No abstract

An ethnic group-specific three-item brief CES-D score emerged as a reliable CES-D measure in PR and AA older adults. We conclude that practitioners could emphasize three main symptoms in individual older adults in screening for depression, and researchers can model with confidence the relationships between the CES-D brief scale and its correlates.

Research Highlights: A low-cost experimental system was developed to enable the production monitoring of small-scale wood processing facilities by the means of sensor-collected data and the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, which provided accurate results for the most important work operations. Background and Objectives: The manufacturing of wood-based products by small-scale family-held business is commonly affected by a lack of monitoring data that, on the one hand, may prevent the decision-making process and, on the other hand, may lead to less technical efficiency that could result in business failure. Long-term performance of such manufacturing facilities is limited because data collection and analysis require significant resources, thus preventing the approaches that could be pursued for competitivity improvement. Materials and Methods: An external sensor system composed of two dataloggers—a triaxial accelerometer and a sound pressure level meter—was used in combination with a video camera to provide the input signals and meta-documentation for the training and testing of an artificial neural network (ANN) to check the accuracy of automatic classification of the time spent in operations. The study was based on a sample of ca. 90 k observations collected at a frequency of 1 Hz. Results: The approach provided promising results in both the training (ca. 20 k) and testing (ca. 60 k) datasets, with global classification accuracies of ca. 85%. However, the events characterizing the effective sawing, which requires electrical power, were even better recognized, reaching a classification accuracy of 98%. Conclusions: The system requires low-cost devices and freely available software that could enable data feeding on local computers by their direct connection to the devices. As such, it could collect, analyze and plot production data that could be used for maintaining the competitiveness of traditional technologies.

. Effi ciency of a Woody 60 processor attached to a Mounty 4100 tower yarder when processing coniferous timber from thinning operations . Ann. For. Res. 57(2): 333-345, 2014.Abstract. Processor tower yarders (PTY) represent the current state of yarding technology being extensively used in mountainous conditions such as those from Central Europe where they were also developed and used for the first time. In proper technical conditions which are mostly related to forest road infrastructure such equipment may be introduced by technology transfer in other countries such as Romania where they could replace actual less-efficient forest equipment used in steep terrains. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of such equipment in conditions of thinning operations by adapting a time study to the general concepts and by using data collection techniques to suit the operational conditions imposed by such equipment. In conditions of a mean tree volume of 0.21 m 3 × tree -1 , the results of our study indicate net production rates as high as 12.72 m 3 × h -1 when processing trees on landing, which could be also improved up to 17.52 m 3 × h -1 if the PTY have been be adequately installed on the forest road. Another key aspect which could improve the efficiency of such equipment performing landing operations is the number of planned and realized wood assortments since the time expenditure was affected by their number. Given the reduced impact on forest soils as well as the increased efficiency of tower yarders, our study concludes that there would be a lot of potential in actually using them in the Romanian forests located in steep terrain, if proper transportation infrastructure would exist.

This study investigates the impact of exposure to information about a relatively new prevention method, the female condom (FC), on actual FC use in a community of adults at risk of HIV/STI. A community-wide survey from a mid-size US city is used to estimate unbiased effects of information about the FC on FC use among sexually active men and women. To control for potential confounders we use propensity score matching which matches the group exposed to FC information to participants who were not exposed, achieving a statistical quasi-randomization in terms of ten measured confounders. Comparisons of exposed to unexposed participants matched on their propensity scores conclude that information about the FC increases initiation of FC use, such that eleven percent more of the men and women who receive FC information reported ever using the FC. We demonstrate the use of propensity score matching and illustrate some of its strengths and limitations.