Home About us Contact | |||
Total Output (total + output)
Selected AbstractsDelivery of nebulized budesonide is affected by nebulizer type and breathing patternJOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2005C. O'Callaghan The aim of this study was to determine the output in-vitro of budesonide from two different nebulizers under simulated breathing conditions. The BimboNeb and Nebula nebulizers were used to nebulize 2 mL of budesonide (500 ,g) suspension. Particle size was determined by inertial impaction after a 5-min nebulization. Total outputs of the drug from both nebulizers were measured using a sinus flow pump to create simulated breathing conditions. Paediatric and adult breathing patterns were used, with drug output measured after 5 and 10 min nebulization. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of budesonide using the BimboNeb (4.5 ,m) was significantly greater than that from the Nebula (3.4 ,m) (P < 0.01). With the simulated adult breathing pattern, the total drug output after 5 min with the BimboNeb (61.5 ,g) was twice that from the Nebula (30.7 ,g). For the paediatric breathing pattern, total outputs were very similar for both nebulizers. In all cases, nebulizing for 10 min produced greater drug outputs compared with those after 5 min, particularly for the paediatric breathing pattern. The amount of aerosolized drug available for inhalation needs to be assessed for each nebuliser used and the effect of the patient's breathing pattern should also be taken into account. [source] Service restoration method considering simultaneous disconnection of distributed generators by one-bank fault of distribution systemELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS IN JAPAN, Issue 8 2008Hirotaka Takano Abstract Distributed generators (DGs) such as fuel cells and solar cells are going to be installed in the demand side of distribution systems. The DGs can reduce distribution loss by appropriate allocation. However, there are several problems installing DGs such as service restoration of distribution system with DGs and so on. When one bank fault of distribution substation occurs in distribution system, since DGs are simultaneously disconnected from the system, it is not easy to restore isolated load by one bank switching in distribution substation. Therefore, a service restoration method to determine restoration configuration and restoration procedures (switching procedure from normal configuration to restoration configuration) taking into account simultaneous disconnection of DGs is needed. In this paper, the authors propose a computation method to determine the optimal restoration configuration and the restoration procedure considering simultaneous disconnection of DGs by one bank fault of distribution system. In the proposed algorithm, after all of the restoration configuration candidates are effectively enumerated under the operational constraints, the optimal configuration to restore the isolated load is selected among enumerated configuration candidates. After determining the optimal restoration configuration, the optimal restoration procedures are obtained by greedy algorithm. Numerical simulations are carried out for a real scale system model with 237 sectionalizing switches (configuration candidates are 2237) and 21 DGs (total output is 5250 kW which is 3% of total load) in order to examine the validity of the proposed algorithm. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 91(8): 44,55, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10133 [source] The impact of the 1999 CAP reforms on the efficiency of the COP sector in SpainAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2009Fatima Lambarraa Agenda 2000; Distance function; Efficiency; Spanish COP sector Abstract The cereal, oilseeds, and protein crop sector (COP) occupies a prominent position within the European Union's agricultural sector. Within Spain, the COP sector accounts for almost a third of total Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund expenses, and half of the utilized agricultural area (UAA). The COP sector is not only relevant because of its physical and economic magnitude, but also because of the political attention it receives. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms that occurred during the 1990s paid special attention to this sector. This article aims to determine the impacts of Agenda 2000 on a sample of Spanish COP farmers' production decisions by using an output-oriented stochastic distance function. The distance function allows for an assessment of the reform-motivated changes on total output, input used, input composition, and crop mix. It also permits an assessment of the impacts of the reform on farms' technical efficiency. Results show that the reform has shifted the production frontier inward and changed output composition in favor of voluntary set-aside land. With respect to input composition, Agenda 2000 induced a decrease in land, fertilizers, pesticides, and other inputs in favor of labor. In addition, Agenda 2000 has had a negative impact on technical efficiency. [source] Economic development, institutional change, and the political economy of agricultural protection An econometric study of Belgium since the 19th centuryAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2001Johan F.M. Swinnen Abstract This empirical study uses 100 years of annual data on 11 agricultural commodities from Belgium to measure the impact of structural changes coinciding with economic development and changes in political institutions on agricultural protection. The analysis shows that changes in agricultural protection are caused by a combination of factors. Governments have increased protection and support to farmers when world market prices for their commodities fell, and vice versa, offsetting market effects on producer incomes. Other economic determinants were the share of the commodities in total consumer expenditures (negative effect) and in total output of the economy (positive effect). With Belgium a small economy, there was no impact of the trade position. Changes in political institutions have affected agricultural protection. Democratic reforms which induced a significant shift in the political balance towards agricultural interests, such as the introduction of the one-man-one-vote system, led to an increase in agricultural protection. The integration of Belgian agricultural policies in the Common Agricultural Policy in 1968 coincided with an increase in protection, ceteris paribus. Both institutional factors, related to changes in access to and information about the decision-making at the EU level, and structural changes in the agricultural and food economy may explain this effect. [source] The output of flunisolide from different nebulisersJOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2002Chris O'Callaghan The objective of this study was to determine the output, in-vitro, solution of a concentrated solution of flunisolide from two different nebulisers under simulated breathing conditions. The BimboNeb and Nebula nebulisers were used to nebulise 2.6 mL of flunisolide solution (600 ,g). Particle size was determined by inertial impaction and the total output of drug from the nebulisers under simulated breathing conditions was measured using a sinus flow pump. Two different breathing patterns were used, simulating nebuliser use by a child and an adult. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of flunisolide particles from the BimboNeb and Nebula were both 3.9 ,m. With the simulated paediatric breathing pattern, both nebulisers delivered similar amounts of flunisolide (56.4 ,g (s.d. 1.4,g) and 56.1 ,g (5 ,g) over 5 min from the BimboNeb and Nebula, respectively). With the adult breathing pattern, flunisolide delivery from the BimboNeb was increased to 88.9 ,g (3.3 ,g), but delivery from the Nebula was only slightly increased to 64.6 ,g (1.4 ,g). With both nebulisers, little drug was released after 5 min of nebulisation. Both nebulisers delivered 9,15 % of the nominal dose of flunisolide to the breathing simulator, a similar percentage to previous studies with budesonide and more than previous studies with beclometasone. Drug delivery from the BimboNeb, but not the Nebula, was affected by the simulated breathing pattern. This study suggests that drug delivery from nebulisers is dependent upon the interaction between the nebuliser, the drug and the patient. [source] Measurement Error and Incentive PayLABOUR, Issue 1 2005Eero Lauri Oskari Lehto Each agent produces an individual contribution which jointly form a total output. Agents' efforts are unobservable and the principal cannot observe individual outputs without an error. Neither the observed individual output of an agent nor the observed total output of the whole team are then sufficient statistics for the actual individual output in the sense of Blackwell. We show that the mixed contract of the pure piece-rate contract and of the pure team contract then dominates the pure contracts from the principal's point of view. [source] A double-blind, randomized, dose response study testing the pharmacological efficacy of synthetic porcine secretinALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 12 2000P. S. Jowell Background: Biologically derived porcine secretin has been used as a diagnostic agent in clinical gastrointestinal practice for many years. Pure synthetic porcine secretin is now available for investigational clinical use. Aim: To compare the pharmacology of synthetic porcine secretin and biologically derived porcine secretin in healthy volunteers. Methods: Secretin stimulation tests were performed in 12 volunteer subjects in a double-blind, randomized, Latin square crossover design study comparing three doses of synthetic porcine secretin (0.05, 0.2, and 0.4 ,g/kg) with a standard dose of biologically derived porcine secretin (1 CU/kg). Duodenal aspirates were analysed for total volume and for bicarbonate concentration. Total bicarbonate output was calculated. Results: Twelve subjects completed four dosing regimens. A multiple comparison test was used to compare dosing regimens. The 0.2 and 0.4 ,g/kg doses of synthetic porcine secretin were not different from the 1 CU/kg dose of biologically derived porcine secretin for volume, bicarbonate concentration and total output from 0 to 60 min. Only one patient had an adverse event, which was mild, transient flushing after the 0.2 and 0.4 ,g/kg doses of synthetic porcine secretin and after the 1 CU/kg dose of biologically derived porcine secretin. Conclusions: Synthetic porcine secretin has identical pharmacologic effects to biologically derived porcine secretin in normal subjects. Both drugs were safe and well-tolerated. This study validates synthetic porcine secretin as a substitute for biologically derived porcine secretin. [source] Measuring the quantitative performance of surgical operating lists: theoretical modelling of ,productive potential' and ,efficiency'ANAESTHESIA, Issue 5 2009J. J. Pandit Summary We previously defined surgical list ,efficiency' as: maximising theatre utilisation, minimising over-running, and minimising cancellations. ,Efficiency' maximises output for input; ,productivity' emphasises total output. We define six criteria that any measure of productivity (better termed ,quantitative performance') needs to satisfy. We then present a theoretical analysis that fulfils these by incorporating: ,speed' of surgery (with reference to average speeds), ,patient contact' (synonymous with minimising gaps between cases), and ,efficiency' (as previously defined). ,Speed' and ,patient contact' together constitute a ,productive potential'. Our formula satisfies the pre-set criteria and yields plausible results in both hypothetical and real data sets, To be productive in these quantitative terms, teams in any specialty need to achieve minimum quality standards defined by their sub-specialty; to plan their lists to utilise the time available with no cancellations or over-runs and to work at least as fast as average with minimal gaps between cases. ,Productive potential' combined with ,efficiency' yielding ,actual productivity' in our theoretical analysis more completely describes quantitative surgical list performance than any other single measure. [source] An experimental study of single-screw extrusion of HDPE,wood compositesADVANCES IN POLYMER TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Karen Xiao Abstract Single-screw extrusion experiments were carried out to study the extrusion characteristics of HDPE,wood composites. Three screw geometries (A, B, and C) were used, and the effects of screw speed on output, melting, and pressure profile were studied. Screw A had a much higher compression ratio than screws B and C, which directly affected the melting behavior of the polymers. Screws B and C had the same compression ratio; however, screw C had the same metering capacity as screw A. Therefore, by comparing screws B and C, the effect of feed depth on the solid conveying capacity was investigated. It was found that while screw B had higher outputs than both screws A and C as expected, screw C had a much lower output than screw A for highly filled resins even though they had the same metering capacity. For HDPE, screws A and C showed the same output as expected. Further examinations of the pressure profiles and melting profiles from screw extraction experiments confirmed that screw C showed a severely starved solids conveying capacity for wood-filled resins, which limited the total outputs. Comparing the outputs and pressure generations between theoretical predictions and actual experimental results, it was evident that due to the inaccurate assumption of fully filled channels common in single screw extrusion, both outputs and pressure generations in the extruders were overpredicted. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 29:197,218, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary. DOI 10.1002/adv.20190 [source] Delivery of nebulized budesonide is affected by nebulizer type and breathing patternJOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2005C. O'Callaghan The aim of this study was to determine the output in-vitro of budesonide from two different nebulizers under simulated breathing conditions. The BimboNeb and Nebula nebulizers were used to nebulize 2 mL of budesonide (500 ,g) suspension. Particle size was determined by inertial impaction after a 5-min nebulization. Total outputs of the drug from both nebulizers were measured using a sinus flow pump to create simulated breathing conditions. Paediatric and adult breathing patterns were used, with drug output measured after 5 and 10 min nebulization. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of budesonide using the BimboNeb (4.5 ,m) was significantly greater than that from the Nebula (3.4 ,m) (P < 0.01). With the simulated adult breathing pattern, the total drug output after 5 min with the BimboNeb (61.5 ,g) was twice that from the Nebula (30.7 ,g). For the paediatric breathing pattern, total outputs were very similar for both nebulizers. In all cases, nebulizing for 10 min produced greater drug outputs compared with those after 5 min, particularly for the paediatric breathing pattern. The amount of aerosolized drug available for inhalation needs to be assessed for each nebuliser used and the effect of the patient's breathing pattern should also be taken into account. [source] |