Prevalence of high-risk egg-preparation practices in restaurants that prepare breakfast egg entrées: an EHS-Net study

Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (SE) is a common cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Foods prepared with raw shell eggs have often been associated with SE outbreaks. The federal government published the Egg Safety Action Plan in December 1999 that called for reduction of egg-preparation practices that may contribute to the survival and proliferation of SE. In seven states, an interview and brief site evaluation of 153 restaurants that prepare eggs during all hours of operation was conducted by the Environmental Health Specialists Network to determine the prevalence of such practices. Fifty-four percent (83 of 153) of restaurants pooled raw shell eggs not intended for immediate service. These pooled eggs were held a median of 4 h for scrambled eggs, 5.5 h for omelets, and 6 h for pancakes and French toast. Nearly 26% (39 of 152) of restaurants reported storing eggs at room temperature, and 5% (7 of 152) stored eggs on ice or in cold-water baths before cooking. Generally, eggs were cooked to 72 to 83 degrees C, which is above the recommended final cook temperature of 63 to 68 degrees C. Employees reported sanitizing utensils used to prepare eggs less than once every 4 h in 42% (57 of 136) of restaurants. Several areas were identified in which further emphasis might reduce egg-associated SE infections in accordance with Healthy People 2010 goals.     

Does increased confidence among novice drivers imply a decrease in safety? The effects of skid training on slippery road accidents

Finnish driver training was renewed in 1990 with the inclusion of a compulsory skid training course in the curriculum. The study evaluated the renewal's effect on accidents in slippery road conditions. A questionnaire was sent by mail to 41000 novice drivers who were randomly selected from the official register of driving licences. It included questions on driving exposure and the accidents the drivers had been involved in during 6-18 months following licensing. The rate of return was 74.7%. Half of the drivers had received their licence in 1989 and had, therefore, not received any skid training. The other half had received their licence in 1990 after the introduction of the skid training course. The results showed no effects of the renewal on slippery road accidents for either male or female drivers. Another questionnaire was sent to 1300 old and new curriculum drivers immediately after licensing and a second time 1/2-1 year later, both with questions about skills, worries and perceived risks regarding driving in slippery conditions. The new curriculum drivers showed higher confidence in their skills and they were less afraid to drive in slippery conditions than the old curriculum drivers. This increase in confidence as a result of skid training is discussed. It is argued that high confidence in one's personal skills does not necessarily imply negative safety. The crucial factor is how these skills are used, and for what purpose.     

Foreperiod and simple reaction time.

Reviews studies of simple visual and auditory reaction processes published since W. H. Teicher (1954), with emphasis on the preparatory phase of these processes, particularly the foreperiod (FP). The 1st section consists of the analysis of actual FP variables; duration, regularity, range, distribution, and preceding FPs. The 2nd section deals with factors affecting the relation between FP and reaction time (RT): (a) the modality, intensity, probability, and duration of the warning signal and reaction stimulus (RS) and (b) the speed–accuracy trade-off. It is suggested that the S's expectancy (momentary probability of the immediate delivery of the RS) is the most important determinant of the preparation to respond to the RS at any moment during a trial and, hence, of RT. Many factors exert their influence on preparation through their effect on expectancy. Other factors have a direct influence on preparation: short-term exhaustion and fatigue, immediate arousal evoked by intense auditory stimuli, the S's stimulus criterion, the speed–accuracy trade-off, and fluctuation in motor preparedness owing to inaccuracies in the control of motor preparation. (4? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feasibility of force platform based roadside drowsiness screening – A pilot study

Previous research on driver drowsiness detection has focused on developing in-car systems that continuously monitor the driver while driving and warn him/her when drowsiness compromises safety. In occupational settings a simple test of postural control has showed sensitivity to work shift induced fatigue in drivers. Whether the test is feasible for surveillance purposes in roadside settings is unknown. The present research sought to evaluate the feasibility of using a force platform test of postural control as a breathalyzer-like drowsiness-test at the roadside.     

Properties of alumina-based coatings deposited by plasma spray and detonation gun spray processes

Alumina, Al₂O₃ + 3 to 40 wt% TiO₂, and Al₂O₃ + 40 wt% ZrO₂ coatings were deposited by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) and detonation gun spraying (DGS). The coatings were evaluated by optical microscopy, microhardness measurements, and X- ray diffraction. Wear resistance of the coatings was evaluated by rubber wheel sand abrasion and particle erosion test methods. Detonation gun- sprayed coatings exhibited more homogeneous microstructures and somewhat higher microhardness than corresponding plasma- sprayed coatings. Small additions of TiO₂ (3 wt%) improved both the abrasion and erosion wear resistance, whereas 40 wt% TiO₂ significantly decreased the erosion wear resistance of both APS and DGS coatings. Alumina + 40% ZrO₂ coatings exhibited the best abrasion wear resistance of both APS and DGS coatings, but the erosion wear resistance of these coatings was lower than that of the Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃ + 3 wt% TiO₂ coatings. The best abrasion wear resistance of the coatings studied was obtained with DGS Al₂O₃ + 40 wt% ZrO₂ and Al₂O₃ + 3 to 40 wt% TiCh coatings. These coatings exhibited lower wear rates than bulk Al₂O₃. The best erosion wear resistance was obtained with the DGS Al₂O₃ + 3 wt% TiO₂ coating; however, it exhibited a higher wear rate than bulk Al₂O₃. In general, detonation gun- sprayed coatings showed significantly enhanced abrasion and erosion wear resistance than the corresponding plasma- sprayed coatings.     

Floating Catalyst Chemical Vapor Deposition Patterning Nitrogen-Doped Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Shape Tailorable and Flexible Micro-Supercapacitors

Micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) as high-power density energy storage units are designed to meet the booming development of flexible electronics, requiring simple and fast fabrication technology. Herein, a fast and direct solvent-free patterning method is reported to fabricate shape-tailorable and flexible MSCs by floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD). The nitrogen-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes (N-SWCNTs) are directly deposited on a patterned filter by FCCVD with designable patterns and facilely dry-transferred on versatile substrates. The obtained MSCs deliver an excellent areal capacitance of 3.6 mF cm⁻² and volumetric capacitance of 98.6 F cm⁻³ at a scan rate of 5 mV s⁻¹ along with excellent long-term cycle stability over 125 000 circles. Furthermore, the MSCs show good performance uniformity, which can be readily integrated via connection in parallel or series to deliver a stable high voltage (4 V with five serially connected devices) and large capacitance (5.1 mF with five parallel devices) at a scan rate of 100 mV s⁻¹, enabling powering the light emitting displays. Therefore, this method blazes the trail of directly preparing flexible, shape-customizable, and high-performance MSCs.     

Risk assessment of a timber frame building by using CRISP simulation

The fire risk assessment model CRISP2 was applied to a 4‐storey apartment building. The case building was an actual 4‐storey timber‐framed building. Partly predetermined design alternatives were used in sequential simulations. CRISP2 cannot take into account the frame‐material of the building in a satisfactory way, because the wall thickness, structural fire resistance or lining materials in the fire room cannot be modelled. It was found that adding smoke alarms almost halved the risk level. The risk levels 1–2×10^?5 obtained are not far from comparable levels of fire death statistics from Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A linear-time algorithm for finding approximate shortest common superstrings

Approximate shortest common superstrings for a given setR of strings can be constructed by applying the greedy heuristics for finding a longest Hamiltonian path in the weighted graph that represents the pairwise overlaps between the strings inR. We develop an efficient implementation of this idea using a modified Aho-Corasick string-matching automaton. The resulting common superstring algorithm runs in timeO(n) or in timeO(n min(logm, log¦Σ¦)) depending on whether or not the goto transitions of the Aho-Corasick automaton can be implemented by direct indexing over the alphabet Σ. Heren is the total length of the strings inR andm is the number of such strings. The best previously known method requires timeO(n logm) orO(n logn) depending on the availability of direct indexing.