Measurement of standby power for selected electrical appliances in Australia

High growth in the uptake of electrical appliances is accounting for a significant increase in electricity consumption globally. In some developed countries, standby energy alone may account for about 10% of residential electricity use. The standby power for many appliances used in Australia is still well above the national goal of 1 W or less. In this paper, field measurements taken of standby power and operating power for a range of electrical appliances are presented. It was found that the difference between minimum value and maximum value of standby power could be quite large, up to 22.13 W for home theatre systems, for example. With the exception of home audio systems, however, the annual operating energy used by most electrical appliances was generally greater than the annual standby energy. Consumer behaviour and product choice can have a significant impact on standby power and operating power, which influences both energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions.     

A Fully Automated Process Using a Magnetic Particle Based Kit for Removal of Dye Terminators from Sequencing Reactions

Prolinx,® Inc. of Bothell, WA has developed the RapXtract™ 384 Dye Terminator Removal Kit for full automation of DNA sequencing reaction purification. The RapXtract product line is based upon proprietary superparamagnetic particle technology that eliminates the need for centrifugation, vacuum filtration, or modified primers to achieve purification of sequencing reactions. The kit described here is pre-dispensed in a 384-well microtiter plate and run on the TECAN GENESIS Workstation 150 (Tecan U.S. Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC). This system enables rapid purification of up to 384 sequencing reactions in a single run.As the completion of the Human Genome Project nears, it is imperative for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to increase throughput of DNA sequencing in order to be competitive in the drug discovery and validation process. The “race to market” requires a shift from standard DNA sequencing processes-including DNA sequencing reaction purification-towards complete walk-away automation for all steps.Existing sequencing reaction purification methods (Table 1) require considerable resources including: plastic and other laboratory consumables; specialized equipment, such as high-speed centrifuges or vacuum filtration apparatus; and labor-intensive protocols requiring large amounts of technician time. As a result, walk-away automation of standard purification methods is difficult and expensive.     

Discrimination of aerial deposition sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran downwind from a pulp mill near Ketchikan, Alaska

Drinking water is supplied by individual roof-catchment systems for homes and businesses near a dissolving sulfite pulp mill (now closed) located just north of Ketchikan in southeast Alaska. This study was conducted to determine if polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs) found in the sediments of the roof-catchment cisterns resulted from historical deposition of stack emissions from the pulp mill's multi-fuel power boilers. Fly ash from the power boilers had maximum total PCDD/F concentrations of 3.08 x 10(5)-3.10 x 10(6) ng/kg, which resulted from combustion of bleach plant wastewater sludge and saltwater-soaked wood waste. Cistern sediments had maximum total PCDD/F concentrations of 7.71 x 10(4) ng/kg. Potential sources of PCDDs/Fs in the cistern sediments were considered to be automobile exhaust, heating oil combustion, and private trash burning as well as pulp mill boiler emissions. Discriminant analysis was used to analyze differences between profiles of tetra through octa homologue classes of PCDDs/ Fs (defined as proportional contributions to total concentration) from different source terms. Homologue profiles of potential sources from Ketchikan included in this analysis were fly ash collected from the mill's power boilers and soils collected from background areas (areas with similar PCDD/F sources as the residences [e.g., auto exhaust and burn barrels] near the mill but beyond the zone of aerial deposition of emissions from the mill). Profiles for emissions from automobile exhaust, fertilizers, oil heating, residential trash burning, and residential wood heating were also included in the source "training" data set (for the discriminant analysis) using data from published literature. The classification rules developed from the discriminant analysis were applied to the following test media sampled at Ketchikan: roof-catchment cistern sediments and soils collected from areas in the vicinity of the mill's power boilers (i.e., nearby residential or commercial [developed] areas, on the mill property, and nearby forestlands). The homologue profiles of cistern sediment and nearby developed area soil samples were similar to background soils, whereas the profiles for the forestland soil samples (influenced by emissions from the mill but not other anthropogenic sources) closely matched the fly ash pattern. The homologue profiles of the emission sources from published data were more similar to one another than either background soils or fly ash. Soil samples from the mill property were classified as members of all source groups. On the basis of these analyses, the composition of PCDDs/Fs detected in the cistern sediments is typical of Ketchikan background conditions and not reflective of mill emissions.     

A multiple circular path convolution neural network system for detection of mammographic masses

A multiple circular path convolution neural network (MCPCNN) architecture specifically designed for the analysis of tumor and tumor-like structures has been constructed. We first divided each suspected tumor area into sectors and computed the defined mass features for each sector independently. These sector features were used on the input layer and were coordinated by convolution kernels of different sizes that propagated signals to the second layer in the neural network system. The convolution kernels were trained, as required, by presenting the training cases to the neural network. In this study, randomly selected mammograms were processed by a dual morphological enhancement technique. Radiodense areas were isolated and were delineated using a region growing algorithm. The boundary of each region of interest was then divided into 36 sectors using 36 equi-angular dividers radiated from the center of the region. A total of 144 Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System-based features (i.e., four features per sector for 36 sectors) were computed as input values for the evaluation of this newly invented neural network system. The overall performance was 0.78-0.80 for the areas (Az) under the receiver operating characteristic curves using the conventional feed-forward neural network in the detection of mammographic masses. The performance was markedly improved with Az values ranging from 0.84 to 0.89 using the MCPCNN. This paper does not intend to claim the best mass detection system. Instead it reports a potentially better neural network structure for analyzing a set of the mass features defined by an investigator.     

A randomized trial of three diabetes registry implementation strategies in a community internal medicine practice

BACKGROUND: Disease registries are powerful tools with the potential to transform the way chronic diseases are managed. To date, however, little work has been done to determine how to optimize the implementation of a chronic disease registry in practice. METHODS: Twenty-nine physicians and their nurse teams in a large community internal medicine practice participated in this 6-month prospective randomized trial in 2000. Teams were assigned to one of three implementation strategies using information from a diabetes registry. Process and outcome measures for diabetes management were analyzed. Process measures included the percentage of patients completing glycosylated hemoglobin (Hgb) testing within 6 months and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) testing within 12 months. Outcome measures included the percentage of patients with a glycosylated Hgb > 9.3% (equivalent to a HgbA1c > 8.0%), the percentage of patients with an LDL cholesterol > 130 mg/dl, and the percentage of patients with controlled blood pressure, defined as < 130/85 millimeters of mercury. Mean change in LDL and glycosylated Hgb values was also measured. RESULTS: Teams randomized to an intervention strategy that included direct letters to patients showed significant improvement across a number of measures. The improvement was most apparent among patients without recent testing or with poorly controlled disease. The two interventions that did not include direct patient letters resulted in limited improvement. DISCUSSION: Disease registries can be used to improve outcomes in the management of diabetes and other chronic diseases. Better outcomes were seen in patients who received letters based on registry-generated data. This strategy should be included as part of a comprehensive chronic disease management plan. Further refinements in the use of registries should result in further incremental improvement.     

Derivation of a clinical decision rule for whiplash associated disorders among individuals involved in rear-end collisions

A prospective study was used to: (1) quantify potential risk factors for whiplash associated disorder following a rear-end motor vehicle collision; and (2) develop a simple clinical decision rule for the early identification of patients at risk for long-term whiplash associated disorder. Between 1 October 1995 and 31 March 1998, 446 adults involved in rear-end collisions presented to the only two emergency departments serving Kingston, Ontario. Eligible and consenting subjects (n = 353) were contacted by telephone soon after the collisions then at multiple occasions up to 2 years post-collision. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify potential risk factors for persistent symptoms. A software package that uses Chi-squared automatic interaction detection and classification and regression trees was used to develop a simple clinical decision rule for the identification of patients at high and low risk for persistent whiplash associated disorder. Risk factors identified by regression analyses included: increased age, number of initial physical symptoms, and early development of the following symptoms: upper back pain, upper extremity numbness or weakness, or disturbances in vision. A simple clinical decision rule that requires asking up to three basic questions of each patient was derived and would have identified the 118 cases of persistent whiplash associated disorder with a sensitivity of 91.5% (95% confidence interval: 86.5, 96.6) and a specificity of 51.4% (44.7, 58.1). This study confirmed the importance of several risk factors for whiplash associated disorder following rear-end motor vehicle collisions.     

Understanding attitudes toward affirmative action programs in employment: Summary and meta-analysis of 35 years of research.

Affirmative action programs (AAPs) are controversial employment policies in the United States and elsewhere. A large body of evidence about attitudinal reactions to AAPs in employment has accumulated over 35 years: at least 126 independent samples involving 29,000 people. However, findings are not firmly established or integrated. In the current article, the authors summarize and meta-analytically estimate relationships of AAP attitudes with (a) structural features of such programs, (b) perceiver demographic and psychological characteristics, (c) interactions of structural features with perceiver characteristics, and (d) presentation of AAP details to perceivers, including justification of the AAP. Results are generally consistent with predictions derived from self-interest considerations, organizational justice theory, and racism theories. They also suggest practical ways in which AAPs might be designed and communicated to employees to reduce attitudinal resistance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subdivisions of inferior temporal cortex in squirrel monkeys make dissociable contributions to visual learning and memory.

Inferior temporal cortex of squirrel monkeys consists of caudal (ITC), intermediate (ITI), and rostral (ITR) subdivisions, possibly homologous to TEO, posterior TE, and anterior TE of macaque monkeys. The present study compared visual learning in squirrel monkeys with ablations of ITC; ITI and ITR (group ITRd); or ITI, ITR, and more ventral cortex, including perirhinal cortex (group ITR+), with visual learning in unoperated controls. The ITC monkeys had significant impairments on pattern discriminations and milder deficits on delayed nonmatching to sample (DNMS) of objects. The ITRd monkeys had deficits on some pattern discriminations but not on DNMS. The ITRd monkeys were significantly impaired on DNMS and some pattern discriminations. These results are similar to those found in macaques and support the proposed homologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders in a community sample.

The prospective association between marital dissatisfaction and alcohol use disorders (abuse and/or dependence) was evaluated in a randomly selected community sample. Married individuals (N=1,675) from the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area project who did not have a current alcohol use disorder at baseline were followed prospectively for 12 months. Results indicated that baseline marital dissatisfaction was significantly associated with alcohol use disorder diagnosis during follow-up, with dissatisfied spouses being 3.7 times more likely than satisfied spouses to have a diagnosis of current alcohol use disorder at follow-up. The longitudinal association between baseline marital dissatisfaction and current alcohol use disorder diagnosis at follow-up remained significant when controlling for baseline demographic variables and history of alcohol use disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)