ENAMA “Certification” of the inspection workshop activity: the necessary requirements

In European Directive 128/2009/EC it is stated that “each Member State shall establish certificate systems designed to allow the verification of sprayers inspections”, but no further indications are provided on how to make such certifications. In Italy the ENAMA (National Board for Agricultural Mechanization) working group – established to co-ordinate the sprayers inspection activities at national level – has prepared a specific document containing the guidelines on how to get, on a voluntary basis, an ENAMA certification which attests the conformity of test equipment and of test procedures adopted in the inspection workshops. In this document directions are reported on how to assess the conformity of the inspection workshops to a set of listed requirements, referred either to other ENAMA documents, or to the National Action Plan, or to ISO/IEC 17020.The ENAMA certification of conformity therefore represents an added value for the sprayers inspection and calibrations Workshops as it ensures, through periodical inspections, that workshops apply the correct administrative (e.g. management of data and record of test reports) and technical procedures in their inspection activity and that they use appropriate test equipment and instruments. In this paper the requirements needed to get and to maintain over time the ENAMA certification of conformity are described

A proposal for an EU (SPISE) database of the licensed sprayers inspectors and inspection centres

In order to guarantee at European level the easy identification of sprayers inspected and to allow mutual recognition of inspections as recommended by the European Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides (128/2009/EC) it would be necessary to create a SPISE database enabling to collect the list of the technicians authorized to make inspections of sprayers in use and of the licensed inspection centers. This database should be managed at SPISE level and should be linked to the national databases for getting regular updates.Actually in Italy there is a public national online database (www.centriprovairroratrici.unito.it) that was realized by the ENAMA working group. Only the sprayers inspected by the test stations listed in this database are recognized all over the country.This national database contains also the results of all the inspections made in the different Italian Regions and therefore provides a support for monitoring the inspection activity at national level. Independently of the software used at local level for managing data of sprayer inspections, some key information have to be necessarily provided in order to identify the sprayer inspected.They are the coordinates of the test station, the name of the technician who inspected the sprayer, the name of the owner of the sprayer, the data of the machine inspected, the date of the inspection and its response

The necessity of a harmonized procedure for sprayers inspectors training: the Italian activity

European Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides requires that the people making inspections of sprayers in use have an official license, recognized at national level, released by the competent Authority. In Italy, Authorities responsible of training and upgrading of sprayers inspectors are Regional and Provincial administrations. They make this job in collaboration with research institutes that provide qualified teachers.With the aim to homogenize in the whole country the activity of training and licensing of sprayers inspectors the rules for training courses and the criteria for releasing licenses have been defined by ENAMA. Training courses shall have a duration of at least 40 hours subdivided between theory (60% of total time) and practical (40% of total time).Topics treated during courses are: criteria to apply pesticides, main sprayer types used in agriculture and relative components, test methods and equipment used to carry out the inspections of sprayers in use and to adjust them. The exam to get the inspector license shall consist in: a) filling of a questionnaire with multiple answers (at least 80% of answers have to be correct); the questions are selected among a database approved by ENAMA Working Group; b) oral test; c) practical exam consisting in the complete inspection of one sprayer.In order to guarantee the same quality level of sprayers inspections in the different European countries and to guarantee the mutual recognition of inspections made it is considered necessary to reach in short terms an agreement to harmonize the activity of training, licensing and upgrading of sprayers inspectors across Europe

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Novel Brain and Vestibular Rehabilitation Treatment Modality in PTSD Patients Who have Suffered Combat-Related Traumatic Brain Injuries

Introduction: Blast-related head injuries are among the most prevalent injuries suffered by military personnel deployed in combat and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or concussion on the battlefield in Iraq/Afghanistan has resulted in its designation as a “signature injury.” Vestibular complaints are the most frequent sequelae of mTBI, and vestibular rehabilitation (VR) has been established as the most important treatment modality for this group of patients. Materials and Methods: We studied the effectiveness of a novel brain and VR treatment post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in subjects who had suffered combat-related traumatic brain injuries in terms of PTSD symptom reduction. The trial was registered as ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02003352. (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02003352?term=carrick&rank=6). We analyzed the difference in the Clinician Administered DSM-IV PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores pre- and post-treatment using our subjects as their own matched controls. The study population consisted of 98 combat veterans maintaining an alpha of <0.05 and power of 80%. Results: Prior to treatment, 75 subjects representing 76.53 % of the sample were classified in the 2 most severe categories of PTSD. Forty-one subjects, representing 41.80 % of the total sample, were classified in the extreme category of PTSD and 34 subjects, representing 34.70 % of the total sample, were classified in the severe category of PTSD. After treatment, we observed a large reduction in CAPS severity scores with both statistical and substantive significance. Discussion: Treatment of PTSD as a physical injury rather than a psychiatric disorder is associated with strong statistical and substantive significant outcomes associated with a decrease of PTSD classification. The stigma associated with neuropsychiatric disorders may be lessened when PTSD is treated with brain and VR with a potential decrease in suffering of patients, family, and society

Brain Vital Signs in Elite Ice Hockey: Towards Characterizing Objective and Specific Neurophysiological Reference Values for Concussion Management.

Background: Prior concussion studies have shown that objective neurophysiological measures are sensitive to detecting concussive and subconcussive impairments in youth ice-hockey. These studies monitored brain vital signs at rink-side using a within-subjects design to demonstrate significant changes from pre-season baseline scans. However, practical clinical implementation must overcome inherent challenges related to any dependence on a baseline. This requires establishing the start of normative reference data sets. Methods: The current study collected specific reference data for N = 58 elite, youth, male ice-hockey players and compared these with a general reference dataset from N = 135 of males and females across the lifespan. The elite hockey players were recruited to a select training camp through CAA Hockey, a management agency for players drafted to leagues such as the National Hockey League (NHL). The statistical analysis included a test-retest comparison to establish reliability, and a multivariate analysis of covariance to evaluate differences in brain vital signs between groups with age as a covariate. Findings: Test-retest assessments for brain vital signs evoked potentials showed moderate-to-good reliability (Cronbach's Alpha > 0.7, Intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.5) in five out of six measures. The multivariate analysis of covariance showed no overall effect for group (p = 0.105), and a significant effect of age as a covariate was observed (p < 0.001). Adjusting for the effect of age, a significant difference was observed in the measure of N100 latency (p = 0.022) between elite hockey players and the heterogeneous control group. Interpretation: The findings support the concept that normative physiological data can be used in brain vital signs evaluation in athletes, and should additionally be stratified for age, skill level, and experience. These can be combined with general norms and/or individual baseline assessments where appropriate and/or possible. The current results allow for brain vital sign evaluation independent of baseline assessment, therefore enabling objective neurophysiological evaluation of concussion management and cognitive performance optimization in ice-hockey

The Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder With Auditory Neurofeedback: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial Using the Mente Autism Device

Introduction: Children affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have impairment of social interaction and demonstrate difficulty with emotional communication, display of posture and facial expression, with recognized relationships between postural control mechanisms and cognitive functions. Beside standard biomedical interventions and psychopharmacological treatments, there is increasing interest in the use of alternative non-invasive treatments such as neurofeedback (NFB) that could potentially modulate brain activity resulting in behavioral modification.Methods: Eighty-three ASD subjects were randomized to an Active group receiving NFB using the Mente device and a Control group using a Sham device. Both groups used the device each morning for 45 minutes over a 12 week home based trial without any other clinical interventions. Pre and Post standard ASD questionnaires, qEEG and posturography were used to measure the effectiveness of the treatment.Results: Thirty-four subjects (17 Active and 17 Control) completed the study. Statistically and substantively significant changes were found in several outcome measures for subjects that received the treatment. Similar changes were not detected in the Control group.Conclusions: Our results show that a short 12 week course of NFB using the Mente Autism device can lead to significant changes in brain activity (qEEG), sensorimotor behavior (posturography), and behavior (standardized questionnaires) in ASD children

Analysis of ground reaction force and electromyographic activity of the gastrocnemius muscle during double support

O documento em anexo encontra-se na versão post-print (versão corrigida pelo editor).Purpose: Mechanisms associated with energy expenditure during gait have been extensively researched and studied. According to the double-inverted pendulum model energy expenditure is higher during double support, as lower limbs need to work to redirect the centre of mass velocity. This study looks into how the ground reaction force (GRF) of one limb affects the muscle activity required by the medial gastrocnemius (MG) of the contralateral limb during step-to-step transition. Methods: Thirty-five subjects were monitored as to the MG electromyographic activity (EMGa) of one limb and the GRF of the contralateral limb during double support. Results: After determination of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), a moderate correlation was observed between the MG EMGa of the dominant leg and the vertical (Fz) and anteroposterior (Fy) components of GRF of the non-dominant leg (r=0.797, p<0.0001; r=-0.807, p<0.0001) and a weak and moderate correlation was observed between the MG EMGa of the non-dominant leg and the Fz and Fy of the dominant leg, respectively (r=0.442, p=0.018; r=-0.684 p<0.0001). Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that during double support, GRF is associated with the EMGa of the contralateral MG and that there is an increased dependence between the GRF of the non-dominant leg and the EMGa of the dominant MG

Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment

The calibration and performance of the oppositeside flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment are described. The algorithms have been developed using simulated events and optimized and calibrated with B + →J/ψK +, B0 →J/ψK ∗0 and B0 →D ∗− μ + νμ decay modes with 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside tagging power is determined in the B + → J/ψK + channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)

The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08 ^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/- 0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be (3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

Search for CP violation in D+→K−K+π+D^{+} \to K^{-}K^{+}\pi^{+} decays

A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed decay $D^+ \to K^- K^+\pi^+$ in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb$^{-1}$. The normalized Dalitz plot distributions for $D^+$ and $D^-$ are compared using four different binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation. No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.