Test protocol v1

Author(s):  
Monika Frolova
Keyword(s):  

test

Author(s):  
Christine Parrish ◽  
Carole Roth ◽  
Brooke Roberts ◽  
Gail Davie

Abstract Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is recognized as the signature injury of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet there remains limited understanding of the persisting cognitive deficits of mTBI sustained in combat. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have traditionally been responsible for evaluating and treating the cognitive-communication disorders following severe brain injuries. The evaluation instruments historically used are insensitive to the subtle deficits found in individuals with mTBI. Objectives: Based on the limited literature and clinical evidence describing traditional and current tests for measuring cognitive-communication deficits (CCD) of TBI, the strengths and weaknesses of the instruments are discussed relative to their use with mTBI. It is necessary to understand the nature and severity of CCD associated with mTBI for treatment planning and goal setting. Yet, the complexity of mTBI sustained in combat, which often co-occurs with PTSD and other psychological health and physiological issues, creates a clinical challenge for speech-language pathologists worldwide. The purpose of the paper is to explore methods for substantiating the nature and severity of CCD described by service members returning from combat. Methods: To better understand the nature of the functional cognitive-communication deficits described by service members returning from combat, a patient questionnaire and a test protocol were designed and administered to over 200 patients. Preliminary impressions are described addressing the nature of the deficits and the challenges faced in differentiating the etiologies of the CCD. Conclusions: Speech-language pathologists are challenged with evaluating, diagnosing, and treating the cognitive-communication deficits of mTBI resulting from combat-related injuries. Assessments that are sensitive to the functional deficits of mTBI are recommended. An interdisciplinary rehabilitation model is essential for differentially diagnosing the consequences of mTBI, PTSD, and other psychological and physical health concerns.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
E. Randolph Soo Hoo ◽  
Stephen L. Demeter

Abstract Referring agents may ask independent medical evaluators if the examinee can return to work in either a normal or a restricted capacity; similarly, employers may ask external parties to conduct this type of assessment before a hire or after an injury. Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) are used to measure agility and strength, but they have limitations and use technical jargon or concepts that can be confusing. This article clarifies key terms and concepts related to FCEs. The basic approach to a job analysis is to collect information about the job using a variety of methods, analyze the data, and summarize the data to determine specific factors required for the job. No single, optimal job analysis or validation method is applicable to every work situation or company, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offers technical standards for each type of validity study. FCEs are a systematic method of measuring an individual's ability to perform various activities, and results are matched to descriptions of specific work-related tasks. Results of physical abilities/agilities tests are reported as “matching” or “not matching” job demands or “pass” or “fail” meeting job criteria. Individuals who fail an employment physical agility test often challenge the results on the basis that the test was poorly conducted, that the test protocol was not reflective of the job, or that levels for successful completion were inappropriate.


REVISTA FIMCA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Amanda Leite Silva Cabral ◽  
Flávia Peres Lima ◽  
Jéssica Iara Costa Bessa Paraguassú

Introdução: A afasia é uma das sequelas mais importantes que ocorrem após lesão cerebral de acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). Objetivos: Identificar o perfil da linguagem oral de pacientes com AVE, atendidos pelo Serviço Assistencial Multidisciplinar Domiciliar (SAMD) na cidade de Porto Velho – RO. Materiais e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal e quantitativo, realizado na residência dos pacientes que estavam sendo atendidos pelo SAMD. Onde foi utilizado o protocolo de Teste de Reabilitação das Afasias composto inicialmente de um questionário que foi aplicados com os familiares dos pacientes para coletar dados quanto ao AVE e os Testes de Comunicação Oral para avaliar dos pacientes. Resultados: Foram avaliados 11 sujeitos com AVE e oito sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca (100%) com presença de agramatismo e anomia (87,5%), e déficit na organização da comunicação e na memória (100%). Referente à etiologia do AVE, verificou-se que 62,5% dos sujeitos apresentaram etiologia decorrente de hipertensão, com tempo de sequelas com tempo entre um ano menos e a três anos (37,5%). Todos os sujeitos (100%) eram muito falantes antes do AVE, porem 50% continuaram muito falantes após o AVE e os outros 50% se tornaram pouco falantes. Conclusão: Os resultados evidenciam que a maioria dos sujeitos apresentaram afasia emissiva do tipo Broca, em decorrência de Acidente Vascular Encefálico Isquêmico tendo como fator etiológico a hipertensão. Desencadeando alterações de linguagem como anomia e agramatismo, afetando ainda suas habilidades de comunicação como a memória e a organização da linguagem. Introduction: Aphasia is one of the most important sequels that occur after brain injury from stroke. Objectives: To identify the oral language profile of patients with stroke, assisted by the Multidisciplinary Home Care Service (SAMD) in the city of Porto Velho - RO. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out at the residence of the patients who were being treated by the SAMD. Where the Aphasia Rehabilitation Test protocol was used, composed initially of a questionnaire that was applied with the relatives of the patients to collect data regarding the AVE and the Oral Communication Tests to evaluate the patients. Results: Eleven subjects with EVA were evaluated, and eight subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of Broca type (100%) with presence of agramatism and anomia (87.5%), and deficits in the organization of communication and memory (100%). Regarding the etiology of the AVE, 62.5% of the subjects presented etiology due to hypertension, with sequelae time between one year less and three years (37.5%). All subjects (100%) were very talented before the AVE, but 50% remained very talented after the AVE and the other 50% became less talkative. Conclusion: The results show that most of the subjects presented Embryonic Emphasis of the Broca type, due to Ischemic Stroke, having as etiologic factor hypertension. Unleashing language changes such as anomie and agramatism, still affecting his communication skills as memory and the organization of language.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-475
Author(s):  
T. Turtiainen

Radon is one of the contaminants that sometimes impair the water quality of wells, especially those drilled in bedrock. Domestic radon removal units based on aeration have been commercially available for more than ten years. In order to determine how effectively these units remove radon a new test protocol applying frequent sampling while letting 100 litres of water flow, was developed. This way, removal efficiencies can be more accurately calculated and possible malfunctions detected. Seven models of domestic aerators designed for removing radon from household water were tested. The aerators were based on diffused bubble aeration, spray aeration or jet aeration. The average removal efficiencies for 100 litres with a medium flow rate were 86–100% except for a unit that circulated the aerated water back to the well that had removal efficiency of 80% at the maximum. By conducting a questionnaire study usual problems related to the aeration units were localized and recommendations on maintenance and installation are given accordingly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8164
Author(s):  
Brian E. Bautista ◽  
Lessandro E. O. Garciano ◽  
Luis F. Lopez

There are limited published studies related to the mechanical properties of bamboo species in the Philippines. In this study, the shear strength properties of some economically viable bamboo species in the Philippines were properly characterized based on 220 shear test results. The rationales of selecting this mechanical property are the following: (1) Shear strength, parallel to the fiber, has the highest variability among the mechanical properties; and (2) Shear is one of the governing forces on joint connections, and such connections are the points of failure on bamboo structures when subjected to extreme loading conditions. ISO 22157-1 (2017) test protocol for shear was used for all tests. The results showed that Bambusa blumeana has the highest average shear strength, followed by Gigantochloa apus, Dendrocalamus asper, Bambusa philippinensis, and Bambusa vulgaris. However, comparative analysis, using One-way ANOVA, showed that shear strength values among these bamboo species have significant differences statistically. A linear regression model is also established to estimate the shear strength of bamboo from the physical properties. Characteristic shear strength is also determined using ISO 12122-1 (2014) for future design reference.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 525-535
Author(s):  
Claude M Lebreton ◽  
Peter M Visscher

AbstractSeveral nonparametric bootstrap methods are tested to obtain better confidence intervals for the quantitative trait loci (QTL) positions, i.e., with minimal width and unbiased coverage probability. Two selective resampling schemes are proposed as a means of conditioning the bootstrap on the number of genetic factors in our model inferred from the original data. The selection is based on criteria related to the estimated number of genetic factors, and only the retained bootstrapped samples will contribute a value to the empirically estimated distribution of the QTL position estimate. These schemes are compared with a nonselective scheme across a range of simple configurations of one QTL on a one-chromosome genome. In particular, the effect of the chromosome length and the relative position of the QTL are examined for a given experimental power, which determines the confidence interval size. With the test protocol used, it appears that the selective resampling schemes are either unbiased or least biased when the QTL is situated near the middle of the chromosome. When the QTL is closer to one end, the likelihood curve of its position along the chromosome becomes truncated, and the nonselective scheme then performs better inasmuch as the percentage of estimated confidence intervals that actually contain the real QTL's position is closer to expectation. The nonselective method, however, produces larger confidence intervals. Hence, we advocate use of the selective methods, regardless of the QTL position along the chromosome (to reduce confidence interval sizes), but we leave the problem open as to how the method should be altered to take into account the bias of the original estimate of the QTL's position.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 686
Author(s):  
Amr Aboulela ◽  
Matthieu Peyre Lavigne ◽  
Amaury Buvignier ◽  
Marlène Fourré ◽  
Maud Schiettekatte ◽  
...  

The biodeterioration of cementitious materials in sewer networks has become a major economic, ecological, and public health issue. Establishing a suitable standardized test is essential if sustainable construction materials are to be developed and qualified for sewerage environments. Since purely chemical tests are proven to not be representative of the actual deterioration phenomena in real sewer conditions, a biological test–named the Biogenic Acid Concrete (BAC) test–was developed at the University of Toulouse to reproduce the biological reactions involved in the process of concrete biodeterioration in sewers. The test consists in trickling a solution containing a safe reduced sulfur source onto the surface of cementitious substrates previously covered with a high diversity microbial consortium. In these conditions, a sulfur-oxidizing metabolism naturally develops in the biofilm and leads to the production of biogenic sulfuric acid on the surface of the material. The representativeness of the test in terms of deterioration mechanisms has been validated in previous studies. A wide range of cementitious materials have been exposed to the biodeterioration test during half a decade. On the basis of this large database and the expertise gained, the purpose of this paper is (i) to propose a simple and robust performance criterion for the test (standardized leached calcium as a function of sulfate produced by the biofilm), and (ii) to demonstrate the repeatability, reproducibility, and discriminability of the test method. In only a 3-month period, the test was able to highlight the differences in the performances of common cement-based materials (CEM I, CEM III, and CEM V) and special calcium aluminate cement (CAC) binders with different nature of aggregates (natural silica and synthetic calcium aluminate). The proposed performance indicator (relative standardized leached calcium) allowed the materials to be classified according to their resistance to biogenic acid attack in sewer conditions. The repeatability of the test was confirmed using three different specimens of the same material within the same experiment and the reproducibility of the results was demonstrated by standardizing the results using a reference material from 5 different test campaigns. Furthermore, developing post-testing processing and calculation methods constituted a first step toward a standardized test protocol.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1198
Author(s):  
Victor N. Dorogovtsev ◽  
Dmitry S. Yankevich ◽  
Nandu Goswami

The objective of our study was to identify blood pressure (BP) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) changes during orthostatic loading, using a new the head-up tilt test (HUTT), which incorporates the usage of a standardized hydrostatic column height. Methods: 40 healthy subjects 20–32 years performed HUTT, which was standardized to a height of the hydrostatic column at 133 cm. Exposure time was 10 min in each of 3 positions: horizontal supine 1, HUTT, and horizontal supine 2. The individual tilt up angle made it possible to set the standard value of the hydrostatic column. Hemodynamic parameters were recorded beat to beat using “Task Force Monitor 3040 i”, pulse-wave velocity (PWV) was measured with a sphygmograph–sphygmomanometer VaSera VS1500N. Results: Orthostatic loading caused a significant increase in heart rate (HR) and a decrease in stroke volume (SV) (p < 0.05) but no significant reductions in cardiac output, changes in total vascular resistance (TVR), or BP. An analysis of personalized data on systolic blood pressure (SBP) changes in tilt up position as compared to horizontal position (ΔSBP) revealed non-significant changes in this index in 48% of subjects (orthostatic normotension group), in 32% there was a significant decrease in it (orthostatic hypotension group) and in 20% there was a significant increase in it (orthostatic hypertension group). These orthostatic changes were not accompanied by any clinical symptoms and/or syncope. During HUTT, all subjects had in the PWV a significant increase of approximately 27% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The new test protocol involving HUTT standardized to a height of hydrostatic column at 133 cm causes typical hemodynamics responses during orthostatic loading. Individual analysis of the subjects revealed subclinical orthostatic disorders (OSD) in up to 52% of the test persons. During HUTT, all test subjects showed a significant increase in PWV. The new innovative HUTT protocol can be applied in multi-center studies in healthy subjects to detect preclinical forms of orthostatic disorders under standard gravity load conditions.


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