these procedures are discussed.

Functional independence of Taiwanese children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

PubMed

Lee, Chung-Lin; Lin, Hsiang-Yu; Tsai, Li-Ping; Chiu, Huei-Ching; Tu, Ru-Yi; Huang, You-Hsin; Chien, Yin-Hsiu; Lee, Ni-Chung; Niu, Dau-Ming; Chao, Mei-Chyn; Tsai, Fuu-Jen; Chou, Yen-Yin; Chuang, Chih-Kuang; Lin, Shuan-Pei

2018-06-01

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder with obesity, developmental delay, short stature, and behavioral abnormalities. The study aimed to assess the functional independence in children with PWS. The Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM) was used to evaluate 81 children with PWS (44 boys and 37 girls) with a median age of 11 years 1 month (range 2 years 8 months to 20 years 2 months) were recruited between January 2013 and December 2016. The mean total WeeFIM score was 103.8 (maximum 126). Sixty-five patients (80%) had deletion type PWS, 16 (20.0%) had nondeletion type. The scores were 103.6 ± 18.5 for deletion and 104.8 ± 18.3 for nondeletion type (p = .405), 104.8 ± 19.3 in boys and 102.6 ± 17.3 in girls (p = .293). The mean self-care, mobility, and cognition scores were 47 (maximum 56), 33 (maximum 35), and 24 (maximum 35), respectively. All total scores and 18 subscores in the three functional domains were positively correlated with age (p < .05). Most children required assistance in problem-solving, comprehension, and expression. The WeeFIM identified the strengths and limitations of children with PWS and confirmed that support and supervision were needed in cognitive and self-care tasks. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Transition to Double Mach Stem for Nuclear Explosion at 104 ft Height of Burst.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-17

P ROIS, 0 L BOOK UNCLASS II D NP.l--4630Mhhnnmmmnmhunm *uunummmummuuuu EllllIhllllllIIIIIIIII VA . L, BOK -- Wotk~ ~ ~ hit ftIlum Zsm Noe4be 01 NOV1...resolved on the mesh. By the time it occupies a region of 15 cells high and 35 cells wide, the peak pressures are in good agreement with the HE data and...2800 3220 2800 32 RADIUS- cm RADIUS -cm 35 1 kt AT 104 f t HOB TIME =5.47 nisec CYCLE= 5400 PRESSURE VELOC IT Y 350

Disturbance of Traffic Noise: Evaluation on the Effects and Management on Road Corridors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutalib, Nur Hazliyana Abdul; Mashros, Nordiana; Aminudin, Eeydzah; Zakaria, Rozana; Haron, Zaiton; Talib, Muhammad Hilmi Abd; Hamid, Abdul Rahim Abdul

2018-04-01

Several adverse of stimuli can cause annoyance due to the characterized by such effects of distraction on health and delay in activities. Noise annoyance mainly due to the increasing in traffic volume has recognized as important environmental stressor which associated to anxiety and depression. In this manner, it can impose serious damage to human wellbeing, human comfort ability and reduces labour productivity. Hence, this paper aims in evaluating the effects on traffic noise and managing the precaution on road corridors in order to reduce the traffic noise. This case study had been conducted at residential area which is located at Taman Mutiara Rini, residential area located in the southern region of West Peninsular Malaysia. The traffic noise index (TNI) and noise pollution level (NPL) were recorded for a whole day in order to evaluate noise performance with different time durations. From the study, it was shown that the noise level at the Mutiara Rini is above than 75 dBA at most of time which is exceed the permissible limit from the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Department of Environment (DOE). According to the guidelines, the maximum limitation for noise pollution during daytime at residential area is about 55 dBA. From the interviewed conducted, it shows that reduction on the traffic noise can be improved by proposing and providing the noise barrier which includes the restoration of trees and concrete wall which can reduce the effects on the traffic noise.

Post-Closure Land Jurisdiction Transfer to the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Rocky Flats: Surviving the Safari Through Old Records and Other Lessons Learned

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

Schiesswohl, S.; Hanson, M.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Rocky Flats Site (Rocky Flats), located near Denver, Colorado, was listed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989. Subsequent cleanup and closure activities were completed in October 2005 and the final remedy was selected in September 2006. The remedy is 'no further action' for the generally un-impacted Peripheral Operable Unit (OU), formerly known as the Buffer Zone, and institutional and physical controls with continued monitoring for the Central OU, formerly the industrialized area. The Peripheral OU has been deleted from the NPL and jurisdiction over themore » majority of land in that OU (3,953 acres) was transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on July 12, 2007, to establish the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The remaining approximately 929 acres in the Peripheral OU were retained by DOE's Office of Legacy Management where outstanding mineral leases and mining operations exist. As mineral rights are purchased or mining operations and mineral leases are completed and fully reclaimed, jurisdiction of portions of the 929 acres will also be transferred to USFWS for inclusion into the refuge. During the almost 2 years since cleanup and closure work was completed at Rocky Flats, DOE and USFWS have worked the specific legal parameters, timing, and constraints of the 3,953-acre transfer. Many lessons have been learned, based on these early experiences. (authors)« less

Monitoring of Emissions From a Refinery Tank Farm Using a Combination of Optical Remote Sensing Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polidori, A.; Tisopulos, L.; Pikelnaya, O.; Mellqvist, J.; Samuelsson, J.; Marianne, E.; Robinson, R. A.; Innocenti, F.; Finlayson, A.; Hashmonay, R.

2016-12-01

Despite great advances in reducing air pollution, the South Coast Air Basin (SCAB) still faces challenges to attain federal health standards for air quality. Refineries are large sources of ozone precursors and, hence contribute to the air quality problems of the region. Additionally, petrochemical facilities are also sources of other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) that adversely affect human health, for example aromatic hydrocarbons. In order to assure safe operation, decrease air pollution and minimize population exposure to HAP the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has a number of regulations for petrochemical facilities. However, significant uncertainties still exist in emission estimates and traditional monitoring techniques often do not allow for real-time emission monitoring. In the fall of 2015 the SCAQMD, Fluxsense Inc., the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), and Atmosfir Optics Ltd. conducted a measurement study to characterize and quantify gaseous emissions from the tank farm of one of the largest oil refineries in the SCAB. Fluxsense used a vehicle equipped with Solar Occultation Flux (SOF), Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS), and Extractive Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy instruments. Concurrently, NPL operated their Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system. Both research groups quantified emissions from the entire tank farm and identified fugitive emission sources within the farm. At the same time, Atmosfir operated an Open Path FTIR (OP-FTIR) spectrometer along the fenceline of the tank farm. During this presentation we will discuss the results of the emission measurements from the tank farm of the petrochemical facility. Emission rates resulting from measurements by different ORS methods will be compared and discussed in detail.

Linkage analysis of high myopia susceptibility locus in 26 families.

PubMed

Paget, Sandrine; Julia, Sophie; Vitezica, Zulma G; Soler, Vincent; Malecaze, François; Calvas, Patrick

2008-01-01

We conducted a linkage analysis in high myopia families to replicate suggestive results from chromosome 7q36 using a model of autosomal dominant inheritance and genetic heterogeneity. We also performed a genome-wide scan to identify novel loci. Twenty-six families, with at least two high-myopic subjects (ie. refractive value in the less affected eye of -5 diopters) in each family, were included. Phenotypic examination included standard autorefractometry, ultrasonographic eye length measurement, and clinical confirmation of the non-syndromic character of the refractive disorder. Nine families were collected de novo including 136 available members of whom 34 were highly myopic subjects. Twenty new subjects were added in 5 of the 17 remaining families. A total of 233 subjects were submitted to a genome scan using ABI linkage mapping set LMSv2-MD-10, additional markers in all regions where preliminary LOD scores were greater than 1.5 were used. Multipoint parametric and non-parametric analyses were conducted with the software packages Genehunter 2.0 and Merlin 1.0.1. Two autosomal recessive, two autosomal dominant, and four autosomal additive models were used in the parametric linkage analyses. No linkage was found using the subset of nine newly collected families. Study of the entire population of 26 families with a parametric model did not yield a significant LOD score (>3), even for the previously suggestive locus on 7q36. A non-parametric model demonstrated significant linkage to chromosome 7p15 in the entire population (Z-NPL=4.07, p=0.00002). The interval is 7.81 centiMorgans (cM) between markers D7S2458 and D7S2515. The significant interval reported here needs confirmation in other cohorts. Among possible susceptibility genes in the interval, certain candidates are likely to be involved in eye growth and development.

Comparison of carprofen and tramadol for postoperative analgesia in dogs undergoing enucleation.

PubMed

Delgado, Cherlene; Bentley, Ellison; Hetzel, Scott; Smith, Lesley J

2014-12-15

To compare analgesia provided by carprofen and tramadol in dogs after enucleation. Randomized, masked clinical trial. 43 dogs. Client-owned dogs admitted for routine enucleation were randomly assigned to receive either carprofen or tramadol orally 2 hours prior to surgery and 12 hours after the first dose. Dogs were scored for signs of pain at baseline (ie, before carprofen or tramadol administration) and at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 24, and 30 hours after extubation. Dogs received identical premedication and inhalation anesthesia regimens, including premedication with hydromorphone. If the total pain score was ≥ 9 (maximum possible score of 20), there was a score ≥ 3 in any of 5 behavioral categories (highest score possible per category was 3 or 4), or the visual analog scale (VAS) score was ≥ 35 (maximum possible score of 100) combined with a palpation score > 0, rescue analgesia (hydromorphone) was administered and treatment failure was recorded. No differences were found in age, sex, or baseline pain scores between groups. Significantly more dogs receiving tramadol required rescue analgesia (6/21), compared with dogs receiving carprofen (1/22). Pain and VAS scores decreased linearly over time. No significant differences were found in pain or VAS scores between groups at any time point (dogs were excluded from analysis after rescue). Results of this study suggested that carprofen, with opioid premedication, may provide more effective postoperative analgesia than tramadol in dogs undergoing enucleation.

ACT Reporting Category Interpretation Guide: Version 1.0. ACT Working Paper 2016 (05)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Sonya; Li, Dongmei; Suh, Hongwook; Harris, Deborah J.

2016-01-01

ACT reporting categories and ACT Readiness Ranges are new features added to the ACT score reports starting in fall 2016. For each reporting category, the number correct score, the maximum points possible, the percent correct, and the ACT Readiness Range, along with an indicator of whether the reporting category score falls within the Readiness…

Discrepancies between modified Medical Research Council dyspnea score and COPD assessment test score in patients with COPD

PubMed Central

Rhee, Chin Kook; Kim, Jin Woo; Hwang, Yong Il; Lee, Jin Hwa; Jung, Ki-Suck; Lee, Myung Goo; Yoo, Kwang Ha; Lee, Sang Haak; Shin, Kyeong-Cheol; Yoon, Hyoung Kyu

2015-01-01

Background and objective According to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines, either a modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea score of ≥2 or a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment test (CAT) score of ≥10 is considered to represent COPD patients who are more symptomatic. We aimed to identify the ideal CAT score that exhibits minimal discrepancy with the mMRC score. Methods A receiver operating characteristic curve of the CAT score was generated for an mMRC scores of 1 and 2. A concordance analysis was applied to quantify the association between the frequencies of patients categorized into GOLD groups A–D using symptom cutoff points. A κ-coefficient was calculated. Results For an mMRC score of 2, a CAT score of 15 showed the maximum value of Youden’s index with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.70 and 0.66, respectively (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70–0.77). For an mMRC score of 1, a CAT score of 10 showed the maximum value of Youden’s index with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.77 and 0.65, respectively (AUC 0.77; 95% CI, 0.72–0.83). The κ value for concordance was highest between an mMRC score of 1 and a CAT score of 10 (0.66), followed by an mMRC score of 2 and a CAT score of 15 (0.56), an mMRC score of 2 and a CAT score of 10 (0.47), and an mMRC score of 1 and a CAT score of 15 (0.43). Conclusion A CAT score of 10 was most concordant with an mMRC score of 1 when classifying patients with COPD into GOLD groups A–D. However, a discrepancy remains between the CAT and mMRC scoring systems. PMID:26316736

18F Fluorocholine Dynamic Time-of-Flight PET/MR Imaging in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Intermediate- to High-Risk Prostate Cancer: Initial Clinical-Pathologic Comparisons.

PubMed

Choi, Joon Young; Yang, Jaewon; Noworolski, Susan M; Behr, Spencer; Chang, Albert J; Simko, Jeffry P; Nguyen, Hao G; Carroll, Peter R; Kurhanewicz, John; Seo, Youngho

2017-02-01

Purpose To investigate the initial clinical value of fluorine 18 ( 18 F) fluorocholine (FCH) dynamic positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging by comparing its parameters with clinical-pathologic findings in patients with newly diagnosed intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) who plan to undergo radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods The institutional review board approved the study protocol, and informed written consent was obtained from all subjects for this HIPAA-compliant study. Twelve men (mean age ± standard deviation, 61.7 years ± 8.4; range, 46-74 years) with untreated intermediate- to high-risk PCa characterized according to Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA) underwent preoperative FCH dynamic PET/MR imaging followed by radical prostatectomy between April and November 2015. PET/MR imaging parameters including average and maximum K1 (delivery rate constant) and standardized uptake values (SUVs) and Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 scores were measured and compared with clinical-pathologic characteristics. For statistical analysis, the Spearman rank correlation and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed. Results Of the PET parameters, maximum SUV of primary tumors showed significant correlations with several clinical-pathologic parameters including serum prostate-specific antigen level (ρ = 0.71, P = .01), pathologic stage (ρ = 0.59, P = .043), and postsurgical CAPRA score (ρ = 0.72, P = .008). The overall PI-RADS score showed significant correlations with pathologic tumor volume (ρ = 0.81, P < .001), percentage of tumor cells with Gleason scores greater than 3 (ρ = 0.59, P = .02), and postsurgical CAPRA score (ρ = 0.58, P = .046). The high-risk postsurgical CAPRA score patient group had a significantly higher maximum SUV than did the intermediate-risk group. Combined PET and MR imaging showed improved sensitivity (88%) for prediction of pathologic extraprostatic extension compared with that with MR imaging (50%) and PET (75%) performed separately. Conclusion Maximum SUVs and PI-RADS scores from FCH PET/MR imaging show good correlation with clinical-pathologic characteristics, such as postsurgical CAPRA score, which are related to prognosis in patients with newly diagnosed intermediate- to high-risk PCa. © RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

An electronic portfolio for quantitative assessment of surgical skills in undergraduate medical education.

PubMed

Sánchez Gómez, Serafín; Ostos, Elisa María Cabot; Solano, Juan Manuel Maza; Salado, Tomás Francisco Herrero

2013-05-06

We evaluated a newly designed electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) that provided quantitative evaluation of surgical skills. Medical students at the University of Seville used the e-Portfolio on a voluntary basis for evaluation of their performance in undergraduate surgical subjects. Our new web-based e-Portfolio was designed to evaluate surgical practical knowledge and skills targets. Students recorded each activity on a form, attached evidence, and added their reflections. Students self-assessed their practical knowledge using qualitative criteria (yes/no), and graded their skills according to complexity (basic/advanced) and participation (observer/assistant/independent). A numerical value was assigned to each activity, and the values of all activities were summated to obtain the total score. The application automatically displayed quantitative feedback. We performed qualitative evaluation of the perceived usefulness of the e-Portfolio and quantitative evaluation of the targets achieved. Thirty-seven of 112 students (33%) used the e-Portfolio, of which 87% reported that they understood the methodology of the portfolio. All students reported an improved understanding of their learning objectives resulting from the numerical visualization of progress, all students reported that the quantitative feedback encouraged their learning, and 79% of students felt that their teachers were more available because they were using the e-Portfolio. Only 51.3% of students reported that the reflective aspects of learning were useful. Individual students achieved a maximum of 65% of the total targets and 87% of the skills targets. The mean total score was 345 ± 38 points. For basic skills, 92% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and all achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer and assistant. For complex skills, 62% of students achieved the maximum score for participation as an independent operator, and 98% achieved the maximum scores for participation as an observer or assistant. Medical students reported that use of an electronic portfolio that provided quantitative feedback on their progress was useful when the number and complexity of targets were appropriate, but not when the portfolio offered only formative evaluations based on reflection. Students felt that use of the e-Portfolio guided their learning process by indicating knowledge gaps to themselves and teachers.

Linkage to 10q22 for maximum intraocular pressure and 1p32 for maximum cup-to-disc ratio in an extended primary open-angle glaucoma pedigree.

PubMed

Charlesworth, Jac C; Dyer, Thomas D; Stankovich, Jim M; Blangero, John; Mackey, David A; Craig, Jamie E; Green, Catherine M; Foote, Simon J; Baird, Paul N; Sale, Michèle M

2005-10-01

The purpose of this study was to identify genetic contributions to primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) through investigations of two quantitative components of the POAG phenotype. Genome-wide multipoint variance-components linkage analyses of maximum recorded intraocular pressure (IOP) and maximum vertical cup-to-disc ratio were conducted on data from a single, large Australian POAG pedigree that has been found to segregate the myocilin Q368X mutation in some individuals. Multipoint linkage analysis of maximum recorded IOP produced a peak LOD score of 3.3 (P = 0.00015) near marker D10S537 on 10q22, whereas the maximum cup-to-disc ratio produced a peak LOD score of 2.3 (P = 0.00056) near markers D1S197 to D1S220 on 1p32. Inclusion of the myocilin Q368X mutation as a covariate provided evidence of an interaction between this mutation and the IOP and cup-to-disc ratio loci. Significant linkage has been identified for maximum IOP and suggestive linkage for vertical cup-to-disc ratio. Identification of genes contributing to the variance of these traits will enhance understanding of the pathophysiology of POAG as a whole.

A Score to Identify Patients with Brain Metastases from Colorectal Cancer Who May Benefit from Whole-brain Radiotherapy in Addition to Stereotactic Radiosurgery/Radiotherapy.

PubMed

Rades, Dirk; Dziggel, Liesa; Blanck, Oliver; Gebauer, Niklas; Bartscht, Tobias; Schild, Steven E

2018-05-01

To design a tool to predict the probability of new cerebral lesions after stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy for patients with 1-3 brain metastases from colorectal cancer. In 21 patients, nine factors were evaluated for freedom from new brain metastases, namely age, gender, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), tumor type, number, maximum total diameter of all lesions and sites of cerebral lesions, extra-cranial metastases, and time from cancer diagnosis to irradiation. Freedom from new lesions was positively associated with KPS of 90-100 (p=0.013); maximum total diameter ≤15 mm showed a trend for positive association (p=0.09). Points were assigned as: KPS 70-80=1 point, KPS 90-100=2 points, maximum diameter ≤15 mm=2 points and maximum diameter >15 mm=1 point. Six-month rates of freedom from new lesions were 29%, 45% and 100% for those with total scores of 2, 3 and 4 points, respectively, with corresponding 12-month rates of 0%, 45% and 100% (p=0.027). This study identified three risk groups regarding new brain metastases after stereotactic irradiation. Patients with 2 points could benefit from additional whole-brain radiotherapy. Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Public health assessment for C and R Battery Inc. , Richmond, Chesterfield County, Virginia, Region 3. Cerclis No. VAD049957913. Final report

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

Not Available

The C R Battery Company, Inc. property, a former battery recycling facility, is a National Priorities List (NPL) site situated in Chesterfield County, approximately 6 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia. The contaminants found on the site at concentrations considered to be of concern include antimony, arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Potential exposure pathways include inhalation of contaminated dust, and the ingestion of contaminated groundwater. The site is an indeterminate public health hazard. However, data are not available for all environmental media to which humans may be exposed.

Judgments of aircraft noise in a traffic noise background

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powell, C. A.; Rice, C. G.

1975-01-01

An investigation was conducted to determine subjective response to aircraft noise in different road traffic backgrounds. In addition, two laboratory techniques for presenting the aircraft noise with the background noise were evaluated. For one technique, the background noise was continuous over an entire test session; for the other, the background noise level was changed with each aircraft noise during a session. Subjective response to aircraft noise was found to decrease with increasing background noise level, for a range of typical indoor noise levels. Subjective response was found to be highly correlated with the Noise Pollution Level (NPL) measurement scale.

International Intercomparison of Regular Transmittance Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eckerle, K. L.; Sutter, E.; Freeman, G. H. C.; Andor, G.; Fillinger, L.

1990-01-01

An intercomparison of the regular spectral transmittance scales of NIST, Gaithersburg, MD (USA); PTB, Braunschweig (FRG); NPL, Teddington, Middlesex (UK); and OMH, Budapest (H) was accomplished using three sets of neutral glass filters with transmittances ranging from approximately 0.92 to 0.001. The difference between the results from the reference spectrophotometers of the laboratories was generally smaller than the total uncertainty of the interchange. The relative total uncertainty ranges from 0.05% to 0.75% for transmittances from 0.92 to 0.001. The sample-induced error was large - contributing 40% or more of the total except in a few cases.

Pledgeted repair of giant hiatal hernia provides excellent long-term results.

PubMed

Kang, Thomas; Urrego, Hernan; Gridley, Asahel; Richardson, William S

2014-10-01

Use of mesh in hiatal hernia repairs is a topic of debate. We present our experience in laparoscopic primary (nonmesh) repair of giant hiatal hernia. All laparoscopic antireflux procedures done by a single surgeon from November 1997 to October 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were primary crural closure with pledgets and giant hiatal hernia (greater than one-third of the stomach in the chest by esophagram, greater than 5 cm in length endoscopically, or greater than one-third of the stomach in the chest operatively). We attempted to reach all patients who met inclusion criteria and administered the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and Quality of Life Scale for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (QLSGR) questionnaires. In total, 89 patients met inclusion criteria. The male-to-female ratio was 32:57. Average age was 62.7 years. Average body mass index was 29.3 kg/m(2). Average length of stay was 2 days, and mean clinic follow-up was 161 days. At the most recent follow-up, 62% of patients were asymptomatic. The most common postoperative symptoms were dysphagia (16%), reflux/emesis (5%), bloating (5%), nausea (4%), epigastric pain (4%), and heartburn (3%). There were six (6.7%) recurrences on esophagogastroduodenoscopy or upper gastrointestinal examination. Five patients with recurrence were symptomatic. Of the 89 patients, 29 (33%) completed the questionnaire, with a mean follow-up of 69.7 months. Average RSI score was 12 (maximum possible score, 45). In six of nine categories, the average score was less than 1 (possible score, 0-5). Average QLSGR score was 12 (maximum possible score, 45). For satisfaction with the present condition, the average score was 4.34 (maximum score, 5), and 82.7% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their present condition. Laparoscopic primary repair of giant hiatal hernia provides excellent long-term results. We found that 62% of patients were asymptomatic at the last follow-up and that 82% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied. The recurrence rate was 6.7%.

Psychometric Properties of IRT Proficiency Estimates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolen, Michael J.; Tong, Ye

2010-01-01

Psychometric properties of item response theory proficiency estimates are considered in this paper. Proficiency estimators based on summed scores and pattern scores include non-Bayes maximum likelihood and test characteristic curve estimators and Bayesian estimators. The psychometric properties investigated include reliability, conditional…

Use of global assays to understand clinical phenotype in congenital factor VII deficiency.

PubMed

Greene, L A; Goldenberg, N A; Simpson, M L; Villalobos-Menuey, E; Bombardier, C; Acharya, S S; Santiago-Borrero, P J; Cambara, A; DiMichele, D M

2013-09-01

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is characterized by genotypic variability and phenotypic heterogeneity. Traditional screening and factor assays are unable to reliably predict clinical bleeding phenotype and guide haemorrhage prevention strategy. Global assays of coagulation and fibrinolysis may better characterize overall haemostatic balance and aid in haemorrhagic risk assessment. We evaluated the ability of novel global assays to better understand clinical bleeding severity in congenital FVII deficiency. Subjects underwent central determination of factor VII activity (FVII:C) as well as clot formation and lysis (CloFAL) and simultaneous thrombin and plasmin generation (STP) global assay analysis. A bleeding score was assigned to each subject through medical chart review. Global assay parameters were analysed with respect to bleeding score and FVII:C. Subgroup analyses were performed on paediatric subjects and subjects with FVII ≥ 1 IU dL(-1). CloFAL fibrinolytic index (FI2 ) inversely correlated with FVII:C while CloFAL maximum amplitude (MA) and STP maximum velocity of thrombin generation (VT max) varied directly with FVII:C. CloFAL FI2 directly correlated with bleeding score among subjects in both the total cohort and paediatric subcohort, but not among subjects with FVII ≥ 1 IU dL(-1) . Among subjects with FVII ≥ 1 IU dL(-1), STP time to maximum velocity of thrombin generation and time to maximum velocity of plasmin generation inversely correlated with bleeding score. These preliminary findings suggest a novel potential link between a hyperfibrinolytic state in bleeding severity and congenital FVII deficiency, an observation that should be further explored. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessing Foods Offered in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) Using Healthy Eating Index-2010

PubMed Central

Shanks, Carmen Byker; Smith, Teresa; Ahmed, Selena; Hunts, Holly

2017-01-01

Objective To assess the nutritional quality of food packages offered in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) program using Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010). Design Data were collected from the list of the food products provided by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Handbook 501 for FDPIR. Nutritional quality was measured through a cross-sectional analysis of five randomly selected food packages offered through FDPIR. HEI-2010 component and total scores were calculated for each food package. Analysis of variance and t-tests assessed significant differences between food packages and HEI-2010 maximum scores, respectively. Setting This study took place in the United States. Subjects Study units included food products offered through FDPIR. Results The mean total HEI-2010 score for the combined FDPIR food packages was significantly lower than the total HEI-2010 maximum score of 100 (66.38, SD=11.60; p<0.01). Mean scores for total fruit (3.52, SD=0.73; p<0.05), total vegetables (2.58, SD=0.15; p<0.001), greens and beans (0.92, SD=1.00; p<0.001), dairy (5.12, SD=0.63; p<0.001), total protein foods (4.14, SD=0.56; p<0.05), and refined grains (3.04, SD=2.90; p<0.001) were all significantly lower than the maximum values. Conclusions The FDPIR food package HEI-2010 score was notably higher than other federal food assistance and nutrition programs. Study findings highlight opportunities for the FDPIR to modify its offerings to best support lifestyles towards prevention of diet-related chronic disease. PMID:26298513

Proposal for a New Prognostic Score for Linac-Based Radiosurgery in Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations

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

Milker-Zabel, Stefanie, E-mail: Stefanie_Milker-Zabel@med.uni-heidelberg.de; Kopp-Schneider, Annette; Wiesbauer, Hannah

2012-06-01

Purpose: We evaluate patient-, angioma-, and treatment-specific factors for successful obliteration of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM) to develop a new appropriate score to predict patient outcome after linac-based radiosurgery (RS). Methods and Materials: This analysis in based on 293 patients with cerebral AVM. Mean age at treatment was 38.8 years (4-73 years). AVM classification according Spetzler-Martin was 55 patients Grade I (20.5%), 114 Grade II (42.5%), 79 Grade III (29.5%), 19 Grade IV (7.1%), and 1 Grade V (0.4%). Median maximum AVM diameter was 3.0 cm (range, 0.3-10 cm). Median dose prescribed to the 80% isodose was 18 Gy (range,more » 12-22 Gy). Eighty-five patients (29.1%) had prior partial embolization; 141 patients (51.9%) experienced intracranial hemorrhage before RS. Median follow-up was 4.2 years. Results: Age at treatment, maximum diameter, nidus volume, and applied dose were significant factors for successful obliteration. Under presumption of proportional hazard in the dose range between 12 and 22 Gy/80% isodose, an increase of obliteration rate of approximately 25% per Gy was seen. On the basis of multivariate analysis, a prediction score was calculated including AVM maximum diameter and age at treatment. The prediction error up to the time point 8 years was 0.173 for the Heidelberg score compared with the Kaplan-Meier value of 0.192. An increase of the score of 1 point results in a decrease of obliteration chance by a factor of 0.447. Conclusion: The proposed score is linac-based radiosurgery-specific and easy to handle to predict patient outcome. Further validation on an independent patient cohort is necessary.« less

Evaluation of different recall periods for the US National Cancer Institute's PRO-CTCAE.

PubMed

Mendoza, Tito R; Dueck, Amylou C; Bennett, Antonia V; Mitchell, Sandra A; Reeve, Bryce B; Atkinson, Thomas M; Li, Yuelin; Castro, Kathleen M; Denicoff, Andrea; Rogak, Lauren J; Piekarz, Richard L; Cleeland, Charles S; Sloan, Jeff A; Schrag, Deborah; Basch, Ethan

2017-06-01

The US National Cancer Institute recently developed the PRO-CTCAE (Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events). PRO-CTCAE is a library of questions for clinical trial participants to self-report symptomatic adverse events (e.g. nausea). The objective of this study is to inform evidence-based selection of a recall period when PRO-CTCAE is included in a trial. We evaluated differences between 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-week recall periods, using daily reporting as the reference. English-speaking patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were enrolled at four US cancer centers and affiliated community clinics. Participants completed 27 PRO-CTCAE items electronically daily for 28 days, and then weekly over 4 weeks, using 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-week recall periods. For each recall period, mean differences, effect sizes, and intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to evaluate agreement between the maximum of daily ratings and the corresponding ratings obtained using longer recall periods (e.g. maximum of daily scores over 7 days vs 1-week recall). Analyses were repeated using the average of daily scores within each recall period rather than the maximum of daily scores. A total of 127 subjects completed questionnaires (57% male; median age: 57). The median of the 27 mean differences in scores on the PRO-CTCAE 5-point response scale comparing the maximum daily versus the longer recall period (and corresponding effect size) was -0.20 (-0.20) for 1-week recall, -0.36 (-0.31) for 2-week recall, -0.45 (-0.39) for 3-week recall, and -0.47 (-0.40) for 4-week recall. The median intraclass correlation across 27 items between the maximum of daily ratings and the corresponding longer recall ratings for 1-week recall was 0.70 (range: 0.54-0.82), for 2-week recall was 0.74 (range: 0.58-0.83), for 3-week recall was 0.72 (range: 0.61-0.84), and for 4-week recall was 0.72 (range: 0.64-0.86). Similar results were observed for all analyses using the average of daily scores rather than the maximum of daily scores. A 1-week recall corresponds best to daily reporting. Although intraclass correlations remain stable over time, there are small but progressively larger differences between daily and longer recall periods at 2, 3, and 4 weeks, respectively. The preferred recall period for the PRO-CTCAE is the past 7 days, although investigators may opt for recall periods of 2, 3, or 4 weeks with an understanding that there may be some information loss.

International comparison of AC-DC current transfer standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heine, G.; Garcocz, M.; Waldmann, W.

2017-01-01

The measurements of the international comparison of ac-dc current transfer standards identified as EURAMET.EM-K12 started in June 2012 and were completed in December 2014. Twenty NMIs in the EURAMET region and one NMI in the AFRIMET region took part: BEV (Austria), CMI (Czech Republic), PTB (Germany), METAS (Switzerland), JV (Norway), UME (Turkey), GUM (Poland), IPQ (Portugal), CEM (Spain), INRIM (Italy), SP (Sweden), DANIAmet-MI-Trescal (Denmark), BIM (Bulgaria), MKEH (Hungary), SIQ (Slovenia), LNE (France), NSAI NML (Ireland), VSL (The Netherlands), NPL (United Kingdom), Metrosert (Estonia), NIS (Egypt). The comparison was proposed to link the National Metrology Institutes organised in EURAMET to the key comparison CCEM-K12. The ac-dc current transfer difference of each travelling standard had been measured at its nominal current 10 mA and 5 A at the following frequencies: 10 Hz, 55 Hz, 1 kHz, 10 kHz, 20 kHz, 50 kHz, 100 kHz. The test points were selected to link the results with the equivalent CCEM Key Comparison (CCEM-K12), through five NMIs participating in both EURAMET and CCEM key comparisons (PTB, JV, NPL, SP and BEV). The report shows the degree of equivalence in the EURAMET region and also the degree of equivalence with the corresponding CCEM reference value. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCEM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

A Pilot Study: Nailing Indian Elections with the Indelible Ink Mark

PubMed Central

Abraham, Anil; Roga, Gillian; Thomas, Naveen

2015-01-01

Context: The indelible ink that's used in our elections was developed by National Physical Laboratories (NPL), Delhi in 1962, and has been used ever since. Though formulated by NPL, it is manufactured by Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. owned by the Karnataka Government. Earlier, the ink mark was applied on the cuticle but with effect from February 01, 2006 the ink is applied on the voter's left index fingernail from the distal end proximally until the cuticle using an applicator. This idea of the ink mark applied during elections was used as a simple tool to measure the rate of nail growth in a busy outpatient department of a Tertiary Hospital in South India. Aims: To assess the feasibility of using the ink mark during elections as a method of obtaining data of nail growth across the spectrum of the entire country. Subjects and Methods: In 74 patients presenting to a hospital, the rate of nail growth was measured. The voter's mark on the left index fingernail of patients during the recent elections was used as a marker for measuring the length of the nail. Results: The average rate of nail growth was 0.113 mm/day. The rate of nail growth was found to be more in females, younger individuals, pregnancy, patients on nutritional supplementation, psoriasis. Conclusion: This study which was conducted on 74 patients using the election ink mark successfully confirmed the possibility of using it as an efficient tool in measuring the rate of nail growth. The findings revealed the slightly higher rate of nail growth as compared to a study done by Rani et al. However, the limited sample size in this study was the major limitation. PMID:26677268

Prediction of Everolimus Toxicity and Prognostic Value of Skeletal Muscle Index in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

PubMed

Auclin, Edouard; Bourillon, Camille; De Maio, Eleonora; By, Marie Agnes; Seddik, Sofiane; Fournier, Laure; Auvray, Marie; Dautruche, Antoine; Vano, Yann-Alexandre; Thibault, Constance; Joly, Florence; Brunereau, Laurent; Gomez-Roca, Carlos; Chevreau, Christine; Elaidi, Reza; Oudard, Stéphane

2017-06-01

The objective of the study was to assess the prognostic role of skeletal muscle index (SMI) in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated with everolimus, and its effect of on everolimus-induced toxicity. Consecutive mRCC patients treated with everolimus between February 2007 and November 2014 underwent computed tomography scans at a single center performed by the same radiologist. SMI was assessed before everolimus treatment using the L3 cross-sectional area. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed according to SMI value. Results were adjusted using the International Metastatic Database Consortium (IMDC) prognostic group, body mass index (BMI), and/or number of previous tyrosine kinase inhibitor lines (NPL). One hundred twenty-four mRCC patients (mean age, 60.21 years) were treated with everolimus as second- or third-line (82.3%) or > third-line (17.7%) therapy. Most patients (87.9%) had clear cell carcinoma. IMDC prognostic group was "favorable" (32.3%), "intermediate" (50%), or "poor" (17.7%). Median SMI was 40.75. OS was longer in patients from the highest versus lowest SMI tercile: 21.9 versus 10 months (P = .002). Continuous SMI at baseline was not significantly associated with OS after adjustment for IMDC prognostic group, BMI, or NPL but the highest versus lowest SMI tercile was an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (P = .025). There was no difference in everolimus toxicity between SMI tercile groups. SMI was an independent prognostic factor for mRCC patients treated with everolimus. Whether this provides additional prognostic value to IMDC criteria needs to be confirmed in a larger cohort. SMI does not seem to be predictive of everolimus-induced toxicity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The official websites of blood centers in China: A nationwide cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Hu, Huiying; Wang, Jing; Zhu, Ming

2017-01-01

Blood collection agencies worldwide are facing ongoing and increasing medical demands for blood products. Many potential donors would search related information online before making decision of whether or not to donate blood. However, there is little knowledge of the online information and services provided by blood centers in China, despite the constantly increase of internet users. Our research investigates the number of blood centers' official websites and their quality, and highlights the deficiencies that required future advances. Identified official websites of blood centers were scored using a newly developed evaluation instrument with 42 items concerning technical aspects, information quality, information comprehensiveness and interactive services. Scores of websites were compared between blood centers with different level (provincial vs. regional blood centers) and location (blood centers located in economically developed vs. developing region). For the 253 working official websites all the 350 blood centers in China, and the mean overall score of websites was 24.7 out of 42. 79.1% websites were rated as fair (50-75% of maximum), 5.5% as good (≥75% of maximum) and 15.4% as poor(25-50% of maximum;). Websites got very low sub-scores in information quality (mean = 3.8; range 1-8; maximum = 9) and interactive services (3.3; 0-10; 10). Higher proportions of provincial (vs. regional) blood centers and economically developed (vs. developing) blood centers had official websites (p = 0.044 and p = 0.001; respectively) with better overall quality (p<0.001 and p <0.01) and better sub-scores (in all of the four sections and in technical aspects and information quality). Website overall scores was positively correlated with the number of people served by each blood center (p< 0.001) and the donation rate of each province (p = 0.046). This study suggests there is a need to further develop and improve official websites in China, especially for regional and inland blood centers. The poor information quality and interactive services provided by these websites is of particular concern, given the challenges in blood donor counselling and recruitment.

The official websites of blood centers in China: A nationwide cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Hu, Huiying; Wang, Jing

2017-01-01

Background Blood collection agencies worldwide are facing ongoing and increasing medical demands for blood products. Many potential donors would search related information online before making decision of whether or not to donate blood. However, there is little knowledge of the online information and services provided by blood centers in China, despite the constantly increase of internet users. Our research investigates the number of blood centers’ official websites and their quality, and highlights the deficiencies that required future advances. Methods Identified official websites of blood centers were scored using a newly developed evaluation instrument with 42 items concerning technical aspects, information quality, information comprehensiveness and interactive services. Scores of websites were compared between blood centers with different level (provincial vs. regional blood centers) and location (blood centers located in economically developed vs. developing region). Results For the 253 working official websites all the 350 blood centers in China, and the mean overall score of websites was 24.7 out of 42. 79.1% websites were rated as fair (50–75% of maximum), 5.5% as good (≥75% of maximum) and 15.4% as poor(25–50% of maximum;). Websites got very low sub-scores in information quality (mean = 3.8; range 1–8; maximum = 9) and interactive services (3.3; 0–10; 10). Higher proportions of provincial (vs. regional) blood centers and economically developed (vs. developing) blood centers had official websites (p = 0.044 and p = 0.001; respectively) with better overall quality (p<0.001 and p <0.01) and better sub-scores (in all of the four sections and in technical aspects and information quality). Website overall scores was positively correlated with the number of people served by each blood center (p< 0.001) and the donation rate of each province (p = 0.046). Conclusions This study suggests there is a need to further develop and improve official websites in China, especially for regional and inland blood centers. The poor information quality and interactive services provided by these websites is of particular concern, given the challenges in blood donor counselling and recruitment. PMID:28793324

Menopausal medicine clinic: an innovative approach to enhancing the effectiveness of medical education.

PubMed

Jiang, Xuezhi; Sab, Shiv; Diamen, Sharon; Schnatz, Peter F

2012-10-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a menopause clinic to enhance trainees' medical knowledge. Between July 2004 and May 2007, 73 resident physicians completed a rotation that included a weekly menopause clinic and completion of a pretest and posttest examination. Each test contained questions on topics covering menopause, perimenopause, and general women's health. At the end of each testing session, a total score and a menopause score were given. The mean (SD) pretest menopause score and total score were 63.2% (13.3%) and 63.7% (11.3%), respectively. The mean posttest increase in the menopause score was 14%, with a median score increase of 10.2% (P < 0.0001). The posttest results ranged from a maximum decrease of 7.8% to a maximum increase of 47.1%. The mean increase in the total score was 13%, with a median increase of 10.7% (P < 0.0001). For the posttest total score, the range went from -7.2% to 39.3%. There was no correlation between the score changes and the number of clinic sessions attended, the resident specialties (obstetrics/gynecology vs non-obstetrics/gynecology), the level of training (postgraduate year 1 or 2), or the examination order (test A vs test B taken first). Menopause clinics can add to resident physician knowledge about menopause-related matters. Menopause clinics may help educate future physicians in their ability to care for postmenopausal women.

Renal Cell Carcinoma: Comparison of RENAL Nephrometry and PADUA Scores with Maximum Tumor Diameter for Prediction of Local Recurrence after Thermal Ablation.

PubMed

Maxwell, Aaron W P; Baird, Grayson L; Iannuccilli, Jason D; Mayo-Smith, William W; Dupuy, Damian E

2017-05-01

Purpose To evaluate the performance of the radius, exophytic or endophytic, nearness to collecting system or sinus, anterior or posterior, and location relative to polar lines (RENAL) nephrometry and preoperative aspects and dimensions used for anatomic classification (PADUA) scoring systems and other tumor biometrics for prediction of local tumor recurrence in patients with renal cell carcinoma after thermal ablation. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant study was performed with a waiver of informed consent after institutional review board approval was obtained. A retrospective evaluation of 207 consecutive patients (131 men, 76 women; mean age, 71.9 years ± 10.9) with 217 biopsy-proven renal cell carcinoma tumors treated with thermal ablation was conducted. Serial postablation computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to evaluate for local tumor recurrence. For each tumor, RENAL nephrometry and PADUA scores were calculated by using imaging-derived tumor morphologic data. Several additional tumor biometrics and combinations thereof were also measured, including maximum tumor diameter. The Harrell C index and hazard regression techniques were used to quantify associations with local tumor recurrence. Results The RENAL (hazard ratio, 1.43; P = .003) and PADUA (hazard ratio, 1.80; P < .0001) scores were found to be significantly associated with recurrence when regression techniques were used but demonstrated only poor to fair discrimination according to Harrell C index results (C, 0.68 and 0.75, respectively). Maximum tumor diameter showed the highest discriminatory strength of any individual variable evaluated (C, 0.81) and was also significantly predictive when regression techniques were used (hazard ratio, 2.98; P < .0001). For every 1-cm increase in diameter, the estimated rate of recurrence risk increased by 198%. Conclusion Maximum tumor diameter demonstrates superior performance relative to existing tumor scoring systems and other evaluated biometrics for prediction of local tumor recurrence after renal cell carcinoma ablation. © RSNA, 2016.

Missing data methods for dealing with missing items in quality of life questionnaires. A comparison by simulation of personal mean score, full information maximum likelihood, multiple imputation, and hot deck techniques applied to the SF-36 in the French 2003 decennial health survey.

PubMed

Peyre, Hugo; Leplège, Alain; Coste, Joël

2011-03-01

Missing items are common in quality of life (QoL) questionnaires and present a challenge for research in this field. It remains unclear which of the various methods proposed to deal with missing data performs best in this context. We compared personal mean score, full information maximum likelihood, multiple imputation, and hot deck techniques using various realistic simulation scenarios of item missingness in QoL questionnaires constructed within the framework of classical test theory. Samples of 300 and 1,000 subjects were randomly drawn from the 2003 INSEE Decennial Health Survey (of 23,018 subjects representative of the French population and having completed the SF-36) and various patterns of missing data were generated according to three different item non-response rates (3, 6, and 9%) and three types of missing data (Little and Rubin's "missing completely at random," "missing at random," and "missing not at random"). The missing data methods were evaluated in terms of accuracy and precision for the analysis of one descriptive and one association parameter for three different scales of the SF-36. For all item non-response rates and types of missing data, multiple imputation and full information maximum likelihood appeared superior to the personal mean score and especially to hot deck in terms of accuracy and precision; however, the use of personal mean score was associated with insignificant bias (relative bias <2%) in all studied situations. Whereas multiple imputation and full information maximum likelihood are confirmed as reference methods, the personal mean score appears nonetheless appropriate for dealing with items missing from completed SF-36 questionnaires in most situations of routine use. These results can reasonably be extended to other questionnaires constructed according to classical test theory.

7 CFR 4279.155 - Loan priorities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... natural disaster or experiencing fundamental structural changes in its economic base (5 points). (iv... the maximum allowable for a loan of its size (5 points). (5) High impact business investment priorities. The priority score for high impact business investment will be the total score for the following...

Applying a 2D based CAD scheme for detecting micro-calcification clusters using digital breast tomosynthesis images: an assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Sang Cheol; Zheng, Bin; Wang, Xiao-Hui; Gur, David

2008-03-01

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has emerged as a promising imaging modality for screening mammography. However, visually detecting micro-calcification clusters depicted on DBT images is a difficult task. Computer-aided detection (CAD) schemes for detecting micro-calcification clusters depicted on mammograms can achieve high performance and the use of CAD results can assist radiologists in detecting subtle micro-calcification clusters. In this study, we compared the performance of an available 2D based CAD scheme with one that includes a new grouping and scoring method when applied to both projection and reconstructed DBT images. We selected a dataset involving 96 DBT examinations acquired on 45 women. Each DBT image set included 11 low dose projection images and a varying number of reconstructed image slices ranging from 18 to 87. In this dataset 20 true-positive micro-calcification clusters were visually detected on the projection images and 40 were visually detected on the reconstructed images, respectively. We first applied the CAD scheme that was previously developed in our laboratory to the DBT dataset. We then tested a new grouping method that defines an independent cluster by grouping the same cluster detected on different projection or reconstructed images. We then compared four scoring methods to assess the CAD performance. The maximum sensitivity level observed for the different grouping and scoring methods were 70% and 88% for the projection and reconstructed images with a maximum false-positive rate of 4.0 and 15.9 per examination, respectively. This preliminary study demonstrates that (1) among the maximum, the minimum or the average CAD generated scores, using the maximum score of the grouped cluster regions achieved the highest performance level, (2) the histogram based scoring method is reasonably effective in reducing false-positive detections on the projection images but the overall CAD sensitivity is lower due to lower signal-to-noise ratio, and (3) CAD achieved higher sensitivity and higher false-positive rate (per examination) on the reconstructed images. We concluded that without changing the detection threshold or performing pre-filtering to possibly increase detection sensitivity, current CAD schemes developed and optimized for 2D mammograms perform relatively poorly and need to be re-optimized using DBT datasets and new grouping and scoring methods need to be incorporated into the schemes if these are to be used on the DBT examinations.

Microbiological performance of dairy processing plants is influenced by scale of production and the implemented food safety management system: a case study.

PubMed

Opiyo, Beatrice Atieno; Wangoh, John; Njage, Patrick Murigu Kamau

2013-06-01

The effects of existing food safety management systems and size of the production facility on microbiological quality in the dairy industry in Kenya were studied. A microbial assessment scheme was used to evaluate 14 dairies in Nairobi and its environs, and their performance was compared based on their size and on whether they were implementing hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 22000 recommendations. Environmental samples from critical sampling locations, i.e., workers' hands and food contact surfaces, and from end products were analyzed for microbial quality, including hygiene indicators and pathogens. Microbial safety level profiles (MSLPs) were constructed from the microbiological data to obtain an overview of contamination. The maximum MSLP score for environmental samples was 18 (six microbiological parameters, each with a maximum MSLP score of 3) and that for end products was 15 (five microbiological parameters). Three dairies (two large scale and one medium scale; 21% of total) achieved the maximum MSLP scores of 18 for environmental samples and 15 for the end product. Escherichia coli was detected on food contact surfaces in three dairies, all of which were small scale dairies, and the microorganism was also present in end product samples from two of these dairies, an indication of cross-contamination. Microbial quality was poorest in small scale dairies. Most operations in these dairies were manual, with minimal system documentation. Noncompliance with hygienic practices such as hand washing and cleaning and disinfection procedures, which is common in small dairies, directly affects the microbial quality of the end products. Dairies implementing HACCP systems or ISO 22000 recommendations achieved maximum MSLP scores and hence produced safer products.

Validation of the Kp Geomagnetic Index Forecast at CCMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frechette, B. P.; Mays, M. L.

2017-12-01

The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) Space Weather Research Center (SWRC) sub-team provides space weather services to NASA robotic mission operators and science campaigns and prototypes new models, forecasting techniques, and procedures. The Kp index is a measure of geomagnetic disturbances for space weather in the magnetosphere such as geomagnetic storms and substorms. In this study, we performed validation on the Newell et al. (2007) Kp prediction equation from December 2010 to July 2017. The purpose of this research is to understand the Kp forecast performance because it's critical for NASA missions to have confidence in the space weather forecast. This research was done by computing the Kp error for each forecast (average, minimum, maximum) and each synoptic period. Then to quantify forecast performance we computed the mean error, mean absolute error, root mean square error, multiplicative bias and correlation coefficient. A contingency table was made for each forecast and skill scores were computed. The results are compared to the perfect score and reference forecast skill score. In conclusion, the skill score and error results show that the minimum of the predicted Kp over each synoptic period from the Newell et al. (2007) Kp prediction equation performed better than the maximum or average of the prediction. However, persistence (reference forecast) outperformed all of the Kp forecasts (minimum, maximum, and average). Overall, the Newell Kp prediction still predicts within a range of 1, even though persistence beats it.

Using lod-score differences to determine mode of inheritance: a simple, robust method even in the presence of heterogeneity and reduced penetrance.

PubMed

Greenberg, D A; Berger, B

1994-10-01

Determining the mode of inheritance is often difficult under the best of circumstances, but when segregation analysis is used, the problems of ambiguous ascertainment procedures, reduced penetrance, heterogeneity, and misdiagnosis make mode-of-inheritance determinations even more unreliable. The mode of inheritance can also be determined using a linkage-based method (maximized maximum lod score or mod score) and association-based methods, which can overcome many of these problems. In this work, we determined how much information is necessary to reliably determine the mode of inheritance from linkage data when heterogeneity and reduced penetrance are present in the data set. We generated data sets under both dominant and recessive inheritance with reduced penetrance and with varying fractions of linked and unlinked families. We then analyzed those data sets, assuming reduced penetrance, both dominant and recessive inheritance, and no heterogeneity. We investigated the reliability of two methods for determining the mode of inheritance from the linkage data. The first method examined the difference (delta) between the maximum lod scores calculated under the two mode-of-inheritance assumptions. We found that if delta was > 1.5, then the higher of the two maximum lod scores reflected the correct mode of inheritance with high reliability and that a delta of 2.5 appeared to practically guarantee a correct mode-of-inheritance inference. Furthermore, this reliability appeared to be virtually independent of alpha, the fraction of linked families in the data set, although the reliability decreased slightly as alpha fell below .50.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An evaluation of microbial profile in halitosis with tongue coating using PCR (polymerase chain reaction)- a clinical and microbiological study.

PubMed

Kamaraj R, Dinesh; Bhushan, Kala S; K L, Vandana

2014-01-01

Medline search using key words halitosis, tongue coating, polymerase chain reaction, microbial profile did not reveal any study. Hence, the purpose of the present investigation was to assess the malodor using the organoleptic method and tanita device; to quantify odoriferous microorganisms using Polymerase Chain Reaction technique in chronic periodontitis patients. The study included 30 chronic periodontitis patients. Halitosis was detected using organoleptic assessment & tanita breath alert. Microbial analysis of Pg, Tf & Fn was done using PCR. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), gingival bleeding index (GBI) were recorded. The maximum score of 3 for tongue coating was found in 60% of selected subjects. The tanita breath alert measured VSC level of score 2 in 60% of selected subjects while organoleptic score of 4 was found in 50% of subjects. The maximum mean value of 31.1±36.5 was found to be of F. nucleatum (Fn) followed by P. gingivalis (Pg) (13±13.3) & T. forsythia (Tf) (7.16±8.68) in tongue samples of selected patients. A weak positive correlation was found between VSC levels (tanita score & organoleptic score) and clinical parameters. The halitosis assessment by measuring VSC levels using organoleptic method and tanita breath alert are clinically feasible. Maximum tongue coating was found in 60% of patients. Fn was found comparatively more than the Pg & Tf. A weak positive correlation was found between VSC levels and clinical parameters such as PI, GI & GBI. Thus,the dentist/ periodontist should emphasise on tongue cleaning measures that would reduce the odoriferous microbial load.

75 FR 23515 - Assessments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-03

... maximum of 15 points, based upon significant risk factors that are not adequately captured in the... severity score could be adjusted, up or down, by a maximum of 15 points, based on significant risk factors... Risk (VaR)/Tier 1 capital--and one additional factor to the ability to withstand funding-related stress...

The power to detect linkage in complex disease by means of simple LOD-score analyses.

PubMed Central

Greenberg, D A; Abreu, P; Hodge, S E

1998-01-01

Maximum-likelihood analysis (via LOD score) provides the most powerful method for finding linkage when the mode of inheritance (MOI) is known. However, because one must assume an MOI, the application of LOD-score analysis to complex disease has been questioned. Although it is known that one can legitimately maximize the maximum LOD score with respect to genetic parameters, this approach raises three concerns: (1) multiple testing, (2) effect on power to detect linkage, and (3) adequacy of the approximate MOI for the true MOI. We evaluated the power of LOD scores to detect linkage when the true MOI was complex but a LOD score analysis assumed simple models. We simulated data from 14 different genetic models, including dominant and recessive at high (80%) and low (20%) penetrances, intermediate models, and several additive two-locus models. We calculated LOD scores by assuming two simple models, dominant and recessive, each with 50% penetrance, then took the higher of the two LOD scores as the raw test statistic and corrected for multiple tests. We call this test statistic "MMLS-C." We found that the ELODs for MMLS-C are >=80% of the ELOD under the true model when the ELOD for the true model is >=3. Similarly, the power to reach a given LOD score was usually >=80% that of the true model, when the power under the true model was >=60%. These results underscore that a critical factor in LOD-score analysis is the MOI at the linked locus, not that of the disease or trait per se. Thus, a limited set of simple genetic models in LOD-score analysis can work well in testing for linkage. PMID:9718328

The power to detect linkage in complex disease by means of simple LOD-score analyses.

PubMed

Greenberg, D A; Abreu, P; Hodge, S E

1998-09-01

Maximum-likelihood analysis (via LOD score) provides the most powerful method for finding linkage when the mode of inheritance (MOI) is known. However, because one must assume an MOI, the application of LOD-score analysis to complex disease has been questioned. Although it is known that one can legitimately maximize the maximum LOD score with respect to genetic parameters, this approach raises three concerns: (1) multiple testing, (2) effect on power to detect linkage, and (3) adequacy of the approximate MOI for the true MOI. We evaluated the power of LOD scores to detect linkage when the true MOI was complex but a LOD score analysis assumed simple models. We simulated data from 14 different genetic models, including dominant and recessive at high (80%) and low (20%) penetrances, intermediate models, and several additive two-locus models. We calculated LOD scores by assuming two simple models, dominant and recessive, each with 50% penetrance, then took the higher of the two LOD scores as the raw test statistic and corrected for multiple tests. We call this test statistic "MMLS-C." We found that the ELODs for MMLS-C are >=80% of the ELOD under the true model when the ELOD for the true model is >=3. Similarly, the power to reach a given LOD score was usually >=80% that of the true model, when the power under the true model was >=60%. These results underscore that a critical factor in LOD-score analysis is the MOI at the linked locus, not that of the disease or trait per se. Thus, a limited set of simple genetic models in LOD-score analysis can work well in testing for linkage.

MPOWER, needs and challenges: trends in the implementation of the WHO FCTC in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

PubMed

Heydari, Gholamreza; Zaatari, Ghazi; Al-Lawati, Jawad A; El-Awa, Fatimah; Fouad, Heba

2018-04-05

WHO MPOWER aims to help countries prioritize tobacco control measures in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This paper assessed the progress and challenges in implementing the 6 priority policies of MPOWER in countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region since 2011. A checklist was developed and scores assigned based on the MPOWER indicators (maximum score 37). MPOWER data for the Region in the 2015 and 2017 tobacco control reports were extracted and scored. Data from similar analyses for 2011 and 2013 were also included. Countries were ranked by scores for each indicator for 2015 and 2017 and for overall scores for 2011 to 2017. The Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt and Pakistan had the highest scores in 2015 (33, 29 and 27 respectively) and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan and Yemen had the highest scores in 2017 (34, 31 and 27 respectively). The indicators with the highest and lowest combined score for all countries were for advertising bans and compliance with smoke-free policies: 67 and 18 respectively in 2015, and 73 and 15 respectively in 2017. Most countries (15/22) had higher total scores in 2017 than 2015: Afghanistan, Bahrain and Syrian Arab Republic had the greatest increases. The total score for the Region increased from 416 out of a maximum score of 814 in 2011 to 471 in 2017. Although notable achievements have been made in the Region, many challenges to policy implementation remain and require urgent action by governments of the countries of the Region. Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2018. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).

A low-noise current-sensitive amplifier-discriminator system for beta particle counting.

PubMed

Sephton, J P; Johansson, L C; Williams, J M

2008-01-01

NPL has developed a low-noise current amplifier/discriminator system for radionuclides that emit low-energy electrons and X-rays. The new beta amplifier is based on the low-noise Amptek A-250 operational amplifier. The design has been configured for optimum signal to noise ratio. The new amplifier is described and results obtained using primarily electron-capture decaying radionuclides are presented. The new amplifier gives rise to higher particle detection efficiency than the previously used Atomic Energy of Canada Limited-designed amplifier. This is shown by measurements of (54)Mn and (65)Zn. The counting plateaux are significantly longer and have reduced gradients.

Public health assessment for Alcoa (Point Comfort)/Lavaca Bay, Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas, Region 6. Cerclis No. TXD008123168. Final report

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

NONE

1995-08-24

The ALCOA (Point Comfort)/Lavaco Bay National Priorities List (NPL) site is in Calhoun County, Texas, approximately 1.5 miles south of Point Comfort and four miles northeast of Port Lavaca. Fish sampling data indicate that levels of mercury in fish are elevated. Mercury has been detected throughout the site in surface soil, shallow groundwater, air, bay sediments, fish and crabs. Other contaminants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and lead, have been detected in shallow groundwater. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been detected in a limited number of sediment, fish, and oyster samples.

Development of a switched integrator amplifier for high-accuracy optical measurements.

PubMed

Mountford, John; Porrovecchio, Geiland; Smid, Marek; Smid, Radislav

2008-11-01

In the field of low flux optical measurements, the development and use of large area silicon detectors is becoming more frequent. The current/voltage conversion of their photocurrent presents a set of problems for traditional transimpedance amplifiers. The switched integration principle overcomes these limitations. We describe the development of a fully characterized current-voltage amplifier using the switched integrator technique. Two distinct systems have been developed in parallel at the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Czech Metrology Institute (CMI) laboratories. We present the circuit theory and best practice in the design and construction of switched integrators. In conclusion the results achieved and future developments are discussed.

78 FR 76160 - Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Capital Fund Interim Scoring Notice: Reinstitution of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-16

... System (PHAS) Capital Fund Interim Scoring Notice: Reinstitution of Five Points for Occupancy Sub... of comments allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely receipt... www.regulations.gov . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia J. Yarus, Real Estate Assessment Center...

Univariate and Bivariate Loglinear Models for Discrete Test Score Distributions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Paul W.; Thayer, Dorothy T.

2000-01-01

Applied the theory of exponential families of distributions to the problem of fitting the univariate histograms and discrete bivariate frequency distributions that often arise in the analysis of test scores. Considers efficient computation of the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters using Newton's Method and computationally efficient…

Sleep spindle alterations in patients with Parkinson's disease

PubMed Central

Christensen, Julie A. E.; Nikolic, Miki; Warby, Simon C.; Koch, Henriette; Zoetmulder, Marielle; Frandsen, Rune; Moghadam, Keivan K.; Sorensen, Helge B. D.; Mignot, Emmanuel; Jennum, Poul J.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify changes of sleep spindles (SS) in the EEG of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Five sleep experts manually identified SS at a central scalp location (C3-A2) in 15 PD and 15 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Each SS was given a confidence score, and by using a group consensus rule, 901 SS were identified and characterized by their (1) duration, (2) oscillation frequency, (3) maximum peak-to-peak amplitude, (4) percent-to-peak amplitude, and (5) density. Between-group comparisons were made for all SS characteristics computed, and significant changes for PD patients vs. control subjects were found for duration, oscillation frequency, maximum peak-to-peak amplitude and density. Specifically, SS density was lower, duration was longer, oscillation frequency slower and maximum peak-to-peak amplitude higher in patients vs. controls. We also computed inter-expert reliability in SS scoring and found a significantly lower reliability in scoring definite SS in patients when compared to controls. How neurodegeneration in PD could influence SS characteristics is discussed. We also note that the SS morphological changes observed here may affect automatic detection of SS in patients with PD or other neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). PMID:25983685

The association between motor skill competence and physical fitness in young adults.

PubMed

Stodden, David; Langendorfer, Stephen; Roberton, Mary Ann

2009-06-01

We examined the relationship between competence in three fundamental motor skills (throwing kicking, and jumping) and six measures of health-related physical fitness in young adults (ages 18-25). We assessed motor skill competence using product scores of maximum kicking and throwing speed and maximum jumping distance. A factor analysis indicated the 12-min run/walk, percent body fat, curl-ups, grip strength, and maximum leg press strength all loaded on one factor defining the construct of "overall fitness. "Multiple regression analyses indicated that the product scores for jumping (74%), kicking (58%), and throwing (59%) predicted 79% of the variance in overall fitness. Gender was not a significant predictor of fitness. Results suggest that developing motor skill competence may be fundamental in developing and maintaining adequate physical fitness into adulthood. These data represent the strongest to date on the relationship between motor skill competence and physical fitness.

Testing the Predictive Validity of the Hendrich II Fall Risk Model.

PubMed

Jung, Hyesil; Park, Hyeoun-Ae

2018-03-01

Cumulative data on patient fall risk have been compiled in electronic medical records systems, and it is possible to test the validity of fall-risk assessment tools using these data between the times of admission and occurrence of a fall. The Hendrich II Fall Risk Model scores assessed during three time points of hospital stays were extracted and used for testing the predictive validity: (a) upon admission, (b) when the maximum fall-risk score from admission to falling or discharge, and (c) immediately before falling or discharge. Predictive validity was examined using seven predictive indicators. In addition, logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that significantly affect the occurrence of a fall. Among the different time points, the maximum fall-risk score assessed between admission and falling or discharge showed the best predictive performance. Confusion or disorientation and having a poor ability to rise from a sitting position were significant risk factors for a fall.

The Association between Motor Skill Competence and Physical Fitness in Young Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stodden, David; Langendorfer, Stephen; Roberton, Mary Ann

2009-01-01

We examined the relationship between competence in three fundamental motor skills (throwing, kicking, and jumping) and six measures of health-related physical fitness in young adults (ages 18-25). We assessed motor skill competence using product scores of maximum kicking and throwing speed and maximum jumping distance. A factor analysis indicated…

Delayed restoration of maximum speech discrimination scores in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

PubMed

Noguchi, Yoshihiro; Takahashi, Masatoki; Ito, Taku; Fujikawa, Taro; Kawashima, Yoshiyuki; Kitamura, Ken

2016-10-01

To assess possible delayed recovery of the maximum speech discrimination score (SDS) when the audiometric threshold ceases to change. We retrospectively examined 20 patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) (gender: 9 males and 11 females, age: 24-71 years). The findings of pure-tone average (PTA), maximum SDS, auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), and tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) were compared among the three periods of 1-3 months, 6-8 months, and 11-13 months after ISSNHL onset. No significant differences were noted in PTA, whereas an increase of greater than or equal to 10% in maximum SDS was recognized in 9 patients (45%) from the period of 1-3 months to the period of 11-13 months. Four of the 9 patients showed 20% or more recovery of maximum SDS. No significant differences were observed in the interpeak latency difference between waves I and V and the interaural latency difference of wave V in ABRs, whereas an improvement in the THI grade was recognized in 11 patients (55%) from the period of 1-3 months to the period of 11-13 months. The present study suggested the incidence of maximum SDS restoration over 1 year after ISSNHL onset. These findings may be because of the effects of auditory plasticity via the central auditory pathway. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do advertisements help in the appointment of a new partner?

PubMed Central

Higson, N

1985-01-01

Seventy five advertisements placed in five consecutive issues of the BMJ by general practices for vacancies for doctors were analysed for the amount of information given. Fifteen pieces of information were sought and scored. The maximum score was 20, and one advertisement had no indication of how to reply. PMID:3917326

Lod score curves for phase-unknown matings.

PubMed

Hulbert-Shearon, T; Boehnke, M; Lange, K

1996-01-01

For a phase-unknown nuclear family, we show that the likelihood and lod score are unimodal, and we describe conditions under which the maximum occurs at recombination fraction theta = 0, theta = 1/2, and 0 < theta < 1/2. These simply stated necessary and sufficient conditions seem to have escaped the notice of previous statistical geneticists.

Poor knowledge about osteoporosis in learned Indian women.

PubMed

Pande, K; Pande, Sonali; Tripathi, S; Kanoi, R; Thakur, A; Patle, S

2005-05-01

The present study was done to assess knowledge about osteoporosis in learned Indian women, identify their source of knowledge and to study the correlation of level of knowledge with other variables. A total of 73 female staff members (average age 44.7 years) of a teaching institute completed the Osteoporosis Questionnaire (OPQ). The mean +/- SD of total score for the sample was 4.1 +/- 4.1 (range -8 to 15; maximum possible score 20). The correct definition of osteoporosis was given by 74%, but there was general lack of awareness in all the areas assessed. There was statistically significant difference in the total score depending on the faculty of education, with staff members from the science faculty having the maximum mean score (p < 0.05). We found no influence of age, menopausal status, previous history of fracture and family history of osteoporosis on the level of knowledge. Media (74%) was the commonest source of knowledge followed by friends (49%) and doctors (25%). This study highlights the general lack of knowledge about osteoporosis in learned Indian women and also the need for increased involvement of medical professionals in patient education.

An Evaluation of Microbial Profile in Halitosis with Tongue Coating Using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)- A Clinical and Microbiological Study

PubMed Central

Kamaraj R., Dinesh; Bhushan, Kala S.; K.L., Vandana

2014-01-01

Background: Medline search using key words halitosis, tongue coating, polymerase chain reaction, microbial profile did not reveal any study. Hence, the purpose of the present investigation was to assess the malodor using the organoleptic method and tanita device; to quantify odoriferous microorganisms using Polymerase Chain Reaction technique in chronic periodontitis patients. Materials and Methods: The study included 30 chronic periodontitis patients. Halitosis was detected using organoleptic assessment & tanita breath alert. Microbial analysis of Pg, Tf & Fn was done using PCR. Plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), gingival bleeding index (GBI) were recorded. Result: The maximum score of 3 for tongue coating was found in 60% of selected subjects. The tanita breath alert measured VSC level of score 2 in 60% of selected subjects while organoleptic score of 4 was found in 50% of subjects. The maximum mean value of 31.1±36.5 was found to be of F. nucleatum (Fn) followed by P. gingivalis (Pg) (13±13.3) & T. forsythia (Tf) (7.16±8.68) in tongue samples of selected patients. A weak positive correlation was found between VSC levels (tanita score & organoleptic score) and clinical parameters. Conclusion: The halitosis assessment by measuring VSC levels using organoleptic method and tanita breath alert are clinically feasible. Maximum tongue coating was found in 60% of patients. Fn was found comparatively more than the Pg & Tf. A weak positive correlation was found between VSC levels and clinical parameters such as PI, GI & GBI. Thus,the dentist/ periodontist should emphasise on tongue cleaning measures that would reduce the odoriferous microbial load. PMID:24596791

Clinical, Electrocardiographic, and Echocardiographic Parameter Combination Predicts the Onset of Atrial Fibrillation.

PubMed

Soeki, Takeshi; Matsuura, Tomomi; Tobiume, Takeshi; Bando, Sachiko; Matsumoto, Kazuhisa; Nagano, Hiromi; Uematsu, Etsuko; Kusunose, Kenya; Ise, Takayuki; Yamaguchi, Koji; Yagi, Shusuke; Fukuda, Daiju; Yamada, Hirotsugu; Wakatsuki, Tetsuzo; Shimabukuro, Michio; Sata, Masataka

2018-05-30

The ability to identify risk markers for new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) is critical to the development of preventive strategies, but it remains unknown whether a combination of clinical, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic parameters predicts the onset of AF. In the present study, we evaluated the predictive value of a combined score that includes these parameters.Methods and Results:We retrospectively studied 1,040 patients without AF who underwent both echocardiography and 24-h Holter electrocardiography between May 2005 and December 2010. During a median follow-up period of 68.4 months (IQR, 49.9-93.3 months), we investigated the incidence of new-onset AF. Of the 1,040 patients, 103 (9.9%) developed AF. Patients who developed AF were older than patients who did not. Total heart beats, premature atrial contraction (PAC) count, maximum RR interval, and frequency of sinus pause quantified on 24-h electrocardiography were associated with new-onset AF. LA diameter (LAD) on echocardiography was also associated with the development of AF. On multivariate Cox analysis, age ≥58 years, PAC count ≥80 beats/day, maximum RR interval ≥1.64 s, and LAD ≥4.5 cm were independently associated with the development of AF. The incidence rate of new-onset AF significantly increased as the combined score (i.e., the sum of the risk score determined using hazard ratios) increased. A combined score that includes age, PAC count, maximum RR interval, and LAD could help characterize the risk of new-onset AF.

Predictors of outcome in acute traumatic central cord syndrome due to spinal stenosis.

PubMed

Aarabi, Bizhan; Alexander, Melvin; Mirvis, Stuart E; Shanmuganathan, Kathirkamanathan; Chesler, David; Maulucci, Christopher; Iguchi, Mark; Aresco, Carla; Blacklock, Tiffany

2011-01-01

the objective of this study was to elucidate the relationship between admission demographic data, validated injury severity measures on imaging studies, and clinical indicators on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score, Functional Independence Measure (FIM), manual dexterity, and dysesthetic pain at least 12 months after surgery for acute traumatic central cord syndrome (ATCCS) due to spinal stenosis. over a 100-month period (January 2000 to April 2008), of 211 patients treated for ATCCS, 59 cases were due to spinal stenosis, and these patients underwent surgical decompression. Five of these patients died, 2 were lost to follow-up, 10 were not eligible for the study, and the remaining 42 were followed for at least 12 months. in the cohort of 42 patients, mean age was 58.3 years, 83% of the patients were men, and 52.4% of the accidents were due to falls. Mean admission ASIA motor score was 63.8 (upper extremities score, 25.8 and lower extremities score, 39.8), the spinal cord was most frequently compressed at skeletal segments C3-4 and C4-5 (71%), mean midsagittal diameter at the point of maximum compression was 5.6 mm, maximum canal compromise (MCC) was 50.5%, maximum spinal cord compression was 16.5%, and length of parenchymal damage on T2-weighted MR imaging was 29.4 mm. Time after injury until surgery was within 24 hours in 9 patients, 24-48 hours in 10 patients, and more than 48 hours in 23 patients. At the 1-year follow-up, the mean ASIA motor score was 94.1 (upper extremities score, 45.7 and lower extremities score, 47.6), FIM was 111.1, manual dexterity was 64.4% of baseline, and pain level was 3.5. Stepwise regression analysis of 10 independent variables indicated significant relationships between ASIA motor score at follow-up and admission ASIA motor score (p = 0.003), MCC (p = 0.02), and midsagittal diameter (p = 0.02); FIM and admission ASIA motor score (p = 0.03), MCC (p = 0.02), and age (p = 0.02); manual dexterity and admission ASIA motor score (p = 0.0002) and length of parenchymal damage on T2-weighted MR imaging (p = 0.002); and pain level and age (p = 0.02) and length of parenchymal lesion on T2-weighted MR imaging (p = 0.04). the main indicators of long-term ASIA motor score, FIM, manual dexterity, and dysesthetic pain were admission ASIA motor score, midsagittal diameter, MCC, length of parenchymal damage on T2-weighted MR imaging, and age, but different domains of outcome were determined by different predictors.

Predictors of Knowledge and Image Interpretation Skill Development in Radiology Residents.

PubMed

Ravesloot, Cécile J; van der Schaaf, Marieke F; Kruitwagen, Cas L J J; van der Gijp, Anouk; Rutgers, Dirk R; Haaring, Cees; Ten Cate, Olle; van Schaik, Jan P J

2017-09-01

Purpose To investigate knowledge and image interpretation skill development in residency by studying scores on knowledge and image questions on radiology tests, mediated by the training environment. Materials and Methods Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ethical review board of the Netherlands Association for Medical Education. Longitudinal test data of 577 of 2884 radiology residents who took semiannual progress tests during 5 years were retrospectively analyzed by using a nonlinear mixed-effects model taking training length as input variable. Tests included nonimage and image questions that assessed knowledge and image interpretation skill. Hypothesized predictors were hospital type (academic or nonacademic), training hospital, enrollment age, sex, and test date. Results Scores showed a curvilinear growth during residency. Image scores increased faster during the first 3 years of residency and reached a higher maximum than knowledge scores (55.8% vs 45.1%). The slope of image score development versus knowledge question scores of 1st-year residents was 16.8% versus 12.4%, respectively. Training hospital environment appeared to be an important predictor in both knowledge and image interpretation skill development (maximum score difference between training hospitals was 23.2%; P < .001). Conclusion Expertise developed rapidly in the initial years of radiology residency and leveled off in the 3rd and 4th training year. The shape of the curve was mainly influenced by the specific training hospital. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Effectiveness of teaching automated external defibrillators use using a traditional classroom instruction versus self-instruction video in non-critical care nurses.

PubMed

Saiboon, Ismail M; Qamruddin, Reza M; Jaafar, Johar M; Bakar, Afliza A; Hamzah, Faizal A; Eng, Ho S; Robertson, Colin E

2016-04-01

To evaluate the effectiveness and retention of learning automated external defibrillator (AED) usage taught through a traditional classroom instruction (TCI) method versus a novel self instructed video (SIV) technique in non-critical care nurses (NCCN). A prospective single-blind randomized study was conducted over 7 months (April-October 2014) at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Eighty nurses were randomized into either TCI or SIV instructional techniques. We assessed knowledge, skill and confidence level at baseline, immediate and 6-months post-intervention. Knowledge and confidence were assessed via questionnaire; skill was assessed by a calibrated and blinded independent assessor using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) method. Pre-test mean scores for knowledge in the TCI group was 10.87 ± 2.34, and for the SIV group was 10.37 ± 1.85 (maximum achievable score 20.00); 4.05 ± 2.87 in the TCI and 3.71 ± 2.66 in the SIV (maximum score 11.00) in the OSCE evaluation and 9.54 ± 3.65 in the TCI and 8.56 ± 3.47 in the SIV (maximum score 25.00) in the individual's personal confidence level. Both methods increased the mean scores significantly during immediate post-intervention (0-month). At 6-months, the TCI group scored lower than the SIV group in all aspects 11.13 ± 2.70 versus 12.95 ± 2.26 (p=0.03) in knowledge, 7.27 ± 1.62 versus 7.68 ± 1.73 (p=0.47) in the OSCE, and 16.40 ± 2.72 versus 18.82 ± 3.40 (p=0.03) in confidence level. In NCCN's, SIV is as good as TCI in providing the knowledge, competency, and confidence in performing AED defibrillation.

Effectiveness of teaching automated external defibrillators use using a traditional classroom instruction versus self-instruction video in non-critical care nurses

PubMed Central

Saiboon, Ismail M.; Qamruddin, Reza M.; BAO, MBBch; Jaafar, Johar M.; Bakar, Afliza A.; Hamzah, Faizal A.; Eng, Ho S.; Robertson, Colin E.

2016-01-01

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and retention of learning automated external defibrillator (AED) usage taught through a traditional classroom instruction (TCI) method versus a novel self instructed video (SIV) technique in non-critical care nurses (NCCN). Methods: A prospective single-blind randomized study was conducted over 7 months (April-October 2014) at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Eighty nurses were randomized into either TCI or SIV instructional techniques. We assessed knowledge, skill and confidence level at baseline, immediate and 6-months post-intervention. Knowledge and confidence were assessed via questionnaire; skill was assessed by a calibrated and blinded independent assessor using an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) method. Results: Pre-test mean scores for knowledge in the TCI group was 10.87 ± 2.34, and for the SIV group was 10.37 ± 1.85 (maximum achievable score 20.00); 4.05 ± 2.87 in the TCI and 3.71 ± 2.66 in the SIV (maximum score 11.00) in the OSCE evaluation and 9.54 ± 3.65 in the TCI and 8.56 ± 3.47 in the SIV (maximum score 25.00) in the individual’s personal confidence level. Both methods increased the mean scores significantly during immediate post-intervention (0-month). At 6-months, the TCI group scored lower than the SIV group in all aspects 11.13 ± 2.70 versus 12.95 ± 2.26 (p=0.03) in knowledge, 7.27 ± 1.62 versus 7.68 ± 1.73 (p=0.47) in the OSCE, and 16.40 ± 2.72 versus 18.82 ± 3.40 (p=0.03) in confidence level. Conclusion: In NCCN’s, SIV is as good as TCI in providing the knowledge, competency, and confidence in performing AED defibrillation. PMID:27052286

Ability of sextant biopsies to predict radical prostatectomy stage.

PubMed

Wills, M L; Sauvageot, J; Partin, A W; Gurganus, R; Epstein, J I

1998-05-01

There are few studies evaluating multiple variables on sextant biopsies with the intent to predict stage in radical prostatectomy specimens. We studied 113 sextant biopsies with corresponding totally submitted radical prostatectomy specimens. Variables evaluated on sextant biopsies included total length and percent of cancer; maximum length and percent of cancer on one core; location (apex, mid, base); bilaterality; Gleason grade; number of cores involved; serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level; and serum PSA density (PSAD). Radical prostatectomy stage was classified as organ versus non-organ confined. The following variables individually correlated with radical prostatectomy stage: total cancer measured in millimeters (P <0.0001) or percent (P <0.0005); biopsy Gleason score (P <0.0001); number of involved cores (P <0.0001); maximum cancer on one core measured in millimeters (P = 0.0001); maximum percent of cancer on one core (P = 0.01); bilaterality (P = 0.01); PSA level (P = 0.03), and PSAD (P = 0.001). The most predictive sets of two variables that correlated with stage included high Gleason score (P <0.0001) combined with numbers of cores involved (P = 0.002). When biopsies had Gleason scores of 6 or less, two or fewer positive cores, and serum PSA of 0 to 4 ng/mL, 89% were organ confined. When biopsies had Gleason scores of 6 or less with two unilaterally positive cores, 87% were organ confined. In biopsies with Gleason scores of 7 or more and more than one positive core, only 10% were organ confined. The most important predictors of stage by sextant needle biopsy evaluation are numbers of cores involved with carcinoma and high Gleason score. Bilaterality and serum PSA values improved prediction in two small subgroups. In 37% of our population we were able to predict with a greater than 87% probability the organ-confined versus non-organ-confined status.

Evaluating online diagnostic decision support tools for the clinical setting.

PubMed

Pryor, Marie; White, David; Potter, Bronwyn; Traill, Roger

2012-01-01

Clinical decision support tools available at the point of care are an effective adjunct to support clinicians to make clinical decisions and improve patient outcomes. We developed a methodology and applied it to evaluate commercially available online clinical diagnostic decision support (DDS) tools for use at the point of care. We identified 11 commercially available DDS tools and assessed these against an evaluation instrument that included 6 categories; general information, content, quality control, search, clinical results and other features. We developed diagnostically challenging clinical case scenarios based on real patient experience that were commonly missed by junior medical staff. The evaluation was divided into 2 phases; an initial evaluation of all identified and accessible DDS tools conducted by the Clinical Information Access Portal (CIAP) team and a second phase that further assessed the top 3 tools identified in the initial evaluation phase. An evaluation panel consisting of senior and junior medical clinicians from NSW Health conducted the second phase. Of the eleven tools that were assessed against the evaluation instrument only 4 tools completely met the DDS definition that was adopted for this evaluation and were able to produce a differential diagnosis. From the initial phase of the evaluation 4 DDS tools scored 70% or more (maximum score 96%) for the content category, 8 tools scored 65% or more (maximum 100%) for the quality control category, 5 tools scored 65% or more (maximum 94%) for the search category, and 4 tools score 70% or more (maximum 81%) for the clinical results category. The second phase of the evaluation was focused on assessing diagnostic accuracy for the top 3 tools identified in the initial phase. Best Practice ranked highest overall against the 6 clinical case scenarios used. Overall the differentiating factor between the top 3 DDS tools was determined by diagnostic accuracy ranking, ease of use and the confidence and credibility of the clinical information. The evaluation methodology used here to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of clinical DDS tools was effective in identifying the most appropriate tool for the clinical setting. The use of clinical case scenarios is fundamental in determining the diagnostic accuracy and usability of the tools.

Maximum Likelihood Dynamic Factor Modeling for Arbitrary "N" and "T" Using SEM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voelkle, Manuel C.; Oud, Johan H. L.; von Oertzen, Timo; Lindenberger, Ulman

2012-01-01

This article has 3 objectives that build on each other. First, we demonstrate how to obtain maximum likelihood estimates for dynamic factor models (the direct autoregressive factor score model) with arbitrary "T" and "N" by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) and compare the approach to existing methods. Second, we go beyond standard time…

Multimodal Likelihoods in Educational Assessment: Will the Real Maximum Likelihood Score Please Stand up?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wothke, Werner; Burket, George; Chen, Li-Sue; Gao, Furong; Shu, Lianghua; Chia, Mike

2011-01-01

It has been known for some time that item response theory (IRT) models may exhibit a likelihood function of a respondent's ability which may have multiple modes, flat modes, or both. These conditions, often associated with guessing of multiple-choice (MC) questions, can introduce uncertainty and bias to ability estimation by maximum likelihood…

Histopathological Validation of the Surface-Intermediate-Base Margin Score for Standardized Reporting of Resection Technique during Nephron Sparing Surgery.

PubMed

Minervini, Andrea; Campi, Riccardo; Kutikov, Alexander; Montagnani, Ilaria; Sessa, Francesco; Serni, Sergio; Raspollini, Maria Rosaria; Carini, Marco

2015-10-01

The surface-intermediate-base margin score is a novel standardized reporting system of resection techniques during nephron sparing surgery. We validated the surgeon assessed surface-intermediate-base score with microscopic histopathological assessment of partial nephrectomy specimens. Between June and August 2014 data were prospectively collected from 40 consecutive patients undergoing nephron sparing surgery. The surface-intermediate-base score was assigned to all cases. The score specific areas were color coded with tissue margin ink and sectioned for histological evaluation of healthy renal margin thickness. Maximum, minimum and mean thickness of healthy renal margin for each score specific area grade (surface [S] = 0, S = 1 ; intermediate [I] or base [B] = 0, I or B = 1, I or B = 2) was reported. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the thickness of healthy renal margin in S = 0 vs 1 and I or B = 0 vs 1 vs 2 grades, respectively. Maximum, minimum and mean thickness of healthy renal margin was significantly different among score specific area grades S = 0 vs 1, and I or B = 0 vs 1, 0 vs 2 and 1 vs 2 (p <0.001). The main limitations of the study are the low number of the I or B = 1 and I or B = 2 samples and the assumption that each microscopic slide reflects the entire score specific area for histological analysis. The surface-intermediate-base scoring method can be readily harnessed in real-world clinical practice and accurately mirrors histopathological analysis for quantification and reporting of healthy renal margin thickness removed during tumor excision. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality indicators to compare accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies in Thailand.

PubMed

Arkaravichien, Wiwat; Wongpratat, Apichaya; Lertsinudom, Sunee

2016-08-01

Background Quality indicators determine the quality of actual practice in reference to standard criteria. The Community Pharmacy Association (Thailand), with technical support from the International Pharmaceutical Federation, developed a tool for quality assessment and quality improvement at community pharmacies. This tool has passed validity and reliability tests, but has not yet had feasibility testing. Objective (1) To test whether this quality tool could be used in routine settings. (2) To compare quality scores between accredited independent and accredited chain pharmacies. Setting Accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies in the north eastern region of Thailand. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in 34 accredited independent pharmacies and accredited chain pharmacies. Quality scores were assessed by observation and by interviewing the responsible pharmacists. Data were collected and analyzed by independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate. Results were plotted by histogram and spider chart. Main outcome measure Domain's assessable scores, possible maximum scores, mean and median of measured scores. Results Domain's assessable scores were close to domain's possible maximum scores. This meant that most indicators could be assessed in most pharmacies. The spider chart revealed that measured scores in the personnel, drug inventory and stocking, and patient satisfaction and health promotion domains of chain pharmacies were significantly higher than those of independent pharmacies (p < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between independent pharmacies and chain pharmacies in the premise and facility or dispensing and patient care domains. Conclusion Quality indicators developed by the Community Pharmacy Association (Thailand) could be used to assess quality of practice in pharmacies in routine settings. It is revealed that the quality scores of chain pharmacies were higher than those of independent pharmacies.

Adherence to National Dietary Guidelines in Association with Oral Health Impact on Quality of Life.

PubMed

Andreeva, Valentina A; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle; Galan, Pilar; Feron, Gilles; Hercberg, Serge; Hennequin, Martine; Sulmont-Rossé, Claire

2018-04-24

We aimed to assess the association between oral health, in terms of its impact on quality of life, and diet quality expressed as adherence to dietary guidelines. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the French NutriNet-Santé general population-based e-cohort (N = 18,263 adults; mean age = 56.5 ± 13.8 years). The main independent variable, oral health-related quality of life, was assessed in 2016 with the GOHAI instrument (maximum score = 60). The main dependent variable, diet’s nutritional quality, was assessed with the mPNNS-GS score (maximum score = 13.5) measuring adherence to French dietary guidelines and computed on the basis of repeated 24-h dietary records. Multivariable linear regression models were fit. Mean GOHAI score was 54.5 ± 4.3 and mean mPNNS-GS score was 7.7 ± 1.6. Among participants aged 18⁻64 years, those scoring ≤50 on GOHAI (poor oral health with a detrimental impact on quality of life) were less likely to adhere to dietary guidelines than participants scoring 57⁻60 points (good oral health) (beta = −0.18, 95% CI: −0.26, −0.09; p < 0.0001). Among participants aged 65+ years, those scoring 51⁻56 points on GOHAI (average oral health with some negative impact on quality of life) were less likely to adhere to dietary guidelines than were participants scoring in the range 57⁻60 (beta = −0.23, 95% CI: −0.33, −0.13; p < 0.0001). The findings suggested modest age-dependent associations between oral health-related quality of life and diet quality. Confirmation is needed longitudinally with representative samples and accounting for diet quality evolution.

Effect of Video-Assisted Teaching Module (VATM) on Knowledge of ASHAs regarding RNTCP in Kuchinda Block of Sambalpur (Odisha).

PubMed

Pradhan, Malati; Dash, Bijayalakshmi

2015-05-01

Infectious disease is a major public health issue for both developed and developing countries. Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis (TB) is most prevalent in the develop- ing countries. India is the highest TB burden country in the world and accounts for nearly one fifth (20%) of global burden of tuberculosis. A pre-experimental design where pre- and post-test without control group with experimental approach was undertaken in Kuchinda block of Sambalpur district (Odisha) with the objectives to assess effectiveness of Video-assisted Teaching Module (VATM) on knowledge of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) regarding Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) Data were collected from 52 ASHAs, selected by systematic random sampling technique through structured questionnaire. The overall mean score in pre-test was 23.31±3.07 which is 58.27 percent of maximum score and good knowledge whereas it was 34.35±3.56 while post-test it was 85.87 percent of maximum score during post-test showing a difference of 27.6 percent effectiveness. Highly significant (p<0.01) differ- ence was found between pre- and post-test knowledge score and no significant (>0.05) association was found between post-test knowledge score when compared to all the demographic variables of ASHAs.

Does Maximizing Information at the Cut Score Always Maximize Classification Accuracy and Consistency?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyse, Adam E.; Babcock, Ben

2016-01-01

A common suggestion made in the psychometric literature for fixed-length classification tests is that one should design tests so that they have maximum information at the cut score. Designing tests in this way is believed to maximize the classification accuracy and consistency of the assessment. This article uses simulated examples to illustrate…

34 CFR 642.22 - How does the Secretary evaluate prior experience?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Secretary may add from 1 to 15 points to the point score obtained on the basis of the selection criteria in § 642.21, based on the applicant's success in meeting the administrative requirements and programmatic objectives of paragraph (e) of this section. (2) The maximum possible score for each criterion is indicated...

A Field Study of First Aid Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students in Kuwait University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Khamees, Nedaa

2006-01-01

A random sample of 562 students completed a questionnaire including demographic data; 20 questions testing knowledge (right answers scored 1 and wrong answers 0); and 20 exploring attitudes ("yes", "not sure" and "no"). Overall, students scored 0.49 for knowledge and 2.30 (of a maximum 3) for attitude. Knowledge…

Supplementary comparison of 500 microgram, 200 microgram, 100 microgram and 50 microgram weights—EURAMET.M.M-S9

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidson, Stuart; Valcu, Adriana; Medina, Nieves; Zuda, Jaroslav; Snopko, Laurenc; Kolozinska, Irena

2017-01-01

A comparison of sub-milligram mass standards was undertaken within EURAMET between NPL (as the pilot laboratory), INM (Romania), CEM (Spain), CMI (Czech Republic), SMU (Slovakia) and NSC IM (Ukraine). The weights circulated had nominal values of 500 micrograms, 200 micrograms (2 weights), 100 micrograms and 50 micrograms. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Mass: 100 mg, 10 g, 100 g, 1 kg, 10 kg and 50 kg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaçmaz, Sevda; Davidson, Stuart

2017-01-01

Bilateral mass comparison of mass standards of 100 mg, 2 g, 20 g, 500 g and 10 kg was carried out in 2011 to 2012 between UME and NPL. UME was the pilot laboratory. For all mass standards, the results show adequate agreement between the laboratories. Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

The development of a Kalman filter clock predictor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, John A.; Greenhall, Charles A.; Boudjemaa, Redoane

2005-01-01

A Kalman filter based clock predictor is developed, and its performance evaluated using both simulated and real data. The clock predictor is shown to possess a neat to optimal Prediction Error Variance (PEV) when the underlying noise consists of one of the power law noise processes commonly encountered in time and frequency measurements. The predictor's performance is the presence of multiple noise processes is also examined. The relationship between the PEV obtained in the presence of multiple noise processes and those obtained for the individual component noise processes is examined. Comparisons are made with a simple linear clock predictor. The clock predictor is used to predict future values of the time offset between pairs of NPL's active hydrogen masers.

Health assessment for Stamina Mills Site, North Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island, Region 1. CERCLIS No. RID980731442. Preliminary report

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

Not Available

1988-11-15

The Stamina Mills site is on the National Priorities List (NPL). The environmental contamination of concern consists of methylene chloride, chromium, lead, nickel, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, and 1,2-dichloro- ethylene in groundwater; trichloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, methylene chloride, and nickel in surface water; trichloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, chloroform, methylene chloride, cyanide, 2-butanone, cadmium, lead, chromium, nickel, and dieldrin in soil; and chloroform, lead, nickel, and chromium in sediment. The site is considered to be of potential public health concern because of the risk to human health caused by the possibility of exposure to hazardous substances via soil, sediment, and surface water.

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

LaFreniere, L. M.

The Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) operated a grain storage facility in Waverly, Nebraska, from 1952 to 1974. During this time, the grain fumigant '80/20' (carbon tetrachloride/carbon disulfide) was used to preserve stored grain. In 1982, sampling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found carbon tetrachloride contamination in the town's groundwater. After an investigation of the contaminant distribution, the site was placed on the National Priority List (NPL) in 1986, and the CCC/USDA accepted responsibility for the contamination. An Interagency Compliance Agreement between the EPA and the CCC/USDA was finalized in May 1988 (EPAmore » 1990). The EPA (Woodward-Clyde Consultants, contractor) started immediate cleanup efforts in 1987 with the installation of an air stripper, a soil vapor extraction system, a groundwater extraction well, and groundwater and soil gas monitoring wells (Woodward-Clyde 1986, 1988a,b). After the EPA issued its Record of Decision (ROD; EPA 1990), the CCC/USDA (Argonne National Laboratory, contractor) took over operation of the treatment systems. The CCC/USDA conducted a site investigation (Argonne 1991, 1992a,b), during which a carbon tetrachloride plume in groundwater was discovered northeast of the former facility. This plume was not being captured by the existing groundwater extraction system. The remediation system was modified in 1994 (Argonne 1993) with the installation of a second groundwater extraction well to contain the contamination further. Subsequently, a detailed evaluation of the system resulted in a recommendation to pump only the second well to conserve water in the aquifer (Argonne 1995). Sampling and analysis after implementation of this recommendation showed continued decreases in the extent and concentrations of the contamination with only one well pumping (Argonne 1999). The CCC/USDA issued quarterly monitoring reports from 1988 to 2009. Complete documentation of the CCC/USDA characterization and remediation efforts, including the quarterly monitoring reports, is on the compact disc inside the back cover of this report. The EPA reported on the progress of the remediation systems in a series of five-year reviews (EPA 1993, 1999, 2004, 2009). These reports and other EPA documentation are also on the compact disc inside the back cover of this report, along with the Woodward-Clyde (1986, 1988a,b) documentation cited. Starting in 2006, the analytical results for groundwater (the only medium still being monitored) showed no carbon tetrachloride concentrations above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5.0 g/L. Because the cleanup goals specified in the ROD (EPA 1990) had been met, the EPA removed the site from the NPL in November 2006 (Appendix A). In 2008 the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the remediation system was deactivated, and a year later the EPA released its fourth and final five-year report (EPA 2009), indicating that no further action was required for the site and that the site was ready for unlimited use. In 2011-2012, the CCC/USDA decommissioned the remediation systems at Waverly. This report documents the decommission process and closure of the site.« less

Power Doppler Ultrasonography and Shear Wave Elastography as Complementary Imaging Methods for Suspected Local Breast Cancer Recurrence.

PubMed

Jales, Rodrigo Menezes; Dória, Maira Teixeira; Serra, Kátia Piton; Miranda, Mila Meneguelli; Menossi, Carlos Alberto; Schumacher, Klaus; Sarian, Luis Otávio

2018-06-01

To prospectively investigate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical consequences of power Doppler morphologic criteria and shear wave elastography (SWE) as complementary imaging methods for evaluation of suspected local breast cancer recurrence in the ipsilateral breast or chest wall. Thirty-two breast masses with a suspicion of local breast cancer recurrence on B-mode ultrasonography underwent complementary power Doppler and SWE evaluations. Power Doppler morphologic criteria were classified as avascular, hypovascular, or hypervascular. Shear wave elastography was classified according to a 5-point scale (SWE score) and SWE maximum elasticity. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve. A decision curve analysis assessed clinical consequences of each method. The reference standard for diagnosis was defined as core needle or excisional biopsy. Histopathologic examinations revealed 9 (28.2%) benign and 23 (71.8%) malignant cases. Power Doppler ultrasonography (US) had sensitivity of 34.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.6%-62.9%) and specificity of 45.4% (95% CI, 19.3%-71.5%). The SWE score (≥3) had sensitivity of 87.0% (95% CI, 66.4%-97.2%) and specificity of 44.4% (95% CI, 13.7%-78.8%). The SWE maximum elasticity (velocity > 6.5cm/s) had sensitivity of 87% (95% CI, 66.4%-97.2%) and specificity of 77.8% (95% CI, 40.0% to 97.2%). The areas under the curves for the SWE score and SWE maximum elasticity were 0.71 (95% CI, 0.53-0.87) and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.64-0.93), respectively (P = .32). Power Doppler US is unsuitable for discrimination between local breast cancer recurrence and fibrosis. Although the SWE score and SWE maximum elasticity can make this discrimination, the use of these methods to determine biopsy may lead to poorer clinical outcomes than the current practice of performing biopsies of all suspicious masses. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Fine mapping of the chromosome 12 late-onset Alzheimer disease locus: potential genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity.

PubMed

Scott, W K; Grubber, J M; Conneally, P M; Small, G W; Hulette, C M; Rosenberg, C K; Saunders, A M; Roses, A D; Haines, J L; Pericak-Vance, M A

2000-03-01

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the only confirmed susceptibility gene for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). In a recent genomic screen of 54 families with late-onset AD, we detected significant evidence for a second late-onset AD locus located on chromosome 12 between D12S373 and D12S390. Linkage to this region was strongest in 27 large families with at least one affected individual without an APOE-4 allele, suggesting that APOE and the chromosome 12 locus might have independent effects. We have since genotyped several additional markers across the region, to refine the linkage results. In analyzing these additional data, we have addressed the issue of heterogeneity in the data set by weighting results by clinical and neuropathologic features, sibship size, and APOE genotype. When considering all possible affected sib pairs (ASPs) per nuclear family, we obtained a peak maximum LOD score between D12S1057 and D12S1042. The magnitude and location of the maximum LOD score changed when different weighting schemes were used to control for the number of ASPs contributed by each nuclear family. Using the affected-relative-pair method implemented in GENEHUNTER-PLUS, we obtained a maximum LOD score between D12S398 and D12S1632, 25 cM from the original maximum LOD score. These results indicate that family size influences the location estimate for the chromosome 12 AD gene. The results of conditional linkage analysis by use of GENEHUNTER-PLUS indicated that evidence for linkage to chromosome 12 was stronger in families with affected individuals lacking an APOE-4 allele; much of this evidence came from families with affected individuals with neuropathologic diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Taken together, these results indicate that the chromosome 12 locus acts independently of APOE to increase the risk of late-onset familial AD and that it may be associated with the DLB variant of AD.

“Hallucinations” Following Acute Cannabis Dosing: A Case Report and Comparison to Other Hallucinogenic Drugs

PubMed Central

Barrett, Frederick S.; Schlienz, Nicolas J.; Lembeck, Natalie; Waqas, Muhammad; Vandrey, Ryan

2018-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Cannabis has been historically classified as a hallucinogen. However, subjective cannabis effects do not typically include hallucinogen-like effects. Empirical reports of hallucinogen-like effects produced by cannabis in controlled settings, particularly among healthy research volunteers, are rare and have mostly occurred after administration of purified Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rather than whole plant cannabis. Methods: The case of a healthy 30-year-old male who experienced auditory and visual hallucinations in a controlled laboratory study after inhaling vaporized cannabis that contained 25 mg THC (case dose) is presented. Ratings on the Hallucinogen Rating Scale (HRS) following the case dose are compared with HRS ratings obtained from the participant after other doses of cannabis and with archival HRS data from laboratory studies involving acute doses of cannabis, psilocybin, dextromethorphan (DXM), and salvinorin A. Results: Scores on the Volition subscale of the HRS were greater for the case dose than for the maximum dose administered in any other comparison study. Scores on the Intensity and Perception subscales were greater for the case dose than for the maximum dose of cannabis, psilocybin, or salvinorin A. Scores on the Somaesthesia subscale were greater for the case dose than for the maximum dose of DXM, salvinorin A, or cannabis. Scores on the Affect and Cognition subscales for the case dose were significantly lower than for the maximum doses of psilocybin and DXM. Conclusion: Acute cannabis exposure in a healthy adult male resulted in self-reported hallucinations that rated high in magnitude on several subscales of the HRS. However, the hallucinatory experience in this case was qualitatively different than that typically experienced by participants receiving classic and atypical hallucinogens, suggesting that the hallucinatory effects of cannabis may have a unique pharmacological mechanism of action. This type of adverse event needs to be considered in the clinical use of cannabis. PMID:29682608

Estimation Methods for Non-Homogeneous Regression - Minimum CRPS vs Maximum Likelihood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebetsberger, Manuel; Messner, Jakob W.; Mayr, Georg J.; Zeileis, Achim

2017-04-01

Non-homogeneous regression models are widely used to statistically post-process numerical weather prediction models. Such regression models correct for errors in mean and variance and are capable to forecast a full probability distribution. In order to estimate the corresponding regression coefficients, CRPS minimization is performed in many meteorological post-processing studies since the last decade. In contrast to maximum likelihood estimation, CRPS minimization is claimed to yield more calibrated forecasts. Theoretically, both scoring rules used as an optimization score should be able to locate a similar and unknown optimum. Discrepancies might result from a wrong distributional assumption of the observed quantity. To address this theoretical concept, this study compares maximum likelihood and minimum CRPS estimation for different distributional assumptions. First, a synthetic case study shows that, for an appropriate distributional assumption, both estimation methods yield to similar regression coefficients. The log-likelihood estimator is slightly more efficient. A real world case study for surface temperature forecasts at different sites in Europe confirms these results but shows that surface temperature does not always follow the classical assumption of a Gaussian distribution. KEYWORDS: ensemble post-processing, maximum likelihood estimation, CRPS minimization, probabilistic temperature forecasting, distributional regression models

Assessing and comparing information security in swiss hospitals.

PubMed

Landolt, Sarah; Hirschel, Jürg; Schlienger, Thomas; Businger, Walter; Zbinden, Alex M

2012-11-07

Availability of information in hospitals is an important prerequisite for good service. Significant resources have been invested to improve the availability of information, but it is also vital that the security of this information can be guaranteed. The goal of this study was to assess information security in hospitals through a questionnaire based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard ISO/IEC 27002, evaluating Information technology - Security techniques - Code of practice for information-security management, with a special focus on the effect of the hospitals' size and type. The survey, set up as a cross-sectional study, was conducted in January 2011. The chief information officers (CIOs) of 112 hospitals in German-speaking Switzerland were invited to participate. The online questionnaire was designed to be fast and easy to complete to maximize participation. To group the analyzed controls of the ISO/IEC standard 27002 in a meaningful way, a factor analysis was performed. A linear score from 0 (not implemented) to 3 (fully implemented) was introduced. The scores of the hospitals were then analyzed for significant differences in any of the factors with respect to size and type of hospital. The participating hospitals were offered a benchmark report about their status. The 51 participating hospitals had an average score of 51.1% (range 30.6% - 81.9%) out of a possible 100% where all items in the questionnaire were fully implemented. Room for improvement could be identified, especially for the factors covering "process and quality management" (average score 1.3 ± 0.8 out of a maximum of 3) and "organization and risk management" (average score 1.3 ± 0.7 out of a maximum of 3). Private hospitals scored significantly higher than university hospitals in the implementation of "security zones" and "backup" (P = .008). Half (50.00%, 8588/17,177) of all assessed hospital beds in German-speaking Switzerland are in hospitals that have a score of 49% or less of the maximum possible score in information security. Patient data need to be better protected because of the data protection laws and because sensitive, personal data should be guaranteed confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Assessing and Comparing Information Security in Swiss Hospitals

PubMed Central

Hirschel, Jürg; Schlienger, Thomas; Businger, Walter; Zbinden, Alex M

2012-01-01

Background Availability of information in hospitals is an important prerequisite for good service. Significant resources have been invested to improve the availability of information, but it is also vital that the security of this information can be guaranteed. Objective The goal of this study was to assess information security in hospitals through a questionnaire based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard ISO/IEC 27002, evaluating Information technology – Security techniques – Code of practice for information-security management, with a special focus on the effect of the hospitals’ size and type. Methods The survey, set up as a cross-sectional study, was conducted in January 2011. The chief information officers (CIOs) of 112 hospitals in German-speaking Switzerland were invited to participate. The online questionnaire was designed to be fast and easy to complete to maximize participation. To group the analyzed controls of the ISO/IEC standard 27002 in a meaningful way, a factor analysis was performed. A linear score from 0 (not implemented) to 3 (fully implemented) was introduced. The scores of the hospitals were then analyzed for significant differences in any of the factors with respect to size and type of hospital. The participating hospitals were offered a benchmark report about their status. Results The 51 participating hospitals had an average score of 51.1% (range 30.6% - 81.9%) out of a possible 100% where all items in the questionnaire were fully implemented. Room for improvement could be identified, especially for the factors covering “process and quality management” (average score 1.3 ± 0.8 out of a maximum of 3) and “organization and risk management” (average score 1.3 ± 0.7 out of a maximum of 3). Private hospitals scored significantly higher than university hospitals in the implementation of “security zones” and “backup” (P = .008). Conclusions Half (50.00%, 8588/17,177) of all assessed hospital beds in German-speaking Switzerland are in hospitals that have a score of 49% or less of the maximum possible score in information security. Patient data need to be better protected because of the data protection laws and because sensitive, personal data should be guaranteed confidentiality, integrity, and availability. PMID:23611956

Objective, Structured Proforma to Score the Merit of Scientific Presentations.

PubMed

Agarwal, Nayan; Thawani, Rajat; Gupta, Setu; Sharma, Arun; Dhaliwal, Upreet

2015-12-01

Around 100,000 medical conferences are organized all over the world and hence, they form an integral part of a medical professional's life. Oral presentations, especially award sessions, are judged by a panel of faculty judges who score individual presentations on various aspects including content, delivery and submission. Our objective was to compare the scores given by student-judges and faculty-judges for scientific presentations using the standardized score sheet. An objective, structured score-sheet was designed using existing literature. Five presentations, all made using PowerPoint, were judged using the structured score-sheet by seven student-judges and two-faculty judges. The mean score of all the score-sheets (n = 45) was 38.5 + 5.4 (out of a maximum score of 50). There was no statistical difference between mean scores assigned by students or faculty (p = 0.2). Thus, an objective, structured score sheet like ours, when used to judge scientific presentations, gave uniform results even when judges hailed from different levels of the medical hierarchy.

Implant detectibility of intervertebral disc spacers in post fusion MRI: evaluation of the MRI scan quality by using a scoring system--an in vitro study.

PubMed

Ernstberger, Thorsten; Heidrich, Gabert; Schultz, Wolfgang; Grabbe, Eckhardt

2007-02-01

Intervertebral spacers for anterior spine fusion are made of different materials, such as titanium and cobalt chromium alloys and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers. Implant-related susceptibility artifacts can decrease the quality of MRI scans. The aim of this cadaveric study was to demonstrate the extent that implant-related MRI artifacting affects the postfusion differentiation of determined regions of interest (ROIs). In six cadaveric porcine spines, we evaluated the postimplantation MRI scans of a titanium, cobalt-chromium and carbon spacer that differed in shape and surface qualities. A spacer made of human cortical bone was used as a control. A defined evaluation unit was divided into ROIs to characterize the spinal canal as well as the intervertebral disc space. Considering 15 different MRI sequences read independently by an interobserver-validated team of specialists the artifact-affected image quality of the median MRI slice was rated on a score of 0-3. A maximum score of 18 points (100%) for the determined ROIs was possible. Turbo spin echo sequences produced the best scores for all spacers and the control. Only the control achieved a score of 100%. For the determined ROI maximum scores for the cobalt-chromium, titanium and carbon spacers were 24%, 32% and 84%, respectively. By using favored T1 TSE sequences the carbon spacer showed a clear advantage in postfusion spinal imaging. Independent of artifact dimensions, the scoring system used allowed us to create an implant-related ranking of MRI scan quality in reference to the bone control.

Ornithine aminotransferase (OAT): recombination between an X-linked OAT sequence (7.5 kb) and the Norrie disease locus.

PubMed

Ngo, J T; Bateman, J B; Spence, M A; Cortessis, V; Sparkes, R S; Kivlin, J D; Mohandas, T; Inana, G

1990-01-01

A human ornithine aminotransferase (OAT) locus has been mapped to the Xp11.2, as has the Norrie disease locus. We used a cDNA probe to investigate a 3-generation UCLA family with Norrie disease; a 4.2-kb RFLP was detected and a maximum lod score of 0.602 at zero recombination fraction was calculated. We used the same probe to study a second multigeneration family with Norrie disease from Utah. A different RFLP of 7.5 kb in size was identified and a recombinational event between the OAT locus represented by this RFLP and the disease loci was observed. Linkage analysis of these two loci in this family revealed a maximum load score of 1.88 at a recombination fraction of 0.10. Although both families have affected members with the same disease, the lod scores are reported separately because the 4.2- and 7.5-kb RFLPs may represent two different loci for the X-linked OAT.

Effect of misspecification of gene frequency on the two-point LOD score.

PubMed

Pal, D K; Durner, M; Greenberg, D A

2001-11-01

In this study, we used computer simulation of simple and complex models to ask: (1) What is the penalty in evidence for linkage when the assumed gene frequency is far from the true gene frequency? (2) If the assumed model for gene frequency and inheritance are misspecified in the analysis, can this lead to a higher maximum LOD score than that obtained under the true parameters? Linkage data simulated under simple dominant, recessive, dominant and recessive with reduced penetrance, and additive models, were analysed assuming a single locus with both the correct and incorrect dominance model and assuming a range of different gene frequencies. We found that misspecifying the analysis gene frequency led to little penalty in maximum LOD score in all models examined, especially if the assumed gene frequency was lower than the generating one. Analysing linkage data assuming a gene frequency of the order of 0.01 for a dominant gene, and 0.1 for a recessive gene, appears to be a reasonable tactic in the majority of realistic situations because underestimating the gene frequency, even when the true gene frequency is high, leads to little penalty in the LOD score.

Dental health status and treatment needs of transport workers of a northern Indian city: A cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Gambhir, Ramandeep S.; Sogi, Girish M.; Veeresha, Koratagere Lingappa; Sohi, Ramandeep K.; Randhawa, Amaninder; Kakar, Heena

2013-01-01

Aim: To assess the dental health status and treatment needs of transport workers working in Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (C.T.U.) buses, Chandigarh. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on all the available C.T.U. workers at all three bus depots. The data were recorded on a modified W.H.O. format (1997). A total of 1008 subjects constituted the final sample size. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 45.3 ± 7.8 years, and 97% (978) were males. Prevalence of dental caries was 63.4% and mean DMFT was 5.02. 47.6% of subjects needed some prosthesis in the maxillary arch while 53.3% needed some prosthesis in the mandibular arch. Regarding highest CPI (Community Periodontal Index) score, 8.13% of the subjects had healthy periodontium while maximum subjects (73.2%) had a score 2 (Calculus). Conclusion: Mean DMFT (Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth) was satisfactory. Prosthetic need of the subjects was high with only a few subjects possessing prosthesis. Advanced periodontal disease (CPI score, 4) affected small number of subjects with maximum subjects (73%) having a CPI score of 2. PMID:24082750

Detection of vehicle parts based on Faster R-CNN and relative position information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Mingwen; Sang, Nong; Chen, Youbin; Gao, Changxin; Wang, Yongzhong

2018-03-01

Detection and recognition of vehicles are two essential tasks in intelligent transportation system (ITS). Currently, a prevalent method is to detect vehicle body, logo or license plate at first, and then recognize them. So the detection task is the most basic, but also the most important work. Besides the logo and license plate, some other parts, such as vehicle face, lamp, windshield and rearview mirror, are also key parts which can reflect the characteristics of vehicle and be used to improve the accuracy of recognition task. In this paper, the detection of vehicle parts is studied, and the work is novel. We choose Faster R-CNN as the basic algorithm, and take the local area of an image where vehicle body locates as input, then can get multiple bounding boxes with their own scores. If the box with maximum score is chosen as final result directly, it is often not the best one, especially for small objects. This paper presents a method which corrects original score with relative position information between two parts. Then we choose the box with maximum comprehensive score as the final result. Compared with original output strategy, the proposed method performs better.

Errors in radiographic interpretation made by veterinary students.

PubMed

Lamb, C R; Pfeiffer, D U; Mantis, P

2007-01-01

As a means of identifying student weaknesses in radiographic interpretation that could be used as foci for teaching, a cohort of 96 students joining the final-year radiology rotation were randomly allocated to one of three radiographic interpretation quizzes, each based on radiographs of small-animal patients together with the signalment and a brief, relevant history. Students' quiz scores were analyzed by multiple logistic regression, using an outcome variable with the score for each item as numerator and maximum possible mark as denominator. Students' median quiz score was 49% of the maximum (range 23-80%). Students were more likely to gain a mark for items based on abnormal radiographs than for those based on normal radiographs (odds ratio 3.4, p < 0.001). Skeletal radiographs were associated with lower scores (OR 0.75, p = 0.03). The fewest marks were awarded for interpretation of a radiograph of a normal canine stifle and interpretation of a radiograph of a normal canine pelvis; these items were misinterpreted as abnormal by 86% and 80% of the students, respectively. Students' tendency to over-interpret normal radiographs may reflect a lack of knowledge of radiographic anatomy or an unrealistically high expectation that the radiographs are abnormal.

Relationship between accumulated heat stress during the dry period, body condition score, and reproduction parameters of Holstein cows in tropical conditions.

PubMed

Avendaño-Reyes, Leonel; Fuquay, John W; Moore, Reuben B; Liu, Zhanglin; Clark, Bruce L; Vierhout, C

2010-02-01

To estimate the relationship between heat stress during the last 60 days prepartum, body condition score and certain reproductive traits in the subsequent lactation of Holstein cows, 564 multiparous cows and 290 primiparous cows from four dairy herds were used in a hot, humid region. Maximum prepartum degree days were estimated to quantify the degree of heat stress. Multiple regressions analyses and logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the effect of prepartum heat stress and body condition change on reproductive parameters, which were obtained from DHIA forms at the end of the lactation. Multiparous and primiparous cows which gained body condition score from calving to 60 d postpartum exhibited 28 and 27 fewer days open (P < 0.05), respectively, than cows not gaining. There was no effect (P > 0.05) of heat stress measurement on days open or services per conception in either multiparous or primiparous cows. During hotter months of calving, multiparous cows showed higher services per conception and primiparous cows showed higher days open and services per conception (P < 0.05). Maximum prepartum degree-days were positively associated (P < 0.05) with calving difficulty score. Multiparous cows with high body condition score at calving were 1.47 times more likely to present a very difficult calving than cows that calved in October (P < 0.05). Collectively, these results suggest that reproductive performance was not affected by cumulative prepartum heat stress although it was associated with very difficult calving score.

The AAA-ATPase molecular chaperone Cdc48/p97 disassembles sumoylated centromeres, decondenses heterochromatin, and activates ribosomal RNA genes

PubMed Central

Mérai, Zsuzsanna; Chumak, Nina; García-Aguilar, Marcelina; Hsieh, Tzung-Fu; Nishimura, Toshiro; Schoft, Vera K.; Bindics, János; Ślusarz, Lucyna; Arnoux, Stéphanie; Opravil, Susanne; Mechtler, Karl; Zilberman, Daniel; Fischer, Robert L.; Tamaru, Hisashi

2014-01-01

Centromeres mediate chromosome segregation and are defined by the centromere-specific histone H3 variant (CenH3)/centromere protein A (CENP-A). Removal of CenH3 from centromeres is a general property of terminally differentiated cells, and the persistence of CenH3 increases the risk of diseases such as cancer. However, active mechanisms of centromere disassembly are unknown. Nondividing Arabidopsis pollen vegetative cells, which transport engulfed sperm by extended tip growth, undergo loss of CenH3; centromeric heterochromatin decondensation; and bulk activation of silent rRNA genes, accompanied by their translocation into the nucleolus. Here, we show that these processes are blocked by mutations in the evolutionarily conserved AAA-ATPase molecular chaperone, CDC48A, homologous to yeast Cdc48 and human p97 proteins, both of which are implicated in ubiquitin/small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-targeted protein degradation. We demonstrate that CDC48A physically associates with its heterodimeric cofactor UFD1-NPL4, known to bind ubiquitin and SUMO, as well as with SUMO1-modified CenH3 and mutations in NPL4 phenocopy cdc48a mutations. In WT vegetative cell nuclei, genetically unlinked ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci are uniquely clustered together within the nucleolus and all major rRNA gene variants, including those rDNA variants silenced in leaves, are transcribed. In cdc48a mutant vegetative cell nuclei, however, these rDNA loci frequently colocalized with condensed centromeric heterochromatin at the external periphery of the nucleolus. Our results indicate that the CDC48ANPL4 complex actively removes sumoylated CenH3 from centromeres and disrupts centromeric heterochromatin to release bulk rRNA genes into the nucleolus for ribosome production, which fuels single nucleus-driven pollen tube growth and is essential for plant reproduction. PMID:25344531

New proteoliposome vaccine formulation from N. meningitidis serogroup B, without aluminum hydroxide, retains its antimeningococcal protectogenic potential as well as Th-1 adjuvant capacity

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Proteoliposomes purified from the Outer Membrane of Neisseria meningitidis B, have been successfully used as core for adjuvants and vaccine formulations. We have tried to increase their structural definition and to conserve their efficacy and stability avoiding the addition of the aluminum hydroxide to the final formulation. Liposomal particle systems were prepared from components of defined molecular structure, such as a Neisseria meningitidis B protein complex, extracted and purified without forming vesicle structures. Liposomes were prepared from a mixture of dioleoyl phosphatidyl serine and cholesterol, using the classical dehydration-rehydration method. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to characterize the liposomes. BALB/c mice were used for animal testing procedures. Analysis of specific IgG response, serum bactericidal activity as well as DTH reaction was carried out. Isolation and purification of mRNA and real-time PCR, was performed to determine the dominating Th lymphokine pattern. The new antimeningococcal formulation without aluminum hydroxide prepared with components of defined molecular structure assembled itself into Neoproteoliposomes (NPL) ranging from 50 to 70 nm in diameter. The extraction and purification of selected membrane proteins to provide the antigen for this new formulation (PD-Tp), as well as the NPL-formulation favors a Th1 response pattern, suggested by the higher percentages of DTH, increased expression of proinflamatory lymphokine mRNAs when administered by intramuscular and intranasal routes. It stimulates a systemic bactericidal antibody response against Neisseria meningitidis B and immunologic memory similar to the Cuban VA-MENGOC-BC® vaccine, even at lower dosages and is less reactogenic at the injection site in comparison with the formulation with aluminum hydroxide. This new adjuvant formulation could be applicable to the development of new and improved vaccines against meningococcal disease, and eventually as modulators of the immune response against other diseases. PMID:23458443

Superfund Public Information System (SPIS), June 1998 (on CD-ROM). Data file

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

NONE

1998-06-01

The Superfund Public Information System (SPIS) on CD-ROM contains Superfund data for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Superfund data is a collection of four databases, CERCLIS, Archive (NFRAP), RODS, and NPL Sites. Descriptions of these databases and CD contents are listed below. The FolioViews browse and retrieval engine is used as a graphical interface to the data. Users can access simple queries and can do complex searching on key words or fields. In addition, context sensitive help, a Superfund process overview, and an integrated data dictionary are available. RODS is the Records Of Decision System. RODS is usedmore » to track site clean-ups under the Superfund program to justify the type of treatment chosen at each site. RODS contains information on technology justification, site history, community participation, enforcement activities, site characteristics, scope and role of response action, and remedy. Explanation of Significant Differences (ESDs) are also available on the CD. CERCLIS is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System. It is the official repository for all Superfund site and incident data. It contains comprehensive information on hazardous waste sites, site inspections, preliminary assessments, and remedial status. The system is sponsored by the EPA`s Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Information Management Center. Archive (NFRAP) consists of hazardous waste sites that have no further remedial action planned; only basic identifying information is provided for archive sites. The sites found in the Archive database were originally in the CERCLIS database, but were removed beginning in the fall of 1995. NPL sites (available online) are fact sheets that describe the location and history of Superfund sites. Included are descriptions of the most recent activities and past actions at the sites that have contributed to the contamination. Population estimates, land usages, and nearby resources give background on the local setting surrounding a site.« less

Final report on EURAMET.QM-S6/1195: Bilateral comparison of liquefied hydrocarbon mixtures in constant pressure (piston) cylinders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Andrew S.; Downey, Michael L.; Milton, Martin J. T.; van der Veen, Adriaan M. H.; Zalewska, Ewelina T.; Li, Jianrong

2013-01-01

Traceable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures are required in order to underpin measurements of the composition and other physical properties of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas), thus meeting the needs of an increasingly large European industrial market. The development of traceable liquid hydrocarbon standards by National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) was still at a relatively early stage at the time this comparison was proposed in 2011. NPL and VSL, who were the only NMIs active in this area, had developed methods for the preparation and analysis of such standards in constant pressure (piston) cylinders, but neither laboratory had Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs) for these mixtures. This report presents the results of EURAMET 1195, the first comparison of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures between NMIs, which assessed the preparation and analytical capabilities of NPL and VSL for these mixtures. The comparison operated between August 2011 and January 2012. Each laboratory prepared a liquid hydrocarbon standard with nominally the same composition and these standards were exchanged for analysis. The results of the comparison show a good agreement between the laboratories' results and the comparison reference values for the six components with amount fractions greater than 1.0 cmol/mol (propane, propene, iso-butene, n-butane, iso-butane and 1-butene). Measurement of the three components with lower amount fractions (1,3-butadiene, iso-pentane and n-pentane) proved more challenging. In all but one case, the differences from the comparison reference values for these three components were greater than the expanded measurement uncertainty. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by EURAMET, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

The Gale Crater Mound in a Regional Geologic Setting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Carlton C.; Korn, L. K.

2012-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory Rover Curiosity is commencing a two-year investigation of Gale crater and Mt. Sharp, the crater s prominent central mound. Gale is a 155 km, late Noachian / early Hesperian impact crater located near the dichotomy boundary separating the southern highlands from the northern plains. The central mound is composed of layered sedimentary rock, with upper and lower mound units separated by a prominent erosional unconformity (Milliken et al., 2010). The lower mound is of particular interest, as it contains secondary minerals indicative of a striking shift from water-rich to water-poor conditions on early Mars. A key unknown in the history of Gale is the relationship between the sedimentary units in the mound and sedimentary sequences in the surrounding region. We employed orbital remote sensing data to determine if areas within a 1,000 km radius of Gale match the characteristics of sedimentary units in Mt. Sharp. Regions of interest were defined based on: the mound s inferred age (late Noachian to early Hesperian), altitude range (-4,600 m to +400 m), and THEMIS nighttime brightness (a proxy for thermal inertia). This combination of characteristics is matched by two extensive units, the late Noachian subdued cratered unit Npl2 and Noachian / Hesperian undivided material HNu (Greeley and Guest, 1987), located along the dichotomy. Geomorphic units have been mapped within the Gale mound by Thomson et al. (2011) based on albedo, layering and erosional characteristics. Using orbital CTX, MOC and HiRISE images we examined all areas within our regions of interest for analogous geomorphic units in the same altitude ranges as the corresponding units in Mt. Sharp. The most convincing geomorphic analogs to lower mound units, dominated by fine-scale layering and prominent yardangs, were located approximately 200 km northeast and southeast of Gale in late Noachian unit Npl2. The most convincing geomorphic analogs to upper mound layered units are located 250 900 km northwest of Gale in unit HNu, estimated to span the Noachian / Hesperian boundary.

Maternal residential proximity to waste sites and industrial facilities and conotruncal heart defects in offspring.

PubMed

Langlois, Peter H; Brender, Jean D; Suarez, Lucina; Zhan, F Benjamin; Mistry, Jatin H; Scheuerle, Angela; Moody, Karen

2009-07-01

Most studies of the relationship between maternal residential proximity to sources of environmental pollution and congenital cardiovascular malformations have combined heart defects into one group or broad subgroups. The current case-control study examined whether risk of conotruncal heart defects, including subsets of specific defects, was associated with maternal residential proximity to hazardous waste sites and industrial facilities with recorded air emissions. Texas Birth Defects Registry cases were linked to their birth or fetal death certificate. Controls without birth defects were randomly selected from birth certificates. Distances from maternal addresses at delivery to National Priority List (NPL) waste sites, state superfund waste sites, and Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities were determined for 1244 cases (89.5% of those eligible) and 4368 controls (88.0%). Living within 1 mile of a hazardous waste site was not associated with risk of conotruncal heart defects [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.54, 1.27]. This was true whether looking at most types of defects or waste sites. Only truncus arteriosus showed statistically elevated ORs with any waste site (crude OR: 2.80, 95% CI 1.19, 6.54) and with NPL sites (crude OR: 4.63, 95% CI 1.18, 13.15; aOR 4.99, 95% CI 1.26, 14.51), but the latter was based on only four exposed cases. There was minimal association between conotruncal heart defects and proximity to TRI facilities (aOR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.91, 1.33). Stratification by maternal age or race/ethnic group made little difference in effect estimates for waste sites or industrial facilities. In this study population, maternal residential proximity to waste sites or industries with reported air emissions was not associated with conotruncal heart defects or its subtypes in offspring, with the exception of truncus arteriosus.

Efficacy of Glutamate Modulators in Tic Suppression: A Double-Blind, Randomized Control Trial of D-serine and Riluzole in Tourette Syndrome.

PubMed

Lemmon, Monica E; Grados, Marco; Kline, Tina; Thompson, Carol B; Ali, Syed F; Singer, Harvey S

2015-06-01

It has been hypothesized that glutamatergic transmission may be altered in Tourette syndrome. In this study, we explored the efficacy of a glutamate agonist (D-serine) and antagonist (riluzole) as tic-suppressing agents in children with Tourette syndrome. We performed a parallel three-arm, 8-week, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled treatment study in children with Tourette syndrome. Each child received 6 weeks of treatment with D-serine (maximum dose 30 mg/kg/day), riluzole (maximum dose 200 mg/day), or placebo, followed by a 2-week taper. The primary outcome measure was effective tic suppression as determined by the differences in the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale score; specifically, the total tic score and the combined score (total tic score + global impairment) between treatment arms after 6 weeks of treatment. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to analyze differences between each group and the placebo group. Twenty-four patients (males = 21, ages 9-18) enrolled in the study; one patient dropped out before completion. Combined Yale Global Tic Severity Scale score and total tic scores improved in all groups. The 6-week mean percent improvement of the riluzole (n = 10), D-serine (n = 9), and placebo (n = 5) groups in the combined Yale Global Tic Severity Scale score were 43.7, 39.5, and 30.2 and for total tic scores were 38.0, 25.0, and 34.0, respectively. There were no significant differences in Yale Global Tic Severity Scale score or total tic score, respectively, between the riluzole and placebo (P = 0.35, 0.85) or D-serine and placebo (P = 0.50, 0.69) groups. Tics diminished by comparable percentages in the riluzole, D-serine, and placebo groups. These preliminary data suggest that D-serine and riluzole are not effective in tic suppression. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neurosurgery certification in member societies of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies: Asia.

PubMed

Gasco, Jaime; Braun, Jonathan D; McCutcheon, Ian E; Black, Peter M

2011-01-01

To objectively compare the complexity and diversity of the certification process in neurological surgery in member societies of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. This study centers in continental Asia. We provide here an analysis based on the responses provided to a 13-item survey. The data received were analyzed, and three Regional Complexity Scores (RCS) were designed. To compare national board experience, eligibility requirements for access to the certification process, and the obligatory nature of the examinations, an RCS-Organizational score was created (20 points maximum). To analyze the complexity of the examination, an RCS-Components score was designed (20 points maximum). The sum of both is presented in a Global RCS score. Only those countries that responded to the survey and presented nationwide homogeneity in the conduction of neurosurgery examinations could be included within the scoring system. In addition, a descriptive summary of the certification process per responding society is also provided. On the basis of the data provided by our RCS system, the highest global RCS was achieved by South Korea and Malaysia (21/40 points) followed by the joint examination of Singapore and Hong-Kong (FRCS-Ed) (20/40 points), Japan (17/40 points), the Philippines (15/40 points), and Taiwan (13 points). The experience from these leading countries should be of value to all countries within Asia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nutritional status is strongly correlated with grip strength and depression in community-living elderly Japanese.

PubMed

Kaburagi, Tomoko; Hirasawa, Reiko; Yoshino, Haruka; Odaka, Yukino; Satomi, Mariko; Nakano, Mana; Fujimoto, Eka; Kabasawa, Kazuyuki; Sato, Kazuto

2011-11-01

To evaluate the utility of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) in assessing nutritional, physical and psychosocial functions in community-living elderly individuals. A cross-sectional study of elderly individuals investigated in August 2007 and August-September 2008. Nutritional status was assessed using serum biomarkers, anthropometric measurements and the MNA. Physical function was assessed by measuring grip strength and both usual and maximum walking speeds. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to measure the individual's depressive state. Elder-care facilities in Tokyo, Japan. Community-living elderly individuals aged ≥65 years (n 130). The MNA evaluation classified twenty-seven (20·8 %) individuals as being at risk for malnutrition (MNA score ≤23·5); these at-risk individuals included a high proportion of the elderly aged ≥75 years. MNA scores correlated with nutritional biomarkers (total protein, albumin, cholinesterase, Hb) and anthropometric measurements (triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, mid-arm muscle area) and exhibited a strong correlation with grip strength and GDS score. Multivariate analysis revealed that grip strength, GDS score, marital status and maximum walking speed are strong predictors of MNA score. The MNA is considerably useful in providing a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status in elderly, community-living Japanese. However, larger-scale epidemiological studies are needed to determine the utility and the appropriate cut-off point of the MNA as a screen for risk of malnutrition.

Traumeel S® for pain relief following hallux valgus surgery: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background In spite of recent advances in post-operative pain relief, pain following orthopedic surgery remains an ongoing challenge for clinicians. We examined whether a well known and frequently prescribed homeopathic preparation could mitigate post-operative pain. Method We performed a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the homeopathic preparation Traumeel S® in minimizing post-operative pain and analgesic consumption following surgical correction of hallux valgus. Eighty consecutive patients were randomized to receive either Traumeel tablets or an indistinguishable placebo, and took primary and rescue oral analgesics as needed. Maximum numerical pain scores at rest and consumption of oral analgesics were recorded on day of surgery and for 13 days following surgery. Results Traumeel was not found superior to placebo in minimizing pain or analgesic consumption over the 14 days of the trial, however a transient reduction in the daily maximum post-operative pain score favoring the Traumeel arm was observed on the day of surgery, a finding supported by a treatment-time interaction test (p = 0.04). Conclusions Traumeel was not superior to placebo in minimizing pain or analgesic consumption over the 14 days of the trial. A transient reduction in the daily maximum post-operative pain score on the day of surgery is of questionable clinical importance. Trial Registration This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. # NCT00279513 PMID:20380750

On an Extension of the Rasch Model to the Case of Polychotomously Scored Items.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogt, Dorothee K.

The Rasch model for the probability of a person's response to an item is extended to the case where this response depends on a set of scoring or category weights, in addition to person and item parameters. The maximum likelihood approach introduced by Wright for the dichotomous case is applicable here also, and it is shown to yield a unique…

Distribution and magnitude of type I error of model-based multipoint lod scores: implications for multipoint mod scores.

PubMed

Xing, Chao; Elston, Robert C

2006-07-01

The multipoint lod score and mod score methods have been advocated for their superior power in detecting linkage. However, little has been done to determine the distribution of multipoint lod scores or to examine the properties of mod scores. In this paper we study the distribution of multipoint lod scores both analytically and by simulation. We also study by simulation the distribution of maximum multipoint lod scores when maximized over different penetrance models. The multipoint lod score is approximately normally distributed with mean and variance that depend on marker informativity, marker density, specified genetic model, number of pedigrees, pedigree structure, and pattern of affection status. When the multipoint lod scores are maximized over a set of assumed penetrances models, an excess of false positive indications of linkage appear under dominant analysis models with low penetrances and under recessive analysis models with high penetrances. Therefore, caution should be taken in interpreting results when employing multipoint lod score and mod score approaches, in particular when inferring the level of linkage significance and the mode of inheritance of a trait.

Laryngeal Force Sensor: Quantifying Extralaryngeal Complications after Suspension Microlaryngoscopy.

PubMed

Feng, Allen L; Song, Phillip C

2018-04-01

Objectives To develop a novel sensor capable of dynamically analyzing the force exerted during suspension microlaryngoscopy and to examine the relationship between force and postoperative tongue complications. Study Design Prospective observational study. Setting Academic tertiary care center. Methods The laryngeal force sensor is a designed for use during microphonosurgery. Prospectively enrolled patients completed pre- and postoperative surveys to assess the development of tongue-related symptoms (dysgeusia, pain, paresthesia, and paresis) or dysphagia (10-item Eating Assessment Tool [EAT-10]). To prevent operator bias, surgeons were blinded to the force recordings during surgery. Results Fifty-six patients completed the study. Of these, 20 (36%) developed postoperative tongue symptoms, and 12 (21%) had abnormal EAT-10 scores. The mean maximum force across all procedures was 164.7 N (95% CI, 141.0-188.4; range, 48.5-402.6), while the mean suspension time was 34.3 minutes (95% CI, 27.4-41.2; range, 7.1-108.1). Multiple logistic regression showed maximum force (odds ratio, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.02-1.29; P = .019) and female sex (30.1%; 95% CI, 22.7%-37.5%; P < .001) as significant predictors for the development of tongue-related symptoms. The only significant predictor of an abnormal postoperative EAT-10 score was an increased maximum force (odds ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00-1.06; P = .045). Conclusions The laryngeal force sensor is capable of providing dynamic force measurements throughout suspension microlaryngoscopy. An increase in maximum force during surgery may be a significant predictor for the development of tongue-related symptoms and an abnormal EAT-10 score. Female patients may also be at greater risk for developing postoperative tongue symptoms.

Effect of NR-ANX-C (a polyherbal formulation) on haloperidol induced catalepsy in albino mice.

PubMed

Nair, Vinod; Arjuman, Albina; Dorababu, P; Gopalakrishna, H N; Chakradhar Rao, U; Mohan, Lalit

2007-11-01

Use of typical antipsychotics like haloperidol in treatment of schizophrenia is associated with a high incidence of extrapyramidal side effects. In rodents, administration of haloperidol leads to the development of a behavioural state called catalepsy, in which the animal is not able to correct an externally imposed posture. In the present study we evaluated the anticataleptic efficacy of NR-ANX-C, a polyherbal formulation containing bioactives of Withania somnifera, Ocimum sanctum, Camellia sinensis, triphala and shilajit in haloperidol induced catalepsy in mice. Five groups (n = 6) of male albino mice were used in the study. Catalepsy was induced by ip administration of haloperidol (1mg/kg). The degree of catalepsy (cataleptic score) was measured as the time the animal maintained an imposed posture. We compared the anticataleptic efficacy of NR-ANX-C (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg) with scopolamine (1 mg/kg). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) level in brain tissue was also estimated to correlate the levels of oxidative stress and degree of catalepsy in the animal. Significant (P<0.01) reduction in the cataleptic scores was observed in all NR-ANX-C treated groups and maximum reduction was observed in the NR-ANX-C (25 mg/kg) treated group. Significant (P<0.05) reduction in SOD activity was observed in NR-ANX-C (25 and 50 mg/kg) treated groups and maximum reduction was observed in NR-ANX-C (25mg/kg) treated group. In our study, maximum reduction in cataleptic score was observed in NR-ANX-C (25 mg/kg) treated group. The maximum reduction in SOD activity was also observed in the same group. These findings suggest a possible involvement of the antioxidant potential of NRANX- C in alleviating haloperidol induced catalepsy.

Health assessment for Midwest Industrial Waste Disposal Company, Inc. (Midco II) NPL (National Priorities List) Site, 5900 Industrial Highway, Gary, Indiana, Region 5. CERCLIS No. IND980679559. Final report

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

Not Available

1989-04-12

The 7-acre Midco II Site is located at 5900 Industrial Highway, Gary, Indiana. The site is listed on the National Priorities List. Various heavy metals, inorganic, and organic compounds were found in the media on-site. The environmental media of concern at the site are ground water, surface water, and soil. Although access to the Midco II site is restricted, the contaminants detected on-site will continue to migrate and may pose health threats until remedial activities are completed. Therefore, the Midco II site poses a potential health concern until an evaluation of the site is completed and remedial activities are chosen.

Cleanups in My Community

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Cleanups in My Community (CIMC) is a public web application that enables integrated access through maps, lists and search filtering to site-specific information EPA has across all cleanup programs. CIMC taps into data publicly available from EPA's EnviroFacts (RCRA Corrective Action facilities, Brownfields properties and grant areas, Superfund NPL sites, other facility data) and web services (water monitoring stations, impaired waters, emergency responses, tribal boundaries, congressional districts, etc.) and connects to other applications (e.g., Superfund's CPAD) to provide easy seamless access to site-specific cleanup information with explanatory text and within the context of related data. Data can be filtered by cleanup program, geography, environmental indicators, controls, and cleanup stage. CIMC also provides some web services that integrate these data for others to use in their applications.

Brainstem dose is associated with patient-reported acute fatigue in head and neck cancer radiation therapy.

PubMed

Ferris, Matthew J; Zhong, Jim; Switchenko, Jeffrey M; Higgins, Kristin A; Cassidy, Richard J; McDonald, Mark W; Eaton, Bree R; Patel, Kirtesh R; Steuer, Conor E; Baddour, H Michael; Miller, Andrew H; Bruner, Deborah W; Xiao, Canhua; Beitler, Jonathan J

2018-01-01

Radiation (RT) dose to the central nervous system (CNS) has been implicated as a contributor to treatment-related fatigue in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT). This study evaluates the association of RT dose to CNS structures with patient-reported (PRO) fatigue scores in a population of HNC patients. At pre-RT (baseline), 6th week of RT, and 1-month post-RT time points, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) scores were prospectively obtained from 124 patients undergoing definitive treatment for HNC. Medulla, pons, midbrain, total brainstem, cerebellum, posterior fossa, and pituitary dosimetry were evaluated using summary statistics and dose-volume histograms, and associations with MFI-20 scores were analyzed. Maximum dose (Dmax) to the brainstem and medulla was significantly associated with MFI-20 scores at 6th week of RT and 1-month post-RT time points, after controlling for baseline scores (p<0.05). Each 1Gy increase in medulla Dmax resulted in an increase in total MFI-20 score over baseline of 0.30 (p=0.026), and 0.25 (p=0.037), at the 6th week of RT and 1-month post-RT, respectively. Each 1Gy increase in brainstem Dmax resulted in an increase in total MFI-20 score over baseline of 0.30 (p=0.027), and 0.25 (p=0.037) at the 6th week of RT, 1-month post-RT, respectively. Statistically significant associations were not found between dosimetry for the other CNS structures and MFI-20 scores. In this analysis of PRO fatigue scores from a population of patients undergoing definitive RT for HNC, maximum dose to the brainstem and medulla was associated with a significantly increased risk of acute patient fatigue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of enteral ethanol and benzodiazepines for alcohol withdrawal in neurocritical care patients.

PubMed

Gipson, Gregory; Tran, Kim; Hoang, Cuong; Treggiari, Miriam

2016-09-01

We designed a study to evaluate the use of benzodiazepines and ethanol in patients being assessed for alcohol withdrawal and compare outcomes between the two agents. This is a retrospective chart review of patients admitted to neurocritical care or neurosurgical services who were at risk for ethanol withdrawal between June 2011 and September 2015. Patients were divided into two groups based on the first medication administered for alcohol withdrawal management, either benzodiazepine (n=50) or enteral ethanol (n=50). The primary endpoint was the maximum change in Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol scale (CIWA) score within the first 24hours. Secondary endpoints included maximum and minimum CIWA score in 5days, length of stay, and change in Glasgow Coma Scale. Study groups differed by mortality risk, level of coma at admission, and other clinical characteristics, with the ethanol group appearing less severely ill. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the maximum change in CIWA score at 24hours (-0.97, 95%CI: -3.21 to 1.27, p=0.39). Hospital and intensive care unit length of stay was 6.5 days and 1 day shorter for the ethanol group (p=0.03 and p=0.02, respectively). In summary, enteral ethanol was preferentially used in patients who are more likely to be capable of tolerating oral intake. We found that the change from baseline in CIWA score or other physiologic variables was not substantially different between the two agents. The overall utility of benzodiazepines and enteral ethanol remains unclear for this population and further study is needed to determine superiority. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Degree of Vascular Encasement in Sphenoid Wing Meningiomas Predicts Postoperative Ischemic Complications.

PubMed

McCracken, D Jay; Higginbotham, Raymond A; Boulter, Jason H; Liu, Yuan; Wells, John A; Halani, Sameer H; Saindane, Amit M; Oyesiku, Nelson M; Barrow, Daniel L; Olson, Jeffrey J

2017-06-01

Sphenoid wing meningiomas (SWMs) can encase arteries of the circle of Willis, increasing their susceptibility to intraoperative vascular injury and severe ischemic complications. To demonstrate the effect of circumferential vascular encasement in SWM on postoperative ischemia. A retrospective review of 75 patients surgically treated for SWM from 2009 to 2015 was undertaken to determine the degree of circumferential vascular encasement (0°-360°) as assessed by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A novel grading system describing "maximum" and "total" arterial encasement scores was created. Postoperative MRIs were reviewed for total ischemia volume measured on sequential diffusion-weighted images. Of the 75 patients, 89.3% had some degree of vascular involvement with a median maximum encasement score of 3.0 (2.0-3.0) in the internal carotid artery (ICA), M1, M2, and A1 segments; 76% of patients had some degree of ischemia with median infarct volume of 3.75 cm 3 (0.81-9.3 cm 3 ). Univariate analysis determined risk factors associated with larger infarction volume, which were encasement of the supraclinoid ICA ( P < .001), M1 segment ( P < .001), A1 segment ( P = .015), and diabetes ( P = .019). As the maximum encasement score increased from 1 to 5 in each of the significant arterial segments, so did mean and median infarction volume ( P < .001). Risk for devastating ischemic injury >62 cm 3 was found when the ICA, M1, and A1 vessels all had ≥360° involvement ( P = .001). Residual tumor was associated with smaller infarct volumes ( P = .022). As infarction volume increased, so did modified Rankin Score at discharge ( P = .025). Subtotal resection should be considered in SWM with significant vascular encasement of proximal arteries to limit postoperative ischemic complications. Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

Efficacy of ginger for prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients receiving adriamycin-cyclophosphamide regimen: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

PubMed

Thamlikitkul, Lucksamon; Srimuninnimit, Vichien; Akewanlop, Charuwan; Ithimakin, Suthinee; Techawathanawanna, Sirisopa; Korphaisarn, Krittiya; Chantharasamee, Jomjit; Danchaivijitr, Pongwut; Soparattanapaisarn, Nopadol

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of ginger for reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in breast cancer patients receiving adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) regimens. We enrolled breast cancer patients receiving AC who experienced moderate to severe nausea or vomiting during the first chemotherapy cycle. Subjects were randomized to receive a 500-mg ginger capsule or placebo twice a day for 5 days starting on the first day of the second AC cycle and were switched to the other treatment in the third cycle. All participants also received ondansetron and dexamethasone for CINV prophylaxis. Nausea severity was recorded once a day during the first 5 days of each cycle. The primary outcome was reduction in nausea score. Thirty-four subjects (68 cycles of AC) were enrolled. Mean (range) maximum nausea score in the first AC cycle was 58 (40-90). Thirty-three subjects (97 %) received the same AC doses in the second as in the third cycle. Mean (±standard error) maximum nausea scores in patients receiving ginger and placebo were 35.36 (±4.43) and 32.17 (±3.71), respectively. The difference in mean maximum nausea scores was 3 (95 % confidence interval, -3 to 9; P = 0.3). There were no significant differences between ginger and placebo in terms of vomiting incidence and severity, rescue medication use, chemotherapy compliance, and adverse events. Ginger (500 mg) twice daily was safe, but conferred no additional benefit in terms of reducing nausea severity in breast cancer patients receiving AC and ondansetron and dexamethasone for CINV prophylaxis.

Validation of the Narrowing Beam Walking Test in Lower Limb Prosthesis Users.

PubMed

Sawers, Andrew; Hafner, Brian

2018-04-11

To evaluate the content, construct, and discriminant validity of the Narrowing Beam Walking Test (NBWT), a performance-based balance test for lower limb prosthesis users. Cross-sectional study. Research laboratory and prosthetics clinic. Unilateral transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis users (N=40). Not applicable. Content validity was examined by quantifying the percentage of participants receiving maximum or minimum scores (ie, ceiling and floor effects). Convergent construct validity was examined using correlations between participants' NBWT scores and scores or times on existing clinical balance tests regularly administered to lower limb prosthesis users. Known-groups construct validity was examined by comparing NBWT scores between groups of participants with different fall histories, amputation levels, amputation etiologies, and functional levels. Discriminant validity was evaluated by analyzing the area under each test's receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. No minimum or maximum scores were recorded on the NBWT. NBWT scores demonstrated strong correlations (ρ=.70‒.85) with scores/times on performance-based balance tests (timed Up and Go test, Four Square Step Test, and Berg Balance Scale) and a moderate correlation (ρ=.49) with the self-report Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale. NBWT performance was significantly lower among participants with a history of falls (P=.003), transfemoral amputation (P=.011), and a lower mobility level (P<.001). The NBWT also had the largest area under the ROC curve (.81) and was the only test to exhibit an area that was statistically significantly >.50 (ie, chance). The results provide strong evidence of content, construct, and discriminant validity for the NBWT as a performance-based test of balance ability. The evidence supports its use to assess balance impairments and fall risk in unilateral transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis users. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Male-female differences in Scoliosis Research Society-30 scores in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

PubMed

Roberts, David W; Savage, Jason W; Schwartz, Daniel G; Carreon, Leah Y; Sucato, Daniel J; Sanders, James O; Richards, Benjamin Stephens; Lenke, Lawrence G; Emans, John B; Parent, Stefan; Sarwark, John F

2011-01-01

Longitudinal cohort study. To compare functional outcomes between male and female patients before and after surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). There is no clear consensus in the existing literature with respect to sex differences in functional outcomes in the surgical treatment of AIS. A prospective, consecutive, multicenter database of patients who underwent surgical correction for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis was analyzed retrospectively. All patients completed Scoliosis Research Society-30 (SRS-30) questionnaires before and 2 years after surgery. Patients with previous spine surgery were excluded. Data were collected for sex, age, Risser grade, previous bracing history, maximum preoperative Cobb angle, curve correction at 2 years, and SRS-30 domain scores. Paired sample t tests were used to compare preoperative and postoperative scores within each sex. Independent sample t tests were used to compare scores between sexes. A P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Seven hundred forty-four patients (621 females and 123 males) were included. On average, males were 1 year older than females. There were no differences between sexes in Risser grade, bracing history, maximum curve magnitude, or correction after surgery. Both males and females had similar improvement in all SRS-30 domains after surgery. Self-image/appearance had the greatest relative improvement. Males had better self-image/appearance scores preoperatively, better pain scores at 2 years, and better mental health and total scores both preoperatively and at 2 years. Both males and females were similarly satisfied with surgery. Males treated with surgery for AIS report better preoperative self-image, less postoperative pain, and better mental health than females. These differences may be clinically significant. For both males and females, the most beneficial effect of surgery is improved self-image/appearance. Overall, the benefits of surgery for AIS are similar for both sexes.

An extension of the Maximum Lod Score method to X-linked loci.

PubMed

Cordell, H J; Kawaguchi, Y; Todd, J A; Farrall, M

1995-10-01

The Maximum Lod Score method for affected relative-pair analysis, introduced by Risch, is a powerful method for detecting linkage between an autosomal marker locus and disease. In order to use the method to detect linkage to markers on the X-chromosome, some modification is necessary. Here we extend the method to be applicable to X-chromosomal data, and derive genetic restrictions on the haplotype-sharing probabilities analogous to the 'possible triangle' restrictions described by Holmans for the autosomal case. Size criteria are derived using asymptotic theory and simulation, and the power is calculated for a number of possible underlying models. The method is applied to data from 284 type 1 diabetic families and evidence is found for the presence of one or more diabetogenic loci on the X-chromosome.

Linkage of a gene for macular corneal dystrophy to chromosome 16.

PubMed Central

Vance, J. M.; Jonasson, F.; Lennon, F.; Sarrica, J.; Damji, K. F.; Stauffer, J.; Pericak-Vance, M. A.; Klintworth, G. K.

1996-01-01

Autosomal recessive macular corneal dystrophy (MCD) is a heterogeneous disorder leading to visual impairment. Sixteen American and Icelandic families (11 type I and 5 type II) were analyzed for linkage, by use of 208 polymorphic microsatellite markers. A significant maximum LOD score Zmax of 7.82 at a maximum recombination fraction (thetamax) of .06 was found with the 16q22 locus D16S518 for MCD type I. In addition, a peak LOD score of 2.50 at a recombination fraction of .00 was obtained for the MCD type II families, by use of the identical marker. These findings raise the possibility that MCD type II may be due to the same genetic locus that is involved in MCD type I. PMID:8644739

Improving protein-protein interaction prediction using evolutionary information from low-quality MSAs.

PubMed

Várnai, Csilla; Burkoff, Nikolas S; Wild, David L

2017-01-01

Evolutionary information stored in multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) has been used to identify the interaction interface of protein complexes, by measuring either co-conservation or co-mutation of amino acid residues across the interface. Recently, maximum entropy related correlated mutation measures (CMMs) such as direct information, decoupling direct from indirect interactions, have been developed to identify residue pairs interacting across the protein complex interface. These studies have focussed on carefully selected protein complexes with large, good-quality MSAs. In this work, we study protein complexes with a more typical MSA consisting of fewer than 400 sequences, using a set of 79 intramolecular protein complexes. Using a maximum entropy based CMM at the residue level, we develop an interface level CMM score to be used in re-ranking docking decoys. We demonstrate that our interface level CMM score compares favourably to the complementarity trace score, an evolutionary information-based score measuring co-conservation, when combined with the number of interface residues, a knowledge-based potential and the variability score of individual amino acid sites. We also demonstrate, that, since co-mutation and co-complementarity in the MSA contain orthogonal information, the best prediction performance using evolutionary information can be achieved by combining the co-mutation information of the CMM with co-conservation information of a complementarity trace score, predicting a near-native structure as the top prediction for 41% of the dataset. The method presented is not restricted to small MSAs, and will likely improve interface prediction also for complexes with large and good-quality MSAs.

[Comfort and noise level in infants with helmet interface].

PubMed

Medina, A; Alvarez Fernández, P; Rey Galán, C; Álvarez Mendiola, P; Álvarez Blanco, S; Vivanco Allende, A

2015-10-01

To evaluate comfort and noise intensity using the COMFORT scale in infants who receive respiratory support with a helmet interface. An observational descriptive study was conducted on all infants (1 to 12 months of age) admitted to a PICU from November 1st 2013 to March 31st 2014 and who received non-invasive ventilation with a helmet interface. Tolerance to the interface was assessed by use of the COMFORT scale. The intensity of the noise to which the infants were exposed was measured with a TES1350A HIBOK 412 sound-level meter. Three measurements were made every day. Twenty seven patients with bronchiolitis (median age: 54 days; range: 10 to 256) were included. Median COMFORT score in the first day was 21 points (14 - 28). An increase in patient comfort was found with a gradual decrease in the scores, with a maximum reduction of 22% from the first hours (score of 22) to the fifth day (score of 18). The minimum sound intensity registered was 42dB, and the maximum was 78dB. Background noise intensity was associated with noise intensity in the helmet. No differences were observed in COMFORT score and noise intensity between ventilator devices. Helmet interface was well tolerated by infants. COMFORT score results are an indicator that infants were comfortable or very comfortable. The measured noise intensity was in the safe range permitted by World Health Organization. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Health on the Net seal label and DISCERN as content quality indicators for patients seeking information about thumb sucking habit.

PubMed

Shital Kiran, D P; Bargale, Seema; Pandya, Parth; Bhatt, Kuntal; Barad, Nirav; Shah, Nilay; Venkataraghavan, Karthik; Ramesh, K

2015-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of websites on the thumb sucking habit using DISCERN instrument and Health on the Net (HON) seal code at a single moment in time. An Internet search engine (www.google.com) was used to identify websites comprising information on "thumb sucking habit." Of over 204,000 links for thumb sucking habit, the first 100 were analyzed in detail. After excluding discussion groups, news and video feeds, and removing carbon copy sites, only 36 relevant websites remained, which were then assessed using the DISCERN instrument and HON seal code. Using the 16 questions of DISCERN for assessing the reliability and quality of the consumer information which were scored from 1 to 5, an appropriate index of the quality of the information was generated. All the assessed websites were also checked for presence or absence of HON seal code. The maximum score attainable for an outstanding website is 80. Of the 36 websites that were scored the highest score obtained by one of the websites according to the DISCERN tool was 55 of 80, and the lowest score achieved was 16 of 80. The websites achieving the maximum and minimum score were children.webmd.com and thebehaviorsolution.com, respectively. The HON seal was displayed only in three websites, which were medicinenet.com, righthealth.com, and children.webmd.com. By directing patients to validated websites on the thumb sucking habit, clinicians can ensure patients find appropriate information.

Web-based education for placental complications of pregnancy.

PubMed

Walker, Melissa G; Windrim, Catherine; Ellul, Katie N; Kingdom, John C P

2013-04-01

The objective of this study was to determine whether a web-based education strategy could improve maternal knowledge of placental complications of pregnancy and reduce maternal anxiety in high risk-pregnancies. Prospective study in the Placenta Clinic at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. Maternal demographics and Internet usage were recorded at the patient's baseline appointment. Placental knowledge was determined using structured verbal and illustrative assessments. The six-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was administered to assess baseline maternal anxiety. Women were asked to visit the Placenta Clinic website for a minimum of 15 minutes before their follow-up appointment, at which time their placental knowledge and STAI assessments were repeated. Eighteen women were included in the study. Patient knowledge at the baseline appointment was generally poor (median score 10.5 out of a maximum score of 27, range 1 to 22), with major deficits in basic placental knowledge, placenta previa/increta, and preeclampsia. At the follow-up appointment, placental knowledge was significantly improved (median score 23, range 10 to 27; P < 0.001). Educational status (high school or less vs. college or more) had no effect on either baseline knowledge or knowledge improvement. Maternal anxiety at baseline (median score 12 out of a maximum score of 24, range 6 to 23) was significantly reduced at the follow-up appointment (median score 8.5, range 6 to 20; P = 0.005). Deficits in maternal knowledge of placental complications of pregnancy in high-risk pregnant women were substantial but easily rectified with a disease-targeted web-based educational resource. This intervention significantly improved patient knowledge and significantly reduced maternal anxiety.

Patient satisfaction and aesthetic outcome of implant-supported single-tooth replacements performed by dental students: a retrospective evaluation 8 to 12 years after treatment.

PubMed

Bonde, Mikael Juul; Stokholm, Rie; Schou, Soren; Isidor, Flemming

2013-01-01

To assess patient satisfaction and aesthetic treatment outcome of implant-supported singletooth replacements performed by dental students as part of their undergraduate curriculum 8 to 12 years after treatment. A total of 51 patients were consecutively treated by dental students with 55 implant-supported single-tooth replacements within the incisor, canine and premolar regions. The surgical and prosthetic treatment was performed by the dental students under the supervision of dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons, all with specific knowledge about oral implantology. The outcome measures were patient subjective evaluation of peri-implant soft tissues, implant crown, implant function and total implant treatment using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The professional evaluation included the peri-implant soft tissues, implant crown and total implant treatment (combined scores, PES/WES) using the Pink Esthetic Score (PES) and the White Esthetic Score (WES), as well as the level of incisor edge/occlusal surface in relation to neighbouring teeth. A total of 42 patients with 46 implants were available for evaluation 8 to 12 years after treatment. The patients were in general satisfied with the treatment outcome and few patients had low VAS scores. Most implants were characterised by single scores of 1 or 2 resulting in a mean PES score of 8.3 (maximum 14), a mean WES score of 6.3 (maximum 10) and a mean PES/WES score of 14.6 (maximum 24). However, 33% of the implants were characterised by recession (>1 mm) of the facial soft-tissue margin. Correlation analyses involving the subjective parameters indicated that the evaluation of the total implant treatment was mainly influenced by the appearance of the implant crown and to a lesser extent by the peri-implant mucosa. There were no significant correlations between the subjective and professional evaluation. Both the subjective and professional evaluation revealed implants in infraposition. This was registered in 7% and 17% of the implants, respectively. The patient satisfaction and aesthetic outcome 8 to 12 years after treatment with implant-supported single-tooth replacements performed by dental students as part of their clinical undergraduate dental curriculum were characterised by high patient satisfaction and an acceptable aesthetic treatment outcome. Therefore, it seems acceptable to include implant therapy of straightforward cases in the clinical undergraduate curriculum, provided there is substantial supervision by trained clinicians. The study was partially supported by Nobel Biocare, Denmark. There was no conflict of interest.

Effect of Surgical Curve Correction on Exercise Tolerance and Physical Capacities in Patients of Severe Spinal Deformity.

PubMed

Patil, Prateek C; Rathod, Ashok K; Borde, Mandar; Singh, Vishwajeet; Singh, Hemant U

2016-12-01

Traditionally, surgical intervention for patients with a spinal deformity has been considered for cosmetic benefits, but surgical intervention can alter the lung physiology or volumes and in turn leads to increase in physical capacity and exercise tolerance. Therefore, we conducted this to determine whether a surgical correction would restore the lung physiology, physical capacity and exercise tolerance in patients with kyphoscoliosis. To evaluate the usage of six-minute walk test scores and modified Borg scores as tools/measures for exercise tolerance in patients with spinal deformity and to study the effects of surgical correction of spinal deformity on exercise tolerance with above parameters as the measures. Thirty patients with spinal deformity, who had undergone surgery for deformity correction, were evaluated. All patients were investigated pre-operatively with x-rays of the spine (anteroposterior and lateral views). Clinical tests like breath holding time (after full inspiration) in number of seconds, modified Borg scores, six-minute walk test scores (heart rate, respiratory rate, maximum distance walked); were recorded as measures of exercise tolerance. The patients were followed up on the first, third, sixth and twelfth month post-operatively and tested clinically for breath holding time, modified Borg scores, six-minute walk test scores (heart rate, respiratory rate, maximum distance walked) and x-rays of the spine (anteroposterior and lateral views). In our study, breath holding time (p-value = 0.001) and modified Borg scores (p-value = 0.012) showed a significant improvement at 12 months post-operatively. We noted similar findings with heart rate, respiratory rate and maximum distance walked after a six-minute walk test. Improvements were noted in all the parameters, especially in the group of patients with greater than 60 degrees of cobb angle. However, the differences between the two groups (pre-operative cobb angle less than 60 degrees and pre-operative cobb angle more than 60 degrees) were not significant. The results were analysed and tested for significance using Student's t-test (paired and unpaired as appropriate) and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Surgical correction in cases of spinal deformity improves the cosmetic appearance and balance in the patients. Favourable results of surgical intervention were found in exercise tolerance with improvements in modified Borg scores, six-minute walk test results and breath holding time. The above parameters appear to be good tools for the assessment of physical capacity and exercise tolerance in patients with spinal deformity.

Assessment for apraxia in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's dise

PubMed Central

Ward, Mirela; Cecato, Juliana F.; Aprahamian, Ivan; Martinelli, José Eduardo

2015-01-01

Objective To evaluate apraxia in healthy elderly and in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods We evaluated 136 subjects with an average age of 75.74 years (minimum 60 years old, maximum 92 years old) and average schooling of 9 years (minimum of 7 and a maximum of 12 years), using the Mini-Mental State examination (MMSE), Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMCOG) and the Clock Drawing Test. For the analysis of the presence of apraxia, eight subitems from the CAMCOG were selected: the drawings of the pentagon, spiral, house, clock; and the tasks of putting a piece of paper in an envelope; the correct one hand waiving "Goodbye" movements; paper cutting using scissors; and brushing teeth. Results Elder controls had an average score of 11.51, compared to MCI (11.13), and AD patients, whose average apraxia test scores were the lowest (10.23). Apraxia scores proved able to differentiate the three groups studied (p=0.001). In addition, a negative correlation was observed between apraxia and MMSE scores. Conclusion We conclude that testing for the presence of apraxia is important in the evaluation of patients with cognitive impairments and may help to differentiate elderly controls, MCI and AD. PMID:29213944

Readability of patient information pamphlets in urogynecology.

PubMed

Reagan, Krista M L; O'Sullivan, David M; Harvey, David P; Lasala, Christine A

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the reading level of frequently used patient information pamphlets and documents in the field of urogynecology. Urogynecology pamphlets were identified from a variety of sources. Readability was determined using 4 different accepted formulas: the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, the simple measure of gobbledygook Index, the Coleman-Liau Index, and the Gunning Fog index. The scores were calculated using an online calculator (http://www.readability-score.com). Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. The average of the 4 scores was calculated for each pamphlet. Subsequently, Z-scores were used to standardize the averages between the reading scales. Of the 40 documents reviewed, only a single pamphlet met the National Institutes of Health-recommended reading level. This document was developed by the American Urological Association and was specifically designated as a "Low-Literacy Brochure." The remainder of the patient education pamphlets, from both industry-sponsored and academic-sponsored sources, consistently rated above the recommended reading level for maximum comprehension. The majority of patient education pamphlets, from both industry-sponsored and academic-sponsored sources, are above the reading level recommended by the National Institutes of Health for maximum patient comprehension. Future work should be done to improve the educational resources available to patients by simplifying the verbiage in these documents.

Evaluating treatments with topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam for pain and inflammation caused by amputation dehorning of calves.

PubMed

Van der Saag, Dominique; Lomax, Sabrina; Windsor, Peter Andrew; Taylor, Casey; White, Peter John

2018-01-01

To assess the effects of a topical anaesthetic (TA) and buccal meloxicam (BM) on behaviour, maximum wound temperature and wound morphology following amputation dehorning of beef calves, 50 unweaned Hereford calves were randomly allocated to: (1) sham dehorning / control (CON, n = 14); (2) amputation dehorning (D, n = 12); (3) amputation dehorning with pre-operative buccal meloxicam (DBM, n = 12); and (4) amputation dehorning with post-operative topical anaesthetic (DTA, n = 12). Videos of the calves were captured for 3 h following treatment. Each calf was later observed for 5 min every hour and the frequency and duration of specific behaviours displayed during these focal periods was recorded. Infrared and digital photographs of dehorning wounds were collected from all dehorned calves on days 1, 3 and 7 following treatment. Infrared photographs were used to identify the maximum temperature within the wound area. Digital photographs were used to score wounds based on visual signs of inflammation and healing, using a numerical rating scale of 1 to 3, with morphological aspects of inflammation increasing and morphological aspects of healing decreasing with progressive scores. CON calves displayed fewer head shakes than all dehorned calves at 2 and 3 h following treatment (P = 0.025). CON and DTA calves displayed less head turns than DBM calves at 2 h following treatment (P = 0.036). CON calves displayed fewer combined point behaviours than all dehorned calves at 2 h following treatment (P = 0.037). All dehorning wounds had a greater maximum temperature on days 3 and 7 compared to day 1 (P = 0.003). All wound morphology scores decreased from day 1 to day 3 and wound morphology scores of DBM and DTA calves increased from day 3 to day 7 (P = 0.03). Although flystrike may have confounded these observations, no clear effects of TA or BM on behaviour, maximum wound temperature or wound morphology following dehorning of calves were observed. Further research is required to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of these products for amputation dehorning of calves.

LANDMARK-BASED SPEECH RECOGNITION: REPORT OF THE 2004 JOHNS HOPKINS SUMMER WORKSHOP.

PubMed

Hasegawa-Johnson, Mark; Baker, James; Borys, Sarah; Chen, Ken; Coogan, Emily; Greenberg, Steven; Juneja, Amit; Kirchhoff, Katrin; Livescu, Karen; Mohan, Srividya; Muller, Jennifer; Sonmez, Kemal; Wang, Tianyu

2005-01-01

Three research prototype speech recognition systems are described, all of which use recently developed methods from artificial intelligence (specifically support vector machines, dynamic Bayesian networks, and maximum entropy classification) in order to implement, in the form of an automatic speech recognizer, current theories of human speech perception and phonology (specifically landmark-based speech perception, nonlinear phonology, and articulatory phonology). All three systems begin with a high-dimensional multiframe acoustic-to-distinctive feature transformation, implemented using support vector machines trained to detect and classify acoustic phonetic landmarks. Distinctive feature probabilities estimated by the support vector machines are then integrated using one of three pronunciation models: a dynamic programming algorithm that assumes canonical pronunciation of each word, a dynamic Bayesian network implementation of articulatory phonology, or a discriminative pronunciation model trained using the methods of maximum entropy classification. Log probability scores computed by these models are then combined, using log-linear combination, with other word scores available in the lattice output of a first-pass recognizer, and the resulting combination score is used to compute a second-pass speech recognition output.

Percentiles of the null distribution of 2 maximum lod score tests.

PubMed

Ulgen, Ayse; Yoo, Yun Joo; Gordon, Derek; Finch, Stephen J; Mendell, Nancy R

2004-01-01

We here consider the null distribution of the maximum lod score (LOD-M) obtained upon maximizing over transmission model parameters (penetrance values, dominance, and allele frequency) as well as the recombination fraction. Also considered is the lod score maximized over a fixed choice of genetic model parameters and recombination-fraction values set prior to the analysis (MMLS) as proposed by Hodge et al. The objective is to fit parametric distributions to MMLS and LOD-M. Our results are based on 3,600 simulations of samples of n = 100 nuclear families ascertained for having one affected member and at least one other sibling available for linkage analysis. Each null distribution is approximately a mixture p(2)(0) + (1 - p)(2)(v). The values of MMLS appear to fit the mixture 0.20(2)(0) + 0.80chi(2)(1.6). The mixture distribution 0.13(2)(0) + 0.87chi(2)(2.8). appears to describe the null distribution of LOD-M. From these results we derive a simple method for obtaining critical values of LOD-M and MMLS. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Family medicine practice and research: survey of physicians' attitudes towards scientific research in a post-communist transition country.

PubMed

Rogulj, Zdenka Mrdesa; Baloevic, Elizabet; Dogas, Zoran; Kardum, Goran; Hren, Darko; Marusic, Ana; Marusic, Matko

2007-01-01

Although the paradigm of modern medicine is evidence-based practice, there is a lack of research output and interest in research in family medicine. We investigated attitudes towards scientific research among family medicine practitioners in a country in post-communist socioeconomic transition, and related it to their attitudes towards alternative medicine and clinical knowledge relevant for their practice. We surveyed 427 family medicine practitioners in Croatia about their attitudes towards scientific research (5-point rating scale, total score range 20-100) and alternative medicine (5-point rating scale, total score range 14-70). We also tested their knowledge on diagnosis and treatment of hypertension (10 questions) and diabetes (12 questions). The attitude towards scientific research was positive (score 79.0 +/- 7.2 out of maximum 100) and significantly more positive than that towards alternative medicine (score 45.0 +/- 9.9 out of maximum 70; t(425) = 19.06, P < 0.001). The respondents correctly answered about half the questions on hypertension and diabetes; knowledge on new diagnostic and treatment guidelines was better than their textbook knowledge. The attitude scores were not related to knowledge or research activity or the medical practice of the respondents. Family medicine practitioners in a transition country have a more positive attitude towards science than towards alternative medicine, despite the adverse situation in which they practice. To involve family medicine practitioners in research, interventions must be directed towards changes in behavior and practice and not only towards increasing positive attitudes.

Schizophrenia: A genome search targets chromosomes 3 and 8 for exploration

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

Lasseter, V.K.; Pulver, A.E.; Wolyniec, P.

1994-09-01

Using a systematically ascertained sample of 57 families, each having 2 or more members with a consensus diagnosis of schizophrenia (DSM-III-R criteria), we have searched approximately 75% of the genome for susceptibility loci for schizophrenia. Genetic linkage studies of 520 loci have been performed using a complex autosomal dominant model incorporating age-at-onset and certainty of the diagnosis. Results were analyzed under the hypothesis of heterogeneity using the A-test and the Liang test. A two-stage strategy based on lod score thresholds from simulation studies of our sample identified regions for further exploration (hot spots). In each region, a dense map ofmore » highly informative dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms (heterozygosity greater than .70) is analyzed using linkage studies with dominant, recessive, and affected only models and non-parametric sib pair identity-by-descent methods (SIBPAL, S.A.G.E. 2.1). In no region has a lod score > 3 been observed; however, affected sib pair analyses gave a p-value of .0001 corresponding to a lod score > 3. Current {open_quote}hot spots{close_quote} on chromosomes 3p26-p24 and 8p22-p21 will be presented. For 3p26-p24, the maximum two-point lod score is 1.97 (dominant model) and the SIBPAL p-value is .02. For 8p22-p21, the maximum two-point lod score is 2.02 (recessive model) and the SIBPAL p-value is .0001.« less

Population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model of clozapine for characterizing the relationship between accumulated exposure and PANSS scores in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Shang, De-Wei; Li, Li-Jun; Wang, Xi-Pei; Wen, Yu-Guan; Ren, Yu-Peng; Guo, Wei; Li, Wen-Biao; Li, Liang; Zhou, Tian-Yan; Lu, Wei; Wang, Chuan-Yue

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to characterize the relationship between accumulated exposure of clozapine and changes in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score in Chinese patients with schizophrenia by pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling. Sparse clozapine PK data and PANSS scores were collected from 2 clinical studies of Chinese inpatients with schizophrenia. Two other rich PK data sets were included for more accurate assessment of clozapine PK characteristics. The relationship between clozapine-accumulated exposure and PANSS score was investigated using linear, log-linear, E(max), and sigmoid models, and each model was evaluated using visual predictive condition and normalized prediction distribution error methods. Simulations based on the final PK/PD model were preformed to investigate the effect of clozapine on PANSS scores under different dose regimens. A total of 1391 blood clozapine concentrations from 198 subjects (180 patients and 18 healthy volunteers) and 576 PANSS scores from 137 patients were included for PK and PK/PD analysis. A first-order 2-compartment PK model with covariates gender and smoking status influencing systemic clearance adequately described the PK profile of clozapine. The decrease in total PANSS score during treatment was best characterized using cumulated clozapine area under the curve (AUC) data in the E(max) model. The maximum decrease in PANSS during clozapine treatment (Emax) was 55.4%, and the cumulated AUC(50) (cAUC(50)) required to attain half of E(max) was 296 mg·L(-1)·h(-1)·d(-1). The simulations demonstrated that the accelerated dose titration and constant dose regimens achieved a similar maximum drug response but with a slower relief of symptoms in dose titration regimen. The PK/PD model can describe the clinical response as measured by decreasing PANSS score during treatment and may be useful for optimizing the dose regimen for individual patients.

Psychometric challenges and proposed solutions when scoring facial emotion expression codes.

PubMed

Olderbak, Sally; Hildebrandt, Andrea; Pinkpank, Thomas; Sommer, Werner; Wilhelm, Oliver

2014-12-01

Coding of facial emotion expressions is increasingly performed by automated emotion expression scoring software; however, there is limited discussion on how best to score the resulting codes. We present a discussion of facial emotion expression theories and a review of contemporary emotion expression coding methodology. We highlight methodological challenges pertinent to scoring software-coded facial emotion expression codes and present important psychometric research questions centered on comparing competing scoring procedures of these codes. Then, on the basis of a time series data set collected to assess individual differences in facial emotion expression ability, we derive, apply, and evaluate several statistical procedures, including four scoring methods and four data treatments, to score software-coded emotion expression data. These scoring procedures are illustrated to inform analysis decisions pertaining to the scoring and data treatment of other emotion expression questions and under different experimental circumstances. Overall, we found applying loess smoothing and controlling for baseline facial emotion expression and facial plasticity are recommended methods of data treatment. When scoring facial emotion expression ability, maximum score is preferred. Finally, we discuss the scoring methods and data treatments in the larger context of emotion expression research.

Bench test evaluation of adaptive servoventilation devices for sleep apnea treatment.

PubMed

Zhu, Kaixian; Kharboutly, Haissam; Ma, Jianting; Bouzit, Mourad; Escourrou, Pierre

2013-09-15

Adaptive servoventilation devices are marketed to overcome sleep disordered breathing with apneas and hypopneas of both central and obstructive mechanisms often experienced by patients with chronic heart failure. The clinical efficacy of these devices is still questioned. This study challenged the detection and treatment capabilities of the three commercially available adaptive servoventilation devices in response to sleep disordered breathing events reproduced on an innovative bench test. The bench test consisted of a computer-controlled piston and a Starling resistor. The three devices were subjected to a flow sequence composed of central and obstructive apneas and hypopneas including Cheyne-Stokes respiration derived from a patient. The responses of the devices were separately evaluated with the maximum and the clinical settings (titrated expiratory positive airway pressure), and the detected events were compared to the bench-scored values. The three devices responded similarly to central events, by increasing pressure support to raise airflow. All central apneas were eliminated, whereas hypopneas remained. The three devices responded differently to the obstructive events with the maximum settings. These obstructive events could be normalized with clinical settings. The residual events of all the devices were scored lower than bench test values with the maximum settings, but were in agreement with the clinical settings. However, their mechanisms were misclassified. The tested devices reacted as expected to the disordered breathing events, but not sufficiently to normalize the breathing flow. The device-scored results should be used with caution to judge efficacy, as their validity depends upon the initial settings.

Undergraduate medical textbooks do not provide adequate information on intravenous fluid therapy: a systematic survey and suggestions for improvement.

PubMed

Powell, Arfon G M T; Paterson-Brown, Simon; Drummond, Gordon B

2014-02-20

Inappropriate prescribing of intravenous (IV) fluid, particularly 0.9% sodium chloride, causes post-operative complications. Fluid prescription is often left to junior medical staff and is frequently poorly managed. One reason for poor intravenous fluid prescribing practices could be inadequate coverage of this topic in the textbooks that are used. We formulated a comprehensive set of topics, related to important common clinical situations involving IV fluid therapy, (routine fluid replacement, fluid loss, fluids overload) to assess the adequacy of textbooks in common use. We assessed 29 medical textbooks widely available to students in the UK, scoring the presence of information provided by each book on each of the topics. The scores indicated how fully the topics were considered: not at all, partly, and adequately. No attempt was made to judge the quality of the information, because there is no consensus on these topics. The maximum score that a book could achieve was 52. Three of the topics we chose were not considered by any of the books. Discounting these topics as "too esoteric", the maximum possible score became 46. One textbook gained a score of 45, but the general score was poor (median 11, quartiles 4, 21). In particular, coverage of routine postoperative management was inadequate. Textbooks for undergraduates cover the topic of intravenous therapy badly, which may partly explain the poor knowledge and performance of junior doctors in this important field. Systematic revision of current textbooks might improve knowledge and practice by junior doctors. Careful definition of the remit and content of textbooks should be applied more widely to ensure quality and "fitness for purpose", and avoid omission of vital knowledge.

Undergraduate medical textbooks do not provide adequate information on intravenous fluid therapy: a systematic survey and suggestions for improvement

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Inappropriate prescribing of intravenous (IV) fluid, particularly 0.9% sodium chloride, causes post-operative complications. Fluid prescription is often left to junior medical staff and is frequently poorly managed. One reason for poor intravenous fluid prescribing practices could be inadequate coverage of this topic in the textbooks that are used. Methods We formulated a comprehensive set of topics, related to important common clinical situations involving IV fluid therapy, (routine fluid replacement, fluid loss, fluids overload) to assess the adequacy of textbooks in common use. We assessed 29 medical textbooks widely available to students in the UK, scoring the presence of information provided by each book on each of the topics. The scores indicated how fully the topics were considered: not at all, partly, and adequately. No attempt was made to judge the quality of the information, because there is no consensus on these topics. Results The maximum score that a book could achieve was 52. Three of the topics we chose were not considered by any of the books. Discounting these topics as “too esoteric”, the maximum possible score became 46. One textbook gained a score of 45, but the general score was poor (median 11, quartiles 4, 21). In particular, coverage of routine postoperative management was inadequate. Conclusions Textbooks for undergraduates cover the topic of intravenous therapy badly, which may partly explain the poor knowledge and performance of junior doctors in this important field. Systematic revision of current textbooks might improve knowledge and practice by junior doctors. Careful definition of the remit and content of textbooks should be applied more widely to ensure quality and “fitness for purpose”, and avoid omission of vital knowledge. PMID:24555812

Public health assessment for McCormick and Baxter Creosoting Company, Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, Region 9. Cerclis No. CAD009106527. Final report

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

NONE

1995-04-06

In February 1992, the United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) proposed that the McCormick and Baster Creosoting Company in Stockton, California be listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) because of contamination resulting from a wood preserving plant that operated there from 1942 until 1990. Chemicals used in the preservative solutions included creosote, pentachlorophenol, arsenic, copper, and chromium. Contamination has been detected in the on-site surface soil, subsurface soil, on-site air when the site was in operation, nearby off-site surface, soil, on-sit groundwater, off-site groundwater to a small extent, and perhaps in the fish living in the Old Mormon Slough,more » New Mormon Slough, and the Port of Stockton.« less

Developments in the realization of diffuse reflectance scales at NPL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chunnilall, Christopher J.; Clarke, Frank J. J.; Shaw, Michael J.

2005-08-01

The United Kingdom scales for diffuse reflectance are realized using two primary instruments. In the 360 nm to 2.5 μm spectral region the National Reference Reflectometer (NRR) realizes absolute measurement of reflectance and radiance factor by goniometric measurements. Hemispherical reflectance scales are obtained through the spatial integration of these goniometric measurements. In the mid-infrared region (2.5 μm - 55 μm) the hemispherical reflectance scale is realized by the Absolute Hemispherical Reflectometer (AHR). This paper describes some of the uncertainties resulting from errors in aligning the NRR and non-ideality in sample topography, together with its use to carry out measurements in the 1 - 1.6 μm region. The AHR has previously been used with grating spectrometers, and has now been coupled to a Fourier transform spectrometer.

Application of nuclear pumped laser to an optical self-powered neutron detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamanaka, N.; Takahashi, H.; Iguchi, T.; Nakazawa, M.; Kakuta, T.; Yamagishi, H.; Katagiri, M.

1996-05-01

A Nuclear Pumped Laser (NPL) using 3He/Ne/Ar gas mixture is investigated for a purpose of applying to an optical self-powered neutron detector. Reactor experiments and simulations on lasing mechanism have been made to estimate the best gas pressure and mixture ratios on the threshold input power density (or thermal neutron flux) in 3He/Ne/Ar mixture. Calculational results show that the best mixture pressure is 3He/Ne/Ar=2280/60/100 Torr and thermal neutron flux threshold 5×1012 n/cm2 sec, while the reactor experiments made in the research reactor ``YAYOI'' of the University of Tokyo and ``JRR-4'' of JAERI also demonstrate that excitational efficiency is maximized in a similar gas mixture predicted by the calculation.

Thermography During Thermal Test of the Gaia Deployable Sunshield Assembly Qualification Model in the ESTEC Large Space Simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simpson, R.; Broussely, M.; Edwards, G.; Robinson, D.; Cozzani, A.; Casarosa, G.

2012-07-01

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) have performed for the first time successful surface temperature measurements using infrared thermal imaging in the ESTEC Large Space Simulator (LSS) under vacuum and with the Sun Simulator (SUSI) switched on during thermal qualification tests of the GAIA Deployable Sunshield Assembly (DSA). The thermal imager temperature measurements, with radiosity model corrections, show good agreement with thermocouple readings on well characterised regions of the spacecraft. In addition, the thermal imaging measurements identified potentially misleading thermocouple temperature readings and provided qualitative real-time observations of the thermal and spatial evolution of surface structure changes and heat dissipation during hot test loadings, which may yield additional thermal and physical measurement information through further research.

Creep Laboratory manual

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osgerby, S.; Loveday, M. S.

1992-06-01

A manual for the NPL Creep Laboratory, a collective name given to two testing laboratories, the Uniaxial Creep Laboratory and the Advanced High Temperature Mechanical Testing Laboratory, is presented. The first laboratory is devoted to uniaxial creep testing and houses approximately 50 high sensitivity creep machines including 10 constant stress cam lever machines. The second laboratory houses a low cycle fatigue testing machine of 100 kN capacity driven by a servo-electric actuator, five machines for uniaxial tensile creep testing of engineering ceramics at temperatures up to 1600C, and an electronic creep machine. Details of the operational procedures for carrying out uniaxial creep testing are given. Calibration procedures to be followed in order to comply with the specifications laid down by British standards, and to provide traceability back to the primary standards are described.

Health assessment for Norman Poer Farm National Priorities List (NPL) Site, Hancock County, Indiana, Region 5. CERCLIS No. IND980684583. Final report

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

Not Available

The Norman Poer Farm National Priorities List site is situated in Hancock County, Indiana. Offgrade solvents and paint resin materials were stored on-site in 263 fifty-five gallon drums. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removed all the drums and the top six to eight inches of soil at the three drum storage areas in 1983. The Remedial Investigation (RI) conducted after the emergency removal did not show any contamination of the environment on-site or off-site. Based on the available information, the site is considered to be of no public health concern because of the absence of exposure to hazardous substances. Nomore » health study follow-up is indicated at this time.« less

PREFACE: Advanced Metrology for Ultrasound in Medicine12-14 May 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Adam

2011-02-01

Conference logo AMUM 2010 is the successor to the first AMUM conference held in 2004, which was the conference featured in the very first issue of the Journal of Physics: Conference Series (http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/1/1). Like its predecessor, AMUM 2010 proved to be very successful and provided a fantastic opportunity for the world's ultrasound experts from medicine, industry and academia to explore the measurement challenges presented by new and emerging clinical ultrasound equipment. 2010 was a very difficult year economically for much of the world, and then air travel over Europe was thrown into chaos by prolonged ash clouds from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in April. So it was something of a relief to see such good attendance; this is a clear indication of the need for this conference with its focus on metrology in medical ultrasound. There were a total of 70 attendees: of these 34 were from the UK, 16 from the rest of Europe, and 20 from outside Europe. National Metrology Institutes from no fewer than nine different countries were represented, some of them very new to the field, some with a recent growth of interest in ultrasound, and others with a well-established reputation. I was particularly pleased to see younger researchers from those NMIs new to ultrasound attend and have the chance to mix with such a wide grouping of their peers and present their work. There was also a strong attendance by industry including the major imaging companies such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips Healthcare, Hitachi Medical, Aloka, Medison and the newer Supersonic Imagine; and more specialist companies such as Imasonic, Onda Corporation, Unisyn Medical Technologies, and Polytec and Precision Acoustics, our partner in organizing the event. The conference was spread over 3 days with plenty of time for discussions over coffee; the afternoon of the 3rd day was dedicated to laboratory visits within NPL. We were fortunate to have some excellent Keynote speakers. Professor Khuri-Yakub from Stanford opened proceedings and gave us the lowdown on the potential of CMUT transducers in the generation and detection of ultrasound. Rob Hekkenberg from TNO in the Netherlands underlined the importance of international standardisation and gave us the benefit of his experience in helping set up new facilities around the world. Professor Ron Roy from Boston University gave us a personal view on how establishing well-founded measurement methods has been essential in driving forward the research in his department. Finally, Professor Markys Cain from NPL and Queen Mary, University of London, told us about some of the subtler issues around characterising the properties of piezoelectric, ferroelectric, multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials. Proffered papers covered topics from hydrophones and power measurement through to novel measurement methods, materials testing and even some biological studies. Ultrasound in medicine goes from strength to strength, with new applications being developed almost monthly it seems. Metrology and Standards need to keep pace with these developments, which is what makes this conference important. I would like to thank everyone who attended or otherwise contributed to the success of AMUM 2010. I would particularly like to acknowledge the contributions of the guest speakers, the scientific advisory board members, NPL colleagues and the AMUM secretariat, who made the whole thing run so smoothly. Adam ShawChair, AMUM Scientific Committee

Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) Measurements of Landfill Methane Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Innocenti, Fabrizio; Robinson, Rod; Gardiner, Tom; Finlayson, Andrew; Connor, Andy

2017-04-01

DIFFERENTIAL ABSORPTION LIDAR (DIAL) MEASURMENTS OF LANDFILL METHANE EMISSIONS F. INNOCENTI *, R.A. ROBINSON *, T.D. GARDINER, A. FINLAYSON *, A. CONNOR* * National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0LW, United Kingdom Methane is one of the most important gaseous hydrocarbon species for both industrial and environmental reasons. Understanding and quantifying methane emissions to atmosphere is an important element of climate change research. Range-resolved infrared Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) measurements provide the means to map and quantify a wide range of different methane sources. DIAL is a powerful technique that can be used to track and quantify plumes emitted from area emission sources such as landfill sites, waste water treatment plants and petrochemical plants. By using lidar (light detection and ranging), the DIAL technique is able to make remote range-resolved single-ended measurements of the actual distribution of target gases in the atmosphere, with no disruption to normal site operational activities. DIAL provides 3D mapping of emission concentrations and quantification of emission rates for a wide range of target gases such as methane. The NPL DIAL laser source is operated alternately at two similar wavelengths. One of these, termed the "on-resonant wavelength", is chosen to be at a wavelength which is absorbed by the target species. The other, the "off-resonant wavelength", is chosen to be at a nearby wavelength which is not absorbed significantly by the target species. The two wavelengths are chosen to be close, so that the atmospheric scattering properties are the same for both wavelengths. They are also chosen so that any differential absorption due to other atmospheric species are minimised. Any measured difference in the returned signals is therefore due to absorption by the target gas. In the typical DIAL measurement configuration the mobile DIAL facility is positioned downwind of the area being investigated. The DIAL laser beam is then scanned in a vertical plane and the distribution of the target gas in the measurement plane is mapped. By combining this information with the wind conditions, the technique provides a direct measure of the emission rate of the target gas and its spatial distribution rather than the path-averaged concentration given by most other optical remote sensing methods. This means that localised, high concentration plumes can be discriminated from broad, low concentration plumes, and that emissions from different sources within an area can be spatially separated and independently quantified. As an example, the localised emission from an engine stack or flare can be separated from the diffuse emission from a capped area. Horizontal scans just above the surface can also be performed and they are generally used to identify emission hot-spots. Over the last decade the NPL DIAL system has carried out landfill emission surveys at over thirty sites in the UK, France and the USA measuring the total site and area-specific emissions from e.g. active areas, capped areas and engine stacks. This history of emissions measurements made with DIAL at landfill sites is testament to the maturity of the technique that can be deployed as reference tool by the waste industry. The DIAL data can be used by the site operators to validate emissions estimates and by the regulators to revise and update the emission inventories.

Do Acute Myocardial Infarction and Heart Failure Readmissions Flagged as Potentially Preventable by the 3M Potentially Preventable Readmissions Software Have More Process-of-Care Problems?

PubMed

Borzecki, Ann M; Chen, Qi; Mull, Hillary J; Shwartz, Michael; Bhatt, Deepak L; Hanchate, Amresh; Rosen, Amy K

2016-09-01

The 3M Potentially Preventable Readmissions (3M-PPR) software matches clinically related index admission and readmission diagnoses that may signify in-hospital or postdischarge quality problems. To assess whether the PPR algorithm identifies preventable readmissions, we compared processes of care between PPR software-flagged and nonflagged cases. Using 2006 to 2010 national VA administrative data, we identified acute myocardial infarction and heart failure discharges associated with 30-day all-cause readmissions, then flagged cases (PPR-Yes/PPR-No) using the 3M-PPR software. To assess care quality, we abstracted medical records of 100 readmissions per condition using tools containing explicit processes organized into admission work-up, in-hospital evaluation/treatment, discharge readiness, postdischarge period. We derived quality scores, scaled to a maximum of 25 per section (maximum total score=100) and compared cases on total and section-specific mean scores. For acute myocardial infarction, 77 of 100 cases were flagged as PPR-Yes. Section quality scores were highest for in-hospital evaluation/treatment (20.5±2.8) and lowest for postdischarge care (6.8±9.1). Total and section-related mean scores did not differ by PPR status; respective PPR-Yes versus PPR-No total scores were 61.6±11.1 and 60.4±9.4; P=0.98. For heart failure, 86 of 100 cases were flagged as PPR-Yes. Section scores were highest for discharge readiness (18.8±2.4) and lowest for postdischarge care (7.3±8.1). Like acute myocardial infarction, total and section-related mean scores did not differ by PPR status; PPR-Yes versus PPR-No total scores were 61.2±10.8 and 63.4±7.0, respectively; P=0.47. Among VA acute myocardial infarction and heart failure readmissions, the 3M-PPR software does not distinguish differences in case-level quality of care. Whether 3M-PPR software better identifies preventable readmissions by using other methods to capture poorly documented processes or performing different comparisons requires further study. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Ankle surgery: focus on arthroscopy.

PubMed

Cavallo, M; Natali, S; Ruffilli, A; Buda, R; Vannini, F; Castagnini, F; Ferranti, E; Giannini, S

2013-12-01

The ankle joint can be affected by several diseases, with clinical presentation varying from mild pain or swelling to inability, becoming in some cases a serious problem in daily life activities. Arthroscopy is a widely performed procedure in orthopedic surgery, due to the low invasivity compared to the more traditional open field surgery. The ankle joint presents anatomical specificities, like small space and tangential view that make arthroscopy more difficult. From 2000 more than 600 ankle arthroscopies were performed at our institution. The treated pathologies were mostly impingement syndrome and osteochondral lesions, and in lower percentage instabilities and ankle fractures. In the impingement, the AOFAS scores at FU showed an increase compared to scores collected preoperatively, with improvement of symptoms in most of the cases, good or excellent results in 80 % of cases. In ligament injuries, AOFAS score significatively improved at the maximum follow-up. In fractures all patients had an excellent AOFAS score at maximum follow-up, with complete return to their pre-injury activities. In osteochondral injuries, the clinical results showed a progressive improvement over time with  the different performed procedures. Control MRI and bioptic samples showed a good regeneration of the cartilage and bone tissue in the lesion site. The encouraging obtained clinical results, in line with the literature, show how the arthroscopic technique, after an adequate learning curve, may represent a precious aid for the orthopedic surgeon and for the patient's outcome. Case series, Level IV.

Barriers to mask wearing for influenza-like illnesses among urban Hispanic households.

PubMed

Ferng, Yu-hui; Wong-McLoughlin, Jennifer; Barrett, Angela; Currie, Leanne; Larson, Elaine

2011-01-01

To identify barriers to mask wearing and to examine the factors associated with the willingness to wear masks among households. We used data sources from a study assessing the impact of 3 nonpharmaceutical interventions on the rates of influenza: exit interviews; home visits with a subset of the mask group; and a focus group. Risk perception score, univariate analysis, and logistic regression were conducted to identify the characteristics and predictors of mask use. Thematic barriers to mask wearing were identified from qualitative data obtained at home visits and focus group. Respondents from the mask group, when compared with the nonmask group, demonstrated higher risk perception scores concerning influenza (maximum score: 60, means: 37.6 and 30.2, p<.001) and increased perception of effectiveness of mask wearing (maximum score: 10, means: 7.8 and 7.3, p=.043). There was no significant association between demographic, attitudinal, or knowledge variables and adherence to wearing masks. Thematic barriers were identified such as social acceptability of mask use, comfort and fit, and perception of the risk/need for masks. Face masks may not be an effective intervention for seasonal or pandemic influenza unless the risk perception of influenza is high. Dissemination of culturally appropriate mask use information by health authorities and providers must be emphasized when educating the public. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic detection of regions of interest in mammographic images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Erkang; Ling, Haibin; Bakic, Predrag R.; Maidment, Andrew D. A.; Megalooikonomou, Vasileios

2011-03-01

This work is a part of our ongoing study aimed at comparing the topology of anatomical branching structures with the underlying image texture. Detection of regions of interest (ROIs) in clinical breast images serves as the first step in development of an automated system for image analysis and breast cancer diagnosis. In this paper, we have investigated machine learning approaches for the task of identifying ROIs with visible breast ductal trees in a given galactographic image. Specifically, we have developed boosting based framework using the AdaBoost algorithm in combination with Haar wavelet features for the ROI detection. Twenty-eight clinical galactograms with expert annotated ROIs were used for training. Positive samples were generated by resampling near the annotated ROIs, and negative samples were generated randomly by image decomposition. Each detected ROI candidate was given a confidences core. Candidate ROIs with spatial overlap were merged and their confidence scores combined. We have compared three strategies for elimination of false positives. The strategies differed in their approach to combining confidence scores by summation, averaging, or selecting the maximum score.. The strategies were compared based upon the spatial overlap with annotated ROIs. Using a 4-fold cross-validation with the annotated clinical galactographic images, the summation strategy showed the best performance with 75% detection rate. When combining the top two candidates, the selection of maximum score showed the best performance with 96% detection rate.

European conformation and fat scores have no relationship with eating quality.

PubMed

Bonny, S P F; Pethick, D W; Legrand, I; Wierzbicki, J; Allen, P; Farmer, L J; Polkinghorne, R J; Hocquette, J-F; Gardner, G E

2016-06-01

European conformation and fat grades are a major factor determining carcass value throughout Europe. The relationships between these scores and sensory scores were investigated. A total of 3786 French, Polish and Irish consumers evaluated steaks, grilled to a medium doneness, according to protocols of the ���Meat Standards Australia��� system, from 18 muscles representing 455 local, commercial cattle from commercial abattoirs. A mixed linear effects model was used for the analysis. There was a negative relationship between juiciness and European conformation score. For the other sensory scores, a maximum of three muscles out of a possible 18 demonstrated negative effects of conformation score on sensory scores. There was a positive effect of European fat score on three individual muscles. However, this was accounted for by marbling score. Thus, while the European carcass classification system may indicate yield, it has no consistent relationship with sensory scores at a carcass level that is suitable for use in a commercial system. The industry should consider using an additional system related to eating quality to aid in the determination of the monetary value of carcasses, rewarding eating quality in addition to yield.

MIXOR: a computer program for mixed-effects ordinal regression analysis.

PubMed

Hedeker, D; Gibbons, R D

1996-03-01

MIXOR provides maximum marginal likelihood estimates for mixed-effects ordinal probit, logistic, and complementary log-log regression models. These models can be used for analysis of dichotomous and ordinal outcomes from either a clustered or longitudinal design. For clustered data, the mixed-effects model assumes that data within clusters are dependent. The degree of dependency is jointly estimated with the usual model parameters, thus adjusting for dependence resulting from clustering of the data. Similarly, for longitudinal data, the mixed-effects approach can allow for individual-varying intercepts and slopes across time, and can estimate the degree to which these time-related effects vary in the population of individuals. MIXOR uses marginal maximum likelihood estimation, utilizing a Fisher-scoring solution. For the scoring solution, the Cholesky factor of the random-effects variance-covariance matrix is estimated, along with the effects of model covariates. Examples illustrating usage and features of MIXOR are provided.

Impact of Expiratory Strength Training in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

PubMed Central

Plowman, Emily K.; Watts, Stephanie A.; Tabor, Lauren; Robison, Raele; Gaziano, Joy; Domer, Amanda S.; Richter, Joel; Vu, Tuan; Gooch, Clifton

2016-01-01

Introduction We evaluated the feasibility and impact of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training (EMST) on respiratory and bulbar function in persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods 25 ALS patients participated in this delayed intervention open-label clinical trial. Following a lead-in period, patients completed a 5-week EMST protocol. Outcome measures included: maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), physiologic measures of swallow and cough, and Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores. Results Of those participants who entered the active phase of the study (n=15), EMST was well tolerated and led to significant increases in MEPs and maximum hyoid displacement during swallowing post-EMST (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed for PAS scores or cough spirometry measures. Discussion EMST was feasible and well tolerated in this small cohort of ALS patients and led to improvements in expiratory force-generating pressures and swallow kinematics. Further investigation is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings. PMID:26599236

Sequential strategy to identify a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia: Report of potential linkage on chromosome 22q12-q13.1: Part 1

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

Pulver, A.E.; Wolyniec, P.S.; Lasseter, V.K.

To identify genes responsible for the susceptibility for schizophrenia, and to test the hypothesis that schizophrenia is etiologically heterogeneous, we have studied 39 multiplex families from a systematic sample of schizophrenic patients. Using a complex autosomal dominant model, which considers only those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder as affected, a random search of the genome for detection of linkage was undertaken. Pairwise linkage analyses suggest a potential linkage (LRH = 34.7 or maximum lod score = 1.54) for one region (22q12-q13.1). Reanalyses, varying parameters in the dominant model, maximized the LRH at 660.7 (maximum lod score 2.82).more » This finding is of sufficient interest to warrant further investigation through collaborative studies. 72 refs., 5 tabs.« less

Objective and Subjective Aspects of Voice in Pregnancy.

PubMed

Saltürk, Ziya; Kumral, Tolgar Lütfi; Bekiten, Güler; Atar, Yavuz; Ataç, Enes; Aydoğdu, İmran; Yıldırım, Güven; Kılıç, Aydın; Uyar, Yavuz

2016-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate vocal changes in pregnancy according to trimesters both objectively and subjectively. Fifty pregnant women and 15 nonpregnant women were included in the study. Eighteen of the 50 pregnant women were in the first trimester, 17 in the second trimester, and 15 in the third trimester of their pregnancies. The fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR), and minimum and maximum pitch were determined during acoustic voice analysis. Laryngologic examination was evaluated via reflux finding score (RFS). Voice Handicap Index 10 (VHI-10) was used for subjective analysis. Maximum phonation time (MPT), VHI-10, and RFS were the parameters that differed significantly. MPT was significantly shorter in the third trimester. Acoustic analysis revealed that F0, jitter, shimmer, NHR, and minimum and maximum pitch values were not significantly different in any groups. RFS was higher in the first and third trimesters than the second trimester and control groups. VHI-10 scores were significantly higher in the third trimester. Our results showed that MPT is decreased during the third trimester, although acoustic parameters did not differ. VHI-10 results deteriorated in the third trimester significantly. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ictal EEG fractal dimension in ECT predicts outcome at 2 weeks in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Abhishekh, Hulegar A; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Manjegowda, Anusha; Phutane, Vivek H; Muralidharan, Kesavan; Gangadhar, Bangalore N

2013-09-30

Studies of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have found an association between ictal electroencephalographic (EEG) measures and clinical outcome in depression. Such studies are lacking in schizophrenia. Consenting schizophrenia patients receiving ECT were assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) before and 2 weeks after the start of ECT. The patients' seizure was monitored using EEG. In 26 patients, completely artifact-free EEG derived from the left frontal-pole (FP1) channel and electrocardiography (ECG) were available. The fractal dimension (FD) was computed to assess 4-s EEG epochs, and the maximal value from the earliest ECT session (2nd, 3rd or 4th) was used for analysis. There was a significant inverse correlation between the maximum FD and the total score following 6th ECT. An inverse Inverse correlation was also observed between the maximum FD and the total number of ECTs administered as well as the maximum heart rate (HR) and BPRS scores following 6th ECT. In patients with schizophrenia greater intensity of seizures (higher FD) during initial sessions of ECT is associated with better response at the end of 2 weeks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing Technical Performance and Determining the Learning Curve in Cleft Palate Surgery Using a High-Fidelity Cleft Palate Simulator.

PubMed

Podolsky, Dale J; Fisher, David M; Wong Riff, Karen W; Szasz, Peter; Looi, Thomas; Drake, James M; Forrest, Christopher R

2018-06-01

This study assessed technical performance in cleft palate repair using a newly developed assessment tool and high-fidelity cleft palate simulator through a longitudinal simulation training exercise. Three residents performed five and one resident performed nine consecutive endoscopically recorded cleft palate repairs using a cleft palate simulator. Two fellows in pediatric plastic surgery and two expert cleft surgeons also performed recorded simulated repairs. The Cleft Palate Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (CLOSATS) and end-product scales were developed to assess performance. Two blinded cleft surgeons assessed the recordings and the final repairs using the CLOSATS, end-product scale, and a previously developed global rating scale. The average procedure-specific (CLOSATS), global rating, and end-product scores increased logarithmically after each successive simulation session for the residents. Reliability of the CLOSATS (average item intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 0.85 ± 0.093) and global ratings (average item ICC, 0.91 ± 0.02) among the raters was high. Reliability of the end-product assessments was lower (average item ICC, 0.66 ± 0.15). Standard setting linear regression using an overall cutoff score of 7 of 10 corresponded to a pass score for the CLOSATS and the global score of 44 (maximum, 60) and 23 (maximum, 30), respectively. Using logarithmic best-fit curves, 6.3 simulation sessions are required to reach the minimum standard. A high-fidelity cleft palate simulator has been developed that improves technical performance in cleft palate repair. The simulator and technical assessment scores can be used to determine performance before operating on patients.

Assessment of readability, quality and popularity of online information on ureteral stents.

PubMed

Mozafarpour, Sarah; Norris, Briony; Borin, James; Eisner, Brian H

2018-02-12

To evaluate the quality and readability of online information on ureteral stents. Google.com was queried using the search terms "ureteric stent", "ureteral stent", "double J stent" and, "Kidney stent" derived from Google AdWords. Website popularity was determined using Google Rank and the Alexa tool. Website quality assessment was performed using the following criteria: Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, Health on the Net (HON) criteria, and a customized DISCERN questionnaire. The customized DISCERN questionnaire was developed by combining the short validated DISCERN questionnaire with additional stent-specific items including definition, placement, complications, limitations, removal and "when to seek help". Scores related to stent items were considered as the "stent score" (SS). Readability was evaluated using five readability tests. Thirty-two websites were included. The mean customized DISCERN score and "stent score" were 27.1 ± 7.1 (maximum possible score = 59) and 14.6 ± 3.8 (maximum possible score = 24), respectively. A minority of websites adequately addressed "stent removal" and "when to seek medical attention". Only two websites (6.3%) had HON certification (drugs.com, radiologyinfo.org) and only one website (3.3%) met all JAMA criteria (bradyurology.blogspot.com). Readability level was higher than the American Medical Association recommendation of sixth-grade level for more than 75% of the websites. There was no correlation between Google rank, Alexa rank, and the quality scores (P > 0.05). Among the 32 most popular websites on the topic of ureteral stents, online information was highly variable. The readability of many of the websites was far higher than standard recommendations and the online information was questionable in many cases. These findings suggest a need for improved online resources in order to better educate patients about ureteral stents and also should inform physicians that popular websites may have incomplete information.

SU-E-T-106: An Institutional Review of Using Commercially Available Software to Evaluate Treatment Plan Quality for Various Treatment Sites and Beam Deliveries

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

Esquivel, C; Patton, L; Walker, S

Purpose: Use Sun Nuclear Quality Reports™ with PlanIQ™ to evaluate different treatment delivery techniques for various treatment sites. Methods: Fifteen random patients with different treatment sites were evaluated. These include the Head/Neck, prostate, pelvis, lung, esophagus, axilla, bladder and abdomen. Initially, these sites were planned on the Pinnacle {sup 3} V9.6 treatment planning system and utilized nine 6MV step-n-shoot IMRT fields. The RT plan, dose and structure sets were sent to Quality Reports™ where a DVH was recreated and the plans were compared to a unique Plan Algorithm for each treatment site. Each algorithm has its own plan quality metricsmore » and objectives, which include the PTV coverage, PTV maximum dose, the prescription dose outside the target, doses to the critical structures, and the global maximum dose and its location. Each plan was scored base on meeting each objective. Plans may have been reoptimized and reevaluated with Quality Reports™ based on the initial score. PlanIQ™ was used to evaluate if any objective not met was achievable or difficult to obtain. A second plan using VMAT delivery was created for each patient and scored with Quality Reports™. Results: There were a wide range of scores for the different treatment sites with some scoring better for IMRT plans and some better for the VMAT deliveries. The variation in the scores could be attributed to the treatment site, location, and shape of the target. Most deliveries were chosen for the VMAT due to the short treatment times and quick patient throughput with acceptable plan scores. Conclusion: The tools are provided for both physician and dosimetrist to objectively evaluate the use of VMAT delivery versus the step-n-shoot IMRT delivery for various sites. PlanIQ validates if objectives can be met. For the physicist, a concise pass/fail report is created for plan evaluation.« less

THROMBIN GENERATION AND BLEEDING IN HEMOPHILIA A

PubMed Central

Brummel-Ziedins, Kathleen E.; Whelihan, Matthew F.; Gissel, Matthew; Mann, Kenneth G.; Rivard, Georges E.

2012-01-01

Introduction Hemophilia A displays phenotypic heterogeneity with respect to clinical severity. Aim To determine if tissue factor (TF)-initiated thrombin generation profiles in whole blood in the presence of corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI) are predictive of bleeding risk in hemophilia A. Methods We studied factor(F) VIII deficient individuals (11 mild, 4 moderate and 12 severe) with a well-characterized five-year bleeding history that included hemarthrosis, soft tissue hematoma and annual FVIII concentrate usage. This clinical information was used to generate a bleeding score. The bleeding scores (range 0–32) were separated into three groups (bleeding score groupings: 0, 0 and ≤9.6, >9.6), with the higher bleeding tendency having a higher score. Whole blood collected by phlebotomy and contact pathway suppressed by 100μg/mL CTI was stimulated to react by the addition of 5pM TF. Reactions were quenched at 20min by inhibitors. Thrombin generation, determined by ELISA for thrombin – antithrombin was evaluated in terms of clot time (CT), maximum level (MaxL) and maximum rate (MaxR) and compared to the bleeding score. Results Data are shown as the mean±SD. MaxL was significantly different (p<0.001) between the groups: 504±114nM, 315±117nM, and 194±91nM; with higher thrombin concentrations in the groups with lower bleeding scores. MaxR was higher in the groups with a lower bleeding score; 97±51nM/min, 86±60nM/min and 39±16nM/min (p=0.09). No significant difference was detected in CT among the groups, 5.6±1.3min, 4.7±0.7min, 5.6±1.3min. Conclusions Our empirical study in CTI-inhibited whole blood shows that the MaxL of thrombin generation appears to correlate with the bleeding phenotype of hemophilia A. PMID:19563500

Inflammatory bowel disease: An evaluation of health information on the internet.

PubMed

Azer, Samy A; AlOlayan, Thekra I; AlGhamdi, Malak A; AlSanea, Malak A

2017-03-07

To evaluate the quality and accuracy of websites written to the public on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and assess their readability level. Google™, Bing™, and Yahoo™ search engines were searched independently by three researchers in December 2014. Only English-language websites were selected on the basis of predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Researchers independently evaluated the quality of each website by using the DISCERN and the HONcode instruments. The readability levels were calculated using two formulas; the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, and the Coleman-Liau Readability Index. The agreement between the evaluators was calculated using Cohen kappa coefficient. Eighty-four websites were finally identified. Scores varied from a minimum DISCERN score of 18 to a maximum of 68 [mean ± SD, 42.2 ± 10.7; median = 41.5, interquartile range, interquartile range (IQR) = 15.8] and a minimum score of HONcode of 0.14 and a maximum of 0.95 (mean ± SD, 0.16 ± 0.19; median = 0.45, IQR = 0.29). Most of these websites were reviewed in 2014 and 2015 ( n = 51). The creators of these websites were: universities and research centers ( n = 25, 30%), foundations and associations ( n = 15, 18%), commercial and pharmaceutical companies ( n = 25, 30%), charities and volunteer work ( n = 9, 10%), and non-university educational bodies ( n = 10, 12%). The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability score (mean ± SD) was 11.9 ± 2.4 and the Coleman-Liau Readability Index score was 12.6 ± 1.5. Significant correlation was found between the two readability scores (R 2 = 0.509, P = 0.001). The overall agreement between evaluators measured by Cohen kappa coefficient was in the range of 0.804-0.876; rated as "Good". The DISCERN and the HONcode scores of websites varied and the readability levels of most websites were above the public readability level. The study highlights the areas that need further improvement and development in patient education online materials about IBD.

Maximal exercise testing variables and 10-year survival: fitness risk score derivation from the FIT Project.

PubMed

Ahmed, Haitham M; Al-Mallah, Mouaz H; McEvoy, John W; Nasir, Khurram; Blumenthal, Roger S; Jones, Steven R; Brawner, Clinton A; Keteyian, Steven J; Blaha, Michael J

2015-03-01

To determine which routinely collected exercise test variables most strongly correlate with survival and to derive a fitness risk score that can be used to predict 10-year survival. This was a retrospective cohort study of 58,020 adults aged 18 to 96 years who were free of established heart disease and were referred for an exercise stress test from January 1, 1991, through May 31, 2009. Demographic, clinical, exercise, and mortality data were collected on all patients as part of the Henry Ford ExercIse Testing (FIT) Project. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify exercise test variables most predictive of survival. A "FIT Treadmill Score" was then derived from the β coefficients of the model with the highest survival discrimination. The median age of the 58,020 participants was 53 years (interquartile range, 45-62 years), and 28,201 (49%) were female. Over a median of 10 years (interquartile range, 8-14 years), 6456 patients (11%) died. After age and sex, peak metabolic equivalents of task and percentage of maximum predicted heart rate achieved were most highly predictive of survival (P<.001). Subsequent addition of baseline blood pressure and heart rate, change in vital signs, double product, and risk factor data did not further improve survival discrimination. The FIT Treadmill Score, calculated as [percentage of maximum predicted heart rate + 12(metabolic equivalents of task) - 4(age) + 43 if female], ranged from -200 to 200 across the cohort, was near normally distributed, and was found to be highly predictive of 10-year survival (Harrell C statistic, 0.811). The FIT Treadmill Score is easily attainable from any standard exercise test and translates basic treadmill performance measures into a fitness-related mortality risk score. The FIT Treadmill Score should be validated in external populations. Copyright © 2015 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cross-Cultural Interprofessional Faculty Development in Japan: Results of an Integrated Workshop for Clinical Teachers.

PubMed

Wong, Jeffrey G; Son, Daisuke; Miura, Wakako

2017-12-01

Faculty development programs, studied both home and abroad, have been shown to be helpful for enhancing the scholarly and academic work of nonacademic clinicians. Interprofessional education and faculty development efforts have been less well studied. This project investigated the effect of a well-studied faculty development program applied in an interprofessional fashion across health profession educators in medicine and nursing. A faculty cohort of nurse and physician educators at The University of Tokyo underwent training in the Stanford Faculty Development Center (SFDC) model of clinical teaching through a sequence of 7 workshops. The workshops were performed in English with all materials translated into Japanese. A validated, retrospective pretest and posttest instrument was used to measure study outcomes on global assessment of teaching abilities and specific teaching behaviors (STBs) at 1 and 12 months after intervention. Successful completion of Commitment to Change statements were also assessed at 12 months. In total, 19 faculty participants completed the study. All participants found the workshops valuable. For global assessment, significant improvement in self-reported teaching abilities was seen comparing the mean pretest scores of 27.26 (maximum score = 55, standard deviation [SD] = 8.61) with mean scores at both 1 month (36.81, SD = 7.48, P < 0.001) and at 1 year (34.67, SD = 7.32, P < 0.001). For STBs, significant improvement was also seen comparing the mean group pretest score of 82.11 (maximum score = 145, SD = 15.72), to the posttest mean score of 111.11 (SD = 14.48, P < 0.001) and the 1-year mean score of 103.76 (SD = 12.87, P < 0.001). In total, 27/42 Commitment to Change statements were successfully completed at 1 year. Faculty development for improving clinical teaching can be performed across the cultures of medicine and nursing, as well as across the cultures of the United States and Japan. Copyright © 2017 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of two different flap designs on the sequelae of mandibular third molar surgery.

PubMed

Erdogan, Ozgür; Tatlı, Ufuk; Ustün, Yakup; Damlar, Ibrahim

2011-09-01

The aim of this study was to compare the influence of triangular and envelope flaps on trismus, pain, and facial swelling after mandibular third molar surgery. Twenty healthy patients with bilateral, symmetrically impacted mandibular third molars were included in this double-blinded, prospective, cross-over, randomized study. The patients were operated with envelope flap on one side and triangular flap on the other side. Trismus was determined by measuring maximum interincisal opening, and facial swelling was evaluated using a tape measuring method. Pain was determined using visual analog scale (VAS) and recording the number of pain pills taken. The facial swelling measurements and VAS scores were lower in the envelope flap group compared to the triangular flap group. There was no significant difference between the two flap designs in operation time, maximum interincisal opening, and the number of analgesics taken. Envelope flap yields to less facial swelling and reduced VAS scores in comparison to triangular flap. There is no clinical difference in trismus between the two flap designs. Despite the higher VAS scores with triangular flap, no additional doses of analgesics were required in triangular flap.

Comparisons of different measurements for monitoring diabetic cats treated with porcine insulin zinc suspension.

PubMed

Martin, G J; Rand, J S

2007-07-14

Clinical measurements, including a subjective clinical score and water intake, and biochemical measurements, including blood glucose, fructosamine, beta-hydroxybutyrate, cholesterol, triglycerides, triglycerides corrected for free glycerol, glycerol and urine glucose were compared for monitoring diabetic cats treated with porcine insulin zinc suspension. The data were grouped by subjective clinical score and the sensitivity of each measurement in differentiating the grouped data was assessed. None of the measurements was able to differentiate between the ranked clinical score groups, but two-hourly measurements of blood glucose over 24 hours, water intake, urine glucose and fructosamine were useful in differentiating cats that subjectively had the water and food consumption and general appearance of a normal cat from cats in which the signs of diabetes were less well controlled. Measurements of plasma lipids were not well correlated with the other measurements. The measurements that were most closely correlated with apparently perfect clinical control were the J index, water intake and maximum and mean blood glucose concentrations. In practice, water intake, maximum blood glucose concentration, mean blood glucose concentration and urine glucose would be the most useful indicators of clinical control in diabetic cats treated with porcine insulin zinc suspension.

The effects of the ovarian cycle and pregnancy on uterine vascular impedance and uterine artery mechanics

PubMed Central

Sprague, Benjamin J.; Phernetton, Terrance M.; Magness, Ronald R.; Chesler, Naomi C.

2009-01-01

Objectives Uterine vascular resistance (UVR) is the ratio of systemic mean arterial pressure to mean uterine blood flow and is sensitive to changes in small arteries and arterioles. However, it provides little or no insight into changes in large, conduit arteries. Fluctuations in estrogen (E2) and progesterone (P4) levels during the ovarian cycle are thought to cause uterine resistance artery vasodilation; the effects on large arteries are unknown. Herein, our objective was to use the uterine vascular impedance, which is sensitive to changes in small and large arteries, to determine the effects of the ovarian cycle and pregnancy on the entire uterine vasculature. Study Design Uterine vascular perfusion pressure and flow rate were recorded simultaneously on anesthetized sheep in the nonpregnant (NP) luteal (NP-L, n=6) and follicular (NP-F, n=7) phases and in late gestation pregnant (CP, n=10) sheep. Impedance and metrics of impedance (input impedance Z0, index of wave reflection RW, characteristic impedance ZC) were calculated. E2 and P4 levels were measured from jugular vein blood samples. Finally, from pressure-diameter tests post-mortem, large uterine artery circumferential elastic modulus (ECirc) was measured. Significant differences were evaluated by two-way ANOVA or Student’s t-test. Results As expected, E2:P4 was higher in the NP-F group compared to the NP-L group (p<0.05). Also as expected, UVR and Z0 decreased in the follicular phase compared to the luteal (p<0.05), but RW, ZC, and ECirc were unaltered. Pregnancy not only substantially decreased UVR (and Z0) (p<0.00001) but also decreased ZC (p<0.001), RW (p<0.0001), ECirc (p<0.01), and pulse wave velocity (p<0.0001). Conclusions The E2:P4 ratio mediates resistance artery vasodilatation in nonpregnant states, but has no effect on conduit artery size or stiffness. In contrast, pregnancy causes dramatic vasodilation and remodeling, including substantial reductions in conduit artery stiffness and increases in conduit artery size, which affect pulsatile uterine hemodynamics. PMID:19297074

A synthetic zero air standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearce, Ruth

2016-04-01

A Synthetic Zero Air Standard R. E. Hill-Pearce, K. V. Resner, D. R. Worton, P. J. Brewer The National Physical Laboratory Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW UK We present work towards providing traceability for measurements of high impact greenhouse gases identified by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) as critical for global monitoring. Standards for these components are required with challengingly low uncertainties to improve the quality assurance and control processes used for the global networks to better assess climate trends. Currently the WMO compatibility goals require reference standards with uncertainties of < 100 nmolmol-1 for CO2 (northern hemisphere) and < 2 nmolmol-1 for CH4 and CO. High purity zero gas is required for both the balance gas in the preparation of reference standards and for baseline calibrations of instrumentation. Quantification of the amount fraction of the target components in the zero gas is a significant contributor to the uncertainty and is challenging due to limited availability of reference standard at the amount fraction of the measurand and limited analytical techniques with sufficient detection limits. A novel dilutor was used to blend NPL Primary Reference Gas Mixtures containing CO2, CH4 and CO at atmospheric amount fractions with a zero gas under test. Several mixtures were generated with nominal dilution ratios ranging from 2000:1 to 350:1. The baseline of two cavity ring down spectrometers was calibrated using the zero gas under test after purification by oxidative removal of CO and hydrocarbons to < 1 nmolmol-1 (SAES PS15-GC50) followed by the removal of CO2 and water vapour to < 100 pmolmol-1 (SAES MC190). Using the standard addition method.[1] we have quantified the amount fraction of CO, CO2, and CH4 in scrubbed whole air (Scott Marrin) and NPL synthetic zero air. This is the first synthetic zero air standard with a matrix of N2, O2 and Ar closely matching ambient composition with gravimetrically assigned values and with accurate quantification of the CO, CO2, and CH4 impurities. [1] Brown, R.J.C et al.,Analytica Chimica Acta 587, 158-163 (2007)

Cryo-EM of the pathogenic VCP variant R155P reveals long-range conformational changes in the D2 ATPase ring

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

Mountassif, Driss; Fabre, Lucien; Zaid, Younes

Single amino acid mutations in valosin containing protein (VCP/p97), a highly conserved member of the ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA) family of ATPases has been linked to a severe degenerative disease affecting brain, muscle and bone tissue. Previous studies have demonstrated the role of VCP mutations in altering the ATPase activity of the D2 ring; however the structural consequences of these mutations remain unclear. In this study, we report the three-dimensional (3D) map of the pathogenic VCP variant, R155P, as revealed by single-particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy (EM) analysis at 14 Å resolution. We show that the N-terminal R155P mutation inducesmore » a large structural reorganisation of the D2 ATPase ring. Results from docking studies using crystal structure data of available wild-type VCP in the EM density maps indicate that the major difference is localized at the interface between two protomers within the D2 ring. Consistent with a conformational change, the VCP R155P variant shifted the isoelectric point of the protein and reduced its interaction with its well-characterized cofactor, nuclear protein localization-4 (Npl4). Together, our results demonstrate that a single amino acid substitution in the N-terminal domain can relay long-range conformational changes to the distal D2 ATPase ring. Our results provide the first structural clues of how VCP mutations may influence the activity and function of the D2 ATPase ring. - Highlights: • p97{sub R155P} and p97{sub A232E} decrease the ability of p97 to bind to its co-factor Npl4. • p97{sub R155P} has a different isoelectric point than that of p97{sub R95G}, p97{sub A232E} and p97{sub WT}. • Mutation R155P changes principally the conformation of the D2 ring. • Mutation R155P modifies the interface between two protomers within the D2 ring.« less

Nance-Horan syndrome: linkage analysis in 4 families refines localization in Xp22.31-p22.13 region.

PubMed

Toutain, A; Ronce, N; Dessay, B; Robb, L; Francannet, C; Le Merrer, M; Briard, M L; Kaplan, J; Moraine, C

1997-02-01

Nance-Horan syndrome (NHS) is an X-linked disease characterized by severe congenital cataract with microcornea, distinctive dental findings, evocative facial features and mental impairment in some cases. Previous linkage studies have placed the NHS gene in a large region from DXS143 (Xp22.31) to DXS451 (Xp22.13). To refine this localization further, we have performed linkage analysis in four families. As the maximum expected Lod score is reached in each family for several markers in the Xp22.31-p22.13 region and linkage to the rest of the X chromosome can be excluded, our study shows that NHS is a genetically homogeneous condition. An overall maximum two-point Lod score of 9.36 (theta = 0.00) is obtained with two closely linked markers taken together. DXS207 and DXS1053 in Xp22.2. Recombinant haplotypes indicate that the NHS gene lies between DXS85 and DXS1226. Multipoint analysis yield a maximum Lod score of 9.45 with the support interval spanning a 15-cM region that includes DXS16 and DXS1229/365. The deletion map of the Xp22.3-Xp21.3 region suggests that the phenotypic variability of NHS is not related to gross rearrangement of sequences of varying size but rather to allelic mutations in a single gene, presumably located proximal to DXS16 and distal to DXS1226. Comparison with the map position of the mouse Xcat mutation supports the location of the NHS gene between the GRPR and PDHA1 genes in Xp22.2.

Pain Elimination during Injection with Newer Electronic Devices: A Comparative Evaluation in Children.

PubMed

Bansal, Neha; Saha, Sonali; Jaiswal, Jn; Samadi, Firoza

2014-05-01

The present study was taken up to clinically evaluate and compare effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) and comfort control syringe (CCS) in various pediatric dental procedures as an alternative to the conventional method of local anesthesia (LA) administration. Ninety healthy children having at least one deciduous molar tooth indicated for extraction in either maxillary right or left quadrant in age group of 6 to 10 years were randomly divided into three equal groups having 30 subjects each. Group I: LA administration using conventional syringe, group II: LA administration using TENS along with the conventional syringe, group III: LA administration using CCS. After LA by the three techniques, pain, anxiety and heart rate were measured. The observations, thus, obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using analysis of variance (ANOVA), student t-test and paired t-test. The mean pain score was maximum in group I followed by group II, while group III revealed the minimum pain, where LA was administered using CCS. Mean anxiety score was maximum in group I followed by group II, while group III revealed the minimum score. Mean heart rate was maximum in group I followed in descending order by groups II and III. The study supports the belief that CCS could be a viable alternative in comparison to the other two methods of LA delivery in children. How to cite this article: Bansal N, Saha S, Jaiswal JN, Samadi F. Pain Elimination during Injection with Newer Electronic Devices: A Comparative Evaluation in Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(2):71-76.

Cardiac dysfunction and ferritin as early markers of severity in pediatric sepsis.

PubMed

Tonial, Cristian T; Garcia, Pedro Celiny R; Schweitzer, Louise Cardoso; Costa, Caroline A D; Bruno, Francisco; Fiori, Humberto H; Einloft, Paulo R; Garcia, Ricardo Branco; Piva, Jefferson Pedro

The aim of this study was to verify the association of echocardiogram, ferritin, C-reactive protein, and leukocyte count with unfavorable outcomes in pediatric sepsis. A prospective cohort study was carried out from March to December 2014, with pediatric critical care patients aged between 28 days and 18 years. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of sepsis, need for mechanical ventilation for more than 48h, and vasoactive drugs. Serum levels of C-reactive protein, ferritin, and leukocyte count were collected on the first day (D0), 24h (D1), and 72h (D3) after recruitment. Patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography to determine the ejection fraction of the left ventricle on D1 and D3. The outcomes measured were length of hospital stay and in the pediatric intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation duration, free hours of VM, duration of use of inotropic agents, maximum inotropic score, and mortality. Twenty patients completed the study. Patients with elevated ferritin levels on D0 had also fewer ventilator-free hours (p=0.046) and higher maximum inotropic score (p=0.009). Patients with cardiac dysfunction by echocardiogram on D1 had longer hospital stay (p=0.047), pediatric intensive care unit stay (p=0.020), duration of mechanical ventilation (p=0.011), maximum inotropic score (p=0.001), and fewer ventilator-free hours (p=0.020). Cardiac dysfunction by echocardiography and serum ferritin value was significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes in pediatric patients with sepsis. Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Systematic evaluation of clinical practice guidelines for pharmacogenomics.

PubMed

Beckett, Robert D; Kisor, David F; Smith, Thomas; Vonada, Brooke

2018-06-01

To systematically assess methodological quality of pharmacogenomics clinical practice guidelines. Guidelines published through 2017 were reviewed by at least three independent reviewers using the AGREE II instrument, which consists of 23 items grouped into 6 domains and 2 items representing an overall assessment. Items were assessed on a seven-point rating scale, and aggregate quality scores were calculated. 31 articles were included. All guidelines were published as peer-reviewed articles and 90% (n = 28) were endorsed by professional organizations. Mean AGREE II domain scores (maximum score 100%) ranged from 46.6 ± 11.5% ('applicability') to 78.9 ± 11.4% ('clarity of presentation'). Median overall quality score was 72.2% (IQR: 61.1-77.8%). Quality of pharmacogenomics guidelines was generally high, but variable, for most AGREE II domains.

Assessment of School Factors Related to Academic Achievement in Mathematics among Secondary School Students of Masaba South Sub County, Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onderi, Peter Omae; Okwara, Michael Okello; Raburu, Pam; Barongo, Samson; Mokaya, Evans; Mokogi, Henry; Omae, David

2015-01-01

Performance in mathematics in Masaba Sub-County, Kenya has been poor for many years. In 2010 the mean score was 3.2282, while in 2011 it had a mean score of 3.9528 and in 2012 it had a mean of 4.0660 which is far below the maximum mean of 12.00. The purpose of this study was to assess factors related to academic achievement in mathematics in…

Low Quality of Free Coaching Apps With Respect to the American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines: A Review of Current Mobile Apps

PubMed Central

Bian, Jiang; Leavitt, Trevor; Bromwell, Jennifer; Harris III, Charles; Vincent, Heather

2015-01-01

Background Low physical activity level is a significant contributor to chronic disease, weight dysregulation, and mortality. Nearly 70% of the American population is overweight, and 35% is obese. Obesity costs an estimated US$ 147 billion annually in health care, and as many as 95 million years of life. Although poor nutritional habits remain the major culprit, lack of physical activity significantly contributes to the obesity epidemic and related lifestyle diseases. Objective Over the past 10 years, mobile devices have become ubiquitous, and there is an ever-increasing number of mobile apps that are being developed to facilitate physical activity, particularly for active people. However, no systematic assessment has been performed about their quality with respect to following the parameters of sound fitness principles and scientific evidence, or suitability for a variety of fitness levels. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap and assess the quality of mobile coaching apps on iOS mobile devices. Methods A set of 30 popular mobile apps pertaining to physical activity programming was identified and reviewed on an iPhone device. These apps met the inclusion criteria and provided specific prescriptive fitness and exercise programming content. The content of these apps was compared against the current guidelines and fitness principles established by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). A weighted scoring method based on the recommendations of the ACSM was developed to generate subscores for quality of programming content for aerobic (0-6 scale), resistance (0-6 scale), and flexibility (0-2 scale) components using the frequency, intensity, time, and type (FITT) principle. An overall score (0-14 scale) was generated from the subscores to represent the overall quality of a fitness coaching app. Results Only 3 apps scored above 50% on the aerobic component (mean 0.7514, SD 1.2150, maximum 4.1636), 4 scored above 50% on the resistance/strength component (mean 1.4525, SD 1.2101, maximum 4.1094), and no app scored above 50% on the flexibility component (mean 0.1118, SD 0.2679, maximum 0.9816). Finally, only 1 app had an overall score (64.3%) above 50% (mean 2.3158, SD 1.911, maximum 9.0072). Conclusions There are over 100,000 health-related apps. When looking at popular free apps related to physical activity, we observe that very few of them are evidence based, and respect the guidelines for aerobic activity, strength/resistance training, and flexibility, set forth by the ACSM. Users should exercise caution when adopting a new app for physical activity purposes. This study also clearly identifies a gap in evidence-based apps that can be used safely and effectively to start a physical routine program, develop fitness, and lose weight. App developers have an exciting opportunity to improve mobile coaching app quality by addressing these gaps. PMID:26209109

Low Quality of Free Coaching Apps With Respect to the American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines: A Review of Current Mobile Apps.

PubMed

Modave, François; Bian, Jiang; Leavitt, Trevor; Bromwell, Jennifer; Harris Iii, Charles; Vincent, Heather

2015-07-24

Low physical activity level is a significant contributor to chronic disease, weight dysregulation, and mortality. Nearly 70% of the American population is overweight, and 35% is obese. Obesity costs an estimated US$ 147 billion annually in health care, and as many as 95 million years of life. Although poor nutritional habits remain the major culprit, lack of physical activity significantly contributes to the obesity epidemic and related lifestyle diseases. Over the past 10 years, mobile devices have become ubiquitous, and there is an ever-increasing number of mobile apps that are being developed to facilitate physical activity, particularly for active people. However, no systematic assessment has been performed about their quality with respect to following the parameters of sound fitness principles and scientific evidence, or suitability for a variety of fitness levels. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap and assess the quality of mobile coaching apps on iOS mobile devices. A set of 30 popular mobile apps pertaining to physical activity programming was identified and reviewed on an iPhone device. These apps met the inclusion criteria and provided specific prescriptive fitness and exercise programming content. The content of these apps was compared against the current guidelines and fitness principles established by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). A weighted scoring method based on the recommendations of the ACSM was developed to generate subscores for quality of programming content for aerobic (0-6 scale), resistance (0-6 scale), and flexibility (0-2 scale) components using the frequency, intensity, time, and type (FITT) principle. An overall score (0-14 scale) was generated from the subscores to represent the overall quality of a fitness coaching app. Only 3 apps scored above 50% on the aerobic component (mean 0.7514, SD 1.2150, maximum 4.1636), 4 scored above 50% on the resistance/strength component (mean 1.4525, SD 1.2101, maximum 4.1094), and no app scored above 50% on the flexibility component (mean 0.1118, SD 0.2679, maximum 0.9816). Finally, only 1 app had an overall score (64.3%) above 50% (mean 2.3158, SD 1.911, maximum 9.0072). There are over 100,000 health-related apps. When looking at popular free apps related to physical activity, we observe that very few of them are evidence based, and respect the guidelines for aerobic activity, strength/resistance training, and flexibility, set forth by the ACSM. Users should exercise caution when adopting a new app for physical activity purposes. This study also clearly identifies a gap in evidence-based apps that can be used safely and effectively to start a physical routine program, develop fitness, and lose weight. App developers have an exciting opportunity to improve mobile coaching app quality by addressing these gaps.

Genetic Risk Prediction of Atrial Fibrillation

PubMed Central

Lubitz, Steven A.; Yin, Xiaoyan; Lin, Henry J.; Kolek, Matthew; Smith, J. Gustav; Trompet, Stella; Rienstra, Michiel; Rost, Natalia S.; Teixeira, Pedro L.; Almgren, Peter; Anderson, Christopher D.; Chen, Lin Y.; Engström, Gunnar; Ford, Ian; Furie, Karen L.; Guo, Xiuqing; Larson, Martin G.; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Macfarlane, Peter W.; Psaty, Bruce M.; Soliman, Elsayed Z.; Sotoodehnia, Nona; Stott, David J.; Taylor, Kent D.; Weng, Lu-Chen; Yao, Jie; Geelhoed, Bastiaan; Verweij, Niek; Siland, Joylene E.; Kathiresan, Sekar; Roselli, Carolina; Roden, Dan; van der Harst, Pim; Darbar, Dawood; Jukema, J. Wouter; Melander, Olle; Rosand, Jonathan; Rotter, Jerome I.; Heckbert, Susan R.; Ellinor, Patrick T.; Alonso, Alvaro; Benjamin, Emelia J.

2017-01-01

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and has a substantial genetic basis. Identification of individuals at greatest AF risk could minimize the incidence of cardioembolic stroke. Methods To determine whether genetic data can stratify risk for development of AF, we examined associations between AF genetic risk scores and incident AF in five prospective studies comprising 18,919 individuals of European ancestry. We examined associations between AF genetic risk scores and ischemic stroke in a separate study of 509 ischemic stroke cases (202 cardioembolic [40%]) and 3,028 controls. Scores were based on 11 to 719 common variants (≥5%) associated with AF at P-values ranging from <1×10−3 to <1×10−8 in a prior independent genetic association study. Results Incident AF occurred in 1,032 (5.5%) individuals. AF genetic risk scores were associated with new-onset AF after adjusting for clinical risk factors. The pooled hazard ratio for incident AF for the highest versus lowest quartile of genetic risk scores ranged from 1.28 (719 variants; 95%CI, 1.13–1.46; P=1.5×10−4) to 1.67 (25 variants; 95%CI, 1.47–1.90; P=9.3×10−15). Discrimination of combined clinical and genetic risk scores varied across studies and scores (maximum C statistic, 0.629–0.811; maximum ΔC statistic from clinical score alone, 0.009–0.017). AF genetic risk was associated with stroke in age- and sex-adjusted models. For example, individuals in the highest quartile of a 127-variant score had a 2.49-fold increased odds of cardioembolic stroke, versus those in the lowest quartile (95%CI, 1.39–4.58; P=2.7×10−3). The effect persisted after excluding individuals (n=70) with known AF (odds ratio, 2.25; 95%CI, 1.20–4.40; P=0.01). Conclusions Comprehensive AF genetic risk scores were associated with incident AF beyond clinical AF risk factors, with magnitudes of risk comparable to other clinical risk factors, though offered small improvements in discrimination. AF genetic risk was also associated with cardioembolic stroke in age- and sex-adjusted analyses. Efforts to determine whether AF genetic risk may improve identification of subclinical AF or distinguish stroke mechanisms are warranted. PMID:27793994

A Comparison of Presentation Levels to Maximize Word Recognition Scores

PubMed Central

Guthrie, Leslie A.; Mackersie, Carol L.

2010-01-01

Background While testing suprathreshold word recognition at multiple levels is considered best practice, studies on practice patterns do not suggest that this is common practice. Audiologists often test at a presentation level intended to maximize recognition scores, but methods for selecting this level are not well established for a wide range of hearing losses. Purpose To determine the presentation level methods that resulted in maximum suprathreshold phoneme-recognition scores while avoiding loudness discomfort. Research Design Performance-intensity functions were obtained for 40 participants with sensorineural hearing loss using the Computer-Assisted Speech Perception Assessment. Participants had either gradually sloping (mild, moderate, moderately severe/severe) or steeply sloping losses. Performance-intensity functions were obtained at presentation levels ranging from 10 dB above the SRT to 5 dB below the UCL (uncomfortable level). In addition, categorical loudness ratings were obtained across a range of intensities using speech stimuli. Scores obtained at UCL – 5 dB (maximum level below loudness discomfort) were compared to four alternative presentation-level methods. The alternative presentation-level methods included sensation level (SL; 2 kHz reference, SRT reference), a fixed-level (95 dB SPL) method, and the most comfortable loudness level (MCL). For the SL methods, scores used in the analysis were selected separately for the SRT and 2 kHz references based on several criteria. The general goal was to choose levels that represented asymptotic performance while avoiding loudness discomfort. The selection of SLs varied across the range of hearing losses. Results Scores obtained using the different presentation-level methods were compared to scores obtained using UCL – 5 dB. For the mild hearing loss group, the mean phoneme scores were similar for all presentation levels. For the moderately severe/severe group, the highest mean score was obtained using UCL - 5 dB. For the moderate and steeply sloping groups, the mean scores obtained using 2 kHz SL were equivalent to UCL - 5 dB, whereas scores obtained using the SRT SL were significantly lower than those obtained using UCL - 5 dB. The mean scores corresponding to MCL and 95 dB SPL were significantly lower than scores for UCL - 5 dB for the moderate and the moderately severe/severe group. Conclusions For participants with mild to moderate gradually sloping losses and for those with steeply sloping losses, the UCL – 5 dB and the 2 kHz SL methods resulted in the highest scores without exceeding listeners' UCLs. For participants with moderately severe/severe losses, the UCL - 5 dB method resulted in the highest phoneme recognition scores. PMID:19594086

High resolution ultrasonography of the tibial nerve in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

PubMed

Singh, Kunwarpal; Gupta, Kamlesh; Kaur, Sukhdeep

2017-12-01

High-resolution ultrasonography of the tibial nerve is a fast and non invasive tool for diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Our study was aimed at finding out the correlation of the cross sectional area and maximum thickness of nerve fascicles of the tibial nerve with the presence and severity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. 75 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus clinically diagnosed with diabetic peripheral neuropathy were analysed, and the severity of neuropathy was determined using the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score. 58 diabetic patients with no clinical suspicion of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and 75 healthy non-diabetic subjects were taken as controls. The cross sectional area and maximum thickness of nerve fascicles of the tibial nerves were calculated 3 cm cranial to the medial malleolus in both lower limbs. The mean cross sectional area (22.63 +/- 2.66 mm 2 ) and maximum thickness of nerve fascicles (0.70 mm) of the tibial nerves in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy compared with both control groups was significantly larger, and statistically significant correlation was found with the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Score ( p < 0.001). The diabetic patients with no signs of peripheral neuropathy had a larger mean cross sectional area (14.40 +/- 1.72 mm 2 ) and maximum thickness of nerve fascicles of the tibial nerve (0.40 mm) than healthy non-diabetic subjects (12.42 +/- 1.01 mm 2 and 0.30 mm respectively). The cross sectional area and maximum thickness of nerve fascicles of the tibial nerve is larger in diabetic patients with or without peripheral neuropathy than in healthy control subjects, and ultrasonography can be used as a good screening tool in these patients.

A Bonner Sphere Spectrometer based on a large 6LiI(Eu) scintillator: Calibration in reference monoenergetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bedogni, R.; Pola, A.; Costa, M.; Monti, V.; Thomas, D. J.

2018-07-01

A Bonner Sphere spectrometer employing a large, 11 mm diameter × 3 mm thickness, 6LiI(Eu) scintillator (LL-BSS), was assembled. The purpose was to produce a BSS similar in sensitivity to those based on 3He sensors, but using alternative sensors. With respect to the traditional BSS based on the 4 mm (diameter) × 4 mm (height) 6LiI(Eu), this new BSS is a factor of 3 more sensitive. LL-BSS response matrix, determined with MCNPX, was experimentally evaluated with monoenergetic reference neutron fields of 144 keV, 565 keV and 1.2 MeV available at NPL (Teddington, UK). The results of the experiment confirmed the correctness of the response matrix within an overall uncertainty lower than ±2%.

Isolation and purification of protactinium-231.

PubMed

Jerome, S M; Collins, S M; Happel, S; Ivanov, P; Russell, B C

2018-04-01

Protactinium-231 is one of the lesser known actinides, yet the measurement of this radionuclide is central to dating studies in both paleoclimate and nuclear forensics measurements; furthermore, it is important as the immediate parent nuclide of the 227 Ac decay chain. In this paper, we present the preparatory work for an upcoming CCRI(II) supplementary comparison of this radionuclide. The material used in this work was of poorly known provenance, and it was necessary to carry out a chemical purification of this material prior to use. A new extraction chromatography resin, TK 400, which has been developed for the separation of 231 Pa, was tested at NPL. The aims of the work were achieved; the recovery of 231 Pa was ~85%, the decay products were recovered in good yield (~95%) and stable element impurities were removed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The UK National Quantum Technologies Hub in sensors and metrology (Keynote Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bongs, K.; Boyer, V.; Cruise, M. A.; Freise, A.; Holynski, M.; Hughes, J.; Kaushik, A.; Lien, Y.-H.; Niggebaum, A.; Perea-Ortiz, M.; Petrov, P.; Plant, S.; Singh, Y.; Stabrawa, A.; Paul, D. J.; Sorel, M.; Cumming, D. R. S.; Marsh, J. H.; Bowtell, R. W.; Bason, M. G.; Beardsley, R. P.; Campion, R. P.; Brookes, M. J.; Fernholz, T.; Fromhold, T. M.; Hackermuller, L.; Krüger, P.; Li, X.; Maclean, J. O.; Mellor, C. J.; Novikov, S. V.; Orucevic, F.; Rushforth, A. W.; Welch, N.; Benson, T. M.; Wildman, R. D.; Freegarde, T.; Himsworth, M.; Ruostekoski, J.; Smith, P.; Tropper, A.; Griffin, P. F.; Arnold, A. S.; Riis, E.; Hastie, J. E.; Paboeuf, D.; Parrotta, D. C.; Garraway, B. M.; Pasquazi, A.; Peccianti, M.; Hensinger, W.; Potter, E.; Nizamani, A. H.; Bostock, H.; Rodriguez Blanco, A.; Sinuco-Leon, G.; Hill, I. R.; Williams, R. A.; Gill, P.; Hempler, N.; Malcolm, G. P. A.; Cross, T.; Kock, B. O.; Maddox, S.; John, P.

2016-04-01

The UK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Metrology is one of four flagship initiatives in the UK National of Quantum Technology Program. As part of a 20-year vision it translates laboratory demonstrations to deployable practical devices, with game-changing miniaturized components and prototypes that transform the state-of-the-art for quantum sensors and metrology. It brings together experts from the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Southampton, Strathclyde and Sussex, NPL and currently links to over 15 leading international academic institutions and over 70 companies to build the supply chains and routes to market needed to bring 10-1000x improvements in sensing applications. It seeks, and is open to, additional partners for new application development and creates a point of easy open access to the facilities and supply chains that it stimulates or nurtures.

Health assessment for Koppers Company, Inc. , National Priorities List (NPL) Site, Texarkana, Texas, Region 6. CERCLIS No. TXD980623904. Final report

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

Not Available

The Koppers Company, Inc. Site located in Texarkana, Texas is on the National Priorities List. The site is the former location of a wood treatment facility. The site is contaminated with numerous chemicals from the former wood treatment operations including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), phenolic compounds, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF). Previous remedial activity has included reseeding and the installation of sod in highly contaminated residential areas. The primary environmental pathways of potential concern are surface soils and ground water. Long-term exposures to contaminated soils in the residential area pose a potential health risk for ingestion and dermal absorption of soil contaminants. Groundmore » water beneath the site is contaminated and would pose a potential health risk if used for potable purposes.« less

TEPC measurements in commercial aircraft.

PubMed

Taylor, G C; Bentley, R D; Horwood, N A; Hunter, R; Iles, R H; Jones, J B L; Powell, D; Thomas, D J

2004-01-01

The collaborative project involving the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA), the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has been performing tissue-equivalent proportional counter measurements of cosmic ray doses in commercial aircraft since January 2000. In that time data have been recorded on over 700 flights, including over 150 flights with Air New Zealand (ANZ). This substantial set of data from the southern hemisphere is an ideal complement to the London-based measurements performed primarily on VAA flights. Although some ANZ data remains to be analysed, dose information from 111 flights has been compared with the CARI and EPCARD computer codes. Overall, the agreement between the measurements and EPCARD was excellent (within 1% for the total ambient dose equivalent), and the difference in the total effective doses predicted by EPCARD and CARI was <5%.

How to determine decisional capacity in critically ill patients. Presume the patient can make decisions unless proven otherwise.

PubMed

Fleming, C; Momin, Z A; Brensilver, J M; Brandstetter, R D

1995-03-01

Decisional capacity includes ability to comprehend information, to make an informed choice, and to communicate that choice; it is specific to the decision at hand. Presume a patient has decisional capacity; an evaluation of incapacity must be justified. Administer a standardized mental status test to help assess alertness, attention, memory, and reasoning ability. A patient scoring below 10 on the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (maximum score, 30) probably does not have decisional capacity; one scoring from 10 to 15 probably can designate a proxy but not make complex health care decisions. Obtain psychiatric consultations for a patient who exhibits psychological barriers to decision making.

[Study of the health food information for cancer patients on Japanese websites].

PubMed

Kishimoto, Keiko; Yoshino, Chie; Fukushima, Noriko

2010-08-01

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the reliability of websites providing health food information for cancer patients and, to assess the status to get this information online. We used four common Japanese search engines (Yahoo!, Google, goo, and MSN) to look up websites on Dec. 2, 2008. The search keywords were "health food" and "cancer". The websites for the first 100 hits generated by each search engine were screened and extracted by three conditions. We extracted 64 unique websites by the result of retrieval, of which 54 websites had information about health food factors. The two scales were used to evaluate the quality of the content on 54 websites. On the scale of reliability of information on the Web, the average score was 2.69+/-1.70 (maximum 6) and the median was 2.5. The other scale was matter need to check whether listed to use safely this information. On this scale, the average score was 0.72+/-1.22 (maximum 5) and the median was 0. Three engines showed poor correlation between the ranking and the latter score. But several websites on the top indicated 0 score. Fifty-four websites were extracted with one to four engines and the average number of search engines was 1.9. The two scales were positively correlated with the number of search engines, but these correlations were very poor. Ranking high and extraction by multiple search engines were of minor benefit to pick out more reliable information.

Linear and nonlinear genetic relationships between type traits and productive life in US dairy goats.

PubMed

Castañeda-Bustos, V J; Montaldo, H H; Valencia-Posadas, M; Shepard, L; Pérez-Elizalde, S; Hernández-Mendo, O; Torres-Hernández, G

2017-02-01

Linear or nonlinear genetic relationships between productive life and functional productive life at 72 mo, with final score (SCO), stature, strength, dairyness (DAI), teat diameter, rear legs (side view), rump angle, rump width (RUW), fore udder attachment (FUA), rear udder height, rear udder arch, udder depth (UDD), suspensory ligament (SUS), and teat placement, as well as heritabilities and correlations were estimated from multibreed US dairy goat records. Productive life was defined as the total days in production until 72 mo of age (PL72) for goats having the opportunity to express the trait. Functional productive life (FPL72) was analyzed by incorporating first lactation milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, and SCO in the statistical model. Heritabilities and correlations were estimated using linear mixed models with pedigree additive genetic relationships and ASReml software. Nonlinearity of genetic relationships was assessed based on second-degree polynomial (quadratic) regression models, with the breeding values of PL72 or FPL72 as responses and the breeding values for each type trait (linear and quadratic) as predictor variables. Heritability estimates were 0.19, 0.14, 0.18, 0.20, 0.14, 0.07, 0.28, 0.20, 0.15, 0.13, 0.25, 0.18, 0.20, 0.21, 0.21, and 0.32 for PL72, FPL72, SCO, stature, strength, DAI, teat diameter, rear legs, rump angle, RUW, FUA, rear udder height, rear udder arch, UDD, SUS, and teat placement, respectively. The type traits SCO, RUW, and FUA were the most correlated with PL72 and FPL72, so these may be used as selection criteria to increase longevity in dairy goats. An increase in the coefficient of determination >1% for the second degree, compared with that for the linear model for either PL72 or FPL72, was taken as evidence of a nonlinear genetic relationship. Using this criterion, PL72 showed maximum values at intermediate scores in DAI, UDD, and RUW, and maximum values at extreme scores in FUA and SUS, whereas FPL72 showed maximum values at intermediate scores in DAI and UDD, and maximum values at extreme scores in FUA, RUW, and SUS. Selecting for increased SCO, RUW, and FUA will lead to an increase of FPL72 in goats. Consideration of nonlinear relationships between DAI, FUA, RUW, SUS, and UDD may help in the design of more efficient breeding programs for dairy goats using conformation traits. The Authors. Published by the Federation of Animal Science Societies and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Shared Decision Making in Vascular Surgery: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Santema, T B; Stubenrouch, F E; Koelemay, M J W; Vahl, A C; Vermeulen, C F W; Visser, M J T; Ubbink, D T

2016-04-01

Shared decision making (SDM) is a process in which patients and their doctors collaborate in choosing a suitable treatment option by incorporating patient values and preferences, as well as the best available evidence. Particularly in vascular surgery, several conditions seem suitable for SDM because there are multiple treatment options. The objective of this study was to assess the degree of SDM behaviour in vascular surgery. Vascular surgeons of four Dutch hospitals selected consultations with patients who were facing a treatment decision. Immediately after the consultation, patients and surgeons completed the (subjective) SDM Q-9 and SDM Q-doc questionnaires respectively, to appreciate the perceived level of SDM behaviour. Two evaluators independently and objectively rated SDM behaviour in the audiotaped consultations, using the Observing Patient Involvement (OPTION-12) scale. Nine vascular surgeons and three vascular surgeons in training conducted 54 consultations. The patients' median SDM Q-9 score was high, 93% (IQR 79-100%), and 16/54 (29.6%) of them gave the maximum score. The surgeons' median score was also high, 84% (IQR 73-92%), while 4/54 (7.4%) gave the maximum score. In contrast, mean OPTION score was 31% (SD 11%). Surgeons hardly ever asked the patients for their preferred approach to receive information, whether they had understood the provided information, and how they would like to be involved in SDM. Currently, objective SDM behaviour among vascular surgeons is limited, even though the presented disorders allow for SDM. Hence, SDM in vascular surgical consultations could be improved by increasing the patients' and surgeons' awareness and knowledge about the concept of SDM. Copyright © 2015 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Management of Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Results of a Large Level I Trauma Center in Southern Iran.

PubMed

Khalili, Hosseinali; Sadraei, Nazanin; Niakan, Amin; Ghaffarpasand, Fariborz; Sadraei, Amin

2016-10-01

To determine the role of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to a large level I trauma center in Southern Iran. This was a cohort study performed during a 2-year period in a level I trauma center in Southern Iran including all adult patients (>16 years) with severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score, 3-8) who underwent ICP monitoring through ventriculostomy. The management was based on the recorded ICP values with threshold of 20 mm Hg. Decompressive craniectomy was performed in patients with intractable intracranial hypertension (persistent ICP ≥25 mm Hg). In unresponsive patients, barbiturate coma was induced. Patients were followed for 6 months and Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended was recorded. The determinants of favorable and unfavorable outcome were also determined. Overall, we included 248 patients with mean age of 34.6 ± 16.6 years, among whom there were 216 men (87.1%) and 32 women (12.9%). Eighty-five patients (34.2%) had favorable and 163 (65.8%) unfavorable outcomes. Those with favorable outcome had significantly lower age (P = 0.004), higher GCS score on admission (P < 0.001), lower Rotterdam score (P = 0.035), fewer episodes of intracranial hypertension (P < 0.001), and lower maximum recorded ICP (P = 0.041). These factors remained statistically significant after elimination of confounders by multivariate logistic regression model. Age, GCS score on admission, Rotterdam score, intracranial hypertension, and maximum recorded ICP are important determinants of outcome in patients with severe TBI. ICP monitoring assisted us in targeted therapy and management of patients with severe TBI. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of a University Campus Food Environment, California, 2015

PubMed Central

DeGreef, Kelsey; Fishler, Madison; Gipson, Rachel; Koyano, Kelly; Neill, Dawn B.

2016-01-01

Introduction University campuses offer an opportunity to study the extent to which modifying the food environment influences eating, but in-depth characterizations of campus food environments are needed to identify potential targets for intervention. The objective of this project was to describe the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthful food choices in dining venues and food stores at or near a public, 4-year university in California. Methods Trained assessors used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for campus dining (NEMS-CD) to evaluate all 18 campus dining venues, and NEMS for stores (NEMS-S) to evaluate 2 on-campus and 37 off-campus food stores. We calculated prevalence of healthful and unhealthful constructs (eg, availability of selected food items, presence of signage encouraging healthful eating, pricing options that encourage healthful eating), based on the NEMS and compared scores across different types of venues. Results NEMS-CD scores ranged from 4 to 47 (mean [SD], 26.0 [14.4]) out of a possible maximum score of 97; 12% of entrées and 36% of main dish salads served in these venues were classified as healthful. NEMS-S score for the 2 on-campus food stores (24 for both) was intermediate between off-campus convenience stores (mean [SD], 12.0 [5.3]) and grocery/supermarket stores (mean [SD], 31.1 [10.0]), with a possible maximum score of 54. Conclusion Standardized environmental evaluation provides insights into both positive and negative aspects of campus community food venues. Environmental assessment identifies potential targets for modification and baseline data for designing and implementing action-oriented research aimed at improving the campus food environment’s support of healthful food choices for college students. PMID:26851337

Assessment of a University Campus Food Environment, California, 2015.

PubMed

Tseng, Marilyn; DeGreef, Kelsey; Fishler, Madison; Gipson, Rachel; Koyano, Kelly; Neill, Dawn B

2016-02-04

University campuses offer an opportunity to study the extent to which modifying the food environment influences eating, but in-depth characterizations of campus food environments are needed to identify potential targets for intervention. The objective of this project was to describe the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthful food choices in dining venues and food stores at or near a public, 4-year university in California. Trained assessors used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for campus dining (NEMS-CD) to evaluate all 18 campus dining venues, and NEMS for stores (NEMS-S) to evaluate 2 on-campus and 37 off-campus food stores. We calculated prevalence of healthful and unhealthful constructs (eg, availability of selected food items, presence of signage encouraging healthful eating, pricing options that encourage healthful eating), based on the NEMS and compared scores across different types of venues. NEMS-CD scores ranged from 4 to 47 (mean [SD], 26.0 [14.4]) out of a possible maximum score of 97; 12% of entrées and 36% of main dish salads served in these venues were classified as healthful. NEMS-S score for the 2 on-campus food stores (24 for both) was intermediate between off-campus convenience stores (mean [SD], 12.0 [5.3]) and grocery/supermarket stores (mean [SD], 31.1 [10.0]), with a possible maximum score of 54. Standardized environmental evaluation provides insights into both positive and negative aspects of campus community food venues. Environmental assessment identifies potential targets for modification and baseline data for designing and implementing action-oriented research aimed at improving the campus food environment's support of healthful food choices for college students.

A case-control study of quality of life and functional impairment in women with long-standing vertebral osteoporotic fracture.

PubMed

Hall, S E; Criddle, R A; Comito, T L; Prince, R L

1999-01-01

There have been several studies of the impact of vertebral osteoporotic fracture on the quality of life and functionality of individual subjects. To date, however, no direct comparisons with age-matched normal subjects without vertebral fracture have been made. The radiographs of 145 female clinic patients with vertebral fractures were reviewed by the study physicians. The controls were recruited from the electoral role and by media appeal. One hundred and sixty-seven women had radiographs taken to determine those without vertebral fracture. Fracture subjects and controls had to be ambulant and were excluded if they had significant radiologic evidence of degenerative disk or joint disease of the spine. One hundred cases and one hundred controls were matched by 5-year age groups. The number, position and severity of the vertebral fracture on the lateral radiographs of the cases was recorded. Quality of life was measured using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) (maximum score 100) and a utility score calculated from these results (maximum score 1). Two measurements of functionality were employed: the Modified Barthel Index (MBI) to assess the activities of daily living (maximum score 100) and the Timed 'Up & Go' (TUG) that measured the time taken for the subject to rise from sitting in a chair, walk 3 m along a line, return to the chair and sit down. The fracture subjects had 2.9 +/- 1.6 (mean +/- SD) vertebral fractures and the time since last fracture was 5.1 +/- 4.8 years. The SF-36 physical function component summary index results were: fracture subjects 36 +/- 11, controls 48 +/- 9 (p < 0.001). The SF-36 mental health component summary index results were: fracture subjects 50 +/- 11, controls 54 +/- 8 (p < 0.05). The utility scores were: fracture subjects 0.64 +/- 0.08, controls 0.72 +/- 0.07 (p < 0.001). The MBI results were: fracture subjects 97 +/- 5, controls 99 +/- 1 (p < 0.01). The TUG results were: fracture subjects 13.8 +/- 7.3 s, controls 10.1 +/- 4.1 s (p < 0.01). TUG and MBI scores correlated well with SF-36 scores; however, no domain of the SF-36 or functional measure correlated with either the number of vertebral fractures or the time since last vertebral fracture. Thus, clinically reported vertebral fractures impair both the quality of life and functionality of these subjects. The adverse impact of vertebral fracture on quality of life and functionality needs to be recognized by medical practitioners, subjects and the community, so that adequate health resources can be devoted to the prevention and treatment of this debilitating condition condition.

Rationale for early versus late intervention with arthroscopy for treatment of inflammatory/degenerative temporomandibular joint disorders.

PubMed

Israel, Howard A; Behrman, David A; Friedman, Joel M; Silberstein, Jennifer

2010-11-01

The goal of this study was to determine if there were differences in outcomes of arthroscopic surgery in patients with inflammatory/degenerative temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disease who underwent early surgical intervention versus late surgical intervention. The study population included 44 consecutive patients who met the criteria for TMJ operative arthroscopy who were divided into early and late intervention groups. The time between the onset of symptoms and the performance of arthroscopy was used to determine entry into the early versus late intervention group. All groups were evaluated for changes in preoperative versus postoperative pain levels based on visual analog scale (VAS) scores and maximum interincisal opening distance. Statistical analyses included the Student t test to determine if there were significant differences between preoperative and postoperative assessments in the early and late intervention groups. The mean time between onset of symptoms in the early intervention group (21 patients) was 5.4 months compared with 33 months in the late intervention group (23 patients). All patient groups had statistically significant decreases in pain and improvement in maximum interincisal opening distance after arthroscopy. The early intervention group had a mean decrease in VAS pain scores of 5.14 compared with the late intervention group with a mean decrease in VAS pain scores of 2.84, and this difference was significant (P = .012). The early intervention group had a mean increase in maximum interincisal opening of 12.38 mm compared with the late intervention group with a mean increase of 7.70. Although statistical significance was not achieved for increases in maximum interincisal opening between the early and late intervention groups (P = .089), the difference between the 2 groups was suggestive of a trend. There were no surgical complications for either group; however, 2 patients in the late intervention group developed persistent chronic neuropathic pain, requiring pain management. TMJ arthroscopy reliably decreased pain and increased the maximum interincisal opening distance in the early and late intervention groups. The early intervention group had better surgical outcomes than the late intervention group. Arthroscopic surgery should be considered early in the management of patients with inflammatory/degenerative TMJ disease. Copyright © 2010 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Correlation of Visual Prostate Symptom Score with International Prostate Symptom Score and Uroflowmetry Parameters in Nepalese Male Patients with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.

PubMed

Bhomi, K K; Subedi, N; Panta, P P

2017-01-01

International prostate symptom score is a validated questionnaire used to evaluate the lower urinary tract symptoms in benign prostatic hyperplasia. Visual prostate symptom score is a new simplified symptom score with pictograms to evaluate the same. We evaluated the correlation of visual prostate symptom score with international prostate symptom score and uroflowmetry parameters in Nepalese male patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. Male patients aged ≥40 years attending the Urology clinic were enrolled in the study. They were given international prostate symptom score and visual prostate symptom score questionnaires to complete providing assistance whenever needed. Demographic data, examination findings and uroflowmetry parameters were noted. Correlation and regression analysis was used to identify correlation of the two scoring systems and uroflowmetry parameters. Among the 66 patients enrolled, only 10 (15.15%) patients were able to understand English language. There was a statistically significant correlation between total visual prostate symptom score and international prostate symptom score (r= 0.822; P<0.01). The correlations between individual scores of the two scoring systems related to force of urinary stream, frequency, nocturia and quality of life were also statistically significant. There was also a statistically significant correlation of both scores with maximum flow rate and average flow rate. There is a statistically significant correlation of visual prostate symptom score with international prostate symptom score and uroflowmetry parameters. IPSS can be replaced with simple VPSS in evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly male patients.

Bench Test Evaluation of Adaptive Servoventilation Devices for Sleep Apnea Treatment

PubMed Central

Zhu, Kaixian; Kharboutly, Haissam; Ma, Jianting; Bouzit, Mourad; Escourrou, Pierre

2013-01-01

Rationale: Adaptive servoventilation devices are marketed to overcome sleep disordered breathing with apneas and hypopneas of both central and obstructive mechanisms often experienced by patients with chronic heart failure. The clinical efficacy of these devices is still questioned. Study Objectives: This study challenged the detection and treatment capabilities of the three commercially available adaptive servoventilation devices in response to sleep disordered breathing events reproduced on an innovative bench test. Methods: The bench test consisted of a computer-controlled piston and a Starling resistor. The three devices were subjected to a flow sequence composed of central and obstructive apneas and hypopneas including Cheyne-Stokes respiration derived from a patient. The responses of the devices were separately evaluated with the maximum and the clinical settings (titrated expiratory positive airway pressure), and the detected events were compared to the bench-scored values. Results: The three devices responded similarly to central events, by increasing pressure support to raise airflow. All central apneas were eliminated, whereas hypopneas remained. The three devices responded differently to the obstructive events with the maximum settings. These obstructive events could be normalized with clinical settings. The residual events of all the devices were scored lower than bench test values with the maximum settings, but were in agreement with the clinical settings. However, their mechanisms were misclassified. Conclusion: The tested devices reacted as expected to the disordered breathing events, but not sufficiently to normalize the breathing flow. The device-scored results should be used with caution to judge efficacy, as their validity depends upon the initial settings. Citation: Zhu K; Kharboutly H; Ma J; Bouzit M; Escourrou P. Bench test evaluation of adaptive servoventilation devices for sleep apnea treatment. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(9):861-871. PMID:23997698

Normative evaluation of blood banks in the Brazilian Amazon region in respect to the prevention of transfusion-transmitted malaria

PubMed Central

Freitas, Daniel Roberto Coradi; Duarte, Elisabeth Carmen

2014-01-01

Objective To evaluate blood banks in the Brazilian Amazon region with regard to structure and procedures directed toward the prevention of transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM). Methods This was a normative evaluation based on the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Resolution RDC No. 153/2004. Ten blood banks were included in the study and classified as ‘adequate’ (≥80 points), ‘partially adequate’ (from 50 to 80 points), or ‘inadequate’ (<50 points). The following components were evaluated: ‘donor education’ (5 points), ‘clinical screening’ (40 points), ‘laboratory screening’ (40 points) and ‘hemovigilance’ (15 points). Results The overall median score was 49.8 (minimum = 16; maximum = 78). Five blood banks were classified as ‘inadequate’ and five as ‘partially adequate’. The median clinical screening score was 26 (minimum = 16; maximum = 32). The median laboratory screening score was 20 (minimum = 0; maximum = 32). Eight blood banks performed laboratory tests for malaria; six tested all donations. Seven used thick smears, but only one performed this procedure in accordance with Ministry of Health requirements. One service had a Program of External Quality Evaluation for malaria testing. With regard to hemovigilance, two institutions reported having procedures to detect cases of transfusion-transmitted malaria. Conclusion Malaria is neglected as a blood–borne disease in the blood banks of the Brazilian Amazon region. None of the institutions were classified as ‘adequate’ in the overall classification or with regard to clinical screening and laboratory screening. Blood bank professionals, the Ministry of Health and Health Surveillance service managers need to pay more attention to this matter so that the safety procedures required by law are complied with. PMID:25453648

Pain Elimination during Injection with Newer Electronic Devices: A Comparative Evaluation in Children

PubMed Central

Saha, Sonali; Jaiswal, JN; Samadi, Firoza

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Aim: The present study was taken up to clinically evaluate and compare effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) and comfort control syringe (CCS) in various pediatric dental procedures as an alternative to the conventional method of local anesthesia (LA) administration. Materials and methods: Ninety healthy children having at least one deciduous molar tooth indicated for extraction in either maxillary right or left quadrant in age group of 6 to 10 years were randomly divided into three equal groups having 30 subjects each. Group I: LA administration using conventional syringe, group II: LA administration using TENS along with the conventional syringe, group III: LA administration using CCS. After LA by the three techniques, pain, anxiety and heart rate were measured. Statistical analysis: The observations, thus, obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using analysis of variance (ANOVA), student t-test and paired t-test. Results: The mean pain score was maximum in group I followed by group II, while group III revealed the minimum pain, where LA was administered using CCS. Mean anxiety score was maximum in group I followed by group II, while group III revealed the minimum score. Mean heart rate was maximum in group I followed in descending order by groups II and III. Conclusion: The study supports the belief that CCS could be a viable alternative in comparison to the other two methods of LA delivery in children. How to cite this article: Bansal N, Saha S, Jaiswal JN, Samadi F. Pain Elimination during Injection with Newer Electronic Devices: A Comparative Evaluation in Children. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2014;7(2):71-76. PMID:25356003

A multistage approach to improve performance of computer-aided detection of pulmonary embolisms depicted on CT images: preliminary investigation.

PubMed

Park, Sang Cheol; Chapman, Brian E; Zheng, Bin

2011-06-01

This study developed a computer-aided detection (CAD) scheme for pulmonary embolism (PE) detection and investigated several approaches to improve CAD performance. In the study, 20 computed tomography examinations with various lung diseases were selected, which include 44 verified PE lesions. The proposed CAD scheme consists of five basic steps: 1) lung segmentation; 2) PE candidate extraction using an intensity mask and tobogganing region growing; 3) PE candidate feature extraction; 4) false-positive (FP) reduction using an artificial neural network (ANN); and 5) a multifeature-based k-nearest neighbor for positive/negative classification. In this study, we also investigated the following additional methods to improve CAD performance: 1) grouping 2-D detected features into a single 3-D object; 2) selecting features with a genetic algorithm (GA); and 3) limiting the number of allowed suspicious lesions to be cued in one examination. The results showed that 1) CAD scheme using tobogganing, an ANN, and grouping method achieved the maximum detection sensitivity of 79.2%; 2) the maximum scoring method achieved the superior performance over other scoring fusion methods; 3) GA was able to delete "redundant" features and further improve CAD performance; and 4) limiting the maximum number of cued lesions in an examination reduced FP rate by 5.3 times. Combining these approaches, CAD scheme achieved 63.2% detection sensitivity with 18.4 FP lesions per examination. The study suggested that performance of CAD schemes for PE detection depends on many factors that include 1) optimizing the 2-D region grouping and scoring methods; 2) selecting the optimal feature set; and 3) limiting the number of allowed cueing lesions per examination.

Randomized trial of standard pain control with or without gabapentin for pain related to radiation-induced mucositis in head and neck cancer.

PubMed

Kataoka, Tomoko; Kiyota, Naomi; Shimada, Takanobu; Funakoshi, Yohei; Chayahara, Naoko; Toyoda, Masanori; Fujiwara, Yutaka; Nibu, Ken-Ichi; Komori, Takahide; Sasaki, Ryohei; Mukohara, Toru; Minami, Hironobu

2016-12-01

Radiation-induced mucositis (RIM) in chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancer (HNC) causes severe pain and worsens CRT compliance, QOL and outcome. Following retrospective reports, we conducted a randomized trial of the safety and efficacy of gabapentin for RIM-associated pain during CRT. HNC patients (pts) receiving CRT were randomized to standard pain control (SPC) with acetaminophen and opioids, or SPC plus gabapentin (SPC+G). Gabapentin was maintained at 900mg/day for 4 weeks after CRT. Primary endpoint was maximum visual analogue scale (VAS) score during CRT, and secondary endpoints were total opioid dose, changes in QOL (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN 35) from baseline to 4 weeks after CRT, and adverse events. Twenty-two eligible Stage III or IV pts were randomly assigned to SPC or SPC+G (n=11 each). Twelve were treated in a locally advanced setting and 10 in a postoperative setting. Median maximum VAS scores, median total dose of opioids at maximum VAS and total dose of opioids at 4 weeks after CRT tended to be higher in the SPC+G arm (47 in SPC vs. 74 in SPC+G, p=0.517; 215mg vs. 745.3mg, p=0.880; and 1260mg vs. 1537.5mg, p=0.9438, respectively), without significance. QOL analysis showed significantly worse scores in the SPC+G arm for weight gain (p=0.005). Adverse events related to gabapentin were manageable. This pilot study is the first prospective randomized trial of gabapentin for RIM-related pain. Gabapentin had no apparent beneficial effect. Further research into agents for RIM-related pain is warranted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

R- and S-citalopram concentrations have differential effects on neuropsychiatric scores in elders with dementia and agitation.

PubMed

Ho, Thang; Pollock, Bruce G; Mulsant, Benoit H; Schantz, Oliver; Devanand, Devangere P; Mintzer, Jacobo E; Porsteinsson, Anton P; Schneider, Lon S; Weintraub, Daniel; Yesavage, Jerome; Drye, Lea T; Munro, Cynthia A; Shade, David M; Lyketsos, Constantine; Bies, Robert

2016-09-01

The aim was to determine the relationship between (R) and (S)-citalopram enantiomer exposure (AUC(0,24 h)) and therapeutic response in agitated individuals greater than 60 years old with Alzheimer's dementia (AD). Citalopram enantiomer exposures (AUC(0,24 h)) derived from an established population pharmacokinetic analysis were utilized to explore the relationship between (R)- and (S)-citalopram area under the curve (AUC(0,24 )) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Neurobehavioural Rating Scale-Agitation Subscale (NBRS-A), modified Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Clinical Global Impression of Change (mADCS-CGIC) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Agitation subscale (NPIA) scores. Time dependent changes in these scores (disease progression) were accounted for prior to exploring the exposure effect relationship for each enantiomer. These relationships were evaluated using a non-linear-mixed effects modelling approach as implemented in nonmem v7.3. (S)-AUC(0,24 h) and (R)-AUC(0,24 h) each contributed to improvement in NBRS-A scores (k3(R) -0.502; k4(S) -0.712) as did time in treatment. However, increasing (R)-AUC(0,24 h) decreased the probability of patient response (maximum Δ -0.182%/AUC(0,24 h)) based on the CGIC while (S)-AUC(0,24 h) improved the probability of response (maximum Δ 0.112%/AUC(0,24 h)). (R)-AUC(0,24 h) was also associated with worsening in MMSE scores (-0.5 points). Our results suggest that citalopram enantiomers contributed differentially to treatment outcomes. (R)-citalopram accounted for a greater proportion of the adverse consequences associated with racemic citalopram treatment in patients with AD including a decreased probability of treatment response as measured by the CGIC and a reduction in MMSE scores. The S-enantiomer was associated with increased probability of response based on the CGIC. © 2016 The British Pharmacological Society.

An assessment of the quality and content of information on diverticulitis on the internet.

PubMed

Connelly, Tara M; Khan, Mohammad Shoaib; Victory, Liana; Mehmood, Abeera; Cooke, Fiachra

2018-05-21

Although commonly the first port of call for medical information, the internet provides unregulated information of variable quality. We aimed to evaluate commonly accessed web-based patient information on diverticulitis using validated and novel scoring systems. The top internet search engines (Google/Bing/Yahoo) were queried using the keyword 'diverticulitis.' The first 20 websites from each were graded using the DISCERN and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. A novel diverticulitis-specific score was devised and applied. Thirty-six unique websites were identified. The mean total DISCERN score for all websites was 39.92 ± 12.44 (range = 18-62). No website achieved the maximum DISCERN score of 75. The mean JAMA and diverticulitis scores were 2.5 ± 1.08 (maximum possible score = 4) and 11.08 ± 4.17 (19 points possible) respectively. Fourteen (35.9%) and 20 (51.2%) did not provide the date of last update and authorship respectively. Thirty-three (84.6%) mentioned surgery as a treatment option; however, the majority (69.7%) did not describe the surgery or the possibility of a stoma. All except two described disease symptoms. Only ten (25.64%) provided information on when to seek further medical advice or help. Web-based information on diverticulitis is of variable content and quality. The majority of top websites describe disease symptoms and aetiology; however, information to prompt seeking medical attention if required, descriptions of surgical procedures and the possibility of stoma creation are poorly described in the majority of websites. These findings should be highlighted to patients utilising the internet to obtain information on diverticulitis. Copyright © 2018 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) superior to total knee arthroplasty (TKA)? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Arirachakaran, Alisara; Choowit, Pathompong; Putananon, Chinundorn; Muangsiri, Samart; Kongtharvonskul, Jatupon

2015-07-01

To compare clinical outcomes of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) versus total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A systematic review and meta-regression to compare postoperative outcomes of pain VAS, knee function score, range of motion, complications and revision surgery rates between UKA and TKA were conducted. Relevant randomized controlled trials were identified from MEDLINE and Scopus from inception to August 29, 2014. Three of 1056 studies were eligible; two, three, two, three and three studies were included in pooling of pain visual analog score (VAS), Knee Society Score (KSS) and Bristol Knee Score (BKS), maximum knee flexion, postoperative complications (aseptic loosening, progressive degenerative joint disease of lateral compartment, bearing dislocation, DVT, fractures and infection) and revision rates, respectively. The unstandardized mean difference (UMD) of the function scores (KSS, BS) for UKA was 1.62 (95 % CI -1.17, 4.42) better than TKA and for pain score was 0.1 (95 % CI -3.54, 3.73) higher than TKA, but both without statistical significance. UKA was more likely to show higher mean maximum knee flexion with a UMD of 1.88 (95 % CI -0.54, 4.30) when compared to TKA, but was also not statistically significant. UKA had a statistically significant lower chance of postoperative complications by 0.35 U (95 % CI 0.12, 0.98) when compared to TKA, but had higher revision rates than TKA with a value of 5.36 (95 % CI 1.06, 27.08). In short-term outcomes (5 years or less, with follow-up of 0-5 years), TKA had higher postoperative complications than UKA, but had lower revision rates. There was only one study that reported long-term survivorship (more than 5 years, with follow-up of 5-15 years). Further research that assesses long-term survivorship is necessary to better evaluate UKA and TKA in the treatment of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis.

A cross sectional pilot study on assessing the knowledge, attitude and behavior of community pharmacists to adverse drug reaction related aspects in the Sultanate of Oman.

PubMed

Jose, Jimmy; Jimmy, Beena; Al-Ghailani, Aliya Said Hamed; Al Majali, Maryam Abdullah

2014-04-01

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring and reporting requires a multidisciplinary approach and pharmacists have a major role to play in it. The present pilot study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior of community pharmacists to ADR related aspects in the Sultanate of Oman. A self-administered questionnaire comprising of 21 questions were distributed to a random sample of pharmacists in two Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman. It assessed the knowledge of pharmacists on some of the selected basic aspects of drug safety. Further, the knowledge and attitude of community pharmacists toward ADR reporting and their behavior on ADR related aspects were assessed. A scoring scheme was used to estimate the median total score of participants for various parameters. Obtained scores were correlated with the demographics of the respondents. A total of 107 community pharmacists participated in the survey giving a response rate of 72.3%. The responses of the pharmacists to the questions on the drug safety of individual drugs were incorrect for some important and practical questions. Consequently, total median score corresponding to these questions was 5 (Inter Quartile Range, IQR 2) out of a possible maximum score of 9, which was below the acceptable score. Total median score based on knowledge, attitude and behavior was 38 (IQR 8) out of a possible maximum of 50 which shows a moderate score. Lack of awareness on how to report an ADR and concern that the report may be wrong were the most common factors discouraging pharmacists from reporting ADRs. Qualification as well as years of experience were the only demographic parameters which had an influence on the score obtained by the pharmacists. Even though the pharmacists had an acceptable knowledge, attitude and behavior on ADR reporting and related aspects, a good number of them had below than acceptable knowledge on drug safety related aspects of specific drugs. Educational programs have to be continued to generate awareness on how to report ADR and stimulate pharmacists' more active participation in the pharmacovigilance program. There is a genuine need to have training programs to improve the knowledge of pharmacists on ADR related aspects which are of benefit on a daily basis which could greatly have an impact on patient safety.

A cross sectional pilot study on assessing the knowledge, attitude and behavior of community pharmacists to adverse drug reaction related aspects in the Sultanate of Oman

PubMed Central

Jose, Jimmy; Jimmy, Beena; Al-Ghailani, Aliya Said Hamed; Al Majali, Maryam Abdullah

2013-01-01

Background and objectives Adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring and reporting requires a multidisciplinary approach and pharmacists have a major role to play in it. The present pilot study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior of community pharmacists to ADR related aspects in the Sultanate of Oman. Methods A self-administered questionnaire comprising of 21 questions were distributed to a random sample of pharmacists in two Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman. It assessed the knowledge of pharmacists on some of the selected basic aspects of drug safety. Further, the knowledge and attitude of community pharmacists toward ADR reporting and their behavior on ADR related aspects were assessed. A scoring scheme was used to estimate the median total score of participants for various parameters. Obtained scores were correlated with the demographics of the respondents. Results A total of 107 community pharmacists participated in the survey giving a response rate of 72.3%. The responses of the pharmacists to the questions on the drug safety of individual drugs were incorrect for some important and practical questions. Consequently, total median score corresponding to these questions was 5 (Inter Quartile Range, IQR 2) out of a possible maximum score of 9, which was below the acceptable score. Total median score based on knowledge, attitude and behavior was 38 (IQR 8) out of a possible maximum of 50 which shows a moderate score. Lack of awareness on how to report an ADR and concern that the report may be wrong were the most common factors discouraging pharmacists from reporting ADRs. Qualification as well as years of experience were the only demographic parameters which had an influence on the score obtained by the pharmacists. Conclusions Even though the pharmacists had an acceptable knowledge, attitude and behavior on ADR reporting and related aspects, a good number of them had below than acceptable knowledge on drug safety related aspects of specific drugs. Educational programs have to be continued to generate awareness on how to report ADR and stimulate pharmacists’ more active participation in the pharmacovigilance program. There is a genuine need to have training programs to improve the knowledge of pharmacists on ADR related aspects which are of benefit on a daily basis which could greatly have an impact on patient safety. PMID:24648829

The autosomal dominant familial exudative vitreoretinopathy locus maps on 11q and is closely linked to D11S533

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

Li, Yuen; Schwinger, D.; Gal, A.

1992-10-01

Autosomal dominant familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (adFEVR) is a hereditary disorder characterized by the incomplete vascularization of the peripheral retina. The primary biochemical defect in adFEVR is unknown. The adFEVR locus has tentatively been assigned to 11q by linkage studies. The authors report the results of an extended multipoint linkage analysis of two families with adFEVR by using five markers (INT2, D11S533, D11S527, D11S35, and CD3D) from 11q13-q23. Pairwise linkage data obtained in the two families were rather similar and hence have not provided evidence for genetic heterogeneity. The highest compiled two-point lod score (3.67, at a recombination fraction of .07)more » was obtained for the disease locus versus D11S533. Multipoint analyses showed that the adFEVR locus maps most likely, with a maximum location score of over 20, between D11S533/D11S526 and D11S35, at recombination rates of .147 and .104, respectively. Close linkage without recombination (maximum lod score 11.26) has been found between D11S533 and D11S526. 15 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Quality assessment of systematic reviews on alveolar socket preservation.

PubMed

Moraschini, V; Barboza, E Dos S P

2016-09-01

The aim of this overview was to evaluate and compare the quality of systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, that have evaluated studies on techniques or biomaterials used for the preservation of alveolar sockets post tooth extraction in humans. An electronic search was conducted without date restrictions using the Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases up to April 2015. Eligibility criteria included systematic reviews, with or without meta-analysis, focused on the preservation of post-extraction alveolar sockets in humans. Two independent authors assessed the quality of the included reviews using AMSTAR and the checklist proposed by Glenny et al. in 2003. After the selection process, 12 systematic reviews were included. None of these reviews obtained the maximum score using the quality assessment tools implemented, and the results of the analyses were highly variable. A significant statistical correlation was observed between the scores of the two checklists. A wide structural and methodological variability was observed between the systematic reviews published on the preservation of alveolar sockets post tooth extraction. None of the reviews evaluated obtained the maximum score using the two quality assessment tools implemented. Copyright © 2016 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heritability and clinical features of multigenerational families with obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding.

PubMed

Mathews, Carol A; Nievergelt, Caroline M; Azzam, Amin; Garrido, Helena; Chavira, Denise A; Wessel, Jennifer; Bagnarello, Monica; Reus, Victor I; Schork, Nicholas J

2007-03-05

To date, only one complete genome screen for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been published. That study identified a region of suggestive linkage (maximum lod score of 2.25) with a relatively small sample size (N = 56; 27 with OCD). Additional complete genome screens are needed to confirm this finding and identify other regions of linkage. We present the clinical characteristics and power to detect linkage of 11 multigenerational families with OCD and hoarding (N = 92; 44 with OCD), as well as heritability estimates for several quantitative traits. Families with at least two individuals with OCD were identified through probands with childhood-onset OCD. Expected lod scores were calculated for simulated genetic marker data under an additive and two dominant models assuming a dense SNP marker map. All affected individuals had an early age of onset (18 or younger). Hoarding was present in 46% of subjects. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and hoarding were highly heritable. The maximum mean expected lod score was 3.31 for OCD and 1.39 for hoarding. We found reasonable power to detect regions of interest (lod = 2) for OCD in these families, but will need to expand our family collection to have adequate power to detect regions of interest for hoarding. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A Limitation of the Applicability of Interval Shift Analysis to Program Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy, Roy

1975-01-01

Interval Shift Analysis (ISA) is an adaptation of the linear programming model used to determine maximum benefits or minimal losses in quantifiable economics problems. ISA is applied to pre and posttest score distributions for 43 classes of second graders. (RC)

Estimating Interaction Effects With Incomplete Predictor Variables

PubMed Central

Enders, Craig K.; Baraldi, Amanda N.; Cham, Heining

2014-01-01

The existing missing data literature does not provide a clear prescription for estimating interaction effects with missing data, particularly when the interaction involves a pair of continuous variables. In this article, we describe maximum likelihood and multiple imputation procedures for this common analysis problem. We outline 3 latent variable model specifications for interaction analyses with missing data. These models apply procedures from the latent variable interaction literature to analyses with a single indicator per construct (e.g., a regression analysis with scale scores). We also discuss multiple imputation for interaction effects, emphasizing an approach that applies standard imputation procedures to the product of 2 raw score predictors. We thoroughly describe the process of probing interaction effects with maximum likelihood and multiple imputation. For both missing data handling techniques, we outline centering and transformation strategies that researchers can implement in popular software packages, and we use a series of real data analyses to illustrate these methods. Finally, we use computer simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed techniques. PMID:24707955

The lod score method.

PubMed

Rice, J P; Saccone, N L; Corbett, J

2001-01-01

The lod score method originated in a seminal article by Newton Morton in 1955. The method is broadly concerned with issues of power and the posterior probability of linkage, ensuring that a reported linkage has a high probability of being a true linkage. In addition, the method is sequential, so that pedigrees or lod curves may be combined from published reports to pool data for analysis. This approach has been remarkably successful for 50 years in identifying disease genes for Mendelian disorders. After discussing these issues, we consider the situation for complex disorders, where the maximum lod score (MLS) statistic shares some of the advantages of the traditional lod score approach but is limited by unknown power and the lack of sharing of the primary data needed to optimally combine analytic results. We may still learn from the lod score method as we explore new methods in molecular biology and genetic analysis to utilize the complete human DNA sequence and the cataloging of all human genes.

The effect of seasons on behaviour during milking in buffaloes ( Bos bubalis)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gangwar, P. C.

1982-06-01

An investigation on behaviour during milking involving 200 buffaloes was carried out to study the effect of climate on milking behaviour for a period of four years. The results obtained were: (1) In extremely docile animals (temperament score I) the mean distribution was least (33.5) in hot-dry summer as compared to winter (39.2) and hot-humid summer. (2) The number of buffaloes milked after oxytocin injections was maximum (11.1%) during the hot-dry summer against other seasons for the temperament score I over temperament scores III and IV, where all buffaloes were milked with oxytocin injections. (3) The mean flow rate was least in hot-dry summer in each temperament score. (4) Milking time was higher in all the temperament scored buffaloes during the hot-dry summer than during the other seasons. It is concluded that as environmental temperature increases, there occurs an increase in thermal stress, the milking behaviour changes and animals become more hostile and excited which leads to a decrease in milk production.

Using concept maps to describe undergraduate students’ mental model in microbiology course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamdiyati, Y.; Sudargo, F.; Redjeki, S.; Fitriani, A.

2018-05-01

The purpose of this research was to describe students’ mental model in a mental model based-microbiology course using concept map as assessment tool. Respondents were 5th semester of undergraduate students of Biology Education of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. The mental modelling instrument used was concept maps. Data were taken on Bacteria sub subject. A concept map rubric was subsequently developed with a maximum score of 4. Quantitative data was converted into a qualitative one to determine mental model level, namely: emergent = score 1, transitional = score 2, close to extended = score 3, and extended = score 4. The results showed that mental model level on bacteria sub subject before the implementation of mental model based-microbiology course was at the transitional level. After implementation of mental model based-microbiology course, mental model was at transitional level, close to extended, and extended. This indicated an increase in the level of students’ mental model after the implementation of mental model based-microbiology course using concept map as assessment tool.

FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORT FOR THE 200-ZP-1 GROUNDWATER OPERABLE UNIT

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

BYRNES ME

2008-07-18

The Hanford Site, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), encompasses approximately 1,517 km{sup 2} (586 mi{sup 2}) in the Columbia Basin of south-central Washington State. In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the 100, 200, 300, and 1100 Areas of the Hanford Site on the 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 300, 'National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan' National Contingency Plan [NCPD], Appendix B, 'National Priorities List' (NPL), pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The 200 Areas NPL sites consist of the 200 West and 200 Eastmore » Areas (Figure 1-1). The 200 Areas contain waste management facilities, inactive irradiated fuel reprocessing facilities, and the 200 North Area (formerly used for interim storage and staging of irradiated fuel). Several waste sites in the 600 Area, located near the 200 Areas, also are included in the 200 Areas NPL site. The 200 Areas NPL site is in a region referred to as the 'Central Plateau' and consists of approximately 700 waste sites, excluding sites assigned to the tank farm waste management areas (WMAs). The 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (OU) consists of the groundwater located under the northern portion of the 200 West Area. Waste sources that contributed to the 200-ZP-1 OU included cribs and trenches that received liquid and/or solid waste in the past from the Z Plant and T Plant aggregate areas, WMA-T, WMA-TX/TY, and the State-Approved Land Disposal Site (SALDS). This feasibility study (FS) for the 200-ZP-1 Groundwater OU was prepared in accordance with the requirements of CERCLA decision documents. These decision documents are part of the Administrative Record for the selection of remedial actions for each waste site and present the selected remedial actions that are chosen in accordance with CERCLA, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and to the extent practicable, the NCP. This FS conforms to the conditions set forth in the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) (Ecology et al. 2003) and amendments, signed by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), EPA, and DOE Richland Operations Office (RL). This also includes Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-015-00C for completing all 200 Area non-tank farm OU pre-Record of Decision (ROD) documents on or before December 31, 2011. This FS supports the final remedy selection for the 200-ZP-1 OU, as described in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Work Plan for the 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (referred to as the 200-ZP-1 RI/FS work plan) (DOE/RL-2003-55), as agreed upon by RL and EPA. Tri-Party Agreement Milestone M-015-48B required Draft A of the 200-ZP-1 OU FS and proposed plan to be transmitted to EPA by September 30, 2007. As agreed to with EPA in the 200 Area Unit Managers Meeting Groundwater Operable Unit Status (FH-0503130), the baseline risk assessment (BRA) was delayed from inclusion in the remedial investigation (RI) report and is completed and documented in this FS. The Remedial Investigation Report for 200-ZP-1 Groundwater Operable Unit (referred to as the 200-ZP-1 RI report) (DOE/RL-2006-24) included an evaluation of human health and ecological risks and hazards. The RI report identified the radiological and chemical contaminants of potential concern (COPCs) that represent the primary risks to human health and the environment. The complete risk assessment in this FS incorporates additional analytical data from the unconfined aquifer that were obtained during or after preparation of the RI report, particularly for carbon tetrachloride and technetium-99. This FS also includes the initial results from an ongoing study of technetium-99 contamination near WMA-T, the sampling of new wells near the 216-W-LC laundry waste crib and T Plant, updated Hanford vadose zone fate and transport modeling, and groundwater particle-tracking analysis. The purpose of this FS is to develop and evaluate alternatives for remediation of the groundwater in the 200-ZP-1 OU. The alternatives considered provide a range of potential response actions (i.e., no action; institutional controls and monitored natural attenuation [MNA]; and pump-and-treat with MNA, flow-path control, and institutional controls) that are appropriate to address site-specific conditions. The alternatives are evaluated against seven of the nine CERCLA evaluation criteria defined in Guidance for Conducting Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies Under CERCLA (EPA/540/G-891004). The remaining two CERCLA criteria will be formally assessed during the public comment period. The FS evaluation serves as the basis for identifying a remedy to mitigate potential risks to human health and the environment. A preferred alternative (or alternatives) will be presented to the public for review and comment in the proposed plan.« less

Inflammatory bowel disease: An evaluation of health information on the internet

PubMed Central

Azer, Samy A; AlOlayan, Thekra I; AlGhamdi, Malak A; AlSanea, Malak A

2017-01-01

AIM To evaluate the quality and accuracy of websites written to the public on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and assess their readability level. METHODS Google™, Bing™, and Yahoo™ search engines were searched independently by three researchers in December 2014. Only English-language websites were selected on the basis of predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Researchers independently evaluated the quality of each website by using the DISCERN and the HONcode instruments. The readability levels were calculated using two formulas; the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, and the Coleman-Liau Readability Index. The agreement between the evaluators was calculated using Cohen kappa coefficient. RESULTS Eighty-four websites were finally identified. Scores varied from a minimum DISCERN score of 18 to a maximum of 68 [mean ± SD, 42.2 ± 10.7; median = 41.5, interquartile range, interquartile range (IQR) = 15.8] and a minimum score of HONcode of 0.14 and a maximum of 0.95 (mean ± SD, 0.16 ± 0.19; median = 0.45, IQR = 0.29). Most of these websites were reviewed in 2014 and 2015 (n = 51). The creators of these websites were: universities and research centers (n = 25, 30%), foundations and associations (n = 15, 18%), commercial and pharmaceutical companies (n = 25, 30%), charities and volunteer work (n = 9, 10%), and non-university educational bodies (n = 10, 12%). The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability score (mean ± SD) was 11.9 ± 2.4 and the Coleman-Liau Readability Index score was 12.6 ± 1.5. Significant correlation was found between the two readability scores (R2 = 0.509, P = 0.001). The overall agreement between evaluators measured by Cohen kappa coefficient was in the range of 0.804-0.876; rated as "Good". CONCLUSION The DISCERN and the HONcode scores of websites varied and the readability levels of most websites were above the public readability level. The study highlights the areas that need further improvement and development in patient education online materials about IBD. PMID:28321169

[Application of the Children's Impact of Event Scale (Chinese Version) on a rapid assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder among children from the Wenchuan earthquake area].

PubMed

Zhao, Gao-feng; Zhang, Qiang; Pang, Yan; Ren, Zheng-jia; Peng, Dan; Jiang, Guo-guo; Liu, Shan-ming; Chen, Ying; Geng, Ting; Zhang, Shu-sen; Yang, Yan-chun; Deng, Hong

2009-11-01

To explore the reliability and validity of the Children's Impact of Event Scale (Chinese version, CRIES-13) and to determine the value and the optimal cutoff point of the score of CRIES-13 in screening posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so as to provide evidence for PTSD prevention and identify children at risk in Wenchuan earthquake areas. A total of 253 children experienced the Wenchuan earthquake were tested through Stratified random cluster sampling. The authors examined CRIES-13's internal consistency, discriminative validity and predictive value of the cut-off. PTSD was assessed with the DSM-IV criteria. Area under the curve while sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were computed based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Optimal cutoff point was determined by the maximum of Youden index. 20.9% of the subjects were found to have met the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD 7 months after the Wenchuan earthquake accident. The Cronbach's coefficient of CRIES-13 was 0.903 and the mean inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.283 to 0.689, the correlation coefficient of the three factors with the total scale scores ranged from 0.836 to 0.868 while the correlation coefficient among the three factors ranged from 0.568 to 0.718, PTSD cases indicated much higher scores than non-PTSD cases, the Youden index reached maximum value when the total score approached 18 in CRIES-13 with sensitivity and specificity as 81.1% and 76.5% respectively. Consistency check showed that there were no significant differences between the results of CRIES-13 score >/= 32 and clinical diagnosis (Kappa = 0.529) from the screening program. CRIES-13 appeared to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing the posttraumatic stress symptoms among children after the earthquake accident in the Wenchuan area. The CRIES-13 seemed to be a useful self-rating diagnostic instrument for survivors with PTSD symptoms as a clinical concern by using a 18 cut-off in total score. Consistency check showed that there was no significant difference between the screening result of CRIES-13 score >/= 32 and clinical diagnosis.

Even one star at A level could be "too little, too late" for medical student selection

PubMed Central

McManus, Chris; Woolf, Katherine; Dacre, Jane E

2008-01-01

Background More and more medical school applicants in England and Wales are gaining the maximum grade at A level of AAA, and the UK Government has now agreed to pilot the introduction of a new A* grade. This study assessed the likely utility of additional grades of A* or of A**. Methods Statistical analysis of university selection data collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), consisting of data from 1,484,650 applicants to UCAS for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, of whom 23,628 were medical school applicants, and of these 14,510 were medical school entrants from the UK, aged under 21, and with three or four A level results. The main outcome measure was the number of points scored by applicants in their best three A level subjects. Results Censored normal distributions showed a good fit to the data using maximum likelihood modelling. If it were the case that A* grades had already been introduced, then at present about 11% of medical school applicants and 18% of entrants would achieve the maximum score of 3 A*s. Projections for the years 2010, 2015 and 2020 suggest that about 26%, 35% and 46% of medical school entrants would have 3 A* grades. Conclusion Although A* grades at A level will help in medical student selection, within a decade, a third of medical students will gain maximum grades. While revising the A level system there is a strong argument, as proposed in the Tomlinson Report, for introducing an A** grade. PMID:18394196

Global benchmarking of medical student learning outcomes? Implementation and pilot results of the International Foundations of Medicine Clinical Sciences Exam at The University of Queensland, Australia.

PubMed

Wilkinson, David; Schafer, Jennifer; Hewett, David; Eley, Diann; Swanson, Dave

2014-01-01

To report pilot results for international benchmarking of learning outcomes among 426 final year medical students at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Students took the International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) Clinical Sciences Exam (CSE) developed by the National Board of Medical Examiners, USA, as a required formative assessment. IFOM CSE comprises 160 multiple-choice questions in medicine, surgery, obstetrics, paediatrics and mental health, taken over 4.5 hours. Significant implementation issues; IFOM scores and benchmarking with International Comparison Group (ICG) scores and United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores; and correlation with UQ medical degree cumulative grade point average (GPA). Implementation as an online exam, under university-mandated conditions was successful. Mean IFOM score was 531.3 (maximum 779-minimum 200). The UQ cohort performed better (31% scored below 500) than the ICG (55% below 500). However 49% of the UQ cohort did not meet the USMLE Step 2 CK minimum score. Correlation between IFOM scores and UQ cumulative GPA was reasonable at 0.552 (p < 0.001). International benchmarking is feasible and provides a variety of useful benchmarking opportunities.

Esthetic Outcomes of Immediately Loaded Locking Taper Implants in the Anterior Maxilla: A Case Series Study.

PubMed

Lombardo, Giorgio; Corrocher, Giovanni; Pighi, Jacopo; Mascellaro, Anna; Marincola, Mauro; Nocini, Per Francesco

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the esthetic outcome of single-tooth locking taper connection implants placed in the anterior maxilla following a postextractive nonfunctional loading protocol. This preliminary clinical study involving 16 patients evaluated the results of 21 implants placed in areas with high esthetic value. For each implant the pink esthetic score, white esthetic score, cumulative survival rate, and health status of peri-implant tissues were evaluated. The cumulative survival rate was 100% 2 years after prosthetic loading, and the mean total pink esthetic score/white esthetic score was 16.9 ± 1.14 on a maximum value of 20. There was excellent plaque control in all patients, and inflammation indices were within the norm. Within the limits of this study, this immediate nonfunctional loading protocol seems to be a successful procedure esthetically and for the maintenance of peri-implant soft tissues.

7 CFR 4280.112 - Evaluation of grant applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... primarily for self-use by the agricultural producer or rural small business and will provide energy.... (D) Design and engineering (maximum score of 30 points). The applicant has described the design, engineering, and testing needed for the proposed project. The description supports that the system will be...

7 CFR 4280.112 - Evaluation of grant applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... primarily for self-use by the agricultural producer or rural small business and will provide energy.... (D) Design and engineering (maximum score of 30 points). The applicant has described the design, engineering, and testing needed for the proposed project. The description supports that the system will be...

KEY COMPARISON: CCEM.RF-K9: International comparison of thermal noise standards between 12.4 GHz and 18 GHz (GT-RF/99-1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allal, Djamel; Achkar, Joseph

2006-01-01

An international comparison of thermal noise-power measurements has been carried out among five national metrology institutes between 12.4 GHz and 18 GHz. Four transfer standards were measured. The following national institutes participated: BNM-LCIE (France), NPL (United Kingdom), PTB (Germany), NIST (United States of America) and VNIIFTRI (Russia). The Bureau National de Métrologie-Laboratoire Central des Industries Electriques (France) acted as the pilot laboratory for the comparison. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCEM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

Public-health assessment for Old City of York Landfill, Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, rRgion 3. CERCLIS No. PAD980692420. Final report

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

Not Available

1992-06-19

The Old City of York Landfill National Priority List (NPL) site is adjacent to South Road, approximately two miles southeast of the borough of Seven Valleys in Springfield Township, York County, Pennsylvania. Site soils, groundwater, springs, seeps, and collection vaults were contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds. Human exposure could occur through ingestion or dermal absorption of site contaminants from the aforementioned media. The population at potential risk includes children, hunters, hikers, or other trespassers on the site who may come into direct contact with contaminated site soils. However, environmental media associated with the site appear minimally affected bymore » the landfill. The site represents no apparent public health hazard because there is no evidence of trespassing on the site, and because nearby residents have been provided municipal water.« less

PREFACE: 13th International Conference on Metrology and Properties of Engineering Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leach, Richard

2011-08-01

The 13th International Conference on Metrology and Properties of Engineering Surfaces focused on the progress in surface metrology, surface characterisation instrumentation and properties of engineering surfaces. The conference provided an international forum for academics, industrialists and engineers from different disciplines to meet and exchange their ideas, results and latest research. The conference was held at Twickenham Stadium, situated approximately six miles from Heathrow Airport and approximately three miles from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). This was the thirteenth in the very successful series of conferences, which have firmly established surface topography as a new and exciting interdisciplinary field of scientific and technological studies. Scientific Themes: Surface, Micro and Nano Metrology Measurement and Instrumentation Metrology for MST Devices Freeform Surface Measurement and Characterisation Uncertainty, Traceability and Calibration AFM/SPM Metrology Tribology and Wear Phenomena Functional Applications Stylus and Optical Instruments

The results of an ecological risk assessment screening at the Idaho National Engineering`s waste area group 2

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

VanHorn, R.

1995-11-01

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) is a Department of Energy (DOE) facility located in southeastern Idaho and occupies approximately 890 square miles on the northwestern portion of the eastern Snake River Plain. INEL has been devoted to nuclear energy research and related activities since its establishment in 1949. In the process of fulfilling this mission, wastes were generated, including radioactive and hazardous materials. Most materials were effectively stored or disposed of, however, some release of contaminants to the environment has occurred. For this reason, the INEL was listed by the US environmental Protection Agency on the National Priorities Listmore » (NPL), in November, 1989. This report describes the results of an ecological risk assessment performed for the Waste Area Groups 2 (WAG 2) at the INEL. It also summarizes the performance of screening level ecological risk assessments (SLERA).« less

Electronic structure robustness and design rules for 2D colloidal heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Audrey; Livache, Clément; Ithurria, Sandrine; Lhuillier, Emmanuel

2018-01-01

Among the colloidal quantum dots, 2D nanoplatelets present exceptionally narrow optical features. Rationalizing the design of heterostructures of these objects is of utmost interest; however, very little work has been focused on the investigation of their electronic properties. This work is organized into two main parts. In the first part, we use 1D solving of the Schrödinger equation to extract the effective masses for nanoplatelets (NPLs) of CdSe, CdS, and CdTe and the valence band offset for NPL core/shell of CdSe/CdS. In the second part, using the determined parameters, we quantize how the spectra of the CdSe/CdS heterostructure get affected by (i) the application of an electric field and (ii) by the presence of a dull interface. We also propose design strategies to make the heterostructure even more robust.

A New Look at the Structural and Magnetic Properties of Potassium Neptunate K2NpO4 Combining XRD, XANES Spectroscopy, and Low-Temperature Heat Capacity.

PubMed

Smith, Anna L; Colineau, Eric; Griveau, Jean-Christophe; Popa, Karin; Kauric, Guilhem; Martin, Philippe; Scheinost, Andreas C; Cheetham, Anthony K; Konings, Rudy J M

2017-05-15

The physicochemical properties of the potassium neptunate K 2 NpO 4 have been investigated in this work using X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy at the Np-L 3 edge, and low-temperature heat capacity measurements. A Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure is reported for the first time. The Np(VI) valence state has been confirmed by the XANES data, and the absorption edge threshold of the XANES spectrum has been correlated to the Mössbauer isomer shift value reported in the literature. The standard entropy and heat capacity of K 2 NpO 4 have been derived at 298.15 K from the low-temperature heat capacity data. The latter suggest the existence of a magnetic ordering transition around 25.9 K, most probably of the ferromagnetic type.

Long Term Uncertainty Investigations of 1 MN Force Calibration Machine at NPL, India (NPLI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Rajesh; Kumar, Harish; Kumar, Anil; Vikram

2012-01-01

The present paper is an attempt to study the long term uncertainty of 1 MN hydraulic multiplication system (HMS) force calibration machine (FCM) at the National Physical Laboratory, India (NPLI), which is used for calibration of the force measuring instruments in the range of 100 kN - 1 MN. The 1 MN HMS FCM was installed at NPLI in 1993 and was built on the principle of hydraulic amplifications of dead weights. The best measurement capability (BMC) of the machine is ± 0.025% (k = 2) and it is traceable to national standards by means of precision force transfer standards (FTS). The present study discusses the uncertainty variations of the 1 MN HMS FCM over the years and describes the other parameters in detail, too. The 1 MN HMS FCM was calibrated in the years 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and the results have been reported.

Health assessment for Harvey and Knott Drum National Priorities List (NPL) Site, New Castle County, Delaware, Region 3. CERCLIS No. DED980713093. Final report

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

Not Available

The Harvey Knott Drum National Priorities List site, located near Kirkwood in New Castle County, Delaware, is an inactive landfill that had received sanitary, municipal and industrial wastes. Contaminants released from the site include heavy metals and organic compounds and have entered groundwater, soils, sediments, and surface waters. The principal concern is that contaminated groundwater may migrate to off-site domestic, public, and agricultural water supply wells. Also, contaminants in off-site surface water and sediments pose some concern for recreational use and consumption of fish. Off-site contaminated soils near the west property line may be a threat to persons that trespassmore » into that area. The site is of potential health concern because of the risk to human health resulting from possible exposure to hazardous substances at concentrations that may result in adverse health effects.« less

Public health assessment for El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Santa Ana, Orange County, California, Region 9. CERCLIS No. CA6170023208. Final report

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

Not Available

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is in Orange County, California, near the city of Irvine. The Marine Corps established El Toro in 1943, and it currently serves as the center for marine aviation operations on the Pacific Coast. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was proposed for listing on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 because past operations and disposal practices contaminated local groundwater. Agricultural farm workers and well operators are exposed to contaminants in groundwater through unintentional ingestion of contaminated groundwater, dermal contact with contaminated groundwater, and inhalation of aerosolized groundwater contaminants. Future exposure could occur throughmore » two potable water wells that are located 10 miles downgradient of the contaminant plume. At the current rate of contaminant migration, those wells will be affected in one and a half to five years.« less

Effect of heterogeneity and assumed mode of inheritance on lod scores.

PubMed

Durner, M; Greenberg, D A

1992-02-01

Heterogeneity is a major factor in many common, complex diseases and can confound linkage analysis. Using computer-simulated heterogeneous data we tested what effect unlinked families have on a linkage analysis when heterogeneity is not taken into account. We created 60 data sets of 40 nuclear families each with different proportions of linked and unlinked families and with different modes of inheritance. The ascertainment probability was 0.05, the disease had a penetrance of 0.6, and the recombination fraction for the linked families was zero. For the analysis we used a variety of assumed modes of inheritance and penetrances. Under these conditions we looked at the effect of the unlinked families on the lod score, the evaluation of the mode of inheritance, and the estimate of penetrance and of the recombination fraction in the linked families. 1. When the analysis was done under the correct mode of inheritance for the linked families, we found that the mode of inheritance of the unlinked families had minimal influence on the highest maximum lod score (MMLS) (i.e., we maximized the maximum lod score with respect to penetrance). Adding sporadic families decreased the MMLS less than adding recessive or dominant unlinked families. 2. The mixtures of dominant linked families with unlinked families always led to a higher MMLS when analyzed under the correct (dominant) mode of inheritance than when analyzed under the incorrect mode of inheritance. In the mixtures with recessive linked families, assuming the correct mode of inheritance generally led to a higher MMLS, but we observed broad variation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Multimodal impairment-based physical therapy for the treatment of patients with post-concussion syndrome: A retrospective analysis on safety and feasibility.

PubMed

Grabowski, Patrick; Wilson, John; Walker, Alyssa; Enz, Dan; Wang, Sijian

2017-01-01

Demonstrate implementation, safety and feasibility of multimodal, impairment-based physical therapy (PT) combining vestibular/oculomotor and cervical rehabilitation with sub-symptom threshold exercise for the treatment of patients with post-concussion syndrome (PCS). University hospital outpatient sports medicine facility. Twenty-five patients (12-20 years old) meeting World Health Organization criteria for PCS following sport-related concussion referred for supervised PT consisting of sub-symptom cardiovascular exercise, vestibular/oculomotor and cervical spine rehabilitation. Retrospective cohort. Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) total score, maximum symptom-free heart rate (SFHR) during graded exercise testing (GXT), GXT duration, balance error scoring system (BESS) score, and number of adverse events. Patients demonstrated a statistically significant decreasing trend (p < 0.01) for total PCSS scores (pre-PT M = 18.2 (SD = 14.2), post-PT M = 9.1 (SD = 10.8), n = 25). Maximum SFHR achieved on GXT increased 23% (p < 0.01, n = 14), and BESS errors decreased 52% (p < 0.01, n = 13). Two patients reported mild symptom exacerbation with aerobic exercise at home, attenuated by adjustment of the home exercise program. Multimodal, impairment-based PT is safe and associated with diminishing PCS symptoms. This establishes feasibility for future clinical trials to determine viable treatment approaches to reduce symptoms and improve function while avoiding negative repercussions of physical inactivity and premature return to full activity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Schizophrenia: A genome scan targets chromosomes 3p and 8p as potential sites of susceptibility genes

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

Pulver, A.E.; Lasseter, V.K.; Kasch, L.

Using a systematically ascertained sample of 57 families, each having 2 or more members with a consensus diagnosis of schizophrenia (DSM-III-R criteria), we have carried out linkage studies of 520 loci, covering approximately 70% of the genome for susceptibility loci for schizophrenia. A two-stage strategy based on lod score thresholds from simulation studies of our sample identified regions for further exploration. In each region, a dense map of highly informative dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms (heterozygosity greater than .70) was analyzed using dominant, recessive, and {open_quotes}affected only{close_quotes} models and nonparametric sib pair identity-by-descent methods. For one region, 8p22-p21, affected sib-pair analyses gavemore » a P value = .0001, corresponding to a lod score approximately equal to 3.00. For 8p22-p21, the maximum two-point lod score occurred using the {open_quotes}affected only{close_quotes} recessive model (Z{sub max} = 2.35; {theta}{sub M} = {theta}{sub F}); allowing for a constant sex difference in recombination fractions found in reference pedigrees, Z{sub max} = 2.78 ({theta}{sub M}/{theta}{sub F} = 3). For a second region, 3p26-p24, the maximum two-point lod score was 2.34 ({open_quotes}affected only{close_quotes} dominant model), and the affected sib-pair P value was .01. These two regions are worthy of further exploration as potential sites of susceptibility genes for schizophrenia. 59 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Examining perceived and actual diabetes knowledge among nurses working in a tertiary hospital.

PubMed

Alotaibi, Abdulellah; Gholizadeh, Leila; Al-Ganmi, Ali; Perry, Lin

2017-06-01

With the worldwide increase in the incidence and prevalence of diabetes, there has been an increase in the scope and scale of nursing care and education required for patients with diabetes. The high prevalence of diabetes in Saudi Arabia makes this a particular priority for this country. The aim of this study was to examine nurses' perceived and actual knowledge of diabetes and its care and management in Saudi Arabia. A convenience sample of 423 nurses working in Prince Sultan Medical Military City in Saudi Arabia was surveyed in this descriptive, cross-sectional study. Perceived knowledge was assessed using the Diabetes Self-Report Tool, while the Diabetes Basic Knowledge Tool was used to assess the actual knowledge of participants. The nurses generally had a positive view of their diabetes knowledge, with a mean score (SD) of 46.9 (6.1) (of maximum 60) for the Diabetes Self-Report Tool. Their actual knowledge scores ranged from 2 to 35 with a mean (SD) score of 25.4 (6.2) (of maximum of 49). Nurses' perceived and actual knowledge of diabetes varied according to their demographic and practice details. Perceived competency, current provision of diabetes care, education level and attendance at any diabetes education programs predicted perceived knowledge; these factors, with gender predicted, with actual diabetes knowledge scores. In this multi-ethnic workforce, findings indicated a significant gap between participants' perceived and actual knowledge. Factors predictive of high levels of knowledge provide pointers to ways to improve diabetes knowledge amongst nurses. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cross-sectional study on awareness and knowledge of torture investigation and documentation among Greek doctors and senior medical students.

PubMed

Orfanou, Christina; Tsiamis, Costas; Karamagioli, Evika; Pikouli, Anastasia; Terzidis, Agis; Pikoulis, Emmanuel

2018-06-05

Doctors in Greece face the possibility of encountering a person that has suffered torture, especially since the high rates of refugees' and migrants' inflows that took place over the last years. In order to assess the awareness and the knowledge of doctors and senior medical students in Greece regarding a manual on effective investigation and documentation of torture such as Istanbul Protocol (official United Nation document since 1999), a cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured anonymous questionnaire. The sample was doctors practicing in public hospitals in Greece, doctors volunteering at a non-governmental organization (NGO) and undergraduate medical students in their final year of studies in the Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23, using descriptive statistics and statistical significance tests.In a total of 289 participants, the mean total score of Istanbul Protocol knowledge was 4.43 ± 1.104 (the maximum possible score was 10) and the mean total score of Istanbul Protocol awareness was 2.04 ± 1.521 (the maximum possible score was 10). The most important conclusion was that among doctors and senior medical students, there seem to be knowledge, awareness, and information deficit about Istanbul Protocol and several issues relating to torture. The overall research outcome highlights the need for the development of a relevant informative/educational program, in order to cover the corresponding existing needs of the population of doctors in Greece.

The quality of the educational environment in a medical college in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Altemani, Abdullah H; Merghani, Tarig H

2017-04-14

The study aimed to examine the quality of the educational environment in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and to compare between male and female students using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM). We utilized a cross-sectional survey design.  Participants were 221 medical students (96 males and 125 females) from all classes (1st to 6th year). Each participant responded to a translated version of the DREEM questionnaire that measures five domains: students' perception of learning (SPL), students' perception of teachers (SPT), students' academic self-perception (SASP), students' perception of atmosphere (SPA), and students' social self-perception (SSSP). Numerical differences between male and female students were analyzed using the Student's t-test. The global average score of female students was significantly higher (105.0±22.9, 53% of maximum score) than male students (98.3±24.3, 49% of maximum score; t (219) = -2.119, p= 0.035). The major gender difference was found in the SPT domain, with a higher score in the females (60%) compared to the male (50%) cohort (t (219) = -5.519, p = 0.000). Differences in the other domains were statistically insignificant. Out of the 50 DREEM items, the items that need attention were 32 and 23 on the male and the female sides respectively. The perception of the educational environment by the female students is significantly better than male students. The study provides valuable information about many educational problems that need attention. DREEM-based surveys are highly recommended for periodic monitoring of the educational environment.

Assessment of postoperative outcomes of hypospadias repair with validated questionnaires.

PubMed

Liu, Mona M Y; Holland, Andrew J A; Cass, Danny T

2015-12-01

A standardized assessment for the optimal repair of hypospadias remains elusive. This study utilized validated questionnaires to assess the postoperative functional, cosmetic, and psychosocial outcomes of hypospadias repair. 172 patients who underwent hypospadias repair under the care of a single surgeon were identified. 25 agreed for follow-up using the validated questionnaires of Hypospadias Objective Scoring Evaluation (HOSE), Pediatric Penile Perception Scale (PPPS), and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™4.0). Mean follow-up was 59months postoperatively (range 7-113months). Techniques used included tubularized incised plate urethroplasty, meatal advancement and glanuloplasty, and a 2-stage repair. 23 of 25 patients achieved a HOSE score of 14 or more (maximum of 16). The PPPS scores correlated with severity of the hypospadias. Those with glanular hypospadias (mean score=10) scored higher than those with coronal (mean score=9) and penile/penoscrotal hypospadias (mean score=7). There was no correlation between PedsQL™4.0 scores and the severity of hypospadias or procedure used. Validated questionnaires revealed generally good functional, cosmetic, and early psychosocial outcomes after hypospadias repair. The use of validated questionnaires in routine follow-up sessions may facilitate objective assessment of both functional outcomes and patient satisfaction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Compliance with the CURB-65 score and the consequences of non-implementation.

PubMed

Guo, Q; Li, H-Y; Zhou, Y-P; Li, M; Chen, X-K; Liu, H; Peng, H-L; Yu, H-Q; Chen, X; Liu, N; Liang, L-H; Zhao, Q-Z; Jiang, M

2011-12-01

The CURB-65 (confusion, urea >7 mmol/l, respiratory rate ≥ 30 breaths/min, low blood pressure and age ≥ 65 years) score is a simple, well-validated tool for the assessment of severity in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It is unknown whether it is used routinely in China. To determine the frequency of use of the CURB-65 score in routine hospital practice and the consequences of non-implementation. A retrospective analysis of medical records from 1230 in-patients with CAP in a Chinese medical college-affiliated hospital. No CAP patient underwent the CURB-65 test at admission. Based on the British Thoracic Society guidelines, the 716 (58.2%) in-patients with a CURB65 score of 0 and the 402 (32.7%) in-patients with CURB-65 score of 1 should have received ambulatory treatment, whereas the 14 (1.2%) patients with CURB65 scores of ≥ 3 should have been admitted to the critical care unit. The maximum excess total annual costs for managing CAP patients with CURB-65 scores of 0 and 1 were estimated at respectively US$94 383.12 and US$66 313.92 in the hospital. The CURB-65 scoring tool in patients with CAP was not applied in routine hospital practice, resulting in inappropriate hospitalisation and excess costs.

Fold assessment for comparative protein structure modeling.

PubMed

Melo, Francisco; Sali, Andrej

2007-11-01

Accurate and automated assessment of both geometrical errors and incompleteness of comparative protein structure models is necessary for an adequate use of the models. Here, we describe a composite score for discriminating between models with the correct and incorrect fold. To find an accurate composite score, we designed and applied a genetic algorithm method that searched for a most informative subset of 21 input model features as well as their optimized nonlinear transformation into the composite score. The 21 input features included various statistical potential scores, stereochemistry quality descriptors, sequence alignment scores, geometrical descriptors, and measures of protein packing. The optimized composite score was found to depend on (1) a statistical potential z-score for residue accessibilities and distances, (2) model compactness, and (3) percentage sequence identity of the alignment used to build the model. The accuracy of the composite score was compared with the accuracy of assessment by single and combined features as well as by other commonly used assessment methods. The testing set was representative of models produced by automated comparative modeling on a genomic scale. The composite score performed better than any other tested score in terms of the maximum correct classification rate (i.e., 3.3% false positives and 2.5% false negatives) as well as the sensitivity and specificity across the whole range of thresholds. The composite score was implemented in our program MODELLER-8 and was used to assess models in the MODBASE database that contains comparative models for domains in approximately 1.3 million protein sequences.

Validity and reliability of the infant breastfeeding assessment tool, the mother baby assessment tool, and the LATCH scoring system.

PubMed

Altuntas, Nilgun; Turkyilmaz, Canan; Yildiz, Havva; Kulali, Ferit; Hirfanoglu, Ibrahim; Onal, Esra; Ergenekon, Ebru; Koç, Esin; Atalay, Yıldız

2014-05-01

We aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Infant Breastfeeding Assessment Tool (IBFAT), the Mother Baby Assessment (MBA) Tool, and the LATCH scoring system. Mothers who delivered healthy, full-term infants in the Obstetrics & Gynecology Service of Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, between December 2013 and January 2014 and their infants were included in the study. Forty-six randomly selected breastfeeding sessions were monitored and scored simultaneously by three researchers (Raters 1, 2, and 3) using LATCH, IBFAT, and the MBA Tool. Researchers put the score sheets in an envelope in order to hide them from each other. The compatibility of the scores given by three researchers was assessed by statistical methods. We found positive and significant correlation coefficients between 0.81 to 0.88 for the total MBA score, between 0.90 to 0.95 for the total IBFAT score, and between 0.85 to 0.91 for the total LATCH score. Correlation coefficients testing these three tools ranged from 0.71 to 0.88, with the minimum value being noted for the correlation between LATCH and IBFAT scores and the maximum value being noted for the correlation between LATCH and MBA scores. We found positive and significant correlations between researchers' scores for 46 observations using the three assessment tools. This study showed that these above-mentioned tools were compatible for the assessment of the efficiency of breastfeeding.

7 CFR 4280.117 - Evaluation of RES and EEI grant applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... intended primarily for self-use by the agricultural producer or rural small business and will provide.... (D) Design and engineering (maximum score of 30 points). The applicant has described the design, engineering, and testing needed for the proposed project. The description supports that the system will be...

7 CFR 4280.117 - Evaluation of RES and EEI grant applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... intended primarily for self-use by the agricultural producer or rural small business and will provide.... (D) Design and engineering (maximum score of 30 points). The applicant has described the design, engineering, and testing needed for the proposed project. The description supports that the system will be...

7 CFR 4280.117 - Evaluation of RES and EEI grant applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... intended primarily for self-use by the agricultural producer or rural small business and will provide.... (D) Design and engineering (maximum score of 30 points). The applicant has described the design, engineering, and testing needed for the proposed project. The description supports that the system will be...

7 CFR 3406.20 - Evaluation criteria for research proposals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... current faculty in the natural or social sciences; provide a better research environment, state-of-the-art... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Evaluation criteria for research proposals. 3406.20... Research Proposal § 3406.20 Evaluation criteria for research proposals. The maximum score a research...

Estimating the Parameters of the Beta-Binomial Distribution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilcox, Rand R.

1979-01-01

For some situations the beta-binomial distribution might be used to describe the marginal distribution of test scores for a particular population of examinees. Several different methods of approximating the maximum likelihood estimate were investigated, and it was found that the Newton-Raphson method should be used when it yields admissable…

Development of a transient expression assay for detecting environmental oestrogens in zebrafish and medaka embryos

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Oestrogenic contaminants are widespread in the aquatic environment and have been shown to induce adverse effects in both wildlife (most notably in fish) and humans, raising international concern. Available detecting and testing systems are limited in their capacity to elucidate oestrogen signalling pathways and physiological impacts. Here we developed a transient expression assay to investigate the effects of oestrogenic chemicals in fish early life stages and to identify target organs for oestrogenic effects. To enhance the response sensitivity to oestrogen, we adopted the use of multiple tandem oestrogen responsive elements (EREc38) in a Tol2 transposon mediated Gal4ff-UAS system. The plasmid constructed (pTol2_ERE-TATA-Gal4ff), contains three copies of oestrogen response elements (3ERE) that on exposure to oestrogen induces expression of Gal4ff which this in turn binds Gal4-responsive Upstream Activated Sequence (UAS) elements, driving the expression of a second reporter gene, EGFP (Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein). Results The response of our construct to oestrogen exposure in zebrafish embryos was examined using a transient expression assay. The two plasmids were injected into 1–2 cell staged zebrafish embryos, and the embryos were exposed to various oestrogens including the natural steroid oestrogen 17ß-oestradiol (E2), the synthetic oestrogen 17α- ethinyloestradiol (EE2), and the relatively weak environmental oestrogen nonylphenol (NP), and GFP expression was examined in the subsequent embryos using fluorescent microscopy. There was no GFP expression detected in unexposed embryos, but specific and mosaic expression of GFP was detected in the liver, heart, somite muscle and some other tissue cells for exposures to steroid oestrogen treatments (EE2; 10 ng/L, E2; 100 ng/L, after 72 h exposures). For the NP exposures, GFP expression was observed at 10 μg NP/L after 72 h (100 μg NP/L was toxic to the fish). We also demonstrate that our construct works in medaka, another model fish test species, suggesting the transient assay is applicable for testing oestrogenic chemicals in fish generally. Conclusion Our results indicate that the transient expression assay system can be used as a rapid integrated testing system for environmental oestrogens and to detect the oestrogenic target sites in developing fish embryos. PMID:22726887

Hydrogen bonded 1D-3D supramolecular structures from Benzylamine and organic acidic components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Xingjun; Li, XiaoLiang; Jin, Shouwen; Hu, Kaikai; Guo, Jianzhong; Guo, Ming; Xu, Weiqiang; Wang, Daqi

2018-03-01

Cocrystallization of the commonly available organic amine, benzylamine, with a series of organic acids afforded a total of seven organic salts with the compositions: (benzylamine)2: (p-nitrophenol)2: (H2O) (1) [(HL)2+⋯(npl-)2⋯(H2O), npl- = p-nitrophenolate], (benzylamine): (4-tert-butylbenzoic acid) (2) [(HL+)⋯(tba-), tba- = 4-tert-butylbenzoate], (benzylamine): (3,4-dichlorobenzoic acid) (3) [(HL+)⋯dcba-), dcba- = 3,4-dichlorobenzoate], (benzylamine): (2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid) (4) [(HL+)⋯(dhba-), dhba- = 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate], (benzylamine): (2-bromo-but-2-enedioic acid) (5) [(HL+)⋯(Hbba-), Hbba- = 2-bromo-hydrogenbut-2-enedioate], (benzylamine): (2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) (6) [(HL+)⋯(Hpdc-), Hpdc- = 2,6-pyridine hydrogendicarboxylate], and (benzylamine)2: (3-nitrophthalic acid): 2(H2O) (7) [(HL+)2⋯(npa2-)⋯(H2O)2, npa2- = 3-nitrophthalate]. The seven salts have been characterised by X-ray diffraction analysis, IR, and elemental analysis, and the melting points of all the salts were also reported. And their structural and supramolecular aspects are fully analyzed. The results reveal that among the seven investigated crystals the NH2 in the benzylamine are protonated when the organic acids are deprotonated, and the crystal packing is interpreted in terms of the strong charge-assisted Nsbnd H⋯O hydrogen bond between the NH3+ and deprotonated acidic groups. Except the Nsbnd H⋯O hydrogen bond, the Osbnd H⋯O hydrogen bonds (charge assisted or neutral) were also found at the salts 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Further analysis of the crystal packing of the salts indicated that a different family of additional CHsbnd O/CH2sbnd O, CH-π/CH2-π, Cπ-Cπ, Osbnd O, O-Cπ, O-π, and Cl-π associations also contribute to the stabilization and expansion of the total high-dimensional framework structures. For the coexistence of the various weak nonbonding interactions, these structures adopted a variety of supramolecular synthons of R12(4), R12(5), R21(5), R22(6), R22(10), R32(6), R32(9), R33(9), R42(8), R42(9), R43(10), R44(12), R44(20), R52(9), and R64(12).

A visual system for scoring body condition of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

PubMed

Wijeyamohan, Shanmugasundaram; Treiber, Kibby; Schmitt, Dennis; Santiapillai, Charles

2015-01-01

A body condition score (BCS) may provide information on the health or production potential of an animal; it may also reflect the suitability of the environment to maintain an animal population. Thus assessing the BCS of Asian elephants is important for their management. There is a need for a robust BCS applicable to both wild and captive elephants of all age categories based on the minimum and maximum possible subcutaneous body fat and muscle deposits. The visually based system for scoring the body condition of elephants presented here satisfies these criteria and is quick, inexpensive, non-invasive and user-friendly in the field. The BCS scale correlates (P < 0.05) with morphometric indices such as weight, girth, and skin fold measures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Long-term therapeutic efficacy of photo-selective vaporization of prostate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arum, Carl-Jørgen; Muller, Camilla; Romundstad, Pal; Stokkan, Inger; Mjønes, Jan

2010-02-01

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the long term therapeutic efficacy of 80 watt photo-selective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) in patients suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to prostatic obstruction. MATERIAL & METHODS: 150 unselected patients at the average age 73 (range 51-92) and a mean American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 2.4 (median 2.0), of whom 33% were medicated with acetylsalicylic acid and 5% were anticoagulated with warfarin. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were the same as for TUR-P at our institution. First patient was operated March 2004 and yearly follow-up of all patients has been attempted for 5 years. Follow-up variables have included yearly creatinine, PSA, IPSS, ØOL, post-void residual urin and maximum/average urine flow rate. RESULTS: At 12 and 24 months postoperatively, the following parameters were significantly (p<0.001) improved: trans-rectal ultrasound, international prostate symptom score, quality of life score, post-void residual urine volume, flow max/average, opening pressure, pressure @ flow-max, and micturition resistance. At 48 and 60 months creatinine, PSA, IPSS, ØOL, post-void residual urin and maximum/average urine flow rates were still significantly (p<0.001) improved compared to pre-operative values. CONCLUSION: Up to 5 year follow-up reveals that 80 watt PVP provides significant and stable symptom relief as well as objective improvement in residual urine and flowmetric outcomes.

A comparison of the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave and ultrasound therapy in the management of heel pain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheing, G. L. Y.; Chang, H.; Lo, S. K.

2007-11-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and ultrasound therapy (US) for managing heel pain. Thirty-seven subjects received either: ESWT (once a week), US (three times a week), or CONTROL (no treatment) for 3 consecutive weeks and were followed-up for 3 more weeks. A visual analogue scale (VAS), the maximum tolerable duration for prolonged walking or standing, and the Mayo clinical scoring system (MCSS) were evaluated. Mixed models treating baseline measures as covariates were adopted for statistical analysis. By week 3, intensity of heel pain on palpation was reduced by 37% (VAS score from 7.5 to 4.6) in the ESWT group, 24% (from 5.3 to 4.2) in the US group, and increased by 3% (5.6-5.7) in the control group; this difference was significant after adjusting for baseline VAS scores ( p = 0.022). The improvements in the maximum tolerable duration of prolonged walking or standing was only significant in the ESWT group (157% increase, p = 0.043) but not the other two groups. Both active treatment groups maintained the treatment effect at the three-week follow-up. We conclude that ESWT is potentially more effective in reducing heel pain than ultrasound therapy but additional evidence is needed due to the various limitations of the study.

[Cleft lip, alveolar and palate sequelae. Proposal of new alveolar score by the Alveolar Cleft Score (ACS) classification].

PubMed

Molé, C; Simon, E

2015-06-01

The management of cleft lip, alveolar and palate sequelae remains problematic today. To optimize it, we tried to establish a new clinical index for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Seven tissue indicators, that we consider to be important in the management of alveolar sequelae, are listed by assigning them individual scores. The final score, obtained by adding together the individual scores, can take a low, high or maximum value. We propose a new classification (ACS: Alveolar Cleft Score) that guides the therapeutic team to a prognosis approach, in terms of the recommended surgical and prosthetic reconstruction, the type of medical care required, and the preventive and supportive therapy to establish. Current studies are often only based on a standard radiological evaluation of the alveolar bone height at the cleft site. However, the gingival, the osseous and the cellular areas bordering the alveolar cleft sequelae induce many clinical parameters, which should be reflected in the morphological diagnosis, to better direct the surgical indications and the future prosthetic requirements, and to best maintain successful long term aesthetic and functional results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Mometasone Furoate Effect on Acute Skin Toxicity in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy: A Phase 3 Double-Blind, Randomized Trial from the North Central Cancer Treatment Group N06C4

PubMed Central

Miller, Robert C.; Schwartz, David J.; Sloan, Jeff A.; Griffin, Patricia C.; Deming, Richard L.; Anders, Jon C.; Stoffel, Thomas J.; Haselow, Robert E.; Schaefer, Paul L.; Bearden, James D.; Atherton, Pamela J.; Loprinzi, Charles L.; Martenson, James A.

2010-01-01

Purpose A 2-arm, double-blinded, randomized trial to evaluate the effect of 0.1% mometasone furoate (MMF) on acute skin-related toxicity in patients undergoing breast or chest wall radiotherapy. Methods and Materials Patients with ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive breast carcinoma receiving external beam radiotherapy to breast or chest wall were randomly assigned to daily apply 0.1% MMF or placebo cream. Primary study end point was provider-assessed maximum grade of Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 3.0 radiation dermatitis. Secondary end points included provider-assessed CTCAE grade 3 or greater radiation dermatitis and adverse-event monitoring. Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures included the Skindex-16, the Skin Toxicity Assessment Tool, a Symptom Experience Diary, and quality of life self-assessment. Assessment was performed at baseline, weekly during radiotherapy, and for 2 weeks after radiotherapy. Results In total, 176 patients were enrolled from September 21, 2007 through December 7, 2007. The provider-assessed primary end point showed no difference in mean maximum grade of radiation dermatitis by treatment arm (1.2 for MMF vs 1.3 for placebo; P=.18). CTCAE toxicity was greater in placebo group (P=.04), primarily from pruritus. For PRO measures, the maximum Skindex-16 score for MMF group showed less itching (P=.008), less irritation (P=.01), less symptom persistence or recurrence (P=.02), and less annoyance with skin problems (P=.04); the group's maximum Skin Toxicity Assessment Tool score showed less burning sensation (P=.02) and less itching (P=.002). Conclusion Patients receiving daily MMF during radiotherapy may experience reduced acute skin toxicity in comparison to placebo. PMID:20800381

Assessing FOXO1A as a potential susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes and obesity in American Indians.

PubMed

Muller, Yunhua L; Hanson, Robert L; Wiessner, Gregory; Nieboer, Lori; Kobes, Sayuko; Piaggi, Paolo; Abdussamad, Mahdi; Okani, Chidinma; Knowler, William C; Bogardus, Clifton; Baier, Leslie J

2015-10-01

A prior genome-wide association study (GWAS) in Pima Indians identified variation within FOXO1A that modestly associated with early-onset (onset age < 25 years) type 2 diabetes (T2D). FOXO1A encodes the forkhead transcription factor involved in pancreatic β-cell growth and hypothalamic energy balance; therefore, FOXO1A was analyzed as a candidate gene for T2D and obesity in a population-based sample of 7,710 American Indians. Tag SNPs in/near FOXO1A (minor allele frequency ≥ 0.05) were analyzed for association with T2D at early onset (n = 1,060) and all ages (n = 7,710) and with insulin secretion (n = 298). SNPs were also analyzed for association with maximum body mass index (BMI) in adulthood (n = 5,918), maximum BMI z-score in childhood (n = 5,350), and % body fat (n = 555). An intronic SNP rs2297627 associated with early-onset T2D [OR = 1.34 (1.13-1.58), P = 8.7 × 10(-4)] and T2D onset at any age [OR = 1.19 (1.09-1.30), P = 1 × 10(-4) ]. The T2D risk allele also associated with lower acute insulin secretion (β = 0.88, as a multiplier, P = 0.02). Another intronic SNP (rs1334241, D' = 0.99, r(2) = 0.49 with rs2297627) associated with maximum adulthood BMI (β = 1.02, as a multiplier, P = 3 × 10(-5)), maximum childhood BMI z-score (β = 0.08, P = 3 × 10(-4)), and % body fat (β = 0.83%, P = 0.04). Common variation in FOXO1A may modestly affect risk for T2D and obesity in American Indians. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

Increasing the reliability of the fluid/crystallized difference score from the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test with reliable component analysis.

PubMed

Caruso, J C

2001-06-01

The unreliability of difference scores is a well documented phenomenon in the social sciences and has led researchers and practitioners to interpret differences cautiously, if at all. In the case of the Kaufman Adult and Adolescent Intelligence Test (KAIT), the unreliability of the difference between the Fluid IQ and the Crystallized IQ is due to the high correlation between the two scales. The consequences of the lack of precision with which differences are identified are wide confidence intervals and unpowerful significance tests (i.e., large differences are required to be declared statistically significant). Reliable component analysis (RCA) was performed on the subtests of the KAIT in order to address these problems. RCA is a new data reduction technique that results in uncorrelated component scores with maximum proportions of reliable variance. Results indicate that the scores defined by RCA have discriminant and convergent validity (with respect to the equally weighted scores) and that differences between the scores, derived from a single testing session, were more reliable than differences derived from equal weighting for each age group (11-14 years, 15-34 years, 35-85+ years). This reliability advantage results in narrower confidence intervals around difference scores and smaller differences required for statistical significance.

Learning styles of preclinical students in a medical college in western Nepal.

PubMed

Shankar, P R; Dubey, A K; Binu, V S; Subish, P; Deshpande, V Y

2006-01-01

Information on the learning styles of medical students are lacking in medical colleges in Nepal. Learning styles may be associated with student understanding and may predict success in examination. The present study was carried out to obtain information on learning styles and preferences for teaching of fourth semester medical students and note the association, if any, between respondents' personal characteristics and preferences for learning styles and types of teaching. The correlation between preferences for learning styles and types of teaching and performance in the second year university examination was also explored. The study was carried out during October 2003 at the Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory (ASSIST) instrument. Information on the respondents' personal characteristics was collected. Respondents had to indicate their degree of agreement with a set of statements using a modified Likert-type scale. The statements were grouped into three main learning styles and two types of teaching. The median scores among different subgroups of respondents were compared using appropriate non-parametric tests (p<0.05). Ninety-two students (92%) participated; fifty-six were male. Thirty-one respondents were Nepalese, 48 were Indians. Majority were educated in English medium schools. The median scores for deep and surface learning styles were 64 and 49 respectively (maximum score=80). The scores for strategic learning was 75.5 (maximum score=100). There was no clear preference for any particular type of teaching. Indian students used more surface apathetic learning strategies compared to others. There was a negative correlation between surface learning and marks obtained in the final examination. The students mainly used deep and strategic learning styles. Differences in preference for learning styles and types of teaching were noted according the respondents' personal characteristics. This was a preliminary study and further studies are required.

Patients presenting to an outpatient sport medicine clinic with concussion

PubMed Central

Ouellet, Jérôme; Boisvert, Leslie; Fischer, Lisa

2016-01-01

Abstract Objective To describe the characteristics of patients who presented to outpatient sport and exercise medicine clinics with concussion. Design Retrospective chart review of electronic medical records. Setting Three specialized sport and exercise medicine clinics in London, Ont. Participants A total of 283 patients presenting with concussion. Main outcome measures Data collected included demographic variables (age and sex), sport participation at the time of injury, previous medical history (including history of concussion), Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) scores, and return-to-play (RTP) variables (delay and outcome). Results The mean age of patients presenting for care was 17.6 years; 70.9% of patients were younger than 18 years of age (considered pediatric patients); 58.8% of patients were male; and 31.7% of patients had a previous history of concussion. The main sports associated with injury were hockey (40.0%), soccer (12.6%), and football (11.7%). Return to play was granted to 50.9% of patients before the 3-week mark and 80.2% of patients before 8 weeks. Total PCSS scores (maximum score was 132) and neck scores (part of the PCSS, maximum score was 6) were significantly higher in adults compared with pediatric patients (36.2 vs 27.6, P = .02, and 1.8 vs 1.2, P = .02, respectively). A significant difference was seen in RTP, with pediatric patients returning earlier than adults did (P = .04). This difference was not seen when comparing males with females (P = .07). Longer duration of follow-up did not influence RTP outcomes. Previous history of concussion was associated with restriction from contact or collision sports (P < .001). Conclusion Given the age and sex variability found in this study, as well as in previous published reports, it is important to manage each patient individually using current best available practice strategies to optimize long-term outcomes.

Effects of dexmedetomidine infusion during spinal anesthesia on hemodynamics and sedation

PubMed Central

Tarıkçı Kılıç, Ebru; Aydın, Gaye

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: We evaluated the effects of intravenous dexmedetomidine during spinal anesthesia on hemodynamics, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, sedpain, and compared them with those of saline infusion. Sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II cases were randomly divided into two groups. Patients were connected to the monitor after premedication, and spinal anesthesia was administered. Sensory and motor blockades were assessed using pinprick test and Bromage scale, respectively. Group I received dexmedetomidine infusion and Group II received saline infusion. Throughout the infusion process, hemodynamic data, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, sedation, pain, Bromage score, amnesia, bispectral index, and side effects were recorded. Postoperative hemodynamic measurements, oxygen saturation, sedation, pain scores were obtained. Sedation and pain were evaluated using the Ramsay and visual analog scales, respectively. Analgesics were administered in cases with high scores on the visual analog scale. Postoperative analgesic consumption, side effects, treatments were recorded. No significant differences were found between the groups with respect to oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, pain, and side effects in the intraoperative period. Time to onset of sensorial block, maximum sensorial block, onset of motor block, and maximum motor block; bispectral index values; and apex heartbeat until 80 min of infusion, systolic arterial blood pressure until 90 min, and diastolic arterial blood pressure until 50 min were lower, whereas amnesia and sedation levels were higher in dexmedetomidine group. Postoperative pain and analgesic requirement were not different. Apex heartbeat at 15 min and systolic arterial blood pressure at 30 min were lower and sedation scores were higher in the dexmedetomidine infusion group. We demonstrated dexmedetomidine infusion had a hemodynamic depressant effect intraoperatively whereas it had no significant effect on peripheral oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, visual analog scale scores, and side effects. Dexmedetomidine infusion enhanced motor and sensory blockade quality and induced amnesia and sedation. PMID:29457538

Patient-oriented methotrexate information sites on the Internet: a review of completeness, accuracy, format, reliability, credibility, and readability.

PubMed

Thompson, Andrew E; Graydon, Sara L

2009-01-01

With continuing use of the Internet, rheumatologists are referring patients to various websites to gain information about medications and diseases. Our goal was to develop and evaluate a Medication Website Assessment Tool (MWAT) for use by health professionals, and to explore the overall quality of methotrexate information presented on common English-language websites. Identification of websites was performed using a search strategy on the search engine Google. The first 250 hits were screened. Inclusion criteria included those English-language websites from authoritative sources, trusted medical, physicians', and common health-related websites. Websites from pharmaceutical companies, online pharmacies, and where the purpose seemed to be primarily advertisements were also included. Product monographs or technical-based web pages and web pages where the information was clearly directed at patients with cancer were excluded. Two reviewers independently scored each included web page for completeness and accuracy, format, readability, reliability, and credibility. An overall ranking was provided for each methotrexate information page. Twenty-eight web pages were included in the analysis. The average score for completeness and accuracy was 15.48+/-3.70 (maximum 24) with 10 out of 28 pages scoring 18 (75%) or higher. The average format score was 6.00+/-1.46 (maximum 8). The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level revealed an average grade level of 10.07+/-1.84, with 5 out of 28 websites written at a reading level less than grade 8; however, no web page scored at a grade 5 to 6 level. An overall ranking was calculated identifying 8 web pages as appropriate sources of accurate and reliable methotrexate information. With the enormous amount of information available on the Internet, it is important to direct patients to web pages that are complete, accurate, readable, and credible sources of information. We identified web pages that may serve the interests of both rheumatologists and patients.

Is the knowledge and attitude of physicians in Nigeria adequate for the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea?

PubMed

Ozoh, Obianuju B; Ojo, Oluwadamilola O; Iwuala, Sandra O; Akinkugbe, Ayesha O; Desalu, Olufemi O; Okubadejo, Njideka U

2017-05-01

The knowledge and attitude of doctors in Nigeria towards obstructive sleep apnea is not known. We evaluated the level of knowledge and attitude regarding OSA among resident doctors in Internal Medicine and general practitioners in Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey among doctors during continuing medical education programs was conducted. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitude (OSAKA) questionnaire was used to obtain information. Two hundred seventy-three doctors (235 resident doctors and 38 general practitioners) participated in the study. The mean knowledge score was 10.7 ± 2.6 (out of a maximum possible of 18) for all participants corresponding to 59 ± 14.4 % knowledge. There was no significant difference in the mean score of resident doctors (10.8 ± 2.5) compared to general practitioners (10.0 ± 2.8), (t = 2.6, p = 0.10). Over 70 % of the participants wrongly responded that uvuloplasty was an effective treatment and less than 40 % correctly answered that continuous positive airway pressure treatment was first line for severe obstructive sleep apnea. The mean score on the attitude segment was 3.4 ± 0.6 (maximum possible score of 5) for all participants and 3.4 ± 0.6 and 3.3 ± 0.5, respectively, for the residents and the general practitioners (p = 0.47). Increasing age was negatively associated with level of knowledge, while increasing number of years in medical practice and higher level of residency training was positively associated with higher knowledge scores. The knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea among resident doctors and general practitioners in Nigeria is inadequate. There is need to improve training on sleep disorders in Nigeria both at continuing medical education programs and during residency training.

Where's WALY? : A proof of concept study of the 'wellbeing adjusted life year' using secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data.

PubMed

Johnson, Rebecca; Jenkinson, David; Stinton, Chris; Taylor-Phillips, Sian; Madan, Jason; Stewart-Brown, Sarah; Clarke, Aileen

2016-09-08

The Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) is a measure that combines life extension and health improvement in a single score, reflecting preferences around different types of health gain. It can therefore be used to inform decision-making around allocation of health care resources to mutually exclusive options that would produce qualitatively different health benefits. A number of quality-of-life instruments can be used to calculate QALYs. The EQ-5D is one of the most commonly used, and is the preferred option for submissions to NICE ( https://www.nice.org.uk/process/pmg9/ ). However, it has limitations that might make it unsuitable for use in areas such as public and mental health where interventions may aim to improve well-being. One alternative to the QALY is a Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Year. In this study we explore the need for a Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Year measure by examining the extent to which a measure of wellbeing (the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale) maps onto the EQ-5D-3L. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from the Coventry Household Survey in which 7469 participants completed the EQ-5D-3L, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and a measure of self-rated health. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's and Spearman's correlations, linear regression, and receiver operating characteristic curves. Approximately 75 % of participants scored the maximum on the EQ-5D-3L. Those with maximum EQ-5D-3L scores reported a wide range of levels of mental wellbeing. Both the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the EQ-5D-3L were able to detect differences between those with higher and lower levels of self-reported health. Linear regression indicated that scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the EQ-5D-3L were weakly, positively correlated (with R(2) being 0.104 for the index and 0.141 for the visual analogue scale). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale maps onto the EQ-5D-3L to only a limited extent. Levels of mental wellbeing varied greatly amongst participants who had the maximum score on the EQ-5D-3L. To evaluate the relative effectiveness of interventions that impact on mental wellbeing, a new measure - a Wellbeing Adjusted Life Year - is needed.

Video teaching program on management of colostomy: Evaluation of its impact on caregivers.

PubMed

Dabas, Heena; Sharma, Kamlesh Kumari; Joshi, Poonam; Agarwala, Sandeep

2016-01-01

Care of a child having colostomy has not been institutionalized for a long time for economic and administrative reasons. After stoma formation, stoma care has to be provided to the child by caregivers at home. Hence, caregivers need to be provided with ongoing education and support, commencing from preoperative teaching to discharge from the hospital and home care. The aims of this study were to develop video-based learning resource material and to evaluate its effectiveness in terms of knowledge and skill attainment by caregivers. The study design was time series, one group pretest and post test. This was conducted among 30 caregivers attending pediatric surgery outpatients and indoor departments of a tertiary level care center. A video teaching program (VTP) related to pediatric colostomy was developed and used to teach the caregivers about colostomy care. Pretested and validated knowledge questionnaire, observational checklist, and stoma assessment scale (SAS) were used to assess the knowledge and skills of caregivers before and after the administration of VTP immediately (post test 1) after and 2 weeks (post test 2) after the intervention. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), Bonferroni correction, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. There were significant increases in knowledge (from 10.9 ± 2.5 to 16.4 ± 1.67 and 15.9 ± 4.02, P = 0.001, maximum score 20) and skill scores as assessed by the observation checklist (from 5.6 ± 2.0 to 9.8 ± 1.6 and 8.6 ± 2.1, P = 0.001, maximum score 12) immediately after and 2 weeks after the VTP. However, a decline in skills was observed at 2 weeks when compared with immediate scores, as measured by the observation checklist. There was no significant increase in the skill scores of caregivers as measured by SAS at 2 weeks compared to the immediate scores. The VTP was effective in bringing about an increase in the knowledge and skill of caregivers of children having colostomy. Therefore, video can be utilized for the counselling of caregivers of children with colostomy.

A Note on Three Statistical Tests in the Logistic Regression DIF Procedure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paek, Insu

2012-01-01

Although logistic regression became one of the well-known methods in detecting differential item functioning (DIF), its three statistical tests, the Wald, likelihood ratio (LR), and score tests, which are readily available under the maximum likelihood, do not seem to be consistently distinguished in DIF literature. This paper provides a clarifying…

Comparisons of Four Methods for Estimating a Dynamic Factor Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Zhiyong; Hamaker, Ellen L.; Nesselroade, John R.

2008-01-01

Four methods for estimating a dynamic factor model, the direct autoregressive factor score (DAFS) model, are evaluated and compared. The first method estimates the DAFS model using a Kalman filter algorithm based on its state space model representation. The second one employs the maximum likelihood estimation method based on the construction of a…

Guided implant surgery with modification of the technique involving the raising of a semicircular miniflap: A preliminary study

PubMed Central

Viña, José; Maestre, Laura; Peñarrocha, David; Balaguer, José

2012-01-01

Objective: An evaluation is made of pain, swelling and peri-implant attached mucosal width after implant-based rehabilitation involving guided surgery and a modification of the technique with the raising of a semicircular miniflap, in single and partial replacements. Study design: A case-control study was carried out. The study group consisted of 12 patients with the placement of 19 implants using a guided surgery and miniflap technique. The control group consisted of 12 patients with the placement of 22 implants using the conventional technique. Each patient scored postoperative swelling and pain by means of a visual analog scale (VAS). Attached vestibular mucosa width was evaluated 12 weeks after implant placement. Results: Twelve operations were carried out in each group. Immediate aesthetics were established for all implants of the study group. One implant failed in each group. Maximum pain was recorded after 6 hours in both groups (mean VAS score 4 and 4.9 in the study and control group, respectively). Maximum swelling was recorded after 24 hours (mean VAS score 2.5) in the study group and on the second day (mean VAS score 3.4) in the control group. The mean attached vestibular mucosa width was 2.9 mm in the study group and 3.2 mm in the control group. Conclusion: In this preliminary study, guided implant surgery with a semicircular miniflap in single and partial replacements resulted in slightly less postoperative pain and swelling than with the conventional implant technique. The attached vestibular mucosa width was greater in the control group, though the differences were very small. Key words:Guided surgery, flapless surgery, miniflap, peri-implant mucosa. PMID:22549666

Educational climate perception by preclinical and clinical medical students in five Spanish medical schools.

PubMed

Palés, Jorge; Gual, Arcadi; Escanero, Jesús; Tomás, Inmaculada; Rodríguez-de Castro, Felipe; Elorduy, Marta; Virumbrales, Montserrat; Rodríguez, Gerardo; Arce, Víctor

2015-06-08

The purpose of this study was to investigate student's perceptions of Educational Climate (EC) in Spanish medical schools, comparing various aspects of EC between the 2nd (preclinical) and the 4th (clinical) years to detect strengths and weaknesses in the on-going curricular reform. This study utilized a cross-sectional design and employed the Spanish version of the "Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure" (DREEM). The survey involved 894 2nd year students and 619 4th year students from five Spanish medical schools. The global average score of 2nd year students from the five medical schools was found to be significantly higher (116.2±24.9, 58.2% of maximum score) than that observed in 4th year students (104.8±29.5, 52.4% of maximum score). When the results in each medical school were analysed separately, the scores obtained in the 2nd year were almost always significantly higher than in the 4th year for all medical schools, in both the global scales and the different subscales. The perception of the EC by 2nd and 4th year students from five Spanish medical schools is more positive than negative although it is significantly lower in the 4th year. In both years, although more evident in the 4th year, students point out the existence of several important "problematic educational areas" associated with the persistence of traditional curricula and teaching methodologies. Our findings of this study should lead medical schools to make a serious reflection and drive the implementation of the necessary changes required to improve teaching, especially during the clinical period.

Educational climate perception by preclinical and clinical medical students in five Spanish medical schools

PubMed Central

Gual, Arcadi; Escaneroi, Jesus; Tomás, Inmaculada; Rodríguez de Castro, Felipe; Elorudy, Marta; Virumbrales, Montserrat; Rodríguez, Gerardo; Arce, Victor

2015-01-01

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate student's perceptions of Educational Climate (EC) in Spanish medical schools, comparing various aspects of EC between the 2nd (preclinical) and the 4th (clinical) years to detect strengths and weaknesses in the on-going curricular reform. Methods This study utilized a cross-sectional design and employed the Spanish version of the "Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure" (DREEM). The survey involved 894 2nd year students and 619 4th year students from five Spanish medical schools. Results The global average score of 2nd year students from the five medical schools was found to be significantly higher (116.2±24.9, 58.2% of maximum score) than that observed in 4th year students (104.8±29.5, 52.4% of maximum score). When the results in each medical school were analysed separately, the scores obtained in the 2nd year were almost always significantly higher than in the 4th year for all medical schools, in both the global scales and the different subscales. Conclusions The perception of the EC by 2nd and 4th year students from five Spanish medical schools is more positive than negative although it is significantly lower in the 4th  year. In both years, although more evident in the 4th year, students point out the existence of several important "problematic educational areas" associated with the persistence of traditional curricula and teaching methodologies. Our findings of this study should lead medical schools to make a serious reflection and drive the implementation of the necessary changes required to improve teaching, especially during the clinical period. PMID:26057355

Assessment of construct validity of a virtual reality laparoscopy simulator.

PubMed

Rosenthal, Rachel; Gantert, Walter A; Hamel, Christian; Hahnloser, Dieter; Metzger, Juerg; Kocher, Thomas; Vogelbach, Peter; Scheidegger, Daniel; Oertli, Daniel; Clavien, Pierre-Alain

2007-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess whether virtual reality (VR) can discriminate between the skills of novices and intermediate-level laparoscopic surgical trainees (construct validity), and whether the simulator assessment correlates with an expert's evaluation of performance. Three hundred and seven (307) participants of the 19th-22nd Davos International Gastrointestinal Surgery Workshops performed the clip-and-cut task on the Xitact LS 500 VR simulator (Xitact S.A., Morges, Switzerland). According to their previous experience in laparoscopic surgery, participants were assigned to the basic course (BC) or the intermediate course (IC). Objective performance parameters recorded by the simulator were compared to the standardized assessment by the course instructors during laparoscopic pelvitrainer and conventional surgery exercises. IC participants performed significantly better on the VR simulator than BC participants for the task completion time as well as the economy of movement of the right instrument, not the left instrument. Participants with maximum scores in the pelvitrainer cholecystectomy task performed the VR trial significantly faster, compared to those who scored less. In the conventional surgery task, a significant difference between those who scored the maximum and those who scored less was found not only for task completion time, but also for economy of movement of the right instrument. VR simulation provides a valid assessment of psychomotor skills and some basic aspects of spatial skills in laparoscopic surgery. Furthermore, VR allows discrimination between trainees with different levels of experience in laparoscopic surgery establishing construct validity for the Xitact LS 500 clip-and-cut task. Virtual reality may become the gold standard to assess and monitor surgical skills in laparoscopic surgery.

Systematic review and meta-analysis on phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors and α-adrenoceptor antagonists used alone or combined for treatment of LUTS due to BPH

PubMed Central

Wang, Xing-Huan; Wang, Xiao; Shi, Ming-Jun; Li, Sheng; Liu, Tao; Zhang, Xin-Hua

2015-01-01

The aim of this systematic review is to determine the comparative effectiveness and safety of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5-Is) and α-blockers used alone or combined for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). An electronic search of PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase up to January 2014 was performed to identify randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy and safety of PDE5-Is and α-blockers for treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, which assessed IPSS score, maximum flow rate, postvoided residual urine, quality of life and Erectile Function (IIEF) score as outcomes. Data were analyzed by fixed or random effect models using Cochrane Collaboration review manager software. A total of 12 studies were included. Our novel data demonstrated that there was a trend that α-blockers were more efficacious than PDE5-Is on decreasing IPSS score and increasing maximum flow rate. α-blockers were significantly more effective than PDE5-Is on reduction of postvoided residual urine with a mean difference of 3.67 (95% CI 1.56 to 5.77, P = 0.0006) and PDE5-Is showed greater effect than α-blockers on increasing IIEF score with a mean difference of 9.82 (95% CI 3.80 to 15.85, P = 0.001). In conclusion, our novel data demonstrated that PDE5-Is plus ABs ranked the highest on the improvement of LUTS/BPH. PDE5-Is monotherapy was also effective in this kind of disorder except less reduction of PVR than ABs. In addition, both combined- or mono-therapy were safe. PMID:25994648

Measuring teamwork and conflict among emergency medical technician personnel.

PubMed

Patterson, P Daniel; Weaver, Matthew D; Weaver, Sallie J; Rosen, Michael A; Todorova, Gergana; Weingart, Laurie R; Krackhardt, David; Lave, Judith R; Arnold, Robert M; Yealy, Donald M; Salas, Eduardo

2012-01-01

We sought to develop a reliable and valid tool for measuring teamwork among emergency medical technician (EMT) partnerships. We adapted existing scales and developed new items to measure components of teamwork. After recruiting a convenience sample of 39 agencies, we tested a 122-item draft survey tool (EMT-TEAMWORK). We performed a series of exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test reliability and construct validity, describing variation in domain and global scores using descriptive statistics. We received 687 completed surveys. The EFAs identified a nine-factor solution. We labeled these factors 1) Team Orientation, 2) Team Structure & Leadership, 3) Partner Communication, Team Support, & Monitoring, 4) Partner Trust and Shared Mental Models, 5) Partner Adaptability & Back-Up Behavior, 6) Process Conflict, 7) Strong Task Conflict, 8) Mild Task Conflict, and 9) Interpersonal Conflict. We tested a short-form (30-item SF) and long-form (45-item LF) version. The CFAs determined that both the SF and the LF possess positive psychometric properties of reliability and construct validity. The EMT-TEAMWORK-SF has positive internal consistency properties, with a mean Cronbach's alpha coefficient ≥0.70 across all nine factors (mean = 0.84; minimum = 0.78, maximum = 0.94). The mean Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the EMT-TEAMWORK-LF was 0.87 (minimum = 0.79, maximum = 0.94). There was wide variation in weighted scores across all nine factors and the global score for the SF and LF. Mean scores were lowest for the Team Orientation factor (48.1, standard deviation [SD] 21.5, SF; 49.3, SD 19.8, LF) and highest (more positive) for the Interpersonal Conflict factor (87.7, SD 18.1, for both SF and LF). We developed a reliable and valid survey to evaluate teamwork between EMT partners.

Exercise heart rate gradient: a novel index to predict all-cause mortality.

PubMed

Duarte, Carlos Vieira; Myers, Jonathan; de Araújo, Claudio Gil Soares

2015-05-01

Although substantial evidence relates reduced exercise heart rate (HR) reserve and recovery to a higher risk of all-cause mortality, a combined indicator of these variables has not been explored. Our aim was to combine HR reserve and recovery into a single index and to assess its utility to predict all-cause mortality. Retrospective cohort analysis. Participants were 1476 subjects (937 males) aged between 41 and 79 years who completed a maximal cycle cardiopulmonary exercise test while not using medication with negative chronotropic effects or having an implantable cardiac pacemaker. HR reserve (HR maximum - HR resting) and recovery (HR maximum - HR at 1-min post exercise) were calculated and divided into quintiles. Quintile rankings were summed yielding an exercise HR gradient (EHRG) ranging from 2 to 10, reflecting the magnitude of on- and off-HR transients to exercise. Survival analyses were undertaken using EHRG scores and HR reserve and recovery in the lowest quintiles (Q1). During a mean follow up of 7.3 years, 44 participants died (3.1%). There was an inverse trend for EHRG scores and death rate (p < 0.05) that increased from 1.2% to 13.5%, respectively, for scores 10 and 2. An EHRG score of 2 was a better predictor of all-cause mortality than either Q1 for HR reserve (<80 bpm) or HR recovery alone (<27 bpm): age-adjusted hazard ratios: 3.53 (p = 0.011), 2.52 (p < 0.05), and 2.57 (p < 0.05), respectively. EHRG, a novel index combining HR reserve and HR recovery, is a better indicator of mortality risk than either response alone. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

MRL and SuperFine+MRL: new supertree methods

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Supertree methods combine trees on subsets of the full taxon set together to produce a tree on the entire set of taxa. Of the many supertree methods, the most popular is MRP (Matrix Representation with Parsimony), a method that operates by first encoding the input set of source trees by a large matrix (the "MRP matrix") over {0,1, ?}, and then running maximum parsimony heuristics on the MRP matrix. Experimental studies evaluating MRP in comparison to other supertree methods have established that for large datasets, MRP generally produces trees of equal or greater accuracy than other methods, and can run on larger datasets. A recent development in supertree methods is SuperFine+MRP, a method that combines MRP with a divide-and-conquer approach, and produces more accurate trees in less time than MRP. In this paper we consider a new approach for supertree estimation, called MRL (Matrix Representation with Likelihood). MRL begins with the same MRP matrix, but then analyzes the MRP matrix using heuristics (such as RAxML) for 2-state Maximum Likelihood. Results We compared MRP and SuperFine+MRP with MRL and SuperFine+MRL on simulated and biological datasets. We examined the MRP and MRL scores of each method on a wide range of datasets, as well as the resulting topological accuracy of the trees. Our experimental results show that MRL, coupled with a very good ML heuristic such as RAxML, produced more accurate trees than MRP, and MRL scores were more strongly correlated with topological accuracy than MRP scores. Conclusions SuperFine+MRP, when based upon a good MP heuristic, such as TNT, produces among the best scores for both MRP and MRL, and is generally faster and more topologically accurate than other supertree methods we tested. PMID:22280525

A Comparative Study of Liver Disease Care in the USA and Urban and Rural China.

PubMed

Yang, Ming; Wu, Elizabeth; Rao, Huiying; Du, Fanny H; Xie, Angela; Cheng, Shanna; Rodd, Cassandra; Lin, Andy; Wei, Lai; Lok, Anna S

2016-10-01

Chronic liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA and China, but the etiology of liver disease, medical practice, and patient expectations in these two countries are different. To compare patient knowledge about their liver disease, patient satisfaction with liver disease care, and patient medical decision-making preference in the USA and China. Three cohorts of established adult patients with liver disease seen in liver clinics in Ann Arbor, USA, and Beijing (urban) and Hebei (rural), China, completed a survey between May and September 2014. A total of 990 patients (395 USA, 398 Beijing, and 197 Hebei) were analyzed. Mean liver disease knowledge score (maximum 5) in the USA, Beijing, and Hebei patients was 4.1, 3.6, and 3.0, respectively (p < 0.001). US patients had a greater preference for collaborative decision-making: 71.8 % preferred to make treatment decisions together with the doctor, while most Chinese patients (74.6 % Beijing and 84.8 % Hebei) preferred passive decision-making. Mean satisfaction score (maximum 85) in the USA was higher than in Beijing, which in turn was higher than in Hebei (78.2 vs. 66.5 vs. 60.3, p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between liver disease knowledge score and satisfaction score (r = 0.27, p < 0.001) and with collaborative medical decision-making (r = 0.22, p < 0.001) when responses from all sites were combined. Liver disease knowledge and patient satisfaction were greatest in the USA, followed by Beijing and then Hebei patients. Understanding these differences and associated factors may help to improve patient outcomes.

Effect of nutritional rehabilitation on gastric motility and somatization in adolescents with anorexia.

PubMed

Perez, Maria E; Coley, Brian; Crandall, Wallace; Di Lorenzo, Carlo; Bravender, Terrill

2013-09-01

To examine gastric function, as well as the presence of somatic complaints, anxiety symptoms, and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) before and after nutritional rehabilitation. Sixteen females with AN and 22 healthy controls with similar demographic profiles were included. Gastric emptying (measured as residual gastric volume) and gastric accommodation (measured as postprandial antral diameter) were assessed with abdominal ultrasonography. Participants completed the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI), the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders, and the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III version. All testing was repeated 3-4 months later. Body mass index in the AN group improved over time (P = .012). Fasting gastric parameters were similar in the 2 groups. Maximum postprandial antral diameter was significantly greater in controls compared with the AN group (P = .008). Only adolescents with AN demonstrated a significant increase in maximum postprandial diameter at repeat testing (P = .009). There was no difference in residual gastric volume between the 2 groups. Initial CSI scores were higher in adolescents with AN (P < .0001), including higher scores for nausea and abdominal pain. CSI scores were significantly lower in adolescents with AN (P = .035). Initial scores on the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders were significantly higher in adolescents with AN (P = .0005), but did not change over time. Adolescents with AN met significantly more criteria for FGIDs (P = .003). Adolescents with AN have impaired gastric accommodation that improves after nutritional rehabilitation, have significantly more somatic complaints, and meet more criteria for anxiety disorders and FGIDs. After nutritional rehabilitation, somatization improves and FGIDs become less common, but symptoms of anxiety persist. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of renal artery variants, number, location, and degree of renal artery stenoses on the atherosclerotic burden of the aorta.

PubMed

Petersen, Johannes; Plaikner, Michaela; Nasseri, Parinaz; Rehder, Peter; Koppelstätter, Christian; Pauli, Guido F; Glodny, Bernhard

2012-10-01

To determine the assumed influence of the number of renal arteries, the distribution and extent of renal artery stenosis (RAS), and the kidney length on calcified aortic atherosclerotic plaque burden. The computed tomographic angiographies of 1381 patients were analyzed retrospectively using a volumetric aortic calcium scoring method. The Spearman method was used to calculate the correlation between kidney length, number and diameter of renal arteries, as well as number, degree, and location of RASs on main or additional renal arteries with the extent of aortic atherosclerosis. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with the target variable "calcification present or absent." Patients with multiple renal arteries (38.3%) had lower plaque volumes than patients without such variants (0.55 ± 0.97 vs 0.64 ± 1.06 mL; P < 0.05). Renal artery stenoses affected all renal vessels with equal frequency. The aortic calcium score correlated with the number of RASs (P < 0.0001) and the maximum degree of RAS up to a threshold of 60%. Location of an RAS in the various renal arteries was irrelevant. In regression analyses, the presence of RAS (Wald = 5.523), the degree of RAS (Wald = 6.251), and age (Wald = 223.1) were positive predictors of the aortic calcium score, whereas kidney length (Wald = 9.564) proved to be a negative predictor. The aortic calcium score correlates with both the number of RASs and the maximum degree of RAS up to a threshold of 60% but correlates inversely with the number of renal arteries. Renal artery stenosis affects all renal vessels with equal frequency, and this finding should be considered in screening procedures.

Shoulder dystocia documentation: an evaluation of a documentation training intervention.

PubMed

LeRiche, Tammy; Oppenheimer, Lawrence; Caughey, Sharon; Fell, Deshayne; Walker, Mark

2015-03-01

To evaluate the quality and content of nurse and physician shoulder dystocia delivery documentation before and after MORE training in shoulder dystocia management skills and documentation. Approximately 384 charts at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus involving a diagnosis of shoulder dystocia between the years of 2000 and 2006 excluding the training year of 2003 were identified. The charts were evaluated for 14 key components derived from a validated instrument. The delivery notes were then scored based on these components by 2 separate investigators who were blinded to delivery note author, date, and patient identification to further quantify delivery record quality. Approximately 346 charts were reviewed for physician and nurse delivery documentation. The average score for physician notes was 6 (maximum possible score of 14) both before and after the training intervention. The nurses' average score was 5 before and after the training intervention. Negligible improvement was observed in the content and quality of shoulder dystocia documentation before and after nurse and physician training.

Skin problems of the stump in lower-limb amputees: 2. Influence on functioning in daily life.

PubMed

Meulenbelt, Henk E J; Geertzen, Jan H B; Jonkman, Marcel F; Dijkstra, Pieter U

2011-03-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of stump skin problems on functioning in daily life in lower-limb amputees. A cross-sectional study was performed by means of a questionnaire containing 9 questions assessing functioning in daily life. Question scores were added to give a total score (range 0 (no influence) to 27 (maximum negative influence)). Two thousand and thirty-nine people were invited to participate, with 805 participants completing a questionnaire. Of these, 507 reported one or more skin problems. Skin problems had a negative influence on ability to perform household tasks, prosthesis use, social functioning, and participation in sports. The mean total score was 5.5 ± 4.1. This correlated significantly with the number of skin complaints (r = 0.483; p = 0.01). In linear regression analyses, gender (β = -0.15) and number of skin problems (β = 0.25) accounted for 23% of the total score. This study confirms the influence of skin problems on functioning in daily life.

Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam.

PubMed

Phạm, Ben; McLeod, Sharynne; Harrison, Linda J

2017-01-01

Vietnamese is one of the 20 most commonly spoken languages in the world; however, there are no standardised tools to assess Vietnamese children's speech. This study aimed to validate and norm the Vietnamese version of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS-VN). Data were collected from parents of 181 children (aged 2;0-5;11) living in Ha Noi, Northern Viet Nam. The mean ICS-VN score was 4.43 (out of a maximum of 5), indicating that children were 'usually' to 'always' intelligible; however, item-level scores demonstrated significant differences between communication partners. Children with parental concerns about speech and language had significantly lower mean scores than children without parental concerns. Scores also differed by children's age, parents' occupation and mothers' education level but not by sex of child or fathers' education level. The ICS-VN had good psychometric properties indicating it to be a valid tool for use with Vietnamese-speaking children in Northern Viet Nam.

Diagnostic accuracy of the Kampala Trauma Score using estimated Abbreviated Injury Scale scores and physician opinion.

PubMed

Gardner, Andrew; Forson, Paa Kobina; Oduro, George; Stewart, Barclay; Dike, Nkechi; Glover, Paul; Maio, Ronald F

2017-01-01

The Kampala Trauma Score (KTS) has been proposed as a triage tool for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy of KTS in predicting emergency department outcomes using timely injury estimation with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score and physician opinion to calculate KTS scores. This was a diagnostic accuracy study of KTS among injured patients presenting to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital A&E, Ghana. South African Triage Scale (SATS); KTS component variables, including AIS scores and physician opinion for serious injury quantification; and ED disposition were collected. Agreement between estimated AIS score and physician opinion were analyzed with normal, linear weighted, and maximum kappa. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of KTS-AIS and KTS-physician opinion was performed to evaluate each measure's ability to predict A&E mortality and need for hospital admission to the ward or theatre. A total of 1053 patients were sampled. There was moderate agreement between AIS criteria and physician opinion by normal (κ=0.41), weighted (κ lin =0.47), and maximum (κ max =0.53) kappa. A&E mortality ROC area for KTS-AIS was 0.93, KTS-physician opinion 0.89, and SATS 0.88 with overlapping 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Hospital admission ROC area for KTS-AIS was 0.73, KTS-physician opinion 0.79, and SATS 0.71 with statistical similarity. When evaluating only patients with serious injuries, KTS-AIS (ROC 0.88) and KTS-physician opinion (ROC 0.88) performed similarly to SATS (ROC 0.78) in predicting A&E mortality. The ROC area for KTS-AIS (ROC 0.71; 95%CI 0.66-0.75) and KTS-physician opinion (ROC 0.74; 95%CI 0.69-0.79) was significantly greater than SATS (ROC 0.57; 0.53-0.60) with regard to need for admission. KTS predicted mortality and need for admission from the ED well when early estimation of the number of serious injuries was used, regardless of method (i.e. AIS criteria or physician opinion). This study provides evidence for KTS to be used as a practical and valid triage tool to predict patient prognosis, ED outcomes and inform referral decision-making from first- or second-level hospitals in LMICs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic accuracy of the Kampala Trauma Score using estimated Abbreviated Injury Scale scores and physician opinion

PubMed Central

Gardner, Andrew; Forson, Paa Kobina; Oduro, George; Stewart, Barclay; Dike, Nkechi; Glover, Paul; Maio, Ronald F.

2016-01-01

Background The Kampala Trauma Score (KTS) has been proposed as a triage tool for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy of KTS in predicting emergency department outcomes using timely injury estimation with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score and physician opinion to calculate KTS scores. Methods This was a diagnostic accuracy study of KTS among injured patients presenting to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital A&E, Ghana. South African Triage Scale (SATS); KTS component variables, including AIS scores and physician opinion for serious injury quantification; and ED disposition were collected. Agreement between estimated AIS score and physician opinion were analyzed with normal, linear weighted, and maximum kappa. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of KTS-AIS and KTS-physician opinion was performed to evaluate each measure’s ability to predict A&E mortality and need for hospital admission to the ward or theatre. Results A total of 1,053 patients were sampled. There was moderate agreement between AIS criteria and physician opinion by normal (κ=0.41), weighted (κlin=0.47), and maximum (κmax=0.53) kappa. A&E mortality ROC area for KTS-AIS was 0.93, KTS-physician opinion 0.89, and SATS 0.88 with overlapping 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Hospital admission ROC area for KTS-AIS was 0.73, KTS-physician opinion 0.79, and SATS 0.71 with statistical similarity. When evaluating only patients with serious injuries, KTS-AIS (ROC 0.88) and KTS-physician opinion (ROC 0.88) performed similarly to SATS (ROC 0.78) in predicting A&E mortality. The ROC area for KTS-AIS (ROC 0.71; 95%CI 0.66–0.75) and KTS-physician opinion (ROC 0.74; 95%CI 0.69–0.79) was significantly greater than SATS (ROC 0.57; 0.53–0.60) with regard to need for admission. Conclusions KTS predicted mortality and need for admission from the ED well when early estimation of the number of serious injuries was used, regardless of method (i.e. AIS criteria or physician opinion). This study provides evidence for KTS to be used as a practical and valid triage tool to predict patient prognosis, ED outcomes and inform referral decision-making from first- or second-level hospitals in LMICs. PMID:27908493

Towards improving searches for optimal phylogenies.

PubMed

Ford, Eric; St John, Katherine; Wheeler, Ward C

2015-01-01

Finding the optimal evolutionary history for a set of taxa is a challenging computational problem, even when restricting possible solutions to be "tree-like" and focusing on the maximum-parsimony optimality criterion. This has led to much work on using heuristic tree searches to find approximate solutions. We present an approach for finding exact optimal solutions that employs and complements the current heuristic methods for finding optimal trees. Given a set of taxa and a set of aligned sequences of characters, there may be subsets of characters that are compatible, and for each such subset there is an associated (possibly partially resolved) phylogeny with edges corresponding to each character state change. These perfect phylogenies serve as anchor trees for our constrained search space. We show that, for sequences with compatible sites, the parsimony score of any tree [Formula: see text] is at least the parsimony score of the anchor trees plus the number of inferred changes between [Formula: see text] and the anchor trees. As the maximum-parsimony optimality score is additive, the sum of the lower bounds on compatible character partitions provides a lower bound on the complete alignment of characters. This yields a region in the space of trees within which the best tree is guaranteed to be found; limiting the search for the optimal tree to this region can significantly reduce the number of trees that must be examined in a search of the space of trees. We analyze this method empirically using four different biological data sets as well as surveying 400 data sets from the TreeBASE repository, demonstrating the effectiveness of our technique in reducing the number of steps in exact heuristic searches for trees under the maximum-parsimony optimality criterion. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Informing patients: oculoplastic surgery and the internet.

PubMed

Zaidi, F H; Jones, C A

2009-11-01

Oculoplastic surgery has received little attention compared with other subspecialties in terms of how the internet influences patient expectations. Blepharoplasty resembles a model for oculoplastic operations. We aimed to assess the quality of information accessed by patients on blepharoplasty using the internet as a resource. After surveying doctors and lay persons, the word 'blepharoplasty' and related terms were studied using an advanced keyword search. This scanned average monthly search volume over a recent 12-month period. The three most popular search terms that were found were entered into the Google search engine. Criteria published in the Journal of the American Medical Associationfor qualifying information from the internet were used in the analysis, yielding a possible score from 0 to a maximum of 4. Of the 150 websites that were studied, these criteria were fully applied to 101 websites. Only 2.5% of sites scored favourably on all four criteria; 6.5% scored three points; 10% scored two points; 41% scored one point; 40% of sites scored zero for objective quality. Superior scores were achieved by online encyclopaedias ('medipedias'), peer-reviewed journals, online abstracts, and book chapters. The websites of professional bodies scored poorly. The lowest scored were private clinics and National Health Service (NHS) hospital websites. Using the internet, the quality of information obtained for oculoplastic surgery seems far inferior to other subspecialties within ophthalmology as well as non-ophthalmic specialties. These findings are specifically relevant to surgeons carrying out blepharoplasty and of general relevance to ophthalmic plastic surgeons.

Normative scores on the Berg Balance Scale decline after age 70 years in healthy community-dwelling people: a systematic review.

PubMed

Downs, Stephen; Marquez, Jodie; Chiarelli, Pauline

2014-06-01

What is the mean Berg Balance Scale score of healthy elderly people living in the community and how does it vary with age? How much variability in Berg Balance Scale scores is present in groups of healthy elderly people and how does this vary with age? Systematic review with meta-analysis. Any group of healthy community-dwelling people with a mean age of 70 years or greater that has undergone assessment using the Berg Balance Scale. Mean and standard deviations of Berg Balance Scale scores within cohorts of elderly people of known mean age. The search yielded 17 relevant studies contributing data from a total of 1363 participants. The mean Berg Balance Scale scores ranged from 37 to 55 out of a possible maximum score of 56. The standard deviation of Berg Balance Scale scores varied from 1.0 to 9.2. Although participants aged around 70 years had very close to normal Berg Balance Scale scores, there was a significant decline in balance with age at a rate of 0.7 points on the 56-point Berg Balance Scale per year. There was also a strong association between increasing age and increasing variability in balance (R(2) = 0.56, p < 0.001). Healthy community-dwelling elderly people have modest balance deficits, as measured by the Berg Balance Scale, although balance scores deteriorate and become more variable with age. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Practical prognostic index for patients with metastatic recurrent breast cancer: retrospective analysis of 2,322 patients from the GEICAM Spanish El Alamo Register.

PubMed

Puente, Javier; López-Tarruella, Sara; Ruiz, Amparo; Lluch, Ana; Pastor, Miguel; Alba, Emilio; de la Haba, Juan; Ramos, Manuel; Cirera, Luis; Antón, Antonio; Llombart, Antoni; Plazaola, Arrate; Fernández-Aramburo, Antonio; Sastre, Javier; Díaz-Rubio, Eduardo; Martin, Miguel

2010-07-01

Women with recurrent metastatic breast cancer from a Spanish hospital registry (El Alamo, GEICAM) were analyzed in order to identify the most helpful prognostic factors to predict survival and to ultimately construct a practical prognostic index. The inclusion criteria covered women patients diagnosed with operable invasive breast cancer who had metastatic recurrence between 1990 and 1997 in GEICAM hospitals. Patients with stage IV breast cancer at initial diagnosis or with isolated loco-regional recurrence were excluded from this analysis. Data from 2,322 patients with recurrent breast cancer after primary treatment (surgery, radiation and systemic adjuvant treatment) were used to construct the prognostic index. The prognostic index score for each individual patient was calculated by totalling up the scores of each independent variable. The maximum score obtainable was 26.1. Nine-hundred and sixty-two patients who had complete data for all the variables were used in the computation of the prognostic index score. We were able to stratify them into three prognostic groups based on the prognostic index score: 322 patients in the good risk group (score < or =13.5), 308 patients in the intermediate risk group (score 13.51-15.60) and 332 patients in the poor risk group (score > or =15.61). The median survivals for these groups were 3.69, 2.27 and 1.02 years, respectively (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, risk scores are extraordinarily valuable tools, highly recommendable in the clinical practice.

KATTS: a framework for maximizing NCLEX-RN performance.

PubMed

McDowell, Betsy M

2008-04-01

A key indicator of the quality of a nursing education program is the performance of its graduates as first-time takers of the NCLEX-RN. As a result, nursing schools are open to strategies that strengthen the performance of their graduates on the examination. The Knowledge base, Anxiety control, Test-Taking Skills (KATTS) framework focuses on the three components of achieving a maximum score on an examination. In KATTS, all three components must be present and in proper balance to maximize a test taker's score. By strengthening not just one but all of these components, graduates can improve their overall test scores significantly. Suggested strategies for strengthening each component of KATTS are provided. This framework has been used successfully in designing remedial tutoring programs and in assisting first-time NCLEX test takers in preparing for the licensing examination.

Impact of audit of routine second-trimester cardiac images using a novel image-scoring method.

PubMed

Sairam, S; Awadh, A M A; Cook, K; Papageorghiou, A T; Carvalho, J S

2009-05-01

To assess the impact of using an objective scoring method to audit cardiac images obtained as part of the routine 21-23-week anomaly scan. A prospective audit and re-audit (6 months later) were conducted on cardiac images obtained by sonographers during the routine anomaly scan. A new image-scoring method was devised based on expected features in the four-chamber and outflow tract views. For each patient, scores were awarded for documentation and quality of individual views. These were called 'Documentation Scores' and 'View Scores' and were added to give a 'Patient Score' which represented the quality of screening provided by the sonographer for that particular patient (maximum score, 15). In order to assess the overall performance of sonographers, an 'Audit Score' was calculated for each by averaging his or her Patient Scores. In addition, to assess each sonographer's performance in relation to particular aspects of the various views, each was given their own 'Sonographer View Scores', derived from image documentation and details of four-chamber view (magnification, valve offset and septum) and left and right outflow tract views. All images were scored by two reviewers, jointly in the primary audit and independently in the re-audit. The scores from primary and re-audit were compared to assess the impact of feedback from the primary audit. Eight sonographers participated in the study. The median Audit Score increased significantly (P < 0.01), from 10.8 (range, 9.8-12.4) in the primary audit to 12.4 (range, 10.4-13.6) in the re-audit. Scores allocated by the two reviewers in the re-audit were not significantly different (P = 0.08). Objective scoring of fetal heart images is feasible and has a positive impact on the quality of cardiac images acquired at the time of the routine anomaly scan. This audit tool has the potential to be applied in every obstetric scanning unit and may improve the effectiveness of screening for congenital heart defects.

Assessing Family Planning Service Quality And User Experiences In Social Franchising Programme - Case Studies From Two Rural Districts In Pakistan.

PubMed

Azmat, Syed Khurram; Ali, Moazzam; Hameed, Waqas; Awan, Muhammad Ali

2018-01-01

Studies have documented the impact of quality family planning services on improved contraceptive uptake and continuation, however, relatively little is known about their quality of service provision especially in the context of social franchising. This study examined the quality of clinical services and user experiences among two models in franchised service providers in rural Pakistan. This facility-based assessment was carried out during May-June 2015 at the 20 randomly selected social franchise providers from Chakwal and Faisalabad. In our case, a franchise health facility was a private clinic (mostly) run by a single provider, supported by an assistant. Within the selected health facilities, a total 39 user-provider interactions were observed and same users were interviewed separately. Most of the health facilities were in the private sector. Comparatively, service providers at Greenstar Social Marketing/Population Services International (GSM/PSI) model franchised facilities had higher number of rooms and staff employed, with more providers' ownership. Quality of service indices showed high scores for both Marie Stopes Society (MSS) and GSM/PSI franchised providers. MSS franchised providers demonstrated comparative edge in terms of clinical governance, better method mix and they were more user-focused, while PSI providers offered broader range of non-FP services. Quality of counselling services were similar among both models. Service providers performed well on all indicators of interpersonal care however overall low scores were noted in technical care. For both models, service providers attained an average score of 6.7 (out of the maximum value of 8) on waste disposal mechanism, supplies 12.5 (out of the maximum value of 15), user-centred facility 2.7 (out of the maximum value of 4), and clinical governance 6.5 (out of the maximum value of 11) and respecting clients' privacy. The exit interviews yielded high user satisfaction in both service models. The findings seem suggesting that the MSS and GSM/PSI service providers were maintaining high quality standards in provision of family planning information, services, and commodities but overall there was not much difference between the two models in terms of quality and satisfaction. The results demonstrate that service quality and client satisfaction are an important determinant of use of clinical contraceptive methods in Pakistan.

Using tree diversity to compare phylogenetic heuristics.

PubMed

Sul, Seung-Jin; Matthews, Suzanne; Williams, Tiffani L

2009-04-29

Evolutionary trees are family trees that represent the relationships between a group of organisms. Phylogenetic heuristics are used to search stochastically for the best-scoring trees in tree space. Given that better tree scores are believed to be better approximations of the true phylogeny, traditional evaluation techniques have used tree scores to determine the heuristics that find the best scores in the fastest time. We develop new techniques to evaluate phylogenetic heuristics based on both tree scores and topologies to compare Pauprat and Rec-I-DCM3, two popular Maximum Parsimony search algorithms. Our results show that although Pauprat and Rec-I-DCM3 find the trees with the same best scores, topologically these trees are quite different. Furthermore, the Rec-I-DCM3 trees cluster distinctly from the Pauprat trees. In addition to our heatmap visualizations of using parsimony scores and the Robinson-Foulds distance to compare best-scoring trees found by the two heuristics, we also develop entropy-based methods to show the diversity of the trees found. Overall, Pauprat identifies more diverse trees than Rec-I-DCM3. Overall, our work shows that there is value to comparing heuristics beyond the parsimony scores that they find. Pauprat is a slower heuristic than Rec-I-DCM3. However, our work shows that there is tremendous value in using Pauprat to reconstruct trees-especially since it finds identical scoring but topologically distinct trees. Hence, instead of discounting Pauprat, effort should go in improving its implementation. Ultimately, improved performance measures lead to better phylogenetic heuristics and will result in better approximations of the true evolutionary history of the organisms of interest.