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Data Comparisons (data + comparison)
Selected AbstractsMultidisciplinary assessment at triage: A new way forwardEMERGENCY MEDICINE AUSTRALASIA, Issue 1 2004Joanna R Richardson Abstract Objective:, To evaluate a dual doctor and nurse triage system at a tertiary referral hospital. Methods:, Data were compared between periods of multidisciplinary triage and periods of standard triage. Data comparison was also made between rostered multidisciplinary triage shifts and non-multidisciplinary triage shifts. Staff satisfaction with the process was assessed. Results:, The percentage of patients seen within Australasian Triage Scale performance indicator thresholds increased from 75% to 81% in Category 2 patients (P = 0.12) and 56% to 78% in Category 3 patients (P < 0.0001). There was a reduction of 50% in the number of patients who left prior to being seen by a doctor (P = 0.024). Surveys showed high staff satisfaction with the process. Conclusions:, We feel that multidisciplinary triage performs a useful function in our department enabling us to reduce waiting times. The process is widely accepted amongst the staff and it ensures a senior doctor assesses most patients. It reduces the number of patients leaving prior to being seen by a doctor and it provides one way of getting around access block and a physically small department. [source] Debugging Decomposition Data,Comparative Taphonomic Studies and the Influence of Insects and Carcass Size on Decomposition RateJOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 1 2010Tal Simmons Ph.D. Abstract:, Comparison of data from a variety of environments and ambient temperatures has previously been difficult as few studies used standardized measures of time/temperature and decomposition. In this paper, data from previous studies and recent experiments are compared using simple conversions. These conversions allow comparison across multiple environments and experiments for the first time. Plotting decomposition score against logADD allows the exponential progression of decomposition to be expressed as a simple linear equation. Data comparison from many environments and temperatures shows no difference in decomposition progression when measured using Accumulated Degree Days. The major effector of change in rate was insect presence, regardless of depositional environment, species, or season. Body size is significant when carcasses are accessed by insects; when insects are excluded, while bodies are indoors, submerged, or buried, then decomposition progresses at the same rate regardless of body size. [source] Sibship analysis of associations between SNP haplotypes and a continuous trait with application to mammographic densityGENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010J. Stone Abstract Haplotype-based association studies have been proposed as a powerful comprehensive approach to identify causal genetic variation underlying complex diseases. Data comparisons within families offer the additional advantage of dealing naturally with complex sources of noise, confounding and population stratification. Two problems encountered when investigating associations between haplotypes and a continuous trait using data from sibships are (i) the need to define within-sibship comparisons for sibships of size greater than two and (ii) the difficulty of resolving the joint distribution of haplotype pairs within sibships in the absence of parental genotypes. We therefore propose first a method of orthogonal transformation of both outcomes and exposures that allow the decomposition of between- and within-sibship regression effects when sibship size is greater than two. We conducted a simulation study, which confirmed analysis using all members of a sibship is statistically more powerful than methods based on cross-sectional analysis or using subsets of sib-pairs. Second, we propose a simple permutation approach to avoid errors of inference due to the within-sibship correlation of any errors in haplotype assignment. These methods were applied to investigate the association between mammographic density (MD), a continuously distributed and heritable risk factor for breast cancer, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes from the VDR gene using data from a study of 430 twins and sisters. We found evidence of association between MD and a 4-SNP VDR haplotype. In conclusion, our proposed method retains the benefits of the between- and within-pair analysis for pairs of siblings and can be implemented in standard software. Genet. Epidemiol. 34: 309,318, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Evaluation of ball and disc wear scar data in the HFRR lubricity testLUBRICATION SCIENCE, Issue 1 2008Gerhard Knothe Abstract The high-frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR) lubricity tester has become a widespread method for determining the lubricity of diesel fuels. The test is a ball-on-disc method, in which a steel ball scrapes over a steel disc immersed in the liquid to be tested. According to standards, the wear scar generated on the ball, in the form of the average of the x - and y -axes, is used for evaluating the lubricity of the sample. Generally, the smaller the wear scar, the greater the lubricity of the sample. However, a wear scar is also generated on the disc. The size of the wear scar on the disc also depends on the lubricity of the sample. In this work, the wear scar data of the balls and discs of 230 samples related to the testing of biodiesel and related compounds with petrodiesel were evaluated. Data comparisons for all wear scar combinations correlated well by linear regression. Although correlations are slightly better when using only ball wear scar data (r2 > 0.99), other wear scar data, including those generated on the disc, appear just as useable (r2 , 0.97,0.99) for evaluating lubricity by the HFRR test. The wear scars on the disc have the advantage of being more easily measurable and recognisable under the microscope, especially if the wear scars are small. Limits for all wear scar values corresponding to current limits for average ball wear scar data in standards are presented. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Gingival status, crevicular fluid tissue-type plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-2 levels in pregnancy versus post-partumAUSTRALIAN DENTAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010N Buduneli Abstract Background:, This study was conducted to evaluate a possible link between periodontal status of pregnant women and the plasminogen activator system in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF). Methods:, GCF samples were obtained from four interproximal sites of anterior teeth in 43 women during the second trimester and also after delivery. Full mouth dental plaque, bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing depth (PD) values were recorded at six sites/tooth in each subject. GCF levels of tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and its inhibitor, plasminogen activator-inhibitor-2 (PAI-2) were determined by ELISA. Data comparisons between pregnancy and post-partum were made by Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results:, The number of pockets with a PD >4 mm and total volume of GCF sampled were reduced significantly after delivery (p = 0.000 and p = 0.013, respectively). No significant differences were detected in GCF concentrations of t-PA or PAI-2 between pregnancy and post-partum. Conclusions:, Our results suggest that GCF t-PA and PAI-2 concentrations are not affected by pregnancy. Reductions in PD values and GCF volume following delivery indicate a resolution of oedema in gingival tissues, possibly related to hormonal changes due to the ending of pregnancy. [source] Transient thermal modelling of heat recovery steam generators in combined cycle power plantsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 11 2007Sepehr Sanaye Abstract Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is a major component of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP). This equipment is particularly subject to severe thermal stress especially during cold start-up period. Hence, it is important to predict the operational parameters of HRSGs such as temperature of steam, water, hot gas and tube metal of heating elements as well as pressure change in drums during transient and steady-state operation. These parameters may be used for estimating thermal and mechanical stresses which are important in HRSG design and operation. In this paper, the results of a developed thermal model for predicting the working conditions of HRSG elements during transient and steady-state operations are reported. The model is capable of analysing arbitrary number of pressure levels and any number of elements such as superheater, evaporator, economizer, deaerator, desuperheater, reheater, as well as duct burners. To assess the correct performance of the developed model two kinds of data verification were performed. In the first kind of data verification, the program output was compared with the measured data collected from a cold start-up of an HRSG at Tehran CCPP. The variations of gas, water/steam and metal temperatures at various sections of HRSG, and pressure in drums were among the studied parameters. Mean differences of about 3.8% for temperature and about 9.2% for pressure were observed in this data comparison. In the second kind of data verification, the steady-state numerical output of the model was checked with the output of the well-known commercial software. An average difference of about 1.5% was found between the two latter groups of data. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Effect of Flaw State on the Strength of Brittle Coatings on Soft SubstratesJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 10 2001Hae-Won Kim A study is made of the role of flaw state on the strength properties of brittle ceramic coating layers bonded to soft polycarbonate substrates. We introduce Vickers radial cracks at prescribed loads into the coating undersurfaces prior to bonding to control the sizes and locations of the starting flaws. A spherical indenter is then loaded on the top bilayer surfaces, directly above the Vickers indentation sites, subjecting the radial cracks to flexural tensile stress. Radial crack responses are monitored in situ, using a camera located below the transparent substrate. Critical loads to cause radial crack instability, and ensuing growth of the arrested cracks, are recorded. Conventional biaxial flexure tests on corresponding monolith coating materials provide a baseline for data comparison. Relative to the monolith flexure specimens, the bilayers show higher strengths, the more so the larger the flaw, indicating enhanced flaw tolerance. A simple fracture mechanics analysis of the radial crack evolution in the concentrated-load field, with due account for distribution of flexural tensile stresses at the coating undersurface, is unable to account completely for the enhanced bilayer strengths for the larger Vickers flaws. It is hypothesized that the epoxy used to bond the bilayer components enters the cracks, causing crack-wall adherence and providing an increased resistance to radial crack instability. The fracture mechanics are nevertheless able to account for the arrest and subsequent stable extension of the radial cracks beyond the critical loads once this extraneous adherence has been overcome. [source] Gas dynamics of the central few parsec region of NGC 1068 fuelled by the evolving nuclear star clusterMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2010M. Schartmann ABSTRACT Recently, high-resolution observations with the help of the near-infrared adaptive optics integral field spectrograph Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observations in the Near Infrared (SINFONI) at the Very Large Telescope proved the existence of massive and young nuclear star clusters in the centres of a sample of Seyfert galaxies. With the help of three-dimensional high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations with the Pluto code, we follow the evolution of such clusters, especially focusing on stellar mass loss feeding gas into the ambient interstellar medium and driving turbulence. This leads to a vertically wide distributed clumpy or filamentary inflow of gas on large scales (tens of parsec), whereas a turbulent and very dense disc builds up on the parsec scale. In order to capture the relevant physics in the inner region, we treat this disc separately by viscously evolving the radial surface density distribution. This enables us to link the tens of parsec-scale region (accessible via SINFONI observations) to the (sub-)parsec-scale region (observable with the mid-infrared interferometer instrument and via water maser emission). Thereby, this procedure provides us with an ideal testbed for data comparison. In this work, we concentrate on the effects of a parametrized turbulent viscosity to generate angular momentum and mass transfer in the disc and additionally take star formation into account. Most of the input parameters are constrained by available observations of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, and we discuss parameter studies for the free parameters. At the current age of its nuclear starburst of 250 Myr, our simulations yield disc sizes of the order of 0.8,0.9 pc, gas masses of 106 M, and mass transfer rates of 0.025 M, yr,1 through the inner rim of the disc. This shows that our large-scale torus model is able to approximately account for the disc size as inferred from interferometric observations in the mid-infrared and compares well to the extent and mass of a rotating disc structure as inferred from water maser observations. Several other observational constraints are discussed as well. [source] The effect of learning organization culture on the relationship between interpersonal trust and organizational commitmentHUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2009Ji Hoon Song The primary purpose of this research was to assess the effect of learning organization culture on the linkage between interpersonal trust and organizational commitment. The study sample was obtained from employees of two major Korean conglomerates. Online questionnaires were completed by 321 respondents. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to detect the effects of learning organization culture on the basis of the model fit to data comparisons and the significance of path coefficient estimates in the hypothesized model. The results suggest that learning organization culture works as a mediating variable to explain the association between interpersonal trust and organizational commitment. Recommendations for future research and implications for human resource development research and practice are discussed. [source] The chronology of abrupt climate change and Late Upper Palaeolithic human adaptation in Europe,JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006S. P. E. Blockley Abstract This paper addresses the possible connections between the onset of human expansion in Europe following the Last Glacial Maximum, and the timing of abrupt climate warming at the onset of the Lateglacial (Bölling/Allerød) Interstadial. There are opposing views as to whether or not human populations and activities were directly ,forced' by climate change, based on different comparisons between archaeological and environmental data. We review the geochronological assumptions and approaches on which data comparisons have been attempted in the past, and argue that the uncertainties presently associated with age models based on calibrated radiocarbon dates preclude robust testing of the competing models, particularly when comparing the data to non-radiocarbon-based timescales such as the Greenland ice core records. The paper concludes with some suggestions as to the steps that will be necessary if more robust tests of the models are to be developed in the future. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||