Estimated validity and reliability of on-board diagnostics for older vehicles: comparison with remote sensing observations

Based on requirements under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, most state vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs have, since 2002, replaced the tailpipe emission testing with the on-board diagnostic (OBD) II testing for 1996 model and newer vehicles. This test relies on the OBD II system to give the pass or fail result, depending on certain conditions that might cause the vehicle to emit pollution 1.5 times higher than the regulated standard. The OBD II system is a computer and sensors installed in the vehicle to monitor the emission control units and signal if there is any malfunction. As a vehicle ages, its engine, pollution control units, and OBD II system deteriorate. Because the OBD II system's durability directly influences the test outcome, it is important to examine the fleetwide trend in the OBD II test results in comparison with an alternative measure of identifying high emitting vehicles. This study investigates whether the validity and reliability of the OBD II test is related to the age of the OBD II system installed in the fleet. Using Atlanta's I/M testing records and remote sensing device (RSD) data collected during 2002-2005, this research establishes the convergent validity and interobserver reliability criteria for the OBD II test based on on-road emissions measured by RSDs. The study results show that older vehicles exhibit significantly lower RSD-OBD II outcome agreement than newer vehicles. This suggests that the validity and reliability of the OBD II test may decline in the older vehicle fleets. Explanations and possible confounding factors for these findings are discussed

СОСТОЯНИЕ СТЕНКИ АБДОМИНАЛЬНОГО ОТДЕЛА ПИЩЕВОДА ПРИ ЕГО ОПУХОЛЕВОМ ПОРАЖЕНИИ

In the article features morphological changes in the wall of the abdominal part of esophagus are described at two forms of its tumoral leasions: the squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.В статье описаны особенности морфологических изменений в стенке абдоминального отдела пищевода при двух формах его опухолевого поражения: плоско- клеточном раке и аденокарциноме.

Realization of the Vilnius photometric system for CCD-observations of selected sky areas at the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory

We describe a set of glass UPXYZVS filters of the Vilnius photometric system of the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in Zhytomyr Region (Ukraine) [7]. They are installed at the Zeiss-600 Cassegrain reflector together with the 15-bit 1024×1024 CCD-camera S1C-017. The response curves of instrumental photometric systems are presented and a comparison of them with a standard system are analysed. Test observations in the Vilnius system of the star cluster IC 4665 with the Andrushivka filters were carried out in May–June 2003. The MIDAS/ROMAFOT and ASTROIMAGE software is adapted for digital processing of CCD-images of stellar fields. Comprehensive ground-based observations are being planned to design a catalogue of primary UPXYZVS CCD-standards in selected areas of the sky where are with radio sources, globular and open clusters, etc

Influence of Thermal Stabilization for Accuracy Optical Measurements Based on the Phenomenon of Surface Plasmon Resonance

Розглянуто механізми впливу температури на результати оптичних вимірювань, які базуються на явищі поверхневого плазмонного резонансу. З’ясовано, що похибка результату вимірювання зумовлена впливом тем-ператури на показник заломлення досліджуваних речовин та елементи оптичної схеми вимірювального облад-нання. Експериментально продемонстровано вплив термостабілізації вимірювального обладнання на відхилен-ня результату оптичних вимірювань. ; We considered the mechanisms of the effect of temperature on the results of optical measurements ba sed on the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance. It is found that the error of the measurement results due to the influence of temperature on the refractive index of the test substances and the elements of the optical scheme of measuring equipment. Experimental demonstrate the influence of thermal stabilization of the measuring equipment to reject the results of optical measurements

Graduated return to play guidance following COVID-19 infection

The COVID­19 pandemic has affected all inhabitants of the planet, of all ages and professions, including professional athletes. In connection with the resumption of various sports events, it became necessary to create criteria for admitting an athlete to the training and competitive process. In the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) on February 08, 2021 the authors Niall Elliott, Rhodri Martin, Neil Heron, Jonathan Elliott, Dan Grimstead and Anita Biswas published an infographic of the stages of returning to sports activity after suffering COVID­19. An adapted translation was made by a team of authors and provided in the form of a short message for publication

Development of technical and design skills of schoolchildren

Paper issues the possibility of using the project method for development of technical and design skills of junior schoolchildrenРассматривается применение метода проектов для развития технико-конструкторских умений младших школьнико

Features of baseline and lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine secretion in mononuclear leukocyte cultures from patients with the erythema migrans form of acute lyme borreliosis based on clinical parameters

Introduction. Features of cytokine production in mononuclear cell cultures from Lyme borreliosis patients based on clinical data remained poorly studied. The study aim was to estimate the patterns of baseline and lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine-secretory activity of peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes from patients with erythema migrans form of acute Lyme borreliosis based on clinical parameters. Materials and methods. Groups of 22 and 12 patients with the diagnoses of mild or moderate severity of monoinfection and co-infection with tick-borne encephalitis of Lyme borreliosis with erythema migrans were examined twice: on week 1 after disease onset and day 14. The control group included 17 healthy donors. Basal and lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-6, IL-10, and TNFα secretion levels were assessed in mononuclear leukocyte culture supernatants applying enzyme immunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Mann–Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon test, and Spearman’s rank correlation. Results. The group of moderate severity patients was clinically distinguished by severer fever and intoxication manifestations. At the disease onset, the basal TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10 secretion levels in the moderate severity patient cultures were significantly higher than in those of the other groups. After antibiotics treatment, the baseline TNFα and IL-10 levels tended to decrease. At the onset, lipopolysaccharide-induced cultures from the moderate severity patients showed significantly suppressed TNFα production and increased IL-10 secretion as compared to the other groups. Lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-6 secretion in the moderate vs. mild severity group supernatants was significantly lower. In dynamics, the induced TNFα levels in the moderate severity patients were increased to the magnitude exceeding that in the controls. Positive correlations between the IL-6 and TNFα basal levels and maximum body temperature or the C-reactive protein serum concentrations were revealed in the patients. Induced TNFα levels showed negative correlations with fever levels or with IL-10 secretion. Conclusions. It was demonstrated that basal TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10 secretion levels in the mononuclear cell cultures of acute Lyme borreliosis patients increased with the increasing disease severity. Suppression of lipopolysaccharide-induced TNFα production in the moderate severity patient cultures was presumably associated with the regulatory cytokine IL-10 effects