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In order to achieve a full mechanistic understanding of stress corrosion cracking (SCC), the key operating mechanisms need to be identified but also quantified. In this study, we summarize and rationalize key findings from the last 15 years of high-resolution characterization of SCC in our group. A comprehensive characterization of a set of austenitic alloys with different Ni content and constant Cr level, tested under simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary water conditions at various temperatures, has revealed evidence for at least two operating mechanisms: one diffusion-related and the other deformation-related. For their relevance to the nuclear industry, two additional alloys with increased Cr content were also studied (A800 and A690). Key precursors for SCC initiation and propagation are identified and their effect on alloy degradation discussed. A list of key materials’ properties that ensure low SCC susceptibility is proposed.

I recently traveled to Washington, DC, with great anticipation for a sight that came very close to upstaging the cherry blossoms blooming on the National Mall. Once a dime-a-dozen in [...]

In late 2006, as the result of a decade-long rise in methamphetamine (meth) use and its severity, (1) as well as a corresponding rise in the number of crimes involving [...]

By itself, a total company rebrand is no easy feat. But add an outside design firm to the in-house mix, and the challenges can soar to new heights. Learn how [...]

Assembling a top-notch in-house design team is no easy task. But experienced creative team leader Ed Roberts breaks it down into 3 crucial steps that you can follow. I hate [...]

Objective: To identify and discriminate between patient and institutional determinants of investigation costs in the ICU. Design: Retrospective survey. Setting: All seven hospitals in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Participants: One hundred consecutive admissions to each of 11 ICUs. Two teaching hospitals (TH1 and TH2) each have three units (medical, surgical, and coronary care), the five community hospitals (CHs) have single combined units. TH1 operates an information-based management system. Measurements: Each admission was categorized as MEDICAL, SURGICAL, or CARDIAC. The frequency and cost of 17 laboratory or imaging procedures were collected for each admission. Demographic data included age, length of ICU stay, APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation) score, therapeutic intervention scoring system (TISS) data, and ICU survival. The primary diagnosis on admission and acquisition of significant problems or complications alter admission were collected. Results: Multivariate models revealed that length of stay, TISS score, and acquisition of a problem after ICU admission were strongly associated with increased costs m all categories (p = 0.0001). Admission to TH2 was associated with greater costs in all categories (p = 0.0001 MEDICAL and CARDIAC; p = 0.0016 SURGICAL). Admission to a CH was associated with lower cost for SURGICAL admissions (p = 0.0014), but costs at CHs were not significantly lower than at TH1 for MEDICAL (p = 0.18) or CARDIAC (p = 0.22) admissions. Conclusions: ICU investigation costs vary significantly between institutions and are not always linked to patient-dependent factors. Acquisition of nosocomial and iatrogenic events during ICU admission increases costs dramatically. Costs are not necessarily greater m teaching hospitals. (CHEST 1997; 111:1030 38) Key words: cost, cost analysis; diagnostic tests; hospital, teaching; hospital, university; intensive care units Abbreviations: ANOVA = analysis of variance, APACHE = acute physiology and chronic health evaluation; CH = community hospital LOS = length of stay; MI = myocardial infarction; PAC = pulmonary artery catheter; TH1 = teaching hospital 1; TH2 = teaching hospital 2; TISS = therapeutic intervention scoring system, In the last decade, most comparative ICU performance evaluations have concentrated on survival outcomes using predictive models.[1-4] Despite the expensive nature of critical care, there have been few attempts to [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Self-Help Federal Credit Union, the California community development credit union that bought Second Federal Savings & Loan last year, has officially reopened the failed thrift in conjunction [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts DETROIT -- NCUA said this afternoon the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services liquidated Craftsman CU and appointed the federal credit union agency as liquidating agent [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts CLEVELAND-Federal prosecutors have filed papers seeking to seize the $1 million home in suburban Solon owned by Alex Spirikaitis, the fugitive CEO of Taupa Lithuanian CU, which [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Cardtronics said this morning it has continued its acquisitions spree with a deal to acquire Cardpoint Limited, an operator of 7,100 ATMs in the U.K. and Germany [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Harland Clarke, the world's biggest check printer, reported that second quarter losses increased to $22.8 million amid costs related to billionaire Ronald Perelman taking the company private [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- Redwood CU has cancelled 18,400 debit cards in the face of an apparent hacking into the database of Raley's supermarket chain that has [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SOLON, Ohio -- The CEO of Taupa Lithuanian CU, who is being investigated in this week's failure of the $24 million credit union, is refusing to surrender [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SAN DIEGO -- Mitek, a pioneer in remote mobile deposits technology, announced this morning it has been issued a U.S. patent on its application allowing consumers to [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts AUSTIN, Texas-The Texas State Supreme Court has ruled illegal two major provisions of the state's home equity rules, the latest setback in a two-decade battle. The state's [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Technology CU announced this morning it has introduced a new way to help members avoid ATM surcharges with the debut of FeeAlert from [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The NCUA Board last week passed tough new regulations for loan participations-known in banking as syndications-that would that would set new requirements for sellers and buyers. [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Credit unions added 800,000 new members in the first quarter of the year, the best quarter ever for membership growth, the National Credit Union Administration said on [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts The National Credit Union Administration has certified last month's member vote at HarborOne Credit Union in Brockton, Mass., to convert to a mutual savings bank. The $2 [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Municipal Employees Credit Union in Baltimore has agreed to buy Advance Bank. Under a purchase and assumption deal, the $1.2 billion-asset credit union will buy most of [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts KALAMAZOO, Mich.-Community Promise FCU, a new community development credit union chartered to serve residents of the low-income Edison neighborhood, has held its grand opening. Community Promise, which [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts BROCKTON, Mass. - Members of HarborOne CU, the Bay State's second largest credit union, are mailing in their vote whether to convert the $2 billion credit union [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The NCUA Board last week approved a new rule that will replace the current Wall Street rating system as a criteria for determining the permissibility of [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts CHARLESTON, S.C. â A state court yesterday approved a request from the South Carolina Revenue Department to notify credit unions and banks of the 3.3 million bank [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts YORK, Neb. â First York Bancorp has agreed to acquire tiny Glenvil Cooperative Credit Union, in a rare acquisition of a credit union by a bank. The [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts National 1st Credit Union has agreed to acquire San Jose Credit Union. The $210-million National 1st, chartered in 1968 for National Semiconductor employees, will be the surviving [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts First Marblehead (FMD) in Boston has agreed to acquire certain assets and liabilities of Cology, a provider of student loan processing and servicing for more than 250 [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts The National Credit Union Administration filed a lawsuit against Barclays, alleging the bank's sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities to two corporate credit unions â U.S. Central and [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Three Ohio credit unions have completed a rare three-institution merger to form Pathways Financial Credit Union. The combination of Members First Credit Union, Powerco Credit Union and [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SACRAMENTO, Calif. â State regulators approved the mergers of five more troubled credit unions yesterday, including two by Credit Union of Southern California, the $600 million Brea [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts MELBOURNE, Fla. â Space Coast CU announced Thursday that NCUA and state regulators have approved the spin-off of its two Jacksonville branches to Alive CU, a continuation [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts JACKSONVILLE, Fla. â Alive CU, the former Blue Cross credit union known till last month as Healthcareâs Cooperative CU, is expanding outside of healthcare facilities with a [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts PLYMOUTH, Minn. â NCUA announced this morning it has awarded the remnants of AM Community CU, a failed $135 million Kenosha, Wis., credit union, to TruStone Financial [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts LAKELAND, Fla. â MidFlorida CU, which has been growing its branch network on the Gulf Coast, has agreed to acquire Indian River CU, a troubled $55 million [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ALEXANDRIA, Va. â NCUA said this afternoon it has taken over Trinity CU, a troubled $4 million credit union in Trinidad, Colo. The Colorado Division of Financial [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ALEXANDRIA, Va. â Pentagon FCU announced this morning its Prudential PenFed Realty CUSO has acquired Prudential Professional Realty in Clarksville, Tenn., an independent franchise outside the Fort [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts NEW YORK â Target Corp., one of the biggest retailers in the country, joined groups including the National Association of Convenience Stores in opposing the proposed $7.25 [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ST. HELENS, Ore. â St. Helens Community FCU hired a new CEO who immediately urged the board to terminate a merger agreement with nearby Wauna Federal Credit [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts SEATTLE - Prevail CU and Harborstone CU of Tacoma announced plans to combine this afternoon to create another $1 billion credit union, the state's sixth. The combination [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. â 1st Security Bank of Washington, a troubled former credit union known until 2004 as Washingtonâs CU, announced this afternoon it raised $32.4 million [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts State regulators this afternoon approved the merger of Massachusetts State Employees Credit Union, a troubled one-time $77 million credit union in Boston, into giant Metro Credit Union [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts ALEXANDRIA, Va. â The National Credit Union Administration announced Saturday morning the completion of its liquidation of WesCorp FCU, marking the end of the most costly failure [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts Officials with St. Helens Community Federal Credit Union in Oregon and nearby Wauna Federal Credit Union said they plan to merge to create a credit union with [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts, Alan Kline Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., has established a commercial loan participation program in which it will buy business loans from other credit unions [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts The board of Postal Credit Union in Woodbury, Minn., has approved an amendment to its field of membership bylaws that would allow anyone in the country who [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts RAPID CITY, S.D. â NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz told credit union executives here yesterday the agency is very close to approving a charter for a credit union [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts JACKSON, Miss.-Fast-growing Hope Community Credut Union pledged last week to add 11 new branches and increase its membership to 51,000 from its current 26,000, as part of [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts  MISSOULA, Mont. â In a rare do-over, members of Montana First CU are being asked again to approve the merger of the state's oldest credit union [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts NORFOLK, Va. â A former sailor who posed as a Navy SEAL chief to gain the trust of sailors and convince them to give him their personal [...]

Byline: Ed Roberts COLUMBUS, Ohio â Corporate One FCU said this afternoon that members of Florida's Southeast Corporate FCU have approved the combination of the two, creating one of the [...]