1,373 research outputs found
City of College Station's Thermographic Mobile Scan
During the first quarter of 1986, the City of
College Station conducted a thermographic mobile
scan of the entire city. A thermographic mobile
scan is a process by which heat loss/heat gain data
is accumulated by a vehicle traveling the city with
thermographic equipment mounted on it. College
Station residents were given the opportunity to
view a thermogram of their home which showed where
heat is escaping in the winter and gained in the
summer. A computer run of this data was provided
to the citizen with recommendations and exact paybacks
on various energy conservation improvements
Recommended from our members
Acupressure to Reduce Treatment-Related Symptoms for Children With Cancer and Recipients of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
BackgroundWe describe the study design and protocol of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) Acupressure for Children in Treatment for a Childhood Cancer (ACT-CC).ObjectiveTo describe the feasibility and effectiveness of an acupressure intervention to decrease treatment-related symptoms in children in treatment for cancer or recipients of a chemotherapy-based hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).DesignTwo-armed RCTs with enrollment of 5 to 30 study days.SettingTwo pediatric teaching hospitals.PatientsEighty-five children receiving cancer treatment or a chemotherapy-based HSCT each with 1 parent or caregiver.InterventionPatients are randomized 1:1 to receive either usual care plus daily professional acupressure and caregiver delivered acupressure versus usual care alone for symptom management. Participants receive up to 20 professional treatments.Main outcomeA composite nausea/vomiting measure for the child.Secondary outcomesChild's nausea, vomiting, pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and positive affect.Parent outcomesDepression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, caregiver self-efficacy, and positive affect. Feasibility of delivering the semistandardized intervention will be described. Linear mixed models will be used to compare outcomes between arms in children and parents, allowing for variability in diagnosis, treatment, and age.DiscussionTrial results could help childhood cancer and HSCT treatment centers decide about the regular inclusion of trained acupressure providers to support symptom management
Brief Measure for Screening Complicated Grief: Reliability and Discriminant Validity
BACKGROUND: Complicated grief, which is often under-recognized and under-treated, can lead to substantial impairment in functioning. The Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) is a 5-item self-report or interview instrument for screening complicated grief. Although investigations with help-seeking samples suggest that the BGQ is valid and reliable, it has not been validated in a broader population. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A questionnaire was mailed to a randomly selected sample (n = 5000) residing in one of 4 areas of Japan. The BCQ was examined for responders who were bereaved more than 6 months and less than 10 years (n = 915). Non-specific psychological distress was assessed with the K6 screening scale. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis supported a uni-dimensional factor structure and the invariance of parameters across gender and age. Cronbach's alpha was sufficiently high (alpha = .75) to confirm internal consistency. Average Variance Extracted (0.39) was higher than the shared covariance (0.14) between BGQ and K6, suggesting discriminant validity. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the reliability and validity of the BGQ in the Japanese population. Future studies should examine predictive validity by using structured interviews or more detailed scales for complicated grief
Einstein equations in the null quasi-spherical gauge
The structure of the full Einstein equations in a coordinate gauge based on
expanding null hypersurfaces foliated by metric 2-spheres is explored. The
simple form of the resulting equations has many applications -- in the present
paper we describe the structure of timelike boundary conditions; the matching
problem across null hypersurfaces; and the propagation of gravitational shocks.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX (revtex, amssymb), revision 18 pages, contains
expanded discussion and explanations, updated references, to appear in CQ
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