Primary School Principals' Self-Monitoring Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konan, Necdet

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study is to identify primary school principals' self-monitoring skills. The study adopted the general survey model and its population comprised primary school principals serving in the city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, while 292 of these constituted the sample. Self-Monitoring Scale was used as the data collection instrument. In…

Designing optimized multi-species monitoring networks to detect range shifts driven by climate change: a case study with bats in the North of Portugal.

PubMed

Amorim, Francisco; Carvalho, Sílvia B; Honrado, João; Rebelo, Hugo

2014-01-01

Here we develop a framework to design multi-species monitoring networks using species distribution models and conservation planning tools to optimize the location of monitoring stations to detect potential range shifts driven by climate change. For this study, we focused on seven bat species in Northern Portugal (Western Europe). Maximum entropy modelling was used to predict the likely occurrence of those species under present and future climatic conditions. By comparing present and future predicted distributions, we identified areas where each species is likely to gain, lose or maintain suitable climatic space. We then used a decision support tool (the Marxan software) to design three optimized monitoring networks considering: a) changes in species likely occurrence, b) species conservation status, and c) level of volunteer commitment. For present climatic conditions, species distribution models revealed that areas suitable for most species occur in the north-eastern part of the region. However, areas predicted to become climatically suitable in the future shifted towards west. The three simulated monitoring networks, adaptable for an unpredictable volunteer commitment, included 28, 54 and 110 sampling locations respectively, distributed across the study area and covering the potential full range of conditions where species range shifts may occur. Our results show that our framework outperforms the traditional approach that only considers current species ranges, in allocating monitoring stations distributed across different categories of predicted shifts in species distributions. This study presents a straightforward framework to design monitoring schemes aimed specifically at testing hypotheses about where and when species ranges may shift with climatic changes, while also ensuring surveillance of general population trends.

HYDROGEOLOGIC CASE STUDIES

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

Real-Time Human Ambulation, Activity, and Physiological Monitoring: Taxonomy of Issues, Techniques, Applications, Challenges and Limitations

PubMed Central

Khusainov, Rinat; Azzi, Djamel; Achumba, Ifeyinwa E.; Bersch, Sebastian D.

2013-01-01

Automated methods of real-time, unobtrusive, human ambulation, activity, and wellness monitoring and data analysis using various algorithmic techniques have been subjects of intense research. The general aim is to devise effective means of addressing the demands of assisted living, rehabilitation, and clinical observation and assessment through sensor-based monitoring. The research studies have resulted in a large amount of literature. This paper presents a holistic articulation of the research studies and offers comprehensive insights along four main axes: distribution of existing studies; monitoring device framework and sensor types; data collection, processing and analysis; and applications, limitations and challenges. The aim is to present a systematic and most complete study of literature in the area in order to identify research gaps and prioritize future research directions. PMID:24072027

State of the art of stream monitoring.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-01-01

The study was conducted in an effort to identify methods of stream monitoring for use by the Environmental Quality Division in improving its monitoring programs. A literature search was undertaken to determine the present knowledge of the effects of ...

The Roles of Mothers' Neighborhood Perceptions and Specific Monitoring Strategies in Youths' Problem Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrnes, Hilary F.; Miller, Brenda A.; Chen, Meng-Jinn; Grube, Joel W.

2011-01-01

The neighborhood context can interfere with parents' abilities to effectively monitor their children, but may be related to specific monitoring strategies in different ways. The present study examines the importance of mothers' perceptions of neighborhood disorganization for the specific monitoring strategies they use and how each of these…

Hydrogeologic Case Studies (Seattle, WA)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

HYDROGEOLOGIC CASE STUDIES (CHICAGO, IL)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

Temporal Informative Analysis in Smart-ICU Monitoring: M-HealthCare Perspective.

PubMed

Bhatia, Munish; Sood, Sandeep K

2016-08-01

The rapid introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) Technology has boosted the service deliverance aspects of health sector in terms of m-health, and remote patient monitoring. IoT Technology is not only capable of sensing the acute details of sensitive events from wider perspectives, but it also provides a means to deliver services in time sensitive and efficient manner. Henceforth, IoT Technology has been efficiently adopted in different fields of the healthcare domain. In this paper, a framework for IoT based patient monitoring in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is presented to enhance the deliverance of curative services. Though ICUs remained a center of attraction for high quality care among researchers, still number of studies have depicted the vulnerability to a patient's life during ICU stay. The work presented in this study addresses such concerns in terms of efficient monitoring of various events (and anomalies) with temporal associations, followed by time sensitive alert generation procedure. In order to validate the system, it was deployed in 3 ICU room facilities for 30 days in which nearly 81 patients were monitored during their ICU stay. The results obtained after implementation depicts that IoT equipped ICUs are more efficient in monitoring sensitive events as compared to manual monitoring and traditional Tele-ICU monitoring. Moreover, the adopted methodology for alert generation with information presentation further enhances the utility of the system.

Impaired action self-monitoring and cognitive confidence among ultra-high risk for psychosis and first-episode psychosis patients.

PubMed

Gawęda, Ł; Li, E; Lavoie, S; Whitford, T J; Moritz, S; Nelson, B

2018-01-01

Self-monitoring biases and overconfidence in incorrect judgments have been suggested as playing a role in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Little is known about whether self-monitoring biases may contribute to early risk factors for psychosis. In this study, action self-monitoring (i.e., discrimination between imagined and performed actions) was investigated, along with confidence in judgments among ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis individuals and first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Thirty-six UHR for psychosis individuals, 25 FEP patients and 33 healthy controls (CON) participated in the study. Participants were assessed with the Action memory task. Simple actions were presented to participants verbally or non-verbally. Some actions were required to be physically performed and others were imagined. Participants were asked whether the action was presented verbally or non-verbally (action presentation type discrimination), and whether the action was performed or imagined (self-monitoring). Confidence self-ratings related to self-monitoring responses were obtained. The analysis of self-monitoring revealed that both UHR and FEP groups misattributed imagined actions as being performed (i.e., self-monitoring errors) significantly more often than the CON group. There were no differences regarding performed actions as being imagined. UHR and FEP groups made their false responses with higher confidence in their judgments than the CON group. There were no group differences regarding discrimination between the types of actions presented (verbal vs non-verbal). A specific type of self-monitoring bias (i.e., misattributing imagined actions with performed actions), accompanied by high confidence in this judgment, may be a risk factor for the subsequent development of a psychotic disorder. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Contract Monitoring in Agent-Based Systems: Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodík, Jiří; Vokřínek, Jiří; Jakob, Michal

Monitoring of fulfilment of obligations defined by electronic contracts in distributed domains is presented in this paper. A two-level model of contract-based systems and the types of observations needed for contract monitoring are introduced. The observations (inter-agent communication and agents’ actions) are collected and processed by the contract observation and analysis pipeline. The presented approach has been utilized in a multi-agent system for electronic contracting in a modular certification testing domain.

FPGA Based "Intelligent Tap" Device for Real-Time Ethernet Network Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cupek, Rafał; Piękoś, Piotr; Poczobutt, Marcin; Ziębiński, Adam

This paper describes an "Intelligent Tap" - hardware device dedicated to support real-time Ethernet networks monitoring. Presented solution was created as a student project realized in Institute of Informatics, Silesian University of Technology with support from Softing A.G company. Authors provide description of realized FPGA based "Intelligent Tap" architecture dedicated for Real-Time Ethernet network monitoring systems. The practical device realization and feasibility study conclusions are presented also.

Comparison of computer display monitors for computed radiography diagnostic application in a radiology PACS.

PubMed

Sim, L; Manthey, K; Esdaile, P; Benson, M

2004-09-01

A study to compare the performance of the following display monitors for application as PACS CR diagnostic workstations is described. 1. Diagnostic quality, 3 megapixel, 21 inch monochrome LCD monitors. 2. Commercial grade, 2 megapixel, 20 inch colour LCD monitors. Two sets of fifty radiological studies each were presented separately to five radiologists on two occasions, using different displays on each occasion. The two sets of radiological studies were CR of the chest, querying the presence of pneumothorax, and CR of the wrist, querying the presence of a scaphoid fracture. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for diagnostic performance for each presentation. Areas under the ROC curves (AUC) for diagnosis using different monitors were compared for each image set and the following results obtained: Set 1: Monochrome AUC = 0.873 +/- 0.026; Colour AUC = 0.831 +/- 0.032; Set 2: Monochrome AUC = 0.945 +/- 0.014; Colour AUC = 0.931 +/- 0.019; Differences in AUC were attributed to the different monitors. While not significant at a 95% confidence level, the results have supported a cautious approach to consideration of the use of commercial grade LCD colour monitors for diagnostic application.

Self-Monitoring as an Intervention to Decrease Swimmers Stroke Counts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polaha, Jodi; Allen, Keith; Studley, Benjamin

2004-01-01

Self-monitoring of stroke count by swimmers is a common coaching strategy, it is but one that has little data to support it. Although research has demonstrated that self-monitoring can motivate behavior change, little research has focused on whether self-monitoring can enhance skill development. The purpose of the present set of studies was to…

Using nocturnal cold air drainage flow to monitor ecosystem processes in complex terrain

Treesearch

Thomas G. Pypker; Michael H. Unsworth; Alan C. Mix; William Rugh; Troy Ocheltree; Karrin Alstad; Barbara J. Bond

2007-01-01

This paper presents initial investigations of a new approach to monitor ecosystem processes in complex terrain on large scales. Metabolic processes in mountainous ecosystems are poorly represented in current ecosystem monitoring campaigns because the methods used for monitoring metabolism at the ecosystem scale (e.g., eddy covariance) require flat study sites. Our goal...

Feasibility of a fetal measurement electrode system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

Findings of the study are summarized and conclude that all monitoring requirements are not currently satisfied. An approach is presented to provide a multiparametric monitoring system through combinations of existing transducers. This monitoring system would be appropriate, not only for intrapartum monitoring, but also for neonatal and adult blood gas evaluations. A literature search was conducted to provide an insight into current state-of-the-art in fetal monitoring.

Favourable and Unfavourable Conditions for Children's Confidence Judgments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roebers, Claudia M.; von der Linden, Nicole; Howie, Pauline

2007-01-01

Two studies are presented in which favourable and unfavourable conditions for children's meta-cognitive monitoring processes are examined. Previously reported findings have shown that especially children's uncertainty monitoring (in contrast to certainty monitoring) poses specific problems for children in their elementary school years. When…

Comparison of performance of computer display monitors for radiological diagnosis; "diagnostic" high brightness monochrome LCD, 3MP vs "clinical review" colour LCD, 2MP.

PubMed

Sim, L; Manthey, K; Stuckey, S

2007-06-01

A study to compare performance of the following display monitors for application as PACS CR diagnostic workstations is described. 1. Diagnostic quality, 3 Mega Pixel, 21 inch monochrome LCD monitors--Planar C3i. 2. Clinical review quality, 2 Mega Pixel, 21 inch colour LCD monitors--Planar PX212. Two sets of seventy radiological studies were presented to four senior radiologists on two occasions, using different displays on each occasion. The clinical condition used for this investigation was to query for the presence of a solitary pulmonary nodule. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for diagnostic performance for each presentation. Areas under the ROC curves (AUC) for diagnosis using different monitors were compared and the following results obtained: Monochrome AUC = 0.813 +/- 0.02, Colour AUC = 0.801 +/- 0.021. These results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in the performance of these monitor types at a 95% confidence level.

Nocturnal time monitoring behavior ("clock-watching") in patients presenting to a sleep medical center with insomnia and posttraumatic stress symptoms.

PubMed

Krakow, Barry; Krakow, Jacoby; Ulibarri, Victor A; Krakow, Jessica

2012-09-01

Time monitoring behavior (TMB) commonly occurs among insomnia patients, often leads to frustration about sleeplessness, and perpetuates insomnia symptoms. Few studies have explored relationships between time monitoring and insomnia, and none have studied the potential relationships between insomnia, TMB, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSSs). In this retrospective chart review of 1078 patients seeking care at a sleep medical center, the patients presented with one of three chief sleep complaints (poor sleep quality, 51%; sleep-disordered breathing, 26%; and insomnia, 24%), and 32% reported moderate to severe PSSs. Both insomnia and time monitoring severity were greater in the 350 patients with PSSs compared with the 728 patients with minimal or no such symptoms. Insomnia and time monitoring severity correlated significantly with total posttraumatic stress scores and most strongly with the arousal subscale. Research on interventions to treat TMB may inform relationships between insomnia and posttraumatic stress.

Nonnative Fishes in the Upper Mississippi River System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Irons, Kevin S.; DeLain, Steven A.; Gittinger, Eric; Ickes, Brian S.; Kolar, Cindy S.; Ostendort, David; Ratcliff, Eric N.; Benson, Amy J.; Irons, Kevin S.

2009-01-01

The introduction, spread, and establishment of nonnative species is widely regarded as a leading threat to aquatic biodiversity and consequently is ranked among the most serious environmental problems facing the United States today. This report presents information on nonnative fish species observed by the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program on the Upper Mississippi River System a nexus of North American freshwater fish diversity for the Nation. The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program, as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Environmental Management Plan, is the Nation's largest river monitoring program and stands as the primary source of standardized ecological information on the Upper Mississippi River System. The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program has been monitoring fish communities in six study areas on the Upper Mississippi River System since 1989. During this period, more than 3.5 million individual fish, consisting of 139 species, have been collected. Although fish monitoring activities of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program focus principally on entire fish communities, data collected by the Program are useful for detecting and monitoring the establishment and spread of nonnative fish species within the Upper Mississippi River System Basin. Sixteen taxa of nonnative fishes, or hybrids thereof, have been observed by the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program since 1989, and several species are presently expanding their distribution and increasing in abundance. For example, in one of the six study areas monitored by the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program, the number of established nonnative species has increased from two to eight species in less than 10 years. Furthermore, contributions of those eight species can account for up to 60 percent of the total annual catch and greater than 80 percent of the observed biomass. These observations are critical because the Upper Mississippi River System stands as a nationally significant pathway for nonnative species expansion between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes Basin. This report presents a synthesis of data on nonnative fish species observed during Long Term Resource Monitoring Program monitoring activities.

Geoelectric monitoring at the Boulder magnetic observatory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blum, Cletus; White, Tim; Sauter, Edward A.; Stewart, Duff; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Love, Jeffrey J.

2017-01-01

Despite its importance to a range of applied and fundamental studies, and obvious parallels to a robust network of magnetic-field observatories, long-term geoelectric field monitoring is rarely performed. The installation of a new geoelectric monitoring system at the Boulder magnetic observatory of the US Geological Survey is summarized. Data from the system are expected, among other things, to be used for testing and validating algorithms for mapping North American geoelectric fields. An example time series of recorded electric and magnetic fields during a modest magnetic storm is presented. Based on our experience, we additionally present operational aspects of a successful geoelectric field monitoring system.

Vibration energy harvesting based monitoring of an operational bridge undergoing forced vibration and train passage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cahill, Paul; Hazra, Budhaditya; Karoumi, Raid; Mathewson, Alan; Pakrashi, Vikram

2018-06-01

The application of energy harvesting technology for monitoring civil infrastructure is a bourgeoning topic of interest. The ability of kinetic energy harvesters to scavenge ambient vibration energy can be useful for large civil infrastructure under operational conditions, particularly for bridge structures. The experimental integration of such harvesters with full scale structures and the subsequent use of the harvested energy directly for the purposes of structural health monitoring shows promise. This paper presents the first experimental deployment of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting devices for monitoring a full-scale bridge undergoing forced dynamic vibrations under operational conditions using energy harvesting signatures against time. The calibration of the harvesters is presented, along with details of the host bridge structure and the dynamic assessment procedures. The measured responses of the harvesters from the tests are presented and the use the harvesters for the purposes of structural health monitoring (SHM) is investigated using empirical mode decomposition analysis, following a bespoke data cleaning approach. Finally, the use of sequential Karhunen Loeve transforms to detect train passages during the dynamic assessment is presented. This study is expected to further develop interest in energy-harvesting based monitoring of large infrastructure for both research and commercial purposes.

DEMONSTRATION OF LOW COST, LOW BURDEN EXPOSURE MONITORING STRATEGIES FOR USE IN LONGITUDINAL COHORT STUDIES

EPA Science Inventory

A large longitudinal cohort study designed to evaluate the association between children's exposures to environmental agents and health outcomes presents many challenges for exposure monitoring. Exposure of the child must be measured for multiple chemicals through multiple path...

Perceived Parental Monitoring, Adolescent Disclosure, and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamza, Chloe A.; Willoughby, Teena

2011-01-01

Parental monitoring has long been stressed as an important parenting practice in reducing adolescents' susceptibility to depressive symptoms. Reviews have revealed, however, that measures of monitoring have been confounded with parental knowledge, and that the role of adolescent disclosure has been neglected. In the present study, adolescents (N =…

Fault detection and isolation in motion monitoring system.

PubMed

Kim, Duk-Jin; Suk, Myoung Hoon; Prabhakaran, B

2012-01-01

Pervasive computing becomes very active research field these days. A watch that can trace human movement to record motion boundary as well as to study of finding social life pattern by one's localized visiting area. Pervasive computing also helps patient monitoring. A daily monitoring system helps longitudinal study of patient monitoring such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's or obesity monitoring. Due to the nature of monitoring sensor (on-body wireless sensor), however, signal noise or faulty sensors errors can be present at any time. Many research works have addressed these problems any with a large amount of sensor deployment. In this paper, we present the faulty sensor detection and isolation using only two on-body sensors. We have been investigating three different types of sensor errors: the SHORT error, the CONSTANT error, and the NOISY SENSOR error (see more details on section V). Our experimental results show that the success rate of isolating faulty signals are an average of over 91.5% on fault type 1, over 92% on fault type 2, and over 99% on fault type 3 with the fault prior of 30% sensor errors.

The Benchmarking Capacity of a General Outcome Measure of Academic Language in Science and Social Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooney, Paul; Lastrapes, Renée E.

2016-01-01

The amount of research evaluating the technical merits of general outcome measures of science and social studies achievement is growing. This study targeted criterion validity for critical content monitoring. Questions addressed the concurrent criterion validity of alternate presentation formats of critical content monitoring and the measure's…

DiAs Web Monitoring: A Real-Time Remote Monitoring System Designed for Artificial Pancreas Outpatient Trials

PubMed Central

Place, Jérôme; Robert, Antoine; Brahim, Najib Ben; Patrick, Keith-Hynes; Farret, Anne; Marie-Josée, Pelletier; Buckingham, Bruce; Breton, Marc; Kovatchev, Boris; Renard, Eric

2013-01-01

Background Developments in an artificial pancreas (AP) for patients with type 1 diabetes have allowed a move toward performing outpatient clinical trials. “Home-like” environment implies specific protocol and system adaptations among which the introduction of remote monitoring is meaningful. We present a novel tool allowing multiple patients to monitor AP use in home-like settings. Methods We investigated existing systems, performed interviews of experienced clinical teams, listed required features, and drew several mockups of the user interface. The resulting application was tested on the bench before it was used in three outpatient studies representing 3480 h of remote monitoring. Results Our tool, called DiAs Web Monitoring (DWM), is a web-based application that ensures reception, storage, and display of data sent by AP systems. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin delivery data are presented in a colored chart to facilitate reading and interpretation. Several subjects can be monitored simultaneously on the same screen, and alerts are triggered to help detect events such as hypoglycemia or CGM failures. In the third trial, DWM received approximately 460 data per subject per hour: 77% for log messages, 5% for CGM data. More than 97% of transmissions were achieved in less than 5 min. Conclusions Transition from a hospital setting to home-like conditions requires specific AP supervision to which remote monitoring systems can contribute valuably. DiAs Web Monitoring worked properly when tested in our outpatient studies. It could facilitate subject monitoring and even accelerate medical and technical assessment of the AP. It should now be adapted for long-term studies with an enhanced notification feature. J Diabetes Sci Technol 2013;7(6):1427–1435 PMID:24351169

DiAs web monitoring: a real-time remote monitoring system designed for artificial pancreas outpatient trials.

PubMed

Place, Jérôme; Robert, Antoine; Ben Brahim, Najib; Keith-Hynes, Patrick; Farret, Anne; Pelletier, Marie-Josée; Buckingham, Bruce; Breton, Marc; Kovatchev, Boris; Renard, Eric

2013-11-01

Developments in an artificial pancreas (AP) for patients with type 1 diabetes have allowed a move toward performing outpatient clinical trials. "Home-like" environment implies specific protocol and system adaptations among which the introduction of remote monitoring is meaningful. We present a novel tool allowing multiple patients to monitor AP use in home-like settings. We investigated existing systems, performed interviews of experienced clinical teams, listed required features, and drew several mockups of the user interface. The resulting application was tested on the bench before it was used in three outpatient studies representing 3480 h of remote monitoring. Our tool, called DiAs Web Monitoring (DWM), is a web-based application that ensures reception, storage, and display of data sent by AP systems. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin delivery data are presented in a colored chart to facilitate reading and interpretation. Several subjects can be monitored simultaneously on the same screen, and alerts are triggered to help detect events such as hypoglycemia or CGM failures. In the third trial, DWM received approximately 460 data per subject per hour: 77% for log messages, 5% for CGM data. More than 97% of transmissions were achieved in less than 5 min. Transition from a hospital setting to home-like conditions requires specific AP supervision to which remote monitoring systems can contribute valuably. DiAs Web Monitoring worked properly when tested in our outpatient studies. It could facilitate subject monitoring and even accelerate medical and technical assessment of the AP. It should now be adapted for long-term studies with an enhanced notification feature. © 2013 Diabetes Technology Society.

Study on the multi-sensors monitoring and information fusion technology of dangerous cargo container

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shibo; Zhang, Shuhui; Cao, Wensheng

2017-10-01

In this paper, monitoring system of dangerous cargo container based on multi-sensors is presented. In order to improve monitoring accuracy, multi-sensors will be applied inside of dangerous cargo container. Multi-sensors information fusion solution of monitoring dangerous cargo container is put forward, and information pre-processing, the fusion algorithm of homogenous sensors and information fusion based on BP neural network are illustrated, applying multi-sensors in the field of container monitoring has some novelty.

Formal verification of medical monitoring software using Z language: a representative sample.

PubMed

Babamir, Seyed Morteza; Borhani, Mehdi

2012-08-01

Medical monitoring systems are useful aids assisting physicians in keeping patients under constant surveillance; however, taking sound decision by the systems is a physician concern. As a result, verification of the systems behavior in monitoring patients is a matter of significant. The patient monitoring is undertaken by software in modern medical systems; so, software verification of modern medial systems have been noticed. Such verification can be achieved by the Formal Languages having mathematical foundations. Among others, the Z language is a suitable formal language has been used to formal verification of systems. This study aims to present a constructive method to verify a representative sample of a medical system by which the system is visually specified and formally verified against patient constraints stated in Z Language. Exploiting our past experience in formal modeling Continuous Infusion Insulin Pump (CIIP), we think of the CIIP system as a representative sample of medical systems in proposing our present study. The system is responsible for monitoring diabetic's blood sugar.

CHARACTERIZING SITE HYDROLOGY (REGION 5)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

The Impact of an Online Tool for Monitoring and Regulating Learning at University: Overconfidence, Learning Strategy, and Personality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Bruin, Anique B. H.; Kok, Ellen M.; Lobbestael, Jill; de Grip, Andries

2017-01-01

Being overconfident when estimating scores for an upcoming exam is a widespread phenomenon in higher education and presents threats to self-regulated learning and academic performance. The present study sought to investigate how overconfidence and poor monitoring accuracy vary over the length of a college course, and how an intervention consisting…

Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Wang, Jing; Sevick, Mary Ann

2011-01-01

Self-monitoring is the centerpiece of behavioral weight loss intervention programs. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on three components of self-monitoring in behavioral weight loss studies: diet, exercise and self-weighing. This review included articles that were published between 1993 and 2009 that reported on the relationship between weight loss and these self-monitoring strategies. Of the 22 studies identified, 14 focused on dietary self-monitoring, one on self-monitoring exercise and six on self-weighing. A wide array of methods was used to perform self-monitoring; the paper diary was used most often. Adherence to self-monitoring was reported most frequently as the number of diaries completed or the frequency of log-ins or reported weights. The use of technology, which included the Internet, personal digital assistants and electronic digital scales were reported in five studies. Descriptive designs were used in the earlier studies while more recent reports involved prospective studies and randomized trials that examined the effect of self-monitoring on weight loss. A significant association between self-monitoring and weight loss was consistently found; however, the level of evidence was weak because of methodological limitations. The most significant limitations of the reviewed studies were the homogenous samples and reliance on self-report. In all but two studies, the samples were predominantly White and female. This review highlights the need for studies in more diverse populations, for objective measures of adherence to self-monitoring, and for studies that establish the required dose of self-monitoring for successful outcomes. PMID:21185970

The Interplay between Value and Relatedness as Bases for Metacognitive Monitoring and Control: Evidence for Agenda-Based Monitoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soderstrom, Nicholas C.; McCabe, David P.

2011-01-01

Two experiments are reported examining how value and relatedness interact to influence metacognitive monitoring and control processes. Participants studied unrelated and related word pairs, each accompanied by point values denoting how important the items were to remember. These values were presented either before or after each pair in a…

Use of Audible and Chart-recorded Ultrasonography to Monitor Fetal Heart Rate and Uterine Blood Flow Parameters in Cattle

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the use of audible chart-recorded doppler ultrasonography (DUS) to monitor both uterine blood flow and fetal heart rate (FHR) during pregnancy in dairy cattle. Possible applications of DUS include the monitoring of fetal distress when a pregnancy be...

Interactions of Team Mental Models and Monitoring Behaviors Predict Team Performance in Simulated Anesthesia Inductions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burtscher, Michael J.; Kolbe, Michaela; Wacker, Johannes; Manser, Tanja

2011-01-01

In the present study, we investigated how two team mental model properties (similarity vs. accuracy) and two forms of monitoring behavior (team vs. systems) interacted to predict team performance in anesthesia. In particular, we were interested in whether the relationship between monitoring behavior and team performance was moderated by team…

A Method of High Throughput Monitoring Crop Physiology Using Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Multispectral Imaging.

PubMed

Wang, Heng; Qian, Xiangjie; Zhang, Lan; Xu, Sailong; Li, Haifeng; Xia, Xiaojian; Dai, Liankui; Xu, Liang; Yu, Jingquan; Liu, Xu

2018-01-01

We present a high throughput crop physiology condition monitoring system and corresponding monitoring method. The monitoring system can perform large-area chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and multispectral imaging. The monitoring method can determine the crop current condition continuously and non-destructively. We choose chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and relative reflectance of multispectral as the indicators of crop physiological status. Using tomato as experiment subject, the typical crop physiological stress, such as drought, nutrition deficiency and plant disease can be distinguished by the monitoring method. Furthermore, we have studied the correlation between the physiological indicators and the degree of stress. Besides realizing the continuous monitoring of crop physiology, the monitoring system and method provide the possibility of machine automatic diagnosis of the plant physiology. Highlights: A newly designed high throughput crop physiology monitoring system and the corresponding monitoring method are described in this study. Different types of stress can induce distinct fluorescence and spectral characteristics, which can be used to evaluate the physiological status of plants.

Shuttle era waste management and biowaste monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sauer, R. L.; Fogal, G. L.

1976-01-01

The acquisition of crew biomedical data has been an important task on manned space missions. The monitoring of biowastes from the crew to support water and mineral balance studies and endocrine studies has been a valuable part of this activity. This paper will present a review of waste management systems used in past programs. This past experience will be cited as to its influence on the Shuttle design. Finally, the Shuttle baseline waste management system and the proposed Shuttle biomedical measurement and sampling systems will be presented.

Characterizing Site Hydrology (Region 10, Seattle, WA)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

CHARACTERIZING SITE HYDROLOGY (REGION 8 WORKSHOP)

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrogeology is the foundation of subsurface site characterization for evaluations of monitored natural attenuation (MNA). Three case studies are presented. Examples of the potentially detrimental effects of drilling additives on ground-water samples from monitoring wells are d...

Development and Validation of a Collocated Exposure Monitoring Methodology using Portable Air Monitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Z.; Che, W.; Frey, H. C.; Lau, A. K. H.

2016-12-01

Portable air monitors are currently being developed and used to enable a move towards exposure monitoring as opposed to fixed site monitoring. Reliable methods are needed regarding capturing spatial and temporal variability in exposure concentration to obtain credible data from which to develop efficient exposure mitigation measures. However, there are few studies that quantify the validity and repeatability of the collected data. The objective of this study is to present and evaluate a collocated exposure monitoring (CEM) methodology including the calibration of portable air monitors against stationary reference equipment, side-by-side comparison of portable air monitors, personal or microenvironmental exposure monitoring and the processing and interpretation of the collected data. The CEM methodology was evaluated based on application to portable monitors TSI DustTrak II Aerosol Monitor 8530 for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and TSI Q-Trak model 7575 with probe model 982 for CO, CO2, temperature and relative humidity. Taking a school sampling campaign in Hong Kong in January and June, 2015 as an example, the calibrated side-by-side measured 1 Hz PM2.5 concentrations showed good consistency between two sets of portable air monitors. Confidence in side-by-side comparison, PM2.5 concentrations of which most of the time were within 2 percent, enabled robust inference regarding differences when the monitors measured in classroom and pedestrian during school hour. The proposed CEM methodology can be widely applied in sampling campaigns with the objective of simultaneously characterizing pollutant concentrations in two or more locations or microenvironments. The further application of the CEM methodology to transportation exposure will be presented and discussed.

Watershed modeling and monitoring for assessing nutrient ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Presentation for the American Water Works Association Water Sustainability Conference. The presentation highlights latest results from water quality trading research conducted by ORD using the East Fork Watershed in Southwestern Ohio as a case study. The watershed has a nutrient enrichment problem that is creating harmful algal blooms in a reservoir used for drinking water and recreation. Innovative modeling and monitoring is combined to understand how to best manage this water quality problem and costs associated with this endeavor. The presentation will provide an overview of the water quality trading feasibility research. The research includes the development and evaluation of innovative modeling and monitoring approaches to manage watersheds for nutrient pollution using a whole systems approach.

Parent-Adolescent Relations and Adolescent Functioning: Self-Esteem, Substance Abuse, and Delinquency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parker, Jennifer S.; Benson, Mark J.

2004-01-01

The present study examined parental support and monitoring as they relate to adolescent outcomes. It was hypothesized that support and monitoring would be associated with higher self-esteem and less risky behavior during adolescence. The diverse sample included 16,749 adolescents assessed as part of the National Educational Longitudinal Study.…

Optical method for continuous monitoring of dust deposition in mine's entry / Optyczna metoda ciągłego pomiaru intensywności osiadania pyłu węglowego w wyrobisku górniczym

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2012-12-01

The paper presents factors determining dust explosion hazards occurring in underground hard coal mines. The authors described the mechanism of transport and deposition of dust in mines entries and previous research on this topic. The paper presents a method of determination of depositing dust distribution during mining and presents the way to use it to assess coal dust explosion risk. The presented method of calculating the intensity of coal dust deposition is based on continuous monitoring of coal dust concentrations with use of optical sensors. Mathematical model of the distribution of the average coal dust concentration was created. Presented method allows to calculate the intensity of coal dust deposition in a continuous manner. Additionally, the authors presented the PŁ-2 stationary optical dust sampler, used in the study, connected to the monitoring system in the mine. The article features the results of studies conducted in the return air courses of the active longwalls, and the results of calculations of dust deposition intensity carried out with the use of the presented method.

LOW COST, LOW BURDEN, EXPOSURE MONITORING STRATEGIES

EPA Science Inventory

A birth cohort study designed to evaluate the association between exposures to environmental agents and health outcomes presents many challenges for exposure monitoring. Exposure of the child must be measured for multiple chemicals through multiply pathways over an extended peri...

Age-related differences in complex monitoring performance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-04-01

The present study examined the effect of age on the ability to sustain attention to a complex monitoring task. The visual display was designed to resemble an air traffic control radar display containing alphanumeric symbols. Subjects in age groups 18...

Predicting US Drought Monitor (USDM) states using precipitation, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration anomalies, Part I: Development of a non-discrete USDM index

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) classifies drought into five discrete dryness/drought categories based on expert synthesis of numerous data sources. In this study, an empirical methodology is presented for creating a non-discrete U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) index that simultaneously 1) represents th...

The Effect of Using Self-Monitoring Strategies in Social Studies Course on Self-Monitoring, Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arslantas, Suleyman; Kurnaz, Ahmet

2017-01-01

In an attempt to clarify the behavioral differences and a dimension of the individual's metacognitive processes, Snyder introduced the "Self-Monitoring Theory" in 1974. According to the theory, individuals differ in the extent to which they control their self-presentation in social interactions. Some people can observe and control their…

Perceived Parental Monitoring and Sexual Orientation Moderate Lifetime Acts of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.

PubMed

Benau, Erik M; Jenkins, Abigail L; Conner, Bradley T

2017-01-01

Being non-heterosexual, particularly bisexual, is associated with high rates of engagement in NSSI amongst young adults. The goal of the present study was to determine if parenting practices, specifically parental monitoring, and sexual orientation moderate engagement with NSSI. Undergraduates (N = 1,353) completed a survey on sexual orientation, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) acts, and multiple aspects of perceived parental monitoring during high school. Moderation analyses revealed that most facets of parental monitoring were similarly negatively correlated with NSSI for both individuals whose sexual orientation where nearly, or entirely, gay and heterosexual youth. Youth who were neither exclusively heterosexual nor exclusively gay (mixed sexual orientation) reported the most NSSI acts, and no facet of parental monitoring predicted reduced NSSI acts for this group. While previous literature shows that many aspects of parental monitoring may be protective against engagement in health risk behaviors, the present study adds to these findings that similar aspects are negatively associated with self-injurious behavior for some, but not all, individuals. More research is needed to better understand the causes of increased NSSI for individuals with a mixed sexual orientation.

Drought Monitoring for 3 North American Case Studies Based on the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Mocko, David; Kumar, Sujay; Ek, Michael; Xia, Youlong; Dong, Jiarui

2012-01-01

Both NLDAS Phase 1 (1996-2007) and Phase 2 (1979-present) datasets have been evaluated against in situ observational datasets, and NLDAS forcings and outputs are used by a wide variety of users. Drought indices and drought monitoring from NLDAS were recently examined by Mo et al. (2010) and Sheffield et al. (2010). In this poster, we will present results analyzing NLDAS Phase 2 forcings and outputs for 3 North American Case studies being analyzed as part of the NOAA MAPP Drought Task Force: (1) Western US drought (1998- 2004); (2) plains/southeast US drought (2006-2007); and (3) Current Texas-Mexico drought (2011-). We will examine percentiles of soil moisture consistent with the NLDAS drought monitor.

A scale-up field experiment for the monitoring of a burning process using chemical, audio, and video sensors.

PubMed

Stavrakakis, P; Agapiou, A; Mikedi, K; Karma, S; Statheropoulos, M; Pallis, G C; Pappa, A

2014-01-01

Fires are becoming more violent and frequent resulting in major economic losses and long-lasting effects on communities and ecosystems; thus, efficient fire monitoring is becoming a necessity. A novel triple multi-sensor approach was developed for monitoring and studying the burning of dry forest fuel in an open field scheduled experiment; chemical, optical, and acoustical sensors were combined to record the fire spread. The results of this integrated field campaign for real-time monitoring of the fire event are presented and discussed. Chemical analysis, despite its limitations, corresponded to the burning process with a minor time delay. Nevertheless, the evolution profile of CO2, CO, NO, and O2 were detected and monitored. The chemical monitoring of smoke components enabled the observing of the different fire phases (flaming, smoldering) based on the emissions identified in each phase. The analysis of fire acoustical signals presented accurate and timely response to the fire event. In the same content, the use of a thermographic camera, for monitoring the biomass burning, was also considerable (both profiles of the intensities of average gray and red component greater than 230) and presented similar promising potentials to audio results. Further work is needed towards integrating sensors signals for automation purposes leading to potential applications in real situations.

Parent-adolescent relations and adolescent functioning: self-esteem, substance abuse, and delinquency.

PubMed

Parker, Jennifer S; Benson, Mark J

2004-01-01

The present study examined parental support and monitoring as they relate to adolescent outcomes. It was hypothesized that support and monitoring would be associated with higher self-esteem and less risky behavior during adolescence. The diverse sample included 16,749 adolescents assessed as part of the National Educational Longitudinal Study. Both high parental support and parental monitoring were related to greater self-esteem and lower risk behaviors. The findings partially confirm, as well as extend, propositions in attachment theory.

Trans-abdominal monitoring of fetal arterial blood oxygenation using pulse oximetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zourabian, Anna; Siegel, Andrew M.; Chance, Britton; Ramanujam, Nirmala; Rode, Martha; Boas, David A.

2000-10-01

Pulse oximetry (oxygen saturation monitoring) has markedly improved medical care in many fields, including anesthesiology, intensive care, and newborn intensive care. In obstetrics, fetal heart rate monitoring remains the standard for intrapartum assessment of fetal well being. Fetal oxygen saturation monitoring is a new technique currently under development. It is potentially superior to electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (cardiotocography) because it allows direct assessment of both the fetal oxygen status and fetal tissue perfusion. Here we present the analysis for determining the most optimal wavelength selection for pulse oximetry. The wavelengths we chose as the most optimal are the first in the range of 670 - 720 nm and the second in the range of 825 - 925 nm. Further, we discuss the possible systematic errors during our measurements and their contribution to the obtained saturation results. We present feasibility studies for fetal pulse oximetry, monitored noninvasively through the maternal abdomen. Our preliminary experiments show that the fetal pulse can be discriminated from the maternal pulse and thus, in principle, the fetal arterial oxygen saturation can be obtained. We present the methodology for obtaining these data, and discuss the dependence of our measurements on the fetal position with respect to the optode assembly.

Frontotemporal hypoactivity during a reality monitoring paradigm is associated with delusions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Thoresen, Christian; Endestad, Tor; Sigvartsen, Niels Petter B; Server, Andres; Bolstad, Ingeborg; Johansson, Mikael; Andreassen, Ole A; Jensen, Jimmy

2014-01-01

Impaired monitoring of internally generated information has been proposed to be one component in the development and maintenance of delusions. The present study investigated the neural correlates underlying the monitoring processes and whether they were associated with delusions. Twenty healthy controls and 19 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were administrated a reality monitoring paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. During encoding participants were instructed to associate a statement with either a presented (viewed condition) or an imagined picture (imagined condition). During the monitoring session in the scanner, participants were presented with old and new statements and their task was to identify whether a given statement was associated with the viewed condition, imagined condition, or if it was new. Patients showed significantly reduced accuracy in the imagined condition with performance negatively associated with degree of delusions. This was accompanied with reduced activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left hippocampus in the patient group. The severity of delusions was negatively correlated with the blood-oxygenation-level dependent response in the left hippocampus. The results suggest that weakened monitoring is associated with delusions in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, and that this may be mediated by a frontotemporal dysfunction.

Devens 2008 Monitoring Update

EPA Science Inventory

This document presents results from site monitoring activities during calendar year 2008 at the EPA/ORD Red Cove Study Area relative to site characterization activities under Operable Units 01 (Shepley's Hill Landfill) and 11 (Plow Shop Pond) at the Fort Devens Superfund site. T...

Complex monitoring performance and the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1986-03-01

The present study examined the possible relationship of the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern to performance of a complex monitoring task. The task was designed to functionally simulate the general task characteristics of future, highly automate...

Stormwater best management practices in an ultra-urban setting : selection and monitoring.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-05-01

This report builds on recent FHWA manuals by expanding and presenting additional data, design criteria, and monitoring study results on stormwater best management practices (BMPs) implemented in ultra-urban areas. An extensive literature search was p...

An exploratory investigation of various assessment instruments as correlates of complex visual monitoring performance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-10-01

The present study examined a variety of possible predictors of complex monitoring performance. The criterion task was designed to resemble that of a highly automated air traffic control radar system containing computer-generated alphanumeric displays...

A study of interferences in ozone UV and chemiluminescence monitors

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

Hudgens, E.E.; Kleindienst, T.E.; McElroy, F.F.

A study was conducted to examine interferences and other measurement anomalies in chemiluminescence and ultraviolet ozone monitors. Previous results had show that there was a positive deviation in the chemiluminescence monitors and no direct interference with ultraviolet monitors due to the presence of water at non-condensing concentrations. The present study continues this effort, examining both potential positive and negative effects of moisture and other interferences on these monitors. Aromatic compounds and their oxidation products could potentially show a positive interference with ultraviolet monitors, and test measurements were made with aromatics such as toluene, benzaldehyde, and nitrotoluene to determine their possiblemore » retention in the ozone scrubber and their absorption in the cell as a function of the humidity. A detailed examination of the scrubbers used in ultraviolet ozone monitors has also been undertaken. Ozone scrubbers that have shown anomalous behavior in the field have been studied in various reduced-efficacy modes under controlled laboratory conditions. Longer term tests of unused scrubbers for possible ozone breakthrough under exposure to various simulated field conditions were initiated.« less

Don't believe everything you hear: Routine validation of audiovisual information in children and adults.

PubMed

Piest, Benjamin A; Isberner, Maj-Britt; Richter, Tobias

2018-04-05

Previous research has shown that the validation of incoming information during language comprehension is a fast, efficient, and routine process (epistemic monitoring). Previous research on this topic has focused on epistemic monitoring during reading. The present study extended this research by investigating epistemic monitoring of audiovisual information. In a Stroop-like paradigm, participants (Experiment 1: adults; Experiment 2: 10-year-old children) responded to the probe words correct and false by keypress after the presentation of auditory assertions that could be either true or false with respect to concurrently presented pictures. Results provide evidence for routine validation of audiovisual information. Moreover, the results show a stronger and more stable interference effect for children compared with adults.

Eye movement perimetry in glaucoma.

PubMed

Trope, G E; Eizenman, M; Coyle, E

1989-08-01

Present-day computerized perimetry is often inaccurate and unreliable owing to the need to maintain central fixation over long periods while repressing the normal response to presentation of peripheral stimuli. We tested a new method of perimetry that does not require prolonged central fixation. During this test eye movements were encouraged on presentation of a peripheral target. Twenty-three eyes were studied with an Octopus perimeter, with a technician monitoring eye movements. The sensitivity was 100% and the specificity 23%. The low specificity was due to the technician's inability to accurately monitor small eye movements in the central 6 degrees field. If small eye movements are monitored accurately with an eye tracker, eye movement perimetry could become an alternative method to standard perimetry.

[Explicit memory for type font of words in source monitoring and recognition tasks].

PubMed

Hatanaka, Yoshiko; Fujita, Tetsuya

2004-02-01

We investigated whether people can consciously remember type fonts of words by methods of examining explicit memory; source-monitoring and old/new-recognition. We set matched, non-matched, and non-studied conditions between the study and the test words using two kinds of type fonts; Gothic and MARU. After studying words in one way of encoding, semantic or physical, subjects in a source-monitoring task made a three way discrimination between new words, Gothic words, and MARU words (Exp. 1). Subjects in an old/new-recognition task indicated whether test words were previously presented or not (Exp. 2). We compared the source judgments with old/new recognition data. As a result, these data showed conscious recollection for type font of words on the source monitoring task and dissociation between source monitoring and old/new recognition performance.

Neighborhoods and Parenting: Assessing the Influence of Neighborhood Quality on the Parental Monitoring of Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuberi, Anita

2016-01-01

The present study examines the relationship between neighborhood quality and parental monitoring of youth aged 10 to 18 (N = 1,630) from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Multiple measures of the neighborhood, including parents' perceptions of quality, structure (i.e., poverty and affluence), and social…

The Effects of Self-Monitoring on Safe Posture Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gravina, Nicole; Austin, John; Schoedtder, Lori; Loewy, Shannon

2008-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of self-monitoring on safe positioning of individuals performing a typing task and an assembly task using a multiple baseline design across behaviors and tasks. The study took place in an analogue office setting with seven college student participants. The dependent variable was the…

Progress Monitoring in Reading: Comparison of Weekly, Bimonthly, and Monthly Assessments for Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties in Grades 2-4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

January, Stacy-Ann A.; Van Norman, Ethan R.; Christ, Theodore J.; Ardoin, Scott P.; Eckert, Tanya L.; White, Mary Jane

2018-01-01

The present study examined the utility of two progress monitoring assessment schedules (bimonthly and monthly) as alternatives to monitoring once weekly with curriculum-based measurement in reading (CBM-R). General education students (N = 93) in Grades 2-4 who were at risk for reading difficulties but not yet receiving special education services…

Monitoring Progress in Child Poverty Reduction: Methodological Insights and Illustration to the Case Study of Bangladesh

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roche, Jose Manuel

2013-01-01

Important steps have been taken at international summits to set up goals and targets to improve the wellbeing of children worldwide. Now the world also has more and better data to monitor progress. This paper presents a new approach to monitoring progress in child poverty reduction based on the Alkire and Foster adjusted headcount ratio and an…

Centralized remote structural monitoring and management of real-time data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Liting; Newhook, John P.; Mufti, Aftab A.

2004-07-01

Structural health monitoring (SHM) activities in civil engineering are increasing at a rapid pace in both research and field applications. This paper addresses the specific issue of incorporating internet technology into a structural health monitoring program. The issue of data volume versus communication speed is discussed along with a practical solution employed by ISIS Canada. The approach is illustrated through reference to several current case studies which include two bridges and a statue. It is seen that although the specifics of the projects and monitoring needs are different, the manner in which on-line monitoring can be conducted is very similar and easily allows for centralized monitoring. A general framework for website construction integrating sensing data and web camera options are presented. Issues related to simple real-time performance indices versus more comprehensive complex data analysis are discussed. Examples of on-line websites which allow visualization of new and historic data are presented. The paper also discusses future activities and research needs related to centralized remote structural monitoring and management of real-time data.

A framework to determine the locations of the environmental monitoring in an estuary of the Yellow Sea.

PubMed

Kim, Nam-Hoon; Hwang, Jin Hwan; Cho, Jaegab; Kim, Jae Seong

2018-06-04

The characteristics of an estuary are determined by various factors as like as tide, wave, river discharge, etc. which also control the water quality of the estuary. Therefore, detecting the changes of characteristics is critical in managing the environmental qualities and pollution and so the locations of monitoring should be selected carefully. The present study proposes a framework to deploy the monitoring systems based on a graphical method of the spatial and temporal optimizations. With the well-validated numerical simulation results, the monitoring locations are determined to capture the changes of water qualities and pollutants depending on the variations of tide, current and freshwater discharge. The deployment strategy to find the appropriate monitoring locations is designed with the constrained optimization method, which finds solutions by constraining the objective function into the feasible regions. The objective and constrained functions are constructed with the interpolation technique such as objective analysis. Even with the smaller number of the monitoring locations, the present method performs well equivalently to the arbitrarily and evenly deployed monitoring system. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of evidence-based practice implementation and fidelity monitoring on staff turnover: evidence for a protective effect.

PubMed

Aarons, Gregory A; Sommerfeld, David H; Hecht, Debra B; Silovsky, Jane F; Chaffin, Mark J

2009-04-01

Staff retention is an ongoing challenge in mental health and community-based service organizations. Little is known about the impact of evidence-based practice implementation on the mental health and social service workforce. The present study examined the effect of evidence-based practice implementation and ongoing fidelity monitoring on staff retention in a children's services system. The study took place in the context of a statewide, regionally randomized effectiveness trial of an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce child neglect. In the study 21 teams consisting of 153 home-based service providers were followed over a 29-month period. Survival analyses revealed greater staff retention in the condition where the evidence-based practice was implemented along with ongoing fidelity monitoring presented to staff as supportive consultation. These results should help to allay concerns about staff retention when implementing evidence-based practices where there is good values-innovation fit and when fidelity monitoring is designed as an aid and support to service providers in providing a high standard of care for children and families.

The effect of increased monitoring load on vigilance performance using a simulated radar display.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1977-07-01

The present study examined the extent to which level of target density influences the ability to sustain attention to a complex monitoring task requiring only a detection response to simple stimulus change. The visual display was designed to approxim...

Real-time supernova neutrino burst monitor at Super-Kamiokande

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abe, K.; Haga, Y.; Hayato, Y.; Ikeda, M.; Iyogi, K.; Kameda, J.; Kishimoto, Y.; Miura, M.; Moriyama, S.; Nakahata, M.; Nakano, Y.; Nakayama, S.; Sekiya, H.; Shiozawa, M.; Suzuki, Y.; Takeda, A.; Tanaka, H.; Tomura, T.; Ueno, K.; Wendell, R. A.; Yokozawa, T.; Irvine, T.; Kajita, T.; Kametani, I.; Kaneyuki, K.; Lee, K. P.; McLachlan, T.; Nishimura, Y.; Richard, E.; Okumura, K.; Labarga, L.; Fernandez, P.; Berkman, S.; Tanaka, H. A.; Tobayama, S.; Gustafson, J.; Kearns, E.; Raaf, J. L.; Stone, J. L.; Sulak, L. R.; Goldhaber, M.; Carminati, G.; Kropp, W. R.; Mine, S.; Weatherly, P.; Renshaw, A.; Smy, M. B.; Sobel, H. W.; Takhistov, V.; Ganezer, K. S.; Hartfiel, B. L.; Hill, J.; Keig, W. E.; Hong, N.; Kim, J. Y.; Lim, I. T.; Akiri, T.; Himmel, A.; Scholberg, K.; Walter, C. W.; Wongjirad, T.; Ishizuka, T.; Tasaka, S.; Jang, J. S.; Learned, J. G.; Matsuno, S.; Smith, S. N.; Hasegawa, T.; Ishida, T.; Ishii, T.; Kobayashi, T.; Nakadaira, T.; Nakamura, K.; Oyama, Y.; Sakashita, K.; Sekiguchi, T.; Tsukamoto, T.; Suzuki, A. T.; Takeuchi, Y.; Bronner, C.; Hirota, S.; Huang, K.; Ieki, K.; Kikawa, T.; Minamino, A.; Murakami, A.; Nakaya, T.; Suzuki, K.; Takahashi, S.; Tateishi, K.; Fukuda, Y.; Choi, K.; Itow, Y.; Mitsuka, G.; Mijakowski, P.; Hignight, J.; Imber, J.; Jung, C. K.; Yanagisawa, C.; Wilking, M. J.; Ishino, H.; Kibayashi, A.; Koshio, Y.; Mori, T.; Sakuda, M.; Yamaguchi, R.; Yano, T.; Kuno, Y.; Tacik, R.; Kim, S. B.; Okazawa, H.; Choi, Y.; Nishijima, K.; Koshiba, M.; Suda, Y.; Totsuka, Y.; Yokoyama, M.; Martens, K.; Marti, Ll.; Vagins, M. R.; Martin, J. F.; de Perio, P.; Konaka, A.; Chen, S.; Zhang, Y.; Connolly, K.; Wilkes, R. J.

2016-08-01

We present a real-time supernova neutrino burst monitor at Super-Kamiokande (SK). Detecting supernova explosions by neutrinos in real time is crucial for giving a clear picture of the explosion mechanism. Since the neutrinos are expected to come earlier than light, a fast broadcasting of the detection may give astronomers a chance to make electromagnetic radiation observations of the explosions right at the onset. The role of the monitor includes a fast announcement of the neutrino burst detection to the world and a determination of the supernova direction. We present the online neutrino burst detection system and studies of the direction determination accuracy based on simulations at SK.

Evaluation of a Gas Chromatograph-Differential Mobility Spectrometer for Potential Water Monitoring on the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wallace, William T.; Limero, Thomas F.; Gazda, Daniel B.; Macatangay, Ariel V.; Dwivedi, Prabha; Fernandez, Facundo M.

2015-01-01

Environmental monitoring for manned spaceflight has long depended on archival sampling, which was sufficient for short missions. However, the longer mission durations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have shown that enhanced, real-time monitoring capabilities are necessary in order to protect both the crewmembers and the spacecraft systems. Over the past several years, a number of real-time environmental monitors have been deployed on the ISS. Currently, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the station air are monitored by the Air Quality Monitor (AQM), a small, lightweight gas chromatograph-differential mobility spectrometer. For water monitoring, real-time monitors are used for total organic carbon (TOC) and biocide analysis. No information on the actual makeup of the TOC is provided presently, however. An improvement to the current state of environmental monitoring could be realized by modifying a single instrument to analyze both air and water. As the AQM currently provides quantitative, compound-specific information for VOCs in air samples, this instrument provides a logical starting point to evaluate the feasibility of this approach. The major hurdle for this effort lies in the liberation of the target analytes from the water matrix. In this presentation, we will discuss our recent studies, in which an electro-thermal vaporization unit has been interfaced with the AQM to analyze target VOCs at the concentrations at which they are routinely detected in archival water samples from the ISS. We will compare the results of these studies with those obtained from the instrumentation routinely used to analyze archival water samples.

A systematic review of near-infrared spectroscopy in flap monitoring: Current basic and clinical evidence and prospects.

PubMed

Kagaya, Yu; Miyamoto, Shimpei

2018-02-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been reported to be a reliable non-invasive modality for free flap monitoring; however, the history of its application in flap monitoring is short, and there is no definite consensus regarding its use at present. The aim of this review is to clarify the evidence related to post-operative flap monitoring using NIRS and examine its appropriateness and usability. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using the strings "flap monitoring AND near-infrared spectroscopy" and "flap monitoring AND tissue oxygen saturation," with a study period from inception to December 31, 2016. Two authors independently extracted articles and assessed the quality of the studies. Articles related to NIRS for flap perfusion monitoring were classified and selected regardless of study type. A total of 15 clinical studies and 8 animal studies were identified and reviewed. The evidence and information on various aspects of NIRS flap monitoring were summarized. The overall flap success rate was 99.5%, and the flap salvage rate was 91.1%, when measuring StO 2 at intervals of every 2 h or sooner. Single StO 2 monitoring was able to detect vascular compromise with 99.1% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity, and earlier than other monitoring methods, but additional Hb concentration monitoring was useful for avoiding false negatives and differentiating arterial and venous occlusion. NIRS can be used for flap monitoring and displays high accuracy in various situations; however, further studies are needed to take full advantage of the potential of NIRS. Copyright © 2017 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geologic, hydrologic, and water-quality data from multiple-well monitoring sites in the Central and West Coast basins, Los Angeles County, California, 1995-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Land, Michael; Everett, R.R.; Crawford, S.M.

2002-01-01

In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the HYPERLINK 'http://wrd.org' Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRDSC), began a study to examine ground-water resources in the Central and West Coast Basins in Los Angeles County, California. The study characterizes the geohydrology and geochemistry of the regional ground-water flow system and provides extensive data for evaluating ground-water management issues. This report is a compilation of geologic, hydrologic, and water-quality data collected from 24 recently constructed multiple-well monitoring sites for the period 1995?2000. Descriptions of the collected drill cuttings were compiled into lithologic logs, which are summarized along with geophysical logs?including gamma-ray, spontaneous potential, resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and temperature tool logs?for each monitoring site. At selected sites, cores were analyzed for magnetic orientation, physical and thermal properties, and mineralogy. Field and laboratory estimates of hydraulic conductivity are presented for most multiple-well monitoring sites. Periodic water-level measurements are also reported. Water-quality information for major ions, nutrients, trace elements, deuterium and oxygen-18, and tritium is presented for the multiple-well monitoring locations, and for selected existing production and observation wells. In addition, boron-11, carbon-13, carbon-14, sulfur-34, and strontium-87/86 data are presented for selected wells.

A review on remote monitoring technology applied to implantable electronic cardiovascular devices.

PubMed

Costa, Paulo Dias; Rodrigues, Pedro Pereira; Reis, António Hipólito; Costa-Pereira, Altamiro

2010-12-01

Implantable electronic cardiovascular devices (IECD) include a broad spectrum of devices that have the ability to maintain rhythm, provide cardiac resynchronization therapy, and/or prevent sudden cardiac death. The incidence of bradyarrhythmias and other cardiac problems led to a broader use of IECD, which turned traditional follow-up into an extremely heavy burden for healthcare systems to support. Our aim was to assess the impact of remote monitoring on the follow-up of patients with IECD. We performed a review through PubMed using a specific query. The paper selection process included a three-step approach in which title, abstract, and cross-references were analyzed. Studies were then selected using previously defined inclusion criteria and analyzed according to the country of origin of the study, year, and journal of publication; type of study; and main issues covered. Twenty articles were included in this review. Eighty percent of the selected papers addressed clinical issues, from which 94% referred clinical events identification, clinical stability, time savings, or physician satisfaction as advantages, whereas 38% referred disadvantages that included both legal and technical issues. Forty-five percent of the papers referred patient issues, from which 89% presented advantages, focusing on patient acceptance/satisfaction, and patient time-savings. The main downsides were technical issues but patient privacy was also addressed. All the papers dealing with economic issues (20%) referred both advantages and disadvantages equally. Remote monitoring is presently a safe technology, widely accepted by patients and physicians, for its convenience, reassurance, and diagnostic potential. This review summarizes the principles of remote IECD monitoring presenting the current state-of-the-art. Patient safety and device interaction, applicability of current technology, and limitations of remote IECD monitoring are also addressed. The use of remote monitor should consider the selection of patients, the type of disease, and centers' availability to receive, interpret and respond to device alerts. Before remote IECD monitoring can be routinely used, technical, procedure, and ethical/legal issues should be addressed.

The Feasibility of Implementing Multicommand Software Functions on a Microcomputer Network.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-10-01

studies 20 ABSTRACT fConllnuo on revete &Ide it necessary and Identify by block number) ’This report presents the results of a study of design...considerations for hybrid monitor systems for distributed microcomputer networks. The objective of the study was to determine the feasibility of such monitor...Management Informa- tion and Computer Sciences. The study was one task on a project bentitled "The Feasibility of Implementing Multicommand Software

Analytical & Experimental Study of Radio Frequency Cavity Beam Profile Monitor

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

Balcazar, Mario D.; Yonehara, Katsuya

The purpose of this analytical and experimental study is multifold: 1) To explore a new, radiation-robust, hadron beam profile monitor for intense neutrino beam applications; 2) To test, demonstrate, and develop a novel gas-filled Radio-Frequency (RF) cavity to use in this monitoring system. Within this context, the first section of the study analyzes the beam distribution across the hadron monitor as well as the ion-production rate inside the RF cavity. Furthermore a more effecient pixel configuration across the hadron monitor is proposed to provide higher sensitivity to changes in beam displacement. Finally, the results of a benchtop test of themore » tunable quality factor RF cavity will be presented. The proposed hadron monitor configuration consists of a circular array of RF cavities located at a radial distance of 7cm { corresponding to the standard deviation of the beam due to scatering { and a gas-filled RF cavity with a quality factor in the range 400 - 800.« less

Parental Monitoring, Parent-Adolescent Communication, and Adolescents’ Trust in Their Parents in China

PubMed Central

Ying, Liuhua; Ma, Fengling; Huang, Huahua; Guo, Xiaolin; Chen, Chuansheng; Xu, Fen

2015-01-01

Purpose Trust is an important aspect of interpersonal relationships, but little is known about adolescents’ interpersonal trust. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations among parental monitoring, parent-adolescent communication, and adolescents’ trust in their parents in China. Methods Data in this study were collected as part of the cross-sectional study of children in China. 3349 adolescents (female 48.6%, age range of 12–15 years) were randomly selected from 35 secondary schools in April, 2009 and administered to the Adolescent Interpersonal Trust Scale, the Parental Monitoring Scale, and the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale. Results Adolescents’ trust in their parents was positively related to parental monitoring and parent-adolescent communication. Furthermore, parent-adolescent communication mediated the association between parental monitoring and adolescents’ trust in their parents. The mediation model fit data of both genders and three age groups equally well. Conclusions Parental monitoring and parent-adolescent communication play an importance role in fostering adolescents’ trust in their parents. PMID:26271080

BeMonitored: Monitoring psychophysiology and behavior using Android in phobias.

PubMed

Brás, Susana; Soares, Sandra C; Moreira, Ricardo; Fernandes, José M

2016-09-01

It is of the utmost importance that researchers can recreate, as accurately as possible, real-life conditions in psychological studies. However, that is not always possible. Given that phobias are rather context-specific, their study is the ideal candidate to assess the feasibility of using a mobile and wearable device for obtaining physiological and behavioral data. In this article, we propose BeMonitored, a smartphone-based solution to support more ecologically valid monitoring of psychological experiments. BeMonitored delivers customizable, specific context-dependent audiovisual stimuli and uses external resources connected via Bluetooth or a smartphone's own resources, while capturing the participant's behavior, physiology, and environment. We used BeMonitored in a spider phobia case study and showed that spider phobics differed from control participants in face motion, captured by the smartphone camera. Moreover, our results also revealed heart rate differences between spider and neutral stimuli in phobic participants. The presented results emphasize the usefulness of smartphones for phobia monitoring. Considering their intrinsic characteristics, smartphones may constitute the natural evolution from the lab to more realistic contexts.

Continuous Metabolic Monitoring Based on Multi-Analyte Biomarkers to Predict Exhaustion

PubMed Central

Kastellorizios, Michail; Burgess, Diane J.

2015-01-01

This work introduces the concept of multi-analyte biomarkers for continuous metabolic monitoring. The importance of using more than one marker lies in the ability to obtain a holistic understanding of the metabolism. This is showcased for the detection and prediction of exhaustion during intense physical exercise. The findings presented here indicate that when glucose and lactate changes over time are combined into multi-analyte biomarkers, their monitoring trends are more sensitive in the subcutaneous tissue, an implantation-friendly peripheral tissue, compared to the blood. This unexpected observation was confirmed in normal as well as type 1 diabetic rats. This study was designed to be of direct value to continuous monitoring biosensor research, where single analytes are typically monitored. These findings can be implemented in new multi-analyte continuous monitoring technologies for more accurate insulin dosing, as well as for exhaustion prediction studies based on objective data rather than the subject’s perception. PMID:26028477

Continuous metabolic monitoring based on multi-analyte biomarkers to predict exhaustion.

PubMed

Kastellorizios, Michail; Burgess, Diane J

2015-06-01

This work introduces the concept of multi-analyte biomarkers for continuous metabolic monitoring. The importance of using more than one marker lies in the ability to obtain a holistic understanding of the metabolism. This is showcased for the detection and prediction of exhaustion during intense physical exercise. The findings presented here indicate that when glucose and lactate changes over time are combined into multi-analyte biomarkers, their monitoring trends are more sensitive in the subcutaneous tissue, an implantation-friendly peripheral tissue, compared to the blood. This unexpected observation was confirmed in normal as well as type 1 diabetic rats. This study was designed to be of direct value to continuous monitoring biosensor research, where single analytes are typically monitored. These findings can be implemented in new multi-analyte continuous monitoring technologies for more accurate insulin dosing, as well as for exhaustion prediction studies based on objective data rather than the subject's perception.

[Allocation of attentional resource and monitoring processes under rapid serial visual presentation].

PubMed

Nishiura, K

1998-08-01

With the use of rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), the present study investigated the cause of target intrusion errors and functioning of monitoring processes. Eighteen students participated in Experiment 1, and 24 in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, different target intrusion errors were found depending on different kinds of letters --romaji, hiragana, and kanji. In Experiment 2, stimulus set size and context information were manipulated in an attempt to explore the cause of post-target intrusion errors. Results showed that as stimulus set size increased, the post-target intrusion errors also increased, but contextual information did not affect the errors. Results concerning mean report probability indicated that increased allocation of attentional resource to response-defining dimension was the cause of the errors. In addition, results concerning confidence rating showed that monitoring of temporal and contextual information was extremely accurate, but it was not so for stimulus information. These results suggest that attentional resource is different from monitoring resource.

Plant-based FRET biosensor discriminates enviornmental zinc levels

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Heavy metal accumulation in the environment poses great risks to flora and fauna. However, monitoring sites prone to accumulation poses scale and economic challenges. In this study, we present and test a method for monitoring these sites using fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) change in r...

The effect of visual taskload on critical flicker frequency (CFF) change during performance of a complex monitoring task.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1985-10-01

The present study examined the effect of differing levels of visual taskload on critical flicker frequency (CFF) change during performance of a complex monitoring task. The task employed was designed to functionally simulate the general task characte...

PERMEABLE REACTIVE BARRIER PERFORMANCE MONITORING: LONG-TERM TRENDS IN GEOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS AT TWO SITES

EPA Science Inventory

A major goal of research on the long-term performance of subsurface reactive barriers is to identify standard ground-water monitoring parameters that may be useful indicators of declining performance or impending system failure. Results are presented from studies conducted over ...

Wildlife monitoring program plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sebesta, P.; Arno, R.

1979-01-01

A plan for integrating the various requirements for wildlife monitoring with modern aerospace technology is presented. This plan is responsive to user needs, recognizes legal requirements, and is based on an evolutionary growth from domestic animals and larger animals to smaller, more scarce and remote species. The basis for animal study selection was made from the 1973 Santa Cruz Summer Study on Wildlife Monitoring. As techniques are developed the monitoring and management tasks will be interfaced with and eventually operated by the user agencies. Field efforts, aircraft and satellites, will be supplemented by laboratory investigations. Sixty percent of the effort will be in hardware research and development (satellite technology, microminiaturization) and the rest for gathering and interpreting data.

Report on the biological monitoring program for Bear Creek at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1989-1994

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

Hinzman, R.L.; Beauchamp, J.J.; Cada, G.F.

1996-04-01

The Bear Creek Valley watershed drains the area surrounding several closed Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant waste disposal facilities. Past waste disposal practices in the Bear Creek Valley resulted in the contamination of Bear Creek and consequent ecological damage. Ecological monitoring by the Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) was initiated in the Bear Creek watershed in May 1984 and continues at present. Studies conducted during the first year provided a detailed characterization of the benthic invertebrate and fish communities in Bear Creek. The initial characterization was followed by a biological monitoring phase in which studies were conducted at reduced intensities.

Earth resources data acquisition sensor study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grohse, E. W.

1975-01-01

The minimum data collection and data processing requirements are investigated for the development of water monitoring systems, which disregard redundant and irrelevant data and process only those data predictive of the onset of significant pollution events. Two approaches are immediately suggested: (1) adaptation of a presently available ambient air monitoring system developed by TVA, and (2) consideration of an air, water, and radiological monitoring system developed by the Georgia Tech Experiment Station. In order to apply monitoring systems, threshold values and maximum allowable rates of change of critical parameters such as dissolved oxygen and temperature are required.

The neural basis of monitoring goal progress

PubMed Central

Benn, Yael; Webb, Thomas L.; Chang, Betty P. I.; Sun, Yu-Hsuan; Wilkinson, Iain D.; Farrow, Tom F. D.

2014-01-01

The neural basis of progress monitoring has received relatively little attention compared to other sub-processes that are involved in goal directed behavior such as motor control and response inhibition. Studies of error-monitoring have identified the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as a structure that is sensitive to conflict detection, and triggers corrective action. However, monitoring goal progress involves monitoring correct as well as erroneous events over a period of time. In the present research, 20 healthy participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) while playing a game that involved monitoring progress toward either a numerical or a visuo-spatial target. The findings confirmed the role of the dACC in detecting situations in which the current state may conflict with the desired state, but also revealed activations in the frontal and parietal regions, pointing to the involvement of processes such as attention and working memory (WM) in monitoring progress over time. In addition, activation of the cuneus was associated with monitoring progress toward a specific target presented in the visual modality. This is the first time that activation in this region has been linked to higher-order processing of goal-relevant information, rather than low-level anticipation of visual stimuli. Taken together, these findings identify the neural substrates involved in monitoring progress over time, and how these extend beyond activations observed in conflict and error monitoring. PMID:25309380

Structure, Intent and Conformance Monitoring in ATC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, Tom G.; Histon, Jonathan M.; Davison, Hayley J.; Hansman, R. John

2004-01-01

Infield studies of current Air Traffic Control operations it is found that controllers rely on underlying airspace structure to reduce the complexity of the planning and conformance monitoring tasks. The structure appears to influence the controller's working mental model through abstractions that reduce the apparent cognitive complexity. These structure-based abstractions are useful for the controller's key tasks of planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating tactical situations. In addition, the structure-based abstractions appear to be important in the maintenance of Situation Awareness. The process of conformance monitoring is analyzed in more detail and an approach to conformance monitoring which utilizes both the structure-based abstractions and intent is presented.

Flexible organic TFT bio-signal amplifier using reliable chip component assembly process with conductive adhesive.

PubMed

Yoshimoto, Shusuke; Uemura, Takafumi; Akiyama, Mihoko; Ihara, Yoshihiro; Otake, Satoshi; Fujii, Tomoharu; Araki, Teppei; Sekitani, Tsuyoshi

2017-07-01

This paper presents a flexible organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) amplifier for bio-signal monitoring and presents the chip component assembly process. Using a conductive adhesive and a chip mounter, the chip components are mounted on a flexible film substrate, which has OTFT circuits. This study first investigates the assembly technique reliability for chip components on the flexible substrate. This study also specifically examines heart pulse wave monitoring conducted using the proposed flexible amplifier circuit and a flexible piezoelectric film. We connected the amplifier to a bluetooth device for a wearable device demonstration.

Zebrafish as a model system to study toxicology.

PubMed

Dai, Yu-Jie; Jia, Yong-Fang; Chen, Na; Bian, Wan-Ping; Li, Qin-Kai; Ma, Yan-Bo; Chen, Yan-Ling; Pei, De-Sheng

2014-01-01

Monitoring and assessing the effects of contaminants in the aquatic eco-environment is critical in protecting human health and the environment. The zebrafish has been widely used as a prominent model organism in different fields because of its small size, low cost, diverse adaptability, short breeding cycle, high fecundity, and transparent embryos. Recent studies have demonstrated that zebrafish sensitivity can aid in monitoring environmental contaminants, especially with the application of transgenic technology in this area. The present review provides a brief overview of recent studies on wild-type and transgenic zebrafish as a model system to monitor toxic heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, and organic pollutants for toxicology. The authors address the new direction of developing high-throughput detection of genetically modified transparent zebrafish to open a new window for monitoring environmental pollutants. © 2013 SETAC.

Monitoring of mass measles campaign in AILA-affected areas of West Bengal.

PubMed

Dasgupta, Samir; Bagchi, Saumendra Nath; Ghosh, Pramit; Sardar, Jadab Chandra; Roy, Amal Sinha; Sau, Manabendra

2010-01-01

A mass measles campaign was organized in AILA-affected areas of West Bengal in July-August 2009. The present cross-sectional study was conducted with the objectives to monitor and assess the cold chain maintenance, safe injection practices, IEC methods adopted, and to observe the conduction of the sessions in the campaign. All the cold chain points at the block level had adequate vaccines and equipments, twice monitoring of temperature which was in optimal range. 82% sessions had team according to microplan, AWW was present and team members were actively mobilizing the children in 83% sessions, puncture proof container was used and vaccines were given in correct sites in more than 95% sessions. The study observed satisfactory conduction of the whole campaign, still the injection safety procedures should be strengthened considering the potential harm to the health care providers.

Ultrasound monitoring of the treatment of clinically significant knee osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Vojtassak, J; Vojtassak, J

2014-01-01

The study presented an ultrasound (US) monitoring of treatment as a new imaging US method with the results of therapy of clinically significant knee osteoarthritis. X-ray is widely used for knee osteoarthritis classification, which does not involve the evaluation of the soft tissue. High frequency and high resolution US of joints (arthrosonography, echoarthrography) assess not only morphologic but also functional changes in the knee joint. In the prospective study, 110 patients with clinically significant knee osteoarthritis were treated non-operative. US examination and US monitoring of therapy was performed during 24 weeks therapy period. A remission of pathomorphologic (marginal osteofytes) and pathophysiologic (effusion in anterior knee and Baker´s cyst) attributes were evaluated according the US classification. Pathomorphologic attributes changes showed a static state, without remission or progression. Pathophysiologic attributes changes showed a remission during the study period. The highest remission was in the first three weeks, 60 % anterior knee effusion and 62 % Baker´s cyst. At the end of study, no changes from the initial US grade was observed in 16 % of effusion in anterior knee and 22 % of Baker´s cyst. Therapeutic resistant Baker´s cyst was present at the end of study in 36 %. We demonstrated a new method - US monitoring of therapy, which can objectivize the efficiency of treatment of clinically significant knee osteoarthritis. We would recommend US monitoring of therapy for the routine use in orthopedic clinical praxis (Tab. 6, Graph 3, Fig. 3, Ref. 15).

Results from the Ariel-5 all-sky X-ray monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holt, S. S.

1975-01-01

A summary of results obtained from the first year of Ariel-5 all-sky monitor operation is presented. Transient source observations, as well as the results of long term studies of Sco X-1, Cyg X-3, and Cyg X-1 are described. By example, the included results are indicative of the temporal effects to which the all-sky monitor remains sensitive as it begins its second year of observation.

Accuracy of activPAL Self-Attachment Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kringen, Nina L.; Healy, Genevieve N.; Winkler, Elisabeth A. H.; Clark, Bronwyn K.

2016-01-01

This study examined the accuracy of self-attachment of the activPAL activity monitor. A convenience sample of 50 participants self-attached the monitor after being presented with written material only (WMO) and then written and video (WV) instructions; and completed a questionnaire regarding the acceptability of the instructional methods.…

Methodology in the assessment of complex performance : the effects of signal rate on monitoring a static process.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1969-08-01

This study concerned the rate of presentation of stimuli on a task involving the monitoring of a static process of the kind represented by aircraft warning light indicators. The task was performed concurrently with various combinations of tasks requi...

Metacognitive Monitoring of Executive Control Engagement during Childhood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chevalier, Nicolas; Blaye, Agnès

2016-01-01

Emerging executive control supports greater autonomy and increasingly adaptive behavior during childhood. The present study addressed whether children's greater monitoring of how they engage control drives executive control development. Gaze position was recorded while twenty-five 6-year-olds and twenty-eight 10-year-olds performed a self-paced…

Deepening Instructional Reform through System Monitoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supovitz, Jonathan

2008-01-01

This article describes the system of monitoring district instructional-reform efforts and the influences of the system on teachers and school and district leaders in Duval County, Florida. First, the author offers a brief description of the snapshot system. Second, the study's design, data sources, and analytic methods are presented. Third, the…

[Source-monitoring deficits in schizophrenia: review and pharmacotherapeutic implications].

PubMed

Juhász, Levente Zsolt; Bartkó, György

2007-03-01

The disturbance of source-monitoring is one of the various impairments in cognitive functioning observed in schizophrenic patients. The process of source-monitoring allows individuals to distinguish self generated thoughts and behaviours from those generated by others. The aim of the present study is to review the general psychological definition of source memory and source-monitoring and its neurological basis as well as the models for explanation of source-monitoring deficits. The relationship between source-monitoring-deficits and psychopathological symptoms as well as the effect of antipsychotic treatment on source-monitoring disturbances are introduced. There is evidence suggesting, that a selective source-monitoring deficit is in the occurrence of auditory hallucinations. The disturbance of prospective memory may influence unfavorably the compliance. Administration of antipsychotics in general can improve source-monitoring deficits. The neuropsychiatric perspective provides a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of schizophrenia.

A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention

PubMed Central

De Paz, Juan F.; Barriuso, Alberto L.

2018-01-01

Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL) play an important role in today’s personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients’ vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home’s environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising. PMID:29498653

A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention.

PubMed

De La Iglesia, Daniel H; De Paz, Juan F; Villarrubia González, Gabriel; Barriuso, Alberto L; Bajo, Javier

2018-03-02

Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL) play an important role in today's personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients' vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home's environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising.

Assessing Human Activity in Elderly People Using Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring.

PubMed

Alcalá, José M; Ureña, Jesús; Hernández, Álvaro; Gualda, David

2017-02-11

The ageing of the population, and their increasing wish of living independently, are motivating the development of welfare and healthcare models. Existing approaches based on the direct heath-monitoring using body sensor networks (BSN) are precise and accurate. Nonetheless, their intrusiveness causes non-acceptance. New approaches seek the indirect monitoring through monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs), which proves to be a suitable solution. ADL monitoring systems use many heterogeneous sensors, are less intrusive, and are less expensive than BSN, however, the deployment and maintenance of wireless sensor networks (WSN) prevent them from a widespread acceptance. In this work, a novel technique to monitor the human activity, based on non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM), is presented. The proposal uses only smart meter data, which leads to minimum intrusiveness and a potential massive deployment at minimal cost. This could be the key to develop sustainable healthcare models for smart homes, capable of complying with the elderly people' demands. This study also uses the Dempster-Shafer theory to provide a daily score of normality with regard to the regular behavior. This approach has been evaluated using real datasets and, additionally, a benchmarking against a Gaussian mixture model approach is presented.

Assessing Human Activity in Elderly People Using Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring

PubMed Central

Alcalá, José M.; Ureña, Jesús; Hernández, Álvaro; Gualda, David

2017-01-01

The ageing of the population, and their increasing wish of living independently, are motivating the development of welfare and healthcare models. Existing approaches based on the direct heath-monitoring using body sensor networks (BSN) are precise and accurate. Nonetheless, their intrusiveness causes non-acceptance. New approaches seek the indirect monitoring through monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs), which proves to be a suitable solution. ADL monitoring systems use many heterogeneous sensors, are less intrusive, and are less expensive than BSN, however, the deployment and maintenance of wireless sensor networks (WSN) prevent them from a widespread acceptance. In this work, a novel technique to monitor the human activity, based on non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM), is presented. The proposal uses only smart meter data, which leads to minimum intrusiveness and a potential massive deployment at minimal cost. This could be the key to develop sustainable healthcare models for smart homes, capable of complying with the elderly people’ demands. This study also uses the Dempster-Shafer theory to provide a daily score of normality with regard to the regular behavior. This approach has been evaluated using real datasets and, additionally, a benchmarking against a Gaussian mixture model approach is presented. PMID:28208672

Clinical validation of a medical grade color monitor for chest radiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, J.; Zanca, F.; Verschakelen, J.; Marchal, G.; Bosmans, H.

2009-02-01

Until recently, the specifications of medical grade monochrome LCD monitors outperformed those of color LCD monitors. New generations of color LCD monitors, however, show specifications that are in many respects similar to those of monochrome monitors typically used in diagnostic workstations. The aim of present study was to evaluate the impact of different medical grade monitors in terms of detection of simulated lung nodules in chest x-ray images. Specifically, we wanted to compare a new medical grade color monitor (Barco Coronis 6MP color) to a medical grade grayscale monitor (Barco Coronis 3MP monochrome) and a consumer color monitor (Philips 200VW 1.7MP color) by means of an observer performance experiment. Using the free-response acquisition data paradigm, seven radiologists were asked to detect and locate lung nodules (170 in total), simulated in half of the 200 chest X-ray images used in the experiment. The jackknife free-response receiver operating characteristic (JAFROC) analysis of the data showed a statistically significant difference between at least two monitors, F-value=3.77 and p-value =0.0481. The different Figure of Merit values were 0.727, 0.723 and 0.697 for the new color LCD monitor, the medical grade monitor and the consumer color monitor respectively. There was no difference between the needed reading times but there was a difference between the mean calculated Euclidian distances between the position marked by the observers and the center of the simulated nodule, indicating a better accuracy with both medical grade monitors. Present data suggests that the new generation of medical grade color monitors could be used as diagnostic workstations.

The Roles of Self-Disclosure, Modesty, and Self-Monitoring in the Mentoring Relationship: A Longitudinal Multi-Source Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blickle, Gerhard; Schneider, Paula B.; Perrewe, Pamela L.; Blass, Fred R.; Ferris, Gerald R.

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of protege self-presentation by self-disclosure, modesty, and self-monitoring in mentoring. Design/methodology/approach: This study used three data sources (i.e. employees, peers, and mentors) and a longitudinal design over a period of two years. Findings: Employee self-disclosure and…

Monitoring of the microhemodynamic in an aggressive clinical behavior of cerebral hemorrhage using dynamic light scattering techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vilensky, M. A.; Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya, O. V.; Timoshina, P. A.; Berdnikova, V. A.; Kuznetsova, Y. V.; Semyachkin-Glushkovsky, I. A.; Agafonov, D. N.; Tuchin, V. V.

2012-06-01

This paper presents the results of experimental study of full field laser speckle imaging due to cortex microcirculation state monitoring for laboratory rats under conditions of stroke and the introduction of agents. Three groups of experimental animals from five animals in each group were studied. The behavior of blood flow, studied by speckle imaging technique, matched the expected physiological response to an impact.

Response Monitoring and Adjustment: Differential Relations with Psychopathic Traits

PubMed Central

Bresin, Konrad; Finy, M. Sima; Sprague, Jenessa; Verona, Edelyn

2014-01-01

Studies on the relation between psychopathy and cognitive functioning often show mixed results, partially because different factors of psychopathy have not been considered fully. Based on previous research, we predicted divergent results based on a two-factor model of psychopathy (interpersonal-affective traits and impulsive-antisocial traits). Specifically, we predicted that the unique variance of interpersonal-affective traits would be related to increased monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity) and adjusting to errors (i.e., post-error slowing), whereas impulsive-antisocial traits would be related to reductions in these processes. Three studies using a diverse selection of assessment tools, samples, and methods are presented to identify response monitoring correlates of the two main factors of psychopathy. In Studies 1 (undergraduates), 2 (adolescents), and 3 (offenders), interpersonal-affective traits were related to increased adjustment following errors and, in Study 3, to enhanced monitoring of errors. Impulsive-antisocial traits were not consistently related to error adjustment across the studies, although these traits were related to a deficient monitoring of errors in Study 3. The results may help explain previous mixed findings and advance implications for etiological models of psychopathy. PMID:24933282

An Efficient Wireless Sensor Network for Industrial Monitoring and Control.

PubMed

Aponte-Luis, Juan; Gómez-Galán, Juan Antonio; Gómez-Bravo, Fernando; Sánchez-Raya, Manuel; Alcina-Espigado, Javier; Teixido-Rovira, Pedro Miguel

2018-01-10

This paper presents the design of a wireless sensor network particularly designed for remote monitoring and control of industrial parameters. The article describes the network components, protocol and sensor deployment, aimed to accomplish industrial constraint and to assure reliability and low power consumption. A particular case of study is presented. The system consists of a base station, gas sensing nodes, a tree-based routing scheme for the wireless sensor nodes and a real-time monitoring application that operates from a remote computer and a mobile phone. The system assures that the industrial safety quality and the measurement and monitoring system achieves an efficient industrial monitoring operations. The robustness of the developed system and the security in the communications have been guaranteed both in hardware and software level. The system is flexible and can be adapted to different environments. The testing of the system confirms the feasibility of the proposed implementation and validates the functional requirements of the developed devices, the networking solution and the power consumption management.

An Efficient Wireless Sensor Network for Industrial Monitoring and Control

PubMed Central

Aponte-Luis, Juan; Gómez-Bravo, Fernando; Sánchez-Raya, Manuel; Alcina-Espigado, Javier; Teixido-Rovira, Pedro Miguel

2018-01-01

This paper presents the design of a wireless sensor network particularly designed for remote monitoring and control of industrial parameters. The article describes the network components, protocol and sensor deployment, aimed to accomplish industrial constraint and to assure reliability and low power consumption. A particular case of study is presented. The system consists of a base station, gas sensing nodes, a tree-based routing scheme for the wireless sensor nodes and a real-time monitoring application that operates from a remote computer and a mobile phone. The system assures that the industrial safety quality and the measurement and monitoring system achieves an efficient industrial monitoring operations. The robustness of the developed system and the security in the communications have been guaranteed both in hardware and software level. The system is flexible and can be adapted to different environments. The testing of the system confirms the feasibility of the proposed implementation and validates the functional requirements of the developed devices, the networking solution and the power consumption management. PMID:29320466

Multimodal intraoperative monitoring (MIOM) during cervical spine surgical procedures in 246 patients

PubMed Central

Sutter, Martin A.; Grob, Dieter; Jeszenszky, Dezsö; Porchet, François; Dvorak, Jiri

2007-01-01

A prospective study of 246 patients who received multimodal intraoperative monitoring during cervical spine surgery between March 2000 and December 2005. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of MIOM techniques used to monitor spinal cord and nerve root function during cervical spine surgery. It is appreciated that complication rate of cervical spine surgery is low, however, there is a significant risk of neurological injury. The combination of monitoring of ascending and descending pathways may provide more sensitive and specific results giving immediate feedback information and/or alert regarding any neurological changes during the operation to the surgeon. Intraoperative somatosensory spinal and cerebral evoked potentials combined with continuous EMG and motor-evoked potentials of the spinal cord and muscles were evaluated and compared with postoperative clinical neurological changes. A total of 246 consecutive patients with cervical pathologies, majority spinal stenosis due to degenerative changes of cervical spine were monitored by means of MIOM during the surgical procedure. About 232 patients presented true negative while 2 patients false negative responses. About ten patients presented true positive responses where neurological deficit after the operation was predicted and two patients presented false positive findings. The sensitivity of MIOM applied during cervical spine procedure (anterior and/or posterior) was 83.3% and specificity of 99.2%. MIOM is an effective method of monitoring the spinal cord functional integrity during cervical spine surgery and can help to reduce the risk of neurological deficit by alerting the surgeon when monitoring changes are observed. PMID:17610090

Antepartum Fetal Monitoring and Spectral Analysis of Preterm Birth Risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Păsăricără, Alexandru; Nemescu, Dragoş; Arotăriţei, Dragoş; Rotariu, Cristian

2017-11-01

The monitoring and analysis of antepartum fetal and maternal recordings is a research area of notable interest due to the relatively high value of preterm birth. The interest stems from the improvement of devices used for monitoring. The current paper presents the spectral analysis of antepartum heart rate recordings conducted during a study in Romania at the Cuza Voda Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Hospital from Iasi between 2010 and 2014. The study focuses on normal and preterm birth risk subjects in order to determine differences between these two types or recordings in terms of spectral analysis.

Water-quality, water-level, and lake-bottom-sediment data collected from the defense fuel supply point and adjacent properties, Hanahan, South Carolina, 1990-96

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petkewich, M.D.; Vroblesky, D.A.; Robertson, J.F.; Bradley, P.M.

1997-01-01

A 9-year scientific investigation to determine the potential for biore-mediation of ground-water contamination and to monitor the effectiveness of an engineered bioremediation system located at the Defense Fuel Supply Point and adjacent properties in Hanahan, S.C., has culminated in the collection of abundant water-quality and water-level data.This report presents the analytical results of the study that monitored the changes in surface- and ground-water quality and water-table elevations in the study area from December 1990 to January 1996. This report also presents analytical results of lake-bottom sediments collected in the study area.

Randomized trial of the ForeseeHome monitoring device for early detection of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The HOme Monitoring of the Eye (HOME) study design - HOME Study report number 1.

PubMed

Chew, Emily Y; Clemons, Traci E; Bressler, Susan B; Elman, Michael J; Danis, Ronald P; Domalpally, Amitha; Heier, Jeffrey S; Kim, Judy E; Garfinkel, Richard A

2014-03-01

To evaluate the effects of a home-monitoring device with tele-monitoring compared with standard care in detection of progression to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the US. Participants, aged 55 to 90 years, at high risk of developing CNV associated with AMD were recruited to the HOme Monitoring of Eye (HOME) Study, an unmasked, multi-center, randomized trial of the ForeseeHome (FH) device plus standard care vs. standard care alone. The FH device utilizes preferential hyperacuity perimetry and tele-monitoring to detect changes in vision function associated with development of CNV, potentially prior to symptom and visual acuity loss. After establishing baseline measurements, subsequent changes on follow-up are detected by the device, causing the monitoring center to alert the clinical center to recall participants for an exam. Standard care consists of instructions for self-monitoring visual changes with subsequent self-report to the clinical center. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether home monitoring plus standard care in comparison with standard care alone, results in earlier detection of incident CNV with better present visual acuity. The primary outcome is the decline in visual acuity at CNV diagnosis from baseline. Detection of CNV prior to substantial vision loss is critical as vision outcome following anti-angiogenic therapy is dependent on the visual acuity at initiation of treatment. HOME Study is the first large scale study to test the use of home tele-monitoring system in the management of AMD patients. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Monitoring of heavy metals in selected Water Supply Systems in Poland, in relation to current regulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szuster-Janiaczyk, Agnieszka; Zeuschner, Piotr; Noga, Paweł; Skrzypczak, Marta

2018-02-01

The study presents an analysis of water quality monitoring in terms of the content of heavy metals, which is conducted in three independent water supply systems in Poland. The analysis showed that the monitoring of heavy metals isn't reliable - both the quantity of tested water samples and the location of the monitoring points are the problem. The analysis of changes in water quality from raw water to tap water was possible only for one of the analysed systems and indicate a gradual deterioration of water quality, although still within acceptable limits of legal regulations.

Large-Scale Wireless Temperature Monitoring System for Liquefied Petroleum Gas Storage Tanks.

PubMed

Fan, Guangwen; Shen, Yu; Hao, Xiaowei; Yuan, Zongming; Zhou, Zhi

2015-09-18

Temperature distribution is a critical indicator of the health condition for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage tanks. In this paper, we present a large-scale wireless temperature monitoring system to evaluate the safety of LPG storage tanks. The system includes wireless sensors networks, high temperature fiber-optic sensors, and monitoring software. Finally, a case study on real-world LPG storage tanks proves the feasibility of the system. The unique features of wireless transmission, automatic data acquisition and management, local and remote access make the developed system a good alternative for temperature monitoring of LPG storage tanks in practical applications.

The effectiveness of a life style modification and peer support home blood pressure monitoring in control of hypertension: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Su, Tin Tin; Majid, Hazreen Abdul; Nahar, Azmi Mohamed; Azizan, Nurul Ain; Hairi, Farizah Mohd; Thangiah, Nithiah; Dahlui, Maznah; Bulgiba, Awang; Murray, Liam J

2014-01-01

Death rates due to hypertension in low and middle income countries are higher compared to high income countries. The present study is designed to combine life style modification and home blood pressure monitoring for control of hypertension in the context of low and middle income countries. The study is a two armed, parallel group, un-blinded, cluster randomized controlled trial undertaken within lower income areas in Kuala Lumpur. Two housing complexes will be assigned to the intervention group and the other two housing complexes will be allocated in the control group. Based on power analysis, 320 participants will be recruited. The participants in the intervention group (n = 160) will undergo three main components in the intervention which are the peer support for home blood pressure monitoring, face to face health coaching on healthy diet and demonstration and training for indoor home based exercise activities while the control group will receive a pamphlet containing information on hypertension. The primary outcomes are systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Secondary outcome measures include practice of self-blood pressure monitoring, dietary intake, level of physical activity and physical fitness. The present study will evaluate the effect of lifestyle modification and peer support home blood pressure monitoring on blood pressure control, during a 6 month intervention period. Moreover, the study aims to assess whether these effects can be sustainable more than six months after the intervention has ended.

Binding an Event to Its Source at Encoding Improves Children's Source Monitoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Kim P.; Evans, Angela D.; Duncanson, Sara

2016-01-01

Children learn information from a variety of sources and often remember the content but forget the source. Whereas the majority of research has focused on retrieval mechanisms for such difficulties, the present investigation examines whether the way in which sources are "encoded" influences future source monitoring. In Study 1, 86…

ERPs Associated with Monitoring and Evaluation of Monetary Reward and Punishment in Children with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Meel, Catharina S.; Heslenfeld, Dirk J.; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Luman, Marjolein; Sergeant, Joseph A.

2011-01-01

Background: Several models of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) propose abnormalities in the response to behavioural contingencies. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study investigated the monitoring and subsequent evaluation of performance feedback resulting in either reward or punishment in children with ADHD (N =…

The Source of Execution-Related Dual-Task Interference: Motor Bottleneck or Response Monitoring?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bratzke, Daniel; Rolke, Bettina; Ulrich, Rolf

2009-01-01

The present study assessed the underlying mechanism of execution-related dual-task interference in the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm. The motor bottleneck hypothesis attributes this interference to a processing limitation at the motor level. By contrast, the response monitoring hypothesis attributes it to a bottleneck process that…

EPA Workshop on Monitored Natural Attenuation for Inorganic Contaminants: 3 – Discussion of Specific Contaminants & Case Study

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this training is to present an overview of site characterization approaches to support evaluation of the potential for Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) as a remedy for inorganic contaminants in ground water. The training will include discussion of the types of ...

Effects of a Short Strategy Training on Metacognitive Monitoring across the Life-Span

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von der Linden, Nicole; Löffler, Elisabeth; Schneider, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

The present study was conducted to explore the potential positive influence of a short strategy training on metacognitive monitoring competencies covering a life-span approach. Participants of four age groups (3rd-grade children, adolescents, younger and older adults) concluded a paired-associate learning task. Additionally, they gave delayed…

Novel Use of a Noninvasive Hemodynamic Monitor in a Personalized, Active Learning Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zoller, Jonathan K.; He, Jianghua; Ballew, Angela T.; Orr, Walter N.; Flynn, Brigid C.

2017-01-01

The present study furthered the concept of simulation-based medical education by applying a personalized active learning component. We tested this novel approach utilizing a noninvasive hemodynamic monitor with the capability to measure and display in real time numerous hemodynamic parameters in the exercising participant. Changes in medical…

Individual snag detection using neighborhood attribute filtered airborne lidar data

Treesearch

Brian M. Wing; Martin W. Ritchie; Kevin Boston; Warren B. Cohen; Michael J. Olsen

2015-01-01

The ability to estimate and monitor standing dead trees (snags) has been difficult due to their irregular and sparse distribution, often requiring intensive sampling methods to obtain statistically significant estimates. This study presents a new method for estimating and monitoring snags using neighborhood attribute filtered airborne discrete-return lidar data. The...

Self-Monitoring of Gaze in High Functioning Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grynszpan, Ouriel; Nadel, Jacqueline; Martin, Jean-Claude; Simonin, Jerome; Bailleul, Pauline; Wang, Yun; Gepner, Daniel; Le Barillier, Florence; Constant, Jacques

2012-01-01

Atypical visual behaviour has been recently proposed to account for much of social misunderstanding in autism. Using an eye-tracking system and a gaze-contingent lens display, the present study explores self-monitoring of eye motion in two conditions: free visual exploration and guided exploration via blurring the visual field except for the focal…

Using Forest Health Monitoring to assess aspen forest cover change in the southern Rockies ecoregion

Treesearch

Paul Rogers

2002-01-01

Long-term qualitative observations suggest a marked decline in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) primarily due to advancing succession and fire suppression. This study presents an ecoregional coarse-grid analysis of the current aspen situation using Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) data from Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. A...

Monitoring volcanic thermal activity by Robust Satellite Techniques: achievements and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tramutoli, V.; Marchese, F.; Mazzeo, G.; Pergola, N.

2009-12-01

Satellite data have been increasingly used in last decades to study active volcanoes and to monitor thermal activity variation in space-time domain. Several satellite techniques and original methods have been developed and tested, devoted to hotspot detection and thermal monitoring. Among them, a multi-temporal approach, named RST (Robust Satellite Techniques), has shown high performances in detecting hotspots, with a low false positive rate under different observational and atmospheric conditions, providing also a potential toward low-level thermal anomalies which may announce incoming eruptions. As the RST scheme is intrinsically exportable on different geographic areas and satellite sensors, it has been applied and tested on a number of volcanoes and in different environmental conditions. This work presents major results and outcomes of studies carried out on Etna and Stromboli (Italy), Merapi (Java Indonesia), Asamayama (Japan), Jebel Al Tair (Yemen) by using different satellite systems and sensors (e.g. NOAA-AVHRR, EOS-MODIS, MSG-SEVIRI). Performances on hotspot detection, early warning and real-time monitoring, together with capabilities in possible thermal precursor identification, will be presented and discussed.

The Impact of Evidence-Based Practice Implementation and Fidelity Monitoring on Staff Turnover: Evidence for a Protective Effect

PubMed Central

Aarons, Gregory A.; Sommerfeld, David H.; Hecht, Debra B.; Silovsky, Jane F.; Chaffin, Mark J.

2009-01-01

Staff retention is an ongoing challenge in mental health and community-based service organizations. Little is known about the impact of evidence-based practice implementation on the mental health and social service workforce. The present study examined the effect of evidence-based practice implementation and ongoing fidelity monitoring on staff retention in a children’s services system. The study took place in the context of a statewide regionally randomized effectiveness trial of an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce child neglect. Twenty-one teams consisting of 153 home-based service providers were followed over a 29 month period. Survival analyses revealed greater staff retention in the condition where the evidence-based practice was implemented along with ongoing fidelity monitoring presented to staff as supportive consultation. These results should help to allay concerns about staff retention when implementing evidence-based practices where there is good values-innovation fit and when fidelity monitoring is designed as an aid and support to service providers in providing a high standard of care for children and families. PMID:19309186

A Simple Case Study of a Grid Performance System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aydt, Ruth; Gunter, Dan; Quesnel, Darcy; Smith, Warren; Taylor, Valerie; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This document presents a simple case study of a Grid performance system based on the Grid Monitoring Architecture (GMA) being developed by the Grid Forum Performance Working Group. It describes how the various system components would interact for a very basic monitoring scenario, and is intended to introduce people to the terminology and concepts presented in greater detail in other Working Group documents. We believe that by focusing on the simple case first, working group members can familiarize themselves with terminology and concepts, and productively join in the ongoing discussions of the group. In addition, prototype implementations of this basic scenario can be built to explore the feasibility of the proposed architecture and to expose possible shortcomings. Once the simple case is understood and agreed upon, complexities can be added incrementally as warranted by cases not addressed in the most basic implementation described here. Following the basic performance monitoring scenario discussion, unresolved issues are introduced for future discussion.

Validation of an automated mite counter for Dermanyssus gallinae in experimental laying hen cages.

PubMed

Mul, Monique F; van Riel, Johan W; Meerburg, Bastiaan G; Dicke, Marcel; George, David R; Groot Koerkamp, Peter W G

2015-08-01

For integrated pest management (IPM) programs to be maximally effective, monitoring of the growth and decline of the pest populations is essential. Here, we present the validation results of a new automated monitoring device for the poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae), a serious pest in laying hen facilities world-wide. This monitoring device (called an "automated mite counter") was validated in experimental laying hen cages with live birds and a growing population of D. gallinae. This validation study resulted in 17 data points of 'number of mites counted' by the automated mite counter and the 'number of mites present' in the experimental laying hen cages. The study demonstrated that the automated mite counter was able to track the D. gallinae population effectively. A wider evaluation showed that this automated mite counter can become a useful tool in IPM of D. gallinae in laying hen facilities.

Analytical Results for Municipal Biosolids Samples from a Monitoring Program Near Deer Trail, Colorado (U.S.A.), 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crock, J.G.; Smith, D.B.; Yager, T.J.B.; Berry, C.J.; Adams, M.G.

2009-01-01

Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver (Metro District), a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colo., has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of nonirrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colo. (U.S.A.). In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring groundwater at part of this site. In 1999, the USGS began a more comprehensive monitoring study of the entire site to address stakeholder concerns about the potential chemical effects of biosolids applications to water, soil, and vegetation. This more comprehensive monitoring program has recently been extended through 2010. Monitoring components of the more comprehensive study include biosolids collected at the wastewater treatment plant, soil, crops, dust, alluvial and bedrock groundwater, and stream-bed sediment. Streams at the site are dry most of the year, so samples of stream-bed sediment deposited after rain were used to indicate surface-water effects. This report will present only analytical results for the biosolids samples collected at the Metro District wastewater treatment plant in Denver and analyzed during 2008. Crock and others have presented earlier a compilation of analytical results for the biosolids samples collected and analyzed for 1999 thru 2006, and in a separate report, data for the 2007 biosolids are reported. More information about the other monitoring components is presented elsewhere in the literature. Priority parameters for biosolids identified by the stakeholders and also regulated by Colorado when used as an agricultural soil amendment include the total concentrations of nine trace elements (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc), plutonium isotopes, and gross alpha and beta activity. Nitrogen and chromium also were priority parameters for groundwater and sediment components.

Method development estimating ambient mercury concentration from monitored mercury wet deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, S. M.; Qiu, X.; Zhang, L.; Yang, F.; Blanchard, P.

2013-05-01

Speciated atmospheric mercury data have recently been monitored at multiple locations in North America; but the spatial coverage is far less than the long-established mercury wet deposition network. The present study describes a first attempt linking ambient concentration with wet deposition using Beta distribution fitting of a ratio estimate. The mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and skewness of the fitted Beta distribution parameters were generated using data collected in 2009 at 11 monitoring stations. Comparing the normalized histogram and the fitted density function, the empirical and fitted Beta distribution of the ratio shows a close fit. The estimated ambient mercury concentration was further partitioned into reactive gaseous mercury and particulate bound mercury using linear regression model developed by Amos et al. (2012). The method presented here can be used to roughly estimate mercury ambient concentration at locations and/or times where such measurement is not available but where wet deposition is monitored.

Phasor Measurement Unit and Its Application in Modern Power Systems

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

Ma, Jian; Makarov, Yuri V.; Dong, Zhao Yang

2010-06-01

The introduction of phasor measuring units (PMUs) in power systems significantly improves the possibilities for monitoring and analyzing power system dynamics. Synchronized measurements make it possible to directly measure phase angles between corresponding phasors in different locations within the power system. Improved monitoring and remedial action capabilities allow network operators to utilize the existing power system in a more efficient way. Improved information allows fast and reliable emergency actions, which reduces the need for relatively high transmission margins required by potential power system disturbances. In this chapter, the applications of PMU in modern power systems are presented. Specifically, the topicsmore » touched in this chapter include state estimation, voltage and transient stability, oscillation monitoring, event and fault detection, situation awareness, and model validation. A case study using Characteristic Ellipsoid method based on PMU to monitor power system dynamic is presented.« less

Monitoring technologies for ocean disposal of radioactive waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Triplett, M. B.; Solomon, K. A.; Bishop, C. B.; Tyce, R. C.

1982-01-01

The feasibility of using carefully selected subseabed locations to permanently isolate high level radioactive wastes at ocean depths greater than 4000 meters is discussed. Disposal at several candidate subseabed areas is being studied because of the long term geologic stability of the sediments, remoteness from human activity, and lack of useful natural resources. While the deep sea environment is remote, it also poses some significant challenges for the technology required to survey and monitor these sites, to identify and pinpoint container leakage should it occur, and to provide the environmental information and data base essential to determining the probable impacts of any such occurrence. Objectives and technical approaches to aid in the selective development of advanced technologies for the future monitoring of nuclear low level and high level waste disposal in the deep seabed are presented. Detailed recommendations for measurement and sampling technology development needed for deep seabed nuclear waste monitoring are also presented.

Monitoring Telluric Water Absorption with CAMAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Ashley; Blake, Cullen; Sliski, David

2017-01-01

Ground-based observations are severely limited by telluric water vapor absorption features, which are highly variable in time and significantly complicate both spectroscopy and photometry in the near-infrared (NIR). To achieve the stability required to study Earth-sized exoplanets, monitoring the precipitable water vapor (PWV) becomes necessary to mitigate the impact of telluric lines on radial velocity measurements and transit light curves. To address this issue, we present the Camera for the Automatic Monitoring of Atmospheric Lines (CAMAL), a stand-alone, inexpensive 6-inch aperture telescope dedicated to measuring PWV at the Whipple Observatory. CAMAL utilizes three NIR narrowband filters to trace the amount of atmospheric water vapor affecting simultaneous observations with the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) and MINERVA-Red telescopes. We present the current design of CAMAL, discuss our calibration methods, and show PWV measurements taken with CAMAL compared to those of a nearby GPS water vapor monitor.

Performance Monitoring Applied to System Supervision

PubMed Central

Somon, Bertille; Campagne, Aurélie; Delorme, Arnaud; Berberian, Bruno

2017-01-01

Nowadays, automation is present in every aspect of our daily life and has some benefits. Nonetheless, empirical data suggest that traditional automation has many negative performance and safety consequences as it changed task performers into task supervisors. In this context, we propose to use recent insights into the anatomical and neurophysiological substrates of action monitoring in humans, to help further characterize performance monitoring during system supervision. Error monitoring is critical for humans to learn from the consequences of their actions. A wide variety of studies have shown that the error monitoring system is involved not only in our own errors, but also in the errors of others. We hypothesize that the neurobiological correlates of the self-performance monitoring activity can be applied to system supervision. At a larger scale, a better understanding of system supervision may allow its negative effects to be anticipated or even countered. This review is divided into three main parts. First, we assess the neurophysiological correlates of self-performance monitoring and their characteristics during error execution. Then, we extend these results to include performance monitoring and error observation of others or of systems. Finally, we provide further directions in the study of system supervision and assess the limits preventing us from studying a well-known phenomenon: the Out-Of-the-Loop (OOL) performance problem. PMID:28744209

Both differences in encoding processes and monitoring at retrieval reduce false alarms when distinctive information is studied.

PubMed

Hanczakowski, Maciej; Mazzoni, Giuliana

2011-04-01

A reduction in false alarms to critical lures is observed in the DRM paradigm (Roediger & McDermott, 1995) when distinctive information is presented at encoding. Two mechanisms have been proposed to account for this reduction. According to the monitoring theory (e.g., the distinctiveness heuristic), lack of diagnostic recollection serves as a basis for discarding non-presented lures. According to the encoding theory, presenting distinctive information at study leads to impoverished relational processing, which results in a reduction in memorial information elicited by critical lures. In the present study a condition was created in which the use of the distinctiveness heuristic was precluded by associating, within the same study, lures with distinctive information in a context different from the study session. Under that condition reduction in false alarms to distinctive critical lures was still observed. This result supports the predictions of the encoding theory. However, when in the same study the use of the distinctiveness heuristic was not precluded, reductions in false alarms to unrelated lures were also observed when distinctive information was presented at study, indicating that both mechanisms are likely to contribute to the rejection of false memories.

Optimal Design of River Monitoring Network in Taizihe River by Matter Element Analysis

PubMed Central

Wang, Hui; Liu, Zhe; Sun, Lina; Luo, Qing

2015-01-01

The objective of this study is to optimize the river monitoring network in Taizihe River, Northeast China. The situation of the network and water characteristics were studied in this work. During this study, water samples were collected once a month during January 2009 - December 2010 from seventeen sites. Futhermore, the 16 monitoring indexes were analyzed in the field and laboratory. The pH value of surface water sample was found to be in the range of 6.83 to 9.31, and the average concentrations of NH4 +-N, chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile phenol and total phosphorus (TP) were found decreasing significantly. The water quality of the river has been improved from 2009 to 2010. Through the calculation of the data availability and the correlation between adjacent sections, it was found that the present monitoring network was inefficient as well as the optimization was indispensable. In order to improve the situation, the matter element analysis and gravity distance were applied in the optimization of river monitoring network, which were proved to be a useful method to optimize river quality monitoring network. The amount of monitoring sections were cut from 17 to 13 for the monitoring network was more cost-effective after being optimized. The results of this study could be used in developing effective management strategies to improve the environmental quality of Taizihe River. Also, the results show that the proposed model can be effectively used for the optimal design of monitoring networks in river systems. PMID:26023785

Implementation of gamma-ray spectrometry in two real-time water monitors using NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors.

PubMed

Casanovas, R; Morant, J J; Salvadó, M

2013-10-01

In this study, the implementation of gamma-ray spectrometry in two real-time water monitors using 2 in. × 2 in. NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors is described. These monitors collect the water from the river through a pump and it is analyzed in a vessel, which is shielded with Pb. The full calibration of the monitors was performed experimentally, except for the efficiency curve, which was set using validated Monte Carlo simulations with the EGS5 code system. After the calibration, the monitors permitted the identification and quantification of the involved isotopes in a possible radioactive increment and made it possible to discard possible leaks in the nuclear plants. As an example, a radiological increment during rain is used to show the advantages of gamma-ray spectrometry. To study the capabilities of the monitor, the minimum detectable activity concentrations for (131)I, (137)Cs and (40)K are presented for different integration times. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensors for High Frequency monitoring of cyanoHABs and cyanotoxin production

EPA Science Inventory

The use of sensors in environmental monitoring is an area of constant evolution. As monitoring needs present themselves, technology development follows. Here, the use of high frequency data to monitor and predict HABs is presented illustrating the successful use of technology a...

Test expectancy affects metacomprehension accuracy.

PubMed

Thiede, Keith W; Wiley, Jennifer; Griffin, Thomas D

2011-06-01

Theory suggests that the accuracy of metacognitive monitoring is affected by the cues used to judge learning. Researchers have improved monitoring accuracy by directing attention to more appropriate cues; however, this is the first study to more directly point students to more appropriate cues using instructions regarding tests and practice tests. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the accuracy metacognitive monitoring was affected by the nature of the test expected. Students (N= 59) were randomly assigned to one of two test expectancy groups (memory vs. inference). Then after reading texts, judging learning, completed both memory and inference tests. Test performance and monitoring accuracy were superior when students received the kind of test they had been led to expect rather than the unexpected test. Tests influence students' perceptions of what constitutes learning. Our findings suggest that this could affect how students prepare for tests and how they monitoring their own learning. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Utilizing a Homecare Platform for Remote Monitoring of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

PubMed

Panagopoulos, Christos; Malli, Foteini; Menychtas, Andreas; Smyrli, Efstathia-Petrina; Georgountzou, Aikaterini; Daniil, Zoe; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I; Tsanakas, Panayiotis; Maglogiannis, Ilias

2017-01-01

Homecare and home telemonitoring are a focal point of emerging healthcare schemes, with proven benefits for both patients, caregivers and providers, including reduction of healthcare costs and improved patients' quality of life, especially in the case of chronic disease management. Studies have evaluated solutions for remote monitoring of chronic patients based on technologies that allow daily symptom and vital signs monitoring, tailored to the needs of specific diseases. In this work, we present an affordable home telemonitoring system for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), based on an application for mobile devices and Bluetooth-enabled sensors for pulse oximetry and blood pressure measurements. Besides monitoring of vital signs, the system incorporates communication via videoconferencing and emergency response, with support from a helpdesk service. A pilot study was conducted, in order to verify the proposed solution's feasibility. The results support the utilization of the system for effective monitoring of patients with IPF.

Based Real Time Remote Health Monitoring Systems: A Review on Patients Prioritization and Related "Big Data" Using Body Sensors information and Communication Technology.

PubMed

Kalid, Naser; Zaidan, A A; Zaidan, B B; Salman, Omar H; Hashim, M; Muzammil, H

2017-12-29

The growing worldwide population has increased the need for technologies, computerised software algorithms and smart devices that can monitor and assist patients anytime and anywhere and thus enable them to lead independent lives. The real-time remote monitoring of patients is an important issue in telemedicine. In the provision of healthcare services, patient prioritisation poses a significant challenge because of the complex decision-making process it involves when patients are considered 'big data'. To our knowledge, no study has highlighted the link between 'big data' characteristics and real-time remote healthcare monitoring in the patient prioritisation process, as well as the inherent challenges involved. Thus, we present comprehensive insights into the elements of big data characteristics according to the six 'Vs': volume, velocity, variety, veracity, value and variability. Each of these elements is presented and connected to a related part in the study of the connection between patient prioritisation and real-time remote healthcare monitoring systems. Then, we determine the weak points and recommend solutions as potential future work. This study makes the following contributions. (1) The link between big data characteristics and real-time remote healthcare monitoring in the patient prioritisation process is described. (2) The open issues and challenges for big data used in the patient prioritisation process are emphasised. (3) As a recommended solution, decision making using multiple criteria, such as vital signs and chief complaints, is utilised to prioritise the big data of patients with chronic diseases on the basis of the most urgent cases.

Visual hallucinations in schizophrenia: confusion between imagination and perception.

PubMed

Brébion, Gildas; Ohlsen, Ruth I; Pilowsky, Lyn S; David, Anthony S

2008-05-01

An association between hallucinations and reality-monitoring deficit has been repeatedly observed in patients with schizophrenia. Most data concern auditory/verbal hallucinations. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between visual hallucinations and a specific type of reality-monitoring deficit, namely confusion between imagined and perceived pictures. Forty-one patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy control participants completed a reality-monitoring task. Thirty-two items were presented either as written words or as pictures. After the presentation phase, participants had to recognize the target words and pictures among distractors, and then remember their mode of presentation. All groups of participants recognized the pictures better than the words, except the patients with visual hallucinations, who presented the opposite pattern. The participants with visual hallucinations made more misattributions to pictures than did the others, and higher ratings of visual hallucinations were correlated with increased tendency to remember words as pictures. No association with auditory hallucinations was revealed. Our data suggest that visual hallucinations are associated with confusion between visual mental images and perception.

A neutral-beam profile monitor with a phosphor screen and a high-sensitivity camera for the J-PARC KOTO experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumura, T.; Kamiji, I.; Nakagiri, K.; Nanjo, H.; Nomura, T.; Sasao, N.; Shinkawa, T.; Shiomi, K.

2018-03-01

We have developed a beam-profile monitor (BPM) system to align the collimators for the neutral beam-line at the Hadron Experimental Facility of J-PARC. The system is composed of a phosphor screen and a CCD camera coupled to an image intensifier mounted on a remote control X- Y stage. The design and detailed performance studies of the BPM are presented. The monitor has a spatial resolution of better than 0.6 mm and a deviation from linearity of less than 1%. These results indicate that the BPM system meets the requirements to define collimator-edge positions for the beam-line tuning. Confirmation using the neutral beam for the KOTO experiment is also presented.

Dynamic Analyses of Result Quality in Energy-Aware Approximate Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

RIngenburg, Michael F.

Energy efficiency is a key concern in the design of modern computer systems. One promising approach to energy-efficient computation, approximate computing, trades off output precision for energy efficiency. However, this tradeoff can have unexpected effects on computation quality. This thesis presents dynamic analysis tools to study, debug, and monitor the quality and energy efficiency of approximate computations. We propose three styles of tools: prototyping tools that allow developers to experiment with approximation in their applications, online tools that instrument code to determine the key sources of error, and online tools that monitor the quality of deployed applications in real time. Our prototyping tool is based on an extension to the functional language OCaml. We add approximation constructs to the language, an approximation simulator to the runtime, and profiling and auto-tuning tools for studying and experimenting with energy-quality tradeoffs. We also present two online debugging tools and three online monitoring tools. The first online tool identifies correlations between output quality and the total number of executions of, and errors in, individual approximate operations. The second tracks the number of approximate operations that flow into a particular value. Our online tools comprise three low-cost approaches to dynamic quality monitoring. They are designed to monitor quality in deployed applications without spending more energy than is saved by approximation. Online monitors can be used to perform real time adjustments to energy usage in order to meet specific quality goals. We present prototype implementations of all of these tools and describe their usage with several applications. Our prototyping, profiling, and autotuning tools allow us to experiment with approximation strategies and identify new strategies, our online tools succeed in providing new insights into the effects of approximation on output quality, and our monitors succeed in controlling output quality while still maintaining significant energy efficiency gains.

A Comprehensive Study on Technologies of Tyre Monitoring Systems and Possible Energy Solutions

PubMed Central

Kubba, Ali E.; Jiang, Kyle

2014-01-01

This article presents an overview on the state of the art of Tyre Pressure Monitoring System related technologies. This includes examining the latest pressure sensing methods and comparing different types of pressure transducers, particularly their power consumption and measuring range. Having the aim of this research to investigate possible means to obtain a tyre condition monitoring system (TCMS) powered by energy harvesting, various approaches of energy harvesting techniques were evaluated to determine which approach is the most applicable for generating energy within the pneumatic tyre domain and under rolling tyre dynamic conditions. This article starts with an historical review of pneumatic tyre development and demonstrates the reasons and explains the need for using a tyre condition monitoring system. Following this, different tyre pressure measurement approaches are compared in order to determine what type of pressure sensor is best to consider in the research proposal plan. Then possible energy harvesting means inside land vehicle pneumatic tyres are reviewed. Following this, state of the art battery-less tyre pressure monitoring systems developed by individual researchers or by world leading tyre manufacturers are presented. Finally conclusions are drawn based on the reviewed documents cited in this article and a research proposal plan is presented. PMID:24922457

Monitoring Heritage Buildings with Open Source Hardware Sensors: A Case Study of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

PubMed Central

Mesas-Carrascosa, Francisco Javier; Verdú Santano, Daniel; Meroño de Larriva, Jose Emilio; Ortíz Cordero, Rafael; Hidalgo Fernández, Rafael Enrique; García-Ferrer, Alfonso

2016-01-01

A number of physical factors can adversely affect cultural heritage. Therefore, monitoring parameters involved in the deterioration process, principally temperature and relative humidity, is useful for preventive conservation. In this study, a total of 15 microclimate stations using open source hardware were developed and stationed at the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, which is registered with UNESCO for its outstanding universal value, to assess the behavior of interior temperature and relative humidity in relation to exterior weather conditions, public hours and interior design. Long-term monitoring of these parameters is of interest in terms of preservation and reducing the costs of future conservation strategies. Results from monitoring are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of this system. PMID:27690056

Optimized, Budget-constrained Monitoring Well Placement Using DREAM

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

Yonkofski, Catherine M. R.; Davidson, Casie L.; Rodriguez, Luke R.

Defining the ideal suite of monitoring technologies to be deployed at a carbon capture and storage (CCS) site presents a challenge to project developers, financers, insurers, regulators and other stakeholders. The monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) toolkit offers a suite of technologies to monitor an extensive range of parameters across a wide span of spatial and temporal resolutions, each with their own degree of sensitivity to changes in the parameter being monitored. Understanding how best to optimize MVA budgets to minimize the time to leak detection could help to address issues around project risks, and in turn help support broadmore » CCS deployment. This paper presents a case study demonstrating an application of the Designs for Risk Evaluation and Management (DREAM) tool using an ensemble of CO 2 leakage scenarios taken from a previous study on leakage impacts to groundwater. Impacts were assessed and monitored as a function of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), and trace metal concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb). Using output from the previous study, DREAM was used to optimize monitoring system designs based on variable sampling locations and parameters. The algorithm requires the user to define a finite budget to limit the number of monitoring wells and technologies deployed, and then iterates well placement and sensor type and location until it converges on the configuration with the lowest time to first detection of the leak averaged across all scenarios. To facilitate an understanding of the optimal number of sampling wells, DREAM was used to assess the marginal utility of additional sampling locations. Based on assumptions about monitoring costs and replacement costs of degraded water, the incremental cost of each additional sampling well can be compared against its marginal value in terms of avoided aquifer degradation. Applying this method, DREAM identified the most cost-effective ensemble with 14 monitoring locations. Here, while this preliminary study applied relatively simplistic cost and technology assumptions, it provides an exciting proof-of-concept for the application of DREAM to questions of cost-optimized MVA system design that are informed not only by site-specific costs and technology options, but also by reservoir simulation results developed during site characterization and operation.« less

Optimized, Budget-constrained Monitoring Well Placement Using DREAM

DOE PAGES

Yonkofski, Catherine M. R.; Davidson, Casie L.; Rodriguez, Luke R.; ...

2017-08-18

Defining the ideal suite of monitoring technologies to be deployed at a carbon capture and storage (CCS) site presents a challenge to project developers, financers, insurers, regulators and other stakeholders. The monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) toolkit offers a suite of technologies to monitor an extensive range of parameters across a wide span of spatial and temporal resolutions, each with their own degree of sensitivity to changes in the parameter being monitored. Understanding how best to optimize MVA budgets to minimize the time to leak detection could help to address issues around project risks, and in turn help support broadmore » CCS deployment. This paper presents a case study demonstrating an application of the Designs for Risk Evaluation and Management (DREAM) tool using an ensemble of CO 2 leakage scenarios taken from a previous study on leakage impacts to groundwater. Impacts were assessed and monitored as a function of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), and trace metal concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb). Using output from the previous study, DREAM was used to optimize monitoring system designs based on variable sampling locations and parameters. The algorithm requires the user to define a finite budget to limit the number of monitoring wells and technologies deployed, and then iterates well placement and sensor type and location until it converges on the configuration with the lowest time to first detection of the leak averaged across all scenarios. To facilitate an understanding of the optimal number of sampling wells, DREAM was used to assess the marginal utility of additional sampling locations. Based on assumptions about monitoring costs and replacement costs of degraded water, the incremental cost of each additional sampling well can be compared against its marginal value in terms of avoided aquifer degradation. Applying this method, DREAM identified the most cost-effective ensemble with 14 monitoring locations. Here, while this preliminary study applied relatively simplistic cost and technology assumptions, it provides an exciting proof-of-concept for the application of DREAM to questions of cost-optimized MVA system design that are informed not only by site-specific costs and technology options, but also by reservoir simulation results developed during site characterization and operation.« less

Brief Report: An Examination of the Relationships between Parental Monitoring, Self-Esteem and Delinquency among Mexican American Male Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caldwell, Roslyn M.; Beutler, Larry E.; Ross, Sylvia An; Silver, N. Clayton

2006-01-01

The present study examined relationships between parental monitoring (mother and father), self-esteem, and delinquency among 95 adjudicated Mexican American male adolescents who were on probationary status with the juvenile justice system. Consistent with previous literature pertaining to familial processes and delinquency among the general…

Evaluating methods for monitoring populations of Mexican spotted owls: A case study

Treesearch

Jospeh L. Ganey; Gary C. White; David C. Bowden; Alan B. Franklin

2004-01-01

Monitoring population status of rare or elusive species presents special challenges. Understanding population trends requires separating signal (true and important changes in abundance) from noise (normal temporal and sampling variation; e.g., Block et al. 2001). This is particularly difficult when small numbers or elusive habits make it difficult to obtain precise...

The Interplay between Reflective Thinking, Critical Thinking, Self-Monitoring, and Academic Achievement in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh

2017-01-01

The present study assessed the associations among higher-order thinking skills (reflective thinking, critical thinking) and self-monitoring that contribute to academic achievement among university students. The sample consisted of 196 Iranian university students (mean age = 22.05, SD = 3.06; 112 females; 75 males) who were administered three…

Explicit and Implicit Confidence Judgments and Developmental Differences in Metamemory: An Eye-Tracking Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roderer, Thomas; Roebers, Claudia M.

2010-01-01

In the present study, primary school children's ability to give accurate confidence judgments (CJ) was addressed, with a special focus on uncertainty monitoring. In order to investigate the effects of memory retrieval processes on monitoring judgments, item difficulty in a vocabulary learning task (Japanese symbols) was manipulated. Moreover, as a…

Comparing Elicited Imitation and Word Monitoring as Measures of Implicit Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suzuki, Yuichi; DeKeyser, Robert

2015-01-01

The present study challenges the validity of elicited imitation (EI) as a measure for implicit knowledge, investigating to what extent online error detection and subsequent sentence repetition draw on implicit knowledge. To assess online detection during listening, a word monitoring component was built into an EI task. Advanced-level Japanese L2…

How Stimulus and Task Complexity Affect Monitoring in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koolen, Sophieke; Vissers, Constance Th. W. M.; Egger, Jos I. M.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-01-01

The present study examined whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to update and monitor working memory representations of visual input, and whether performance is influenced by stimulus and task complexity. 15 high-functioning adults with ASD and 15 controls were asked to allocate either elements of abstract figures or…

Are You Sure the Library Is That Way? Metacognitive Monitoring of Spatial Judgments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Christopher A.; Carlson, Richard A.

2016-01-01

Many studies have examined how people recall the locations of objects in spatial layouts. However, little is known about how people monitor the accuracy of judgments based on those memories. The goal of the present experiments was to examine the effect of reference frame characteristics on metacognitive accuracy for spatial judgments. Reference…

PCD tool wear and its monitoring in machining tungsten

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lijiang; Zhang, Zhenlie; Sun, Qi; Liu, Pin

The views of Chinese and foreign researchers are quite different as to whether or not polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tools can machine tungsten that is used in the aerospace and electronic industries. A study is presented that shows the possibility of machining tungsten, and a new method is developed for monitoring the tool wear in production.

Monitoring ocean dumping with ERTS-1 data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wezernak, C. T.; Roller, N.

1973-01-01

The results of an analysis of ERTS-1 data for the New York Bight collected on 16 August 1972 are described. Results are presented which show acid-iron wastes, sewage sludge, suspended solids, and major water mass boundary features in the study area. The potential of satellite remote sensing for monitoring large scale events such as ocean dumping is discussed.

Camera Traps on Wildlife Crossing Structures as a Tool in Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Management - Five-Years Monitoring of Wolf Abundance Trends in Croatia

PubMed Central

Križan, Josip; Gužvica, Goran

2016-01-01

The conservation of gray wolf (Canis lupus) and its coexistence with humans presents a challenge and requires continuous monitoring and management efforts. One of the non-invasive methods that produces high-quality wolf monitoring datasets is camera trapping. We present a novel monitoring approach where camera traps are positioned on wildlife crossing structures that channel the animals, thereby increasing trapping success and increasing the cost-efficiency of the method. In this way we have followed abundance trends of five wolf packs whose home ranges are intersected by a motorway which spans throughout the wolf distribution range in Croatia. During the five-year monitoring of six green bridges we have recorded 28 250 camera-events, 132 with wolves. Four viaducts were monitored for two years, recording 4914 camera-events, 185 with wolves. We have detected a negative abundance trend of the monitored Croatian wolf packs since 2011, especially severe in the northern part of the study area. Further, we have pinpointed the legal cull as probable major negative influence on the wolf pack abundance trends (linear regression, r2 > 0.75, P < 0.05). Using the same approach we did not find evidence for a negative impact of wolves on the prey populations, both wild ungulates and livestock. We encourage strict protection of wolf in Croatia until there is more data proving population stability. In conclusion, quantitative methods, such as the one presented here, should be used as much as possible when assessing wolf abundance trends. PMID:27327498

Camera Traps on Wildlife Crossing Structures as a Tool in Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Management - Five-Years Monitoring of Wolf Abundance Trends in Croatia.

PubMed

Šver, Lidija; Bielen, Ana; Križan, Josip; Gužvica, Goran

2016-01-01

The conservation of gray wolf (Canis lupus) and its coexistence with humans presents a challenge and requires continuous monitoring and management efforts. One of the non-invasive methods that produces high-quality wolf monitoring datasets is camera trapping. We present a novel monitoring approach where camera traps are positioned on wildlife crossing structures that channel the animals, thereby increasing trapping success and increasing the cost-efficiency of the method. In this way we have followed abundance trends of five wolf packs whose home ranges are intersected by a motorway which spans throughout the wolf distribution range in Croatia. During the five-year monitoring of six green bridges we have recorded 28 250 camera-events, 132 with wolves. Four viaducts were monitored for two years, recording 4914 camera-events, 185 with wolves. We have detected a negative abundance trend of the monitored Croatian wolf packs since 2011, especially severe in the northern part of the study area. Further, we have pinpointed the legal cull as probable major negative influence on the wolf pack abundance trends (linear regression, r2 > 0.75, P < 0.05). Using the same approach we did not find evidence for a negative impact of wolves on the prey populations, both wild ungulates and livestock. We encourage strict protection of wolf in Croatia until there is more data proving population stability. In conclusion, quantitative methods, such as the one presented here, should be used as much as possible when assessing wolf abundance trends.

Shale gas impacts on groundwater resources: insights from monitoring a fracking site in Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montcoudiol, Nelly; Isherwood, Catherine; Gunning, Andrew; Kelly, Thomas; Younger, Paul

2017-04-01

Exploitation of shale gas by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is highly controversial and concerns have been raised regarding induced risks from this technique. The SHEER project, an EU Horizon 2020-funded project, is looking into developing best practice to understand, prevent and mitigate the potential short- and long-term environmental impacts and risks from shale gas exploration and exploitation. Three major potential impacts were identified: groundwater contamination, air pollution and induced seismicity. This presentation will deal with the hydrogeological aspect. As part of the SHEER project, four monitoring wells were installed at a shale gas exploration site in Northern Poland. They intercept the main drinking water aquifer located in Quaternary sediments. Baseline monitoring was carried out from mid-December 2015 to beginning of June 2016. Fracking operations occurred in two horizontal wells, in two stages, in June and July 2016. The monitoring has continued after fracking was completed, with site visits every 4-6 weeks. Collected data include measurements of groundwater level, conductivity and temperature at 15-minute intervals, frequent sampling for laboratory analyses and field measurements of groundwater physico-chemical parameters. Groundwater samples are analysed for a range of constituents including dissolved gases and isotopes. The presentation will focus on the interpretation of baseline monitoring data. The insights gained into the behaviour of the Quaternary aquifer will allow a greater perspective to be place on the initial project understanding draw from previous studies. Short-term impacts will also be discussed in comparison with the baseline monitoring results. The presentation will conclude with discussion of challenges regarding monitoring of shale gas fracking sites.

RCS propulsion functional path analysis for performance monitoring fault detection and annunciation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keesler, E. L.

1974-01-01

The operational flight instrumentation required for performance monitoring and fault detection are presented. Measurements by the burn through monitors are presented along with manifold and helium source pressures.

Potential of future operational missions sentinel 4 and 5 for atmospheric monitoring and science (CAMELOT).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levelt, P. F.; Veefkind, J. P.

2010-05-01

Dedicated atmospheric chemistry observations from space have been made for over 30 years now, starting with the SBUV and TOMS measurements of the ozone layer. Since then huge progress has been made, improving the accuracy of the measurements, extending the amount of constituents, and by sensing not only the stratosphere, but the last five to ten years also the troposphere. The potential to operational monitor the atmosphere, following the meteorological community, came within reach. At the same time, the importance for society of regular operational environmental measurements, related to the ozone layer, air quality and climate change, became apparent, amongst others resulting in the EU initiative Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) In order to prepare the operational missions in the context of the GMES, ESA took the initiative to further study the user requirements for the Sentinel 4 and 5 (precursor) missions. The Sentinel 4 and 5 (precursor) missions are dedicated operational missions to monitor the atmospheric composition in the 2013-2020 timeframe and onward. The user requirements for the sentinel missions focus on monitoring the atmosphere from an environmental point of view (ozone layer, air quality and climate). ESA's CAMELOT (Composition of the Atmospheric Mission concEpts and SentineL Observation Techniques) study is the follow-on study to ESA's CAPACITY study finished in 2005. The general objective of the CAMELOT study is to further contribute to the definition of the air quality and climate protocol monitoring parts of the GMES Sentinel 4 and 5 missions. CAMELOT consists of a large European consortium formed by 9 European institutes (KNMI (lead), RAL, U.Leicester, SRON, FMI, BIRA-IASB, CNR-IFAC,NOVELTIS and RIU-U.Koeln). In the presentation an overview will give a short overview of the CAMELOT study, including some specific results for combined retrievals, cloud statistics for different orbit geometries and retrievals for several orbit scenarios. The presentation will elaborate on the potential of the sentinel 4 and 5 missions for atmospheric monitoring and science.

A Remote Monitoring System for Voltage, Current, Power and Temperature Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barakat, E.; Sinno, N.; Keyrouz, C.

This paper presents a study and design of a monitoring system for the continuous measurement of electrical energy parameters such as voltage, current, power and temperature. This system is designed to monitor the data remotely over internet. The electronic power meter is based on a microcontroller from Microchip Technology Inc. PIC family. The design takes into consideration the correct operation in the event of an outage or brown out by recording the electrical values and the temperatures in EEPROM internally available in the microcontroller. Also a digital display is used to show the acquired measurements. A computer will remotely monitor the data over internet.

In Vivo Monitoring of Hemodynamic Changes during Clogging and Unclogging of Blood Supply for the Application of Clinical Shock Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanawade, Rajesh; Stelzle, Florian; Schmidt, Michael

This paper presents a novel methodology in early detection of clinical shock by monitoring hemodynamic changes using diffuse reflectance measurement technique. Detailed prototype of the reflectance measurement system and data analysis technique of hemodynamic monitoring was carried out in our laboratory. The real time in-vivo measurements were done from the index finger. This study demonstrates preliminary results of real time monitoring of reduced/- oxyhemoglobin changes during clogging and unclogging of blood flow in the finger tip. The obtained results were verified with pulse-oximeter values, connected to the tip of the same index finger.

Large-Scale Wireless Temperature Monitoring System for Liquefied Petroleum Gas Storage Tanks

PubMed Central

Fan, Guangwen; Shen, Yu; Hao, Xiaowei; Yuan, Zongming; Zhou, Zhi

2015-01-01

Temperature distribution is a critical indicator of the health condition for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage tanks. In this paper, we present a large-scale wireless temperature monitoring system to evaluate the safety of LPG storage tanks. The system includes wireless sensors networks, high temperature fiber-optic sensors, and monitoring software. Finally, a case study on real-world LPG storage tanks proves the feasibility of the system. The unique features of wireless transmission, automatic data acquisition and management, local and remote access make the developed system a good alternative for temperature monitoring of LPG storage tanks in practical applications. PMID:26393596

A Research on Low Modulus Distributed Fiber Optical Sensor for Pavement Material Strain Monitoring

PubMed Central

Meng, Lingjian; Wang, Linbing; Hou, Yue; Yan, Guannan

2017-01-01

The accumulated irreversible deformation in pavement under repeated vehicle loadings will cause fatigue failure of asphalt concrete. It is necessary to monitor the mechanical response of pavement under load by using sensors. Previous studies have limitations in modulus accommodation between the sensor and asphalt pavement, and it is difficult to achieve the distributed monitoring goal. To solve these problems, a new type of low modulus distributed optical fiber sensor (DOFS) for asphalt pavement strain monitoring is fabricated. Laboratory experiments have proved the applicability and accuracy of the newly-designed sensor. This paper presents the results of the development. PMID:29048393

A Research on Low Modulus Distributed Fiber Optical Sensor for Pavement Material Strain Monitoring.

PubMed

Meng, Lingjian; Wang, Linbing; Hou, Yue; Yan, Guannan

2017-10-19

The accumulated irreversible deformation in pavement under repeated vehicle loadings will cause fatigue failure of asphalt concrete. It is necessary to monitor the mechanical response of pavement under load by using sensors. Previous studies have limitations in modulus accommodation between the sensor and asphalt pavement, and it is difficult to achieve the distributed monitoring goal. To solve these problems, a new type of low modulus distributed optical fiber sensor (DOFS) for asphalt pavement strain monitoring is fabricated. Laboratory experiments have proved the applicability and accuracy of the newly-designed sensor. This paper presents the results of the development.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring of the Environmental Impact of Oil Exploration on Marine Mammals in the Gulf of Mexico.

PubMed

Sidorovskaia, Natalia A; Ackleh, Azmy S; Tiemann, Christopher O; Ma, Baoling; Ioup, Juliette W; Ioup, George E

2016-01-01

The Gulf of Mexico is a region densely populated by marine mammals that must adapt to living in a highly active industrial environment. This paper presents a new approach to quantifying the anthropogenic impact on the marine mammal population. The results for sperm and beaked whales of a case study of regional population dynamics trends after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, derived from passive acoustic-monitoring data gathered before and after the spill in the vicinity of the accident, are presented.

The vertical monitor position for presbyopic computer users with progressive lenses: how to reach clear vision and comfortable head posture.

PubMed

Weidling, Patrick; Jaschinski, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

When presbyopic employees are wearing general-purpose progressive lenses, they have clear vision only with a lower gaze inclination to the computer monitor, given the head assumes a comfortable inclination. Therefore, in the present intervention field study the monitor position was lowered, also with the aim to reduce musculoskeletal symptoms. A comparison group comprised users of lenses that do not restrict the field of clear vision. The lower monitor positions led the participants to lower their head inclination, which was linearly associated with a significant reduction in musculoskeletal symptoms. However, for progressive lenses a lower head inclination means a lower zone of clear vision, so that clear vision of the complete monitor was not achieved, rather the monitor should have been placed even lower. The procedures of this study may be useful for optimising the individual monitor position depending on the comfortable head and gaze inclination and the vertical zone of clear vision of progressive lenses. For users of general-purpose progressive lenses, it is suggested that low monitor positions allow for clear vision at the monitor and for a physiologically favourable head inclination. Employees may improve their workplace using a flyer providing ergonomic-optometric information.

Presentation from 2016 STAR Tribal Research Meeting: ANTHC Rural Alaska Monitoring Program (RAMP): Assessing, Monitoring, and Adapting to Emerging Environmental Human and Wildlife Health Threats

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This presentation, ANTHC Rural Alaska Monitoring Program (RAMP): Assessing, Monitoring, and Adapting to Emerging Environmental Human and Wildlife Health Threats, was given at the 2016 STAR Tribal Research Meeting held on Sept. 20-21, 2016.

Optical bedside monitoring of cerebral perfusion: technological and methodological advances applied in a study on acute ischemic stroke

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinkellner, Oliver; Gruber, Clemens; Wabnitz, Heidrun; Jelzow, Alexander; Steinbrink, Jens; Fiebach, Jochen B.; MacDonald, Rainer; Obrig, Hellmuth

2010-11-01

We present results of a clinical study on bedside perfusion monitoring of the human brain by optical bolus tracking. We measure the kinetics of the contrast agent indocyanine green using time-domain near-IR spectroscopy (tdNIRS) in 10 patients suffering from acute unilateral ischemic stroke. In all patients, a delay of the bolus over the affected when compared to the unaffected hemisphere is found (mean: 1.5 s, range: 0.2 s to 5.2 s). A portable time-domain near-IR reflectometer is optimized and approved for clinical studies. Data analysis based on statistical moments of time-of-flight distributions of diffusely reflected photons enables high sensitivity to intracerebral changes in bolus kinetics. Since the second centralized moment, variance, is preferentially sensitive to deep absorption changes, it provides a suitable representation of the cerebral signals relevant for perfusion monitoring in stroke. We show that variance-based bolus tracking is also less susceptible to motion artifacts, which often occur in severely affected patients. We present data that clearly manifest the applicability of the tdNIRS approach to assess cerebral perfusion in acute stroke patients at the bedside. This may be of high relevance to its introduction as a monitoring tool on stroke units.

Generating visual flickers for eliciting robust steady-state visual evoked potentials at flexible frequencies using monitor refresh rate.

PubMed

Nakanishi, Masaki; Wang, Yijun; Wang, Yu-Te; Mitsukura, Yasue; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2014-01-01

In the study of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs), it remains a challenge to present visual flickers at flexible frequencies using monitor refresh rate. For example, in an SSVEP-based brain-computer interface (BCI), it is difficult to present a large number of visual flickers simultaneously on a monitor. This study aims to explore whether or how a newly proposed frequency approximation approach changes signal characteristics of SSVEPs. At 10 Hz and 12 Hz, the SSVEPs elicited using two refresh rates (75 Hz and 120 Hz) were measured separately to represent the approximation and constant-period approaches. This study compared amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), phase, latency, scalp distribution, and frequency detection accuracy of SSVEPs elicited using the two approaches. To further prove the efficacy of the approximation approach, this study implemented an eight-target BCI using frequencies from 8-15 Hz. The SSVEPs elicited by the two approaches were found comparable with regard to all parameters except amplitude and SNR of SSVEPs at 12 Hz. The BCI obtained an averaged information transfer rate (ITR) of 95.0 bits/min across 10 subjects with a maximum ITR of 120 bits/min on two subjects, the highest ITR reported in the SSVEP-based BCIs. This study clearly showed that the frequency approximation approach can elicit robust SSVEPs at flexible frequencies using monitor refresh rate and thereby can largely facilitate various SSVEP-related studies in neural engineering and visual neuroscience.

The utility of ambulatory pH monitoring in patients presenting with chronic cough and asthma

PubMed Central

AlHabib, KF; Vedal, S; Champion, P; FitzGerald, JM

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in patients presenting with asthma and chronic cough. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The charts of 358 consecutive patients who were referred for ambulatory gastroesophageal pH monitoring to the Lung Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, were reviewed, and the data of 108 (30%) patients with asthma and 134 (37%) patients with chronic cough were analyzed. The maintenance treatment for GERD was discontinued before patients underwent the pH monitoring study. One hundred eighteen (33%) patients were excluded. RESULTS: Reflux episodes identified reflux events as the percentage of time where the pH was less than four. For asthma patients, 70 (64.8%) had distal total reflux, 50 (46.3%) had distal upright reflux, 41 (38.3%) had distal supine reflux and 73 (67.6%) had other distal refluxes. Proximal total reflux in asthmatic patients was present in 56 (52%), proximal upright reflux in 55 (51%) and proximal supine reflux in 56 (52%) patients. For chronic cough patients, 70 (52.6%) had distal total reflux, 59 (44.4%) had distal upright reflux, 45 (34.4%) had distal supine reflux and 75 (56%) patients had other distal refluxes. In chronic cough patients, proximal total reflux was present in 70 (52%), proximal upright reflux in 80 (60%) and proximal supine reflux in 59 (44%). Presenting respiratory and/or reflux symptoms were absent in approximately 25% of patients with asthma and reflux, and in approximately 50% of patients with chronic cough and reflux. During pH monitoring, symptoms did not differ significantly between those with and without distal reflux in both study groups, except for more significant heartburn in patients with chronic cough and reflux (RR 2.0). CONCLUSIONS: The data of the present study support the observation that there is a high prevalence of GERD in patients with asthma or chronic cough. The use of different pH parameters for detecting acid reflux during 24 h ambulatory pH monitoring, such as proximal esophageal acid measurement, should be considered as part of the routine interpretation of such testing. A low threshold for diagnosing GERD in patients with asthma or chronic cough is essential, because respiratory and/or reflux symptoms can be absent or atypical in some of these patients. PMID:17377644

A Consensus-Based Interpretation of the Benchmark Evidence from South American Trials: Treatment of Intracranial Pressure Trial.

PubMed

Chesnut, Randall M; Bleck, Thomas P; Citerio, Giuseppe; Classen, Jan; Cooper, D James; Coplin, William M; Diringer, Michael N; Grände, Per-Olof; Hemphill, J Claude; Hutchinson, Peter J; Le Roux, Peter; Mayer, Stephan A; Menon, David K; Myburgh, John A; Okonkwo, David O; Robertson, Claudia S; Sahuquillo, Juan; Stocchetti, Nino; Sung, Gene; Temkin, Nancy; Vespa, Paul M; Videtta, Walter; Yonas, Howard

2015-11-15

Widely-varying published and presented analyses of the Benchmark Evidence From South American Trials: Treatment of Intracranial Pressure (BEST TRIP) randomized controlled trial of intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring have suggested denying trial generalizability, questioning the need for ICP monitoring in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI), re-assessing current clinical approaches to monitored ICP, and initiating a general ICP-monitoring moratorium. In response to this dissonance, 23 clinically-active, international opinion leaders in acute-care sTBI management met to draft a consensus statement to interpret this study. A Delphi method-based approach employed iterative pre-meeting polling to codify the group's general opinions, followed by an in-person meeting wherein individual statements were refined. Statements required an agreement threshold of more than 70% by blinded voting for approval. Seven precisely-worded statements resulted, with agreement levels of 83% to 100%. These statements, which should be read in toto to properly reflect the group's consensus positions, conclude that the BEST TRIP trial: 1) studied protocols, not ICP-monitoring per se; 2) applies only to those protocols and specific study groups and should not be generalized to other treatment approaches or patient groups; 3) strongly calls for further research on ICP interpretation and use; 4) should be applied cautiously to regions with much different treatment milieu; 5) did not investigate the utility of treating monitored ICP in the specific patient group with established intracranial hypertension; 6) should not change the practice of those currently monitoring ICP; and 7) provided a protocol, used in non-monitored study patients, that should be considered when treating without ICP monitoring. Consideration of these statements can clarify study interpretation.

A new methodology to identify surface water bodies at risk by using pesticide monitoring data: The glyphosate case study in Lombardy Region (Italy).

PubMed

Di Guardo, Andrea; Finizio, Antonio

2018-01-01

In the last decades, several monitoring programs were established as an effect of EU Directives addressing the quality of water resources (drinking water, groundwater and surface water). Plant Protection Products (PPPs) are an obvious target of monitoring activities, since they are directly released into the environment. One of the challenges in managing the risk of pesticides at the territorial scale is identifying the locations in water bodies needing implementation of risk mitigation measures. In this, the national pesticides monitoring plans could be very helpful. However, monitoring of pesticides is a challenging task because of the high number of registered pesticides, cost of analyses, and the periodicity of sampling related to pesticide application and use. Extensive high-quality data-sets are consequently often missing. More in general, the information that can be obtained from monitoring studies are frequently undervalued by risk managers. In this study, we propose a new methodology providing indications about the need to implement mitigation measures in stretches of surface water bodies on a territory by combining historical series of monitoring data and GIS. The methodology is articulated in two distinct phases: a) acquisition of monitoring data and setting-up of informative layers of georeferenced data (phase 1) and b) statistical and expert analysis for the identification of areas where implementation of limitation or mitigation measures are suggested (phase 2). Our methodology identifies potentially vulnerable water bodies, considering temporal contamination trends and relative risk levels at selected monitoring stations. A case study is presented considering glyphosate monitoring data in Lombardy Region (Northern of Italy) for the 2008-2014 period. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hypersonic Research Vehicle (HRV) real-time flight test support feasibility and requirements study. Part 1: Real-time flight experiment support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rediess, Herman A.; Ramnath, Rudrapatna V.; Vrable, Daniel L.; Hirvo, David H.; Mcmillen, Lowell D.; Osofsky, Irving B.

1991-01-01

The results are presented of a study to identify potential real time remote computational applications to support monitoring HRV flight test experiments along with definitions of preliminary requirements. A major expansion of the support capability available at Ames-Dryden was considered. The focus is on the use of extensive computation and data bases together with real time flight data to generate and present high level information to those monitoring the flight. Six examples were considered: (1) boundary layer transition location; (2) shock wave position estimation; (3) performance estimation; (4) surface temperature estimation; (5) critical structural stress estimation; and (6) stability estimation.

The evolution of monitoring system: the INFN-CNAF case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bovina, Stefano; Michelotto, Diego

2017-10-01

Over the past two years, the operations at CNAF, the ICT center of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics, have undergone significant changes. The adoption of configuration management tools, such as Puppet, and the constant increase of dynamic and cloud infrastructures have led us to investigate a new monitoring approach. The present work deals with the centralization of the monitoring service at CNAF through a scalable and highly configurable monitoring infrastructure. The selection of tools has been made taking into account the following requirements given by users: (I) adaptability to dynamic infrastructures, (II) ease of configuration and maintenance, capability to provide more flexibility, (III) compatibility with existing monitoring system, (IV) re-usability and ease of access to information and data. In the paper, the CNAF monitoring infrastructure and its related components are hereafter described: Sensu as monitoring router, InfluxDB as time series database to store data gathered from sensors, Uchiwa as monitoring dashboard and Grafana as a tool to create dashboards and to visualize time series metrics.

Macro and micro structures in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex contribute to individual differences in self-monitoring.

PubMed

Yang, Junyi; Tian, Xue; Wei, Dongtao; Liu, Huijuan; Zhang, Qinglin; Wang, Kangcheng; Chen, Qunlin; Qiu, Jiang

2016-06-01

Individual differences in self-monitoring, which are the capability to adjust behavior to adapt to social situations, influence a wide range of social behaviors. However, understanding of focal differences in brain structures related to individual self-monitoring is minimal, particularly when micro and macro structures are considered simultaneously. The present study investigates the relationship between self-monitoring and brain structure in a relatively large sample of young adults. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) revealed a significant positive correlation between self-monitoring and gray matter volume in the dorsal cingulate anterior cortex (dACC), dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and bilateral ventral striatum (VS). Further analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between self-monitoring and white matter (WM) integrity, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA) in the anterior cingulum (ACG) bundle. Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between self-monitoring and mean radius diffusion (RD). These results shed light on the structural neural basis of variation in self-monitoring.

Design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation of healthcare organization management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charalampos, Platis; Emmanouil, Zoulias; Dimitrios, Iracleous; Lappa, Evaggelia

2017-09-01

The management of a healthcare organization is monitored using a suitably designed questionnaire to 271 nurses operating in Greek hospital. The data are fed to an automatic data mining system to obtain a suitable series of models to analyse, visualise and study the obtained information. Hidden patterns, correlations and interdependencies are investigated and the results are analytically presented.

Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.

This booklet presents an overview of the findings pertaining to eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students from the 1999 Monitoring the Future Study. This overview focuses on recent trends in the use of various licit and illicit drugs. It also examines trends in the levels of perceived risk and personal disapproval associated with each drug, which…

The Impact of Evidence-Based Practice Implementation and Fidelity Monitoring on Staff Turnover: Evidence for a Protective Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aarons, Gregory A.; Sommerfeld, David H.; Hecht, Debra B.; Silovsky, Jane F.; Chaffin, Mark J.

2009-01-01

Staff retention is an ongoing challenge in mental health and community-based service organizations. Little is known about the impact of evidence-based practice implementation on the mental health and social service workforce. The present study examined the effect of evidence-based practice implementation and ongoing fidelity monitoring on staff…

Performance of 40- to 50-year-old subjects on a radar monitoring task : the effects of wearing bifocal glasses and interpolated rest periods on target detection time.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-04-01

The present study examines the effects of wearing bifocal glasses and interpolated rest periods on the performance of 40- to 50-year-old subjects on a radar monitoring task. The visual display was designed to resemble an air traffic control radar dis...

Getting Clued In: Inferential Processing and Comprehension Monitoring in Boys with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berthiaume, Kristen S.; Lorch, Elizabeth P.; Milich, Richard

2010-01-01

Objective: The present study examines the ability of children with ADHD to make inferences and monitor ongoing understanding of texts, to shed light on their academic difficulties. Method: A total of 29 boys with ADHD and 41 comparison boys between the ages of 7 and 12 participated. Three tasks measure how boys create and evaluate inferences,…

On-line Monitoring Device for High-voltage Switch Cabinet Partial Discharge Based on Pulse Current Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Y Tao, S.; Zhang, X. Z.; Cai, H. W.; Li, P.; Feng, Y.; Zhang, T. C.; Li, J.; Wang, W. S.; Zhang, X. K.

2017-12-01

The pulse current method for partial discharge detection is generally applied in type testing and other off-line tests of electrical equipment at delivery. After intensive analysis of the present situation and existing problems of partial discharge detection in switch cabinets, this paper designed the circuit principle and signal extraction method for partial discharge on-line detection based on a high-voltage presence indicating systems (VPIS), established a high voltage switch cabinet partial discharge on-line detection circuit based on the pulse current method, developed background software integrated with real-time monitoring, judging and analyzing functions, carried out a real discharge simulation test on a real-type partial discharge defect simulation platform of a 10KV switch cabinet, and verified the sensitivity and validity of the high-voltage switch cabinet partial discharge on-line monitoring device based on the pulse current method. The study presented in this paper is of great significance for switch cabinet maintenance and theoretical study on pulse current method on-line detection, and has provided a good implementation method for partial discharge on-line monitoring devices for 10KV distribution network equipment.

Data Analysis of Seismic Sequence in Central Italy in 2016 using CTBTO- International Monitoring System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mumladze, Tea; Wang, Haijun; Graham, Gerhard

2017-04-01

The seismic network that forms the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-test-ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) will ultimately consist of 170 seismic stations (50 primary and 120 auxiliary) in 76 countries around the world. The Network is still under the development, but currently more than 80% of the network is in operation. The objective of seismic monitoring is to detect and locate underground nuclear explosions. However, the data from the IMS also can be widely used for scientific and civil purposes. In this study we present the results of data analysis of the seismic sequence in 2016 in Central Italy. Several hundred earthquakes were recorded for this sequence by the seismic stations of the IMS. All events were accurately located the analysts of the International Data Centre (IDC) of the CTBTO. In this study we will present the epicentral and magnitude distribution, station recordings and teleseismic phases as obtained from the Reviewed Event Bulletin (REB). We will also present a comparison of the database of the IDC with the databases of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Present work shows that IMS data can be used for earthquake sequence analyses and can play an important role in seismological research.

Studies of beam position monitor stability

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

Tenenbaum, P.

1998-05-01

The authors present the results from two studies of the time stability between the mechanical center of a beam position monitor and its electrical/electronic center. In the first study, a group of 93 BPM processors was calibrated via Test Pulse Generator once per hour in order to measure the contribution of the readout electronics to offset drifts. In the second study, a triplet of stripline BPMs in the Final Focus Test Beam, separated only by drift spaces, was read out every 6 minutes during 1 week of beam operation. In both cases offset stability was observed to be on themore » order of microns over time spans ranging from hours to days, although during the beam study much worse performance was also observed. Implications for the beam position monitor system of future linear collider systems are discussed.« less

Environmental monitoring in interventional radiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Sol, S.; Garcia, R.; Sánchez-Guzmán, D.; Ramirez, G.; Chavarin, E. U.; Rivera, T.

2017-01-01

The procedures in Interventional Radiology involve long times of exposure and high number of radiographic images that bring higher radiation doses to patients, staff and environmental than those received in conventional Radiology. Currently for monitoring the dose, the thermoluminescent dosimetry use is recommended. The aim of this work was to carry out the monitoring of the environmental scattered radiation inside the IR room using two types of thermoluminescent dosimeters, TLD-100 (reference dosimeter), CaSO4:Dy (synthesized in our laboratory). The results indicate that the TLD-100 is not effective for the environmental monitoring of low-energy Rx rooms. The CaSO4:Dy presented good behaviour over the 6 months of study. The results will be specific to each room so it is recommended such studies as part of the program of quality control of each Rx room.

(Global natural resource monitoring and assessment)

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

Dale, V.H.

1989-10-16

The traveler participated in a major international forestry conference in Venice, Italy, and gave a presentation on the need for monitoring forests on a worldwide basis and a strategy to do so. She also participated in a working group on ways to promote institutional collaboration for global monitoring. Observations from this conference are summarized with focus on issues relating to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Center for Global Environmental Studies. The traveler also discussed the possibility of a joint ORNL-Swiss research program to develop a spatial model of forests.

Use of multi-objective air pollution monitoring sites and online air pollution monitoring system for total health risk assessment in Hyderabad, India.

PubMed

Anjaneyulu, Y; Jayakumar, I; Hima Bindu, V; Sagareswar, G; Mukunda Rao, P V; Rambabu, N; Ramani, K V

2005-08-01

A consensus has been emerging among public health experts in developing countries that air pollution, even at current ambient levels, aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and leads to premature mortality. Recent studies have also presented well-founded theories concerning the biological mechanisms involved and the groups of people that are probably more susceptible to health effects caused or exacerbated by inhalation of ambient particulate matter (PM.). On the basis of prognostic studies carried out in Center for Environment, JNT University, Hyderabad "it has been estimated that in Hyderabad some 1,700 to 3,000 people per year die prematurely as a result of inhaling PM". These figures reflect only the effects of acute exposure to air pollution. If the long-term effects of chronic exposure are taken into account, 10,000-15,000 people a year could die prematurely in Hyderabad. This estimate of the chronic effects is based on other studies, which are not completely comparable with the Hyderabad situation. While the study designs and analyses in these other studies may indeed be different or irrelevant to Hyderabad, the fact they were carried out in other countries is irrelevant. Taking into account these considerations, a model for total health risk assessment for the city of Hyderabad, and its state of Andhra Pradesh in India has been developed using a multi-objective air pollution monitoring network and online and real time air pollution monitoring stations. For the model studies a number of potential monitoring sites were screened for general and site-specific criteria in a geographic information system (GIS) environment that may, on a local basis, affect the representativeness of the data collected. Local features that may affect either the chemical or meteorological parameters are evaluated to assure a minimum of interference. Finally, for monitoring air pollution, an online and real-time monitoring system was designed using advanced electrochemical sensor systems (sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, ozone, mercaptans and hydrogen sulphide) and a particulate matter analyzer (total suspended particulate matter TSPM), PM2.5 and PM10). The sensor and data acquisition systems are programmed to monitor pollution levels at 1/2 hour durations during peak hours and at 1-hour intervals at other times. Presently, extensive statistical and numerical simulations are being carried out at our center to correlate the individuals living in the monitored areas with respiratory infections with air pollution.

Use of Multi-Objective Air Pollution Monitoring Sites and Online Air Pollution Monitoring System for Total Health Risk Assessment in Hyderabad, India

PubMed Central

Anjaneyulu, Y.; Jayakumar, I.; Bindu, V. Hima; Sagareswar, G.; Rao, P.V. Mukunda; Rambabu, N.; Ramani, K. V.

2005-01-01

A consensus has been emerging among public health experts in developing countries that air pollution, even at current ambient levels, aggravates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and leads to premature mortality. Recent studies have also presented well-founded theories concerning the biological mechanisms involved and the groups of people that are probably more susceptible to health effects caused or exacerbated by inhalation of ambient particulate matter (PM.). On the basis of prognostic studies carried out in Center for Environment, JNT University, Hyderabad “it has been estimated that in Hyderabad some 1,700 to 3,000 people per year die prematurely as a result of inhaling PM”. These figures reflect only the effects of acute exposure to air pollution. If the long-term effects of chronic exposure are taken into account, 10,000–15,000 people a year could die prematurely in Hyderabad. This estimate of the chronic effects is based on other studies, which are not completely comparable with the Hyderabad situation. While the study designs and analyses in these other studies may indeed be different or irrelevant to Hyderabad, the fact they were carried out in other countries is irrelevant. Taking into account these considerations, a model for total health risk assessment for the city of Hyderabad, and its state of Andhra Pradesh in India has been developed using a multi-objective air pollution monitoring network and online and real time air pollution monitoring stations. For the model studies a number of potential monitoring sites were screened for general and site-specific criteria in a geographic information system (GIS) environment that may, on a local basis, affect the representativeness of the data collected. Local features that may affect either the chemical or meteorological parameters are evaluated to assure a minimum of interference. Finally, for monitoring air pollution, an online and real-time monitoring system was designed using advanced electrochemical sensor systems (sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, ozone, mercaptans and hydrogen sulphide) and a particulate matter analyzer (total suspended particulate matter TSPM), PM2.5 and PM10). The sensor and data acquisition systems are programmed to monitor pollution levels at ½ hour durations during peak hours and at 1-hour intervals at other times. Presently, extensive statistical and numerical simulations are being carried out at our center to correlate the individuals living in the monitored areas with respiratory infections with air pollution. PMID:16705838

[Intracranial pressure monitoring and CSF dynamics in patients with neurological disorders: indications and practical considerations].

PubMed

Poca, M; Sahuquillo, J

2001-01-01

The study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics is central to the diagnosis of adult chronic hydrocephalus (ACH). At present, many neurology and neurosurgery departments use one or more tests to guide diagnosis of this syndrome and to predict patient response to shunting. In specialised centres, the study of CSF dynamics is combined with continuous intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring. Determination of several variables of CSF dynamics and definitions of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of ICP can be used to establish whether the hydrocephalus is active, compensated or arrested. CSF dynamics and ICP monitoring can also be used to check the correct functioning of the shunt and can be of use in the clinical management of patients with pseudotumor cerebri. Moreover, ICP monitoring is used to guide the treatment of several acute neurological processes. The aim of this review is to describe the fundamentals of CSF dynamics studies and the bases of continuous ICP monitoring. The advantages and disadvantages of several hydrodynamic tests that can be performed by lumbar puncture, as well as the normal and abnormal characteristics of an ICP recording, are discussed.

Biomagnetic monitoring as a validation tool for local air quality models: a case study for an urban street canyon.

PubMed

Hofman, Jelle; Samson, Roeland

2014-09-01

Biomagnetic monitoring of tree leaf deposited particles has proven to be a good indicator of the ambient particulate concentration. The objective of this study is to apply this method to validate a local-scale air quality model (ENVI-met), using 96 tree crown sampling locations in a typical urban street canyon. To the best of our knowledge, the application of biomagnetic monitoring for the validation of pollutant dispersion modeling is hereby presented for the first time. Quantitative ENVI-met validation showed significant correlations between modeled and measured results throughout the entire in-leaf period. ENVI-met performed much better at the first half of the street canyon close to the ring road (r=0.58-0.79, RMSE=44-49%), compared to second part (r=0.58-0.64, RMSE=74-102%). The spatial model behavior was evaluated by testing effects of height, azimuthal position, tree position and distance from the main pollution source on the obtained model results and magnetic measurements. Our results demonstrate that biomagnetic monitoring seems to be a valuable method to evaluate the performance of air quality models. Due to the high spatial and temporal resolution of this technique, biomagnetic monitoring can be applied anywhere in the city (where urban green is present) to evaluate model performance at different spatial scales. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gamma ray spectroscopy monitoring method and apparatus

DOEpatents

Stagg, William R; Policke, Timothy A

2017-05-16

The present invention relates generally to the field of gamma ray spectroscopy monitoring and a system for accomplishing same to monitor one or more aspects of various isotope production processes. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a monitoring system, and method of utilizing same, for monitoring one or more aspects of an isotope production process where the monitoring system comprises: (A) at least one sample cell; (B) at least one measuring port; (C) at least one adjustable collimator device; (D) at least one shutter; and (E) at least one high resolution gamma ray spectrometer.

Children's comprehension monitoring of multiple situational dimensions of a narrative.

PubMed

Wassenburg, Stephanie I; Beker, Katinka; van den Broek, Paul; van der Schoot, Menno

Narratives typically consist of information on multiple aspects of a situation. In order to successfully create a coherent representation of the described situation, readers are required to monitor all these situational dimensions during reading. However, little is known about whether these dimensions differ in the ease with which they can be monitored. In the present study, we examined whether children in Grades 4 and 6 monitor four different dimensions (i.e., emotion, causation, time, and space) during reading, using a self-paced reading task containing inconsistencies. Furthermore, to explore what causes failure in inconsistency detection, we differentiated between monitoring processes related to availability and validation of information by manipulating the distance between two pieces of conflicting information. The results indicated that the monitoring processes varied as a function of dimension. Children were able to validate emotional and causal information when it was still active in working memory, but this was not the case for temporal and spatial information. When context and target information were more distant from each other, only emotionally charged information remained available for further monitoring processes. These findings show that the influence of different situational dimensions should be taken into account when studying children's reading comprehension.

Automatized Photometric Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei with the 46cm Telescope of the Wise Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pozo Nuñez, Francisco; Chelouche, Doron; Kaspi, Shai; Niv, Saar

2017-09-01

We present the first results of an ongoing variability monitoring program of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the 46 cm telescope of the Wise Observatory in Israel. The telescope has a field of view of 1.25^\\circ × 0.84^\\circ and is specially equipped with five narrowband filters at 4300, 5200, 5700, 6200, and 7000 Å to perform photometric reverberation mapping studies of the central engine of AGNs. The program aims to observe a sample of 27 AGNs (V < 17 mag) selected according to tentative continuum and line time delay measurements obtained in previous works. We describe the autonomous operation of the telescope together with the fully automatic pipeline used to achieve high-performance unassisted observations, data reduction, and light curves extraction using different photometric methods. The science verification data presented here demonstrates the performance of the monitoring program in particular for efficiently photometric reverberation mapping of AGNs with additional capabilities to carry out complementary studies of other transient and variable phenomena such as variable stars studies.

Development of an abort gap monitor for the large hadroncollider

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

Beche, J.-F.; Byrd, J.; De Santis, S.

2004-07-01

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), presently under construction at CERN, requires monitoring the parasitic charge in the 3.3ms long gap in the machine fill structure. This gap, referred to as the abort gap, corresponds to the raise time of the abort kickers magnets. Any circulating particle present in the abort gap at the time of the kickers firing is lost inside the ring, rather than in the beam dump, and can potentially damage a number of the LHC components. CERN specifications indicate a linear density of 6 x 106 protons over a 100 ns interval as the maximum charge safelymore » allowed to accumulate in the abort gap at 7 TeV. We present a study of an abort gap monitor, based on a photomultiplier tube with a gated microchannel plate, which would allow for detecting such low charge densities by monitoring the synchrotron radiation emitted in the dedicated diagnostics port. We show results of beam test experiments at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) using a Hamamatsu 5961U MCP-PMT, which indicate that such an instrument has the required sensitivity to meet LHC specifications.« less

Bio-analytical applications of microbial fuel cell-based biosensors for onsite water quality monitoring.

PubMed

ElMekawy, A; Hegab, H M; Pant, D; Saint, C P

2018-01-01

Globally, sustainable provision of high-quality safe water is a major challenge of the 21st century. Various chemical and biological monitoring analytics are presently utilized to guarantee the availability of high-quality water. However, these techniques still face some challenges including high costs, complex design and onsite and online limitations. The recent technology of using microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors holds outstanding potential for the rapid and real-time monitoring of water source quality. MFCs have the advantages of simplicity in design and efficiency for onsite sensing. Even though some sensing applications of MFCs were previously studied, e.g. biochemical oxygen demand sensor, recently numerous research groups around the world have presented new practical applications of this technique, which combine multidisciplinary scientific knowledge in materials science, microbiology and electrochemistry fields. This review presents the most updated research on the utilization of MFCs as potential biosensors for monitoring water quality and considers the range of potentially toxic analytes that have so far been detected using this methodology. The advantages of MFCs over established technology are also considered as well as future work required to establish their routine use. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Digital radiography with computerized conventional monitors compared to medical monitors in vertical root fracture diagnosis.

PubMed

Tofangchiha, Maryam; Adel, Mamak; Bakhshi, Mahin; Esfehani, Mahsa; Nazeman, Pantea; Ghorbani Elizeyi, Mojgan; Javadi, Amir

2013-01-01

Vertical root fracture (VRF) is a complication which is chiefly diagnosed radiographically. Recently, film-based radiography has been substituted with digital radiography. At the moment, there is a wide range of monitors available in the market for viewing digital images. The present study aims to compare the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of medical and conventional monitors in detection of vertical root fractures. In this in vitro study 228 extracted single-rooted human teeth were endodontically treated. Vertical root fractures were induced in 114 samples. The teeth were imaged by a digital charge-coupled device radiography using parallel technique. The images were evaluated by a radiologist and an endodontist on two medical and conventional liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors twice. Z-test was used to analyze the sensitivity, accuracy and specificity of each monitor. Significance level was set at 0.05. Inter and intra observer agreements were calculated by Cohen's kappa. Accuracy, specificity and sensitivity for conventional monitor were calculated as 67.5%, 72%, 62.5% respectively; and data for medical grade monitor were 67.5%, 66.5% and 68% respectively. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in detecting VRF between the two techniques. Inter-observer agreement for conventional and medical monitor was 0.47 and 0.55 respectively (moderate). Intra-observer agreement was 0.78 for medical monitor and 0.87 for conventional one (substantial). The type of monitor does not influence diagnosis of vertical root fractures.

Study of the triton-burnup process in different JET scenarios using neutron monitor based on CVD diamond

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

Nemtsev, G., E-mail: g.nemtsev@iterrf.ru; Amosov, V.; Meshchaninov, S.

We present the results of analysis of triton burn-up process using the data from diamond detector. Neutron monitor based on CVD diamond was installed in JET torus hall close to the plasma center. We measure the part of 14 MeV neutrons in scenarios where plasma current varies in a range of 1-3 MA. In this experiment diamond neutron monitor was also able to detect strong gamma bursts produced by runaway electrons arising during the disruptions. We can conclude that CVD diamond detector will contribute to the study of fast particles confinement and help predict the disruption events in future tokamaks.

Using the surface charge profiler for in-line monitoring of doping concentration in silicon epitaxial wafer manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tower, Joshua P.; Kamieniecki, Emil; Nguyen, M. C.; Danel, Adrien

1999-08-01

The Surface Charge Profiler (SCP) has been introduced for monitoring and development of silicon epitaxial processes. The SCP measures the near-surface doping concentration and offers advantages that lead to yield enhancement in several ways. First, non-destructive measurement technology enables in-line process monitoring, eliminating the need to sacrifice production wafers for resistivity measurements. Additionally, the full-wafer mapping capability helps in development of improved epitaxial growth processes and early detection of reactor problems. As examples, we present the use of SCP to study the effects of susceptor degradation in barrel reactors and to study autodoping for development of improved dopant uniformity.

Assessment of the capability of remote sensing and GIS techniques for monitoring reclamation success in coal mine degraded lands.

PubMed

Karan, Shivesh Kishore; Samadder, Sukha Ranjan; Maiti, Subodh Kumar

2016-11-01

The objective of the present study is to monitor reclamation activity in mining areas. Monitoring of these reclaimed sites in the vicinity of mining areas and on closed Over Burden (OB) dumps is critical for improving the overall environmental condition, especially in developing countries where area around the mines are densely populated. The present study evaluated the reclamation success in the Block II area of Jharia coal field, India, using Landsat satellite images for the years 2000 and 2015. Four image processing methods (support vector machine, ratio vegetation index, enhanced vegetation index, and normalized difference vegetation index) were used to quantify the change in vegetation cover between the years 2000 and 2015. The study also evaluated the relationship between vegetation health and moisture content of the study area using remote sensing techniques. Statistical linear regression analysis revealed that Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) coupled with Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) is the best method for vegetation monitoring in the study area when compared to other indices. A strong linear relationship (r(2) > 0.86) was found between NDVI and NDMI. An increase of 21% from 213.88 ha in 2000 to 258.9 ha in 2015 was observed in the vegetation cover of the reclaimed sites for an open cast mine, indicating satisfactory reclamation activity. NDVI results indicated that vegetation health also improved over the years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A methodology for post-EIS (environmental impact statement) monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marcus, Linda Graves

1979-01-01

A methodology for monitoring the impacts predicted in environmental impact statements (EIS's) was developed using the EIS on phosphate development in southeastern Idaho as a case study. A monitoring system based on this methodology: (1) coordinates a comprehensive, intergovernmental monitoring effort; (2) documents the major impacts that result, thereby improving the accuracy of impact predictions in future EIS's; (3) helps agencies control impacts by warning them when critical impact levels are reached and by providing feedback on the success of mitigating measures; and (4) limits monitoring data to the essential information that agencies need to carry out their regulatory and environmental protection responsibilities. The methodology is presented as flow charts accompanied by tables that describe the objectives, tasks, and products for each work element in the flow chart.

1975 Automotive Characteristics Data Base

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-10-01

A study of automobile characteristics as a supportive tool for auto energy consumption, fuel economy monitoring, and fleet analysis studies is presented. This report emphasizes the utility of efficient data retrieval methods in fuel economy analysis,...

Fluorescence Spectroscopy Applied to Monitoring Biodiesel Degradation: Correlation with Acid Value and UV Absorption Analyses.

PubMed

Vasconcelos, Maydla Dos Santos; Passos, Wilson Espíndola; Lescanos, Caroline Honaiser; Pires de Oliveira, Ivan; Trindade, Magno Aparecido Gonçalves; Caires, Anderson Rodrigues Lima; Muzzi, Rozanna Marques

2018-01-01

The techniques used to monitor the quality of the biodiesel are intensely discussed in the literature, partly because of the different oil sources and their intrinsic physicochemical characteristics. This study aimed to monitor the thermal degradation of the fatty acid methyl esters of Sesamum indicum L. and Raphanus sativus L. biodiesels (SILB and RSLB, resp.). The results showed that both biodiesels present a high content of unsaturated fatty acids, ∼84% (SILB) and ∼90% (RSLB). The SILB had a high content of polyunsaturated linoleic fatty acid (18  :  2), about 49%, and the oleic monounsaturated (18  :  1), ∼34%. On the other hand, RSLB presented a considerable content of linolenic fatty acid (18  :  3), ∼11%. The biodiesel samples were thermal degraded at 110°C for 48 hours, and acid value, UV absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy analysis were carried out. The results revealed that both absorption and fluorescence presented a correlation with acid value as a function of degradation time by monitoring absorptions at 232 and 270 nm as well as the emission at 424 nm. Although the obtained correlation is not completely linear, a direct correlation was observed in both cases, revealing that both properties can be potentially used for monitoring the biodiesel degradation.

Presentations from the Fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4) Methods Stakeholder Meeting on May 15, 2013

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document contains the presentations from the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 4 Methods Stakeholder Meeting held on May 15, 2013 about the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) and the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.

High-resolution real-time optical studies of radiological air sample filtration processes in an environmental continuous air monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodgers, John C.; Wasiolek, Piotr T.; Schery, Stephen D.; Alcantara, Raul E.

1999-01-01

The need for a continuous air monitor capable of quick and accurate measurements of airborne radioactivity in close proximity to the work environment during waste management, site restoration, and D&D operations led to the Los Alamos National Laboratory development of an environmental continuous air monitor (ECAM). Monitoring the hostile work environment of waste recovery, for example, presents unique challenges for detector design for detectors previously used for the clean room conditions of the typical plutonium laboratory. The environmental and atmospheric conditions (dust, high wind, etc.) influence aerosol particle penetration into the ECAM sampling head as well as the build-up of deposits on the ECAM filter.

Umatilla Hatchery Monitoring and Evaluation, 1998-1999 Annual Report.

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

Stonecypher, R. Wess; Groberg, Jr., Warren J.; Farman, Brett M.

2001-07-01

The Northwest Power Planning Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program authorized construction of Umatilla Fish Hatchery (UFH) in 1986. Measure 703 of the program amended the original authorization for the hatchery and specified evaluation of the Michigan (MI) raceways using oxygen supplementation to reach production goals of 290,000 lb of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss). The hatchery was completed in fall 1991. Partial justification for the hatchery was to evaluate new production and supplementation techniques. MI raceways at UFH increase smolt production with a limited water supply. Test results for MI raceways will have systematicmore » application in the Columbia River basin. The UFH is the foundation for rehabilitating chinook salmon and enhancing steelhead in the Umatilla River (CTUIR and ODFW 1990) and is expected to contribute significantly to the Northwest Power Planning Council's goal of doubling salmon production in the Columbia Basin. Hatchery production goals and a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan were presented in the Umatilla Hatchery Master Plan (CTUIR and ODFW 1990). The Comprehensive Plan for Monitoring and Evaluation of Umatilla Hatchery (Carmichael 1990) was approved by the Northwest Power Planning Council as a critical adaptive management guide for fisheries rehabilitation in the Umatilla River. Monitoring and evaluation will be used to increase knowledge about uncertainties inherent in the fisheries rehabilitation and will complement the developing systematic monitoring and evaluation program. The monitoring and evaluation goals are: (1) Provide information and recommendations for the culture and release of hatchery fish, harvest regulations, and natural escapement to accomplish long-term natural and hatchery production goals in the Umatilla River basin that are consistent with provisions of the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. (2) Assess the success of achieving the management objectives in the Umatilla River basin that are presented in the Master Plan and the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Plan. A substantial proportion of the production at UFH is reared in MI raceways. This system has not been thoroughly evaluated to determine the effects on Smolt-to-adult survival (SAS). In addition, the rearing strategies proposed for spring chinook salmon require an unusually extensive period of incubation in chilled well water. Extensive background and justification for UFH monitoring and evaluation is presented in Carmichael (1990). In this report, we present findings for the UFH Monitoring and Evaluation Project from 1 November 1998 to 31 October 1999. We designed our program to evaluate fish cultural practices, conduct rearing and survival studies, assess sport fisheries, and provide information for planning and coordination. Additional studies have been designed for fall chinook salmon to evaluate straying and the effects of tagging. We monitored the culture and performance of more than 3.2 million chinook salmon and steelhead produced at UFH in 1997-98 (Appendix Tables A1-8). Individual stock profiles, release, performance, and return data of previously released groups are presented in the following sections.« less

Sensing interstitial glucose to nudge active lifestyles (SIGNAL): feasibility of combining novel self-monitoring technologies for persuasive behaviour change

PubMed Central

Kingsnorth, Andrew P; Orme, Mark W; Sherar, Lauren B; Esliger, Dale W

2017-01-01

Introduction Increasing physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of developing diabetes, highlighting the role of preventive medicine approaches. Changing lifestyle behaviours is difficult and is often predicated on the assumption that individuals are willing to change their lifestyles today to reduce the risk of developing disease years or even decades later. The self-monitoring technologies tested in this study will present PA feedback in real time, parallel with acute physiological data. Presenting the immediate health benefits of being more physically active may help enact change by observing the immediate consequences of that behaviour. The present study aims to assess user engagement with the self-monitoring technologies in individuals at moderate-to-high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Methods and analysis 45 individuals with a moderate-to-high risk, aged ≥40 years old and using a compatible smartphone, will be invited to take part in a 7-week protocol. Following 1 week of baseline measurements, participants will be randomised into one of three groups: group 1— glucose feedback followed by biobehavioural feedback (glucose plus PA); group 2—PA feedback followed by biobehavioural feedback; group 3—biobehavioural feedback. A PA monitor and a flash glucose monitor will be deployed during the intervention. Participants will wear both devices throughout the intervention but blinded to feedback depending on group allocation. The primary outcome is the level of participant engagement and will be assessed by device use and smartphone usage. Feasibility will be assessed by the practicality of the technology and screening for diabetes risk. Semistructured interviews will be conducted to explore participant experiences using the technologies. Trial registration number ISRCTN17545949. Registered on 15/05/2017. PMID:28993396

Application of quality risk management to set viable environmental monitoring frequencies in biotechnology processing and support areas.

PubMed

Sandle, Tim

2012-01-01

Environmental monitoring programs are essential for pharmaceutical facilities in order to assess the level of environmental control. For biotechnology facilities there is little advice as to the frequency at which viable environmental monitoring should be conducted. This paper outlines an approach, based on the principles of quality risk management, for the development of a framework from which monitoring frequencies can be determined. This involved the identification of common hazards and the evaluation those hazards in terms of the severity of contamination and the probability of contamination occurring. These elements of risk were evaluated for different cleanrooms and the relative risks ranked. Once the risk scores were calculated, the methods for detecting risks within the cleanrooms were assessed. Risk filtering was then used to group different cleanrooms based on their relative risks and detection methods against predetermined monitoring frequencies. Through use of case study examples, the paper presents the model and describes how appropriate frequencies for the environmental monitoring of cleanrooms can be set. Cleanrooms in which biotechnology pharmaceutical processing takes place are subject to environmental monitoring. The frequency at which such monitoring should be performed can be difficult to determine. This paper uses quality risk assessment methods to construct a framework for determining monitoring frequencies and illustrates the suitability of the framework through a case study.

Monitoring Changes in Soil Quality from Post-fire Logging in the Inland Northwest

Treesearch

Deborah Page-Dumroese; Martin Jurgensen; Ann Abbott; Tom Rice; Joanne Tirocke; Sue Farley; Sharon DeHart

2006-01-01

The wildland fires of 2000, 2002, and 2003 created many opportunities to conduct post-fire logging operations in the Inland Northwest. Relatively little information is available on the impact of post-fire logging on long-term soil productivity or on the best method for monitoring these changes. We present a USDA Forest Service Northern Region study of post-fire logged...

Use of space-filling curves to select sample locations in natural resource monitoring studies

Treesearch

Andrew Lister; Charles T. Scott

2009-01-01

The establishment of several large area monitoring networks over the past few decades has led to increased research into ways to spatially balance sample locations across the landscape. Many of these methods are well documented and have been used in the past with great success. In this paper, we present a method using geographic information systems (GIS) and fractals...

[Economic efficiency of computer monitoring of health].

PubMed

Il'icheva, N P; Stazhadze, L L

2001-01-01

Presents the method of computer monitoring of health, based on utilization of modern information technologies in public health. The method helps organize preventive activities of an outpatient clinic at a high level and essentially decrease the time and money loss. Efficiency of such preventive measures, increased number of computer and Internet users suggests that such methods are promising and further studies in this field are needed.

Is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist a Useful Tool for Monitoring Progress in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magiati, I.; Moss, J.; Yates, R.; Charman, T.; Howlin, P.

2011-01-01

Background: There are few well validated brief measures that can be used to assess the general progress of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over time. In the present study, the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was used as part of a comprehensive assessment battery to monitor the progress of 22 school-aged children…

Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.

This report presents an overview of the key findings from the Monitoring the Future 2001 nationwide survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. A particular emphasis is placed on recent trends in the use of licit and illicit drugs. Trends in the levels of perceived risk and personal disapproval associated with each drug--which this study has…

Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use. Overview of Key Findings, 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor. Inst. for Social Research.

This report presents an overview of the key findings from the Monitoring the Future 2002 nationwide survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. A particular emphasis is placed on recent trends in the use of licit and illicit drugs. Trends in the levels of perceived risk and personal disapproval associated with each drug--which this study has…

Spatial Statistical and Modeling Strategy for Inventorying and Monitoring Ecosystem Resources at Multiple Scales and Resolution Levels

Treesearch

Robin M. Reich; C. Aguirre-Bravo; M.S. Williams

2006-01-01

A statistical strategy for spatial estimation and modeling of natural and environmental resource variables and indicators is presented. This strategy is part of an inventory and monitoring pilot study that is being carried out in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Colima. Fine spatial resolution estimates of key variables and indicators are outputs that will allow the...

An Assessment of Sleep Architecture as a Function of Degree of Handedness in College Women Using a Home Sleep Monitor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Propper, Ruth E.; Lawton, Nicole; Przyborski, Matt; Christman, Stephen D.

2004-01-01

The present study examined sleep architecture as a function of handedness in a population of undergraduate college women using a home sleep monitor. Compared to strongly handed individuals, participants with a tendency toward mixed-handedness had a shorter sleep latency and spent a greater percentage of their sleep period asleep and less awake.…

Phoneme Monitoring in Silent Naming and Perception in Adults Who Stutter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sasisekaran, Jayanthi; De Nil, Luc F.

2006-01-01

The present study investigated phonological encoding skills in persons who stutter (PWS). Participants were 10 PWS (M=31.8 years, S.D.=5.9) matched for age, gender, and handedness with 12 persons who do not stutter (PNS) (M=24.3 years, S.D.=4.3). The groups were compared in a phoneme monitoring task performed during silent picture naming. The…

Strategic Research to Enable NASA's Exploration Missions Conference and Workshop: Presentations. Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nahra, Henry (Compiler)

2004-01-01

Topic presentations are included on the following: biosensors to monitor the health of astronauts, microgravity effects on flammability, fire prevention and suppression, life support topics, waste management topics, heat transfer; gas flow and liquids flow, and combustion studies.

Preliminary study on application of urine amino acids profiling for monitoring of renal tubular injury using GLC-MS.

PubMed

Kazubek-Zemke, Maja; Rybka, Jacek; Marchewka, Zofia; Rybka, Wojciech; Pawlik, Krzysztof; Długosz, Anna

2014-11-14

The early diagnosis of the nephrotoxic effect of xenobiotics and drugs is still an unsolved problem. Recent studies suggest a correlation between the nephrotoxic activity of xenobiotics and increased concentration of amino acids in urine. The presented study was focused on the application of GLC-MS method for amino acids profiling in human urine as a noninvasive method for monitoring of kidney condition and tubular injury level. The analytic method is based on the conversion of the amino acids present in the sample to tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) derivatives and their analysis by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GLC-MS). The procedure of urine sample preparation for chromatographic analysis was optimized. The presence of 12 amino acids in most of the tested healthy human urine samples was detected. The significant differences in the levels of particular amino acids between patients with tubular injury and healthy controls were found, especially for lysine, valine, serine, alanine and leucine (on average 30.0, 7.5, 3.6, 2.9 and 0.5 fold respectively). We found that this approach based on GLC-MS detection can be used in nephrotoxicity studies for urine amino acids monitoring in exposure to xenobiotics and drugs.

Coral diseases and bleaching on Colombian Caribbean coral reefs.

PubMed

Navas-Camacho, Raúl; Gil-Agudelo, Diego Luis; Rodríguez-Ramírez, Alberto; Reyes-Nivia, María Catalina; Garzón-Ferreira, Jaime

2010-05-01

Since 1998 the National Monitoring System for the Coral Reefs of Colombia (SIMAC) has monitored the occurrence of coral bleaching and diseases in some Colombian coral reefs (permanent stations at San Andres Island, Rosario Islands, Tayrona, San Bernardo Islands and Urabá). The main purpose is to evaluate their health status and to understand the factors that have been contributing to their decline. To estimate these occurrences, annual surveys in 126 permanent belt transects (10 x 2m) with different depth intervals (3-6 meters, 9-12 meters and 15-18 meters) are performed at all reef sites. Data from the 1998-2004 period, revealed that San Andrés Island had many colonies with diseases (38.9 colonies/m2), and Urabá had high numbers with bleaching (54.4 colonies/m2). Of the seven reported coral diseases studied, Dark Spots Disease (DSD), and White Plague Disease (WPD) were noteworthy because they occurred in all Caribbean monitored sites, and because of their high interannual infection incidence. Thirty five species of scleractinian corals were affected by at least one disease and a high incidence of coral diseases on the main reef builders is documented. Bleaching was present in 34 species. During the whole monitoring period, Agaricia agaricites and Siderastrea siderea were the species most severely affected by DSD and bleaching, respectively. Diseases on species such as Agaricia fragilis, A. grahamae, A. humilis, Diploria clivosa, Eusmilia fastigiata, Millepora complanata, and Mycetophyllia aliciae are recorded for first time in Colombia. We present bleaching and disease incidences, kinds of diseases, coral species affected, reef localities studied, depth intervals of surveys, and temporal (years) variation for each geographic area. This variation makes difficult to clearly determine defined patterns or general trends for monitored reefs. This is the first long-term study of coral diseases and bleaching in the Southwestern Caribbean, and one of the few long-term monitoring studies on coral diseases worldwide.

Effects of compression injury on brain mitochondrial and tissue viability evaluated by a multiparametric monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbiro-Michaely, Efrat; Bachbut, Galit; Mayevsky, Avraham

2008-02-01

Neurosurgical procedures involve brain compression created by retractors. Although it is clear that retractors are causing damage to the brain tissue, the pathophysiology of the retraction was not investigated in details. In the present study we used the multiparametric monitoring approach for real time evaluation of mitochondrial function, hemodynamic, ionic and electrical activities monitored contralaterally to the retractor placement on the brain. The aims of the study were to test the effects of retractor size and severity of the compression on the degree of damage to the cerebral tissue. A special probe was lowered towards the cerebral cortex, (2mm and 4mm in depth) using a micromanipulator. Compression lasted for 30 minutes, than the retractor was elevated back to its initial position and monitoring continued for two hours. Additionally, two sizes of retractors were used 6mm and 3mm in diameter, the 3mm retractor included an intracranial pressure (ICP) probe. The results show that the combination of a large retractor with the depth of 4mm yielded high mortality rate (62%) of the rats while the use of a smaller retractor decreased significantly the percentage of mortality. Also, compression to the depth of 4mm increased tissue injury as compared to 2mm depth. In conclusion, the present study raises the importance and significance of multiparametric monitoring, and not only ICP and cerebral blood flow of the areas nearby the retractor position and not only the retraction site, as well as the effect of the retractor size on the damage induced to the cerebral tissue.

Changes in water quality along the course of a river - Classic monitoring versus patrol monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Absalon, Damian; Kryszczuk, Paweł; Rutkiewicz, Paweł

2017-11-01

Monitoring of water quality is a tool necessary to assess the condition of waterbodies in order to properly formulate water management plans. The paper presents the results of patrol monitoring of a 40-kilometre stretch of the Oder between Racibórz and Koźle. It has been established that patrol monitoring is a good tool for verifying the distribution of points of classic stationary monitoring, particularly in areas subject to varied human impact, where tributaries of the main river are very diversified as regards hydrochemistry. For this reason the results of operational monitoring carried out once every few years may not be reliable and the presented condition of the monitored waterbodies may be far from reality.

Design and Verification of an Inexpensive Ultrasonic Water Depth Sensor Using Arduino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihevc, T. M.; Rajagopal, S.

2012-12-01

A system that combines the arduino micro-controller, a Parallax PING Ultrasonic distance sensor and a secure digital card to log the data is developed to help monitor water table depths in multiple settings. Traditional methods of monitoring water table depths involve the use of a pressure transducer and expensive data loggers that cost upward of 1000. The present system is built for less than 100, with the caveat that the accuracy of the measurements is 1cm. In this laboratory study, we first build the arduino based system to monitor water table depths in a piezometer and compare these measurements to those made by a pressure transducer. Initial results show that the depth measurements are accurate in comparison to actual tape measurements. Results from this benchmarking experiment will be presented at the meeting.

An Uncertainty Quantification Framework for Prognostics and Condition-Based Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sankararaman, Shankar; Goebel, Kai

2014-01-01

This paper presents a computational framework for uncertainty quantification in prognostics in the context of condition-based monitoring of aerospace systems. The different sources of uncertainty and the various uncertainty quantification activities in condition-based prognostics are outlined in detail, and it is demonstrated that the Bayesian subjective approach is suitable for interpreting uncertainty in online monitoring. A state-space model-based framework for prognostics, that can rigorously account for the various sources of uncertainty, is presented. Prognostics consists of two important steps. First, the state of the system is estimated using Bayesian tracking, and then, the future states of the system are predicted until failure, thereby computing the remaining useful life of the system. The proposed framework is illustrated using the power system of a planetary rover test-bed, which is being developed and studied at NASA Ames Research Center.

Monitoring of bacteria growth using a wireless, remote query resonant-circuit sensor: application to environmental sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ong, K. G.; Wang, J.; Singh, R. S.; Bachas, L. G.; Grimes, C. A.; Daunert, S. (Principal Investigator)

2001-01-01

A new technique is presented for in-vivo remote query measurement of the complex permittivity spectra of a biological culture solution. A sensor comprised of a printed inductor-capacitor resonant-circuit is placed within the culture solution of interest, with the impedance spectrum of the sensor measured using a remotely located loop antenna; the complex permittivity spectra of the culture is calculated from the measured impedance spectrum. The remote query nature of the sensor platform enables, for example, the in-vivo real-time monitoring of bacteria or yeast growth from within sealed opaque containers. The wireless monitoring technique does not require a specific alignment between sensor and antenna. Results are presented for studies conducted on laboratory strains of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli JM109, Pseudomonas putida and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

SmartStuff: A case study of a smart water bottle.

PubMed

Jovanov, Emil; Nallathimmareddygari, Vindhya R; Pryor, Jonathan E

2016-08-01

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) and miniature wearable biosensors have generated new opportunities for personalized eHealth and mHealth services. Smart objects equipped with physiological sensors can provide robust monitoring of activities of daily living and context for wearable physiological sensors. We present a case study of an intelligent water bottle that can precisely measure the amount of liquid in the bottle, monitor activity using inertial sensors, and physiological parameters using a touch and photoplethysmographic sensor. We evaluate two system configurations: a smart water bottle integrated into a personal body sensor network and a cloud based device. This paper presents system organization and the results from preliminary field testing of the prototype device.

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.

Monitoring the health of sugar maple, Acer saccharum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Martha

The sugar maple, Acer saccharum, is projected to decline and die in 88 to 100 percent of its current range in the United States. An iconic symbol of the northeastern temperate forest and a dominant species in this forest, the sugar maple is identified as the most sensitive tree in its ecosystem to rising temperatures and a warming climate. This study measures the health of sugar maples on 12 privately owned forests and at three schools in New Hampshire. Laboratory quantitative analyses of leaves, buds and sap as well as qualitative measures of leaf and bud indicate that record high beat in 2012 stressed the sugar maple. The study identifies several laboratory and qualitative tests of health which seem most sensitive and capable of identifying stress early when intervention in forest management or public policy change might counter decline of the species. The study presents evidence of an unusual atmospheric pollution event which defoliated sugar maples in 2010. The study examines the work of citizen scientists in Forest Watch, a K-12 school program in which students monitor the impacts of ozone on white pine, Pinus strobus, another keystone species in New Hampshire's forest. Finally, the study examines three simple measurements of bud, leaf and the tree's acclimation to light. The findings of these tests illuminate findings in the first study. And they present examples of what citizen scientists might contribute to long-term monitoring of maples. A partnership between science and citizens is proposed to begin long-term monitoring and to report on the health of sugar maples.

Live single cell functional phenotyping in droplet nano-liter reactors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konry, Tania; Golberg, Alexander; Yarmush, Martin

2013-11-01

While single cell heterogeneity is present in all biological systems, most studies cannot address it due to technical limitations. Here we describe a nano-liter droplet microfluidic-based approach for stimulation and monitoring of surfaceand secreted markers of live single immune dendritic cells (DCs) as well as monitoring the live T cell/DC interaction. This nano-liter in vivo simulating microenvironment allows delivering various stimuli reagents to each cell and appropriate gas exchanges which are necessary to ensure functionality and viability of encapsulated cells. Labeling bioassay and microsphere sensors were integrated into nano-liter reaction volume of the droplet to monitor live single cell surface markers and secretion analysis in the time-dependent fashion. Thus live cell stimulation, secretion and surface monitoring can be obtained simultaneously in distinct microenvironment, which previously was possible using complicated and multi-step in vitro and in vivo live-cell microscopy, together with immunological studies of the outcome secretion of cellular function.

Development of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Capability For the Early Detection and Monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Great Lakes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lekki, John; Anderson, Robert; Nguyen, Quang-Viet; Demers, James; Leshkevich, George; Flatico, Joseph; Kojima, Jun

2013-01-01

Hyperspectral imagers have significant capability for detecting and classifying waterborne constituents. One particularly appropriate application of such instruments in the Great Lakes is to detect and monitor the development of potentially Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Two generations of small hyperspectral imagers have been built and tested for aircraft based monitoring of harmful algal blooms. In this paper a discussion of the two instruments as well as field studies conducted using these instruments will be presented. During the second field study, in situ reflectance data was obtained from the Research Vessel Lake Guardian in conjunction with reflectance data obtained with the hyperspectral imager from overflights of the same locations. A comparison of these two data sets shows that the airborne hyperspectral imager closely matches measurements obtained from instruments on the lake surface and thus positively supports its utilization for detecting and monitoring HABs.

Multi-category micro-milling tool wear monitoring with continuous hidden Markov models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Kunpeng; Wong, Yoke San; Hong, Geok Soon

2009-02-01

In-process monitoring of tool conditions is important in micro-machining due to the high precision requirement and high tool wear rate. Tool condition monitoring in micro-machining poses new challenges compared to conventional machining. In this paper, a multi-category classification approach is proposed for tool flank wear state identification in micro-milling. Continuous Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are adapted for modeling of the tool wear process in micro-milling, and estimation of the tool wear state given the cutting force features. For a noise-robust approach, the HMM outputs are connected via a medium filter to minimize the tool state before entry into the next state due to high noise level. A detailed study on the selection of HMM structures for tool condition monitoring (TCM) is presented. Case studies on the tool state estimation in the micro-milling of pure copper and steel demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of these methods.

Winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting system based on remote sensing and environmental factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haiyang, Yu; Yanmei, Liu; Guijun, Yang; Xiaodong, Yang; Dong, Ren; Chenwei, Nie

2014-03-01

To achieve dynamic winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting in larger scale regions, the objective of this study was to design and develop a winter wheat quality monitoring and forecasting system by using a remote sensing index and environmental factors. The winter wheat quality trend was forecasted before the harvest and quality was monitored after the harvest, respectively. The traditional quality-vegetation index from remote sensing monitoring and forecasting models were improved. Combining with latitude information, the vegetation index was used to estimate agronomy parameters which were related with winter wheat quality in the early stages for forecasting the quality trend. A combination of rainfall in May, temperature in May, illumination at later May, the soil available nitrogen content and other environmental factors established the quality monitoring model. Compared with a simple quality-vegetation index, the remote sensing monitoring and forecasting model used in this system get greatly improved accuracy. Winter wheat quality was monitored and forecasted based on the above models, and this system was completed based on WebGIS technology. Finally, in 2010 the operation process of winter wheat quality monitoring system was presented in Beijing, the monitoring and forecasting results was outputted as thematic maps.

Crack Monitoring Method for an FRP-Strengthened Steel Structure Based on an Antenna Sensor.

PubMed

Liu, Zhiping; Chen, Kai; Li, Zongchen; Jiang, Xiaoli

2017-10-20

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has been increasingly applied to steel structures for structural strengthening or crack repair, given its high strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness-to-weight ratio. Cracks in steel structures are the dominant hidden threats to structural safety. However, it is difficult to monitor structural cracks under FRP coverage and there is little related research. In this paper, a crack monitoring method for an FRP-strengthened steel structure deploying a microstrip antenna sensor is presented. A theoretical model of the dual-substrate antenna sensor with FRP is established and the sensitivity of crack monitoring is studied. The effects of the weak conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on the performance of crack monitoring are analyzed via contrast experiments. The effects of FRP thickness on the performance of the antenna sensor are studied. The influence of structural strain on crack detection coupling is studied through strain-crack coupling experiments. The results indicate that the antenna sensor can detect cracks in steel structures covered by FRP (including CFRP). FRP thickness affects the antenna sensor's performance significantly, while the effects of strain can be ignored. The results provide a new approach for crack monitoring of FRP-strengthened steel structures with extensive application prospects.

Crack Monitoring Method for an FRP-Strengthened Steel Structure Based on an Antenna Sensor

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhiping; Li, Zongchen

2017-01-01

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has been increasingly applied to steel structures for structural strengthening or crack repair, given its high strength-to-weight ratio and high stiffness-to-weight ratio. Cracks in steel structures are the dominant hidden threats to structural safety. However, it is difficult to monitor structural cracks under FRP coverage and there is little related research. In this paper, a crack monitoring method for an FRP-strengthened steel structure deploying a microstrip antenna sensor is presented. A theoretical model of the dual-substrate antenna sensor with FRP is established and the sensitivity of crack monitoring is studied. The effects of the weak conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on the performance of crack monitoring are analyzed via contrast experiments. The effects of FRP thickness on the performance of the antenna sensor are studied. The influence of structural strain on crack detection coupling is studied through strain–crack coupling experiments. The results indicate that the antenna sensor can detect cracks in steel structures covered by FRP (including CFRP). FRP thickness affects the antenna sensor’s performance significantly, while the effects of strain can be ignored. The results provide a new approach for crack monitoring of FRP-strengthened steel structures with extensive application prospects. PMID:29053614

Assessment and monitoring of recreation impacts and resource conditions on mountain summits: examples from the Northern Forest, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Monz, Christopher A.; Marion, Jeffrey L.; Goonan, Kelly A.; Manning, Robert E.; Wimpey, Jeremy; Carr, Christopher

2010-01-01

Mountain summits present a unique challenge to manage sustainably: they are ecologically important and, in many circumstances, under high demand for recreation and tourism activities. This article presents recent advances in the assessment of resource conditions and visitor disturbance in mountain summit environments, by drawing on examples from a multiyear, interdisciplinary study of summits in the northeastern United States. Primary impact issues as a consequence of visitor use, such as informal trail formation, vegetation disturbance, and soil loss, were addressed via the adaption of protocols from recreation ecology studies to summit environments. In addition, new methodologies were developed that provide measurement sensitivity to change previously unavailable through standard recreation monitoring protocols. Although currently limited in application to the northeastern US summit environments, the methods presented show promise for widespread application wherever summits are in demand for visitor activities.

Measurement and Modeling of Near-Road & Near-Port Air Quality

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation provides a summary of mobile monitoring assessment studies conducted on major interstates in Detroit, Michigan and Phoenix, Arizona along with a near-port assessment focusing on the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, USA. We will also present our mobile measu...

A systematic review of the routine monitoring of growth in children of primary school age to identify growth-related conditions.

PubMed

Fayter, D; Nixon, J; Hartley, S; Rithalia, A; Butler, G; Rudolf, M; Glasziou, P; Bland, M; Stirk, L; Westwood, M

2007-06-01

To clarify the role of growth monitoring in primary school children, including obesity, and to examine issues that might impact on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of such programmes. Electronic databases were searched up to July 2005. Experts in the field were also consulted. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed on studies meeting the review's inclusion criteria. The performance of growth monitoring to detect disorders of stature and obesity was evaluated against National Screening Committee (NSC) criteria. In the 31 studies that were included in the review, there were no controlled trials of the impact of growth monitoring and no studies of the diagnostic accuracy of different methods for growth monitoring. Analysis of the studies that presented a 'diagnostic yield' of growth monitoring suggested that one-off screening might identify between 1:545 and 1:1793 new cases of potentially treatable conditions. Economic modelling suggested that growth monitoring is associated with health improvements [incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of 9500 pounds] and indicated that monitoring was cost-effective 100% of the time over the given probability distributions for a willingness to pay threshold of 30,000 pounds per QALY. Studies of obesity focused on the performance of body mass index against measures of body fat. A number of issues relating to human resources required for growth monitoring were identified, but data on attitudes to growth monitoring were extremely sparse. Preliminary findings from economic modelling suggested that primary prevention may be the most cost-effective approach to obesity management, but the model incorporated a great deal of uncertainty. This review has indicated the potential utility and cost-effectiveness of growth monitoring in terms of increased detection of stature-related disorders. It has also pointed strongly to the need for further research. Growth monitoring does not currently meet all NSC criteria. However, it is questionable whether some of these criteria can be meaningfully applied to growth monitoring given that short stature is not a disease in itself, but is used as a marker for a range of pathologies and as an indicator of general health status. Identification of effective interventions for the treatment of obesity is likely to be considered a prerequisite to any move from monitoring to a screening programme designed to identify individual overweight and obese children. Similarly, further long-term studies of the predictors of obesity-related co-morbidities in adulthood are warranted. A cluster randomised trial comparing growth monitoring strategies with no growth monitoring in the general population would most reliably determine the clinical effectiveness of growth monitoring. Studies of diagnostic accuracy, alongside evidence of effective treatment strategies, could provide an alternative approach. In this context, careful consideration would need to be given to target conditions and intervention thresholds. Diagnostic accuracy studies would require long-term follow-up of both short and normal children to determine sensitivity and specificity of growth monitoring.

Review of present groundwater monitoring programs at the Nevada Test Site

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

Hershey, R.L.; Gillespie, D.

1993-09-01

Groundwater monitoring at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) is conducted to detect the presence of radionuclides produced by underground nuclear testing and to verify the quality and safety of groundwater supplies as required by the State of Nevada and federal regulations, and by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Orders. Groundwater is monitored at water-supply wells and at other boreholes and wells not specifically designed or located for traditional groundwater monitoring objectives. Different groundwater monitoring programs at the NTS are conducted by several DOE Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) contractors. Presently, these individual groundwater monitoring programs have not been assessed or administeredmore » under a comprehensive planning approach. Redundancy exists among the programs in both the sampling locations and the constituents analyzed. Also, sampling for certain radionuclides is conducted more frequently than required. The purpose of this report is to review the existing NTS groundwater monitoring programs and make recommendations for modifying the programs so a coordinated, streamlined, and comprehensive monitoring effort may be achieved by DOE/NV. This review will be accomplished in several steps. These include: summarizing the present knowledge of the hydrogeology of the NTS and the potential radionuclide source areas for groundwater contamination; reviewing the existing groundwater monitoring programs at the NTS; examining the rationale for monitoring and the constituents analyzed; reviewing the analytical methods used to quantify tritium activity; discussing monitoring network design criteria; and synthesizing the information presented and making recommendations based on the synthesis. This scope of work was requested by the DOE/NV Hydrologic Resources Management Program (HRMP) and satisfies the 1993 (fiscal year) HRMP Groundwater Monitoring Program Review task.« less

Spatial and temporal analyses for multiscale monitoring of landslides: Examples from Northern Ireland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, Andrew; McKinley, Jennifer; Hughes, David

2013-04-01

Landslides in the form of debris flows, large scale rotational features and composite mudflows impact transport corridors cutting off local communities and in some instances result in loss of life. This study presents landslide monitoring methods used for predicting and characterising landslide activity along transport corridors. A variety of approaches are discussed: desk based risk assessment of slopes using Geographical Information Systems (GIS); Aerial LiDAR surveys and Terrestrial LiDAR monitoring and field instrumentation of selected sites. A GIS based case study is discussed which provides risk assessment for the potential of slope stability issues. Layers incorporated within the system include Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope, aspect, solid and drift geology and groundwater conditions. Additional datasets include consequence of failure. These are combined within a risk model, presented as likelihoods of failure. This integrated spatial approach for slope risk assessment provides the user with a preliminary risk assessment of sites. An innovative "Flexviewer" web-based server interface allows users to view data without needing advanced GIS techniques to gather information about selected areas. On a macro landscape scale, Aerial LiDAR (ALS) surveys are used for the characterisation of landslides from the surrounding terrain. DEMs are generated along with terrain derivatives: slope, curvature and various measures of terrain roughness. Spatial analysis of terrain morphological parameters allow characterisation of slope stability issues and are used to predict areas of potential failure or recently failure terrain. On a local scale ground monitoring approaches are employed for the monitoring of changes in selected slopes using ALS and risk assessment approaches. Results are shown from on-going bimonthly Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS) monitoring of the slope within a site specific geodectically referenced network. This has allowed a classification of changes in the slopes with DEMs of difference showing areas of recent movement, erosion and deposition. In addition, changes in the structure of the slope characterised by DEM of difference and morphological parameters in the form of roughness, slope and curvature measures are progressively linked to failures indicated from temporal DEM monitoring. Preliminary results are presented for a case site at Straidkilly Point, Glenarm, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, illustrating multiple approaches to the spatial and temporal monitoring of landslides. These indicate how spatial morphological approaches and risk assessment frameworks coupled with TLS monitoring and field instrumentation enable characterisation and prediction of potential areas of slope stability issues. On site weather instrumentation and piezometers document changes in pore water pressures resulting in site-specific information with geotechnical observations parameterised within the temporal LiDAR monitoring. This provides a multifaceted approach to the characterisation and analysis of slope stability issues. The presented methodology of multiscale datasets and surveying approaches utilising spatial parameters and risk index mapping enables a more comprehensive and effective prediction of landslides resulting in effective characterisation and remediation strategies.

Source Water Quality Monitoring

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation will provide background information on continuous source water monitoring using online toxicity monitors and cover various tools available. Conceptual and practical aspects of source water quality monitoring will be discussed.

Four-color single-molecule fluorescence with noncovalent dye labeling to monitor dynamic multimolecular complexes.

PubMed

DeRocco, Vanessa; Anderson, Trevor; Piehler, Jacob; Erie, Dorothy A; Weninger, Keith

2010-11-01

To enable studies of conformational changes within multimolecular complexes, we present a simultaneous, four-color single molecule fluorescence methodology implemented with total internal reflection illumination and camera-based, wide-field detection. We further demonstrate labeling histidine-tagged proteins noncovalently with Tris-nitrilotriacetic acid (Tris-NTA)-conjugated dyes to achieve single molecule detection. We combine these methods to colocalize the mismatch repair protein MutSα on DNA while monitoring MutSα-induced DNA bending using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and to monitor assembly of membrane-tethered SNARE protein complexes.

Four-color single molecule fluorescence with noncovalent dye labeling to monitor dynamic multimolecular complexes

PubMed Central

DeRocco, Vanessa C.; Anderson, Trevor; Piehler, Jacob; Erie, Dorothy A.; Weninger, Keith

2010-01-01

To allow studies of conformational changes within multi-molecular complexes, we present a simultaneous, 4-color single molecule fluorescence methodology implemented with total internal reflection illumination and camera based, wide-field detection. We further demonstrate labeling histidine-tagged proteins non-covalently with tris-Nitrilotriacetic acid (tris-NTA) conjugated dyes to achieve single molecule detection. We combine these methods to co-localize the mismatch repair protein MutSα on DNA while monitoring MutSα-induced DNA bending using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and to monitor assembly of membrane-tethered SNARE protein complexes. PMID:21091445

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy for degradation monitoring of machinery lubricants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sosnovski, Oleg; Suresh, Pooja; Dudelzak, Alexander E.; Green, Benjamin

2018-02-01

Lubrication oil is a vital component of heavy rotating machinery defining the machine's health, operational safety and effectiveness. Recently, the focus has been on developing sensors that provide real-time/online monitoring of oil condition/lubricity. Industrial practices and standards for assessing oil condition involve various analytical methods. Most these techniques are unsuitable for online applications. The paper presents the results of studying degradation of antioxidant additives in machinery lubricants using Fluorescence Excitation-Emission Matrix (EEM) Spectroscopy and Machine Learning techniques. EEM Spectroscopy is capable of rapid and even standoff sensing; it is potentially applicable to real-time online monitoring.

Outdoor thermal monitoring of large scale structures by infrared thermography integrated in an ICT based architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumoulin, Jean; Crinière, Antoine; Averty, Rodolphe

2015-04-01

An infrared system has been developed to monitor transport infrastructures in a standalone configuration. Results obtained on bridges open to traffic allows to retrieve the inner structure of the decks. To complete this study, experiments were carried out over several months to monitor two reinforced concrete beams of 16 m long and 21 T each. Detection of a damaged area over one of the two beams was made by Pulse Phase Thermography approach. Measurements carried out over several months. Finally, conclusion on the robustness of the system is proposed and perspectives are presented.

Improving Multi-Sensor Drought Monitoring, Prediction and Recovery Assessment Using Gravimetry Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aghakouchak, Amir; Tourian, Mohammad J.

2015-04-01

Development of reliable drought monitoring, prediction and recovery assessment tools are fundamental to water resources management. This presentation focuses on how gravimetry information can improve drought assessment. First, we provide an overview of the Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS) which offers near real-time drought information using remote sensing observations and model simulations. Then, we present a framework for integration of satellite gravimetry information for improving drought prediction and recovery assessment. The input data include satellite-based and model-based precipitation, soil moisture estimates and equivalent water height. Previous studies show that drought assessment based on one single indicator may not be sufficient. For this reason, GIDMaPS provides drought information based on multiple drought indicators including Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI) and the Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) which combines SPI and SSI probabilistically. MSDI incorporates the meteorological and agricultural drought conditions and provides composite multi-index drought information for overall characterization of droughts. GIDMaPS includes a seasonal prediction component based on a statistical persistence-based approach. The prediction component of GIDMaPS provides the empirical probability of drought for different severity levels. In this presentation we present a new component in which the drought prediction information based on SPI, SSI and MSDI are conditioned on equivalent water height obtained from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Using a Bayesian approach, GRACE information is used to evaluate persistence of drought. Finally, the deficit equivalent water height based on GRACE is used for assessing drought recovery. In this presentation, both monitoring and prediction components of GIDMaPS will be discussed, and the results from 2014 California Drought will be presented. Further Reading: Hao Z., AghaKouchak A., Nakhjiri N., Farahmand A., 2014, Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System, Scientific Data, 1:140001, 1-10, doi: 10.1038/sdata.2014.1.

Forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS) for the first time authentication of Indian Varanus species: implication in wildlife forensics and conservation.

PubMed

Rajpoot, Ankita; Kumar, Ved Prakash; Bahuguna, Archana; Kumar, Dhyanendra

2017-11-01

Monitor lizards are Varanus species widely distributed, endangered reptile in the IUCN red data list. In India, based on the morphological and ecological characteristic, it is divided into four species viz. Bengal monitor lizard, Yellow monitor lizard, Desert monitor lizard and Water monitor lizard. These four species listed as Schedule I species in Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. This paper first attempt to present Forensically Informative Nucleotide Sequencing (FINS) for the Indian Varanus based on three mitochondrial genes. The molecular framework will be useful for the identification of Indian Varanus species and trade products derived from monitors and as such, have important applications for wildlife management and conservation. Here, we used known 14 individual skin pieces of four species of monitor lizards; the partial fragment of three mitochondrial genes (Cyt b, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) were amplified for genetic study. In Cyt b, 12S rRNA and 16s rRNA, we observed, 5, 5 and 4 Haplotypes; 71, 69, and 43 Variables sites; 90, 89, and 50 Parsimony Informative sites within four species of Indian monitor lizards, respectively. Despite it, the nucleotide composition was T 26.4, C 32.8, A 29.2 and G11.6; T 18.8, C 29.7, A 34.0 and G 17.5; T 21.7, C 27.3, A 32.5 and G 18.5 in Cyt b, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA, respectively. The neighbor joining phylogenetic tree and maximum parsimony tree of three mitochondrial genes, showed similar results and reveal that, there are two major clades are present in Indian monitor lizards.

Millimeter-Wave Sensing of Diabetes-Relevant Glucose Concentration Changes in Pigs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cano-Garcia, Helena; Saha, Shimul; Sotiriou, Ioannis; Kosmas, Panagiotis; Gouzouasis, Ioannis; Kallos, Efthymios

2018-06-01

The paper presents the first in vivo glucose monitoring animal study in a pig, which correlates radio frequency signal transmission changes with changes in blood glucose concentration in the 58-62 GHz frequency range. The presented non-invasive glucose sensing system consists of two opposite facing patch antennas sandwiching glucose-loaded samples. Prior to the animal study, the system was tested using saline solution samples, for which a linear relationship between changes in transmitted signal and glucose concentration was observed. In the animal study, glucose concentration changes were induced by injecting a known glucose solution in the blood stream. The non-invasive transmission measurements were compared to the glucose levels obtained invasively from the animal. Our results suggest that the system can detect spikes in glucose concentration in the blood, which is an important milestone towards non-invasive glucose monitoring.

The probability of seizures during EEG monitoring in critically ill adults

PubMed Central

Westover, M. Brandon; Shafi, Mouhsin M.; Bianchi, Matt T.; Moura, Lidia M.V.R.; O’Rourke, Deirdre; Rosenthal, Eric S.; Chu, Catherine J.; Donovan, Samantha; Hoch, Daniel B.; Kilbride, Ronan D.; Cole, Andrew J.; Cash, Sydney S.

2014-01-01

Objective To characterize the risk for seizures over time in relation to EEG findings in hospitalized adults undergoing continuous EEG monitoring (cEEG). Methods Retrospective analysis of cEEG data and medical records from 625 consecutive adult inpatients monitored at a tertiary medical center. Using survival analysis methods, we estimated the time-dependent probability that a seizure will occur within the next 72-h, if no seizure has occurred yet, as a function of EEG abnormalities detected so far. Results Seizures occurred in 27% (168/625). The first seizure occurred early (<30 min of monitoring) in 58% (98/168). In 527 patients without early seizures, 159 (30%) had early epileptiform abnormalities, versus 368 (70%) without. Seizures were eventually detected in 25% of patients with early epileptiform discharges, versus 8% without early discharges. The 72-h risk of seizures declined below 5% if no epileptiform abnormalities were present in the first two hours, whereas 16 h of monitoring were required when epileptiform discharges were present. 20% (74/388) of patients without early epileptiform abnormalities later developed them; 23% (17/74) of these ultimately had seizures. Only 4% (12/294) experienced a seizure without preceding epileptiform abnormalities. Conclusions Seizure risk in acute neurological illness decays rapidly, at a rate dependent on abnormalities detected early during monitoring. This study demonstrates that substantial risk stratification is possible based on early EEG abnormalities. Significance These findings have implications for patient-specific determination of the required duration of cEEG monitoring in hospitalized patients. PMID:25082090

Monitoring and control requirement definition study for Dispersed Storage and Generation (DSG). Volume 4, appendix C: Identification from utility visits of present and future approaches to integration of DSG into distribution networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

Visits to four utilities concerned with the use of DSG power sources on their distribution networks yielded useful impressions of present and future approaches to the integration of DSGs into electrical distribution network. Different approaches to future utility systems with DSG are beginning to take shape. The new DSG sources will be in decentralized locations with some measure of centralized control. The utilities have yet to establish firmly the communication and control means or their organization. For the present, the means for integrating the DSGs and their associated monitoring and control equipment into a unified system have not been decided.

Real-time processing of interferograms for monitoring protein crystal growth on the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudry, A.; Dupuis, N.

1988-01-01

The possibility of using microscopic interferometric techniques to monitor the growth of protein crystals on the Space Station is studied. Digital image processing techniques are used to develop a system for the real-time analysis of microscopic interferograms of nucleation sites during protein crystal growth. Features of the optical setup and the image processing system are discussed and experimental results are presented.

Demographic Subgroup Trends among Adolescents in the Use of Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1975-2013. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 81

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E.; Miech, Richard A.

2014-01-01

This occasional paper presents national demographic subgroup trends for U.S. secondary school students in a series of figures and tables. It supplements two of four annual monographs from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, namely the "Overview of Key Findings" and "Volume I: Secondary School Students." MTF is funded by the…

The Influence of Representations of Attachment, Maternal-Adolescent Relationship Quality, and Maternal Monitoring on Adolescent Substance Use: A 2-Year Longitudinal Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Branstetter, Steven A.; Furman, Wyndol; Cottrell, Lesley

2009-01-01

The present study examined the hypotheses that more secure representations of attachments to parents are associated with less adolescent substance use over time and that this link is mediated through relationship quality and monitoring. A sample of 200 adolescents (M = 14-16 years), their mothers, and close friends were assessed over 2 years.…

Lab-on-a-bird: biophysical monitoring of flying birds.

PubMed

Gumus, Abdurrahman; Lee, Seoho; Ahsan, Syed S; Karlsson, Kolbeinn; Gabrielson, Richard; Guglielmo, Christopher G; Winkler, David W; Erickson, David

2015-01-01

The metabolism of birds is finely tuned to their activities and environments, and thus research on avian systems can play an important role in understanding organismal responses to environmental changes. At present, however, the physiological monitoring of bird metabolism is limited by the inability to take real-time measurements of key metabolites during flight. In this study, we present an implantable biosensor system that can be used for continuous monitoring of uric acid levels of birds during various activities including flight. The system consists of a needle-type enzymatic biosensor for the amperometric detection of uric acid in interstitial fluids. A lightweight two-electrode potentiostat system drives the biosensor, reads the corresponding output current and wirelessly transfers the data or records to flash memory. We show how the device can be used to monitor, in real time, the effects of short-term flight and rest cycles on the uric acid levels of pigeons. In addition, we demonstrate that our device has the ability to measure uric acid level increase in homing pigeons while they fly freely. Successful application of the sensor in migratory birds could open up a new way of studying birds in flight which would lead to a better understanding of the ecology and biology of avian movements.

Integrity monitoring of vehicle positioning in urban environment using RTK-GNSS, IMU and speedometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Mowafy, Ahmed; Kubo, Nobuaki

2017-05-01

Continuous and trustworthy positioning is a critical capability for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). To achieve continuous positioning, methods such as global navigation satellite systems real-time kinematic (RTK), Doppler-based positioning, and positioning using low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) with car speedometer data are combined in this study. To ensure reliable positioning, the system should have integrity monitoring above a certain level, such as 99%. Achieving this level when combining different types of measurements that have different characteristics and different types of errors is a challenge. In this study, a novel integrity monitoring approach is presented for the proposed integrated system. A threat model of the measurements of the system components is discussed, which includes both the nominal performance and possible fault modes. A new protection level is presented to bound the maximum directional position error. The proposed approach was evaluated through a kinematic test in an urban area in Japan with a focus on horizontal positioning. Test results show that by integrating RTK, Doppler with IMU/speedometer, 100% positioning availability was achieved. The integrity monitoring availability was assessed and found to meet the target value where the position errors were bounded by the protection level, which was also less than an alert level, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Doppler radar sensing of fish physiological motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafner, Noah

The monitoring vital of signs for fish is critical for advancing the study of trophic and energetic strategies, distributions and behavior, environmental impact, and aquaculture approaches. Presented here is a new approach for monitoring fish metabolic state without the trauma and stress associated with capture, surgical ECG, or other implanted sensing systems. Original research contributions include analysis for radar operation under water, development of radar systems for aquatic operation, and application of these systems to non invasively sense the heart and gill motion of fish. Tilapia and Sturgeon were studied to test the efficacy across varied fish body shapes and sizes, ranging from 0.1 to 1.3m in snout to tail length. Monitoring experiments were conducted with eleven tilapia and three sturgeons to assess activity level participated in these experiments, the results from which include activity level monitoring (tilapia: still or fidgeting 94% of time observed), ventilation rate (tilapia: 42 bpm, sturgeon: 145 bpm), and heart rate (tilapia: 41 bpm, sturgeon: 35 bpm). Bland-Altman analysis of radar and ECG measured heart rate indicate agreement between the two measurement techniques and the suitability of radar as an alternative to ECG. The initial steps for developing a system for practical application is also presented including designs for radar system miniaturization and discussion on further characterization steps with less constrained environments.

Ambient changes in tracer concentrations from a multilevel monitoring system in Basalt

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bartholomay, Roy C.; Twining, Brian V.; Rose, Peter E.

2014-01-01

Starting in 2008, a 4-year tracer study was conducted to evaluate ambient changes in groundwater concentrations of a 1,3,6-naphthalene trisulfonate tracer that was added to drill water. Samples were collected under open borehole conditions and after installing a multilevel groundwater monitoring system completed with 11 discrete monitoring zones within dense and fractured basalt and sediment layers in the eastern Snake River aquifer. The study was done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy to test whether ambient fracture flow conditions were sufficient to remove the effects of injected drill water prior to sample collection. Results from thief samples indicated that the tracer was present in minor concentrations 28 days after coring, but was not present 6 months after coring or 7 days after reaming the borehole. Results from sampling the multilevel monitoring system indicated that small concentrations of the tracer remained in 5 of 10 zones during some period after installation. All concentrations were several orders of magnitude lower than the initial concentrations in the drill water. The ports that had remnant concentrations of the tracer were either located near sediment layers or were located in dense basalt, which suggests limited groundwater flow near these ports. The ports completed in well-fractured and vesicular basalt had no detectable concentrations.

Neural correlates of performance monitoring in chronic cannabis users and cannabis-naïve controls

PubMed Central

Fridberg, Daniel J; Skosnik, Patrick D; Hetrick, William P; O’Donnell, Brian F

2014-01-01

Chronic cannabis use is associated with residual negative effects on measures of executive functioning. However, little previous work has focused specifically on executive processes involved in performance monitoring in frequent cannabis users. The present study investigated event-related potential (ERP) correlates of performance monitoring in chronic cannabis users. The error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe), ERPs sensitive to performance monitoring, were recorded from 30 frequent cannabis users (mean usage=5.52 days/week) and 32 cannabis-naïve control participants during a speeded stimulus discrimination task. The “oddball” P3 ERP was recorded as well. Users and controls did not differ on the amplitude or latency of the ERN; however, Pe amplitude was larger among users. Users also showed increased amplitude and reduced latency of the P3 in response to infrequent stimuli presented during the task. Among users, urinary cannabinoid metabolite levels at testing were unrelated to ERP outcomes. However, total years of cannabis use correlated negatively with P3 latency and positively with P3 amplitude, and age of first cannabis use correlated negatively with P3 amplitude. The results of this study suggest that chronic cannabis use is associated with alterations in neural activity related to the processing of motivationally-relevant stimuli (P3) and errors (Pe). PMID:23427191

Combined intracranial pressure monitoring and cerebrospinal fluid infusion study to guide management of slit ventricle syndrome.

PubMed

Hart, Michael Gavin; Czosnyka, Marek; Czosnyka, Zofia Helena; Fernandes, Helen Marie

2013-01-01

Slit ventricle syndrome remains a complex entity presenting a considerable challenge to treat successfully. This study aims to demonstrate the application of dual intracranial pressure (ICP) and infusion studies together with the novel shunt occlusion test in both a diagnostic and therapeutic role. An 8-year-old child had aqueduct stenosis treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (medium-pressure valve). The presentation was of headaches with papilloedema. Imaging with both computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed slit ventricles. Initially a shunt exploration revealed distal obstruction that was treated together with insertion of a paediatric strata II regular valve; however, the child continued to deteriorate. Overnight ICP monitoring revealed dramatically raised ICP with poor compensatory reserve. Intra-operative infusion study revealed a shunt that was patent distally but with proximal obstruction. A subtemporal decompression ipsilateral to the shunt was performed together with adjustment of the paediatric strata II regular valve to 2.5 in order to prevent overdrainage. This led to normalisation of ICP, resolution of papilloedema and symptomatic improvement. We demonstrate how combined ICP monitoring and shunt infusion studies can be used to help guide management. Unilateral subtemporal decompressions and preventing shunt overdrainage can result in normalisation of ICP and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics.

Towards a monitoring system of temperature extremes in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavaysse, Christophe; Cammalleri, Carmelo; Dosio, Alessandro; van der Schrier, Gerard; Toreti, Andrea; Vogt, Jürgen

2018-01-01

Extreme-temperature anomalies such as heat and cold waves may have strong impacts on human activities and health. The heat waves in western Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010, or the cold wave in southeastern Europe in 2012, generated a considerable amount of economic loss and resulted in the death of several thousands of people. Providing an operational system to monitor extreme-temperature anomalies in Europe is thus of prime importance to help decision makers and emergency services to be responsive to an unfolding extreme event. In this study, the development and the validation of a monitoring system of extreme-temperature anomalies are presented. The first part of the study describes the methodology based on the persistence of events exceeding a percentile threshold. The method is applied to three different observational datasets, in order to assess the robustness and highlight uncertainties in the observations. The climatology of extreme events from the last 21 years is then analysed to highlight the spatial and temporal variability of the hazard, and discrepancies amongst the observational datasets are discussed. In the last part of the study, the products derived from this study are presented and discussed with respect to previous studies. The results highlight the accuracy of the developed index and the statistical robustness of the distribution used to calculate the return periods.

An evaluation of continuous emissions monitoring systems for improving industrial boiler efficiency

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

Eckerlin, H.M.; Hall, R.C.

1996-12-31

An experimental evaluation of currently available continuous emissions monitoring systems has been conducted at an industrial boiler facility. The analyzers used in the study represented a range of sensors and sampling systems. The performance of three systems was monitored and compared over a six-month period. Careful records were also kept on installation, calibration and maintenance requirements. Research results suggest that (at present) the close-coupled extractive systems using a zirconium oxide sensor (for O{sub 2}) and a catalytic combustibles sensor (for CO/combustibles) offer the most reliable, trouble-free performance. The project also provided valuable insights on a variety of issues relating tomore » the continuous monitoring of emissions from industrial boilers.« less

An evaluation of continuous emissions monitoring systems for improving industrial boiler efficiency

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

Eckerlin, H.M.; Hall, R.C.

1996-05-01

An experimental evaluation of currently available continuous emissions monitoring systems has been conducted at an industrial boiler facility. The analyzers used in the study represented a range of sensors and sampling systems. The performance of three systems was monitored and compared over a six-month period. Careful records were also kept on installation, calibration and maintenance requirements. Research results suggest that (at present) the close-coupled extractive systems using a zirconium oxide sensor (for O{sub 2}) and a catalytic combustibles sensor (for CO/combustibles) offer the most reliable, trouble-free performance. The project also provided valuable insights on a variety of issues relating tomore » the continuous monitoring of emissions from industrial boilers.« less

Web-based monitoring tools for Resistive Plate Chambers in the CMS experiment at CERN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, M. S.; Ban, Y.; Cai, J.; Li, Q.; Liu, S.; Qian, S.; Wang, D.; Xu, Z.; Zhang, F.; Choi, Y.; Kim, D.; Goh, J.; Choi, S.; Hong, B.; Kang, J. W.; Kang, M.; Kwon, J. H.; Lee, K. S.; Lee, S. K.; Park, S. K.; Pant, L. M.; Mohanty, A. K.; Chudasama, R.; Singh, J. B.; Bhatnagar, V.; Mehta, A.; Kumar, R.; Cauwenbergh, S.; Costantini, S.; Cimmino, A.; Crucy, S.; Fagot, A.; Garcia, G.; Ocampo, A.; Poyraz, D.; Salva, S.; Thyssen, F.; Tytgat, M.; Zaganidis, N.; Doninck, W. V.; Cabrera, A.; Chaparro, L.; Gomez, J. P.; Gomez, B.; Sanabria, J. C.; Avila, C.; Ahmad, A.; Muhammad, S.; Shoaib, M.; Hoorani, H.; Awan, I.; Ali, I.; Ahmed, W.; Asghar, M. I.; Shahzad, H.; Sayed, A.; Ibrahim, A.; Aly, S.; Assran, Y.; Radi, A.; Elkafrawy, T.; Sharma, A.; Colafranceschi, S.; Abbrescia, M.; Calabria, C.; Colaleo, A.; Iaselli, G.; Loddo, F.; Maggi, M.; Nuzzo, S.; Pugliese, G.; Radogna, R.; Venditti, R.; Verwilligen, P.; Benussi, L.; Bianco, S.; Piccolo, D.; Paolucci, P.; Buontempo, S.; Cavallo, N.; Merola, M.; Fabozzi, F.; Iorio, O. M.; Braghieri, A.; Montagna, P.; Riccardi, C.; Salvini, P.; Vitulo, P.; Vai, I.; Magnani, A.; Dimitrov, A.; Litov, L.; Pavlov, B.; Petkov, P.; Aleksandrov, A.; Genchev, V.; Iaydjiev, P.; Rodozov, M.; Sultanov, G.; Vutova, M.; Stoykova, S.; Hadjiiska, R.; Ibargüen, H. S.; Morales, M. I. P.; Bernardino, S. C.; Bagaturia, I.; Tsamalaidze, Z.; Crotty, I.

2014-10-01

The Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) are used in the CMS experiment at the trigger level and also in the standard offline muon reconstruction. In order to guarantee the quality of the data collected and to monitor online the detector performance, a set of tools has been developed in CMS which is heavily used in the RPC system. The Web-based monitoring (WBM) is a set of java servlets that allows users to check the performance of the hardware during data taking, providing distributions and history plots of all the parameters. The functionalities of the RPC WBM monitoring tools are presented along with studies of the detector performance as a function of growing luminosity and environmental conditions that are tracked over time.

WSN based indoor air quality monitoring in classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S. K.; Chew, S. P.; Jusoh, M. T.; Khairunissa, A.; Leong, K. Y.; Azid, A. A.

2017-03-01

Indoor air quality monitoring is essential as the human health is directly affected by indoor air quality. This paper presents the investigations of the impact of undergraduate students' concentration during lecture due to the indoor air quality in classroom. Three environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity and concentration of carbon dioxide are measured using wireless sensor network based air quality monitoring system. This simple yet reliable system is incorporated with DHT-11 and MG-811 sensors. Two classrooms were selected to install the monitoring system. The level of indoor air quality were measured and students' concentration was assessed using intelligent test during normal lecturing section. The test showed significant correlation between the collected environmental parameters and the students' level of performances in their study.

Monitoring Bridge Dynamic Responses Using Fiber Bragg Grating Tiltmeters.

PubMed

Xiao, Feng; Chen, Gang S; Hulsey, J Leroy

2017-10-20

In bridge health monitoring, tiltmeters have been used for measuring rotation and curvature; however, their application in dynamic parameter identification has been lacking. This study installed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) tiltmeters on the bearings of a bridge and monitored the dynamic rotational angle. The dynamic features, including natural frequencies and mode shapes, have been identified successfully. The innovation presented in this paper is the first-time use of FBG tiltmeter readings to identify the natural frequencies of a long-span steel girder bridge. The identified results have been verified using a bridge finite element model. This paper introduces a new method for the dynamic monitoring of a bridge using FBG tiltmeters. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed in the conclusion.

Automation-induced monitoring inefficiency: role of display location.

PubMed

Singh, I L; Molloy, R; Parasuraman, R

1997-01-01

Operators can be poor monitors of automation if they are engaged concurrently in other tasks. However, in previous studies of this phenomenon the automated task was always presented in the periphery, away from the primary manual tasks that were centrally displayed. In this study we examined whether centrally locating an automated task would boost monitoring performance during a flight-simulation task consisting of system monitoring, tracking and fuel resource management sub-tasks. Twelve nonpilot subjects were required to perform the tracking and fuel management tasks manually while watching the automated system monitoring task for occasional failures. The automation reliability was constant at 87.5% for six subjects and variable (alternating between 87.5% and 56.25%) for the other six subjects. Each subject completed four 30 min sessions over a period of 2 days. In each automation reliability condition the automation routine was disabled for the last 20 min of the fourth session in order to simulate catastrophic automation failure (0 % reliability). Monitoring for automation failure was inefficient when automation reliability was constant but not when it varied over time, replicating previous results. Furthermore, there was no evidence of resource or speed accuracy trade-off between tasks. Thus, automation-induced failures of monitoring cannot be prevented by centrally locating the automated task.

Automation-induced monitoring inefficiency: role of display location

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, I. L.; Molloy, R.; Parasuraman, R.

1997-01-01

Operators can be poor monitors of automation if they are engaged concurrently in other tasks. However, in previous studies of this phenomenon the automated task was always presented in the periphery, away from the primary manual tasks that were centrally displayed. In this study we examined whether centrally locating an automated task would boost monitoring performance during a flight-simulation task consisting of system monitoring, tracking and fuel resource management sub-tasks. Twelve nonpilot subjects were required to perform the tracking and fuel management tasks manually while watching the automated system monitoring task for occasional failures. The automation reliability was constant at 87.5% for six subjects and variable (alternating between 87.5% and 56.25%) for the other six subjects. Each subject completed four 30 min sessions over a period of 2 days. In each automation reliability condition the automation routine was disabled for the last 20 min of the fourth session in order to simulate catastrophic automation failure (0 % reliability). Monitoring for automation failure was inefficient when automation reliability was constant but not when it varied over time, replicating previous results. Furthermore, there was no evidence of resource or speed accuracy trade-off between tasks. Thus, automation-induced failures of monitoring cannot be prevented by centrally locating the automated task.

Source water monitoring and biomonitoring systems

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation will provide background information on continuous source water monitoring using online toxicity monitors and cover various tools available. Conceptual and practical aspects of source water quality monitoring will be discussed.

Monitoring water quality by remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, R. L. (Principal Investigator)

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A limited study was conducted to determine the applicability of remote sensing for evaluating water quality conditions in the San Francisco Bay and delta. Considerable supporting data were available for the study area from other than overflight sources, but short-term temporal and spatial variability precluded their use. The study results were not sufficient to shed much light on the subject, but it did appear that, with the present state of the art in image analysis and the large amount of ground truth needed, remote sensing has only limited application in monitoring water quality.

Remote sensing of vegetation pattern and condition to monitor changes in Everglades biogeochemistry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, John W.

2011-01-01

Ground-based studies of biogeochemistry and vegetation patterning yield process understanding, but the amount of information gained by ground-based studies can be greatly enhanced by efficient, synoptic, and temporally resolute monitoring afforded by remote sensing. The variety of presently available Everglades vegetation maps reflects both the wide range of application requirements and the need to balance cost and capability. More effort needs to be applied to documenting and understanding vegetation distribution and condition as indicators of biogeochemistry and contamination. Ground-based and remote sensing studies should be modified to maximize their synergy and utility for adaptive management.

Intracranial pressure monitoring in severe blunt head trauma: does the type of monitoring device matter?

PubMed

Aiolfi, Alberto; Khor, Desmond; Cho, Jayun; Benjamin, Elizabeth; Inaba, Kenji; Demetriades, Demetrios

2018-03-01

OBJECTIVE Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring has become the standard of care in the management of severe head trauma. Intraventricular devices (IVDs) and intraparenchymal devices (IPDs) are the 2 most commonly used techniques for ICP monitoring. Despite the widespread use of these devices, very few studies have investigated the effect of device type on outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to compare outcomes between 2 types of ICP monitoring devices in patients with isolated severe blunt head trauma. METHODS This retrospective observational study was based on the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program database, which was searched for all patients with isolated severe blunt head injury who had an ICP monitor placed in the 2-year period from 2013 to 2014. Extracted variables included demographics, comorbidities, mechanisms of injury, head injury specifics (epidural, subdural, subarachnoid, intracranial hemorrhage, and diffuse axonal injury), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score for each body area, Injury Severity Score (ISS), vital signs in the emergency department, and craniectomy. Outcomes included 30-day mortality, complications, number of ventilation days, intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay, and functional independence. RESULTS During the study period, 105,721 patients had isolated severe traumatic brain injury (head AIS score ≥ 3). Overall, an ICP monitoring device was placed in 2562 patients (2.4%): 1358 (53%) had an IVD and 1204 (47%) had an IPD. The severity of the head AIS score did not affect the type of ICP monitoring selected. There was no difference in the median ISS; ISS > 15; head AIS Score 3, 4, or 5; or the need for craniectomy between the 2 device groups. Unadjusted 30-day mortality was significantly higher in the group with IVDs (29% vs 25.5%, p = 0.046); however, stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that the type of ICP monitoring was not an independent risk factor for death, complications, or functional outcome at discharge. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that compliance with the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines for ICP monitoring is poor. In isolated severe blunt head injuries, the type of ICP monitoring device does not have any effect on survival, systemic complications, or functional outcome.

A Novel Series Connected Batteries State of High Voltage Safety Monitor System for Electric Vehicle Application

PubMed Central

Jiaxi, Qiang; Lin, Yang; Jianhui, He; Qisheng, Zhou

2013-01-01

Batteries, as the main or assistant power source of EV (Electric Vehicle), are usually connected in series with high voltage to improve the drivability and energy efficiency. Today, more and more batteries are connected in series with high voltage, if there is any fault in high voltage system (HVS), the consequence is serious and dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the electric parameters of HVS to ensure the high voltage safety and protect personal safety. In this study, a high voltage safety monitor system is developed to solve this critical issue. Four key electric parameters including precharge, contact resistance, insulation resistance, and remaining capacity are monitored and analyzed based on the equivalent models presented in this study. The high voltage safety controller which integrates the equivalent models and control strategy is developed. By the help of hardware-in-loop system, the equivalent models integrated in the high voltage safety controller are validated, and the online electric parameters monitor strategy is analyzed and discussed. The test results indicate that the high voltage safety monitor system designed in this paper is suitable for EV application. PMID:24194677

A novel series connected batteries state of high voltage safety monitor system for electric vehicle application.

PubMed

Jiaxi, Qiang; Lin, Yang; Jianhui, He; Qisheng, Zhou

2013-01-01

Batteries, as the main or assistant power source of EV (Electric Vehicle), are usually connected in series with high voltage to improve the drivability and energy efficiency. Today, more and more batteries are connected in series with high voltage, if there is any fault in high voltage system (HVS), the consequence is serious and dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the electric parameters of HVS to ensure the high voltage safety and protect personal safety. In this study, a high voltage safety monitor system is developed to solve this critical issue. Four key electric parameters including precharge, contact resistance, insulation resistance, and remaining capacity are monitored and analyzed based on the equivalent models presented in this study. The high voltage safety controller which integrates the equivalent models and control strategy is developed. By the help of hardware-in-loop system, the equivalent models integrated in the high voltage safety controller are validated, and the online electric parameters monitor strategy is analyzed and discussed. The test results indicate that the high voltage safety monitor system designed in this paper is suitable for EV application.

Low-cost, email-based system for self blood pressure monitoring at home.

PubMed

Nakajima, Kazuki; Nambu, Masayuki; Kiryu, Tohru; Tamura, Toshiyo; Sasaki, Kazuo

2006-01-01

We have developed a low-cost monitoring system, which allows subjects to send blood pressure (BP) data obtained at home to health-care professionals by email. The system consists of a wrist BP monitor and a personal computer (PC) with an Internet connection. The wrist BP monitor includes an advanced positioning sensor to verify that the wrist is placed properly at heart level. Subjects at home can self-measure their BP every day, automatically transfer the BP data to their PC each week, and then send a comma-separated values (CSV) file to their health-care professional by email. In a feasibility study, 10 subjects used the system for a mean period of 207 days (SD 149). The mean percent achievement of measurement in the 10 subjects was 84% (SD 12). There was a seasonal variation in systolic and diastolic BP, which was inversely correlated with temperature. Eight of the 10 subjects evaluated the system favourably. The results of the present study demonstrate the feasibility of our email-based system for self-monitoring of blood pressure. Its low cost means that it may have widespread application in future home telecare studies.

Embolic Signals during Routine Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

PubMed Central

Paschoal, Fernando Mendes; de Almeida Lins Ronconi, Karla; de Lima Oliveira, Marcelo; Nogueira, Ricardo de Carvalho; Paschoal, Eric Homero Albuquerque; Teixeira, Manoel Jacobsen; Figueiredo, Eberval Gadelha; Bor-Seng-Shu, Edson

2015-01-01

Introduction. Cerebral emboli may occur in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and intracranial aneurysm surgery. Although embolic signs (ES) have been reported in SAH, their origin remains unclear. The aim of this study was to report the detection of ES during routine TCD monitoring in patients with aneurysmal SAH. Methods. A total of 105 patients with aneurysmal SAH were submitted to TCD evaluation. Patients were monitored almost daily (5 times per week). In each monitoring session, one experienced operator performed TCD to detect or assess vasospasm and ES in arteries of the Willis polygon. Results. Four patients out of a total of 105 patients with aneurysmal SAH were found to present spontaneous cerebral embolization during routine TCD monitoring. The average age of the 4 patients (mean ± standard deviation) was 59.5 ± 8.34 years (range 49–68 ys); female patients predominated representing 75% (3/4) of subjects. Conclusion. Although detection of ES was relatively rare in this study, rates of emboli occurrence may be higher under systematic monitoring. The detection of ES after SAH surgery reinforces the need to study the role of embolus in this condition and may be an indicator for prophylactic antithrombotic treatment. PMID:25893190

Outcomes and complications of intracranial pressure monitoring in acute liver failure: a retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Karvellas, Constantine J; Fix, Oren K; Battenhouse, Holly; Durkalski, Valerie; Sanders, Corron; Lee, William M

2014-05-01

To determine if intracranial pressure monitor placement in patients with acute liver failure is associated with significant clinical outcomes. Retrospective multicenter cohort study. Academic liver transplant centers comprising the U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Adult critically ill patients with acute liver failure presenting with grade III/IV hepatic encephalopathy (n = 629) prospectively enrolled between March 2004 and August 2011. Intracranial pressure monitored (n = 140) versus nonmonitored controls (n = 489). Intracranial pressure monitored patients were younger than controls (35 vs 43 yr, p < 0.001) and more likely to be on renal replacement therapy (52% vs 38%, p = 0.003). Of 87 intracranial pressure monitored patients with detailed information, 44 (51%) had evidence of intracranial hypertension (intracranial pressure > 25 mm Hg) and overall 21-day mortality was higher in patients with intracranial hypertension (43% vs 23%, p = 0.05). During the first 7 days, intracranial pressure monitored patients received more intracranial hypertension-directed therapies (mannitol, 56% vs 21%; hypertonic saline, 14% vs 7%; hypothermia, 24% vs 10%; p < 0.03 for each). Forty-one percent of intracranial pressure monitored patients received liver transplant (vs 18% controls; p < 0.001). Overall 21-day mortality was similar (intracranial pressure monitored 33% vs controls 38%, p = 0.24). Where data were available, hemorrhagic complications were rare in intracranial pressure monitored patients (4 of 56 [7%]; three died). When stratifying by acetaminophen status and adjusting for confounders, intracranial pressure monitor placement did not impact 21-day mortality in acetaminophen patients (p = 0.89). However, intracranial pressure monitor was associated with increased 21-day mortality in nonacetaminophen patients (odds ratio, ~ 3.04; p = 0.014). In intracranial pressure monitored patients with acute liver failure, intracranial hypertension is commonly observed. The use of intracranial pressure monitor in acetaminophen acute liver failure did not confer a significant 21-day mortality benefit, whereas in nonacetaminophen acute liver failure, it may be associated with worse outcomes. Hemorrhagic complications from intracranial pressure monitor placement were uncommon and cannot account for mortality trends. Although our results cannot conclusively confirm or refute the utility of intracranial pressure monitoring in patients with acute liver failure, patient selection and ancillary assessments of cerebral blood flow likely have a significant role. Prospective studies would be required to conclusively account for confounding by illness severity and transplant.

Optical monitoring of rugate filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lappschies, Marc; Görtz, Björn; Ristau, Detlev

2005-09-01

Rugate filters have a high potential for solving specific design problems in many applications of modern optics and lighting technology. However, the exact manufacture of these gradual layer systems is still a challenge which could not be solved completely until today. One of the prominent approaches for the production of rugate filters is based on independent quartz crystal devices measuring the rate of the different coating materials. As an alternative, optical broadband monitoring has been already qualified for controlling the deposition of complicated non quarterwave stacks. In the present study, promising results of this deposition control concept as a direct monitoring of rugate filters will be presented. In a first attempt, the continuous change of refractive indices in the graded layers was transformed to a set of discrete homogeneous sub-layers with thicknesses values of around 5 nm. These discrete layers are realized by defined mixtures of two materials. A data base for the dispersion behavior was created for the different mixing ratios and is employed for the production of such quasi-rugate filters. The optical monitor is operated in the routine mode determining the switching points of the layers. Selected examples will be presented for quasi rugate coatings produced by ion beam sputtering from a movable zone target. Different designs will be discussed considering production problems as well as achievable optical properties.

Encoding context and false recognition memories.

PubMed

Bruce, Darryl; Phillips-Grant, Kimberly; Conrad, Nicole; Bona, Susan

2004-09-01

False recognition of an extralist word that is thematically related to all words of a study list may reflect internal activation of the theme word during encoding followed by impaired source monitoring at retrieval, that is, difficulty in determining whether the word had actually been experienced or merely thought of. To assist source monitoring, distinctive visual or verbal contexts were added to study words at input. Both types of context produced similar effects: False alarms to theme-word (critical) lures were reduced; remember judgements of critical lures called old were lower; and if contextual information had been added to lists, subjects indicated as much for list items and associated critical foils identified as old. The visual and verbal contexts used in the present studies were held to disrupt semantic categorisation of list words at input and to facilitate source monitoring at output.

[The Jena Anxiety Monitoring List (JAMoL) - a tool for the evidence-based treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in primary care].

PubMed

Hiller, Thomas Stephan; Freytag, Antje; Breitbart, Jörg; Teismann, Tobias; Schöne, Elisabeth; Blank, Wolfgang; Schelle, Mercedes; Vollmar, Horst Christian; Margraf, Jürgen; Gensichen, Jochen

2018-04-01

Behavior therapy-oriented methods are recommended for treating anxiety disorders in primary care. The treatment of patients with long-term conditions can be improved by case management and structured clinical monitoring. The present paper describes the rationale, design and application of the 'Jena Anxiety Monitoring List' (JAMoL), a monitoring tool for the treatment of patients with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, in primary care. JAMoL's design was based on established clinical measures, the rationale of exposure-based anxiety treatment, and research on family practice-based case management. After piloting, the JAMoL was used in the clinical study 'Jena-PARADISE' (ISRCTN64669297), where non-physician practice staff monitored patients with panic disorder by telephone. Using semi-structured interviews in concomitant studies, study participants were asked about the instrument's functionality. The JAMoL assesses the severity of anxiety symptoms (6 items) as well as the patient's adherence to therapy (4 items) and fosters the case management-related information exchange (3 items). An integrated traffic light scheme facilitates the evaluation of monitoring results. Within the clinical study, non-physician practice staff carried out a total of 1,525 JAMoL-supported monitoring calls on 177 patients from 30 primary care practices (median calls per patient: 10 [interquartile range, 9-10]). Qualitative analyses revealed that most practice teams and patients rated the JAMoL as a practicable and treatment-relevant tool. The JAMoL enables primary care practice teams to continuously monitor anxiety symptoms and treatment adherence in patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Within the behavior therapy-oriented treatment program 'Jena-PARADISE', the JAMoL constitutes an important case management tool. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

A multi-disciplinary approach for the structural monitoring of Cultural Heritages in a seismic area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabrizia Buongiorno, Maria; Musacchio, Massimo; Guerra, Ignazio; Porco, Giacinto; Stramondo, Salvatore; Casula, Giuseppe; Caserta, Arrigo; Speranza, Fabio; Doumaz, Fawzi; Giovanna Bianchi, Maria; Luzi, Guido; Ilaria Pannaccione Apa, Maria; Montuori, Antonio; Gaudiosi, Iolanda; Vecchio, Antonio; Gervasi, Anna; Bonali, Elena; Romano, Dolores; Falcone, Sergio; La Piana, Carmelo

2014-05-01

In the recent years, the concepts of seismic risk vulnerability and structural health monitoring have become very important topics in the field of both structural and civil engineering for the identification of appropriate risk indicators and risk assessment methodologies in Cultural Heritages monitoring. The latter, which includes objects, building and sites with historical, architectural and/or engineering relevance, concerns the management, the preservation and the maintenance of the heritages within their surrounding environmental context, in response to climate changes and natural hazards (e.g. seismic, volcanic, landslides and flooding hazards). Within such a framework, the complexity and the great number of variables to be considered require a multi-disciplinary approach including strategies, methodologies and tools able to provide an effective monitoring of Cultural Heritages form both scientific and operational viewpoints. Based on this rationale, in this study, an advanced, technological and operationally-oriented approach is presented and tested, which enables measuring and monitoring Cultural Heritage conservation state and geophysical/geological setting of the area, in order to mitigate the seismic risk of the historical public goods at different spatial scales*. The integration between classical geophysical methods with new emerging sensing techniques enables a multi-depth, multi-resolution, and multi-scale monitoring in both space and time. An integrated system of methodologies, instrumentation and data-processing approaches for non-destructive Cultural Heritage investigations is proposed, which concerns, in detail, the analysis of seismogenetic sources, the geological-geotechnical setting of the area and site seismic effects evaluation, proximal remote sensing techniques (e.g. terrestrial laser scanner, ground-based radar systems, thermal cameras), high-resolution aerial and satellite-based remote sensing methodologies (e.g. aeromagnetic surveys, synthetic aperture radar, optical, multispectral and panchromatic measurements), static and dynamic structural health monitoring analysis (e.g. screening tests with georadar, sonic instruments, sclerometers and optic fibers). The final purpose of the proposed approach is the development of an investigation methodology for short- and long-term Cultural Heritages preservation in response to seismic stress, which has specific features of scalability, modularity and exportability for every possible monitoring configuration. Moreover, it allows gathering useful information to furnish guidelines for Institution and local Administration to plan consolidation actions and therefore prevention activity. Some preliminary results will be presented for the test site of Calabria Region, where some architectural heritages have been properly selected as case studies for monitoring purposes. *The present work is supported and funded by Ministero dell'Università, dell'Istruzione e della Ricerca (MIUR) under the research project PON01-02710 "MASSIMO" - "Monitoraggio in Area Sismica di Sistemi Monumentali".

Geophysical Methods for Investigating Ground-Water Recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ferre, Ty P.A.; Binley, Andrew M.; Blasch, Kyle W.; Callegary, James B.; Crawford, Steven M.; Fink, James B.; Flint, Alan L.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Hoffmann, John P.; Izbicki, John A.; Levitt, Marc T.; Pool, Donald R.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2007-01-01

While numerical modeling has revolutionized our understanding of basin-scale hydrologic processes, such models rely almost exclusively on traditional measurements?rainfall, streamflow, and water-table elevations?for calibration and testing. Model calibration provides initial estimates of ground-water recharge. Calibrated models are important yet crude tools for addressing questions about the spatial and temporal distribution of recharge. An inverse approach to recharge estimation is taken of necessity, due to inherent difficulties in making direct measurements of flow across the water table. Difficulties arise because recharging fluxes are typically small, even in humid regions, and because the location of the water table changes with time. Deep water tables in arid and semiarid regions make recharge monitoring especially difficult. Nevertheless, recharge monitoring must advance in order to improve assessments of ground-water recharge. Improved characterization of basin-scale recharge is critical for informed water-resources management. Difficulties in directly measuring recharge have prompted many efforts to develop indirect methods. The mass-balance approach of estimating recharge as the residual of generally much larger terms has persisted despite the use of increasing complex and finely gridded large-scale hydrologic models. Geophysical data pertaining to recharge rates, timing, and patterns have the potential to substantially improve modeling efforts by providing information on boundary conditions, by constraining model inputs, by testing simplifying assumptions, and by identifying the spatial and temporal resolutions needed to predict recharge to a specified tolerance in space and in time. Moreover, under certain conditions, geophysical measurements can yield direct estimates of recharge rates or changes in water storage, largely eliminating the need for indirect measures of recharge. This appendix presents an overview of physically based, geophysical methods that are currently available or under development for recharge monitoring. The material is written primarily for hydrogeologists. Uses of geophysical methods for improving recharge monitoring are explored through brief discussions and case studies. The intent is to indicate how geophysical methods can be used effectively in studying recharge processes and quantifying recharge. As such, the material constructs a framework for matching the strengths of individual geophysical methods with the manners in which they can be applied for hydrologic analyses. The appendix is organized in three sections. First, the key hydrologic parameters necessary to determine the rate, timing, and patterns of recharge are identified. Second, the basic operating principals of the relevant geophysical methods are discussed. Methods are grouped by the physical property that they measure directly. Each measured property is related to one or more of the key hydrologic properties for recharge monitoring. Third, the emerging conceptual framework for applying geophysics to recharge monitoring is presented. Examples of the application of selected geophysical methods to recharge monitoring are presented in nine case studies. These studies illustrate hydrogeophysical applications under a wide range of conditions and measurement scales, which vary from tenths of a meter to hundreds of meters. The case studies include practice-proven as well as emerging applications of geophysical methods to recharge monitoring.

Conflict monitoring in speech processing: An fMRI study of error detection in speech production and perception.

PubMed

Gauvin, Hanna S; De Baene, Wouter; Brass, Marcel; Hartsuiker, Robert J

2016-02-01

To minimize the number of errors in speech, and thereby facilitate communication, speech is monitored before articulation. It is, however, unclear at which level during speech production monitoring takes place, and what mechanisms are used to detect and correct errors. The present study investigated whether internal verbal monitoring takes place through the speech perception system, as proposed by perception-based theories of speech monitoring, or whether mechanisms independent of perception are applied, as proposed by production-based theories of speech monitoring. With the use of fMRI during a tongue twister task we observed that error detection in internal speech during noise-masked overt speech production and error detection in speech perception both recruit the same neural network, which includes pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), anterior insula (AI), and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Although production and perception recruit similar areas, as proposed by perception-based accounts, we did not find activation in superior temporal areas (which are typically associated with speech perception) during internal speech monitoring in speech production as hypothesized by these accounts. On the contrary, results are highly compatible with a domain general approach to speech monitoring, by which internal speech monitoring takes place through detection of conflict between response options, which is subsequently resolved by a domain general executive center (e.g., the ACC). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Source monitoring: general presentation and review of literature in schizophrenia].

PubMed

Ferchiou, A; Schürhoff, F; Bulzacka, E; Mahbouli, M; Leboyer, M; Szöke, A

2010-09-01

SOURCE MONITORING FRAMEWORK: Source monitoring refers to the ability to remember the origin of information. Three source monitoring processes can be distinguished: external source monitoring, internal or self-monitoring and reality monitoring (i.e. discrimination between internal and external sources of information). Source monitoring decisions are based on memory characteristics recorded such as perceptions, contextual information or emotional reactions and heuristic or more controlled judgement processes. Several studies suggested that specific structures in the prefrontal and the mediotemporal lobes are the main areas implicated in source monitoring. A typical source monitoring paradigm includes an items generation stage and a second stage of recognition of items (old versus new) and identification of their sources: external (usually the examiner) or internal (the subject). Several indices can be calculated based on the raw data such as the number of false alarms, attribution biases or discrimination indexes. To date, there is no standardized source monitoring task and differences in the type of items used (words, pictures), in the cognitive or emotional effort involved or in the delay between the two test stages, contribute to the heterogeneity of results. Factors such as age (either very young or very old) and emotions influence source monitoring performances. Influence of gender was not properly explored, whereas the role of IQ and selective attention is still debated. Source monitoring deficits are observed mainly in disorders affecting frontotemporal areas, such as frontal trauma, Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia. Source monitoring errors (e.g. external misattribution of self-generated information) are observed in schizophrenia and seem to correlate with positive symptomatology, in particular auditory hallucinations, thought intrusion and alien control symptoms. These results are of particular interest in clinical research because source monitoring is one of the rare cognitive tests showing a correlation with the positive dimension. Source monitoring deficits have been proposed as a potential explanation for the positive symptoms and some, but not all studies lent support to this hypothesis. Heterogeneity of studied samples, in particular different criteria to define hallucinating subjects (e.g. currently versus anytime during their lives), could explain the discordant results. Source monitoring impairments were observed in pharmacological models of psychosis, in first degree relatives of schizophrenic patients, and also in the general population associated with schizotypal dimensions. These results support a relationship between source monitoring deficits and some of the symptomatic dimensions of the schizophrenic spectrum but still await replication. Some studies found source monitoring deficits in other psychiatric conditions such as mania or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Thus, those studies suggest that source monitoring deficits may be not specific to schizophrenia. Source monitoring competencies are critical for good (i.e. adapted) everyday functioning. Source monitoring deficits have been suggested as a potential explanation for some (or all) positive psychotic symptoms. However, to date, methodological inconsistencies (especially with regard to test design and choice of subjects' samples) have precluded firm, definite conclusions. Copyright © 2010 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption. Computerized tomographic monitoring of chemotherapeutic agent delivery.

PubMed Central

Neuwelt, E A; Maravilla, K R; Frenkel, E P; Rapaport, S I; Hill, S A; Barnett, P A

1979-01-01

The present study describes a canine model of transient reversible blood-brain barrier disruption with hyperosmolar mannitol infusion into the internal carotid artery. Studies in this model show that osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption before intracarotid infusion of methotrexate results in markedly elevated (therapeutic) levels of drug in the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere. Levels in the cerebrospinal fluid correlate poorly and inconsistently with brain levels. Computerized tomograms in this canine model provide a noninvasive monitor of the degree, time-course, and localization of osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption. Images PMID:457877

Active landslide monitoring using remote sensing data, GPS measurements and cameras on board UAV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolakopoulos, Konstantinos G.; Kavoura, Katerina; Depountis, Nikolaos; Argyropoulos, Nikolaos; Koukouvelas, Ioannis; Sabatakakis, Nikolaos

2015-10-01

An active landslide can be monitored using many different methods: Classical geotechnical measurements like inclinometer, topographical survey measurements with total stations or GPS and photogrammetric techniques using airphotos or high resolution satellite images. As the cost of the aerial photo campaign and the acquisition of very high resolution satellite data is quite expensive the use of cameras on board UAV could be an identical solution. Small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have started their development as expensive toys but they currently became a very valuable tool in remote sensing monitoring of small areas. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate a cheap but effective solution for an active landslide monitoring. We present the first experimental results of the synergistic use of UAV, GPS measurements and remote sensing data. A six-rotor aircraft with a total weight of 6 kg carrying two small cameras has been used. Very accurate digital airphotos, high accuracy DSM, DGPS measurements and the data captured from the UAV are combined and the results are presented in the current study.

Real-time earthquake data feasible

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, Susan

Scientists agree that early warning devices and monitoring of both Hurricane Hugo and the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption saved thousands of lives. What would it take to develop this sort of early warning and monitoring system for earthquake activity?Not all that much, claims a panel assigned to study the feasibility, costs, and technology needed to establish a real-time earthquake monitoring (RTEM) system. The panel, drafted by the National Academy of Science's Committee on Seismology, has presented its findings in Real-Time Earthquake Monitoring. The recently released report states that “present technology is entirely capable of recording and processing data so as to provide real-time information, enabling people to mitigate somewhat the earthquake disaster.” RTEM systems would consist of two parts—an early warning system that would give a few seconds warning before severe shaking, and immediate postquake information within minutes of the quake that would give actual measurements of the magnitude. At this time, however, this type of warning system has not been addressed at the national level for the United States and is not included in the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, according to the report.

[Neuroimaging and the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder].

PubMed

Schiepek, Günter; Tominschek, Igor; Karch, Susanne; Mulert, Christoph; Pogarell, Oliver

2007-01-01

The following review is focusing on results of functional neuroimaging. After some introductory remarks on the phenomenology, epidemiology, and psychotherapy approaches of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) the most important OCD-related brain regions are presented. Obviously, not only the prominent cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical feedback loops are involved, as functional brain imaging studies tell us, but also other regions as the inferior parietal lobe, the anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus, insula, amygdala, cerebellum, and others. Subclassifications using factor-analysis methods support the hypothesis, that most important subtypes ("washing/contamination fear", "obsessions/checking", "symmetry/ordering", "hoarding") involve different, but partially overlapping brain areas. Stimulation paradigms in fMRI-research are commonly based on symptom provocation by visual or tactile stimuli, or on action-monitoring and error-monitoring tasks. Deficits in action-monitoring and planning are discussed to be one of the basic dysfunctions of OCD. Finally, results of psychotherapeutic induced variations of brain activations in OCD are presented.

The use of monitoring data in EU chemicals management--experiences and considerations from the German environmental specimen bank.

PubMed

Koschorreck, Jan; Heiss, Christiane; Wellmitz, Jörg; Fliedner, Annette; Rüdel, Heinz

2015-02-01

Since the 1970s, environmental specimen banks (ESB) have emerged in many countries. Their highly standardised sampling and archiving strategies make them a valuable tool in tracing time trends and spatial distributions of chemicals in ecosystem compartments. The present article intends to highlight the potential of ESBs for regulatory agencies in the European Union (EU). The arguments are supported by examples of retrospective monitoring studies conducted under the programme of the German ESB. These studies have evaluated the success of regulatory and industry provisions for substances of concern (i.e. PCB, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds, alkylphenol compounds, organotin compounds, triclosan/methyl-triclosan, musk fragrances). Time trend studies revealed for example that levels of organotin compounds in marine biota from German coastal waters decreased significantly after the EU had decided on a total ban of organotin-based antifoulings in 2003. Similarly, concentrations of commercially relevant congeners of polybrominated diphenyl ethers decreased in herring gull eggs from the North Sea only after an EU-wide ban in 2004. The data presented demonstrate the usefulness of ESB samples for (retrospective) time trend monitoring and underline the benefit of a more intensive cooperation between chemicals management and specimen banking.

Contact force monitoring during catheter ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in patients with congenital heart disease.

PubMed

Krause, Ulrich; Backhoff, David; Klehs, Sophia; Schneider, Heike E; Paul, Thomas

2016-08-01

Monitoring of catheter contact force during catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation has been shown to increase efficacy and safety. However, almost no data exists on the use of this technology in catheter ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in patients with congenital heart disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of contact force monitoring during catheter ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in those patients. Catheter ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia using monitoring of catheter contact force was performed in 28 patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Thirty-two patients matched according to gender, age, and body weight with congenital heart disease undergoing catheter ablation without contact force monitoring served as control group. Parameters reflecting acute procedural success, long-term efficacy, and safety were compared. Acute procedural success was statistically not different in both groups (contact force 93 % vs. control 84 %, p = 0.3). Likewise the recurrence rate 1 year after ablation as shown by Kaplan-Meier analysis did not differ (contact force 28 % vs. control 37 %, p = 0.63). Major complications were restricted to groin vessel injuries and occurred in 3 out of 60 patients (contact force n = 1; control n = 2). Complications related to excessive catheter contact force were not observed. The present study did not show superiority of catheter contact force monitoring during ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in patients with CHD in terms of efficacy and safety. Higher contact force compared to pulmonary vein isolation might therefore be required to increase the efficacy of catheter ablation of intraatrial reentrant tachycardia in patients with congenital heart disease.

Blurred digital mammography images: an analysis of technical recall and observer detection performance.

PubMed

Ma, Wang Kei; Borgen, Rita; Kelly, Judith; Millington, Sara; Hilton, Beverley; Aspin, Rob; Lança, Carla; Hogg, Peter

2017-03-01

Blurred images in full-field digital mammography are a problem in the UK Breast Screening Programme. Technical recalls may be due to blurring not being seen on lower resolution monitors used for review. This study assesses the visual detection of blurring on a 2.3-MP monitor and a 5-MP report grade monitor and proposes an observer standard for the visual detection of blurring on a 5-MP reporting grade monitor. 28 observers assessed 120 images for blurring; 20 images had no blurring present, whereas 100 images had blurring imposed through mathematical simulation at 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm levels of motion. Technical recall rate for both monitors and angular size at each level of motion were calculated. χ 2 tests were used to test whether significant differences in blurring detection existed between 2.3- and 5-MP monitors. The technical recall rate for 2.3- and 5-MP monitors are 20.3% and 9.1%, respectively. The angular size for 0.2- to 1-mm motion varied from 55 to 275 arc s. The minimum amount of motion for visual detection of blurring in this study is 0.4 mm. For 0.2-mm simulated motion, there was no significant difference [χ 2 (1, N = 1095) = 1.61, p = 0.20] in blurring detection between the 2.3- and 5-MP monitors. According to this study, monitors ≤2.3 MP are not suitable for technical review of full-field digital mammography images for the detection of blur. Advances in knowledge: This research proposes the first observer standard for the visual detection of blurring.

Blurred digital mammography images: an analysis of technical recall and observer detection performance

PubMed Central

Borgen, Rita; Kelly, Judith; Millington, Sara; Hilton, Beverley; Aspin, Rob; Lança, Carla; Hogg, Peter

2017-01-01

Objective: Blurred images in full-field digital mammography are a problem in the UK Breast Screening Programme. Technical recalls may be due to blurring not being seen on lower resolution monitors used for review. This study assesses the visual detection of blurring on a 2.3-MP monitor and a 5-MP report grade monitor and proposes an observer standard for the visual detection of blurring on a 5-MP reporting grade monitor. Methods: 28 observers assessed 120 images for blurring; 20 images had no blurring present, whereas 100 images had blurring imposed through mathematical simulation at 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm levels of motion. Technical recall rate for both monitors and angular size at each level of motion were calculated. χ2 tests were used to test whether significant differences in blurring detection existed between 2.3- and 5-MP monitors. Results: The technical recall rate for 2.3- and 5-MP monitors are 20.3% and 9.1%, respectively. The angular size for 0.2- to 1-mm motion varied from 55 to 275 arc s. The minimum amount of motion for visual detection of blurring in this study is 0.4 mm. For 0.2-mm simulated motion, there was no significant difference [χ2 (1, N = 1095) = 1.61, p = 0.20] in blurring detection between the 2.3- and 5-MP monitors. Conclusion: According to this study, monitors ≤2.3 MP are not suitable for technical review of full-field digital mammography images for the detection of blur. Advances in knowledge: This research proposes the first observer standard for the visual detection of blurring. PMID:28134567

First annual report on the Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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

Loar, J. M.; Adams, S. M.; Blaylock, B. G.

1992-08-01

As a condition of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on April 1, 1986, a Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) was developed for White Oak Creek (WOC); selected tributaries of WOC, including Fifth Creek, First Creek, Melton Branch, and Northwest Tributary; and the Clinch River. BMAP consists of seven major tasks that address both radiological and nonradiological contaminants in the aquatic and terrestrial environs on-site and the aquatic environs off-site. These tasks are (1) toxicity monitoring; (2) bioaccumulation monitoring of nonradiological contaminants in aquatic biota; (3) biological indicator studies; (4)more » instream ecological monitoring; (5) assessment of contaminants in the terrestrial environment; (6) radioecology of WOC and White Oak Lake (WOL); and (7) contaminant transport, distribution, and fate in the WOC embayment-Clinch River-Watts Bar Reservoir system. This document, the first of a series of annual reports presenting the results of BMAP, describes studies that were conducted from March through December 1986.« less

Passive wireless strain monitoring of tyres using capacitance and tuning frequency changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Todoroki, Akira

2005-08-01

In-service strain monitoring of tyres of automobiles is quite effective for improving the reliability of tyres and anti-lock braking systems (ABS). Conventional strain gauges have high stiffness and require lead wires. Therefore, they are cumbersome for tyre strain measurements. In a previous study, the authors proposed a new wireless strain monitoring method that adopts the tyre itself as a sensor, with an oscillating circuit. This method is very simple and useful, but it requires a battery to activate the oscillating circuit. In the present study, the previous method for wireless tyre monitoring is improved to produce a passive wireless sensor. A specimen made from a commercially available tyre is connected to a tuning circuit comprising an inductance and a capacitance as a condenser. The capacitance change of the tyre alters the tuning frequency. This change of the tuned radio wave facilitates wireless measurement of the applied strain of the specimen without any power supply. This passive wireless method is applied to a specimen and the static applied strain is measured. Experiments demonstrate that the method is effective for passive wireless strain monitoring of tyres.

Biological monitoring of chlorinated pesticides among exposed workers of mango orchards: A case study in tropical climate

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

Chandra, H.; Pangtey, B.S.; Modak, D.P.

1992-02-01

Organochlorine, organophosphorus and carbamate compounds are widely used pesticides in India for controlling disease carrying vectors and agricultural pests. Organochlorine compounds being persistent and lipophilic in nature, accumulate in the human body through food chain and environmental exposure. Accumulation of DDT, BHC and endosulfan has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disorders, hypertension and other health related problems. Earlier, the authors have observed respiratory impairment (36.5%) among workers engaged in spraying of organochlorine pesticides on mango trees at Malihabad. In the present investigation, the levels of chlorinated present investigation, the levels of chlorinated pesticides among exposed workers have beenmore » monitored to study the distribution pattern in blood and their excretion in urine of human subjects.« less

The potential offered by real-time, high-sensitivity monitoring of ethane in breath and some pilot studies using optical spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skeldon, Kenneth D.; Patterson, Claire; Wyse, Cathy A.; Gibson, Graham M.; Padgett, Miles J.; Longbottom, Chris; McMillan, Lesley C.

2005-06-01

Breath analysis applied to biomedical applications has gained much momentum is recent years due to the growing research demonstrating that breath gas can provide clinically useful data. Particularly exciting is the area of real-time breath analysis which, when coupled with appropriately chosen target species, can offer a novel method for non-invasive patient monitoring. Here we describe the role of ethane, a breath gas of universal appeal in assessing in vivo oxidative stress (cell damage). We first present a review of emerging applications where real-time ethane monitoring could yield original new results for healthcare. We then report on results from a portable ethane spectroscopy system (accuracy better then 100 parts per trillion (1 part in 1010) over a 1 s time response) that we have developed to exploit some of these applications. By presenting some initial results from pilot studies in the life sciences, we comment on the requirements that the next stage of optical spectroscopy technology has to meet in order to benefit clinical end-users.

Wearable sensor platform and mobile application for use in cognitive behavioral therapy for drug addiction and PTSD.

PubMed

Fletcher, Richard Ribón; Tam, Sharon; Omojola, Olufemi; Redemske, Richard; Kwan, Joyce

2011-01-01

We present a wearable sensor platform designed for monitoring and studying autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity for the purpose of mental health treatment and interventions. The mobile sensor system consists of a sensor band worn on the ankle that continuously monitors electrodermal activity (EDA), 3-axis acceleration, and temperature. A custom-designed ECG heart monitor worn on the chest is also used as an optional part of the system. The EDA signal from the ankle bands provides a measure sympathetic nervous system activity and used to detect arousal events. The optional ECG data can be used to improve the sensor classification algorithm and provide a measure of emotional "valence." Both types of sensor bands contain a Bluetooth radio that enables communication with the patient's mobile phone. When a specific arousal event is detected, the phone automatically presents therapeutic and empathetic messages to the patient in the tradition of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). As an example of clinical use, we describe how the system is currently being used in an ongoing study for patients with drug-addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Acute ecotoxicity bioassay using Dendrocephalus brasiliensis: alternative test species for monitoring of contaminants in tropical and subtropical freshwaters.

PubMed

Santos, Vanessa Santana Vieira; Campos, Carlos Fernando; de Campos Júnior, Edimar Olegário; Pereira, Boscolli Barbosa

2018-05-23

In International guidelines for standard ecotoxicological bioassays, Daphnia magna is the most applied microcrustacea for assessing toxicity of different pollutants. However, in research realized in tropical and subtropical areas, autochthonous species must be prioritized because they are adapted to the specificities of ecosystems. In this sense, the present study aimed to assess and compare (with D. magna) the sensitivity of the tropical species Dendrocephalus brasiliensis as alternative test species for monitoring of contaminants in tropical and subtropical freshwaters, by carrying out acute toxicity tests with different pollutants. According results, D. brasiliensis presented EC50-48 h values lower than D. magna for all substances tested, indicating higher sensitivity of the tropical organism in relation to the temperate organism. Furthermore, comparing the results obtained with data from other studies, D. brasiliensis is more sensitive to the chemicals tested than D. magna and has similar sensitivity to Pseudosida ramosa and Ceriodaphnia dubia, common species in tropical areas. In view of this, we suggest that D. brasiliensis can be used as alternative test species for monitoring of contaminants in tropical and subtropical freshwaters.

Water Wells Monitoring Using SCADA System for Water Supply Network, Case Study: Water Treatment Plant Urseni, Timis County, Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adrian-Lucian, Cococeanu; Ioana-Alina, Cretan; Ivona, Cojocinescu Mihaela; Teodor Eugen, Man; Narcis, Pelea George

2017-10-01

The water supply system in Timisoara Municipality is insured with about 25-30 % of the water demand from wells. The underground water headed to the water treatment plant in order to ensure equal distribution and pressure to consumers. The treatment plants used are Urseni and Ronaţ, near Timisoara, in Timis County. In Timisoara groundwater represents an alternative source for water supply and complementary to the surface water source. The present paper presents a case study with proposal and solutions for rehabilitation /equipment /modernization/ automation of water drilling in order to ensure that the entire system can be monitored and controlled remotely through SCADA (Supervisory control and data acquisition) system. The data collected from the field are designed for online efficiency monitoring regarding the energy consumption and water flow intake, performance indicators such as specific energy consumption KW/m3 and also in order to create a hydraulically system of the operating area to track the behavior of aquifers in time regarding the quality and quantity aspects.

In Vitro Monitoring of the Mitochondrial Beta-Oxidation Flux of Palmitic Acid and Investigation of Its Pharmacological Alteration by Therapeutics.

PubMed

Murgasova, Renata; Tor Carreras, Ester; Bourgailh, Julien

2018-05-03

The present study was designed to validate the functional assay that enables rapid screening of therapeutic candidates for their effect on mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. The two whole-cell systems (tissue homogenates and hepatocytes) have been evaluated to monitor the total beta-oxidation flux of physiologically important 3 H-palmitic acid by measurement of tritiated water enrichment in incubations using UPLC coupled on-line to radioactivity monitoring and mass spectrometry. Our results with several known inhibitors of fatty acid oxidation showed that this simple assay could correctly predict a potential in alteration of mitochondrial function by drug candidates. Since the beta-oxidation of palmitic acid takes place almost exclusively in mitochondria of human hepatocytes, this model can be also utilized to distinguish between the mitochondrial and peroxisomal routes of this essential metabolic pathway in some cases. The present work offers a new in vitro screen of changes in mitochondrial beta-oxidation by xenobiotics as well as a model to study the mechanism of this pathway.

Watershed modeling and monitoring for assessing nutrient trading viability and increasing the adoption of nutrient management practices

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation for the American Water Works Association Water Sustainability Conference. The presentation highlights latest results from water quality trading research conducted by ORD using the East Fork Watershed in Southwestern Ohio as a case study. The watershed has a nutrient ...

Making and monitoring errors based on altered auditory feedback

PubMed Central

Pfordresher, Peter Q.; Beasley, Robertson T. E.

2014-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that altered auditory feedback (AAF) disrupts music performance and causes disruptions in both action planning and the perception of feedback events. It has been proposed that this disruption occurs because of interference within a shared representation for perception and action (Pfordresher, 2006). Studies reported here address this claim from the standpoint of error monitoring. In Experiment 1 participants performed short melodies on a keyboard while hearing no auditory feedback, normal auditory feedback, or alterations to feedback pitch on some subset of events. Participants overestimated error frequency when AAF was present but not for normal feedback. Experiment 2 introduced a concurrent load task to determine whether error monitoring requires executive resources. Although the concurrent task enhanced the effect of AAF, it did not alter participants’ tendency to overestimate errors when AAF was present. A third correlational study addressed whether effects of AAF are reduced for a subset of the population who may lack the kind of perception/action associations that lead to AAF disruption: poor-pitch singers. Effects of manipulations similar to those presented in Experiments 1 and 2 were reduced for these individuals. We propose that these results are consistent with the notion that AAF interference is based on associations between perception and action within a forward internal model of auditory-motor relationships. PMID:25191294

Landslide Investigation by Repeat Airborne LiDAR and Ground Monitoring in the Western Suburb of Sapporo, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasai, M.; Marutani, T.; Yoshida, H.

2014-12-01

This study presents landslide investigation using the combination of airborne LiDAR and ground monitoring data. The study site is located on the Teine Landslide (width: 2 km, Length: 6.5 km) in the western suburb of Sapporo city in Hokkaido Island, Japan, which collapsed more than 50,000 years ago. Since then streams have been developing and incising the landslide mass consisted of rock debris and volcanic deposits, presently causing a series of small deep-seated landslides along the banks. Because Sapporo is the economic center of Hokkaido and the suburb is expanding at the toe of the Teine slide, it is important to understand the behaviors of these active slopes to protect residents and infrastructures from unexpected disasters possibly triggered by an intense storm or earthquake. The LiDAR data for the area was first obtained by a manned helicopter in August 2010, and another survey by an unmanned helicopter is planned in autumn 2014 to estimate their activities from changes in the ground surfaces during the period from 2010 to 2014. Ground water level and landslide mass movements have also been monitored on site by using the coring holes for sampling since 2013. The combination of the data sets can make up the deficits of these methods, e.g., errors created through data processing for LiDAR survey and spatially limited information for ground monitoring, enabling to provide a solid three dimensional view of the slope movements. The notion obtained can be utilized to predict their future behaviors as well as to discover active but hiding landslides nearby. This study also showed that repeat monitoring of sites is a way of utilizing UAVs, particularly in terms of cost and convenience.

An innovative statistical approach for analysing non-continuous variables in environmental monitoring: assessing temporal trends of TBT pollution.

PubMed

Santos, José António; Galante-Oliveira, Susana; Barroso, Carlos

2011-03-01

The current work presents an innovative statistical approach to model ordinal variables in environmental monitoring studies. An ordinal variable has values that can only be compared as "less", "equal" or "greater" and it is not possible to have information about the size of the difference between two particular values. The example of ordinal variable under this study is the vas deferens sequence (VDS) used in imposex (superimposition of male sexual characters onto prosobranch females) field assessment programmes for monitoring tributyltin (TBT) pollution. The statistical methodology presented here is the ordered logit regression model. It assumes that the VDS is an ordinal variable whose values match up a process of imposex development that can be considered continuous in both biological and statistical senses and can be described by a latent non-observable continuous variable. This model was applied to the case study of Nucella lapillus imposex monitoring surveys conducted in the Portuguese coast between 2003 and 2008 to evaluate the temporal evolution of TBT pollution in this country. In order to produce more reliable conclusions, the proposed model includes covariates that may influence the imposex response besides TBT (e.g. the shell size). The model also provides an analysis of the environmental risk associated to TBT pollution by estimating the probability of the occurrence of females with VDS ≥ 2 in each year, according to OSPAR criteria. We consider that the proposed application of this statistical methodology has a great potential in environmental monitoring whenever there is the need to model variables that can only be assessed through an ordinal scale of values.

The extended fronto-striatal model of obsessive compulsive disorder: convergence from event-related potentials, neuropsychology and neuroimaging

PubMed Central

Melloni, Margherita; Urbistondo, Claudia; Sedeño, Lucas; Gelormini, Carlos; Kichic, Rafael; Ibanez, Agustin

2012-01-01

In this work, we explored convergent evidence supporting the fronto-striatal model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (FSMOCD) and the contribution of event-related potential (ERP) studies to this model. First, we considered minor modifications to the FSMOCD model based on neuroimaging and neuropsychological data. We noted the brain areas most affected in this disorder -anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), basal ganglia (BG), and orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) and their related cognitive functions, such as monitoring and inhibition. Then, we assessed the ERPs that are directly related to the FSMOCD, including the error-related negativity (ERN), N200, and P600. Several OCD studies present enhanced ERN and N2 responses during conflict tasks as well as an enhanced P600 during working memory (WM) tasks. Evidence from ERP studies (especially regarding ERN and N200 amplitude enhancement), neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings suggests abnormal activity in the OFC, ACC, and BG in OCD patients. Moreover, additional findings from these analyses suggest dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex involvement, which might be related to executive function (EF) deficits. Thus, these convergent results suggest the existence of a self-monitoring imbalance involving inhibitory deficits and executive dysfunctions. OCD patients present an impaired ability to monitor, control, and inhibit intrusive thoughts, urges, feelings, and behaviors. In the current model, this imbalance is triggered by an excitatory role of the BG (associated with cognitive or motor actions without volitional control) and inhibitory activity of the OFC as well as excessive monitoring of the ACC to block excitatory impulses. This imbalance would interact with the reduced activation of the parietal-DLPC network, leading to executive dysfunction. ERP research may provide further insight regarding the temporal dynamics of action monitoring and executive functioning in OCD. PMID:23015786

HIFU Monitoring and Control with Dual-Mode Ultrasound Arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casper, Andrew Jacob

The biological effects of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) have been known and studied for decades. HIFU has been shown capable of treating a wide variety of diseases and disorders. However, despite its demonstrated potential, HIFU has been slow to gain clinical acceptance. This is due, in part, to the difficulty associated with robustly monitoring and controlling the delivery of the HIFU energy. The non-invasive nature of the surgery makes the assessment of treatment progression difficult, leading to long treatment times and a significant risk of under treatment. This thesis research develops new techniques and systems for robustly monitoring HIFU therapies for the safe and efficacious delivery of the intended treatment. Systems and algorithms were developed for the two most common modes of HIFU delivery systems: single-element and phased array applicators. Delivering HIFU with a single element transducer is a widely used technique in HIFU therapies. The simplicity of a single element offers many benefits in terms of cost and overall system complexity. Typical monitoring schemes rely on an external device (e.g. diagnostic ultrasound or MRI) to assess the progression of therapy. The research presented in this thesis explores using the same element to both deliver and monitor the HIFU therapy. The use of a dual-mode ultrasound transducer (DMUT) required the development of an FPGA based single-channel arbitrary waveform generator and high-speed data acquisition unit. Data collected from initial uncontrolled ablations led to the development of monitoring and control algorithms which were implemented directly on the FPGA. Close integration between the data acquisition and arbitrary waveform units allowed for fast, low latency control over the ablation process. Results are presented that demonstrate control of HIFU therapies over a broad range of intensities and in multiple in vitro tissues. The second area of investigation expands the DMUT research to an ultrasound phased-array. The phased-array allows for electronic steering of the HIFU focus and imaging of the acoustic medium. Investigating the dual-mode ultrasound array (DMUA) required the design and construction of a novel ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound (USgFUS) platform. The platform consisted of custom hardware designed for the unique requirements of operating a phased-array in both therapeutic and imaging modes. The platform also required the development of FPGA based signal processing and GPU based beamforming algorithms for online monitoring of the therapy process. The results presented in this thesis represent the first demonstration of a real-time USgFUS platform based around a DMUA. Experimental imaging and therapy results from series of animal experiments, including a 12 animal GLP study, are presented. In addition, in vitro control results, which build upon the DMUT work, are presented.

Error Analysis of Indirect Broadband Monitoring of Multilayer Optical Coatings using Computer Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semenov, Z. V.; Labusov, V. A.

2017-11-01

Results of studying the errors of indirect monitoring by means of computer simulations are reported. The monitoring method is based on measuring spectra of reflection from additional monitoring substrates in a wide spectral range. Special software (Deposition Control Simulator) is developed, which allows one to estimate the influence of the monitoring system parameters (noise of the photodetector array, operating spectral range of the spectrometer and errors of its calibration in terms of wavelengths, drift of the radiation source intensity, and errors in the refractive index of deposited materials) on the random and systematic errors of deposited layer thickness measurements. The direct and inverse problems of multilayer coatings are solved using the OptiReOpt library. Curves of the random and systematic errors of measurements of the deposited layer thickness as functions of the layer thickness are presented for various values of the system parameters. Recommendations are given on using the indirect monitoring method for the purpose of reducing the layer thickness measurement error.

Stability of monitoring weak changes in multiply scattering media with ambient noise correlation: laboratory experiments.

PubMed

Hadziioannou, Céline; Larose, Eric; Coutant, Olivier; Roux, Philippe; Campillo, Michel

2009-06-01

Previous studies have shown that small changes can be monitored in a scattering medium by observing phase shifts in the coda. Passive monitoring of weak changes through ambient noise correlation has already been applied to seismology, acoustics, and engineering. Usually, this is done under the assumption that a properly reconstructed Green function (GF), as well as stable background noise sources, is necessary. In order to further develop this monitoring technique, a laboratory experiment was performed in the 2.5 MHz range in a gel with scattering inclusions, comparing an active (pulse-echo) form of monitoring to a passive (correlation) one. Present results show that temperature changes in the medium can be observed even if the GF of the medium is not reconstructed. Moreover, this article establishes that the GF reconstruction in the correlations is not a necessary condition: The only condition to monitoring with correlation (passive experiment) is the relative stability of the background noise structure.

Parental monitoring, parental warmth, and minority youths' academic outcomes: exploring the integrative model of parenting.

PubMed

Lowe, Katie; Dotterer, Aryn M

2013-09-01

Guided by the integrative model of parenting, the present study investigated the relationship between parental monitoring and racial/ethnic minority adolescents' school engagement and academic motivation as a function of parental warmth, and explored whether these associations varied for boys and girls. Participants (60 % female) were 208 sixth through eighth grade students (63 % African American, 19 % Latino, 18 % Multiracial) from an urban middle school in the Midwestern United States. Youth completed an in-school survey with items on parenting (parental monitoring, mothers'/fathers' warmth), cognitive engagement (school self-esteem), behavioral engagement (school trouble), and academic motivation (intrinsic motivation). As hypothesized, mothers' warmth enhanced the association between parental monitoring and youths' engagement and motivation. No gender differences in these associations emerged. Fathers' warmth strengthened the negative association between parental monitoring and school trouble, and this association was stronger for boys. Implications regarding the importance of sustaining a high level of monitoring within the context of warm parent-adolescent relationships to best support academic outcomes among minority youth are discussed.

Review of oil and HNS accidental spills in Europe: identifying major environmental monitoring gaps and drawing priorities.

PubMed

Neuparth, T; Moreira, S M; Santos, M M; Reis-Henriques, M A

2012-06-01

The European Atlantic area has been the scene of a number of extensive shipping incidents with immediate and potential long-term impacts to marine ecosystems. The occurrence of accidental spills at sea requires an effective response that must include a well executed monitoring programme to assess the environmental contamination and damage of the affected marine habitats. Despite a number of conventions and protocols developed by international and national authorities that focused on the preparedness and response to oil and HNS spills, much remains to be done, particularly in relation to the effectiveness of the environmental monitoring programmes implemented after oil and HNS spills. Hence, the present study reviews the status of the environmental monitoring programmes established following the major spill incidents over the last years in European waters, aiming at identifying the key monitoring gaps and drawing priorities for an effective environmental monitoring of accidental spills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research on the ride comfort of elevator monitoring using smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang; Sun, Xiaowei; Xie, Zhao; Su, Wensheng; Xue, Zhigang; Zhao, Xuefeng

2017-04-01

With the rapid development of high-rise buildings, the requirement of the elevator's speed is growing higher. And the vibration amplitude of elevator will also increasing with the improvement of running speed. The vibration problems of elevator have become the important factors that affect the comfort feeling of elevator. At the same time, the strong vibration will affect the normal work of elevator, and even cause accidents. So it's necessary to study the vibration characteristics of the elevator. In recent years, smartphone has developed rapidly, with a variety of sophisticated sensors; it has the powerful data processing and transmission capacity. In this paper, the author has presented an elevator comfort monitoring method based on smartphone. This method using Monitoring App can monitor the acceleration and inclination information using MEMS sensors embedded in smartphone. Then a confirmatory test for an elevator was designed, experimental results show that elevator comfort monitoring method based on smartphone is stable and reliable.

Monitoring Biological Activity at Geothermal Power Plants

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

Peter Pryfogle

2005-09-01

The economic impact of microbial growth in geothermal power plants has been estimated to be as high as $500,000 annually for a 100 MWe plant. Many methods are available to monitor biological activity at these facilities; however, very few plants have any on-line monitoring program in place. Metal coupon, selective culturing (MPN), total organic carbon (TOC), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), respirometry, phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA), and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) characterizations have been conducted using water samples collected from geothermal plants located in California and Utah. In addition, the on-line performance of a commercial electrochemical monitor, the BIoGEORGE?, has beenmore » evaluated during extended deployments at geothermal facilities. This report provides a review of these techniques, presents data on their application from laboratory and field studies, and discusses their value in characterizing and monitoring biological activities at geothermal power plants.« less

Numerical Simulation and Mechanical Design for TPS Electron Beam Position Monitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsueh, H. P.; Kuan, C. K.; Ueng, T. S.; Hsiung, G. Y.; Chen, J. R.

2007-01-01

Comprehensive study on the mechanical design and numerical simulation for the high resolution electron beam position monitors are key steps to build the newly proposed 3rd generation synchrotron radiation research facility, Taiwan Photon Source (TPS). With more advanced electromagnetic simulation tool like MAFIA tailored specifically for particle accelerator, the design for the high resolution electron beam position monitors can be tested in such environment before they are experimentally tested. The design goal of our high resolution electron beam position monitors is to get the best resolution through sensitivity and signal optimization. The definitions and differences between resolution and sensitivity of electron beam position monitors will be explained. The design consideration is also explained. Prototype deign has been carried out and the related simulations were also carried out with MAFIA. The results are presented here. Sensitivity as high as 200 in x direction has been achieved in x direction at 500 MHz.

Monitoring and analysis of liquid storage in LNG tank based on different support springs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Hua; Sun, Jianping; Li, Ke; Wu, Zheng; Chen, Qidong; Chen, Guodong; Cao, Can

2018-04-01

With the rapid development of social modernization, LNG vehicles are springing up in daily life. However, it is difficult to monitor and judge the liquid storage tanks accurately and quickly. Based on this, this paper presents a new method of liquid storage monitoring, LNG tank on-line vibration monitoring system. By collecting the vibration frequency of LNG tank and tank liquid and supporting spring system, the liquid storage quality in the tank can be calculated. In this experiment, various vibration modes of the tank spring system are fully taken into account. The vibration effects of different types of support springs on the LNG tank system were investigated. The results show that the spring model has a great influence on the test results. This study provides a technical reference for the selection of suitable support springs for liquid storage monitoring.

Caseload management, work-related stress and case manager self-efficacy among Victorian mental health case managers.

PubMed

King, Robert

2009-05-01

In Australia and comparable countries, case management has become the dominant process by which public mental health services provide outpatient clinical services to people with severe mental illness. There is recognition that caseload size impacts on service provision and that management of caseloads is an important dimension of overall service management. There has been little empirical investigation, however, of caseload and its management. The present study was undertaken in the context of an industrial agreement in Victoria, Australia that required services to introduce standardized approaches to caseload management. The aims of the present study were therefore to (i) investigate caseload size and approaches to caseload management in Victoria's mental health services; and (ii) determine whether caseload size and/or approach to caseload management is associated with work-related stress or case manager self-efficacy among community mental health professionals employed in Victoria's mental health services. A total of 188 case managers responded to an online cross-sectional survey with both purpose-developed items investigating methods of case allocation and caseload monitoring, and standard measures of work-related stress and case manager personal efficacy. The mean caseload size was 20 per full-time case manager. Both work-related stress scores and case manager personal efficacy scores were broadly comparable with those reported in previous studies. Higher caseloads were associated with higher levels of work-related stress and lower levels of case manager personal efficacy. Active monitoring of caseload was associated with lower scores for work-related stress and higher scores for case manager personal efficacy, regardless of size of caseload. Although caseloads were most frequently monitored by the case manager, there was evidence that monitoring by a supervisor was more beneficial than self-monitoring. Routine monitoring of caseload, especially by a workplace supervisor, may be effective in reducing work-related stress and enhancing case manager personal efficacy.

Smart health monitoring systems: an overview of design and modeling.

PubMed

Baig, Mirza Mansoor; Gholamhosseini, Hamid

2013-04-01

Health monitoring systems have rapidly evolved during the past two decades and have the potential to change the way health care is currently delivered. Although smart health monitoring systems automate patient monitoring tasks and, thereby improve the patient workflow management, their efficiency in clinical settings is still debatable. This paper presents a review of smart health monitoring systems and an overview of their design and modeling. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the efficiency, clinical acceptability, strategies and recommendations on improving current health monitoring systems will be presented. The main aim is to review current state of the art monitoring systems and to perform extensive and an in-depth analysis of the findings in the area of smart health monitoring systems. In order to achieve this, over fifty different monitoring systems have been selected, categorized, classified and compared. Finally, major advances in the system design level have been discussed, current issues facing health care providers, as well as the potential challenges to health monitoring field will be identified and compared to other similar systems.

Demographic Subgroup Trends among Young Adults in the Use of Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1988-2016. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 89

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; Schulenberg, John E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Miech, Richard A.; Patrick, Megan E.

2017-01-01

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of, and trends in, the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who…

Demographic Subgroup Trends among Young Adults in the Use of Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1988-2015. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 87

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E.; Miech, Richard A.

2016-01-01

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of, and trends in, the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who…

Demographic Subgroup Trends among Young Adults in the Use of Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1988-2014. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 85

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E.; Miech, Richard A.

2015-01-01

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of and trends in the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who were…

Oak Ridge Reservation annual site environmental report for 1995

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

Koncinski, W.S.

1996-09-01

This report presents the details of the environmental monitoring and management program for the Oak Ridge Reservation. Topics discussed include: site background, climate, and operations; environmental compliance strategies; effluent monitoring; environmental management program including environmental restoration, decontamination and decommissioning, technology development, and public involvement; effluent monitoring of airborne discharges, liquid discharges, toxicity control and monitoring, biological monitoring and abatement; environmental surveillance which encompasses meteorological monitoring, ambient air monitoring, surface water monitoring, soils monitoring, sediment monitoring, and contamination of food stuffs monitoring; radiation doses; chemical exposures; ground water monitoring; and quality assurance.

[Intracranial pressure monitoring in severe traumatic brain injury: A different perspective of the BestTrip trial].

PubMed

Murillo-Cabezas, F; Godoy, D A

2014-05-01

The present study outlines a series of questions and reflections upon the recent publication of Chesnut et al., who compared 2 approaches to the treatment of intracranial hypertension (ICH) in severe head injuries: one with and the other without intracranial pressure monitoring (ICP). The authors concluded that no improved outcome was observed in the treatment group guided by ICP monitoring. The main concerns relate to the degree of training of the physicians involved in the monitoring and management of ICH in the ICP group, as well as to the possible inter-observer variability in interpreting the CT scans, the capacity of clinical signs to guide the treatment of ICH, and the suitability of randomization. The analysis of this trial should not be taken to suggest the futility of ICP monitoring but rather the need to correctly use the information afforded by ICP monitoring, with emphasis on the importance of the definition of alternative methods for non-invasive monitoring. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

When big brother is watching: goal orientation shapes reactions to electronic monitoring during online training.

PubMed

Watson, Aaron M; Foster Thompson, Lori; Rudolph, Jane V; Whelan, Thomas J; Behrend, Tara S; Gissel, Amanda L

2013-07-01

Web-based training is frequently used by organizations as a convenient and low-cost way to teach employees new knowledge and skills. As web-based training is typically unproctored, employees may be held accountable to the organization by computer software that monitors their behaviors. The current study examines how the introduction of electronic performance monitoring may provoke negative emotional reactions and decrease learning among certain types of e-learners. Through motivated action theory and trait activation theory, we examine the role of performance goal orientation when e-learners are exposed to asynchronous and synchronous monitoring. We show that some e-learners are more susceptible than others to evaluation apprehension when they perceive their activities are being monitored electronically. Specifically, e-learners higher in avoid performance goal orientation exhibited increased evaluation apprehension if they believed asynchronous monitoring was present, and they showed decreased skill attainment as a result. E-learners higher on prove performance goal orientation showed greater evaluation apprehension if they believed real-time monitoring was occurring, resulting in decreased skill attainment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Dikes under Pressure - Monitoring the Vulnerability of Dikes by Means of SAR Interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marzahn, Philip; Seidel, Moritz; Ludwig, Ralf

2016-04-01

Dikes are the main man made structures in flood protection systems for the protection of humans and economic values. Usually dikes are built with a sandy core and clay or concrete layer covering the core. Thus, dikes are prone to a vertical shrinkage due to soil physical processes such as reduction of pore space and gravity increasing the risk of a crevasse during floods. In addition, this vulnerability is amplified by a sea level rise due to climate change. To guarantee the stability of dikes, a labourer intensive program is carried out by national authorities monitoring the dikes by visual inspection. In the presented study, a quantitative approach is presented using SAR Interferometry for the monitoring of the stability of dikes from space. In particular, the vertical movement of dikes due to shrinkage is monitored using persistent scatterer interferometry. Therefore three different types of dikes have been investigated: a sea coast dike with a concrete cover, a sea coast dike with short grass cover and a smaller river dike with grass cover. All dikes are located in Germany. Results show the potential of the monitoring technique as well as spatial differences in the stability of dikes with subsidence rates in parts of a dike up to 7 mm/a.

Wind Turbine Gearbox Oil Filtration and Condition Monitoring

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

Sheng, Shuangwen

This is an invited presentation for a pre-conference workshop, titled advances and opportunities in lubrication: wind turbine, at the 2015 Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) Tribology Frontiers Conference held in Denver, CO. It gives a brief overview of wind turbine gearbox oil filtration and condition monitoring by highlighting typical industry practices and challenges. The presentation starts with an introduction by covering recent growth of global wind industry, reliability challenges, benefits of oil filtration and condition monitoring, and financial incentives to conduct wind operation and maintenance research, which includes gearbox oil filtration and condition monitoring work presented herein. Then,more » the presentation moves on to oil filtration by stressing the benefits of filtration, discussing typical main- and offline-loop practices, highlighting important factors considered when specifying a filtration system, and illustrating real-world application challenges through a cold-start example. In the next section on oil condition monitoring, a discussion on oil sample analysis, oil debris monitoring, oil cleanliness measurements and filter analysis is given based on testing results mostly obtained by and at NREL, and by pointing out a few challenges with oil sample analysis. The presentation concludes with a brief touch on future research and development (R and D) opportunities. It is hoping that the information presented can inform the STLE community to start or redirect their R and D work to help the wind industry advance.« less

Accommodative and convergence response to computer screen and printed text

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Andreia; Lira, Madalena; Franco, Sandra

2011-05-01

The aim of this work was to find out if differences exist in accommodative and convergence response for different computer monitors' and a printed text. It was also tried to relate the horizontal heterophoria value and accommodative response with the symptoms associated with computer use. Two independents experiments were carried out in this study. The first experiment was measuring the accommodative response on 89 subjects using the Grand Seiko WAM-5500 (Grand Seiko Co., Ltd., Japan). The accommodative response was measured using three computer monitors: a 17-inch cathode ray tube (CRT), two liquid crystal displays LCDs, one 17-inch (LCD17) and one 15 inches (LCD15) and a printed text. The text displayed was always the same for all the subjects and tests. A second experiment aimed to measure the value of habitual horizontal heterophoria on 80 subjects using the Von Graefe technique. The measurements were obtained using the same target presented on two different computer monitors, one 19-inch cathode ray tube (CRT) and other 19 inches liquid crystal displays (LCD) and printed on paper. A small survey about the incidence and prevalence of symptoms was performed similarly in both experiments. In the first experiment, the accommodation response was higher in the CRT and LCD's than for paper. There were not found significantly different response for both LCD monitors'. The second experiment showed that, the heterophoria values were similar for all the stimuli. On average, participants presented a small exophoria. In both experiments, asthenopia was the symptom that presented higher incidence. There are different accommodative responses when reading on paper or on computer monitors. This difference is more significant for CRT monitors. On the other hand, there was no difference in the values of convergence for the computer monitors' and paper. The symptoms associated with the use of computers are not related with the increase in accommodation and with the horizontal heterophoria values.

How restudy decisions affect overall comprehension for seventh-grade students.

PubMed

Thiede, Keith W; Redford, Joshua S; Wiley, Jennifer; Griffin, Thomas D

2017-12-01

Self-regulated learning requires accurate monitoring and effective regulation of study. Little is known about how effectively younger readers regulate their study. We examined how decisions about which text to restudy affect overall comprehension for seventh-grade students. In addition to a Participant's Choice condition where students were allowed to pick texts for restudy on their own, we compared learning gains in two other conditions in which texts were selected for them. The Test-Based Restudy condition determined text selection using initial test performance - presenting the text with the lowest initial test performance for restudy, thereby circumventing potential problems associated with inaccurate monitoring and ineffective regulation. The Judgement-Based Restudy condition determined text selection using metacognitive judgements of comprehension - presenting the text with the lowest judgement of comprehension, thereby circumventing potential problems associated with ineffective regulation. Four hundred and eighty seventh-grade students participated. Students were randomly assigned to conditions in an experimental design. Gains in comprehension following restudy were larger for the Test-Based Restudy condition than for the Judgement-Based Restudy condition or the Participant's Choice condition. No differences in comprehension were seen between the Judgement-Based Restudy and Participant's Choice conditions. These results suggest seventh graders can systematically use their monitoring to make decisions about what to restudy. However, the results highlight how inaccurate monitoring is one reason why younger students fail to benefit from self-regulated study opportunities. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Results of soil, ground-water, surface-water, and streambed-sediment sampling at Air Force Plane 85, Columbus, Ohio, 1996

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parnell, J.M.

1997-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Aeronautical Systems Center, Environmental Management Directorate, Restoration Division, prepared the Surface- and Ground- Water Monitoring Work Plan for Air Force Plant 85 (AFP 85 or Plant), Columbus, Ohio, under the Air Force Installation Restoration Program to characterize any ground-water, surface-water, and soil contamination that may exist at AFP 85. The USGS began the study in November 1996. The Plant was divided into nine sampling areas, which included some previously investi gated study sites. The investigation activities included the collection and presentation of data taken during drilling and water-quality sampling. Data collection focused on the saturated and unsatur ated zones and surface water. Twenty-three soil borings were completed. Ten monitoring wells (six existing wells and four newly constructed monitoring wells) were selected for water-quality sam pling. Surface-water and streambed-sediment sampling locations were chosen to monitor flow onto and off of the Plant. Seven sites were sampled for both surface-water and streambed-sediment quality. This report presents data on the selected inorganic and organic constituents in soil, ground water, surface water, and streambed sediments at AFP 85. The methods of data collection and anal ysis also are included. Knowledge of the geologic and hydrologic setting could aid Aeronautical Systems Center, Environmental Management Directorate, Restoration Division, and its governing regulatory agencies in future remediation studies.

Adapting a rapid assessment protocol to environmentally assess palm swamp (Veredas) springs in the Cerrado biome, Brazil.

PubMed

Guimarães, Ariane; de Lima Rodrigues, Aline Sueli; Malafaia, Guilherme

2017-10-30

The exploitation and degradation of natural environments exert intense pressure on important ecosystems worldwide. Thus, it is necessary developing or adapting assessment methods to monitor environmental changes and to generate results to be applied to environmental management programs. The Brazilian Veredas (phytophysiognomies typical to the Cerrado biome) are threatened by several human activities; thus, the aim of the present study is to adapt a rapid assessment protocol (RAP) to be applied to Veredas springs, by using the upper course of the Vai-e-Vem stream watershed (Ipameri County, Goiás State, Brazil). Therefore, several springs in the study site were visited and 11 of them were considered Veredas springs. After the RAP was adapted, the instrument was validated and used to environmentally assess the springs in order to demonstrate its applicability. The present study has provided an instrument of option to monitor Veredas springs.

Speckle-correlation monitoring of the microhemodynamics of internal organs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimnyakov, D. A.; Khmara, M. B.; Vilensky, M. A.; Kozlov, V. V.; Sadovoĭ, A. V.; Gorfinkel, I. V.; Zdrajevsky, R. A.; Isaeva, A. A.

2009-12-01

The results of preliminary experimental studies of the possibility of monitoring blood microcirculation in surface layers of internal organs of laboratory animals in the course of laparotomy using full-field speckle correlometry are presented. The transmission of laser radiation to the probed part of the organ and the delivery of scattered speckle-modulated radiation to the detector (a CMOS camera) are performed using a fiberoptic endoscopic system. In the course of experiments, the microhemodynamics of the intestine, liver, spleen, kidneys, and pancreas in rat in a normal state and under induced ischemia and peritonitis, as well as under the action of drugs with clearly pronounced vasodilative effects (lidocaine, papaverine), is studied. The problems and prospects of speckle-correlation monitoring of the microhemodynamics of internal organs under laboratory and clinical conditions are discussed.

The Neural Bases of Event Monitoring across Domains: a Simultaneous ERP-fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Tarantino, Vincenza; Mazzonetto, Ilaria; Formica, Silvia; Causin, Francesco; Vallesi, Antonino

2017-01-01

The ability to check and evaluate the environment over time with the aim to detect the occurrence of target stimuli is supported by sustained/tonic as well as transient/phasic control processes, which overall might be referred to as event monitoring. The neural underpinning of sustained attentional control processes involves a fronto-parietal network. However, it has not been well-defined yet whether this cortical circuit acts irrespective of the specific material to be monitored and whether this mediates sustained as well as transient monitoring processes. In the current study, the functional activity of brain during an event monitoring task was investigated and compared between two cognitive domains, whose processing is mediated by differently lateralized areas. Namely, participants were asked to monitor sequences of either faces (supported by right-hemisphere regions) or tools (left-hemisphere). In order to disentangle sustained from transient components of monitoring, a simultaneous EEG-fMRI technique was adopted within a block design. When contrasting monitoring versus control blocks, the conventional fMRI analysis revealed the sustained involvement of bilateral fronto-parietal regions, in both task domains. Event-related potentials (ERPs) showed a more positive amplitude over frontal sites in monitoring compared to control blocks, providing evidence of a transient monitoring component. The joint ERP-fMRI analysis showed that, in the case of face monitoring, this transient component relies on right-lateralized areas, including the inferior parietal lobule and the middle frontal gyrus. In the case of tools, no fronto-parietal areas correlated with the transient ERP activity, suggesting that in this domain phasic monitoring processes were masked by tonic ones. Overall, the present findings highlight the role of bilateral fronto-parietal regions in sustained monitoring, independently of the specific task requirements, and suggest that right-lateralized areas subtend transient monitoring processes, at least in some task contexts. PMID:28785212

Performance Evaluation of the Operational Air Quality Monitor for Water Testing Aboard the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wallace, William T.; Limero, Thomas F.; Gazda, Daniel B.; Macatangay, Ariel V.; Dwivedi, Prabha; Fernandez, Facundo M.

2014-01-01

In the history of manned spaceflight, environmental monitoring has relied heavily on archival sampling. For short missions, this type of sample collection was sufficient; returned samples provided a snapshot of the presence of chemical and biological contaminants in the spacecraft air and water. However, with the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) and the subsequent extension of mission durations, soon to be up to one year, the need for enhanced, real-time environmental monitoring became more pressing. The past several years have seen the implementation of several real-time monitors aboard the ISS, complemented with reduced archival sampling. The station air is currently monitored for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using gas chromatography-differential mobility spectrometry (Air Quality Monitor [AQM]). The water on ISS is analyzed to measure total organic carbon and biocide concentrations using the Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) and the Colorimetric Water Quality Monitoring Kit (CWQMK), respectively. The current air and water monitors provide important data, but the number and size of the different instruments makes them impractical for future exploration missions. It is apparent that there is still a need for improvements in environmental monitoring capabilities. One such improvement could be realized by modifying a single instrument to analyze both air and water. As the AQM currently provides quantitative, compound-specific information for target compounds present in air samples, and many of the compounds are also targets for water quality monitoring, this instrument provides a logical starting point to evaluate the feasibility of this approach. In this presentation, we will discuss our recent studies aimed at determining an appropriate method for introducing VOCs from water samples into the gas phase and our current work, in which an electro-thermal vaporization unit has been interfaced with the AQM to analyze target analytes at the relevant concentrations at which they are routinely detected in archival water samples from the ISS.

Towards innovative roadside monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojha, G.; Appel, E.; Magiera, T.

2012-04-01

Soil contamination along roadsides is an important factor of anthropogenic point source pollution. Climatic and traffic-specific factors influence the amount and characteristics of pollution emitted and deposited in the roadside soil. In our present study we focus on monitoring typical traffic pollutants (heavy metals HM, platinum group elements, polycyclic hydrocarbons PAH), and investigate the use of magnetic parameters, especially magnetic susceptibility (MS) as proxy. Monitoring plots were installed along roadside in areas with different climatic conditions and different traffic-specific activities (traffic density and speed, vehicle types, abrasion of tires, brake linings, petrol/diesel compounds and road maintenance). For monitoring we removed 10-15 cm of top soil at 1 m distance from the roadside edge and placed 30 plastic boxes there filled with clean quartz sand, to be sampled after regular intervals within two years. Preliminary data from the first year of monitoring are presented. Magnetic results revealed that a coarse grained magnetite-like phase is responsible for the enhancement of magnetic concentration. The mass-specific MS and concentration of pollutants (HM, PAH) all show a significant increase with time, however, there are obviously also seasonal and site-dependent effects which lead to more stable values over several months or even some decrease in the upper few cm due to migration into depth. Source identification indicates that the accumulated PAHs are primarily emissions from traffic. In order to be able to discriminate in between different kinds of transport and deposition (surface run off from the road and neighbouring soil material, splash water, air transport), we additionally established pillars at the roadside with clean quartz sampling boxes at different heights (surface, 0.5 m, 2 m). As a first surprising result we observed that the increase in the boxes at surface is not necessarily higher than at 0.5 m height. The results from our monitoring studies will be utilized to understand site-specific characteristics and to develop new innovative roadside pollution monitoring concepts.

Evaluation of Terrestrial LIDAR for Monitoring Geomorphic Change at Archeological Sites in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collins, Brian D.; Brown, Kristin M.; Fairley, Helen C.

2008-01-01

This report presents the results of an evaluation of terrestrial light detection and ranging (LIDAR) for monitoring geomorphic change at archeological sites located within Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. Traditionally, topographic change-detection studies have used total station methods for the collection of data related to key measurable features of site erosion such as the location of thalwegs and knickpoints of gullies that traverse archeological sites (for example, Pederson and others, 2003). Total station methods require survey teams to walk within and on the features of interest within the archeological sites to take accurate measurements. As a result, site impacts may develop such as trailing, damage to cryptogamic crusts, and surface compaction that can exacerbate future erosion of the sites. National Park Service (NPS) resource managers have become increasingly concerned that repeated surveys for research and monitoring purposes may have a detrimental impact on the resources that researchers are trying to study and protect. Beginning in 2006, the Sociocultural Program of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) initiated an evaluation of terrestrial LIDAR as a new monitoring tool that might enhance data quality and reduce site impacts. This evaluation was conducted as one part of an ongoing study to develop objective, replicable, quantifiable monitoring protocols for tracking the status and trend of variables affecting archeological site condition along the Colorado River corridor. The overall study consists of two elements: (1) an evaluation of the methodology through direct comparison to geomorphologic metrics already being collected by total station methods (this report) and (2) an evaluation of terrestrial LIDAR's ability to detect topographic change through the collection of temporally different datasets (a report on this portion of the study is anticipated early in 2009). The main goals of the first element of study were to 1. test the methodology and survey protocols of terrestrial LIDAR surveying under actual archeological site field conditions, 2. examine the ability to collect topographic data of entire archeological sites given such constraints as vegetation and rough topography, and 3. evaluate the ability of terrestrial LIDAR to accurately map the locations of key geomorphic features already being collected by total station methods such as gully thalweg and knickpoint locations. This report focuses on the ability of terrestrial LIDAR to duplicate total station methods, including typical erosion-related change features such as the plan view gully thalweg location and the gully thalweg long profile. The report also presents information concerning the use of terrestrial LIDAR for archeological site monitoring in a general sense. In addition, a detailed comparison of the site impacts caused by both total station and terrestrial LIDAR survey methods is presented using a suite of indicators, including total field survey time, field footstep count, and data-processing time. A thorough discussion of the relative benefits and limitations of using terrestrial LIDAR for monitoring erosion-induced changes at archeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park concludes this report.

Monitoring bird populations by point counts

Treesearch

C. John Ralph; John R. Sauer; Sam Droege

1995-01-01

This volume contains in part papers presented at the Symposium on Monitoring Bird Population Trends by Point Counts, which was held November 6-7, 1991, in Beltsville, Md., in response to the need for standardization of methods to monitor bird populations by point counts. Data from various investigators working under a wide variety of conditions are presented, and...

Monitoring strategies and scale-appropriate hydrologic and biogeochemical modelling for natural resource management: Conclusions and recommendations from a session held at the iEMSs 2008

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This short communication paper presents recommendations for developing scale-appropriate monitoring and modelling strategies to assist decision making in natural resource management. These ideas presented here were discussed in the session (S5) ‘Monitoring strategies and scale-appropriate hydrologic...

Applications of the EOS SAR to monitoring global change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schier, Marguerite; Way, Jobea; Holt, Benjamin

1991-01-01

The SAR employed by NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is a multifrequency multipolarization radar which can conduct global monitoring of geophysical and biophysical parameters. The present discussion of the EOS SAR's role in global monitoring emphasizes geophysical product variables applicable to global hydrologic, biogeochemical, and energy cycle models. EOS SAR products encompass biomass, wetland areas, and phenologic and environmental states, in the field of ecosystem dynamics; soil moisture, snow moisture and extent, and glacier and ice sheet extent and velocity, in hydrologic cycle studies; surface-wave fields and sea ice properties, in ocean/atmosphere circulation; and the topography, erosion, and land forms of the solid earth.

Monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation by continuous-wave optical spectroscopy during asphyxia in newborn piglets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankovic, Miljan R.; Fujii, Alan M.; Kirby, Debra; Boas, David A.; Ntziachristos, Vasilis; Stubblefield, Phillip G.

1997-12-01

The present study demonstrated that optical variables HbT and SmcO2 can be used to monitor changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation during asphyxia. Unfortunately none of the individual optical variables alone could be used to monitor changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation under a variety of possible clinical circumstances. However, all variables together, forming patterns unique to the commonly occurring physiological conditions, might potentially serve as a `silver standard' to aid interpretations of optical signals in clinical settings where `gold standard' techniques are not available, i.g. in the human fetus and neonate.

Monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation by continuous-wave optical spectroscopy during asphyxia in newborn piglets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankovic, Miljan R.; Fujii, Alan M.; Kirby, Debra; Boas, David A.; Ntziachristos, Vasilis; Stubblefield, Phillip G.

1998-01-01

The present study demonstrated that optical variables HbT and SmcO2 can be used to monitor changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation during asphyxia. Unfortunately none of the individual optical variables alone could be used to monitor changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation under a variety of possible clinical circumstances. However, all variables together, forming patterns unique to the commonly occurring physiological conditions, might potentially serve as a `silver standard' to aid interpretations of optical signals in clinical settings where `gold standard' techniques are not available, i.g. in the human fetus and neonate.

INEL Geothermal Environmental Program. Final environmental report

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

Thurow, T.L.; Cahn, L.S.

1982-09-01

An overview of environmental monitoring programs and research during development of a moderate temperature geothermal resource in the Raft River Valley is presented. One of the major objectives was to develop programs for environmental assessment and protection that could serve as an example for similar types of development. The monitoring studies were designed to establish baseline conditions (predevelopment) of the physical, biological, and human environment. Potential changes were assessed and adverse environmental impacts minimized. No major environmental impacts resulted from development of the Raft River Geothermal Research Facility. The results of the physical, biological, and human environment monitoring programs aremore » summarized.« less

Impact of service quality management (SQM) practices on Indian railways : study of South Central Railways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

The main objective of this study is to present a framework developed for assisting Railways to monitor and : control the quality of services provided to passengers. The study evaluated the passenger Rail Service quality of : Indian Railways by develo...

Using bald eagles to track spatial (1999-2008) and temporal (1987-1992, 1999-2003, and 2004-2008) trends of contaminants in Michigan's aquatic ecosystems.

PubMed

Wierda, Michael R; Leith, Katherine F; Roe, Amy S; Grubb, Teryl G; Sikarskie, James G; Best, David A; Pittman, H Tyler; Fuentes, Latice; Simon, Kendall L; Bowerman, William

2016-08-01

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is an extensively researched tertiary predator. Studies have delineated information about its life history and the influences of various stressors on its reproduction. Due to the bald eagle's position at the top of the food web, it is susceptible to biomagnification of xenobiotics. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality implemented a program in 1999 to monitor persistent chemicals including polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDE). The objectives of the present study were to evaluate spatial and temporal trends of PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in nestling bald eagles of Michigan. The authors' study found that concentrations of PCBs and DDE were higher in Great Lakes areas with Lakes Michigan and Lake Huron having the highest concentrations of DDE and Lake Erie having the highest concentrations of PCBs. Temporally (1987-1992, 1999-2003, and 2004-2008) the present study found declines in PCB and DDE concentrations with a few exceptions. Continued monitoring of Michigan bald eagle populations is suggested for a couple of reasons. First, nestling blood contaminant levels are an appropriate method to monitor ecosystem contaminant levels. Second, from 1999 to 2008 PCB and DDE concentrations for 30% and 40%, respectively, of the nestling eagles sampled were above the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) for bald eagles. Lastly, with the continued development and deployment of new chemistries a continuous long term monitoring program is an invaluable resource. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1995-2002. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Miniaturized and Wireless Optical Neurotransmitter Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Dopamine in the Brain

PubMed Central

Kim, Min H.; Yoon, Hargsoon; Choi, Sang H.; Zhao, Fei; Kim, Jongsung; Song, Kyo D.; Lee, Uhn

2016-01-01

Real-time monitoring of extracellular neurotransmitter concentration offers great benefits for diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and diseases. This paper presents the study design and results of a miniaturized and wireless optical neurotransmitter sensor (MWONS) for real-time monitoring of brain dopamine concentration. MWONS is based on fluorescent sensing principles and comprises a microspectrometer unit, a microcontroller for data acquisition, and a Bluetooth wireless network for real-time monitoring. MWONS has a custom-designed application software that controls the operation parameters for excitation light sources, data acquisition, and signal processing. MWONS successfully demonstrated a measurement capability with a limit of detection down to a 100 nanomole dopamine concentration, and high selectivity to ascorbic acid (90:1) and uric acid (36:1). PMID:27834927

Wireless Sensor Platform for Cultural Heritage Monitoring and Modeling System

PubMed Central

Bermudez, Sergio A.; Schrott, Alejandro G.; Tsukada, Masahiko; Kargere, Lucretia; Marianno, Fernando; Hamann, Hendrik F.; López, Vanessa; Leona, Marco

2017-01-01

Results from three years of continuous monitoring of environmental conditions using a wireless sensor platform installed at The Cloisters, the medieval branch of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, are presented. The platform comprises more than 200 sensors that were distributed in five galleries to assess temperature and air flow and to quantify microclimate changes using physics-based and statistical models. The wireless sensor network data shows a very stable environment within the galleries, while the dense monitoring enables localized monitoring of subtle changes in air quality trends and impact of visitors on the microclimate conditions. The high spatial and temporal resolution data serves as a baseline study to understand the impact of visitors and building operations on the long-term preservation of art objects. PMID:28858223

Miniaturized and Wireless Optical Neurotransmitter Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring of Dopamine in the Brain.

PubMed

Kim, Min H; Yoon, Hargsoon; Choi, Sang H; Zhao, Fei; Kim, Jongsung; Song, Kyo D; Lee, Uhn

2016-11-10

Real-time monitoring of extracellular neurotransmitter concentration offers great benefits for diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and diseases. This paper presents the study design and results of a miniaturized and wireless optical neurotransmitter sensor (MWONS) for real-time monitoring of brain dopamine concentration. MWONS is based on fluorescent sensing principles and comprises a microspectrometer unit, a microcontroller for data acquisition, and a Bluetooth wireless network for real-time monitoring. MWONS has a custom-designed application software that controls the operation parameters for excitation light sources, data acquisition, and signal processing. MWONS successfully demonstrated a measurement capability with a limit of detection down to a 100 nanomole dopamine concentration, and high selectivity to ascorbic acid (90:1) and uric acid (36:1).

Wireless Sensor Platform for Cultural Heritage Monitoring and Modeling System.

PubMed

Klein, Levente J; Bermudez, Sergio A; Schrott, Alejandro G; Tsukada, Masahiko; Dionisi-Vici, Paolo; Kargere, Lucretia; Marianno, Fernando; Hamann, Hendrik F; López, Vanessa; Leona, Marco

2017-08-31

Results from three years of continuous monitoring of environmental conditions using a wireless sensor platform installed at The Cloisters, the medieval branch of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, are presented. The platform comprises more than 200 sensors that were distributed in five galleries to assess temperature and air flow and to quantify microclimate changes using physics-based and statistical models. The wireless sensor network data shows a very stable environment within the galleries, while the dense monitoring enables localized monitoring of subtle changes in air quality trends and impact of visitors on the microclimate conditions. The high spatial and temporal resolution data serves as a baseline study to understand the impact of visitors and building operations on the long-term preservation of art objects.

Speckle-correlation monitoring of the internal micro-vascular flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimnyakov, D. A.; Khmara, M. B.; Vilensky, M. A.; Kozlov, V. V.; Gorfinkel, I. V.; Zdrajevsky, R. A.

2009-10-01

The results of experimental study of possibility to monitor the micro-vascular blood flow in superficial tissues of various organs with the use of endoscope-based full-field speckle correlometer are presented. The blood microcirculation monitoring was carried out in the course of the laparotomy of abdominal cavity of laboratory animals (rats). Transfer of laser light to the area of interest and scattered radiation from the probed zone to the detector (CMOS camera) was carried out via fiber-optic bundles of endoscopic system. Microscopic hemodynamics was analyzed for small intestine, liver, spleen, kidney, and pancreas under different conditions (normal state, provocated peritonitis and ischemia, administration of vasodilative agents such as papaverine, lidocaine). The prospects and problems of internal monitoring of microvascular flow in laboratory and clinical conditions are discussed.

PPP effectiveness study. [automatic procedures recording and crew performance monitoring system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arbet, J. D.; Benbow, R. L.

1976-01-01

This design note presents a study of the Procedures and Performance Program (PPP) effectiveness. The intent of the study is to determine manpower time savings and the improvements in job performance gained through PPP automated techniques. The discussion presents a synopsis of PPP capabilities and identifies potential users and associated applications, PPP effectiveness, and PPP applications to other simulation/training facilities. Appendix A provides a detailed description of each PPP capability.

Data Quality Monitoring in Clinical Trials: Has It Been Worth It? An Evaluation and Prediction of the Future by All Stakeholders

PubMed Central

Kalali, Amir; West, Mark; Walling, David; Hilt, Dana; Engelhardt, Nina; Alphs, Larry; Loebel, Antony; Vanover, Kim; Atkinson, Sarah; Opler, Mark; Sachs, Gary; Nations, Kari; Brady, Chris

2016-01-01

This paper summarizes the results of the CNS Summit Data Quality Monitoring Workgroup analysis of current data quality monitoring techniques used in central nervous system (CNS) clinical trials. Based on audience polls conducted at the CNS Summit 2014, the panel determined that current techniques used to monitor data and quality in clinical trials are broad, uncontrolled, and lack independent verification. The majority of those polled endorse the value of monitoring data. Case examples of current data quality methodology are presented and discussed. Perspectives of pharmaceutical companies and trial sites regarding data quality monitoring are presented. Potential future developments in CNS data quality monitoring are described. Increased utilization of biomarkers as objective outcomes and for patient selection is considered to be the most impactful development in data quality monitoring over the next 10 years. Additional future outcome measures and patient selection approaches are discussed. PMID:27413584

Software design of a remote real-time ECG monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chengbo; Tao, Hongyan

2005-12-01

Heart disease is one of the main diseases that threaten the health and lives of human beings. At present, the normal remote ECG monitoring system has the disadvantages of a short testing distance and limitation of monitoring lines. Because of accident and paroxysmal disease, ECG monitoring has extended from the hospital to the family. Therefore, remote ECG monitoring through the Internet has the actual value and significance. The principle and design method of software of the remote dynamic ECG monitor was presented and discussed. The monitoring software is programmed with Delphi software based on client-sever interactive mode. The application program of the system, which makes use of multithreading technology, is shown to perform in an excellent manner. The program includes remote link users and ECG processing, i.e. ECG data's receiving, real-time displaying, recording and replaying. The system can connect many clients simultaneously and perform real-time monitoring to patients.

STUDY OF RADON FLUX FROM SOIL IN BUDHAKEDAR REGION USING SRM.

PubMed

Bourai, A A; Aswal, Sunita; Kandari, Tushar; Kumar, Shiv; Joshi, Veena; Sahoo, B K; Ramola, R C

2016-10-01

In the present study, the radon flux rate of the soil is measured using portable radon monitor (scintillation radon monitor) in the Budhakedar region of District Tehri, India. The study area falls along a fault zone named Main Central Thrust, which is relatively rich in radium-bearing minerals. Radon flux rate from the soil is one of the most important factors for the evaluation of environmental radon levels. The earlier studies in the Budhakedar region shows a high level of radon (>4000 Bq m -3 ). Hence, it is important to measure the radon flux rate. The aim of the present study is to calculate the average estimate of the surface radon flux rate as well as the effective mass exhalation rate. A positive correlation of 0.54 was found between radon flux rate and radon mass exhalation rate. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

On-Line Monitoring and Diagnostics of the Integrity of Nuclear Plant Steam Generators and Heat Exchangers

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

Belle R. Upadhyaya; J. Wesley Hines

2004-09-27

Integrity monitoring and flaw diagnostics of flat beams and tubular structures was investigated in this research task using guided acoustic signals. A piezo-sensor suite was deployed to activate and collect Lamb wave signals that propagate along metallic specimens. The dispersion curves of Lamb waves along plate and tubular structures are generated through numerical analysis. Several advanced techniques were explored to extract representative features from acoustic time series. Among them, the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is a recently developed technique for the analysis of non-linear and transient signals. A moving window method was introduced to generate the local peak characters from acousticmore » time series, and a zooming window technique was developed to localize the structural flaws. The time-frequency analysis and pattern recognition techniques were combined for classifying structural defects in brass tubes. Several types of flaws in brass tubes were tested, both in the air and in water. The techniques also proved to be effective under background/process noise. A detailed theoretical analysis of Lamb wave propagation was performed and simulations were carried out using the finite element software system ABAQUS. This analytical study confirmed the behavior of the acoustic signals acquired from the experimental studies. The report presents the background the analysis of acoustic signals acquired from piezo-electric transducers for structural defect monitoring. A comparison of the use of time-frequency techniques, including the Hilbert-Huang transform, is presented. The report presents the theoretical study of Lamb wave propagation in flat beams and tubular structures, and the need for mode separation in order to effectively perform defect diagnosis. The results of an extensive experimental study of detection, location, and isolation of structural defects in flat aluminum beams and brass tubes are presented. The results of this research show the feasibility of on-line monitoring of small structural flaws by the use of transient and nonlinear acoustic signal analysis, and its implementation by the proper design of a piezo-electric transducer suite.« less

Agile Infrastructure Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, P.; Ascenso, J.; Fedorko, I.; Fiorini, B.; Paladin, M.; Pigueiras, L.; Santos, M.

2014-06-01

At the present time, data centres are facing a massive rise in virtualisation and cloud computing. The Agile Infrastructure (AI) project is working to deliver new solutions to ease the management of CERN data centres. Part of the solution consists in a new "shared monitoring architecture" which collects and manages monitoring data from all data centre resources. In this article, we present the building blocks of this new monitoring architecture, the different open source technologies selected for each architecture layer, and how we are building a community around this common effort.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) or Blood Glucose Monitoring (BGM): Interactions and Implications.

PubMed

Heinemann, Lutz

2018-04-01

At the 2017 10th annual International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) in Paris, France, four speakers presented their perspectives on the roles of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and of blood glucose monitoring (BGM) in patient management within one symposium. These presentations included discussions of the differences in the accuracy of CGM and BGM, a clinical perspective on the physiological reasons behind differences in CGM and BGM values, and an overview of the impact of variations in device accuracy on patients with diabetes. Subsequently a short summary of these presentations is given, highlighting the value of good accuracy of BGM or CGM systems and the ongoing need for standardization. The important role of both BGM and CGM in patient management was a theme across all presentations.

The probability of seizures during EEG monitoring in critically ill adults.

PubMed

Westover, M Brandon; Shafi, Mouhsin M; Bianchi, Matt T; Moura, Lidia M V R; O'Rourke, Deirdre; Rosenthal, Eric S; Chu, Catherine J; Donovan, Samantha; Hoch, Daniel B; Kilbride, Ronan D; Cole, Andrew J; Cash, Sydney S

2015-03-01

To characterize the risk for seizures over time in relation to EEG findings in hospitalized adults undergoing continuous EEG monitoring (cEEG). Retrospective analysis of cEEG data and medical records from 625 consecutive adult inpatients monitored at a tertiary medical center. Using survival analysis methods, we estimated the time-dependent probability that a seizure will occur within the next 72-h, if no seizure has occurred yet, as a function of EEG abnormalities detected so far. Seizures occurred in 27% (168/625). The first seizure occurred early (<30min of monitoring) in 58% (98/168). In 527 patients without early seizures, 159 (30%) had early epileptiform abnormalities, versus 368 (70%) without. Seizures were eventually detected in 25% of patients with early epileptiform discharges, versus 8% without early discharges. The 72-h risk of seizures declined below 5% if no epileptiform abnormalities were present in the first two hours, whereas 16h of monitoring were required when epileptiform discharges were present. 20% (74/388) of patients without early epileptiform abnormalities later developed them; 23% (17/74) of these ultimately had seizures. Only 4% (12/294) experienced a seizure without preceding epileptiform abnormalities. Seizure risk in acute neurological illness decays rapidly, at a rate dependent on abnormalities detected early during monitoring. This study demonstrates that substantial risk stratification is possible based on early EEG abnormalities. These findings have implications for patient-specific determination of the required duration of cEEG monitoring in hospitalized patients. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Continuous remote monitoring of COPD patients-justification and explanation of the requirements and a survey of the available technologies.

PubMed

Tomasic, Ivan; Tomasic, Nikica; Trobec, Roman; Krpan, Miroslav; Kelava, Tomislav

2018-04-01

Remote patient monitoring should reduce mortality rates, improve care, and reduce costs. We present an overview of the available technologies for the remote monitoring of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, together with the most important medical information regarding COPD in a language that is adapted for engineers. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the technical and medical worlds and to facilitate and motivate future research in the field. We also present a justification, motivation, and explanation of how to monitor the most important parameters for COPD patients, together with pointers for the challenges that remain. Additionally, we propose and justify the importance of electrocardiograms (ECGs) and the arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (PaCO 2 ) as two crucial physiological parameters that have not been used so far to any great extent in the monitoring of COPD patients. We cover four possibilities for the remote monitoring of COPD patients: continuous monitoring during normal daily activities for the prediction and early detection of exacerbations and life-threatening events, monitoring during the home treatment of mild exacerbations, monitoring oxygen therapy applications, and monitoring exercise. We also present and discuss the current approaches to decision support at remote locations and list the normal and pathological values/ranges for all the relevant physiological parameters. The paper concludes with our insights into the future developments and remaining challenges for improvements to continuous remote monitoring systems. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Monitoring of recurrent and superior laryngeal nerve function using an Airwayscope™ during thyroid surgery.

PubMed

Ijichi, Kei; Sasano, Hiroshi; Harima, Megumi; Murakami, Shingo

2017-10-01

In thyroid surgery, intraoperative identification and preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and superior laryngeal nerve external branch (SLNEB) are crucial. Several reports have proposed that electromyography (EMG) monitoring is an acceptable adjunct for identification and preservation of the RLN. However, a limited number of hospitals have access to an EMG monitoring system. Therefore, the development of another viable monitoring method is required. The aim of the present study was to design a new RLN and SLNEB monitoring method combining an Airwayscope™ (AWS) and a facial nerve stimulator. The facial nerve-stimulating electrode stimulates the RLN or SLNEB, so that the movement of the vocal cord may be observed with an AWS. This monitoring method was performed on 10 patients with a thyroid tumor. In all the cases, RLN and SLNEB were identified and vocal cord function was preserved. All the patients exhibited normal vocal cord function following surgery. Thus, the new RLN and SLNEB monitoring method using an AWS and a facial nerve stimulator is useful in thyroid surgery, and this method may be used as a reliable and available alternative to EMG monitoring to ensure the normal function of the vocal cord.

Integrated System of Structural Health Monitoring and Intelligent Management for a Cable-Stayed Bridge

PubMed Central

Chen, Bin; Wang, Xu; Sun, Dezhang; Xie, Xu

2014-01-01

It is essential to construct structural health monitoring systems for large important bridges. Zhijiang Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that was built recently over the Hangzhou Qiantang River (the largest river in Zhejiang Province). The length of Zhijiang Bridge is 478 m, which comprises an arched twin-tower space and a twin-cable plane structure. As an example, the present study describes the integrated system of structural health monitoring and intelligent management for Zhijiang Bridge, which comprises an information acquisition system, data management system, evaluation and decision-making system, and application service system. The monitoring components include the working environment of the bridge and various factors that affect bridge safety, such as the stress and strain of the main bridge structure, vibration, cable force, temperature, and wind speed. In addition, the integrated system includes a forecasting and decision-making module for real-time online evaluation, which provides warnings and makes decisions based on the monitoring information. From this, the monitoring information, evaluation results, maintenance decisions, and warning information can be input simultaneously into the bridge monitoring center and traffic emergency center to share the monitoring data, thereby facilitating evaluations and decision making using the system. PMID:25140342

Integrated system of structural health monitoring and intelligent management for a cable-stayed bridge.

PubMed

Chen, Bin; Wang, Xu; Sun, Dezhang; Xie, Xu

2014-01-01

It is essential to construct structural health monitoring systems for large important bridges. Zhijiang Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that was built recently over the Hangzhou Qiantang River (the largest river in Zhejiang Province). The length of Zhijiang Bridge is 478 m, which comprises an arched twin-tower space and a twin-cable plane structure. As an example, the present study describes the integrated system of structural health monitoring and intelligent management for Zhijiang Bridge, which comprises an information acquisition system, data management system, evaluation and decision-making system, and application service system. The monitoring components include the working environment of the bridge and various factors that affect bridge safety, such as the stress and strain of the main bridge structure, vibration, cable force, temperature, and wind speed. In addition, the integrated system includes a forecasting and decision-making module for real-time online evaluation, which provides warnings and makes decisions based on the monitoring information. From this, the monitoring information, evaluation results, maintenance decisions, and warning information can be input simultaneously into the bridge monitoring center and traffic emergency center to share the monitoring data, thereby facilitating evaluations and decision making using the system.

Combining Modeling and Monitoring to Produce a New Paradigm of an Integrated Approach to Providing Long-Term Control of Contaminants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogwell, T. W.

2009-12-01

Sir David King, Chief Science Advisor to the British government and Cambridge University Professor, stated in October 2005, "The scientific community is considerably more capable than it has been in the past to assist governments to avoid and reduce risk to their own populations. Prime ministers and presidents ignore the advice from the science community at the peril of their own populations." Some of these greater capabilities can be found in better monitoring techniques applied to better modeling methods. These modeling methods can be combined with the information derived from monitoring data in order to decrease the risk of population exposure to dangerous substances and to promote efficient control or cleanup of the contaminants. An introduction is presented of the types of problems that exist for long-term control of radionuclides at DOE sites. A breakdown of the distributions at specific sites is given, together with the associated difficulties. A paradigm for remediation showing the integration of monitoring with modeling is presented. It is based on a feedback system that allows for the monitoring to act as principal sensors in a control system. The resulting system can be optimized to improve performance. Optimizing monitoring automatically entails linking the monitoring with modeling. If monitoring designs were required to be more efficient, thus requiring optimization, then the monitoring automatically becomes linked to modeling. Records of decision could be written to accommodate revisions in monitoring as better modeling evolves. Currently the establishment of a very prescriptive monitoring program fails to have a mechanism for improving models and improving control of the contaminants. The technical pieces of the required paradigm are already available; they just need to be implemented and applied to solve the long-term control of the contaminants. An integration of the various parts of the system is presented. Each part is described, and examples are given. References are given to other projects which bring together similar elements in systems for the control of contaminants. Trends are given for the development of the technical features of a robust system. Examples of monitoring methods for specific sites are given. The examples are used to illustrate how such a system would work. Examples of technology needs are presented. Finally, other examples of integrated modeling-monitoring approaches are presented.

Systems identification and application systems development for monitoring the physiological and health status of crewmen in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leonard, J. I.; Furukawa, S.; Vannordstrand, P. C.

1975-01-01

The use of automated, analytical techniques to aid medical support teams is suggested. Recommendations are presented for characterizing crew health in terms of: (1) wholebody function including physiological, psychological and performance factors; (2) a combination of critical performance indexes which consist of multiple factors of measurable parameters; (3) specific responses to low noise level stress tests; and (4) probabilities of future performance based on present and periodic examination of past performance. A concept is proposed for a computerized real time biomedical monitoring and health care system that would have the capability to integrate monitored data, detect off-nominal conditions based on current knowledge of spaceflight responses, predict future health status, and assist in diagnosis and alternative therapies. Mathematical models could play an important role in this approach, especially when operating in a real time mode. Recommendations are presented to update the present health monitoring systems in terms of recent advances in computer technology and biomedical monitoring systems.

Events as power source: wireless sustainable corrosion monitoring.

PubMed

Sun, Guodong; Qiao, Guofu; Zhao, Lin; Chen, Zhibo

2013-12-17

This study presents and implements a corrosion-monitoring wireless sensor platform, EPS (Events as Power Source), which monitors the corrosion events in reinforced concrete (RC) structures, while being powered by the micro-energy released from the corrosion process. In EPS, the proposed corrosion-sensing device serves both as the signal source for identifying corrosion and as the power source for driving the sensor mote, because the corrosion process (event) releases electric energy; this is a novel idea proposed by this study. For accumulating the micro-corrosion energy, we integrate EPS with a COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) energy-harvesting chip that recharges a supercapacitor. In particular, this study designs automatic energy management and adaptive transmitted power control polices to efficiently use the constrained accumulated energy. Finally, a set of preliminary experiments based on concrete pore solution are conducted to evaluate the feasibility and the efficacy of EPS.

Dynamics of response-conflict monitoring and individual differences in response control and behavioral control: an electrophysiological investigation using a stop-signal task.

PubMed

Stahl, Jutta; Gibbons, Henning

2007-03-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the functional significance of error (related) negativity Ne/ERN and individual differences in human action monitoring. A response-conflict model of Ne/ERN should be tested applying a stop-signal paradigm. After a few modifications of Ne/ERN response-conflict theory (Yeung N, Botvinick MM, Cohen JD. The neural basis of error detection: conflict monitoring and the error-related negativity. Psychological Review 2004:111(4);931-959), strength and time course of response conflict could be modeled as a function of stop-signal delay. In Experiment 1, 35 participants performed a visual two-choice response-time task but tried to withhold the response if an auditory stop signal was presented. Probability of stopping errors was held at 50% using variable delays between visual and auditory stimuli. Experiment 2 (n=10) employed both auditory go and stop signals and confirmed that Ne/ERN effects are due to conflict induced by the auditory stop signal, and not the mere presence or absence of an additional stimulus. As predicted, amplitudes of both the stimulus-locked and response-locked Ne/ERN were largest for non-stopped responses, followed by successfully stopped and go responses. However, independently of response type Ne/ERN also increased with increasing stop-signal delay. Since longer delay invokes stronger response conflict, results specifically support the notion of Ne/ERN reflecting response-conflict monitoring. Furthermore, individual differences related to measures of response control and behavioral control were observed. Both low response control estimated from stop-task performance and high psychometric impulsivity were accompanied by smaller Ne/ERN amplitude on stop trials, suggesting reduced response-conflict monitoring. The present study supported the response-conflict view of Ne/ERN. Furthermore, the observed relationship between impulsivity and Ne/ERN amplitude suggested that individuals with low behavioral control were characterized by lower activity in anterior cingulate cortex, the neural generator of Ne/ERN, in situations of strong response conflict. The present study, for the first time, employed a stop-signal paradigm to verify predictions regarding the temporal dynamics of response-conflict processing as derived from response-conflict theory of ERN.

Live single cell functional phenotyping in droplet nano-liter reactors.

PubMed

Konry, Tania; Golberg, Alexander; Yarmush, Martin

2013-11-11

While single cell heterogeneity is present in all biological systems, most studies cannot address it due to technical limitations. Here we describe a nano-liter droplet microfluidic-based approach for stimulation and monitoring of surface and secreted markers of live single immune dendritic cells (DCs) as well as monitoring the live T cell/DC interaction. This nano-liter in vivo simulating microenvironment allows delivering various stimuli reagents to each cell and appropriate gas exchanges which are necessary to ensure functionality and viability of encapsulated cells. Labeling bioassay and microsphere sensors were integrated into nano-liter reaction volume of the droplet to monitor live single cell surface markers and secretion analysis in the time-dependent fashion. Thus live cell stimulation, secretion and surface monitoring can be obtained simultaneously in distinct microenvironment, which previously was possible using complicated and multi-step in vitro and in vivo live-cell microscopy, together with immunological studies of the outcome secretion of cellular function.

Automated terrestrial laser scanning with near-real-time change detection - monitoring of the Séchilienne landslide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kromer, Ryan A.; Abellán, Antonio; Hutchinson, D. Jean; Lato, Matt; Chanut, Marie-Aurelie; Dubois, Laurent; Jaboyedoff, Michel

2017-05-01

We present an automated terrestrial laser scanning (ATLS) system with automatic near-real-time change detection processing. The ATLS system was tested on the Séchilienne landslide in France for a 6-week period with data collected at 30 min intervals. The purpose of developing the system was to fill the gap of high-temporal-resolution TLS monitoring studies of earth surface processes and to offer a cost-effective, light, portable alternative to ground-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (GB-InSAR) deformation monitoring. During the study, we detected the flux of talus, displacement of the landslide and pre-failure deformation of discrete rockfall events. Additionally, we found the ATLS system to be an effective tool in monitoring landslide and rockfall processes despite missing points due to poor atmospheric conditions or rainfall. Furthermore, such a system has the potential to help us better understand a wide variety of slope processes at high levels of temporal detail.

Enabling smart personalized healthcare: a hybrid mobile-cloud approach for ECG telemonitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoliang; Gui, Qiong; Liu, Bingwei; Jin, Zhanpeng; Chen, Yu

2014-05-01

The severe challenges of the skyrocketing healthcare expenditure and the fast aging population highlight the needs for innovative solutions supporting more accurate, affordable, flexible, and personalized medical diagnosis and treatment. Recent advances of mobile technologies have made mobile devices a promising tool to manage patients' own health status through services like telemedicine. However, the inherent limitations of mobile devices make them less effective in computation- or data-intensive tasks such as medical monitoring. In this study, we propose a new hybrid mobile-cloud computational solution to enable more effective personalized medical monitoring. To demonstrate the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed approach, we present a case study of mobile-cloud based electrocardiograph monitoring and analysis and develop a mobile-cloud prototype. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can significantly enhance the conventional mobile-based medical monitoring in terms of diagnostic accuracy, execution efficiency, and energy efficiency, and holds the potential in addressing future large-scale data analysis in personalized healthcare.

Long-term environmental monitoring for assessment of change: measurement inconsistencies over time and potential solutions.

PubMed

Ellingsen, Kari E; Yoccoz, Nigel G; Tveraa, Torkild; Hewitt, Judi E; Thrush, Simon F

2017-10-30

The importance of long-term environmental monitoring and research for detecting and understanding changes in ecosystems and human impacts on natural systems is widely acknowledged. Over the last decades, a number of critical components for successful long-term monitoring have been identified. One basic component is quality assurance/quality control protocols to ensure consistency and comparability of data. In Norway, the authorities require environmental monitoring of the impacts of the offshore petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf, and in 1996, a large-scale regional environmental monitoring program was established. As a case study, we used a sub-set of data from this monitoring to explore concepts regarding best practices for long-term environmental monitoring. Specifically, we examined data from physical and chemical sediment samples and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages from 11 stations from six sampling occasions during the period 1996-2011. Despite the established quality assessment and quality control protocols for this monitoring program, we identified several data challenges, such as missing values and outliers, discrepancies in variable and station names, changes in procedures without calibration, and different taxonomic resolution. Furthermore, we show that the use of different laboratories over time makes it difficult to draw conclusions with regard to some of the observed changes. We offer recommendations to facilitate comparison of data over time. We also present a new procedure to handle different taxonomic resolution, so valuable historical data is not discarded. These topics have a broader relevance and application than for our case study.

Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutte, Nicola S.; Malouff, John M.; Bobik, Chad; Coston, Tracie D.; Greeson, Cyndy; Jedlicka, Christina; Rhodes, Emily; Wendorf, Greta

2001-01-01

Presents the results of seven studies that focused on the link between emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. Tests emotional intelligence with empathy and self-monitoring, social skills, cooperation, relations with others, and marital satisfaction. Explores preference for emotionally intelligent partners in the final study. Includes…

Remote sensing of vegetation pattern and condition to monitor changes in everglades biogeochemistry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, J.W.

2011-01-01

Ground-based studies of biogeochemistry and vegetation patterning yield process understanding, but the amount of information gained by ground-based studies can be greatly enhanced by efficient, synoptic, and temporally resolute monitoring afforded by remote sensing. The variety of presently available Everglades vegetation maps reflects both the wide range of application requirements and the need to balance cost and capability. More effort needs to be applied to documenting and understanding vegetation distribution and condition as indicators of biogeochemistry and contamination. Ground-based and remote sensing studies should be modified to maximize their synergy and utility for adaptive management. Copyright ?? 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Enterovirus and Norovirus Monitoring under UCMR3

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation describes the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule round 3 (UCMR3) monitoring program for enterovirus and norovirus in groundwater. It provides the data on microbial indicators and virus occurrence during the monitoring period. Enteric virus occurrence was ab...

[History and present status of butterfly monitoring in Europe and related development strategies for China].

PubMed

Fang, Li-Jun; Xu, Hai-Gen; Guan, Jian-Ling

2013-09-01

Butterfly is an important bio-indicator for biodiversity monitoring and ecological environment assessment. In Europe, the species composition, population dynamics, and distribution pattern of butterfly have been monitored for decades, and many long-term monitoring schemes with international effects have been implemented. These schemes are aimed to assess the regional and national variation trends of butterfly species abundance, and to analyze the relationships of this species abundance with habitat, climate change, and other environmental factors, providing basic data for researching, protecting, and utilizing butterfly resources and predicting environmental changes, and playing important roles in the division of butterfly' s threatened level, the formulation of related protection measures, and the protection and management of ecological environment. This paper reviewed the history and present status of butterfly monitoring in Europe, with the focus on the well-known long-term monitoring programs, e. g. , the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and the Germany and European Union Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Some specific proposals for conducting butterflies monitoring in China were suggested.

Best Practices for Evaluating the Capability of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Techniques for Damage Characterization (Post-Print)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-10

a wide range of part, environmental and damage conditions. Best practices of using models are presented for both an eddy current NDE sizing and...to assess the reliability of NDE and SHM characterization capability. Best practices of using models are presented for both an eddy current NDE... EDDY CURRENT NDE CASE STUDY An eddy current crack sizing case study is presented to highlight examples of some of these complex characteristics of

Compact Multi-Gas Monitor for Life Support Systems Control in Space: Evaluation Under Realistic Environmental Conditions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alonso, Jesus Delgado; Phillips, Straun; Chullen, Cinda; Mendoza, Edgar

2014-01-01

Advanced space life support systems require lightweight, low-power, durable sensors for monitoring critical gas components. A luminescence-based optical flow-through cell to monitor carbon dioxide, oxygen, and humidity has been developed and was demonstrated using bench-top instrumentation under environmental conditions relevant to portable life support systems, including initially pure oxygen atmosphere, temperature range from 50 F to 150 F, and humidity from dry to 100% RH and under conditions of water condensation. This paper presents the most recent progress in the development of this sensor technology. Trace gas contaminants in a space suit, originating from hardware and material off-gassing and crew member metabolism, are from many chemical families. The result is a gas mix much more complex than the pure oxygen fed into the space suit, and this complexity may interfere with gas sensor readings. This paper presents an evaluation of optical sensor performance when exposed to the most significant trace gases reported to be found in space suits. A study of the calibration stability of the sensors is also presented. For that purpose, a profile of temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas composition for the duration of an EVA has been defined, and the performance of sensors operated repeatedly under those conditions has been studied. Finally, this paper presents the first compact readout unit for these optical sensors, designed for the volume, power, and weight restrictions of a PLSS.

Demographic Subgroup Trends among Young Adults in the Use of the Various Licit and Illicit Drugs, 1988-2013. Monitoring the Future Occasional Paper Series. Paper 80

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E.; Miech, Richard A.

2014-01-01

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of and trends in the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who were…

Stellite-based classification of tillage practices in the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azzari, G.; Lobell, D. B.

2017-12-01

The number of applications based on Machine learning algorithms applied to satellite images has been increasing steadily in last few years. While in the context of agricultural monitoring these techiques are most commonly used for land cover type and crop classification, they also show a great potential for monitoring management practices. In this study, we present some preliminary results on classifying tillage practices in the U.S. midwest using Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 data.

The uk Lidar-sunphotometer operational volcanic ash monitoring network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adam, Mariana; Buxmann, Joelle; Freeman, Nigel; Horseman, Andrew; Salmon, Christopher; Sugier, Jacqueline; Bennett, Richard

2018-04-01

The Met Office completed the deployment of ten lidars (UV Raman and depolarization), each accompanied by a sunphotometer (polarized model), to provide quantitative monitoring of volcanic ash over UK for VAAC London. The lidars provide range corrected signal and volume depolarization ratio in near-real time. The sunphotometers deliver aerosol optical depth, Ångstrom exponent and degree of linear polarization. Case study analyses of Saharan dust events (as a proxy for volcanic ash) are presented.

Compendium of JTPA and Related Evaluation Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Employment and Training Administration (DOL), Washington, DC.

This document summarizes the findings of currently available evaluation studies of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and other related reports and data. Data from 26 studies conducted between 1980 and 1986 are presented under the following subject headings: the state role (monitoring and oversight, policy interpretation and leadership,…

PCDD, PCDF, dl-PCB and organochlorine pesticides monitoring in São Paulo City using passive air sampler as part of the Global Monitoring Plan.

PubMed

Tominaga, M Y; Silva, C R; Melo, J P; Niwa, N A; Plascak, D; Souza, C A M; Sato, M I Z

2016-11-15

The persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as organochlorine pesticides and PCBs, are ordinarily monitored in the aquatic environment or in soil in the environmental quality monitoring programs in São Paulo, Brazil. One of the core matrices proposed in the POPs Global Monitoring Plan (GMP) from the Stockholm Convention list is the ambient air, which is not a usual matrix for POPs monitoring in the country. In this study POP levels were evaluated in the air samples from an urban site in São Paulo City over five years, starting in 2010 as a capacity building project for Latin America and the Caribbean region for POP monitoring in ambient air using passive samplers. Furthermore, after the end of the Project in 2012, the monitoring continued in the same sampling site as means to improving the analytical capacity building and contribute to the GMP data. The POPs monitored were 17 congeners of 2,3,7,8 chloro-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs, dioxin-like PCBs, indicator PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and toxaphene. The results show a slight decrease in PCDD/F, dl-PCBs and indicator PCBs levels along the five years. The organochlorine pesticide endosulfan was present at its highest concentration at the beginning of the monitoring period, but it was below detection level in the last year of the monitoring. Some other organochlorine pesticides were detected close to or below quantitation limits. The compounds identified were dieldrin, chlordane, α-HCH, γ-HCH, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, hexachlorobenzene and DDTs. Toxaphene congeners were not detected. These results have confirmed the efficacy of passive sampling for POP monitoring and the capacity building for POP analysis and monitoring was established. However more needs to be done, including expansion of sampling sites, new POPs and studies on sampling rates to be considered in calculating the concentration of POPs in ambient air using a passive sampler. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of Monitoring Devices in Support of Prevention of Pressure Injuries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Walia, Gurjot S; Wong, Alison L; Lo, Andrea Y; Mackert, Gina A; Carl, Hannah M; Pedreira, Rachel A; Bello, Ricardo; Aquino, Carla S; Padula, William V; Sacks, Justin M

2016-12-01

To present a systematic review of the literature assessing the efficacy of monitoring devices for reducing the risk of developing pressure injuries. This continuing education activity is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care. After participating in this educational activity, the participant should be better able to:1. Explain the methodology of the literature review and its results.2. Discuss the scope of the problem and the implications of the research. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of monitoring devices for reducing the risk of developing pressure injuries (PIs). The authors systematically reviewed the literature by searching PubMed/MEDLINE and CINAHL databases through January 2016. Articles included clinical trials and cohort studies that tested monitoring devices, evaluating PI risk factors on patients in acute and skilled nursing settings. The articles were scored using the Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies. Using a standardized extraction form, the authors extracted patient inclusion/exclusion criteria, care setting, key baseline, description of monitoring device and methodology, number of patients included in each group, description of any standard of care, follow-up period, and outcomes. Of the identified 1866 publications, 9 met the inclusion criteria. The high-quality studies averaged Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies scores of 19.4 for clinical trials and 12.2 for observational studies. These studies evaluated monitoring devices that measured interface pressure, subdermal tissue stress, motion, and moisture. Most studies found a statistically significant decrease in PIs; 2 studies were eligible for meta-analysis, demonstrating that use of monitoring devices was associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of developing PIs (Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.41; I = 0%). Pressure injury monitoring devices are associated with a strong reduction in the risk of developing PIs. These devices provide clinicians and patients with critical information to implement prevention guidelines. Randomized controlled trials would help assess which technologies are most effective at reducing the risk of developing PIs.

Development of a GIS-based integrated framework for coastal seiches monitoring and forecasting: A North Jiangsu shoal case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Rufu; Lin, Liangzhao

2017-06-01

Coastal seiches have become an increasingly important issue in coastal science and present many challenges, particularly when attempting to provide warning services. This paper presents the methodologies, techniques and integrated services adopted for the design and implementation of a Seiches Monitoring and Forecasting Integration Framework (SMAF-IF). The SMAF-IF is an integrated system with different types of sensors and numerical models and incorporates the Geographic Information System (GIS) and web techniques, which focuses on coastal seiche events detection and early warning in the North Jiangsu shoal, China. The in situ sensors perform automatic and continuous monitoring of the marine environment status and the numerical models provide the meteorological and physical oceanographic parameter estimates. A model outputs processing software was developed in C# language using ArcGIS Engine functions, which provides the capabilities of automatically generating visualization maps and warning information. Leveraging the ArcGIS Flex API and ASP.NET web services, a web based GIS framework was designed to facilitate quasi real-time data access, interactive visualization and analysis, and provision of early warning services for end users. The integrated framework proposed in this study enables decision-makers and the publics to quickly response to emergency coastal seiche events and allows an easy adaptation to other regional and scientific domains related to real-time monitoring and forecasting.

Comparative evaluation of several small mammal species as monitors of heavy metals, radionuclides, and selected organic compounds in the environment

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

Talmage, S.S.; Walton, B.T.

1990-08-01

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate which small mammal species are the best monitors of specific environmental contaminants. The evaluation is based on the published literature and on an analysis of small mammals trapped at several sites on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Reservation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Studies on the uptake of heavy metals, radionuclides, and organic chemicals are reviewed in Chapter II to evaluate several small mammal species for their capacity to serve as sentinels for the presence, accumulation, and effects of various contaminants. Where several species were present at a site, a comparativemore » evaluation was made and species are ranked for their capacity to serve as monitors of specific contaminants. Food chain accumulation and food habits of the species are used to establish a relationship with suitability as a biomonitor. Tissue-specific concentration factors were noted in order to establish target tissues. Life histories, habitat, and food habits are reviewed in order to make generalizations concerning the ability of similar taxa to serve as biomonitor. Finally, the usefulness of several small mammal species as monitors of three contaminants -- benzo(a)pyrene, mercury, and strontium-90 -- present on or near the ORNL facilities was investigated. 133 refs., 5 figs., 20 tabs.« less

Sensing interstitial glucose to nudge active lifestyles (SIGNAL): feasibility of combining novel self-monitoring technologies for persuasive behaviour change.

PubMed

Whelan, Maxine E; Kingsnorth, Andrew P; Orme, Mark W; Sherar, Lauren B; Esliger, Dale W

2017-10-08

Increasing physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of developing diabetes, highlighting the role of preventive medicine approaches. Changing lifestyle behaviours is difficult and is often predicated on the assumption that individuals are willing to change their lifestyles today to reduce the risk of developing disease years or even decades later. The self-monitoring technologies tested in this study will present PA feedback in real time, parallel with acute physiological data. Presenting the immediate health benefits of being more physically active may help enact change by observing the immediate consequences of that behaviour. The present study aims to assess user engagement with the self-monitoring technologies in individuals at moderate-to-high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 45 individuals with a moderate-to-high risk, aged ≥40 years old and using a compatible smartphone, will be invited to take part in a 7-week protocol. Following 1 week of baseline measurements, participants will be randomised into one of three groups: group 1- glucose feedback followed by biobehavioural feedback (glucose plus PA); group 2-PA feedback followed by biobehavioural feedback; group 3-biobehavioural feedback. A PA monitor and a flash glucose monitor will be deployed during the intervention. Participants will wear both devices throughout the intervention but blinded to feedback depending on group allocation. The primary outcome is the level of participant engagement and will be assessed by device use and smartphone usage. Feasibility will be assessed by the practicality of the technology and screening for diabetes risk. Semistructured interviews will be conducted to explore participant experiences using the technologies. ISRCTN17545949. Registered on 15/05/2017. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Early detection and evaluation of waste through sensorized containers for a collection monitoring application.

PubMed

Rovetta, Alberto; Xiumin, Fan; Vicentini, Federico; Minghua, Zhu; Giusti, Alessandro; Qichang, He

2009-12-01

The present study describes a novel application for use in the monitoring of municipal solid waste, based on distributed sensor technology and geographical information systems. Original field testing and evaluation of the application were carried out in Pudong, Shanghai (PR China). The local waste management system in Pudong features particular requirements related to the rapidly increasing rate of waste production. In view of the fact that collected waste is currently deployed to landfills or to incineration plants within the context investigated, the key aspects to be taken into account in waste collection procedures include monitoring of the overall amount of waste produced, quantitative measurement of the waste present at each collection point and identification of classes of material present in the collected waste. The case study described herein focuses particularly on the above mentioned aspects, proposing the implementation of a network of sensorized waste containers linked to a data management system. Containers used were equipped with a set of sensors mounted onto standard waste bins. The design, implementation and validation procedures applied are subsequently described. The main aim to be achieved by data collection and evaluation was to provide for feasibility analysis of the final device. Data pertaining to the content of waste containers, sampled and processed by means of devices validated on two purpose-designed prototypes, were therefore uploaded to a central monitoring server using GPRS connection. The data monitoring and management modules are integrated into an existing application used by local municipal authorities. A field test campaign was performed in the Pudong area. The system was evaluated in terms of real data flow from the network nodes (containers) as well as in terms of optimization functions, such as collection vehicle routing and scheduling. The most important outcomes obtained were related to calculations of waste weight and volume. The latter data were subsequently used as parameters for the routing optimization of collection trucks and material density evaluation.

Presenters in Focus: Updating Your Toolkit for Monitoring Progress of Younger Struggling Readers--Q&A with Nathan Clemens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clemens, Nathan

2017-01-01

Using a data-driven approach to effectively monitor progress remains an important staple for school psychologists. However, progress monitoring approaches vary significantly based on the age and development of the student, requiring a nuanced and unique approach, particularly for young emerging readers. In this Presenters in Focus Q&A,…

Home monitoring of patients with Parkinson's disease via wearable technology and a web-based application.

PubMed

Patel, Shyamal; Chen, Bor-Rong; Buckley, Thomas; Rednic, Ramona; McClure, Doug; Tarsy, Daniel; Shih, Ludy; Dy, Jennifer; Welsh, Matt; Bonato, Paolo

2010-01-01

Objective long-term health monitoring can improve the clinical management of several medical conditions ranging from cardiopulmonary diseases to motor disorders. In this paper, we present our work toward the development of a home-monitoring system. The system is currently used to monitor patients with Parkinson's disease who experience severe motor fluctuations. Monitoring is achieved using wireless wearable sensors whose data are relayed to a remote clinical site via a web-based application. The work herein presented shows that wearable sensors combined with a web-based application provide reliable quantitative information that can be used for clinical decision making.

Trigger Menu-aware Monitoring for the ATLAS experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoad, Xanthe; ATLAS Collaboration

2017-10-01

We present a“trigger menu-aware” monitoring system designed for the Run-2 data-taking of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Unlike Run-1, where a change in the trigger menu had to be matched by the installation of a new software release at Tier-0, the new monitoring system aims to simplify the ATLAS operational workflows. This is achieved by integrating monitoring updates in a quick and flexible manner via an Oracle DB interface. We present the design and the implementation of the menu-aware monitoring, along with lessons from the operational experience of the new system with the 2016 collision data.

Effects of Working Memory Capacity on Metacognitive Monitoring: A Study of Group Differences Using a Listening Span Test.

PubMed

Komori, Mie

2016-01-01

Monitoring is an executive function of working memory that serves to update novel information, focusing attention on task-relevant targets, and eliminating task-irrelevant noise. The present research used a verbal working memory task to examine how working memory capacity limits affect monitoring. Participants performed a Japanese listening span test that included maintenance of target words and listening comprehension. On each trial, participants responded to the target word and then immediately estimated confidence in recall performance for that word (metacognitive judgment). The results confirmed significant differences in monitoring accuracy between high and low capacity groups in a multi-task situation. That is, confidence judgments were superior in high vs. low capacity participants in terms of absolute accuracy and discrimination. The present research further investigated how memory load and interference affect underestimation of successful recall. The results indicated that the level of memory load that reduced word recall performance and led to an underconfidence bias varied according to participants' memory capacity. In addition, irrelevant information associated with incorrect true/ false decisions (secondary task) and word recall within the current trial impaired monitoring accuracy in both participant groups. These findings suggest that interference from unsuccessful decisions only influences low, but not high, capacity participants. Therefore, monitoring accuracy, which requires high working memory capacity, improves metacognitive abilities by inhibiting task-irrelevant noise and focusing attention on detecting task-relevant targets or useful retrieval cues, which could improve actual cognitive performance.

Development and Application of a Next Generation Air Sensor Network for the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 Air Quality Monitoring.

PubMed

Sun, Li; Wong, Ka Chun; Wei, Peng; Ye, Sheng; Huang, Hao; Yang, Fenhuan; Westerdahl, Dane; Louie, Peter K K; Luk, Connie W Y; Ning, Zhi

2016-02-05

This study presents the development and evaluation of a next generation air monitoring system with both laboratory and field tests. A multi-parameter algorithm was used to correct for the impact of environmental conditions on the electrochemical sensors for carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutants. The field evaluation in an urban roadside environment in comparison to designated monitors showed good agreement with measurement error within 5% of the pollutant concentrations. Multiple sets of the developed system were then deployed in the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 forming a sensor-based network along the marathon route. Real-time air pollution concentration data were wirelessly transmitted and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for the Green Marathon was calculated, which were broadcast to the public on an hourly basis. The route-specific sensor network showed somewhat different pollutant patterns than routine air monitoring, indicating the immediate impact of traffic control during the marathon on the roadside air quality. The study is one of the first applications of a next generation sensor network in international sport events, and it demonstrated the usefulness of the emerging sensor-based air monitoring technology in rapid network deployment to supplement existing air monitoring.

Application of Multiplexed FBG and PZT Impedance Sensors for Health Monitoring of Rocks

PubMed Central

Yang, Yaowen; Annamdas, Venu Gopal Madhav; Wang, Chao; Zhou, Yingxin

2008-01-01

Reliable structural health monitoring (SHM) including nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is essential for safe operation of infrastructure systems. Effective monitoring of the rock components of civil infrastructures such as tunnels and caverns remains challenging. The feasibility of employing smart optical fibre sensor (OFS) and piezoelectric impedance sensor made up of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) for comprehensive health monitoring of rocks, covering load history monitoring/retrieval as well as damage assessment is presented in this paper. The rock specimens are subjected to cyclic loading and their conditions are continuously monitored using OFS and PZT sensors. OFS based multiplexed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are surface bonded on the rock specimens. Their strain sensing performance is compared with the conventional electric strain gauges (ESGs). In addition, PZT patches are also bonded on the specimens to study the damage pattern during different loading cycles. Unlike the FBGs or ESGs, PZT patches are used as bi-functional sensors and actuators, enabling them to be efficient detectors of incipient damages using the principle of electromechanical impedance. The experimental study demonstrated superior performance of these smart FBG and PZT impedance sensors. This work is expected to be useful for SHM based NDE application of rock structures such as caverns and tunnels. PMID:27879708

Rock Burst Monitoring by Integrated Microseismic and Electromagnetic Radiation Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xuelong; Wang, Enyuan; Li, Zhonghui; Liu, Zhentang; Song, Dazhao; Qiu, Liming

2016-11-01

For this study, microseismic (MS) and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) monitoring systems were installed in a coal mine to monitor rock bursts. The MS system monitors coal or rock mass ruptures in the whole mine, whereas the EMR equipment monitors the coal or rock stress in a small area. By analysing the MS energy, number of MS events, and EMR intensity with respect to rock bursts, it has been shown that the energy and number of MS events present a "quiet period" 1-3 days before the rock burst. The data also show that the EMR intensity reaches a peak before the rock burst and this EMR intensity peak generally corresponds to the MS "quiet period". There is a positive correlation between stress and EMR intensity. Buckling failure of coal or rock depends on the rheological properties and occurs after the peak stress in the high-stress concentration areas in deep mines. The MS "quiet period" before the rock burst is caused by the heterogeneity of the coal and rock structures, the transfer of high stress into internal areas, locked patches, and self-organized criticality near the stress peak. This study increases our understanding of coal and rock instability in deep mines. Combining MS and EMR to monitor rock burst could improve prediction accuracy.

An internet-based wearable watch-over system for elderly and disabled utilizing EMG and accelerometer.

PubMed

Kishimoto, M; Yoshida, T; Hayasaka, T; Mori, D; Imai, Y; Matsuki, N; Ishikawa, T; Yamaguchi, T

2009-01-01

An effective way for preventing injuries and diseases among the elderly is to monitor their daily lives. In this regard, we propose the use of a "Hyper Hospital Network", which is an information support system for elderly people and patients. In the current study, we developed a wearable system for monitoring electromyography (EMG) and acceleration using the Hyper Hospital Network plan. The current system is an upgraded version of our previous system for gait analysis (Yoshida et al. [13], Telemedicine and e-Health 13 703-714), and lets us monitor decreases in exercise and the presence of a hemiplegic gait more accurately. To clarify the capabilities and reliability of the system, we performed three experimental evaluations: one to verify the performance of the wearable system, a second to detect a hemiplegic gait, and a third to monitor EMG and accelerations simultaneously. Our system successfully detected a lack of exercise by monitoring the iEMG in healthy volunteers. Moreover, by using EMG and acceleration signals simultaneously, the reliability of the Hampering Index (HI) for detecting hemiplegia walking was improved significantly. The present study provides useful knowledge for the development of a wearable computer designed to monitor the physical conditions of older persons and patients.

Simultaneous sequential monitoring of efficacy and safety led to masking of effects.

PubMed

van Eekelen, Rik; de Hoop, Esther; van der Tweel, Ingeborg

2016-08-01

Usually, sequential designs for clinical trials are applied on the primary (=efficacy) outcome. In practice, other outcomes (e.g., safety) will also be monitored and influence the decision whether to stop a trial early. Implications of simultaneous monitoring on trial decision making are yet unclear. This study examines what happens to the type I error, power, and required sample sizes when one efficacy outcome and one correlated safety outcome are monitored simultaneously using sequential designs. We conducted a simulation study in the framework of a two-arm parallel clinical trial. Interim analyses on two outcomes were performed independently and simultaneously on the same data sets using four sequential monitoring designs, including O'Brien-Fleming and Triangular Test boundaries. Simulations differed in values for correlations and true effect sizes. When an effect was present in both outcomes, competition was introduced, which decreased power (e.g., from 80% to 60%). Futility boundaries for the efficacy outcome reduced overall type I errors as well as power for the safety outcome. Monitoring two correlated outcomes, given that both are essential for early trial termination, leads to masking of true effects. Careful consideration of scenarios must be taken into account when designing sequential trials. Simulation results can help guide trial design. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development and Application of a Next Generation Air Sensor Network for the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 Air Quality Monitoring

PubMed Central

Sun, Li; Wong, Ka Chun; Wei, Peng; Ye, Sheng; Huang, Hao; Yang, Fenhuan; Westerdahl, Dane; Louie, Peter K.K.; Luk, Connie W.Y.; Ning, Zhi

2016-01-01

This study presents the development and evaluation of a next generation air monitoring system with both laboratory and field tests. A multi-parameter algorithm was used to correct for the impact of environmental conditions on the electrochemical sensors for carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollutants. The field evaluation in an urban roadside environment in comparison to designated monitors showed good agreement with measurement error within 5% of the pollutant concentrations. Multiple sets of the developed system were then deployed in the Hong Kong Marathon 2015 forming a sensor-based network along the marathon route. Real-time air pollution concentration data were wirelessly transmitted and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for the Green Marathon was calculated, which were broadcast to the public on an hourly basis. The route-specific sensor network showed somewhat different pollutant patterns than routine air monitoring, indicating the immediate impact of traffic control during the marathon on the roadside air quality. The study is one of the first applications of a next generation sensor network in international sport events, and it demonstrated the usefulness of the emerging sensor-based air monitoring technology in rapid network deployment to supplement existing air monitoring. PMID:26861336

Assessment of zero drift in the Codman intracranial pressure monitor: a study from 2 neurointensive care units.

PubMed

Al-Tamimi, Yahia Z; Helmy, Adel; Bavetta, Seb; Price, Stephen J

2009-01-01

Intraparenchymal monitoring devices play an important role in the daily management of head injury and other critically ill neurosurgical patients. Although zero drift data exist for the Camino system (Camino Laboratories, San Diego, CA), only in vitro data exist for the Codman system (Codman and Shurtleff, Inc., Raynham, MA). The aim of this study was to assess the extent of zero drift for the Codman intracranial pressure (ICP) monitor in patients being monitored in 2 neurointensive care units. This was a prospective study conducted at 2 neurointensive care units. Eighty-eight patients who required ICP monitoring and who presented to the 2 neurosurgical departments, Center 1 (n = 48) and Center 2 (n = 40), were recruited for participation. The duration of ICP monitoring was noted, as was the resultant pressure reading in normal saline on removing the ICP monitor (zero drift). The median absolute zero drift for the group was 2.0 mm Hg (interquartile range, 1-3 mm Hg). The median time in situ was 108 hours (interquartile range, 69-201 hours). There was a positive correlation between the drift and time of the probe spent in situ (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.342; P = 0.001). Of the readings, 20 and 2% showed a drift greater than 5 and 10 mm Hg in magnitude, respectively. These data demonstrate that a small amount of zero drift exists in ICP monitors and that this drift increases with time. The wide range in the data demonstrates that some drift readings are quite excessive. This reinforces the school of thought that, although ICP readings contribute significantly to the management of neurosurgical patients, they should be interpreted carefully and in conjunction with clinical and radiological assessment of patients.

All that glisters is not gold: a comparison of electronic monitoring versus filled prescriptions--an observational study.

PubMed

Wetzels, Gwenn E C; Nelemans, Patricia J; Schouten, Jan S A G; van Wijk, Boris L G; Prins, Martin H

2006-02-10

Poor compliance with antihypertensive medication is assumed to be an important reason for unsatisfactory control of blood pressure. Poor compliance is difficult to detect. Each method of measuring compliance has its own strengths and weaknesses. The aim of the present study was to compare patient compliance with antihypertensive drugs as measured by two methods, electronic monitoring versus refill compliance. 161 patients with a diagnosis of hypertension for at least a year prior to inclusion, and inadequate blood pressure control (systolic blood pressure > or = 160 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure > or = 95 mmHg) despite the use of antihypertensive drugs, were included. Patients' pharmacy records from 12 months prior to inclusion were obtained. Refill compliance was calculated as the number of days for which the pills were prescribed divided by the total number of days in this period. After inclusion compliance was measured with an electronic monitor that records time and date of each opening of the pillbox. Agreement between both compliance measures was calculated using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Cohen's kappa coefficient. There was very little agreement between the two measures. Whereas refill compliance showed a large range of values, compliance as measured by electronic monitoring was high in almost all patients with estimates between 90% and 100%. Cohen's kappa coefficient was 0.005. While electronic monitoring is often considered to be the gold standard for compliance measurements, our results suggest that a short-term electronic monitoring period with the patient being aware of electronic monitoring is probably insufficient to obtain valid compliance data. We conclude that there is a strong need for more studies that explore the effect of electronic monitoring on patient's compliance.

Mapping Historic Gypsy Moth Defoliation with MODIS Satellite Data: Implications for Forest Threat Early Warning System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spurce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William; Ryan, Robert E.; Smooth, James C.; Prados, Don; McKellip, Rodney; Sader, Steven A.; Gasser, Jerry; May, George

2008-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews a project, the goal of which is to study the potential of MODIS data for monitoring historic gypsy moth defoliation. A NASA/USDA Forest Service (USFS) partnership was formed to perform the study. NASA is helping USFS to implement satellite data products into its emerging Forest Threat Early Warning System. The latter system is being developed by the USFS Eastern and Western Forest Threat Assessment Centers. The USFS Forest Threat Centers want to use MODIS time series data for regional monitoring of forest damage (e.g., defoliation) preferably in near real time. The study's methodology is described, and the results of the study are shown.

Estimating site occupancy, colonization, and local extinction when a species is detected imperfectly

USGS Publications Warehouse

MacKenzie, D.I.; Nichols, J.D.; Hines, J.E.; Knutson, M.G.; Franklin, A.B.

2003-01-01

Few species are likely to be so evident that they will always be detected when present. Failing to allow for the possibility that a target species was present, but undetected, at a site will lead to biased estimates of site occupancy, colonization, and local extinction probabilities. These population vital rates are often of interest in long-term monitoring programs and metapopulation studies. We present a model that enables direct estimation of these parameters when the probability of detecting the species is less than 1. The model does not require any assumptions of process stationarity, as do some previous methods, but does require detection/nondetection data to be collected in a manner similar to Pollock's robust design as used in mark?recapture studies. Via simulation, we show that the model provides good estimates of parameters for most scenarios considered. We illustrate the method with data from monitoring programs of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in northern California and tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) in Minnesota, USA.

Estimating site occupancy, colonization, and local extinction when a species is detected imperfectly

USGS Publications Warehouse

MacKenzie, D.I.; Nichols, J.D.; Hines, J.E.; Knutson, M.G.; Franklin, A.B.

2003-01-01

Few species are likely to be so evident that they will always be defected when present: Failing to allow for the possibility that a target species was present, but undetected at a site will lead to biased estimates of site occupancy, colonization,and local extinction probabilities. These population vital rates are often of interest in long-term monitoring programs and metapopulation studies. We present a model that enables direct estimation of these parameters when the probability of detecting the species is less than 1. The model does not require any assumptions-of process stationarity, as do some previous methods, but does require detection/nondetection data to be collected in a-manner similar to. Pollock's robust design as used-in mark-recapture studies. Via simulation, we,show that the model provides good estimates of parameters for most scenarios considered. We illustrate the method with data from monitoring programs of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in northern California and tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) in Minnesota, USA.

A Review of Ten Years of the Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) from 2002 to 2011.

PubMed

Morrissey, Ian; Hackel, Meredith; Badal, Robert; Bouchillon, Sam; Hawser, Stephen; Biedenbach, Douglas

2013-11-01

Surveillance of antimicrobial agent resistance provides important information to guide microbiologists and infectious disease specialists understanding of the control and the spread of resistance mechanisms within the local environment. Continued monitoring of antimicrobial resistance patterns in the community and in local hospital environments is essential to guide effective empiric therapy. The Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) has monitored the in vitro susceptibility patterns of clinical Gram-negative bacilli to antimicrobial agents collected worldwide from intra-abdominal infections since 2002 and urinary tract infections since 2009. Resistance trends, with a particular focus on carbapenem resistance and the rate of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), were analyzed. Isolates from intra-abdominal infections (n = 92,086) and urinary-tract infections (n = 24,705) were collected and tested using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute methods. This review presents carbapenem susceptibility and ESBL rates over ten years of SMART study analysis, including key publications during this period. The SMART study has proved to be a valuable resource in determining pathogen prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility over the last ten years and continues to provide evidence for regulatory susceptibility breakpoints and clinical decision making.

Bioassay battery interlaboratory investigation of emerging contaminants in spiked water extracts - Towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring.

PubMed

Di Paolo, Carolina; Ottermanns, Richard; Keiter, Steffen; Ait-Aissa, Selim; Bluhm, Kerstin; Brack, Werner; Breitholtz, Magnus; Buchinger, Sebastian; Carere, Mario; Chalon, Carole; Cousin, Xavier; Dulio, Valeria; Escher, Beate I; Hamers, Timo; Hilscherová, Klára; Jarque, Sergio; Jonas, Adam; Maillot-Marechal, Emmanuelle; Marneffe, Yves; Nguyen, Mai Thao; Pandard, Pascal; Schifferli, Andrea; Schulze, Tobias; Seidensticker, Sven; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Tang, Janet; van der Oost, Ron; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Zounková, Radka; Zwart, Nick; Hollert, Henner

2016-11-01

Bioassays are particularly useful tools to link the chemical and ecological assessments in water quality monitoring. Different methods cover a broad range of toxicity mechanisms in diverse organisms, and account for risks posed by non-target compounds and mixtures. Many tests are already applied in chemical and waste assessments, and stakeholders from the science-police interface have recommended their integration in regulatory water quality monitoring. Still, there is a need to address bioassay suitability to evaluate water samples containing emerging pollutants, which are a current priority in water quality monitoring. The presented interlaboratory study (ILS) verified whether a battery of miniaturized bioassays, conducted in 11 different laboratories following their own protocols, would produce comparable results when applied to evaluate blinded samples consisting of a pristine water extract spiked with four emerging pollutants as single chemicals or mixtures, i.e. triclosan, acridine, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA). Assays evaluated effects on aquatic organisms from three different trophic levels (algae, daphnids, zebrafish embryos) and mechanism-specific effects using in vitro estrogenicity (ER-Luc, YES) and mutagenicity (Ames fluctuation) assays. The test battery presented complementary sensitivity and specificity to evaluate the different blinded water extract spikes. Aquatic organisms differed in terms of sensitivity to triclosan (algae > daphnids > fish) and acridine (fish > daphnids > algae) spikes, confirming the complementary role of the three taxa for water quality assessment. Estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays identified with high precision the respective mechanism-specific effects of spikes even when non-specific toxicity occurred in mixture. For estrogenicity, although differences were observed between assays and models, EE2 spike relative induction EC 50 values were comparable to the literature, and E2/EE2 equivalency factors reliably reflected the sample content. In the Ames, strong revertant induction occurred following 3-NBA spike incubation with the TA98 strain, which was of lower magnitude after metabolic transformation and when compared to TA100. Differences in experimental protocols, model organisms, and data analysis can be sources of variation, indicating that respective harmonized standard procedures should be followed when implementing bioassays in water monitoring. Together with other ongoing activities for the validation of a basic bioassay battery, the present study is an important step towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Cultivated Land Irrigation Guarantee Capability with Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, C., Sr.; Huang, J.; Li, L.; Wang, H.; Zhu, D.

2015-12-01

Abstract: Cultivated Land Quality Grade monitoring and evaluation is an important way to improve the land production capability and ensure the country food safety. Irrigation guarantee capability is one of important aspects in the cultivated land quality monitoring and evaluation. In the current cultivated land quality monitoring processing based on field survey, the irrigation rate need much human resources investment in long investigation process. This study choses Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei as study region, taking the 1 km × 1 km grid size of cultivated land unit with a winter wheat-summer maize double cropping system as study object. A new irrigation capacity evaluation index based on the ratio of the annual irrigation requirement retrieved from MODIS data and the actual quantity of irrigation was proposed. With the years of monitoring results the irrigation guarantee capability of study area was evaluated comprehensively. The change trend of the irrigation guarantee capability index (IGCI) with the agricultural drought disaster area in rural statistical yearbook of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area was generally consistent. The average of IGCI value, the probability of irrigation-guaranteed year and the weighted average which controlled by the irrigation demand index were used and compared in this paper. The experiment results indicate that the classification result from the present method was close to that from irrigation probability in the gradation on agriculture land quality in 2012, with overlap of 73% similar units. The method of monitoring and evaluation of cultivated land IGCI proposed in this paper has a potential in cultivated land quality level monitoring and evaluation in China. Key words: remote sensing, evapotranspiration, MODIS cultivated land quality, irrigation guarantee capability Authors: Chao Zhang, Jianxi Huang, Li Li, Hongshuo Wang, Dehai Zhu China Agricultural University zhangchaobj@gmail.com

Magnetic Earth Ionosphere Resonant Frequencies (MEIRF) project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spaniol, Craig

1993-01-01

The West Virginia State College Community College Division NASA Magnetic Earth Ionosphere Resonant Frequencies (MEIRF) study is described. During this contract period, the two most significant and professionally rewarding events were the presentation of the research activity at the Sir Isaac Newton Conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the second Day of Discovery Conference, focusing on economic recovery in West Virginia. An active antenna concept utilizing a signal feedback principle similar to regenerative receivers used in early radio was studied. The device has potential for ELF research and other commercial applications for improved signal reception. Finally, work continues to progress on the development of a prototype monitoring station. Signal monitoring, data display, and data storage are major areas of activity. In addition, we plan to continue our dissemination of research activity through presentations at seminars and other universities.

[Study on the nutrition of alpine meadow based on hyperspectral data].

PubMed

Wang, Xun; Liu, Shu-Jie; Jia, Hai-Feng; Chai, Sha-Tuo; Dang, An-Rong; Liu, Xue-Hua; Hao, Li-Zhuang; Cui, Zhan-Hong

2012-10-01

Remote sensing monitoring of alpine grassland nutritional status is a key factor of grassland reasonable utilization, also a difficulty for dynamic vegetation monitoring. The present paper studies the correlations between vegetation nutrition and hyperspectral data. The results showed that two band ratio models have a significant correlation with biomass, air-DM, P, CF, and CP. MAXR models have a significant correlation with most of nutrition index when selected wavebands equaled five. On the whole, the MAXR model precedes two band ratio models. Using MAXR models to estimate air-DM, P and CF can obtain higher accuracy.

Event-related potential indices of workload in a single task paradigm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horst, R. L.; Munson, R. C.; Ruchkin, D. S.

1984-01-01

Many previous studies of both behavioral and physiological correlates of cognitive workload have burdened subjects with a contrived secondary task in order to assess the workload of a primary task. The present study investigated event-related potential (ERP) indices of workload in a single task paradigm. Subjects monitored changing digital readouts for values that went 'out-of-bounds'. The amplitude of a long-latency positivity in the ERPs elicited by readout changes increased with the number of readouts being monitored. This effect of workload on ERPs is reported, along with plans for additional analyses to address theoretical implications.

Linear models to perform treaty verification tasks for enhanced information security

DOE PAGES

MacGahan, Christopher J.; Kupinski, Matthew A.; Brubaker, Erik M.; ...

2016-11-12

Linear mathematical models were applied to binary-discrimination tasks relevant to arms control verification measurements in which a host party wishes to convince a monitoring party that an item is or is not treaty accountable. These models process data in list-mode format and can compensate for the presence of variability in the source, such as uncertain object orientation and location. The Hotelling observer applies an optimal set of weights to binned detector data, yielding a test statistic that is thresholded to make a decision. The channelized Hotelling observer applies a channelizing matrix to the vectorized data, resulting in a lower dimensionalmore » vector available to the monitor to make decisions. We demonstrate how incorporating additional terms in this channelizing-matrix optimization offers benefits for treaty verification. We present two methods to increase shared information and trust between the host and monitor. The first method penalizes individual channel performance in order to maximize the information available to the monitor while maintaining optimal performance. Second, we present a method that penalizes predefined sensitive information while maintaining the capability to discriminate between binary choices. Data used in this study was generated using Monte Carlo simulations for fission neutrons, accomplished with the GEANT4 toolkit. Custom models for plutonium inspection objects were measured in simulation by a radiation imaging system. Model performance was evaluated and presented using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.« less

Linear models to perform treaty verification tasks for enhanced information security

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

MacGahan, Christopher J.; Kupinski, Matthew A.; Brubaker, Erik M.

Linear mathematical models were applied to binary-discrimination tasks relevant to arms control verification measurements in which a host party wishes to convince a monitoring party that an item is or is not treaty accountable. These models process data in list-mode format and can compensate for the presence of variability in the source, such as uncertain object orientation and location. The Hotelling observer applies an optimal set of weights to binned detector data, yielding a test statistic that is thresholded to make a decision. The channelized Hotelling observer applies a channelizing matrix to the vectorized data, resulting in a lower dimensionalmore » vector available to the monitor to make decisions. We demonstrate how incorporating additional terms in this channelizing-matrix optimization offers benefits for treaty verification. We present two methods to increase shared information and trust between the host and monitor. The first method penalizes individual channel performance in order to maximize the information available to the monitor while maintaining optimal performance. Second, we present a method that penalizes predefined sensitive information while maintaining the capability to discriminate between binary choices. Data used in this study was generated using Monte Carlo simulations for fission neutrons, accomplished with the GEANT4 toolkit. Custom models for plutonium inspection objects were measured in simulation by a radiation imaging system. Model performance was evaluated and presented using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.« less

Linear models to perform treaty verification tasks for enhanced information security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacGahan, Christopher J.; Kupinski, Matthew A.; Brubaker, Erik M.; Hilton, Nathan R.; Marleau, Peter A.

2017-02-01

Linear mathematical models were applied to binary-discrimination tasks relevant to arms control verification measurements in which a host party wishes to convince a monitoring party that an item is or is not treaty accountable. These models process data in list-mode format and can compensate for the presence of variability in the source, such as uncertain object orientation and location. The Hotelling observer applies an optimal set of weights to binned detector data, yielding a test statistic that is thresholded to make a decision. The channelized Hotelling observer applies a channelizing matrix to the vectorized data, resulting in a lower dimensional vector available to the monitor to make decisions. We demonstrate how incorporating additional terms in this channelizing-matrix optimization offers benefits for treaty verification. We present two methods to increase shared information and trust between the host and monitor. The first method penalizes individual channel performance in order to maximize the information available to the monitor while maintaining optimal performance. Second, we present a method that penalizes predefined sensitive information while maintaining the capability to discriminate between binary choices. Data used in this study was generated using Monte Carlo simulations for fission neutrons, accomplished with the GEANT4 toolkit. Custom models for plutonium inspection objects were measured in simulation by a radiation imaging system. Model performance was evaluated and presented using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.

Multi-Wavelength Monitoring of GRS 1915+105

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bandyopadhyay, R.; Martini, P.; Gerard, E.; Charles, P. A.; Wagner, R. M.; Shrader, C.; Shahbaz, T.; Mirabel, I. F.

1997-01-01

Since its discovery in 1992, the superluminal X-ray transient GRS 1915+105 has been extensively observed in an attempt to understand its behaviour. We present here preliminary results from a multi-wavelength campaign undertaken from July to September 1996. This study includes X-ray data from the RXTE All Sky Monitor and BATSE, two-frequency data from the Nancay radio telescope, and infrared photometry from the 1.8m Perkins telescope at Lowell Observatory. The K-band data presented herein provide the first long-term well-sampled IR light curve of GRS 1915+105. We compare the various light curves, searching for correlations in the behaviour of the source at differing wavelengths and for possible periodicities.

Education Counts: An Indicator System To Monitor the Nation's Educational Health. Report of the Special Study Panel on Education Indicators to the Acting Commissioner of Education Statistics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics (ED), Washington, DC.

The final report of the congressionally-mandated Special Study Panel on Education Indicators (SSPEI) that was transmitted to Congress as required by the Hawkins-Stafford Education Amendments of 1988 is presented. This report is divided into two sections. Part I--"Education Counts"--presents the SSPEI's overall conception of how an…

Determining the cost of implementing and operating a remote patient monitoring programme for the elderly with chronic conditions: A systematic review of economic evaluations.

PubMed

Peretz, Daniel; Arnaert, Antonia; Ponzoni, Norma N

2018-01-01

Introduction Remote patient monitoring (RPM) in conjunction with home nursing visits is becoming increasingly popular for the follow-up of patients with chronic conditions and evidence exists that it improves patients' health outcomes. Current cost data is reported inconsistently and often gathered from studies of poor methodological quality, making it difficult for decision-makers who consider implementing this service in their organizations. This study reviewed the cost of RPM programmes targeting elderly patients with chronic conditions. Methods After evaluation against the inclusion and exclusion criteria and appraisal against two criteria which are important for economic evaluations, data from selected studies were extracted and grouped into meaningful cost categories, then adjusted to reflect November 2015 US dollars. Results In the 13 selected studies, the newly-created cost category 'Combined intervention cost' (reflecting equipment purchasing, servicing and monitoring cost) for the various RPM programmes ranged from US$275-US$7963 per patient per year. The three main findings are: (a) RPM programme costs have decreased since 2004 due to cheaper technology; (b) monitoring a single vital sign is likely to be less costly than monitoring multiple vital signs; and (c) programmes targeting hypertension or congestive heart failure are less costly than those targeting respiratory diseases or multiple conditions. Conclusions This review recommends that future studies present their cost data with more granularity, that grouping of costs should be minimized and that any assumptions, such as amortization, should be made explicit. In addition, studies should compare programmes with similar characteristics in terms of type of conditions, number of vital signs monitored, etc. for more generalizable results.

Individual differences in error monitoring in healthy adults: psychological symptoms and antisocial personality characteristics.

PubMed

Chang, Wen-Pin; Davies, Patricia L; Gavin, William J

2010-10-01

Recent studies have investigated the relationship between psychological symptoms and personality traits and error monitoring measured by error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) event-related potential (ERP) components, yet there remains a paucity of studies examining the collective simultaneous effects of psychological symptoms and personality traits on error monitoring. This present study, therefore, examined whether measures of hyperactivity-impulsivity, depression, anxiety and antisocial personality characteristics could collectively account for significant interindividual variability of both ERN and Pe amplitudes, in 29 healthy adults with no known disorders, ages 18-30 years. The bivariate zero-order correlation analyses found that only the anxiety measure was significantly related to both ERN and Pe amplitudes. However, multiple regression analyses that included all four characteristic measures while controlling for number of segments in the ERP average revealed that both depression and antisocial personality characteristics were significant predictors for the ERN amplitudes whereas antisocial personality was the only significant predictor for the Pe amplitude. These findings suggest that psychological symptoms and personality traits are associated with individual variations in error monitoring in healthy adults, and future studies should consider these variables when comparing group difference in error monitoring between adults with and without disabilities. © 2010 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2010 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Design and Clinical Feasibility of Personal Wearable Monitor for Measurement of Activity and Environmental Exposure

PubMed Central

Ribón Fletcher, Richard; Oreskovic, Nicolas M.; Robinson, Alyssa I.

2015-01-01

Human exposure to specific environmental factors (e.g. air quality, lighting, and sound) is known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases (e.g. asthma) and mental health disorders (e.g. anxiety). However, conventional fixed environmental monitoring stations are sparsely located and, despite environmental models, cannot adequately assess individual exposure levels. New forms of low-cost portable monitors have begun to emerge that enable the collection of higher spatial density “crowd sourced” data; however, the first generation of these low-cost environmental monitors have generally not been suitable for clinical environmental health studies due to practical challenges such as calibration, reproducibility, form factor, and battery life. In this paper, we present a wearable environmental monitor that overcomes these challenges and can be used in clinical studies The new device, called “Eco-Mini,” can be used without a smart phone and is capable of locally sampling and recording a variety of environmental parameters (Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds, humidity, temperature, ambient light color balance, and sound level) as well as individual activity (3-axis accelerometer) and location (GPS). In this paper, we also report findings and discuss lessons learned from a feasibility study conducted for one week with pediatric patients as part of an ongoing asthma research study. PMID:25570098

Proposed Fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4) Meeting Presentations

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document contains the proposed Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4) Meeting Presentations from a public webinar held by EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water on January 13, 2016.

Remote Health Monitoring for Older Adults and Those with Heart Failure: Adherence and System Usability.

PubMed

Evans, Jarrett; Papadopoulos, Amy; Silvers, Christine Tsien; Charness, Neil; Boot, Walter R; Schlachta-Fairchild, Loretta; Crump, Cindy; Martinez, Michele; Ent, Carrie Beth

2016-06-01

Remote health monitoring technology has been suggested as part of an early intervention and prevention care model. Older adults with a chronic health condition have been shown to benefit from remote monitoring but often have challenges with complex technology. The current study reports on the usability of and adherence with an integrated, real-time monitoring system over an extended period of time by older adults with and without a chronic health condition. Older adults 55 years of age and over with and without heart failure participated in a study in which a telehealth system was used for 6 months each. The system consisted of a wireless wristwatch-based monitoring device that continuously collected temperature and motion data. Other health information was collected daily using a weight scale, blood pressure cuff, and tablet that participants used for health surveys. Data were automatically analyzed and summarized by the system and presented to study nurses. Forty-one older adults participated. Seventy-one percent of surveys, 75% of blood pressure readings, and 81% of daily weight measurements were taken. Participants wore the watch monitor 77% of the overall 24/7 time requested. The weight scale had the highest usability rating in both groups. The groups did not otherwise differ on device usage. The findings indicate that a health monitoring system designed for older adults can and will be used for an extended period of time and may help older adults with chronic conditions reside longer in their own homes in partnership with the healthcare system.

Long Term Monitoring of Broken and Seated Pavements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-05-01

This report presents details of a study conducted to evaluate the long term performance of asphalt overlays on broken and seated : (B/S) concrete p avements, us ing field expe riments. Th e primary p urpose o f this study is to evaluate the effective...

Engine health monitoring systems: Tools for improved maintenance management in the 1980's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kimball, J. C.

1981-01-01

The performance monitoring aspect of maintenance, characteristic of the engine health monitoring system are discussed. An overview of the system activities is presented and a summary of programs for improved monitoring in the 1980's are discussed.

A model of security monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bishop, Matt

1990-01-01

A model of security monitoring is presented that distinguishes between two types of logging and auditing. Implications for the design and use of security monitoring mechanisms are drawn from this model. The usefulness of the model is then demonstrated by analyzing several different monitoring mechanisms.

A model of security monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bishop, Matt

1989-01-01

A model of security monitoring is presented that distinguishes between two types of logging and auditing. Implications for the design and use of security monitoring mechanisms are drawn from this model. The usefulness of the model is then demonstrated by analyzing several different monitoring mechanisms.

Comparison of the detectability of high- and low-contrast details on a TFT screen and a CRT screen designed for radiologic diagnosis.

PubMed

Kotter, Elmar; Bley, Thorsten A; Saueressig, Ulrich; Fisch, Dagmar; Springer, Oliver; Winterer, Jan Torsten; Schaefer, Oliver; Langer, Mathias

2003-11-01

To evaluate the detection rate of fine details of a new thin-film transistor (TFT) grayscale monitor designed for radiologic diagnosis, compared with a type of cathode ray tube (CRT) screen used routinely for diagnostic radiology. Fifteen radiographs of a statistical phantom presenting low- and high-contrast details were obtained and read out with an Agfa ADC compact storage phosphor system. Each radiograph presented 60 high-density (high-contrast) and 60 low-density (low-contrast) test bodies. Approximately half the test bodies contained holes with different diameters. Observers were asked to detect the presence or absence of a hole in the test body on a 5-point confidence range. The total of 1800 test bodies was reviewed by 5 radiologists on the TFT monitor (20.8 inches; 1536 x 2048 pixels; maximum luminance, 650 cd/m2; contrast, 600:1) and the CRT monitor (21 inches; P45 Phosphor; 2048 x 2560 pixels operated at 1728 x 2304 pixels; maximum luminance, 600 cd/m2; contrast, 300:1). The data were analyzed by receiver-operator characteristic analysis. For high-contrast details, the mean area under the curve rated 0.9336 for the TFT monitor and 0.9312 for the CRT monitor. For low-contrast details, the mean area under the curve rated 0.9189 for the TFT monitor and 0.9224 for the CRT monitor. At P

Monitoring Diffuse Impacts: Australian Tourism Developments.

PubMed

Warnken; Buckley

2000-04-01

/ The scientific quality of monitoring for diffuse environmental impacts has rarely been quantified. This paper presents an analysis of all formal environmental monitoring programs for Australian tourism developments over a 15-year period from 1980 to 1995. The tourism sector provides a good test bed for this study because tourism developments are (1) often adjacent to or even within conservation reserves and other relatively undisturbed natural environments, and (2) often clustered, with resulting cumulative impacts that require detection at an early stage. Here we analyze the precision and reliability with which monitoring programs as actually implemented can detect diffuse environmental impacts against natural variation. Of 175 Australian tourism developments subject to EIA from 1980 to 1993 inclusive, only 13 were subject to formal monitoring. Only 44 individual parameters, in total, were monitored for all these developments together. No baseline monitoring was conducted for nine of the 44 parameters. For the remaining 35, only one was monitored for a full year. Before, after, control, impact, paired sampling (BACIP) monitoring designs were used for 24 of the 44 parameters, and power analysis in 10. The scientific quality of monitoring was significantly better for developments subject to control by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The key factor appears to be the way in which GBRMPA uses external referees and manages external consultants. The GBRMPA model merits wider adoption.

Cost considerations for long-term ecological monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caughlan, L.; Oakley, K.L.

2001-01-01

For an ecological monitoring program to be successful over the long-term, the perceived benefits of the information must justify the cost. Financial limitations will always restrict the scope of a monitoring program, hence the program's focus must be carefully prioritized. Clearly identifying the costs and benefits of a program will assist in this prioritization process, but this is easier said than done. Frequently, the true costs of monitoring are not recognized and are, therefore, underestimated. Benefits are rarely evaluated, because they are difficult to quantify. The intent of this review is to assist the designers and managers of long-term ecological monitoring programs by providing a general framework for building and operating a cost-effective program. Previous considerations of monitoring costs have focused on sampling design optimization. We present cost considerations of monitoring in a broader context. We explore monitoring costs, including both budgetary costs--what dollars are spent on--and economic costs, which include opportunity costs. Often, the largest portion of a monitoring program budget is spent on data collection, and other, critical aspects of the program, such as scientific oversight, training, data management, quality assurance, and reporting, are neglected. Recognizing and budgeting for all program costs is therefore a key factor in a program's longevity. The close relationship between statistical issues and cost is discussed, highlighting the importance of sampling design, replication and power, and comparing the costs of alternative designs through pilot studies and simulation modeling. A monitoring program development process that includes explicit checkpoints for considering costs is presented. The first checkpoint occur during the setting of objectives and during sampling design optimization. The last checkpoint occurs once the basic shape of the program is known, and the costs and benefits, or alternatively the cost-effectiveness, of each program element can be evaluated. Moving into the implementation phase without careful evaluation of costs and benefits is risky because if costs are later found to exceed benefits, the program will fail. The costs of development, which can be quite high, will have been largely wasted. Realistic expectations of costs and benefits will help ensure that monitoring programs survive the early, turbulent stages of development and the challenges posed by fluctuating budgets during implementation.

Measuring the electric activity of chick embryos heart through 16 bit audio card monitored by the Goldwavetm software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Dilson; Cortez, Celia Martins

2015-12-01

In the present work we used a high-resolution, low-cost apparatus capable of detecting waves fit inside the sound bandwidth, and the software package GoldwaveTM for graphical display, processing and monitoring the signals, to study aspects of the electric heart activity of early avian embryos, specifically at the 18th Hamburger & Hamilton stage of the embryo development. The species used was the domestic chick (Gallus gallus), and we carried out 23 experiments in which cardiographic spectra of QRS complex waves representing the propagation of depolarization waves through ventricles was recorded using microprobes and reference electrodes directly on the embryos. The results show that technique using 16 bit audio card monitored by the GoldwaveTM software was efficient to study signal aspects of heart electric activity of early avian embryos.

Incipient fault detection study for advanced spacecraft systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Milner, G. Martin; Black, Michael C.; Hovenga, J. Mike; Mcclure, Paul F.

1986-01-01

A feasibility study to investigate the application of vibration monitoring to the rotating machinery of planned NASA advanced spacecraft components is described. Factors investigated include: (1) special problems associated with small, high RPM machines; (2) application across multiple component types; (3) microgravity; (4) multiple fault types; (5) eight different analysis techniques including signature analysis, high frequency demodulation, cepstrum, clustering, amplitude analysis, and pattern recognition are compared; and (6) small sample statistical analysis is used to compare performance by computation of probability of detection and false alarm for an ensemble of repeated baseline and faulted tests. Both detection and classification performance are quantified. Vibration monitoring is shown to be an effective means of detecting the most important problem types for small, high RPM fans and pumps typical of those planned for the advanced spacecraft. A preliminary monitoring system design and implementation plan is presented.

Bayesian decision and mixture models for AE monitoring of steel-concrete composite shear walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farhidzadeh, Alireza; Epackachi, Siamak; Salamone, Salvatore; Whittaker, Andrew S.

2015-11-01

This paper presents an approach based on an acoustic emission technique for the health monitoring of steel-concrete (SC) composite shear walls. SC composite walls consist of plain (unreinforced) concrete sandwiched between steel faceplates. Although the use of SC system construction has been studied extensively for nearly 20 years, little-to-no attention has been devoted to the development of structural health monitoring techniques for the inspection of damage of the concrete behind the steel plates. In this work an unsupervised pattern recognition algorithm based on probability theory is proposed to assess the soundness of the concrete infill, and eventually provide a diagnosis of the SC wall’s health. The approach is validated through an experimental study on a large-scale SC shear wall subjected to a displacement controlled reversed cyclic loading.

Direct cost of monitoring conventional hemodialysis conducted by nursing professionals.

PubMed

Lima, Antônio Fernandes Costa

2017-04-01

to analyze the mean direct cost of conventional hemodialysis monitored by nursing professionals in three public teaching and research hospitals in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. this was a quantitative, explorative and descriptive investigation, based on a multiple case study approach. The mean direct cost was calculated by multiplying (clocked) time spent per procedure by the unit cost of direct labor. Values were calculated in Brazilian real (BRL). Hospital C presented the highest mean direct cost (BRL 184.52), 5.23 times greater than the value for Hospital A (BRL 35.29) and 3.91 times greater than Hospital B (BRL 47.22). the costing method used in this study can be reproduced at other dialysis centers to inform strategies aimed at efficient allocation of necessary human resources to successfully monitor conventional hemodialysis.

Passive Sampling in Regulatory Chemical Monitoring of Nonpolar Organic Compounds in the Aquatic Environment.

PubMed

Booij, Kees; Robinson, Craig D; Burgess, Robert M; Mayer, Philipp; Roberts, Cindy A; Ahrens, Lutz; Allan, Ian J; Brant, Jan; Jones, Lisa; Kraus, Uta R; Larsen, Martin M; Lepom, Peter; Petersen, Jördis; Pröfrock, Daniel; Roose, Patrick; Schäfer, Sabine; Smedes, Foppe; Tixier, Céline; Vorkamp, Katrin; Whitehouse, Paul

2016-01-05

We reviewed compliance monitoring requirements in the European Union, the United States, and the Oslo-Paris Convention for the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic, and evaluated if these are met by passive sampling methods for nonpolar compounds. The strengths and shortcomings of passive sampling are assessed for water, sediments, and biota. Passive water sampling is a suitable technique for measuring concentrations of freely dissolved compounds. This method yields results that are incompatible with the EU's quality standard definition in terms of total concentrations in water, but this definition has little scientific basis. Insufficient quality control is a present weakness of passive sampling in water. Laboratory performance studies and the development of standardized methods are needed to improve data quality and to encourage the use of passive sampling by commercial laboratories and monitoring agencies. Successful prediction of bioaccumulation based on passive sampling is well documented for organisms at the lower trophic levels, but requires more research for higher levels. Despite the existence of several knowledge gaps, passive sampling presently is the best available technology for chemical monitoring of nonpolar organic compounds. Key issues to be addressed by scientists and environmental managers are outlined.

Continuous monitoring of evapotranspiration (ET) overview of LSA-SAF evapotranspiration products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arboleda, A.; Ghilain, N.; Gellens-Meulenberghs, F.

2017-10-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the flux of water between the surface (vegetation, soil and water bodies) and the atmosphere. Monitoring this water loss may be of crucial importance for applications in hydrology, agriculture, water use efficiency studies and drought monitoring. We introduce one of the few satellite-based operational evapotranspiration products, generated continuously and in near real-time over Europe, Africa and part of South America. The ET products (30 minutes and daily) are generated at the EUMETSAT's Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA-SAF) operations centre (http://landsaf.ipma.pt). Following our commitments to our user's community, we are continuously looking for new ways to improve the product. To accomplish this, the feedback from users and potential users of the products is of great interest. In this contribution we present the ET products characteristics and recent improvements gained thanks to the inclusion in our ET algorithm of new variables derived from Earth observation by MSG SEVIRI. We show examples of the ET products and we highlight their potential in droughts detection and monitoring. Some examples of possible applications are presented to invite users and researchers to explore the possibilities offered by LSA-SAF evapotranspiration products.

Retaining clients in an outcome monitoring evaluation study: HIV prevention efforts in community settings.

PubMed

Smith, Bryce D; Kalayil, Elizabeth J; Patel-Larson, Alpa; Chen, Brenda; Vaughan, Marla

2012-02-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) conducted outcome monitoring studies on evidence-based interventions (EBIs) provided by CDC-funded community-based organizations (CBOs). Critical to the success of outcome monitoring was the ability of CBOs to recruit and retain clients in evaluation studies. Two EBIs, Video Opportunities for Innovative Condom Education and Safer Sex (VOICES/VOCES) and Healthy Relationships, were evaluated using repeated measure studies, which require robust follow-up retention rates to increase the validity and usefulness of the findings. The retention rates were high for both VOICES/VOCES CBOs (95.8% at 30 days and 91.1% at 120 days), and Healthy Relationships CBOs (89.5% at 90 days and 83.5% at 180 days). This paper presents an overview of the retention of clients, challenges to follow-up, and strategies developed by CBOs to achieve high retention rates. These strategies and rates are discussed within the context of the CBOs' target populations and communities. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Vehicle Counting and Moving Direction Identification Based on Small-Aperture Microphone Array.

PubMed

Zu, Xingshui; Zhang, Shaojie; Guo, Feng; Zhao, Qin; Zhang, Xin; You, Xing; Liu, Huawei; Li, Baoqing; Yuan, Xiaobing

2017-05-10

The varying trend of a moving vehicle's angles provides much important intelligence for an unattended ground sensor (UGS) monitoring system. The present study investigates the capabilities of a small-aperture microphone array (SAMA) based system to identify the number and moving direction of vehicles travelling on a previously established route. In this paper, a SAMA-based acoustic monitoring system, including the system hardware architecture and algorithm mechanism, is designed as a single node sensor for the application of UGS. The algorithm is built on the varying trend of a vehicle's bearing angles around the closest point of approach (CPA). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method with our designed SAMA-based monitoring system in various experimental sites. The experimental results in harsh conditions validate the usefulness of our proposed UGS monitoring system.

Use of Continuous Integration Tools for Application Performance Monitoring

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

Vergara Larrea, Veronica G; Joubert, Wayne; Fuson, Christopher B

High performance computing systems are becom- ing increasingly complex, both in node architecture and in the multiple layers of software stack required to compile and run applications. As a consequence, the likelihood is increasing for application performance regressions to occur as a result of routine upgrades of system software components which interact in complex ways. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of continuous integration tools for application performance monitoring on HPC systems. In addition, this paper also describes a prototype system for application perfor- mance monitoring based on Jenkins, a Java-based continuous integration tool. The monitoringmore » system described leverages several features in Jenkins to track application performance results over time. Preliminary results and lessons learned from monitoring applications on Cray systems at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility are presented.« less

Parental monitoring and knowledge: Testing bidirectional associations with youths’ antisocial behavior

PubMed Central

Wertz, Jasmin; Nottingham, Kate; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Matthews, Timothy; Pariante, Carmine M.; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Arseneault, Louise

2017-01-01

In the present study, we used separate measures of parental monitoring and parental knowledge and compared their associations with youths’ antisocial behavior during preadolescence, between the ages of 10 and 12. Parental monitoring and knowledge were reported by mothers, fathers and youths taking part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study which follows 1,116 families with twins. Information on youths’ antisocial behavior was obtained from mothers, as well as teachers. We report two main findings: First, longitudinal cross-lagged models revealed that greater parental monitoring did not predict less antisocial behavior later, once family characteristics were taken into account. Second, greater youth antisocial behavior predicted less parental knowledge later. This effect of youths’ behavior on parents’ knowledge was consistent across mothers’, fathers’, youths’, and teachers’ reports, and robust to controls for family confounders. The association was partially genetically-mediated according to a Cholesky decomposition twin model; youths’ genetically-influenced antisocial behavior led to a decrease in parents’ knowledge of youths’ activities. These two findings question the assumption that greater parental monitoring can reduce preadolescents’ antisocial behavior. They also indicate that parents’ knowledge of their children’s activities is influenced by youths’ behavior. PMID:27427796

Application of Multiplexed FBG and PZT Impedance Sensors for Health Monitoring of Rocks.

PubMed

Yang, Yaowen; Annamdas, Venu Gopal Madhav; Wang, Chao; Zhou, Yingxin

2008-01-21

Reliable structural health monitoring (SHM) including nondestructiveevaluation (NDE) is essential for safe operation of infrastructure systems. Effectivemonitoring of the rock components of civil infrastructures such as tunnels and cavernsremains challenging. The feasibility of employing smart optical fibre sensor (OFS) andpiezoelectric impedance sensor made up of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) forcomprehensive health monitoring of rocks, covering load history monitoring/retrieval aswell as damage assessment is presented in this paper. The rock specimens are subjected tocyclic loading and their conditions are continuously monitored using OFS and PZTsensors. OFS based multiplexed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are surface bonded onthe rock specimens. Their strain sensing performance is compared with the conventionalelectric strain gauges (ESGs). In addition, PZT patches are also bonded on the specimensto study the damage pattern during different loading cycles. Unlike the FBGs or ESGs,PZT patches are used as bi-functional sensors and actuators, enabling them to be efficientdetectors of incipient damages using the principle of electromechanical impedance. Theexperimental study demonstrated superior performance of these smart FBG and PZTimpedance sensors. This work is expected to be useful for SHM based NDE application ofrock structures such as caverns and tunnels.

Validation of the SEJOY BP-1307 upper-arm blood pressure monitor for home blood pressure monitoring according to the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol revision 2010.

PubMed

Lei, Lei; Chen, Yi; Chen, Qi; Li, Yan; Wang, Ji-Guang

2017-12-01

The present study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the automated oscillometric upper-arm blood pressure monitor SEJOY BP-1307 (also called JOYTECH DBP-1307) for home blood pressure monitoring according to the International Protocol of the European Society of Hypertension revision 2010. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were sequentially measured in 33 adult Chinese individuals (13 women, 45.1 years of mean age) using a mercury sphygmomanometer (two observers) and the SEJOY BP-1307 device (one supervisor). Ninety-nine pairs of comparisons were obtained from 33 participants for judgments in two parts with three grading phases. The average±SD of the device-observer differences was 0.2±4.1 and -1.7±4.7 mmHg for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively. The SEJOY BP-1307 device achieved the criteria in both part 1 and part 2 of the validation study. The SEJOY upper-arm blood pressure monitor BP-1307 has passed the requirements of the International Protocol revision 2010, and hence can be recommended for home use in adults.

Monitoring peripheral perfusion and microcirculation.

PubMed

Dubin, Arnaldo; Henriquez, Elizabeth; Hernández, Glenn

2018-06-01

Microcirculatory alterations play a major role in the pathogenesis of shock. Monitoring tissue perfusion might be a relevant goal for shock resuscitation. The goal of this review was to revise the evidence supporting the monitoring of peripheral perfusion and microcirculation as goals of resuscitation. For this purpose, we mainly focused on skin perfusion and sublingual microcirculation. Although there are controversies about the reproducibility of capillary refill time in monitoring peripheral perfusion, it is a sound physiological variable and suitable for the ICU settings. In addition, observational studies showed its strong ability to predict outcome. Moreover, a preliminary study suggested that it might be a valuable goal for resuscitation. These results should be confirmed by the ongoing ANDROMEDA-SHOCK randomized controlled trial. On the other hand, the monitoring of sublingual microcirculation might also provide relevant physiological and prognostic information. On the contrary, methodological drawbacks mainly related to video assessment hamper its clinical implementation at the present time. Measurements of peripheral perfusion might be useful as goal of resuscitation. The results of the ANDROMEDA-SHOCK will clarify the role of skin perfusion as a guide for the treatment of shock. In contrast, the assessment of sublingual microcirculation mainly remains as a research tool.

Passive wireless strain monitoring of tire using capacitance change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Todoroki, Akira

2004-07-01

In-service strain monitoring of tires of automobile is quite effective for improving the reliability of tires and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS). Since conventional strain gages have high stiffness and require lead wires, the conventional strain gages are cumbersome for the strain measurements of the tires. In a previous study, the authors proposed a new wireless strain monitoring method that adopts the tire itself as a sensor, with an oscillating circuit. This method is very simple and useful, but it requires a battery to activate the oscillating circuit. In the present study, the previous method for wireless tire monitoring is improved to produce a passive wireless sensor. A specimen made from a commercially available tire is connected to a tuning circuit comprising an inductance and a capacitance as a condenser. The capacitance change of tire causes change of the tuning frequency. This change of the tuned radio wave enables us to measure the applied strain of the specimen wirelessly, without any power supply from outside. This new passive wireless method is applied to a specimen and the static applied strain is measured. As a result, the method is experimentally shown to be effective as a passive wireless strain monitoring of tires.

Physical factors that influence patients' privacy perception toward a psychiatric behavioral monitoring system: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Zakaria, Nasriah; Ramli, Rusyaizila

2018-01-01

Psychiatric patients have privacy concerns when it comes to technology intervention in the hospital setting. In this paper, we present scenarios for psychiatric behavioral monitoring systems to be placed in psychiatric wards to understand patients' perception regarding privacy. Psychiatric behavioral monitoring refers to systems that are deemed useful in measuring clinical outcomes, but little research has been done on how these systems will impact patients' privacy. We conducted a case study in one teaching hospital in Malaysia. We investigated the physical factors that influence patients' perceived privacy with respect to a psychiatric monitoring system. The eight physical factors identified from the information system development privacy model, a comprehensive model for designing a privacy-sensitive information system, were adapted in this research. Scenario-based interviews were conducted with 25 patients in a psychiatric ward for 3 months. Psychiatric patients were able to share how physical factors influence their perception of privacy. Results show how patients responded to each of these dimensions in the context of a psychiatric behavioral monitoring system. Some subfactors under physical privacy are modified to reflect the data obtained in the interviews. We were able to capture the different physical factors that influence patient privacy.

Monitoring iCCM: a feasibility study of the indicator guide for monitoring and evaluating integrated community case management.

PubMed

Roberton, Timothy; Kasungami, Dyness; Guenther, Tanya; Hazel, Elizabeth

2016-07-01

Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have now adopted integrated community case management (iCCM) of common childhood illnesses as a strategy to improve child health. In March 2014, the iCCM Task Force published an Indicator Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating iCCM: a 'menu' of recommended indicators with globally agreed definitions and methodology, to guide countries in developing robust iCCM monitoring systems. The Indicator Guide was conceived as an evolving document that would incorporate collective experience and learning as iCCM programmes themselves evolve. This article presents findings from two studies that examined the feasibility of collecting the Indicator Guide's 18 routine monitoring indicators with the iCCM monitoring systems that countries currently have in place. We reviewed iCCM monitoring tools, protocols and reports from a purposive sample of 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We developed a scorecard system to assess which of the Indicator Guide's 18 routine monitoring indicators could be calculated with the given monitoring tools, and at which level of the health system the relevant information would be available. We found that the data needed to calculate many of the Indicator Guide's routine monitoring indicators are already being collected through existing monitoring systems, although much of these data are only available at health facility level and not aggregated to district or national levels. Our results highlight challenge of using supervision checklists as a data source, and the need for countries to maintain accurate deployment data for CHWs and CHW supervisors. We suggest that some of the recommended indicators need revising. Routine monitoring will be more feasible, effective and efficient if iCCM programmes focus on a smaller set of high-value indicators that are easy to measure, reliably interpreted and useful both for global and national stakeholders and for frontline health workers themselves. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Integrating weather and geotechnical monitoring data for assessing the stability of large scale surface mining operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiakakis, Chrysanthos; Agioutantis, Zacharias; Apostolou, Evangelia; Papavgeri, Georgia; Tripolitsiotis, Achilles

2016-01-01

The geotechnical challenges for safe slope design in large scale surface mining operations are enormous. Sometimes one degree of slope inclination can significantly reduce the overburden to ore ratio and therefore dramatically improve the economics of the operation, while large scale slope failures may have a significant impact on human lives. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions, such as high precipitation rates, may unfavorably affect the already delicate balance between operations and safety. Geotechnical, weather and production parameters should be systematically monitored and evaluated in order to safely operate such pits. Appropriate data management, processing and storage are critical to ensure timely and informed decisions. This paper presents an integrated data management system which was developed over a number of years as well as the advantages through a specific application. The presented case study illustrates how the high production slopes of a mine that exceed depths of 100-120 m were successfully mined with an average displacement rate of 10- 20 mm/day, approaching an almost slow to moderate landslide velocity. Monitoring data of the past four years are included in the database and can be analyzed to produce valuable results. Time-series data correlations of movements, precipitation records, etc. are evaluated and presented in this case study. The results can be used to successfully manage mine operations and ensure the safety of the mine and the workforce.

Monitoring the Implementation of IDEA: Proceedings of the National Monitoring Conference (6th, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 2002).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tschantz, Jennifer

This document presents the proceedings of the sixth National Monitoring Conference concerned with implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Introductory material describes the purpose and background of the document and the federal monitoring of states, including the Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP) and…

Levee Monitoring with Radar Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Cathleen E.

2012-01-01

Topics in this presentation are: 1. Overview of radar remote sensing 2. Surface change detection with Differential Interferometric Radar Processing 3. Study of the Sacramento - San Joaquin levees 4. Mississippi River Levees during the Spring 2011 floods.

RBC aggregation based system for long-term photoplethysmography (PPG): new prospects for PPG applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shvartsman, Leonid D.; Tverskoy, Boris

2015-03-01

We present system for long-term continuous PPG monitoring, and physical model for PPG analysis. The system is based on ideology of light scattering modulated by the process of RBC aggregation. OXIRATE's system works in reflection geometry. The sensor is tiny, completely mobile phone compatible, it can be placed nearly everywhere on the body surface. These technical features allow all-night comfortable PPG monitoring that was performed and analyzed. We can define various sleep stages on the basis of different reproducible time-behavior of PPG signal. Our system of PPG monitoring was used also for reflection pulse oximetry and for extreme PPG studies, such as diving.

Structural health monitoring of pipelines rehabilitated with lining technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farhidzadeh, Alireza; Dehghan-Niri, Ehsan; Salamone, Salvatore

2014-03-01

Damage detection of pipeline systems is a tedious and time consuming job due to digging requirement, accessibility, interference with other facilities, and being extremely wide spread in metropolitans. Therefore, a real-time and automated monitoring system can pervasively reduce labor work, time, and expenditures. This paper presents the results of an experimental study aimed at monitoring the performance of full scale pipe lining systems, subjected to static and dynamic (seismic) loading, using Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and Guided Ultrasonic Waves (GUWs). Particularly, two damage mechanisms are investigated: 1) delamination between pipeline and liner as the early indicator of damage, and 2) onset of nonlinearity and incipient failure of the liner as critical damage state.

Space shuttle propulsion systems on-board checkout and monitoring system development study (extension). Volume 2: Guidelines for for incorporation of the onboard checkout and monitoring function on the space shuttle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

Guidelines are presented for incorporation of the onboard checkout and monitoring function (OCMF) into the designs of the space shuttle propulsion systems. The guidelines consist of and identify supporting documentation; requirements for formulation, implementation, and integration of OCMF; associated compliance verification techniques and requirements; and OCMF terminology and nomenclature. The guidelines are directly applicable to the incorporation of OCMF into the design of space shuttle propulsion systems and the equipment with which the propulsion systems interface. The techniques and general approach, however, are also generally applicable to OCMF incorporation into the design of other space shuttle systems.

Automation of Physiologic Data Presentation and Alarms in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit

PubMed Central

Aukburg, S.J.; Ketikidis, P.H.; Kitz, D.S.; Mavrides, T.G.; Matschinsky, B.B.

1989-01-01

The routine use of pulse oximeters, non-invasive blood pressure monitors and electrocardiogram monitors have considerably improved patient care in the post anesthesia period. Using an automated data collection system, we investigated the occurrence of several adverse events frequently revealed by these monitors. We found that the incidence of hypoxia was 35%, hypertension 12%, hypotension 8%, tachycardia 25% and bradycardia 1%. Discriminant analysis was able to correctly predict classification of about 90% of patients into normal vs. hypotensive or hypotensive groups. The system software minimizes artifact, validates data for epidemiologic studies, and is able to identify variables that predict adverse events through application of appropriate statistical and artificial intelligence techniques.

Smartphone based monitoring system for long-term sleep assessment.

PubMed

Domingues, Alexandre

2015-01-01

The diagnosis of sleep disorders, highly prevalent in Western countries, typically involves sophisticated procedures and equipment that are highly intrusive to the patient. The high processing capabilities and storage capacity of current portable devices, together with a big range of available sensors, many of them with wireless capabilities, create new opportunities and change the paradigms in sleep studies. In this work, a smartphone based sleep monitoring system is presented along with the details of the hardware, software and algorithm implementation. The aim of this system is to provide a way for subjects, with no pre-diagnosed sleep disorders, to monitor their sleep habits, and on the initial screening of abnormal sleep patterns.

A squid-based beam current monitor for FAIR/CRYRING

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geithner, Rene; Kurian, Febin; Reeg, Hansjörg; Schwickert, Marcus; Neubert, Ralf; Seidel, Paul; Stöhlker, Thomas

2015-11-01

A SQUID-based beam current monitor was developed for the upcoming FAIR-Project, providing a non-destructive online monitoring of the beam currents in the nA-range. The cryogenic current comparator (CCC) was optimized for lowest possible noise-limited current resolution together with a high system bandwidth. This CCC is foreseen to be installed in the CRYRING facility (CRYRING@ESR: A study group report www.gsi.de/fileadmin/SPARC/documents/Cryring/ReportCryring_40ESR.PDF), working as a test bench for FAIR. In this contribution we present results of the completed CCC for FAIR/CRYRING and also arrangements that have been done for the installation of the CCC at CRYRING, regarding the cryostat design.

Monitoring biodiversity: quantification and interpretation.

Treesearch

William L. Gaines; Richy J. Harrod; John F. Lehmkuhl

1999-01-01

Monitoring is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management. In this document, we present an approach to monitoring biological diversity at different levels of ecological organization: landscape, community or ecosystem, population or species, and genetic. Our approach involves identifying monitoring questions...

Control of cost in prospective memory: evidence for spontaneous retrieval processes.

PubMed

Scullin, Michael K; McDaniel, Mark A; Einstein, Gilles O

2010-01-01

To examine the processes that support prospective remembering, previous research has often examined whether the presence of a prospective memory task slows overall responding on an ongoing task. Although slowed task performance suggests that monitoring is present, this method does not clearly establish whether monitoring is functionally related to prospective memory performance. According to the multiprocess theory (McDaniel & Einstein, 2000), monitoring should be necessary to prospective memory performance with nonfocal cues but not with focal cues. To test this hypothesis, we varied monitoring by presenting items that were related (or unrelated) to the prospective memory task proximal to target events. Notably, whereas monitoring proximal to target events led to a large increase in nonfocal prospective memory performance, focal prospective remembering was high in the absence of monitoring, and monitoring in this condition provided no additional benefits. These results suggest that when monitoring is absent, spontaneous retrieval processes can support focal prospective remembering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Monitoring of solar far ultraviolet radiation from the OSO-5 satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rense, W. A.; Parker, R.

1972-01-01

A spectrophotometer for monitoring the solar EUV in three broad wavelength bands is described. The kind of data obtained, along with sources of error, are presented. The content of the tape library which contains the data is outlined. The scientific results are discussed. These include the following: solar flares in the EUV, solar eclipse observations in the EUV, SFD's and relationship to solar flares, and the application of satellite sunrise and sunset data for the study of model upper atmospheres for the earth.

Novel use of a noninvasive hemodynamic monitor in a personalized, active learning simulation.

PubMed

Zoller, Jonathan K; He, Jianghua; Ballew, Angela T; Orr, Walter N; Flynn, Brigid C

2017-06-01

The present study furthered the concept of simulation-based medical education by applying a personalized active learning component. We tested this novel approach utilizing a noninvasive hemodynamic monitor with the capability to measure and display in real time numerous hemodynamic parameters in the exercising participant. Changes in medical knowledge concerning physiology were examined with a pre-and posttest. Simply by observation of one's own hemodynamic variables, the understanding of complex physiological concepts was significantly enhanced. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Field assessment and enhancement of cognitive performance: development of an ambulatory vigilance monitor.

PubMed

Lieberman, Harris R; Kramer, F Matthew; Montain, Scott J; Niro, Philip

2007-05-01

Limited opportunities to study human cognitive performance in non-laboratory, ambulatory situations exist. However, advances in technology make it possible to extend behavioral assessments to the field. One of the first devices to measure human behavior in the field was the wrist-worn actigraph. This device acquires minute-by-minute information on an individual's physical activity and can distinguish sleep from waking, the most basic aspect of behavior. Our laboratory developed a series of wrist-worn devices, not much larger than a watch, which assess reaction time, vigilance and memory. The devices concurrently assess motor activity with greater temporal resolution than standard actigraphs. They also continuously monitor multiple environmental variables including temperature, humidity, sound, and light. These monitors have been employed during training and simulated military operations to collect behavioral and environmental information that would typically be unavailable under such circumstances. Development of the vigilance monitor, and how each successive version extended capabilities of the device are described. Data from several studies are presented, including studies conducted in harsh field environments during a simulated infantry assault, an officer training course. The monitors simultaneously documented environmental conditions, patterns of sleep and activity and effects of nutritional manipulations on cognitive performance. They provide a new method to relate cognitive performance to real world environmental conditions and assess effects of various interventions on human behavior in the field. They can also monitor cognitive performance in real time, and if it is degraded, attempt to intervene to maintain

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

Harker, Y.D.

On August 3-4, 1994, an INEL team made measurements related to a real-time monitoring system for use on the epithermal beam facility at the BMRR. BNL has installed two fission chambers in front of the beam collimator, which are to monitor the beam coming from the reactor. These two monitors are located with one just above the 16-cm dia. front aperture and the other is just below. The fission chambers contain depleted uranium, but because of the small amount of U-235 present, they respond to thermal and near thermal neutrons rather than fast neutrons. This feature combined with their relativelymore » small size (0.6 cm dia x 4 cm long) makes them very good monitors in the BMRR epithermal neutron beam. The INEL team worked with H.B. Lui (BNL) in performing initial tests of these monitors and established the settings to achieve stable operation. The main purpose of the measurement studies was to establish a basis for a monitoring method that tracks the dose the patient is receiving rather than the neutron fluence being delivered down the beam line.« less

FBG-Based Monitoring of Geohazards: Current Status and Trends

PubMed Central

Zhu, Hong-Hu; Shi, Bin; Zhang, Cheng-Cheng

2017-01-01

In recent years, natural and anthropogenic geohazards have occured frequently all over the world, and field monitoring is becoming an increasingly important task to mitigate these risks. However, conventional geotechnical instrumentations for monitoring geohazards have a number of weaknesses, such as low accuracy, poor durability, and high sensitivity to environmental interferences. In this aspect, fiber Bragg grating (FBG), as a popular fiber optic sensing technology, has gained an explosive amount of attention. Based on this technology, quasi-distributed sensing systems have been established to perform real-time monitoring and early warning of landslides, debris flows, land subsidence, earth fissures and so on. In this paper, the recent research and development activities of applying FBG systems to monitor different types of geohazards, especially those triggered by human activities, are critically reviewed. The working principles of newly developed FBG sensors are briefly introduced, and their features are summarized. This is followed by a discussion of recent case studies and lessons learned, and some critical problems associated with field implementation of FBG-based monitoring systems. Finally the challenges and future trends in this research area are presented. PMID:28245551

FBG-Based Monitoring of Geohazards: Current Status and Trends.

PubMed

Zhu, Hong-Hu; Shi, Bin; Zhang, Cheng-Cheng

2017-02-24

In recent years, natural and anthropogenic geohazards have occured frequently all over the world, and field monitoring is becoming an increasingly important task to mitigate these risks. However, conventional geotechnical instrumentations for monitoring geohazards have a number of weaknesses, such as low accuracy, poor durability, and high sensitivity to environmental interferences. In this aspect, fiber Bragg grating (FBG), as a popular fiber optic sensing technology, has gained an explosive amount of attention. Based on this technology, quasi-distributed sensing systems have been established to perform real-time monitoring and early warning of landslides, debris flows, land subsidence, earth fissures and so on. In this paper, the recent research and development activities of applying FBG systems to monitor different types of geohazards, especially those triggered by human activities, are critically reviewed. The working principles of newly developed FBG sensors are briefly introduced, and their features are summarized. This is followed by a discussion of recent case studies and lessons learned, and some critical problems associated with field implementation of FBG-based monitoring systems. Finally the challenges and future trends in this research area are presented.

Real-time measurement of dust in the workplace using video exposure monitoring: Farming to pharmaceuticals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, P. T.; Forth, A. R.; Clark, R. D. R.; Dowker, K. P.; Thorpe, A.

2009-02-01

Real-time, photometric, portable dust monitors have been employed for video exposure monitoring (VEM) to measure and highlight dust levels generated by work activities, illustrate dust control techniques, and demonstrate good practice. Two workplaces, presenting different challenges for measurement, were used to illustrate the capabilities of VEM: (a) poultry farming activities and (b) powder transfer operations in a pharmaceutical company. For the poultry farm work, the real-time monitors were calibrated with respect to the respirable and inhalable dust concentrations using cyclone and IOM reference samplers respectively. Different rankings of exposure for typical activities were found on the small farm studied here compared to previous exposure measurements at larger poultry farms: these were mainly attributed to the different scales of operation. Large variations in the ratios of respirable, inhalable and real-time monitor TWA concentrations of poultry farm dust for various activities were found. This has implications for the calibration of light-scattering dust monitors with respect to inhalable dust concentration. In the pharmaceutical application, the effectiveness of a curtain barrier for dust control when dispensing powder in a downflow booth was rapidly demonstrated.

Participatory monitoring to connect local and global priorities for forest restoration.

PubMed

Evans, Kristen; Guariguata, Manuel R; Brancalion, Pedro H S

2018-06-01

New global initiatives to restore forest landscapes present an unparalleled opportunity to reverse deforestation and forest degradation. Participatory monitoring could play a crucial role in providing accountability, generating local buy in, and catalyzing learning in monitoring systems that need scalability and adaptability to a range of local sites. We synthesized current knowledge from literature searches and interviews to provide lessons for the development of a scalable, multisite participatory monitoring system. Studies show that local people can collect accurate data on forest change, drivers of change, threats to reforestation, and biophysical and socioeconomic impacts that remote sensing cannot. They can do this at one-third the cost of professionals. Successful participatory monitoring systems collect information on a few simple indicators, respond to local priorities, provide appropriate incentives for participation, and catalyze learning and decision making based on frequent analyses and multilevel interactions with other stakeholders. Participatory monitoring could provide a framework for linking global, national, and local needs, aspirations, and capacities for forest restoration. © 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

Invited Article: Radon and thoron intercomparison experiments for integrated monitors at NIRS, Japan

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

Janik, M., E-mail: mirek@fml.nirs.go.jp; Ishikawa, T.; Omori, Y.

Inhalation of radon ({sup 222}Rn) and its short-lived decay products and of products of the thoron ({sup 220}Rn) series accounts for more than half of the effective dose from natural radiation sources. At this time, many countries have begun large-scale radon and thoron surveys and many different measurement methods and instruments are used in these studies. Consequently, it is necessary to improve and standardize technical methods of measurements and to verify quality assurance by intercomparisons between laboratories. Four international intercomparisons for passive integrating radon and thoron monitors were conducted at the NIRS (National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan). Radon exercisesmore » were carried out in the 24.4 m{sup 3} inner volume walk-in radon chamber that has systems to control radon concentration, temperature, and humidity. Moreover, the NIRS thoron chamber with a 150 dm{sup 3} inner volume was utilized to provide three thoron intercomparisons. At present, the NIRS is the only laboratory world-wide that has carried out periodic thoron intercomparison of passive monitors. Fifty laboratories from 26 countries participated in the radon intercomparison, using six types of detectors (charcoal, CR-39, LR 115, polycarbonate film, electret plate, and silicon photodiode). Eighteen laboratories from 12 countries participated in the thoron intercomparisons, using two etch-track types (CR-39 and polycarbonate) detectors. The tests were made under one to three different exposures to radon and thoron. The data presented in this paper indicated that the performance quality of laboratories for radon measurement has been gradually increasing. Results of thoron exercises showed that the quality for thoron measurements still needs further development and additional studies are needed to improve its measuring methods. The present paper provides a summary of all radon and thoron international intercomparisons done at NIRS from 2007 to date and it describes the present status on radon and thoron passive, one-time cycle monitors.« less

Integrated otpical monitoring of MEMS for closed-loop control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, Jeremy M.; Wang, Limin; McCormick, W. B.; Rittenhouse, S. A.; Famouri, Parviz F.; Hornak, Lawrence A.

2003-01-01

Robust control and failure assessment of MEMS employed in physically demanding, mission critical applications will allow for higher degrees of quality assurance in MEMS operation. Device fault detection and closed-loop control require detailed knowledge of the operational states of MEMS over the lifetime of the device, obtained by a means decoupled from the system. Preliminary through-wafer optical monitoring research efforts have shown that through-wafer optical probing is suitable for characterizing and monitoring the behavior of MEMS, and can be implemented in an integrated optical monitoring package for continuous in-situ device monitoring. This presentation will discuss research undertaken to establish integrated optical device metrology for closed-loop control of a MUMPS fabricated lateral harmonic oscillator. Successful linear closed-loop control results using a through-wafer optical microprobe position feedback signal will be presented. A theoretical optical output field intensity study of grating structures, fabricated on the shuttle of the resonator, was performed to improve the position resolution of the optical microprobe position signal. Through-wafer microprobe signals providing a positional resolution of 2 μm using grating structures will be shown, along with initial binary Fresnel diffractive optical microelement design layout, process development, and testing results. Progress in the design, fabrication, and test of integrated optical elements for multiple microprobe signal delivery and recovery will be discussed, as well as simulation of device system model parameter changes for failure assessment.

Development and Sensing Properties Study of Underwater Assembled Water Depth-Inclination Sensors for a Multi-Component Mooring System, Using a Self-Contained Technique

PubMed Central

Wu, Wenhua; Feng, Jiaguo; Xie, Bin; Tang, Da; Yue, Qianjin; Xie, Ribin

2016-01-01

Prototype monitoring techniques play an important role in the safety guarantee of mooring systems in marine engineering. In general, the complexities of harsh ocean environmental conditions bring difficulties to the traditional monitoring methods of application, implementation and maintenance. Large amounts of existing mooring systems still lack valid monitoring strategies. In this paper, an underwater monitoring method which may be used to achieve the mechanical responses of a multi-point catenary mooring system, is present. A novel self-contained assembled water depth-inclination (D-I) sensor is designed and manufactured. Several advanced technologies, such as standalone, low power consumption and synchronism, are considered to satisfy the long-term implementation requirements with low cost during the design process. The design scheme of the water resistance barrel and installation clamp, which satisfies the diver installation, are also provided in the paper. An on-site test has previously been carried out on a production semisubmersible platform in the South China Sea. The prototype data analyses, including the D-I value in the time domain (including the data recorded during the mooring retraction and release process) and spectral characteristics, are presented to reveal the accuracy, feasibility and stability of the sensor in terms of fitting for the prototype monitoring of catenary mooring systems, especially for in-service aging platforms. PMID:27854357

Sampling frequency for water quality variables in streams: Systems analysis to quantify minimum monitoring rates.

PubMed

Chappell, Nick A; Jones, Timothy D; Tych, Wlodek

2017-10-15

Insufficient temporal monitoring of water quality in streams or engineered drains alters the apparent shape of storm chemographs, resulting in shifted model parameterisations and changed interpretations of solute sources that have produced episodes of poor water quality. This so-called 'aliasing' phenomenon is poorly recognised in water research. Using advances in in-situ sensor technology it is now possible to monitor sufficiently frequently to avoid the onset of aliasing. A systems modelling procedure is presented allowing objective identification of sampling rates needed to avoid aliasing within strongly rainfall-driven chemical dynamics. In this study aliasing of storm chemograph shapes was quantified by changes in the time constant parameter (TC) of transfer functions. As a proportion of the original TC, the onset of aliasing varied between watersheds, ranging from 3.9-7.7 to 54-79 %TC (or 110-160 to 300-600 min). However, a minimum monitoring rate could be identified for all datasets if the modelling results were presented in the form of a new statistic, ΔTC. For the eight H + , DOC and NO 3 -N datasets examined from a range of watershed settings, an empirically-derived threshold of 1.3(ΔTC) could be used to quantify minimum monitoring rates within sampling protocols to avoid artefacts in subsequent data analysis. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Market research on garment-based "wearables" and biophysical monitoring and a new monitoring method.

PubMed

Schultze, Claudia; Burr, Stacey

2004-01-01

Technology advancements are foremost on the minds of scientists and developers who are working to overcome the many hurdles associated with bringing consumers the enhanced benefits associated with next generation wearable health systems. Often the technology work takes a front seat to the basic requirements of traditional consumer apparel. The choices of what consumers elect to place and carry on their body can be practical, logical, emotional and sometimes seemingly random. By providing insights and data to support the claims, developers of wearable health systems of the future will be able improve their chance of consumer adoption and continued use by gaining a clearer picture of the people that will be wearing the systems. Results from 5 different consumer research studies are presented, examining consumer buying patterns, gender differences, regional differences, their receptivity to health benefits delivered via clothing and what they want from technology enhanced clothing. Market research related to biophysical monitoring utilizing smart fabrics or interactive textiles show a critical level of commercial activity. Medical applications focused on the aged, infant and critical patient care are taking the lead. This paper presents a look at the biophysical monitoring market and discusses new materials useful in garment systems and the challenges remaining for their development and integration with textiles. A new method of non-invasive monitoring of periodic activity is discussed.

Phase space representation of neutron monitor count rate and atmospheric electric field in relation to solar activity in cycles 21 and 22.

PubMed

Silva, H G; Lopes, I

Heliospheric modulation of galactic cosmic rays links solar cycle activity with neutron monitor count rate on earth. A less direct relation holds between neutron monitor count rate and atmospheric electric field because different atmospheric processes, including fluctuations in the ionosphere, are involved. Although a full quantitative model is still lacking, this link is supported by solid statistical evidence. Thus, a connection between the solar cycle activity and atmospheric electric field is expected. To gain a deeper insight into these relations, sunspot area (NOAA, USA), neutron monitor count rate (Climax, Colorado, USA), and atmospheric electric field (Lisbon, Portugal) are presented here in a phase space representation. The period considered covers two solar cycles (21, 22) and extends from 1978 to 1990. Two solar maxima were observed in this dataset, one in 1979 and another in 1989, as well as one solar minimum in 1986. Two main observations of the present study were: (1) similar short-term topological features of the phase space representations of the three variables, (2) a long-term phase space radius synchronization between the solar cycle activity, neutron monitor count rate, and potential gradient (confirmed by absolute correlation values above ~0.8). Finally, the methodology proposed here can be used for obtaining the relations between other atmospheric parameters (e.g., solar radiation) and solar cycle activity.

Twenty-Four-Hour Real-Time Continuous Monitoring of Cerebral Edema in Rabbits Based on a Noninvasive and Noncontact System of Magnetic Induction

PubMed Central

Li, Gen; Ma, Ke; Sun, Jian; Jin, Gui; Qin, Mingxin; Feng, Hua

2017-01-01

Cerebral edema is a common disease, secondary to craniocerebral injury, and real-time continuous monitoring of cerebral edema is crucial for treating patients after traumatic brain injury. This work established a noninvasive and noncontact system by monitoring the magnetic induction phase shift (MIPS) which is associated with brain tissue conductivity. Sixteen rabbits (experimental group n = 10, control group, n = 6) were used to perform a 24 h MIPS and intracranial pressure (ICP) simultaneously monitored experimental study. For the experimental group, after the establishment of epidural freeze-induced cerebral edema models, the MIPS presented a downward trend within 24 h, with a change magnitude of −13.1121 ± 2.3953°; the ICP presented an upward trend within 24 h, with a change magnitude of 12–41 mmHg. The ICP was negatively correlated with the MIPS. In the control group, the MIPS change amplitude was −0.87795 ± 1.5146 without obvious changes; the ICP fluctuated only slightly at the initial value of 12 mmHg. MIPS had a more sensitive performance than ICP in the early stage of cerebral edema. These results showed that this system is basically capable of monitoring gradual increases in the cerebral edema solution volume. To some extent, the MIPS has the potential to reflect the ICP changes. PMID:28282851

Mobile health-monitoring system through visible light communication.

PubMed

Tan, Yee-Yong; Chung, Wan-Young

2014-01-01

Promising development in the light emitting diode (LED) technology has spurred the interest to adapt LED for both illumination and data transmission. This has fostered the growth of interest in visible light communication (VLC), with on-going research to utilize VLC in various applications. This paper presents a mobile-health monitoring system, where healthcare information such as biomedical signals and patient information are transmitted via the LED lighting. A small and portable receiver module is designed and developed to be attached to the mobile device, providing a seamless monitoring environment. Three different healthcare information including ECG, PPG signals and HL7 text information is transmitted simultaneously, using a single channel VLC. This allows for a more precise and accurate monitoring and diagnosis. The data packet size is carefully designed, to transmit information in a minimal packet error rate. A comprehensive monitoring application is designed and developed through the use of a tablet computer in our study. Monitoring and evaluation such as heart rate and arterial blood pressure measurement can be performed concurrently. Real-time monitoring is demonstrated through experiment, where non-hazardous transmission method can be implemented alongside a portable device for better and safer healthcare service.

Regression analysis of mixed recurrent-event and panel-count data

PubMed Central

Zhu, Liang; Tong, Xinwei; Sun, Jianguo; Chen, Manhua; Srivastava, Deo Kumar; Leisenring, Wendy; Robison, Leslie L.

2014-01-01

In event history studies concerning recurrent events, two types of data have been extensively discussed. One is recurrent-event data (Cook and Lawless, 2007. The Analysis of Recurrent Event Data. New York: Springer), and the other is panel-count data (Zhao and others, 2010. Nonparametric inference based on panel-count data. Test 20, 1–42). In the former case, all study subjects are monitored continuously; thus, complete information is available for the underlying recurrent-event processes of interest. In the latter case, study subjects are monitored periodically; thus, only incomplete information is available for the processes of interest. In reality, however, a third type of data could occur in which some study subjects are monitored continuously, but others are monitored periodically. When this occurs, we have mixed recurrent-event and panel-count data. This paper discusses regression analysis of such mixed data and presents two estimation procedures for the problem. One is a maximum likelihood estimation procedure, and the other is an estimating equation procedure. The asymptotic properties of both resulting estimators of regression parameters are established. Also, the methods are applied to a set of mixed recurrent-event and panel-count data that arose from a Childhood Cancer Survivor Study and motivated this investigation. PMID:24648408

A noninvasive multimodal technique to monitor brain tumor vascularization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saxena, Vishal; Gonzalez-Gomez, Ignacio; Laug, Walter E.

2007-09-01

Determination of tumor oxygenation at the microvascular level will provide important insight into tumor growth, angiogenesis, necrosis and therapeutic response and will facilitate to develop protocols for studying tumor behavior. The non-ionizing near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique has the potential to differentiate lesion and hemoglobin dynamics; however, it has a limited spatial resolution. On the other hand, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has achieved high spatial resolution with excellent tissue discrimination but is more susceptible to limited ability to monitor the hemoglobin dynamics. In the present work, the vascular status and the pathophysiological changes that occur during tumor vascularization are studied in an orthotopic brain tumor model. A noninvasive multimodal approach based on the NIRS technique, namely steady state diffuse optical spectroscopy (SSDOS) along with MRI, is applied for monitoring the concentrations of oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin and water within tumor region. The concentrations of oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin and water within tumor vasculature are extracted at 15 discrete wavelengths in a spectral window of 675-780 nm. We found a direct correlation between tumor size, intratumoral microvessel density and tumor oxygenation. The relative decrease in tumor oxygenation with growth indicates that though blood vessels infiltrate and proliferate the tumor region, a hypoxic trend is clearly present.

The influence of directed attention at encoding on source memory retrieval in the young and old: an ERP study.

PubMed

Dulas, Michael R; Duarte, Audrey

2013-03-15

Neuroimaging evidence suggests that older adults exhibit deficits in frontally-mediated strategic retrieval processes, such as post-retrieval monitoring. Behavioral research suggests that explicitly directing attention toward source features during encoding may improve source memory for both young and older adults and alleviate age-related source memory impairments, in part, by reducing demands on post-retrieval monitoring. We investigated this hypothesis in the present event-related potential (ERP) study. Young and older adults attended to either objects and their presented color (source) or to the object alone during study and made color source memory decisions at test. We attempted to match performance between groups by halving the memory load for older adults. Behavioral results showed that, while direction of attention to object and color improved source memory for both groups, older adults benefited less than the young. ERPs revealed that demands on late right frontal effects, indicative of post-retrieval monitoring, were similarly reduced by directed attention at encoding for both groups. However, older adults showed reduced ERP correlates of recollection (parietal old-new effect), as well as a sustained widespread negativity, potentially indicative of memory searches for perceptual details in the face of impaired recollection. These results suggest that older adults, like the young, can engage in post-retrieval monitoring when source details are difficult to recover. However, impaired recollection may underlie persistent age-related source memory deficits, even when encoding is supported via directed attention. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Calibration of low-cost gas sensors for an urban air quality monitoring network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, A.; Kelley, C.; He, C.; Ghugare, P.; Lehman, A.; Benish, S.; Stratton, P.; Dickerson, R. R.; Zuidema, C.; Azdoud, Y.; Ren, X.

2017-12-01

In a warming world, environmental pollution may be exacerbated by anthropogenic activities, such as climate change and the urban heat island effect, as well as natural phenomena such as heat waves. However, monitoring air pollution at federal reference standards (approximately 1 part per billion or ppb for ambient ozone) is cost-prohibitive in heterogeneous urban areas as many expensive devices are required to fully capture a region's geo-spatial variability. Innovation in low-cost sensors provide a potential solution, yet technical challenges remain to overcome possible imprecision in the data. We present the calibrations of ozone and nitrous dioxide from a low-cost air quality monitoring device designed for the Baltimore Open Air Project. The sensors used in this study are commercially available thin film electrochemical sensors from SPEC Sensor, which are amperometric, meaning they generate current proportional to volumetric fraction of gas. The results of sensor calibrations in the laboratory and field are presented.

A novel low-complexity digital filter design for wearable ECG devices

PubMed Central

Mehrnia, Alireza

2017-01-01

Wearable and implantable Electrocardiograph (ECG) devices are becoming prevailing tools for continuous real-time personal health monitoring. The ECG signal can be contaminated by various types of noise and artifacts (e.g., powerline interference, baseline wandering) that must be removed or suppressed for accurate ECG signal processing. Limited device size, power consumption and cost are critical issues that need to be carefully considered when designing any portable health monitoring device, including a battery-powered ECG device. This work presents a novel low-complexity noise suppression reconfigurable finite impulse response (FIR) filter structure for wearable ECG and heart monitoring devices. The design relies on a recently introduced optimally-factored FIR filter method. The new filter structure and several of its useful features are presented in detail. We also studied the hardware complexity of the proposed structure and compared it with the state-of-the-art. The results showed that the new ECG filter has a lower hardware complexity relative to the state-of-the-art ECG filters. PMID:28384272

An IoT-Based Computational Framework for Healthcare Monitoring in Mobile Environments.

PubMed

Mora, Higinio; Gil, David; Terol, Rafael Muñoz; Azorín, Jorge; Szymanski, Julian

2017-10-10

The new Internet of Things paradigm allows for small devices with sensing, processing and communication capabilities to be designed, which enable the development of sensors, embedded devices and other 'things' ready to understand the environment. In this paper, a distributed framework based on the internet of things paradigm is proposed for monitoring human biomedical signals in activities involving physical exertion. The main advantages and novelties of the proposed system is the flexibility in computing the health application by using resources from available devices inside the body area network of the user. This proposed framework can be applied to other mobile environments, especially those where intensive data acquisition and high processing needs take place. Finally, we present a case study in order to validate our proposal that consists in monitoring footballers' heart rates during a football match. The real-time data acquired by these devices presents a clear social objective of being able to predict not only situations of sudden death but also possible injuries.

An IoT-Based Computational Framework for Healthcare Monitoring in Mobile Environments

PubMed Central

Szymanski, Julian

2017-01-01

The new Internet of Things paradigm allows for small devices with sensing, processing and communication capabilities to be designed, which enable the development of sensors, embedded devices and other ‘things’ ready to understand the environment. In this paper, a distributed framework based on the internet of things paradigm is proposed for monitoring human biomedical signals in activities involving physical exertion. The main advantages and novelties of the proposed system is the flexibility in computing the health application by using resources from available devices inside the body area network of the user. This proposed framework can be applied to other mobile environments, especially those where intensive data acquisition and high processing needs take place. Finally, we present a case study in order to validate our proposal that consists in monitoring footballers’ heart rates during a football match. The real-time data acquired by these devices presents a clear social objective of being able to predict not only situations of sudden death but also possible injuries. PMID:28994743

A novel low-complexity digital filter design for wearable ECG devices.

PubMed

Asgari, Shadnaz; Mehrnia, Alireza

2017-01-01

Wearable and implantable Electrocardiograph (ECG) devices are becoming prevailing tools for continuous real-time personal health monitoring. The ECG signal can be contaminated by various types of noise and artifacts (e.g., powerline interference, baseline wandering) that must be removed or suppressed for accurate ECG signal processing. Limited device size, power consumption and cost are critical issues that need to be carefully considered when designing any portable health monitoring device, including a battery-powered ECG device. This work presents a novel low-complexity noise suppression reconfigurable finite impulse response (FIR) filter structure for wearable ECG and heart monitoring devices. The design relies on a recently introduced optimally-factored FIR filter method. The new filter structure and several of its useful features are presented in detail. We also studied the hardware complexity of the proposed structure and compared it with the state-of-the-art. The results showed that the new ECG filter has a lower hardware complexity relative to the state-of-the-art ECG filters.

Design and methodology of the NorthStar Study: NT-proBNP stratified follow-up in outpatient heart failure clinics -- a randomized Danish multicenter study.

PubMed

Schou, Morten; Gustafsson, Finn; Videbaek, Lars; Markenvard, John; Ulriksen, Hans; Ryde, Henrik; Jensen, Jens C H; Nielsen, Tonny; Knudsen, Anne S; Tuxen, Christian D; Handberg, Jens; Sørensen, Per J; Espersen, Geert; Lind-Rasmussen, Søren; Keller, Niels; Egstrup, Kenneth; Nielsen, Olav W; Abdulla, Jawdat; Nyvad, Ole; Toft, Jens; Hildebrandt, Per R

2008-10-01

Randomized clinical trials have shown that newly discharged and symptomatic patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) benefit from follow-up in a specialized heart failure clinic (HFC). Clinical stable and educated patients are usually discharged from the HFC when on optimal therapy. It is unknown if risk stratification using natriuretic peptides could identify patients who would benefit from longer-term follow-up. Furthermore, data on the use of natriuretic peptides for monitoring of stable patients with CHF are sparse. The aims of this study are to test the hypothesis that clinical stable, educated, and medical optimized patients with CHF with N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels > or = 1,000 pg/mL benefit from long-term follow-up in an HFC and to assess the efficacy of NT-proBNP monitoring. A total of 1,250 clinically stable, medically optimized, and educated patients with CHF will be enrolled from 18 HFCs in Denmark. The patients will be randomized to treatment in general practice, to a standard follow-up program in the HFC, or to NT-proBNP monitoring in the HFC. The patients will be followed for 30 months (median). Data will be collected from 2006 to 2009. At present (March 2008), 720 patients are randomized. Results expect to be presented in the second half of 2010. This article outlines the design of the NorthStar study. If our hypotheses are confirmed, the results will help cardiologists and nurses in HFCs to identify patients who may benefit from long-term follow-up. Our results may also indicate whether patients with CHF will benefit from adding serial NT-proBNP measurements to usual clinical monitoring.

Assessing the Performance of a Network of Low Cost Particulate Matter Sensors Deployed in Sacramento, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, A. D.; Brown, S. G.; McCarthy, M. C.

2017-12-01

A new generation of low cost air quality sensors have the potential to provide valuable information on the spatial-temporal variability of air pollution - if the measurements have sufficient quality. This study examined the performance of a particulate matter sensor model, the AirBeam (HabitatMap Inc., Brooklyn, NY), over a three month period in the urban environment of Sacramento, California. Nineteen AirBeam sensors were deployed at a regulatory air monitoring site collocated with meteorology measurements and as a local network over an 80 km2 domain in Sacramento, CA. This study presents the methodology to evaluate the precision, accuracy, and reliability of the sensors over a range of meteorological and aerosol conditions. The sensors demonstrated a robust degree of precision during collocated measurement periods (R2 = 0.98 - 0.99) and a moderate degree of correlation against a Beta Attenuation Monitor PM2.5 monitor (R2 0.6). A normalization correction is applied during the study period so that each AirBeam sensor in the network reports a comparable value. The role of the meteorological environment on the accuracy of the sensor measurements is investigated, along with the possibility of improving the measurements through a meteorology weighted correction. The data quality of the network of sensors is examined, and the spatial variability of particulate matter through the study domain derived from the sensor network is presented.

Hybrid hard- and soft-modeling of spectrophotometric data for monitoring of ciprofloxacin and its main photodegradation products at different pH values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razuc, Mariela; Garrido, Mariano; Caro, Yamile S.; Teglia, Carla M.; Goicoechea, Héctor C.; Fernández Band, Beatriz S.

2013-04-01

A simple and fast on line spectrophotometric method combined with a hybrid hard-soft modeling multivariate curve resolution (HS-MCR) was proposed for the monitoring of photodegradation reaction of ciprofloxacin under UV radiation. The studied conditions attempt to emulate the effect of sunlight on these antibiotics that could be eventually present in the environment. The continuous flow system made it possible to study the ciprofloxacin degradation at different pH values almost at real time, avoiding errors that could arise from typical batch monitoring of the reaction. On the base of a concentration profiles obtained by previous pure soft-modeling approach, reaction pathways have been proposed for the parent compound and its photoproducts at different pH values. These kinetic models were used as a constraint in the HS-MCR analysis. The kinetic profiles and the corresponding pure response profile (UV-Vis spectra) of ciprofloxacin and its main degradation products were recovered after the application of HS-MCR analysis to the spectra recorded throughout the reaction. The observed behavior showed a good agreement with the photodegradation studies reported in the bibliography. Accordingly, the photodegradation reaction was studied by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV-Vis diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The spectra recorded during the chromatographic analysis present a good correlation with the ones recovered by UV-Vis/HS-MCR method.

Increasing Parent Involvement in Youth HIV Prevention: A Randomized Caribbean Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baptiste, Donna R.; Kapungu, Chisina; Miller, Steve; Crown, Laurel; Henry, David; Da Costa Martinez, Dona; Jo-Bennett, Karen

2009-01-01

This article presents preliminary findings of a randomized HIV prevention study in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. The study centers on a family HIV workshop aimed at strengthening parenting skills that are empirically linked to reducing adolescent HIV exposure and other sexual risks. These skills include parental monitoring; educating youth…

Financial Indicators of Reduced Impact Logging Performance in Brazil: Case Study Comparisons

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Frederick Boltz; Douglas R. Carter

2001-01-01

Indicators of financial performance are compared for three case studies in the Brazilian Amazon. Each case study presents parameters obtained from monitoring initial harvest entries into primary forests for reduced impact logging (RIL) and conventional logging (CL) operations. Differences in cost definitions and data collection protocols complicate the analysis, and...

Active and passive electrical and seismic time-lapse monitoring of earthen embankments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rittgers, Justin Bradley

In this dissertation, I present research involving the application of active and passive geophysical data collection, data assimilation, and inverse modeling for the purpose of earthen embankment infrastructure assessment. Throughout the dissertation, I identify several data characteristics, and several challenges intrinsic to characterization and imaging of earthen embankments and anomalous seepage phenomena, from both a static and time-lapse geophysical monitoring perspective. I begin with the presentation of a field study conducted on a seeping earthen dam, involving static and independent inversions of active tomography data sets, and self-potential modeling of fluid flow within a confined aquifer. Additionally, I present results of active and passive time-lapse geophysical monitoring conducted during two meso-scale laboratory experiments involving the failure and self-healing of embankment filter materials via induced vertical cracking. Identified data signatures and trends, as well as 4D inversion results, are discussed as an underlying motivation for conducting subsequent research. Next, I present a new 4D acoustic emissions source localization algorithm that is applied to passive seismic monitoring data collected during a full-scale embankment failure test. Acoustic emissions localization results are then used to help spatially constrain 4D inversion of collocated self-potential monitoring data. I then turn to time-lapse joint inversion of active tomographic data sets applied to the characterization and monitoring of earthen embankments. Here, I develop a new technique for applying spatiotemporally varying structural joint inversion constraints. The new technique, referred to as Automatic Joint Constraints (AJC), is first demonstrated on a synthetic 2D joint model space, and is then applied to real geophysical monitoring data sets collected during a full-scale earthen embankment piping-failure test. Finally, I discuss some non-technical issues related to earthen embankment failures from a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Policy (STEP) perspective. Here, I discuss how the proclaimed scientific expertise and shifting of responsibility (Responsibilization) by governing entities tasked with operating and maintaining water storage and conveyance infrastructure throughout the United States tends to create barriers for 1) public voice and participation in relevant technical activities and outcomes, 2) meaningful discussions with the public and media during crisis communication, and 3) public perception of risk and the associated resilience of downhill communities.

Continuous long-term health monitoring using ultrasonic wave propagation.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

This report presents the findings of a research project on using ultrasonic testing to : continuously monitor reinforced concrete bridge decks for the onset of delamination. The : report first presents a review of current nondestructive testing techn...

Dedicated real-time monitoring system for health care using ZigBee.

PubMed

Alwan, Omar S; Prahald Rao, K

2017-08-01

Real-time monitoring systems (RTMSs) have drawn considerable attentions in the last decade. Several commercial versions of RTMS for patient monitoring are available which are used by health care professionals. Though they are working satisfactorily on various communication protocols, their range, power consumption, data rate and cost are really bothered. In this study, the authors present an efficient embedded system based wireless health care monitoring system using ZigBee. Their system has a capability to transmit the data between two embedded systems through two transceivers over a long range. In this, wireless transmission has been applied through two categories. The first part which contains Arduino with ZigBee will send the signals to the second device, which contains Raspberry with ZigBee. The second device will measure the patient data and send it to the first device through ZigBee transceiver. The designed system is demonstrated on volunteers to measure the body temperature which is clinically important to monitor and diagnose for fever in the patients.