Recovery Techniques (recovery + techniques)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Rank deficiency in superconvergent patch recovery techniques with 4-node quadrilateral elements

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2007
Z. Yue
Abstract The linear systems of equations generated by the Superconvergent Patch Recovery technique (Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 1992; 33:1331,1382; Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 1992; 101:207,224) can exhibit rank deficiency under certain purely geometric conditions. The rank deficiency problem can be corrected simply and efficiently by utilizing a local rotated co-ordinate system. This rotated SPR procedure is easily automated and adds robustness to automatic adaptive solution methods. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Effect of an In-Home Occupational and Physical Therapy Intervention on Reducing Mortality in Functionally Vulnerable Older People: Preliminary Findings

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2006
Laura N. Gitlin PhD
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of a multicomponent intervention on mortality and the role of control-oriented strategy use as the change mechanism. DESIGN: Two-group randomized design with survivorship followed for 14 months. Participants were randomized to intervention or a no-treatment control group. SETTING: Urban, community-living older people. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred nineteen people aged 70 and older with functional difficulties. INTERVENTION: Occupational therapy and physical therapy sessions involving home modifications, problem solving, and training in energy conservation, safe performance, balance, muscle strength, and fall recovery techniques. MEASUREMENTS: Survival time was number of days between baseline interview and date of death or final interview if date unknown. Control-oriented strategy use was measured using eight items. RESULTS: Intervention participants exhibited a 1% rate of mortality, compared with a 10% rate for no-treatment control participants (P=.003, 95% confidence interval=2.4,15.04%). At baseline, those who subsequently died had more days hospitalized and lower control-oriented strategy use 6 months before study enrollment than survivors. No intervention participants with previous days hospitalized (n=31) died, whereas 21% of control group counterparts did (n=35; P=.001). Although intervention participants with low and high baseline control strategy use had lower mortality risk than control participants, mortality risk was lower for intervention participants with low strategy use at baseline (P=.007). CONCLUSION: An occupational and physical therapy intervention to ameliorate functional difficulties may reduce mortality risk in community-dwelling older people overall and benefit those most compromised. Instruction in control-oriented strategies may account for the intervention's protective effects on survivorship. [source]


A Randomized Trial of a Multicomponent Home Intervention to Reduce Functional Difficulties in Older Adults

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 5 2006
Laura N. Gitlin PhD
OBJECTIVES: To test the efficacy of a multicomponent intervention to reduce functional difficulties, fear of falling, and home hazards and enhance self-efficacy and adaptive coping in older adults with chronic conditions. DESIGN: A prospective, two-group, randomized trial. Participants were randomized to a treatment group or no-treatment group. SETTING: Urban community-living older people. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred nineteen community-living adults aged 70 and older who reported difficulty with one or more activities of daily living. INTERVENTION: Occupational and physical therapy sessions involving home modifications and training in their use; instruction in strategies of problem-solving, energy conservation, safe performance, and fall recovery techniques; and balance and muscle strength training. MEASUREMENTS: Outcome measures included self-rated functional difficulties with ambulation, instrumental activities of daily living, activities of daily living, fear of falling, confidence performing daily tasks, and use of adaptive strategies. Observations of home hazards were also conducted. RESULTS: At 6 months, intervention participants had less difficulty than controls with instrumental activities of daily living (P=.04, 95% confidence interval (CI)=,0.28,0.00) and activities of daily living (P=.03, 95% CI=,0.24 to ,0.01), with largest reductions in bathing (P=.02, 95% CI=,0.52 to ,0.06) and toileting (P=.049, 95% CI=,0.35,0.00). They also had greater self-efficacy (P=.03, 95% CI=0.02,0.27), less fear of falling (P=.001, 95% CI=0.26,0.96), fewer home hazards (P=.05, 95% CI=,3.06,0.00), and greater use of adaptive strategies (P=.009, 95% CI=0.03,0.22). Benefits were sustained at 12 months for most outcomes. CONCLUSION: A multicomponent intervention targeting modifiable environmental and behavioral factors results in life quality improvements in community-dwelling older people who had functional difficulties, with most benefits retained over a year. [source]


The effect of culture growth phase on induction of the heat shock response in Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000
C.M.M. McMahon
The effect of culture growth phase on induction of the heat shock response in Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes, was examined. Exponential or stationary preconditioned cultures were heat shocked and survivor numbers estimated using selective and overlay/resuscitation recovery techniques. The results indicate that prior heat shock induced increased heat resistance in both micro-organisms to higher heat treatments. Heat-shocked cells of each micro-organism were able to survive much longer than non-heat-shocked cells when heated at 55 °C. The size of the change in heat resistance between heat-shocked and non-heat-shocked cells was greatest for exponential cultures (X:X). Results indicate that the overall relative thermal resistance of each pathogen was dependent on cell growth phase. Stationary cultures (S:S) were significantly (P < 0·01) more thermotolerant than exponential cultures (X:X) under identical processing conditions. Under most conditions, the use of an overlay/resuscitation recovery medium resulted in higher D -values (P < 0·05) compared with a selective recovery medium. [source]


The Effects of Severity of Failure and Customer Loyalty on Service Recovery Strategies

PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2004
Christopher W. Craighead
Service failures do not need to result in permanent negative consequences as long as effective recovery activities are undertaken. Unfortunately, existing research has been limited in providing information to support prescriptive approaches for applying specific service recovery techniques. By using data from a large sample (n = 861) of service failure incidents and employing the use of hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analysis, this exploratory study creates and analyzes empirical types of service failures. The derived failure types, or common situations faced by service providers, focus on customer loyalty and the severity of the failure, and may be visualized in a two-by-two matrix. Regression analysis is then used to demonstrate how effective recovery strategies and supporting activities should vary, based on the location of the failure within the matrix. The approach and results offer important implications for strategy and service support activities as well as a foundation for systematizing service recovery efforts. [source]


ASTS Recommended Practice Guidelines for Controlled Donation after Cardiac Death Organ Procurement and Transplantation

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 9 2009
D. J. Reich
The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) champions efforts to increase organ donation. Controlled donation after cardiac death (DCD) offers the family and the patient with a hopeless prognosis the option to donate when brain death criteria will not be met. Although DCD is increasing, this endeavor is still in the midst of development. DCD protocols, recovery techniques and organ acceptance criteria vary among organ procurement organizations and transplant centers. Growing enthusiasm for DCD has been tempered by the decreased yield of transplantable organs and less favorable posttransplant outcomes compared with donation after brain death. Logistics and ethics relevant to DCD engender discussion and debate among lay and medical communities. Regulatory oversight of the mandate to increase DCD and a recent lawsuit involving professional behavior during an attempted DCD have fueled scrutiny of this activity. Within this setting, the ASTS Council sought best-practice guidelines for controlled DCD organ donation and transplantation. The proposed guidelines are evidence based when possible. They cover many aspects of DCD kidney, liver and pancreas transplantation, including donor characteristics, consent, withdrawal of ventilatory support, operative technique, ischemia times, machine perfusion, recipient considerations and biliary issues. DCD organ transplantation involves unique challenges that these recommendations seek to address. [source]