abstract: The evaluation of nutritional status by dietary intake assessment is fundamental to nutrition research. Accurate assessment allows for health professional-moderated diet adjustment in order to promote disease prevention and management. However, dietary intake can be extremely challenging to measure properly as reliability and accuracy are essential. As technology use has become more prevalent in recent years, an assortment of online, web-based diet analysis methods have begun to emerge. Are these modern methods as accurate as the traditional methods? The aim of this study was to compare and contrast diet analyses from a feeding trial in which both subject-coded (using the Automated Self Administered 24 hour recall, or the ASA24) and investigator-coded (using the Food Processor diet analysis program) diet records were available. Sixty-four overweight (body mass index >27-40 kg/m2) members of a campus community between the ages of 20-45 were recruited for an 8-week parallel arm, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of two different pre-dinner meal snacks on satiety, calories consumed, and contribution to modest weight loss. As part of the study requirements, participants completed 3-day food logs at four different times during the trial: pre-trial, and week 1, 4, and 8. Participants also entered their dietary information into the ASA24 website the day after the intake was recorded by hand. Nutrient intake values were compared between the ASA24 records and the handwritten food logs. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Statistical Analysis version 19.0; bivariate analyses and Spearman correlation analyses were utilized. Energy, macronutrient, and micronutrient intakes did correlate significantly between the two methodologies, though both under-reporting and over-reporting were found to exist. Carbohydrate and fiber intakes were under-reported by subjects; retinol, beta-carotene, and vitamin C amounts were over-reported. These results are consistent with previous findings in reporting differences and suggest that the ASA24 is a comparably accurate dietary tracking tool to the traditional diet record method. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2012

One of the major tools for assisting in the implementation of sustainable development is environmental assessment (EA). This thesis has sought to develop a model and associated techniques required to provide an effective and efficient EA of projects in the water environment. The challenge has been to integrate a number of disparate elements into a cohesive model that provides workable procedures and outputs. The conceptual elements of the EA process have included the needs of environmental ethics and values; the political decision-making processes; current legislation and policy; the communication of infonnation for a range internal and external stakeholders and decisionmakers; the links with technical and economic issues; and The Environmental Agency's project management systems.

The continued rise in accident and ill health statistics throughout the member states of the European Union indicate that the standards of occupational health, safety and environmental control require further improvement to minimise the current level of loss. Management systems are regarded as an effective means of reducing this loss by continuously improving standards. Whilst there is much discussion and debate about the possibilities of integrating management systems, at present, there are no national or international published integrated management standards, although some multi-national companies have introduced their own internal integrated standards. The research explored the development of an integrated health, safety and environmental (HSE) management system within a range of industrial organisations. This included the development of tools for successful implementation of integrated systems, specifically for significance review, risk assessment and auditing. Resources and accreditation constraints precluded exhaustive testing of all clauses within the proposed integrated management standard. However, analysis of key aspects of the standard revealed: 1. The introduction and use of separate health, safety and environmental (HSE) management systems improved the standards of risk control within organisations. 2. Organisations perceived that there were clear business advantages in some form of integration of existing standards. 3. The developed integrated HSE standard was technically possible in the area of policy development, process operations, working instructions and documentation. However, the integration of risk assessment and audit tools gave limited advantages compared to existing separate systems. 4. The proposed integrated HSE standard complied with both individual European member states national legislative requirements and European/World-wide management standard criteria. In summary this thesis represents an original contribution to the field of integrated management systems. The thesis also identifies areas of further work that will increase the knowledge base, scope of application of the work carried out.

This study replicated the response-restriction free-operant procedures of Hanley et al. (2003) and expanded their study by comparing the results to that of a paired choice and multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessments. I also compared the results to a modified version of the Hanley et al. procedures. A statistical analysis was conducted with the hierarchies identified from each assessment using the Spearman Rank order to measure the correlation within and across participants. Finally, I analyzed the results of 32 free operant preference assessments to identify at what point preference was identifiable.

Choice overload is characterized by individuals experiencing a decrease in preference strength and satisfaction (Chemey, 2003) in conjunction with increases in disappointment and regret regarding a chosen option (Schwartz, 2000). Choice overload has been examined in a variety of situations, however choice overload has not been examined with individuals with developmental disabilities or during stimulus preference assessments. While extensive research has been conducted regarding stimulus preference assessments, no research has been conducted evaluating the most effective number of items to use during preference assessments. The purpose of the present study was to compare using six and 18 item arrays during a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment, to evaluate the accuracy of both procedures with a reinforcer assessment, and to evaluate the behavior of participants for characteristics of choice overload during the preference and reinforcer assessments. The results of the present study suggest that the results between the six and 18 item preference assessments are strongly consistent; however the six item assessments overestimated the reinforcer efficacy of numerous items in comparison to the 18 item preference assessment. The results also suggest that two participants displayed characteristics associated with choice overload and that a certain level of cognitive functioning may be required for choice overload to occur.

The present study sought to compare the relationship between the generalization skills and performance on a standardized IQ assessment on 30 individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities (73% had a diagnosis of autism). Participants’ generalization skills were tested using the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Generalization Module (PEAK-G), and IQ was assessed using either the WISC-IV Short Form assessment or the WPPSI-III Short Form assessment. The data indicated a strong, significant correlation between scores on the PEAK-G and IQ using both Raw IQ (r = .839, p > .01) and Full Scale IQ (r = .628, p > .01). Both Raw IQ and Full Scale IQ were further analyzed by comparing them each to the three subtests of the PEAK-G (Foundational Learning and Basic Social Skills, Verbal Comprehension, Memory and Advanced Social Skills and Verbal Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Advanced Mathematical Skills). The results help to provide a better understanding of how closely participants’ IQ scores correlate to their PEAK-G scores.

The Mandarin Chinese version of the first PEAK module (Direct Training) assessment was created and compared to the English version, by examining alternate-form reliability and cross-cultural validity. Thirty-two typically developing children under 10 years old (19 males and 13 females) residing in USA, Canada, and mainland China were recruited and assessed by bilingual parents with both language versions of PEAK-DT assessments. Statistical results show that the two language versions had strong correlations between the PEAK raw scores (r = .98), the component raw scores (r ranged .93 to .98), and the component age-referenced scores (r ranged .77 to .93). Equivalence between the two versions was also demonstrated by high test-retest percentage of agreement on all items as well as scored items, (88%, and 92% respectively). No significant testing effects were observed across the test-retest intervals, and no differences were observed in terms of the assessors’ English proficiency. Furthermore, 183 out of the 184 items in the PEAK-DT assessments rejected the null hypothesis of One-Sample Chi-square test (p < .05 at confidence level of 95%), indicating that the globally high percentage of agreement from both versions was the result of valid translation. In summary, the Chinese version of the PEAK-DT assessment exhibited cross-cultural reliability and validity, which may lay the foundation for the future research on the use of the PEAK system with the Chinese community.

No description available.

This thesis concerns research into the environmental aspects of the photochemical machining (PCM) industry, involving measurement, analysis, benchmarking, and reducing adverse environmental impacts. The environmental audit of a PCM company found that the likely significant environmental impacts are the use of ferric chloride etchant, solvents and water. A comparison of the environmental performance of two UK PCM companies showed that there were big contrasts in etchant utilisation and solvent and water consumption, indicating that steps could be taken to reduce these impacts. A study to assess the feasibility of using laser direct imaging (LDI), a cleaner technology in photoresist imaging, found that LDI could meet the technical requirements of the PCM industry. For LDI to be economically feasible, the reliability has to be high and maintenance cost has to be low. Audit surveys of PCM companies world-wide regarding etchant utilisation and solvent consumption indicated that: (1) There is a vast difference between the performance of companies and companies that regenerate etchants were more efficient in their FeCl3 utilisation. The industrial best practice for FeCl3 utilisation is 837%. (2) Chlorination was the most popular regeneration method but most companies would use a more environment-friendly system at a higher overall cost. Regarding waste disposal, most companies sent liquid waste etchant for reclaim or recycle. (3) Half of the PCM companies no longer use solvents, and with the development of liquid aqueous-based resists, it is envisaged that PCM practitioners could eliminate the use of solvents in the near future. Lastly, an investigation into the feasibility of using oxygen gas in regenerating FeCI3 showed that the regenerated etchant could produce good quality etchings. This system is also the second cheapest. Therefore, it is a good option for the PCM companies as the cost of regeneration is not too expensive and it is environment-friendly.

In this age of safety awareness, technological emergencies still happen, occasionally with catastrophic results. Often human intervention is the only way of averting disaster. Ensuring that the chosen emergency managers are competent requires a combination of training and assessment. However, assessment currently relies on expert judgement of behaviour as opposed to its impact on outcome, therefore it would be difficult to incorporate such data into formal Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA). Although there is, as yet, no suitable alternative to expert judgement, there is a need for methods of quantifying the impact of emergency management on risk reduction in accident and incidents. The Task Performance Resource Constraint (TPRC) model is capable of representing the critical factors. It calculates probability of task success with respect to time based on uncertainties associated with the task and resource variables. The results can then be used to assess the management performance based on the physical outcome in the emergency, thereby providing a measure of the impact of emergency management on risk with a high degree of objectivity. Data obtained from training exercises for offshore and onshore emergency management were measured and successfully used with the TPRC model. The resulting probability of success functions also demonstrated a high level of external validity when used with improvements in emergency management or design changes or real data from the Piper Alpha disaster. It also appeared to have more external validity than other HRQ/QRA techniques as it uses physical data that are a greater influence on outcome than psychological changes - though this could be because the current HRA/QRA techniques view human unreliability as probability of error rather than probability of failure. The simulation data were also used to build up distributions of timings for simple emergency management tasks. Using additional theoretical data, this demonstrated the model's potential for assessing the probability of successf or novel situations and future designs.