1,673 research outputs found
P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et J.S. Griffiths, Engineering Geomorphology — Theory and practice
No full textAprès la parution en 2005 de l’ouvrage « Geomorphology for Engineers », co-édité par P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et G. Milligan (voir Géomorphologie : relief, processus, environnement, 2006, 2, 158-160), on est en droit de s’interroger sur la pertinence de ce nouveau manuel, rédigé par P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et J.S. Griffiths. La réponse est donnée dès la première phrase de l’avant-propos de Sir Ron Cooke « Engineers under-rate geomorphology at their peril; geomorphologists ignore their potential va..
P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et J.S. Griffiths, Engineering Geomorphology — Theory and practice
No full textAprès la parution en 2005 de l’ouvrage « Geomorphology for Engineers », co-édité par P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et G. Milligan (voir Géomorphologie : relief, processus, environnement, 2006, 2, 158-160), on est en droit de s’interroger sur la pertinence de ce nouveau manuel, rédigé par P.G. Fookes, E.M. Lee et J.S. Griffiths. La réponse est donnée dès la première phrase de l’avant-propos de Sir Ron Cooke « Engineers under-rate geomorphology at their peril; geomorphologists ignore their potential va..
Report prepared for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under a contract to study wave/current interaction
No full textOn the reliability of the Autosub autonomous underwater vehicle
No full textAs autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) enter operational service an assessment of their reliability is timely. Using the Autosub AUV as an example, several design issues affecting reliability are discussed, followed by an analysis of recorded faults. Perhaps contrary to expectations, failures rarely involved the autonomous nature of the vehicle. Rather, faults were typical of those that occur with any complex item of marine electromechanical equipment. A statistical analysis showed that the failure rate decreased with distance travelled- an indicator that an AUV underway, submerged, is at less risk of a fault developing than during other phases of a mission. 1
A Markov Chain state transition approach to establishing critical phases for AUV reliability
No full textThe deployment of complex autonomous underwater platforms for marine science comprises a series of sequential steps. Each step is critical to the success of the mission. In this paper we present a state transition approach, in the form of a Markov chain, which models the sequence of steps from pre-launch to operation to recovery. The aim is to identify the states and state transitions that present higher risk to the vehicle and hence to the mission, based on evidence and judgment. Developing a Markov chain consists of two separate tasks. The first defines the structure that encodes the sequence of events. The second task assigns probabilities to each possible transition. Our model comprises eleven discrete states, and includes distance-dependent underway survival statistics. The integration of the Markov model with underway survival statistics allows us to quantify the likelihood of success during each state and transition and consequently the likelihood of achieving the desired mission goals. To illustrate this generic process, the fault history of the Autosub3 autonomous underwater vehicle provides the information for different phases of operation. The method proposed here adds more detail to previous analyses; faults are discriminated according to the phase of the mission in which they took place
Results of expert judgments on the faults and risks with Autosub3 and an analysis of its campaign to Pine Island Bay, Antarctica, 2009
No full textProbabilistic risk assessment is a methodology that can be systematically applied to estimate the risk associated with the design and operation of complex systems. The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK has developed a risk management process tailored to the operation of autonomous underwater vehicles. Central to the application of the risk management process is a probabilistic risk assessment. The risk management process was applied to estimate the risk associated with an Autosub3 science campaign in the Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica, and to support decision making. The campaign was successful. In this paper we present the Autosub3 risk model and we show how this model was used to assess the campaign risk
An assessment of failure to rescue derived from routine NHS data as a nursing sensitive patient safety indicator (report to Policy Research Programme)
No full textObjectives: This study aims to assess the potential for deriving 2 mortality based failure to rescue indicators and a proxy measure, based on exceptionally long length of stay, from English hospital administrative data by exploring change in coding practice over time and measuring associations between failure to rescue and factors which would suggest indicators derived from these data are valid.Design: Cross sectional observational study of routinely collected administrative data.Setting: 146 general acute hospital trusts in England.Participants: Discharge data from 66,100,672 surgical admissions (1997 to 2009).Results: Median percentage of surgical admissions with at least one secondary diagnosis recorded increased from 26% in 1997/8 to 40% in 2008/9. The failure to rescue rate for a hospital appears to be relatively stable over time: inter-year correlations between 2007/8 and 2008/9 were r=0.92 to r=0.94. No failure to rescue indicator was significantly correlated with average number of secondary diagnoses coded per hospital. Regression analyses showed that failure to rescue was significantly associated (p<0.05) with several hospital characteristics previously associated with quality including staffing levels. Higher medical staffing (doctors + nurses) per bed and more doctors relative to the number of nurses were associated with lower failure to rescue. Conclusion: Coding practice has improved, and failure to rescue can be derived from English administrative data. The suggestion that it is particularly sensitive to nursing is not clearly supported. Although the patient population is more homogenous than for other mortality measures, risk adjustment is still required
Belief and Ageing: Spiritual pathways in later life
No full textBased on 40 years' interviewing experience, this book illustrates the variety of religious, spiritual and other beliefs held by older people. It provides models of research procedure, especially in the context of bereavement. Participants include not only British Christians, but also Muslims, Humanists and witnesses of the Soviet persecution of religion. The author argues that both welfare professionals and gerontologists need to pay far more consideration to belief as a constituent of well-being in later life. The book looks to the future and increasing diversity of choice in matters of belief among Britain and Europe's older citizens as a consequence of immigration and globalisation
A phase II trial of continuous 5-fluorouracil in recurrent or metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract
No full textAIMS: To assess the activity of a continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil in patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight centres within the UK entered 50 patients into the study. Twenty-four weeks of continuously infused 5-fluorouracil, 300mg/m(2)/day through a mini-pump, were planned. The primary outcome was tumour response at 8 weeks after the start of treatment.RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 68 years and 37 (80.4%) had a World Health Organization performance status of 0 or 1. The overall response rate at 8 weeks, according to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) criteria in 46 evaluable patients, was 15% (95% confidence interval 5-26%) and 20% (95% confidence interval 8-31%) when assessments at all time points were included. The median progression-free survival was 1.9 months (95% confidence interval 1.8-2.7 months) and the median overall survival was 6.5 months (95% confidence interval 4.1-8.5 months). The most frequent grade 3/4 toxicities were mucositis and diarrhoea (each in 6.5% of patients) and nausea/vomiting and hand-foot syndrome (each in 4.3% of patients).CONCLUSIONS: Continuous infusional 5-fluorouracil has activity in transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary tract. Prolonged fluoropyrimidine administration may be a useful component of future combination regimens for this disease, particularly in patients with poor renal function.</p
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