NDT Consultants (United Kingdom)

Nursing home residents with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are an understudied, yet growing population within nursing homes. To describe hospital transfers for nursing home residents diagnosed with ESRD and receiving hemodialysis. Data were analyzed for residents with ESRD transferred to the hospital between October 2016 and September 2020 (n = 219). Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, logistic regression, and content analysis were used for analysis. Clinical factors associated with transfers included abnormal vitals, altered mental state, and pain. Other factors included lack of care planning and advance directives, provider communication, resident/family preferences, missing/refusing dialysis, and facility resources. The odds of an observation/emergency department only visit was 2.02 times larger when transferred from the dialysis clinic. Advance care planning and coordinated care between nursing home and dialysis clinics are needed along with proactive planning when residents miss dialysis or experience a condition change at the dialysis clinic.

A simple pattern reconfiguration approach of an Ultra Wide Band (UWB) monopole antenna is presented. By inserting a VIVALDI shape in the Coplanar-Waveguide (CPW) ground plane, the pattern reconfiguration is achieved without changing the original size and form of the monopole. Only two switches were used, thus the main beam is controlled depending on the state of these switches. Therefore, in the band of reconfiguration, the antenna radiates in three different directions (two directive states and one omnidirectional state). Switches were inserted in specific locations so that to eliminate currents to distribute and to radiate from that side, hence the main pattern is shifted in the other side. The proposed approach can be applied to different CPW-Fed monopoles, consequently, it may be suitable for domains were dynamic pattern reconfiguration is needed such as tracking, cognitive radio etc. Our approach is applied to two monopoles: printed stepped rectangular monopole and circular disc antenna. Furthermore, realized prototype and measurements are carried out.

This paper proposes that many product safety non-compliances are consistently reproduced because designers are influenced by a set of local beliefs and assumptions that, unfortunately, vary from region to region. In this way, by understanding why these problems occur we will be better placed to correct the offending 'design cultures' within our companies, eliminate the problem and save substantial cost.

Abstract. The production of pigs in outdoor units is gaining in popularity in the United Kingdom and is often concentrated on free‐draining soils over important aquifers. Originally, stocking rates were sufficiently low to ensure the maintenance of a grass crop, but recently they have increased. Pigs are natural ‘rooters’ and wallowers and so cause damage to vegetation and soil structure. With overstocking these natural activities lead to considerable areas of bare, uncropped ground for much of the year. This paper assesses the potential for leaching of nitrate from such land, and makes recommendations for decreasing it.

Accuracy of angiographic appearances of the coronary arteries Sir, The assertion by J Pidgeon et al (1984; 51: 125-9) that their findings are at variance with our observations on the "underfilled" coronary artery' is not entirely cor- rect. In our retrospective series of arteries that had been grafted, some vessels that were smaller than 1 5 mm on the preoperative angiogram were patent at one month and appeared larger on the postoperative angiogram. Some were filled by visible collaterals and some were not. Pidgeon et al found that when vessel diameter alone was used as a predictive test 26% of vessels thought too small were, at surgery, graftable; there was no postoperative assessment of these ves- sels. We consider that these two series are com- plementary, and the inference to be made is that some of the graftable but angiographically small vessels of Pidgeon et al may well have been "underfilled."

Abstract Imperial Oil Limited's exploration program in the Canadian Arctic hasreceived close examination of the environmental consequences of marine disposalof drilling wastes. An extensive literature search provided data to assess theaquatic ecology and to identify potentially deleterious effects on theenvironment. Beak Consultants' laboratories analyzed samples of drilling wastefor a broad spectrum of physical and chemical characteristics. They alsoevaluated acute toxicity, using standard laboratory bioassay methods. Study ofseveral alternative methods of waste disposal identified two methods ofpretreatment which merited on-site testing. Both aeration, to reduce oxygendemand and acute toxicity, and filtration to reduce the volume of dischargedsolids were evaluated. To date, drilling wastes have been discharged to both the open andice-covered waters of the Beaufort Sea. A local blanketing effect and a changein the pH in the immediate vicinity of the discharge point were the onlyenvironmental concerns expressed. This study concluded that, except for pHadjustment and removal of extraneous contaminants, no other treatment isrequired for the systems examined. Monitoring is continuing in order to assessthe long-term environmental impact at these Arctic drilling sites. Introduction The work reported here covers two studies done by Imperial Oil Limited and Beak Consultants Limited. The objective of the first project was to examine theinfluence of the disposal of drilling wastes from off-shore exploration wellsin the Mackenzie Delta on the immediate marine environment. In the secondproject, two methods of treatment of drilling wastes were evaluated by fieldtesting. This work also included monitoring of the discharged volume andsampling for chemical and bioassay analyses.