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High Consistency (high + consistency)
Selected AbstractsFull scale experiments for evaluating theoretical fire wall modelsFIRE AND MATERIALS, Issue 6 2004P. Clancy Abstract The aim of the research described in this paper was to provide experimental results for the evaluation of theoretical models for predicting the behaviour and time-to-failure of loadbearing and non-loadbearing wood framed walls in fire. References for thermal and mechanical properties of wood and gypsum board are given to provide comprehensive input for the evaluation of theoretical wall models. The scope of the research involved full-scale uninsulated cavity walls with well-controlled clearly known conditions including initial ambient vertical load capacity for benchmarking the reduction in capacity and stiffness, rotational stiffness of supports, eccentricity of vertical load, elastic moduli of wood and gypsum board in compression, stiffness of slip between gypsum board and studs and end stud effects. The experiments were repeated and they demonstrated that the controls led to high consistency in the results despite the inherent large variability of the mechanical properties of wood. The results include temperature distributions, initial vertical load capacity, load-deflection plots and times-to-failure. The results show that the temperatures in the studs are approximately uniform until all the moisture is vaporized. Thermal properties of wood will not vary significantly for consistent density, moisture content and species of wood. The main structural actions that should be modelled for different loading regimes are deduced. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Advanced 4-node tetrahedronsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2006Rong Tian Abstract Tetrahedral elements are indispensable to complex finite element structural analysis. Two existing and two newly developed advanced 4-node tetrahedrons are studied in this paper. The existing elements that use complicated displacement fields are significantly simplified. The spurious zero-energy modes typical of all these elements are identified to be rigid-body-alike modes and are found to be naturally suppressible, making it possible to avoid any stabilization techniques and unknown parameters in formulation. Through the simplified form, we connect these four tetrahedrons and view them in a general framework of the partition-of-unity-based approximation. This general view allows us to reveal many promising features of the newly developed tetrahedrons by comparing them with their existing counterparts: the newly developed tetrahedrons have straightforward formulation, no unsuppressed zero-energy modes, no stabilization required, no unknown parameters contained, and a high consistency in implementation, in addition to good accuracy and extremely straightforward mesh generation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Narrowing of the regions of allelic losses of chromosome 1p36 in meningioma tissues by an improved SSCP analysisINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 8 2008Yanlei Guan Abstract Mapping loss of heterozygosity (LOH) regions in the genomes of tumor tissues is a practical approach for identifying genes whose loss is related to tumorigenesis. Conventional LOH analyses using microsatellite or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers require the simultaneous examination of tumor- and matched normal-DNA. Here, we improved the previously developed SNP-based LOH assay using single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, so that LOH in tumor samples heavily contaminated with normal DNA can now be precisely estimated, even when matched normal DNA is not available. We demonstrate the reliability of the improved SSCP-based LOH detection method, called the LOH estimation by quantitative SSCP analysis using averaged control (LOQUS-AC), by comparing the results with those of the previous "LOH estimated by quantitative SSCP assay" (LOQUS) method. Using the LOQUS-AC assay, LOH was detected at a high consistency (98.1%) with the previous LOQUS method. We then applied this new method to characterize LOH profiles in 130 meningiomas, using 68 SNPs (i.e., a mean inter-SNP interval of 441 kbp) that are evenly distributed throughout chromosome 1p36. Benign, atypical and anaplastic meningiomas exhibited 1p36 LOH at frequencies of 48.39, 84.62 and 100.00%, respectively, using LOQUS-AC. Subsequently, we detected a candidate common LOH region on 1p36.11 that might harbor tumor suppressor genes related to malignant progression of meningioma. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Consistency of resistance to attack by the green spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum Walker) in different ontogenetic stages of Sitka spruceAGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2003S. Harding Abstract 1,The susceptibility of different genotypes of 29-year-old Sitka spruce to damage by the green spruce aphid, Elatobium abietinum, was investigated in a progeny trial where aphid damage on individual trees had previously been assessed twice in an earlier stage of ontogenetic development. The progeny trial comprised 14 open-pollinated families originating from a clonal seed orchard that had been established using mature spruce trees selected for aphid resistance. 2,Previous investigations had demonstrated that resistance was inherited by the offspring, and that differences in resistance between progenies of the individual orchard clones were highly significant. 3,Susceptibility to aphid attack was recorded as the percentage loss of previous year's needles. Differences in susceptibility recorded between the juvenile trees were found to persist after the trees had developed into the closed-canopy, sexually reproducing stage. Needle loss of the families was significantly less than that of the reference population of Sitka spruce. 4,Hybrids between Sitka spruce and white spruce were defoliated more heavily than pure Sitka spruce, and the difference increased with age. 5,Family heritability of resistance was estimated as 0.60 compared to 0.73 when the trees were assessed in the juvenile stage. The genetic correlation based on family means between damage in the juvenile and sexually reproducing stand was high (0.83), indicating a high consistency of resistance to the aphid over years and ontogenetic stages. 6,A skewed distribution of defoliation indicated that major genes are involved in the expression of resistance, and that the genetics behind resistance has a nonadditive component. [source] Attachment behaviour towards support staff in young people with intellectual disabilities: associations with challenging behaviourJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 7 2010J. C. De Schipper Abstract Background Attachment research has shown the importance of attachment behaviour for the prevention of dysregulated behaviour due to emotional distress. The support of an attachment figure may be especially important for people with intellectual disability (ID), because they are less adept in dealing with stressful situations on their own. Our purpose was to examine the role of support staff as targets of attachment behaviour for young people with ID by testing the hypothesis that young people who more often engage in attachment interactions with group care staff are less at risk for challenging behaviours. The study design included professional caregivers' report of young persons' attachment behaviour across different relationships to address the relationship-specific nature of attachment behaviour in a group care context. Methods Support staff rated attachment behaviour of 156 young participants with moderate to severe ID who were attending a group care setting. For each participant, we asked two members of the classroom support staff to fill out the Secure Base Safe Haven Observation list. One of them also rated challenging behaviour (Abberant Behavior Checklist). Results Young people who showed more secure attachment behaviour towards professional caregivers were less irritable, less lethargic and less stereotypic in their behaviour, even if we controlled for developmental age and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Two results point in the direction of relationship-specific attachment behaviour: the absence of high consistency in a person's attachment behaviour towards two different caregivers and the independent contribution of each of these relationships to explaining differences in lethargy and stereotypies. A certain preference in attachment behaviour towards specific caregivers was not associated with challenging behaviour. Conclusions Findings suggest that attachment behaviour may be part of young persons' adaptation to the stresses and challenges of group care. Furthermore, adaptation may be determined by the integration of relationships with support staff, because each relationship with a care staff member bears uniquely on challenging behaviour. [source] Development of an activity of daily living scale for patients with COPD: The Activity of Daily Living Dyspnoea scaleRESPIROLOGY, Issue 3 2009Yoshiyasu YOZA ABSTRACT Background and objective: Patients with COPD often experience restriction in their activities of daily living (ADL) due to dyspnoea. This type of restriction is unique to patients with COPD and cannot be adequately evaluated by the generic ADL scales. This study developed an ADL scale (the Activity of Daily Living Dyspnoea scale (ADL-D scale)) for patients with COPD and investigated its validity and internal consistency. Methods: Patients with stable COPD were recruited and completed a pilot 26-item questionnaire. Patients also performed the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT), and completed the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea grade. Results: There were 83 male participants who completed the pilot questionnaire. Following the pilot, eight items that were not undertaken by the majority of subjects, and three items judged to be of low clinical importance by physical therapists were removed from the questionnaire. The final ADL-D scale contained 15 items. Scores obtained with the ADL-D scale were significantly correlated with the MRC dyspnoea grades, distance walked on the ISWT and SGRQ scores. The ADL-D scores were significantly different across the five grades of the MRC dyspnoea grade. The ADL-D scale showed high consistency (Chronbach's , coefficient of 0.96). Conclusions: The ADL-D scale is a useful scale for assessing impairments in ADL in Japanese male patients with COPD. [source] Identification of occupational therapy clinical expertise: Decision-making characteristicsAUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009Mehdi Rassafiani Background:,Experts are usually determined on the basis of length of experience, reputation, peer acknowledgement, and certification. While these characteristics are important they may, however, not be sufficient for this purpose. Another method for determining clinical expertise is to look at how individuals make decisions in their area of expertise. This study aims to identify clinician expertise on the basis of participants' decision performance and examines this in relation to their length of experience and type of decision-making. Methods:,The Cochran,Weiss,Shanteau (CWS) is a statistical method that can be used to examine individuals' expertise on the basis of how they discriminate between hypothetical cases and consistency in their decision-making. Participants comprised 18 occupational therapists, each with more than 5 years of experience working with children with cerebral palsy. They were required to make treatment judgements for 110 cases (20 of which were repeated) of children with cerebral palsy. The CWS was calculated for each participant. Results and conclusions:,Two groups of participants were identified on the basis of their CWS index , one with both high consistency in decision-making and the ability to discriminate between cases, the other with low consistency and poor discrimination. These two groups did not differ significantly on the basis of length of experience or work setting but did differ on the basis of intervention chosen and their type of decision-making. The CWS method seems to offer promise as a means of determining clinical expertise on the basis of clinical decision-making. Its application to the investigation of clinical reasoning and education is discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||