Knowledge Production with Asia-Centric Research Methodology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Jae

2017-01-01

Taiwanese cultural critic Kuan-Hsing Chen has elaborated and promoted an "Asia and the rest" worldview for over a decade. His "opus magnum" "Asia as Method" argues for a paradigm shift to observe Asian reality with a de-imperialized, de-colonized, and de-Cold War mentality. The work has produced academic discussions…

Coalition FORCEnet Implementation Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

C2 grid, and Engagement grid. As a result, enabled Network- Centric warfare for Coalition Forces shows a significant increase in capabilities. Joint...209 14. SUBJECT TERMS FORCEnet, Coalition Forces, AUSCANNZUKUS, Network- Centric Warfare (NCW), Data Mining, EXTEND Modeling, Expeditionary...NETWORK- CENTRIC WARFARE AND FORCENET .....................................................................................................1 B

Regimes of Performance: Practices of the Normalised Self in the Neoliberal University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrissey, John

2015-01-01

Universities today inescapably find themselves part of nationally and globally competitive networks that appear firmly inflected by neoliberal concerns of rankings, benchmarking and productivity. This, of course, has in turn led to progressively anticipated and regulated forms of academic subjectivity that many fear are overly econo-centric in…

Development of Gene Centric Modeling for Nutrient Cycling

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

opportunity to participate in the development of a gene-centric model to help predict potential changes in the biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems that may arise from anthropogenic stressors and management decisions

Being or Becoming: Toward an Open-System, Process-Centric Model of Personality.

PubMed

Giordano, Peter J

2015-12-01

Mainstream personality psychology in the West neglects the investigation of intra-individual process and variation, because it favors a Being over a Becoming ontology. A Being ontology privileges a structural (e.g., traits or selves) conception of personality. Structure-centric models in turn suggest nomothetic research strategies and the investigation of individual and group differences. This article argues for an open-system, process-centric understanding of personality anchored in an ontology of Becoming. A classical Confucian model of personality is offered as an example of a process-centric approach for investigating and appreciating within-person personality process and variation. Both quantitative and qualitative idiographic strategies can be used as methods of scientific inquiry, particularly the exploration of the Confucian exemplar of psychological health and well-being.

Geometrical study of phyllotactic patterns by Bernoulli spiral lattices.

PubMed

Sushida, Takamichi; Yamagishi, Yoshikazu

2017-06-01

Geometrical studies of phyllotactic patterns deal with the centric or cylindrical models produced by ideal lattices. van Iterson (Mathematische und mikroskopisch - anatomische Studien über Blattstellungen nebst Betrachtungen über den Schalenbau der Miliolinen, Verlag von Gustav Fischer, Jena, 1907) suggested a centric model representing ideal phyllotactic patterns as disk packings of Bernoulli spiral lattices and presented a phase diagram now called Van Iterson's diagram explaining the bifurcation processes of their combinatorial structures. Geometrical properties on disk packings were shown by Rothen & Koch (J. Phys France, 50(13), 1603-1621, 1989). In contrast, as another centric model, we organized a mathematical framework of Voronoi tilings of Bernoulli spiral lattices and showed mathematically that the phase diagram of a Voronoi tiling is graph-theoretically dual to Van Iterson's diagram. This paper gives a review of two centric models for disk packings and Voronoi tilings of Bernoulli spiral lattices. © 2017 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.

Distributed Architecture for the Object-Oriented Method for Interoperability

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-03-01

Collaborative Environment. ......................121 Figure V-2. Distributed OOMI And The Collaboration Centric Paradigm. .....................123 Figure V...of systems are formed into a system federation to resolve differences in modeling. An OOMI Integrated Development Environment (OOMI IDE) lends ...space for the creation of possible distributed systems is partitioned into User Centric systems, Processing/Storage Centric systems, Implementation

Modeling socio-cultural processes in network-centric environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Eunice E.; Santos, Eugene, Jr.; Korah, John; George, Riya; Gu, Qi; Kim, Keumjoo; Li, Deqing; Russell, Jacob; Subramanian, Suresh

2012-05-01

The major focus in the field of modeling & simulation for network centric environments has been on the physical layer while making simplifications for the human-in-the-loop. However, the human element has a big impact on the capabilities of network centric systems. Taking into account the socio-behavioral aspects of processes such as team building, group decision-making, etc. are critical to realistically modeling and analyzing system performance. Modeling socio-cultural processes is a challenge because of the complexity of the networks, dynamism in the physical and social layers, feedback loops and uncertainty in the modeling data. We propose an overarching framework to represent, model and analyze various socio-cultural processes within network centric environments. The key innovation in our methodology is to simultaneously model the dynamism in both the physical and social layers while providing functional mappings between them. We represent socio-cultural information such as friendships, professional relationships and temperament by leveraging the Culturally Infused Social Network (CISN) framework. The notion of intent is used to relate the underlying socio-cultural factors to observed behavior. We will model intent using Bayesian Knowledge Bases (BKBs), a probabilistic reasoning network, which can represent incomplete and uncertain socio-cultural information. We will leverage previous work on a network performance modeling framework called Network-Centric Operations Performance and Prediction (N-COPP) to incorporate dynamism in various aspects of the physical layer such as node mobility, transmission parameters, etc. We validate our framework by simulating a suitable scenario, incorporating relevant factors and providing analyses of the results.

Radiology Consultation in the Era of Precision Oncology: A Review of Consultation Models and Services in the Tertiary Setting.

PubMed

DiPiro, Pamela J; Krajewski, Katherine M; Giardino, Angela A; Braschi-Amirfarzan, Marta; Ramaiya, Nikhil H

2017-01-01

The purpose of the article is to describe the various radiology consultation models in the Era of Precision Medicine. Since the inception of our specialty, radiologists have served as consultants to physicians of various disciplines. A variety of radiology consultation services have been described in the literature, including clinical decision support, patient-centric, subspecialty interpretation, and/or some combination of these. In oncology care in particular, case complexity often merits open dialogue with clinical providers. To explore the utility and impact of radiology consultation services in the academic setting, this article will further describe existing consultation models and the circumstances that precipitated their development. The hybrid model successful at our tertiary cancer center is discussed. In addition, the contributions of a consultant radiologist in breast cancer care are reviewed as the archetype of radiology consultation services provided to oncology practitioners.

Data Centric Sensor Stream Reduction for Real-Time Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Aquino, Andre Luiz Lins; Nakamura, Eduardo Freire

2009-01-01

This work presents a data-centric strategy to meet deadlines in soft real-time applications in wireless sensor networks. This strategy considers three main aspects: (i) The design of real-time application to obtain the minimum deadlines; (ii) An analytic model to estimate the ideal sample size used by data-reduction algorithms; and (iii) Two data-centric stream-based sampling algorithms to perform data reduction whenever necessary. Simulation results show that our data-centric strategies meet deadlines without loosing data representativeness. PMID:22303145

Network Centric Operations: Background and Oversight Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-15

6 Overconfidence about the Effectiveness of NCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Reduced Effectiveness for Urban Counter-Insurgency...now question the effectiveness of Network Centric Operations, and its relevance to different types of conflict, including close urban combat. Others...expectations. They wonder if the DOD model for network centric operations may underestimate an enemy’s ability to deceive high technology sensors, or block the

Ontology for customer centric digital services and analytics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keat, Ng Wai; Shahrir, Mohammad Shazri

2017-11-01

In computer science research, ontologies are commonly utilised to create a unified abstract across many rich and different fields. In this paper, we apply the concept to the customer centric domain of digital services analytics and present an analytics solution ontology. The essence is based from traditional Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), which then was abstracted out to cover wider areas on customer centric digital services. The ontology we developed covers both static aspects (customer identifiers) and dynamic aspects (customer's temporal interactions). The structure of the customer scape is modeled with classes that represent different types of customer touch points, ranging from digital and digital-stamps which represent physical analogies. The dynamic aspects of customer centric digital service are modeled with a set of classes, with the importance is represented in different associations involving establishment and termination of the target interaction. The realized ontology can be used in development of frameworks for customer centric applications, and for specification of common data format used by cooperating digital service applications.

Model-centric distribution automation: Capacity, reliability, and efficiency

DOE PAGES

Onen, Ahmet; Jung, Jaesung; Dilek, Murat; ...

2016-02-26

A series of analyses along with field validations that evaluate efficiency, reliability, and capacity improvements of model-centric distribution automation are presented. With model-centric distribution automation, the same model is used from design to real-time control calculations. A 14-feeder system with 7 substations is considered. The analyses involve hourly time-varying loads and annual load growth factors. Phase balancing and capacitor redesign modifications are used to better prepare the system for distribution automation, where the designs are performed considering time-varying loads. Coordinated control of load tap changing transformers, line regulators, and switched capacitor banks is considered. In evaluating distribution automation versus traditionalmore » system design and operation, quasi-steady-state power flow analysis is used. In evaluating distribution automation performance for substation transformer failures, reconfiguration for restoration analysis is performed. In evaluating distribution automation for storm conditions, Monte Carlo simulations coupled with reconfiguration for restoration calculations are used. As a result, the evaluations demonstrate that model-centric distribution automation has positive effects on system efficiency, capacity, and reliability.« less

Model-centric distribution automation: Capacity, reliability, and efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Onen, Ahmet; Jung, Jaesung; Dilek, Murat

A series of analyses along with field validations that evaluate efficiency, reliability, and capacity improvements of model-centric distribution automation are presented. With model-centric distribution automation, the same model is used from design to real-time control calculations. A 14-feeder system with 7 substations is considered. The analyses involve hourly time-varying loads and annual load growth factors. Phase balancing and capacitor redesign modifications are used to better prepare the system for distribution automation, where the designs are performed considering time-varying loads. Coordinated control of load tap changing transformers, line regulators, and switched capacitor banks is considered. In evaluating distribution automation versus traditionalmore » system design and operation, quasi-steady-state power flow analysis is used. In evaluating distribution automation performance for substation transformer failures, reconfiguration for restoration analysis is performed. In evaluating distribution automation for storm conditions, Monte Carlo simulations coupled with reconfiguration for restoration calculations are used. As a result, the evaluations demonstrate that model-centric distribution automation has positive effects on system efficiency, capacity, and reliability.« less

Baldrige Theory into Practice: A Generic Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arif, Mohammed

2007-01-01

Purpose: The education system globally has moved from a push-based or producer-centric system to a pull-based or customer centric system. Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award (MBQA) model happens to be one of the latest additions to the pull based models. The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic framework for MBQA that can be used by…

Goal Structuring Notation in a Radiation Hardening Assurance Case for COTS-Based Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Witulski, A.; Austin, R.; Evans, J.; Mahadevan, N.; Karsai, G.; Sierawski, B.; LaBel, K.; Reed, R.

2016-01-01

The attached presentation is a summary of how mission assurance is supported by model-based representations of spacecraft systems that can define sub-system functionality and interfacing, reliability parameters, as well as detailing a new paradigm for assurance, a model-centric and not document-centric process.

``Just Another Distribution Channel?''

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemstra, Wolter; de Leeuw, Gerd-Jan; van de Kar, Els; Brand, Paul

The telecommunications-centric business model of mobile operators is under attack due to technological convergence in the communication and content industries. This has resulted in a plethora of academic contributions on the design of new business models and service platform architectures. However, a discussion of the challenges that operators are facing in adopting these models is lacking. We assess these challenges by considering the mobile network as part of the value system of the content industry. We will argue that from the perspective of a content provider the mobile network is ‘just another’ distribution channel. Strategic options available for the mobile communication operators are to deliver an excellent distribution channel for content delivery or to move upwards in the value chain by becoming a content aggregator. To become a mobile content aggregator operators will have to develop or acquire complementary resources and capabilities. Whether this strategic option is sustainable remains open.

Critical Success Factors of Internet Shopping: The Case of Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atchariyachanvanich, Kanokwan; Okada, Hitoshi; Sonehara, Noboru

This paper presents the results from a study conducted on the effect of differing factors on a customer's attitude towards using Internet shopping in Japan. The research model used was an extended version of the consumers' acceptance of virtual stores model with the addition of a new factor, need specificity, and a grouping of critical success factors based on their customer-centric and website-centric viewpoints sources. It examines how differences in the individual characteristics of customers affect the actual use of Internet shopping. According to an online questionnaire filled out by 1,215 online customers used to conduct a multiple regression analysis and a structural equation modeling analysis, the participant's gender, education level, innovativeness, net-orientation, and need specificity, which are the factors for the customer-centric viewpoints, have a positive impact on the actual use of Internet shopping. The implication also shows that Japanese online customers do not worry about the quality of service of Internet shopping, a factor in the website-centric viewpoint, as significantly as offline customers do.

Exploring Healthcare Consumer Acceptance of Personal Health Information Management Technology through Personal Health Record Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Huijuan

2013-01-01

Healthcare technologies are evolving from a practitioner-centric model to a patient-centric model due to the increasing need for technology that directly serves healthcare consumers, including healthy people and patients. Personal health information management (PHIM) technology is one of the technologies designed to enhance an individual's ability…

Upscaling key ecosystem functions across the conterminous United States by a water‐centric ecosystem model

Treesearch

Ge Sun; Peter Caldwell; Asko Noormets; Steven G. McNulty; Erika Cohen; al. et.

2011-01-01

We developed a water‐centric monthly scale simulation model (WaSSI‐C) by integrating empirical water and carbon flux measurements from the FLUXNET network and an existing water supply and demand accounting model (WaSSI). The WaSSI‐C model was evaluated with basin‐scale evapotranspiration (ET), gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE)...

A review of radio channel models for body centric communications

PubMed Central

Cotton, Simon L; D'Errico, Raffaele; Oestges, Claude

2014-01-01

The human body is an extremely challenging environment for the operation of wireless communications systems, not least because of the complex antenna-body electromagnetic interaction effects which can occur. This is further compounded by the impact of movement and the propagation characteristics of the local environment which all have an effect upon body centric communications channels. As the successful design of body area networks (BANs) and other types of body centric system is inextricably linked to a thorough understanding of these factors, the aim of this paper is to conduct a survey of the current state of the art in relation to propagation and channel models primarily for BANs but also considering other types of body centric communications. We initially discuss some of the standardization efforts performed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.15.6 task group before focusing on the two most popular types of technologies currently being considered for BANs, namely narrowband and Ultrawideband (UWB) communications. For narrowband communications the applicability of a generic path loss model is contended, before presenting some of the scenario specific models which have proven successful. The impacts of human body shadowing and small-scale fading are also presented alongside some of the most recent research into the Doppler and time dependencies of BANs. For UWB BAN communications, we again consider the path loss as well as empirical tap delay line models developed from a number of extensive channel measurement campaigns conducted by research institutions around the world. Ongoing efforts within collaborative projects such as Committee on Science and Technology Action IC1004 are also described. Finally, recent years have also seen significant developments in other areas of body centric communications such as off-body and body-to-body communications. We highlight some of the newest relevant research in these areas as well as discussing some of the advanced topics which are currently being addressed in the field of body centric communications. PMID:26430285

Leveraging standards to support patient-centric interdisciplinary plans of care.

PubMed

Dykes, Patricia C; DaDamio, Rebecca R; Goldsmith, Denise; Kim, Hyeon-eui; Ohashi, Kumiko; Saba, Virginia K

2011-01-01

As health care systems and providers move towards meaningful use of electronic health records, the once distant vision of collaborative patient-centric, interdisciplinary plans of care, generated and updated across organizations and levels of care, may soon become a reality. Effective care planning is included in the proposed Stages 2-3 Meaningful Use quality measures. To facilitate interoperability, standardization of plan of care messaging, content, information and terminology models are needed. This degree of standardization requires local and national coordination. The purpose of this paper is to review some existing standards that may be leveraged to support development of interdisciplinary patient-centric plans of care. Standards are then applied to a use case to demonstrate one method for achieving patient-centric and interoperable interdisciplinary plan of care documentation. Our pilot work suggests that existing standards provide a foundation for adoption and implementation of patient-centric plans of care that are consistent with federal requirements.

Network Centric Warfare in the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Network-Supported Operational Level Command and Control in Operation Enduring Freedom

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

Mark Adkins Director of Research Ph.D Human Communication adkins@arizona.edu Dr. John Kruse Director of Programming Ph.D Management Information Systems...Theory • Network Centric Warfare • Technology Adoption – Technology Adoption Model – Technology Transition Model • Human Communication – Social Context

AN-CASE NET-CENTRIC modeling and simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baskinger, Patricia J.; Chruscicki, Mary Carol; Turck, Kurt

2009-05-01

The objective of mission training exercises is to immerse the trainees into an environment that enables them to train like they would fight. The integration of modeling and simulation environments that can seamlessly leverage Live systems, and Virtual or Constructive models (LVC) as they are available offers a flexible and cost effective solution to extending the "war-gaming" environment to a realistic mission experience while evolving the development of the net-centric enterprise. From concept to full production, the impact of new capabilities on the infrastructure and concept of operations, can be assessed in the context of the enterprise, while also exposing them to the warfighter. Training is extended to tomorrow's tools, processes, and Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs). This paper addresses the challenges of a net-centric modeling and simulation environment that is capable of representing a net-centric enterprise. An overview of the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Airborne Networking Component Architecture Simulation Environment (AN-CASE) is provide as well as a discussion on how it is being used to assess technologies for the purpose of experimenting with new infrastructure mechanisms that enhance the scalability and reliability of the distributed mission operations environment.

Toward customer-centric organizational science: A common language effect size indicator for multiple linear regressions and regressions with higher-order terms.

PubMed

Krasikova, Dina V; Le, Huy; Bachura, Eric

2018-06-01

To address a long-standing concern regarding a gap between organizational science and practice, scholars called for more intuitive and meaningful ways of communicating research results to users of academic research. In this article, we develop a common language effect size index (CLβ) that can help translate research results to practice. We demonstrate how CLβ can be computed and used to interpret the effects of continuous and categorical predictors in multiple linear regression models. We also elaborate on how the proposed CLβ index is computed and used to interpret interactions and nonlinear effects in regression models. In addition, we test the robustness of the proposed index to violations of normality and provide means for computing standard errors and constructing confidence intervals around its estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Nursing education at Western Governors University: a modern, disruptive approach.

PubMed

Jones-Schenk, Jan

2014-01-01

Over 1 million working registered nurses (RNs) currently do not have a bachelor's degree in nursing and comprise the critical group needing to return to school in order to achieve the Institute of Medicine's goal of 80% bachelors of science in nursing (BSNs) by 2020. Western Governors University (WGU) has developed a transformative educational model, incorporating 4 operational pillars (competency-based learning, technology, disaggregated faculty roles, and a student-centric management system), to revolutionize RN-BSN education. This article describes a successful contemporary model, disrupting most all of the traditional aspects of university education for professional nursing practice. The program design is of particular value to working adults and addresses the flexibility they need to accommodate academic advancement. The WGU nursing program currently serves over 5,000 students seeking BSN and Master of Science in Nursing degrees in all 50 states. © 2014.

Initial Report of the Deans Cyber Warfare Ad Hoc Committee

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-22

in a cyber warfare environment. Among the more notable recent developments have been the establishment of a new Cyber Warfare Command (USCYBERCOM) at...information-warfare-centric organization. Clearly, future Naval Academy graduates will be expected to know more about cyber warfare than those we have...graduated in the past. The Academic Dean and Provost tasked an ad hoc committeethe Cyber Warfare ad hoc Committeeto examine how USNA can best ensure that

Mechanistic kinetic models of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis-A review.

PubMed

Jeoh, Tina; Cardona, Maria J; Karuna, Nardrapee; Mudinoor, Akshata R; Nill, Jennifer

2017-07-01

Bioconversion of lignocellulose forms the basis for renewable, advanced biofuels, and bioproducts. Mechanisms of hydrolysis of cellulose by cellulases have been actively studied for nearly 70 years with significant gains in understanding of the cellulolytic enzymes. Yet, a full mechanistic understanding of the hydrolysis reaction has been elusive. We present a review to highlight new insights gained since the most recent comprehensive review of cellulose hydrolysis kinetic models by Bansal et al. (2009) Biotechnol Adv 27:833-848. Recent models have taken a two-pronged approach to tackle the challenge of modeling the complex heterogeneous reaction-an enzyme-centric modeling approach centered on the molecularity of the cellulase-cellulose interactions to examine rate limiting elementary steps and a substrate-centric modeling approach aimed at capturing the limiting property of the insoluble cellulose substrate. Collectively, modeling results suggest that at the molecular-scale, how rapidly cellulases can bind productively (complexation) and release from cellulose (decomplexation) is limiting, while the overall hydrolysis rate is largely insensitive to the catalytic rate constant. The surface area of the insoluble substrate and the degrees of polymerization of the cellulose molecules in the reaction both limit initial hydrolysis rates only. Neither enzyme-centric models nor substrate-centric models can consistently capture hydrolysis time course at extended reaction times. Thus, questions of the true reaction limiting factors at extended reaction times and the role of complexation and decomplexation in rate limitation remain unresolved. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1369-1385. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

User-Centric Multi-Criteria Information Retrieval

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolfe, Shawn R.; Zhang, Yi

2009-01-01

Information retrieval models usually represent content only, and not other considerations, such as authority, cost, and recency. How could multiple criteria be utilized in information retrieval, and how would it affect the results? In our experiments, using multiple user-centric criteria always produced better results than a single criteria.

Modeling the Information Age Combat Model: An Agent-Based Simulation of Network Centric Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deller, Sean; Rabadi, Ghaith A.; Bell, Michael I.; Bowling, Shannon R.; Tolk, Andreas

2010-01-01

The Information Age Combat Model (IACM) was introduced by Cares in 2005 to contribute to the development of an understanding of the influence of connectivity on force effectiveness that can eventually lead to quantitative prediction and guidelines for design and employment. The structure of the IACM makes it clear that the Perron-Frobenius Eigenvalue is a quantifiable metric with which to measure the organization of a networked force. The results of recent experiments presented in Deller, et aI., (2009) indicate that the value of the Perron-Frobenius Eigenvalue is a significant measurement of the performance of an Information Age combat force. This was accomplished through the innovative use of an agent-based simulation to model the IACM and represents an initial contribution towards a new generation of combat models that are net-centric instead of using the current platform-centric approach. This paper describes the intent, challenges, design, and initial results of this agent-based simulation model.

Evolving from Course-Centric to Learning-Centric: Portfolios, Wikis, and Social Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Everhart, Deborah

2006-01-01

Teaching and learning strategies for using course management systems have evolved from basic "fill in the blank" models to interactive designs that encourage multi-formatted individual contributions and collaborative forms of learning. In keeping with the participatory development of online resources, web-based courses are shifting from…

A Domain Specific Modeling Approach for Coordinating User-Centric Communication Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Yali

2011-01-01

Rapid advances in electronic communication devices and technologies have resulted in a shift in the way communication applications are being developed. These new development strategies provide abstract views of the underlying communication technologies and lead to the so-called "user-centric communication applications." One user-centric…

Update - Concept of Operations for Integrated Model-Centric Engineering at JPL

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd J.; Bennett, Matthew; Delp, Christopher L.; Dvorak, Daniel; Jenkins, Steven J.; Mandutianu, Sanda

2011-01-01

The increasingly ambitious requirements levied on JPL's space science missions, and the development pace of such missions, challenge our current engineering practices. All the engineering disciplines face this growth in complexity to some degree, but the challenges are greatest in systems engineering where numerous competing interests must be reconciled and where complex system level interactions must be identified and managed. Undesired system-level interactions are increasingly a major risk factor that cannot be reliably exposed by testing, and natural-language single-viewpoint specifications areinadequate to capture and expose system level interactions and characteristics. Systems engineering practices must improve to meet these challenges, and the most promising approach today is the movement toward a more integrated and model-centric approach to mission conception, design, implementation and operations. This approach elevates engineering models to a principal role in systems engineering, gradually replacing traditional document centric engineering practices.

Learner Centric in M-Learning: Integration of Security, Dependability and Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahalingam, Sheila; Abdollah, Faizal Mohd; Sahib, Shahrin

2014-01-01

The paper focus on learner centric attributes in a m-learning environment encounters the security measurements. In order to build up a systematic threat and countermeasure for protecting the learners as well as providing awareness and satisfaction in utilizing the mobile learning system, a security model need to be overhauled. The brief literature…

Circle of care modelling: an approach to assist in reasoning about healthcare change using a patient-centric system.

PubMed

Price, Morgan

2016-10-04

Many health system and health Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects do not achieve their expected benefits. This paper presents an approach to exploring changes in the healthcare system to better understand the expected improvements and other changes by using a patient-centric modelling approach. Circle of care modeling (CCM) was designed to assist stakeholders in considering healthcare system changes using a patient centric approach. The CCM approach is described. It includes four steps, based on soft systems methodology: finding out, conceptual modelling, structured discussion, and describing potential improvements. There are four visualizations that are used though this process: patient-persona based rich pictures of care flows (as part of finding out), and three models: provider view, communication view, and information repository view (as part of conceptual modelling). Three case studies are presented where CCM was applied to different real-world healthcare problems: 1. Seeking improvements in continuity of care for end of life patients. 2. Exploring current practices for medication communication for ambulatory patients prior to an update of a jurisdictional drug information system. 3. Deciding how to improve attachment of patients to primary care. The cases illustrate how CCM helped stakeholders reason from a patient centered approach about gaps and improvements in care such as: data fragmentation (in 1), coordination efforts of medication management (in 2), and deciding to support a community health centre for unattached patients (in 3). The circle of care modelling approach has proved to be a useful tool in assisting stakeholders explore health system change in a patient centric approach. It is one way to instantiate the important principle of being patient centered into practice when considering health system changes.

Overcoming information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans.

PubMed

Retchin, Sheldon M

2007-04-01

Consumer-centric healthcare has been extolled as the centerpiece of a new model for managing both quality and price. However, information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) is a challenge that must be addressed. For CDHPs to work as intended and to gain acceptance, consumers need information regarding the quality and price of healthcare purchases. The federal government, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, could function as an official resource for information on performance and comparisons among facilities and providers. Because of workforce constraints among primary care physicians, a new group of healthcare professionals called "medical decision advisors" could be trained. Academic health centers would have to play a critical role in devising an appropriate curriculum, as well as designing a certification and credentialing process. However, with appropriate curricula and training, medical decision advisors could furnish information for consumers and aid in the complicated decisions they will face under CDHPs.

Image analysis tools and emerging algorithms for expression proteomics

PubMed Central

English, Jane A.; Lisacek, Frederique; Morris, Jeffrey S.; Yang, Guang-Zhong; Dunn, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Since their origins in academic endeavours in the 1970s, computational analysis tools have matured into a number of established commercial packages that underpin research in expression proteomics. In this paper we describe the image analysis pipeline for the established 2-D Gel Electrophoresis (2-DE) technique of protein separation, and by first covering signal analysis for Mass Spectrometry (MS), we also explain the current image analysis workflow for the emerging high-throughput ‘shotgun’ proteomics platform of Liquid Chromatography coupled to MS (LC/MS). The bioinformatics challenges for both methods are illustrated and compared, whilst existing commercial and academic packages and their workflows are described from both a user’s and a technical perspective. Attention is given to the importance of sound statistical treatment of the resultant quantifications in the search for differential expression. Despite wide availability of proteomics software, a number of challenges have yet to be overcome regarding algorithm accuracy, objectivity and automation, generally due to deterministic spot-centric approaches that discard information early in the pipeline, propagating errors. We review recent advances in signal and image analysis algorithms in 2-DE, MS, LC/MS and Imaging MS. Particular attention is given to wavelet techniques, automated image-based alignment and differential analysis in 2-DE, Bayesian peak mixture models and functional mixed modelling in MS, and group-wise consensus alignment methods for LC/MS. PMID:21046614

Approach jamming effectiveness evaluation for surface-type infrared decoy in network centric warship formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Mingshan

2015-10-01

The passive and photoelectrical jamming to anti-ship missile in the condition of network centric warship formation is an important research issue of fleet EW operation. An approach jamming method of shipborne surface-type infrared decoy countering the infrared image guided anti-ship missile is put forward. By analyzing the countering process the jamming effectiveness evaluation model is constructed. By simulation the method is proved t reasonable and effective. This method breaks through the traditional restrict that the passive and photoelectricity jamming measure can only be used in the end self-defence and provides a new method for network centric worship formation to support each other.

Comparison of centric and reverse-centric trajectories for highly accelerated three-dimensional saturation recovery cardiac perfusion imaging.

PubMed

Wang, Haonan; Bangerter, Neal K; Park, Daniel J; Adluru, Ganesh; Kholmovski, Eugene G; Xu, Jian; DiBella, Edward

2015-10-01

Highly undersampled three-dimensional (3D) saturation-recovery sequences are affected by k-space trajectory since the magnetization does not reach steady state during the acquisition and the slab excitation profile yields different flip angles in different slices. This study compares centric and reverse-centric 3D cardiac perfusion imaging. An undersampled (98 phase encodes) 3D ECG-gated saturation-recovery sequence that alternates centric and reverse-centric acquisitions each time frame was used to image phantoms and in vivo subjects. Flip angle variation across the slices was measured, and contrast with each trajectory was analyzed via Bloch simulation. Significant variations in flip angle were observed across slices, leading to larger signal variation across slices for the centric acquisition. In simulation, severe transient artifacts were observed when using the centric trajectory with higher flip angles, placing practical limits on the maximum flip angle used. The reverse-centric trajectory provided less contrast, but was more robust to flip angle variations. Both of the k-space trajectories can provide reasonable image quality. The centric trajectory can have higher CNR, but is more sensitive to flip angle variation. The reverse-centric trajectory is more robust to flip angle variation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A centric/non-centric impact protocol and finite element model methodology for the evaluation of American football helmets to evaluate risk of concussion.

PubMed

Post, Andrew; Oeur, Anna; Walsh, Evan; Hoshizaki, Blaine; Gilchrist, Michael D

2014-01-01

American football reports high incidences of head injuries, in particular, concussion. Research has described concussion as primarily a rotation dominant injury affecting the diffuse areas of brain tissue. Current standards do not measure how helmets manage rotational acceleration or how acceleration loading curves influence brain deformation from an impact and thus are missing important information in terms of how concussions occur. The purpose of this study was to investigate a proposed three-dimensional impact protocol for use in evaluating football helmets. The dynamic responses resulting from centric and non-centric impact conditions were examined to ascertain the influence they have on brain deformations in different functional regions of the brain that are linked to concussive symptoms. A centric and non-centric protocol was used to impact an American football helmet; the resulting dynamic response data was used in conjunction with a three-dimensional finite element analysis of the human brain to calculate brain tissue deformation. The direction of impact created unique loading conditions, resulting in peaks in different regions of the brain associated with concussive symptoms. The linear and rotational accelerations were not predictive of the brain deformation metrics used in this study. In conclusion, the test protocol used in this study revealed that impact conditions influences the region of loading in functional regions of brain tissue that are associated with the symptoms of concussion. The protocol also demonstrated that using brain deformation metrics may be more appropriate when evaluating risk of concussion than using dynamic response data alone.

A Web Service-Based Framework Model for People-Centric Sensing Applications Applied to Social Networking

PubMed Central

Nunes, David; Tran, Thanh-Dien; Raposo, Duarte; Pinto, André; Gomes, André; Silva, Jorge Sá

2012-01-01

As the Internet evolved, social networks (such as Facebook) have bloomed and brought together an astonishing number of users. Mashing up mobile phones and sensors with these social environments enables the creation of people-centric sensing systems which have great potential for expanding our current social networking usage. However, such systems also have many associated technical challenges, such as privacy concerns, activity detection mechanisms or intermittent connectivity, as well as limitations due to the heterogeneity of sensor nodes and networks. Considering the openness of the Web 2.0, good technical solutions for these cases consist of frameworks that expose sensing data and functionalities as common Web-Services. This paper presents our RESTful Web Service-based model for people-centric sensing frameworks, which uses sensors and mobile phones to detect users’ activities and locations, sharing this information amongst the user’s friends within a social networking site. We also present some screenshot results of our experimental prototype. PMID:22438732

A Web Service-based framework model for people-centric sensing applications applied to social networking.

PubMed

Nunes, David; Tran, Thanh-Dien; Raposo, Duarte; Pinto, André; Gomes, André; Silva, Jorge Sá

2012-01-01

As the Internet evolved, social networks (such as Facebook) have bloomed and brought together an astonishing number of users. Mashing up mobile phones and sensors with these social environments enables the creation of people-centric sensing systems which have great potential for expanding our current social networking usage. However, such systems also have many associated technical challenges, such as privacy concerns, activity detection mechanisms or intermittent connectivity, as well as limitations due to the heterogeneity of sensor nodes and networks. Considering the openness of the Web 2.0, good technical solutions for these cases consist of frameworks that expose sensing data and functionalities as common Web-Services. This paper presents our RESTful Web Service-based model for people-centric sensing frameworks, which uses sensors and mobile phones to detect users' activities and locations, sharing this information amongst the user's friends within a social networking site. We also present some screenshot results of our experimental prototype.

Model-centric approaches for the development of health information systems.

PubMed

Tuomainen, Mika; Mykkänen, Juha; Luostarinen, Heli; Pöyhölä, Assi; Paakkanen, Esa

2007-01-01

Modeling is used increasingly in healthcare to increase shared knowledge, to improve the processes, and to document the requirements of the solutions related to health information systems (HIS). There are numerous modeling approaches which aim to support these aims, but a careful assessment of their strengths, weaknesses and deficiencies is needed. In this paper, we compare three model-centric approaches in the context of HIS development: the Model-Driven Architecture, Business Process Modeling with BPMN and BPEL and the HL7 Development Framework. The comparison reveals that all these approaches are viable candidates for the development of HIS. However, they have distinct strengths and abstraction levels, they require local and project-specific adaptation and offer varying levels of automation. In addition, illustration of the solutions to the end users must be improved.

Entity-Centric Abstraction and Modeling Framework for Transportation Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewe, Jung-Ho; DeLaurentis, Daniel A.; Mavris, Dimitri N.; Schrage, Daniel P.

2007-01-01

A comprehensive framework for representing transpportation architectures is presented. After discussing a series of preceding perspectives and formulations, the intellectual underpinning of the novel framework using an entity-centric abstraction of transportation is described. The entities include endogenous and exogenous factors and functional expressions are offered that relate these and their evolution. The end result is a Transportation Architecture Field which permits analysis of future concepts under the holistic perspective. A simulation model which stems from the framework is presented and exercised producing results which quantify improvements in air transportation due to advanced aircraft technologies. Finally, a modeling hypothesis and its accompanying criteria are proposed to test further use of the framework for evaluating new transportation solutions.

Paladin Integrated Management (PIM)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Strategy and Net- Centric Services Strategy, and the principles and rules identified in the DoD lEA, excepting tactical and non-IP communications 3...with Net-Centric Data Strategy and Net- Centric Services Strategy, and the principles and rules identified in the DoD lEA, excepting tactical and...effective information exchanges 2) Compliant with Net-Centric Data Strategy and Net-Centric Services Strategy, and the principles and rules

Exploring the impact of different multi-level measures of physician communities in patient-centric care networks on healthcare outcomes: A multi-level regression approach.

PubMed

Uddin, Shahadat

2016-02-04

A patient-centric care network can be defined as a network among a group of healthcare professionals who provide treatments to common patients. Various multi-level attributes of the members of this network have substantial influence to its perceived level of performance. In order to assess the impact different multi-level attributes of patient-centric care networks on healthcare outcomes, this study first captured patient-centric care networks for 85 hospitals using health insurance claim dataset. From these networks, this study then constructed physician collaboration networks based on the concept of patient-sharing network among physicians. A multi-level regression model was then developed to explore the impact of different attributes that are organised at two levels on hospitalisation cost and hospital length of stay. For Level-1 model, the average visit per physician significantly predicted both hospitalisation cost and hospital length of stay. The number of different physicians significantly predicted only the hospitalisation cost, which has significantly been moderated by age, gender and Comorbidity score of patients. All Level-1 findings showed significance variance across physician collaboration networks having different community structure and density. These findings could be utilised as a reflective measure by healthcare decision makers. Moreover, healthcare managers could consider them in developing effective healthcare environments.

Toward a patient-centric medical information model: issues and challenges for US adoption.

PubMed

Lorence, Daniel; Monatesti, Sabatini; Margenthaler, Robert; Hoadley, Ellen

2005-01-01

As the USA moves, incrementally, toward evidence-based medicine, there is growing awareness of the importance of innovation in information management. Mandates for change include improved use of resources, accelerated diffusion of knowledge and an advanced consumer role. Key among these requirements is the need for a fundamentally different patient information recording system. Within the challenges identified in the most recent national health information technology initiative, we propose a model for an electronic, patient-centric medical information infrastructure, highlighting a transportable, scalable and integrated resource. We identify resources available for technology transfer, promoting consumers as integral parts of the collaborative medical decision-making process.

A Framework for Architecture-Based Planning and Assessment to Support Modeling and Simulation of Network-Centric Command and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-17

included system-unique specifications derived to counter these threats. But the international security environment has changed --- and it will continue... Netowrk -Centric Command and Control 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK...contains color images. 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 20 19a. NAME

A complications-based clinical staging of obesity to guide treatment modality and intensity

PubMed Central

Daniel, Sunil; Soleymani, Taraneh; Garvey, William T.

2014-01-01

Purpose of review The current medical model for obesity management is BMI-centric because BMI is the predominant measure used to gauge disease severity, as well as indications for various treatment modalities. Recent advancements in therapy and understanding of the relationship between BMI and obesity-related complications call for a re-examination of this approach. Recent findings Advancements in treatment, including the recent approval of two new weight loss medications in the USA, have enabled development of new medical models for management of obesity. On the basis of accumulating data demonstrating the benefits of weight loss regarding multiple obesity-related complications (e.g., diabetes prevention, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease risk, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, sleep apnea), a complications-centric model is proposed that employs weight loss as a tool to treat and prevent obesity comorbidities. This model assures that the aggressiveness of therapy is commensurate with disease severity, and that therapy is directed at those obese patients who will benefit most from weight loss therapy. The treatment algorithm is comprehensive in addressing complications and quantitative when possible in the staging of risk or disease severity. Summary A complications-centric approach to obesity management identifies patients who will benefit most from weight loss, and optimizes patient outcomes, benefit/risk ratio, and the cost–effectiveness of interventions. PMID:23974764

Conceptualising a child-centric paradigm : do we have freedom of choice in donor conception reproduction?

PubMed

Adams, Damian H

2013-10-01

Since its inception, donor conception practices have been a reproductive choice for the infertile. Past and current practices have the potential to cause significant and lifelong harm to the offspring through loss of kinship, heritage, identity, and family health history, and possibly through introducing physical problems. Legislation and regulation in Australia that specifies that the welfare of the child born as a consequence of donor conception is paramount may therefore be in conflict with the outcomes. Altering the paradigm to a child-centric model, however, impinges on reproductive choice and rights of adults involved in the process. With some lobby groups pushing for increased reproductive choice while others emphasise offspring rights there is a dichotomy of interests that society and legislators need to address. Concepts pertaining to a shift toward a child-centric paradigm are discussed.

Journeying with HIV patients across the health care spectrum - an examination of a seamless model of HIV Psychiatry of a large urban general hospital.

PubMed

Chan, Lai Gwen; Carvalhal, Adriana

2015-01-01

To describe a model of HIV psychiatry used in an urban hospital in Toronto and examine it against current literature. Using a narrative method, we elaborate on how this model delivers care across many different settings and the integral roles that the HIV psychiatrist plays in each of these settings. This is articulated against a backdrop of existing literature regarding models of HIV care. This model is an example of an integrated model as opposed to a traditional consultation-liaison model and is able to deliver seamless care while remaining focused on patient-centric care. An HIV psychiatrist delivers seamless and patient-centric care by journeying with patients across the healthcare spectrum and playing different roles in different care settings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Men caretakers of life: Training in gender-sensitive masculinities for the prevention of violence towards women in Medellin].

PubMed

Ariza-Sosa, Gladys Rocío; Gaviria, Silvia L; Geldres-García, Denis A; Vargas-Romero, Rosamarina

2015-01-01

The training strategies targeted at men so as to reflect on the cultural patterns of patriarchy are an alternative in the promotion of human rights, the prevention of violence towards women and the mainstreaming of gender equality in public policies. With a socio-critical pedagogical approach, we conducted a Training Certification Program in gender equality and gender-sensitive masculinities, for a group of 76 male civil servants and civic leaders in the Colombian city of Medellin, for the purpose of questioning their gender socialization in the patriarchal model, directed towards the development and execution of social, educational or communications projects. The projects proposed by the participants criticize the andro-centric, sexist and discriminatory discourses regarding women that circulate in a manner predominant in their academic, workplace and family ambits, with a gender political commitment and respect for diversity. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Measuring patient-perceived hospital service quality: a conceptual framework.

PubMed

Pai, Yogesh P; Chary, Satyanarayana T

2016-04-18

Purpose - Although measuring healthcare service quality is not a new phenomenon, the instruments used to measure are timeworn. With the shift in focus to patient centric processes in hospitals and recognizing healthcare to be different compared to other services, service quality measurement needs to be tuned specifically to healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to design a conceptual framework for measuring patient perceived hospital service quality (HSQ), based on existing service quality literature. Design/methodology/approach - Using HSQ theories, expanding existing healthcare service models and literature, a conceptual framework is proposed to measure HSQ. The paper outlines patient perceived service quality dimensions. Findings - An instrument for measuring HSQ dimensions is developed and compared with other service quality measuring instruments. The latest dimensions are in line with previous studies, but a relationship dimension is added. Practical implications - The framework empowers managers to assess healthcare quality in corporate, public and teaching hospitals. Originality/value - The paper helps academics and practitioners to assess HSQ from a patient perspective.

76 FR 21405 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Network Centric...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-15

... group research project. Membership in this group research project remains open, and Network Centric... Production Act of 1993--Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on..., 15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (``the Act''), Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium, Inc. (``NCOIC...

Effects of desolvation barriers and sidechains on local-nonlocal coupling and chevron behaviors in coarse-grained models of protein folding.

PubMed

Chen, Tao; Chan, Hue Sun

2014-04-14

Local-nonlocal coupling is an organizational principle in protein folding. It envisions a cooperative energetic interplay between local conformational preferences and favorable nonlocal contacts. Previous theoretical studies by our group showed that two classes of native-centric coarse-grained models can capture the experimentally observed high degrees of protein folding cooperativity and diversity in folding rates. These models either embody an explicit local-nonlocal coupling mechanism or incorporate desolvation barriers in the models' pairwise interactions. Here a conceptual connection is made between these two paradigmatic coarse-grained interaction schemes by showing that desolvation barriers enhance local-nonlocal coupling. Furthermore, we find that a class of coarse-grained protein models with a single-site representation of sidechains also increases local-nonlocal coupling relative to mainchain models without sidechains. Enhanced local-nonlocal coupling generally leads to higher folding cooperativity and chevron plots with more linear folding arms. For the sidechain models studied, the chevron plot simulated with entirely native-centric intrachain interactions behaves very similarly to the corresponding chevron plots simulated with interactions that are partly modulated by sequence- and denaturant-dependent transfer free energies. In these essentially native-centric models, the mild chevron rollovers in the simulated folding arm are caused by occasionally populated intermediates as well as the movement of the unfolded and putative folding transition states. The strength and limitation of the models are analyzed by comparison with experiment. New formulations of sidechain models that may provide a physical account for nonnative interactions are also explored.

Sensor Exposure, Exploitation, and Experimentation Environment (SE4)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buell, D.; Duff, F.; Goding, J.; Bankston, M.; McLaughlin, T.; Six, S.; Taylor, S.; Wootton, S.

2011-09-01

As the resident space object population increases from new launches and events such as the COSMOS/IRIDIUM collision, the maintenance of high-level Space Situational Awareness (SSA) has become increasingly difficult. To maintain situational awareness of the changing environment, new systems and methods must be developed. The Sensor Exposure, Exploitation and Experimentation Environment (SE4) provides a platform to illustrate “The Art of the Possible” that shows the potential benefit of enriched sensor data collections and real-time data sharing. Through modeling and simulation, and a net-centric architecture, SE4 shows the added value of sharing data in real-time and exposing new types of sensor data. The objective of SE4 is to develop an experimentation and innovation environment for sensor data exposure, composable sensor capabilities, reuse, and exploitation that accelerates the delivery of needed Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities to the warfighter. Through modeling, simulation and rapid prototyping, the art of the possible for a fully-connected, net-centric space Command and Control (C2) and sensor enterprise can be demonstrated. This paper provides results that demonstrate the potential for faster cataloging of breakup events and additional event monitoring that are possible with data available today in the Space Surveillance Network (SSN). Demonstrating the art of the possible for the enterprise will guide net-centric requirements definition and facilitate discussions with stakeholder organizations on the Concept of Operations (CONOPS), policy, and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) evolution necessary to take full advantage of net-centric operations. SE4 aligns with direction from Secretary Gates and the Chairman Joint Chief of Staff that emphasizes the need to get the most out of our existing systems. Continuing to utilize SE4 will enable the enterprise by demonstrating the benefits of applying innovative net-centric concepts to SSA, resulting in efficient use of sensors, agile response to space events, and improved maintenance of the Space Catalog.

Adaptation, expertise, and giftedness: towards an understanding of cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar network contributions.

PubMed

Koziol, Leonard F; Budding, Deborah Ely; Chidekel, Dana

2010-12-01

Current cortico-centric models of cognition lack a cohesive neuroanatomic framework that sufficiently considers overlapping levels of function, from "pathological" through "normal" to "gifted" or exceptional ability. While most cognitive theories presume an evolutionary context, few actively consider the process of adaptation, including concepts of neurodevelopment. Further, the frequent co-occurrence of "gifted" and "pathological" function is difficult to explain from a cortico-centric point of view. This comprehensive review paper proposes a framework that includes the brain's vertical organization and considers "giftedness" from an evolutionary and neurodevelopmental vantage point. We begin by discussing the current cortico-centric model of cognition and its relationship to intelligence. We then review an integrated, dual-tiered model of cognition that better explains the process of adaptation by simultaneously allowing for both stimulus-based processing and higher-order cognitive control. We consider the role of the basal ganglia within this model, particularly in relation to reward circuitry and instrumental learning. We review the important role of white matter tracts in relation to speed of adaptation and development of behavioral mastery. We examine the cerebellum's critical role in behavioral refinement and in cognitive and behavioral automation, particularly in relation to expertise and giftedness. We conclude this integrated model of brain function by considering the savant syndrome, which we believe is best understood within the context of a dual-tiered model of cognition that allows for automaticity in adaptation as well as higher-order executive control.

On the centrality of disturbance rejection in automatic control.

PubMed

Gao, Zhiqiang

2014-07-01

In this paper, it is shown that the problem of automatic control is, in essence, that of disturbance rejection, with the notion of disturbance generalized to symbolize the uncertainties, both internal and external to the plant. A novel, unifying concept of disturbance rejector is proposed to compliment the traditional notion of controller. The new controller-rejector pair is shown to be a powerful organizing principle in the realm of automatic control, leading to a Copernican moment where the model-centric design philosophy is replaced by the one that is control-centric in the following sense: the controller is designed for a canonical model and is fixed; the difference between the plant and the canonical model is deemed as disturbance and rejected. © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards a Scalable and Adaptive Application Support Platform for Large-Scale Distributed E-Sciences in High-Performance Network Environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Chase Qishi; Zhu, Michelle Mengxia

The advent of large-scale collaborative scientific applications has demonstrated the potential for broad scientific communities to pool globally distributed resources to produce unprecedented data acquisition, movement, and analysis. System resources including supercomputers, data repositories, computing facilities, network infrastructures, storage systems, and display devices have been increasingly deployed at national laboratories and academic institutes. These resources are typically shared by large communities of users over Internet or dedicated networks and hence exhibit an inherent dynamic nature in their availability, accessibility, capacity, and stability. Scientific applications using either experimental facilities or computation-based simulations with various physical, chemical, climatic, and biological models featuremore » diverse scientific workflows as simple as linear pipelines or as complex as a directed acyclic graphs, which must be executed and supported over wide-area networks with massively distributed resources. Application users oftentimes need to manually configure their computing tasks over networks in an ad hoc manner, hence significantly limiting the productivity of scientists and constraining the utilization of resources. The success of these large-scale distributed applications requires a highly adaptive and massively scalable workflow platform that provides automated and optimized computing and networking services. This project is to design and develop a generic Scientific Workflow Automation and Management Platform (SWAMP), which contains a web-based user interface specially tailored for a target application, a set of user libraries, and several easy-to-use computing and networking toolkits for application scientists to conveniently assemble, execute, monitor, and control complex computing workflows in heterogeneous high-performance network environments. SWAMP will enable the automation and management of the entire process of scientific workflows with the convenience of a few mouse clicks while hiding the implementation and technical details from end users. Particularly, we will consider two types of applications with distinct performance requirements: data-centric and service-centric applications. For data-centric applications, the main workflow task involves large-volume data generation, catalog, storage, and movement typically from supercomputers or experimental facilities to a team of geographically distributed users; while for service-centric applications, the main focus of workflow is on data archiving, preprocessing, filtering, synthesis, visualization, and other application-specific analysis. We will conduct a comprehensive comparison of existing workflow systems and choose the best suited one with open-source code, a flexible system structure, and a large user base as the starting point for our development. Based on the chosen system, we will develop and integrate new components including a black box design of computing modules, performance monitoring and prediction, and workflow optimization and reconfiguration, which are missing from existing workflow systems. A modular design for separating specification, execution, and monitoring aspects will be adopted to establish a common generic infrastructure suited for a wide spectrum of science applications. We will further design and develop efficient workflow mapping and scheduling algorithms to optimize the workflow performance in terms of minimum end-to-end delay, maximum frame rate, and highest reliability. We will develop and demonstrate the SWAMP system in a local environment, the grid network, and the 100Gpbs Advanced Network Initiative (ANI) testbed. The demonstration will target scientific applications in climate modeling and high energy physics and the functions to be demonstrated include workflow deployment, execution, steering, and reconfiguration. Throughout the project period, we will work closely with the science communities in the fields of climate modeling and high energy physics including Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) projects to mature the system for production use.« less

Interactive Model-Centric Systems Engineering (IMCSE) Phase 5

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-28

Conducting Program Team Launches ................................................................................................. 12 Informing Policy...research advances knowledge relevant to human interaction with models and model-generated information . Figure 1 highlights several questions the...stakeholders interact using models and model generated information ; facets of human interaction with visualizations and large data sets; and underlying

Accelerating Science to Action: NGOs Catalyzing Scientific Research using Philanthropic/Corporate Funding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamburg, S.

2017-12-01

While government funding of scientific research has been the bedrock of scientific advances in the US, it is seldom quick or directly responsive to societal needs. If we are to effectively respond to the increasingly urgent needs for new science to address the environmental and social challenges faced by humanity and the environment we need to deploy new scientific models to augment government-centric approaches. The Environmental Defense Fund has developed an approach that accelerates the development and uptake of new science in pursuit of science-based policy to fill the gap while government research efforts are initiated. We utilized this approach in developing the data necessary to quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas supply chain. This effort was based on five key principles: studies led by an academic researchers; deployment of multiple methods whenever possible (e.g. top-down and bottom-up); all data made public (identity but not location masked when possible); external scientific review; results released in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The research to quantify methane emissions involved > 150 scientists from 40 institutions, resulting in 35 papers published over four years. In addition to the research community companies operating along the oil and gas value chain participated by providing access to sites/vehicles and funding for a portion of the academic research. The bulk of funding came from philanthropic sources. Overall the use of this alternative research/funding model allowed for the more rapid development of a robust body of policy-relevant knowledge that addressed an issue of high societal interest/value.

Analyzing the Effects of Network Centric Warfare on Warfighter Empowerment

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-06-01

5 D ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY...16 D . THEORETICAL MODEL OF EMPOWERMENT...Technology Defined ............................................................................33 D . IMPLEMENTING IT THROUGH INTEGRATED INFORMATION

Development of 3D and 4D Bridge Models and Plans

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-05-28

Since 2012, MDOT has been leading national efforts to modernize design development with 3D modeling. Early focus on roadway projects yielded streamlined plan production and digital data for construction. As MDOT pivots to 3D model-centric design, nat...

Requirements Management for Net-Centric Enterprises. Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-28

These include Business Process Modeling Notation ( BPMN ) (White and Miers 2008) and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) (Sarang, Juric et al...UML: Modeling, Analysis, Design, Morgan Kaufmann/The OMG Press. White, S. A. and D. Miers (2008). BPMN Modeling and Reference Guide, Future

A Unified Data-Driven Approach for Programming In Situ Analysis and Visualization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aiken, Alex

The placement and movement of data is becoming the key limiting factor on both performance and energy efficiency of high performance computations. As systems generate more data, it is becoming increasingly difficult to actually move that data elsewhere for post-processing, as the rate of improvements in supporting I/O infrastructure is not keeping pace. Together, these trends are creating a shift in how we think about exascale computations, from a viewpoint that focuses on FLOPS to one that focuses on data and data-centric operations as fundamental to the reasoning about, and optimization of, scientific workflows on extreme-scale architectures. The overarching goalmore » of our effort was the study of a unified data-driven approach for programming applications and in situ analysis and visualization. Our work was to understand the interplay between data-centric programming model requirements at extreme-scale and the overall impact of those requirements on the design, capabilities, flexibility, and implementation details for both applications and the supporting in situ infrastructure. In this context, we made many improvements to the Legion programming system (one of the leading data-centric models today) and demonstrated in situ analyses on real application codes using these improvements.« less

Transition from intelligence cycle to intelligence process: the network-centric intelligence in narrow seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Büker, Engin

2015-05-01

The defence technologies which have been developing and changing rapidly, today make it difficult to be able to foresee the next environment and spectrum of warfare. When said change and development is looked in specific to the naval operations, it can be said that the possible battlefield and scenarios to be developed in the near and middle terms (5-20 years) are more clarified with compare to other force components. Network Centric Naval Warfare Concept that was developed for the floating, diving and flying fleet platforms which serves away from its own mainland for miles, will keep its significance in the future. Accordingly, Network Centric Intelligence structure completely integrating with the command and control systems will have relatively more importance. This study will firstly try to figure out the transition from the traditional intelligence cycle that is still used in conventional war to Network Centric Intelligence Production Process. In the last part, the use of this new approach on the base of UAV that is alternative to satellite based command control and data transfer systems in the joint operations in narrow seas will be examined, a model suggestion for the use of operative and strategic UAVs which are assured within the scope of the NATO AGS2 for this aim will be brought.

G‐LoSA: An efficient computational tool for local structure‐centric biological studies and drug design

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract Molecular recognition by protein mostly occurs in a local region on the protein surface. Thus, an efficient computational method for accurate characterization of protein local structural conservation is necessary to better understand biology and drug design. We present a novel local structure alignment tool, G‐LoSA. G‐LoSA aligns protein local structures in a sequence order independent way and provides a GA‐score, a chemical feature‐based and size‐independent structure similarity score. Our benchmark validation shows the robust performance of G‐LoSA to the local structures of diverse sizes and characteristics, demonstrating its universal applicability to local structure‐centric comparative biology studies. In particular, G‐LoSA is highly effective in detecting conserved local regions on the entire surface of a given protein. In addition, the applications of G‐LoSA to identifying template ligands and predicting ligand and protein binding sites illustrate its strong potential for computer‐aided drug design. We hope that G‐LoSA can be a useful computational method for exploring interesting biological problems through large‐scale comparison of protein local structures and facilitating drug discovery research and development. G‐LoSA is freely available to academic users at http://im.compbio.ku.edu/GLoSA/. PMID:26813336

G-LoSA: An efficient computational tool for local structure-centric biological studies and drug design.

PubMed

Lee, Hui Sun; Im, Wonpil

2016-04-01

Molecular recognition by protein mostly occurs in a local region on the protein surface. Thus, an efficient computational method for accurate characterization of protein local structural conservation is necessary to better understand biology and drug design. We present a novel local structure alignment tool, G-LoSA. G-LoSA aligns protein local structures in a sequence order independent way and provides a GA-score, a chemical feature-based and size-independent structure similarity score. Our benchmark validation shows the robust performance of G-LoSA to the local structures of diverse sizes and characteristics, demonstrating its universal applicability to local structure-centric comparative biology studies. In particular, G-LoSA is highly effective in detecting conserved local regions on the entire surface of a given protein. In addition, the applications of G-LoSA to identifying template ligands and predicting ligand and protein binding sites illustrate its strong potential for computer-aided drug design. We hope that G-LoSA can be a useful computational method for exploring interesting biological problems through large-scale comparison of protein local structures and facilitating drug discovery research and development. G-LoSA is freely available to academic users at http://im.compbio.ku.edu/GLoSA/. © 2016 The Protein Society.

Agile IT: Thinking in User-Centric Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margaria, Tiziana; Steffen, Bernhard

We advocate a new teaching direction for modern CS curricula: extreme model-driven development (XMDD), a new development paradigm designed to continuously involve the customer/application expert throughout the whole systems' life cycle. Based on the `One-Thing Approach', which works by successively enriching and refining one single artifact, system development becomes in essence a user-centric orchestration of intuitive service functionality. XMDD differs radically from classical software development, which, in our opinion is no longer adequate for the bulk of application programming - in particular when it comes to heterogeneous, cross organizational systems which must adapt to rapidly changing market requirements. Thus there is a need for new curricula addressing this model-driven, lightweight, and cooperative development paradigm that puts the user process in the center of the development and the application expert in control of the process evolution.

Military clouds: utilization of cloud computing systems at the battlefield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Süleyman, Sarıkürk; Volkan, Karaca; İbrahim, Kocaman; Ahmet, Şirzai

2012-05-01

Cloud computing is known as a novel information technology (IT) concept, which involves facilitated and rapid access to networks, servers, data saving media, applications and services via Internet with minimum hardware requirements. Use of information systems and technologies at the battlefield is not new. Information superiority is a force multiplier and is crucial to mission success. Recent advances in information systems and technologies provide new means to decision makers and users in order to gain information superiority. These developments in information technologies lead to a new term, which is known as network centric capability. Similar to network centric capable systems, cloud computing systems are operational today. In the near future extensive use of military clouds at the battlefield is predicted. Integrating cloud computing logic to network centric applications will increase the flexibility, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and accessibility of network-centric capabilities. In this paper, cloud computing and network centric capability concepts are defined. Some commercial cloud computing products and applications are mentioned. Network centric capable applications are covered. Cloud computing supported battlefield applications are analyzed. The effects of cloud computing systems on network centric capability and on the information domain in future warfare are discussed. Battlefield opportunities and novelties which might be introduced to network centric capability by cloud computing systems are researched. The role of military clouds in future warfare is proposed in this paper. It was concluded that military clouds will be indispensible components of the future battlefield. Military clouds have the potential of improving network centric capabilities, increasing situational awareness at the battlefield and facilitating the settlement of information superiority.

An Extended Petri-Net Based Approach for Supply Chain Process Enactment in Resource-Centric Web Service Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaodong; Zhang, Xiaoyu; Cai, Hongming; Xu, Boyi

Enacting a supply-chain process involves variant partners and different IT systems. REST receives increasing attention for distributed systems with loosely coupled resources. Nevertheless, resource model incompatibilities and conflicts prevent effective process modeling and deployment in resource-centric Web service environment. In this paper, a Petri-net based framework for supply-chain process integration is proposed. A resource meta-model is constructed to represent the basic information of resources. Then based on resource meta-model, XML schemas and documents are derived, which represent resources and their states in Petri-net. Thereafter, XML-net, a high level Petri-net, is employed for modeling control and data flow of process. From process model in XML-net, RESTful services and choreography descriptions are deduced. Therefore, unified resource representation and RESTful services description are proposed for cross-system integration in a more effective way. A case study is given to illustrate the approach and the desirable features of the approach are discussed.

Space Fence Ground-Based Radar System Increment 1 (Space Fence Inc 1)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Net - Centric Data Strategy and Net-Centric Services Strategy, and the principles and rules identified in the DoD IEA, excepting tactical and...Centric Data Strategy and Net- Centric Services Strategy, and the principles and rules identified in the DoD IEA, excepting tactical and non-IP...Strategy, and the principles and rules identified in the DoD IEA, excepting tactical and non-IP communi- cations. Compliant with TBD Space Fence must

Assessment of the Incorporation of Patient-Centric Outcomes in Studies of Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgical Devices

PubMed Central

Le, Jimmy T.; Viswanathan, Shilpa; Tarver, Michelle E.; Eydelman, Malvina; Li, Tianjing

2017-01-01

IMPORTANCE Minimally invasive glaucoma surgical (MIGS) devices are one option for lowering intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma. OBJECTIVE To examine how often existing clinical studies of MIGS devices registered on ClinicalTrials.gov measure patient-centric outcomes that patients value directly. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We searched ClinicalTrials.gov, a registry of publicly and privately supported clinical studies, on February 20, 2015, for records of MIGS device studies involving patients with glaucoma. Two investigators independently abstracted study design and outcome details from eligible records. We classified outcomes as patient-centric or not patient-centric using a prespecified definition. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Proportion of patient-centric and nonpatient-centric outcomes registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. RESULTS We identified 51 eligible studies specifying 127 outcomes. Reduction in intraocular pressure was the most frequent outcome specified (78/127; 61%) and a primary outcome in 41 studies. Patient-centric outcomes—such as adverse events (n = 19; 15%), topical medication use (n = 16; 13%), visual acuity (n = 4; 3%), and health-related quality of life (n = 1; 1%)—were less frequently specified (n = 40; 32%) and a primary outcome in only 12 studies. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE Patient-centric outcomes that provide insight into the relative desirability and acceptability of the benefits and risks of MIGS devices are not well represented in current clinical studies. PMID:27389667

Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-18

foundation of shared services , mission-centric operations, and integrated mission management.”14 In addition to well known threats from terrorist groups and...centric practices to “a true Intelligence enterprise established on a collaborative foundation of shared services , mission-centric operations, and

Integration of robotic resources into FORCEnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Chinh; Carroll, Daniel; Nguyen, Hoa

2006-05-01

The Networked Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (NISR) project integrates robotic resources into Composeable FORCEnet to control and exploit unmanned systems over extremely long distances. The foundations are built upon FORCEnet-the U.S. Navy's process to define C4ISR for net-centric operations-and the Navy Unmanned Systems Common Control Roadmap to develop technologies and standards for interoperability, data sharing, publish-and-subscribe methodology, and software reuse. The paper defines the goals and boundaries for NISR with focus on the system architecture, including the design tradeoffs necessary for unmanned systems in a net-centric model. Special attention is given to two specific scenarios demonstrating the integration of unmanned ground and water surface vehicles into the open-architecture web-based command-and-control information-management system of Composeable FORCEnet. Planned spiral development for NISR will improve collaborative control, expand robotic sensor capabilities, address multiple domains including underwater and aerial platforms, and extend distributive communications infrastructure for battlespace optimization for unmanned systems in net-centric operations.

Male-Centric and Female-Centric Pornography Consumption: Relationship With Sex Life and Attitudes in Young Adults.

PubMed

French, Ilisha M; Hamilton, Lisa Dawn

2018-01-02

Pornography availability has increased in recent years, and while there is plenty of speculation about its effects, empirical investigation about how porn influences our lives has yielded mixed results. Additionally, few studies have addressed the effects of specific pornography characteristics. Past research has shown that male-centric pornography can be related to negative outcomes, while female-centric pornography is related to more positive outcomes, particularly in women. The present survey study examined the relationship between pornography characteristics (male- and female-centric) and the self-reported attitudes and sexual experiences of men and women. Participants in the full sample were 195 men and 310 women who completed an online questionnaire. Although effect sizes were small, women who reported viewing pornography with more female-centric features also reported more positive effects of pornography on sex life and perceptions of the other gender. While men were more likely than women to report negative effects relating to pornography use on these same measures, there were very few reported negative effects of pornography overall. These findings demonstrate a small association between the use of female-centric pornography and more positive outcomes, particularly for women.

High Assurance Human-Centric Decision Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-01

of the human operator who is multitasking in this situation. 38 Crandall, Cummings, and Mitchell [7], [8] have introduced “fan-out” models to estimate...planning in multitasking contexts. In the future, we will study extensions of our cog- nitive model. Currently, the cognitive model is focused solely

RT-25: Requirements Management for Net-Centric Enterprises. Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-28

software systems. These include Business Process Modeling Notation ( BPMN ) (White and Miers 2008) and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) (Sarang...Engineering with SysML/UML: Modeling, Analysis, Design, Morgan Kaufmann/The OMG Press. White, S. A. and D. Miers (2008). BPMN Modeling and Reference

A Liver-centric Multiscale Modeling Framework for Xenobiotics

EPA Science Inventory

We describe a multi-scale framework for modeling acetaminophen-induced liver toxicity. Acetaminophen is a widely used analgesic. Overdose of acetaminophen can result in liver injury via its biotransformation into toxic product, which further induce massive necrosis. Our study foc...

Theorizing Network-Centric Activity in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HaLevi, Andrew

2011-01-01

Networks and network-centric activity are increasingly prevalent in schools and school districts. In addition to ubiquitous social network tools like Facebook and Twitter, educational leaders deal with a wide variety of network organizational forms that include professional development, advocacy, informational networks and network-centric reforms.…

Cytogenetic analyses of four solid tumours in dogs.

PubMed

Mayr, B; Reifinger, M; Weissenböck, H; Schleger, W; Eisenmenger, E

1994-07-01

Four solid tumours (one haemangiopericytoma, one haemangioendothelioma, one spindle-cell sarcoma and one mammary carcinoma) in dogs were analysed cytogenetically. In the haemangiopericytoma, an additional small chromosomal segment was present. Very complex changes including centric fusions and symmetric meta-centrics 1, 6, 10 and 12 were conspicuous in the highly unbalanced karyotype of the haemangioendothelioma. Complex changes, particularly many centric fusions and a tandem translocation 4/14, were features of the spindle-cell sarcoma. One centric fusion and a symmetric metacentric 13 were present in the mammary carcinoma.

Learning to Predict Consequences as a Method of Knowledge Transfer in Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Chalmers, Eric; Contreras, Edgar Bermudez; Robertson, Brandon; Luczak, Artur; Gruber, Aaron

2017-04-17

The reinforcement learning (RL) paradigm allows agents to solve tasks through trial-and-error learning. To be capable of efficient, long-term learning, RL agents should be able to apply knowledge gained in the past to new tasks they may encounter in the future. The ability to predict actions' consequences may facilitate such knowledge transfer. We consider here domains where an RL agent has access to two kinds of information: agent-centric information with constant semantics across tasks, and environment-centric information, which is necessary to solve the task, but with semantics that differ between tasks. For example, in robot navigation, environment-centric information may include the robot's geographic location, while agent-centric information may include sensor readings of various nearby obstacles. We propose that these situations provide an opportunity for a very natural style of knowledge transfer, in which the agent learns to predict actions' environmental consequences using agent-centric information. These predictions contain important information about the affordances and dangers present in a novel environment, and can effectively transfer knowledge from agent-centric to environment-centric learning systems. Using several example problems including spatial navigation and network routing, we show that our knowledge transfer approach can allow faster and lower cost learning than existing alternatives.

Take me where I want to go: Institutional prestige, advisor sponsorship, and academic career placement preferences.

PubMed

Pinheiro, Diogo L; Melkers, Julia; Newton, Sunni

2017-01-01

Placement in prestigious research institutions for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) PhD recipients is generally considered to be optimal. Yet some doctoral recipients are not interested in intensive research careers and instead seek alternative careers, outside but also within academe (for example teaching positions in Liberal Arts Schools). Recent attention to non-academic pathways has expanded our understanding of alternative PhD careers. However, career preferences and placements are also nuanced along the academic pathway. Existing research on academic careers (mostly research-centric) has found that certain factors have a significant impact on the prestige of both the institutional placement and the salary of PhD recipients. We understand less, however, about the functioning of career preferences and related placements outside of the top academic research institutions. Our work builds on prior studies of academic career placement to explore the impact that prestige of PhD-granting institution, advisor involvement, and cultural capital have on the extent to which STEM PhDs are placed in their preferred academic institution types. What determines whether an individual with a preference for research oriented institutions works at a Research Extensive university? Or whether an individual with a preference for teaching works at a Liberal Arts college? Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of faculty in biology, biochemistry, civil engineering and mathematics at four different Carnegie Classified institution types (Research Extensive, Research Intensive, Master's I & II, and Liberal Arts Colleges), we examine the relative weight of different individual and institutional characteristics on institutional type placement. We find that doctoral institutional prestige plays a significant role in matching individuals with their preferred institutional type, but that advisor involvement only has an impact on those with a preference for research oriented institutions. Gender effects are also observed, particularly in the role of the advisor in affecting preferred career placement.

Take me where I want to go: Institutional prestige, advisor sponsorship, and academic career placement preferences

PubMed Central

Pinheiro, Diogo L.; Newton, Sunni

2017-01-01

Placement in prestigious research institutions for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) PhD recipients is generally considered to be optimal. Yet some doctoral recipients are not interested in intensive research careers and instead seek alternative careers, outside but also within academe (for example teaching positions in Liberal Arts Schools). Recent attention to non-academic pathways has expanded our understanding of alternative PhD careers. However, career preferences and placements are also nuanced along the academic pathway. Existing research on academic careers (mostly research-centric) has found that certain factors have a significant impact on the prestige of both the institutional placement and the salary of PhD recipients. We understand less, however, about the functioning of career preferences and related placements outside of the top academic research institutions. Our work builds on prior studies of academic career placement to explore the impact that prestige of PhD-granting institution, advisor involvement, and cultural capital have on the extent to which STEM PhDs are placed in their preferred academic institution types. What determines whether an individual with a preference for research oriented institutions works at a Research Extensive university? Or whether an individual with a preference for teaching works at a Liberal Arts college? Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of faculty in biology, biochemistry, civil engineering and mathematics at four different Carnegie Classified institution types (Research Extensive, Research Intensive, Master’s I & II, and Liberal Arts Colleges), we examine the relative weight of different individual and institutional characteristics on institutional type placement. We find that doctoral institutional prestige plays a significant role in matching individuals with their preferred institutional type, but that advisor involvement only has an impact on those with a preference for research oriented institutions. Gender effects are also observed, particularly in the role of the advisor in affecting preferred career placement. PMID:28493914

NeuroLOG: a community-driven middleware design.

PubMed

Montagnat, Johan; Gaignard, Alban; Lingrand, Diane; Rojas Balderrama, Javier; Collet, Philippe; Lahire, Philippe

2008-01-01

The NeuroLOG project designs an ambitious neurosciences middleware, gaining from many existing components and learning from past project experiences. It is targeting a focused application area and adopting a user-centric perspective to meet the neuroscientists expectations. It aims at fostering the adoption of HealthGrids in a pre-clinical community. This paper details the project's design study and methodology which were proposed to achieve the integration of heterogeneous site data schemas and the definition of a site-centric policy. The NeuroLOG middleware will bridge HealthGrid and local resources to match user desires to control their resources and provide a transitional model towards HealthGrids.

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Experiences with lab-centric instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titterton, Nathaniel; Lewis, Colleen M.; Clancy, Michael J.

2010-06-01

Lab-centric instruction emphasizes supervised, hands-on activities by substituting lab for lecture time. It combines a multitude of pedagogical techniques into the format of an extended, structured closed lab. We discuss the range of benefits for students, including increased staff interaction, frequent and varied self-assessments, integrated collaborative activities, and a systematic sequence of activities that gradually increases in difficulty. Instructors also benefit from a deeper window into student progress and understanding. We follow with discussion of our experiences in courses at U.C. Berkeley, and using data from some of these investigate the effects of lab-centric instruction on student learning, procrastination, and course pacing. We observe that the lab-centric format helped students on exams but hurt them on extended programming assignments, counter to our hypothesis. Additionally, we see no difference in self-ratings of procrastination and limited differences in ratings of course pace. We do find evidence that the students who choose to attend lab-centric courses are different in several important ways from students who choose to attend the same course in a non-lab-centric format.

Value-informed space systems design and acquisition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brathwaite, Joy

Investments in space systems are substantial, indivisible, and irreversible, characteristics that make them high-risk, especially when coupled with an uncertain demand environment. Traditional approaches to system design and acquisition, derived from a performance- or cost-centric mindset, incorporate little information about the spacecraft in relation to its environment and its value to its stakeholders. These traditional approaches, while appropriate in stable environments, are ill-suited for the current, distinctly uncertain, and rapidly changing technical and economic conditions; as such, they have to be revisited and adapted to the present context. This thesis proposes that in uncertain environments, decision-making with respect to space system design and acquisition should be value-based, or at a minimum value-informed. This research advances the value-centric paradigm by providing the theoretical basis, foundational frameworks, and supporting analytical tools for value assessment of priced and unpriced space systems. For priced systems, stochastic models of the market environment and financial models of stakeholder preferences are developed and integrated with a spacecraft-sizing tool to assess the system's net present value. The analytical framework is applied to a case study of a communications satellite, with market, financial, and technical data obtained from the satellite operator, Intelsat. The case study investigates the implications of the value-centric versus the cost-centric design and acquisition choices. Results identify the ways in which value-optimal spacecraft design choices are contingent on both technical and market conditions, and that larger spacecraft for example, which reap economies of scale benefits, as reflected by their decreasing cost-per-transponder, are not always the best (most valuable) choices. Market conditions and technical constraints for which convergence occurs between design choices under a cost-centric and a value-centric approach are identified and discussed. In addition, an innovative approach for characterizing value uncertainty through partial moments, a technique used in finance, is adapted to an engineering context and applied to priced space systems. Partial moments disaggregate uncertainty into upside potential and downside risk, and as such, they provide the decision-maker with additional insights for value-uncertainty management in design and acquisition. For unpriced space systems, this research first posits that their value derives from, and can be assessed through, the value of information they provide. To this effect, a Bayesian framework is created to assess system value in which the system is viewed as an information provider and the stakeholder an information recipient. Information has value to stakeholders as it changes their rational beliefs enabling them to yield higher expected pay-offs. Based on this marginal increase in expected pay-offs, a new metric, Value-of-Design (VoD), is introduced to quantify the unpriced system’s value. The Bayesian framework is applied to the case of an Earth Science satellite that provides hurricane information to oil rig operators using nested Monte Carlo modeling and simulation. Probability models of stakeholders’ beliefs, and economic models of pay-offs are developed and integrated with a spacecraft payload generation tool. The case study investigates the information value generated by each payload, with results pointing to clusters of payload instruments that yielded higher information value, and minimum information thresholds below which it is difficult to justify the acquisition of the system. In addition, an analytical decision tool, probabilistic Pareto fronts, is developed in the Cost-VoD trade space to provide the decision-maker with additional insights into the coupling of a system's probable value generation and its associated cost risk.

Early Formulation Model-centric Engineering on NASA's Europa Mission Concept Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd; Chung, Seung; Cole, Bjorn; Cooke, Brian; Dekens, Frank; Delp, Chris; Gontijo, Ivair; Lewis, Kari; Moshir, Mehrdad; Rasmussen, Robert;

A prism of excellence: The Charleston Veterans Administration Nursing Academic Partnership.

PubMed

Coxe, D Nicole; Conner, Brian T; Lauerer, Joy; Skipper, Janice; York, Janet; Fraggos, Mary; Stuart, Gail W

2016-01-01

The Veterans Administration (VA) has been committed to academic affiliate training partnerships for nearly 70 years in efforts to enhance veteran-centric health care. One such effort, the VA Nursing Academy (VANA) program, was developed in 2007 in response to the nationwide nursing shortage and began as a five-year pilot with funding competitively awarded to 15 partnerships between local VA medical centers and schools of nursing. The VANA program evolved into the VA Nursing Academic Partnership (VANAP) program following the initial pilot. This article describes the development and evolution of the Charleston VANAP, which includes the Ralph H Johnson VA Medical Center (RHJ VAMC) and the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing (MUSC CON). The VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) funded a large portion of the initial five years of the Charleston VANAP. Once the national funding source ceased, the RHJ VAMC and the MUSC CON entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to offer in-kind contributions to the partnership. The Charleston VANAP is the only program in the nation to offer three different nurse trainee programs and this article highlights some of the more notable achievements from each program. The Charleston VANAP is a comprehensive partnership between the RHJ VAMC and the MUSC CON that truly demonstrates a commitment to assure that the very best care be provided to Veterans, our Nation's heroes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hype, harmony and human factors: applying user-centered design to achieve sustainable telehealth program adoption and growth.

PubMed

Rossos, P G; St-Cyr, O; Purdy, B; Toenjes, C; Masino, C; Chmelnitsky, D

2015-01-01

Despite decades of international experience with the use of information and communication technologies in healthcare delivery, widespread telehealth adoption remains limited and progress slow. Escalating health system challenges related to access, cost and quality currently coincide with rapid advancement of affordable and reliable internet based communication technologies creating unprecedented opportunities and incentives for telehealth. In this paper, we will describe how Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and user-centric elements have been incorporated into the establishment of telehealth within a large academic medical center to increase acceptance and sustainability. Through examples and lessons learned we wish to increase awareness of HFE and its importance in the successful implementation, innovation and growth of telehealth programs.

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Structuring research methods and data with the research object model: genomics workflows as a case study.

PubMed

Hettne, Kristina M; Dharuri, Harish; Zhao, Jun; Wolstencroft, Katherine; Belhajjame, Khalid; Soiland-Reyes, Stian; Mina, Eleni; Thompson, Mark; Cruickshank, Don; Verdes-Montenegro, Lourdes; Garrido, Julian; de Roure, David; Corcho, Oscar; Klyne, Graham; van Schouwen, Reinout; 't Hoen, Peter A C; Bechhofer, Sean; Goble, Carole; Roos, Marco

2014-01-01

One of the main challenges for biomedical research lies in the computer-assisted integrative study of large and increasingly complex combinations of data in order to understand molecular mechanisms. The preservation of the materials and methods of such computational experiments with clear annotations is essential for understanding an experiment, and this is increasingly recognized in the bioinformatics community. Our assumption is that offering means of digital, structured aggregation and annotation of the objects of an experiment will provide necessary meta-data for a scientist to understand and recreate the results of an experiment. To support this we explored a model for the semantic description of a workflow-centric Research Object (RO), where an RO is defined as a resource that aggregates other resources, e.g., datasets, software, spreadsheets, text, etc. We applied this model to a case study where we analysed human metabolite variation by workflows. We present the application of the workflow-centric RO model for our bioinformatics case study. Three workflows were produced following recently defined Best Practices for workflow design. By modelling the experiment as an RO, we were able to automatically query the experiment and answer questions such as "which particular data was input to a particular workflow to test a particular hypothesis?", and "which particular conclusions were drawn from a particular workflow?". Applying a workflow-centric RO model to aggregate and annotate the resources used in a bioinformatics experiment, allowed us to retrieve the conclusions of the experiment in the context of the driving hypothesis, the executed workflows and their input data. The RO model is an extendable reference model that can be used by other systems as well. The Research Object is available at http://www.myexperiment.org/packs/428 The Wf4Ever Research Object Model is available at http://wf4ever.github.io/ro.

Free and open source enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support: a survey.

PubMed

Leong, T Y; Kaiser, K; Miksch, S

2007-01-01

Guideline-based clinical decision support is an emerging paradigm to help reduce error, lower cost, and improve quality in evidence-based medicine. The free and open source (FOS) approach is a promising alternative for delivering cost-effective information technology (IT) solutions in health care. In this paper, we survey the current FOS enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based care, and discuss the current trends and future directions of their role in clinical decision support. We searched PubMed, major biomedical informatics websites, and the web in general for papers and links related to FOS health care IT systems. We also relied on our background and knowledge for specific subtopics. We focused on the functionalities of guideline modeling tools, and briefly examined the supporting technologies for terminology, data exchange and electronic health record (EHR) standards. To effectively support patient-centric, guideline-based care, the computerized guidelines and protocols need to be integrated with existing clinical information systems or EHRs. Technologies that enable such integration should be accessible, interoperable, and scalable. A plethora of FOS tools and techniques for supporting different knowledge management and quality assurance tasks involved are available. Many challenges, however, remain in their implementation. There are active and growing trends of deploying FOS enabling technologies for integrating clinical guidelines, protocols, and pathways into the main care processes. The continuing development and maturation of such technologies are likely to make increasingly significant contributions to patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support.

Experiments with the Combat CAS: Unifying Net-Enabled Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

1998. “ Network Centric Warfare: Its Origin and Future.” Proceedings. Volume 124/1/1, 139. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute. Chomsky , Noam ...linguistic models, see Chomsky 1962). Discourse models make explicit the structure not of sentences but of situations as we perceive or imagine them

A View of the Combat CAS: Unifying Net-Enabled Teams

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

Centric Warfare: Its Origin and Future. Proceedings. Volume 124/1/1, 139. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute. Chomsky , Noam . 1962. Syntactic Structures...representations and discourse models (For linguistic mod- els, see Chomsky 1962). Discourse models make explicit the struc- ture not of sentences but of

Illustrating a Model-Game-Model Paradigm for Using Human Wargames in Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-01

Working Paper Illustrating a Model- Game -Model Paradigm for Using Human Wargames in Analysis Paul K. Davis RAND National Security Research...paper proposes and illustrates an analysis-centric paradigm (model- game -model or what might be better called model-exercise-model in some cases) for...to involve stakehold- ers in model development from the outset. The model- game -model paradigm was illustrated in an application to crisis planning

Peering Strategic Game Models for Interdependent ISPs in Content Centric Internet

PubMed Central

Guan, Jianfeng; Xu, Changqiao; Su, Wei; Zhang, Hongke

2013-01-01

Emergent content-oriented networks prompt Internet service providers (ISPs) to evolve and take major responsibility for content delivery. Numerous content items and varying content popularities motivate interdependence between peering ISPs to elaborate their content caching and sharing strategies. In this paper, we propose the concept of peering for content exchange between interdependent ISPs in content centric Internet to minimize content delivery cost by a proper peering strategy. We model four peering strategic games to formulate four types of peering relationships between ISPs who are characterized by varying degrees of cooperative willingness from egoism to altruism and interconnected as profit-individuals or profit-coalition. Simulation results show the price of anarchy (PoA) and communication cost in the four games to validate that ISPs should decide their peering strategies by balancing intradomain content demand and interdomain peering relations for an optimal cost of content delivery. PMID:24381517

Peering strategic game models for interdependent ISPs in content centric Internet.

PubMed

Zhao, Jia; Guan, Jianfeng; Xu, Changqiao; Su, Wei; Zhang, Hongke

2013-01-01

Emergent content-oriented networks prompt Internet service providers (ISPs) to evolve and take major responsibility for content delivery. Numerous content items and varying content popularities motivate interdependence between peering ISPs to elaborate their content caching and sharing strategies. In this paper, we propose the concept of peering for content exchange between interdependent ISPs in content centric Internet to minimize content delivery cost by a proper peering strategy. We model four peering strategic games to formulate four types of peering relationships between ISPs who are characterized by varying degrees of cooperative willingness from egoism to altruism and interconnected as profit-individuals or profit-coalition. Simulation results show the price of anarchy (PoA) and communication cost in the four games to validate that ISPs should decide their peering strategies by balancing intradomain content demand and interdomain peering relations for an optimal cost of content delivery.

The Dangers of Test Preparation: What Students Learn (And Don't Learn) about Reading Comprehension from Test-Centric Literacy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Dennis S.; Vehabovic, Nermin

2018-01-01

The authors offer guidance on recognizing and resisting test-centric instruction in reading comprehension. They posit that five practices indicate a test-centric view of comprehension: when the tested content is privileged, when the test becomes the text, when annotation requirements replace strategic thinking, when test items frame how students…

Allowing the Advantaged User in a Network Centric System to Get Through the Disadvantaged Interface

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

ADVANTAGED USER IN A NETWORK CENTRIC SYSTEM TO GET THROUGH THE DISADVANTAGED INTERFACE by Lawrence Brandon September 2009 Thesis Advisor...Through the Disadvantaged Interface 6. AUTHOR(S) Lawrence Brandon 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval...identify those factors that cause disadvantaged interfaces within network centric systems and provides recommendations to these challenges so that

Upscaling key ecosystem functions across the conterminous United States by a water-centric ecosystem model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ge; Caldwell, Peter; Noormets, Asko; McNulty, Steven G.; Cohen, Erika; Moore Myers, Jennifer; Domec, Jean-Christophe; Treasure, Emrys; Mu, Qiaozhen; Xiao, Jingfeng; John, Ranjeet; Chen, Jiquan

2011-09-01

We developed a water-centric monthly scale simulation model (WaSSI-C) by integrating empirical water and carbon flux measurements from the FLUXNET network and an existing water supply and demand accounting model (WaSSI). The WaSSI-C model was evaluated with basin-scale evapotranspiration (ET), gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) estimates by multiple independent methods across 2103 eight-digit Hydrologic Unit Code watersheds in the conterminous United States from 2001 to 2006. Our results indicate that WaSSI-C captured the spatial and temporal variability and the effects of large droughts on key ecosystem fluxes. Our modeled mean (±standard deviation in space) ET (556 ± 228 mm yr-1) compared well to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) based (527 ± 251 mm yr-1) and watershed water balance based ET (571 ± 242 mm yr-1). Our mean annual GEP estimates (1362 ± 688 g C m-2 yr-1) compared well (R2 = 0.83) to estimates (1194 ± 649 g C m-2 yr-1) by eddy flux-based EC-MOD model, but both methods led significantly higher (25-30%) values than the standard MODIS product (904 ± 467 g C m-2 yr-1). Among the 18 water resource regions, the southeast ranked the highest in terms of its water yield and carbon sequestration capacity. When all ecosystems were considered, the mean NEE (-353 ± 298 g C m-2 yr-1) predicted by this study was 60% higher than EC-MOD's estimate (-220 ± 225 g C m-2 yr-1) in absolute magnitude, suggesting overall high uncertainty in quantifying NEE at a large scale. Our water-centric model offers a new tool for examining the trade-offs between regional water and carbon resources under a changing environment.

Data Rods: High Speed, Time-Series Analysis of Massive Cryospheric Data Sets Using Object-Oriented Database Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Y.; Gallaher, D. W.; Grant, G.; Lv, Q.

2011-12-01

Change over time, is the central driver of climate change detection. The goal is to diagnose the underlying causes, and make projections into the future. In an effort to optimize this process we have developed the Data Rod model, an object-oriented approach that provides the ability to query grid cell changes and their relationships to neighboring grid cells through time. The time series data is organized in time-centric structures called "data rods." A single data rod can be pictured as the multi-spectral data history at one grid cell: a vertical column of data through time. This resolves the long-standing problem of managing time-series data and opens new possibilities for temporal data analysis. This structure enables rapid time- centric analysis at any grid cell across multiple sensors and satellite platforms. Collections of data rods can be spatially and temporally filtered, statistically analyzed, and aggregated for use with pattern matching algorithms. Likewise, individual image pixels can be extracted to generate multi-spectral imagery at any spatial and temporal location. The Data Rods project has created a series of prototype databases to store and analyze massive datasets containing multi-modality remote sensing data. Using object-oriented technology, this method overcomes the operational limitations of traditional relational databases. To demonstrate the speed and efficiency of time-centric analysis using the Data Rods model, we have developed a sea ice detection algorithm. This application determines the concentration of sea ice in a small spatial region across a long temporal window. If performed using traditional analytical techniques, this task would typically require extensive data downloads and spatial filtering. Using Data Rods databases, the exact spatio-temporal data set is immediately available No extraneous data is downloaded, and all selected data querying occurs transparently on the server side. Moreover, fundamental statistical calculations such as running averages are easily implemented against the time-centric columns of data.

Empirical Profiles of Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Drugged Driving, and Risk Perceptions.

PubMed

Arterberry, Brooke J; Treloar, Hayley; McCarthy, Denis M

2017-11-01

The present study sought to inform models of risk for drugged driving through empirically identifying patterns of marijuana use, alcohol use, and related driving behaviors. Perceived dangerousness and consequences of drugged driving were evaluated as putative influences on risk patterns. We used latent profile analysis of survey responses from 897 college students to identify patterns of substance use and drugged driving. We tested the hypotheses that low perceived danger and low perceived likelihood of negative consequences of drugged driving would identify individuals with higher-risk patterns. Findings from the latent profile analysis indicated that a four-profile model provided the best model fit. Low-level engagers had low rates of substance use and drugged driving. Alcohol-centric engagers had higher rates of alcohol use but low rates of marijuana/simultaneous use and low rates of driving after substance use. Concurrent engagers had higher rates of marijuana and alcohol use, simultaneous use, and related driving behaviors, but marijuana-centric/simultaneous engagers had the highest rates of marijuana use, co-use, and related driving behaviors. Those with higher perceived danger of driving while high were more likely to be in the low-level, alcohol-centric, or concurrent engagers' profiles; individuals with higher perceived likelihood of consequences of driving while high were more likely to be in the low-level engagers group. Findings suggested that college students' perceived dangerousness of driving after using marijuana had greater influence on drugged driving behaviors than alcohol-related driving risk perceptions. These results support targeting marijuana-impaired driving risk perceptions in young adult intervention programs.

An advanced simulator for orthopedic surgical training.

PubMed

Cecil, J; Gupta, Avinash; Pirela-Cruz, Miguel

2018-02-01

The purpose of creating the virtual reality (VR) simulator is to facilitate and supplement the training opportunities provided to orthopedic residents. The use of VR simulators has increased rapidly in the field of medical surgery for training purposes. This paper discusses the creation of the virtual surgical environment (VSE) for training residents in an orthopedic surgical process called less invasive stabilization system (LISS) surgery which is used to address fractures of the femur. The overall methodology included first obtaining an understanding of the LISS plating process through interactions with expert orthopedic surgeons and developing the information centric models. The information centric models provided a structured basis to design and build the simulator. Subsequently, the haptic-based simulator was built. Finally, the learning assessments were conducted in a medical school. The results from the learning assessments confirm the effectiveness of the VSE for teaching medical residents and students. The scope of the assessment was to ensure (1) the correctness and (2) the usefulness of the VSE. Out of 37 residents/students who participated in the test, 32 showed improvements in their understanding of the LISS plating surgical process. A majority of participants were satisfied with the use of teaching Avatars and haptic technology. A paired t test was conducted to test the statistical significance of the assessment data which showed that the data were statistically significant. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of adopting information centric modeling approach in the design and development of the simulator. The assessment results underscore the potential of using VR-based simulators in medical education especially in orthopedic surgery.

[Reproducibility of centric relation of the patient with severe dental attrition for oral rehabilitation].

PubMed

Kang, Hong; Chao, Yonglie; Yi, Xinzhu

2003-12-01

Standards for determining mandibular position, especially the centric relation (CR), are in controversy because of anatomical, neurophysiological factors and research methods or instrument. The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the reproducibility of centric relation of the patients with severe dental attrition for oral rehabilitation. Reproducibility of the centric relation of 6 patients with severe occlusal attrition was investigated by using D5A Denar fully adjustable articulator and the Pantronic recording system. 1. In supine position, anterior-posterior(AP) displacement of centric relation (CR) was 0.14 mm and superior-inferior(SI) displacements of CR were between 0.11 mm-0.12 mm. 2. In upright position, anterior-posterior displacement of CR was 0.35 mm and superior-inferior changes of CR were between 0.13 mm-0.20 mm. The CR is the most stable and reproducible position of mandibule in normal stomatological system and is useful as a reference position in occlusal treatment and functional rehabilitation.

From Reactionary to Responsive: Applying the Internal Environmental Scan Protocol to Lifelong Learning Strategic Planning and Operational Model Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downing, David L.

2009-01-01

This study describes and implements a necessary preliminary strategic planning procedure, the Internal Environmental Scanning (IES), and discusses its relevance to strategic planning and university-sponsored lifelong learning program model selection. Employing a qualitative research methodology, a proposed lifelong learning-centric IES process…

CARD 2017: expansion and model-centric curation of the comprehensive antibiotic resistance database

PubMed Central

Jia, Baofeng; Raphenya, Amogelang R.; Alcock, Brian; Waglechner, Nicholas; Guo, Peiyao; Tsang, Kara K.; Lago, Briony A.; Dave, Biren M.; Pereira, Sheldon; Sharma, Arjun N.; Doshi, Sachin; Courtot, Mélanie; Lo, Raymond; Williams, Laura E.; Frye, Jonathan G.; Elsayegh, Tariq; Sardar, Daim; Westman, Erin L.; Pawlowski, Andrew C.; Johnson, Timothy A.; Brinkman, Fiona S.L.; Wright, Gerard D.; McArthur, Andrew G.

2017-01-01

The Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD; http://arpcard.mcmaster.ca) is a manually curated resource containing high quality reference data on the molecular basis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with an emphasis on the genes, proteins and mutations involved in AMR. CARD is ontologically structured, model centric, and spans the breadth of AMR drug classes and resistance mechanisms, including intrinsic, mutation-driven and acquired resistance. It is built upon the Antibiotic Resistance Ontology (ARO), a custom built, interconnected and hierarchical controlled vocabulary allowing advanced data sharing and organization. Its design allows the development of novel genome analysis tools, such as the Resistance Gene Identifier (RGI) for resistome prediction from raw genome sequence. Recent improvements include extensive curation of additional reference sequences and mutations, development of a unique Model Ontology and accompanying AMR detection models to power sequence analysis, new visualization tools, and expansion of the RGI for detection of emergent AMR threats. CARD curation is updated monthly based on an interplay of manual literature curation, computational text mining, and genome analysis. PMID:27789705

Interactive Model-Centric Systems Engineering (IMCSE) Phase Two

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-02-28

109 Backend Implementation...42 Figure 10. Interactive Epoch-Era Analysis leverages humans-in-the-loop analysis and supporting infrastructure ...preliminary supporting 10 infrastructure . This will inform the transition strategies, additional case application and prototype user testing. • The

Virtual nursing grand rounds and shared governance: how innovation and empowerment are transforming nursing practice at Thanh Nhan Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam.

PubMed

Crow, Gregory L; Nguyen, Thanh; DeBourgh, Gregory A

2014-01-01

The Vietnam Nurse Project has been operating in Hanoi since 2007. Its primary purpose is to improve nursing education through curriculum development, faculty development, and the introduction of a more student-centric teaching and learning environment. The Virtual Nursing Grand Rounds component of the project is an academic-practice partnership between the Vietnam Nurse Project at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions and the Thanh Nhan Hospital intensive care unit. Its goal is to improve nursing practice in the Thanh Nhan Hospital intensive care unit. The Virtual Nursing Grand Rounds is a fully interactive real-time synchronous computer technology-assisted point-to-point program that provides ongoing evidence-based staff development and consultative services.

Information Age Transformation: Getting to a 21st Century Military (revised)

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-06-01

strategy for transformation is built around experimentation with network- centric concepts designed to leverage the power of Information Age technologies and...Edward A. Smith: From Network- Centric to Effects-Based Operations. 7 CHAPTER 2 Background and Purpose DoD is fully committed to taking advantage...Network Centric Warfare3 (NCW) translates these broad vision statements into a way ahead. NCW is a set of warfighting concepts4 designed to create and

Group Centric Networking: Large Scale Over the Air Testing of Group Centric Networking

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-01

protocol designed to support groups of devices in a local region [4]. It attempts to use the wireless medium to broadcast minimal control information...1) Group Discovery: The goal of the group discovery algo- rithm is to find group nodes without globally flooding control messages. To facilitate this...Large Scale Over-the-Air Testing of Group Centric Networking Logan Mercer, Greg Kuperman, Andrew Hunter, Brian Proulx MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Network Centric Warfare Case Study: U.S. V Corps and 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) During Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Operations (Mar-Apr 2003). Volume 3. Network Centric Warfare Insights

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-01-01

OPSEC), military deception, psychological operations (PSYOPS), special information operations (IO), information assurance, physical security...nonlethal effects, such as operational 8 Network Centric Warfare Case Study security (OPSEC), military deception, psychological operations (PSYOP...Support Operations Group ASR Alternate Supply Route; or, Ammunition Supply Rate ATACMS Army Tactical Missile System ATARS Advanced

How to operate a nuclear pore complex by Kap-centric control

PubMed Central

Lim, Roderick Y H; Huang, Binlu; Kapinos, Larisa E

2015-01-01

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) mediate molecular transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm in eukaryotic cells. Tethered within each NPC lie numerous intrinsically disordered proteins known as FG nucleoporins (FG Nups) that are central to this process. Over two decades of investigation has converged on a view that a barrier mechanism consisting of FG Nups rejects non-specific macromolecules while promoting the speed and selectivity of karyopherin (Kaps) receptors (and their cargoes). Yet, the number of NPCs in the cell is exceedingly small compared to the number of Kaps, so that in fact there is a high likelihood the pores are always populated by Kaps. Here, we contemplate a view where Kaps actively participate in regulating the selectivity and speed of transport through NPCs. This so-called “Kap-centric” control of the NPC accounts for Kaps as essential barrier reinforcements that play a prerequisite role in facilitating fast transport kinetics. Importantly, Kap-centric control reconciles both mechanistic and kinetic requirements of the NPC, and in so doing potentially resolves incoherent aspects of FG-centric models. On this basis, we surmise that Kaps prime the NPC for nucleocytoplasmic transport by fine-tuning the NPC microenvironment according to the functional needs of the cell. PMID:26338152

A Liver-Centric Multiscale Modeling Framework for Xenobiotics.

PubMed

Sluka, James P; Fu, Xiao; Swat, Maciej; Belmonte, Julio M; Cosmanescu, Alin; Clendenon, Sherry G; Wambaugh, John F; Glazier, James A

2016-01-01

We describe a multi-scale, liver-centric in silico modeling framework for acetaminophen pharmacology and metabolism. We focus on a computational model to characterize whole body uptake and clearance, liver transport and phase I and phase II metabolism. We do this by incorporating sub-models that span three scales; Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of acetaminophen uptake and distribution at the whole body level, cell and blood flow modeling at the tissue/organ level and metabolism at the sub-cellular level. We have used standard modeling modalities at each of the three scales. In particular, we have used the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) to create both the whole-body and sub-cellular scales. Our modeling approach allows us to run the individual sub-models separately and allows us to easily exchange models at a particular scale without the need to extensively rework the sub-models at other scales. In addition, the use of SBML greatly facilitates the inclusion of biological annotations directly in the model code. The model was calibrated using human in vivo data for acetaminophen and its sulfate and glucuronate metabolites. We then carried out extensive parameter sensitivity studies including the pairwise interaction of parameters. We also simulated population variation of exposure and sensitivity to acetaminophen. Our modeling framework can be extended to the prediction of liver toxicity following acetaminophen overdose, or used as a general purpose pharmacokinetic model for xenobiotics.

A Liver-Centric Multiscale Modeling Framework for Xenobiotics

PubMed Central

Swat, Maciej; Cosmanescu, Alin; Clendenon, Sherry G.; Wambaugh, John F.; Glazier, James A.

2016-01-01

We describe a multi-scale, liver-centric in silico modeling framework for acetaminophen pharmacology and metabolism. We focus on a computational model to characterize whole body uptake and clearance, liver transport and phase I and phase II metabolism. We do this by incorporating sub-models that span three scales; Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of acetaminophen uptake and distribution at the whole body level, cell and blood flow modeling at the tissue/organ level and metabolism at the sub-cellular level. We have used standard modeling modalities at each of the three scales. In particular, we have used the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) to create both the whole-body and sub-cellular scales. Our modeling approach allows us to run the individual sub-models separately and allows us to easily exchange models at a particular scale without the need to extensively rework the sub-models at other scales. In addition, the use of SBML greatly facilitates the inclusion of biological annotations directly in the model code. The model was calibrated using human in vivo data for acetaminophen and its sulfate and glucuronate metabolites. We then carried out extensive parameter sensitivity studies including the pairwise interaction of parameters. We also simulated population variation of exposure and sensitivity to acetaminophen. Our modeling framework can be extended to the prediction of liver toxicity following acetaminophen overdose, or used as a general purpose pharmacokinetic model for xenobiotics. PMID:27636091

Some Impacts of Risk-Centric Certification Requirements for UAS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neogi, Natasha A. (Inventor); Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Verstynen, Harry A.

2016-01-01

This paper discusses results from a recent study that investigates certification requirements for an unmanned rotorcraft performing agricultural application operations. The process of determining appropriate requirements using a risk-centric approach revealed a number of challenges that could impact larger UAS standardization efforts. Fundamental challenges include selecting the correct level of abstraction for requirements to permit design flexibility, transforming human-centric operational requirements to aircraft airworthiness requirements, and assessing all hazards associated with the operation.

An information gathering system for medical image inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Young-Jin; Bajcsy, Peter

2005-04-01

We present an information gathering system for medical image inspection that consists of software tools for capturing computer-centric and human-centric information. Computer-centric information includes (1) static annotations, such as (a) image drawings enclosing any selected area, a set of areas with similar colors, a set of salient points, and (b) textual descriptions associated with either image drawings or links between pairs of image drawings, and (2) dynamic (or temporal) information, such as mouse movements, zoom level changes, image panning and frame selections from an image stack. Human-centric information is represented by video and audio signals that are acquired by computer-mounted cameras and microphones. The short-term goal of the presented system is to facilitate learning of medical novices from medical experts, while the long-term goal is to data mine all information about image inspection for assisting in making diagnoses. In this work, we built basic software functionality for gathering computer-centric and human-centric information of the aforementioned variables. Next, we developed the information playback capabilities of all gathered information for educational purposes. Finally, we prototyped text-based and image template-based search engines to retrieve information from recorded annotations, for example, (a) find all annotations containing the word "blood vessels", or (b) search for similar areas to a selected image area. The information gathering system for medical image inspection reported here has been tested with images from the Histology Atlas database.

Defining Patient Centric Pharmaceutical Drug Product Design.

PubMed

Stegemann, Sven; Ternik, Robert L; Onder, Graziano; Khan, Mansoor A; van Riet-Nales, Diana A

2016-09-01

The term "patient centered," "patient centric," or "patient centricity" is increasingly used in the scientific literature in a wide variety of contexts. Generally, patient centric medicines are recognized as an essential contributor to healthy aging and the overall patient's quality of life and life expectancy. Besides the selection of the appropriate type of drug substance and strength for a particular indication in a particular patient, due attention must be paid that the pharmaceutical drug product design is also adequately addressing the particular patient's needs, i.e., assuring adequate patient adherence and the anticipate drug safety and effectiveness. Relevant pharmaceutical design aspects may e.g., involve the selection of the route of administration, the tablet size and shape, the ease of opening the package, the ability to read the user instruction, or the ability to follow the recommended (in-use) storage conditions. Currently, a harmonized definition on patient centric drug development/design has not yet been established. To stimulate scientific research and discussions and the consistent interpretation of test results, it is essential that such a definition is established. We have developed a first draft definition through various rounds of discussions within an interdisciplinary AAPS focus group of experts. This publication summarizes the outcomes and is intended to stimulate further discussions with all stakeholders towards a common definition of patient centric pharmaceutical drug product design that is useable across all disciplines involved.

Initial Experience of a Patient Navigation Model for Head and Neck Cancer.

PubMed

Ohlstein, Jason F; Brody-Camp, Sabrina; Friedman, Starr; Levy, Joshua M; Buell, Joseph F; Friedlander, Paul

2015-09-01

Specific temporal goals for treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) are common in Europe but not in the United States. We implemented a patient-centric navigation model with an aspirational goal that all patients will receive treatment recommendations within 2 weeks of presentation as a means to improve outcomes in our patients with HNC. To assess the temporal impact of using an aspirational goal in a patient-centric navigation system on the time from presentation to formulation of treatment planning for patients with HNC. Retrospective review of 100 consecutive patients treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck at a tertiary referral center between 2011 and 2014. Patients were assessed to determine the efficiency of a patient-centric navigational model in delivering cancer treatment recommendations. This model was designed with an aspirational goal of providing treatment recommendations within a 2-week period. Starting in 2011, patient-centric navigation model including the assignment of a nurse who acts as a patient navigator. The time interval between presentation to clinic and definitive treatment recommendations, as well as factors associated with delay. Of the 93 patients who met inclusion requirements, most were white (81 [87%]) males (74 [80%]) with a mean (SD) age of 63.4 (10.8) years insured by Medicare or Medicaid (64 [69%]). Forty-seven (51%) received treatment recommendations within the 2-week period, with median and mode values of 15 and 14 days, respectively. The mean (SD) interval was 18.8 (18.6) days. Outliers included 2 patients with synchronous lung nodules (72 and 85 days) and 2 patients with psychosocial barriers (107 and 86 days). There were no significant differences seen for the mean (SD) time interval with respect to patient race (blacks, 17.6 [15.7] vs whites, 22.5 [30.0]; P = .20), sex (males, 18.3 [18.1] vs females, 20.4 [19.7]; P = .13), insurance status (insured, 16.3 [10.2] vs uninsured, 19.8 [21.0]; P = .24), and stage at presentation (stage I, 14.4 [17.0] vs stage II, 11.0 [5.3] vs stage III, 14.7 [8.6] vs stage IV, 21.2 [20.2]; P = .40). The goal of treatment recommendations for HNC within 2 weeks was shown to be reasonable and attainable. Further research should address the delays encountered by patients with psychosocial barriers and those with synchronous lung nodules.

Using UML Modeling to Facilitate Three-Tier Architecture Projects in Software Engineering Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitra, Sandeep

2014-01-01

This article presents the use of a model-centric approach to facilitate software development projects conforming to the three-tier architecture in undergraduate software engineering courses. Many instructors intend that such projects create software applications for use by real-world customers. While it is important that the first version of these…

Transitioning mine warfare to network-centric sensor analysis: future PMA technologies & capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stack, J. R.; Guthrie, R. S.; Cramer, M. A.

2009-05-01

The purpose of this paper is to outline the requisite technologies and enabling capabilities for network-centric sensor data analysis within the mine warfare community. The focus includes both automated processing and the traditional humancentric post-mission analysis (PMA) of tactical and environmental sensor data. This is motivated by first examining the high-level network-centric guidance and noting the breakdown in the process of distilling actionable requirements from this guidance. Examples are provided that illustrate the intuitive and substantial capability improvement resulting from processing sensor data jointly in a network-centric fashion. Several candidate technologies are introduced including the ability to fully process multi-sensor data given only partial overlap in sensor coverage and the ability to incorporate target identification information in stride. Finally the critical enabling capabilities are outlined including open architecture, open business, and a concept of operations. This ability to process multi-sensor data in a network-centric fashion is a core enabler of the Navy's vision and will become a necessity with the increasing number of manned and unmanned sensor systems and the requirement for their simultaneous use.

Qualitative analysis of the elliptical centric technique and the TRICKS technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Kyung-Rae; Goo, Eun-Hoe; Lee, Jae-Seung; Chung, Woon-Kwan

2013-02-01

This study evaluated the usefulness of time resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and elliptical centric MRA according to the type of cerebral disease. From February 2010 to January 2012, elliptical centric MRA and TRICKS MRA images were acquired from 50 normal individuals and 50 patients with cerebral diseases by using 3.0-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment. The images were analyzed qualitatively by examining areas such as the presence or absence of artifacts on the images, the distinctness of boundaries of blood vessels, accurate representation of the lesions, and the subtraction level. In addition, the sensitivity, specificity, positive prediction rate, negative prediction rate and accuracy were assessed by comparing the diagnostic efficacy of the two techniques. The results revealed TRICKS MRA to have superior image quality to elliptical centric MRA. Regarding each disease, TRICKS MRA showed higher diagnostic efficacy for artery venous malformation (AVM) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass patients whereas elliptical centric MRA was more suitable for patients with brain tumors, cerebral infarction, cerebral stenosis or sinus mass.

Transforming Systems Engineering through Model-Centric Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-02-28

intelligence (e.g., Artificial Intelligence , etc.), because they provide a means for representing knowledge. We see these capabilities coming to use in both...level, including:  Performance is measured by degree of success of a mission  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is applied to counterparties so that they...Modeling, Artificial Intelligence , Simulation and Modeling, 1989. [140] SAE ARP4761. Guidelines and Methods for Conducting the Safety Assessment Process

Single, Integrated, Service-Centric Model of Military Health System Governance

DTIC Science & Technology

and effectiveness of operational medical support. According to the Joint Concept for Health Services (JCHS), the need for integrated medical support...that keeps pace with the operational agility and organizational flexibility requirements to support globally integrated operations is clear. This

Health Games: A Key Component for the Evolution of Wellness Programs.

PubMed

Lenihan, David

2012-06-01

Healthcare cost growth has been a major concern for both governments and employers. Considerable efforts have been made to "bend the trend" or find ways to control costs. At the highest levels, this has been the move from indemnity care models to managed care and then to consumer-directed health models using Healthcare Reimbursement Accounts and Healthcare Spending Accounts in plan designs. Accompanying this move in plan design has been an effort to get the consumer/patient/employee more engaged and responsible for his or her health expenditures, health decision-making, and activities. Consumers have gone through the phases of health being doctor-centric (indemnity care model), to health plan-centric (managed care models), to consumer-centric (consumer-directed health models). There is currently a need to incorporate wellness into the equation. Simply put, wellness is intended to keep people out of the health system by reducing the risk factors that would put them into the system in the first place. This includes things like smoking cessation, exercise, weight management, nutrition, and other factors over which individuals have a significant level of control over, as well as condition management such as medication adherence, and condition monitoring (such as glucose monitoring for diabetics). Wellness will become increasingly more common for major buyers, initially large self-funded employers and then health plans that will offer it as a part of their overall Plan Design and Administration services. Wellness initiatives will also be offered by Federal and State governments and will include programs for the elderly and at-risk populations as well as for the general population. The measure of success of wellness programs to actually "bend the trend" will be engagement. How large a piece of the population can be captured and retained will be the critical metric for success…and metrics require real data and will be used by the entire healthcare value-chain to measure efficacy and efficiency of "wellness spending."

Chapter 13. Exploring Use of the Reserved Core

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holmen, John; Humphrey, Alan; Berzins, Martin

2015-07-29

In this chapter, we illustrate benefits of thinking in terms of thread management techniques when using a centralized scheduler model along with interoperability of MPI and PThread. This is facilitated through an exploration of thread placement strategies for an algorithm modeling radiative heat transfer with special attention to the 61st core. This algorithm plays a key role within the Uintah Computational Framework (UCF) and current efforts taking place at the University of Utah to model next-generation, large-scale clean coal boilers. In such simulations, this algorithm models the dominant form of heat transfer and consumes a large portion of compute time.more » Exemplified by a real-world example, this chapter presents our early efforts in porting a key portion of a scalability-centric codebase to the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. Specifically, this chapter presents results from our experiments profiling the native execution of a reverse Monte-Carlo ray tracing-based radiation model on a single coprocessor. These results demonstrate that our fastest run configurations utilized the 61st core and that performance was not profoundly impacted when explicitly oversubscribing the coprocessor operating system thread. Additionally, this chapter presents a portion of radiation model source code, a MIC-centric UCF cross-compilation example, and less conventional thread management technique for developers utilizing the PThreads threading model.« less

Using an evidence-based approach for system selection at a large academic medical center: lessons learned in selecting an ambulatory EMR at Mount Sinai Hospital.

PubMed

Kannry, Joseph; Mukani, Sonia; Myers, Kristin

2006-01-01

The experience of Mount Sinai Hospital is representative of the challenges and problems facing large academic medical centers in selecting an ambulatory EMR. The facility successfully revived a stalled process in a challenging financial climate, using a framework of science and rigorous investigation. The process incorporated several innovations: 1) There was a thorough review of medical informatics literature to develop a mission statement, determine practical objectives and guide the demonstration process; 2) The process involved rigorous investigation of vendor statements, industry statements and other institution's views of vendors; 3) The initiative focused on user-centric selection, and the survey instrument was scientifically and specifically designed to assess user feedback; 4) There was scientific analysis of validated findings and survey results at all steering meetings; 5) The process included an assessment of vendors' ability to support research by identifying funded and published research; 6) Selection involved meticulous total cost of ownership analysis to assess and compare real costs of implementing a vendor solution; and finally, 7) There were iterative meetings with stakeholders, executives and users to understand needs, address concerns and communicate the vision.

Random walks and diffusion on networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masuda, Naoki; Porter, Mason A.; Lambiotte, Renaud

2017-11-01

Random walks are ubiquitous in the sciences, and they are interesting from both theoretical and practical perspectives. They are one of the most fundamental types of stochastic processes; can be used to model numerous phenomena, including diffusion, interactions, and opinions among humans and animals; and can be used to extract information about important entities or dense groups of entities in a network. Random walks have been studied for many decades on both regular lattices and (especially in the last couple of decades) on networks with a variety of structures. In the present article, we survey the theory and applications of random walks on networks, restricting ourselves to simple cases of single and non-adaptive random walkers. We distinguish three main types of random walks: discrete-time random walks, node-centric continuous-time random walks, and edge-centric continuous-time random walks. We first briefly survey random walks on a line, and then we consider random walks on various types of networks. We extensively discuss applications of random walks, including ranking of nodes (e.g., PageRank), community detection, respondent-driven sampling, and opinion models such as voter models.

Which family--what therapy: Maori culture, families and family therapy in New Zealand.

PubMed

Kumar, Shailesh; Dean, Peter; Smith, Barry; Mellsop, Graham W

2012-04-01

New Zealand is a relatively young and small country which has seen steady migration for nearly seven centuries. Despite a long history of rivalry and hostility between Maori and European values, the country has also seen some significant synergism between the two cultures. For the last three decades Asians have also migrated at a significant pace. The country faces the challenge of delivering quality mental health services to such cultures which are bifurcated in being socio-centric (Maori, Pacific Islanders and Asian total 32% combined) or ego-centric (European total 68%). Significant progress has been made in including families of the mentally ill in their treatment and care planning. Legislative requirements have been introduced for the family to be consulted in the treatment of those who are being compelled to receive psychiatric care under the Mental Health Act. Models of family therapy developed through innovation meeting the unique local needs or adaptation of existing models from overseas are being used. An overview of such family therapy modalities is presented.

Revisiting the Robustness of PET-Based Textural Features in the Context of Multi-Centric Trials.

PubMed

Bailly, Clément; Bodet-Milin, Caroline; Couespel, Solène; Necib, Hatem; Kraeber-Bodéré, Françoise; Ansquer, Catherine; Carlier, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the variability of textural features (TF) as a function of acquisition and reconstruction parameters within the context of multi-centric trials. The robustness of 15 selected TFs were studied as a function of the number of iterations, the post-filtering level, input data noise, the reconstruction algorithm and the matrix size. A combination of several reconstruction and acquisition settings was devised to mimic multi-centric conditions. We retrospectively studied data from 26 patients enrolled in a diagnostic study that aimed to evaluate the performance of PET/CT 68Ga-DOTANOC in gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Forty-one tumors were extracted and served as the database. The coefficient of variation (COV) or the absolute deviation (for the noise study) was derived and compared statistically with SUVmax and SUVmean results. The majority of investigated TFs can be used in a multi-centric context when each parameter is considered individually. The impact of voxel size and noise in the input data were predominant as only 4 TFs presented a high/intermediate robustness against SUV-based metrics (Entropy, Homogeneity, RP and ZP). When combining several reconstruction settings to mimic multi-centric conditions, most of the investigated TFs were robust enough against SUVmax except Correlation, Contrast, LGRE, LGZE and LZLGE. Considering previously published results on either reproducibility or sensitivity against delineation approach and our findings, it is feasible to consider Homogeneity, Entropy, Dissimilarity, HGRE, HGZE and ZP as relevant for being used in multi-centric trials.

An ontology-based semantic configuration approach to constructing Data as a Service for enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Hongming; Xie, Cheng; Jiang, Lihong; Fang, Lu; Huang, Chenxi

2016-03-01

To align business strategies with IT systems, enterprises should rapidly implement new applications based on existing information with complex associations to adapt to the continually changing external business environment. Thus, Data as a Service (DaaS) has become an enabling technology for enterprise through information integration and the configuration of existing distributed enterprise systems and heterogonous data sources. However, business modelling, system configuration and model alignment face challenges at the design and execution stages. To provide a comprehensive solution to facilitate data-centric application design in a highly complex and large-scale situation, a configurable ontology-based service integrated platform (COSIP) is proposed to support business modelling, system configuration and execution management. First, a meta-resource model is constructed and used to describe and encapsulate information resources by way of multi-view business modelling. Then, based on ontologies, three semantic configuration patterns, namely composite resource configuration, business scene configuration and runtime environment configuration, are designed to systematically connect business goals with executable applications. Finally, a software architecture based on model-view-controller (MVC) is provided and used to assemble components for software implementation. The result of the case study demonstrates that the proposed approach provides a flexible method of implementing data-centric applications.

Big Data Architectures for Operationalized Seismic and Subsurface Monitoring and Decision Support Workflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irving, D. H.; Rasheed, M.; Hillman, C.; O'Doherty, N.

2012-12-01

Oilfield management is moving to a more operational footing with near-realtime seismic and sensor monitoring governing drilling, fluid injection and hydrocarbon extraction workflows within safety, productivity and profitability constraints. To date, the geoscientific analytical architectures employed are configured for large volumes of data, computational power or analytical latency and compromises in system design must be made to achieve all three aspects. These challenges are encapsulated by the phrase 'Big Data' which has been employed for over a decade in the IT industry to describe the challenges presented by data sets that are too large, volatile and diverse for existing computational architectures and paradigms. We present a data-centric architecture developed to support a geoscientific and geotechnical workflow whereby: ●scientific insight is continuously applied to fresh data ●insights and derived information are incorporated into engineering and operational decisions ●data governance and provenance are routine within a broader data management framework Strategic decision support systems in large infrastructure projects such as oilfields are typically relational data environments; data modelling is pervasive across analytical functions. However, subsurface data and models are typically non-relational (i.e. file-based) in the form of large volumes of seismic imaging data or rapid streams of sensor feeds and are analysed and interpreted using niche applications. The key architectural challenge is to move data and insight from a non-relational to a relational, or structured, data environment for faster and more integrated analytics. We describe how a blend of MapReduce and relational database technologies can be applied in geoscientific decision support, and the strengths and weaknesses of each in such an analytical ecosystem. In addition we discuss hybrid technologies that use aspects of both and translational technologies for moving data and analytics across these platforms. Moving to a data-centric architecture requires data management methodologies to be overhauled by default and we show how end-to-end data provenancing and dependency management is implicit in such an environment and how it benefits system administration as well as the user community. Whilst the architectural experiences are drawn from the oil industry, we believe that they are more broadly applicable in academic and government settings where large volumes of data are added to incrementally and require revisiting with low analytical latency and we suggest application to earthquake monitoring and remote sensing networks.

[Learning Portfolio: A New Strategy in Health Education].

PubMed

Cheng, Yi-Chuan; Chen, Ching-Ju; Chang, Yu-Shan; Huang, Li-Chi

2015-12-01

Health education is the teaching by healthcare professionals of healthcare-related knowledge and skills to students in order that these students learn to help patients self-manage their disease and maintain health. This article introduces a new strategy in health education known as the learning portfolio and presents the theoretical basis and function of the learning portfolio and the current application of this approach in academic and health education. The learning portfolio is a learner-centric approach that collects evidence related to an individual's learning process systematically. This approach helps educators understand learner needs and conditions, while allowing the learner to observe his / her learning process in a manner that promotes self-reflection, continual inspection, and behavioral modification throughout the learning process. The results enhance the motivation of learners and strengthen their care confidence in accomplishing learning tasks.

The study of grinding patterns and factors influencing the grinding areas during sleep bruxism.

PubMed

Tao, Jianxiang; Liu, Weicai; Wu, Junhua; Zhang, Xuying; Zhang, Yongting

2015-10-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the grinding patterns and discuss the factors influencing the position relationship between intercuspal position (ICP) and grinding area during sleep bruxism. Lateral condylar inclination, inclination of lateral incisal path and freedom in long centric of thirty subjects were measured. The grinding patterns during sleep bruxism were recorded with a bruxism recording device, BruxChecker. The position relationship between ICP and the grinding area was examined. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used for correlation analysis between grinding area and free factors (grinding patterns, freedom in long centric and discrepancy between lateral condylar inclination and inclination of lateral incisal path). All 12 subjects with 0mm-freedom in long centric exhibited that ICP of both sides located within the grinding areas. 4 subjects showed that ICP of both sides located outside the grinding areas. There is a significant correlation between 0mm-freedom in long centric and ICP within the grinding areas (p <0.01). Freedom in long centric has a significant effect on position relationship between intercuspal position and the grinding area. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soft magnetic memory of silk cocoon membrane

PubMed Central

Roy, Manas; Dubey, Amarish; Singh, Sushil Kumar; Bhargava, Kalpana; Sethy, Niroj Kumar; Philip, Deepu; Sarkar, Sabyasachi; Bajpai, Alok; Das, Mainak

2016-01-01

Silk cocoon membrane (SCM), a solid matrix of protein fiber, responds to light, heat and moisture and converts these energies to electrical signals. Essentially it exhibits photo-electric and thermo-electric properties; making it a natural electro-magnetic sensor, which may influence the pupal development. This raises the question: ‘is it only electricity?’, or ‘it also posses some kind of magnetic memory?’ This work attempted to explore the magnetic memory of SCM and confirm its soft magnetism. Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, Gd were found in SCM, in traces, through energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Presence of iron was ascertained by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). In addition, EPR-spectra showed the presence of a stable pool of carbon-centric free radical in the cocoon structure. Carbon-centric free radicals behaves as a soft magnet inherently. Magnetic-Hysteresis (M-H) of SCM confirmed its soft magnetism. It can be concluded that the soft bio-magnetic feature of SCM is due to the entrapment of ferromagnetic elements in a stable pool of carbon centric radicals occurring on the super-coiled protein structure. Natural soft magnets like SCM provide us with models for developing eco-friendly, protein-based biological soft magnets. PMID:27374752

Soft magnetic memory of silk cocoon membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Manas; Dubey, Amarish; Singh, Sushil Kumar; Bhargava, Kalpana; Sethy, Niroj Kumar; Philip, Deepu; Sarkar, Sabyasachi; Bajpai, Alok; Das, Mainak

2016-07-01

Silk cocoon membrane (SCM), a solid matrix of protein fiber, responds to light, heat and moisture and converts these energies to electrical signals. Essentially it exhibits photo-electric and thermo-electric properties; making it a natural electro-magnetic sensor, which may influence the pupal development. This raises the question: ‘is it only electricity?’, or ‘it also posses some kind of magnetic memory?’ This work attempted to explore the magnetic memory of SCM and confirm its soft magnetism. Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, Gd were found in SCM, in traces, through energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Presence of iron was ascertained by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). In addition, EPR-spectra showed the presence of a stable pool of carbon-centric free radical in the cocoon structure. Carbon-centric free radicals behaves as a soft magnet inherently. Magnetic-Hysteresis (M-H) of SCM confirmed its soft magnetism. It can be concluded that the soft bio-magnetic feature of SCM is due to the entrapment of ferromagnetic elements in a stable pool of carbon centric radicals occurring on the super-coiled protein structure. Natural soft magnets like SCM provide us with models for developing eco-friendly, protein-based biological soft magnets.

Soft magnetic memory of silk cocoon membrane.

PubMed

Roy, Manas; Dubey, Amarish; Singh, Sushil Kumar; Bhargava, Kalpana; Sethy, Niroj Kumar; Philip, Deepu; Sarkar, Sabyasachi; Bajpai, Alok; Das, Mainak

2016-07-04

Silk cocoon membrane (SCM), a solid matrix of protein fiber, responds to light, heat and moisture and converts these energies to electrical signals. Essentially it exhibits photo-electric and thermo-electric properties; making it a natural electro-magnetic sensor, which may influence the pupal development. This raises the question: 'is it only electricity?', or 'it also posses some kind of magnetic memory?' This work attempted to explore the magnetic memory of SCM and confirm its soft magnetism. Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, Gd were found in SCM, in traces, through energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Presence of iron was ascertained by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). In addition, EPR-spectra showed the presence of a stable pool of carbon-centric free radical in the cocoon structure. Carbon-centric free radicals behaves as a soft magnet inherently. Magnetic-Hysteresis (M-H) of SCM confirmed its soft magnetism. It can be concluded that the soft bio-magnetic feature of SCM is due to the entrapment of ferromagnetic elements in a stable pool of carbon centric radicals occurring on the super-coiled protein structure. Natural soft magnets like SCM provide us with models for developing eco-friendly, protein-based biological soft magnets.

An extreme events laboratory to provide network centric collaborative situation assessment and decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panulla, Brian J.; More, Loretta D.; Shumaker, Wade R.; Jones, Michael D.; Hooper, Robert; Vernon, Jeffrey M.; Aungst, Stanley G.

2009-05-01

Rapid improvements in communications infrastructure and sophistication of commercial hand-held devices provide a major new source of information for assessing extreme situations such as environmental crises. In particular, ad hoc collections of humans can act as "soft sensors" to augment data collected by traditional sensors in a net-centric environment (in effect, "crowd-sourcing" observational data). A need exists to understand how to task such soft sensors, characterize their performance and fuse the data with traditional data sources. In order to quantitatively study such situations, as well as study distributed decision-making, we have developed an Extreme Events Laboratory (EEL) at The Pennsylvania State University. This facility provides a network-centric, collaborative situation assessment and decision-making capability by supporting experiments involving human observers, distributed decision making and cognition, and crisis management. The EEL spans the information chain from energy detection via sensors, human observations, signal and image processing, pattern recognition, statistical estimation, multi-sensor data fusion, visualization and analytics, and modeling and simulation. The EEL command center combines COTS and custom collaboration tools in innovative ways, providing capabilities such as geo-spatial visualization and dynamic mash-ups of multiple data sources. This paper describes the EEL and several on-going human-in-the-loop experiments aimed at understanding the new collective observation and analysis landscape.

seq-ImmuCC: Cell-Centric View of Tissue Transcriptome Measuring Cellular Compositions of Immune Microenvironment From Mouse RNA-Seq Data.

PubMed

Chen, Ziyi; Quan, Lijun; Huang, Anfei; Zhao, Qiang; Yuan, Yao; Yuan, Xuye; Shen, Qin; Shang, Jingzhe; Ben, Yinyin; Qin, F Xiao-Feng; Wu, Aiping

2018-01-01

The RNA sequencing approach has been broadly used to provide gene-, pathway-, and network-centric analyses for various cell and tissue samples. However, thus far, rich cellular information carried in tissue samples has not been thoroughly characterized from RNA-Seq data. Therefore, it would expand our horizons to better understand the biological processes of the body by incorporating a cell-centric view of tissue transcriptome. Here, a computational model named seq-ImmuCC was developed to infer the relative proportions of 10 major immune cells in mouse tissues from RNA-Seq data. The performance of seq-ImmuCC was evaluated among multiple computational algorithms, transcriptional platforms, and simulated and experimental datasets. The test results showed its stable performance and superb consistency with experimental observations under different conditions. With seq-ImmuCC, we generated the comprehensive landscape of immune cell compositions in 27 normal mouse tissues and extracted the distinct signatures of immune cell proportion among various tissue types. Furthermore, we quantitatively characterized and compared 18 different types of mouse tumor tissues of distinct cell origins with their immune cell compositions, which provided a comprehensive and informative measurement for the immune microenvironment inside tumor tissues. The online server of seq-ImmuCC are freely available at http://wap-lab.org:3200/immune/.

Reconceptualizing Multicultural Discourse as Shifting Geographies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Little, J. N.; Walker, M.

2012-01-01

The authors come together as student and instructor to explore the limitations of learning and teaching multicultural practice in Child and Youth Care. Specifically, they posit that models available to undergraduate students are limited in their foci on norm-centric orientation and static singularity. In response, they conceptualize a…

Interactive Model-Centric Systems Engineering (IMCSE) Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-30

and supporting infrastructure ...testing. 4. Supporting MPTs. During Phase 1, the opportunity to develop several MPTs to support IMCSE arose, including supporting infrastructure ...Analysis will be completed and tested with a case application, along with preliminary supporting infrastructure , which will then be used to inform the

A Study of the IEEE 802.16 MAC Layer and its Utility in Augmenting the ADNS Architecture to Provide Adaptable Intra-Strike Group High-Speed Packet Switched Data, Imagery, and Voice Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-09-01

This research explores the need for a high throughput, high speed network for use in a network centric wartime environment and how commercial...Automated Digital Network System (ADNS). This research explores the need for a high-throughput, high-speed network for use in a network centric ...1 C. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) DESIRED END STATE ..............2 1. DOD Transformation to Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Operations

Architecture-Centric Development in Globally Distributed Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sauer, Joachim

In this chapter architecture-centric development is proposed as a means to strengthen the cohesion of distributed teams and to tackle challenges due to geographical and temporal distances and the clash of different cultures. A shared software architecture serves as blueprint for all activities in the development process and ties them together. Architecture-centric development thus provides a plan for task allocation, facilitates the cooperation of globally distributed developers, and enables continuous integration reaching across distributed teams. Advice is also provided for software architects who work with distributed teams in an agile manner.

Collaboration pathway(s) using new tools for optimizing `operational' climate monitoring from space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helmuth, Douglas B.; Selva, Daniel; Dwyer, Morgan M.

2015-09-01

Consistently collecting the earth's climate signatures remains a priority for world governments and international scientific organizations. Architecting a long term solution requires transforming scientific missions into an optimized robust `operational' constellation that addresses the collective needs of policy makers, scientific communities and global academic users for trusted data. The application of new tools offers pathways for global architecture collaboration. Recent rule-based expert system (RBES) optimization modeling of the intended NPOESS architecture becomes a surrogate for global operational climate monitoring architecture(s). These rulebased systems tools provide valuable insight for global climate architectures, by comparison/evaluation of alternatives and the sheer range of trade space explored. Optimization of climate monitoring architecture(s) for a partial list of ECV (essential climate variables) is explored and described in detail with dialogue on appropriate rule-based valuations. These optimization tool(s) suggest global collaboration advantages and elicit responses from the audience and climate science community. This paper will focus on recent research exploring joint requirement implications of the high profile NPOESS architecture and extends the research and tools to optimization for a climate centric case study. This reflects work from SPIE RS Conferences 2013 and 2014, abridged for simplification30, 32. First, the heavily securitized NPOESS architecture; inspired the recent research question - was Complexity (as a cost/risk factor) overlooked when considering the benefits of aggregating different missions into a single platform. Now years later a complete reversal; should agencies considering Disaggregation as the answer. We'll discuss what some academic research suggests. Second, using the GCOS requirements of earth climate observations via ECV (essential climate variables) many collected from space-based sensors; and accepting their definitions of global coverages intended to ensure the needs of major global and international organizations (UNFCCC and IPCC) are met as a core objective. Consider how new optimization tools like rule-based engines (RBES) offer alternative methods of evaluating collaborative architectures and constellations? What would the trade space of optimized operational climate monitoring architectures of ECV look like? Third, using the RBES tool kit (2014) demonstrate with application to a climate centric rule-based decision engine - optimizing architectural trades of earth observation satellite systems, allowing comparison(s) to existing architectures and gaining insights for global collaborative architectures. How difficult is it to pull together an optimized climate case study - utilizing for example 12 climate based instruments on multiple existing platforms and nominal handful of orbits; for best cost and performance benefits against the collection requirements of representative set of ECV. How much effort and resources would an organization expect to invest to realize these analysis and utility benefits?

Plant responses to increasing CO2 reduce estimates of climate impacts on drought severity.

PubMed

Swann, Abigail L S; Hoffman, Forrest M; Koven, Charles D; Randerson, James T

2016-09-06

Rising atmospheric CO2 will make Earth warmer, and many studies have inferred that this warming will cause droughts to become more widespread and severe. However, rising atmospheric CO2 also modifies stomatal conductance and plant water use, processes that are often are overlooked in impact analysis. We find that plant physiological responses to CO2 reduce predictions of future drought stress, and that this reduction is captured by using plant-centric rather than atmosphere-centric metrics from Earth system models (ESMs). The atmosphere-centric Palmer Drought Severity Index predicts future increases in drought stress for more than 70% of global land area. This area drops to 37% with the use of precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-E), a measure that represents the water flux available to downstream ecosystems and humans. The two metrics yield consistent estimates of increasing stress in regions where precipitation decreases are more robust (southern North America, northeastern South America, and southern Europe). The metrics produce diverging estimates elsewhere, with P-E predicting decreasing stress across temperate Asia and central Africa. The differing sensitivity of drought metrics to radiative and physiological aspects of increasing CO2 partly explains the divergent estimates of future drought reported in recent studies. Further, use of ESM output in offline models may double-count plant feedbacks on relative humidity and other surface variables, leading to overestimates of future stress. The use of drought metrics that account for the response of plant transpiration to changing CO2, including direct use of P-E and soil moisture from ESMs, is needed to reduce uncertainties in future assessment.

Plant responses to increasing CO2 reduce estimates of climate impacts on drought severity

PubMed Central

Koven, Charles D.; Randerson, James T.

2016-01-01

Rising atmospheric CO2 will make Earth warmer, and many studies have inferred that this warming will cause droughts to become more widespread and severe. However, rising atmospheric CO2 also modifies stomatal conductance and plant water use, processes that are often are overlooked in impact analysis. We find that plant physiological responses to CO2 reduce predictions of future drought stress, and that this reduction is captured by using plant-centric rather than atmosphere-centric metrics from Earth system models (ESMs). The atmosphere-centric Palmer Drought Severity Index predicts future increases in drought stress for more than 70% of global land area. This area drops to 37% with the use of precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P-E), a measure that represents the water flux available to downstream ecosystems and humans. The two metrics yield consistent estimates of increasing stress in regions where precipitation decreases are more robust (southern North America, northeastern South America, and southern Europe). The metrics produce diverging estimates elsewhere, with P-E predicting decreasing stress across temperate Asia and central Africa. The differing sensitivity of drought metrics to radiative and physiological aspects of increasing CO2 partly explains the divergent estimates of future drought reported in recent studies. Further, use of ESM output in offline models may double-count plant feedbacks on relative humidity and other surface variables, leading to overestimates of future stress. The use of drought metrics that account for the response of plant transpiration to changing CO2, including direct use of P-E and soil moisture from ESMs, is needed to reduce uncertainties in future assessment. PMID:27573831

Trade-offs Between Command and Control Architectures and Force Capabilities Using Battlespace Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

information superiority in Network- centric warfare .34 A brief discussion of the implementation of battlespace awareness is given. The method 3 Figure 2...developing the model used for this study. Lanchester Equations,39 System Dynamics models,40–42 Discrete Event Simulation, and Agent-based models (ABMs) were...popularity in the military modeling community in recent years due to their ability to effectively capture complex interactions in warfare scenarios with many

NASA Integrated Model Centric Architecture (NIMA) Model Use and Re-Use

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conroy, Mike; Mazzone, Rebecca; Lin, Wei

2012-01-01

This whitepaper accepts the goals, needs and objectives of NASA's Integrated Model-centric Architecture (NIMA); adds experience and expertise from the Constellation program as well as NASA's architecture development efforts; and provides suggested concepts, practices and norms that nurture and enable model use and re-use across programs, projects and other complex endeavors. Key components include the ability to effectively move relevant information through a large community, process patterns that support model reuse and the identification of the necessary meta-information (ex. history, credibility, and provenance) to safely use and re-use that information. In order to successfully Use and Re-Use Models and Simulations we must define and meet key organizational and structural needs: 1. We must understand and acknowledge all the roles and players involved from the initial need identification through to the final product, as well as how they change across the lifecycle. 2. We must create the necessary structural elements to store and share NIMA-enabled information throughout the Program or Project lifecycle. 3. We must create the necessary organizational processes to stand up and execute a NIMA-enabled Program or Project throughout its lifecycle. NASA must meet all three of these needs to successfully use and re-use models. The ability to Reuse Models a key component of NIMA and the capabilities inherent in NIMA are key to accomplishing NASA's space exploration goals. 11

Predicting Biological Information Flow in a Model Oxygen Minimum Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louca, S.; Hawley, A. K.; Katsev, S.; Beltran, M. T.; Bhatia, M. P.; Michiels, C.; Capelle, D.; Lavik, G.; Doebeli, M.; Crowe, S.; Hallam, S. J.

2016-02-01

Microbial activity drives marine biochemical fluxes and nutrient cycling at global scales. Geochemical measurements as well as molecular techniques such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics provide great insight into microbial activity. However, an integration of molecular and geochemical data into mechanistic biogeochemical models is still lacking. Recent work suggests that microbial metabolic pathways are, at the ecosystem level, strongly shaped by stoichiometric and energetic constraints. Hence, models rooted in fluxes of matter and energy may yield a holistic understanding of biogeochemistry. Furthermore, such pathway-centric models would allow a direct consolidation with meta'omic data. Here we present a pathway-centric biogeochemical model for the seasonal oxygen minimum zone in Saanich Inlet, a fjord off the coast of Vancouver Island. The model considers key dissimilatory nitrogen and sulfur fluxes, as well as the population dynamics of the genes that mediate them. By assuming a direct translation of biocatalyzed energy fluxes to biosynthesis rates, we make predictions about the distribution and activity of the corresponding genes. A comparison of the model to molecular measurements indicates that the model explains observed DNA, RNA, protein and cell depth profiles. This suggests that microbial activity in marine ecosystems such as oxygen minimum zones is well described by DNA abundance, which, in conjunction with geochemical constraints, determines pathway expression and process rates. Our work further demonstrates how meta'omic data can be mechanistically linked to environmental redox conditions and biogeochemical processes.

Revisiting the Robustness of PET-Based Textural Features in the Context of Multi-Centric Trials

PubMed Central

Bailly, Clément; Bodet-Milin, Caroline; Couespel, Solène; Necib, Hatem; Kraeber-Bodéré, Françoise; Ansquer, Catherine; Carlier, Thomas

2016-01-01

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the variability of textural features (TF) as a function of acquisition and reconstruction parameters within the context of multi-centric trials. Methods The robustness of 15 selected TFs were studied as a function of the number of iterations, the post-filtering level, input data noise, the reconstruction algorithm and the matrix size. A combination of several reconstruction and acquisition settings was devised to mimic multi-centric conditions. We retrospectively studied data from 26 patients enrolled in a diagnostic study that aimed to evaluate the performance of PET/CT 68Ga-DOTANOC in gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Forty-one tumors were extracted and served as the database. The coefficient of variation (COV) or the absolute deviation (for the noise study) was derived and compared statistically with SUVmax and SUVmean results. Results The majority of investigated TFs can be used in a multi-centric context when each parameter is considered individually. The impact of voxel size and noise in the input data were predominant as only 4 TFs presented a high/intermediate robustness against SUV-based metrics (Entropy, Homogeneity, RP and ZP). When combining several reconstruction settings to mimic multi-centric conditions, most of the investigated TFs were robust enough against SUVmax except Correlation, Contrast, LGRE, LGZE and LZLGE. Conclusion Considering previously published results on either reproducibility or sensitivity against delineation approach and our findings, it is feasible to consider Homogeneity, Entropy, Dissimilarity, HGRE, HGZE and ZP as relevant for being used in multi-centric trials. PMID:27467882

Modeling IoT-Based Solutions Using Human-Centric Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Monares, Álvaro; Ochoa, Sergio F.; Santos, Rodrigo; Orozco, Javier; Meseguer, Roc

2014-01-01

The Internet of Things (IoT) has inspired solutions that are already available for addressing problems in various application scenarios, such as healthcare, security, emergency support and tourism. However, there is no clear approach to modeling these systems and envisioning their capabilities at the design time. Therefore, the process of designing these systems is ad hoc and its real impact is evaluated once the solution is already implemented, which is risky and expensive. This paper proposes a modeling approach that uses human-centric wireless sensor networks to specify and evaluate models of IoT-based systems at the time of design, avoiding the need to spend time and effort on early implementations of immature designs. It allows designers to focus on the system design, leaving the implementation decisions for a next phase. The article illustrates the usefulness of this proposal through a running example, showing the design of an IoT-based solution to support the first responses during medium-sized or large urban incidents. The case study used in the proposal evaluation is based on a real train crash. The proposed modeling approach can be used to design IoT-based systems for other application scenarios, e.g., to support security operatives or monitor chronic patients in their homes. PMID:25157549

Modeling IoT-based solutions using human-centric wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Monares, Álvaro; Ochoa, Sergio F; Santos, Rodrigo; Orozco, Javier; Meseguer, Roc

2014-08-25

The Internet of Things (IoT) has inspired solutions that are already available for addressing problems in various application scenarios, such as healthcare, security, emergency support and tourism. However, there is no clear approach to modeling these systems and envisioning their capabilities at the design time. Therefore, the process of designing these systems is ad hoc and its real impact is evaluated once the solution is already implemented, which is risky and expensive. This paper proposes a modeling approach that uses human-centric wireless sensor networks to specify and evaluate models of IoT-based systems at the time of design, avoiding the need to spend time and effort on early implementations of immature designs. It allows designers to focus on the system design, leaving the implementation decisions for a next phase. The article illustrates the usefulness of this proposal through a running example, showing the design of an IoT-based solution to support the first responses during medium-sized or large urban incidents. The case study used in the proposal evaluation is based on a real train crash. The proposed modeling approach can be used to design IoT-based systems for other application scenarios, e.g., to support security operatives or monitor chronic patients in their homes.

Participatory approach to the development of a knowledge base for problem-solving in diabetes self-management.

PubMed

Cole-Lewis, Heather J; Smaldone, Arlene M; Davidson, Patricia R; Kukafka, Rita; Tobin, Jonathan N; Cassells, Andrea; Mynatt, Elizabeth D; Hripcsak, George; Mamykina, Lena

2016-01-01

To develop an expandable knowledge base of reusable knowledge related to self-management of diabetes that can be used as a foundation for patient-centric decision support tools. The structure and components of the knowledge base were created in participatory design with academic diabetes educators using knowledge acquisition methods. The knowledge base was validated using scenario-based approach with practicing diabetes educators and individuals with diabetes recruited from Community Health Centers (CHCs) serving economically disadvantaged communities and ethnic minorities in New York. The knowledge base includes eight glycemic control problems, over 150 behaviors known to contribute to these problems coupled with contextual explanations, and over 200 specific action-oriented self-management goals for correcting problematic behaviors, with corresponding motivational messages. The validation of the knowledge base suggested high level of completeness and accuracy, and identified improvements in cultural appropriateness. These were addressed in new iterations of the knowledge base. The resulting knowledge base is theoretically grounded, incorporates practical and evidence-based knowledge used by diabetes educators in practice settings, and allows for personally meaningful choices by individuals with diabetes. Participatory design approach helped researchers to capture implicit knowledge of practicing diabetes educators and make it explicit and reusable. The knowledge base proposed here is an important step towards development of new generation patient-centric decision support tools for facilitating chronic disease self-management. While this knowledge base specifically targets diabetes, its overall structure and composition can be generalized to other chronic conditions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Participatory approach to the development of a knowledge base for problem-solving in diabetes self-management

PubMed Central

Cole-Lewis, Heather J.; Smaldone, Arlene M.; Davidson, Patricia R.; Kukafka, Rita; Tobin, Jonathan N.; Cassells, Andrea; Mynatt, Elizabeth D.; Hripcsak, George; Mamykina, Lena

2015-01-01

Objective To develop an expandable knowledge base of reusable knowledge related to self-management of diabetes that can be used as a foundation for patient-centric decision support tools. Materials and methods The structure and components of the knowledge base were created in participatory design with academic diabetes educators using knowledge acquisition methods. The knowledge base was validated using scenario-based approach with practicing diabetes educators and individuals with diabetes recruited from Community Health Centers (CHCs) serving economically disadvantaged communities and ethnic minorities in New York. Results The knowledge base includes eight glycemic control problems, over 150 behaviors known to contribute to these problems coupled with contextual explanations, and over 200 specific action-oriented self-management goals for correcting problematic behaviors, with corresponding motivational messages. The validation of the knowledge base suggested high level of completeness and accuracy, and identified improvements in cultural appropriateness. These were addressed in new iterations of the knowledge base. Discussion The resulting knowledge base is theoretically grounded, incorporates practical and evidence-based knowledge used by diabetes educators in practice settings, and allows for personally meaningful choices by individuals with diabetes. Participatory design approach helped researchers to capture implicit knowledge of practicing diabetes educators and make it explicit and reusable. Conclusion The knowledge base proposed here is an important step towards development of new generation patient-centric decision support tools for facilitating chronic disease self-management. While this knowledge base specifically targets diabetes, its overall structure and composition can be generalized to other chronic conditions. PMID:26547253

Building the Infrastructure for Value at UCLA: Engaging Clinicians and Developing Patient-Centric Measurement.

PubMed

Clarke, Robin; Hackbarth, Andrew S; Saigal, Christopher; Skootsky, Samuel A

2015-10-01

Evolving payer and patient expectations have challenged academic health centers (AHCs) to improve the value of clinical care. Traditional quality approaches may be unable to meet this challenge. One AHC, UCLA Health, has implemented a systematic approach to delivery system redesign that emphasizes clinician engagement, a patient-centric scope, and condition-specific, clinician-guided measurement. A physician champion serves as quality officer (QO) for each clinical department/division. Each QO, with support from a central measurement team, has developed customized analytics that use clinical data to define targeted populations and measure care across the full treatment episode. From October 2012 through June 2015, the approach developed rapidly. Forty-three QOs are actively redesigning care delivery protocols within their specialties, and 95% of the departments/divisions have received a customized measure report for at least one patient population. As an example of how these analytics promote systematic redesign, the authors discuss how Department of Urology physicians have used these new measures, first, to better understand the relationship between clinical practice and outcomes for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and, then, to work toward reducing unwarranted variation. Physicians have received these efforts positively. Early outcome data are encouraging. This infrastructure of engaged physicians and targeted measurement is being used to implement systematic care redesign that reliably achieves outcomes that are meaningful to patients and clinicians-incorporating both clinical and cost considerations. QOs are using an approach, for multiple newly launched projects, to identify, test, and implement value-oriented interventions tailored to specific patient populations.

High Bandwidth Communications Links Between Heterogeneous Autonomous Vehicles Using Sensor Network Modeling and Extremum Control Approaches

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

In future network-centric warfare environments, teams of autonomous vehicles will be deployed in a coorperative manner to conduct wide-area...of data back to the command station, autonomous vehicles configured with high bandwidth communication system are positioned between the command

The Global Maritime Partnership: Networking Challenges and Opportunities

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

The Victorians eagerly embraced the telegraph as something that was “faster and better” than waiting for newspapers to arrive via ship and... fashion . ３１ While little quantitative work on network-centric operations has been done based on from-the-ground-up modeling and simulation, the United

CARD 2017: expansion and model-centric curation of the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD; http://arpcard.mcmaster.ca) is a manually curated resource containing high quality reference data on the molecular basis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with an emphasis on the genes, proteins, and mutations involved in AMR. CARD is ontologi...

Transforming Systems Engineering through Model Centric Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-08

12 Figure 5. Semantic Web Technologies related to Layers of Abstraction ................................. 23 Figure 6. NASA /JPL Instantiation...of OpenMBEE (circa 2014) ................................................. 24 Figure 7. NASA /JPL Foundational Ontology for Systems Engineering...Engineering (DE) Transformation initiative, and our relationship that we have fostered with National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) Jet

Application of the Strategic Alignment Model and Information Technology Governance Concepts to Support Network Centric Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

Defense, Editor. 2001. 12. Defense, D.o., Department of Defense Architecture Framework Deskbook. 2004, Department of Defense. 13. Denzin , N. and...Y. Lincoln , Handbook of Qualitative Research. 2000, California: Sage. 14. Flick, U., An Introduction to Qualitative research: Theory, method and

Network-centric decision architecture for financial or 1/f data models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaenisch, Holger M.; Handley, James W.; Massey, Stoney; Case, Carl T.; Songy, Claude G.

2002-12-01

This paper presents a decision architecture algorithm for training neural equation based networks to make autonomous multi-goal oriented, multi-class decisions. These architectures make decisions based on their individual goals and draw from the same network centric feature set. Traditionally, these architectures are comprised of neural networks that offer marginal performance due to lack of convergence of the training set. We present an approach for autonomously extracting sample points as I/O exemplars for generation of multi-branch, multi-node decision architectures populated by adaptively derived neural equations. To test the robustness of this architecture, open source data sets in the form of financial time series were used, requiring a three-class decision space analogous to the lethal, non-lethal, and clutter discrimination problem. This algorithm and the results of its application are presented here.

Moving from Descriptive to Causal Analytics: Case Study of the Health Indicators Warehouse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schryver, Jack C.; Shankar, Mallikarjun; Xu, Songhua

The KDD community has described a multitude of methods for knowledge discovery on large datasets. We consider some of these methods and integrate them into an analyst s workflow that proceeds from the data-centric descriptive level to the model-centric causal level. Examples of the workflow are shown for the Health Indicators Warehouse, which is a public database for community health information that is a potent resource for conducting data science on a medium scale. We demonstrate the potential of HIW as a source of serious visual analytics efforts by showing correlation matrix visualizations, multivariate outlier analysis, multiple linear regression ofmore » Medicare costs, and scatterplot matrices for a broad set of health indicators. We conclude by sketching the first steps toward a causal dependence hypothesis.« less

Sagittal endplate morphology of the lower lumbar spine.

PubMed

Lakshmanan, Palaniappan; Purushothaman, Balaji; Dvorak, Vlasta; Schratt, Walter; Thambiraj, Sathya; Boszczyk, Maximilian

2012-05-01

The sagittal profile of lumbar endplates is discrepant from current simplified disc replacement and fusion device design. Endplate concavity is symmetrical in the coronal plane but shows considerable variability in the sagittal plane, which may lead to implant-endplate mismatch. The aim of this investigation is to provide further analysis of the sagittal endplate morphology of the mid to lower lumbar spine study (L3–S1), thereby identifying the presence of common endplate shape patterns across these levels and providing morphological reference values complementing the findings of previous studies. Observational study. A total of 174 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the adult lumbar spine from the digital archive of our centre, which met the inclusion criteria, were studied. Superior (SEP) and inferior (IEP) endplate shape was divided into flat (no concavity), oblong (homogeneous concavity) and ex-centric (inhomogeneous concavity). The concavity depth (ECD) and location of concavity apex (ECA) relative to endplate diameter of the vertebrae L3–S1 were determined. Flat endplates were only predominant at the sacrum SEP (84.5%). The L5 SEP was flat in 24.7% and all other endplates in less than 10%. The majority of endplates were concave with a clear trend of endplate shape becoming more ex-centric from L3 IEP (56.9% oblong vs. 37.4% ex-centric) to L5 IEP (4% oblong vs. 94.3% ex-centric). Ex-centric ECA were always found in the posterior half of the lumbar endplates. Both the oblong and ex-centric ECD was 2-3 mm on average with the IEP of a motion segment regularly possessing the greater depth. A sex- or age-related difference could not be found. The majority of lumbar endplates are concave, while the majority of sacral endplates are flat. An oblong and an ex-centric endplate shape can be distinguished, whereby the latter is more common at the lower lumbar levels. The apex of the concavity of ex-centric discs is located in the posterior half of the endplate and the concavity of the inferior endplate is deeper than that of the superior endplate. Based on the above, the current TDR and ALIF implant design does not sufficiently match the morphology of lumbar endplates in the sagittal plane.

Systems Execution Modeling Technologies for Large-Scale Net-Centric Department of Defense Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

pp. 303–338, 2002. [53] K. C. Kang, “Feature-oriented domain analysis ( FODA ) feasibility study,” DTIC Document, 1990. [54] V. Kumar, “Algorithms...29  5.2  PLA MODELING, DOMAIN  ANALYSIS , AND TESTING CHALLENGES...29  5.3  MODEL‐DRIVEN TESTING AND DOMAIN  ANALYSIS  TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCT‐LINE ARCHITECTURES ................................. 30

Human-centric predictive model of task difficulty for human-in-the-loop control tasks

PubMed Central

Majewicz Fey, Ann

2018-01-01

Quantitatively measuring the difficulty of a manipulation task in human-in-the-loop control systems is ill-defined. Currently, systems are typically evaluated through task-specific performance measures and post-experiment user surveys; however, these methods do not capture the real-time experience of human users. In this study, we propose to analyze and predict the difficulty of a bivariate pointing task, with a haptic device interface, using human-centric measurement data in terms of cognition, physical effort, and motion kinematics. Noninvasive sensors were used to record the multimodal response of human user for 14 subjects performing the task. A data-driven approach for predicting task difficulty was implemented based on several task-independent metrics. We compare four possible models for predicting task difficulty to evaluated the roles of the various types of metrics, including: (I) a movement time model, (II) a fusion model using both physiological and kinematic metrics, (III) a model only with kinematic metrics, and (IV) a model only with physiological metrics. The results show significant correlation between task difficulty and the user sensorimotor response. The fusion model, integrating user physiology and motion kinematics, provided the best estimate of task difficulty (R2 = 0.927), followed by a model using only kinematic metrics (R2 = 0.921). Both models were better predictors of task difficulty than the movement time model (R2 = 0.847), derived from Fitt’s law, a well studied difficulty model for human psychomotor control. PMID:29621301

The HackensackUMC Value-Based Care Model: Building Essentials for Value-Based Purchasing.

PubMed

Douglas, Claudia; Aroh, Dianne; Colella, Joan; Quadri, Mohammed

2016-01-01

The Affordable Care Act, 2010, and the subsequent shift from a quantity-focus to a value-centric reimbursement model led our organization to create the HackensackUMC Value-Based Care Model to improve our process capability and performance to meet and sustain the triple aims of value-based purchasing: higher quality, lower cost, and consumer perception. This article describes the basics of our model and illustrates how we used it to reduce the costs of our patient sitter program.

A generic architecture for an adaptive, interoperable and intelligent type 2 diabetes mellitus care system.

PubMed

Uribe, Gustavo A; Blobel, Bernd; López, Diego M; Schulz, Stefan

2015-01-01

Chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) constitute a big burden to the global health economy. T2DM Care Management requires a multi-disciplinary and multi-organizational approach. Because of different languages and terminologies, education, experiences, skills, etc., such an approach establishes a special interoperability challenge. The solution is a flexible, scalable, business-controlled, adaptive, knowledge-based, intelligent system following a systems-oriented, architecture-centric, ontology-based and policy-driven approach. The architecture of real systems is described, using the basics and principles of the Generic Component Model (GCM). For representing the functional aspects of a system the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is used. The system architecture obtained is presented using a GCM graphical notation, class diagrams and BPMN diagrams. The architecture-centric approach considers the compositional nature of the real world system and its functionalities, guarantees coherence, and provides right inferences. The level of generality provided in this paper facilitates use case specific adaptations of the system. By that way, intelligent, adaptive and interoperable T2DM care systems can be derived from the presented model as presented in another publication.

Technologies for network-centric C4ISR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunkelberger, Kirk A.

2003-07-01

Three technologies form the heart of any network-centric command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) system: distributed processing, reconfigurable networking, and distributed resource management. Distributed processing, enabled by automated federation, mobile code, intelligent process allocation, dynamic multiprocessing groups, check pointing, and other capabilities creates a virtual peer-to-peer computing network across the force. Reconfigurable networking, consisting of content-based information exchange, dynamic ad-hoc routing, information operations (perception management) and other component technologies forms the interconnect fabric for fault tolerant inter processor and node communication. Distributed resource management, which provides the means for distributed cooperative sensor management, foe sensor utilization, opportunistic collection, symbiotic inductive/deductive reasoning and other applications provides the canonical algorithms for network-centric enterprises and warfare. This paper introduces these three core technologies and briefly discusses a sampling of their component technologies and their individual contributions to network-centric enterprises and warfare. Based on the implied requirements, two new algorithms are defined and characterized which provide critical building blocks for network centricity: distributed asynchronous auctioning and predictive dynamic source routing. The first provides a reliable, efficient, effective approach for near-optimal assignment problems; the algorithm has been demonstrated to be a viable implementation for ad-hoc command and control, object/sensor pairing, and weapon/target assignment. The second is founded on traditional dynamic source routing (from mobile ad-hoc networking), but leverages the results of ad-hoc command and control (from the contributed auctioning algorithm) into significant increases in connection reliability through forward prediction. Emphasis is placed on the advantages gained from the closed-loop interaction of the multiple technologies in the network-centric application environment.

Activity-Centric Approach to Distributed Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levy, Renato; Satapathy, Goutam; Lang, Jun

2004-01-01

The first phase of an effort to develop a NASA version of the Cybele software system has been completed. To give meaning to even a highly abbreviated summary of the modifications to be embodied in the NASA version, it is necessary to present the following background information on Cybele: Cybele is a proprietary software infrastructure for use by programmers in developing agent-based application programs [complex application programs that contain autonomous, interacting components (agents)]. Cybele provides support for event handling from multiple sources, multithreading, concurrency control, migration, and load balancing. A Cybele agent follows a programming paradigm, called activity-centric programming, that enables an abstraction over system-level thread mechanisms. Activity centric programming relieves application programmers of the complex tasks of thread management, concurrency control, and event management. In order to provide such functionality, activity-centric programming demands support of other layers of software. This concludes the background information. In the first phase of the present development, a new architecture for Cybele was defined. In this architecture, Cybele follows a modular service-based approach to coupling of the programming and service layers of software architecture. In a service-based approach, the functionalities supported by activity-centric programming are apportioned, according to their characteristics, among several groups called services. A well-defined interface among all such services serves as a path that facilitates the maintenance and enhancement of such services without adverse effect on the whole software framework. The activity-centric application-program interface (API) is part of a kernel. The kernel API calls the services by use of their published interface. This approach makes it possible for any application code written exclusively under the API to be portable for any configuration of Cybele.

Model-Driven Test Generation of Distributed Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Easwaran, Arvind; Hall, Brendan; Schweiker, Kevin

2012-01-01

This report describes a novel test generation technique for distributed systems. Utilizing formal models and formal verification tools, spe cifically the Symbolic Analysis Laboratory (SAL) tool-suite from SRI, we present techniques to generate concurrent test vectors for distrib uted systems. These are initially explored within an informal test validation context and later extended to achieve full MC/DC coverage of the TTEthernet protocol operating within a system-centric context.

DEVSML 2.0: The Language and the Stack

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

problems outside it. For example, HTML for web pages, Verilog and VHDL for hardware description, etc. are DSLs for very specific domains. A DSL can be...Engineering ( MDE ) paradigm where meta-modeling allows such transformations. The metamodeling approach to Model Integrated Computing (MIC) brings...University of Arizona, 2007 [5] Mittal, S, Martin, JLR, Zeigler, BP, "DEVS-Based Web Services for Net-centric T&E", Summer Computer Simulation

Troubling Methods-Centric "Teacher Production": Social Foundations in Dance Education Teacher Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Risner, Doug; Barr, Sherrie

2015-01-01

Preparing dance specialist teachers to successfully educate an increasingly diverse student population highlights a number of challenges within an educational policy landscape characterized by technical production, methods-centric teacher preparation, teacher-proof curriculum, and standardization. The ramifications of these policies have…

Data Centric Development Methodology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khoury, Fadi E.

2012-01-01

Data centric applications, an important effort of software development in large organizations, have been mostly adopting a software methodology, such as a waterfall or Rational Unified Process, as the framework for its development. These methodologies could work on structural, procedural, or object oriented based applications, but fails to capture…

Planning Readings: A Comparative Exploration of Basic Algorithms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piater, Justus H.

2009-01-01

Conventional introduction to computer science presents individual algorithmic paradigms in the context of specific, prototypical problems. To complement this algorithm-centric instruction, this study additionally advocates problem-centric instruction. I present an original problem drawn from students' life that is simply stated but provides rich…

Intergenerational care: an exploration of consumer preferences and willingness to pay for care.

PubMed

Vecchio, N; Radford, K; Fitzgerald, J A; Comans, T; Harris, P; Harris, N

2017-05-25

To identify feasible models of intergenerational care programmes, that is, care of children and older people in a shared setting, to determine consumer preferences and willingness to pay. Feasible models were constructed in extensive consultations with a panel of experts using a Delphi technique (n = 23) and were considered based on their practical implementation within an Australian setting. This informed a survey tool that captured the preferences and willingness to pay for these models by potential consumers, when compared to the status quo. Information collected from the surveys (n = 816) was analysed using regression analysis to identify fundamental drivers of preferences and the prices consumers were willing to pay for intergenerational care programmes. The shared campus and visiting models were identified as feasible intergenerational care models. Key attributes of these models included respite day care; a common educational pedagogy across generations; screening; monitoring; and evaluation of participant outcomes. Although parents were more likely to take up intergenerational care compared to the status quo, adult carers reported a higher willingness to pay for these services. Educational attainment also influenced the likely uptake of intergenerational care. The results of this study show that there is demand for the shared campus and the visiting campus models among the Australian community. The findings support moves towards consumer-centric models of care, in line with national and international best practice. This consumer-centric approach is encapsulated in the intergenerational care model and enables greater choice of care to match different consumer demands.

Prognostic value of baseline absolute lymphocyte concentration and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in dogs with newly diagnosed multi-centric lymphoma.

PubMed

Mutz, M; Boudreaux, B; Kearney, M; Stroda, K; Gaunt, S; Shiomitsu, K

2015-12-01

Canine multi-centric B-cell lymphoma shares similarities with diffuse large B-cell (Non-Hodgkin's) lymphoma (NHL) in people. In people with NHL, lymphopenia at diagnosis and first relapse and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N:L) > 3.5 are negative prognostic factors for survival. The objective of this study was to determine if lymphocyte concentration at diagnosis and first relapse and N:L were prognostic for survival in dogs with newly diagnosed multi-centric lymphoma. Medical records of 77 dogs with multi-centric lymphoma treated with a CHOP-based chemotherapy protocol were retrospectively evaluated. Absolute lymphocyte concentration and N:L ratio at presentation of dogs pre-treated with steroids was not significantly different from dogs who had not received steroids. On multivariate analysis, only immunophenotype remained significant for progression-free survival (PFS), whereas no variables remained significant for ST. A prospective study of these haematologic variables is warranted to assess their true significance. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Unusual chromosomal organization of telomeric sequences and expeditious karyotypic differentiation in the recently evolved Mus terricolor complex.

PubMed

Sharma, G G; Sharma, T

1998-01-01

The Mus terricolor complex displays a stable homozygous arrangement of autosomal heterochromatin variations in the form of accretion of definitive autosomal short arms among three nonoverlapping populations, in concert with an expeditious evolutionary differentiation into three chromosomal species: M. terricolor I, II, and III. In contrast to the highly conservative M. musculus-like chromosomes in the coexisting sibling species, M. booduga, reshuffling and differentiation of centric heterochromatin has occurred in harmony with a revision of centric configurations, resulting in acrocentric and submetacentric autosomes. The chromosomal distribution of the prevalent vertebrate telomeric sequence (TTAGGG)n was examined by fluorescence in situ hybridization to metaphase cells of M. terricolor I, II, and III. An unusual centric organization of internal telomeric sequences was detected in all the submetacentric and acrocentric autosomes. An auxiliary role of these presumably fragile, recombinogenic telomeric sequences in the evolutionary revision of centric configurations in the terricolor complex is hypothesized.

A Measurement Model of Gestures in an Embodied Learning Environment: Accounting for Temporal Dependencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrade, Alejandro; Danish, Joshua A.; Maltese, Adam V.

2017-01-01

Interactive learning environments with body-centric technologies lie at the intersection of the design of embodied learning activities and multimodal learning analytics. Sensing technologies can generate large amounts of fine-grained data automatically captured from student movements. Researchers can use these fine-grained data to create a…

Cultivating ICT Students' Interpersonal Soft Skills in Online Learning Environments Using Traditional Active Learning Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Trina S.; Blackman, Anna; Andersen, Trevor; Hay, Rachel; Lee, Ickjai; Gray, Heather

2014-01-01

Flexible online delivery of tertiary ICT programs is experiencing rapid growth. Creating an online environment that develops team building and interpersonal skills is difficult due to factors such as student isolation and the individual-centric model of online learning that encourages discrete study rather than teamwork. Incorporating teamwork…

Takina te Kawa: Laying the Foundation, a Research Engagement Methodology in Aotearoa (New Zealand)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taiwhati, Marama; Toia, Rawiri; Te Maro, Pania; McRae, Hiria; McKenzie, Tabitha

2010-01-01

In the bi-cultural context of Aotearoa (New Zealand), engagement with stakeholders that is transparent and culturally responsive is a priority for educational research. More common research approaches in New Zealand have followed a Western euro-centric model of engagement with research participants resulting in interventions and initiatives that…

Controlling Curriculum Redesign with a Process Improvement Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drinka, Dennis; Yen, Minnie Yi-Miin

2008-01-01

A portion of the curriculum for a Management Information Systems degree was redesigned to enhance the experiential learning of students by focusing it on a three-semester community-based system development project. The entire curriculum was then redesigned to have a project-centric focus with each course in the curriculum contributing to the…

Unpacking "Active Learning": A Combination of Flipped Classroom and Collaboration Support Is More Effective but Collaboration Support Alone Is Not

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rau, Martina A.; Kennedy, Kristopher; Oxtoby, Lucas; Bollom, Mark; Moore, John W.

2017-01-01

Much evidence shows that instruction that actively engages students with learning materials is more effective than traditional, lecture-centric instruction. These "active learning" models comprise an extremely heterogeneous set of instructional methods: they often include collaborative activities, flipped classrooms, or a combination of…

Plant responses to increasing CO 2 reduce estimates of climate impacts on drought severity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Swann, Abigail L. S.; Hoffman, Forrest M.; Koven, Charles D.

Rising atmospheric CO 2 will make Earth warmer, and many studies have inferred that this warming will cause droughts to become more widespread and severe. However, rising atmospheric CO 2 also modifies stomatal conductance and plant water use, processes that are often are overlooked in impact analysis. We find that plant physiological responses to CO 2 reduce predictions of future drought stress, and that this reduction is captured by using plant-centric rather than atmosphere-centric metrics from Earth system models (ESMs). The atmosphere-centric Palmer Drought Severity Index predicts future increases in drought stress for more than 70% of global land area.more » This area drops to 37% with the use of precipitation minus evapo-transpiration (P-E), a measure that represents the water flux available to downstream ecosystems and humans. The two metrics yield consistent estimates of increasing stress in regions where precipitation decreases are more robust (southern North America, northeastern South America, and southern Europe). The metrics produce diverging estimates elsewhere, with P-E predicting decreasing stress across temperate Asia and central Africa. The differing sensitivity of drought metrics to radiative and physiological aspects of increasing CO 2 partly explains the divergent estimates of future drought reported in recent studies. Further, use of ESM output in offline models may double-count plant feedbacks on relative humidity and other surface variables, leading to overestimates of future stress. The use of drought metrics that account for the response of plant transpiration to changing CO 2, including direct use of P-E and soil moisture from ESMs, is needed to reduce uncertainties in future assessment.« less

Plant responses to increasing CO 2 reduce estimates of climate impacts on drought severity

DOE PAGES

Swann, Abigail L. S.; Hoffman, Forrest M.; Koven, Charles D.; ...

2016-08-29

Rising atmospheric CO 2 will make Earth warmer, and many studies have inferred that this warming will cause droughts to become more widespread and severe. However, rising atmospheric CO 2 also modifies stomatal conductance and plant water use, processes that are often are overlooked in impact analysis. We find that plant physiological responses to CO 2 reduce predictions of future drought stress, and that this reduction is captured by using plant-centric rather than atmosphere-centric metrics from Earth system models (ESMs). The atmosphere-centric Palmer Drought Severity Index predicts future increases in drought stress for more than 70% of global land area.more » This area drops to 37% with the use of precipitation minus evapo-transpiration (P-E), a measure that represents the water flux available to downstream ecosystems and humans. The two metrics yield consistent estimates of increasing stress in regions where precipitation decreases are more robust (southern North America, northeastern South America, and southern Europe). The metrics produce diverging estimates elsewhere, with P-E predicting decreasing stress across temperate Asia and central Africa. The differing sensitivity of drought metrics to radiative and physiological aspects of increasing CO 2 partly explains the divergent estimates of future drought reported in recent studies. Further, use of ESM output in offline models may double-count plant feedbacks on relative humidity and other surface variables, leading to overestimates of future stress. The use of drought metrics that account for the response of plant transpiration to changing CO 2, including direct use of P-E and soil moisture from ESMs, is needed to reduce uncertainties in future assessment.« less

Morphological and transcriptomic evidence for ammonium induction of sexual reproduction in Thalassiosira pseudonana and other centric diatoms

PubMed Central

Moore, Eric R.; Bullington, Briana S.; Weisberg, Alexandra J.; Jiang, Yuan; Chang, Jeff

2017-01-01

The reproductive strategy of diatoms includes asexual and sexual phases, but in many species, including the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, sexual reproduction has never been observed. Furthermore, the environmental factors that trigger sexual reproduction in diatoms are not understood. Although genome sequences of a few diatoms are available, little is known about the molecular basis for sexual reproduction. Here we show that ammonium reliably induces the key sexual morphologies, including oogonia, auxospores, and spermatogonia, in two strains of T. pseudonana, T. weissflogii, and Cyclotella cryptica. RNA sequencing revealed 1,274 genes whose expression patterns changed when T. pseudonana was induced into sexual reproduction by ammonium. Some of the induced genes are linked to meiosis or encode flagellar structures of heterokont and cryptophyte algae. The identification of ammonium as an environmental trigger suggests an unexpected link between diatom bloom dynamics and strategies for enhancing population genetic diversity. PMID:28686696

Morphological and transcriptomic evidence for ammonium induction of sexual reproduction in Thalassiosira pseudonana and other centric diatoms.

PubMed

Moore, Eric R; Bullington, Briana S; Weisberg, Alexandra J; Jiang, Yuan; Chang, Jeff; Halsey, Kimberly H

2017-01-01

The reproductive strategy of diatoms includes asexual and sexual phases, but in many species, including the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, sexual reproduction has never been observed. Furthermore, the environmental factors that trigger sexual reproduction in diatoms are not understood. Although genome sequences of a few diatoms are available, little is known about the molecular basis for sexual reproduction. Here we show that ammonium reliably induces the key sexual morphologies, including oogonia, auxospores, and spermatogonia, in two strains of T. pseudonana, T. weissflogii, and Cyclotella cryptica. RNA sequencing revealed 1,274 genes whose expression patterns changed when T. pseudonana was induced into sexual reproduction by ammonium. Some of the induced genes are linked to meiosis or encode flagellar structures of heterokont and cryptophyte algae. The identification of ammonium as an environmental trigger suggests an unexpected link between diatom bloom dynamics and strategies for enhancing population genetic diversity.

Multi-centric universal pseudonymisation for secondary use of the EHR.

PubMed

Lo Iacono, Luigi

2007-01-01

This paper discusses the importance of protecting the privacy of patient data kept in an Electronic Health Record (EHR) in the case, where it leaves the control- and protection-sphere of the health care realm for secondary uses such as clinical or epidemiological research projects, health care research, assessment of treatment quality or economic assessments. The paper focuses on multi-centric studies, where various data sources are linked together using Grid technologies. It introduces a pseudonymisation system which enables a multi-centric universal pseudonymisation, meaning that a patient's identity will result in the same pseudonym, regardless of which participating study center the patient data is collected.

76 FR 63659 - Antitrust Division

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-13

... Production Act of 1993; Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium, Inc. Notice is hereby given that, on..., 15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (``the Act''), Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium, Inc. (``NCOIC... circumstances. Specifically, The Open Group, San Francisco, CA, has been added as a party to this venture. Also...

The Canadian ISTAR Information-Centric Collaborative Workspace Concept. Paper 3: The Info-Centric Collaborative Workspace from a Systems Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

sympatico.caGuy ThériaultGeneral Dynamics Canada Ltd Charlie.jamieson@lmco.comCharlie JamiesonLockheed Martin Canada D.lacroix@oerlikon.caDenis LacroixOerlikon Contraves Inc Bill.wright@oculusinfo.comBill WrightOculus

User-Centric Approach for Benchmark RDF Data Generator in Big Data Performance Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Purohit, Sumit; Paulson, Patrick R.; Rodriguez, Luke R.

This research focuses on user-centric approach of building such tools and proposes a flexible, extensible, and easy to use framework to support performance analysis of Big Data systems. Finally, case studies from two different domains are presented to validate the framework.

Military Medical Decision Support for Homeland Defense During Emergency

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

abstraction hierarchy, three levels of information requirement for designing emergency training interface are recognized. These are epistemological ...support human decision making process is considered to be decision-centric. A typical decision-centric interface is supported by at least four design ... Designing Emergency Training Interface ......................................................................................... 5 Epistemological

Dancing through Life: Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Network-Centric Modeling of Allosteric Mechanisms in Hsp70 and Hsp110 Chaperone Proteins.

PubMed

Stetz, Gabrielle; Verkhivker, Gennady M

2015-01-01

Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones play an important role in regulating cellular processes that involve protein folding and stabilization, which are essential for the integrity of signaling networks. Although many aspects of allosteric regulatory mechanisms in Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones have been extensively studied and significantly advanced in recent experimental studies, the atomistic picture of signal propagation and energetics of dynamics-based communication still remain unresolved. In this work, we have combined molecular dynamics simulations and protein stability analysis of the chaperone structures with the network modeling of residue interaction networks to characterize molecular determinants of allosteric mechanisms. We have shown that allosteric mechanisms of Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones may be primarily determined by nucleotide-induced redistribution of local conformational ensembles in the inter-domain regions and the substrate binding domain. Conformational dynamics and energetics of the peptide substrate binding with the Hsp70 structures has been analyzed using free energy calculations, revealing allosteric hotspots that control negative cooperativity between regulatory sites. The results have indicated that cooperative interactions may promote a population-shift mechanism in Hsp70, in which functional residues are organized in a broad and robust allosteric network that can link the nucleotide-binding site and the substrate-binding regions. A smaller allosteric network in Hsp110 structures may elicit an entropy-driven allostery that occurs in the absence of global structural changes. We have found that global mediating residues with high network centrality may be organized in stable local communities that are indispensable for structural stability and efficient allosteric communications. The network-centric analysis of allosteric interactions has also established that centrality of functional residues could correlate with their sensitivity to mutations across diverse chaperone functions. This study reconciles a wide spectrum of structural and functional experiments by demonstrating how integration of molecular simulations and network-centric modeling may explain thermodynamic and mechanistic aspects of allosteric regulation in chaperones.

Dancing through Life: Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Network-Centric Modeling of Allosteric Mechanisms in Hsp70 and Hsp110 Chaperone Proteins

PubMed Central

Stetz, Gabrielle; Verkhivker, Gennady M.

2015-01-01

Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones play an important role in regulating cellular processes that involve protein folding and stabilization, which are essential for the integrity of signaling networks. Although many aspects of allosteric regulatory mechanisms in Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones have been extensively studied and significantly advanced in recent experimental studies, the atomistic picture of signal propagation and energetics of dynamics-based communication still remain unresolved. In this work, we have combined molecular dynamics simulations and protein stability analysis of the chaperone structures with the network modeling of residue interaction networks to characterize molecular determinants of allosteric mechanisms. We have shown that allosteric mechanisms of Hsp70 and Hsp110 chaperones may be primarily determined by nucleotide-induced redistribution of local conformational ensembles in the inter-domain regions and the substrate binding domain. Conformational dynamics and energetics of the peptide substrate binding with the Hsp70 structures has been analyzed using free energy calculations, revealing allosteric hotspots that control negative cooperativity between regulatory sites. The results have indicated that cooperative interactions may promote a population-shift mechanism in Hsp70, in which functional residues are organized in a broad and robust allosteric network that can link the nucleotide-binding site and the substrate-binding regions. A smaller allosteric network in Hsp110 structures may elicit an entropy-driven allostery that occurs in the absence of global structural changes. We have found that global mediating residues with high network centrality may be organized in stable local communities that are indispensable for structural stability and efficient allosteric communications. The network-centric analysis of allosteric interactions has also established that centrality of functional residues could correlate with their sensitivity to mutations across diverse chaperone functions. This study reconciles a wide spectrum of structural and functional experiments by demonstrating how integration of molecular simulations and network-centric modeling may explain thermodynamic and mechanistic aspects of allosteric regulation in chaperones. PMID:26619280

Discourse-Centric Learning Analytics: Mapping the Terrain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, Simon; Littleton, Karen

2015-01-01

There is an increasing interest in developing learning analytic techniques for the analysis, and support of, high-quality learning discourse. This paper maps the terrain of discourse-centric learning analytics (DCLA), outlining the distinctive contribution of DCLA and outlining a definition for the field moving forwards. It is our claim that DCLA…

Re-Awakening the Learner: Creating Learner-Centric, Standards-Driven Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoll, Copper; Giddings, Gene

2012-01-01

Transformation of public education requires the reawakening of the sleeping giant in the room: the learners. Students, teachers, and principals must develop a learner-centric, standards-driven school. "Reawakening the Learner" is a guide to creating just such an environment. Continua describe the journey of teachers, teacher leaders, and…

Beyond knowledge capture: creating useful work-centric systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, L. P.; Majchrzak, A.

2001-01-01

Once you have successfully captured knowledge, the challenge then becomes one of creating an affective way to use that knowledge. Two high knowledge content systems developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are presented as examples of work-centric systems, where the primary value to the user is in the content.

Policies | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Use Learn about policy governing user accountability, resource use, use by foreign nationals states. Data Security Learn about the data security policy, including data protection, data security retention policy, including project-centric and user-centric data. Shared Storage Usage Learn about a policy

A 14/28 dicentric Robertsonian translocation in a Holstein cow.

PubMed

Ellsworth, S M; Paul, S R; Bunch, T D

1979-02-01

A new dicentric Robertsonian translocation is described in a Holstein cow. The translocation appears to have arisen spontaneously from the centric fusion of autosomal acro centrics 14 and 28 which resulted in a diploid chromosome number of 59. Behavioral and phenotypic anomalies of the affected cow are discussed.

Appreciative Inquiry as a Mode of Action Research for Community Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Neil M.; Bright, David S.

2007-01-01

In this article, the authors highlight the potential for rethinking approaches to community and social change interventions that draw on participatory action research at the organizational and community level. They distinguish problem-centric from opportunity-centric approaches to social change. Theory on social norms suggests that problem-centric…

The Pak-U.S. Alliance in the Fight Against Terrorism: A Cost-Benefit Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Micro-Alliance, Entrepreneurship , Game Theoretical Approach, Perceptions and Realities, Military-Centric Assistance, Population-Centric Approach...40 4. Entrepreneurship and Micro-Alliances ...........................................41 E. SUMMARY...through educational reforms, trade and employment ( entrepreneurship ). 6 6. Hypothesis-3: Promoting converging interests/common goals and removing

A Personalized e-Learning Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhawiti, Mohammed M.; Abdelhamid, Yasser

2017-01-01

With the advent of web based learning and content management tools, e-learning has become a matured learning paradigm, and changed the trend of instructional design from instructor centric learning paradigm to learner centric approach, and evolved from "one instructional design for many learners" to "one design for one learner"…

Library Resource-Sharing in the Network-Centric World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, Rob

This paper discusses changes in services, technology, and organization as libraries prepare to enter the "network-centric library world." Part 1 addresses the transition from the analog era to the digital age, and the convergence of libraries and education, including opportunities for library leadership in Internet access, digital…

Estimation of customer lifetime value of a health insurance with interest rates obeying uniform distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widyawan, A.; Pasaribu, U. S.; Henintyas, Permana, D.

2015-12-01

Nowadays some firms, including insurer firms, think that customer-centric services are better than product-centric ones in terms of marketing. Insurance firms will try to attract as many new customer as possible while maintaining existing customer. This causes the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) becomes a very important thing. CLV are able to put customer into different segments and calculate the present value of a firm's relationship with its customer. Insurance customer will depend on the last service he or she can get. So if the service is bad now, then customer will not renew his contract though the service is very good at an erlier time. Because of this situation one suitable mathematical model for modeling customer's relationships and calculating their lifetime value is Markov Chain. In addition, the advantages of using Markov Chain Modeling is its high degree of flexibility. In 2000, Pfeifer and Carraway states that Markov Chain Modeling can be used for customer retention situation. In this situation, Markov Chain Modeling requires only two states, which are present customer and former ones. This paper calculates customer lifetime value in an insurance firm with two distinctive interest rates; the constant interest rate and uniform distribution of interest rates. The result shows that loyal customer and the customer who increase their contract value have the highest CLV.

A User-Centric Knowledge Creation Model in a Web of Object-Enabled Internet of Things Environment

PubMed Central

Kibria, Muhammad Golam; Fattah, Sheik Mohammad Mostakim; Jeong, Kwanghyeon; Chong, Ilyoung; Jeong, Youn-Kwae

2015-01-01

User-centric service features in a Web of Object-enabled Internet of Things environment can be provided by using a semantic ontology that classifies and integrates objects on the World Wide Web as well as shares and merges context-aware information and accumulated knowledge. The semantic ontology is applied on a Web of Object platform to virtualize the real world physical devices and information to form virtual objects that represent the features and capabilities of devices in the virtual world. Detailed information and functionalities of multiple virtual objects are combined with service rules to form composite virtual objects that offer context-aware knowledge-based services, where context awareness plays an important role in enabling automatic modification of the system to reconfigure the services based on the context. Converting the raw data into meaningful information and connecting the information to form the knowledge and storing and reusing the objects in the knowledge base can both be expressed by semantic ontology. In this paper, a knowledge creation model that synchronizes a service logistic model and a virtual world knowledge model on a Web of Object platform has been proposed. To realize the context-aware knowledge-based service creation and execution, a conceptual semantic ontology model has been developed and a prototype has been implemented for a use case scenario of emergency service. PMID:26393609

A Preliminary Data Model for Orbital Flight Dynamics in Shuttle Mission Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

ONeill, John; Shalin, Valerie L.

2000-01-01

The Orbital Flight Dynamics group in Shuttle Mission Control is investigating new user interfaces in a project called RIOTS [RIOTS 2000]. Traditionally, the individual functions of hardware and software guide the design of displays, which results in an aggregated, if not integrated interface. The human work system has then been designed and trained to navigate, operate and integrate the processors and displays. The aim of RIOTS is to reduce the cognitive demands of the flight controllers by redesigning the user interface to support the work of the flight controller. This document supports the RIOTS project by defining a preliminary data model for Orbital Flight Dynamics. Section 2 defines an information-centric perspective. An information-centric approach aims to reduce the cognitive workload of the flight controllers by reducing the need for manual integration of information across processors and displays. Section 3 describes the Orbital Flight Dynamics domain. Section 4 defines the preliminary data model for Orbital Flight Dynamics. Section 5 examines the implications of mapping the data model to Orbital Flight Dynamics current information systems. Two recurring patterns are identified in the Orbital Flight Dynamics work the iteration/rework cycle and the decision-making/information integration/mirroring role relationship. Section 6 identifies new requirements on Orbital Flight Dynamics work and makes recommendations based on changing the information environment, changing the implementation of the data model, and changing the two recurring patterns.

A User-Centric Knowledge Creation Model in a Web of Object-Enabled Internet of Things Environment.

PubMed

Kibria, Muhammad Golam; Fattah, Sheik Mohammad Mostakim; Jeong, Kwanghyeon; Chong, Ilyoung; Jeong, Youn-Kwae

2015-09-18

User-centric service features in a Web of Object-enabled Internet of Things environment can be provided by using a semantic ontology that classifies and integrates objects on the World Wide Web as well as shares and merges context-aware information and accumulated knowledge. The semantic ontology is applied on a Web of Object platform to virtualize the real world physical devices and information to form virtual objects that represent the features and capabilities of devices in the virtual world. Detailed information and functionalities of multiple virtual objects are combined with service rules to form composite virtual objects that offer context-aware knowledge-based services, where context awareness plays an important role in enabling automatic modification of the system to reconfigure the services based on the context. Converting the raw data into meaningful information and connecting the information to form the knowledge and storing and reusing the objects in the knowledge base can both be expressed by semantic ontology. In this paper, a knowledge creation model that synchronizes a service logistic model and a virtual world knowledge model on a Web of Object platform has been proposed. To realize the context-aware knowledge-based service creation and execution, a conceptual semantic ontology model has been developed and a prototype has been implemented for a use case scenario of emergency service.

Introducing Model Based Systems Engineering Transforming System Engineering through Model-Based Systems Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-31

BPMN ).  This  is  when  the...to  a  model-­‐centric   approach.     The   AGM   was   developed   using   the   iGrafx6   tool   with   BPMN   [12... BPMN  notation  as  shown  in  Figure  14.  It   provides  a  time-­‐sequenced  perspective  on  the  process

An XML Data Model for Inverted Image Indexing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

So, Simon W.; Leung, Clement H. C.; Tse, Philip K. C.

2003-01-01

The Internet world makes increasing use of XML-based technologies. In multimedia data indexing and retrieval, the MPEG-7 standard for Multimedia Description Scheme is specified using XML. The flexibility of XML allows users to define other markup semantics for special contexts, construct data-centric XML documents, exchange standardized data between computer systems, and present data in different applications. In this paper, the Inverted Image Indexing paradigm is presented and modeled using XML Schema.

DEVS Unified Process for Web-Centric Development and Testing of System of Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-20

gathering from the user. Further, methodologies have been developed to generate DEVS models from BPMN /BPEL-based and message-based requirement specifications...27] 3. BPMN /BPEL based system specifications: Business Process Modeling Notation ( BPMN ) [bpm] or Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) provide a...information is stored in .wsdl and .bpel files for BPEL but in proprietary format for BPMN . 4. DoDAF-based requirement specifications: Department of

From Guide on the Side to Impresario with a Scenario

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weston, Anthony

2015-01-01

This article proposes a conception of the teacher as an "Impresario with a Scenario," a multi-centric and co-constructivist model in contrast to the familiarly student-centered and constructivist ideal of the Guide on the Side. I argue that the Impresario conception is truer to the practices of many teachers inspired by the "Guide…

U.S. Army Transformation Towards a Brigade-Centric Model: Lessons Learned for the Spanish Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-12

students at the U.S. Army War College. These essays consider the nature and direction of Transformation, and define its concept. It is far beyond the...Century Transformation of the U.S. Armed Forces”, he [SecDef Rumsfeld] gave a lyrical account of the “transformational battle” of Mazar-e-Sharif, the

The Phase of Illness Paradigm: A Checklist Centric Model to Improve Patient Care in the Burn Intensive Care Unit

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-01

Light Cycle  Sleep, 4-8 hrs  Increase mobility  Consider ear plugs, sleep aid Treatment  NA  Dexmedetomidine drip  Haloperidol IV Push... Haloperidol IV Push  Quetiepine PO/Enteral Notes: CV Monitoring Standard monitoring (Tele, SpO2, RR, NBP) Maximize knowledge Standard ICU

The Interdependent Family-Centric Career: Career Perspective of the Overseas Chinese in Indonesia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pekerti, Andre A.

2008-01-01

This theoretical article presents an interdisciplinary approach to extend the scope of current career theories and their application to the overseas Chinese (OC) in Indonesia. Using an ecological model to analyze culture and an emic perspective, the article discusses several factors that affect careers of OC Indonesians. Factors such as culture,…

The Duality of Information Policy Debates: The Case of the Internet Governance Forum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epstein, Dmitry

2012-01-01

This project focuses on the dynamics of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as a non-binding multistakeholder debate about information policymaking. Using the theory of structuration and critical discourse analysis, I explore how the nation-state-centric and the internet-community-centric perceptions of authority and approaches to decision-making…

Global-Centric History and Culture Guide. Cleveland Diocesan Social Science Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catholic Board of Education, Diocese of Cleveland, OH.

This global-centric study for average to superior senior high students provides historical and cultural world understandings. The objective is to prepare students to become intelligent, effective, and articulate citizens. Emphasis is upon learning to assess the nature of values through the knowledge of history and the use of adequate tools of…

Teaching Customer-Centric Operations Management--Evidence from an Experiential Learning-Oriented Mass Customisation Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Medini, Khaled

2018-01-01

The increase of individualised customer demands and tough competition in the manufacturing sector gave rise to more customer-centric operations management such as products and services (mass) customisation. Mass customisation (MC), which inherits the "economy of scale" from mass production (MP), aims to meet specific customer demands…

Understand, Identify, and Respond: The New Focus of Access Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Juan Carlos; Meyer, Kristin; Merry, Brian

2017-01-01

Library public services staff have primarily focused on providing services through interactions with their users. Although service quality and customer satisfaction are important in the delivery of these services, the emphasis and nature of the work have often been influenced by a library-centric philosophy rather than a user-centric philosophy.…

Envisioning the Handheld-Centric Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, Cathleen; Soloway, Elliot

2004-01-01

While appropriate as an initial focus, it is time that the educational community move beyond an emphasis on 1:1 computing (each child having his/her own personal computer) to a vision of a handheld-centric classroom, where each child not only has his/her own personal, handheld computer, but also has access to networked PCs, probeware, digital…

Data Retention Policy | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

HPC Data Retention Policy. File storage areas on Peregrine and Gyrfalcon are either user-centric to reclaim storage. We can make special arrangements for permanent storage, if needed. User-Centric > is 3 months after the last project ends. During this retention period, the user may log in to

Got risk? risk-centric perspective for spacecraft technology decision-making

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feather, Martin S.; Cornford, Steven L.; Moran, Kelly

2004-01-01

A risk-based decision-making methodology conceived and developed at JPL and NASA has been used to aid in decision making for spacecraft technology assessment, adoption, development and operation. It takes a risk-centric perspective, through which risks are used as a reasoning step to interpose between mission objectives and risk mitigation measures.

Current medical staff governance and physician sensemaking: a formula for resistance to high reliability.

PubMed

Flitter, Marc A; Riesenmy, Kelly Rouse; van Stralen, Daved

2012-01-01

To offer a theoretical explanation for observed physician resistance and rejection of high reliability patient safety initiatives. A grounded theoretical qualitative approach, utilizing the organizational theory of sensemaking, provided the foundation for inductive and deductive reasoning employed to analyze medical staff rejection of two successfully performing high reliability programs at separate hospitals. Physician behaviors resistant to patient-centric high reliability processes were traced to provider-centric physician sensemaking. Research, conducted with the advantage that prospective studies have over the limitations of this retrospective investigation, is needed to evaluate the potential for overcoming physician resistance to innovation implementation, employing strategies based upon these findings and sensemaking theory in general. If hospitals are to emulate high reliability industries that do successfully manage environments of extreme hazard, physicians must be fully integrated into the complex teams required to accomplish this goal. Reforming health care, through high reliability organizing, with its attendant continuous focus on patient-centric processes, offers a distinct alternative to efforts directed primarily at reforming health care insurance. It is by changing how health care is provided that true cost efficiencies can be achieved. Technology and the insights of organizational science present the opportunity of replacing the current emphasis on privileged information with collective tools capable of providing quality and safety in health care. The fictions that have sustained a provider-centric health care system have been challenged. The benefits of patient-centric care should be obtainable.

Integrative Health Coach Training: A Model for Shifting the Paradigm Toward Patient-centricity and Meeting New National Prevention Goals.

PubMed

Smith, Linda L; Lake, Noelle H; Simmons, Leigh Ann; Perlman, Adam; Wroth, Shelley; Wolever, Ruth Q

2013-05-01

To describe the evolution, training, and results of an emerging allied health profession skilled in eliciting sustainable health-related behavior change and charged with improving patient engagement. Through techniques sourced from humanistic and positive psychology, solution-focused and mindfulness-based therapies, and leadership coaching, Integrative Health Coaching (IHC) provides a mechanism to empower patients through various stages of learning and change. IHC also provides a method for the creation and implementation of forward-focused personalized health plans. Clinical studies employing Duke University Integrative Medicine's model of IHC have demonstrated improvements in measures of diabetes and diabetes risk, weight management, and risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. By supporting and enabling individuals in making major lifestyle changes for the improvement of their health, IHC carries the potential to reduce rates and morbidity of chronic disease and impact myriad aspects of healthcare. As a model of educational and clinical innovation aimed at patient empowerment and lifestyle modification, IHC is aligned well with the tenets and goals of recently sanctioned federal healthcare reform, specifically the creation of the first National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy. IHC may allow greater patient-centricity while targeting the lifestyle-related chronic disease that lies at the heart of the current healthcare crisis.

Climate Data Analytics Workflow Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Lee, S.; Pan, L.; Mattmann, C. A.; Lee, T. J.

2016-12-01

In this project we aim to pave a novel path to create a sustainable building block toward Earth science big data analytics and knowledge sharing. Closely studying how Earth scientists conduct data analytics research in their daily work, we have developed a provenance model to record their activities, and to develop a technology to automatically generate workflows for scientists from the provenance. On top of it, we have built the prototype of a data-centric provenance repository, and establish a PDSW (People, Data, Service, Workflow) knowledge network to support workflow recommendation. To ensure the scalability and performance of the expected recommendation system, we have leveraged the Apache OODT system technology. The community-approved, metrics-based performance evaluation web-service will allow a user to select a metric from the list of several community-approved metrics and to evaluate model performance using the metric as well as the reference dataset. This service will facilitate the use of reference datasets that are generated in support of the model-data intercomparison projects such as Obs4MIPs and Ana4MIPs. The data-centric repository infrastructure will allow us to catch richer provenance to further facilitate knowledge sharing and scientific collaboration in the Earth science community. This project is part of Apache incubator CMDA project.

Exploring Bim for Operational Integrated Asset Management - a Preliminary Study Utilising Real-World Infrastructure Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyes, G. A.; Ellul, C.; Irwin, D.

2017-10-01

The use of 3D information models within collaborative working environments and the practice of Building Information Modelling (BIM) are becoming more commonplace within infrastructure projects. Currently used predominantly during the design and construction phase, the use of BIM is capable in theory of providing the information at handover that will satisfy the Asset Information Requirements (AIRs) of the future Infrastructure Manager (IM). One particular challenge is establishing a link between existing construction-centric information and the asset-centric information needed for future operations. Crossrail, a project to build a new high-frequency railway underneath London, is handling many such challenges as they prepare to handover their digital information to the future operator, in particular the need to provide a two-way link between a federated 3D CAD model and an object-relational Asset Information Management System (AIMS). This paper focusses on the potential for improved Asset Management (AM) by integrating BIM and GIS systems and practices, and makes a preliminary report on how 3D spatial queries can be used to establish a two-way relational link between two information systems (3D geometry and asset lists), as well as the challenges being overcome to transform the data to be suitable for AM.

Managing business compliance using model-driven security management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lang, Ulrich; Schreiner, Rudolf

Compliance with regulatory and governance standards is rapidly becoming one of the hot topics of information security today. This is because, especially with regulatory compliance, both business and government have to expect large financial and reputational losses if compliance cannot be ensured and demonstrated. One major difficulty of implementing such regulations is caused the fact that they are captured at a high level of abstraction that is business-centric and not IT centric. This means that the abstract intent needs to be translated in a trustworthy, traceable way into compliance and security policies that the IT security infrastructure can enforce. Carrying out this mapping process manually is time consuming, maintenance-intensive, costly, and error-prone. Compliance monitoring is also critical in order to be able to demonstrate compliance at any given point in time. The problem is further complicated because of the need for business-driven IT agility, where IT policies and enforcement can change frequently, e.g. Business Process Modelling (BPM) driven Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Model Driven Security (MDS) is an innovative technology approach that can solve these problems as an extension of identity and access management (IAM) and authorization management (also called entitlement management). In this paper we will illustrate the theory behind Model Driven Security for compliance, provide an improved and extended architecture, as well as a case study in the healthcare industry using our OpenPMF 2.0 technology.

A User-Centric Adaptive Learning System for E-Learning 2.0

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Shiu-Li; Shiu, Jung-Hung

2012-01-01

The success of Web 2.0 inspires e-learning to evolve into e-learning 2.0, which exploits collective intelligence to achieve user-centric learning. However, searching for suitable learning paths and content for achieving a learning goal is time consuming and troublesome on e-learning 2.0 platforms. Therefore, introducing formal learning in these…

2005 8th Annual Systems Engineering Conference. Volume 4, Thursday

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-27

requirements, allocation , and utilization statistics Operations Decisions Acquisition Decisions Resource Management — Integrated Requirements/ Allocation ...Quality Improvement Consultants, Inc. “Automated Software Testing Increases Test Quality and Coverage Resulting in Improved Software Reliability.”, Mr...Steven Ligon, SAIC The Return of Discipline, Ms. Jacqueline Townsend, Air Force Materiel Command Track 4 - Net Centric Operations: Testing Net-Centric

Providing the Tools for Information Sharing: Net-Centric Enterprise Services

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

The Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing a net-centric environment that increasingly leverages shared services and Service-Oriented...transformational program that delivers a set of shared services as part of the DoD’s common infrastructure to enable networked joint force capabilities, improved interoperability, and increased information sharing across mission area services.

Disruptive Effects of Net-Centricity on Command and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

expectations too quickly are vulnerable to disruptive technologies . When the disruptive innovation gains market share, and old customers adopt new...it is important to remember that disruptive technologies are not merely those that have introduced steep performance improvements, but which, at the...technologies. Disruptive technologies are thereby distinguished from discontinuous sustaining innovations. Net-centric information environments are proving

Economic Incentives in Content-Centric Networking: Implications for Protocol Design and Public Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agyapong, Parick Kwadwo

2013-01-01

Content-centric networking (CCN) has emerged as a dominant paradigm for future Internet architecture design due to its efficient support for content dissemination, which currently dominates Internet use. This dissertation shows how economic and social welfare analysis can be used to inform the design of a CCN architecture that provides network…

Open Targets: a platform for therapeutic target identification and validation

PubMed Central

Koscielny, Gautier; An, Peter; Carvalho-Silva, Denise; Cham, Jennifer A.; Fumis, Luca; Gasparyan, Rippa; Hasan, Samiul; Karamanis, Nikiforos; Maguire, Michael; Papa, Eliseo; Pierleoni, Andrea; Pignatelli, Miguel; Platt, Theo; Rowland, Francis; Wankar, Priyanka; Bento, A. Patrícia; Burdett, Tony; Fabregat, Antonio; Forbes, Simon; Gaulton, Anna; Gonzalez, Cristina Yenyxe; Hermjakob, Henning; Hersey, Anne; Jupe, Steven; Kafkas, Şenay; Keays, Maria; Leroy, Catherine; Lopez, Francisco-Javier; Magarinos, Maria Paula; Malone, James; McEntyre, Johanna; Munoz-Pomer Fuentes, Alfonso; O'Donovan, Claire; Papatheodorou, Irene; Parkinson, Helen; Palka, Barbara; Paschall, Justin; Petryszak, Robert; Pratanwanich, Naruemon; Sarntivijal, Sirarat; Saunders, Gary; Sidiropoulos, Konstantinos; Smith, Thomas; Sondka, Zbyslaw; Stegle, Oliver; Tang, Y. Amy; Turner, Edward; Vaughan, Brendan; Vrousgou, Olga; Watkins, Xavier; Martin, Maria-Jesus; Sanseau, Philippe; Vamathevan, Jessica; Birney, Ewan; Barrett, Jeffrey; Dunham, Ian

2017-01-01

We have designed and developed a data integration and visualization platform that provides evidence about the association of known and potential drug targets with diseases. The platform is designed to support identification and prioritization of biological targets for follow-up. Each drug target is linked to a disease using integrated genome-wide data from a broad range of data sources. The platform provides either a target-centric workflow to identify diseases that may be associated with a specific target, or a disease-centric workflow to identify targets that may be associated with a specific disease. Users can easily transition between these target- and disease-centric workflows. The Open Targets Validation Platform is accessible at https://www.targetvalidation.org. PMID:27899665

Magic Women on the Margins: Ec-Centric Models in Mary Poppins and Ms Wiz

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valverde, Cristina Perez

2009-01-01

This paper offers a comparative analysis of two characters belonging to the tradition of empowered "spinster" in children's fiction, namely Mary Poppins and Ms Wiz, from the perspective of gender politics and child/adult interactions. A distinction is made between the figure portrayed in P. L. Travers' texts and the Disney film starring Julie…

Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Technical Digest

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-12-01

Survivability Systems: An Overview Fred J. Fisch 139 Modeling and Simulation of Weapons Effects on Ships Robert R. Wunderlick 143 Intelligent Networks ...communications capability of forces afloat to support emerging network -centric warfare doc- trines. Stealth, for our next generation of warships...fully-inte- grated, fully- networked electronic countermeasures system, developed in parallel and in close coordination with sister systems. An

Teaching STEM through Horticulture: Implementing an Edible Plant Curriculum at a STEM-Centric Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graves, Leila A.; Hughes, Harrison; Balgopal, Meena M.

2016-01-01

School gardens are ideal places for students to ask and answer questions about science. This paper describes a case study of two 3rd grade teachers and two STEM coordinators who were recruited to implement and evaluate a horticultural-based curriculum developed for this study. Informed by the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform model we conducted a…

Dichotomies of collectivism and individualism in bioethics: Selective abortion debates and issues of self-determination in Japan and 'the West'.

PubMed

Kato, Masae; Sleeboom-Faulkner, Margaret

2011-08-01

This article examines the dichotomies of collectivism and individualism in the debates on the selective abortion of disabled fetuses, which have occurred over the last four decades in Japan. Disagreements in debates on abortion in Japan have often revolved around the concept of self-determination (jiko-kettei). These debates usually focus on whether this 'foreign' concept is appropriate in a Japanese context, as the dominant Japanese discourse stereotypes the Japanese as making decisions in a harmonious manner. Both in public debates and in academic writing on abortion, the idea that the West is devoid of harmonious collectivism is often presented in an uncritical manner. In this article, we argue that the notion of 'self-determination' is borrowed from 'reverse Orientalist' and Occidentalist discourses that portray Westerners as individualistic or ego-centric and the Japanese as collectivist. The concept of 'self-determination' was remolded and projected onto Japanese public and academic debates on abortion. The relevance of this concept lies in the ways in which dichotomous views of 'Japan as harmonious' versus 'the West as individualistic' influence guidelines concerning prenatal testing and its daily practice. By critically analyzing the narratives of policy-makers and academic studies on self-determination and prenatal testing, this study traces these polarizing views back to the processes of national identity formation. These processes underlie political debates and academic work associated with the search for 'Japanese-ness'. This article further demonstrates that policy-makers' criticism of self-determination in prenatal testing derives from gender bias, which is also related to issues of Japanese identity. This article is based on both archival and field research materials collected between 1997 and 2008. We also refer to interviews with medical doctors, policy-makers, journalists, counselors, nurses, participants in various social movements and individuals undergoing prenatal testing, taken from a total of 180 interviews. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain tissue analysis of impacts to American football helmets.

PubMed

Post, Andrew; Kendall, Marshall; Cournoyer, Janie; Karton, Clara; Oeur, R Anna; Dawson, Lauren; Hoshizaki, T Blaine

2018-02-01

Concussion in American football is a prevalent concern. Research has been conducted examining frequencies, location, and thresholds for concussion from impacts. Little work has been done examining how impact location may affect risk of concussive injury. The purpose of this research was to examine how impact site on the helmet and type of impact, affects the risk of concussive injury as quantified using finite element modelling of the human head and brain. A linear impactor was used to impact a helmeted Hybrid III headform in several locations and using centric and non-centric impact vectors. The resulting dynamic response was used as input for the Wayne State Brain Injury Model to determine the risk of concussive injury by utilizing maximum principal strain as the predictive variable. The results demonstrated that impacts that occur primarily to the side of the head resulted in higher magnitudes of strain in the grey and white matter, as well as the brain stem. Finally, commonly worn American football helmets were used in this research and significant risk of injury was incurred for all impacts. These results suggest that improvements in American football helmets are warranted, in particular for impacts to the side of the helmet.

Early Formulation Model-centric Engineering on Nasa's Europa Mission Concept Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayer, Todd; Chung, Seung; Cole, Bjorn; Cooke, Brian; Dekens, Frank; Delp, Chris; Gontijo, I.; Lewis, Kari; Moshir, Mehrdad; Rasmussen, Robert;

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE EFFICACY OF OCCLUSAL SPLINTS FABRICATED IN CENTRIC RELATION OR MAXIMUM INTERCUSPATION IN TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS PATIENTS

PubMed Central

Hamata, Marcelo Matida; Zuim, Paulo Renato Junqueira; Garcia, Alicio Rosalino

2009-01-01

Fabrication of occlusal splints in centric relation for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients is arguable, since this position has been defined for asymptomatic stomatognathic system. Thus, maximum intercuspation might be employed in patients with occlusal stability, eliminating the need for interocclusal records. This study compared occlusal splints fabricated in centric relation and maximum intercuspation in muscle pain reduction of TMD patients. Twenty patients with TMD of myogenous origin and bruxism were divided into 2 groups treated with splints in maximum intercuspation (I) or centric relation (II). Clinical, electrognathographic and electromyographic examinations were performed before and 3 months after therapy. Data were analyzed by the Student's t test. Differences at 5% level of probability were considered statistically significant. There was a remarkable reduction in pain symptomatology, without statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between the groups. There was mandibular repositioning during therapy, as demonstrated by the change in occlusal contacts on the splints. Electrognathographic examination demonstrated a significant increase in maximum left lateral movement for group I and right lateral movement for group II (p<0.05). There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the electromyographic activities at rest after utilization of both splints. In conclusion, both occlusal splints were effective for pain control and presented similar action. The results suggest that maximum intercuspation may be used for fabrication of occlusal splints in patients with occlusal stability without large discrepancies between centric relation and maximum intercuspation. Moreover, this technique is simpler and less expensive. PMID:19148403

High Level Information Fusion (HLIF) with nested fusion loops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodley, Robert; Gosnell, Michael; Fischer, Amber

2013-05-01

Situation modeling and threat prediction require higher levels of data fusion in order to provide actionable information. Beyond the sensor data and sources the analyst has access to, the use of out-sourced and re-sourced data is becoming common. Through the years, some common frameworks have emerged for dealing with information fusion—perhaps the most ubiquitous being the JDL Data Fusion Group and their initial 4-level data fusion model. Since these initial developments, numerous models of information fusion have emerged, hoping to better capture the human-centric process of data analyses within a machine-centric framework. 21st Century Systems, Inc. has developed Fusion with Uncertainty Reasoning using Nested Assessment Characterizer Elements (FURNACE) to address challenges of high level information fusion and handle bias, ambiguity, and uncertainty (BAU) for Situation Modeling, Threat Modeling, and Threat Prediction. It combines JDL fusion levels with nested fusion loops and state-of-the-art data reasoning. Initial research has shown that FURNACE is able to reduce BAU and improve the fusion process by allowing high level information fusion (HLIF) to affect lower levels without the double counting of information or other biasing issues. The initial FURNACE project was focused on the underlying algorithms to produce a fusion system able to handle BAU and repurposed data in a cohesive manner. FURNACE supports analyst's efforts to develop situation models, threat models, and threat predictions to increase situational awareness of the battlespace. FURNACE will not only revolutionize the military intelligence realm, but also benefit the larger homeland defense, law enforcement, and business intelligence markets.

Data-centric method for object observation through scattering media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanida, Jun; Horisaki, Ryoichi

2018-03-01

A data-centric method is introduced for object observation through scattering media. A large number of training pairs are used to characterize the relation between the object and the observation signals based on machine learning. Using the method object information can be retrieved even from strongly-disturbed signals. As potential applications, object recognition, imaging, and focusing through scattering media were demonstrated.

AFRL Defensive IO Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-04-22

NUMBER Air Force Research Laboratory 525 Brooks Road, Rome NY 13441 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for...entire NOSC crew Air Force Enterprise Defense Moving from Data-Centric to Mission-Centric Operations 16 Summary • The AFRL /IF program includes all...William E.; Simpson, Lt. Col Richard 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER Air Force

Integrated Systems Oriented Student-Centric Learning Environment: A Framework for Curriculum Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayur, S. Desai

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that serves as a guide to develop a curriculum and instructional strategy that is systems oriented and student-centric. Design/methodology/approach: The framework is based on the theories in the field of education by prominent researchers. The framework is divided into four sub-systems,…

The Case for a Paradigm Shift in Extension from Information-Centric to Community-Centric Programming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strong, Emma; Rowntree, Jason; Thurlow, Kable; Raven, Matt R.

2015-01-01

Since its establishment through the Smith-Lever Act, the Cooperative Extension Service has sought to use non-formal education programs centered on community needs to provide research-based information. However, the onset of the information age has transformed the way knowledge is shared and as a result altered the way people access information.…

GOATS 2008 Autonomous, Adaptive Multistatic Acoustic Sensing

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-30

To develop net-centric, autonomous underwater vehicle sensing concepts for littoral MCM and ASW, exploiting collaborative and environmentally...unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES code 1 only 14. ABSTRACT To develop net-centric, autonomous underwater vehicle sensing concepts for littoral MCM and...of autonomous underwater vehicle networks as platforms for new sonar concepts exploring the full 3-D acoustic environment of shallow water (SW) and

Looking into the future of foods and health

PubMed Central

German, J Bruce

2010-01-01

The health of the population is compromised by poor dietary choices. Resolving this situation will require a substantial investment at many levels of science, agriculture and food industrialisation. If such investments are undertaken they will provide the opportunity to change the food marketplace from a product centric, to a consumer centric, strategy competing to deliver health benefits to individuals. PMID:23950694

Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

REPORT Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Information...regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting servers. However, using ABE has a drawback that the enforced content access...Encryption (ABE) is a flexible approach to enforce the content access policies regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting

The Device Centric Communication System for 5G Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biswash, S. K.; Jayakody, D. N. K.

2017-01-01

The Fifth Generation Communication (5G) networks have several functional features such as: Massive Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO), Device centric data and voice support, Smarter-device communications, etc. The objective for 5G networks is to gain the 1000x more throughput, 10x spectral efficiency, 100 x more energy efficiency than existing technologies. The 5G system will provide the balance between the Quality of Experience (QoE) and the Quality of Service (QoS), without compromising the user benefit. The data rate has been the key metric for wireless QoS; QoE deals with the delay and throughput. In order to realize a balance between the QoS and QoE, we propose a cellular Device centric communication methodology for the overlapping network coverage area in the 5G communication system. The multiple beacon signals mobile tower refers to an overlapping network area, and a user must be forwarded to the next location area. To resolve this issue, we suggest the user centric methodology (without Base Station interface) to handover the device in the next area, until the users finalize the communication. The proposed method will reduce the signalling cost and overheads for the communication.

A method of demand-driven and data-centric Web service configuration for flexible business process implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Boyi; Xu, Li Da; Fei, Xiang; Jiang, Lihong; Cai, Hongming; Wang, Shuai

2017-08-01

Facing the rapidly changing business environments, implementation of flexible business process is crucial, but difficult especially in data-intensive application areas. This study aims to provide scalable and easily accessible information resources to leverage business process management. In this article, with a resource-oriented approach, enterprise data resources are represented as data-centric Web services, grouped on-demand of business requirement and configured dynamically to adapt to changing business processes. First, a configurable architecture CIRPA involving information resource pool is proposed to act as a scalable and dynamic platform to virtualise enterprise information resources as data-centric Web services. By exposing data-centric resources as REST services in larger granularities, tenant-isolated information resources could be accessed in business process execution. Second, dynamic information resource pool is designed to fulfil configurable and on-demand data accessing in business process execution. CIRPA also isolates transaction data from business process while supporting diverse business processes composition. Finally, a case study of using our method in logistics application shows that CIRPA provides an enhanced performance both in static service encapsulation and dynamic service execution in cloud computing environment.

Maritime domain awareness community of interest net centric information sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andress, Mark; Freeman, Brian; Rhiddlehover, Trey; Shea, John

2007-04-01

This paper highlights the approach taken by the Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Community of Interest (COI) in establishing an approach to data sharing that seeks to overcome many of the obstacles to sharing both within the federal government and with international and private sector partners. The approach uses the DOD Net Centric Data Strategy employed through Net Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) foundation provided by Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), but is unique in that the community is made up of more than just Defense agencies. For the first pilot project, the MDA COI demonstrated how four agencies from DOD, the Intelligence Community, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Transportation (DOT) could share Automatic Identification System (AIS) data in a common format using shared enterprise service components.

Motivation towards dual career of European student-athletes.

PubMed

Lupo, Corrado; Guidotti, Flavia; Goncalves, Carlos E; Moreira, Liliana; Doupona Topic, Mojca; Bellardini, Helena; Tonkonogi, Michail; Colin, Allen; Capranica, Laura

2015-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate motivations for the dual career of European student-athletes living in countries providing different educational services for elite athletes: State-centric regulation-State as sponsor/facilitator (State), National Sporting Federations/Institutes as intermediary (Federation) and Laisser Faire, no formal structures (No Structure). Therefore, the European Student-athletes' Motivation towards Sports and Academics Questionnaire (SAMSAQ-EU) was administered to 524 European student-athletes. Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to test the factor structure, and the reliability and validity of the SAMSAQ-EU, respectively. A multivariate approach was applied to verify subgroup effects (P ≤ 0.05) according to gender (i.e., female and male), age (i.e., ≤ 24 years, > 24 years), type of sport (i.e., individual sport and team sport) and competition level (i.e., national and international). Insufficient confirmatory indexes were reported for the whole European student-athlete group, whereas distinct three factor models [i.e., Student Athletic Motivation (SAM); Academic Motivation (AM); Career Athletic Motivation (CAM)] emerged, with acceptable reliability estimates, for State (SAM = 0.82; AM = 0.75; and CAM = 0.75), Federation (SAM = 0.82; AM = 0.66; and CAM = 0.87) and No Structure (SAM = 0.78; AM = 0.74; and CAM = 0.79) subgroups. Differences between subgroups were found only for competition level (P < 0.001) in relation to SAM (P = 0.001) and CAM (P < 0.001). For SAM, the highest and lowest values emerged for Federation (national, 5.1 ± 0.5; international, 5.4 ± 0.5) and State (national, 4.5 ± 0.9; international, 4.8 ± 0.7). The opposite picture emerged for CAM (Federation: national, 3.3 ± 0.7; international, 3.5 ± 0.9; State: national, 5.0 ± 0.8; international, 5.0 ± 0.9). Therefore, despite SAMSAQ-EU demonstrated to be a useful tool, results showed that European student-athletes' motivation for dual career has to be specifically investigated according to social contexts.

Are child-centric aspects in newborn and child health systematic review and meta-analysis protocols and reports adequately reported?-two systematic reviews.

PubMed

Farid-Kapadia, Mufiza; Joachim, Kariym C; Balasingham, Chrinna; Clyburne-Sherin, April; Offringa, Martin

2017-03-06

Evidence suggests that newborn and child health systematic reviews and meta-analyses exhibit poor quality in reporting. The "Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis" (PRISMA) and PRISMA-Protocols (PRISMA-P) checklists have been developed to improve the reporting of systematic review results and protocols, respectively. We aimed to evaluate the clarity and transparency in reporting of child-centric items in child health systematic reviews (SRs) and SR protocols and to identify areas where reporting could be strengthened. Two preliminary lists of potential child-centric reporting items were used to examine current reporting. The Cochrane, DARE, MEDLINE, and EMBASE libraries were searched from 2010 to 2014 for systematic reviews that included children. Each report and protocol that met the inclusion criteria had their quality of reporting assessed by their reporting of child-centric items. Quality of reporting was assessed per whether one third, one to two thirds, or more than two thirds of papers complied with potential child-centric potential modifications/extensions to PRISMA and were analyzed by the following: (i) paper type (i.e., report vs. protocol), (ii) publication type (i.e., Cochrane vs. non-Cochrane), and (iii) population type (i.e., child-only vs. mixed populations vs. family/maternal). Of the 414 eligible articles, 248 reports and 76 protocols were included. In 21 of 24 potential SR reporting items and 13 of 14 potential SR protocol reporting items, less than two thirds of papers met the child-centric reporting item requirements. Mixed population studies displayed significantly poorer reporting in comparison to child-only and family/maternal intervention studies for 11 potential SR reporting items (p < 0.05) and five potential SR protocol items (p < 0.05). When comparing non-Cochrane to Cochrane reports and protocols, five items in both lists were found to perform significantly poorer in non-Cochrane reports (p < 0.05). Significant differences in reporting quality were found in three of 14 items shared between the potential SR reporting items and potential SR protocol reporting items (p < 0.05). Newborn and child health systematic reviews and meta-analyses exhibit incomplete reporting, thereby hindering prudent decision-making by healthcare providers and policy makers. These results provide a rationale for the implementation of child-centric extensions and modifications to current PRISMA and PRISMA-P, such as to improve reporting in this population.

Cognitive Performance in Operational Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russo, Michael; McGhee, James; Friedler, Edna; Thomas, Maria

2005-01-01

Optimal cognition during complex and sustained operations is a critical component for success in current and future military operations. "Cognitive Performance, Judgment, and Decision-making" (CPJD) is a newly organized U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command research program focused on sustaining operational effectiveness of Future Force Warriors by developing paradigms through which militarily-relevant, higher-order cognitive performance, judgment, and decision-making can be assessed and sustained in individuals, small teams, and leaders of network-centric fighting units. CPJD evaluates the impact of stressors intrinsic to military operational environments (e.g., sleep deprivation, workload, fatigue, temperature extremes, altitude, environmental/physiological disruption) on military performance, evaluates noninvasive automated methods for monitoring and predicting cognitive performance, and investigates pharmaceutical strategies (e.g., stimulant countermeasures, hypnotics) to mitigate performance decrements. This manuscript describes the CPJD program, discusses the metrics utilized to relate militarily applied research findings to academic research, and discusses how the simulated combat capabilities of a synthetic battle laboratory may facilitate future cognitive performance research.

Using Target Network Modelling to Increase Battlespace Agility

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

Moffat, James. (2003) Complexity Theory and Network Centric Warfare. Washington DC: CCRP Moore, David T.. Sensemaking : A Structure for an Intelligence...Ted Hopf’s “Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory ” presented in International Security in 1998; and Adler 1998. 5 Look to...of warfighting within a doctrinal framework. Based on 10 years of research12 informed by social theory , experimentation, NATO doctrinal studies and

Training Community Modeling and Simulation Business Plan: 2009 Edition

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

strategic information assurance 33 33 Provide crisis action procedures training 34 34 Provide the IC SOF-specific training at the operational level... information and products • Collaborative analysis processes • Dissemination of information throughout a command and to subordinates by redundant means...centric M&S capabilities will improve training for information warfare, assist with training for homeland defense operations, crisis -management plan- ning

An isoline separating relatively warm from relatively cool wintertime forest surface temperatures for the southeastern United States

Treesearch

J. Wickham; T.G. Wade; K.H. Riitters

2014-01-01

Forest-oriented climate mitigation policies promote forestation as a means to increase uptake of atmospheric carbon to counteract global warming. Some have pointed out that a carbon-centric forest policy may be overstated because it discounts biophysical aspects of the influence of forests on climate. In extra-tropical regions, many climate models have shown that...

Network-Centric Environment: A Modular Modeling and Simulation/Synthetic Environment (M&S/SE) framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

military effectiveness, history provides us the answer: In “ Megatrends ”, John Naisbitt, writes about technology itself without knowing that a...Control Simulations; viii. Urban Planning; ix. Urban Combat; x. Chemical Biological Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Evaluations; xi. Military...Capability Management. DRDC Ottawa TM 2004-221 83 References 1. Naisbitt, J. Megatrends . Warner Books, 290 pages, 1982. 2

Romance of Leadership as a Leader Emergence Predictor

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

social constructionist approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(3), 329-341. Moss, S. E., & Kent, R. L. (1996). Gender and gender-role categorization of...follower-centric model of leadership by focusing on socially developed constructs as opposed to leader behaviors. It has been suggested that...of leader emergence. Judge and Cable (2004) found that height was also related to social -esteem while Atwater et al. (1999) found correlation

Transforming System Engineering through Model-Centric Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-18

best practices and provide computational technologies for real-time training within digital engineering environments  Multidisciplinary System...MBSE well due to continued training and practicing . While MBSE is a part of the MCE it does not encompass the full idea and enabling technologies of... practices against other Industry contractors and it was believed that ABC was trailing the others in the use of MDAO capabilities. They decided that

Teaching with Student Response Systems (SRS): Teacher-Centric Aspects that Can Negatively Affect Students' Experience of Using SRS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nielsen, Kjetil L.; Hansen, Gabrielle; Stav, John B.

2013-01-01

In this article, we describe and discuss the most significant teacher-centric aspects of student response systems (SRS) that we have found to negatively affect students' experience of using SRS in lecture settings. By doing so, we hope to increase teachers' awareness of how they use SRS and how seemingly trivial choices or aspects when using SRS…

Information Product Quality in Network Centric Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

Signori et al.’ s NCOCF .......................................................................................................1 Figure 2...NCW Conceptual Framework Figure 1. Signori et al.’ s NCOCF 1 perspective, having led to what is currently known as the Network Centric Operations...following equation: T QS δ≥∆ , where is the change in entropy, is the change in heat energy and T is some constant S ∆ Qδ 7 temperature. Whenever heat

Introducing the Canadian Information Centric Workspace Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

information, and (3) collaboration. » Chaum [14] goes even further by arguing that to fully exploit such NCW concept, there must exist a common...Technical Memorandum 2003-085; September 2003, Canada, Unclassified [12] Alberts, David S.; Garstka, John J.; and Stein, Frederick P.; “Netwrok...Centric Warfare: Developing and Leveraging Information Superiority”. Washington, DC, CCRP. August 1999, Unclassified [13] Alberts, David S.; DoD Command

Using Appreciative Inquiry to Explore the Professional Practice of a Lecturer in Higher Education: Moving towards Life-Centric Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giles, David; Kung, Susie

2010-01-01

This paper reports on a strategy for exploring the life-centric practice of a lecturer in Higher Education. The initiative for this inquiry arose out of the realisation that there did not appear to be positive, heart-lifting stories in a lecturer's current teaching experiences. Using an appreciative eye and supported by a critical friend,…

Benchmarking health IT among OECD countries: better data for better policy

PubMed Central

Adler-Milstein, Julia; Ronchi, Elettra; Cohen, Genna R; Winn, Laura A Pannella; Jha, Ashish K

2014-01-01

Objective To develop benchmark measures of health information and communication technology (ICT) use to facilitate cross-country comparisons and learning. Materials and methods The effort is led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Approaches to definition and measurement within four ICT domains were compared across seven OECD countries in order to identify functionalities in each domain. These informed a set of functionality-based benchmark measures, which were refined in collaboration with representatives from more than 20 OECD and non-OECD countries. We report on progress to date and remaining work to enable countries to begin to collect benchmark data. Results The four benchmarking domains include provider-centric electronic record, patient-centric electronic record, health information exchange, and tele-health. There was broad agreement on functionalities in the provider-centric electronic record domain (eg, entry of core patient data, decision support), and less agreement in the other three domains in which country representatives worked to select benchmark functionalities. Discussion Many countries are working to implement ICTs to improve healthcare system performance. Although many countries are looking to others as potential models, the lack of consistent terminology and approach has made cross-national comparisons and learning difficult. Conclusions As countries develop and implement strategies to increase the use of ICTs to promote health goals, there is a historic opportunity to enable cross-country learning. To facilitate this learning and reduce the chances that individual countries flounder, a common understanding of health ICT adoption and use is needed. The OECD-led benchmarking process is a crucial step towards achieving this. PMID:23721983

Benchmarking health IT among OECD countries: better data for better policy.

PubMed

Adler-Milstein, Julia; Ronchi, Elettra; Cohen, Genna R; Winn, Laura A Pannella; Jha, Ashish K

2014-01-01

To develop benchmark measures of health information and communication technology (ICT) use to facilitate cross-country comparisons and learning. The effort is led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Approaches to definition and measurement within four ICT domains were compared across seven OECD countries in order to identify functionalities in each domain. These informed a set of functionality-based benchmark measures, which were refined in collaboration with representatives from more than 20 OECD and non-OECD countries. We report on progress to date and remaining work to enable countries to begin to collect benchmark data. The four benchmarking domains include provider-centric electronic record, patient-centric electronic record, health information exchange, and tele-health. There was broad agreement on functionalities in the provider-centric electronic record domain (eg, entry of core patient data, decision support), and less agreement in the other three domains in which country representatives worked to select benchmark functionalities. Many countries are working to implement ICTs to improve healthcare system performance. Although many countries are looking to others as potential models, the lack of consistent terminology and approach has made cross-national comparisons and learning difficult. As countries develop and implement strategies to increase the use of ICTs to promote health goals, there is a historic opportunity to enable cross-country learning. To facilitate this learning and reduce the chances that individual countries flounder, a common understanding of health ICT adoption and use is needed. The OECD-led benchmarking process is a crucial step towards achieving this.

Integrative Health Coach Training: A Model for Shifting the Paradigm Toward Patient-centricity and Meeting New National Prevention Goals

PubMed Central

Smith, Linda L.; Lake, Noelle H.; Simmons, Leigh Ann; Perlman, Adam; Wroth, Shelley

2013-01-01

Objective: To describe the evolution, training, and results of an emerging allied health profession skilled in eliciting sustainable health-related behavior change and charged with improving patient engagement. Methods: Through techniques sourced from humanistic and positive psychology, solution-focused and mindfulness-based therapies, and leadership coaching, Integrative Health Coaching (IHC) provides a mechanism to empower patients through various stages of learning and change. IHC also provides a method for the creation and implementation of forward-focused personalized health plans. Results: Clinical studies employing Duke University Integrative Medicine's model of IHC have demonstrated improvements in measures of diabetes and diabetes risk, weight management, and risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. By supporting and enabling individuals in making major lifestyle changes for the improvement of their health, IHC carries the potential to reduce rates and morbidity of chronic disease and impact myriad aspects of healthcare. Conclusion: As a model of educational and clinical innovation aimed at patient empowerment and lifestyle modification, IHC is aligned well with the tenets and goals of recently sanctioned federal healthcare reform, specifically the creation of the first National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy. Practice Implications: IHC may allow greater patient-centricity while targeting the lifestyle-related chronic disease that lies at the heart of the current healthcare crisis. PMID:24416674

Improved venous suppression on renal MR angiography with recessed elliptical centric ordering of K-space.

PubMed

Ho, Bernard; Chao, Minh; Zhang, Hong Lei; Watts, Richard; Prince, Martin R

2003-01-01

To evaluate recessed elliptical centric ordering of k-space in renal magnetic resonance (MR) angiography. All imaging was performed on the same 1.5 T MR imaging system (GE Signa CVi) using the body coil for signal transmission and a phased array coil for reception. Gd, 30 ml, was injected manually at 2 ml/sec timed with automatic triggering (SmartPrep). In thirty patients using standard elliptical centric ordering, the scanner paused 8 seconds between detection of the leading edge of the Gd bolus and initiation of scanning beginning with the center of k-space. For the recessed-elliptical centric ordering in 20 consecutive patients, this delay was reduced to 4 seconds but the absolute center of k-space recessed in by 4 seconds such that in all patients the absolute center of k-space was acquired 8 seconds after detecting the leading edge of the bolus. On the arterial phase images signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was measured in the aorta, each renal artery and vein and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured relative to subcutaneous fat. The standard deviation of signal outside the patient was considered to be "noise" for calculation of SNR and CNR. Incidence of ringing artifact in the aorta and renal veins was noted. Aorta SNR and CNR was significantly higher with the recessed technique (p = 0.02) and the ratio of renal artery signal to renal vein signal was higher with the recessed technique, 4 ± 2, compared to standard elliptical centric, 3 ± 2 (p = 0.03). Ringing artifact was also reduced with the recessed technique in both the aorta and renal veins. Gadolinium-enhanced renal MR angiography is improved by recessing the absolute center of k-space.

Determination of nucleoside analog mono-, di-, and tri-phosphates in cellular matrix by solid phase extraction and ultra-sensitive LC-MS/MS detection.

PubMed

Bushman, Lane R; Kiser, Jennifer J; Rower, Joseph E; Klein, Brandon; Zheng, Jia-Hua; Ray, Michelle L; Anderson, Peter L

2011-09-10

An ultra-sensitive liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay was developed and validated to facilitate the assessment of clinical pharmacokinetics of nucleotide analogs from lysed intracellular matrix. The method utilized a strong anion exchange isolation of mono-(MP), di-(DP), and tri-phosphates (TP) from intracellular matrix. Each fraction was then dephosphorylated to the parent moiety yielding a molar equivalent to the original nucleotide analog intracellular concentration. The analytical portion of the methodology was optimized in specific nucleoside analog centric modes (i.e. tenofovir (TFV) centric, zidovudine (ZDV) centric), which included desalting/concentration by solid phase extraction and detection by LC-MS/MS. Nucleotide analog MP-, DP-, and TP-determined on the TFV centric mode of analysis include TFV, lamivudine (3TC), and emtricitibine (FTC). The quantifiable linear range for TFV was 2.5-2000 fmol/sample, and that for 3TC/FTC was 0.1 200 pmol/sample. Nucleoside analog MP-, DP-, and TP-determined on the ZDV centric mode of analysis included 3TC and ZDV. The quantifiable linear range for 3TC was 0.1 100 pmol/sample, and 5-2000 fmol/sample for ZDV. Stable labeled isotopic internal standards facilitated accuracy and precision in alternative cell matrices, which supported the intended use of the method for MP, DP, and TP determinations in various cell types. The method was successfully applied to clinical research samples generating novel intracellular information for TFV, FTC, ZDV, and 3TC nucleotides. This document outlines method development, validation, and application to clinical research. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preferences don't have to be personal: expanding attitude theorizing with a cross-cultural perspective.

PubMed

Riemer, Hila; Shavitt, Sharon; Koo, Minkyung; Markus, Hazel Rose

2014-10-01

Attitudes, theorized as behavioral guides, have long been a central focus of research in the social sciences. However, this theorizing reflects primarily Western philosophical views and empirical findings emphasizing the centrality of personal preferences. As a result, the prevalent psychological model of attitudes is a person-centric one. We suggest that incorporating research insights from non-Western sociocultural contexts can significantly enhance attitude theorizing. To this end, we propose an additional model-a normative-contextual model of attitudes. The currently dominant person-centric model emphasizes the centrality of personal preferences, their stability and internal consistency, and their possible interaction with externally imposed norms. In contrast, the normative-contextual model emphasizes that attitudes are always context-contingent and incorporate the views of others and the norms of the situation. In this model, adjustment to norms does not involve an effortful struggle between the authentic self and exogenous forces. Rather, it is the ongoing and reassuring integration of others' views into one's attitudes. According to the normative-contextual model, likely to be a good fit in contexts that foster interdependence and holistic thinking, attitudes need not be personal or necessarily stable and internally consistent and are only functional to the extent that they help one to adjust automatically to different contexts. The fundamental shift in focus offered by the normative-contextual model generates novel hypotheses and highlights new measurement criteria for studying attitudes in non-Western sociocultural contexts. We discuss these theoretical and measurement implications as well as practical implications for health and well-being, habits and behavior change, and global marketing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Type-Based Access Control in Data-Centric Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caires, Luís; Pérez, Jorge A.; Seco, João Costa; Vieira, Hugo Torres; Ferrão, Lúcio

Data-centric multi-user systems, such as web applications, require flexible yet fine-grained data security mechanisms. Such mechanisms are usually enforced by a specially crafted security layer, which adds extra complexity and often leads to error prone coding, easily causing severe security breaches. In this paper, we introduce a programming language approach for enforcing access control policies to data in data-centric programs by static typing. Our development is based on the general concept of refinement type, but extended so as to address realistic and challenging scenarios of permission-based data security, in which policies dynamically depend on the database state, and flexible combinations of column- and row-level protection of data are necessary. We state and prove soundness and safety of our type system, stating that well-typed programs never break the declared data access control policies.

Scheduling from the perspective of the application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berman, F.; Wolski, R.

1996-12-31

Metacomputing is the aggregation of distributed and high-performance resources on coordinated networks. With careful scheduling, resource-intensive applications can be implemented efficiently on metacomputing systems at the sizes of interest to developers and users. In this paper we focus on the problem of scheduling applications on metacomputing systems. We introduce the concept of application-centric scheduling in which everything about the system is evaluated in terms of its impact on the application. Application-centric scheduling is used by virtually all metacomputer programmers to achieve performance on metacomputing systems. We describe two successful metacomputing applications to illustrate this approach, and describe AppLeS scheduling agentsmore » which generalize the application-centric scheduling approach. Finally, we show preliminary results which compare AppLeS-derived schedules with conventional strip and blocked schedules for a two-dimensional Jacobi code.« less

Parallelizing Data-Centric Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-25

results than current techniques, such as ImageWebs [HGO+10], given the same budget of matches performed. 4.2 Scalable Parallel Similarity Search The work...algorithms. 5 Data-Driven Applications in the Cloud In this project, we investigated what happens when data-centric software is moved from expensive custom ...returns appropriate answer tuples. Figure 9 (b) shows the mutual constraint satisfaction that takes place in answering for 122. The intent is that

Reducing Structural Weight and Increasing Protection in Simple Structures Subjected to Blast Loads

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-08-12

centric vehicle structures that make the operation of the vehicle both comfortable and safe for the soldiers. Furthermore, a lighter weight vehicle...supporting forces. Therefore, a key design challenge is to develop lightweight occupant-centric vehicle structures that can provide high levels of...protection against explosive threats. In this paper, concepts for using materials, damping and other mechanisms to design structures with unique dynamic

Collaboration Takes Center Stage: Interactive Teaching through a Schoolwide Focus on the Performing Arts Leads to Dramatic Improvements in Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Jeff; Zimmerman, Diane

2009-01-01

In the Old Adobe Union School District in Petaluma, California, the school staff's goal is to assure that all teachers make the fundamental shift from teacher-centric to learner-centric thinking. For them, this is what distinguishes great teachers from good teachers. They believe this level of expertise takes years to develop and that schools play…

Unfolding the Future of the Long War: Motivations, Prospects, and Implications for the U.S. Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

chauvinism for its legitimacy. State-Centric State-Centric aims to spread effective governance throughout the Muslim world by strengthening...involvement in the region during times of sectarian violence would challenge IO capabilities to aid in discrediting arguments and propaganda of...quent extensions of the framework to other potential interpretations, have formed the bases for arguments both in support of and against the

N-CET: Network-Centric Exploitation and Tracking

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

DATES COVERED (From - To) October 2008 – August 2009 4 . TITLE AND SUBTITLE N-CET: NETWORK – CENTRIC EXPLOITATION AND TRACKING 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...At the core of N-CET are information management services that decouple data producers and consumers , allowing reconfiguration to suit mission needs...Shown around the head-node are different pieces of hardware including the Sony PlayStation R©3 (PS3) nodes used for computationally demanding tasks

A Lessons Learned Knowledge Warehouse to Support the Army Knowledge Management Command-Centric

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

Warehouse to Support the Army Knowledge Management Command-Centric increase the quality and availability of information in context ( knowledge ) to the... information , geographical information , knowledge base, Intelligence data (HUMINT, SIGINT, etc.); and • • Human Computer Interaction (HCI): allows...the Data Fusion Process from the HCI point of view? Can the LL Knowledge Base provide any valuable information to achieve better estimates of the

Systems Engineering Approach and Metrics for Evaluating Network-Centric Operations for U.S. Army Battle Command

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

Systems Engineering Approach and Metrics for Evaluating Network-Centric Operations for U.S. Army Battle Command by Jock O. Grynovicki and...Battle Command Jock O. Grynovicki and Teresa A. Branscome Human Research and Engineering Directorate, ARL...NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Jock O. Grynovicki and Teresa A. Branscome 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 622716H70 5e. TASK NUMBER

EVALUATION OF THE REPRODUCIBILITY OF TWO TECHNIQUES USED TO DETERMINE AND RECORD CENTRIC RELATION IN ANGLE’S CLASS I PATIENTS

PubMed Central

Paixão, Fernanda; Silva, Wilkens Aurélio Buarque e; Silva, Frederico Andrade e; Ramos, Guilherme da Gama; Cruz, Mônica Vieira de Jesus

2007-01-01

The centric relation is a mandibular position that determines a balance relation among the temporomandibular joints, the chew muscles and the occlusion. This position makes possible to the dentist to plan and to execute oral rehabilitation respecting the physiological principles of the stomatognathic system. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of centric relation records obtained using two techniques: Dawson’s Bilateral Manipulation and Gysi’s Gothic Arch Tracing. Twenty volunteers (14 females and 6 males) with no dental loss, presenting occlusal contacts according to those described in Angle’s I classification and without signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders were selected. All volunteers were submitted five times with a 1-week interval, always in the same schedule, to the Dawson’s Bilateral Manipulation and to the Gysi’s Gothic Arch Tracing with aid of an intraoral apparatus. The average standard error of each technique was calculated (Bilateral Manipulation 0.94 and Gothic Arch Tracing 0.27). Shapiro-Wilk test was applied and the results allowed application of Student’s t-test (sampling error of 5%). The techniques showed different degrees of variability. The Gysi’s Gothic Arch Tracing was found to be more accurate than the Bilateral Manipulation in reproducing the centric relation records. PMID:19089144

Iron Storage Capacity and its Ecological Role within Phylogenetically Distinct Marine Diatoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, N.; Jacquot, J. E.; Stemple, B.; Sunda, W. G.; Twining, B. S.; Marchetti, A.

2016-02-01

Natural and artificial iron fertilization occurring in iron-limited regions of the ocean often results in large blooms of pennate diatoms. The ability of these pennate diatoms to quickly respond to bioavailable iron and proliferate has been attributed in part to their use of the iron storage protein ferritin. Recent concerted efforts to sequence the transcriptomes of eukaryotic protists have made it apparent that some, but not all, centric diatoms also possess a ferritin gene homolog. Using a combination of physiological and molecular biological techniques, we determined the cellular iron quotas and associated ferritin gene expression within both ferritin-containing and non-containing centric and pennate diatoms grown under a range of iron concentrations. Our results show that under steady-state conditions there are no clear differences between the maximum iron cellular quotas of ferritin-containing versus non-ferritin containing centric and pennate diatoms. However, based on differences in gene expression patterns, ferritin appears to play fundamentally different functional roles between centric and pennate diatoms. We propose the success of oceanic pennate diatoms such as Pseudo-nitzschia following iron addition is not only a function of achieving a high iron storage capacity, but also due to their unique ability to drastically reduce intracellular iron requirements while still maintaining rapid growth rates, and depends on iron bioavailability in the environment.

Value-centric design architecture based on analysis of space system characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Q.; Hollingsworth, P.; Smith, K.

2018-03-01

Emerging design concepts such as miniaturisation, modularity, and standardisation, have contributed to the rapid development of small and inexpensive platforms, particularly cubesats. This has been stimulating an upcoming revolution in space design and development, leading satellites into the era of "smaller, faster, and cheaper". However, the current requirement-centric design philosophy, focused on bespoke monolithic systems, along with the associated development and production process does not inherently fit with the innovative modular, standardised, and mass-produced technologies. This paper presents a new categorisation, characterisation, and value-centric design architecture to address this need for both traditional and novel system designs. Based on the categorisation of system configurations, a characterisation of space systems, comprised of duplication, fractionation, and derivation, is proposed to capture the overall system configuration characteristics and promote potential hybrid designs. Complying with the definitions of the system characterisation, mathematical mapping relations between the system characterisation and the system properties are described to establish the mathematical foundation of the proposed value-centric design methodology. To illustrate the methodology, subsystem reliability relationships are therefore analysed to explore potential system configurations in the design space. The results of the applications of system characteristic analysis clearly show that the effects of different configuration characteristics on the system properties can be effectively analysed and evaluated, enabling the optimization of system configurations.

TinyONet: A Cache-Based Sensor Network Bridge Enabling Sensing Data Reusability and Customized Wireless Sensor Network Services

PubMed Central

Jung, Eui-Hyun; Park, Yong-Jin

2008-01-01

In recent years, a few protocol bridge research projects have been announced to enable a seamless integration of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) with the TCP/IP network. These studies have ensured the transparent end-to-end communication between two network sides in the node-centric manner. Researchers expect this integration will trigger the development of various application domains. However, prior research projects have not fully explored some essential features for WSNs, especially the reusability of sensing data and the data-centric communication. To resolve these issues, we suggested a new protocol bridge system named TinyONet. In TinyONet, virtual sensors play roles as virtual counterparts of physical sensors and they dynamically group to make a functional entity, Slice. Instead of direct interaction with individual physical sensors, each sensor application uses its own WSN service provided by Slices. If a new kind of service is required in TinyONet, the corresponding function can be dynamically added at runtime. Beside the data-centric communication, it also supports the node-centric communication and the synchronous access. In order to show the effectiveness of the system, we implemented TinyONet on an embedded Linux machine and evaluated it with several experimental scenarios. PMID:27873968

Specification and design of a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemke, Heinz U.; Berliner, Leonard

2007-03-01

Appropriate use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Mechatronic (MT) systems is considered by many experts as a significant contribution to improve workflow and quality of care in the Operating Room (OR). This will require a suitable IT infrastructure as well as communication and interface standards, such as DICOM and suitable extensions, to allow data interchange between surgical system components in the OR. A conceptual design of such an infrastructure, i.e. a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS) will be introduced in this paper. A TIMMS should support the essential functions that enable and advance image, and in particular, patient model guided therapy. Within this concept, the image centric world view of the classical PACS technology is complemented by an IT model-centric world view. Such a view is founded in the special modelling needs of an increasing number of modern surgical interventions as compared to the imaging intensive working mode of diagnostic radiology, for which PACS was originally conceptualised and developed. A proper design of a TIMMS, taking into account modern software engineering principles, such as service oriented architecture, will clarify the right position of interfaces and relevant standards for a Surgical Assist System (SAS) in general and their components specifically. Such a system needs to be designed to provide a highly modular structure. Modules may be defined on different granulation levels. A first list of components (e.g. high and low level modules) comprising engines and repositories of an SAS, which should be integrated by a TIMMS, will be introduced in this paper.

A Framework for Modeling and Simulation of the Artificial

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

y or n) >> y Name: petra Simple Aspects: face_shape/thin, nose/small, skintone/light, hair_color/black, hair_type/curly Integrated Aspects...Multiconference. Orlando, FL (2012) 23. Mittal, S., Risco- Martin , J.: Netcentric System of Systems Engineering with DEVS Unified Process. CRC Press (2012) 24...Mittal, S., Risco- Martin , J., Zeigler, B.: DEVS-based simulation web services for net-centric T&E. In: Proceedings of the 2007 summer computer

A Recommended Framework for the Network-Centric Acquisition Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

ISO /IEC 12207 , Systems and Software Engineering-Software Life-Cycle Processes  ANSI/EIA 632, Processes for Engineering a System. There are...engineering [46]. Some of the process models presented in the DAG are:  ISO /IEC 15288, Systems and Software Engineering-System Life-Cycle Processes...e.g., ISO , IA, Security, etc.). Vetting developers helps ensure that they are using industry best industry practices and maximize the IA compliance

The Phase of Illness Paradigm: A Checklist Centric Model to Improve Patient Care in the Burn Intensive Care Unit

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

oxygenation and ventilation Goal Adequate oxygenation and/or ventilation Goal Skin grafting Objective Surgical operation (implicit goal = achieve...Abdominal Pressures, [TTE/IVC measurement] Assure effective Ventilation & Sedation (Standard ICU) EtCO2, A-Line, ±CVP 4E Compatible Decrease...commands) Participatory (expresses self)  minimize oxygen demand  maximize perfusion  protect grafts  patient ventilator

Research on Information Sharing Method for Future C2 in Network Centric Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-01

subscription (or search) request. Then, some of the information service nodes for future C2 deal with these users’ requests, locate, federated search the... federated search server is responsible for resolving the search requests sending out from the users, and executing the federated search . The information... federated search server, information filtering model, or information subscription matching algorithm (such as users subscribe the target information at two

Improving Quality Using Architecture Fault Analysis with Confidence Arguments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

CMU/SEI-2015-TR-006 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY iii List of Figures Figure 1: Architecture-Centric...Requirements Decomposition 5 Figure 2: A System and Its Interface with Its Environment 6 Figure 3: AADL Graphical Symbols 8 Figure 4: Textual AADL Example...8 Figure 5: Textual AADL Error Model Example 9 Figure 6: Potential Hazard Sources in the Feedback Control Loop [Leveson 2012] 11 Figure 7

DoD Net-Centric Services Strategy Implementation in the C2 Domain

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

those for monolingual thesauri indicated in ANSI/NISO Z39.19-2005 and ISO 2788-1986. Also, the versioning regimen in the KOS must be robust, a...Metadata Registry: Repository of all metadata related to data structures, models, dictionaries , taxonomies, schema, and other engineering artifacts that...access information, schemas, style sheets, controlled vocabularies, dictionaries , and other work products. It would normally be discovered via a

Transforming System Engineering through Model-Centric Engineering

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-31

story that is being applied and evolved on Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) project [75], and we summarize some aspects of it here, because it goes beyond...JEO Jupiter Europa Orbiter project at NASA/JPL JSF Joint Strike Fighter JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA Linux An operating system created by...Adaptation of Flight-Critical Systems, Digital Avionics Systems Conference, 2009. [75] Rasumussen, R., R. Shishko, Jupiter Europa Orbiter Architecture

Design of a framework for the deployment of collaborative independent rare disease-centric registries: Gaucher disease registry model.

PubMed

Bellgard, Matthew I; Napier, Kathryn R; Bittles, Alan H; Szer, Jeffrey; Fletcher, Sue; Zeps, Nikolajs; Hunter, Adam A; Goldblatt, Jack

2018-02-01

Orphan drug clinical trials often are adversely affected by a lack of high quality treatment efficacy data that can be reliably compared across large patient cohorts derived from multiple governmental and country jurisdictions. It is critical that these patient data be captured with limited corporate involvement. For some time, there have been calls to develop collaborative, non-proprietary, patient-centric registries for post-market surveillance of aspects related to orphan drug efficacy. There is an urgent need for the development and sustainable deployment of these 'independent' registries that can capture comprehensive clinical, genetic and therapeutic information on patients with rare diseases. We therefore extended an open-source registry platform, the Rare Disease Registry Framework (RDRF) to establish an Independent Rare Disease Registry (IRDR). We engaged with an established rare disease community for Gaucher disease to determine system requirements, methods of data capture, consent, and reporting. A non-proprietary IRDR model is presented that can serve as autonomous data repository, but more importantly ensures that the relevant data can be made available to appropriate stakeholders in a secure, timely and efficient manner to improve clinical decision-making and the lives of those with a rare disease. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Breach of belongingness: Newcomer relationship conflict, information, and task-related outcomes during organizational socialization.

PubMed

Nifadkar, Sushil S; Bauer, Talya N

2016-01-01

Previous studies of newcomer socialization have underlined the importance of newcomers' information seeking for their adjustment to the organization, and the conflict literature has consistently reported negative effects of relationship conflict with coworkers. However, to date, no study has examined the consequences of relationship conflict on newcomers' information seeking. In this study, we examined newcomers' reactions when they have relationship conflict with their coworkers, and hence cannot obtain necessary information from them. Drawing upon belongingness theory, we propose a model that moves from breach of belongingness to its proximal and distal consequences, to newcomer information seeking, and then to task-related outcomes. In particular, we propose that second paths exist-first coworker-centric and the other supervisor-centric-that may have simultaneous yet contrasting influence on newcomer adjustment. To test our model, we employ a 3-wave data collection research design with egocentric and Likert-type multisource surveys among a sample of new software engineers and their supervisors working in India. This study contributes to the field by linking the literatures on relationship conflict and newcomer information seeking and suggesting that despite conflict with coworkers, newcomers may succeed in organizations by building relationships with and obtaining information from supervisors. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Multi-Purpose, Application-Centric, Scalable I/O Proxy Application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, M. C.

2015-06-15

MACSio is a Multi-purpose, Application-Centric, Scalable I/O proxy application. It is designed to support a number of goals with respect to parallel I/O performance testing and benchmarking including the ability to test and compare various I/O libraries and I/O paradigms, to predict scalable performance of real applications and to help identify where improvements in I/O performance can be made within the HPC I/O software stack.

Russian Perspectives on Network-Centric Warfare: The Key Aim of Serdyukov’s Reform

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

has faced with its GLObal’naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema —(GLONASS) system, and introducing advanced digitized communications in the armed...of targeting data will be accomplished by organizing virtual channels for data transmission or via a web -portal. The successful function- ing of the...Operations: Tactical Web Takes Shape,” Signal, November 2003; Col. Alan D. Campen, USAF (Ret.), “Look Closely At Network-Centric Warfare: Technology Can

Stabilizing the Debate between Population-Centric and Enemy-Centric Counterinsurgency : Success Demands a Balanced Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-06-10

Plan increased the focus on population protection and control while maintaining an offensive, aggressive disposition against the insurgency.15 Large...dominate the populated areas and to build up a feeling of complete security, which would in time result in a steady and increasing flow of...police, and military authorities was undesirable and did not result in timely and accurate decisions and their associated implementation. General

2006 Net Centric Operations Conference - Facilitating Net Centric Operations and Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-16

22, 2005 • White Paper, “Facilitating Shared Services in the DoD,” Feb 12, 2006 • White Paper, “ Shared Services : Performance Accountability and Risk...who demand a culture of information sharing and improved organizational effectiveness.” 12 Facilitating Shared Services : Task “What should be the...distinct programs.” 13 Facilitating Shared Services : Focus Areas • Governance and Control Policy • Common Information Standards and Technical

Group Centric Networking: Addressing Information Sharing Requirements at the Tactical Edge

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-10

gateways are typically used to translate information from one network to another. The challenge with gateways is to understand what information...should be relayed from one network to another (with different message formats and technologies) and what platform should perform the gateway function such...information centric paradigm in that GCN does not specify what constitutes a group ID. Group IDs can be mapped to named data objects, content identifiers

Net Warrior D10 Technology Report: Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and Data Link Nodes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

ADO ) approach to implementing Network Centric Warfare (NCW) through ‘learning by doing’. Net Warrior was conceived to address, through... frameworks are able to satisfy design needs of applications to produce stable mission and net centric systems. NW-D10 employed a SOA approach to...UNCLASSIFIED Net Warrior D10 Technology Report: Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and Data Link Nodes Derek Dominish

CAD Services: an Industry Standard Interface for Mechanical CAD Interoperability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Claus, Russell; Weitzer, Ilan

2002-01-01

Most organizations seek to design and develop new products in increasingly shorter time periods. At the same time, increased performance demands require a team-based multidisciplinary design process that may span several organizations. One approach to meet these demands is to use 'Geometry Centric' design. In this approach, design engineers team their efforts through one united representation of the design that is usually captured in a CAD system. Standards-based interfaces are critical to provide uniform, simple, distributed services that enable the 'Geometry Centric' design approach. This paper describes an industry-wide effort, under the Object Management Group's (OMG) Manufacturing Domain Task Force, to define interfaces that enable the interoperability of CAD, Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools. This critical link to enable 'Geometry Centric' design is called: Cad Services V1.0. This paper discusses the features of this standard and proposed application.

A Printing-Centric Approach to the Electrostatic Modification of Polymer/Clay Composites for use in 3D Direct-Ink Writing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rauzan, Brittany; Lehman, Sean; McCracken, Josell

Polymer/clay composite inks are exceptionally useful materials for fabrication processes based on 3D direct-ink writing, however, there remains an insufficient understanding of how their physiochemical dynamics impact printability. Using a model system, N-isopropylacrylamide/Laponite, the electrostatic interactions between Laponite platelets are modified to tune critical rheological properties in order to improve printability. Rheological measurements and X-ray scattering experiments are carried out to monitor the nano/micro-structural dynamics and complex physicochemical interactions of Laponite as it impacts complex modulus in the linear region, flow behavior, thixotropy, and yield stress of the composite ink. Modification of the electrostatic interactions between platelets reduces the yieldmore » stress of the material, while maintaining a complex microstructure that allows for sufficient recovery times upon removal of stress to form stable, and thus printable, filaments. A printing-centric approach is established based on a fundamental understanding of electrostatic inter-particle interactions, harnessing the innate microstructure of Laponite in 3D direct-ink writing of composites.« less

Gravitoinertial force magnitude and direction influence head-centric auditory localization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiZio, P.; Held, R.; Lackner, J. R.; Shinn-Cunningham, B.; Durlach, N.

2001-01-01

We measured the influence of gravitoinertial force (GIF) magnitude and direction on head-centric auditory localization to determine whether a true audiogravic illusion exists. In experiment 1, supine subjects adjusted computer-generated dichotic stimuli until they heard a fused sound straight ahead in the midsagittal plane of the head under a variety of GIF conditions generated in a slow-rotation room. The dichotic stimuli were constructed by convolving broadband noise with head-related transfer function pairs that model the acoustic filtering at the listener's ears. These stimuli give rise to the perception of externally localized sounds. When the GIF was increased from 1 to 2 g and rotated 60 degrees rightward relative to the head and body, subjects on average set an acoustic stimulus 7.3 degrees right of their head's median plane to hear it as straight ahead. When the GIF was doubled and rotated 60 degrees leftward, subjects set the sound 6.8 degrees leftward of baseline values to hear it as centered. In experiment 2, increasing the GIF in the median plane of the supine body to 2 g did not influence auditory localization. In experiment 3, tilts up to 75 degrees of the supine body relative to the normal 1 g GIF led to small shifts, 1--2 degrees, of auditory setting toward the up ear to maintain a head-centered sound localization. These results show that head-centric auditory localization is affected by azimuthal rotation and increase in magnitude of the GIF and demonstrate that an audiogravic illusion exists. Sound localization is shifted in the direction opposite GIF rotation by an amount related to the magnitude of the GIF and its angular deviation relative to the median plane.

General Use of UAS in EW Environment-EW Concepts and Tactics for Single or Multiple UAS Over the Net-Centric Battlefield

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

Tactics for Single or Multiple UAS over the Net-Centric Battlefield 6. AUTHOR( S ) Mustafa Gokhan Erdemli 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION...NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING...MONITORING AGENCY NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) N/A 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this

Theory, Design, and Algorithms for Optimal Control of wireless Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-09

The implementation of network-centric warfare technologies is an abiding, critical interest of Air Force Science and Technology efforts for the Warfighter. Wireless communications, strategic signaling are areas of critical Air Force Mission need. Autonomous networks of multiple, heterogeneous Throughput enhancement and robust connectivity in communications and sensor networks are critical factors in net-centric USAF operations. This research directly supports the Air Force vision of information dominance and the development of anywhere, anytime operational readiness.

The Mobile Internet -The Next Big Thing. Electrons & Photons: You Need Both! (BRIEFING CHARTS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-05

Links Network Centric Warfighting Comms Wired & Wireless Links 20th Century 21th Century The Military Comms Problem Network Centric Operationst t i ti...Small Unit Operations TEL Underwater Vehicles & Towed Arrays RC-135V Rivet Joint Tier II+ UAV Global Hawk E-2C Hawkeye Networked Manned and Unmanned...RF Front-End Solutions ● >20 DARPA/MTO RF Programs across the spectrum - RF & Mixed Signal Electronics - Analog & Digital Photonics Enables Network

Improved Oversight, but No Invoice Reviews and Potential Antideficiency Act Violation May Have Occurred on the Kuwait Observer Controller Team Task Orders

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-02

Contracting, Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation; the Resident Auditor, Raytheon Network Centric Systems, Defense...Router Network (SIPRNET). We appreciate the courtesies extended to the staff. Please direct questions to Mr. Tim Moore at (703) 604-9068 (DSN 664...Raytheon Network Centric System Resident Office, DCAA, should develop and implement procedures to verify that the Army does not reimburse the contractor

A vision of network-centric military communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conklin, Ross, Jr.; Burbank, Jack; Nichols, Robert, Jr.

2005-05-01

This paper presents a vision for a future capability-based military communications system that considers user requirements. Historically, the military has developed and fielded many specialized communications systems. While these systems solved immediate communications problems, they were not designed to operate with other systems. As information has become more important to the execution of war, the "stove-pipe" nature of the communications systems deployed by the military is no longer acceptable. Realizing this, the military has begun the transformation of communications to a network-centric communications paradigm. However, the specialized communications systems were developed in response to the widely varying environments related to military communications. These environments, and the necessity for effective communications within these environments, do not disappear under the network-centric paradigm. In fact, network-centric communications allows for one message to cross many of these environments by transiting multiple networks. The military would also like one communications approach that is capable of working well in multiple environments. This paper presents preliminary work on the creation of a framework that allows for a reconfigurable device that is capable of adapting to the physical and network environments. The framework returns to the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) architecture with the addition of a standardized intra-layer control interface for control information exchange, a standardized data interface and a proposed device architecture based on the software radio.

Mashups over the Deep Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hornung, Thomas; Simon, Kai; Lausen, Georg

Combining information from different Web sources often results in a tedious and repetitive process, e.g. even simple information requests might require to iterate over a result list of one Web query and use each single result as input for a subsequent query. One approach for this chained queries are data-centric mashups, which allow to visually model the data flow as a graph, where the nodes represent the data source and the edges the data flow.

Human Subject Research Protocol: Computer-Aided Human Centric Cyber Situation Awareness: Understanding Cognitive Processes of Cyber Analysts

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-01

by existing cyber-attack detection tools far exceeds the analysts’ cognitive capabilities. Grounded in perceptual and cognitive theory , many visual...Processes Inspired by the sense-making theory discussed earlier, we model the analytical reasoning process of cyber analysts using three key...analyst are called “working hypotheses”); each hypothesis could trigger further actions to confirm or disconfirm it. New actions will lead to new

A Systems Engineering Survey of Artificial Intelligence and Smart Sensor Networks in a Network-Centric Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

problems, to better model the problem solving of computer systems. This research brought about the intertwining of AI and cognitive psychology . Much of...where symbol sequences are sequential intelligent states of the network, and must be classified as normal, abnormal , or unknown. These symbols...is associated with abnormal behavior; and abcbc is associated with unknown behavior, as it fits no known behavior. Predicted outcomes from

PACS for surgery and interventional radiology: features of a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS).

PubMed

Lemke, Heinz U; Berliner, Leonard

2011-05-01

Appropriate use of information and communication technology (ICT) and mechatronic (MT) systems is viewed by many experts as a means to improve workflow and quality of care in the operating room (OR). This will require a suitable information technology (IT) infrastructure, as well as communication and interface standards, such as specialized extensions of DICOM, to allow data interchange between surgical system components in the OR. A design of such an infrastructure, sometimes referred to as surgical PACS, but better defined as a Therapy Imaging and Model Management System (TIMMS), will be introduced in this article. A TIMMS should support the essential functions that enable and advance image guided therapy, and in the future, a more comprehensive form of patient-model guided therapy. Within this concept, the "image-centric world view" of the classical PACS technology is complemented by an IT "model-centric world view". Such a view is founded in the special patient modelling needs of an increasing number of modern surgical interventions as compared to the imaging intensive working mode of diagnostic radiology, for which PACS was originally conceptualised and developed. The modelling aspects refer to both patient information and workflow modelling. Standards for creating and integrating information about patients, equipment, and procedures are vitally needed when planning for an efficient OR. The DICOM Working Group 24 (WG-24) has been established to develop DICOM objects and services related to image and model guided surgery. To determine these standards, it is important to define step-by-step surgical workflow practices and create interventional workflow models per procedures or per variable cases. As the boundaries between radiation therapy, surgery and interventional radiology are becoming less well-defined, precise patient models will become the greatest common denominator for all therapeutic disciplines. In addition to imaging, the focus of WG-24 is to serve the therapeutic disciplines by enabling modelling technology to be based on standards. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Story-telling, Earth-Sciences and Geoethics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohle, Martin; Sibilla, Anna; Graells, Robert Casals i.

2015-04-01

People are engineers, even the artist. People like stories, even the engineers. Engineering shapes the intersections of humans and their environments including with the geosphere. Geoethics considers values upon which to base practices how to intersect the geosphere. Story-telling is a skilful human practice to describe perception of values in different contexts to influence their application. Traditional earth-centric narrations of rural communities have been lost in the global urbanisation process. These former-time narrations related to the "sacrum" - matters not possible to be explained with reasoning. Science and technology, industrialisation and global urbanisation require an other kind of earth-centric story-telling. Now at the fringe of the Anthropocene, humans can base their earth-centricity on knowledge and scientific thinking. We argue that modern story-telling about the functioning of Earth's systems and the impact of humankind's activities on these systems is needed, also in particular because citizens rarely can notice how the geosphere intersects with their daily dealings; putting weather and disasters aside. Modern earth-centric story-telling would offer citizens opportunities to develop informed position towards humankind's place within earth-systems. We argue that such "earth-science story-lines" should be part of the public discourse to engage citizens who have more or less "expert-knowledge". Understanding the functioning of the Earth is needed for economy and values suitable for an anthropophil society. Multi-faceted discussion of anthropogenic global change and geoengineering took off recently; emerging from discussions about weather and hazard mitigation. Going beyond that example; we illustrate opportunities for rich story-telling on intersections of humans' activities and the geosphere. These 'modern narrations' can weave science, demographics, linguistics and cultural histories into earth-centric stories around daily dealings of citizens. Such earth-science narrations could convene value statements on how humankind activities intersect the geosphere; and thus, they are narrations on geoethics.

Optimization of T-cell Reactivity by Exploiting TCR Chain Centricity for the Purpose of Safe and Effective Antitumor TCR Gene Therapy.

PubMed

Ochi, Toshiki; Nakatsugawa, Munehide; Chamoto, Kenji; Tanaka, Shinya; Yamashita, Yuki; Guo, Tingxi; Fujiwara, Hiroshi; Yasukawa, Masaki; Butler, Marcus O; Hirano, Naoto

2015-09-01

Adoptive transfer of T cells redirected by a high-affinity antitumor T-cell receptor (TCR) is a promising treatment modality for cancer patients. Safety and efficacy depend on the selection of a TCR that induces minimal toxicity and elicits sufficient antitumor reactivity. Many, if not all, TCRs possess cross-reactivity to unrelated MHC molecules in addition to reactivity to target self-MHC/peptide complexes. Some TCRs display chain centricity, in which recognition of MHC/peptide complexes is dominated by one of the TCR hemi-chains. In this study, we comprehensively studied how TCR chain centricity affects reactivity to target self-MHC/peptide complexes and alloreactivity using the TCR, clone TAK1, which is specific for human leukocyte antigen-A*24:02/Wilms tumor 1(235-243) (A24/WT1(235)) and cross-reactive with B*57:01 (B57). The TAK1β, but not the TAK1α, hemi-chain possessed chain centricity. When paired with multiple clonotypic TCRα counter-chains encoding TRAV12-2, 20, 36, or 38-2, the de novo TAK1β-containing TCRs showed enhanced, weakened, or absent reactivity to A24/WT1(235) and/or to B57. T cells reconstituted with these TCRα genes along with TAK1β possessed a very broad range (>3 log orders) of functional and structural avidities. These results suggest that TCR chain centricity can be exploited to enhance desired antitumor TCR reactivity and eliminate unwanted TCR cross-reactivity. TCR reactivity to target MHC/peptide complexes and cross-reactivity to unrelated MHC molecules are not inextricably linked and are separable at the TCR sequence level. However, it is still mandatory to carefully monitor for possible harmful toxicities caused by adoptive transfer of T cells redirected by thymically unselected TCRs. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.

Model-Informed Drug Development for Ixazomib, an Oral Proteasome Inhibitor.

PubMed

Gupta, Neeraj; Hanley, Michael J; Diderichsen, Paul M; Yang, Huyuan; Ke, Alice; Teng, Zhaoyang; Labotka, Richard; Berg, Deborah; Patel, Chirag; Liu, Guohui; van de Velde, Helgi; Venkatakrishnan, Karthik

2018-02-15

Model-informed drug development (MIDD) was central to the development of the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib, facilitating internal decisions (switch from body surface area (BSA)-based to fixed dosing, inclusive phase III trials, portfolio prioritization of ixazomib-based combinations, phase III dose for maintenance treatment), regulatory review (model-informed QT analysis, benefit-risk of 4 mg dose), and product labeling (absolute bioavailability and intrinsic/extrinsic factors). This review discusses the impact of MIDD in enabling patient-centric therapeutic optimization during the development of ixazomib. © 2017 The Authors. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Application of System and Integration Readiness Levels to Department of Defense Research and Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

etc., and all of the IRL1n rather than a technology-centric approach that included TR L1 with all its interfaces. The inter- face -centric approach...Acquisition Research Journal , 23(3), In Print. The average of the SRL vector, equation (4), describes how mature the sys- tem is. The Sauser approach...Application of System and Integration Readiness Levels to Department of Defense Research and Development. Defense Acquisition Research Journal , 23(3), In

Health care applications based on mobile phone centric smart sensor network.

PubMed

Quero, J M; Tarrida, C L; Santana, J J; Ermolov, V; Jantunen, I; Laine, H; Eichholz, J

2007-01-01

This paper presents the MIMOSA architecture and development platform to create Ambient Intelligence applications. MIMOSA achieves this objective by developing a personal mobile-device centric architecture and open technology platform where microsystem technology is the key enabling technology for their realization due to its low-cost, low power consumption, and small size. This paper focuses the demonstration activities carried out in the field of health care. MIMOSA project is a European level initiative involving 15 enterprises and research institutions and universities.

Developing a Coalition Battle Management Language to Facilitate Interoperability Between Operation CIS, and Simulations in Support of Training and Mission Rehearsal

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-06-01

virtualisation of distributed computing and data resources such as processing, network bandwidth, and storage capacity, to create a single system...and Simulation (M&S) will be integrated into this heterogeneous SOA. M&S functionality will be available in the form of operational M&S services. One...documents defining net centric warfare, the use of M&S functionality is a common theme. Alberts and Hayes give a good overview on net centric operations

Network Centric Warfare Case Study. U.S. V Corps and 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) During Operation Iraq Freedom Combat Operations (Mar-Apr 2003). Volume 1: Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-11-01

Command Historian , and the personnel from the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) for their assistance in gaining access to the many documents that...after the Network Centric Warfare Case Study operations. The Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL), the V Corps Command Historian , and other... Historian , Dr. Charles Kirkpatrick, in Heidelberg, Germany, assisted in this effort. Nu- merous documents were collected, both unclassified and classified

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Wideband Radio Frequency Modulation: Dynamic Access to Mobile Information Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-07-01

Centric Architecture Office ( NCAO ) should develop an RF communications/network management technology roadmap. The roadmap should serve two purposes: a...Centric Architecture Office ( NCAO ) chartered with integrating diverse DoD efforts to provide technical alternatives to the current form of radio...American people as a cornerstone of DoD’s leadership of the public trust in this area. The NCAO should be consolidated from ongoing NII, JTRS JPO and DDR

Managed consumerism in health care.

PubMed

Robinson, James C

2005-01-01

The future of market-oriented health policy and practice lies in "managed consumerism," a blend of the patient-centric focus of consumer-driven health care and the provider-centric focus of managed competition. The optimal locus of incentives will vary among health services according to the nature of the illness, the clinical technology, and the extent of discretion in utilization. A competitive market will manifest a variety of comprehensive and limited benefit designs, broad and narrow contractual networks, and single-and multispecialty provider organizations.

War-Gaming Network-Centric Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-01-01

games as well. 6 2 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E W War games are also classified...traditional gaming . All war games , whether they involve fighting sail R U B E L 6 3 Until a tactical network of units, each of them exercising a great degree... gaming and simulation. R U B E L 6 5 The principal requirements for achieving network-centric warfare are a network and shared awareness. By a

Posture Affects How Robots and Infants Map Words to Objects

PubMed Central

Morse, Anthony F.; Benitez, Viridian L.; Belpaeme, Tony; Cangelosi, Angelo; Smith, Linda B.

2015-01-01

For infants, the first problem in learning a word is to map the word to its referent; a second problem is to remember that mapping when the word and/or referent are again encountered. Recent infant studies suggest that spatial location plays a key role in how infants solve both problems. Here we provide a new theoretical model and new empirical evidence on how the body – and its momentary posture – may be central to these processes. The present study uses a name-object mapping task in which names are either encountered in the absence of their target (experiments 1–3, 6 & 7), or when their target is present but in a location previously associated with a foil (experiments 4, 5, 8 & 9). A humanoid robot model (experiments 1–5) is used to instantiate and test the hypothesis that body-centric spatial location, and thus the bodies’ momentary posture, is used to centrally bind the multimodal features of heard names and visual objects. The robot model is shown to replicate existing infant data and then to generate novel predictions, which are tested in new infant studies (experiments 6–9). Despite spatial location being task-irrelevant in this second set of experiments, infants use body-centric spatial contingency over temporal contingency to map the name to object. Both infants and the robot remember the name-object mapping even in new spatial locations. However, the robot model shows how this memory can emerge –not from separating bodily information from the word-object mapping as proposed in previous models of the role of space in word-object mapping – but through the body’s momentary disposition in space. PMID:25785834

Water-centric nexus for response to climate change on agriculture and forest sector: The case of the Korean Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, C. H.; Choi, Y.; Jeon, S. W.; Lee, W. K.

2017-12-01

Given their complexity and the number of stakeholders involved, it is difficult to solve social issues or problems based on an analysis that focuses on a single dimension. In particular, research surrounding climate change is inherently multidisciplinary and there is a need for highly pluralistic nexuses that can be used as a framework for policy decisions. Here, we suggest to water-centric nexus on agriculture and forest sector to improve response to climate change. The nexus is composed agricultural water demand and forest water supply to enhancing water-related adaptation to climate change in the Korean Peninsula. Agricultural productivity and water use related variables was estimating by EPIC crop model, and InVEST model applied for estimation of forest water supply. Results under two climate change scenarios (RCP4.5 and 8.5) and time period (2050s and 2070s), the forest water supply for the all future climate scenarios will increase significantly. In case of agriculture, irrigated crops experienced only the benefits of climate change, but rainfed crops were negatively impacted. It was also found that crop irrigation demand in the future is expected to be around twice as high as baseline levels, thus making irrigation more difficult to successfully implement. These hydrological threats have the potential to greatly reduce food security. In the nexus perspectives, the drop in the productivity of rainfed crops and the increase in irrigation demand in the agriculture sector can be resolved through interconnections with the forest sector. Appropriate management of the water supply in future climatic conditions characterized by increasing precipitation can maintain and expand agricultural areas through irrigation. To achieve this, a time-series water supply versus demand analysis must be performed so that an accurate balance between supply and demand can be established. Water-centric interactions of the agriculture and forest are the basis of nexus-based adaptation and they can suggest effective climate change responses for the Korean peninsula. In particular, this approach will be effective in transforming sectors that experience trade-offs into ones that promote synergies.

RStrucFam: a web server to associate structure and cognate RNA for RNA-binding proteins from sequence information.

PubMed

Ghosh, Pritha; Mathew, Oommen K; Sowdhamini, Ramanathan

2016-10-07

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) interact with their cognate RNA(s) to form large biomolecular assemblies. They are versatile in their functionality and are involved in a myriad of processes inside the cell. RBPs with similar structural features and common biological functions are grouped together into families and superfamilies. It will be useful to obtain an early understanding and association of RNA-binding property of sequences of gene products. Here, we report a web server, RStrucFam, to predict the structure, type of cognate RNA(s) and function(s) of proteins, where possible, from mere sequence information. The web server employs Hidden Markov Model scan (hmmscan) to enable association to a back-end database of structural and sequence families. The database (HMMRBP) comprises of 437 HMMs of RBP families of known structure that have been generated using structure-based sequence alignments and 746 sequence-centric RBP family HMMs. The input protein sequence is associated with structural or sequence domain families, if structure or sequence signatures exist. In case of association of the protein with a family of known structures, output features like, multiple structure-based sequence alignment (MSSA) of the query with all others members of that family is provided. Further, cognate RNA partner(s) for that protein, Gene Ontology (GO) annotations, if any and a homology model of the protein can be obtained. The users can also browse through the database for details pertaining to each family, protein or RNA and their related information based on keyword search or RNA motif search. RStrucFam is a web server that exploits structurally conserved features of RBPs, derived from known family members and imprinted in mathematical profiles, to predict putative RBPs from sequence information. Proteins that fail to associate with such structure-centric families are further queried against the sequence-centric RBP family HMMs in the HMMRBP database. Further, all other essential information pertaining to an RBP, like overall function annotations, are provided. The web server can be accessed at the following link: http://caps.ncbs.res.in/rstrucfam .

Ultra-low frequency transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation does not affect the centric relation registration.

PubMed

de Bragança, Rafaella Mariana Fontes; Rodrigues, Carolina Almeida; Melchior, Melissa Oliveira; Magri, Laís Valencise; Mazzetto, Marcelo Oliveira

2018-01-01

To evaluate the influence of ULF-TENS on the displacement of the mandibular condyle and on the repeatability of centric relation (CR) registration of three different techniques: bimanual manipulation (BM), long strip technique, and harmonic centric occlusal relationship (R.O.C.A. wires). Twenty-five participants without temporomandibular disorder (TMD) underwent two study stages conducted via electronic position analysis: (1) three CR records were made, one for each manipulation technique; (2) the ULF-TENS was applied for 30 min, and after that the same CR records were repeated. Mann-Whitney, ICC, and one-tailed F test. The ULF-TENS did not influence the condyle total displacement, regardless of CR recording technique used (p > 0.05). BM showed an improvement in repeatability after ULF-TENS. Concerning the variance, BM showed less variation at the X-axis. Long strip technique and R.O.C.A. wires varied less at the Y-axis. Long strip technique was again less variable at the Z-axis.

Cyber-physical approach to the network-centric robotics control task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muliukha, Vladimir; Ilyashenko, Alexander; Zaborovsky, Vladimir; Lukashin, Alexey

2016-10-01

Complex engineering tasks concerning control for groups of mobile robots are developed poorly. In our work for their formalization we use cyber-physical approach, which extends the range of engineering and physical methods for a design of complex technical objects by researching the informational aspects of communication and interaction between objects and with an external environment [1]. The paper analyzes network-centric methods for control of cyber-physical objects. Robots or cyber-physical objects interact with each other by transmitting information via computer networks using preemptive queueing system and randomized push-out mechanism [2],[3]. The main field of application for the results of our work is space robotics. The selection of cyber-physical systems as a special class of designed objects is due to the necessity of integrating various components responsible for computing, communications and control processes. Network-centric solutions allow using universal means for the organization of information exchange to integrate different technologies for the control system.

Don't Say That to ME: Opposition to Targeting in Weight-Centric Intervention Messages.

PubMed

Robinson, Becky; Coveleski, Samantha

2018-02-01

Obesity is a global health issue. Despite well-intentioned efforts by public institutions, traditional health promotion techniques often lead to offending those most in need of weight loss. For example, when Bryn Mawr College targeted overweight students to offer a free fitness and nutrition program, it was met with accusations of fat-shaming, indicating that weight-centric messages operate in a more complex sociocultural system than many public health concerns. To better understand reactions to weight-centric health messages, college-aged women evaluated the Bryn Mawr College e-mail. Using an embedded mixed-methods design, analysis revealed that reactions followed four positive themes, six negative themes, and one neutral theme. Statistical tests indicated that health literacy, feminist identification, body dissatisfaction, and body size discrepancy influenced evaluations of message offensiveness and effectiveness. Contrary to the recommendations of traditional behavior change research, these results indicate that audience segmentation and message tailoring may not be effective for promoting weight loss.

Algorithm and Architecture Independent Benchmarking with SEAK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tallent, Nathan R.; Manzano Franco, Joseph B.; Gawande, Nitin A.

2016-05-23

Many applications of high performance embedded computing are limited by performance or power bottlenecks. We have designed the Suite for Embedded Applications & Kernels (SEAK), a new benchmark suite, (a) to capture these bottlenecks in a way that encourages creative solutions; and (b) to facilitate rigorous, objective, end-user evaluation for their solutions. To avoid biasing solutions toward existing algorithms, SEAK benchmarks use a mission-centric (abstracted from a particular algorithm) and goal-oriented (functional) specification. To encourage solutions that are any combination of software or hardware, we use an end-user black-box evaluation that can capture tradeoffs between performance, power, accuracy, size, andmore » weight. The tradeoffs are especially informative for procurement decisions. We call our benchmarks future proof because each mission-centric interface and evaluation remains useful despite shifting algorithmic preferences. It is challenging to create both concise and precise goal-oriented specifications for mission-centric problems. This paper describes the SEAK benchmark suite and presents an evaluation of sample solutions that highlights power and performance tradeoffs.« less

User-centric incentive design for participatory mobile phone sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Wei; Lu, Haoyang

2014-05-01

Mobile phone sensing is a critical underpinning of pervasive mobile computing, and is one of the key factors for improving people's quality of life in modern society via collective utilization of the on-board sensing capabilities of people's smartphones. The increasing demands for sensing services and ambient awareness in mobile environments highlight the necessity of active participation of individual mobile users in sensing tasks. User incentives for such participation have been continuously offered from an application-centric perspective, i.e., as payments from the sensing server, to compensate users' sensing costs. These payments, however, are manipulated to maximize the benefits of the sensing server, ignoring the runtime flexibility and benefits of participating users. This paper presents a novel framework of user-centric incentive design, and develops a universal sensing platform which translates heterogenous sensing tasks to a generic sensing plan specifying the task-independent requirements of sensing performance. We use this sensing plan as input to reduce three categories of sensing costs, which together cover the possible sources hindering users' participation in sensing.

A Data-Centric Strategy for Modern Biobanking.

PubMed

Quinlan, Philip R; Gardner, Stephen; Groves, Martin; Emes, Richard; Garibaldi, Jonathan

2015-01-01

Biobanking has been in existence for many decades and over that time has developed significantly. Biobanking originated from a need to collect, store and make available biological samples for a range of research purposes. It has changed as the understanding of biological processes has increased and new sample handling techniques have been developed to ensure samples were fit-for-purpose.As a result of these developments, modern biobanking is now facing two substantial new challenges. Firstly, new research methods such as next generation sequencing can generate datasets that are at an infinitely greater scale and resolution than previous methods. Secondly, as the understanding of diseases increases researchers require a far richer data set about the donors from which the sample originate.To retain a sample-centric strategy in a research environment that is increasingly dictated by data will place a biobank at a significant disadvantage and even result in the samples collected going unused. As a result biobanking is required to change strategic focus from a sample dominated perspective to a data-centric strategy.

The Suite for Embedded Applications and Kernels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

2016-05-10

Many applications of high performance embedded computing are limited by performance or power bottlenecks. We havedesigned SEAK, a new benchmark suite, (a) to capture these bottlenecks in a way that encourages creative solutions to these bottlenecks? and (b) to facilitate rigorous, objective, end-user evaluation for their solutions. To avoid biasing solutions toward existing algorithms, SEAK benchmarks use a mission-centric (abstracted from a particular algorithm) andgoal-oriented (functional) specification. To encourage solutions that are any combination of software or hardware, we use an end-user blackbox evaluation that can capture tradeoffs between performance, power, accuracy, size, and weight. The tradeoffs are especially informativemore » for procurement decisions. We call our benchmarks future proof because each mission-centric interface and evaluation remains useful despite shifting algorithmic preferences. It is challenging to create both concise and precise goal-oriented specifications for mission-centric problems. This paper describes the SEAK benchmark suite and presents an evaluation of sample solutions that highlights power and performance tradeoffs.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Youssef, Tarek A.; Elsayed, Ahmed T.; Mohammed, Osama A.

This study presents the design and implementation of a communication and control infrastructure for smart grid operation. The proposed infrastructure enhances the reliability of the measurements and control network. The advantages of utilizing the data-centric over message-centric communication approach are discussed in the context of smart grid applications. The data distribution service (DDS) is used to implement a data-centric common data bus for the smart grid. This common data bus improves the communication reliability, enabling distributed control and smart load management. These enhancements are achieved by avoiding a single point of failure while enabling peer-to-peer communication and an automatic discoverymore » feature for dynamic participating nodes. The infrastructure and ideas presented in this paper were implemented and tested on the smart grid testbed. A toolbox and application programing interface for the testbed infrastructure are developed in order to facilitate interoperability and remote access to the testbed. This interface allows control, monitoring, and performing of experiments remotely. Furthermore, it could be used to integrate multidisciplinary testbeds to study complex cyber-physical systems (CPS).« less

FRET two-hybrid assay by linearly fitting FRET efficiency to concentration ratio between acceptor and donor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Mengyan; Yang, Fangfang; Mai, Zihao; Qu, Wenfeng; Lin, Fangrui; Wei, Lichun; Chen, Tongsheng

2018-04-01

We here introduce a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) two-hybrid assay method to measure the maximal donor(D)- and acceptor(A)-centric FRET efficiency (ED,max and EA,max) of the D-A complex and its stoichiometry by linearly fitting the donor-centric FRET efficiency (ED) to the acceptor-to-donor concentration ratio (RC) and acceptor-centric FRET efficiency (EA) to 1/RC, respectively. We performed this method on a wide-field fluorescence microscope for living HepG2 cells co-expressing FRET tandem constructs and free donor/acceptor and obtained correct ED, EA, and stoichiometry values of those tandem constructs. Evaluation on the binding of Bad with Bcl-XL in Hela cells showed that Bad interacted strongly with Bcl-XL to form a Bad-Bcl-XL complex on mitochondria, and one Bad interacted mainly with one Bcl-XL molecule in healthy cells, while with multiple (maybe 2) Bcl-XL molecules in apoptotic cells.

C2 Product-Centric Approach to Transforming Current C4ISR Information Architectures

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

each type of environment . For “Cultural Feature” Entity Kind only the “Land” Domain is defined and for “ Environmental ” Entity Kind only the...take advantage of both worlds. In particular, the unifying concept of a Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) under development by the Object Management...Exchange Requirements (IER) to an XML environment . FCS [4] developers have embraced both UML and XML for their architectures and MIP [5] too is migrating

Capstone: A Geometry-Centric Platform to Enable Physics-Based Simulation and Design of Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-05

foundation for the air-vehicle early design tool DaVinci being developed by CREATETM-AV project to enable development of associative models of air...CREATETM-AV solvers Kestrel [11] and Helios [16,17]. Furthermore, it is the foundation for the CREATETM-AV’s DaVinci [9] tool that provides a... Tools and Environments (CREATETM) program [6] aimed at developing a suite of high- performance physics-based computational tools addressing the needs

The Phase of Illness Paradigm: A Checklist Centric Model to Improve Patient Care in the Burn Intensive Care Unit

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

6. PUBLICATIONS, ABSTRACTS, AND PRESENTATIONS: Submitted abstracts to the 2014 Military Health Research Symposium: 1. Pamplin, J.C., Murray...Intensive Care Unit ERMS/Log Number: 12340054 W81XWH-13-2-0011 PI: LTC Jeremy Pamplin, MD Org: The Geneva Foundation/San Antonio Military Medical Center...improve clinician work related quality of life. Approach and Military Relevance This multicenter, prospective, case-matched cohort study will improve the

Group Centric Information Sharing Using Hierarchical Models

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

enable people to create data using RDF, build vocabularies using web ontology language (OWL), write rules and query data stores using SPARQL [8...a strict joined and the document was added with a strict add. In order to represent the fact that an action is allowed (or not), we have created a...greatly improve the system’s readiness to handle any number of access decision queries . a. The pair is tested against the gSIS Join and Add semantics

A Drug-Centric View of Drug Development: How Drugs Spread from Disease to Disease.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Esteban, Raul

2016-04-01

Drugs are often seen as ancillary to the purpose of fighting diseases. Here an alternative view is proposed in which they occupy a spearheading role. In this view, drugs are technologies with an inherent therapeutic potential. Once created, they can spread from disease to disease independently of the drug creator's original intentions. Through the analysis of extensive literature and clinical trial records, it can be observed that successful drugs follow a life cycle in which they are studied at an increasing rate, and for the treatment of an increasing number of diseases, leading to clinical advancement. Such initial growth, following a power law on average, has a degree of momentum, but eventually decelerates, leading to stagnation and decay. A network model can describe the propagation of drugs from disease to disease in which diseases communicate with each other by receiving and sending drugs. Within this model, some diseases appear more prone to influence other diseases than be influenced, and vice versa. Diseases can also be organized into a drug-centric disease taxonomy based on the drugs that each adopts. This taxonomy reflects not only biological similarities across diseases, but also the level of differentiation of existing therapies. In sum, this study shows that drugs can become contagious technologies playing a driving role in the fight against disease. By better understanding such dynamics, pharmaceutical developers may be able to manage drug projects more effectively.

Local SAR in High Pass Birdcage and TEM Body Coils for Multiple Human Body Models in Clinical Landmark Positions at 3T

PubMed Central

Yeo, Desmond TB; Wang, Zhangwei; Loew, Wolfgang; Vogel, Mika W; Hancu, Ileana

2011-01-01

Purpose To use EM simulations to study the effects of body type, landmark position, and RF body coil type on peak local SAR in 3T MRI. Materials and Methods Numerically computed peak local SAR for four human body models (HBMs) in three landmark positions (head, heart, pelvic) were compared for a high-pass birdcage and a transverse electromagnetic 3T body coil. Local SAR values were normalized to the IEC whole-body average SAR limit of 2.0 W/kg for normal scan mode. Results Local SAR distributions were highly variable. Consistent with previous reports, the peak local SAR values generally occurred in the neck-shoulder area, near rungs, or between tissues of greatly differing electrical properties. The HBM type significantly influenced the peak local SAR, with stockier HBMs, extending extremities towards rungs, displaying the highest SAR. There was also a trend for higher peak SAR in the head-centric and heart-centric positions. The impact of the coil-types studied was not statistically significant. Conclusion The large variability in peak local SAR indicates the need to include more than one HBM or landmark position when evaluating safety of body coils. It is recommended that a HBM with arms near the rungs be included, to create physically realizable high-SAR scenarios. PMID:21509880

Individual and collective bodies: using measures of variance and association in contextual epidemiology.

PubMed

Merlo, J; Ohlsson, H; Lynch, K F; Chaix, B; Subramanian, S V

2009-12-01

Social epidemiology investigates both individuals and their collectives. Although the limits that define the individual bodies are very apparent, the collective body's geographical or cultural limits (eg "neighbourhood") are more difficult to discern. Also, epidemiologists normally investigate causation as changes in group means. However, many variables of interest in epidemiology may cause a change in the variance of the distribution of the dependent variable. In spite of that, variance is normally considered a measure of uncertainty or a nuisance rather than a source of substantive information. This reasoning is also true in many multilevel investigations, whereas understanding the distribution of variance across levels should be fundamental. This means-centric reductionism is mostly concerned with risk factors and creates a paradoxical situation, as social medicine is not only interested in increasing the (mean) health of the population, but also in understanding and decreasing inappropriate health and health care inequalities (variance). Critical essay and literature review. The present study promotes (a) the application of measures of variance and clustering to evaluate the boundaries one uses in defining collective levels of analysis (eg neighbourhoods), (b) the combined use of measures of variance and means-centric measures of association, and (c) the investigation of causes of health variation (variance-altering causation). Both measures of variance and means-centric measures of association need to be included when performing contextual analyses. The variance approach, a new aspect of contextual analysis that cannot be interpreted in means-centric terms, allows perspectives to be expanded.

Airborne net-centric multi-INT sensor control, display, fusion, and exploitation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linne von Berg, Dale C.; Lee, John N.; Kruer, Melvin R.; Duncan, Michael D.; Olchowski, Fred M.; Allman, Eric; Howard, Grant

2004-08-01

The NRL Optical Sciences Division has initiated a multi-year effort to develop and demonstrate an airborne net-centric suite of multi-intelligence (multi-INT) sensors and exploitation systems for real-time target detection and targeting product dissemination. The goal of this Net-centric Multi-Intelligence Fusion Targeting Initiative (NCMIFTI) is to develop an airborne real-time intelligence gathering and targeting system that can be used to detect concealed, camouflaged, and mobile targets. The multi-INT sensor suite will include high-resolution visible/infrared (EO/IR) dual-band cameras, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors in the visible-to-near infrared, short-wave and long-wave infrared (VNIR/SWIR/LWIR) bands, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), electronics intelligence sensors (ELINT), and off-board networked sensors. Other sensors are also being considered for inclusion in the suite to address unique target detection needs. Integrating a suite of multi-INT sensors on a single platform should optimize real-time fusion of the on-board sensor streams, thereby improving the detection probability and reducing the false alarms that occur in reconnaissance systems that use single-sensor types on separate platforms, or that use independent target detection algorithms on multiple sensors. In addition to the integration and fusion of the multi-INT sensors, the effort is establishing an open-systems net-centric architecture that will provide a modular "plug and play" capability for additional sensors and system components and provide distributed connectivity to multiple sites for remote system control and exploitation.

RCAS: an RNA centric annotation system for transcriptome-wide regions of interest.

PubMed

Uyar, Bora; Yusuf, Dilmurat; Wurmus, Ricardo; Rajewsky, Nikolaus; Ohler, Uwe; Akalin, Altuna

2017-06-02

In the field of RNA, the technologies for studying the transcriptome have created a tremendous potential for deciphering the puzzles of the RNA biology. Along with the excitement, the unprecedented volume of RNA related omics data is creating great challenges in bioinformatics analyses. Here, we present the RNA Centric Annotation System (RCAS), an R package, which is designed to ease the process of creating gene-centric annotations and analysis for the genomic regions of interest obtained from various RNA-based omics technologies. The design of RCAS is modular, which enables flexible usage and convenient integration with other bioinformatics workflows. RCAS is an R/Bioconductor package but we also created graphical user interfaces including a Galaxy wrapper and a stand-alone web service. The application of RCAS on published datasets shows that RCAS is not only able to reproduce published findings but also helps generate novel knowledge and hypotheses. The meta-gene profiles, gene-centric annotation, motif analysis and gene-set analysis provided by RCAS provide contextual knowledge which is necessary for understanding the functional aspects of different biological events that involve RNAs. In addition, the array of different interfaces and deployment options adds the convenience of use for different levels of users. RCAS is available at http://bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/RCAS.html and http://rcas.mdc-berlin.de. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Potential Space Applications for Body-Centric Wireless and E-Textile Antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, Timothy F.; Fink, Patrick W.; Chu, Andrew W.; Studor, George F.

2007-01-01

Space environment benefits of body-centric wireless communications are numerous, particularly in the context of long duration Lunar and Martian outposts that are in planning stages at several space agencies around the world. Since crew time for such missions is a scarce commodity, seamless integration of body-centric wireless from various sources is paramount. Sources include traditional data, such as audio, video, tracking, and biotelemetry. Newer data sources include positioning, orientation, and status of handheld tools and devices, as well as management and status of on-body inventories. In addition to offering lighter weight and flexibility, performance benefits of e-textile antennas are anticipated due to advantageous use of the body s surface area. In creating e-textile antennas and RF devices, researchers are faced with the challenge of transferring conventional and novel designs to textiles. Lack of impedance control, limited conductivity, and the inability to automatically create intricate designs are examples of limitations frequently attributed to e-textiles. Reliable interfaces between e-textiles and conventional hardware also represent significant challenges. Addressing these limitations is critical to the continued development and acceptance of fabric-based circuits for body-centric wireless applications. Here we present several examples of e-textile antennas and RF devices, created using a NASA-developed process, that overcome several of these limitations. The design and performance of an equiangular spiral, miniaturized spiral-loaded slot antenna, and a hybrid coupler are considered, with the e-textile devices showing comparable performance to like designs using conventional materials.

Social cognitive predictors of first- and non-first-generation college students' academic and life satisfaction.

PubMed

Garriott, Patton O; Hudyma, Aaron; Keene, Chesleigh; Santiago, Dana

2015-04-01

The present study tested Lent's (2004) social-cognitive model of normative well-being in a sample (N = 414) of first- and non-first-generation college students. A model depicting relationships between: positive affect, environmental supports, college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, academic progress, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction was examined using structural equation modeling. The moderating roles of perceived importance of attending college and intrinsic goal motivation were also explored. Results suggested the hypothesized model provided an adequate fit to the data while hypothesized relationships in the model were partially supported. Environmental supports predicted college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic satisfaction. Furthermore, college self-efficacy predicted academic progress while college outcome expectations predicted academic satisfaction. Academic satisfaction, but not academic progress predicted life satisfaction. The structural model explained 44% of the variance in academic progress, 56% of the variance in academic satisfaction, and 28% of the variance in life satisfaction. Mediation analyses indicated several significant indirect effects between variables in the model while moderation analyses revealed a 3-way interaction between academic satisfaction, intrinsic motivation for attending college, and first-generation college student status on life satisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of applying the normative model of well-being to promote first- and non-first-generation college students' academic and life satisfaction. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The problematic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in adolescents by the cross sectional JOITIC study.

PubMed

Muñoz-Miralles, Raquel; Ortega-González, Raquel; López-Morón, M Rosa; Batalla-Martínez, Carme; Manresa, Josep María; Montellà-Jordana, Núria; Chamarro, Andrés; Carbonell, Xavier; Torán-Monserrat, Pere

2016-08-22

The emerging field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has brought about new interaction styles. Its excessive use may lead to addictive behaviours. The objective is to determine the prevalence of the problematic use of ICT such as Internet, mobile phones and video games, among adolescents enrolled in mandatory Secondary Education (ESO in Spanish) and to examine associated factors. Cross sectional, multi-centric descriptive study. 5538 students enrolled in years one to four of ESO at 28 schools in the Vallès Occidental region (Barcelona, Spain). self-administered socio-demographic and ICT access questionnaire, and validated questionnaires on experiences related to the use of the Internet, mobile phones and video games (CERI, CERM, CERV). Questionnaires were collected from 5,538 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 (77.3 % of the total response), 48.6 % were females. Problematic use of the Internet was observed in 13.6 % of the surveyed individuals; problematic use of mobile phones in 2.4 % and problematic use in video games in 6.2 %. Problematic Internet use was associated with female students, tobacco consumption, a background of binge drinking, the use of cannabis or other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of the computer. Factors associated with the problematic use of mobile phones were the consumption of other drugs and an intensive use of these devices. Frequent problems with video game use have been associated with male students, the consumption of other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of these games. This study offers information on the prevalence of addictive behaviours of the Internet, mobile phones and video game use. The problematic use of these ICT devices has been related to the consumption of drugs, poor academic performance and poor family relationships. This intensive use may constitute a risk marker for ICT addiction.

Altered States of Consciousness Profile: An Afro-Centric Intrapsychic Evaluation Tool

PubMed Central

Bell, Carl C.; Thompson, Belinda; Shorter-Gooden, Kumea; Mays, Raymond; Shakoor, Bambade

1985-01-01

In an effort to develop an Afro-centric intrapsychic evaluation tool, the Community Mental Health Council, Inc., Altered States of Consciousness Research Team, developed a structured interview used to quantify and qualify the 17 states of consciousness1 that occurred in black control, precare, and aftercare subjects. Differences were noted in the three groups as to the incidence, prevalence, and quality of the various states of consciousness. It was also noted that the profile obtained from the interviews yielded a sharp clinical picture of the subjects' total intrapsychic propensities. PMID:4057274

VESPA: Software to Facilitate Genomic Annotation of Prokaryotic Organisms Through Integration of Proteomic and Transcriptomic Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peterson, Elena S.; McCue, Lee Ann; Rutledge, Alexandra C.

2012-04-25

Visual Exploration and Statistics to Promote Annotation (VESPA) is an interactive visual analysis software tool that facilitates the discovery of structural mis-annotations in prokaryotic genomes. VESPA integrates high-throughput peptide-centric proteomics data and oligo-centric or RNA-Seq transcriptomics data into a genomic context. The data may be interrogated via visual analysis across multiple levels of genomic resolution, linked searches, exports and interaction with BLAST to rapidly identify location of interest within the genome and evaluate potential mis-annotations.

Native Contact Density and Nonnative Hydrophobic Effects in the Folding of Bacterial Immunity Proteins

PubMed Central

Chen, Tao; Chan, Hue Sun

2015-01-01

The bacterial colicin-immunity proteins Im7 and Im9 fold by different mechanisms. Experimentally, at pH 7.0 and 10°C, Im7 folds in a three-state manner via an intermediate but Im9 folding is two-state-like. Accordingly, Im7 exhibits a chevron rollover, whereas the chevron arm for Im9 folding is linear. Here we address the biophysical basis of their different behaviors by using native-centric models with and without additional transferrable, sequence-dependent energies. The Im7 chevron rollover is not captured by either a pure native-centric model or a model augmented by nonnative hydrophobic interactions with a uniform strength irrespective of residue type. By contrast, a more realistic nonnative interaction scheme that accounts for the difference in hydrophobicity among residues leads simultaneously to a chevron rollover for Im7 and an essentially linear folding chevron arm for Im9. Hydrophobic residues identified by published experiments to be involved in nonnative interactions during Im7 folding are found to participate in the strongest nonnative contacts in this model. Thus our observations support the experimental perspective that the Im7 folding intermediate is largely underpinned by nonnative interactions involving large hydrophobics. Our simulation suggests further that nonnative effects in Im7 are facilitated by a lower local native contact density relative to that of Im9. In a one-dimensional diffusion picture of Im7 folding with a coordinate- and stability-dependent diffusion coefficient, a significant chevron rollover is consistent with a diffusion coefficient that depends strongly on native stability at the conformational position of the folding intermediate. PMID:26016652

Smart Collaborative Caching for Information-Centric IoT in Fog Computing.

PubMed

Song, Fei; Ai, Zheng-Yang; Li, Jun-Jie; Pau, Giovanni; Collotta, Mario; You, Ilsun; Zhang, Hong-Ke

2017-11-01

The significant changes enabled by the fog computing had demonstrated that Internet of Things (IoT) urgently needs more evolutional reforms. Limited by the inflexible design philosophy; the traditional structure of a network is hard to meet the latest demands. However, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a promising option to bridge and cover these enormous gaps. In this paper, a Smart Collaborative Caching (SCC) scheme is established by leveraging high-level ICN principles for IoT within fog computing paradigm. The proposed solution is supposed to be utilized in resource pooling, content storing, node locating and other related situations. By investigating the available characteristics of ICN, some challenges of such combination are reviewed in depth. The details of building SCC, including basic model and advanced algorithms, are presented based on theoretical analysis and simplified examples. The validation focuses on two typical scenarios: simple status inquiry and complex content sharing. The number of clusters, packet loss probability and other parameters are also considered. The analytical results demonstrate that the performance of our scheme, regarding total packet number and average transmission latency, can outperform that of the original ones. We expect that the SCC will contribute an efficient solution to the related studies.

Smart Collaborative Caching for Information-Centric IoT in Fog Computing

PubMed Central

Song, Fei; Ai, Zheng-Yang; Li, Jun-Jie; Zhang, Hong-Ke

2017-01-01

The significant changes enabled by the fog computing had demonstrated that Internet of Things (IoT) urgently needs more evolutional reforms. Limited by the inflexible design philosophy; the traditional structure of a network is hard to meet the latest demands. However, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a promising option to bridge and cover these enormous gaps. In this paper, a Smart Collaborative Caching (SCC) scheme is established by leveraging high-level ICN principles for IoT within fog computing paradigm. The proposed solution is supposed to be utilized in resource pooling, content storing, node locating and other related situations. By investigating the available characteristics of ICN, some challenges of such combination are reviewed in depth. The details of building SCC, including basic model and advanced algorithms, are presented based on theoretical analysis and simplified examples. The validation focuses on two typical scenarios: simple status inquiry and complex content sharing. The number of clusters, packet loss probability and other parameters are also considered. The analytical results demonstrate that the performance of our scheme, regarding total packet number and average transmission latency, can outperform that of the original ones. We expect that the SCC will contribute an efficient solution to the related studies. PMID:29104219

Healthcare Data Gateways: Found Healthcare Intelligence on Blockchain with Novel Privacy Risk Control.

PubMed

Yue, Xiao; Wang, Huiju; Jin, Dawei; Li, Mingqiang; Jiang, Wei

2016-10-01

Healthcare data are a valuable source of healthcare intelligence. Sharing of healthcare data is one essential step to make healthcare system smarter and improve the quality of healthcare service. Healthcare data, one personal asset of patient, should be owned and controlled by patient, instead of being scattered in different healthcare systems, which prevents data sharing and puts patient privacy at risks. Blockchain is demonstrated in the financial field that trusted, auditable computing is possible using a decentralized network of peers accompanied by a public ledger. In this paper, we proposed an App (called Healthcare Data Gateway (HGD)) architecture based on blockchain to enable patient to own, control and share their own data easily and securely without violating privacy, which provides a new potential way to improve the intelligence of healthcare systems while keeping patient data private. Our proposed purpose-centric access model ensures patient own and control their healthcare data; simple unified Indicator-Centric Schema (ICS) makes it possible to organize all kinds of personal healthcare data practically and easily. We also point out that MPC (Secure Multi-Party Computing) is one promising solution to enable untrusted third-party to conduct computation over patient data without violating privacy.

Design of RNA splicing analysis null models for post hoc filtering of Drosophila head RNA-Seq data with the splicing analysis kit (Spanki)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The production of multiple transcript isoforms from one gene is a major source of transcriptome complexity. RNA-Seq experiments, in which transcripts are converted to cDNA and sequenced, allow the resolution and quantification of alternative transcript isoforms. However, methods to analyze splicing are underdeveloped and errors resulting in incorrect splicing calls occur in every experiment. Results We used RNA-Seq data to develop sequencing and aligner error models. By applying these error models to known input from simulations, we found that errors result from false alignment to minor splice motifs and antisense stands, shifted junction positions, paralog joining, and repeat induced gaps. By using a series of quantitative and qualitative filters, we eliminated diagnosed errors in the simulation, and applied this to RNA-Seq data from Drosophila melanogaster heads. We used high-confidence junction detections to specifically interrogate local splicing differences between transcripts. This method out-performed commonly used RNA-seq methods to identify known alternative splicing events in the Drosophila sex determination pathway. We describe a flexible software package to perform these tasks called Splicing Analysis Kit (Spanki), available at http://www.cbcb.umd.edu/software/spanki. Conclusions Splice-junction centric analysis of RNA-Seq data provides advantages in specificity for detection of alternative splicing. Our software provides tools to better understand error profiles in RNA-Seq data and improve inference from this new technology. The splice-junction centric approach that this software enables will provide more accurate estimates of differentially regulated splicing than current tools. PMID:24209455

Design of RNA splicing analysis null models for post hoc filtering of Drosophila head RNA-Seq data with the splicing analysis kit (Spanki).

PubMed

Sturgill, David; Malone, John H; Sun, Xia; Smith, Harold E; Rabinow, Leonard; Samson, Marie-Laure; Oliver, Brian

2013-11-09

The production of multiple transcript isoforms from one gene is a major source of transcriptome complexity. RNA-Seq experiments, in which transcripts are converted to cDNA and sequenced, allow the resolution and quantification of alternative transcript isoforms. However, methods to analyze splicing are underdeveloped and errors resulting in incorrect splicing calls occur in every experiment. We used RNA-Seq data to develop sequencing and aligner error models. By applying these error models to known input from simulations, we found that errors result from false alignment to minor splice motifs and antisense stands, shifted junction positions, paralog joining, and repeat induced gaps. By using a series of quantitative and qualitative filters, we eliminated diagnosed errors in the simulation, and applied this to RNA-Seq data from Drosophila melanogaster heads. We used high-confidence junction detections to specifically interrogate local splicing differences between transcripts. This method out-performed commonly used RNA-seq methods to identify known alternative splicing events in the Drosophila sex determination pathway. We describe a flexible software package to perform these tasks called Splicing Analysis Kit (Spanki), available at http://www.cbcb.umd.edu/software/spanki. Splice-junction centric analysis of RNA-Seq data provides advantages in specificity for detection of alternative splicing. Our software provides tools to better understand error profiles in RNA-Seq data and improve inference from this new technology. The splice-junction centric approach that this software enables will provide more accurate estimates of differentially regulated splicing than current tools.

Collaborative Biomechanics Data Network (CBDN): Promoting Human Protection and Performance in Hazardous Environments Through Modeling and Data Mining of Human-Centric Data Bases

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

unique data requirements. For an excellent primer on the CBDN process see Keller and Plaga [2010]. This report shows an example of a database, in...data [Buhrman, Plaga , Cheng, Mosher, 2001]. 2.1.2.2 Web application development All technologies are based upon and run on top of the .NET...builds). Better manikin design leads to better assessment of personnel equipment under acceleration [such as helmet systems, see Plaga and Boehmer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Christon, Mark A.; Bakosi, Jozsef; Francois, Marianne M.

This talk presents an overview of the multiphase flow efforts with Hydra-TH. The presentation begins with a definition of the requirements and design principles for multiphase flow relevant to CASL-centric problems. A brief survey of existing codes and their solution algorithms is presented before turning the model formulation selected for Hydra-TH. The issues of hyperbolicity and wellposedness are outlined, and a three candidate solution algorithms are discussed. The development status of Hydra-TH for multiphase flow is then presented with a brief summary and discussion of future directions for this work.

2005 8th Annual Systems Engineering Conference Volume 3 - Wednesday presentations

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-10-24

phasi s on s ystem s eng ineeri ng Imple menta tion o f SE P lans Requires PEO chief engineer Conduct of technical reviews SE Policy Addendum Signed by...in a Performance Based Logistics Environment, Denise Duncan, LMI Track 5 - Best Practices & Standardization: CMMI for Services, Mr. Juan Ceva...CMMI for Services Mr. Juan Ceva, Raytheon RIS TRACK 5 Logistics Session 3C5 TRACK 4 Net Centric Operations Session 3C4 TRACK 6 Modeling & Simulation

Governance in Open Source Software Development Projects: Towards a Model for Network-Centric Edge Organizations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

project is not an isolated OSSD project. Instead, the NetBeans IDE which is the focus of development activities in the NetBeans.org project community...facilitate or constrain the intended usage of the NetBeans IDE. Figure 1 provides a rendering of some of the more visible OSSD projects that...as BioBeans and RefactorIT communities build tools on top of or extending the NetBeans platform or IDE. How do these organizations interact with

Guidance and Control Architecture Design and Demonstration for Low Ballistic Coefficient Atmospheric Entry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swei, Sean

2014-01-01

We propose to develop a robust guidance and control system for the ADEPT (Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology) entry vehicle. A control-centric model of ADEPT will be developed to quantify the performance of candidate guidance and control architectures for both aerocapture and precision landing missions. The evaluation will be based on recent breakthroughs in constrained controllability/reachability analysis of control systems and constrained-based energy-minimum trajectory optimization for guidance development operating in complex environments.

Innovative Models of Dental Care Delivery and Coverage: Patient-Centric Dental Benefits Based on Digital Oral Health Risk Assessment.

PubMed

Martin, John; Mills, Shannon; Foley, Mary E

2018-04-01

Innovative models of dental care delivery and coverage are emerging across oral health care systems causing changes to treatment and benefit plans. A novel addition to these models is digital risk assessment, which offers a promising new approach that incorporates the use of a cloud-based technology platform to assess an individual patient's risk for oral disease. Risk assessment changes treatment by including risk as a modifier of treatment and as a determinant of preventive services. Benefit plans are being developed to use risk assessment to predetermine preventive benefits for patients identified at elevated risk for oral disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Connecting Cancer to Its Causes Requires Incorporation of Effects on Tissue Microenvironments.

PubMed

DeGregori, James

2017-11-15

In a recent article in Science , Tomasetti and colleagues present an expanded model for cancer risk, which they claim demonstrates the relative contribution of mutations caused by replication errors, environment, and heredity. The foundation of this model is the theory that the overwhelming driver of cancer risk is mutations. This perspective will present experimental evidence and evolutionary theory to challenge the basis of this underlying theory. An argument will be presented that the mutation-centric model of cancer suggests unrealistic solutions to cancer and distracts the research community from more promising approaches that consider tissue context. Cancer Res; 77(22); 6065-8. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Placing a Value on Academic Work: The Development and Implementation of a Time-Based Academic Workload Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, John; Fluck, Andrew; Jetson, Tim

2012-01-01

This paper presents a detailed case study of the development and implementation of a quantifiable academic workload model in the education faculty of an Australian university. Flowing from the enterprise bargaining process, the Academic Staff Agreement required the implementation of a workload allocation model for academics that was quantifiable…

What might we be saying to potential applicants to medical school? Discourses of excellence, equity, and diversity on the web sites of Canada's 17 medical schools.

PubMed

Razack, Saleem; Maguire, Mary; Hodges, Brian; Steinert, Yvonne

2012-10-01

Medical school Web sites often advance arguments to claim institutional excellence and appeal to the "best and the brightest" who might join their institutions as medical students. What do these texts communicate about institutional excellence, or the excellence of potential applicants to medical school? How are discourses related to social accountability, such as those concerning diversity and equity, represented? From July through December 2010, using the concepts of excellence, equity, and diversity, the authors examined the discourses identified on the Web sites of Canada's 17 medical schools, focusing on faculty welcome pages, deans' messages, and those pages specifically targeting applicants to medicine. Institutional prestige and applicant suitability were generally promoted through discourses of academic excellence such as research, innovation, and global positioning. Service-to-society discourses were much less prominent. Diversity discourses emerged primarily as appeals to institutions' cosmopolitan sophistication. Equity, when mentioned, tended to focus on increasing the participation of indigenous and rural students in medicine. Institutional positioning can be situated on a continuum from the more "centric" (typical academic excellence claims) to the more "eccentric" (excellence claims grounded in local contexts such as service to a region or constituency). Discourses can play a central role in regulating social institutional practices. It is worthwhile for medical schools to examine the messages that medical schools are communicating on their Web sites. If schools are to move beyond prestige-based characterizations of excellence and build a socially accountable profession, open and inclusive discussions are needed.

Patient Portals as a Means of Information and Communication Technology Support to Patient- Centric Care Coordination - the Missing Evidence and the Challenges of Evaluation. A joint contribution of IMIA WG EVAL and EFMI WG EVAL.

PubMed

Rigby, M; Georgiou, A; Hyppönen, H; Ammenwerth, E; de Keizer, N; Magrabi, F; Scott, P

2015-08-13

To review the potential contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enable patient-centric and coordinated care, and in particular to explore the role of patient portals as a developing ICT tool, to assess the available evidence, and to describe the evaluation challenges. Reviews of IMIA, EFMI, and other initiatives, together with literature reviews. We present the progression from care coordination to care integration, and from patient-centric to person-centric approaches. We describe the different roles of ICT as an enabler of the effective presentation of information as and when needed. We focus on the patient's role as a co-producer of health as well as the focus and purpose of care. We discuss the need for changing organisational processes as well as the current mixed evidence regarding patient portals as a logical tool, and the reasons for this dichotomy, together with the evaluation principles supported by theoretical frameworks so as to yield robust evidence. There is expressed commitment to coordinated care and to putting the patient in the centre. However to achieve this, new interactive patient portals will be needed to enable peer communication by all stakeholders including patients and professionals. Few portals capable of this exist to date. The evaluation of these portals as enablers of system change, rather than as simple windows into electronic records, is at an early stage and novel evaluation approaches are needed.

Patient Portals as a Means of Information and Communication Technology Support to Patient-Centric Care Coordination – the Missing Evidence and the Challenges of Evaluation

PubMed Central

Georgiou, Andrew; Hyppönen, Hannele; Ammenwerth, Elske; de Keizer, Nicolette; Magrabi, Farah; Scott, Philip

2015-01-01

Summary Objectives To review the potential contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enable patient-centric and coordinated care, and in particular to explore the role of patient portals as a developing ICT tool, to assess the available evidence, and to describe the evaluation challenges. Methods Reviews of IMIA, EFMI, and other initiatives, together with literature reviews. Results We present the progression from care coordination to care integration, and from patient-centric to person-centric approaches. We describe the different roles of ICT as an enabler of the effective presentation of information as and when needed. We focus on the patient’s role as a co-producer of health as well as the focus and purpose of care. We discuss the need for changing organisational processes as well as the current mixed evidence regarding patient portals as a logical tool, and the reasons for this dichotomy, together with the evaluation principles supported by theoretical frameworks so as to yield robust evidence. Conclusions There is expressed commitment to coordinated care and to putting the patient in the centre. However to achieve this, new interactive patient portals will be needed to enable peer communication by all stakeholders including patients and professionals. Few portals capable of this exist to date. The evaluation of these portals as enablers of system change, rather than as simple windows into electronic records, is at an early stage and novel evaluation approaches are needed. PMID:26123909

Net-Centric Sensors and Data Sources (N-CSDS) GEODSS Sidecar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richmond, D.

2012-09-01

Vast amounts of Space Situational Sensor data is collected each day on closed, legacy systems. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) developed a Net-Centric approach to expose this data under the Extended Space Sensors Architecture (ESSA) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). The Net-Centric Sensors and Data Sources (N-CSDS) Ground-based Electro Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) Sidecar is the next generation that moves the ESSA ACTD engineering tools to an operational baseline. The N-CSDS GEODSS sidecar high level architecture will be presented, highlighting the features that supports deployment at multiple diverse sensor sites. Other key items that will be covered include: 1) The Web Browser interface to perform searches of historical data 2) The capabilities of the deployed Web Services and example service request/responses 3) Example data and potential user applications will be highlighted 4) Specifics regarding the process to gain access to the N-CSDS GEODSS sensor data in near real time 5) Current status and future deployment plans (Including plans for deployment to the Maui GEODSS Site)

Data distribution service-based interoperability framework for smart grid testbed infrastructure

DOE PAGES

Youssef, Tarek A.; Elsayed, Ahmed T.; Mohammed, Osama A.

2016-03-02

This study presents the design and implementation of a communication and control infrastructure for smart grid operation. The proposed infrastructure enhances the reliability of the measurements and control network. The advantages of utilizing the data-centric over message-centric communication approach are discussed in the context of smart grid applications. The data distribution service (DDS) is used to implement a data-centric common data bus for the smart grid. This common data bus improves the communication reliability, enabling distributed control and smart load management. These enhancements are achieved by avoiding a single point of failure while enabling peer-to-peer communication and an automatic discoverymore » feature for dynamic participating nodes. The infrastructure and ideas presented in this paper were implemented and tested on the smart grid testbed. A toolbox and application programing interface for the testbed infrastructure are developed in order to facilitate interoperability and remote access to the testbed. This interface allows control, monitoring, and performing of experiments remotely. Furthermore, it could be used to integrate multidisciplinary testbeds to study complex cyber-physical systems (CPS).« less

What Does Industry Really Want in a Knowledge Management System? A Longitudinal Study of Taiwanese Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Liang-Chih; Lu, Hsi-Peng

This paper depicts a longitudinal investigation of knowledge management system development from industrial perspectives. Snapshots on three surveys (2002, 2006, and 2010) of Taiwanese companies were conducted and compared, which is to explore the perceived understandings and requirements for the applications of a knowledge management system.From the surveys, it was found that the most useful applications were document management, knowledge search and retrieval, and knowledge repository and map. The emerging applications were expert management, document security, and knowledge automation such as auto-classification, auto-abstract and auto-keyword generation. The most wanted services along with KMS were consulting service, success story-sharing, and modularization while deploying knowledge management system in the enterprises. The trends and transformation of a KM system were also collected and analyzed. We suggest that a company should use different knowledge management approach according to its corporate main business function. Combing intellectual capital theories proposed by other researchers, we categorize knowledge management focus as staff-centric, system-centric, and customer-centric knowledge from industrial perspectives.

Design Space Toolbox V2: Automated Software Enabling a Novel Phenotype-Centric Modeling Strategy for Natural and Synthetic Biological Systems

PubMed Central

Lomnitz, Jason G.; Savageau, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Mathematical models of biochemical systems provide a means to elucidate the link between the genotype, environment, and phenotype. A subclass of mathematical models, known as mechanistic models, quantitatively describe the complex non-linear mechanisms that capture the intricate interactions between biochemical components. However, the study of mechanistic models is challenging because most are analytically intractable and involve large numbers of system parameters. Conventional methods to analyze them rely on local analyses about a nominal parameter set and they do not reveal the vast majority of potential phenotypes possible for a given system design. We have recently developed a new modeling approach that does not require estimated values for the parameters initially and inverts the typical steps of the conventional modeling strategy. Instead, this approach relies on architectural features of the model to identify the phenotypic repertoire and then predict values for the parameters that yield specific instances of the system that realize desired phenotypic characteristics. Here, we present a collection of software tools, the Design Space Toolbox V2 based on the System Design Space method, that automates (1) enumeration of the repertoire of model phenotypes, (2) prediction of values for the parameters for any model phenotype, and (3) analysis of model phenotypes through analytical and numerical methods. The result is an enabling technology that facilitates this radically new, phenotype-centric, modeling approach. We illustrate the power of these new tools by applying them to a synthetic gene circuit that can exhibit multi-stability. We then predict values for the system parameters such that the design exhibits 2, 3, and 4 stable steady states. In one example, inspection of the basins of attraction reveals that the circuit can count between three stable states by transient stimulation through one of two input channels: a positive channel that increases the count, and a negative channel that decreases the count. This example shows the power of these new automated methods to rapidly identify behaviors of interest and efficiently predict parameter values for their realization. These tools may be applied to understand complex natural circuitry and to aid in the rational design of synthetic circuits. PMID:27462346

MENOMINEE PERSPECTIVES ON COMMERCIAL AND SACRED TOBACCO USE

PubMed Central

Rouse Arndt, Leah M.; Caskey, Mark; Fossum, Jodi; Schmitt, Natasha; Davis, Amileah R.; Smith, Stevens S.; Kenote, Benjamin; Strickland, Rick; Waukau, Jerry

2015-01-01

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has the highest smoking rate in the state. To address the resultant health disparities, the tribe conducted a qualitative pilot project to examine tobacco use. The findings indicated mainstream models of addiction did not capture the tribe’s context well; the Indigenist Stress-Coping Model was most applicable. Participants suggested that Menominee-centric ways of knowing related to commercial and sacred tobacco use should be included in all levels of prevention as a key strategy. Recommendations include primary prevention targeted specifi ally to youth, pregnant women, and adults who care for children, as well as access to commercial tobacco products. PMID:24352817

Two ecological models of academic achievement among diverse students with and without disabilities in transition.

PubMed

Williams, Terrinieka T; McMahon, Susan D; Keys, Christopher B

2014-01-01

School experiences can have positive effects on student academic achievement, yet less is known about intermediary processes that contribute to these positive effects. We examined pathways between school experiences and academic achievement among 117 low-income urban students of color, many with disabilities, who transitioned to other schools following a school closure. Using structural equation modeling, we tested two ecological models that examined the relationships among self-reported school experiences, school support, academic self-efficacy, and school-reported academic achievement. The model in which the relationship between school experiences and academic achievement is mediated by both school support and academic self-efficacy, and that takes previous academic achievement into account, was an excellent fit with the data. The roles of contextual and individual factors as they relate to academic achievement, and the implications of these findings, are discussed.

Patch models and their applications to multivehicle command and control.

PubMed

Rao, Venkatesh G; D'Andrea, Raffaello

2007-06-01

We introduce patch models, a computational modeling formalism for multivehicle combat domains, based on spatiotemporal abstraction methods developed in the computer science community. The framework yields models that are expressive enough to accommodate nontrivial controlled vehicle dynamics while being within the representational capabilities of common artificial intelligence techniques used in the construction of autonomous systems. The framework allows several key design requirements of next-generation network-centric command and control systems, such as maintenance of shared situation awareness, to be achieved. Major features include support for multiple situation models at each decision node and rapid mission plan adaptation. We describe the formal specification of patch models and our prototype implementation, i.e., Patchworks. The capabilities of patch models are validated through a combat mission simulation in Patchworks, which involves two defending teams protecting a camp from an enemy attacking team.

Reconciling professional identity: A grounded theory of nurse academics' role modelling for undergraduate students.

PubMed

Baldwin, A; Mills, J; Birks, M; Budden, L

2017-12-01

Role modelling by experienced nurses, including nurse academics, is a key factor in the process of preparing undergraduate nursing students for practice, and may contribute to longevity in the workforce. A grounded theory study was undertaken to investigate the phenomenon of nurse academics' role modelling for undergraduate students. The study sought to answer the research question: how do nurse academics role model positive professional behaviours for undergraduate students? The aims of this study were to: theorise a process of nurse academic role modelling for undergraduate students; describe the elements that support positive role modelling by nurse academics; and explain the factors that influence the implementation of academic role modelling. The study sample included five second year nursing students and sixteen nurse academics from Australia and the United Kingdom. Data was collected from observation, focus groups and individual interviews. This study found that in order for nurse academics to role model professional behaviours for nursing students, they must reconcile their own professional identity. This paper introduces the theory of reconciling professional identity and discusses the three categories that comprise the theory, creating a context for learning, creating a context for authentic rehearsal and mirroring identity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social cognitive predictors of Mexican American college students' academic and life satisfaction.

PubMed

Ojeda, Lizette; Flores, Lisa Y; Navarro, Rachel L

2011-01-01

In this study, we used Lent's (2004) social cognitive model of well being to examine the academic and life satisfaction of 457 Mexican American college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Using structural equation modeling, results indicated that the model provided a good fit to the data. Specifically, we found positive relations from positive affect to enculturation, acculturation, college self-efficacy, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from enculturation to college self-efficacy; from acculturation to college self-efficacy and college outcome expectations; from college self-efficacy to college outcome expectations, academic goal progress, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from college outcome expectations to academic satisfaction; from academic goal progress to academic and life satisfaction; and from academic satisfaction to life satisfaction. Findings indicated the model was invariant across gender groups, and overall, 38% and 14% of the variance in academic satisfaction and life satisfaction, respectively, were explained by the predictor variables. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A Drug-Centric View of Drug Development: How Drugs Spread from Disease to Disease

PubMed Central

Rodriguez-Esteban, Raul

2016-01-01

Drugs are often seen as ancillary to the purpose of fighting diseases. Here an alternative view is proposed in which they occupy a spearheading role. In this view, drugs are technologies with an inherent therapeutic potential. Once created, they can spread from disease to disease independently of the drug creator’s original intentions. Through the analysis of extensive literature and clinical trial records, it can be observed that successful drugs follow a life cycle in which they are studied at an increasing rate, and for the treatment of an increasing number of diseases, leading to clinical advancement. Such initial growth, following a power law on average, has a degree of momentum, but eventually decelerates, leading to stagnation and decay. A network model can describe the propagation of drugs from disease to disease in which diseases communicate with each other by receiving and sending drugs. Within this model, some diseases appear more prone to influence other diseases than be influenced, and vice versa. Diseases can also be organized into a drug-centric disease taxonomy based on the drugs that each adopts. This taxonomy reflects not only biological similarities across diseases, but also the level of differentiation of existing therapies. In sum, this study shows that drugs can become contagious technologies playing a driving role in the fight against disease. By better understanding such dynamics, pharmaceutical developers may be able to manage drug projects more effectively. PMID:27124390

Many-core graph analytics using accelerated sparse linear algebra routines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozacik, Stephen; Paolini, Aaron L.; Fox, Paul; Kelmelis, Eric

2016-05-01

Graph analytics is a key component in identifying emerging trends and threats in many real-world applications. Largescale graph analytics frameworks provide a convenient and highly-scalable platform for developing algorithms to analyze large datasets. Although conceptually scalable, these techniques exhibit poor performance on modern computational hardware. Another model of graph computation has emerged that promises improved performance and scalability by using abstract linear algebra operations as the basis for graph analysis as laid out by the GraphBLAS standard. By using sparse linear algebra as the basis, existing highly efficient algorithms can be adapted to perform computations on the graph. This approach, however, is often less intuitive to graph analytics experts, who are accustomed to vertex-centric APIs such as Giraph, GraphX, and Tinkerpop. We are developing an implementation of the high-level operations supported by these APIs in terms of linear algebra operations. This implementation is be backed by many-core implementations of the fundamental GraphBLAS operations required, and offers the advantages of both the intuitive programming model of a vertex-centric API and the performance of a sparse linear algebra implementation. This technology can reduce the number of nodes required, as well as the run-time for a graph analysis problem, enabling customers to perform more complex analysis with less hardware at lower cost. All of this can be accomplished without the requirement for the customer to make any changes to their analytics code, thanks to the compatibility with existing graph APIs.

Multidimensional Convergence in Future 5G Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruffini, Marco

2017-02-01

Future 5G services are characterised by unprecedented need for high rate, ubiquitous availability, ultra-low latency and high reliability. The fragmented network view that is widespread in current networks will not stand the challenge posed by next generations of users. A new vision is required, and this paper provides an insight on how network convergence and application-centric approaches will play a leading role towards enabling the 5G vision. The paper, after expressing the view on the need for an end-to-end approach to network design, brings the reader into a journey on the expected 5G network requirements and outlines some of the work currently carried out by main standardisation bodies. It then proposes the use of the concept of network convergence for providing the overall architectural framework to bring together all the different technologies within a unifying and coherent network ecosystem. The novel interpretation of multi-dimensional convergence we introduce leads us to the exploration of aspects of node consolidation and converged network architectures, delving into details of optical-wireless integration and future convergence of optical data centre and access-metro networks. We then discuss how ownership models enabling network sharing will be instrumental in realising the 5G vision. The paper concludes with final remarks on the role SDN will play in 5G and on the need for new business models that reflect the application-centric view of the network. Finally, we provide some insight on growing research areas in 5G networking.

Rhodobase, a meta-analytical tool for reconstructing gene regulatory networks in a model photosynthetic bacterium.

PubMed

Moskvin, Oleg V; Bolotin, Dmitry; Wang, Andrew; Ivanov, Pavel S; Gomelsky, Mark

2011-02-01

We present Rhodobase, a web-based meta-analytical tool for analysis of transcriptional regulation in a model anoxygenic photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The gene association meta-analysis is based on the pooled data from 100 of R. sphaeroides whole-genome DNA microarrays. Gene-centric regulatory networks were visualized using the StarNet approach (Jupiter, D.C., VanBuren, V., 2008. A visual data mining tool that facilitates reconstruction of transcription regulatory networks. PLoS ONE 3, e1717) with several modifications. We developed a means to identify and visualize operons and superoperons. We designed a framework for the cross-genome search for transcription factor binding sites that takes into account high GC-content and oligonucleotide usage profile characteristic of the R. sphaeroides genome. To facilitate reconstruction of directional relationships between co-regulated genes, we screened upstream sequences (-400 to +20bp from start codons) of all genes for putative binding sites of bacterial transcription factors using a self-optimizing search method developed here. To test performance of the meta-analysis tools and transcription factor site predictions, we reconstructed selected nodes of the R. sphaeroides transcription factor-centric regulatory matrix. The test revealed regulatory relationships that correlate well with the experimentally derived data. The database of transcriptional profile correlations, the network visualization engine and the optimized search engine for transcription factor binding sites analysis are available at http://rhodobase.org. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of Dual Band Wearable Antennas Using Commonly Worn Fabric Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Dipen Kumar

In recent years, body-centric communication has become one of the most attractive fields of study. The versatile applications of body-centric communication not only being used for health monitoring, but also for real-time communication purposes in special occupations. They are important for supporting a population with increasing life expectancy and increase the probability of survival for the people suffering from chronic illness. For both wearable and implantable form of body-centric communication, characterizing the system electromagnetically is very important. Given the constraints in power, size, weight and conformity, one of the most challenging parts become the designing antenna for such communication systems. Wearable antennas are the most popular option regarding these issues. Wearable antennas are easier and simpler to mount on clothing when they are made of textile materials. In the process of designing a textile antenna, the availability of the fabrics is pivotal to mount on regularly worn clothes. In this report, several designs of a co-planar waveguide microstrip patch antenna are presented. Instead of felt fabric, the antenna was modified using 100% polyester and cotton fabric for the substrate material. A parasitic patch slot was created on the co-planar ground plane to achieve the dual band resonance frequencies at 2.4 GHz and 5.15 GHz. The geometrical modifications of the antennas were described and their performances were analyzed. The antenna achieved resonating frequency with a thinner substrate as the dielectric constant went higher for the fabrics. The design with different fabric materials was first simulated in CST Microwave Studio, then fabricated and measured in a regular environment. They were also mounted on a 3-D printed human body model to analyze the bending effect. The design of the antennas shows satisfactory performance with a good -10dB bandwidth for both the lower and higher desired resonating frequency band.

Premature Mobility of Boulders in Constructed Step-pool River Structures in the Carmel River, CA: The Role of Fish-centric Design Constraints, and Flow on Structural Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, D. P.; Chow, K.; Luna, L.

2017-12-01

The 32 m tall San Clemente Dam (Carmel River, CA) was removed in 2015 to eliminate seismic risk and to improve fish passage for all life stages of steelhead (O. mykiss). Reservoir sediment was sequestered in place, rather than released, and a new 1000 m long channel/floodplain system was constructed to circumvent the stored sediment. The channel comprised a 250 m long, meandering low-gradient reach and a 750 m reach with alternating step-pool sections, plane beds, and resting pools. The floodprone surfaces were compacted, wrapped in geotechnical fabric and vegetated. This study analyzes the geomorphic evolution of the new channel system during its first two years of service based upon detailed field inspection, SfM photogrammetry, orthophoto analysis, and 2d hydraulic modeling. A significant proportion of the step-pool structures experienced premature mobility and several reaches of engineered stream banks were eroded in the first year. Individual, six-tonne boulders were mobilized despite experiencing less than the 3 yr flow. The channel and floodplain were fully repaired following the first year. Strong flows (two 10-yr floods and a 30-yr flood) during the second year catastrophically altered the constructed channel and floodplain. While the low-gradient reach remained intact, each of the original step-pool structures was either completely mobilized and destroyed, buried by gravel, or bypassed by the subsequent channel. Despite the overall structural failure of the constructed channel, the new channel does not block steelhead migration, and can be serendipitously considered an ecological success. Step-pool design was constrained by a fish-centric requirement that steps be 1 ft tall or less. Some constructed "resting pools" filled rather than transport sediment. Using fish-centric constraints in the design, rather than strictly fluvial geomorphic principles may have contributed to early failure of the step-pool structures and other parts of the system.

Creating an Assured Joint DOD and Interagency Interoperable Net-Centric Enterprise. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Achieving Interoperability in a Net-Centric Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

policy, elliptic curve public key cryptography using the 256 -bit prime modulus elliptic curve as specified in FIPS-186-2 and SHA - 256 are appropriate for...publications/fips/fips186-2/fips186-2-change1.pdf 76 I P ART I . CH A PT E R 5 Hashing via the Secure Hash Algorithm (using SHA - 256 and...lithography and processing techniques. Field programmable gate arrays ( FPGAs ) are a chip design of interest. These devices are extensively used in

MODA A Framework for Memory Centric Performance Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shrestha, Sunil; Su, Chun-Yi; White, Amanda M.

2012-06-29

In the age of massive parallelism, the focus of performance analysis has switched from the processor and related structures to the memory and I/O resources. Adapting to this new reality, a performance analysis tool has to provide a way to analyze resource usage to pinpoint existing and potential problems in a given application. This paper provides an overview of the Memory Observant Data Analysis (MODA) tool, a memory-centric tool first implemented on the Cray XMT supercomputer. Throughout the paper, MODA's capabilities have been showcased with experiments done on matrix multiply and Graph-500 application codes.

Trisomy 2 in three cases of canine haemangiopericytoma.

PubMed

Mayr, B; Furtmueller, G; Schleger, W; Reifinger, M

1992-01-01

Two female (12 and 14 years old) and one male dog (10 years old) developed haemangiopericytomas. Three copies of chromosome 2 were present in the tumours of all three dogs. Additional alterations were an interstitially deleted chromosome 1, centric fusions 3/34 and 8/15, isochromosome 32 and two unidentified marker chromosomes (M1, M2) in one bitch. In the other bitch, the additional alterations were trisomy 37, centric fusions 8/38 and 30/31, and a derivative chromosome 13 (der13). In the male dog, tandem fusion 2/19 was present in addition to two structurally normal chromosomes 2.

2005 Net Centric Operations, Interoperability and Systems Integration Conference - Facilitating Net Centric Operations and Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-24

1 :45PM- 3 :30PM Panel: Establishing a Business Mission Area in the Department of...Minimum MaximumLEVEL OF INTEROPERABILITY Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 10 COTS Native IP Network IP TCP UDP Network QoS Layer IIOP NTP SNMP Legacy...2005 Page 1 3 /27/2005 Page 2 3 /27/2005 Page 3 3 /27/2005 Page 4 3 /27/2005 Page 5 3 /27/2005 Page 6 3 /27/2005 Page 7 3 /27/2005 Page 8 3 /27/2005 Page 9 3

A Path Analysis Model Pertinent to Undergraduates' Academic Success: Examining Academic Confidence, Psychological Capital and Academic Coping Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirikkanat, Berke; Soyer, Makbule Kali

2018-01-01

The major purpose of this study was to create a path analysis model of academic success in a group of university students, which included the variables of academic confidence and psychological capital with a mediator variable--academic coping. 400 undergraduates from Marmara University and Istanbul Commerce University who were in sophomore, junior…

Multi-model-based interactive authoring environment for creating shareable medical knowledge.

PubMed

Ali, Taqdir; Hussain, Maqbool; Ali Khan, Wajahat; Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Jamil; Ali, Rahman; Hassan, Waseem; Jamshed, Arif; Kang, Byeong Ho; Lee, Sungyoung

2017-10-01

Technologically integrated healthcare environments can be realized if physicians are encouraged to use smart systems for the creation and sharing of knowledge used in clinical decision support systems (CDSS). While CDSSs are heading toward smart environments, they lack support for abstraction of technology-oriented knowledge from physicians. Therefore, abstraction in the form of a user-friendly and flexible authoring environment is required in order for physicians to create shareable and interoperable knowledge for CDSS workflows. Our proposed system provides a user-friendly authoring environment to create Arden Syntax MLM (Medical Logic Module) as shareable knowledge rules for intelligent decision-making by CDSS. Existing systems are not physician friendly and lack interoperability and shareability of knowledge. In this paper, we proposed Intelligent-Knowledge Authoring Tool (I-KAT), a knowledge authoring environment that overcomes the above mentioned limitations. Shareability is achieved by creating a knowledge base from MLMs using Arden Syntax. Interoperability is enhanced using standard data models and terminologies. However, creation of shareable and interoperable knowledge using Arden Syntax without abstraction increases complexity, which ultimately makes it difficult for physicians to use the authoring environment. Therefore, physician friendliness is provided by abstraction at the application layer to reduce complexity. This abstraction is regulated by mappings created between legacy system concepts, which are modeled as domain clinical model (DCM) and decision support standards such as virtual medical record (vMR) and Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). We represent these mappings with a semantic reconciliation model (SRM). The objective of the study is the creation of shareable and interoperable knowledge using a user-friendly and flexible I-KAT. Therefore we evaluated our system using completeness and user satisfaction criteria, which we assessed through the system- and user-centric evaluation processes. For system-centric evaluation, we compared the implementation of clinical information modelling system requirements in our proposed system and in existing systems. The results suggested that 82.05% of the requirements were fully supported, 7.69% were partially supported, and 10.25% were not supported by our system. In the existing systems, 35.89% of requirements were fully supported, 28.20% were partially supported, and 35.89% were not supported. For user-centric evaluation, the assessment criterion was 'ease of use'. Our proposed system showed 15 times better results with respect to MLM creation time than the existing systems. Moreover, on average, the participants made only one error in MLM creation using our proposed system, but 13 errors per MLM using the existing systems. We provide a user-friendly authoring environment for creation of shareable and interoperable knowledge for CDSS to overcome knowledge acquisition complexity. The authoring environment uses state-of-the-art decision support-related clinical standards with increased ease of use. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the Relation between Academic Procrastination, Academic Rational/Irrational Beliefs, Time Preferences to Study for Exams, and Academic Achievement: A Structural Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balkis, Murat; Duru, Erdinc; Bulus, Mustafa

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between academic rational/irrational beliefs, academic procrastination, and time preferences to study for exams and academic achievement by using the structural equation model. The sample consisted of 281 undergraduate students who filled in questionnaires at the 7-week-long summer course.…

Consistent Chemical Mechanism from Collaborative Data Processing

DOE PAGES

Slavinskaya, Nadezda; Starcke, Jan-Hendrik; Abbasi, Mehdi; ...

2016-04-01

Numerical tool of Process Informatics Model (PrIMe) is mathematically rigorous and numerically efficient approach for analysis and optimization of chemical systems. It handles heterogeneous data and is scalable to a large number of parameters. The Boundto-Bound Data Collaboration module of the automated data-centric infrastructure of PrIMe was used for the systematic uncertainty and data consistency analyses of the H 2/CO reaction model (73/17) and 94 experimental targets (ignition delay times). The empirical rule for evaluation of the shock tube experimental data is proposed. The initial results demonstrate clear benefits of the PrIMe methods for an evaluation of the kinetic datamore » quality and data consistency and for developing predictive kinetic models.« less

Perceptual tools for quality-aware video networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bovik, A. C.

2014-01-01

Monitoring and controlling the quality of the viewing experience of videos transmitted over increasingly congested networks (especially wireless networks) is a pressing problem owing to rapid advances in video-centric mobile communication and display devices that are straining the capacity of the network infrastructure. New developments in automatic perceptual video quality models offer tools that have the potential to be used to perceptually optimize wireless video, leading to more efficient video data delivery and better received quality. In this talk I will review key perceptual principles that are, or could be used to create effective video quality prediction models, and leading quality prediction models that utilize these principles. The goal is to be able to monitor and perceptually optimize video networks by making them "quality-aware."

Commonalities of nurse-designed models of health care.

PubMed

Mason, Diana J; Jones, Dorothy A; Roy, Callista; Sullivan, Cheryl G; Wood, Laura J

2015-01-01

The American Academy of Nursing has identified examples of care redesign developed by nurses who address the health needs of diverse populations. These models show important clinical and financial outcomes as summarized in the Select Edge Runner Models of Care table included in this article. A study team appointed by the Academy explored the commonalities across these models. Four commonalities emerged: health holistically defined; individual-, family-, and community-centric approaches to care; relationship-based care that enables partnerships and builds patient engagement and activation; and a shift from episodic individual care to continuous group and public health approaches. The policy implications include examining measures of an expanded definition of health, paying for visionary care, and transparency and rewards for community-level engagement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social network properties and self-rated health in later life: comparisons from the Korean social life, health, and aging project and the national social life, health and aging project.

PubMed

Youm, Yoosik; Laumann, Edward O; Ferraro, Kenneth F; Waite, Linda J; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Park, Yeong-Ran; Chu, Sang Hui; Joo, Won-Tak; Lee, Jin A

2014-09-14

This paper has two objectives. Firstly, it provides an overview of the social network module, data collection procedures, and measurement of ego-centric and complete-network properties in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP). Secondly, it directly compares the KSHAP structure and results to the ego-centric network structure and results of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), which conducted in-home interviews with 3,005 persons 57 to 85 years of age in the United States. The structure of the complete social network of 814 KSHAP respondents living in Township K was measured and examined at two levels of networks. Ego-centric network properties include network size, composition, volume of contact with network members, density, and bridging potential. Complete-network properties are degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and brokerage role. We found that KSHAP respondents with a smaller number of social network members were more likely to be older and tended to have poorer self-rated health. Compared to the NSHAP, the KSHAP respondents maintained a smaller network size with a greater network density among their members and lower bridging potential. Further analysis of the complete network properties of KSHAP respondents revealed that more brokerage roles inside the same neighborhood (Ri) were significantly associated with better self-rated health. Socially isolated respondents identified by network components had the worst self-rated health. The findings demonstrate the importance of social network analysis for the study of older adults' health status in Korea. The study also highlights the importance of complete-network data and its ability to reveal mechanisms beyond ego-centric network data.

Residential Consumer-Centric Demand-Side Management Based on Energy Disaggregation-Piloting Constrained Swarm Intelligence: Towards Edge Computing

PubMed Central

Hu, Yu-Chen

2018-01-01

The emergence of smart Internet of Things (IoT) devices has highly favored the realization of smart homes in a down-stream sector of a smart grid. The underlying objective of Demand Response (DR) schemes is to actively engage customers to modify their energy consumption on domestic appliances in response to pricing signals. Domestic appliance scheduling is widely accepted as an effective mechanism to manage domestic energy consumption intelligently. Besides, to residential customers for DR implementation, maintaining a balance between energy consumption cost and users’ comfort satisfaction is a challenge. Hence, in this paper, a constrained Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)-based residential consumer-centric load-scheduling method is proposed. The method can be further featured with edge computing. In contrast with cloud computing, edge computing—a method of optimizing cloud computing technologies by driving computing capabilities at the IoT edge of the Internet as one of the emerging trends in engineering technology—addresses bandwidth-intensive contents and latency-sensitive applications required among sensors and central data centers through data analytics at or near the source of data. A non-intrusive load-monitoring technique proposed previously is utilized to automatic determination of physical characteristics of power-intensive home appliances from users’ life patterns. The swarm intelligence, constrained PSO, is used to minimize the energy consumption cost while considering users’ comfort satisfaction for DR implementation. The residential consumer-centric load-scheduling method proposed in this paper is evaluated under real-time pricing with inclining block rates and is demonstrated in a case study. The experimentation reported in this paper shows the proposed residential consumer-centric load-scheduling method can re-shape loads by home appliances in response to DR signals. Moreover, a phenomenal reduction in peak power consumption is achieved by 13.97%. PMID:29702607

Social network properties and self-rated health in later life: comparisons from the Korean social life, health, and aging project and the national social life, health and aging project

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background This paper has two objectives. Firstly, it provides an overview of the social network module, data collection procedures, and measurement of ego-centric and complete-network properties in the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP). Secondly, it directly compares the KSHAP structure and results to the ego-centric network structure and results of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), which conducted in-home interviews with 3,005 persons 57 to 85 years of age in the United States. Methods The structure of the complete social network of 814 KSHAP respondents living in Township K was measured and examined at two levels of networks. Ego-centric network properties include network size, composition, volume of contact with network members, density, and bridging potential. Complete-network properties are degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and brokerage role. Results We found that KSHAP respondents with a smaller number of social network members were more likely to be older and tended to have poorer self-rated health. Compared to the NSHAP, the KSHAP respondents maintained a smaller network size with a greater network density among their members and lower bridging potential. Further analysis of the complete network properties of KSHAP respondents revealed that more brokerage roles inside the same neighborhood (Ri) were significantly associated with better self-rated health. Socially isolated respondents identified by network components had the worst self-rated health. Conclusions The findings demonstrate the importance of social network analysis for the study of older adults’ health status in Korea. The study also highlights the importance of complete-network data and its ability to reveal mechanisms beyond ego-centric network data. PMID:25217892

A Structural Equation Modelling of the Academic Self-Concept Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matovu, Musa

2014-01-01

The study aimed at validating the academic self-concept scale by Liu and Wang (2005) in measuring academic self-concept among university students. Structural equation modelling was used to validate the scale which was composed of two subscales; academic confidence and academic effort. The study was conducted on university students; males and…

Modeling gene-wise dependencies improves the identification of drug response biomarkers in cancer studies.

PubMed

Nikolova, Olga; Moser, Russell; Kemp, Christopher; Gönen, Mehmet; Margolin, Adam A

2017-05-01

In recent years, vast advances in biomedical technologies and comprehensive sequencing have revealed the genomic landscape of common forms of human cancer in unprecedented detail. The broad heterogeneity of the disease calls for rapid development of personalized therapies. Translating the readily available genomic data into useful knowledge that can be applied in the clinic remains a challenge. Computational methods are needed to aid these efforts by robustly analyzing genome-scale data from distinct experimental platforms for prioritization of targets and treatments. We propose a novel, biologically motivated, Bayesian multitask approach, which explicitly models gene-centric dependencies across multiple and distinct genomic platforms. We introduce a gene-wise prior and present a fully Bayesian formulation of a group factor analysis model. In supervised prediction applications, our multitask approach leverages similarities in response profiles of groups of drugs that are more likely to be related to true biological signal, which leads to more robust performance and improved generalization ability. We evaluate the performance of our method on molecularly characterized collections of cell lines profiled against two compound panels, namely the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and the Cancer Therapeutics Response Portal. We demonstrate that accounting for the gene-centric dependencies enables leveraging information from multi-omic input data and improves prediction and feature selection performance. We further demonstrate the applicability of our method in an unsupervised dimensionality reduction application by inferring genes essential to tumorigenesis in the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma patient cohorts from The Cancer Genome Atlas. : The code for this work is available at https://github.com/olganikolova/gbgfa. : nikolova@ohsu.edu or margolin@ohsu.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Cognitive Ability, Academic Achievement and Academic Self-Concept: Extending the Internal/External Frame of Reference Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Ssu-Kuang; Hwang, Fang-Ming; Yeh, Yu-Chen; Lin, Sunny S. J.

2012-01-01

Background: Marsh's internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model depicts the relationship between achievement and self-concept in specific academic domains. Few efforts have been made to examine concurrent relationships among cognitive ability, achievement, and academic self-concept (ASC) within an I/E model framework. Aim: To simultaneously…

Machiavellian Ways to Academic Cheating: A Mediational and Interactional Model

PubMed Central

Barbaranelli, Claudio; Farnese, Maria L.; Tramontano, Carlo; Fida, Roberta; Ghezzi, Valerio; Paciello, Marinella; Long, Philip

2018-01-01

Academic cheating has become a pervasive practice from primary schools to university. This study aims at investigating this phenomenon through a nomological network which integrates different theoretical frameworks and models, such as trait and social-cognitive theories and models regarding the approaches to learning and contextual/normative environment. Results on a sample of more than 200 Italian university students show that the Amoral Manipulation facet of Machiavellianism, Academic Moral Disengagement, Deep Approach to Learning, and Normative Academic Cheating are significantly associated with Individual Academic Cheating. Moreover, results show a significant latent interaction effect between Normative Academic Cheating and Amoral Manipulation Machiavellianism: “amoral Machiavellians” students are more prone to resort to Academic Cheating in contexts where Academic Cheating is adopted as a practice by their peers, while this effect is not significant in contexts where Academic Cheating is not normative. Results also show that Academic Moral Disengagement and Deep Approach to learning partially mediate the relationship between Amoral Manipulation and Academic Cheating. Practical implications of these results are discussed. PMID:29867663

American Sign Language/English bilingual model: a longitudinal study of academic growth.

PubMed

Lange, Cheryl M; Lane-Outlaw, Susan; Lange, William E; Sherwood, Dyan L

2013-10-01

This study examines reading and mathematics academic growth of deaf and hard-of-hearing students instructed through an American Sign Language (ASL)/English bilingual model. The study participants were exposed to the model for a minimum of 4 years. The study participants' academic growth rates were measured using the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measure of Academic Progress assessment and compared with a national-normed group of grade-level peers that consisted primarily of hearing students. The study also compared academic growth for participants by various characteristics such as gender, parents' hearing status, and secondary disability status and examined the academic outcomes for students after a minimum of 4 years of instruction in an ASL/English bilingual model. The findings support the efficacy of the ASL/English bilingual model.

Competency Modeling in Extension Education: Integrating an Academic Extension Education Model with an Extension Human Resource Management Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scheer, Scott D.; Cochran, Graham R.; Harder, Amy; Place, Nick T.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast an academic extension education model with an Extension human resource management model. The academic model of 19 competencies was similar across the 22 competencies of the Extension human resource management model. There were seven unique competencies for the human resource management model.…

Enabling drug discovery project decisions with integrated computational chemistry and informatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsui, Vickie; Ortwine, Daniel F.; Blaney, Jeffrey M.

2017-03-01

Computational chemistry/informatics scientists and software engineers in Genentech Small Molecule Drug Discovery collaborate with experimental scientists in a therapeutic project-centric environment. Our mission is to enable and improve pre-clinical drug discovery design and decisions. Our goal is to deliver timely data, analysis, and modeling to our therapeutic project teams using best-in-class software tools. We describe our strategy, the organization of our group, and our approaches to reach this goal. We conclude with a summary of the interdisciplinary skills required for computational scientists and recommendations for their training.

Succeeding in a disruptive healthcare environment.

PubMed

Kaufman, Kenneth; Grube, Mark E

2015-01-01

A greater level of consumerism in health care is leading to market dislocations that involve the shift of services to outpatient settings and to web-based and mobile modes of care. Hospitals and health systems risk losing market share and clinical and financial viability if they do not adjust their business models to account for these changes. When planning for such a transformation, organizations should commit to a new view of health care, invest in consumer-centric outpatient and virtual strategies, use new metrics to gauge success, and create a blueprint as a guide.

Uberon, an integrative multi-species anatomy ontology

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

We present Uberon, an integrated cross-species ontology consisting of over 6,500 classes representing a variety of anatomical entities, organized according to traditional anatomical classification criteria. The ontology represents structures in a species-neutral way and includes extensive associations to existing species-centric anatomical ontologies, allowing integration of model organism and human data. Uberon provides a necessary bridge between anatomical structures in different taxa for cross-species inference. It uses novel methods for representing taxonomic variation, and has proved to be essential for translational phenotype analyses. Uberon is available at http://uberon.org PMID:22293552

Understanding Information Uncertainty within the Context of a Net-Centric Data Model: A Mine Warfare Example

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

key assumption in the calculation of the primary MIW MOEs of the estimated risk to a transitor and the expected time required to clear all of the mines...primary MOE of Risk, or Probability of Damage to a Ship Transitor , is calculated by using information in the highlighted circle on the left, to include...percent clearance achieved. 0 E( ) Pr( | , ) r R r r m p ∞ = = ∗∑ (0.2) Risk can be calculated for each transitor given the expected number of

At-TAX: a whole genome tiling array resource for developmental expression analysis and transcript identification in Arabidopsis thaliana

PubMed Central

Laubinger, Sascha; Zeller, Georg; Henz, Stefan R; Sachsenberg, Timo; Widmer, Christian K; Naouar, Naïra; Vuylsteke, Marnik; Schölkopf, Bernhard; Rätsch, Gunnar; Weigel, Detlef

2008-01-01

Gene expression maps for model organisms, including Arabidopsis thaliana, have typically been created using gene-centric expression arrays. Here, we describe a comprehensive expression atlas, Arabidopsis thaliana Tiling Array Express (At-TAX), which is based on whole-genome tiling arrays. We demonstrate that tiling arrays are accurate tools for gene expression analysis and identified more than 1,000 unannotated transcribed regions. Visualizations of gene expression estimates, transcribed regions, and tiling probe measurements are accessible online at the At-TAX homepage. PMID:18613972

The bidirectional pathways between internalizing and externalizing problems and academic performance from 6 to 18 years.

PubMed

Van der Ende, Jan; Verhulst, Frank C; Tiemeier, Henning

2016-08-01

Internalizing and externalizing problems are associated with poor academic performance, both concurrently and longitudinally. Important questions are whether problems precede academic performance or vice versa, whether both internalizing and externalizing are associated with academic problems when simultaneously tested, and whether associations and their direction depend on the informant providing information. These questions were addressed in a sample of 816 children who were assessed four times. The children were 6-10 years at baseline and 14-18 years at the last assessment. Parent-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and teacher-reported academic performance were tested in cross-lagged models to examine bidirectional paths between these constructs. These models were compared with cross-lagged models testing paths between teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and parent-reported academic performance. Both final models revealed similar pathways from mostly externalizing problems to academic performance. No paths emerged from internalizing problems to academic performance. Moreover, paths from academic performance to internalizing and externalizing problems were only found when teachers reported on children's problems and not for parent-reported problems. Additional model tests revealed that paths were observed in both childhood and adolescence. Externalizing problems place children at increased risk of poor academic performance and should therefore be the target for interventions.

Prediction of drug indications based on chemical interactions and chemical similarities.

PubMed

Huang, Guohua; Lu, Yin; Lu, Changhong; Zheng, Mingyue; Cai, Yu-Dong

2015-01-01

Discovering potential indications of novel or approved drugs is a key step in drug development. Previous computational approaches could be categorized into disease-centric and drug-centric based on the starting point of the issues or small-scaled application and large-scale application according to the diversity of the datasets. Here, a classifier has been constructed to predict the indications of a drug based on the assumption that interactive/associated drugs or drugs with similar structures are more likely to target the same diseases using a large drug indication dataset. To examine the classifier, it was conducted on a dataset with 1,573 drugs retrieved from Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry database for five times, evaluated by 5-fold cross-validation, yielding five 1st order prediction accuracies that were all approximately 51.48%. Meanwhile, the model yielded an accuracy rate of 50.00% for the 1st order prediction by independent test on a dataset with 32 other drugs in which drug repositioning has been confirmed. Interestingly, some clinically repurposed drug indications that were not included in the datasets are successfully identified by our method. These results suggest that our method may become a useful tool to associate novel molecules with new indications or alternative indications with existing drugs.

Database-Centric Method for Automated High-Throughput Deconvolution and Analysis of Kinetic Antibody Screening Data.

PubMed

Nobrega, R Paul; Brown, Michael; Williams, Cody; Sumner, Chris; Estep, Patricia; Caffry, Isabelle; Yu, Yao; Lynaugh, Heather; Burnina, Irina; Lilov, Asparouh; Desroches, Jordan; Bukowski, John; Sun, Tingwan; Belk, Jonathan P; Johnson, Kirt; Xu, Yingda

2017-10-01

The state-of-the-art industrial drug discovery approach is the empirical interrogation of a library of drug candidates against a target molecule. The advantage of high-throughput kinetic measurements over equilibrium assessments is the ability to measure each of the kinetic components of binding affinity. Although high-throughput capabilities have improved with advances in instrument hardware, three bottlenecks in data processing remain: (1) intrinsic molecular properties that lead to poor biophysical quality in vitro are not accounted for in commercially available analysis models, (2) processing data through a user interface is time-consuming and not amenable to parallelized data collection, and (3) a commercial solution that includes historical kinetic data in the analysis of kinetic competition data does not exist. Herein, we describe a generally applicable method for the automated analysis, storage, and retrieval of kinetic binding data. This analysis can deconvolve poor quality data on-the-fly and store and organize historical data in a queryable format for use in future analyses. Such database-centric strategies afford greater insight into the molecular mechanisms of kinetic competition, allowing for the rapid identification of allosteric effectors and the presentation of kinetic competition data in absolute terms of percent bound to antigen on the biosensor.

Patient-centric Care and Chronic Disease Management: A Stakeholder Perspective.

PubMed

Stroetmann, Karl A

2015-01-01

By taking a stakeholder perspective, the paper explores reasons why the political commitment to patient-centric integrated care, facilitated by eHealth applications, is so difficult to meet. In spite of hundreds of pilots, still today there is a dearth of evidence on how to indeed successfully organise such services. Outcomes from a variety of implementation projects supported by the European Union were analysed, focusing on benefits and costs for the diverse stakeholder groups involved or impacted. The re-engineering of the services may result in a considerable shift in these variables between groups. Rendering both positive clinical impacts and a positive (overall) socio-economic return is not sufficient to assure wide acceptance and long-term sustainability. However motivated stakeholders may be, few will operate against their economic interests. Successfully establishing modern eHealth facilitated services is not so much a technical, but a social, organisational, and business innovation. We need to better understand in detail the benefits and costs, or the new 'business models' that go with integrated care for each involved stakeholder group, and the likely impacts for each of them, with a focus on how to best assure a win-win situation for all. Health policy has to respond to this, and a promising approach would be to promote organisational integration with shared budgets and outcome targets.

Prediction of Drug Indications Based on Chemical Interactions and Chemical Similarities

PubMed Central

Huang, Guohua; Lu, Yin; Lu, Changhong; Cai, Yu-Dong

2015-01-01

Discovering potential indications of novel or approved drugs is a key step in drug development. Previous computational approaches could be categorized into disease-centric and drug-centric based on the starting point of the issues or small-scaled application and large-scale application according to the diversity of the datasets. Here, a classifier has been constructed to predict the indications of a drug based on the assumption that interactive/associated drugs or drugs with similar structures are more likely to target the same diseases using a large drug indication dataset. To examine the classifier, it was conducted on a dataset with 1,573 drugs retrieved from Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry database for five times, evaluated by 5-fold cross-validation, yielding five 1st order prediction accuracies that were all approximately 51.48%. Meanwhile, the model yielded an accuracy rate of 50.00% for the 1st order prediction by independent test on a dataset with 32 other drugs in which drug repositioning has been confirmed. Interestingly, some clinically repurposed drug indications that were not included in the datasets are successfully identified by our method. These results suggest that our method may become a useful tool to associate novel molecules with new indications or alternative indications with existing drugs. PMID:25821813

Programmatic assessment of a university-based implant training program using patient-reported outcomes.

PubMed

Al-Sabbagh, Mohanad; Jenkins, Diane W; de Leeuw, Reny; Nihill, Patricia; Robinson, Fonda G; Thomas, Mark V

2014-11-01

The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry (UKCD) established an implant training program that provides training in the use of a single implant system, evidence-based diagnostic and treatment protocols (standardized work practices), and a total quality management system (Implant Quality Assurance Program). The aim of this study was to assess the programmatic effectiveness of the UKCD implant training program by reporting the success and survival of implants placed, using patient-reported outcomes and comparing them to previously established benchmarks. A total of 415 patients (963 implants) were interviewed, approximately 50 percent of all qualified patients. The implant survival rate was 97 percent, and 88 percent of the implants were considered successful (as determined by patient-centric criteria). These outcomes were consistent with the program's previously established benchmarks of 90 percent. These results suggest that work standardization (in the form of specific treatment protocols) and the use of a formal, incremental learning system can result in positive patient outcomes. Clinical outcomes should be monitored in academic dental settings as part of clinical process improvement, and these outcomes can provide a means of assessing the effectiveness of the training program.

A Structural Model of Self-Concept, Autonomous Motivation and Academic Performance in Cross-Cultural Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Wondimu; Bruinsma, Marjon

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a motivational model of performance by integrating constructs from self-concept and self-determination theories and to explore cultural group differences in the model. To this end, self-report measures of global self-esteem, academic self-concept, academic motivation and academic performance were…

A Privacy-Preserving Platform for User-Centric Quantitative Benchmarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrmann, Dominik; Scheuer, Florian; Feustel, Philipp; Nowey, Thomas; Federrath, Hannes

We propose a centralised platform for quantitative benchmarking of key performance indicators (KPI) among mutually distrustful organisations. Our platform offers users the opportunity to request an ad-hoc benchmarking for a specific KPI within a peer group of their choice. Architecture and protocol are designed to provide anonymity to its users and to hide the sensitive KPI values from other clients and the central server. To this end, we integrate user-centric peer group formation, exchangeable secure multi-party computation protocols, short-lived ephemeral key pairs as pseudonyms, and attribute certificates. We show by empirical evaluation of a prototype that the performance is acceptable for reasonably sized peer groups.

Use of Context in Video Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Chen; Aghajan, Hamid

Interpreting an event or a scene based on visual data often requires additional contextual information. Contextual information may be obtained from different sources. In this chapter, we discuss two broad categories of contextual sources: environmental context and user-centric context. Environmental context refers to information derived from domain knowledge or from concurrently sensed effects in the area of operation. User-centric context refers to information obtained and accumulated from the user. Both types of context can include static or dynamic contextual elements. Examples from a smart home environment are presented to illustrate how different types of contextual data can be applied to aid the decision-making process.

Information Warfare-Worthy Jamming Attack Detection Mechanism for Wireless Sensor Networks Using a Fuzzy Inference System

PubMed Central

Misra, Sudip; Singh, Ranjit; Rohith Mohan, S. V.

2010-01-01

The proposed mechanism for jamming attack detection for wireless sensor networks is novel in three respects: firstly, it upgrades the jammer to include versatile military jammers; secondly, it graduates from the existing node-centric detection system to the network-centric system making it robust and economical at the nodes, and thirdly, it tackles the problem through fuzzy inference system, as the decision regarding intensity of jamming is seldom crisp. The system with its high robustness, ability to grade nodes with jamming indices, and its true-detection rate as high as 99.8%, is worthy of consideration for information warfare defense purposes. PMID:22319307

MUFFINN: cancer gene discovery via network analysis of somatic mutation data.

PubMed

Cho, Ara; Shim, Jung Eun; Kim, Eiru; Supek, Fran; Lehner, Ben; Lee, Insuk

2016-06-23

A major challenge for distinguishing cancer-causing driver mutations from inconsequential passenger mutations is the long-tail of infrequently mutated genes in cancer genomes. Here, we present and evaluate a method for prioritizing cancer genes accounting not only for mutations in individual genes but also in their neighbors in functional networks, MUFFINN (MUtations For Functional Impact on Network Neighbors). This pathway-centric method shows high sensitivity compared with gene-centric analyses of mutation data. Notably, only a marginal decrease in performance is observed when using 10 % of TCGA patient samples, suggesting the method may potentiate cancer genome projects with small patient populations.

Mining microarray data at NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)*.

PubMed

Barrett, Tanya; Edgar, Ron

2006-01-01

The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has emerged as the leading fully public repository for gene expression data. This chapter describes how to use Web-based interfaces, applications, and graphics to effectively explore, visualize, and interpret the hundreds of microarray studies and millions of gene expression patterns stored in GEO. Data can be examined from both experiment-centric and gene-centric perspectives using user-friendly tools that do not require specialized expertise in microarray analysis or time-consuming download of massive data sets. The GEO database is publicly accessible through the World Wide Web at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo.

Patient-centered applications: use of information technology to promote disease management and wellness. A white paper by the AMIA knowledge in motion working group.

PubMed

Demiris, George; Afrin, Lawrence B; Speedie, Stuart; Courtney, Karen L; Sondhi, Manu; Vimarlund, Vivian; Lovis, Christian; Goossen, William; Lynch, Cecil

2008-01-01

Advances in information technology (IT) enable a fundamental redesign of health care processes based on the use and integration of electronic communication at all levels. New communication technologies can support a transition from institution centric to patient-centric applications. This white paper defines key principles and challenges for designers, policy makers, and evaluators of patient-centered technologies for disease management and prevention. It reviews current and emerging trends; highlights challenges related to design, evaluation, reimbursement and usability; and reaches conclusions for next steps that will advance the domain.

Patient-centered Applications: Use of Information Technology to Promote Disease Management and Wellness. A White Paper by the AMIA Knowledge in Motion Working Group

PubMed Central

Demiris, George; Afrin, Lawrence B.; Speedie, Stuart; Courtney, Karen L.; Sondhi, Manu; Vimarlund, Vivian; Lovis, Christian; Goossen, William; Lynch, Cecil

2008-01-01

Advances in information technology (IT) enable a fundamental redesign of health care processes based on the use and integration of electronic communication at all levels. New communication technologies can support a transition from institution centric to patient-centric applications. This white paper defines key principles and challenges for designers, policy makers, and evaluators of patient-centered technologies for disease management and prevention. It reviews current and emerging trends; highlights challenges related to design, evaluation, reimbursement and usability; and reaches conclusions for next steps that will advance the domain. PMID:17947617

Integrating autonomous distributed control into a human-centric C4ISR environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Straub, Jeremy

2017-05-01

This paper considers incorporating autonomy into human-centric Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) environments. Specifically, it focuses on identifying ways that current autonomy technologies can augment human control and the challenges presented by additive autonomy. Three approaches to this challenge are considered, stemming from prior work in two converging areas. In the first, the problem is approached as augmenting what humans currently do with automation. In the alternate approach, the problem is approached as treating humans as actors within a cyber-physical system-of-systems (stemming from robotic distributed computing). A third approach, combines elements of both of the aforementioned.

The role of architecture and ontology for interoperability.

PubMed

Blobel, Bernd; González, Carolina; Oemig, Frank; Lopéz, Diego; Nykänen, Pirkko; Ruotsalainen, Pekka

2010-01-01

Turning from organization-centric to process-controlled or even to personalized approaches, advanced healthcare settings have to meet special interoperability challenges. eHealth and pHealth solutions must assure interoperability between actors cooperating to achieve common business objectives. Hereby, the interoperability chain also includes individually tailored technical systems, but also sensors and actuators. For enabling corresponding pervasive computing and even autonomic computing, individualized systems have to be based on an architecture framework covering many domains, scientifically managed by specialized disciplines using their specific ontologies in a formalized way. Therefore, interoperability has to advance from a communication protocol to an architecture-centric approach mastering ontology coordination challenges.

A mesoscale iron enrichment in the western subarctic Pacific induces a large centric diatom bloom.

PubMed

Tsuda, Atsushi; Takeda, Shigenobu; Saito, Hiroaki; Nishioka, Jun; Nojiri, Yukihiro; Kudo, Isao; Kiyosawa, Hiroshi; Shiomoto, Akihiro; Imai, Keiri; Ono, Tsuneo; Shimamoto, Akifumi; Tsumune, Daisuke; Yoshimura, Takeshi; Aono, Tatsuo; Hinuma, Akira; Kinugasa, Masatoshi; Suzuki, Koji; Sohrin, Yoshiki; Noiri, Yoshifumi; Tani, Heihachiro; Deguchi, Yuji; Tsurushima, Nobuo; Ogawa, Hiroshi; Fukami, Kimio; Kuma, Kenshi; Saino, Toshiro

2003-05-09

We have performed an in situ test of the iron limitation hypothesis in the subarctic North Pacific Ocean. A single enrichment of dissolved iron caused a large increase in phytoplankton standing stock and decreases in macronutrients and dissolved carbon dioxide. The dominant phytoplankton species shifted after the iron addition from pennate diatoms to a centric diatom, Chaetoceros debilis, that showed a very high growth rate, 2.6 doublings per day. We conclude that the bioavailability of iron regulates the magnitude of the phytoplankton biomass and the key phytoplankton species that determine the biogeochemical sensitivity to iron supply of high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll waters.

A survey to determine agreement regarding the definition of centric relation.

PubMed

Goldstein, Gary; Andrawis, Mark; Choi, Mijin; Wiens, Jonathan; Janal, Malvin N

2017-03-01

The definition of centric relation (CR) has been both controversial and divisive, with little consensus. The purpose of this study was to determine whether agreement can be reached on a definition for CR among the Fellows of the Academy of Prosthodontics, the organization that writes the Glossary of Prosthodontic Terms. A survey of the Fellows of the Academy of Prosthodontics was conducted at the organization's annual business meeting. Of the 83 eligible Fellows in attendance, 72 responded to the survey, a response rate of 86%. Of those, the 5 responders who did not indicate a preferred definition and the 2 that chose 2 definitions were censored, yielding an analyzable sample of 65 for the definitions. The most common definition received 19 votes, the next 16, and the third 13, with the other 6 definitions receiving from 2 to 5 votes. Some of the variability in definition depended on the era of training. Disagreement and confusion continues regarding the definition of centric relation. Some of this disagreement can be explained by training era. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Positioning of Weight Bias: Moving towards Social Justice

PubMed Central

Alberga, Angela S.; Kassan, Anusha; Sesma-Vazquez, Monica

2016-01-01

Weight bias is a form of stigma with detrimental effects on the health and wellness of individuals with large bodies. Researchers from various disciplines have recognized weight bias as an important topic for public health and for professional practice. To date, researchers from various areas have approached weight bias from independent perspectives and from differing theoretical orientations. In this paper, we examined the similarities and differences between three perspectives (i.e., weight-centric, non-weight-centric (health-centric), and health at every size) used to understand weight bias and approach weight bias research with regard to (a) language about people with large bodies, (b) theoretical position, (c) identified consequences of weight bias, and (d) identified influences on weight-based social inequity. We suggest that, despite differences, each perspective acknowledges the negative influences that position weight as being within individual control and the negative consequences of weight bias. We call for recognition and discussion of weight bias as a social justice issue in order to change the discourse and professional practices extended towards individuals with large bodies. We advocate for an emphasis on social justice as a uniting framework for interdisciplinary research on weight bias. PMID:27747099

5G: rethink mobile communications for 2020+.

PubMed

Chih-Lin, I; Han, Shuangfeng; Xu, Zhikun; Sun, Qi; Pan, Zhengang

2016-03-06

The 5G network is anticipated to meet the challenging requirements of mobile traffic in the 2020s, which are characterized by super high data rate, low latency, high mobility, high energy efficiency and high traffic density. This paper provides an overview of China Mobile's 5G vision and potential solutions. Three key characteristics of 5G are analysed, i.e. super fast, soft and green. The main 5G R&D themes are further elaborated, which include five fundamental rethinkings of the traditional design methodologies. The 5G network design considerations are also discussed, with cloud radio access network, ultra-dense network, software defined network and network function virtualization examined as key potential solutions towards a green and soft 5G network. The paradigm shift to user-centric network operation from the traditional cell-centric operation is also investigated, where the decoupled downlink and uplink, control and data, and adaptive multiple connections provide sufficient means to achieve a user-centric 5G network with 'no more cells'. The software defined air interface is investigated under a uniform framework and can adaptively adapt the parameters to well satisfy various requirements in different 5G scenarios. © 2016 The Author(s).

Judging sound rotation when listeners and sounds rotate: Sound source localization is a multisystem process.

PubMed

Yost, William A; Zhong, Xuan; Najam, Anbar

2015-11-01

In four experiments listeners were rotated or were stationary. Sounds came from a stationary loudspeaker or rotated from loudspeaker to loudspeaker around an azimuth array. When either sounds or listeners rotate the auditory cues used for sound source localization change, but in the everyday world listeners perceive sound rotation only when sounds rotate not when listeners rotate. In the everyday world sound source locations are referenced to positions in the environment (a world-centric reference system). The auditory cues for sound source location indicate locations relative to the head (a head-centric reference system), not locations relative to the world. This paper deals with a general hypothesis that the world-centric location of sound sources requires the auditory system to have information about auditory cues used for sound source location and cues about head position. The use of visual and vestibular information in determining rotating head position in sound rotation perception was investigated. The experiments show that sound rotation perception when sources and listeners rotate was based on acoustic, visual, and, perhaps, vestibular information. The findings are consistent with the general hypotheses and suggest that sound source localization is not based just on acoustics. It is a multisystem process.

Applying genetic algorithms for calibrating a hexagonal cellular automata model for the simulation of debris flows characterised by strong inertial effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iovine, G.; D'Ambrosio, D.; Di Gregorio, S.

2005-03-01

In modelling complex a-centric phenomena which evolve through local interactions within a discrete time-space, cellular automata (CA) represent a valid alternative to standard solution methods based on differential equations. Flow-type phenomena (such as lava flows, pyroclastic flows, earth flows, and debris flows) can be viewed as a-centric dynamical systems, and they can therefore be properly investigated in CA terms. SCIDDICA S 4a is the last release of a two-dimensional hexagonal CA model for simulating debris flows characterised by strong inertial effects. S 4a has been obtained by progressively enriching an initial simplified model, originally derived for simulating very simple cases of slow-moving flow-type landslides. Using an empirical strategy, in S 4a, the inertial character of the flowing mass is translated into CA terms by means of local rules. In particular, in the transition function of the model, the distribution of landslide debris among the cells is obtained through a double cycle of computation. In the first phase, the inertial character of the landslide debris is taken into account by considering indicators of momentum. In the second phase, any remaining debris in the central cell is distributed among the adjacent cells, according to the principle of maximum possible equilibrium. The complexities of the model and of the phenomena to be simulated suggested the need for an automated technique of evaluation for the determination of the best set of global parameters. Accordingly, the model is calibrated using a genetic algorithm and by considering the May 1998 Curti-Sarno (Southern Italy) debris flow. The boundaries of the area affected by the debris flow are simulated well with the model. Errors computed by comparing the simulations with the mapped areal extent of the actual landslide are smaller than those previously obtained without genetic algorithms. As the experiments have been realised in a sequential computing environment, they could be improved by adopting a parallel environment, which allows the performance of a great number of tests in reasonable times.

Evaluation of the Carrying Capacity of Rectangular Steel-Concrete Columns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vatulia, Glib; Rezunenko, Maryna; Petrenko, Dmytro; Rezunenko, Sergii

2018-06-01

Experimental studies of rectangular steel-concrete columns under centric compression with random eccentricity were conducted. The stress-strain state and the carrying capacity exhaustion have been assessed. The regression dependence is proposed to determine the maximum carrying capacity of such columns. The mathematical model takes into account the combined influence of the physical and geometric characteristics of the columns, such as their length, crosssectional area, casing thickness, prism strength of concrete, yield strength of steel, modulus of elasticity of both steel and concrete. The correspondence of the obtained model to the experimental data, as well as the significance of the regression parameters are confirmed by the Fisher and Student criteria.

Bridging the Gap Between the Social and the Technical: The Enrolment of Socio-Technical Information Architects to Cope with the Two-Level Model of EPR Systems.

PubMed

Pedersen, Rune

2017-01-01

This is a project proposal derived from an urge to re-define the governance of ICT in healthcare towards regional and national standardization of the patient pathways. The focus is on a two-levelled approach for governing EPR systems where the clinicians' model structured variables and patient pathways. The overall goal is a patient centric EPR portfolio. This paper define and enlighten the need for establishing the socio- technical architect role necessary to obtain the capabilities of a modern structured EPR system. Clinicians are not capable to moderate between the technical and the clinical.

Non-academic attributes of hidden curriculum in medical schools.

PubMed

Khan, Aamer Zaman

2013-01-01

To identify the non-academic attributes developed during 5 years of training in medical school. Sequential mixed method. The study was conducted on final year medical students of four medical colleges in the city of Lahore, from March to September 2010. Probability random sampling was employed to identify public sector medical colleges for inclusion in the study through Lottery method. In the first phase, survey was done with the help of questionnaires, distributed amongst 280 students, selected on the basis of convenience sampling. It was triangulated with data collected by in-depth structured interviews on 46 students selected using purposive sampling after formal informed consent. For quantitative data percentages of the categorical variables were calculated through SPSS version 10. For qualitative data, themes and patterns were identified using Content Analysis technique. Majority of the medical students (80%) learn the attributes of integrity, self-reliance, tolerance and independence during their schooling. Sixty five percent students thought that the values of humanity, forbearance, righteous attitude in face of adversities and sympathetic behaviour towards peers and patients helped them in being better medical students. Thirty five percent said they faced the negative influences of gender bias and gender discrimination which has led to their impaired professional growth. Eighty percent of the students believe that the teaching methodology employed is teacher centric which does not let them become problem solvers, team players, reflective learners and hampers development of effective communication skills. Medical schooling in our part of the world helps in developing untaught attributes such as integrity, selfreliance, tolerance, independence, sympathetic attitude and good communication skills which are the same as are developed in the medical students of advanced countries, which can be fostered further by formally addressing them in the curriculum.

A Way to Approach the Strategic Decisions Facing Academic Health Centers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capper, Stuart A.; Fargason, Crayton A., Jr.

1996-01-01

Three models of strategic management for academic health centers are detailed: the traditional model, which will become rare; a revised traditional model that offers "boutique" clinical services, biomedical research, and medical education; and the academic services model, focusing on competitive primary and secondary clinical services, health…

An explanatory model of academic achievement based on aptitudes, goal orientations, self-concept and learning strategies.

PubMed

Miñano Pérez, Pablo; Castejón Costa, Juan-Luis; Gilar Corbí, Raquel

2012-03-01

As a result of studies examining factors involved in the learning process, various structural models have been developed to explain the direct and indirect effects that occur between the variables in these models. The objective was to evaluate a structural model of cognitive and motivational variables predicting academic achievement, including general intelligence, academic self-concept, goal orientations, effort and learning strategies. The sample comprised of 341 Spanish students in the first year of compulsory secondary education. Different tests and questionnaires were used to evaluate each variable, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to contrast the relationships of the initial model. The model proposed had a satisfactory fit, and all the hypothesised relationships were significant. General intelligence was the variable most able to explain academic achievement. Also important was the direct influence of academic self-concept on achievement, goal orientations and effort, as well as the mediating ability of effort and learning strategies between academic goals and final achievement.

A psychoecological model of academic performance among Hispanic adolescents.

PubMed

Chun, Heejung; Dickson, Ginger

2011-12-01

Although the number of students who complete high school continues to rise, dramatic differences in school success remain across racial/ethnic groups. The current study addressed Hispanic adolescents' academic performance by investigating the relationships of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, sense of school belonging, and academic self-efficacy and academic performance. Participants were 478 (51.5% female) Hispanic 7th graders in the US-Mexico borderlands. Based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, a structural model was tested. Results showed that the proposed model was supported by demonstrating significant indirect effects of parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging on academic performance. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy was found to mediate the relationships between parental involvement, culturally responsive teaching, and sense of school belonging and academic performance. The current study provides a useful psychoecological model to inform educators and psychologists who seek to meet the needs of Hispanic students.

The effect of numbered heads together (NHT) cooperative learning model on the cognitive achievement of students with different academic ability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leasa, Marleny; Duran Corebima, Aloysius

2017-01-01

Learning models and academic ability may affect students’ achievement in science. This study, thus aimed to investigate the effect of numbered heads together (NHT) cooperative learning model on elementary students’ cognitive achievement in natural science. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group with 2 x 2 factorial. There were two learning models compared NHT and the conventional, and two academic ability high and low. The results of ana Cova test confirmed the difference in the students’ cognitive achievement based on learning models and general academic ability. However, the interaction between learning models and academic ability did not affect the students’ cognitive achievement. In conclusion, teachers are strongly recommended to be more creative in designing learning using other types of cooperative learning models. Also, schools are required to create a better learning environment which is more cooperative to avoid unfair competition among students in the classroom and as a result improve the students’ academic ability. Further research needs to be conducted to explore the contribution of other aspects in cooperative learning toward cognitive achievement of students with different academic ability.

Positive Academic Emotions Moderate the Relationship between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villavicencio, Felicidad T.; Bernardo, Allan B. I.

2013-01-01

Background: Research has shown how academic emotions are related to achievement and to cognitive/motivational variables that promote achievement. Mediated models have been proposed to account for the relationships among academic emotions, cognitive/motivational variables, and achievement, and research has supported such mediated models,…

Foresee: A user-centric home energy management system for energy efficiency and demand response

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, Xin; Baker, Kyri A.; Christensen, Dane T.

This paper presents foresee, a user-centric home energy management system that can help optimize how a home operates to concurrently meet users' needs, achieve energy efficiency and commensurate utility cost savings, and reliably deliver grid services based on utility signals. Foresee is built on a multiobjective model predictive control framework, wherein the objectives consist of energy cost, thermal comfort, user convenience, and carbon emission. Foresee learns user preferences on different objectives and acts on their behalf to operate building equipment, such as home appliances, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage. In this work, machine-learning algorithms were used to derive data-driven appliancemore » models and usage patterns to predict the home's future energy consumption. This approach enables highly accurate predictions of comfort needs, energy costs, environmental impacts, and grid service availability. Simulation studies were performed on field data from a residential building stock data set collected in the Pacific Northwest. Results indicated that foresee generated up to 7.6% whole-home energy savings without requiring substantial behavioral changes. When responding to demand response events, foresee was able to provide load forecasts upon receipt of event notifications and delivered the committed demand response services with 10% or fewer errors. Foresee fully utilized the potential of the battery storage and controllable building loads and delivered up to 7.0-kW load reduction and 13.5-kW load increase. As a result, these benefits are provided while maintaining the occupants' thermal comfort or convenience in using their appliances.« less

Foresee: A user-centric home energy management system for energy efficiency and demand response

DOE PAGES

Jin, Xin; Baker, Kyri A.; Christensen, Dane T.; ...

2017-08-23

This paper presents foresee, a user-centric home energy management system that can help optimize how a home operates to concurrently meet users' needs, achieve energy efficiency and commensurate utility cost savings, and reliably deliver grid services based on utility signals. Foresee is built on a multiobjective model predictive control framework, wherein the objectives consist of energy cost, thermal comfort, user convenience, and carbon emission. Foresee learns user preferences on different objectives and acts on their behalf to operate building equipment, such as home appliances, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage. In this work, machine-learning algorithms were used to derive data-driven appliancemore » models and usage patterns to predict the home's future energy consumption. This approach enables highly accurate predictions of comfort needs, energy costs, environmental impacts, and grid service availability. Simulation studies were performed on field data from a residential building stock data set collected in the Pacific Northwest. Results indicated that foresee generated up to 7.6% whole-home energy savings without requiring substantial behavioral changes. When responding to demand response events, foresee was able to provide load forecasts upon receipt of event notifications and delivered the committed demand response services with 10% or fewer errors. Foresee fully utilized the potential of the battery storage and controllable building loads and delivered up to 7.0-kW load reduction and 13.5-kW load increase. As a result, these benefits are provided while maintaining the occupants' thermal comfort or convenience in using their appliances.« less

Longitudinal modelling of academic buoyancy and motivation: do the '5Cs' hold up over time?

PubMed

Martin, Andrew J; Colmar, Susan H; Davey, Louise A; Marsh, Herbert W

2010-09-01

Academic buoyancy is students' ability to successfully deal with setbacks and challenges that are typical of academic life. The present study extends previous preliminary cross-sectional work that tentatively identified five motivational predictors of academic buoyancy - referred to as the '5Cs' of academic buoyancy: confidence (self-efficacy), coordination (planning), commitment (persistence), composure (low anxiety), and control (low uncertain control). The study seeks to more clearly ascertain the effects of motivation (and its mediating role) on academic buoyancy over and above prior academic buoyancy. The study comprised N=1,866 high school students from six schools. Longitudinal data were collected (1 year apart) and the hypothesized model exploring longitudinal effects was tested using structural equation modelling. After controlling for prior variance in academic buoyancy, the 5Cs were significant predictors of subsequent academic buoyancy. Furthermore, over and above the direct effects of prior academic buoyancy on subsequent academic buoyancy, the 5Cs significantly mediated this relationship. The study concludes with a discussion of the substantive, applied, and methodological implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to investigate and address the academic buoyancy of students who require the capacity to effectively function in an ever-challenging school environment.

Exploring the creation of learner-centered e-training environments among retail workers: a model development perspective.

PubMed

Byun, Sookeun; Mills, Juline E

2011-01-01

Current business leaders continue to adopt e-learning technology despite concerns regarding its value. Positing that the effectiveness of e-training depends on how its environment is managed, we argue that a learner-centric approach is necessary in order to achieve workplace training goals. We subsequently develop a theoretical model that is aimed at identifying the key components of learner-centered e-training environments, which serve the function of providing a benchmarked approach for evaluating e-training success. The model was empirically tested using data from an Internet survey of retail industry employees and partial least squares techniques were used for analysis. Based on the findings, this study clarifies what is needed for successful e-training in terms of instructional design, system design, and organizational support.

Linking academic social environments, ego-identity formation, ego virtues, and academic success.

PubMed

Good, Marie; Adams, Gerald R

2008-01-01

This study used Structural Equation Modeling to test an Eriksonian conceptual model linking academic social environments (relationships with faculty and fellow students), ego-identity formation, ego virtues, and academic success. Participants included 765 first-year students at a university in southern Ontario, Canada. Results indicated that supportive relationships with faculty was directly related to higher average grades and perceived academic ability, whereas positive relationships with fellow students was indirectly related to academic success through ego virtues. Positive ego-identity formation (identity achievement) was also indirectly related to academic success through ego virtues.

Technical note: Relating functional group measurements to carbon types for improved model-measurement comparisons of organic aerosol composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahama, Satoshi; Ruggeri, Giulia

2017-04-01

Functional group (FG) analysis provides a means by which functionalization in organic aerosol can be attributed to the abundances of its underlying molecular structures. However, performing this attribution requires additional, unobserved details about the molecular mixture to provide constraints in the estimation process. We present an approach for conceptualizing FG measurements of organic aerosol in terms of its functionalized carbon atoms. This reformulation facilitates estimation of mass recovery and biases in popular carbon-centric metrics that describe the extent of functionalization (such as oxygen to carbon ratio, organic mass to organic carbon mass ratio, and mean carbon oxidation state) for any given set of molecules and FGs analyzed. Furthermore, this approach allows development of parameterizations to more precisely estimate the organic carbon content from measured FG abundance. We use simulated photooxidation products of α-pinene secondary organic aerosol previously reported by Ruggeri et al. (2016) and FG measurements by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy in chamber experiments by Sax et al. (2005) to infer the relationships among molecular composition, FG composition, and metrics of organic aerosol functionalization. We find that for this simulated system, ˜ 80 % of the carbon atoms should be detected by FGs for which calibration models are commonly developed, and ˜ 7 % of the carbon atoms are undetectable by FT-IR analysis because they are not associated with vibrational modes in the infrared. Estimated biases due to undetected carbon fraction for these simulations are used to make adjustments in these carbon-centric metrics such that model-measurement differences are framed in terms of unmeasured heteroatoms (e.g., in hydroperoxide and nitrate groups for the case studied in this demonstration). The formality of this method provides framework for extending FG analysis to not only model-measurement but also instrument intercomparisons in other chemical systems.

Peer Effects in College Academic Outcomes--Gender Matters!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ficano, Carlena Cochi

2012-01-01

An extensive literature exploring a range of peer influences on both academic and non-academic outcomes continues to produce contradictory evidence regarding the existence and magnitude of peer effects. Our results provide no evidence of peer effects in models where peer academic ability is measured in the aggregate. However, models that control…

Reconceptualizing Academic Advising Using the Full Range Leadership Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barbuto, John E., Jr.; Story, Joana S.; Fritz, Susan M.; Schinstock, Jack L.

2009-01-01

Developmental and prescriptive advising styles have been the focus of the academic advising literature for the past 35 years. Academic advising scholars have called for a new paradigm in the field. Drawing from leadership theory, a new model for academic advising is proposed. Full range advising encompasses laissez-faire, management-by-exception,…

A Growth Model for Academic Program Life Cycle (APLC): A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Acquah, Edward H. K.

2010-01-01

Academic program life cycle concept states each program's life flows through several stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. A mixed-influence diffusion growth model is fitted to enrolment data on academic programs to analyze the factors determining progress of academic programs through their life cycles. The regression analysis yield…

Robustness of atomistic Gō models in predicting native-like folding intermediates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estácio, S. G.; Fernandes, C. S.; Krobath, H.; Faísca, P. F. N.; Shakhnovich, E. I.

2012-08-01

Gō models are exceedingly popular tools in computer simulations of protein folding. These models are native-centric, i.e., they are directly constructed from the protein's native structure. Therefore, it is important to understand up to which extent the atomistic details of the native structure dictate the folding behavior exhibited by Gō models. Here we address this challenge by performing exhaustive discrete molecular dynamics simulations of a Gō potential combined with a full atomistic protein representation. In particular, we investigate the robustness of this particular type of Gō models in predicting the existence of intermediate states in protein folding. We focus on the N47G mutational form of the Spc-SH3 folding domain (x-ray structure) and compare its folding pathway with that of alternative native structures produced in silico. Our methodological strategy comprises equilibrium folding simulations, structural clustering, and principal component analysis.

A survey on the utilization of disposable quadrant articulators.

PubMed

Thornton, Linda J

2002-01-01

This study evaluated utilization of the six most popular disposable quadrant articulators presently used in crown fabrication. Most general practitioners and crown and bridge laboratory technicians reported that they frequently or always used disposable quadrant articulators for single units and simple three-unit fixed partial dentures. All evaluated articulators demonstrated an inability to maintain and repeat the centric stop position. The disposable quadrant articulator, used in combination with dual-arch impressions, is a viable method for fabricating single and short-span restorations. While a nonrepeatable centric stop was present in all six articulators evaluated, the method was considered a time-efficient and cost-saving alternative to traditional all-metal simple-hinge articulators.

Metrics for measuring net-centric data strategy implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroculick, Joseph B.

2010-04-01

An enterprise data strategy outlines an organization's vision and objectives for improved collection and use of data. We propose generic metrics and quantifiable measures for each of the DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy (NCDS) data goals. Data strategy metrics can be adapted to the business processes of an enterprise and the needs of stakeholders in leveraging the organization's data assets to provide for more effective decision making. Generic metrics are applied to a specific application where logistics supply and transportation data is integrated across multiple functional groups. A dashboard presents a multidimensional view of the current progress to a state where logistics data shared in a timely and seamless manner among users, applications, and systems.

17th Chromosome-Centric Human Proteome Project Symposium in Tehran.

PubMed

Meyfour, Anna; Pahlavan, Sara; Sobhanian, Hamid; Salekdeh, Ghasem Hosseini

2018-04-01

This report describes the 17th Chromosome-Centric Human Proteome Project which was held in Tehran, Iran, April 27 and 28, 2017. A brief summary of the symposium's talks including new technical and computational approaches for the identification of novel proteins from non-coding genomic regions, physicochemical and biological causes of missing proteins, and the close interactions between Chromosome- and Biology/Disease-driven Human Proteome Project are presented. A synopsis of decisions made on the prospective programs to maintain collaborative works, share resources and information, and establishment of a newly organized working group, the task force for missing protein analysis are discussed. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Mining Microarray Data at NCBI’s Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)*

PubMed Central

Barrett, Tanya; Edgar, Ron

2006-01-01

Summary The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has emerged as the leading fully public repository for gene expression data. This chapter describes how to use Web-based interfaces, applications, and graphics to effectively explore, visualize, and interpret the hundreds of microarray studies and millions of gene expression patterns stored in GEO. Data can be examined from both experiment-centric and gene-centric perspectives using user-friendly tools that do not require specialized expertise in microarray analysis or time-consuming download of massive data sets. The GEO database is publicly accessible through the World Wide Web at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo. PMID:16888359

Timeline-Based Mission Operations Architecture: An Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chung, Seung H.; Bindschadler, Duane L.

2012-01-01

Some of the challenges in developing a mission operations system and operating a mission can be traced back to the challenge of integrating a mission operations system from its many components and to the challenge of maintaining consistent and accountable information throughout the operations processes. An important contributing factor to both of these challenges is the file-centric nature of today's systems. In this paper, we provide an overview of these challenges and argue the need to move toward an information-centric mission operations system. We propose an information representation called Timeline as an approach to enable such a move, and we provide an overview of a Timeline-based Mission Operations System architecture.

Validation of the internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4) and its link to academic performance and psychological adjustment among Asian American adolescents.

PubMed

Yoo, Hyung Chol; Miller, Matthew J; Yip, Pansy

2015-04-01

There is limited research examining psychological correlates of a uniquely racialized experience of the model minority stereotype faced by Asian Americans. The present study examined the factor structure and fit of the only published measure of the internalization of the model minority myth, the Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4; Yoo et al., 2010), with a sample of 155 Asian American high school adolescents. We also examined the link between internalization of the model minority myth types (i.e., myth associated with achievement and myth associated with unrestricted mobility) and psychological adjustment (i.e., affective distress, somatic distress, performance difficulty, academic expectations stress), and the potential moderating effect of academic performance (cumulative grade point average). Results suggested the 2-factor model of the IM-4 had an acceptable fit to the data and supported the factor structure using confirmatory factor analyses. Internalizing the model minority myth of achievement related positively to academic expectations stress; however, internalizing the model minority myth of unrestricted mobility related negatively to academic expectations stress, both controlling for gender and academic performance. Finally, academic performance moderated the model minority myth associated with unrestricted mobility and affective distress link and the model minority myth associated with achievement and performance difficulty link. These findings highlight the complex ways in which the model minority myth relates to psychological outcomes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Task-Driven Comparison of Topic Models.

PubMed

Alexander, Eric; Gleicher, Michael

2016-01-01

Topic modeling, a method of statistically extracting thematic content from a large collection of texts, is used for a wide variety of tasks within text analysis. Though there are a growing number of tools and techniques for exploring single models, comparisons between models are generally reduced to a small set of numerical metrics. These metrics may or may not reflect a model's performance on the analyst's intended task, and can therefore be insufficient to diagnose what causes differences between models. In this paper, we explore task-centric topic model comparison, considering how we can both provide detail for a more nuanced understanding of differences and address the wealth of tasks for which topic models are used. We derive comparison tasks from single-model uses of topic models, which predominantly fall into the categories of understanding topics, understanding similarity, and understanding change. Finally, we provide several visualization techniques that facilitate these tasks, including buddy plots, which combine color and position encodings to allow analysts to readily view changes in document similarity.

Parenting Style as a Moderator for Students' Academic Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishak, Zahari; Low, Suet Fin; Lau, Poh Li

2012-08-01

Parenting styles have always been a crucial factor in influencing all aspects of a person's development. The purpose of this study is to test the structural equation model of academic achievement among the students using parenting styles as a moderator. The sample comprised 493 students from eight schools. Parenting styles are determined using the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri in J Pers Assess 57:110-119, 1991). Academic achievement is measured based on the students' performance in the Lower Secondary Assessment. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Results demonstrated that model of authoritative and model of authoritarian fit the data of this study well. Both authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles are the most common practice of the parents. Parenting styles have been found to be a moderator of this study. The results indicated that parenting styles moderated the effect of academic self-concept on academic achievement. The impact of academic self-concept on academic achievement is found to be greater for the authoritative than the authoritarian parenting style.

A Utility Model for Teaching Load Decisions in Academic Departments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massey, William F.; Zemsky, Robert

1997-01-01

Presents a utility model for academic department decision making and describes the structural specifications for analyzing it. The model confirms the class-size utility asymmetry predicted by the authors' academic rachet theory, but shows that marginal utility associated with college teaching loads is always negative. Curricular structure and…

Designing Informal Learning Experiences for Early Career Academics Using a Knowledge Ecosystem Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Faye; Partridge, Helen; Bruce, Christine; Hemmings, Brian

2017-01-01

This article presents a "knowledge ecosystem" model of how early career academics experience using information to learn while building their social networks for developmental purposes. Developed using grounded theory methodology, the model offers a way of conceptualising how to empower early career academics through (1) agency…

Architectural design and physical activity: an observational study of staircase and elevator use in different buildings.

PubMed

Bassett, David R; Browning, Ray; Conger, Scott A; Wolff, Dana L; Flynn, Jennifer I

2013-05-01

The indoor built environment has the potential to influence levels of physical activity. However, the extent to which architectural design in commercial buildings can influence the percentage of people choosing to use the stairs versus elevators is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if buildings with centrally located, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing staircases result in a greater percentage of people taking the stairs. Direct observations of stair and elevator use were conducted in 3 buildings on a university campus. One of the buildings had a bank of 4 centrally located elevators and a fire escape stairwell behind a steel door. The other 2 buildings had centrally located staircases and out-of-the-way elevators. The percentage of people who ascended the stairs was 8.1% in the elevator-centric building, compared with 72.8% and 81.1% in the 2 stair-centric buildings (P < .001). In addition, the percentage of people who descended the stairs was 10.8% in the first building, compared with 89.5% and 93.7% in the stair-centric buildings (P < .001). The results of the current study suggest that if buildings are constructed with centrally located, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing staircases, a greater percentage of people will choose to take the stairs.

AlphaSpace: Fragment-Centric Topographical Mapping To Target Protein–Protein Interaction Interfaces

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Inhibition of protein–protein interactions (PPIs) is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy despite the difficulty in targeting such interfaces with drug-like small molecules. PPIs generally feature large and flat binding surfaces as compared to typical drug targets. These features pose a challenge for structural characterization of the surface using geometry-based pocket-detection methods. An attractive mapping strategy—that builds on the principles of fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD)—is to detect the fragment-centric modularity at the protein surface and then characterize the large PPI interface as a set of localized, fragment-targetable interaction regions. Here, we introduce AlphaSpace, a computational analysis tool designed for fragment-centric topographical mapping (FCTM) of PPI interfaces. Our approach uses the alpha sphere construct, a geometric feature of a protein’s Voronoi diagram, to map out concave interaction space at the protein surface. We introduce two new features—alpha-atom and alpha-space—and the concept of the alpha-atom/alpha-space pair to rank pockets for fragment-targetability and to facilitate the evaluation of pocket/fragment complementarity. The resulting high-resolution interfacial map of targetable pocket space can be used to guide the rational design and optimization of small molecule or biomimetic PPI inhibitors. PMID:26225450

Heterochromatic self-association, a determinant of nuclear organization, does not require sequence homology in Drosophila.

PubMed Central

Sage, Brian T; Csink, Amy K

2003-01-01

Chromosomes of higher eukaryotes contain blocks of heterochromatin that can associate with each other in the interphase nucleus. A well-studied example of heterochromatic interaction is the brown(Dominant) (bwD) chromosome of D. melanogaster, which contains an approximately 1.6-Mbp insertion of AAGAG repeats near the distal tip of chromosome 2. This insertion causes association of the tip with the centric heterochromatin of chromosome 2 (2h), which contains megabases of AAGAG repeats. Here we describe an example, other than bwD, in which distally translocated heterochromatin associates with centric heterochromatin. Additionally, we show that when a translocation places bwD on a different chromosome, bwD tends to associate with the centric heterochromatin of this chromosome, even when the chromosome contains a small fraction of the sequence homology present elsewhere. To further test the importance of sequence homology in these interactions, we used interspecific mating to introgress the bwD allele from D. melanogaster into D. simulans, which lacks the AAGAG on the autosomes. We find that D. simulans bwD associates with 2h, which lacks the AAGAG sequence, while it does not associate with the AAGAG containing X chromosome heterochromatin. Our results show that intranuclear association of separate heterochromatic blocks does not require that they contain the same sequence. PMID:14668374

Creep and cracking of concrete hinges: insight from centric and eccentric compression experiments.

PubMed

Schlappal, Thomas; Schweigler, Michael; Gmainer, Susanne; Peyerl, Martin; Pichler, Bernhard

2017-01-01

Existing design guidelines for concrete hinges consider bending-induced tensile cracking, but the structural behavior is oversimplified to be time-independent. This is the motivation to study creep and bending-induced tensile cracking of initially monolithic concrete hinges systematically. Material tests on plain concrete specimens and structural tests on marginally reinforced concrete hinges are performed. The experiments characterize material and structural creep under centric compression as well as bending-induced tensile cracking and the interaction between creep and cracking of concrete hinges. As for the latter two aims, three nominally identical concrete hinges are subjected to short-term and to longer-term eccentric compression tests. Obtained material and structural creep functions referring to centric compression are found to be very similar. The structural creep activity under eccentric compression is significantly larger because of the interaction between creep and cracking, i.e. bending-induced cracks progressively open and propagate under sustained eccentric loading. As for concrete hinges in frame-like integral bridge construction, it is concluded (i) that realistic simulation of variable loads requires consideration of the here-studied time-dependent behavior and (ii) that permanent compressive normal forces shall be limited by 45% of the ultimate load carrying capacity, in order to avoid damage of concrete hinges under sustained loading.

Genome-centric resolution of microbial diversity, metabolism and interactions in anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Vanwonterghem, Inka; Jensen, Paul D; Rabaey, Korneel; Tyson, Gene W

2016-09-01

Our understanding of the complex interconnected processes performed by microbial communities is hindered by our inability to culture the vast majority of microorganisms. Metagenomics provides a way to bypass this cultivation bottleneck and recent advances in this field now allow us to recover a growing number of genomes representing previously uncultured populations from increasingly complex environments. In this study, a temporal genome-centric metagenomic analysis was performed of lab-scale anaerobic digesters that host complex microbial communities fulfilling a series of interlinked metabolic processes to enable the conversion of cellulose to methane. In total, 101 population genomes that were moderate to near-complete were recovered based primarily on differential coverage binning. These populations span 19 phyla, represent mostly novel species and expand the genomic coverage of several rare phyla. Classification into functional guilds based on their metabolic potential revealed metabolic networks with a high level of functional redundancy as well as niche specialization, and allowed us to identify potential roles such as hydrolytic specialists for several rare, uncultured populations. Genome-centric analyses of complex microbial communities across diverse environments provide the key to understanding the phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of these interactive communities. © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Process Metallurgy an Enabler of Resource Efficiency: Linking Product Design to Metallurgy in Product Centric Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, Markus; van Schaik, Antoinette

In this paper the link between process metallurgy, classical minerals processing, product centric recycling and urban/landfill mining is discussed. The depth that has to be achieved in urban mining and recycling must glean from the wealth of theoretical knowledge and insight that have been developed in the past in minerals and metallurgical processing. This background learns that recycling demands a product centric approach, which considers simultaneously the multi-material interactions in man-made complex `minerals'. Fast innovation in recycling and urban mining can be achieved by further evolving from this well developed basis, evolving the techniques and tools that have been developed over the years. This basis has already been used for many years to design, operate and control industrial plants for metal production. This has been the basis for Design for Recycling rules for End-of-Life products. Using, among others, the UNEP Metal Recycling report as a basis (authors are respectively Lead and Main authors of report), it is demonstrated that a common theoretical basis as developed in metallurgy and minerals processing can help much to level the playing field between primary processing, secondary processing, recycling, and urban/landfill mining and product design hence enhancing resource efficiency. Thus various scales of detail link product design with metallurgical process design and its fundamentals.

Patient centric drug product design in modern drug delivery as an opportunity to increase safety and effectiveness.

PubMed

Stegemann, Sven

2018-06-01

The advances in drug delivery technologies have enabled pharmaceutical scientists to deliver a drug through various administration routes and optimize the drug release and absorption. The wide range of drug delivery systems and dosage forms represent a toolbox of technology for the development of pharmaceutical drug products but might also be a source of medication errors and nonadherence. Patient centric drug product development is being suggested as an important factor to increase therapeutic outcomes. Areas covered: Patients have impaired health and potentially disabilities and they are not medical or pharmaceutical experts but are requested to manage complex therapeutic regimens. As such the application of technology should also serve to reduce complexity, build on patients' intuition and ease of use. Patients form distinct populations based on the targeted disease, disease cluster or age group with specific characteristics or therapeutic contexts. Expert opinion: Establishing a target product and patient profile is essential to guide drug product design development. Including the targeted patient populations in the process is a prerequisite to achieve patient-centric pharmaceutical drug product design. Addressing the needs early on in the product design process, will create more universal design, avoiding the necessity for multiple product presentations to cover the different patient populations.

Using Academic Literacies and Genre-Based Models for Academic Writing Instruction: A "Literacy" Journey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wingate, Ursula

2012-01-01

Three writing development initiatives carried out at King's College London UK are discussed in this article to illustrate the need to draw on different theoretical models to create effective methods of teaching academic writing. The sequence of initiatives resembles a journey: the destination is to develop academic writing programmes suitable for…

Academic Motivation, Self-Concept, Engagement, and Performance in High School: Key Processes from a Longitudinal Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Jasmine; Liem, Gregory Arief D.; Martin, Andrew J.; Colmar, Susan; Marsh, Herbert W.; McInerney, Dennis

2012-01-01

The study tested three theoretically/conceptually hypothesized longitudinal models of academic processes leading to academic performance. Based on a longitudinal sample of 1866 high-school students across two consecutive years of high school (Time 1 and Time 2), the model with the most superior heuristic value demonstrated: (a) academic motivation…

Academic Self-Concept and Learning Strategies: Direction of Effect on Student Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McInerney, Dennis M.; Cheng, Rebecca Wing-yi; Mok, Magdalena Mo Ching; Lam, Amy Kwok Hap

2012-01-01

This study examined the prediction of academic self-concept (English and Mathematics) and learning strategies (deep and surface), and their direction of effect, on academic achievement (English and Mathematics) of 8,354 students from 16 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Two competing models were tested to ascertain the direction of effect: Model A…

Academic Advising Structures That Support First-Year Student Success and Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFarlane, Brett Leland

2013-01-01

Academic advising has been touted as a key to student success and retention. Today's academic advising delivery models vary considerably and little is known about the efficiency and effectiveness of these models. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between how academic advising is delivered to first-year students…

Ecological Assets and Academic Procrastination among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Commitment to Learning.

PubMed

Chen, Bin-Bin; Han, Wen

2017-01-01

Academic procrastination is defined as a purposive delay of academic tasks that must be completed. Within the framework of the ecological model of resiliency, this study examined how ecological assets were related to academic procrastination among adolescents. Participants in the study were 577 adolescents (53.5% boys) from Shanghai, China. They completed measures of ecological assets, commitment to learning, and academic procrastination. Structural equation modeling revealed that, as predicted, ecological assets were negatively associated with academic procrastination. In addition, commitment to learning fully mediated the association between ecological assets and academic procrastination. Implications of the present findings are discussed.

Ecological Assets and Academic Procrastination among Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Commitment to Learning

PubMed Central

Chen, Bin-Bin; Han, Wen

2017-01-01

Academic procrastination is defined as a purposive delay of academic tasks that must be completed. Within the framework of the ecological model of resiliency, this study examined how ecological assets were related to academic procrastination among adolescents. Participants in the study were 577 adolescents (53.5% boys) from Shanghai, China. They completed measures of ecological assets, commitment to learning, and academic procrastination. Structural equation modeling revealed that, as predicted, ecological assets were negatively associated with academic procrastination. In addition, commitment to learning fully mediated the association between ecological assets and academic procrastination. Implications of the present findings are discussed. PMID:29379451

Rotordynamic coefficients for labyrinth seals calculated by means of a finite difference technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nordmann, R.; Weiser, P.

1989-01-01

The compressible, turbulent, time dependent and three dimensional flow in a labyrinth seal can be described by the Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with a turbulence model. Additionally, equations for mass and energy conservation and an equation of state are required. To solve these equations, a perturbation analysis is performed yielding zeroth order equations for centric shaft position and first order equations describing the flow field for small motions around the seal center. For numerical solution a finite difference method is applied to the zeroth and first order equations resulting in leakage and dynamic seal coefficients respectively.

Does Sedentary Behavior Predict Academic Performance in Adolescents or the Other Way Round? A Longitudinal Path Analysis

PubMed Central

Lizandra, Jorge; Devís-Devís, José; Pérez-Gimeno, Esther; Valencia-Peris, Alexandra; Peiró-Velert, Carmen

2016-01-01

This study examined whether adolescents’ time spent on sedentary behaviors (academic, technological-based and social-based activities) was a better predictor of academic performance than the reverse. A cohort of 755 adolescents participated in a three-year period study. Structural Equation Modeling techniques were used to test plausible causal hypotheses. Four competing models were analyzed to determine which model best fitted the data. The Best Model was separately tested by gender. The Best Model showed that academic performance was a better predictor of sedentary behaviors than the other way round. It also indicated that students who obtained excellent academic results were more likely to succeed academically three years later. Moreover, adolescents who spent more time in the three different types of sedentary behaviors were more likely to engage longer in those sedentary behaviors after the three-year period. The better the adolescents performed academically, the less time they devoted to social-based activities and more to academic activities. An inverse relationship emerged between time dedicated to technological-based activities and academic sedentary activities. A moderating auto-regressive effect by gender indicated that boys were more likely to spend more time on technological-based activities three years later than girls. To conclude, previous academic performance predicts better sedentary behaviors three years later than the reverse. The positive longitudinal auto-regressive effects on the four variables under study reinforce the ‘success breeds success’ hypothesis, with academic performance and social-based activities emerging as the strongest ones. Technological-based activities showed a moderating effect by gender and a negative longitudinal association with academic activities that supports a displacement hypothesis. Other longitudinal and covariate effects reflect the complex relationships among sedentary behaviors and academic performance and the need to explore these relationships in depth. Theoretical and practical implications for school health are outlined. PMID:27055121

Does Sedentary Behavior Predict Academic Performance in Adolescents or the Other Way Round? A Longitudinal Path Analysis.

PubMed

Lizandra, Jorge; Devís-Devís, José; Pérez-Gimeno, Esther; Valencia-Peris, Alexandra; Peiró-Velert, Carmen

2016-01-01

This study examined whether adolescents' time spent on sedentary behaviors (academic, technological-based and social-based activities) was a better predictor of academic performance than the reverse. A cohort of 755 adolescents participated in a three-year period study. Structural Equation Modeling techniques were used to test plausible causal hypotheses. Four competing models were analyzed to determine which model best fitted the data. The Best Model was separately tested by gender. The Best Model showed that academic performance was a better predictor of sedentary behaviors than the other way round. It also indicated that students who obtained excellent academic results were more likely to succeed academically three years later. Moreover, adolescents who spent more time in the three different types of sedentary behaviors were more likely to engage longer in those sedentary behaviors after the three-year period. The better the adolescents performed academically, the less time they devoted to social-based activities and more to academic activities. An inverse relationship emerged between time dedicated to technological-based activities and academic sedentary activities. A moderating auto-regressive effect by gender indicated that boys were more likely to spend more time on technological-based activities three years later than girls. To conclude, previous academic performance predicts better sedentary behaviors three years later than the reverse. The positive longitudinal auto-regressive effects on the four variables under study reinforce the 'success breeds success' hypothesis, with academic performance and social-based activities emerging as the strongest ones. Technological-based activities showed a moderating effect by gender and a negative longitudinal association with academic activities that supports a displacement hypothesis. Other longitudinal and covariate effects reflect the complex relationships among sedentary behaviors and academic performance and the need to explore these relationships in depth. Theoretical and practical implications for school health are outlined.

User Centric Job Monitoring - a redesign and novel approach in the STAR experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipkin, D.; Lauret, J.; Zulkarneeva, Y.

2014-06-01

User Centric Monitoring (or UCM) has been a long awaited feature in STAR, whereas programs, workflows and system "events" could be logged, broadcast and later analyzed. UCM allows to collect and filter available job monitoring information from various resources and present it to users in a user-centric view rather than an administrative-centric point of view. The first attempt and implementation of "a" UCM approach was made in STAR 2004 using a log4cxx plug-in back-end and then further evolved with an attempt to push toward a scalable database back-end (2006) and finally using a Web-Service approach (2010, CSW4DB SBIR). The latest showed to be incomplete and not addressing the evolving needs of the experiment where streamlined messages for online (data acquisition) purposes as well as the continuous support for the data mining needs and event analysis need to coexists and unified in a seamless approach. The code also revealed to be hardly maintainable. This paper presents the next evolutionary step of the UCM toolkit, a redesign and redirection of our latest attempt acknowledging and integrating recent technologies and a simpler, maintainable and yet scalable manner. The extended version of the job logging package is built upon three-tier approach based on Task, Job and Event, and features a Web-Service based logging API, a responsive AJAX-powered user interface, and a database back-end relying on MongoDB, which is uniquely suited for STAR needs. In addition, we present details of integration of this logging package with the STAR offline and online software frameworks. Leveraging on the reported experience and work from the ATLAS and CMS experience on using the ESPER engine, we discuss and show how such approach has been implemented in STAR for meta-data event triggering stream processing and filtering. An ESPER based solution seems to fit well into the online data acquisition system where many systems are monitored.

Autonomous Information Unit for Fine-Grain Data Access Control and Information Protection in a Net-Centric System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chow, Edward T.; Woo, Simon S.; James, Mark; Paloulian, George K.

2012-01-01

As communication and networking technologies advance, networks will become highly complex and heterogeneous, interconnecting different network domains. There is a need to provide user authentication and data protection in order to further facilitate critical mission operations, especially in the tactical and mission-critical net-centric networking environment. The Autonomous Information Unit (AIU) technology was designed to provide the fine-grain data access and user control in a net-centric system-testing environment to meet these objectives. The AIU is a fundamental capability designed to enable fine-grain data access and user control in the cross-domain networking environments, where an AIU is composed of the mission data, metadata, and policy. An AIU provides a mechanism to establish trust among deployed AIUs based on recombining shared secrets, authentication and verify users with a username, X.509 certificate, enclave information, and classification level. AIU achieves data protection through (1) splitting data into multiple information pieces using the Shamir's secret sharing algorithm, (2) encrypting each individual information piece using military-grade AES-256 encryption, and (3) randomizing the position of the encrypted data based on the unbiased and memory efficient in-place Fisher-Yates shuffle method. Therefore, it becomes virtually impossible for attackers to compromise data since attackers need to obtain all distributed information as well as the encryption key and the random seeds to properly arrange the data. In addition, since policy can be associated with data in the AIU, different user access and data control strategies can be included. The AIU technology can greatly enhance information assurance and security management in the bandwidth-limited and ad hoc net-centric environments. In addition, AIU technology can be applicable to general complex network domains and applications where distributed user authentication and data protection are necessary. AIU achieves fine-grain data access and user control, reducing the security risk significantly, simplifying the complexity of various security operations, and providing the high information assurance across different network domains.

The Patient's Voice in Pharmacovigilance: Pragmatic Approaches to Building a Patient-Centric Drug Safety Organization.

PubMed

Smith, Meredith Y; Benattia, Isma

2016-09-01

Patient-centeredness has become an acknowledged hallmark of not only high-quality health care but also high-quality drug development. Biopharmaceutical companies are actively seeking to be more patient-centric in drug research and development by involving patients in identifying target disease conditions, participating in the design of, and recruitment for, clinical trials, and disseminating study results. Drug safety departments within the biopharmaceutical industry are at a similar inflection point. Rising rates of per capita prescription drug use underscore the importance of having robust pharmacovigilance systems in place to detect and assess adverse drug reactions (ADRs). At the same time, the practice of pharmacovigilance is being transformed by a host of recent regulatory guidances and related initiatives which emphasize the importance of the patient's perspective in drug safety. Collectively, these initiatives impact the full range of activities that fall within the remit of pharmacovigilance, including ADR reporting, signal detection and evaluation, risk management, medication error assessment, benefit-risk assessment and risk communication. Examples include the fact that manufacturing authorization holders are now expected to monitor all digital sources under their control for potential reports of ADRs, and the emergence of new methods for collecting, analysing and reporting patient-generated ADR reports for signal detection and evaluation purposes. A drug safety department's ability to transition successfully into a more patient-centric organization will depend on three defining attributes: (1) a patient-centered culture; (2) deployment of a framework to guide patient engagement activities; and (3) demonstrated proficiency in patient-centered competencies, including patient engagement, risk communication and patient preference assessment. Whether, and to what extent, drug safety departments embrace the new patient-centric imperative, and the methods and processes they implement to achieve this end effectively and efficiently, promise to become distinguishing factors in the highly competitive biopharmaceutical industry landscape.

Targeted journal curation as a method to improve data currency at the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database

PubMed Central

Davis, Allan Peter; Johnson, Robin J.; Lennon-Hopkins, Kelley; Sciaky, Daniela; Rosenstein, Michael C.; Wiegers, Thomas C.; Mattingly, Carolyn J.

2012-01-01

The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) is a public resource that promotes understanding about the effects of environmental chemicals on human health. CTD biocurators read the scientific literature and manually curate a triad of chemical–gene, chemical–disease and gene–disease interactions. Typically, articles for CTD are selected using a chemical-centric approach by querying PubMed to retrieve a corpus containing the chemical of interest. Although this technique ensures adequate coverage of knowledge about the chemical (i.e. data completeness), it does not necessarily reflect the most current state of all toxicological research in the community at large (i.e. data currency). Keeping databases current with the most recent scientific results, as well as providing a rich historical background from legacy articles, is a challenging process. To address this issue of data currency, CTD designed and tested a journal-centric approach of curation to complement our chemical-centric method. We first identified priority journals based on defined criteria. Next, over 7 weeks, three biocurators reviewed 2425 articles from three consecutive years (2009–2011) of three targeted journals. From this corpus, 1252 articles contained relevant data for CTD and 52 752 interactions were manually curated. Here, we describe our journal selection process, two methods of document delivery for the biocurators and the analysis of the resulting curation metrics, including data currency, and both intra-journal and inter-journal comparisons of research topics. Based on our results, we expect that curation by select journals can (i) be easily incorporated into the curation pipeline to complement our chemical-centric approach; (ii) build content more evenly for chemicals, genes and diseases in CTD (rather than biasing data by chemicals-of-interest); (iii) reflect developing areas in environmental health and (iv) improve overall data currency for chemicals, genes and diseases. Database URL: http://ctdbase.org/ PMID:23221299

Sensor-centric calibration and characterization of the VIIRS Ocean Color bands using Suomi NPP operational data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt, P.

2012-12-01

Ocean color bands on VIIRS span the visible spectrum and include two NIR bands. There are sixteen detectors per band and two HAM (Half-angle mirror) sides giving a total of thirty two independent systems. For each scan, thirty two hundred pixels are collected and each has a fixed specific optical path and a dynamic position relative to the earth geoid. For a given calibration target where scene variation is minimized, sensor characteristics can be observed. This gives insight into the performance and calibration of the instrument from a sensor-centric perspective. Calibration of the blue bands is especially challenging since there are few blue targets on land. An ocean region called the South Pacific Gyre (SPG) was chosen for its known stability and large area to serve as a calibration target for this investigation. Thousands of pixels from every granule that views the SPG are collected daily through an automated system and tabulated along with the detector, HAM and scan position. These are then collated and organized in a sensor-centric set of tables. The data are then analyzed by slicing by each variable and then plotted in a number of ways over time. Trends in the data show that the VIIRS sensor is largely behaving as expected according to heritage data and also reveals weaknesses where additional characterization of the sensor is possible. This work by Northrop Grumman NPP CalVal Team is supporting the VIIRS on-orbit calibration and validation teams for the sensor and ocean color as well as providing scientists interested in performing ground truth with results that show which detectors and scan angles are the most reliable over time. This novel approach offers a comprehensive sensor-centric on-orbit characterization of the VIIRS instrument on the NASA Suomi NPP mission.