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This paper provides an overview of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO)—who it is, how it is structured, what it does, how it does it, and who it serves. It also provides information on how NISO members and non-members alike can participate in NISO's many global activities—activities that fill a major role in ensuring that the information community runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) - who it is, how it is structured, what it does, how it does it, and who it serves. It also provides information on how NISO Members and non-Members alike can participate in NISO's many global activities - activities that fill a major role in ensuring that the information community runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article covers the review of the modern system of international standardization in the field of information technology (IT), and the fundamental role of standards in the purposeful development of IT. Standards are important in all areas of activity, but for the IT field, which should be considered as an established scientific and applied discipline, the standards’ system plays a special role - it performs the function of a scientific and methodological basis for the IT field, representing a world of models of different levels of abstraction, including models: conceptual, architectural, functional, data, behavioral, relationships, management processes for various activities, as well as a huge set of standardized methods and tools for processing data, information and knowledge. And this world of models serves as a conceptual, scientific and instrumental basis for the further development of the IT field. Meanwhile, many of these standardized models determine the fundamental laws of information matter. In this regard, it is extremely important for university students to study the principles of building and functioning of the international standardization system in the field of IT, to study the fundamental standards for the most important areas of IT, as well as to study the system standards of the International Organization for Standardization ISO. The article discusses the structure of the international standardization system, including: official international standardization organizations (ISO, IEC, IUT), regional standardization organizations (for example, CEN, CENELEC, ETSI); national standards organizations (ANSI, AFNOR, BSI, DIN, JISC, etc.), industry consortia and professional organizations (ISOC, IAB, IETF, IRTF, IEEE, OMG, ECMA, W3C, Open Group, WFMC, OCF, ONF, Foundation SFIA, etc.). It describes the standardization processes of a number of organizations, gives examples of standards developed by them.

Glaucoma represents a chronic eye disease that becomes increasingly prevalent worldwide. Therapies are commonly based on the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP). Implant devices for micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) represent a promising therapy option in refractory cases but suffer from limitations in long term efficacy or from dislocation associated complications. Our approach of an innovative drug-eluting glaucoma microstent for MIGS was presented previously. Within the current work we developed concepts and prototypes of a mechanism for the fixation of our glaucoma microstent in the region of the corneal limbus. A tripod and a haptics design of the fixation mechanism were developed and manufactured. Semifinished products were tested with regard to dimensional stability and mechanical properties according to the standard ANSI Z80.27-2014. Considering the mechanical properties of ocular target tissues, a gelatin based in vitro model for the measurement of microstent retention force was developed. Retention force testing of microstent prototypes in vitro resulted in a proof of concept for the fixation mechanism. Future studies will focus on the use of smaller fixation fibers, for example commercially available suture material, and on an overall miniaturization of the fixation mechanism enabling the use of our applicator device with a 22G x 1½” cannula.

Since March 2014, a sustainably focused community located on a 0.7 hectares site in Portland, Oregon, USA, has been undertaking an experimental composting toilet system modeled after the Water Efficiency and Sanitation Standard (WE-Stand) set out by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). This system collects urine and hot composts human excreta in a dry-composting toilet system for eventual use on the community's organic gardens. The system design reduces the need to access municipal water, sewer, and electrical infrastructure, enhancing emergency preparedness. It conserves an otherwise wasted nutrient flow, and safely produces a valuable compost. The system consists of urine collection vessels, multiple portable collection containers for excreta, toilet paper, and additive, and a compost processor. Urine diversion has allowed the community to reclaim nitrogen and other nutrients otherwise lost in conventional sewage systems, resulting in large savings of potable water and significant carbon sequestration via topsoil creation. Logs showed thermophilic compost temperatures. Compost and urine pathogen testing met American National Standards Institute and National Sanitation Foundation Standard 41 requirements.

This paper is based upon presentations given at the inaugural 2020 NISO Plus Conference that was held February 23–25, 2020 in Baltimore, MD, USA. It provides an overview of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) - who it is, how it is structured, what it does, how it does it, and who it serves. It also provides information on how NISO Members and non-Members alike can participate in NISO's many global activities – activities that fill a major role in ensuring that the information community runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we suggest an efficient conversion for Turkish character's string, from UTF-8 to ANSI character's coding for space-preserving. Likewise, we present a decoding method that transforms the encoded ANSI string back to its original format. Unlike the one-byte ANSI characters, some of the Turkish alphabets are being stored in 2 bytes size. All that space comes at a price. The developed sequential encoding technique will reduce the size of the text file. Moreover, the Turkish encoded text will retain its original form after decoding. According to our proposal, it is considered as a lossless text compression, where it's a common concern today. Thus, many parties have become interested in Unicode compression. Basically, our algorithm is mapping Unicode Turkish characters into ANSI, by using the available 8-bit legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing evidence of the clinical significance of daytime masked hypertension (MHT) and blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV). Recently, watch-type wearable devices for self-BP measurement have become available. Such devices might be promising tools to identify patients with daytime MHT or large BPV in their real-life conditions. The present study aimed to validate the accuracy of the Omron HEM-6410T-ZM and the Omron HEM-6410T-ZL, which are automatic watch-type wearable devices for self-BP measurement, according to the American National Standards Institute, Inc/Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/International Organization for Standardization (ANSI/AAMI/ISO) 81060-2:2013 guideline. Watches were held with the wrist at heart level. The mean differences between reference BPs and HEM-6410T-ZM readings were -0.9 ± 7.6/-1.1 ± 6.1 mm Hg for systolic BP (SBP)/diastolic BP (DBP) for criterion 1, and -0.9 ± 6.8/-1.1 ± 5.5 mm Hg for SBP/DBP for criterion 2. The mean differences between reference BPs and HEM-6410T-ZL readings were 2.4 ± 7.3/0.7 ± 7.0 mm Hg for SBP/DBP for criterion 1, and 2.4 ± 6.5/0.7 ± 6.5 mm Hg for SBP/DBP for criterion 2. The Omron HEM-6410T-ZM and the Omron HEM-6410T-ZL both fulfilled both validation criteria 1 and 2 of the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The calculation of short circuit (SC) current has to be accurate because of their importance in power protection system’s design and to determine the capacity of the protective devices. Therefore, there are many standards and programs to estimate SC calculation. The aim of this paper is to provide further calculation methods’ understanding for determining SC current in PSS/E program. Here, the characteristics of SC at the busbars of Al-Nassiriya power plant; with 400/132 KV local transformers; which is part of Iraqi power system is analyzed using PSS/E program methods such as automatic sequence fault calculation (ASCC), IEC 60909 and (ANSI) standards. The finding of results comparison between the three methods refers that IEC standard result was the most accurate one in subtransient current calculation. This paper concludes that IEC have the best method to be followed in subtransient current calculations for Iraq power grid expansion studies and planning.

The calculation of short circuit (SC) current has to be accurate because of their importance in power protection system's design and to determine the capacity of the protective devices. Therefore, there are many standards and programs to estimate SC calculation. The aim of this paper is to provide further calculation methods' understanding for determining SC current in PSS/E program. Here, the characteristics of SC at the busbars of Al-Nassiriya power plant; with 400/132 KV local transformers; which is part of Iraqi power system is analyzed using PSS/E program methods such as automatic sequence fault calculation (ASCC), IEC 60909 and (ANSI) standards. The finding of results comparison between the three methods refers that IEC standard result was the most accurate one in subtransient current calculation. This paper concludes that IEC have the best method to be followed in subtransient current calculations for Iraq power grid expansion studies and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biography of Dana Ulery, the first woman to be hired as an engineer at JPL. She would be the only female engineer hired there for the next seven years. While with JPL, she worked on real-time tracking systems and algorithms for NASAs Deep Space Network. After earning her doctorate, she became a visiting lecturer for Cairo University and later transitioned to a full-time, and very long term, position at DuPont. After that, she held a senior position doing applied research at the United States Army Research Lab. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pneumatic nail guns have been shown in published studies to cause injury and death to both workers and consumers, but those equipped with sequential trigger mechanisms provide much greater safety protection against unintentional discharge than those equipped with contact triggers. In 2015 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved a revision to its 2002 nail gun standard, but failed to require sequential triggers. Substantive and procedural deficiencies in the ANSI standard's development process resulted in a scientifically unsound nail gun safety standard, detracting from its use as the basis for a mandatory national safety standard and ultimately from its ability to protect worker and consumer users. Am. J. Ind. Med. 60:147-151, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the larger sociological issues surrounding the standardization and institutionalization of safety training in the United States. The data consist of .MP3 audio files of professional development sessions recorded at a major international oil and gas safety conference. Qualitative content analysis is carried out using deductive and inductive techniques. Findings include that standards are built by subjective consensus and bypass empirically and philosophically based knowledge supporting adult education in safety training. The study also discusses the need for empirically based adult safety education in high risk industries respective to individual safety cultures. A number of reforms are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Determining if a room is suitable for audiometric testing is a part of calibration. • Ambient noise levels in a room need to be below the MPANLs specified by standards. • Alternative strategies can be used when ambient noise levels are higher than MPANLs. • Physical and administrative modifications may reduce ambient noise levels. • Various alternative strategies (e.g., change test frequency range) are discussed. Ambient noise measurement is a part of audiometric calibration in which one measures the ambient noise level in a sound room/test area intended for audiometric testing and then decides whether the background noise in the test room meets the maximum permissible ambient noise level (MPANL) requirements specified in national or international standards, e.g., ANSI/ASA S3.1:1999(R2018) or ISO 8253–1:2010 (R2021). If the ambient noise levels are below the MPANLs, clinicians can be sure that the test stimuli they present to patients are not masked by the background noise in the test room/area and their test results are valid and the subsequent clinical decisions are sound. Audiometric testing, however, may not always be carried out in sound rooms/test areas with ambient noise levels below the MPANLs, especially during community outreach or humanitarian services. A thorough understanding on the MPANL requirements for different transducers can help clinicians determine which equipment is appropriate for the test area. This tutorial discusses the rationale and assumptions behind the MPANL specifications, how to measure ambient noise levels of test rooms/areas, and how to apply the national and international standards to determine if the test room is suitable for audiometric testing. Alternative strategies are discussed when the ambient noise levels exceed the specified MPANLs. The rationale and procedures are explained using examples on how to lower the ambient noise levels in test areas, and how to determine the suitable test frequency range and the lowest threshold levels that can be assessed in the test area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO 2 was injected into a saline aquifer near the town of Ketzin in Germany from July 2008 to August 2013. To monitor CO 2 - migration close to the injection well, TNO installed a fixed 2D seismic array of 120 meters length in 2009, with 3- component (3-C) geophones at the surface, 4-component receivers at 50 meters depth and a central vertical array of 4-component receivers. The test-bed is used both for the recording of high-quality active time-lapse seismic data as well as for continuous passive seismic data recording. Here we focus on the latest results obtained from active source experiments, micro-seismic data analysis and ambient noise seismic interferometry (ANSI) of passive seismic data. Data from two experiments with a source driven by linear motors (permanent) and an impact hammer source (semi-permanent) were evaluated in order to assess the repeatability of the two source types.The repeatability of the first source was relatively high compared to the second source. After the stop of injection in August 2013, active seismic shots were acquired repeatedly on a daily basis. These data did not show significant impedance changes at reservoir level. Microseismic event analysis of passive seismic data detected a few local events originating from reservoir depth. In order to quantify these events the seismic array was successfully calibrated by using independent earthquake recording. This yielded estimates of the local magnitude for local events within the range [-2.5,0.5]. Recent work on ANSI focused on the application of this method on both synthetic and field data. The resulting reflection response shows a strong resemblance with outcomes from active shot reflection profiles, and the key reflectors at reservoir level have comparable characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian petroleum and chemical industry had basically used medium-voltage (MV) power assemblies based on ANSI/NEMA for many years. However, in the last three decades, due to the Brazilian Standard Association orientation, the users and manufacturers have been changing their philosophies to the IEC culture. As there has been an everyday increase in the opportunity and also in the need of MV electrical power distribution in petrochemical facilities, there is the chance of adopting an MV switchgear or controlgear design based on ANSI or IEC standards, according to each plant specifications. Although the use and design of MV assemblies are based on the electric power system needs and characteristics, they are also a result of the current scenario and experience of a specific petrochemical facility. Since both ANSI and IEC universes have strong experience, knowledge, and huge safety concerns in electrical equipment design and application, the final choice is an interesting decision. It is important to keep in mind that the use of MV assemblies has to face technical and safety key issues as they are connected to an industrial power system, and both ANSI and IEC deal with such requirements very carefully: each one in its own way. This paper deals with impacting topics related to MV switchgear and controlgear such as the following: 1) ANSI and IEC requirements; 2) rated values and characteristics; 3) ancillary and power equipment application; 4) safety; and 5) ergonomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this forensic engineering investigation was to determine the root-cause of failure of three 15-foot sectional ladder treestands that caused injury to users. All three treestands were identical in design and manufactured by the same company despite differences in trade names. Within a reasonable degree of scientific and engineering certainty, it was concluded that failure of the treestands was the result of overstressing the star-crimped area of the treestands at adjoining ladder sections. Overstressing was caused by a designed reduction in section modulus of the rail at adjoining ladder sections. Further, the load-bearing ability of the ladder treestands was evaluated in accordance with commonly accepted engineering principles for metal ladder design (ANSI A14.2-2007). Analysis revealed that the structural strength of the rail section and testing standards for the treestand industry are lacking when compared to portable metal ladders designed for identical load ratings. In fact, the treestands failed to meet the standard requirement for a portable metal ladder rated at 170-pounds even when the treestand was tested at 1/2 of its spanning length (2-sections). Comparisons between the treestands and portable metal ladder standards indicated that the treestands failed to meet minimum and generally accepted standards for ladder design and suggested the treestands do not meet minimum requirements for merchantability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Effective and safe use of medicines depends on patients' good understanding of the pharmacotherapy. Pictograms are a communication tool, as complement of verbal/written information, to facilitate drug use and, avoiding errors, being useful for drug effectiveness and safety. Objective To assess the ability of pharmacy's clients, in understanding USP pictograms, establishing the relationship with their socio demographic profiles. Setting The study was developed in community pharmacies, in Lisbon region. Methods Cross sectional study, carried out in pharmacies in Lisbon. A structured questionnaire was used in pharmacies clients of 18 years old and above. Legibility of fifteen USP pictograms was studied using ISO and ANSI criteria. Correlation between the legibility of pictograms and pharmacies clients' demographic profile (age, gender, scholarship, frequency of medicines use) was evaluated. SPSS data base version 18 was used for descriptive analysis. Main outcome measure Legibility of fifteen United States Pharmacopeia (USP) pictograms and, its relationship with clients' demographic data (scholarship degree, age, frequency of medicines use and, gender) was studied. Results From 751 responders, ten pictograms were legible by ISO and seven by ANSI. More than 30 % of the responders weren't able to understand five of the pictograms. It was found statistically significant relationships between some the understanding of some pictograms and clients' scholarships degree, age and frequency of medicines use. Conclusion It was found that not all the fifteen tested USP pictograms were correctly comprehended by Portuguese pharmacies' clients, having found correlations with scholarship degree, daily use of medicines and age group, for some pictograms. To ensure the effectiveness of USP pictograms it is advisable to test patients' comprehension, before their use in general practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard analysis and risk assessment techniques are utilized within many private sector industries and government agencies, including the medical device and pharmaceutical industry, within a structured process to control human injuries and environmental and property damage. In the U.S. the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) requires a hazard analysis be performed on all medical devices. While there are biomedical engineering applications reported which deal with human hazards in clinical, patient care environment, no previous studies extend these traditional techniques to a university-based, research environment. This study applies a tiered approach to hazard analysis and risk assessment to a biomedical, university-based, research environment in the design of a high throughput platform that screens chemical excipients (additives) for their ability to increase protein solubility. Each design stage (conceptual, preliminary, system, and detailed) requires a unique hazard analysis technique based on available information. The analysis techniques applied here are evaluated for their use in a biomedical research environment where experiment accuracy is a primary concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential growth in computer hardware power and computer software functionality, it is now possible to include distribution transformers and secondary systems in our engineering models. With the ever growing demands and expectations associated with “Smart Grid,” it is further becoming a requirement that we model secondary. The traditional engineering model has ended at the high side of the distribution transformer and did not necessarily include every foot of distribution line. Secondary and distribution transformers add directly to the size and complexity of the engineering database required to model each transformer and all secondary to each meter. They also add to the size and complexity of the primary system because almost all, if not all, of the primary must be modeled in order to provide connection points for transformers. This paper will discuss the reasons for modeling secondary, define the modeling requirements of center-tapped transformers, define the modeling requirements of secondary and services, explore the sensitivity of data accuracy when modeling secondary systems, explain the derivations of X/R for center-tapped transformers, illustrate transformer X/R calculations when supplied with transformer loss data, and summarize the algorithm theory required to accurately model center-tapped transformers and secondary triplex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A worker (Plaintiff) fell from a step-ladder and was injured. The purpose of the Forensic Engineering investigation was to determine the cause(s) of the incident, and in particular, if the incident was caused by a ladder defect. The incident ladder and a representative incident scene were inspected. Various discovery documents and the applicable American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard were reviewed. A critique from the opposing (Defendant's) expert is presented and addressed. The cause of the Plaintiff's fall from the ladder was determined to be its sudden instability due to the failure of a rivet that secured the top cap to the left-front rail. The failed rivet was not recovered. Further analysis indicated that the cause of the rivet failure was its defective design coupled with its reduction in shear load capacity from normal and improper use of the ladder. The determination of the defective design of the rivet was confirmed by subsequent design improvements of the ladder. The relevance of the analysis performed is discussed. Various noteworthy points are presented for consideration for Forensic Engineers of various technical disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As libraries migrate to new integrated library management systems, MARC holdings implementation often becomes an option or a requirement. The implementation of MARC holdings can be a long-term process but there are long-term advantages to using the standard. Penn State University Libraries implemented MARC holdings for serials in conjunction with their migration to a new library management system and the need to manage and display holdings information for a multi-campus library system. The implementation of MARC holdings coupled with a system implementation can be challenging for all staff. Short-term and long-term goals for holdings display and management need to be developed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]