COMPETITION AMONG HOSPITALS AND ITS MEASUREMENT: THEORY AND A CASE STUDY

Our paper provides several insights on the characteristics of the concept of “Poles d’Excellence Rurale” (PER) through bilateral comparisons with that of Competitive Pole (CP) and cluster. The concept of PER is a French government’ initiative designed for the development of rural areas similar to that of the Competitive Pole. We emphasize important particularities of these concepts by analyzing some of their similarities and major differences.Pole d’Excellence Rurale, Competitive Pole, cluster, rural development

Feiras livres como alternativa de comercialização de produtos da agrofloresta.

Com a busca por alternativas comerciais socialmente justas como maneira de otimizar a comercialização de produtos provenientes de agricultura familiar, destaca se a venda direta através de feiras, livres, que permite acesso direto ao consumidor sem necessidade de intermediadores. O Grupo de Produtores Agroflorestais Gralha Azul, de Morretes-PR, iniciou plantios de agroflorestas agroecológicas em 2009, sendo formado, atualmente, por 12 famílias de agricultores. Há um ano, o Gralha Azul iniciou sua participação na Matinfeira, feira semanal de produtos da agricultura familiar em Matinhos, PR. Com o objetivo de caracterização dos produtos, produtores e do processo de comercialização, foram acompanhados e sistematizados em planilha a comercialização destes produtos em 22 feiras semanais, entre maio e dezembro de 2012. Onze produtores participaram da Matinfeira, comercializando entre 13 e 29 variedades de alimentos, e proporcionando uma renda que variou de R$101,00 a R$ 386,50, por semana. Mensalmente, as feiras permitiram uma receita bruta de R$ 141,17 por produtor familiar agroflorestal. Apesar desse baixo valor, há que se considerar que o mesmo reflete os primeiros seis meses de atuação do Grupo no processo de comercialização na feira (Matinfeira). A venda direta através desta feira livre mostra potencial como alternativa comercial socialmente justa para os produtores em transição agroecológica do Grupo Gralha Azul

Comparative chromosome painting discloses homologous Segments in distantly related mammals

Comparative chromosome painting, termed ZOO-FISH, using DNA libraries from flow sorted human chromosomes 1,16,17 and X, and mouse chromosome 11 discloses the presence of syntenic groups in distantly related mammalian Orders ranging from primates (Homo sapiens), rodents (Mus musculus), even-toed ungulates (Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis and Muntiacus reevesi) and whales (Balaenoptera physalus). These mammalian Orders have evolved separately for 55-80 million years (Myr). We conclude that ZOO-FISH can be used to generate comparative chromosome maps of a large number of mammalian species

The Noise Exposure Structured Interview (NESI): an instrument for the comprehensive estimation of lifetime noise exposure

Lifetime noise exposure is generally quantified by self report. The accuracy of retrospective self report is limited by respondent recall, but is also bound to be influenced by reporting procedures. Such procedures are of variable quality in current measures of lifetime noise exposure, and off-the-shelf instruments are not readily available. The Noise Exposure Structured Interview (NESI) represents an attempt to draw together some of the stronger elements of existing procedures and to provide solutions to their outstanding limitations. Reporting is not restricted to pre-specified exposure activities, and instead encompasses all activities that the respondent has experienced as noisy (defined based on sound level estimated from vocal effort). Changing exposure habits over time are reported by dividing the lifespan into discrete periods in which exposure habits were approximately stable, with life milestones used to aid recall. Exposure duration, sound level, and use of hearing protection are reported for each life period separately. Simple-to-follow methods are provided for the estimation of free-field sound level, the sound level emitted by personal listening devices, and the attenuation provided by hearing protective equipment. An energy-based means of combining the resulting data is supplied, along with a primarily energy-based method for incorporating firearm-noise exposure. Finally, the NESI acknowledges the need of some users to tailor the procedures; this flexibility is afforded and reasonable modifications are described. Competency needs of new users are addressed through detailed interview instructions (including troubleshooting tips) and a demonstration video. Limited evaluation data are available and future efforts at evaluation are proposed

HALOGEN-FREE FLAME-RETARDANT POWDER MATERIALS FOR LASER SINTERING: EVALUATION AND PROCESS STABILITY ANALYSIS

The high flammability of components manufactured by laser-based powder bed fusion of plastics (PBF-LB/P) using standard polyamide 12 (PA12) powder still severely restricts their use in industries such as electronics, aviation, and transportation. A key factor for the further establishment of PBF-LB/P is the expansion of the material portfolio with, for example, refreshable and halogen-free flame-retardant (FR) powder materials. Accordingly, various halogen-free FRs are investigated in this work and evaluated with respect to their use in PBF-LB/P. First, their decomposition behavior and mode of action are examined. Subsequently, the additives are dry blended with PA12 to investigate properties relevant for PBF-LB/P, such as particle morphology, thermal behavior, and melt viscosity. Afterwards, test specimens for UL94 vertical flame-retardancy tests are produced by processing the dry blends on an EOS P3 PBF-LB/P system. Finally, the process stability of the process-aged powder blends is investigated by again examining thermal behavior and melt viscosity.Mechanical Engineerin

Assessing the Impact of the Powder Production Method on Ceramic-filled Polyamide Composites made by Laser Sintering

Polymer composites represent the industry standard in injection molding for the production of plastic components with increased requirements in terms of heat resistance and stiffness. In the field of laser sintering (LS), these materials are less common so far. In order to extend the available material variety for the LS process, new ceramic-filled Polyamide 613 powders are investigated within the scope of this work. Here, the resulting properties from two different powder production methods are compared. One filled powder is produced by dry blending and the other powder with the same filler and filling ratio is produced by encapsulating the filler particles inside the polymer particles within the dissolution-precipitation process. It was found that encapsulating the filler particles can provide certain benefits for the processability, for example an improved powder flowability or better filler dispersion. However, encapsulating the filler also alters the thermal properties of the precipitated powder.Mechanical Engineerin

Monte Carlo study of the effects of system geometry and antiscatter grids on cone-beam CT scatter distributions

Purpose: The proliferation of cone-beam CT (CBCT) has created interest in performance optimization,with x-ray scatter identifie among the main limitations to image quality. CBCT often contends with elevated scatter, but the wide variety of imaging geometry in different CBCT configuration suggests that not all configuration are affected to the same extent. Graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are employed over a range of imaging geometries to elucidate the factors governing scatter characteristics, effica y of antiscatter grids, guide system design, and augment development of scatter correction. Methods: A MC x-ray simulator implemented on GPU was accelerated by inclusion of variance reduction techniques (interaction splitting, forced scattering, and forced detection) and extended to include x-ray spectra and analytical models of antiscatter grids and flat-pane detectors. The simulator was applied to small animal (SA), musculoskeletal (MSK) extremity, otolaryngology (Head), breast, interventional C-arm, and on-board (kilovoltage) linear accelerator (Linac) imaging, with an axis-todetector distance (ADD) of 5, 12, 22, 32, 60, and 50 cm, respectively. Each configuratio was modeled with and without an antiscatter grid and with (i) an elliptical cylinder varying 70–280 mm in major axis; and (ii) digital murine and anthropomorphic models. The effects of scatter were evaluated in terms of the angular distribution of scatter incident upon the detector, scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR), artifact magnitude, contrast, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and visual assessment. Results: Variance reduction yielded improvements in MC simulation efficien y ranging from ∼17-fold (for SA CBCT) to ∼35-fold (for Head and C-arm), with the most significan acceleration due to interaction splitting (∼6 to ∼10-fold increase in efficien y). The benefi of a more extended geometry was evident by virtue of a larger air gap—e.g., for a 16 cm diameter object, the SPR reduced from 1.5 for ADD = 12 cm (MSK geometry) to 1.1 for ADD = 22 cm (Head) and to 0.5 for ADD = 60 cm (C-arm). Grid efficien y was higher for configuration with shorter air gap due to a broader angular distribution of scattered photons—e.g., scatter rejection factor ∼0.8 for MSK geometry versus ∼0.65 for C-arm. Grids reduced cupping for all configuration but had limited improvement on scatterinduced streaks and resulted in a loss of CNR for the SA, Breast, and C-arm. Relative contribution of forward-directed scatter increased with a grid (e.g., Rayleigh scatter fraction increasing from ∼0.15 without a grid to ∼0.25 with a grid for the MSK configuration) resulting in scatter distributions with greater spatial variation (the form of which depended on grid orientation). Conclusions: A fast MC simulator combining GPU acceleration with variance reduction provided a systematic examination of a range of CBCT configuration in relation to scatter, highlighting the magnitude and spatial uniformity of individual scatter components, illustrating tradeoffs in CNR and artifacts and identifying the system geometries for which grids are more beneficia (e.g., MSK) from those in which an extended geometry is the better defense (e.g., C-arm head imaging). Compact geometries with an antiscatter grid challenge assumptions of slowly varying scatter distributions due to increased contribution of Rayleigh scatter.The research was supported by academic-industry partnership with Carestream Health Inc. (Rochester, NY) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant No. 2R01-CA-112163. A. Sisniega is supported by FPU grant (Spanish Ministry of Education), AMIT project, RECAVA-RETIC Network, Project Nos. TEC2010-21619- C04-01, TEC2011-28972-C02-01, and PI11/00616 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Education), ARTEMIS program (Comunidad de Madrid), and PreDiCT-TB partnership.Publicad

Comparative fish impingement at two adjacent water intakes on the mid-Columbia River

Fish impingement on the mid-Columbia River is a concern only from April through June, and is limited to a few species. A comparison of fish impingement was made from May through June 1977 at two water intake facilities located 276 m (900 ft) apart on the Columbia River at River Mile 380. The intakes each have a capacity of over 25 m/sup 3//s (891 cfs), are similarly designed, and have comparable water intake velocities. Collections from traveling screens at 100-N intake yielded 89 dead chinook salmon fry. During the same period 766 chinook salmon fry were collected at the Hanford Generating Project (HGP). These data represent an estimated impingement of 2695 chinook salmon fry, 97% of which survived. Impingement for other fish species was similar at both intakes, except that HGP impinged twice as many yellow perch fry as 100-N (2642 versus 1296). Several hypotheses are offered to explain the differences in impingement between intakes. These include subtle differences in forebay configuration, curtain wall location, and possible differences in fish behavioral responses to the intake facilities