Editing Transgenic DNA Components by Inducible Gene Replacement in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Lin, Chun-Chieh; Potter, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

Gene conversions occur when genomic double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) trigger unidirectional transfer of genetic material from a homologous template sequence. Exogenous or mutated sequence can be introduced through this homology-directed repair (HDR). We leveraged gene conversion to develop a method for genomic editing of existing transgenic insertions in Drosophila melanogaster. The clustered regularly-interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system is used in the homology assisted CRISPR knock-in (HACK) method to induce DSBs in a GAL4 transgene, which is repaired by a single-genomic transgenic construct containing GAL4 homologous sequences flanking a T2A-QF2 cassette. With two crosses, this technique converts existing GAL4 lines, including enhancer traps, into functional QF2 expressing lines. We used HACK to convert the most commonly-used GAL4 lines (labeling tissues such as neurons, fat, glia, muscle, and hemocytes) to QF2 lines. We also identified regions of the genome that exhibited differential efficiencies of HDR. The HACK technique is robust and readily adaptable for targeting and replacement of other genomic sequences, and could be a useful approach to repurpose existing transgenes as new genetic reagents become available. PMID:27334272

Evacuate and backfill apparatus and method

DOEpatents

Oakley, D.J.; Groves, O.J.

1984-06-27

An apparatus and method as described for treatment of hollow articles by evacuating existing gas or gases therefrom and purging or backfilling the articles with a second gas such as helium. The apparatus includes a sealed enclosure having an article storage drum mounted therein. A multiplicity of such articles are fed singly into the enclosure and loaded into radial slots formed in the drum. The enclosure is successively evacuated and purged with helium to replace the existing gas in the articles with helium. The purged articles are then discharged singly from the drum and transported out of the enclosure.

Management of medical technology: case study of a major acute hospital.

PubMed

Brown, Ian; Smale, Andrew

2007-01-01

This paper presents results of a Capital Equipment Management Plan undertaken at a major acute hospital in Australia. By classifying existing equipment using a threshold replacement value into Major and Minor items, detailed planning information was collected for 527 items of Major equipment representing 80% of the hospital's total equipment stock. A number of meaningful views of this significant asset base are presented, and a prioritisation method used to provide recommendations for future equipment replacement and acquisition for a 5 year planning period. The survey work to identify and document actual equipment items provides a convincing argument for the funding levels required for capital equipment replacement and acquisition, and evidence for the extent of technology reliance in modern health care facilities.

36 CFR 72.41 - Demolition and replacement of existing recreation properties.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR URBAN PARK AND RECREATION RECOVERY ACT OF 1978 Grants for Recovery Action Program Development, Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.41 Demolition and replacement of existing...

Estimating the Cost of Standardized Student Testing in the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phelps, Richard P.

2000-01-01

Describes and contrasts different methods of estimating costs of standardized testing. Using a cost-accounting approach, compares gross and marginal costs and considers testing objects (test materials and services, personnel and student time, and administrative/building overhead). Social marginal costs of replacing existing tests with a national…

Defining Learning Disability: Does IQ Have Anything Significant to Say?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Michael W.

2010-01-01

A debate exists in the research community about replacing the traditional IQ/achievement discrepancy method for learning disability identification with a "response-to-intervention model". This new assessment paradigm uses a student's level of improvement with small-group or individual programming to determine a possible need for…

Navy Stock Point Local Unique Computer Programs: An Analysis for Transition and Management Under the Stock Point ADP Replacement (SPAR) Project.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-03-01

Project (SPAR). An impor- tant issue of the replacement will be the conversion of existing co uter software to allow transition from the current... issue of the replacement will be the conversion of existing computer software to allow transition from the current hardware environment to the replacement...36 G. LOCAL PROGRAM C1/C2 CONVERSION CONTRACT . . . 38 5 H. LOCAL PROGRAM COMMONALITY ISSUES ....... 41 I. SUMMARY

A testbed for optimizing electrodes embedded in the skull or in artificial skull replacement pieces used after injury

PubMed Central

Jiang, JingLe; Marathe, Amar R.; Keene, Jennifer C.; Taylor, Dawn M.

2016-01-01

Background Custom-fitted skull replacement pieces are often used after a head injury or surgery to replace damaged bone. Chronic brain recordings are beneficial after injury/surgery for monitoring brain health and seizure development. Embedding electrodes directly in these artificial skull replacement pieces would be a novel, low-risk way to perform chronic brain monitoring in these patients. Similarly, embedding electrodes directly in healthy skull would be a viable minimally-invasive option for many other neuroscience and neurotechnology applications requiring chronic brain recordings. New Method We demonstrate a preclinical testbed that can be used for refining electrode designs embedded in artificial skull replacement pieces or for embedding directly into the skull itself. Options are explored to increase the surface area of the contacts without increasing recording contact diameter to maximize recording resolution. Results Embedding electrodes in real or artificial skull allows one to lower electrode impedance without increasing the recording contact diameter by making use of conductive channels that extend into the skull. The higher density of small contacts embedded in the artificial skull in this testbed enables one to optimize electrode spacing for use in real bone. Comparison with Existing Methods For brain monitoring applications, skull-embedded electrodes fill a gap between electroencephalograms recorded on the scalp surface and the more invasive epidural or subdural electrode sheets. Conclusions Embedding electrodes into the skull or in skull replacement pieces may provide a safe, convenient, minimally-invasive alternative for chronic brain monitoring. The manufacturing methods described here will facilitate further testing of skull-embedded electrodes in animal models. PMID:27979758

A simple analytical procedure to replace HPLC for monitoring treatment concentrations of chloramine-T on fish culture facilities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dawson, Verdel K.; Meinertz, Jeffery R.; Schmidt, Larry J.; Gingerich, William H.

2003-01-01

Concentrations of chloramine-T must be monitored during experimental treatments of fish when studying the effectiveness of the drug for controlling bacterial gill disease. A surrogate analytical method for analysis of chloramine-T to replace the existing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is described. A surrogate method was needed because the existing HPLC method is expensive, requires a specialist to use, and is not generally available at fish hatcheries. Criteria for selection of a replacement method included ease of use, analysis time, cost, safety, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The most promising approach was to use the determination of chlorine concentrations as an indicator of chloramine-T. Of the currently available methods for analysis of chlorine, the DPD (N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine) colorimetric method best fit the established criteria. The surrogate method was evaluated under a variety of water quality conditions. Regression analysis of all DPD colorimetric analyses with the HPLC values produced a linear model (Y=0.9602 X+0.1259) with an r2 value of 0.9960. The average accuracy (percent recovery) of the DPD method relative to the HPLC method for the combined set of water quality data was 101.5%. The surrogate method was also evaluated with chloramine-T solutions that contained various concentrations of fish feed or selected densities of rainbow trout. When samples were analyzed within 2 h, the results of the surrogate method were consistent with those of the HPLC method. When samples with high concentrations of organic material were allowed to age more than 2 h before being analyzed, the DPD method seemed to be susceptible to interference, possibly from the development of other chloramine compounds. However, even after aging samples 6 h, the accuracy of the surrogate DPD method relative to the HPLC method was within the range of 80–120%. Based on the data comparing the two methods, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has concluded that the DPD colorimetric method is appropriate to use to measure chloramine-T in water during pivotal efficacy trials designed to support the approval of chloramine-T for use in fish culture.

76 FR 26606 - Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Illinois Waterway, Near Morris, IL

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-09

... allow removal of the existing lift span and installation of the replacement lift span. This deviation...-navigation position for eighty-four hours while the existing lift span is removed and the replacement lift...

76 FR 40237 - Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Illinois Waterway, Near Morris, IL

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-08

... allow removal of the existing lift span and installation of the replacement lift span. This deviation... position for eighty-four hours while the existing lift span is removed and the replacement lift span is...

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

J. E. Lawson, R. Marsala, S. Ramakrishnan, X. Zhao, P. Sichta

In order to provide improved and expanded experimental capabilities, the existing Transrex power supplies at PPPL are to be upgraded and modernized. Each of the 39 power supplies consists of two six pulse silicon controlled rectifier sections forming a twelve pulse power supply. The first modification is to split each supply into two independent six pulse supplies by replacing the existing obsolete twelve pulse firing generator with two commercially available six pulse firing generators. The second change replaces the existing control link with a faster system, with greater capacity, which will allow for independent control of all 78 power supplymore » sections. The third change replaces the existing Computer Automated Measurement and Control (CAMAC) based fault detector with an Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) compatible unit, eliminating the obsolete CAMAC modules. Finally the remaining relay logic and interfaces to the "Hardwired Control System" will be replaces with a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).« less

Digital I and C system upgrade integration technique

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

Huang, H. W.; Shih, C.; Wang, J. R.

2012-07-01

This work developed an integration technique for digital I and C system upgrade, the utility can replace the I and C systems step by step systematically by this method. Inst. of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) developed a digital Instrumentation and Control (I and C) replacement integration technique on the basis of requirement of the three existing nuclear power plants (NPPs), which are Chin-Shan (CS) NPP, Kuo-Sheng (KS) NPP, and Maanshan (MS) NPP, in Taiwan, and also developed the related Critical Digital Review (CDR) Procedure. The digital I and C replacement integration technique includes: (I) Establishment of Nuclear Power Plant Digitalmore » Replacement Integration Guideline, (2) Preliminary Investigation on I and C System Digitalization, (3) Evaluation on I and C System Digitalization, and (4) Establishment of I and C System Digitalization Architectures. These works can be a reference for performing I and C system digital replacement integration of the three existing NPPs of Taiwan Power Company (TPC). A CDR is the review for a critical system digital I and C replacement. The major reference of this procedure is EPRI TR- 1011710 (2005) 'Handbook for Evaluating Critical Digital Equipment and Systems' which was published by the Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI). With this document, INER developed a TPC-specific CDR procedure. Currently, CDR becomes one of the policies for digital I and C replacement in TPC. The contents of this CDR procedure include: Scope, Responsibility, Operation Procedure, Operation Flow Chart, CDR review items. The CDR review items include the comparison of the design change, Software Verification and Validation (SVandV), Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Evaluation of Diversity and Defense-in-depth (D3), Evaluation of Watchdog Timer, Evaluation of Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), Evaluation of Grounding for System/Component, Seismic Evaluation, Witness and Inspection, Lessons Learnt from the Digital I and C Failure Events. A solid review can assure the quality of the digital I and C system replacement. (authors)« less

Disposal of Information Seeking and Retrieval Research: Replacement with a Radical Proposition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budd, John M.; Anstaett, Ashley

2013-01-01

Introduction: Research and theory on the topics of information seeking and retrieval have been plagued by some fundamental problems for several decades. Many of the difficulties spring from mechanistic and instrumental thinking and modelling. Method: Existing models of information retrieval and information seeking are examined for efficacy in a…

Alternate Methods of Effluent Disposal for On-Lot Home Sewage Systems. Special Circular 214.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wooding, N. Henry

This circular provides current information for homeowners who must repair or replace existing on-lot sewage disposal systems. Several alternatives such as elevated sand mounds, sand-lined beds and trenches and oversized absorption areas are discussed. Site characteristics and preparation are outlined. Each alternative is accompanied by a diagram…

Radiological/biological/aerosol removal system

DOEpatents

Haslam, Jeffery J

2015-03-17

An air filter replacement system for existing buildings, vehicles, arenas, and other enclosed airspaces includes a replacement air filter for replacing a standard air filter. The replacement air filter has dimensions and air flow specifications that allow it to replace the standard air filter. The replacement air filter includes a filter material that removes radiological or biological or aerosol particles.

Adopt or Adapt: Sanitation Technology Choices in Urbanizing Malawi.

PubMed

Chunga, Richard M; Ensink, Jeroen H J; Jenkins, Marion W; Brown, Joe

2016-01-01

This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study examining adaptation strategies that property owners in low-income, rapidly urbanizing areas in Malawi adopt to address the limitations of pit latrines, the most common method of disposing human excreta. A particular challenge is lack of space for constructing new latrines as population density increases: traditional practice has been to cap full pits and simply move to a new site, but increasing demands on space require new approaches to extend the service life of latrines. In this context, we collected data on sanitation technology choices from January to September 2013 through 48 in-depth interviews and a stated preference survey targeting 1,300 property owners from 27 low-income urban areas. Results showed that property owners with concern about space for replacing pit latrines were 1.8 times more likely to select pit emptying service over the construction of new pit latrines with a slab floor (p = 0.02) but there was no significant association between concern about space for replacing pit latrines and intention to adopt locally promoted, novel sanitation technology known as ecological sanitation (ecosan). Property owners preferred to adapt existing, known technology by constructing replacement pit latrines on old pit latrine locations, reducing the frequency of replacing pit latrines, or via emptying pit latrines when full. This study highlights potential challenges to adoption of wholly new sanitation technologies, even when they present clear advantages to end users. To scale, alternative sanitation technologies for rapidly urbanising cities should offer clear advantages, be affordable, be easy to use when shared among multiple households, and their design should be informed by existing adaptation strategies and local knowledge.

Adopt or Adapt: Sanitation Technology Choices in Urbanizing Malawi

PubMed Central

Chunga, Richard M.; Ensink, Jeroen H. J.; Jenkins, Marion W.; Brown, Joe

2016-01-01

This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study examining adaptation strategies that property owners in low-income, rapidly urbanizing areas in Malawi adopt to address the limitations of pit latrines, the most common method of disposing human excreta. A particular challenge is lack of space for constructing new latrines as population density increases: traditional practice has been to cap full pits and simply move to a new site, but increasing demands on space require new approaches to extend the service life of latrines. In this context, we collected data on sanitation technology choices from January to September 2013 through 48 in-depth interviews and a stated preference survey targeting 1,300 property owners from 27 low-income urban areas. Results showed that property owners with concern about space for replacing pit latrines were 1.8 times more likely to select pit emptying service over the construction of new pit latrines with a slab floor (p = 0.02) but there was no significant association between concern about space for replacing pit latrines and intention to adopt locally promoted, novel sanitation technology known as ecological sanitation (ecosan). Property owners preferred to adapt existing, known technology by constructing replacement pit latrines on old pit latrine locations, reducing the frequency of replacing pit latrines, or via emptying pit latrines when full. This study highlights potential challenges to adoption of wholly new sanitation technologies, even when they present clear advantages to end users. To scale, alternative sanitation technologies for rapidly urbanising cities should offer clear advantages, be affordable, be easy to use when shared among multiple households, and their design should be informed by existing adaptation strategies and local knowledge. PMID:27532871

Interior LED Lighting Technology. Navy Energy Technology Validation (Techval) Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

usually on most of the time. • Consider replacing existing CFL, high-intensity discharge (HID), or halogen lamp light fixtures/ lamps with LED fixtures... lamps . What is the Technology? An LED is a semiconductor-diode that emits light when power is applied. A driver is used, much as a ballast, to...available in integrated luminaires that can be used to replace existing luminaires. LEDs are also available as direct replacement lamps for many

Bootstrap-based methods for estimating standard errors in Cox's regression analyses of clustered event times.

PubMed

Xiao, Yongling; Abrahamowicz, Michal

2010-03-30

We propose two bootstrap-based methods to correct the standard errors (SEs) from Cox's model for within-cluster correlation of right-censored event times. The cluster-bootstrap method resamples, with replacement, only the clusters, whereas the two-step bootstrap method resamples (i) the clusters, and (ii) individuals within each selected cluster, with replacement. In simulations, we evaluate both methods and compare them with the existing robust variance estimator and the shared gamma frailty model, which are available in statistical software packages. We simulate clustered event time data, with latent cluster-level random effects, which are ignored in the conventional Cox's model. For cluster-level covariates, both proposed bootstrap methods yield accurate SEs, and type I error rates, and acceptable coverage rates, regardless of the true random effects distribution, and avoid serious variance under-estimation by conventional Cox-based standard errors. However, the two-step bootstrap method over-estimates the variance for individual-level covariates. We also apply the proposed bootstrap methods to obtain confidence bands around flexible estimates of time-dependent effects in a real-life analysis of cluster event times.

IDEF5 Ontology Description Capture Method: Concepts and Formal Foundations

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

cutter comes to exist. The puzzle here goes back to Greek times iii the guise of the Ship of Theseus : if we bit by bit replace the planks of a ship...831 Barwise, J. and Perry, J., Situations and Attitudes, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 1983. [Burch 911 Burch, R., A Peircean Reduction Thesis : The

Biological Control of Introduced Weeds of Native Hawaiian Forests

Treesearch

George P. Markin; Roddy F. Nagata; Donald E. Gardner

1992-01-01

Among the many threats to the continued existence of the remaining native forests and other native ecosystems of the Hawaiian Islands, the most severe and the most difficult to control are the invasion and replacement by induced species of plants. Because conventional methods of plant management have faild to control this invasion, a multiagency, state and federal...

A simple analytical procedure to replace HPLC for monitoring treatment concentrations of chloramine-T on fish culture facilities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dawson, V.K.; Meinertz, J.R.; Schmidt, L.J.; Gingerich, W.H.

2003-01-01

Concentrations of chloramine-T must be monitored during experimental treatments of fish when studying the effectiveness of the drug for controlling bacterial gill disease. A surrogate analytical method for analysis of chloramine-T to replace the existing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is described. A surrogate method was needed because the existing HPLC method is expensive, requires a specialist to use, and is not generally available at fish hatcheries. Criteria for selection of a replacement method included ease of use, analysis time, cost, safety, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The most promising approach was to use the determination of chlorine concentrations as an indicator of chloramine-T. Of the currently available methods for analysis of chlorine, the DPD (N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine) colorimetric method best fit the established criteria. The surrogate method was evaluated under a variety of water quality conditions. Regression analysis of all DPD colorimetric analyses with the HPLC values produced a linear model (Y=0.9602 X+0.1259) with an r2 value of 0.9960. The average accuracy (percent recovery) of the DPD method relative to the HPLC method for the combined set of water quality data was 101.5%. The surrogate method was also evaluated with chloramine-T solutions that contained various concentrations of fish feed or selected densities of rainbow trout. When samples were analyzed within 2 h, the results of the surrogate method were consistent with those of the HPLC method. When samples with high concentrations of organic material were allowed to age more than 2 h before being analyzed, the DPD method seemed to be susceptible to interference, possibly from the development of other chloramine compounds. However, even after aging samples 6 h, the accuracy of the surrogate DPD method relative to the HPLC method was within the range of 80-120%. Based on the data comparing the two methods, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has concluded that the DPD colorimetric method is appropriate to use to measure chloramine-T in water during pivotal efficacy trials designed to support the approval of chloramine-T for use in fish culture. ?? 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Accurate mass replacement method for the sediment concentration measurement with a constant volume container

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ban, Yunyun; Chen, Tianqin; Yan, Jun; Lei, Tingwu

2017-04-01

The measurement of sediment concentration in water is of great importance in soil erosion research and soil and water loss monitoring systems. The traditional weighing method has long been the foundation of all the other measuring methods and instrument calibration. The development of a new method to replace the traditional oven-drying method is of interest in research and practice for the quick and efficient measurement of sediment concentration, especially field measurements. A new method is advanced in this study for accurately measuring the sediment concentration based on the accurate measurement of the mass of the sediment-water mixture in the confined constant volume container (CVC). A sediment-laden water sample is put into the CVC to determine its mass before the CVC is filled with water and weighed again for the total mass of the water and sediments in the container. The known volume of the CVC, the mass of sediment-laden water, and sediment particle density are used to calculate the mass of water, which is replaced by sediments, therefore sediment concentration of the sample is calculated. The influence of water temperature was corrected by measuring water density to determine the temperature of water before measurements were conducted. The CVC was used to eliminate the surface tension effect so as to obtain the accurate volume of water and sediment mixture. Experimental results showed that the method was capable of measuring the sediment concentration from 0.5 up to 1200 kg m-3. A good liner relationship existed between the designed and measured sediment concentrations with all the coefficients of determination greater than 0.999 and the averaged relative error less than 0.2%. All of these seem to indicate that the new method is capable of measuring a full range of sediment concentration above 0.5 kg m-3 to replace the traditional oven-drying method as a standard method for evaluating and calibrating other methods.

A Wireless Interface for Replacing the Cables in Bridge-Sensor Applications

PubMed Central

Pavlin, Marko; Novak, Franc

2012-01-01

This paper presents a solution in which a wireless interface is employed to replace the cables in bridge-sensor measurement applications. The most noticeable feature of the presented approach is the fact that the wireless interface simply replaces the cables without any additional hardware modification to the existing system. In this approach, the concept of reciprocal topology is employed, where the transmitter side acquires signals with its own transfer function and the receiver side reconstructs them with the transfer function reciprocal to the transmitter transfer function. In this paper the principle of data acquisition and reconstruction is described together with the implementation details of the signal transfer from the sensor to the signal-monitoring equipment. The wireless data communication was investigated and proprietary data-reduction methods were developed. The proposed methods and algorithms were implemented using two different wireless technologies. The performance was evaluated with a dedicated data-acquisition system and finally, the test results were analyzed. The two different sets of results indicated the high level of amplitude and the temporal accuracy of the wirelessly transferred sensor signals. PMID:23112585

Integral method for the calculation of three-dimensional, laminar and turbulent boundary layers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stock, H. W.

1978-01-01

The method for turbulent flows is a further development of an existing method; profile families with two parameters and a lag entrainment method replace the simple entrainment method and power profiles with one parameter. The method for laminar flows is a new development. Moment of momentum equations were used for the solution of the problem, the profile families were derived from similar solutions of boundary layer equations. Laminar and turbulent flows at the wings were calculated. The influence of wing tapering on the boundary layer development was shown. The turbulent boundary layer for a revolution ellipsoid is calculated for 0 deg and 10 deg incidence angles.

Prioritizing equipment for replacement.

PubMed

Capuano, Mike

2010-01-01

It is suggested that clinical engineers take the lead in formulating evaluation processes to recommend equipment replacement. Their skill, knowledge, and experience, combined with access to equipment databases, make them a logical choice. Based on ideas from Fennigkoh's scheme, elements such as age, vendor support, accumulated maintenance cost, and function/risk were used.6 Other more subjective criteria such as cost benefits and efficacy of newer technology were not used. The element of downtime was also omitted due to the data element not being available. The resulting Periop Master Equipment List and its rationale was presented to the Perioperative Services Program Council. They deemed the criteria to be robust and provided overwhelming acceptance of the list. It was quickly put to use to estimate required capital funding, justify items already thought to need replacement, and identify high-priority ranked items for replacement. Incorporating prioritization criteria into an existing equipment database would be ideal. Some commercially available systems do have the basic elements of this. Maintaining replacement data can be labor-intensive regardless of the method used. There is usually little time to perform the tasks necessary for prioritizing equipment. However, where appropriate, a clinical engineering department might be able to conduct such an exercise as shown in the following case study.

Energy Optimization Assessment at U.S. Army Installations: Fort Bliss, TX

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

that if implemented would reduce Fort Bliss’s annual energy use by up to 65 MWH/yr electric and 170,023 MMBtu/yr thermal savings (mostly natural gas...solar heating for domestic hot water at selected buildings 0 0 $— 6040 $— $— $— $— 0.0 HVAC #3 Replace warm air heating system in vehicle...HVAC #6* Replace existing boilers with high- efficiency boilers 0 0 0 4,591 41,708 4,250 45,958 267,781 5.8 HVAC #7* Replace existing heating and

The quest for tissue stem cells in the pancreas and other organs, and their application in beta-cell replacement.

PubMed

Houbracken, Isabelle; Bouwens, Luc

2010-01-01

Adult stem cell research has drawn a lot of attention by many researchers, due to its medical hope of cell replacement or regenerative therapy for diabetes patients. Despite the many research efforts to date, there is no consensus on the existence of stem cells in adult pancreas. Genetic lineage tracing experiments have put into serious doubt whether β-cell neogenesis from stem/progenitor cells takes place postnatally. Different in vitro experiments have suggested centroacinar, ductal, acinar, stellate, or yet unidentified clonigenic cells as candidate β-cell progenitors. As in the rest of the adult stem cell field, sound and promising observations have been made. However, these observations still need to be replicated. As an alternative to committed stem/progenitor cells in the pancreas, transdifferentiation or lineage reprogramming of exocrine acinar and endocrine α-cells may be used to generate new β-cells. At present, it is unclear which approach is most medically promising. This article highlights the progress being made in knowledge about tissue stem cells, their existence and availability for therapy in diabetes. Particular attention is given to the assessment of methods to verify the existence of tissue stem cells.

Readiness for Shifting from a Traditional Higher Education Learning System to an E-Learning System: A Case Study from the Sultanate of Oman

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Gattoufi, Said; Al-Naabi, Salem; Gattoufi, Bechir

2007-01-01

The Ministry of Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman initiated recently a restructuring program for the General Directorate Colleges of Education aiming to replace the existing six colleges with more applied and highly IT assisted institutions. A particular emphasis is directed towards improving the learning methods by developing and…

Instructional Equipment Funding in California Public Higher Education. A Report to the Legislature in Response to Supplemental Language in the 1985-86 Budget Act. Commission Report 85-38.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Postsecondary Education Commission, Sacramento.

Budgeting for instructional equipment at California's public colleges and universities is considered. Information is provided on how the University of California and the California State University budget the replacement of existing instructional equipment as well as instructional equipment in new or altered facilities. Methods used by the…

75 FR 5564 - Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-03

... improvements will include a replacement of the existing belt filter press for sludge generated at the plant... project. The purchase of the new rotary sludge press is intended to replace the existing belt filter press... criteria: (1) Rotary press; (2) screw press; (3) centrifuge; and (4) belt filter press. Of the four...

Replace-approximation method for ambiguous solutions in factor analysis of ultrasonic hepatic perfusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ji; Ding, Mingyue; Yuchi, Ming; Hou, Wenguang; Ye, Huashan; Qiu, Wu

2010-03-01

Factor analysis is an efficient technique to the analysis of dynamic structures in medical image sequences and recently has been used in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of hepatic perfusion. Time-intensity curves (TICs) extracted by factor analysis can provide much more diagnostic information for radiologists and improve the diagnostic rate of focal liver lesions (FLLs). However, one of the major drawbacks of factor analysis of dynamic structures (FADS) is nonuniqueness of the result when only the non-negativity criterion is used. In this paper, we propose a new method of replace-approximation based on apex-seeking for ambiguous FADS solutions. Due to a partial overlap of different structures, factor curves are assumed to be approximately replaced by the curves existing in medical image sequences. Therefore, how to find optimal curves is the key point of the technique. No matter how many structures are assumed, our method always starts to seek apexes from one-dimensional space where the original high-dimensional data is mapped. By finding two stable apexes from one dimensional space, the method can ascertain the third one. The process can be continued until all structures are found. This technique were tested on two phantoms of blood perfusion and compared to the two variants of apex-seeking method. The results showed that the technique outperformed two variants in comparison of region of interest measurements from phantom data. It can be applied to the estimation of TICs derived from CEUS images and separation of different physiological regions in hepatic perfusion.

Consequences of wear interruption for discomfort with contact lenses.

PubMed

Papas, Eric B; Tilia, Daniel; Tomlinson, Daniel; Williams, Josh; Chan, Eddy; Chan, Jason; Golebiowski, Blanka

2014-01-01

To establish whether increased end-of-day discomfort during soft contact lens wear is associated with short-term changes occurring to the lens itself. Twenty-seven subjects wore hydrogel lenses (Focus Dailies; Alcon) bilaterally for 10 hours on two separate days. Comfort was reported using 1-100 numerical rating scales (1 = intolerable discomfort, 100 = lens cannot be felt). Day 1 ratings were taken before lens insertion and at 0.05, 5, and 10 hours post-insertion. Day 2 ratings occurred at similar times, but lenses were removed after the 5-hour assessment and either reinserted (n = 14) or newly replaced (n = 12). An additional rating was taken 5 minutes after re-insertion. Wear then continued to the 10-hour point. In a separate study, 24 different subjects repeated these procedures using a silicone hydrogel lens (AirOptix Aqua; Alcon) with wear taking place on 3 days to permit lens replacement to be with existing as well as new lenses in all subjects. For hydrogel lenses, comfort scores (mean ± 95% CI) reported after 10 hours were 79.4 ± 8.3 when lenses were worn un-replaced, compared with 73.2 ± 9.2 for replacement with the existing lens. When replacement was with a brand new lens, the corresponding values were 72.9 ± 10.9 (un-replaced) versus 69.2 ± 12.8 (new lens replacement). For silicone hydrogel lenses, 10-hour comfort was 90.3 ± 3.2 (un-replaced) versus 92.2 ± 2.9 (replacement with existing lens) versus 90.0 ± 3.3 (replacement with new lens). Differences between replacement conditions were not significant in any case (analysis of variance, p > 0.05). Final comfort was not influenced by replacing lenses midway through the wearing period. Comfort decrements experienced by users of these daily contact lenses towards the later part of the wearing period are not caused by changes occurring to the lenses on this time scale. Possible alternative etiological factors include a fatigue-like response in one or more ocular tissues or stimulation of ocular surface nociceptors induced by the presence of the contact lens.

Technology Solutions Case Study: Excavationless: Exterior-Side Foundation Insulation for Existing Homes

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

None

Building science research supports installing exterior (soil side) foundation insulation as the optimal method to enhance the hygrothermal performance of new homes. With exterior foundation insulation, water management strategies are maximized while insulating the basement space and ensuring a more even temperature at the foundation wall. This project describes an innovative, minimally invasive foundation insulation upgrade technique on an existing home that uses hydrovac excavation technology combined with a liquid insulating foam. Cost savings over the traditional excavation process ranged from 23% to 50%. The excavationless process could result in even greater savings since replacement of building structures, exterior features,more » utility meters, and landscaping would be minimal or non-existent in an excavationless process.« less

Alloplastic total temporomandibular joint replacements: do they perform like natural joints? Prospective cohort study with a historical control.

PubMed

Wojczyńska, A; Leiggener, C S; Bredell, M; Ettlin, D A; Erni, S; Gallo, L M; Colombo, V

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively describe the biomechanics of existing total alloplastic reconstructions of temporomandibular joints (TMJ). Fifteen patients with unilateral or bilateral TMJ total joint replacements and 15 healthy controls were evaluated via dynamic stereometry technology. This non-invasive method combines three-dimensional imaging of the subject's anatomy with jaw tracking. It provides an insight into the patient's jaw joint movements in real time and provides a quantitative evaluation. The patients were also evaluated clinically for jaw opening, protrusive and laterotrusive movements, pain, interference with eating, and satisfaction with the joint replacements. The qualitative assessment revealed that condyles of bilateral total joint replacements displayed similar basic motion patterns to those of unilateral prostheses. Quantitatively, mandibular movements of artificial joints during opening, protrusion, and laterotrusion were all significantly shorter than those of controls. A significantly restricted mandibular range of motion in replaced joints was also observed clinically. Fifty-three percent of patients suffered from chronic pain at rest and 67% reported reduced chewing function. Nonetheless, patients declared a high level of satisfaction with the replacement. This study shows that in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of complex therapeutic measures, a multidisciplinary approach is needed. Copyright © 2016 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improvement of Liquefiable Foundation Conditions Beneath Existing Structures.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-08-01

filter zones, and drains. Drilling fluids can cause hydraulic fracturing . These hazards can lead to to piping and hvdraulic fracturing Compression . 7...with results of piping and hydraulic fracturing (Continued) * Site conditions have been classified into three cases; Case 1 is for beneath -d...which could lead to piping and hydraulic fracturing Soil Reinforcement 16. Vibro-replacement See methods 2 and 3 stone and sand columns applicable to

Succession planning and leadership development: critical business strategies for healthcare organizations.

PubMed

Collins, Sandra K; Collins, Kevin S

2007-01-01

As labor shortages intensify, succession planning and leadership development have become strategic initiatives requiring rigorous consideration. Traditional methods of replacing personnel will not accommodate the vacancies expected to plague healthcare organizations. Managers should focus on identifying potential gaps of key personnel and adapting programs to accommodate organizational need. Attention should be placed on capturing the intellectual capital existent in the organization and developing diverse groups of leadership candidates.

Prioritization methodology for chemical replacement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cruit, Wendy; Goldberg, Ben; Schutzenhofer, Scott

1995-01-01

Since United States of America federal legislation has required ozone depleting chemicals (class 1 & 2) to be banned from production, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and industry have been required to find other chemicals and methods to replace these target chemicals. This project was initiated as a development of a prioritization methodology suitable for assessing and ranking existing processes for replacement 'urgency.' The methodology was produced in the form of a workbook (NASA Technical Paper 3421). The final workbook contains two tools, one for evaluation and one for prioritization. The two tools are interconnected in that they were developed from one central theme - chemical replacement due to imposed laws and regulations. This workbook provides matrices, detailed explanations of how to use them, and a detailed methodology for prioritization of replacement technology. The main objective is to provide a GUIDELINE to help direct the research for replacement technology. The approach for prioritization called for a system which would result in a numerical rating for the chemicals and processes being assessed. A Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique was used in order to determine numerical values which would correspond to the concerns raised and their respective importance to the process. This workbook defines the approach and the application of the QFD matrix. This technique: (1) provides a standard database for technology that can be easily reviewed, and (2) provides a standard format for information when requesting resources for further research for chemical replacement technology. Originally, this workbook was to be used for Class 1 and Class 2 chemicals, but it was specifically designed to be flexible enough to be used for any chemical used in a process (if the chemical and/or process needs to be replaced). The methodology consists of comparison matrices (and the smaller comparison components) which allow replacement technology to be quantitatively compared in several categories, and a QFD matrix which allows process/chemical pairs to be rated against one another for importance (using consistent categories). Depending on the need for application, one can choose the part(s) needed or have the methodology completed in its entirety. For example, if a program needs to show the risk of changing a process/chemical one may choose to use part of Matrix A and Matrix C. If a chemical is being used, and the process must be changed; one might use the Process Concerns part of Matrix D for the existing process and all possible replacement processes. If an overall analysis of a program is needed, one may request the QFD to be completed.

Hydraulic modeling of mussel habitat at a bridge-replacement site, Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fulton, John W.; Wagner, Chad R.; Rogers, Megan E.; Zimmerman, Gregory F.

2010-01-01

Based on the statistical targets established, the hydraulic model results suggest that an additional 2428 m2 or a 30-percent increase in suitable mussel habitat could be generated at the replacement-bridge site when compared to the baseline condition associated with the existing bridge at that same location. The study did not address the influences of substrate, acid mine drainage, sediment loads from tributaries, and surface-water/ground-water exchange on mussel habitat. Future studies could include methods for quantifying (1) channel–substrate composition and distribution using tools such as hydroacoustic echosounders specifically designed and calibrated to identify bed composition and mussel populations, (2) surface-water and ground-water interactions, and (3) a high-streamflow event.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the treatment of household plastic containers and packaging: replacement with biomass-based materials.

PubMed

Yano, Junya; Hirai, Yasuhiro; Sakai, Shin-ichi; Tsubota, Jun

2014-04-01

The purpose of this study was to quantify the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction that could be achieved by replacement of fossil-derived materials with biodegradable, biomass-based materials for household plastic containers and packaging, considering a variety of their treatment options. The biomass-based materials were 100% polylactide or a combination of polybutylene succinate adipate and polylactide. A scenario analysis was conducted considering alternative recycling methods. Five scenarios were considered: two for existing fossil-derived materials (the current approach in Japan) and the three for biomass-based materials. Production and waste disposal of 1 m(3) of plastic containers and packaging from households was defined as the functional unit. The results showed that replacement of fossil-derived materials with biomass-based materials could reduce life-cycle GHG emissions by 14-20%. Source separation and recycling should be promoted. When the separate collection ratio reached 100%, replacement with biomass-based materials could potentially reduce GHG emissions by 31.9%. Food containers are a priority for replacement, because they alone could reduce GHG emissions by 10%. A recycling system for biomass-based plastics must be carefully designed, considering aspects such as the transition period from fossil-derived plastics to biomass-based plastics.

78 FR 22942 - Pilkington North America, Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-17

... replacement rear windows manufactured for model year 2006 through 2009 Honda Civic two-door coupe passenger... approximately 206 replacement rear windows (National Auto Glass Specifications (NAGS) part number FB22692GTY...: Pilkington explains that the noncompliance for the 205 replacement rear windows exists due to Pilkington's...

Development of an intelligent controller for power generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxted, Clive; Waller, Winston

2005-01-01

This paper is a description of the development of an embedded controller for high power industrial diesel generators. The aim of the project was to replace the existing discrete logic design by an intelligent versatile and user configurable control system. A prototype embedded PC controlled system was developed, capable of fully replacing the existing system, with a colour TFT display and keypad. Features include fully automatic generator control as before with status and alarm display and monitoring of engine parameters, along with data logging, remote communications and a means of analysing data. The unit was tested on the bench and on diesel generators for the core controlling functionality to prove compliance with the specifications. The results of the testing proved the unit's suitability as a replacement for the existing system in its intended environment. The significance of this study is that a low cost replacement solution has been found for an industrial application by transferring modern technological knowledge to a small business. The company are now able to build on the design and take it into production, reducing servicing and production costs.

Disparities in Access to Over-the-Counter Nicotine Replacement Products in New York City Pharmacies

PubMed Central

Cabral, Lisa; Maantay, Juliana; Peprah, Dorothy; Lounsbury, David; Maroko, Andrew; Murphy, Mary; Shelley, Donna

2009-01-01

Objectives. We surveyed the availability of tobacco products and nonprescription nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in pharmacies in New York City, stratified by the race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) of the surrounding neighborhoods to determine whether disparities in availability existed. Methods. Surveyors visited a random sample of retail pharmacies to record the availability of tobacco products and nonprescription NRT. We used census data and geographic information systems analysis to determine the SES of each neighborhood. We used logistic modeling to explore relations between SES and the availability of NRT and tobacco products. Results. Of 646 pharmacies sampled, 90.8% sold NRT and 46.9% sold cigarettes. NRT and cigarettes were slightly more available in pharmacies in neighborhoods with a higher SES. NRT was more expensive in poorer neighborhoods. Conclusions. Small disparities existed in access to nonprescription NRT and cigarettes. The model did not adequately account for cigarette access, because of availability from other retail outlets. These results may explain some of the excess prevalence of cigarette use in low-SES areas. PMID:19638596

Investigation of Women with Postmenopausal Uterine Bleeding: Clinical Practice Recommendations

PubMed Central

Munro, Malcolm G

2014-01-01

Postmenopausal uterine bleeding is defined as uterine bleeding after permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from loss of ovarian follicular activity. Bleeding can be spontaneous or related to ovarian hormone replacement therapy or to use of selective estrogen receptor modulators (eg, tamoxifen adjuvant therapy for breast carcinoma). Because anovulatory “cycles” with episodes of multimonth amenorrhea frequently precede menopause, no consensus exists regarding the appropriate interval of amenorrhea before an episode of bleeding that allows for the definition of postmenopausal bleeding. The clinician faces the possibility that an underlying malignancy exists, knowing that most often the bleeding comes from a benign source. Formerly, the gold-standard clinical investigation of postmenopausal uterine bleeding was institution-based dilation and curettage, but there now exist office-based methods for the evaluation of women with this complaint. Strategies designed to implement these diagnostic methods must be applied in a balanced way considering the resource utilization issues of overinvestigation and the risk of missing a malignancy with underinvestigation. Consequently, guidelines and recommendations were developed to consider these issues and the diverse spectrum of practitioners who evaluate women with postmenopausal bleeding. The guideline development group determined that, for initial management of spontaneous postmenopausal bleeding, primary assessment may be with either endometrial sampling or transvaginal ultrasonography, allowing patients with an endometrial echo complex thickness of 4 mm or less to be managed expectantly. Guidelines are also provided for patients receiving selective estrogen receptor modulators or hormone replacement therapy, and for an endometrial echo complex with findings consistent with fluid in the endometrial cavity. PMID:24377427

Foot and mouth disease vaccine strain selection: Current approaches and future perspectives.

PubMed

Mahapatra, Mana; Parida, Satya

2018-06-27

Lack of cross protection between foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus (FMDV) serotypes as well as incomplete protection between some subtypes of FMDV affect the application of vaccine in the field. Further, the emergence of new variant FMD viruses periodically makes the existing vaccine inefficient. Consequently, periodical vaccine strain selection either by in vivo methods or in vitro methods become an essential requirement to enable utilisation of appropriate and efficient vaccines. Areas covered: Here we describe the cross reactivity of the existing vaccines with the global pool of circulating viruses and the putative selected vaccine strains for targeting protection against the two major circulating serotype O and A FMD viruses for East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia. Expert Commentary: Although in vivo cross protection studies are more appropriate methods for vaccine matching and selection than in vitro neutralisation test or ELISA, in the face of an outbreak both in vivo and in vitro methods of vaccine matching are not easy, and time consuming. The FMDV capsid contains all the immunogenic epitopes, and therefore vaccine strain prediction models using both capsid sequence and serology data will likely replace existing tools in the future.

Chapter 16: Retrocommissioning Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

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

Kurnik, Charles W.; Tiessen, Alex

Retrocommissioning (RCx) is a systematic process for optimizing energy performance in existing buildings. It specifically focuses on improving the control of energy-using equipment (e.g., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning [HVAC] equipment and lighting) and typically does not involve equipment replacement. Field results have shown proper RCx can achieve energy savings ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent, with a typical payback of two years or less (Thorne 2003). The method presented in this protocol provides direction regarding: (1) how to account for each measure's specific characteristics and (2) how to choose the most appropriate savings verification approach.

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

Langan, Roisin T.; Archibald, Richard K.; Lamberti, Vincent

We have applied a new imputation-based method for analyzing incomplete data, called Monte Carlo Bayesian Database Generation (MCBDG), to the Spent Fuel Isotopic Composition (SFCOMPO) database. About 60% of the entries are absent for SFCOMPO. The method estimates missing values of a property from a probability distribution created from the existing data for the property, and then generates multiple instances of the completed database for training a machine learning algorithm. Uncertainty in the data is represented by an empirical or an assumed error distribution. The method makes few assumptions about the underlying data, and compares favorably against results obtained bymore » replacing missing information with constant values.« less

An Experimental Study on the Fabrication of Glass-based Acceleration Sensor Body Using Micro Powder Blasting Method

PubMed Central

Park, Dong-Sam; Yun, Dae-Jin; Cho, Myeong-Woo; Shin, Bong-Cheol

2007-01-01

This study investigated the feasibility of the micro powder blasting technique for the micro fabrication of sensor structures using the Pyrex glass to replace the existing silicon-based acceleration sensor fabrication processes. As the preliminary experiments, the effects of the blasting pressure, the mass flow rate of abrasive and the number of nozzle scanning times on erosion depth of the Pyrex and the soda lime glasses were examined. From the experimental results, optimal blasting conditions were selected for the Pyrex glass machining. The dimensions of the designed glass sensor was 1.7×1.7×0.6mm for the vibrating mass, and 2.9×0.7×0.2mm for the cantilever beam. The machining results showed that the dimensional errors of the machined glass sensor ranged from 3 μm in minimum to 20 μm in maximum. These results imply that the micro powder blasting method can be applied for the micromachining of glass-based acceleration sensors to replace the exiting method.

Chapter 8: Whole-Building Retrofit with Consumption Data Analysis Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

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

Kurnik, Charles W.; Agnew, Ken; Goldberg, Mimi

Whole-building retrofits involve the installation of multiple measures. Whole-building retrofit programs take many forms. With a focus on overall building performance, these programs usually begin with an energy audit to identify cost-effective energy efficiency measures for the home. Measures are then installed, either at no cost to the homeowner or partially paid for by rebates and/or financing. The methods described here may also be applied to evaluation of single-measure retrofit programs. Related methods exist for replace-on-failure programs and for new construction, but are not the subject of this chapter.

A physics based method for combining multiple anatomy models with application to medical simulation.

PubMed

Zhu, Yanong; Magee, Derek; Ratnalingam, Rishya; Kessel, David

2009-01-01

We present a physics based approach to the construction of anatomy models by combining components from different sources; different image modalities, protocols, and patients. Given an initial anatomy, a mass-spring model is generated which mimics the physical properties of the solid anatomy components. This helps maintain valid spatial relationships between the components, as well as the validity of their shapes. Combination can be either replacing/modifying an existing component, or inserting a new component. The external forces that deform the model components to fit the new shape are estimated from Gradient Vector Flow and Distance Transform maps. We demonstrate the applicability and validity of the described approach in the area of medical simulation, by showing the processes of non-rigid surface alignment, component replacement, and component insertion.

Novel synthetic Medea selfish genetic elements drive population replacement in Drosophila; a theoretical exploration of Medea-dependent population suppression.

PubMed

Akbari, Omar S; Chen, Chun-Hong; Marshall, John M; Huang, Haixia; Antoshechkin, Igor; Hay, Bruce A

2014-12-19

Insects act as vectors for diseases of plants, animals, and humans. Replacement of wild insect populations with genetically modified individuals unable to transmit disease provides a potentially self-perpetuating method of disease prevention. Population replacement requires a gene drive mechanism in order to spread linked genes mediating disease refractoriness through wild populations. We previously reported the creation of synthetic Medea selfish genetic elements able to drive population replacement in Drosophila. These elements use microRNA-mediated silencing of myd88, a maternally expressed gene required for embryonic dorso-ventral pattern formation, coupled with early zygotic expression of a rescuing transgene, to bring about gene drive. Medea elements that work through additional mechanisms are needed in order to be able to carry out cycles of population replacement and/or remove existing transgenes from the population, using second-generation elements that spread while driving first-generation elements out of the population. Here we report the synthesis and population genetic behavior of two new synthetic Medea elements that drive population replacement through manipulation of signaling pathways involved in cellular blastoderm formation or Notch signaling, demonstrating that in Drosophila Medea elements can be generated through manipulation of diverse signaling pathways. We also describe the mRNA and small RNA changes in ovaries and early embryos associated from Medea-bearing females. Finally, we use modeling to illustrate how Medea elements carrying genes that result in diapause-dependent female lethality could be used to bring about population suppression.

Replacement of meat and dairy by plant-derived foods: estimated effects on land use, iron and SFA intakes in young Dutch adult females.

PubMed

Temme, Elisabeth H M; van der Voet, Hilko; Thissen, Jac T N M; Verkaik-Kloosterman, Janneke; van Donkersgoed, Gerda; Nonhebel, Sanderine

2013-10-01

Reduction in the current high levels of meat and dairy consumption may contribute to environmental as well as human health. Since meat is a major source of Fe, effects on Fe intake need to be evaluated, especially in groups vulnerable to negative Fe status. In the present study we evaluated the effects of replacing meat and dairy foods with plant-based products on environmental sustainability (land requirement) and health (SFA and Fe intakes) in women. Data on land requirements were derived from existing calculation methods. Food composition data were derived from the Dutch Food Composition Table 2006. Data were linked to the food consumption of young Dutch women. Land requirements and nutrient intakes were evaluated at baseline and in two scenarios in which 30% (Scenario_30%) or 100% (Scenario_100%) of the dairy and meat consumption was randomly replaced by the same amount of plant-based dairy- and meat-replacing foods. The Netherlands. Three hundred and ninety-eight young Dutch females. Replacement of meat and dairy by plant-based foods benefited the environment by decreasing land use. The intake of SFA decreased considerably compared with the baseline situation. On average, total Fe intake increased by 2.5 mg/d, although most of the Fe intake was from a less bioavailable source. Replacement of meat and dairy foods by plant-based foods reduced land use for consumption and SFA intake of young Dutch females and did not compromise total Fe intake.

Seasonality of service provision in hip and knee surgery: A possible contributor to waiting times? A time series analysis

PubMed Central

Upshur, Ross EG; Moineddin, Rahim; Crighton, Eric J; Mamdani, Muhammad

2006-01-01

Background The question of how best to reduce waiting times for health care, particularly surgical procedures such as hip and knee replacements is among the most pressing concern of the Canadian health care system. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that significant seasonal variation exists in the performance of hip and knee replacement surgery in the province of Ontario. Methods We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional time series analysis examining all hip and knee replacement surgeries in people over the age of 65 in the province of Ontario, Canada between 1992 and 2002. The main outcome measure was monthly hospitalization rates per 100 000 population for all hip and knee replacements. Results There was a marked increase in the rate of hip and knee replacement surgery over the 10-year period as well as an increasing seasonal variation in surgeries. Highly significant (Fisher Kappa = 16.05, p < 0.01; Bartlett-Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test = 0.31, p < 0.01) and strong (R2Autoreg = 0.85) seasonality was identified in the data. Conclusion Holidays and utilization caps appear to exert a significant influence on the rate of service provision. It is expected that waiting times for hip and knee replacement could be reduced by reducing seasonal fluctuations in service provision and benchmarking services to peak delivery. The results highlight the importance of system behaviour in seasonal fluctuation of service delivery. PMID:16509992

Experimental and modal verification of an integral equation solution for a thin-walled dichroic plate with cross-shaped holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Epp, L. W.; Stanton, P. H.

1993-01-01

In order to add the capability of an X-band uplink onto the 70-m antenna, a new dichroic plate is needed to replace the Pyle-guide-shaped dichroic plate currently in use. The replacement dichroic plate must exhibit an additional passband at the new uplink frequency of 7.165 GHz, while still maintaining a passband at the existing downlink frequency of 8.425 GHz. Because of the wide frequency separation of these two passbands, conventional methods of designing air-filled dichroic plates exhibit grating lobe problems. A new method of solving this problem by using a dichroic plate with cross-shaped holes is presented and verified experimentally. Two checks of the integral equation solution are described. One is the comparison to a modal analysis for the limiting cross shape of a square hole. As a final check, a prototype dichroic plate with cross-shaped holes was built and measured.

Cloaking data in optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Avi; Shahal, Shir; Masri, Gilad; Duadi, Hamootal; Fridman, Moti

2018-01-01

Modern networks implement multi-layer encryption architecture to increase network security, stability, and robustness. We developed a new paradigm for optical encryption based on the strengths of optics over electronics and according to temporal optics principles. We developed a highly efficient all-optical encryption scheme for modern networks. Our temporal encryption scheme exploits the strength of optics over electronics. Specifically, we utilize dispersion together with nonlinear interaction for mixing neighboring bits with a private key. Our system encrypts the entire network traffic without any latency, encrypt the signal itself, exploit only one non- linear interaction, it is energetically efficient with low ecologic footprint, and can be added to current networks without replacing the hardware such as the lasers, the transmitters, the routers, the amplifiers or the receivers. Our method can replace current slow encryption methods or can be added to increase the security of existing systems. In this paper, we elaborate on the theoretical models of the system and how we evaluate the encryption strength with this numerical tools.

Localization of small arms fire using acoustic measurements of muzzle blast and/or ballistic shock wave arrivals.

PubMed

Lo, Kam W; Ferguson, Brian G

2012-11-01

The accurate localization of small arms fire using fixed acoustic sensors is considered. First, the conventional wavefront-curvature passive ranging method, which requires only differential time-of-arrival (DTOA) measurements of the muzzle blast wave to estimate the source position, is modified to account for sensor positions that are not strictly collinear (bowed array). Second, an existing single-sensor-node ballistic model-based localization method, which requires both DTOA and differential angle-of-arrival (DAOA) measurements of the muzzle blast wave and ballistic shock wave, is improved by replacing the basic external ballistics model (which describes the bullet's deceleration along its trajectory) with a more rigorous model and replacing the look-up table ranging procedure with a nonlinear (or polynomial) equation-based ranging procedure. Third, a new multiple-sensor-node ballistic model-based localization method, which requires only DTOA measurements of the ballistic shock wave to localize the point of fire, is formulated. The first method is applicable to situations when only the muzzle blast wave is received, whereas the third method applies when only the ballistic shock wave is received. The effectiveness of each of these methods is verified using an extensive set of real data recorded during a 7 day field experiment.

Testing and Comparative Evaluation of Space Shuttle Main Engine Flowmeter Bearings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hissam, Andy; Leberman, Mike; McLeroy, Rick

2005-01-01

This paper provides a summary of testing of Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) flowmeter bearings and cage material. These tests were con&cM over a several month period in 2004 at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The test program's primary objective was to compare the performance of bearings using the existing cage material and bearings using a proposed replacement cage material. In order to meet the test objectives for this program, a flowmeter test rig was designed and fabricated to measure both breakaway and running torque for a flowmeter assembly. Other test parameters,,such as motor current and shaft speed, were also recorded and provide a means of comparing bearing performance. The flowmeter and bearings were tested in liquid hydrogen to simulate the flowmeter's operating environment as closely as possible. Based on the results from this testing, the bearings with the existing cage material are equivalent to the bearings with the proposed replacement cage material. No major differences exist between the old and new cage materials. Therefore, the new cage material is a suitable replacement for the existing cage material.

The regulatory acceptance of alternatives in the European Union.

PubMed

Warbrick, E Vicky; Evans, Peter F

2004-06-01

Recently, progress has been made toward the regulatory acceptance of replacements in the European Union (EU), particularly with the introduction of in vitro methods for the prediction of skin corrosivity, dermal penetration, phototoxicity and embryotoxicity. In vitro genotoxicity tests are well established, and testing for this endpoint can be completed without animals, provided that clear negative outcomes are obtained. Tiered approaches including in vitro tests can also be used to address skin and eye irritation endpoints. Reductions and/or refinements in animal use are being achieved following the replacement of the oral LD50 test with alternative methods and the adoption of reduced test packages for materials, such as closed-system intermediates and certain polymers. Furthermore, the use of a "read-across" approach has reduced animal testing. Substantial gains in refinement will also be made with the recent acceptance of the local lymph node assay for skin sensitisation and the development of an acute inhalation toxicity method that avoids lethality as the endpoint. For the future, under the proposed EU Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) scheme, it is envisaged that, where suitable in vitro methods exist, these should be used to support registration of substances produced at up to ten tonnes per annum. This proposal can only accelerate the further development, validation and regulatory acceptance of such alternative methods.

Local tolerance testing under REACH: Accepted non-animal methods are not on equal footing with animal tests.

PubMed

Sauer, Ursula G; Hill, Erin H; Curren, Rodger D; Raabe, Hans A; Kolle, Susanne N; Teubner, Wera; Mehling, Annette; Landsiedel, Robert

2016-07-01

In general, no single non-animal method can cover the complexity of any given animal test. Therefore, fixed sets of in vitro (and in chemico) methods have been combined into testing strategies for skin and eye irritation and skin sensitisation testing, with pre-defined prediction models for substance classification. Many of these methods have been adopted as OECD test guidelines. Various testing strategies have been successfully validated in extensive in-house and inter-laboratory studies, but they have not yet received formal acceptance for substance classification. Therefore, under the European REACH Regulation, data from testing strategies can, in general, only be used in so-called weight-of-evidence approaches. While animal testing data generated under the specific REACH information requirements are per se sufficient, the sufficiency of weight-of-evidence approaches can be questioned under the REACH system, and further animal testing can be required. This constitutes an imbalance between the regulatory acceptance of data from approved non-animal methods and animal tests that is not justified on scientific grounds. To ensure that testing strategies for local tolerance testing truly serve to replace animal testing for the REACH registration 2018 deadline (when the majority of existing chemicals have to be registered), clarity on their regulatory acceptance as complete replacements is urgently required. 2016 FRAME.

Method to identify wells that yield water that will be replaced by Colorado River water in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Richard P.; Owen-Joyce, Sandra J.

1994-01-01

Accounting for the use of Colorado River water is required by the U.S. Supreme Court decree, 1964, Arizona v. California. Water pumped from wells on the flood plain and from certain wells on alluvial slopes outside the flood plain is presumed to be river water and is accounted for as Colorado River water. A method was developed to identify wells outside the f1ood plain of the lower Colorado River that yield water that will be replaced by water from the river. The method provides a uniform criterion of identification for all users pumping water from wells. Wells that have a static water-level elevation equal to or below the accounting surface are presumed to yield water that will be replaced by water from the river. Wells that have a static water-level elevation above the accounting surface are presumed to yield water that will be replaced by water from precipitation and inflow from tributary valleys. The method is based on the concept of a river aquifer and an accounting surface within the river aquifer. The river aquifer consists of permeable, partly saturated sediments and sedimentary rocks that are hydraulically connected to the Colorado River so that water can move between the river and the aquifer in response to withdrawal of water from the aquifer or differences in water-level elevations between the river and the aquifer. The accounting surface represents the elevation and slope of the unconfined static water table in the river aquifer outside the flood plain and reservoirs that would exist if the river were the only source of water to the river aquifer. Maps at a scale of 1:100,000 show the extent and elevation of the accounting surface from the area surrounding Lake Mead to Laguna Dam near Yuma, Arizona.

CT-assisted reverse engineering for aging aircraft resupply

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yancey, Robert N.

1998-03-01

The service life of military aircraft is being extended beyond original design intents. When the C-130 is eventually retired, it will have been in service for 79 years, well beyond its planned life expectancy of 40 years. Similarly, the KC-135s are presently expected to remain operational for 86 years, and the B-52 for 94 years. Not only are inventories of parts in short supply, but it is necessary to acquire parts no one expected to replace. The first step in any resupply activity is the creation of a data package. If nor computer-aided design (CAD) model exists, the demands of modern electronic commerce dictate than one be created. Creating a CAD model of an existing part is referred to as 'reverse engineering.' Computed tomography (CT) offers an ideal way to obtain metrology data critical to reveres engineering activities. Industrial CT systems have progressed to the point where they can nondestructively measure part dimensions at an accuracy competitive with coordinate measuring machines and a speed competitive with laser scanners. However, of the existing methods, only CT can nondestructively dimension interior surfaces, and only CT has the ability to densitometrically quantify the internal state of materials. The use of CT to help create CAD models for resupply efforts will be described and examples presented. Additionally, examples will be presented how the CT-created CAD models were then sued to fabricate replacement parts for aging systems.

Nuclear Forensics Analysis with Missing and Uncertain Data

DOE PAGES

Langan, Roisin T.; Archibald, Richard K.; Lamberti, Vincent

2015-10-05

We have applied a new imputation-based method for analyzing incomplete data, called Monte Carlo Bayesian Database Generation (MCBDG), to the Spent Fuel Isotopic Composition (SFCOMPO) database. About 60% of the entries are absent for SFCOMPO. The method estimates missing values of a property from a probability distribution created from the existing data for the property, and then generates multiple instances of the completed database for training a machine learning algorithm. Uncertainty in the data is represented by an empirical or an assumed error distribution. The method makes few assumptions about the underlying data, and compares favorably against results obtained bymore » replacing missing information with constant values.« less

Electro-hydrodynamic printing of drugs onto edible substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yueyang; Elele, Ezinwa; Palle, Prashanth; Khusid, Boris; Basaran, Osman; McGough, Patrick T.; Collins, Robert T.

2009-11-01

While most existing drugs are manufactured as tablets using powder processing techniques, there is growing interest in printing drops containing pharmaceutical actives on edible substrates. We have developed a drop-on-demand (DOD) printing method appropriate for either replacing existing manufacturing platforms or enabling personalized medicine that overcomes the various critical challenges facing current DOD technologies. To eliminate adverse effects of electro-chemical reactions at the fluid-electrode interface, the fluid is infused into an electrically insulating nozzle to form a pendant drop that serves as a floating electrode capacitively coupled to external electrodes. A liquid bridge is formed and broken as the voltage applied at the electrode is varied in time. This gentle method for drop deposition has been demonstrated to operate with fluids spanning over three orders of magnitude in viscosity and conductivity. The proposed method has the potential for the evolving field of pharmaceutical and biomedical applications requiring the deposition of fluids at the exact locations with high volume accuracy.

Total or Partial Knee Arthroplasty Trial - TOPKAT: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In the majority of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee the disease originates in the medial compartment. There are two fundamentally different approaches to knee replacement for patients with unicompartmental disease: some surgeons feel that it is always best to replace both the knee compartments with a total knee replacement (TKR); whereas others feel it is best to replace just the damaged component of the knee using a partial or unicompartment replacement (UKR). Both interventions are established and well-documented procedures. Little evidence exists to prove the clinical and cost-effectiveness of either management option. This provides an explanation for the high variation in treatment of choice by individual surgeons for the same knee pathology. The aim of the TOPKAT study will be to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of TKRs compared to UKRs in patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis. Methods/Design The design of the study is a single layer multicentre superiority type randomised controlled trial of unilateral knee replacement patients. Blinding will not be possible as the surgical scars for each procedure differ. We aim to recruit 500 patients from approximately 28 secondary care orthopaedic units from across the UK including district general and teaching hospitals. Participants will be randomised to either UKR or TKR. Randomisation will occur using a web-based randomisation system. The study is pragmatic in terms of implant selection for the knee replacement operation. Participants will be followed up for 5 years. The primary outcome is the Oxford Knee Score, which will be collected via questionnaires at 2 months, 1 year and then annually to 5 years. Secondary outcomes will include cost-effectiveness, patient satisfaction and complications data. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN03013488; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01352247 PMID:24028414

Reflux condensation of pure vapors with and without a noncondensable gas inside plain and enhanced tubes

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

Abdelmessih, A.N.; Rabas, T.J.; Panchal, C.B.

1997-06-01

Estimates of the surface-area and vapor-release reductions are obtained when commercially available enhanced tubes (spirally ribbed) replace plain tubes in a reflux unit condensing pure organic vapors with different concentrations of a noncondensable gas. This investigation was undertaken because there are no existing data and/or prediction methods that are applicable for these shell-and-tube condensers commonly used in the process industries. To obtain these estimates, existing design methods published in the open literature were used. The major findings are that (1) surface-area reductions can almost approach the single-phase heat transfer enhancement level, and (2) vapor-release reductions can approach a factor ofmore » four. The important implication is that enhanced tubes appear to be very cost effective for addressing the recovery of volatile organic vapors (VOCs), and for a vast number of different reflux-condenser applications.« less

Decision support model for assessing archaeological survey needs for bridge replacement projects in Iowa.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-01-01

The Bridges Decision Support Model is a geographic information system (GIS) that assembles existing : data on archaeological sites, surveys, and their geologic contexts to assess the risk of bridge replacement : projects encountering 13,000- to 150-y...

Development of a guide for prioritization of railway bridges for repair and replacement.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-09-01

The objective of this study was to develop evaluation bases for the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of existing : railway bridges. Considering the importance of bridges to the railway network, the research involved the review and : analysis o...

Flexwall Hydraulic Hose Replacement in the NASA Glenn 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Propulsion Wind Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Larry E.; Roeder, James W.; Linne, Alan A.; Klann, Gary A.

2003-01-01

The space-time conservation-element and solution-element method is employed to numerically study the near-field screech-tone noise of a typical underexpanded circular jet issuing from a sonic nozzle. Both axisymmetric and fully three-dimensional computations are carried out. The self-sustained feedback loop is properly simulated. The computed shock-cell structure, acoustic wave length, screech-tone frequency, and sound-pressure levels are in good agreement with existing experimental results.

Novel Synthetic Medea selfish genetic elements drive population replacement in Drosophila, and a theoretical exploration of Medea-dependent population suppression

PubMed Central

Akbari, Omar S.; Chen, Chun-Hong; Marshall, John M.; Huang, Haixia; Antoshechkin, Igor; Hay, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

Insects act as vectors for diseases of plants, animals and humans. Replacement of wild insect populations with genetically modified individuals unable to transmit disease provides a potentially self-perpetuating method of disease prevention. Population replacement requires a gene drive mechanism in order to spread linked genes mediating disease refractoriness through wild populations. We previously reported the creation of synthetic Medea selfish genetic elements able to drive population replacement in Drosophila. These elements use microRNA-mediated silencing of myd88, a maternally expressed gene required for embryonic dorso-ventral pattern formation, coupled with early zygotic expression of a rescuing transgene, to bring about gene drive. Medea elements that work through additional mechanisms are needed in order to be able to carry out cycles of population replacement and/or remove existing transgenes from the population, using second-generation elements that spread while driving first-generation elements out of the population. Here we report the synthesis and population genetic behavior of two new synthetic Medea elements that drive population replacement through manipulation of signaling pathways involved in cellular blastoderm formation or Notch signaling, demonstrating that in Drosophila Medea elements can be generated through manipulation of diverse signaling pathways. We also describe the mRNA and small RNA changes in ovaries and early embryos associated from Medea-bearing females. Finally, we use modeling to illustrate how Medea elements carrying genes that result in diapause-dependent female lethality could be used to bring about population suppression. PMID:23654248

Actual operation and regulatory activities on steam generator replacement in Japan

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

Saeki, Hitoshi

1997-02-01

This paper summarizes the operating reactors in Japan, and the status of the steam generators in these plants. It reviews plans for replacement of existing steam generators, and then goes into more detail on the planning and regulatory steps which must be addressed in the process of accomplishing this maintenance. The paper also reviews the typical steps involved in the process of removal and replacement of steam generators.

Tooth replacement and putative odontogenic stem cell niches in pharyngeal dentition of medaka (Oryzias latipes).

PubMed

Abduweli, Dawud; Baba, Otto; Tabata, Makoto J; Higuchi, Kazunori; Mitani, Hiroshi; Takano, Yoshiro

2014-04-01

The small-sized teleost fish medaka, Oryzias latipes, has as many as 1000 pharyngeal teeth undergoing continuous replacement. In this study, we sought to identify the tooth-forming units and determine its replacement cycles, and further localize odontogenic stem cell niches in the pharyngeal dentition of medaka to gain insights into the mechanisms whereby continuous tooth replacement is maintained. Three-dimensional reconstruction of pharyngeal epithelium and sequential fluorochrome labeling of pharyngeal bones and teeth indicated that the individual functional teeth and their successional teeth were organized in families, each comprising up to five generations of teeth and successional tooth germs, and that the replacement cycle of functional teeth was approximately 4 weeks. BrdU label/chase experiments confirmed the existence of clusters of label-retaining epithelial cells at the posterior end of each tooth family where the expression of pluripotency marker Sox2 was confirmed by in situ hybridization. Label-retaining cells were also identified in the mesoderm immediately adjacent to the posterior end of each tooth family. These data suggest the importance of existence of slow-cycling dental epithelial cells and Sox2 expressions at the posterior end of each tooth family to maintain continuous tooth formation and replacement in the pharyngeal dentition of medaka.

Life cycle assessment: Existing building retrofit versus replacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darabi, Nura

The embodied energy in building materials constitutes a large part of the total energy required for any building (Thormark 2001, 429). In working to make buildings more energy efficient this needs to be considered. Integrating considerations about life cycle assessment for buildings and materials is one promising way to reduce the amount of energy consumption being used within the building sector and the environmental impacts associated with that energy. A life cycle assessment (LCA) model can be utilized to help evaluate the embodied energy in building materials in comparison to the buildings operational energy. This thesis takes into consideration the potential life cycle reductions in energy and CO2 emissions that can be made through an energy retrofit of an existing building verses demolition and replacement with a new energy efficient building. A 95,000 square foot institutional building built in the 1960`s was used as a case study for a building LCA, along with a calibrated energy model of the existing building created as part of a previous Masters of Building Science thesis. The chosen case study building was compared to 10 possible improvement options of either energy retrofit or replacement of the existing building with a higher energy performing building in order to see the life cycle relationship between embodied energy, operational energy, and C02 emissions. As a result of completing the LCA, it is shown under which scenarios building retrofit saves more energy over the lifespan of the building than replacement with new construction. It was calculated that energy retrofit of the chosen existing institutional building would reduce the amount of energy and C02 emissions associated with that building over its life span.

Method and apparatus for improving the performance of a nuclear power electrical generation system

DOEpatents

Tsiklauri, Georgi V.; Durst, Bruce M.

1995-01-01

A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency and performance a of nuclear electrical generation system that comprises the addition of steam handling equipment to an existing plant that results in a surprising increase in plant performance. More particularly, a gas turbine electrical generation system with heat recovery boiler is installed along with a high pressure and a low pressure mixer superheater. Depending upon plant characteristics, the existing moisture separator reheater (MSR) can be either augmented or done away with. The instant invention enables a reduction in T.sub.hot without a derating of the reactor unit, and improves efficiency of the plant's electrical conversion cycle. Coupled with this advantage is a possible extension of the plant's fuel cycle length due to an increased electrical conversion efficiency. The reduction in T.sub.hot further allows for a surprising extension of steam generator life. An additional advantage is the reduction in erosion/corrosion of secondary system components including turbine blades and diaphragms. The gas turbine generator used in the instant invention can also replace or augment existing peak or emergency power needs.

Uncertainty-based Optimization Algorithms in Designing Fractionated Spacecraft

PubMed Central

Ning, Xin; Yuan, Jianping; Yue, Xiaokui

2016-01-01

A fractionated spacecraft is an innovative application of a distributive space system. To fully understand the impact of various uncertainties on its development, launch and in-orbit operation, we use the stochastic missioncycle cost to comprehensively evaluate the survivability, flexibility, reliability and economy of the ways of dividing the various modules of the different configurations of fractionated spacecraft. We systematically describe its concept and then analyze its evaluation and optimal design method that exists during recent years and propose the stochastic missioncycle cost for comprehensive evaluation. We also establish the models of the costs such as module development, launch and deployment and the impacts of their uncertainties respectively. Finally, we carry out the Monte Carlo simulation of the complete missioncycle costs of various configurations of the fractionated spacecraft under various uncertainties and give and compare the probability density distribution and statistical characteristics of its stochastic missioncycle cost, using the two strategies of timing module replacement and non-timing module replacement. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the comprehensive evaluation method and show that our evaluation method can comprehensively evaluate the adaptability of the fractionated spacecraft under different technical and mission conditions. PMID:26964755

A functional equation for the specular reflection of rays.

PubMed

Le Bot, A

2002-10-01

This paper aims to generalize the "radiosity method" when applied to specular reflection. Within the field of thermics, the radiosity method is also called the "standard procedure." The integral equation for incident energy, which is usually derived for diffuse reflection, is replaced by a more appropriate functional equation. The latter is used to solve some specific problems and it is shown that all the classical features of specular reflection, for example, the existence of image sources, are embodied within this equation. This equation can be solved with the ray-tracing technique, despite the implemented mathematics being quite different. Several interesting features of the energy field are presented.

Chain Reaction Mechanism for I2 Dissociation in the O2 (1 delta)-I Atom Laser.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-20

The principal injected gases in this study were 12 (+Ar) and H2 0(+.Ar). We continue to use the method of flow replacement, whereby a pure Ar stream...conditions exist for small H20 densities. The identification of intermediate states in a kinetic mechanist b. indirect methods is always unsatisfactory...and e.’Irr-’tr1,ic o ""n"a i : n es a ppl ele-Ic- trcon i cs, senienndoztor cry" stal1 and itevice :1-i. , radi -metci, ima ’In4; -’ i’ -t er- wace

Effective evaluation of privacy protection techniques in visible and thermal imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawaz, Tahir; Berg, Amanda; Ferryman, James; Ahlberg, Jörgen; Felsberg, Michael

2017-09-01

Privacy protection may be defined as replacing the original content in an image region with a (less intrusive) content having modified target appearance information to make it less recognizable by applying a privacy protection technique. Indeed, the development of privacy protection techniques also needs to be complemented with an established objective evaluation method to facilitate their assessment and comparison. Generally, existing evaluation methods rely on the use of subjective judgments or assume a specific target type in image data and use target detection and recognition accuracies to assess privacy protection. An annotation-free evaluation method that is neither subjective nor assumes a specific target type is proposed. It assesses two key aspects of privacy protection: "protection" and "utility." Protection is quantified as an appearance similarity, and utility is measured as a structural similarity between original and privacy-protected image regions. We performed an extensive experimentation using six challenging datasets (having 12 video sequences), including a new dataset (having six sequences) that contains visible and thermal imagery. The new dataset is made available online for the community. We demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed method by evaluating six image-based privacy protection techniques and also show comparisons of the proposed method over existing methods.

Efficient Robust Regression via Two-Stage Generalized Empirical Likelihood

PubMed Central

Bondell, Howard D.; Stefanski, Leonard A.

2013-01-01

Large- and finite-sample efficiency and resistance to outliers are the key goals of robust statistics. Although often not simultaneously attainable, we develop and study a linear regression estimator that comes close. Efficiency obtains from the estimator’s close connection to generalized empirical likelihood, and its favorable robustness properties are obtained by constraining the associated sum of (weighted) squared residuals. We prove maximum attainable finite-sample replacement breakdown point, and full asymptotic efficiency for normal errors. Simulation evidence shows that compared to existing robust regression estimators, the new estimator has relatively high efficiency for small sample sizes, and comparable outlier resistance. The estimator is further illustrated and compared to existing methods via application to a real data set with purported outliers. PMID:23976805

23 CFR 645.111 - Right-of-way.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... existing location beause it holds the fee, an easement, or another real property interest, the damaging or... for highway purposes. (b) The utility shall determine and make a written valuation of the replacement... valuation shall be accomplished prior to negotiation for acquisition. (c) Acquisition of replacement right...

Design of complex bone internal structure using topology optimization with perimeter control.

PubMed

Park, Jaejong; Sutradhar, Alok; Shah, Jami J; Paulino, Glaucio H

2018-03-01

Large facial bone loss usually requires patient-specific bone implants to restore the structural integrity and functionality that also affects the appearance of each patient. Titanium alloys (e.g., Ti-6Al-4V) are typically used in the interfacial porous coatings between the implant and the surrounding bone to promote stability. There exists a property mismatch between the two that in general leads to complications such as stress-shielding. This biomechanical discrepancy is a hurdle in the design of bone replacements. To alleviate the mismatch, the internal structure of the bone replacements should match that of the bone. Topology optimization has proven to be a good technique for designing bone replacements. However, the complex internal structure of the bone is difficult to mimic using conventional topology optimization methods without additional restrictions. In this work, the complex bone internal structure is recovered using a perimeter control based topology optimization approach. By restricting the solution space by means of the perimeter, the intricate design complexity of bones can be achieved. Three different bone regions with well-known physiological loadings are selected to illustrate the method. Additionally, we found that the target perimeter value and the pattern of the initial distribution play a vital role in obtaining the natural curvatures in the bone internal structures as well as avoiding excessive island patterns. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Time-varying Concept of Risk in a Changing Climate.

PubMed

Sarhadi, Ali; Ausín, María Concepción; Wiper, Michael P

2016-10-20

In a changing climate arising from anthropogenic global warming, the nature of extreme climatic events is changing over time. Existing analytical stationary-based risk methods, however, assume multi-dimensional extreme climate phenomena will not significantly vary over time. To strengthen the reliability of infrastructure designs and the management of water systems in the changing environment, multidimensional stationary risk studies should be replaced with a new adaptive perspective. The results of a comparison indicate that current multi-dimensional stationary risk frameworks are no longer applicable to projecting the changing behaviour of multi-dimensional extreme climate processes. Using static stationary-based multivariate risk methods may lead to undesirable consequences in designing water system infrastructures. The static stationary concept should be replaced with a flexible multi-dimensional time-varying risk framework. The present study introduces a new multi-dimensional time-varying risk concept to be incorporated in updating infrastructure design strategies under changing environments arising from human-induced climate change. The proposed generalized time-varying risk concept can be applied for all stochastic multi-dimensional systems that are under the influence of changing environments.

Sustainable materials used as stone column filler: A short review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zukri, Azhani; Nazir, Ramli

2018-04-01

Stone columns (also known as granular piles) are one of the methods for soft soil stabilization and typically used to increase bearing capacity and stability of slope.; Apart from decreasing the compressibility of loose and fine graded soils, it also accelerates the consolidation effect by improving the drainage path for pore water pressure dissipation and reduces the liquefaction potential of soils during earthquake event. Stone columns are probably the most “natural” ground treatment method or foundation system in existence to date. The benefit of stone columns is owing to the partial replacement of compressible soil by more competent materials such as stone aggregate, sand and other granular materials. These substitutes also act as reinforcement material, hence increasing overall strength and stiffness of the soft soil. Nowadays, a number of research has been conducted on the behaviour and performance of stone columns with various materials utilized as column filler replacing the normal aggregate. This paper will review extensively on previously conducted research on some of the materials used as stone column backfill materials, its suitability and the effectiveness as a substitute for regular aggregates in soft soil improvement works.

Ecological momentary assessment: what it is and why it is a method of the future in clinical psychopharmacology

PubMed Central

Moskowitz, Debbie S.; Young, Simon N.

2006-01-01

Current methods of assessment in clinical psychopharmacology have several serious disadvantages, particularly for the study of social functioning. We aimed to review the strengths and weaknesses of current methods used in clinical psychopharmacology and to compare them with a group of methods, developed by personality/social psychologists, termed ecological momentary assessment (EMA), which permit the research participant to report on symptoms, affect and behaviour close in time to experience and which sample many events or time periods. EMA has a number of advantages over more traditional methods for the assessment of patients in clinical psychopharmacological studies. It can both complement and, in part, replace existing methods. EMA methods will permit more sensitive assessments and will enable more wide-ranging and detailed measurements of mood and behaviour. These types of methods should be adopted more widely by clinical psychopharmacology researchers. PMID:16496031

Replacement Windows for Existing Homes Homes | Efficient Windows

Science.gov Websites

Design Guidance Installation Replacement Windows Window Selection Tool Assessing Options Selection Process Design Guidance Installation Understanding Windows Benefits Design Considerations Measuring Selection Tool will take you through a series of design conditions pertaining to your design and location

78 FR 25666 - Airworthiness Directives; Airbus Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-02

...) sensor blockage. The existing AD also provides for optional terminating action for the AFM revision, which involves replacing AoA sensor conic plates with AoA sensor flat plates. Since we issued that AD, we have determined that the replacement of AoA sensor conic plates is necessary to address the...

Fabrication methods for YF-12 wing panels for the Supersonic Cruise Aircraft Research Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffman, E. L.; Payne, L.; Carter, A. L.

1975-01-01

Advanced fabrication and joining processes for titanium and composite materials are being investigated by NASA to develop technology for the Supersonic Cruise Aircraft Research (SCAR) Program. With Lockheed-ADP as the prime contractor, full-scale structural panels are being designed and fabricated to replace an existing integrally stiffened shear panel on the upper wing surface of the NASA YF-12 aircraft. The program involves ground testing and Mach 3 flight testing of full-scale structural panels and laboratory testing of representative structural element specimens. Fabrication methods and test results for weldbrazed and Rohrbond titanium panels are discussed. The fabrication methods being developed for boron/aluminum, Borsic/aluminum, and graphite/polyimide panels are also presented.

Peptide-based protein capture agents with high affinity, selectivity, and stability as antibody replacements in biodetection assays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppock, Matthew B.; Farrow, Blake; Warner, Candice; Finch, Amethist S.; Lai, Bert; Sarkes, Deborah A.; Heath, James R.; Stratis-Cullum, Dimitra

2014-05-01

Current biodetection assays that employ monoclonal antibodies as primary capture agents exhibit limited fieldability, shelf life, and performance due to batch-to-batch production variability and restricted thermal stability. In order to improve upon the detection of biological threats in fieldable assays and systems for the Army, we are investigating protein catalyzed capture (PCC) agents as drop-in replacements for the existing antibody technology through iterative in situ click chemistry. The PCC agent oligopeptides are developed against known protein epitopes and can be mass produced using robotic methods. In this work, a PCC agent under development will be discussed. The performance, including affinity, selectivity, and stability of the capture agent technology, is analyzed by immunoprecipitation, western blotting, and ELISA experiments. The oligopeptide demonstrates superb selectivity coupled with high affinity through multi-ligand design, and improved thermal, chemical, and biochemical stability due to non-natural amino acid PCC agent design.

Surgical treatment of tricuspid regurgitation after mitral valve surgery: a retrospective study in China

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) occurs in patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease even after mitral valve surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze surgical results of TR after previous successful mitral valve surgery. Methods From September 1996 to September 2008, 45 patients with TR after previous mitral valve replacement underwent second operation for TR. In those, 43 patients (95.6%) had right heart failure symptoms (edema of lower extremities, ascites, hepatic congestion, etc.) and 40 patients (88.9%) had atrial fibrillation. Twenty-six patients (57.8%) were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III, and 19 (42.2%) in class IV. Previous operations included: 41 for mechanical mitral valve replacement (91.1%), 4 for bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (8.9%), and 7 for tricuspid annuloplasty (15.6%). Results The tricuspid valves were repaired with Kay's (7 cases, 15.6%) or De Vega technique (4 cases, 8.9%). Tricuspid valve replacement was performed in 34 cases (75.6%). One patient (2.2%) died. Postoperative low cardiac output (LCO) occurred in 5 patients and treated successfully. Postoperative echocardiography showed obvious reduction of right atrium and ventricle. The anterioposterior diameter of the right ventricle decreased to 25.5 ± 7.1 mm from 33.7 ± 6.2 mm preoperatively (P < 0. 05). Conclusion TR after mitral valve replacement in rheumatic heart disease is a serious clinical problem. If it occurs or progresses late after mitral valve surgery, tricuspid valve annuloplasty or replacement may be performed with satisfactory results. Due to the serious consequence of untreated TR, aggressive treatment of existing TR during mitral valve surgery is recommended. PMID:22490269

A survey of stakeholder organisations on the proposed new European chemical policy.

PubMed

Dandrea, Jennifer; Combes, Robert

2006-03-01

In February 2001, the European Commission published a White Paper proposing that a single new system of chemical regulation should be applied throughout the Member States of the European Union. The proposed Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) system was to include both new and existing chemicals, with the aim of ensuring that sufficient pertinent data were made available to enable human health and the environment to be protected. The policy was founded on the principle of sustainable industrial development, and ambitiously attempted to incorporate the needs and views of key stakeholder organisations, such as industry, trade associations, consumer groups, environmentalists, animal welfarists and Member State governments. During the period between the publication of the White Paper and the on-line publication of consultation documents, as part of a public consultation exercise, in May 2003, many of these key stakeholder organisations produced material in support of or critical of the White Paper, either in part or as a whole. In this paper, we have attempted to review this extensive material and to present it in the context of the current chemical regulatory system that the REACH system will replace. Emphasis is placed on the impact of the new policy on the number of animals used in the testing regimes within the REACH system and the inclusion of alternative methods into the legislation. Although supportive of the overriding aims of the new policy, FRAME believes that the fundamental concept of a risk-free environment is flawed, and that the new REACH system will involve the unjustifiable use of millions of laboratory animals. The new policy does include alternative methods, particularly for base set substances. Nevertheless, alternative testing methods that are already available have been excluded and replaced with outdated in vivo versions. There is also insufficient detail with regard to the further development and validation of alternative methods, particularly for substances of high concern, such as endocrine disrupters or reproductive toxins, for which no alternative testing methods currently exist.

A survey of stakeholder organisations on the proposed new European chemicals policy.

PubMed

Dandrea, Jennifer; Combes, Robert D

2003-11-01

In February 2001, the European Commission published a White Paper proposing that a single new system of chemical regulation should be applied throughout the Member States of the European Union. The proposed Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) system was to include both new and existing chemicals, with the aim of ensuring that sufficient pertinent data were made available to enable human health and the environment to be protected. The policy was founded on the principle of sustainable industrial development, and ambitiously attempted to incorporate the needs and views of key stakeholder organisations, such as industry, trade associations, consumer groups, environmentalists, animal welfarists and Member State governments. During the period between the publication of the White Paper and the on-line publication of consultation documents, as part of a public consultation exercise, in May 2003, many of these key stakeholder organisations produced material in support of or critical of the White Paper, either in part or as a whole. In this paper, we have attempted to review this extensive material and to present it in the context of the current chemical regulatory system that the REACH system will replace. Emphasis is placed on the impact of the new policy on the number of animals used in the testing regimes within the REACH system and the inclusion of alternative methods into the legislation. Although supportive of the overriding aims of the new policy, FRAME believes that the fundamental concept of a risk-free environment is flawed, and that the new REACH system will involve the unjustifiable use of millions of laboratory animals. The new policy does include alternative methods, particularly for base-set substances. Nevertheless, alternative testing methods that are already available have been excluded and replaced with outdated in vivo versions. There is also insufficient detail with regard to the further development and validation of alternative methods, particularly for substances of high concern, such as endocrine disrupters or reproductive toxins, for which no alternative testing methods currently exist.

Current status of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry in the clinical microbiology laboratory.

PubMed

Kok, Jen; Chen, Sharon C A; Dwyer, Dominic E; Iredell, Jonathan R

2013-01-01

The integration of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) into many clinical microbiology laboratories has revolutionised routine pathogen identification. MALDI-TOF MS complements and has good potential to replace existing phenotypic identification methods. Results are available in a more clinically relevant timeframe, particularly in bacteraemic septic shock. Novel applications include strain typing and the detection of antimicrobial resistance, but these are not widely used. This review discusses the technical aspects, current applications, and limitations of MALDI-TOF MS.

Curriculum design for problem-based learning on a volunteer basis: a Yonsei approach.

PubMed

Kim, Sun; Lee, Soo Kon; Lee, Moo Sang; Ahn, Duck Sun

2002-04-01

Innovative new medical programs such as Problem Based Learning (PBL) are being developed worldwide. An increasing number of medical schools are starting to introduce these programs into or even to replace the existing curriculum. At Yonsei University College of Medicine (YUCM), we developed our own PBL curriculum and evaluation method. In order to develop a program suitable for our school, we suggest that for trial purposes, a small number of student and teacher volunteers should be selected and that the tutors involved in the program be given adequate training.

Gait recognition based on integral outline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ming, Guan; Fang, Lv

2017-02-01

Biometric identification technology replaces traditional security technology, which has become a trend, and gait recognition also has become a hot spot of research because its feature is difficult to imitate and theft. This paper presents a gait recognition system based on integral outline of human body. The system has three important aspects: the preprocessing of gait image, feature extraction and classification. Finally, using a method of polling to evaluate the performance of the system, and summarizing the problems existing in the gait recognition and the direction of development in the future.

78 FR 34284 - Airworthiness Directives; Turbomeca S.A. Turboshaft Engines

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-07

... Turbomeca S.A. Arriel 2D turboshaft engines. The existing AD currently requires replacing the..., MA. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call 781-238-7125. Examining the..., January 31, 2013), for all Turbomeca S.A. Arriel 2D turboshaft engines. That AD requires replacing the HMU...

77 FR 64503 - Questar Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-22

...'s existing Payson Gate Meter Station for the downstream Lake Side 2 Power Plant. No incremental... County: A second compressor package at its existing Thistle Creek Compressor Station; Replacement of... pressure; and Metering and ancillary facility upgrades at Questar's existing Payson Gate Meter Station. In...

Micro Dot Patterning on the Light Guide Panel Using Powder Blasting.

PubMed

Jang, Ho Su; Cho, Myeong Woo; Park, Dong Sam

2008-02-08

This study is to develop a micromachining technology for a light guidepanel(LGP) mold, whereby micro dot patterns are formed on a LGP surface by a singleinjection process instead of existing screen printing processes. The micro powder blastingtechnique is applied to form micro dot patterns on the LGP mold surface. The optimalconditions for masking, laminating, exposure, and developing processes to form the microdot patterns are first experimentally investigated. A LGP mold with masked micro patternsis then machined using the micro powder blasting method and the machinability of themicro dot patterns is verified. A prototype LGP is test- injected using the developed LGPmold and a shape analysis of the patterns and performance testing of the injected LGP arecarried out. As an additional approach, matte finishing, a special surface treatment method,is applied to the mold surface to improve the light diffusion characteristics, uniformity andbrightness of the LGP. The results of this study show that the applied powder blastingmethod can be successfully used to manufacture LGPs with micro patterns by just singleinjection using the developed mold and thereby replace existing screen printing methods.

CEO- CNE relationships: building an evidence-base of chief nursing executive replacement costs.

PubMed

Sredl, Darlene; Peng, Niang-Huei

2010-06-03

Explore professional relationships between Chief Nurse Executives (CNEs) and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs); CNE ethnic diversity; and CNE replacement costs. Theoretical frameworks - Marilyn Ray's Theory of Bureaucratic Caring, and Turkel's Theory of Relational Complexity espousing economic as well as caring variables. Exploratory mixed-method descriptive design using CNE mailed survey. CNE- cited opportunities for maintaining a positive relationship with the CEO: respect for CEO; goal- sharing (r=.782, p<0.01); having a strong relationship (r= .718, p<0.01); co-problem-solving (r=.437, p<0.01); having an interesting job (r=.406, p<0.01); having similar interests with CEO (r= .346, p<0.01); CEO and CNE maintaining specific roles (r= .261, p<0.05); satisfaction with CNE income (r=.251, p<0.05); willingness to improve relationship with CEO (r=.254, p<0.05). CNE positions demonstrated an ethnic diversity factor of 0.03%. CNE replacement costs to healthcare facilities were over 1.5 million dollars. CNE/CEO relationships have identified cohesive factors that may contribute to CNE longevity in position; an ethically diverse CNE deficit exists; and, CNE turnover and vacancy rates impact an organization's financial health and quality of care.

The fate of homograft tracheal transplants in sheep.

PubMed

Behrend, Matthias; Kluge, Eva

2008-08-01

An established method of tracheal substitution is not yet available, but homograft tracheal transplantation might provide a realistic tracheal replacement. With the objective of sequentially examining the healing of tracheal homografts, we have established a suitable large-animal model. Five sheep received orthotopic tracheal transplantation of a 4-cm cervical tracheal homograft. The trachea was supported for 6 weeks with a self-expanding polyester stent. The plan was to euthanize the animals after 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks, or whenever complications occurred. The implantation itself was performed without complications. After 2 weeks the homograft was firmly encapsulated by connective tissue, without signs of necrosis or abscess. The original mucous membrane no longer existed; the cartilage rings were exposed. In all animals that were euthanized at the later dates, the homografts were completely absorbed and replaced by inflammatory scar tissue. This, in turn, was covered with a shiny cellular surface layer. The results from this animal experiment reveal-contrary to data published to date-that tracheal homografts are not incorporated but absorbed. They are replaced by scar/granulation tissue that cannot secure the stability of the trachea. Therefore, further experiments with respect to the biocompatability of homografts appear to be necessary.

Guided SAR image despeckling with probabilistic non local weights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gokul, Jithin; Nair, Madhu S.; Rajan, Jeny

2017-12-01

SAR images are generally corrupted by granular disturbances called speckle, which makes visual analysis and detail extraction a difficult task. Non Local despeckling techniques with probabilistic similarity has been a recent trend in SAR despeckling. To achieve effective speckle suppression without compromising detail preservation, we propose an improvement for the existing Generalized Guided Filter with Bayesian Non-Local Means (GGF-BNLM) method. The proposed method (Guided SAR Image Despeckling with Probabilistic Non Local Weights) replaces parametric constants based on heuristics in GGF-BNLM method with dynamically derived values based on the image statistics for weight computation. Proposed changes make GGF-BNLM method adaptive and as a result, significant improvement is achieved in terms of performance. Experimental analysis on SAR images shows excellent speckle reduction without compromising feature preservation when compared to GGF-BNLM method. Results are also compared with other state-of-the-art and classic SAR depseckling techniques to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Crowd density estimation based on convolutional neural networks with mixed pooling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Li; Zheng, Hong; Zhang, Ying; Zhang, Dongming

2017-09-01

Crowd density estimation is an important topic in the fields of machine learning and video surveillance. Existing methods do not provide satisfactory classification accuracy; moreover, they have difficulty in adapting to complex scenes. Therefore, we propose a method based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The proposed method improves performance of crowd density estimation in two key ways. First, we propose a feature pooling method named mixed pooling to regularize the CNNs. It replaces deterministic pooling operations with a parameter that, by studying the algorithm, could combine the conventional max pooling with average pooling methods. Second, we present a classification strategy, in which an image is divided into two cells and respectively categorized. The proposed approach was evaluated on three datasets: two ground truth image sequences and the University of California, San Diego, anomaly detection dataset. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach performs more effectively and easily than other methods.

Fabrication and evaluation of advanced titanium structural panels for supersonic cruise aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Payne, L.

1977-01-01

Flightworthy primary structural panels were designed, fabricated, and tested to investigate two advanced fabrication methods for titanium alloys. Skin-stringer panels fabricated using the weldbraze process, and honeycomb-core sandwich panels fabricated using a diffusion bonding process, were designed to replace an existing integrally stiffened shear panel on the upper wing surface of the NASA YF-12 research aircraft. The investigation included ground testing and Mach 3 flight testing of full-scale panels, and laboratory testing of representative structural element specimens. Test results obtained on full-scale panels and structural element specimens indicate that both of the fabrication methods investigated are suitable for primary structural applications on future civil and military supersonic cruise aircraft.

Method and apparatus for duct sealing using a clog-resistant insertable injector

DOEpatents

Wang, Duo; Modera, Mark P.

2007-01-02

A clog-resistant injector spray nozzle allows relatively unobtrusive insertion through a small access aperture into existing ductwork in occupied buildings for atomized particulate sealing of a ductwork. The spray nozzle comprises an easily cleaned and easily replaced straight liquid tube whose liquid contents are principally propelled by a heated propellant gas, such as heated air. Heat transfer is minimized from the heated propellant gas to the liquid tube until they both exit the injector, thereby greatly reducing the likelihood of nozzle clogging. A method of duct sealing using particles driven by heated propellant gas is described, whereby duct-sealing operations become both faster, and commercially practicable in inhabited commercial and residential buildings.

Fructose replacement of glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers postprandial glucose and insulin without raising triglycerides: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Evans, Rebecca A; Frese, Michael; Romero, Julio; Cunningham, Judy H; Mills, Kerry E

2017-08-01

Background: Conflicting evidence exists on the effects of fructose consumption in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. No systematic review has addressed the effect of isoenergetic fructose replacement of glucose or sucrose on peak postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglyceride concentrations. Objective: The objective of this study was to review the evidence for postprandial glycemic and insulinemic responses after isoenergetic replacement of either glucose or sucrose in foods or beverages with fructose. Design: We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal, and clinicaltrials.gov The date of the last search was 26 April 2016. We included randomized controlled trials measuring peak postprandial glycemia after isoenergetic replacement of glucose, sucrose, or both with fructose in healthy adults or children with or without diabetes. The main outcomes analyzed were peak postprandial blood glucose, insulin, and triglyceride concentrations. Results: Replacement of either glucose or sucrose by fructose resulted in significantly lowered peak postprandial blood glucose, particularly in people with prediabetes and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Similar results were obtained for insulin. Peak postprandial blood triglyceride concentrations did not significantly increase. Conclusions: Strong evidence exists that substituting fructose for glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers peak postprandial blood glucose and insulin concentrations. Isoenergetic replacement does not result in a substantial increase in blood triglyceride concentrations. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

Micro Dot Patterning on the Light Guide Panel Using Powder Blasting

PubMed Central

Jang, Ho Su; Cho, Myeong Woo; Park, Dong Sam

2008-01-01

This study is to develop a micromachining technology for a light guide panel(LGP) mold, whereby micro dot patterns are formed on a LGP surface by a single injection process instead of existing screen printing processes. The micro powder blasting technique is applied to form micro dot patterns on the LGP mold surface. The optimal conditions for masking, laminating, exposure, and developing processes to form the micro dot patterns are first experimentally investigated. A LGP mold with masked micro patterns is then machined using the micro powder blasting method and the machinability of the micro dot patterns is verified. A prototype LGP is test- injected using the developed LGP mold and a shape analysis of the patterns and performance testing of the injected LGP are carried out. As an additional approach, matte finishing, a special surface treatment method, is applied to the mold surface to improve the light diffusion characteristics, uniformity and brightness of the LGP. The results of this study show that the applied powder blasting method can be successfully used to manufacture LGPs with micro patterns by just single injection using the developed mold and thereby replace existing screen printing methods. PMID:27879740

77 FR 26539 - El Paso Natural Gas Company; Supplemental Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-04

...-diameter lateral pipeline to connect the Douglas Meter Station to EPNG's existing Line No. 2164; Replacement of compressor modules and station yard piping at the existing Willcox Compressor Station; [[Page 26540

Method and apparatus for steam mixing a nuclear fueled electricity generation system

DOEpatents

Tsiklauri, Georgi V.; Durst, Bruce M.

1996-01-01

A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency and performance of a nuclear electrical generation system that comprises the addition of steam handling equipment to an existing plant that results in a surprising increase in plant performance. More particularly, a gas turbine electrical generation system with heat recovery boiler is installed along with a micro-jet high pressure and a low pressure mixer superheater. Depending upon plant characteristics, the existing moisture separator reheater (MSR) can be either augmented or done away with. The instant invention enables a reduction in T.sub.hot without a derating of the reactor unit, and improves efficiency of the plant's electrical conversion cycle. Coupled with this advantage is a possible extension of the plant's fuel cycle length due to an increased electrical conversion efficiency. The reduction in T.sub.hot further allows for a surprising extension of steam generator life. An additional advantage is the reduction in erosion/corrosion of secondary system components including turbine blades and diaphragms. The gas turbine generator used in the instant invention can also replace or augment existing peak or emergency power needs. Another benefit of the instant invention is the extension of plant life and the reduction of downtime due to refueling.

A review of statistical updating methods for clinical prediction models.

PubMed

Su, Ting-Li; Jaki, Thomas; Hickey, Graeme L; Buchan, Iain; Sperrin, Matthew

2018-01-01

A clinical prediction model is a tool for predicting healthcare outcomes, usually within a specific population and context. A common approach is to develop a new clinical prediction model for each population and context; however, this wastes potentially useful historical information. A better approach is to update or incorporate the existing clinical prediction models already developed for use in similar contexts or populations. In addition, clinical prediction models commonly become miscalibrated over time, and need replacing or updating. In this article, we review a range of approaches for re-using and updating clinical prediction models; these fall in into three main categories: simple coefficient updating, combining multiple previous clinical prediction models in a meta-model and dynamic updating of models. We evaluated the performance (discrimination and calibration) of the different strategies using data on mortality following cardiac surgery in the United Kingdom: We found that no single strategy performed sufficiently well to be used to the exclusion of the others. In conclusion, useful tools exist for updating existing clinical prediction models to a new population or context, and these should be implemented rather than developing a new clinical prediction model from scratch, using a breadth of complementary statistical methods.

Comparison of transform coding methods with an optimal predictor for the data compression of digital elevation models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Michael

1994-01-01

Statistical encoding techniques enable the reduction of the number of bits required to encode a set of symbols, and are derived from their probabilities. Huffman encoding is an example of statistical encoding that has been used for error-free data compression. The degree of compression given by Huffman encoding in this application can be improved by the use of prediction methods. These replace the set of elevations by a set of corrections that have a more advantageous probability distribution. In particular, the method of Lagrange Multipliers for minimization of the mean square error has been applied to local geometrical predictors. Using this technique, an 8-point predictor achieved about a 7 percent improvement over an existing simple triangular predictor.

78 FR 24368 - Airworthiness Directives; Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (Bell) Model Helicopters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-25

... chain and cable control system with a push-pull control system. Since we issued that AD, we have... requires replacing the existing chain and cable control system with a push-pull control system. Both... Model 205A-1 to replace the tail rotor chain and cable control system with a push-pull control system...

75 FR 4308 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A Helicopters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... the Sikorsky Model S-92A helicopters. The AD would require replacing the main gearbox (MGB) filter bowl assembly with a two-piece MGB filter bowl assembly and replacing the existing mounting studs. The AD would also require inspecting the MGB lube system filters, the housing, the housing threads, and...

Existing Whole-House Solutions Case Study: Build San Antonio Green, San Antonio, Texas

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

none,

2013-06-01

PNNL, FSEC, and CalcsPlus provided technical assistance to Build San Antonio Green on three deep energy retrofits. For this gut rehab they replaced the old roof with a steeper roof and replaced drywall while adding insulation, new HVAC, sealed ducts, transfer grilles, outside air run-time ventilation, new lighting and water heater.

76 FR 76707 - El Paso Natural Gas Company: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-08

... long, 16-inch diameter lateral pipeline to connect the Douglas Meter Station to EPNG's existing Line No. 2164; The replacement of compressor modules and station yard piping at the existing Willcox Compressor Station; Expansion of the existing Douglas Meter Station by installing updated flow control and pressure...

An Investment Level Decision Method to Secure Long-term Reliability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bamba, Satoshi; Yabe, Kuniaki; Seki, Tomomichi; Shibaya, Tetsuji

The slowdown in power demand increase and facility replacement causes the aging and lower reliability in power facility. And the aging is followed by the rapid increase of repair and replacement when many facilities reach their lifetime in future. This paper describes a method to estimate the repair and replacement costs in future by applying the life-cycle cost model and renewal theory to the historical data. This paper also describes a method to decide the optimum investment plan, which replaces facilities in the order of cost-effectiveness by setting replacement priority formula, and the minimum investment level to keep the reliability. Estimation examples applied to substation facilities show that the reasonable and leveled future cash-out can keep the reliability by lowering the percentage of replacements caused by fatal failures.

TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT IN PATIENTS WITH BELOW-KNEE AMPUTATION

PubMed Central

Karam, Matthew D; Willey, Michael; Shurr, Donald G

2010-01-01

Total knee replacement (TKR) is reserved for patients with severe and disabling arthritis that is non-responsive to conservative measures. Based on existing data, total knee replacement is a safe and cost-effective treatment for alleviating pain and improving physical function in patients who do not respond to conservative therapy. Despite the large variation in health status of patients and types of prosthesis implanted, total knee replacement has proven to be a relatively low risk and successful operation. Each year in the United States surgeons perform approximately 300,000 TKR.1 Likewise, lower extremity amputation is commonly performed in the United States with an annual incidence of 110,000 per year.2 Nearly 70% of all lower extremity amputations are performed as the result of chronic vascular disease, followed by trauma (22%), congenital etiology and tumor (4% each).3 Approximately 50% of all lower extremity amputations are performed secondary to complications from Diabetes Mellitus. Norvell et al. demonstrated that patients who have previously undergone transtibial amputation and ambulate with a prosthesis are more likely to develop degenerative joint disease in the con-tralateral extremity than the ipsilateral extremity.4 Further, radiographic changes consistent with osteoporosis have been demonstrated in up to 88% of limbs that have undergone transtibial amputation.8 To our knowledge, there have been only three reported cases of total knee replacement in patients with ipsilateral transtibial amputation.5,7 The purpose of the present study is to review the existing data on total knee replacement in patients who have undergone transtibial amputation. Further we present a patient with a transtibial amputation who underwent contralateral total knee replacement. PMID:21045987

Meniscal tears, repairs and replacement: their relevance to osteoarthritis of the knee.

PubMed

McDermott, Ian

2011-04-01

The menisci of the knee are important load sharers and shock absorbers in the joint. Meniscal tears are common, and whenever possible meniscal tears should be surgically repaired. Meniscectomy leads to a significant increased risk of osteoarthritis, and various options now exist for replacing missing menisci, including the use of meniscal scaffolds or the replacement of the entire meniscus by meniscal allograft transplantation. The field of meniscal surgery continues to develop apace, and the future may lie in growing new menisci by tissue engineering techniques.

High throughput generation and characterization of replication-competent clade C transmitter-founder simian human immunodeficiency viruses

PubMed Central

Dutta, Debashis; Johnson, Samuel; Dalal, Alisha; Deymier, Martin J.; Hunter, Eric

2018-01-01

Traditional restriction endonuclease-based cloning has been routinely used to generate replication-competent simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIV) and simian tropic HIV (stHIV). This approach requires the existence of suitable restriction sites or the introduction of nucleotide changes to create them. Here, using an In-Fusion cloning technique that involves homologous recombination, we generated SHIVs and stHIVs based on epidemiologically linked clade C transmitted/founder HIV molecular clones from Zambia. Replacing vif from these HIV molecular clones with vif of SIVmac239 resulted in chimeric genomes used to generate infectious stHIV viruses. Likewise, exchanging HIV env genes and introducing N375 mutations to enhance macaque CD4 binding site and cloned into a SHIVAD8-EO backbone. The generated SHIVs and stHIV were infectious in TZMbl and ZB5 cells, as well as macaque PBMCs. Therefore, this method can replace traditional methods and be a valuable tool for the rapid generation and testing of molecular clones of stHIV and SHIV based on primary clinical isolates will be valuable to generate rapid novel challenge viruses for HIV vaccine/cure studies. PMID:29758076

Identifying wells downstream from Laguna Dam that yield water that will be replaced by water from the Colorado River, Arizona and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Owen-Joyce, Sandra J.

2000-01-01

This report summarizes a comprehensive study and development of the method documented in Owen-Joyce and others (2000). That report and one for the area upstream from Laguna Dam (Wilson and Owen-Joyce, 1994) document the accounting-surface method to identify wells that yield water that will be replaced by water from the Colorado River. Downstream from Laguna Dam, the Colorado River is the source for nearly all recharge to the river aquifer. The complex surface-water and ground-water system that exists in the area is, in part, the result of more than 100 years of water-resources development. Agriculture is the principal economy and is possible only with irrigation. The construction and operation of canals provides the means to divert and distribute Colorado River water to irrigate agricultural lands on the flood plains and mesas along the Colorado and Gila Rivers, in Imperial and Coachella Valleys, and in the area upstream from Dome along the Gila River. Water is withdrawn from wells for irrigation, dewatering, and domestic use. The area downstream from Laguna Dam borders additional areas of agricultural development in Mexico where Colorado River water also is diverted for irrigation.

Fragon: rapid high-resolution structure determination from ideal protein fragments.

PubMed

Jenkins, Huw T

2018-03-01

Correctly positioning ideal protein fragments by molecular replacement presents an attractive method for obtaining preliminary phases when no template structure for molecular replacement is available. This has been exploited in several existing pipelines. This paper presents a new pipeline, named Fragon, in which fragments (ideal α-helices or β-strands) are placed using Phaser and the phases calculated from these coordinates are then improved by the density-modification methods provided by ACORN. The reliable scoring algorithm provided by ACORN identifies success. In these cases, the resulting phases are usually of sufficient quality to enable automated model building of the entire structure. Fragon was evaluated against two test sets comprising mixed α/β folds and all-β folds at resolutions between 1.0 and 1.7 Å. Success rates of 61% for the mixed α/β test set and 30% for the all-β test set were achieved. In almost 70% of successful runs, fragment placement and density modification took less than 30 min on relatively modest four-core desktop computers. In all successful runs the best set of phases enabled automated model building with ARP/wARP to complete the structure.

40 CFR Table 2d to Subpart Zzzz of... - Requirements for Existing Stationary RICE Located at Area Sources of HAP Emissions

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 1,000 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first;1 b. Inspect air cleaner every 1,000 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first, and replace as necessary; c. Inspect all hoses and belts every 500 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first, and replace as necessary...

40 CFR Table 2d to Subpart Zzzz of... - Requirements for Existing Stationary RICE Located at Area Sources of HAP Emissions

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 1,000 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first;1 b. Inspect air cleaner every 1,000 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first, and replace as necessary; c. Inspect all hoses and belts every 500 hours of operation or annually, whichever comes first, and replace as necessary...

Organ Donation and Transplantation: A Dialogue with American Indian Healers and Western Health-Care Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodge, Felicia Schanche; Bellanger, Patricia; Norman, Connie

2011-01-01

Surgically replacing organs in the human body has become an acceptable and successful procedure in Western medicine. In more recent years, replacing major organs in the human body with those procured from deceased or living donors has become commonplace. Disparities exist at the earliest stages in the donor and transplantation process in that…

Cognitive Science and Science Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Susan

1986-01-01

The premise behind the cognitive approach to teaching is that understanding results when new learning is integrated with existing knowledge. But the goal of science instruction is to replace existing ideas with new theories. Current research in science education seeks to resolve these conflicting instructional approaches. (Author/VM)

Vision based assistive technology for people with dementia performing activities of daily living (ADLs): an overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

As'ari, M. A.; Sheikh, U. U.

2012-04-01

The rapid development of intelligent assistive technology for replacing a human caregiver in assisting people with dementia performing activities of daily living (ADLs) promises in the reduction of care cost especially in training and hiring human caregiver. The main problem however, is the various kinds of sensing agents used in such system and is dependent on the intent (types of ADLs) and environment where the activity is performed. In this paper on overview of the potential of computer vision based sensing agent in assistive system and how it can be generalized and be invariant to various kind of ADLs and environment. We find that there exists a gap from the existing vision based human action recognition method in designing such system due to cognitive and physical impairment of people with dementia.

A cautionary note on substituting spatial subunits for repeated temporal sampling in studies of site occupancy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kendall, William L.; White, Gary C.

2009-01-01

1. Assessing the probability that a given site is occupied by a species of interest is important to resource managers, as well as metapopulation or landscape ecologists. Managers require accurate estimates of the state of the system, in order to make informed decisions. Models that yield estimates of occupancy, while accounting for imperfect detection, have proven useful by removing a potentially important source of bias. To account for detection probability, multiple independent searches per site for the species are required, under the assumption that the species is available for detection during each search of an occupied site. 2. We demonstrate that when multiple samples per site are defined by searching different locations within a site, absence of the species from a subset of these spatial subunits induces estimation bias when locations are exhaustively assessed or sampled without replacement. 3. We further demonstrate that this bias can be removed by choosing sampling locations with replacement, or if the species is highly mobile over a short period of time. 4. Resampling an existing data set does not mitigate bias due to exhaustive assessment of locations or sampling without replacement. 5. Synthesis and applications. Selecting sampling locations for presence/absence surveys with replacement is practical in most cases. Such an adjustment to field methods will prevent one source of bias, and therefore produce more robust statistical inferences about species occupancy. This will in turn permit managers to make resource decisions based on better knowledge of the state of the system.

Two-photon processes based on quantum commutators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fratini, F.; Safari, L.; Amaro, P.; Santos, J. P.

2018-04-01

We developed a method to calculate two-photon processes in quantum mechanics that replaces the infinite summation over the intermediate states by a perturbation expansion. This latter consists of a series of commutators that involve position, momentum, and Hamiltonian quantum operators. We analyzed several single- and many-particle cases for which a closed-form solution to the perturbation expansion exists, as well as more complicated cases for which a solution is found by convergence. Throughout the article, Rayleigh and Raman scattering are taken as examples of two-photon processes. The present method provides a clear distinction between the Thomson scattering, regarded as classical scattering, and quantum contributions. Such a distinction lets us derive general results concerning light scattering. Finally, possible extensions to the developed formalism are discussed.

Peak flood estimation using gene expression programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zorn, Conrad R.; Shamseldin, Asaad Y.

2015-12-01

As a case study for the Auckland Region of New Zealand, this paper investigates the potential use of gene-expression programming (GEP) in predicting specific return period events in comparison to the established and widely used Regional Flood Estimation (RFE) method. Initially calibrated to 14 gauged sites, the GEP derived model was further validated to 10 and 100 year flood events with a relative errors of 29% and 18%, respectively. This is compared to the RFE method providing 48% and 44% errors for the same flood events. While the effectiveness of GEP in predicting specific return period events is made apparent, it is argued that the derived equations should be used in conjunction with those existing methodologies rather than as a replacement.

Changes in the periodontal condition after replacement of swaged crowns by metal.

PubMed

Plotniece-Baranovska, Anita; Soboleva, Una; Rogovska, Irena; Apse, Peteris

2006-01-01

Evidence based clinical studies have shown exact recommended design for artificial crown reconstruction with acceptable long-term results taking into an account the biological price. Previous histological and clinical studies proved that fixed prostheses might influence the periodontal condition of crowned teeth, if not all biological criteria have been considered. The aim of the present study was to assess the periodontal condition of the crowned teeth after stainless steel swaged crowns were replaced by cast metal ceramic crowns. Participants were selected at the Institute of Stomatology, Stradin's University. Selection criteria included need to replace existing swaged crowns by metal ceramic crowns for patients with absence of any systemic disease. Following symptoms of periodontal condition were examined - presence of inflammation (clinical signs, probing) and pocket depth. Assessments were carried out at four different points of time (first appointment after replacement existing swaged crowns by temporary crowns; two weeks after cementation of permanent metal ceramic restoration; after three month; after six month). Overall bleeding score "2" and "3" at the first measurement was observed in majority of study population. Bleeding scores between the 1st and the 4th measurement was significantly lower (p<0.01). The same trend was observed also in the reduction of pocket depth. Overall mean value of pocket depth gradually decreased from the 1st till the 4th measurement. Replacement of swaged crowns by metal ceramic improves gingival health and leads to better long-term prognosis for restored teeth. It is recommended that swaged crowns be replaced with more biologically friendly crowns.

The decision to repair or replace a defective restoration is affected by who placed the original restoration: findings from the National Dental PBRN

PubMed Central

Gordan, Valeria V; Riley, Joseph; Geraldeli, Saulo; Williams, O. Dale; Spoto, Joseph C; Gilbert, Gregg H

2014-01-01

Objectives To evaluate how restoration characteristics are associated with the decision to repair or replace an existing restoration. The following hypotheses were studied: Dentists who placed the original restoration are more likely to repair instead of replace restorations (H1) that are in molar teeth; (H2) that are in the upper arch; (H3) that have amalgam restorative material; (H4) if a fracture is not the primary reason for the defect; and (H5) when the restoration comprises more than one surface. Methods This cross-sectional study used a consecutive patient/restoration recruitment design. 194 dentists members of a dental practice-based research network recorded data on restorations in permanent teeth that needed repair or replacement. Results For 6,623 of the 8,770 defective restorations in 6,643 patients, the treatment was provided by the dentist who had not placed the original restoration (75%). The 2-way interaction revealed that dentists who had placed the original restoration often chose to repair when the defective restoration was in a molar, relative to premolar or anterior teeth (OR = 2.2, p < .001); and chose to replace when the restoration had amalgam (OR = 0.5, p < .001), and when it was a fracture compared to another reason (OR = 0.8, p = 001). Conclusion Most dentists are not conservative when they revisit a restoration that they originally placed regardless of type of failure, number of surfaces or material used. However, dentists who had placed the original restoration were significantly more likely to repair it when the defective restoration was in a molar tooth. PMID:25223822

Cost of acute renal replacement therapy in the intensive care unit: results from The Beginning and Ending Supportive Therapy for the Kidney (BEST Kidney) Study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Introduction Severe acute kidney injury (AKI) can be treated with either continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) or intermittent renal replacement therapy (IRRT). Limited evidence from existing studies does not support an outcome advantage of one modality versus the other, and most centers around the word use both modalities according to patient needs. However, cost estimates involve multiple factors that may not be generalizable to other sites, and, to date, only single-center cost studies have been performed. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost difference between CRRT and IRRT in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods We performed a post hoc analysis of a prospective observational study among 53 centers from 23 countries, from September 2000 to December 2001. We estimated costs based on staffing, as well as dialysate and replacement fluid, anticoagulation and extracorporeal circuit. Results We found that the theoretic range of costs were from $3,629.80/day more with CRRT to $378.60/day more with IRRT. The median difference in cost between CRRT and IRRT was $289.60 (IQR 830.8-116.8) per day (greater with CRRT). Costs also varied greatly by region. Reducing replacement fluid volumes in CRRT to ≤ 25 ml/min (approximately 25 ml/kg/hr) would result in $67.20/day (23.2%) mean savings. Conclusions Cost considerations with RRT are important and vary substantially among centers. We identified the relative impact of four cost domains (nurse staffing, fluid, anticoagulation, and extracorporeal circuit) on overall cost differences, and hospitals can look to these areas to reduce costs associated with RRT. PMID:20346163

After total knee replacement younger patients demonstrate superior balance control compared to older patients when recovering from a forward fall.

PubMed

Street, Brian D; Gage, William

2017-05-01

National joint replacement registries have reported a substantial growth in younger knee osteoarthritic patients (<55years old) undergoing total knee replacement, however this younger population is generally understudied. Importantly, studies examining experimentally controlled perturbation have shown age-related differences between younger and older healthy adults, whether similar age-related differences exist among total knee replacement patients is unknown. A total of 59 participants, including 29 unilateral total knee replacement patients (six-months post-surgery) made up the four experimental groups: 1) younger patient (54.3 (SD 7.9) years), 2) younger control (55.2 (SD 4.0) years), 3) older patient (76.9 (SD 4.7) years), and 4) older control (77.7 (SD 4.1) years). Using a tether-release method to perturb balance and simulate a forward fall, center of mass and stepping characteristics were analyzed. Younger patients recovered following the perturbation with a significantly smaller center of mass displacement compared to the older patients (14.85 (SD 0.01) v. 18.13 (SD 0.02) %ht, p=0.02); utilizing a longer (0.43 (SD 0.02) v. 0.39 (SD 0.03) m, p<0.001) and higher velocity (2.01 (SD 0.2) v. 1.59 (SD 0.2) m/s, p=0.001) recovery step. Importantly, younger patients did not differ significantly from the younger controls in center of mass displacement or recovery step characteristics (p>0.05). The younger patients demonstrated superior center of mass control in response to a forward perturbation, suggesting that younger patients would be at a reduced risk of falling when recovering from a forward-directed postural perturbation compared to older patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PageRank as a method to rank biomedical literature by importance.

PubMed

Yates, Elliot J; Dixon, Louise C

2015-01-01

Optimal ranking of literature importance is vital in overcoming article overload. Existing ranking methods are typically based on raw citation counts, giving a sum of 'inbound' links with no consideration of citation importance. PageRank, an algorithm originally developed for ranking webpages at the search engine, Google, could potentially be adapted to bibliometrics to quantify the relative importance weightings of a citation network. This article seeks to validate such an approach on the freely available, PubMed Central open access subset (PMC-OAS) of biomedical literature. On-demand cloud computing infrastructure was used to extract a citation network from over 600,000 full-text PMC-OAS articles. PageRanks and citation counts were calculated for each node in this network. PageRank is highly correlated with citation count (R = 0.905, P < 0.01) and we thus validate the former as a surrogate of literature importance. Furthermore, the algorithm can be run in trivial time on cheap, commodity cluster hardware, lowering the barrier of entry for resource-limited open access organisations. PageRank can be trivially computed on commodity cluster hardware and is linearly correlated with citation count. Given its putative benefits in quantifying relative importance, we suggest it may enrich the citation network, thereby overcoming the existing inadequacy of citation counts alone. We thus suggest PageRank as a feasible supplement to, or replacement of, existing bibliometric ranking methods.

Generalized Redistribute-to-the-Right Algorithm: Application to the Analysis of Censored Cost Data

PubMed Central

CHEN, SHUAI; ZHAO, HONGWEI

2013-01-01

Medical cost estimation is a challenging task when censoring of data is present. Although researchers have proposed methods for estimating mean costs, these are often derived from theory and are not always easy to understand. We provide an alternative method, based on a replace-from-the-right algorithm, for estimating mean costs more efficiently. We show that our estimator is equivalent to an existing one that is based on the inverse probability weighting principle and semiparametric efficiency theory. We also propose an alternative method for estimating the survival function of costs, based on the redistribute-to-the-right algorithm, that was originally used for explaining the Kaplan–Meier estimator. We show that this second proposed estimator is equivalent to a simple weighted survival estimator of costs. Finally, we develop a more efficient survival estimator of costs, using the same redistribute-to-the-right principle. This estimator is naturally monotone, more efficient than some existing survival estimators, and has a quite small bias in many realistic settings. We conduct numerical studies to examine the finite sample property of the survival estimators for costs, and show that our new estimator has small mean squared errors when the sample size is not too large. We apply both existing and new estimators to a data example from a randomized cardiovascular clinical trial. PMID:24403869

Gene replacement in Penicillium roqueforti.

PubMed

Goarin, Anne; Silar, Philippe; Malagnac, Fabienne

2015-05-01

Most cheese-making filamentous fungi lack suitable molecular tools to improve their biotechnology potential. Penicillium roqueforti, a species of high industrial importance, would benefit from functional data yielded by molecular genetic approaches. This work provides the first example of gene replacement by homologous recombination in P. roqueforti, demonstrating that knockout experiments can be performed in this fungus. To do so, we improved the existing transformation method to integrate transgenes into P. roqueforti genome. In the meantime, we cloned the PrNiaD gene, which encodes a NADPH-dependent nitrate reductase that reduces nitrate to nitrite. Then, we performed a deletion of the PrNiaD gene from P. roqueforti strain AGO. The ΔPrNiaD mutant strain is more resistant to chlorate-containing medium than the wild-type strain, but did not grow on nitrate-containing medium. Because genomic data are now available, we believe that generating selective deletions of candidate genes will be a key step to open the way for a comprehensive exploration of gene function in P. roqueforti.

Transmission overhaul and replacement predictions using Weibull and renewel theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savage, M.; Lewicki, D. G.

1989-01-01

A method to estimate the frequency of transmission overhauls is presented. This method is based on the two-parameter Weibull statistical distribution for component life. A second method is presented to estimate the number of replacement components needed to support the transmission overhaul pattern. The second method is based on renewal theory. Confidence statistics are applied with both methods to improve the statistical estimate of sample behavior. A transmission example is also presented to illustrate the use of the methods. Transmission overhaul frequency and component replacement calculations are included in the example.

40 CFR 63.863 - Compliance dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... startup date after March 13, 2001 must comply with the requirements in this subpart immediately upon startup of the affected source, except as specified in § 63.6(b). (c) The two existing semichemical..., therefore, must construct another type of chemical recovery unit to replace the two existing semichemical...

40 CFR 63.863 - Compliance dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... startup date after March 13, 2001 must comply with the requirements in this subpart immediately upon startup of the affected source, except as specified in § 63.6(b). (c) The two existing semichemical..., therefore, must construct another type of chemical recovery unit to replace the two existing semichemical...

40 CFR 63.863 - Compliance dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... startup date after March 13, 2001 must comply with the requirements in this subpart immediately upon startup of the affected source, except as specified in § 63.6(b). (c) The two existing semichemical..., therefore, must construct another type of chemical recovery unit to replace the two existing semichemical...

40 CFR 63.863 - Compliance dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... startup date after March 13, 2001 must comply with the requirements in this subpart immediately upon startup of the affected source, except as specified in § 63.6(b). (c) The two existing semichemical..., therefore, must construct another type of chemical recovery unit to replace the two existing semichemical...

40 CFR 63.863 - Compliance dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... startup date after March 13, 2001 must comply with the requirements in this subpart immediately upon startup of the affected source, except as specified in § 63.6(b). (c) The two existing semichemical..., therefore, must construct another type of chemical recovery unit to replace the two existing semichemical...

Spectrophotometric analyses of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) in water.

PubMed

Shi, Cong; Xu, Zhonghou; Smolinski, Benjamin L; Arienti, Per M; O'Connor, Gregory; Meng, Xiaoguang

2015-07-01

A simple and accurate spectrophotometric method for on-site analysis of royal demolition explosive (RDX) in water samples was developed based on the Berthelot reaction. The sensitivity and accuracy of an existing spectrophotometric method was improved by: replacing toxic chemicals with more stable and safer reagents; optimizing the reagent dose and reaction time; improving color stability; and eliminating the interference from inorganic nitrogen compounds in water samples. Cation and anion exchange resin cartridges were developed and used for sample pretreatment to eliminate the effect of ammonia and nitrate on RDX analyses. The detection limit of the method was determined to be 100 μg/L. The method was used successfully for analysis of RDX in untreated industrial wastewater samples. It can be used for on-site monitoring of RDX in wastewater for early detection of chemical spills and failure of wastewater treatment systems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

LCAMP: Location Constrained Approximate Message Passing for Compressed Sensing MRI

PubMed Central

Sung, Kyunghyun; Daniel, Bruce L; Hargreaves, Brian A

2016-01-01

Iterative thresholding methods have been extensively studied as faster alternatives to convex optimization methods for solving large-sized problems in compressed sensing. A novel iterative thresholding method called LCAMP (Location Constrained Approximate Message Passing) is presented for reducing computational complexity and improving reconstruction accuracy when a nonzero location (or sparse support) constraint can be obtained from view shared images. LCAMP modifies the existing approximate message passing algorithm by replacing the thresholding stage with a location constraint, which avoids adjusting regularization parameters or thresholding levels. This work is first compared with other conventional reconstruction methods using random 1D signals and then applied to dynamic contrast-enhanced breast MRI to demonstrate the excellent reconstruction accuracy (less than 2% absolute difference) and low computation time (5 - 10 seconds using Matlab) with highly undersampled 3D data (244 × 128 × 48; overall reduction factor = 10). PMID:23042658

Rapid bacterial antibiotic susceptibility test based on simple surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic biomarkers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chia-Ying; Han, Yin-Yi; Shih, Po-Han; Lian, Wei-Nan; Wang, Huai-Hsien; Lin, Chi-Hung; Hsueh, Po-Ren; Wang, Juen-Kai; Wang, Yuh-Lin

2016-03-01

Rapid bacterial antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) measurement are important to help reduce the widespread misuse of antibiotics and alleviate the growing drug-resistance problem. We discovered that, when a susceptible strain of Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli is exposed to an antibiotic, the intensity of specific biomarkers in its surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra drops evidently in two hours. The discovery has been exploited for rapid AST and MIC determination of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and wild-type E. coli as well as clinical isolates. The results obtained by this SERS-AST method were consistent with that by the standard incubation-based method, indicating its high potential to supplement or replace existing time-consuming methods and help mitigate the challenge of drug resistance in clinical microbiology.

Cost effectiveness analysis of screening for sight threatening diabetic eye disease

PubMed Central

James, Marilyn; Turner, David A; Broadbent, Deborah M; Vora, Jiten; Harding, Simon P

2000-01-01

Objective To measure the cost effectiveness of systematic photographic screening for sight threatening diabetic eye disease compared with existing practice. Design Cost effectiveness analysis Setting Liverpool. Subjects A target population of 5000 diabetic patients invited for screening. Main outcome measures Cost effectiveness (cost per true positive) of systematic and opportunistic programmes; incremental cost effectiveness of replacing opportunistic with systematic screening. Results Baseline prevalence of sight threatening eye disease was 14.1%. The cost effectiveness of the systematic programme was £209 (sensitivity 89%, specificity 86%, compliance 80%, annual cost £104 996) and of the opportunistic programme was £289 (combined sensitivity 63%, specificity 92%, compliance 78%, annual cost £99 981). The incremental cost effectiveness of completely replacing the opportunistic programme was £32. Absolute values of cost effectiveness were highly sensitive to varying prevalence, sensitivity and specificity, compliance, and programme size. Conclusion Replacing existing programmes with systematic screening for diabetic eye disease is justified. PMID:10856062

Implementation of a Flexible Online Delivery Model to Replace a Traditional Face-to-Face Delivery of a PGCE ICT Module

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Martin

2007-01-01

This paper describes aspects of the planning and delivery of a 10 credit module to learners participating in a full-time, Secondary Informational Communication Technology (ICT) PGCE course and the decision to replace an existing face-to-face delivery with a flexible, online delivery. The paper focuses upon four associated aspects of the module,…

Coupling Adaptation Tipping Points and Engineering Options: New Insights for Resilient Water Infrastructure Replacement Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smet, K.; de Neufville, R.; van der Vlist, M.

2017-12-01

This work presents an innovative approach for replacement planning for aging water infrastructure given uncertain future conditions. We draw upon two existing methodologies to develop an integrated long-term replacement planning framework. We first expand the concept of Adaptation Tipping Points to generate long-term planning timelines that incorporate drivers of investment related to both internal structural processes as well as changes in external operating conditions. Then, we use Engineering Options to explore different actions taken at key moments in this timeline. Contrasting to the traditionally more static approach to infrastructure design, designing the next generation of infrastructure so it can be changed incrementally is a promising method to safeguard current investments given future uncertainty. This up-front inclusion of structural options in the system actively facilitates future adaptation, transforming uncertainty management in infrastructure planning from reactive to more proactive. A two-part model underpins this approach. A simulation model generates diverse future conditions, allowing development of timelines of intervention moments in the structure's life. This feeds into an economic model, evaluating the lifetime performance of different replacement strategies, making explicit the value of different designs and their flexibility. A proof of concept study demonstrates this approach for a pumping station. The strategic planning timelines for this structure demonstrate that moments when capital interventions become necessary due to reduced functionality from structural degradation or changed operating conditions are widely spread over the structure's life. The disparate timing of these necessary interventions supports an incremental, adaptive mindset when considering end-of-life and replacement decisions. The analysis then explores different replacement decisions, varying the size and specific options included in the proposed new structure. Results show that incremental adaptive designs and incorporating options can improve economic performance, as compared to traditional, "build it once & build it big" designs. The benefit from incorporating flexibility varies with structural functionality, future conditions and the specific options examined.

77 FR 55519 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Order Approving...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-10

...\\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\\2\\ a proposed rule change to adopt existing NASD Interpretive Material... Policy The proposed rule change would replace several existing provisions in the Front Running Policy...-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Order Approving Proposed Rule Change...

49 CFR 228.101 - Distance requirement; definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of Transportation) of any area where railroad... of a new facility; (ii) Expansion of an existing facility; (iii) Placement of a mobile or modular...) Replacement of an existing facility with a new facility on the same site; or (ii) Rehabilitation or...

49 CFR 235.7 - Changes not requiring filing of application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... formal proceeding; (2) Removal of devices and associated signals used to provide protection against... protection when the unusual contingency no longer exists; (3) Removal of an interlocking where a drawbridge... protecting a railroad crossing at grade; (9) The installation of all relay type locking to replace existing...

49 CFR 235.7 - Changes not requiring filing of application.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... formal proceeding; (2) Removal of devices and associated signals used to provide protection against... protection when the unusual contingency no longer exists; (3) Removal of an interlocking where a drawbridge... protecting a railroad crossing at grade; (9) The installation of all relay type locking to replace existing...

Anesthetic Considerations for Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement.

PubMed

Gregory, Stephen H; Zoller, Jonathan K; Shahanavaz, Shabana; Chilson, Kelly L; Ridley, Clare H

2018-02-01

The introduction of transcatheter therapy for valvular heart disease has revolutionized the care of patients with valvular disorders. Pathologic regurgitation or stenosis of the pulmonary valve, right ventricular outflow tract, or a right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery conduit represent emerging indications for transcatheter therapy. To date, minimal literature exists detailing the anesthetic management of patients undergoing transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement. In this review, the pathophysiology and indications for transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement and possible complications unique to this procedure are reviewed. Anesthetic management, including preoperative assessment, intraoperative considerations, and early postoperative monitoring, are discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental Assessment for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve West Hackberry Facility Raw Water Intake Pipeline Replacement Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana

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

N /A

The proposed action and three alternatives, including a No Build alternative, were evaluated along the existing RWIPL alignment to accommodate the placement of the proposed RWIPL. Construction feasibility, reasonableness and potential environmental impacts were considered during the evaluation of the four actions (and action alternatives) for the proposed RWIPL activities. Reasonable actions were identified as those actions which were considered to be supported by common sense and sound technical principles. Feasible actions were those actions which were considered to be capable of being accomplished, practicable and non-excessive in terms of cost. The evaluation process considered the following design specifications, whichmore » were determined to be important to the feasibility of the overall project. The proposed RWIPL replacement project must therefore: (1) Comply with the existing design basis and criteria, (2) Maintain continuity of operation of the facility during construction, (3)Provide the required service life, (4) Be cost effective, (5)Improve the operation and maintenance of the pipeline, and (6) Maintain minimal environmental impact while meeting the performance requirements. Sizing of the pipe, piping construction materials, construction method (e.g., open-cut trench, directional drilling, etc.) and the acquisition of new Right-of-Way (ROW) were additionally evaluated in the preliminary alternative identification, selection and screening process.« less

Comments on the Yule Marble Haines block: potential replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mossotti, Victor G.

2014-01-01

Marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was cut from the Colorado Yule Marble Quarry in 1931. Although anecdotal reports suggest that cracks were noticed in the main section of the monument shortly after its installation at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, detailed documentation of the extent of cracking did not appear until 1963. Although debate continues as to whether the main section of the Tomb of the Unknowns monument should be repaired or replaced, Mr. John S. Haines of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in anticipation of the permanent closing of the Yule Quarry, donated a 58-ton block of Yule Marble, the so-called Haines block, as a potential backup. The brief study reported here was conducted during mid-summer 2009 at the behest of the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. The field team entered the subterranean Yule Marble Quarry with the Chief Extraction Engineer in order to contrast the method used for extraction of the Haines block with the method that was probably used to extract the marble block that is now cracked. Based on surficial inspection and shallow coring of the Haines block, and on the nature of crack propagation in Yule Marble as judged by close inspection of a large collection of surrogate Yule Marble blocks, the team found the block to be structurally sound and cosmetically equivalent to the marble used for the current monument. If the Haines block were needed, it would be an appropriate replacement for the existing cracked section of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument.

Research on the Applicable Method of Valuation of Pure Electric Used vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, yun; Tan, zhengping; Wang, yidong; Mao, pan

2018-03-01

With the rapid growth in the ownership of pure electric vehicles, the research on the valuation of used electric vehicles has become the key to the development of the pure electric used vehicle market. The paper analyzed the application of the three value assessment methods, current market price method, capitalized earning method and replacement cost method, in pure electric used vehicles, and draws a conclusion that the replacement cost method is more suitable for pure electric used car. At the same time, the article also conducted a parametric correction exploration research, aiming at the characteristics of pure electric vehicles and replacement cost of the constituent factors. Through the analysis of the applicability parameters of physical devaluation, functional devaluation and economic devaluation, the revised replacement cost method can be used for the valuation of purely used electric vehicles for private use.

Research on the Value Evaluation of Used Pure Electric Car Based on the Replacement Cost Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, zhengping; Cai, yun; Wang, yidong; Mao, pan

2018-03-01

In this paper, the value evaluation of the used pure electric car is carried out by the replacement cost method, which fills the blank of the value evaluation of the electric vehicle. The basic principle of using the replacement cost method, combined with the actual cost of pure electric cars, puts forward the calculation method of second-hand electric car into a new rate based on the use of AHP method to construct the weight matrix comprehensive adjustment coefficient of related factors, the improved method of value evaluation system for second-hand car

Method and apparatus for improving the performance of a steam driven power system by steam mixing

DOEpatents

Tsiklauri, Georgi V.; Durst, Bruce M.; Prichard, Andrew W.; Reid, Bruce D.; Burritt, James

1998-01-01

A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency and performance of a steam driven power plant wherein addition of steam handling equipment to an existing plant results in a surprising increase in plant performance. For Example, a gas turbine electrical generation system with heat recovery boiler may be installed along with a micro-jet high pressure and a low pressure mixer superheater. Depending upon plant characteristics, the existing moisture separator reheater (MSR) can be either augmented or done away with. The instant invention enables a reduction in T.sub.hot without a derating of the reactor unit, and improves efficiency of the plant's electrical conversion cycle. Coupled with this advantage is a possible extension of the plant's fuel cycle length due to an increased electrical conversion efficiency. The reduction in T.sub.hot further allows for a surprising extension of steam generator life. An additional advantage is the reduction in erosion/corrosion of secondary system components including turbine blades and diaphragms. The gas turbine generator used in the instant invention can also replace or augment existing peak or emergency power needs. Another benefit of the instant invention is the extension of plant life and the reduction of downtime due to refueling.

Lifting scheme-based method for joint coding 3D stereo digital cinema with luminace correction and optimized prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darazi, R.; Gouze, A.; Macq, B.

2009-01-01

Reproducing a natural and real scene as we see in the real world everyday is becoming more and more popular. Stereoscopic and multi-view techniques are used for this end. However due to the fact that more information are displayed requires supporting technologies such as digital compression to ensure the storage and transmission of the sequences. In this paper, a new scheme for stereo image coding is proposed. The original left and right images are jointly coded. The main idea is to optimally exploit the existing correlation between the two images. This is done by the design of an efficient transform that reduces the existing redundancy in the stereo image pair. This approach was inspired by Lifting Scheme (LS). The novelty in our work is that the prediction step is been replaced by an hybrid step that consists in disparity compensation followed by luminance correction and an optimized prediction step. The proposed scheme can be used for lossless and for lossy coding. Experimental results show improvement in terms of performance and complexity compared to recently proposed methods.

77 FR 4803 - Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-31

...) existing Sabinsville Meter Station and running south across portions of Clymer, Gaines, and Elk Townships..., Pennsylvania; Replacement of regulators and upgrade of monitor controls at the existing Boom Compressor Station... Station in Stewardson Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania; Installation of about 900 feet of new 24-inch...

75 FR 36739 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

....'' Second, the Exchange proposes replacing existing paragraph (c)(4) of Rule 52.4, entitled ``Numerical... eliminate the ability of the Exchange to deviate from the Numerical Guidelines contained in paragraph (c)(1... existing paragraph (c)(2), which provides flexibility to the Exchange to use different Numerical Guidelines...

75 FR 27409 - Airworthiness Directives; Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A Helicopters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-17

... gearbox (MGB) filter bowl assembly with a two-piece MGB filter bowl assembly and replacing the existing mounting studs. The AD also requires inspecting the MGB lube system filters, the housing, the housing... prompted by tests indicating that an existing MGB filter bowl assembly can fail under certain loading...

40 CFR 63.1220 - What are the replacement standards for hazardous waste burning cement kilns?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... hazardous waste burning cement kilns? 63.1220 Section 63.1220 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... burning cement kilns? (a) Emission and hazardous waste feed limits for existing sources. You must not... (whether burning hazardous waste or not) did not previously exist, to 50 parts per million by volume, over...

40 CFR 63.1220 - What are the replacement standards for hazardous waste burning cement kilns?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... hazardous waste burning cement kilns? 63.1220 Section 63.1220 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... burning cement kilns? (a) Emission and hazardous waste feed limits for existing sources. You must not... (whether burning hazardous waste or not) did not previously exist, to 50 parts per million by volume, over...

40 CFR 63.1220 - What are the replacement standards for hazardous waste burning cement kilns?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... hazardous waste burning cement kilns? 63.1220 Section 63.1220 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... burning cement kilns? (a) Emission and hazardous waste feed limits for existing sources. You must not... (whether burning hazardous waste or not) did not previously exist, to 50 parts per million by volume, over...

40 CFR 63.1220 - What are the replacement standards for hazardous waste burning cement kilns?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... hazardous waste burning cement kilns? 63.1220 Section 63.1220 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... burning cement kilns? (a) Emission and hazardous waste feed limits for existing sources. You must not... (whether burning hazardous waste or not) did not previously exist, to 50 parts per million by volume, over...

40 CFR 63.1220 - What are the replacement standards for hazardous waste burning cement kilns?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... hazardous waste burning cement kilns? 63.1220 Section 63.1220 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... burning cement kilns? (a) Emission and hazardous waste feed limits for existing sources. You must not... (whether burning hazardous waste or not) did not previously exist, to 50 parts per million by volume, over...

Investigation of pattern transfer to piezoelectric jetted polymer using roll-to-roll nanoimprint lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menezes, Shannon John

Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) has existed since the mid 1990s as a proven concept of creating micro- and nanostructures using direct mechanical pattern transfer. Initially seen as a viable option to replace conventional lithography methods, the lack of technology to support large-scale manufacturing using NIL has motivated researchers to explore the application of NIL to create a better, more cost-efficient process with the ability to integrate NIL into a mass manufacturing system. One such method is the roll-to-roll process, similar to that used in printing presses of newspapers and plastics. This thesis is an investigation to characterize polymer deposition using a piezoelectric jetting head and attempt to create micro- and nanostructures on the polymer using R2RNIL technique.

A nonlinear model for gas chromatograph systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feinberg, M. P.

1975-01-01

Fundamental engineering design techniques and concepts were studied for the optimization of a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer chemical analysis system suitable for use on an unmanned, Martian roving vehicle. Previously developed mathematical models of the gas chromatograph are found to be inadequate for predicting peak heights and spreading for some experimental conditions and chemical systems. A modification to the existing equilibrium adsorption model is required; the Langmuir isotherm replaces the linear isotherm. The numerical technique of Crank-Nicolson was studied for use with the linear isotherm to determine the utility of the method. Modifications are made to the method eliminate unnecessary calculations which result in an overall reduction of the computation time of about 42 percent. The Langmuir isotherm is considered which takes into account the composition-dependent effects on the thermodynamic parameter, mRo.

Operation and Performance of a Biphase Turbine Power Plant at the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Field (Final Report)

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

Hays, Lance G.

2000-09-01

A full scale, wellhead Biphase turbine was manufactured and installed with the balance of plant at Well 103 of the Cerro Prieto geothermal resource in Baja, California. The Biphase turbine was first synchronized with the electrical grid of Comision Federal de Electricidad on August 20, 1997. The Biphase power plant was operated from that time until May 23, 2000, a period of 2 years and 9 months. A total of 77,549 kWh were delivered to the grid. The power plant was subsequently placed in a standby condition pending replacement of the rotor with a newly designed, higher power rotor andmore » replacement of the bearings and seals. The maximum measured power output of the Biphase turbine, 808 kWe at 640 psig wellhead pressure, agreed closely with the predicted output, 840 kWe. When combined with the backpressure steam turbine the total output power from that flow would be increased by 40% above the power derived only from the flow by the present flash steam plant. The design relations used to predict performance and design the turbine were verified by these tests. The performance and durability of the Biphase turbine support the conclusion of the Economics and Application Report previously published, (Appendix A). The newly designed rotor (the Dual Pressure Rotor) was analyzed for the above power condition. The Dual Pressure Rotor would increase the power output to 2064 kWe by incorporating two pressure letdown stages in the Biphase rotor, eliminating the requirement for a backpressure steam turbine. The power plant availability was low due to deposition of solids from the well on the Biphase rotor and balance of plant problems. A great deal of plant down time resulted from the requirement to develop methods to handle the solids and from testing the apparatus in the Biphase turbine. Finally an online, washing method using the high pressure two-phase flow was developed which completely eliminated the solids problem. The availability of the Biphase turbine itself was 100% after implementations of this method in March 2000. However, failures of instrumentation and control system components led to additional plant down time and damage to the bearings and seals. The enthalpy and pressure of well 103 declined substantially from the inception of the project. When the project was started the wellhead pressure and enthalpy were 760 psig and 882 Btu/lb respectively. At the time the plant was placed in standby the corresponding values were only 525 psig and 658 Btu/lb. This reduced the available plant power to only 400 kWe making the project economically unfeasible. However, replacement of the existing rotor with the Dual Pressure Rotor and replacement of the bearings and seals will enable the existing Biphase turbine to produce 1190 kWe at the present well conditions without the backpressure steam turbine. Operation with the present staff can then be sustained by selling power under the existing Agreement with CFE. Implementation of this option is recommended with operation of the facility to continue as a demonstration plant. Biphase turbine theory, design and performance are reported herein. The construction of the Biphase turbine and power plant and operational experience are detailed. Improvements in the Biphase turbine are indicated and analyzed. The impact of Biphase techonology on geothermal power production is discussed and recommendations made.« less

Microprocessor-based control systems application in nuclear power plant critical systems

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

Shah, M.R.; Nowak, J.B.

Microprocessor-based control systems have been used in fossil power plants and are receiving greater acceptance for application in nuclear plants. This technology is not new but it does require unique considerations when applied to nuclear power plants. Sargent and Lundy (S and L) has used a microprocessor-based component logic control system (interposing Logic System) for safety- and non-safety-related components in nuclear power plants under construction overseas. Currently, S and L is in the design stage to replace an existing analog control system with a microprocessor-based control system in the U.S. The trend in the industry is to replace systems inmore » existing plants or design new power plants with microprocessor-based control systems.« less

It's not about pager replacement: an in-depth look at the interprofessional nature of communication in healthcare.

PubMed

Quan, Sherman D; Wu, Robert C; Rossos, Peter G; Arany, Teri; Groe, Silvi; Morra, Dante; Wong, Brian M; Cavalcanti, Rodrigo; Coke, William; Lau, Francis Y

2013-03-01

Institutions have tried to replace the use of numeric pagers for clinical communication by implementing health information technology (HIT) solutions. However, failing to account for the sociotechnical aspects of HIT or the interplay of technology with existing clinical workflow, culture, and social interactions may create other unintended consequences. To evaluate a Web-based messaging system that allows asynchronous communication between health providers and identify the unintended consequences associated with implementing such technology. Intervention-a Web-based messaging system at the University Health Network to replace numeric paging practices in May 2010. The system facilitated clinical communication on the medical wards for coordinating patient care. Study design-pre-post mixed methods utilizing both quantitative and qualitative measures. Five residents, 8 nurses, 2 pharmacists, and 2 social workers were interviewed. Pre-post interruption-15 residents from 5 clinical teams in both periods. The study compared the type of messages sent to physicians before and after implementation of the Web-based messaging system; a constant comparative analysis of semistructured interviews was used to generate key themes related to unintended consequences. Interruptions increased 233%, from 3 pages received per resident per day pre-implementation to 10 messages received per resident per day post-implementation. Key themes relating to unintended consequences that emerged from the interviews included increase in interruptions, accountability, and tactics to improve personal productivity. Meaningful improvements in clinical communication can occur but require more than just replacing pagers. Introducing HIT without addressing the sociotechnical aspects of HIT that underlie clinical communication can lead to unintended consequences. Copyright © 2013 Society of Hospital Medicine.

CRAX/Cassandra Reliability Analysis Software

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

Robinson, D.

1999-02-10

Over the past few years Sandia National Laboratories has been moving toward an increased dependence on model- or physics-based analyses as a means to assess the impact of long-term storage on the nuclear weapons stockpile. These deterministic models have also been used to evaluate replacements for aging systems, often involving commercial off-the-shelf components (COTS). In addition, the models have been used to assess the performance of replacement components manufactured via unique, small-lot production runs. In either case, the limited amount of available test data dictates that the only logical course of action to characterize the reliability of these components ismore » to specifically consider the uncertainties in material properties, operating environment etc. within the physics-based (deterministic) model. This not only provides the ability to statistically characterize the expected performance of the component or system, but also provides direction regarding the benefits of additional testing on specific components within the system. An effort was therefore initiated to evaluate the capabilities of existing probabilistic methods and, if required, to develop new analysis methods to support the inclusion of uncertainty in the classical design tools used by analysts and design engineers at Sandia. The primary result of this effort is the CMX (Cassandra Exoskeleton) reliability analysis software.« less

Fish as research tools: alternatives to in vivo experiments.

PubMed

Schaeck, Marlien; Van den Broeck, Wim; Hermans, Katleen; Decostere, Annemie

2013-07-01

The use of fish in scientific research is increasing worldwide, due to both the rapid expansion of the fish farming industry and growing awareness of questions concerning the humane use of mammalian models in basic research and chemical testing. As fish are lower on the evolutionary scale than mammals, they are considered to be less sentient. Fish models are providing researchers, and those concerned with animal welfare, with opportunities for adhering to the Three Rs principles of refinement, reduction and replacement. However, it should be kept in mind that fish should also be covered by the principles of the Three Rs. Indeed, various studies have shown that fish are capable of nociception, and of experiencing pain in a manner analogous to that in mammals. Thus, emphasis needs to be placed on the development of alternatives that replace, as much as possible, the use of all living vertebrate animals, including fish. This review gives the first comprehensive and critical overview of the existing alternatives for live fish experimental studies. The alternative methods described range from cell and tissue cultures, organ and perfusion models, and embryonic models, to in silico computer and mathematical models. This article aspires to guide scientists in the adoption of the correct alternative methods in their research, and, whenever possible, to reduce the use of live fish. 2013 FRAME.

EFFLUENT TREATMENT FACILITY PEROXIDE DESTRUCTION CATALYST TESTING

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

HALGREN DL

2008-07-30

The 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) main treatment train includes the peroxide destruction module (PDM) where the hydrogen peroxide residual from the upstream ultraviolet light/hydrogen peroxide oxidation unit is destroyed. Removal of the residual peroxide is necessary to protect downstream membranes from the strong oxidizer. The main component of the PDM is two reaction vessels utilizing granular activated carbon (GAC) as the reaction media. The PDM experienced a number of operability problems, including frequent plugging, and has not been utilized since the ETF changed to groundwater as the predominant feed. The unit seemed to be underperforming in regards tomore » peroxide removal during the early periods of operation as well. It is anticipated that a functional PDM will be required for wastewater from the vitrification plant and other future streams. An alternate media or methodology needs to be identified to replace the GAC in the PDMs. This series of bench scale tests is to develop information to support an engineering study on the options for replacement of the existing GAC method for peroxide destruction at the ETF. A number of different catalysts will be compared as well as other potential methods such as strong reducing agents. The testing should lead to general conclusions on the viability of different catalysts and identify candidates for further study and evaluation.« less

Stiffness-generated rigid-body mode shapes for Lanczos eigensolution with SUPORT DOF by way of a MSC/NASTRAN DMAP alter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdallah, Ayman A.; Barnett, Alan R.; Widrick, Timothy W.; Manella, Richard T.; Miller, Robert P.

1994-01-01

When using all MSC/NASTRAN eigensolution methods except Lanczos, the analyst can replace the coupled system rigid-body modes calculated within DMAP module READ with mass orthogonalized and normalized rigid-body modes generated from the system stiffness. This option is invoked by defining MSC/NASTRAN r-set degrees of freedom via the SUPORT bulk data card. The newly calculated modes are required if the rigid-body modes calculated by the eigensolver are not 'clean' due to numerical roundoffs in the solution. When performing transient structural dynamic load analysis, the numerical roundoffs can result in inaccurate rigid-body accelerations which affect steady-state responses. Unfortunately, when using the Lanczos method and defining r-set degrees of freedom, the rigid-body modes calculated within DMAP module REIGL are retained. To overcome this limitation and to allow MSC/NASTRAN to handle SUPORT degrees of freedom identically for all eigensolvers, a DMAP Alter has been written which replaces Lanczos-calculated rigid-body modes with stiffness-generated rigid-body modes. The newly generated rigid-body modes are normalized with respect to the system mass and orthogonalized using the Gram-Schmidt technique. This algorithm has been implemented as an enhancement to an existing coupled loads methodology.

Metamodels for Computer-Based Engineering Design: Survey and Recommendations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simpson, Timothy W.; Peplinski, Jesse; Koch, Patrick N.; Allen, Janet K.

1997-01-01

The use of statistical techniques to build approximations of expensive computer analysis codes pervades much of todays engineering design. These statistical approximations, or metamodels, are used to replace the actual expensive computer analyses, facilitating multidisciplinary, multiobjective optimization and concept exploration. In this paper we review several of these techniques including design of experiments, response surface methodology, Taguchi methods, neural networks, inductive learning, and kriging. We survey their existing application in engineering design and then address the dangers of applying traditional statistical techniques to approximate deterministic computer analysis codes. We conclude with recommendations for the appropriate use of statistical approximation techniques in given situations and how common pitfalls can be avoided.

Communications and control for electric power systems: Power system stability applications of artificial neural networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toomarian, N.; Kirkham, Harold

1994-01-01

This report investigates the application of artificial neural networks to the problem of power system stability. The field of artificial intelligence, expert systems, and neural networks is reviewed. Power system operation is discussed with emphasis on stability considerations. Real-time system control has only recently been considered as applicable to stability, using conventional control methods. The report considers the use of artificial neural networks to improve the stability of the power system. The networks are considered as adjuncts and as replacements for existing controllers. The optimal kind of network to use as an adjunct to a generator exciter is discussed.

Development of speech prostheses: current status and recent advances

PubMed Central

Brumberg, Jonathan S; Guenther, Frank H

2010-01-01

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) have been developed over the past decade to restore communication to persons with severe paralysis. In the most severe cases of paralysis, known as locked-in syndrome, patients retain cognition and sensation, but are capable of only slight voluntary eye movements. For these patients, no standard communication method is available, although some can use BCIs to communicate by selecting letters or words on a computer. Recent research has sought to improve on existing techniques by using BCIs to create a direct prediction of speech utterances rather than to simply control a spelling device. Such methods are the first steps towards speech prostheses as they are intended to entirely replace the vocal apparatus of paralyzed users. This article outlines many well known methods for restoration of communication by BCI and illustrates the difference between spelling devices and direct speech prediction or speech prosthesis. PMID:20822389

Analysis of cigarette purchase task instrument data with a left-censored mixed effects model.

PubMed

Liao, Wenjie; Luo, Xianghua; Le, Chap T; Chu, Haitao; Epstein, Leonard H; Yu, Jihnhee; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S; Thomas, Janet L

2013-04-01

The drug purchase task is a frequently used instrument for measuring the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of a substance, a central concept in psychopharmacological research. Although a purchase task instrument, such as the cigarette purchase task (CPT), provides a comprehensive and inexpensive way to assess various aspects of a drug's RRE, the application of conventional statistical methods to data generated from such an instrument may not be adequate by simply ignoring or replacing the extra zeros or missing values in the data with arbitrary small consumption values, for example, 0.001. We applied the left-censored mixed effects model to CPT data from a smoking cessation study of college students and demonstrated its superiority over the existing methods with simulation studies. Theoretical implications of the findings, limitations of the proposed method, and future directions of research are also discussed.

Probability theory versus simulation of petroleum potential in play analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crovelli, R.A.

1987-01-01

An analytic probabilistic methodology for resource appraisal of undiscovered oil and gas resources in play analysis is presented. This play-analysis methodology is a geostochastic system for petroleum resource appraisal in explored as well as frontier areas. An objective was to replace an existing Monte Carlo simulation method in order to increase the efficiency of the appraisal process. Underlying the two methods is a single geologic model which considers both the uncertainty of the presence of the assessed hydrocarbon and its amount if present. The results of the model are resource estimates of crude oil, nonassociated gas, dissolved gas, and gas for a geologic play in terms of probability distributions. The analytic method is based upon conditional probability theory and a closed form solution of all means and standard deviations, along with the probabilities of occurrence. ?? 1987 J.C. Baltzer A.G., Scientific Publishing Company.

Analysis of Cigarette Purchase Task Instrument Data with a Left-Censored Mixed Effects Model

PubMed Central

Liao, Wenjie; Luo, Xianghua; Le, Chap; Chu, Haitao; Epstein, Leonard H.; Yu, Jihnhee; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S.; Thomas, Janet L.

2015-01-01

The drug purchase task is a frequently used instrument for measuring the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of a substance, a central concept in psychopharmacological research. While a purchase task instrument, such as the cigarette purchase task (CPT), provides a comprehensive and inexpensive way to assess various aspects of a drug’s RRE, the application of conventional statistical methods to data generated from such an instrument may not be adequate by simply ignoring or replacing the extra zeros or missing values in the data with arbitrary small consumption values, e.g. 0.001. We applied the left-censored mixed effects model to CPT data from a smoking cessation study of college students and demonstrated its superiority over the existing methods with simulation studies. Theoretical implications of the findings, limitations of the proposed method and future directions of research are also discussed. PMID:23356731

A Study of Selected Issues in Military Construction and Base Operating Support

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-01

and poten- tial, of data reported annually on the readiness of Navy shore base facilities * Development of a statistical model for forecasting the...of replacing or modernizing existing facilities * Study of the set of activities--including retail supply operations, bachelor housing, automated data ...until data from FY 1986 can be obtained and I SECTION 2 CAPITAL FACILITIES : AGING, REPLACEMENT, AND CHANGE OVER TIME During development of the POM, OP

What Role Can Immigration Play in Shaping Europe’s Future?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-28

to the combined effect of the existing age structure of the population, a growing number of people who are living longer, and persistently low...challenges posed by this trend, European leaders must prepare timely and effective responses on both economic and demographic fronts. To the extent...likely answer and more useful and effective tool to support the labor market, sustain the European economies, as well as to replace below-replacement

Measure Guideline: Air Conditioner Diagnostics, Maintenance, and Replacement

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

Springer, D.; Dakin, B.

2013-03-01

This guideline responds to the need for an efficient means of identifying, diagnosing, and repairing faults in air conditioning systems in existing homes that are undergoing energy upgrades. Inadequate airflow due to constricted ducts or undersized filters, improper refrigerant charge, and other system defects can be corrected at a fraction of the cost of equipment replacement and can yield significant savings. The guideline presents a two-step approach to diagnostics and repair.

Measure Guideline. Air Conditioner Diagnostics, Maintenance, and Replacement

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

Springer, David; Dakin, Bill

2013-03-01

This guideline responds to the need for an efficient means of identifying, diagnosing, and repairing faults in air conditioning systems in existing homes that are undergoing energy upgrades. Inadequate airflow due to constricted ducts or undersized filters, improper refrigerant charge, and other system defects can be corrected at a fraction of the cost of equipment replacement and can yield significant savings. The guideline presents a two-step approach to diagnostics and repair.

Two-fold sustainability – Adobe with sawdust as partial sand replacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jokhio, Gul A.; Syed Mohsin, Sharifah M.; Gul, Yasmeen

2018-04-01

Adobe is a material that is economic, environment friendly, and provides better indoor air quality. The material required for the preparation of adobe include clay, sand, and sometimes straw or other organic materials. These materials do not require industrial processing or transportation, however, sand mining has been recently posing a threat to the environment. Therefore, to enhance the existing sustainability of adobe, sand can be partially or fully replaced by other waste materials. This approach will not only solve the problem of excessive sand mining, it will also address the issue of waste management. Sawdust is one such waste material that can be used to partially replace sand in Adobe. This paper presents the results of compressive and flexural test carried out on Adobe samples with partial sand replacement by sawdust. The results show that about 4% sand replacement by volume produces higher compressive strength, whereas the flexural strength reduces with the use of sawdust. However, since flexural strength is not a critical property for adobe, it is concluded that replacing sand with sawdust by about 4% of volume will be beneficial.

Selection against Heteroplasmy Explains the Evolution of Uniparental Inheritance of Mitochondria

PubMed Central

Christie, Joshua R.; Schaerf, Timothy M.; Beekman, Madeleine

2015-01-01

Why are mitochondria almost always inherited from one parent during sexual reproduction? Current explanations for this evolutionary mystery include conflict avoidance between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, clearing of deleterious mutations, and optimization of mitochondrial-nuclear coadaptation. Mathematical models, however, fail to show that uniparental inheritance can replace biparental inheritance under any existing hypothesis. Recent empirical evidence indicates that mixing two different but normal mitochondrial haplotypes within a cell (heteroplasmy) can cause cell and organism dysfunction. Using a mathematical model, we test if selection against heteroplasmy can lead to the evolution of uniparental inheritance. When we assume selection against heteroplasmy and mutations are neither advantageous nor deleterious (neutral mutations), uniparental inheritance replaces biparental inheritance for all tested parameter values. When heteroplasmy involves mutations that are advantageous or deleterious (non-neutral mutations), uniparental inheritance can still replace biparental inheritance. We show that uniparental inheritance can evolve with or without pre-existing mating types. Finally, we show that selection against heteroplasmy can explain why some organisms deviate from strict uniparental inheritance. Thus, we suggest that selection against heteroplasmy explains the evolution of uniparental inheritance. PMID:25880558

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

Tuenge, Jason R.

The DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium has evaluated four different LED replacements for existing ornamental post-top street lights in Sacramento, California. The project team was composed of the City and its consultant, PNNL (representing the Consortium), and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Product selection was finalized in March 2011, yielding one complete luminaire replacement and three lamp-ballast retrofit kits. Computer simulations, field measurements, and laboratory testing were performed to compare the performance and cost-effectiveness of the LED products relative to the existing luminaire with 100 W high-pressure sodium lamp. After it was confirmed the LED products were not equivalentmore » to HPS in terms of initial photopic illumination, the following parameters were scaled proportionally to enable equitable (albeit hypothetical) comparisons: light output, input wattage, and pricing. Four replacement scenarios were considered for each LED product, incorporating new IES guidance for mesopic multipliers and lumen maintenance extrapolation, but life cycle analysis indicated cost effectiveness was also unacceptable. Although LED efficacy and pricing continue to improve, this project serves as a timely and objective notice that LED technology may not be quite ready yet for such applications.« less

75 FR 36762 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change, as...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

... Exchange is proposing to replace existing paragraph (c)(4) of Rule 11.13, entitled ``Numerical Guidelines... the ability of the Exchange to deviate from the Numerical Guidelines contained in paragraph (c)(1... of existing paragraph (c)(2), which provides flexibility to the Exchange to use different Numerical...

Potential for Increasing the Output of Existing Hydroelectric Plants.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-06-01

existing units to higher generating capacity by rehabilitating, modifying or replacing turbines and/or generators; increasing the effective...loss in converting fluid energy (flow and head) to mechanical energy ( turbine output) to electrical energy (generator output). The significant practical...opportunity is improvement of the energy conversion efficiency of the hydraulic turbine since the energy conversion efficiency of electrical

77 FR 33213 - Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC; Notice of Request Under Blanket Authorization

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-05

... certificate issued in Docket No. CP82-426, for authorization to replace two existing Ansaldo electric motors with two new electric motors at Transco's existing Compressor Station 205 in Princeton, New Jersey... motors and associated variable frequency drives for units 1 and 2 with two new Siemens electric motors...

New Methods May Reduce Needs, Can't Replace Laboratory Animals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leeper, E. M.

1976-01-01

Discusses the symposium between the scientific community and the animal welfare community in which the consensus was absolute: new laboratory methods can complement but not replace intact animals. (LS)

Program for life extension and preserving existing resources for motor control center components [nuclear plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanwarwalla, M. H.; Alsammarae, A. J.

1995-08-01

Many nuclear power plants have motor control centers (MCCs) installed in a harsh, radiation only, environment. Procurement of safety-related replacement devices for these MCCs is an economic burden for the stations if these MCCs have become obsolete. Identical replacement components for many MCCs installed in older plants (ITE Gould, Allis-Chalmers, Klockner-Moeller, Cutler-Hammer, etc.) are no longer available. Plants are left with the option of either retrofitting these MCCs or finding ways to extend the qualified lives of the safety-related components to minimize replacement costs. ComEd nuclear station has embarked on a program to minimize the economic burden for the replacement of Klockner-Moeller (K-M) MCC components. This paper discusses the program adopted by this station and its economic benefits to ComEd.

Comprehensive assessment of the effective scope of modernization of thermal power plants to substantiate the rational structure of the generating capacities for the future until 2035

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veselov, F. V.; Erokhina, I. V.; Makarova, A. S.; Khorshev, A. A.

2017-03-01

The article deals with issues of technical and economic substantiation of priorities and scopes of modernizing the existing thermal power plants (TPPs) in Russia to work out long-term forecasts of the development of the industry. The current situation in the TPP modernization trends is analyzed. The updated initial figures of the capital and operation costs are presented and the obtained estimates of the comparative efficiency of various investment decisions on modernization and equipment replacement at gas-and-oil-burning and coal-fired TPPs with regard to the main zones of the national Unified Power System (UPS) of Russia are cited. The results of optimization of the generating capacity structure underlie a study of alternative TPP modernization strategies that differ in the scope of switching to new technologies, capital intensity, and energy efficiency (decrease in the average heat rate). To provide an integral economic assessment of the above strategies, the authors modified the traditional approach based on determination of the overall discounted costs of power supply (least-cost planning) supplemented with a comparison by the weighted average wholesale price of the electricity. A method for prediction of the wholesale price is proposed reasoning from the direct and dual solutions of the optimization problem. The method can be adapted to various combinations of the mechanisms of payment for the electricity and the capacity on the basis of marginal and average costs. Energy and economic analysis showed that the opposite effects of reduction in the capital investment and fuel saving change in a nonlinear way as the scope of the switch to more advanced power generation technologies at the TPPs increases. As a consequence, a strategy for modernization of the existing power plants rational with respect to total costs of the power supply and wholesale electricity prices has been formulated. The strategy combines decisions on upgrade and replacement of the equipment at the existing power plants of various types. The basic parameters of the strategy for the future until 2035 are provided.

Spacecraft methods and structures with enhanced attitude control that facilitates gyroscope substitutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Rongsheng (Inventor); Kurland, Jeffrey A. (Inventor); Dawson, Alec M. (Inventor); Wu, Yeong-Wei A. (Inventor); Uetrecht, David S. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

Methods and structures are provided that enhance attitude control during gyroscope substitutions by insuring that a spacecraft's attitude control system does not drive its absolute-attitude sensors out of their capture ranges. In a method embodiment, an operational process-noise covariance Q of a Kalman filter is temporarily replaced with a substantially greater interim process-noise covariance Q. This replacement increases the weight given to the most recent attitude measurements and hastens the reduction of attitude errors and gyroscope bias errors. The error effect of the substituted gyroscopes is reduced and the absolute-attitude sensors are not driven out of their capture range. In another method embodiment, this replacement is preceded by the temporary replacement of an operational measurement-noise variance R with a substantially larger interim measurement-noise variance R to reduce transients during the gyroscope substitutions.

Replacing missing values using trustworthy data values from web data sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izham Jaya, M.; Sidi, Fatimah; Mat Yusof, Sharmila; Suriani Affendey, Lilly; Ishak, Iskandar; Jabar, Marzanah A.

2017-09-01

In practice, collected data usually are incomplete and contains missing value. Existing approaches in managing missing values overlook the importance of trustworthy data values in replacing missing values. In view that trusted completed data is very important in data analysis, we proposed a framework of missing value replacement using trustworthy data values from web data sources. The proposed framework adopted ontology to map data values from web data sources to the incomplete dataset. As data from web is conflicting with each other, we proposed a trust score measurement based on data accuracy and data reliability. Trust score is then used to select trustworthy data values from web data sources for missing values replacement. We successfully implemented the proposed framework using financial dataset and presented the findings in this paper. From our experiment, we manage to show that replacing missing values with trustworthy data values is important especially in a case of conflicting data to solve missing values problem.

Improved thermal lattice Boltzmann model for simulation of liquid-vapor phase change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qing; Zhou, P.; Yan, H. J.

2017-12-01

In this paper, an improved thermal lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is proposed for simulating liquid-vapor phase change, which is aimed at improving an existing thermal LB model for liquid-vapor phase change [S. Gong and P. Cheng, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 4923 (2012), 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.04.037]. First, we emphasize that the replacement of ∇ .(λ ∇ T ) /∇.(λ ∇ T ) ρ cV ρ cV with ∇ .(χ ∇ T ) is an inappropriate treatment for diffuse interface modeling of liquid-vapor phase change. Furthermore, the error terms ∂t 0(T v ) +∇ .(T vv ) , which exist in the macroscopic temperature equation recovered from the previous model, are eliminated in the present model through a way that is consistent with the philosophy of the LB method. Moreover, the discrete effect of the source term is also eliminated in the present model. Numerical simulations are performed for droplet evaporation and bubble nucleation to validate the capability of the model for simulating liquid-vapor phase change. It is shown that the numerical results of the improved model agree well with those of a finite-difference scheme. Meanwhile, it is found that the replacement of ∇ .(λ ∇ T ) /∇ .(λ ∇ T ) ρ cV ρ cV with ∇ .(χ ∇ T ) leads to significant numerical errors and the error terms in the recovered macroscopic temperature equation also result in considerable errors.

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

Johnson, Gary E.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.; Borde, Amy B.

This is the sixth annual report of a seven-year project (2004 through 2010) to evaluate the cumulative effects of habitat restoration actions in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE). The project, called the Cumulative Effects Study, is being conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District (USACE) by the Marine Sciences Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Pt. Adams Biological Field Station of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), and the University of Washington. The goal of the Cumulative Effects Study is to develop a methodology tomore » evaluate the cumulative effects of multiple habitat restoration projects intended to benefit ecosystems supporting juvenile salmonids in the 235-km-long LCRE. Literature review in 2004 revealed no existing methods for such an evaluation and suggested that cumulative effects could be additive or synergistic. From 2005 through 2009, annual field research involved intensive, comparative studies paired by habitat type (tidal swamp versus marsh), trajectory (restoration versus reference site), and restoration action (tidegate replacement vs. culvert replacement vs. dike breach).« less

Development of a low cost, low temperature cryocooler using the Gifford McMahon cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramanayaka, A.; Mani, R.

2008-03-01

Although Helium is the second most abundant element, its concentration in the earth's atmosphere is fairly low and constant, as the portion that escapes from the atmosphere is replace by new emission. Historically, Helium was extracted as a byproduct of natural gas production, and stored in gas fields in a National Helium Reserve, in an attempt to conserve this interesting element. National policy has changed and the cost of liquid Helium has increased rapidly in the recent past. These new circumstances have created new interest in alternative eco-friendly methods to realizing and maintaining low temperatures in the laboratory. There have been number of successful attempts at making low temperature closed cycle Helium refrigerators by modifying an existing closed cycle system, and usually the regenerator has been replaced in order to achieve the desired results. Here, we discus our attempt to fabricate a low cost, low temperature closed cycle Helium refrigerator starting from a 15K Gifford McMahon system. We reexamine the barriers to realizing lower temperature here and our attempts at overcoming them.

Recalculation with SEACAB of the activation by spent fuel neutrons and residual dose originated in the racks replaced at Cofrentes NPP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortego, Pedro; Rodriguez, Alain; Töre, Candan; Compadre, José Luis de Diego; Quesada, Baltasar Rodriguez; Moreno, Raul Orive

2017-09-01

In order to increase the storage capacity of the East Spent Fuel Pool at the Cofrentes NPP, located in Valencia province, Spain, the existing storage stainless steel racks were replaced by a new design of compact borated stainless steel racks allowing a 65% increase in fuel storing capacity. Calculation of the activation of the used racks was successfully performed with the use of MCNP4B code. Additionally the dose rate at contact with a row of racks in standing position and behind a wall of shielding material has been calculated using MCNP4B code as well. These results allowed a preliminary definition of the burnker required for the storage of racks. Recently the activity in the racks has been recalculated with SEACAB system which combines the mesh tally of MCNP codes with the activation code ACAB, applying the rigorous two-step method (R2S) developed at home, benchmarked with FNG irradiation experiments and usually applied in fusion calculations for ITER project.

New Transverse Bunch-by-Bunch Feedback System at TLS

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

Hu, K. H.; Kuo, C. H.; Hsu, S. Y.

2007-01-19

An FPGA based transverse bunch-by-bunch feedback system was implemented and commissioned to replace the existing analog transverse feedback system in order to suppress more effectively multi-bunch instabilities caused by the resistive wall of the vacuum chamber, cavity-like structures and ions related instability. This system replaces existing analog transverse feedback system to enlarge the tunability of the working point. Lower chromaticity is possible with feedback system that is very helpful for injection efficiency improvement. Top-up and high current operation is benefit for this upgrade. One feedback loop suppresses horizontal and vertical multi-bunch instabilities simultaneously. The clean and simple structure makes themore » system simple and reliable. This study also presents the preliminary result of commissioning the new transverse feedback system.« less

Phased Retrofits in Existing Homes in Florida Phase II: Shallow Plus Retrofits

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

Sutherland, K.; Parker, D.; Martin, E.

Originally published in February 2016, this revision contains an added section called 'Evaluation of Complete Central System Replacement with Inverter-Driven Heat Pump,' which presents the designs and energy savings evaluations of two different schemes wherein inverter-driven systems replaced a home's existing central system. Analyses for three additional retrofit measures were bolstered by longer-term data; these are described in the sections on supplemental mini-split heat pumps (MSHPs), smart thermostats, and heat pump clothes dryers. The sections on supplemental MSHPs and smart thermostats were also enhanced with larger sample sizes and projections of weather-normalized annual energy savings. Finally, peak system hour energymore » demand-reduction predictions are provided for all retrofit measures where meaningful impacts could be drawn.« less

Phased Retrofits in Existing Homes in Florida Phase II: Shallow Plus Retrofits

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

Sutherland, K.; Parker, D.; Martin, E.

Originally published in February 2016, this revision contains an added section called 'Evaluation of Complete Central System Replacement with Inverter-Driven Heat Pump,' which presents the designs and energy savings evaluations of two different schemes wherein inverter-driven systems replaced a home’s existing central system. Analyses for three additional retrofit measures were bolstered by longer-term data; these are described in the sections on supplemental mini-split heat pumps (MSHPs), smart thermostats, and heat pump clothes dryers. The sections on supplemental MSHPs and smart thermostats were also enhanced with larger sample sizes and projections of weather-normalized annual energy savings. Finally, peak system hour energymore » demand-reduction predictions are provided for all retrofit measures where meaningful impacts could be drawn.« less

Development of the Hospital Ship Replacement (HSR) Concept - Maximizing Capability & Affordability

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-01

be restricted by weight when it comes to passenger capacity. For verification, these patient capacity estimates were compared to seating ...ABSTRACT The Center for Innovation in Ship Design (CISD) requested a design effort to refine and expand upon a previous development of a concept that...could serve as a replacement for the existing hospital ships, USNS Mercy (T-AHS 19) and USNS Comfort (T-AHS 20). These ships are over 35 years old and

Mega-Scale Simulation of Multi-Layer Devices-- Formulation, Kinetics, and Visualization

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-28

prototype code STRIDE, also initially developed under ARO support. The focus of the ARO supported research activities has been in the areas of multi ... FORTRAN -77. During its fifteen-year life- span several generations of researchers have modified the code . Due to this continual develop- ment, the...behavior. The replacement of the linear solver had no effect on the remainder of the code . We replaced the existing solver with a distributed multi -frontal

Sox2 marks epithelial competence to generate teeth in mammals and reptiles

PubMed Central

Juuri, Emma; Jussila, Maria; Seidel, Kerstin; Holmes, Scott; Wu, Ping; Richman, Joy; Heikinheimo, Kristiina; Chuong, Cheng-Ming; Arnold, Katrin; Hochedlinger, Konrad; Klein, Ophir; Michon, Frederic; Thesleff, Irma

2013-01-01

Tooth renewal is initiated from epithelium associated with existing teeth. The development of new teeth requires dental epithelial cells that have competence for tooth formation, but specific marker genes for these cells have not been identified. Here, we analyzed expression patterns of the transcription factor Sox2 in two different modes of successional tooth formation: tooth replacement and serial addition of primary teeth. We observed specific Sox2 expression in the dental lamina that gives rise to successional teeth in mammals with one round of tooth replacement as well as in reptiles with continuous tooth replacement. Sox2 was also expressed in the dental lamina during serial addition of mammalian molars, and genetic lineage tracing indicated that Sox2+ cells of the first molar give rise to the epithelial cell lineages of the second and third molars. Moreover, conditional deletion of Sox2 resulted in hyperplastic epithelium in the forming posterior molars. Our results indicate that the Sox2+ dental epithelium has competence for successional tooth formation and that Sox2 regulates the progenitor state of dental epithelial cells. The findings imply that the function of Sox2 has been conserved during evolution and that tooth replacement and serial addition of primary teeth represent variations of the same developmental process. The expression patterns of Sox2 support the hypothesis that dormant capacity for continuous tooth renewal exists in mammals. PMID:23462476

Determination of the optimal cutoff value for a serological assay: an example using the Johne's Absorbed EIA.

PubMed Central

Ridge, S E; Vizard, A L

1993-01-01

Traditionally, in order to improve diagnostic accuracy, existing tests have been replaced with newly developed diagnostic tests with superior sensitivity and specificity. However, it is possible to improve existing tests by altering the cutoff value chosen to distinguish infected individuals from uninfected individuals. This paper uses data obtained from an investigation of the operating characteristics of the Johne's Absorbed EIA to demonstrate a method of determining a preferred cutoff value from several potentially useful cutoff settings. A method of determining the financial gain from using the preferred rather than the current cutoff value and a decision analysis method to assist in determining the optimal cutoff value when critical population parameters are not known with certainty are demonstrated. The results of this study indicate that the currently recommended cutoff value for the Johne's Absorbed EIA is only close to optimal when the disease prevalence is very low and false-positive test results are deemed to be very costly. In other situations, there were considerable financial advantages to using cutoff values calculated to maximize the benefit of testing. It is probable that the current cutoff values for other diagnostic tests may not be the most appropriate for every testing situation. This paper offers methods for identifying the cutoff value that maximizes the benefit of medical and veterinary diagnostic tests. PMID:8501227

CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES FOR THE ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document is intended to assist users in establishing or refining protocols, including the specific methods related to field sampling, laboratory sample processing, taxonomy, data entry, management and analysis, and final assessment and reporting. It also reviews and provides information on development of monitoring designs to address certain types of environmental questions and approaches for documenting and reporting data quality and performance characteristics for large river biological monitoring. The approaches presented are not intended to replace existing program components but may in some cases be useful for refining them. The goal of this research is to develop methods and indicators that are useful for evaluating the condition of aquatic communities, for assessing the restoration of aquatic communities in response to mitigation and best management practices, and for determining the exposure of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).

On an Additive Semigraphoid Model for Statistical Networks With Application to Pathway Analysis.

PubMed

Li, Bing; Chun, Hyonho; Zhao, Hongyu

2014-09-01

We introduce a nonparametric method for estimating non-gaussian graphical models based on a new statistical relation called additive conditional independence, which is a three-way relation among random vectors that resembles the logical structure of conditional independence. Additive conditional independence allows us to use one-dimensional kernel regardless of the dimension of the graph, which not only avoids the curse of dimensionality but also simplifies computation. It also gives rise to a parallel structure to the gaussian graphical model that replaces the precision matrix by an additive precision operator. The estimators derived from additive conditional independence cover the recently introduced nonparanormal graphical model as a special case, but outperform it when the gaussian copula assumption is violated. We compare the new method with existing ones by simulations and in genetic pathway analysis.

Review of the potential of a wireless MEMS and TFT microsystems for the measurement of pressure in the GI tract.

PubMed

Arshak, A; Arshak, K; Waldron, D; Morris, D; Korostynska, O; Jafer, E; Lyons, G

2005-06-01

Telemetry capsules have existed since the 1950s and were used to measure temperature, pH or pressure inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It was hoped that these capsules would replace invasive techniques in the diagnosis of function disorders in the GI tract. However, problems such as signal loss and uncertainty of the pills position limited their use in a clinical setting. In this paper, a review of the capabilities of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and thick film technology (TFT) for the fabrication of a wireless pressure sensing microsystem is presented. The circuit requirements and methods of data transfer are examined. The available fabrication methods for MEMS sensors are also discussed and examples of wireless sensors are given. Finally the limitations of each technology are examined.

[Use of adsorption methods for plasma component apheresis].

PubMed

Bang, B; Heegaard, N H

1991-11-25

Plasma-apheresis is a nonspecific and wasteful intervention requiring the use of potentially infectious and expensive replacement fluids. Selective removal of the unwanted plasma component circumvents most of the problems. For selective binding and removal of plasma components adsorption methods based on the principles of affinity chromatography have been useful. The ideal adsorption column still does not exist, but the number of clinical applications is increasing. The results vary, but the treatment has been used with success in hypercholesterolemia, and in patients with hemophilia with antifactor antibodies and patients with antibodies directed towards HLA-antigens awaiting renal transplantation. In conclusion selective plasma component-apheresis is an improvement in some diseases as compared to conventional plasma-apheresis. The technique is still being improved but large clinical trials examining the effects of plasma-component-apheresis have not yet been published.

Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing as a Key Component of the Value Platform: A Pilot Analysis of Colonoscopy, Aortic Valve Replacement and Carpal Tunnel Release Procedures

PubMed Central

Martin, Jacob A.; Mayhew, Christopher R.; Morris, Amanda J.; Bader, Angela M.; Tsai, Mitchell H.; Urman, Richard D.

2018-01-01

Background Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) is a methodology that calculates the costs of healthcare resources consumed as a patient moves along a care process. Limited data exist on the application of TDABC from the perspective of an anesthesia provider. We describe the use of TDABC, a bottom-up costing strategy and financial outcomes for three different medical-surgical procedures. Methods In each case, a multi-disciplinary team created process maps describing the care delivery cycle for a patient encounter using the TDABC methodology. Each step in a process map delineated an activity required for delivery of patient care. The resources (personnel, equipment and supplies) associated with each step were identified. A per minute cost for each resource expended was generated, known as the capacity cost rate, and multiplied by its time requirement. The total cost for an episode of care was obtained by adding the cost of each individual resource consumed as the patient moved along a clinical pathway. Results We built process maps for colonoscopy in the gastroenterology suite, calculated costs of an aortic valve replacement by comparing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) versus transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) techniques, and determined the cost of carpal tunnel release in an operating room versus an ambulatory procedure room. Conclusions TDABC is central to the value-based healthcare platform. Application of TDABC provides a framework to identify process improvements for health care delivery. The first case demonstrates cost-savings and improved wait times by shifting some of the colonoscopies scheduled with an anesthesiologist from the main hospital to the ambulatory facility. In the second case, we show that the deployment of an aortic valve via the transcatheter route front loads the costs compared to traditional, surgical replacement. The last case demonstrates significant cost savings to the healthcare system associated with re-organization of staff required to execute a carpal tunnel release. PMID:29511420

Integrated pest management models and their dynamical behaviour.

PubMed

Tang, Sanyi; Xiao, Yanni; Chen, Lansun; Cheke, Robert A

2005-01-01

Two impulsive models of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are proposed, one with fixed intervention times and the other with these unfixed. The first model allows natural enemies to survive but under some conditions may lead to extinction of the pest. We use a simple prey-dependent consumption model with fixed impulsive effects and show that there exists a globally stable pest-eradication periodic solution when the impulsive period is less than certain critical values. The effects of pest resistance to pesticides are also studied. The second model is constructed in the light of IPM practice such that when the pest population reaches the economic injury level (EIL), a combination of biological, cultural, and chemical tactics that reduce pests to tolerable levels is invoked. Using analytical methods, we show that there exists an orbitally asymptotically stable periodic solution with a maximum value no larger than the given Economic Threshold (ET). The complete expression for this periodic solution is given and the ET is evaluated for given parameters. We also show that in some cases control costs can be reduced by replacing IPM interventions at unfixed times with periodic interventions. Further, we show that small perturbations of the system do not affect the existence and stability of the periodic solution. Thus, we provide the first demonstration using mathematical models that an IPM strategy is more effective than classical control methods.

A Reanalysis of the Effects of Teacher Replacement Using Value-Added Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Stuart S.

2013-01-01

Background: In principle, value-added modeling (VAM) might be justified if it can be shown to be a more reliable indicator of teacher quality than existing indicators for existing low-stakes decisions that are already being made, such as the award of small merit bonuses. However, a growing number of researchers now advocate the use of VAM to…

75 FR 6389 - Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American) of the American Recovery and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-09

... existing belt filter press for sludge generated at the plant. Based upon information submitted by the City... dewatering unit to replace the existing belt filter press. The City is requesting a waiver from the Buy... filter press, (2) centrifuge system; (3) screw press and (4) rotary press. Of the four technologies, it...

42 CFR § 510.320 - Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments under existing Medicare payment systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2017-10-01

... INFRASTRUCTURE AND MODEL PROGRAMS COMPREHENSIVE CARE FOR JOINT REPLACEMENT MODEL Pricing and Payment § 510.320 Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments under existing Medicare payment systems. The CJR model... 42 Public Health 5 2017-10-01 2017-10-01 false Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments...

42 CFR § 510.320 - Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments under existing Medicare payment systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2016-10-01

... INFRASTRUCTURE AND MODEL PROGRAMS COMPREHENSIVE CARE FOR JOINT REPLACEMENT MODEL Pricing and Payment § 510.320 Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments under existing Medicare payment systems. The CJR model... 42 Public Health 5 2016-10-01 2016-10-01 false Treatment of incentive programs or add-on payments...

78 FR 22095 - Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Replacement of the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-12

... landward of the existing seawall face and result in a net setback of the wall from its existing location. The majority of seawall construction would occur behind a temporary steel sheet pile containment wall... installed in upland areas are not expected to result in the take of marine mammals because sound levels...

76 FR 20969 - City and Borough of Sitka, AK; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Ready for Environmental...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-14

... megawatt (MW) turbine-generator units near the existing powerhouse. Additionally, the Fish Valve Unit would be replaced with a new 1 MW turbine-generator unit and the 870 kilowatt Pulp Mill Feeder Unit would... new water intake in the reservoir 109 feet above the existing intake. The higher maximum reservoir...

Lumbar Disc Replacement for Junctional Decompensation After Fusion Surgery: Clinical and Radiological Outcome at an Average Follow-Up of 33 Months

PubMed Central

Sliwa, Karen; Weinberg, Ian R.; Sweet, Barry MBE; de Villiers, Malan; Candy, Geoffrey P.

2007-01-01

Background Failed fusion surgery remains difficult to treat. Few published data on disc replacement surgery after failed fusion procedures exist. Our objective was to evaluate outcomes of junctional lumbar disc replacement after previous fusion surgery and to correlate outcome with radiological changes to parameters of sagittal balance. Methods Out of a single-center prospective registry of 290 patients with 404 lumbar disc replacements, 27 patients had had a previous lumbar fusion operation on 1 to 4 lumbar segments and had completed a mean follow- up of 33 months (range: 18–56). We correlated the clinical outcome measures (patient satisfaction, 10-point pain score, and Oswestry Disability Index [ODI] score) to parameters of spinal sagittal alignment (sacral tilt, pelvic tilt, pelvic incidence, and lumbar lordosis). Results Postoperative hospital stay averaged 3.3 days (range: 2–8). Previously-employed patients went back to their jobs with a mean of 32 days (range: 21–42) after the procedure. At the latest follow-up, 1 of the patients considered the outcome to be poor, 3 fair, 8 good, and 15 excellent. Twenty-four patients “would undergo the operation again.” Average pain score decreased from 9.1 ± 1.0 (SD) to 3.2 ± 2.1 (P < .01). Average ODI decreased from 50.2 ± 9.9 preoperatively to 21.7 ± 14.2 (P ≤ .01). We found the change in pelvic tilt to be an independent predictor of better clinical outcome by multivariate analysis (P < .05). Conclusions In patients with junctional failure adjacent to a previous posterolateral fusion, disc replacement at the junctional level(s), compared with osteotomy and fusion surgery, offers the advantage of maintaining segmental mobility and correcting the flat-back deformity through a single approach with less operative time and blood loss. Early- to intermediate-term results are promising. The influence of changes in spinal sagittal alignment on clinical outcome needs to be addressed in future research. Clinical Relevance This is the first study on “junctional disc replacement patients” correlating clinical outcome to changes in spinal/pelvic alignment. PMID:25802584

All-Electric School Profile: Washington Elementary Educational Park

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Modern Schools, 1977

1977-01-01

Existing elementary schools in Washington, Pennsylvania, were replaced by an educational park with two two-story buildings. A heat recovery system and an additional thickness of insulation conserve energy. (MLF)

Postprocessing classification images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kan, E. P.

1979-01-01

Program cleans up remote-sensing maps. It can be used with existing image-processing software. Remapped images closely resemble familiar resource information maps and can replace or supplement classification images not postprocessed by this program.

Do financial incentives trump clinical guidance? Hip Replacement in England and Scotland.

PubMed

Papanicolas, Irene; McGuire, Alistair

2015-12-01

Following devolution in 1999 England and Scotland's National Health Services diverged, resulting in major differences in hospital payment. England introduced a case payment mechanism from 2003/4, while Scotland continued to pay through global budgets. We investigate the impact this change had on activity for Hip Replacement. We examine the financial reimbursement attached to uncemented Hip Replacement in England, which has been more generous than for its cemented counterpart, although clinical guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends the later. In Scotland this financial differential does not exist. We use a difference-in-difference estimator, using Scotland as a control, to test whether the change in reimbursement across the two countries had an influence on treatment. Our results indicate that financial incentives are directly linked to the faster uptake of the more expensive, uncemented Hip Replacement in England, which ran against the clinical guidance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pedogenic replacement of aluminosilicate grains by CaCO3 in Ustollic Haplargids, south-central Montana, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reheis, M.C.

1988-01-01

A chronosequence of calcic soils formed on granitic glaciofluvial terrace deposits of Rock Creek and the Clarks Fork in south-central Montana shows progressive replacement of aluminosilicate parent-material grains by calcium-magnesium carbonate. The terraces range from late Pliocene to Holocene in age as dated by tephrochronology, correlation, and stream incision rates. Replacement is first seen in soils that are as old as 120,000 yr; the amount and degree of replacement increase in soils older than 120,000 yr along with the development of calcic horizons. Under the petrographic microscope, carbonate replacement of quartz, feldspars, and the groundmass of andesite grains in Rock Creek soils is shown by embayed grains, networks of carbonate along cracks and between parts of polycrystalline grains and optically aligned grain fragments within carbonate masses. Microprobe data suggest that silica is released by replacement because it is absent from carbonate-filled spaces and is depleted in corrosion pits. Little microscopic evidence exists to support displacement of framework grains by carbonate because fragments of a single grain are rarely rotated out of optical alignment. In the calcic soils of Rock Creek, K-fabric (grains floating in a carbonate matrix) may form by both replacement and displacement. ?? 1988.

The Effect of Failing to Recapitalize the B-52H Defensive Avionics System on Future Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

reactive jamming, compensation for wing flexing to prevent wire chaffing and ensuring the necessary degree of cooling is available to extend LRU life ...repair parts. Parts of this system including the 6-gun CRT, referenced earlier, were replaced with a commercial off-the- shelf item built by Condor...This effort will provide a small extension to the service life of the existing BWOs. There is also an effort underway to replace the BWOs with

SERS activity studies of Ag/Au bimetallic films prepared by galvanic replacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chaonan; Fang, Jinghuai; Jin, Yonglong

2012-10-01

Ag films on Si substrates were fabricated by immersion plating, which served as sacrificial materials for preparation of Ag/Au bimetallic films by galvanic replacement method. SEM images displayed that the sacrificial Ag films presenting island morphology experienced interesting structural evolution process during galvanic replacement reaction, and nano-scaled holes were formed in the resultant bimetallic films. SERS measurements using crystal violet as an analyte showed that SERS intensities of bimetallic films were enhanced significantly compared with that of pure Ag films and related mechanisms were discussed. Immersion plating experiment carried out on Ag films on PEN substrates fabricated by photoinduced reduction method further confirmed that galvanic replacement is an easy method to fabricate Ag/Au bimetallic and a potential approach to improve the SERS performance of Ag films.

Effects of VKORC1 Genetic Polymorphisms on Warfarin Maintenance Dose Requirement in a Chinese Han Population

PubMed Central

Yan, Xiaojuan; Yang, Feng; Zhou, Hanyun; Zhang, Hongshen; Liu, Jianfei; Ma, Kezhong; Li, Yi; Zhu, Jun; Ding, Jianqiang

2015-01-01

Background VKORC1 is reported to be capable of treating several diseases with thrombotic risk, such as cardiac valve replacement. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VKORC1 are documented to be associated with clinical differences in warfarin maintenance dose. This study explored the correlations of VKORC1–1639 G/A, 1173 C/T and 497 T/G genetic polymorphisms with warfarin maintenance dose requirement in patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement. Material/Methods A total of 298 patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement were recruited. During follow-up, clinical data were recorded. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was applied to detect VKORC1–1639 G/A, 1173 C/T and 497 T/G polymorphisms, and genotypes were analyzed. Results Correlations between warfarin maintenance dose and baseline characteristics revealed statistical significances of age, gender and operation methods with warfarin maintenance dose (all P<0.05). Warfarin maintenance dose in VKORC1–1639 G/A AG + GG carriers was obviously higher than in AA carriers (P<0.001). As compared with patients with TT genotype in VKORC1 1173 C/T, warfarin maintenance dose was apparently higher in patients with CT genotype (P<0.001). Linear regression analysis revealed that gender, operation method, method for heart valve replacement, as well as VKORC1–1639 G/A and 1173 C/T gene polymorphisms were significantly related to warfarin maintenance dose (all P<0.05). Conclusions VKORC1 gene polymorphisms are key genetic factors to affect individual differences in warfarin maintenance dose in patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement; meanwhile, gender, operation method and method for heart valve replacement might also be correlate with warfarin maintenance dose. PMID:26583785

Hemostatic strategies for traumatic and surgical bleeding

PubMed Central

Behrens, Adam M.; Sikorski, Michael J.; Kofinas, Peter

2017-01-01

Wide interest in new hemostatic approaches has stemmed from unmet needs in the hospital and on the battlefield. Many current commercial hemostatic agents fail to fulfill the design requirements of safety, efficacy, cost, and storage. Academic focus has led to the improvement of existing strategies as well as new developments. This review will identify and discuss the three major classes of hemostatic approaches: biologically derived materials, synthetically derived materials, and intravenously administered hemostatic agents. The general class is first discussed, then specific approaches discussed in detail, including the hemostatic mechanisms and the advancement of the method. As hemostatic strategies evolve and synthetic-biologic interactions are more fully understood, current clinical methodologies will be replaced. PMID:24307256

Kidney regeneration and stem cells.

PubMed

Takaori, Koji; Yanagita, Motoko

2014-01-01

The kidney has the capacity to recover from ischemic and toxic insults. Although there has been debate about the origin of cells that replace injured epithelial cells, it is now widely recognized that intrinsic surviving tubular cells are responsible for the repair. On the other hand, the cells, which have stem cell-like characteristics, have been isolated in the kidney using various methods, but it remains unknown if these stem cells actually exist in the adult kidney and if they are involved in kidney regeneration. This review will focus on the pathophysiology of kidney regeneration and the contribution of renal stem cells. We also discuss possible therapeutic applications to kidney disease. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A DFT investigation on interactions between asymmetric derivatives of cisplatin and nucleobase guanine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tai, Truong Ba; Nhat, Pham Vu

2017-07-01

The interactions of hydrolysis products of cisplatin and its asymmetric derivatives cis- and trans-[PtCl2(iPram)(Mepz)] with guanine were studied using DFT methods. These interactions are dominated by electrostatic effects, namely hydrogen bond contributions and there exists a charge flow from H-atoms of ligands to the O-atoms of guanine. The replacement of NH3 moieties by larger functional groups accompanies with a moderate reaction between PtII and guanine molecule, diminishing the cytotoxicity of the drug. The asymmetric and symmetric NH2 stretching modes of complexes having strong hydrogen bond interactions are red shifted importantly as compared to complexes without presence of hydrogen bond interactions.

Feedback from video for virtual reality Navigation

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

Tsap, L V

2000-10-27

Important preconditions for wide acceptance of virtual reality (VR) systems include their comfort, ease and naturalness to use. Most existing trackers super from discomfort-related issues. For example, body-based trackers (hand controllers, joysticks, helmet attachments, etc.) restrict spontaneity and naturalness of motion, while ground-based devices (e.g., hand controllers) limit the workspace by literally binding an operator to the ground. There are similar problems with controls. This paper describes using real-time video with registered depth information (from a commercially available camera) for virtual reality navigation. Camera-based setup can replace cumbersome trackers. The method includes selective depth processing for increased speed, and amore » robust skin-color segmentation for accounting illumination variations.« less

Nickel-Catalyzed, Carbonyl-Ene-Type Reactions: Selective for Alpha Olefins and More Efficient with Electron-Rich Aldehydes

PubMed Central

Ho, Chun-Yu; Ng, Sze-Sze; Jamison, Timothy F.

2011-01-01

Described are several classes of unusual or unprecedented carbonyl-ene-type reactions, including those between alpha olefins and aromatic aldehydes. Catalyzed by nickel, these processes complement existing Lewis acid-catalyzed methods in several respects. Not only are monosubstituted alkenes, aromatic aldehydes, and tert-alkyl aldehydes effective substrates, but monosubstituted olefins also react faster than those that are more substituted, and large or electron-rich aldehydes are more effective than small or electron-poor ones. Conceptually, in the presence of a nickel-phosphine catalyst, the combination of off-the-shelf alkenes, silyl triflates, and triethylamine functions as a replacement for an allylmetal reagent. PMID:16620106

eQTL Mapping Using RNA-seq Data

PubMed Central

Hu, Yijuan

2012-01-01

As RNA-seq is replacing gene expression microarrays to assess genome-wide transcription abundance, gene expression Quantitative Trait Locus (eQTL) studies using RNA-seq have emerged. RNA-seq delivers two novel features that are important for eQTL studies. First, it provides information on allele-specific expression (ASE), which is not available from gene expression microarrays. Second, it generates unprecedentedly rich data to study RNA-isoform expression. In this paper, we review current methods for eQTL mapping using ASE and discuss some future directions. We also review existing works that use RNA-seq data to study RNA-isoform expression and we discuss the gaps between these works and isoform-specific eQTL mapping. PMID:23667399

Financing New Technologies, Equipment/Furniture Replacement, and Building Renovation: A Survey Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shirk, Gary M.

1984-01-01

Reports results of survey of methods used by 77 North American academic and public libraries to finance implementation of new technologies, replace equipment and furniture, and renovate buildings. Financing methods used, frequency of use, choice, and range of methods are discussed. Eight references and list of survey participants are appended.…

78 FR 23247 - Policy Statement Concerning Assistance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-18

... FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION Policy Statement Concerning Assistance AGENCY: Farm... Concerning Assistance,'' which replaces the Corporation's existing ``Policy Statement Concerning Stand-Alone Assistance.'' The new policy statement provides additional transparency concerning the Corporation's...

Ablation by-products of dental materials from the Er:YAG laser and the dental handpiece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wigdor, Harvey A.; Visuri, Steven R.; Walsh, Joseph T., Jr.

1995-05-01

Recently there has been much interest in lasers and their potential use to replace the dental drill. The research has been directed towards vital dental tissues. It must be understood that any laser to be used in dentistry which will replace the dental drill must also ablate and remove existing dental materials. Some concern exists about the ablation products when the Er:YAG laser is used to ablate dental materials. It is incumbent on the professionals using these lasers to understand the materials being produced by these lasers and protect themselves and their patients from possible toxic products. It is the intent of this paper to evaluate the products produced by the ablation of both dental amalgam and composite dental restorative materials and compare them with those produced by the traditional dental handpiece (drill).

Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries for aircraft power

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

Erbacher, J.K.; Kruchek, C.L.; Vukson, S.P.

1995-12-31

Commercial nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries are under evaluation for potential application as a replacement for existing Ni-Cd and Pb-Acid batteries currently used by the USAF. Replacement of these batteries is desirable due to the high cost of maintenance and acquisition, the environmental hazards associated with worker exposure to hazardous materials, and the high cost of reclamation programs for these existing batteries. Both cylindrical and prismatic AB5 cells show promise for this application, but will require alloy and single cell development to reduce self-discharge, increase discharge and charge rates, and expand the temperature range to meet austere military environments. Testedmore » AB{sub 2} cylindrical cell technology appear inadequate to meet military requirements although these cells show better charge capability at 71 C than AB{sub 5} cylindrical or prismatic cells.« less

Renal Replacement Therapy in Austere Environments

PubMed Central

Yuan, Christina M.; Perkins, Robert M.

2011-01-01

Myoglobinuric renal failure is the classically described acute renal event occurring in disaster environments—commonly after an earthquake—which most tests the ingenuity and flexibility of local and regional nephrology resources. In recent decades, several nephrology organizations have developed response teams and planning protocols to address disaster events, largely focusing on patients at risk for, or with, acute kidney injury (AKI). In this paper we briefly review the epidemiology and outcomes of patients with dialysis-requiring AKI after such events, while providing greater focus on the management of the end-stage renal disease population after a disaster which incapacitates a pre-existing nephrologic infrastructure (if it existed at all). “Austere” dialysis, as such, is defined as the provision of renal replacement therapy in any setting in which traditional, first-world therapies and resources are limited, incapacitated, or nonexistent. PMID:21603109

Configuration of automatic exposure control on mammography units for computed radiography to match patient dose of screen film systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chang-Ying Joseph; Huang, Weidong

2009-02-01

Computed radiography (CR) is considered a drop-in addition or replacement for traditional screen-film (SF) systems in digital mammography. Unlike other technologies, CR has the advantage of being compatible with existing mammography units. One of the challenges, however, is to properly configure the automatic exposure control (AEC) on existing mammography units for CR use. Unlike analogue systems, the capture and display of digital CR images is decoupled. The function of AEC is changed from ensuring proper and consistent optical density of the captured image on film to balancing image quality with patient dose needed for CR. One of the preferences when acquiring CR images under AEC is to use the same patient dose as SF systems. The challenge is whether the existing AEC design and calibration process-most of them proprietary from the X-ray systems manufacturers and tailored specifically for SF response properties-can be adapted for CR cassettes, in order to compensate for their response and attenuation differences. This paper describes the methods for configuring the AEC of three different mammography units models to match the patient dose used for CR with those that are used for a KODAK MIN-R 2000 SF System. Based on phantom test results, these methods provide the dose level under AEC for the CR systems to match with the dose of SF systems. These methods can be used in clinical environments that require the acquisition of CR images under AEC at the same dose levels as those used for SF systems.

Bad data detection in two stage estimation using phasor measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarali, Aditya

The ability of the Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) to directly measure the system state, has led to steady increase in the use of PMU in the past decade. However, in spite of its high accuracy and the ability to measure the states directly, they cannot completely replace the conventional measurement units due to high cost. Hence it is necessary for the modern estimators to use both conventional and phasor measurements together. This thesis presents an alternative method to incorporate the new PMU measurements into the existing state estimator in a systematic manner such that no major modification is necessary to the existing algorithm. It is also shown that if PMUs are placed appropriately, the phasor measurements can be used to detect and identify the bad data associated with critical measurements by using this model, which cannot be detected by conventional state estimation algorithm. The developed model is tested on IEEE 14, IEEE 30 and IEEE 118 bus under various conditions.

Retrofitting existing chemical scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H2S emission control

PubMed Central

Gabriel, David; Deshusses, Marc A.

2003-01-01

Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional air-pollution control methods, but thus far biotreatment processes for odor control have always required much larger reactor volumes than chemical scrubbers. We converted an existing full-scale chemical scrubber to a biological trickling filter and showed that effective treatment of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the converted scrubber was possible even at gas contact times as low as 1.6 s. That is 8–20 times shorter than previous biotrickling filtration reports and comparable to usual contact times in chemical scrubbers. Significant removal of reduced sulfur compounds, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds present in traces in the air was also observed. Continuous operation for >8 months showed stable performance and robust behavior for H2S treatment, with pollutant-removal performance comparable to that achieved by using a chemical scrubber. Our study demonstrates that biotrickling filters can replace chemical scrubbers and be a safer, more economical technique for odor control. PMID:12740445

Retrofitting existing chemical scrubbers to biotrickling filters for H2S emission control.

PubMed

Gabriel, David; Deshusses, Marc A

2003-05-27

Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional air-pollution control methods, but thus far biotreatment processes for odor control have always required much larger reactor volumes than chemical scrubbers. We converted an existing full-scale chemical scrubber to a biological trickling filter and showed that effective treatment of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the converted scrubber was possible even at gas contact times as low as 1.6 s. That is 8-20 times shorter than previous biotrickling filtration reports and comparable to usual contact times in chemical scrubbers. Significant removal of reduced sulfur compounds, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds present in traces in the air was also observed. Continuous operation for >8 months showed stable performance and robust behavior for H2S treatment, with pollutant-removal performance comparable to that achieved by using a chemical scrubber. Our study demonstrates that biotrickling filters can replace chemical scrubbers and be a safer, more economical technique for odor control.

Meta-analysis in evidence-based healthcare: a paradigm shift away from random effects is overdue.

PubMed

Doi, Suhail A R; Furuya-Kanamori, Luis; Thalib, Lukman; Barendregt, Jan J

2017-12-01

Each year up to 20 000 systematic reviews and meta-analyses are published whose results influence healthcare decisions, thus making the robustness and reliability of meta-analytic methods one of the world's top clinical and public health priorities. The evidence synthesis makes use of either fixed-effect or random-effects statistical methods. The fixed-effect method has largely been replaced by the random-effects method as heterogeneity of study effects led to poor error estimation. However, despite the widespread use and acceptance of the random-effects method to correct this, it too remains unsatisfactory and continues to suffer from defective error estimation, posing a serious threat to decision-making in evidence-based clinical and public health practice. We discuss here the problem with the random-effects approach and demonstrate that there exist better estimators under the fixed-effect model framework that can achieve optimal error estimation. We argue for an urgent return to the earlier framework with updates that address these problems and conclude that doing so can markedly improve the reliability of meta-analytical findings and thus decision-making in healthcare.

Replacing the weight of materials consumed on airships

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crocco, G A

1923-01-01

Two methods to replace the weight of gas lost on long airship flights are discussed: condensing the water of combustion and thermic sustentation. In the present article we will discuss the first method, leaving the second to be examined in a subsequent article.

STAR Online Meta-Data Collection Framework: Integration with the Pre-existing Controls Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipkin, D.; Lauret, J.

2017-10-01

One of the STAR experiment’s modular Messaging Interface and Reliable Architecture framework (MIRA) integration goals is to provide seamless and automatic connections with the existing control systems. After an initial proof of concept and operation of the MIRA system as a parallel data collection system for online use and real-time monitoring, the STAR Software and Computing group is now working on the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) with MIRA’s interfaces. This integration goals are to allow functional interoperability and, later on, to replace the existing/legacy Detector Control System components at the service level. In this report, we describe the evolutionary integration process and, as an example, will discuss the EPICS Alarm Handler conversion. We review the complete upgrade procedure starting with the integration of EPICS-originated alarm signals propagation into MIRA, followed by the replacement of the existing operator interface based on Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM) with modern portable web-based Alarm Handler interface. To achieve this aim, we have built an EPICS-to-MQTT [8] bridging service, and recreated the functionality of the original Alarm Handler using low-latency web messaging technologies. The integration of EPICS alarm handling into our messaging framework allowed STAR to improve the DCS alarm awareness of existing STAR DAQ and RTS services, which use MIRA as a primary source of experiment control information.

Synthesis of wood treatment alternatives for timber railroad structures.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-12-01

A wealth of information exists on various wood preservatives, treatment techniques, curing practices, and other engineered : controls, along with alternative materials for replacement. This study was initiated to review and synthesize available : inf...

Magnetic Tomography - Assessing Tie Bar and Dowel Bar Placement Accuracy

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-12-01

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) constructs portland cement concrete pavements (PCCP) for new highway expansions and/or for replacement of existing highway pavement using slip-form paving operations. Typical concrete pavement constructi...

Analysis of energy efficient highway lighting retrofits.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-06-01

Solid state lighting technology is advancing rapidly to a point where light emitting diode (LED) lighting : systems can be viable replacements for existing lighting systems using high pressure sodium (HPS). The : present report summarizes analyses co...

Metal artifact reduction for CT-based luggage screening.

PubMed

Karimi, Seemeen; Martz, Harry; Cosman, Pamela

2015-01-01

In aviation security, checked luggage is screened by computed tomography scanning. Metal objects in the bags create artifacts that degrade image quality. Though there exist metal artifact reduction (MAR) methods mainly in medical imaging literature, they require knowledge of the materials in the scan, or are outlier rejection methods. To improve and evaluate a MAR method we previously introduced, that does not require knowledge of the materials in the scan, and gives good results on data with large quantities and different kinds of metal. We describe in detail an optimization which de-emphasizes metal projections and has a constraint for beam hardening and scatter. This method isolates and reduces artifacts in an intermediate image, which is then fed to a previously published sinogram replacement method. We evaluate the algorithm for luggage data containing multiple and large metal objects. We define measures of artifact reduction, and compare this method against others in MAR literature. Metal artifacts were reduced in our test images, even for multiple and large metal objects, without much loss of structure or resolution. Our MAR method outperforms the methods with which we compared it. Our approach does not make assumptions about image content, nor does it discard metal projections.

Operation and maintenance cost data for residential photovoltaic modules/panels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oster, J. R., Jr.; Zaremski, D. R., Jr.; Albert, E. M.; Hawkins, S. L.

1980-01-01

Costs associated with the operation and maintenance of residential photovoltaic modules and arrays are studied. Six basic topics related to operation and maintenance to photovoltaic arrays are investigated: maintenance; cleaning; panel replacement; gasket repair/replacement; wiring repair/replacement; and termination repair/replacement. The effects of the mounting types (rack mount, stand off mount, direct mount and integral mount) and the installation/replacement type (sequential, partial interruption and independent) are identified and described. Methods of reducing maintenance costs are suggested.

Patients' journeys through total joint replacement: patterns of medication use.

PubMed

Johnson, Emma C; Horwood, Jeremy; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2014-06-01

Medication is used to manage pain that results from both osteoarthritis and total joint replacement (TJR). Research has provided insight into how people living with osteoarthritis use pain relief medication. However, it is not known whether elective TJR affects existing attitudes and behaviours with regard to pain medications. Using qualitative methods, the present study explored patterns of pain relief use around the time of TJR. In-depth face-to-face qualitative interviews were carried out with 24 patients two to four weeks after they had undergone TJR for hip or knee osteoarthritis. Participants were asked to reflect on their use of pain medication pre-surgery, while in hospital and while recovering from their operation at home. Transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews were imported into Atlas.ti® and thematic analysis was used. Attitudes to pain relief medication and their use are not static. Many participants change their use of pain medication around the time of surgery. This shift was influenced by interactions with health professionals and changing views on the acceptability, necessity and value of pain relief in helping to manage an altered pain experience. Understanding reasons for medication-taking behaviour during the journey through joint replacement may be helpful to health professionals. Health professionals have a fundamental role to play in challenging or reinforcing different treatment beliefs, which is the basis for effective use of pain relief over the pre- to postoperative period. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A systematic review of the evidence for single stage and two stage revision of infected knee replacement

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Periprosthetic infection about the knee is a devastating complication that may affect between 1% and 5% of knee replacement. With over 79 000 knee replacements being implanted each year in the UK, periprosthetic infection (PJI) is set to become an important burden of disease and cost to the healthcare economy. One of the important controversies in treatment of PJI is whether a single stage revision operation is superior to a two-stage procedure. This study sought to systematically evaluate the published evidence to determine which technique had lowest reinfection rates. Methods A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases with the aim to identify existing studies that present the outcomes of each surgical technique. Reinfection rate was the primary outcome measure. Studies of specific subsets of patients such as resistant organisms were excluded. Results 63 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The majority of which (58) were reports of two-stage revision. Reinfection rated varied between 0% and 41% in two-stage studies, and 0% and 11% in single stage studies. No clinical trials were identified and the majority of studies were observational studies. Conclusions Evidence for both one-stage and two-stage revision is largely of low quality. The evidence basis for two-stage revision is significantly larger, and further work into direct comparison between the two techniques should be undertaken as a priority. PMID:23895421

Invited review: strategies for promoting productivity and health of dairy cattle by feeding nonforage fiber sources.

PubMed

Bradford, B J; Mullins, C R

2012-09-01

High-fiber byproducts are generated by several industries, and the supplies of some of these nonforage fiber sources (NFFS) are increasing. Although NFFS generally have limited utility in nonruminant diets, dairy cattle nutritionists can use these products to partially replace both forages and concentrates in lactation diets. Research has shown that production responses vary, but under certain conditions, NFFS-based diets can maintain or improve performance of dairy cattle. Traditional dietary formulation strategies are not ideal when formulating diets to contain large concentrations of NFFS. When feeding high levels of NFFS (≥15% inclusion rates, dry matter basis), less physically effective fiber is required; however, determining if this requirement has been met can be challenging, mainly because of the lack of a broadly applicable method for quantifying effective fiber in the field. Nutritionists must also be conscious of the nutrient variation that exists among many NFFS. Strategies to reduce risks associated with this variability include purchasing feed from a sole supplier who demonstrates product consistency and combining multiple NFFS at lower inclusion rates. A targeted approach whereby nonforage fiber primarily replaces some forage fiber for higher-producing cows but partially replaces some starch for lower-producing cows can optimize nutrient utilization without sacrificing animal health. In summary, the judicious use of NFFS represents an opportunity to improve the productivity and health of cattle in all stages of lactation while potentially controlling feed costs. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A regional, market oriented governance for disaster management: A new planning approach.

PubMed

Blackstone, Erwin A; Hakim, Simon; Meehan, Brian

2017-10-01

This paper proposes a regional competitive governance and management of response and recovery from disasters. It presents problems experienced in major disasters, analyzes the failures, and suggests how a competitive system that relies on private and volunteer regional leaders, personnel, and capital can improve preparation, response and recovery efforts over the existing government system. A Public Choice approach is adopted to explain why government often fails, and how regional governance may be socially more efficient than the existing federal- state-local funded and managed disaster system. The paper suggests that the federal role might change from both funding and supplying aid in disasters to merely funding disaster recovery efforts. When a disaster occurs, available businesses and government resources in the region can be utilized under a competitive system. These resources could replace existing federal and state inventories and emergency personnel. An independent regionally controlled and managed council, which also develops its own financial resources, and local volunteer leaders are key for success. The paper suggests a new planning method that utilizes the statistical Factor Analysis methodology to derive an efficient organizational and functional model to confront disasters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ab initio solution of macromolecular crystal structures without direct methods.

PubMed

McCoy, Airlie J; Oeffner, Robert D; Wrobel, Antoni G; Ojala, Juha R M; Tryggvason, Karl; Lohkamp, Bernhard; Read, Randy J

2017-04-04

The majority of macromolecular crystal structures are determined using the method of molecular replacement, in which known related structures are rotated and translated to provide an initial atomic model for the new structure. A theoretical understanding of the signal-to-noise ratio in likelihood-based molecular replacement searches has been developed to account for the influence of model quality and completeness, as well as the resolution of the diffraction data. Here we show that, contrary to current belief, molecular replacement need not be restricted to the use of models comprising a substantial fraction of the unknown structure. Instead, likelihood-based methods allow a continuum of applications depending predictably on the quality of the model and the resolution of the data. Unexpectedly, our understanding of the signal-to-noise ratio in molecular replacement leads to the finding that, with data to sufficiently high resolution, fragments as small as single atoms of elements usually found in proteins can yield ab initio solutions of macromolecular structures, including some that elude traditional direct methods.

Using Polymer Confinement for Stem Cell Differentiation: 3D Printed vs Molded Scaffolds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafailovich, Miriam

Additive manufacturing technologies are increasingly being used to replace standard extrusion or molding methods in engineering polymeric biomedical implants, which can be further seeded with cells for tissue regeneration. The principal advantage of this new technology is the ability to print directly from a scan and hence produce parts which are an ideal fit for an individual, eliminating much of the sizing and fitting associated with standard manufacturing methods. The question though arises whether devices which may be macroscopically similar, serve identical functions and are produced from the same material, interact in the same manner with cells and living tissue. Here we show that fundamental differences can exist between 3-D printed and extruded scaffolds which can impact stem cell differentiation and lineage selection. We will show how polymer confinement inherent in these methods affect the printed features on multiple length scales. We will also and how the differentiation of stem cells is affected by substrate heterogeneity in both morphological and mechanical features. NSF-Inspire award # 1344267.

Chapter 7: Refrigerator Recycling Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy-Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures

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

Kurnik, Charles W.; Keeling, Josh; Bruchs, Doug

Refrigerator recycling programs are designed to save energy by removing operable, albeit less efficient, refrigerators from service. By offering free pickup, providing incentives, and disseminating information about the operating cost of less efficient refrigerators, these programs are designed to encourage consumers to: - Limit the use of secondary refrigerators -Relinquish refrigerators previously used as primary units when they are replaced (rather than keeping the existing refrigerator as a secondary unit) -Prevent the continued use of less efficient refrigerators in another household through a direct transfer (giving it away or selling it) or indirect transfer (resale on the used appliance market).more » Commonly implemented by third-party contractors (who collect and decommission participating appliances), these programs generate energy savings through the retirement of inefficient appliances. The decommissioning process captures environmentally harmful refrigerants and foam, and enables recycling of the plastic, metal, and wiring components.« less

Digital Core Modelling for Clastic Oil and Gas Reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belozerov, I.; Berezovsky, V.; Gubaydullin, M.; Yur’ev, A.

2018-05-01

"Digital core" is a multi-purpose tool for solving a variety of tasks in the field of geological exploration and production of hydrocarbons at various stages, designed to improve the accuracy of geological study of subsurface resources, the efficiency of reproduction and use of mineral resources, as well as applying the results obtained in production practice. The actuality of the development of the "Digital core" software is that even a partial replacement of natural laboratory experiments with mathematical modelling can be used in the operative calculation of reserves in exploratory drilling, as well as in the absence of core material from wells. Or impossibility of its research by existing laboratory methods (weakly cemented, loose, etc. rocks). 3D-reconstruction of the core microstructure can be considered as a cheap and least time-consuming method for obtaining petrophysical information about the main filtration-capacitive properties and fluid motion in reservoir rocks.

Review of anhydrous zirconium-hafnium separation techniques. Information circular/1984

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

Skaggs, R.L.; Rogers, D.T.; Hunter, D.B.

1983-12-01

Sixteen nonaqueous techniques conceived to replace the current aqueous scheme for separating hafnium and zirconium tetrachlorides were reviewed and evaluated by the Bureau of Mines. The methods are divided into two classes: separation by fractional volatilization of the tetrachlorides, which takes advantage of the higher volatility of hafnium tetrachloride; and separation by chemical techniques, based on differences in chemical behavior of the two tetrachlorides. The criteria used to evaluate separation methods were temperature, pressure, separation factor per equilibrium stage, complexity, compatibility with existing technology, and potential for continuous operation. Three processes were selected as being most promising: (1) high-pressure distillation,more » (2) extractive distillation from a molten salt, and (3) preferential reduction of gaseous ZrCl4. Any of the proposed nonaqueous Hf-Zr separation schemes must be supplemented with additional purification to remove trace impurities.« less

Condition monitoring of an electro-magnetic brake using an artificial neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gofran, T.; Neugebauer, P.; Schramm, D.

2017-10-01

This paper presents a data-driven approach to Condition Monitoring of Electromagnetic brakes without use of additional sensors. For safe and efficient operation of electric motor a regular evaluation and replacement of the friction surface of the brake is required. One such evaluation method consists of direct or indirect sensing of the air-gap between pressure plate and magnet. A larger gap is generally indicative of worn surface(s). Traditionally this has been accomplished by the use of additional sensors - making existing systems complex, cost- sensitive and difficult to maintain. In this work a feed-forward Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is learned with the electrical data of the brake by supervised learning method to estimate the air-gap. The ANN model is optimized on the training set and validated using the test set. The experimental results of estimated air-gap with accuracy of over 95% demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.

Femtosecond pump-probe microscopy generates virtual cross-sections in historic artwork

PubMed Central

Villafana, Tana Elizabeth; Brown, William P.; Delaney, John K.; Palmer, Michael; Warren, Warren S.; Fischer, Martin C.

2014-01-01

The layering structure of a painting contains a wealth of information about the artist's choice of materials and working methods, but currently, no 3D noninvasive method exists to replace the taking of small paint samples in the study of the stratigraphy. Here, we adapt femtosecond pump-probe imaging, previously shown in tissue, to the case of the color palette in paintings, where chromophores have much greater variety. We show that combining the contrasts of multispectral and multidelay pump-probe spectroscopy permits nondestructive 3D imaging of paintings with molecular and structural contrast, even for pigments with linear absorption spectra that are broad and relatively featureless. We show virtual cross-sectioning capabilities in mockup paintings, with pigment separation and nondestructive imaging on an intact 14th century painting (The Crucifixion by Puccio Capanna). Our approach makes it possible to extract microscopic information for a broad range of applications to cultural heritage. PMID:24449855

Dead pixel replacement in LWIR microgrid polarimeters.

PubMed

Ratliff, Bradley M; Tyo, J Scott; Boger, James K; Black, Wiley T; Bowers, David L; Fetrow, Matthew P

2007-06-11

LWIR imaging arrays are often affected by nonresponsive pixels, or "dead pixels." These dead pixels can severely degrade the quality of imagery and often have to be replaced before subsequent image processing and display of the imagery data. For LWIR arrays that are integrated with arrays of micropolarizers, the problem of dead pixels is amplified. Conventional dead pixel replacement (DPR) strategies cannot be employed since neighboring pixels are of different polarizations. In this paper we present two DPR schemes. The first is a modified nearest-neighbor replacement method. The second is a method based on redundancy in the polarization measurements.We find that the redundancy-based DPR scheme provides an order-of-magnitude better performance for typical LWIR polarimetric data.

L1-norm locally linear representation regularization multi-source adaptation learning.

PubMed

Tao, Jianwen; Wen, Shiting; Hu, Wenjun

2015-09-01

In most supervised domain adaptation learning (DAL) tasks, one has access only to a small number of labeled examples from target domain. Therefore the success of supervised DAL in this "small sample" regime needs the effective utilization of the large amounts of unlabeled data to extract information that is useful for generalization. Toward this end, we here use the geometric intuition of manifold assumption to extend the established frameworks in existing model-based DAL methods for function learning by incorporating additional information about the target geometric structure of the marginal distribution. We would like to ensure that the solution is smooth with respect to both the ambient space and the target marginal distribution. In doing this, we propose a novel L1-norm locally linear representation regularization multi-source adaptation learning framework which exploits the geometry of the probability distribution, which has two techniques. Firstly, an L1-norm locally linear representation method is presented for robust graph construction by replacing the L2-norm reconstruction measure in LLE with L1-norm one, which is termed as L1-LLR for short. Secondly, considering the robust graph regularization, we replace traditional graph Laplacian regularization with our new L1-LLR graph Laplacian regularization and therefore construct new graph-based semi-supervised learning framework with multi-source adaptation constraint, which is coined as L1-MSAL method. Moreover, to deal with the nonlinear learning problem, we also generalize the L1-MSAL method by mapping the input data points from the input space to a high-dimensional reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) via a nonlinear mapping. Promising experimental results have been obtained on several real-world datasets such as face, visual video and object. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultra high frequency follow-on communications satellite system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassien, Michael J.

1992-03-01

The existing constellation of UHF communications satellites (LEASAT and FLTSAT) provide key command and control links for mobile forces of the DoD and other government agencies. The UHF Follow-On satellite program will provide for a new generation of communications satellites to replace the existing ones as they reach the end of their life cycle beginning in 1992. Continued coverage is required for both peacetime and crisis environments, and must be maintained indefinitely. An eight-satellite UFO constellation (two per coverage area) will replenish the existing FLTSATCOM constellation.

National Hydroelectric Power Resources Study: Potential for Increasing the Output of Existing Hydroelectric Plants. Volume 9

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-01

expanding the powerhouse) or uprating existing units to higher generating capacity by rehabilitating, modifying or replacing turbines and/or...fluid energy loss in flow passage and energy loss in converting fluid energy (flow and head) to mechanical energy ( turbine output) to electrical...energy (generator output). The significant practical opportunity is improvement of the energy conversion efficiency of the hydraulic turbine since the

Replacement Condition Detection of Railway Point Machines Using an Electric Current Sensor.

PubMed

Sa, Jaewon; Choi, Younchang; Chung, Yongwha; Kim, Hee-Young; Park, Daihee; Yoon, Sukhan

2017-01-29

Detecting replacement conditions of railway point machines is important to simultaneously satisfy the budget-limit and train-safety requirements. In this study, we consider classification of the subtle differences in the aging effect-using electric current shape analysis-for the purpose of replacement condition detection of railway point machines. After analyzing the shapes of after-replacement data and then labeling the shapes of each before-replacement data, we can derive the criteria that can handle the subtle differences between "does-not-need-to-be-replaced" and "needs-to-be-replaced" shapes. On the basis of the experimental results with in-field replacement data, we confirmed that the proposed method could detect the replacement conditions with acceptable accuracy, as well as provide visual interpretability of the criteria used for the time-series classification.

Signal replacement with an interchange.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-08-24

The purpose of this research effort is to evaluate unique intersection designs for their suitability for use in lieu : of an existing or proposed traffic signal. Traffic signals can cause unnecessary delay and capacity restrictions : due to the opera...

Universal breakaway steel post for other applications.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

The Universal Breakaway Steel Post (UBSP) was developed and evaluated to replace the existing Controlled Release : Terminal (CRT) wood posts which were used in the original bullnose guardrail system. Previously, three full-scale crash : tests were pe...

31. INTERIOR VIEW OF TYPICAL HALLWAY AND STAIRWAY IN CENTER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

31. INTERIOR VIEW OF TYPICAL HALLWAY AND STAIRWAY IN CENTER WING OF TECHWOOD DORMITORY. EXISTING DOORS ARE REPLACEMENTS OF ORIGINAL PANEL DOORS. - Techwood Homes, McDaniel Dormitory, 581-587 Techwood Drive, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

Lighting with Less Wattage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American School and University, 1981

1981-01-01

Schools in Wilton (Connecticut) cut electric consumption 39 percent by replacing existing lamps with new types of energy saving lamps. Fuel oil consumption dropped 53 percent largely through attention paid to the operation of boilers and oil burners. (Author/MLF)

Decomposing the Apoptosis Pathway Into Biologically Interpretable Principal Components

PubMed Central

Wang, Min; Kornblau, Steven M; Coombes, Kevin R

2018-01-01

Principal component analysis (PCA) is one of the most common techniques in the analysis of biological data sets, but applying PCA raises 2 challenges. First, one must determine the number of significant principal components (PCs). Second, because each PC is a linear combination of genes, it rarely has a biological interpretation. Existing methods to determine the number of PCs are either subjective or computationally extensive. We review several methods and describe a new R package, PCDimension, that implements additional methods, the most important being an algorithm that extends and automates a graphical Bayesian method. Using simulations, we compared the methods. Our newly automated procedure is competitive with the best methods when considering both accuracy and speed and is the most accurate when the number of objects is small compared with the number of attributes. We applied the method to a proteomics data set from patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Proteins in the apoptosis pathway could be explained using 6 PCs. By clustering the proteins in PC space, we were able to replace the PCs by 6 “biological components,” 3 of which could be immediately interpreted from the current literature. We expect this approach combining PCA with clustering to be widely applicable. PMID:29881252

Membrane-less microfiltration using inertial microfluidics

PubMed Central

Warkiani, Majid Ebrahimi; Tay, Andy Kah Ping; Guan, Guofeng; Han, Jongyoon

2015-01-01

Microfiltration is a ubiquitous and often crucial part of many industrial processes, including biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Yet, all existing filtration systems suffer from the issue of membrane clogging, which fundamentally limits the efficiency and reliability of the filtration process. Herein, we report the development of a membrane-less microfiltration system by massively parallelizing inertial microfluidics to achieve a macroscopic volume processing rates (~ 500 mL/min). We demonstrated the systems engineered for CHO (10–20 μm) and yeast (3–5 μm) cells filtration, which are two main cell types used for large-scale bioreactors. Our proposed system can replace existing filtration membrane and provide passive (no external force fields), continuous filtration, thus eliminating the need for membrane replacement. This platform has the desirable combinations of high throughput, low-cost, and scalability, making it compatible for a myriad of microfiltration applications and industrial purposes. PMID:26154774

Novel delivery systems for nicotine replacement therapy as an aid to smoking cessation and for harm reduction: rationale, and evidence for advantages over existing systems.

PubMed

Shahab, Lion; Brose, Leonie S; West, Robert

2013-12-01

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been used in the treatment of tobacco dependence for over three decades. Whilst the choice of NRT was limited early on, in the last ten years there has been substantial increase in the number of nicotine delivery devices that have become available. This article briefly summarises existing forms of NRT, evidence of their efficacy and use, and reviews the rationale for the development of novel products delivering nicotine via buccal, transdermal or pulmonary routes (including nicotine mouth spray, nicotine films, advanced nicotine inhalers and electronic cigarettes). It presents available evidence on the efficacy, tolerability and abuse potential of these products, with a focus on their advantages as well as disadvantages compared with established forms of NRT for use as an aid to both smoking cessation as well as harm reduction.

High-Order Automatic Differentiation of Unmodified Linear Algebra Routines via Nilpotent Matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunham, Benjamin Z.

This work presents a new automatic differentiation method, Nilpotent Matrix Differentiation (NMD), capable of propagating any order of mixed or univariate derivative through common linear algebra functions--most notably third-party sparse solvers and decomposition routines, in addition to basic matrix arithmetic operations and power series--without changing data-type or modifying code line by line; this allows differentiation across sequences of arbitrarily many such functions with minimal implementation effort. NMD works by enlarging the matrices and vectors passed to the routines, replacing each original scalar with a matrix block augmented by derivative data; these blocks are constructed with special sparsity structures, termed "stencils," each designed to be isomorphic to a particular multidimensional hypercomplex algebra. The algebras are in turn designed such that Taylor expansions of hypercomplex function evaluations are finite in length and thus exactly track derivatives without approximation error. Although this use of the method in the "forward mode" is unique in its own right, it is also possible to apply it to existing implementations of the (first-order) discrete adjoint method to find high-order derivatives with lowered cost complexity; for example, for a problem with N inputs and an adjoint solver whose cost is independent of N--i.e., O(1)--the N x N Hessian can be found in O(N) time, which is comparable to existing second-order adjoint methods that require far more problem-specific implementation effort. Higher derivatives are likewise less expensive--e.g., a N x N x N rank-three tensor can be found in O(N2). Alternatively, a Hessian-vector product can be found in O(1) time, which may open up many matrix-based simulations to a range of existing optimization or surrogate modeling approaches. As a final corollary in parallel to the NMD-adjoint hybrid method, the existing complex-step differentiation (CD) technique is also shown to be capable of finding the Hessian-vector product. All variants are implemented on a stochastic diffusion problem and compared in-depth with various cost and accuracy metrics.

Overview of a workshop on screening methods for detecting potential (anti-) estrogenic/androgenic chemicals in wildlife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ankley, Gerald T.; Mihaich, Ellen; Stahl, Ralph G.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Colborn, Theo; McMaster, Suzzanne; Miller, Ron; Bantle, John; Campbell, Pamela; Denslow, Nancy; Dickerson, Richard L.; Folmar, Leroy C.; Fry, Michael; Giesy, John P.; Gray, L. Earl; Guiney, Patrick; Hutchinson, Thomas; Kennedy, Sean W.; Kramer, Vincent; LeBlanc, Gerald A.; Mayes, Monte; Nimrod, Alison; Patino, Reynaldo; Peterson, Richard; Purdy, Richard; Ringer, Robert; Thomas, Peter C.; Touart, Les; Van Der Kraak, Glen; Zacharewski, Tim

1998-01-01

The U.S. Congress has passed legislation requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to develop, validate, and implement screening tests for identifying potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals within 3 years. To aid in the identification of methods suitable for this purpose, the U.S. EPA, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the World Wildlife Fund sponsored several workshops, including the present one, which dealt with wildlife species. This workshop was convened with 30 international scientists representing multiple disciplines in March 1997 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Participants at the meeting identified methods in terms of their ability to indicate (anti-) estrogenic/androgenic effects, particularly in the context of developmental and reproductive processes. Data derived from structure-activity relationship models and in vitro test systems, although useful in certain contexts, cannot at present replace in vivo tests as the sole basis for screening. A consensus was reached that existing mammalian test methods (e.g., with rats or mice) generally are suitable as screens for assessing potential (anti-) estrogenic/ androgenic effects in mammalian wildlife. However, due to factors such as among-class variation in receptor structure and endocrine function, it is uncertain if these mammalian assays would be of broad utility as screens for other classes of vertebrate wildlife. Existing full and partial life-cycle tests with some avian and fish species could successfully identify chemicals causing endocrine disruption; however, these long-term tests are not suitable for routine screening. However, a number of short-term tests with species from these two classes exist that could serve as effective screening tools for chemicals inducing (anti-) estrogenic/androgenic effects. Existing methods suitable for identifying chemicals with these mechanisms of action in reptiles and amphibians are limited, but in the future, tests with species from these classes may prove highly effective as screens. In the case of invertebrate species, too little is known at present about the biological role of estrogens and androgens in reproduction and development to recommend specific assays.

Audit Report. Quick-Reaction Report on the Review of Defense Base Closure and Realignment Budget Data for Carswell, Barksdale, Dyess, Minot, and Tinker Air Force Bases

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-27

for 10 construction pr~n’jcts for realigning Carswell AFB was not adeauately documented as required by Air Force Regulation (AFR) 86-1, " Programming ...Engineering Programming , Standard Facility Requirements." paragraph 24-70, allows for a total of 25,200 square feet of space for tne warehouse and...cantonment area, and replaced an existing capability. The fact that a replacement wash rack was previously programmed does not alter this requirement

Brush seals for turbine engine fuel conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Mike

1994-07-01

The program objective is to demonstrate brush seals for replacing labyrinth seals in turboprop engines. The approach taken was to design and procure brush seals with assistance from Sealol, modify and instrument an existing T407 low pressure turbine test rig, replace inner balance piston and outer balance piston labyrinth seals with brush seals, conduct cyclic tests to evaluate seal leakage at operating pressures and temperatures, and evaluate effect of seal pack width and rotor eccentricity. Results are presented in viewgraph format and show that brush seals offer performance advantages over labyrinth seals.

Family Welfare Reform Act. Hearings on H.R. 1720 To Replace the Existing AFDC Program with a New Family Support Program...before the Subcommittee on Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation of the Committee on Ways and Means. House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, First Session (March 30; April 1, 1987).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Ways and Means.

These hearings concern proposed legislation to replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with a new family support program. The new program would emphasize work, child support, and need-based family support supplements. Families would be assisted in obtaining education, training, and employment in order to avoid long-term dependence…

Adjusting for Health Status in Non-Linear Models of Health Care Disparities

PubMed Central

Cook, Benjamin L.; McGuire, Thomas G.; Meara, Ellen; Zaslavsky, Alan M.

2009-01-01

This article compared conceptual and empirical strengths of alternative methods for estimating racial disparities using non-linear models of health care access. Three methods were presented (propensity score, rank and replace, and a combined method) that adjust for health status while allowing SES variables to mediate the relationship between race and access to care. Applying these methods to a nationally representative sample of blacks and non-Hispanic whites surveyed in the 2003 and 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys (MEPS), we assessed the concordance of each of these methods with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) definition of racial disparities, and empirically compared the methods' predicted disparity estimates, the variance of the estimates, and the sensitivity of the estimates to limitations of available data. The rank and replace and combined methods (but not the propensity score method) are concordant with the IOM definition of racial disparities in that each creates a comparison group with the appropriate marginal distributions of health status and SES variables. Predicted disparities and prediction variances were similar for the rank and replace and combined methods, but the rank and replace method was sensitive to limitations on SES information. For all methods, limiting health status information significantly reduced estimates of disparities compared to a more comprehensive dataset. We conclude that the two IOM-concordant methods were similar enough that either could be considered in disparity predictions. In datasets with limited SES information, the combined method is the better choice. PMID:20352070

What gets missed when deploying new technologies in A&E?

PubMed

Broome, C; Adams, A

2005-06-01

This paper presents a longitudinal study (over 4 months) of an A&E department where the existing whiteboards were replaced with PC-based computer systems. The study was conducted in two parts - an observation of the physical whiteboard usage and in-depth interviews with all users of both the traditional whiteboard usage and the replacement technology. The research was conducted with the systems manager and all whiteboard users (i.e. nursing management, nurses, doctors, porters, and agency staff) across a spread of time frames. Although the technology supported simple information requirements, complex co-ordination, collaboration, and awareness issues were left unsupported. The important role of a pen-holder (information co-ordinator) was poorly supported by the replacement technology as was the task of annotating information with changing situations and needs. Specific deployment issues are derived from these findings that should guide designers when implementing technology replacements for current physical information formats (e.g. whiteboards, notice boards, shared paper notes).

Gaussian Process Interpolation for Uncertainty Estimation in Image Registration

PubMed Central

Wachinger, Christian; Golland, Polina; Reuter, Martin; Wells, William

2014-01-01

Intensity-based image registration requires resampling images on a common grid to evaluate the similarity function. The uncertainty of interpolation varies across the image, depending on the location of resampled points relative to the base grid. We propose to perform Bayesian inference with Gaussian processes, where the covariance matrix of the Gaussian process posterior distribution estimates the uncertainty in interpolation. The Gaussian process replaces a single image with a distribution over images that we integrate into a generative model for registration. Marginalization over resampled images leads to a new similarity measure that includes the uncertainty of the interpolation. We demonstrate that our approach increases the registration accuracy and propose an efficient approximation scheme that enables seamless integration with existing registration methods. PMID:25333127

Biodiesel from microalgae beats bioethanol.

PubMed

Chisti, Yusuf

2008-03-01

Renewable biofuels are needed to displace petroleum-derived transport fuels, which contribute to global warming and are of limited availability. Biodiesel and bioethanol are the two potential renewable fuels that have attracted the most attention. As demonstrated here, biodiesel and bioethanol produced from agricultural crops using existing methods cannot sustainably replace fossil-based transport fuels, but there is an alternative. Biodiesel from microalgae seems to be the only renewable biofuel that has the potential to completely displace petroleum-derived transport fuels without adversely affecting supply of food and other crop products. Most productive oil crops, such as oil palm, do not come close to microalgae in being able to sustainably provide the necessary amounts of biodiesel. Similarly, bioethanol from sugarcane is no match for microalgal biodiesel.

Poisson sigma models, reduction and nonlinear gauge theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Signori, Daniele

This dissertation comprises two main lines of research. Firstly, we study non-linear gauge theories for principal bundles, where the structure group is replaced by a Lie groupoid. We follow the approach of Moerdijk-Mrcun and establish its relation with the existing physics literature. In particular, we derive a new formula for the gauge transformation which closely resembles and generalizes the classical formulas found in Yang Mills gauge theories. Secondly, we give a field theoretic interpretation of the of the BRST (Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin) and BFV (Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky) methods for the reduction of coisotropic submanifolds of Poisson manifolds. The generalized Poisson sigma models that we define are related to the quantization deformation problems of coisotropic submanifolds using homotopical algebras.

Thomson scattering laser-electron X-ray source for reduction of patient radiation dose in interventional coronary angiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artyukov, I. A.; Dyachkov, N. V.; Feshchenko, R. M.; Polunina, A. V.; Popov, N. L.; Shvedunov, V. I.; Vinogradov, A. V.

2017-05-01

It was medical applications that stimulated F. Carrol in the early 1990s to start the research of on relativistic Thomson scattering X-ray sources, as a part of the infrastructure of the future society. The possibility to use such a source in interventional cardiology is discussed in this paper. The replacement of X-ray tube by relativistic Thomson scattering Xray source is predicted to lower the patient radiation dose by a factor of 3 while image quality remains the same. The required general characteristics of accelerator and laser units are found. They can be reached by existing technology. A semiempirical method for simulation of medical and technical parameters of interventional coronary angiography systems is suggested.

Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity Of Antibiotics Mixed With Metal Nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sandeep; Kumar, Neeraj; Bhanjana, Gaurav; Thakur, Rajesh; Dilbaghi, Neeraj

2011-12-01

Current producers of antimicrobial technology have a long lasting, environmentally safe, non-leaching, water soluble solution that will eventually replace all poisons and heavy metals. The transition metal ions inevitably exist as metal complexes in biological systems by interaction with the numerous molecules possessing groupings capable of complexation or chelation. Nanoparticles of metal oxides offer a wide variety of potential applications in medicine due to the unprecedented advances in nanobiotechnology research. the bacterial action of antibiotics like penicillin, erythryomycin, ampicillin, streptomycin, kanamycin etc. and that of a mixture of antibiotics and metal and metal oxide nanoparticles like zinc oxide, zirconium, silver and gold on microbes was examined by the agar-well-diffusion method, enumeration of colony-forming units (CFU) and turbidimetry.

[Application of chemical ecology in controlling marine fouling organisms].

PubMed

Fang, Fang; Yan, Tao; Liu, Qing

2005-10-01

Many marine organisms can produce secondary metabolites beneficial to the protection of marine environments against fouling, and thus, applying chemo-ecological methods to extract the natural antifoulants from marine organisms to resolve the problems relevant to marine fouling is a new thinking in resent years. Its aim is to search for high efficient and non-toxic antifoulants to replace the existing chemically synthetic ones which are unfortunately found to have widespread toxic effects on marine environment. Although we know few about the antifouling mechanisms of secondary metabolites, many natural products have been proved to have antifouling activity. Therefore, basic and applied researches on the ecological roles of these natural compounds, their action mechanisms, coating compatibility, controlled release, and field test are required in the future.

Can electronic medical images replace hard-copy film? Defining and testing the equivalence of diagnostic tests.

PubMed

Obuchowski, N A

2001-10-15

Electronic medical images are an efficient and convenient format in which to display, store and transmit radiographic information. Before electronic images can be used routinely to screen and diagnose patients, however, it must be shown that readers have the same diagnostic performance with this new format as traditional hard-copy film. Currently, there exist no suitable definitions of diagnostic equivalence. In this paper we propose two criteria for diagnostic equivalence. The first criterion ('population equivalence') considers the variability between and within readers, as well as the mean reader performance. This criterion is useful for most applications. The second criterion ('individual equivalence') involves a comparison of the test results for individual patients and is necessary when patients are followed radiographically over time. We present methods for testing both individual and population equivalence. The properties of the proposed methods are assessed in a Monte Carlo simulation study. Data from a mammography screening study is used to illustrate the proposed methods and compare them with results from more conventional methods of assessing equivalence and inter-procedure agreement. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Radiation shielding for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units

PubMed Central

2007-01-01

Shielding calculations for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery units are complicated by the fact that the radiation is highly anisotropic. Shielding design for these devices is unique. Although manufacturers will answer questions about the data that they provide for shielding evaluation, they will not perform calculations for customers. More than 237 such units are now installed in centers worldwide. Centers installing a gamma radiosurgery unit find themselves in the position of having to either invent or reinvent a method for performing shielding design. This paper introduces a rigorous and conservative method for barrier design for gamma stereotactic radiosurgery treatment rooms. This method should be useful to centers planning either to install a new unit or to replace an existing unit. The method described here is consistent with the principles outlined in Report No. 151 from the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. In as little as 1 hour, a simple electronic spreadsheet can be set up, which will provide radiation levels on planes parallel to the barriers and 0.3 m outside the barriers. PACS numbers: 87.53.Ly, 87.56By, 87.52Tr

Rapid Quantitative Analysis of Multiple Explosive Compound Classes on a Single Instrument via Flow-Injection Analysis Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Ostrinskaya, Alla; Kunz, Roderick R; Clark, Michelle; Kingsborough, Richard P; Ong, Ta-Hsuan; Deneault, Sandra

2018-05-24

A flow-injection analysis tandem mass spectrometry (FIA MSMS) method was developed for rapid quantitative analysis of 10 different inorganic and organic explosives. Performance is optimized by tailoring the ionization method (APCI/ESI), de-clustering potentials, and collision energies for each specific analyte. In doing so, a single instrument can be used to detect urea nitrate, potassium chlorate, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, 2,4,6-trinitrophenylmethylnitramine, triacetone triperoxide, hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine, nitroglycerin, and octohy-dro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine with sensitivities all in the picogram per milliliter range. In conclusion, FIA APCI/ESI MSMS is a fast (<1 min/sample), sensitive (~pg/mL LOQ), and precise (intraday RSD < 10%) method for trace explosive detection that can play an important role in criminal and attributional forensics, counterterrorism, and environmental protection areas, and has the potential to augment or replace several of the existing explosive detection methods. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The Bootstrap, the Jackknife, and the Randomization Test: A Sampling Taxonomy.

PubMed

Rodgers, J L

1999-10-01

A simple sampling taxonomy is defined that shows the differences between and relationships among the bootstrap, the jackknife, and the randomization test. Each method has as its goal the creation of an empirical sampling distribution that can be used to test statistical hypotheses, estimate standard errors, and/or create confidence intervals. Distinctions between the methods can be made based on the sampling approach (with replacement versus without replacement) and the sample size (replacing the whole original sample versus replacing a subset of the original sample). The taxonomy is useful for teaching the goals and purposes of resampling schemes. An extension of the taxonomy implies other possible resampling approaches that have not previously been considered. Univariate and multivariate examples are presented.

Development of Pantothenate Analogs That Can Treat Combat-Related Infections

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

determined by the molecular replacement method using the structure of S. aureus PanK excluding bound AMPPNP as a search model ( PDB code 2EWS). The...were solved by molecular replacement using the program PHASER11 and the EcPanK structure as a search model ( PDB : 1SQ5). The models went through...aureus PanK (SaPanK) complexed with N5- Pan (months 1-3) We solved the structure of the SaPanK�N5-Pan complex by the molecular replacement method

Performance evaluation of roundabouts for traffic delay and crash reductions in Oxford, MS.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-06-30

Due to increased traffic volume, congestion, and capacity limitations, two roundabouts have been constructed on South Lamar : Boulevard ramp intersections with MS Highway 6 in Oxford, MS. Roundabouts replaced the existing signalized intersection : on...

Analysis of projected replacement and costs for potential aquatic barriers maintained by MaineDOT.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-02-01

Recent discussions around State and federal stream crossing regulations have focused on resolving existing barriers : to fish movement created by pipe culverts associated with transportation infrastructure. Approximately 30% of : Maine has been surve...

Demonstration of Innovative Water Rehabilitation Technology in Somerville, NJ

EPA Science Inventory

Renewal technologies currently being used for the repair, replacement and/or rehabilitation of deteriorating water distribution systems are generally effective, but there is still considerable room for improvement of existing technologies and for the development of new technologi...

In-house fabrication of precast concrete bridge slabs.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-01-01

Information is reported on the labor, equipment, material, and cost required for seven bridge maintenance situations in which state forces widened or replaced an existing short span structure. Precast concrete slabs were installed at three of the loc...

Performance of bridge deck overlays in Virginia : phase 1 : state of overlays : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

Maintaining the existing transportation infrastructure is a major concern of the Virginia Department of Transportation : (VDOT). The increased user travel costs, safety concerns, and financial burdens involved in replacing deteriorating decks are : r...

The Combat-System/Ship-System Interface,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-01

sequence initiated by removal of the load shed signal. Re-eneAgize capabitiLty. Provide remotely controlled reclosable power control devices to...signal from the electrical plant control equipment. The power controllers would replace existing circuit breakers and incorporate reclose capability

An approach to solve replacement problems under intuitionistic fuzzy nature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaganesan, M.; Ganesan, K.

2018-04-01

Due to impreciseness to solve the day to day problems the researchers use fuzzy sets in their discussions of the replacement problems. The aim of this paper is to solve the replacement theory problems with triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. An effective methodology based on fuzziness index and location index is proposed to determine the optimal solution of the replacement problem. A numerical example is illustrated to validate the proposed method.

Development of a defect stream function, law of the wall/wake method for compressible turbulent boundary layers. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wahls, Richard A.

1990-01-01

The method presented is designed to improve the accuracy and computational efficiency of existing numerical methods for the solution of flows with compressible turbulent boundary layers. A compressible defect stream function formulation of the governing equations assuming an arbitrary turbulence model is derived. This formulation is advantageous because it has a constrained zero-order approximation with respect to the wall shear stress and the tangential momentum equation has a first integral. Previous problems with this type of formulation near the wall are eliminated by using empirically based analytic expressions to define the flow near the wall. The van Driest law of the wall for velocity and the modified Crocco temperature-velocity relationship are used. The associated compressible law of the wake is determined and it extends the valid range of the analytical expressions beyond the logarithmic region of the boundary layer. The need for an inner-region eddy viscosity model is completely avoided. The near-wall analytic expressions are patched to numerically computed outer region solutions at a point determined during the computation. A new boundary condition on the normal derivative of the tangential velocity at the surface is presented; this condition replaces the no-slip condition and enables numerical integration to the surface with a relatively coarse grid using only an outer region turbulence model. The method was evaluated for incompressible and compressible equilibrium flows and was implemented into an existing Navier-Stokes code using the assumption of local equilibrium flow with respect to the patching. The method has proven to be accurate and efficient.

Differential effects of green tax reform over economies: A case of Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Tae Heon

2011-12-01

It is controversial whether or not green tax reform through a carbon tax has double dividend feature. The economic effects of green tax reform vary according to economies due to different preexisting conditions. Recent studies about the economic impacts of a carbon tax have noted the role of preexisting factor taxes in the second best world. The present study, however, explores the role of existing taxes on energy products in introducing a carbon tax, by employing a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Korea, a country that has high existing taxes on petroleum products. Above all, I find that a carbon tax is the most efficient policy instrument among three alternative taxes---an energy tax, a carbon tax and an ad valorem tax---to reduce carbon emissions in Korea under both lump-sum tax replacement and labor tax replacement. The carbon tax, however, brings about welfare and GDP loss. The economic costs can be reduced, but cannot be completely removed by revenue recycling. Second, this study explores how existing taxes on petroleum products affect the economic cost of introducing a carbon tax, by manipulating existing taxes on petroleum products. I find that the existing taxes raise the economic costs of introducing a carbon tax. Third, this study shows that the economic costs of a carbon tax can be reduced when its revenue is returned to cut preexisting taxes on petroleum products. Thus, restructuring existing taxes on energy products plays a crucial role in introducing a carbon tax. From the specific case of the Korean economy, the present study indicates that existing taxes on not only factors but also energy products are one of the main sources of economic costs in introducing a carbon tax.

A Dual Super-Element Domain Decomposition Approach for Parallel Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jokhio, G. A.; Izzuddin, B. A.

2015-05-01

This article presents a new domain decomposition method for nonlinear finite element analysis introducing the concept of dual partition super-elements. The method extends ideas from the displacement frame method and is ideally suited for parallel nonlinear static/dynamic analysis of structural systems. In the new method, domain decomposition is realized by replacing one or more subdomains in a "parent system," each with a placeholder super-element, where the subdomains are processed separately as "child partitions," each wrapped by a dual super-element along the partition boundary. The analysis of the overall system, including the satisfaction of equilibrium and compatibility at all partition boundaries, is realized through direct communication between all pairs of placeholder and dual super-elements. The proposed method has particular advantages for matrix solution methods based on the frontal scheme, and can be readily implemented for existing finite element analysis programs to achieve parallelization on distributed memory systems with minimal intervention, thus overcoming memory bottlenecks typically faced in the analysis of large-scale problems. Several examples are presented in this article which demonstrate the computational benefits of the proposed parallel domain decomposition approach and its applicability to the nonlinear structural analysis of realistic structural systems.

FY95 limited energy study for the area `a` package boiler. Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Kingsport, Tennessee. Final report

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

NONE

1995-11-03

Holston Army Ammunition Plant (HSAAP) in Holston, Tennessee, manufactures explosives from raw materials. The facility comprises two separate areas designated Area `A11 and Area 11B`. Each area is served by a steam plant which produces steam for production processes, equipment operation, space heating, domestic water heating, steam tracing, and product storage heating requirements. The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of alternative methods of meeting the steam requirements of the Area 11A11 industrial complex. The following items were specifically requested to be evaluated. Evaluate the use of two new gas-fired packaged boilersmore » sized to meet the requirements of the industrial complex. The new boilers would be installed adjacent to the existing steam plant and would utilize the existing smokestacks and steam distribution system. Evaluate using the existing steam distribution system rather than locating multiple boilers at various sites. Existing steam driven chillers will be replaced with electric driven equipment. Evaluate this impact on the steam system requirements. Field survey and test two existing gas-fired packaged boilers located at the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The two boilers were last used about 1980 and are presently laid away. The boilers are approximately the same capacity and operating characteristics as the ones at HSAAP. Relocation of the existing boilers and ancillary equipment (feedwater pumps, generators, fans, etc.) would be required as well as repairs or modifications necessary to meet current operating conditions and standards.« less

Surface Observation Climatic Summaries for Ansbach AHP/Katterbach, Germany

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-01

SURFACE OBSERVATIONS CLIMATIC SWUMWN (LISOCS). EXISTING RUSSWOS AND LISOCS WILL CONTINUE IN USE , BUT WILL EVENTUALLY BE BY A 8OCS. 12A. DISTRIBUTION...OBSERVATION CLIMATIC 8UMW*IY). RUSSWOS AND LISOCS NOW IN EXISTENCE WILL CON- TIhUE TO BE USED UNTIL THEY ARE EVENTUALLY REPLACED BY SOCS. THIS PIODUCT...LOCATION A AT ASHEVILLE, NC 28901-2723. HERE, CLIMATOLOGISTS USE STATE-OF-THE-ART COM- PUTER TECHNOLOGY TO SUMMARIZE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS COLLECTED

Surface Observation Climatic Summaries for Dover AFB, Delaware

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-01

EXISTING RUSSNOS AND LISOCS WILL CONTINUE IN USE , BUT WILL EVENTUALLY BE BY A OCS. 12A. DISRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATMENT: APPROVED FOR PUBLIC...EXISTENCE WILL CON- TIMM TO BE USED UfIXIL THEY ARE EVENITUALLY REPLACED BY SOCS. THIS PRODUCT HAS BEER ISSUED IN OTHER FONS UNDER SEVERAL OTHER...CLIMATOLOGISTS USE STATE-OF-THE-ART COM- PUTER TElCEOLOGY TO SUMMARIZE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS COLLECTED FROM SELECTED MIL- ITARY, CIVILIAN, AND FOREIGN REPORTING

Repair Types, Procedures - Part 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

completely severed or severely damaged fuel lines, cut away the damaged section and use a piece of fuel- resistant rubber hose with an inner diameter...equal to the existing fuel line outer diameter to replace the damaged section. Ensure the repair hose extends far enough on each side of the damage to...accommodate two hose clamps, oriented 180° from one another. Flare the ends of the existing fuel line to improve the seal and prevent leakage

An Examination of Binder Systems and Their Influences on Burn Rates of High-Nitrogen Containing Formulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

sought-after to advance existing HHS technology. Currently existing HHS candle formulations contain significant amounts of potassium perchlorate...Defense spends tens of billions of dollars annually on per- chlorate remediation efforts. Therefore, efforts to elimi- nate perchlorate from military...develop per- chlorate -free formulations of the M126A1 red star para- chute. To maximize the performance of these formula- tions, KClO4 was replaced

Cardiovascular disease in menopause: does the obstetric history have any bearing?

PubMed

Mahendru, Amita A; Morris, Edward

2013-09-01

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in menopausal women in spite of the overall reduction in age-adjusted mortality from the disease in the last few years. It is now clear that mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in menopausal women are similar to men and rather than midlife acceleration of cardiovascular disease in women, the final impact of cardiovascular disease in later life may be a reflection of cardiovascular changes during reproductive years as a result of woman's obstetric history. A decade after the Women's Health Initiative trial, there is upcoming evidence to suggest that hormone replacement therapy in young recently menopausal women has a cardioprotective effect. Cardiovascular changes during normal pregnancy or pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia may affect a woman's long-term cardiovascular health. Therefore, it is plausible that the cardioprotective benefit of hormone replacement therapy depends on occult pre-existing cardiovascular risks in women in relation to their previous obstetric history. In this review, we describe the cardiovascular changes during and after pregnancy in obstetric complications such as recurrent miscarriage, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labour and gestational diabetes; existing evidence regarding their association with cardiovascular disease later in life, and hypothesize possible mechanisms. Our aim is to improve the understanding and highlight the importance of including obstetric history in risk assessment in menopausal women and individualizing their risks before prescribing hormone replacement therapy. Future research in risk benefit assessment of hormone replacement therapy should also account for a woman's background cardiovascular risk in the light of her obstetric history.

Economic impact of thermostable vaccines.

PubMed

Lee, Bruce Y; Wedlock, Patrick T; Haidari, Leila A; Elder, Kate; Potet, Julien; Manring, Rachel; Connor, Diana L; Spiker, Marie L; Bonner, Kimberly; Rangarajan, Arjun; Hunyh, Delphine; Brown, Shawn T

2017-05-25

While our previous work has shown that replacing existing vaccines with thermostable vaccines can relieve bottlenecks in vaccine supply chains and thus increase vaccine availability, the question remains whether this benefit would outweigh the additional cost of thermostable formulations. Using HERMES simulation models of the vaccine supply chains for the Republic of Benin, the state of Bihar (India), and Niger, we simulated replacing different existing vaccines with thermostable formulations and determined the resulting clinical and economic impact. Costs measured included the costs of vaccines, logistics, and disease outcomes averted. Replacing a particular vaccine with a thermostable version yielded cost savings in many cases even when charging a price premium (two or three times the current vaccine price). For example, replacing the current pentavalent vaccine with a thermostable version without increasing the vaccine price saved from $366 to $10,945 per 100 members of the vaccine's target population. Doubling the vaccine price still resulted in cost savings that ranged from $300 to $10,706, and tripling the vaccine price resulted in cost savings from $234 to $10,468. As another example, a thermostable rotavirus vaccine (RV) at its current (year) price saved between $131 and $1065. Doubling and tripling the thermostable rotavirus price resulted in cost savings ranging from $102 to $936 and $73 to $808, respectively. Switching to thermostable formulations was highly cost-effective or cost-effective in most scenarios explored. Medical cost and productivity savings could outweigh even significant price premiums charged for thermostable formulations of vaccines, providing support for their use. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Big George to Carter Mountain 115-kV transmission line project, Park and Hot Springs Counties, Wyoming. Environmental Assessment

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

Not Available

1994-02-01

The Western Area Power Administration (Western) is proposing to rebuild, operate, and maintain a 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line between the Big George and Carter Mountain Substations in northwest Wyoming (Park and Hot Springs Counties). This environmental assessment (EA) was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Department of Energy (DOE). The existing Big George to Carter Mountain 69-kV transmission line was constructed in 1941 by the US Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, with 1/0 copper conductor on wood-pole H-frame structures without an overhead groundmore » wire. The line should be replaced because of the deteriorated condition of the wood-pole H-frame structures. Because the line lacks an overhead ground wire, it is subject to numerous outages caused by lightning. The line will be 54 years old in 1995, which is the target date for line replacement. The normal service life of a wood-pole line is 45 years. Under the No Action Alternative, no new transmission lines would be built in the project area. The existing 69-kV transmission line would continue to operate with routine maintenance, with no provisions made for replacement.« less

Planning For Retirement: Using Income Replacement Ratios in Setting Retirement Income Objectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Bruce A.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a method for higher education faculty and staff to assess pension plan objectives by determining a retirement income replacement ratio to maintain the salary-based preretirement standard of living. The paper describes the RETIRE Project which researches income replacement using the federal government's annual "Consumer…

Validation of a new ELISA method for in vitro potency testing of hepatitis A vaccines.

PubMed

Morgeaux, S; Variot, P; Daas, A; Costanzo, A

2013-01-01

The goal of the project was to standardise a new in vitro method in replacement of the existing standard method for the determination of hepatitis A virus antigen content in hepatitis A vaccines (HAV) marketed in Europe. This became necessary due to issues with the method used previously, requiring the use of commercial test kits. The selected candidate method, not based on commercial kits, had already been used for many years by an Official Medicines Control Laboratory (OMCL) for routine testing and batch release of HAV. After a pre-qualification phase (Phase 1) that showed the suitability of the commercially available critical ELISA reagents for the determination of antigen content in marketed HAV present on the European market, an international collaborative study (Phase 2) was carried out in order to fully validate the method. Eleven laboratories took part in the collaborative study. They performed assays with the candidate standard method and, in parallel, for comparison purposes, with their own in-house validated methods where these were available. The study demonstrated that the new assay provides a more reliable and reproducible method when compared to the existing standard method. A good correlation of the candidate standard method with the in vivo immunogenicity assay in mice was shown previously for both potent and sub-potent (stressed) vaccines. Thus, the new standard method validated during the collaborative study may be implemented readily by manufacturers and OMCLs for routine batch release but also for in-process control or consistency testing. The new method was approved in October 2012 by Group of Experts 15 of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) as the standard method for in vitro potency testing of HAV. The relevant texts will be revised accordingly. Critical reagents such as coating reagent and detection antibodies have been adopted by the Ph. Eur. Commission and are available from the EDQM as Ph. Eur. Biological Reference Reagents (BRRs).

A mission planning concept and mission planning system for future manned space missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wickler, Martin

1994-01-01

The international character of future manned space missions will compel the involvement of several international space agencies in mission planning tasks. Additionally, the community of users requires a higher degree of freedom for experiment planning. Both of these problems can be solved by a decentralized mission planning concept using the so-called 'envelope method,' by which resources are allocated to users by distributing resource profiles ('envelopes') which define resource availabilities at specified times. The users are essentially free to plan their activities independently of each other, provided that they stay within their envelopes. The new developments were aimed at refining the existing vague envelope concept into a practical method for decentralized planning. Selected critical functions were exercised by planning an example, founded on experience acquired by the MSCC during the Spacelab missions D-1 and D-2. The main activity regarding future mission planning tasks was to improve the existing MSCC mission planning system, using new techniques. An electronic interface was developed to collect all formalized user inputs more effectively, along with an 'envelope generator' for generation and manipulation of the resource envelopes. The existing scheduler and its data base were successfully replaced by an artificial intelligence scheduler. This scheduler is not only capable of handling resource envelopes, but also uses a new technology based on neuronal networks. Therefore, it is very well suited to solve the future scheduling problems more efficiently. This prototype mission planning system was used to gain new practical experience with decentralized mission planning, using the envelope method. In future steps, software tools will be optimized, and all data management planning activities will be embedded into the scheduler.

Image color reduction method for color-defective observers using a color palette composed of 20 particular colors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakamoto, Takashi

2015-01-01

This study describes a color enhancement method that uses a color palette especially designed for protan and deutan defects, commonly known as red-green color blindness. The proposed color reduction method is based on a simple color mapping. Complicated computation and image processing are not required by using the proposed method, and the method can replace protan and deutan confusion (p/d-confusion) colors with protan and deutan safe (p/d-safe) colors. Color palettes for protan and deutan defects proposed by previous studies are composed of few p/d-safe colors. Thus, the colors contained in these palettes are insufficient for replacing colors in photographs. Recently, Ito et al. proposed a p/dsafe color palette composed of 20 particular colors. The author demonstrated that their p/d-safe color palette could be applied to image color reduction in photographs as a means to replace p/d-confusion colors. This study describes the results of the proposed color reduction in photographs that include typical p/d-confusion colors, which can be replaced. After the reduction process is completed, color-defective observers can distinguish these confusion colors.

GS4 Molasses ICUMSA (International Commission for Uniform Methods in Sugar Analysis) Report

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A report is given on international trade methods for molasses. At the present time there is a need to replace lead acetate clarification agent used in the determination of sucrose in molasses samples, in Europe and other parts of the world. The report discusses possible replacements for lead aceta...

Replacement Behaviors for Identified Functions of Challenging Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matson, Johnny L.; Shoemaker, Mary E.; Sipes, Megan; Horovitz, Max; Worley, Julie A.; Kozlowski, Alison M.

2011-01-01

Functional assessment has become a major feature of learning-based research. A critical element of the majority of these studies includes not only methods and procedures to identify the cause of the challenging behavior, but to establish replacement treatment methods. By far the most common intervention in the 176 studies we reviewed was…

Solid-State Thyratron Replacement. Final Report

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

Roth, Ian

2017-12-12

Under this SBIR, DTI developed a solid-state switch as an alternative to legacy thyratron equipment. Our Phase II objective was to make a solid-state thyratron replacement that would provide equivalent or better performance, much higher reliability (at least a 20 year lifetime, compared to a thyratron’s two-year lifetime) and would sell for ~3x the cost of a thyratron, or less than $40k. We were successful in building a solid-state switch which could reliably function as a thyratron replacement. The unit was designed to directly replace the thyratrons currently being used at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), and was builtmore » in a tank that was small enough to fit into the existing thyratron cabinet, providing a true form-fit-function replacement path. We tested the switch at the full operating specifications: 48 kV, 6.3 kA, and 1 µs risetime. We also demonstrated a peak-to-peak pulse jitter of 1.5 ns, which is five times shorter than is typical for thyratrons. This lower jitter would improve the performance of the LCLS beam. The predicted reliability is more than 80 years, which is 40 times greater than a thyratron.« less

A new system of computer-assisted navigation leading to reduction in operating time in uncemented total hip replacement in a matched population.

PubMed

Chaudhry, Fouad A; Ismail, Sanaa Z; Davis, Edward T

2018-05-01

Computer-assisted navigation techniques are used to optimise component placement and alignment in total hip replacement. It has developed in the last 10 years but despite its advantages only 0.3% of all total hip replacements in England and Wales are done using computer navigation. One of the reasons for this is that computer-assisted technology increases operative time. A new method of pelvic registration has been developed without the need to register the anterior pelvic plane (BrainLab hip 6.0) which has shown to improve the accuracy of THR. The purpose of this study was to find out if the new method reduces the operating time. This was a retrospective analysis of comparing operating time in computer navigated primary uncemented total hip replacement using two methods of registration. Group 1 included 128 cases that were performed using BrainLab versions 2.1-5.1. This version relied on the acquisition of the anterior pelvic plane for registration. Group 2 included 128 cases that were performed using the newest navigation software, BrainLab hip 6.0 (registration possible with the patient in the lateral decubitus position). The operating time was 65.79 (40-98) minutes using the old method of registration and was 50.87 (33-74) minutes using the new method of registration. This difference was statistically significant. The body mass index (BMI) was comparable in both groups. The study supports the use of new method of registration in improving the operating time in computer navigated primary uncemented total hip replacements.

Proximate biochemical composition and caloric content calculated from elemental CHN analysis: a stoichiometric concept.

PubMed

Gnaiger, E; Bitterlich, G

1984-06-01

Carbohydrate, lipid, and protein compositions are stoichiometrically related to organic CHN (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen) contents. Elemental CHN analyses of total biomass and ash, therefore, provide a basis for the calculation of proximate biochemical composition and bomb caloric value. The classical nitrogen to protein conversion factor (6.25) should be replaced by 5.8±0.13. A linear relation exists between the mass fraction of non-protein carbon and the carbohydrate and lipid content. Residual water in dry organic matter can be estimated with the additional information derived from hydrogen measurements.The stoichiometric CHN method and direct biochemical analysis agreed within 10% of ash-free dry biomass (for muscle, liver and fat tissue of silver carp; gut contents composed of detritus and algae; commercial fish food). The detrital material, however, had to be corrected for non-protein nitrogen.A linear relationship between bomb caloric value and organic carbon fractions was derived on the basis of thermodynamic and stoichiometric principles, in agreement with experimental data published for bacteria, algae, protozoa and invertebrates. The highly automatic stoichiometric CHN method for the separation of nutrient contents in biomass extends existing ecophysiological concepts for the construction of balanced carbon and nitrogen, as well as biochemical and energy budgets.

Attrition Rate of Oxygen Carriers in Chemical Looping Combustion Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feilen, Harry Martin

This project developed an evaluation methodology for determining, accurately and rapidly, the attrition resistance of oxygen carrier materials used in chemical looping technologies. Existing test protocols, to evaluate attrition resistance of granular materials, are conducted under non-reactive and ambient temperature conditions. They do not accurately reflect the actual behavior under the unique process conditions of chemical looping, including high temperatures and cyclic operation between oxidizing and reducing atmospheres. This project developed a test method and equipment that represented a significant improvement over existing protocols. Experimental results obtained from this project have shown that hematite exhibits different modes of attrition, including both due to mechanical stresses and due to structural changes in the particles due to chemical reaction at high temperature. The test methodology has also proven effective in providing reactivity changes of the material with continued use, a property, which in addition to attrition, determines material life. Consumption/replacement cost due to attrition or loss of reactivity is a critical factor in the economic application of the chemical looping technology. This test method will allow rapid evaluation of a wide range of materials that are best suited for this technology. The most important anticipated public benefit of this project is the acceleration of the development of chemical looping technology for lowering greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

Postero-Lateral Disc Prosthesis Combined With a Unilateral Facet Replacement Device Maintains Quantity and Quality of Motion at a Single Lumbar Level

PubMed Central

Nayak, Aniruddh N.; Doarn, Michael C.; Gaskins, Roger B.; James, Chris R.; Cabezas, Andres F.; Castellvi, Antonio E.

2014-01-01

Background Mechanically replacing one or more pain generating articulations in the functional spinal unit (FSU) may be a motion preservation alternative to arthrodesis at the affected level. Baseline biomechanical data elucidating the quantity and quality of motion in such arthroplasty constructs is non-existent. Purpose The purpose of the study was to quantify the motion-preserving effect of a posterior total disc replacement (PDR) combined with a unilateral facet replacement (FR) system at a single lumbar level (L4-L5). We hypothesized that reinforcement of the FSU with unilateral FR to replace the resected, native facet joint following PDR implantation would restore quality and quantity of motion and additionally not change biomechanics at the adjacent levels. Study Design In-vitro study using human cadaveric lumbar spines. Methods Six (n = 6) cadaveric lumbar spines (L1-S1) were evaluated using a pure-moment stability testing protocol (±7.5 Nm) in flexion-extension (F/E), lateral bending (LB) and axial rotation (AR). Each specimen was tested in: (1) intact; (2) unilateral FR; and (3) unilateral FR + PDR conditions. Index and adjacent level ROM (using hybrid protocol) were determined opto-electronically. Interpedicular travel (IPT) and instantaneous center of rotation (ICR) at the index level were radiographically determined for each condition. ROM, ICR, and IPT measurements were compared (repeated measures ANOVA) between the three conditions. Results Compared to the intact spine, no significant changes in F/E, LB or AR ROM were identified as a result of unilateral FR or unilateral FR + PDR. No significant changes in adjacent L3-L4 or L5-S1 ROM were identified in any loading mode. No significant differences in IPT were identified between the three test conditions in F/E, LB or AR at the L4-L5 level. The ICRs qualitatively were similar for the intact and unilateral FR conditions and appeared to follow placement (along the anterior-posterior (AP) direction) of the PDR in the disc space Conclusion Biomechanically, quantity and quality of motion are maintained with combined unilateral FR + PDR at a single lumbar spinal level. PMID:25694929

Improvement in the assessment of wear of total knee replacements using coordinate-measuring machine techniques.

PubMed

Blunt, L A; Bills, P J; Jiang, X-Q; Chakrabarty, G

2008-04-01

Total joint replacement is one of the most common elective surgical procedures performed worldwide, with an estimate of 1.5x 10(6) operations performed annually. Currently joint replacements are expected to function for 10-15 years; however, with an increase in life expectancy, and a greater call for knee replacement due to increased activity levels, there is a requirement to improve their function to offer longer-term improved quality of life for patients. Wear analysis of total joint replacements has long been an important means in determining failure mechanisms and improving longevity of these devices. The effectiveness of the coordinate-measuring machine (CMM) technique for assessing volumetric material loss during simulated life testing of a replacement knee joint has been proved previously by the present authors. The purpose of the current work is to present an improvement to this method for situations where no pre-wear data are available. To validate the method, simulator tests were run and gravimetric measurements taken throughout the test, such that the components measured had a known wear value. The implications of the results are then discussed in terms of assessment of joint functionality and development of standardized CMM-based product standards. The method was then expanded to allow assessment of clinically retrieved bearings so as to ascertain a measure of true clinical wear.

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... applicant's existing facilities; (5) A flow diagram or comparative study showing daily design capacity... designed to meet the goal of limiting the perceived noise at NSAs to an Ldn of 55 dBA or what mitigation...

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... applicant's existing facilities; (5) A flow diagram or comparative study showing daily design capacity... designed to meet the goal of limiting the perceived noise at NSAs to an Ldn of 55 dBA or what mitigation...

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... applicant's existing facilities; (5) A flow diagram or comparative study showing daily design capacity... designed to meet the goal of limiting the perceived noise at NSAs to an Ldn of 55 dBA or what mitigation...

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... applicant's existing facilities; (5) A flow diagram or comparative study showing daily design capacity... designed to meet the goal of limiting the perceived noise at NSAs to an Ldn of 55 dBA or what mitigation...

18 CFR 157.208 - Construction, acquisition, operation, replacement, and miscellaneous rearrangement of facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... applicant's existing facilities; (5) A flow diagram or comparative study showing daily design capacity... designed to meet the goal of limiting the perceived noise at NSAs to an Ldn of 55 dBA or what mitigation...

78 FR 7770 - Boyce Hydro Power, LLC; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-04

.... Description of Application: The licensee proposes to replace one of the project's three existing turbine/generator units with a new unit. The project's maximum hydraulic capacity would remain the same but the new...

Phase II (baseline) report for the Greater Yellowstone Regional Traveler and Weather Information System (GYRTWIS)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-09-11

In an effort to make road and weather information more readily available to travelers and maintenance personnel, Montana is implementing the Greater Yellowstone Regional Traveler and Weather Information System (GYRTWIS). GYRTWIS replaces the existing...

The Status of Long-Term Disability Plans in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Thomas J.

1981-01-01

Long-term disability income coverage is seen as the most rapidly growing staff benefit in recent years. A Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association's survey of existing long-term disability plans, which provide adequate income replacement, is discussed. (MLW)

Androgen replacement for women.

PubMed Central

Basson, R.

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a postmenopausal syndrome comprising specific changes in sexual desire and response associated with low free testosterone exists. To determine whether this syndrome is ameliorated by testosterone replacement. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: Literature documenting that replacement of physiological levels of testosterone is beneficial and safe is scant. Only one randomized prospective blinded study examines sexual outcome in detail. MAIN MESSAGE: Testosterone is an important metabolic and sex hormone produced by the ovary throughout life. The variable reduction in ovarian testosterone production coincident with menopause is sometimes associated with a syndrome of specific changes in sexual desire and sexual response. Estrogen deficiency also impairs sexual response, but its replacement will not improve and might exacerbate sexual symptoms from androgen loss. Diagnosis of androgen deficiency is clinical, based on accurate assessment of a woman's sexual status before and after menopause and only confirmed (rather than diagnosed) by a low level of free testosterone. Partial androgen replacement restores much of the sexual response and facilitates sexual desire that is triggered by external cues. Avoiding supraphysiological levels of testosterone lessens risk of masculinization. Avoiding alkylated testosterone lessens hepatic or lipid impairment. CONCLUSION: Further prospective randomized studies of replacement of physiological levels of testosterone in women with androgen deficiency syndrome are needed, using formulations of testosterone available in Canada. The consistency of sexual changes, the associated personal and relationship distress, together with our clinical experience of the gratifying response to physiological replacement, make further studies urgently needed. PMID:10509222

Precise and in situ genetic humanization of 6 Mb of mouse immunoglobulin genes.

PubMed

Macdonald, Lynn E; Karow, Margaret; Stevens, Sean; Auerbach, Wojtek; Poueymirou, William T; Yasenchak, Jason; Frendewey, David; Valenzuela, David M; Giallourakis, Cosmas C; Alt, Frederick W; Yancopoulos, George D; Murphy, Andrew J

2014-04-08

Genetic humanization, which involves replacing mouse genes with their human counterparts, can create powerful animal models for the study of human genes and diseases. One important example of genetic humanization involves mice humanized for their Ig genes, allowing for human antibody responses within a mouse background (HumAb mice) and also providing a valuable platform for the generation of fully human antibodies as therapeutics. However, existing HumAb mice do not have fully functional immune systems, perhaps because of the manner in which they were genetically humanized. Heretofore, most genetic humanizations have involved disruption of the endogenous mouse gene with simultaneous introduction of a human transgene at a new and random location (so-called KO-plus-transgenic humanization). More recent efforts have attempted to replace mouse genes with their human counterparts at the same genetic location (in situ humanization), but such efforts involved laborious procedures and were limited in size and precision. We describe a general and efficient method for very large, in situ, and precise genetic humanization using large compound bacterial artificial chromosome-based targeting vectors introduced into mouse ES cells. We applied this method to genetically humanize 3-Mb segments of both the mouse heavy and κ light chain Ig loci, by far the largest genetic humanizations ever described. This paper provides a detailed description of our genetic humanization approach, and the companion paper reports that the humoral immune systems of mice bearing these genetically humanized loci function as efficiently as those of WT mice.

Food colors: Existing and emerging food safety concerns.

PubMed

Oplatowska-Stachowiak, Michalina; Elliott, Christopher T

2017-02-11

Food colors are added to different types of commodities to increase their visual attractiveness or to compensate for natural color variations. The use of these additives is strictly regulated in the European Union, the United States, and many other countries worldwide. There is a growing concern about the safety of some commonly used legal food colorants and there is a trend to replace the synthetic forms with natural products. Additionally, a number of dyes with known or suspected genotoxic or carcinogenic properties have been shown to be added illegally to foods. Robust monitoring programs based on reliable detection methods are required to assure the food is free from harmful colors. The aim of this review is to present an up to date status of the various concerns arising from use of color additives in food. The most important food safety concerns in the field of food colors are lack of uniform regulation concerning legal food colors worldwide, possible link of artificial colors to hyperactive behavior, replacement of synthetic colors with natural ones, and the presence of harmful illegal dyes-both known but also new, emerging ones in food. The legal status of food color additives in the EU, United States, and worldwide is summarized. The reported negative health effects of both legal and illegal colors are presented. The European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed notifications and US import alerts concerning food colors are analyzed and trends in fraudulent use of color additives identified. The detection methods for synthetic colors are also reviewed.

Rapid Deployment Aortic Replacement (RADAR) Registry in Spain: a protocol.

PubMed

Bautista-Hernandez, Victor; Cal-Purriños, Natalia; Arribas-Leal, Jose M; Carnero-Alcazar, Manuel; Gutierrez-Diez, Jose F; Cuenca-Castillo, Jose J

2017-01-10

Rapid deployment valves (RDV) represent a newly introduced approach to aortic valve replacement which facilitates surgical implantation and minimally invasive techniques, shortens surgical times and shows excellent haemodynamic performance. However, evidence on their safety, efficacy and potential complications is mostly fitted with small-volume and retrospective studies. Moreover, no current guidelines exist. To improve our knowledge on this technology, The Rapid Deployment Aortic Replacement (RADAR) Registry will be established across Spain with the aim of assessing RDV outcomes in the real-world setting. The RADAR Registry is designed as a product registry that would provide information on its use and outcomes in clinical practice. This multicentre, prospective, national effort will initially involve 4 centres in Spain. Any patient undergoing cardiac surgery for aortic valve replacement and receiving an RDV as an isolated operation or in combination with other cardiac procedures may be included. Participation is voluntary. Data collection is equal to information obtained during standard care and is prospectively entered by the participating physicians perioperatively and during subsequent follow-up visits. The primary outcome assessed is in-hospital and up to 5 years of follow-up, prosthetic valve functioning and clinical status. Secondary outcomes are to perform subgroup analysis, to compare outcomes with other existing approaches and to develop future clinical guidelines. The follow-up assessments are timed with routine clinical appointments. Dissociated data will be extracted and collectively analysed. Initial target sample size for the registry is 500 participants entered with complete follow-up information. Different substudies will be implemented within the registry to investigate specific populations undergoing aortic valve replacement. The protocol is approved by all local institutional ethics committees. Findings will be shared by the participant hospitals, policymakers and the academic community to promote quality monitoring and efficient use of this technology. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Thermal and Optical Properties of Low-E Storm Windows and Panels

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

Culp, Thomas D.; Widder, Sarah H.; Cort, Katherine A.

Installing low-emissivity (low-E) storm windows and panels over existing windows has been identified as a cost-effective new approach for improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings where window replacement is impractical or too expensive. As such, it is desirable to characterize the key energy performance properties of low-E storm windows and panels when installed over different types of existing primary windows. this paper presents the representative U-factors, solar heat gain coefficients (SGHCs) and visible transmittance properties of the combined assemblies of various storm windows and panel types installed over different primary windows.

A solid state video recorder as a direct replacement of a mechanically driven disc recording device in a security system

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

Terry, P.L.

1989-01-01

Whether upgrading or developing a security system, investing in a solid state video recorder may prove to be quite prudent. Even though the initial cost of a solid state recorder may be more expensive, when comparing it to a disc recorder it is practically maintenance free. Thus, the cost effectiveness of a solid state video recorder over an extended period of time more than justifies the initial expense. This document illustrates the use of a solid state video recorder as a direct replacement. It replaces a mechanically driven disc recorder that existed in a synchronized video recording system. The originalmore » system was called the Universal Video Disc Recorder System. The modified system will now be referred to as the Solid State Video Recording System. 5 figs.« less

Physician Reaction to Price Changes: An Episode-of-Care Analysis

PubMed Central

Lee, A. James; Mitchell, Janet B.

1994-01-01

Physicians may respond to fee reductions in a variety of ways. This episode-of-care analysis examines the impact of surgical fee reductions (mandated by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Acts [OBRAs] of 1986-87) on the overall pattern and cost of health care services provided in association with the surgical procedure itself. The study focuses on six procedure groups: cataract extractions; total hip replacement; total knee replacement; coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery; upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy; and prostatectomy. Only two of these procedures give significant evidence for the existence of a service volume offset to the fee reductions. PMID:10172299

Implementing a Reliability Centered Maintenance Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tuttle, Raymond E.; Pete, Robert R.

1998-01-01

Maintenance practices have long focused on time based "preventive maintenance" techniques. Components were changed out and parts replaced based on how long they had been in place instead of what condition they were in. A reliability centered maintenance (RCM) program seeks to offer equal or greater reliability at decreased cost by insuring only applicable, effective maintenance is performed and by in large part replacing time based maintenance with condition based maintenance. A significant portion of this program involved introducing non-intrusive technologies, such as vibration analysis, oil analysis and I/R cameras, to an existing labor force and management team.

Evaluation of DSS-14 pedestal-review of top surface repair procedures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oesterle, R. G.; Musser, D. W.; Salse, E. A. B.

1983-01-01

Proposed repair procedures for the top surface of the pedestal supporting the hydrostatic bearing runner for the 64m Antenna are presented. These procedures included: (1) removal of existing grout and concrete to approximately 8 in. below original concrete surface using a presplitting technique with expansive cement followed by secondary breaking; (2) preparation of exposed concrete surface including an epoxy bonding agent; and (3) replacement of material removed with 8 in. of new concrete surface including an epoxy bonding agent; and (4) replacement of material removed with 8 in. of new concrete and 4 in. of new grout.

Health reform through tax reform: a primer.

PubMed

Furman, Jason

2008-01-01

Tax incentives for employer-sponsored insurance and other medical spending cost about $200 billion annually and have pervasive effects on coverage and costs. This paper surveys a range of proposals to reform health care, either by adding new tax incentives or by limiting or replacing the existing tax incentives. Replacing the current tax preference for insurance with an income-related, refundable tax credit has the potential to expand coverage and reduce inefficient spending at no net federal cost. But such an approach by itself would entail substantial risks, so complementary reforms to the insurance market are essential to ensure success.

Plasma osmolality reference values in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus erithacus), Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis), and red-fronted macaws (Ara rubrogenys).

PubMed

Beaufrère, Hugues; Acierno, Mark; Mitchell, Mark; Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Bryant, Heather; Tully, Thomas N

2011-06-01

Birds are routinely presented to veterinarians for dehydration. Success with these cases ultimately depends on providing replacement fluids and re-establishing fluid homeostasis. Few studies have been done to determine reference ranges for plasma osmolality in birds. The goals of this study were to determine reference values for plasma osmolality in 3 species of parrots and to provide recommendations on fluid selection for replacement therapy in these species. Blood samples were collected from 21 adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis), 21 Congo African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus erithacus), and 9 red-fronted macaws (Ara rubrogenys), and were placed into lithium heparin containers. Plasma osmolality was measured in duplicate with a freezing point depression osmometer. Summary statistics were computed from the average values. Reference ranges, calculated by using the robust method, were 288-324, 308-345, and 223-369 mOsm/kg in African grey parrots, Hispaniolan Amazon parrots, and red-fronted macaws, respectively. The mean +/- SD values were 306 +/- 7, 327 +/- 7, and 304 +/- 18 mOsm/kg in African grey parrots, Hispaniolan Amazon parrots, and red-fronted macaws, respectively. Comparisons with osmolality values in mammals and values previously reported for psittacine bird species suggest that plasma osmolality is slightly higher in parrots than in mammals, species-specific differences exist, and differences between reported values occur. Overall, fluids with an osmolarity close to 300-320 mOsm/L, such as Normosol-R, Plasmalyte-R, Plasmalyte-A, and NaCl 0.9%, can be recommended in parrots for fluid replacement therapy when isotonic fluids are required.

ALTERNATIVES TO HELIUM-3 FOR NEUTRON MULTIPLICITY DETECTORS

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

Ely, James H.; Siciliano, Edward R.; Swinhoe, Martyn T.

Collaboration between the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is underway to evaluate neutron detection technologies that might replace the high-pressure helium (3He) tubes currently used in neutron multiplicity counter for safeguards applications. The current stockpile of 3He is diminishing and alternatives are needed for a variety of neutron detection applications including multiplicity counters. The first phase of this investigation uses a series of Monte Carlo calculations to simulate the performance of an existing neutron multiplicity counter configuration by replacing the 3He tubes in a model for that counter with candidate alternative technologies. Thesemore » alternative technologies are initially placed in approximately the same configuration as the 3He tubes to establish a reference level of performance against the 3He-based system. After these reference-level results are established, the configurations of the alternative models will be further modified for performance optimization. The 3He model for these simulations is the one used by LANL to develop and benchmark the Epithermal Neutron Multiplicity Counter (ENMC) detector, as documented by H.O. Menlove, et al. in the 2004 LANL report LA-14088. The alternative technologies being evaluated are the boron-tri-fluoride-filled proportional tubes, boron-lined tubes, and lithium coated materials previously tested as possible replacements in portal monitor screening applications, as documented by R.T. Kouzes, et al. in the 2010 PNNL report PNNL-72544 and NIM A 623 (2010) 1035–1045. The models and methods used for these comparative calculations will be described and preliminary results shown« less

Arthrodesis of the knee after failed knee replacement.

PubMed

Wade, P J; Denham, R A

1984-05-01

Arthrodesis of the knee is sometimes needed for failed total knee replacement, but fusion can be difficult to obtain. We describe a method of arthrodesis that uses the simple, inexpensive, Portsmouth external fixator. Bony union was obtained in all six patients treated with this technique. These results are compared with those obtained by other methods of arthrodesis.

Agents for replacement of NAD+/NADH system in enzymatic reactions

DOEpatents

Fish, Richard H.; Kerr, John B.; Lo, Christine H.

2004-04-06

Novel agents acting as co-factors for replacement of NAD(P).sup.+ /NAD(P)H co-enzyme systems in enzymatic oxido-reductive reactions. Agents mimicking the action of NAD(P).sup.+ /NAD(P)H system in enzymatic oxidation/reduction of substrates into reduced or oxidized products. A method for selection and preparation of the mimicking agents for replacement of NAD(P).sup.+ /NAD(P)H system and a device comprising co-factors for replacement of NAD(P).sup.+ /NAD(P)H system.

Environmental suitability of recycled concrete aggregate in highways : [research summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-01

Natural highway aggregate is a finite resource that with continued use in construction : activities but some good quality aggregates used in existing concrete structures may be : re-used to replace with the natural aggregate. Due to the repair or rep...

Demonstration of an Innovative Large-Diameter Sewer Rehabilitation Technology in Houston, Texas

EPA Science Inventory

While sewer renewal technologies currently being used for the repair, replacement and/or rehabilitation of deteriorating wastewater collection systems are generally effective, there is still room for improvement of existing technologies and for the development of new technologies...

Research notes : adjustment of driver behavior to an urban multilane roundabout.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-06-01

In June of 2006, the City of Springfield, Oregon began construction of the first multi-lane urban roundabout in Oregon. The five-legged roundabout replaced an existing T intersection that was controlled by a traffic light. A study was conducted...

76 FR 80926 - Dominion Transmission, Inc; Notice of Request Under Blanket Authorization

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-27

... approximately 735 feet of 8-inch diameter TL-369 Ext. 2 receiver pipeline facilities; and (3) construct two new... proposes to: (1) Replace approximately 14.98 miles of it's existing multi-diameter (12, 14, and 16-inch) TL...

Preliminary analysis of LED enhanced signs at a passive rural level crossing

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-03-23

The purpose of this research was to measure motor vehicle speed profiles at a rural level crossing following the replacement of the existing Crossbuck signs and Advance Warning signs (AWSs) with flashing light-emitting diode (LED) versions. Measureme...

30 CFR 285.532 - What happens if my surety wants to terminate the period of liability of my bond?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... provide a replacement bond or alternative form of financial assurance of equivalent or greater value. The... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY ALTERNATE USES OF EXISTING FACILITIES ON THE...

Demonstration of an Innovative Large-Diameter Sewer Rehabilitation Technology in Houston, Texas - slides

EPA Science Inventory

While sewer renewal technologies currently being used for the repair, replacement and/or rehabilitation of deteriorating wastewater collection systems are generally effective, there is still room for improvement of existing technologies and for the development of new technologies...

Steel pin and hanger assembly replacement options : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-01-01

A number of steel beam bridges exist in the United States that contain pin and hanger assemblies. Pin and hanger assemblies are fracture critical members whose failure would result in collapse of the bridge or render it unable to perform its expected...

THE COATINGS GUIDE: AN INTEGRATED TOOL FOR COATINGS DECISIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The Coatings Guide, formerly known as the Coatings Alternative Guide (CAGE), is a free Internet pollution prevention tool designed to help small-business coaters of metal and plastic substrates identify alternatives as potential drop-in replacements for existing operations. As sh...

Advances in Molecular Serotyping and Subtyping of Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Fratamico, Pina M; DebRoy, Chitrita; Liu, Yanhong; Needleman, David S; Baranzoni, Gian Marco; Feng, Peter

2016-01-01

Escherichia coli plays an important role as a member of the gut microbiota; however, pathogenic strains also exist, including various diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes and extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli that cause illness outside of the GI-tract. E. coli have traditionally been serotyped using antisera against the ca. 186 O-antigens and 53 H-flagellar antigens. Phenotypic methods, including bacteriophage typing and O- and H- serotyping for differentiating and characterizing E. coli have been used for many years; however, these methods are generally time consuming and not always accurate. Advances in next generation sequencing technologies have made it possible to develop genetic-based subtyping and molecular serotyping methods for E. coli, which are more discriminatory compared to phenotypic typing methods. Furthermore, whole genome sequencing (WGS) of E. coli is replacing established subtyping methods such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, providing a major advancement in the ability to investigate food-borne disease outbreaks and for trace-back to sources. A variety of sequence analysis tools and bioinformatic pipelines are being developed to analyze the vast amount of data generated by WGS and to obtain specific information such as O- and H-group determination and the presence of virulence genes and other genetic markers.

An Automated System for Skeletal Maturity Assessment by Extreme Learning Machines

PubMed Central

Mansourvar, Marjan; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin; Raj, Ram Gopal; Gunalan, Roshan; Mazinani, Iman

2015-01-01

Assessing skeletal age is a subjective and tedious examination process. Hence, automated assessment methods have been developed to replace manual evaluation in medical applications. In this study, a new fully automated method based on content-based image retrieval and using extreme learning machines (ELM) is designed and adapted to assess skeletal maturity. The main novelty of this approach is it overcomes the segmentation problem as suffered by existing systems. The estimation results of ELM models are compared with those of genetic programming (GP) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) models. The experimental results signify improvement in assessment accuracy over GP and ANN, while generalization capability is possible with the ELM approach. Moreover, the results are indicated that the ELM model developed can be used confidently in further work on formulating novel models of skeletal age assessment strategies. According to the experimental results, the new presented method has the capacity to learn many hundreds of times faster than traditional learning methods and it has sufficient overall performance in many aspects. It has conclusively been found that applying ELM is particularly promising as an alternative method for evaluating skeletal age. PMID:26402795

Use of the ‘Accountability for Reasonableness’ Approach to Improve Fairness in Accessing Dialysis in a Middle-Income Country

PubMed Central

Maree, Jonathan David; Chirehwa, Maxwell T.; Benatar, Solomon R.

2016-01-01

Universal access to renal replacement therapy is beyond the economic capability of most low and middle-income countries due to large patient numbers and the high recurrent cost of treating end stage kidney disease. In countries where limited access is available, no systems exist that allow for optimal use of the scarce dialysis facilities. We previously reported that using national guidelines to select patients for renal replacement therapy resulted in biased allocation. We reengineered selection guidelines using the ‘Accountability for Reasonableness’ (procedural fairness) framework in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, applying these in a novel way to categorize and prioritize patients in a unique hierarchical fashion. The guidelines were primarily premised on patients being transplantable. We examined whether the revised guidelines enhanced fairness of dialysis resource allocation. This is a descriptive study of 1101 end stage kidney failure patients presenting to a tertiary renal unit in a middle-income country, evaluated for dialysis treatment over a seven-year period. The Assessment Committee used the accountability for reasonableness-based guidelines to allocate patients to one of three assessment groups. Category 1 patients were guaranteed renal replacement therapy, Category 3 patients were palliated, and Category 2 were offered treatment if resources allowed. Only 25.2% of all end stage kidney disease patients assessed were accepted for renal replacement treatment. The majority of patients (48%) were allocated to Category 2. Of 134 Category 1 patients, 98% were accepted for treatment while 438 (99.5%) Category 3 patients were excluded. Compared with those palliated, patients accepted for dialysis treatment were almost 10 years younger, employed, married with children and not diabetic. Compared with our previous selection process our current method of priority setting based on procedural fairness arguably resulted in more equitable allocation of treatment but, more importantly, it is a model that is morally, legally and ethically more defensible. PMID:27701466

Can a single isotropic 3D fast spin echo sequence replace three-plane standard proton density fat-saturated knee MRI at 1.5 T?

PubMed Central

Robinson, P; Hodgson, R; Grainger, A J

2015-01-01

Objective: To assess whether a single isotropic three-dimensional (3D) fast spin echo (FSE) proton density fat-saturated (PD FS) sequence reconstructed in three planes could replace the three PD (FS) sequences in our standard protocol at 1.5 T (Siemens Avanto, Erlangen, Germany). Methods: A 3D FSE PD water excitation sequence was included in the protocol for 95 consecutive patients referred for routine knee MRI. This was used to produce offline reconstructions in axial, sagittal and coronal planes. Two radiologists independently assessed each case twice, once using the standard MRI protocol and once replacing the standard PD (FS) sequences with reconstructions from the 3D data set. Following scoring, the observer reviewed the 3D data set and performed multiplanar reformats to see if this altered confidence. The menisci, ligaments and cartilage were assessed, and statistical analysis was performed using the standard sequence as the reference standard. Results: The reporting accuracy was as follows: medial meniscus (MM) = 90.9%, lateral meniscus (LM) = 93.7%, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) = 98.9% and cartilage surfaces = 85.8%. Agreement among the readers was for the standard protocol: MM kappa = 0.91, LM = 0.89, ACL = 0.98 and cartilage = 0.84; and for the 3D protocol: MM = 0.86, LM = 0.77, ACL = 0.94 and cartilage = 0.64. Conclusion: A 3D PD FSE sequence reconstructed in three planes gives reduced accuracy and decreased concordance among readers compared with conventional sequences when evaluating the menisci and cartilage with a 1.5-T MRI scanner. Advances in knowledge: Using the existing 1.5-T MR systems, a 3D FSE sequence should not replace two-dimensional sequences. PMID:26067920

The Effect on Long-Term Survivorship of Surgeon Preference for Posterior-Stabilized or Minimally Stabilized Total Knee Replacement: An Analysis of 63,416 Prostheses from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry.

PubMed

Vertullo, Christopher J; Lewis, Peter L; Lorimer, Michelle; Graves, Stephen E

2017-07-05

Controversy still exists as to the optimum management of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in total knee arthroplasty. Surgeons can choose to kinematically substitute the PCL with a posterior-stabilized total knee replacement or alternatively to utilize a cruciate-retaining, also known as minimally stabilized, total knee replacement. Proponents of posterior-stabilized total knee replacement propose that the reported lower survivorship in registries when directly compared with minimally stabilized total knee replacement is due to confounders such as selection bias because of the preferential usage of posterior-stabilized total knee replacement in more complex or severe cases. In this study, we aimed to eliminate these possible confounders by performing an instrumental variable analysis based on surgeon preference to choose either posterior-stabilized or minimally stabilized total knee replacement, rather than the actual prosthesis received. Cumulative percent revision, hazard ratio (HR), and revision diagnosis data were obtained from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry from September 1, 1999, to December 31, 2014, for 2 cohorts of patients, those treated by high-volume surgeons who preferred minimally stabilized replacements and those treated by high-volume surgeons who preferred posterior-stabilized replacements. All patients had a diagnosis of osteoarthritis and underwent fixed-bearing total knee replacement with patellar resurfacing. At 13 years, the cumulative percent revision was 5.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0% to 6.2%) for the surgeons who preferred the minimally stabilized replacements compared with 6.0% (95% CI, 4.2% to 8.5%) for the surgeons who preferred the posterior-stabilized replacements. The revision risk for the surgeons who preferred posterior-stabilized replacements was significantly higher for all causes (HR = 1.45 [95% CI, 1.30 to 1.63]; p < 0.001), for loosening or lysis (HR = 1.93 [95% CI, 1.58 to 2.37]; p < 0.001), and for infection (HR = 1.51 [95% CI, 1.25 to 1.82]; p < 0.001). This finding was irrespective of patient age and was evident with cemented fixation and with both cross-linked polyethylene and non-cross-linked polyethylene. However, the higher revision risk was only evident in male patients. There was a 45% higher risk of revision for the patients of surgeons who preferred a posterior-stabilized total knee replacement compared with the patients of surgeons who preferred a minimally stabilized total knee replacement. Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

3D echocardiographic analysis of aortic annulus for transcatheter aortic valve replacement using novel aortic valve quantification software: Comparison with computed tomography.

PubMed

Mediratta, Anuj; Addetia, Karima; Medvedofsky, Diego; Schneider, Robert J; Kruse, Eric; Shah, Atman P; Nathan, Sandeep; Paul, Jonathan D; Blair, John E; Ota, Takeyoshi; Balkhy, Husam H; Patel, Amit R; Mor-Avi, Victor; Lang, Roberto M

2017-05-01

With the increasing use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS), computed tomography (CT) remains the standard for annulus sizing. However, 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been an alternative in patients with contraindications to CT. We sought to (1) test the feasibility, accuracy, and reproducibility of prototype 3DTEE analysis software (Philips) for aortic annular measurements and (2) compare the new approach to the existing echocardiographic techniques. We prospectively studied 52 patients who underwent gated contrast CT, procedural 3DTEE, and TAVR. 3DTEE images were analyzed using novel semi-automated software designed for 3D measurements of the aortic root, which uses multiplanar reconstruction, similar to CT analysis. Aortic annulus measurements included area, perimeter, and diameter calculations from these measurements. The results were compared to CT-derived values. Additionally, 3D echocardiographic measurements (3D planimetry and mitral valve analysis software adapted for the aortic valve) were also compared to the CT reference values. 3DTEE image quality was sufficient in 90% of patients for aortic annulus measurements using the new software, which were in good agreement with CT (r-values: .89-.91) and small (<4%) inter-modality nonsignificant biases. Repeated measurements showed <10% measurements variability. The new 3D analysis was the more accurate and reproducible of the existing echocardiographic techniques. Novel semi-automated 3DTEE analysis software can accurately measure aortic annulus in patients with severe AS undergoing TAVR, in better agreement with CT than the existing methodology. Accordingly, intra-procedural TEE could potentially replace CT in patients where CT carries significant risk. © 2017, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Slab replacement maturity guidelines.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-04-01

This study investigated the use of maturity method to determine early age strength of concrete in slab : replacement application. Specific objectives were (1) to evaluate effects of various factors on the compressive : maturity-strength relationship ...

A review of the current state-of-the-art methodology for handling bias and uncertainty in performing criticality safety evaluations. Final report

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

Disney, R.K.

1994-10-01

The methodology for handling bias and uncertainty when calculational methods are used in criticality safety evaluations (CSE`s) is a rapidly evolving technology. The changes in the methodology are driven by a number of factors. One factor responsible for changes in the methodology for handling bias and uncertainty in CSE`s within the overview of the US Department of Energy (DOE) is a shift in the overview function from a ``site`` perception to a more uniform or ``national`` perception. Other causes for change or improvement in the methodology for handling calculational bias and uncertainty are; (1) an increased demand for benchmark criticalsmore » data to expand the area (range) of applicability of existing data, (2) a demand for new data to supplement existing benchmark criticals data, (3) the increased reliance on (or need for) computational benchmarks which supplement (or replace) experimental measurements in critical assemblies, and (4) an increased demand for benchmark data applicable to the expanded range of conditions and configurations encountered in DOE site restoration and remediation.« less

Replacement Condition Detection of Railway Point Machines Using an Electric Current Sensor

PubMed Central

Sa, Jaewon; Choi, Younchang; Chung, Yongwha; Kim, Hee-Young; Park, Daihee; Yoon, Sukhan

2017-01-01

Detecting replacement conditions of railway point machines is important to simultaneously satisfy the budget-limit and train-safety requirements. In this study, we consider classification of the subtle differences in the aging effect—using electric current shape analysis—for the purpose of replacement condition detection of railway point machines. After analyzing the shapes of after-replacement data and then labeling the shapes of each before-replacement data, we can derive the criteria that can handle the subtle differences between “does-not-need-to-be-replaced” and “needs-to-be-replaced” shapes. On the basis of the experimental results with in-field replacement data, we confirmed that the proposed method could detect the replacement conditions with acceptable accuracy, as well as provide visual interpretability of the criteria used for the time-series classification. PMID:28146057

[Knee arthrodesis performed with intramedullary nailing technique in failed total knee replacement--a preliminary report].

PubMed

Gaździk, Tadeusz Szymon; Kotas-Strzoda, Justyna; Bozek, Marek

2004-01-01

Knee arthrodesis is the method of choice in treatment of failed total knee replacement. It is recommended when revisory total knee replacement is impossible. The authors present 2 cases of knee fusions using intramedullary nails after prosthesis loosening (1 aseptic, 1 septic). In both cases good results were achieved, with no complications observed during convalescence.

The time-adjusted gradual replacement injection method enables better visualization of the right heart.

PubMed

Nakahara, Takehiro; Jinzaki, Masahiro; Niwamae, Nogiku; Saito, Yuuichirou; Arai, Masashi; Tsushima, Yoshito; Kuribayashi, Sachio; Kurabayashi, Masahiko

2014-01-01

Despite the improvement of cardiac CT, right heart visualization remains challenging. We herein describe a new method, called the time-adjusted gradual replacement injection protocol. The aim of this study was to compare this protocol with the split-bolus injection protocol. Fifty-two patients who had undergone dual-source cardiac CT were retrospectively recruited. Twenty-six patients were injected by using the split-bolus injection protocol, and 26 patients were injected by using the time-adjusted gradual replacement injection protocol. For this method, we injected contrast medium for 10 seconds at a flow rate of 0.07 × body weight mL/s, then gradually replaced the contrast material with saline until 2 seconds before finishing the scans. The CT attenuation was measured in 4 chambers, the aorta, and the coronary arteries. The visualization of the anatomic structures and the occurrence and severity of streak artifacts were scored for the cardiac structures in the heart. For the analyses, either Welch t-test or Student t-test was performed. In the right heart, the CT values and visualization scores were significantly higher in the time-adjusted replacement injection group than in the split-bolus injection group, whereas the artifact scores were comparable between the 2 groups. The CT values, visualization scores, and artifact scores of the left heart were not significantly different between the 2 groups. In this study, the time-adjusted gradual replacement injection protocol provided excellent attenuation for visualization of the right heart. This method may help to accurately evaluate the right cardiac anatomy and thereby identify any potential diseases. Copyright © 2014 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Complications from prophylactic replacement of cardiac implantable electronic device generators in response to United States Food and Drug Administration recall: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Zeitler, Emily P; Patel, Divyang; Hasselblad, Vic; Sanders, Gillian D; Al-Khatib, Sana M

2015-07-01

The number of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) recalls and advisories has increased over the past 3 decades, yet no consensus exists on how to best manage patients with these CIEDs, partially because rates of complications from prophylactic replacement are unknown. The purpose of this study was to establish rates of complications when recalled CIED generators are replaced prophylactically. We searched MEDLINE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register for reports of prophylactic replacement of recalled CIED generators. Studies with <20 subjects were excluded. We then conducted a meta-analysis of qualifying studies to determine the rates of combined major complications, mortality, and reoperation. We identified 7 citations that met our inclusion criteria and reported ≥1 end-points of interest. Four were single center, and 3 were multicenter. Six studies collected data retrospectively (n = 1213) and 1 prospectively (n = 222). Using a random effects model to combine data from all included studies, the rate of major complications was 2.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0%-4.5%). Combining data from 6 studies reporting mortality and reoperation, the rates were 0.5% (95% CI 0.1%-0.9%) and 2.5% (95% CI 0.8%-4.5%), respectively. Prophylactic replacement of recalled CIED generators is associated with a low mortality rate but nontrivial rates of other major complications similar to those reported when CIED generators are replaced for other reasons. Thus, when considering replacing a recalled CIED generator, known risks of elective generator replacement likely apply and can be weighed against risks associated with device failure. Copyright © 2015 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structure, attachment, replacement and growth of teeth in bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1776), a teleost with deeply socketed teeth.

PubMed

Bemis, William E; Giuliano, Anne; McGuire, Betty

2005-01-01

Tooth replacement poses many questions about development, pattern formation, tooth attachment mechanisms, functional morphology and the evolution of vertebrate dentitions. Although most vertebrate species have polyphyodont dentitions, detailed knowledge of tooth structure and replacement is poor for most groups, particularly actinopterygians. We examined the oral dentition of the bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, a pelagic and coastal marine predator, using a sample of 50 individuals. The oral teeth are located on the dentary and premaxillary bones, and we scored each tooth locus in the dentary and premaxillary bones using a four-part functional classification: absent (A), incoming (I), functional (F=fully ankylosed) or eroding (E). The homodont oral teeth of Pomatomus are sharp, deeply socketed and firmly ankylosed to the bone of attachment. Replacement is intraosseus and occurs in alternate tooth loci with long waves of replacement passing from rear to front. The much higher percentage of functional as opposed to eroding teeth suggests that replacement rates are low but that individual teeth are quickly lost once erosion begins. Tooth number increases ontogenetically, ranging from 15-31 dentary teeth and 15-39 premaxillary teeth in the sample studied. Teeth increase in size with every replacement cycle. Remodeling of the attachment bone occurs continuously to accommodate growth. New tooth germs originate from a discontinuous dental lamina and migrate from the lingual (dentary) or labial (premaxillary) epithelium through pores in the bone of attachment into the resorption spaces beneath the existing teeth. Pomatomus shares unique aspects of tooth replacement with barracudas and other scombroids and this supports the interpretation that Pomatomus is more closely related to scombroids than to carangoids.

The value of genetic information in selecting dairy replacements.

PubMed

Radke, Brian R; Lloyd, James W; Black, J Roy; Harsh, Stephen

2005-09-30

The objective of this study was to empirically determine the economic value of genetic information in the selection of dairy replacements, and assess whether this value was sufficient to prompt producers to select replacements on this basis. The data set consisted of 1982 Michigan Holstein replacements in 115 herds. Each herd had a minimum of 10 replacements that were born in the last 6 months of 1992 and calved within the last 6 months of 1994. The data for each replacement included the estimated breeding value (EBV) for milk at the beginning and end of the rearing period, and the estimated lifetime profit corrected for the opportunity cost of postponed replacement (ELPCOC). The replacement selection decision for a profit-maximizing dairy producer selecting 70 or 80% of the replacements was modeled. We modeled three methods of selection: genetic, random and ex poste. Genetic selection was evaluated using the EBV milk available at the beginning or end of the rearing period. For each herd, the profit associated with each of the three methods of selection was simulated. The value of the genetic information and perfect information were the differences in herd profits of genetic selection and ex poste selection relative to random selection, respectively. The difference in value of the genetic information between the end of the rearing period and the beginning of the rearing period was the increase in value of the genetic information due to updating. The value of information was calculated as the average herd profit per replacement. The value of the genetic information ranged from 22 dollars/replacement to 30 dollars/replacement and was statistically greater than zero at a 95% confidence level. It is unclear whether this value is sufficient to prompt producers to select replacements on the basis of EBV milk as has been recommended. The negative value of EBV milk (from the end of the rearing period when selecting 80% of the replacements) for 32 herds was consistent with the noisiness of the genetic estimates as messages of ELPCOC. The increased value of the genetic information due to updating was approximately 5 dollars/replacement. This increased value is likely insufficient to warrant delaying replacement selection decisions solely to obtain the updated information. The value of EBV milk was approximately 4 dollars/replacement higher when selecting 70% of the replacements versus 80%. The genetic information captured between 15% (selecting 70% at the beginning of the rearing period) and 20% (selecting 80% at the end of the rearing period) of the value of perfect information.

Fabrication of VB2/Air Cells for Electrochemical Testing

PubMed Central

Stuart, Jessica; Lopez, Ruben; Lau, Jason; Li, Xuguang; Waje, Mahesh; Mullings, Matthew; Rhodes, Christopher; Licht, Stuart

2013-01-01

A technique to investigate the properties and performance of new multi-electron metal/air battery systems is proposed and presented. A method for synthesizing nanoscopic VB2 is presented as well as step-by-step procedure for applying a zirconium oxide coating to the VB2 particles for stabilization upon discharge. The process for disassembling existing zinc/air cells is shown, in addition construction of the new working electrode to replace the conventional zinc/air cell anode with a the nanoscopic VB2 anode. Finally, discharge of the completed VB2/air battery is reported. We show that using the zinc/air cell as a test bed is useful to provide a consistent configuration to study the performance of the high-energy high capacity nanoscopic VB2 anode. PMID:23962835

Measure Guideline. Steam System Balancing and Tuning for Multifamily Residential Buildings

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

Choi, Jayne; Ludwig, Peter; Brand, Larry

2013-04-01

This guideline provides building owners, professionals involved in multifamily audits, and contractors insights for improving the balance and tuning of steam systems. It provides readers an overview of one-pipe steam heating systems, guidelines for evaluating steam systems, typical costs and savings, and guidelines for ensuring quality installations. It also directs readers to additional resources for details not included here. Measures for balancing a distribution system that are covered include replacing main line vents and upgrading radiator vents. Also included is a discussion on upgrading boiler controls and the importance of tuning the settings on new or existing boiler controls. Themore » guideline focuses on one-pipe steam systems, though many of the assessment methods can be generalized to two-pipe steam systems.« less

Structural stability, vibrational, and bonding properties of potassium 1, 1′-dinitroamino-5, 5′-bistetrazolate: An emerging green primary explosive

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

Yedukondalu, N.; Vaitheeswaran, G., E-mail: gvsp@uohyd.ernet.in

2015-08-14

Potassium 1,1′-dinitroamino-5,5′-bistetrazolate (K{sub 2}DNABT) is a nitrogen rich (50.3% by weight, K{sub 2}C{sub 2}N{sub 12}O{sub 4}) green primary explosive with high performance characteristics, namely, velocity of detonation (D = 8.33 km/s), detonation pressure (P = 31.7 GPa), and fast initiating power to replace existing toxic primaries. In the present work, we report density functional theory (DFT) calculations on structural, equation of state, vibrational spectra, electronic structure, and absorption spectra of K{sub 2}DNABT. We have discussed the influence of weak dispersive interactions on structural and vibrational properties through the DFT-D2 method. We find anisotropic compressibility behavior (b

Numerical study of the Kitaev-Heisenberg chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrapidis, Cliò Efthimia; van den Brink, Jeroen; Nishimoto, Satoshi

2018-05-01

We study the one-dimensional Kitaev-Heisenberg model as a possible realization of magnetic degrees of freedom of the K-intercalated honeycomb-lattice ruthenium trichloride α-RuCl3, denoted as K0.5RuClm. First, we discuss the possible charge ordering pattern in K0.5RuClm, where half of the j =1/2 spins are replaced by nonmagnetic ions in the honeycomb layer. Next, we investigate the low-energy excitations of the 1D Kitaev-Heisenberg model by calculating the dynamical spin structure factor using the Lanczos exact-diagonalization method. In the vicinity of Kitaev limit, there exist two well-separated dispersions. The bandwidth of each dispersion depends on the Heisenberg and Kitaev terms. This result may be relevant to the low-lying magnetic excitations of K0.5RuClm.

78 FR 37696 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Updated Postretirement Benefit (PRB) References

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-21

... that were deleted in the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB's) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The references no longer exist in the..., 2012, to replace the obsolete references to paragraphs 110, 112, and 113 of Financial Accounting...

Situation awareness in airway facilities : replacement of maintenance control centers with operations control centers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

This document contains an updated and expanded version of the Automation chapter of the Human Factors Design Guide. A research team of human factors experts evaluated the existing guidelines for relevance, clarity, and usability. The research team dr...

Home Sewage Disposal. Special Circular 212.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wooding, N. Henry

This circular provides current information for homeowners who must repair or replace existing on-lot sewage disposal systems. Site requirements, characteristics and preparation are outlined for a variety of alternatives such as elevated sand mounds, sand-lined beds and trenches, and oversized absorption area. Diagrams indicating construction…

78 FR 32579 - Airworthiness Directives; Bombardier, Inc. Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-31

... elevator control system. Investigation revealed that, the increase in the elevator breakout force induced by the introduction of a new elevator centering mechanism, in combination with the existing [[Page... behaviors of the elevator control system. This proposed AD would require repetitive replacement of the...

40 CFR 63.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES National Emission Standards for Coke... implement the provisions of this subpart or its designated agent). Brownfield coke oven battery means a new coke oven battery that replaces an existing coke oven battery or batteries with no increase in the...

40 CFR 63.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES National Emission Standards for Coke... implement the provisions of this subpart or its designated agent). Brownfield coke oven battery means a new coke oven battery that replaces an existing coke oven battery or batteries with no increase in the...

40 CFR 63.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES National Emission Standards for Coke... implement the provisions of this subpart or its designated agent). Brownfield coke oven battery means a new coke oven battery that replaces an existing coke oven battery or batteries with no increase in the...

40 CFR 63.301 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES National Emission Standards for Coke... implement the provisions of this subpart or its designated agent). Brownfield coke oven battery means a new coke oven battery that replaces an existing coke oven battery or batteries with no increase in the...

Decision Support for Renewal of Wastewater Collections and Water Distribution Systems

EPA Science Inventory

The decision of how to accomplish the renewal of existing wastewater collection and water distribution systems involves the evaluation of many criteria and parameters. These criteria must be evaluated thoroughly to determine the best way of rehabilitating or replacing these sys...

Type III Polyketide Synthases: Discovery, Characterization, and Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitel, Sheryl Beth Rubin

2009-01-01

The polyketides are a diverse group of natural products with important applications in medicine and industry. Industry, especially the pharmaceutical industry, is under pressure to deliver "greener" chemical syntheses that are less environmentally damaging and incorporate renewable resources. There exists potential to replace current…

77 FR 39188 - Airworthiness Directives; the Boeing Company Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-02

... existing AD currently requires repetitive inspections to detect discrepancies of the wiring and surrounding... new sleeves, for certain airplanes; and repair or replacement of the wiring and sleeves with new parts... currently requires repetitive inspections to detect discrepancies of the wiring and surrounding Teflon...

Performance Evaluation of Innovative Water Main Rehabilitation Spray-on Lining Product in Somerville, NJ

EPA Science Inventory

Renewal technologies being used for the repair, replacement and/or rehabilitation of deteriorating water distribution systems are generally effective, but there is still considerable room for improvement of these existing technologies and for the development of new technologies. ...

DECISION SUPPORT FOR RENEWAL OF WASTEWATER COLLECTIONS AND WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

The decision of how to accomplish the renewal of existing wastewater collection and water distribution systems involves the evaluation of many criteria and parameters. These criteria must be evaluated thoroughly to determine the best way of rehabilitating or replacing these syste...

Cost-effective particulate control options at Potomac Electric Power Company's Dickerson Station: An integrated approach to current and future particulate limits

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

Christoffersen, S.W.; Rouse, G.T.; Krasnopoler, M.J.

1998-07-01

The Dickerson Generating Station evaluated several particulate control options to identify the most cost-effective option. The study's goals were to: eliminate the particulate scrubber and its high maintenance costs, and incorporate flexibility for low-sulfur coal and possible stricter emission limits. Each of the three Dickerson 190 MW units has a small 37-year-old electrostatic precipitator and a wet particulate scrubber. The study evaluated alternatives to replace the scrubber and enhance ESP performance: Existing ESP alternatives--Extend height of existing ESP; Flue gas conditioning. Scrubber stream alternatives--Partial-flow ESP or pulse jet baghouse. Full-flow alternatives--Supplemental ESP; COHPAC baghouse; replacement ESP or baghouse. A technicalmore » and economic prescreening eliminated some of the options. Capital, operating, and life cycle costs were estimated for the remaining options to determine the most cost-effective alternative. This paper will present the technical and economic evaluations done for this study, including performance and costs.« less

Esophageal tissue engineering: Current status and perspectives.

PubMed

Poghosyan, T; Catry, J; Luong-Nguyen, M; Bruneval, P; Domet, T; Arakelian, L; Sfeir, R; Michaud, L; Vanneaux, V; Gottrand, F; Larghero, J; Cattan, P

2016-02-01

Tissue engineering, which consists of the combination and in vivo implantation of elements required for tissue remodeling toward a specific organ phenotype, could be an alternative for classical techniques of esophageal replacement. The current hybrid approach entails creation of an esophageal substitute composed of an acellular matrix and autologous epithelial and muscle cells provides the most successful results. Current research is based on the use of mesenchymal stem cells, whose potential for differentiation and proangioogenic, immune-modulator and anti-inflammatory properties are important assets. In the near future, esophageal substitutes could be constructed from acellular "intelligent matrices" that contain the molecules necessary for tissue regeneration; this should allow circumvention of the implantation step and still obtain standardized in vivo biological responses. At present, tissue engineering applications to esophageal replacement are limited to enlargement plasties with absorbable, non-cellular matrices. Nevertheless, the application of existing clinical techniques for replacement of other organs by tissue engineering in combination with a multiplication of translational research protocols for esophageal replacement in large animals should soon pave the way for health agencies to authorize clinical trials. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A fragmentation and reassembly method for ab initio phasing.

PubMed

Shrestha, Rojan; Zhang, Kam Y J

2015-02-01

Ab initio phasing with de novo models has become a viable approach for structural solution from protein crystallographic diffraction data. This approach takes advantage of the known protein sequence information, predicts de novo models and uses them for structure determination by molecular replacement. However, even the current state-of-the-art de novo modelling method has a limit as to the accuracy of the model predicted, which is sometimes insufficient to be used as a template for successful molecular replacement. A fragment-assembly phasing method has been developed that starts from an ensemble of low-accuracy de novo models, disassembles them into fragments, places them independently in the crystallographic unit cell by molecular replacement and then reassembles them into a whole structure that can provide sufficient phase information to enable complete structure determination by automated model building. Tests on ten protein targets showed that the method could solve structures for eight of these targets, although the predicted de novo models cannot be used as templates for successful molecular replacement since the best model for each target is on average more than 4.0 Å away from the native structure. The method has extended the applicability of the ab initio phasing by de novo models approach. The method can be used to solve structures when the best de novo models are still of low accuracy.

Improved memory loading techniques for the TSRV display system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Easley, W. C.; Lynn, W. A.; Mcluer, D. G.

1986-01-01

A recent upgrade of the TSRV research flight system at NASA Langley Research Center retained the original monochrome display system. However, the display memory loading equipment was replaced requiring design and development of new methods of performing this task. This paper describes the new techniques developed to load memory in the display system. An outdated paper tape method for loading the BOOTSTRAP control program was replaced by EPROM storage of the characters contained on the tape. Rather than move a tape past an optical reader, a counter was implemented which steps sequentially through EPROM addresses and presents the same data to the loader circuitry. A cumbersome cassette tape method for loading the applications software was replaced with a floppy disk method using a microprocessor terminal installed as part of the upgrade. The cassette memory image was transferred to disk and a specific software loader was written for the terminal which duplicates the function of the cassette loader.

Intranets: virtual procedure manuals for the pathology lab.

PubMed

Ruby, S G; Krempel, G

1998-08-01

A novel system exists for replacing standard written operation manuals using a computerized PC-based peer-to-peer network. The system design is based on commonly available hardware and software and utilizes existing equipment to minimize implementation expense. The system is relatively easy to implement and maintain, involves minimal training, and should quickly become a financial asset. In addition, such a system can improve access to laboratory procedure manuals so that resources can be better used on a daily basis.

Polyhedral sweeping processes with unbounded nonconvex-valued perturbation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tolstonogov, A. A.

2017-12-01

A polyhedral sweeping process with a multivalued perturbation whose values are nonconvex unbounded sets is studied in a separable Hilbert space. Polyhedral sweeping processes do not satisfy the traditional assumptions used to prove existence theorems for convex sweeping processes. We consider the polyhedral sweeping process as an evolution inclusion with subdifferential operators depending on time. The widely used assumption of Lipschitz continuity for the multivalued perturbation term is replaced by a weaker notion of (ρ - H) Lipschitzness. The existence of solutions is proved for this sweeping process.

Changing Images of the Inclined Plane: A Case Study of a Revolution in American Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Steven C.

2012-02-01

Between 1880 and 1920 the way science was taught in American High Schools changed dramatically. The old "lecture/demonstration" method, where information was presented to essentially passive students, was replaced by the "laboratory" method, where students performed their own experiments in specially constructed student laboratories. National leadership in education was generally weak during this period, and the new method required significant investments by the schools, but within a few decades American science education was rapidly and completely transformed. Previous studies of this fundamental change have concentrated on the activities of organizations like the NEA, the Bureau of Education and a few major universities, but the way in which these groups were able to effect actual changes in classroom practice is not completely clear. This article attempts to broaden the existing narrative by integrating the rich and largely ignored material culture of science education—such things as textbooks, lab manuals, student notebooks, science teaching instruments and scientific instrument catalogs. Surprisingly, much of this story can be seen in changes to the depiction of a single, venerable and otherwise unremarkable teaching instrument: the inclined plane.

Sufficient Dimension Reduction for Longitudinally Measured Predictors

PubMed Central

Pfeiffer, Ruth M.; Forzani, Liliana; Bura, Efstathia

2013-01-01

We propose a method to combine several predictors (markers) that are measured repeatedly over time into a composite marker score without assuming a model and only requiring a mild condition on the predictor distribution. Assuming that the first and second moments of the predictors can be decomposed into a time and a marker component via a Kronecker product structure, that accommodates the longitudinal nature of the predictors, we develop first moment sufficient dimension reduction techniques to replace the original markers with linear transformations that contain sufficient information for the regression of the predictors on the outcome. These linear combinations can then be combined into a score that has better predictive performance than the score built under a general model that ignores the longitudinal structure of the data. Our methods can be applied to either continuous or categorical outcome measures. In simulations we focus on binary outcomes and show that our method outperforms existing alternatives using the AUC, the area under the receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve, as a summary measure of the discriminatory ability of a single continuous diagnostic marker for binary disease outcomes. PMID:22161635

RankProd 2.0: a refactored bioconductor package for detecting differentially expressed features in molecular profiling datasets.

PubMed

Del Carratore, Francesco; Jankevics, Andris; Eisinga, Rob; Heskes, Tom; Hong, Fangxin; Breitling, Rainer

2017-09-01

The Rank Product (RP) is a statistical technique widely used to detect differentially expressed features in molecular profiling experiments such as transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics studies. An implementation of the RP and the closely related Rank Sum (RS) statistics has been available in the RankProd Bioconductor package for several years. However, several recent advances in the understanding of the statistical foundations of the method have made a complete refactoring of the existing package desirable. We implemented a completely refactored version of the RankProd package, which provides a more principled implementation of the statistics for unpaired datasets. Moreover, the permutation-based P -value estimation methods have been replaced by exact methods, providing faster and more accurate results. RankProd 2.0 is available at Bioconductor ( https://www.bioconductor.org/packages/devel/bioc/html/RankProd.html ) and as part of the mzMatch pipeline ( http://www.mzmatch.sourceforge.net ). rainer.breitling@manchester.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Fast Learning for Immersive Engagement in Energy Simulations

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

Bush, Brian W; Bugbee, Bruce; Gruchalla, Kenny M

The fast computation which is critical for immersive engagement with and learning from energy simulations would be furthered by developing a general method for creating rapidly computed simplified versions of NREL's computation-intensive energy simulations. Created using machine learning techniques, these 'reduced form' simulations can provide statistically sound estimates of the results of the full simulations at a fraction of the computational cost with response times - typically less than one minute of wall-clock time - suitable for real-time human-in-the-loop design and analysis. Additionally, uncertainty quantification techniques can document the accuracy of the approximate models and their domain of validity. Approximationmore » methods are applicable to a wide range of computational models, including supply-chain models, electric power grid simulations, and building models. These reduced-form representations cannot replace or re-implement existing simulations, but instead supplement them by enabling rapid scenario design and quality assurance for large sets of simulations. We present an overview of the framework and methods we have implemented for developing these reduced-form representations.« less

Nucleic Acids for Ultra-Sensitive Protein Detection

PubMed Central

Janssen, Kris P. F.; Knez, Karel; Spasic, Dragana; Lammertyn, Jeroen

2013-01-01

Major advancements in molecular biology and clinical diagnostics cannot be brought about strictly through the use of genomics based methods. Improved methods for protein detection and proteomic screening are an absolute necessity to complement to wealth of information offered by novel, high-throughput sequencing technologies. Only then will it be possible to advance insights into clinical processes and to characterize the importance of specific protein biomarkers for disease detection or the realization of “personalized medicine”. Currently however, large-scale proteomic information is still not as easily obtained as its genomic counterpart, mainly because traditional antibody-based technologies struggle to meet the stringent sensitivity and throughput requirements that are required whereas mass-spectrometry based methods might be burdened by significant costs involved. However, recent years have seen the development of new biodetection strategies linking nucleic acids with existing antibody technology or replacing antibodies with oligonucleotide recognition elements altogether. These advancements have unlocked many new strategies to lower detection limits and dramatically increase throughput of protein detection assays. In this review, an overview of these new strategies will be given. PMID:23337338

Trade study comparing specimen chamber servicing methods for the Space Station Centrifuge Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calvisi, Michael L.; Sun, Sidney C.

1991-01-01

The Specimen Chamber Service Unit, a component of the Space Station Centrifuge Facility, must provide a clean enclosure on a continuing basis for the facility's plant, rodent and primate specimens. The specimen chambers can become soiled and can require periodic servicing to maintain a clean environment for the specimens. Two methods of servicing the specimen chambers are discussed: washing the chambers with an on-board washer, or disposing of the soiled chambers and replacing them with clean ones. Many of these issues are addressed by developing several servicing options, using either cleaning or replacement as the method of providing clean specimen chambers, and then evaluating each option according to a set of established quantitative and qualitative criteria. Disposing and replacing the Specimen Chambers is preferable to washing them.

Improving the efficiency of molecular replacement by utilizing a new iterative transform phasing algorithm

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

He, Hongxing; Fang, Hengrui; Miller, Mitchell D.

2016-07-15

An iterative transform algorithm is proposed to improve the conventional molecular-replacement method for solving the phase problem in X-ray crystallography. Several examples of successful trial calculations carried out with real diffraction data are presented. An iterative transform method proposed previously for direct phasing of high-solvent-content protein crystals is employed for enhancing the molecular-replacement (MR) algorithm in protein crystallography. Target structures that are resistant to conventional MR due to insufficient similarity between the template and target structures might be tractable with this modified phasing method. Trial calculations involving three different structures are described to test and illustrate the methodology. The relationshipmore » of the approach to PHENIX Phaser-MR and MR-Rosetta is discussed.« less

Home interventions are effective at decreasing indoor nitrogen dioxide concentrations

PubMed Central

Paulin, L. M.; Diette, G. B.; Scott, M.; McCormack, M. C.; Matsui, E. C.; Curtin-Brosnan, J.; Williams, D. L.; Kidd-Taylor, A.; Shea, M.; Breysse, P. N.; Hansel, N. N.

2016-01-01

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a by-product of combustion produced by indoor gas appliances such as cooking stoves, is associated with respiratory symptoms in those with obstructive airways disease. We conducted a three-armed randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing indoor NO2 concentrations in homes with unvented gas stoves: (i) replacement of existing gas stove with electric stove; (ii) installation of ventilation hood over existing gas stove; and (iii) placement of air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and carbon filters. Home inspection and NO2 monitoring were conducted at 1 week pre-intervention and at 1 week and 3 months post-intervention. Stove replacement resulted in a 51% and 42% decrease in median NO2 concentration at 3 months of follow-up in the kitchen and bedroom, respectively (P = 0.01, P = 0.01); air purifier placement resulted in an immediate decrease in median NO2 concentration in the kitchen (27%, P < 0.01) and bedroom (22%, P = 0.02), but at 3 months, a significant reduction was seen only in the kitchen (20%, P = 0.05). NO2 concentrations in the kitchen and bedroom did not significantly change following ventilation hood installation. Replacing unvented gas stoves with electric stoves or placement of air purifiers with HEPA and carbon filters can decrease indoor NO2 concentrations in urban homes. PMID:24329966

Importance of envelope modulations during consonants and vowels in segmentally interrupted sentencesa)

PubMed Central

Fogerty, Daniel

2014-01-01

The present study investigated the importance of overall segment amplitude and intrinsic segment amplitude modulation of consonants and vowels to sentence intelligibility. Sentences were processed according to three conditions that replaced consonant or vowel segments with noise matched to the long-term average speech spectrum. Segments were replaced with (1) low-level noise that distorted the overall sentence envelope, (2) segment-level noise that restored the overall syllabic amplitude modulation of the sentence, and (3) segment-modulated noise that further restored faster temporal envelope modulations during the vowel. Results from the first experiment demonstrated an incremental benefit with increasing resolution of the vowel temporal envelope. However, amplitude modulations of replaced consonant segments had a comparatively minimal effect on overall sentence intelligibility scores. A second experiment selectively noise-masked preserved vowel segments in order to equate overall performance of consonant-replaced sentences to that of the vowel-replaced sentences. Results demonstrated no significant effect of restoring consonant modulations during the interrupting noise when existing vowel cues were degraded. A third experiment demonstrated greater perceived sentence continuity with the preservation or addition of vowel envelope modulations. Overall, results support previous investigations demonstrating the importance of vowel envelope modulations to the intelligibility of interrupted sentences. PMID:24606291

Hypopituitarism.

PubMed

Higham, Claire E; Johannsson, Gudmundur; Shalet, Stephen M

2016-11-12

Hypopituitarism refers to deficiency of one or more hormones produced by the anterior pituitary or released from the posterior pituitary. Hypopituitarism is associated with excess mortality, a key risk factor being cortisol deficiency due to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency. Onset can be acute or insidious, and the most common cause in adulthood is a pituitary adenoma, or treatment with pituitary surgery or radiotherapy. Hypopituitarism is diagnosed based on baseline blood sampling for thyroid stimulating hormone, gonadotropin, and prolactin deficiencies, whereas for ACTH, growth hormone, and antidiuretic hormone deficiency dynamic stimulation tests are usually needed. Repeated pituitary function assessment at regular intervals is needed for diagnosis of the predictable but slowly evolving forms of hypopituitarism. Replacement treatment exists in the form of thyroxine, hydrocortisone, sex steroids, growth hormone, and desmopressin. If onset is acute, cortisol deficiency should be replaced first. Modifications in replacement treatment are needed during the transition from paediatric to adult endocrine care, and during pregnancy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human factors in technology replacement: a case study in interface design for a public transport monitoring system.

PubMed

Harper, J G; Fuller, R; Sweeney, D; Waldmann, T

1998-04-01

This paper describes ergonomic issues raised during a project to provide a replacement real-time bus route control system to a large public transport company. Task and system analyses highlighted several deficiencies in the original system architecture, the human-machine interfaces and the general approach to system management. The eventual live prototype replaced the existing original system for a trial evaluation period of several weeks. During this period a number of studies was conducted with the system users in order to measure any improvements the new system, with its ergonomic features, produced over the old. Importantly, the results confirmed that (a) general responsiveness and service quality were improved, and (b) users were more comfortable with the new design. We conclude with a number of caveats which we believe will be useful to any group addressing technology impact in a large organisation.

Structural Isosteres of Phosphate Groups in the Protein Data Bank.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuezhou; Borrel, Alexandre; Ghemtio, Leo; Regad, Leslie; Boije Af Gennäs, Gustav; Camproux, Anne-Claude; Yli-Kauhaluoma, Jari; Xhaard, Henri

2017-03-27

We developed a computational workflow to mine the Protein Data Bank for isosteric replacements that exist in different binding site environments but have not necessarily been identified and exploited in compound design. Taking phosphate groups as examples, the workflow was used to construct 157 data sets, each composed of a reference protein complexed with AMP, ADP, ATP, or pyrophosphate as well other ligands. Phosphate binding sites appear to have a high hydration content and large size, resulting in U-shaped bioactive conformations recurrently found across unrelated protein families. A total of 16 413 replacements were extracted, filtered for a significant structural overlap on phosphate groups, and sorted according to their SMILES codes. In addition to the classical isosteres of phosphate, such as carboxylate, sulfone, or sulfonamide, unexpected replacements that do not conserve charge or polarity, such as aryl, aliphatic, or positively charged groups, were found.

Animal-Friendly Affinity Reagents: Replacing the Needless in the Haystack.

PubMed

Gray, A C; Sidhu, S S; Chandrasekera, P C; Hendriksen, C F M; Borrebaeck, C A K

2016-12-01

The multibillion-dollar global antibody industry produces an indispensable resource but that is generated using millions of animals. Despite the irrefutable maturation and availability of animal-friendly affinity reagents (AFAs) employing naïve B lymphocyte or synthetic recombinant technologies expressed by phage display, animal immunisation is still authorised for antibody production. Remarkably, replacement opportunities have been overlooked, despite the enormous potential reduction in animal use. Directive 2010/63/EU requires that animals are not used where alternatives exist. To ensure its implementation, we have engaged in discussions with the EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) and the Directorate General for Environment to carve out an EU-led replacement strategy. Measures must be imposed to avoid outsourcing, regulate commercial production, and ensure that antibody producers are fully supported. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Rapid replacement of bridge deck expansion joints study - phase I : [tech transfer summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-12-01

This initial research phase focused on documenting the current : means and methods of bridge expansion joint deterioration, : maintenance, and replacement and on identifying improvements : through all of the input gathered.

Replacement solvents for use in chemical synthesis

DOEpatents

Molnar, Linda K.; Hatton, T. Alan; Buchwald, Stephen L.

2001-05-15

Replacement solvents for use in chemical synthesis include polymer-immobilized solvents having a flexible polymer backbone and a plurality of pendant groups attached onto the polymer backbone, the pendant groups comprising a flexible linking unit bound to the polymer backbone and to a terminal solvating moiety. The polymer-immobilized solvent may be dissolved in a benign medium. Replacement solvents for chemical reactions for which tetrahydrofuran or diethyl may be a solvent include substituted tetrahydrofurfuryl ethers and substituted tetrahydro-3-furan ethers. The replacement solvents may be readily recovered from the reaction train using conventional methods.

Fabrication Method for LOBSTER-Eye Optics in <110> Silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chervenak, James; Collier, Michael; Mateo, Jennette

2013-01-01

Soft x-ray optics can use narrow slots to direct x-rays into a desirable pattern on a focal plane. While square-pack, square-pore, slumped optics exist for this purpose, they are costly. Silicon (Si) is being examined as a possible low-cost replacement. A fabrication method was developed for narrow slots in <110> Si demonstrating the feasibility of stacked slot optics to replace micropores. Current micropore optics exist that have 20-micron-square pores on 26-micron pitch in glass with a depth of 1 mm and an extent of several square centimeters. Among several proposals to emulate the square pore optics are stacked slot chips with etched vertical slots. When the slots in the stack are positioned orthogonally to each other, the component will approach the soft x-ray focusing observed in the micropore optics. A specific improvement Si provides is that it can have narrower sidewalls between slots to permit greater throughput of x-rays through the optics. In general, Si can have more variation in slot geometry (width, length). Further, the sidewalls can be coated with high-Z materials to enhance reflection and potentially reduce the surface roughness of the reflecting surface. Narrow, close-packed deep slots in <110> Si have been produced using potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching and a patterned silicon nitride (SiN) mask. The achieved slot geometries have sufficient wall smoothness, as observed through scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, to enable evaluation of these slot plates as an optical element for soft x-rays. Etches of different angles to the crystal plane of Si were evaluated to identify a specific range of etch angles that will enable low undercut slots in the Si <110> material. These slots with the narrow sidewalls are demonstrated to several hundred microns in depth, and a technical path to 500-micron deep slots in a precision geometry of narrow, closepacked slots is feasible. Although intrinsic stress in ultrathin wall Si is observed, slots with walls approaching 1.5 microns can be achieved (a significant improvement over the 6-micron walls in micro - pore optics). The major advantages of this technique are the potential for higher x-ray throughout (due to narrow slot walls) and lower cost over the existing slumped micropore glass plates. KOH etching of smooth sidewalls has been demonstrated for many applications, suggesting its feasibility for implementation in x-ray optics. Si cannot be slumped like the micropore optics, so the focusing will be achieved with millimeter-scale slot plates that populate a spherical dome. The possibility for large-scale production exists for Si parts that is more difficult to achieve in micropore parts.

[Longterm results of mitral valve replacement (author's transl)].

PubMed

Erhard, W; Reichmann, M; Delius, W; Sebening, H; Herrmann, G

1977-04-22

210 patients were followed up by the actuary method for over 5 years after isolated mitral valve replacement or a double valve replacement. After isolated valve replacement the one month survival including the operative mortality was 92+/-2%. The survival after one year was 83+/-3% and after 5 years 66+/-7%. The five year survival of patients in preoperative class III (according to the NYHA) was 73+/-8% and of class IV 57+/-8% (P less than or equal to 0.1). A comparison of valve replacements for pure mitral stenosis or mitral insufficiency showed no statistically significant differences. In the 37 patients who had a double valve replacement the survival risk was not increased in comparison with those patients who had had a single valve replacement. Age above 45 years and a preoperative markedly raised pulmonary arteriolar resistance reduced the chances of survival.

A fluorescence high throughput screening method for the detection of reactive electrophiles as potential skin sensitizers

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

Avonto, Cristina; Chittiboyina, Amar G.; Rua, Diego

2015-12-01

Skin sensitization is an important toxicological end-point in the risk assessment of chemical allergens. Because of the complexity of the biological mechanisms associated with skin sensitization, integrated approaches combining different chemical, biological and in silico methods are recommended to replace conventional animal tests. Chemical methods are intended to characterize the potential of a sensitizer to induce earlier molecular initiating events. The presence of an electrophilic mechanistic domain is considered one of the essential chemical features to covalently bind to the biological target and induce further haptenation processes. Current in chemico assays rely on the quantification of unreacted model nucleophiles aftermore » incubation with the candidate sensitizer. In the current study, a new fluorescence-based method, ‘HTS-DCYA assay’, is proposed. The assay aims at the identification of reactive electrophiles based on their chemical reactivity toward a model fluorescent thiol. The reaction workflow enabled the development of a High Throughput Screening (HTS) method to directly quantify the reaction adducts. The reaction conditions have been optimized to minimize solubility issues, oxidative side reactions and increase the throughput of the assay while minimizing the reaction time, which are common issues with existing methods. Thirty-six chemicals previously classified with LLNA, DPRA or KeratinoSens™ were tested as a proof of concept. Preliminary results gave an estimated 82% accuracy, 78% sensitivity, 90% specificity, comparable to other in chemico methods such as Cys-DPRA. In addition to validated chemicals, six natural products were analyzed and a prediction of their sensitization potential is presented for the first time. - Highlights: • A novel fluorescence-based method to detect electrophilic sensitizers is proposed. • A model fluorescent thiol was used to directly quantify the reaction products. • A discussion of the reaction workflow and critical parameters is presented. • The method could provide a useful tool to complement existing chemical assays.« less

Nozzle Flow with Vibrational Nonequilibrium. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landry, John Gary

1995-01-01

Flow of nitrogen gas through a converging-diverging nozzle is simulated. The flow is modeled using the Navier-Stokes equations that have been modified for vibrational nonequilibrium. The energy equation is replaced by two equations. One equation accounts for energy effects due to the translational and rotational degrees of freedom, and the other accounts for the affects due to the vibrational degree of freedom. The energy equations are coupled by a relaxation time which measures the time required for the vibrational energy component to equilibrate with the translational and rotational energy components. An improved relaxation time is used in this thesis. The equations are solved numerically using the Steger-Warming flux vector splitting method and the Implicit MacCormack method. The results show that uniform flow is produced outside of the boundary layer. Nonequilibrium exists in both the converging and diverging nozzle sections. The boundary layer region is characterized by a marked increase in translational-rotational temperature. The vibrational temperature remains frozen downstream of the nozzle, except in the boundary layer.

Norms, Standards, and Legislation for Fast Pyrolysis Bio-oils from Lignocellulosic Biomass

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

Oasmaa, Anja; van de Beld, Bert; Saari, Pia

2015-04-16

Fast pyrolysis of woody biomass is close to full maturity, with first-of-its-kind commercial size installations for fuel production being commissioned in Finland (Fortum) and in The Netherlands (Empyro), and in the design phase in Brazil (Ensyn). In the industrial-scale combustion tests, the use of fast pyrolysis bio-oil (FPBO) has been demonstrated to be a viable option to replace heavy fuel oil in district heating applications. Commercially usable district heating boilers and burners suitable for FPBO are available. There is research on diesel-engine and gas-turbine applications but, so far, no proven demonstrations. FPBO is completely different from mineral oils; hence, standardsmore » are needed. Analytical methods have been systematically validated and modifications to the standards as well as completely new methods have been made. Two ASTM burner fuel standards already exist and European boiler fuel grades are being developed under CEN. The focus on CEN standardization is on boiler use, because of its commercial readiness.« less

Silicon cells made by self-aligned selective-emitter plasma-etchback process

DOEpatents

Ruby, Douglas S.; Schubert, William K.; Gee, James M.; Zaidi, Saleem H.

2000-01-01

Photovoltaic cells and methods for making them are disclosed wherein the metallized grids of the cells are used to mask portions of cell emitter regions to allow selective etching of phosphorus-doped emitter regions. The preferred etchant is SF.sub.6 or a combination of SF.sub.6 and O.sub.2. This self-aligned selective etching allows for enhanced blue response (versus cells with uniform heavy doping of the emitter) while preserving heavier doping in the region beneath the gridlines needed for low contact resistance. Embodiments are disclosed for making cells with or without textured surfaces. Optional steps include plasma hydrogenation and PECVD nitride deposition, each of which are suited to customized applications for requirements of given cells to be manufactured. The techniques disclosed could replace expensive and difficult alignment methodologies used to obtain selectively etched emitters, and they may be easily integrated with existing plasma processing methods and techniques of the invention may be accomplished in a single plasma-processing chamber.

Anthropometry of external auditory canal by non-contactable measurement.

PubMed

Yu, Jen-Fang; Lee, Kun-Che; Wang, Ren-Hung; Chen, Yen-Sheng; Fan, Chun-Chieh; Peng, Ying-Chin; Tu, Tsung-Hsien; Chen, Ching-I; Lin, Kuei-Yi

2015-09-01

Human ear canals cannot be measured directly with existing general measurement tools. Furthermore, general non-contact optical methods can only conduct simple peripheral measurements of the auricle and cannot obtain the internal ear canal shape-related measurement data. Therefore, this study uses the computed tomography (CT) technology to measure the geometric shape of the ear canal and the shape of the ear canal using a non-invasive method, and to complete the anthropometry of external auditory canal. The results of the study show that the average height and width of ear canal openings, and the average depth of the first bend for men are generally longer, wider and deeper than those for women. In addition, the difference between the height and width of the ear canal opening is about 40% (p < 0.05). Hence, the circular cross-section shape of the earplugs should be replaced with an elliptical cross-section shape during manufacturing for better fitting. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Production of a unique pneumococcal capsule serotype belonging to serogroup 6

PubMed Central

Bratcher, Preston E.; Park, In H.; Hollingshead, Susan K.; Nahm, Moon H.

2013-01-01

Serogroup 6 of Streptococcus pneumoniae contains three serotypes named 6A, 6B and 6C with highly homologous capsule gene loci. The 6A and 6B capsule gene loci consistently differ from each other by only one nucleotide in the wciP gene. The 6A capsule gene locus has a galactosyl transferase, which has been replaced with a glucosyl transferase in the 6C capsule gene locus. We considered that a new serotype named “6X1” would be possible if the galactosyl transferase of the 6B capsule gene locus is replaced with the glucosyl transferase of 6C. We demonstrate that this gene transfer yields a viable pneumococcal strain and the capsular polysaccharide from this strain has the predicted chemical structure and serologic similarity to the capsular polysaccharide of the 6B serotype. The new strain (i.e., serotype 6X1) is typed as 6B by the quellung reaction but it can be distinguished from 6B strains with monoclonal antibodies to 6B polysaccharide. Reexamination of 264 pneumococcal isolates that were previously typed as 6B with classical typing methods revealed no isolates expressing serotype 6X1. Nevertheless, this study shows this capsular polysaccharide is biochemically possible and could exist/emerge in nature. PMID:19202106

Possible Mechanism for the Generation of a Fundamental Unit of Charge (long version)

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

Lestone, John Paul

2017-06-16

Various methods for calculating particle-emission rates from hot systems are reviewed. Semi-classically derived photon-emission rates often contain the term exp(-ε/T) which needs to be replaced with the corresponding Planckian factor of [exp(-ε/T)-1] -1 to obtain the correct rate. This replacement is associated with the existence of stimulated emission. Simple arguments are used to demonstrate that black holes can also undergo stimulated emission, as previously determined by others. We extend these concepts to fundamental particles, and assume they can be stimulated to emit virtual photons with a cross section of πλ 2, in the case of an isolated particle when themore » incident virtual-photon energy is < 2πmc 2. Stimulated-virtual photons can be exchanged with other particles generating a force. With the inclusion of near-field effects, the model choices presented give a calculated fundamental unit of charge of 1.6022x10 -19 C. If these choices are corroborated by detailed calculations then an understanding of the numerical value of the fine structure constant may emerge. The present study suggests charge might be an emergent property generated by a simple interaction mechanism between point-like particles and the electromagnetic vacuum, similar to the process that generates the Lamb shift.« less

Experimental Study on Voided Reinforced Concrete Beams with Polythene Balls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivaneshan, P.; Harishankar, S.

2017-07-01

The primary component in any structure is concrete, that exist in buildings and bridges. In present situation, a serious problems faced by construction industry is exhaustive use of raw materials. Recent times, various methods are being adopted to limit the use of concrete. In structural elements like beams, polythene balls can be induced to reduce the usage of concrete. A simply supported reinforced concrete beam has two zones, one above neutral axis and other below neutral axis. The region below neutral axis is in tension and above neutral axis is in compression. As concrete is weak in tension, steel reinforcements are provided in tension zone. The concrete below the neutral axis acts as a stress transfer medium between the compression zone and tension zone. The concrete above the neutral axis takes minimum stress so that we could partially replace the concrete above neutral axis by creating air voids using recycled polythene balls. Polythene balls of varying diameters of 75 mm, 65 mm and 35 mm were partially replaced in compression zone. Hence the usage of concrete in beams and self-weight of the beams got reduced considerably. The Load carrying capacity, Deflection of beams and crack patterns were studied and compared with conventional reinforced concrete beams.

Recent trends in digital halftoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delabastita, Paul A.

1997-02-01

Screening is perhaps the oldest form of image processing. The word refers to the mechanical cross line screens that were used at the beginning of this century for the purpose of photomechanical reproduction. Later on, these mechanical screens were replaced by photographic contact screens that enabled significantly improved process control. In the early eighties, the optical screening on graphic arts scanners was replaced by a combination of laser optics and electronic screening. The algorithms, however, were still digital implementations of the original optical methods. The printing needs in the fast growing computer and software industry gave birth to a number of alternative printing technologies such as electrophotographic and inkjet printing. Originally these deices were only designed for printing text, but soon people started experimenting and using them for printing images. The relatively low spatial resolutions of these new devices however made complete review of 'the screening issue' necessary to achieve an acceptable image quality. In this paper a number of recent developments in screening technology are summarized. Special attention is given to the interaction that exists between a halftone screen and the printing devices on which they are rendered including the color mixing behavior. Improved screening techniques are presented that take advantage of modeling the physical behavior of the rendering device.

Tissue Engineering of Urinary Bladder and Urethra: Advances from Bench to Patients

PubMed Central

Bouhout, Sara; Chabaud, Stéphane; Bolduc, Stéphane

2013-01-01

Urinary tract is subjected to many varieties of pathologies since birth including congenital anomalies, trauma, inflammatory lesions, and malignancy. These diseases necessitate the replacement of involved organs and tissues. Shortage of organ donation, problems of immunosuppression, and complications associated with the use of nonnative tissues have urged clinicians and scientists to investigate new therapies, namely, tissue engineering. Tissue engineering follows principles of cell transplantation, materials science, and engineering. Epithelial and muscle cells can be harvested and used for reconstruction of the engineered grafts. These cells must be delivered in a well-organized and differentiated condition because water-seal epithelium and well-oriented muscle layer are needed for proper function of the substitute tissues. Synthetic or natural scaffolds have been used for engineering lower urinary tract. Harnessing autologous cells to produce their own matrix and form scaffolds is a new strategy for engineering bladder and urethra. This self-assembly technique avoids the biosafety and immunological reactions related to the use of biodegradable scaffolds. Autologous equivalents have already been produced for pigs (bladder) and human (urethra and bladder). The purpose of this paper is to present a review for the existing methods of engineering bladder and urethra and to point toward perspectives for their replacement. PMID:24453796

Mammoth Cave National Park : Green River ferry service life analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-11-09

The purpose of this study is to assess whether Mammoth Cave National Park should rehabilitate the existing Green River ferry to extend its service life or replace it with a new vessel. The ferry is used to transport cars and light duty equipment acro...

7 CFR 1710.406 - Eligible activities and investments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Off Grid Renewable energy systems; (ii) Fuel cells; (3) Demand side management (DSM) investments... meter; (8) Re-lamping to more energy efficient lighting; and (9) Fuel Switching as in: (i) The replacement of existing fuel consuming equipment using a particular fuel with more efficient fuel consuming...

Expanding on Successful Concepts, Models, and Organization

EPA Science Inventory

If the goal of the AEP framework was to replace existing exposure models or databases for organizing exposure data with a concept, we would share Dr. von Göetz concerns. Instead, the outcome we promote is broader use of an organizational framework for exposure science. The f...

PA Discussion Topics

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-04

Solid Oxide fuel cell and Lithium Ion battery (~150 watts) • Enables extended mission durations • 12 hours of full power; 30 hours of silent watch...Hybrid fuel cell system is designed to replace the existing lead-acid batteries with an upgraded Solid Oxide fuel cell and Lithium Ion battery (~250

Aging Aircraft Subsystems. Equipment Life Extension within the Tornado Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-10-01

establish whether of trained personal. an equipment is already life expired or not. Maintenance documentation Repairs and concessions Existing...to be replaced equipment will lead over time to a degradation of the functional check seals. This means that the older the equipment stays inservice

Assessing the damage potential in pretensioned bridges caused by increased truck loads due to freight movements (phase II).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-08-01

With aging and deterioration of bridges, evaluation of existing conditions of their structural elements becomes vital to : engineers and public officials when deciding how to repair or replace the structures. The ability to obtain necessary : informa...

77 FR 19937 - Drawbridge Operation Regulation; Mile 21.6, Illinois Waterway, Hardin, IL

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-03

..., Illinois. The deviation is necessary to replace the main gear case that operates the lift span. The gear... end at 7 p.m. on April 5, 2012. Once the existing gear case is removed, the lift span will not be able...

Strength and fatigue of three glass fiber reinforced composite bridge decks with mechanical deck to stringer connections.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

Replacement of the steel grating deck on the lift span of the Morrison Bridge in Portland, OR, will utilize glass : fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) panels to address ongoing maintenance issues of the deteriorated existing deck, improve driver : safety...

7 CFR 1783.12 - What are eligible uses of grant proceeds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REVOLVING FUNDS FOR FINANCING WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS... loans to eligible entities for: (1) Pre-development costs associated with proposed water and wastewater projects or with existing water and wastewater systems, and (2) Short-term costs incurred for replacement...

7 CFR 1783.12 - What are eligible uses of grant proceeds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REVOLVING FUNDS FOR FINANCING WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS... loans to eligible entities for: (1) Pre-development costs associated with proposed water and wastewater projects or with existing water and wastewater systems, and (2) Short-term costs incurred for replacement...

7 CFR 1783.12 - What are eligible uses of grant proceeds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REVOLVING FUNDS FOR FINANCING WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS... loans to eligible entities for: (1) Pre-development costs associated with proposed water and wastewater projects or with existing water and wastewater systems, and (2) Short-term costs incurred for replacement...

7 CFR 1783.12 - What are eligible uses of grant proceeds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REVOLVING FUNDS FOR FINANCING WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS... loans to eligible entities for: (1) Pre-development costs associated with proposed water and wastewater projects or with existing water and wastewater systems, and (2) Short-term costs incurred for replacement...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The existing control tower seen here at the edge of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility is being replaced. In use since 1987, the old tower stands only 20 feet above the runway surface, too low to see the launch pads to the east. During nighttime landing operations, those inside the tower have been hindered by the eight-billion candlepower xenon lights that illuminate the runway. The new control tower is built atop an existing mound, rising nearly 100 feet over the midpoint of the runway. The height gives controllers a spectacular 360-degree view of NASA-KSC and northern Brevard County. The new facility will also replace the SLF Operations Building. The operations building is home to the Military Radar Unit that monitors NASA-KSC airspace 24 hours a day, as well as runway light controls, navigational aids, weather and wind speed instrumentation, and gate controls. In the new tower, the computer displays will be fully modernized to Federal Aviation Administration standards with touch-screen technology. Construction on the new facility began in February 2003 and is nearly ready for occupancy. Only some final inspections and approvals remain. A support building and Public Affairs viewing deck, to be used for observing future landing operations, will be added and are already in work.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-12-17

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The existing control tower seen here at the edge of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility is being replaced. In use since 1987, the old tower stands only 20 feet above the runway surface, too low to see the launch pads to the east. During nighttime landing operations, those inside the tower have been hindered by the eight-billion candlepower xenon lights that illuminate the runway. The new control tower is built atop an existing mound, rising nearly 100 feet over the midpoint of the runway. The height gives controllers a spectacular 360-degree view of NASA-KSC and northern Brevard County. The new facility will also replace the SLF Operations Building. The operations building is home to the Military Radar Unit that monitors NASA-KSC airspace 24 hours a day, as well as runway light controls, navigational aids, weather and wind speed instrumentation, and gate controls. In the new tower, the computer displays will be fully modernized to Federal Aviation Administration standards with touch-screen technology. Construction on the new facility began in February 2003 and is nearly ready for occupancy. Only some final inspections and approvals remain. A support building and Public Affairs viewing deck, to be used for observing future landing operations, will be added and are already in work.

Fundamental Ethical Principles in Sports Medicine.

PubMed

Devitt, Brian M

2016-04-01

In sports medicine, the practice of ethics presents many unique challenges because of the unusual clinical environment of caring for players within the context of a team whose primary goal is to win. Ethical issues frequently arise because a doctor-patient-team triad often replaces the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Conflict may exist when the team's priority clashes with or even replaces the doctor's obligation to player well-being. Customary ethical norms that govern most forms of clinical practice, such as autonomy and confidentiality, are not easily translated to sports medicine. Ethical principles and examples of how they relate to sports medicine are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enabling access to new WHO essential medicines: the case for nicotine replacement therapies

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) are powerful tools for the successful treatment of nicotine addiction and tobacco use. The medicines are clinically effective, supported by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and are now World Health Organization-approved essential medicines. Enabling global access to NRT remains a challenge given ongoing confusion and misperceptions about their efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and availability with respect to other tobacco control and public health opportunities. In this commentary, we review existing evidence and guidelines to make the case for global access to NRT highlighting the smoker's right to access treatment to sensibly address nicotine addiction. PMID:21092092

Part II: managing perioperative hyperglycemia in total hip and knee replacement surgeries.

PubMed

Agos, Florence; Shoda, Casey; Bransford, Deborah

2014-09-01

Perioperative hyperglycemia management is an important factor in reducing the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs) in all patients regardless of existing history of diabetes. Reduction of SSIs is one of the quality indicators reported by the National Healthcare Safety Networks of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2009 and 2010, the orthopedic surgical unit had an increased number of SSIs above the CDC benchmark. This article describes the impact of an evidence-based practice standard for perioperative hyperglycemia management in the reduction of SSIs in patients having total hip and knee replacement surgery. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rosetta Structure Prediction as a Tool for Solving Difficult Molecular Replacement Problems.

PubMed

DiMaio, Frank

2017-01-01

Molecular replacement (MR), a method for solving the crystallographic phase problem using phases derived from a model of the target structure, has proven extremely valuable, accounting for the vast majority of structures solved by X-ray crystallography. However, when the resolution of data is low, or the starting model is very dissimilar to the target protein, solving structures via molecular replacement may be very challenging. In recent years, protein structure prediction methodology has emerged as a powerful tool in model building and model refinement for difficult molecular replacement problems. This chapter describes some of the tools available in Rosetta for model building and model refinement specifically geared toward difficult molecular replacement cases.

Training and good science are the foundation stones for animal replacement.

PubMed

Davidge, Kelly S; Wilkinson, J Malcolm

2017-11-01

Good science, the training of energetic and enthusiastic young researchers, and the experience of industry veterans, will all be needed to drive the implementation and regulatory approval of animal replacement methods in industry.

Recent Patents and Designs on Hip Replacement Prostheses

PubMed Central

Derar, H; Shahinpoor, M

2015-01-01

Hip replacement surgery has gone through tremendous evolution since the first procedure in 1840. In the past five decades the advances that have been made in technology, advanced and smart materials innovations, surgical techniques, robotic surgery and methods of fixations and sterilization, facilitated hip implants that undergo multiple design revolutions seeking the least problematic implants and a longer survivorship. Hip surgery has become a solution for many in need of hip joint remedy and replacement across the globe. Nevertheless, there are still long-term problems that are essential to search and resolve to find the optimum implant. This paper reviews several recent patents on hip replacement surgery. The patents present various designs of prostheses, different materials as well as methods of fixation. Each of the patents presents a new design as a solution to different issues ranging from the longevity of the hip prostheses to discomfort and inconvenience experienced by patients in the long-term. PMID:25893020

Pessimistic Determination of Mechanical Conditions and Micro/macroeconomic Evaluation of Mine Pillar Replacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qingfa; Zhao, Fuyu

2017-12-01

Numerous pillars are left after mining of underground mineral resources using the open stope method or after the first step of the partial filling method. The mineral recovery rate can, however, be improved by replacement recovery of pillars. In the present study, the relationships among the pillar type, minimum pillar width, and micro/macroeconomic factors were investigated from two perspectives, namely mechanical stability and micro/macroeconomic benefit. Based on the mechanical stability formulas for ore and artificial pillars, the minimum width for a specific pillar type was determined using a pessimistic criterion. The microeconomic benefit c of setting an ore pillar, the microeconomic benefit w of artificial pillar replacement, and the economic net present value (ENPV) of the replacement process were calculated. The values of c and w were compared with respect to ENPV, based on which the appropriate pillar type and economical benefit were determined.

Rapid Immunochromatographic Detection of Serum Anti-α-Galactosidase A Antibodies in Fabry Patients after Enzyme Replacement Therapy.

PubMed

Nakano, Sachie; Tsukimura, Takahiro; Togawa, Tadayasu; Ohashi, Toya; Kobayashi, Masahisa; Takayama, Katsuyoshi; Kobayashi, Yukuharu; Abiko, Hiroshi; Satou, Masatsugu; Nakahata, Tohru; Warnock, David G; Sakuraba, Hitoshi; Shibasaki, Futoshi

2015-01-01

We developed an immunochromatography-based assay for detecting antibodies against recombinant α-galactosidase A proteins in serum. The evaluation of 29 serum samples from Fabry patients, who had received enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase alpha and/or agalsidase beta, was performed by means of this assay method, and the results clearly revealed that the patients exhibited the same level of antibodies against both agalsidase alpha and agalsidase beta, regardless of the species of recombinant α-galactosidase A used for enzyme replacement therapy. A conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay supported the results. Considering these, enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase alpha or agalsidase beta would generate antibodies against the common epitopes in both agalsidase alpha and agalsidase beta. Most of the patients who showed immunopositive reaction exhibited classic Fabry phenotype and harbored gene mutations affecting biosynthesis of α-galactosidase A. As immunochromatography is a handy and simple assay system which can be available at bedside, this assay method would be extremely useful for quick evaluation or first screening of serum antibodies against agalsidase alpha or agalsidase beta in Fabry disease with enzyme replacement therapy.

Generalized Higher Order Orthogonal Iteration for Tensor Learning and Decomposition.

PubMed

Liu, Yuanyuan; Shang, Fanhua; Fan, Wei; Cheng, James; Cheng, Hong

2016-12-01

Low-rank tensor completion (LRTC) has successfully been applied to a wide range of real-world problems. Despite the broad, successful applications, existing LRTC methods may become very slow or even not applicable for large-scale problems. To address this issue, a novel core tensor trace-norm minimization (CTNM) method is proposed for simultaneous tensor learning and decomposition, and has a much lower computational complexity. In our solution, first, the equivalence relation of trace norm of a low-rank tensor and its core tensor is induced. Second, the trace norm of the core tensor is used to replace that of the whole tensor, which leads to two much smaller scale matrix TNM problems. Finally, an efficient alternating direction augmented Lagrangian method is developed to solve our problems. Our CTNM formulation needs only O((R N +NRI)log(√{I N })) observations to reliably recover an N th-order I×I×…×I tensor of n -rank (r,r,…,r) , compared with O(rI N-1 ) observations required by those tensor TNM methods ( I > R ≥ r ). Extensive experimental results show that CTNM is usually more accurate than them, and is orders of magnitude faster.

Developing collaborative classifiers using an expert-based model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mountrakis, G.; Watts, R.; Luo, L.; Wang, Jingyuan

2009-01-01

This paper presents a hierarchical, multi-stage adaptive strategy for image classification. We iteratively apply various classification methods (e.g., decision trees, neural networks), identify regions of parametric and geographic space where accuracy is low, and in these regions, test and apply alternate methods repeating the process until the entire image is classified. Currently, classifiers are evaluated through human input using an expert-based system; therefore, this paper acts as the proof of concept for collaborative classifiers. Because we decompose the problem into smaller, more manageable sub-tasks, our classification exhibits increased flexibility compared to existing methods since classification methods are tailored to the idiosyncrasies of specific regions. A major benefit of our approach is its scalability and collaborative support since selected low-accuracy classifiers can be easily replaced with others without affecting classification accuracy in high accuracy areas. At each stage, we develop spatially explicit accuracy metrics that provide straightforward assessment of results by non-experts and point to areas that need algorithmic improvement or ancillary data. Our approach is demonstrated in the task of detecting impervious surface areas, an important indicator for human-induced alterations to the environment, using a 2001 Landsat scene from Las Vegas, Nevada. ?? 2009 American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Optimisation of nasal swab analysis by liquid scintillation counting.

PubMed

Dai, Xiongxin; Liblong, Aaron; Kramer-Tremblay, Sheila; Priest, Nicholas; Li, Chunsheng

2012-06-01

When responding to an emergency radiological incident, rapid methods are needed to provide the physicians and radiation protection personnel with an early estimation of possible internal dose resulting from the inhalation of radionuclides. This information is needed so that appropriate medical treatment and radiological protection control procedures can be implemented. Nasal swab analysis, which employs swabs swiped inside a nostril followed by liquid scintillation counting of alpha and beta activity on the swab, could provide valuable information to quickly identify contamination of the affected population. In this study, various parameters (such as alpha/beta discrimination, swab materials, counting time and volume of scintillation cocktail etc) were evaluated in order to optimise the effectiveness of the nasal swab analysis method. An improved nasal swab procedure was developed by replacing cotton swabs with polyurethane-tipped swabs. Liquid scintillation counting was performed using a Hidex 300SL counter with alpha/beta pulse shape discrimination capability. Results show that the new method is more reliable than existing methods using cotton swabs and effectively meets the analysis requirements for screening personnel in an emergency situation. This swab analysis procedure is also applicable to wipe tests of surface contamination to minimise the source self-absorption effect on liquid scintillation counting.

Revitalization of Lightweight Cladding of Buildings and Its Impact on Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liška, Pavel; Nečasová, Barbora; Kovářová, Barbora; Novotný, Michal

2017-12-01

The presented study reveals that the revitalization of lightweight claddings installed before 1990 can have a positive impact on the environment and on the reduction of greenhouse gases in particular. The main focus is placed on the revitalization of a structural system known as OD-001, commonly called the ‘Boleticky panel’ system, which was frequently utilised all around the Czech Republic in the period before 1990. Only revitalization methods utilizing contemporary structural designs and current materials were verified during this study. The ‘Boleticky panel’ system was the type of façade cladding most frequently installed on administrative buildings in what was then Czechoslovakia. It is a panel system where load-bearing structure of the panel itself consists of closed profiles that are suspended from the building’s load-bearing structure. This type of system saw a great deal of use for more than 20 years. From today’s point of view, its thermal and technical properties are completely unsatisfactory and the gradual structural degradation of such systems, with a direct impact on their mechanical resistance, has been monitored over the last few years. However, these defects can be completely eliminated by the selection of a suitable type of revitalization. Cladding revitalization can be divided into three main categories. Each category represents a different level of impact on the structure of the above described cladding system. The first category only involves the replacement of windows, while the second consists in the replacement both of the windows and the existing panel sections. The third category of revitalization entails the complete removal of the existing cladding system and its replacement with a new one. The Life Cycle Assessment method (LCA) was used for environmental impact assessment. The aims and intentions of this method are not to search for the most economical or technically perfect product, service or technology, but to find the most environmentally friendly product with properties that can be guaranteed to last throughout its whole service life. The obtained results showed that revitalization has a positive impact on the environment. It can significantly reduce the consumption of energy that is used to heat the building in the winter, and thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, it will cause a slight increase in the demand for cooling energy in the summer, which is mainly due to the reduction of the air permeability of the structure, making it more difficult to cool the interior of the building down, e.g. during the night, causing inhabitants to make greater use of air-conditioning. However, the revitalization itself, even if this term is taken to include the installation of the new cladding system, its maintenance and its future demolition, has a negligible impact on the environment compared with the old system. Therefore, based on the evaluated data the authors of the presented paper can highly recommend and encourage the revitalization of OD-001 lightweight cladding systems.

Seasonality of service provision in hip and knee surgery: a possible contributor to waiting times? A time series analysis.

PubMed

Upshur, Ross E G; Moineddin, Rahim; Crighton, Eric J; Mamdani, Muhammad

2006-03-01

The question of how best to reduce waiting times for health care, particularly surgical procedures such as hip and knee replacements is among the most pressing concern of the Canadian health care system. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that significant seasonal variation exists in the performance of hip and knee replacement surgery in the province of Ontario. We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional time series analysis examining all hip and knee replacement surgeries in people over the age of 65 in the province of Ontario, Canada between 1992 and 2002. The main outcome measure was monthly hospitalization rates per 100,000 population for all hip and knee replacements. There was a marked increase in the rate of hip and knee replacement surgery over the 10-year period as well as an increasing seasonal variation in surgeries. Highly significant (Fisher Kappa = 16.05, p < 0.01; Bartlett-Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test = 0.31, p < 0.01) and strong (R2Autoreg = 0.85) seasonality was identified in the data. Holidays and utilization caps appear to exert a significant influence on the rate of service provision. It is expected that waiting times for hip and knee replacement could be reduced by reducing seasonal fluctuations in service provision and benchmarking services to peak delivery. The results highlight the importance of system behaviour in seasonal fluctuation of service delivery.

A new method for noninvasive venous blood oxygen detection.

PubMed

Zhang, Xu; Zhang, Meimei; Zheng, Shengkun; Wang, Liqi; Ye, Jilun

2016-07-19

Blood oxygen saturation of vein (SvO2) is an important clinical parameter for patient monitoring. However, the existing clinical methods are invasive, expensive, which are also painful for patients. Based on light-absorption, this study describes a new noninvasive SvO2 measurement method by using external stimulation signal to generate cyclical fluctuation signal in the vein, which overcomes the low signal-to-noise ratio problem in the measurement process. In this way, the value of SvO2 can be obtained continuously in real time. The experimental results demonstrate that the method can successfully measure venous oxygen saturation by artificial addition of stimulation. Under hypoxic conditions, the system can reflect the overall decline of venous oxygen saturation better. When the results measured by the new method are compared with those measured by the invasive method, the root mean square error of the difference is 5.31 and the correlation coefficient of the difference is 0.72. The new method can be used to measure SvO2 and evaluate body oxygen consumption, and its accuracy needs improvement. Real-time and continuous monitoring can be achieved by replacing invasive method with noninvasive method, which provides more comprehensive clinical information in a timely manner and better meet the needs of clinical treatment. However, the accuracy of the new noninvasive SvO2 measurement based on light-absorption has to be further improved.

78 FR 24718 - Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests; Idaho; Lolo Insect & Disease Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

... portions of the project area. Road decommissioning, culvert replacements, road improvements, and soils... to be cost-effective and provide maximum protection of soil and water quality. Big game, primarily... watershed restoration in the Lolo Creek drainage is associated with roads and soil improvement. Existing...

40 CFR 265.221 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... effective date of a prohibition pursuant to § 268.5 of this chapter, within this 48-month period. [50 FR... (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND... each replacement of an existing surface impoundment unit must install two or more liners, and a...

40 CFR 265.221 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... effective date of a prohibition pursuant to § 268.5 of this chapter, within this 48-month period. [50 FR... (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND... each replacement of an existing surface impoundment unit must install two or more liners, and a...

40 CFR 265.221 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... effective date of a prohibition pursuant to § 268.5 of this chapter, within this 48-month period. [50 FR... (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND... each replacement of an existing surface impoundment unit must install two or more liners, and a...

40 CFR 265.221 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... effective date of a prohibition pursuant to § 268.5 of this chapter, within this 48-month period. [50 FR... (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND... each replacement of an existing surface impoundment unit must install two or more liners, and a...

40 CFR 265.221 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... effective date of a prohibition pursuant to § 268.5 of this chapter, within this 48-month period. [50 FR... (CONTINUED) INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND... each replacement of an existing surface impoundment unit must install two or more liners, and a...

7 CFR 1783.12 - What are eligible uses of grant proceeds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REVOLVING FUNDS FOR FINANCING WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS... projects or with existing water and wastewater systems, and (2) Short-term costs incurred for replacement equipment, small-scale extension of services, or other small capital projects that are not part of the...

History - National Site for the Regional IPM Centers

Science.gov Websites

History of the Regional IPM Centers 2014 - Crop Protection and Pest Management Program (CPPM) Funding for eventually cut short to two years when the Crop and Pest Management Program replaced existing funding the word "Integrated" was inserted in the titles. Regional Integrated Pest Management

Retention Strategies for Reducing Voluntary Turnover in a Higher Education Institution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Susan K.

2017-01-01

Employees who choose to leave employment cause significant challenges for organizations. Compounded challenges exist when employee retention strategies are not effective, affecting job satisfaction and personnel replacement costs as the organization continues to lose qualified and valuable staff. This single case study, built on a psychological…

77 FR 12586 - Serious Energy, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-01

... the home's geographic location, size, insulation package, and existing windows. Consumers who replace... insulation in a specific region). The performance standard imposed under this Part constitutes fencing-in... costs, heating and cooling costs, U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient, R-value, K-value, insulating...

77 FR 29212 - Airworthiness Directives; The Boeing Company Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-17

... Company Model 777 airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of fractured and missing latch pin retention... inspections for fractured or missing latch pin retention bolts, replacement of existing titanium bolts with... AD to detect and correct fractured and missing latch pin retention bolts, which could result in...

Schoolwide Enrichment Model: Challenging All Children to Excel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beecher, Margaret

2010-01-01

This article summarizes how the components of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model were used to dramatically reduce the achievement gap in a school with a high at-risk student population. The theories of enrichment and instructional differentiation replaced an existing remedial paradigm and a strength-based methodology was embraced by the school…

NUL Legislative Research: General Revenue Sharing: Pygmy or Behemoth?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Maudine Rice

1976-01-01

Asserts that concern with revenue sharing "is justified on the grounds that general revenue sharing may ultimately replace existing categorical programs, those programs specifically targeted for special groups." Concludes that the potential legal influence of this program may be used to promote effective civil rights enforcement. (Author/JM)

Changes in Australian Disability Service Use by Selected Primary Disability Groups 2003-2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dempsey, Ian

2012-01-01

For the last two decades, the Australian Federal Government has taken responsibility for funding disability employment services, and the states and territories are responsible for accommodation, respite, and community access services (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004-2011). Replacing the existing Commonwealth State Territory…

46 CFR 504.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... alteration of existing environmental conditions or creation of a new set of environmental conditions, adverse... material that can be used as a raw material in an industrial process in which it is transformed into a new product replacing the use of a depletable natural resource. (h) Marine Terminal Operator means a person...

A Comparative Verification of Forecasts from Two Operational Solar Wind Models (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-08

much confidence to place on predicted parameters. Cost /benefit information is provided to administrators who decide to sustain or replace existing...magnetic field magnitude and three components of the magnetic field vector in the geocentric solar magnetospheric (GSM) coordinate system at each hour of

Lung Cancer and Lung Transplantation.

PubMed

Brand, Timothy; Haithcock, Benjamin

2018-02-01

Lung transplantation remains a viable option for patients with endstage pulmonary disease. Despite removing the affected organ and replacing both lungs, the risk of lung malignancies still exists. Regardless of the mode of entry, lung cancer affects the prognosis in these patients and diligence is required. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

77 FR 18990 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Mexico; Construction Permit Fees

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-29

... reviewing and acting on specific air quality construction permit applications received by the New Mexico... Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Mexico; Construction Permit Fees AGENCY: Environmental Protection... replace existing rules, and revisions to the applicable State Implementation Plan (SIP) for New Mexico...

Assessment and Learning Technologies: An Overview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Treasa; Rushby, Nick

2016-01-01

Assessment pervades the learning process. This paper provides an overview of the application of technology to support and enhance diagnostic, formative and summative assessment. The focus is on examining how it can replace what already exists, improve the functionality, catalyse a redesign of the process and in some circumstances, make possible…

75 FR 52039 - Biweekly Notice Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses Involving No...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-24

... modifications which would replace the existing source range and intermediate range excore detector systems with... excore detector systems with equivalent neutron monitoring systems. The new instrumentation will perform... the design earthquake, the double design earthquake, the Hosgri earthquake, and the loss-of-coolant...

27 CFR 25.58 - New and superseding formulas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... formula replaces an existing formula, and you should file one only if you do not intend to use the... formulas. 25.58 Section 25.58 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS BEER Miscellaneous Provisions Formulas § 25.58 New and...

27 CFR 25.58 - New and superseding formulas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... formula replaces an existing formula, and you should file one only if you do not intend to use the... formulas. 25.58 Section 25.58 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ALCOHOL BEER Miscellaneous Provisions Formulas § 25.58 New and...

27 CFR 25.58 - New and superseding formulas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... formula replaces an existing formula, and you should file one only if you do not intend to use the... formulas. 25.58 Section 25.58 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ALCOHOL BEER Miscellaneous Provisions Formulas § 25.58 New and...

27 CFR 25.58 - New and superseding formulas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... formula replaces an existing formula, and you should file one only if you do not intend to use the... formulas. 25.58 Section 25.58 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS BEER Miscellaneous Provisions Formulas § 25.58 New and...

27 CFR 25.58 - New and superseding formulas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... formula replaces an existing formula, and you should file one only if you do not intend to use the... formulas. 25.58 Section 25.58 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS BEER Miscellaneous Provisions Formulas § 25.58 New and...

37 CFR 201.7 - Cancellation of completed registrations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... registration number is eliminated and a new registration is made under a different class and number. (b...; or (3) An existing registration in the wrong class is to be replaced by a new registration in the correct class. (c) Circumstances under which a registration will be cancelled. (1) Where the Copyright...

9 CFR 202.118 - Rule 18: Presiding officer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... submission of the report, shall be in the discretion of the presiding officer. (c) Reassignment. For any good reason, including absence, illness, resignation, death, or inability to act, of the attorney assigned to... replaced, in any proceeding in which such person believes that reason exists for disqualification of such...

Optimum bus system and water transportation study : staff report to the Board of Directors of Marin County Transit District

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1969-08-01

Describes an optimum bus system replacing existing Greyhound service and designed primarily for the purpose of meeting commuter travel demands in the San Francisco-Marin corridor as well as intra-county travel, and mid-day and weekend trips between M...

30 CFR 47.41 - Requirement for container labels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... replace an outdated label when a revised label is received from the chemical's manufacturer or supplier... container labels. (a) The operator must ensure that each container of a hazardous chemical has a label. If a... unreadable. (2) The operator must not remove or deface existing labels on containers of hazardous chemicals...

30 CFR 47.41 - Requirement for container labels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... replace an outdated label when a revised label is received from the chemical's manufacturer or supplier... container labels. (a) The operator must ensure that each container of a hazardous chemical has a label. If a... unreadable. (2) The operator must not remove or deface existing labels on containers of hazardous chemicals...

30 CFR 47.41 - Requirement for container labels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... replace an outdated label when a revised label is received from the chemical's manufacturer or supplier... container labels. (a) The operator must ensure that each container of a hazardous chemical has a label. If a... unreadable. (2) The operator must not remove or deface existing labels on containers of hazardous chemicals...

30 CFR 47.41 - Requirement for container labels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... replace an outdated label when a revised label is received from the chemical's manufacturer or supplier... container labels. (a) The operator must ensure that each container of a hazardous chemical has a label. If a... unreadable. (2) The operator must not remove or deface existing labels on containers of hazardous chemicals...

75 FR 32919 - Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Northwest Aggregates' Previously...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-10

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Northwest Aggregates' Previously Authorized Replacement of an Existing Barge... alternatives, and the depth to which the various alternatives will be evaluated in the EIS. The Corps has...

75 FR 17879 - Airworthiness Directives; The Cessna Aircraft Company Model 750 Airplanes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-08

..., replacing the left and right elevator assemblies with new elevator assemblies. Accomplishment of the... airplanes. The existing AD currently requires inspecting the inboard-hinge brackets of the left and right... actions if necessary; modifying the left and right elevators and left and right horizontal stabilizer. For...

Salvage of infected total knee fusion: the last option.

PubMed

Wiedel, Jerome D

2002-11-01

Currently the most common indication for an arthrodesis of the knee is a failed infected total knee prosthesis. Other causes of a failed total knee replacement that might necessitate a knee fusion include aseptic loosening, deficient extensor mechanism, poor soft tissues, and Charcot joint. Techniques available for achieving a knee fusion are external fixation and internal fixation methods. The external fixation compression devices have been the most widely used for knee fusion and have been successful until the indications for fusion changed to mostly failed prosthetic knee replacement. With failed total knee replacement, the problem of severe bone loss became an issue, and the external fixation compression devices, even including the biplane external fixators, have been the least successful method reported for gaining fusion. The Ilizarov technique has been shown to achieve rigid fixation despite this bone loss, and a review of reports are showing high fusion rates using this method. Internal fixation methods including plate fixation and intramedullary nails have had the best success in gaining fusion in the face of this bone loss and have replaced external fixation methods as the technique of choice for knee fusion when severe bone loss is present. A review of the literature and a discussion of different fusion techniques are presented including a discussion of the influence that infection has on the success of fusion.

[Reduction of animal experiments in experimental drug testing].

PubMed

Behrensdorf-Nicol, H; Krämer, B

2014-10-01

In order to ensure the quality of biomedical products, an experimental test for every single manufactured batch is required for many products. Especially in vaccine testing, animal experiments are traditionally used for this purpose. For example, efficacy is often determined via challenge experiments in laboratory animals. Safety tests of vaccine batches are also mostly performed using laboratory animals. However, many animal experiments have clear inherent disadvantages (low accuracy, questionable transferability to humans, unclear significance). Furthermore, for ethical reasons and animal welfare aspects animal experiments are also seen very critical by the public. Therefore, there is a strong trend towards replacing animal experiments with methods in which no animals are used ("replacement"). If a replacement is not possible, the required animal experiments should be improved in order to minimize the number of animals necessary ("reduction") and to reduce pain and suffering caused by the experiment to a minimum ("refinement"). This "3R concept" is meanwhile firmly established in legislature. In recent years many mandatory animal experiments have been replaced by alternative in vitro methods or improved according to the 3R principles; numerous alternative methods are currently under development. Nevertheless, the process from the development of a new method to its legal implementation takes a long time. Therefore, supplementary regulatory measures to facilitate validation and acceptance of new alternative methods could contribute to a faster and more consequent implementation of the 3R concept in the testing of biomedical products.

A spatially-explicit data driven approach to assess the effect of agricultural land occupation on species groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elshout, P.; van Zelm, R.; Karuppiah, R.; Laurenzi, I.; Huijbregts, M.

2013-12-01

Change of vegetation cover and increased land use intensity can directly affect the natural habitat and the wildlife it houses. The actual impact of agricultural land use is region specific as crops are grown under various climatic conditions and ways of cultivation and refining. Furthermore, growing a specific crop in a tropical region may require clearance of rainforest while the same crop may replace natural grasslands in temperate regions. Within life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), methods to address impacts of land use on a global scale are still in need of development. We aim to extend existing methods to improve the robustness of LCIA by allowing spatial differentiation of agricultural land use impacts. The goal of this study is to develop characterization factors for the direct impact of land use on biodiversity, which results from the replacement of natural habitat with farmland. The characterization factor expresses the change in species richness under crop cultivation compared to the species richness in the natural situation over a certain area. A second goal was to identify the differences in impacts caused by cultivation of different crop types, sensitivity of different taxonomic groups, and differences in natural land cover. Empirical data on species richness were collected from literature for both natural reference situations and agricultural land use situations. Reference situations were selected on an ecoregion or biome basis. We calculated characterization factors for four crop groups (oil palm, low crops, cereals, and perennial grasses), four species groups (arthropods, birds, mammals, vascular plants), and six biomes.

"Eight Days of Nightmares … " - Octogenarian Patients' Experiences of Postoperative Delirium after Transcatheter or Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement.

PubMed

Instenes, Irene; Gjengedal, Eva; Eide, Leslie S P; Kuiper, Karel K J; Ranhoff, Anette H; Norekvål, Tone M

2018-02-01

Surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are increasingly performed in octogenarian patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), including those with high surgical risk. Postoperative delirium (PD) is a common and serious complication in older patients, characterised by reduced awareness, change in consciousness, disturbance in logical thinking and hallucinations. To explore how octogenarian patients experienced PD, a qualitative study was conducted including five women and five men between 81 and 88 years. The incidence of PD was assessed for five days using the Confusion Assessment Method. Cognitive function was assessed preoperatively and at a 6-month follow-up using the Mini-Mental State Examination. In-depth interviews were conducted 6-12 months post-discharge, transcribed, and analysed using Giorgi's phenomenological method. Postoperative delirium experiences were grouped into six themes: "Like dreaming while awake", "Disturbed experiences of time", "Existing in a twilight zone", "Trapped in medical tubes", "Moving between different surroundings" and "Meeting with death and the deceased". For the first time, we show that octogenarian patients who undergo SAVR or TAVI have strong and distressing memories of their delirious state that can persist for up to 12 months later. These findings provide valuable new information that will likely improve delivery of health services and enhance professional and empathic care of octogenarians after SAVR and TAVI. Copyright © 2017 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.