Major Users Research Articles

Geriatric Drug Evaluation

The older population is currently the fastest growing age group in the United States, and this trend is expected to continue for several decades. Older individuals, in general, have a higher disease burden compared with younger adults and are the major users of medications, yet premarketing drug clinical trials have often excluded them even for the drugs that have high utility in this age group. Extrapolation of clinical results from younger to older individuals does not provide adequate benefit-risk estimation, and the frequent need for dose adjustment in older patients from initially approved doses exemplifies the current lack of adequate clinical data in the elderly. Herein, we discuss the information gap for older individuals and the need for a better understanding of the effect of aging on drug responses. We also present cases for future directions, urging the implementation of improved clinical trial designs using new and emerging pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic methods to allow the provision of evidence-based individualized treatment to this high drug use group.

Future regional nuclear fuel cycle cooperation in East Asia: Energy security costs and benefits

Economic growth in East Asia has rapidly increased regional energy, and especially, electricity needs. Many of the countries of East Asia have sought or are seeking to diversify their energy sources and bolster their energy supply and/or environmental security by developing nuclear power. Rapid development of nuclear power in East Asia brings with it concerns regarding nuclear weapons proliferation associated with uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel management. This article summarizes the development and analysis of four different scenarios of nuclear fuel cycle management in East Asia, including a scenario where each major nuclear power user develops uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel individually, scenarios featuring cooperation in the full fuel cycle, and a scenario where reprocessing is avoided in favor of dry cask storage of spent fuel. The material inputs and outputs and costs of key fuel cycle elements under each scenario are summarized.

Scenario-Based Forecast of Regional Water Demands in Northeastern Illinois

This paper reviews the principles of scenario-based planning and illustrates an application of this approach in a study of a regional water supply and demand in northeastern Illinois. The scenario-based planning has been adopted over the traditional approaches because the scenario approach facilitates an explicit consideration of uncertainty in both supply and demand. An important component of the study was the development of scenario-based forecasts of water demand for major user sectors and geographical subareas within the 11-county region which, includes the city of Chicago and 250 municipalities. The study revealed that the increase in total withdrawals in 2050, under baseline scenario, would be 530 mgd (millions of gallons per day) (36 %) and could reach as high as 949 mgd (64 %) under high demand growth scenario. Thus, meeting these additional demands would require large capital outlays for water infrastructure and would likely have significant impacts on some of the regional sources of water supply...

Analysis of Anti-dumping Use in Free Trade Agreements

Proliferating free trade agreements (FTAs) in recent years may have conflicting effects on anti-dumping (AD) uses among FTA parties. On the one hand, an FTA may increase a country's AD activities to protect its domestic industries from the increased import flows from other parties. On the other hand, an FTA supposedly helps reduce the use of AD measures to accomplish the purpose of free trade. Which effects prevail can shed important lights on the question of whether an FTA can be a stumbling block or a building block. This article examines the effects of FTAs on AD activities based on comprehensive empirical analysis. Using longitudinal data of major AD user countries from 1995 to 2009, we found that there is clearly an inverse relationship between an FTA and AD activities. This finding represents the user's tendency to trigger less AD filings against FTA membership, regardless of facing more imports from FTA partners. This article also captured dynamic FTA effects based on a series of distribution of time dummies. The estimation results from the dynamic model show that the FTA enactment year clearly has significant effect, suggesting substantial reduction of AD investigations in that year.

The Design Concept of the First Mobile Satellite Laser Ranging System (ARGO-M) in Korea

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) launched the development project of two satellite laser ranging (SLR) systems in early 2008 after the government fund approval of the SLR systems in 2007. One mobile SLR system and one permanent SLR station will be developed with the completion of the project. The main objectives of these systems will be focused on the Space Geodetic researches. A system requirement review was held in the second half of the same year. Through the following system design review meeting and other design reviews, many unsolved technical and engineering issues would be discussed and resolved. However, the design of the mobile SLR system is a corner stone of whole project. The noticeable characteristics of Korea's first SLR system are 1) use of light weight main mirror, 2) design of compact optical assembly, 3) use of KHz laser pulse, 4) use of commercial laser generator, 5) remote operation capability, 6) automatic tracking, 7) state of art operation system, etc. In this paper, the major user requirement and pre-defined specification are presented and discussed.

Beyond Traditional Microprocessors for Geoscience High-Performance Computing Applications

The oil and gas industry is a major user of high-performance computing, and geoscience computational cycles are dominated by kernels that are relatively few and well defined. This project explores accelerating geoscience applications using FPGA-based hardware, optimizing the algorithm and the hardware to achieve maximum performance. This approach can deliver speedup of 20 to 70 times compared with a conventional HPC node.

Evaluation of earcons for portable digital electronic products considering perceptual user characteristics

Earcons, nonverbal sound feedback, have been used for electronic products to give appropriate feedback information for the selected user functions. This study evaluated earcon usability of a portable digital electronic product based on cognition time, error rate, and subjective feelings using 20 male and female subjects. For subjective evaluation, the study assessed various earcons by subjective impression of sounds using 7-point rating scales. For earcon usability performance, major user functions were used for the product with currently available earcons and for the product with the new earcons (suggested by this study), which considered perceptual characteristics, such as loudness and melody. Statistical results from the study indicated that the new earcons significantly reduced user error rates and therefore generally improved user performance on major functions, such as “PLAY,” “OFF,” “STOP,” “FF” (fast forward), and “REW” (rewind). Subjective data results also showed that users were more satisfied with the new, melody-based sound feedback. Practical guidelines for sound feedback design of a small digital product are suggested. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sociodemographic variables of contraceptive practice in Sikkim

Objectives:The objective was to assess sociodemographic characteristics of men who use contraceptive and to compare them with men whose wives use contraceptive.Materials and Methods:Study design: A population-based cross-sectional study was performed. Study setting: It was performed in rural setting of the Sang PHC and Pakyong PHC service areas in Sikkim, India. Study participants: A total of 596 currently married men enrolled in the eligible couple registers. Interventions: No interventions occurred. Measurements: Sociodemographic correlates of contraceptive use were analyzed: occupation, religion, ethnicity, literacy, age, loss of children, and distance from health facility.Results:The use of contraceptive was high among the cultivators - men (44.45%), spouse (36.01%) followed by persons in Government service, respectively, 31.49% and 31.55%. Hindu men (55.42%), women (69.25%), and other backward communities (OBC) men (47.53%) and their wives (52.31%) were the majority users. A significantly higher number of users of contraceptive were literate men (72.33%) and their wives (86.17%) (χ2=0.021, P> 0.05). Highest use was found in men and women (44.47%) in the 35 years and above (43.83) age group. But this difference was not significant. With the increase in the number of losses of children the contraceptive use declined among men and their spouses. Contraceptive users were higher at distances 1 hour and above from the health center compared to others.Conclusions:The finding of the research indicated that sociodemographic correlates determine the magnitude of the contraceptive use among couples in a rural community. A research agenda should define factors at both macro and micro levels that interact to adversely impinge on reproductive health outcomes.

Optimizing Utilization of Petroleum Coke in Nigerian Metallurgical Industry

Utilization of petroleum coke in the rejuvenating Nigerian metallurgical industry is currently satisfied by importation from more industrialized nations of the world such as the USA, Brazil and Venezuela where delayed coking plants operate and grow in number. The sad years of poor planning have revealed lapses in integration and synergic planning of our industrial complex. The sources of petroleum coke feedstock have been identified and confirmed as atmospheric and vacuum residues of Nigerian refineries. Analysis has portrayed a symbiotic relationship between the metallurgical industry as one of the major end users of various petroleum coke grades, the shot coke, the sponge coke and the needle coke, and the petroleum industry on its part benefiting while providing ready market for steel sheet metals for even coke drum manufacture. This effort shall greatly increase the Nigerian content in these key industrial sectors, with the resultant reduction in capital flight through importation, if rethinking, and re-strategizing are injected into our industrial planning, and revamps models. Redesign options of existing refineries and reengineering of newly proposed refineries should contain resid processing units such as Delayed Coking Plant which will deepen conversion of residual petroleum feed stocks and produce various petroleum coke grades for utilization in power generation sector and our growing metallurgical and electrode industries.

Using Consensus Analysis to Assess Mental Models about Water Use and Management in the Crocodile River Catchment, South Africa

Stone-Jovicich, S. S., T. Lynam, A. Leitch, and N. A. Jones. 2011. Using Consensus Analysis to Assess Mental Models about Water Use and Management in the Crocodile River Catchment, South Africa. Ecology and Society 16(1): 45. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03755-160145

The advantages and challenges of linking industrial needs with academic research

This paper describes the advantages and challenges of an organisation that links industrial needs with academic research. The successful UK Research Centre for NDE (RCNDE) was established in 2003 as a partnership between various large industrial users of NDE, the UK Government university funding body (EPSRC) and six leading UK universities. During the 1980s and 1990s, industrial organisations reduced the size of or closed their NDE research laboratories and concentrated on shorter-term development activities to further their core businesses. At this time, the links between industry and universities regarding NDE were often weak; industrial needs were seen as immediate whilst academic timescales too protracted. The result was poor delivery and/ or understanding of academic output and a correspondingly slow uptake of new research ideas. During the 1990s, major industrial users of NDE and universities began to develop bilateral arrangements to overcome the barriers to effective cooperation. Recognising the wide range of industries with a need for high-quality NDE research, discussions instigated by the UK Government in 2001-2 led to the creation of RCNDE in April 2003. Since that time, industrial and university involvement has steadily grown and the success of the partnership led to a second phase of public funding between 2008-2014. The core membership now includes 16 major industrial companies and six universities, with a growing number of other universities and companies also participating. From its inception, RCNDE has emphasised the importance of exploiting the research outcomes and a system based on Technology Readiness Levels is now being used to facilitate the technology transfer process. This approach helps all parties to understand the full range of activities which need to be achieved before new research can be translated into commercial products or processes.

Modelling of staged routing for reduced carbon footprints of large server clusters

Online services that rely on large scale server systems have become major energy users. These systems are generally dimensioned for peak loads and therefore have very low average utilisation, often around 20-30%. This paper presents a mathematical performance analysis of a simple routing mechanism that uses staged overflow routing to assign requests to servers. The technique relies on a router, in conjunction with a server daemon. Idle servers are suspended; and suspended systems are returned to an active state by the Wake-on-LAN function. The number of active servers is proportional to the overall system utilisation and leads to a load proportional carbon footprint. Performance models are developed and used to analyse the proposed mechanism. A potential system design is briefly discussed. It is concluded that substantial power savings are possible using overflow routing; however, there is also significant effects on user performance as a result of the higher server utilisation.

Evaluating the Impacts of In-Flight Icing Hazards

This study analyzes in-flight icing constraints and air traffic data in order to identify how those constraints translate into Air Traffic Management (ATM) impacts in the National Airspace System (NAS). The analysis includes major safety and efficiency issues NAS users consider when making decisions due to in-flight icing. Data suggest that in-flight icing is a terminal-area constraint with greatest impact when the icing constraint is on or near ground level; above-ground icing constraints can often be mitigated by directing traffic flows to pass under or around the icing constraint to and from terminal airports. Terminal-area icing does not impact en route traffic flow, but it can impact planning when a major airport is restricted by terminal-area icing. Statistical analysis developed in this study indicates that the most significant ATM impacts include delays, cancellations, diversions, airborne circular holding, and decreased airport arrival and departure rates.

Decision support for building renovation strategies

In Europe, buildings account for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of EU CO2 emissions. The energy usage of old structures built or rehabilitated before 1980 is as high as 300 kWh/m2/yr, which is greater than the figure for modern structures and passive houses. Obviously, old buildings are the major users of energy, as they use more than twice as much as the modern building. There are numerous published studies showing that energy savings of 40 to 74% can be achieved in commercial buildings through renovation. Implementing rational renovation, which results in efficient operation and maintenance and facilitates low energy consumption, creates a triple-win situation: it provides a much needed impetus to the European economy, it contributes to the achievements of energy and climate targets and it decreases energy costs for citizens, businesses and public bodies. Normally, the renovation of existing buildings usually involves decision-making processes. The challenge is that ...

Analysing Long-Term Landscape Changes in a Bornean Forest Reserve Using Aerial Photographs

Aerial photographs have been widely used to monitor large-scale spatial changes taking place over long periods. In this study, the types and trajectories of landscape changes in Sabal Forest Reserve in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo over a period of 26 years (1972-1998) were investigated using 1:25,000 scale aerial photographs andground surveys. The aerial photographs showed typical land use features such as forest clearing, fallows, roads, power line easements and houses, all of which could be easily identified and mapped by stereoviewing. Further analysis revealedthat logging activities, which started in the 1970s continued to increase through to the 1990s. In comparison, shiftingcultivation began earlier and was seen to be widespread but was banned in Sabal by 1984, thus reflecting the conflict of interest between two major land users: shifting cultivators and foresters. Reforestation projects carried out after the banappeared successful in increasing tree cover in former shifting cultivation areas. In conclusion this study has provided aninteresting case study about how people in a remote area in Sarawak shaped their forested landscape.

Ten Years and Over 3600 Cases of Recombinant Activated Factor VII Use: What Does the Haemostasis Registry Data Tell Us?

AbstractAbstract 3352 Background:Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa, NovoSeven®) is approved for the treatment of spontaneous and surgical bleeding in patients with haemophilia A or B and with antibodies to either factor VIII or factor IX. However rFVIIa has increasingly been used for indications outside the approved areas as a last resort treatment in trauma, cardiac surgery and other critical bleeding episodes despite the absence of conclusive randomized clinical trial (RCT) data. Aims:The aim of the Haemostasis Registry was to collect data (including dose, adverse events and outcome) on the off-license use of rFVIIa in Australia and New Zealand. Methods:Monash University established the Haemostasis registry in 2005 with an educational grant from Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals. More than 100 hospitals (including all major users of rFVIIa in Australia and New Zealand) contributed data to the Registry covering a ten year period (2000 to 2010). Results:More than 3600 off-license rFVIIa cases have been reported to the Registry. 65% of cases were male and the median age was 56 years. Major areas of use were cardiac surgery (∼43%), other surgery (18%) and trauma (13%). The majority (∼77%) of patients received a single dose of rFVIIa with a median (IQR) dose of 91 (73-103) mcg/kg. Seventy-four percent of cases documented a response (decrease or cessation of bleeding) following rFVIIa. Patient mortality rate at 28 days was lower if bleeding was reportedly stopped or decreased (88% or 82% vs. 39% no change, respectively) (χ22=533, p<0.001). Stepwise logistic regression analysis identified the number of units of RBC's, pH and context of bleeding as significant independent predictors of patient response to rFVIIa administration and pH, context of bleeding and units of FFP were included in the best predictive model of patient outcome at 28 days. Thromboembolic adverse events were reported in 7.5% of all patients however risk-adjusted adverse event rates in Haemostasis Registry cardiac patients were not significantly different from those seen in non-rFVIIa treated cardiac patients recorded in the ASCTS registry (www.ascts.org). Conclusions:The Haemostasis Registry is the largest dataset of its kind and provides critical observational data on the importance of pH, temperature and coagulopathic state in determining the response to rFVIIa. Although the role of rFVIIa in critical bleeding is still not clear, the Haemostasis Registry has been an invaluable resource for rigorously tracking adverse events and helping to guide clinical practice in an arena unlikely to be supported by new RCT data. Disclosures:Phillips:Novo Nordisk: Educational Grant. Off Label Use: rFVIIa; used for the treatment of critical bleeding in trauma, cardiac surgery, liver and obstetrics. Zatta:Novo Nordisk: Educational Grant. McNeil:Novo Nordisk: Educational Grant. Cameron:Novo Nordisk: Educational Grant.

Injuries to pedal cyclists on New Zealand roads, 1988-2007.

BackgroundThe risk of injury is one of the major barriers to engaging in cycling. We investigated exposure-based rates and profiles of traffic injuries sustained by pedal cyclists that resulted in death or hospital inpatient treatment in New Zealand, one of the most car dependent countries.MethodsPedal cyclist traffic injuries were identified from the Mortality Collection and the National Minimum Dataset. Total time spent cycling was used as the measure of exposure and computed from National Household Travel Surveys. Analyses were undertaken for the periods 1988-91, 1996-99 and 2003-07 in relation to other major road users and by age, gender and body region affected. A modified Barell matrix was used to characterise the profiles of pedal cyclist injuries by body region affected and nature of injury.ResultsCyclists had the second highest rate of traffic injuries compared to other major road user categories and the rate increased from 1996-99 to 2003-07. During 2003-07, 31 injuries occurred per million hours spent cycling. Non-collision crashes (40%) and collisions with a car, pick-up truck or van (26%) accounted for two thirds of the cycling injuries. Children and adolescents aged under 15 years were at the highest risk, particularly of non-collision crashes. The rate of traumatic brain injuries fell from 1988-91 to 1996-99; however, injuries to other body parts increased steadily. Traumatic brain injuries were most common in collision cases whereas upper extremity fractures were most common in other crashes.ConclusionsThe burden of fatal and hospitalised injuries among pedal cyclists is considerable and has been increasing over the last decade. This underscores the development of road safety and injury prevention programmes for cyclists alongside the cycling promotion strategies.

Case Study: Re-Engineering an Institutional Repository to Engage Users

When institutional repositories were introduced, many libraries embraced them as a means to support and further the cause of open access and the dissemination of scholarly communication. As has been widely reported, however, faculty did not embrace the concept, and repositories generally have not filled up as envisioned. We pose the question: is it possible to design an institutional repository that faculty and graduate students find useful and attractive enough to change their ingrained habits and incorporate into their work routines? The University of Rochester's River Campus Libraries is engaged in finding out. Based on two major user research studies, the team at Rochester determined that a number of crucial features were needed to attract end user interest: the system must become part of the workflow during the research and writing phase, it must support collaboration with users outside the institution, it must provide quantifiable evidence of use, and it needs to allow the users to control and showcase their work. Based on their research, the River Campus Libraries developed a new open source institutional repository software system called IR+. With IR+, Rochester is testing the findings from their research, to see if a repository that goes beyond the collection of finished scholarly works and engages academics in the creation stages of their research will prove to be a more successful model.

Techno-economic assessment and environmental impacts of desalination technologies

This paper presents a comprehensive review and assessment of desalination technologies such as thermal which includes multi-stage flash (MSF) and multiple effect distillation (MED), membrane reverse osmosis (RO), and hybrid (MSF/MED-RO). The assessment includes energy requirements, water production cost, technology growth trends, environmental impact and potential for the technology improvements. Comparison and technology matrix of commercial technologies are highlighted. The global desalination policies for the major desalination user countries, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United States of America (USA), Spain, China and Kuwait are given. More detailed analysis of desalination, cogeneration, and water situation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with some related recommendations for future policy and plans are also presented.

A survey of imaging services for children in England, Wales and Scotland

Purpose Children are major users of imaging services but little is known about the provision made for them. The objectives of this survey were to: determine the extent to which children are imaged in primarily adult departments and the nature of procedures performed; establish the availability of child friendly environments and investigate the extent to which children are involved in service development. Methods An 18 item questionnaire was sent to all hospitals with imaging facilities in the UK. Two versions were produced, one for adult departments and another for children’s hospitals. Quantitative data were entered into SPSS-PC. Results Three hundred and fifty two questionnaires were returned including 17 from the 20 children’s hospitals, representing a 70% response rate. Children were imaged in 84% of adult hospitals from which responses were obtained and estimates provided by respondents indicated that more children were imaged in adult than children’s hospitals. In 89% of adult hospitals responses indicated that infants were imaged and in two thirds of English hospitals advanced procedures, such as MRI, were available for children. In 47%, 32% and 30% of adult hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland children’s requirements were said to be considered when purchasing equipment. In 34%, 11% and 8% of English, Welsh and Scottish adult hospitals some separate provision for children (for example waiting rooms or toilets) was indicated. Overall 32% of adult hospitals (92 of the 95 were in England) reported having a lead radiographer, who specialised in a paediatric imaging. Responses indicated that in 60% of adult hospitals staff attended paediatric training courses. Children’s views on hospital services were seldom sought in either the adult or children’s hospitals. Conclusions The survey indicates that the recommendations of the Children’s National Service Framework and the Health Care Commission have not been implemented fully in many imaging departments.