Change in Families Participating in Parent Management Training Oregon: a Replicated Single Case Experimental Study:Verandering in families die een PMTO behandeling volgen: een herhaalde single case experimentele studie

Objectives : Several randomized controlled trials showed positive effects of the behavioral parent training Parent Management Training Oregon (PMTI) on child behavior, parenting stress and parenting behavior. However, we do know less about the processes of change. In this study we therefore aimed to unravel individual processes of change in families receiving PMTO. Study design: We conducted a replicated single case experimental study with 5 families(children aged between 4-12 years). We followed the families regarding their parenting, parenting stress, child behavior and motivation to use the learned parenting strategies in three ways: 1) standardized questionnaires pre, post, and 4 months after ending PMTO, 2) assessments during each sessions, 3) daily assessments (baseline, during treatment and after PMTO ended). In addition to assessing changes in every construct, we assessed how changes in a construct were related to changes in the other constructs over time. Reliable change indices were calculated for individual pre-to post- and follow-up PMTO changes. Individual treatment effect sizes, using Simulation Modeling Analysis, were calculated for both level and slope changes from baseline to the PMTO phase, but also during PMTO, and to post-PMTO. Cross-lagged correlations were calculated as to identify how unique courses of change unfolded over time. Results: The results showed that each participating family, and mothers, fathers and children within these families, had unique individual trajectories of change. While post-assessment showed improvements during PMTO, the directions of changes between post-test and follow-up varied (sustained, further improvements, or deteriorations). Some participants changed on multiple outcomes, others on just a few. Patterns of change were sometimes linear, but sometimes showed ups and downs. When relationships between parental perceptions of parenting, parenting stress, child behavior and motivation to use the learned parenting strategies were observed, the correlations mostly (and for some families only) indicated moment-to moment associations, but hardly any associations over time. Conclusions : The five families all experienced improvements on the primary goal of PMTO: the childs’ behavior or the escalations between children and the parents. Among the 5 families who participated in PMTO, no general pattern of change could be identified. Each family and each family member seem to encounter own and unique change at its own pace

Managing the restoration of membranes in reverse osmosis desalination using a digital twin

This thesis studies degradation and restoration policies for a pressure vessel in a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant. In the study context, biofouling is the primary cause of the degradation of the RO membrane elements, amplified by seasonal algal blooms. This research developed a decision support system (DSS) for evaluating membrane restoration strategy. The engine of the DSS is a digital twin (DT), a virtual representation of wear (degradation) and restoration of membrane elements in a RO pressure vessel. The basis of the DT is a mathematical model that describes an RO pressure vessel as a novel multi-component system in which the hidden wear-states of individual elements (components) are quantified, and elements can be swapped or replaced. This contrasts with the contemporary presentation of a membrane system as a single system in the literature. The parameters of the model are estimated using statistical methods. The research approach is described in the context of a case study on the Carlsbad Desalination Plant in California. Results show a good fit between the observed and the modelled wear-states. Competing policies are compared based on risk, cost, downtime, and the number of stoppages. Projections indicate that a significant cost-saving can be achieved while not compromising the integrity of the plant. Alternative policies 11 and 12 showed better wear management than the current policy 10 of the maintenance company while reducing costs between $0.7 to$1.7 million for the next five years.The research in the thesis contributes toward maintenance modelling. New models of multivariate degradation and imperfect repair are presented. The research makes an important contribution to desalination and water treatment engineering, providing a unique membrane maintenance management approach currently absent from the literature. The thesis also contributes to the maintenance theory. It proposes a general approach for applying a decision support system (DSS) for maintenance requirements analysis, involving a digital twin (DT) for wear and repair projections when wear is stochastic, and repair effects are not immediately apparent. The essential elements of a DSS are discussed. This research encourages a dialogue between researchers of maintenance theory and modelling and practitioners of maintenance planning about decision support systems and digital twins that not only project the when but also evaluate the what in maintenance strategy. The presented concept of a DSS driven by a DT for maintenance requirement analysis has valuable practical implications, and the thesis, in discussing this concept, makes an essential contribution to the discussion about Industry 4.0, digital twins, and maintenance

Klimaatscan Natura 2000 gebieden

Provincies hebben behoefte aan een beter inzicht in de mogelijke consequenties van klimaatverandering voor het bereiken van natuurdoelen die in het kader van Natura 2000 gesteld worden. Om zicht te krijgen op de mogelijke consequenties is een aanpak ontwikkeld en toegepast op twee geselecteerde case studie gebieden: de Oostelijke Vechtplassen en de Kampina en Oisterwijkse vennen. Is onderdeel van klimaateffectatla

Contourites and associated sediments controlled by deep-water circulation processes:State-of-the-art and future considerations

The contourite paradigm was conceived a few decades ago, yet there remains a need to establish a sound connection between contourite deposits, basin evolution and oceanographic processes. Significant recent advances have been enabled by various factors, including the establishment of two IGCP projects and the realisation of several IODP expeditions. Contourites were first described in the Northern and Southern Atlantic Ocean, and since then, have been discovered in every major ocean basin and even in lakes. The 120 major contourite areas presently known are associated to myriad oceanographic processes in surface, intermediate and deep-water masses. The increasing recognition of these deposits is influencing palaeoclimatology & palaeoceanography, slope-stability/geological hazard assessment, and hydrocarbon exploration. Nevertheless, there is a pressing need for a better understanding of the sedimentological and oceanographic processes governing contourites, which involve dense bottom currents, tides, eddies, deep-sea storms, internal waves and tsunamis. Furthermore, in light of the latest knowledge on oceanographic processes and other governing factors (e.g. sediment supply and sea-level), existing facies models must now be revised. Persistent oceanographic processes significantly affect the seafloor, resulting in large-scale depositional and erosional features. Various classifications have been proposed to subdivide a continuous spectrum of partly overlapping features. Although much progress has been made in the large-scale, geophysically based recognition of these deposits, there remains a lack of unambiguous and commonly accepted diagnostic criteria for deciphering the small-scaled contourite facies and for distinguishing them from turbidite ones. Similarly, the study of sandy deposits generated or affected by bottom currents, which is still in its infancy, offers great research potential: these deposits might prove invaluable as future reservoir targets. Expectations for the forthcoming analysis of data from the IODP Expedition 339 are high, as this work promises to tackle much of the aforementioned lack of knowledge. In the near future, geologists, oceanographers and benthic biologists will have to work in concert to achieve synergy in contourite research to demonstrate the importance of bottom currents in continental margin sedimentation and evolution.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-SA license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

Sedimentary evolution of the Le Danois contourite drift systems (southern Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic):A reconstruction of the Atlantic Mediterranean Water circulation since the Pliocene

The evolution of the Le Danois contourite depositional systems (CDS) during the Pliocene and Quaternary was investigated based on high-resolution seismic reflection data. From old to young, six seismic units (U1-U6) bounded by major discontinuities (H1-H6) were identified. Regarding variations of the bottom-current circulation, four evolution stages of the Le Danois CDS were identified, including onset (similar to 5.3 to 3.5-3.0 Ma), initial (3.5-3.0 to 2.5-2.1 Ma), intermediate (2.5-2.1 to 0.9-0.7 Ma) and drift-growth (0.9-0.7 Ma to present day) stages. The CDS associated with the Atlantic Mediterranean Water (AMW) along the middle continental slope initiated at similar to 3.5-3 Ma and was widely built after the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT; 0.9-07 Ma). At a shallower water depth, a second CDS associated with the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water (ENACW) started to develop from the late Quaternary (similar to 0.47 Ma) onwards. In the AMW-related drift system, the Le Danois Drift was generated both under glacial and interglacial climatic oscilations. Repeated internal structures in unit 5 that consist of acoustically transparent lower parts, moderate amplitude upper parts and high amplitude erosional surfaces at the top, are compared with interglacial/glacial cycles since the middle Pleistocene to the present day. These cyclic features suggest coarsening-upward sequences of the Le Danois Drift and processes related to enhanced AMW during glacial stages. The estimated sedimentation rate of the Le Danois CDS reached a maximum during the MPT (at least similar to 27 cm/ky) and then decreased until present-day (similar to 5 cm/ky). Variations of sedimentary stacking patterns and processes of the Le Danois CDS imply full domination of the intermediate water mass along the central Atlantic and southwest European continental slopes from the late Pliocene (similar to 3.5-3.0 Ma) onwards