Generic approach for deriving reliability and maintenance requirements through consideration of in-context customer objectives

Not all implementations of reliability are equally effective at providing customer and user benefit. Random system failure with no prior warning or failure accommodation will have an immediate, usually adverse impact on operation. Nevertheless, this approach to reliability, implicit in measurements such as ‘failure rate’ and ‘MTBF’, is widely assumed without consideration of potential benefits of pro-active maintenance. Similarly, it is easy to assume that improved maintainability is always a good thing. However, maintainability is only one option available to reduce cost of ownership and reduce the impact of failure. This paper discusses a process for deriving optimised reliability and maintenance requirements through consideration of in-context customer objectives rather than a product in isolation

Phenotype X Herbage Allowance Interactions in Reproduction of First Calf Heifers Grazing Semiarid Rangeland

Cattle are differentially adapted to nutritional environments. The most sensitive measure of adaptation is reproduction of first-calf heifers. We studied the role of maturation rate and milk production on reproductive performance of first-calf heifers allowed different levels of herbage in semiarid rangeland

Utilizing Forages to Program Steer Growth Patterns to Achieve Consistent Quality Beef

Many options are available for programming stocker cattle growth patterns through forage selection. In semi-arid south Texas rapid growth rates can be achieved by grazing irrigated small grains (oats, wheat and ryegrass) and slow growth rates are possible grazing native range pastures. Ryegrass (RG) nutrient quality indicates potential gains greater than 1.0 kg/d for steers, while typical winter native range (NR) pasture indicates gains of 0.45 kg/d or less. The purpose of this experiment was to quantify the impact of different programmed growth patterns on beef retail product especially size, marbling and tenderness

Can a supported self-management program for COPD upon hospital discharge reduce readmissions? A randomized controlled trial

Introduction: Patients with COPD experience exacerbations that may require hospitalization. Patients do not always feel supported upon discharge and frequently get readmitted. A Self-management Program of Activity, Coping, and Education for COPD (SPACE for COPD), a brief self-management program, may help address this issue. Objective: To investigate if SPACE for COPD employed upon hospital discharge would reduce readmission rates at 3 months, compared with usual care. Methods: This is a prospective, single-blinded, two-center trial (ISRCTN84599369) with participants admitted for an exacerbation, randomized to usual care or SPACE for COPD. Measures, including health-related quality of life and exercise capacity, were taken at baseline (hospital discharge) and at 3 months. The primary outcome measure was respiratory readmission at 3 months. Results: Seventy-eight patients were recruited (n=39 to both groups). No differences were found in readmission rates or mortality at 3 months between the groups. Ten control patients were readmitted within 30 days compared to five patients in the intervention group (P>0.05). Both groups significantly improved their exercise tolerance and Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ-SR) results, with between-group differences approaching statistical significance for CRQ-dyspnea and CRQ-emotion, in favor of the intervention. The “Ready for Home” survey revealed that patients receiving the intervention reported feeling better able to arrange their life to cope with COPD, knew when to seek help about feeling unwell, and more often took their medications as prescribed, compared to usual care (P<0.05). Conclusion: SPACE for COPD did not reduce readmission rates at 3 months above that of usual care. However, encouraging results were seen in secondary outcomes for those receiving the intervention. Importantly, SPACE for COPD appears to be safe and may help prevent readmission with 30 days

Carcass Trait Effects from Environment, Growth Rate on Pasture, and Breedtypes

Last updated: 6/12/200

Spelling dyslexia:a defict of the visual word form

A patient with spelling dyslexia read both words and text accurately but slowly and laboriously letter by letter. Her performance on a test of lexical decision was slow. She had great difficulty in detecting a 'rogue' letter attached to the beginning or end of a word--for example, ksong--or in parsing two unspaced words, such as applepeach. By contrast she was immune to the effects of interpolating extraneous coloured letters in a word, a manipulation that affects normal readers. Therefore it is argued that this patient had damage to an early stage in the reading process, to the visual word form itself

Introducing a trauma-informed capability approach in youth services

Trauma-informed practice has been developing for decades, though much remains unknown regarding how it is understood and practised. Drawing upon focus group data from an evaluation of a trauma-informed approach (TIA) implemented by an organisation in Southeast England, this paper provides a unique perspective of 31 staff members and 18 young people. Results indicate how choice and control, key elements of a TIA, align with the Capability Approach (CA). The CA is then used as a novel analytic framework to examine the data. A ‘Trauma-Informed Capabilities Approach’ is introduced as a holistic, person-centred way of conceptualising young trauma survivors’ wellbeing

Sexual exploitation in children: Nature, prevalence and distinguishing characteristics reported in young adulthood

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and extent of sexual exploitation in a university student sample, whilst being clear that sexual exploitation is sexual abuse. Overall, 47% of participants (96 out of 204) reported having been approached by an adult in a sexual manner when they were under the age of 16. The study predicted that a number of individual characteristics would increase a young person’s vulnerability for sexual exploitation. These included low self-esteem, external locus of control, social loneliness and insecure attachment. Results indicated lower levels of self-esteem among those who had been approached sexually, although it is not clear in terms of causality. There were no differences in scores for locus of control or loneliness. Relationship anxiety was significantly linked with children having engaged in sexual behaviours with an adult. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of emerging individual characteristics relating to a risk of sexual exploitation