Sample records for system operator iso

  1. 75 FR 20590 - PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., Complainant, v. Midwest Independent Transmission, System Operator...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-20

    ... System Operator, Inc. (Midwest ISO or Respondent) alleging that the Midwest ISO violated their, Midwest ISO and PJM, Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), through its practice of initiating the JOA market-to...

  2. 76 FR 34691 - Edison Mission Energy v. Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.; Notice of Complaint

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-14

    ... Transmission System Operator, Inc. (Midwest ISO or Respondent), alleging that Midwest ISO is requiring the Edison Wind Projects to satisfy the M3 milestone in contravention of the Midwest ISO's Tariff and the... served on the contacts for the Midwest ISO as listed on the Commission's list of Corporate Officials. Any...

  3. 78 FR 18330 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-26

    ... activities of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM), Independent System Operator New England, Inc. (ISO-NE), and..., New York Independent System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER13-193-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-195, Indicated PJM Transmission Owners Docket No. ER13-196-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No...

  4. 78 FR 28839 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-16

    ... activities of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., ISO New England, Inc., and New York Independent System Operator... Interconnection, L.L.C. Docket No. ER13-102, New York Independent System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER13-193, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-195, Indicated PJM Transmission Owners Docket No. ER13-196, ISO New...

  5. ISO9000 and the quality management system in the digital hospital.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yalan; Yao, Bin; Zhang, Zigang

    2002-01-01

    ISO9000 quality management system (ISO9000QMS) emphasize on the customer-oriented, managers' leadership and all staff's joining, adopt the process method and system management, spread the taking facts as a basis to make decision and improve consistently, and establish win-win relation with the suppliers. So, the digital hospital can adopt the ISO9000QMS. In order to establish the ISO9000QMS, the digital hospital should: (1) Design integrally, including analyzing the operation procedure, clarifying the job duties, setting up the spreading team and setting the quality policy and objectives: (2) Learning the ISO9000 quality standards; (3) Drawing up the documents, including the quality manual, program files and operation guiding files; (4) Training according the documents; (5) Executing the quality standard, including the service quality auditing, quality record auditing and quality system auditing; (6) Improving continually. With the establishment of ISO900QMS, the digital hospital can appraise more accurately, analyze quality matters statistically and avoid the interference of artificial factors.

  6. 75 FR 29530 - Combined Notice of Filings #1

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-26

    ...: ER07-397-005. Applicants: ISO New England Inc. and New England Power Pool. Description: ISO New England Inc et. al submit revision to Section III.13 of the ISO Tariff in response to the compliance... Independent System Operator Corporation submits amendments to the ISO's amendment to the ISO Tariff filed on 3...

  7. 78 FR 24193 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-24

    ... activities of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM), Independent System Operator New England, Inc. (ISO-NE), and... Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER13-193-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-195, Indicated PJM Transmission Owners Docket No. ER13-196-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-198, PJM Interconnection, L.L...

  8. 78 FR 20312 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-04

    ... activities of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM), Independent System Operator New England, Inc. (ISO-NE), and... Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER13-193-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-195, Indicated PJM Transmission Owners Docket No. ER13-196-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-198, PJM Interconnection, L.L...

  9. 78 FR 14654 - Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-07

    ... also require each regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) to... 20426, (202) 502-6404. Mindi Sauter (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy... require each regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) to address in...

  10. Transforming an EPA QA/R-2 quality management plan into an ISO 9002 quality management system.

    PubMed

    Kell, R A; Hedin, C M; Kassakhian, G H; Reynolds, E S

    2001-01-01

    The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) requires environmental data of known quality to support Superfund hazardous waste site projects. The Quality Assurance Technical Support (QATS) Program is operated by Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc. to provide EPA's Analytical Operations Center (AOC) with performance evaluation samples, reference materials, on-site laboratory auditing capabilities, data audits (including electronic media data audits), methods development, and other support services. The new QATS contract awarded in November 2000 required that the QATS Program become ISO 9000 certified. In a first for an EPA contractor, the QATS staff and management successfully transformed EPA's QA/R-2 type Quality Management Plan into a Quality Management System (QMS) that complies with the requirements of the internationally recognized ISO 9002 standard and achieved certification in the United States, Canada, and throughout Europe. The presentation describes how quality system elements of ISO 9002 were implemented on an already existing quality system. The psychological and organizational challenges of the culture change in QATS' day-to-day operations will be discussed for the benefit of other ISO 9000 aspirants.

  11. 77 FR 30274 - The Commission's Role Regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-22

    ... (`FERC'), Regional Transmission Operators (`RTOs'), Independent System Operators (`ISOs') and other..., RTOs and ISOs, Planning Authorities, NERC and affiliated regional entities--and we encourage them to do...

  12. Evaluation of ISO EN 13606 as a result of its implementation in XML

    PubMed Central

    Sun, Shanghua; Hassan, Taher; Kalra, Dipak

    2013-01-01

    The five parts of the ISO EN 13606 standard define a means by which health-care records can be exchanged between computer systems. Starting within the European standardisation process, it has now become internationally ratified in ISO. However, ISO standards do not require that a reference implementation be provided, and in order for ISO EN 13606 to deliver the expected benefits, it must be provided not as a document, but as an operational system that is not vendor specific. This article describes the evolution of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema through three iterations, each of which emphasised one particular approach to delivering an executable equivalent to the printed standard. Developing these operational versions and incorporating feedback from users of these demonstrated where implementation compromises were needed and exposed defects in the standard. These are discussed herein. They may require a future technical revision to ISO EN 13606 to resolve the issues identified. PMID:23995217

  13. Phasor Simulator for Operator Training Project

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

    Dyer, Jim

    2016-09-14

    Synchrophasor systems are being deployed in power systems throughout the North American Power Grid and there are plans to integrate this technology and its associated tools into Independent System Operator (ISO)/utility control room operations. A pre-requisite to using synchrophasor technologies in control rooms is for operators to obtain training and understand how to use this technology in real-time situations. The Phasor Simulator for Operator Training (PSOT) project objective was to develop, deploy and demonstrate a pre-commercial training simulator for operators on the use of this technology and to promote acceptance of the technology in utility and ISO/Regional Transmission Owner (RTO)more » control centers.« less

  14. ISO 9000 quality standards: a model for blood banking?

    PubMed

    Nevalainen, D E; Lloyd, H L

    1995-06-01

    The recent American Association of Blood Banks publications Quality Program and Quality Systems in the Blood Bank and Laboratory Environment, the FDA's draft guidelines, and recent changes in the GMP regulations all discuss the benefits of implementing quality systems in blood center and/or manufacturing operations. While the medical device GMPs in the United States have been rewritten to accommodate a quality system approach similar to ISO 9000, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA is also beginning to make moves toward adopting "quality systems audits" as an inspection process rather than using the historical approach of record reviews. The approach is one of prevention of errors rather than detection after the fact (Tourault MA, oral communication, November 1994). The ISO 9000 series of standards is a quality system that has worldwide scope and can be applied in any industry or service. The use of such international standards in blood banking should raise the level of quality within an organization, among organizations on a regional level, within a country, and among nations on a worldwide basis. Whether an organization wishes to become registered to a voluntary standard or not, the use of such standards to become ISO 9000-compliant would be a move in the right direction and would be a positive sign to the regulatory authorities and the public that blood banking is making a visible effort to implement world-class quality systems in its operations. Implementation of quality system standards such as the ISO 9000 series will provide an organized approach for blood banks and blood bank testing operations. With the continued trend toward consolidation and mergers, resulting in larger operational units with more complexity, quality systems will become even more important as the industry moves into the future.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  15. Hand-handle interface force and torque measurement system for pneumatic assembly tool operations: suggested enhancement to ISO 6544.

    PubMed

    Lin, Jia-Hua; McGorry, Raymond W; Chang, Chien-Chi

    2007-05-01

    A hand-handle interface force and torque measurement system is introduced to fill the void acknowledged in the international standard ISO 6544, which governs pneumatic, assembly tool reaction torque and force measurement. This system consists of an instrumented handle with a sensor capable of measuring grip force and reaction hand moment when threaded, fastener-driving tools are used by operators. The handle is rigidly affixed to the tool in parallel to the original tool handle allowing normal fastener-driving operations with minimal interference. Demonstration of this proposed system was made with tools of three different shapes: pistol grip, right angle, and in-line. During tool torque buildup, the proposed system measured operators exerting greater grip force on the soft joint than on the hard joint. The system also demonstrated that the soft joint demanded greater hand moment impulse than the hard joint. The results demonstrate that the measurement system can provide supplemental data useful in exposure assessment with power hand tools as proposed in ISO 6544.

  16. Progress report on the management of the NEA ISOE system

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

    Lazo, E.

    1995-03-01

    The Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE) was launched by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) on 1 January, 1992, to facilitate the communication of dosimetric and ALARA implementation data among nuclear utilities around the world. After two years of operation the System has become a mature interactive network for transfer of data and experience. Currently, 37 utilities from 12 countries, representing 289 power plants, and 12 national regulatory authorities participate in ISOE. Agreements for cooperation also exist between the NEA and the Commission of the European Communities (CEC), and the Paris Center ofmore » the WOrld Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO-PC). In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is acting as a co-sponsor of ISOE for the participation of non-NEA member countries. Three Regional Technical Centres, Europe, Asia, and Non-NEA member countries, serve to administer the system. The ISOE Network is comprised of three data bases and a communications network at several levels. The three ISOE data bases include the following types of information: NEA1 - annual plant dosimetric information; NEA2 - plant operational characteristics for dose and dose rate reduction; and NEA3 - job specific ALARA practices and experiences. The ISOE communications network has matured greatly during 1992 and 1993. In addition to having access to the above mentioned data bases, participants may now solicit information on new subjects, through the Technical Centres, from all other participants on a real-time basis. Information Sheets on these studies are produced for distribution to all participants. In addition, Topical Reports on areas of interest are produced, and Topical Meetings are held annually.« less

  17. 78 FR 26361 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-06

    ... Commission's staff may attend the following meetings related to the transmission planning activities of ISO...-000, New York Independent System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER13-193-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket No. ER13-195, Indicated PJM Transmission Owners Docket No. ER13-196-000, ISO New England Inc. Docket...

  18. ISO completes its observations of the Universe by infrared light

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1998-04-01

    At 07:00 on 8 April 1998, engineers at ESA's ground station at Villafranca near Madrid reported that ISO's telescope was beginning to warm up, above its nominal operating temperature close to absolute zero. This was the sign that ISO had exhausted the superfluid helium used to achieve the very low temperatures necessary for infrared astronomy. Observations ceased at 23h07 when the temperature of the instruments had risen above -269°C. At that time, ISO was observing the galaxy NGC 1808 with the camera (ISOCAM) for Prof. J. Hough (UK). The astronomers then handed ISO over to the engineering team for check-outs and decommissioning. The spacecraft will be switched off in about 28 days' time. Infrared rays come from cool places in the sky, and ISO would have been dazzled by its own heat unless its optical system were extremely cold. At its launch in November 1995, ISO carried a supply of 2000 litres of superfluid helium, which boils at -271 degrees C. Slow venting of the helium into space maintained the low temperature of the optical system. How did ISO achieve its extended life? Three months came from a prudent safety margin in the engineering calculations of the rate of loss of helium. Two months were the result of favourable circumstances in the launch campaign at Kourou in French Guiana. During a technical check of the Ariane 44P launcher, ISO's engineers seized the chance to recharge the helium, and the quick launch that followed meant that the outer parts of the cryogenic system of the spacecraft had little time to warm up in Kourou's tropical climate. Finally, the daily loss of helium turned out to be 17 less than expected, at the lower end of a range of possibilities considered by the engineers. That gave ISO an estimated five months of additional life. The date for the helium to run out remained somewhat uncertain, and astronomers and engineers have been alert to the possibility of its exhaustion for the past few weeks. The huge bonus to astronomers, from ISO's long operating life, is only one of their reasons to be grateful for the highly successful engineering and operations of ISO. The pointing accuracy of ISO's telescope was ten times better than required by the specification, and its jitter was one-fifth of what would have been considered tolerable. Smooth, well-planned operations were extended on a daily basis by a US ground station supporting ESA's Villafranca station. ISO was observing selected targets in the sky for 90-95 of the time available. Even in between the planned observations a "serendipity" programme with the ISOPHOT instrument charted cool objects as ISO slewed from one target to the next. Although ISO's observations are now completed, astronomers will be analysing them for years to come, assisted by a team of mission experts who will continue their work at Villafranca and other centres worldwide until 2001. Commenting on the completion of ISO's observational phase, ESA's director of science, Roger Bonnet, says: "We always knew that ISO's helium would run out one day, and we can be grateful that it has lasted for so long. This is a time for celebration, not sorrow, and I congratulate the VILSPA, ESTEC and ESOC staff who have operated so efficiently the spacecraft as well as European industry which developed such an excellent mission and our scientists who built such an outstanding payload . I wish European astronomers as well as their colleagues from the USA and Japan to now fully exploit the image data acquired by ISO". For further information, please contact : ESA Public Relations Division Martin Kessler Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.71.55 ISO Project Scientist Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.76.90 Tel :+34 (9)1.813.1253 e-mail: mkessler @iso.vilspa.esa.es For background information, consult ISO's wwwpages at : isowww.estec.esa.nl

  19. [Effects of the ISO 15189 accreditation on Nagoya University Hospital].

    PubMed

    Yoshiko, Kenichi

    2012-07-01

    The Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nagoya University Hospital acquired ISO 15189 accreditation in November, 2009. The operation of our Quality Management System (QMS) was first surveyed in October, 2010. In this paper, we reported the activity for the preparation and operation of our QMS and the effects of ISO 15189 accreditation. We investigated the changes in the number and content on nonconformities, incident reports and complaints before and after accreditation as indicators to evaluate the effect of ISO 15189 accreditation. Post accreditation, the number of nonconformities and incident reports decreased, seeming to show an improvement of quality of the laboratory activity; however, the number of complaints increased. We identified the increase of complaints at the phlebotomy station. There had been some problems with blood sampling in the past, but it seemed that staff had a high level of concern regarding these problems at the phlebotomy station and took appropriate measures to resolve the complaints. We confirmed that the ISO 15189 accreditation was instrumental in the improvements of the safety and efficiency on laboratory works. However there was a problem that increase of overtime works to operate the QMS. We deal with development of a laboratory management system using IT recourses to solve the problem.

  20. 75 FR 3228 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance at Midwest ISO Meetings

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-20

    .... Docket No. ER08-1043, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER08-1074... Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER09-1074, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc...

  1. MUSQA: a CS method to build a multi-standard quality management system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cros, Elizabeth; Sneed, Isabelle

    2002-07-01

    CS Communication & Systèmes, through its long quality management experience, has been able to build and evolve its Quality Management System according to clients requirements, norms, standards and models (ISO, DO178, ECSS, CMM, ...), evolving norms (transition from ISO 9001:1994 to ISO 9001:2000) and the TQM approach, being currently deployed. The aim of this paper is to show how, from this enriching and instructive experience, CS has defined and formalised its method: MuSQA (Multi-Standard Quality Approach). This method allows to built a new Quality Management System or simplify and unify an existing one. MuSQA objective is to provide any organisation with an open Quality Management System, which is able to evolve easily and turns to be a useful instrument for everyone, operational as well as non-operational staff.

  2. 75 FR 3223 - California Independent System Operator Corporation; Midwest Independent Transmission System...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-20

    ... the RTO/ISO stakeholder process and governance structure. First, NASUCA states that it is necessary to...' Council filed a motion to lodge a report on RTO/ISO governance written by the National Association of... wherever possible. Next, NASUCA proposes a revised governance structure that reflects consumer interests at...

  3. ISO 9001 certification for hospitals in Bulgaria: does it help service?

    PubMed

    Stoimenova, Assena; Stoilova, Ani; Petrova, Guenka

    2014-03-04

    The aim of our study is to review the published literature on establishment and implementation of ISO 9001 QMS in European hospitals, to study the availability of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) quality management systems (QMS) in Bulgarian hospitals and to outline the main advantages of ISO implementation in the hospitals in Bulgaria. The information on availability of ISO QMS in the hospitals in Bulgaria was gathered via Bulgarian certification register, the registries of various quality associations, websites of hospitals and certification companies presented in Bulgaria. A total number of 312 hospitals in Bulgaria were screened for the availability of QMS certified against the ISO 9001 requirements. The experience of European hospitals that implemented QMS is positive and the used approaches to improve the processes and the demonstrated effects from ISO implementation are analysed by the researchers. Unlike other European Union member states, the establishment of quality management systems in Bulgaria is not compulsory. However, our study revealed that 14.42% of the hospitals in Bulgaria have implemented and have certified quality systems against the requirements of ISO 9001. Our study confirmed that a quality management system using the ISO 9001 standard is useful for the hospitals as it can help to increase the operational efficiencies, to reduce errors, improve patient safety and produce a more preventive approach instead of a reactive environment.

  4. Coordination between Generation and Transmission Maintenance Scheduling by Means of Multi-agent Technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nagata, Takeshi; Tao, Yasuhiro; Utatani, Masahiro; Sasaki, Hiroshi; Fujita, Hideki

    This paper proposes a multi-agent approach to maintenance scheduling in restructured power systems. The restructuring of electric power industry has resulted in market-based approaches for unbundling a multitude of service provided by self-interested entities such as power generating companies (GENCOs), transmission providers (TRANSCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs). The Independent System Operator (ISO) is responsible for the security of the system operation. The schedule submitted to ISO by GENCOs and TRANSCOs should satisfy security and reliability constraints. The proposed method consists of several GENCO Agents (GAGs), TARNSCO Agents (TAGs) and a ISO Agent(IAG). The IAG’s role in maintenance scheduling is limited to ensuring that the submitted schedules do not cause transmission congestion or endanger the system reliability. From the simulation results, it can be seen the proposed multi-agent approach could coordinate between generation and transmission maintenance schedules.

  5. Coordination and decision making of regulation, operation, and market activities in power systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nakashima, Tomoaki

    Electric power has been traditionally supplied to customers at regulated rates by vertically integrated utilities (VIUs), which own generation, transmission, and distribution systems. However, the regulatory authorities of VIUs are promoting competition in their businesses to lower the price of electric energy. Consequently, in new deregulated circumstances, many suppliers and marketers compete in the generation market, and conflict of interest may often occur over transmission. Therefore, a neutral entity, called an independent system operator (ISO), which operates the power system independently, has been established to give market participants nondiscriminatory access to transmission sectors with a natural monopoly, and to facilitate competition in generation sectors. Several types of ISOs are established at present, with their respective regions and authorities. The ISO receives many requests from market participants to transfer power, and must evaluate the feasibility of their requests under the system's condition. In the near future, regulatory authorities may impose various objectives on the ISOs. Then, based on the regulators' policies, the ISO must determine the optimal schedules from feasible solutions, or change the market participants' requests. In a newly developed power market, market participants will conduct their transactions in order to maximize their profit. The most crucial information in conducting power transactions is price and demand. A direct transaction between suppliers and consumers may become attractive because of its stability of price, while in a power exchange market, gaming and speculation of participants may push up electricity prices considerably. To assist the consumers in making effective decisions, suitable methods for forecasting volatile market price are necessary. This research has been approached from three viewpoints: Firstly, from the system operator's point of view, desirable system operation and power market structure are explored. Two typical ISO models, centralized and decentralized, have been identified and compared. These ISO models have been simulated to observe the advantages and disadvantages of the different systems. If no powerful players exist, the centralized system would achieve the maximum market efficiency. However, in decentralized systems, freedom of trade protects market participants from strategic bidding caused by powerful players. Reduced market efficiency is the price markets have to pay to prevent strategic bidding. Secondly, from the regulator's point of view, the effects of different policies imposed by regulators on power transactions are examined. The optimal schedule could be affected greatly by the ideal goals and their allowable values. Therefore, when the ISO defines its objectives and their allowable ranges, an agreeable conclusion among market participants is required. Fuzzy multiobjective optimization methods can be suitably applied to the scheduling of the ISO, reflecting its objectives and their allowable ranges properly. Thirdly, from market participants' point of view, models to represent and forecast the price and demand of power are developed. Electricity consumption and price are forecasted based on possibility theory and fuzzy autoregression. The fuzzy model can represent highly volatile demand-price relations as a range, and gives the possibility distribution of prices. Based on the proposed model, a procedure to help consumers decide whether to accept a bilateral transaction contract or market-based purchases of electricity has been developed. The same procedure can also be used by an electricity supplier or broker to determine an offering price.

  6. Implementation of the OECD principles of good laboratory practice in test facilities complying with a quality system accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

    PubMed

    Feller, Etty

    2008-01-01

    Laboratories with a quality system accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard have a definite advantage, compared to non-accredited laboratories, when preparing their facilities for the implementation of the principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Accredited laboratories have an established quality system covering the administrative and technical issues specified in the standard. The similarities and differences between the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and the OECD principles of GLP are compared and discussed.

  7. 7 CFR 37.2 - Services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... ASSESS ORGANIC CERTIFYING AGENCIES § 37.2 Services. Organic certifying agencies requesting assessment...—General Requirements for Bodies Operating Product Certification Systems, Ref. No. ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996... manual against the requirements of ISO Guide 65; and (2) Onsite auditing of an applicant's organic...

  8. Military Petroleum Pipeline Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-06-01

    miodes of trunsportu-"tion conforming to tile cross-section for International Orounizations for Standardizu-tion ( ISO ) und American National Standards...along the I 00-ni lie length of’ thle pipleline., Facli pumlp stat ion wouli operate at a inuxu~inai discharge pressuro of’ ISO lb/in2 delivering...difficult, it would be possible to install 4-Inch, ISO - and 300-pound-class valves and 6-Inch, 150-pound-class valves without tile aid of materials handling

  9. Crosstalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 22, Number 3

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-04-01

    international standard for information security management systems like ISO /IEC 27001 :2005 [1] existed. Since that time, the organization has developed control...of ISO /IEC 27001 and the desire to make decisions based on business value and risk has prompted Ford’s IT Security and Controls organi- zation to begin...their conventional application security operation.u References 1. ISO /IEC 27001 :2005. “Information Technology – Security Techniques – Information

  10. 76 FR 4104 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance at Midwest ISO Meetings

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-24

    ... Transmission System Operator, Inc., et al. Docket No. ER05-1085, et al., Midwest Independent Transmission..., Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER10-1085, Midwest Independent...

  11. 75 FR 51996 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance at Midwest ISO Meetings

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-24

    ... Transmission System Operator, Inc., et al. Docket No. ER05-1085, et al., Midwest Independent Transmission..., Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER10-1085, Midwest Independent...

  12. 77 FR 52137 - Proposed Order and Request for Comment on a Petition From Certain Independent System Operators...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-28

    ... New York Independent System Operator, Inc.; and In the Matter of the Petition for an Exemptive Order... Independent System Operator (``CAISO'') and New York Independent System Operator (``NYISO'')), whose central... Commodity Exchange Act by ISO New England Inc.; In the Matter of the Petition for an Exemptive Order Under...

  13. [The design and development of a quality system for the diagnosis of exotic animal diseases at the National Centre for Animal and Plant Health in Cuba].

    PubMed

    de Oca, N Montes; Villoch, A; Pérez Ruano, M

    2004-12-01

    A quality system for the diagnosis of exotic animal diseases was developed at the national centre for animal and plant health (CENSA), responsible for coordinating the clinical, epizootiological and laboratory diagnosis of causal agents of exotic animal diseases in Cuba. A model was designed on the basis of standard ISO 9001:2000 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), standard ISO/IEC 17025:1999 of ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission, recommendations of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and other regulatory documents from international and national organisations that deal specifically with the treatment of emerging diseases. Twenty-nine standardised operating procedures were developed, plus 13 registers and a checklist to facilitate the evaluation of the system. The effectiveness of the quality system was confirmed in the differential diagnosis of classical swine fever at an animal virology laboratory in Cuba.

  14. 75 FR 3225 - Notice of Commission Staff Attendance at Organization of MISO States and Midwest ISO Meetings

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-20

    .... Docket No. ER08-1043, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER08-1074... Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER09-1074, Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. Docket No. ER09...

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

    Eto, Joseph H.; Parashar, Manu; Lewis, Nancy Jo

    The Real Time System Operations (RTSO) 2006-2007 project focused on two parallel technical tasks: (1) Real-Time Applications of Phasors for Monitoring, Alarming and Control; and (2) Real-Time Voltage Security Assessment (RTVSA) Prototype Tool. The overall goal of the phasor applications project was to accelerate adoption and foster greater use of new, more accurate, time-synchronized phasor measurements by conducting research and prototyping applications on California ISO's phasor platform - Real-Time Dynamics Monitoring System (RTDMS) -- that provide previously unavailable information on the dynamic stability of the grid. Feasibility assessment studies were conducted on potential application of this technology for small-signal stabilitymore » monitoring, validating/improving existing stability nomograms, conducting frequency response analysis, and obtaining real-time sensitivity information on key metrics to assess grid stress. Based on study findings, prototype applications for real-time visualization and alarming, small-signal stability monitoring, measurement based sensitivity analysis and frequency response assessment were developed, factory- and field-tested at the California ISO and at BPA. The goal of the RTVSA project was to provide California ISO with a prototype voltage security assessment tool that runs in real time within California ISO?s new reliability and congestion management system. CERTS conducted a technical assessment of appropriate algorithms, developed a prototype incorporating state-of-art algorithms (such as the continuation power flow, direct method, boundary orbiting method, and hyperplanes) into a framework most suitable for an operations environment. Based on study findings, a functional specification was prepared, which the California ISO has since used to procure a production-quality tool that is now a part of a suite of advanced computational tools that is used by California ISO for reliability and congestion management.« less

  16. Determining system boundaries on commercial broiler chicken production system using ISO 14040/14044 guideline: A case Study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sidek, ‘A. A.; Suffian, S. A.; Al-Hazza, M. H. F.; Yusof, H. M.

    2018-01-01

    The demand of poultry product in Malaysia market shows an escalation throughout the year and expected to increase in the future. The expansion of poultry production has led to environmental concern in relation to their operational impact to environmentAt present, assessment of waste management of poultry production in Malaysia is lacking. A case study research was conducted in a commercial broiler farm to identify and assess the system boundaries in the lifecycle supply chain of broiler chicken production using ISO 14040/44 guidelines. ISO 14040/44 standard includes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework guidelines to evaluate environmental influence associated with a product/process throughout its life span. All attributes associated with broiler operation is defined and the system boundaries is determined to identify possible inputs and outputs in the case study. This paper discuss the initial stage in the LCA process, which set the context of the research and prepare for the stage of Life Cycle Inventory.

  17. Diversifying the Department of Defense Network Enterprise with Linux

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-01

    Cyberspace, Cyberwar, Legacy, Inventory, Acquisition, Competitive Advantage, Coalition Communications, Ubiquitous, Strategic, Centricity, Kaizen , ISO... Kaizen , ISO, Outsource CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified Historically, the United States and its closest allies have grown increasingly reliant...control through the use of continuous improvement processes ( Kaizen )34. In choosing the Linux client operating system, the move encourages open standards

  18. [Laboratory accreditation and proficiency testing].

    PubMed

    Kuwa, Katsuhiko

    2003-05-01

    ISO/TC 212 covering clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems will issue the international standard for medical laboratory quality and competence requirements, ISO 15189. This standard is based on the ISO/IEC 17025, general requirements for competence of testing and calibration laboratories and ISO 9001, quality management systems-requirements. Clinical laboratory services are essential to patient care and therefore should be available to meet the needs of all patients and clinical personnel responsible for human health care. If a laboratory seeks accreditation, it should select an accreditation body that operates according to this international standard and in a manner which takes into account the particular requirements of clinical laboratories. Proficiency testing should be available to evaluate the calibration laboratories and reference measurement laboratories in clinical medicine. Reference measurement procedures should be of precise and the analytical principle of measurement applied should ensure reliability. We should be prepared to establish a quality management system and proficiency testing in clinical laboratories.

  19. ISO successfully launched

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1995-11-01

    ISO is a high-technology telescope facility designed and built in Europe for use by the scientific community in Europe, Japan and the USA. It will provide astronomers with an unprecedented opportunity - the only one in the next decade - to make scientific observations of a wide variety of weak infrared radiation sources such as cold gases, galaxies and stars dying and being born. ISO represents a leap forward in space technology harnessed for astronomical observation of the universe. ISO is the world's first astronomical observatory in space operating at infrared wavelengths. To observe the weakest heat sources in the universe, its four scientific instruments have to be cooled to extremely low temperatures, using superfluid helium which evaporates slowly at minus 271 or about 2 degrees above absolute zero. The scientific instruments, telescope and liquid helium are all contained in a cryostat, which has been likened to an extraordinarily well insulated thermos flask. It is the first such cryogenically cooled satellite developed in Europe and employs very advanced technologies, notably for the scientific instruments, telescope and attitude control system. ISO will be controlled from the ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, for the first few days, until the final orbit is achieved, and then operational control will be passed to a dedicated ESA operations centre in Villafranca, Spain. The first 21/2 months of operations will be given over to commissioning the satellite and verifying the performance of the scientific instruments. The observation programme is planned to start in early February 1996. ISO's lifetime is expected to be 20 months, by the end of which the helium, steadily evaporating as it cools the cryostat, should be exhausted.

  20. A new approach in the development of quality management systems for (micro)electronics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bacivarov, Ioan C.; Bacivarov, Angelica; Gherghina, Cǎtǎlina

    2016-12-01

    This paper presents the new approach in the analysis of the Quality Management Systems (QMS) of companies, based on the revised standard ISO 9001:2015. In the first part of the paper, QMS based on ISO 9001 certification are introduced; the changes and the updates proposed for the new version of ISO 9001:2015 are critically analyzed, based on the documents elaborated by ISO/TC 176. The approach based on ISO 9001:2015 could be considered as "beginning of a new era in development of quality management systems". A comparison between the between the "old" standard ISO 9001:2008 and the "new" standard ISO 9001:2015 is made. In the second part of the paper, steps to be followed in a company to implement this new standard are presented. A peculiar attention is given to the new concept of risk-based thinking in order to support and improve application of the process based approach. The authors conclude that, by considering risk throughout the organization the likelihood of achieving stated objectives is improved, output is more consistent and customers can be confident that they will receive the expected results. Finally, the benefits of the new approach in the development of quality management systems are outlined, as well as how they are reflected in the management of companies in general and those in electronics field, in particular. As demonstrated in this paper, well understood and properly applied, the new approach based on the revised standard ISO9001:2015 could offer a better quality management for companies operating in electronics and beyond.

  1. Operation of the Defense Acquisition System

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-08

    United States Code (l) DoD Directive 8320.02, “Data Sharing in a Net-Centric Department of Defense,” December 2, 2004 (m) DoD Instruction 5200.39...2004 (t) ISO 15418-1999- “EAN/ UCC Application Identifiers and Fact Data Identifiers and Maintenance” (u) ISO 15434-1999 – “Transfer Syntax for High...Acquisition Knowledge Sharing System7 (y) Section 644 of title 15, United States Code, “Procurement strategies; contract bundling” (z) Public Law 101-576

  2. 75 FR 5779 - Notice Providing Agenda for Technical Conference on RTO/ISO Responsiveness

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-04

    .... Southwest Power Pool, Inc Docket Nos. ER09-1050-000, ER09- 1192-000. ISO New England, Inc. and New England Docket No. ER09-1051-000. Power Pool. PJM Interconnection, LLC Docket No. ER09-1063-000. New York Independent System Operator, Docket No. ER09-1142-000. Inc. On November 13, 2009, the Commission issued a...

  3. Comparison of three optical tracking systems in a complex navigation scenario.

    PubMed

    Rudolph, Tobias; Ebert, Lars; Kowal, Jens

    2010-01-01

    Three-dimensional rotational X-ray imaging with the SIREMOBIL Iso-C3D (Siemens AG, Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany) has become a well-established intra-operative imaging modality. In combination with a tracking system, the Iso-C3D provides inherently registered image volumes ready for direct navigation. This is achieved by means of a pre-calibration procedure. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the tracking system used on the overall navigation accuracy of direct Iso-C3D navigation. Three models of tracking system were used in the study: Two Optotrak 3020s, a Polaris P4 and a Polaris Spectra system, with both Polaris systems being in the passive operation mode. The evaluation was carried out at two different sites using two Iso-C3D devices. To measure the navigation accuracy, a number of phantom experiments were conducted using an acrylic phantom equipped with titanium spheres. After scanning, a special pointer was used to pinpoint these markers. The difference between the digitized and navigated positions served as the accuracy measure. Up to 20 phantom scans were performed for each tracking system. The average accuracy measured was 0.86 mm and 0.96 mm for the two Optotrak 3020 systems, 1.15 mm for the Polaris P4, and 1.04 mm for the Polaris Spectra system. For the Polaris systems a higher maximal error was found, but all three systems yielded similar minimal errors. On average, all tracking systems used in this study could deliver similar navigation accuracy. The passive Polaris system showed – as expected – higher maximal errors; however, depending on the application constraints, this might be negligible.

  4. Impact of Utility-Scale Distributed Wind on Transmission-Level System Operations

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

    Brancucci Martinez-Anido, C.; Hodge, B. M.

    2014-09-01

    This report presents a new renewable integration study that aims to assess the potential for adding distributed wind to the current power system with minimal or no upgrades to the distribution or transmission electricity systems. It investigates the impacts of integrating large amounts of utility-scale distributed wind power on bulk system operations by performing a case study on the power system of the Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE).

  5. Technologies for unattended network operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jaworski, Allan; Odubiyi, Jide; Holdridge, Mark; Zuzek, John

    1991-01-01

    The necessary network management functions for a telecommunications, navigation and information management (TNIM) system in the framework of an extension of the ISO model for communications network management are described. Various technologies that could substantially reduce the need for TNIM network management, automate manpower intensive functions, and deal with synchronization and control at interplanetary distances are presented. Specific technologies addressed include the use of the ISO Common Management Interface Protocol, distributed artificial intelligence for network synchronization and fault management, and fault-tolerant systems engineering.

  6. Total integrated performance excellence system (TIPES): A true north direction for a clinical trial support center.

    PubMed

    Sather, Mike R; Parsons, Sherry; Boardman, Kathy D; Warren, Stuart R; Davis-Karim, Anne; Griffin, Kevin; Betterton, Jane A; Jones, Mark S; Johnson, Stanley H; Vertrees, Julia E; Hickey, Jan H; Salazar, Thelma P; Huang, Grant D

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents the quality journey taken by a Federal organization over more than 20 years. These efforts have resulted in the implementation of a Total Integrated Performance Excellence System (TIPES) that combines key principles and practices of established quality systems. The Center has progressively integrated quality system frameworks including the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Framework and Criteria for Performance Excellence, ISO 9001, and the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3), as well as supplemental quality systems of ISO 15378 (packaging for medicinal products) and ISO 21500 (guide to project management) to systematically improve all areas of operations. These frameworks were selected for applicability to Center processes and systems, consistency and reinforcement of complimentary approaches, and international acceptance. External validations include the MBNQA, the highest quality award in the US, continued registration and conformance to ISO standards and guidelines, and multiple VA and state awards. With a focus on a holistic approach to quality involving processes, systems and personnel, this paper presents activities and lessons that were critical to building TIPES and establishing the quality environment for conducting clinical research in support of Veterans and national health care.

  7. Coalition Network Defence Common Operational Picture

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-11-01

    27000 .org/ iso -27005.htm [26] ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats - Information interchange - Representation of dates and times, http://ww.iso.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601 ...Regular_expression [25] ISO /IEC 27005:2008, Information technology -- Security techniques -- Information security risk management, http://ww.iso.org,; http://www

  8. Sustainable development induction in organizations: a convergence analysis of ISO standards management tools' parameters.

    PubMed

    Merlin, Fabrício Kurman; Pereira, Vera Lúciaduarte do Valle; Pacheco, Waldemar

    2012-01-01

    Organizations are part of an environment in which they are pressured to meet society's demands and acting in a sustainable way. In an attempt to meet such demands, organizations make use of various management tools, among which, ISO standards are used. Although there are evidences of contributions provided by these standards, it is questionable whether its parameters converge for a possible induction for sustainable development in organizations. This work presents a theoretical study, designed on structuralism world view, descriptive and deductive method, which aims to analyze the convergence of management tools' parameters in ISO standards. In order to support the analysis, a generic framework for possible convergence was developed, based on systems approach, linking five ISO standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 31000 and ISO 26000) with sustainable development and positioning them according to organization levels (strategic, tactical and operational). The structure was designed based on Brundtland report concept. The analysis was performed exploring the generic framework for possible convergence based on Nadler and Tushman model. The results found the standards can contribute to a possible sustainable development induction in organizations, as long as they meet certain minimum conditions related to its strategic alignment.

  9. Chance-Constrained System of Systems Based Operation of Power Systems

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

    Kargarian, Amin; Fu, Yong; Wu, Hongyu

    In this paper, a chance-constrained system of systems (SoS) based decision-making approach is presented for stochastic scheduling of power systems encompassing active distribution grids. Based on the concept of SoS, the independent system operator (ISO) and distribution companies (DISCOs) are modeled as self-governing systems. These systems collaborate with each other to run the entire power system in a secure and economic manner. Each self-governing system accounts for its local reserve requirements and line flow constraints with respect to the uncertainties of load and renewable energy resources. A set of chance constraints are formulated to model the interactions between the ISOmore » and DISCOs. The proposed model is solved by using analytical target cascading (ATC) method, a distributed optimization algorithm in which only a limited amount of information is exchanged between collaborative ISO and DISCOs. In this paper, a 6-bus and a modified IEEE 118-bus power systems are studied to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.« less

  10. 78 FR 53450 - Centralized Capacity Markets in Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-29

    ... opportunity for each of the eastern Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs)/Independent System Operators... PJM. The report summarizes the approaches taken by each of these RTOs/ISOs with respect to these...

  11. IGMS: An Integrated ISO-to-Appliance Scale Grid Modeling System

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

    Palmintier, Bryan; Hale, Elaine; Hansen, Timothy M.

    This paper describes the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS), a novel electric power system modeling platform for integrated transmission-distribution analysis that co-simulates off-the-shelf tools on high performance computing (HPC) platforms to offer unprecedented resolution from ISO markets down to appliances and other end uses. Specifically, the system simultaneously models hundreds or thousands of distribution systems in co-simulation with detailed Independent System Operator (ISO) markets and AGC-level reserve deployment. IGMS uses a new MPI-based hierarchical co-simulation framework to connect existing sub-domain models. Our initial efforts integrate opensource tools for wholesale markets (FESTIV), bulk AC power flow (MATPOWER), and full-featured distribution systemsmore » including physics-based end-use and distributed generation models (many instances of GridLAB-D[TM]). The modular IGMS framework enables tool substitution and additions for multi-domain analyses. This paper describes the IGMS tool, characterizes its performance, and demonstrates the impacts of the coupled simulations for analyzing high-penetration solar PV and price responsive load scenarios.« less

  12. Uncertainty-based Estimation of the Secure Range for ISO New England Dynamic Interchange Adjustment

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

    Etingov, Pavel V.; Makarov, Yuri V.; Wu, Di

    2014-04-14

    The paper proposes an approach to estimate the secure range for dynamic interchange adjustment, which assists system operators in scheduling the interchange with neighboring control areas. Uncertainties associated with various sources are incorporated. The proposed method is implemented in the dynamic interchange adjustment (DINA) tool developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for ISO New England. Simulation results are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  13. Whole-body vibration exposure: a comprehensive field study.

    PubMed

    Ozkaya, N; Willems, B; Goldsheyder, D

    1994-12-01

    A comprehensive field study investigated whole-body vibration exposure levels experienced by the train operators of a large metropolitan subway system. The purposes of the study were to measure mechanical vibrations transmitted to the seated train operators, to calculate daily whole-body vibration exposure levels, and to compare these levels with maximum acceptable exposure levels recommended by the international standard on whole-body vibration (ISO 2631). The study also sought to identify factors that may influence mechanical vibrations transmitted to the operators and quantify their effects on the measured vibration levels. The study was carried out by dividing the subway system into subway lines, each line into southbound and northbound directions, and each direction into station-to-station observations. Triaxial measurements were made on all subway lines and for all car types used in the system. For each line, at least two round trips of data were collected. Time-weighted averages of the two sets of data were used for final presentation. A total of 48 round trips were made and more than 100 hours of vibration data was collected and analyzed. All phases of the study were carried out in accordance with the procedures outlined in ISO 2631. It was determined that 6 out of 20 subway lines had vibration levels higher than daily exposure limits recommended by ISO 2631. It was also determined that train speed was the most significant factor influencing vibration exposure levels.

  14. Implementing the DoD Joint Operation Planning Process for Private Industry Enterprise Security

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-01

    Standards Organization’s ( ISO ) ISO 27001 ( ISO 27002 defines the controls), and the IT Service Management Forum’s Information Technology Infrastructure...27001 certification. 24 Alberto Bastos and Rosangela Caubit, ISO 27001 and 27002 : Information...includes: 90,000 records lost from Booz Allen Hamilton; 90,000,000 26 ISO /IEC 27002 , 19 December

  15. CIEMAT EXTERNAL DOSIMETRY SERVICE: ISO/IEC 17025 ACCREDITATION AND 3 Y OF OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AS AN ACCREDITED LABORATORY.

    PubMed

    Romero, A M; Rodríguez, R; López, J L; Martín, R; Benavente, J F

    2016-09-01

    In 2008, the CIEMAT Radiation Dosimetry Service decided to implement a quality management system, in accordance with established requirements, in order to achieve ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. Although the Service comprises the approved individual monitoring services of both external and internal radiation, this paper is specific to the actions taken by the External Dosimetry Service, including personal and environmental dosimetry laboratories, to gain accreditation and the reflections of 3 y of operational experience as an accredited laboratory. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Usability evaluation of mobile applications using ISO 9241 and ISO 25062 standards.

    PubMed

    Moumane, Karima; Idri, Ali; Abran, Alain

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents an empirical study based on a set of measures to evaluate the usability of mobile applications running on different mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS and Symbian. The aim is to evaluate empirically a framework that we have developed on the use of the Software Quality Standard ISO 9126 in mobile environments, especially the usability characteristic. To do that, 32 users had participated in the experiment and we have used ISO 25062 and ISO 9241 standards for objective measures by working with two widely used mobile applications: Google Apps and Google Maps. The QUIS 7.0 questionnaire have been used to collect measures assessing the users' level of satisfaction when using these two mobile applications. By analyzing the results we highlighted a set of mobile usability issues that are related to the hardware as well as to the software and that need to be taken into account by designers and developers in order to improve the usability of mobile applications.

  17. Measuring Operational Resilience Using the CERT(Registered) Resilience Management Model

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    such as ISO 27002 [ ISO 2005]) and then measure the implementation and performance of practices contained in the standard. This checklist-based ap...Security techniques – Code of practice for information security management. ISO /IEC 27002 :2005, June 2005. Also known as ISO /IEC 17799:2005. [ ISO 2007...Table 23: ISO 15939 Process Activities and Tasks 54 Table 24: CERT-RMM Measurement and Analysis Process Area Goals and Practices 55 CMU/SEI

  18. System Study: Isolation Condenser 1998-2014

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

    Schroeder, John Alton

    2015-12-01

    This report presents an unreliability evaluation of the isolation condenser (ISO) system at four U.S. boiling water reactors. Demand, run hours, and failure data from fiscal year 1998 through 2014 for selected components were obtained from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Consolidated Events Database (ICES). The unreliability results are trended for the most recent 10 year period, while yearly estimates for system unreliability are provided for the entire active period. No statistically significant increasing trends were identified. A statistically significant decreasing trend was identified for ISO unreliability. The magnitude of the trend indicated a 1.5 percent decrease inmore » system unreliability over the last 10 years.« less

  19. [ISO 15189 accreditation in clinical microbiology laboratory: general concepts and the status in our laboratory].

    PubMed

    Akyar, Işin

    2009-10-01

    One important trend in the laboratory profession and quality management is the global convergence of laboratory operations. The goal of an accredited medical laboratory is to continue "offering useful laboratory service for diagnosis and treatment of the patients and also aid to the health of the nation". An accredited clinical laboratory is managed by a quality control system, it is competent technically and the laboratory service meets the needs of all its patients and physicians by taking the responsibility of all the medical tests and therapies. For this purpose, ISO 15189 international standard has been prepared by 2003. ISO 15189 standard is originated from the arrangement of ISO 17025 and ISO 9001:2000 standards. Many countries such as England, Germany, France, Canada and Australia have preferred ISO 15189 as their own laboratory accreditation programme, meeting all the requirements of their medical laboratories. The accreditation performance of a clinical microbiology laboratory is mainly based on five essential points; preanalytical, analytical, postanalytical, quality control programmes (internal, external, interlaboratory) and audits (internal, external). In this review article, general concepts on ISO 15189 accreditation standards for the clinical microbiology laboratories have been summarized and the status of a private laboratory (Acibadem LabMed, Istanbul) in Turkey has been discussed.

  20. Organizational leadership: A study on the affects of certification to International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowart, Jewel S.

    Compliance to requirements of ISO is an important leadership problem for the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) and the Aviation, Space and Defense (AS&D) companies. Furthermore, the IAQG seeks to understand the valuation of ISO/AS9100 requirements (2009), audit practices, management functions, business performance, customer satisfaction, and potential future concepts for the standard to assure quality. Since the release of the AS9100C total certification growth surpassed 1,100,000 organizations in 2010 with ISO 9001 series adoption and implementation governing business operations (ASQ, 2012b; ISO, 2011; Bernardo, Llach, & Marimon, 2011). Historians such as Crosby, Juran, Deming, and others established the foundation for quality assurance. Several researchers explored the issues which complicate overall benefits of ISO certification (Iwaro & Mwasha, 2012; Karthi et al., 2012; Sampaio et al., 2009). This study examined the effects on AS&D industries from ISO compliance to identify the implications (of ever-changing requirements) through an online survey of 15,000 practitioners. The research illuminated how ISO affects AS&D industries with current and future requirements for certification. The data showed that 75% of survey respondents report implementation of the AS9100C requirements still has benefits that outweigh the cost. Findings suggest that AS&D industries perceive significant value in the AS9100C document as part of the overall ISO 9000 series. In general, the comments from the survey can provide insight into the affects of ISO certification. The study concludes by recommending continued research to learn of further impacts from ISO certification within AS&D industries to improve the AS9100 document requirements for quality management systems.

  1. Development of STEP-NC Adaptor for Advanced Web Manufacturing System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ajay Konapala, Mr.; Koona, Ramji, Dr.

    2017-08-01

    Information systems play a key role in the modern era of Information Technology. Rapid developments in IT & global competition calls for many changes in basic CAD/CAM/CAPP/CNC manufacturing chain of operations. ‘STEP-NC’ an enhancement to STEP for operating CNC machines, creating new opportunities for collaborative, concurrent, adaptive works across the manufacturing chain of operations. Schemas and data models defined by ISO14649 in liaison with ISO10303 standards made STEP-NC file rich with feature based, rather than mere point to point information of G/M Code format. But one needs to have a suitable information system to understand and modify these files. Various STEP-NC information systems are reviewed to understand the suitability of STEP-NC for web manufacturing. Present work also deals with the development of an adaptor which imports STEP-NC file, organizes its information, allowing modifications to entity values and finally generates a new STEP-NC file to export. The system is designed and developed to work on web to avail additional benefits through the web and also to be part of a proposed ‘Web based STEP-NC manufacturing platform’ which is under development and explained as future scope.

  2. Sandia National Laboratories, California Environmental Management System program manual.

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

    Larsen, Barbara L.

    2012-03-01

    The Sandia National Laboratories, California (SNL/CA) Environmental Management System (EMS) Program Manual documents the elements of the site EMS Program. The SNL/CA EMS Program conforms to the International Standard on Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001:2004and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 436.1. Sandia National Laboratories, California (SNL/CA) has maintained functional environmental programs to assist with regulatory compliance for more than 30 years. During 2005, these existing programs were rolled into a formal environmental management system (EMS) that expands beyond the traditional compliance focus to managing and improving environmental performance and stewardship practices for all site activities. An EMS is a setmore » of inter-related elements that represent a continuing cycle of planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving processes and actions undertaken to achieve environmental policy and goals. The SNL/CA EMS Program conforms to the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001:2004 (ISO 2004). The site first received ISO 14001 certification in September 2006 and recertification in 2009. SNL/CA's EMS Program is applicable to the Sandia, Livermore site only. Although SNL/CA operates as one organizational division of the overall Sandia National Laboratories, the EMS Program is site-specific, with site-specific objectives and targets. SNL/CA (Division 8000) benefits from the organizational structure as it provides corporate level policies, procedures, and standards, and established processes that connect to and support elements of the SNL/CA EMS Program. Additionally, SNL/CA's EMS Program benefits from two corporate functional programs (Facilities Energy and Water Resource Management and Fleet Services programs) that maintain responsibility for energy management and fleet services for all Sandia locations. Each EMS element is further enhanced with site-specific processes and standards. Division 8000 has several groups operating at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL/NM). Although these groups, from an organizational perspective, are part of Division 8000, they are managed locally and fall under the environmental requirements specific to their New Mexico location. The New Mexico groups in Division 8000 follow the corporate EMS Program for New Mexico operations.« less

  3. An Assessment of a Science Discipline Archive Against ISO 16363

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hughes, J. S.; Downs, R. R.

    2016-12-01

    The Planetary Data System (PDS) is a federation of science discipline nodes formed in response to the findings of the Committee on Data Management and Computing (CODMAC 1986) that a "wealth of science data would ultimately cease to be useful and probably lost if a process was not developed to ensure that the science data were properly archived." Starting operations in 1990 the stated mission of the PDS is to "facilitate achievement of NASA's planetary science goals by efficiently collecting, archiving, and making accessible digital data and documentation produced by or relevant to NASA's planetary missions, research programs, and data analysis programs."In 2008 the PDS initiated a transition to a more modern system based on key principles found in the Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (ISO 14721), a set of functional requirements provided by the designated community, and about twenty years of lessons-learned. With science digital data now being archived under the new PDS4, the PDS is a good use case to be assessed as a trusted repository against ISO 16363, a recommended practice for assessing the trustworthiness of digital repositories.This presentation will summarize the OAIS principles adopted for PDS4 and the findings of a desk assessment of the PDS against ISO 16363. Also presented will be specific items of evidence, for example the PDS mission statement above, and how they impact the level of certainty that the ISO 16363 metrics are being met.

  4. Sci-Fri PM: Radiation Therapy, Planning, Imaging, and Special Techniques - 09: Impact of the distance of reflective markers from linac isocenter on the positional accuracy of an infrared tracking system

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

    Ali, Elsayed; Nyiri, Balazs

    Purpose: The HexaPOD™ six degree of freedom couchtop is equipped with an optical tracking system, consisting of a stereoscopic camera and a reference frame (RF) carrying infrared reflective markers. The manufacturer recommends placing the RF within 50 cm from linac isocenter (ISO), which is a serious limitation since the RF does not fit around the shoulders of most brain patients. This study quantifies the impact of extended RF distances from ISO on positional accuracy. Methods: An in-house tool with an estimated resolution of 0.3 mm and 0.1° was used. It is a large cube and a mathematical model of HexaPODmore » motion to determine the intersection of room lasers with the ruled cube edges. Combinations of translations (±1 and ±3 cm) and rotations (±2.5°) were executed on two HexaPOD couchtops for multiple RF distances from ISO (35 to 77 cm). For each combination, ten laser readings were fed into a least squares algorithm to determine the executed translations and rotations while minimizing operator reading errors. Results: The usable tracking volume is up to an RF distance of 82 cm from ISO. Positional accuracy of the HexaPOD/iGuide system is 0.6 mm and 0.1° (95% confidence). Positional accuracy variations versus RF distance from ISO are statistically insignificant (p = 0.05). Our results generally confirm recent internal estimates by the manufacturer (for future release). Conclusions: RF distances up to 77 cm from ISO are clinically acceptable, provided performing a patient safety study with a verification scan.« less

  5. Experiences Integrating Transmission and Distribution Simulations for DERs with the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS)

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

    Palmintier, Bryan; Hale, Elaine; Hodge, Bri-Mathias

    2016-08-11

    This paper discusses the development of, approaches for, experiences with, and some results from a large-scale, high-performance-computer-based (HPC-based) co-simulation of electric power transmission and distribution systems using the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS). IGMS was developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a novel Independent System Operator (ISO)-to-appliance scale electric power system modeling platform that combines off-the-shelf tools to simultaneously model 100s to 1000s of distribution systems in co-simulation with detailed ISO markets, transmission power flows, and AGC-level reserve deployment. Lessons learned from the co-simulation architecture development are shared, along with a case study that explores the reactivemore » power impacts of PV inverter voltage support on the bulk power system.« less

  6. 7 CFR 37.2 - Services.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... ASSESS ORGANIC CERTIFYING AGENCIES § 37.2 Services. Organic certifying agencies requesting assessment...—General Requirements for Bodies Operating Product Certification Systems, Ref. No. ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996...

  7. Mapping ‘hydroscapes’ along the iso- to anisohydric continuum of stomatal regulation of plant water status

    Treesearch

    Frederick C. Meinzer; David R. Woodruff; Danielle E. Marias; Duncan D. Smith; Katherine A. McCulloh; Ava R. Howard; Alicia L. Magedman; Josep Penuelas

    2016-01-01

    The concept of iso- vs. anisohydry has been used to describe the stringency of stomatal regulation of plant water potential (ψ). However, metrics that accurately and consistently quantify species’ operating ranges along a continuum of iso- to anisohydry have been elusive. Additionally, most approaches to quantifying iso/anisohydry require labour-intensive measurements...

  8. Evolving Metadata in NASA Earth Science Data Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitchell, A.; Cechini, M. F.; Walter, J.

    2011-12-01

    NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of satellites for long term global observations. NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a petabyte-scale archive of environmental data that supports global climate change research by providing end-to-end services from EOS instrument data collection to science data processing to full access to EOS and other earth science data. On a daily basis, the EOSDIS ingests, processes, archives and distributes over 3 terabytes of data from NASA's Earth Science missions representing over 3500 data products ranging from various types of science disciplines. EOSDIS is currently comprised of 12 discipline specific data centers that are collocated with centers of science discipline expertise. Metadata is used in all aspects of NASA's Earth Science data lifecycle from the initial measurement gathering to the accessing of data products. Missions use metadata in their science data products when describing information such as the instrument/sensor, operational plan, and geographically region. Acting as the curator of the data products, data centers employ metadata for preservation, access and manipulation of data. EOSDIS provides a centralized metadata repository called the Earth Observing System (EOS) ClearingHouse (ECHO) for data discovery and access via a service-oriented-architecture (SOA) between data centers and science data users. ECHO receives inventory metadata from data centers who generate metadata files that complies with the ECHO Metadata Model. NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project established a Tiger Team to study and make recommendations regarding the adoption of the international metadata standard ISO 19115 in EOSDIS. The result was a technical report recommending an evolution of NASA data systems towards a consistent application of ISO 19115 and related standards including the creation of a NASA-specific convention for core ISO 19115 elements. Part of NASA's effort to continually evolve its data systems led ECHO to enhancing the method in which it receives inventory metadata from the data centers to allow for multiple metadata formats including ISO 19115. ECHO's metadata model will also be mapped to the NASA-specific convention for ingesting science metadata into the ECHO system. As NASA's new Earth Science missions and data centers are migrating to the ISO 19115 standards, EOSDIS is developing metadata management resources to assist in the reading, writing and parsing ISO 19115 compliant metadata. To foster interoperability with other agencies and international partners, NASA is working to ensure that a common ISO 19115 convention is developed, enhancing data sharing capabilities and other data analysis initiatives. NASA is also investigating the use of ISO 19115 standards to encode data quality, lineage and provenance with stored values. A common metadata standard across NASA's Earth Science data systems promotes interoperability, enhances data utilization and removes levels of uncertainty found in data products.

  9. A Strategy for Improved System Assurance

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-06-20

    Quality (Measurements Life Cycle Safety, Security & Others) ISO /IEC 12207 * Software Life Cycle Processes ISO 9001 Quality Management System...14598 Software Product Evaluation Related ISO /IEC 90003 Guidelines for the Application of ISO 9001:2000 to Computer Software IEEE 12207 Industry...Implementation of International Standard ISO /IEC 12207 IEEE 1220 Standard for Application and Management of the System Engineering Process Use in

  10. 76 FR 5799 - Prairie Power, Inc.; Notice of Filing

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-02

    .... (Midwest ISO) Schedule 2, for reactive supply and voltage control service from certain of its owned... and Midwest ISO requirements for the provision of reactive supply and voltage control under Schedule 2 of the Midwest ISO Open Access Transmission, Energy, and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff, including...

  11. NASA Glenn's Acoustical Testing Laboratory Awarded Accreditation by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Akers, James C.; Cooper, Beth A.

    2004-01-01

    NASA Glenn Research Center's Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL) provides a comprehensive array of acoustical testing services, including sound pressure level, sound intensity level, and sound-power-level testing per International Standards Organization (ISO)1 3744. Since its establishment in September 2000, the ATL has provided acoustic emission testing and noise control services for a variety of customers, particularly microgravity space flight hardware that must meet International Space Station acoustic emission requirements. The ATL consists of a 23- by 27- by 20-ft (height) convertible hemi/anechoic test chamber and a separate sound-attenuating test support enclosure. The ATL employs a personal-computer-based data acquisition system that provides up to 26 channels of simultaneous data acquisition with real-time analysis (ref. 4). Specialized diagnostic tools, including a scanning sound-intensity system, allow the ATL's technical staff to support its clients' aggressive low-noise design efforts to meet the space station's acoustic emission requirement. From its inception, the ATL has pursued the goal of developing a comprehensive ISO 17025-compliant quality program that would incorporate Glenn's existing ISO 9000 quality system policies as well as ATL-specific technical policies and procedures. In March 2003, the ATL quality program was awarded accreditation by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) for sound-power-level testing in accordance with ISO 3744. The NVLAP program is administered by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Department of Commerce and provides third-party accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories. There are currently 24 NVLAP-accredited acoustical testing laboratories in the United States. NVLAP accreditation covering one or more specific testing procedures conducted in accordance with established test standards is awarded upon successful completion of an intensive onsite assessment that includes proficiency testing and documentation review. The ATL NVLAP accreditation currently applies specifically to its ISO 3744 soundpower- level determination procedure (see the photograph) and supporting ISO 17025 quality system, although all ATL operations are conducted in accordance with its quality system. The ATL staff is currently developing additional procedures to adapt this quality system to the testing of space flight hardware in accordance with International Space Station acoustic emission requirements.<

  12. Integration of Behind-the-Meter PV Fleet Forecasts into Utility Grid System Operations

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

    Hoff, Thomas Hoff; Kankiewicz, Adam

    Four major research objectives were completed over the course of this study. Three of the objectives were to evaluate three, new, state-of-the-art solar irradiance forecasting models. The fourth objective was to improve the California Independent System Operator’s (ISO) load forecasts by integrating behind-the-meter (BTM) PV forecasts. The three, new, state-of-the-art solar irradiance forecasting models included: the infrared (IR) satellite-based cloud motion vector (CMV) model; the WRF-SolarCA model and variants; and the Optimized Deep Machine Learning (ODML)-training model. The first two forecasting models targeted known weaknesses in current operational solar forecasts. They were benchmarked against existing operational numerical weather prediction (NWP)more » forecasts, visible satellite CMV forecasts, and measured PV plant power production. IR CMV, WRF-SolarCA, and ODML-training forecasting models all improved the forecast to a significant degree. Improvements varied depending on time of day, cloudiness index, and geographic location. The fourth objective was to demonstrate that the California ISO’s load forecasts could be improved by integrating BTM PV forecasts. This objective represented the project’s most exciting and applicable gains. Operational BTM forecasts consisting of 200,000+ individual rooftop PV forecasts were delivered into the California ISO’s real-time automated load forecasting (ALFS) environment. They were then evaluated side-by-side with operational load forecasts with no BTM-treatment. Overall, ALFS-BTM day-ahead (DA) forecasts performed better than baseline ALFS forecasts when compared to actual load data. Specifically, ALFS-BTM DA forecasts were observed to have the largest reduction of error during the afternoon on cloudy days. Shorter term 30 minute-ahead ALFS-BTM forecasts were shown to have less error under all sky conditions, especially during the morning time periods when traditional load forecasts often experience their largest uncertainties. This work culminated in a GO decision being made by the California ISO to include zonal BTM forecasts into its operational load forecasting system. The California ISO’s Manager of Short Term Forecasting, Jim Blatchford, summarized the research performed in this project with the following quote: “The behind-the-meter (BTM) California ISO region forecasting research performed by Clean Power Research and sponsored by the Department of Energy’s SUNRISE program was an opportunity to verify value and demonstrate improved load forecast capability. In 2016, the California ISO will be incorporating the BTM forecast into the Hour Ahead and Day Ahead load models to look for improvements in the overall load forecast accuracy as BTM PV capacity continues to grow.”« less

  13. Home - JSM Portal

    Science.gov Websites

    chain MS ISO/IEC 27001: 2007 Information Security Management Systems MS ISO 50001: 2011 Energy . Announcements Popular Standards Popular Standards MS ISO 9001 :2015 Quality Management System(QMS) MS ISO 14001 : 2015 Environmental Management Systems(EMS) MS 1722:2011 & OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational Health and

  14. Standards for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) Techniques within Manufacturing Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-10-02

    SOCIETY 2014 3 International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Machinery Information Management Open Standards Alliance ( MIMOSA ), SAE...X X X X ISO TC 184/SC 4 X ISO TC 184/SC 5 X X ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 X MIMOSA —— X SAE International AQPIC X SAE...THE PROGNOSTICS AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SOCIETY 2014 4 HDBK is supported by the Machinery Information Management Open Standards Alliance ( MIMOSA ), a

  15. Integrated management system: The integration of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 31000

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muzaimi, Hafizzudin; Chew, Boon Cheong; Hamid, Syaiful Rizal

    2017-03-01

    The implementation of integrated management system (IMS) for better quality management has become a preference for many organizations. This can be seen as many organizations used the combination of quality ISO 9001, an environment ISO 14001 and occupational health and safety management system OHSAS 18001 as a core for the IMS that largely implemented. Besides, the linked between quality management with risk management system need to be identified as the management system that enhance the effectiveness of IMS. Therefore, the risk management system ISO 31000 also presented as a part of integration. In nowadays competitive environment, the increasing pressure and needs from customer or stakeholders make it compulsory for the organization to propose the new system and standards. This paper presents and discusses about the benefit of integration, the management system components that can be converged and the implementation approach. A series of interview was conducted through in-depth interviews with 8 experts in this field, while data collected were analyzed qualitatively. The results consist of 16 factors of IMS implementation that have been identified and the use of PDCA approach for an effective implementation of IMS. As a conclusion, the paper proposes the integration of four management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 31000) and on how the IMS can be used to structure the process of management for quality management towards sustainability practices in the organization.

  16. CMMI(Registered) for Development, Version 1.3

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-11-01

    ISO /IEC 15288:2008 Systems and Software Engineering – System Life Cycle Processes [ ISO 2008b] ISO /IEC 27001 :2005 Information technology – Security...IEC 2005 International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission. ISO /IEC 27001 Information Technology...International Electrotechnical Commission ( ISO /IEC) body of standards. CMMs focus on improving processes in an organization. They contain the

  17. CMMI(Registered) for Services, Version 1.3

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-11-01

    ISO 2008b] ISO /IEC 27001 :2005 Information technology – Security techniques – Information Security Management Systems – Requirements [ ISO /IEC 2005...Commission. ISO /IEC 27001 Information Technology – Security Techniques – Information Security Management Systems – Requirements, 2005. http...CMM or International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ) 9001, you will immediately recognize many similarities in their structure and content

  18. Software And Systems Engineering Risk Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-04-01

    RSKM 2004 COSO Enterprise RSKM Framework 2006 ISO/IEC 16085 Risk Management Process 2008 ISO/IEC 12207 Software Lifecycle Processes 2009 ISO/IEC...1 Software And Systems Engineering Risk Management John Walz VP Technical and Conferences Activities, IEEE Computer Society Vice-Chair Planning...Software & Systems Engineering Standards Committee, IEEE Computer Society US TAG to ISO TMB Risk Management Working Group Systems and Software

  19. Systems Security Engineering

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-08-22

    practice for information security management ( ISO /IEC 27002 ),” “Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management...systems —Requirements ( ISO /IEC 27002 ),”, “Information technology — Security techniques — Information security risk management ( ISO /IEC 27005).” from...associated practice aids. Perhaps the most germane discovery from this effort was a draft ISO standard on Systems and software engineering, Systems and

  20. Incident Management Capability Metrics Version 0.1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-04-01

    guidance for proactively securing and hardening their infrastructure, for example6: • ISO 17799 ( ISO /IEC 17799:2005) [ ISO 2005a] • ISO 27001 ( ISO /IEC... 27001 :2005) [ ISO 2005b] • Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) [ITGI 2006...security management systems – Requirements ( ISO /IEC 27001 :2005).http://www.iso.org/ iso /en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=421 03 (2005

  1. ASSIP Study of Real-Time Safety-Critical Embedded Software-Intensive System Engineering Practices

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-02-01

    and assessment 2. product engineering processes 3. tooling processes 6 | CMU/SEI-2008-SR-001 Slide 1 Process Standards IEC/ ISO 12207 Software...and technical effort to align with 12207 IEC/ ISO 15026 System & Software Integrity Levels Generic Safety SAE ARP 4754 Certification Considerations...Process Frameworks in revision – ISO 9001, ISO 9004 – ISO 15288/ ISO 12207 harmonization – RTCA DO-178B, MOD Standard UK 00-56/3, … • Methods & Tools

  2. Introduction to ISO 15189: a blueprint for quality systems in veterinary laboratories.

    PubMed

    Freeman, Kathleen P; Bauer, Natali; Jensen, Asger L; Thoresen, Stein

    2006-06-01

    A trend in human and veterinary medical laboratory management is to achieve accreditation based on international standards. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189 standard is the first developed especially for accreditation of medical laboratories, and emphasizes the laboratory-client interface. European veterinary laboratories seeking to train candidates for the certification examination of the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) require approval by the ECVCP Laboratory Standards Committee, which bases its evaluation in part on adherence to quality systems described in the ISO 15189 standards. The purpose of this article was to introduce the latest ISO quality standard and describe its application to veterinary laboratories in Europe, specifically as pertains to accreditation of laboratories involved in training veterinary clinical pathologists. Between 2003 and 2006, the Laboratory Standards Committee reviewed 12 applications from laboratories (3 commercial and 9 university) involved in training veterinary clinical pathologists. Applicants were asked to provide a description of the facilities for training and testing, current methodology and technology, health and safety policy, quality assurance policy (including internal quality control and participation in an external quality assurance program), written standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies, a description of the laboratory information system, and personnel and training. Also during this time period multiple informal and formal discussions among ECVCP diplomates took place as to current practices and perceived areas of concern with regard to laboratory accreditation requirements. Areas in which improvement most often was needed in veterinary laboratories applying for ECVCP accreditation were the written quality plan, defined quality requirements for the tests performed, written SOPs and policies, training records, ongoing audits and competency assessments, and processes for identifying and addressing opportunities for improvement. Recommendations were developed for a stepwise approach towards achieving ISO 15189 standards, including 3 levels of quality components. The ISO 15189 standard provides a sound framework for veterinary laboratories aspiring to meet international quality standards.

  3. A Structured Approach for Reviewing Architecture Documentation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-12-01

    as those found in ISO 12207 [ ISO /IEC 12207 :2008] (for software engineering), ISO 15288 [ ISO /IEC 15288:2008] (for systems engineering), the Rational...Open Distributed Processing - Reference Model: Foundations ( ISO /IEC 10746-2). 1996. [ ISO /IEC 12207 :2008] International Organization for...Standardization & International Electrotechnical Commission. Sys- tems and software engineering – Software life cycle processes ( ISO /IEC 12207 ). 2008. [ ISO

  4. End-of-Life Disposal of Satellites in Geosynchronous Altitude (Space and Missile Systems Center Standard)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-19

    developments. ’ This revised SMC standard comprises the text of The Aerospace Corporation report number TOR-2006( 8583 )-4474, Rev A (18 August 2009...Operating at Geosynchronous Altitude,” Aerospace TOR -2006( 8583 )- 4474, 3 November 2005 4. Campbell, W.S., “SMC Space Debris Mitigation Handbook...Revision 2.0,” Aerospace Report, TOR-2007(8506)-6693, 30 June 2007 5. ISO TC 20/SC 14 N, Space systems --- Disposal of satellites operating at

  5. A Multi-scale, Multi-Model, Machine-Learning Solar Forecasting Technology

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

    Hamann, Hendrik F.

    The goal of the project was the development and demonstration of a significantly improved solar forecasting technology (short: Watt-sun), which leverages new big data processing technologies and machine-learnt blending between different models and forecast systems. The technology aimed demonstrating major advances in accuracy as measured by existing and new metrics which themselves were developed as part of this project. Finally, the team worked with Independent System Operators (ISOs) and utilities to integrate the forecasts into their operations.

  6. Lessons from Iowa : development of a 270 megawatt compressed air energy storage project in midwest Independent System Operator : a study for the DOE Energy Storage Systems Program.

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

    Holst, Kent; Huff, Georgianne; Schulte, Robert H.

    2012-01-01

    The Iowa Stored Energy Park was an innovative, 270 Megawatt, $400 million compressed air energy storage (CAES) project proposed for in-service near Des Moines, Iowa, in 2015. After eight years in development the project was terminated because of site geological limitations. However, much was learned in the development process regarding what it takes to do a utility-scale, bulk energy storage facility and coordinate it with regional renewable wind energy resources in an Independent System Operator (ISO) marketplace. Lessons include the costs and long-term economics of a CAES facility compared to conventional natural gas-fired generation alternatives; market, legislative, and contract issuesmore » related to enabling energy storage in an ISO market; the importance of due diligence in project management; and community relations and marketing for siting of large energy projects. Although many of the lessons relate to CAES applications in particular, most of the lessons learned are independent of site location or geology, or even the particular energy storage technology involved.« less

  7. Introduction to the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kessler, M. F.; Sibille, F.

    1989-01-01

    The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is an astronomical satellite, which will operate at infrared wavelengths (2.5 to 200 microns) for a period of at least 18 months. Imaging, spectroscopic, photometric and polarimetric observations will be obtained by four scientific instruments in the focal plane of its 60-cm diameter, cryogenically-cooled telescope. Two-thirds of ISO's observing time will be available to the astronomical community. ISO is a fully approved and funded project of the European Space Agency (ESA) with a foreseen launch date of May 1993.

  8. ISO science - observations of dusty discs.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heske, A.

    1992-12-01

    ISO, the Infrared Space Observatory, will be an infrared observing facility in space. Via submission of observing proposals, use of this facility will be open to the astronomical community. The scientific payload consists of two spectrometers, a camera and a photo-polarimeter. Following an overview of the ISO mission, this paper describes the highlights of the Central Programme - proposals which are being prepared by the instrument groups, the mission scientists and the astronomers of the ISO Science Operations Team - with special emphasis on the proposals concerned with dusty discs.

  9. Analysis of ISO NE Balancing Requirements: Uncertainty-based Secure Ranges for ISO New England Dynamic Inerchange Adjustments

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

    Etingov, Pavel V.; Makarov, Yuri V.; Wu, Di

    The document describes detailed uncertainty quantification (UQ) methodology developed by PNNL to estimate secure ranges of potential dynamic intra-hour interchange adjustments in the ISO-NE system and provides description of the dynamic interchange adjustment (DINA) tool developed under the same contract. The overall system ramping up and down capability, spinning reserve requirements, interchange schedules, load variations and uncertainties from various sources that are relevant to the ISO-NE system are incorporated into the methodology and the tool. The DINA tool has been tested by PNNL and ISO-NE staff engineers using ISO-NE data.

  10. Critical features of an auditable management system for an ISO 9000-compatible occupational health and safety standard.

    PubMed

    Levine, S; Dyjack, D T

    1997-04-01

    An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001: 1994-harmonized occupational health and safety (OHS) management system has been written at the University of Michigan, and reviewed, revised, and accepted under the direction of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) Task Force and the Board of Directors. This system is easily adaptable to the ISO 14001 format and to both OHS and environmental management system applications. As was the case with ISO 9001: 1994, this system is expected to be compatible with current production quality and OHS quality systems and standards, have forward compatibility for new applications, and forward flexibility, with new features added as needed. Since ISO 9001: 1987 and 9001: 1994 have been applied worldwide, the incorporation of harmonized OHS and environmental management system components should be acceptable to business units already performing first-party (self-) auditing, and second-party (contract qualification) auditing. This article explains the basis of this OHS management system, its relationship to ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, the philosophy and methodology of an ISO-harmonized system audit, the relationship of these systems to traditional OHS audit systems, and the authors' vision of the future for application of such systems.

  11. Artificial Intelligence-Explosive Ordnance Disposal Information Search, Retrieval, and Delivery System

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-04-01

    megabytes greater than required to store the operating system and X-Windows. * CD-ROM Player. Standard CD-ROM player using ISO 9660 file format...CAVGERRO 235 .4596 . 8583 .0000 4.0000 42 CAVGFOUN 235 3.9362 .3700 .0000 4.0000 43 SlIT 235 172.3106 207.4205 .0000 1039.0000 44 S2T 235 122.0638

  12. Integrated control system for electron beam processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koleva, L.; Koleva, E.; Batchkova, I.; Mladenov, G.

    2018-03-01

    The ISO/IEC 62264 standard is widely used for integration of the business systems of a manufacturer with the corresponding manufacturing control systems based on hierarchical equipment models, functional data and manufacturing operations activity models. In order to achieve the integration of control systems, formal object communication models must be developed, together with manufacturing operations activity models, which coordinate the integration between different levels of control. In this article, the development of integrated control system for electron beam welding process is presented as part of a fully integrated control system of an electron beam plant, including also other additional processes: surface modification, electron beam evaporation, selective melting and electron beam diagnostics.

  13. Documenting an ISO 9000 Quality System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Barry

    1995-01-01

    Discusses six steps to follow when documenting an ISO 9000 quality system: using ISO 9000 to develop a quality system, identifying a company's business processes, analyzing the business processes; describing the procedures, writing the quality manual, and working to the documented procedures. (SR)

  14. Analyzing Cases of Resilience Success and Failure - A Research Study

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-12-01

    controls [NIST 2012, NIST 2008] ISO 27002 and ISO 27004 Guidelines for initiating, implementing, maintaining, and improving information security...Commission ( ISO /IEC). Information technology—Security techniques—Code of practice for information security management ( ISO /IEC 27002 :2005). ISO /IEC, 2005...security management system and controls or groups of controls [ ISO /IEC 2005, ISO /IEC 2009] CIS Security Metrics Outcome and practice metrics measuring

  15. System Accuracy Evaluation of Four Systems for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Following ISO 15197 Using a Glucose Oxidase and a Hexokinase-Based Comparison Method.

    PubMed

    Link, Manuela; Schmid, Christina; Pleus, Stefan; Baumstark, Annette; Rittmeyer, Delia; Haug, Cornelia; Freckmann, Guido

    2015-04-14

    The standard ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 15197 is widely accepted for the accuracy evaluation of systems for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). Accuracy evaluation was performed for 4 SMBG systems (Accu-Chek Aviva, ContourXT, GlucoCheck XL, GlucoMen LX PLUS) with 3 test strip lots each. To investigate a possible impact of the comparison method on system accuracy data, 2 different established methods were used. The evaluation was performed in a standardized manner following test procedures described in ISO 15197:2003 (section 7.3). System accuracy was assessed by applying ISO 15197:2003 and in addition ISO 15197:2013 criteria (section 6.3.3). For each system, comparison measurements were performed with a glucose oxidase (YSI 2300 STAT Plus glucose analyzer) and a hexokinase (cobas c111) method. All 4 systems fulfilled the accuracy requirements of ISO 15197:2003 with the tested lots. More stringent accuracy criteria of ISO 15197:2013 were fulfilled by 3 systems (Accu-Chek Aviva, ContourXT, GlucoMen LX PLUS) when compared to the manufacturer's comparison method and by 2 systems (Accu-Chek Aviva, ContourXT) when compared to the alternative comparison method. All systems showed lot-to-lot variability to a certain degree; 2 systems (Accu-Chek Aviva, ContourXT), however, showed only minimal differences in relative bias between the 3 evaluated lots. In this study, all 4 systems complied with the evaluated test strip lots with accuracy criteria of ISO 15197:2003. Applying ISO 15197:2013 accuracy limits, differences in the accuracy of the tested systems were observed, also demonstrating that the applied comparison method/system and the lot-to-lot variability can have a decisive influence on accuracy data obtained for a SMBG system. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

  16. Systems Security Engineering

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-08-22

    Commission (IEC). “Information technology — Security techniques — Code of practice for information security management ( ISO /IEC 27002 ...Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems —Requirements ( ISO /IEC 27002 ),”, “Information technology — Security...was a draft ISO standard on Systems and software engineering, Systems and software assurance [18]. Created by systems engineers for systems

  17. Analysis of factors that inhibiting implementation of Information Security Management System (ISMS) based on ISO 27001

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tatiara, R.; Fajar, A. N.; Siregar, B.; Gunawan, W.

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this research is to determine multi factors that inhibiting the implementation of the ISMS based on ISO 2700. It is also to propose a follow-up recommendation on the factors that inhibit the implementation of the ISMS. Data collection is derived from questionnaires to 182 respondents from users in data center operation (DCO) at bca, Indonesian telecommunication international (telin), and data centre division at Indonesian Ministry of Health. We analysing data collection with multiple linear regression analysis and paired t-test. The results are multiple factors which inhibiting the implementation of the ISMS from the three organizations which has implement and operate the ISMS, ISMS documentation management, and continual improvement. From this research, we concluded that the processes of implementation in ISMS is the necessity of the role of all parties in succeeding the implementation of the ISMS continuously.

  18. Performance of Cleared Blood Glucose Monitors.

    PubMed

    Klonoff, David C; Prahalad, Priya

    2015-07-01

    Cleared blood glucose monitor (BGM) systems do not always perform as accurately for users as they did to become cleared. We performed a literature review of recent publications between 2010 and 2014 that present data about the frequency of inaccurate performance using ISO 15197 2003 and ISO 15197 2013 as target standards. We performed an additional literature review of publications that present data about the clinical and economic risks of inaccurate BGMs for making treatment decisions or calibrating continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). We found 11 publications describing performance of 98 unique BGM systems. 53 of these 98 (54%) systems met ISO 15197 2003 and 31 of the 98 (32%) tested systems met ISO 15197 2013 analytical accuracy standards in all studies in which they were evaluated. Of the tested systems, 33 were identified by us as FDA-cleared. Among these FDA-cleared BGM systems, 24 out of 32 (75%) met ISO 15197 2003 and 15 out of 31 (48.3%) met ISO 15197 2013 in all studies in which they were evaluated. Among the non-FDA-cleared BGM systems, 29 of 65 (45%) met ISO 15197 2003 and 15 out of 65 (23%) met ISO 15197 2013 in all studies in which they were evaluated. It is more likely that an FDA-cleared BGM system, compared to a non-FDA-cleared BGM system, will perform according to ISO 15197 2003 (χ(2) = 6.2, df = 3, P = 0.04) and ISO 15197 2013 (χ(2) = 11.4, df = 3, P = 0.003). We identified 7 articles about clinical risks and 3 articles about economic risks of inaccurate BGMs. We conclude that a significant proportion of cleared BGMs do not perform at the level for which they were cleared or according to international standards of accuracy. Such poor performance leads to adverse clinical and economic consequences. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

  19. Three essays on U.S. electricity restructuring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sergici, Sanem I.

    2008-04-01

    The traditional structure of the electricity sector in the U.S. has been that of large vertically integrated companies with sole responsibility for distributing power to end users within a franchise area. The restructuring of this sector that has occurred in the past 10-20 years has profoundly altered this picture. This dissertation examines three aspects of that restructuring process. First chapter of my dissertation investigates the impacts of divestitures of generation, an important part of the process of restructuring, on the efficiency of distribution systems. We find that while all divestitures as a group do not significantly affect distribution efficiency, those mandated by state public utility commissions have resulted in large and statistically significant adverse effects on distribution efficiency. Second chapter of my dissertation explores whether independent system operator (ISO) formation in New York has led to operating efficiencies at the unit and the system level. ISOs oversee the centralized management of the grid and the energy market and are expected to promote more efficient power generation. We test these efficiencies focusing on the generation units in New York ISO region from 1998 to 2004 and find that the NYISO formation has introduced limited efficiencies at the unit and the system level. Restructuring in the electricity industry has spawned a new wave of mergers, both raising questions and providing opportunities to examine these mergers. Third chapter of my dissertation investigates the drivers of electric utility mergers consummated between 1992 and 2004. My results provide support for disturbance theory of mergers, size hypothesis, and inefficient management hypothesis as drivers of electric utility mergers. I also find that the adjacency of the service territories is the most noteworthy determinant of the pairings between IOUs.

  20. Quality Systems and ISO 9000 in Higher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lundquist, Robert

    1997-01-01

    Examines quality assurance systems in higher education in general and of ISO 9000, a set of international quality standards, in particular. Reports on a survey of 23 institutions worldwide concerning implementation of quality systems and application of the ISO 9000 standards. Concludes that while institutions have found the quality assurance…

  1. 77 FR 66829 - Notice of Compliance Filings

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-07

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [ Docket Nos. ER13-187-000; ER13-187-001, et al.] Notice of Compliance Filings Docket Nos. Midwest Independent Transmission System ER13-187-000 Docket No. ER13- Operator, Inc. 187-001. ISO New England Inc ER13-193-000. PJM Transmission Owners ER13...

  2. Implementation of a Prototype Generalized Network Technology for Hospitals *

    PubMed Central

    Tolchin, S. G.; Stewart, R. L.; Kahn, S. A.; Bergan, E. S.; Gafke, G. P.; Simborg, D. W.; Whiting-O'Keefe, Q. E.; Chadwick, M. G.; McCue, G. E.

    1981-01-01

    A demonstration implementation of a distributed data processing hospital information system using an intelligent local area communications network (LACN) technology is described. This system is operational at the UCSF Medical Center and integrates four heterogeneous, stand-alone minicomputers. The applications systems are PID/Registration, Outpatient Pharmacy, Clinical Laboratory and Radiology/Medical Records. Functional autonomy of these systems has been maintained, and no operating system changes have been required. The LACN uses a fiber-optic communications medium and provides extensive communications protocol support within the network, based on the ISO/OSI Model. The architecture is reconfigurable and expandable. This paper describes system architectural issues, the applications environment and the local area network.

  3. A hybrid design methodology for structuring an Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping business.

    PubMed

    Celik, Metin

    2009-03-01

    The International Safety Management (ISM) Code defines a broad framework for the safe management and operation of merchant ships, maintaining high standards of safety and environmental protection. On the other hand, ISO 14001:2004 provides a generic, worldwide environmental management standard that has been utilized by several industries. Both the ISM Code and ISO 14001:2004 have the practical goal of establishing a sustainable Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping businesses. This paper presents a hybrid design methodology that shows how requirements from both standards can be combined into a single execution scheme. Specifically, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) are used to structure an IEMS for ship management companies. This research provides decision aid to maritime executives in order to enhance the environmental performance in the shipping industry.

  4. [Description of the ISO 9001/2000 certification process in the parenteral nutrition area].

    PubMed

    Miana Mena, M T; Fontanals Martínez, S; López Púa, Y; López Suñé, E; Codina Jané, C; Ribas Sala, J

    2007-01-01

    In order to guarantee quality and safety and to increase user satisfaction, healthcare organisations have integrated quality management systems into their structures. This study describes the process for introducing the UNE-EN-ISO-9001/2000 standard in the parenteral nutrition area. A multidisciplinary group established the scope of the standard, focusing on transcription, preparation, dispensation and microbiological control. A detailed procedure describing the sequences of circuits and associated activities, the responsible staff and the action guidelines to be followed was established. Quality and activity markers were also established. This process has enabled a standard system to be implemented, with its operation perfectly described and documented, allowing its stages to be traceable and supervised. As there is no record of the data obtained beforehand, no direct comparison can be made; its evolution must therefore be analysed in the future.

  5. Standardization by ISO to Ensure the Sustainability of Space Activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kato, A.; Lazare, B.; Oltrogge, D.; Stokes, H.

    2013-08-01

    The ISO / Technical Committee 20 / Sub-committee 14 develops debris-related standards and technical reports to mitigate debris and help ensure mission and space sustainability. While UN Guidelines and the IADC Guidelines encourage national governments and agencies to promote debris mitigation design and operation, the ISO standards will help the global space industry promote and sustain its space-related business. In this paper the scope and status of each ISO standard is discussed within an overall framework. A comparison with international guidelines is also provided to demonstrate the level of consistency. Finally, as a case study, the ISO standards are applied to a CubeSat mission, thus demonstrating their usability on a relatively recent and popular class of satellite.

  6. The iso-response method: measuring neuronal stimulus integration with closed-loop experiments

    PubMed Central

    Gollisch, Tim; Herz, Andreas V. M.

    2012-01-01

    Throughout the nervous system, neurons integrate high-dimensional input streams and transform them into an output of their own. This integration of incoming signals involves filtering processes and complex non-linear operations. The shapes of these filters and non-linearities determine the computational features of single neurons and their functional roles within larger networks. A detailed characterization of signal integration is thus a central ingredient to understanding information processing in neural circuits. Conventional methods for measuring single-neuron response properties, such as reverse correlation, however, are often limited by the implicit assumption that stimulus integration occurs in a linear fashion. Here, we review a conceptual and experimental alternative that is based on exploring the space of those sensory stimuli that result in the same neural output. As demonstrated by recent results in the auditory and visual system, such iso-response stimuli can be used to identify the non-linearities relevant for stimulus integration, disentangle consecutive neural processing steps, and determine their characteristics with unprecedented precision. Automated closed-loop experiments are crucial for this advance, allowing rapid search strategies for identifying iso-response stimuli during experiments. Prime targets for the method are feed-forward neural signaling chains in sensory systems, but the method has also been successfully applied to feedback systems. Depending on the specific question, “iso-response” may refer to a predefined firing rate, single-spike probability, first-spike latency, or other output measures. Examples from different studies show that substantial progress in understanding neural dynamics and coding can be achieved once rapid online data analysis and stimulus generation, adaptive sampling, and computational modeling are tightly integrated into experiments. PMID:23267315

  7. Building Assured Systems Framework

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    of standards such as ISO 27001 as frameworks [NASCIO 2009]. In this context, a framework is a standard intended to assist in auditing and compliance...Information Security ISO /IEC 27004 Information technology – Security techniques - Information security management measurement ISO /IEC 15939, System and

  8. The tissue bank at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares: ISO 9001:2000 certification of its quality management system.

    PubMed

    Martínez-Pardo, María Esther; Mariano-Magaña, David

    2007-01-01

    Tissue banking is a complex operation concerned with the organisation and coordination of all the steps, that is, from donor selection up to storage and distribution of the final products for therapeutic, diagnostic, instruction and research purposes. An appropriate quality framework should be established in order to cover all the specific methodology as well as the general aspects of quality management, such as research and development, design, instruction and training, specific documentation, traceability, corrective action, client satisfaction, and the like. Such a framework can be obtained by developing a quality management system (QMS) in accordance with a suitable international standard: ISO 9001:2000. This paper presents the implementation process of the tissue bank QMS at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares in Mexico. The objective of the paper is to share the experience gained by the tissue bank personnel [radiosterilised tissue bank (BTR)] at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ, National Institute of Nuclear Research), during implementation of the ISO 9001:2000 certification process. At present, the quality management system (QMS) of ININ also complies with the Mexican standard NMX-CC-9001:2000. The scope of this QMS is Research, Development and Processing of Biological Tissues Sterilised by Gamma Radiation, among others.

  9. Naval Open Architecture Contract Guidebook for Program Managers

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-30

    a whole, transform inputs into outputs. [IEEE/EIA Std. 12207 /1997] “APP233/ ISO 10303” – APP233 an “Application Protocol” for Systems Engineering...Language Metadata Interchange (XMI) and AP233/ ISO 10303). The contractor shall identify the proposed standards and formats to be used. The contractor...ANSI ISO /IEC 9075-1, ISO /IEC 9075-2, ISO /IEC 9075-3, ISO /IEC 9075-4, ISO /IEC 9075-5) 2. HTML for presentation layer (e.g., XML 1.0

  10. Analysis of Implementing Lifetime Energy Cost, Including Fully Burdened Cost of Fuel and Energy Footprints of Contractors, as Mandatory Decision Factors in Navy Acquisition

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-01

    7 Table 2. ISO 14001 versus ISO 50001 (From: Integrated Renewable Energy , 2010...the ISO is expected to release ISO 50001 , Management System for Energy (MSE) at the end of 2010 (Pinero, 2009, pp. 18–22). Standard 50001 is based...35 Table 2. ISO 14001 versus ISO 50001 (From: Integrated Renewable Energy , 2010) 36 ISO 50001 will focus a company’s attention on

  11. Corporate environmental policy statements in mainland China: to what extent do they conform to ISO 14000 documentation?

    PubMed

    Chung, Shan Shan; Fryxell, Gerald E; Lo, Carlos W H

    2005-04-01

    For decades, industry has been the main source of pollution in China. Determined to make changes, the mainland Chinese authorities have decided to promote mechanisms that incorporate environmental concerns into the internal management of enterprises. This is manifested in the rapid adoption of the ISO14000 standards, including a significant increase in ISO14001 registrations in China. Thus, this study examined the environmental policy statements of 106 certified facilities in mainland China against a strict interpretation of the mandatory requirements of the ISO 14001:1996 standard and the nonmandatory ISO14004 requirements in order to shed some light on the implementation of environmental management systems in an emerging economic giant. It was decided to analyze the environmental policy statement because such a statement is a core element in the ISO system of environmental management of each facility and there are relatively clear and specific requirements on what an environmental policy statement shall include. An analysis of the contents of the environmental policy statements shows that conformance to the relevant requirements of both the mandatory ISO14001 standard and the nonmandatory ISO14004 standard is far from impressive and that the facilities in our sample seldom went beyond the minimum requirements. By using ISO14001 and ISO14004 conformance scores as the dependent variables, we found that conformity to ISO14001 and overall conformance to ISO14000 series can be explained to some extent by the degree of top management commitment, the experience with informal environmental management systems, and the form of ownership of the facilities.

  12. Neonatal isoflavone exposure interferes with the reproductive system of female Wistar rats.

    PubMed

    Müller, Dennis R; Soukup, Sebastian T; Kurrat, Anne; Liu, Xin; Schmicke, Marion; Xie, Ming-Yong; Kulling, Sabine E; Diel, Patrick

    2016-11-16

    There is increasing concern about possible adverse effects of soy based infant formulas (SBIF) due to their high amount of isoflavones (ISO). The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of neonatal exposure to ISO on reproductive system of female Wistar rats. Animals were exposed to an ISO depleted diet or a diet enriched with an ISO extract (IRD; 508mg ISO/kg) during embryogenesis and adolescence. Pups of each group were fed daily by pipette with ISO-suspension (ISO+; 32mg ISO/kg bw) or placebo from postnatal day (PND) 1 until PND23 resulting in plasma concentrations similar to levels reported in infants fed SBIF. The visceral fat mass was reduced by long-term IRD. Vaginal epithelial height was increased at PND23 and vaginal opening was precocious in ISO+ groups. Later in life, more often irregular estrus cycles were observed in rats of ISO+ groups. In addition, FSH levels and uterine epithelial heights were increased at PND80 in ISO+ groups. In summary, the results indicate that neonatal ISO intake, resulting in plasma concentrations achievable through SBIF, has an estrogenic effect on prepubertal rats and influences female reproductive tract later in life. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  13. ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Two new USEPA documents address environmental management systems (EMS) from the perspectives of government and industry and are offered as tools for understanding the process of the ISO 14000 Standards development and usefulness of an EMS approach. The first document, ISO 14001 -...

  14. The high speed interconnect system architecture and operation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anderson, Steven C.

    The design and operation of a fiber-optic high-speed interconnect system (HSIS) being developed to meet the requirements of future avionics and flight-control hardware with distributed-system architectures are discussed. The HSIS is intended for 100-Mb/s operation of a local-area network with up to 256 stations. It comprises a bus transmission system (passive star couplers and linear media linked by active elements) and network interface units (NIUs). Each NIU is designed to perform the physical, data link, network, and transport functions defined by the ISO OSI Basic Reference Model (1982 and 1983) and incorporates a fiber-optic transceiver, a high-speed protocol based on the SAE AE-9B linear token-passing data bus (1986), and a specialized application interface unit. The operating modes and capabilities of HSIS are described in detail and illustrated with diagrams.

  15. SEI Approach to Harmonization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-07-18

    PAs and PLA ISO 15504 and ISO 12207 COBIT EFQM ISO 9001 Improvement Method Elements Change management techniques: IDEAL and Six Sigma...Multimodel Improvement in Practice 12 SEI Webinar Series Northrop Grumman Mission Systems • CMMI, Six Sigma, ISO , KM • ―.. accelerate achievement of Levels...CMMI, ITIL, ISO 9001, P-CMM  ―Integrated Quality Mgmt System‖ • ―…development center…reduce[d]...in-process failure costs...5 to 1%...‖ Wipro • ISO

  16. Experimental and Analytical Investigation of the Vibration Characteristics of a Remotely Piloted Helicopter

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-06-01

    IQ Z -104.9* 171: .0471 6/LB XP11 ) EXP N I SETUP W TF DUAL v, 400 CHAB FR 200HZ 0:30:to * /A AIS ’"TS.H A S 8 -IV ISO -10 •]’Ft B/A AY6 IL TEý . 2 " N C...4 A. SOURCES OF HELICOPTER VIBRATION .... ..... 4 B. VIBRATION REDUCTION TECHNIQUES ..... ...... 6 1. Passive Systems .......... ............ 6 2 ...EXCITATION SYSTEM ...... ............. 22 C. DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM .... .......... 27 1. Components ......... .............. 27 2 . System Operation

  17. Establishment of a Quality Management System Based on ISO 9001 Standard in a Public Service Fungal Culture Collection.

    PubMed

    Simões, Marta F; Dias, Nicolina; Santos, Cledir; Lima, Nelson

    2016-06-22

    Collaborations between different Microbiological Resource Centres (mBRCs) and ethical sourcing practices are mandatory to guarantee biodiversity conservation, successful and sustainable preservation and fair share of benefits that arise from the use of genetic resources. Since microbial Culture Collections (CCs) are now engaged in meeting high quality operational standards, they are facing the challenge of establishing quality control criteria to certify their biological materials. The authentication/certification of strains is nowadays a demand from the bioeconomy sector for the global operation of mBRCs. The achievement of consistent quality assurance and trust within the mBRCs and microbial CCs context is a dynamic and never-ending process. A good option to facilitate that process is to implement a Quality Management System (QMS) based on the ISO 9001 standard. Here, we report a detailed description of all the steps taken for the QMS implementation at the Portuguese CC of filamentous fungi: Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM). Our aim is to provide guidelines for the certification of other CCs, so that they can also enhance the search and choice of the most consistent, reliable, and effective operating methods, with assured procedures and validation of preservation; and guarantee trustworthy relations with all stakeholders.

  18. Establishment of a Quality Management System Based on ISO 9001 Standard in a Public Service Fungal Culture Collection

    PubMed Central

    Simões, Marta F.; Dias, Nicolina; Santos, Cledir; Lima, Nelson

    2016-01-01

    Collaborations between different Microbiological Resource Centres (mBRCs) and ethical sourcing practices are mandatory to guarantee biodiversity conservation, successful and sustainable preservation and fair share of benefits that arise from the use of genetic resources. Since microbial Culture Collections (CCs) are now engaged in meeting high quality operational standards, they are facing the challenge of establishing quality control criteria to certify their biological materials. The authentication/certification of strains is nowadays a demand from the bioeconomy sector for the global operation of mBRCs. The achievement of consistent quality assurance and trust within the mBRCs and microbial CCs context is a dynamic and never-ending process. A good option to facilitate that process is to implement a Quality Management System (QMS) based on the ISO 9001 standard. Here, we report a detailed description of all the steps taken for the QMS implementation at the Portuguese CC of filamentous fungi: Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM). Our aim is to provide guidelines for the certification of other CCs, so that they can also enhance the search and choice of the most consistent, reliable, and effective operating methods, with assured procedures and validation of preservation; and guarantee trustworthy relations with all stakeholders. PMID:27681915

  19. MRT fuel element inspection at Dounreay

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

    Gibson, J.

    1997-08-01

    To ensure that their production and inspection processes are performed in an acceptable manner, ie. auditable and traceable, the MTR Fuel Element Fabrication Plant at Dounreay operates to a documented quality system. This quality system, together with the fuel element manufacturing and inspection operations, has been independently certified to ISO9002-1987, EN29002-1987 and BS5750:Pt2:1987 by Lloyd`s Register Quality Assurance Limited (LRQA). This certification also provides dual accreditation to the relevant German, Dutch and Australian certification bodies. This paper briefly describes the quality system, together with the various inspection stages involved in the manufacture of MTR fuel elements at Dounreay.

  20. Data Transport Subsystem - The SFOC glue

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parr, Stephen J.

    1988-01-01

    The design and operation of the Data Transport Subsystem (DTS) for the JPL Space Flight Operation Center (SFOC) are described. The SFOC is the ground data system under development to serve interplanetary space probes; in addition to the DTS, it comprises a ground interface facility, a telemetry-input subsystem, data monitor and display facilities, and a digital TV system. DTS links the other subsystems via an ISO OSI presentation layer and an LAN. Here, particular attention is given to the DTS services and service modes (virtual circuit, datagram, and broadcast), the DTS software architecture, the logical-name server, the role of the integrated AI library, and SFOC as a distributed system.

  1. An Agile Systems Engineering Process: The Missing Link?

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-05-01

    has a num- ber of standards available such as ISO 12207 , ISO 9001 and the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI®) [24,25,26]. The CMMI was a...addressing activities throughout the products lifecycle [24]. ISO 12207 “contains processes, activities and tasks that are to be applied during...the acquisition of a system that contains software” [26]. A limitation identified within ISO 12207 is that it does not specify details on how to

  2. 40 CFR 60.334 - Monitoring of operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... continuous monitoring system to monitor and record the fuel consumption and the ratio of water or steam to...) On a ppm basis (for NOX) and a percent O2 basis for oxygen; or (ii) On a ppm at 15 percent O2 basis... temperature (Ta), and minimum combustor inlet absolute pressure (Po) into the ISO correction equation. (iii...

  3. 40 CFR 60.334 - Monitoring of operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... continuous monitoring system to monitor and record the fuel consumption and the ratio of water or steam to...) On a ppm basis (for NOX) and a percent O2 basis for oxygen; or (ii) On a ppm at 15 percent O2 basis... temperature (Ta), and minimum combustor inlet absolute pressure (Po) into the ISO correction equation. (iii...

  4. 40 CFR 60.334 - Monitoring of operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... continuous monitoring system to monitor and record the fuel consumption and the ratio of water or steam to...) On a ppm basis (for NOX) and a percent O2 basis for oxygen; or (ii) On a ppm at 15 percent O2 basis... temperature (Ta), and minimum combustor inlet absolute pressure (Po) into the ISO correction equation. (iii...

  5. 40 CFR 60.334 - Monitoring of operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... continuous monitoring system to monitor and record the fuel consumption and the ratio of water or steam to...) On a ppm basis (for NOX) and a percent O2 basis for oxygen; or (ii) On a ppm at 15 percent O2 basis... temperature (Ta), and minimum combustor inlet absolute pressure (Po) into the ISO correction equation. (iii...

  6. 40 CFR 60.334 - Monitoring of operations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... continuous monitoring system to monitor and record the fuel consumption and the ratio of water or steam to...) On a ppm basis (for NOX) and a percent O2 basis for oxygen; or (ii) On a ppm at 15 percent O2 basis... temperature (Ta), and minimum combustor inlet absolute pressure (Po) into the ISO correction equation. (iii...

  7. Benchmarking Software Assurance Implementation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-05-18

    product The chicken#. (a.k.a. Process Focused Assessment ) – Management Systems ( ISO 9001, ISO 27001 , ISO 2000) – Capability Maturity Models (CMMI...Assurance PRM, RMM, Assurance for CMMI)) – Lifecycle Processes ( ISO /IEEE 15288, ISO /IEEE 12207) – COBIT, ITIL, MS SDL, OSAMM, BSIMM 5 The egg...a.k.a Product Focused Assessments) – SCAP - NIST-SCAP – ISO /OMG W3C – KDM, BPMN, RIF, XMI, RDF – OWASP Top 10 – SANS TOP 25 – Secure Code Check Lists

  8. Experimenting Design and Implementation of an Educational Services Management System Based on ISO/IEC 20000 Standard

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lezcano, Jean-Marc; Adachihara, Hatsuo; Prunier, Marc

    European higher education organizations are encouraged to implement quality management practices. Existing quality standards and frameworks do not capitalize an important set of best practices addressing educational services delivery. The ISO/IEC 20000 standard, elaborated from IT service management issues, is widening its field of application and may represent an interesting alternative. A specific approach is needed to apprehend the particular nature of educational services, consider the systemic cooperating roles of educational system and learning system, and define ISO/IEC 20000 vocabulary and concepts adapted to the domain. ISO/IEC 20000 may provide an answer to European Standard Guideline compliance and improve educational services management. The current experimentation is expected to cast light on the complexity, practicality and effectiveness of the use of ISO/IEC 20000 in a first field of "non IT" services.

  9. A Recommended Framework for the Network-Centric Acquisition Process

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    ISO /IEC 12207 , Systems and Software Engineering-Software Life-Cycle Processes  ANSI/EIA 632, Processes for Engineering a System. There are...engineering [46]. Some of the process models presented in the DAG are:  ISO /IEC 15288, Systems and Software Engineering-System Life-Cycle Processes...e.g., ISO , IA, Security, etc.). Vetting developers helps ensure that they are using industry best industry practices and maximize the IA compliance

  10. Transportation Systems: Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources Sector-Specific Plan as Input to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-05-01

    partners will be encouraged to use the assessment methodologies referenced above, or ISO 27001 and ISO 17799, which are intended to be used together...the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), the International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ), and a number of other...programs are aligned with NCSD’s goals for the IT sector and follow best practices developed by NIST and the ISO . The cyber protective programs

  11. ISO 9000 Quality Management System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hadjicostas, Evsevios

    The ISO 9000 series describes a quality management system applicable to any organization. In this chapter we present the requirements of the standard in a way that is as close as possible to the needs of analytical laboratories. The sequence of the requirements follows that in the ISO 9001:2008 standard. In addition, the guidelines for performance improvement set out in the ISO 9004 are reviewed. Both standards should be used as a reference as well as the basis for further elaboration.

  12. An Observational Upper Limit on the Interstellar Number Density of Asteroids and Comets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Engelhardt, Toni; Jedicke, Robert; Vereš, Peter; Fitzsimmons, Alan; Denneau, Larry; Beshore, Ed; Meinke, Bonnie

    2017-03-01

    We derived 90% confidence limits (CLs) on the interstellar number density ({ρ }{IS}{CL}) of interstellar objects (ISOs; comets and asteroids) as a function of the slope of their size-frequency distribution (SFD) and limiting absolute magnitude. To account for gravitational focusing, we first generated a quasi-realistic ISO population to ˜ 750 {au} from the Sun and propagated it forward in time to generate a steady state population of ISOs with heliocentric distance < 50 {au}. We then simulated the detection of the synthetic ISOs using pointing data for each image and average detection efficiencies for each of three contemporary solar system surveys—Pan-STARRS1, the Mt. Lemmon Survey, and the Catalina Sky Survey. These simulations allowed us to determine the surveys’ combined ISO detection efficiency under several different but realistic modes of identifying ISOs in the survey data. Some of the synthetic detected ISOs had eccentricities as small as 1.01, which is in the range of the largest eccentricities of several known comets. Our best CL of {ρ }{IS}{CL}=1.4× {10}-4 {{au}}-3 implies that the expectation that extra-solar systems form like our solar system, eject planetesimals in the same way, and then distribute them throughout the Galaxy, is too simplistic, or that the SFD or behavior of ISOs as they pass through our solar system is far from expectation.

  13. CERT Resilience Management Model (CERT-RMM) V1.1: NIST Special Publication Crosswalk Version 1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-11-01

    Organization for Standards ( ISO ) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 27000 series, COBIT, the British Standards Institution’s BS 25999...and ISO 24762 • includes quantitative process measurements that can be used to ensure operational resilience processes are performing as intended

  14. Postoperative plasma 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α levels are associated with delirium and cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients after hip fracture surgery.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Yuan-Bo; Ruan, Guo-Mo; Fu, Jia-Xing; Su, Zhong-Liang; Cheng, Peng; Lu, Jian-Zuo

    2016-04-01

    Oxidative stress may be involved in occurrence of postoperative delirium (POD) and cognitive dysfunction (POCD). 8-iso-Prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α), an isoprostane derived from arachidonic acid via lipid peroxidation, is considered a gold standard for measuring oxidative stress. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of postoperative plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels to predict POD and POCD in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. Postoperative plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels of 182 patients were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We assessed the relationships between plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels and the risk of POD and POCD using a multivariate analysis. Plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels and age were identified as the independent predictors for POD and POCD. Based on areas under receiver operating characteristic curve, the predictive values of 8-iso-PGF2α were obviously higher than those of age for POD and POCD. In a combined logistic-regression model, 8-iso-PGF2α significantly enhanced the areas under curve of age for prediction of POD and POCD. Postoperative plasma 8-iso-PGF2α levels may have the potential to predict POD and POCD in elder patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. How ISO/IEC 17799 can be used for base lining information assurance among entities using data mining for defense, homeland security, commercial, and other civilian/commercial domains

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Perry, William G.

    2006-04-01

    One goal of database mining is to draw unique and valid perspectives from multiple data sources. Insights that are fashioned from closely-held data stores are likely to possess a high degree of reliability. The degree of information assurance comes into question, however, when external databases are accessed, combined and analyzed to form new perspectives. ISO/IEC 17799, Information technology-Security techniques-Code of practice for information security management, can be used to establish a higher level of information assurance among disparate entities using data mining in the defense, homeland security, commercial and other civilian/commercial domains. Organizations that meet ISO/IEC information security standards have identified and assessed risks, threats and vulnerabilities and have taken significant proactive steps to meet their unique security requirements. The ISO standards address twelve domains: risk assessment and treatment, security policy, organization of information security, asset management, human resources security, physical and environmental security, communications and operations management, access control, information systems acquisition, development and maintenance, information security incident management and business continuity management and compliance. Analysts can be relatively confident that if organizations are ISO 17799 compliant, a high degree of information assurance is likely to be a characteristic of the data sets being used. The reverse may be true. Extracting, fusing and drawing conclusions based upon databases with a low degree of information assurance may be wrought with all of the hazards that come from knowingly using bad data to make decisions. Using ISO/IEC 17799 as a baseline for information assurance can help mitigate these risks.

  16. Software Assurance in Acquisition: Mitigating Risks to the Enterprise. A Reference Guide for Security-Enhanced Software Acquisition and Outsourcing

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-02-01

    management, available at <http://www.iso.org/ iso /en/CatalogueDetailPage.CatalogueDetail?CSNUMBER=39612&ICS1=35&ICS2=40 &ICS3=>. ISO /IEC 27001 . Information...Management of the Systems Engineering Process. [ ISO /IEC 27001 ] ISO /IEC 27001 :2005. Information technology -- Security techniques -- Information security...software life cycles [ ISO /IEC 15026]. Software assurance is a key element of national security and homeland security. It is critical because dramatic

  17. Global Impact Estimation of ISO 50001 Energy Management System for Industrial and Service Sectors

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

    Aghajanzadeh, Arian; Therkelsen, Peter L.; Rao, Prakash

    A methodology has been developed to determine the impacts of ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) at a region or country level. The impacts of ISO 50001 EnMS include energy, CO2 emissions, and cost savings. This internationally recognized and transparent methodology has been embodied in a user friendly Microsoft Excel® based tool called ISO 50001 Impact Estimator Tool (IET 50001). However, the tool inputs are critical in order to get accurate and defensible results. This report is intended to document the data sources used and assumptions made to calculate the global impact of ISO 50001 EnMS.

  18. DOD ELAP Lab Uncertainties

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    ISO / IEC   17025  Inspection Bodies – ISO / IEC  17020  RMPs – ISO  Guide 34 (Reference...certify to :  ISO  9001 (QMS),  ISO  14001 (EMS),   TS 16949 (US Automotive)  etc. 2 3 DoD QSM 4.2 standard   ISO / IEC   17025 :2005  Each has uncertainty...IPV6, NLLAP, NEFAP  TRAINING Programs  Certification Bodies – ISO / IEC  17021  Accreditation for  Management System 

  19. [Update to ISO 15189:2012, and future prospects].

    PubMed

    Shimoda, Katsuji; Kubono, Katsuo

    2014-06-01

    ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standard bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing international standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. ISO 15189 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 212, clinical laboratory testing, and in vitro diagnostic test systems. This third edition replaces the second edition (ISO 15189:2007), which was technically revised. Medical laboratory services are essential for patient care and, therefore, have to be available to meet the needs of all patients and the clinical personnel responsible for the care of those patients.

  20. Strengthening the Security of ESA Ground Data Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flentge, Felix; Eggleston, James; Garcia Mateos, Marc

    2013-08-01

    A common approach to address information security has been implemented in ESA's Mission Operations (MOI) Infrastructure during the last years. This paper reports on the specific challenges to the Data Systems domain within the MOI and how security can be properly managed with an Information Security Management System (ISMS) according to ISO 27001. Results of an initial security risk assessment are reported and the different types of security controls that are being implemented in order to reduce the risks are briefly described.

  1. Evaluation of the performance of the OneTouch Select Plus blood glucose test system against ISO 15197:2013.

    PubMed

    Setford, Steven; Smith, Antony; McColl, David; Grady, Mike; Koria, Krisna; Cameron, Hilary

    2015-01-01

    Assess laboratory and in-clinic performance of the OneTouch Select(®) Plus test system against ISO 15197:2013 standard for measurement of blood glucose. System performance assessed in laboratory against key patient, environmental and pharmacologic factors. User performance was assessed in clinic by system-naïve lay-users. Healthcare professionals assessed system accuracy on diabetes subjects in clinic. The system demonstrated high levels of performance, meeting ISO 15197:2013 requirements in laboratory testing (precision, linearity, hematocrit, temperature, humidity and altitude). System performance was tested against 28 interferents, with an adverse interfering effect only being recorded for pralidoxime iodide. Clinic user performance results fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria. Subjects agreed that the color range indicator clearly showed if they were low, in-range or high and helped them better understand glucose results. The system evaluated is accurate and meets all ISO 15197:2013 requirements as per the tests described. The color range indicator helped subjects understand glucose results and supports patients in following healthcare professional recommendations on glucose targets.

  2. 77 FR 16036 - Guidance for Industry, Third Parties and Food and Drug Administration Staff; Medical Device ISO...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-19

    ... comments to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane... Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13485:2003 ``Medical devices--Quality management systems--Requirements... management systems--Requirements for regulatory purposes,'' (ISO 13485:2003) or a national adoption of this...

  3. Research into alternative network approaches for space operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kusmanoff, Antone L.; Barton, Timothy J.

    1990-01-01

    The main goal is to resolve the interoperability problem of applications employing DOD TCP/IP (Department of Defence Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) family of protocols on a CCITT/ISO based network. The objective is to allow them to communicate over the CCITT/ISO protocol GPLAN (General Purpose Local Area Network) network without modification to the user's application programs. There were two primary assumptions associated with the solution that was actually realized. The first is that the solution had to allow for future movement to the exclusive use of the CCITT/ISO standards. The second is that the solution had to be software transparent to the currently installed TCP/IP and CCITT/ISO user application programs.

  4. Prototype development and implementation of picture archiving and communications systems based on ISO-OSI standard

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinez, Ralph; Nam, Jiseung

    1992-07-01

    Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) is an integration of digital image formation in a hospital, which encompasses various imaging equipment, image viewing workstations, image databases, and a high speed network. The integration requires a standardization of communication protocols to connect devices from different vendors. The American College of Radiology and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (ACR- NEMA) standard Version 2.0 provides a point-to-point hardware interface, a set of software commands, and a consistent set of data formats for PACS. But, it is inadequate for PACS networking environments, because of its point-to-point nature and its inflexibility to allow other services and protocols in the future. Based on previous experience of PACS developments in The University of Arizona, a new communication protocol for PACS networks and an approach were proposed to ACR-NEMA Working Group VI. The defined PACS protocol is intended to facilitate the development of PACS''s capable of interfacing with other hospital information systems. Also, it is intended to allow the creation of diagnostic information data bases which can be interrogated by a variety of distributed devices. A particularly important goal is to support communications in a multivendor environment. The new protocol specifications are defined primarily as a combination of the International Organization for Standardization/Open Systems Interconnection (ISO/OSI), TCP/IP protocols, and the data format portion of ACR-NEMA standard. This paper addresses the specification and implementation of the ISO-based protocol into a PACS prototype. The protocol specification, which covers Presentation, Session, Transport, and Network layers, is summarized briefly. The protocol implementation is discussed based on our implementation efforts in the UNIX Operating System Environment. At the same time, results of performance comparison between the ISO and TCP/IP implementations are presented to demonstrate the implementation of defined protocol. The testing of performance analysis is done by prototyping PACS on available platforms, which are Micro VAX II, DECstation and SUN Workstation.

  5. Experience of Implementing ISO 15189 Accreditation at a University Laboratory

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    The present article summarizes the authors’ experience with the implementation of a quality management system based on ISO 17025 and ISO 15189 standards at university laboratories. The accreditation of the analytical procedures at the Universidad Mariano Gálvez represented a challenge due to the unique nature of an educational institution and the difference in nature to the standards implemented. Sample handling and care of the patient were combined to achieve an integrated management system. We explain the development of the management system, the obstacles and benefits of the system and concluding that it is possible to design a management system based on ISO 15189 for the university lab that allowed delivering results assuring technical competence to patient care and welfare. PMID:27683499

  6. Electrostatic Discharge Test of Multi-Junction Solar Array Coupons After Combined Space Environmental Exposures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wright, Kenneth H.; Schneider, Todd; Vaughn, Jason; Hoang, Bao; Funderburk, Victor V.; Wong, Frankie; Gardiner, George

    2010-01-01

    A set of multi-junction GaAs/Ge solar array test coupons were subjected to a sequence of 5-year increments of combined environmental exposure tests. The test coupons capture an integrated design intended for use in a geosynchronous (GEO) space environment. A key component of this test campaign is conducting electrostatic discharge (ESD) tests in the inverted gradient mode. The protocol of the ESD tests is based on the ISO/CD 11221, the ISO standard for ESD testing on solar array panels. This standard is currently in its final review with expected approval in 2010. The test schematic in the ISO reference has been modified with Space System/Loral designed circuitry to better simulate the on-orbit operational conditions of its solar array design. Part of the modified circuitry is to simulate a solar array panel coverglass flashover discharge. All solar array coupons used in the test campaign consist of 4 cells. The ESD tests are performed at the beginning of life (BOL) and at each 5-year environment exposure point. The environmental exposure sequence consists of UV radiation, electron/proton particle radiation, thermal cycling, and ion thruster plume. This paper discusses the coverglass flashover simulation, ESD test setup, and the importance of the electrical test design in simulating the on-orbit operational conditions. Results from 5th-year testing are compared to the baseline ESD characteristics determined at the BOL condition.

  7. ESA to launch six scientific satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1995-09-01

    The Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, will lead the trio into space. It will be launched on an Ariane 4 rocket in early November from the European launch site at Kourou, French Guiana. It will be followed in mid-December by SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, which will be launched by an Atlas IIAS rocket from Cape Canaveral, USA. Finally, in mid-January the four Cluster probes will be carried into space on the inaugural flight of Ariane 5. ISO is the world's only orbiting infrared observatory and is the most sophisticated ever. Its sensitive detectors will be cooled to below -270 degrees C, allowing it to observe cool objects in space, invisible through ordinary telescopes. ISO's many scientific goals include studying newly formed stars and planets, investigating the aging process of galaxies and search for the universe's elusive 'dark matter' that is believed to outweigh visible stars and galaxies. The SOHO observatory will provide scientists with a comprehensive study of the sun, the nuclear powerhouse in the centre of our solar system. Its twelve experiments, developed by scientists from Europe and the United States, will investigate the sun from its core outwards -from the very inner workings of the star, to the solar wind which blows through the solar system. The four identical Cluster spacecraft will focus on studying the interaction of the sun with plasmas of the Earth and the magnetic field in a region known as the magnetosphere. The four probes, flying in formation, will allow scientists to build up a three-dimensional picture of the battle between the sun's streams of wind and the Earth's protective magnetic field. These missions represent years of work by scientists across Europe and around the world. The data they gather will provide us with a greater understanding of our own solar neighbourhood and deep space. SPACECRAFT STATUS AS AT 1 SEPTEMBER 95 ISO The ISO satellite, together with all the associated equipment, was transported in June by ship to Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Since then, all the satellite subsystems and scientific instruments have been thoroughly tested and found to be in order. ISO is now waiting its turn to be mated with the Ariane 44P launcher. The launch campaign will resume in early October for a launch on 3 November. Preparations for flight operations by ESA's space operation centre, ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany and the flight control centre at Villafranca, near Madrid, Spain are also in the final stages. Most of the work in the last two months before a launch involves training and performing simulations to prove flight readiness. The scientific community is eagerly awaiting the preliminary results of ISO's first look into space in November. SOHO SOHO arrived at Kennedy Space Centre on 1 August. It was given a welcome by hurricane ERIN, which forced an immediate transfer to its reserved NASA facility just after its transport plane had safely landed. Spacecraft preparation for launch has started with a thorough check of all the systems and instruments onboard SOHO and will proceed with an end-to-end test with the NASA control station at Goddard Spaceflight Centre. Parallel activities are proceeding in Europe on the final testing and inspection of the four reaction wheels which the spacecraft control system uses to keep all its instruments pointed very precisely at the sun. At the end of its preparation, the spacecraft will be mated to its Atlas IIAS launcher, which is due to lift off in the first week of December. CLUSTER All four Cluster spacecraft, together with all ancillary equipment, have now arrived at Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft have been set up for final electrical testing in the Final Assembly Building , a new Ariane 5 facility. Major milestones in the campaign are the start of spacecraft fuelling operations at the beginning of November and the start of integration of the spacecraft with the launch vehicle in mid- December. The Cluster launch campaign is proceeding on schedule for the planned launch date of 17 January 1996. At the same time, final acceptance tests are being carried out on the new Ariane 5 launch vehicle components. Note to TV editors: Video indexes describing in detail the ISO, SOHO and Cluster missions will be available on request from ESA PR as from 15 September 1995.

  8. The Influence of Academic Culture on Quality Management System ISO 9001 Maintenance within Malaysian Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Basir, Siti Arni; Davies, John; Douglas, Jacqueline; Douglas, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates the influence of the elements of academic culture on quality management system ISO 9001 maintenance within Malaysian universities. There is a dearth of empirical studies on maintaining ISO 9001, particularly in the higher education context. From the literature review, academic culture was classified according to four…

  9. Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Interconnection and Transmission (MAOWIT)

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

    Kempton, Willett

    This project has carried out a detailed analysis to evaluate the pros and cons of offshore transmission, a possible method to decrease balance-of-system costs and permitting time identified in the DOE Office Wind Strategic Plan (DOE, 2011). It also addresses questions regarding the adequacy of existing transmission infrastructure and the ability of existing generating resources to provide the necessary Ancillary Services (A/S) support (spinning and contingency reserves) in the ISO territory. This project has completed the tasks identified in the proposal: 1. Evaluation of the offshore wind resource off PJM, then examination of offshore wind penetrations consistent with U.S. Departmentmore » of Energy’s (DOE) targets and with their assumed resource size (DOE, 2011). 2. Comparison of piecemeal radial connections to the Independent System Operator (ISO) with connections via a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore network similar to a team partner. 3. High-resolution examination of power fluctuations at each node due to wind energy variability 4. Analysis of wind power production profiles over the Eastern offshore region of the regional ISO to assess the effectiveness of long-distance, North- South transmission for leveling offshore wind energy output 5. Analysis of how the third and fourth items affect the need for ISO grid upgrades, congestion management, and demand for Ancillary Services (A/S) 6. Analysis of actual historic 36-hr and 24-hr forecasts to solve the unit commitment problem and determine the optimal mix of generators given the need to respond to both wind variability and wind forecasting uncertainties.« less

  10. Noninvasive CT to Iso-C3D registration for improved intraoperative visualization in computer assisted orthopedic surgery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rudolph, Tobias; Ebert, Lars; Kowal, Jens

    2006-03-01

    Supporting surgeons in performing minimally invasive surgeries can be considered as one of the major goals of computer assisted surgery. Excellent intraoperative visualization is a prerequisite to achieve this aim. The Siremobil Iso-C 3D has become a widely used imaging device, which, in combination with a navigation system, enables the surgeon to directly navigate within the acquired 3D image volume without any extra registration steps. However, the image quality is rather low compared to a CT scan and the volume size (approx. 12 cm 3) limits its application. A regularly used alternative in computer assisted orthopedic surgery is to use of a preoperatively acquired CT scan to visualize the operating field. But, the additional registration step, necessary in order to use CT stacks for navigation is quite invasive. Therefore the objective of this work is to develop a noninvasive registration technique. In this article a solution is being proposed that registers a preoperatively acquired CT scan to the intraoperatively acquired Iso-C 3D image volume, thereby registering the CT to the tracked anatomy. The procedure aligns both image volumes by maximizing the mutual information, an algorithm that has already been applied to similar registration problems and demonstrated good results. Furthermore the accuracy of such a registration method was investigated in a clinical setup, integrating a navigated Iso-C 3D in combination with an tracking system. Initial tests based on cadaveric animal bone resulted in an accuracy ranging from 0.63mm to 1.55mm mean error.

  11. ESA switches its infrared space telescope off and will clean its orbit

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1998-05-01

    Controllers at the ESA ground station at Villafranca (Madrid, Spain) witnessed the definitive end for the telescope but they didn't have to press any 'red button' or the like. The instructions for the switch off had already been introduced into ISO's computer earlier. ISO's last month of life was used to gather as much technical data as possible. Various software and hardware systems that, due to the superb performance of the spacecraft, did not have to be used during the operational phase were subjected to detailed tests. Results from these tests will benefit future ESA missions, such as XMM and Integral, which use some of the same components, such as the Star Trackers guiding the spacecraft. Also, ISO's farewell included a further last gift for the astronomers. A few of the detectors in the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS), one of the four instruments on-board the satellite, could still be used after exhaustion of the liquid helium. In anticipation of this opportunity, a special scientific programme has been prepared and was interleaved with the technology tests. Some 150 extra hours were used to measure nearly 300 stars at wavelengths between 2.4 and 4 microns enabling astronomers to make a detailed spectral classification. In fact, ISO continued to give scientific surprises to the very sad end. ISO's 'last light' observation - taken with the SWS instrument just before midnight on May 10 - was of emission lined from hydrogen in hot supergiant star (eta Canis Majoris). The preliminary results show that this star, supposed to be ordinary, is probably surrounded by a disk of matter. Commenting on the satellite switch off, ESA's Director of Science, Roger Bonnet, said "ISO has allowed us to gain the first clear view of the universe at infrared wavelengths. A great amount of work still awaits us to interpret all ISO's exciting discoveries. We will miss ISO, of course - new answers always bring new questions and the wish for yet more knowledge; that is why ESA is already working on one of ISO's successors, the Far Infrared and Submillimetre Space Telescope, FIRST. Footnote about ISO ISO was put into orbit in November 1995, by an Ariane 44P launcher at Europe's Spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana. As an unprecedented observatory for infrared astronomy, able to examine cool and hidden places in the Universe, ISO has successfully made more than 26,000 observations. A supply of liquid helium, used to cool the telescope and instruments close to the absolute zero of temperature, lasted more than 30% longer than expected, but ran out on 8 April 1998 (see ESA Press Information Note No.11-98 of 9 April).

  12. Performance of two updated blood glucose monitoring systems: an evaluation following ISO 15197:2013.

    PubMed

    Pleus, Stefan; Baumstark, Annette; Rittmeyer, Delia; Jendrike, Nina; Haug, Cornelia; Freckmann, Guido

    2016-05-01

    Objective For patients with diabetes, regular self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is essential to ensure adequate glycemic control. Therefore, accurate and reliable blood glucose measurements with SMBG systems are necessary. The international standard ISO 15197 describes requirements for SMBG systems, such as limits within which 95% of glucose results have to fall to reach acceptable system accuracy. The 2013 version of this standard sets higher demands, especially regarding system accuracy, than the currently still valid edition. ISO 15197 can be applied by manufacturers to receive a CE mark for their system. Research design and methods This study was an accuracy evaluation following ISO 15197:2013 section 6.3 of two recently updated SMBG systems (Contour * and Contour TS; Bayer Consumer Care AG, Basel, Switzerland) with an improved algorithm to investigate whether the systems fulfill the requirements of the new standard. For this purpose, capillary blood samples of approximately 100 participants were measured with three test strip lots of both systems and deviations from glucose values obtained with a hexokinase-based comparison method (Cobas Integra † 400 plus; Roche Instrument Center, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) were determined. Percentages of values within the acceptance criteria of ISO 15197:2013 were calculated. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02358408). Main outcome Both updated systems fulfilled the system accuracy requirements of ISO 15197:2013 as 98.5% to 100% of the results were within the stipulated limits. Furthermore, all results were within the clinically non-critical zones A and B of the consensus error grid for type 1 diabetes. Conclusions The technical improvement of the systems ensured compliance with ISO 15197 in the hands of healthcare professionals even in its more stringent 2013 version. Alternative presentation of system accuracy results in radar plots provides additional information with certain advantages. In addition, the surveillance error grid offers a modern tool to assess a system's clinical performance.

  13. Golden legacy from ESA's observatory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2003-07-01

    ISO was the first space observatory able to see the sky in infrared light. Using its eyes, we have discovered many new phenomena that have radically changed our view of the Universe. Everybody knows that when something is heated it glows. However, things also glow with a light our eyes cannot detect at room temperature: infrared light. Infrared telescopes do not work well on the Earth’s surface because such light is absorbed by the atmosphere. ISO looked at the cold parts of the universe, usually the 'cold and dusty' parts. It peered into clouds of dust and gas where stars were being born, observing for the first time the earliest stages of star formation. It discovered, for example, that stars begin to form at temperatures as low as -250°C or less. Scientists were able to follow the evolution of dust from where it is produced (that is, old stars - the massive 'dust factories') to the regions where it forms new planetary systems. ISO found that most young stars are surrounded by discs of dust that could harbour planets. The observatory also analysed the chemical composition of cosmic dust, thereby opening up a new field of research, ‘astromineralogy’. With ISO we have been able to discover the presence of water in many different regions in space. Another new discipline, 'astrochemistry', was boosted when ISO discovered that the water molecule is common in the Universe, even in distant galaxies, and complex organic molecules like benzene readily form in the surroundings of some stars. "ISO results are impacting most fields of astronomical research, almost literally from comets to cosmology," explains Alberto Salama, ISO Project Scientist. "Some results answer questions. Others open new fields. Some are already being followed up by existing telescopes; others have to await future facilities." When ISO's operational life ended, in 1998, its observations became freely available to the world scientific community via ISO’s data archive. In May 2003 the 'milestone number' of 1000 scientific papers was reached. Even now ISO's data archive remains a valuable source of new results. For example, some of the latest papers describe the detection of water in 'protostars', which are stars in the process of being born, and studies of numerous nearby galaxies. "Of course we were confident ISO was going to do very well, but its actual productivity has been far beyond our expectations. The publication rate does not even seem to have peaked yet! We expect many more results," Salama says. Note for editors ISO's data archive contains scientific data from about 30 000 observations. Astronomers from all over the world have downloaded almost eight times the equivalent of the entire scientific archive. As much as 35% of all ISO observations have already been published at least once in prestigious scientific journals. ESA is now preparing to continue its infrared investigation of the Universe. The next generation of infrared space observatories is already in the pipeline. ISO is to be followed by the NASA SIRTF observatory to be launched later this year. Then, in 2007, ESA will follow up the pioneering work of ISO with the Herschel Space Observatory, which will become the largest imaging telescope ever put into space. ISO The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was launched in 1995 and operated from November that year to May 1998, when it ran out of the coolant needed to keep its detectors working. At the time it was the most sensitive infrared satellite ever launched and made particularly important studies of the dusty regions of the Universe, where visible light telescopes can see nothing. ESA will reopen its examination of the infrared Universe when Herschel is launched in 2007. Herschel Herschel will be the largest space telescope when, in 2007, it is launched on an Ariane-5 rocket, together with ESA’s cosmology mission, Planck. Herschel’s 3.5-metre diameter mirror will collect longwave infrared radiation from some of the coolest and most distant objects in the Universe. These include forming stars and galaxies.

  14. [ISO 9001:2015 Certification in Quality Management].

    PubMed

    Enders, Christian; Lang, Gabriele E; Lang, Gerhard K; Werner, Jens Ulrich

    2017-07-01

    Quality management improves the structures, processes and results of organizations of all kinds. Many practices and clinics have their existing quality management system certified according to ISO 9001, (e.g., to check their own quality management system or to obtain a testimonial against third parties). The latest version ISO 9001:2015 contains some changes, both structurally and in terms of content. These changes can be met with reasonable efforts. An ISO 9001:2015 certification represents a value for your organization, but these advantages are often not directly measurable. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  15. The costs and benefits of getting the ISO 9000 certification in the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia.

    PubMed

    Mezher, T; Ramadan, H

    1998-01-01

    Many Saudi companies, in their journey to improve quality, efficiency and competitiveness, are pursuing and obtaining the ISO 9000 certificate. Many studies have evaluated how to implement ISO 9000 in different sectors, but none have analyzed the effectiveness of ISO 9000 certification (costs and benefits) on improving the overall quality and on meeting expectations. This study addressed these issues by investigating manufacturing organizations in Saudi Arabia that have the ISO 9000 certification. A survey questionnaire was distributed to firms throughout the kingdom. Thirty-two firms participated in the study. Results indicate that increased consistency of operations, improved service, and product quality are among the top motivators for pursuing the ISO certificate. The benefits most often experienced were improved awareness of procedural problems, better management control, keeping existing customers, increased customer satisfaction, and improved customer service. Difficulties experienced during the certification process involved time and cost, but these were not considered to be major problems. A high volume of paperwork was the main problem experienced following initial certification. Respondents in general said that the ISO 9000 certification met their expectations and that their level of satisfaction regarding the impact of ISO 9000 was high. Most recommended that other organizations pursue the certificate.

  16. CMMI(Registered) for Acquisition, Version 1.3. CMMI-ACQ, V1.3

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-11-01

    and Software Engineering – System Life Cycle Processes [ ISO 2008b] ISO /IEC 27001 :2005 Information technology – Security techniques – Information...International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission. ISO /IEC 27001 Information Technology – Security Techniques...International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission ( ISO /IEC) body of standards. CMMs focus on improving processes

  17. New water and remote galaxies complete ISO's observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    ISO's operational teams at ESA's ground station at Villafranca near Madrid have been hurrying to provide the world's astronomers with as many observations as possible. They have long anticipated the exhaustion of ISO's vital supply of liquid helium, which cooled the infrared telescope and its instruments to their operating temperatures, close to absolute zero. Two weeks after ISO was put into orbit on 17 November 1995 by an Ariane 44P launcher, the external parts of the cooling system had settled to the operating temperature. The specification required that ISO should then operate for at least 18 months -- implying that operations might have to end in May 1997. Thanks to superb engineering by European industry, which built the spacecraft and its super-cool telescope, ISO has given astronomers almost a year longer than that. During the extra time the count of ISO's observations of cosmic objects has risen from 16,000 to about 26,000. Among the benefits of ISO's longevity has been the chance to examine an important region of the sky, in and around the constellation of Orion. This was not accessible in the nominal mission but has now been observed in two periods. Four inter national teams, supported by national funding agencies, supplied the instruments to analyse the infrared rays received by ISO's telescope. The principal investigators leading the teams are Dietrich Lemke (Heidelberg, Germany) for the versatile photometer ISOPHOT, Catherine Cesarsky (Saclay, France) for the camera ISOCAM, Thijs de Graauw (Groningen, the Netherlands) for the Short Wavelength Spectrometer SWS, and Peter Clegg (London, UK) for the Long Wavelength Spectrometer LWS. Water vapour on Titan A big difference between ISO and the only previous infrared astronomy satellite (IRAS 1983) has been its ability to examine individual objects across a wide range of accurately defined infrared wavelengths. Many spectra showing patterns of intensities at the different wavelengths have enabled astronomers to deduce the presence of diverse materials in interstellar space, in the surroundings of stars, and in other galaxies. As previously reported, ISO has identified stony materials, tarry compounds of carbon, and vapours and ices like water and carbon monoxide. Together they give the first clear picture of how Mother Nature prepares, from elements manufactured in stars, the ingredients needed for planets and for life itself. Particularly striking for the human imagination are ISO's repeated discoveries of water in the deserts of space. They encourage expectations of life elsewhere in the Universe. Water has turned up around dying stars, newborn stars, in the general interstellar medium, in the atmospheres of the outer planets and in other galaxies too. A link to the Earth's oceans and the water we live by comes in the water- ice long known to be a major ingredient of comets, which are relics from the era of planet-building. A further link to the investigation of the origin of life is the apparent detection of water vapour in the mysterious atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. A preliminary announcement comes from an international team headed by Athena Coustenis of Paris Observatory and Alberto Salama of the ISO Science Operations Center at Villafranca. The team used ISO's Short Wavelength Spectrometer during several hours of observations last December, when Titan was at its farthest from Saturn as seen by ISO. Emissions at wavelengths of 39 and 44 microns showed up, as an expected signature of water vapour. The news will excite the scientists involved in ESA's probe Huygens, launched last year aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft. It will parachute into Titan's atmosphere to see what the chemistry of the Earth may have been like before life began. "Water vapour makes Titan much richer," comments Athena Coustenis. "We knew there was carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in Titan's atmosphere, so we expected water vapour too. Now that we believe we've found it, we can expect to better understand the organic chemistry taking place on Titan and also the sources of oxygen in the Saturnian System. After ISO, the Huygens probe will reveal the actual degree of complexity in a mixture of elaborate organic molecules closely resembling the chemical soup on the young Earth." Ballet corps of young stars Infrared images of the spectacular Orion star-forming regions, at a distance of approximately 1500 light years, are bonuses from ISO's extended life. In the Horsehead Nebula, visible light shows a large dark dust cloud from which a black wisp shaped like a horse's head protrudes into a luminous cloud of gas. When seen by ISO's camera ISOCAM, dense parts of the dusty region appear as shiny filaments and the horse's head almost disappears. Young stars are detected in the horse's forehead and in the nearby nebula NGC 2023. Other well-known nebulae in the Orion region include NGC 2068 and NGC 2071. Emission by carbon compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAH) makes the infrared nebulae spectacular, as seen by ISOCAM. And thanks to ISOCAM's sensitivity and the ability of infrared rays to penetrate a dust cloud better than visible light, ballet corps of young stars appear on the stage, seen as spots in the centre of these two nebulae. This is not surprising, because the dense, dusty regions called molecular clouds are often the breeding grounds of new stars, but ISOCAM detects fainter and more obscured objects. "We have used ISOCAM to make a census of families of young stars," comment Lennart Nordh and Göran Olofsson of Stockholm University, who lead a team of astronomers from Sweden, France, Italy, the UK and ESA. "By comparing the intensities of the point-like objects at different infrared wavelengths we can efficiently identify the ensemble of young stars still embedded in its parental molecular clouds." From their study of ISO's early observations of four star-forming clouds, the astronomers report the detection of small stars. "Almost 300 young stars have been identified to date, many of which were previously not recognized," Nordh and Olofsson say. "Most of the latter objects have luminosities 10-100 times lower than revealed by earlier observations. Our preliminary analysis indicates that at least ten per cent of the embedded young stars will become small brown dwarfs, or ownerless super-planets, less than one-tenth of the mass of the Sun." Colliding galaxies Some galaxies are unusually bright in the infrared because of cosmic traffic accidents that bring them into collision with other galaxies. The result is a frenzy of star formation called a starburst. The explosion of short-lived stars then creates a pall of warm dust which ISO observes in the infrared. The relative intensities of different wavelengths enable astronomers to distinguish starburst events from other sources of strong infrared rays, such as the environment of a black hole in the nucleus of a galaxy. Collisions and starbursts play an important part in the evolution of galaxies. A famous pair of colliding galaxies called the Antennae was one of the first objects to be examined by ISO. Continuing study of the Antennae over the past two years has revealed a clear picture of a starburst occurring exactly where the dense disks of the galaxies intersect. The nuclei of the two galaxies are plainly distinguished too. Centaurus A is a galaxy that first attracted the attention of astronomers by its strong of radio emissions. In its visible appearance, a large, round (elliptical) galaxy has a dark band across its face. This too turns out to be the result of a galactic collision. The dark band is a flat, disk-shaped galaxy seen almost edge-on. Centaurus A is the nearest case of a phenomenon seen elsewhere by ISO, in which a flat galaxy has merged with an elliptical galaxy while preserving its flat configuration. ISOCAM gives an image of Centaurus A in which the disk galaxy is the more conspicuous object. The orientation of the disk becomes clear. It is at right angles to the axis of the radio-emitting regions, which are powered by jets of electrons driven by a black hole in the centre of the galaxy. Excited emissions detected by ISO's Short Wavelength Spectrometer also indicate the presence of an active black hole. "Centaurus A is an example of ISO's magic," says Catherine Cesarsky of CEA Saclay in France, leader of the ISOCAM instrument team. "It transforms opaque clouds seen by visible light into glowing scenes in the infrared. The same thing happens in dust clouds hiding newborn stars, and on a huge scale in dusty starburst galaxies -- which become infrared beacons lighting our way deep into the Universe." Distant galaxies seen through the holes in the sky When ISO was launched, one of the hopes for the space observatory was that it would detect galaxies made luminous by starburst events, or by black-hole activity, very far away in space and therefore far back in time. Dust in our own Milky Way Galaxy usually obscures the remotest and faintest galaxies. But when they look northwards and southwards, at right-angles to the disk of the Milky Way, astronomers find holes in the dust clouds through which distant galaxies are discernible. Both for ISO and the Hubble Space Telescope these holes have been special targets for observations with long exposures, to reveal faint galaxies. ISOCAM results through the northern hole, by a Japanese-led team, were reported last year in an ESA Information Note (25.97) and a picture release (ESA/ISO 97:8/1). They revealed many infrared-luminous galaxies billions of light- years away, from an era corresponding with about half the present age of the Universe. Even more distant and earlier galaxies may be present in ISO's observations, including some objects not yet seen by visible light. Results released at the London press briefing on ISO include "deep field" examinations by groups of astronomers led by Catherine Cesarsky of CEA Saclay and Michael Rowan Robinson of Imperial College, London, analysing the northern and southern images respectively. In the northern deep field, when ISOCAM observations are superimposed on a Hubble picture of the same region, they pick out spiral galaxies experiencing starbursts. A different signature comes from large elliptical galaxies whose visible light has been shifted into the infrared by the expansion of the Universe. The astronomers estimate that some of the objects seen by ISOCAM are so far away that the Universe was only one-third of its present age when they emitted the radiation seen today. The first ISO images from the opposite direction in the sky, in the southern deep field, show similar objects, again at great distances. A preliminary analysis indicates the presence of of 30-40 remote galaxies seen at a wavelength of 7 microns and 22-30 at 15 microns. One interesting source, bright in the infrared, is not seen by visible light even in a prolonged examination by the CTIO 4-metre telescope in Chile (A. Walker). Astronomers suspect that this object is undergoing an especially violent period of star formation. The interpretation can be checked when Hubble and other telescopes have a chance to examine this scene. Besides illuminating the evolution of the galaxies, ISO's deep field results are encouraging for scientists planning another of ESA's astronomical space projects, FIRST. Its longer wavelengths will penetrate even deeper into the unknown. Non-stop discoveries The extended life was not the only outcome that made ISO a triumph for ESA, European industry and those responsible for its operations. The pointing accuracy of the telescope turned out to be ten times better than required in the specification and its jitter was one-fifth of what was considered tolerable. Stray light in the optical system was too small to measure. The scheduling systems achieved science observations for 90-95 per cent of the available time. Much of the rest of the time, when ISO was turning to new targets, was spent in mapping parts of the sky at a wavelength of 200 microns. Activity concerning ISO will continue at the Villafranca ground station until the year 2001, long after the completion of the observational phase of the mission. During the space operations, the main objective was to make as many observations as possible. Thorough analysis and interpretation of the results will take several years. "We still have plenty to do," says Martin Kessler, ESA's project scientist for ISO. "Our team at Villafranca is preparing a complete archive of ISO data on 500-1000 compact disks, after reprocessing with improved software. We'll release part of this archive to the world-wide astronomical community in the autumn of this year, and the rest in 1999. We shall also advise the astronomers who have used ISO, about the particular requirements for handling the data from each instrument, and we'll be doing some astronomy ourselves. There are far more results still to come from ISO." Europe's infrared astronomers are already busy preparing ESA's FIRST and Planck missions, due for launch early in the new century. FIRST will observe long infrared wavelengths in the sub-millimetre range, while Planck will map the cosmic microwave background far more accurately than NASA's COBE mission did, to reveal the clumps of matter from which galaxies evolved. Also under study by ESA is a possible interferometer mission using a combination of infrared telescopes. In principle it might observe and characterize planets in orbit around other stars. Meanwhile, Europe's space astronomy programme continues apace in other directions. ESA's participation in the Hubble Space Telescope and its eventual successor assures access to those important instruments for Europe's astronomers. The release in 1997 of the catalogues from ESA's unique star-mapping mission Hipparcos provided all astronomer with amazingly precise data for sizing up the stars and the wider Universe. Next year will see the launch of ESA's XMM satellite to observe X-rays from the Universe with the most ingenious and sensitive X-ray telescopes ever made. It will be followed by Integral in 2001, which will investigate cosmic gamma-rays with clever imaging devices called coded masks, and ultra-sensitive detectors. "Our aim in space astronomy is that every ESA mission should be the best in the world at the time of its launch," says Roger Bonnet, ESA's director of science. "ISO is a shining example. It has revolutionized infrared astronomy. It has given us wonderful insights into cool and hidden places in the Universe, and into the origins of water and other materials to which we owe our very existence. A mission of this scale and complexity was feasible for Europe only through the multinational collaboration coordinated by ESA." See ISO's results on the World Wide Web, or on a CD Immediate access to information about ISO and its results, including a picture gallery, is available via the Internet: http://isowww.estec.esa.nl For the assistance of journalists, ESA's ISO team has also prepared a compact disk containing the same information as the website, together with previously published information about ISO and its results. For further information, contact ESA Public Relations Division Tel: +33.(0)1.53.69.71.55 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.76.90

  18. Lanthanum-mediated dehydrogenation of butenes: Spectroscopy and formation of La(C4H6) isomers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cao, Wenjin; Hewage, Dilrukshi; Yang, Dong-Sheng

    2018-01-01

    La atom reactions with 1-butene, 2-butene, and isobutene are carried out in a laser-vaporization molecular beam source. The three reactions yield the same La-hydrocarbon products from the dehydrogenation and carbon-carbon bond cleavage and coupling of the butenes. The dehydrogenated species La(C4H6) is the major product, which is characterized with mass-analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopy and quantum chemical computations. The MATI spectrum of La(C4H6) produced from the La+1-butene reaction exhibits two band systems, whereas the MATI spectra produced from the La+2-butene and isobutene reactions display only a single band system. Each of these spectra shows a strong origin band and several vibrational progressions. The two band systems from the spectrum of the 1-butene reaction are assigned to the ionization of two isomers: La[C(CH2)3] (Iso A) and La(CH2CHCHCH2) (Iso B), and the single band system from the spectra of the 2-butene and isobutene reactions is attributed to Iso B and Iso A, respectively. The ground electronic states are 2A1 (C3v) for Iso A and 2A' (Cs) for Iso B. The ionization of the doublet state of each isomer removes a La 6s-based electron and leads to the 1A1 ion of Iso A and the 1A' ion of Iso B. The formation of both isomers consists of La addition to the C=C double bond, La insertion into two C(sp3)—H bonds, and H2 elimination. In addition to these steps, the formation of Iso A from the La+1-butene reaction may involve the isomerization of 1-butene to isobutene prior to the C—H bond activation, whereas the formation of Iso B from the La+trans-2-butene reaction may include the trans- to cis-butene isomerization after the C—H bond activation.

  19. The impact of age and sex adjusted body mass index (ISO-BMI) in obese versus non-obese children and adolescents with cholecystectomy.

    PubMed

    Kiuru, Eveliina; Kokki, Hannu; Juvonen, Petri; Lintula, Hannu; Paajanen, Hannu; Gissler, Mika; Eskelinen, Matti

    2014-01-01

    The impact of the age and sex adjusted body mass index (ISO-BMI) in the obese vs. non-obese children and adolescents with cholecystectomy for cholelithias is rarely reported. The national database was searched for cholecystectomies performed in paediatric patients between 1997 and 2011, and the 59 paediatric and adolescent patients having cholecystectomy in the Kuopio University Hospital district were divided in two groups by age and sex adjusted BMI (ISO-BMI) using the cut-off point of overweight (ISO-BMI 25 kg/m(2)) based on the Finnish growth standards. Nationwide a total of 840 cholecystectomies were performed during the 15 years study period in Finland, most of which included females (77%), resulting in a mean of annual frequency of 4.8 (range: 3.9-6.1) procedures/100,000 population. In the study sample, most of the patients with the cholelithiasis were female (50/59, 85%). The gender distribution was equal among the younger patients, but among adolescents 6/52 (12%) of the patients with cholelithiasis were boys and 46/52 (88%) of the patients with cholelithiasis were girls. Obesity did not affect on operative parameters. The median operative time was 70 min (range, 30-155) and 66 min (44-130) in the high ISO-BMI-group. The recovery was similar in the two groups: the median length of hospital stay was 4 days in both groups. The patients in the low ISO-BMI-group vs. high ISO-BMI-group had a trend of higher serum bilirubin (p=0.16) and serum AFOS values (p=0.19). In the histological examination of the gallbladders 19/28 (68%) patients in the low ISO-BMI-group had inflammation vs. 26/31 (84%) patients in the high ISO-BMI-group (p=0.15). Our results between obese and non-obese children and adolescents with cholelithiasis are not statistically significant. The obese adolescents with female gender are in greater risk for cholelithiasis. Copyright © 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

  20. Global harmonization of safety regulations for the use of industrial robots-permission of collaborative operation and a related study by JNIOSH.

    PubMed

    Saito, Tsuyoshi; Hoshi, Toshiro; Ikeda, Hiroyasu; Okabe, Kohei

    2015-01-01

    In December 2013, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) partially amended the safety regulations for use of industrial robots so that "collaborative operation" could be performed at Japanese worksites as allowed in the ISO standard for industrial robots. In order to show global harmonization of Japanese legislation on machinery safety and problems with applying ISO safety standards to Japanese worksites, this paper reports the progress of a research study which have been conducted in National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan from 2011 to the present at the request of MHLW to examine the necessity and effect of the amendment. In the first phase of this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted among domestic robot manufacturers and users. The obtained results revealed their potential demand for the collaborative operation and problems concerning their risk assessment and rule-based risk reduction. To solve the problems, we propose a method based on an investigation result of the regulatory framework for safety of machinery in the European Union. Furthermore, a model of robot system capable of demonstrating the collaborative operation and risk reduction measures which is being developed to support appropriate implementation of the amendment is also described.

  1. Survey of U.S. Ancillary Services Markets

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

    Zhou, Zhi; Levin, Todd; Conzelmann, Guenter

    In addition to providing energy to end-consumers, power system operators are also responsible for ensuring system reliability. To this end, power markets maintain an array of ancillary services to ensure that it is always possible to balance the supply and demand for energy in real-time. A subset of these ancillary services are commonly procured through market-based mechanisms: namely, Regulation, Spinning, and Non-spinning Reserves. Regulation Reserves are maintained to respond to supply/demand imbalances over short time frames, typically on the order of several seconds to one minute. Resources that provide Regulation Reserves adjust their generation or load levels in response tomore » automatic generation control (AGC) signals provided by the system operator. Contingency reserves are maintained to provide additional generation capacity in the event that load increases substantially or supply side resources reduce their output or are taken offline. The reserves are typically segmented into two categories, 1) Spinning or Synchronized Reserves that are provided by generation units that are actively generating and have the ability to increase or decrease their output, 2) Non-spinning or Non-synchronized Reserves that are provided by generation resources that are not actively generating, but are able to start up and provide generation within a specified timeframe. Contingency reserves typically have response times on the order of ten to 30 minutes and can also be provided by demand-side resources that are capable of reducing their load. There are seven distinct power markets in the United States, each operated by a Regional Transmission Operator (RTO) or Independent System Operator (ISO) that operates the transmission system in its territory, operates markets for energy and ancillary services, and maintains system reliability. Each power market offers its own set of ancillary services, and precise definitions, requirements, and market mechanisms differ between markets. Despite the differences between markets, both in terms of services offered and system requirements, some broad trends generally apply. Regulation Reserves typically have the highest market prices, followed by Spinning Reserves and Non-spinning Reserves. Prices for Regulation Reserves have been the highest in the PJM market, since it opened in October 2012. This is partially because PJM experienced large price spikes during the period of extreme weather conditions in early 2014. ERCOT has traditionally had the highest prices for Spinning Reserves (called Responsive Reserves in ERCOT), including several periods of sustained high prices between 2010 and 2012. This can be explained in part by the relatively high penetration of variable wind resources and a similarly high requirement relative to peak load. ERCOT has also traditionally had the highest price for Non-spinning Reserves, followed by the NYISO East region. Both have experienced several periods of prolonged high prices since their inception, an occurrence that has not been regularly seen in other markets. In ISO-NE and PJM for example, the market clearing price for Non-spinning Reserves is typically $0/MWh more than 95% of the time. Market volume (in terms of the average amount of capacity of each service that is provided to a system) typically follows the reverse order of prices, as systems maintain the most Non-spinning Reserves capacity followed by Spinning Reserves and Regulation Reserves. PJM generally has the largest market for Regulation Reserves both in terms of capacity. The size of most Regulation Reserves markets in terms of capacity stay relatively constant year-to-year, as this is dictated largely by system requirements. PJM also generally has the largest Spinning Reserves market in terms of capacity. SPP, MISO, ISO-NE and SPP (beginning in 2014) all have Spinning Reserve markets with similar average capacity levels. When combined, the markets for Non-spinning and Operating reserves in ISO-NE have a comparable capacity to the market for Primary Reserves 1 in PJM. SPP, MISO, and CAISO all have smaller markets for their respective Non-spinning Reserves products that are roughly the same size as each other in terms of capacity.« less

  2. Comparison of Wind Power and Load Forecasting Error Distributions: Preprint

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

    Hodge, B. M.; Florita, A.; Orwig, K.

    2012-07-01

    The introduction of large amounts of variable and uncertain power sources, such as wind power, into the electricity grid presents a number of challenges for system operations. One issue involves the uncertainty associated with scheduling power that wind will supply in future timeframes. However, this is not an entirely new challenge; load is also variable and uncertain, and is strongly influenced by weather patterns. In this work we make a comparison between the day-ahead forecasting errors encountered in wind power forecasting and load forecasting. The study examines the distribution of errors from operational forecasting systems in two different Independent Systemmore » Operator (ISO) regions for both wind power and load forecasts at the day-ahead timeframe. The day-ahead timescale is critical in power system operations because it serves the unit commitment function for slow-starting conventional generators.« less

  3. Strengthening the regulatory system through the implementation and use of a quality management system.

    PubMed

    Eisner, Reinhold; Patel, Rakeshkumar

    2017-04-20

    Quality management systems (QMS), based on ISO 9001 requirements, are applicable to government service organizations such as Health Canada's Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate (BGTD). This communication presents the process that the BGTD followed since the early 2000s to implement a quality management system and describes how the regulatory system was improved as a result of this project. BGTD undertook the implementation of a quality management system based on ISO 9001 and containing aspects of ISO 17025 with the goal of strengthening the regulatory system through improvements in the people, processes, and services of the organization. We discuss the strategy used by BGTD to implement the QMS and the benefits that were realized from the various stages of implementation. The eight quality principals upon which the QMS standards of the ISO 9000 series are based were used by senior management as a framework to guide QMS implementation.

  4. A data types profile suitable for use with ISO EN 13606.

    PubMed

    Sun, Shanghua; Austin, Tony; Kalra, Dipak

    2012-12-01

    ISO EN 13606 is a five part International Standard specifying how Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) information should be communicated between different EHR systems and repositories. Part 1 of the standard defines an information model for representing the EHR information itself, including the representation of types of data value. A later International Standard, ISO 21090:2010, defines a comprehensive set of models for data types needed by all health IT systems. This latter standard is vast, and duplicates some of the functions already handled by ISO EN 13606 part 1. A profile (sub-set) of ISO 21090 would therefore be expected to provide EHR system vendors with a more specially tailored set of data types to implement and avoid the risk of providing more than one modelling option for representing the information properties. This paper describes the process and design decisions made for developing a data types profile for EHR interoperability.

  5. SU-F-J-37: Commissioning a Six Degree of Freedom Couch

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

    Roberts, D; Lam, K; Bredfeldt, J

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: The proper operation of a six degree of freedom couch (6DOFC) to position a patient for treatment requires that a number systems on the treatment unit work together correctly. Commissioning a 6DOFC requires not only the commissioning of each separate system but also commissioning the interactions between the systems. Methods: To commission a 6DOFC, we tested the resolvers that readout the linear and angular positions; the orthogonality of the axes of the laser positioning system, the imaging system, the gantry and the couch as well as their relationship to each other. An automated Winston-Lutz test was used verify themore » coincidence of the origins of the laser system, imaging system and treatment unit. The IsoCal phantom was used to verify the consistency of axes orientations between systems. The operation of the couch and imaging system was verified under simulated load conditions and an end to end test was performed to verify correct operation of the system. Results: The tests on the couch resolvers, orthogonality and coincidence of the axes of each system were successfully completed and showed excellent agreement. The automated Winston-Lutz test showed that the maximum displacement of the center of the radiation field with respect to the isocenter was <0.6 mm (radius) at isocenter. The analysis of the IsoCal phantom showed that the maximum variation of the radiation field with respect to known locations in the phantom was ∼0.9 mm for all the BBs in the phantom. Load tests showed maximum errors of 1 mm. Conclusion: We tested all system associated with the 6DOFC and found the uncertainty due to imaging was <.9mm and the uncertainty due to loading ∼1 mm, resulting in a total error of ∼1.4 mm.« less

  6. Aircrew Emergency Decision Training: A Conference Report, 28-30 November 1978, San Francisco, California

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-05-01

    Reoremnget Aircraft emergencies Emergency training Rsmutrsmngmn Behavioral decision theory Instructional systems Situlatonar mrecytann Decision making ...accidents) should be fed to ISO personnel to update training regularly; (10) special- attention should be paid to teaching difficult component skills...Need to Make Emergency Decisions? Ward Edwards 14 Comment PauZ Slovic 20 * Resource Management in Present and Future Aircraft Operations John Lauber

  7. Age Induced Effects on ESD Characteristics of Solar Array Coupons After Combined Space Environmental Exposures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wright, Kenneth H.; Schneider, Todd A.; Vaughn, Jason A.; Hoang, Bao; Funderburk, Victor V.; Wong, Frankie; Gardiner, George

    2012-01-01

    A set of multi-junction GaAs/Ge solar array test coupons provided by Space Systems/Loral were subjected to a sequence of 5-year increments of combined space environment exposure tests. The test coupons capture an integrated design intended for use in a geosynchronous (GEO) space environment. A key component of this test campaign is performing electrostatic discharge (ESD) tests in the inverted gradient mode. The protocol of the ESD tests is based on the ISO standard for ESD testing on solar array panels [ISO-11221]. The test schematic in the ISO reference has been modified with Space System/Loral designed circuitry to better simulate the on-orbit operational conditions of its solar array design. Part of the modified circuitry is to simulate a solar array panel coverglass flashover discharge. All solar array coupons used in the test campaign consist of four cells constructed to form two strings. The ESD tests were performed at the beginning-of-life (BOL) and at each 5-year environment exposure point until end-of-life (EOL) at 15 years. The space environmental exposure sequence consisted of ultra-violet radiation, electron/proton particle radiation, thermal cycling, and Xenon ion thruster plume erosion. This paper describes the ESD test setup and the importance of the electrical test design in simulating the on-orbit operational conditions. Arc inception voltage results along with ESD test behavior from the BOL condition through the 15th year age condition are discussed. In addition, results from a Xenon plasma plume exposure test with an EOL coupon under the full ESD test condition will be discussed.

  8. Comparison of AIHA ISO 9001-based occupational health and safety management system guidance document with a manufacturer's occupational health and safety assessment instrument.

    PubMed

    Dyjack, D T; Levine, S P; Holtshouser, J L; Schork, M A

    1998-06-01

    Numerous manufacturing and service organizations have integrated or are considering integration of their respective occupational health and safety management and audit systems into the International Organization for Standardization-based (ISO) audit-driven Quality Management Systems (ISO 9000) or Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14000) models. Companies considering one of these options will likely need to identify and evaluate several key factors before embarking on such efforts. The purpose of this article is to identify and address the key factors through a case study approach. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the key features of the American Industrial Hygiene Association ISO-9001 harmonized Occupational Health and Safety Management System with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. management and audit system were conducted. The comparisons showed that the two management systems and their respective audit protocols, although structured differently, were not substantially statistically dissimilar in content. The authors recommend that future studies continue to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of various audit protocols. Ideally, these studies would identify those audit outcome measures that can be reliably correlated with health and safety performance.

  9. The combined effects of soya isoflavones and resistant starch on equol production and trabecular bone loss in ovariectomised mice.

    PubMed

    Tousen, Yuko; Matsumoto, Yu; Matsumoto, Chiho; Nishide, Yoriko; Nagahata, Yuya; Kobayashi, Isao; Ishimi, Yoshiko

    2016-07-01

    Equol is a metabolite of the soya isoflavone (ISO) daidzein that is produced by intestinal microbiota. Equol has greater oestrogenic activity compared with other ISO, and it prevents bone loss in postmenopausal women. Resistant starch (RS), which has a prebiotic activity and is a dietary fibre, was reported to promote equol production. Conversely, the intestinal microbiota is reported to directly regulate bone health by reducing inflammatory cytokine levels and T-lymphocytes in bone. The present study evaluated the combined effects of diet supplemented with ISO and RS on intestinal microbiota, equol production, bone mineral density (BMD) and inflammatory gene expression in the bone marrow of ovariectomised (OVX) mice. Female ddY strain mice, aged 8 weeks, were either sham-operated (Sham, n 7) or OVX. OVX mice were randomly divided into the following four groups (seven per group): OVX control (OVX); OVX fed 0·05 % ISO diet (OVX+ISO); OVX fed 9 % RS diet (OVX+RS); and OVX fed 0·05 % ISO- and 9 % RS diet (OVX+ISO+RS). After 6 weeks, treatment with the combination of ISO and RS increased equol production, prevented the OVX-induced decline in trabecular BMD in the distal femur by modulating the enteric environment and altered OVX-induced inflammation-related gene expression in the bone marrow. However, there were no significant differences in bone parameters between the ISO+RS and ISO-alone groups in OVX mice. Our findings suggest that the combination of ISO and RS might alter intestinal microbiota and immune status in the bone marrow, resulting in attenuated bone resorption in OVX mice.

  10. ISO celebrates its prolonged life with a video of Jupiter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1997-07-01

    This is excellent news for astronomers and especially for the multinational teams, with leaders in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, who spent many years devising the four instruments served by ISO's telescope. The camera ISOCAM, the photometer ISOPHOT, the Short Wavelength Spectrometer and the Long Wavelength Spectrometer span between them an unprecedented range of infrared wavelengths from 2 to 200 microns. The atmosphere of Jupiter is one of the cool and cloudy places attracting ISO's attention, and ESA today releases a video of unprecedented images of Jupiter. The planet changes its appearance drastically as the camera ISOCAM scans a range of 90 different infrared wavelengths. Picture by picture, ISOCAM picks out different features of the atmosphere's composition and behaviour. These and other results from ISO will enable scientists to sharpen their ideas about how Jupiter's weather works. "ISO is giving us a new impression of the giant planets of the Solar System," comments Roger Bonnet, ESA's director of science. "Not just Jupiter, but Saturn, Uranus and Neptune too. By observing the planets across its very wide range of infrared wavelengths, ISO can see features overlooked even by spacecraft visiting the planets. The remarkable movie of Jupiter released today represents only a few per cent of ISO's wavelength range, yet every image tells its own story." More information about the Jupiter video appears later in this Information Note. How ISO's cold telescope beat the calendar The need to keep ISO's telescope and instruments chilled to a very low temperature sets a limit to their useful operating life. ISO was supplied with more than 2000 litres of superfluid helium to cool it. Slow evaporation maintains key parts of the spacecraft at temperatures close to absolute zero, below minus 271 degrees C. The rate of loss of helium was expected to be about 3 litres a day, but the cryogenic system could not be tested in exactly the conditions found in space. Prudence required an allowance for a possibly faster rate of evaporation, to ensure the specified 18 months of life. Three of the additional 10 months that have materialized represent that safety margin. The rest of the gain in ISO's operating life was fortuitous, partly because of favourable circumstances during the launch campaign at Kourou in French Guiana. ISO was launched in its cold condition, and was expected to lose helium while waiting on the launch pad. During a technical check of the Ariane 44P launcher, ISO's engineers seized the chance to recharge the helium. The launch then occurred at the very first opportunity, with 99 per cent of ISO's helium aboard instead of an expected 95 per cent -- a gain of about a month's supply. Another month's advantage came about because the quick launch meant that the outer parts of the insulation system of the spacecraft had little time to warm up in Kourou's tropical climate. High hopes for Orion Some of the prime targets of infrared astronomy lie in the direction of the Orion constellation, but without the extension of its life ISO could not have looked safely in that direction in the sky. The cold telescope must always remain averted from the intense infrared glow of both the Earth and the Sun. The orbit is constrained by the need to remain in touch with one or other of the ground stations, in Spain or California. As a result ISO's first chance to examine in the Orion sector comes next month (August 1997). When astronomers learned, soon after launch, that the coolant supply would last long enough for Orion to come into ISO's view, they immediately clamoured for observations. But operational constraints will cause interruptions in September and early October. The same geometry that makes Orion safe for ISO's telescope also puts the satellite into the Earth's shadow for abnormally long periods on each orbit, cutting off the power from the spacecraft's solar panels. Mission controllers are devising strategies to safeguard ISO during this tricky period, while giving the astronomical teams as much observing time as possible. Nevertheless, without the further extension of the spacecraft's life into 1998, the glimpses in the Orion sector might have been more tantalizing than satisfying for the astronomers. By February 1998, ISO will again be able to scan Orion, this time without any difficulties from the Earth's shadow. Then sustained observations will build on lessons learned from the results of 1997. Hopes are high for spectacular discoveries in ISO's swansong, just before its helium supply finally runs out. "Astronomers stand to gain hugely from ISO's extended life," says Martin Kessler, the project scientist. "We have learned by now how to get the best results from our completely novel space observatory, so we can promise to use the extra observing time very effectively. What we can look at is important too. The biggest star factories in our vicinity sprawl across the Orion and Taurus constellations. The famous Orion Nebula is only their brightest spot. In August - September 1997 and February-March 1998, ISO will spend part of its extra life hunting for newly forming stars hidden in the Orion and Taurus clouds. It's a big bonus, and the results may well turn out to rank among ISO's finest achievements." Jupiter's atmosphere and ISO's video Impressions by visible light of Jupiter's weather, like the Earth's weather, are dominated by clouds which are abundant wherever the gases of the atmosphere are rising. The bright clouds of Jupiter are concentrated in permanent zones. Between the cloud zones are bands in various hues created by the chemistry of the atmosphere. The Great Red Spot is a long-lived hurricane, wider than the Earth, that has raged for several centuries in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. If you had infrared eyes, you would see the Earth's own clouds radiating in different colours, or wavelengths, according to their temperatures. You could also recognize various gases in the air by colours due to their absorptions of particular wavelengths. Infrared instruments in meteorological and environmental satellites monitor the Earth's atmosphere routinely. Jupiter's atmosphere yields its secrets in the infrared waveband to ISO, which sees the whole sunward side of the planet. Three of ISO's four instruments are contributing important discoveries about the chemical composition and behaviour of Jupiter's atmosphere. A foretaste, spanning only a few per cent of ISO's total wavelength range, comes from the ISOCAM video released by ESA today. Over half an hour, while Jupiter turned a little and shifted its Great Red Spot towards the right, ISOCAM obtained 90 images of Jupiter, each of them at a different infrared wavelength between 2.3 and 11.6 microns. The images change so dramatically that a viewer could be forgiven for wondering if it is still the same planet. Jupiter even disappears from view temporarily, at around 3.3 microns, where methane gas in the Jovian atmosphere mops up the planet's infrared rays -- in the same way as water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane in the Earth's air absorb infrared wavebands. The Jovian blackout gives a vivid impression of why ISO had to go into space in the first place, to escape from the Earth's atmospheric barriers to infrared astronomy. At the lower end of the wavelength range the Great Red Spot glows bright in the infrared. The images of Jupiter at around 5 microns show, as hot-spots, regions free of cloud where ISO can peer deep into the atmosphere. By contrast, the upper atmosphere is featured at around 7.7 microns, where strong emissions from the planet's south polar region are conspicuous. Acting like a swarm of weather balloons, every one of the images brings new knowledge of the giant planet. Th)r[se Encrenaz of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon leads an ISO team that is examining the weather and chemistry of Jupiter and the other giant planets Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. She is pleased with the results so far. "By observing Jupiter with ISO we can build up a 3-D picture of the peculiar weather on this giant planet," Encrenaz comments. "We can also fit into our big picture the local results coming from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. For example, it sent a probe into Jupiter and scientists were puzzled by the results, and now we know that the probe plunged by chance into one of the dry, cloud-free anticyclones seen clearly by ISO at 5 microns. ISO's perspective links the winds, clouds, temperatures and chemistry of Jupiter's atmosphere in fascinating ways." Notes about the ISO Jupiter video The video is available to broadcasters on request, in Betacam form. Please contact ESTEC (Tel :+31.71.565.3429) or ESA HQ (Tel: +33 (0)1.53.69.7155). The video consists of 86 frames shown at a rate of 2.5 frames per second. Each frame is at a different wavelength between 2.3 and 11.6 microns, as indicated by the moving pointer. North is at the top. The images were obtained sequentially over 35 minutes. During that time the Great Red Spot, seen conspicuously bright below the equatorial at the outset moves a little to the right. At the outset and in other early frames ISO sees the cloudy zones of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot. Around 3.3 microns the planet goes dramatically dark because methane gas in the atmosphere absorbs all the infrared radiation. At 5 microns, ISO sees deep into the atmosphere, in the belts between the cloud zones. The bright spots conspicuous north of the equator are hot dry regions, similar to the one visited by the Galileo probe. Around 7.7 microns, ISO is looking at the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) of Jupiter. The south polar region glows bright. In the last images, Jupiter is becoming too hot for the camera The rate of frequency change is not constant. Thus 3 microns is attained at frames 15-16, 4 microns at 31-32, 5 microns at 44-47, 6 microns at 54-55, 7 microns at 63-64, 8 microns at 69-70, 9 microns at 74-75, 10 microns at 82-83, and 11 microns at 87-88. ISOCAM operated with an image scale of 1.5 seconds of arc per pixel in the circular variable filter mode. The equator of Jupiter spans about 30 pixels.

  11. Implementing a Quality Management System in the Medical Microbiology Laboratory.

    PubMed

    Carey, Roberta B; Bhattacharyya, Sanjib; Kehl, Sue C; Matukas, Larissa M; Pentella, Michael A; Salfinger, Max; Schuetz, Audrey N

    2018-07-01

    This document outlines a comprehensive practical approach to a laboratory quality management system (QMS) by describing how to operationalize the management and technical requirements described in the ISO 15189 international standard. It provides a crosswalk of the ISO requirements for quality and competence for medical laboratories to the 12 quality system essentials delineated by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. The quality principles are organized under three main categories: quality infrastructure, laboratory operations, and quality assurance and continual improvement. The roles and responsibilities to establish and sustain a QMS are outlined for microbiology laboratory staff, laboratory management personnel, and the institution's leadership. Examples and forms are included to assist in the real-world implementation of this system and to allow the adaptation of the system for each laboratory's unique environment. Errors and nonconforming events are acknowledged and embraced as an opportunity to improve the quality of the laboratory, a culture shift from blaming individuals. An effective QMS encourages "systems thinking" by providing a process to think globally of the effects of any type of change. Ultimately, a successful QMS is achieved when its principles are adopted as part of daily practice throughout the total testing process continuum. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  12. Maximizing your Process Improvement ROI through Harmonization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-03-01

    ISO 12207 ) provide comprehensive guidance on what system and software engineering processes are needed. The frameworks of Six Sigma provide specific...reductions. Their veloci-Q Enterprise integrated system, includes ISO 9001, CMM, P-CMM, TL9000, British Standard 7799, and Six Sigma. They estimate a 30...at their discretion. And, they chose to blend process maturity models and ISO standards to support their objective regarding the establishment of

  13. Environments predicting intermittent shortening access reduce operant performance but not home cage binge size in rats

    PubMed Central

    Wojnicki, F.H.E.; Babbs, R.K.; Corwin, R.L.W

    2013-01-01

    When non-food-deprived rats are given brief access to vegetable shortening (a semi-solid fat used in baked products) on an intermittent basis (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), they consume significantly more and emit more operant responses for shortening than a separate group of rats given brief access to shortening every day. Since both groups are traditionally housed in the same room, it is possible that the environmental cues associated with placing shortening in the cages (e.g., investigator in room, cages opening and closing, etc.) provide predictable cues to the daily group, but unpredictable cues to the intermittent group. The present study examined the effects of providing predictable environmental cues to an isolated intermittent group in order to examine the independent contributions of intermittency and predictability on intake and operant performance. Two groups of rats were housed in the same room, with one group provided 30-min intermittent (INT) access and the second group provided 30-min daily access (D) to shortening. A third group (ISO) of rats was housed in a room by themselves in which all environmental cues associated with intermittent shortening availability were highly predictable. After five weeks of home cage shortening access, all rats were then exposed to several different operant schedules of reinforcement. The INT and ISO groups consumed significantly more shortening in the home cage than the D group. In contrast, the INT group earned significantly more reinforcers than both the ISO and D groups under all but one of the reinforcement schedules, while ISO and D did not differ. These data indicate that intermittent access will generate binge-type eating in the home cage independent of cue predictability. However, predictable cues in the home cage reduce operant responding independent of intermittent access. PMID:23535243

  14. [Nine-Year Experience after ISO 15189 Acquisition, How Successful was It? Focusing on the Results of Interviews and Questionnaires].

    PubMed

    Fujimoto, Kazumitsu; Asai, Noriaki; Nakajima, Yoshinaga; Inoue, Kaoru

    2015-11-01

    Our laboratory, for the purpose of Quality Management System (QMS) improvement, acquired ISO 15189:2003 accreditation 9 years ago and completed the renewal to ISO 15189:2012 last year. In this study, we reviewed the efficacy of ISO 15189 based on an analysis of laboratory director's and managers' opinions. We could realize QMS improvement through the proactive implementation of preventive and corrective actions, and also the continuous implementation of education and delivery by means of reviewing the interview records of ISO 15189:2012 renewal with the laboratory director. All answers to the questionnaire obtained from managers with regard to the advantages of ISO 15189 acquisition agreed with the purpose of ISO 15189. From these results, we concluded that ISO 15189 acquisition was successful for QMS improvement. [Review].

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

    Krishnamurthy, Dheepak

    This paper is an overview of Power System Simulation Toolbox (psst). psst is an open-source Python application for the simulation and analysis of power system models. psst simulates the wholesale market operation by solving a DC Optimal Power Flow (DCOPF), Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) and a Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED). psst also includes models for the various entities in a power system such as Generator Companies (GenCos), Load Serving Entities (LSEs) and an Independent System Operator (ISO). psst features an open modular object oriented architecture that will make it useful for researchers to customize, expand, experiment beyond solvingmore » traditional problems. psst also includes a web based Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows for user friendly interaction and for implementation on remote High Performance Computing (HPCs) clusters for parallelized operations. This paper also provides an illustrative application of psst and benchmarks with standard IEEE test cases to show the advanced features and the performance of toolbox.« less

  16. African Ancestry Gradient Is Associated with Lower Systemic F2-Isoprostane Levels

    PubMed Central

    Annor, Francis; Okosun, Ike; Gower, Barbara A.

    2017-01-01

    Context. Low levels of systemic F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoP) increase the risk of diabetes and weight gain and were found in African Americans. Low F2-IsoPs could reflect an unfavorable metabolic characteristic, namely, slow mitochondrial metabolism in individuals with African ancestry. Objective. To examine differences in plasma F2-IsoPs in three groups with a priori different proportion of African ancestry: non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), US-born African Americans (AAs), and West African immigrants (WAI). Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Georgia residents recruited from church communities. Participants. 218 males and females 25–74 years of age, who are self-identified as NHW (n = 83), AA (n = 56), or WAI (n = 79). Main Outcome Measure(s). Plasma F2-IsoPs quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results. After adjustment for age, gender, obesity, and other comorbidities, WAI had lower levels of plasma F2-IsoP than AA (beta-coefficient = −9.8, p < 0.001) and AA had lower levels than NHW (beta-coefficient = −30.3, p < 0.001). Similarly, among healthy nonobese participants, F2-IsoP levels were lowest among WAI, followed by AA, and the highest levels were among NHW. Conclusion. Plasma F2-IsoPs are inversely associated with African ancestry gradient. Additional studies are required to test whether optimization of systemic F2-IsoP levels can serve as means to improve race-specific lifestyle and pharmacological intervention targeted to obesity prevention and treatment. PMID:28250893

  17. African Ancestry Gradient Is Associated with Lower Systemic F2-Isoprostane Levels.

    PubMed

    Annor, Francis; Goodman, Michael; Thyagarajan, Bharat; Okosun, Ike; Doumatey, Ayo; Gower, Barbara A; Il'yasova, Dora

    2017-01-01

    Context . Low levels of systemic F 2 -isoprostanes (F 2 -IsoP) increase the risk of diabetes and weight gain and were found in African Americans. Low F 2 -IsoPs could reflect an unfavorable metabolic characteristic, namely, slow mitochondrial metabolism in individuals with African ancestry. Objective . To examine differences in plasma F 2 -IsoPs in three groups with a priori different proportion of African ancestry: non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), US-born African Americans (AAs), and West African immigrants (WAI). Design . Cross-sectional study. Setting . Georgia residents recruited from church communities. Participants . 218 males and females 25-74 years of age, who are self-identified as NHW ( n = 83), AA ( n = 56), or WAI ( n = 79). Main Outcome Measure(s) . Plasma F 2 -IsoPs quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results . After adjustment for age, gender, obesity, and other comorbidities, WAI had lower levels of plasma F 2 -IsoP than AA (beta-coefficient = -9.8, p < 0.001) and AA had lower levels than NHW (beta-coefficient = -30.3, p < 0.001). Similarly, among healthy nonobese participants, F 2 -IsoP levels were lowest among WAI, followed by AA, and the highest levels were among NHW. Conclusion . Plasma F 2 -IsoPs are inversely associated with African ancestry gradient. Additional studies are required to test whether optimization of systemic F 2 -IsoP levels can serve as means to improve race-specific lifestyle and pharmacological intervention targeted to obesity prevention and treatment.

  18. Specialty Engineering Supplement to IEEE-15288.1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-15

    receiver required to work in a dense EMI environment. (15) Any RF receiver with a burnout level of less than 30 dBm (1 mW). b. A summary of all...Context 2.1 ISO-IEC-IEEE-15288: 2015, Systems and Software Engineering — System life cycle processes ISO-IEC-IEEE 15288 is the DOD-adopted standard for...to ISO-15288 for application of systems engineering on defense programs that was developed by a joint services working group under the auspices of the

  19. Assessing the Value of Regulation Resources Based on Their Time Response Characteristics

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

    Makarov, Yuri V.; Lu, Shuai; Ma, Jian

    2008-06-01

    Fast responsive regulation resources are potentially more valuable as a power system regulation resource (more efficient) because they allow applying controls at the exact moment and in the exact amount as needed. Faster control is desirable because it facilitates more reliable compliance with the NERC Control Performance Standards at relatively lesser regulation capacity procurements. The current California ISO practices and markets do not provide a differentiation among the regulation resources based on their speed of response (with the exception of some minimum ramping capabilities). Some demand response technologies, including some generation and energy storage resources, can provide quicker control actions.more » California ISO practices and markets could be updated to welcome more fast regulation resources into the California ISO service area. The project work reported in this work was pursuing the following objectives: • Develop methodology to assess the relative value of generation resources used for regulation and load following California ISO functions • This assessment should be done based on physical characteristics including the ability to quickly change their output following California ISO signals • Evaluate what power is worth on different time scales • Analyze the benefits of new regulation resources to provide effective compliance with the mandatory NERC Control Performance Standards • Evaluate impacts of the newly proposed BAAL and FRR standards on the potential value of fast regulation and distributed regulation resources • Develop a scope for the follow-up projects to pave a road for the new efficient types of balancing resources in California. The work included the following studies: • Analysis of California ISO regulating units characteristics • California ISO automatic generation system (AGC) analysis • California ISO regulation procurement and market analysis • Fast regulation efficiency analysis • Projection of the California ISO load following and regulation requirements into the future • Value of fast responsive resources depending on their ramping capability • Potential impacts of the balancing authority area control error limit (BAAL), which is a part of the newly proposed NERC standard “Balancing Resources and Demand” • Potential impacts of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) frequency responsive reserve (FRR) standard • Recommendations for the next phase of the project. The following main conclusions and suggestions for the future have been made: • The analysis of regulation ramping requirements shows that the regulation system should be able to provide ramps of at least 40-60 MW per minute for a period up to 6 minutes. • Evaluate if changes are needed in the California ISO AGC system to effectively accommodate new types of fast regulation resources and minimize the California ISO regulation procurement. • California ISO may consider creating better market opportunities for and incentives for fast responsive resources. • An additional study of low probability high ramp events can be recommended to the California ISO. • The California ISO may be willing to consider establishing a more relaxed target CPS2 compliance level. • A BAAL-related study can be recommended for the California ISO as soon as more clarity is achieved concerning the actual enforcement of the BAAL standard and its numerical values for the California ISO. The study may involve an assessment of advantages of the distributed frequency-based control for the California ISO system. The market-related issues that arise in this connection can be also investigated. • A FRR-related study can be recommended for the California ISO as soon as more clarity is achieved concerning the actual enforcement of the FRR standard and its numerical values for the California ISO.« less

  20. Risk Management Considerations for Interoperable Acquisition

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-08-01

    Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to harmonize the standards for software (IEEE 12207 ) and system (IEEE 15288) life-cycle processes. A goal of this harmonization...management ( ISO /IEC 16085) is being generalized to apply to the systems level. The revised, generalized standard will add require- ments and guidance for the...risk management. The documents include the following: • ISO /IEC Guide 73: Risk Management—Vocabulary—Guidelines for use in stan- dards [ ISO 02

  1. Carolina Offshore Wind Integration Case Study: Phases I and II Final Technical Report

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

    Fallon, Christopher; Piper, Orvane; Hazelip, William

    2015-04-30

    Duke Energy performed a phase 1 study to assess the impact of offshore wind development in the waters off the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina. The study analyzed the impacts to the Duke Energy Carolinas electric power system of multiple wind deployment scenarios. Focusing on an integrated utility system in the Carolinas provided a unique opportunity to assess the impacts of offshore wind development in a region that has received less attention regarding renewables than others in the US. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeastern United States that currently has a renewable portfolio standard (RPS)more » which requires that 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements be met with renewable resources by 2021. 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements in 2021 equates to approximately 17,000 GWH of energy needed from renewable resources. Wind resources represent one of the ways to potentially meet this requirement. The study builds upon and augments ongoing work, including a study by UNC to identify potential wind development sites and the analysis of impacts to the regional transmission system performed by the NCTPC, an Order 890 planning entity of which DEC is a member. Furthermore, because the region does not have an independent system operator (ISO) or regional transmission organization (RTO), the study will provide additional information unique to non-RTO/ISO systems. The Phase 2 study builds on the results of Phase 1 and investigates the dynamic stability of the electrical network in Task 4, the operating characteristics of the wind turbines as they impact operating reserve requirements of the DEC utility in Task 5, and the production cost of integrating the offshore wind resources into the DEC generation fleet making comparisons to future planned operation without the addition of the wind resources in Task 6.« less

  2. Code-division multiple-access protocol for active RFID systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazurek, Gustaw; Szabatin, Jerzy

    2008-01-01

    Most of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems operating in HF and UHF bands employ narrowband modulations (FSK or ASK) with Manchester coding. However, these simple transmission schemes are vulnerable to narrowband interference (NBI) generated by other radio systems working in the same frequency band, and also suffer from collision problem and need special anti-collision procedures. This becomes especially important when operating in a noisy, crowded industrial environment. In this paper we show the performance of RFID system with DS-CDMA transmission in comparison to a standard system with FSK modulation defined in ISO 18000-7. Our simulation results show that without any bandwidth expansion the immunity against NBI can be improved by 8 dB and the system capacity can be 7 times higher when using DS-CDMA transmission instead of FSK modulation with Manchester coding.

  3. Launching the chaotic realm of iso-fractals: A short remark

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

    O'Schmidt, Nathan; Katebi, Reza; Corda, Christian

    In this brief note, we introduce the new, emerging sub-discipline of iso-fractals by highlighting and discussing the preliminary results of recent works. First, we note the abundance of fractal, chaotic, non-linear, and self-similar structures in nature while emphasizing the importance of studying such systems because fractal geometry is the language of chaos. Second, we outline the iso-fractal generalization of the Mandelbrot set to exemplify the newly generated Mandelbrot iso-sets. Third, we present the cutting-edge notion of dynamic iso-spaces and explain how a mathematical space can be iso-topically lifted with iso-unit functions that (continuously or discretely) change; in the discrete casemore » examples, we mention that iteratively generated sequences like Fibonacci’s numbers and (the complex moduli of) Mandelbrot’s numbers can supply a deterministic chain of iso-units to construct an ordered series of (magnified and/or de-magnified) iso-spaces that are locally iso-morphic. Fourth, we consider the initiation of iso-fractals with Inopin’s holographic ring (IHR) topology and fractional statistics for 2D and 3D iso-spaces. In total, the reviewed iso-fractal results are a significant improvement over traditional fractals because the application of Santilli’s iso-mathematics arms us an extra degree of freedom for attacking problems in chaos. Finally, we conclude by proposing some questions and ideas for future research work.« less

  4. A Data Specification for Software Project Performance Measures: Results of a Collaboration on Performance Measurement

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-07-01

    cycle Evolution of a system, product, service, project or other human-made entity from conception through retirement [ ISO 12207 ]. Logical line of...012 [ ISO 1995] International Organization for Standardization. ISO /IEC 12207 :1995—Information technology— Software life cycle processes. http...definitions, authors were asked to use or align with already existing standards such as those available through ISO and IEEE when possible. Literature

  5. Effectiveness of the Department of Defense Information Assurance Accreditation Process

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-03-01

    meeting the requirements of ISO 27001, Information Security Management System. ISO 27002 provides “security techniques” or best practices that can be...efforts to the next level and implement a recognized standard such as the International Organization for Standards ( ISO ) 27000 Series of standards...implemented by an organization as part of their certification effort.15 Most likely, the main motivation a company would have for achieving an ISO

  6. From ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015: Significant changes and their impacts to aspiring organizations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sari, Y.; Wibisono, E.; Wahyudi, R. D.; Lio, Y.

    2017-11-01

    ISO 9001:2015 is the latest version of ISO Quality Management System standard that has been updated recently from ISO 9001:2008. It is necessary for all organizations that have implemented and been certified with ISO 9001:2008 to prepare the transition and upgrade their Quality Management System because the certification will expire by September 2018. This paper attempts to provide knowledge on the significant changes from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015, what new requirements are added, and how they would impact the organizations. An exploratory and applied research was chosen as the research approach and aimed to explore what transition designs are needed to anticipate the changes as well as their impacts. The research applied a methodology of Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA) cycle into four organizations and their results were compared and discussed to explain the transition designs. Some qualitative methods such as observation and interview were used to collect the data. By addressing the new requirements, three transition designs that should be prepared are: (i) identifying needs from interested parties, (ii) analyzing internal and external factors of the organizations to formulate relevant strategies and quality objectives, and (iii) registering risks associated to business processes as well as organizational strategies.

  7. Secure provision of reactive power ancillary services in competitive electricity markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El-Samahy, Ismael

    The research work presented in this thesis discusses various complex issues associated with reactive power management and pricing in the context of new operating paradigms in deregulated power systems, proposing appropriate policy solutions. An integrated two-level framework for reactive power management is set forth, which is both suitable for a competitive market and ensures a secure and reliable operation of the associated power system. The framework is generic in nature and can be adopted for any electricity market structure. The proposed hierarchical reactive power market structure comprises two stages: procurement of reactive power resources on a seasonal basis, and real-time reactive power dispatch. The main objective of the proposed framework is to provide appropriate reactive power support from service providers at least cost, while ensuring a secure operation of the power system. The proposed procurement procedure is based on a two-step optimization model. First, the marginal benefits of reactive power supply from each provider, with respect to system security, are obtained by solving a loadability-maximization problem subject to transmission security constraints imposed by voltage and thermal limits. Second, the selected set of generators is determined by solving an optimal power flow (OPF)-based auction. This auction maximizes a societal advantage function comprising generators' offers and their corresponding marginal benefits with respect to system security, and considering all transmission system constraints. The proposed procedure yields the selected set of generators and zonal price components, which would form the basis for seasonal contracts between the system operator and the selected reactive power service providers. The main objective of the proposed reactive power dispatch model is to minimize the total payment burden on the Independent System Operator (ISO), which is associated with reactive power dispatch. The real power generation is decoupled and assumed to be fixed during the reactive power dispatch procedures; however, the effect of reactive power on real power is considered in the model by calculating the required reduction in real power output of a generator due to an increase in its reactive power supply. In this case, real power generation is allowed to be rescheduled, within given limits, from the already dispatched levels obtained from the energy market clearing process. The proposed dispatch model achieves the main objective of an ISO in a competitive electricity market, which is to provide the required reactive power support from generators at least cost while ensuring a secure operation of the power system. The proposed reactive power procurement and dispatch models capture both the technical and economic aspects of power system operation in competitive electricity markets; however, from an optimization point of view, these models represent non-convex mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problems due to the presence of binary variables associated with the different regions of reactive power operation in a synchronous generator. Such MINLP optimization problems are difficult to solve, especially for an actual power system. A novel Generator Reactive Power Classification (GRPC) algorithm is proposed in this thesis to address this issue, with the advantage of iteratively solving the optimization models as a series of non-linear programming (NLP) sub-problems. The proposed reactive power procurement and dispatch models are implemented and tested on the CIGRE 32-bus system, with several case studies that represent different practical operating scenarios. The developed models are also compared with other approaches for reactive power provision, and the results demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed model. The results clearly reveal the main features of the proposed models for optimal provision of reactive power ancillary service, in order to suit the requirements of an ISO under today's stressed system conditions in a competitive market environment.

  8. KSC Center Director Bridges accepts an ISO 9001 certificate from DNV

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1998-01-01

    Center Director Roy Bridges displays the ISO 9001 certificate he was awarded by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. Dalton Lyon of DNV made the presentation, which included a 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world-class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification.

  9. Implementation of ISO 10110 optics drawing standards for the National Ignition Facility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, David Y.; English, R. Edward, Jr.; Aikens, David M.

    1999-11-01

    The National Ignition Facility (NIF) project elected to implement ISO 10110 standard for the specifications of NIF optics drawings in 1996. More than 7,000 NIF large optics and 20,000 NIF small optics will be manufactured based on ISO 10110 indications. ISO 10110 standard meets many of the needs of the NIF optics specifications. It allows the optical engineer to quantify and clearly communicate the desired optical specifications. While no single drawing standard specifies all the requirements of high energy laser system, a combination of ISO 10110 standard with detailed notes make it possible to apply international drawing standards to the NIF laser system. This paper will briefly describe LLNL's interpretation and implementation of the ISO 10110 drawing standard, present some examples of NIF optics drawings, and discuss pros and cons of the indications from the perspective of this application. Emphasis will be given to the surface imperfection specifications, known as 5/, for the NIF optics.

  10. Experimental study of the influence of different resonators on thermoacoustic conversion performance of a thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine.

    PubMed

    Luo, E C; Ling, H; Dai, W; Yu, G Y

    2006-12-22

    In this paper, an experimental study of the effect of the resonator shape on the performance of a traveling-wave thermoacoustic engine is presented. Two different resonators were tested in the thermoacoustic-Stirling heat. One resonator is an iso-diameter one, and the other is a tapered one. To have a reasonable comparison reference, we keep the same traveling-wave loop, the same resonant frequency and the same operating pressure. The experiment showed that the resonator shape has significant influence on the global performance of the thermoacoustic-Stirling heat engine. The tapered resonator gives much better performance than the iso-diameter resonator. The tapered resonator system achieved a maximum pressure ratio of about 1.3, a maximum net acoustical power output of about 450 W and a highest thermoacoustic efficiency of about 25%.

  11. Analyzing the Impacts of Increased Wind Power on Generation Revenue Sufficiency: Preprint

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

    Wang, Qin; Wu, Hongyu; Tan, Jin

    2016-08-01

    The Revenue Sufficiency Guarantee (RSG), as part of make-whole (or uplift) payments in electricity markets, is designed to recover the generation resources' offer-based production costs that are not otherwise covered by their market revenues. Increased penetrations of wind power will bring significant impacts to the RSG payments in the markets. However, literature related to this topic is sparse. This paper first reviews the industrial practices of implementing RSG in major U.S. independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission operators (RTOs) and then develops a general RSG calculation method. Finally, an 18-bus test system is adopted to demonstrate the impacts ofmore » increased wind power on RSG payments.« less

  12. Analyzing the Impacts of Increased Wind Power on Generation Revenue Sufficiency

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

    Wang, Qin; Wu, Hongyu; Tan, Jin

    2016-11-14

    The Revenue Sufficiency Guarantee (RSG), as part of make-whole (or uplift) payments in electricity markets, is designed to recover the generation resources' offer-based production costs that are not otherwise covered by their market revenues. Increased penetrations of wind power will bring significant impacts to the RSG payments in the markets. However, literature related to this topic is sparse. This paper first reviews the industrial practices of implementing RSG in major U.S. independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission operators (RTOs) and then develops a general RSG calculation method. Finally, an 18-bus test system is adopted to demonstrate the impacts ofmore » increased wind power on RSG payments.« less

  13. SU-E-T-488: An Iso-Dose Curve Based Interactive IMRT Optimization System for Physician-Driven Plan Tuning

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

    Shi, F; Tian, Z; Jia, X

    Purpose: In treatment plan optimization for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), after a plan is initially developed by a dosimetrist, the attending physician evaluates its quality and often would like to improve it. As opposed to having the dosimetrist implement the improvements, it is desirable to have the physician directly and efficiently modify the plan for a more streamlined and effective workflow. In this project, we developed an interactive optimization system for physicians to conveniently and efficiently fine-tune iso-dose curves. Methods: An interactive interface is developed under C++/Qt. The physician first examines iso-dose lines. S/he then picks an iso-dose curvemore » to be improved and drags it to a more desired configuration using a computer mouse or touchpad. Once the mouse is released, a voxel-based optimization engine is launched. The weighting factors corresponding to voxels between the iso-dose lines before and after the dragging are modified. The underlying algorithm then takes these factors as input to re-optimize the plan in near real-time on a GPU platform, yielding a new plan best matching the physician's desire. The re-optimized DVHs and iso-dose curves are then updated for the next iteration of modifications. This process is repeated until a physician satisfactory plan is achieved. Results: We have tested this system for a series of IMRT plans. Results indicate that our system provides the physicians an intuitive and efficient tool to edit the iso-dose curves according to their preference. The input information is used to guide plan re-optimization, which is achieved in near real-time using our GPU-based optimization engine. Typically, a satisfactory plan can be developed by a physician in a few minutes using this tool. Conclusion: With our system, physicians are able to manipulate iso-dose curves according to their preferences. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this tool.« less

  14. Accuracy Evaluation of 19 Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems Manufactured in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Multicenter Study.

    PubMed

    Yu-Fei, Wang; Wei-Ping, Jia; Ming-Hsun, Wu; Miao-O, Chien; Ming-Chang, Hsieh; Chi-Pin, Wang; Ming-Shih, Lee

    2017-09-01

    System accuracy of current blood glucose monitors (BGMs) in the market has already been evaluated extensively, yet mostly focused on European and North American manufacturers. Data on BGMs manufactured in the Asia-Pacific region remain to be established. In this study, we sought to assess the accuracy performance of 19 BGMs manufactured in the Asia-pacific region. A total of 19 BGMs were obtained from local pharmacies in China. The study was conducted at three hospitals located in the Asia-Pacific region. Measurement results of each system were compared with results of the reference instrument (YSI 2300 PLUS Glucose Analyzer), and accuracy evaluation was performed in accordance to the ISO 15197:2003 and updated 2015 guidelines. Radar plots, which is a new method, are described herein to visualize the analytical performance of the 19 BGMs evaluated. Consensus error grid is a tool for evaluating the clinical significance of the results. The 19 BGMs resulted in a satisfaction rate between 83.5% and 100.0% within ISO 15197:2003 error limits, and between 71.3% and 100.0% within EN ISO 15197:2015 (ISO 15197:2013) error limits. Of the 19 BGMs evaluated, 12 met the minimal accuracy requirement of the ISO 15197:2003 standard, whereas only 4 met the tighter EN ISO 15197:2015 (ISO 15197:2013) requirements. Accuracy evaluation of BGMs should be performed regularly to maximize patient safety.

  15. Framework for establishing records control in hospitals as an ISO 9001 requirement.

    PubMed

    Al-Qatawneh, Lina

    2017-02-13

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the process followed to control records in a Jordanian private community hospital as an ISO 9001:2008 standard requirement. Design/methodology/approach Under the hospital quality council's supervision, the quality management and development office staff were responsible for designing, planning and implementing the quality management system (QMS) using the ISO 9001:2008 standard. A policy for records control was established. An action plan for establishing the records control was developed and implemented. On completion, a coding system for records was specified to be used by hospital staff. Finally, an internal audit was performed to verify conformity to the ISO 9001:2008 standard requirements. Findings Successful certification by a neutral body ascertained that the hospital's QMS conformed to the ISO 9001:2008 requirements. A framework was developed that describes the records controlling process, which can be used by staff in any healthcare organization wanting to achieve ISO 9001:2008 accreditation. Originality/value Given the increased interest among healthcare organizations to achieve the ISO 9001 certification, the proposed framework for establishing records control is developed and is expected to be a valuable management tool to improve and sustain healthcare quality.

  16. [IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN A NUTRITION UNIT ACCORDING TO ISO 9001:2008].

    PubMed

    Velasco Gimeno, Cristina; Cuerda Compés, Cristina; Alonso Puerta, Alba; Frías Soriano, Laura; Camblor Álvarez, Miguel; Bretón Lesmes, Irene; Plá Mestre, Rosa; Izquierdo Membrilla, Isabel; García-Peris, Pilar

    2015-09-01

    the implementation of quality management systems (QMS) in the health sector has made great progress in recent years, remains a key tool for the management and improvement of services provides to patients. to describe the process of implementing a quality management system (QMS) according to the standard ISO 9001:2008 in a Nutrition Unit. the implementation began in October 2012. Nutrition Unit was supported by Hospital Preventive Medicine and Quality Management Service (PMQM). Initially training sessions on QMS and ISO standards for staff were held. Quality Committee (QC) was established with representation of the medical and nursing staff. Every week, meeting took place among members of the QC and PMQM to define processes, procedures and quality indicators. We carry on a 2 months follow-up of these documents after their validation. a total of 4 processes were identified and documented (Nutritional status assessment, Nutritional treatment, Monitoring of nutritional treatment and Planning and control of oral feeding) and 13 operating procedures in which all the activity of the Unit were described. The interactions among them were defined in the processes map. Each process has associated specific quality indicators for measuring the state of the QMS, and identifying opportunities for improvement. All the documents associated with requirements of ISO 9001:2008 were developed: quality policy, quality objectives, quality manual, documents and records control, internal audit, nonconformities and corrective and preventive actions. The unit was certified by AENOR in April 2013. the implementation of a QMS causes a reorganization of the activities of the Unit in order to meet customer's expectations. Documenting these activities ensures a better understanding of the organization, defines the responsibilities of all staff and brings a better management of time and resources. QMS also improves the internal communication and is a motivational element. Explore the satisfaction and expectations of patients can include their view in the design of care processes. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

  17. Twenty new ISO standards on dosimetry for radiation processing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farrar, H., IV

    2000-03-01

    Twenty standards on essentially all aspects of dosimetry for radiation processing were published as new ISO standards in December 1998. The standards are based on 20 standard practices and guides developed over the past 14 years by Subcommittee E10.01 of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The transformation to ISO standards using the 'fast track' process under ISO Technical Committee 85 (ISO/TC85) commenced in 1995 and resulted in some overlap of technical information between three of the new standards and the existing ISO Standard 11137 Sterilization of health care products — Requirements for validation and routine control — Radiation sterilization. Although the technical information in these four standards was consistent, compromise wording in the scopes of the three new ISO standards to establish precedence for use were adopted. Two of the new ISO standards are specifically for food irradiation applications, but the majority apply to all forms of gamma, X-ray, and electron beam radiation processing, including dosimetry for sterilization of health care products and the radiation processing of fruit, vegetables, meats, spices, processed foods, plastics, inks, medical wastes, and paper. Most of the standards provide exact procedures for using individual dosimetry systems or for characterizing various types of irradiation facilities, but one covers the selection and calibration of dosimetry systems, and another covers the treatment of uncertainties using the new ISO Type A and Type B evaluations. Unfortunately, nine of the 20 standards just adopted by the ISO are not the most recent versions of these standards and are therefore already out of date. To help solve this problem, efforts are being made to develop procedures to coordinate the ASTM and ISO development and revision processes for these and future ASTM-originating dosimetry standards. In the meantime, an additional four dosimetry standards have recently been published by the ASTM but have not yet been submitted to the ISO, and six more dosimetry standards are under development.

  18. ISO 50001 and SEP Faster and Cheaper - Exploring the Enterprise-Wide Approach

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

    Liu, Jingjing; Rao, Prakash; Therkelsen, Peter

    ISO 50001 and other management systems (e.g., ISO 9001 and ISO 14001) allow for implementation and certification at the enterprise level. The "Central Office" concept, which allows a small group of employees to manage and facilitate the organization’s energy management system (EnMS) at the enterprise level, was introduced within the ISO 50003 standard to provide guidance to ISO 50001 certification bodies. Four industrial companies have partnered with the United States Department of Energy to pilot the enterprise-wide ISO 50001/SEP concept under the Better Buildings Superior Energy Performance (SEP) Enterprise-wide Accelerator. Each organization developed a Central Office to host their EnMSmore » while implementing ISO 50001/SEP at multiple physically separated sites. The four corporate partners tailored their Central Office implementation model to meet their own specific circumstances and needs. This paper reviews the commonalities, differences, and benefits of each of these enterprise-wide implementation models, including organizational structures, Central Office staff responsibilities, and key strategies. The cost savings and benefits of using the enterprise-wide approach were assessed, including the cost per site compared with that of a conventional, single-site ISO 50001/SEP implementation approach. This paper also discusses the drivers for the cost reductions realized through these enterprise-wide approaches. The four partner companies worked with 30 total sites. On average, these 30 sites improved energy performance by 5% annually over their SEP achievement periods, saved more than $600,000 annually in energy costs and reduced implementation cost for ISO 50001 and SEP by $19,000 and 0.8 Full Time Equivalent × years (FTE-yr) of staff time per site. The results can inform other organizations seeking to implement enterprise-wide ISO 50001/SEP, as well as energy efficiency organizations seeking to promote wider adoption of ISO 50001 implementation.« less

  19. The Establishment of an ISO Compliant Cancer Biobank for Jordan and its Neighboring Countries Through Knowledge Transfer and Training

    PubMed Central

    Barr, Martin; Souan, Lina; MacGabhann, Peadar; Müller, Jeanette; Al Ashhab, Maxim; Jasser, Mohammed; Hamza, Khetam; Al Hassoon, Sallam; Kuhn, Uwe; Infante, Daniela; Lawlor, Denise; Gately, Kathy; Amireh, Eyad; O'Byrne, Kenneth

    2014-01-01

    Research studies aimed at advancing cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment depend on a number of key resources, including a ready supply of high-quality annotated biospecimens from diverse ethnic populations that can be used to test new drugs, assess the validity of prognostic biomarkers, and develop tailor-made therapies. In November 2011, KHCCBIO was established at the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) with the support of Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funding from the European Union (khccbio.khcc.jo). KHCCBIO was developed for the purpose of achieving an ISO accredited cancer biobank through the collection, processing, and preservation of high-quality, clinically annotated biospecimens from consenting cancer patients, making it the first cancer biobank of its kind in Jordan. The establishment of a state-of-the-art, standardized biospecimen repository of matched normal and lung tumor tissue, in addition to blood components such as serum, plasma, and white blood cells, was achieved through the support and experience of its European partners, Trinity College Dublin, Biostór Ireland, and accelopment AG. To date, KHCCBIO along with its partners, have worked closely in establishing an ISO Quality Management System (QMS) under which the biobank will operate. A Quality Policy Manual, Validation, and Training plan have been developed in addition to the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for consenting policies on ethical issues, data privacy, confidentiality, and biobanking bylaws. SOPs have also been drafted according to best international practices and implemented for the donation, procurement, processing, testing, preservation, storage, and distribution of tissues and blood samples from lung cancer patients, which will form the basis for the procurement of other cancer types. KHCCBIO will be the first ISO accredited cancer biobank from a diverse ethnic Middle Eastern and North African population. It will provide a unique and valuable resource of high-quality human biospecimens and anonymized clinicopathological data to the cancer research communities world-wide. PMID:24620764

  20. [Detection of tibial condylar fractures using 3D imaging with a mobile image amplifier (Siemens ISO-C-3D): Comparison with plain films and spiral CT].

    PubMed

    Kotsianos, D; Rock, C; Wirth, S; Linsenmaier, U; Brandl, R; Fischer, T; Euler, E; Mutschler, W; Pfeifer, K J; Reiser, M

    2002-01-01

    To analyze a prototype mobile C-arm 3D image amplifier in the detection and classification of experimental tibial condylar fractures with multiplanar reconstructions (MPR). Human knee specimens (n = 22) with tibial condylar fractures were examined with a prototype C-arm (ISO-C-3D, Siemens AG), plain films (CR) and spiral CT (CT). The motorized C-arm provides fluoroscopic images during a 190 degrees orbital rotation computing a 119 mm data cube. From these 3D data sets MP reconstructions were obtained. All images were evaluated by four independent readers for the detection and assessment of fracture lines. All fractures were classified according to the Müller AO classification. To confirm the results, the specimens were finally surgically dissected. 97 % of the tibial condylar fractures were easily seen and correctly classified according to the Müller AO classification on MP reconstruction of the ISO-C-3D. There is no significant difference between ISO-C and CT in detection and correct classification of fractures, but ISO-CD-3D is significant by better than CR. The evaluation of fractures with the ISO-C is better than with plain films alone and comparable to CT scans. The three-dimensional reconstruction of the ISO-C can provide important information which cannot be obtained from plain films. The ISO-C-3D may be useful in planning operative reconstructions and evaluating surgical results in orthopaedic surgery of the limbs.

  1. The IsoDAR high intensity H2+ transport and injection tests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alonso, J.; Axani, S.; Calabretta, L.; Campo, D.; Celona, L.; Conrad, J. M.; Day, A.; Castro, G.; Labrecque, F.; Winklehner, D.

    2015-10-01

    This technical report reviews the tests performed at the Best Cyclotron Systems, Inc. facility in regards to developing a cost effective ion source, beam line transport system, and acceleration system capable of high H2+ current output for the IsoDAR (Isotope Decay At Rest) experiment. We begin by outlining the requirements for the IsoDAR experiment then provide overviews of the Versatile Ion Source (VIS), Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) system, spiral inflector, and cyclotron. The experimental measurements are then discussed and the results are compared with a thorough set of simulation studies. Of particular importance we note that the VIS proved to be a reliable ion source capable of generating a large amount of H2+ current. The results suggest that with further upgrades, the VIS could potentially be a suitable candidate for IsoDAR. The conclusion outlines the key results from our tests and introduces the forthcoming work this technical report has motivated.

  2. Health and safety management systems: liability or asset?

    PubMed

    Bennett, David

    2002-01-01

    Health and safety management systems have a background in theory and in various interests among employers and workplace health and safety professionals. These have resulted in a number of national systems emanating from national standard-writing centres and from employers' organizations. In some cases these systems have been recognized as national standards. The contenders for an international standard have been the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The quality and environmental management systems of ISO indicate what an ISO health and safety management standard would look like. The ILO Guidelines on Safety and Health Management Systems, by contrast, are stringent, specific and potentially effective in improving health and safety performance in the workplace.

  3. Promoting Strong ISO 50001 Outcomes with Supportive National Infrastructure

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

    McKane, Aimee, T.; Siciliano, Graziella; de los Reyes, Pamela

    The ISO 50001 standard is a key mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency globally. An increasing number of companies are seeking certification, creating the need for personnel that are competent to conduct ISO 50001 certification audits. The growth of ISO 50001 is expected to accelerate as more companies integrate ISO 50001 into their corporate sustainability strategies and supplier requirements. Robust implementation of ISO 50001 represents an important tool for countries with climate change mitigation goals. Because of its dual focus on continual improvement of an organization’s energy management system (EnMS) and its energy performance improvement, ISOmore » 50001 requires skills of both implementers and certification auditors that are not well-supported by current credentials and training. This paper describes an effort to address skill gaps of certification auditors, a critical factor to ensure that ISO 50001 implementations are robust and result in continued energy performance improvement. A collaboration of governments through the Energy Management Working Group (EMWG), formerly under Global Superior Energy Performance (GSEP), has formed to build workforce capacity for ISO 50001 certification audits. The EMWG is leading the development of an internationally-relevant certification scheme for ISO 50001 Lead Auditor that meets requirements for ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation and ISO 50003 for defining ISO 50001 Lead Auditor competency. Wider availability of competent ISO 50001 Lead Auditors will ultimately increase the impact and market value of ISO 50001 certification and improve consistency of ISO 50001 certification outcomes by establishing a standardized and high level of knowledge and skills globally.« less

  4. Operation of the ISO-DALT system: Seventh edition

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

    Tollaksen, S.L.; Anderson, N.L.; Anderson, N.G.

    1984-05-01

    The ISO-DALT system of two-dimensional electrophoresis was developed as a series of modifications of the original technique of O'Farrell. We have written a series of recipes and more detailed laboratory procedures that incorporate refinements and ''tricks of the trade'' as they have developed during our use of the system. The present collection is the seventh version in this series and represents the state of art as of May 1984. The seventh edition has been prepared to incorporate the changes that we have found helpful, as well as to add a few new sections such as silver staining, transfer gels, ACIDOs,more » and BASOs. Although these directions are specific for our laboratory, we hope that they will be helpful in other laboratories as well. Although some disagreement still exists, we recommend that gel patterns be oriented with acid isoelectric points (pIs) to the left and high sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) molecular weights at the top. This results in a system of pI and molecular weight values that run according to the Cartesian convention and facilitates the use of the charge and molecular weight standards described herein. 67 refs., 14 figs.« less

  5. The Value of Harmonizing Multiple Improvement Technologies: A Process Improvement Professional’s View

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-03-01

    maturity models and ISO standards, specifically CMMI, CMMI-ACQ and ISO 12207 . Also, the improvement group supplemented their selection of these...compliant with the technologies and standards that are important to the business. Lockheed Martin IS&GS has integrated CMMI, EIA 632, ISO 12207 , and Six...geographically dispersed organization. [Siviy 07-1] Northrop Grumman Mission Systems has integrated CMMI, ISO 9001, AS9100, and Six Sigma, as well as a

  6. CERT Resilience Management Model, Version 1.0

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-01

    practice such as ISO 27000 , COBIT, or ITIL. If you are a member of an established process improvement community, particularly one centered on CMMI...Systems Audit and Control Association ISO International Organization for Standardization ISSA Information Systems Security Association IT

  7. Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference (22nd)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-10-24

    for many copies of data and a unique software stack to operate on it. PSI designs and manufactures shipping and carrying cases as well as providing...An ISO 9001:2008 rated company, Trijicon Inc., is committed to Customer Satisfaction through the design , development, and manufacture of superior...their endeavors to continue as a world leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, innovative sighting systems. TABLE TOP dISPLAyErS 12 LtGen

  8. 75 FR 65942 - Credit Reforms in Organized Wholesale Electric Markets

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-27

    ...Pursuant to section 206 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission amends its regulations to improve the management of risk and the subsequent use of credit in the organized wholesale electric markets. Each Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and Independent System Operator (ISO) will be required to submit a compliance filing including tariff revisions to comply with the amended regulations or to demonstrate that its existing tariff already satisfies the regulations.

  9. [Quality system in cardiology: practical example to develop an organizational model for management certification without bureaucracy].

    PubMed

    Colonna, Paolo; Pasini, Evasio; Pitocchi, Oreste; Bovenzi, Francesco; Sorino, Margherita; de Luca, Italo

    2003-04-01

    It is a difficult task to define practical guidelines and a pragmatic achievement for the new document of the Italian Ministry of Health for structures of the national health system obtaining a quality system according to the ISO 9000 standard. The present article illustrates the different steps to accomplish the quality management in our cardiology department, recently internationally certified, and it gives several practical examples of the path followed in the different sections of the department to obtain the best management of all the Operative Units, identifying customer requests and measuring customer satisfaction.

  10. Improving the security of international ISO container traffic by centralizing the archival of inspection results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chalmers, Alex

    2004-09-01

    To increase the security and throughput of ISO traffic through international terminals more technology must be applied to the problem. A transnational central archive of inspection records is discussed that can be accessed by national agencies as ISO containers approach their borders. The intent is to improve the throughput and security of the cargo inspection process. A review of currently available digital media archiving technologies is presented and their possible application to the tracking of international ISO container shipments. Specific image formats employed by current x-ray inspection systems are discussed. Sample x-ray data from systems in use today are shown that could be entered into such a system. Data from other inspection technologies are shown to be easily integrated, as well as the creation of database records suitable for interfacing with other computer systems. Overall system performance requirements are discussed in terms of security, response time and capacity. Suggestions for pilot projects based on existing border inspection processes are made also.

  11. Northwest Boundary Containment/Treatment System Baseline Conditions, System Startup, and Operational Assessment. Volume 1.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-12-01

    combination pressure reducing check valve that is manually I controlled. A shutoff valve is installed on each well discharge line to iso - late the well from...3are 10 to 70 ft thick. The greatest thickness of surficial deposits pene- trated in borings in the study area was 69.7 ft in Well 27002 , in which...approximately 37 ft of silty clay and fine sand overlie 33 ft of gravelly sand. The gravelly sand of well 27002 is typical of the sediments comprising the

  12. Waterborne Commerce of the United States, Calendar Year 1986. Part 2. Waterways and Harbors, Gulf Coast, Mississippi River System and Antilles

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-05-31

    2910 D1ITILLATE FUEL. OIL ......... o .......................................................... ISO .......... . .......... 2915 RESIOUA FUEL0...CONCENTRATES .......................... 2 ,646 ISO 1.336 .......... ......... .......... .......... ISNI NANA49E8 ORES, CONCENTRATES3...8482 LUMBER................................... ........... ".. 9.193 9,543 ISO ............ .......... .......... 1431 9VE0EER, PLYWOOD

  13. KSC Center Director Bridges accepts an ISO 9001 certification plaque from DNV

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1998-01-01

    Center Director Roy Bridges (right) displays the 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque he was given by Dalton Lyon (left) of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. The plaque is a representation of the ISO 9001 certification awarded to KSC by DNV. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world- class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification.

  14. A model-driven approach to information security compliance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Correia, Anacleto; Gonçalves, António; Teodoro, M. Filomena

    2017-06-01

    The availability, integrity and confidentiality of information are fundamental to the long-term survival of any organization. Information security is a complex issue that must be holistically approached, combining assets that support corporate systems, in an extended network of business partners, vendors, customers and other stakeholders. This paper addresses the conception and implementation of information security systems, conform the ISO/IEC 27000 set of standards, using the model-driven approach. The process begins with the conception of a domain level model (computation independent model) based on information security vocabulary present in the ISO/IEC 27001 standard. Based on this model, after embedding in the model mandatory rules for attaining ISO/IEC 27001 conformance, a platform independent model is derived. Finally, a platform specific model serves the base for testing the compliance of information security systems with the ISO/IEC 27000 set of standards.

  15. Systems Engineering and Management Applications of ISO 9001:2015 for Government

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shepherd, Christena C.

    2016-01-01

    The manufacturing segment of the business world is busy assessing the impact of ISO 9001:2015, and updating their management systems to meet the required compliance date. What does the new revision mean for government agencies that deliver large engineering projects rather than mass production? In fact, the standard, especially the new revision, can be used quite readily for government agencies, or applied to specific projects, once it is understood in terms of the similarities with systems engineering and project management. From there it can be extrapolated to "mission realization" systems, and a Quality Management System (QMS) is a logical result that can bring order to processes and systems that likely already exist in some fashion. ISO 9001:2015 is less product-oriented than previous versions. It can be more broadly applied to public organizations as well as private; and to services (missions) as well as products. The emphasis on risk management in the revised standard provides the needed balance for weighing decisions with respect to cost, schedule, technical, safety, and regulatory compliance; so if this is not part of agency governance already, this is a good place to start, especially for large engineering projects. The Systems Engineering standard used for this analysis is from NASA's NPR 7123.1 NASA Systems Engineering Processes and Requirements; however, those who are more familiar with ISO/IEC 26702 Systems Engineering-application and management of the systems engineering process, or SAE/EIA 632 Processes for Engineering a System will also recognize the similarities. In reality, the QMS outlined by ISO 9001 reinforces the systems engineering processes, and serves to ensure that they are adequately implemented, although most of the ISO 9001 literature emphasizes the production and process aspects of the standard. Rather than beginning with ISO 9001and getting lost in the vocabulary, it is useful to begin with the systems engineering lifecycle. Identification of stakeholder expectations, identifying solutions, creating specific product or service designs, production of the product or service, delivery to the public, and the associated management, planning, and control processes, are a familiar place to begin thinking of the overall system of identifying, designing, and competing a project or mission. Lining up this lifecycle with the ISO requirements (see Figure 1) illustrates how a quality management system is concerned with the same processes, and provides a governance and assurance function. If implemented properly, there are cost savings resulting from less rework, repair, reprocessing, failures, misplaced documents, and similar types of deficiencies1. Starting with an organization's systems engineering processes allows the organization to use their own terminology for a QMS plan, and tailor the plan to their own project or organization, so that it is more easily developed, understood, and implemented.

  16. Why did ISO 9001:2008 system fail to deliver?

    PubMed

    Langford, Melvyn

    2014-02-01

    This article is based on an actual investigation undertaken, and summarises the subsequent report's findings and observations. It has been anonymised for obvious reasons. In May 2013 an analysis was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team that compared an NHS Trust estates department's managerial systems against the NHS national recommendations. The conclusions stated that: 'There was a systemic failure across a large number of topics generating intolerable/substantial risks to the organisation, its staff, and patients; this despite the department's managerial systems being accredited to the International Standard ISO 9001:2008'. The natural question raised when presented with this demonstrable and auditable evidence was: 'Why did the ISO 9001:2008 system fail?'

  17. Assessing the Alignment of Information Security with Strategic Business, and Strategic Information System Planning: A Department of Defense Perspective

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-01

    Wolfgang. "Appraisal of the effectivness and efficiency of an Information Security Management System based on ISO 27001 ." International Conference on...of corporate information resources (Doherty and 29 Fulford, 2006) ( ISO /IEC 17799, 2005). Both public and private sectors of business have...Science Ltd, 2002. Iacovou, Charalambos L. "The IPACS project: when IT hits the fan." Journal of Information Technology, 1999: 267-275. ISO /IEC 17799

  18. 30 CFR 74.9 - Quality assurance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... registration under ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements... ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements. The Director of... management audits. Upon request, applicants or approval holders must allow NIOSH to inspect the quality...

  19. 30 CFR 74.9 - Quality assurance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... specifications and are reliable, safe, effective, and otherwise suitable for their intended use. To establish and... registration under ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements... ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements. The Director of...

  20. 30 CFR 74.9 - Quality assurance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH COAL MINE... registration under ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements... ISO Q9001-2000, American National Standard, Quality Management Systems-Requirements. The Director of...

  1. Making Interoperability Easier with the NASA Metadata Management Tool

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shum, D.; Reese, M.; Pilone, D.; Mitchell, A. E.

    2016-12-01

    ISO 19115 has enabled interoperability amongst tools, yet many users find it hard to build ISO metadata for their collections because it can be large and overly flexible for their needs. The Metadata Management Tool (MMT), part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), offers users a modern, easy to use browser based tool to develop ISO compliant metadata. Through a simplified UI experience, metadata curators can create and edit collections without any understanding of the complex ISO-19115 format, while still generating compliant metadata. The MMT is also able to assess the completeness of collection level metadata by evaluating it against a variety of metadata standards. The tool provides users with clear guidance as to how to change their metadata in order to improve their quality and compliance. It is based on NASA's Unified Metadata Model for Collections (UMM-C) which is a simpler metadata model which can be cleanly mapped to ISO 19115. This allows metadata authors and curators to meet ISO compliance requirements faster and more accurately. The MMT and UMM-C have been developed in an agile fashion, with recurring end user tests and reviews to continually refine the tool, the model and the ISO mappings. This process is allowing for continual improvement and evolution to meet the community's needs.

  2. The ISO 50001 Impact Estimator Tool (IET 50001 V1.1.4) - User Guide and Introduction to the ISO 50001 Impacts Methodology

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

    Therkelsen, Peter L.; Rao, Prakash; Aghajanzadeh, Arian

    ISO 50001-Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, is an internationally developed standard that provides organizations with a flexible framework for implementing an energy management system (EnMS) with the goal of continual energy performance improvement. The ISO 50001 standard was first published in 2011 and has since seen growth in the number of certificates issued around the world, primarily in the industrial (agriculture, manufacturing, and mining) and service (commercial) sectors. Policy makers in many regions and countries are looking to or are already using ISO 50001 as a basis for energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and other energy performancemore » improvement schemes. The Impact Estimator Tool 50001 (IET 50001 Tool) is a computational model developed to assist researchers and policy makers determine the potential impact of ISO 50001 implementation in the industrial and service (commercial) sectors for a given region or country. The IET 50001 Tool is based upon a methodology initially developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that has been improved upon and vetted by a group of international researchers. By using a commonly accepted and transparent methodology, users of the IET 50001 Tool can easily and clearly communicate the potential impact of ISO 50001 for a region or country.« less

  3. Applying and extending ISO/TC42 digital camera resolution standards to mobile imaging products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Williams, Don; Burns, Peter D.

    2007-01-01

    There are no fundamental differences between today's mobile telephone cameras and consumer digital still cameras that suggest many existing ISO imaging performance standards do not apply. To the extent that they have lenses, color filter arrays, detectors, apertures, image processing, and are hand held, there really are no operational or architectural differences. Despite this, there are currently differences in the levels of imaging performance. These are driven by physical and economic constraints, and image-capture conditions. Several ISO standards for resolution, well established for digital consumer digital cameras, require care when applied to the current generation of cell phone cameras. In particular, accommodation of optical flare, shading non-uniformity and distortion are recommended. We offer proposals for the application of existing ISO imaging resolution performance standards to mobile imaging products, and suggestions for extending performance standards to the characteristic behavior of camera phones.

  4. Using Supercomputers to Speed Execution of the CAISO/PLEXOS 33% RPS Study

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

    Meyers, C; Streitz, F; Yao, Y

    2011-09-19

    The study's official title is 'ISO Study of Operational Requirements and Market Impacts at 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).' The stated objectives are twofold: (1) identifying operational requirements and resource options to reliably operate the ISO-controlled grid under a 33% RPS in 2020; and (2) inform market, planning, and policy/regulatory decisions by the ISO, state agencies, market participants, and other stakeholders. The first of these objectives requires the hourly estimates of integration requirements, measured in terms of operational ramp, load following and regulation capacity and ramp rates, as well as additional capacity to resolve operational violations. It also involves considerationmore » of other variables that affect the results, such as the impact of different mixes of renewable technologies, and the impact of forecasting error and variability. The second objective entails supporting the CPUC to identify long-term procurement planning needs, costs, and options, as well as informing other decisions made by the CPUC and state agencies. For the ISO itself this includes informing state-wide transmission planning needs for renewables up to a 33% RPS, and informing design of wholesale markets for energy and ancillary services to facilitate provision of integration capacities. The study is designed in two phases. The first (current) phase is focused on operational requirements and addressing these requirements with existing and new conventional fossil generation; for instance, gas turbines and/or combined cycle units. The second (planned) phase will address the same operational requirements with a combination of conventional fossil generation resources, new non-generation resources, and a renewable resource dispatch. There are seven different scenarios considered in the current phase: a 20% RPS reference case; four 33% RPS cases (a reference case, a high out-of-state case, a high distributed generation case, and a low load case); an alternative 27.5% RPS case; and an all-gas case (no new renewables after 2008). In addition, the CPUC is planning a new set of cases that will alter the anticipated sets of runs.« less

  5. Assessment of whole-body vibration exposures and influencing factors for quarry haul truck drivers and loader operators

    PubMed Central

    Mayton, Alan G.; Jobes, Christopher C.; Gallagher, Sean

    2015-01-01

    To further assess vibration exposure on haul trucks (HTs) and front-end wheel loaders (FELs), follow-up investigations were conducted at two US crushed stone operations. The purpose was to: 1) evaluate factors such as load/no-load conditions, speed, load capacity, vehicle age, and seat transmissibility relative to vibration exposure; 2) compare exposure levels with existing ISO/ANSI and EUGPG guidelines. Increasing HT speed increased recorded vibration at the chassis and seat as expected. Neither vehicle load nor vehicle speed increased transmissibility. Increasing HT size and age did show transmissibility decreasing. HT dominant-axis wRMS levels (most often the y-axis, lateral or side-to-side direction) were predominantly within the health guidance caution zone (HGCZ). However, several instances showed vibration dose value (VDV) above the exposure limit value (ELV) for the ISO/ANSI guidelines. VDV levels (all dominant x-axis or fore-aft) were within and above the HGCZ for the EUGPG and above the HGCZ for ISO/ANSI guidelines. PMID:26361493

  6. Microbial contamination of syringes during preparation: the direct influence of environmental cleanliness and risk manipulations on end-product quality.

    PubMed

    Stucki, Cyril; Sautter, Anna-Maria; Favet, Jocelyne; Bonnabry, Pascal

    2009-11-15

    The direct influence of environmental cleanliness and risk manipulations on prepared syringes was evaluated. Media-fill testing was used to estimate potential microbial contamination. Syringes were prepared in three different environments using four different uncontrolled high-risk manipulations. The three environments included an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) class 5 horizontal laminar-airflow hood in an ISO class 6 cleanroom (in accordance with United States Pharmacopeia [USP] chapter 797), an ISO class 7 drug preparation area of an operating room, and an uncontrolled decentralized pharmacy in a ward. For each combination of environment and manipulation, 100 syringes were filled by a single operator. The four high-risk manipulations used included simple filling of syringes with trypticase soy broth, three-second contact by the ungloved fingers of the operator with the hub of the syringe, three-second contact between an object and the hub of the syringe, and exposure of the filled syringes to ambient air for 10 minutes. Of the 1500 syringes prepared in three different environments, none produced within the cleanroom contained microorganisms, 6% were contaminated in the operating room, and 16% were contaminated in the ward (p < 0.0001). Certain high-risk manipulations were associated with a significant increase in the contamination of the surrogate syringes, including exposure to nonsterile ambient air and nonsterile objects or fingers (p < 0.0001). High contamination rates were measured when the hub of syringes touched nonsterile environmental surfaces and fingers, whereas the drawn-air manipulation was associated with a lower risk of contamination. Working within a properly operating unidirectional airflow primary engineering control in an ISO class 5 cleanroom in accordance with USP chapter 797 requirements was demonstrated to be the best way to avoid bacterial or fungal contamination of injectable drugs directly resulting in patient infections.

  7. An approach to the implementation of ISO 14000 at a shipping company

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panaitescu, F. V.; Panaitescu, M.

    2015-11-01

    We present here a successful implementation of the Environmental Management System (EMS) in a shipping company. The EMS of the each company must be revised and expanded and new analytical requirements included in it. This new EMS concept is available to everyone on board and must be studied by every seafarer. All environmental requirements to be strictly followed all over the world. The main points of new EMS are: new open reporting system, environmental tag system (ETS) which introduce non re-usable numbered seals, pollution prevention equipment (OWS, OCM, Incinerator and Sewage Treatment Plant), the environmental defect reports system - extraordinary E/R operations and leakages log book.

  8. Evaluating Education Quality in Terms of ISO9000 Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fengchun, Cheng; Vogel, Linda R.; Zhaoyu, Zheng

    2014-01-01

    While nations measure the quality of educational systems by different standards, many nations, such as China, have adopted the ISO9000 quality standards to assess the quality of schools. This article explores the various elements of the the ISO9000 standards and how each element relates to the various groups that are consumers or stakeholders in…

  9. Retrieval of thermospheric atomic oxygen, nitrogen and temperature from the 732 NM emission measured by the ISO on ATLAS 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fennelly, Judy A.; Torr, Douglas G.; Torr, Marsha R.; Richards, Phillip G.; Yung, Sopo

    1993-01-01

    The Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO) was a part of the ATLAS 1 Mission flown on the shuttle Atlantis from March 24 to April 2, 1992. During limb scanning operations, the ISO measured the O+(2P) ion emission at 732 nm. We have used a numerical inversion technique to retrieve thermospheric atomic oxygen, molecular nitrogen and temperature profiles. These preliminary results indicate a lower thermospheric temperature cooler than that predicted by MSIS for the solar conditions during the mission. Although the densities agree at low altitudes, the reduced scale height produces O and N2 densities 25 percent lower than the MSIS at 300 km.

  10. An assessment model for quality management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Völcker, Chr.; Cass, A.; Dorling, A.; Zilioli, P.; Secchi, P.

    2002-07-01

    SYNSPACE together with InterSPICE and Alenia Spazio is developing an assessment method to determine the capability of an organisation in the area of quality management. The method, sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), is called S9kS (SPiCE- 9000 for SPACE). S9kS is based on ISO 9001:2000 with additions from the quality standards issued by the European Committee for Space Standardization (ECSS) and ISO 15504 - Process Assessments. The result is a reference model that supports the expansion of the generic process assessment framework provided by ISO 15504 to nonsoftware areas. In order to be compliant with ISO 15504, requirements from ISO 9001 and ECSS-Q-20 and Q-20-09 have been turned into process definitions in terms of Purpose and Outcomes, supported by a list of detailed indicators such as Practices, Work Products and Work Product Characteristics. In coordination with this project, the capability dimension of ISO 15504 has been revised to be consistent with ISO 9001. As contributions from ISO 9001 and the space quality assurance standards are separable, the stripped down version S9k offers organisations in all industries an assessment model based solely on ISO 9001, and is therefore interesting to all organisations, which intend to improve their quality management system based on ISO 9001.

  11. Assessment of opacimeter calibration according to International Standard Organization 10155.

    PubMed

    Gomes, J F

    2001-01-01

    This paper compares the calibration method for opacimeters issued by the International Standard Organization (ISO) 10155 with the manual reference method for determination of dust content in stack gases. ISO 10155 requires at least nine operational measurements, corresponding to three operational measurements per each dust emission range within the stack. The procedure is assessed by comparison with previous calibration methods for opacimeters using only two operational measurements from a set of measurements made at stacks from pulp mills. The results show that even if the international standard for opacimeter calibration requires that the calibration curve is to be obtained using 3 x 3 points, a calibration curve derived using 3 points could be, at times, acceptable in statistical terms, provided that the amplitude of individual measurements is low.

  12. A Hierarchical structure of key performance indicators for operation management and continuous improvement in production systems

    PubMed Central

    Kang, Ningxuan; Zhao, Cong; Li, Jingshan; Horst, John A.

    2018-01-01

    Key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical for manufacturing operation management and continuous improvement (CI). In modern manufacturing systems, KPIs are defined as a set of metrics to reflect operation performance, such as efficiency, throughput, availability, from productivity, quality and maintenance perspectives. Through continuous monitoring and measurement of KPIs, meaningful quantification and identification of different aspects of operation activities can be obtained, which enable and direct CI efforts. A set of 34 KPIs has been introduced in ISO 22400. However, the KPIs in a manufacturing system are not independent, and they may have intrinsic mutual relationships. The goal of this paper is to introduce a multi-level structure for identification and analysis of KPIs and their intrinsic relationships in production systems. Specifically, through such a hierarchical structure, we define and layer KPIs into levels of basic KPIs, comprehensive KPIs and their supporting metrics, and use it to investigate the relationships and dependencies between KPIs. Such a study can provide a useful tool for manufacturing engineers and managers to measure and utilize KPIs for CI. PMID:29398722

  13. A Hierarchical structure of key performance indicators for operation management and continuous improvement in production systems.

    PubMed

    Kang, Ningxuan; Zhao, Cong; Li, Jingshan; Horst, John A

    2016-01-01

    Key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical for manufacturing operation management and continuous improvement (CI). In modern manufacturing systems, KPIs are defined as a set of metrics to reflect operation performance, such as efficiency, throughput, availability, from productivity, quality and maintenance perspectives. Through continuous monitoring and measurement of KPIs, meaningful quantification and identification of different aspects of operation activities can be obtained, which enable and direct CI efforts. A set of 34 KPIs has been introduced in ISO 22400. However, the KPIs in a manufacturing system are not independent, and they may have intrinsic mutual relationships. The goal of this paper is to introduce a multi-level structure for identification and analysis of KPIs and their intrinsic relationships in production systems. Specifically, through such a hierarchical structure, we define and layer KPIs into levels of basic KPIs, comprehensive KPIs and their supporting metrics, and use it to investigate the relationships and dependencies between KPIs. Such a study can provide a useful tool for manufacturing engineers and managers to measure and utilize KPIs for CI.

  14. Demonstration and Validation of a Waste-to-Energy Conversion System for Fixed DoD Installations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-09-01

    hydrocarbon HVAC heating, ventilation , and air conditioning HX heat exchanger I/O input/output ISO International Organization for Standardization...DEMONSTRATION In 2011, renewable energy accounted for just 9% of total energy consumption in the United States, and just 5% (or 0.45% overall) of that (477...operations and facilities.3 Facility energy costs accounted for ~21% ($4.1 billion). DoD has made great progress in reducing its energy consumption for

  15. Thrown object hazards in forest operations

    Treesearch

    Robert Rummer; John Klepac

    2011-01-01

    Mechanized equipment for forest operations provide better operator protection in this hazardous work environment. However operators of forestry cutting machines are now exposed to new hazards from the high-energy cutting devices used to cut trees and process logs. Anecdotal reports of thrown objects document a risk of injury and fatality. Two new ISO standards have...

  16. The ISO SWS on-line system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roelfsema, P. R.; Kester, D. J. M.; Wesselius, P. R.; Wieprech, E.; Sym, N.

    1992-01-01

    The software which is currently being developed for the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is described. The spectrometer has a wide range of capabilities in the 2-45 micron infrared band. SWS contains two independent gratings, one for the long and one for the short wavelength section of the band. With the gratings a spectral resolution of approximately 1000 to approximately 2500 can be obtained. The instrument also contains two Fabry-Perault's yielding a resolution between approximately 1000 and approximately 20000. Software is currently being developed for the acquisition, calibration, and analysis of SWS data. The software is firstly required to run in a pipeline mode without human interaction, to process data as they are received from the telescope. However, both for testing and calibration of the instrument as well as for evaluation of the planned operating procedures the software should also be suitable for interactive use. Thirdly the same software will be used for long term characterization of the instrument. The software must work properly within the environment designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the spacecraft operations. As a result strict constraints are put on I/O devices, throughput etc.

  17. Economic efficiency of environmental management system operation in industrial companies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dukmasova, N.; Ershova, I.; Plastinina, I.; Boyarinov, A.

    2017-06-01

    The article examines the issue of the efficiency of the environmental management system (EMS) implementation in the Russian machine-building companies. The analysis showed that Russia clearly lags behind other developed and developing countries in terms of the number of ISO 14001 certified companies. According to the authors, the main cause of weak system implementation activity is attributed to the lack of interest in ISO 14001 certification on the Russian market. Five-year primary (field) research aimed at the analysis of the environmental priorities of the civilians suggests that the image component of the economic benefits ensures the increase in economic and financial performance of the company due to the increase in customers’ loyalty to the products of the EMS adopter. To quantify economic benefits obtained from EMS implementation, a methodological approach with regard to the image component and the decrease in semi-fixed costs due to the increase in the production scale has been developed. This approach has been tested in a machine-building electrical equipment manufacturer in Ekaterinburg. This approach applied to data processing yields the conclusion that EMS gives a good additional competitive advantage to its adopters.

  18. Assessment of Information Security Management System based on ISO/IEC 27001:2013 On Subdirectorate of Data Center and Data Recovery Center in Ministry of Internal Affairs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kurnianto, Ari; Isnanto, Rizal; Widodo, Aris Puji

    2018-02-01

    Information security is a problem effected business process of an organization, so it needs special concern. Information security assessment which is good and has international standard is done using Information Security Management System (ISMS) ISO/IEC 27001:2013. In this research, the high level assessment has been done using ISO/IEC 27001:2013 to observe the strength of information secuity in Ministry of Internal Affairs. The research explains about the assessment of information security management which is built using PHP. The input data use primary and secondary data which passed observation. The process gets maturity using the assessment of ISO/IEC 27001:2013. GAP Analysis observes the condition now a days and then to get recommendation and road map. The result of this research gets all of the information security process which has not been already good enough in Ministry of Internal Affairs, gives recommendation and road map to improve part of all information system being running. It indicates that ISO/IEC 27001:2013 is good used to rate maturity of information security management. As the next analyzation, this research use Clause and Annex in ISO/IEC 27001:2013 which is suitable with condition of Data Center and Data Recovery Center, so it gets optimum result and solving problem of the weakness information security.

  19. Quality Management Systems in the Clinical Laboratories in Latin America

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    The implementation of management systems in accordance with standards like ISO 9001:2008 (1,2) in the clinical laboratories has conferred and added value of reliability and therefore a very significant input to patient safety. As we know the ISO 9001:2008 (1) a certification standard, and ISO 15189:2012 (2) an accreditation standard, both, at the time have generated institutional memory where they have been implemented, the transformation of culture focused on correct execution, control and following, evidence needed and the importance of register. PMID:27683495

  20. Use of disinfectants in open-air dairying.

    PubMed

    Hutchinson, R E

    1995-06-01

    Disinfection systems are essential in providing dairy foods which are safe for consumption by all sectors and age groups of the human population. The New Zealand dairy industry ensures quality competition under International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) general systems standards (ISO 9002 and ISO Guide 25) and is subject to food safety assurance legislation (Dairy Industry Regulations 1990). This latter regulation requires that safe foods be produced in accordance with Product Safety Programmes approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Safety can be demonstrated by compliance with the Codes of Practice of the industry. Farm dairy detergents and sanitisers must be approved for use. These disinfection systems are described.

  1. KSC-98pc907

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1998-08-11

    Center Director Roy Bridges displays the ISO 9001 certificate he was awarded by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. Dalton Lyon of DNV made the presentation, which included a 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world-class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification

  2. KSC-98pc908

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1998-08-11

    Center Director Roy Bridges (right) displays the 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque he was given by Dalton Lyon (left) of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. The plaque is a representation of the ISO 9001 certification awarded to KSC by DNV. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already worldclass team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification

  3. Obituary: Paul Barr, 1955-2005

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Parmar, Arvind

    2007-12-01

    Paul Barr, an extragalactic astronomer and spacecraft mission planner, died on 19 October 2005 at his home in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, at the age of 50. Although his scientific interests ranged from AGN to X-ray binaries, he will perhaps best be remembered for his mission planning skills on EXOSAT, ISO, and Integral. Many hundreds of observers have benefited from his ability to juggle seemingly impossible observing constraints and arrive at the optimum observing program. A rare talent. Barr was born in Sunderland, England, on 28 July 1995. After attending Saint Aidans Grammar School, where his father was the headmaster, he obtained his Bachelors Degree in astronomy from the University of London (June 1976) before moving to the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. There he obtained his Doctorate in X-ray astronomy in February 1980, using data from the Ariel V and Copernicus satellites. After a Post-Doctoral position at London University, where he did research into ultra-violet emission from AGN and X-ray binaries using IUE, Paul joined ESA in 1983. He worked on a wide range of missions including EXOSAT, ISO, and Integral. These observatories spanned the wavelength range from the Infra-red to the gamma-ray, giving insight into Paul's flexibility and ability to contribute in many areas. On ISO, Paul oversaw the scientific development and use of the very successful observation scheduling system — this topic became his specialty. As ISO operations became routine, he took up the challenge of space-borne gamma-ray astronomy and moved in 1997 to Integral where he worked in the Science Operation Centre (ISOC), at ESTEC in the Netherlands, as senior mission planner. He worked with the gamma-ray imager (IBIS) instrument team to ensure that operations of their instrument were properly supported by ESA and supported preparations of announcements of opportunity. In early 2005 the ISOC moved to Europe's Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) just outside Madrid, Spain. Paul, however, decided to stay put physically, but move on scientifically, and transferred to the Ulysses mission where he joined the software development team. We miss a uniquely flexible scientist in these days of increasing specialization and a colleague with an infectious enthusiasm for all things to do with Sunderland, especially the football club.

  4. Implementation of quality systems by Mexican exporters of processed meat.

    PubMed

    Maldonado-Siman, E; Bernal-Alcántara, R; Cadena-Meneses, J A; Altamirano-Cárdenas, J R; Martinez-Hernández, P A

    2014-12-01

    Requirements of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) are becoming essential for international trade in food commodities as a safety assurance component. This research reports the level of the adoption of ISO 9000 and the HACCP system by Federal Inspection Type (TIF) pork-exporting enterprises. Implementation and operating costs are reported as well as the benefits involved in this food industry process. In Mexico, there are 97 companies classified as TIF enterprises, and 22 are registered as exporters of processed pork with the National Services for Safety and Quality and Animal Health of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food. Surveys were administered to 22 companies, with a 95.2% response rate. Enterprise characteristics were evaluated, as well as their operating activities. Fieldwork consisted of administering structured questionnaires to TIF exporters. All the surveyed enterprises had implemented HACCP, whereas the ISO 9000 regulation was applied in only 30%. Of total production, 75% is exported to 13 countries, and 25% goes to the Mexican market niche. Results indicate that the main factors for adopting HACCP are related to accessibility to international markets, improving quality, and reducing product quality audits by customers. The results also indicated that staff training was the most important issue. Microbiological testing was the highest cost of the operation. The main benefits reported were related to better access to international markets and a considerable reduction in microbial counts. This study shows the willingness of Mexican pork processors to implement food safety protocols for producing safe and quality products to compete in the international food trade.

  5. KSC Center Director Bridges addresses the audience at an ISO 9001 certification ceremony

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1998-01-01

    Center Director Roy Bridges speaks to KSC employees at the ISO certification ceremony held at the Training Auditorium. Bridges was presented an ISO 9001 certificate and plaque awarded to KSC by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world- class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification. Next to Bridges is Heidi Hollingsworth, with the Center for Independent Living, who uses American Sign Language for any hearing-impaired employees in the audience.

  6. [Certification of an ambulatory gastroenterologic service fulfilling ISO Law 9001--criteria and national guidelines of the Gastroenterologic Association].

    PubMed

    Birkner, B

    2000-09-01

    The objectives of certification and accreditation are the deployment and examination of quality improvement measures in health care services. The quality management system of the ISO 9001 is created to install measures and tools leading to assured and improved quality in health care. Only some experiences with certification fulfilling ISO 9001 criteria exist in the German health care system. Evidence-based clinical guidelines can serve as references for the development of standards in quality measurement. Only little data exists on the implementation strategy of guidelines and evaluation, respectively. A pilot quality management system in consistence with ISO 9001 criteria was developed for ambulatory, gastroenterological services. National guidelines of the German Society of Gastroenterology and Metabolism and the recommendations of the German Association of Physicians for quality assurance of gastrointestinal endoscopy were included in the documentation and internal auditing. This pilot quality management system is suitable for the first steps in the introduction of quality management in ambulatory health care. This system shows validity for accreditation and certification of gastrointestinal health care units as well.

  7. ISO 50001 for Commercial Buildings: Lessons Learned From U.S. DOE Pilot Project: Preprint

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

    Deru, M.; Field, K.; Punjabi, S.

    In the U.S., the ISO 50001 Standard, which establishes energy management systems (EnMSs) and processes, has shown uptake primarily in the industrial sector. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) undertook a pilot program to explore ISO 50001 implementation in commercial buildings. Eight organizations participated as pilots, with technical assistance provided by DOE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). This paper shares important lessons learned from the pilot. Staff time was the most critical resource required to establish effective EnMSs in commercial buildings. The pilot also revealedmore » that technical support and template/example materials were essential inputs. Crucial activities included evaluating performance, identifying goals, making connections, communicating operational controls, and tracking/reviewing progress. Benefits realized included enhanced intra-organizational connections, greater energy awareness, increased process efficiencies, and improved ability to make business cases. Incremental benefits for ISO 50001 certification were greater accountability, assurance of best practices, public relations opportunities, and potential to unlock verified savings credits or incentive money. Incremental certification costs included more staff/consultant time, money for certification, and a tendency to limit EnMS scope in order to ensure favorable audit results. Five best practices were identified - utilizing expert technical assistance, training, and other resources; focusing on implementation over documentation; keeping top management involved; considering organizational structure when selecting EnMS scope; and matching the implementation level to an EnMS's scope and scale. The last two practices are particularly relevant to the commercial buildings sector.« less

  8. Biases in Global Reanalysis Datasets Undermine Intraseasonal Prediction Skill Xiouhua Fu1, Bin Wang, June-Yi Lee, Wanqiu Wang, and Li Gao 1International Pacific Research Center (IPRC), SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, J. X.

    2010-12-01

    Predictability of Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (ISO) relies on both initial conditions and lower boundary conditions (or atmosphere-ocean interaction). The atmospheric reanalysis datasets are commonly used as initial conditions. Here, the biases of three reanalysis datasets (NCEP_R1, _R2, and ERA_Interim) in describing ISO were revealed and the impacts of these biases as initial conditions on ISO prediction skills were assessed. A signal recovery method is proposed to improve ISO prediction. All three reanalysis datasets underestimate the intensity of the equatorial eastward-propagating ISO. When these reanalyses are used as initial conditions in the ECHAM4-UH hybrid coupled model (UH_HCM hereinafter), skillful ISO prediction reaches only about one week for both the 850-hPa zonal winds (U850) and rainfall over Southeast Asia and the global tropics. An enhanced nudging of divergence field is shown to significantly improve the initial conditions, resulting in an extension of the skillful rainfall prediction by 2-3 days and U850 prediction by 5-10 days. After recovering the ISO signals in the original reanalyses, the resultant initial conditions contain ISO strength much closer to the observed. Use of these signal-recovered reanalyses as initial conditions extends the skillful prediction of U850 and rainfall, respectively, to 23 and 18 days over Southeast Asia, and to 20 and 10 days over the global tropics. This finding underlines the urgent need to improve data assimilation systems and observations in advancement of ISO prediction by offering better initial conditions. It is also found that small-scale synoptic weather disturbances in initial conditions generally increase ISO prediction skill. The UH_HCM has better rainfall prediction than the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFS) over Southeast Asia and both models suffer the prediction barrier over the Maritime Continent.

  9. Titer improvement of iso-migrastatin in selected heterologous Streptomyces hosts and related analysis of mRNA expression by quantitative RT–PCR

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Dong; Zhu, Xiangcheng; Wu, Xueyun; Feng, Zhiyang; Huang, Lei; Shen, Ben; Xu, Zhinan

    2011-01-01

    iso-Migrastatin (iso-MGS) has been actively pursued recently as an outstanding candidate of antimetastasis agents. Having characterized the iso-MGS biosynthetic gene cluster from its native producer Streptomyces platensis NRRL 18993, we have recently succeeded in producing iso-MGS in five selected heterologous Streptomyces hosts, albeit the low titers failed to meet expectations and cast doubt on the utility of this novel technique for large-scale production. To further explore and capitalize on the production capacity of these hosts, a thorough investigation of these five engineered strains with three fermentation media for iso-MGS production was undertaken. Streptomyces albus J1074 and Streptomyces lividans K4-114 were found to be preferred heterologous hosts, and subsequent analysis of carbon and nitrogen sources revealed that sucrose and yeast extract were ideal for iso-MGS production. After the initial optimization, the titers of iso-MGS in all five hosts were considerably improved by 3–18-fold in the optimized R2YE medium. Furthermore, the iso-MGS titer of S. albus J1074 (pBS11001) was significantly improved to 186.7 mg/L by a hybrid medium strategy. Addition of NaHCO3 to the latter finally afforded an optimized iso-MGS titer of 213.8 mg/L, about 5-fold higher than the originally reported system. With S. albus J1074 (pBS11001) as a model host, the expression of iso-MGS gene cluster in four different media was systematically studied via the quantitative RT–PCR technology. The resultant comparison revealed the correlation of gene expression and iso-MGS production for the first time; synchronous expression of the whole gene cluster was crucial for optimal iso-MGS production. These results reveal new insights into the iso-MGS biosynthetic machinery in heterologous hosts and provide the primary data to realize large-scale production of iso-MGS for further preclinical studies. PMID:21132287

  10. Exhaust emissions of low level blend alcohol fuels from two-stroke and four-stroke marine engines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sevik, James M., Jr.

    The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard mandates that by 2022, 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels must be produced on a yearly basis. Ethanol production is capped at 15 billion gallons, meaning 21 billion gallons must come from different alternative fuel sources. A viable alternative to reach the remainder of this mandate is iso-butanol. Unlike ethanol, iso-butanol does not phase separate when mixed with water, meaning it can be transported using traditional pipeline methods. Iso-butanol also has a lower oxygen content by mass, meaning it can displace more petroleum while maintaining the same oxygen concentration in the fuel blend. This research focused on studying the effects of low level alcohol fuels on marine engine emissions to assess the possibility of using iso-butanol as a replacement for ethanol. Three marine engines were used in this study, representing a wide range of what is currently in service in the United States. Two four-stroke engine and one two-stroke engine powered boats were tested in the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, near Annapolis, Maryland over the course of two rounds of weeklong testing in May and September. The engines were tested using a standard test cycle and emissions were sampled using constant volume sampling techniques. Specific emissions for two-stroke and four-stroke engines were compared to the baseline indolene tests. Because of the nature of the field testing, limited engine parameters were recorded. Therefore, the engine parameters analyzed aside from emissions were the operating relative air-to-fuel ratio and engine speed. Emissions trends from the baseline test to each alcohol fuel for the four-stroke engines were consistent, when analyzing a single round of testing. The same trends were not consistent when comparing separate rounds because of uncontrolled weather conditions and because the four-stroke engines operate without fuel control feedback during full load conditions. Emissions trends from the baseline test to each alcohol fuel for the two-stroke engine were consistent for all rounds of testing. This is due to the fact the engine operates open-loop, and does not provide fueling compensation when fuel composition changes. Changes in emissions with respect to the baseline for iso-butanol were consistent with changes for ethanol. It was determined iso-butanol would make a viable replacement for ethanol.

  11. Estimating ecosystem iso/anisohydry using microwave satellite data and its applications in ecohydrology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Y.; Guan, K.; Gentine, P.; Konings, A. G.; Bhattacharya, A.; Meinzer, F. C.; Kimball, J. S.; Xu, X.; Anderegg, W.; McDowell, N. G.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.; Long, D. G.; Good, S. P.

    2017-12-01

    The concept of iso/anisohydry describes the degree to which plants regulate their water status, operating from isohydric with strict stomatal closure to anisohydric with greater stomatal conductance under drying conditions. Though some species-level measures of iso/anisohydry exist at limited locations, ecosystem scale information is still largely unavailable. In this study, we use diurnal observations from active (Ku-Band backscatter from QuikSCAT) and passive (X-band Vegetation Optical Depth [VOD] from AMSR-E) microwave satellite data to estimate global ecosystem iso/anisohydry. The two independent estimates from radar backscatter and VOD show good agreement at low and mid-latitudes but diverge at high latitudes. Grasslands, croplands, wetlands, and open shrublands are more anisohydric, whereas evergreen broadleaf and deciduous broadleaf forests are more isohydric. The direct validation with upscaled in-situ species iso/anisohydry estimates indicates that the VOD estimates have much better agreement than the backscatter in terms of their iso/anisohydry metrics. The indirect validation suggests that both estimates are consistent with prior knowledge that vegetation water status of anisohydric ecosystems more closely tracks environmental fluctuations of water availability and demand than their isohydric counterparts. The ecosystem level iso/anisohydry can be applied to reveal new insights into spatio-temporal ecosystem response to droughts. We conducted a case study to demonstrate the potential application of iso/anisohydry. We find that during the 2011 drought in US, over the drought affected region in the southern US, isohydric ecosystems experienced larger decline in productivity (NDVI and GPP) than anisohydric ones. However, during the 2012 drought in central US, both isohydric and anisohydric ecosystems exhibited similar decline in productivity.

  12. Curating NASA's Past, Present, and Future Astromaterial Sample Collections

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeigler, R. A.; Allton, J. H.; Evans, C. A.; Fries, M. D.; McCubbin, F. M.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Righter, K.; Zolensky, M.; Stansbery, E. K.

    2016-01-01

    The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (hereafter JSC curation) is responsible for curating all of NASA's extraterrestrial samples. JSC presently curates 9 different astromaterials collections in seven different clean-room suites: (1) Apollo Samples (ISO (International Standards Organization) class 6 + 7); (2) Antarctic Meteorites (ISO 6 + 7); (3) Cosmic Dust Particles (ISO 5); (4) Microparticle Impact Collection (ISO 7; formerly called Space-Exposed Hardware); (5) Genesis Solar Wind Atoms (ISO 4); (6) Stardust Comet Particles (ISO 5); (7) Stardust Interstellar Particles (ISO 5); (8) Hayabusa Asteroid Particles (ISO 5); (9) OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Coupons and Witness Plates (ISO 7). Additional cleanrooms are currently being planned to house samples from two new collections, Hayabusa 2 (2021) and OSIRIS-REx (2023). In addition to the labs that house the samples, we maintain a wide variety of infra-structure facilities required to support the clean rooms: HEPA-filtered air-handling systems, ultrapure dry gaseous nitrogen systems, an ultrapure water system, and cleaning facilities to provide clean tools and equipment for the labs. We also have sample preparation facilities for making thin sections, microtome sections, and even focused ion-beam sections. We routinely monitor the cleanliness of our clean rooms and infrastructure systems, including measurements of inorganic or organic contamination, weekly airborne particle counts, compositional and isotopic monitoring of liquid N2 deliveries, and daily UPW system monitoring. In addition to the physical maintenance of the samples, we track within our databases the current and ever changing characteristics (weight, location, etc.) of more than 250,000 individually numbered samples across our various collections, as well as more than 100,000 images, and countless "analog" records that record the sample processing records of each individual sample. JSC Curation is co-located with JSC's Astromaterials Research Office, which houses a world-class suite of analytical instrumentation and scientists. We leverage these labs and personnel to better curate the samples. Part of the cu-ration process is planning for the future, and we refer to these planning efforts as "advanced curation". Advanced Curation is tasked with developing procedures, technology, and data sets necessary for curating new types of collections as envi-sioned by NASA exploration goals. We are (and have been) planning for future cu-ration, including cold curation, extended curation of ices and volatiles, curation of samples with special chemical considerations such as perchlorate-rich samples, and curation of organically- and biologically-sensitive samples.

  13. Factors That Relate to the Time to ISO 9000 Registration in Education Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thonhauser, Theresa

    2008-01-01

    The implementation of the ISO 9000 international quality management system in education has become a debated trend. Building on the literature, this study did not attempt to end the debate over ISO 9000 in education but looked at the problem with a new perspective. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that relate to the time required…

  14. Review of LLNL Mixed Waste Streams for the Application of Potential Waste Reduction Controls

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

    Belue, A; Fischer, R P

    2007-01-08

    In July 2004, LLNL adopted the International Standard ISO 14001 as a Work Smart Standard in lieu of DOE Order 450.1. In support of this new requirement the Director issued a new environmental policy that was documented in Section 3.0 of Document 1.2, ''ES&H Policies of LLNL'', in the ES&H Manual. In recent years the Environmental Management System (EMS) process has become formalized as LLNL adopted ISO 14001 as part of the contract under which the laboratory is operated for the Department of Energy (DOE). On May 9, 2005, LLNL revised its Integrated Safety Management System Description to enhance existingmore » environmental requirements to meet ISO 14001. Effective October 1, 2005, each new project or activity is required to be evaluated from an environmental aspect, particularly if a potential exists for significant environmental impacts. Authorizing organizations are required to consider the management of all environmental aspects, the applicable regulatory requirements, and reasonable actions that can be taken to reduce negative environmental impacts. During 2006, LLNL has worked to implement the corrective actions addressing the deficiencies identified in the DOE/LSO audit. LLNL has begun to update the present EMS to meet the requirements of ISO 14001:2004. The EMS commits LLNL--and each employee--to responsible stewardship of all the environmental resources in our care. The generation of mixed radioactive waste was identified as a significant environmental aspect. Mixed waste for the purposes of this report is defined as waste materials containing both hazardous chemical and radioactive constituents. Significant environmental aspects require that an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) be developed. The objective of the EMP developed for mixed waste (EMP-005) is to evaluate options for reducing the amount of mixed waste generated. This document presents the findings of the evaluation of mixed waste generated at LLNL and a proposed plan for reduction.« less

  15. The Quantitative Relationship Between ISO 15197 Accuracy Criteria and Mean Absolute Relative Difference (MARD) in the Evaluation of Analytical Performance of Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) Systems.

    PubMed

    Pardo, Scott; Simmons, David A

    2016-09-01

    The relationship between International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accuracy criteria and mean absolute relative difference (MARD), 2 methods for assessing the accuracy of blood glucose meters, is complex. While lower MARD values are generally better than higher MARD values, it is not possible to define a particular MARD value that ensures a blood glucose meter will satisfy the ISO accuracy criteria. The MARD value that ensures passing the ISO accuracy test can be described only as a probabilistic range. In this work, a Bayesian model is presented to represent the relationship between ISO accuracy criteria and MARD. Under the assumptions made in this work, there is nearly a 100% chance of satisfying ISO 15197:2013 accuracy requirements if the MARD value is between 3.25% and 5.25%. © 2016 Diabetes Technology Society.

  16. Prediction of Regulation Reserve Requirements in California ISO Control Area based on BAAL Standard

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

    Etingov, Pavel V.; Makarov, Yuri V.; Samaan, Nader A.

    This paper presents new methodologies developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to estimate regulation capacity requirements in the California ISO control area. Two approaches have been developed: (1) an approach based on statistical analysis of actual historical area control error (ACE) and regulation data, and (2) an approach based on balancing authority ACE limit control performance standard. The approaches predict regulation reserve requirements on a day-ahead basis including upward and downward requirements, for each operating hour of a day. California ISO data has been used to test the performance of the proposed algorithms. Results show that software tool allowsmore » saving up to 30% on the regulation procurements cost .« less

  17. Secure ICCP Final Report

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

    Rice, Mark J.; Bonebrake, Christopher A.; Dayley, Greg K.

    Inter-Control Center Communications Protocol (ICCP), defined by the IEC 60870-6 TASE.2 standard, was developed to enable data exchange over wide area networks between electric system entities, including utility control centers, Independent System Operators (ISOs), Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs) and Independent Power Producers (IPP) also known as Non-Utility Generators (NUG). ICCP is an unprotected protocol, and as a result is vulnerable to such actions as integrity violation, interception or alteration, spoofing, and eavesdropping. Because of these vulnerabilities with unprotected ICCP communication, security enhancements, referred to as Secure ICCP, have been added and are included in the ICCP products that utilities havemore » received since 2003 when the standard was defined. This has resulted in an ICCP product whose communication can be encrypted and authenticated to address these vulnerabilities.« less

  18. Manufacturing of microcomponents in a research institute under DIN EN ISO 9001

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maas, Dieter; Karl, Bernhard; Saile, Volker; Schulz, Joachim

    2000-08-01

    The Institute for Microstructure Technology at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe has implemented a rigorous quality management system and was certified according to the DIN ISO EN 9001 standard in January 2000.

  19. [Quality management in cardiovascular echography].

    PubMed

    Gullace, Giuseppe

    2002-12-01

    The quality management of an organization can be defined as the ability to identify, plan and implement programs of measure, analysis, verification and control that allow to monitor management, resources, activities, processes and output/outcome of the same organization, including the satisfaction of the customers. Whatever the model used, it is demonstrated that the management-quality system, either for professional quality or for organization, turns out to be effective even in the health organizations within and to any level of organizational-structural complexity. The present paper concerns the experience of the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Echography (SIEC) on quality certification, both as a scientific society compared to other health organizations and to cardiovascular echo laboratories, and the definition of minimum requirements for the accreditation of the same laboratories. The model most frequently used for quality management is represented by the ISO 9000: Vision 2000, that is a management model with specific reference to the organization and the customer satisfaction. The model applied to the health structure needs a rapid change in mentality that addresses the operators to define, share and achieve objectives to be brought on by means of an active collaboration, group activity and deep sense of belonging necessary to the attainment of expected objectives. When the model is applied by a scientific society, it is necessary to take into account the different structural and functional organization, the constitution and the operators differing on the point of view of origin, experiences, mentality, and roles. The ISO 9000: Vision 2000 model can be applied also to the cardiovascular echo laboratory which may be compared to a simple organization; for its corrected functioning, SIEC has defined minimal requirements for the accreditation, realization and modalities to carry out and manage quality. The quality system represents a new way of operating of an organization that enhances capability and performance of the operators, stimulates their creativity and facilitates the activities of all, to guarantee both the quality of the product and the satisfaction of operators and customers at the same time.

  20. ISO 50001 for US Commercial Buildings - Current Status and Opportunities

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

    Liu, Jingjing; Sheaffer, Paul

    ''ISO 50001: 2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use'' is a voluntary International Standard which provides organizations a proven framework to manage energy and continuously improve their energy performance. Implementing ISO 50001 in the commercial building sector has its unique opportunities and challenges in comparison with the industrial sector. The energy footprint of a portfolio of commercial buildings can be just as significant as a large industrial facility in comparison. There are many energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings that can be addressed without capital investments, and the perceived risks for making energy improvements can be lower thanmore » in the industrial sector. In addition, the energy-consuming systems in commercial buildings are limited in types and have many similarities across buildings, which makes it much easier to standardize many ISO 50001 required processes, 5 procedures and documents to simplify implementation. There are also some sector-unique challenges, such as less familiar with ISO systems and the certification process. Another challenge arises from the complexity in some buildings’ ownership, tenancy, and O&M responsibilities. This whitepaper discusses these opportunities and issues in detail. The paper also recommends the characteristics of organizations in the commercial building sector that can benefit the most from adopting the ISO 50001 standard – namely the “suitable market”. Eight segments (education, food sales, retail, inpatient health care, hospitality, office buildings, laboratories and data centers) within the commercial building sector are highlighted.« less

  1. Improved power steering with double and triple ring waveguide systems: the impact of the operating frequency.

    PubMed

    Kok, H P; de Greef, M; Borsboom, P P; Bel, A; Crezee, J

    2011-01-01

    Regional hyperthermia systems with 3D power steering have been introduced to improve tumour temperatures. The 3D 70-MHz AMC-8 system has two rings of four waveguides. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether T(90) will improve by using a higher operating frequency and whether further improvement is possible by adding a third ring. Optimised specific absorption rate (SAR) distributions were evaluated for a centrally located target in tissue-equivalent phantoms, and temperature optimisation was performed for five cervical carcinoma patients with constraints to normal tissue temperatures. The resulting T(90) and the thermal iso-effect dose (i.e. the number of equivalent min at 43°C) were evaluated and compared to the 2D 70-MHz AMC-4 system with a single ring of four waveguides. FDTD simulations were performed at 2.5 × 2.5 × 5 mm(3) resolution. The applied frequencies were 70, 100, 120, 130, 140 and 150 MHz. Optimised SAR distributions in phantoms showed an optimal SAR distribution at 140 MHz. For the patient simulations, an optimal increase in T(90) was observed at 130 MHz. For a two-ring system at 70 MHz the gain in T(90) was about 0.5°C compared to the AMC-4 system, averaged over the five patients. At 130 MHz the average gain in T(90) was ~1.5°C and ~2°C for a two and three-ring system, respectively. This implies an improvement of the thermal iso-effect dose with a factor ~12 and ~30, respectively. Simulations showed that a 130-MHz two-ring waveguide system yields significantly higher tumour temperatures compared to 70-MHz single-ring and double-ring waveguide systems. Temperatures were further improved with a 130-MHz triple-ring system.

  2. AIRNET: A real-time comunications network for aircraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Weaver, Alfred C.; Cain, Brendan G.; Colvin, M. Alexander; Simoncic, Robert

    1990-01-01

    A real-time local area network was developed for use on aircraft and space vehicles. It uses token ring technology to provide high throughput, low latency, and high reliability. The system was implemented on PCs and PC/ATs operating on PCbus, and on Intel 8086/186/286/386s operating on Multibus. A standard IEEE 802.2 logical link control interface was provided to (optional) upper layer software; this permits the controls designer to utilize standard communications protocols (e.g., ISO, TCP/IP) if time permits, or to utilize a very fast link level protocol directly if speed is critical. Both unacknowledged datagram and reliable virtual circuit services are supported. A station operating an 8 MHz Intel 286 as a host can generate a sustained load of 1.8 megabits per second per station, and a 100-byte message can be delivered from the transmitter's user memory to the receiver's user memory, including all operating system and network overhead, in under 4 milliseconds.

  3. Using TQM and ISO 9000 Principles in Assuring Education Service Quality.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kabashkin, Igor; Michnev, Boris; Utchin, Georgy

    1998-01-01

    Describes Riga Aviation University's movement from a controlled professional-education program to a system of contract relations with students as education service customers. Discusses a study of students' demands, requirements, and issues and the development of a quality assurance system based on Total Quality Management and ISO 9000 standards.…

  4. Core Logistics Capability Policy Applied to USAF Combat Aircraft Avionics Software: A Systems Engineering Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-01

    cannot make a distinction between software maintenance and development” (Sharma, 2004). ISO /IEC 12207 Software Lifecycle Processes offers a guide to...synopsis of ISO /IEC 12207 , Raghu Singh of the Federal Aviation Administration states “Whenever a software product needs modifications, the development...Corporation. Singh, R. (1998). International Standard ISO /IEC 12207 Software Life Cycle Processes. Washington: Federal Aviation Administration. The Joint

  5. Impact of 50% Synthesized Iso-Paraffins (SIP) on F-76 Fuel Coalescence

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-12-16

    petroleum JP-5 and Synthesized Iso-Paraffins (SIP). SIP fuels are made from direct fermentation of sugar into olefinic hydrocarbons. The olefinic...manufactured scaled down filter/coalescer and separator to simulate the performance of a full-scale filter separator system. This test is designed to predict...5 and Synthesized Iso-Paraffins (SIP). SIP fuels are made from direct fermentation of sugar into olefinic hydrocarbons. The olefinic hydrocarbons

  6. Bilateral Renal Denervation Ameliorates Isoproterenol-Induced Heart Failure through Downregulation of the Brain Renin-Angiotensin System and Inflammation in Rat

    PubMed Central

    Li, Jian-Dong; Cheng, Ai-Yuan; Huo, Yan-Li; Fan, Jie; Zhang, Yu-Ping; Fang, Zhi-Qin; Sun, Hong-Sheng; Peng, Wei; Zhang, Jin-Shun

    2016-01-01

    Heart failure (HF) is characterized by cardiac dysfunction along with autonomic unbalance that is associated with increased renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activity and elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines (PICs). Renal denervation (RD) has been shown to improve cardiac function in HF, but the protective mechanisms remain unclear. The present study tested the hypothesis that RD ameliorates isoproterenol- (ISO-) induced HF through regulation of brain RAS and PICs. Chronic ISO infusion resulted in remarked decrease in blood pressure (BP) and increase in heart rate and cardiac dysfunction, which was accompanied by increased BP variability and decreased baroreflex sensitivity and HR variability. Most of these adverse effects of ISO on cardiac and autonomic function were reversed by RD. Furthermore, ISO upregulated mRNA and protein expressions of several components of the RAS and PICs in the lamina terminalis and hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, two forebrain nuclei involved in cardiovascular regulations. RD significantly inhibited the upregulation of these genes. Either intracerebroventricular AT1-R antagonist, irbesartan, or TNF-α inhibitor, etanercept, mimicked the beneficial actions of RD in the ISO-induced HF. The results suggest that the RD restores autonomic balance and ameliorates ISO-induced HF and that the downregulated RAS and PICs in the brain contribute to these beneficial effects of RD. PMID:27746855

  7. Ergonomic analysis of fastening vibration based on ISO Standard 5349 (2001).

    PubMed

    Joshi, Akul; Leu, Ming; Murray, Susan

    2012-11-01

    Hand-held power tools used for fastening operations exert high dynamic forces on the operator's hand-arm, potentially causing injuries to the operator in the long run. This paper presents a study that analyzed the vibrations exerted by two hand-held power tools used for fastening operations with the operating exhibiting different postures. The two pneumatic tools, a right-angled nut-runner and an offset pistol-grip, are used to install shearing-type fasteners. A tri-axial accelerometer is used to measure the tool's vibration. The position and orientation of the transducer mounted on the tool follows the ISO-5349 Standard. The measured vibration data is used to compare the two power tools at different operating postures. The data analysis determines the number of years required to reach a 10% probability of developing finger blanching. The results indicate that the pistol-grip tool induces more vibration in the hand-arm than the right-angled nut-runner and that the vibrations exerted on the hand-arm vary for different postures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  8. KSC-98pc909

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1998-08-11

    Center Director Roy Bridges speaks to KSC employees at the ISO certification ceremony held at the Training Auditorium. Bridges was presented an ISO 9001 certificate and plaque awarded to KSC by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already worldclass team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification. Next to Bridges is Heidi Hollingsworth, with the Center for Independent Living, who uses American Sign Language for any hearing-impaired employees in the audience

  9. Dynamical Structure and Turbulence in Cirrus Clouds: Aircraft Observations during FIRE.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gultepe, I.; Starr, D. O'c.

    1995-12-01

    Aircraft data collected during the First International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project Regional Experiment (FIRE)I are used to examine dynamical processes operating in cirrus cloud systems observed on 19 and 28 October 1986. Measurements from Lagrangian spiral soundings and constant-altitude flight legs are analyzed. Comparisons are made with observations in clear air. Each cirrus case contained a statically stable layer, a conditionally unstable or neutrally stratified layer (ice pseudoadiabatic) in which convection was prevalent, and a neutral layer in which convection was intermittent. The analysis indicates that a mixture of phenomena occurred including small-scale convective cells, gravity waves (2-9 km), quasi-two-dimensional waves (10-20 km), and larger two-dimensional mesoscale waves (100 km). The intermediate-scale waves, observed both in clear air and in the cloud systems, likely played an important role in the development of the cloud systems given the magnitude of the associated vertical air velocity. The spectra of perturbations of wind components for layers where convection was prevalent were characterized by a 5/3 power law dependence, while a 2/4 dependence was found at other levels in the cloud systems. A steeper spectral slope (3) was found in the more stable cloud-base layer on 19 October. Samples in clear air also showed a (2.4) dependence. Flight-leg-averaged eddy potential heat fluxes (H=±8 W m2) were comparable to observations in marine stratocumulus clouds. Calculated turbulence dissipation rates agree with previously published studies, which indicate a general enhancement within cloud systems (106 to 103 m2 s3 in cloud versus values less than 0.5×106 m2 s3 in clear air).

  10. OntoCR: A CEN/ISO-13606 clinical repository based on ontologies.

    PubMed

    Lozano-Rubí, Raimundo; Muñoz Carrero, Adolfo; Serrano Balazote, Pablo; Pastor, Xavier

    2016-04-01

    To design a new semantically interoperable clinical repository, based on ontologies, conforming to CEN/ISO 13606 standard. The approach followed is to extend OntoCRF, a framework for the development of clinical repositories based on ontologies. The meta-model of OntoCRF has been extended by incorporating an OWL model integrating CEN/ISO 13606, ISO 21090 and SNOMED CT structure. This approach has demonstrated a complete evaluation cycle involving the creation of the meta-model in OWL format, the creation of a simple test application, and the communication of standardized extracts to another organization. Using a CEN/ISO 13606 based system, an indefinite number of archetypes can be merged (and reused) to build new applications. Our approach, based on the use of ontologies, maintains data storage independent of content specification. With this approach, relational technology can be used for storage, maintaining extensibility capabilities. The present work demonstrates that it is possible to build a native CEN/ISO 13606 repository for the storage of clinical data. We have demonstrated semantic interoperability of clinical information using CEN/ISO 13606 extracts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Former food products safety: microbiological quality and computer vision evaluation of packaging remnants contamination.

    PubMed

    Tretola, M; Di Rosa, A R; Tirloni, E; Ottoboni, M; Giromini, C; Leone, F; Bernardi, C E M; Dell'Orto, V; Chiofalo, V; Pinotti, L

    2017-08-01

    The use of alternative feed ingredients in farm animal's diets can be an interesting choice from several standpoints, including safety. In this respect, this study investigated the safety features of selected former food products (FFPs) intended for animal nutrition produced in the framework of the IZS PLV 06/14 RC project by an FFP processing plant. Six FFP samples, both mash and pelleted, were analysed for the enumeration of total viable count (TVC) (ISO 4833), Enterobacteriaceae (ISO 21528-1), Escherichia coli (ISO 16649-1), coagulase-positive Staphylococci (CPS) (ISO 6888), presumptive Bacillus cereus and its spores (ISO 7932), sulphite-reducing Clostridia (ISO 7937), yeasts and moulds (ISO 21527-1), and the presence in 25 g of Salmonella spp. (ISO 6579). On the same samples, the presence of undesired ingredients, which can be identified as remnants of packaging materials, was evaluated by two different methods: stereomicroscopy according to published methods; and stereomicroscopy coupled with a computer vision system (IRIS Visual Analyzer VA400). All FFPs analysed were safe from a microbiological point of view. TVC was limited and Salmonella was always absent. When remnants of packaging materials were considered, the contamination level was below 0.08% (w/w). Of note, packaging remnants were found mainly from the 1-mm sieve mesh fractions. Finally, the innovative computer vision system demonstrated the possibility of rapid detection for the presence of packaging remnants in FFPs when combined with a stereomicroscope. In conclusion, the FFPs analysed in the present study can be considered safe, even though some improvements in FFP processing in the feeding plant can be useful in further reducing their microbial loads and impurity.

  12. Oral administration of quercetin is unable to protect against isoproterenol cardiotoxicity.

    PubMed

    Ríha, Michal; Vopršalová, Marie; Pilařová, Veronika; Semecký, Vladimír; Holečková, Magdalena; Vávrová, Jaroslava; Palicka, Vladimir; Filipský, Tomáš; Hrdina, Radomír; Nováková, Lucie; Mladěnka, Přemysl

    2014-09-01

    Catecholamines are endogenous amines that participate in the maintenance of cardiovascular system homeostasis. However, excessive release or exogenous administration of catecholamines is cardiotoxic. The synthetic catecholamine, isoprenaline (isoproterenol, ISO), with non-selective β-agonistic activity has been used as a viable model of acute myocardial toxicity for many years. Since the pathophysiology of ISO-cardiotoxicity is complex, the aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of oral quercetin pretreatment on myocardial ISO toxicity. Wistar-Han rats were randomly divided into four groups: solvent or quercetin administered orally by gavage in a dose of 10 mg kg(-1) daily for 7 days were followed by s.c. water for injection or ISO in a dose of 100 mg kg(-1). Haemodynamic, ECG and biochemical parameters were measured; effects on blood vessels and myocardial histology were assessed, and accompanying pharmacokinetic analysis was performed. Quercetin was unable to protect the cardiovascular system against acute ISO cardiotoxicity (stroke volume decrease, cardiac troponin T release, QRS-T junction elevation and histological impairment). The sole positive effect of quercetin on catecholamine-induced cardiotoxicity was the normalization of increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure caused by ISO. Quercetin did not reverse the increased responsiveness of rat aorta to vasoconstriction in ISO-treated animals, but it decreased the same parameter in the control animals. Accompanying pharmacokinetic analysis showed absorption of quercetin and its metabolite 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid formed by bacterial microflora. In conclusion, a daily oral dose of 10 mg kg(-1) of quercetin for 7 days did not ameliorate acute ISO-cardiovascular toxicity in rats despite minor positive cardiovascular effects.

  13. Quality management in European screening laboratories in blood establishments: A view of current approaches and trends.

    PubMed

    Pereira, Paulo; Westgard, James O; Encarnação, Pedro; Seghatchian, Jerard; de Sousa, Gracinda

    2015-04-01

    The screening laboratory has a critical role in the post-transfusion safety. The success of its targets and efficiency depends on the management system used. Even though the European Union directive 2002/98/EC requires a quality management system in blood establishments, its requirements for screening laboratories are generic. Complementary approaches are needed to implement a quality management system focused on screening laboratories. This article briefly discusses the current good manufacturing practices and good laboratory practices, as well as the trends in quality management system standards. ISO 9001 is widely accepted in some European Union blood establishments as the quality management standard, however this is not synonymous of its successful application. The ISO "risk-based thinking" is interrelated with the quality risk-management process of the EuBIS "Standards and criteria for the inspection of blood establishments". ISO 15189 should be the next step on the quality assurance of a screening laboratory, since it is focused on medical laboratory. To standardize the quality management systems in blood establishments' screening laboratories, new national and European claims focused on technical requirements following ISO 15189 is needed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Status of the Body of Knowledge and Curriculum to Advance Systems Engineering (BKCASE (trademark)) Project

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-10-01

    Systems engineer- ing knowledge has also been documented through the standards bodies, most notably : • ISO /IEC/IEEE 15288, Systems Engineer- ing...System Life Cycle Processes, 2008 (see [10]). • ANSI/EIA 632, Processes for Engineering a System, (1998) • IEEE 1220, ISO /IEC 26702 Application...tion • United States Defense Acquisition Guidebook, Chapter 4, June 27, 2011 • IEEE/EIA 12207 , Software Life Cycle Processes, 2008 • United

  15. Intraoperative CT in the assessment of posterior wall acetabular fracture stability.

    PubMed

    Cunningham, Brian; Jackson, Kelly; Ortega, Gil

    2014-04-01

    Posterior wall acetabular fractures that involve 10% to 40% of the posterior wall may or may not require an open reduction and internal fixation. Dynamic stress examination of the acetabular fracture under fluoroscopy has been used as an intraoperative method to assess joint stability. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the value of intraoperative ISO computed tomography (CT) examination using the Siemens ISO-C imaging system (Siemens Corp, Malvern, Pennsylvania) in the assessment of posterior wall acetabular fracture stability during stress examination under anesthesia. In 5 posterior wall acetabular fractures, standard fluoroscopic images (including anteroposterior pelvis and Judet radiographs) with dynamic stress examinations were compared with the ISO-C CT imaging system to assess posterior wall fracture stability during stress examination. After review of standard intraoperative fluoroscopic images under dynamic stress examination, all 5 cases appeared to demonstrate posterior wall stability; however, when the intraoperative images from the ISO-C CT imaging system demonstrated that 1 case showed fracture instability of the posterior wall segment during stress examination, open reduction and internal fixation was performed. The use of intraoperative ISO CT imaging has shown an initial improvement in the surgeon's ability to assess the intraoperative stability of posterior wall acetabular fractures during stress examination when compared with standard fluoroscopic images. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

  16. Certification standards transfer: from committee to laboratory.

    PubMed

    Lehmann, H P

    1998-12-01

    The ISO 9000 Standards series were developed to provide the international manufacturing industry with a framework to ensure purchased products meet quality criteria. Section 4 of ISO 9001, Quality System Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation and Servicing, contains 20 aspects of a quality system that must be addressed by an organization in order to receive ISO 9001 certification. This concept is extended to the clinical laboratory, where a quality system program establishes for the customer (patient/clinician) that the purchased product (requested information on a submitted specimen-test result) meets established quality norms. In order to satisfy the customer, the providing organization must have policies and procedures in place that ensure a quality product, and be certified. To become certified the organization must, through an inspection process, demonstrate to an independent accrediting agency that it meets defined standards. In the United States, the government through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) 1988 established quality standards for the clinical laboratory. The College of American Pathologists (CAP), through its Laboratory Accreditation Program (LAP), serves as an independent agency that certifies that laboratories meet standards. To demonstrate the applicability of an established clinical laboratory accreditation program to ISO 9001 certification, the standards and checklists of CLIA 1988 and the CAP LAP will be examined to determine their conformance to ISO 9001, Section 4.

  17. Effects of massive wind power integration on short-term water resource management in central Chile - a grid-wide study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haas, J.; Olivares, M. A.; Palma, R.

    2013-12-01

    In central Chile, water from reservoirs and streams is mainly used for irrigation and power generation. Hydropower reservoirs operation is particularly challenging because: i) decisions at each plant impact the entire power system, and ii) the existence of large storage capacity implies inter-temporal ties. An Independent System Operator (ISO) decides the grid-wide optimal allocation of water for power generation, under irrigation-related constraints. To account for the long-term opportunity cost of water, a future cost function is determined and used in the short term planning. As population growth and green policies demand increasing levels of renewable energy in power systems, deployment of wind farms and solar plants is rising quickly. However, their power output is highly fluctuating on short time scales, affecting the operation of power plants, particularly those fast responding units as hydropower reservoirs. This study addresses these indirect consequences of massive introduction of green energy sources on reservoir operations. Short-term reservoir operation, under different wind penetration scenarios, is simulated using a replica of Chile's ISO's scheduling optimization tools. Furthermore, an ongoing study is exploring the potential to augment the capacity the existing hydro-power plants to better cope with the balancing needs due to a higher wind power share in the system. As reservoir releases determine to a great extent flows at downstream locations, hourly time series of turbined flows for 24-hour periods were computed for selected combinations between new wind farms and increased capacity of existing hydropower plants. These time series are compiled into subdaily hydrologic alteration (SDHA) indexes (Zimmerman et al, 2010). The resulting sample of indexes is then analyzed using duration curves. Results show a clear increase in the SDHA for every reservoir of the system as more fluctuating renewables are integrated into the system. High-fluctuation events become more frequent. While the main load-following reservoirs are very susceptible to even small levels of additional wind power, the remaining withstand greater amounts before producing a significant SDHA. The additional effect of augmented installed capacity of existing hydropower plants on the SDHA is modest. The increase in SDHA calls for alternative operational constraints beyond the current practice based exclusively on minimum instream flows. Previous research by this group has shown the potential of maximum ramping rates constraints to efficiently achieve improvement in the SDHA. This alternative is being studied as part of a project currently in progress. This may contribute to make hydropower projects more socially acceptable and environmentally sound.

  18. Whole-body vibration in heavy equipment operators of a front-end loader: role of task exposure and tire configuration with and without traction chains.

    PubMed

    Blood, Ryan P; Rynell, Patrik W; Johnson, Peter W

    2012-12-01

    This study measured whole-body vibration (WBV) exposures in front-end loader operators, and evaluated the effects of traction chains and work tasks on their WBV exposures. WBV exposures were measured and compared across three different front-end loader tire configurations: (a) stock rubber tires, (b) rubber tires with ladder chains, and (c) rubber tires with basket chains. The operators completed three distinct standardized tasks: driving on a city street, simulated plowing, and a simulated scooping and dumping task. A portable data acquisition system collected tri-axial time weighted and raw WBV data per ISO 2631-1 and 2631-5 standards. In addition, Global Positioning System (GPS) data were collected in order to compare loader speeds across tire conditions and the standardized tasks. Relative to the stock rubber tires, both types of tire chains significantly increased WBV exposures with the ladder chains having substantially higher WBV exposures compared to basket chains. Additionally, there were task dependent differences in WBV exposures. During the driving task, the z-axis (up and down) was the predominant exposure; the plowing task had a more even distribution of exposure across all three axes; while during scooping and dumping task, the x-axis (fore and aft) had the highest WBV exposures. The GPS data indicated that there were significant speed differences across tasks but not between the basket and ladder chain conditions. Tires with ladder chains increased the front-end loader operators' exposure to WBV above the ISO 2631-1 recommended eight hour action limit increasing risk for adverse health effects. Although more expensive, basket chains are recommended over ladder chains since they substantially lowered the front-end loader operator's exposures and may ultimately reduce vibration related wear and tear on the vehicle. In order to reduce a heavy equipment vehicle (HEV) operator's chances for developing low back pain, this study provides information that health and safety professionals can use to reduce whole-body vibration (WBV) exposures when operating front-end wheel loaders with traction chains. Copyright © 2012 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Iso-migrastatin Titer Improvement in the Engineered Streptomyces lividans SB11002 Strain by Optimization of Fermentation Conditions

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Xueyun; Yang, Dong; Zhu, Xiangcheng; Feng, Zhiyang; Lv, Zhengbin; Zhang, Yaozhou; Shen, Ben; Xu, Zhinan

    2011-01-01

    The heterologous production of iso-migrastatin (iso-MGS) was successfully demonstrated in an engineered S. lividans SB11002 strain, which was derived from S. lividans K4–114, following introduction of pBS11001, which harbored the entire mgs biosynthetic gene cluster. However, under similar fermentation conditions, the iso-MGS titer in the engineered strain was significantly lower than that in the native producer - Streptomyces platensis NRRL 18993. To circumvent the problem of low iso-MGS titers and to expand the utility of this heterologous system for iso-MGS biosynthesis and engineering, systematic optimization of the fermentation medium was carried out. The effects of major components in the cultivation medium, including carbon, organic and inorganic nitrogen sources, were investigated using a single factor optimization method. As a result, sucrose and yeast extract were determined to be the best carbon and organic nitrogen sources, resulting in optimized iso-MGS production. Conversely, all other inorganic nitrogen sources evaluated produced various levels of inhibition of iso-MGS production. The final optimized R2YE production medium produced iso-MGS with a titer of 86.5 mg/L, about 3.6-fold higher than that in the original R2YE medium, and 1.5 fold higher than that found within the native S. platensis NRRL 18993 producer. PMID:21625393

  20. 15 CFR 287.2 - Definitions. 1

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Guide 2 (1996). In certain industrial sectors, it is recognized that organizations other than ISO or IEC may...; supplier's declaration of conformity; certification; and quality and environmental management system...

  1. The standards process: X3 information processing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Emard, Jean-Paul

    1993-01-01

    The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include the following: International Organization for Standards (ISO); International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC); ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC-1); U.S. interface to JTC-1; ANSI; national organizations; U.S. standards development processes; national and international standards developing organizations; regional organizations; and X3 information processing systems.

  2. Reduction of Noise from the J-52 and F-404 Jet Engines During Static Testing Using the Noise Attenuation Device (NAD)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-06-01

    Filters, Order 3, Type 0-C, Optional Range B.2.2 Sound Level Meter Calibration • ISO / IEC 17025 :2005 General requirements for the competence of...noise levels − NCSL -National Conference of Standards Laboratories − ISO - International Standards Organization − IEC - The International...testing and calibration laboratories • ISO 10012:2003 Measurement management systems -- Requirements for measurement processes and measuring

  3. Synergistic relationships between Analytical Chemistry and written standards.

    PubMed

    Valcárcel, Miguel; Lucena, Rafael

    2013-07-25

    This paper describes the mutual impact of Analytical Chemistry and several international written standards (norms and guides) related to knowledge management (CEN-CWA 14924:2004), social responsibility (ISO 26000:2010), management of occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18001/2), environmental management (ISO 14001:2004), quality management systems (ISO 9001:2008) and requirements of the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (ISO 17025:2004). The intensity of this impact, based on a two-way influence, is quite different depending on the standard considered. In any case, a new and fruitful approach to Analytical Chemistry based on these relationships can be derived. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Evaluation of Accuracy of Six Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems and Modeling of Possibly Related Insulin Dosing Errors.

    PubMed

    Baumstark, Annette; Jendrike, Nina; Pleus, Stefan; Haug, Cornelia; Freckmann, Guido

    2017-10-01

    Self-monitoring of blood glucose (BG) is an essential part of diabetes therapy. Accurate and reliable results from BG monitoring systems (BGMS) are important especially when they are used to calculate insulin doses. This study aimed at assessing system accuracy of BGMS and possibly related insulin dosing errors. System accuracy of six different BGMS (Accu-Chek ® Aviva Nano, Accu-Chek Mobile, Accu-Chek Performa Nano, CONTOUR ® NEXT LINK 2.4, FreeStyle Lite, OneTouch ® Verio ® IQ) was assessed in comparison to a glucose oxidase and a hexokinase method. Study procedures and analysis were based on ISO 15197:2013/EN ISO 15197:2015, clause 6.3. In addition, insulin dosing error was modeled. In the comparison against the glucose oxidase method, five out of six BGMS fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria. Up to 14.3%/4.3%/0.3% of modeled doses resulted in errors exceeding ±0.5/±1.0/±1.5 U and missing the modeled target by 20 mg/dL/40 mg/dL/60 mg/dL, respectively. Compared against the hexokinase method, five out of six BGMS fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria. Up to 25.0%/10.5%/3.2% of modeled doses resulted in errors exceeding ±0.5/±1.0/±1.5 U, respectively. Differences in system accuracy were found, even among BGMS that fulfilled the minimum system accuracy criteria of ISO 15197:2013. In the error model, considerable insulin dosing errors resulted for some of the investigated systems. Diabetes patients on insulin therapy should be able to rely on their BGMS' readings; therefore, they require highly accurate BGMS, in particular, when making therapeutic decisions.

  5. IPHE Regulations Codes and Standards Working Group - Type IV COPV Round Robin Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maes, M.; Starritt, L.; Zheng, J. Y.; Ou, K.; Keller, J.

    2017-01-01

    This manuscript presents the results of a multi-lateral international activity intended to understand how to execute a cycle stress test as specified in a chosen standard (GTR, SAE, ISO, EIHP...). The purpose of this work was to establish a harmonized test method protocol to ensure that the same results would be achieved regardless of the testing facility. It was found that accurate temperature measurement of the working fluid is necessary to ensure the test conditions remain within the tolerances specified. Continuous operation is possible with adequate cooling of the working fluid but this becomes more demanding if the cycle frequency increases. Recommendations for future test system design and operation are presented.

  6. Improving Earth Science Metadata: Modernizing ncISO

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Brien, K.; Schweitzer, R.; Neufeld, D.; Burger, E. F.; Signell, R. P.; Arms, S. C.; Wilcox, K.

    2016-12-01

    ncISO is a package of tools developed at NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) that facilitates the generation of ISO 19115-2 metadata from NetCDF data sources. The tool currently exists in two iterations: a command line utility and a web-accessible service within the THREDDS Data Server (TDS). Several projects, including NOAA's Unified Access Framework (UAF), depend upon ncISO to generate the ISO-compliant metadata from their data holdings and use the resulting information to populate discovery tools such as NCEI's ESRI Geoportal and NOAA's data.noaa.gov CKAN system. In addition to generating ISO 19115-2 metadata, the tool calculates a rubric score based on how well the dataset follows the Attribute Conventions for Dataset Discovery (ACDD). The result of this rubric calculation, along with information about what has been included and what is missing is displayed in an HTML document generated by the ncISO software package. Recently ncISO has fallen behind in terms of supporting updates to conventions such updates to the ACDD. With the blessing of the original programmer, NOAA's UAF has been working to modernize the ncISO software base. In addition to upgrading ncISO to utilize version1.3 of the ACDD, we have been working with partners at Unidata and IOOS to unify the tool's code base. In essence, we are merging the command line capabilities into the same software that will now be used by the TDS service, allowing easier updates when conventions such as ACDD are updated in the future. In this presentation, we will discuss the work the UAF project has done to support updated conventions within ncISO, as well as describe how the updated tool is helping to improve metadata throughout the earth and ocean sciences.

  7. Unbundling of electric power and energy services

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

    Keith, D.M.; Lewis, B.R.

    1996-12-31

    The world-wide movement to restructure the electric and power and energy industry is now well underway in the United States. The most recent thrust came this year, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission`s (FERC`s) issuance on April 24th of new regulations designed to open the interconnected transmission grid to all qualified wholesale users. Other movements have been in the many forms of earlier statutes and regulations promulgated in 1978 to make more efficient use of fuels burned; utility diversification efforts; utility creation of affiliate and subsidiary organizations and operations; introduction into the market of private non-utility power developers; utilities obtainingmore » clearance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to venture in international markets; massive mergers and acquisitions; bankruptcies; the entry into the market of nonutility power marketers and brokers, including entities from the gas and securities industries not previously involved in the electric power and energy industry; additional congressional consideration of outright repeal of Holding Company legislation dating back to 1935; some states entering into an era of abandoning the control past in favor of complete re-regulation of the industry on the basis of performance; the coming of Independent System Operators (ISO`s), Regional Transmission Groups (RTG`s), and the possible coming of Capacity Reservation Tariffs (CRT`s), to name a few.« less

  8. CERT Resiliency Engineering Framework

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-03-01

    Heightened threat level and increasing uncertainty Shorter-lived skills 5 Operational risk management problems Poor planning and execution No asset...increasingly effective & efficient Today’s operational environment No operational boundaries Pervasive & rapidly changing technology Dynamic & expanding risks ...management function Seen as a technical function or responsibility Searching for magic bullet: CobiT , ITIL, ISO17799, NFP1600 Poorly defined and measured

  9. ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR GOVERNMENT

    EPA Science Inventory

    This presentation provides an overview of the document, ISO 14001 - A Tool for Supporting Government Environmental Programs and Policies, recently published by USEPA/s Office of Research and Development. It is an informational document, explaining the backjground and development ...

  10. Study on corporate social responsibility evaluation system based on stakeholder theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, J.; Deng, Liming

    2011-10-01

    The issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been attracting the attention from many disciplines such as economics, management, laws, sociality and philosophy since last century. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of CSR on performance and develop a CSR evaluation system. Building on the definition of CSR and Stakeholder theory, this article built a path-relationship model of CSR and business operation performance. The paper also constructed CSR evaluation system based on KLD index, GRJ report, CSR accounting account, SA8000, ISO14000 etc. The research provides a basis for future studies about the relationship between CSR and business performance and shed some light on the evaluation of CSR practices.

  11. INTERNATIONAL REPORTS: New International Standards for Quantities and Units

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thor, A. J.

    1994-01-01

    Each coherent system of units is based on a system of quantities in such a way that the equations between the numerical values expressed in coherent units have exactly the same form, including numerical factors, as the corresponding equations between the quantities. The highest international body responsible for the International System of Units (SI) is the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM). However, the CGPM is not concerned with quantities or systems of quantities. That question lies within the scope of Technical Committee number twelve of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC 12). Quantities, units, symbols, conversion factors. To fulfil its responsibility, ISO/TC 12 has prepared the International Standard ISO 31, Quantities and Units, which consists of fourteen parts. The new editions of the different parts of the International Standard are briefly presented here.

  12. Soy isoflavones improve spatial delayed matching-to-place performance and reduce cholinergic neuron loss in elderly male rats.

    PubMed

    Lee, Yoon-Bok; Lee, Hyong Joo; Won, Moo Ho; Hwang, In Koo; Kang, Tae-Cheon; Lee, Jae-Yong; Nam, Sang-Yoon; Kim, Kang-Sung; Kim, Eugene; Cheon, Sang-Hee; Sohn, Heon-Soo

    2004-07-01

    To investigate the protective activity of soy isoflavones on neurons, the effects of isoflavones on cholinergic enzyme activity, immunoreactivities of cholinergic enzyme, and delayed matching-to-place (DMP) performance were measured in normal elderly rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 48; 10 mo old) were assigned to 3 groups: CD (control diet), ISO 0.3 (0.3 g/kg soy isoflavones diet), and ISO 1.2 (1.2 g/kg soy isoflavones diet). After 16 wk of consuming these diets, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in the ISO 0.3 group was greater in cortex and basal forebrain (BF; P < 0.05) than in controls. In BF, ChAT activity was also significantly greater in the ISO 1.2 group than in control rats. Acetylcholine esterase (AChE) activity in the ISO 0.3 group was significantly inhibited in cortex, BF, and hippocampus and in the ISO 1.2 group in cortex and hippocampus. Choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity (ChAT-IR) in the ISO 1.2 group was significantly greater than in controls in the medial septum area. ChAT-IR in the ISO 0.3 and ISO 1.2 groups was significantly higher than in the CD group in the hippocampus CA1 area. Spatial DMP performance by the ISO 0.3 group showed significantly shorter swimming time than by the CD group. These findings show that soy isoflavones can influence the brain cholinergic system and reduce age-related neuron loss and cognition decline in male rats.

  13. Standardization: colorfull or dull?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Nes, Floris L.

    2003-01-01

    After mentioning the necessity of standardization in general, this paper explains how human factors, or ergonomics standardization by ISO and the deployment of information technology were linked. Visual display standardization is the main topic; the present as well as the future situation in this field are treated, mainly from an ISO viewpoint. Some observations are made about the necessary and interesting co-operation between physicists and psychologists, of different nationality, who both may be employed by either private enterprise or governmental institutions, in determining visual display requirements. The display standard that is to succeed the present ISO standards in this area: ISO 9241-3, -7, -8 and ISO 13406-1, -2, will have a scope that is not restricted to office tasks. This means a large extension of the contexts for which display requirements have to be investigated and specified especially if mobile use of displays, under outdoor lighting conditions, is included. The new standard will be structured in such a way that it is better accessible than the present ones for different categories of standards users. The subject color in the new standard is elaborated here. A number of questions are asked as to which requirements on color rendering should be made, taking new research results into account, and how far the new standard should go in making recommendations to the display user.

  14. A comparative presentation of implementation of ISO 22000 versus HACCP and FMEA in a small size Greek factory producing smoked trout: a case study.

    PubMed

    Arvanitoyannis, Ioannis S; Palaiokostas, Christos; Panagiotaki, Panagiota

    2009-02-01

    ISO 22000 is the new standard bound to replace HACCP on issues related to food safety. Although several companies, especially the big ones, have either implemented or are on the point of implementing ISO 22000, there are many others which are rather timid and/or reluctant to implement it. The main reason behind that is the lack of information and the fear that the new standard is too demanding in terms of bureaucratic work. This paper aims at making a comparative presentation of how the two systems can be applied to a small smoked salmon producing company thereby facilitating the emergence of the differences. The main difference is that in ISO 22000 systems like Good Manufacturing Practice and Good Hygiene Practice are prerequisites thus leading to lower number of CCPs. In this case study for example, the number of CCPs dropped from eight (8) in HACCP to four (4) in ISO 22000. Furthermore, the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis was applied to the smoked trout manufacturing process in an attempt to calculate quantitatively the Risk Priority Number (RPN) and to find out whether it can be effectively correlated to ISO 22000 and/or HACCP. RPN was found to be higher than 130 for eight steps, in close agreement with HACCP, thereby indicating that corrective actions will have to be undertaken.

  15. Environmental management practices in the Lebanese pharmaceutical industries: implementation strategies and challenges.

    PubMed

    Massoud, May A; Makarem, N; Ramadan, W; Nakkash, R

    2015-03-01

    This research attempts to provide an understanding of the Lebanese pharmaceutical industries' environmental management strategies, priorities, and perceptions as well as drivers, barriers, and incentives regarding the implementation of the voluntary ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Accordingly, a semistructured in-depth interview was conducted with the pharmaceutical industries. The findings revealed a significant lack of knowledge about the standard among the industries. The main perceived drivers for adopting the ISO 14001 are improving the companies' image and overcoming international trade. The main perceived barriers for acquiring the standard are the lack of government support and the fact that ISO 14001 is not being legally required or enforced by the government. Moreover, results revealed that adopting the ISO 14001 standard is not perceived as a priority for the Lebanese pharmaceutical industries. Although the cost of certification was not considered as a barrier for the implementation of ISO 14001, the majority of the pharmaceutical industries are neither interested nor willing to adopt the Standard if they are not exposed to any regulatory pressure or external demand. They are more concerned with quality and safety issues with the most adopted international standard among the industries being the ISO 9001 quality management system. This study highlights the aspect that financial barriers are not always the hurdles for implementing environmental management strategies in developing countries and underscores the need for regulatory frameworks and enforcement.

  16. Motto: We work for people and environment

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

    Barcik, M.

    1995-12-31

    This target has been under Danfoss realization for over 60 years, both in Denmark and all over the world. The operational range of the enterprise: is very wide. Danfoss manufactures a large assortment of products, starting from heat automatic control systems, through heat metering devices, industrial and refrigeration automatic control, compressors, flow meters, frequency converters, control systems, and monitoring. The four mainstays of the business activity are based on: high quality products; advanced manufacturing technology; care of the environment, and engagement of the staff. Since 1992 Danfoss has been manufacturing heat radiator thermostats in Poland. A unique solution - namelymore » the use of a gas thermostatic head secures the highest energy savings and operational reliability. In 1993, Danfoss as the sixth company in Poland and the first in its business field, gained a ISO 9002 certificate.« less

  17. The Impact of ISO Quality Management Systems on Primary and Secondary Schools in Spain

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arribas Díaz, Jorge Antonio; Martínez-Mediano, Catalina

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the application of quality management systems (QMS) based on international standards of quality in education (ISO 9001:2008) and ascertain the influence of this quality model on primary and secondary schools in Spain. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted in 26 publicly funded,…

  18. Commitment to Quality Education Services through ISO 9000: A Case Study of Romania

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paunescu, Carmen; Fok, Wing

    2005-01-01

    The paper discusses a model of quality management system for higher education. One of the main objectives of this paper is to highlight the challenges facing the school during implementation of the ISO 9001 standard and the benefits of successfully implementing such a quality system can bring to higher education. Based on the experience of a…

  19. The role of adrenergic activation on murine luteal cell viability and progesterone production.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jing; Tang, Min; Jiang, Huaide; Wu, Bing; Cai, Wei; Hu, Chuan; Bao, Riqiang; Dong, Qiming; Xiao, Li; Li, Gang; Zhang, Chunping

    2016-09-15

    Sympathetic innervations exist in mammalian CL. The action of catecholaminergic system on luteal cells has been the focus of a variety of studies. Norepinephrine (NE) increased progesterone secretion of cattle luteal cells by activating β-adrenoceptors. In this study, murine luteal cells were treated with NE and isoprenaline (ISO). We found that NE increased the viability of murine luteal cells and ISO decreased the viability of luteal cells. Both NE and ISO promoted the progesterone production. Nonselective β-adrenergic antagonist, propranolol reversed the effect of ISO on cell viability but did not reverse the effect of NE on cell viability. Propranolol blocked the influence of NE and ISO on progesterone production. These results reveal that the increase of luteal cell viability induced by NE is not dependent on β-adrenergic activation. α-Adrenergic activation possibly contributes to it. Both NE and ISO increased progesterone production through activating β-adrenergic receptor. Further study showed that CyclinD2 is involved in the increase of luteal cell induced by NE. 3β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, LHR, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), and PGF2α contribute to the progesterone production induced by NE and ISO. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. ISO 15189 accreditation: Requirements for quality and competence of medical laboratories, experience of a laboratory I.

    PubMed

    Guzel, Omer; Guner, Ebru Ilhan

    2009-03-01

    Medical laboratories are the key partners in patient safety. Laboratory results influence 70% of medical diagnoses. Quality of laboratory service is the major factor which directly affects the quality of health care. The clinical laboratory as a whole has to provide the best patient care promoting excellence. International Standard ISO 15189, based upon ISO 17025 and ISO 9001 standards, provides requirements for competence and quality of medical laboratories. Accredited medical laboratories enhance credibility and competency of their testing services. Our group of laboratories, one of the leading institutions in the area, had previous experience with ISO 9001 and ISO 17025 Accreditation at non-medical sections. We started to prepared for ISO 15189 Accreditation at the beginning of 2006 and were certified in March, 2007. We spent more than a year to prepare for accreditation. Accreditation scopes of our laboratory were as follows: clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology, allergology, microbiology, parasitology, molecular biology of infection serology and transfusion medicine. The total number of accredited tests is 531. We participate in five different PT programs. Inter Laboratory Comparison (ILC) protocols are performed with reputable laboratories. 82 different PT Program modules, 277 cycles per year for 451 tests and 72 ILC program organizations for remaining tests have been performed. Our laboratory also organizes a PT program for flow cytometry. 22 laboratories participate in this program, 2 cycles per year. Our laboratory has had its own custom made WEB based LIS system since 2001. We serve more than 500 customers on a real time basis. Our quality management system is also documented and processed electronically, Document Management System (DMS), via our intranet. Preparatory phase for accreditation, data management, external quality control programs, personnel related issues before, during and after accreditation process are presented. Every laboratory has to concentrate on patient safety issues related to laboratory testing and should perform quality improvement projects.

  1. ISO learning approximates a solution to the inverse-controller problem in an unsupervised behavioral paradigm.

    PubMed

    Porr, Bernd; von Ferber, Christian; Wörgötter, Florentin

    2003-04-01

    In "Isotropic Sequence Order Learning" (pp. 831-864 in this issue), we introduced a novel algorithm for temporal sequence learning (ISO learning). Here, we embed this algorithm into a formal nonevaluating (teacher free) environment, which establishes a sensor-motor feedback. The system is initially guided by a fixed reflex reaction, which has the objective disadvantage that it can react only after a disturbance has occurred. ISO learning eliminates this disadvantage by replacing the reflex-loop reactions with earlier anticipatory actions. In this article, we analytically demonstrate that this process can be understood in terms of control theory, showing that the system learns the inverse controller of its own reflex. Thereby, this system is able to learn a simple form of feedforward motor control.

  2. LAN (Local Area Network) Interoperability Study of Protocols Needed for Distributed Command and Control

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-03-01

    model referred to by the study group . IMCKIiN cuINICATION 31215FOR SDATA TWSU•l Sa *BSTtEO POOTO• AA14FTICT’WI PEM1 ITS ...operating systems, compared the DOD and ISO networking protocol architecture models , the protocols for LAN’s developed by the IEEE and ANSI, reviewed and...be initiated, so as to provide the Air Force a roadmap to guide its * "technology develop •ents. 4,’ �/LAN 3-4 .°. SECTION 4.0

  3. Combined Quarterly Technical Report Number 16. SATNET Development and Operation, Pluribus Satellite IMP Development, Remote Site Maintenance, Internet Development, Mobile Access Terminal Network.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-02-01

    Reserch Projects Agency I t&* ISO~p~A d m* ab~b ~I 41 b~bmso 544,A UNCLASSIFIED S@MYT SLAMIICAIGH OF TNNI PAOE tpvm Gamb.______________ RI...Wi do m,.we a#& N m WUNP SMei r -- This Quarterly Technical Report describes work on the development of and experimentation with packet broadcast by...interval by either segmenting or aggregating the stream packets such that they match the system interval. Since this approach is simple with respect

  4. A Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model, Version 1.1,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1995-11-01

    of a sequence of actions to be taken to perform a given task. [SECMM] 1. A set of activities ( ISO 12207 ). 2. A set of practices that address the...standards One of the design goals of the SE-CMM effort was to capture the salient concepts from emerging standards and initiatives (e.g.; ISO 9001...history for the SE-CMM: Version Designator Content Change Notes Release 1 • architecture rationale • Process Areas • ISO (SPICE) BPG 0.05 summary

  5. Software validation applied to spreadsheets used in laboratories working under ISO/IEC 17025

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Banegas, J. M.; Orué, M. W.

    2016-07-01

    Several documents deal with software validation. Nevertheless, more are too complex to be applied to validate spreadsheets - surely the most used software in laboratories working under ISO/IEC 17025. The method proposed in this work is intended to be directly applied to validate spreadsheets. It includes a systematic way to document requirements, operational aspects regarding to validation, and a simple method to keep records of validation results and modifications history. This method is actually being used in an accredited calibration laboratory, showing to be practical and efficient.

  6. Enthusiasm for Europe's space telescope ISO

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1996-11-01

    "Are the most luminous galaxies powered by extreme rates of star formation, or do they harbour black-hole-powered active nuclei as well?" Scientists lead by Reinhard Genzel at Max Planck Institut fur extra terrestrische Physik in Garching, Germany, have used ISO's Short Wavelength Spectrometer to give an answer. Writing in the London journal Nature, an independent commentator, Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, considers that their papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics give a clear answer to this question. The "remarkable result" according to Gilmore is that none of three ultra-luminous infrared galaxies studied by ISO requires an active nucleus to account for the emissions, which arise from rapid star formation. About another ISO target Gilmore writes: "In one lovely example, of two intersecting disk galaxies known as the Antennae, it is even possible to resolve the spot where the two disks currently cross, and to see the progression of star formation across the disk as the two galaxies orbit through each other." (Nature, 21 November 1996, p. 211) One year after its launch, ISO is exceptionally popular among astronomers, not only in Europe but worldwide. A panel of American astronomers, reporting to NASA on the scientific merits of eight astrophysical space missions, gives ISO the highest ranking and calls it "the major infrared mission of the decade". At a time when NASA is reducing its budgets for some astrophysical missions, its funding of ISO-related research is increasing. The demand for a share in ISO's unique view of the infrared universe is insatiable. ESA has been overwhelmed by new proposals for observations, coming from 511 groups of astronomers in ESA's own Member States and in the USA and Japan. Although ISO is extremely efficient, performing an average of 45 observations a day, it could not cope with 16,000 observations requested as additions to ISO's already busy programme for 1997. The time allocation committee has had to turn down 75 per cent of the proposed observations. Nevertheless the allocations announced this month will meet the wishes of most groups of applicants at least in part. ISO is now about half way through its operating life. An Ariane 44P launcher put it into orbit on 17 November 1995. ISO's superfluid helium which keeps the telescope and instruments cold, will last about six months longer than required in the specification. Operations are expected to continue until December 1997, with the benefit that the chemically rich and starmaking clouds of the important Orion region of the sky will be observable by ISO. Tracing the origin of planets Observations of the Antennae galaxies, and some of the other ISO results now described in full technical detail in Astronomy and Astrophysics, were outlined in earlier ESA Information Notes, 02-96 and 14-96. These include examinations of star formation in many galaxies and within dust clouds in our own Galaxy, the Milky Way. ISO has also given a big boost to astrochemistry by identifying infrared signatures of many materials, which play a physical as well as a chemical role in the evolution of galaxies and stars. The materials seen by ISO include ionized carbon atoms, sooty carbon compounds, hydrogen molecules, water molecules, and frozen carbon dioxide and methane. The latest results tell of mineral crystals, which may shed light on the origin of the Earth itself. Disks of dust around some stars, of the kind from which planets might evolve, were a major discovery in infrared astronomy by ISO's predecessor, the Dutch US UK satellite IRAS (1983). The prototype was the bright northern star Vega. It showed excess emissions of long-wavelength infrared rays, which could not come from the star itself. Subsequent studies confirmed the dust disks of Vega and a few other stars, and the search for more such disks is a major programme for ISO, relying particularly on measurements by the photometer ISOPHOT across a wide range of infrared wavelengths. Several new candidate Vega-like dust disks are reported in Astronomy and Astrophysics by Harm Habing of Leiden in the Netherlands, and his colleagues. Their preliminary conclusion is that the dust disks are a common feature of ordinary stars as massive as the Sun or heavier, but they are by no means ubiquitous. Further measurements on Vega itself show relatively low emissions at the longest wavelengths, which implies that the dust grains are small. In a related programme, a Belgian-led team has used ISO's Short-Wavelength Spectrometer to probe the composition of dust near very young stars. It reports the discovery of crystals of olivine, a silicate mineral and a major constituent of the Earth's own rocky mantle. The firm detection of olivine crystals builds a bridge from the stars to the minerals of the solar system. Most mineral grains in interstellar space lack the crystalline forms of common minerals, even if they have the same chemical composition. Hints of infrared emissions from olivine crystals, detected by ground-based telescopes at around 11 microns wavelength, are confused by emissions coming also from carbon compounds. ISO, with its unhampered view at longer wavelengths, sees signatures of magnesium-rich olivine crystals at 20, 24 and 34 microns. The minerals crystallize when gravity concentrates them near a young star, and intense radiation from the star modifies the grains. ISO also sees similar materials in the dust shells of old stars, in a project headed by the Dutch astronomer Rens Waters, who is also closely involved in the work on young stars. Apparently the mineral crystals do not survive in interstellar space, but have to be refashioned near young stars. The most clear-cut evidence for olivine crystals comes from the vicinity of HD 100546, a young blue star about 500 light-years away near the Southern Cross. It is thought to be only a few million years old and it is a strong infrared emitter. The star also shows peculiar ultraviolet absorptions, recorded by the NASA ESA UK International Ultraviolet Explorer, which apparently result from comets or asteroids splashing into HD 100546. "A tremendous cloud of comets seems to surround this young star," says Christoffel Waelkens of Leuven, Belgium, who leads the project that discovered the olivine crystals. "We believe that it was from just such a comet cloud, around the young Sun, that the Earth and the other planets were born. Now we compare notes with colleagues who study minerals in our local comets and meteorites. ISO has seen olivine in Comet Hale-Bopp. So not the least of ISO's successes is a reunification of stellar astrophysics and solar-system science." Newborn stars and stellar jets Astronomers in Stockholm, Sweden, are the lead authors of papers concerning the search for newborn stars and related phenomena in the southern constellation Chamaeleon. At about 800 light-years a feature called the Chamaeleon Dark Clouds, sprawling across more than one degree of the sky, is one of the closest regions of present-day star formation. The camera ISOCAM has obtained more than 23,000 images of the region, in two wavelength bands around 7 and 15 microns. Out of hundreds of objects detected, the team identified 65 young stars, of which more than 40 per cent were not previously known. Another lead author from Stockholm reports on the use of ISO's Long-Wavelength Spectrometer to examine a strange luminous patch in the Chamaeleon Dark Clouds called HH 54. It is a Herbig-Haro object, named after an American and a Mexican astronomer, in which a jet of gas from a very young star creates luminosity by shock waves, at a great distance from the star. ISO has for the first time detected emissions from water vapour in an HH object. This result not only confirms ISO's pioneering role as a cosmic water diviner, but gives new insight into the mechanisms creating the HH object. Practically all of the energy of a 10 kilometre-per-second shock is dissipated by infrared emissions from water vapour, hydroxyl and carbon monoxide molecules. A related paper, with a lead author from Frascati, Italy, compares HH 54 with other nearby objects HH 52 and HH 53, again using the Long-Wavelength Spectrometer. A conclusion is that HH 54 is energized by a young star different from the one that may be responsible for the other two objects. "The 91 papers published this month, covering observations from planets to galaxies, are still only a foretaste of many hundreds to be expected as the observing programmes and the data-processing mature," says Martin Kessler, ISO's project scientist based at Villafranca, Spain. "For example, ISOCAM is engaged on a systematic survey of a section of the Milky Way. In Astronomy and Astrophysics only one per cent of the survey is reported yet already there are thousands of infrared sources and plenty of surprises. Although ISO has only one more year of operation, its impact on astronomy will continue for many years." For further information about ISO contact: ESA PR (Paris): Simon Vermeer +33 1 5369 7106 ESA Project Scientist: Dr Martin Kessler +34 1 813 1253 Principal Investigator, Camera (ISOCAM): Prof. Catherine Cesarsky +33 1 6908 7515 Principal Investigator, Photometer (ISOPHOT): Prof. Dietrich Lemke +49 6221 528259 Principal Investigator, Short-Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS): Dr Thijs de Graauw +31 50 363 4074 Principal Investigator, Long-Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS): Prof. Peter Clegg +44 171 975 5038 For further information on the science discussed in this press release contact : The Nature article summarising the Astronomy and Astrophysics papers Dr Gerry Gilmore, +44 1 223 337 548 What powers ultraluminous galaxies ? Prof. Reinhard Genzel +49 89 329 93280 The Antenna interacting galaxies Dr Laurent Vigroux + 33 1 69 08 65 77 Vega-like dust disks around stars Prof. Harm Habing + 31 71 527 5803 Dust shells around old stars Dr Rens Waters + 31 20 525 7468 Clouds of Comets around the star HD 100546 Prof. Christoffel Waelkens +32 16 32 70 36

  7. Experimental validation for thermal transmittances of window shading systems with perimeter gaps

    DOE PAGES

    Hart, Robert; Goudey, Howdy; Curcija, D. Charlie

    2018-02-22

    Virtually all residential and commercial windows in the U.S. have some form of window attachment, but few have been designed for energy savings. ISO 15099 presents a simulation framework to determine thermal performance of window attachments, but the model has not been validated for these products. This paper outlines a review and validation of the ISO 15099 centre-of-glass heat transfer correlations for perimeter gaps (top, bottom, and side) in naturally ventilated cavities through measurement and simulation. The thermal transmittance impact due to dimensional variations of these gaps is measured experimentally, simulated using computational fluid dynamics, and simulated utilizing simplified correlationsmore » from ISO 15099. Results show that the ISO 15099 correlations produce a mean error between measured and simulated heat flux of 2.5 ± 7%. These tolerances are similar to those obtained from sealed cavity comparisons and are deemed acceptable within the ISO 15099 framework.« less

  8. Lot-to-Lot Variability of Test Strips and Accuracy Assessment of Systems for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose according to ISO 15197

    PubMed Central

    Baumstark, Annette; Pleus, Stefan; Schmid, Christina; Link, Manuela; Haug, Cornelia; Freckmann, Guido

    2012-01-01

    Background Accurate and reliable blood glucose (BG) measurements require that different test strip lots of the same BG monitoring system provide comparable measurement results. Only a small number of studies addressing this question have been published. Methods In this study, four test strip lots for each of five different BG systems [Accu-Chek® Aviva (system A), FreeStyle Lite® (system B), GlucoCheck XL (system C), Pura™/mylife™ Pura (system D), and OneTouch® Verio™ Pro (system E)] were evaluated with procedures according to DIN EN ISO 15197:2003. The BG system measurement results were compared with the manufacturer’s measurement procedure (glucose oxidase or hexokinase method). Relative bias according to Bland and Altman and system accuracy according to ISO 15197 were analyzed. A BG system consists of the BG meter itself and the test strips. Results The maximum lot-to-lot difference between any two of the four evaluated test strip lots per BG system was 1.0% for system E, 2.1% for system A, 3.1% for system C, 6.9% for system B, and 13.0% for system D. Only two systems (systems A and B) fulfill the criteria of DIN EN ISO 15197:2003 with each test strip lot. Conclusions Considerable lot-to-lot variability between test strip lots of the same BG system was found. These variations add to other sources of inaccuracy with the specific BG system. Manufacturers should regularly and effectively check the accuracy of their BG meters and test strips even between different test strip lots to minimize risk of false treatment decisions. PMID:23063033

  9. Planning and tracking chemotherapy production for cancer treatment: a performing and integrated solution.

    PubMed

    Kergosien, Y; Tournamille, J-F; Laurence, B; Billaut, J-C

    2011-09-01

    Chemotherapy drugs are intended for the treatment of cancer. The production of such drugs and their administration to the patient is a delicate and expensive operation. The study deals with the acquisition and processing of data regarding the production of intravenous chemotherapy, from the production request (the medical prescription), the production itself (pharmaceutical process), to the delivery in the health care unit, for the administration of the chemotherapy. The goal of this study is to develop a system that can schedule, control and track the chemotherapy preparations and satisfy a certification process of quality management ("ISO 9001 version 2000" standard). The solution proposed in this paper was developed within the framework of a common certification process at the Biopharmaceutical Unit of the Oncology Clinic (UBCO) of the Bretonneau hospital in Tours (France). The system consists of two software programs: a software to insure traceability and a decision making software to plan the production. To simplify the data entry process, some mobile entry points with bar code reader have been deployed. These tools enable an accurate tracking of the production, a security and control for the schedule production phases, and a full traceability of each operation leading to the administration of the chemotherapy drug. The first result is a software that creates the production schedule, allows a real time control of the production process and a full traceability of each step. Computational experiments are based on real data sets, with a comparison of a time period before and after the implementation of this solution. The results show the positive impacts of this software, like the reduction of delayed deliveries, real time generation of production indicators, optimization of the production and a saving of staff time. This intuitive system guarantees a traceability in connection with a high quality system certified ISO 9001-v2000 (with a rapid data entry), an assistant to schedule the production of preparations in a better way, a permanent follow-up and analysis of operations. This project proves the benefits of implementing computer solutions for the traceability and assistance in decision making in the hospital systems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Effects of iso-octane/ethanol blend ratios on the observance of negative temperature coefficient behavior within the Ignition Quality Tester

    DOE PAGES

    Bogin, Jr., Gregory E.; Luecke, Jon; Ratcliff, Matthew A.; ...

    2016-08-21

    Here, an ignition delay study investigating the reduction in low temperature heat release (LTHR) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) region with increasing ethanol concentration in binary blends of ethanol/isooctane was conducted in the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT). The IQT is advantageous for studying multi-component fuels such as iso-octane/ethanol which are difficult to study at lower temperatures covering the NTC region in traditional systems (e.g., shock tubes, rapid compression machines, etc.). The high octane numbers and concomitant long ignition delay times of ethanol and iso-octane are ideal for study in the IQT allowing the system to reach a quasi-homogeneous mixture; allowingmore » the effect of fuel chemistry on ignition delay to be investigated with minimal impact from the fuel spray due to the relatively long ignition times. NTC behavior from iso-octane/ethanol blends was observed for the first time using an IQT. Temperature sweeps of iso-octane/ethanol volumetric blends (100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 50/50, and 0/100) were conducted from 623 to 993 K at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 MPa and global equivalence ratios ranging from 0.7 to 1.0. Ignition of the iso-octane/ethanol blends in the IQT was also modeled using a 0-D homogeneous batch reactor model. Significant observations include: (1) NTC behavior was observed for ethanol/ iso-octane fuel blends up to 20% ethanol. (2) Ethanol produced shorter ignition delay times than iso-octane in the high temperature region. (3) The initial increase in ethanol from 0% to 10% had a lesser impact on ignition delay than increasing ethanol from 10% to 20%. (4) The 0-D model predicts that at 0.5 and 1.0 MPa ethanol produces the shortest ignition time in the high-temperature regime, as seen experimentally.« less

  11. Effects of iso-octane/ethanol blend ratios on the observance of negative temperature coefficient behavior within the Ignition Quality Tester

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

    Bogin, Jr., Gregory E.; Luecke, Jon; Ratcliff, Matthew A.

    Here, an ignition delay study investigating the reduction in low temperature heat release (LTHR) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) region with increasing ethanol concentration in binary blends of ethanol/isooctane was conducted in the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT). The IQT is advantageous for studying multi-component fuels such as iso-octane/ethanol which are difficult to study at lower temperatures covering the NTC region in traditional systems (e.g., shock tubes, rapid compression machines, etc.). The high octane numbers and concomitant long ignition delay times of ethanol and iso-octane are ideal for study in the IQT allowing the system to reach a quasi-homogeneous mixture; allowingmore » the effect of fuel chemistry on ignition delay to be investigated with minimal impact from the fuel spray due to the relatively long ignition times. NTC behavior from iso-octane/ethanol blends was observed for the first time using an IQT. Temperature sweeps of iso-octane/ethanol volumetric blends (100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 50/50, and 0/100) were conducted from 623 to 993 K at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 MPa and global equivalence ratios ranging from 0.7 to 1.0. Ignition of the iso-octane/ethanol blends in the IQT was also modeled using a 0-D homogeneous batch reactor model. Significant observations include: (1) NTC behavior was observed for ethanol/ iso-octane fuel blends up to 20% ethanol. (2) Ethanol produced shorter ignition delay times than iso-octane in the high temperature region. (3) The initial increase in ethanol from 0% to 10% had a lesser impact on ignition delay than increasing ethanol from 10% to 20%. (4) The 0-D model predicts that at 0.5 and 1.0 MPa ethanol produces the shortest ignition time in the high-temperature regime, as seen experimentally.« less

  12. Providing Reliability Services through Demand Response: A Prelimnary Evaluation of the Demand Response Capabilities of Alcoa Inc.

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

    Starke, Michael R; Kirby, Brendan J; Kueck, John D

    2009-02-01

    Demand response is the largest underutilized reliability resource in North America. Historic demand response programs have focused on reducing overall electricity consumption (increasing efficiency) and shaving peaks but have not typically been used for immediate reliability response. Many of these programs have been successful but demand response remains a limited resource. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) report, 'Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering' (FERC 2006) found that only five percent of customers are on some form of demand response program. Collectively they represent an estimated 37,000 MW of response potential. These programs reduce overall energy consumption, lower greenmore » house gas emissions by allowing fossil fuel generators to operate at increased efficiency and reduce stress on the power system during periods of peak loading. As the country continues to restructure energy markets with sophisticated marginal cost models that attempt to minimize total energy costs, the ability of demand response to create meaningful shifts in the supply and demand equations is critical to creating a sustainable and balanced economic response to energy issues. Restructured energy market prices are set by the cost of the next incremental unit of energy, so that as additional generation is brought into the market, the cost for the entire market increases. The benefit of demand response is that it reduces overall demand and shifts the entire market to a lower pricing level. This can be very effective in mitigating price volatility or scarcity pricing as the power system responds to changing demand schedules, loss of large generators, or loss of transmission. As a global producer of alumina, primary aluminum, and fabricated aluminum products, Alcoa Inc., has the capability to provide demand response services through its manufacturing facilities and uniquely through its aluminum smelting facilities. For a typical aluminum smelter, electric power accounts for 30% to 40% of the factory cost of producing primary aluminum. In the continental United States, Alcoa Inc. currently owns and/or operates ten aluminum smelters and many associated fabricating facilities with a combined average load of over 2,600 MW. This presents Alcoa Inc. with a significant opportunity to respond in areas where economic opportunities exist to help mitigate rising energy costs by supplying demand response services into the energy system. This report is organized into seven chapters. The first chapter is the introduction and discusses the intention of this report. The second chapter contains the background. In this chapter, topics include: the motivation for Alcoa to provide demand response; ancillary service definitions; the basics behind aluminum smelting; and a discussion of suggested ancillary services that would be particularly useful for Alcoa to supply. Chapter 3 is concerned with the independent system operator, the Midwest ISO. Here the discussion examines the evolving Midwest ISO market structure including specific definitions, requirements, and necessary components to provide ancillary services. This section is followed by information concerning the Midwest ISO's classifications of demand response parties. Chapter 4 investigates the available opportunities at Alcoa's Warrick facility. Chapter 5 involves an in-depth discussion of the regulation service that Alcoa's Warrick facility can provide and the current interactions with Midwest ISO. Chapter 6 reviews future plans and expectations for Alcoa providing ancillary services into the market. Last, chapter 7, details the conclusion and recommendations of this paper.« less

  13. Integrated Management System - Scope, Possibilities And Methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Čekanová, Katarína

    2015-06-01

    Organizations are becoming more aware of the importance of integrated management systems (IMS). Interest in this subject indicates that IMS are seen as "management systems of the future". Based on this, the aim of this articles characterizes the possibility of building IMS through the identification of common elements and specific requirements in accordance with the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 professional references. Part of the article is the methodology of building IMS in the organization.

  14. Characterization of Slosh Damping for Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid Internal Tank Structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Westra, Douglas G.; Sansone, Marco D.; Eberhart, Chad J.; West, Jeffrey S.

    2016-01-01

    Grid stiffened tank structures such as Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid are widely used in cryogenic tanks for providing stiffening to the tank while reducing mass, compared to tank walls of constant cross-section. If the structure is internal to the tank, it will positively affect the fluid dynamic behavior of the liquid propellant, in regard to fluid slosh damping. As NASA and commercial companies endeavor to explore the solar system, vehicles will by necessity become more mass efficient, and design margin will be reduced where possible. Therefore, if the damping characteristics of the Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structure is understood, their positive damping effect can be taken into account in the systems design process. Historically, damping by internal structures has been characterized by rules of thumb and for Ortho-Grid, empirical design tools intended for slosh baffles of much larger cross-section have been used. There is little or no information available to characterize the slosh behavior of Iso-Grid internal structure. Therefore, to take advantage of these structures for their positive damping effects, there is much need for obtaining additional data and tools to characterize them. Recently, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center conducted both sub-scale testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of slosh damping for Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid tanks for cylindrical tanks containing water. Enhanced grid meshing techniques were applied to the geometrically detailed and complex Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structures. The Loci-STREAM CFD program with the Volume of Fluid Method module for tracking and locating the water-air fluid interface was used to conduct the simulations. The CFD simulations were validated with the test data and new empirical models for predicting damping and frequency of Ortho-Grid and Iso-Grid structures were generated.

  15. Definition of a CDI metadata profile and its ISO 19139 based encoding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boldrini, Enrico; de Korte, Arjen; Santoro, Mattia; Schaap, Dick M. A.; Nativi, Stefano; Manzella, Giuseppe

    2010-05-01

    The Common Data Index (CDI) is the middleware service adopted by SeaDataNet for discovery and query. The primary goal of the EU funded project SeaDataNet is to develop a system which provides transparent access to marine data sets and data products from 36 countries in and around Europe. The European context of SeaDataNet requires that the developed system complies with European Directive INSPIRE. In order to assure the required conformity a GI-cat based solution is proposed. GI-cat is a broker service able to mediate from different metadata sources and publish them through a consistent and unified interface. In this case GI-cat is used as a front end to the SeaDataNet portal publishing the original data, based on CDI v.1 XML schema, through an ISO 19139 application profile catalog interface (OGC CSW AP ISO). The choice of ISO 19139 is supported and driven by INSPIRE Implementing Rules, that have been used as a reference through the whole development process. A mapping from the CDI data model to the ISO 19139 was hence to be implemented in GI-cat and a first draft quickly developed, as both CDI v.1 and ISO 19139 happen to be XML implementations based on the same abstract data model (standard ISO 19115 - metadata about geographic information). This first draft mapping pointed out the CDI metadata model differences with respect to ISO 19115, as it was not possible to accommodate all the information contained in CDI v.1 into ISO 19139. Moreover some modifications were needed in order to reach INSPIRE compliance. The consequent work consisted in the definition of the CDI metadata model as a profile of ISO 19115. This included checking of all the metadata elements present in CDI and their cardinality. A comparison was made with respect to ISO 19115 and possible extensions were individuated. ISO 19139 was then chosen as a natural XML implementation of this new CDI metadata profile. The mapping and the profile definition processes were iteratively refined leading up to a complete mapping from the CDI data model to ISO 19139. Several issues were faced during the definition process. Among these: dynamic lists and vocabularies used by SeaDataNet could not be easily accommodated in ISO 19139, time resolution information from CDI v.1 was also difficult to accommodate, ambiguities both in the ISO 19139 specification and in the INSPIRE regulations (e.g. regarding to the bounding polygon, the language and the role of the responsible party). Another outcome of this process is the set up of conventions regarding the protocol formats to be used for a useful machine to machine data access. Changes to the original ISO 19139 schema were at the maximum extent avoided because of practical reasons within SeaDataNet: additional constraint required by the profile have been defined and will be checked by the use of Schematron or other validation mechanisms. The achieved mapping was finally ready to be integrated in GI-cat by implementation of a new accessor component for CDI. These type of components play the role of data model mediators within GI-cat framework. The new defined profile and its implementation will also be used within SeaDataNet as a replacement of the current data model implementation (CDI v.1).

  16. 75 FR 54804 - Safety and Health Management Programs for Mines

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-09

    ... regulations, and include participation of everyone from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to workers and... involvement of workers from the development of the program through implementation to evaluation. Requests to... Standards Organization's (ISO's) ISO 9001:2008 (E), Quality management systems--Requirements; and The...

  17. The SLMTA programme: Transforming the laboratory landscape in developing countries

    PubMed Central

    Maruta, Talkmore; Luman, Elizabeth T.; Nkengasong, John N.

    2014-01-01

    Background Efficient and reliable laboratory services are essential to effective and well-functioning health systems. Laboratory managers play a critical role in ensuring the quality and timeliness of these services. However, few laboratory management programmes focus on the competencies required for the daily operations of a laboratory in resource-limited settings. This report provides a detailed description of an innovative laboratory management training tool called Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation (SLMTA) and highlights some challenges, achievements and lessons learned during the first five years of implementation (2009–2013) in developing countries. Programme SLMTA is a competency-based programme that uses a series of short courses and work-based learning projects to effect immediate and measurable laboratory improvement, while empowering laboratory managers to implement practical quality management systems to ensure better patient care. A SLMTA training programme spans from 12 to 18 months; after each workshop, participants implement improvement projects supported by regular supervisory visits or on-site mentoring. In order to assess strengths, weaknesses and progress made by the laboratory, audits are conducted using the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) checklist, which is based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15189 requirements. These internal audits are conducted at the beginning and end of the SLMTA training programme. Conclusion Within five years, SLMTA had been implemented in 617 laboratories in 47 countries, transforming the laboratory landscape in developing countries. To our knowledge, SLMTA is the first programme that makes an explicit connection between the performance of specific management behaviours and routines and ISO 15189 requirements. Because of this close relationship, SLMTA is uniquely positioned to help laboratories seek accreditation to ISO 15189. PMID:26752335

  18. CURRENT STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL DOSIMETRIC MONITORING IN UKRAINE.

    PubMed

    Chumak, V; Deniachenko, N; Makarovska, O; Mihailescu, L-C; Prykhodko, A; Voloskyi, V; Vanhavere, F

    2016-09-01

    About 50 000 workers are being occupationally exposed to radiation in Ukraine. Individual dosimetric monitoring (IDM) is provided by 77 dosimetry services and laboratories of very different scale with a number of monitored workers ranging from several persons to ∼9000. In the present work, the current status of personal dosimetry in Ukraine was studied. The First National Intercomparison (FNI) of the IDM labs was accompanied by a survey of the laboratory operation in terms of coverage, types of dosimetry provided, instrumentation and methodologies used, metrological support, data recording, etc. Totally, 34 laboratories responded to the FNI call, and 18 services with 19 different personal dosimetry systems took part in the intercomparison exercise providing 24 dosimeters each for blind irradiation to photons of 6 different qualities (ISO N-series X-rays, S-Cs and S-Co sources) in a dose range of 5-60 mSv. Performance of the dosimetry labs was evaluated according to ISO 14146 criteria of matching trumpet curves with H0 = 0.2 mSv. The test revealed that 8 of the 19 systems meet ISO 14146 criteria in full, 5 other labs show marginal performance and 6 laboratories demonstrated catastrophic quality of dosimetric results. Altogether, 18 participating labs provide dosimetric monitoring to 37 477 workers (about three-fourths of all occupationally exposed workers), usually on monthly (nuclear industry) or quarterly (rest of applications) basis. Of this number, 20 664 persons (55 %) receive completely adequate individual monitoring, and the number of personnel receiving IDM of inadequate quality counts 3054 persons. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Evaluation of 12 blood glucose monitoring systems for self-testing: system accuracy and measurement reproducibility.

    PubMed

    Freckmann, Guido; Baumstark, Annette; Schmid, Christina; Pleus, Stefan; Link, Manuela; Haug, Cornelia

    2014-02-01

    Systems for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) have to provide accurate and reproducible blood glucose (BG) values in order to ensure adequate therapeutic decisions by people with diabetes. Twelve SMBG systems were compared in a standardized manner under controlled laboratory conditions: nine systems were available on the German market and were purchased from a local pharmacy, and three systems were obtained from the manufacturer (two systems were available on the U.S. market, and one system was not yet introduced to the German market). System accuracy was evaluated following DIN EN ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 15197:2003. In addition, measurement reproducibility was assessed following a modified TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) procedure. Comparison measurements were performed with either the glucose oxidase method (YSI 2300 STAT Plus™ glucose analyzer; YSI Life Sciences, Yellow Springs, OH) or the hexokinase method (cobas(®) c111; Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) according to the manufacturer's measurement procedure. The 12 evaluated systems showed between 71.5% and 100% of the measurement results within the required system accuracy limits. Ten systems fulfilled with the evaluated test strip lot minimum accuracy requirements specified by DIN EN ISO 15197:2003. In addition, accuracy limits of the recently published revision ISO 15197:2013 were applied and showed between 54.5% and 100% of the systems' measurement results within the required accuracy limits. Regarding measurement reproducibility, each of the 12 tested systems met the applied performance criteria. In summary, 83% of the systems fulfilled with the evaluated test strip lot minimum system accuracy requirements of DIN EN ISO 15197:2003. Each of the tested systems showed acceptable measurement reproducibility. In order to ensure sufficient measurement quality of each distributed test strip lot, regular evaluations are required.

  20. A Post-Marketing Surveillance Study to Evaluate Performance of the EXIMO™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System.

    PubMed

    Chandnani, Sonia R; Ramakrishna, C D; Dave, Bhargav A; Kothavade, Pankaj S; Thakkar, Ashok S

    2017-05-01

    The performance of Blood Glucose Monitoring System (BGMS) is critical as the information provided by the system guide the patient or health care professional in making treatment decisions. However, besides evaluating accuracy of the BGMS in laboratory setting, it is equally important that the intended users (healthcare professionals and patients) should be able to achieve blood glucose measurements with similar level of high accuracy. To assess the performance of EXIMO™ (Meril Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Vapi, Gujarat, India) BGMS as per International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15197:2013 section 8 user performance criteria. This was a non-randomized and post-marketing study conducted at a tertiary care centre of India. A total of 1005 patients with diabetes themselves performed fingertip blood glucose measurement using EXIMO™ BGMS. Immediately after capillary blood glucose measurement using the blood glucose monitoring system, venous blood sample from each patient was obtained by a trained technician which was assessed by reference laboratory method- Cobas Integra 400 plus (Roche Instrument Centre, Rotkreuz, Switzerland). All the blood glucose measurements assessed by EXIMO™ were compared with laboratory results. Performance of the system was assessed as per ISO 15197:2013 criteria using Bland-Altman plot, Parkes-Consensus Error Grid (CEG) and Surveillance Error Grid analyses (SEG). A total of 1005 patients participated in the study. Average age of the patients was 44.93±14.65 years. Evaluation of capillary fingertip blood glucose measurements demonstrated that 95.82% measurements fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 section 8 user performance criteria. All the results lie within clinically non-critical zones; Zone A (99.47%; n=1000) and Zone B (0.53%; n=05) of the CEG analysis. As per SEG analysis, majority of the results fell within "no-risk" zone (risk score 0 to 0.5; 90.42%). The result of the study confirmed that intended users are able to obtain accurate glucose measurements when operating EXIMO™ BGMS, given only the instructions and training materials routinely provided with the system, in clinical practice.

  1. A Post-Marketing Surveillance Study to Evaluate Performance of the EXIMO™ Blood Glucose Monitoring System

    PubMed Central

    Chandnani, Sonia R.; Ramakrishna, C. D.; Dave, Bhargav A.; Kothavade, Pankaj S.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction The performance of Blood Glucose Monitoring System (BGMS) is critical as the information provided by the system guide the patient or health care professional in making treatment decisions. However, besides evaluating accuracy of the BGMS in laboratory setting, it is equally important that the intended users (healthcare professionals and patients) should be able to achieve blood glucose measurements with similar level of high accuracy. Aim To assess the performance of EXIMO™ (Meril Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Vapi, Gujarat, India) BGMS as per International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15197:2013 section 8 user performance criteria. Materials and Methods This was a non-randomized and post-marketing study conducted at a tertiary care centre of India. A total of 1005 patients with diabetes themselves performed fingertip blood glucose measurement using EXIMO™ BGMS. Immediately after capillary blood glucose measurement using the blood glucose monitoring system, venous blood sample from each patient was obtained by a trained technician which was assessed by reference laboratory method- Cobas Integra 400 plus (Roche Instrument Centre, Rotkreuz, Switzerland). All the blood glucose measurements assessed by EXIMO™ were compared with laboratory results. Performance of the system was assessed as per ISO 15197:2013 criteria using Bland-Altman plot, Parkes-Consensus Error Grid (CEG) and Surveillance Error Grid analyses (SEG). Results A total of 1005 patients participated in the study. Average age of the patients was 44.93±14.65 years. Evaluation of capillary fingertip blood glucose measurements demonstrated that 95.82% measurements fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 section 8 user performance criteria. All the results lie within clinically non-critical zones; Zone A (99.47%; n=1000) and Zone B (0.53%; n=05) of the CEG analysis. As per SEG analysis, majority of the results fell within “no-risk” zone (risk score 0 to 0.5; 90.42%). Conclusion The result of the study confirmed that intended users are able to obtain accurate glucose measurements when operating EXIMO™ BGMS, given only the instructions and training materials routinely provided with the system, in clinical practice. PMID:28658800

  2. ISO WD 1856. Guideline for radiation exposure of nonmetallic materials. Present status

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Briskman, B. A.

    In the framework of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) activity we started development of international standard series for space environment simulation at on-ground tests of materials. The proposal was submitted to ISO Technical Committee 20 (Aircraft and Space Vehicles), Subcommittee 14 (Space Systems and Operations) and was approved as Working Draft 15856 at the Los-Angeles meeting (1997). A draft of the first international standard "Space Environment Simulation for Radiation Tests of Materials" (1st version) was presented at the 7th International Symposium on Materials in Space Environment (Briskman et al, 1997). The 2nd version of the standard was limited to nonmetallic materials and presented at the 20th Space Simulation Conference (Briskman and Borson, 1998). It covers the testing of nonmetallic materials embracing also polymer composite materials including metal components (metal matrix composites) to simulated space radiation. The standard does not cover semiconductor materials. The types of simulated radiation include charged particles (electrons and protons), solar ultraviolet radiation, and soft X-radiation of solar flares. Synergistic interactions of the radiation environment are covered only for these natural and some induced environmental effects. This standard outlines the recommended methodology and practices for the simulation of space radiation on materials. Simulation methods are used to reproduce the effects of the space radiation environment on materials that are located on surfaces of space vehicles and behind shielding. It was discovered that the problem of radiation environment simulation is very complex and the approaches of different specialists and countries to the problem are sometimes quite opposite. To the present moment we developed seven versions of the standard. The last version is a compromise between these approaches. It was approved at the last ISO TC20/SC14/WG4 meeting in Houston, October 2002. At a splinter meeting of Int. Conference on Materials in a Space Environment, Noordwijk, Netherlands, ESA, June 2003, the experts from ESA, USA, France, Russia and Japan discussed the last version of the draft and approved it with a number of notes. A revised version of the standard will be presented this May at ISO TC20/SC14 meeting in Russia.

  3. Fiscal Year 2015 Site Sustainability Plan

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

    Witt, Monica Rene

    Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking action to operate as a living laboratory for sustainable solutions in buildings, climate, energy, purchasing, transportation, waste, and water. LANL prepared the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) to describe progress towards the goals established in the SSPP. In addition, per the requirements of DOE Order 436.1, Departmental Sustainability, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) uses its International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2004 certified Environmental Management System (EMS) to establish objectives to improve compliance, reduce environmental impacts, increase operational capacity, and meet long-term sustainability goals. The goals of the 2015 SSP are fullymore » integrated into LANL’s institutional environmental objectives under the EMS and its Long-Term Strategy for Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability (LTSESS).« less

  4. Verification of examination procedures in clinical laboratory for imprecision, trueness and diagnostic accuracy according to ISO 15189:2012: a pragmatic approach.

    PubMed

    Antonelli, Giorgia; Padoan, Andrea; Aita, Ada; Sciacovelli, Laura; Plebani, Mario

    2017-08-28

    Background The International Standard ISO 15189 is recognized as a valuable guide in ensuring high quality clinical laboratory services and promoting the harmonization of accreditation programmes in laboratory medicine. Examination procedures must be verified in order to guarantee that their performance characteristics are congruent with the intended scope of the test. The aim of the present study was to propose a practice model for implementing procedures employed for the verification of validated examination procedures already used for at least 2 years in our laboratory, in agreement with the ISO 15189 requirement at the Section 5.5.1.2. Methods In order to identify the operative procedure to be used, approved documents were identified, together with the definition of performance characteristics to be evaluated for the different methods; the examination procedures used in laboratory were analyzed and checked for performance specifications reported by manufacturers. Then, operative flow charts were identified to compare the laboratory performance characteristics with those declared by manufacturers. Results The choice of performance characteristics for verification was based on approved documents used as guidance, and the specific purpose tests undertaken, a consideration being made of: imprecision and trueness for quantitative methods; diagnostic accuracy for qualitative methods; imprecision together with diagnostic accuracy for semi-quantitative methods. Conclusions The described approach, balancing technological possibilities, risks and costs and assuring the compliance of the fundamental component of result accuracy, appears promising as an easily applicable and flexible procedure helping laboratories to comply with the ISO 15189 requirements.

  5. Evaluation of Hematocrit Influence on Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Based on ISO 15197:2013: Comparison of a Novel System With Five Systems With Different Hematocrit Ranges.

    PubMed

    Hattemer, Andrew; Wardat, Sami

    2018-03-01

    ISO 15197:2013 recommends testing procedures and acceptance criteria for the evaluation of influence quantities such as hematocrit on measurement results with systems for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). In this study, hematocrit influence was evaluated for a novel SMBG system (system A) and five other systems with different hematocrit ranges based on ISO 15197:2013. Test procedures were performed with one test strip lot for each system. Each system was tested within the hematocrit range indicated in the manufacturer's labeling (system A: 10-65%, B: 15-65%, C: 20-60%, D: 35-60%, E: 30-60%, F: 30-55%). According to ISO 15197:2013, clause 6.4.2, venous blood samples were used for the evaluation of hematocrit influence. The evaluation was performed for three glucose concentration categories (30-50 mg/dL, 96-144 mg/dL, and 280-420 mg/dL). For each glucose concentration category, at least five different hematocrit levels were investigated. The novel system A and systems B, E, and F complied with the tested lot with the defined criteria and showed ≤10 mg/dL and ≤10% difference between the test sample and the respective control sample with a hematocrit value of 42% ± 2% for BG concentrations <100 mg/dL and ≥100 mg/dL, respectively. Two systems showed >10% difference at glucose concentrations ≥100 mg/dL. Remarkable hematocrit influence within the labeled hematocrit range was obtained in two systems with the tested reagent system lot. Adequate SMBG systems should be carefully chosen by patients and their health care professionals, particularly for patients with increased and decreased hematocrit values.

  6. Human-centered design of a personal health record system for metabolic syndrome management based on the ISO 9241-210:2010 standard.

    PubMed

    Farinango, Charic D; Benavides, Juan S; Cerón, Jesús D; López, Diego M; Álvarez, Rosa E

    2018-01-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of information and communication technologies to support healthy lifestyle interventions. In particular, personal health record systems (PHR-Ss) empower self-care, essential to support lifestyle changes. Approaches such as the user-centered design (UCD), which is already a standard within the software industry (ISO 9241-210:2010), provide specifications and guidelines to guarantee user acceptance and quality of eHealth systems. However, no single PHR-S for metabolic syndrome (MS) developed following the recommendations of the ISO 9241-210:2010 specification has been found in the literature. The aim of this study was to describe the development of a PHR-S for the management of MS according to the principles and recommendations of the ISO 9241-210 standard. The proposed PHR-S was developed using a formal software development process which, in addition to the traditional activities of any software process, included the principles and recommendations of the ISO 9241-210 standard. To gather user information, a survey sample of 1,187 individuals, eight interviews, and a focus group with seven people were performed. Throughout five iterations, three prototypes were built. Potential users of each system evaluated each prototype. The quality attributes of efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction were assessed using metrics defined in the ISO/IEC 25022 standard. The following results were obtained: 1) a technology profile from 1,187 individuals at risk for MS from the city of Popayan, Colombia, identifying that 75.2% of the people use the Internet and 51% had a smartphone; 2) a PHR-S to manage MS developed (the PHR-S has the following five main functionalities: record the five MS risk factors, share these measures with health care professionals, and three educational modules on nutrition, stress management, and a physical activity); and 3) usability tests on each prototype obtaining the following results: 100% effectiveness, 100% efficiency, and 84.2 points in the system usability scale. The software development methodology used was based on the ISO 9241-210 standard, which allowed the development team to maintain a focus on user's needs and requirements throughout the project, which resulted in an increased satisfaction and acceptance of the system. Additionally, the establishment of a multidisciplinary team allowed the application of considerations not only from the disciplines of software engineering and health sciences but also from other disciplines such as graphical design and media communication. Finally, usability testing allowed the observation of flaws in the designs, which helped to improve the solution.

  7. Quality Assurance in Engineering Education: Comparison of Accreditation Schemes and ISO 9001.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karapetrovic, Stanislav; Rajamani, Divakar; Willborn, Walter

    1998-01-01

    Outlines quality assurance schemes for distance-education technologies that are based on the ISO 9000 family of international quality-assurance standards. Argues that engineering faculties can establish such systems on the basis of and integrated with accreditation schemes. Contains 34 references. (DDR)

  8. Information risk and security modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zivic, Predrag

    2005-03-01

    This research paper presentation will feature current frameworks to addressing risk and security modeling and metrics. The paper will analyze technical level risk and security metrics of Common Criteria/ISO15408, Centre for Internet Security guidelines, NSA configuration guidelines and metrics used at this level. Information IT operational standards view on security metrics such as GMITS/ISO13335, ITIL/ITMS and architectural guidelines such as ISO7498-2 will be explained. Business process level standards such as ISO17799, COSO and CobiT will be presented with their control approach to security metrics. Top level, the maturity standards such as SSE-CMM/ISO21827, NSA Infosec Assessment and CobiT will be explored and reviewed. For each defined level of security metrics the research presentation will explore the appropriate usage of these standards. The paper will discuss standards approaches to conducting the risk and security metrics. The research findings will demonstrate the need for common baseline for both risk and security metrics. This paper will show the relation between the attribute based common baseline and corporate assets and controls for risk and security metrics. IT will be shown that such approach spans over all mentioned standards. The proposed approach 3D visual presentation and development of the Information Security Model will be analyzed and postulated. Presentation will clearly demonstrate the benefits of proposed attributes based approach and defined risk and security space for modeling and measuring.

  9. A comprehensive evaluation of strip performance in multiple blood glucose monitoring systems.

    PubMed

    Katz, Laurence B; Macleod, Kirsty; Grady, Mike; Cameron, Hilary; Pfützner, Andreas; Setford, Steven

    2015-05-01

    Accurate self-monitoring of blood glucose is a key component of effective self-management of glycemic control. Accurate self-monitoring of blood glucose results are required for optimal insulin dosing and detection of hypoglycemia. However, blood glucose monitoring systems may be susceptible to error from test strip, user, environmental and pharmacological factors. This report evaluated 5 blood glucose monitoring systems that each use Verio glucose test strips for precision, effect of hematocrit and interferences in laboratory testing, and lay user and system accuracy in clinical testing according to the guidelines in ISO15197:2013(E). Performance of OneTouch(®) VerioVue™ met or exceeded standards described in ISO15197:2013 for precision, hematocrit performance and interference testing in a laboratory setting. Performance of OneTouch(®) Verio IQ™, OneTouch(®) Verio Pro™, OneTouch(®) Verio™, OneTouch(®) VerioVue™ and Omni Pod each met or exceeded accuracy standards for user performance and system accuracy in a clinical setting set forth in ISO15197:2013(E).

  10. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook v3.2: Improving the Process for SE Practitioners

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

    R. Douglas Hamelin; David D. Walden; Michael E. Krueger

    2010-07-01

    The INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook is the official INCOSE reference document for understanding systems engineering (SE) methods and conducting SE activities. Over the years, the Handbook has evolved to accommodate advances in the SE discipline and now serves as the basis for the Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP) exam. Due to its evolution, the Handbook had become somewhat disjointed in its treatment and presentation of SE topics and was not aligned with the latest version of International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 15288:2008, Systems and Software Engineering. As a result, numerous inconsistencies were identified that could confuse practitionersmore » and directly impact the probability of success in passing the CSEP exam. Further, INCOSE leadership had previously submitted v3.1 of the Handbook to ISO/IEC for consideration as a Technical Report, but was told that the Handbook would have to be updated to conform with the terminology and structure of new ISO/IEC15288:2008, Systems and software engineering, prior to being considered. The revised INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook v3.2 aligns with the structure and principles of ISO/IEC 15288:2008 and presents the generic SE life-cycle process steps in their entirety, without duplication or redundancy, in a single location within the text. As such, the revised Handbook v3.2 serves as a comprehensive instructional and reference manual for effectively understanding SE processes and conducting SE and better serves certification candidates preparing for the CSEP exam.« less

  11. Tailoring ISO/IEC 27001 for SMEs: A Guide to Implement an Information Security Management System in Small Settings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Valdevit, Thierry; Mayer, Nicolas; Barafort, Béatrix

    While Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) are being adopted by the biggest IT companies, it remains quite difficult for smaller entities to implement and maintain all the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001. In order to increase information security in Luxembourg, the Public Research Centre Henri Tudor has been charged by the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade to find solutions to facilitate ISMS deployment for SMEs. After an initial experiment aiming at assisting a SME in getting the first national ISO/IEC 27001 certification for a private company, an implementation guide for deploying an ISMS, validated by local experts and experimented in SMEs, has been released and is presented in this paper.

  12. New method for measuring the laser-induced damage threshold of optical thin film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, Jun-hong; Wang, Hong; Xi, Ying-xue

    2012-10-01

    The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of thin film means that the thin film can withstand a maximum intensity of laser radiation. The film will be damaged when the irradiation under high laser intensity is greater than the value of LIDT. In this paper, an experimental platform with measurement operator interfaces and control procedures in the VB circumstance is built according to ISO11254-1. In order to obtain more accurate results than that with manual measurement, in the software system, a hardware device can be controlled by control widget on the operator interfaces. According to the sample characteristic, critical parameters of the LIDT measurement system such as spot diameter, damage threshold region, and critical damage pixel number are set up on the man-machine conversation interface, which could realize intelligent measurements of the LIDT. According to experimental data, the LIDT is obtained by fitting damage curve automatically.

  13. Frequency weighting derived from power absorption of fingers-hand-arm system under z(h)-axis vibration.

    PubMed

    Dong, Ren G; Welcome, Daniel E; McDowell, Thomas W; Wu, John Z; Schopper, Aaron W

    2006-01-01

    The objectives of this study are to derive the frequency weighting from three vibration power absorption (VPA) methods (finger VPA, palm VPA, and total or hand VPA), and to explore whether these energy methods are better than the currently accepted acceleration method. To calculate the VPA weightings, the mechanical impedance of eight subjects exposed to a broadband random vibration spectrum in the z(h)-axis using 18 combinations of hand couplings and applied forces was measured. The VPA weightings were compared with the frequency weighting specified in ISO 5349-1 [2001. Mechanical Vibration--Measurement and Evaluation of Human Exposure to Hand--Transmitted Vibration--Part 1: General Requirements. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland]. This study found that the hand and palm VPA weightings are very similar to the ISO weighting but the finger VPA weighting for the combined grip and push action is much higher than the ISO weighting at frequencies higher than 25 Hz. Therefore, this study predicted that the total power absorption of the entire hand-arm system is likely to be correlated with psychophysical response or subjective sensation. However, if the ISO weighting method cannot yield good predictions of the vibration-induced disorders in the fingers and hand, the hand and palm energy methods are unlikely to yield significantly better predictions. The finger VPA is a vibration measure between unweighted and ISO weighted accelerations. The palm VPA method may have some value for studying the disorders in the wrist-arm system.

  14. Wood crib fire free burning test in ISO room

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiang, Xu; Griffin, Greg; Bradbury, Glenn; Dowling, Vince

    2006-04-01

    In the research of application potential of water mist fire suppression system for fire fighting in train luggage carriage, a series of experiments were conducted in ISO room on wood crib fire with and without water mist actuation. The results of free burn test without water mist suppression are used as reference in evaluating the efficiency of water mist suppression system. As part of the free burn test, several tests have been done under the hood of ISO room to calibrate the size of the crib fire and these tests can also be used in analyzing the wall effect in room fire hazard. In these free burning experiments, wood cribs of four sizes under the hood were tested. The temperature of crib fire, heat flux around the fire, gas concentration in hood of ISO room were measured in the experiments and two sets of thermal imaging system were used to get the temperature distribution and the typical shape of the free burning flames. From the experiments, the radiation intensity in specific positions around the fire, the effective heat of combustion, mass loss, oxygen consumption rate for different sizes of fire, typical structure of the flame and self extinguishment time was obtained for each crib size.

  15. ISO(4,1) symmetry in the EFT of inflation

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

    Creminelli, Paolo; Emami, Razieh; Simonović, Marko

    In DBI inflation the cubic action is a particular linear combination of the two, otherwise independent, cubic operators π-dot {sup 3} and π-dot (∂{sub i}π){sup 2}. We show that in the Effective Field Theory (EFT) of inflation this is a consequence of an approximate 5D Poincar and apos;e symmetry, ISO(4,1), non-linearly realized by the Goldstone π. This symmetry uniquely fixes, at lowest order in derivatives, all correlation functions in terms of the speed of sound c{sub s}. In the limit c{sub s} → 1, the ISO(4,1) symmetry reduces to the Galilean symmetry acting on π. On the other hand, wemore » point out that the non-linear realization of SO(4,2), the isometry group of 5D AdS space, does not fix the cubic action in terms of c{sub s}.« less

  16. Studies on the Reduction of Intermodulation Generation in Communications Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-07-07

    AGENCY NAME & ADDRESS(ff dillfetmn from Controlling Office) IS. SECURITY CLASS. (of this report) Unclassified ISO . DECLASSIFICATION DOWNGRAD-ING SCHEDULE...FIELD 40GAUSS 120 GAUSS ISO GAUSS 340 GAUSS 1MG OSCILLOGRAMS OF 񓰨’ STAINLESS STEEL ADAPTER (SAMPLE A WITH EXTERNAL 2kHz AC MAGNETIC FIELD I PEAK...34P1 (,I P,2 -90- 7.07 GC; 0 V - iSo . .. _ 3D -100- AL(N23> ,-J/ -OLD/ / / OF-110 . O/ 070> V(HNS)// 2 -120 A(3080) , -i0.22 AL( NP) . / AG (H SI

  17. Antigenic Structure of Rabbit γ Globulin

    PubMed Central

    Dubiski, S.; Dubiska, Anna; Skalba, Danuta; Kelus, A.

    1961-01-01

    By iso-immunization, antisera to five rabbit γ globulin antigens were obtained. They are called A (former Da), B, C, D and E. Individual sera of 670 rabbits belonging to six separate populations were tested by precipitation methods. The distribution of the iso-antigens and their combinations into serum groups were studied. Each particular γ globulin iso-antigen was found to be of hereditary character; they seem to form three genetic systems: A, C and BDE, statistically independent. Various antisera from England, Poland and U.S.A were compared. PMID:13724581

  18. ISO 9000 and/or Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gholston, Sampson E.

    2002-01-01

    For businesses and organizations to remain competitive today they must have processes and systems in place that will allow them to first identify customer needs and then develop products/processes that will meet or exceed the customers needs and expectations. Customer needs, once identified, are normally stated as requirements. Designers can then develop products/processes that will meet these requirements. Several functions, such as quality management and systems engineering management are used to assist product development teams in the development process. Both functions exist in all organizations and both have a similar objective, which is to ensure that developed processes will meet customer requirements. Are efforts in these organizations being duplicated? Are both functions needed by organizations? What are the similarities and differences between the functions listed above? ISO 9000 is an international standard of goods and services. It sets broad requirements for the assurance of quality and for management's involvement. It requires organizations to document the processes and to follow these documented processes. ISO 9000 gives customers assurance that the suppliers have control of the process for product development. Systems engineering can broadly be defined as a discipline that seeks to ensure that all requirements for a system are satisfied throughout the life of the system by preserving their interrelationship. The key activities of systems engineering include requirements analysis, functional analysis/allocation, design synthesis and verification, and system analysis and control. The systems engineering process, when followed properly, will lead to higher quality products, lower cost products, and shorter development cycles. The System Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SE-CMM) will allow companies to measure their system engineering capability and continuously improve those capabilities. ISO 9000 and SE-CMM seem to have a similar objective, which is to document the organization's processes and certify to potential customers the capability of a supplier to control the processes that determine the quality of the product or services being produced. The remaining sections of this report examine the differences and similarities between ISO 9000 and SE-CMM and make recommendations for implementation.

  19. Ride Motion Simulator Safety Assessment Report

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-07-01

    it does with an ESTOP shutdown. 5.4.3.1.3.1 SeTAC ISO-2631 Monitoring Device The Sequoia Tri-axial Accelerometer Computer (SeTAC) ISO-2631...independent systems which continuously supervise accelerations of the platform when the simulator is in the human-rated mode. Figure 5- 6 Sequoia Tri

  20. ISO 9000 Quality Systems: Application to Higher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clery, Roger G.

    This paper describes and explains the 20 elements of the International Organization for Standards 9000 (ISO 9000) series, a model for quality assurance in the business processes of design/development, production, installation and servicing. The standards were designed in 1987 to provide a common denominator for business quality particularly to…

  1. Quality Assurance Systems, TQM, and the New Collegialism.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harvey, Lee

    This report discusses the application of the International Organization for Standards's ISO9000 quality assurance standard and Total Quality Management (TQM) to higher education in light of the "new collegialism." It defines the basic elements of ISO9000 and TQM, reviews the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, and notes efforts…

  2. Putting ISO 9000 Standards and Baldrige Quality Criteria To Work Now in Public Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clark, Don

    1999-01-01

    The National Association for Industry-Education Cooperation (NAIEC) creates an approach for school system improvement that combines the necessary standards for achieving mileposts of the Baldrige Quality Criteria and the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 9000 Standards for Education. Together, the Baldrige Criteria and ISO…

  3. [Mechanical testing of implant properties of thoracoscopic implantation of ventral spinal stabilizing systems. Comparative study with the ISO/DIS 12189-2 corpectomy model and an improved synthetic model].

    PubMed

    Grupp, T M; Beisse, R; Potulski, M; Marnay, T; Beger, J; Blömer, W

    2002-04-01

    A new modular anterior fixation system MACS TL (modular anterior construct system for the thoracic and lumbar spine) has been developed for use in thoracoscopic spondylodesis. This system demonstrates high angular stability and meets the surgical requirements for an endoscopic approach. The objective of the current study was fatigue testing of the MACS TL implant system using a corpectomy model according to ISO/DIS 12189-2 and a synthetic model recently developed by Kotani et al. [6]. The MACS TL system demonstrated good mechanical properties with a high stiffness compared to the published data reviewed. The importance of dynamic testing in a corpectomy model has been demonstrated by comparing the MACS TL plate system with an early prototype, which has not yet been clinically evaluated. The corpectomy model according to Kotani et al. offers an interesting alternative to the ISO/DIS 12189-2 test method for asymmetrically designed and antero-laterally positioned spinal implants due to the unconstrained ball joint.

  4. [Blood transfusion audit methodology: the auditors, reference systems and audit guidelines].

    PubMed

    Chevrolle, F; Hadzlik, E; Arnold, J; Hergon, E

    2000-12-01

    The audit has become an essential aspect of the blood transfusion sector, and is a management tool that should be used judiciously. The main types of audit that can be envisaged in blood transfusion are the following: operational audit concerning a predetermined activity; systems quality audit; competence audit, combining the operational audit on a specific activity with quality management, e.g., laboratory accreditation; audit of the environmental management system; and social audit involving the organization of an activity and the management of human resources. However, the main type of audit considered in this article is the conformity audit, which in this context does not refer to internal control but to conformity with an internal guideline issued by the French National Blood Service. All audits are carried out on the basis of a predescribed method (contained in ISO 10 011). The audit is a system of investigation, evaluation and measurement, and also a means of continuous assessment and therefore improvement. The audit is based on set guidelines, but in fact consists of determining the difference between the directions given and what has actually been done. Auditing requires operational rigor and integrity, and has now become a profession in its own right.

  5. Measurement of absorption rates of HFC single and blended refrigerants in POE oils

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

    Leung, M.; Jotshi, C.K.; Goswami, D.Y.

    1999-07-01

    Thermophysical properties of refrigerant/lubricant mixtures play an important role in refrigeration and air-conditioning system design. Therefore it is important to have a good understanding of the mixture composition in each system component such as the compressor or evaporator. Because the system operation is dynamic the rates of absorption and desorption become significant parameters. In this paper measured absorption rates of alternative refrigerants in polyolester (POE) oils are reported. An effective online mass gain method was designed and constructed to measure the absorption rates and solubility of refrigerants in lubricants. HFC single refrigerants (R-32, R-125, R-134a, and R-143a), and blended refrigerantsmore » (R-404A, R-407C, and R-410A) were tested with POE ISO 68 lubricant under various conditions. The experimental results showed that, at room temperature, R-134a is the most soluble in POE ISO 68 oil among all the refrigerants tested at pressures of 239 kPa (20 psig) to 446 kPa (70 psig). Among the blended refrigerants tested, R-407C was found to be the most soluble at room temperature and pressures of 239 kPa and 446 kPa. Experimental solubility data from this new measurement method were compared with data available in the literature. Good agreement between the two indicates the feasibility of the new method employed in this investigation.« less

  6. Information Management of Web Application Based Environmental Performance Management in Concentrating Division of PTFI

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Susanto, Arif; Mulyono, Nur Budi

    2018-02-01

    The changes of environmental management system standards into the latest version, i.e. ISO 14001:2015, may cause a change on a data and information need in decision making and achieving the objectives in the organization coverage. Information management is the organization's responsibility to ensure that effectiveness and efficiency start from its creating, storing, processing and distribution processes to support operations and effective decision making activity in environmental performance management. The objective of this research was to set up an information management program and to adopt the technology as the supporting component of the program which was done by PTFI Concentrating Division so that it could be in line with the desirable organization objective in environmental management based on ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system standards. Materials and methods used covered technical aspects in information management, i.e. with web-based application development by using usage centered design. The result of this research showed that the use of Single Sign On gave ease to its user to interact further on the use of the environmental management system. Developing a web-based through creating entity relationship diagram (ERD) and information extraction by conducting information extraction which focuses on attributes, keys, determination of constraints. While creating ERD is obtained from relational database scheme from a number of database from environmental performances in Concentrating Division.

  7. 3D GIS spatial operation based on extended Euler operators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Hongbo; Lu, Guonian; Sheng, Yehua; Zhou, Liangchen; Guo, Fei; Shang, Zuoyan; Wang, Jing

    2008-10-01

    The implementation of 3 dimensions spatial operations, based on certain data structure, has a lack of universality and is not able to treat with non-manifold cases, at present. ISO/DIS 19107 standard just presents the definition of Boolean operators and set operators for topological relationship query, and OGC GeoXACML gives formal definitions for several set functions without implementation detail. Aiming at these problems, based mathematical foundation on cell complex theory, supported by non-manifold data structure and using relevant research in the field of non-manifold geometry modeling for reference, firstly, this paper according to non-manifold Euler-Poincaré formula constructs 6 extended Euler operators and inverse operators to carry out creating, updating and deleting 3D spatial elements, as well as several pairs of supplementary Euler operators to convenient for implementing advanced functions. Secondly, we change topological element operation sequence of Boolean operation and set operation as well as set functions defined in GeoXACML into combination of extended Euler operators, which separates the upper functions and lower data structure. Lastly, we develop underground 3D GIS prototype system, in which practicability and credibility of extended Euler operators faced to 3D GIS presented by this paper are validated.

  8. apART: system for the acquisition, processing, archiving, and retrieval of digital images in an open, distributed imaging environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schneider, Uwe; Strack, Ruediger

    1992-04-01

    apART reflects the structure of an open, distributed environment. According to the general trend in the area of imaging, network-capable, general purpose workstations with capabilities of open system image communication and image input are used. Several heterogeneous components like CCD cameras, slide scanners, and image archives can be accessed. The system is driven by an object-oriented user interface where devices (image sources and destinations), operators (derived from a commercial image processing library), and images (of different data types) are managed and presented uniformly to the user. Browsing mechanisms are used to traverse devices, operators, and images. An audit trail mechanism is offered to record interactive operations on low-resolution image derivatives. These operations are processed off-line on the original image. Thus, the processing of extremely high-resolution raster images is possible, and the performance of resolution dependent operations is enhanced significantly during interaction. An object-oriented database system (APRIL), which can be browsed, is integrated into the system. Attribute retrieval is supported by the user interface. Other essential features of the system include: implementation on top of the X Window System (X11R4) and the OSF/Motif widget set; a SUN4 general purpose workstation, inclusive ethernet, magneto optical disc, etc., as the hardware platform for the user interface; complete graphical-interactive parametrization of all operators; support of different image interchange formats (GIF, TIFF, IIF, etc.); consideration of current IPI standard activities within ISO/IEC for further refinement and extensions.

  9. Aspirin provocation increases 8-iso-PGE2 in exhaled breath condensate of aspirin-hypersensitive asthmatics.

    PubMed

    Mastalerz, Lucyna; Januszek, Rafał; Kaszuba, Marek; Wójcik, Krzysztof; Celejewska-Wójcik, Natalia; Gielicz, Anna; Plutecka, Hanna; Oleś, Krzysztof; Stręk, Paweł; Sanak, Marek

    2015-09-01

    Isoprostanes are bioactive compounds formed by non-enzymatic oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, mostly arachidonic, and markers of free radical generation during inflammation. In aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), asthmatic symptoms are precipitated by ingestion of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs capable for pharmacologic inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1 isoenzyme. We investigated whether aspirin-provoked bronchoconstriction is accompanied by changes of isoprostanes in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). EBC was collected from 28 AERD subjects and 25 aspirin-tolerant asthmatics before and after inhalatory aspirin challenge. Concentrations of 8-iso-PGF2α, 8-iso-PGE2, and prostaglandin E2 were measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Leukotriene E4 was measured by immunoassay in urine samples collected before and after the challenge. Before the challenge, exhaled 8-iso-PGF2α, 8-iso-PGE2, and PGE2 levels did not differ between the study groups. 8-iso-PGE2 level increased in AERD group only (p=0.014) as a result of the aspirin challenge. Urinary LTE4 was elevated in AERD, both in baseline and post-challenge samples. Post-challenge airways 8-iso-PGE2 correlated positively with urinary LTE4 level (p=0.046), whereas it correlated negatively with the provocative dose of aspirin (p=0.027). A significant increase of exhaled 8-iso-PGE2 after inhalatory challenge with aspirin was selective and not present for the other isoprostane measured. This is a novel finding in AERD, suggesting that inhibition of cyclooxygenase may elicit 8-iso-PGE2 production in a specific mechanism, contributing to bronchoconstriction and systemic overproduction of cysteinyl leukotrienes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. ISO/GUM UNCERTAINTIES AND CIAAW (UNCERTAINTY TREATMENT FOR RECOMMENDED ATOMIC WEIGHTS AND ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCES)

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

    HOLDEN,N.E.

    2007-07-23

    The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). The IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundance and Atomic Weight (CIAAW) began attaching uncertainty limits to their recommended values about forty years ago. CIAAW's method for determining and assigning uncertainties has evolved over time. We trace this evolution to their present method and their effort to incorporate the basic ISO/GUM procedures into evaluations of these uncertainties. We discuss some dilemma the CIAAW faces in their present method and whether it is consistent with the application of the ISO/GUM rules. We discuss the attemptmore » to incorporate variations in measured isotope ratios, due to natural fractionation, into the ISO/GUM system. We make some observations about the inconsistent treatment in the incorporation of natural variations into recommended data and uncertainties. A recommendation for expressing atomic weight values using a tabulated range of values for various chemical elements is discussed.« less

  11. Evaluation of ISO CRS Envelopes Relative to U.S. Vehicles and Child Restraint Systems.

    PubMed

    Hu, Jingwen; Manary, Miriam A; Klinich, Kathleen D; Reed, Matthew P

    2015-01-01

    The objectives of this study are to use computer simulation to evaluate the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13216-3:2006(E) child restraint system (CRS) envelopes relative to rear seat compartments from vehicles and CRSs in the U.S. market, investigate the potential compatibility issues of U.S. vehicles and CRSs, and demonstrate whether necessary modifications can be made to introduce such a system into compatibility evaluations between U.S. vehicles and CRSs. Three-dimensional geometry models for 26 vehicles and 16 convertible CRS designs developed previously were used. Geometry models of 3 forward-facing and 3 rear-facing CRS envelopes provided by the ISO were built in the current study. The virtual fit process closely followed the physical procedures described in the ISO standards. The results showed that the current ISO rear-facing envelopes can provide reasonable classifications for CRSs and vehicles, but the forward-facing envelopes do not represent products currently in the U.S. market. In particular, all of the selected vehicles could accommodate the largest forward-facing CRS envelope at the second-row seat location behind the driver seat. In contrast, half of the selected CRSs could not fit within any of the forward-facing ISO CRS envelopes, mainly due to protrusion at the rear-top corner of the envelope. The results also indicate that the rear seat compartment in U.S. vehicles often cannot accommodate a large portion of convertible CRSs in the rear-facing position. The increased demand for vehicle fuel economy and the recommendation to keep children rear-facing longer may lead to smaller cars and larger CRSs, which may increase the potential for fit problems. The virtual classifications indicated that contact between the forward-facing CRSs and the head restraints in the rear seats as well as that between the rear-facing CRSs and the back of the front seats is a main concern regarding the compatibility between the vehicles and the CRSs. Therefore, modification of the current ISO forward-facing CRS envelopes will likely to be necessary to ensure that they are useful for the U.S. market.

  12. The National SShipbuilding Research Program. 1997 Ship Production Symposium. Proceedings

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1997-04-01

    continues to advance the value and potential benefit of an ISO style process management system will increase. ISO provides the framework that is...understanding of systemic management beyond the buzzword level. In fairness , this probably is attributed to the fact that middle managers often perceive they...common or accepted practice. In the United States, the phrase of laisse - faire , or freedom of choice coupled with a lack of uniform standards continues to

  13. ISO 55000: Creating an asset management system.

    PubMed

    Bradley, Chris; Main, Kevin

    2015-02-01

    In the October 2014 issue of HEJ, Keith Hamer, group vice-president, Asset Management & Engineering at Sodexo, and marketing director at Asset Wisdom, Kevin Main, argued that the new ISO 55000 standards present facilities managers with an opportunity to create 'a joined-up, whole lifecycle approach' to managing and delivering value from assets. In this article, Kevin Main and Chris Bradley, who runs various asset management projects, examine the process of creating an asset management system.

  14. IMEKO TC1-TC7 Symposium in London: The assurance as a result of blood chemical analysis by ISO-GUM and QE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iwaki, Y.

    2010-07-01

    The Quality Assurance (QA) of measurand has been discussed over many years by Quality Engineering (QE). It is need to more discuss about ISO standard. It is mining to find out root fault element for improvement of measured accuracy, and it remove. The accuracy assurance needs to investigate the Reference Material (RM) for calibration and an improvement accuracy of data processing. This research follows the accuracy improvement in field of data processing by how to improve of accuracy. As for the fault element relevant to measurement accuracy, in many cases, two or more element is buried exist. The QE is to assume the generating frequency of fault state, and it is solving from higher ranks for fault factor first by "Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)". Then QE investigate the root cause over the fault element by "Root Cause Analysis (RCA)" and "Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)" and calculate order to the generating element of assume specific fault. These days comes, the accuracy assurance of measurement result became duty in the Professional Test (PT). ISO standard was legislated by ISO-GUM (Guide of express Uncertainty in Measurement) as guidance of an accuracy assurance in 1993 [1] for QA. Analysis method of ISO-GUM is changed into Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) from Analysis of Valiance (ANOVA). EDA calculate one by one until an assurance performance is obtained according to "Law of the propagation of uncertainty". If the truth value was unknown, ISO-GUM is changed into reference value. A reference value set up by the EDA and it does check with a Key Comparison (KC) method. KC is comparing between null hypothesis and frequency hypothesis. It performs operation of assurance by ISO-GUM in order of standard uncertainty, the combined uncertainty of many fault elements and an expansion uncertain for assurance. An assurance value is authorized by multiplying the final expansion uncertainty [2] by K of coverage factor. K-value is calculated from the Effective Free Degree (EFD) which thought the number of samples is important. Free degree is based on maximum likelihood method of an improved information criterion (AIC) for a Quality Control (QC). The assurance performance of ISO-GUM is come out by set up of the confidence interval [3] and is decided. The result of research of "Decided level/Minimum Detectable Concentration (DL/MDC)" was able to profit by the operation. QE has developed for the QC of industry. However, these have been processed by regression analysis by making frequency probability of a statistic value into normalized distribution. The occurrence probability of the statistics value of a fault element which is accompanied element by a natural phenomenon becomes an abnormal distribution in many cases. The abnormal distribution needs to obtain an assurance value by other method than statistical work of type B in ISO-GUM. It is tried fusion the improvement of worker by QE became important for reservation of the reliability of measurement accuracy and safety. This research was to make the result of Blood Chemical Analysis (BCA) in the field of clinical test.

  15. Astronomers debate diamonds in space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1999-04-01

    This is not the first time the intriguing carbonaceous compound has been detected in space. A peculiar elite of twelve stars are known to produce it. The star now added by ISO to this elite is one of the best representatives of this exclusive family, since it emits a very strong signal of the compound. Additionally ISO found a second new member of the group with weaker emission, and also observed with a spectral resolution never achieved before other already known stars in this class. Astronomers think these ISO results will help solve the mystery of the true nature of the compound. Their publication by two different groups, from Spain and Canada, has triggered a debate on the topic, both in astronomy institutes and in chemistry laboratories. At present, mixed teams of astrophysicists and chemists are investigating in the lab compounds whose chemical signature or "fingerprint" matches that detected by ISO. Neither diamonds nor fullerenes have ever been detected in space, but their presence has been predicted. Tiny diamonds of pre-solar origin --older than the Solar System-- have been found in meteorites, which supports the as yet unconfirmed theory of their presence in interstellar space. The fullerene molecule, made of 60 carbon atoms linked to form a sphere (hence the name "buckyball"), has also been extensively searched for in space but never found. If the carbonaceous compound detected by ISO is a fullerene or a diamond, there will be new data on the production of these industrially interesting materials. Fullerenes are being investigated as "capsules" to deliver new pharmaceuticals to the body. Diamonds are commonly used in the electronics industry and for the development of new materials; if they are formed in the dust surrounding some stars, at relatively low temperatures and conditions of low pressure, companies could learn more about the ideal physical conditions to produce them. A textbook case The latest star in which the compound has been found is called IRAS 16594-4656. Like the others, it's a carbon-rich star now in the process of dying. It has been blasting out huge amounts of material over the last thousand years, becoming enclosed within a shell of dust hundreds of times larger than the Solar System --a structure called a "protoplanetary nebula". It was in this dust -- very cold and therefore invisible to non-infrared telescopes-- that the Spanish group using ISO's SWS and LWS spectrometers detected the signature of the carbonaceous compound, in the form of a broad emission band at the wavelength of 21 micron. "We searched for the compound in twenty candidate stars and only this one had it. It is a real textbook case, with one of the strongest emissions ever detected. It gets us closer to solving the mystery and will help us to understand how the "chemical factories" of the Universe work", says ESA astronomer Pedro Garcia-Lario at the ISO Data Centre in Villafranca, Madrid. His group published their results in the March 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal. They favour the fullerene option. Fullerenes would get formed during decomposition of the solid carbon grains condensed out of the material emitted by the star. The Canadian group obtained high-resolution ISO spectra of seven other stars in this class, and also detected a weak emission of the carbonaceous compound in a new one. They present their data in the May 11 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "Diamonds, graphite, coal and fullerenes are different forms of carbon. It is quite possible that the 21 micron feature arises from any one of these forms, although not exactly like they are on Earth", says main author Sun Kwok, at the University of Calgary. His group detected the carbonaceous compound a decade ago, for the first time, with the earlier infrared satellite IRAS. Meanwhile, results from the French group led by Louis d'Hendecourt, at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, in Paris, are adding to the debate. They isolated very tiny diamonds --a million times smaller than a millimetre and thus called "nanodiamonds"-- from a sample of the Orgueil meteorite, and then subjected them to infrared spectroscopy. The researchers conclude that nanodiamonds of a certain kind, defective ones in which some atoms of the lattice are missing, have a "chemical signature" that matches the one detected in the stars very closely. Footnote on ISO ESA's infrared space telescope, ISO, was put into orbit in November 1995, by an Ariane 44P launcher from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Its operational phase lasted till 16 May, 1998, almost a year longer than expected. As an unprecedented observatory for infrared astronomy, able to examine cool and hidden places in the Universe, ISO made nearly 30 000 scientific observations. These are now available to the scientific community via the ISO Archive (http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es) at the ISO Data Centre, in Villafranca, near Madrid, Spain.

  16. Intraseasonal oscillation associated with the Indian winter monsoon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dimri, A. P.

    2013-02-01

    The Indian winter (December-February) monsoon (IWM) contributes almost one third of the annual precipitation over the western Himalayas (WH). In winter, eastward moving synoptic weather systems, or "western disturbances" (WDs), yield precipitation in either liquid or solid form. Although previous studies have examined the interannual variation (IAV) of the IWM, little is known of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) associated with the IWM. The present study examines the ISO and its plausible effects on the IWM using 28 years (1980-2007) of precipitation, height, wind, and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) fields. The dominant ISO mode is found during the active IWM phase with well-defined cyclonic circulation in the midtroposphere over the WH. The relationship between OLR and circulation indicates that this ISO mode is driven by moisture convergence. During the peak phase, a strong moisture influx from the Arabian Sea dominates. This moisture incursion adds to the precipitation over the WH. Successive growth and decay of anomalous cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation takes place within ISO periodicity. Strong convection always seems to precede anomalous cyclonic circulation. In addition, in-phase wind and convection (over the WH region) are associated with the ISO phase.

  17. ZAP-70 expression in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: evaluation by external (isotypic) or internal (T/NK cells) controls and correlation with IgV(H) mutations.

    PubMed

    Zucchetto, Antonella; Bomben, Riccardo; Bo, Michele Dal; Nanni, Paola; Bulian, Pietro; Rossi, Francesca Maria; Del Principe, Maria Ilaria; Santini, Simone; Del Poeta, Giovanni; Degan, Massimo; Gattei, Valter

    2006-07-15

    Expression of T cell specific zeta-associated protein 70 (ZAP-70) by B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells, as investigated by flow cytometry, has both prognostic relevance and predictive power as surrogate for immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IgV(H)) mutations, although a standardization of the cytometric protocol is still lacking. Flow cytometric analyses for ZAP-70 were performed in peripheral blood samples from 145 B-CLL (124 with IgV(H) mutations) by a standard three-color protocol. Identification of ZAP-70(+) cell population was based on an external negative control, i.e., the isotypic control (ISO method) or an internal positive control, i.e., the population of residual normal T/NK cells (TNK method). A comparison between these two approaches was performed. While 86/145 cases were concordant as for ZAP-70 expression according to the two methods (ISO(+)TNK(+) or ISO(-)TNK(-)), 59/145 cases had discordant ZAP-70 expression, mainly (56/59) showing a ISO(+)TNK(-) profile. These latter cases express higher levels of ZAP-70 in their normal T cell component. Moreover, discordant ISO(+)TNK(-) cases had a IgV(H) gene mutation profile similar to that of concordantly positive cases and different from ZAP-70 concordantly negative B-CLL. Analysis of ZAP-70 expression by B-CLL cells by using the ISO method allows to overcome the variability in the expression of ZAP-70 by residual T cells and yields a better correlation with IgV(H) gene mutations. A receiver operating characteristic analysis suggests to employ a higher cut-off than the commonly used 20%. A parallel evaluation of the prognostic value of ZAP-70 expression, as determined according to the ISO and TNK methods, is still needed. (c) 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology.

  18. Evaluation of a new filing system's ability to maintain canal morphology.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Matthew; Sidow, Stephanie J; Lindsey, Kimberly; Chuang, Augustine; McPherson, James C

    2014-06-01

    The manufacturer of the Hyflex CM endodontic files claims the files remain centered within the canal, and if unwound during treatment, they will regain their original shape after sterilization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the canal centering ability of the Hyflex CM and the ProFile ISO filing systems after repeated uses in simulated canals, followed by autoclaving. Sixty acrylic blocks with a canal curvature of 45° were stained with methylene blue, photographed, and divided into 2 groups, H (Hyflex CM) and P (ProFile ISO). The groups were further subdivided into 3 subgroups: H1, H2, H3; P1, P2, P3 (n = 10). Groups H1 and P1 were instrumented to 40 (.04) with the respective file system. Used files were autoclaved for 26 minutes at 126°C. After sterilization, the files were used to instrument groups H2 and P2. The same sterilization and instrumentation procedure was repeated for groups H3 and P3. Post-instrumentation digital images were taken and superimposed over the pre-instrumentation images. Changes in the location of the center of the canal at predetermined reference points were recorded and compared within subgroups and between filing systems. Statistical differences in intergroup and intragroup transportation measures were analyzed by using the Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance of ranks with the Bonferroni post hoc test. There was a difference between Hyflex CM and ProFile ISO groups, although it was not statistically significant. Intragroup differences for both Hyflex CM and ProFile ISO groups were not significant (P < .05). The Hyflex CM and ProFile ISO files equally maintained the original canal's morphology after 2 sterilization cycles. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  19. Audit of a Scientific Data Center for Certification as a Trustworthy Digital Repository: A Case Study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Downs, R. R.; Chen, R. S.

    2011-12-01

    Services that preserve and enable future access to scientific data are necessary to ensure that the data that are being collected today will be available for use by future generations of scientists. Many data centers, archives, and other digital repositories are working to improve their ability to serve as long-term stewards of scientific data. Trust in sustainable data management and preservation capabilities of digital repositories can influence decisions to use these services to deposit or obtain scientific data. Building on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model developed by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and adopted by the International Organization for Standardization as ISO 14721:2003, new standards are being developed to improve long-term data management processes and documentation. The Draft Information Standard ISO/DIS 16363, "Space data and information transfer systems - Audit and certification of trustworthy digital repositories" offers the potential to evaluate digital repositories objectively in terms of their trustworthiness as long-term stewards of digital resources. In conjunction with this, the CCSDS and ISO are developing another draft standard for the auditing and certification process, ISO/DIS 16919, "Space data and information transfer systems - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of candidate trustworthy digital repositories". Six test audits were conducted of scientific data centers and archives in Europe and the United States to test the use of these draft standards and identify potential improvements for the standards and for the participating digital repositories. We present a case study of the test audit conducted on the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) and describe the preparation, the audit process, recommendations received, and next steps to obtain certification as a trustworthy digital repository, after approval of the ISO/DIS standards.

  20. The PDS4 Information Model and its Role in Agile Science Data Curation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hughes, J. S.; Crichton, D.

    2017-12-01

    PDS4 is an information model-driven service architecture supporting the capture, management, distribution and integration of massive planetary science data captured in distributed data archives world-wide. The PDS4 Information Model (IM), the core element of the architecture, was developed using lessons learned from 20 years of archiving Planetary Science Data and best practices for information model development. The foundational principles were adopted from the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (ISO 14721), the Metadata Registry Specification (ISO/IEC 11179), and W3C XML (Extensible Markup Language) specifications. These provided respectively an object oriented model for archive information systems, a comprehensive schema for data dictionaries and hierarchical governance, and rules for rules for encoding documents electronically. The PDS4 Information model is unique in that it drives the PDS4 infrastructure by providing the representation of concepts and their relationships, constraints, rules, and operations; a sharable, stable, and organized set of information requirements; and machine parsable definitions that are suitable for configuring and generating code. This presentation will provide an over of the PDS4 Information Model and how it is being leveraged to develop and evolve the PDS4 infrastructure and enable agile curation of over 30 years of science data collected by the international Planetary Science community.

  1. How Does Amino Acid Ligand Modulate Au Core Structure and Characteristics in Peptide Coated Au Nanocluster?

    PubMed

    Li, Nan; Li, Xu; Zhao, Hongkang; Zhao, Lina

    2018-03-01

    The atomic structures and the corresponding physicochemical properties of peptide coated Au nanoclusters determine their distinctive biological targeting applications. To learn the modulation of amino acid ligand on the atomic structure and electronic characteristics of coated Au core is the fundamental knowledge for peptide coated Au nanocluster design and construction. Based on our recent coated Au nanocluster configuration study (Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 11454), we built the typically simplified Au13(Cys-Au-Cys) system to more clearly learn the basic modulation information of amino acid ligand on Au core by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. There are two isomers as ligand adjacent bonding (Iso1) and diagonal bonding (Iso2) to Au13 cores. The geometry optimizations indicate the adjacent bonding Iso1 is more stable than Iso2. More important, the Au13 core of Iso1 distorts much more significantly than that of Iso2 by Cys-Au-Cys bonding through the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) analysis, which modulate their electronic characteristics in different ways. In addition, the frontier molecular orbital results of Au13(Cys-Au-Cys) isomers confirm that the Au cores mainly determine the blue shifts of Au13(Cys-Au-Cys) systems versus the original Au13 core in their UV-visible absorption spectrum studies. The configuration of Au13 core performs deformation under Cys-Au-Cys ligand modulation to reach new stability with distinct atomic structure and electronic properties, which could be the theory basis for peptide coated AuNCs design and construction.

  2. Measurements of NOx emissions and in-service duty cycle from a towboat operating on the inland river system.

    PubMed

    Corbett, J J; Robinson, A L

    2001-04-01

    This paper describes measurements of NOx emissions from one engine on a commercial towboat operating on the Upper Ohio River system around the Port of Pittsburgh. Continuous measurements were made over a one-week period to characterize emissions during normal operations. The average NOx emission factor is 70 +/- 4.2 kg of NOx per t of fuel, similar to that of larger marine engines. A vessel-specific duty cycle is derived to characterize the towboat's operations; more than 50% of the time the vessel engines are at idle. Although recently promulgated EPA regulations apply only to new marine engines, these data provide insight into inland-river operations, which can be used to evaluate these regulations within the inland river context. This vessel operates as a courier service, scheduling pickups and deliveries of single- or multiple-barge loads per customers' requests; as many as 30% of the 277 towboats in the Pittsburgh region operate in this fashion. The EPA-prescribed ISO E3 duty cycle does not accurately describe inland-river operations of this towboat: its application overestimates actual NOx emissions by 14%. Only 41% of this vessel's operations fall within the Not-To-Exceed Zone defined by the EPA regulations, which limits the effectiveness of this component of the regulations to limit emissions from vessels that operate in a similar fashion.

  3. Using ISO 25040 standard for evaluating electronic health record systems.

    PubMed

    Oliveira, Marília; Novaes, Magdala; Vasconcelos, Alexandre

    2013-01-01

    Quality of electronic health record systems (EHR-S) is one of the key points in the discussion about the safe use of this kind of system. It stimulates creation of technical standards and certifications in order to establish the minimum requirements expected for these systems. [1] In other side, EHR-S suppliers need to invest in evaluation of their products to provide systems according to these requirements. This work presents a proposal of use ISO 25040 standard, which focuses on the evaluation of software products, for define a model of evaluation of EHR-S in relation to Brazilian Certification for Electronic Health Record Systems - SBIS-CFM Certification. Proposal instantiates the process described in ISO 25040 standard using the set of requirements that is scope of the Brazilian certification. As first results, this research has produced an evaluation model and a scale for classify an EHR-S about its compliance level in relation to certification. This work in progress is part for the acquisition of the degree of master in Computer Science at the Federal University of Pernambuco.

  4. Using MountainsMap (Digital Surf) surface analysis software as an analysis tool for x-ray mirror optical metrology data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duffy, Alan; Yates, Brian; Takacs, Peter

    2012-09-01

    The Optical Metrology Facility at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) has recently purchased MountainsMap surface analysis software from Digital Surf and we report here our experiences with this package and its usefulness as a tool for examining metrology data of synchrotron x-ray mirrors. The package has a number of operators that are useful for determining surface roughness and slope error including compliance with ISO standards (viz. ISO 4287 and ISO 25178). The software is extensible with MATLAB scripts either by loading an m-file or by a user written script. This makes it possible to apply a custom operator to measurement data sets. Using this feature we have applied the simple six-line MATLAB code for the direct least square fitting of ellipses developed by Fitzgibbon et. al. to investigate the residual slope error of elliptical mirrors upon the removal of the best-fit-ellipse. The software includes support for many instruments (e.g. Zygo, MicroMap, etc...) and can import ASCII data (e.g. LTP data). The stitching module allows the user to assemble overlapping images and we report on our experiences with this feature applied to MicroMap surface roughness data. The power spectral density function was determined for the stitched and unstitched data and compared.

  5. Situation analysis of occupational and environmental health laboratory accreditation in Thailand.

    PubMed

    Sithisarankul, Pornchai; Santiyanont, Rachana; Wongpinairat, Chongdee; Silva, Panadda; Rojanajirapa, Pinnapa; Wangwongwatana, Supat; Srinetr, Vithet; Sriratanaban, Jiruth; Chuntutanon, Swanya

    2002-06-01

    The objective of this study was to analyze the current situation of laboratory accreditation (LA) in Thailand, especially on occupational and environmental health. The study integrated both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The response rate of the quantitative questionnaires was 54.5% (226/415). The majority of the responders was environmental laboratories located outside hospital and did not have proficiency testing. The majority used ISO 9000, ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO/ EEC Guide 25, and hospital accreditation (HA) as their quality system. However, only 30 laboratories were currently accredited by one of these systems. Qualitative research revealed that international standard for laboratory accreditation for both testing laboratory and calibration laboratory was ISO/IEC Guide 25, which has been currently revised to be ISO/IEC 17025. The National Accreditation Council (NAC) has authorized 2 organizations as Accreditation Bodies (ABs) for LA: Thai Industrial Standards Institute, Ministry of Industry, and Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards, Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health. Regarding LA in HA, HA considered clinical laboratory as only 1 of 31 items for accreditation. Obtaining HA might satisfy the hospital director and his management team, and hence might actually be one of the obstacles for the hospital to further improve their laboratory quality system and apply for ISO/IEC 17025 which was more technically oriented. On the other hand, HA may be viewed as a good start or even a pre-requisite for laboratories in the hospitals to further improve their quality towards ISO/IEC 17025. Interviewing the director of NAC and some key men in some large laboratories revealed several major problems of Thailand's LA. Both Thai Industrial Standards Institute and Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards did not yet obtain Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with other international ABs. Several governmental bodies had their own standards and accreditation systems, and did not accept other bodies' standards and systems. This put a burden to private laboratories because they had to apply and get accredited from several governmental bodies, but still had to apply and get accredited from international ABs especially for those dealing with exports. There were only few calibration laboratories, not enough for supporting the calibration required for the equipment in testing laboratories' LA. Purchasing proficiency testing specimens from abroad was very expensive, and often got into troubles with the customs duty procedures. The authors recommend some strategies and activities to improve laboratory accreditation in Thailand. Improvement in occupational and environmental health laboratories would essentially be beneficial to laboratory accreditation of other areas such as clinical laboratory.

  6. Constraining the Type of Central Engine of GRBs with Swift Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Liang; Wu, Xue-Feng; Lei, Wei-Hua; Dai, Zi-Gao; Lian, En-Wei; Ryde, Felix

    2018-06-01

    The central engine of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is poorly constrained. There exist two main candidates: a fast-rotating black hole and a rapidly spinning magnetar. Furthermore, X-ray plateaus are widely accepted to be the energy injection into the external shock. In this paper, we systematically analyze the Swift/XRT light curves of 101 GRBs having plateau phases and known redshifts (before 2017 May). Since a maximum energy budget (∼2 × 1052 erg) exists for magnetars but not for black holes, this provides a good clue to identifying the type of GRB central engine. We calculate the isotropic kinetic energy E K,iso and the isotropic X-ray energy release E X,iso for individual GRBs. We identify three categories based on how likely a black hole harbors a central engine: “Gold” (9 out of 101; both E X,iso and E K,iso exceed the energy budget), “Silver” (69 out of 101; E X,iso less than the limit but E K,iso greater than the limit), and “Bronze” (23 out of 101; the energies are not above the limit). We then derive and test the black hole parameters with the Blandford–Znajek mechanism, and find that the observations of the black hole candidate (“Gold” + “Silver”) samples are consistent with the expectations of the black hole model. Furthermore, we also test the magnetar candidate (“Bronze”) sample with the magnetar model, and find that the magnetar surface magnetic field (B p ) and initial spin period (P 0) fall into reasonable ranges. Our analysis indicates that if the magnetar wind is isotropic, a magnetar central engine is possible for 20% of the analyzed GRBs. For most GRBs, a black hole is most likely operating.

  7. Repeated anaesthesia with isoflurane and medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl in guinea pigs and its influence on physiological parameters.

    PubMed

    Schmitz, Sabrina; Tacke, Sabine; Guth, Brian; Henke, Julia

    2017-01-01

    Repeated anaesthesia may be required in experimental protocols and in daily veterinary practice, but anaesthesia is known to alter physiological parameters in GPs (Cavia porcellus, GPs). This study investigated the effects of repeated anaesthesia with either medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl (MMF) or isoflurane (Iso) on physiological parameters in the GP. Twelve GPs were repeatedly administered with MMF or Iso in two anaesthesia sets. One set consisted of six 40-min anaesthesias, performed over 3 weeks (2 per week); the anaesthetic used first was randomized. Prior to Iso anaesthesia, atropine was injected. MMF anaesthesia was antagonized with AFN (atipamezole-flumazenil-naloxone). Abdominally implanted radio-telemetry devices recorded the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and core body temperature continuously. Additionally, respiratory rate, blood glucose and body weight were assessed. An operable state could be achieved and maintained for 40 min in all GPs. During the surgical tolerance with MMF, the GPs showed a large MAP range between the individuals. In the MMF wake- up phase, the time was shortened until the righting reflex (RR) returned and that occurred at lower MAP and HR values. Repeated Iso anaesthesia led to an increasing HR during induction (anaesthesias 2-6), non-surgical tolerance (anaesthesias 3-6) and surgical tolerance (anaesthesias 4, 6). Both anaesthetics may be used repeatedly, as repeating the anaesthesias resulted in only slightly different physiological parameters, compared to those seen with single anaesthesias. The regular atropine premedication induced HR increases and repeated MMF anaesthesia resulted in a metabolism increase which led to the faster return of RR. Nevertheless, Iso's anaesthesia effects of strong respiratory depression and severe hypotension remained. Based on this increased anaesthesia risk with Iso, MMF anaesthesia is preferable for repeated use in GPs.

  8. Telemonitoring systems interoperability challenge: an updated review of the applicability of ISO/IEEE 11073 standards for interoperability in telemonitoring.

    PubMed

    Galarraga, M; Serrano, L; Martinez, I; de Toledo, P; Reynolds, Melvin

    2007-01-01

    Advances in Information and Communication Technologies, ICT, are bringing new opportunities and use cases in the field of systems and Personal Health Devices used for the telemonitoring of citizens in Home or Mobile scenarios. At a time of such challenges, this review arises from the need to identify robust technical telemonitoring solutions that are both open and interoperable. These systems demand standardized solutions to be cost effective and to take advantage of standardized operation and interoperability. Thus, the fundamental challenge is to design plug-&-play devices that, either as individual elements or as components, can be incorporated in a simple way into different Telecare systems, perhaps configuring a personal user network. Moreover, there is an increasing market pressure from companies not traditionally involved in medical markets, asking for a standard for Personal Health Devices, which foresee a vast demand for telemonitoring, wellness, Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and e-health applications. However, the newly emerging situations imply very strict requirements for the protocols involved in the communication. The ISO/IEEE 11073 family of standards is adapting and moving in order to face the challenge and might appear the best positioned international standards to reach this goal. This work presents an updated survey of these standards, trying to track the changes that are being fulfilled, and tries to serve as a starting-point for those who want to familiarize themselves with them.

  9. [Quality assurance in oncology: experiences of an ISO certification].

    PubMed

    Szentirmay, Zoltán; Cseh, Lujza; Ottó, Szabolcs; Kásler, Miklós

    2002-01-01

    The ISO 9001 quality assurance of the National Institute of Oncology has been achieved successfully. We give an account of the brief history and the structure of the assurance system of the Institute, the process of setting our goals, and also the experience gained from drafting ISO 9001 handbook and flowcharts. Apart from the bureaucratic nature of quality assurance, it is a good opportunity for us to investigate our everyday work, put it into orderly manner and work more reliably. Experience has shown that the introduction of a quality assurance system increases the level of patient care, the documentation helps the Institute or some of its departments, or even individuals prevent law suits, and serves as a sound basis for proposing promotion, salary increases and bonuses, or even honors.

  10. Application of food safety management systems (ISO 22000/HACCP) in the Turkish poultry industry: a comparison based on enterprise size.

    PubMed

    Kök, M Samil

    2009-10-01

    The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of food safety management systems (ISO 22000/HACCP) implementation in the Turkish poultry industry. A survey was conducted with 25 major poultry meat producers, which account for close to 90% of national production, and a comparison was made between the procedures of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large firms (LFs). The survey revealed that there is a high level of application of ISO 22000 (72%), which is seen to aid the export market. LFs were shown to adopt more stringent schemes and make better use of governmental support services than SMEs. LFs were also more aware of, and able to deal with, risks from a greater range of contaminants.

  11. The Relationship between ISO 9000 Participation and Educational Outcomes of Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bae, Sang Hoon

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The study seeks to examine the relationship between the implementation of the ISO 9000 quality management system and educational outcomes of schools, measured by student achievement on the state-mandated tests and school attendance rates--graduation rates, in the case of high schools. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted…

  12. Incorporating Externalities and Uncertainty into Life-Cycle Cost Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    operating, maintaining, and (eventually) disposing of the building system( s ) over a given study period (usually related to the life of the project...which is rarely the case with environmental decisions that are often irreversible. For example, the extinction of a species, the authors argue, is...O x So ci al C os t o f S O 2 U H H Z1 10 22 5 $1 12 ,0 00 38 76 0 10 0. 0% $1 $4 ,7 07 $1 10 SG BP 12 00 38 $3 75 ,0 67 47 72 4 10 0. 0% $3 $1 1, 42

  13. Enabling conformity to international standards within SeaDataNet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schaap, Dick M. A.; Boldrini, Enrico; de Korte, Arjen; Santoro, Mattia; Manzella, Giuseppe; Nativi, Stefano

    2010-05-01

    SeaDataNet objective is to construct a standardized system for managing the large and diverse data sets collected by the oceanographic fleets and the new automatic observation systems. The aim is to network and enhance the currently existing infrastructures, which are the national oceanographic data centres and satellite data centres of 36 countries, active in data collection. The networking of these professional data centres, in a unique virtual data management system will provide integrated data sets of standardized quality on-line. The Common Data Index (CDI) is the middleware service adopted by SeaDataNet for discovery and access of the available data. In order to develop an interoperable and effective system, the use of international de facto and de jure standards is required. In particular the new goal object of this presentation is to introduce and discuss the solutions for making SeaDataNet compliant with the European Union (EU) INSPIRE directive and in particular with its Implementing Rules (IR). The European INSPIRE directive aims to rule the creation of an European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI). This will enable the sharing of environmental spatial information among public sector organisations and better facilitate public access to spatial information across Europe. To ensure that the spatial data infrastructures of the European Member States are compatible and usable in a community and transboundary context, the directive requires that common IRs are adopted in a number of specific areas (Metadata, Data Specifications, Network Services, Data and Service Sharing and Monitoring and Reporting). Often the use of already approved digital geographic information standards is mandated, drawing from international organizations like the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the latter by means of its Technical Committee 211 (ISO/TC 211). In the context of geographic data discovery a set of mandatory metadata information is identified by INSPIRE metadata regulations and recommended implementations appear in IRs, in particular the use of ISO 19139 Application Profile (ISO AP) of OGC Catalogue Service for the Web 2.0.2 (CSW), as well as the use of ISO19139 XML schemas (along with additional constraints) to encode and distribute the required INSPIRE metadata. SeaDataNet started its work in 2006, basing its metadata schema upon the ISO 19115 DTD, the available schema at that time. Overtime this was replaced with the present CDI v.1 XML schema, based on ISO 19115 abstract model with community specific features and constraints. In order to assure the INSPIRE conformity a GI-cat based solution was developed. GI-cat is a broker service able to mediate from different metadata sources and publish them through a consistent and unified interface. In this case GI-cat is used as a front end to the SeaDataNet portal publishing the available data, based on CDI v.1, through a CSW AP ISO interface. The first step consisted in the precise definition of a community profile of ISO19115, containing both INSPIRE and CDI driven constraints and extensions. This abstract model is ready to be implemented both in CDI v.1 and in ISO 19139; to this aim, guidelines were drafted. Then a mapping from the CDI v.1 to the ISO 19139 implementation was ready to be produced. The work resulted in the creation of a new CDI accessor within GI-cat. These type of components play the role of data model mediators within the framework. While a replacement of the CDI v.1 format with the ISO 19139 solution is planned for SeaDataNet in the future, this front-end solution make data discovery readily effective by clients within the INSPIRE community.

  14. Analyzing climate change impacts on water resources under uncertainty using an integrated simulation-optimization approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhuang, X. W.; Li, Y. P.; Nie, S.; Fan, Y. R.; Huang, G. H.

    2018-01-01

    An integrated simulation-optimization (ISO) approach is developed for assessing climate change impacts on water resources. In the ISO, uncertainties presented as both interval numbers and probability distributions can be reflected. Moreover, ISO permits in-depth analyses of various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic consequences when the promised water-allocation targets are violated. A snowmelt-precipitation-driven watershed (Kaidu watershed) in northwest China is selected as the study case for demonstrating the applicability of the proposed method. Results of meteorological projections disclose that the incremental trend of temperature (e.g., minimum and maximum values) and precipitation exist. Results also reveal that (i) the system uncertainties would significantly affect water resources allocation pattern (including target and shortage); (ii) water shortage would be enhanced from 2016 to 2070; and (iii) the more the inflow amount decreases, the higher estimated water shortage rates are. The ISO method is useful for evaluating climate change impacts within a watershed system with complicated uncertainties and helping identify appropriate water resources management strategies hedging against drought.

  15. Metadata registry and management system based on ISO 11179 for cancer clinical trials information system

    PubMed Central

    Park, Yu Rang; Kim*, Ju Han

    2006-01-01

    Standardized management of data elements (DEs) for Case Report Form (CRF) is crucial in Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS). Traditional CTISs utilize organization-specific definitions and storage methods for Des and CRFs. We developed metadata-based DE management system for clinical trials, Clinical and Histopathological Metadata Registry (CHMR), using international standard for metadata registry (ISO 11179) for the management of cancer clinical trials information. CHMR was evaluated in cancer clinical trials with 1625 DEs extracted from the College of American Pathologists Cancer Protocols for 20 major cancers. PMID:17238675

  16. The use of computerized image guidance in lumbar disk arthroplasty.

    PubMed

    Smith, Harvey E; Vaccaro, Alexander R; Yuan, Philip S; Papadopoulos, Stephen; Sasso, Rick

    2006-02-01

    Surgical navigation systems have been increasingly studied and applied in the application of spinal instrumentation. Successful disk arthroplasty requires accurate midline and rotational positioning for optimal function and longevity. A surgical simulation study in human cadaver specimens was done to evaluate and compare the accuracy of standard fluoroscopy, computer-assisted fluoroscopic image guidance, and Iso-C3D image guidance in the placement of lumbar intervertebral disk replacements. Lumbar intervertebral disk prostheses were placed using three different image guidance techniques in three human cadaver spine specimens at multiple levels. Postinstrumentation accuracy was assessed with thin-cut computed tomography scans. Intervertebral disk replacements placed using the StealthStation with Iso-C3D were more accurately centered than those placed using the StealthStation with FluoroNav and standard fluoroscopy. Intervertebral disk replacements placed with Iso-C3D and FluoroNav had improved rotational divergence compared with standard fluoroscopy. Iso-C3D and FluoroNav had a smaller interprocedure variance than standard fluoroscopy. These results did not approach statistical significance. Relative to both virtual and standard fluoroscopy, use of the StealthStation with Iso-C3D resulted in improved accuracy in centering the lumbar disk prosthesis in the coronal midline. The StealthStation with FluoroNav appears to be at least equivalent to standard fluoroscopy and may offer improved accuracy with rotational alignment while minimizing radiation exposure to the surgeon. Surgical guidance systems may offer improved accuracy and less interprocedure variation in the placement of intervertebral disk replacements than standard fluoroscopy. Further study regarding surgical navigation systems for intervertebral disk replacement is warranted.

  17. Osmolarity affects matrix synthesis in the nucleus pulposus associated with the involvement of MAPK pathways: A study of ex vivo disc organ culture system.

    PubMed

    Li, Pei; Gan, Yibo; Xu, Yuan; Li, Songtao; Song, Lei; Li, Sukai; Li, Huijuan; Zhou, Qiang

    2016-06-01

    Matrix homeostasis within the nucleus pulposus (NP) is important for disc function. Unfortunately, the effects of osmolarity on NP matrix synthesis in a disc organ culture system and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The present study was to investigate the effects of different osmolarity modes (constant and cyclic) and osmolarity levels (hypo-, iso-, and hyper-) on NP matrix synthesis using a disc organ culture system and determine whether ERK1/2 or p38MAPK pathway has a role in this process. Porcine discs were cultured for 7 days in various osmotic media, including constant hypo-, iso-, hyper-osmolarity (330, 430, and 550 mOsm/kg, respectively) and cyclic-osmolarity (430 mOsm/kg for 8 h, followed by 550 mOsm/kg for 16 h). The role of ERK1/2 and p38MAPK pathways were determined by their inhibitors U0126 and SB202190 respectively. The expression of SOX9 and downstream aggrecan and collagen II, biochemical content, and histology were used to assess NP matrix synthesis. The findings revealed that NP matrix synthesis was promoted in iso- and cyclic-osmolarity cultures compared to hypo- or hyper-osmolarity culture although the level of matrix synthesis in cyclic-osmolarity culture did not reach that in iso-osmolarity culture. Further analysis suggested that inhibition of the ERK1/2 or p38MAPK pathway in iso- and cyclic-osmolarity cultures reduced NP matrix production. Therefore, we concluded that the effects of osmolarity on NP matrix synthesis depend on osmolarity level (hypo-, iso-, or hyper-) and osmolarity mode (constant or cyclic), and the ERK1/2 and p38MAPK pathways may participate in this process. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:1092-1100, 2016. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Human-centered design of a personal health record system for metabolic syndrome management based on the ISO 9241-210:2010 standard

    PubMed Central

    Farinango, Charic D; Benavides, Juan S; Cerón, Jesús D; López, Diego M; Álvarez, Rosa E

    2018-01-01

    Background Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of information and communication technologies to support healthy lifestyle interventions. In particular, personal health record systems (PHR-Ss) empower self-care, essential to support lifestyle changes. Approaches such as the user-centered design (UCD), which is already a standard within the software industry (ISO 9241-210:2010), provide specifications and guidelines to guarantee user acceptance and quality of eHealth systems. However, no single PHR-S for metabolic syndrome (MS) developed following the recommendations of the ISO 9241-210:2010 specification has been found in the literature. Objective The aim of this study was to describe the development of a PHR-S for the management of MS according to the principles and recommendations of the ISO 9241-210 standard. Methods The proposed PHR-S was developed using a formal software development process which, in addition to the traditional activities of any software process, included the principles and recommendations of the ISO 9241-210 standard. To gather user information, a survey sample of 1,187 individuals, eight interviews, and a focus group with seven people were performed. Throughout five iterations, three prototypes were built. Potential users of each system evaluated each prototype. The quality attributes of efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction were assessed using metrics defined in the ISO/IEC 25022 standard. Results The following results were obtained: 1) a technology profile from 1,187 individuals at risk for MS from the city of Popayan, Colombia, identifying that 75.2% of the people use the Internet and 51% had a smartphone; 2) a PHR-S to manage MS developed (the PHR-S has the following five main functionalities: record the five MS risk factors, share these measures with health care professionals, and three educational modules on nutrition, stress management, and a physical activity); and 3) usability tests on each prototype obtaining the following results: 100% effectiveness, 100% efficiency, and 84.2 points in the system usability scale. Conclusion The software development methodology used was based on the ISO 9241-210 standard, which allowed the development team to maintain a focus on user’s needs and requirements throughout the project, which resulted in an increased satisfaction and acceptance of the system. Additionally, the establishment of a multidisciplinary team allowed the application of considerations not only from the disciplines of software engineering and health sciences but also from other disciplines such as graphical design and media communication. Finally, usability testing allowed the observation of flaws in the designs, which helped to improve the solution. PMID:29386903

  19. Review of Special Standards in Quality Management Systems Audits in Automotive Production

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Šurinová, Yulia

    2013-12-01

    Quality management systems (QMS) in automotive industry generally have several differences in comparison with other industrial branches. Different customers have their own specific requirements, including requirements for quality audits. Audits are one of the coretools of quality management to make the PDCA (Plan - Do - Check - Act) cycle work. As a matter of fact, compliance with ISO/TS 16949:2009 requirements is a condition for supplying the automotive industry. However, there are some standards which co-exist together with the ISO 9001 based management systems and technical specification for QMS in automotive ISO/TS16949. Which are those specific standards in automotive industry and what standard to use and why - those are the questions to be answered in this paper. The aim of the paper is to review what standards are used for audits implementation in automotive industry in the Slovak Republic, and why the organizations keep following those "extra" standards even if certification for ISO/TS 16949 is required by all the car makers. The paper is structured as follows: after short introduction to the topic and related terms, presented is our methodology. . In the third section, the achieved results are discussed. And finally, the principal findings of the paper, limitations and conclusions are presented.

  20. Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) Key Project: the Birth and Death of Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stencel, Robert E.; Creech-Eakman, Michelle; Fajardo-Acosta, Sergio; Backman, Dana

    1999-01-01

    This program was designed to continue to analyze observations of stars thought to be forming protoplanets, using the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, as one of NASA Key Projects with ISO. A particular class of Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) discovered stars, known after the prototype, Vega, are principal targets for these observations aimed at examining the evidence for processes involved in forming, or failing to form, planetary systems around other stars. In addition, this program continued to provide partial support for related science in the WIRE, SOFIA and Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) projects, plus approved ISO supplementary time observations under programs MCREE1 29 and VEGADMAP. Their goals include time dependent changes in SWS spectra of Long Period Variable stars and PHOT P32 mapping experiments of recognized protoplanetary disk candidate stars.

  1. Whole-body Vibration Exposure of Drill Operators in Iron Ore Mines and Role of Machine-Related, Individual, and Rock-Related Factors.

    PubMed

    Chaudhary, Dhanjee Kumar; Bhattacherjee, Ashis; Patra, Aditya Kumar; Chau, Nearkasen

    2015-12-01

    This study aimed to assess the whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure among large blast hole drill machine operators with regard to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recommended threshold values and its association with machine- and rock-related factors and workers' individual characteristics. The study population included 28 drill machine operators who had worked in four opencast iron ore mines in eastern India. The study protocol comprised the following: measurements of WBV exposure [frequency weighted root mean square (RMS) acceleration (m/s(2))], machine-related data (manufacturer of machine, age of machine, seat height, thickness, and rest height) collected from mine management offices, measurements of rock hardness, uniaxial compressive strength and density, and workers' characteristics via face-to-face interviews. More than 90% of the operators were exposed to a higher level WBV than the ISO upper limit and only 3.6% between the lower and upper limits, mainly in the vertical axis. Bivariate correlations revealed that potential predictors of total WBV exposure were: machine manufacturer (r = 0.453, p = 0.015), age of drill (r = 0.533, p = 0.003), and hardness of rock (r = 0.561, p = 0.002). The stepwise multiple regression model revealed that the potential predictors are age of operator (regression coefficient β = -0.052, standard error SE = 0.023), manufacturer (β = 1.093, SE = 0.227), rock hardness (β = 0.045, SE = 0.018), uniaxial compressive strength (β = 0.027, SE = 0.009), and density (β = -1.135, SE = 0.235). Prevention should include using appropriate machines to handle rock hardness, rock uniaxial compressive strength and density, and seat improvement using ergonomic approaches such as including a suspension system.

  2. Whole-body Vibration Exposure of Drill Operators in Iron Ore Mines and Role of Machine-Related, Individual, and Rock-Related Factors

    PubMed Central

    Chaudhary, Dhanjee Kumar; Bhattacherjee, Ashis; Patra, Aditya Kumar; Chau, Nearkasen

    2015-01-01

    Background This study aimed to assess the whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure among large blast hole drill machine operators with regard to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recommended threshold values and its association with machine- and rock-related factors and workers' individual characteristics. Methods The study population included 28 drill machine operators who had worked in four opencast iron ore mines in eastern India. The study protocol comprised the following: measurements of WBV exposure [frequency weighted root mean square (RMS) acceleration (m/s2)], machine-related data (manufacturer of machine, age of machine, seat height, thickness, and rest height) collected from mine management offices, measurements of rock hardness, uniaxial compressive strength and density, and workers' characteristics via face-to-face interviews. Results More than 90% of the operators were exposed to a higher level WBV than the ISO upper limit and only 3.6% between the lower and upper limits, mainly in the vertical axis. Bivariate correlations revealed that potential predictors of total WBV exposure were: machine manufacturer (r = 0.453, p = 0.015), age of drill (r = 0.533, p = 0.003), and hardness of rock (r = 0.561, p = 0.002). The stepwise multiple regression model revealed that the potential predictors are age of operator (regression coefficient β = −0.052, standard error SE = 0.023), manufacturer (β = 1.093, SE = 0.227), rock hardness (β = 0.045, SE = 0.018), uniaxial compressive strength (β = 0.027, SE = 0.009), and density (β = –1.135, SE = 0.235). Conclusion Prevention should include using appropriate machines to handle rock hardness, rock uniaxial compressive strength and density, and seat improvement using ergonomic approaches such as including a suspension system. PMID:26929838

  3. Wind power generation and dispatch in competitive power markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abreu, Lisias

    Wind energy is currently the fastest growing type of renewable energy. The main motivation is led by more strict emission constraints and higher fuel prices. In addition, recent developments in wind turbine technology and financial incentives have made wind energy technically and economically viable almost anywhere. In restructured power systems, reliable and economical operation of power systems are the two main objectives for the ISO. The ability to control the output of wind turbines is limited and the capacity of a wind farm changes according to wind speeds. Since this type of generation has no production costs, all production is taken by the system. Although, insufficient operational planning of power systems considering wind generation could result in higher system operation costs and off-peak transmission congestions. In addition, a GENCO can participate in short-term power markets in restructured power systems. The goal of a GENCO is to sell energy in such a way that would maximize its profitability. However, due to market price fluctuations and wind forecasting errors, it is essential for the wind GENCO to keep its financial risk at an acceptable level when constituting market bidding strategies. This dissertation discusses assumptions, functions, and methodologies that optimize short-term operations of power systems considering wind energy, and that optimize bidding strategies for wind producers in short-term markets. This dissertation also discusses uncertainties associated with electricity market environment and wind power forecasting that can expose market participants to a significant risk level when managing the tradeoff between profitability and risk.

  4. Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of a fluorinated resin monomer with low water sorption.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xue; Wang, Zengyao; Zhao, Chengji; Bu, Wenhuan; Zhang, Yurong; Na, Hui

    2018-01-01

    A fluorinated acrylate monomer (4-TF-PQEA) without BPA (bisphenol-A) structure was synthesized and mixed with triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) to used as dental resin system in order to achieve lower water sorption and reduce human exposure to BPA derivatives. Double bond conversion (DC) was measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Water sorption (WS), water solution (WL) and depth of cure (DOC) were evaluated according to ISO 4049:2009. Water contact angle (CA) was measured using contact angle analyzer. Polymerization shrinkage (PS) was evaluated according to the Archimedes' principle and ISO 17304:2013. Flexural strength (FS) and flexural modulus (FM) were measured by three-point bending test with a universal testing machine according to ISO 4049:2009. Comprehensive strength (CS) and vickers microhardness (VM) were also investigated. Thermal stability test was measure by Thermogravimetric analyzer. Cytotoxicity of three resin systems was tested through MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromid) cytotoxicity method according to the ISO 10993-5:2009. Bisphenol-A glycidyl dimethacrylate (Bis-GMA)/ TEGDMA resin system was used as a control. The results show that 4-TF-PQEA/TEGDMA resin system had lower PS, lower WS and higher DC values than those of Bis-GMA/TEGDMA resin system except some mechanical properties, such as FS, FM and CS. Moreover, properties of other 4-TF-PQEA-containing resin systems were also comparable with those of Bis-GMA/TEGDMA resin system. In particular, the overall performance of resin system consisted of 4-TF-PQEA/Bis-GMA/TEGDMA is optimized when the mixture ratio is 30/40/30(wt/wt/wt). Therefore, the 4-TF-PQEA has potential to be used as resin monomer for dental resin composites to achieve lower water sorption. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Conformance testing strategies for DICOM protocols in a heterogenous communications system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meyer, Ralph; Hewett, Andrew J.; Cordonnier, Emmanuel; Piqueras, Joachim; Jensch, Peter F.

    1995-05-01

    The goal of the DICOM standard is to define a standard network interface and data model for imaging devices from various vendors. It shall facilitate the development and integration of information systems and picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) in a networked environment. Current activities in Oldenburg, Germany include projects to establish cooperative work applications for radiological purposes, comprising (joined) text, data, signal and image communications, based on narrowband ISDN and ATM communication for regional and Pan European applications. In such a growing and constantly changing environment it is vital to have a solid and implementable plan to bring standards in operation. A communication standard alone cannot ensure interoperability between different vendor implementations. Even DICOM does not specify implementation-specific requirements nor does it specify a testing procedure to assess an implementation's conformance to the standard. The conformance statements defined in the DICOM standard only allow a user to determine which optional components are supported by the implementation. The goal of our work is to build a conformance test suite for DICOM. Conformance testing can aid to simplify and solve problems with multivendor systems. It will check a vendor's implementation against the DICOM standard and state the found subset of functionality. The test suite will be built in respect to the ISO 9646 Standard (OSI-Conformance Testing Methodology and Framework) which is a standard devoted to the subject of conformance testing implementations of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards. For our heterogeneous communication environments we must also consider ISO 9000 - 9004 (quality management and quality assurance) to give the users the confidence in evolving applications.

  6. Role of a quality management system in improving patient safety - laboratory aspects.

    PubMed

    Allen, Lynn C

    2013-09-01

    The aim of this study is to describe how implementation of a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 15189 enhances patient safety. A literature review showed that several European hospitals implemented a QMS based on ISO 9001 and assessed the impact on patient safety. An Internet search showed that problems affecting patient safety have occurred in a number of laboratories across Canada. The requirements of a QMS based on ISO 15189 are outlined, and the impact of the implementation of each requirement on patient safety is summarized. The Quality Management Program - Laboratory Services in Ontario is briefly described, and the experience of Ontario laboratories with Ontario Laboratory Accreditation, based on ISO 15189, is outlined. Several hospitals that implemented ISO 9001 reported either a positive impact or no impact on patient safety. Patient safety problems in Canadian laboratories are described. Implementation of each requirement of the QMS can be seen to have a positive effect on patient safety. Average laboratory conformance on Ontario Laboratory Accreditation is very high, and laboratories must address and resolve any nonconformities. Other standards, practices, and quality requirements may also contribute to patient safety. Implementation of a QMS based on ISO 15189 provides a solid foundation for quality in the laboratory and enhances patient safety. It helps to prevent patient safety issues; when such issues do occur, effective processes are in place for investigation and resolution. Patient safety problems in Canadian laboratories might have been prevented had effective QMSs been in place. Ontario Laboratory Accreditation has had a positive impact on quality in Ontario laboratories. Copyright © 2013 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Utilization of optical tracking to validate a software-driven isocentric approach to robotic couch movements for proton radiotherapy.

    PubMed

    Hsi, Wen C; Law, Aaron; Schreuder, Andreas N; Zeidan, Omar A

    2014-08-01

    An optical tracking and positioning system (OTPS) was developed to validate the software-driven isocentric (SDI) approach to control the six-degrees-of-freedom movement of a robotic couch. The SDI approach to movements rotating around a predefined isocenter, referred to as a GeoIso, instead of a mechanical pivot point was developed by the robot automation industry. With robotic couch-sag corrections for weight load in a traditional SDI approach, movements could be accurately executed for a GeoIso located within a 500 mm cubic volume on the couch for treatments. The accuracy of SDI movement was investigated using the OTPS. The GeoIso was assumed to align with the proton beam isocenter (RadIso) for gantry at the reference angle. However, the misalignment between GeoIso and RadIso was quantitatively investigated by measuring the displacements at various couch angles for a target placed at the RadIso at an initial couch angle. When circular target displacements occur on a plane, a relative isocenter shift (RIS) correction could be applied in the SDI movement to minimize target displacements. Target displacements at a fixed gantry angle without and with RIS correction were measured for 12 robotic couches. Target displacements for various gantry angles were performed on three couches in gantry rooms to study the gantry-induced RadIso shift. The RIS correction can also be applied for the RadIso shift. A new SDI approach incorporating the RIS correction with the couch sag is described in this study. In parallel, the accuracy of SDI translation movements for various weight loads of patients on the couch was investigated during positioning of patients for proton prostate treatments. For a fixed gantry angle, measured target displacements without RIS correction for couch rotations in the horizontal plane varied from 4 to 20 mm. However, measured displacements perpendicular to couch rotation plane were about 2 mm for all couches. Extracted misalignments of GeoIso and RadIso in the horizontal plane were about 10 mm for one couch and within 3 mm for the rest of couches. After applying the RIS correction, the residual target displacements for couch rotations were within 0.5 mm to RadIso for all couches. For various gantry angles, measured target location for each angle was within 0.5 mm to its excepted location by the preset RadIso shift. Measured target displacements for ± 30° of couch rotations were within 0.5 mm for gantry angles at 0° and 180°. Overall, nearly 85% of couch movements were within 0.5 mm in the horizontal plane and 0.7 mm vector distance from required displacements. The authors present an optical tracking methodology to quantify for software-driven isocentric movements of robotic couches. By applying proper RIS correction for misaligned GeoIso and RadIso for each couch, and the RadIso shifts for a moving gantry, residual target displacements for isocentric couch movements around the actual RadIso can be reduced to submillimeter tolerance.

  8. Utilization of optical tracking to validate a software-driven isocentric approach to robotic couch movements for proton radiotherapy

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

    Hsi, Wen C., E-mail: Wen.Hsi@Mclaren.org, E-mail: Wenchien.hsi@sphic.org.cn; Zeidan, Omar A., E-mail: omar.zeidan@orlandohealth.com; Law, Aaron

    Purpose: An optical tracking and positioning system (OTPS) was developed to validate the software-driven isocentric (SDI) approach to control the six-degrees-of-freedom movement of a robotic couch. Methods: The SDI approach to movements rotating around a predefined isocenter, referred to as a GeoIso, instead of a mechanical pivot point was developed by the robot automation industry. With robotic couch-sag corrections for weight load in a traditional SDI approach, movements could be accurately executed for a GeoIso located within a 500 mm cubic volume on the couch for treatments. The accuracy of SDI movement was investigated using the OTPS. The GeoIso wasmore » assumed to align with the proton beam isocenter (RadIso) for gantry at the reference angle. However, the misalignment between GeoIso and RadIso was quantitatively investigated by measuring the displacements at various couch angles for a target placed at the RadIso at an initial couch angle. When circular target displacements occur on a plane, a relative isocenter shift (RIS) correction could be applied in the SDI movement to minimize target displacements. Target displacements at a fixed gantry angle without and with RIS correction were measured for 12 robotic couches. Target displacements for various gantry angles were performed on three couches in gantry rooms to study the gantry-induced RadIso shift. The RIS correction can also be applied for the RadIso shift. A new SDI approach incorporating the RIS correction with the couch sag is described in this study. In parallel, the accuracy of SDI translation movements for various weight loads of patients on the couch was investigated during positioning of patients for proton prostate treatments. Results: For a fixed gantry angle, measured target displacements without RIS correction for couch rotations in the horizontal plane varied from 4 to 20 mm. However, measured displacements perpendicular to couch rotation plane were about 2 mm for all couches. Extracted misalignments of GeoIso and RadIso in the horizontal plane were about 10 mm for one couch and within 3 mm for the rest of couches. After applying the RIS correction, the residual target displacements for couch rotations were within 0.5 mm to RadIso for all couches. For various gantry angles, measured target location for each angle was within 0.5 mm to its excepted location by the preset RadIso shift. Measured target displacements for ±30° of couch rotations were within 0.5 mm for gantry angles at 0° and 180°. Overall, nearly 85% of couch movements were within 0.5 mm in the horizontal plane and 0.7 mm vector distance from required displacements. Conclusions: The authors present an optical tracking methodology to quantify for software-driven isocentric movements of robotic couches. By applying proper RIS correction for misaligned GeoIso and RadIso for each couch, and the RadIso shifts for a moving gantry, residual target displacements for isocentric couch movements around the actual RadIso can be reduced to submillimeter tolerance.« less

  9. IEEE Std 730 Software Quality Assurance: Supporting CMMI-DEV v1.3, Product and Process Quality Assurance

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-05-27

    frameworks 4 CMMI-DEV IEEE / ISO / IEC 15288 / 12207 Quality Assurance ©2011 Walz IEEE Life Cycle Processes & Artifacts • Systems Life Cycle Processes...TAG to ISO TC 176 Quality Management • Quality: ASQ, work experience • Software: three books, consulting, work experience • Systems: Telecom & DoD...and IEEE 730 SQA need to align. The P730 IEEE standards working group has expanded the scope of the SQA process standard to align with IS 12207

  10. Justification of system of assessment of ecological safety degree of housing construction objects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kankhva, Vadim

    2017-10-01

    In article characteristics and properties of competitiveness of housing construction objects are investigated, criteria and points of national systems of ecological building’s standardization are structured, the compliance assessment form on stages of life cycle of a capital construction project is developed. The main indicators of level of ecological safety considering requirements of the international ISO standards 9000 and ISO 14000 and which are based on the basic principles of general quality management (TQM) are presented.

  11. Gloss uniformity measurement update for ISO/IEC 19751

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ng, Yee S.; Cui, Chengwu; Kuo, Chunghui; Maggard, Eric; Mashtare, Dale; Morris, Peter

    2005-01-01

    To address the standardization issues of perceptually based image quality for printing systems, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC28, the standardization committee for office equipment chartered the W1.1 project with the responsibility of drafting a proposal for an international standard for the evaluation of printed image quality1. An ISO draft Standard2, ISO/WD 19751-1, Office Equipment - Appearance-based image quality standards for printers - Part 1: Overview, Procedure and Common Methods, 2004 describes the overview of this multi-part appearance-based image quality standard. One of the ISO 19751 multi-part Standard"s tasks is to address the appearance-based gloss and gloss uniformity issues (in ISO 19751-2). This paper summarizes the current status and technical progress since the last two updates3, 4. In particular, we will be discussion our attempt to include 75 degree gloss (G75) objective measurement5 in differential gloss and within-page gloss uniformity. The result for a round-robin experiment involving objective measurement of differential gloss using G60 and G75 gloss measurement geometry is described. The results for two perceptual-based round-robin experiments relating to haze effect on the perception of gloss, and gloss artifacts (gloss streaks/bands, gloss graininess/mottle) are discussed.

  12. Gloss uniformity measurement update for ISO/IEC 19751

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ng, Yee S.; Cui, Chengwu; Kuo, Chunghui; Maggard, Eric; Mashtare, Dale; Morris, Peter

    2004-10-01

    To address the standardization issues of perceptually based image quality for printing systems, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC28, the standardization committee for office equipment chartered the W1.1 project with the responsibility of drafting a proposal for an international standard for the evaluation of printed image quality1. An ISO draft Standard2, ISO/WD 19751-1, Office Equipment - Appearance-based image quality standards for printers - Part 1: Overview, Procedure and Common Methods, 2004 describes the overview of this multi-part appearance-based image quality standard. One of the ISO 19751 multi-part Standard"s tasks is to address the appearance-based gloss and gloss uniformity issues (in ISO 19751-2). This paper summarizes the current status and technical progress since the last two updates3, 4. In particular, we will be discussion our attempt to include 75 degree gloss (G75) objective measurement5 in differential gloss and within-page gloss uniformity. The result for a round-robin experiment involving objective measurement of differential gloss using G60 and G75 gloss measurement geometry is described. The results for two perceptual-based round-robin experiments relating to haze effect on the perception of gloss, and gloss artifacts (gloss streaks/bands, gloss graininess/mottle) are discussed.

  13. Electromagnetic duality and the electric memory effect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamada, Yuta; Seo, Min-Seok; Shiu, Gary

    2018-02-01

    We study large gauge transformations for soft photons in quantum electrodynamics which, together with the helicity operator, form an ISO(2) algebra. We show that the two non-compact generators of the ISO(2) algebra correspond respectively to the residual gauge symmetry and its electromagnetic dual gauge symmetry that emerge at null infinity. The former is helicity universal (electric in nature) while the latter is helicity distinguishing (magnetic in nature). Thus, the conventional large gauge transformation is electric in nature, and is naturally associated with a scalar potential. We suggest that the electric Aharonov-Bohm effect is a direct measure for the electromagnetic memory arising from large gauge transformations.

  14. New IEEE standard enables data collection for medical applications.

    PubMed

    Kennelly, R J; Wittenber, J

    1994-01-01

    The IEEE has gone to ballot on a "Standard for Medical Device Communications", IEEE P1073. The lower layer, hardware portions of the standard are expected to be approved by the IEEE Standards Board at their December 11-13, 1994 meeting. Other portions of the standard are in the initial stages of the IEEE ballot process. The intent of the standard is to allow hospitals and other users to interface medical electronic devices to host computer systems in a standard, interchangeable manner. The standard is optimized for acute care environments such as ICU's, operating rooms, and emergency rooms. [1] IEEE General Committee and Subcommittee work has been on-going since 1984. Significant amounts of work have been done to discover and meet the needs of the patient care setting. Surveys performed in 1989 identified the following four key user requirements for medical device communications: 1) Frequent reconfiguration of the network. 2) Allow "plug and play" operation by users. 3) Associate devices with a specific bed and patient. 4) Support a wide range of hospital computer system topologies. Additionally, the most critical difference in the acute care setting is patient safety, which has an overall effect on the standard. The standard that went to ballot meets these requirements. The standard is based on existing ISO standards. P1073 is compliant with the OSI seven layer model. P1073 specifies the entire communication stack, from object-oriented software to hospital unique connectors. The standard will be able to be put forward as a true international standard, much in the way that the IEEE 802.x family of standards (like Ethernet) were presented as draft ISO standards.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  15. Improving Histopathology Laboratory Productivity: Process Consultancy and A3 Problem Solving.

    PubMed

    Yörükoğlu, Kutsal; Özer, Erdener; Alptekin, Birsen; Öcal, Cem

    2017-01-01

    The ISO 17020 quality program has been run in our pathology laboratory for four years to establish an action plan for correction and prevention of identified errors. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the errors that we could not identify through ISO 17020 and/or solve by means of process consulting. Process consulting is carefully intervening in a group or team to help it to accomplish its goals. The A3 problem solving process was run under the leadership of a 'workflow, IT and consultancy manager'. An action team was established consisting of technical staff. A root cause analysis was applied for target conditions, and the 6-S method was implemented for solution proposals. Applicable proposals were activated and the results were rated by six-sigma analysis. Non-applicable proposals were reported to the laboratory administrator. A mislabelling error was the most complained issue triggering all pre-analytical errors. There were 21 non-value added steps grouped in 8 main targets on the fish bone graphic (transporting, recording, moving, individual, waiting, over-processing, over-transaction and errors). Unnecessary redundant requests, missing slides, archiving issues, redundant activities, and mislabelling errors were proposed to be solved by improving visibility and fixing spaghetti problems. Spatial re-organization, organizational marking, re-defining some operations, and labeling activities raised the six sigma score from 24% to 68% for all phases. Operational transactions such as implementation of a pathology laboratory system was suggested for long-term improvement. Laboratory management is a complex process. Quality control is an effective method to improve productivity. Systematic checking in a quality program may not always find and/or solve the problems. External observation may reveal crucial indicators about the system failures providing very simple solutions.

  16. Impact of Training and Mentoring Activities Which are Given to The Level of Interest And Capability Industrial Target Group In Adopting SNI ISO 50001

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apriyanti, Dwi; Nugrahanto, Aris Ida; Shrestha, Sanjaya

    2018-02-01

    Energy consumption in the industrial sector in Indonesia is increasing as a result of population and economic growth. The government is aware of this and seeks the answer to improve industrial competitiveness and increase energy security through energy efficiency programs. Some industries have implemented energy efficiency programs as ad-hoc, but have not applied systematically, so the results are not optimal. Through the cooperation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), there has been training and mentoring activities for industry on Energy Management System (EnMS) based on SNI ISO 50001. Based on the results of identification through survey conducted to 226 industry that has attended the training and 64 industries that have been trained and received assistance, obtained data that 45% of industries have fully adopted EnMS SNI ISO 50001, 17% industry has adopted a part of EnMS SNI ISO 50001 and 38% industry does not adopt EnMS SNI ISO 50001 altogether.

  17. A study of compliance with environmental regulations of ISO 14001 certified companies in Korea.

    PubMed

    Kwon, Dong-Myung; Seo, Min-Seok; Seo, Yong-Chil

    2002-08-01

    This article investigates the impact of ISO 14001 certification on the compliance with environmental regulations by Korean companies. The impact of ISO 14001 certification on the industry was studied through a questionnaire survey and the compliance of environmental regulations were investigated using government-released data. The motivation for an environment management system was a result of the current international situation and the need to maintain fair competition. ISO 14001 certification has been recognized as an essential strategy for industrial competition and to improve company/product recognition. The certified and non-certified companies' environmental regulation violation (ERV) rates were 3.5% and 11.6%, respectively, in 1997. In 1998, the ERV rate had an eight-time difference with 1.0% and 8.5% for certified and non-certified companies, respectively. Annual regulation violation rates were reduced from 3.5% in 1997 to 1.0% in 1998 with certified companies and from 11.6% in 1997 to 8.5% in 1998 with their non-certified counterparts, respectively. ISO 14001 certified companies showed more improvement than non-certified companies in regards to environmental performance.

  18. 30 CFR 250.1900 - Must I have a SEMS program?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities (API RP 75) (as incorporated by... conflicts between the requirements of this subpart and API RP 75; COS-2-01, COS-2-03, or COS-2-04; or ISO...

  19. 30 CFR 250.1900 - Must I have a SEMS program?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities (API RP 75) (as incorporated by... conflicts between the requirements of this subpart and API RP 75; COS-2-01, COS-2-03, or COS-2-04; or ISO...

  20. Analysis of the Environmental Management System based on ISO 14001 on the American continent.

    PubMed

    Neves, Fábio de Oliveira; Salgado, Eduardo G; Beijo, Luiz A

    2017-09-01

    The American continent is in broad economic and industrial development. Consequently, a more detailed discussion of the impacts generated by such development is needed. Moreover, there is an increase in the number of ISO 14001 certificates issued to this continent. Given the above, no studies were found that bridge the gap to identify the influence of different factors on ISO 14001 in the Americas. Thus, this article has as its main aim to check which economic, environmental and cultural factors have influence on ISO 14001 Certification in the American Continent. The data were collected in the ISO Survey, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and International Energy Agency. Among the countries of that continent, thirteen were analyzed and only two did not show the economic factors as the influence factor in the multiple regression models fitted with Brazil and the United State. In these models, all presented environmental factors as influencing factors. Only in Brazil the index HDI presented as cultural factor in multiple regression model fitted. The economic factors: Gross Domestic Product and exports of goods and services and environmental: Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) and fossil fuel consumption were the most influential in ISO 14001 certification. Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia and the United States were countries that had factors dependent on each other, featuring the environmental marketing. Briefly, this study brings up several implications: to the academy, with the proposal of new concepts and guidance on the factors that assist in ISO 14001 certification in the American Continent. Additionally, taking into account the industry, the factors serve as efficiency parameters for the implementation of ISO 14001 standard, and for the Government to improve through factors that do not fit in multiple regression models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Typical whole body vibration exposure magnitudes encountered in the open pit mining industry.

    PubMed

    Howard, Bryan; Sesek, Richard; Bloswick, Don

    2009-01-01

    According to recent research, a causal link has been established between occupational exposure to whole body vibration and an increased occurrence of low back pain. To aid in the further development of an in-house health and safety program for a large open pit mining facility interested in reducing back pain among its operators, whole body vibration magnitudes were characterized for a range of jobs. Specifically, thirty-five individual jobs from five different areas across the facility were evaluated for tri-axial acceleration levels during normal operating conditions. Tri-axial acceleration magnitudes were categorized into thirteen job groups. Job groups were ranked according to exposure and compared to the ISO 2631-1 standard for health risk assessment. Three of the thirteen job groups produced tri-axial acceleration magnitudes below the ISO 2631-1 low/moderate health caution limit for a twelve hour exposure. Six of the thirteen job groups produced exposures within the moderate health risk range. Four job groups were found to subject operators to WBV acceleration magnitudes above the moderate/high health caution limit.

  2. Translation Initiation Factor AteIF(iso)4E Is Involved in Selective mRNA Translation in Arabidopsis Thaliana Seedlings

    PubMed Central

    Martínez-Silva, Ana Valeria; Aguirre-Martínez, César; Flores-Tinoco, Carlos E.; Alejandri-Ramírez, Naholi D.; Dinkova, Tzvetanka D.

    2012-01-01

    One of the most regulated steps of translation initiation is the recruitment of mRNA by the translation machinery. In eukaryotes, this step is mediated by the 5′end cap-binding factor eIF4E bound to the bridge protein eIF4G and forming the eIF4F complex. In plants, different isoforms of eIF4E and eIF4G form the antigenically distinct eIF4F and eIF(iso)4F complexes proposed to mediate selective translation. Using a microarray analysis of polyribosome- and non-polyribosome-purified mRNAs from 15 day-old Arabidopsis thaliana wild type [WT] and eIF(iso)4E knockout mutant [(iso)4E-1] seedlings we found 79 transcripts shifted from polyribosomes toward non-polyribosomes, and 47 mRNAs with the opposite behavior in the knockout mutant. The translationally decreased mRNAs were overrepresented in root-preferentially expressed genes and proteins from the endomembrane system, including several transporters such as the phosphate transporter PHOSPHATE1 (PHO1), Sucrose transporter 3 (SUC3), ABC transporter-like with ATPase activity (MRP11) and five electron transporters, as well as signal transduction-, protein modification- and transcription-related proteins. Under normal growth conditions, eIF(iso)4E expression under the constitutive promoter 35 S enhanced the polyribosomal recruitment of PHO1 supporting its translational preference for eIF(iso)4E. Furthermore, under phosphate deficiency, the PHO1 protein increased in the eIF(iso)4E overexpressing plants and decreased in the knockout mutant as compared to wild type. In addition, the knockout mutant had larger root, whereas the 35 S directed expression of eIF(iso)4E caused shorter root under normal growth conditions, but not under phosphate deficiency. These results indicate that selective translation mediated by eIF(iso)4E is relevant for Arabidopsis root development under normal growth conditions. PMID:22363683

  3. USGIN ISO metadata profile

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richard, S. M.

    2011-12-01

    The USGIN project has drafted and is using a specification for use of ISO 19115/19/39 metadata, recommendations for simple metadata content, and a proposal for a URI scheme to identify resources using resolvable http URI's(see http://lab.usgin.org/usgin-profiles). The principal target use case is a catalog in which resources can be registered and described by data providers for discovery by users. We are currently using the ESRI Geoportal (Open Source), with configuration files for the USGIN profile. The metadata offered by the catalog must provide sufficient content to guide search engines to locate requested resources, to describe the resource content, provenance, and quality so users can determine if the resource will serve for intended usage, and finally to enable human users and sofware clients to obtain or access the resource. In order to achieve an operational federated catalog system, provisions in the ISO specification must be restricted and usage clarified to reduce the heterogeneity of 'standard' metadata and service implementations such that a single client can search against different catalogs, and the metadata returned by catalogs can be parsed reliably to locate required information. Usage of the complex ISO 19139 XML schema allows for a great deal of structured metadata content, but the heterogenity in approaches to content encoding has hampered development of sophisticated client software that can take advantage of the rich metadata; the lack of such clients in turn reduces motivation for metadata producers to produce content-rich metadata. If the only significant use of the detailed, structured metadata is to format into text for people to read, then the detailed information could be put in free text elements and be just as useful. In order for complex metadata encoding and content to be useful, there must be clear and unambiguous conventions on the encoding that are utilized by the community that wishes to take advantage of advanced metadata content. The use cases for the detailed content must be well understood, and the degree of metadata complexity should be determined by requirements for those use cases. The ISO standard provides sufficient flexibility that relatively simple metadata records can be created that will serve for text-indexed search/discovery, resource evaluation by a user reading text content from the metadata, and access to the resource via http, ftp, or well-known service protocols (e.g. Thredds; OGC WMS, WFS, WCS).

  4. Underdrain Systems for Large Structures Placed Below the Groundwater Table.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-08-01

    460 -MODE 177 25. 76.2322 Vs 62.666 -moDE 176 x s 76.6667 Vs a 61.22 DoDE ISO 2. 73.0000 Vs s0.o 0 Done IS& , 62.0000 Vs 0.0000 mov DOSE lE Es 2.0000...426 166 iI 017 166150 161 40 .00006600 .200006400 0. 4 141 ISO 116 166 460 11 143 142 .200006600 .200006600 0. 4 142 III IGO Ii 162 152 145 166...200006*00 .20000600 0. 66 146 152 162 163 166 153 147 165 .00006600 .200006600 0. 46 166 16 171 172 172 1016111 ISO .2000000 .200006600 0. 4• 10 II ?? T

  5. Manufacturer’s Catalog Data of Automation and Surveillance Systems for Utility Plants at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Volume 2

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1975-04-30

    JH’iA «4.1 UP SINGLE SYSTEM LOG ISO BLU-ELtll-ELECTRIC BEMANO PBOFIU 01EN 110MHH C’S J538DOI JPK ". t s MW ObPW 4...55 Start-Stop Programs 55 1 .xpansion Capacity 27000 points with added channels and memory tNVIRONMHNTAL: +32 to I05F. 95’? RH maximum POWBR...JC/80 System remedies this deficiency since data transmitted over telephone lines is limited to exceptions" B^T "I V. J 13 iso * i it is

  6. A New, Wireless-enabled Blood Glucose Monitoring System That Links to a Smart Mobile Device: Accuracy and User Performance Evaluation.

    PubMed

    Christiansen, Mark; Greene, Carmine; Pardo, Scott; Warchal-Windham, Mary Ellen; Harrison, Bern; Morin, Robert; Bailey, Timothy S

    2017-05-01

    These studies investigated the accuracy of the new Contour ® Next ONE blood glucose monitoring system (BGMS) that is designed to sync with the Contour™ Diabetes app on a smartphone or tablet. A laboratory study tested fingertip capillary blood samples from 100 subjects in duplicate using 3 test strip lots, based on ISO 15197:2013 Section 6.3 analytical accuracy standards. A clinical study assessed accuracy per ISO 15197:2013 Section 8 criteria. Subjects with (n = 333) or without (n = 43) diabetes and who had not used the BGMS previously were enrolled. Each subject performed a self-test using the BGMS, which was repeated by a site staff member. Alternate site tests and venipunctures were also performed for analysis. A questionnaire was provided to assess user feedback on ease of use. In the laboratory study, 100% (600/600) of combined results for all 3 test strip lots met ISO 15197:2013 Section 6.3 accuracy criteria. In the clinical study, among subjects with diabetes, 99.4% (327/329) of subject self-test results, 99.7% (331/332) of results obtained by study staff, 97.2% (309/318) of subject palm results, and 100% (330/330) of venous results met ISO 15197:2013 Section 8 accuracy criteria. Moreover, 97.6% (321/329) of subject self-test results were within ±10 mg/dl (±0.6 mmol/L) or ±10% of the YSI reference result. Questionnaire results indicated that most subjects considered the system easy to use. The BGMS exceeded ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria in the laboratory and in a clinical setting.

  7. Revision of ISO 15859 Aerospace Fluid Standards

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Greene, Benjamin; McClure, Mark B.

    2012-01-01

    A detailed review of ISO 15859 "Space Systems - Fluid Characteristics, Sampling and Test Methods" was performed An approach to revising Parts 1-9 and 11-13 was developed and concurred by the NASA Technical Standards Program Office. The approach was to align them with the highest level source documents, and not to program-specific requirements. The updated documents were prepared and presented.

  8. Data Processing and Measuring System for Studying the Cooling Capacity of Quenchants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsaplin, S. V.; Bolychev, S. A.; Shemanaev, D. V.; Mishagin, B. S.

    2014-09-01

    A domestically produced device for determining the cooling capacity of quenchants is developed on the basis of the ISO 9001, ISO 9950, ASTM D6200-01, and ASTM D6482-01 standards. Acomparison of the results of a determination of the parameters of cooling environments obtained by means of the present device and a foreign counterpart is carried out.

  9. Quality, Safety and Patient Centered Care--A Dream Come True in the Mountains of Northern Pakistan. An Award winning project of "2015 Quality, Safety & Patient Centered Care Award" at, Chicago USA.

    PubMed

    Jassani, Kashif; Essani, Rozina Roshan; Abbas, Syed Nadeem Husain

    2016-01-01

    Northern Pakistan remains very challenging terrain due to harsh weather all year round presenting an infrastructura, human resource and supply chain challenge of its own. Many times the facility had to move to different locations on emergency and ad hoc basis due to landslides, earthquakes affecting continuity of care. Providing quality healthcare to often resource constraint hard-to-reach areas has always been AKHS,P's unique forte. Breaking barriers for catchment population to access quality healthcare, AKHS,P embarked on an initiative of implementing, achieving and sustaining ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System international standards certification. This article shares the unique experience of AKHS,P in achieving and sustaining ISO 9001:2008 International Quality Management System Certification. After untiring efforts and the hard work of ground staff; AKHS,P achieved ISO 9001:2008 International Quality Management System Certification as well as 1st Surveillance Audit which itself proved that AKHS,P sustained quality systems and ensured continuous quality improvement in the Mountains of Northern Pakistan.

  10. Improvement Technology Classification and Composition in Multimodel Environments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-03-01

    ISO 15504, ISO 12207 , and others COBIT, ITIL, SOX, and...Practice Elements CMMI PAs and PLA ISO 15504 and ISO 12207 COBIT EFQM ISO 9001 Improvement Method Elements Change management techniques: IDEAL and Six...others EFQM and others ISO 9001, ISO 61508, ISO 16949, and others Improvement Method Elements Change management techniques: IDEAL, Six Sigma,

  11. The Command and Control Reference Model for modeling, simulations, and technology applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mayk, Israel

    1994-01-01

    The C2RM provides a framework for the evolution of a coordinated and detailed definition of a command and control (C2) discipline. The C2RM embodies an integrated multidisciplinary approach. It is intended to be complete and self-consistent for the main levels of abstractions encountered in models, simulations, operational applications, functional descriptions, paradigms and metaphors of C2. The scope of the C2RM embraces C2 using all key physical and logical interactions associated with C2 systems. It is concerned with interactions, involving not only communications (e.g., radios), but transportations (e.g., vehicles), identifications (e.g., sensors), and inflictions (e.g., weapons), which take place between resources of the same, friendly, hostile or neutral C2 units. High levels of abstractions of user requirements for C2 across the broad spectrum of military and civil domains have led to the development of the C2RM. It applies to all phases of system acquisition from the laboratory to the field and from conceptualization to realization. The C2RM is based upon generic and analog extensions to the International Standards Organization (ISO) open system interconnection (OSI) reference model (RM) which go far beyond the scope of the ISO OSI RM. The major theme, however, of layering services is preserved to facilitate understanding, reuse of design, implementation, and interoperability to the maximum degree possible with available C2 technology.

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

    Johnson, Jay Tillay

    For three years, Sandia National Laboratories, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign investigated a smart grid vision in which renewable-centric Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) provided ancillary services with interoperable distributed energy resources (DER). This team researched, designed, built, and evaluated real-time VPP designs incorporating DER forecasting, stochastic optimization, controls, and cyber security to construct a system capable of delivering reliable ancillary services, which have been traditionally provided by large power plants or other dedicated equipment. VPPs have become possible through an evolving landscape of state and national interconnection standards, which now require DER to include grid-supportmore » functionality and communications capabilities. This makes it possible for third party aggregators to provide a range of critical grid services such as voltage regulation, frequency regulation, and contingency reserves to grid operators. This paradigm (a) enables renewable energy, demand response, and energy storage to participate in grid operations and provide grid services, (b) improves grid reliability by providing additional operating reserves for utilities, independent system operators (ISOs), and regional transmission organization (RTOs), and (c) removes renewable energy high-penetration barriers by providing services with photovoltaics and wind resources that traditionally were the jobs of thermal generators. Therefore, it is believed VPP deployment will have far-reaching positive consequences for grid operations and may provide a robust pathway to high penetrations of renewables on US power systems. In this report, we design VPPs to provide a range of grid-support services and demonstrate one VPP which simultaneously provides bulk-system energy and ancillary reserves.« less

  13. Transformation-Toughened Silicon Nitride

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-08-01

    of pores, could be eliminated by iso - statically pressing the green flexure test bars after the burnout operation and before the sintering...Mehrotra Kennametal, Inc. PO Box 639 Greensburg, PA 15601 Joseph J. Meindl Reynolds International, Inc. PO Box 27002 6603 West Broad Street Richmond

  14. Components of laboratory accreditation.

    PubMed

    Royal, P D

    1995-12-01

    Accreditation or certification is a recognition given to an operation or product that has been evaluated against a standard; be it regulatory or voluntary. The purpose of accreditation is to provide the consumer with a level of confidence in the quality of operation (process) and the product of an organization. Environmental Protection Agency/OCM has proposed the development of an accreditation program under National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) laboratories as a supplement to the current program. This proposal was the result of the Inspector General Office reports that identified weaknesses in the current operation. Several accreditation programs can be evaluated and common components identified when proposing a structure for accrediting a GLP system. An understanding of these components is useful in building that structure. Internationally accepted accreditation programs provide a template for building a U.S. GLP accreditation program. This presentation will discuss the traditional structure of accreditation as presented in the Organization of Economic Cooperative Development/GLP program, ISO-9000 Accreditation and ISO/IEC Guide 25 Standard, and the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories, which has a biological component. Most accreditation programs are managed by a recognized third party, either privately or with government oversight. Common components often include a formal review of required credentials to evaluate organizational structure, a site visit to evaluate the facility, and a performance evaluation to assess technical competence. Laboratory performance is measured against written standards and scored. A formal report is then sent to the laboratory indicating accreditation status. Usually, there is a scheduled reevaluation built into the program. Fee structures vary considerably and will need to be examined closely when building a GLP program.

  15. Ab initio calculation of 1H, 17O, 27Al and 29Si NMR parameters, vibrational frequencies and bonding energetics in hydrous silica and Na-aluminosilicate glasses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kubicki, J. D.; Sykes, D. G.

    2004-10-01

    Ab initio, molecular orbital (MO) calculations were performed on model systems of SiO 2, NaAlSi 3O 8 (albite), H 2O-SiO 2 and H 2O-NaAlSi 3O 8 glasses. Model nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) isotropic chemical shifts (δ iso) for 1H, 17O, 27Al and 29Si are consistent with experimental data for the SiO 2, NaAlSi 3O 8, H 2O-SiO 2 systems where structural interpretations of the NMR peak assignments are accepted. For H 2O-NaSi 3AlO 8 glass, controversy has surrounded the interpretation of NMR and infrared (IR) spectra. Calculated δ iso1H, δ iso17O, δ iso27Al and δ iso29Si are consistent with the interpretation of Kohn et al. (1992) that Si-(OH)-Al linkages are responsible for the observed peaks in hydrous Na-aluminosilicate glasses. In addition, a theoretical vibrational frequency associated with the Kohn et al. (1992) model agrees well with the observed shoulder near 900 cm -1 in the IR and Raman spectra of hydrous albite glasses. MO calculations suggest that breaking this Si-(OH)-Al linkage requires ˜+56 to +82 kJ/mol which is comparable to the activation energies for viscous flow in hydrous aluminosilicate melts.

  16. Drivers and challenges for implementing ISO 14001 environmental management systems in an emerging Gulf Arab country.

    PubMed

    Waxin, Marie-France; Knuteson, Sandra L; Bartholomew, Aaron

    2017-11-13

    Worldwide, ISO 14001 certification for organizations has become the norm, but the Arab world accounts for an insignificant portion of all the certified organizations. There is a dearth of research on environmental management systems (EMS) in Arab and emerging countries and in public organizations. The objectives of this research are to: (1) examine the key drivers and challenges related to implementation of ISO 14001 certified EMS in the United Arab Emirates, an emerging Arab country and (2) compare and contrast these drivers and challenges between private and public organizations. We adopt an explorative, qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with environmental managers in 11 organizations (6 private and 5 public) from different industrial sectors. Drivers of EMS certification were mostly similar between private and public organizations, with some differences. Compliance with regulations and standards, and increasing environmental performance were the main drivers for ISO 14001 certification in both private and public organizations. Commitment to sustainability was more important for public organizations. Cost reduction, competitors, leadership commitment and customers' demands were shared drivers, but more stressed by private organizations. Local community and employees' pressures were reported by private organizations only. The challenges to ISO 14001 implementation were similar for private and public organizations. They were: a lack of qualified human resources, practical challenges associated with implementation, a lack of regulations, a lack of support from management, and high costs. Our findings have implications for managers, academics, consultants, and policy makers in the UAE and other emerging markets.

  17. Integrating the analytic hierarchy process and importance-performance analysis into ISO 14001 framework for assessing campus sustainability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pramono, Susatyo N. W.; Ulkhaq, M. Mujiya; Trianto, Reza; Setiowati, Priska R.; Rasyida, Dyah R.; Setyorini, Nadia A.; Jauhari, Wakhid A.

    2017-11-01

    There has been an international emerging issue in the role of higher education in promoting sustainability due to numerous declarations and commitments related to the need of sustainability in higher education. As a result, there is an increasing number of higher educations that have embarked on projects and initiatives to incorporate sustainability into their systems. Higher educations could implement ISO 14001 framework that is recognized as a guide for an organization which aim to implement an environmental management system to pursue the sustainability. This research tried to attempt an extension of the previous work in assessing campus sustainability using ISO 14001 framework by integrating the analytic hierarchy process and importance-performance analysis (IPA). The inclusion of IPA is because many organizations are constrained by limitations on the resources they have so that it has to be decided how those limited resources are best deployed to attain the goals to be achieved. The self-assessment scores of ISO 14001 would the performance and the AHP result is the importance part of the IPA. A case study is conducted at the Diponegoro University, which is located in Semarang, Indonesia. The result indicates that only two main elements of ISO 14001 are located in the second quadrant of IPA, i.e. high performance and high importance. The result also could be a basis for the university to identify, prioritize, and improve the programs related to sustainability and ensure that valuable resources are allocated in the most effective areas.

  18. Whole-animal imaging with high spatio-temporal resolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chhetri, Raghav; Amat, Fernando; Wan, Yinan; Höckendorf, Burkhard; Lemon, William C.; Keller, Philipp J.

    2016-03-01

    We developed isotropic multiview (IsoView) light-sheet microscopy in order to image fast cellular dynamics, such as cell movements in an entire developing embryo or neuronal activity throughput an entire brain or nervous system, with high resolution in all dimensions, high imaging speeds, good physical coverage and low photo-damage. To achieve high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution at the same time, IsoView microscopy rapidly images large specimens via simultaneous light-sheet illumination and fluorescence detection along four orthogonal directions. In a post-processing step, these four views are then combined by means of high-throughput multiview deconvolution to yield images with a system resolution of ≤ 450 nm in all three dimensions. Using IsoView microscopy, we performed whole-animal functional imaging of Drosophila embryos and larvae at a spatial resolution of 1.1-2.5 μm and at a temporal resolution of 2 Hz for up to 9 hours. We also performed whole-brain functional imaging in larval zebrafish and multicolor imaging of fast cellular dynamics across entire, gastrulating Drosophila embryos with isotropic, sub-cellular resolution. Compared with conventional (spatially anisotropic) light-sheet microscopy, IsoView microscopy improves spatial resolution at least sevenfold and decreases resolution anisotropy at least threefold. Compared with existing high-resolution light-sheet techniques, such as lattice lightsheet microscopy or diSPIM, IsoView microscopy effectively doubles the penetration depth and provides subsecond temporal resolution for specimens 400-fold larger than could previously be imaged.

  19. An approach for the semantic interoperability of ISO EN 13606 and OpenEHR archetypes.

    PubMed

    Martínez-Costa, Catalina; Menárguez-Tortosa, Marcos; Fernández-Breis, Jesualdo Tomás

    2010-10-01

    The communication between health information systems of hospitals and primary care organizations is currently an important challenge to improve the quality of clinical practice and patient safety. However, clinical information is usually distributed among several independent systems that may be syntactically or semantically incompatible. This fact prevents healthcare professionals from accessing clinical information of patients in an understandable and normalized way. In this work, we address the semantic interoperability of two EHR standards: OpenEHR and ISO EN 13606. Both standards follow the dual model approach which distinguishes information and knowledge, this being represented through archetypes. The solution presented here is capable of transforming OpenEHR archetypes into ISO EN 13606 and vice versa by combining Semantic Web and Model-driven Engineering technologies. The resulting software implementation has been tested using publicly available collections of archetypes for both standards.

  20. Performance management of multiple access communication networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Suk; Ray, Asok

    1993-12-01

    This paper focuses on conceptual design, development, and implementation of a performance management tool for computer communication networks to serve large-scale integrated systems. The objective is to improve the network performance in handling various types of messages by on-line adjustment of protocol parameters. The techniques of perturbation analysis of Discrete Event Dynamic Systems (DEDS), stochastic approximation (SA), and learning automata have been used in formulating the algorithm of performance management. The efficacy of the performance management tool has been demonstrated on a network testbed. The conceptual design presented in this paper offers a step forward to bridging the gap between management standards and users' demands for efficient network operations since most standards such as ISO (International Standards Organization) and IEEE address only the architecture, services, and interfaces for network management. The proposed concept of performance management can also be used as a general framework to assist design, operation, and management of various DEDS such as computer integrated manufacturing and battlefield C(sup 3) (Command, Control, and Communications).

  1. Maintaining quality in blood banking.

    PubMed

    Harvey, E; Hewison, C; Nevalainen, D E; Lloyd, H L

    1995-03-01

    Regulation of transfusion or blood banking facilities has followed, rather than preceded the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and today we find, in Europe and the United States, the basic regulations developed for the pharmaceutical industry being extended to blood transfusion centres (BTC)*. In this article we explore the role of voluntary accreditation or registration to quality systems standards such as ISO 9000 and discuss how these can be used to advantage and how these standards can provide a substantial base for meeting legislative requirements. In the UK there is also a voluntary accreditation procedure available for all clinical laboratories, known as Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA). Comparisons between ISO 9000, CPA and other standards are made. We also discuss how voluntary registration, particularly to ISO 9000 can provide an excellent basis for moving into more extensive and progressive Total Quality Management (TQM) programmes which in turn bring a variety of benefits, not least of which is increased staff involvement in your organisation. Experience of the route to quality through voluntary accreditation suggests that external assessment delivers new insights into the organisation that cannot easily be supplanted by internal audit. In Europe legislation relating to pharmaceuticals has steadily increased in scope and in detailed requirements from those set out in the 1965 Directive 65/65/EEC. The legislative framework has steadily increased, bringing plasma and plasma products as well as others such as radiopharmaceuticals, into the product licensing requirements. The progression of legislation seems unlikely to cease and it is debatable how long the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and its Inspectorate will accept that BTCs can operate at a level which is different from that of the majority of pharmaceutical manufacturers. The change in emphasis in legislation particularly in Europe means that harm that is caused to a patient by a blood component will warrant redress. The degree of fault attributed to the producer will in part depend on whether they have met the best available standards at all stages in the preparation of the product. If a Transfusion Service can show that it's operation has external accreditation, particularly to an internationally recognised standard such as ISO 9000 and they can show that staff have been properly trained, that equipment is properly supplied and maintained and that the facility is appropriate to the work being carried out, then the liability that exists when something goes wrong will be reduced.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

  2. Designing and Implementation a Lab Testing Method for Power Cables Insulation Resistance According with STAS 10411-89, SR EN ISO/CEI/17025/2005

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dobra, R.; Pasculescu, D.; Marc, G.; Risteiu, M.; Antonov, A.

    2017-06-01

    Insulation resistance measurement is one of the most important tests required by standards and regulations in terms of electrical safety. Why these tests are is to prevent possible accidents caused by electric shock, damage to equipment or outbreak of fire in normal operating conditions of electrical cables. The insulation resistance experiment refers to the testing of electrical cable insulation, which has a measured resistance that must be below the imposed regulations. Using a microcontroller system data regarding the insulation resistance of the power cables is acquired and with SCADA software the test results are displayed.

  3. Results of the performance verification of the CoaguChek XS system.

    PubMed

    Plesch, W; Wolf, T; Breitenbeck, N; Dikkeschei, L D; Cervero, A; Perez, P L; van den Besselaar, A M H P

    2008-01-01

    This is the first paper reporting a performance verification study of a point-of-care (POC) monitor for prothrombin time (PT) testing according to the requirements given in chapter 8 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17593:2007 standard "Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro medical devices - Requirements for in vitro monitoring systems for self-testing of oral anticoagulant therapy". The monitor under investigation was the new CoaguChek XS system which is designed for use in patient self testing. Its detection principle is based on the amperometric measurement of the thrombin activity generated by starting the coagulation cascade using a recombinant human thromboplastin. The system performance verification study was performed at four study centers using venous and capillary blood samples on two test strip lots. Laboratory testing was performed from corresponding frozen plasma samples with six commercial thromboplastins. Samples from 73 normal donors and 297 patients on oral anticoagulation therapy were collected. Results were assessed using a refined data set of 260 subjects according to the ISO 17593:2007 standard. Each of the two test strip lots met the acceptance criteria of ISO 17593:2007 versus all thromboplastins (bias -0.19 to 0.18 INR; >97% of data within accuracy limits). The coefficient of variation for imprecision of the PT determinations in INR ranged from 2.0% to 3.2% in venous, and from 2.9% to 4.0% in capillary blood testing. Capillary versus venous INR data showed agreement of results with regression lines equal to the line of identity. The new system demonstrated a high level of trueness and accuracy, and low imprecision in INR testing. It can be concluded that the CoaguChek XS system complies with the requirements in chapter 8 of the ISO standard 17593:2007.

  4. Enhancing compliance at Department of Defense facilities: comparison of three environmental audit tools.

    PubMed

    Hepler, Jeff A; Neumann, Cathy

    2003-04-01

    To enhance environmental compliance, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently developed and implemented a standardized environmental audit tool called The Environmental Assessment and Management (TEAM) Guide. Utilization of a common audit tool (TEAM Guide) throughout DOD agencies could be an effective agent of positive change. If, however, the audit tool is inappropriate, environmental compliance at DOD facilities could worsen. Furthermore, existing audit systems such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) Generic Protocol for Conducting Environmental Audits of Federal Facilities and the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO's) Standard 14001, "Environmental Management System Audits," may be abandoned even if they offer significant advantages over TEAM Guide audit tool. Widespread use of TEAM Guide should not take place until thorough and independent evaluation has been performed. The purpose of this paper is to compare DOD's TEAM Guide audit tool with U.S. EPA's Generic Protocol for Conducting Environmental Audits of Federal Facilities and ISO 14001, in order to assess which is most appropriate and effective for DOD facilities, and in particular those operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USACE was selected as a result of one author's recent experience as a district environmental compliance coordinator responsible for the audit mission at this agency. Specific recommendations for enhancing the quality of environmental audits at all DOD facilities also are given.

  5. The most common nonconformities encountered during the assessments of medical laboratories in Hong Kong using ISO 15189 as accreditation criteria

    PubMed Central

    Ho, Bella; Ho, Eric

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: ISO 15189 was a new standard published in 2003 for accrediting medical laboratories. We believe that some requirements of the ISO 15189 standard are especially difficult to meet for majority of laboratories. The aim of this article was to present the frequency of nonconformities to requirements of the ISO 15189 accreditation standard, encountered during the assessments of medical laboratories in Hong Kong, during 2004 to 2009. Materials and methods: Nonconformities reported in assessments based on ISO 15189 were analyzed in two periods – from 2004 to 2006 and in 2009. They are categorized according to the ISO 15189 clause numbers. The performance of 27 laboratories initially assessed between 2004 and 2006 was compared to their performance in the second reassessment in 2009. Results: For management requirements, nonconformities were most frequently reported against quality management system, quality and technical records and document control; whereas for technical requirements, they were reported against examination procedures, equipment, and assuring quality of examination procedures. There was no major difference in types of common nonconformities reported in the two study periods. The total number of nonconformities reported in the second reassessment of 27 laboratories in 2009 was almost halved compared to their initial assessments. The number of significant nonconformities per laboratory significantly decreased (P = 0.023). Conclusion: Similar nonconformities were reported in the two study periods though the frequency encountered decreased. The significant decrease in number of significant nonconformities encountered in the same group of laboratories in the two periods substantiated that ISO15189 contributed to quality improvement of accredited laboratories. PMID:22838190

  6. Integrating nursing diagnostic concepts into the medical entities dictionary using the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnosis.

    PubMed

    Hwang, Jee-In; Cimino, James J; Bakken, Suzanne

    2003-01-01

    The purposes of the study were (1) to evaluate the usefulness of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnoses as a terminology model for defining nursing diagnostic concepts in the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED) and (2) to create the additional hierarchical structures required for integration of nursing diagnostic concepts into the MED. The authors dissected nursing diagnostic terms from two source terminologies (Home Health Care Classification and the Omaha System) into the semantic categories of the ISO model. Consistent with the ISO model, they selected Focus and Judgment as required semantic categories for creating intensional definitions of nursing diagnostic concepts in the MED. Because the MED does not include Focus and Judgment hierarchies, the authors developed them to define the nursing diagnostic concepts. The ISO model was sufficient for dissecting the source terminologies into atomic terms. The authors identified 162 unique focus concepts from the 266 nursing diagnosis terms for inclusion in the Focus hierarchy. For the Judgment hierarchy, the authors precoordinated Judgment and Potentiality instead of using Potentiality as a qualifier of Judgment as in the ISO model. Impairment and Alteration were the most frequently occurring judgments. Nursing care represents a large proportion of health care activities; thus, it is vital that terms used by nurses are integrated into concept-oriented terminologies that provide broad coverage for the domain of health care. This study supports the utility of the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnoses as a facilitator for the integration process.

  7. Integrating Nursing Diagnostic Concepts into the Medical Entities Dictionary Using the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnosis

    PubMed Central

    Hwang, Jee-In; Cimino, James J.; Bakken, Suzanne

    2003-01-01

    Objective: The purposes of the study were (1) to evaluate the usefulness of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnoses as a terminology model for defining nursing diagnostic concepts in the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED) and (2) to create the additional hierarchical structures required for integration of nursing diagnostic concepts into the MED. Design and Measurements: The authors dissected nursing diagnostic terms from two source terminologies (Home Health Care Classification and the Omaha System) into the semantic categories of the ISO model. Consistent with the ISO model, they selected Focus and Judgment as required semantic categories for creating intensional definitions of nursing diagnostic concepts in the MED. Because the MED does not include Focus and Judgment hierarchies, the authors developed them to define the nursing diagnostic concepts. Results: The ISO model was sufficient for dissecting the source terminologies into atomic terms. The authors identified 162 unique focus concepts from the 266 nursing diagnosis terms for inclusion in the Focus hierarchy. For the Judgment hierarchy, the authors precoordinated Judgment and Potentiality instead of using Potentiality as a qualifier of Judgment as in the ISO model. Impairment and Alteration were the most frequently occurring judgments. Conclusions: Nursing care represents a large proportion of health care activities; thus, it is vital that terms used by nurses are integrated into concept-oriented terminologies that provide broad coverage for the domain of health care. This study supports the utility of the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing Diagnoses as a facilitator for the integration process. PMID:12668692

  8. Comparative advantage: the impact of ISO 14001 environmental certification on exports.

    PubMed

    Bellesi, Florencia; Lehrer, David; Tal, Alon

    2005-04-01

    Relative to the enormous acceptance of the ISO 9000 quality standard, the ISO 14001 environmental management certification has been met with only moderate enthusiasm among industrial facilities. The literature on corporate motivation for ISO 14001 participation is relatively modest considering the enormous number of publications reviewing other aspects of its adoption and implementation. It would seem that the present "marketing" package supporting ISO environmental commitments does not seem to offer sufficiently persuasive incentives for increased sales, either domestically or internationally. While researchers assume that a higher export rate of companies is positively associated with higher ISO participation rates, there have been very few empirical studies that support this inference, and conclusions have not been based on data taken from importing countries orfrom a systematic evaluation of expressed corporate preference for products sold by ISO 14001 certified companies. The present study reports the results of a survey to firms in six countries that are Israel's leading trade partners, importing chemicals, textiles, and produce. The survey results confirm that while the international market still considers price and quality as the paramount factors in selection of suppliers, environmental management systems (EMS) are an important feature that is frequently taken into consideration. EMS certification appears to signify a supplier who is managing the business well and exhibiting ethical responsibility. The European market proved to be more environmentally conscious than those in other industrialized parts of the world. EMS offer a particularly valuable advantage for producers wishing to reach European markets. As policy-makers seek to expand the voluntary adoption of EMS, a clear advantage for exporters should be highlighted among national industries.

  9. [ISO 15189 medical laboratory accreditation].

    PubMed

    Aoyagi, Tsutomu

    2004-10-01

    This International Standard, based upon ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001, provides requirements for competence and quality that are particular to medical laboratories. While this International Standard is intended for use throughout the currently recognized disciplines of medical laboratory services, those working in other services and disciplines will also find it useful and appropriate. In addition, bodies engaged in the recognition of the competence of medical laboratories will be able to use this International Standard as the basis for their activities. The Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (AB) and the Japanese Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (CCLS) are jointly developing the program of accreditation of medical laboratories. ISO 15189 requirements consist of two parts, one is management requirements and the other is technical requirements. The former includes the requirements of all parts of ISO 9001, moreover it includes the requirement of conformity assessment body, for example, impartiality and independence from any other party. The latter includes the requirements of laboratory competence (e.g. personnel, facility, instrument, and examination methods), moreover it requires that laboratories shall participate proficiency testing(s) and laboratories' examination results shall have traceability of measurements and implement uncertainty of measurement. Implementation of ISO 15189 will result in a significant improvement in medical laboratories management system and their technical competence. The accreditation of medical laboratory will improve medical laboratory service and be useful for patients.

  10. Panel C report: Standards needed for the use of ISO Open Systems Interconnection - basic reference model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1981-01-01

    The use of an International Standards Organization (ISO) Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model and its relevance to interconnecting an Applications Data Service (ADS) pilot program for data sharing is discussed. A top level mapping between the conjectured ADS requirements and identified layers within the OSI Reference Model was performed. It was concluded that the OSI model represents an orderly architecture for the ADS networking planning and that the protocols being developed by the National Bureau of Standards offer the best available implementation approach.

  11. Optimal structural design of a 5-kW CPV tracking system by considering the ISO 4017/4762 standard through structure and flow simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Hyo Geun; Kim, Sang Suk; Kim, Sung Jo; Park, Su-Jin; Yun, Chang-wuk; Im, Gil-pyeong

    2015-09-01

    Photovoltaic generation systems have disadvantage in that they are usually installed outdoors and are exposed to extreme environments such as wind, snow and rain loadings. The structure of a photovoltaic generation system should be designed to have sufficient stiffness and strength against such loads. Especially, electric power generation by a concentrator photovoltaic(CPV) system can produce enough power if a right angle is main fained between the solar and the CPV panel within 90° ± 1°. To make the CPV tracking system in this study, we designed the structure by calculating the variations in and the strees applied to the structure by the wind load when the CPV tracking was influenced by the wind load. In this study, a 5-kW CPV tracking structure was designed through a structural analysis and a finiteelement analysis for a wind speed of 65 m/s by using ANSYS. The simulation of the structural design showed that the, structure of the 5-kW CPV tracking system corresponded with the ISO4017/ISO4762 standard. Based on this research, we will produce a 5-kW CPV tracking system and proceed to field test.

  12. Air Force Space Command. Space and Missile Systems Center Standard. Configuration Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-06-13

    Aerospace Corporation report number TOR-2006( 8583 )-1. 3. Beneficial comments (recommendations, additions, deletions) and any pertinent data that...Engineering Drawing Practices IEEE STD 610.12 Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology, September 28,1990 ISO /IEC 12207 Software Life...item, regardless of media, formally designated and fixed at a specific time during the configuration item’s life cycle. (Source: ISO /IEC 12207

  13. The Quality Adaptation Model: Adaptation and Adoption of the Quality Standard ISO/IEC 19796-1 for Learning, Education, and Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pawlowski, Jan M.

    2007-01-01

    In 2005, the new quality standard for learning, education, and training, ISO/IEC 19796-1, was published. Its purpose is to help educational organizations to develop quality systems and to improve the quality of their processes, products, and services. In this article, the standard is presented and compared to existing approaches, showing the…

  14. User Performance Evaluation of Four Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems Applying ISO 15197:2013 Accuracy Criteria and Calculation of Insulin Dosing Errors.

    PubMed

    Freckmann, Guido; Jendrike, Nina; Baumstark, Annette; Pleus, Stefan; Liebing, Christina; Haug, Cornelia

    2018-04-01

    The international standard ISO 15197:2013 requires a user performance evaluation to assess if intended users are able to obtain accurate blood glucose measurement results with a self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) system. In this study, user performance was evaluated for four SMBG systems on the basis of ISO 15197:2013, and possibly related insulin dosing errors were calculated. Additionally, accuracy was assessed in the hands of study personnel. Accu-Chek ® Performa Connect (A), Contour ® plus ONE (B), FreeStyle Optium Neo (C), and OneTouch Select ® Plus (D) were evaluated with one test strip lot. After familiarization with the systems, subjects collected a capillary blood sample and performed an SMBG measurement. Study personnel observed the subjects' measurement technique. Then, study personnel performed SMBG measurements and comparison measurements. Number and percentage of SMBG measurements within ± 15 mg/dl and ± 15% of the comparison measurements at glucose concentrations < 100 and ≥ 100 mg/dl, respectively, were calculated. In addition, insulin dosing errors were modelled. In the hands of lay-users three systems fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria with the investigated test strip lot showing 96% (A), 100% (B), and 98% (C) of results within the defined limits. All systems fulfilled minimum accuracy criteria in the hands of study personnel [99% (A), 100% (B), 99.5% (C), 96% (D)]. Measurements with all four systems were within zones of the consensus error grid and surveillance error grid associated with no or minimal risk. Regarding calculated insulin dosing errors, all 99% ranges were between dosing errors of - 2.7 and + 1.4 units for measurements in the hands of lay-users and between - 2.5 and + 1.4 units for study personnel. Frequent lay-user errors were not checking the test strips' expiry date and applying blood incorrectly. Data obtained in this study show that not all available SMBG systems complied with ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria when measurements were performed by lay-users. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02916576). Ascensia Diabetes Care Deutschland GmbH.

  15. ISO New England Dual Fuel Capabilities to Limit Natural Gas and Electricity Interdependencies

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

    Adder, Justin M.

    Since 2000, natural gas has seen tremendous growth as a fuel source for electricity generation in the United States (U.S.) with annual installations exceeding 20 GW in all but four years. It also accounts for an increasingly significant share of the nation’s electricity generation, growing from around 15 percent in the early part of the 2000s to between 26 and 29 percent in the last three years. (1) Increasing reliance on natural gas has led to concerns that an extreme weather event – which may cause curtailments in gas delivery – or a natural gas infrastructure failure could lead tomore » local or regional electric reliability issues. (2) These concerns stem from differences in delivery methods of natural gas to electric generating units (EGUs) contrasted with the fuel delivery and storage methods for traditional baseload power systems (i.e. coal and nuclear units).1 (3) Although it seems that there is an abundance of natural gas in a post-shale gas world, infrastructure limitations and differences in electric and natural gas markets persist that differentiate natural gas-fired generators from traditional baseload power generators. Such concerns can be partially mitigated by modifying natural gas EGUs for operation on secondary fuels and installing on-site fuel storage for the secondary fuel, thus ensuring continuity of operation in the case of a gas delivery problem.2 This report examines technical, regulatory, and market issues associated with operating power plants primarily fueled with natural gas, on a secondary fuel, such as fuel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition, a regional case study was completed to identify the current and near-term potential for dual fuel operation in New England, along with a market impact analysis of potential cost savings during an extreme weather event. The New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) was selected as the study area based on a preponderance of natural gas-fired generators contributing to the regional generating capacity mix (nearly 50 percent natural gas), limited natural gas supply infrastructure, and the potential for natural gas delivery disruptions due to cold weather events, exacerbated by the lack of bulk natural gas storage in the region.« less

  16. Luminous fabric devices for wearable low-level light therapy

    PubMed Central

    Shen, Jing; Chui, Chunghin; Tao, Xiaoming

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, a flexible luminous fabric device was developed and investigated for wearable three-dimensionally fitted low-level light therapy. The fabric device exhibited excellent optical and thermal properties. Its optical power density and operating temperature were stable during usage for 10 hours. In vitro experiments demonstrated a significant increase in collagen production in human fibroblast irradiated by the fabric device, compared with the fibroblast without light irradiation. A series of tests were conducted for the safety of the fabric for human skin contact according to ISO standard ISO 10993-1:2003. The results showed that there was no potential hazard when the luminous fabrics were in direct contact with human skin. PMID:24409391

  17. CMMI (Trademark) for Development, Version 1.2

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-08-01

    IEC TR 12207 Information Technology—Software Life Cycle Processes, 1995. http://www.jtc1-sc7.org. ISO 1998 International Organization for...We also consult other standards as needed, including the following: • ISO 9000 [ ISO 1987] • ISO /IEC 12207 [ ISO 1995] • ISO /IEC 15504 [ ISO 2006... ISO /IEC) body of standards. CMMs focus on improving processes in an organization. They contain the essential elements of effective processes for one

  18. [Accession to the PIC/S and pharmaceutical quality system in Japan].

    PubMed

    Katori, Noriko

    2014-01-01

    In March, 2012, Japan made the application for membership of the Pharmaceutical Inspection convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation scheme (PIC/S) which is an international body of a GMP inspection. The globalization of pharmaceutical manufacturing and sales has been a driving force behind the decision to become a PIC/S member. For the application for membership, Japan's GMP inspectorate needs to fulfill PIC/S requirements, for example, the inspection organization has to have a quality system as a global standard. One of the other requirements is that the GMP inspectorate can access Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCL) having high analytical skills and also have a quality system based on ISO 17025. I would like to describe the process to make up a quality system in the National Institute of Health Sciences and also the circumstances around the PIC/S application in Japan.

  19. A System Implementation for Cooperation between UHF RFID Reader and TCP/IP Device

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Sang Hoon; Jin, Ik Soo

    This paper presents a system implementation for cooperation between UHF RFID reader and TCP/IP device that can be used as a home gateway. The system consists of an UHF RFID tag, an UHF RFID reader, a RF end-device, a RF coordinator and a TCP/IP I/F. The UHF RFID reader is compatible with EPC Class-0/Gen1, Class-1/Gen1, 2 and ISO18000-6B, operating at the 915MHz. In particular, UHF RFID reader can be combined with a RF end device/coordinator for ZigBee(IEEE 802.15.4) interface which is low power wireless standard. The TCP/IP device is communicated with RFID reader via wired type. On the other hand, it is connected with ZigBee end-device via wireless type. The experimental results show that the developed system can provide the right networking.

  20. The standard-based open workflow system in GeoBrain (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Di, L.; Yu, G.; Zhao, P.; Deng, M.

    2013-12-01

    GeoBrain is an Earth science Web-service system developed and operated by the Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems, George Mason University. In GeoBrain, a standard-based open workflow system has been implemented to accommodate the automated processing of geospatial data through a set of complex geo-processing functions for advanced production generation. The GeoBrain models the complex geoprocessing at two levels, the conceptual and concrete. At the conceptual level, the workflows exist in the form of data and service types defined by ontologies. The workflows at conceptual level are called geo-processing models and cataloged in GeoBrain as virtual product types. A conceptual workflow is instantiated into a concrete, executable workflow when a user requests a product that matches a virtual product type. Both conceptual and concrete workflows are encoded in Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). A BPEL workflow engine, called BPELPower, has been implemented to execute the workflow for the product generation. A provenance capturing service has been implemented to generate the ISO 19115-compliant complete product provenance metadata before and after the workflow execution. The generation of provenance metadata before the workflow execution allows users to examine the usability of the final product before the lengthy and expensive execution takes place. The three modes of workflow executions defined in the ISO 19119, transparent, translucent, and opaque, are available in GeoBrain. A geoprocessing modeling portal has been developed to allow domain experts to develop geoprocessing models at the type level with the support of both data and service/processing ontologies. The geoprocessing models capture the knowledge of the domain experts and are become the operational offering of the products after a proper peer review of models is conducted. An automated workflow composition has been experimented successfully based on ontologies and artificial intelligence technology. The GeoBrain workflow system has been used in multiple Earth science applications, including the monitoring of global agricultural drought, the assessment of flood damage, the derivation of national crop condition and progress information, and the detection of nuclear proliferation facilities and events.

  1. Biometric identity management for standard mobile medical networks.

    PubMed

    Egner, Alexandru; Soceanu, Alexandru; Moldoveanu, Florica

    2012-01-01

    The explosion of healthcare costs over the last decade has prompted the ICT industry to respond with solutions for reducing costs while improving healthcare quality. The ISO/IEEE 11073 family of standards recently released is the first step towards interoperability of mobile medical devices used in patient environments. The standards do not, however, tackle security problems, such as identity management, or the secure exchange of medical data. This paper proposes an enhancement of the ISO/IEEE 11073-20601 protocol with an identity management system based on biometry. The paper describes a novel biometric-based authentication process, together with the biometric key generation algorithm. The proposed extension of the ISO/IEEE 11073-20601 is also presented.

  2. Application of a risk management system to improve drinking water safety.

    PubMed

    Jayaratne, Asoka

    2008-12-01

    The use of a comprehensive risk management framework is considered a very effective means of managing water quality risks. There are many risk-based systems available to water utilities such as ISO 9001 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). In 2004, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality recommended the use of preventive risk management approaches to manage water quality risks. This paper describes the framework adopted by Yarra Valley Water for the development of its Drinking Water Quality Risk Management Plan incorporating HACCP and ISO 9001 systems and demonstrates benefits of Water Safety Plans such as HACCP. Copyright IWA Publishing 2008.

  3. CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 21, Number 12

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    that provide recognized certifications, and examples of how these standards relate. The first qual- ification ( ISO 27000 ) should be strongly considered...Several ISO 20000 requirements relate to ISO 27000 and ISO 9001. As a result, achieving ISO 20000 cer- tification helps an organization to also...achieve ISO 9001 and ISO 27000 certifica- tion. ISO 20000 certification can also help organizations with CMMI® appraisals. Table 1 also shows some of the

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

    PubMed

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

    2013-06-01

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

  5. Focus on Resiliency: A Process Improvement Approach to Security Introducing the Resiliency Engineering Framework

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-11-06

    operational environment -1 No operational boundaries Pervasiveness of technology Expanding and rapidly changing risk profile High dependency on upstream...partners Successes are short-lived Skills have shorter longevity Less resources, more demands 5 © 2006 Carnegie Mellon University y Resiliency...involved Usually bolted on as an afterthought Security seen as technical problem Searching for magic bullet: CobiT , ITIL, ISO17799 Poorly defined and

  6. Guidance for Product Category Rule Development: Process, Outcome and Next Steps

    EPA Science Inventory

    Background The development of Product Category Rules (PCRs) is inconsistent among the program operators using ISO 14025 as the basis. Furthermore, the existence of several other product claim standards and specifications that require PCRs for making product claims, has the potent...

  7. Interior noise and vibration measurements on operational military helicopters and comparisons with various ride quality criteria

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clevenson, S. A.; Leatherwood, J. D.; Hollenbaugh, D. D.

    1983-01-01

    The results of physical measurements of the interior noise and vibration obtained within eight operational military helicopters are presented. The data were extensively analyzed and are presented in the following forms: noise and vibration spectra, overall root-mean-square acceleration levels in three linear axes, peak accelerations at dominant blade passage frequencies, acceleration exceedance data, and overall and ""A'' weighted sound pressure levels. Peak acceleration levels were compared to the ISO 1-hr reduced comfort and fatigue decreased proficiency boundaries and the NASA discomfort criteria. The ""A'' weighted noise levels were compared to the NASA annoyance criteria, and the overall noise spectra were compared to MIL-STD-1294 (""Acoustical Noise Limits in Helicopters''). Specific vibration components at blade passage frequencies for several aircraft exceeded both the ISO reduced comfort boundary and the NASA passenger discomfort criteria. The ""A'' weighted noise levels, corrected for SPH-4 helmet attenuation characteristics, exceeded the NASA annoyance threshold for several aircraft.

  8. Advanced Communication and Control Solutions of Distributed Energy Resources (DER)

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

    Asgeirsson, Haukur; Seguin, Richard; Sherding, Cameron

    2007-01-10

    This report covers work performed in Phase II of a two phase project whose objective was to demonstrate the aggregation of multiple Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and to offer them into the energy market. The Phase I work (DE-FC36-03CH11161) created an integrated, but distributed, system and procedures to monitor and control multiple DERs from numerous manufacturers connected to the electric distribution system. Procedures were created which protect the distribution network and personnel that may be working on the network. Using the web as the communication medium for control and monitoring of the DERs, the integration of information and security wasmore » accomplished through the use of industry standard protocols such as secure SSL,VPN and ICCP. The primary objective of Phase II was to develop the procedures for marketing the power of the Phase I aggregated DERs in the energy market, increase the number of DER units, and implement the marketing procedures (interface with ISOs) for the DER generated power. The team partnered with the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), the local ISO, to address the energy market and demonstrate the economic dispatch of DERs in response to market signals. The selection of standards-based communication technologies offers the ability of the system to be deployed and integrated with other utilities’ resources. With the use of a data historian technology to facilitate the aggregation, the developed algorithms and procedures can be verified, audited, and modified. The team has demonstrated monitoring and control of multiple DERs as outlined in phase I report including procedures to perform these operations in a secure and safe manner. In Phase II, additional DER units were added. We also expanded on our phase I work to enhance communication security and to develop the market model of having DERs, both customer and utility owned, participate in the energy market. We are proposing a two-part DER energy market model--a utility need business model and an independent energy aggregator-business model. The approach of developing two group models of DER energy participation in the market is unique. The Detroit Edison (DECo, Utility)-led team includes: DTE Energy Technologies (Dtech, DER provider), Electrical Distribution Design (EDD, Virginia Tech company supporting EPRI’s Distribution Engineering Workstation, DEW), Systems Integration Specialists Company (SISCO, economic scheduling and real-time protocol integrator), and OSIsoft (PI software system for managing real-time information). This team is focused on developing the application engineering, including software systems necessary for DER’s integration, control and sale into the market place. Phase II Highlights Installed and tested an ICCP link with SSL (security) between DECo, the utility, and DTE Energy Technologies (DTECH), the aggregator, making DER data available to the utility for both monitoring and control. Installed and tested PI process book with circuit & DER operational models for DECo SOC/ROC operator’s use for monitoring of both utility circuit and customer DER parameters. The PI Process Book models also included DER control for the DECo SOC/ROC operators, which was tested and demonstrated control. The DER Tagging and Operating Procedures were developed, which allowed that control to be done in a safe manner, were modified for required MOC/MISO notification procedures. The Distribution Engineering Workstation (DEW) was modified to include temperature normalized load research statistics, using a 30 hour day-ahead weather feed. This allowed day-ahead forecasting of the customer load profile and the entire circuit to determine overload and low voltage problems. This forecast at the point of common coupling was passed to DTech DR SOC for use in their economic dispatch algorithm. Standard Work Instructions were developed for DER notification, sale, and operation into the MISO market. A software mechanism consisting of a suite of new and revised functionality was developed that integrated with the local ISO such that offers can be made electronically without human intervention. A suite of software was developed by DR SOC enabling DER usage in real time and day-ahead: Generation information file exchange with PI and the utility power flow A utility day-ahead information file Energy Offer Web Service Market Result Web Service Real-Time Meter Data Web Service Real-Time Notification Web Service Registered over 20 DER with MISO in Demand Response Market and demonstrated electronic sale to MISO.« less

  9. ISO, unique explorer of the invisible cool universe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1995-10-01

    As Roger Bonnet, director of ESA's science programme, explains: "The ISO launch will be the culmination of twelve years of intensive effort to build tile mast powerful and precise infrared space telescope to dote, We fully expect astronomers in Europe. and all over the wand, to be rewarded with unprecedented insights into the particularly rich and fertile sources of the universe hidden in the infrared." For the mission looks set to mark a new step forward for astronomy. To date, infrared astronomy has always been hampered by two major difficulties. The first is that infrared radiation is thermal, calorific. This means that any body which is not absolutely cold naturally emits this type of "heat" or "hidden" radiation, Consequently, at the corresponding wavelengths, all telescopes, detectors and the Earth's atmosphere appear to shine spontaneously, Infrared observation is therefore tantamount to attempting to observe the stars in broad daylight using a telescope a million times more luminous than the stars themselves. Moreover, the atmosphere is partly or totally opaque to infrared light. Hence the great attraction of conducting such observations from space, above the Earth's atmospheric layers. using a very low-temperature telescope. The first - and, so far, truly - Satellite actually to have done so is the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) - a joint UK/Dutch/US mission - which surveyed and catalogued the sky far ten months in 1983. A corner of the curtain was thus lifted, The scene was set. Now, the task is to observe each character, each object. And here, infrared astronomy is hampered by a second major difficulty: the very detection of light. For while infrared radiation was discovered back in 1800 (in the solar spectrum). infrared-sensitive photoelectric detectors did not materialise until the Second World War, IRAS itself had to make do without the multi-dimensional set-ups that would have allowed it to record true images. It had to build up its images dot by dot, line by line. One of ISO's major contributions will be the first in-orbit use of just such arrays of detectors, which can be compared to the CCD optics of video cameras now available to the general public. ISO will therefore be able to record very long photographic exposures and provide very detailed high- definition images. It will be able to observe a given object for up to ten hours continuously, exceeding IRAS performance with a thousand-fold increase in sensitivity and resolution ten times higher. As the project managers maintain, "with its sensitivity to thermal radiation and its sharp images, the space, telescope should be able to detect an ice-cold object the size of human being 100 km away " Of course, the technical development and technology for so innovative and powerful an instrument as this have thrown up enormous challenges. Hans Steinz, ESA project manager, explains; "This is the first satellite of its kind to be built in Europe and the work has drown an the efforts of no fewer than thirty-five highly specialised firms." The prime challenge was to develop the cryogenic systems, which now make ISO akin to a giant thermos flask filled with 2100 litres of superfluid helium chilled to -271°C (1.8° above absolute zero). Another challenge was the telescope's ultralight gold-coated quartz mirror. The finish required for this centrepiece of the observatory is such that, if its 60 cm diameter were artificially expanded to the size of the Earth's diameter, the residual "bumps" and "dips" of the reflecting surface would be no more than one metre up or down, the size of a child. All these problems have left the development project two years behind schedule - which is not in fact bad going, given its scope and complexity. Now, however, all the problems have been overcome. The satellites capabilities correspond fully to expectations and since late June ISO has been in Kourou at the Guiana Space Centre, where it is undergoing all the necessary pre-launch tests. The ISO spacecraft takes the form of a white cylinder 3.5 metres in diameter and 5.3 metres long. Inside are the actual telescope, the four scientific instruments, the electronics, power and radio communication systems. On the side, wide solar panels supply the 600 watts of electrical power and at the same time serve as a baffle shielding the satellite from solar radiation. The spacecraft is fully covered with highly effective thermal insolation. if - purely hypothetically - its cryostat were filled with boiling water instead of liquid helium, it would take six years for ISO to drop to ambient temperature. This insulation is vital for minimising the space telescope's sensitivity to thermal disturbance caused by solar and terrestrial radiation. The four focal-plane instruments mounted behind the telescope's mirror represent the scientific heart of the satellite. This set of instruments, built by the principal investigators and industrial consortia in ESA Member States, will provide measurements of unprecedented sensitivity and precision over a very wide wavelength range: 2.5 to 250 microns, of which the 120 to 250 micron region is as yet entirely unexplored. The Isophot photometer, built under the supervision of the Max Planck Institute, Germany, is the instrument providing the most far-ranging wavelength coverage. When operating at very long wavelengths, a region undetected to date, it should reveal extremely cold stars and cosmic matter. Isophot measures the intensity and spatial distribution of light and the spectral components in the near infrared. The Isocam camera, responsibility for which lies with the Service d'Astrophysique de Saclay, France, will take photographs in the 2.5 to 17 micron range with two arrays, each of 1024 individual infrared detectors (32 x 32 pixel). Some twenty filters select the infrared spectral range of the observations ("colours" ) and four optical lenses allow various magnification factors (from 1 to 8). Depending on the lens chosen, the finest detail observable will be from 1.5 to 12 arcsec per pixel, i.e. 1/1200 to 1/150 times the full diameter of the moon. The SWS and LWS spectrometers, built under the supervision of the Groningen Laboratory for Space Research (Netherlands) and the Queen Mary and Westfield College, London (GB), respectively, form a single unit that will analyse the composition of the radiation spectrum from 2.5 to 200 microns. They will thereby provide access to an extraordinarily extensive range of physical phenomena which can then be studied with very great sharpness and precision (resolving power: 50 to 30 000). At Kourou final preparations are currently underway: electromechanical checks, gyroscope alignment, fitting of the thermal protection, and helium and fuel filling. ISO will then be placed in the fairing of its Ariane 44P launcher in preparation for the countdown. The launch is scheduled for 8 November 1995 and could in fact take place as late as 21 February 1996. ISO will be lifted by Ariane into a very elongated 24-hour orbit with a perigee of 1000 km and an apogee of 70 000 km. This elliptical trajectory will yield very high-quality scientific data for the 16 hours a day that the satellite is outside the Van Allen belts, whose radiation produces stray signals that hinder measurement-taking. Ground control and radio tracking operations will be carried by a hundred or so experts working in shifts round the clock at ESA's Villafranca station near Madrid. Reflecting the project's international dimension, Japanese scientists will be involved in these operations. The NASA station at Goldstone, California, will relay communications when the satellite is out of Europe's view. Full coverage will thereby be provided with real-time links throughout the 18-month mission. The Villafranca station will receive 170 million bytes of data daily, and ultimately 90 billion units of information over the total duration of the mission - enough to fill 10 million typed pages of A4 paper which if placed end-to-end could cover the 7000 km between Paris and Miami. Observing time is already oversubscribed. Even before the satellite has actually come into service, ESA has received proposals from European, American and Japanese scientists amounting to 60 000 requests for utilisation - demand four times in excess of the possible supply under this mission. Martin Kessler, ESA's project scientist, explains: "ISO will explore a cool, hidden universe inaccessible to conventional optical telescopes. " For example, astronomers will be able to observe lower-temperature stars not observable in the visible or stars hidden by clouds of gas and dust that only infrared light can penetrate. "The telescope will be able to pick out new-born cold stars taking shape among the bright stars of the galaxy. Intensive study of such stars will enhance our understanding of the overall process whereby they - and hence the sun itself - came into existence. " To begin with, ISO will take the first cool look at nearby planets, satellites, asteroids and comets in our solar. system. It will pay particular attention to Titan, Saturn's intriguing hazy moon (due to be explored by ESA's Huygens probe in 2004). Astronomers suspect that its atmosphere is host to complex organic chemical processes which may be similar to those allowing the emergence of life on Earth. ISO will take precise measurements of the composition of this atmosphere and ascertain the abundance of its minority chemical species and variation with altitude, well before Huygens actually delves into Titan's gassy surroundings and probes them directly. Is there a similar planetary system elsewhere in the galaxy? The answer to this huge question has a key bearing on any possibility of detecting life forms outside the solar system. ISO will endeavour to provide an answer by examining disks of dust around several hundred stars of varying types, near and far, young and evolved. It is within just such disks that the planets of our solar system are thought to have formed; indeed, the IRAS mission revealed similar structures around ten or so nearby stars, including Vega and Beta Pictoris. With one thousand-fold greater sensitivity, ISO should add further such disks to the catalogue. It will study their mass, chemical composition, dimensions and evolution over time. Scientists will thereby obtain further information on the feasibility of the formation - and very existence - of planetoid bodies around stars in the Milky Way. Other prime targets for ISO are outer galaxies. Astronomers hope to improve their understanding of how these come into existence and produce their stars. Observation will concentrate on a particularly intriguing category of objects: ultraluminous galaxies, which emit twenty times more radiation in the infrared than in visible light and, overall, ten times more energy than ordinary galaxies. The source of energy feeding these cosmic beacons still remains a mystery: is it some gigantic black hole or sudden burst of star formation? Through detailed examination of the light emitted by such galaxies, ISO will test out these two competing theories and maybe help choose between them. ISO will also spend over a hundred hours investigating the much-debated and mysterious dark matter of the universe. Detected by indirect methods, such matter appears to account for 90 to 99% of the mass of the universe yet stubbornly refuses to allow itself to be observed in visible light. As a result, its composition and physical properties remain a complete mystery. ISO will try to detect dark matter in the infrared, where there is the greatest chance of observing the "brown dwarfs" in our galaxy or the cool clouds of hydrogen molecules thought to be found on the fringes of outer galaxies. It could well make a decisive contribution to the debate concerning the composition and total mass of the universe. With its ability to pick up hitherto unobserved very long wavelength radiation, ISO is in effect an amazing time machine. With its great sensitivity, it will observe increasingly distant objects from the correspondingly distant past, whose light - in travelling across an expanding universe - has been shifted into the red -and infrared regions. Astronomers thus hope to gain access, at the farthest reaches of observable space, to galaxies existing almost eight billion years ago when the universe was only a third of its present age. If such stars really existed, these could be the very first to have formed in the universe and the most distant identifiable ancestors of our galaxy. Note: ISO is a project carried out since 1983 by the European Space Agency under its "Horizon 2000" science programme. The investment involved amounts to ECU 650 million, which covers satellite development, launch and in-orbit operation. The scientific instruments have been provided separately by a group of eleven European countries. The US and Japan are cooperating on ground support operations in return for average daily observing time of half an hour each.

  10. Datacube Services in Action, Using Open Source and Open Standards

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baumann, P.; Misev, D.

    2016-12-01

    Array Databases comprise novel, promising technology for massive spatio-temporal datacubes, extending the SQL paradigm of "any query, anytime" to n-D arrays. On server side, such queries can be optimized, parallelized, and distributed based on partitioned array storage. The rasdaman ("raster data manager") system, which has pioneered Array Databases, is available in open source on www.rasdaman.org. Its declarative query language extends SQL with array operators which are optimized and parallelized on server side. The rasdaman engine, which is part of OSGeo Live, is mature and in operational use databases individually holding dozens of Terabytes. Further, the rasdaman concepts have strongly impacted international Big Data standards in the field, including the forthcoming MDA ("Multi-Dimensional Array") extension to ISO SQL, the OGC Web Coverage Service (WCS) and Web Coverage Processing Service (WCPS) standards, and the forthcoming INSPIRE WCS/WCPS; in both OGC and INSPIRE, OGC is WCS Core Reference Implementation. In our talk we present concepts, architecture, operational services, and standardization impact of open-source rasdaman, as well as experiences made.

  11. Sensorless adaptive optics for isoSTED nanoscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antonello, Jacopo; Hao, Xiang; Allgeyer, Edward S.; Bewersdorf, Joerg; Rittscher, Jens; Booth, Martin J.

    2018-02-01

    The presence of aberrations is a major concern when using fluorescence microscopy to image deep inside tissue. Aberrations due to refractive index mismatch and heterogeneity of the specimen under investigation cause severe reduction in the amount of fluorescence emission that is collected by the microscope. Furthermore, aberrations adversely affect the resolution, leading to loss of fine detail in the acquired images. These phenomena are particularly troublesome for super-resolution microscopy techniques such as isotropic stimulated-emission-depletion microscopy (isoSTED), which relies on accurate control of the shape and co-alignment of multiple excitation and depletion foci to operate as expected and to achieve the super-resolution effect. Aberrations can be suppressed by implementing sensorless adaptive optics techniques, whereby aberration correction is achieved by maximising a certain image quality metric. In confocal microscopy for example, one can employ the total image brightness as an image quality metric. Aberration correction is subsequently achieved by iteratively changing the settings of a wavefront corrector device until the metric is maximised. This simplistic approach has limited applicability to isoSTED microscopy where, due to the complex interplay between the excitation and depletion foci, maximising the total image brightness can lead to introducing aberrations in the depletion foci. In this work we first consider the effects that different aberration modes have on isoSTED microscopes. We then propose an iterative, wavelet-based aberration correction algorithm and evaluate its benefits.

  12. Oxidative Stress, Obesity, and Breast Cancer Risk: Results From the Shanghai Women's Health Study

    PubMed Central

    Dai, Qi; Gao, Yu-Tang; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Yang, Gong; Milne, Ginger; Cai, Qiuyin; Wen, Wanqing; Rothman, Nathaniel; Cai, Hui; Li, Honglan; Xiang, Yongbing; Chow, Wong-Ho; Zheng, Wei

    2009-01-01

    Purpose Increased reactive oxygen species may exhaust the antioxidant capability of human defense systems, leading to oxidative stress and cancer development. Urinary F2-isoprostanes, secondary end products of lipid peroxidation, are more accurate markers of oxidative stress than other available biomarkers. No prospective study has investigated whether levels of 15-F2t-isoprostane (15-F2t-IsoP) and its metabolite 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-15-F2t-IsoP (15-F2t-IsoPM) are related to breast cancer risk. Patients and Methods We conducted a nested case-control study within the Shanghai Women's Health Study, a population-based cohort study of 74,942 Chinese women between 40 and 70 years of age. Prediagnostic urinary 15-F2t-IsoP and 15-F2t-IsoPM were measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry for 436 breast cancer cases and 852 individually matched controls. Results Urinary excretion of isoprostanes was not significantly different between cases and controls. However, among overweight women, levels of isoprostanes were positively associated with breast cancer risk, which became stronger with increasing body mass index (BMI). Among women with a BMI ≥ 29, the odds ratio (OR) increased to 10.27 (95% CI, 2.41 to 43.80) for the highest compared with the lowest tertile of 15-F2t-IsoPM (P for trend = .003; P for interaction = .0004). In contrast, 15-F2t-IsoP and 15-F2t-IsoPM were inversely associated with breast cancer risk among nonoverweight women. Among women with a BMI ≤ 23, breast cancer risk was reduced with increasing 15-F2t-IsoP levels in a dose-response manner (P for trend = .006), with an OR of 0.46 (95% CI, 0.26 to 0.80) for the highest tertile versus the lowest (P for interaction = .006). Conclusion Our results suggest that the role of oxidative stress in breast cancer development may depend on adiposity. PMID:19380446

  13. Enhancing Technology Education Students' Understanding of ISO 9000.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harding, Kerry A.; Tesolowski, Dennis G.; Simmons, J. Bryan

    2000-01-01

    Defines ISO 9000, the quality control standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and looks at the benefits of ISO certification. Looks at the four levels of ISO 9000 and discusses the construction of training courses to prepare ISO documentation. (JOW)

  14. Effect of LCZ696, a dual angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor, on isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and hemodynamic change in rats.

    PubMed

    Miyoshi, Toru; Nakamura, Kazufumi; Miura, Daiji; Yoshida, Masashi; Saito, Yukihiro; Akagi, Satoshi; Ohno, Yuko; Kondo, Megumi; Ito, Hiroshi

    2018-05-02

    Recent clinical studies have shown that treatment with LCZ696, a complex containing the angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan and neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril, improves the prognosis of heart failure patients with a reduced ejection fraction. This study evaluated whether LCZ696 affects left ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis, and hemodynamics in isoproterenol (ISO)-treated rats compared with valsartan alone. Male Wistar rats received subcutaneous saline (n = 10), subcutaneous ISO (2.4 mg/kg/day; n = 10), subcutaneous ISO + oral LCZ696 (60 mg/kg/day; n = 20) (ISO-LCZ), or subcutaneous ISO + oral valsartan (30 mg/kg/day; n = 20) (ISO-VAL) for 7 days. LCZ696 and valsartan did not significantly reduce the increased heart weight/body weight ratio in rats treated with ISO. Echocardiography showed that the deceleration time shortened by ISO was restored by LCZ696 but not valsartan alone (p = 0.01 vs. the ISO group). Histological analysis showed that cardiac interstitial fibrosis increased by ISO was decreased significantly by LCZ696 but not valsartan alone (control: 0.10 ± 0.14%; ISO: 0.41 ± 0.32%; ISO-LCZ: 0.19 ± 0.23% [p < 0.01 vs. the ISO group]; ISO-VAL: 0.34 ± 0.23% [p = 0.34 vs. the ISO group]). Quantitative PCR showed that mRNA expression of Tgfb1, Col1a1, Ccl2, and Anp increased by ISO was significantly attenuated by LCZ696 but not valsartan alone (p < 0.05 vs. the ISO group). LCZ696 improves cardiac fibrosis, but not hypertrophy, caused by continuous exposure to ISO in rats.

  15. Challenging an immediate suspension of a DEA registration: is it time for a new tact?

    PubMed

    Behr, Douglas J

    2014-01-01

    A Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") registration is not only a necessity, but also an invaluable commodity for doctors, pharmacists, hospitals and drug wholesalers who prescribe, stock, and distribute controlled substances. While the DEA may only suspend a registration by issuing an immediate suspension order ("ISO) after an ex parte finding of "imminent danger to the public health or safety," the law fails to explicitly protect the registrant by way of a post-suspension hearing on the ISO, despite the registrant's constitutionally protected property interest in the registration. A registrant has only two procedural options--which are often unsuccessful--to challenge the ISO: endure a long and arduous administrative review proceeding or petition the court for a "not-so-easily proven" injunction, all the while the suspension remains in effect and the controlled substance business operations cease. Accordingly, a suspension of the registration may be certain death to doctors and pharmacists without the financial means to operate the business in the absence of the registration. Because the DEA registration is a constitutionally-protected interest, there is a better way to challenge the suspension. The Supreme Court has held that once a license is issued, the continued possession of it is essential to the registrant's livelihood. Therefore suspension or revocation of such a protected interest requires due process. Due-process hearings, while varied, will provide the necessary avenues of review to provide a fair review of the justification of the suspension and its continuance, i.e., whether there truly is imminent danger to public health or safety and whether the suspension is overbroad and should be limited. To date, this thesis remains to be tested and awaits a petitioner with a justiciable claim and the financial resources to challenge the DEA in court. But in the field of DEA ISO challenges, it is time for a new tact!

  16. Acute high-level exposure to WTC particles alters expression of genes associated with oxidative stress and immune function in the lung

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Mitchell D.; Vaughan, Joshua M.; Garrett, Brittany; Prophete, Colette; Horton, Lori; Sisco, Maureen; Kodavanti, Urmila P.; Ward, William O.; Peltier, Richard E.; Zelikoff, Judith; Chen, Lung-chi

    2015-01-01

    First responders (FR) present at Ground Zero in the first 72 h after the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed have progressively exhibited significant respiratory injuries. The few toxicology studies performed to date evaluated effects from just fine (<2.5 µm) WTC dusts; none examined health effects/toxicities from atmospheres bearing larger particle sizes, despite the fact the majority (496%) of dusts were >10µm and most FR likely entrained dusts by mouth breathing. Using a system that generated/delivered supercoarse (10–53 µm) WTC dusts to F344 rats (in a manner that mimicked FR exposures), this study sought to examine potential toxicities in the lungs. In this exploratory study, rats were exposed for 2 h to 100 mg WTC dust/m3 (while under isoflurane [ISO] anesthesia) or an air/ISO mixture; this dose conservatively modeled likely exposures by mouth-breathing FR facing ≈750–1000 mg WTC dust/m3. Lungs were harvested 2 h post-exposure and total RNA extracted for subsequent global gene expression analysis. Among the > 1000 genes affected by WTC dust (under ISO) or ISO alone, 166 were unique to the dust exposure. In many instances, genes maximally-induced by the WTC dust exposure (relative to in naïve rats) were unchanged/inhibited by ISO only; similarly, several genes maximally inhibited in WTC dust rats were largely induced/unchanged in rats that received ISO only. These outcomes reflect likely contrasting effects of ISO and the WTC dust on lung gene expression. Overall, the data show that lungs of rats exposed to WTC dust (under ISO) – after accounting for any impact from ISO alone – displayed increased expression of genes related to lung inflammation, oxidative stress, and cell cycle control, while several involved in anti-oxidant function were inhibited. These changes suggested acute inflammogenic effects and oxidative stress in the lungs of WTC dust-exposed rats. This study, thus, concludes that a single very high exposure to WTC dusts could potentially have adversely affected the respiratory system – in terms of early inflammatory and oxidative stress processes. As these changes were not compared with other types of dusts, the uniqueness of these WTC-mediated effects remains to be confirmed. It also still remains to be determined if these effects might have any relevance to chronic lung pathologies that became evident among FR who encountered the highest dust levels on September 11, 2001 and the 2 days thereafter. Ongoing studies using longer-range post-exposure analyses (up to 1-year or more) will help to determine if effects seen here on genes were acute, reversible, or persistent, and associated with corresponding histopathologic/ biochemical changes in situ. PMID:24911330

  17. Evaluation of environmental aspects significance in ISO 14001.

    PubMed

    Põder, Tõnis

    2006-05-01

    The methodological framework set by standards ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 gives only general principles for environmental aspects assessment, which is regarded as one of the most critical stages of implementing environmental management system. In Estonia, about 100 organizations have been certified to the ISO 14001. Experience obtained from numerous companies has demonstrated that limited transparency and reproducibility of the assessment process serves as a common shortcoming. Despite rather complicated assessment schemes sometimes used, the evaluation procedures have been largely based on subjective judgments because of ill-defined and inadequate assessment criteria. A comparison with some similar studies in other countries indicates a general nature of observed inconsistencies. The diversity of approaches to the aspects' assessment in concept literature and to the related problems has been discussed. The general structure of basic assessment criteria, compatible with environmental impact assessment and environmental risk analysis has also been outlined. Based on this general structure, the article presents a tiered approach to help organize the assessment in a more consistent manner.

  18. ISO 15859 Propellant and Fluid Specifications: A Review and Comparison with Military and NASA Specifications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Greene, Ben; McClure, Mark B.; Baker, David L.

    2006-01-01

    This work presents an overview of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15859 International Standard for Space Systems Fluid Characteristics, Sampling and Test Methods Parts 1 through 13 issued in June 2004. These standards establish requirements for fluid characteristics, sampling, and test methods for 13 fluids of concern to the propellant community and propellant characterization laboratories: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, helium, nitrogen tetroxide, monomethylhydrazine, hydrazine, kerosene, argon, water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and breathing air. A comparison of the fluid characteristics, sampling, and test methods required by the ISO standards to the current military and NASA specifications, which are in use at NASA facilities and elsewhere, is presented. Many ISO standards composition limits and other content agree with those found in the applicable parts of NASA SE-S-0073, NASA SSP 30573, military performance standards and details, and Compressed Gas Association (CGA) commodity specifications. The status of a current project managed at NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) to rewrite these documents is discussed.

  19. Repeated anaesthesia with isoflurane and medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl in guinea pigs and its influence on physiological parameters

    PubMed Central

    Tacke, Sabine; Guth, Brian; Henke, Julia

    2017-01-01

    Repeated anaesthesia may be required in experimental protocols and in daily veterinary practice, but anaesthesia is known to alter physiological parameters in GPs (Cavia porcellus, GPs). This study investigated the effects of repeated anaesthesia with either medetomidine-midazolam-fentanyl (MMF) or isoflurane (Iso) on physiological parameters in the GP. Twelve GPs were repeatedly administered with MMF or Iso in two anaesthesia sets. One set consisted of six 40-min anaesthesias, performed over 3 weeks (2 per week); the anaesthetic used first was randomized. Prior to Iso anaesthesia, atropine was injected. MMF anaesthesia was antagonized with AFN (atipamezole-flumazenil-naloxone). Abdominally implanted radio-telemetry devices recorded the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and core body temperature continuously. Additionally, respiratory rate, blood glucose and body weight were assessed. An operable state could be achieved and maintained for 40 min in all GPs. During the surgical tolerance with MMF, the GPs showed a large MAP range between the individuals. In the MMF wake- up phase, the time was shortened until the righting reflex (RR) returned and that occurred at lower MAP and HR values. Repeated Iso anaesthesia led to an increasing HR during induction (anaesthesias 2–6), non-surgical tolerance (anaesthesias 3–6) and surgical tolerance (anaesthesias 4, 6). Both anaesthetics may be used repeatedly, as repeating the anaesthesias resulted in only slightly different physiological parameters, compared to those seen with single anaesthesias. The regular atropine premedication induced HR increases and repeated MMF anaesthesia resulted in a metabolism increase which led to the faster return of RR. Nevertheless, Iso’s anaesthesia effects of strong respiratory depression and severe hypotension remained. Based on this increased anaesthesia risk with Iso, MMF anaesthesia is preferable for repeated use in GPs. PMID:28328950

  20. [Evaluation of the appropriateness of hospital admissions using the iso-gravity classification systems APR-DRG and Disease Staging and the Italian version of Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP)].

    PubMed

    D'Andrea, G; Capalbo, G; Volpe, M; Marchetti, M; Vicentini, F; Capelli, G; Cambieri, A; Cicchetti, A; Ricciardi, G; Catananti, C

    2006-01-01

    Our main purpose was to evaluate the organizational appropriateness of admissions made in a university hospital, by comparing two iso-gravity classification systems, APR-DRG and Disease Staging, with the Italian version of AEP (PRUO). Our analysis focused on admissions made in 2001, related to specific Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), which, according an Italian Law, would be considered at high risk of inappropriateness, if treated as ordinary admissions. The results obtained by using the 2 classification systems did not show statistically significant differences with respect to the total number of admissions. On the other hand, some DRGs showed statistically significant differences due to different algorithms of attribution of the severity levels used by the two systems. For almost all of the DRGs studied, the AEP-based analysis of a sample of medical records showed an higher number of inappropriate admissions in comparison with the number expected by iso-gravity classification methods. The difference is possibly due to the percentage limits of tolerability fixed by the Law for each DRG. Therefore, the authors suggest an integrated use of the two methods to evaluate organizational appropriateness of hospital admissions.

  1. Frequency weightings based on biodynamics of fingers-hand-arm system.

    PubMed

    Dong, Ren G; Welcome, Daniel E; Wu, John Z

    2005-07-01

    The frequency weighting for assessing hand-transmitted vibration exposure is critical to obtaining a true dose-response relationship. Any valid weighting must have a solid theoretical foundation. The objectives of this study are to examine the biodynamic foundation for assessing the vibration exposure and to develop a set of biodynamic methods to formulate the frequency weightings for different anatomical locations of the fingers-hand-arm system. The vibration transmissibility measured on the fingers, hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and head was used to define the transmitted acceleration-based (TAB) frequency weighting. The apparent masses measured at the fingers and the palm of the hand were used to construct the biodynamic force-based (BFB) weightings. These weightings were compared with the ISO weighting specified in ISO 5349-1 (2001). The results of this study suggest that the frequency weightings for the vibration-induced problems at different anatomical locations of the hand-arm system can be basically divided into three groups: (a) the weighting for the fingers and hand, (b) the weighting for the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, and (c) the weighting for the head. The ISO weighting is highly correlated with the weighting for the second group but not with the first and third groups. The TAB and BFB finger weightings are quite different at frequencies lower than 100 Hz, but they show similar trends at higher frequencies. Both TAB and BFB finger weightings at frequencies higher than 20 Hz are greater than the ISO weighting.

  2. Environmental tobacco smoke aerosol in non-smoking households of patients with chronic respiratory diseases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chalbot, Marie-Cecile; Vei, Ino-Christina; Lianou, Maria; Kotronarou, Anastasia; Karakatsani, Anna; Katsouyanni, Klea; Hoek, Gerard; Kavouras, Ilias G.

    2012-12-01

    Fine particulate matter samples were collected in an urban ambient fixed site and, outside and inside residencies in Athens greater area, Greece. n-Alkanes, iso/anteiso-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The values of concentration diagnostic ratios indicated a mixture of vehicular emissions, fuel evaporation, oil residues and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in outdoor and indoor samples. Particulate iso/anteiso-alkanes, specific tracers of ETS, were detected in both non-smoking and smoking households. The indoor-to-outdoor ratios of particulate iso/anteiso-alkanes and unresolved complex mixture (a tracer of outdoor air pollution) in non-smoking households were comparable to the measured air exchange rate. This suggested that penetration of outdoor air was solely responsible for the detection of tobacco smoke particulate tracers in indoor non-smoking environments. Overall, residential outdoor concentrations accounted for a large fraction (from 25 up to 79%) of indoor aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Open windows/doors and the operation of an air condition unit yielded also in higher indoor concentrations than those measured outdoors.

  3. Role of monsoon intraseasonal oscillation and its interannual variability in simulation of seasonal mean in CFSv2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pillai, Prasanth A.; Aher, Vaishali R.

    2018-01-01

    Intraseasonal oscillation (ISO), which appears as "active" and "break" spells of rainfall, is an important component of Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The present study investigates the potential of new National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climate forecast system version 2 (CFSv2) in simulating the ISO with emphasis to its interannual variability (IAV) and its possible role in the seasonal mean rainfall. The present analysis shows that the spatial distribution of CFSv2 rainfall has noticeable differences with observations in both ISO and IAV time scales. Active-break cycle of CFSv2 has similar evolution during both strong and weak years. Regardless of a reasonable El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-monsoon teleconnection in the model, the overestimated Arabian Sea (AS) sea surface temperature (SST)-convection relationship hinters the large-scale influence of ENSO over the ISM region and adjacent oceans. The ISO scale convections over AS and Bay of Bengal (BoB) have noteworthy contribution to the seasonal mean rainfall, opposing the influence of boundary forcing in these areas. At the same time, overwhelming contribution of ISO component over AS towards the seasonal mean modifies the effect of slow varying boundary forcing to large-scale summer monsoon. The results here underline that, along with the correct simulation of monsoon ISO, its IAV and relationship with the boundary forcing also need to be well captured in coupled models for the accurate simulation of seasonal mean anomalies of the monsoon and its teleconnections.

  4. Liquid chromatographic and spectrophotometric determination of diflucortolone valerate and isoconazole nitrate in creams.

    PubMed

    Karacan, Elif; Cağlayan, Mehmet Gokhan; Palabiyik, Ismail Murat; Onur, Feyyaz

    2011-01-01

    A new RP-LC method and two new spectrophotometric methods, principal component regression (PCR) and first derivative spectrophotometry, are proposed for simultaneous determination of diflucortolone valerate (DIF) and isoconazole nitrate (ISO) in cream formulations. An isocratic system consisting of an ACE C18 column and a mobile phase composed of methanol-water (95 + 5, v/v) was used for the optimal chromatographic separation. In PCR, the concentration data matrix was prepared by using synthetic mixtures containing these drugs in methanol-water (3 + 1, v/v). The absorbance data matrix corresponding to the concentration data matrix was obtained by measuring the absorbances at 29 wavelengths in the range of 242-298 nm for DIF and ISO in the zero-order spectra of their combinations. In first derivative spectrophotometry, dA/dlambda values were measured at 247.8 nm for DIF and at 240.2 nm for ISO in first derivative spectra of the solution of DIF and ISO in methanol-water (3 + 1, v/v). The linear ranges were 4.00-48.0 microg/mL for DIF and 50.0-400 microg/mL for ISO in the LC method, and 2.40-40.0 microg/mL for DIF and 60.0-260 microg/mL for ISO in the PCR and first derivative spectrophotometric methods. These methods were validated by analyzing synthetic mixtures. These three methods were successfully applied to two pharmaceutical cream preparations.

  5. Unattended network operations technology assessment study. Technical support for defining advanced satellite systems concepts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Price, Kent M.; Holdridge, Mark; Odubiyi, Jide; Jaworski, Allan; Morgan, Herbert K.

    1991-01-01

    The results are summarized of an unattended network operations technology assessment study for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The scope of the work included: (1) identified possible enhancements due to the proposed Mars communications network; (2) identified network operations on Mars; (3) performed a technology assessment of possible supporting technologies based on current and future approaches to network operations; and (4) developed a plan for the testing and development of these technologies. The most important results obtained are as follows: (1) addition of a third Mars Relay Satellite (MRS) and MRS cross link capabilities will enhance the network's fault tolerance capabilities through improved connectivity; (2) network functions can be divided into the six basic ISO network functional groups; (3) distributed artificial intelligence technologies will augment more traditional network management technologies to form the technological infrastructure of a virtually unattended network; and (4) a great effort is required to bring the current network technology levels for manned space communications up to the level needed for an automated fault tolerance Mars communications network.

  6. The quest for quality blood banking program in the new millennium the American way.

    PubMed

    Kim, Dae Un

    2002-08-01

    For an industry to succeed and satisfy its customers, "QUALITY" must be a primary goal. Quality has been central to blood banking from its inception, with the evolution of a Quality Program since the opening of the first blood bank in U.S. at the Cook County Hospital in 1937. Over the ensuing decades, continuous scientific progress in blood preservation, filters, viral and blood group testing, crossmatching, automation, and computerization including bar coding, etc. has contributed to the quality and safety of the blood products and transfusion service. However, with the advent of the AIDS era, an increasingly sensitized and informed public is continuously demanding that the highest level of quality be achieved and maintained in all processes involved in providing all blood products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced the concept of a "zero risk blood supply" as the industry goal. Furthermore, the cost containment and resource-constrained environment have changed the complexity of the quality practice. Both regulatory agencies such as the FDA, the Health Care Financing Administration [HCFA, which was recently renamed as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in July, 2001], and the State Department of Health, and accrediting agencies, such as the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), require blood banks and transfusion services to establish and follow a Quality Control and Quality Assurance Program for their licensing, certification and accreditation. Every laboratory has to comply with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA '88) quality requirements being implemented by the CMS. The FDA guidelines assist facilities in compliance with Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). The AABB's Quality System Essentials (QSE) are based on these specifications and provide additional guidance in implementing practices that assure quality and compliance with cGMP. AABB and CAP are granted "deemed status" as accrediting organizations under the CLIA '88 program by CMS, as well as JCAHO and some states. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has established international standards in most fields. The U.S. is represented in ISO by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), as a global organization headquartered in the U.S., is a member of ANSI. The FDA and the AABB had begun incorporating many ISO principles into their own regulations and standards. The AABB's 10 QSEs are rooted in the 20 clauses of ISO 9000 series and compatible with their standards. In a Maslow-type model quality hierarchy by Tsiakals, so far the bottom three of the five progressive levels, Quality Control for method control, Quality Assurance for process control, and Quality System for system control have been implemented just to meet the regulatory and accrediting requirements. The next higher level, Quality Management for financial control, and the ultimate highest level, Total Quality Management for strategic control, should be our quest in this new millennium, and with the help of the AABB, ISO, FDA and all other organizations, we will achieve it. We should change our approach to quality issues from detection to prevention. We should improve the quality in transfusion practice itself by effective utilization of blood as a therapeutic resource with clear indication, maximum surgical blood order schedule, alternative transfusion such as autologous transfusion, hemodilution, and intra/post-operative blood salvage, surgical hemostasis, pharmacological hemostasis, and synthetic erythropoietin. Most importantly, implementation of the Quality Program should be something that we want to do rather than simply a burden that we have to do. A well-managed Quality Program is an effective and cost-efficient operation for the blood banks and transfusion services, and will enable us to better serve the patients for whom we exist.

  7. Review of the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-01-01

    accreditation is to ensure that laboratories meet the re- quirements of ISO / IEC 17025 :2005, General Requirement for the Competence of Cali- bration and...isoguide2. [ISO1999] ISO / IEC 17025 , General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories, 1999, http://www.iso.ch/ iso ...Protection Profiles and Secu- rity Targets, 2003. [ISO2005] ISO / IEC 17025 , General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories

  8. CERT Resilience Management Model (RMM) v1.1: Code of Practice Crosswalk Commercial Version 1.1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-10-01

    ISO /IEC 24762:2008 (E) 6 2.8 ISO /IEC 27002 :2005 (E) 6 2.9 ISO /IEC 27005:2008 (E) 6 2.10 ISO /IEC 31000:2009 (E) 6 2.11...webstore.ansi.org/. 2.8 ISO /IEC 27002 :2005 (E) ISO /IEC 27002 , “Code of practice for information security management” [ ISO /IEC 2005b], broaches the full...scope of security management, at points touching upon both IT management and disaster recovery. ISO /IEC 27002 is part of a growing “27000

  9. Measures for Managing Operational Resilience

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-07-01

    Measures 4 2.1 Organizational Objectives 4 2.2 High-Value Services and Assets 4 2.3 Controls 5 2.4 Risks 5 2.5 Disruptive Events 6 3...Administrative Agent ESC/XPK 5 Eglin Street Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-2100 NO WARRANTY THIS CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING...such as ITIL, COBIT , ISO2700x, BS25999, and PCI DSS, the measures may be useful for measuring security, business continuity, and IT operations

  10. Cryogenic mechanisms for scanning and interchange of the Fabry-Perot interferometers in the ISO long wavelength spectrometer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, G. R.; Furniss, I.; Patrick, T. J.; Sidey, R. C.; Towlson, W. A.

    1991-01-01

    The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is an ESA cornerstone mission for infrared astronomy. Schedules for launch in 1993, its four scientific instruments will provide unprecedented sensitivity and spectral resolution at wavelengths which are inaccessible using ground-based techniques. One of these, the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS), will operate in the 45 to 180 micron region (Emery et. al., 1985) and features two Fabry-Perot interferometers mounted on an interchange mechanism. The entire payload module of the spacecraft, comprising the 60 cm telescope and the four focal plane instruments, is maintained at 2 to 4 K by an onboard supply of liquid helium. The mechanical design and testing of the cryogenic interferometer and interchange mechanisms are described.

  11. Automated surface quality inspection with ARGOS: a case study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kiefhaber, Daniel; Etzold, Fabian; Warken, Arno F.; Asfour, Jean-Michel

    2017-06-01

    The commercial availability of automated inspection systems for optical surfaces specified according to ISO 10110-7 promises unsupervised and automated quality control with reproducible results. In this study, the classification results of the ARGOS inspection system are compared to the decisions by well-trained inspectors based on manual-visual inspection. Both are found to agree in 93.6% of the studied cases. Exemplary cases with differing results are studied, and shown to be partly caused by shortcomings of the ISO 10110-7 standard, which was written for the industry standard manual-visual inspection. Applying it to high resolution images of the whole surface of objective machine vision systems brings with it a few challenges which are discussed.

  12. Experimental validation and model development for thermal transmittances of porous window screens and horizontal louvred blind systems

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

    Hart, Robert; Goudey, Howdy; Curcija, D. Charlie

    Virtually every home in the US has some form of shades, blinds, drapes, or other window attachment, but few have been designed for energy savings. In order to provide a common basis of comparison for thermal performance it is important to have validated simulation tools. This study outlines a review and validation of the ISO 15099 centre-of-glass thermal transmittance correlations for naturally ventilated cavities through measurement and detailed simulations. The focus is on the impacts of room-side ventilated cavities, such as those found with solar screens and horizontal louvred blinds. The thermal transmittance of these systems is measured experimentally, simulatedmore » using computational fluid dynamics analysis, and simulated utilizing simplified correlations from ISO 15099. Finally, correlation coefficients are proposed for the ISO 15099 algorithm that reduces the mean error between measured and simulated heat flux for typical solar screens from 16% to 3.5% and from 13% to 1% for horizontal blinds.« less

  13. Experimental validation and model development for thermal transmittances of porous window screens and horizontal louvred blind systems

    DOE PAGES

    Hart, Robert; Goudey, Howdy; Curcija, D. Charlie

    2017-05-16

    Virtually every home in the US has some form of shades, blinds, drapes, or other window attachment, but few have been designed for energy savings. In order to provide a common basis of comparison for thermal performance it is important to have validated simulation tools. This study outlines a review and validation of the ISO 15099 centre-of-glass thermal transmittance correlations for naturally ventilated cavities through measurement and detailed simulations. The focus is on the impacts of room-side ventilated cavities, such as those found with solar screens and horizontal louvred blinds. The thermal transmittance of these systems is measured experimentally, simulatedmore » using computational fluid dynamics analysis, and simulated utilizing simplified correlations from ISO 15099. Finally, correlation coefficients are proposed for the ISO 15099 algorithm that reduces the mean error between measured and simulated heat flux for typical solar screens from 16% to 3.5% and from 13% to 1% for horizontal blinds.« less

  14. Optoelectronic system of online measurements of unburned carbon in coal fly ash

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Golas, Janusz; Jankowski, Henryk; Niewczas, Bogdan; Piechna, Janusz; Skiba, Antoni; Szkutnik, Wojciech; Szkutnik, Zdzislaw P.; Wartak, Ryszarda; Worek, Cezary

    2001-08-01

    Carbon-in-ash level is an important consideration for combustion efficiency as well as ash marketing. The optoelectronic analyzing system for on-line determination and monitoring of the u burned carbon content of ash samples is presented. The apparatus operates on the principle that carbon content is proportional to the reflectance of IR light. Ash samples are collected iso kinetically from the flue gas duct and placed in a sample tube with a flat glass bottom. The same is then exposed to a light. The reflectance intensity is used by the system's computer to determine residual carbon content from correlation curves. The sample is then air purged back to the duct or to the attached sample canister to enable laboratory check analysis. The total cycle time takes between 5 and 10 minutes. Real time result of carbon content with accuracy 0.3-0.7 percent are reported and can be used for boiler controlling.

  15. Energy evaluation of protection effectiveness of anti-vibration gloves.

    PubMed

    Hermann, Tomasz; Dobry, Marian Witalis

    2017-09-01

    This article describes an energy method of assessing protection effectiveness of anti-vibration gloves on the human dynamic structure. The study uses dynamic models of the human and the glove specified in Standard No. ISO 10068:2012. The physical models of human-tool systems were developed by combining human physical models with a power tool model. The combined human-tool models were then transformed into mathematical models from which energy models were finally derived. Comparative energy analysis was conducted in the domain of rms powers. The energy models of the human-tool systems were solved using numerical simulation implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The simulation procedure demonstrated the effectiveness of the anti-vibration glove as a method of protecting human operators of hand-held power tools against vibration. The desirable effect is achieved by lowering the flow of energy in the human-tool system when the anti-vibration glove is employed.

  16. ISO Results Presented at International Astronomical Union

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1997-08-01

    Some of the work being presented is collected in the attached ESA Information Note N 25-97, ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry. A set of six colour images illustrating various aspects have also been released and are available at http://www.estec.esa.nl/spdwww/iso1808.htm or in hard copy from ESA Public Relations Paris (fax:+33.1.5369.7690). These pictures cover: 1. Distant but powerful infrared galaxies 2. A scan across the milky way 3. Helix nebula: the shroud of a dead star 4. Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A 5. Trifid nebula: a dusty birthplace of stars 6. Precursors of stars and planets The International Astronomical Union provides a forum where astronomers from all over the world can develop astronomy in all its aspects through international co-operation. General Assemblies are held every three years. It is expected that over 1600 astronomers will attend this year's meeting, which is being held in Kyoto, Japan from 18-30 August. Further information on the meeting can be found at: www.tenmon.or.jp/iau97/ . ISO illuminates our cosmic ancestry The European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory, ISO, is unmatched in its ability to explore and analyse many of the universal processes that made our existence possible. We are children of the stars. Every atom in our bodies was created in cosmic space and delivered to the Sun's vicinity in time for the Earth's formation, during a ceaseless cycle of birth, death and rebirth among the stars. The most creative places in the sky are cool and dusty, and opaque even to the Hubble Space Telescope. Infrared rays penetrating the dust reveal to ISO hidden objects, and the atoms and molecules of cosmic chemistry. "ISO is reading Nature's recipe book," says Roger Bonnet, ESA's director of science. "As the world's only telescope capable of observing the Universe over a wide range of infrared wavelengths, ISO plays an indispensable part in astronomical discoveries that help to explain how we came to exist." This Information Note describes several stages in our cosmic ancestry, revealed when ISO examines their counterparts still observable today. The evolving galaxies In the beginning was hydrogen, mixed with helium and minute traces of other light atoms. These were the atomic products of the Big Bang, the hypothetical cataclysm that created the Universe more than 10 billion years ago. The primeval gas was very dull. Nature could not make dust from it, never mind a living creature. But gravity gathered the hydrogen and helium into stars, and by nuclear reactions the stars glowed. As the first stars aged, the reactions made novel chemical elements like carbon, oxygen and silicon. Expelled into the stars' surroundings, these materials reacted with one another and with hydrogen to make the icy, tarry and stony grains of cosmic dust. The vast assemblies of stars called galaxies became crucibles where Nature could use physics and chemistry to make new materials and new stars. Rays from the most distant galaxies have taken so many billions of years to reach us that we see them as they were when they were young. The farthest galaxy observed so far by ISO is a quasar called BR 1202-0225, dating from a time when the Universe was less than one-tenth of its present age. Already it is dusty. ISO has also observed many galaxies at about half the age of the Universe, by staring long and hard through a window in the dust of our own Milky Way Galaxy, called the Lockman Hole. In those that glow most brightly in the infrared, astronomers suspect that frantic star-making is in progress, in episodes called starbursts. In nearer galaxies, ISO's astronomers can relate strong infrared emissions to collisions and to violent eruptions in the galactic cores, which have punctuated the evolution of the galaxies. "Having ISO in space brings special opportunities for the study of the history of the galaxies," says the Japanese astronomer Yoshiaki Taniguchi of Tohoku University. "By detecting infrared wavelengths that are hard to observe from the Earth, ISO picks out very clearly the galaxies that are evolving most rapidly, in periods of intensive starmaking. Also some sources may be infrared galaxies powered by active galactic nuclei." The Milky Way Galaxy where we live acquired its name from the starry disk that we see edge-on as a ribbon of light. It has had a quiet history compared with some other galaxies, but the tranquillity is only relative. Violent events have made and destroyed stars throughout the Galaxy's life. The wreckage is strewn all around us. When ISO surveys cross-sections of the Milky Way it detects old cool stars and young dusty stars glowing strongly in the infrared. But the main features of the images are thin dust clouds sprawling across the sky, made by the scattered debris of defunct stars. Here and there, thicker and more luminous dust clouds are the scenes of new star formation. It was in just such a dusty environment that the Sun and the Earth were born. Death and rebirth among the stars The Sun is a middle-aged star. It was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, when the Universe was not much more than half its present age. Now the Sun is about half-way through its expected life-span. In the Sun, the Earth and our own bodies, all atoms heavier than than the primeval hydrogen and helium were made in stars of the Milky Way that expired before the Sun came into existence. Grains of different origins, found in meteorites and distinguished by atomic fingerprinting, confirm that many individual stellar ancestors contributed to the Solar System's stock of elements. The ashes of the ancestral stars are too dispersed to be identifiable in the Galaxy today. Astronomers can nevertheless find their analogues among more recent stars. ISO gives them special access to the stages between stellar death and rebirth. An old star expiring scatters chemically enriched material into the interstellar medium, which concentrates again at the origin of new stars and planets. Extraordinary success in analysing the chemical composition of the gases and dust in the vicinity of old and new stars, and in comets too, has been a major contribution from ISO. As described in previous Information Notes, materials identified by their infrared signatures include carbon monoxide and water in vapour or icy form, tarry carbon-rich compounds, and minerals including olivine, which is a major constituent of the Earth's rocky mantle. When the Sun itself grows old, it will swell and cool, and will eventually puff much its material into space. Its burnt-out core will collapse to make a white dwarf star. A star of roughly solar mass, seen in the last phase of its expiry, makes a planetary nebula -- a sphere of scattered ashes around the glowing ember of the white dwarf. ISO has examined several planetary nebulae, including the Helix Nebula, the subject of a newly released picture from ISO showing remarkable detail. Massive stars not only burn up much more quickly than sun-like stars, but perish more spectacularly in supernova explosions. For a few weeks, an exploding star glows more brightly than a billion suns. Its interior collapses to make a neutron star far denser than a white dwarf, and the star blasts its outer layers into space. One reason why supernovae are important in the chemical scheme of the cosmos is that only they can make the heaviest elements, such as gold and uranium. The remnant of a supernova remains discernible for thousands of years after the explosion. The most recent supernova observed in the Milky Way Galaxy occurred little more than 300 years ago and the resulting nebulous object is called Cassiopeia A. ISO has made the first detailed examination of Cassiopeia A by infrared rays unobservable from the Earth's surface. It gives direct evidence of dust formation. "The newly cooked elements provided by the supernova have to cool before they can create fresh supplies of interstellar dust," comments Pierre-Olivier Lagage of CEA SAp at Saclay (France) who led this study of Cassiopeia A. "With ISO's camera we can pick out emissions from various elements, and we find that clumps of hot material flung out from the star evolve directly into corresponding clumps of dust." In contrast the Trifid Nebula is region of rebirth, where massive stars of a new generation are forming. Seen by visible light, hot young stars light up a large cloud of gas. It is criss-crossed by dark dust clouds which divide the bright nebula and give it its name. An infrared image from ISO shows a remarkable change in appearance. The dark clouds become luminous and the bright regions are dark. By its trick of penetrating the dust, ISO reveals dense regions inside the obscuring clouds, where new stars are forming. The cosmic egg from which a star will hatch One prize sought by ISO astronomers has been the detection of the earliest stages of star formation. Pre-stellar cores are egg-like objects hidden within a larger dust cloud. A cold, thick shell of dust obscures the interior, where gas collapses under gravity to make an embryonic star. By the time the dust has dispersed, and the object inside has hatched as a plainly visible star, the main event of star formation is complete. In the earliest stages, only radio waves and far-infrared rays can escape from the dust cloud, allowing us to observe the real origins of the stars. Derek Ward-Thompson of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh (UK) and his colleagues at Cambridge University and in France, first detected the pre-stellar core L1689B, using observations at sub-millimetre radio wavelengths, in the constellation Ophiuchus. It is a very young pre-stellar core, on the brink of collapsing to form a new star. Now the team has used ISO to make the first infrared images of L1689B using the photometer ISOPHOT at long infrared wavelengths, up to its limit of 200 microns. The shell of dust is so cold, at roughly minus 260 degrees Centigrade (or 13 K), it is undetectable even at short or medium infrared wavelengths. Astronomers can now combine ISO's results with observations of the same object and others like it, at sub-millimetre radio wavelengths, to build up a detailed picture of the earliest stages of star formation. Ward-Thompson says: "Our fellow-astronomers thought we had no chance of detecting pre-stellar cores with any instruments available today. Now that we've done it, with the radio telescopes on the ground and with ISO in space, a new chapter in the study of star formation can begin. Already our results contradict the theory that a pre-stellar core should spin rapidly. It doesn't. In addition, our observations have shown us that the manner in which a newly-forming star first collapses is different from that which was previously predicted." Looking for the origin of planets Our immediate cosmic mother was the Solar Nebula, the cloud of gas and dust that supposedly swirled around the Sun at its birth about 4.5 billion years ago. Gravity flattened the gas and dust into a disk, like a giant version of the rings of Saturn. Stony and icy grains of dust congealed to make the Sun's family of planets, including the Earth. The comets are relics of the construction of the Solar System, and ISO has investigated their chemical composition. Yet the concept of planet-making in the dusty disk of the Solar Nebula was just a theory until the advent of infrared space astronomy. One of the more time-intensive programmes of ISO deals with the existence of disks of dust particles around normal stars. The Sun still has a disk, visible as the Zodiacal Light seen close to the horizon after sunset in spring or before sunrise in autumn. The dust is, however, too sparse to be detected, if one were looking for a similar feature in the surroundings of another star. Therefore it came as a big surprise when ISO's predecessor, the Dutch-US-UK Infrared Astronomical Satellite (1983), detected similar dust disks around a few nearby stars, notably Vega and Beta Pictoris, with much more material than the Sun's dust disk. However, the material is much colder than the zodiacal cloud and thus farther away from the stars. In our solar system this would be beyond Neptune. The disks fascinate astronomers because they show the presence of material around stars that is left over from the time of their formation. This suggests that many stars other than the Sun may have a "solar system" of planets, asteroids and comets around them. Although there are some other ways to get more information about such "solar system" disks, it falls to ISO to take the next big steps. These are to observe many more stars at much higher sensitivity, to establish how often such disks occur, and to see for how long how they can survive the natural processes that tend to destroy them. The first results show that ISO detects weak disks in some cases. In a few others it sets upper limits to possible dust. Some disks are detected at quite long wavelengths, indicating that they extend to fairly far away from the star. Data-reduction of observations of many more stars is in progress. A preliminary conclusion is that the existence of a disk is a property of many but clearly not all stars. Background on ISO Advanced technology created ISO's extremely cold telescope capable of observing cool regions of the Universe. Multinational teams, with leaders in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, developed the special scientific instruments. A European Ariane 44P launcher put ISO into orbit on 17 November 1995. Requests from the world's astronomers for observations with ISO have always far exceeded the available operating time, even though the spacecraft's controllers at ESA Villafranca supervise an average of 45 astronomical observations every day.

  17. IsoDesign: a software for optimizing the design of 13C-metabolic flux analysis experiments.

    PubMed

    Millard, Pierre; Sokol, Serguei; Letisse, Fabien; Portais, Jean-Charles

    2014-01-01

    The growing demand for (13) C-metabolic flux analysis ((13) C-MFA) in the field of metabolic engineering and systems biology is driving the need to rationalize expensive and time-consuming (13) C-labeling experiments. Experimental design is a key step in improving both the number of fluxes that can be calculated from a set of isotopic data and the precision of flux values. We present IsoDesign, a software that enables these parameters to be maximized by optimizing the isotopic composition of the label input. It can be applied to (13) C-MFA investigations using a broad panel of analytical tools (MS, MS/MS, (1) H NMR, (13) C NMR, etc.) individually or in combination. It includes a visualization module to intuitively select the optimal label input depending on the biological question to be addressed. Applications of IsoDesign are described, with an example of the entire (13) C-MFA workflow from the experimental design to the flux map including important practical considerations. IsoDesign makes the experimental design of (13) C-MFA experiments more accessible to a wider biological community. IsoDesign is distributed under an open source license at http://metasys.insa-toulouse.fr/software/isodes/ © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Cardioprotective Effects of Tualang Honey: Amelioration of Cholesterol and Cardiac Enzymes Levels.

    PubMed

    Khalil, Md Ibrahim; Tanvir, E M; Afroz, Rizwana; Sulaiman, Siti Amrah; Gan, Siew Hua

    2015-01-01

    The present study was designed to investigate the cardioprotective effects of Malaysian Tualang honey against isoproterenol- (ISO-) induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rats by investigating changes in the levels of cardiac marker enzymes, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), lipid peroxidation (LPO) products, and antioxidant defense system combined with histopathological examination. Male albino Wistar rats (n = 40) were pretreated orally with Tualang honey (3 g/kg/day) for 45 days. Subcutaneous injection of ISO (85 mg/kg in saline) for two consecutive days caused a significant increase in serum cardiac marker enzymes (creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and aspartate transaminase (AST)), cTnI, serum TC, and TG levels. In addition, ISO-induced myocardial injury was confirmed by a significant increase in heart lipid peroxidation (LPO) products (TBARS) and a significant decrease in antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPx, GRx, and GST). Pretreatment of ischemic rats with Tualang honey conferred significant protective effects on all of the investigated biochemical parameters. The biochemical findings were further confirmed by histopathological examination in both Tualang-honey-pretreated and ISO-treated hearts. The present study demonstrates that Tualang honey confers cardioprotective effects on ISO-induced oxidative stress by contributing to endogenous antioxidant enzyme activity via inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

  19. Cardioprotective effect of vitamin D2 on isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in diabetic rats.

    PubMed

    El Agaty, Sahar M

    2018-03-08

    To assess the effect of vitamin D 2 and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms on acute myocardial injury induced by isoproterenol (ISO) in diabetic rats. Rats were divided into control rats, diabetic rats (DM), diabetic rats received ISO (DM-ISO), and diabetic rats pretreated with vitamin D 2 and received ISO (DM-D 2 -ISO). Vitamin D 2 pretreatment significantly decreased fasting glucose and myocardial malondialdehyde, associated with increased insulin, myocardial glutathione and superoxide dismutase in DM-D 2 -ISO versus DM-ISO. The serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL were significantly decreased, along with increased HDL and adiponectin. Poly-ADP ribose polymerase, cyclooxygenase-2, tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, caspase-3, BAX, and p53 were significantly downregulated in myocardium of DM-D 2 -ISO versus DM-ISO. Histological studies showed diminished inflammatory cells infiltration in myocardium of DM-D 2 -ISO versus DM-ISO. Vitamin D 2 ameliorates hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia, redox imbalance, inflammatory and apoptotic processes, protecting the myocardium of diabetic rats against acute myocardial infarction.

  20. Synthesis and Biological Activity of 2',3'-iso-Aryl-abscisic Acid Analogs.

    PubMed

    Wan, Chuan; Wang, Mingan; Yang, Dongyan; Han, Xiaoqiang; Che, Chuanliang; Ding, Shanshan; Xiao, Yumei; Qin, Zhaohai

    2017-12-15

    2',3'- iso -Benzoabscisic acid ( iso -PhABA), an excellent selective abscisic acid (ABA) analog, was developed in our previous work. In order to find its more structure-activity information, some structural modifications were completed in this paper, including the substitution of phenyl ring and replacing the ring with heterocycles. Thus, 16 novel analogs of iso -PhABA were synthesized and screened with three bioassays, Arabidopsis and lettuce seed germination and rice seedling elongation. Some of them, i.e., 2',3'- iso -pyridoabscisic acid ( iso -PyABA) and 2',3'- iso -franoabscisic acid ( iso -FrABA), displayed good bioactivities that closed to iso -PhABA and natural (+)-ABA. Some others, for instance, substituted- iso -PhABA, exhibited certain selectivity to different physiological process when compared to iso -PhABA or (+)-ABA. These analogs not only provided new candidates of ABA-like synthetic plant growth regulators (PGRs) for practical application, but also new potential selective agonist/antagonist for probing the specific function of ABA receptors.

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

    Kiff, Scott D.; Dazeley, Steven; Reyna, David

    The current state-of-the-art in antineutrino detection is such that it is now possible to remotely monitor the operational status, power levels and fissile content of nuclear reactors in real-time. This non-invasive and incorruptible technique has been demonstrated at civilian power reactors in both Russia and the United States and has been of interest to the IAEA Novel Technologies Unit for several years. Expert's meetings were convened at IAEA headquarters in 2003 and again in 2008. The latter produced a report in which antineutrino detection was called a 'highly promising technology for safeguards applications' at nuclear reactors and several near-term goalsmore » and suggested developments were identified to facilitate wider applicability. Over the last few years, we have been working to achieve some of these goals and improvements. Specifically, we have already demonstrated the successful operation of non-toxic detectors and most recently, we are testing a transportable, above-ground detector system, which is fully contained within a standard 6 meter ISO container. If successful, such a system could allow easy deployment at any reactor facility around the world. As well, our previously demonstrated ability to remotely monitor the data and respond in real-time to reactor operational changes could allow the verification of operator declarations without the need for costly site-visits. As the global nuclear power industry expands around the world, the burden on maintaining operational histories and safeguarding inventories will increase greatly. Such a system for providing remote data to verify operator's declarations could greatly reduce the need for frequent site inspections while still providing a robust warning of anomalies requiring further investigation.« less

  2. Joint US-Japan Observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO): Deep Surveys and Observations of High-Z Objects

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sanders, David B.

    1997-01-01

    Several important milestones were passed during the past year of our ISO observing program: (1) Our first ISO data were successfully obtained. ISOCAM data were taken for our primary deep field target in the 'Lockman Hole'. Thirteen hours of integration (taken over 4 contiguous orbits) were obtained in the LW2 filter of a 3 ft x 3 ft region centered on the position of minimum HI column density in the Lockman Hole. The data were obtained in microscanning mode. This is the deepest integration attempted to date (by almost a factor of 4 in time) with ISOCAM. (2) The deep survey data obtained for the Lockman Hole were received by the Japanese P.I. (Yoshi Taniguchi) in early December, 1996 (following release of the improved pipeline formatted data from Vilspa), and a copy was forwarded to Hawaii shortly thereafter. These data were processed independently by the Japan and Hawaii groups during the latter part of December 1996, and early January, 1997. The Hawaii group made use of the U.S. ISO data center at IPAC/Caltech in Pasadena to carry out their data reduction, while the Japanese group used a copy of the ISOCAM data analysis package made available to them through an agreement with the head of the ISOCAM team, Catherine Cesarsky. (3) Results of our LW2 Deep Survey in the Lockman Hole were first reported at the ISO Workshop "Taking ISO to the Limits: Exploring the Faintest Sources in the Infrared" held at the ISO Science Operations Center in Villafranca, Spain (VILSPA) on 3-4 February, 1997. Yoshi Taniguchi gave an invited presentation summarizing the results of the U.S.-Japan team, and Dave Sanders gave an invited talk summarizing the results of the Workshop at the conclusion of the two day meeting. The text of the talks by Taniguchi and Sanders are included in the printed Workshop Proceedings, and are published in full on the Web. By several independent accounts, the U.S.-Japan Deep Survey results were one of the highlights of the Workshop; these data showed conclusively that the ISOCAM S/N continues to decrease as the square root of time for periods as long as 13 hours.

  3. The journey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cohen, Lori A.

    1995-12-01

    Kodak Optical Products has embarked on a journey that will ultimately lead to manufacturing excellence and total customer satisfaction. With quality as our compass we have already obtained ISO 9001 and Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) II certifications. Seeking and attaining these certifications enabled us to understand and enhance fundamentals relative to the operation of our business. This has provided a solid foundation from which we can launch continuous improvement activities. Now we continue our journey to such destinations as 10X reduction in both defects and cycle time, measuring and reducing our cost of poor quality, and upgrading our quality information system. Our presentation will emphasize our 10X improvement process and how it applies to high-volume production of precision plastic optics.

  4. 78 FR 41364 - Chlorinated Isocyanurates From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-10

    ... From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review... antidumping duty order on chlorinated isocyanurates (chlorinated isos) from the People's Republic of China.... DATES: Effective Date: July 10, 2013. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Halle, AD/CVD Operations...

  5. On the effect of operation of the hydropower plant on the water quality of Rapel reservoir, central Chile

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rossel, V.; De La Fuente, A.

    2013-12-01

    Eutrophication of lakes and reservoirs is a common problem in systems with high incoming loads of nutrients. The consequent algae bloom related to the eutrophication alters the water quality and generates an incompatibility with the tourist and recreational activities. This study is focused on Rapel reservoir: an old, dentritic and monomictic reservoir, located in central Chile (34°S, 71.6°W), that has experienced numerous algae bloom events in the past years produced by high loads of nutrients, sediments and metals. This reservoir was originally constructed in 1968 for hydropower generation without environmental restrictions on its operation. Rapel is part of Chile's Central Interconnected System (SIC), and is controlled by an independent system operator (ISO) that decides the optimal allocation of water by minimizing the SIC's operation cost. As a result of this framework, Rapel reservoir operates based on a hydropeaking scheme, thus producing energy few hours a day while zero outflows are observed the remaining hours, impacting on Rapel river located downstream the reservoir. However, previous research showed that this hydropeaking has important effects on the hydrodynamic of the reservoir as well. Particularly, it enhances vertical mixing nears the dam, and reduces horizontal dispersion. Furthermore, hydropeaking defines the outflows water temperature, and the temperature profile near the dam. As a consequence of this role of hydropeaking on the hydrodynamics and mixing of Rapel reservoir, it is expected to be a link between hydropeaking and water quality. The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of the operation of hydropower plant on the water quality of Rapel reservoir, for which the reservoir system is modeled using the three dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model ELCOM-CAEDYM. Field data to validate the results and to define boundary and initial conditions are available for the austral summer period of 2009-2010. Different scenarios of the hydropower plant outflows are obtained using an alternative of the ISO's economic optimization tool. A number of 20 simulations are conducted depending on the hydrological regime (dry, normal or wet) and on the presence or absence of an environmental flow. First of all, it was obtained that the hydropower plant operation depends on the hydrological regime, which produces changes in the storage volume, and on the environmental flow. Particularly, wet regime promotes high fluctuation on the storage, and the definition of an environmental flow reduces the outflow peaks.The numerical results show that there is a direct influence of hydropeaking on the water quality of Rapel reservoir, particularly in the area near the dam. This result is due to both changes in the storage volume, produced by different environmental flows and hydrological regime, and hydrodynamics and vertical mixing. The simulations also show that the introduction of an environmental flow downstream has an adverse impact on the internal quality of the reservoir, which is increased in the dry scenario. The study evidences the conflicting goals among environmental flow, SIC's operation costs and internal water quality of the reservoir.

  6. Major metabolite of F2-isoprostane in urine may be a more sensitive biomarker of oxidative stress than isoprostane itself1234

    PubMed Central

    Dorjgochoo, Tsogzolmaa; Gao, Yu-Tang; Chow, Wong-Ho; Shu, Xiao-ou; Yang, Gong; Cai, Qiuyin; Rothman, Nathaniel; Cai, Hui; Li, Honglan; Deng, Xinqing; Franke, Adrian; Roberts, L Jackson; Milne, Ginger; Zheng, Wei; Dai, Qi

    2012-01-01

    Background: There is limited literature on the contributors to isoprostane metabolite 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-15-F2t-isoprostane (15-F2t-IsoP-M) compared with F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) as an oxidative stress biomarker. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether plasma concentrations of antioxidants, urinary excretion rates of polyphenols, and antioxidants in food and dietary supplements are attributable to both urinary F2-IsoP and 15-F2t-IsoP-M concentrations. Design: Dietary intake information and blood and urine samples were obtained from 845 healthy middle-aged and elderly female participants of the Shanghai Women's Health Study. Urinary isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs and 15-F2t-IsoP-M) were measured and adjusted for creatinine concentrations. Results: Urinary 15-F2t-IsoP-M and F2-IsoP concentrations were lower in subjects who used a multivitamin. Lower F2-IsoP concentrations were observed in ginseng users, whereas lower concentrations of 15-F2t-IsoP-M were shown in subjects who used a vitamin E supplement. Plasma concentrations of several antioxidants (ie, β-carotenes, both trans and cis β-carotenes, lycopene other than trans, 5-cis and 7-cis isomers, cis anhydrolutein, and cis β-cryptoxanthin) were inversely associated with 15-F2t-IsoP-M but not with F2-IsoPs, whereas β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherols were positively associated with 15-F2t-IsoP-M but not with F2-IsoPs. Urinary polyphenol quercetin was positively associated with both F2-IsoPs and 15-F2t-IsoP-M. Conclusion: The results suggest that the F2-IsoP major metabolite 15-F2t-IsoP-M may be a more sensitive marker of endogenous oxidative stress status than are F2-IsoPs in the assessment of effects of antioxidants on age-related diseases. PMID:22760572

  7. Protective and therapeutic effects of dexpanthenol on isoproterenol-induced cardiac damage in rats.

    PubMed

    Kalkan, Ferhat; Parlakpinar, Hakan; Disli, Olcay M; Tanriverdi, Lokman H; Ozhan, Onural; Polat, Alaaddin; Cetin, Aslı; Vardi, Nigar; Otlu, Yılmaz O; Acet, Ahmet

    2018-05-18

    The purpose of the study was to explore the protective and therapeutic effects of dexpanthenol (DEX) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced cardiac damage. Forty rats were distributed into four groups: group I (Control); group II (ISO); ISO (150 mg/kg/day) was given to rats once a day for 2 consecutive days with an interval of 24 h; group III (DEX+ISO): DEX (250 mg/kg) was applied 30 min before the first ISO administration and continued in the next two days after second ISO administration; group IV (ISO+DEX): After the ISO treatment at 1st and 2nd days, DEX was given at 3rd and 4th days. Rats were monitored for mean arterial blood pressure (BP), heart rate, oxygen saturation (%SO 2 ), and electrocardiography (ECG). Heart tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), reduced glutathione (GSH), total oxidant status (TOS); total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidative stress index (OSI), and caspase-3 were determined. BP and SO 2 values indicated a significant decrease in the ISO group. Also, T wave negativity was observed in 6 of 10 rats, SOD, CAT, and GPX levels were significantly lower in ISO group than control group. ISO administration increased TOS and OSI levels, whereas DEX treatment significantly reduced these parameters. Also, ISO-induced morphological alterations such as disorganization of cardiomyocytes, loss of myofibrils and cytoplasmic vacuolization whereas these histological damages were significantly decreased in ISO+DEX and DEX+ISO groups when compared to the ISO group. This study implies the cardioprotective effects of DEX on ISO-induced cardiotoxicity. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Europe's space telescope ISO finds water in distant places

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1997-04-01

    Equally striking is ISO's discovery of water vapour in the outer planets, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. As those chilly planets cannot release water from within, they probably have a supply of water coming from elsewhere in the Solar System. Since ISO went into orbit at the end of 1995, it has used its unique power of analysing infrared rays coming from the Universe to identify water vapour and water ice near dying stars and newborn stars. It has also measured the water vapour steaming from Comet Hale-Bopp. "Before ISO no instrument was capable of detecting water in so many places," comments ESA's director of science, Roger Bonnet. "To start revealing the cosmic history of the Earth's water is a big success for ESA and for the astronomers who use our unique infrared observatory. And ISO's discovery that water is commonplace in the Galaxy will encourage renewed speculation about life that may exist in the vicinity of other stars." Water amid the stars Primaeval hydrogen atoms make water by joining with oxygen atoms that are manufactured within stars, in nuclear reactions occurring towards the end of a star's life. Oxygen from defunct stars enriches the Galaxy, and abundant hydrogen is available to react with it. Although the existence of water in interstellar space is not surprising, the Earth's moist atmosphere makes life difficult for any astronomer who wishes to spot water vapour in the Universe with ground-based instruments. Observations from aircraft and balloons gave early hints of cosmic water, but thorough investigations had to wait for ISO's unhampered view from space. Three of the satellite's instruments, the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS), the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) and the photometer ISOPHOT operating in spectroscopic mode, take part in the hunt for water. Last year, for example, users of both SWS and LWS reported water vapour in the vicinity of the aged star, W Hydrae, from which oxygen-rich winds blow into space. The bright infrared source GL 2591, surrounding a newly formed massive star, revealed to SWS hot and abundant water vapour. Jets of gas from very young stars can create luminous shock waves at great distances, and LWS made the first detection of water vapour in such an object, HH-54. Among the objects subsequently examined by LWS, IRAS 16293-2422 is a cosmic egg in the process of creating a star of about the same size as the Sun. Characteristic emissions from water vapour at 108, 113, 174 and 179 microns show up clearly. The water plays a practical part in starmaking. It helps to radiate away excess heat which could otherwise prevent the parent gas from condensing under gravity to make the star. When ISO looks towards the centre of the Galaxy, which lies about 28,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius, it sees, not emissions of the the characteristic wavelengths of water, but absorptions. These appear as dips in the infrared spectrum and tell of the presence of dark, cool clouds, called molecular clouds, which are the primary source of new stars. Very close to the true Galactic Centre is the bright infrared source Sagittarius B2, and it too shows the presence of water vapour. In a programme of observations which began in the autumn of 1996 and is still continuing, ISO's Long Wavelength Spectrometer has made observations of such high precision that it distinguishes different molecular clouds on the way towards the Galactic Centre. The clouds are moving at different speeds relative to the Earth. They alter each water wavelength by the Doppler effect, to produce a broad absorption line representing water vapour in the various clouds intervening between the Earth and the bright source Sagittarius B2. The detection by LWS of water molecules containing the rare, heavy form of oxygen, oxygen-18, helps the astronomers to estimate the abundance of water. Other watery clouds show up when ISO aims towards other dense regions of the Galaxy somewhat away from the Galactic Centre. There really is, in the words of an English poet, "Water, water everywhere". A Spanish astronomer, Jose Cernicharo of the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia in Madrid, has played a prominent part in this work. He is delighted by the results. "For the first time, we have a clear impression of the abundance of water in the Galaxy," Cernicharo says. "In relatively dense clouds as many as ten per cent of all oxygen atoms are incorporated into molecules of water vapour. Even more may be in the form of water ice. Water vapour is, after molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide, one of the most important molecules in space. It plays an important role in the dynamical evolution of the gas inside the molecular clouds of our Galaxy, and hence in the formation of new stars." The water supply of the outer planets The water vapour in Saturn, Uranus and Neptune showed up in analyses of very accurate observations made with ISO's Short Wavelength Spectrometer during October and November 1996. A report to the world's astronomical community tells of a particularly clear water signature from Uranus, in distinctive infrared emissions at eight wavelengths between 28.43 and 44.19 microns. A preliminary analysis indicated that the water vapour exists in the giant planet's outer atmosphere, at a temperature around 0 degrees C. ISO detected six of the same water "lines" in the infrared spectrum of distant Neptune, and three in Saturn, which is closer than Uranus. The puzzle for planetary astronomers is now to figure out where the water comes from. These giant planets are a long way from the Sun. Uranus, for example, is twenty times farther out than the Earth is, and sunlight is feebler by a factor of 400. The planets have their own internal sources of heat, and they are thought to contain plenty of water incorporated when the planets formed. But it would be difficult for water vapour to escape into the outer atmosphere. On the other hand, water in the form of ice is a major constituent of comets, which sometimes collide with the planets, as seen in the spectacular impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter in 1994. The leader of the ISO team that found the water vapour in the outer planets is Helmut Feuchtgruber of the Max-Planck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik at Garching, Germany. He works at the ISO operations centre at Villafranca, Spain. For him, the theoretical puzzle of the water vapour is full of significance for planetary science. "The upper atmosphere of the Earth is very dry because water vapour rising from the oceans or the land freezes into clouds," Feuchtgruber comments. "We would expect the same kind of lid to seal in the water vapour of the outer planets. What we see in Saturn, Uranus and Neptune probably comes from an outside source. This has important implications for our theories of the origin and evolution of all planetary atmospheres, including the Earth's." Helmut Feuchtgruber, Emmanuel Lellouch and their colleagues are preparing a theoretical analysis of the likely origin of the water vapour in the outer planets, which they hope to publish in the next few months. European success story Rated by a panel of American astronomers as "the major infrared mission of the decade", ISO is a special achievement for ESA -- and for Europe's astronomers and engineers. Advanced technology created ISO's extremely cold telescope capable of observing cool regions of the Universe. Multinational teams, with leaders in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, developed the special scientific instruments. A European Ariane 44P launcher put ISO into orbit on 17 November 1995. ISO's supply of superfluid helium, which keeps the telescope and instruments cold, is expected to run out at about the end of 1997, giving it a life several months longer than required in the specification. Requests from the world's astronomers for observations with ISO have always far exceeded the available operating time, even though the spacecraft's controllers at ESA Villafranca supervise an average of 45 astronomical observations every day.

  9. The Effect of a Mechanical Arm System on Portable Grinder Vibration Emissions.

    PubMed

    McDowell, Thomas W; Welcome, Daniel E; Warren, Christopher; Xu, Xueyan S; Dong, Ren G

    2016-04-01

    Mechanical arm systems are commonly used to support powered hand tools to alleviate ergonomic stressors related to the development of workplace musculoskeletal disorders. However, the use of these systems can increase exposure times to other potentially harmful agents such as hand-transmitted vibration. To examine how these tool support systems affect tool vibration, the primary objectives of this study were to characterize the vibration emissions of typical portable pneumatic grinders used for surface grinding with and without a mechanical arm support system at a workplace and to estimate the potential risk of the increased vibration exposure time afforded by the use of these mechanical arm systems. This study also developed a laboratory-based simulated grinding task based on the ISO 28927-1 (2009) standard for assessing grinder vibrations; the simulated grinding vibrations were compared with those measured during actual workplace grinder operations. The results of this study demonstrate that use of the mechanical arm may provide a health benefit by reducing the forces required to lift and maneuver the tools and by decreasing hand-transmitted vibration exposure. However, the arm does not substantially change the basic characteristics of grinder vibration spectra. The mechanical arm reduced the average frequency-weighted acceleration by about 24% in the workplace and by about 7% in the laboratory. Because use of the mechanical arm system can increase daily time-on-task by 50% or more, the use of such systems may actually increase daily time-weighted hand-transmitted vibration exposures in some cases. The laboratory acceleration measurements were substantially lower than the workplace measurements, and the laboratory tool rankings based on acceleration were considerably different than those from the workplace. Thus, it is doubtful that ISO 28927-1 is useful for estimating workplace grinder vibration exposures or for predicting workplace grinder acceleration rank orders. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society 2015.

  10. The Effect of a Mechanical Arm System on Portable Grinder Vibration Emissions

    PubMed Central

    McDowell, Thomas W.; Welcome, Daniel E.; Warren, Christopher; Xu, Xueyan S.; Dong, Ren G.

    2016-01-01

    Mechanical arm systems are commonly used to support powered hand tools to alleviate ergonomic stressors related to the development of workplace musculoskeletal disorders. However, the use of these systems can increase exposure times to other potentially harmful agents such as hand-transmitted vibration. To examine how these tool support systems affect tool vibration, the primary objectives of this study were to characterize the vibration emissions of typical portable pneumatic grinders used for surface grinding with and without a mechanical arm support system at a workplace and to estimate the potential risk of the increased vibration exposure time afforded by the use of these mechanical arm systems. This study also developed a laboratory-based simulated grinding task based on the ISO 28927-1 (2009) standard for assessing grinder vibrations; the simulated grinding vibrations were compared with those measured during actual workplace grinder operations. The results of this study demonstrate that use of the mechanical arm may provide a health benefit by reducing the forces required to lift and maneuver the tools and by decreasing hand-transmitted vibration exposure. However, the arm does not substantially change the basic characteristics of grinder vibration spectra. The mechanical arm reduced the average frequency-weighted acceleration by about 24% in the workplace and by about 7% in the laboratory. Because use of the mechanical arm system can increase daily time-on-task by 50% or more, the use of such systems may actually increase daily time-weighted hand-transmitted vibration exposures in some cases. The laboratory acceleration measurements were substantially lower than the workplace measurements, and the laboratory tool rankings based on acceleration were considerably different than those from the workplace. Thus, it is doubtful that ISO 28927-1 is useful for estimating workplace grinder vibration exposures or for predicting workplace grinder acceleration rank orders. PMID:26628522

  11. Development of vendor evaluation criteria and post-implementation considerations for MSFC center-wide executive information system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moynihan, Gary P.

    1992-01-01

    In June 1991, the MITRE Corporation submitted a series of recommendations as part of a Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Management Information System Requirements Study, initiated by the Information Systems Office (ISO). A major recommendation of the study was to develop an Executive Information System (EIS) for MSFC executives. ISO was directed, by center management, to proceed with the development of a Center-Wide Executive Information System. Existing EIS prototypes, developed by the Space Shuttle Projects Office and the Payload Projects Office, were reviewed. These existing MSFC prototypes were considered not to encompass the required functionality needed on a center-wide basis. A follow-up study by MITRE provided top-level system requirements. These were later incorporated into a final requirements specification document by Boeing Computer Support Services.

  12. Effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on C-reactive protein, oxidative stress, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-2 levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Koromantzos, Panagiotis A; Makrilakis, Konstantinos; Dereka, Xanthippi; Offenbacher, Steven; Katsilambros, Nicholas; Vrotsos, Ioannis A; Madianos, Phoebus N

    2012-01-01

    It is well accepted that glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is affected by systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. The effect of periodontal therapy on these systemic factors may be related to improvement on glycemic status. The aim of the present study is to assess over a period of 6 months the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), d-8-iso prostaglandin F2a (d-8-iso) as a marker of oxidative stress, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 on patients with type 2 DM. Sixty participants with type 2 DM and moderate to severe periodontal disease were randomized into intervention (IG) and control (CG) groups. IG received scaling and root planing, whereas CG received supragingival cleaning at baseline and scaling and root planing at 6 months. Participants of both groups were evaluated at baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months. Periodontal data recorded at each visit included probing depth, clinical attachment loss, bleeding on probing, and gingival index. Blood was collected at each visit for the assay of serum glycated hemoglobin A1c (A1c), hsCRP, d-8-iso, MMP-2, and MMP-9. Although there was a trend to a reduction in hsCRP, d-8-iso and MMP-9 it did not reach statistical significance. MMP-2 levels remained unchanged after periodontal treatment. Effective non-surgical periodontal treatment of participants with type 2 DM and moderate to severe periodontal disease improved significantly A1c levels but did not result in a statistically significant improvement in hsCRP, d-8-iso, MMP-2, and MMP-9 levels.

  13. Portuguese food composition database quality management system.

    PubMed

    Oliveira, L M; Castanheira, I P; Dantas, M A; Porto, A A; Calhau, M A

    2010-11-01

    The harmonisation of food composition databases (FCDB) has been a recognised need among users, producers and stakeholders of food composition data (FCD). To reach harmonisation of FCDBs among the national compiler partners, the European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR) Network of Excellence set up a series of guidelines and quality requirements, together with recommendations to implement quality management systems (QMS) in FCDBs. The Portuguese National Institute of Health (INSA) is the national FCDB compiler in Portugal and is also a EuroFIR partner. INSA's QMS complies with ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardisation/International Electrotechnical Commission) 17025 requirements. The purpose of this work is to report on the strategy used and progress made for extending INSA's QMS to the Portuguese FCDB in alignment with EuroFIR guidelines. A stepwise approach was used to extend INSA's QMS to the Portuguese FCDB. The approach included selection of reference standards and guides and the collection of relevant quality documents directly or indirectly related to the compilation process; selection of the adequate quality requirements; assessment of adequacy and level of requirement implementation in the current INSA's QMS; implementation of the selected requirements; and EuroFIR's preassessment 'pilot' auditing. The strategy used to design and implement the extension of INSA's QMS to the Portuguese FCDB is reported in this paper. The QMS elements have been established by consensus. ISO/IEC 17025 management requirements (except 4.5) and 5.2 technical requirements, as well as all EuroFIR requirements (including technical guidelines, FCD compilation flowchart and standard operating procedures), have been selected for implementation. The results indicate that the quality management requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 in place in INSA fit the needs for document control, audits, contract review, non-conformity work and corrective actions, and users' (customers') comments, complaints and satisfaction, with minor adaptation. Implementation of the FCDB QMS proved to be a way of reducing the subjectivity of the compilation process and fully documenting it, and also facilitates training of new compilers. Furthermore, it has strengthened cooperation and trust among FCDB actors, as all of them were called to be involved in the process. On the basis of our practical results, we can conclude that ISO/IEC 17025 management requirements are an adequate reference for the implementation of INSA's FCDB QMS with the advantages of being well known to all members of staff and also being a common quality language among laboratories producing FCD. Combining quality systems and food composition activities endows the FCDB compilation process with flexibility, consistency and transparency, and facilitates its monitoring and assessment, providing the basis for strengthening confidence among users, data producers and compilers.

  14. SeaDataNet Pan-European infrastructure for Ocean & Marine Data Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manzella, G. M.; Maillard, C.; Maudire, G.; Schaap, D.; Rickards, L.; Nast, F.; Balopoulos, E.; Mikhailov, N.; Vladymyrov, V.; Pissierssens, P.; Schlitzer, R.; Beckers, J. M.; Barale, V.

    2007-12-01

    SEADATANET is developing a Pan-European data management infrastructure to insure access to a large number of marine environmental data (i.e. temperature, salinity current, sea level, chemical, physical and biological properties), safeguard and long term archiving. Data are derived from many different sensors installed on board of research vessels, satellite and the various platforms of the marine observing system. SeaDataNet allows to have information on real time and archived marine environmental data collected at a pan-european level, through directories on marine environmental data and projects. SeaDataNet allows the access to the most comprehensive multidisciplinary sets of marine in-situ and remote sensing data, from about 40 laboratories, through user friendly tools. The data selection and access is operated through the Common Data Index (CDI), XML files compliant with ISO standards and unified dictionaries. Technical Developments carried out by SeaDataNet includes: A library of Standards - Meta-data standards, compliant with ISO 19115, for communication and interoperability between the data platforms. Software of interoperable on line system - Interconnection of distributed data centres by interfacing adapted communication technology tools. Off-Line Data Management software - software representing the minimum equipment of all the data centres is developed by AWI "Ocean Data View (ODV)". Training, Education and Capacity Building - Training 'on the job' is carried out by IOC-Unesco in Ostende. SeaDataNet Virtual Educational Centre internet portal provides basic tools for informal education

  15. Clinical evaluation of the FreeStyle Precision Pro system.

    PubMed

    Brazg, Ronald; Hughes, Kristen; Martin, Pamela; Coard, Julie; Toffaletti, John; McDonnell, Elizabeth; Taylor, Elizabeth; Farrell, Lausanne; Patel, Mona; Ward, Jeanne; Chen, Ting; Alva, Shridhara; Ng, Ronald

    2013-06-05

    A new version of international standard (ISO 15197) and CLSI Guideline (POCT12) with more stringent accuracy criteria are near publication. We evaluated the glucose test performance of the FreeStyle Precision Pro system, a new blood glucose monitoring system (BGMS) designed to enhance accuracy for point-of-care testing (POCT). Precision, interference and system accuracy with 503 blood samples from capillary, venous and arterial sources were evaluated in a multicenter study. Study results were analyzed and presented in accordance with the specifications and recommendations of the final draft ISO 15197 and the new POCT12. The FreeStyle Precision Pro system demonstrated acceptable precision (CV <5%), no interference across a hematocrit range of 15-65%, and, except for xylose, no interference from 24 of 25 potentially interfering substances. It also met all accuracy criteria specified in the final draft ISO 15197 and POCT12, with 97.3-98.9% of the individual results of various blood sample types agreeing within ±12 mg/dl of the laboratory analyzer values at glucose concentrations <100mg/dl and within ±12.5% of the laboratory analyzer values at glucose concentrations ≥100 mg/dl. The FreeStyle Precision Pro system met the tighter accuracy requirements, providing a means for enhancing accuracy for point-of-care blood glucose monitoring. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Evaluation of Nursing Information Systems: Application of Usability Aspects in the Development of Systems.

    PubMed

    Moghaddasi, Hamid; Rabiei, Reza; Asadi, Farkhondeh; Ostvan, Negin

    2017-04-01

    As the largest group providing healthcare services, nurses require well-designed information systems in their practice. This study aims to evaluate the usability of nursing information systems (NIS). This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2015. The settings of the study consisted of four hospitals affiliated with three medical universities in Tehran (Iran). The subjects of the study included nurses who had access to and used a NIS developed by four major software companies. The data were collected using a modified version of a usability questionnaire known as IsoMetrics, based on the International Standard ISO 9241, Part 11. The questionnaire is composed of 35 questions divided into seven general criteria. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by experts in the field, and the reliability was checked using Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.91). The questionnaire was then distributed to 184 nurses. The response rate was 64.6%. Among the seven ISO usability criteria, suitability for the task (3.10 ± 1.24) and suitability for learning (3.10 ± 1.27) had the highest mean value. The lowest mean value (2.37 ± 1.29) was related to the suitability for individualization. Addressing issues related to individualization and self-descriptiveness could improve the usability of nursing systems. Considering usability requirements in the design of a NIS will lead to the efficient and effective use of these systems.

  17. Relationship between platelet and urinary 8-Iso-PGF2α levels in subjects with different degrees of NOX2 regulation.

    PubMed

    Carnevale, Roberto; Iuliano, Luigi; Nocella, Cristina; Bartimoccia, Simona; Trapè, Stefano; Russo, Roberta; Gentile, Maria Cristina; Cangemi, Roberto; Loffredo, Lorenzo; Pignatelli, Pasquale; Violi, Francesco

    2013-06-14

    Urinary 8-iso-PGF2α, a marker of oxidative stress, is influenced by the activation of NOX2. It is unclear if platelets 8-iso-PGF2α contribute to urinary 8-iso-PGF2α. In a cross-sectional study, platelet, urinary, and serum 8-iso-PGF2α were determined in subjects with downregulation (X-linked chronic granulomatous disease [X-CGD], n=25) and upregulation (type II diabetic patients [T2D], n=121) of NOX2 and 153 controls matched for sex and age. In diabetic patients (n=18), the above variables were repeated before and after 7 days treatment with 100 mg/day aspirin or 100 mg/day aspirin plus 40 mg/day atorvastatin. In vitro study was performed to see the contribution of blood cells to serum 8-iso-PGF2α. Compared with controls, X-CGD patients had lower platelet, serum, and urinary 8-iso-PGF2α values; conversely, diabetic patients had higher values of 8-iso-PGF2α compared with controls. Urinary 8-iso-PGF2α significantly correlated with both platelet and serum 8-iso-PGF2α in the 2 cohorts. A parallel increase of platelet, serum, and urinary 8-iso-PGF2α by aspirin and a parallel decrease by aspirin plus atorvastatin were detected in the interventional study. In vitro study demonstrated that platelets contribute to 37% of serum 8-iso-PGF2α and that only 13% of it is of extravascular origin. The study suggests that NOX2 contributes to the formation of 8-iso-PGF2α in both platelets and urine. The direct correlation between platelet and urinary 8-iso-PGF2α suggests that, at least partly, urinary 8-iso-PGF2α reflects platelet 8-iso-PGF2α production. Analysis of serum 8-iso-PGF2α may represent a novel tool to investigate the production of 8-iso-PGF2α by blood cells including platelets. URL: ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique Identifier: NCT01250340.

  18. Design of a Reliable Computing System for the Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-03-01

    S6 vi LIST OF TABLES TFable I. ISO SE’.VE.-N LAYER MO D EL.................. 9 TFable 2. SATELLITFE PROCESSOR SUM...the ORION project with the additional groundwork and data to serve as a baseline on which to build. 2. Mission The primary mission of PANSAT is to...seven layer ISO model for computer communication (see Table 1), which layers are handled in software and which in hardware? The physical layer, which

  19. Identification of Text and Symbols on a Liquid Crystal Display Part 2: Contrast and Luminance Settings to Optimise Legibility

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-02-01

    Measurements on Chart Design and Scoring Rule. Optometry and Vision Science, 79(12), 768-792. ISO. (1998). EN ISO 9241-11. Ergonomic Requirements for...Human Factors from the University of Queensland. He began his career designing and building computerised electronics for the theatre. Following this...to optical detection. Recent work includes the assessment of networked naval gunfire support, ergonomic assessments of combat system consoles and

  20. Radiation protection and environmental management at the relativistic heavy ion collider.

    PubMed

    Musolino, S V; Briggs, S L; Stevens, A J

    2001-01-01

    The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is a high energy hadron accelerator built to study basic nuclear physics. It consists of two counter-rotating beams of fully stripped gold ions that are accelerated in two rings to an energy of 100 GeV/nucleon or protons at 250 GeV/c. The beams can be stored for a period of five to ten hours and brought into collision for experiments during that time. The first major physics objective is to recreate a state of matter, the quark-gluon plasma, that has been predicted to have existed at a short time after the creation of the universe. Because there are only a few other high energy particle accelerators like RHIC in the world, the rules promulgated in the US Code of Federal Regulations under the Atomic Energy Act, State regulations, or international guidance documents do not cover prompt radiation from accelerators to govern directly the design and operation of a superconducting collider. Special design criteria for prompt radiation were developed to provide guidance tor the design of radiation shielding. Environmental Management at RHIC is accomplished through the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. The applicability, benefits, and implementation of ISO 14001 within the framework of a large research accelerator complex are discussed in the paper.

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