Conservatism of the Accident Sequence Evaluation Program HRA Procedure

This paper presents a limited assessment of the conservatism of the Accident Sequence Evaluation Program (ASEP) human reliability analysis (HRA) procedure described in NUREG/CR-4772. The data for this study are derived from simulator examination reports from the NRC requalification examination cycle for nuclear power plant operators. The ASEP procedure was used to estimate human error probability (HEP) values for critical tasks, and the HEP results were compared with the failure rates observed in the examinations. The ASEP procedure was applied by PNNL operator license examiners who supplemented the limited information in the examination reports with expert judgment based upon their extensive simulator examination experience. Comparison of the average of the ASEP HEP values with the fraction of the population actually failed and demonstrated that the ASEP HEP values are larger (conservative) by a statistically significant average factor of two. Partitioning of tasks into subgroups based on the ASEP HEP values and comparison of the subgroup average ASEP HEP values with observed subgroup failure rates showed little or no conservatism for small ASEP HEP values, but considerable conservatism for larger ASEP HEP values.     

A two- sample partially sequential probability ratio test

A two-sample partially sequential probability ratio test (PSPRT) is considered for the two-sample location problem with one sample fixed and the other sequential. Observations are assumed to come from two normal poptilatlons with equal and known variances. Asymptotically in the fixed-sample size the PSPRT is a truncated Wald one sample sequential probability test. Brownian motion approximations for boundary-crossing probabilities and expected sequential sample size are obtained. These calculations are compared to values obtained by Monte Carlo simulation.     

Direct Mail and Information Diffusion: Family Planning

The success of family planning programs partially depends uponinformal diffusion within the target population. This studyexamines the effects of direct mailing on knowledge, opinionleadership, and diffusion. Information about local birth controlclinics, the pill, the IUD, and other methods of birth controlwas sent to a random half of a total sample of 300 welfare mothers.Subsequent interviews showed that the direct mailing improvedknowledge and increased diffusion, but had no effect on self-conceptas an opinion leader.     

Using nursing students to enhance one college's immunization program.

In New York State, all college students who were born on or after January 1, 1957, are required to show proof of immunity against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) before the 1st day of classes. Colleges have established immunization programs so that those students who do not have the required proof can be given the necessary injections. Often, our health service office does not have enough staff to administer the MMR shots during the registration period, resulting in long lines of students waiting to be immunized. In this article, the authors describe how one college used nursing students to assist with and enhance its immunization program. The 45 nursing students who participated in this project administered 694 injections over a 5-day period, They received credit from the nursing department for clinical time and all of the participants agree that the project was a success.     

Hallmarks of the Political in Community Organizing: An Arendtian Perspective

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Drawing upon Hannah Arendt’s adherence to existential phenomenology, the article advances a political understanding...     

All-brother crews in the North Atlantic

Le recrutement familial (pére et fils, groupe de frères) des équipages de pêche côtière dans l'Atlantique nord constitue une caractéristique constante. Même si ce type de recrutement peut être considéré comme une suite de stages successifs dans un cycle de développe-ment, on a porté peu d'attention à lévolution des équipages familiaux. A partir de données démographiques recueillies en Bretagne méridionale, l'article cherche à mettre en lumière le développement de ces équipages à travers le temps. l'analyse montre, plus précisément, que les raisons 'psychologiques' déjà avancées pour rendre compte de la nécessité et de la fragilité des équipages de fréres sont purement illusoires: les tensions peuvent être expliquées, de façon complète et constante, par la simple réalité de la pression économique.
A constant feature of the North Atlantic inshore fisheries is the familial recruitment of the crews: father and sons or all-brother crews. Although this type of recruitment represents successive stages of a developmental cycle, little attention has been devoted to the evolutive pattern of the family-based crew. Drawing on demographic data collected during fieldwork in southern Brittany, the article seeks to enlighten the developmental reality of the family crew. The analysis reveals in particular that the 'psychological' reasons put forward to account for both the necessity and fragility of all-brother crews pertain to self-deception: the cruder reality of economic pressure explains tensions thoroughly and consistently.