Electronic Counter Research Articles

Bernoulli particle filter with observer altitude for maritime radiation source tracking in the presence of measurement uncertainty

For maritime radiation source target tracking in particular electronic counter measures (ECM) environment, there exists two main problems which can deteriorate the tracking performance of traditional approaches. The first problem is the poor observability of the radiation source. The second one is the measurement uncertainty which includes the uncertainty of the target appearing/disappearing and the detection uncertainty (false and missed detections). A novel approach is proposed in this paper for tracking maritime radiation source in the presence of measurement uncertainty. To solve the poor observability of maritime radiation source target, using the radiation source motion restriction, the observer altitude information is incorporated into the bearings-only tracking (BOT) method to obtain the unique target localization. Then the two uncertainties in the ECM environment are modeled by the random finite set (RFS) theory and the Bernoulli filtering method with the observer altitude is adopted to solve the tracking problem of maritime radiation source in such context. Simulation experiments verify the validity of the proposed approach for tracking maritime radiation source, and also demonstrate the superiority of the method compared with the traditional integrated probabilistic data association (IPDA) method. The tracking performance under different conditions, particularly those involving different duration of radiation source opening and switching-off, indicates that the method to solve our problem is robust and effective.

Current sickle cell disease management practices in Nigeria

Although Nigeria has the highest burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) worldwide, there is still variable and poor utilisation of standard-of-care practices for SCD patients in the country. This was a questionnaire survey of doctors in some dedicated SCD clinics in Nigeria in order to document the facilities available and common management practices. There were responses from 18 clinics based in 11 institutions. The number of patients being followed in each centre ranged from 15 to approximately 11 000. All clinics provided malaria prophylaxis and folic acid routinely to their patients. Only eight clinics prescribe penicillin prophylaxis. Eight prescribe hydroxyurea to patients who can afford it when indicated. All of the centres except three have electronic cell counters, but all had access to haemoglobin electrophoresis. Three had high-performance liquid chromatography machines installed but none was being routinely used. One institution had a functioning molecular biology laboratory. There is no official newborn screening programme in the country. All had access to microbiology and chemistry laboratories. Nine institutions had CT, six had MRI and three had transcranial Doppler facilities. The care available for SCD in Nigeria is still suboptimal and there is an urgent need for concerted effort to tackle the problem, but to make a significant impact on the burden of the disease would require more focus at the primary care level. Some steps to achieving this are outlined.

Natural border disease virus infection in feedlot lambs

Border disease is caused by border disease virus (BDV, a pestivirus from the family Flaviviridae ) infection in sheep and goats (Vantsis and others 1976). BDV infection causes sizeable economic...

Transcranial doppler and brain MRI in children with sickle cell disease and high hemoglobin F levels

While overt stroke and silent brain infarcts (SBI) are uncommon among Kuwaiti patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), there have been no previous transcranial Doppler (TCD) studies in this population. The main objective of this study is to determine TCD velocities in a group of Kuwaiti children with SCD and correlate same with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and angiography (MRA) findings. Forty-three steady-state, pediatric patients with SCD aged 10.1 ± 3.9 years (21 SS, 19 Sβ(0)Thal, and 3 SD) were studied. Twenty-six age-matched, normal siblings of the patients served as controls. TCD was performed using a General Electric (GE), Vivid 3 equipment and MRI/MRA with a GE Signa Excite HD 1.5 Tesla magnet. Complete blood count was with an electronic counter and Hb quantitation with cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mean time-averaged mean of the maximum velocity (TAMV) was significantly higher in the SCD group than the controls, but was normal (<170 cm/second) in all. The mean values were comparable among the SS and Sβ(0)thal groups. Five (11.1%) patients had SBI and all were between 12 and 16 years of age. There was no significant difference of TAMV in this group compared to those without infarcts. No patient showed evidence of stenosis or any other abnormalities in the circle of Willis vessels. The mild phenotype among Kuwaiti patients with SCD is reflected in normal TCD velocities and a low prevalence of SBI in children with the disease.

Electronic Documentation of Central Venous Catheter—Days: Validation Is Essential

Background.Measurement of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates outside of intensive care units is challenged by the difficulty in reliably determining central venous catheter (CVC) use. The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) allows for use of electronic data for determination of CVC-days, but validation of electronic data has not been studied systematically.Objective.To design and validate a process to reliably measure CVC-days outside of the intensive care units that leverages electronic documentation.Methods.Thirty-four inpatient wards at 2 academic hospitals using a common electronic platform for nursing documentation were studied. Electronic queries were created to capture patient and CVC information, and tools and processes for tracking and reporting errors in documentation were developed. Strategies to validate electronic data included comparisons with manual CVC-day determinations and automated data validation using customized tools. Interventions included redesign of documentation interface, real-time audit with feedback of errors, and education. The primary outcome was patient-level total error rate in electronic CVC-day measurement compared with manually counted CVC-days.Results.At baseline, there were a mean (± standard deviation) of 0.32 ± 0.25 electronic CVC-day errors (omission and commission errors summed and counted equally) per manually counted CVC-day. After several process improvement cycles over 7 months, the error rate decreased to &lt;0.05 errors per CVC-day and remained at or below this level for 2 years.Conclusions.Baseline electronic CVC-day counts had a high error rate. Stepwise interventions reduced errors to consistently low levels. Validation of electronic calculation of CVC-days is essential to ensure accuracy, particularly if these data will be used for interinstitutional comparison.

Electronic Documentation of Central Venous Catheter—Days: Validation Is Essential

Measurement of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates outside of intensive care units is challenged by the difficulty in reliably determining central venous catheter (CVC) use. The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) allows for use of electronic data for determination of CVC-days, but validation of electronic data has not been studied systematically. To design and validate a process to reliably measure CVC-days outside of the intensive care units that leverages electronic documentation. Thirty-four inpatient wards at 2 academic hospitals using a common electronic platform for nursing documentation were studied. Electronic queries were created to capture patient and CVC information, and tools and processes for tracking and reporting errors in documentation were developed. Strategies to validate electronic data included comparisons with manual CVC-day determinations and automated data validation using customized tools. Interventions included redesign of documentation interface, real-time audit with feedback of errors, and education. The primary outcome was patient-level total error rate in electronic CVC-day measurement compared with manually counted CVC-days. At baseline, there were a mean (± standard deviation) of [Formula: see text] electronic CVC-day errors (omission and commission errors summed and counted equally) per manually counted CVC-day. After several process improvement cycles over 7 months, the error rate decreased to <0.05 errors per CVC-day and remained at or below this level for 2 years. Baseline electronic CVC-day counts had a high error rate. Stepwise interventions reduced errors to consistently low levels. Validation of electronic calculation of CVC-days is essential to ensure accuracy, particularly if these data will be used for interinstitutional comparison.

A Classification Scheme of ECM Spares Based on FAHP

According to the technical features and maintenance support of Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) equipment, this paper proposes a classification scheme for heterogeneous spares based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Firstly, the hierarchical structure of the multi-criteria was established by analyzing the criteria impacting item classification; and then the weight vector of each criterion was calculated using FAHP; furthermore, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was made to construct the fuzzy classification decision model with a sorting method based on the weight vector of triangular fuzzy number using possibility degree. The research work can provide theoretical basis and data support for decision-making of the equipment support sectors.

The Impact of Peer Support and mp3 Messaging on Adherence to Inhaled Corticosteroids in Minority Adolescents with Asthma: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Poor adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is a critical risk factor contributing to asthma morbidity among low-income minority adolescents. This trial tested whether peer support group meetings and peer asthma messages delivered via mp3 players improved adherence to ICS. Low-income African American and/or Hispanic adolescents, ages 11-16 years old, with persistent asthma, and poor (≤ 48%) adherence to prescription ICS during the 3-week run-in were randomized to intervention or attention control groups (ATG) for the 10-week treatment. During treatment, the intervention arm subjects participated in weekly coping peer group support sessions and received mp3 peer-recorded asthma messages that promoted adherence. The ATG participated in weekly meetings with a research assistant and received an equivalent number of mp3 physician-recorded asthma messages. Adherence was measured by using self-report and the Doser CT, an electronic dose counter. The primary outcome was the difference in adherence at 10 weeks between the 2 arms. Thirty-four subjects were randomized to each arm. At 10 weeks, no statistical difference in objectively measured adherence could be detected between the 2 arms when adjusting for baseline adherence (P = .929). Adherence declined in both groups over the course of the active treatment period. In both study arms, self-reported adherence by participants was significantly higher than their objectively measured adherence at week 10 (P < .0001). Improving medication adherence in longitudinal studies is challenging. Peer support and mp3-delivered peer asthma messages may not be of sufficient dose to improve outcomes.

Joint estimation and identification for stochastic systems with unknown inputs

Motivated by tracking a manoeuvring target in electronic counter environments, the authors present the problem of joint estimation and identification of a class of discrete-time stochastic systems with unknown inputs in both the plant and sensors. Based on the expectation-maximum criterion, the joint optimisation scheme of state estimation, parameter identification and iteration terminate decision were derived. A numerical example of tracking a manoeuvring target accompanied range gate pull-off is utilised to verify the proposed scheme.

Estimating passenger numbers in trains using existing weighing capabilities

Knowing passenger numbers is important for the planning and operation of the urban rail systems. Manual and electronic counting systems (typically infrared or video) are expensive and therefore entail small sample sizes. They usually count boarding and alighting passengers, which means that errors in estimates of total numbers of passengers propagate along train runs. Counting errors in manual and electronic counting systems are typically flow-dependent, making uncertainty a function of volume. This paper presents a new counting technique that exploits the weighing systems installed in most modern trains to control braking. This technique makes passenger counting cheaper and ensures a complete sample. The paper compares numbers estimated by this technique with manual counts and counts from an infrared system in trains in urban Copenhagen. It shows that the weighing system provides more accurate passenger counts than the infrared equipment. The method has been validated on a large data set and is now in full operation in the urban Copenhagen rail system.

Measuring hand hygiene compliance in a hematology-oncology unit: A comparative study of methodologies

In managing hematology-oncology patients, there is a great opportunity for performing hand hygiene (HH). Over a 4-month period, we compared HH compliance measurement by 3 different methods: direct observation, electronic handwash counter for alcohol gel, and measuring the volume of product used (alcohol gel) in a 40-bed hematology-oncology unit at a tertiary care, private hospital. There were 388 directly observed opportunities for HH, and the overall HH compliance rate was 84.5%. A total of 235,923 HH episodes was recorded by the electronic devices. The mean HH episodes per patient-day was 77.7. There were 91.1 mL of alcohol gel used per patient-day in the unit. The correlation and P value between the percentage of HH compliance and HH episodes per 1,000 patient-days were ρ = 0.442 and P = .076, respectively. The correlation and P value between HH episodes per patient-days and alcohol gel consumption in milliliters per patient-days were ρ = 0.142 and P = .586. HH compliance was high in this unit. Direct observation, although useful, has many drawbacks. Other measures must be considered, such as electronic devices and measurement of volume use per patient-day to stimulate health care workers to increase and sustain HH compliance.

An experimental verification of Newton's second law

We describe an experimental procedure to probe the validity of Newton's second law. The experimental arrangement allows us to accelerate a glider on an air track by means of forces that are both steady and known. We also show how to determine acceleration from average speeds calculated for successive time intervals of the motion measured by using several electronic counters connected to a single-crystal oscillator circuit. Within experimental errors, the experiments clearly show the proportionality between acceleration and force for a fixed mass and between acceleration and inverse of mass for a fixed force.

P107: Moving from standard alcoholic hand rub dispensers to a wireless LAN based system with continuous monitoring: evaluation after one year

Improving hand hygiene compliance is a cornerstone of any infection control program. Manual observation temporarily improves adherence, but is time-consuming and rarely feasible long term. Electronic counting dispensers allowing real time assessment and feedback of hand hygiene events (HHE) are an effective tool for monitoring compliance 24/7/365.

Army electronic warfare forces and means utilizing efficiency evaluation in operations by stochastic modelling

Electronic counter measures stochastic modelling by means of common methodic of electronic warfare efficiency evaluation in operations is being accomplished. Electronic counter measures efficiency evaluation results visualization is being realized upon some radiofrequency spectrum intervals. Problems of further development of army electronic warfare means are being determined.

A Two-dimensional event-counting detector for HV-CSA electrostatic analyzer at SpLine the Spanish CRG beamline at the ESRF

A novel 2D-detector has been designed, manufactured and installed on the high voltage cylindrical sector electrostatic analyzer (HV-CSA300/15) of the HAXPES station of SpLine the Spanish CRG beamline at the ESRF. This original 2D-detector constitutes an important improvement of the HAXPES station. A drawback of electrostatic analyzer in HAXPES, is that the electron counter must be raised to high voltages (up to 15 kV). Hence the development of a 2D detector system compatible with a high voltage electrostatic analyzer is a scientific instrumentation challenge. The developed two-dimensional event-counting detector consists of a 2D image intensifier (combination of scintillating screen and MCP) optically coupled with a CMOS-camera and a data processing system. The accumulated event image is transferred to the image processing software on the PC, where the events are classified by their position to give single detector readout. The energy window accepted by the area detector ranges from 100 meV to 50 eV, depending on the analyzer pass energy. Hence, for single shot measurements, i.e, without sweeping the pre-retarding lens voltages up to 200 detector channels can be used compared to a single channel. This results in a gain of the analyser transmission of at least a factor of 20. Thus we overcome the limitations imposed by the low count rate when dealing with high excitation energies and high kinetic-energy electrons.

There is a Relationship between Resource Expenditures and Reference Transactions in Academic Libraries

A Review of:&#x0D; Dubnjakovic, A. (2012). Electronic resource expenditure and the decline in reference transaction statistics in academic libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(2), 94-100. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.001&#x0D; &#x0D; Objective – To provide an analysis of the impact of expenditures on electronic resources and gate counts on the increase or decrease in reference transactions.&#x0D; &#x0D; Design – Analysis of results of existing survey data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) 2006 Academic Library Survey (ALS). &#x0D; &#x0D; Setting – Academic libraries in the United States.&#x0D; &#x0D; Subjects – 3925 academic library respondents.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methods – The author chose to use survey data collected from the 2006 ALS conducted by the NCES. The survey included data on various topics related to academic libraries, but in the case of this study, the author chose to analyze three of the 193 variables included. The three variables: electronic books expenditure, computer hardware and software, and expenditures on bibliographic utilities, were combined into one variable called electronic resource expenditure. Gate counts were also considered as a variable. Electronic resource expenditure was also split as a variable into three groups: low, medium, and high. Multiple regression analysis and general linear modeling, along with tests of reliability, were employed. &#x0D; &#x0D; Main Results – The author determined that low, medium, and high spenders with regard to electronic resources exhibited differences in gate counts, and gate counts have an effect on reference transactions in any given week. Gate counts tend to not have much of an effect on reference transactions for the higher spenders, and higher spenders tend to have a higher number of reference transactions overall. Low spenders have lower gate counts and also a lower amount of reference transactions. &#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion – The findings from this study show that academic libraries spending more on electronic resources also tend to have an increase with regard to reference transactions. The author also concludes that library spaces are no longer the determining factor with regard to number of reference transactions. Spending more on electronic resources is also important to increase both in-person and electronic reference transactions.

Enhancing vibration measurements by Mössbauer effect

The measurement of the Mossbauer effect in a system excited with a periodic perturbation can provide information about it. For that purpose, the Mossbauer absorption of a source-absorber set which hyperfine parameters are well known, is measured at a constant relative velocity (i.e. at a defined spectral energy). The resulting Mossbauer absorption periodic signal provides information of the sample ac perturbation response. This approach has been used time ago to measure small tympanic vibrations (mechanical perturbations). In this work we present an extension of the vibration experiments, by measuring them at various absorber-source relative velocities within a constant-velocity strategy. As a demonstration test, the frequency response of a piezoelectric diaphragm in the 100 Hz–5 kHz range is obtained with a custom electronic counter. The experiments are performed using a 57Co(Rh) source and a 25-μm-thick stainless-steel absorber fixed to a piezoelectric diaphragm. Phase shifts and amplitude vibrations with velocities in the range from 1.5 μm/s to 20 mm/s are well characterized, extending the linearity limit well beyond the earlier suggested one of 1 mm/s.

Flight behavior and pheromone changes associated to Nosema ceranae infection of honey bee workers (Apis mellifera) in field conditions

Parasites are known to cause the loss of individuals in social insects. In honey bee colonies the disappearance of foragers is a common factor of the wide extended colony losses. The emergent parasite of the European honey bee Nosema ceranae has been found to reduce homing and orientation skills and alter metabolism of forager bees. N. ceranae-infected bees also show changes in Ethyl Oleate (EO) levels, which is so far the only primer pheromone identified in workers that is involved in foraging behavior. Thus, we hypothesized that N. ceranae (i) modifies flight activity of honey bees and (ii) induces EO changes that can alter foraging behavior of nestmates. We compared flight activity of infected bees and non-infected bees in small colonies using an electronic optic bee counter during 28days. We measured EO levels by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and spore-counts. Bee mortality was estimated at the end of the experiment. Infected bees showed precocious and a higher flight activity than healthy bees, which agreed with the more elevated EO titers of infected bees and reduced lifespan. Our results suggest that the higher EO levels of infected bees might delay the behavioral maturation of same age healthy bees, which might explain their lower level of activity. We propose that delayed behavioral maturation of healthy bees might be a protective response to infection, as healthy bees would be performing less risky tasks inside the hive, thus extending their lifespan. We also discuss the potential of increased flight activity of infected bees to reduce pathogen transmission inside the hive. Further research is needed to understand the consequences of host behavioral changes on pathogen transmission. This knowledge may contribute to enhance natural colony defense behaviors through beekeeping practices to reduce probability of colony losses.

The Development of Automatic Electronic Granulation Counter Based on Mechanical Properties

In order to meet the need of medicine packing industry for Mechanical Properties such as high speed and accuracy, the electronic granulation counter is developed. The counter consists of LED light source, double linear array CCD sensors TCD1209D, synchronously driving circuit for double linear array CCD based on CPLD EPM3064A, synchronously data acquisition card with A/D converter TLC 5510 of the high speed, and host computer. The test channel is 400 millimeter wide, the horizontal resolution is 0.1 millimeter, the driving frequency of linear array CCD sensors is 10 MHz and the vertical resolution is 0.3 millimeter, software binarization is effective for identifying the medicine tablets of different light transmittance. The experiments show the electronic granulation counter is accurate and reliable, counting speed is over 8000 per minute, and can distinguish the broken tablets and the overlap tablets.

Konservierte Augentropfen und Adhärenz in der augenärztlichen Praxis

Chronic eye diseases, such as glaucoma or dry eye syndrome, require long-term drug application to the eyes. Good adherence is required to achieve the therapeutic goal and patient needs and requirements have to be taken into account. This distinguishes adherence to drug therapy from the former compliance which implies only following medical instructions. Adherence is influenced by socioeconomic, health system-related, disease-related, treatment-related and patient-related factors. It can be measured by tedious procedures, such as electronic monitoring, self-assessment, drop counting and laboratory findings of systemic drug levels. Non-adherence is a growing medical problem worldwide. An increase in adherence means an increased degree of therapeutic safety for the patient and long-term cost savings for the individual as well as society. Non-adherence in chronic diseases, such as glaucoma and dry eye syndrome is increased by eye drops that cause side effects. Often these side effects are caused by agents such as the preservative benzalkonium chloride. To achieve a good adherence preservative-free eye drops are advised.