Improvement of walking speed prediction by accelerometry and altimetry, validated by satellite positioning.

Activity monitors based on accelerometry are used to predict the speed and energy cost of walking at 0% slope, but not at other inclinations. Parallel measurements of body accelerations and altitude variation were studied to determine whether walking speed prediction could be improved. Fourteen subjects walked twice along a 1.3 km circuit with substantial slope variations (-17% to +17%). The parameters recorded were body acceleration using a uni-axial accelerometer, altitude variation using differential barometry, and walking speed using satellite positioning (DGPS). Linear regressions were calculated between acceleration and walking speed, and between acceleration/altitude and walking speed. These predictive models, calculated using the data from the first circuit run, were used to predict speed during the second circuit. Finally the predicted velocity was compared with the measured one. The result was that acceleration alone failed to predict speed (mean r = 0.4). Adding altitude variation improved the prediction (mean r = 0.7). With regard to the altitude/acceleration-speed relationship, substantial inter-individual variation was found. It is concluded that accelerometry, combined with altitude measurement, can assess position variations of humans provided inter-individual variation is taken into account. It is also confirmed that DGPS can be used for outdoor walking speed measurements, opening up new perspectives in the field of biomechanics.

Improvement of a fully distributed decision making protocol for CRN

Este artículo presenta una propuesta de mejora del protocolo fully distributed decision making protocol for CRN con el fin de llevar a cabo la tarea de detección del espectro libre para las comunicaciones inalámbricas de una manera eficiente y segura.

Continuous Quality Improvement Snow Plow Accident Study Report, 1995

Identify processes to modify in order to reduce snow plow accidents. Reviewed all [Iowa] D.O.T. snow plow accidents that occurred in calendar years 1992 and 1993.

Collaborative quality improvement to manage pain in acute care hospitals.

Objective. Collaborative quality improvement programs have been successfully used to manage chronic diseases in adults and acute lung complications in premature infants. Their effectiveness to improve pain management in acute care hospitals is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a collaborative quality improvement program implemented at hospital level could improve pain management and overall pain relief. Design.To assess the effectiveness of the program, we performed a before-after trial comparing patient's self-reported pain management and experience before and after program implementation. We included all adult patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours and discharged either to their home or to a nursing facility, between March 1, 2001 and March 31, 2001 (before program implementation) and between September 15, 2005 and October 15, 2005 (after program implementation). Setting.A teaching hospital of 2,096 beds in Geneva, Switzerland. Patients.All adult patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours and discharged between 1 to 31 March 2001 (before program) and 15 September to 15 October 2005 (after program implementation). Interventions.Implementation of a collaborative quality improvement program using multifaceted interventions (staff education, opinion leaders, patient education, audit, and feedback) to improve pain management at hospital level. Outcome Measures.Patient-reported pain experience, pain management, and overall hospital experience based on the Picker Patient Experience questionnaire, perceived health (SF-36 Health survey). Results.After implementation of the program only 2.3% of the patients reported having no pain relief during their hospital stay (vs 4.5% in 2001, P = 0.05). Among nonsurgical patients, improvements were observed for pain assessment (42.3% vs 27.9% of the patients had pain intensity measured with a visual analog scale, P = 0.012), pain management (staff did everything they could to help in 78.9% vs 67.9% of cases P = 0.003), and pain relief (70.4% vs 57.3% of patients reported full pain relief P = 0.008). In surgical patients, pain assessment also improved (53.7.3% vs 37.6%) as well as pain treatment. More patients received treatments to relieve pain regularly or intermittently after program implementation (95.1% vs 91.9% P = 0.046). Conclusion.Implementation of a collaborative quality improvement program at hospital level improved both pain management and pain relief in patients. Further studies are needed to determine the overall cost-effectiveness of such programs.

Lipase Improvement: Goals and strategies

Lipases have received great attention as industrial biocatalysts in areas like oils and fats processing, detergents, baking, cheese making, surface cleaning, or fine chemistry . They can catalyse reactions of insoluble substrates at the lipid-water interface, preserving their catalytic activity in organic solvents. This makes of lipases powerful tools for catalysing not only hydrolysis, but also various reverse reactions such as esterification, transesterification, aminolysis, or thiotransesterifications in anhydrous organic solvents. Moreover, lipases catalyse reactions with high specificity, regio and enantioselectivity, becoming the most used enzymes in synthetic organic chemistry. Therefore, they display important advantages over classical catalysts, as they can catalyse reactions with reduced side products, lowered waste treatment costs, and under mild temperature and pressure conditions. Accordingly, the use of lipases holds a great promise for green and economical process chemistry.

Statewide Transportation Improvement Program 2016-2019: Sorted by MPO and RPA, 2015

Iowa’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) has been developed in conformance with the guidelines prescribed by 23 U.S.C. and 49 U.S.C. The STIP is generated to provide the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration a listing of all projects that are candidates for federal aid from the FHWA and FTA for the four federal fiscal years (FFY) 2016-2019. The 2016-2019 STIP was approved by FHWA and FTA on September 29, 2015. Preceding the listings of federal-aid candidates are general comments concerning Iowa’s public participation process for selection of federal-aid projects and the basis for funding the proposed projects. Documents evidencing the Iowa Department of Transportation’s authority to act concerning matters related to transportation, federal-aid expenditures, and approvals of metropolitan planning organizations’ (MPOs) transportation improvements programs (TIPs) have been provided in past STIPs and can be provided again upon request.

The Network Company in Catalonia : ICT, Productivity, Competitiveness, Salaries and Performance in Catalonia's Companies. Research report (synthesis document)

Resum en anglès del projecte de recerca L'empresa xarxa a Catalunya. TIC, productivitat, competitivitat, salaris i beneficis a l'empresa catalana té com a objectiu principal constatar que la consolidació d'un nou model estratègic, organitzatiu i d'activitat empresarial, vinculat amb la inversió i l'ús de les TIC (o empresa xarxa), modifica substancialment els patrons de comportament dels resultats empresarials, en especial la productivitat, la competitivitat, les retribucions dels treballadors i el benefici. La contrastació empírica de les hipòtesis de treball l'hem feta per mitjà de les dades d'una enquesta a una mostra representativa de 2.038 empreses catalanes. Amb la perspectiva de l'impacte de la inversió i l'ús de les TIC no s'aprecia una relació directa entre els processos d'innovació digital i els resultats de l'activitat de l'empresa catalana. En aquest sentit, hem hagut de segmentar el teixit productiu català per a buscar les organitzacions en què el procés de coinnovació tecnològica digital i organitzativa és més present i en què la intensitat de l'ús del coneixement és un recurs molt freqüent per a poder copsar impactes rellevants en els principals resultats empresarials. Això és així perquè l'economia catalana, avui, presenta una estructura productiva dual.

Improvement in gross motor performance between 3 and 5 years of age.

This study examined gross motor performance of 101 typically developing children between 3 and 5 years of age (48 boys, 53 girls, M age = 3.9 yr., SD = 0.5). All children performed 7 different gross motor tasks which were rated on a 5-point scale. Age and sex were assessed by an ordinal-logistic model, and odds ratios were calculated for each task using age and sex as covariates. For standing on one leg, walking on a beam, hopping on one leg, running, and taking stairs, statistically significant age differences were found, while for rising and jumping down, none were apparent. Mean motor performance did not differ between boys and girls on the tasks. The older the children were, the better they performed on the tasks.

2006 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board is authorized to request water quality improvement applications from soil and water conservation districts and local watershed improvement committees and award grants to these entities. These grants are issued from the Watershed Improvement Fund. During 2006, the Fund was allocated $5 million for state fiscal year 2007 for water quality improvements from the tobacco settlement trust fund. On September 20, 2006, the Board awarded grants to sixteen applicants. Total amount allocated to these projects was $4,915,066.

2007 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-governing body directed to improve the quality of water in the state. The Board is authorized to request water quality improvement applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, cities, public water supply utilities, and county conservation boards and award grants to these entities. These grants are issued from the Watershed Improvement Fund. In 2007, the Fund was allocated $5 million for state fiscal year 2008 for water quality improvements from the tobacco settlement trust fund. On September 24. 2007, the Board awarded grants to ten applicants. Total amount allocated to these projects is $2.656.842. A second Request for applications is under way and will close February 22, 2008.

2008 Calendar Year Report of the Watershed Improvement Reviw Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-governing body directed to improve the quality of water in the state. The Board is authorized to request water quality improvement applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, cities, public water supply utilities, and county conservation boards and award grants to these entities. These grants are issued from the Watershed Improvement Fund. In 2008, the Fund was allocated $5 million for state fiscal year 2009 for water quality improvements from the general fund. On February 22, 2008, the Board awarded grants from the SFY 2008 allocation from the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund to seven applicants. Total amount allocated to these projects is $2,115,694. A Request For Applications was issued Last spring for the SFY 2009 appropriations. On September 12, the Board awarded grants to nine applicants. Total amount allocated to these projects is $3,513,531. A second Request for Applications is underway for the SFY 2009 allocation and will close January 30, 2009.

2009 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-governing body directed to award grants for water quality improvement and flood prevention in the state. The Board is authorized to request applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, public water supply utilities, counties, county conservation boards and cities and award grants to these entities. These grants are issued from the Watershed Improvement Fund. Annual appropriations of $5 million plus interest earned on the Watershed Improvement Fund allowed the Board to issue two Request For Applications in 2009. On February 27, the Board awarded grants to seven applicants for a total of $2,366,861. On September 21, the Board awarded grants to thirteen applicants for a total of $5,120,832. In addition to providing environmental benefits, these implementation projects stimulate economic recovery and create jobs through the purchasing oflocal goods and services.

2010 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-governing body directed to award grants for water quality improvement and flood prevention in the state. The Board is authorized to request applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, public water supply utilities, counties, county conservation boards and cities and award grants to these entities. These grants are issued from the Watershed Improvement Fund. Annual appropriations plus interest earned on the Watershed Improvement Fund allowed the Board to issue three Request For Applications in 2010. On February 19, the Board awarded grants to five applicants for a total of $1,647,600. On July 23, the Board awarded grants to five applicants for a total of $796,500. Finally, on November 5, the Board awarded grants to eight applicants for a total of $1,203,500.

2011 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-governing body directed to award grants for water quality improvement and flood prevention in the state. The Board is authorized to request applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, public water supply utilities, counties, county conservation boards and cities and award grants to these entities. These grants are funded by the Watershed Improvement Fund. Although no appropriation was received in FY2012, returned funds from some prior years' grants plus interest earned on the Watershed Improvement Fund allowed the Board to issue one Request For Applications in 2011. On September 9, the Board awarded grants to eight applicants for a total of $1,506,309. In addition to providing environmental benefits, these implementation projects stimulate economic recovery, empower local groups to improve water quality and create jobs through the purchase oflocal goods and services.

2012 Calendar Year Annual Report of the Watershed Improvement Review Board

The Board, codified in Chapter 466A, is an independent, self-goveming body directed to award grants for water quality improvement and flood prevention in the state. The Board is authorized to request applications from soil and water conservation districts, local watershed improvement committees, public water supply utilities, counties, county conservation boards and cities and award grants to these entities. These grants are funded by the Watershed Improvement Fund. Annual appropriations, funds from the Animal Agriculture Compliance Fund Penalties, canyover funds plus interest earned on the Watershed Improvement Fund allowed the Board to issue a Request For Applications from June 15 to July 27,2012. On August 17, the Board awarded grants to twelve applicants for a total of $946,952. In addition to providing environmental benefits, these implementation projects stimulate economic recovery and create jobs through the purchasing of local goods and services. A second Request For Applications was open from October 9 to December 14, 2012. Applications from this request will be reviewed in February 2013.