The Impact of Student-Faculty Interaction on Academic Achievement and College Satisfaction for Black Males Attending Predominately White Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hylton, Lamar R.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of student-faculty interactions on academic achievement and college satisfaction among Black males at predominately White institutions. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine if there was a difference in levels of academic achievement and college satisfaction based on how often Black…

Revisiting the relationship between attributional style and academic performance

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Abstract Previous research into the relationship between attributions and academic performance has produced contradictory findings that have not been resolved. The present research examines the role of specific dimensions of attributional style in predicting subsequent academic performance in a sample of pupils (N = 979) from both high‐ and low‐achieving schools. Hierarchical regression and moderation analyses indicate that internal, stable, and global, attributional styles for positive events predict higher levels of academic performance. Global attributions for negative events were related to poorer performance across all schools. Stable attributions for negative events were related to higher levels of performance in high‐achieving schools but not in low‐achieving schools. Higher levels of internality for negative events were associated with higher performance only in low achieving schools. PMID:27594711

Specific oral desensitization in children with IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy. Evolution in one year.

PubMed

Alvaro, Montserrat; Giner, Ma Teresa; Vázquez, Marta; Lozano, Jaime; Domínguez, Olga; Piquer, Mónica; Días, Marcia; Jiménez, Rosa; Martín, Ma Anunciación; Alsina, Laia; Plaza, Ana Ma

2012-09-01

Cow's milk allergy is the most frequent childhood food allergy. Children older than 5 who have not become tolerant have less probabilities of natural tolerance. Specific oral desensitization methods are being investigated in reference centres. The aims of our study were to assess the efficacy of our guideline of specific oral desensitization to cow's milk in children and to know its suitability for anaphylactic children. Both clinical and specific IgE outcomes were evaluated. Eighty-seven children aged 5 to 16 years with a history of cow's milk allergy were included. Prior to desensitization, skin prick test, specific IgE to cow's milk proteins and a double-blind placebo control food challenge were performed in all. Of the 87 patients, 21 had a negative challenge; they were considered tolerant, and they were told to follow a free diet. Of the positive, 44 were anaphylactic and 22 non-anaphylactic. All of them were included. In non-anaphylactic patients, 6 achieved partial and 16 maximum desensitization after 23.1 weeks. In the anaphylactic group, 7 achieved partial and 35 maximum desensitization after 26.4 weeks. Cow's milk-specific IgE levels and casein-specific IgE levels were significantly lower in the tolerant patients at baseline. One year after desensitization, the medium specific cow's milk levels and casein IgE levels had dropped significantly. Our guideline for specific oral desensitization to cow's milk is efficacious even in patients with anaphylactic reactions to cow's milk and represents a significant life change. Immunological changes in 1 year show a drop in cow's milk protein-specific IgE.

Satisfaction and Achievement: Antagonists in ATI Research on Classroom Structure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strom, Bruce; And Others

To date, the constructive motivation hypothesis has generally been limited to educational achievement as an outcome variable, and few studies have been specifically designed to investigate student satisfaction outcomes. To measure student preferences for course structure and difficulty level and student perceptions of instructors' orientation…

Self-Concept Predicts Academic Achievement Across Levels of the Achievement Distribution: Domain Specificity for Math and Reading.

PubMed

Susperreguy, Maria Ines; Davis-Kean, Pamela E; Duckworth, Kathryn; Chen, Meichu

2017-09-18

This study examines whether self-concept of ability in math and reading predicts later math and reading attainment across different levels of achievement. Data from three large-scale longitudinal data sets, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, and Panel Study of Income Dynamics-Child Development Supplement, were used to answer this question by employing quantile regression analyses. After controlling for demographic variables, child characteristics, and early ability, the findings indicate that self-concept of ability in math and reading predicts later achievement in each respective domain across all quantile levels of achievement. These results were replicated across the three data sets representing different populations and provide robust evidence for the role of self-concept of ability in understanding achievement from early childhood to adolescence across the spectrum of performance (low to high). © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A Multilevel Analysis of Students' Science Achievements in Relation to Their Self-Regulation, Epistemological Beliefs, Learning Environment Perceptions, and Teachers' Personal Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pamuk, Savas; Sungur, Semra; Oztekin, Ceren

2017-01-01

This study adopted a cross-sectional and correlational research design in an attempt to add our understanding of student- and teacher-level factors that help explain variability in students' science achievement to the existing literature. More specifically, the present article examined students' science achievement in relation to their…

Evaluating Non-Randomized Educational Interventions: A Graphical Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Theobald, Roddy; Richardson, Thomas

2014-01-01

A central goal of the education literature is to demonstrate that specific educational interventions--instructional interventions at the student or classroom level, structural interventions at the school level, or funding interventions at the school district level, for example--have a "treatment effect" on student achievement. This paper…

MOTIVES INFLUENCING NEEDS TO ACHIEVE IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HELTZEL, FRANCES B.

THIS RESEARCH SOUGHT TO MEASURE M TIVATION UNDERLYING ACHIEVEMENT-ORIENTED BEHAVIOR AT THE SECONDARY LEVEL, SPECIFICALLY OF STUDENTS IN VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS. PARALLEL INSTRUMENTS OF 42 ITEMS WERE CONSTRUCTED TO MEASURE MOTIVE FOR STRIVING, BASED ON MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEED FOR SECURITY, BELONGINGNESS, ESTEEM, AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION. STRENGTH OF…

What factors help or hinder the achievement of low SES students? An international comparison using TIMSS 2011 8th grade science data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruner, Justin L.

Focusing on science from a cross-country perspective, this study explores the relationship between 8th grade science achievement and student, teacher, and school characteristics. More specifically, this study will pay special attention to low socio-economic status (SES) students and seek to understand why some disadvantaged students are able to have higher than expected achievement in science given their SES while other disadvantaged students are not able to achieve beyond what would be expected given their background. This study will explore the multi-level relationship between the characteristics of students, their teachers, their schools, and student achievement in science. While looking at students in classrooms and in schools, this work will create as precise as possible a measure of student SES by drawing on recommendations of an expert panel commissioned by the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) study. The study uses the most recent cycle (2011) of the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), to strategically select a six-country sample from the 45 participating countries. This six-country sample was selected by using the country level achievement and the standard deviation of that achievement. This will create a sample that has a range of equality in achievement and strength in achievement. This allows for making comparisons both across and within countries to better understand variations in the factors of student performance, especially for disadvantaged students. This paper builds on the existing research around socio-economic status (SES) and achievement by exploring in more detail the conditions in schools and classrooms around the world that might magnify or reduce the effect of SES on student achievement. The analysis looks at these questions: "What conditions help low SES students achieve higher than what would be expected given their SES?" and "What conditions hinder low SES students to achieve at or below what would be expected given their SES?" Investigating these questions will help to understand, in a global context, where disadvantaged students are being successful in their science classes, under what conditions, and as a result help to inform educational policy. The results suggest that there are clearly inequities in achievement and that these inequities may be further increased by other factors. These factors are present at all levels of analysis: the student level, the teacher/classroom level, and the school level. There are also variables that consistently had no impact at all levels with respect to student science achievement and there are also variables that were impactful but only within specific countries. Overall, there are no silver bullets present in these data that can do much on their own to help low SES students overcome their predicted achievement disadvantage. However there does appear to be the potential for a combination of factors being able to do more.

Claims, Evidence and Achievement Level Descriptors as a Foundation for Item Design and Test Specifications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendrickson, Amy; Huff, Kristen; Luecht, Ric

2009-01-01

[Slides] presented at the Annual Meeting of National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in San Diego, CA in April 2009. This presentation describes how the vehicles for gathering student evidence--task models and test specifications--are developed.

The Effect of Primary School Size on Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gershenson, Seth; Langbein, Laura

2015-01-01

Evidence on optimal school size is mixed. We estimate the effect of transitory changes in school size on the academic achievement of fourth-and fifth-grade students in North Carolina using student-level longitudinal administrative data. Estimates of value-added models that condition on school-specific linear time trends and a variety of…

Relations between Student Perceptions of Their School Environment and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gietz, Carmen; McIntosh, Kent

2014-01-01

This study examined student perceptions of their school environment (specifically, safety and inclusion in the school, experiences being bullied, and clear expectations for behaviour) and their relation with academic achievement at the school level. Participants were students in 969 elementary schools and 73 middle schools who took part in a…

Discourse-Based Instructional Strategies to Engage Middle School Students with Standards for Mathematical

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cookson, Sandra

2017-01-01

Student achievement in mathematics is correlated with factors related to student engagement. Improving engagement has the potential to improve student achievement at the middle school level. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics explicate eight specific Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs) that clarify the types of skills and…

Student Misconceptions in Chemical Equilibrium as Related to Cognitive Level and Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheeler, Alan E.; Kass, Heidi

Reported is an investigation to determine the nature and extent of student misconceptions in chemical equilibrium and to ascertain the degree to which certain misconceptions are related to chemistry achievement and to performance on specific tasks involving cognitive transformations characteristic of the concrete and formal operational stages of…

Educational late effects in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia.

PubMed

Peckham, V C; Meadows, A T; Bartel, N; Marrero, O

1988-01-01

Records of levels of school achievement in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia were obtained for 23 children who had received 2,400-rad cranial irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate and standard chemotherapeutic agents 8 to 10 years previously. The children had been evaluated with standardized tests of intelligence at the time of diagnosis and periodically thereafter. Declines in IQ and cognitive dysfunctions have been previously described. School placements, educational histories, attendance records, learning strengths and weaknesses, social/emotional adjustments, and grade level achievements in reading and mathematics as measured by standardized achievement tests are reported here. Children achieved less than the expected levels in both reading and mathematics given both pretreatment and most recent IQ scores. Neither sex nor initial IQ were related to achievement scores. Children experienced difficulty with attention/concentration, memory, sequencing, and comprehension when performing school tasks. Individual children showed different degrees of dysfunction, but results of this study suggest that there are patterns of specific learning disabilities rather than global retardation. A small number of children achieved greater than expected levels, indicating that individualized instruction, tutoring, and parental support may reduce some learning deficits. Early educational intervention is recommended for similarly treated patients.

Performance analysis of radiation cooled dc transmission lines for high power space systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwarze, G. E.

1985-01-01

As space power levels increase to meet mission objectives and also as the transmission distance between power source and load increases, the mass, volume, power loss, and operating voltage and temperature become important system design considerations. This analysis develops the dependence of the specific mass and percent power loss on hte power and voltage levels, transmission distance, operating temperature and conductor material properties. Only radiation cooling is considered since the transmission line is assumed to operate in a space environment. The results show that the limiting conditions for achieving low specific mass, percent power loss, and volume for a space-type dc transmission line are the permissible transmission voltage and operating temperature. Other means to achieve low specific mass include the judicious choice of conductor materials. The results of this analysis should be immediately applicable to power system trade-off studies including comparisons with ac transmission systems.

Adaptable, high recall, event extraction system with minimal configuration.

PubMed

Miwa, Makoto; Ananiadou, Sophia

2015-01-01

Biomedical event extraction has been a major focus of biomedical natural language processing (BioNLP) research since the first BioNLP shared task was held in 2009. Accordingly, a large number of event extraction systems have been developed. Most such systems, however, have been developed for specific tasks and/or incorporated task specific settings, making their application to new corpora and tasks problematic without modification of the systems themselves. There is thus a need for event extraction systems that can achieve high levels of accuracy when applied to corpora in new domains, without the need for exhaustive tuning or modification, whilst retaining competitive levels of performance. We have enhanced our state-of-the-art event extraction system, EventMine, to alleviate the need for task-specific tuning. Task-specific details are specified in a configuration file, while extensive task-specific parameter tuning is avoided through the integration of a weighting method, a covariate shift method, and their combination. The task-specific configuration and weighting method have been employed within the context of two different sub-tasks of BioNLP shared task 2013, i.e. Cancer Genetics (CG) and Pathway Curation (PC), removing the need to modify the system specifically for each task. With minimal task specific configuration and tuning, EventMine achieved the 1st place in the PC task, and 2nd in the CG, achieving the highest recall for both tasks. The system has been further enhanced following the shared task by incorporating the covariate shift method and entity generalisations based on the task definitions, leading to further performance improvements. We have shown that it is possible to apply a state-of-the-art event extraction system to new tasks with high levels of performance, without having to modify the system internally. Both covariate shift and weighting methods are useful in facilitating the production of high recall systems. These methods and their combination can adapt a model to the target data with no deep tuning and little manual configuration.

34 CFR 300.311 - Specific documentation for the eligibility determination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... adequately for the child's age or to meet State-approved grade-level standards consistent with § 300.309(a)(1); and (ii)(A) The child does not make sufficient progress to meet age or State-approved grade-level... weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, State-approved grade level standards or...

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes

PubMed Central

McClelland, Megan M.; Acock, Alan C.; Piccinin, Andrea; Rhea, Sally Ann; Stallings, Michael C.

2012-01-01

This study examined relations between children’s attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children’s age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children’s early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment. PMID:23543916

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes.

PubMed

McClelland, Megan M; Acock, Alan C; Piccinin, Andrea; Rhea, Sally Ann; Stallings, Michael C

2013-04-01

This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children ( N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children's early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM): Systematic Capability Implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Figueroa, Fernando; Holland, Randy; Schmalzwel, John; Duncavage, Dan

2006-01-01

This paper provides a credible approach for implementation of ISHM capability in any system. The requirements and processes to implement ISHM capability are unique in that a credible capability is initially implemented at a low level, and it evolves to achieve higher levels by incremental augmentation. In contrast, typical capabilities, such as thrust of an engine, are implemented once at full Functional Capability Level (FCL), which is not designed to change during the life of the product. The approach will describe core ingredients (e.g. technologies, architectures, etc.) and when and how ISHM capabilities may be implemented. A specific architecture/taxonomy/ontology will be described, as well as a prototype software environment that supports development of ISHM capability. This paper will address implementation of system-wide ISHM as a core capability, and ISHM for specific subsystems as expansions and evolution, but always focusing on achieving an integrated capability.

Increasing Level of Aspiration by Matching Construal Level and Temporal Distance: The Motivating Effects of Contemplating "How" Now and "Why" Later

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fessel, Florian

2009-01-01

Individuals trying to achieve goals often set a level of aspiration ahead of time, that is, they determine which specific outcomes in goal pursuit they desire to obtain. In the research contained in the current dissertation, I demonstrate that temporal distance and construal level have diametrically opposing effects on level of aspiration such…

Aircraft Update Programmes. The Economical Alternative

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-04-01

will drive the desired level of integration but cost will determine the achieved level. Paper #15 by Christian Dedieu-Eric Loffler ( SAGEM SA) presented...requirements. The SAGEM SA upgrade concept allows one to match specifications ranging from basics performance enhancement, such as high accuracy navigation for

Differential Diagnosis of Specific Learning Disability within a Response to Intervention Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boneshefski, Michael J.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent two major specific learning disability (SLD) criteria, including a student's level of academic achievement and rate of improvement (ROI), predict multidisciplinary evaluation teams' decision-making regarding referral for special education evaluation and special education eligibility.…

Grade 3 Science Curriculum Specifications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Branch.

The specific content areas and objectives from which the Alberta, Canada, Grade 3 Science Achievement Test questions were derived are outlined in this bulletin. The document contains: (1) curriculum summary (providing a general listing of the process skills, psychomotor skills, attitudes, and subject matter covered at the grade 3 level); (2) a…

Academic Self-Concepts in Ability Streams: Considering Domain Specificity and Same-Stream Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liem, Gregory Arief D.; McInerney, Dennis M.; Yeung, Alexander S.

2015-01-01

The study examined the relations between academic achievement and self-concepts in a sample of 1,067 seventh-grade students from 3 core ability streams in Singapore secondary education. Although between-stream differences in achievement were large, between-stream differences in academic self-concepts were negligible. Within each stream, levels of…

Learning nanotechnology with texts and comics: the impacts on students of different achievement levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Shu-Fen; Lin, Huann-shyang

2016-05-01

Comics are popular with adolescents because of their features of humor, narrative, and visual imagery. The purposes of this study were to examine the learning outcomes and emotional perceptions of reading a science comic book and a science text booklet for students of different levels of achievement, and to explore the main factors of the two media which attract high-school students to learn science. A mixed-method quasi-experimental design was adopted. The participants were 697 grade ten students from eight schools with different levels of academic achievement. Two similar classes in each of the eight schools were assigned as the comic group or the text group. The results indicated that the science comic book benefited medium achievers more than the science text booklet did, but the contrary result was found for the high achievers. In comparison, the two media benefited the low achievers equally, but both had only a limited effect due to the students' lack of prior knowledge. We conclude four kinds of evidence, including perceived difficulty of comprehension, reasons for interest/disinterest, emotional perceptions of learning science, and learning time, to support the phenomenon of the learning benefit of media specific to certain achievers' science learning.

Exploration of CIGAS Alloy System for Thin-Film Photovoltaics on Novel Lightweight and Flexible Substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woods, Lawrence M.; Kalla, Ajay; Ribelin, Rosine

2007-01-01

Thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV) on lightweight and flexible substrates offer the potential for very high solar array specific power (W/kg). ITN Energy Systems, Inc. (ITN) is developing flexible TFPV blanket technology that has potential for specific power greater than 2000 W/kg (including space coatings) that could result in solar array specific power between 150 and 500 W/kg, depending on array size, when mated with mechanical support structures specifically designed to take advantage of the lightweight and flexible substrates.(1) This level of specific power would far exceed the current state of the art for spacecraft PV power generation, and meet the needs for future spacecraft missions.(2) Furthermore the high specific power would also enable unmanned aircraft applications and balloon or high-altitude airship (HAA) applications, in addition to modular and quick deploying tents for surface assets or lunar base power, as a result of the high power density (W/sq m) and ability to be integrated into the balloon, HAA or tent fabric. ITN plans to achieve the high specific power by developing single-junction and two-terminal monolithic tandem-junction PV cells using thin-films of high-efficiency and radiation resistant CuInSe2 (CIS) partnered with bandgap-tunable CIS-alloys with Ga (CIGS) or Al (CIAS) on novel lightweight and flexible substrates. Of the various thin-film technologies, single-junction and radiation resistant CIS and associated alloys with gallium, aluminum and sulfur have achieved the highest levels of TFPV device performance, with the best efficiency reaching 19.5% under AM1.5 illumination conditions and on thick glass substrates.(3) Thus, it is anticipated that single- and tandem-junction devices with flexible substrates and based on CIS and related alloys will achieve the highest levels of thin-film space and HAA solar array performance.

The effects of school policies and practices on eighth-grade science achievement: A multilevel analysis of TIMSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, Carol Ann Mary

Identifying the relative importance of both alterable school policies and fairly stable contextual factors as they relate to middle level science achievement, a domain of identified national concern, requires simultaneous investigation of multilevel predictors (i.e., student level and school level) specific to the grade level and academic subject area. The school level factors are predictors associated with both the school (e.g., average socioeconomic status, tracking, and instructional time) and the classroom (e.g., average academic press of peers, teacher collaboration, and instructional strategies). The current study assessed the effects of school policies, practices, and contextual factors on the science achievement of eighth grade students. These influences were considered to be both additive (i.e., influencing the mean achievement in a school after controlling for student characteristics) and interactive (i.e., affecting the relationships between student background characteristics and individual achievement). To account for the nested structure of predictors and cross level interactions among predictors, a multilevel model for middle level science achievement was estimated using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with data collected from eighth grade students, science teachers, and administrators in 1995 as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The major findings of this research suggest that although average eighth grade science achievement in a school was primarily associated with the contextual characteristics of the classroom and the school (e.g., average socioeconomic status and average academic press), both the academic differentiating influence of prior achievement and the social differentiating influence of parental education on the science achievement of eighth grade students were related not only to contextual characteristics of the classroom and the school, but also to the instructional policies of the classroom. Using these results, policy makers can identify factors that can be modified to advance academic excellence in eighth grade science while promoting an equitable distribution of that achievement across students of varying backgrounds.

Cognitive predictors of children's development in mathematics achievement: A latent growth modeling approach.

PubMed

Xenidou-Dervou, Iro; Van Luit, Johannes E H; Kroesbergen, Evelyn H; Friso-van den Bos, Ilona; Jonkman, Lisa M; van der Schoot, Menno; van Lieshout, Ernest C D M

2018-04-24

Research has identified various domain-general and domain-specific cognitive abilities as predictors of children's individual differences in mathematics achievement. However, research into the predictors of children's individual growth rates, namely between-person differences in within-person change in mathematics achievement is scarce. We assessed 334 children's domain-general and mathematics-specific early cognitive abilities and their general mathematics achievement longitudinally across four time-points within the first and second grades of primary school. As expected, a constellation of multiple cognitive abilities contributed to the children's starting level of mathematical success. Specifically, latent growth modeling revealed that WM abilities, IQ, counting skills, nonsymbolic and symbolic approximate arithmetic and comparison skills explained individual differences in the children's initial status on a curriculum-based general mathematics achievement test. Surprisingly, however, only one out of all the assessed cognitive abilities was a unique predictor of the children's individual growth rates in mathematics achievement: their performance in the symbolic approximate addition task. In this task, children were asked to estimate the sum of two large numbers and decide if this estimated sum was smaller or larger compared to a third number. Our findings demonstrate the importance of multiple domain-general and mathematics-specific cognitive skills for identifying children at risk of struggling with mathematics and highlight the significance of early approximate arithmetic skills for the development of one's mathematical success. We argue the need for more research focus on explaining children's individual growth rates in mathematics achievement. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Achieving Affective Competencies through the Teacher Concerns-Self Confrontation Model of Personalized Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuller, Frances F.

A three-level model was derived from the literature on motivation and behavior change processes and from specific research on teacher concerns and self-confrontation. Teacher concerns comprise the first level of the model: concerns about self, task, and pupils. Self-confrontation feedback and behavior change procedures comprise the second level:…

78 FR 9900 - National Assessment Governing Board; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-12

... and specifications, developing appropriate student achievement levels for each grade and subject... briefing on the NAEP 2012 Economics Report. The Board will receive an embargoed briefing on preliminary...

Relating children's attentional capabilities to intelligence, memory, and academic achievement: a test of construct specificity in children with asthma.

PubMed

Annett, Robert D; Bender, Bruce G; Gordon, Michael

2007-01-01

The relationship between attention, intelligence, memory, achievement, and behavior in a large population (N = 939) of children without neuropsychologic problems was investigated in children with mild and moderate asthma. It was hypothesized that different levels of children's attentional capabilities would be associated with different levels of intellectual, memory, and academic abilities. Children ages 6-12 at the eight clinical centers of the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) were enrolled in this study. Standardized measures of child neuropsychological and behavioral performance were administered to all participants, with analyses examining both the developmental trajectory of child attentional capabilities and the associations between Continuous Performance Test (CPT) scores and intellectual functioning, and measures of memory, academic achievement, and behavioral functioning. Findings demonstrated that correct responses on the CPT increase significantly with age, while commission errors decrease significantly with age. Performance levels on the CPT were associated with differences in child intellectual function, memory, and academic achievement. Overall these findings reveal how impairments in child attention skills were associated with normal levels of performance on measures of children's intelligence, memory, academic achievement, and behavioral functioning, suggesting that CPT performance is a salient marker of brain function.

Restructuring Nigerian Tertiary (University) Education for Better Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oyebade, Stephen Adebanjo; Dike, Chika

2013-01-01

This study assesses the goals of university level of education, namely, development of high level manpower, scholarship and community service, and found that universities have not been able to achieve close to average. Problems range from social, political, financial as well as personnel issues. Specifically, they include problems of…

C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and procalcitonin levels as early markers of staple line leak after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in morbidly obese patients within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program.

PubMed

Ruiz-Tovar, Jaime; Muñoz, Jose Luis; Gonzalez, Juan; Garcia, Alejandro; Ferrigni, Carlos; Jimenez, Montiel; Duran, Manuel

2017-12-01

The performance of most bariatric procedures within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program has resulted in significant advantages, including a reduction in the length of hospital stay to 2-3 days. However, some postoperative complications may appear after the patient has been discharged. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of various acute-phase parameters determined 24 h after a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for predicting staple line leak in the postoperative course. A prospective study of 208 morbidly obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as bariatric procedure between 2012 and 2015 was performed. Blood analysis was performed 24 h after surgery. Acute-phase parameters (C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, fibrinogen, and White Blood Cell count) were investigated. Staple line leak appeared in eight patients (3.8%). Using receiver operating characteristic analysis at 24 h postoperatively, a cutoff level of CRP at 9 mg/dL achieved 85% sensitivity and 90% specificity for predicting staple line leak, a cutoff level of procalcitonin at 0.85 ng/mL achieved 70% sensitivity and 90% specificity, and a cutoff level of fibrinogen at 600 mg/dL achieved 80% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. An elevation of CRP > 9 mg/dL, procalcitonin > 0.85 ng/mL and fibrinogen > 600 mg/dL should alert the surgeon the possibility of occurrence of postoperative staple line leak.

Longitudinal study of low and high achievers in early mathematics.

PubMed

Navarro, Jose I; Aguilar, Manuel; Marchena, Esperanza; Ruiz, Gonzalo; Menacho, Inmaculada; Van Luit, Johannes E H

2012-03-01

Longitudinal studies allow us to identify, which specific maths skills are weak in young children, and whether there is a continuing weakness in these areas throughout their school years. This 2-year study investigated whether certain socio-demographic variables affect early mathematical competency in children aged 5-7 years. A randomly selected sample of 127 students (64 female; 63 male) participated. At the start of the study, the students were approximately 5 years old (M= 5.2; SD= 0.28; range = 4.5-5.8). The students were assessed using the Early Numeracy Test and then allocated to a high (n= 26), middle (n= 76), or low (n= 25) achievers group. The same children were assessed again with the Early Numeracy Test at 6 and 7 years old, respectively. Eight socio-demographic characteristics were also evaluated: family model, education of the parent(s), job of the parent(s), number of family members, birth order, number of computers at home, frequency of teacher visits, and hours watching television. Early Numeracy Test scores were more consistent for the high-achievers group than for the low-achievers group. Approximately 5.5% of low achievers obtained low scores throughout the study. A link between specific socio-demographic characteristics and early achievement in mathematics was only found for number of computers at home. The level of mathematical ability among students aged 5-7 years remains relatively stable regardless of the initial level of achievement. However, early screening for mathematics learning disabilities could be useful in helping low-achieving students overcome learning obstacles. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Advanced high-temperature batteries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nelson, P. A.

1989-01-01

Recent results for Li-Al/FeS2 cells and bipolar battery design have shown the possibility of achieving high specific energy (210 Wh/kg) and high specific power (239 W/kg) at the cell level for an electric vehicle application. Outstanding performance is also projected for sodium/metal chloride cells having large electrolyte areas and thin positive electrodes.

Advanced supersonic propulsion study. [with emphasis on noise level reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sabatella, J. A. (Editor)

1974-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the promising propulsion systems for advanced supersonic transport application, and to identify the critical propulsion technology requirements. It is shown that noise constraints have a major effect on the selection of the various engine types and cycle parameters. Several promising advanced propulsion systems were identified which show the potential of achieving lower levels of sideline jet noise than the first generation supersonic transport systems. The non-afterburning turbojet engine, utilizing a very high level of jet suppression, shows the potential to achieve FAR 36 noise level. The duct-heating turbofan with a low level of jet suppression is the most attractive engine for noise levels from FAR 36 to FAR 36 minus 5 EPNdb, and some series/parallel variable cycle engines show the potential of achieving noise levels down to FAR 36 minus 10 EPNdb with moderate additional penalty. The study also shows that an advanced supersonic commercial transport would benefit appreciably from advanced propulsion technology. The critical propulsion technology needed for a viable supersonic propulsion system, and the required specific propulsion technology programs are outlined.

Stimulated Raman photoacoustic imaging

PubMed Central

Yakovlev, Vladislav V.; Zhang, Hao F.; Noojin, Gary D.; Denton, Michael L.; Thomas, Robert J.; Scully, Marlan O.

2010-01-01

Achieving label-free, molecular-specific imaging with high spatial resolution in deep tissue is often considered the grand challenge of optical imaging. To accomplish this goal, significant optical scattering in tissues has to be overcome while achieving molecular specificity without resorting to extrinsic labeling. We demonstrate the feasibility of developing such an optical imaging modality by combining the molecularly specific stimulated Raman excitation with the photoacoustic detection. By employing two ultrashort excitation laser pulses, separated in frequency by the vibrational frequency of a targeted molecule, only the specific vibrational level of the target molecules in the illuminated tissue volume is excited. This targeted optical absorption generates ultrasonic waves (referred to as stimulated Raman photoacoustic waves) which are detected using a traditional ultrasonic transducer to form an image following the design of the established photoacoustic microscopy. PMID:21059930

Achievement emotions in elementary, middle, and high school: how do students feel about specific contexts in terms of settings and subject-domains?

PubMed

Raccanello, Daniela; Brondino, Margherita; De Bernardi, Bianca

2013-12-01

The present work investigates students' representation of achievement emotions, focusing in context-specific situations in terms of settings and subject-domains, as a function of grade level. We involved 527 fourth-, seventh-, and eleventh-graders, who evaluated ten discrete emotions through questionnaires, with reference to verbal language and mathematics, and different settings (class, homework, tests). Confirmatory multitrait-multimethod analyses indicated higher salience of subject-domains rather than settings for all the emotions; however, complexity of reality was best explained when also settings were accounted for. Analyses of variance revealed higher intensity of positive emotions for younger students, and the opposite pattern for older students; significant differences for most of the emotions based on the evaluative nature of settings, moderated by class levels; more intense positive emotions for mathematics and more intense negative emotions for Italian. Results are discussed considering their theoretical and applied relevance, corroborating previous literature on domain-specificity. © 2013 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

45 CFR 2522.520 - What special terms are used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... their reading scores to grade-level, or other specific measures of academic achievement. (g) Grantee includes subgrantees, programs, and projects. (h) National performance measures are performance measures...

45 CFR 2522.520 - What special terms are used in this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... their reading scores to grade-level, or other specific measures of academic achievement. (g) Grantee includes subgrantees, programs, and projects. (h) National performance measures are performance measures...

Preschool Predictors of School-Age Academic Achievement in Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Miller, Lauren E.; Burke, Jeffrey D.; Troyb, Eva; Knoch, Kelley; Herlihy, Lauren E.; Fein, Deborah A.

2017-01-01

Objective Characterization of academic functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly predictors of achievement, may have important implications for intervention. The current study aimed to characterize achievement profiles, confirm associations between academic ability and concurrent intellectual and social skills, and explore preschool predictors of school-age academic achievement in a sample of children with ASD. Method Children with ASD (N = 26) were evaluated at the approximate ages of two, four, and ten years. Multiple regression was used to predict school-age academic achievement in reading and mathematics from both concurrent (i.e., school-age) and preschool variables. Results Children with ASD demonstrated a weakness in reading comprehension relative to word reading. There was a smaller difference between mathematics skills; math reasoning was lower than numerical operations, but this did not quite reach trend level significance. Concurrent IQ and social skills were associated with school-age academic achievement across domains. Preschool verbal abilities significantly predicted school-age reading comprehension, above and beyond concurrent IQ, and early motor functioning predicted later math skills. Conclusions Specific developmental features of early ASD predict specific aspects of school-age achievement. Early intervention targeting language and motor skills may improve later achievement in this population. PMID:27705180

Preschool predictors of school-age academic achievement in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Miller, Lauren E; Burke, Jeffrey D; Troyb, Eva; Knoch, Kelley; Herlihy, Lauren E; Fein, Deborah A

2017-02-01

Characterization of academic functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly predictors of achievement, may have important implications for intervention. The current study aimed to characterize achievement profiles, confirm associations between academic ability and concurrent intellectual and social skills, and explore preschool predictors of school-age academic achievement in a sample of children with ASD. Children with ASD (n = 26) were evaluated at the approximate ages of two, four, and ten. Multiple regression was used to predict school-age academic achievement in reading and mathematics from both concurrent (i.e. school-age) and preschool variables. Children with ASD demonstrated a weakness in reading comprehension relative to word reading. There was a smaller difference between mathematics skills; math reasoning was lower than numerical operations, but this did not quite reach trend level significance. Concurrent IQ and social skills were associated with school-age academic achievement across domains. Preschool verbal abilities significantly predicted school-age reading comprehension, above and beyond concurrent IQ, and early motor functioning predicted later math skills. Specific developmental features of early ASD predict specific aspects of school-age achievement. Early intervention targeting language and motor skills may improve later achievement in this population.

Adaptable, high recall, event extraction system with minimal configuration

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Biomedical event extraction has been a major focus of biomedical natural language processing (BioNLP) research since the first BioNLP shared task was held in 2009. Accordingly, a large number of event extraction systems have been developed. Most such systems, however, have been developed for specific tasks and/or incorporated task specific settings, making their application to new corpora and tasks problematic without modification of the systems themselves. There is thus a need for event extraction systems that can achieve high levels of accuracy when applied to corpora in new domains, without the need for exhaustive tuning or modification, whilst retaining competitive levels of performance. Results We have enhanced our state-of-the-art event extraction system, EventMine, to alleviate the need for task-specific tuning. Task-specific details are specified in a configuration file, while extensive task-specific parameter tuning is avoided through the integration of a weighting method, a covariate shift method, and their combination. The task-specific configuration and weighting method have been employed within the context of two different sub-tasks of BioNLP shared task 2013, i.e. Cancer Genetics (CG) and Pathway Curation (PC), removing the need to modify the system specifically for each task. With minimal task specific configuration and tuning, EventMine achieved the 1st place in the PC task, and 2nd in the CG, achieving the highest recall for both tasks. The system has been further enhanced following the shared task by incorporating the covariate shift method and entity generalisations based on the task definitions, leading to further performance improvements. Conclusions We have shown that it is possible to apply a state-of-the-art event extraction system to new tasks with high levels of performance, without having to modify the system internally. Both covariate shift and weighting methods are useful in facilitating the production of high recall systems. These methods and their combination can adapt a model to the target data with no deep tuning and little manual configuration. PMID:26201408

Comprehensive School Reform Instructional Practices throughout a School Year: The Role of Subject Matter, Grade Level, and Time of Year

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiley, Caroline H.; Good, Thomas L.; McCaslin, Mary

2008-01-01

Background/Context: The achievement effects of Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) programs have been studied through the use of input-output models, in which type of CSR program is the input and student achievement is the output. Although specific programs have been found to be more effective and evaluated more than others, teaching practices in…

The Impact of Participation in Freshman Learning Communities on Student Academic Achievement and Retention at One College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roark, Deborah Jo

2013-01-01

This research study was specifically designed to examine the relationship of a learning communities program, as a standard treatment effect, on the academic performance and retention of college freshmen during the Fall 2008 through Fall 2011 academic semesters, and specifically for a university comprised of higher levels of underrepresented…

Sequential Prediction of Literacy Achievement for Specific Learning Disabilities Contrasting in Impaired Levels of Language in Grades 4 to 9

PubMed Central

Sanders, Elizabeth A.; Berninger, Virginia W.; Abbott, Robert D.

2017-01-01

Sequential regression was used to evaluate whether language-related working memory components uniquely predict reading and writing achievement beyond cognitive-linguistic translation for students in grades 4–9 (N=103) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in subword handwriting (dysgraphia, n=25), word reading and spelling (dyslexia, n=60), or oral and written language (OWL LD, n=18). That is, SLDs are defined on basis of cascading level of language impairment (subword, word, and syntax/text). A 5-block regression model sequentially predicted literacy achievement from cognitive-linguistic translation (Block 1); working memory components for word form coding (Block 2), phonological and orthographic loops (Block 3), and supervisory focused or switching attention (Block4); and SLD groups (Block 5). Results showed that cognitive-linguistic translation explained an average of 27% and 15% of the variance in reading and writing achievement, respectively, but working memory components explained an additional 39% and 27% variance. Orthographic word form coding uniquely predicted nearly every measure, whereas attention switching only uniquely predicted reading. Finally, differences in reading and writing persisted between dyslexia and dysgraphia, with dysgraphia higher, even after controlling for Block 1 to 4 predictors. Differences in literacy achievement between students with dyslexia and OWL LD were largely explained by the Block 1 predictors. Applications to identifying and teaching students with these SLDs are discussed. PMID:28199175

Defence Industrial Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

for early clarity, we needed to act quickly. There are three levels to this strategy :  promoting an overall business environment which is attractive...and that the level of influence and attractiveness of MOD business varies by sector and by type of company. But the UK provides a unique environment...defence business environment in a particular country, and at the specific level , to achieve defined outcomes in particular capability or technology

Strategies for achieving high-level expression of genes in Escherichia coli.

PubMed Central

Makrides, S C

1996-01-01

Progress in our understanding of several biological processes promises to broaden the usefulness of Escherichia coli as a tool for gene expression. There is an expanding choice of tightly regulated prokaryotic promoters suitable for achieving high-level gene expression. New host strains facilitate the formation of disulfide bonds in the reducing environment of the cytoplasm and offer higher protein yields by minimizing proteolytic degradation. Insights into the process of protein translocation across the bacterial membranes may eventually make it possible to achieve robust secretion of specific proteins into the culture medium. Studies involving molecular chaperones have shown that in specific cases, chaperones can be very effective for improved protein folding, solubility, and membrane transport. Negative results derived from such studies are also instructive in formulating different strategies. The remarkable increase in the availability of fusion partners offers a wide range of tools for improved protein folding, solubility, protection from proteases, yield, and secretion into the culture medium, as well as for detection and purification of recombinant proteins. Codon usage is known to present a potential impediment to high-level gene expression in E. coli. Although we still do not understand all the rules governing this phenomenon, it is apparent that "rare" codons, depending on their frequency and context, can have an adverse effect on protein levels. Usually, this problem can be alleviated by modification of the relevant codons or by coexpression of the cognate tRNA genes. Finally, the elucidation of specific determinants of protein degradation, a plethora of protease-deficient host strains, and methods to stabilize proteins afford new strategies to minimize proteolytic susceptibility of recombinant proteins in E. coli. PMID:8840785

Bioethics training programmes for Africa: evaluating professional and bioethics-related achievements of African trainees after a decade of Fogarty NIH investment

PubMed Central

Kass, Nancy E; Ali, Joseph; Hallez, Kristina

2016-01-01

Objectives Our primary aim was to evaluate the impact of US National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded bioethics training programmes (Fogarty bioethics training programmes, FBTPs) that trained individuals from Africa over the programme's first 10 years to examine changes between pretraining and post-training in individual achievement and to document any associations between individual, training programme and post-training accomplishments. Design We surveyed trainees from the 10 bioethics programmes funded by NIH Fogarty International Center from 2000 to 2011 that included African trainees. McNemar's and Wilcoxon signed rank-sum tests were used to analyse pre–post levels of general and bioethics-related professional achievement. Likelihood of specific post-training achievement outcomes was measured using logistic regression including demographic, pretraining and intratraining variables. Setting 10 different FBTPs that trained individuals from Africa from 2000 to 2011. Participants Of 253 eligible respondents, 171 completed the survey (response rate 67.6%). Primary outcome measures Pre–post comparisons of professional achievement indicators (eg, serving in leadership roles, teaching, publishing manuscripts); likelihood of specific post-training achievement outcomes. Results Post-training, respondents were significantly more likely to report serving in a leadership role, being an investigator on a research grant, serving on international committees, serving as a mentor, and publishing manuscripts than at pretraining. Post-training, significantly greater numbers of respondents reported bioethics-related achievements including being a bioethics instructor, serving on an Institutional Review Board (IRB), being an investigator on a bioethics grant and publishing bioethics-related manuscripts than pretraining. Controlling for other factors, there were no significant differences by gender in the post-training success of these participants in terms of leadership roles, being instructors, investigators on grants and holding IRB roles. Conclusions African trainees who participated in FBTPs reported significantly higher levels of professional achievement after training. There was no single factor—either demographic, related to a trainee's professional background, or in programme design—that consistently predicted greater levels of post-training achievement. PMID:27633644

Specification and verification of gate-level VHDL models of synchronous and asynchronous circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russinoff, David M.

1995-01-01

We present a mathematical definition of hardware description language (HDL) that admits a semantics-preserving translation to a subset of VHDL. Our HDL includes the basic VHDL propagation delay mechanisms and gate-level circuit descriptions. We also develop formal procedures for deriving and verifying concise behavioral specifications of combinational and sequential devices. The HDL and the specification procedures have been formally encoded in the computational logic of Boyer and Moore, which provides a LISP implementation as well as a facility for mechanical proof-checking. As an application, we design, specify, and verify a circuit that achieves asynchronous communication by means of the biphase mark protocol.

Hierarchical specification of the SIFT fault tolerant flight control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melliar-Smith, P. M.; Schwartz, R. L.

1981-01-01

The specification and mechanical verification of the Software Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT) flight control system is described. The methodology employed in the verification effort is discussed, and a description of the hierarchical models of the SIFT system is given. To meet the objective of NASA for the reliability of safety critical flight control systems, the SIFT computer must achieve a reliability well beyond the levels at which reliability can be actually measured. The methodology employed to demonstrate rigorously that the SIFT computer meets as reliability requirements is described. The hierarchy of design specifications from very abstract descriptions of system function down to the actual implementation is explained. The most abstract design specifications can be used to verify that the system functions correctly and with the desired reliability since almost all details of the realization were abstracted out. A succession of lower level models refine these specifications to the level of the actual implementation, and can be used to demonstrate that the implementation has the properties claimed of the abstract design specifications.

An Automated Gasometer for the Teaching Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Frank; Elamari, Matouk

2008-01-01

Measurement of the level of a liquid is needed in many hydrodynamic situations. In the present article, this has been achieved with a conductivity sensor for the specific case of water levels. The use of this system is illustrated by the automation of a gasometer in which the gas is collected in an inverted measuring cylinder resting in a water…

Use of Tactual Materials on the Achievement of Content Specific Vocabulary and Terminology Acquisition within an Intermediate Level Science Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terry, Brian H.

2012-01-01

In this quasi-experimental study, the researcher investigated the effectiveness of three tactual strategies and one non-tactual strategy of content specific vocabulary acquisition. Flash cards, task cards, and learning wheels served as the tactual strategies, and vocabulary review sheets served as a non-tactual strategy. The sample (n = 85)…

Comparison of predicted engine core noise with current and proposed aircraft noise certification requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vonglahn, U. H.; Groesbeck, D. E.

1981-01-01

Predicted engine core noise levels are compared with measured total aircraft noise levels and with current and proposed federal noise certification requirements. Comparisons are made at the FAR-36 measuring stations and include consideration of both full- and cutback-power operation at takeoff. In general, core noise provides a barrier to achieving proposed EPA stage 5 noise levels for all types of aircraft. More specifically, core noise levels will limit further reductions in aircraft noise levels for current widebody commercial aircraft.

Designing collective behavior in a termite-inspired robot construction team.

PubMed

Werfel, Justin; Petersen, Kirstin; Nagpal, Radhika

2014-02-14

Complex systems are characterized by many independent components whose low-level actions produce collective high-level results. Predicting high-level results given low-level rules is a key open challenge; the inverse problem, finding low-level rules that give specific outcomes, is in general still less understood. We present a multi-agent construction system inspired by mound-building termites, solving such an inverse problem. A user specifies a desired structure, and the system automatically generates low-level rules for independent climbing robots that guarantee production of that structure. Robots use only local sensing and coordinate their activity via the shared environment. We demonstrate the approach via a physical realization with three autonomous climbing robots limited to onboard sensing. This work advances the aim of engineering complex systems that achieve specific human-designed goals.

Predictors of competitive achievement among pubescent synchronized swimmers: an analysis of the solo-figure competition.

PubMed

Peric, M; Cavar, M; Zenic, N; Sekulic, D; Sajber, D

2014-02-01

This study examined the applicability of sport-specific fitness tests (SSTs), anthropometrics, and respiratory parameters in predicting competitive results among pubescent synchronized swimmers. A total of 25 synchronized swimmers (16-17 years; 166.2 ± 5.4 cm; and 58.4 ± 4.3 kg) volunteered for this study. The independent variables were body mass, body height, Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF%), lean body mass percentage, respiratory variables, and four SSTs (two specific power tests plus one aerobic- and one anaerobic-endurance test). The dependent variable was competitive achievement in the solo figure competition. The reliability analyses, Pearson's correlation coefficient and forward stepwise regression were calculated. The SSTs were reliable for testing fitness status among pubescent synchronized swimmers. The forward stepwise regression retained two SSTs, BF% and forced vital capacity (FVC, relative for age and stature) in a set of predictors of competitive achievement. Significant Beta coefficients are found for aerobic-endurance, SST and FVC. The sport-specific measure of aerobic endurance and FVC appropriately predicted competitive achievement with regard to the figures used in the competition when competitive results (the dependent variable) were obtained. Athletes and coaches should be aware of the probable negative influence of very low body fat levels on competitive achievement.

The Attitudinal and Cognitive Effects of Planetarium Integration in Teaching Selected Astronomical Concepts to Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth-Grade Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twiest, Mark Gilbert

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudinal and cognitive differences among students in an astronomy curriculum which utilizes a planetarium in comparison to an astronomy curriculum which is presented solely in the classroom. The specific attitudes of interest in this study are those student attitudes toward science as a whole and toward astronomy in particular. Researcher developed attitude and astronomy achievement measures were developed and administered to 423 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in three schools. Pre and post test data were collected from students in this quasi-experimental design. Two way analysis of covariance techniques were used to analyze the independent variables of gender and treatment. Results revealed significant differences (p < .05) in student attitudes toward astronomy in the fourth grade favoring the control school students. No other significant differences in student attitudes were found with respect to treatment or gender. Achievement was analyzed at both the knowledge and comprehension levels. Significant differences (p <.05) in student achievement were found fourth and fifth grades with respect to knowledge level questions. In both instances these differences favored the control school setting. Significant differences (p <.05) in student achievement were found for comprehension level questions at every grade level. In this case the control school outperformed the experimental setting in the fourth and sixth grades. Fifth grade experimental setting students had significantly higher achievement on comprehension level questions. A significant interaction occurred between treatment and gender with respect to student attitudes toward astronomy in the fifth grade. A second significant interaction occurred between treatment and gender for knowledge level questions for sixth grade students. No other significant interactions were found between treatment and gender. Correlations between post test attitudes and achievement were also calculated for each grade level in both the control and experimental settings. Correlations remained below.2 in every instance except one. Post test correlations between attitudes overall and achievement in the control school's sixth grade were.54.

Perspectives of academic faculty and clinical instructors on entry-level DPT preparation for pediatric physical therapist practice.

PubMed

Kenyon, Lisa K; Dole, Robin L; Kelly, Stephanie P

2013-12-01

To prepare students for pediatric practice, the professional (entry-level) curriculum must reflect the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) required for pediatric physical therapist practice. The aim of this study was to develop consensus concerning the pediatric-specific KSA that should be expected of doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students at various points in the curriculum: prior to a pediatric clinical education experience, after a pediatric clinical education experience, and at the end of a DPT program. The study was conducted using the Delphi method. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit pediatric academic faculty and pediatric clinical instructors. Three Web-based survey rounds were used to achieve consensus, defined as agreement among ≥70% of informants. The first round identified pediatric-specific KSA that were essential for DPT students to demonstrate at the identified points in the curriculum. In the second round, informants indicated their level of agreement with each item identified in the first round. Items that achieved consensus were included in the third round, in which informants rated the level of proficiency that DPT students should demonstrate related to pediatric-specific KSA. Consensus revealed the informants' perspectives concerning pediatric-specific KSA that a DPT student should be able to demonstrate at the identified curricular points. Consensus was reached on items in the curricular categories of basic science and foundations for practice; common pediatric diagnoses/pathologies, examination, interventions/plan of care/documentation; and general skills and abilities. Limitations included the small sample size and the potential for informants to feel uncomfortable prioritizing KSA. This study is an initial step toward identifying pediatric-specific KSA that should be demonstrated by DPT students.

Flexible or leaky attention in creative people? Distinct patterns of attention for different types of creative thinking.

PubMed

Zabelina, Darya; Saporta, Arielle; Beeman, Mark

2016-04-01

Creativity has been putatively linked to distinct forms of attention, but which aspects of creativity and which components of attention remains unclear. Two experiments examined how divergent thinking and creative achievement relate to visual attention. In both experiments, participants identified target letters (S or H) within hierarchical stimuli (global letters made of local letters), after being cued to either the local or global level. In Experiment 1, participants identified the targets more quickly following valid cues (80% of trials) than following invalid cues. However, this smaller validity effect was associated with higher divergent thinking, suggesting that divergent thinking was related to quicker overcoming of invalid cues, and thus to flexible attention. Creative achievement was unrelated to the validity effect. Experiment 2 examined whether divergent thinking (or creative achievement) is related to "leaky attention," so that when cued to one level of a stimulus, some information is still processed, or leaks in, from the non-cued level. In this case, the cued stimulus level always contained a target, and the non-cued level was congruent, neutral, or incongruent with the target. Divergent thinking did not relate to stimulus congruency. In contrast, high creative achievement was related to quicker responses to the congruent than to the incongruent stimuli, suggesting that real-world creative achievement is indeed associated with leaky attention, whereas standard laboratory tests of divergent thinking are not. Together, these results elucidate distinct patterns of attention for different measures of creativity. Specifically, creative achievers may have leaky attention, as suggested by previous literature, whereas divergent thinkers have selective yet flexible attention.

Benefit cost models to support pavement management decisions.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-06-01

A critical role of pavement management is to provide decision makers with estimates of the required budget level to achieve specific steady-state network conditions, and to recommend the best allocation of available budget among competing needs for m...

Benefit cost models to support pavement management decisions : executive summary report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

A critical role of pavement management is to : provide decision makers with estimates of the : required budget level to achieve specific steadystate : network conditions, and to recommend the : best allocation of available budget among : competing ne...

AutoBD: Automated Bi-Level Description for Scalable Fine-Grained Visual Categorization.

PubMed

Yao, Hantao; Zhang, Shiliang; Yan, Chenggang; Zhang, Yongdong; Li, Jintao; Tian, Qi

Compared with traditional image classification, fine-grained visual categorization is a more challenging task, because it targets to classify objects belonging to the same species, e.g. , classify hundreds of birds or cars. In the past several years, researchers have made many achievements on this topic. However, most of them are heavily dependent on the artificial annotations, e.g., bounding boxes, part annotations, and so on . The requirement of artificial annotations largely hinders the scalability and application. Motivated to release such dependence, this paper proposes a robust and discriminative visual description named Automated Bi-level Description (AutoBD). "Bi-level" denotes two complementary part-level and object-level visual descriptions, respectively. AutoBD is "automated," because it only requires the image-level labels of training images and does not need any annotations for testing images. Compared with the part annotations labeled by the human, the image-level labels can be easily acquired, which thus makes AutoBD suitable for large-scale visual categorization. Specifically, the part-level description is extracted by identifying the local region saliently representing the visual distinctiveness. The object-level description is extracted from object bounding boxes generated with a co-localization algorithm. Although only using the image-level labels, AutoBD outperforms the recent studies on two public benchmark, i.e. , classification accuracy achieves 81.6% on CUB-200-2011 and 88.9% on Car-196, respectively. On the large-scale Birdsnap data set, AutoBD achieves the accuracy of 68%, which is currently the best performance to the best of our knowledge.Compared with traditional image classification, fine-grained visual categorization is a more challenging task, because it targets to classify objects belonging to the same species, e.g. , classify hundreds of birds or cars. In the past several years, researchers have made many achievements on this topic. However, most of them are heavily dependent on the artificial annotations, e.g., bounding boxes, part annotations, and so on . The requirement of artificial annotations largely hinders the scalability and application. Motivated to release such dependence, this paper proposes a robust and discriminative visual description named Automated Bi-level Description (AutoBD). "Bi-level" denotes two complementary part-level and object-level visual descriptions, respectively. AutoBD is "automated," because it only requires the image-level labels of training images and does not need any annotations for testing images. Compared with the part annotations labeled by the human, the image-level labels can be easily acquired, which thus makes AutoBD suitable for large-scale visual categorization. Specifically, the part-level description is extracted by identifying the local region saliently representing the visual distinctiveness. The object-level description is extracted from object bounding boxes generated with a co-localization algorithm. Although only using the image-level labels, AutoBD outperforms the recent studies on two public benchmark, i.e. , classification accuracy achieves 81.6% on CUB-200-2011 and 88.9% on Car-196, respectively. On the large-scale Birdsnap data set, AutoBD achieves the accuracy of 68%, which is currently the best performance to the best of our knowledge.

Simultaneous increases in specific growth rate and specific lipid content of Chlorella vulgaris through UV-induced reactive species.

PubMed

Balan, Ranjini; Suraishkumar, G K

2014-01-01

A challenge in algae-based bio-oil production is to simultaneously enhance specific growth rates and specific lipid content. We have demonstrated simultaneous increases in both the above in Chlorella vulgaris through reactive species (RS) induced under ultraviolet (UV) A and UVB light treatments. We postulated that the changes in photosystem (PS) stoichiometry and antenna size were responsible for the increases in specific growth rate. UVB treatment excited PSII, which resulted in a twofold to sevenfold increase in PSII/PSI ratio compared to control. An excited PSII caused a 2.7-fold increase in the specific levels of superoxide and a twofold increase in the specific levels of hydroxyl radicals. We have established that the increased specific intracellular RS (si-RS) levels increased the PSII antenna size by a significant 10-fold as compared to control. In addition, the 8.2-fold increase in specific lipid content was directly related to the si-RS levels. We have also demonstrated that the RS induced under UVA treatment led to a 3.2-fold increase in the saturated to unsaturated fatty acid ratio. Based on the findings, we have proposed and demonstrated a UV-based strategy, which achieved an 8.8-fold increase in volumetric lipid productivity. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Sequential Prediction of Literacy Achievement for Specific Learning Disabilities Contrasting in Impaired Levels of Language in Grades 4 to 9.

PubMed

Sanders, Elizabeth A; Berninger, Virginia W; Abbott, Robert D

Sequential regression was used to evaluate whether language-related working memory components uniquely predict reading and writing achievement beyond cognitive-linguistic translation for students in Grades 4 through 9 ( N = 103) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in subword handwriting (dysgraphia, n = 25), word reading and spelling (dyslexia, n = 60), or oral and written language (oral and written language learning disabilities, n = 18). That is, SLDs are defined on the basis of cascading level of language impairment (subword, word, and syntax/text). A five-block regression model sequentially predicted literacy achievement from cognitive-linguistic translation (Block 1); working memory components for word-form coding (Block 2), phonological and orthographic loops (Block 3), and supervisory focused or switching attention (Block 4); and SLD groups (Block 5). Results showed that cognitive-linguistic translation explained an average of 27% and 15% of the variance in reading and writing achievement, respectively, but working memory components explained an additional 39% and 27% of variance. Orthographic word-form coding uniquely predicted nearly every measure, whereas attention switching uniquely predicted only reading. Finally, differences in reading and writing persisted between dyslexia and dysgraphia, with dysgraphia higher, even after controlling for Block 1 to 4 predictors. Differences in literacy achievement between students with dyslexia and oral and written language learning disabilities were largely explained by the Block 1 predictors. Applications to identifying and teaching students with these SLDs are discussed.

LONG TERM STABILITY STUDY AT FNAL AND SLAC USING BINP DEVELOPED HYDROSTATIC LEVEL SYSTEM

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

Seryi, Andrei

2003-05-28

Long term ground stability is essential for achieving the performance goals of the Next Linear Collider. To characterize ground motion on relevant time scales, measurements have been performed at three geologically different locations using a hydrostatic level system developed specifically for these studies. Comparative results from the different sites are presented in this paper.

A statistical approach to deriving subsystem specifications. [for spacecraft shock and vibrational environment tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keegan, W. B.

1974-01-01

In order to produce cost effective environmental test programs, the test specifications must be realistic and to be useful, they must be available early in the life of a program. This paper describes a method for achieving such specifications for subsystems by utilizing the results of a statistical analysis of data acquired at subsystem mounting locations during system level environmental tests. The paper describes the details of this statistical analysis. The resultant recommended levels are a function of the subsystems' mounting location in the spacecraft. Methods of determining this mounting 'zone' are described. Recommendations are then made as to which of the various problem areas encountered should be pursued further.

Study of unconventional propulsion system concepts for use in a long range transport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Champagne, G. A.

1973-01-01

The noise level of an uncoventional propulsion system for the next generation of subsonic, long-range transport aircraft is discussed. The desired noise level may be achieved by: (1) a fixed geometry, high bypass ratio turbofan with a geared two-stage fan and advanced acoustic treatment or (2) a moderate bypass ratio turbofan with a variable pitch two-stage fan, variable primary and duct nozzles, and advanced acoustic treatment. The geared fan system meets the noise goal with minimum economic penalty. Comparison of the noise levels at takeoff and landing in combination with the economic penalties required to achieve the lower noise levels at specific noise measuring stations, indicate that both area reduction and current certification prodedures should be used to ascertain the point of diminishing returns in establishing future noise goals.

Formal specification and verification of Ada software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hird, Geoffrey R.

1991-01-01

The use of formal methods in software development achieves levels of quality assurance unobtainable by other means. The Larch approach to specification is described, and the specification of avionics software designed to implement the logic of a flight control system is given as an example. Penelope is described which is an Ada-verification environment. The Penelope user inputs mathematical definitions, Larch-style specifications and Ada code and performs machine-assisted proofs that the code obeys its specifications. As an example, the verification of a binary search function is considered. Emphasis is given to techniques assisting the reuse of a verification effort on modified code.

Performance Criteria of Nuclear Space Propulsion Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shepherd, L. R.

Future exploration of the solar system on a major scale will require propulsion systems capable of performance far greater than is achievable with the present generation of rocket engines using chemical propellants. Viable missions going deeper into interstellar space will be even more demanding. Propulsion systems based on nuclear energy sources, fission or (eventually) fusion offer the best prospect for meeting the requirements. The most obvious gain coming from the application of nuclear reactions is the possibility, at least in principle, of obtaining specific impulses a thousandfold greater than can be achieved in chemically energised rockets. However, practical considerations preclude the possibility of exploiting the full potential of nuclear energy sources in any engines conceivable in terms of presently known technology. Achievable propulsive power is a particularly limiting factor, since this determines the acceleration that may be obtained. Conventional chemical rocket engines have specific propulsive powers (power per unit engine mass) in the order of gigawatts per tonne. One cannot envisage the possibility of approaching such a level of performance by orders of magnitude in presently conceivable nuclear propulsive systems. The time taken, under power, to reach a given terminal velocity is proportional to the square of the engine's exhaust velocity and the inverse of its specific power. An assessment of various nuclear propulsion concepts suggests that, even with the most optimistic assumptions, it could take many hundreds of years to attain the velocities necessary to reach the nearest stars. Exploration within a range of the order of a thousand AU, however, would appear to offer viable prospects, even with the low levels of specific power of presently conceivable nuclear engines.

Learning strategies and general cognitive ability as predictors of gender- specific academic achievement

PubMed Central

Ruffing, Stephanie; Wach, F. -Sophie; Spinath, Frank M.; Brünken, Roland; Karbach, Julia

2015-01-01

Recent research has revealed that learning behavior is associated with academic achievement at the college level, but the impact of specific learning strategies on academic success as well as gender differences therein are still not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the incremental contribution of learning strategies over general cognitive ability in the prediction of academic achievement. The relationship between these variables was examined by correlation analyses. A set of t-tests was used to test for gender differences in learning strategies, whereas structural equation modeling as well as multi-group analyses were applied to investigate the incremental contribution of learning strategies for male and female students’ academic performance. The sample consisted of 461 students (mean age = 21.2 years, SD = 3.2). Correlation analyses revealed that general cognitive ability as well as the learning strategies effort, attention, and learning environment were positively correlated with academic achievement. Gender differences were found in the reported application of many learning strategies. Importantly, the prediction of achievement in structural equation modeling revealed that only effort explained incremental variance (10%) over general cognitive ability. Results of multi-group analyses showed no gender differences in this prediction model. This finding provides further knowledge regarding gender differences in learning research and the specific role of learning strategies for academic achievement. The incremental assessment of learning strategy use as well as gender-differences in their predictive value contributes to the understanding and improvement of successful academic development. PMID:26347698

Learning strategies and general cognitive ability as predictors of gender- specific academic achievement.

PubMed

Ruffing, Stephanie; Wach, F-Sophie; Spinath, Frank M; Brünken, Roland; Karbach, Julia

2015-01-01

Recent research has revealed that learning behavior is associated with academic achievement at the college level, but the impact of specific learning strategies on academic success as well as gender differences therein are still not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the incremental contribution of learning strategies over general cognitive ability in the prediction of academic achievement. The relationship between these variables was examined by correlation analyses. A set of t-tests was used to test for gender differences in learning strategies, whereas structural equation modeling as well as multi-group analyses were applied to investigate the incremental contribution of learning strategies for male and female students' academic performance. The sample consisted of 461 students (mean age = 21.2 years, SD = 3.2). Correlation analyses revealed that general cognitive ability as well as the learning strategies effort, attention, and learning environment were positively correlated with academic achievement. Gender differences were found in the reported application of many learning strategies. Importantly, the prediction of achievement in structural equation modeling revealed that only effort explained incremental variance (10%) over general cognitive ability. Results of multi-group analyses showed no gender differences in this prediction model. This finding provides further knowledge regarding gender differences in learning research and the specific role of learning strategies for academic achievement. The incremental assessment of learning strategy use as well as gender-differences in their predictive value contributes to the understanding and improvement of successful academic development.

Testing a Model of the Relationship of Demographic, Affective, and Fitness Variables to Academic Achievement among Non-Science Majors at an Independent University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutra, Andrew Martin

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of specific attributes of college students to their academic achievement at an independent university in central Florida. Academic achievement was measured as the numeric score on the final exam in a survey-of-science course (EDS 1032) required for non-science majors. Attribute sets included personological, affective, and fitness variables. A hypothesized diagram of the direct and indirect effects among these attributes relative to academic achievement was developed and tested using data collected Spring 2014 from 168 students in four sections of EDS 1032 at Florida Institute of Technology. Multiple regression results revealed that 19% of the variance in a students' academic achievement was due to the influence of these three sets of research factors; this was found to be statistically significant. The results of mediation analyses also indicated that three variables had significant direct effects on academic achievement, namely gender, number of academic credits, and sports motivation. In addition, gender had a significant indirect effect on academic achievement via stress, and the number of academic credits had a significant indirect effect on academic achievement via sports motivation. These findings indicated that female students scored roughly six points higher than male students on this final exam. Also, gender's influence on academic achievement was partially attributable to the student's level of stress (e.g., male students with high levels of stress had lower grades on this final exam than female students with the same level of stress). In addition, it was found that students taking more academic credits were likely to score higher on this final exam than those students taking fewer credits. Further, as students' level of sports amotivation increased, the strength of the relationship between the number of student academic credits and academic achievement decreased. These results support Self-Determination Theory and strengthen the standpoint of athletics and academics in regards to self-regulation.

KSC Space Station Operations Language (SSOL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

The Space Station Operations Language (SSOL) will serve a large community of diverse users dealing with the integration and checkout of Space Station modules. Kennedy Space Center's plan to achieve Level A specification of the SSOL system, encompassing both its language and its automated support environment, is presented in the format of a briefing. The SSOL concept is a collection of fundamental elements that span languages, operating systems, software development, software tools and several user classes. The approach outlines a thorough process that combines the benefits of rapid prototyping with a coordinated requirements gathering effort, yielding a Level A specification of the SSOL requirements.

Fast tracking the vaccine licensure process to control an epidemic of serogroup B meningococcal disease in New Zealand.

PubMed

Lennon, Diana; Jackson, Catherine; Wong, Sharon; Horsfall, Maraekura; Stewart, Joanna; Reid, Stewart

2009-08-15

Epidemics of serogroup B meningococcal disease are rare. Strain-specific outer membrane vesicle vaccines, which are not marketed, are the only current tool for control. A correlate of protection is ill defined, but published data suggest that measured serum bactericidal antibody levels parallel efficacy. Even infants can mount a strain-specific antibody response to a strain-specific vaccine. New Zealand's epidemic (1991-2007; peak rate [in 2001], 17.4 cases per 100,000 persons) was dominated by a single strain. After a 5-year search (1996-2001) for a manufacturer for a strain-specific outer membrane vesicle vaccine, a fast-tracked research program (2002-2004) determined the safety and immunogenicity of vaccine in infants (2 age groups: 6-10 weeks and 6-8 months), children (age, 16-24 months), and school-aged children (age, 8-12 years) after an adult trial. The vaccine was reactogenic, compared with control vaccines (meningococcal C conjugate and routine infant vaccines), but retention was high. Three vaccine doses produced antibody levels (measured by serum bactericidal assay) that were considered to be adequate for public health intervention. However, in young infants, a fourth dose was required to achieve levels equivalent to those achieved by other age groups. Provisional licensure by New Zealand's MedSafe was based on serological criteria strengthened by bridged safety data from studies of the parent outer membrane vesicle vaccine, independent assessment of manufacturing quality, and a clear plan for safety monitoring and effectiveness evaluation after licensure.

Nanogram per milliliter-level immunologic detection of alpha-fetoprotein with integrated rotating-resonance microcantilevers for early-stage diagnosis of heptocellular carcinoma.

PubMed

Liu, Yongjing; Li, Xinxin; Zhang, Zhixiang; Zuo, Guomin; Cheng, Zhenxing; Yu, Haitao

2009-02-01

Nanogram per milliliter-level ultra-low concentration detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is an important marker for heptocellular carcinoma, is in favor of early-stage prognosis and disease diagnosis. On-the-spot rapid detection of such antigens as AFP highly requires innovative micro/nano techniques. To meet this requirement, an advanced resonant microcantilever is developed and used for screening the tumor marker at nanogram per milliliter level. The sensing principle of the resonant microcantilever is measuring frequency-shift versus specific-adsorbed mass. With both electromagnetic resonance-exciting and piezoresistive readout elements on-chip integrated, the microcantilever sensor is operated in a rotating resonance mode to improve sensitivity and resolution to specific mass adsorption. Prior to detection of AFP with previously immobilized anti-AFP antibody, the antigen-antibody specific-binding is confirmed with an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay experiment. By implementing the specific reaction in liquid and reading out the sensor signal in lab air environment, the micromechanical sensor has achieved the sensitive scale between 2 and 20 ng/ml. To effectively depress cross-talk signal and improve resolution, the insensitive regions of the cantilever surface are pre-modified with 2-[methoxy (polyethyleneoxy) propyl] trimethoxysilane for nonspecific bio-adsorption minimization. Finally, a better AFP detecting limit than 2 ng/mL is experimentally achieved. The label-free resonant microcantilever sensor is promising in low-cost or even disposable early-stage prognosis and diagnosis of tumors.

Predictors of academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper: a retrospective qualitative study.

PubMed

Khareedi, R

2018-05-01

The cohort of students enrolled in the discipline-specific bioscience paper reflects a structural diversity in that it includes students of multiple ethnicities, varied age groups, differing scholastic and life experiences. These divergent identities of students are known to influence academic performance. The purpose of this retrospective quantitative study was to determine the ability of a set of variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, level of prior education, the place from which prior education was obtained, work experience and prior academic achievement to predict academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper. The sample for this study was a purposive sample of all oral health students who had enrolled in the paper at the Auckland University of Technology from 2011 to 2014. The desensitised empirical data of 116 students from the University's database were subject to multivariable regression analysis. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. Prior academic achievement was a statistically significant predictor variable (P < 0.001) for the academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper and was also positively correlated (r = 0.641, P < 0.001) to the grades in the discipline-specific bioscience paper. Prior academic achievement was the only variable that was demonstrated to be correlated to and predictive of the academic performance in the discipline-specific bioscience paper. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Determining the Computer Literacy Levels of Vocational Teachers in Southern Nevada and Developing a Computer In-Service Program for Vocational Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pomeroy, James L.

A study was conducted to achieve the following objectives: (1) to determine the computer skills level of the vocational teachers in Southern Nevada; (2) to design a computer literacy inservice program targeting the specific instructional needs of vocational teachers with deficient skills; (3) to develop a plan for evaluating the inservice training…

The Effects of the Medium of Instruction in Certificate-Level Physics on Achievement and Motivation to Learn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fung, Dennis; Yip, Valerie

2014-01-01

A 3-year study was launched in a Hong Kong secondary school to investigate the effects of the medium of instruction (MOI), specifically English and Chinese, on the learning of certificate-level physics. A total of 199 Secondary Four (S4 or tenth-grade) students, divided into three major ability groups, participated in a teaching intervention…

Economics within Social Studies: A Comparative Analysis of Student Performance on the 2012 Kansas History-Government Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deplazes, Svetlana P.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the overall level of student achievement on the 2012 Kansas History-Government Assessment in Grades 6, 8, and high school, with major emphasis on the subject area of economics. It explored four specific research questions in order to: (1) determine the level of student knowledge of assessed economic…

Chemical Vapor Detection using Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-01

1 / f noise , and achieving chemical specificity. Recently, researchers have developed approaches to...nanoscale materials, exhibit a large component of 1 / f noise .11 Such 1 / f noise is a particular concern for chemical detection, because the sensors operate at...low frequencies. We discuss how SWNT networks can be designed to reduce the level of 1 / f noise to acceptable levels.12 Lastly, we discuss the issue

C-Reactive Protein and Procalcitonin as Early Markers of Septic Complications after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Morbidly Obese Patients Within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program.

PubMed

Muñoz, José Luis; Ruiz-Tovar, Jaime; Miranda, Elena; Berrio, Diana Lorena; Moya, Pedro; Gutiérrez, Manuel; Flores, Raquel; Picó, Carlos; Pérez, Ana

2016-05-01

The performance of most bariatric procedures within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs has resulted in considerable advantages, including a reduction in the length of hospital stay to 2 to 3 days. However, some postoperative complications can appear after the patient has been discharged. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of various acute-phase parameters determined 24 and 48 hours after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) as bariatric procedure, for predicting septic complications, such a surgical site infection (SSI), in the postoperative course. A prospective study of 115 morbidly obese patients who underwent LSG within an ERAS program between 2012 and 2015 was conducted. Blood analysis was performed 24 and 48 hours after surgery. Acute-phase parameters (C-reactive protein [CRP], procalcitonin, and fibrinogen) and WBC count were investigated. Septic complications were observed in 13 patients (11.3%). Using receiver operating characteristic analysis at 24 hours postoperatively, a cutoff level of CRP at 70 mg/L achieved 85% sensitivity and 90% specificity for predicting SSI, and a cutoff level of procalcitonin at 0.2 ng/mL achieved 70% sensitivity and 90% specificity. At 48 hours postoperatively, a cutoff level of CRP at 150 mg/L and procalcitonin at 0.95 ng/mL achieved 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity for predicting SSI. The use of CRP and procalcitonin in the first day and especially in the second day postoperative can predict septic complications after LSG. This is most useful for patients within an ERAS program who will be discharged early. Copyright © 2016 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Finding pathways to national-scale land-sector sustainability.

PubMed

Gao, Lei; Bryan, Brett A

2017-04-12

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets under Agenda 2030 of the United Nations map a coherent global sustainability ambition at a level of detail general enough to garner consensus amongst nations. However, achieving the global agenda will depend heavily on successful national-scale implementation, which requires the development of effective science-driven targets tailored to specific national contexts and supported by strong national governance. Here we assess the feasibility of achieving multiple SDG targets at the national scale for the Australian land-sector. We scaled targets to three levels of ambition and two timeframes, then quantitatively explored the option space for target achievement under 648 plausible future environmental, socio-economic, technological and policy pathways using the Land-Use Trade-Offs (LUTO) integrated land systems model. We show that target achievement is very sensitive to global efforts to abate emissions, domestic land-use policy, productivity growth rate, and land-use change adoption behaviour and capacity constraints. Weaker target-setting ambition resulted in higher achievement but poorer sustainability outcomes. Accelerating land-use dynamics after 2030 changed the targets achieved by 2050, warranting a longer-term view and greater flexibility in sustainability implementation. Simultaneous achievement of multiple targets is rare owing to the complexity of sustainability target implementation and the pervasive trade-offs in resource-constrained land systems. Given that hard choices are needed, the land-sector must first address the essential food/fibre production, biodiversity and land degradation components of sustainability via specific policy pathways. It may also contribute to emissions abatement, water and energy targets by capitalizing on co-benefits. However, achieving targets relevant to the land-sector will also require substantial contributions from other sectors such as clean energy, food systems and water resource management. Nations require globally coordinated, national-scale, comprehensive, integrated, multi-sectoral analyses to support national target-setting that prioritizes efficient and effective sustainability interventions across societies, economies and environments.

Finding pathways to national-scale land-sector sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Lei; Bryan, Brett A.

2017-04-01

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets under Agenda 2030 of the United Nations map a coherent global sustainability ambition at a level of detail general enough to garner consensus amongst nations. However, achieving the global agenda will depend heavily on successful national-scale implementation, which requires the development of effective science-driven targets tailored to specific national contexts and supported by strong national governance. Here we assess the feasibility of achieving multiple SDG targets at the national scale for the Australian land-sector. We scaled targets to three levels of ambition and two timeframes, then quantitatively explored the option space for target achievement under 648 plausible future environmental, socio-economic, technological and policy pathways using the Land-Use Trade-Offs (LUTO) integrated land systems model. We show that target achievement is very sensitive to global efforts to abate emissions, domestic land-use policy, productivity growth rate, and land-use change adoption behaviour and capacity constraints. Weaker target-setting ambition resulted in higher achievement but poorer sustainability outcomes. Accelerating land-use dynamics after 2030 changed the targets achieved by 2050, warranting a longer-term view and greater flexibility in sustainability implementation. Simultaneous achievement of multiple targets is rare owing to the complexity of sustainability target implementation and the pervasive trade-offs in resource-constrained land systems. Given that hard choices are needed, the land-sector must first address the essential food/fibre production, biodiversity and land degradation components of sustainability via specific policy pathways. It may also contribute to emissions abatement, water and energy targets by capitalizing on co-benefits. However, achieving targets relevant to the land-sector will also require substantial contributions from other sectors such as clean energy, food systems and water resource management. Nations require globally coordinated, national-scale, comprehensive, integrated, multi-sectoral analyses to support national target-setting that prioritizes efficient and effective sustainability interventions across societies, economies and environments.

The relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement among adolescent in South Korea.

PubMed

Han, Gun-Soo

2018-04-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between physical fitness level and academic achievement in middle school students. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 236 students aged 13-15 from three middle schools in D city, South Korea, were selected using a random sampling method. Academic achievement was measured by students' 2014 fall-semester final exam scores and the level of physical fitness was determined according to the PAPS (Physical Activity Promotion System) score administrated by the Korean Ministry of Education. A Pearson correlation test with SPSS 20.0 was employed. [Results] The Pearson correlation test revealed a significant correlation between physical fitness and academic achievement. Specifically, students with higher levels of physical fitness tend to have higher academic performance. In addition, final exam scores of core subjects (e.g., English, mathematics, and science) were significantly related to the PAPS score. [Conclusion] Results of this study can be used to develop more effective physical education curricula. In addition, the data can also be applied to recreation and sport programs for other populations (e.g., children and adult) as well as existing national physical fitness data in various countries.

Preservice music teachers' predictions, perceptions, and assessment of students with special needs: the need for training in student assessment.

PubMed

VanWeelden, Kimberly; Whipple, Jennifer

2007-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to examine preservice teachers' predictions and perceptions of students with special needs' levels of mastery of specific music education concepts and actual grades achieved by these students using alternative assessments and testing accommodations within two subpopulations: students with emotional and/or behavior disorders (EDBD) and students with acute cognitive delays (ACD). The preservice teachers predicted students within the EDBD class would achieve a significantly higher level of mastery of the music concepts than students within the ACD classroom. After the field experience, however, the preservice teachers' perceptions of all students' levels of mastery increased from prediction scores overall. Additionally, preservice teachers were able to execute testing accommodations and implement successful alternative assessments which gave empirical data on the students' levels of mastery of the music education concepts within the curriculum. Implications for music therapists, as consultants in special education, are discussed.

Curriculum for the Intellectually Disabled Trainable.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magnolia Special Education Center, Orlando, FL.

The curriculum guide presents a developmental sequence of learning activities to achieve specific goals for primary, intermediate, and secondary age level trainable mentally retarded students. Six major areas of learning are covered: self care (bathroom, grooming, food, clothing, safety), body usage (gross motor, health, fitness, eye-hand…

Extracurricular activities: Investigating the affects of participation-nonparticipation on the Georgia High School Science Graduation Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, Ray A.

Student achievement research suggests that participation in extracurricular activities has a positive impact on the academic and developmental outcomes for adolescents. Specifically, several studies reported that adolescents who participate in extra-curricular activities are more likely to experience increases in academic achievement, self-esteem, high school graduation rates, and pro-social behaviors. On the other hand, there is research suggesting that participation in extracurricular activities may distract students from their academic pursuits. The state of Georgia requires all eleventh grade students to participate in the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). The GHSGT consists of five separate tests that include (a) English/language arts, (b) math, (c) writing, (d) social studies, and (e) science. Each comprehensive exam is worth 600 points. A high school diploma will be awarded if the student scores at least 500 points on each individual exam. Further, review of student outcomes on the GHSGT revealed that first-time test takers were failing the science portion of the test at a greater percentage than any other subject on the GHSGT. Specifically, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) reported that from 2002 through 2004, a total of 70,451 students or 30.3% of students that were first-time test takers failed the science portion of the GHSGT. As a result, investigating factors that potentially could increase student achievement in science became the impetus for this study. In particular, this study examined the relationships between the levels of student participation in school sponsored extracurricular activities in relation to the level of student achievement in the area of science.

Design and testing of regulatory cassettes for optimal activity in skeletal and cardiac muscles.

PubMed

Himeda, Charis L; Chen, Xiaolan; Hauschka, Stephen D

2011-01-01

Gene therapy for muscular dystrophies requires efficient gene delivery to the striated musculature and specific, high-level expression of the therapeutic gene in a physiologically diverse array of muscles. This can be achieved by the use of recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors in conjunction with muscle-specific regulatory cassettes. We have constructed several generations of regulatory cassettes based on the enhancer and promoter of the muscle creatine kinase gene, some of which include heterologous enhancers and individual elements from other muscle genes. Since the relative importance of many control elements varies among different anatomical muscles, we are aiming to tailor these cassettes for high-level expression in cardiac muscle, and in fast and slow skeletal muscles. With the achievement of efficient intravascular gene delivery to isolated limbs, selected muscle groups, and heart in large animal models, the design of cassettes optimized for activity in different muscle types is now a practical goal. In this protocol, we outline the key steps involved in the design of regulatory cassettes for optimal activity in skeletal and cardiac muscle, and testing in mature muscle fiber cultures. The basic principles described here can also be applied to engineering tissue-specific regulatory cassettes for other cell types.

Application of the Bootstrap Statistical Method in Deriving Vibroacoustic Specifications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, William O.; Paez, Thomas L.

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the Bootstrap Method for specification of vibroacoustic test specifications. Vibroacoustic test specifications are necessary to properly accept or qualify a spacecraft and its components for the expected acoustic, random vibration and shock environments seen on an expendable launch vehicle. Traditionally, NASA and the U.S. Air Force have employed methods of Normal Tolerance Limits to derive these test levels based upon the amount of data available, and the probability and confidence levels desired. The Normal Tolerance Limit method contains inherent assumptions about the distribution of the data. The Bootstrap is a distribution-free statistical subsampling method which uses the measured data themselves to establish estimates of statistical measures of random sources. This is achieved through the computation of large numbers of Bootstrap replicates of a data measure of interest and the use of these replicates to derive test levels consistent with the probability and confidence desired. The comparison of the results of these two methods is illustrated via an example utilizing actual spacecraft vibroacoustic data.

Formal verification of an avionics microprocessor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivas, Mandayam, K.; Miller, Steven P.

1995-01-01

Formal specification combined with mechanical verification is a promising approach for achieving the extremely high levels of assurance required of safety-critical digital systems. However, many questions remain regarding their use in practice: Can these techniques scale up to industrial systems, where are they likely to be useful, and how should industry go about incorporating them into practice? This report discusses a project undertaken to answer some of these questions, the formal verification of the AAMPS microprocessor. This project consisted of formally specifying in the PVS language a rockwell proprietary microprocessor at both the instruction-set and register-transfer levels and using the PVS theorem prover to show that the microcode correctly implemented the instruction-level specification for a representative subset of instructions. Notable aspects of this project include the use of a formal specification language by practicing hardware and software engineers, the integration of traditional inspections with formal specifications, and the use of a mechanical theorem prover to verify a portion of a commercial, pipelined microprocessor that was not explicitly designed for formal verification.

Adult vaccination against tetanus and diphtheria: the European perspective

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Summary Besides immunizations against influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae and herpes zoster, which are recommended specifically for elderly people, regular booster vaccinations against tetanus, diphtheria and in some cases pertussis and polio are recommended in many European countries for adults, including elderly people. Vaccination recommendations for adults differ greatly between individual countries and coverage data is scarce. Tetanus‐specific antibody concentrations are generally higher than diphtheria‐specific antibodies, and a substantial proportion of adults, and particularly of elderly people, do not have protective antibody concentrations against diphtheria. Antibody levels increase upon booster vaccination in all age groups, but diphtheria‐specific antibody concentrations remain below protective levels in some older individuals, even immediately after vaccination and long‐term protection is frequently not achieved. Future vaccination strategies should therefore include regular and well‐documented booster shots, e.g. against tetanus and diphtheria, throughout life. PMID:27279025

Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement in College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindner, Reinhard W.; Harris, Bruce

This paper presents study results concerning the nature of successful academic performance, specifically examining to what extent self-regulated learning played a role in successful academic performance at the college level. (Self-regulated learning is defined as the integration and utilization of cognitive, metacognitive, motivational,…

Sustainable Design of EPA's Campus in Research Triangle Park, NC—Environmental Performance Specifications in Construction Contracts—Section 01450 Sequence of Finishes Installation

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn more about the special construction scheduling/sequencing requirements and procedures necessary to assure achievement of designed Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) levels for the completed project required by the EPA IAQ Program.

Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Organic and Engineered Nanomaterial Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (WaterRF Report 4334)

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of this project was to determine hydraulic and carbon loading rates for constructed wetlands required for achieving different levels of organic and nanomaterial contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) removal in constructed wetlands. Specific research objectives included...

Development of new sealed bipolar lead-acid battery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Attia, Alan I.; Rowlette, J. J.

1987-01-01

New light weight composite bipolar plates which can withstand the corrosive environment of the lead acid battery have made possible the construction of a sealed bipolar lead acid battery that promises to achieve very high specific power levels and substantially higher energy densities than conventional lead acid batteries. Performance projections based on preliminary experimental results show that the peak specific power of the battery can be as high as 90 kW/kg, and that a specific power of 5 kW/kg can be sustained over several thousand pulses.

The development of a new sealed bipolar lead-acid battery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Attia, A. I.; Rowlette, J. J.

1988-01-01

New light weight composite bipolar plates which can withstand the corrosive environment of the lead acid battery have made possible the construction of a sealed bipolar lead acid battery that promises to achieve very high specific power levels and substantially higher energy densities than conventional lead acid batteries. Performance projections based on preliminary experimental results show that the peak specific power of the battery can be as high as 90 kW/kg, and that a specific power of 5 kW/kg can be sustained over several thousand pulses.

Stress and Achievement of Cardiovascular Health Metrics: The American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 in Blacks of the Jackson Heart Study.

PubMed

Brewer, LaPrincess C; Redmond, Nicole; Slusser, Joshua P; Scott, Christopher G; Chamberlain, Alanna M; Djousse, Luc; Patten, Christi A; Roger, Veronique L; Sims, Mario

2018-06-05

Ideal cardiovascular health metrics (defined by the American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 [LS7]) are suboptimal among blacks, which results in high risk of cardiovascular disease. We examined the association of multiple stressors with LS7 components among blacks. Using a community-based cohort of blacks (N=4383), we examined associations of chronic stress, minor stressors, major life events, and a cumulative stress score with LS7 components (smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting plasma glucose) and an LS7 composite score. Multivariable logistic regression assessed the odds of achieving intermediate/ideal levels of cardiovascular health adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and biomedical factors. The LS7 components with the lowest percentages of intermediate/ideal cardiovascular health levels were diet (39%), body mass index (47%), and physical activity (51%). Higher chronic, minor, and cumulative stress scores were associated with decreased odds (odds ratio [OR]) of achieving intermediate/ideal levels for smoking (OR [95% confidence interval], 0.80 [0.73-0.88], 0.84 [0.75-0.94], and 0.81 [0.74-0.90], respectively). Participants with more major life events had decreased odds of achieving intermediate/ideal levels for smoking (OR, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-0.92) and fasting plasma glucose (OR, 0.90; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.98). Those with higher scores for minor stressors and major life events were less likely to achieve intermediate or ideal LS7 composite scores (OR [95% confidence interval], 0.89 [0.81-0.97] and 0.91 [0.84-0.98], respectively). Blacks with higher levels of multiple stress measures are less likely to achieve intermediate or ideal levels of overall cardiovascular health (LS7 composite score), specific behaviors (smoking), and biological factors (fasting plasma glucose). © 2018 The Authors and Mayo Clinic. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

The development of a tournament preparation framework for competitive golf: A Delphi study.

PubMed

Pilgrim, Jarred; Kremer, Peter; Robertson, Samuel

2018-05-09

Tournament preparation in golf is used by players to increase course knowledge, develop strategy, optimise playing conditions and facilitate self-regulation. It is not known whether specific behaviours in tournament preparation should be given priority in education and practice at different stages of competition. This study aimed to achieve consensus on the importance of specific tournament preparation behaviours or "items" to players of five competitive levels. A two-round Delphi study was used, including an expert panel of 36 coaches, high-performance staff, players and academics. Participants were asked to score the relative importance of 48 items to players using a 5-point Likert-type scale. For an item to achieve consensus, 67% agreement was required in two adjacent score categories. Consensus was reached for 46 items and these were used to develop a ranked framework for each competitive level. The developed framework provides consensus-based guidelines of the behaviours that are perceived as important in tournament preparation. This framework could be used by national sport organisations to guide the development of more comprehensive learning environments for players and coaches. It could also direct future studies examining the critical behaviours for golfers across different competitive levels.

Inattention in primary school is not good for your future school achievement-A pattern classification study.

PubMed

Lundervold, Astri J; Bøe, Tormod; Lundervold, Arvid

2017-01-01

Inattention in childhood is associated with academic problems later in life. The contribution of specific aspects of inattentive behaviour is, however, less known. We investigated feature importance of primary school teachers' reports on nine aspects of inattentive behaviour, gender and age in predicting future academic achievement. Primary school teachers of n = 2491 children (7-9 years) rated nine items reflecting different aspects of inattentive behaviour in 2002. A mean academic achievement score from the previous semester in high school (2012) was available for each youth from an official school register. All scores were at a categorical level. Feature importances were assessed by using multinominal logistic regression, classification and regression trees analysis, and a random forest algorithm. Finally, a comprehensive pattern classification procedure using k-fold cross-validation was implemented. Overall, inattention was rated as more severe in boys, who also obtained lower academic achievement scores in high school than girls. Problems related to sustained attention and distractibility were together with age and gender defined as the most important features to predict future achievement scores. Using these four features as input to a collection of classifiers employing k-fold cross-validation for prediction of academic achievement level, we obtained classification accuracy, precision and recall that were clearly better than chance levels. Primary school teachers' reports of problems related to sustained attention and distractibility were identified as the two most important features of inattentive behaviour predicting academic achievement in high school. Identification and follow-up procedures of primary school children showing these characteristics should be prioritised to prevent future academic failure.

[Validation and adhesion to GESIDA quality indicators in patients with HIV infection].

PubMed

Riera, Melchor; Esteban, Herminia; Suarez, Ignacio; Palacios, Rosario; Lozano, Fernando; Blanco, Jose R; Valencia, Eulalia; Ocampo, Antonio; Amador, Concha; Frontera, Guillem; vonWichmann-de Miguel, Miguel Angel

2016-01-01

The objective of the study is to validate the relevant GESIDA quality indicators for HIV infection, assessing the reliability, feasibility and adherence to them. The reliability was evaluated using the reproducibility of 6 indicators in peer review, with the second observer being an outsider. The feasibility and measurement of the level of adherence to the 22 indicators was conducted with annual fragmented retrospective collection of information from specific databases or the clinical charts of the nine participating hospitals. Reliability was very high, with interobserver agreement levels higher than 95% in 5 of the 6 indicators. The median time to achieve the indicators ranged between 5 and 600minutes, but could be achieved progressively from specific databases, enabling obtaining them automatically. As regards adherence to the indicators related with the initial evaluation of the patients, instructions and suitability of the guidelines for ART, adherence to ART, follow-up in clinics, and achieve an undetectable HIV by PCR at week 48 of the ART. Indicators of quality related to the prevention of opportunistic infections and control of comorbidities, the standards set were not achieved, and significant heterogeneity was observed between hospitals. The GESIDA quality indicators of HIV infection enabled the relevant indicators to be feasibly and reliably measured, and should be collected in all the units that care for patients with HIV infection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Listening to middle-school Spanish-speaking English language learners: A qualitative study of their perspectives of science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Ferrao, Julio E.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding and explanation of the science achievement gap between Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) and their mainstream peers. The sample of purposefully selected participants (N = 23) included students representing eight Spanish-speaking countries who attended three middle schools (grades 6th-8th), 11 boys and 12 girls, with different years of schooling in the United States, English proficiency levels, and science achievement levels. Data gathering strategies included individual interviews with participants, classroom observations, and analysis of secondary data sources on students' English language proficiency and science achievement. Data interpretation strategies using a critical-interpretive perspective consisted of coding and narrative analysis, including analyses of excerpts and case studies. Two major findings emerge from the study: (1) An inverse relation between participants' number of years of exposure to science learning in an English-only learning environment and their science achievement levels; and (2) specific participant-identified problems, such as learning the science vocabulary, writing in science, the use of mathematics in science, and the lack of sense making in the science classroom. Key recommendations comprise: (1) Acknowledging the value of dual language education; (2) supporting the science-literacy connection; (3) ensuring high-quality science through research-informed instructional strategies; and (4) assessing ELLs' science achievement.

Tinkering and Technical Self-Efficacy of Engineering Students at the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Dale R.; Wood, Lorelei; Corkins, James; Krause, Stephen

2015-01-01

Self-efficacy in engineering is important because individuals with low self-efficacy have lower levels of achievement and persistence in engineering majors. To examine self-efficacy among community college engineering students, an instrument to specifically measure two important aspects of engineering, tinkering and technical self-efficacy, was…

Effects of Verb Familiarity on Finiteness Marking in Children with SLI

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abel, Alyson D.

2012-01-01

Children must acquire multiple language dimensions to ultimately achieve adult levels of language competence. Two such language dimensions, finiteness marking and the verb lexicon, are considered areas of weakness in specific language impairment (SLI). Given these weaknesses, the question arises of whether these two dimensions are related in…

Leading under Pressure: Leadership for Social Inclusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muijs, Daniel; Ainscow, Mel; Dyson, Alan; Raffo, Carlo; Goldrick, Sue; Kerr, Kirstin; Lennie, Clare; Miles, Susie

2010-01-01

In this study we undertook to look at leadership issues specifically in relation to social inclusion, through a series of six case studies in three districts showing high levels of disadvantage. Findings indicated that schools' views on social inclusion could be typified as leaning towards three main orientations: (1) improving achievement and…

Gamification and Web-Based Homework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goehle, Geoff

2013-01-01

In this paper we demonstrate how video game mechanics can be used to help improve student engagement with online mathematics homework. Specifically, we integrate two common video game systems, levels and achievements, with the online homework program "WeBWorK." We describe the key features of the implementation of these systems and…

Sex-Role Ideology and the Aspirations of High School Girls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaskell, Jane

1977-01-01

Variables specifically related to sex-role definitions in our society must be considered in accounting for the generally lower aspirations of women since after controlling the variables of social class and academic achievement, sex continues to make a difference in the aspiration levels of high school girls. (MJB)

The Impact of School Buildings on Learning. Information Capsule. Volume 1204

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blazer, Christie

2012-01-01

This Information Capsule examines the impact of deteriorating school buildings on students and teachers. Research indicates that students attending schools that are in poor physical condition score lower on achievement tests than students in newer, functional buildings. Studies suggest that several specific factors contribute to lower levels of…

The Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning on Mathematics Proficiency with African American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, Justina

2017-01-01

This sequential exploratory mixed methods study addressed the problem of low academic achievement in mathematics, specifically for African American middle school students who historically score below proficient levels on standardized mathematics assessments. The purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of the Project-Based Learning (PBL)…

Effects of metacognitive instruction on the academic achievement of students in the secondary sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianchi, Gregory A.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reflective assessment in the form of situated metacognitive prompts on student achievement in the secondary sciences. A second goal was to determine whether specific gender differences existed in terms of student responsiveness to the metacognitive interventions. Participants in the study consisted of a convenience sample from a population of ninth-grade honors biology students in a large suburban school district located near Seattle, Washington. Beyond answering the specific research questions raised in this study, an additional aim was to broaden the growing body of research pertaining to the effect of metacognition on student achievement. A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design was employed in this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed to address the specific research questions raised. Specifically, a three-way repeated-measures ANOVA was performed. For this purpose, a single within-subjects factor, termed Testing, was defined. Three levels were allocated to this factor, and quantitative data from the Pretest, Posttest, and Retention Test were assigned to the levels, respectively. Group and Gender were defined as between-subjects factors, and both were allocated two levels; the two Group levels were Reflective and Non-Reflective. The effects of Group and Gender on each of the three quantitative measures were examined singly and in interaction with each other. Tests of statistical significance were analyzed at the .05 level. There was a statistically significant effect for Group (Reflective, Non-Reflective) by Testing (Pretest, Posttest, Retention Test). A three-way repeated-measures ANOVA procedure revealed that students in the Reflective group outperformed students in the Non-Reflective group (F = 10.258, p = .002, Partial eta 2 = .088). According to the effect size estimate, almost 9% of variance in the Testing variable was attributable to the Group variable. There was not a significant interaction effect for Gender. A three-way repeated-measures ANOVA procedure revealed that Testing X Group X Gender did not yield a statistically significant F ratio (F = 1.471, p = .228, Partial eta2 = .014). Students in the Reflective group outperformed students in the Non-Reflective group, regardless of gender. The findings of this study offer modest evidence that reflective assessment in the form of situated metacognitive prompts may improve student academic outcomes at the secondary level. This study failed to provide a significant finding regarding gender-related variation in a metacognitive learning cycle.

Both Patient and Facility Contribute to Achieving the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Pay-for-Performance Target for Dialysis Adequacy

PubMed Central

Tighiouart, Hocine; Meyer, Klemens B.; Miskulin, Dana C.

2011-01-01

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) designated the achieved urea reduction ratio (URR) as a pay-for-performance measure, but to what extent this measure reflects patient characteristics and adherence instead of its intent to reflect facility performance is unknown. Here, we quantified the contributions of patient case-mix and adherence to the variability in achieving URR targets across dialysis facilities. We found that 92% of 10,069 hemodialysis patients treated at 173 facilities during the last quarter of 2004 achieved the target URR ≥65%. Mixed-effect models with random intercept for dialysis facility revealed a significant facility effect: 11.5% of the variation in achievement of target URR was attributable to the facility level. Adjusting for patient case-mix reduced the proportion of variation attributable to the facility level to 6.7%. Patient gender, body surface area, dialysis access, and adherence with treatment strongly associated with achievement of the URR target. We could not identify specific facility characteristics that explained the remaining variation between facilities. These data suggest that if adherence is not a modifiable patient characteristic, providers could be unfairly penalized for caring for these patients under current CMS policy. These penalties may have unintended consequences. PMID:22025629

Performance characterization of a low power hydrazine arcjet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knowles, S. C.; Smith, W. W.; Curran, F. M.; Haag, T. W.

1987-01-01

Hydrazine arcjets, which offer substantial performance advantages over alternatives in geosynchronous satellite stationkeeping applications, have undergone startup, materials compatibility, lifetime, and power conditioning unit design issues. Devices in the 1000-3000 W output range have been characterized for several different electrode configurations. Constrictor length and diameter, electrode gap setting, and vortex strength have been parametrically studied in order to ascertain the influence of each on specific impulse and efficiency; specific impulse levels greater than 700 sec have been achieved.

Strategies to balance fidelity to Housing First principles with local realities: lessons from a large urban centre.

PubMed

O'Campo, Patricia; Zerger, Suzanne; Gozdzik, Agnes; Jeyaratnam, Jeyagobi; Stergiopoulos, Vicky

2015-05-01

The importance of program implementation in achieving desired outcomes is well-documented, but there remains a need for concrete guidance on how to achieve fidelity to evidence-based models within dynamic local contexts. Housing First (HF), an evidence-based model for people experiencing homelessness and mental illness, provides an important test-case for such guidance; it targets a uniquely underserved subpopulation with complex needs, and is delivered by practitioners with varying knowledge and skill levels. Scientific evidence affirms HF's effectiveness, but its rapid dissemination has outpaced the ability to monitor not only whether it is being implemented with fidelity, but also how this can be achieved within variable local contexts and challenges. This qualitative study contributes to this need by capturing insights from practitioners on implementation challenges and specific strategies developed to overcome them. Findings reinforce the importance of developing HF-specific implementation guidelines, and of engaging relevant stakeholders throughout all phases of that development.

Fine motor skills and executive function both contribute to kindergarten achievement

PubMed Central

Cameron, Claire E.; Brock, Laura L.; Murrah, William M.; Bell, Lindsay H.; Worzalla, Samantha L.; Grissmer, David; Morrison, Frederick J.

2012-01-01

This study examined the contribution of executive function (EF) and multiple aspects of fine motor skills to achievement on six standardized assessments in a sample of middle-SES kindergarteners. 3- and 4-year-olds’ (N=213) fine and gross motor skills were assessed in a home visit before kindergarten; EF was measured at fall of kindergarten; and Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III) Tests of Academic Achievement were administered at fall and spring. Correlations indicated that EF and fine motor skills appeared distinct. Further, controlling for background variables, higher levels of both EF and fine motor skills, specifically design copy, predicted higher achievement on multiple subtests at kindergarten entry, as well as improvement from fall to spring. Implications for research on school readiness are discussed. PMID:22537276

Is international junior success a reliable predictor for international senior success in elite combat sports?

PubMed

Li, Pingwei; De Bosscher, Veerle; Pion, Johan; Weissensteiner, Juanita R; Vertonghen, Jikkemien

2018-05-01

Currently in the literature, there is a dearth of empirical research that confirms whether international junior success is a reliable predictor for future international senior success. Despite the uncertainty of the junior-senior relationship, federations and coaches still tend to use junior success as a predictor for long-term senior success. A range of former investigations utilising a retrospective lens has merely focused on success that athletes attained at junior level competitions. Success that was achieved at senior-level competitions but at a junior age was relatively ignored. This study explored to what extent international senior success can be predicted based on success that athletes achieved in either international junior level competitions (i.e. junior medalists) or senior competitions at a junior age (i.e. early achievers). The sample contains 4011 international male and female athletes from three combat sports (taekwondo, wrestling and boxing), who were born between 1974 and 1990 and participated in both international junior and senior-level competitions between 1990 and 2016. Gender and sport differences were compared. The results revealed that 61.4% of the junior medalists and 90.4% of the early achievers went on to win international medals at a senior age. Among the early achievers, 92.2% of the taekwondo athletes, 68.4% of the wrestling athletes and 37.9% of the boxing athletes could be reliably "predicted" to win international senior medals. The findings demonstrate that specific to the three combat sports examined, international junior success appears to be an important predictor to long-term international senior success.

A reference architecture for the component factory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basili, Victor R.; Caldiera, Gianluigi; Cantone, Giovanni

1992-01-01

Software reuse can be achieved through an organization that focuses on utilization of life cycle products from previous developments. The component factory is both an example of the more general concepts of experience and domain factory and an organizational unit worth being considered independently. The critical features of such an organization are flexibility and continuous improvement. In order to achieve these features we can represent the architecture of the factory at different levels of abstraction and define a reference architecture from which specific architectures can be derived by instantiation. A reference architecture is an implementation and organization independent representation of the component factory and its environment. The paper outlines this reference architecture, discusses the instantiation process, and presents some examples of specific architectures by comparing them in the framework of the reference model.

Recent Achievement in Gene Cloning and Functional Genomics in Soybean

PubMed Central

Zhai, Hong; Lü, Shixiang; Wu, Hongyan; Zhang, Yupeng

2013-01-01

Soybean is a model plant for photoperiodism as well as for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. However, a rather low efficiency in soybean transformation hampers functional analysis of genes isolated from soybean. In comparison, rapid development and progress in flowering time and photoperiodic response have been achieved in Arabidopsis and rice. As the soybean genomic information has been released since 2008, gene cloning and functional genomic studies have been revived as indicated by successfully characterizing genes involved in maturity and nematode resistance. Here, we review some major achievements in the cloning of some important genes and some specific features at genetic or genomic levels revealed by the analysis of functional genomics of soybean. PMID:24311973

Eminence, IQ, physical and mental health, and achievement domain : Cox's 282 Geniuses revisited.

PubMed

Simonton, Dean Keith; Song, Anna V

2009-04-01

Catharine Cox published two studies of highly eminent creators and leaders, the first in 1926 as the second volume of Terman's landmark Genetic Studies of Genius and the second in 1936 as a coauthored article. The former publication concentrated on the relation between IQ and achieved eminence, and the latter focused on early physical and mental health. Taking advantage of unpublished data from the second study, we examined, for the first time, the relationships among achieved eminence, IQ, early physical and mental health, and achievement domain. The correlation and regression analyses showed, for these 282 individuals, that eminence is a positive function of IQ and that IQ is a positive function of mental health and a negative function of physical health, implying an indirect effect of physical and mental health on eminence. Furthermore, levels of early physical and mental health vary across 10 specific domains of achievement.

Which Preschool Mathematics Competencies Are Most Predictive of Fifth Grade Achievement?

PubMed

Nguyen, Tutrang; Watts, Tyler W; Duncan, Greg J; Clements, Douglas H; Sarama, Julie S; Wolfe, Christopher; Spitler, Mary Elaine

In an effort to promote best practices regarding mathematics teaching and learning at the preschool level, national advisory panels and organizations have emphasized the importance of children's emergent counting and related competencies, such as the ability to verbally count, maintain one-to-one correspondence, count with cardinality, subitize, and count forward or backward from a given number. However, little research has investigated whether the kind of mathematical knowledge promoted by the various standards documents actually predict later mathematics achievement. The present study uses longitudinal data from a primarily low-income and minority sample of children to examine the extent to which preschool mathematical competencies, specifically basic and advanced counting, predict fifth grade mathematics achievement. Using regression analyses, we find early numeracy abilities to be the strongest predictors of later mathematics achievement, with advanced counting competencies more predictive than basic counting competencies. Our results highlight the significance of preschool mathematics knowledge for future academic achievement.

Both the "What" and "Why" of Youth Sports Participation Matter; a Conditional Process Analysis.

PubMed

Gjesdal, Siv; Appleton, Paul R; Ommundsen, Yngvar

2017-01-01

This study builds on previous research combining achievement goal orientation from Achievement Goal Theory and motivational regulation from Self-Determination Theory. The aim was to assess the combination of the "what" and "why" of youth sport activity, and how it relates to the need for competence and self-esteem. Achievement goal orientation, specifically task and ego, was employed to represent the "what", whilst intrinsic and external regulation reflected the "why". Based on a sample of 496 youth sports participants, structural equation modeling with a bootstrapping procedure was used to examine whether the indirect relationship between achievement goal orientation and self-esteem was conditional to motivational regulation. The results show partial support for the conditional process models. Specifically, task orientation was indirectly linked with self-esteem through competence need, and the relationship was stronger with higher levels of intrinsic regulation for sport. Furthermore, ego orientation was negatively associated with self-esteem through a positive relationship with competence frustration. However, this relationship emerged only for those higher in intrinsic regulation. External regulation did not emerge as a moderator, but presented a positive relationship with competence frustration. Findings are discussed in light of both Achievement Goal Theory and Self-Determination Theory, and underline the importance of considering both the "what" and "why" when attempting to understand motivation in youth sport.

Using rewards and penalties to obtain desired subject performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, M.; Jex, H. R.; Stein, A. C.; Allen, R. W.

1981-01-01

Operant conditioning procedures, specifically the use of negative reinforcement, in achieving stable learning behavior is described. The critical tracking test (CTT) a method of detecting human operator impairment was tested. A pass level is set for each subject, based on that subject's asymptotic skill level while sober. It is critical that complete training take place before the individualized pass level is set in order that the impairment can be detected. The results provide a more general basis for the application of reward/penalty structures in manual control research.

Wide-Bandgap CIAS Thin-film Photovoltaics with Transparent Back Contacts for Next-Generation Single and Multijunction Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woods, Lawrence M.; Kalla, Ajay; Gonzalez, Damian; Ribelin, Rosine

2005-01-01

Future spacecraft and high-altitude airship (HAA) technologies will require high array specific power (W/kg), which can be met using thin-film photovoltaics (PV) on lightweight and flexible substrates. It has been calculated that the thin-film array technology, including the array support structure, begins to exceed the specific power of crystalline multi-junction arrays when the thin-film device efficiencies begin to exceed 12%. Thin-film PV devices have other advantages in that they are more easily integrated into HAA s, and are projected to be much less costly than their crystalline PV counterparts. Furthermore, it is likely that only thin-film array technology will be able to meet device specific power requirements exceeding 1 kW/kg (photovoltaic and integrated substrate/blanket mass only). Of the various thin-film technologies, single junction and radiation resistant CuInSe2 (CIS) and associated alloys with gallium, aluminum and sulfur have achieved the highest levels of thin-film device performance, with the best efficiency, reaching 19.2% under AM1.5 illumination conditions and on thick glass substrates.(3) Thus, it is anticipated that single- and tandem-junction devices with flexible substrates and based on CIS and related alloys could achieve the highest levels of thin-film space and HAA solar array performance.

Intraclass Correlations for Three-Level Multi-Site Cluster-Randomized Trials of Science Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westine, Carl D.

2015-01-01

A cluster-randomized trial (CRT) relies on random assignment of intact clusters to treatment conditions, such as classrooms or schools (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002). One specific type of CRT, a multi-site CRT (MSCRT), is commonly employed in educational research and evaluation studies (Spybrook & Raudenbush, 2009; Spybrook, 2014; Bloom,…

Assessment for Closing the Achievement Gap. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muir, Mike

2005-01-01

Assessment "for" learning is not the same as assessment "of" learning. Assessment of learning is assessment for accountability purposes, to determine a student's level of performance on a specific task or at the conclusion of a unit of teaching and learning. The information gained from this kind of assessment is often used in reporting. Assessment…

Is Graduate Students' Research Exposure to Business Ethics Comprehensive?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piotrowski, Chris; Guyette, Roger W., Jr.

2013-01-01

Graduate-level education, at its core, has a focus on specific, in-depth disciplinary subject matter, with a strong emphasis on methods, conceptual framework, and research. For the developing student, exposure to both past and current research developments is mainly achieved by reading and studying articles published in leading journals in their…

Early College Entrance: How Will My Child Do?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Rachel U.; Hertzog, Nancy B.

2014-01-01

Early college entrance is a form of acceleration, or the process of advancing students in academic programs faster than their same-aged peers. Many early entrants have demonstrated academic ability to achieve at high levels but they exhibit tremendous variety in their age, specific abilities, social and emotional maturity, family support, and…

Response to Intervention with Older Students with Reading Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Fletcher, Jack M.; Francis, David J.; Denton, Carolyn A.; Wanzek, Jeanne; Wexler, Jade; Cirino, Paul T.; Barth, Amy E.; Romain, Melissa A.

2008-01-01

Addressing the literacy needs of secondary school students involves efforts to raise the achievement levels of all students and to address specifically the needs of struggling readers. One approach to this problem is to consider the application of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model with older students. We describe an approach to enhanced…

Identification of Student- and Teacher-Level Variables in Modeling Variation of Mathematics Achievement Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarr, James E.; Ross, Daniel J.; McNaught, Melissa D.; Chavez, Oscar; Grouws, Douglas A.; Reys, Robert E.; Sears, Ruthmae; Taylan, R. Didem

2010-01-01

The Comparing Options in Secondary Mathematics: Investigating Curriculum (COSMIC) project is a longitudinal study of student learning from two types of mathematics curricula: integrated and subject-specific. Previous large-scale research studies such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicate that numerous variables are…

A Course Specific Perspective in the Prediction of Academic Success.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaulieu, R. P.

1990-01-01

Students (N=94) enrolled in a senior-level management course over six semesters were used to investigate the ability of four measures from two industrial tests to predict course performance. The resulting multiple regression equation with four predictors could accurately predict achievement of males, but not of females. (Author/TE)

The Use of ICT in Kindergarten for Teaching Addition Based on Realistic Mathematics Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaranis, Nicholas

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate if information and communications technology (ICT) helps improve kindergarten students' basic mathematical achievement regarding addition. Our research compares the level of mathematical competence of the students taught using our ICT oriented learning method which specifically takes advantage of…

Determinants of Student Mobility in Primary School in Rural Malawi: "An Event History Analysis"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taniguchi, Kyoko

2017-01-01

This study identifies individual, family, and school factors associated with student mobility. Specifically, for Grade 5 students, parents alive and school location were associated with transfer. For students in Grade 7, gender differences, levels of achievement, feelings about school, number of household tasks, distance to school, and parental…

Capacity Levels of Academic Staff in a Malaysian Public University: Students' Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tajuddin, Muhammad Jawad; Ghani, Muhammad Faizal A.; Siraj, Saedah; Saifuldin, Mohd Helmi Firdaus; Kenayatulla, Husaina Banu; Elham, Faisol

2013-01-01

This research aims to develop a competency model for staff of higher education institutions in Malaysia. The model involves the listing of the main features and implementation strategy for the development of academic competence. Specifically, this research aims to achieve the following research objectives: a) to identify if there is any…

Structuring Formal Control Systems Specifications for Reuse: Surviving Hardware Changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, Jeffrey M.; Heimdahl, Mats P. E.; Erickson, Debra M.

2000-01-01

Formal capture and analysis of the required behavior of control systems have many advantages. For instance, it encourages rigorous requirements analysis, the required behavior is unambiguously defined, and we can assure that various safety properties are satisfied. Formal modeling is, however, a costly and time consuming process and if one could reuse the formal models over a family of products, significant cost savings would be realized. In an ongoing project we are investigating how to structure state-based models to achieve a high level of reusability within product families. In this paper we discuss a high-level structure of requirements models that achieves reusability of the desired control behavior across varying hardware platforms in a product family. The structuring approach is demonstrated through a case study in the mobile robotics domain where the desired robot behavior is reused on two diverse platforms-one commercial mobile platform and one build in-house. We use our language RSML (-e) to capture the control behavior for reuse and our tool NIMBUS to demonstrate how the formal specification can be validated and used as a prototype on the two platforms.

Shifted Transversal Design smart-pooling for high coverage interactome mapping

PubMed Central

Xin, Xiaofeng; Rual, Jean-François; Hirozane-Kishikawa, Tomoko; Hill, David E.; Vidal, Marc; Boone, Charles; Thierry-Mieg, Nicolas

2009-01-01

“Smart-pooling,” in which test reagents are multiplexed in a highly redundant manner, is a promising strategy for achieving high efficiency, sensitivity, and specificity in systems-level projects. However, previous applications relied on low redundancy designs that do not leverage the full potential of smart-pooling, and more powerful theoretical constructions, such as the Shifted Transversal Design (STD), lack experimental validation. Here we evaluate STD smart-pooling in yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) interactome mapping. We employed two STD designs and two established methods to perform ORFeome-wide Y2H screens with 12 baits. We found that STD pooling achieves similar levels of sensitivity and specificity as one-on-one array-based Y2H, while the costs and workloads are divided by three. The screening-sequencing approach is the most cost- and labor-efficient, yet STD identifies about twofold more interactions. Screening-sequencing remains an appropriate method for quickly producing low-coverage interactomes, while STD pooling appears as the method of choice for obtaining maps with higher coverage. PMID:19447967

Inattention in primary school is not good for your future school achievement—A pattern classification study

PubMed Central

Bøe, Tormod; Lundervold, Arvid

2017-01-01

Inattention in childhood is associated with academic problems later in life. The contribution of specific aspects of inattentive behaviour is, however, less known. We investigated feature importance of primary school teachers’ reports on nine aspects of inattentive behaviour, gender and age in predicting future academic achievement. Primary school teachers of n = 2491 children (7–9 years) rated nine items reflecting different aspects of inattentive behaviour in 2002. A mean academic achievement score from the previous semester in high school (2012) was available for each youth from an official school register. All scores were at a categorical level. Feature importances were assessed by using multinominal logistic regression, classification and regression trees analysis, and a random forest algorithm. Finally, a comprehensive pattern classification procedure using k-fold cross-validation was implemented. Overall, inattention was rated as more severe in boys, who also obtained lower academic achievement scores in high school than girls. Problems related to sustained attention and distractibility were together with age and gender defined as the most important features to predict future achievement scores. Using these four features as input to a collection of classifiers employing k-fold cross-validation for prediction of academic achievement level, we obtained classification accuracy, precision and recall that were clearly better than chance levels. Primary school teachers’ reports of problems related to sustained attention and distractibility were identified as the two most important features of inattentive behaviour predicting academic achievement in high school. Identification and follow-up procedures of primary school children showing these characteristics should be prioritised to prevent future academic failure. PMID:29182663

Biological water quality monitoring using chemiluminescent and bioluminescent techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, R. R.

1978-01-01

Automated chemiluminescence and bioluminescence sensors were developed for the continuous monitoring of microbial levels in water supplies. The optimal chemical procedures were determined for the chemiluminescence system to achieve maximum sensitivity. By using hydrogen peroxide, reaction rate differentiation, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and carbon monoxide pretreatments, factors which cause interference were eliminated and specificity of the reaction for living and dead bacteria was greatly increased. By employing existing technology with some modifications, a sensitive and specific bioluminescent system was developed.

OBJ-1, A Study in Executable Algebraic Formal Specification.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-01

natural way; 2. Achievement of a high level of abstraction in a natural way; 3. The possibility of executing test cases; 4I. User definition of data types...languages. Goguen has defined a new data type, called symboltree, in OBJ. The purpose of this data type is to provide for fast checking of certain... data type work, is given in Appendix C of this report. K. Parsaye-Ghomi, with A. B. C. Sampaio of UCLA, has written a specification of a hardware

Measuring the Level of Effectiveness of the High School Assistant Principal and the High School Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) in Preparing Their English I, II, and III Teachers and Students for End of Course/TN Ready Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Rhonda

2016-01-01

This research study addressed measuring the level of instructional leadership effectiveness of the high school assistant principal and the high school instructional leadership teams (ILT) at over forty (40) Shelby County Schools. More specifically, this research study examined their impact on teacher effectiveness and student achievement in their…

Body Growth and Rapid Hematological Development Support Breath Hold of Baby Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) during Subice Transit.

PubMed

Noren, Shawn R; Poll, Caryn P; Edwards, Matthew S

Body size and oxygen stores in the blood and muscle set breath-hold limits in marine mammals, yet these characteristics are understudied in immature cetaceans. We examined body mass and hematology from birth through adulthood in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). At birth, body mass was 8% and 6% of the maximum mass recorded for adult females and males, respectively. Body mass then increased rapidly, approaching an asymptote around 12 yr for females and 18 yr for males. Interestingly, red blood cell counts, hemoglobin content, and hematocrit levels decreased after birth; this neonatal anemia was reversed as levels increased after 2 mo postpartum. Mature levels were obtained at approximately 8, 9, and 11 mo postpartum, respectively. Neonatal mean corpuscular hemoglobin also increased with ontogeny; mature levels were achieved by approximately 13 mo after birth. In contrast, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration demonstrated a significant but subtle increase throughout ontogeny. Our results indicate that postnatal maturation was required and that maturation occurred far earlier than the age at weaning (i.e., 2-3 yr postpartum). This is atypical of marine mammals, which generally achieve mature hemoglobin levels at weaning. Hematological maturation before maternal independence undoubtedly supports the prolonged breath holds of young belugas transiting under sea ice. This assessment enhances our knowledge of cetacean physiology and provides important inputs for determining age-specific dive capacity, yielding insights into age-specific flexibility to alter underwater behaviors, as will be required for future regime shifts and disturbances.

Teaching Gene Technology in an Outreach Lab: Students' Assigned Cognitive Load Clusters and the Clusters' Relationships to Learner Characteristics, Laboratory Variables, and Cognitive Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scharfenberg, Franz-Josef; Bogner, Franz X.

2013-02-01

This study classified students into different cognitive load (CL) groups by means of cluster analysis based on their experienced CL in a gene technology outreach lab which has instructionally been designed with regard to CL theory. The relationships of the identified student CL clusters to learner characteristics, laboratory variables, and cognitive achievement were examined using a pre-post-follow-up design. Participants of our day-long module Genetic Fingerprinting were 409 twelfth-graders. During the module instructional phases (pre-lab, theoretical, experimental, and interpretation phases), we measured the students' mental effort (ME) as an index of CL. By clustering the students' module-phase-specific ME pattern, we found three student CL clusters which were independent of the module instructional phases, labeled as low-level, average-level, and high-level loaded clusters. Additionally, we found two student CL clusters that were each particular to a specific module phase. Their members reported especially high ME invested in one phase each: within the pre-lab phase and within the interpretation phase. Differentiating the clusters, we identified uncertainty tolerance, prior experience in experimentation, epistemic interest, and prior knowledge as relevant learner characteristics. We found relationships to cognitive achievement, but no relationships to the examined laboratory variables. Our results underscore the importance of pre-lab and interpretation phases in hands-on teaching in science education and the need for teachers to pay attention to these phases, both inside and outside of outreach laboratory learning settings.

Stable same-sex friendships with higher achieving partners promote mathematical reasoning in lower achieving primary school children.

PubMed

DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Kiuru, Noona; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-11-01

This study was designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and 1 year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Stable Same-Sex Friendships with Higher Achieving Partners Promote Mathematical Reasoning in Lower Achieving Primary School Children

PubMed Central

DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Kiuru, Noona; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-01-01

This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning. PMID:26402901

Relationship between Grooming Performance and Motor and Cognitive Functions in Stroke Patients with Receiver Operating Characteristic Analysis.

PubMed

Fujita, Takaaki; Sato, Atsushi; Tsuchiya, Kenji; Ohashi, Takuro; Yamane, Kazuhiro; Yamamoto, Yuichi; Iokawa, Kazuaki; Ohira, Yoko; Otsuki, Koji; Tozato, Fusae

2017-12-01

This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between grooming performance of stroke patients and various motor and cognitive functions and to examine the cognitive and physical functional standards required for grooming independence. We retrospectively analyzed the data of 96 hospitalized patients with first stroke in a rehabilitation hospital ward. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to investigate the related cognitive and motor functions with grooming performance and to calculate the cutoff values for independence and supervision levels in grooming. For analysis between the independent and supervision-dependent groups, the only item with an area under the curve (AUC) of .9 or higher was the Berg Balance Scale, and the calculated cutoff value was 41/40 (sensitivity, 83.6%; specificity, 87.8%). For analysis between the independent-supervision and dependent groups, the items with an AUC of .9 or higher were the Simple Test for Evaluating Hand Function (STEF) on the nonaffected side, Vitality Index (VI), and FIM ® cognition. The cutoff values were 68/67 for the STEF (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 72.2%), 9/8 points for the VI (sensitivity, 92.3%; specificity, 88.9%), and 23/22 points for FIM ® cognition (sensitivity, 91.0%; specificity, 88.9%). Our results suggest that upper-extremity functions on the nonaffected side, motivation, and cognitive functions are particularly important to achieve the supervision level and that balance is important to reach the independence level. The effective improvement of grooming performance is possible by performing therapeutic or compensatory intervention on functions that have not achieved these cutoff values. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving EEG-Based Driver Fatigue Classification Using Sparse-Deep Belief Networks.

PubMed

Chai, Rifai; Ling, Sai Ho; San, Phyo Phyo; Naik, Ganesh R; Nguyen, Tuan N; Tran, Yvonne; Craig, Ashley; Nguyen, Hung T

2017-01-01

This paper presents an improvement of classification performance for electroencephalography (EEG)-based driver fatigue classification between fatigue and alert states with the data collected from 43 participants. The system employs autoregressive (AR) modeling as the features extraction algorithm, and sparse-deep belief networks (sparse-DBN) as the classification algorithm. Compared to other classifiers, sparse-DBN is a semi supervised learning method which combines unsupervised learning for modeling features in the pre-training layer and supervised learning for classification in the following layer. The sparsity in sparse-DBN is achieved with a regularization term that penalizes a deviation of the expected activation of hidden units from a fixed low-level prevents the network from overfitting and is able to learn low-level structures as well as high-level structures. For comparison, the artificial neural networks (ANN), Bayesian neural networks (BNN), and original deep belief networks (DBN) classifiers are used. The classification results show that using AR feature extractor and DBN classifiers, the classification performance achieves an improved classification performance with a of sensitivity of 90.8%, a specificity of 90.4%, an accuracy of 90.6%, and an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.94 compared to ANN (sensitivity at 80.8%, specificity at 77.8%, accuracy at 79.3% with AUC-ROC of 0.83) and BNN classifiers (sensitivity at 84.3%, specificity at 83%, accuracy at 83.6% with AUROC of 0.87). Using the sparse-DBN classifier, the classification performance improved further with sensitivity of 93.9%, a specificity of 92.3%, and an accuracy of 93.1% with AUROC of 0.96. Overall, the sparse-DBN classifier improved accuracy by 13.8, 9.5, and 2.5% over ANN, BNN, and DBN classifiers, respectively.

Improving EEG-Based Driver Fatigue Classification Using Sparse-Deep Belief Networks

PubMed Central

Chai, Rifai; Ling, Sai Ho; San, Phyo Phyo; Naik, Ganesh R.; Nguyen, Tuan N.; Tran, Yvonne; Craig, Ashley; Nguyen, Hung T.

2017-01-01

This paper presents an improvement of classification performance for electroencephalography (EEG)-based driver fatigue classification between fatigue and alert states with the data collected from 43 participants. The system employs autoregressive (AR) modeling as the features extraction algorithm, and sparse-deep belief networks (sparse-DBN) as the classification algorithm. Compared to other classifiers, sparse-DBN is a semi supervised learning method which combines unsupervised learning for modeling features in the pre-training layer and supervised learning for classification in the following layer. The sparsity in sparse-DBN is achieved with a regularization term that penalizes a deviation of the expected activation of hidden units from a fixed low-level prevents the network from overfitting and is able to learn low-level structures as well as high-level structures. For comparison, the artificial neural networks (ANN), Bayesian neural networks (BNN), and original deep belief networks (DBN) classifiers are used. The classification results show that using AR feature extractor and DBN classifiers, the classification performance achieves an improved classification performance with a of sensitivity of 90.8%, a specificity of 90.4%, an accuracy of 90.6%, and an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.94 compared to ANN (sensitivity at 80.8%, specificity at 77.8%, accuracy at 79.3% with AUC-ROC of 0.83) and BNN classifiers (sensitivity at 84.3%, specificity at 83%, accuracy at 83.6% with AUROC of 0.87). Using the sparse-DBN classifier, the classification performance improved further with sensitivity of 93.9%, a specificity of 92.3%, and an accuracy of 93.1% with AUROC of 0.96. Overall, the sparse-DBN classifier improved accuracy by 13.8, 9.5, and 2.5% over ANN, BNN, and DBN classifiers, respectively. PMID:28326009

In sport and now in medical school: examining students’ well-being and motivations for learning

PubMed Central

Mosewich, Amber

2017-01-01

Objectives To investigate relationships between students’ past level of involvement in physical activity/sport and their motivations for learning (achievement goals) and well-being in medical school. In doing so, we provide evidence to medical programs to inform admission processes and curriculum planning. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. Out of 640 medical students, 267 completed an online questionnaire with measures of: achievement goals, academic burnout, physical activity/sport involvement, and demographics. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, Cronbach alpha, Spearman correlation). Results Students who had pursued physical activity/sport at higher levels of involvement had lower academic burnout scores and endorsed maladaptive achievement goals to a less degree. Specifically, the level of students’ involvement in physical activity/sport was negatively correlated with academic burnout (r=-0.15, p=0.014) and with achievement goals of performance approach (r=-0.15, p=0.014), performance avoidance (r=-0.21, p=0.001), and mastery avoidance (r=-0.24, p<0.001). Conclusions Pursuit of dedicated personal activities such as sport appears to be associated with the desired quality of motivation and well-being of medical students. A school culture that fosters resilience of newly admitted students through extracurricular activities and raises students’ awareness of maladaptive and adaptive achievement goals is likely to be beneficial in addressing academic burnout and improving the mental health of medical students.   PMID:28968223

Achieving Hand Hygiene Success With a Partnership Between Graduate Medical Education, Hospital Leadership, and Physicians.

PubMed

Rosenbluth, Glenn; Garritson, Susan; Green, Adrienne L; Milev, Dimiter; Vidyarthi, Arpana R; Auerbach, Andrew D; Baron, Robert B

2016-11-01

Engaging physicians in hand hygiene programs is a challenge faced by many academic medical centers. Partnerships between education and academic leaders present opportunities for effective collaboration and improvement. The authors developed a robust hand hygiene quality improvement program, with attention to rapid-cycle improvements, including all levels of staff and health care providers. The program included a defined governance structure, clear data collection process, educational interventions, rapid-cycle improvements, and financial incentive for staff and physicians (including residents and fellows). Outcomes were measured on patients in all clinical areas. Run charts were used to document compliance in aggregate and by subgroups throughout the project duration. Institutional targets were achieved and then exceeded, with sustained hand hygiene compliance >90%. Physician compliance lagged behind aggregate compliance but ultimately was sustained at a level exceeding the target. Successfully achieving the institutional goal required collaboration among all stakeholders. Physician-specific data and physician champions were essential to drive improvement. © The Author(s) 2015.

Translating school health research to policy. School outcomes related to the health environment and changes in mathematics achievement.

PubMed

Snelling, Anastasia M; Belson, Sarah Irvine; Watts, Erin; George, Stephanie; Van Dyke, Hugo; Malloy, Elizabeth; Kalicki, Michelle

2015-10-01

This paper describes an exploration of the relationship between mathematic achievement and the school health environment relative to policy-driven changes in the school setting, specifically with regard to physical education/physical activity. Using school-level data, the authors seek to understand the relationship between mathematics achievement and the school health environment and physical education minutes. This work provides a description of the aspects of the school health environment, an exploration of the interrelationships between school health and student achievement, and an assessment of the effects of the school health policy and practice on student performance and health status. Based on these findings, we identify additional research necessary to describe the relationship between obesity and learning in children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fine motor skills and executive function both contribute to kindergarten achievement.

PubMed

Cameron, Claire E; Brock, Laura L; Murrah, William M; Bell, Lindsay H; Worzalla, Samantha L; Grissmer, David; Morrison, Frederick J

2012-01-01

This study examined the contribution of executive function (EF) and multiple aspects of fine motor skills to achievement on 6 standardized assessments in a sample of middle-socioeconomic status kindergarteners. Three- and 4-year-olds' (n=213) fine and gross motor skills were assessed in a home visit before kindergarten, EF was measured at fall of kindergarten, and Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement were administered at fall and spring. Correlations indicated that EF and fine motor skills appeared distinct. Further, controlling for background variables, higher levels of both EF and fine motor skills, specifically design copy, predicted higher achievement on multiple subtests at kindergarten entry, as well as improvement from fall to spring. Implications for research on school readiness are discussed. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Efficacy and safety of oral desensitization in children with cow's milk allergy according to their serum specific IgE level.

PubMed

García-Ara, Carmen; Pedrosa, María; Belver, María Teresa; Martín-Muñoz, María Flor; Quirce, Santiago; Boyano-Martínez, Teresa

2013-04-01

Oral desensitization in children allergic to cow's milk proteins is not risk free. The analysis of factors that may influence the outcome is of utmost importance. To analyze the efficacy and safety of the oral desensitization according to specific IgE (sIgE) level and adverse events during the maintenance phase. Thirty-six patients allergic to cow's milk (mean age, 7 years) were included in an oral desensitization protocol. Patients were grouped according to sIgE levels (ImmunoCAP) into groups 1 (sIgE <3.5 kU/L), 2 (3.5-17 kU/L), and 3 (>17-50 kU/L). Nineteen children were included as a control group. Serum sIgE levels to cow's milk and its proteins were determined at inclusion and 6 and 12 months after finishing the desensitization protocol. Thirty-three of 36 patients were successfully desensitized (200 mL): 100% of group 1 and 88% of groups 2 and 3. Desensitization was achieved in a median of 3 months (range, 1-12 months); 90% of the patients in group 1, 50% of the patients in group 2, and 30% of the patients in group 3 achieved tolerance in less than 3 months (P = .04). In the control group only 1 child tolerated milk in oral food challenge after 1 year. During the induction phase, there were 53 adverse events in 27 patients (75%). Patients of groups 2 and 3 had more severe adverse events compared with group 1. During the maintenance phase, 20 of 33 patients (60%) had an adverse event. Oral desensitization is efficacious. Tolerance is achieved earlier when sIgE is lower. Severe adverse events are frequent, especially in patients with higher sIgE levels. Copyright © 2013 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of a social-emotional and character development program on school-level indicators of academic achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes: A matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled trial.

PubMed

Snyder, Frank; Flay, Brian; Vuchinich, Samuel; Acock, Alan; Washburn, Isaac; Beets, Michael; Li, Kin-Kit

2010-01-01

This paper reports the effects of a comprehensive elementary school-based social-emotional and character education program on school-level achievement, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes utilizing a matched-pair, cluster randomized, controlled design. The Positive Action Hawai'i trial included 20 racially/ethnically diverse schools (mean enrollment = 544) and was conducted from the 2002-03 through the 2005-06 academic years. Using school-level archival data, analyses comparing change from baseline (2002) to one-year post trial (2007) revealed that intervention schools scored 9.8% better on the TerraNova (2 nd ed.) test for reading and 8.8% on math; 20.7% better in Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards scores for reading and 51.4% better in math; and that intervention schools reported 15.2% lower absenteeism and fewer suspensions (72.6%) and retentions (72.7%). Overall, effect sizes were moderate to large (range 0.5-1.1) for all of the examined outcomes. Sensitivity analyses using permutation models and random-intercept growth curve models substantiated results. The results provide evidence that a comprehensive school-based program, specifically developed to target student behavior and character, can positively influence school-level achievement, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes concurrently.

Comparing supervised learning techniques on the task of physical activity recognition.

PubMed

Dalton, A; OLaighin, G

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare the performance of base-level and meta-level classifiers on the task of physical activity recognition. Five wireless kinematic sensors were attached to each subject (n = 25) while they completed a range of basic physical activities in a controlled laboratory setting. Subjects were then asked to carry out similar self-annotated physical activities in a random order and in an unsupervised environment. A combination of time-domain and frequency-domain features were extracted from the sensor data including the first four central moments, zero-crossing rate, average magnitude, sensor cross-correlation, sensor auto-correlation, spectral entropy and dominant frequency components. A reduced feature set was generated using a wrapper subset evaluation technique with a linear forward search and this feature set was employed for classifier comparison. The meta-level classifier AdaBoostM1 with C4.5 Graft as its base-level classifier achieved an overall accuracy of 95%. Equal sized datasets of subject independent data and subject dependent data were used to train this classifier and high recognition rates could be achieved without the need for user specific training. Furthermore, it was found that an accuracy of 88% could be achieved using data from the ankle and wrist sensors only.

Busulfan-conditioned bone marrow transplantation results in high-level allogeneic chimerism in mice made tolerant by in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation.

PubMed

Ashizuka, Shuichi; Peranteau, William H; Hayashi, Satoshi; Flake, Alan W

2006-03-01

In utero hematopoietic cell transplantation (IUHCT) is a non-ablative approach that achieves mixed allogeneic chimerism and donor-specific tolerance. However, clinical application of IUHCT has been limited by minimal engraftment. We have previously demonstrated in the murine model that low-level allogeneic chimerism achieved by IUHCT can be enhanced to near-complete donor chimerism by postnatal minimally myeloablative total body irradiation (TBI) followed by same-donor bone marrow transplantation. Because of concerns of toxicity related to even low-dose TBI in early life, we wondered if a potentially less toxic strategy utilizing a single myelosuppressive agent, Busulfan (BU), would provide similar enhancement of engraftment. In this study, mixed chimerism was created by IUHCT in a fully allogeneic strain combination. After birth, chimeric mice were conditioned with BU followed by transplantation of bone marrow cells congenic to the prenatal donor. We demonstrate that: 1) low-level chimerism after IUHCT can be converted to high-level chimerism by this protocol; 2) enhancement of chimerism is BU dose-dependent; and 3) BU reduces the proliferative potential of hematopoietic progenitor cells thus conferring a competitive advantage to the non-BU-treated postnatal donor cells. This study confirms the potential of IUHCT for facilitation of minimally toxic postnatal regimens to achieve therapeutic levels of allogeneic engraftment.

The specificity of learned parallelism in dual-memory retrieval.

PubMed

Strobach, Tilo; Schubert, Torsten; Pashler, Harold; Rickard, Timothy

2014-05-01

Retrieval of two responses from one visually presented cue occurs sequentially at the outset of dual-retrieval practice. Exclusively for subjects who adopt a mode of grouping (i.e., synchronizing) their response execution, however, reaction times after dual-retrieval practice indicate a shift to learned retrieval parallelism (e.g., Nino & Rickard, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 373-388, 2003). In the present study, we investigated how this learned parallelism is achieved and why it appears to occur only for subjects who group their responses. Two main accounts were considered: a task-level versus a cue-level account. The task-level account assumes that learned retrieval parallelism occurs at the level of the task as a whole and is not limited to practiced cues. Grouping response execution may thus promote a general shift to parallel retrieval following practice. The cue-level account states that learned retrieval parallelism is specific to practiced cues. This type of parallelism may result from cue-specific response chunking that occurs uniquely as a consequence of grouped response execution. The results of two experiments favored the second account and were best interpreted in terms of a structural bottleneck model.

Immunization in India 1993-1999: wealth, gender, and regional inequalities revisited.

PubMed

Gaudin, Sylvestre; Yazbeck, Abdo S

2006-02-01

Previously published evidence from the 1992-1993 Indian National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) on the state of childhood immunization showed the importance of analyzing immunization outcomes beyond national averages. Reported total system failure (no immunization for all) in some low performance areas suggested that improvements in immunization levels may come with a worsening of the distribution of immunization based on wealth. In this paper, using the second wave of the NFHS (1998-1999), we take a new snapshot of the situation and compare it to 1992-1993, focusing on heterogeneities between states, rural-urban differentials, gender differentials, and more specifically on wealth-related inequalities. To assess whether improvements in overall immunization rates (levels) were accompanied by distributional improvements, or conversely, whether inequalities were reduced at the expense of overall achievement, we use a recently developed methodology to calculate an inequality-adjusted achievement index that captures performance both in terms of efficiency (change in levels) and equity (distribution by wealth quintiles) for each of the 17 largest Indian states. Comparing 1992-1993 to 1998-1999 achievements using different degrees of "inequality aversion" provides no evidence that distributional improvements occur at the expense of overall performance.

The Association between Standards- Based Grading and Standardized Test Scores in a High School Reform Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollio, Marty; Hochbein, Craig

2015-01-01

Background/Context: From two decades of research on the grading practices of teachers in secondary schools, researchers discovered that teachers evaluated students on numerous factors that do not validly assess a student's achievement level in a specific content area. These consistent findings suggested that traditional grading practices evolved…

Public Support for Successful Instructional Practices for At-Risk Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hilliard, Asa G., III

It is possible for at-risk students to perform at demanding academic levels, and their achievement can be improved dramatically in a relatively short time. Effective ways to teach at-risk children have already been identified; no new research is needed. This report covers the following specific issues related to educating high-risk students. It…

Improving Student Motivation and Engagement in Mathematics through One-to-One Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Way, Jennifer; Reece, Amelia; Bobis, Janette; Anderson, Judy; Martin, Andrew

2015-01-01

The phenomenon of the "middle-years dip" in mathematics engagement and achievement has been a cause of concern for over a decade. This paper presents an example of one upper-primary classroom identified as having higher than average levels of student engagement, with the purpose of documenting specific teaching strategies that align with…

The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Progress and Achievement in UK University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pope, Debbie; Roper, Claire; Qualter, Pamela

2012-01-01

Previous research has found relationships between higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) and academic success in both adolescents and adults. This study examines the relationship between overall EI and specific EI competencies in 135 undergraduate psychology students in the UK. EI was measured at the start of a psychology degree course using…

When Volunteering Is Mandatory: A Call for Research about Service Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cloyd, Melissa

2017-01-01

Stakeholders have long been concerned about high school drop-out rates and associated achievement gaps between groups, specifically racial, of high school students. While significant improvements have been made to these drop-out rates at the national level, the largest group of drop-out students continues to be those of Hispanic heritage. Research…

Achievement Identification and Evaluation of Musically Gifted Children in Lower Music School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arsic, Anica

2016-01-01

Music schools are specific educational institutions which teach children to understand musical language, the rules of musical writing and how to play an instrument. It is assumed that children who enroll in music school have a certain level of "musicality," i.e. possess musical ability. Starting from this premise, in this paper we wanted…

Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement of Elementary Students in Mississippi

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCorvey-Watson, Catherine

2012-01-01

In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which added accountability to President Lyndon Johnson's original Title I legislation of 1964. Specifically, it required that all children in Grades 3-8, by school year 2014, regardless of socioeconomic status, perform at or above grade level requirements in mathematics…

Education, Social Capital and State Formation in Comparative Historical Perspective: Preliminary Investigations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beadie, Nancy

2010-01-01

The relationship between education and state formation in the United States differed from that in other countries in ways that have yet to be adequately accounted for in comparative and theoretical literatures. Specifically, in the northern United States, very high levels of mass school attendance and funding were achieved prior to and outside…

Opportunities, Challenges and Questions: Continual Assessment in Year 9

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cain, Karl; Neal, Christina

2004-01-01

Our means of assessment might pose a problem. History teachers regularly set specific targets, with implicit or explicit reference to National Curriculum Levels, which are designed to move our pupils on and make them better historians. How, though, are we to prevent them from achieving their targets in a rather mechanistic way, ticking the boxes…

Teachers' Perceptions of Teacher Supervision and Evaluation: A Reflection of School Improvement Practices in the Age of Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mette, Ian M.; Range, Bret G.; Anderson, Jason; Hvidston, David J.; Nieuwenhuizen, Lisa

2015-01-01

This study examined how principals in eight high-functioning elementary schools provide teacher supervision and evaluation to promote high levels of student achievement. Perceptions of teachers were measured to provide an understanding of which specific principal behaviors translated into better instructional practices within the selected schools.…

Utility of KTEA-3 Error Analysis for the Diagnosis of Specific Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flanagan, Dawn P.; Mascolo, Jennifer T.; Alfonso, Vincent C.

2017-01-01

Through the use of excerpts from one of our own case studies, this commentary applied concepts inherent in, but not limited to, the neuropsychological literature to the interpretation of performance on the Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement-Third Edition (KTEA-3), particularly at the level of error analysis. The approach to KTEA-3 test…

Hybrid approach for detection of dental caries based on the methods FCM and level sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaabene, Marwa; Ben Ali, Ramzi; Ejbali, Ridha; Zaied, Mourad

2017-03-01

This paper presents a new technique for detection of dental caries that is a bacterial disease that destroys the tooth structure. In our approach, we have achieved a new segmentation method that combines the advantages of fuzzy C mean algorithm and level set method. The results obtained by the FCM algorithm will be used by Level sets algorithm to reduce the influence of the noise effect on the working of each of these algorithms, to facilitate level sets manipulation and to lead to more robust segmentation. The sensitivity and specificity confirm the effectiveness of proposed method for caries detection.

Critical data-based re-evaluation of minocycline as a putative specific microglia inhibitor.

PubMed

Möller, Thomas; Bard, Frédérique; Bhattacharya, Anindya; Biber, Knut; Campbell, Brian; Dale, Elena; Eder, Claudia; Gan, Li; Garden, Gwenn A; Hughes, Zoë A; Pearse, Damien D; Staal, Roland G W; Sayed, Faten A; Wes, Paul D; Boddeke, Hendrikus W G M

2016-10-01

Minocycline, a second generation broad-spectrum antibiotic, has been frequently postulated to be a "microglia inhibitor." A considerable number of publications have used minocycline as a tool and concluded, after achieving a pharmacological effect, that the effect must be due to "inhibition" of microglia. It is, however, unclear how this "inhibition" is achieved at the molecular and cellular levels. Here, we weigh the evidence whether minocycline is indeed a bona fide microglia inhibitor and discuss how data generated with minocycline should be interpreted. GLIA 2016;64:1788-1794. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Does integration of HIV and SRH services achieve economies of scale and scope in practice? A cost function analysis of the Integra Initiative.

PubMed

Obure, Carol Dayo; Guinness, Lorna; Sweeney, Sedona; Initiative, Integra; Vassall, Anna

2016-03-01

Policy-makers have long argued about the potential efficiency gains and cost savings from integrating HIV and sexual reproductive health (SRH) services, particularly in resource-constrained settings with generalised HIV epidemics. However, until now, little empirical evidence exists on whether the hypothesised efficiency gains associated with such integration can be achieved in practice. We estimated a quadratic cost function using data obtained from 40 health facilities, over a 2-year-period, in Kenya and Swaziland. The quadratic specification enables us to determine the existence of economies of scale and scope. The empirical results reveal that at the current output levels, only HIV counselling and testing services are characterised by service-specific economies of scale. However, no overall economies of scale exist as all outputs are increased. The results also indicate cost complementarities between cervical cancer screening and HIV care; post-natal care and HIV care and family planning and sexually transmitted infection treatment combinations only. The results from this analysis reveal that contrary to expectation, efficiency gains from the integration of HIV and SRH services, if any, are likely to be modest. Efficiency gains are likely to be most achievable in settings that are currently delivering HIV and SRH services at a low scale with high levels of fixed costs. The presence of cost complementarities for only three service combinations implies that careful consideration of setting-specific clinical practices and the extent to which they can be combined should be made when deciding which services to integrate. NCT01694862. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Does integration of HIV and SRH services achieve economies of scale and scope in practice? A cost function analysis of the Integra Initiative

PubMed Central

Obure, Carol Dayo; Guinness, Lorna; Sweeney, Sedona; Initiative, Integra; Vassall, Anna

2016-01-01

Objective Policy-makers have long argued about the potential efficiency gains and cost savings from integrating HIV and sexual reproductive health (SRH) services, particularly in resource-constrained settings with generalised HIV epidemics. However, until now, little empirical evidence exists on whether the hypothesised efficiency gains associated with such integration can be achieved in practice. Methods We estimated a quadratic cost function using data obtained from 40 health facilities, over a 2-year-period, in Kenya and Swaziland. The quadratic specification enables us to determine the existence of economies of scale and scope. Findings The empirical results reveal that at the current output levels, only HIV counselling and testing services are characterised by service-specific economies of scale. However, no overall economies of scale exist as all outputs are increased. The results also indicate cost complementarities between cervical cancer screening and HIV care; post-natal care and HIV care and family planning and sexually transmitted infection treatment combinations only. Conclusions The results from this analysis reveal that contrary to expectation, efficiency gains from the integration of HIV and SRH services, if any, are likely to be modest. Efficiency gains are likely to be most achievable in settings that are currently delivering HIV and SRH services at a low scale with high levels of fixed costs. The presence of cost complementarities for only three service combinations implies that careful consideration of setting-specific clinical practices and the extent to which they can be combined should be made when deciding which services to integrate. Trial registration number NCT01694862. PMID:26438349

Both the “What” and “Why” of Youth Sports Participation Matter; a Conditional Process Analysis

PubMed Central

Gjesdal, Siv; Appleton, Paul R.; Ommundsen, Yngvar

2017-01-01

This study builds on previous research combining achievement goal orientation from Achievement Goal Theory and motivational regulation from Self-Determination Theory. The aim was to assess the combination of the “what” and “why” of youth sport activity, and how it relates to the need for competence and self-esteem. Achievement goal orientation, specifically task and ego, was employed to represent the “what”, whilst intrinsic and external regulation reflected the “why”. Based on a sample of 496 youth sports participants, structural equation modeling with a bootstrapping procedure was used to examine whether the indirect relationship between achievement goal orientation and self-esteem was conditional to motivational regulation. The results show partial support for the conditional process models. Specifically, task orientation was indirectly linked with self-esteem through competence need, and the relationship was stronger with higher levels of intrinsic regulation for sport. Furthermore, ego orientation was negatively associated with self-esteem through a positive relationship with competence frustration. However, this relationship emerged only for those higher in intrinsic regulation. External regulation did not emerge as a moderator, but presented a positive relationship with competence frustration. Findings are discussed in light of both Achievement Goal Theory and Self-Determination Theory, and underline the importance of considering both the “what” and “why” when attempting to understand motivation in youth sport. PMID:28491048

Method for Predicting the Energy Characteristics of Li-Ion Cells Designed for High Specific Energy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, William, R.

2012-01-01

Novel electrode materials with increased specific capacity and voltage performance are critical to the NASA goals for developing Li-ion batteries with increased specific energy and energy density. Although performance metrics of the individual electrodes are critically important, a fundamental understanding of the interactions of electrodes in a full cell is essential to achieving the desired performance, and for establishing meaningful goals for electrode performance in the first place. This paper presents design considerations for matching positive and negative electrodes in a viable design. Methods for predicting cell-level performance, based on laboratory data for individual electrodes, are presented and discussed.

Applications of small surface plasmon resonance sensors for biochemical monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masson, Jean-Francois; Battaglia, Tina M.; Beaudoin, Stephen; Booksh, Karl S.

2004-12-01

The development of small surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors to detect biological markers for myocardial ischemia (MI), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and wound healing was achieved at low ng/mL and in less than 10 minutes. The markers of interest for MIs are myoglobin (MG) and cardiac Troponin I (cTnI). The limits of detection for these markers are respectively 600 pg/mL and 1.4 ng/mL in saline solution. To study SMA, the level of survival motor neuron protein (SMN) was investigated. A limit of detection of 990 pg/mL was achieved for the detection of SMN. The interactions of SMN with MG decreased the signal for both SMN and MG. Interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) were investigated to monitor wound healing. The sensor's performance in more complex solutions, e.g.: serum, showed a large non-specific signal. Modifying the support on which the antibodies are attached improved the sensor's stability in serum by a factor of 5. To achieve this non-specific binding (NSB) reduction, different polysaccharides, biocompatible polymers and short chain thiols were investigated.

Academic achievement in children with epilepsy: a review.

PubMed

Reilly, Colin; Neville, Brian G R

2011-11-01

To examine published studies which have focussed on academic achievement in children with epilepsy with respect to prevalence rates of academic difficulties and possible correlates of academic achievement. This review examines studies which have focussed on prevalence rates of academic difficulties and correlates of academic achievement in children with epilepsy from 1990 to 2010. Prevalence rates of low academic achievement and academic underachievement are reported and correlates of academic achievement including seizure/epilepsy variables, demographic variables, and child/family variables are examined with respect to published studies. Published studies suggest that low academic achievement is more common than academic underachievement (achievement below that expected on basis of IQ scores) and it is not clear from published studies if rates of academic underachievement are significantly higher than in the general population. Clear patterns with regard to the identification of correlates of academic underachievement have not emerged although low achievement may be influenced in many cases by lower than average levels of cognitive functioning. Most studies have not focussed on the IQ-achievement discrepancy definitions of (specific) learning disability. Children with epilepsy who are experiencing academic difficulties may not qualify for formal educational supports to address these difficulties if eligibility criteria for such supports stress an IQ-achievement discrepancy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Student achievement in science and mathematics on campuses that have implemented the CSCOPE curriculum model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Emily R.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in student achievement exist between school campuses which followed a specific standards-based curriculum model (CSCOPE) and school campuses which followed a non-CSCOPE or traditional curriculum model. One-hundred and sixty CSCOPE curriculum campuses and 160 non-CSCOPE curriculum campuses were used in the study. Achievement data were collected on students in the fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades using the campuses percentage passing on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for both science and mathematics. The TAKS is the state-mandated assessment system used to comply with federal testing guidelines. Data for the 2007-2008 school year were used for the elementary level while data from 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 were used for junior high (middle school) and high school levels. Data were analyzed by overall class as well as aggregated by ethnic classifications. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize achievement results and t-tests were utilized to analyze achievement differences between the two curriculum models. Overall fifth grade students in CSCOPE schools outperformed (p < .05) non-CSCOPE counterparts in science and mathematics. Also, fifth grade Hispanic students using CSCOPE curriculum scored higher (p < .05) than those in traditional curricula. Eighth grade students in CSCOPE schools performed better (p < .05) in science than students in non-CSCOPE schools. Finally, eighth grade Hispanic and White subgroups using CSCOPE curriculum outperformed ( p < .05) their ethnic counterparts using traditional curriculum models. The only statistically significant finding at the eleventh grade level was the African-American subgroup in science, but this subgroup had too small of a sample to infer the findings to the population. Thus, the results would tend to support use of the standardized curriculum model (CSCOPE) at lower levels whereas achievement in high school may not be differentially affected by the standardized model.

The contribution of goal specificity to goal achievement in collaborative goal setting for the management of asthma.

PubMed

Smith, Lorraine; Alles, Chehani; Lemay, Kate; Reddel, Helen; Saini, Bandana; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia; Emmerton, Lynne; Stewart, Kay; Burton, Debbie; Krass, Ines; Armour, Carol

2013-01-01

Goal setting was investigated as part of an implementation trial of an asthma management service (PAMS) conducted in 96 Australian community pharmacies. Patients and pharmacists identified asthma-related issues of concern to the patient and collaboratively set goals to address these. Although goal setting is commonly integrated into disease state management interventions, the nature of goals, and their contribution to goal attainment and health outcomes are not well understood. To identify and describe: 1) goals set collaboratively between adult patients with asthma and their pharmacist, 2) goal specificity and goal achievement, and 3) describe the relationships between specificity, achievement, asthma control and asthma-related quality of life. Measures of goal specificity, and goal achievement were developed and applied to patient data records. Goals set were thematically analyzed into goal domains. Proportions of goals set, goals achieved and their specificity were calculated. Correlational and regression analyses were undertaken to determine the relationships between goal specificity, goal achievement, asthma control and asthma-related quality of life. Data were drawn from 498 patient records. Findings showed that patients set a wide range and number of asthma-related goals (N = 1787) and the majority (93%) were either achieved or being working toward by the end of the study. Goal achievement was positively associated with specific and moderately specific goals, but not non-specific goals. However, on closer inspection, an inconsistent pattern of relationships emerged as a function of goal domain. Findings also showed that goal setting was associated with end-of-study asthma control but not to asthma-related quality of life. Pharmacists can help patients to set achievable and specific asthma management goals, and these have the potential to directly impact health outcomes such as asthma control. Goal specificity appears to be an important feature in the achievement of goals, but other factors may also play a role. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bereavement: The Role of the Family Physician

PubMed Central

Secundy, Marian G.

1977-01-01

Much has been written regarding attitudes of patients, families, and physicians in managing death and subsequent grief reactions. Here at Howard University College of Medicine, we are constantly aware of our educational responsibility to insure that our students and residents achieve certain levels of awareness, acquire certain basic and specific information, and be afforded an opportunity to ventilate and discuss issues of death, dying, and bereavement as they relate to their current or future encounters with patients and their families. We are specifically interested in the roles and responsibilities of the family physician. PMID:904017

Architecture for Survivable Systems Processing (ASSP). Technology benefits for Open System Interconnects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, Richard J.

1992-01-01

The Architecture for Survivable Systems Processing (ASSP) program is a two phase program whose objective is the derivation, specification, development and validation of an open system architecture capable of supporting advanced processing needs of space, ground, and launch vehicle operations. The output of the first phase is a set of hardware and software standards and specifications defining this architecture at three levels. The second phase will validate these standards and develop the technology necessary to achieve strategic hardness, packaging density, throughput requirements, and interoperability/interchangeability.

Macro-level social forces and micro-level consequences: poverty, alternate occupations, and drug dealing.

PubMed

Dunlap, Eloise; Johnson, Bruce D; Kotarba, Joseph A; Fackler, Jennifer L

2010-01-01

This article is an empirical examination of the ways in which macro-level social forces have had micro-level consequences in the New Orleans drug market. The article illustrates a clear connection between poverty and entrance into the drug market, as mitigated by race, lack of societal opportunity, lack of social capital, distressed families, and closed neighborhoods. Specifically, the research illustrates the mechanisms by which macro-level social forces intersect to legitimize drug dealing as a viable alternative method of acquiring money and social capital. These intersecting macro-level social forces, such as poverty, race, family structure, and neighborhood characteristics, ultimately constrain the life chances of those living in the inner city irrespective of personal traits, individual motivations, or private achievements.

Which Preschool Mathematics Competencies Are Most Predictive of Fifth Grade Achievement?

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Tutrang; Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Clements, Douglas H.; Sarama, Julie S.; Wolfe, Christopher; Spitler, Mary Elaine

2016-01-01

In an effort to promote best practices regarding mathematics teaching and learning at the preschool level, national advisory panels and organizations have emphasized the importance of children’s emergent counting and related competencies, such as the ability to verbally count, maintain one-to-one correspondence, count with cardinality, subitize, and count forward or backward from a given number. However, little research has investigated whether the kind of mathematical knowledge promoted by the various standards documents actually predict later mathematics achievement. The present study uses longitudinal data from a primarily low-income and minority sample of children to examine the extent to which preschool mathematical competencies, specifically basic and advanced counting, predict fifth grade mathematics achievement. Using regression analyses, we find early numeracy abilities to be the strongest predictors of later mathematics achievement, with advanced counting competencies more predictive than basic counting competencies. Our results highlight the significance of preschool mathematics knowledge for future academic achievement. PMID:27057084

The Prospective External Validation of International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) Simple Rules in the Hands of Level I and II Examiners.

PubMed

Knafel, A; Banas, T; Nocun, A; Wiechec, M; Jach, R; Ludwin, A; Kabzinska-Turek, M; Pietrus, M; Pitynski, K

2016-10-01

Objective: To externally validate the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) Simple Rules (SR) by examiners with different levels of sonographic experience defined by the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) and to assess the morphological ultrasound features of the adnexal tumors classified as inconclusive based on IOTA SR. Materials and Methods: In the two-year prospective study adnexal tumors were assessed preoperatively with transvaginal ultrasound by examiners with different levels of experience (level 1- IOTA SR1, level 2-IOTA SR2). Additionally, an expert (level 3) evaluated all tumors by subjective assessment (SA). If the rules could not be applied, the tumors were considered inconclusive. The final diagnosis was based on the histopathological result of the removed mass. The diagnostic performance measures for the assessed model were sensitivity, specificity, negative (LR-) and positive(LR+) likelihood ratios, accuracy (ACC) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Results: 226 women with adnexal tumors scheduled for surgery were included in the stutdy. The prevalence of malignancy was 36.3 % in the group of all studied tumors and was 52.5 % in the inconclusive group (n = 40) (p = 0.215). Fewer tumors were classified as inconclusive by level 2 examiners compared to level 1 examiners [20 (8.8 %) vs. 40 (17.7 %); p = 0.008], resulting from the discrepancy in the evaluation of acoustic shadows and the vascularization within the tumor. For level 1 examiners a diagnostic strategy using IOTA SR1 +MA (assuming malignancy when SR inconclusive) achieved a sensitivity, specificity and DOR of 96.3 %, 81.9 %, 13.624 respectively. For level 2 examiners the diagnostic strategy for IOTA SR2 +MA achieved a sensitivity, specificity and DOR of 95.1 %, 89.6 %, 137,143, respectively. Adding SA by an expert (or level 3 examiner) when IOTA SR were not applicable improved the specificity of the test and achieved a DOR of 505.137 (SR1 +SA) and 293.627 (SR2 +SA). The SA by an expert proved to have the best diagnostic performance with a DOR of 5768.857, and a sensitivity and specificity of 97.6 % and 99.3 % respectively. Within the inconclusive group the most common tumors were unilocular-solid (n-13), solid (n-8) and multilocular-solid (n-10) ones. All multilocular tumors were classified as inconclusive because of their size (≥ 100 mm) and were found to be benign by pathology. Most of the inconclusive tumors with cystic content presented low-level (43.75 %) echogenicity, followed by ground-glass (34.37 %), mixed (12.5 %) and anechoic (9.4 %). Conclusion: The study results show excellent diagnostic performance of IOTA Simple Rules followed by subjective expert assessment in inconclusive tumors irrespective of the level of experience, while subjective assessment by an expert still has the highest diagnostic odds ratio. The number of inconclusive cases seems to depend on the level of ultrasound expertise and less experienced examiners have a tendency to overestimate blood flow and a presence of acoustic shadows within the tumors. IOTA SR were not applicable either because no benign or malignant features were found or both were identified. Within inconclusive tumors the majority of cases comprise malignant masses that are either unilocular-solid, solid tumors or small multilocular-solid ones with a diameter of less than 100 mm. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Student achievement in science: A longitudinal look at individual and school differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Alina

The importance of science in today's technological society necessitates continued attention to students' experiences in science and specifically their achievement in science. There is a need to look at gender and race/ethnicity simultaneously when studying students' experiences in science and to explore factors related to higher achievement among students. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, this study contributes to existing literature on student achievement in science by simultaneously exploring the effects of race/ethnicity and gender. Capitalizing on the availability of yearly science achievement scores, I present trajectories of student achievement from 7th to 12th grade. This study also includes an exploration of school effects. Overall, student achievement in science increases from 7th to 12th grade, although some leveling is seen in later grades. Growth in achievement differs by both gender and race/ethnicity, but racial/ethnic differences are larger than gender differences. Hispanic, Black, Asian, and White males score higher, on average, throughout the secondary grades than their female counterparts. Achievement scores of Asian students are consistently higher than White students, who in turn score higher than Hispanic and finally Black students. Both background and science-related factors help explain variation in achievement status and growth in achievement. Parental education is positively associated with achievement status among all groups except Black students for whom there is no effect of parental education. Science related resources in the home are positively associated with student achievement and the effect of these resources increases in later grades. Student achievement in science is also positively related to student course taking and attitude toward science. Furthermore, both the negative effect of viewing science as a male domain, which exists for males and females, and the positive effect of parental support for science increase in magnitude in later grades. Thirteen percent of the variation in achievement was found to occur between schools. At the school level, student/teacher ratio is positively related to student achievement in 7th grade and the percent of students who receive free lunch in a school is negatively related to achievement, but neither of these is related to growth in achievement over time.

Developmental Change in the Influence of Domain-General Abilities and Domain-Specific Knowledge on Mathematics Achievement: An Eight-Year Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Geary, David C.; Nicholas, Alan; Li, Yaoran; Sun, Jianguo

2016-01-01

The contributions of domain-general abilities and domain-specific knowledge to subsequent mathematics achievement were longitudinally assessed (n = 167) through 8th grade. First grade intelligence and working memory and prior grade reading achievement indexed domain-general effects and domain-specific effects were indexed by prior grade mathematics achievement and mathematical cognition measures of prior grade number knowledge, addition skills, and fraction knowledge. Use of functional data analysis enabled grade-by-grade estimation of overall domain-general and domain-specific effects on subsequent mathematics achievement, the relative importance of individual domain-general and domain-specific variables on this achievement, and linear and non-linear across-grade estimates of these effects. The overall importance of domain-general abilities for subsequent achievement was stable across grades, with working memory emerging as the most important domain-general ability in later grades. The importance of prior mathematical competencies on subsequent mathematics achievement increased across grades, with number knowledge and arithmetic skills critical in all grades and fraction knowledge in later grades. Overall, domain-general abilities were more important than domain-specific knowledge for mathematics learning in early grades but general abilities and domain-specific knowledge were equally important in later grades. PMID:28781382

Modeling health gains and cost savings for ten dietary salt reduction targets.

PubMed

Wilson, Nick; Nghiem, Nhung; Eyles, Helen; Mhurchu, Cliona Ni; Shields, Emma; Cobiac, Linda J; Cleghorn, Christine L; Blakely, Tony

2016-04-26

Dietary salt reduction is included in the top five priority actions for non-communicable disease control internationally. We therefore aimed to identify health gain and cost impacts of achieving a national target for sodium reduction, along with component targets in different food groups. We used an established dietary sodium intervention model to study 10 interventions to achieve sodium reduction targets. The 2011 New Zealand (NZ) adult population (2.3 million aged 35+ years) was simulated over the remainder of their lifetime in a Markov model with a 3 % discount rate. Achieving an overall 35 % reduction in dietary salt intake via implementation of mandatory maximum levels of sodium in packaged foods along with reduced sodium from fast foods/restaurant food and discretionary intake (the "full target"), was estimated to gain 235,000 QALYs over the lifetime of the cohort (95 % uncertainty interval [UI]: 176,000 to 298,000). For specific target components the range was from 122,000 QALYs gained (for the packaged foods target) down to the snack foods target (6100 QALYs; and representing a 34-48 % sodium reduction in such products). All ten target interventions studied were cost-saving, with the greatest costs saved for the mandatory "full target" at NZ$1260 million (US$820 million). There were relatively greater health gains per adult for men and for Māori (indigenous population). This work provides modeling-level evidence that achieving dietary sodium reduction targets (including specific food category targets) could generate large health gains and cost savings for a national health sector. Demographic groups with the highest cardiovascular disease rates stand to gain most, assisting in reducing health inequalities between sex and ethnic groups.

Effective domain-dependent reuse in medical knowledge bases.

PubMed

Dojat, M; Pachet, F

1995-12-01

Knowledge reuse is now a critical issue for most developers of medical knowledge-based systems. As a rule, reuse is addressed from an ambitious, knowledge-engineering perspective that focuses on reusable general purpose knowledge modules, concepts, and methods. However, such a general goal fails to take into account the specific aspects of medical practice. From the point of view of the knowledge engineer, whose goal is to capture the specific features and intricacies of a given domain, this approach addresses the wrong level of generality. In this paper, we adopt a more pragmatic viewpoint, introducing the less ambitious goal of "domain-dependent limited reuse" and suggesting effective means of achieving it in practice. In a knowledge representation framework combining objects and production rules, we propose three mechanisms emerging from the combination of object-oriented programming and rule-based programming. We show these mechanisms contribute to achieve limited reuse and to introduce useful limited variations in medical expertise.

On Acoustic Source Specification for Rotor-Stator Interaction Noise Prediction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nark, Douglas M.; Envia, Edmane; Burley, Caesy L.

2010-01-01

This paper describes the use of measured source data to assess the effects of acoustic source specification on rotor-stator interaction noise predictions. Specifically, the acoustic propagation and radiation portions of a recently developed coupled computational approach are used to predict tonal rotor-stator interaction noise from a benchmark configuration. In addition to the use of full measured data, randomization of source mode relative phases is also considered for specification of the acoustic source within the computational approach. Comparisons with sideline noise measurements are performed to investigate the effects of various source descriptions on both inlet and exhaust predictions. The inclusion of additional modal source content is shown to have a much greater influence on the inlet results. Reasonable agreement between predicted and measured levels is achieved for the inlet, as well as the exhaust when shear layer effects are taken into account. For the number of trials considered, phase randomized predictions follow statistical distributions similar to those found in previous statistical source investigations. The shape of the predicted directivity pattern relative to measurements also improved with phase randomization, having predicted levels generally within one standard deviation of the measured levels.

Definition of 1992 Technology Aircraft Noise Levels and the Methodology for Assessing Airplane Noise Impact of Component Noise Reduction Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kumasaka, Henry A.; Martinez, Michael M.; Weir, Donald S.

1996-01-01

This report describes the methodology for assessing the impact of component noise reduction on total airplane system noise. The methodology is intended to be applied to the results of individual study elements of the NASA-Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) Noise Reduction Program, which will address the development of noise reduction concepts for specific components. Program progress will be assessed in terms of noise reduction achieved, relative to baseline levels representative of 1992 technology airplane/engine design and performance. In this report, the 1992 technology reference levels are defined for assessment models based on four airplane sizes - an average business jet and three commercial transports: a small twin, a medium sized twin, and a large quad. Study results indicate that component changes defined as program final goals for nacelle treatment and engine/airframe source noise reduction would achieve from 6-7 EPNdB reduction of total airplane noise at FAR 36 Stage 3 noise certification conditions for all of the airplane noise assessment models.

Washington State Birth to 3 Plan: Building on Existing Efforts to Improve Services and Achieve Measurable Outcomes for Children and Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington State Department of Early Learning, 2010

2010-01-01

Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) contracted with Thrive by Five Washington to facilitate and write this report. A collaborative group of key stakeholders helped develop this plan, which consists of actionable policy recommendations in seven high-level focus areas. Within each area are specific "next steps" that build…

The Building Blocks of Success: Higher-Level Math for All Students. Achieve Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieve, Inc., 2008

2008-01-01

High schools may still be anchored to 20th century expectations, but what are the critical guideposts for a 21st century high school education? There are many specific skills and competencies that young people will need to succeed, but more than particular skills, they will need the cognitive capacity to educate themselves throughout their entire…

The Dissemination of Teacher Learning: A Study of the Similarities and Differences between Public School Levels and Locations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krohn, Jacqueline M.

2010-01-01

Teacher learning, whether in-service, continued education, or experience based, is a key component of school reform. Specific research on the use of teacher learning to improve student achievement and instructional practices in and across schools is limited. The research questions addressed in this study were: (a) the degree to which teacher…

Visualizing the Future: Technology Competency Development in Clinical Medicine, and Implications for Medical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Srinivasan, Malathi; Keenan, Craig R.; Yager, Joel

2006-01-01

Objective: In this article, the authors ask three questions. First, what will physicians need to know in order to be effective in the future? Second, what role will technology play in achieving that high level of effectiveness? Third, what specific skill sets will physicians need to master in order to become effective? Method: Through three case…

The Impact of Parental Level of Income on Students' Academic Performance in High School in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Machebe, Chioma Henrietta; Ezegbe, Bernedeth N.; Onuoha, Joseph

2017-01-01

The socioeconomic status of a child parent impacts on the educational development and achievement of the child. This study evaluated the effect of socioeconomic status, specifically parents income and parents-child relationship on student's academic performance in Senior High School in Japan. Three hundred students of Senior High Schools in Osaka…

Promoting Gender Equity in Middle and Secondary School Sports Programs. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Priest, Laurie; Summerfield, Liane M.

This digest provides background information about gender equity in sports and physical activity as well as specific strategies for achieving equity at the middle and secondary school levels. The paper begins by describing gender equitable sports programs as ones in which either boys or girls would be pleased to accept as its own the program of the…

Boosting Student Comprehension of Informational Materials at the Secondary Level at Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampley, Jolyne K.

2008-01-01

Without proficiency in content reading skills, seventh grade students were at risk of not being able to achieve understanding of what they read in non-fiction texts, a skill that is absolutely necessary for college-bound students. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether an approach that involved specific and focused…

The Effects of a Communicative Approach on the Mathematical Problem Solving Proficiency of Language Minority Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Rochelle G.; Patino, Rodrigo A.

Although it takes only 2 years to attain conversational competence in a second language, it takes up to 7 years to realize sufficient language competence to achieve academically at the level of native speakers. Specific adaptations in instructional methods in mathematics for language minority students should include techniques from English as a…

The Sources of Inequity in the Education System of Serbia and How to Combat Them

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pesikan, Ana; Ivic, Ivan

2016-01-01

The concept of equal opportunity for all students is deeply embedded in the Serbian constitution and in education laws. On that level, there is no doubt that everyone is ensured an opportunity to receive quality education. Many measures in education policy have been created specifically to achieve this objective and make the system fair and…

Assessment Skills: A Case of Mathematics Examination and Its Place in Math-Teacher Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qudah, Ahmad Hassan

2016-01-01

The research aims to reveal the specific way to evaluate learning mathematics, so that we get the "measuring tool" for the achievement of learners in mathematics that reflect their level of understanding by score (mark), which we trust it with high degree. The behavior of the learner can be measured by a professional way to build the…

Promoting Secondary Teachers' Diagnostic Competence with Respect to Functions: Development of a Scalable Unit in Continuous Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Busch, Julia; Barzel, Bärbel; Leuders, Timo

2015-01-01

Diagnosing student achievement in a formative way is a crucial skill for planning and carrying out effective mathematics lessons. This study takes a subject-specific view and aims at investigating diagnostic competence in the field of mathematical functions at secondary level and how to improve it. Following three evidence-based design principles,…

Teachers Guide to Economic Concepts: Grade 10-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCabe, Milo F.

This grades 10-12 teachers guide is one of five resource guides developed to aid teachers in helping students in South Dakota to achieve a high degree of economic literacy. It is felt that schools must prepare students at all grade levels to develop an understanding of the economy in which they live. This guide was specifically prepared to assist…

MODIS Information, Data, and Control System (MIDACS) system specifications and conceptual design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, D.; Salomonson, V.; Ormsby, J.; Ardanuy, P.; Mckay, A.; Hoyt, D.; Jaffin, S.; Vallette, B.; Sharts, B.; Folta, D.

1988-01-01

The MODIS Information, Data, and Control System (MIDACS) Specifications and Conceptual Design Document discusses system level requirements, the overall operating environment in which requirements must be met, and a breakdown of MIDACS into component subsystems, which include the Instrument Support Terminal, the Instrument Control Center, the Team Member Computing Facility, the Central Data Handling Facility, and the Data Archive and Distribution System. The specifications include sizing estimates for the processing and storage capacities of each data system element, as well as traffic analyses of data flows between the elements internally, and also externally across the data system interfaces. The specifications for the data system, as well as for the individual planning and scheduling, control and monitoring, data acquisition and processing, calibration and validation, and data archive and distribution components, do not yet fully specify the data system in the complete manner needed to achieve the scientific objectives of the MODIS instruments and science teams. The teams have not yet been formed; however, it was possible to develop the specifications and conceptual design based on the present concept of EosDIS, the Level-1 and Level-2 Functional Requirements Documents, the Operations Concept, and through interviews and meetings with key members of the scientific community.

A Physics-Based Temperature Stabilization Criterion for Thermal Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rickman, Steven L.; Ungar, Eugene K.

2009-01-01

Spacecraft testing specifications differ greatly in the criteria they specify for stability in thermal balance tests. Some specify a required temperature stabilization rate (the change in temperature per unit time, dT/dt), some specify that the final steady-state temperature be approached to within a specified difference, delta T , and some specify a combination of the two. The particular values for temperature stabilization rate and final temperature difference also vary greatly between specification documents. A one-size-fits-all temperature stabilization rate requirement does not yield consistent results for all test configurations because of differences in thermal mass and heat transfer to the environment. Applying a steady-state temperature difference requirement is problematic because the final test temperature is not accurately known a priori, especially for powered configurations. In the present work, a simplified, lumped-mass analysis has been used to explore the applicability of these criteria. A new, user-friendly, physics-based approach is developed that allows the thermal engineer to determine when an acceptable level of temperature stabilization has been achieved. The stabilization criterion can be predicted pre-test but must be refined during test to allow verification that the defined level of temperature stabilization has been achieved.

Application configuration selection for energy-efficient execution on multicore systems

DOE PAGES

Wang, Shinan; Luo, Bing; Shi, Weisong; ...

2015-09-21

Balanced performance and energy consumption are incorporated in the design of modern computer systems. Several runtime factors, such as concurrency levels, thread mapping strategies, and dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) should be considered in order to achieve optimal energy efficiency fora workload. Selecting appropriate run-time factors, however, is one of the most challenging tasks because the run-time factors are architecture-specific and workload-specific. And while most existing works concentrate on either static analysis of the workload or run-time prediction results, we present a hybrid two-step method that utilizes concurrency levels and DVFS settings to achieve the energy efficiency configuration formore » a worldoad. The experimental results based on a Xeon E5620 server with NPB and PARSEC benchmark suites show that the model is able to predict the energy efficient configuration accurately. On average, an additional 10% EDP (Energy Delay Product) saving is obtained by using run-time DVFS for the entire system. An off-line optimal solution is used to compare with the proposed scheme. Finally, the experimental results show that the average extra EDP saved by the optimal solution is within 5% on selective parallel benchmarks.« less

Trajectory Specification for Automation of Terminal Air Traffic Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paielli, Russell A.

2016-01-01

"Trajectory specification" is the explicit bounding and control of aircraft tra- jectories such that the position at each point in time is constrained to a precisely defined volume of space. The bounding space is defined by cross-track, along-track, and vertical tolerances relative to a reference trajectory that specifies position as a function of time. The tolerances are dynamic and will be based on the aircraft nav- igation capabilities and the current traffic situation. A standard language will be developed to represent these specifications and to communicate them by datalink. Assuming conformance, trajectory specification can guarantee safe separation for an arbitrary period of time even in the event of an air traffic control (ATC) sys- tem or datalink failure, hence it can help to achieve the high level of safety and reliability needed for ATC automation. As a more proactive form of ATC, it can also maximize airspace capacity and reduce the reliance on tactical backup systems during normal operation. It applies to both enroute airspace and the terminal area around airports, but this paper focuses on arrival spacing in the terminal area and presents ATC algorithms and software for achieving a specified delay of runway arrival time.

Discriminative Dictionary Learning With Two-Level Low Rank and Group Sparse Decomposition for Image Classification.

PubMed

Wen, Zaidao; Hou, Zaidao; Jiao, Licheng

2017-11-01

Discriminative dictionary learning (DDL) framework has been widely used in image classification which aims to learn some class-specific feature vectors as well as a representative dictionary according to a set of labeled training samples. However, interclass similarities and intraclass variances among input samples and learned features will generally weaken the representability of dictionary and the discrimination of feature vectors so as to degrade the classification performance. Therefore, how to explicitly represent them becomes an important issue. In this paper, we present a novel DDL framework with two-level low rank and group sparse decomposition model. In the first level, we learn a class-shared and several class-specific dictionaries, where a low rank and a group sparse regularization are, respectively, imposed on the corresponding feature matrices. In the second level, the class-specific feature matrix will be further decomposed into a low rank and a sparse matrix so that intraclass variances can be separated to concentrate the corresponding feature vectors. Extensive experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our model. Compared with the other state-of-the-arts on several popular image databases, our model can achieve a competitive or better performance in terms of the classification accuracy.

Low Thrust Orbital Maneuvers Using Ion Propulsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramesh, Eric

2011-10-01

Low-thrust maneuver options, such as electric propulsion, offer specific challenges within mission-level Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (MS&A) tools. This project seeks to transition techniques for simulating low-thrust maneuvers from detailed engineering level simulations such as AGI's Satellite ToolKit (STK) Astrogator to mission level simulations such as the System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (SEAS). Our project goals are as follows: A) Assess different low-thrust options to achieve various orbital changes; B) Compare such approaches to more conventional, high-thrust profiles; C) Compare computational cost and accuracy of various approaches to calculate and simulate low-thrust maneuvers; D) Recommend methods for implementing low-thrust maneuvers in high-level mission simulations; E) prototype recommended solutions.

The Possible Role of Resource Requirements and Academic Career-Choice Risk on Gender Differences in Publication Rate and Impact

PubMed Central

Sales-Pardo, Marta; Radicchi, Filippo; Otis, Shayna; Woodruff, Teresa K.; Nunes Amaral, Luís A.

2012-01-01

Many studies demonstrate that there is still a significant gender bias, especially at higher career levels, in many areas including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated field-dependent, gender-specific effects of the selective pressures individuals experience as they pursue a career in academia within seven STEM disciplines. We built a unique database that comprises 437,787 publications authored by 4,292 faculty members at top United States research universities. Our analyses reveal that gender differences in publication rate and impact are discipline-specific. Our results also support two hypotheses. First, the widely-reported lower publication rates of female faculty are correlated with the amount of research resources typically needed in the discipline considered, and thus may be explained by the lower level of institutional support historically received by females. Second, in disciplines where pursuing an academic position incurs greater career risk, female faculty tend to have a greater fraction of higher impact publications than males. Our findings have significant, field-specific, policy implications for achieving diversity at the faculty level within the STEM disciplines. PMID:23251502

Enzyme immunoassays for IgG and IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii based on enhanced chemiluminescence.

PubMed Central

Crouch, C F

1995-01-01

AIMS--To evaluate the clinical performance of enzyme immunoassays for IgG and IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii based on enhanced chemiluminescence. METHODS--Classification of routine clinical samples from the originating laboratories was compared with that obtained using the chemiluminescence based assays. Resolution of discordant results was achieved by testing in alternative enzyme immunoassays (IgM) or by an independent laboratory using the dye test (IgG). RESULTS--Compared with resolved data, the IgM assay was found to be highly specific (100%) with a cut off selected to give optimal performance with respect to both the early detection of specific IgM and the detection of persistent levels of specific IgM (sensitivity 98%). Compared with resolved data, the IgG assay was shown to have a sensitivity and a specificity of 99.4%. CONCLUSIONS--The Amerlite Toxo IgM assay possesses high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Assay interference due to rheumatoid factor like substances is not a problem. The Amerlite Toxo IgG assay possesses good sensitivity and specificity, but is less sensitive for the detection of seroconversion than methods detecting both IgG and IgM. PMID:7560174

Quantitative imaging for clinical dosimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bardiès, Manuel; Flux, Glenn; Lassmann, Michael; Monsieurs, Myriam; Savolainen, Sauli; Strand, Sven-Erik

2006-12-01

Patient-specific dosimetry in nuclear medicine is now a legal requirement in many countries throughout the EU for targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) applications. In order to achieve that goal, an increased level of accuracy in dosimetry procedures is needed. Current research in nuclear medicine dosimetry should not only aim at developing new methods to assess the delivered radiation absorbed dose at the patient level, but also to ensure that the proposed methods can be put into practice in a sufficient number of institutions. A unified dosimetry methodology is required for making clinical outcome comparisons possible.

Bumps on the road to Magnet designation: achieving organizational excellence.

PubMed

Steinbinder, Amy

2009-01-01

The chief nursing officer is in a unique position to guide his or her organization to excellence by creating a compelling vision; maintaining objectivity regarding the nursing department's accomplishments; holding senior nurse leaders accountable as Magnet champions; demonstrating strategic thinking, business planning development, operational connection, and awareness of clinical aspects of care; and establishing levels of ownership and decision making within the nursing department's operational framework. The clear definition of terms including responsibility, authority, delegation, accountability, and empowerment are necessary and, coupled with specific actions, skills, and measures of success, guide individual and group processes to achieve organizational excellence and ultimately Magnet designation.

An improved design method for EPC middleware

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Guohuan; Xu, Ran; Yang, Chunming

2014-04-01

For currently existed problems and difficulties during the small and medium enterprises use EPC (Electronic Product Code) ALE (Application Level Events) specification to achieved middleware, based on the analysis of principle of EPC Middleware, an improved design method for EPC middleware is presented. This method combines the powerful function of MySQL database, uses database to connect reader-writer with upper application system, instead of development of ALE application program interface to achieve a middleware with general function. This structure is simple and easy to implement and maintain. Under this structure, different types of reader-writers added can be configured conveniently and the expandability of the system is improved.

Ten Years of TAKE 10!(®): Integrating physical activity with academic concepts in elementary school classrooms.

PubMed

Kibbe, Debra L; Hackett, Jacqueline; Hurley, Melissa; McFarland, Allen; Schubert, Kathryn Godburn; Schultz, Amy; Harris, Suzanne

2011-06-01

Current literature supports the link between physical activity (PA) or fitness and a child's ability to achieve academically; however, little structured activity time is incorporated into elementary school classrooms. This paper explores the impact of a classroom-based PA program, TAKE 10!, and health-academic integration through existing state and federal policy and programming. Evidence from journal articles, published abstracts, and reports were examined to summarize the impact of TAKE 10! on student health and other outcomes. This paper reviews 10 years of TAKE 10! studies and makes recommendations for future research. Teachers are willing and able to implement classroom-based PA integrated with grade-specific lessons (4.2 days/wk). Children participating in the TAKE 10! program experience higher PA levels (13%>), reduced time-off-task (20.5%), and improved reading, math, spelling and composite scores (p<0.01). Furthermore, students achieved moderate energy expenditure levels (6.16 to 6.42 METs) and studies suggest that BMI may be positively impacted (decreases in BMI z score over 2 years [P<0.01]). TAKE 10! demonstrates that integrating movement with academics in elementary school classrooms is feasible, helps students focus on learning, and enables them to realize improved PA levels while also helping schools achieve wellness policies. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Multivalent glycopeptide dendrimers for the targeted delivery of antigens to dendritic cells.

PubMed

García-Vallejo, Juan J; Ambrosini, Martino; Overbeek, Annemieke; van Riel, Wilhelmina E; Bloem, Karien; Unger, Wendy W J; Chiodo, Fabrizio; Bolscher, Jan G; Nazmi, Kamran; Kalay, Hakan; van Kooyk, Yvette

2013-04-01

Dendritic cells are the most powerful type of antigen presenting cells. Current immunotherapies targeting dendritic cells have shown a relative degree of success but still require further improvement. One of the most important issues to solve is the efficiency of antigen delivery to dendritic cells in order to achieve an appropriate uptake, processing, and presentation to Ag-specific T cells. C-type lectins have shown to be ideal receptors for the targeting of antigens to dendritic cells and allow the use of their natural ligands - glycans - instead of antibodies. Amongst them, dendritic cell-specific ICAM-3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) is an interesting candidate due to its biological properties and the availability of its natural carbohydrate ligands. Using Le(b)-conjugated poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers we aimed to characterize the optimal level of multivalency necessary to achieve the desired internalization, lysosomal delivery, Ag-specific T cell proliferation, and cytokine response. Increasing DC-SIGN ligand multivalency directly translated in an enhanced binding, which might also be interesting for blocking purposes. Internalization, routing to lysosomal compartments, antigen presentation and cytokine response could be optimally achieved with glycopeptide dendrimers carrying 16-32 glycan units. This report provides the basis for the design of efficient targeting of peptide antigens for the immunotherapy of cancer, autoimmunity and infectious diseases. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enzyme Prodrug Therapy Achieves Site-Specific, Personalized Physiological Responses to the Locally Produced Nitric Oxide

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Nitric oxide (NO) is a highly potent but short-lived endogenous radical with a wide spectrum of physiological activities. In this work, we developed an enzymatic approach to the site-specific synthesis of NO mediated by biocatalytic surface coatings. Multilayered polyelectrolyte films were optimized as host compartments for the immobilized β-galactosidase (β-Gal) enzyme through a screen of eight polycations and eight polyanions. The lead composition was used to achieve localized production of NO through the addition of β-Gal–NONOate, a prodrug that releases NO following enzymatic bioconversion. The resulting coatings afforded physiologically relevant flux of NO matching that of the healthy human endothelium. The antiproliferative effect due to the synthesized NO in cell culture was site-specific: within a multiwell dish with freely shared media and nutrients, a 10-fold inhibition of cell growth was achieved on top of the biocatalytic coatings compared to the immediately adjacent enzyme-free microwells. The physiological effect of NO produced via the enzyme prodrug therapy was validated ex vivo in isolated arteries through the measurement of vasodilation. Biocatalytic coatings were deposited on wires produced using alloys used in clinical practice and successfully mediated a NONOate concentration-dependent vasodilation in the small arteries of rats. The results of this study present an exciting opportunity to manufacture implantable biomaterials with physiological responses controlled to the desired level for personalized treatment. PMID:29570264

A serious gaming/immersion environment to teach clinical cancer genetics.

PubMed

Nosek, Thomas M; Cohen, Mark; Matthews, Anne; Papp, Klara; Wolf, Nancy; Wrenn, Gregg; Sher, Andrew; Coulter, Kenneth; Martin, Jessica; Wiesner, Georgia L

2007-01-01

We are creating an interactive, simulated "Cancer Genetics Tower" for the self-paced learning of Clinical Cancer Genetics by medical students (go to: http://casemed.case.edu/cancergenetics). The environment uses gaming theory to engage the students into achieving specific learning objectives. The first few levels contain virtual laboratories where students achieve the basic underpinnings of Cancer Genetics. The next levels apply these principles to clinical practice. A virtual attending physician and four virtual patients, available for questioning through virtual video conferencing, enrich each floor. The pinnacle clinical simulation challenges the learner to integrate all information and demonstrate mastery, thus "winning" the game. A pilot test of the program by 17 medical students yielded very favorable feedback; the students found the Tower a "great way to teach", it held their attention, and it made learning fun. A majority of the students preferred the Tower over other resources to learn Cancer Genetics.

Lunar module voice recorder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

A feasibility unit suitable for use as a voice recorder on the space shuttle was developed. A modification, development, and test program is described. A LM-DSEA recorder was modified to achieve the following goals: (1) redesign case to allow in-flight cartridge change; (2) time code change from LM code to IRIG-B 100 pps code; (3) delete cold plate requirements (also requires deletion of long-term thermal vacuum operation at 0.00001 MMHg); (4) implement track sequence reset during cartridge change; (5) reduce record time per cartridge because of unavailability of LM thin-base tape; and (6) add an internal Vox key circuit to turn on/off transport and electronics with voice data input signal. The recorder was tested at both the LM and shuttle vibration levels. The modified recorder achieved the same level of flutter during vibration as the DSEA recorder prior to modification. Several improvements were made over the specification requirements. The high manufacturing cost is discussed.

Exploring cellular uptake of iron oxide nanoparticles associated with rhodium citrate in breast cancer cells

PubMed Central

Chaves, Natalia L; Estrela-Lopis, Irina; Böttner, Julia; Lopes, Cláudio AP; Guido, Bruna C; de Sousa, Aparecido R; Báo, Sônia N

2017-01-01

Nanocarriers have the potential to improve the therapeutic index of currently available drugs by improving their efficacy and achieving therapeutic steady-state levels over an extended period. The association of maghemite–rhodium citrate (MRC) nanoparticles (NPs) has the potential to increase specificity of the cytotoxic action. However, the interaction of these NPs with cells, their uptake mechanism, and subcellular localization need to be elucidated. This work evaluates the uptake mechanism of MRC NPs in metastatic and nonmetastatic breast cancer-cell models, comparing them to a nontumor cell line. MRC NPs uptake in breast cancer cells was more effective than in normal cells, with regard to both the amount of internalized material and the achievement of more strategic intracellular distribution. Moreover, this process occurred through a clathrin-dependent endocytosis pathway with different basal expression levels of this protein in the cell lines tested. PMID:28814867

Exploring cellular uptake of iron oxide nanoparticles associated with rhodium citrate in breast cancer cells.

PubMed

Chaves, Natalia L; Estrela-Lopis, Irina; Böttner, Julia; Lopes, Cláudio Ap; Guido, Bruna C; de Sousa, Aparecido R; Báo, Sônia N

2017-01-01

Nanocarriers have the potential to improve the therapeutic index of currently available drugs by improving their efficacy and achieving therapeutic steady-state levels over an extended period. The association of maghemite-rhodium citrate (MRC) nanoparticles (NPs) has the potential to increase specificity of the cytotoxic action. However, the interaction of these NPs with cells, their uptake mechanism, and subcellular localization need to be elucidated. This work evaluates the uptake mechanism of MRC NPs in metastatic and nonmetastatic breast cancer-cell models, comparing them to a nontumor cell line. MRC NPs uptake in breast cancer cells was more effective than in normal cells, with regard to both the amount of internalized material and the achievement of more strategic intracellular distribution. Moreover, this process occurred through a clathrin-dependent endocytosis pathway with different basal expression levels of this protein in the cell lines tested.

The Adequacy of Current Interagency Doctrine

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-15

proposed new initiatives, the CSIS model calls for the establishment of an Interagency Task Force ( IATF ) to achieve unity of effort at the tactical...level, specifically 15 for reconstruction and stability operations. The IATF would assume the lead from the COCOM once major combat operations were...complete in a given area or region. The IATF would be civilian-led, directly control full interagency resources, and have dedicated funding authority

Instructor's Perceptions towards the Use of an Online Instructional Tool in an Academic English Setting in Kuwait

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erguvan, Deniz

2014-01-01

This study sets out to explore the faculty members' perceptions of a specific web-based instruction tool (Achieve3000) in a private higher education institute in Kuwait. The online tool provides highly differentiated instruction, which is initiated with a level set at the beginning of the term. The program is used in two consecutive courses as…

SSME Alternate Turbopump Development Program: Design verification specification for high-pressure fuel turbopump

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

The design and verification requirements are defined which are appropriate to hardware at the detail, subassembly, component, and engine levels and to correlate these requirements to the development demonstrations which provides verification that design objectives are achieved. The high pressure fuel turbopump requirements verification matrix provides correlation between design requirements and the tests required to verify that the requirement have been met.

To Use or Not to Use--(The One- or Three-Parameter Logistic Model) That Is the Question.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reckase, Mark D.

Definition of the issues to the use of latent trait models, specifically one- and three-parameter logistic models, in conjunction with multi-level achievement batteries, forms the basis of this paper. Research results related to these issues are also documented in an attempt to provide a rational basis for model selection. The application of the…

Response to Intervention and Retention for Children with Specific Learning Disabilities: Differences in Academic Achievement between Retained and Non-Retained Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller-Margulis, Milena; Gischlar, Karen

2014-01-01

Research indicates that the practice of grade-level retention may have negative effects on students; nevertheless it is often used in practice for students who fail to meet academic standards. In contrast to retention, response to intervention (RtI) is a sound practice that is based on a preventive framework and utilizes differentiated instruction…

COMMUNICATION IMPACT, A CONCEPTUAL MODEL ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL PREDISPOSITIONS AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF A COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BEAL, GEORGE M.; AND OTHERS

THIS STUDY DEALS WITH COMMUNICATION AT THREE LEVELS--DEVELOPMENT OF A GENERALIZED MODEL OF THE PROCESS WHEREBY COMMUNICATION ACHIEVES IMPACT, THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE MODEL, AND TESTING OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE MODEL PREDICTS THE RESPONSE OF MEMBERS OF THE POTENTIAL AUDIENCE TO A SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION EVENT. THIS IMPACT MODEL TAKES THE…

Administrative goals and safety standards for hazard control on forested recreation sites

Treesearch

Lee A. Paine

1973-01-01

For efficient control of tree hazard on recreation sites, a specific administrative goal must be selected. A safety standard designed to achieve the selected goal and a uniform hazard-rating procedure will then promote a consistent level of safety at an acceptable cost. Safety standards can be established with the aid of data for past years, and dollar evaluations are...

Plant resistance to rusts and mildews: genetic control and possible mechanisms.

PubMed

Lawrence, G J; Shepherd, K W; Mayo, G M; Islam, M R

1994-08-01

Genes in plants that confer race-specific resistance to rusts and mildews are widely exploited in agriculture and can prevent huge losses at little cost. However, nothing is known of the molecular basis of their action. Genetic studies, together with observations of responses at the ultrastructural level, can provide broad insights into how resistance is achieved, which may help in cloning resistance genes.

Factors Impacting on the Success of Distance Education Students of the University of the West Indies: A Review of the Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whittington, L. Alfons

This review of the literature examined a number of specific factors as they relate to the persistence and achievement of persons involved in distance learning. These factors are: (1) media of instruction; (2) instructor contact; (3) locus of control; and (4) certain demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income, and educational level. In…

A conjugated microporous polymer based visual sensing platform for aminoglycoside antibiotics in water.

PubMed

Bhunia, Subhajit; Dey, Nilanjan; Pradhan, Anirban; Bhattacharya, Santanu

2018-06-20

A donor-acceptor based conjugated microporous polymer, PER@NiP-CMOP-1, has been synthesized which can achieve highly sensitive stereo-specific "Turn ON" biosensing of an aminoglycoside up to the ppb level. The coordination-driven inhibition of photo-induced electron transfer (d-PET) for d-electrons and the rotational freezing are the key factors for the recovery of the emission.

76 FR 4847 - Hazardous Materials: Safety Requirements for External Product Piping on Cargo Tanks Transporting...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-27

... limit of one liter or less in each pipe, but did not propose a specific method for achieving this... purged, we are proposing to allow a residue quantity of no more than one liter (0.26 gallon or 33 ounces... wetlines to the one liter residue level. For example, an operator may elect to design external loading...

Bioprocess and downstream optimization of recombinant bovine chymosin B in Pichia (Komagataella) pastoris under methanol-inducible AOXI promoter.

PubMed

Noseda, Diego Gabriel; Blasco, Martín; Recúpero, Matías; Galvagno, Miguel Ángel

2014-12-01

A clone of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris strain GS115 transformed with the bovine prochymosin B gene was used to optimize the production and downstream of recombinant bovine chymosin expressed under the methanol-inducible AOXI promoter. Cell growth and recombinant chymosin production were analyzed in flask cultures containing basal salts medium with biodiesel-byproduct glycerol as the carbon source, obtaining values of biomass level and milk-clotting activity similar to those achieved with analytical glycerol. The effect of biomass level at the beginning of methanol-induction phase on cell growth and chymosin expression was evaluated, determining that a high concentration of cells at the start of such period generated an increase in the production of chymosin. The impact of the specific growth rate on chymosin expression was studied throughout the induction stage by methanol exponential feeding fermentations in a lab-scale stirred bioreactor, achieving the highest production of heterologous chymosin with a constant specific growth rate of 0.01h(-1). By gel filtration chromatography performed at a semi-preparative scale, recombinant chymosin was purified from exponential fed-batch fermentation cultures, obtaining a specific milk-clotting activity of 6400IMCU/mg of chymosin and a purity level of 95%. The effect of temperature and pH on milk-clotting activity was analyzed, establishing that the optimal temperature and pH values for the purified recombinant chymosin are 37°C and 5.5, respectively. This study reported the features of a sustainable bioprocess for the production of recombinant bovine chymosin in P. pastoris by fermentation in stirred-tank bioreactors using biodiesel-derived glycerol as a low-cost carbon source. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantification of Azospirillum brasilense FP2 Bacteria in Wheat Roots by Strain-Specific Quantitative PCR.

PubMed

Stets, Maria Isabel; Alqueres, Sylvia Maria Campbell; Souza, Emanuel Maltempi; Pedrosa, Fábio de Oliveira; Schmid, Michael; Hartmann, Anton; Cruz, Leonardo Magalhães

2015-10-01

Azospirillum is a rhizobacterial genus containing plant growth-promoting species associated with different crops worldwide. Azospirillum brasilense strains exhibit a growth-promoting effect by means of phytohormone production and possibly by N2 fixation. However, one of the most important factors for achieving an increase in crop yield by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is the survival of the inoculant in the rhizosphere, which is not always achieved. The objective of this study was to develop quantitative PCR protocols for the strain-specific quantification of A. brasilense FP2. A novel approach was applied to identify strain-specific DNA sequences based on a comparison of the genomic sequences within the same species. The draft genome sequences of A. brasilense FP2 and Sp245 were aligned, and FP2-specific regions were filtered and checked for other possible matches in public databases. Strain-specific regions were then selected to design and evaluate strain-specific primer pairs. The primer pairs AzoR2.1, AzoR2.2, AzoR5.1, AzoR5.2, and AzoR5.3 were specific for the A. brasilense FP2 strain. These primer pairs were used to monitor quantitatively the population of A. brasilense in wheat roots under sterile and nonsterile growth conditions. In addition, coinoculations with other plant growth-promoting bacteria in wheat were performed under nonsterile conditions. The results showed that A. brasilense FP2 inoculated into wheat roots is highly competitive and achieves high cell numbers (∼10(7) CFU/g [fresh weight] of root) in the rhizosphere even under nonsterile conditions and when coinoculated with other rhizobacteria, maintaining the population at rather stable levels for at least up to 13 days after inoculation. The strategy used here can be applied to other organisms whose genome sequences are available. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Quantification of Azospirillum brasilense FP2 Bacteria in Wheat Roots by Strain-Specific Quantitative PCR

PubMed Central

Stets, Maria Isabel; Alqueres, Sylvia Maria Campbell; Souza, Emanuel Maltempi; Pedrosa, Fábio de Oliveira; Schmid, Michael

2015-01-01

Azospirillum is a rhizobacterial genus containing plant growth-promoting species associated with different crops worldwide. Azospirillum brasilense strains exhibit a growth-promoting effect by means of phytohormone production and possibly by N2 fixation. However, one of the most important factors for achieving an increase in crop yield by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is the survival of the inoculant in the rhizosphere, which is not always achieved. The objective of this study was to develop quantitative PCR protocols for the strain-specific quantification of A. brasilense FP2. A novel approach was applied to identify strain-specific DNA sequences based on a comparison of the genomic sequences within the same species. The draft genome sequences of A. brasilense FP2 and Sp245 were aligned, and FP2-specific regions were filtered and checked for other possible matches in public databases. Strain-specific regions were then selected to design and evaluate strain-specific primer pairs. The primer pairs AzoR2.1, AzoR2.2, AzoR5.1, AzoR5.2, and AzoR5.3 were specific for the A. brasilense FP2 strain. These primer pairs were used to monitor quantitatively the population of A. brasilense in wheat roots under sterile and nonsterile growth conditions. In addition, coinoculations with other plant growth-promoting bacteria in wheat were performed under nonsterile conditions. The results showed that A. brasilense FP2 inoculated into wheat roots is highly competitive and achieves high cell numbers (∼107 CFU/g [fresh weight] of root) in the rhizosphere even under nonsterile conditions and when coinoculated with other rhizobacteria, maintaining the population at rather stable levels for at least up to 13 days after inoculation. The strategy used here can be applied to other organisms whose genome sequences are available. PMID:26187960

Correlates of disease-specific knowledge in Chinese patients with COPD.

PubMed

Wong, Carlos Kh; Yu, W C

2016-01-01

This study aimed to determine the associations of various sociodemographic factors with the level of disease-specific knowledge among Hong Kong Chinese patients with COPD. A cross-sectional survey of 100 Chinese adults with COPD recruited from outpatient clinics was conducted from September 2009 to September 2010. Data on the knowledge specific to COPD and patients' sociodemographics were collected from face-to-face interviews. Primary outcome of disease-specific knowledge was measured using 65-item Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ), summing up the 65 items as the BCKQ overall score. Associations of sociodemographic factors with the BCKQ overall score were evaluated using the linear regression model. The mean BCKQ overall score of our patients was 41.01 (SD: 10.64). The knowledge in topics of "Smoking" and "Phlegm" achieved the first (3.97, SD: 0.82) and second (3.91, SD: 1.17) highest mean scores, respectively, while the topic of "Oral steroids" returned the lowest mean score of 1.89 (SD: 1.64). The BCKQ overall score progressively declined ( P <0.001) with increase in education level, with the highest BCKQ overall score of 46.71 at no formal education among all subgroups. Compared to nondrinkers, current drinkers were associated with lower total BCKQ score. We found that among COPD patients in outpatient clinics, impairments in the level of COPD knowledge were evident in patients who were current drinkers or had higher level of education.

Considerations for Estimating Electrode Performance in Li-Ion Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, William R.

2012-01-01

Advanced electrode materials with increased specific capacity and voltage performance are critical to the development of Li-ion batteries with increased specific energy and energy density. Although performance metrics for individual electrodes are critically important, a fundamental understanding of the interactions of electrodes in a full cell is essential to achieving the desired performance, and for establishing meaningful goals for electrode performance. This paper presents practical design considerations for matching positive and negative electrodes in a viable design. Methods for predicting cell-level discharge voltage, based on laboratory data for individual electrodes, are presented and discussed.

Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Conditions in a Sustainable Manner: Building on the AHC Learning.

PubMed

Delgado, Pedro

2016-01-01

The Atlantic Healthcare Collaboration for Innovation and Improvement in Chronic Disease (AHC) set out to achieve three aims: to create a patient- and family-centred approach to manage chronic diseases; to build a network of organizational, regional and provincial teams to share evidence-informed, systems-level solutions and work together to develop, implement and sustain improvement initiatives; and to promote the sustainability of the participating health systems. Important elements of all three aims were achieved and the synthesis provides a meaningful contribution to systems working to improve chronic care. This paper explores those achievements as well as some of the areas for improvement, including replicability, expanded outcome measurement, greater detail around patient and family engagement, increased focus on specific outcomes and processes, and further articulation of lessons learned and recommendations.

The effects of formative assessment on student self-regulation, motivational beliefs, and achievement in elementary science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Melissa Digennaro

Goals 2000 set forth a bold vision for U.S. students: they would be "first in the world in science and mathematics" by the year 2000. Performance indicators such as the TIMSS-R (1999) and NAEP (2000) reports suggest that U.S. students have not yet reached that goal. This study intended to learn how specific assessment strategies might contribute to improved student performance in science. This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of formative assessment with reflection on students' motivational beliefs, self-regulatory skills, and achievement in elementary science. The study aimed to find out whether and how classroom applications of formative assessment during science instruction might influence fifth-grade students' attitudes and self-perceptions about science learning, self-regulatory learning behaviors, and achievement. To explore the effects of the assessment intervention, the study utilized a mixed methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative investigations of treatment and control groups during a four-week intervention period. Quantitative measures included student self-report surveys administered pre- and post-treatment and an end-of-unit science test. Qualitative measures included classroom observations, student interviews (post-treatment), and a teacher interview (post-treatment). Findings indicated that the fifth-grade students in this study had positive attitudes toward science and high levels of self-efficacy for science. Results suggested that these elementary students employed a wide variety of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to support science learning. Findings revealed that these fifth graders believed formative assessment with reflection was beneficial for science learning outcomes. Research results did not show that the formative assessment intervention contributed to significant differences between treatment and control groups. However, the data revealed different levels of academic achievement and self-regulation for students in specific instructional services subgroups (i.e., gifted, regular education, special education, and ESL). For example, high achieving students reported higher levels of self-regulatory learning behavior than other fifth grade students. Findings suggested that elementary science instruction that includes classroom applications of formative assessment with reflection may provide support for science learning and the development of self-regulatory learning behavior. However, widespread implementation of this practice in elementary science classrooms represents significant challenges for today's educators, due to time limitations and increasing accountability pressures in our nation's schools.

Automatized spleen segmentation in non-contrast-enhanced MR volume data using subject-specific shape priors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gloger, Oliver; Tönnies, Klaus; Bülow, Robin; Völzke, Henry

2017-07-01

To develop the first fully automated 3D spleen segmentation framework derived from T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging data and to verify its performance for spleen delineation and volumetry. This approach considers the issue of low contrast between spleen and adjacent tissue in non-contrast-enhanced MR images. Native T1-weighted MR volume data was performed on a 1.5 T MR system in an epidemiological study. We analyzed random subsamples of MR examinations without pathologies to develop and verify the spleen segmentation framework. The framework is modularized to include different kinds of prior knowledge into the segmentation pipeline. Classification by support vector machines differentiates between five different shape types in computed foreground probability maps and recognizes characteristic spleen regions in axial slices of MR volume data. A spleen-shape space generated by training produces subject-specific prior shape knowledge that is then incorporated into a final 3D level set segmentation method. Individually adapted shape-driven forces as well as image-driven forces resulting from refined foreground probability maps steer the level set successfully to the segment the spleen. The framework achieves promising segmentation results with mean Dice coefficients of nearly 0.91 and low volumetric mean errors of 6.3%. The presented spleen segmentation approach can delineate spleen tissue in native MR volume data. Several kinds of prior shape knowledge including subject-specific 3D prior shape knowledge can be used to guide segmentation processes achieving promising results.

Career Aspirations of Adolescent Girls: Effects of Achievement Level, Grade, and Single-Sex School Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Cary M.; Quatman, Teri; Edler, Erik

2002-01-01

Compared high achieving adolescent girls' ideal and real career aspirations to adolescent boys' aspirations, examining the influence of grade level, achievement level, and an all-girls school environment. At all achievement levels, girls were commensurate with boys in ideal and realistic career aspirations. High achieving girls exceeded the…

Bridging the gap: the roles of social capital and ethnicity in medical student achievement.

PubMed

Vaughan, Suzanne; Sanders, Tom; Crossley, Nick; O'Neill, Paul; Wass, Val

2015-01-01

Within medical education, there is a discrepancy between the achievement level of White students and that of their ethnic minority peers. The processes underlying this disparity have not been adequately investigated or explained. This study utilises social network analysis to investigate the impact of relationships on medical student achievement by ethnicity, specifically by examining homophily (the tendency to interact with others in the same group) by ethnicity, age and role. Data from a cross-sectional social network study conducted in one UK medical school are presented and are analysed alongside examination records obtained from the medical school. Participants were sampled across the four hospital placement sites; a total of 158 medical students in their clinical phase (Years 3 and 4) completed the survey. The research was designed and analysed using social capital theory. Although significant patterns of ethnic and religious homophily emerged, no link was found between these factors and achievement. Interacting with problem-based learning (PBL) group peers in study-related activities, and having seniors in a wider academic support network were directly linked to better achievement. Students in higher academic quartiles were more likely to be named by members of their PBL group in study activities and to name at least one tutor or clinician in their network. Students from lower-achieving groups were least likely to have the social capital enabling, and resulting from, interactions with members of more expert social groups. Lower levels of the social capital that mediates interaction with peers, tutors and clinicians may be the cause of underperformance by ethnic minority students. Because of ethnic homophily, minority students may be cut off from potential and actual resources that facilitate learning and achievement. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Teacher-student relationship quality and academic achievement in elementary school: A longitudinal examination of gender differences.

PubMed

Hajovsky, Daniel B; Mason, Benjamin A; McCune, Luke A

2017-08-01

Multiple group longitudinal cross-lagged panel models were implemented to understand the directional influences between teacher-student closeness and conflict and measured math and reading achievement across elementary grades and gender groups using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development longitudinal sample (N=1133). Specifically, after testing multiple group longitudinal measurement invariance to ensure consistent measurement across genders and time, and tests of equivalence of the latent parameters, we were interested in whether longitudinal changes in teacher-rated closeness and conflict explained longitudinal changes in achievement, and vice versa, and whether those longitudinal influences varied by gender. Latent teacher-student closeness decreased for both genders over time (Cohen's d=-0.15 to -0.32), but latent conflict increased for males (Cohen's d=0.16). There was also increased heterogeneity in teacher-student relationship quality for males relative to females. Math and reading achievement had medium reciprocal effects (β=0.12 to 0.23), and previous math achievement had small to medium effects on subsequent teacher-student closeness (β=0.08 to 0.11) and conflict (β=-0.07 to -0.09). Teacher-student conflict and closeness did not influence subsequent levels of math or reading achievement once previous levels were controlled. Further, these influences were consistent across gender groups despite latent differences in teacher-student closeness and conflict with teachers reporting closer relationships with female students and more conflictual relationships with male students. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age-dependent metabolic and immunosuppressive effects of Tacrolimus

PubMed Central

Krenzien, Felix; Quante, Markus; Heinbokel, Timm; Seyda, Midas; Minami, Koichiro; Uehara, Hirohito; Biefer, Hector Rodriguez Cetina; Schuitenmaker, Jeroen M.; Gabardi, Steven; Splith, Katrin; Schmelzle, Moritz; Petrides, Athena K.; Azuma, Haruhito; Pratschke, Johann; Li, Xian C.; ElKhal, Abdallah; Tullius, Stefan G.

2016-01-01

Immunosuppression in elderly recipients has been underappreciated in clinical trials. Here, we assessed age-specific effects of the calcineurin inhibitor Tacrolimus (TAC) in a murine transplant model and assessed its clinical relevance on human T-cells. Old recipient mice exhibited prolonged skin graft survival when compared to young animals following TAC administration. More importantly, half of the TAC dose was sufficient in old mice to achieve comparable systemic trough levels. TAC administration was able to reduce pro-inflammatory IFN-γ cytokine production and promote IL-10 production in old CD4+ T-cells. In addition, TAC administration decreased IL-2 secretion in old CD4+ T-cells more effectively while inhibiting the proliferation of CD4+ T-cells in old mice. Both, TAC treated murine and human CD4+ T-cells demonstrated an age-specific suppression of intracellular calcineurin levels and Ca2+-influx, two critical pathways in T-cell activation. Of note, depletion of CD8+ T-cells did not alter allograft survival outcome in old TAC treated mice, suggesting that TAC age-specific effects were mainly CD4+ T-cell mediated. Collectively, our study demonstrates age-specific immunosuppressive capacities of TAC that are CD4+ T-cell mediated. The suppression of calcineurin levels and Ca2+-influx in both, old murine and human T-cells emphasizes on the clinical relevance of age-specific effects when utilizing TAC. PMID:27754593

Classroom observation data and instruction in primary mathematics education: improving design and rigour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Carla J.; Davis, Sandra B.

2014-06-01

The use of formal observation in primary mathematics classrooms is supported in the literature as a viable method of determining effective teaching strategies and appropriate tasks for inclusion in the early years of mathematics learning. The twofold aim of this study was to (a) investigate predictive relationships between primary mathematics classroom observational data and student achievement data, and (b) to examine the impact of providing periodic classroom observational data feedback to teachers using a Relational-Feedback-Intervention (RFI) Database Model. This observational research effort focused on an empirical examination of student engagement levels in time spent on specific learning activities observed in primary mathematics classrooms as predictors of student competency outcomes in mathematics. Data were collected from more than 2,000 primary classroom observations in 17 primary schools during 2009-2011 and from standardised end-of-year tests for mathematics achievement. Results revealed predictive relationships among several types of teaching and learning tasks with student achievement. Specifically, the use of mathematics concepts, technology and hands-on materials in primary mathematics classrooms was found to produce substantive predictors of increased student mathematics achievement. Additional findings supported the use of periodic classroom observation data reporting as a positive influence on teachers' decisions in determining instructional tasks for inclusion in primary mathematics classrooms. Study results indicate classroom observational research involving a RFI Database Model is a productive tool for improving teaching and learning in primary mathematics classrooms.

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation in Early Mouse Embryos.

PubMed

García-González, Estela G; Roque-Ramirez, Bladimir; Palma-Flores, Carlos; Hernández-Hernández, J Manuel

2018-01-01

Epigenetic regulation is achieved at many levels by different factors such as tissue-specific transcription factors, members of the basal transcriptional apparatus, chromatin-binding proteins, and noncoding RNAs. Importantly, chromatin structure dictates the availability of a specific genomic locus for transcriptional activation as well as the efficiency with which transcription can occur. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a method that allows elucidating gene regulation at the molecular level by assessing if chromatin modifications or proteins are present at a specific locus. Initially, the majority of ChIP experiments were performed on cultured cell lines and more recently this technique has been adapted to a variety of tissues in different model organisms. Using ChIP on mouse embryos, it is possible to document the presence or absence of specific proteins and chromatin modifications at genomic loci in vivo during mammalian development and to get biological meaning from observations made on tissue culture analyses. We describe here a ChIP protocol on freshly isolated mouse embryonic somites for in vivo analysis of muscle specific transcription factor binding on chromatin. This protocol has been easily adapted to other mouse embryonic tissues and has also been successfully scaled up to perform ChIP-Seq.

Conservation Abilities, Visuospatial Skills, and Numerosity Processing Speed: Association With Math Achievement and Math Difficulties in Elementary School Children.

PubMed

Lambert, Katharina; Spinath, Birgit

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between elementary school children's mathematical achievement and their conservation abilities, visuospatial skills, and numerosity processing speed. We also assessed differences in these abilities between children with different types of learning problems. In Study 1 ( N = 229), we investigated second to fourth graders and in Study 2 ( N = 120), third and fourth graders. Analyses revealed significant contributions of numerosity processing speed and visuospatial skills to math achievement beyond IQ. Conservation abilities were predictive in Study 1 only. Children with math difficulties showed lower visuospatial skills and conservation abilities than children with typical achievement levels and children with reading and/or spelling difficulties, whereas children with combined difficulties explicitly showed low conservation abilities. These findings provide further evidence for the relations between children's math skills and their visuospatial skills, conservation abilities, and processing speed and contribute to the understanding of deficits that are specific to mathematical difficulties.

Reading enjoyment amongst non-leisure readers can affect achievement in secondary school.

PubMed

Mol, Suzanne E; Jolles, Jelle

2014-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate determinants of differences in leisure reading behavior and school achievement. We specifically examined reading enjoyment, mental imagery, and sex as predictors in a large, age-homogeneous sample of Dutch secondary school students (N = 1,071). Results showed that the prevalence of leisure reading was low in both the lower, pre-vocational track (19.5%) and the higher, pre-academic track (32.5%). Boys read even less than girls. Almost all leisure readers enjoyed reading and engaged in mental imagery, i.e., the propensity "to see images" of a written story in the mind's eye. Overall, boys who did not like to read for leisure had the poorest school performance. Non-leisure readers who reported that they enjoyed reading got higher school grades in the higher educational track. In the lower track, this was the case for girls. Our study findings imply that reading promotion programs should take into account individual differences in sex, achievement level, and reading enjoyment when aiming to decrease the academic achievement gap.

School accountability and the black-white test score gap.

PubMed

Gaddis, S Michael; Lauen, Douglas Lee

2014-03-01

Since at least the 1960s, researchers have closely examined the respective roles of families, neighborhoods, and schools in producing the black-white achievement gap. Although many researchers minimize the ability of schools to eliminate achievement gaps, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased pressure on schools to do so by 2014. In this study, we examine the effects of NCLB's subgroup-specific accountability pressure on changes in black-white math and reading test score gaps using a school-level panel dataset on all North Carolina public elementary and middle schools between 2001 and 2009. Using difference-in-difference models with school fixed effects, we find that accountability pressure reduces black-white achievement gaps by raising mean black achievement without harming mean white achievement. We find no differential effects of accountability pressure based on the racial composition of schools, but schools with more affluent populations are the most successful at reducing the black-white math achievement gap. Thus, our findings suggest that school-based interventions have the potential to close test score gaps, but differences in school composition and resources play a significant role in the ability of schools to reduce racial inequality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Classifying the molecular functions of Rab GTPases in membrane trafficking using deep convolutional neural networks.

PubMed

Le, Nguyen-Quoc-Khanh; Ho, Quang-Thai; Ou, Yu-Yen

2018-06-13

Deep learning has been increasingly used to solve a number of problems with state-of-the-art performance in a wide variety of fields. In biology, deep learning can be applied to reduce feature extraction time and achieve high levels of performance. In our present work, we apply deep learning via two-dimensional convolutional neural networks and position-specific scoring matrices to classify Rab protein molecules, which are main regulators in membrane trafficking for transferring proteins and other macromolecules throughout the cell. The functional loss of specific Rab molecular functions has been implicated in a variety of human diseases, e.g., choroideremia, intellectual disabilities, cancer. Therefore, creating a precise model for classifying Rabs is crucial in helping biologists understand the molecular functions of Rabs and design drug targets according to such specific human disease information. We constructed a robust deep neural network for classifying Rabs that achieved an accuracy of 99%, 99.5%, 96.3%, and 97.6% for each of four specific molecular functions. Our approach demonstrates superior performance to traditional artificial neural networks. Therefore, from our proposed study, we provide both an effective tool for classifying Rab proteins and a basis for further research that can improve the performance of biological modeling using deep neural networks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microtubule-Targeting Therapy for Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

that were done to achieve the above specific goals. 1. Biological effects of ribozyme -carrying adenoviruses that target stathmin mRNA in human...prostate cancer cells: A ribozyme is a small RNA molecule that acts stoichiometrically to cleave multiple target RNA molecules [1]. This unique ability...of a ribozyme to degrade multiple target RNA molecules is a more efficient approach for down regulating genes that are expressed at very high levels

Research and Development of Zinc Air Fuel Cell To Achieve Commercialization Final Report CRADA No. TC-1544-98

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

Cooper, J. F.; Haley, H. D.

The specific goal of this project was to advance the development of the zinc air fuel cell (ZAFC) towards commercial readiness in different mobile applications, including motor bikes, passenger cars, vans, buses and off-road vehicles (golf carts, factory equipment), and different stationary applications including generator sets, uninterruptible power systems and electric utility loading leveling and distributive power.

A dramatic, objective antiandrogen withdrawal response: case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Lau, Yiu-Keung; Chadha, Manpreet K; Litwin, Alan; Trump, Donald L

2008-11-05

Antiandrogen withdrawal response is an increasingly recognized entity in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. To our knowledge, there have been no reports describing a durable radiologic improvement along with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) with discontinuation of the antiandrogen agent bicalutamide. We report a case in which a dramatic decline of serum PSA levels associated with a dramatic improvement in radiologic disease was achieved with bicalutamide discontinuation.

Lo Que el Trabajo Requiere de las Escuelas. Informe de la Comision SCANS para America 2000 (What Work Requires of Schools. A SCANS Report for America 2000).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Labor, Washington, DC. Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills.

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, SCANS determined the level of skills required to enter employment. Fundamental changes in the nature of work were identified; these changes were found to hold…

Deep neural ensemble for retinal vessel segmentation in fundus images towards achieving label-free angiography.

PubMed

Lahiri, A; Roy, Abhijit Guha; Sheet, Debdoot; Biswas, Prabir Kumar

2016-08-01

Automated segmentation of retinal blood vessels in label-free fundus images entails a pivotal role in computed aided diagnosis of ophthalmic pathologies, viz., diabetic retinopathy, hypertensive disorders and cardiovascular diseases. The challenge remains active in medical image analysis research due to varied distribution of blood vessels, which manifest variations in their dimensions of physical appearance against a noisy background. In this paper we formulate the segmentation challenge as a classification task. Specifically, we employ unsupervised hierarchical feature learning using ensemble of two level of sparsely trained denoised stacked autoencoder. First level training with bootstrap samples ensures decoupling and second level ensemble formed by different network architectures ensures architectural revision. We show that ensemble training of auto-encoders fosters diversity in learning dictionary of visual kernels for vessel segmentation. SoftMax classifier is used for fine tuning each member autoencoder and multiple strategies are explored for 2-level fusion of ensemble members. On DRIVE dataset, we achieve maximum average accuracy of 95.33% with an impressively low standard deviation of 0.003 and Kappa agreement coefficient of 0.708. Comparison with other major algorithms substantiates the high efficacy of our model.

A latent profile analysis of Asian American men's and women's adherence to cultural values.

PubMed

Wong, Y Joel; Nguyen, Chi P; Wang, Shu-Yi; Chen, Weilin; Steinfeldt, Jesse A; Kim, Bryan S K

2012-07-01

The goal of this study was to identify diverse profiles of Asian American women's and men's adherence to values that are salient in Asian cultures (i.e., conformity to norms, family recognition through achievement, emotional self-control, collectivism, and humility). To this end, the authors conducted a latent profile analysis using the 5 subscales of the Asian American Values Scale-Multidimensional in a sample of 214 Asian Americans. The analysis uncovered a four-cluster solution. In general, Clusters 1 and 2 were characterized by relatively low and moderate levels of adherence to the 5 dimensions of cultural values, respectively. Cluster 3 was characterized by the highest level of adherence to the cultural value of family recognition through achievement, whereas Cluster 4 was typified by the highest levels of adherence to collectivism, emotional self-control, and humility. Clusters 3 and 4 were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms than Cluster 1. Furthermore, Asian American women and Asian American men had lower odds of being in Cluster 4 and Cluster 3, respectively. These findings attest to the importance of identifying specific patterns of adherence to cultural values when examining the relationship between Asian Americans' cultural orientation and mental health status.

Biomimetic chemical sensors using bioengineered olfactory and taste cells.

PubMed

Du, Liping; Zou, Ling; Zhao, Luhang; Wang, Ping; Wu, Chunsheng

2014-01-01

Biological olfactory and taste systems are natural chemical sensing systems with unique performances for the detection of environmental chemical signals. With the advances in olfactory and taste transduction mechanisms, biomimetic chemical sensors have achieved significant progress due to their promising prospects and potential applications. Biomimetic chemical sensors exploit the unique capability of biological functional components for chemical sensing, which are often sourced from sensing units of biological olfactory or taste systems at the tissue level, cellular level, or molecular level. Specifically, at the cellular level, there are mainly two categories of cells have been employed for the development of biomimetic chemical sensors, which are natural cells and bioengineered cells, respectively. Natural cells are directly isolated from biological olfactory and taste systems, which are convenient to achieve. However, natural cells often suffer from the undefined sensing properties and limited amount of identical cells. On the other hand, bioengineered cells have shown decisive advantages to be applied in the development of biomimetic chemical sensors due to the powerful biotechnology for the reconstruction of the cell sensing properties. Here, we briefly summarized the most recent advances of biomimetic chemical sensors using bioengineered olfactory and taste cells. The development challenges and future trends are discussed as well.

Resident-Specific Morbidity Reduced Following ACS NSQIP Data-Driven Quality Program.

PubMed

Turrentine, Florence E; Hanks, John B; Tracci, Megan C; Jones, R Scott; Schirmer, Bruce D; Smith, Philip W

2018-04-16

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestone Project for general surgery provided a more robust method for developing and tracking residents' competence. This framework enhanced systematic and progressive development of residents' competencies in surgical quality improvement. A 22-month interactive, educational program based on resident-specific surgical outcomes data culminated in a quality improvement project for postgraduate year 4 surgery residents. Self- assessment, quality knowledge test, and resident-specific American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Quality In-Training Initiative morbidity were compared before and after the intervention. Quality in-training initiative morbidity decreased from 25% (82/325) to 18% (93/517), p = 0.015 despite residents performing more complex cases. All participants achieved level 4 competency (4/4) within the general surgery milestones improvement of care, practice-based learning and improvement competency. Institutional American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program general surgery morbidity improved from the ninth to the sixth decile. Quality assessment and improvement self-assessment postintervention scores (M = 23.80, SD = 4.97) were not significantly higher than preintervention scores (M = 19.20, SD = 5.26), p = 0.061. Quality Improvement Knowledge Application Tool postintervention test scores (M = 17.4, SD = 4.88), were not significantly higher than pretest scores (M = 13.2, SD = 1.92), p = 0.12. Sharing validated resident-specific clinical data with participants was associated with improved surgical outcomes. Participating fourth year surgical residents achieved the highest score, a level 4, in the practice based learning and improvement competency of the improvement of care practice domain and observed significantly reduced surgical morbidity for cases in which they participated. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Near-infrared light-responsive nanomaterials in cancer therapeutics.

PubMed

Shanmugam, Vijayakumar; Selvakumar, S; Yeh, Chen-Sheng

2014-09-07

Noninvasive techniques, such as breath tests (urea breath test), blood pressure measurements using a sphygmomanometer and electrocardiography, were employed by a physician to perform classical diagnosis. The use of state-of-the-art noninvasive therapies at the organ level in modern medicine has gradually become possible. However, cancer treatment demands spatially and temporally controlled noninvasive therapy at the cell level because nonspecific toxicity often causes complicated side effects. To increase survival in cancer patients further, combination therapy and combination drugs are explored which demand high specificity to avoid combined-drug side effects. We believe that high specificity could be obtained by implementing near-infrared (NIR) light-assisted nanoparticles in photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, and photodynamic therapy. To refine this therapy and subsequently achieve high efficiency, novel nanomaterials have been designed and modified either to enhance the uptake and drug delivery to the cancer site, or control treatment to administer therapy efficiently. These modifications and developments have been demonstrated to achieve spatial and temporal control when conducting an in vivo xenograft, because the NIR light penetrated effectively the biological tissue. The nanoplatforms discussed in this review are grouped under the following subheadings: Au nanorods (NRs), Au nanoshells, other Au-related nanomaterials, graphene oxide, upconversion nanoparticles, and other related materials (including materials such as CuS, Fe3O4-related systems, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)).

Optimization of an oligonucleotide microchip for microbial identification studies: a non-equilibrium dissociation approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, W. T.; Mirzabekov, A. D.; Stahl, D. A.

2001-01-01

The utility of a high-density oligonucleotide microarray (microchip) for identifying strains of five closely related bacilli (Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus medusa and Bacillus subtilis) was demonstrated using an approach that compares the non-equilibrium dissociation rates ('melting curves') of all probe-target duplexes simultaneously. For this study, a hierarchical set of 30 oligonucleotide probes targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA of these bacilli at multiple levels of specificity (approximate taxonomic ranks of domain, kingdom, order, genus and species) was designed and immobilized in a high-density matrix of gel pads on a glass slide. Reproducible melting curves for probes with different levels of specificity were obtained using an optimized salt concentration. Clear discrimination between perfect match (PM) and mismatch (MM) duplexes was achieved. By normalizing the signals to an internal standard (a universal probe), a more than twofold discrimination (> 2.4x) was achieved between PM and 1-MM duplexes at the dissociation temperature at which 50% of the probe-target duplexes remained intact. This provided excellent differentiation among representatives of different Bacillus species, both individually and in mixtures of two or three. The overall pattern of hybridization derived from this hierarchical probe set also provided a clear 'chip fingerprint' for each of these closely related Bacillus species.

[Oral rush desensitization for cow milk allergy: Clinical and immunological follow-up].

PubMed

González Jiménez, D; Larrea Tamayo, E; Díaz Martin, J J; Molinos Norniella, C; Pérez Solis, D; Menéndez Arias, C; Jiménez Treviño, S; Bousoño García, C

2013-12-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral rush desensitization in children with cow milk allergy. Prospective study. We included IgE-mediated cow milk allergy children over 3 years in 3 Spanish hospitals. Increasing doses of cow milk for 5 days from 1 cc of 1% to 200 cc of pure milk were administered. Clinical follow-up was conducted and we compared specific IgE levels at onset, 6, 12 and 24 months after desensitization. We included 18 children (13 males) between 3 and 14 years (mean 5.96). A total of 271 doses were administered; there were 55 adverse reactions (84% mild). At the end of the protocol, 100% showed some degree of tolerance (39% total). Full tolerance was achieved in 72% of patients after two years. Two children failed to achieve tolerance. There was a significant decrease in the levels of specific IgE to cow milk and alpha-lactalbumin at 24 months, and to casein at 6, 12 and 24 months, compared to baseline. Oral rush desensitization is a safe and effective therapeutic option for patients with persistent cow milk allergy to medium term. Copyright © 2012 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS.

PubMed

Yu, Hwanjo; Kim, Taehoon; Oh, Jinoh; Ko, Ilhwan; Kim, Sungchul; Han, Wook-Shin

2010-04-16

Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user's feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time.

Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. Results RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. Conclusions RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user’s feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time. PMID:20406504

Sampling Molecular Conformers in Solution with Quantum Mechanical Accuracy at a Nearly Molecular-Mechanics Cost.

PubMed

Rosa, Marta; Micciarelli, Marco; Laio, Alessandro; Baroni, Stefano

2016-09-13

We introduce a method to evaluate the relative populations of different conformers of molecular species in solution, aiming at quantum mechanical accuracy, while keeping the computational cost at a nearly molecular-mechanics level. This goal is achieved by combining long classical molecular-dynamics simulations to sample the free-energy landscape of the system, advanced clustering techniques to identify the most relevant conformers, and thermodynamic perturbation theory to correct the resulting populations, using quantum-mechanical energies from density functional theory. A quantitative criterion for assessing the accuracy thus achieved is proposed. The resulting methodology is demonstrated in the specific case of cyanin (cyanidin-3-glucoside) in water solution.

Diabetes mellitus disease management in a safety net hospital system: translating evidence into practice.

PubMed

Butler, Michael K; Kaiser, Michael; Johnson, Jolene; Besse, Jay; Horswell, Ronald

2010-12-01

The Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division system assessed the effectiveness of implementing a multisite disease management program targeting diabetes mellitus in an indigent patient population. A population-based disease management program centered on evidence-based clinical care guidelines was applied from the system level. Specific clinic modifications and models were used, as well as ancillary services such as medication assistance and equipment subsidies. Marked improvement in process goals led to improved clinical outcomes. From 2001 to 2008, the percentage of patients with a hemoglobin A1c < 7.0 increased from 45% to 55% on the system level, with some sites experiencing a more dramatic shift. Results were similar across sites, which included both small provider groups and academic health centers. In order to achieve these results, the clinical environment changed to promote those evidence-based interventions. Even in complex environments such as academic health centers with several provider levels, or those environments with limited care resources, disease management programs can be successfully implemented and achieve statistically significant results.

School and Behavioral Outcomes Among Inner City Children: Five-Year Follow-Up.

PubMed

Kim, Seijeoung; Mazza, Jessica; Zwanziger, Jack; Henry, David

2014-10-01

Educational achievement is a key determinant of future life chances, but children growing up in poverty tend to do worse by many academic measures. Family, school, and neighborhood contextual characteristics may affect academic outcomes. In an attempt to explore neighborhood and individual level factors, we performed multilevel analyses to explain child's behavioral problems, repeat grade, average math and reading scores. Outcome measures were associated with specific neighborhood characteristics, above and beyond the effect of student/family level factors. The findings warrant further consideration of ecological interventions aiming to improve academic and behavioral outcomes of children living in poverty.

The cold chain and the expanded program on immunization in Chile: an evaluation exercise.

PubMed

Carrasco, R; Dinstrans, R; Montaldo, I; Medina, E; Reyes, M; Vergara, I; Piwonka, A; Thomas, E R

1982-01-01

It was decided that a study of the cold chain should be conducted in Chile in an effort to identify situations that could be corrected and to improve the technical and administrative development of the program. Specifically, study objectives were as follows: to determine the degree to which the EPI standards for procurement, receipt, transfer, control, maintenance, and distribution of vaccines were being met; to assess the turnover, knowledge, and training of auxiliary vaccination personnel against the relevant standards established for vaccine and cold chain management; to determine the antigenic potency of measles vaccine samples available at the time visits were made to local clinics, regional health storage sites, and the central supply facility; and to test a written instrument designed for the express purpose of assessing achievement of the first 2 objectives cited. The study sought to provide a descriptive assessment of work being performed at the central, regional, and local levels in the Metropolitan Region. The operating units involved included the airport and main supply center at the central level; the 7 storage facilities of the Metropolitan Region's 78 local clinics providing maternal and child health care. 40 clinics, selected by lot, represented 51% of the region's 78 clinics and provided coverage for 49% of the population assigned to the region's health services. The units studied failed to satisfy half the investigated Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) standards, i.e., the average achievement rating of the 3 levels combined (49.3%) fell short of half the desired 100%. The airport unit met very few of the EPI implementation standards, scoring only 20% in this area. Deficiencies were found in systems for shipping vaccine in cold boxes, for making cold rooms permanently available, and for providing adequate vaccine transportation. The central supply facility, responsible for the purchase, storage, distribution, and maintenance of an adequate vaccine stock, had an achievement score of only 41%. The regional level, represented by the 7 storage facilities studied, obtained a lower overall achievement score than the other 2 levels and appears to be a high-risk link in the cold chain. The local level, represented by the 40 clinics studied, attained the highest average achievement score of any level (57%). Yet, serious deficiencies also emerged at this level, particularly regarding implementation and control activities. These deficiencies were aggravated by the fact that vaccines undoubtedly encounter a larger number of potentially damaging contingencies at the local level than they do elsewhere. Suggestions are made for overcoming these difficulties.

Developmental Change in the Influence of Domain-General Abilities and Domain-Specific Knowledge on Mathematics Achievement: An Eight-Year Longitudinal Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geary, David C.; Nicholas, Alan; Li, Yaoran; Sun, Jianguo

2017-01-01

The contributions of domain-general abilities and domain-specific knowledge to subsequent mathematics achievement were longitudinally assessed (n = 167) through 8th grade. First grade intelligence and working memory and prior grade reading achievement indexed domain-general effects, and domain-specific effects were indexed by prior grade…

Absence of Association between Cord Specific Antibody Levels and Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Disease in Early Infants: A Case Control Study from Coastal Kenya.

PubMed

Nyiro, Joyce Uchi; Sande, Charles Jumba; Mutunga, Martin; Kiyuka, Patience Kerubo; Munywoki, Patrick Kioo; Scott, John Anthony G; Nokes, David James

2016-01-01

The target group for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease prevention is infants under 6 months of age. Vaccine boosting of antibody titres in pregnant mothers could protect these young infants from severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) associated disease. Quantifying protective levels of RSV-specific maternal antibody at birth would inform vaccine development. A case control study nested in a birth cohort (2002-07) was conducted in Kilifi, Kenya; where 30 hospitalised cases of RSV-associated severe disease were matched to 60 controls. Participants had a cord blood and 2 subsequent 3-monthly blood samples assayed for RSV-specific neutralising antibody by the plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT). Two sample paired t test and conditional logistic regression were used in analyses of log2PRNT titres. The mean RSV log2PRNT titre at birth for cases and controls were not significantly different (P = 0.4) and remained so on age-stratification. Cord blood PRNT titres showed considerable overlap between cases and controls. The odds of RSV disease decreased with increase in log2PRNT cord blood titre. There was a 30% reduction in RSV disease per unit increase in log2PRNT titre (<3months age group) but not significant (P = 0.3). From this study, there is no strong evidence of protection by maternal RSV specific antibodies from severe RSV disease. Cord antibody levels show wide variation with considerable overlap between cases and controls. It is likely that, there are additional factors to specific PRNT antibody levels which determine susceptibility to severe RSV disease. In addition, higher levels of neutralizing antibody beyond the normal range may be required for protection; which it is hoped can be achieved by a maternal RSV vaccine.

Performance seeking control (PSC) for the F-15 highly integrated digital electronic control (HIDEC) aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orme, John S.

1995-01-01

The performance seeking control algorithm optimizes total propulsion system performance. This adaptive, model-based optimization algorithm has been successfully flight demonstrated on two engines with differing levels of degradation. Models of the engine, nozzle, and inlet produce reliable, accurate estimates of engine performance. But, because of an observability problem, component levels of degradation cannot be accurately determined. Depending on engine-specific operating characteristics PSC achieves various levels performance improvement. For example, engines with more deterioration typically operate at higher turbine temperatures than less deteriorated engines. Thus when the PSC maximum thrust mode is applied, for example, there will be less temperature margin available to be traded for increasing thrust.

What basic number processing measures in kindergarten explain unique variability in first-grade arithmetic proficiency?

PubMed

Bartelet, Dimona; Vaessen, Anniek; Blomert, Leo; Ansari, Daniel

2014-01-01

Relations between children's mathematics achievement and their basic number processing skills have been reported in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Yet, some key questions are currently unresolved, including which kindergarten skills uniquely predict children's arithmetic fluency during the first year of formal schooling and the degree to which predictors are contingent on children's level of arithmetic proficiency. The current study assessed kindergarteners' non-symbolic and symbolic number processing efficiency. In addition, the contribution of children's underlying magnitude representations to differences in arithmetic achievement was assessed. Subsequently, in January of Grade 1, their arithmetic proficiency was assessed. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that children's efficiency to compare digits, count, and estimate numerosities uniquely predicted arithmetic differences above and beyond the non-numerical factors included. Moreover, quantile regression analysis indicated that symbolic number processing efficiency was consistently a significant predictor of arithmetic achievement scores regardless of children's level of arithmetic proficiency, whereas their non-symbolic number processing efficiency was not. Finally, none of the task-specific effects indexing children's representational precision was significantly associated with arithmetic fluency. The implications of the results are 2-fold. First, the findings indicate that children's efficiency to process symbols is important for the development of their arithmetic fluency in Grade 1 above and beyond the influence of non-numerical factors. Second, the impact of children's non-symbolic number processing skills does not depend on their arithmetic achievement level given that they are selected from a nonclinical population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Closing the gap in academic readiness and achievement: the role of early childcare

PubMed Central

Geoffroy, Marie-Claude; Côté, Sylvana. M.; Giguère, Charles-Édouard; Dionne, Ginette; Zelazo, Philip David; Tremblay, Richard E.; Boivin, Michel; Séguin, Jean. R.

2012-01-01

Background Socially disadvantaged children with academic difficulties at school entry are at increased risk for poor health and psychosocial outcomes. Our objective is to test the possibility that participation in childcare – at the population level – could attenuate the gap in academic readiness and achievement between children with and without a social disadvantage (indexed by low levels of maternal education). Methods A cohort of infants born in the Canadian province of Quebec in 1997/1998 was selected through birth registries and followed annually until 7 years of age (n = 1,863). Children receiving formal childcare (i.e., center-based or non-relative out-of-home) were distinguished from those receiving informal childcare (i.e., relative or nanny). Measures from 4 standardized tests that assessed cognitive school readiness (Lollipop Test for School Readiness), receptive vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised), mathematics (Number Knowledge Test), and reading performance (Kaufman Assessment Battery for children) were administered at 6 and 7 years. Results Children of mothers with low levels of education showed a consistent pattern of lower scores on academic readiness and achievement tests at 6 and 7 years than those of highly educated mothers, unless they received formal childcare. Specifically, among children of mothers with low levels of education, those who received formal childcare obtained higher school readiness (d = 0.87), receptive vocabulary (d = 0.36), reading (d = 0.48) and math achievement scores (d = 0.38; although not significant at 5%) in comparison with those who were cared for by their parents. Childcare participation was not associated with cognitive outcomes among children of mothers with higher levels of education. Conclusions Public investments in early childcare are increasing in many countries with the intention of reducing cognitive inequalities between disadvantaged and advantaged children. Our findings provide further evidence suggesting that formal childcare could represent a preventative means of attenuating effects of disadvantage on children’s early academic trajectory. PMID:20883519

Ultrasound Fracture Diagnosis in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dulchavsky, Scott A.; Amponsah, David; Sargsyan, Ashot E.; Garcia, Kathleen M.; Hamilton, Douglas R.; vanHolsbeeck, Marnix

2010-01-01

Introduction: This ground-based investigation accumulated high-level clinical evidence on the sensitivity and specificity of point of care ultrasound performed by expert and novice users for the rapid diagnosis of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. We developed preliminary educational methodologies to provide just-in-time training of novice users by creating multi-media training tools and imaging procedures for non expert operators and evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of non-expert performed musculoskeletal ultrasound to diagnose acute injuries in a Level 1 Trauma Center. Methods: Patients with potential MSK injuries were identified in the emergency room. A focused MSK ultrasound was performed by expert operators and compared to standard radiographs. A repeat examination was performed by non-expert operators who received a short, just-in-time multimedia education aid. The sensitivity and specificity of the expert and novice ultrasound examinations were compared to gold standard radiography. Results: Over 800 patients were enrolled in this study. The sensitivity and specificity of expert performed ultrasound exceeded 98% for MSK injuries. Novice operators achieved 97% sensitivity and 99% specificity for targeted examinations with the greatest error in fractures involving the hand and foot. Conclusion: Point of care ultrasound is a sensitive and specific diagnostic test for MSK injury when performed by experts and just-in-time trained novice operators.

Teacher knowledge, instructional expertise, and the development of reading proficiency.

PubMed

Reid Lyon, G; Weiser, Beverly

2009-01-01

Teacher knowledge and instructional expertise have been found in correlational and pre- and posttest studies to be related to student reading achievement. This article summarizes data presented in this special issue and additional research to address four questions: (a) What do expert reading teachers know? (b) Why do teachers need to acquire this knowledge? (c) Do teachers believe they have this knowledge? and (d) Are teachers being adequately prepared to teach reading? Well-designed studies relevant to this topic have been sparse with a noticeable lack of attention given to identifying specific causal links between teacher knowledge, teaching expertise, and student reading achievement. Until the appropriate research designs and methodologies are applied to address the question of causal effects, conclusions about the specific content that teachers must know and the instructional practices that are most beneficial in presenting this content are preliminary at best. Future studies of the effect of essential reading content knowledge must be extended beyond word-level skills to vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing.

[Relationship between cognitive content and emotions following dilatory behavior: considering the level of trait procrastination].

PubMed

Hayashi, Junichiro

2009-02-01

The present study developed and evaluated the Automatic Thoughts List following Dilatory Behavior (ATL-DB) to explore the mediation hypothesis and the content-specificity hypothesis about the automatic thoughts with trait procrastination and emotions. In Study 1, data from 113 Japanese college students were used to choose 22 items to construct the ATL-DB. Two factors were indentified, I. Criticism of Self and Behavior, II. Difficulty in Achievement. These factors had high degrees of internal consistency and had positive correlations to trait procrastination. In Study 2, the relationships among trait procrastination, the automatic thoughts, depression, and anxiety were examined in 261 college students by using Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that the influence of trait procrastination on depression was mainly mediated through Criticism of Self and Behavior only, while the influence of trait procrastination to anxiety was mediated through Criticism of Self and Behavior and Difficulty in Achievement. Therefore, the mediation hypothesis was supported and the content-specificity hypothesis was partially supported.

Memory-based snowdrift game on a square lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shu, Feng; Liu, Xingwen; Fang, Kai; Chen, Hao

2018-04-01

Spatial reciprocity is an effective way widely accepted to facilitate cooperation. In the case of snowdrift game, some researches showed that spatial reciprocity inhibits cooperation for a very wide range of cost-to-benefit ratio r. However, some other researches found that based on the spatial reciprocity, a wider range of r is helpful to achieve a high cooperation level. Thus, how to enlarge the range of r for the purpose of promoting cooperation becomes a hot topic recently. This paper proposes a new memory-based method, in which each individual compares with its own previous payoffs to find out the maximal one as virtual payoff and then randomly compares with one of its neighbours to obtain the optimal strategy according to the given updating rules. It shows the positive effect of spatial reciprocity in the context of memory. Specifically, in this situation, not only the lower ratio can appear a high cooperation level, but also the larger ratio r can emerge a high cooperation level. That is, an expected cooperation level can be achieved simultaneously for small and large r. Furthermore, the scenarios of both constant-size memory and size-varying memory are investigated. An interesting phenomenon is discovered that the cooperation level drops down gradually as the memory size increases.

The fractionated dipole antenna: A new antenna for body imaging at 7 Tesla.

PubMed

Raaijmakers, Alexander J E; Italiaander, Michel; Voogt, Ingmar J; Luijten, Peter R; Hoogduin, Johannes M; Klomp, Dennis W J; van den Berg, Cornelis A T

2016-03-01

Dipole antennas in ultrahigh field MRI have demonstrated advantages over more conventional designs. In this study, the fractionated dipole antenna is presented: a dipole where the legs are split into segments that are interconnected by capacitors or inductors. A parameter study has been performed on dipole antenna length using numerical simulations. A subsequent simulation study investigates the optimal intersegment capacitor/inductor value. The resulting optimal design has been constructed and compared to a previous design, the single-side adapted dipole (SSAD) by simulations and measurements. An array of eight elements has been constructed for prostate imaging on four subjects (body mass index 20-27.5) using 8 × 2 kW amplifiers. For prostate imaging at 7T, lowest peak local specific-absorption rate (SAR) levels are achieved if the antenna is 30 cm or longer. A fractionated dipole antenna design with inductors between segments has been chosen to achieve even lower SAR levels and more homogeneous receive sensitivities. With the new design, good quality prostate images are acquired. SAR levels are reduced by 41% to 63% in comparison to the SSAD. Coupling levels are moderate (average nearest neighbor: -14.6 dB) for each subject and prostate B1+ levels range from 12 to 18 μT. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Incentivizing primary care providers to innovate: building medical homes in the post-Katrina New Orleans safety net.

PubMed

Rittenhouse, Diane R; Schmidt, Laura A; Wu, Kevin J; Wiley, James

2014-02-01

To evaluate safety-net clinics' responses to a novel community-wide Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) financial incentive program in post-Katrina New Orleans. Between June 2008 and June 2010, we studied 50 primary care clinics in New Orleans receiving federal funds to expand services and improve care delivery. Multiwave, longitudinal, observational study of a local safety-net primary care system. Clinic-level data from a semiannual survey of clinic leaders (89.3 percent response rate), augmented by administrative records. Overall, 62 percent of the clinics responded to financial incentives by achieving PCMH recognition from the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA). Higher patient volume, higher baseline PCMH scores, and type of ownership were significant predictors of achieving NCQA recognition. The steepest increase in adoption of PCMH processes occurred among clinics achieving the highest, Level 3, NCQA recognition. Following NCQA recognition, 88.9 percent stabilized or increased their use of PCMH processes, although several specific PCMH processes had very low rates of adoption overall. Findings demonstrate that widespread PCMH implementation is possible in a safety-net environment when external financial incentives are aligned with the goal of practice innovation. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Clinical accuracy of a patient-specific femoral osteotomy guide in minimally-invasive posterior hip arthroplasty.

PubMed

Schneider, Adrian K; Pierrepont, Jim W; Hawdon, Gabrielle; McMahon, Stephen

2018-04-01

Patient specific guides can be a valuable tool in improving the precision of planned femoral neck osteotomies, especially in minimally invasive hip surgery, where bony landmarks are often inaccessible. The aim of our study was to validate the accuracy of a novel patient specific femoral osteotomy guide for THR through a minimally invasive posterior approach, the direct superior approach (DSA). As part of our routine preoperative planning 30 patients underwent low dose CT scans of their arthritic hip. 3D printed patient specific femoral neck osteotomy guides were then produced. Intraoperatively, having cleared all soft tissue from the postero-lateral neck of the enlocated hip, the guide was placed and pinned onto the posterolateral femoral neck. The osteotomy was performed using an oscillating saw and the uncemented hip components were implanted as per routine. Postoperatively, the achieved level of the osteotomy at the medial calcar was compared with the planned level of resection using a 3D/2D matching analysis (Mimics X-ray module, Materialise, Belgium). A total of 30 patients undergoing uncemented Trinity™ acetabular and TriFit TS™ femoral component arthroplasty (Corin, UK) were included in our analysis. All but one of our analysed osteotomies were found to be within 3 mm from the planned height of osteotomy. In one patient the level of osteotomy deviated 5 mm below the planned level of resection. Preoperative planning and the use of patient specific osteotomy guides provides an accurate method of performing femoral neck osteotomies in minimally invasive hip arthroplasty using the direct superior approach. IV (Case series).

Hybrid promoters directed tBid gene expression to breast cancer cells by transcriptional targeting.

PubMed

Farokhimanesh, Samila; Rahbarizadeh, Fatemeh; Rasaee, Mohammad J; Kamali, Abbas; Mashkani, Baratali

2010-01-01

Developing cancer gene therapy constructs based on transcriptional targeting of genes to cancer cells is a new and promising modality for treatment of cancer. Introducing truncated Bid (tBid), a recently known member of the Bcl-2 family, eradicates cancer cells efficiently. For transcriptional targeting of tBid, two dual-specificity promoters, combining cancer specific core promoters and response modules, were designed. These two core promoter modules contained cancer specific promoters of MUC1 and Survivin genes accompanied by hypoxia-responsive elements and estrogen responsive elements (microenvironment condition of breast cancer cells) which were employed to achieve a higher and more specific level of tBid expression in breast cancer cells. Correlation of the level of tBid expression in normal and cancer cell lines with promoter activity was measured by RT-PCR after treatment with hypoxia and estrogen. The level of tBid expression under control of new hybrid promoters was compared with its expression under control of cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter as a control. Our data revealed that the level of tBid expression in breast cancer cells were nearly 11 times more than normal cells because of the cancer specific promoters, although tBid expression under control of CMV promoter was almost the same in normal and cancer cell lines. Increased apoptosis was detected in the transfected breast cancer cell lines by the Caspase-3 activity assay. The application of these promoters may prove to have the advantage of tumor selective gene therapy in breast cancer cells and low-potential toxicity for normal tissues.

A highly sensitive and specific capacitive aptasensor for rapid and label-free trace analysis of Bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods.

PubMed

Mirzajani, Hadi; Cheng, Cheng; Wu, Jayne; Chen, Jiangang; Eda, Shigotoshi; Najafi Aghdam, Esmaeil; Badri Ghavifekr, Habib

2017-03-15

A rapid, highly sensitive, specific and low-cost capacitive affinity biosensor is presented here for label-free and single step detection of Bisphenol A (BPA). The sensor design allows rapid prototyping at low-cost using printed circuit board material by benchtop equipment. High sensitivity detection is achieved through the use of a BPA-specific aptamer as probe molecule and large electrodes to enhance AC-electroelectrothermal effect for long-range transport of BPA molecules toward electrode surface. Capacitive sensing technique is used to determine the bounded BPA level by measuring the sample/electrode interfacial capacitance of the sensor. The developed biosensor can detect BPA level in 20s and exhibits a large linear range from 1 fM to 10 pM, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 152.93 aM. This biosensor was applied to test BPA in canned food samples and could successfully recover the levels of spiked BPA. This sensor technology is demonstrated to be highly promising and reliable for rapid, sensitive and on-site monitoring of BPA in food samples. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Linking urbanization to the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) for stream ecosystems in the Northeastern United States using a Bayesian network approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kashuba, Roxolana; McMahon, Gerard; Cuffney, Thomas F.; Qian, Song; Reckhow, Kenneth; Gerritsen, Jeroen; Davies, Susan

2012-01-01

In realization of the aforementioned advantages, a Bayesian network model was constructed to characterize the effect of urban development on aquatic macroinvertebrate stream communities through three simultaneous, interacting ecological pathways affecting stream hydrology, habitat, and water quality across watersheds in the Northeastern United States. This model incorporates both empirical data and expert knowledge to calculate the probabilities of attaining desired aquatic ecosystem conditions under different urban stress levels, environmental conditions, and management options. Ecosystem conditions are characterized in terms of standardized Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) management endpoints. This approach to evaluating urban development-induced perturbations in watersheds integrates statistical and mechanistic perspectives, different information sources, and several ecological processes into a comprehensive description of the system that can be used to support decision making. The completed model can be used to infer which management actions would lead to the highest likelihood of desired BCG tier achievement. For example, if best management practices (BMP) were implemented in a highly urbanized watershed to reduce flashiness to medium levels and specific conductance to low levels, the stream would have a 70-percent chance of achieving BCG Tier 3 or better, relative to a 24-percent achievement likelihood for unmanaged high urban land cover. Results are reported probabilistically to account for modeling uncertainty that is inherent in sources such as natural variability and model simplification error.

Sedation and Monitoring in the Pediatric Patient during Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

PubMed

Chung, Hyun Kee; Lightdale, Jenifer R

2016-07-01

Sedation is a fundamental component of pediatric gastrointestinal procedures. The 2 main types of sedation for pediatric endoscopy remain general anesthesia and procedural sedation. Although anesthesiologist-administered sedation protocols are more common, there is no ideal regimen for endoscopy in children. This article discusses specific levels of sedation for endoscopy as well as various regimens that can be used to achieve each. Risks and considerations that may be specific to performing gastrointestinal procedures in children are reviewed. Finally, potential future directions for sedation and monitoring that may change the practice of pediatric gastroenterology and ultimately patient outcomes are examined. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The supplemental instruction program: Student perceptions of the learning environment and impact on student academic achievement in college science at California State University, San Marcos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hizer, Suzanne Elizabeth

Higher education in science has been criticized and calls to increase student learning and persistence to degree has been recognized as a national problem by the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council, and the National Academy of Sciences. One mode of academic assistance that may directly address this issue is the implementation of Supplemental Instruction (SI) in science courses. SI is a specific model of academic assistance designed to help students in historically difficult science classes master course content, thus increasing their academic achievement and retention. This study assessed the SI program at California State University, San Marcos, in supported science courses. Specifically, academic achievement based on final course grades were compared between SI participating and nonparticipating students, multiple affective factors were measured at the beginning and end of the semester, and students' perceptions of the classroom and SI session learning environments recorded. Overall, students who attended five or more SI sessions achieved higher final course grades. Students who chose to participate in SI had higher initial levels of responsibility and anxiety. Additionally, SI participants experienced a reduction in anxiety over the semester whereas nonparticipants experienced an increase in anxiety from beginning to the end of the semester. The learning environment of SI embodies higher levels of constructivist principles of active learning such as cooperation, cohesiveness, innovation, and personalization---with one exception for the physics course, which is a based on problem-based learning. Structural equation modeling of variables indicates that high self-efficacy at the end of the semester is directly related to high final course grades; this is mediated by cohesion in the classroom and the cooperation evidenced in SI sessions. These findings are elaborated by student descriptions of what happened in SI sessions and discussed given the theoretical frameworks of Bandura's concept of self-efficacy and learning environment activities that embody constructivist principles.

Feasibility of achieving the 2025 WHO global tuberculosis targets in South Africa, China, and India: a combined analysis of 11 mathematical models.

PubMed

Houben, Rein M G J; Menzies, Nicolas A; Sumner, Tom; Huynh, Grace H; Arinaminpathy, Nimalan; Goldhaber-Fiebert, Jeremy D; Lin, Hsien-Ho; Wu, Chieh-Yin; Mandal, Sandip; Pandey, Surabhi; Suen, Sze-Chuan; Bendavid, Eran; Azman, Andrew S; Dowdy, David W; Bacaër, Nicolas; Rhines, Allison S; Feldman, Marcus W; Handel, Andreas; Whalen, Christopher C; Chang, Stewart T; Wagner, Bradley G; Eckhoff, Philip A; Trauer, James M; Denholm, Justin T; McBryde, Emma S; Cohen, Ted; Salomon, Joshua A; Pretorius, Carel; Lalli, Marek; Eaton, Jeffrey W; Boccia, Delia; Hosseini, Mehran; Gomez, Gabriela B; Sahu, Suvanand; Daniels, Colleen; Ditiu, Lucica; Chin, Daniel P; Wang, Lixia; Chadha, Vineet K; Rade, Kiran; Dewan, Puneet; Hippner, Piotr; Charalambous, Salome; Grant, Alison D; Churchyard, Gavin; Pillay, Yogan; Mametja, L David; Kimerling, Michael E; Vassall, Anna; White, Richard G

2016-11-01

The post-2015 End TB Strategy proposes targets of 50% reduction in tuberculosis incidence and 75% reduction in mortality from tuberculosis by 2025. We aimed to assess whether these targets are feasible in three high-burden countries with contrasting epidemiology and previous programmatic achievements. 11 independently developed mathematical models of tuberculosis transmission projected the epidemiological impact of currently available tuberculosis interventions for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in China, India, and South Africa. Models were calibrated with data on tuberculosis incidence and mortality in 2012. Representatives from national tuberculosis programmes and the advocacy community provided distinct country-specific intervention scenarios, which included screening for symptoms, active case finding, and preventive therapy. Aggressive scale-up of any single intervention scenario could not achieve the post-2015 End TB Strategy targets in any country. However, the models projected that, in the South Africa national tuberculosis programme scenario, a combination of continuous isoniazid preventive therapy for individuals on antiretroviral therapy, expanded facility-based screening for symptoms of tuberculosis at health centres, and improved tuberculosis care could achieve a 55% reduction in incidence (range 31-62%) and a 72% reduction in mortality (range 64-82%) compared with 2015 levels. For India, and particularly for China, full scale-up of all interventions in tuberculosis-programme performance fell short of the 2025 targets, despite preventing a cumulative 3·4 million cases. The advocacy scenarios illustrated the high impact of detecting and treating latent tuberculosis. Major reductions in tuberculosis burden seem possible with current interventions. However, additional interventions, adapted to country-specific tuberculosis epidemiology and health systems, are needed to reach the post-2015 End TB Strategy targets at country level. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Seeding science success: Relations of secondary students' science self-concepts and motivation with aspirations and achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandrasena, Wanasinghe Durayalage

This research comprises three inter-related synergistic studies. Study 1 aims to develop a psychometrically sound tool to measure secondary students' science self-concepts, motivation, and aspirations in biology, chemistry, earth and environmental methodology to explicate students' and teachers' views, practices, and personal experiences, to identify the barriers to undertaking science for secondary students and to provide rich insights into the relations of secondary students' science self-concepts and motivation with their aspirations and achievement. Study 3 will detect additional issues that may not necessarily be identifiable from the quantitative findings of Study 2. The psychometric properties of the newly developed instrument demonstrated that students' science self-concepts were domain specific, while science motivation and science aspirations were not. Students' self-concepts in general science, chemistry, and physics were stronger for males than females. Students' self-concepts in general science and biology became stronger for students in higher years of secondary schooling. Students' science motivation did not vary across gender and year levels. Though students' science aspirations did not vary across gender, they became stronger with age. In general, students' science self-concepts and science motivation were positively related to science aspirations and science achievement. Specifically, students' year level, biology self-concept, and physics self concept predicted their science and career aspirations. Biology self-concept predicted teacher ratings of students' achievement, and students' general science self-concepts predicted their achievement according to students' ratings. Students' year level and intrinsic motivation in science were predictors of their science aspirations, and intrinsic motivation was a greater significant predictor of students' achievement, according to student ratings. Based upon students' and teachers' perceptions, the identified barriers to promoting science in schools were: the difficulty of the subject matter, lack of student interest, the large amount of subject content, lack of perceived relevance of the subject matter to day-to-day life, ineffective teacher characteristics, lack of aspirations to pursue science as a career, inadequate teaching methods, lack of adequate teacher training, lack of proper policies to reward science teachers, and inadequate support for science from the media. Overall, the results from this study provide a greater understanding of the relations of secondary students' science self-concepts and motivation with aspirations and achievement in different science domains across gender and age levels. Hence, this research makes a valuable contribution to the literature by providing new insight. The findings will be useful for science educators in planning and developing science curriculum and policies with regard to student self-concepts and motivation. Equally, science teachers may find implications for classroom practices, for the planning and conducting of science lessons, for conveying scientific concepts and principles to students more effectively, and in considering the need to generate enthusiasm about the subject in young science students. Thus, the findings may offer the necessary strategies to assist in reducing the decline of students' enrolments in science through efficacious attention to student self-concepts and motivation. The newly developed instrument provides a new opportunity for future research to confidently interrogate the psychosocial issues central to science education and promotion. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

[Influence of venom immunotherapy on anxiety level of being re-stung].

PubMed

Sacha, Małgorzata; Czarnobilska, Ewa; Stobiecki, Marcin; Dyga, Wojciech

2012-01-01

Hymenoptera venom allergy is related to higher risk of potential life -threatening anaphylactic reactions, which leads to anxiety and decreased quality of life. The aim of this paper was: 1) estimation of fear level of being re-stung among venom allergy adults treated with venom specific immunotherapy (VIT)--before and during treatment; 2) estimation of expectation of outcome of VIT as compared to level of anxiety of being re-strug, in the Visual Analogue Scale--VAS score; 3) identification of factors influencing changes in the fear level among patients during VIT. The study group comprised 42 patients (18 women, 24 men) in the mean age 42.6 years, with bee or vespid allergy, who had been qualified to the VIT treatment with Alutard SQ. Visual Analogue Scale--VAS and the Expectation of Outcome Questionnaire were used. The demographic data were collected. The VAS score before VIT for insect venom allergic patients was 8.8 (SD = 0.9). It decreased after achieving maintenance dose to 3.1 (SD = 1.6) and was significantly lower in men (p < 0.05). Score achieved in the Expectation of Outcome Questionnaire was for each question 2.2 (SD = 1.5) and there was correlation with VAS score during VIT. The patients with insect venom allergy, who undergo a serious allergic reaction (SR) as a result of being stung and who are qualified to VIT, have a high level of anxiety of being re-stung. Achieving the maintenance dose of VIT, results in a significant decrease of anxiety level in women and men, significantly so in men. There is a significant correlation between VAS score and the Expectation of Outcome Questionnaire results during VIT. Both VAS for anxiety level and the Expectation of Outcome Questionnaire can be simple, easily available and useful instruments helping to estimate quality of life. VIT significantly decreases the patients level of anxiety of being restung and improves their quality of life.

Educational attainment among adult survivors of childhood cancer in Great Britain: a population-based cohort study.

PubMed

Lancashire, E R; Frobisher, C; Reulen, R C; Winter, D L; Glaser, A; Hawkins, M M

2010-02-24

Previous studies of educational attainment among childhood cancer survivors were small, had contradictory findings, and were not population based. This study investigated educational attainment in a large population-based cohort of survivors of all types of childhood cancer in Great Britain. Four levels of educational attainment among 10,183 cancer survivors--degree, teaching qualification, advanced (A') levels, and ordinary (O') levels--were compared with expected levels in the general population. A questionnaire was used to obtain educational attainment data for survivors, and comparable information for the general population was available from the General Household Survey. Factors associated with level of educational attainment achieved by cancer survivors were identified using multivariable logistic regression together with likelihood ratio tests. Logistic regression adjusting for age and sex was used for comparisons with the general population. All statistical tests were two-sided. Childhood cancer survivors had lower educational attainment than the general population (degree: odds ratio [OR] = 0.77, 99% confidence interval [CI] = 0.68 to 0.87; teaching qualification: OR = 0.85, 99% CI = 0.77 to 0.94; A'level: OR = 0.85, 99% CI = 0.78 to 0.93; O'level: OR = 0.81, 99% CI = 0.74 to 0.90; P < .001, all levels). Statistically significant deficits were restricted to central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm and leukemia survivors. For leukemia, only those treated with radiotherapy were considered. Odds ratios for achievement by irradiated CNS tumor survivors were 50%-74% of those for cranially irradiated leukemia or nonirradiated CNS tumor survivors. Survivors at greater risk of poorer educational outcomes included those treated with cranial irradiation, diagnosed with a CNS tumor, older at questionnaire completion, younger at diagnosis, diagnosed with epilepsy, and who were female. Specific groups of childhood cancer survivors achieve lower-than-expected educational attainment. Detailed educational support and implementation of regular cognitive assessment may be indicated for some groups to maximize long-term function.

Is the Cure Worse than the Disease? A Longitudinal Study on the Effect of Grade Retention in Secondary Education on Achievement and Academic Self-Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamote, Carl; Pinxten, Maarten; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Van Damme, Jan

2014-01-01

Holding students back when they do not meet a specific attainment level is common practice in a lot of countries. However, this practice is not without controversy and recent studies point at the negative effects of grade retention, especially in the long-term. The majority of these studies focused on grade retention in primary education. In our…

Assessment of Data and Knowledge Fusion Strategies for Diagnostics and Prognostics

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-04-05

prognostic technologies has proven effective in reducing false alarm rates, increasing confidence levels in early fault detection , and predicting time...or better than the sum of the parts. Specific to health management, this means reduced uncertainty in current condition assessment reduced (improving...achieve time synchronous averaged vibration features. Semmm Amy -U....1A MreN T.g 4 Id F~As- Anomaly DEtection Figure 1 - Fusion Application Areas At a

CERT Resilience Management Model Capability Appraisal Method (CAM) Version 1.1

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

the CERT-RMM CAM V1.1 method is that satisfaction of goals can be determined only upon detailed investigation of the extent to which each...achievement of a specific maturity level or the satisfaction of a process area must mean the same thing for different appraised organizations. The...rate the satisfaction of the goals, based on the extent of practice implementation, for the appraisal reference model and organizational scope

A dramatic, objective antiandrogen withdrawal response: case report and review of the literature

PubMed Central

Lau, Yiu-Keung; Chadha, Manpreet K; Litwin, Alan; Trump, Donald L

2008-01-01

Antiandrogen withdrawal response is an increasingly recognized entity in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. To our knowledge, there have been no reports describing a durable radiologic improvement along with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) with discontinuation of the antiandrogen agent bicalutamide. We report a case in which a dramatic decline of serum PSA levels associated with a dramatic improvement in radiologic disease was achieved with bicalutamide discontinuation. PMID:18986533

Analysis of engagement behavior in children during dyadic interactions using prosodic cues⋆

PubMed Central

Gupta, Rahul; Bone, Daniel; Lee, Sungbok; Narayanan, Shrikanth

2017-01-01

Child engagement is defined as the interaction of a child with his/her environment in a contextually appropriate manner. Engagement behavior in children is linked to socio-emotional and cognitive state assessment with enhanced engagement identified with improved skills. A vast majority of studies however rely solely, and often implicitly, on subjective perceptual measures of engagement. Access to automatic quantification could assist researchers/clinicians to objectively interpret engagement with respect to a target behavior or condition, and furthermore inform mechanisms for improving engagement in various settings. In this paper, we present an engagement prediction system based exclusively on vocal cues observed during structured interaction between a child and a psychologist involving several tasks. Specifically, we derive prosodic cues that capture engagement levels across the various tasks. Our experiments suggest that a child’s engagement is reflected not only in the vocalizations, but also in the speech of the interacting psychologist. Moreover, we show that prosodic cues are informative of the engagement phenomena not only as characterized over the entire task (i.e., global cues), but also in short term patterns (i.e., local cues). We perform a classification experiment assigning the engagement of a child into three discrete levels achieving an unweighted average recall of 55.8% (chance is 33.3%). While the systems using global cues and local level cues are each statistically significant in predicting engagement, we obtain the best results after fusing these two components. We perform further analysis of the cues at local and global levels to achieve insights linking specific prosodic patterns to the engagement phenomenon. We observe that while the performance of our model varies with task setting and interacting psychologist, there exist universal prosodic patterns reflective of engagement. PMID:28713198

Analysis of engagement behavior in children during dyadic interactions using prosodic cues.

PubMed

Gupta, Rahul; Bone, Daniel; Lee, Sungbok; Narayanan, Shrikanth

2016-05-01

Child engagement is defined as the interaction of a child with his/her environment in a contextually appropriate manner. Engagement behavior in children is linked to socio-emotional and cognitive state assessment with enhanced engagement identified with improved skills. A vast majority of studies however rely solely, and often implicitly, on subjective perceptual measures of engagement. Access to automatic quantification could assist researchers/clinicians to objectively interpret engagement with respect to a target behavior or condition, and furthermore inform mechanisms for improving engagement in various settings. In this paper, we present an engagement prediction system based exclusively on vocal cues observed during structured interaction between a child and a psychologist involving several tasks. Specifically, we derive prosodic cues that capture engagement levels across the various tasks. Our experiments suggest that a child's engagement is reflected not only in the vocalizations, but also in the speech of the interacting psychologist. Moreover, we show that prosodic cues are informative of the engagement phenomena not only as characterized over the entire task (i.e., global cues), but also in short term patterns (i.e., local cues). We perform a classification experiment assigning the engagement of a child into three discrete levels achieving an unweighted average recall of 55.8% (chance is 33.3%). While the systems using global cues and local level cues are each statistically significant in predicting engagement, we obtain the best results after fusing these two components. We perform further analysis of the cues at local and global levels to achieve insights linking specific prosodic patterns to the engagement phenomenon. We observe that while the performance of our model varies with task setting and interacting psychologist, there exist universal prosodic patterns reflective of engagement.

Generation of Human Adult Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells Expressing Defined Xenogenic Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels by Optimized Transduction and Flow Cytometry Purification

PubMed Central

Helmrich, Uta; Marsano, Anna; Melly, Ludovic; Wolff, Thomas; Christ, Liliane; Heberer, Michael; Scherberich, Arnaud; Martin, Ivan

2012-01-01

Adult mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are a valuable source of multipotent progenitors for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, but may require to be genetically modified to widen their efficacy in therapeutic applications. For example, overexpression of the angiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at controlled levels is an attractive strategy to overcome the crucial bottleneck of graft vascularization and to avoid aberrant vascular growth. Since the regenerative potential of MSCs is rapidly lost during in vitro expansion, we sought to develop an optimized technique to achieve high-efficiency retroviral vector transduction of MSCs derived from both adipose tissue (adipose stromal cells, ASCs) or bone marrow (BMSCs) and rapidly select cells expressing desired levels of VEGF with minimal in vitro expansion. The proliferative peak of freshly isolated human ASCs and BMSCs was reached 4 and 6 days after plating, respectively. By performing retroviral vector transduction at this time point, >90% efficiency was routinely achieved before the first passage. MSCs were transduced with vectors expressing rat VEGF164 quantitatively linked to a syngenic cell surface marker (truncated rat CD8). Retroviral transduction and VEGF expression did not affect MSC phenotype nor impair their in vitro proliferation and differentiation potential. Transgene expression was also maintained during in vitro differentiation. Furthermore, three subpopulations of transduced BMSCs homogeneously producing specific low, medium, and high VEGF doses could be prospectively isolated by flow cytometry based on the intensity of their CD8 expression already at the first passage. In conclusion, this optimized platform allowed the generation of populations of genetically modified MSCs, expressing specific levels of a therapeutic transgene, already at the first passage, thereby minimizing in vitro expansion and loss of regenerative potential. PMID:22070632

Impact of Jigsaw on the Achievement and Attitudes of Saudi Arabian Male High School Science Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alghamdi, Abdulmonem

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of cooperative learning instruction, specifically by using the Jigsaw instructional strategy on science achievement and attitudes towards science among 11th grade students. Based upon previous research literature, it was hypothesized that significant differences existed on gains between general science achievement of experimental group and control group. The quasi-experimental design was chosen for this study. The study sample consisted of 50 students of 11th grade class who were equally distributed among experimental group and control group, matched on the basic of their annual examination at general science scores. The students' achievement was measured through the implementation of 30-item achievement test used as a pretest, as well as a posttest and deferred (follow-up) test. The experiment group was taught through cooperative learning while control group was taught through the instructions of "traditional teaching". The material was used such as lesson plans, worksheets and quizzes, designed to implement Jigsaw as a cooperative learning methodology. For the attitude scale towards science, a published 30-item Likert scale called Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) has been translated to Arabic in order to determine the students' attitudes ranging between strongly agree to strongly disagree. The data were analyzed through repeated measure analysis and multivariate analysis of variance with a .05 selected level of significance. The results of this study showed that using Jigsaw as a cooperative learning strategy has improved the students' achievement for the benefit of the experimental group. However, there was no significant change on the students' attitudes towards science for both groups, where the scores of all the attitude subscales were at or near the neutral level.

Do students with Down syndrome have a specific learning profile for reading?

PubMed

Ratz, Christoph

2013-12-01

The present study assessed achieved reading stages of 190 school-aged children with Down syndrome (DS, age 6-20) in Bavaria, one of the most populated federal states in Germany. Teachers described the reading stages of their students in a questionnaire. The achieved stages of reading according to the developmental model of Frith are compared to a sample of 1419 students with intellectual disability (ID) regardless of etiology, but excluding DS; thereafter parallelized ID-groups were compared. Results of the questionnaire addressed to the students' teachers showed that 20.2% of the students with DS do not read at all, 7.6% read at a logographic stage, 49.4% at an alphabetic and 22.8% at an orthographic level. Alongside these findings among the whole sample, correlations are described concerning age, gender, IQ and sociocultural background. The students with DS are then compared to other students with ID with mixed etiologies. This comparison stresses the emphasis on the alphabetic level amongst students with DS. This emphasis also exists when DS and non-DS students are parallelized in groups of ID, thus showing that students with DS and severe ID are ahead in reading, but those with mild ID are behind. Knowledge about specific literacy attainment of students with DS is vital for planning instruction, for creating learning environments, and for formulating future fields of research. Especially students with DS need specific teaching which takes their impaired verbal short term memory into account, such as learning to read in syllables. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Osmotically regulated floating asymmetric membrane capsule for controlled site-specific delivery of ranitidine hydrochloride: optimization by central composite design.

PubMed

Chauhan, Manvendra S; Kumar, Anil; Pathak, Kamla

2012-12-01

A nondisintegrating, floating asymmetric membrane capsule (FAMC) was developed to achieve site-specific osmotic flow of a highly water-soluble drug, ranitidine hydrochloride (RHCl), in a controlled manner. Solubility suppression of RHCl was achieved by the common ion effect, using optimized coated sodium chloride as a formulation component. The capsular wall of FAMC was prepared by the phase inversion process wherein the polymeric membrane was precipitated on glass pins by dipping them in a solution of cellulose acetate followed by quenching. Central composite design was utilized to investigate the influence of independent variables, namely, level(s) of membrane former, pore former, and osmogen, on percent cumulative drug release (response). The release mechanism of RHCl through FAMC was confirmed as osmotic pumping. The asymmetry of the membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy that revealed a dense nonporous outer region of membrane supported by an inner porous region. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated no incompatibility between the drug and excipients. In vitro drug release in three biorelevant media, pH 2.5 (low fed), pH 4.5 (intermediate fed), and pH 6.5 (high fed), demonstrated pH-independent release of RHCl (P > 0.05). Floating ability for 12 h of the optimized FAMC9 was visually examined during the in vitro release studies that showed maximal drug release with zero-order kinetics (r (2) = 0.9991). Thus, a novel osmotically regulated floating capsular system was developed for site-specific delivery of RHCl.

Evaluation of Basketball-Specific Agility: Applicability of Preplanned and Nonplanned Agility Performances for Differentiating Playing Positions and Playing Levels.

PubMed

Sekulic, Damir; Pehar, Miran; Krolo, Ante; Spasic, Miodrag; Uljevic, Ognjen; Calleja-González, Julio; Sattler, Tine

2017-08-01

Sekulic, D, Pehar, M, Krolo, A, Spasic, M, Uljevic, O, Calleja-González, J, and Sattler, T. Evaluation of basketball-specific agility: applicability of preplanned and nonplanned agility performances for differentiating playing positions and playing levels. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2278-2288, 2017-The importance of agility in basketball is well known, but there is an evident lack of studies examining basketball-specific agility performances in high-level players. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and discriminative validity of 1 standard agility test (test of preplanned agility [change-of-direction speed] over T course, T-TEST), and 4 newly developed basketball-specific agility tests, in defining playing positions and performance levels in basketball. The study comprised 110 high-level male basketball players (height: 194.92 ± 8.09 cm; body mass: 89.33 ± 10.91 kg; age: 21.58 ± 3.92 years). The variables included playing position (Guard, Forward, Center), performance level (first division vs. second division), anthropometrics (body height, body mass, and percentage of body fat), T-TEST, nonplanned basketball agility test performed on dominant (BBAGILdom) and nondominant sides (BBAGILnond), and a preplanned (change-of-direction speed) basketball agility test performed on dominant (BBCODSdom) and nondominant sides (BBCODSnond). The reliability of agility tests was high (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.81-0.95). Forwards were most successful in the T-TEST (F test: 13.57; p = 0.01). Guards outperformed Centers in BBCODSdom, BBCODSndom, BBAGILdom, and BBAGILnond (F test: 5.06, p = 0.01; 6.57, 0.01; 6.26, 0.01; 3.37, 0.04, respectively). First division Guards achieved better results than second division Guards in BBCODSdom (t: 2.55; p = 0.02; moderate effect size differences), BBAGILdom, and BBAGILnond (t: 3.04 and 3.06, respectively; both p = 0.01 and moderate effect size differences). First division Centers outperformed second division Centers in BBAGILdom (t: 2.50; p = 0.02; moderate effect size differences). The developed basketball-specific agility tests are applicable when defining position-specific agility. Both preplanned and nonplanned agilities are important qualities in differentiating between Guards of 2 performance levels. The results confirmed the importance of testing basketball-specific nonplanned agility when evaluating the performance level of Centers.

Exploring individual differences in children's mathematical skills: a correlational and dimensional approach.

PubMed

Sigmundsson, H; Polman, R C J; Lorås, H

2013-08-01

Individual differences in mathematical skills are typically explained by an innate capability to solve mathematical tasks. At the behavioural level this implies a consistent level of mathematical achievement that can be captured by strong relationships between tasks, as well as by a single statistical dimension that underlies performance on all mathematical tasks. To investigate this general assumption, the present study explored interrelations and dimensions of mathematical skills. For this purpose, 68 ten-year-old children from two schools were tested using nine mathematics tasks from the Basic Knowledge in Mathematics Test. Relatively low-to-moderate correlations between the mathematics tasks indicated most tasks shared less than 25% of their variance. There were four principal components, accounting for 70% of the variance in mathematical skill across tasks and participants. The high specificity in mathematical skills was discussed in relation to the principle of task specificity of learning.

Design of patient-specific focused ultrasound arrays for non-invasive brain therapy with increased trans-skull transmission and steering range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, Alec; Hynynen, Kullervo

2017-09-01

The use of a phased array of ultrasound transducer elements to sonicate through the skull has opened the way for new treatments and the delivery of therapeutics beyond the blood-brain barrier. The limited steering range of current clinical devices, particularly at higher frequencies, limits the regions of the brain that are considered treatable by ultrasound. A new array design is introduced that allows for high levels of beam steering and increased transmission throughout the brain. These improvements are achieved using concave transducers normal to the outer-skull surface in a patient-specific configuration to target within the skull, so that the far-field of each beam is within the brain. It is shown that by using pulsed ultrasound waves timed to arrive in-phase at the desired target, sufficient levels of acoustic energy are delivered for blood-brain barrier opening throughout the brain.

Ultralow-power electronics for biomedical applications.

PubMed

Chandrakasan, Anantha P; Verma, Naveen; Daly, Denis C

2008-01-01

The electronics of a general biomedical device consist of energy delivery, analog-to-digital conversion, signal processing, and communication subsystems. Each of these blocks must be designed for minimum energy consumption. Specific design techniques, such as aggressive voltage scaling, dynamic power-performance management, and energy-efficient signaling, must be employed to adhere to the stringent energy constraint. The constraint itself is set by the energy source, so energy harvesting holds tremendous promise toward enabling sophisticated systems without straining user lifestyle. Further, once harvested, efficient delivery of the low-energy levels, as well as robust operation in the aggressive low-power modes, requires careful understanding and treatment of the specific design limitations that dominate this realm. We outline the performance and power constraints of biomedical devices, and present circuit techniques to achieve complete systems operating down to power levels of microwatts. In all cases, approaches that leverage advanced technology trends are emphasized.

[Nitrogen stress measurement of canola based on multi-spectral charged coupled device imaging sensor].

PubMed

Feng, Lei; Fang, Hui; Zhou, Wei-Jun; Huang, Min; He, Yong

2006-09-01

Site-specific variable nitrogen application is one of the major precision crop production management operations. Obtaining sufficient crop nitrogen stress information is essential for achieving effective site-specific nitrogen applications. The present paper describes the development of a multi-spectral nitrogen deficiency sensor, which uses three channels (green, red, near-infrared) of crop images to determine the nitrogen level of canola. This sensor assesses the nitrogen stress by means of estimated SPAD value of the canola based on canola canopy reflectance sensed using three channels (green, red, near-infrared) of the multi-spectral camera. The core of this investigation is the calibration methods between the multi-spectral references and the nitrogen levels in crops measured using a SPAD 502 chlorophyll meter. Based on the results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that a multi-spectral CCD camera can provide sufficient information to perform reasonable SPAD values estimation during field operations.

Design of patient-specific focused ultrasound arrays for non-invasive brain therapy with increased trans-skull transmission and steering range.

PubMed

Hughes, Alec; Hynynen, Kullervo

2017-08-03

The use of a phased array of ultrasound transducer elements to sonicate through the skull has opened the way for new treatments and the delivery of therapeutics beyond the blood-brain barrier. The limited steering range of current clinical devices, particularly at higher frequencies, limits the regions of the brain that are considered treatable by ultrasound. A new array design is introduced that allows for high levels of beam steering and increased transmission throughout the brain. These improvements are achieved using concave transducers normal to the outer-skull surface in a patient-specific configuration to target within the skull, so that the far-field of each beam is within the brain. It is shown that by using pulsed ultrasound waves timed to arrive in-phase at the desired target, sufficient levels of acoustic energy are delivered for blood-brain barrier opening throughout the brain.

Targeted inhibition of oncogenic miR-21 maturation with designed RNA-binding proteins

PubMed Central

Chen, Yu; Yang, Fan; Zubovic, Lorena; Pavelitz, Tom; Yang, Wen; Godin, Katherine; Walker, Matthew; Zheng, Suxin; Macchi, Paolo; Varani, Gabriele

2016-01-01

The RNA Recognition Motif (RRM) is the largest family of eukaryotic RNA-binding proteins. Engineered RRMs with new specificity would provide valuable tools and an exacting test of our understanding of specificity. We have achieved the first successful re-design of the specificity of an RRM using rational methods and demonstrated re-targeting of activity in cells. We engineered the conserved RRM of human Rbfox proteins to specifically bind to the terminal loop of miR-21 precursor with high affinity and inhibit its processing by Drosha and Dicer. We further engineered Giardia Dicer by replacing its PAZ domain with the designed RRM. The reprogrammed enzyme degrades pre-miR-21 specifically in vitro and suppresses mature miR-21 levels in cells, which results in increased expression of PDCD4 and significantly decreased viability for cancer cells. The results demonstrate the feasibility of engineering the sequence-specificity of RRMs and of using this ubiquitous platform for diverse biological applications. PMID:27428511

The Role of Exergaming in Improving Physical Activity: A Review

PubMed Central

Sween, Jennifer; Wallington, Sherrie Flynnt; Sheppard, Vanessa; Taylor, Teletia; Llanos, Adana A.; Adams-Campbell, Lucile Lauren

2013-01-01

Background The high prevalence of obesity in America can be attributed to inadequate energy expenditure as a result of high levels of physical inactivity. This review presents an overview of the current literature on physical activity, specifically through active videogame systems (exergaming) and how these systems can help to increase physical activity levels. Methods The search strategy for this review was to identify previous studies which investigated energy expenditure levels using a single active video game or a combination of active videogames. Results Based on data from 27 studies, a strong correlation exists between exergaming and increased energy expenditure (up to 300% above resting levels). The majority of active videogames tested were found to achieve physical activity levels of moderate intensity, which meet American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for health and fitness. Conclusions Exergaming is a new and exciting strategy to potentially improve physical activity levels and reduce obesity among Americans. PMID:25078529

Environmental monitoring of the orbiter payload bay and Orbiter Processing Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartelson, D. W.; Johnson, A. M.

1985-01-01

Contamination control in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) is studied. The clean level required in the OPF is generally clean, which means no residue, dirt, debris, or other extraneous contamination; various methods of maintaining this level of cleanliness are described. The monitoring and controlling of the temperature, relative humidity, and air quality in the OPF are examined. Additional modifications to the OPF to improve contamination control are discussed. The methods used to maintain the payload changeout room at a level of visually clean, no particulates are to be detected by the unaided eye, are described. The payload bay (PLB) must sustain the cleanliness level required for the specific Orbiter's mission; the three levels of clean are defined as: (1) standard, (2) sensitive, and (3) high sensitive. The cleaning and inspection verification required to achieve the desired cleanliness level on a variety of PLB surface types are examined.

Age-Dependent Metabolic and Immunosuppressive Effects of Tacrolimus.

PubMed

Krenzien, F; Quante, M; Heinbokel, T; Seyda, M; Minami, K; Uehara, H; Biefer, H R C; Schuitenmaker, J M; Gabardi, S; Splith, K; Schmelzle, M; Petrides, A K; Azuma, H; Pratschke, J; Li, X C; ElKhal, A; Tullius, S G

2017-05-01

Immunosuppression in elderly recipients has been underappreciated in clinical trials. Here, we assessed age-specific effects of the calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus (TAC) in a murine transplant model and assessed its clinical relevance on human T cells. Old recipient mice exhibited prolonged skin graft survival compared with young animals after TAC administration. More important, half of the TAC dose was sufficient in old mice to achieve comparable systemic trough levels. TAC administration was able to reduce proinflammatory interferon-γ cytokine production and promote interleukin-10 production in old CD4 + T cells. In addition, TAC administration decreased interleukin-2 secretion in old CD4 + T cells more effectively while inhibiting the proliferation of CD4 + T cells in old mice. Both TAC-treated murine and human CD4 + T cells demonstrated an age-specific suppression of intracellular calcineurin levels and Ca 2+ influx, two critical pathways in T cell activation. Of note, depletion of CD8 + T cells did not alter allograft survival outcome in old TAC-treated mice, suggesting that TAC age-specific effects were mainly CD4 + T cell mediated. Collectively, our study demonstrates age-specific immunosuppressive capacities of TAC that are CD4 + T cell mediated. The suppression of calcineurin levels and Ca 2+ influx in both old murine and human T cells emphasizes the clinical relevance of age-specific effects when using TAC. © 2016 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Incorporation of privacy elements in space station design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harrison, Albert A.; Caldwell, Barrett; Struthers, Nancy J.

1988-01-01

Privacy exists to the extent that individuals can control the degree of social contact that they have with one another. The opportunity to withdraw from other people serves a number of important psychological and social functions, and is in the interests of safety, high performance, and high quality of human life. Privacy requirements for Space Station crew members are reviewed, and architectual and other guidelines for helping astronauts achieve desired levels of privacy are suggested. In turn, four dimensions of privacy are discussed: the separation of activities by areas within the Space Station, controlling the extent to which astronauts have visual contact with one another, controlling the extent to which astronauts have auditory contact with one another, and odor control. Each section presents a statement of the problem, a review of general solutions, and specific recommendations. The report is concluded with a brief consideration of how selection, training, and other procedures can also help Space Station occupants achieve satisfactory levels of seclusion.

Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement Goals: A Further Examination.

PubMed

Midgley, Carol; Urdan, Tim

2001-01-01

This study extends previous research on the relations among students' personal achievement goals, perceptions of the classroom goal structure, and reports of the use of self-handicapping strategies. Surveys, specific to the math domain, were given to 484 7th-grade students in nine middle schools. Personal performance-avoid goals positively predicted handicapping, whereas personal performance-approach goals did not. Personal task goals negatively predicted handicapping. Perceptions of a performance goal structure positively predicted handicapping, and perceptions of a task goal structure negatively predicted handicapping, independent of personal goals. Median splits used to examine multiple goal profiles revealed that students high in performance-avoid goals used handicapping more than did those low in performance-avoid goals regardless of the level of task goals. Students low in performance-avoid goals and high in task goals handicapped less than those low in both goals. Level of performance-approach goals had little effect on the relation between task goals and handicapping. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Intelligent community management system based on the devicenet fieldbus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yulan; Wang, Jianxiong; Liu, Jiwen

2013-03-01

With the rapid development of the national economy and the improvement of people's living standards, people are making higher demands on the living environment. And the estate management content, management efficiency and service quality have been higher required. This paper in-depth analyzes about the intelligent community of the structure and composition. According to the users' requirements and related specifications, it achieves the district management systems, which includes Basic Information Management: the management level of housing, household information management, administrator-level management, password management, etc. Service Management: standard property costs, property charges collecting, the history of arrears and other property expenses. Security Management: household gas, water, electricity and security and other security management, security management district and other public places. Systems Management: backup database, restore database, log management. This article also carries out on the Intelligent Community System analysis, proposes an architecture which is based on B / S technology system. And it has achieved a global network device management with friendly, easy to use, unified human - machine interface.

Management of In-Season Concurrent Rotator Cuff Tear With Shoulder Instability in Professional Contact Football Athletes; Respect the Career Goals!

PubMed Central

Mueller, Maike; Hoy, Gregory; Branson, Ruben

2016-01-01

Introduction Professional sports injuries are usually all dealt with at one single operation to return the player to the sport after appropriate rehabilitation. We questioned the assumption that rotator cuff tears must be repaired concurrently with instability syndromes, and aimed to allow a professional rugby league player to achieve career goals by NOT correcting all pathology at one surgery. Case Presentation A professional rugby league player presented with acute shoulder instability on a setting of a chronic full thickness rotator cuff tear. We performed an “in season” arthroscopic stabilization on an elite rugby league player, leaving a previously diagnosed large full thickness rotator cuff tear untreated. This allowed aggressive rehabilitation and return to contact competition at 12 weeks post-surgery. The player achieved a long held career goal of winning a premiership ring before undertaking rotator cuff repair at the end of the season. Latest follow up at seven years (still at elite level) demonstrated an asymptomatic shoulder. Conclusions The assumption that all pathology found at surgical exploration requires correction to play at elite level is not universally correct. We postulate that whilst rotator cuff deficiency has severe long-term sequelae, it is shoulder instability alone that prevents high level contact sports participation. Career goal management is an important part of managing elite level athletes. We have demonstrated that by careful management of the specific pathology preventing participation can allow elite athletes to achieve career goals without compromising long-term health. PMID:27217928

Classroom learning and achievement: how the complexity of classroom interaction impacts students' learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podschuweit, Sören; Bernholt, Sascha; Brückmann, Maja

2016-05-01

Background: Complexity models have provided a suitable framework in various domains to assess students' educational achievement. Complexity is often used as the analytical focus when regarding learning outcomes, i.e. when analyzing written tests or problem-centered interviews. Numerous studies reveal negative correlations between the complexity of a task and the probability of a student solving it. Purpose: Thus far, few detailed investigations explore the importance of complexity in actual classroom lessons. Moreover, the few efforts made so far revealed inconsistencies. Hence, the present study sheds light on the influence the complexity of students' and teachers' class contributions have on students' learning outcomes. Sample: Videos of 10 German 8th grade physics courses covering three consecutive lessons on two topics each (electricity, mechanics) have been analyzed. The sample includes 10 teachers and 290 students. Design and methods: Students' and teachers' verbal contributions were coded manual-based according to the level of complexity. Additionally, pre-post testing of knowledge in electricity and mechanics was applied to assess the students' learning gain. ANOVA analysis was used to characterize the influence of the complexity on the learning gain. Results: Results indicate that the mean level of complexity in classroom contributions explains a large portion of variance in post-test results on class level. Despite this overarching trend, taking classroom activities into account as well reveals even more fine-grained patterns, leading to more specific relations between the complexity in the classroom and students' achievement. Conclusions: In conclusion, we argue for more reflected teaching approaches intended to gradually increase class complexity to foster students' level of competency.

The impact of attaining the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma on academic performance in bioscience higher education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yhnell, Emma; Wood, Heather; Baker, Mathew; Amici-Dargan, Sheila; Taylor, Chris; Randerson, Peter; Shore, Andrew

2016-01-01

Since the introduction of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma Qualification (WBQ) in 2003, an increasing number of students are applying to higher education institutions (HEIs) with this qualification. The advanced-level WBQ is regarded as equivalent to one General Certificate of Education A-Level (GCE A-Level). This study assesses the impact of attaining the WBQ in addition to three GCE A-Levels on overall university degree performance in comparison to attaining four GCE A-Levels, in three cohorts of undergraduate students (Year 1 = 318, Year 2 = 280, Year 3 = 236) studying Biosciences from 2005 to 2011 at a UK HEI. Binary logistic regression was used to compare the academic attainment of students who had achieved four GCE A-Levels to those who had achieved three GCE A-Levels in addition to the WBQ. Comparisons were also made between students who had achieved three GCE A-Levels and those who had achieved three GCE A-Levels in addition to the WBQ. The results suggest that students who achieved the WBQ qualification in its current form, in addition to three GCE A-Levels, performed less well academically in undergraduate studies than those who achieved four GCE A-Levels. Furthermore, this effect was still present when the balance between coursework and examination was considered, and when students who had achieved the WBQ in addition to three GCE A-Levels were compared to students who had achieved three GCE A-Levels.

Ku band low noise parametric amplifier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

A low noise, K sub u-band, parametric amplifier (paramp) was developed. The unit is a spacecraft-qualifiable, prototype, parametric amplifier for eventual application in the shuttle orbiter. The amplifier was required to have a noise temperature of less than 150 K. A noise temperature of less than 120 K at a gain level of 17 db was achieved. A 3-db bandwidth in excess of 350 MHz was attained, while deviation from phase linearity of about + or - 1 degree over 50 MHz was achieved. The paramp operates within specification over an ambient temperature range of -5 C to +50 C. The performance requirements and the operation of the K sub u-band parametric amplifier system are described. The final test results are also given.

Towards Photo Watercolorization with Artistic Verisimilitude.

PubMed

Wang, Miaoyi; Wang, Bin; Fei, Yun; Qian, Kanglai; Wang, Wenping; Chen, Jiating; Yong, Jun-Hai

2014-10-01

We present a novel artistic-verisimilitude driven system for watercolor rendering of images and photos. Our system achieves realistic simulation of a set of important characteristics of watercolor paintings that have not been well implemented before. Specifically, we designed several image filters to achieve: 1) watercolor-specified color transferring; 2) saliency-based level-of-detail drawing; 3) hand tremor effect due to human neural noise; and 4) an artistically controlled wet-in-wet effect in the border regions of different wet pigments. A user study indicates that our method can produce watercolor results of artistic verisimilitude better than previous filter-based or physical-based methods. Furthermore, our algorithm is efficient and can easily be parallelized, making it suitable for interactive image watercolorization.

Development of food-based complementary feeding recommendations for 9- to 11-month-old peri-urban Indonesian infants using linear programming.

PubMed

Santika, Otte; Fahmida, Umi; Ferguson, Elaine L

2009-01-01

Effective population-specific, food-based complementary feeding recommendations (CFR) are required to combat micronutrient deficiencies. To facilitate their formulation, a modeling approach was recently developed. However, it has not yet been used in practice. This study therefore aimed to use this approach to develop CFR for 9- to 11-mo-old Indonesian infants and to identify nutrients that will likely remain low in their diets. The CFR were developed using a 4-phase approach based on linear and goal programming. Model parameters were defined using dietary data collected in a cross-sectional survey of 9- to 11-mo-old infants (n = 100) living in the Bogor District, West-Java, Indonesia and a market survey of 3 local markets. Results showed theoretical iron requirements could not be achieved using local food sources (highest level achievable, 63% of recommendations) and adequate levels of iron, niacin, zinc, and calcium were difficult to achieve. Fortified foods, meatballs, chicken liver, eggs, tempe-tofu, banana, and spinach were the best local food sources to improve dietary quality. The final CFR were: breast-feed on demand, provide 3 meals/d, of which 1 is a fortified infant cereal; > or = 5 servings/wk of tempe/tofu; > or = 3 servings/wk of animal-source foods, of which 2 servings/wk are chicken liver; vegetables, daily; snacks, 2 times/d, including > or = 2 servings/wk of banana; and > or = 4 servings/wk of fortified-biscuits. Results showed that the approach can be used to objectively formulate population-specific CFR and identify key problem nutrients to strengthen nutrition program planning and policy decisions. Before recommending these CFR, their long-term acceptability, affordability, and effectiveness should be assessed.

Optimisation modelling to assess cost of dietary improvement in remote Aboriginal Australia.

PubMed

Brimblecombe, Julie; Ferguson, Megan; Liberato, Selma C; O'Dea, Kerin; Riley, Malcolm

2013-01-01

The cost and dietary choices required to fulfil nutrient recommendations defined nationally, need investigation, particularly for disadvantaged populations. We used optimisation modelling to examine the dietary change required to achieve nutrient requirements at minimum cost for an Aboriginal population in remote Australia, using where possible minimally-processed whole foods. A twelve month cross-section of population-level purchased food, food price and nutrient content data was used as the baseline. Relative amounts from 34 food group categories were varied to achieve specific energy and nutrient density goals at minimum cost while meeting model constraints intended to minimise deviation from the purchased diet. Simultaneous achievement of all nutrient goals was not feasible. The two most successful models (A & B) met all nutrient targets except sodium (146.2% and 148.9% of the respective target) and saturated fat (12.0% and 11.7% of energy). Model A was achieved with 3.2% lower cost than the baseline diet (which cost approximately AUD$13.01/person/day) and Model B at 7.8% lower cost but with a reduction in energy of 4.4%. Both models required very large reductions in sugar sweetened beverages (-90%) and refined cereals (-90%) and an approximate four-fold increase in vegetables, fruit, dairy foods, eggs, fish and seafood, and wholegrain cereals. This modelling approach suggested population level dietary recommendations at minimal cost based on the baseline purchased diet. Large shifts in diet in remote Aboriginal Australian populations are needed to achieve national nutrient targets. The modeling approach used was not able to meet all nutrient targets at less than current food expenditure.

U.S. dental hygiene faculty perceptions of learner outcomes in distance education courses.

PubMed

Corum, Kathrine A; Gadbury-Amyot, Cynthia C; Johnson, Kerry; Strait, Tia M

2014-04-01

The purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of full-time, entry-level dental hygiene educators regarding the ability to achieve interaction in their distance education courses and the impact of interaction on learning outcomes. The specific interactions explored were student-instructor, student-content, and student-student. A survey was developed, pilot tested, revised, and mailed to 287 educators across the United States, generating an overall response rate of 22.3 percent. The majority of respondents perceived interaction to be achievable in their distance courses, to increase through technology, and to positively influence learning outcomes. Nearly 90 percent reported student-instructor interaction as achievable, 95.3 percent reported student-content interaction as achievable, and 79.7 percent reported student-student interaction as achievable. Learning outcomes were defined in this study as the student's achievement of course objectives and competencies at course completion. Approximately 81 percent of the respondents reported a positive influence from student-instructor interaction, 79.7 percent from student-content interaction, and 70.3 percent from student-student interaction. This study also examined which modalities were perceived as being most influential in achieving interaction. The results demonstrated a prevalence of discussion board posting in an environment in which numerous Web 2.0 tools are available and respondents were not as positive about their ability to achieve student-student interaction in the distance learning environment. The authors conclude that faculty development is critical in achieving quality outcomes in dental hygiene distance education courses.

The Action Execution Process Implemented in Different Cognitive Architectures: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Daqi; Franklin, Stan

2014-12-01

An agent achieves its goals by interacting with its environment, cyclically choosing and executing suitable actions. An action execution process is a reasonable and critical part of an entire cognitive architecture, because the process of generating executable motor commands is not only driven by low-level environmental information, but is also initiated and affected by the agent's high-level mental processes. This review focuses on cognitive models of action, or more specifically, of the action execution process, as implemented in a set of popular cognitive architectures. We examine the representations and procedures inside the action execution process, as well as the cooperation between action execution and other high-level cognitive modules. We finally conclude with some general observations regarding the nature of action execution.

Aerobic conditioning for team sport athletes.

PubMed

Stone, Nicholas M; Kilding, Andrew E

2009-01-01

Team sport athletes require a high level of aerobic fitness in order to generate and maintain power output during repeated high-intensity efforts and to recover. Research to date suggests that these components can be increased by regularly performing aerobic conditioning. Traditional aerobic conditioning, with minimal changes of direction and no skill component, has been demonstrated to effectively increase aerobic function within a 4- to 10-week period in team sport players. More importantly, traditional aerobic conditioning methods have been shown to increase team sport performance substantially. Many team sports require the upkeep of both aerobic fitness and sport-specific skills during a lengthy competitive season. Classic team sport trainings have been shown to evoke marginal increases/decreases in aerobic fitness. In recent years, aerobic conditioning methods have been designed to allow adequate intensities to be achieved to induce improvements in aerobic fitness whilst incorporating movement-specific and skill-specific tasks, e.g. small-sided games and dribbling circuits. Such 'sport-specific' conditioning methods have been demonstrated to promote increases in aerobic fitness, though careful consideration of player skill levels, current fitness, player numbers, field dimensions, game rules and availability of player encouragement is required. Whilst different conditioning methods appear equivalent in their ability to improve fitness, whether sport-specific conditioning is superior to other methods at improving actual game performance statistics requires further research.

High rate of improvement in serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 levels at 4 weeks predicts remission at 52 weeks in RA patients treated with adalimumab.

PubMed

Hattori, Yosuke; Kojima, Toshihisa; Kaneko, Atsushi; Kida, Daihei; Hirano, Yuji; Fujibayashi, Takayoshi; Yabe, Yuichiro; Oguchi, Takeshi; Kanayama, Yasuhide; Miyake, Hiroyuki; Kato, Takefumi; Takagi, Hideki; Hayashi, Masatoshi; Ito, Takayasu; Shioura, Tomone; Takahashi, Nobunori; Ishikawa, Hisato; Funahashi, Koji; Ishiguro, Naoki

2018-01-01

This study aimed to determine whether serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) levels can predict remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with adalimumab (ADA). Subjects were 114 RA patients continuously treated with ADA for 52 weeks. Predictive factors at baseline and 4 weeks after initiation of ADA therapy for the achievement of remission (28-point count Disease Activity Score-CRP (DAS28-CRP) < 2.3) at 52 weeks were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. DAS28-CRP at 4 weeks (odds ratio (OR) 0.614, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.382-0.988) and improvement in serum MMP-3 levels at 4 weeks (OR 1.057, 95% CI 1.002-1.032) were independent predictors of remission at 52 weeks. The best cut-off level of DAS28-CRP and improvement in serum MMP-3 levels at 4 weeks for predicting remission at 52 weeks was 3.73 (sensitivity: 90%, specificity: 50%, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC): 62%) and 39.93% (sensitivity: 47%, specificity: 83%, AUC: 64%), respectively. Our findings suggest that a high rate of improvement in serum MMP-3 levels at 4 weeks after initiation of ADA therapy can predict remission at 52 weeks in RA patients.

Feasibility of High-Repetition, Task-Specific Training for Individuals With Upper-Extremity Paresis

PubMed Central

Waddell, Kimberly J.; Birkenmeier, Rebecca L.; Moore, Jennifer L.; Hornby, T. George

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE. We investigated the feasibility of delivering an individualized, progressive, high-repetition upper-extremity (UE) task-specific training protocol for people with stroke in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. METHOD. Fifteen patients with UE paresis participated in this study. Task-specific UE training was scheduled for 60 min/day, 4 days/wk, during occupational therapy for the duration of a participant’s inpatient stay. During each session, participants were challenged to complete ≥300 repetitions of various tasks. RESULTS. Participants averaged 289 repetitions/session, spending 47 of 60 min in active training. Participants improved on impairment and activity level outcome measures. CONCLUSION. People with stroke in an inpatient setting can achieve hundreds of repetitions of task-specific training in 1-hr sessions. As expected, all participants improved on functional outcome measures. Future studies are needed to determine whether this high-repetition training program results in better outcomes than current UE interventions. PMID:25005508

Using RNA interference to knock down the adhesion protein TES.

PubMed

Griffith, Elen

2007-01-01

RNA interference (RNAi) is a specific and efficient method to knock down protein levels using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which target mRNA degradation. RNAi can be used in mammalian cell culture systems to target any protein of interest, and several studies have used this method to knock down adhesion proteins. We used siRNAs to knock down the levels of TES, a focal adhesion protein, in HeLa cells. We demonstrated knockdown of both TES mRNA and TES protein. Although total knockdown of TES was not achieved, the observed reduction in TES protein was sufficient to result in a cellular phenotype of reduced actin stress fibers.

Using Action-Mapping to Design a Non-Majors Neuroeconomics Course to Teach First-Year Collegiate Skills

PubMed Central

Franssen, Catherine L.; Lowry, George S.; Franssen, R. Adam

2017-01-01

With its ability to address questions about how decisions are made and why, neuroeconomics is an excellent topic of study for college students at a variety of levels. In this paper we detail a neuroeconomics course specifically modified for undecided First-year students. One particularly daunting challenge was defining clear outcomes and delivering instruction at an appropriate level. We used Action-Mapping to achieve the course objectives of teaching collegiate skills applicable to any path of study or career while also delivering content suitable for credits in both a social science and natural science. PMID:29371842

Self-regulated learning strategies used in surgical clerkship and the relationship with clinical achievement.

PubMed

Turan, Sevgi; Konan, Ali

2012-01-01

Self-regulated learning indicates students' skills in controlling their own learning. Self-regulated learning, which a context-specific process, emphasizes autonomy and control. Students gain more autonomy with respect to learning in the clinical years. Examining the self-regulated learning skills of students in this period will provide important clues about the level at which students are ready to use these skills in real-life conditions. The self-regulated learning strategies used by medical students in surgical clerkship were investigated in this study and their relation with clinical achievement was analyzed. The study was conducted during the surgery clerkship of medical students. The participation rate was 94% (309 students). Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), a case-based examination, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), and tutor evaluations for assessing achievement were used. The relationship between the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire scores of the students and clinical achievement was analyzed with multilinear regression analysis. The findings showed that students use self-regulated learning skills at medium levels during their surgery clerkship. A relationship between these skills and OSCE scores and tutor evaluations was determined. OSCE scores of the students were observed to increase in conjunction with increased self-efficacy levels. However, as students' beliefs regarding control over learning increased, OSCE scores decreased. No significant relationship was defined between self-regulated learning skills and case-based examination scores. We observed that a greater self-efficacy for learning resulted in higher OSCE scores. Conversely, students who believe that learning is a result of their own effort had lower OSCE scores. Copyright © 2012 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decentralized operating procedures for orchestrating data and behavior across distributed military systems and assets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peach, Nicholas

2011-06-01

In this paper, we present a method for a highly decentralized yet structured and flexible approach to achieve systems interoperability by orchestrating data and behavior across distributed military systems and assets with security considerations addressed from the beginning. We describe an architecture of a tool-based design of business processes called Decentralized Operating Procedures (DOP) and the deployment of DOPs onto run time nodes, supporting the parallel execution of each DOP at multiple implementation nodes (fixed locations, vehicles, sensors and soldiers) throughout a battlefield to achieve flexible and reliable interoperability. The described method allows the architecture to; a) provide fine grain control of the collection and delivery of data between systems; b) allow the definition of a DOP at a strategic (or doctrine) level by defining required system behavior through process syntax at an abstract level, agnostic of implementation details; c) deploy a DOP into heterogeneous environments by the nomination of actual system interfaces and roles at a tactical level; d) rapidly deploy new DOPs in support of new tactics and systems; e) support multiple instances of a DOP in support of multiple missions; f) dynamically add or remove run-time nodes from a specific DOP instance as missions requirements change; g) model the passage of, and business reasons for the transmission of each data message to a specific DOP instance to support accreditation; h) run on low powered computers with lightweight tactical messaging. This approach is designed to extend the capabilities of existing standards, such as the Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA).

Measurement of functional capacity requirements of police officers to aid in development of an occupation-specific cardiac rehabilitation training program.

PubMed

Adams, Jenny; Schneider, Jonna; Hubbard, Matthew; McCullough-Shock, Tiffany; Cheng, Dunlei; Simms, Kay; Hartman, Julie; Hinton, Paul; Strauss, Danielle

2010-01-01

This study was designed to measure the functional capacity of healthy subjects during strenuous simulated police tasks, with the goal of developing occupation-specific training for cardiac rehabilitation of police officers. A calibrated metabolic instrument and an oxygen consumption data collection mask were used to measure the oxygen consumption and heart rates of 30 Dallas Police Academy officers and cadets as they completed an 8-event obstacle course that simulated chasing, subduing, and handcuffing a suspect. Standard target heart rates (85% of age-predicted maximum heart rate, or 0.85 x [220 - age]) and metabolic equivalents (METs) were calculated; a matched-sample t test based on differences between target and achieved heart rate and MET level was used for statistical analysis. Peak heart rates during the obstacle course simulation were significantly higher than the standard target heart rates (those at which treadmill stress tests in physicians' offices are typically stopped) (t(29) = 12.81, P < 0.001) and significantly higher than the suggested maximum of 150 beats/min during cardiac rehabilitation training (t(29) = 17.84, P < 0.001). Peak MET levels during the obstacle course simulation were also significantly higher than the goal level (8 METs) that patients typically achieve in a cardiac rehabilitation program (t(29) = 14.73, P < 0.001). We conclude that police work requires a functional capacity greater than that typically attained in traditional cardiac rehabilitation programs. Rehabilitation professionals should consider performing maximal stress tests and increasing the intensity of cardiac rehabilitation workouts to effectively train police officers who have had a cardiac event.

Team Creative Environment as a Mediator Between CWX and R&D Team Performance and Moderating Boundary Conditions.

PubMed

Bornay-Barrachina, Mar; Herrero, Inés

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how high-quality dyadic co-worker relationships (CWXs) favour or hinder team performance. Specifically, we examine the role played by CWX, team creative environment, job complexity and task interdependence to achieve higher levels of team performance. We analyse data from 410 individuals belonging to 81 R&D teams in technology sciences to examine the quality of the dyadic relationships between team members under the same supervisor (co-workers) and team performance measured by the number of publications as their research output. Higher levels of team average CWX relationships are positively related to the establishment of a favourable creative team environment, ending into higher levels of team performance. Specifically, the role played by team average CWX in such relationship is stronger when job complexity and task interdependence are also high. Team's output not only depends on the leader and his/her relationships with subordinates but also on quality relationships among team members. CWXs contribute to creative team environments, but they are essential where jobs are complex and tasks are highly dependent. This study provides evidence of the important role played by CWXs in determining a creative environment, irrespective of their leaders. Previous research has provided information about how leader's role affects team outcomes, but the role of dyadic co-worker relationships in a team remains still relatively unknown. Considering job complexity and task interdependence variables, the study provides with a better understanding about how and when high-quality CWXs should be promoted to achieve higher team performance.

Toward healthy prisons: the TECH model and its applications.

PubMed

Ross, Michael W; Jo Harzke, Amy

2012-01-01

This paper aims to explore how the TECH Model (testing for and treating infectious diseases and vaccination; environmental modification to prevent disease transmission; chronic disease identification and treatment; and health maintenance and education) can be used for assessing and achieving healthy prisons. This paper explores the concepts of "health in prison" and "healthy prisons" in the context of recent research and guidance. The paper then considers the TECH Model as an approach to achieving healthy prisons. Under each of the four TECH Model domains are tasks to achieve a healthy prison. For prisons with poor or no resources, each domain contains steps that will improve prison health and move towards a healthy prison for both prisoners and staff. Implementation can thus be "low-TECH" or "high-TECH" depending on the setting and the available resources and the model is specifically designed to provide options for resource-poor as well as resource-rich correctional settings. The TECH Model is a first step in characterizing the components of a healthy prison and the processes to achieve this. This Model could be implemented in all levels of prisons internationally.

Racial identity, academic achievement, and the psychological well-being of economically disadvantaged adolescents.

PubMed

Arroyo, C G; Zigler, E

1995-11-01

The relation between racial identity and personal psychological functioning was examined within the framework of the "racelessness" construct proposed by Fordham and Ogbu (S. Fordham, 1988; S. Fordham & J. U. Ogbu, 1986). These researchers have proposed that academically successful African American students achieve their success by adopting behaviors and attitudes that distance them from their culture of origin, resulting in increased feelings of depression, anxiety, and identity confusion. Studies 1 and 2 describe the development of the Racelessness Scale (RS) designed to test these assumptions. Study 2 also investigated Race X Achievement level differences in students' responses to the RS. In Study 3, correlations between the RS and measures of depression, self-efficacy, anxiety, alienation, and collective self-esteem were assessed. The pattern of results in Study 2 suggest that the behaviors and attitudes described by Fordham and Ogbu are common to high-achieving adolescents and not specific to African Americans. However, racial differences in the pattern of associations between the RS and measures of depression suggest that racelessness may have important psychological consequences for African American adolescents.

Reading enjoyment amongst non-leisure readers can affect achievement in secondary school

PubMed Central

Mol, Suzanne E.; Jolles, Jelle

2014-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate determinants of differences in leisure reading behavior and school achievement. We specifically examined reading enjoyment, mental imagery, and sex as predictors in a large, age-homogeneous sample of Dutch secondary school students (N = 1,071). Results showed that the prevalence of leisure reading was low in both the lower, pre-vocational track (19.5%) and the higher, pre-academic track (32.5%). Boys read even less than girls. Almost all leisure readers enjoyed reading and engaged in mental imagery, i.e., the propensity “to see images” of a written story in the mind’s eye. Overall, boys who did not like to read for leisure had the poorest school performance. Non-leisure readers who reported that they enjoyed reading got higher school grades in the higher educational track. In the lower track, this was the case for girls. Our study findings imply that reading promotion programs should take into account individual differences in sex, achievement level, and reading enjoyment when aiming to decrease the academic achievement gap. PMID:25386154

In Vivo Evaluation and Proof of Radiofrequency Safety of a Novel Diagnostic MR-Electrophysiology Catheter

PubMed Central

Weiss, Steffen; Wirtz, Daniel; David, Bernd; Krueger, Sascha; Lips, Oliver; Caulfield, Dennis; Pedersen, Steen Fjord; Bostock, Julian; Razavi, Reza; Schaeffter, Tobias

2013-01-01

An MR-electrophysiology (EP) catheter is presented that provides full diagnostic EP functionality and a high level of radiofrequency safety achieved by custom-designed transmission lines. Highly resistive wires transmit intracardiac electrograms and currents for intracardiac pacing. A transformer cable transmits the localization signal of a tip coil. Specific absorption rate simulations and temperature measurements at 1.5 T demonstrate that a wire resistance > 3 kΩ/m limits dielectric heating to a physiologically irrelevant level. Additional wires do not increase tip specific absorption rate significantly, which is important because some clinical catheters require up to 20 electrodes. It is further demonstrated that radiofrequency-induced and pacing-induced resistive heating of the wires is negligible under clinical conditions. The MR-EP catheters provided uncompromised recording of electrograms and cardiac pacing in combination with a standard EP recorder in MR-guided in vivo EP studies, and the tip coil enabled fast and robust catheter localization. In vivo temperature measurements during such a study did not detect any device-related heating, which confirms the high level of safety of the catheter, whereas unacceptable heating was found with a standard EP catheter. The presented concept for the first time enables catheters with full diagnostic EP functionality and active tracking and at the same time a sufficient level of radiofrequency safety for MRI without specific absorption rate-related limitations. PMID:21337409

In vivo evaluation and proof of radiofrequency safety of a novel diagnostic MR-electrophysiology catheter.

PubMed

Weiss, Steffen; Wirtz, Daniel; David, Bernd; Krueger, Sascha; Lips, Oliver; Caulfield, Dennis; Pedersen, Steen Fjord; Bostock, Julian; Razavi, Reza; Schaeffter, Tobias

2011-03-01

An MR-electrophysiology (EP) catheter is presented that provides full diagnostic EP functionality and a high level of radiofrequency safety achieved by custom-designed transmission lines. Highly resistive wires transmit intracardiac electrograms and currents for intracardiac pacing. A transformer cable transmits the localization signal of a tip coil. Specific absorption rate simulations and temperature measurements at 1.5 T demonstrate that a wire resistance > 3 kΩ/m limits dielectric heating to a physiologically irrelevant level. Additional wires do not increase tip specific absorption rate significantly, which is important because some clinical catheters require up to 20 electrodes. It is further demonstrated that radiofrequency-induced and pacing-induced resistive heating of the wires is negligible under clinical conditions. The MR-EP catheters provided uncompromised recording of electrograms and cardiac pacing in combination with a standard EP recorder in MR-guided in vivo EP studies, and the tip coil enabled fast and robust catheter localization. In vivo temperature measurements during such a study did not detect any device-related heating, which confirms the high level of safety of the catheter, whereas unacceptable heating was found with a standard EP catheter. The presented concept for the first time enables catheters with full diagnostic EP functionality and active tracking and at the same time a sufficient level of radiofrequency safety for MRI without specific absorption rate-related limitations. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Predicting Trihalomethanes (THMs) in the New York City Water Supply

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukundan, R.; Van Dreason, R.

2013-12-01

Chlorine, a commonly used disinfectant in most water supply systems, can combine with organic carbon to form disinfectant byproducts including carcinogenic trihalomethanes (THMs). We used water quality data from 24 monitoring sites within the New York City (NYC) water supply distribution system, measured between January 2009 and April 2012, to develop site-specific empirical models for predicting total trihalomethane (TTHM) levels. Terms in the model included various combinations of the following water quality parameters: total organic carbon, pH, specific conductivity, and water temperature. Reasonable estimates of TTHM levels were achieved with overall R2 of about 0.87 and predicted values within 5 μg/L of measured values. The relative importance of factors affecting TTHM formation was estimated by ranking the model regression coefficients. Site-specific models showed improved model performance statistics compared to a single model for the entire system most likely because the single model did not consider locational differences in the water treatment process. Although never out of compliance in 2011, the TTHM levels in the water supply increased following tropical storms Irene and Lee with 45% of the samples exceeding the 80 μg/L Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in October and November. This increase was explained by changes in water quality parameters, particularly by the increase in total organic carbon concentration and pH during this period.

Characterizing the Learning Curve of the VBLaST-PT© (Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer)

PubMed Central

Zhang, Likun; Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh; Arikatla, Venkata Sreekanth; Ahn, Woojin; Grosdemouge, Cristol; Rideout, Jesse M.; Epstein, Scott K.; De, Suvranu; Schwaitzberg, Steven D.; Jones, Daniel B.; Cao, Caroline G.L.

2013-01-01

Background and study aim Mastering laparoscopic surgical skills requires considerable time and effort. The Virtual Basic Laparoscopic Skill Trainer (VBLaST-PT©) is being developed as a computerized version of the peg transfer task of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) system using virtual reality technology. We assessed the learning curve of trainees on the VBLaST-PT© using the cumulative summation (CUSUM) method and compared them with those on the FLS to establish convergent validity for the VBLaST-PT©. Methods Eighteen medical students from were assigned randomly to one of three groups: control, VBLaST-training and FLS-training. The VBLaST and the FLS groups performed a total of 150 trials of the peg-transfer task over a three week period, five days a week. Their CUSUM scores were computed based on pre-defined performance criteria (junior, intermediate and senior levels). Results Of the six subjects in the VBLaST-training group, five achieved at least the “junior” level, three achieved the “intermediate” level and one achieved the “senior” level of performance criterion by the end of the 150 trials. In comparison, for the FLS group, three students achieved the “senior” criterion and all six students achieved the “intermediate” and “junior” criteria by the 150th trials. Both the VBLaST-PT© and the FLS systems showed significant skill improvement and retention, albeit with system specificity as measured by transfer of learning in the retention test: The VBLaST-trained group performed better on the VBLaST-PT© than on FLS (p=0.003), while the FLS-trained group performed better on the FLS than on VBLaST-PT© (p=0.002). Conclusion We characterized the learning curve for a virtual peg transfer task on the VBLaST-PT© and compared it with the FLS using CUSUM analysis. Subjects in both training groups showed significant improvement in skill performance, but the transfer of training between systems was not significant. PMID:23572217

DOE/NETL's phase II mercury control technology field testing program: preliminary economic analysis of activated carbon injection.

PubMed

Jones, Andrew P; Hoffmann, Jeffrey W; Smith, Dennis N; Feeley, Thomas J; Murphy, James T

2007-02-15

Based on results of field testing conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL), this article provides preliminary costs for mercury control via conventional activated carbon injection (ACI), brominated ACI, and conventional ACI coupled with the application of a sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) to coal prior to combustion. The economic analyses are reported on a plant-specific basis in terms of the cost required to achieve low (50%), mid (70%), and high (90%) levels of mercury removal "above and beyond" the baseline mercury removal achieved by existing emission control equipment. In other words, the levels of mercury control are directly attributable to ACI. Mercury control costs via ACI have been amortized on a current dollar basis. Using a 20-year book life, levelized costs for the incremental increase in cost of electricity (COE), expressed in mills per kilowatt-hour (mills/kWh), and the incremental cost of mercury control, expressed in dollars per pound of mercury removed ($/lb Hg removed), have been calculated for each level of ACI mercury control. For this analysis, the increase in COE varied from 0.14 mills/kWh to 3.92 mills/kWh. Meanwhile, the incremental cost of mercury control ranged from $3810/lb Hg removed to $166000/lb Hg removed.

Diagnostic issues and capabilities in 48 isolation facilities in 16 European countries: data from EuroNHID surveys.

PubMed

Thiberville, Simon-Djamel; Schilling, Stefan; De Iaco, Giuseppina; Fusco, Francesco Maria; Thomson, Gail; Maltezou, Helen C; Gottschalk, Rene; Brodt, Reinhard H; Bannister, Barbara; Puro, Vincenzo; Ippolito, Giuseppe; Brouqui, Philippe

2012-09-25

Highly infectious diseases (HIDs) are defined as being transmissible from person to person, causing life-threatening illnesses and presenting a serious public health hazard. The sampling, handling and transport of specimens from patients with HIDs present specific bio-safety concerns. The European Network for HID project aimed to record, in a cross-sectional study, the infection control capabilities of referral centers for HIDs across Europe and assesses the level of achievement to previously published guidelines. In this paper, we report the current diagnostic capabilities and bio-safety measures applied to diagnostic procedures in these referral centers. Overall, 48 isolation facilities in 16 European countries were evaluated. Although 81% of these referral centers are located near a biosafety level 3 laboratory, 11% and 31% of them still performed their microbiological and routine diagnostic analyses, respectively, without bio-safety measures. The discrepancies among the referral centers surveyed between the level of practices and the European Network of Infectious Diseases (EUNID) recommendations have multiple reasons of which the interest of the individuals in charge and the investment they put in preparedness to emerging outbreaks. Despite the fact that the less prepared centers can improve by just updating their practice and policies any support to help them to achieve an acceptable level of biosecurity is welcome.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Incidence of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in US Veterans: A Cohort Study.

PubMed

Kokkinos, Peter F; Faselis, Charles; Myers, Jonathan; Narayan, Puneet; Sui, Xuemei; Zhang, Jiajia; Lavie, Carl J; Moore, Hans; Karasik, Pamela; Fletcher, Ross

2017-01-01

To assess the association between exercise capacity and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). A symptom-limited exercise tolerance test was performed to assess exercise capacity in 20,590 US veterans (12,975 blacks and 7615 whites; mean ± SD age, 58.2±11.0 years) from the Veterans Affairs medical centers in Washington, District of Columbia, and Palo Alto, California. None had a history of MACE or evidence of ischemia at the time of or before their exercise tolerance test. We established quintiles of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) categories based on age-specific peak metabolic equivalents (METs) achieved. We also defined the age-specific MET level associated with no risk for MACE (hazard ratio [HR], 1.0) and formed 4 additional CRF categories based on METs achieved below (least fit and low fit) and above (moderately fit and highly fit) that level. Multivariate Cox models were used to estimate HR and 95% CIs for mortality across fitness categories. During follow-up (median, 11.3 years; range, 0.3-33.0 years), 2846 individuals experienced MACEs. The CRF-MACE association was inverse and graded. The risk for MACE declined precipitously for those with a CRF level of 6.0 METs or higher. When considering CFR categories based on the age-specific MET threshold, the risk increased for those in the 2 CFR categories below that threshold (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.73-2.21 and HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.27-1.56 for the least-fit and low-fit individuals, respectively) and decreased for those above it (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.68-0.87 and HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.48-0.67 for moderately fit and highly fit, respectively). Increased CRF is inversely and independently associated with the risk for MACE. When an age-specific MET threshold was defined, the risk for MACE increased significantly for those below that threshold and decreased for those above it (P<.001). Published by Elsevier Inc.

Cognitive Robotics, Embodied Cognition and Human-Robot Interaction

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-03

architecture is a specification of the structure of the brain at a level of abstraction that explains how it achieves the function of the mind (Anderson...predictions about brain regions (fMRI) Wednesday, November 3, 2010 Embodied Cognitive Modeling • We use an MDS robot (Trafton et al., 2010...passed memory and/or reality control questions (e.g., “Where did Maxi put the chocolate ?” or “Where is the chocolate now?”). Our reasoning was that age

Comparison of the Farr radioimmunoassay, 3 commercial enzyme immunoassays and Crithidia luciliae immunofluorescence test for diagnosis and activity assessment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

PubMed

Launay, David; Schmidt, Jean; Lepers, Sébastien; Mirault, Tristan; Lambert, Marc; Kyndt, Xavier; Reumaux, Dominique; Duhamel, Alain; Hachulla, Eric; Hatron, Pierre-Yves; Prin, Lionel; Dubucquoi, Sylvain

2010-07-04

Among anti-double-strand (ds)DNA antibody assays, Farr radioimmunoassay is decreasingly used because it requires radioactive material and is labor intensive. We evaluated the performance of Farr, three commercial enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) and the Crithidia luciliae immunofluorescence test (CLIFT) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Anti-dsDNA antibodies were determined in 99 SLE patients, 101 healthy subjects, and 53 patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Farr performed better than the 3 EIAs and CLIFT for the diagnosis of SLE at the manufacturer's cut off and at the cut off set to achieve a specificity of 95%. To achieve a similar level of specificity, some EIAs had a decrease in sensitivity which was dramatic for some tests. Farr was also the best at distinguishing patients with quiescent to mildly active disease from patients with more active disease at the cut off value of 93 IU/ml. Using manufacturer's cut off did not allow distinguishing between patients with quiescent and active SLE. Farr was the best global test to assess the level of anti-dsDNA antibodies for both diagnosis and disease activity evaluation in SLE with adequately determined cut off values. Some EIA had low performances limiting their use in decision-making regarding diagnosis and/or treatment. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formation Control for the Maxim Mission.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luquette, Richard J.; Leitner, Jesse; Gendreau, Keith; Sanner, Robert M.

2004-01-01

Over the next twenty years, a wave of change is occurring in the spacebased scientific remote sensing community. While the fundamental limits in the spatial and angular resolution achievable in spacecraft have been reached, based on today's technology, an expansive new technology base has appeared over the past decade in the area of Distributed Space Systems (DSS). A key subset of the DSS technology area is that which covers precision formation flying of space vehicles. Through precision formation flying, the baselines, previously defined by the largest monolithic structure which could fit in the largest launch vehicle fairing, are now virtually unlimited. Several missions including the Micro-Arcsecond X-ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM), and the Stellar Imager will drive the formation flying challenges to achieve unprecedented baselines for high resolution, extended-scene, interferometry in the ultraviolet and X-ray regimes. This paper focuses on establishing the feasibility for the formation control of the MAXIM mission. The Stellar Imager mission requirements are on the same order of those for MAXIM. This paper specifically addresses: (1) high-level science requirements for these missions and how they evolve into engineering requirements; (2) the formation control architecture devised for such missions; (3) the design of the formation control laws to maintain very high precision relative positions; and (4) the levels of fuel usage required in the duration of these missions. Specific preliminary results are presented for two spacecraft within the MAXIM mission.

A Penalized Robust Method for Identifying Gene-Environment Interactions

PubMed Central

Shi, Xingjie; Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Zhou, Yong; Xie, Yang; Ma, Shuangge

2015-01-01

In high-throughput studies, an important objective is to identify gene-environment interactions associated with disease outcomes and phenotypes. Many commonly adopted methods assume specific parametric or semiparametric models, which may be subject to model mis-specification. In addition, they usually use significance level as the criterion for selecting important interactions. In this study, we adopt the rank-based estimation, which is much less sensitive to model specification than some of the existing methods and includes several commonly encountered data and models as special cases. Penalization is adopted for the identification of gene-environment interactions. It achieves simultaneous estimation and identification and does not rely on significance level. For computation feasibility, a smoothed rank estimation is further proposed. Simulation shows that under certain scenarios, for example with contaminated or heavy-tailed data, the proposed method can significantly outperform the existing alternatives with more accurate identification. We analyze a lung cancer prognosis study with gene expression measurements under the AFT (accelerated failure time) model. The proposed method identifies interactions different from those using the alternatives. Some of the identified genes have important implications. PMID:24616063

Chemotherapy and plasma adipokines level in patients with colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Słomian, Grzegorz; Świętochowska, Elżbieta; Nowak, Grzegorz; Pawlas, Krystyna; Żelazko, Aleksandra; Nowak, Przemysław

2017-04-12

Adipokines are molecules produced and secreted by adipose tissue and are linked to multiple malignancies. Adipokines can suppress or promote particular cell behaviors in different types of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of chemotherapy on select adipokines in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Blood samples were collected from 42 patients with pathologically documented advanced CRC, who required palliative chemotherapy. Leptin, adiponectin, resistin and visfatin levels were measured by ELISA before and 3 months after the administration of chemotherapy. Among the 42 patients evaluated, 18 achieved a partial response (PR), 16 achieved stable disease (SD) and 8 patients experienced disease progression (PD). We found that 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimens significantly increased plasma levels of leptin and adiponectin and decreased plasma levels of resistin and visfatin in PR and SD patients, whereas the plasma levels of these molecules were not affected in PD patients. Furthermore, the mean plasma levels of leptin were significantly lower, and the mean plasma levels of resistin and visfatin were significantly greater in patients with PD compared with PR and SD both before and after chemotherapy treatment. We conclude that palliative chemotherapy in CRC patients, in addition to providing clinical benefits, positively affects cytokine production and secretion in PR and SD patients. Specifically, we found that palliative chemotherapy increased plasma levels of the anti-inflammatory adipokine adiponectin and decreased the plasma levels of visfatin and resistin, molecules known to promote angiogenesis and cancer cell proliferation in PR and SD patients. Moreover, the baseline values of leptin, visfatin and resistin might serve as prognostic indicators of a poor response to chemotherapy.

An efficient scheme for automatic web pages categorization using the support vector machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhalla, Vinod Kumar; Kumar, Neeraj

2016-07-01

In the past few years, with an evolution of the Internet and related technologies, the number of the Internet users grows exponentially. These users demand access to relevant web pages from the Internet within fraction of seconds. To achieve this goal, there is a requirement of an efficient categorization of web page contents. Manual categorization of these billions of web pages to achieve high accuracy is a challenging task. Most of the existing techniques reported in the literature are semi-automatic. Using these techniques, higher level of accuracy cannot be achieved. To achieve these goals, this paper proposes an automatic web pages categorization into the domain category. The proposed scheme is based on the identification of specific and relevant features of the web pages. In the proposed scheme, first extraction and evaluation of features are done followed by filtering the feature set for categorization of domain web pages. A feature extraction tool based on the HTML document object model of the web page is developed in the proposed scheme. Feature extraction and weight assignment are based on the collection of domain-specific keyword list developed by considering various domain pages. Moreover, the keyword list is reduced on the basis of ids of keywords in keyword list. Also, stemming of keywords and tag text is done to achieve a higher accuracy. An extensive feature set is generated to develop a robust classification technique. The proposed scheme was evaluated using a machine learning method in combination with feature extraction and statistical analysis using support vector machine kernel as the classification tool. The results obtained confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in terms of its accuracy in different categories of web pages.

Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review

PubMed Central

Costa, Ana; Faria, Luísa

2018-01-01

The current study intended to model the link between implicit theories of intelligence (ITI) and students' academic achievement, within a meta-analytic review procedure. To assess studies' effect size, the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was used. The review of 46 studies (94 effect sizes) with 412,022 students presented a low-to-moderate association between the ITI and students' academic achievement. The results indicated that incremental theorists are more likely to have higher grades in specific subjects (verbal and quantitative) and in overall achievement. The entity beliefs were positively associated with students' specific verbal and quantitative domains but at a lower magnitude than incremental beliefs. Moreover, the moderator effect analyses results indicated that the link between ITI and students' achievement was not moderated by gender, but there was a moderate association in student's middle school grade. Additionally, the ITI assessment based on the most recent versions of Dweck's scales, the use of specific academic scales instead of general ITI scales, and the use of the original measures rather than adapted versions strongly moderated the link between ITI and achievement. Moreover, students from Eastern continents (Asia and Oceania) reported a positive association between incremental beliefs and achievement, Europe displayed a positive link between entity beliefs and achievement, whereas North America presented negative correlations between entity perspectives and academic achievement. This meta-analysis updates the current evidence supporting the direct link of ITI and students' academic achievement and acknowledges specific effects that ITI could have in different academic outcomes. PMID:29922195

The Prevalence, Development and Domain Specificity of Elementary School Students' Achievement Goal Profiles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jansen in de Wal, Joost; Hornstra, Lisette; Prins, Frans J.; Peetsma, Thea; van der Veen, Ineke

2016-01-01

This study's aim was to examine the prevalence, development and domain specificity of fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students' achievement goal profiles. Achievement goals were measured for language and mathematics among 722 pupils at three points in time. These data were analysed through latent profile analysis and latent transition…

What's in a country average? Wealth, gender, and regional inequalities in immunization in India.

PubMed

Pande, Rohini P; Yazbeck, Abdo S

2003-12-01

Recent attention to Millennium Development Goals by the international development community has led to the formation of targets to measure country-level achievements, including achievements on health status indicators such as childhood immunization. Using the example of immunization in India, this paper demonstrates the importance of disaggregating national averages for a better understanding of social disparities in health. Specifically, the paper uses data from the India National Family Health Survey 1992-93 to analyze socioeconomic, gender, urban-rural and regional inequalities in immunization in India for each of the 17 largest states. Results show that, on average, southern states have better immunization levels and lower immunization inequalities than many northern states. Wealth and regional inequalities are correlated with overall levels of immunization in a non-linear fashion. Gender inequalities persist in most states, including in the south, and seem unrelated to overall immunization or the levels of other inequalities measured here. This suggests that the gender differentials reflect deep-seated societal factors rather than health system issues per se. The disaggregated information and analysis used in this paper allows for setting more meaningful targets than country averages. Additionally, it helps policy makers and planners to understand programmatic constraints and needs by identifying disparities between sub-groups of the population, including strong and weak performers at the state and regional levels.

Improved specific energy Ni-H2 cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, L. E.

1985-12-01

Significant improvements in specific energy for Ni-H2 battery cells have been and will be achieved. Current flight cell designs in operation on multiple satellites have achieved a specific energy of 52 Whr/Kg (this value may be compared to 45 Whr/Kg for advanced, light-weight Ni-Cd space cells). Battery cells operating at increased pressures (61 atm/900 psi) have been manufactured and successfully tested demonstrating a specific energy of 70 Whr/Kg. Further optimization of electrode substrate, pressure vessel wall thickness and cell terminal/conductor assembly designs will permit achievement of specific energies between 75-80 Whr/Kg. Energy density (outline volume) will be improved from 49 Whr/L to 79 Whr/L.

Echocardiography practice, training and accreditation in the intensive care: document for the World Interactive Network Focused on Critical Ultrasound (WINFOCUS)

PubMed Central

Price, Susanna; Via, Gabriele; Sloth, Erik; Guarracino, Fabio; Breitkreutz, Raoul; Catena, Emanuele; Talmor, Daniel

2008-01-01

Echocardiography is increasingly used in the management of the critically ill patient as a non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring tool. Whilst in few countries specialized national training schemes for intensive care unit (ICU) echocardiography have been developed, specific guidelines for ICU physicians wishing to incorporate echocardiography into their clinical practice are lacking. Further, existing echocardiography accreditation does not reflect the requirements of the ICU practitioner. The WINFOCUS (World Interactive Network Focused On Critical UltraSound) ECHO-ICU Group drew up a document aimed at providing guidance to individual physicians, trainers and the relevant societies of the requirements for the development of skills in echocardiography in the ICU setting. The document is based on recommendations published by the Royal College of Radiologists, British Society of Echocardiography, European Association of Echocardiography and American Society of Echocardiography, together with international input from established practitioners of ICU echocardiography. The recommendations contained in this document are concerned with theoretical basis of ultrasonography, the practical aspects of building an ICU-based echocardiography service as well as the key components of standard adult TTE and TEE studies to be performed on the ICU. Specific issues regarding echocardiography in different ICU clinical scenarios are then described. Obtaining competence in ICU echocardiography may be achieved in different ways – either through completion of an appropriate fellowship/training scheme, or, where not available, via a staged approach designed to train the practitioner to a level at which they can achieve accreditation. Here, peri-resuscitation focused echocardiography represents the entry level – obtainable through established courses followed by mentored practice. Next, a competence-based modular training programme is proposed: theoretical elements delivered through blended-learning and practical elements acquired in parallel through proctored practice. These all linked with existing national/international echocardiography courses. When completed, it is anticipated that the practitioner will have performed the prerequisite number of studies, and achieved the competency to undertake accreditation (leading to Level 2 competence) via a recognized National or European examination and provide the appropriate required evidence of competency (logbook). Thus, even where appropriate fellowships are not available, with support from the relevant echocardiography bodies, training and subsequently accreditation in ICU echocardiography becomes achievable within the existing framework of current critical care and cardiological practice, and is adaptable to each countrie's needs. PMID:18837986

Constrained Optimization of Average Arrival Time via a Probabilistic Approach to Transport Reliability

PubMed Central

Namazi-Rad, Mohammad-Reza; Dunbar, Michelle; Ghaderi, Hadi; Mokhtarian, Payam

2015-01-01

To achieve greater transit-time reduction and improvement in reliability of transport services, there is an increasing need to assist transport planners in understanding the value of punctuality; i.e. the potential improvements, not only to service quality and the consumer but also to the actual profitability of the service. In order for this to be achieved, it is important to understand the network-specific aspects that affect both the ability to decrease transit-time, and the associated cost-benefit of doing so. In this paper, we outline a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of proposed changes to average transit-time, so as to determine the optimal choice of average arrival time subject to desired punctuality levels whilst simultaneously minimizing operational costs. We model the service transit-time variability using a truncated probability density function, and simultaneously compare the trade-off between potential gains and increased service costs, for several commonly employed cost-benefit functions of general form. We formulate this problem as a constrained optimization problem to determine the optimal choice of average transit time, so as to increase the level of service punctuality, whilst simultaneously ensuring a minimum level of cost-benefit to the service operator. PMID:25992902

Scaling of Ion Thrusters to Low Power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Michael J.; Grisnik, Stanley P.; Soulas, George C.

1998-01-01

Analyses were conducted to examine ion thruster scaling relationships in detail to determine performance limits, and lifetime expectations for thruster input power levels below 0.5 kW. This was motivated by mission analyses indicating the potential advantages of high performance, high specific impulse systems for small spacecraft. The design and development status of a 0.1-0.3 kW prototype small thruster and its components are discussed. Performance goals include thruster efficiencies on the order of 40% to 54% over a specific impulse range of 2000 to 3000 seconds, with a lifetime in excess of 8000 hours at full power. Thruster technologies required to achieve the performance and lifetime targets are identified.

A software methodology for compiling quantum programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Häner, Thomas; Steiger, Damian S.; Svore, Krysta; Troyer, Matthias

2018-04-01

Quantum computers promise to transform our notions of computation by offering a completely new paradigm. To achieve scalable quantum computation, optimizing compilers and a corresponding software design flow will be essential. We present a software architecture for compiling quantum programs from a high-level language program to hardware-specific instructions. We describe the necessary layers of abstraction and their differences and similarities to classical layers of a computer-aided design flow. For each layer of the stack, we discuss the underlying methods for compilation and optimization. Our software methodology facilitates more rapid innovation among quantum algorithm designers, quantum hardware engineers, and experimentalists. It enables scalable compilation of complex quantum algorithms and can be targeted to any specific quantum hardware implementation.

Introduction: Forecasting Informatics Competencies for Nurses in the Future of Connected Health.

PubMed

Murphy, Judy; Goossen, William

2017-01-01

This introduction to the book discusses how the topic of competencies for nurses in a world of connected health needs to be addressed at the curriculum level to achieve the specific competencies for various roles, including practicing nurse, nurse teacher, nurse leader, and nursing informatics specialists. It looks back at milestone publications from the international Nursing Informatics post conferences that still serve a purpose for inspiring developments today and looks forward to the way nurses can use connected health to improve the health and health care for their patients. Specific emerging topics in health information technology are addressed as well, such as semantics, genetics, big data, eHealth and social media.

A quantitative analysis of the relationship between an online homework system and student achievement in pre-calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaali, Parisa; Gonzalez, Lidia

2015-07-01

Supporting student success in entry-level mathematics courses at the undergraduate level has and continues to be a challenge. Recently we have seen an increased reliance on technological supports including software to supplement more traditional in-class instruction. In this paper, we explore the effects on student performance of the use of a computer software program to supplement instruction in an entry-level mathematics course at the undergraduate level, specifically, a pre-calculus course. Relying on data from multiple sections of the course over various semesters, we compare student performance in those classes utilizing the software against those in which it was not used. Quantitative analysis of the data then leads us to conclusions about the effectiveness of the software as well as recommendations for future iterations of the course and others like it.

Diabetes quality of care in academic endocrinology practice: a descriptive study.

PubMed

Shah, Baiju R; James, Jacqueline E; Lawton, Carolyn; Montada-Atin, Tess; Sigmond, Marianne; Cauch-Dudek, Karen; Booth, Gillian L

2009-01-01

To describe the quality of diabetes care delivered by academic endocrinologists practicing at 4 teaching hospitals affiliated with a single medical school. Up to 30 patients who first saw an endocrinologist for an ambulatory consultation for diabetes between January 2004 and December 2005 were randomly selected for chart review. Process and intermediate measures of quality of care were abstracted. There were 417 patient charts available for analysis. Quality of care was generally high, with 61% of patients achieving a glycated hemoglobin of ≤7.0%, 77% achieving blood pressure ≤130/80 mm Hg and 73% achieving a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level of ≤2.5 mmol/L. More than 80% of patients had had eye examinations, microalbuminuria screening and foot examinations. There were no significant differences in quality between hospitals. The quality of diabetes care delivered by academic endocrinologists in this setting was high and approached the "ideal" levels of care recommended by practice guidelines. Compared to past studies in both the primary and specialist care settings, the results show that high-quality care can be delivered in routine academic clinical practice without having previously instituted a specific quality improvement program. Copyright © 2009 Canadian Diabetes Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Osseointegration mechanisms: a proteomic approach.

PubMed

Araújo-Gomes, N; Romero-Gavilán, F; García-Arnáez, I; Martínez-Ramos, C; Sánchez-Pérez, A M; Azkargorta, M; Elortza, F; de Llano, J J Martín; Gurruchaga, M; Goñi, I; Suay, J

2018-05-01

The prime objectives in the development of biomaterials for dental applications are to improve the quality of osseointegration and to short the time needed to achieve it. Design of implants nowadays involves changes in the surface characteristics to obtain a good cellular response. Incorporating osteoinductive elements is one way to achieve the best regeneration possible post-implantation. This study examined the osteointegrative potential of two distinct biomaterials: sandblasted acid-etched titanium and a silica sol-gel hybrid coating, 70% MTMOS-30% TEOS. In vitro, in vivo, and proteomic characterisations of the two materials were conducted. Enhanced expression levels of ALP and IL-6 in the MC3T3-E1 cells cultured with coated discs, suggest that growing cells on such surfaces may increase mineralisation levels. 70M30T-coated implants showed improved bone growth in vivo compared to uncoated titanium. Complete osseointegration was achieved on both. However, coated implants displayed osteoinductive properties, while uncoated implants demonstrated osteoconductive characteristics. Coagulation-related proteins attached predominantly to SAE-Ti surface. Surface properties of the material might drive the regenerative process of the affected tissue. Analysis of the proteins on the coated dental implant showed that few proteins specifically attached to its surface, possibly indicating that its osteoinductive properties depend on the silicon delivery from the implant.

Customer quality and type 2 diabetes from the patients' perspective: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Tabrizi, Jafar S; Wilson, Andrew J; O'Rourke, Peter K

2010-12-18

Quality in health care can be seen as having three principal dimensions: service, technical and customer quality. This study aimed to measure Customer Quality in relation to self-management of Type 2 diabetes. A cross-sectional survey of 577 Type 2 diabetes people was carried out in Australia. The 13-item Patient Activation Measure was used to evaluate Customer Quality based on self-reported knowledge, skills and confidence in four stages of self-management. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 13.0. All participants achieved scores at the level of stage 1, but ten percent did not achieve score levels consistent with stage 2 and a further 16% did not reach the actual action stage. Seventy-four percent reported capacity for taking action for self-management and 38% reported the highest Customer Quality score and ability to change the action by changing health and environment. Participants with a higher education attainment, better diabetes control status and those who maintain continuity of care reported a higher Customer Quality score, reflecting higher capacity for self-management. Specific capacity building programs for health care providers and people with Type 2 diabetes are needed to increase their knowledge and skills; and improve their confidence to self-management, to achieve improved quality of delivered care and better health outcomes.

Influences of Social and Style Variables on Adult Usage of African American English Features

PubMed Central

Craig, Holly K.; Grogger, Jeffrey T.

2013-01-01

Purpose In this study, the authors examined the influences of selected social (gender, employment status, educational achievement level) and style variables (race of examiner, interview topic) on the production of African American English (AAE) by adults. Method Participants were 50 African American men and women, ages 20–30 years. The authors used Rapid and Anonymous Survey (RAS) methods to collect responses to questions on informal situational and formal message-oriented topics in a short interview with an unacquainted interlocutor. Results Results revealed strong systematic effects for academic achievement, but not gender or employment status. Most features were used less frequently by participants with higher educational levels, but sharp declines in the usage of 5 specific features distinguished the participants differing in educational achievement. Strong systematic style effects were found for the 2 types of questions, but not race of addressee. The features that were most commonly used across participants—copula absence, variable subject–verb agreement, and appositive pronouns—were also the features that showed the greatest style shifting. Conclusions The findings lay a foundation with mature speakers for rate-based and feature inventory methods recently shown to be informative for the study of child AAE and demonstrate the benefits of the RAS. PMID:22361105

Relationship of procedural numbers with meaningful procedural autonomy in general surgery residents.

PubMed

Stride, Herbert P; George, Brian C; Williams, Reed G; Bohnen, Jordan D; Eaton, Megan J; Schuller, Mary C; Zhao, Lihui; Yang, Amy; Meyerson, Shari L; Scully, Rebecca; Dunnington, Gary L; Torbeck, Laura; Mullen, John T; Mandell, Samuel P; Choti, Michael; Foley, Eugene; Are, Chandrakanth; Auyang, Edward; Chipman, Jeffrey; Choi, Jennifer; Meier, Andreas; Smink, Douglas; Terhune, Kyla P; Wise, Paul; DaRosa, Debra; Soper, Nathaniel; Zwischenberger, Jay B; Lillemoe, Keith; Fryer, Jonathan P

2018-03-01

Concerns exist regarding the competency of general surgery graduates with performing core general surgery procedures. Current competence assessment incorporates minimal procedural numbers requirements. Based on the Zwisch scale we evaluated the level of autonomy achieved by categorical PGY1-5 general surgery residents at 14 U.S. general surgery resident training programs between September 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016. With 5 of the most commonly performed core general surgery procedures, we correlated the level of autonomy achieved by each resident with the number of procedures they had performed before the evaluation period, with the intent of identifying specific target numbers that would correlate with the achievement of meaningful autonomy for each procedure with most residents. Whereas a definitive target number was identified for laparoscopic appendectomy (i.e. 25), for the other 4 procedures studied (i.e. laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 52; open inguinal hernia repair, 42; ventral hernia repair, 35; and partial colectomy, 60), target numbers identified were less definitive and/or were higher than many residents will experience during their surgical residency training. We conclude that procedural target numbers are generally not effective in predicting procedural competence and should not be used as the basis for determining residents' readiness for independent practice. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Three-level global resource allocation model for hiv control: A hierarchical decision system approach.

PubMed

Kassa, Semu Mitiku

2018-02-01

Funds from various global organizations, such as, The Global Fund, The World Bank, etc. are not directly distributed to the targeted risk groups. Especially in the so-called third-world-countries, the major part of the fund in HIV prevention programs comes from these global funding organizations. The allocations of these funds usually pass through several levels of decision making bodies that have their own specific parameters to control and specific objectives to achieve. However, these decisions are made mostly in a heuristic manner and this may lead to a non-optimal allocation of the scarce resources. In this paper, a hierarchical mathematical optimization model is proposed to solve such a problem. Combining existing epidemiological models with the kind of interventions being on practice, a 3-level hierarchical decision making model in optimally allocating such resources has been developed and analyzed. When the impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is included in the model, it has been shown that the objective function of the lower level decision making structure is a non-convex minimization problem in the allocation variables even if all the production functions for the intervention programs are assumed to be linear.

Measuring more than we know? An examination of the motivational and situational influences in science achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haydel, Angela Michelle

The purpose of this dissertation was to advance theoretical understanding about fit between the personal resources of individuals and the characteristics of science achievement tasks. Testing continues to be pervasive in schools, yet we know little about how students perceive tests and what they think and feel while they are actually working on test items. This study focused on both the personal (cognitive and motivational) and situational factors that may contribute to individual differences in achievement-related outcomes. 387 eighth grade students first completed a survey including measures of science achievement goals, capability beliefs, efficacy related to multiple-choice items and performance assessments, validity beliefs about multiple-choice items and performance assessments, and other perceptions of these item formats. Students then completed science achievement tests including multiple-choice items and two performance assessments. A sample of students was asked to verbalize both thoughts and feelings as they worked through the test items. These think-alouds were transcribed and coded for evidence of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational engagement. Following each test, all students completed measures of effort, mood, energy level and strategy use during testing. Students reported that performance assessments were more challenging, authentic, interesting and valid than multiple-choice tests. They also believed that comparisons between students were easier using multiple-choice items. Overall, students tried harder, felt better, had higher levels of energy and used more strategies while working on performance assessments. Findings suggested that performance assessments might be more congruent with a mastery achievement goal orientation, while multiple-choice tests might be more congruent with a performance achievement goal orientation. A variable-centered analytic approach including regression analyses provided information about how students, on average, who differed in terms of their teachers' ratings of their science ability, achievement goals, capability beliefs and experiences with science achievement tasks perceived, engaged in, and performed on multiple-choice items and performance assessments. Person-centered analyses provided information about the perceptions, engagement and performance of subgroups of individuals who had different motivational characteristics. Generally, students' personal goals and capability beliefs related more strongly to test perceptions, but not performance, while teacher ratings of ability and test-specific beliefs related to performance.

Neuron Specific Rab4 Effector GRASP-1 Coordinates Membrane Specialization and Maturation of Recycling Endosomes

PubMed Central

Hoogenraad, Casper C.; Popa, Ioana; Futai, Kensuke; Sanchez-Martinez, Emma; Wulf, Phebe S.; van Vlijmen, Thijs; Dortland, Bjorn R.; Oorschot, Viola; Govers, Roland; Monti, Maria; Heck, Albert J. R.; Sheng, Morgan; Klumperman, Judith; Rehmann, Holger; Jaarsma, Dick; Kapitein, Lukas C.; van der Sluijs, Peter

2010-01-01

The endosomal pathway in neuronal dendrites is essential for membrane receptor trafficking and proper synaptic function and plasticity. However, the molecular mechanisms that organize specific endocytic trafficking routes are poorly understood. Here, we identify GRIP-associated protein-1 (GRASP-1) as a neuron-specific effector of Rab4 and key component of the molecular machinery that coordinates recycling endosome maturation in dendrites. We show that GRASP-1 is necessary for AMPA receptor recycling, maintenance of spine morphology, and synaptic plasticity. At the molecular level, GRASP-1 segregates Rab4 from EEA1/Neep21/Rab5-positive early endosomal membranes and coordinates the coupling to Rab11-labelled recycling endosomes by interacting with the endosomal SNARE syntaxin 13. We propose that GRASP-1 connects early and late recycling endosomal compartments by forming a molecular bridge between Rab-specific membrane domains and the endosomal SNARE machinery. The data uncover a new mechanism to achieve specificity and directionality in neuronal membrane receptor trafficking. PMID:20098723

Combined measurement of synovial fluid α-Defensin and C-reactive protein levels: highly accurate for diagnosing periprosthetic joint infection.

PubMed

Deirmengian, Carl; Kardos, Keith; Kilmartin, Patrick; Cameron, Alexander; Schiller, Kevin; Parvizi, Javad

2014-09-03

The diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined measurement of the levels of two synovial fluid biomarkers, α-defensin and C-reactive protein (CRP), for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection. One hundred and forty-nine synovial fluid aspirates, including 112 from patients with an aseptic diagnosis and thirty-seven from patients with periprosthetic joint infection, met the inclusion criteria for this prospective study. Synovial fluid aspirates were tested for α-defensin and CRP levels with use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) definition of periprosthetic joint infection was utilized for the classification of cases as aseptic or infected. Comorbidities, such as inflammatory conditions, that could confound a test for periprosthetic joint infection were documented, but the patients with such comorbidities were included in the study. The combination of synovial fluid α-defensin and CRP tests demonstrated a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 100% for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection. Synovial fluid α-defensin tests alone demonstrated a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 96% for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection. Synovial fluid CRP tests, with a low threshold of 3 mg/L, reversed all-false positive α-defensin results without affecting the sensitivity of the test. The diagnostic characteristics of these assays were achieved in a population of patients demonstrating a 23% rate of systemic inflammatory diseases (in the series as a whole) and a 27% rate of concurrent antibiotic treatment (in the infection group). The synovial fluid levels of α-defensin in the setting of periprosthetic joint infection were unchanged during concurrent antibiotic treatment. The combined measurement of synovial fluid α-defensin and CRP levels correctly diagnosed 99% of the cases in this study as aseptic or infected. This was achieved despite the inclusion of patients with systemic inflammatory disease and those receiving treatment with antibiotics. Diagnostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. Copyright © 2014 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

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

Bull, Diana L.; Costello, Ronan; Babarit, Aurelien

Capabilities and functions are hierarchical structures (i.e. taxonomies) that are used in a systems engineering framework to identify complimentary requirements for the system: what the system must do to achieve what it must be. In the case of capabilities, the taxonomy embodies the list of characteristics that are desired, from the perspective of the stakeholders, for the system to be successful. In terms of the functions, the hierarchy represents the solution agnostic (i.e. independent of specific design embodiments) elements that are needed to meet the stakeholder requirements. This paper will focus on the development of the functions. The functions definemore » the fundamental elements of the solution that must be provided in order to achieve the mission and deliver the capabilities. They identify the behaviors the farm must possess, i.e. the farm must be able to generate and deliver electricity from wave power. High-level functions are independent of the technology or design used to implement the function. However, detailed functions may begin to border on specific design choices. Hence a strong effort has been made to maintain functions that are design agnostic.« less

Structured Mentoring for Workforce Engagement and Professional Development in Public Health Settings.

PubMed

Dopson, Stephanie A; Griffey, Sue; Ghiya, Neelam; Laird, Susan; Cyphert, Aubrey; Iskander, John

2017-05-01

Mentoring is commonly used to facilitate professional growth and workforce development in a variety of settings. Organizations can use mentoring to help achieve broader personnel goals including leadership development and succession planning. While mentorship can be incorporated into training programs in public health, there are other examples of structured mentoring, with time commitments ranging from minutes to months or longer. Based on a review of the literature in public health and aggregated personal subject matter expertise of existing programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we summarize selected mentoring models that vary primarily by time commitments and meeting frequency and identify specific work situations to which they may be applicable, primarily from the federal job experience point of view. We also suggest specific tasks that mentor-mentee pairs can undertake, including review of writing samples, practice interviews, and development of the mentee's social media presence. The mentor-mentee relationship should be viewed as a reciprocally beneficial one that can be a source of learning and personal growth for individuals at all levels of professional achievement and across the span of their careers.

Long-term outcome in patients with germ cell tumours treated with POMB/ACE chemotherapy: comparison of commonly used classification systems of good and poor prognosis.

PubMed Central

Hitchins, R. N.; Newlands, E. S.; Smith, D. B.; Begent, R. H.; Rustin, G. J.; Bagshawe, K. D.

1989-01-01

We analysed outcome in 206 consecutive male patients treated for metastatic non-seminomatous germ cell tumour (NSGCT) of testicular or extragonadal origin treated with the POMB/ACE (cisplatin, vincristine, methotrexate, bleomycin, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, etoposide) regimen after division into prognostic groups by commonly used clinical classification systems and definitions of adverse prognosis. The adverse prognostic groups of all classification systems and definitions examined showed similar, but only moderate, sensitivity (71-81%) and specificity (52-56%) in predicting death. A simple definition of poor prognosis based on raised initial levels of serum tumour markers alpha fetoprotein (aFP) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) proved at least as useful (sensitivity 80%, specificity 55%) as other more complicated systems in predicting failure to achieve long-term survival. Comparison of survival between ultra-high dose cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy and patients treated with POMB/ACE shows no advantage from this more toxic approach. This suggests that good results in adverse prognosis patients can be achieved using conventional dose regimens administered intensively. PMID:2467682

Toward a domain-specific approach to the study of parental psychological control: distinguishing between dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control.

PubMed

Soenens, Bart; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Luyten, Patrick

2010-02-01

Theory and research suggest that psychologically controlling parenting can be driven by parental concerns in two different domains, that is, interpersonal closeness and achievement. Three studies addressing this hypothesis are presented. Study 1 provides evidence for the validity of the Dependency-Oriented and Achievement-Oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS), a new measure assessing psychological control in these two domains. Study 2 showed that dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control were related in expected ways to parental separation anxiety and perfectionism in a sample of mothers and fathers. Finally, Study 3 showed that dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control were differentially related to middle adolescent dependency and self-criticism and that these personality features act as specific intervening variables between the domain-specific expressions of psychological control and depressive symptoms. It is argued that the distinction between two domain-specific expressions of psychological control may allow for a more intricate analysis of the processes involved in intrusive parenting.

Design parameters for the separation of fat from natural whole milk in an ultrasonic litre-scale vessel.

PubMed

Leong, Thomas; Johansson, Linda; Juliano, Pablo; Mawson, Raymond; McArthur, Sally; Manasseh, Richard

2014-07-01

The separation of milk fat from natural whole milk has been achieved by applying ultrasonic standing waves (1 MHz and/or 2 MHz) in a litre-scale (5L capacity) batch system. Various design parameters were tested such as power input level, process time, specific energy, transducer-reflector distance and the use of single and dual transducer set-ups. It was found that the efficacy of the treatment depended on the specific energy density input into the system. In this case, a plateau in fat concentration of ∼20% w/v was achieved in the creamed top layer after applying a minimum specific energy of 200 kJ/kg. In addition, the fat separation was enhanced by reducing the transducer reflector distance in the vessel, operating two transducers in a parallel set-up, or by increasing the duration of insonation, resulting in skimmed milk with a fat concentration as low as 1.7% (w/v) using raw milk after 20 min insonation. Dual mode operation with both transducers in parallel as close as 30 mm apart resulted in the fastest creaming and skimming in this study at ∼1.6 g fat/min. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improving Reading Achievement Through Increased Motivation, Specific Skill Enhancement, and Practice Time for Elementary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ecklund, Britt K.; Lamon, Kathryn M.

2008-01-01

The action research project report began when the teacher researchers determined that students at Sites A and B struggled with reading achievement. The purpose of the project was to improve students' reading achievement through increased motivation, specific skill instruction, and additional practice time. The project involved 26 students: 17…

Inquiry and groups: student interactions in cooperative inquiry-based science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woods-McConney, Amanda; Wosnitza, Marold; Sturrock, Keryn L.

2016-03-01

Science education research has recommended cooperative inquiry based science in the primary science context for more than two decades but after more than 20 years, student achievement in science has not substantially improved. This study, through direct observation and analysis, investigated content-related student interactions in an authentic inquiry based primary science class setting. Thirty-one upper primary students were videotaped working in cooperative inquiry based science activities. Cooperative talk and negotiation of the science content was analysed to identify any high-level group interactions. The data show that while all groups have incidences of high-level content-related group interactions, the frequency and duration of these interactions were limited. No specific pattern of preceding events was identified and no episodes of high-level content-related group interactions were immediately preceded by the teacher's interactions with the groups. This in situ study demonstrated that even without any kind of scaffolding, specific skills in knowing how to implement cooperative inquiry based science, high-level content-related group interactions did occur very briefly. Support for teachers to develop their knowledge and skills in facilitating cooperative inquiry based science learning is warranted to ensure that high-level content-related group interactions and the associated conceptual learning are not left to chance in science classrooms.

Why weight? Modelling sample and observational level variability improves power in RNA-seq analyses

PubMed Central

Liu, Ruijie; Holik, Aliaksei Z.; Su, Shian; Jansz, Natasha; Chen, Kelan; Leong, Huei San; Blewitt, Marnie E.; Asselin-Labat, Marie-Liesse; Smyth, Gordon K.; Ritchie, Matthew E.

2015-01-01

Variations in sample quality are frequently encountered in small RNA-sequencing experiments, and pose a major challenge in a differential expression analysis. Removal of high variation samples reduces noise, but at a cost of reducing power, thus limiting our ability to detect biologically meaningful changes. Similarly, retaining these samples in the analysis may not reveal any statistically significant changes due to the higher noise level. A compromise is to use all available data, but to down-weight the observations from more variable samples. We describe a statistical approach that facilitates this by modelling heterogeneity at both the sample and observational levels as part of the differential expression analysis. At the sample level this is achieved by fitting a log-linear variance model that includes common sample-specific or group-specific parameters that are shared between genes. The estimated sample variance factors are then converted to weights and combined with observational level weights obtained from the mean–variance relationship of the log-counts-per-million using ‘voom’. A comprehensive analysis involving both simulations and experimental RNA-sequencing data demonstrates that this strategy leads to a universally more powerful analysis and fewer false discoveries when compared to conventional approaches. This methodology has wide application and is implemented in the open-source ‘limma’ package. PMID:25925576

Planning and setting objectives in field studies: Chapter 2

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, Robert N.; Dodd, C. Kenneth

2016-01-01

This chapter enumerates the steps required in designing and planning field studies on the ecology and conservation of reptiles, as these involve a high level of uncertainty and risk. To this end, the chapter differentiates between goals (descriptions of what one intends to accomplish) and objectives (the measurable steps required to achieve the established goals). Thus, meeting a specific goal may require many objectives. It may not be possible to define some of them until certain experiments have been conducted; often evaluations of sampling protocols are needed to increase certainty in the biological results. And if sampling locations are fixed and sampling events are repeated over time, then both study-specific covariates and sampling-specific covariates should exist. Additionally, other critical design considerations for field study include obtaining permits, as well as researching ethics and biosecurity issues.

Kinetic-dependent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to Legionella pneumophila.

PubMed Central

Sampson, J S; Wilkinson, H W; Tsang, V C; Brake, B J

1983-01-01

A semiautomated, kinetic-dependent, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (K-ELISA) was adapted to detect serum antibodies to Legionella pneumophila. In a comparative study, 158 human serum samples (79 pairs) were tested by K-ELISA and the standard indirect immunofluorescence assay for determination of antibody levels to L. pneumophila serogroup 1. K-ELISA determinations were made by using a serogroup-specific antigen or a preparation (unfractionated antigen) which contained both common antigen and serogroup-specific reactivity. There was good correlation between the immunofluorescence assay and the K-ELISA by using either antigen, although greater correlation was achieved with the unfractionated antigen (coefficients of correlation, 0.894 with unfractionated antigen and 0.841 with serogroup-specific antigen). These results indicate that the K-ELISA is a reliable alternative to the immunofluorescence assay for serologically diagnosing legionellosis. PMID:6361052

Kinetic-dependent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to Legionella pneumophila.

PubMed

Sampson, J S; Wilkinson, H W; Tsang, V C; Brake, B J

1983-12-01

A semiautomated, kinetic-dependent, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (K-ELISA) was adapted to detect serum antibodies to Legionella pneumophila. In a comparative study, 158 human serum samples (79 pairs) were tested by K-ELISA and the standard indirect immunofluorescence assay for determination of antibody levels to L. pneumophila serogroup 1. K-ELISA determinations were made by using a serogroup-specific antigen or a preparation (unfractionated antigen) which contained both common antigen and serogroup-specific reactivity. There was good correlation between the immunofluorescence assay and the K-ELISA by using either antigen, although greater correlation was achieved with the unfractionated antigen (coefficients of correlation, 0.894 with unfractionated antigen and 0.841 with serogroup-specific antigen). These results indicate that the K-ELISA is a reliable alternative to the immunofluorescence assay for serologically diagnosing legionellosis.

Questionable Specificity of Genetic Total Faecal Pollution Markers for Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Source Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vierheilig, Julia; Reischer, Georg H.; Farnleitner, Andreas H.

2010-05-01

Characterisation of microbial faecal hazards in water is a fundamental aspect for target-orientated water resources management to achieve appropriate water quality for various purposes like water supply or agriculture and thus to minimize related health risks. Nowadays the management of water resources increasingly demands detailed knowledge on the extent and the origin of microbial pollution. Cultivation of standard faecal indicator bacteria, which has been used for over a century to test the microbiological water quality, cannot sufficiently meet these challenges. The abundant intestinal bacterial populations are very promising alternative targets for modern faecal indication systems. Numerous assays for the detection of genetic markers targeting source-specific populations of the phylum Bacteroidetes have been developed in recent years. In some cases markers for total faecal pollution were also proposed in order to relate source-specific marker concentrations to general faecal pollution levels. However, microbial populations in intestinal and non-intestinal systems exhibit a dazzling array of diversity and molecular analysis of microbial faecal pollution has been based on a fragmentary puzzle of very limited sequence information. The aim of this study was to test the available qPCR-based methods detecting genetic Bacteroidetes markers for total faecal pollution in terms of their value and specificity as indicators of faecal pollution. We applied the AllBac (Layton et al., 2006) the BacUni (Kildare et al., 2007) and the Bacteroidetes (Dick and Field, 2004) assays on soil DNA samples. Samples were collected in well characterised karst spring catchments in Austria's Eastern Calcareous Alps. They were at various levels of altitude between 800 and 1800 meters above sea level and from several different habitats (woodland, alpine pastures, krummholz). In addition we tried to choose sampling sites representing a presumptive gradient of faecal pollution levels. For example sites with obvious faecal influence (e.g. right next to a cowpat) were included as well as more pristine sites without faecal influence from large animals (e.g. fenced areas). Surprisingly, results from investigations with the AllBac assay showed concentrations of the total faecal marker in soil in the range of 106 to 109 Marker Equivalents per g of soil, which is equal or only slightly lower than the concentrations of this particular marker in faeces or raw sewage. Preliminary results from the other tested assays seem to confirm that the targeted markers are also highly abundant in soils. In addition, the markers were present in comparable concentrations in soils from pristine locations as well as in soils under the potential influence of faeces giving a strong indication that these methods also target non-intestinal, autochthonous soil populations. In contrast, source-specific markers (ruminant-specific BacR and human-specific BacH, Reischer et al., 2007, 2006) could only be detected in 30 to 50% of the soil samples at concentrations close to the detection limit, which is at least four orders of magnitude lower than in faecal samples of the respective target sources, ruminant animals and humans. The achieved results call the applicability of the proposed qPCR-based assays for total faecal pollution into question. In fact the assays do not seem to be specific for intestinal Bacteroidetes populations at all and the respective marker concentration levels in pristine soils negate their applicability in the investigated areas. This study also emphasizes the need to test the specificity and sensitivity of qPCR-based assays for total faecal pollution on the local level and especially against non-intestinal environmental samples, which might contribute to marker levels in the aquatic compartment. In conclusion there is a strong demand for marker-based detection techniques for total faecal pollution in water quality monitoring and risk assessment but currently none of the tested assays seems to meet the methodical requirements.

Correlations between academic achievement and anxiety and depression in medical students experiencing integrated curriculum reform.

PubMed

Yeh, Yi-Chun; Yen, Cheng-Fang; Lai, Chung-Sheng; Huang, Chun-Hsiung; Liu, Keh-Min; Huang, In-Ting

2007-08-01

This study aimed to examine the correlations between academic achievement and levels of anxiety and depression in medical students who were experiencing curriculum reform. The differences in academic achievement and the directions of correlations between academic achievement and anxiety and depression among the medical students with different levels of anxiety and depression were also examined. Grade 1 students from graduate-entry program and grade 3 students from undergraduate-entry program in their first semester of the new curriculum were recruited to complete the Zung's Anxiety and Depression Scale twice to examine their levels of anxiety and depression. Their academic achievement ratings in the four blocks of the first semester of the new curriculum were collected. The results indicated that no significant correlation was found between academic achievement and global anxiety and depression. However, by dividing the medical students into low, moderate and high level anxiety or depression groups, those who had poorer academic achievement in the first learning block were more likely to have higher levels of depression in the first psychologic assessment. Among the medical students who were in the high anxiety level group in the first psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had poorer academic achievement in the fourth learning block. Among the medical students who were in the low anxiety level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had better academic achievement in the fourth learning block. Among the medical students who were in the moderate anxiety level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe anxiety had poorer academic achievement in the second learning block. Among the medical students who were in the high depression level group in the second psychologic assessment, those who had more severe depression had poorer academic achievement in the fourth learning block. The results of this study indicate that there are both positive and negative correlations between academic achievement and anxiety and depression in medical students, regarding differing levels of severity of anxiety or depression. The results could represent a reference for teachers on the planning of teaching and assessment programs.

Systematic review of patient-specific instrumentation in total knee arthroplasty: new but not improved.

PubMed

Sassoon, Adam; Nam, Denis; Nunley, Ryan; Barrack, Robert

2015-01-01

Patient-specific cutting blocks have been touted as a more efficient and reliable means of achieving neutral mechanical alignment during TKA with the proposed downstream effect of improved clinical outcomes. However, it is not clear to what degree published studies support these assumptions. We asked: (1) Do patient-specific cutting blocks achieve neutral mechanical alignment more reliably during TKA when compared with conventional methods? (2) Does patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) provide financial benefit through improved surgical efficiency? (3) Does the use of patient-specific cutting blocks translate to improved clinical results after TKA when compared with conventional instrumentation? We performed a systematic review in accordance with Cochrane guidelines of controlled studies (prospective and retrospective) in MEDLINE® and EMBASE® with respect to patient-specific cutting blocks and their effect on alignment, cost, operative time, clinical outcome scores, complications, and survivorship. Sixteen studies (Level I-III on the levels of evidence rubric) were identified and used in addressing the first question, 13 (Level I-III) for the second question, and two (Level III) for the third question. Qualitative assessment of the selected Level I studies was performed using the modified Jadad score; Level II and III studies were rated based on the Newcastle-Ottawa scoring system. The majority of studies did not show an improvement in overall limb alignment when PSI was compared with standard instrumentation. Mixed results were seen across studies with regard to the prevalence of alignment outliers when PSI was compared with conventional cutting blocks with some studies demonstrating no difference, some showing an improvement with PSI, and a single study showing worse results with PSI. The studies demonstrated mixed results regarding the influence of PSI on operative times. Decreased operative times were not uniformly observed, and when noted, they were found to be of minimal clinical or financial significance. PSI did reliably reduce the number of instrument trays required for processing perioperatively. The accuracy of the preoperative plan, generated by the PSI manufacturers, was found lacking, often leading to multiple intraoperative changes, thereby disrupting the flow of the operation and negatively impacting efficiency. Limited data exist with regard to the effect of PSI on postoperative function, improvement in pain, and patient satisfaction. Neither of the two studies we identified provided strong evidence to support an advantage favoring the use of PSI. No identified studies addressed survivorship of components placed with PSI compared with those placed with standard instrumentation. PSI for TKA has not reliably demonstrated improvement of postoperative limb or component alignment when compared with standard instrumentation. Although decisive evidence exists to support that PSI requires fewer surgical trays, PSI has not clearly been shown to improve overall surgical efficiency or the cost-effectiveness of TKA. Mid- and long-term data regarding PSI's effect on functional outcomes and component survivorship do not exist and short-term data are scarce. Limited available literature does not clearly support any improvement of postoperative pain, activity, function, or ROM when PSI is compared with traditional instrumentation.

Inactivation of Adenovirus Type 5, Rotavirus WA and Male Specific Coliphage (MS2) in Biosolids by Lime Stabilization

PubMed Central

Hansen, Jacqueline J.; Warden, Paul S.; Margolin, Aaron B.

2007-01-01

The use of lime to reduce or eliminate pathogen content is a cost-effective treatment currently employed in many Class B biosolids production plants in the United States. A bench scale model of lime stabilization was designed to evaluate the survival of adenovirus type 5, rotavirus Wa, and the male specific bacteriophage, MS2, in various matrices. Each virus was initially evaluated independently in a reverse osmosis treated water matrix limed with an aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide for 24-hr at 22 ± 5°C. In all R/O water trials, adenovirus type 5, rotavirus Wa and MS2 were below detectable levels (<100.5 TCID50/mL and <1 PFU/mL respectively) following 0.1-hr of liming. Adenovirus type 5, rotavirus Wa, and MS2, were inoculated into composted, raw and previously limed matrices, representative of sludge and biosolids, to achieve a final concentration of approximately 104 PFU or TCID50/mL. Each matrix was limed for 24-hr at 22 ± 5°C and 4 ± 2°C. In all trials virus was below detectable levels following a 24-hr incubation. The time required for viral inactivation varied depending on the temperature and sample matrix. This research demonstrates reduction of adenovirus type 5, rotavirus Wa, and male-specific bacteriophage, in water, sludge and biosolids matrices following addition of an 8% calcium hydroxide slurry to achieve a pH of 12 for 2-hr reduced to 11.5 for 22-hr by addition of 0.1 N HCl. In these trials, MS2 was a conservative indicator of the efficacy of lime stabilization of adenovirus Type 5 and rotavirus Wa and therefore is proposed as a useful indicator organism. PMID:17431317

Active appearance model and deep learning for more accurate prostate segmentation on MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Ruida; Roth, Holger R.; Lu, Le; Wang, Shijun; Turkbey, Baris; Gandler, William; McCreedy, Evan S.; Agarwal, Harsh K.; Choyke, Peter; Summers, Ronald M.; McAuliffe, Matthew J.

2016-03-01

Prostate segmentation on 3D MR images is a challenging task due to image artifacts, large inter-patient prostate shape and texture variability, and lack of a clear prostate boundary specifically at apex and base levels. We propose a supervised machine learning model that combines atlas based Active Appearance Model (AAM) with a Deep Learning model to segment the prostate on MR images. The performance of the segmentation method is evaluated on 20 unseen MR image datasets. The proposed method combining AAM and Deep Learning achieves a mean Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.925 for whole 3D MR images of the prostate using axial cross-sections. The proposed model utilizes the adaptive atlas-based AAM model and Deep Learning to achieve significant segmentation accuracy.

Digital Droplet PCR: CNV Analysis and Other Applications.

PubMed

Mazaika, Erica; Homsy, Jason

2014-07-14

Digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) is an assay that combines state-of-the-art microfluidics technology with TaqMan-based PCR to achieve precise target DNA quantification at high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Because quantification is achieved without the need for standard assays in an easy to interpret, unambiguous digital readout, ddPCR is far simpler, faster, and less error prone than real-time qPCR. The basic protocol can be modified with minor adjustments to suit a wide range of applications, such as CNV analysis, rare variant detection, SNP genotyping, and transcript quantification. This unit describes the ddPCR workflow in detail for the Bio-Rad QX100 system, but the theory and data interpretation are generalizable to any ddPCR system. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Transient, Inducible, Placenta-Specific Gene Expression in Mice

PubMed Central

Fan, Xiujun; Petitt, Matthew; Gamboa, Matthew; Huang, Mei; Dhal, Sabita; Druzin, Maurice L.; Wu, Joseph C.

2012-01-01

Molecular understanding of placental functions and pregnancy disorders is limited by the absence of methods for placenta-specific gene manipulation. Although persistent placenta-specific gene expression has been achieved by lentivirus-based gene delivery methods, developmentally and physiologically important placental genes have highly stage-specific functions, requiring controllable, transient expression systems for functional analysis. Here, we describe an inducible, placenta-specific gene expression system that enables high-level, transient transgene expression and monitoring of gene expression by live bioluminescence imaging in mouse placenta at different stages of pregnancy. We used the third generation tetracycline-responsive tranactivator protein Tet-On 3G, with 10- to 100-fold increased sensitivity to doxycycline (Dox) compared with previous versions, enabling unusually sensitive on-off control of gene expression in vivo. Transgenic mice expressing Tet-On 3G were created using a new integrase-based, site-specific approach, yielding high-level transgene expression driven by a ubiquitous promoter. Blastocysts from these mice were transduced with the Tet-On 3G-response element promoter-driving firefly luciferase using lentivirus-mediated placenta-specific gene delivery and transferred into wild-type pseudopregnant recipients for placenta-specific, Dox-inducible gene expression. Systemic Dox administration at various time points during pregnancy led to transient, placenta-specific firefly luciferase expression as early as d 5 of pregnancy in a Dox dose-dependent manner. This system enables, for the first time, reliable pregnancy stage-specific induction of gene expression in the placenta and live monitoring of gene expression during pregnancy. It will be widely applicable to studies of both placental development and pregnancy, and the site-specific Tet-On G3 mouse will be valuable for studies in a broad range of tissues. PMID:23011919

Superadiabatic driving of a three-level quantum system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Theisen, M.; Petiziol, F.; Carretta, S.; Santini, P.; Wimberger, S.

2017-07-01

We study superadiabatic quantum control of a three-level quantum system whose energy spectrum exhibits multiple avoided crossings. In particular, we investigate the possibility of treating the full control task in terms of independent two-level Landau-Zener problems. We first show that the time profiles of the elements of the full control Hamiltonian are characterized by peaks centered around the crossing times. These peaks decay algebraically for large times. In principle, such a power-law scaling invalidates the hypothesis of perfect separability. Nonetheless, we address the problem from a pragmatic point of view by studying the fidelity obtained through separate control as a function of the intercrossing separation. This procedure may be a good approach to achieve approximate adiabatic driving of a specific instantaneous eigenstate in realistic implementations.

Slush hydrogen liquid level system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamlet, J. F.; Adams, R. G.

1972-01-01

A discrete capacitance liquid level system developed is specifically for slush hydrogen, but applicable to LOX, LN2, LH2, and RP1 without modification is described. The signal processing portion of the system is compatible with conventional liquid level sensors. Compatibility with slush hydrogen was achieved by designing the sensor with adequate spacing, while retaining the electrical characteristics of conventional sensors. Tests indicate excellent stability of the system over a temperature range of -20 C to 70 C for the circuit and to cryogenic temperatures of the sensor. The sensor was tested up to 40 g's rms random vibration with no damage to the sensor. Operation with 305 m of cable between the sensor and signal processor was demonstrated. It is concluded that this design is more than adequate for most flight and ground applications.

More Precise Estimation of Lower-Level Interaction Effects in Multilevel Models.

PubMed

Loeys, Tom; Josephy, Haeike; Dewitte, Marieke

2018-01-01

In hierarchical data, the effect of a lower-level predictor on a lower-level outcome may often be confounded by an (un)measured upper-level factor. When such confounding is left unaddressed, the effect of the lower-level predictor is estimated with bias. Separating this effect into a within- and between-component removes such bias in a linear random intercept model under a specific set of assumptions for the confounder. When the effect of the lower-level predictor is additionally moderated by another lower-level predictor, an interaction between both lower-level predictors is included into the model. To address unmeasured upper-level confounding, this interaction term ought to be decomposed into a within- and between-component as well. This can be achieved by first multiplying both predictors and centering that product term next, or vice versa. We show that while both approaches, on average, yield the same estimates of the interaction effect in linear models, the former decomposition is much more precise and robust against misspecification of the effects of cross-level and upper-level terms, compared to the latter.

Basic level category structure emerges gradually across human ventral visual cortex.

PubMed

Iordan, Marius Cătălin; Greene, Michelle R; Beck, Diane M; Fei-Fei, Li

2015-07-01

Objects can be simultaneously categorized at multiple levels of specificity ranging from very broad ("natural object") to very distinct ("Mr. Woof"), with a mid-level of generality (basic level: "dog") often providing the most cognitively useful distinction between categories. It is unknown, however, how this hierarchical representation is achieved in the brain. Using multivoxel pattern analyses, we examined how well each taxonomic level (superordinate, basic, and subordinate) of real-world object categories is represented across occipitotemporal cortex. We found that, although in early visual cortex objects are best represented at the subordinate level (an effect mostly driven by low-level feature overlap between objects in the same category), this advantage diminishes compared to the basic level as we move up the visual hierarchy, disappearing in object-selective regions of occipitotemporal cortex. This pattern stems from a combined increase in within-category similarity (category cohesion) and between-category dissimilarity (category distinctiveness) of neural activity patterns at the basic level, relative to both subordinate and superordinate levels, suggesting that successive visual areas may be optimizing basic level representations.

Optimisation Modelling to Assess Cost of Dietary Improvement in Remote Aboriginal Australia

PubMed Central

Brimblecombe, Julie; Ferguson, Megan; Liberato, Selma C.; O'Dea, Kerin; Riley, Malcolm

2013-01-01

Background The cost and dietary choices required to fulfil nutrient recommendations defined nationally, need investigation, particularly for disadvantaged populations. Objective We used optimisation modelling to examine the dietary change required to achieve nutrient requirements at minimum cost for an Aboriginal population in remote Australia, using where possible minimally-processed whole foods. Design A twelve month cross-section of population-level purchased food, food price and nutrient content data was used as the baseline. Relative amounts from 34 food group categories were varied to achieve specific energy and nutrient density goals at minimum cost while meeting model constraints intended to minimise deviation from the purchased diet. Results Simultaneous achievement of all nutrient goals was not feasible. The two most successful models (A & B) met all nutrient targets except sodium (146.2% and 148.9% of the respective target) and saturated fat (12.0% and 11.7% of energy). Model A was achieved with 3.2% lower cost than the baseline diet (which cost approximately AUD$13.01/person/day) and Model B at 7.8% lower cost but with a reduction in energy of 4.4%. Both models required very large reductions in sugar sweetened beverages (−90%) and refined cereals (−90%) and an approximate four-fold increase in vegetables, fruit, dairy foods, eggs, fish and seafood, and wholegrain cereals. Conclusion This modelling approach suggested population level dietary recommendations at minimal cost based on the baseline purchased diet. Large shifts in diet in remote Aboriginal Australian populations are needed to achieve national nutrient targets. The modeling approach used was not able to meet all nutrient targets at less than current food expenditure. PMID:24391790

Correlates of healthy life expectancy in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

PubMed

Islam, Md Shariful; Mondal, Md Nazrul Islam; Tareque, Md Ismail; Rahman, Md Aminur; Hoque, Md Nazrul; Ahmed, Md Munsur; Khan, Hafiz T A

2018-04-11

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth is an important indicator of health status and quality of life of a country's population. However, little is known about the determinants of HALE as yet globally or even country-specific level. Thus, we examined the factors that are associated with HALE at birth in low- and lower-middle-income countries. In accordance with the World Bank (WB) classification seventy-nine low- and lower-middle-income countries were selected for the study. Data on HALE, demographic, socioeconomic, social structural, health, and environmental factors from several reliable sources, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Program, Population Reference Bureau, WB, Heritage Foundation, Transparency International, Freedom House, and International Center for Prison Studies were obtained as selected countries. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were performed to reach the research objectives. The lowest and highest HALE were observed in Sierra Leone (44.40 years) and in Sri Lanka (67.00 years), respectively. The mean years of schooling, total fertility rate (TFR), physician density, gross national income per capita, health expenditure, economic freedom, carbon dioxide emission rate, freedom of the press, corruption perceptions index, prison population rate, and achieving a level of health-related millennium development goals (MDGs) were revealed as the correlates of HALE. Among all the correlates, the mean years of schooling, TFR, freedom of the press, and achieving a level of health-related MDGs were found to be the most influential factors. To increase the HALE in low- and lower-middle-income countries, we suggest that TFR is to be reduced as well as to increase the mean years of schooling, freedom of the press, and the achievement of a level of health-related MDGs.

The application of powerful promoters to enhance gene expression in industrial microorganisms.

PubMed

Zhou, Shenghu; Du, Guocheng; Kang, Zhen; Li, Jianghua; Chen, Jian; Li, Huazhong; Zhou, Jingwen

2017-02-01

Production of useful chemicals by industrial microorganisms has been attracting more and more attention. Microorganisms screened from their natural environment usually suffer from low productivity, low stress resistance, and accumulation of by-products. In order to overcome these disadvantages, rational engineering of microorganisms to achieve specific industrial goals has become routine. Rapid development of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies provide novel methods to improve the performance of industrial microorganisms. Rational regulation of gene expression by specific promoters is essential to engineer industrial microorganisms for high-efficiency production of target chemicals. Identification, modification, and application of suitable promoters could provide powerful switches at the transcriptional level for fine-tuning of a single gene or a group of genes, which are essential for the reconstruction of pathways. In this review, the characteristics of promoters from eukaryotic, prokaryotic, and archaea microorganisms are briefly introduced. Identification of promoters based on both traditional biochemical and systems biology routes are summarized. Besides rational modification, de novo design of promoters to achieve gradient, dynamic, and logic gate regulation are also introduced. Furthermore, flexible application of static and dynamic promoters for the rational engineering of industrial microorganisms is highlighted. From the perspective of powerful promoters in industrial microorganisms, this review will provide an extensive description of how to regulate gene expression in industrial microorganisms to achieve more useful goals.

Relationships of pediatric anthropometrics for CT protocol selection.

PubMed

Phillips, Grace S; Stanescu, Arta-Luana; Alessio, Adam M

2014-07-01

Determining the optimal CT technique to minimize patient radiation exposure while maintaining diagnostic utility requires patient-specific protocols that are based on patient characteristics. This work develops relationships between different anthropometrics and CT image noise to determine appropriate protocol classification schemes. We measured the image noise in 387 CT examinations of pediatric patients (222 boys, 165 girls) of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis and generated mathematic relationships between image noise and patient lateral and anteroposterior dimensions, age, and weight. At the chest level, lateral distance (ld) across the body is strongly correlated with weight (ld = 0.23 × weight + 16.77; R(2) = 0.93) and is less well correlated with age (ld = 1.10 × age + 17.13; R(2) = 0.84). Similar trends were found for anteroposterior dimensions and at the abdomen level. Across all studies, when acquisition-specific parameters are factored out of the noise, the log of image noise was highly correlated with lateral distance (R(2) = 0.72) and weight (R(2) = 0.72) and was less correlated with age (R(2) = 0.62). Following first-order relationships of image noise and scanner technique, plots were formed to show techniques that could achieve matched noise across the pediatric population. Patient lateral distance and weight are essentially equally effective metrics to base maximum technique settings for pediatric patient-specific protocols. These metrics can also be used to help categorize appropriate reference levels for CT technique and size-specific dose estimates across the pediatric population.

Feasibility of the TBDx automated digital microscopy system for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

PubMed

Nabeta, Pamela; Havumaki, Joshua; Ha, Dang Thi Minh; Caceres, Tatiana; Hang, Pham Thu; Collantes, Jimena; Thi Ngoc Lan, Nguyen; Gotuzzo, Eduardo; Denkinger, Claudia M

2017-01-01

Improved and affordable diagnostic or triage tests are urgently needed at the microscopy centre level. Automated digital microscopy has the potential to overcome issues related to conventional microscopy, including training time requirement and inconsistencies in results interpretation. For this blinded prospective study, sputum samples were collected from adults with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis in Lima, Peru and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. TBDx performance was evaluated as a stand-alone and as a triage test against conventional microscopy and Xpert, with culture as the reference standard. Xpert was used to confirm positive cases. A total of 613 subjects were enrolled between October 2014 and March 2015, with 539 included in the final analysis. The sensitivity of TBDx was 62·2% (95% CI 56·6-67·4) and specificity was 90·7% (95% CI 85·9-94·2) compared to culture. The algorithm assessing TBDx as a triage test achieved a specificity of 100% while maintaining sensitivity. While the diagnostic performance of TBDx did not reach the levels obtained by experienced microscopists in reference laboratories, it is conceivable that it would exceed the performance of less experienced microscopists. In the absence of highly sensitive and specific molecular tests at the microscopy centre level, TBDx in a triage-testing algorithm would optimize specificity and limit overall cost without compromising the number of patients receiving up-front drug susceptibility testing for rifampicin. However, the algorithm would miss over one third of patients compared to Xpert alone.

Parental influences on students' self-concept, task value beliefs, and achievement in science.

PubMed

Senler, Burcu; Sungur, Semra

2009-05-01

The aim of this study was twofold: firstly, to investigate the grade level (elementary and middle school) and gender effect on students' motivation in science (perceived academic science self-concept and task value) and perceived family involvement, and secondly to examine the relationship among family environment variables (fathers' educational level, mothers' educational level, and perceived family involvement), motivation, gender and science achievement in elementary and middle schools. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that elementary school students have more positive science self-concept and task value beliefs compared to middle school students. Moreover, elementary school students appeared to perceive more family involvement in their schooling. Path analyses also suggested that family involvement was directly linked to elementary school students' task value and achievement. Also, in elementary school level, significant relationships were found among father educational level, science self-concept, task value and science achievement. On the other hand, in middle school level, family involvement, father educational level, and mother educational level were positively related to students' task value which is directly linked to students' science achievement. Moreover, mother educational level contributed to science achievement through its effect on self-concept.

75 FR 6012 - National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-05

... comment for evaluating and finalizing achievement levels definitions for the National Assessment of... comment and recommendations for improvements to the achievement levels definitions for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading. These achievement levels definitions describe the...

Nutritional condition of elk in rocky mountain national park

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bender, L.C.; Cook, J.G.

2005-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that elk in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) were at ecological carrying capacity by determining herd-specific levels of nutritional condition and fecundity. Ingesta-free body fat levels in adult cows that were lactating were 10.6% (s = 1.7; range = 6.2-15.4) and 7.7% (s = 0.5; range = 5.9-10.1) in November 2001 for the Horseshoe and Moraine Park herds, respectively. Cows that were not lactating were able to accrue significantly more body fat: 14.0% (s = 1.1; range = 7.7-19.3) and 11.5% (s = 0.8; range = 8.6-15.1) for the Horseshoe and Moraine Park herds, respectively. Cow elk lost most of their body fat over winter (April 2002 levels were 3.9% [s = 0.4] and 2.9% [s = 0.4] for the Horseshoe and Moraine Park herds, respectively). Nutritional condition indicated that both Horseshoe Park and Moraine Park elk were well below condition levels elk can achieve on very good-excellent nutrition (i.e., >15% body fat; Cook et al. 2004) and were comparable to other free-ranging elk populations. However, condition levels were higher than those expected at a "food-limited" carrying capacity, and a proportion of elk in each herd were able to achieve condition levels indicative of very good-excellent nutrition. Elk in RMNP are likely regulated and/or limited by a complex combination of density-independent (including significant heterogeneity in forage conditions across RMNP's landscape) and density-dependent processes, as condition levels contradict a simple density-dependent model of a population at ecological carrying capacity.

TESTOSTERONE LEVELS ACHIEVED BY MEDICALLY TREATED TRANSGENDER WOMEN IN A UNITED STATES ENDOCRINOLOGY CLINIC COHORT.

PubMed

Liang, Jennifer J; Jolly, Divya; Chan, Kelly J; Safer, Joshua D

2018-02-01

Most transgender women depend on medical treatment alone to lower testosterone levels in order to align physical appearance with gender identity. The medical regimen in the United States typically includes spironolactone and estrogens. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess the testosterone suppression achieved among transgender women treated with spironolactone and estrogens. Testosterone and estradiol levels were extracted from the electronic medical records of 98 anonymized transgender women treated with oral spironolactone and oral estrogen therapy at the Endocrinology Clinic at Boston Medical Center. Patients starting therapy required about 9 months to reach a steady-state testosterone, with significant heterogeneity of levels achieved among patients. Patients with normal body mass index (BMI) had higher testosterone levels, whereas patients with obese BMI had lower testosterone levels throughout treatment. Stratification of patients by age or spironolactone dosage revealed no significant difference in testosterone levels achieved. At steady state, patients in the highest suppressing quartile were able to achieve testosterone levels of 27 ng/dL, with a standard deviation of 21 ng/dL. Measured serum estradiol levels did not change over time and did not correlate with dosage of estradiol administered. Among a cohort of transgender women treated with spironolactone and estrogen, the highest suppressing quartile could reliably achieve testosterone levels in the female range at virtually all times. The second highest suppressing quartile could not achieve female levels but remained below the male range virtually all of the time. One quartile was unable to achieve any significant suppression. BMC = Boston Medical Center BMI = body mass index CPY = cyproterone acetate LC-MS/MS = liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry Q = quartile.

Calcium specificity signaling mechanisms in abscisic acid signal transduction in Arabidopsis guard cells

PubMed Central

Brandt, Benjamin; Munemasa, Shintaro; Wang, Cun; Nguyen, Desiree; Yong, Taiming; Yang, Paul G; Poretsky, Elly; Belknap, Thomas F; Waadt, Rainer; Alemán, Fernando; Schroeder, Julian I

2015-01-01

A central question is how specificity in cellular responses to the eukaryotic second messenger Ca2+ is achieved. Plant guard cells, that form stomatal pores for gas exchange, provide a powerful system for in depth investigation of Ca2+-signaling specificity in plants. In intact guard cells, abscisic acid (ABA) enhances (primes) the Ca2+-sensitivity of downstream signaling events that result in activation of S-type anion channels during stomatal closure, providing a specificity mechanism in Ca2+-signaling. However, the underlying genetic and biochemical mechanisms remain unknown. Here we show impairment of ABA signal transduction in stomata of calcium-dependent protein kinase quadruple mutant plants. Interestingly, protein phosphatase 2Cs prevent non-specific Ca2+-signaling. Moreover, we demonstrate an unexpected interdependence of the Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent ABA-signaling branches and the in planta requirement of simultaneous phosphorylation at two key phosphorylation sites in SLAC1. We identify novel mechanisms ensuring specificity and robustness within stomatal Ca2+-signaling on a cellular, genetic, and biochemical level. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03599.001 PMID:26192964

Correction: Calcium specificity signaling mechanisms in abscisic acid signal transduction in Arabidopsis guard cells

DOE PAGES

Brandt, Benjamin; Munemasa, Shintaro; Wang, Cun; ...

2015-07-20

One central question is how specificity in cellular responses to the eukaryotic second messenger Ca 2+ is achieved. Plant guard cells, that form stomatal pores for gas exchange, provide a powerful system for in depth investigation of Ca 2+-signaling specificity in plants. In intact guard cells, abscisic acid (ABA) enhances (primes) the Ca 2+-sensitivity of downstream signaling events that result in activation of S-type anion channels during stomatal closure, providing a specificity mechanism in Ca 2+-signaling. However, the underlying genetic and biochemical mechanisms remain unknown. Here we show impairment of ABA signal transduction in stomata of calcium-dependent protein kinase quadruplemore » mutant plants. Interestingly, protein phosphatase 2Cs prevent non-specific Ca 2+-signaling. Moreover, we demonstrate an unexpected interdependence of the Ca 2+-dependent and Ca 2+-independent ABA-signaling branches and the in planta requirement of simultaneous phosphorylation at two key phosphorylation sites in SLAC1. We identify novel mechanisms ensuring specificity and robustness within stomatal Ca 2+-signaling on a cellular, genetic, and biochemical level.« less

Correction: Calcium specificity signaling mechanisms in abscisic acid signal transduction in Arabidopsis guard cells

DOE PAGES

Brandt, Benjamin; Munemasa, Shintaro; Wang, Cun; ...

2015-07-29

A central question is how specificity in cellular responses to the eukaryotic second messenger Ca 2+ is achieved. Plant guard cells, that form stomatal pores for gas exchange, provide a powerful system for in depth investigation of Ca 2+-signaling specificity in plants. In intact guard cells, abscisic acid (ABA) enhances (primes) the Ca 2+-sensitivity of downstream signaling events that result in activation of S-type anion channels during stomatal closure, providing a specificity mechanism in Ca 2+-signaling. However, the underlying genetic and biochemical mechanisms remain unknown. Here we show impairment of ABA signal transduction in stomata of calcium-dependent protein kinase quadruplemore » mutant plants. Interestingly, protein phosphatase 2Cs prevent non-specific Ca 2+-signaling. Moreover, we demonstrate an unexpected interdependence of the Ca 2+-dependent and Ca 2+-independent ABA-signaling branches and the in planta requirement of simultaneous phosphorylation at two key phosphorylation sites in SLAC1. We identify novel mechanisms ensuring specificity and robustness within stomatal Ca 2+-signaling on a cellular, genetic, and biochemical level.« less

Performance-based alternative assessments as a means of eliminating gender achievement differences on science tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Norman Merrill

1998-09-01

Historically, researchers have reported an achievement difference between females and males on standardized science tests. These differences have been reported to be based upon science knowledge, abstract reasoning skills, mathematical abilities, and cultural and social phenomena. This research was designed to determine how mastery of specific science content from public school curricula might be evaluated with performance-based assessment models, without producing gender achievement differences. The assessment instruments used were Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement's GOALSsp°ler: A Performance-Based Measure of Achievement and the performance-based portion of the Stanford Achievement Testspcopyright, Ninth Edition. The identified independent variables were test, gender, ethnicity, and grade level. A 2 x 2 x 6 x 12 (test x gender x ethnicity x grade) factorial experimental design was used to organize the data. A stratified random sample (N = 2400) was selected from a national pool of norming data: N = 1200 from the GOALSsp°ler group and N = 1200 from the SAT9spcopyright group. The ANOVA analysis yielded mixed results. The factors of test, gender, ethnicity by grade, gender by grade, and gender by grade by ethnicity failed to produce significant results (alpha = 0.05). The factors yielding significant results were ethnicity, grade, and ethnicity by grade. Therefore, no significant differences were found between female and male achievement on these performance-based assessments.

Decoding task-based attentional modulation during face categorization.

PubMed

Chiu, Yu-Chin; Esterman, Michael; Han, Yuefeng; Rosen, Heather; Yantis, Steven

2011-05-01

Attention is a neurocognitive mechanism that selects task-relevant sensory or mnemonic information to achieve current behavioral goals. Attentional modulation of cortical activity has been observed when attention is directed to specific locations, features, or objects. However, little is known about how high-level categorization task set modulates perceptual representations. In the current study, observers categorized faces by gender (male vs. female) or race (Asian vs. White). Each face was perceptually ambiguous in both dimensions, such that categorization of one dimension demanded selective attention to task-relevant information within the face. We used multivoxel pattern classification to show that task-specific modulations evoke reliably distinct spatial patterns of activity within three face-selective cortical regions (right fusiform face area and bilateral occipital face areas). This result suggests that patterns of activity in these regions reflect not only stimulus-specific (i.e., faces vs. houses) responses but also task-specific (i.e., race vs. gender) attentional modulation. Furthermore, exploratory whole-brain multivoxel pattern classification (using a searchlight procedure) revealed a network of dorsal fronto-parietal regions (left middle frontal gyrus and left inferior and superior parietal lobule) that also exhibit distinct patterns for the two task sets, suggesting that these regions may represent abstract goals during high-level categorization tasks.

Art form as an object of cognitive modeling (towards development of Vygotsky`s semiotic model)

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

Dmitriev, V.; Perlovsky, L.I.

1996-12-31

We suggest a further development of Vygotsky`s esthetic-semiotic model. First, we discuss Vygotsky`s model originally developed for the analysis of Ivan Bunin`s story {open_quotes}Light Breath{close_quotes}. Vygotsky analyzes formal methods used by Bunin to achieve a specific esthetic effect of {open_quote}lightness{close_quotes} while describing {open_quotes}dirty{close_quotes} events of everyday life. According to Vygotsky, this effect is achieved by ordering of events in a non-linear fashion. Vygotsky creams an airy pattern of smooth lines connecting events of story that he first orders linearly in time. And, he insists that this airy pattern creates an impression of airy lightness. In the language of semiotics, themore » esthetic effect is created by a specific structural organization of signs. Second, we present our critique of Vygotsky`s model. Although, we do not agree with Vygotsky`s sometimes moralistic judgements, and we consider the dynamics between inner personal values and received moral values to be more complicated than implied in his judgements, our critique in this paper is limited to the structure of his semiotic model. We emphasize that Vygotsky`s model does not explicitly account for a hierarchy of multiple levels of semiotic analysis. His analysis regularly slips from one level to another: (1) a lever of cognitive perception by a regular reader is confused with a level of creative genius of a writer; (2) {open_quotes}open{close_quotes} time of real world is mixed up with {open_quote}closed{close_quote} time of the story; (3) events are not organized by the hierarchy of their importance, nor in real world, nor in the inner model of the personages, nor in the story.« less

Entropy of uremia and dialysis technology.

PubMed

Ronco, Claudio

2013-01-01

The second law of thermodynamics applies with local exceptions to patient history and therapy interventions. Living things preserve their low level of entropy throughout time because they receive energy from their surroundings in the form of food. They gain their order at the expense of disordering the nutrients they consume. Death is the thermodynamically favored state: it represents a large increase in entropy as molecular structure yields to chaos. The kidney is an organ dissipating large amounts of energy to maintain the level of entropy of the organism as low as possible. Diseases, and in particular uremia, represent conditions of rapid increase in entropy. Therapeutic strategies are oriented towards a reduction in entropy or at least a decrease in the speed of entropy increase. Uremia is a process accelerating the trend towards randomness and disorder (increase in entropy). Dialysis is a factor external to the patient that tends to reduce the level of entropy caused by kidney disease. Since entropy can only increase in closed systems, energy and work must be spent to limit the entropy of uremia. This energy should be adapted to the system (patient) and be specifically oriented and personalized. This includes a multidimensional effort to achieve an adequate dialysis that goes beyond small molecular weight solute clearance. It includes a biological plan for recovery of homeostasis and a strategy towards long-term rehabilitation of the patient. Such objectives can be achieved with a combination of technology and innovation to answer specific questions that are still present after 60 years of dialysis history. This change in the individual bioentropy may represent a local exception to natural trends as the patient could be considered an isolated universe responding to the classic laws of thermodynamics. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Risk Profile of the RET A883F Germline Mutation: An International Collaborative Study.

PubMed

Mathiesen, Jes Sloth; Habra, Mouhammed Amir; Bassett, John Howard Duncan; Choudhury, Sirazum Mubin; Balasubramanian, Sabapathy Prakash; Howlett, Trevor A; Robinson, Bruce G; Gimenez-Roqueplo, Anne-Paule; Castinetti, Frederic; Vestergaard, Peter; Frank-Raue, Karin

2017-06-01

The A883F germline mutation of the rearranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene causes multiple endocrine neoplasia 2B. In the revised American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines for the management of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), the A883F mutation has been reclassified from the highest to the high-risk level, although no well-defined risk profile for this mutation exists. To create a risk profile for the A883F mutation for appropriate classification among the ATA risk levels. Retrospective analysis. International collaboration. Included were 13 A883F carriers. The intervention was thyroidectomy. Earliest age of MTC, regional lymph node metastases, distant metastases, age-related penetrance of MTC and pheochromocytoma (PHEO), overall and disease-specific survival, and biochemical cure rate. One and three carriers were diagnosed at age 7 to 9 years (median, 7.5 years) with a normal thyroid and C-cell hyperplasia, respectively. Nine carriers were diagnosed with MTC at age 10 to 39 years (median, 19 years). The earliest age of MTC, regional lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis was 10, 20, and 20 years, respectively. Fifty percent penetrance of MTC and PHEO was achieved by age 19 and 34 years, respectively. Five- and 10-year survival rates (both overall and disease specific) were 88% and 88%, respectively. Biochemical cure for MTC at latest follow-up was achieved in 63% (five of eight carriers) with pertinent data. MTC of A883F carriers seems to have a more indolent natural course compared with that of M918T carriers. Our results support the classification of the A883F mutation in the ATA high-risk level. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society

Engineering of the institutionalization of the circular economy at the level of casting production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vescan, M. M.; Soporan, V. F.; Crișan, D. M.; Lehene, T. R.; Pădurețu, S.; Samuila, V.

2017-06-01

This paper is motivated by the necessity of introducing the principles of circular economy at the level of different social - economic activities, and from this point of view one of the fields with a special potential is that of the manufacture of castings. Objective: to connect to the organizing and application of the methodology of the circular economy principles. The proposed method is an innovating one, being connected to the use of institutionalization engineering. Formulating the subject: The subject formulated to be solved aims at the introduction of new approaches, defined through institutionalization engineering, which proposes to set the correlation of actions between the specifics of the circular economy and the specific elements of the manufacture of castings. Research method: An institutional structuring operation was imposed for the optimization of the research method, in which different versions interact at the following levels: the level of public policies, the level of the regulatory framework, the level of technical solutions and the level of financing solutions and financial instruments. The determination of the optimal solution established in a dynamic context, favorable for the requirements of the different actors present within the process, appeals to the elements of critical thinking, specific for the engineer’s actions. Achievement of the research activity: The research activity structures a methodology of quantifying the contributions of each stage of the manufacturing process for castings at the fulfilling of the specific conditions of the circular economy, indicating the critical areas of action for more efficient actions of the circular economy, according to the market economy requirements, where there is a potential of implementing the technical solutions by quantizing the financial solutions and the opportunity of using the financial instruments. The major contribution of the research: The proposed methodology, with examples at the level of castings manufacture, sets the bases of a new field of action of the engineering thinking, namely, that of circular economy institutionalization functioning. Conclusions of the research activity: The proposed methodology represents the bases of establishing a new instrument of action at the level of institutionalized functioning of the circular economy.

Implementing an Injury Prevention Briefing to aid delivery of key fire safety messages in UK children's centres: qualitative study nested within a multi-centre randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Beckett, Kate; Goodenough, Trudy; Deave, Toity; Jaeckle, Sally; McDaid, Lisa; Benford, Penny; Hayes, Mike; Towner, Elizabeth; Kendrick, Denise

2014-12-10

To improve the translation of public health evidence into practice, there is a need to increase practitioner involvement in initiative development, to place greater emphasis on contextual knowledge, and to address intervention processes and outcomes. Evidence that demonstrates the need to reduce childhood fire-related injuries is compelling but its translation into practice is inconsistent and limited. With this knowledge the Keeping Children Safe programme developed an "Injury Prevention Briefing (IPB)" using a 7 step process to combine scientific evidence with practitioner contextual knowledge. The IPB was designed specifically for children's centres (CCs) to support delivery of key fire safety messages to parents. This paper reports the findings of a nested qualitative study within a clustered randomised controlled trial of the IPB, in which staff described their experiences of IPB implementation to aid understanding of why or how the intervention worked. Interviews were conducted with key staff at 24 CCs participating in the two intervention arms: 1) IPB supplemented by initial training and regular facilitation; 2) IPB sent by post with no facilitation. Framework Analysis was applied to these interview data to explore intervention adherence including; exposure or dose; quality of delivery; participant responsiveness; programme differentiation; and staff experience of IPB implementation. This included barriers, facilitators and suggested improvements. 83% of CCs regarded the IPB as a simple, accessible tool which raised awareness, and stimulated discussion and behaviour change. 15 CCs suggested minor modifications to format and content. Four levels of implementation were identified according to content, frequency, duration and coverage. Most CCs (75%) achieved 'extended' or 'essential' IPB implementation. Three universal factors affected all CCs: organisational change and resourcing; working with hard to engage groups; additional demands of participating in a research study. Six specific factors were associated with the implementation level achieved: staff engagement and training; staff continuity; adaptability and flexibility; other agency support; conflicting priorities; facilitation. CCs achieving high implementation levels increased from 58% (no facilitation) to 92% with facilitation. Incorporating service provider perspectives and scientific evidence into health education initiatives enhances potential for successful implementation, particularly when supplemented by ongoing training and facilitation.

Hierarchical fuzzy control of low-energy building systems

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

Yu, Zhen; Dexter, Arthur

2010-04-15

A hierarchical fuzzy supervisory controller is described that is capable of optimizing the operation of a low-energy building, which uses solar energy to heat and cool its interior spaces. The highest level fuzzy rules choose the most appropriate set of lower level rules according to the weather and occupancy information; the second level fuzzy rules determine an optimal energy profile and the overall modes of operation of the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system (HVAC); the third level fuzzy rules select the mode of operation of specific equipment, and assign schedules to the local controllers so that the optimal energy profilemore » can be achieved in the most efficient way. Computer simulation is used to compare the hierarchical fuzzy control scheme with a supervisory control scheme based on expert rules. The performance is evaluated by comparing the energy consumption and thermal comfort. (author)« less

Toward a systems-level view of dynamic phosphorylation networks

PubMed Central

Newman, Robert H.; Zhang, Jin; Zhu, Heng

2014-01-01

To better understand how cells sense and respond to their environment, it is important to understand the organization and regulation of the phosphorylation networks that underlie most cellular signal transduction pathways. These networks, which are composed of protein kinases, protein phosphatases and their respective cellular targets, are highly dynamic. Importantly, to achieve signaling specificity, phosphorylation networks must be regulated at several levels, including at the level of protein expression, substrate recognition, and spatiotemporal modulation of enzymatic activity. Here, we briefly summarize some of the traditional methods used to study the phosphorylation status of cellular proteins before focusing our attention on several recent technological advances, such as protein microarrays, quantitative mass spectrometry, and genetically-targetable fluorescent biosensors, that are offering new insights into the organization and regulation of cellular phosphorylation networks. Together, these approaches promise to lead to a systems-level view of dynamic phosphorylation networks. PMID:25177341

Monitoring Resistance to Spinosad in the Melon Fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae) in Hawaii and Taiwan

PubMed Central

Hsu, Ju-Chun; Haymer, David S.; Chou, Ming-Yi; Feng, Hai-Tung; Chen, Hsaio-Han; Huang, Yu-Bing; Mau, Ronald F. L.

2012-01-01

Spinosad is a natural insecticide with desirable qualities, and it is widely used as an alternative to organophosphates for control of pests such as the melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett). To monitor the potential for development of resistance, information about the current levels of tolerance to spinosad in melon fly populations were established in this study. Spinosad tolerance bioassays were conducted using both topical applications and feeding methods on flies from field populations with extensive exposure to spinosad as well as from collections with little or no prior exposure. Increased levels of resistance were observed in flies from the field populations. Also, higher dosages were generally required to achieve specific levels of mortality using topical applications compared to the feeding method, but these levels were all lower than those used for many organophosphate-based food lures. Our information is important for maintaining effective programs for melon fly management using spinosad. PMID:22629193

Cue combination in a combined feature contrast detection and figure identification task.

PubMed

Meinhardt, Günter; Persike, Malte; Mesenholl, Björn; Hagemann, Cordula

2006-11-01

Target figures defined by feature contrast in spatial frequency, orientation or both cues had to be detected in Gabor random fields and their shape had to be identified in a dual task paradigm. Performance improved with increasing feature contrast and was strongly correlated among both tasks. Subjects performed significantly better with combined cues than with single cues. The improvement due to cue summation was stronger than predicted by the assumption of independent feature specific mechanisms, and increased with the performance level achieved with single cues until it was limited by ceiling effects. Further, cue summation was also strongly correlated among tasks: when there was benefit due to the additional cue in feature contrast detection, there was also benefit in figure identification. For the same performance level achieved with single cues, cue summation was generally larger in figure identification than in feature contrast detection, indicating more benefit when processes of shape and surface formation are involved. Our results suggest that cue combination improves spatial form completion and figure-ground segregation in noisy environments, and therefore leads to more stable object vision.

2011 and 2012 Early Careers Achievement Awards: Placental programming: how the maternal environment can impact placental function.

PubMed

Vonnahme, K A; Lemley, C O; Shukla, P; O'Rourke, S T

2013-06-01

Proper establishment of the placenta is important for fetal survival; however, placental adaptations to inadequate maternal nutrition or other stressors are imperative for fetal growth to be optimal. The effects of maternal nutritional status and activity level on placental vascular function and uteroplacental blood flows are important to understand as improper placental function leads to reduced growth of the fetus. In environments where fetal growth can be compromised, potential therapeutics may augment placental function and delivery of nutrients to improve offspring performance during postnatal life. Factors that could enhance placental function include supplementation of specific nutrients, such as protein, hormone supplements, such as indolamines, and increased activity levels of the dam. To understand the mechanism of how the maternal environment can impact uterine or umbilical blood flows, assessment of placental vascular reactivity has been studied in several large animal models. As we begin to understand how the maternal environment impacts uterine and umbilical blood flows and other uteroplacental hemodynamic parameters, development of management methods and therapeutics for proper fetal growth can be achieved.

Experimental Model for Successful Liver Cell Therapy by Lenti TTR-YapERT2 Transduced Hepatocytes with Tamoxifen Control of Yap Subcellular Location

PubMed Central

Yovchev, Mladen; Jaber, Fadi L.; Lu, Zhonglei; Patel, Shachi; Locker, Joseph; Rogler, Leslie E.; Murray, John W.; Sudol, Marius; Dabeva, Mariana D.; Zhu, Liang; Shafritz, David A.

2016-01-01

Liver repopulation by transplanted hepatocytes has not been achieved previously in a normal liver microenvironment. Here we report that adult rat hepatocytes transduced ex vivo with a lentivirus expressing a human YapERT2 fusion protein (hYapERT2) under control of the hepatocyte-specific transthyretin (TTR) promoter repopulate normal rat liver in a tamoxifen-dependent manner. Transplanted hepatocytes expand very slowly but progressively to produce 10% repopulation at 6 months, showing clusters of mature hepatocytes that are fully integrated into hepatic parenchyma, with no evidence for dedifferentiation, dysplasia or malignant transformation. Thus, we have developed the first vector designed to regulate the growth control properties of Yap that renders it capable of producing effective cell therapy. The level of liver repopulation achieved has significant translational implications, as it is 2-3x the level required to cure many monogenic disorders of liver function that have no underlying hepatic pathology and is potentially applicable to diseases of other tissues and organs. PMID:26763940

Executive function skills and academic achievement gains in prekindergarten: Contributions of learning-related behaviors.

PubMed

Nesbitt, Kimberly Turner; Farran, Dale Clark; Fuhs, Mary Wagner

2015-07-01

Although research suggests associations between children's executive function skills and their academic achievement, the specific mechanisms that may help explain these associations in early childhood are unclear. This study examined whether children's (N = 1,103; M age = 54.5 months) executive function skills at the beginning of prekindergarten (pre-K) predict their learning-related behaviors in the classroom and whether these behaviors then mediate associations between children's executive function skills and their pre-K literacy, language, and mathematic gains. Learning-related behaviors were quantified in terms of (a) higher levels of involvement in learning opportunities; (b) greater frequency of participation in activities that require sequential steps; (c) more participation in social-learning interactions; and (d) less instances of being unoccupied, disruptive, or in time out. Results indicated that children's learning-related behaviors mediated associations between executive function skills and literacy and mathematics gains through children's level of involvement, sequential learning behaviors, and disengagement from the classroom. The implications of the findings for early childhood education are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Durability and Life of Ceramic Matrix Composites in Combustion Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tewari, Surendra

1997-01-01

It is now generally recognized that the next frontier in the commercial air travel will be achieved by an optimum combination of the concepts being used for the air and space transports. It will depend upon the new engines specifically designed to meet the demanding strength, temperature, environment and economy requirements. The successful development of an advanced propulsion system for a 21st Century High Speed Civil Transport will require key advances in the combustor system. Minimizing nitrous oxide (NO(x)) emission is critical, since the deleterious interaction within the ozone layer would occur at the proposed vehicle cruise level of about 75,000 feet. In order to achieve the low NOx levels an efficient combustor operating at controlled equivalence ratios and high combustion temperatures are required. This requires a combustor, whose one portion will be operating in an oxidizing environment while the other portion will operate in a reducing environment. This rather unusual requirement has introduced considerable challenge to the materials scientists and engineers, the development of material systems capable of long-life at high temperatures (up to 3000 F) in an oxidizing and/or reducing environment.

Evaluation of different jumping tests in defining position-specific and performance-level differences in high level basketball players

PubMed Central

Pehar, Miran; Sekulic, Damir; Sisic, Nedim; Spasic, Miodrag; Uljevic, Ognjen; Krolo, Ante; Sattler, Tine

2017-01-01

The importance of jumping ability in basketball is well known, but there is an evident lack of studies that have examined different jumping testing protocols in basketball players at advanced levels. The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of different tests of jumping capacity in identifying differences between (i) playing position and (ii) competitive levels of professional players. Participants were 110 male professional basketball players (height: 194.92±8.09 cm; body mass: 89.33±10.91 kg; 21.58±3.92 years of age; Guards, 49; Forwards, 22; Centres, 39) who competed in the first (n = 58) and second division (n = 52). The variables included anthropometrics and jumping test performance. Jumping performances were evaluated by the standing broad jump (SBJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), reactive strength index (RSI), repeated reactive strength ability (RRSA) and four running vertical jumps: maximal jump with (i) take-off from the dominant leg and (ii) non-dominant leg, lay-up shot jump with take-off from the (iii) dominant leg and (iv) non-dominant leg. First-division players were taller (ES: 0.76, 95%CI: 0.35-1.16, moderate differences), heavier (0.69, 0.29-1.10), had higher maximal reach height (0.67, 0.26-1.07, moderate differences), and had lower body fat % (-0.87, -1.27-0.45, moderate differences) than second-division players. The playing positions differed significantly in three of four running jump achievements, RSI and RRSA, with Centres being least successful. The first-division players were superior to second-division players in SBJ (0.63, 0.23-1.03; 0.87, 0.26-1.43; 0.76, 0.11-1.63, all moderate differences, for total sample, Guards, and Forwards, respectively). Running vertical jumps and repeated jumping capacity can be used as valid measures of position-specific jumping ability in basketball. The differences between playing levels in vertical jumping achievement can be observed by assessing vertical jump scores together with differences in anthropometric indices between levels. PMID:29158620

Hormonal Treatment of Transgender Women with Oral Estradiol.

PubMed

Leinung, Matthew C; Feustel, Paul J; Joseph, Jalaja

2018-01-01

Purpose: Maintaining cross-sex hormone levels in the normal physiologic range for the desired gender is the cornerstone of transgender hormonal therapy, but there are limited data on how to achieve this. We investigated the effectiveness of oral estradiol therapy in achieving this goal. Methods: We analyzed data on all transgender females seen in our clinic since 2008 treated with oral estradiol. We looked at the success of achieving serum levels of testosterone and 17-β estradiol in the normal range on various doses of estradiol (with and without antiandrogens spironolactone and finasteride). Results: There was a positive correlation between estradiol dose and 17-β estradiol, but testosterone suppression was less well correlated. Over 70% achieved treatment goals (adequate 17-β estradiol levels and testosterone suppression) on 4 mg daily or more. Nearly a third of patients did not achieve adequate treatment goals on 6 or even 8 mg daily of estradiol. Spironolactone, but not finasteride, use was associated with impairment of obtaining desired 17-β estradiol levels. Spironolactone did not enhance testosterone suppression, and finasteride was associated with higher testosterone levels. Conclusions: Oral estradiol was effective in achieving desired serum levels of 17-β estradiol, but there was wide individual variability in the amount required. Oral estradiol alone was not infrequently unable to achieve adequate testosterone suppression. Spironolactone did not aid testosterone suppression and seemed to impair achievement of goal serum 17-β estradiol levels. Testosterone levels were higher with finasteride use. We recommend that transgender women receiving estradiol therapy have hormone levels monitored so that therapy can be individualized.

The relative importance of two different mathematical abilities to mathematical achievement.

PubMed

Nunes, Terezinha; Bryant, Peter; Barros, Rossana; Sylva, Kathy

2012-03-01

Two distinct abilities, mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skill, might make separate and specific contributions to mathematical achievement. However, there is little evidence to inform theory and educational practice on this matter. The aims of this study were (1) to assess whether mathematical reasoning and arithmetic make independent contributions to the longitudinal prediction of mathematical achievement over 5 years and (2) to test the specificity of this prediction. Data from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were available on 2,579 participants for analyses of KS2 achievement and on 1,680 for the analyses of KS3 achievement. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to assess the independence and specificity of the contribution of mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skill to the prediction of achievement in KS2 and KS3 mathematics, science, and English. Age, intelligence, and working memory (WM) were controls in these analyses. Mathematical reasoning and arithmetic did make independent contributions to the prediction of mathematical achievement; mathematical reasoning was by far the stronger predictor of the two. These predictions were specific in so far as these measures were more strongly related to mathematics than to science or English. Intelligence and WM were non-specific predictors; intelligence contributed more to the prediction of science than of maths, and WM predicted maths and English equally well. There is clear justification for making a distinction between mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skills. The implication is that schools must plan explicitly to improve mathematical reasoning as well as arithmetic skills. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

From generic pathways to ICT-supported horizontally integrated care: the SmartCare approach and convergence with future Internet assembly.

PubMed

Urošević, Vladimir; Mitić, Marko

2014-01-01

Successful service integration in policy and practice requires both technology innovation and service process innovation being pursued and implemented at the same time. The SmartCare project (partially EC-funded under CIP ICT PSP Program) aims to achieve this through development, piloting and evaluation of ICT-based services, horizontally integrating health and social care in ten pilot regions, including Kraljevo region in Serbia. The project has identified and adopted two generic highest-level common thematic pathways in joint consolidation phase - integrated support for long-term care and integrated support after hospital discharge. A common set of standard functional specifications for an open ICT platform enabling the delivery of integrated care is being defined, around the challenges of data sharing, coordination and communication in these two formalized pathways. Implementation and system integration on technology and architecture level are to be based on open standards, multivendor interoperability, and leveraging on the current evolving open specification technology foundations developed in relevant projects across the European Research Area.

Review and analysis of physical exercise at hormonal and brain level, and its influence on appetite.

PubMed

Gómez Escribano, Laura; Gálvez Casas, Arancha; Escribá Fernández-Marcote, Antonio R; Tárraga López, Pedro; Tárraga Marcos, Loreto

Due to the currently growing rate of obesity, it is important to maintain good control of food intake. The main purpose of the present study is to determine the influence of physical exercise on appetite, changes in hormone concentrations, and changes in certain neuronal regions. To achieve this, a literature search was conducted using different data bases. The results show how exercise produces changes in the appetite perception, in the amount of energy intake, and in different weight-control related hormones, as well as in specific neuronal responses. In conclusion, it can be shown that exercise leads to changes in appetite, hunger, and energy intake. In addition, exercise decreases the ghrelin levels and increases concentrations of leptin. Likewise, it is shown how physical exercise alters the responses of certain neuronal regions after visualizing specific food elements decreasing so the appetite or the intake of them. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Arteriosclerosis. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

European freshwater vulnerability under high rates of global warming and plausible socio-economic narratives.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koutroulis, Aristeidis; Papadimitriou, Lamprini; Grillakis, Manolis; Tsanis, Ioannis

2017-04-01

Recent developments could postpone climate actions in the frame of the global climate deal of the Paris Agreement, making higher-end global warming increasingly plausible. Although not clear in the COP21 water security is fundamental to achieving low-carbon ambitions, thus climate and water policies are closely related. The projection of the relationship between global warming, water availability and water stress through their complex interactions among different sectors, along with the synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation actions, is a rather challenging task under the prism of climate change. Here we try to develop and apply a simple, transparent conceptual framework describing European vulnerability to hydrological drought of current hydro-climatic and socioeconomic status as well as projected vulnerability at specific levels of global warming (1.5oC, 2oC and 4oC) following highly rates of climatic change (RCP8.5) and considering different levels of adaptation associated to specific socioeconomic pathways (SSP2, SSP3 and SSP5).

Cellular and Molecular Responses of Dunaliella tertiolecta by Expression of a Plant Medium Chain Length Fatty Acid Specific Acyl-ACP Thioesterase

PubMed Central

Lin, Huixin; Shen, Hui; Lee, Yuan K.

2018-01-01

Metabolic engineering of microalgae to accumulate high levels of medium chain length fatty acids (MCFAs) has met with limited success. Traditional approaches employ single introduction of MCFA specific acyl-ACP thioesterases (TEs), but our current research in transgenic Dunaliella tertiolecta line has highlighted that, there is no single rate-limiting approach that can effectively increase MCFA levels. Here, we explore the accumulation of MCFAs in D. tertiolecta after transgenic expression of myristic acid biased TE (C14TE). We observe that the MCFA levels were negatively correlated to the fatty acid (FA) synthesis genes, ketoacyl-ACP synthase II (KASII), stearoyl-CoA-9-desaturase (Δ9D), and oleoyl-CoA-12-desaturase (Δ12D). To further examine the molecular mechanism of MCFA accumulation in microalgae, we investigate the transcriptomic dynamics of the MCFA producing strain of D. tertiolecta. At the transcript level, enhanced MCFA accumulation primarily involved up-regulation of photosynthetic genes and down-regulation of genes from central carbon metabolic processes, resulting in an overall decrease in carbon precursors for FA synthesis. We additionally observe that MCFA specific peroxisomal β-oxidation gene (ACX3) was greatly enhanced to prevent excessive build-up of unusual MCFA levels. Besides, long chain acyl-CoA synthetase gene (LACS) was down-regulated, likely in attempt to control fatty acyl supply flux to FA synthesis cycle. This article provides a spatial regulation model of unusual FA accumulation in microalgae and a platform for additional metabolic engineering targeting pathways from FA synthesis, FA transport, and peroxisomal β-oxidation to achieve microalgae oils with higher levels of MCFAs. PMID:29670594

[Intraoperative frozen sections of the thyroid gland].

PubMed

Synoracki, S; Ting, S; Siebolts, U; Dralle, H; Koperek, O; Schmid, K W

2015-07-01

The goal of evaluation of intraoperative frozen sections of the thyroid gland is to achieve a definitive diagnosis which determines the subsequent surgical management as fast as possible; however, due to the specific methodological situation of thyroid frozen sections evaluation a conclusive diagnosis can be made in only some of the cases. If no conclusive histological diagnosis is possible during the operation, subsequent privileged processing of the specimen allows a final diagnosis at the latest within 48 h in almost all remaining cases. Applying this strategy, both pathologists and surgeons require a high level of communication and knowledge regarding the specific diagnostic and therapeutic peculiarities of thyroid malignancies because different surgical strategies must be employed depending on the histological tumor subtype.

Detection of small molecules with a flow immunosensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kusterbeck, Anne W.; Ligler, Frances S.

1991-01-01

We describe the development of an easy-to-use sensor with widespread applications for detecting small molecules. The flow immunosensor can analyze discrete samples in under one minute or continuously monitor a flowing stream for the presence of specific analytes. This detection system is extremely specific, and achieves a level of sensitivity which meets or exceeds the detection limits reported for rival assays. Because the system is also compact, transportable, and automated, it has the potential to impact diverse areas. For example, the flow immunosensor has successfully detected drugs of abuse and explosives, and may well address many of the needs of the environmental community with respect to continuous monitoring for pollutants. Efforts are underway to engineer a portable device in the field.

De-boned beef - an example of a commodity for which specific standards could be developed to ensure an appropriate level of protection for international trade.

PubMed

Thomson, G R; Leyland, T J; Donaldson, A I

2009-03-01

De-boned beef from which lymph nodes and risk material associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been removed, is a product which can be produced for safe international trade irrespective of whether the locality of production is recognized as free from so-called transboundary diseases or not. Further processing of such beef provides an additional safety factor. However, this approach requires specific control measures being in place, supported by appropriate auditing and certification procedures. This document presents the arguments supporting this concept and details how safety in respect of both animal diseases and human food safety can be achieved using an integrated hazard analysis and critical control points approach.

US EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network: Analytical ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The U.S. EPA has established a National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN) to determine the temporal and geographical variability of atmospheric chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs), furans (CDFs), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at rural and non-impacted locations throughout the United States. Currently operating at 32 sampling stations, NDAMN has three primary purposes: (1) to determine the atmospheric levels and occurrences of dioxin-like compounds in rural and agricultural areas where livestock, poultry, and animal feed crops are grown; (2) to provide measurements of atmospheric levels in different geographic regions of the U.S.; and (3) to provide information regarding the long-range transport of dioxin-like compounds in air over the U.S. Designed in 1997, NDAMN has been implemented in phases, with the first phase consisting of 9 monitoring stations and is achieving congener-specific detection lmits of 0.1 fg/m3 for 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 10 fg/m3 for OCDD. With respect to coplanar PCBs, the detection limits are generally higher due to the presence of background levels in the air during the preparation and processing of the samples. Achieving these extremely low levels of detection present a host of analytical issues. Among these issues are the methods used to establish ultra-trace detection limits, measures to ensure against and monitor for breakthrough of native analytes when sampling large volumes of air, and procedures for handling and e

The Flipped Journal Club.

PubMed

Bounds, Richard; Boone, Stephen

2018-01-01

Educators struggle to develop a journal club format that promotes active participation from all levels of trainees. The explosion of social media compels residencies to incorporate the evaluation and application of these resources into evidence-based practice. We sought to design an innovative "flipped journal club" to achieve greater effectiveness in meeting goals and objectives among residents and faculty. Each journal club is focused on a specific clinical question based on a landmark article, a background article, and a podcast or blog post. With the "flipped" model, residents are assigned to prepare an in-depth discussion of one of these works based on their level of training. At journal club, trainees break into small groups and discuss their assigned readings with faculty facilitation. Following the small-group discussions, all participants convene to summarize key points. In redesigning our journal club, we sought to achieve specific educational outcomes, and improve participant engagement and overall impressions. Sixty-one residents at our emergency medicine program participated in the flipped journal club during the 2015-2016 academic year, with supervision by core faculty. Program evaluation for the flipped journal club was performed using an anonymous survey, with response rates of 70% and 56% for residents and faculty, respectively. Overall, 95% of resident respondents and 100% of faculty respondents preferred the flipped format. The "flipped journal club" hinges upon well-selected articles, incorporation of social media, and small-group discussions. This format engages all residents, holds learners accountable, and encourages greater participation among residents and faculty.

Evaluation of Central North American prairie management based on species diversity, life form, and individual species metrics.

PubMed

Brudvig, Lars A; Mabry, Catherine M; Miller, James R; Walker, Tracy A

2007-06-01

Reintroduction of fire and grazing, alone or in combination, has increasingly been recognized as central to the restoration of North American mixed-grass and tallgrass prairies. Although ecological studies of these systems are abundant, they have generally been observational, or if experimental, have focused on plant species diversity. Species diversity measures alone are not sufficient to inform management, which often has goals associated with life-form groups and individual species. We examined the effects of prescribed fire, light cattle grazing, and a combination of fire and grazing on three vegetation components: species diversity, groups of species categorized by life-form, and individual species. We evaluated how successful these three treatments were in achieving specific management goals for prairies in the Iowa Loess Hills (U.S.A.). The grazing treatment promoted the greatest overall species richness, whereas grazing and burning and grazing treatments resulted in the lowest cover by woody species. Burning alone best achieved the management goals of increasing the cover and diversity of native species and reducing exotic forb and (predominantly exotic) cool-season grass cover. Species-specific responses to treatments appeared idiosyncratic (i.e., within each treatment there existed a set of species attaining their highest frequency) and nearly half of uncommon species were present in only one treatment. Because all management goals were not achieved by any one treatment, we conclude that management in this region may need refining. We suggest that a mosaic of burning and grazing (alone and in combination) may provide the greatest landscape-level species richness; however, this strategy would also likely promote the persistence of exotic species. Our results support the need to consider multiple measures, including species-specific responses, when planning and evaluating management.

Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of a Spatial EA Parallel Boosting Algorithm.

PubMed

Kamath, Uday; Domeniconi, Carlotta; De Jong, Kenneth

2018-01-01

Many real-world problems involve massive amounts of data. Under these circumstances learning algorithms often become prohibitively expensive, making scalability a pressing issue to be addressed. A common approach is to perform sampling to reduce the size of the dataset and enable efficient learning. Alternatively, one customizes learning algorithms to achieve scalability. In either case, the key challenge is to obtain algorithmic efficiency without compromising the quality of the results. In this article we discuss a meta-learning algorithm (PSBML) that combines concepts from spatially structured evolutionary algorithms (SSEAs) with concepts from ensemble and boosting methodologies to achieve the desired scalability property. We present both theoretical and empirical analyses which show that PSBML preserves a critical property of boosting, specifically, convergence to a distribution centered around the margin. We then present additional empirical analyses showing that this meta-level algorithm provides a general and effective framework that can be used in combination with a variety of learning classifiers. We perform extensive experiments to investigate the trade-off achieved between scalability and accuracy, and robustness to noise, on both synthetic and real-world data. These empirical results corroborate our theoretical analysis, and demonstrate the potential of PSBML in achieving scalability without sacrificing accuracy.

[Total Joint Replacement and Return to Sports].

PubMed

Oehler, N; Schmidt, T; Niemeier, A

2016-12-01

Background: An increasing number of physically active patients not only need to know if they will basically be able to engage in sports after undergoing arthroplasty. They also would like to know whether or not they will be able to resume their preoperative activity levels. This article aims to provide an overview of recent data regarding the following questions on hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasty: (1) What is the impact of physical activity on an endoprosthesis? (2) What level of sports can be achieved after an arthroplasty procedure? (3) What types of sport are recommended for patients with an endoprosthesis? Methods: PubMed-based review of the literature. Narrative review focusing on current data from the years 2010 to 2016. Results: The commonly known recommendation to exercise low-impact sports such as hiking, swimming, cycling or golf at a moderate intensity remains valid for all types of prostheses in all joints. There is broad consensus that the benefits of these sports outweigh the negative effects. Having undergone total hip or knee arthroplasty, most patients with a high preoperative activity level return to sports after 3-6 months, albeit with a clear tendency to lower intensity and a shift from high-impact to low-impact sports. Some key questions have to be answered regarding the effects of low-impact sports that are exercised with high intensity, the effects resulting from high-impact sports, effects specific to different types of sport, and possibilities provided by different prosthesis types. In this context, a lot remains to be done to investigate the limits between positive and negative effects resulting from physical activity of varying intensity. New data suggests that generally a higher physical performance level may be achieved than has been traditionally recommended. Early results of unicondylar knee prostheses are far better than those achieved with bicondylar prostheses. In contrast to expert recommendations, shoulder endoprostheses show the highest postoperative activity levels after inverted arthroplasty, followed by anatomic arthroplasty, and the lowest activity level after the implantation of a hemiprosthesis. Conclusion: There is a significant discrepancy between previous expert recommendations and the actual activity levels that may be achieved after the implantation of a joint prosthesis. Future studies have to define the sports level, the type of sports and the type of prosthesis that provide a positive benefit-risk ratio using state-of-the-art low-abrasion bearing surfaces and prosthesis designs. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Stability of Chimerism in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice Achieved By Rapid T Cell Depletion Is Associated With High Levels of Donor Cells Very Early After Transplant.

PubMed

Lin, Jiaxin; Chan, William F N; Boon, Louis; Anderson, Colin C

2018-01-01

Stable mixed hematopoietic chimerism is a robust method for inducing donor-specific tolerance with the potential to prevent rejection of donor islets in recipients with autoimmune type-1 diabetes. However, with reduced intensity conditioning, fully allogeneic chimerism in a tolerance resistant autoimmune-prone non-obese diabetic (NOD) recipient has rarely been successful. In this setting, successful multilineage chimerism has required either partial major histocompatability complex matching, mega doses of bone marrow, or conditioning approaches that are not currently clinically feasible. Irradiation free protocols with moderate bone marrow doses have not generated full tolerance; donor skin grafts were rejected. We tested whether more efficient recipient T cell depletion would generate a more robust tolerance. We show that a combination of donor-specific transfusion-cyclophosphamide and multiple T cell depleting antibodies could induce stable high levels of fully allogeneic chimerism in NOD recipients. Less effective T cell depletion was associated with instability of chimerism. Stable chimeras appeared fully donor-specific tolerant, with clonal deletion of allospecific T cells and acceptance of donor skin grafts, while recovering substantial immunocompetence. The loss of chimerism months after transplant was significantly associated with a lower level of chimerism and donor T cells within the first 2 weeks after transplant. Thus, rapid and robust recipient T cell depletion allows for stable high levels of fully allogeneic chimerism and robust donor-specific tolerance in the stringent NOD model while using a clinically feasible protocol. In addition, these findings open the possibility of identifying recipients whose chimerism will later fail, stratifying patients for early intervention.

The role of environmental and individual characteristics in the development of student achievement: a comparison between a traditional and a problem-based-learning curriculum.

PubMed

Schauber, Stefan K; Hecht, Martin; Nouns, Zineb M; Kuhlmey, Adelheid; Dettmer, Susanne

2015-10-01

In medical education, the effect of the educational environment on student achievement has primarily been investigated in comparisons between traditional and problem-based learning (PBL) curricula. As many of these studies have reached no clear conclusions on the superiority of the PBL approach, the effect of curricular reform on student performance remains an issue. We employed a theoretical framework that integrates antecedents of student achievement from various psychosocial domains to examine how students interact with their curricular environment. In a longitudinal study with N = 1,646 participants, we assessed students in a traditional and a PBL-centered curriculum. The measures administered included students' perception of the learning environment, self-efficacy beliefs, positive study-related affect, social support, indicators of self-regulated learning, and academic achievement assessed through progress tests. We compared the relations between these characteristics in the two curricular environments. The results are two-fold. First, substantial relations of various psychosocial domains and their associations with achievement were identified. Second, our analyses indicated that there are no substantial differences between traditional and PBL-based curricula concerning the relational structure of psychosocial variables and achievement. Drawing definite conclusions on the role of curricular-level interventions in the development of student's academic achievement is constrained by the quasi-experimental design as wells as the selection of variables included. However, in the specific context described here, our results may still support the view of student activity as the key ingredient in the acquisition of achievement and performance.

Quantitative Analyses of Core Promoters Enable Precise Engineering of Regulated Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells.

PubMed

Ede, Christopher; Chen, Ximin; Lin, Meng-Yin; Chen, Yvonne Y

2016-05-20

Inducible transcription systems play a crucial role in a wide array of synthetic biology circuits. However, the majority of inducible promoters are constructed from a limited set of tried-and-true promoter parts, which are susceptible to common shortcomings such as high basal expression levels (i.e., leakiness). To expand the toolbox for regulated mammalian gene expression and facilitate the construction of mammalian genetic circuits with precise functionality, we quantitatively characterized a panel of eight core promoters, including sequences with mammalian, viral, and synthetic origins. We demonstrate that this selection of core promoters can provide a wide range of basal gene expression levels and achieve a gradient of fold-inductions spanning 2 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, commonly used parts such as minimal CMV and minimal SV40 promoters were shown to achieve robust gene expression upon induction, but also suffer from high levels of leakiness. In contrast, a synthetic promoter, YB_TATA, was shown to combine low basal expression with high transcription rate in the induced state to achieve significantly higher fold-induction ratios compared to all other promoters tested. These behaviors remain consistent when the promoters are coupled to different genetic outputs and different response elements, as well as across different host-cell types and DNA copy numbers. We apply this quantitative understanding of core promoter properties to the successful engineering of human T cells that respond to antigen stimulation via chimeric antigen receptor signaling specifically under hypoxic environments. Results presented in this study can facilitate the design and calibration of future mammalian synthetic biology systems capable of precisely programmed functionality.

Country-Level Correlates of Educational Achievement: Evidence from Large-Scale Surveys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Jia; Van de Vijver, Fons J. R.; Kulikova, Alena

2017-01-01

Linking country-level educational achievement with other country-level indicators has the potential to drive systemic educational changes, as these correlates may reflect characteristics relevant for policy-making decisions to improve educational effectiveness. This study establishes a nomological network of educational achievement at the country…

Examining the Reading Level of Internet Medical Information for Common Internal Medicine Diagnoses.

PubMed

Hutchinson, Nora; Baird, Grayson L; Garg, Megha

2016-06-01

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that health materials be written at a grade 6-7 reading level, which has generally not been achieved in online reading materials. Up to the present time, there have not been any assessments focused on the reading level of online educational materials across the most popular consumer Web sites for common internal medicine diagnoses. In this study, we examined the readability of open-access online health information for 9 common internal medicine diagnoses. Nine of the most frequently encountered inpatient and ambulatory internal medicine diagnoses were selected for analysis. In November and December 2014, these diagnoses were used as search terms in Google, and the top 5 Web sites across all diagnoses and a diagnosis-specific site were analyzed across 5 validated reading indices. On average, the lowest reading grade-level content was provided by the NIH (10.7), followed by WebMD (10.9), Mayo Clinic (11.3), and diagnosis-specific Web sites (11.5). Conversely, Wikipedia provided content that required the highest grade-level readability (14.6). The diagnoses with the lowest reading grade levels were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (10.8), followed by diabetes (10.9), congestive heart failure (11.7), osteoporosis (11.7) and hypertension (11.7). Depression had the highest grade-level readability (13.8). Despite recommendations for patient health information to be written at a grade 6-7 reading level, our examination of online educational materials pertaining to 9 common internal medicine diagnoses revealed reading levels significantly above the NIH recommendation. This was seen across both diagnosis-specific and general Web sites. There is a need to improve the readability of online educational materials made available to patients. These improvements have the potential to greatly enhance patient awareness, engagement, and physician-patient communication. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Preanalytics in lung cancer.

PubMed

Warth, Arne; Muley, Thomas; Meister, Michael; Weichert, Wilko

2015-01-01

Preanalytic sampling techniques and preparation of tissue specimens strongly influence analytical results in lung tissue diagnostics both on the morphological but also on the molecular level. However, in contrast to analytics where tremendous achievements in the last decade have led to a whole new portfolio of test methods, developments in preanalytics have been minimal. This is specifically unfortunate in lung cancer, where usually only small amounts of tissue are at hand and optimization in all processing steps is mandatory in order to increase the diagnostic yield. In the following, we provide a comprehensive overview on some aspects of preanalytics in lung cancer from the method of sampling over tissue processing to its impact on analytical test results. We specifically discuss the role of preanalytics in novel technologies like next-generation sequencing and in the state-of the-art cytology preparations. In addition, we point out specific problems in preanalytics which hamper further developments in the field of lung tissue diagnostics.

Nucleic acid sequence detection using multiplexed oligonucleotide PCR

DOEpatents

Nolan, John P [Santa Fe, NM; White, P Scott [Los Alamos, NM

2006-12-26

Methods for rapidly detecting single or multiple sequence alleles in a sample nucleic acid are described. Provided are all of the oligonucleotide pairs capable of annealing specifically to a target allele and discriminating among possible sequences thereof, and ligating to each other to form an oligonucleotide complex when a particular sequence feature is present (or, alternatively, absent) in the sample nucleic acid. The design of each oligonucleotide pair permits the subsequent high-level PCR amplification of a specific amplicon when the oligonucleotide complex is formed, but not when the oligonucleotide complex is not formed. The presence or absence of the specific amplicon is used to detect the allele. Detection of the specific amplicon may be achieved using a variety of methods well known in the art, including without limitation, oligonucleotide capture onto DNA chips or microarrays, oligonucleotide capture onto beads or microspheres, electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. Various labels and address-capture tags may be employed in the amplicon detection step of multiplexed assays, as further described herein.

[Academic achievement, engagement and burnout among first year medical students].

PubMed

Gómez H, Paula; Pérez V, Cristhian; Parra P, Paula; Ortiz M, Liliana; Matus B, Olga; McColl C, Peter; Torres A, Graciela; Meyer K, Andrea

2015-07-01

Stress may affect the sense of wellbeing and academic achievement of university students. To assess the relationship of academic engagement and burnout with academic achievement among first year medical students. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student and Maslach Burnout Inventory Student Survey (MBI-SS) were applied to 277 first year medical students of four universities. Their results were correlated with the grades obtained in the different courses. Moderately high engagement and low burnout levels were detected. There was a high level of satisfaction with studies and a moderate exhaustion level. Academic achievement was associated with the degree of engagement with studies but not with burnout. Conglomerate analysis detected a group of students with high levels of wellbeing, characterized by high levels of academic engagement and low burnout. Other group had moderate levels of engagement and lack of personal fulfilment. Other group, identified as extenuated, had high levels of personal exhaustion and depersonalization. Finally the disassociated group had a low academic engagement, low emotional exhaustion, high levels of depersonalization and lack of personal fulfillment. Academic achievement is associated with the level of engagement with studies but not with burnout.

Water Prescription in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Creed, Catherine; Winklhofer, Franz T.; Grantham, Jared J.

2011-01-01

Summary Background and objectives In animal models of polycystic kidney disease, the ingestion of large amounts of water promotes diuresis by suppressing plasma levels of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and renal levels of cAMP, slowing cyst progression. Whether simple water ingestion is a potential therapeutic strategy for individuals with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is unknown. In this study, a simple method to quantify the amount of water to achieve a specific mean urine osmolality target in patients with ADPKD was developed and tested. Design, setting, participants, & measurements In eight ADPKD patients eating typical diets, osmolality and volume were measured in 24-hour urine collections. The amount of additional ingested water required daily to achieve a mean urine osmolality of 285 ± 45 mosm/kg was determined. Participants were instructed to distribute the prescribed water over waking hours for each of 5 days. Blood chemistries, 24-hour urine collections, BP, and weight were measured before and after the period of supplemental water intake. Results Five patients achieved the 285 mosm/kg urine target without difficulty. Mean urine osmolality decreased and mean urine volume increased; serum sodium, weight, and BP were unchanged. Daily osmolar excretion remained constant, indicating a stable ad lib dietary intake of solutes and protein over the 2-week study period. Conclusions The amount of additional water needed to achieve a urine osmolality target can be approximated from the urine osmolar excretion in ADPKD patients eating typical diets, providing a quantitative method to prescribe supplemental water for such individuals. PMID:20876670

A modified Delphi study of structures and processes related to medicines management for elderly hospitalised patients in the United Arab Emirates.

PubMed

Al Shemeili, Saeed; Klein, Susan; Strath, Alison; Fares, Saleh; Stewart, Derek

2016-10-01

The structures and processes around the management of medicines for elderly, hospitalized patients are ill defined. This study aimed to determine consensus related to strategic and operational approaches in the United Arab Emirates. A modified Delphi technique, consensus study with first round statements developed from systematic reviews related to medicines management. Normalization process theory and the theoretical domains framework were applied in the construction of statements, organized into key elements of medicines management: guidelines for medicines management, medicines reconciliation, medicines selection, prescribing and review, medicines adherence, medicines counselling, health professional training and evaluation research. Seventy per cent (summative agree and strongly agree) was set as the target for consensus. Thirty panellists were recruited, representing senior physicians working within geriatrics, hospital pharmacy and nursing directors, chief health professionals (including social workers) and policy makers within the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi and academics. A high level of consensus was obtained for most statements relating to the structures and processes of medicines management. While consensus was not achieved for targeting only those patients with medicines related issues, it was achieved for focusing on all elderly admissions. Similarly, consensus was not achieved for which professions were most suited to roles but was achieved for trained and competent staff. High levels of consensus were obtained for structures and processes of medicines management relating to elderly hospitalized patients. Trained and competent health professionals were preferred to specific professions for any tasks and that all elderly patients and not targeted patients should be the focus for medicines management. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Have First-Year Emergency Medicine Residents Achieved Level 1 on Care-Based Milestones?

PubMed Central

Weizberg, Moshe; Bond, Michael C.; Cassara, Michael; Doty, Christopher; Seamon, Jason

2015-01-01

Background Residents in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited emergency medicine (EM) residencies were assessed on 23 educational milestones to capture their progression from medical student level (Level 1) to that of an EM attending physician (Level 5). Level 1 was conceptualized to be at the level of an incoming postgraduate year (PGY)-1 resident; however, this has not been confirmed. Objectives Our primary objective in this study was to assess incoming PGY-1 residents to determine what percentage achieved Level 1 for the 8 emergency department (ED) patient care–based milestones (PC 1–8), as assessed by faculty. Secondary objectives involved assessing what percentage of residents had achieved Level 1 as assessed by themselves, and finally, we calculated the absolute differences between self- and faculty assessments. Methods Incoming PGY-1 residents at 4 EM residencies were assessed by faculty and themselves during their first month of residency. Performance anchors were adapted from ACGME milestones. Results Forty-one residents from 4 programs were included. The percentage of residents who achieved Level 1 for each subcompetency on faculty assessment ranged from 20% to 73%, and on self-assessment from 34% to 92%. The majority did not achieve Level 1 on faculty assessment of milestones PC-2, PC-3, PC-5a, and PC-6, and on self-assessment of PC-3 and PC-5a. Self-assessment was higher than faculty assessment for PC-2, PC-5b, and PC-6. Conclusions Less than 75% of PGY-1 residents achieved Level 1 for ED care-based milestones. The majority did not achieve Level 1 on 4 milestones. Self-assessments were higher than faculty assessments for several milestones. PMID:26692971

Predicting Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Early Quantitative Knowledge and Domain-General Cognitive Abilities

PubMed Central

Chu, Felicia W.; vanMarle, Kristy; Geary, David C.

2016-01-01

One hundred children (44 boys) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the development of basic quantitative competencies and the relation between these competencies and later mathematics and reading achievement. The children's preliteracy knowledge, intelligence, executive functions, and parental educational background were also assessed. The quantitative tasks assessed a broad range of symbolic and nonsymbolic knowledge and were administered four times across 2 years of preschool. Mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of each of 2 years of preschool, and mathematics and word reading achievement were assessed at the end of kindergarten. Our goals were to determine how domain-general abilities contribute to growth in children's quantitative knowledge and to determine how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to children's preschool mathematics achievement and kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement. We first identified four core quantitative competencies (e.g., knowledge of the cardinal value of number words) that predict later mathematics achievement. The domain-general abilities were then used to predict growth in these competencies across 2 years of preschool, and the combination of domain-general abilities, preliteracy skills, and core quantitative competencies were used to predict mathematics achievement across preschool and mathematics and word reading achievement at the end of kindergarten. Both intelligence and executive functions predicted growth in the four quantitative competencies, especially across the first year of preschool. A combination of domain-general and domain-specific competencies predicted preschoolers' mathematics achievement, with a trend for domain-specific skills to be more strongly related to achievement at the beginning of preschool than at the end of preschool. Preschool preliteracy skills, sensitivity to the relative quantities of collections of objects, and cardinal knowledge predicted reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten. Preliteracy skills were more strongly related to word reading, whereas sensitivity to relative quantity was more strongly related to mathematics achievement. The overall results indicate that a combination of domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to development of children's early mathematics and reading achievement. PMID:27252675

Predicting Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement from Early Quantitative Knowledge and Domain-General Cognitive Abilities.

PubMed

Chu, Felicia W; vanMarle, Kristy; Geary, David C

2016-01-01

One hundred children (44 boys) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study of the development of basic quantitative competencies and the relation between these competencies and later mathematics and reading achievement. The children's preliteracy knowledge, intelligence, executive functions, and parental educational background were also assessed. The quantitative tasks assessed a broad range of symbolic and nonsymbolic knowledge and were administered four times across 2 years of preschool. Mathematics achievement was assessed at the end of each of 2 years of preschool, and mathematics and word reading achievement were assessed at the end of kindergarten. Our goals were to determine how domain-general abilities contribute to growth in children's quantitative knowledge and to determine how domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to children's preschool mathematics achievement and kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement. We first identified four core quantitative competencies (e.g., knowledge of the cardinal value of number words) that predict later mathematics achievement. The domain-general abilities were then used to predict growth in these competencies across 2 years of preschool, and the combination of domain-general abilities, preliteracy skills, and core quantitative competencies were used to predict mathematics achievement across preschool and mathematics and word reading achievement at the end of kindergarten. Both intelligence and executive functions predicted growth in the four quantitative competencies, especially across the first year of preschool. A combination of domain-general and domain-specific competencies predicted preschoolers' mathematics achievement, with a trend for domain-specific skills to be more strongly related to achievement at the beginning of preschool than at the end of preschool. Preschool preliteracy skills, sensitivity to the relative quantities of collections of objects, and cardinal knowledge predicted reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten. Preliteracy skills were more strongly related to word reading, whereas sensitivity to relative quantity was more strongly related to mathematics achievement. The overall results indicate that a combination of domain-general and domain-specific abilities contribute to development of children's early mathematics and reading achievement.

Targeted quantification of low ng/mL level proteins in human serum without immunoaffinity depletion

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

Shi, Tujin; Sun, Xuefei; Gao, Yuqian

2013-07-05

We recently reported an antibody-free targeted protein quantification strategy, termed high-pressure, high-resolution separations with intelligent selection and multiplexing (PRISM) for achieving significantly enhanced sensitivity using selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mass spectrometry. Integrating PRISM with front-end IgY14 immunoaffinity depletion, sensitive detection of targeted proteins at 50-100 pg/mL levels in human blood plasma/serum was demonstrated. However, immunoaffinity depletion is often associated with undesired losses of target proteins of interest. Herein we report further evaluation of PRISM-SRM quantification of low-abundance serum proteins without immunoaffinity depletion and the multiplexing potential of this technique. Limits of quantification (LOQs) at low ng/mL levels with a medianmore » CV of ~12% were achieved for proteins spiked into human female serum using as little as 2 µL serum. PRISM-SRM provided up to ~1000-fold improvement in the LOQ when compared to conventional SRM measurements. Multiplexing capability of PRISM-SRM was also evaluated by two sets of serum samples with 6 and 21 target peptides spiked at the low attomole/µL levels. The results from SRM measurements for pooled or post-concatenated samples were comparable to those obtained from individual peptide fractions in terms of signal-to-noise ratios and SRM peak area ratios of light to heavy peptides. PRISM-SRM was applied to measure several ng/mL-level endogenous plasma proteins, including prostate-specific antigen, in clinical patient sera where correlation coefficients > 0.99 were observed between the results from PRISM-SRM and ELISA assays. Our results demonstrate that PRISM-SRM can be successfully used for quantification of low-abundance endogenous proteins in highly complex samples. Moderate throughput (50 samples/week) can be achieved by applying the post-concatenation or fraction multiplexing strategies. We anticipate broad applications for targeted PRISM-SRM quantification of low-abundance cellular proteins in systems biology studies as well as candidate biomarkers in biofluids.« less

Evaluation of total purchasing pilots in England and Scotland and implications for primary care groups in England: personal interviews and analysis of routine data

PubMed Central

Goodwin, Nicholas; Mays, Nicholas; McLeod, Hugh; Malbon, Gill; Raftery, James

1998-01-01

Objectives: To evaluate the reported achievements of the 52 first wave total purchasing pilot schemes in 1996-7 and the factors associated with these; and to consider the implications of these findings for the development of the proposed primary care groups. Design: Face to face interviews with lead general practitioners, project managers, and health authority representatives responsible for each pilot; and analysis of hospital episode statistics. Setting: England and Scotland for evaluation of pilots; England only for consideration of implications for primary care groups. Main outcome measures: The ability of total purchasers to achieve their own objectives and their ability specifically to achieve objectives in the service areas beyond fundholding included in total purchasing. Results: The level of achievement between pilots varied widely. Achievement was more likely to be reported in primary than in secondary care. Reported achievements in reducing length of stay and emergency admissions were corroborated by analysis of hospital episode statistics. Single practice and small multipractice pilots were more likely than large multipractice projects to report achieving their objectives. Achievements were also associated with higher direct management costs per head and the ability to undertake independent contracting. Large multipractice pilots required considerable organisational development before progress could be made. Conclusion: The ability to create effective commissioning organisations the size of the proposed primary care groups should not be underestimated. To be effective commissioners, these care groups will need to invest heavily in their organisational development and in the short term are likely to need an additional development budget rather than the reduction in spending on NHS management that is planned by the government. Key messages The level of reported achievement between the total purchasing pilots in 1996-7 varied widely; achievement was more likely to occur in primary than in secondary care Single practice and small multipractice pilots were more likely than large multipractice pilots to report achieving their objectives in 1996/97; achievements were also associated with higher direct management costs per head Large multipractice pilots needed more time for organisational development before progress could be made Difficulties in creating effective commissioning organisations the size of the proposed primary care groups should not be underestimated Primary care groups will need to invest heavily in organisational development and are likely to need an additional development budget in the short term PMID:9677217

Acrylamide in cereal and cereal products: a review on progress in level reduction.

PubMed

Konings, E J M; Ashby, P; Hamlet, C G; Thompson, G A K

2007-01-01

In March 2006, a joint workshop was organized by the European Commission and the Confederation of EU Food and Drink Industries (CIAA) to discuss current knowledge and achievements in the reduction of acrylamide levels. This paper focuses on the progress made with cereal products. At present, the reduction options available are applicable to a limited number of cereal products and are product-specific. The following are the most promising: * Adjustment of time and temperature during baking. * Extend fermentation times where feasible. * Substitution of ammonium bicarbonate with alternatives where feasible. * Avoid or minimise use of reducing sugars where possible. * Maintenance of uniform control of the colour and avoidance of very high baking temperature where possible. The most promising near-term technical solution is the use of asparaginase. This enzyme has the potential to achieve a 60-90% reduction for some products made from dough or batter, which can be held for a time. In the longer term, the optimisation of agronomy and plant breeding for wheat has the potential to reduce acrylamide in all foods on any scale, whether domestic or industrial. Importantly, nutritional and toxicological issues, other than acrylamide, must also be considered so as to ensure that the steps taken to reduce acrylamide levels do not have other adverse effects on diet.

An investigation of two phase flow pressure drops in a reduced acceleration environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wheeler, Montgomery W.; Best, Frederick R.; Reinarts, Thomas R.

1993-01-01

Thermal systems for space applications based on two phase flow have several advantages over single phase systems. Two phase thermal energy management and dynamic power conversion system advantages include the capability of achieving high specific power levels. Before two phase systems for space applications can be designed effectively, knowledge of the flow behavior in a reduced acceleration environment is necessary. To meet these needs, two phase flow experiments were conducted aboard the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's KC-135 using R12 as the working fluid. Annular flow two phase pressure drops were measured through 10.41-mm ID 1.251-m long glass tubing during periods with acceleration levels in the range ±0.05 G. The experiments were conducted with emphasis on achieving data with a high level of accuracy. The reduced acceleration annular flow pressure drops were compred with pressure drops measured in a 1-G environment for similar flow conditions. The reduced acceleration pressure drops were found to be 45% greater than the 1-G pressure drops. In addition, the reduced acceleration annular flow interfacial friction factors were compared with models for vertical up-flow in a 1-G environment. The reduced acceleration interfacial friction factor data was not predicted by the 1-G models.

A Study on Capabilities Required In Military Medicine to Develop Modular Training Courses: A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

DANA, ALI; MOHAMMADIMEHR, MOJGAN

2017-01-01

Introduction: The main mission of military medicine in the world is to support the health and treatment of the military in relation to issues, risks, injuries and diseases that arise due to the specific occupational conditions. The current study was carried out with the aim of determining the required skills of military physicians to define and determine the required training modules. Methods: The study was a qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data and qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. The study population included all the professors and experts in the field of military medicine and medical sciences at the medical universities of Tehran. Snowball sampling technique was used to sample the study participants. Results: Based on the results, the required skills of military physicians in 5 categories and 29 sub- categories were identified; then based on the identified skills, 60 training modules at two introductory and advanced levels were determined including 39 introductory levels and 21 advanced levels. Conclusion: We can conclude that some of the important skills that military physicians need and can achieved through training have not been provided in any educational program and to achieve such skills and capabilities, other programs should be developed and modular training can be one of them. PMID:28761887

The possible role of resource requirements and academic career-choice risk on gender differences in publication rate and impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Xiaohan; Duch, Jordi; Sales-Pardo, Marta; Radicchi, Filippo; Otis, Shayna; Woodruff, Teresa; Amaral, Luis

2013-03-01

Many studies demonstrate that there is still a significant gender bias, especially at higher career levels, in many areas including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated field-dependent, gender-specific effects of the selective pressures individuals experience as they pursue a career in academia within seven STEM disciplines. We built a unique database that comprises 437,787 publications authored by 4,292 faculty members at top United States research universities. Our analyses reveal that gender differences in publication rate and impact are discipline-specific. Our results also support two hypotheses. First, the widely-reported lower publication rates of female faculty are correlated with the amount of research resources typically needed in the discipline considered, and thus may be explained by the lower level of institutional support historically received by females. Second, in disciplines where pursuing an academic position incurs greater career risk, female faculty tend to have a greater fraction of higher impact publications than males. Our findings have significant, field-specific, policy implications for achieving diversity at the faculty level within the STEM disciplines. L. A. N. Amaral gratefully acknowledges the support of NSF awards SBE 0624318 and 0830388, and ThomsonReuters for access to the WoS data. J. Duch and M. Sales-Pardo's work have been partially supported by the Spanish DGICYT under project FIS2010-18639.

State-level variations in income-related inequality in health and health achievement in the US.

PubMed

Xu, Ke Tom

2006-07-01

The objective of this study was to examine state-level variations in income-related inequality in health and overall health achievement in the US. Data that were representative of the US and each state in 2001 were extracted from the Current Population Survey 2001. Income-related inequality in health and health achievement were measured by Health Concentration and Health Achievement Indices, respectively. Significant variations were found across states in income-related inequality in health and health achievement. In particular, states in the south and east regions, on average, experienced a higher degree of health inequality and lower health achievement. About 80% of the state-level variation in health achievement could be explained by demographics, economic structure and performance, and state and local government spending and burden. In contrast, medical care resource indicators were not found to contribute to health achievement in states. States with better health achievement were more urbanized, had lower proportions of minority groups, females and the elderly, fewer individuals below the poverty line, larger primary industry, and lower unemployment rates. Also, per capita state and local government spending, particularly the proportion spent on public health, was positively associated with better health achievement. Because of the direct implications of health level and distribution in resource allocation and social norms, states with a lower level of health achievement need to prioritize efforts in increasing and reallocating resources to diminish health inequality and to improve population health.

An Ultralow-Power Sleep Spindle Detection System on Chip.

PubMed

Iranmanesh, Saam; Rodriguez-Villegas, Esther

2017-08-01

This paper describes a full system-on-chip to automatically detect sleep spindle events from scalp EEG signals. These events, which are known to play an important role on memory consolidation during sleep, are also characteristic of a number of neurological diseases. The operation of the system is based on a previously reported algorithm, which used the Teager energy operator, together with the Spectral Edge Frequency (SEF50) achieving more than 70% sensitivity and 98% specificity. The algorithm is now converted into a hardware analog based customized implementation in order to achieve extremely low levels of power. Experimental results prove that the system, which is fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology, is able to operate from a 1.25 V power supply consuming only 515 nW, with an accuracy that is comparable to its software counterpart.

Epigenome-wide cross-tissue predictive modeling and comparison of cord blood and placental methylation in a birth cohort

PubMed Central

De Carli, Margherita M; Baccarelli, Andrea A; Trevisi, Letizia; Pantic, Ivan; Brennan, Kasey JM; Hacker, Michele R; Loudon, Holly; Brunst, Kelly J; Wright, Robert O; Wright, Rosalind J; Just, Allan C

2017-01-01

Aim: We compared predictive modeling approaches to estimate placental methylation using cord blood methylation. Materials & methods: We performed locus-specific methylation prediction using both linear regression and support vector machine models with 174 matched pairs of 450k arrays. Results: At most CpG sites, both approaches gave poor predictions in spite of a misleading improvement in array-wide correlation. CpG islands and gene promoters, but not enhancers, were the genomic contexts where the correlation between measured and predicted placental methylation levels achieved higher values. We provide a list of 714 sites where both models achieved an R2 ≥0.75. Conclusion: The present study indicates the need for caution in interpreting cross-tissue predictions. Few methylation sites can be predicted between cord blood and placenta. PMID:28234020

Achieving "organic compositionality" through self-organization: reviews on brain-inspired robotics experiments.

PubMed

Tani, Jun; Nishimoto, Ryunosuke; Paine, Rainer W

2008-05-01

The current paper examines how compositional structures can self-organize in given neuro-dynamical systems when robot agents are forced to learn multiple goal-directed behaviors simultaneously. Firstly, we propose a basic model accounting for the roles of parietal-premotor interactions for representing skills for goal-directed behaviors. The basic model had been implemented in a set of robotics experiments employing different neural network architectures. The comparative reviews among those experimental results address the issues of local vs distributed representations in representing behavior and the effectiveness of level structures associated with different sensory-motor articulation mechanisms. It is concluded that the compositional structures can be acquired "organically" by achieving generalization in learning and by capturing the contextual nature of skilled behaviors under specific conditions. Furthermore, the paper discusses possible feedback for empirical neuroscience studies in the future.

Using School-Level Student Achievement to Engage in Formative Evaluation: Comparative School-Level Rates of Oral Reading Fluency Growth Conditioned by Initial Skill for Second Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cummings, Kelli D.; Stoolmiller, Michael L.; Baker, Scott K.; Fien, Hank; Kame'enui, Edward J.

2015-01-01

We present a method for data-based decision making at the school level using student achievement data. We demonstrate the potential of a national assessment database [i.e., the University of Oregon DIBELS Data System (DDS)] to provide comparative levels of school-level data on average student achievement gains. Through the DDS as a data source,…

Wideband 1.064 micrometer detector evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, S. I.

1975-01-01

The performance of several candidate detectors for use as communications detectors in a 400 Mbps 1.064 micrometers laser communication system was evaluated. The results of communication system Bit Error Rate (BER) testing for the best detector of each type are summarized. Complete testing data of each type detector is presented. The 400 Mbps 1.064 micrometers communication system receiver test bed is described. The best communication system results for each detector type are included. Performance comparisons are made at 0.000001 BER, the specification level chosen for satellite laser communication links. The data is presented in two groups. The first indicates the best performance levels that can be expected on normal space laser communication system operation. The second cites the best performance levels which can be achieved by focusing the signal to diffraction limited spots on the photosensitive area.

Mathematics Achievement Levels of Black and White Youth. Report No. 165.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Lyle V.; And Others

Based on data provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, this study examines mathematics achievement in relation to various background variables, contrasts achievement levels of black and white (females and males) youth, and evaluates group achievement differences in the light of group differences in background variables.…

Near Infrared Optical Visualization of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors Levels in COLO205 Colorectal Cell Line, Orthotopic Tumor in Mice and Human Biopsies

PubMed Central

Cohen, Gadi; Lecht, Shimon; Oron-Herman, Mor; Momic, Tatjana; Nissan, Aviram; Lazarovici, Philip

2013-01-01

In this study, we present the applicability of imaging epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor levels in preclinical models of COLO205 carcinoma cells in vitro, mice with orthotopic tumors and ex vivo colorectal tumor biopsies, using EGF-labeled with IRDye800CW (EGF-NIR). The near infrared (NIR) bio-imaging of COLO205 cultures indicated specific and selective binding, reflecting EGF receptors levels. In vivo imaging of tumors in mice showed that the highest signal/background ratio between tumor and adjacent tissue was achieved 48 hours post-injection. Dissected colorectal cancer tissues from different patients demonstrated ex vivo specific imaging using the NIR bio-imaging platform of the heterogeneous distributed EGF receptors. Moreover, in the adjacent gastrointestinal tissue of the same patients, which by Western blotting was demonstrated as EGF receptor negative, no labeling with EGF-NIR probe was detected. Present results support the concept of tumor imaging by measuring EGF receptor levels using EGF-NIR probe. This platform is advantageous for EGF receptor bio-imaging of the NCI-60 recommended panel of tumor cell lines including 6–9 colorectal cell lines, since it avoids radioactive probes and is appropriate for use in the clinical setting using NIR technologies in a real-time manner. PMID:23857061

Near infrared optical visualization of epidermal growth factor receptors levels in COLO205 colorectal cell line, orthotopic tumor in mice and human biopsies.

PubMed

Cohen, Gadi; Lecht, Shimon; Oron-Herman, Mor; Momic, Tatjana; Nissan, Aviram; Lazarovici, Philip

2013-07-12

In this study, we present the applicability of imaging epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor levels in preclinical models of COLO205 carcinoma cells in vitro, mice with orthotopic tumors and ex vivo colorectal tumor biopsies, using EGF-labeled with IRDye800CW (EGF-NIR). The near infrared (NIR) bio-imaging of COLO205 cultures indicated specific and selective binding, reflecting EGF receptors levels. In vivo imaging of tumors in mice showed that the highest signal/background ratio between tumor and adjacent tissue was achieved 48 hours post-injection. Dissected colorectal cancer tissues from different patients demonstrated ex vivo specific imaging using the NIR bio-imaging platform of the heterogeneous distributed EGF receptors. Moreover, in the adjacent gastrointestinal tissue of the same patients, which by Western blotting was demonstrated as EGF receptor negative, no labeling with EGF-NIR probe was detected. Present results support the concept of tumor imaging by measuring EGF receptor levels using EGF-NIR probe. This platform is advantageous for EGF receptor bio-imaging of the NCI-60 recommended panel of tumor cell lines including 6-9 colorectal cell lines, since it avoids radioactive probes and is appropriate for use in the clinical setting using NIR technologies in a real-time manner.

Teaching the Low Level Achiever.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salomone, Ronald E., Ed.

1986-01-01

Intended for teachers of the English language arts, the articles in this issue offer suggestions and techniques for teaching the low level achiever. Titles and authors of the articles are as follows: (1) "A Point to Ponder" (Rachel Martin); (2) "Tracking: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Failure for the Low Level Achiever" (James Christopher Davis);…

Ethiopian New Public Universities: Achievements, Challenges and Illustrative Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Deuren, Rita; Kahsu, Tsegazeab; Mohammed, Seid; Woldie, Wondimu

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze and illustrate achievements and challenges of Ethiopian higher education, both at the system level and at the level of new public universities. Design/methodology/approach: Achievements and challenges at the system level are based on literature review and secondary data. Illustrative case studies are based on…

School Readiness Factors for Predicting High and Low Achieving Students in First Grade

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davion, Edward, Jr.

2011-01-01

When analyzed according to race and ethnicity, poverty level, parental education level, as well as other related factors in schools in America, academic achievement disparities negatively impact educational outcomes for poor children and children of color on a consistent basis. At all educational levels, academic achievement and attainments of…

Sustained unresponsiveness to peanut in subjects who have completed peanut oral immunotherapy

PubMed Central

Vickery, Brian P.; Scurlock, Amy M.; Kulis, Michael; Steele, Pamela H.; Kamilaris, Janet; Berglund, Jelena P.; Burk, Caitlin; Hiegel, Anne; Carlisle, Suzanna; Christie, Lynn; Perry, Tamara T.; Pesek, Robbie D.; Sheikh, Saira; Virkud, Yamini; Smith, P. Brian; Shamji, Mohamed H.; Durham, Stephen R.; Jones, Stacie M.; Burks, A. Wesley

2013-01-01

Background Although peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been conclusively shown to cause desensitization, it is currently unknown whether clinical protection persists after stopping therapy. Objective Our primary objective was to determine whether peanut OIT can induce sustained unresponsiveness following withdrawal of OIT. Methods We conducted a pilot clinical trial of peanut OIT at two U.S. centers. Subjects aged 1–16 were recruited and treated for up to five years with peanut OIT. The protocol was modified over time to permit dose increases to a maximum of 4000 mg peanut protein/day. Blood was collected at multiple time points. Clinical endpoints were measured with 5000 mg double-blinded, placebo-controlled food challenges once specific criteria were met. Results Of the 39 subjects originally enrolled, 24 completed the protocol and had evaluable outcomes. 12/24 (50%) successfully passed a challenge one month after stopping OIT and achieved sustained unresponsiveness. Peanut was added to the diet. At baseline and the time of challenge, such subjects had smaller skin tests as well as lower IgE levels specific for peanut, Ara h 1, and Ara h 2, and lower ratios of peanut-specific:total IgE, compared to subjects not passing. There were no differences in peanut IgG4 levels or functional activity at end-of-study. Conclusions This is the first demonstration of sustained unresponsiveness after peanut OIT, occurring in half of subjects treated up to five years. OIT favorably modified the peanut-specific immune response in all subjects completing the protocol. Smaller skin tests and lower allergen-specific IgE levels were predictive of successful outcome. PMID:24361082

Assessment of public health impact of work-related asthma.

PubMed

Jaakkola, Maritta S; Jaakkola, Jouni J K

2012-03-05

Asthma is among the most common chronic diseases in working-aged populations and occupational exposures are important causal agents. Our aims were to evaluate the best methods to assess occurrence, public health impact, and burden to society related to occupational or work-related asthma and to achieve comparable estimates for different populations. We addressed three central questions: 1: What is the best method to assess the occurrence of occupational asthma? We evaluated: 1) assessment of the occurrence of occupational asthma per se, and 2) assessment of adult-onset asthma and the population attributable fractions due to specific occupational exposures. 2: What are the best methods to assess public health impact and burden to society related to occupational or work-related asthma? We evaluated methods based on assessment of excess burden of disease due to specific occupational exposures. 3: How to achieve comparable estimates for different populations? We evaluated comparability of estimates of occurrence and burden attributable to occupational asthma based on different methods. Assessment of the occurrence of occupational asthma per se can be used in countries with good coverage of the identification system for occupational asthma, i.e. countries with well-functioning occupational health services. Assessment based on adult-onset asthma and population attributable fractions due to specific occupational exposures is a good approach to estimate the occurrence of occupational asthma at the population level. For assessment of public health impact from work-related asthma we recommend assessing excess burden of disease due to specific occupational exposures, including excess incidence of asthma complemented by an assessment of disability from it. International comparability of estimates can be best achieved by methods based on population attributable fractions. Public health impact assessment for occupational asthma is central in prevention and health policy planning and could be improved by purposeful development of methods for assessing health benefits from preventive actions. Registry-based methods are suitable for evaluating time-trends of occurrence at a given population but for international comparisons they face serious limitations. Assessment of excess burden of disease due to specific occupational exposure is a useful measure, when there is valid information on population exposure and attributable fractions.

Level of tissue differentiation influences the activation of a heat-inducible flower-specific system for genetic containment in poplar (Populus tremula L.).

PubMed

Hoenicka, Hans; Lehnhardt, Denise; Nunna, Suneetha; Reinhardt, Richard; Jeltsch, Albert; Briones, Valentina; Fladung, Matthias

2016-02-01

Differentiation level but not transgene copy number influenced activation of a gene containment system in poplar. Heat treatments promoted CRE gene body methylation. The flower-specific transgene deletion was confirmed. Gene flow between genetic modified trees and their wild relatives is still motive of concern. Therefore, approaches for gene containment are required. In this study, we designed a novel strategy for achieving an inducible and flower-specific transgene removal from poplar trees but still expressing the transgene in the plant body. Hence, pollen carrying transgenes could be used for breeding purposes under controlled conditions in a first phase, and in the second phase genetic modified poplars developing transgene-free pollen grains could be released. This approach is based on the recombination systems CRE/loxP and FLP/frt. Both gene constructs contained a heat-inducible CRE/loxP-based spacer sequence for in vivo assembling of the flower-specific FLP/frt system. This allowed inducible activation of gene containment. The FLP/frt system was under the regulation of a flower-specific promoter, either CGPDHC or PTD. Our results confirmed complete CRE/loxP-based in vivo assembling of the flower-specific transgene excision system after heat treatment in all cells for up to 30 % of regenerants derived from undifferentiated tissue cultures. Degradation of HSP::CRE/loxP spacer after recombination but also persistence as extrachromosomal DNA circles were detected in sub-lines obtained after heat treatments. Furthermore, heat treatment promoted methylation of the CRE gene body. A lower methylation level was detected at CpG sites in transgenic sub-lines showing complete CRE/loxP recombination and persistence of CRE/loxP spacer, compared to sub-lines with incomplete recombination. However, our results suggest that low methylation might be necessary but not sufficient for recombination. The flower-specific FLP/frt-based transgene deletion was confirmed in 6.3 % of flowers.

Functional MRI registration with tissue-specific patch-based functional correlation tensors.

PubMed

Zhou, Yujia; Zhang, Han; Zhang, Lichi; Cao, Xiaohuan; Yang, Ru; Feng, Qianjin; Yap, Pew-Thian; Shen, Dinggang

2018-06-01

Population studies of brain function with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) rely on accurate intersubject registration of functional areas. This is typically achieved through registration using high-resolution structural images with more spatial details and better tissue contrast. However, accumulating evidence has suggested that such strategy cannot align functional regions well because functional areas are not necessarily consistent with anatomical structures. To alleviate this problem, a number of registration algorithms based directly on rs-fMRI data have been developed, most of which utilize functional connectivity (FC) features for registration. However, most of these methods usually extract functional features only from the thin and highly curved cortical grey matter (GM), posing great challenges to accurate estimation of whole-brain deformation fields. In this article, we demonstrate that additional useful functional features can also be extracted from the whole brain, not restricted to the GM, particularly the white-matter (WM), for improving the overall functional registration. Specifically, we quantify local anisotropic correlation patterns of the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals using tissue-specific patch-based functional correlation tensors (ts-PFCTs) in both GM and WM. Functional registration is then performed by integrating the features from different tissues using the multi-channel large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping (mLDDMM) algorithm. Experimental results show that our method achieves superior functional registration performance, compared with conventional registration methods. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evolution and development of the vertebrate ear

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fritzsch, B.; Beisel, K. W.

2001-01-01

This review outlines major aspects of development and evolution of the ear, specifically addressing issues of cell fate commitment and the emerging molecular governance of these decisions. Available data support the notion of homology of subsets of mechanosensors across phyla (proprioreceptive mechanosensory neurons in insects, hair cells in vertebrates). It is argued that this conservation is primarily related to the specific transducing environment needed to achieve mechanosensation. Achieving this requires highly conserved transcription factors that regulate the expression of the relevant structural genes for mechanosensory transduction. While conserved at the level of some cell fate assignment genes (atonal and its mammalian homologue), the ear has also radically reorganized its development by implementing genes used for cell fate assignment in other parts of the developing nervous systems (e.g., neurogenin 1) and by evolving novel sets of genes specifically associated with the novel formation of sensory neurons that contact hair cells (neurotrophins and their receptors). Numerous genes have been identified that regulate morphogenesis, but there is only one common feature that emerges at the moment: the ear appears to have co-opted genes from a large variety of other parts of the developing body (forebrain, limbs, kidneys) and establishes, in combination with existing transcription factors, an environment in which those genes govern novel, ear-related morphogenetic aspects. The ear thus represents a unique mix of highly conserved developmental elements combined with co-opted and newly evolved developmental elements.

Application of sigma metrics for the assessment of quality control in clinical chemistry laboratory in Ghana: A pilot study.

PubMed

Afrifa, Justice; Gyekye, Seth A; Owiredu, William K B A; Ephraim, Richard K D; Essien-Baidoo, Samuel; Amoah, Samuel; Simpong, David L; Arthur, Aaron R

2015-01-01

Sigma metrics provide a uniquely defined scale with which we can assess the performance of a laboratory. The objective of this study was to assess the internal quality control (QC) in the clinical chemistry laboratory of the University of Cape Cost Hospital (UCC) using the six sigma metrics application. We used commercial control serum [normal (L1) and pathological (L2)] for validation of quality control. Metabolites (glucose, urea, and creatinine), lipids [triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)], enzymes [alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (AST)], electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and total protein were assessed. Between-day imprecision (CVs), inaccuracy (Bias) and sigma values were calculated for each control level. Apart from sodium (2.40%, 3.83%), chloride (2.52% and 2.51%) for both L1 and L2 respectively, and glucose (4.82%), cholesterol (4.86%) for L2, CVs for all other parameters (both L1 and L2) were >5%. Four parameters (HDL-C, urea, creatinine and potassium) achieved sigma levels >1 for both controls. Chloride and sodium achieved sigma levels >1 for L1 but <1 for L2. In contrast, cholesterol, total protein and AST achieved sigma levels <1 for L1 but >1 for L2. Glucose and ALP achieved a sigma level >1 for both control levels whereas TG achieved a sigma level >2 for both control levels. Unsatisfactory sigma levels (<3) where achieved for all parameters using both control levels, this shows instability and low consistency of results. There is the need for detailed assessment of the analytical procedures and the strengthening of the laboratory control systems in order to achieve effective six sigma levels for the laboratory.

Application of sigma metrics for the assessment of quality control in clinical chemistry laboratory in Ghana: A pilot study

PubMed Central

Afrifa, Justice; Gyekye, Seth A.; Owiredu, William K. B. A.; Ephraim, Richard K. D.; Essien-Baidoo, Samuel; Amoah, Samuel; Simpong, David L.; Arthur, Aaron R.

2015-01-01

Background: Sigma metrics provide a uniquely defined scale with which we can assess the performance of a laboratory. The objective of this study was to assess the internal quality control (QC) in the clinical chemistry laboratory of the University of Cape Cost Hospital (UCC) using the six sigma metrics application. Materials and Methods: We used commercial control serum [normal (L1) and pathological (L2)] for validation of quality control. Metabolites (glucose, urea, and creatinine), lipids [triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)], enzymes [alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (AST)], electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and total protein were assessed. Between-day imprecision (CVs), inaccuracy (Bias) and sigma values were calculated for each control level. Results: Apart from sodium (2.40%, 3.83%), chloride (2.52% and 2.51%) for both L1 and L2 respectively, and glucose (4.82%), cholesterol (4.86%) for L2, CVs for all other parameters (both L1 and L2) were >5%. Four parameters (HDL-C, urea, creatinine and potassium) achieved sigma levels >1 for both controls. Chloride and sodium achieved sigma levels >1 for L1 but <1 for L2. In contrast, cholesterol, total protein and AST achieved sigma levels <1 for L1 but >1 for L2. Glucose and ALP achieved a sigma level >1 for both control levels whereas TG achieved a sigma level >2 for both control levels. Conclusion: Unsatisfactory sigma levels (<3) where achieved for all parameters using both control levels, this shows instability and low consistency of results. There is the need for detailed assessment of the analytical procedures and the strengthening of the laboratory control systems in order to achieve effective six sigma levels for the laboratory. PMID:25657495

A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction in science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayraktar, Sule

2000-10-01

The purposes of this study were to determine whether Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) had an overall positive effect on student achievement in secondary and college level science education when compared with traditional forms of instruction and to determine whether specific study or program characteristics were related to CAI effectiveness. This study employed a meta analytic research approach. First, the research studies comparing student achievement between CAI and traditional instruction in science were located by using electronic search databases. The search resulted in 42 studies producing 108 effect sizes. Second, the study features and effect sizes for each study were coded. Finally, the effect sizes provided from each study were combined to provide an overall effect size, and relationships between effect sizes and study features were then examined. The overall effect size was found to be 0.273 standard deviations, suggesting that CAI has a small positive effect on student achievement in science education at the college and secondary levels when compared with traditional forms of instruction. An effect size of 0.273 standard deviations indicates that an average student exposed to CAI exceeded the performance of 62% of the students who were taught by using traditional instructional methods. In other words, the typical student moved from the 50th percentile to the 62 nd percentile in science when CAI was used. All variables excluding school level and publication status were found to be related to effect sizes. According to the results of the analysis, CAI was most effective in physics education and had little effect on chemistry and biology achievement. Simulation and tutorial programs had significant effects on student achievement in science education but drill and practice was not found effective. The results also indicated that individual utilization of CAI was preferable. Another finding from the study is that experimenter-developed software was more effective than commercial, and that CAI was more effective than traditional instruction when the duration of treatment was shorter than 4 weeks. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the effectiveness of CAI in science subject areas decreased over the decades.

Why Some Countries Attract More High-Ability Young Students to Teaching: Cross-National Comparisons of Students’ Expectation of Becoming a Teacher

PubMed Central

PARK, HYUNJOON; BYUN, SOO-YONG

2017-01-01

Using data from 37,570 students in 23 OECD countries in PISA 2006, we examine how national contexts shape the expectation of being a teacher at age 30 among high-achieving students in secondary schools. Our results show considerable between-country differences in the degree of students’ expectation of a teaching job. To address sources of this cross-national variation, we use two-level logit models by linking student-level data with country-level data. Consistent with earlier findings, we find that teachers’ economic status matters for students’ expectation of becoming a teacher. Moreover, our results show that teachers’ social status also matters. Countries’ levels of professionalization of teaching, indicated by whether teachers have a bachelor’s degree and are fully certified, are also related to students’ expectation of the teaching profession. Specifically, in countries with higher levels of professionalization, we see a reduced gender gap in students’ expectation of becoming a teacher. PMID:28529349

Contamination control program for the Cosmic Background Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barney, Richard D.

1991-01-01

Each of the three state of the art instruments flown aboard NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) were designed, fabricated, and integrated using unique contamination control procedures to ensure accurate characterization of the diffuse radiation in the universe. The most stringent surface level cleanliness specifications ever attempted by NASA were required by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DRIBE) which is located inside a liquid helium cooled dewar along with the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS). The DRIBE instrument required complex stray radiation suppression that defined a cold primary optical baffle system surface cleanliness level of 100A. The cleanliness levels of the cryogenic FIRAS instrument and the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) which were positioned symmetrically around the dewar were less stringent ranging from 300 to 500A. To achieve these instrument cleanliness levels, the entire flight spacecraft was maintained at level 500A throughout each phase of development. The COBE contamination control program is described along with the difficulties experienced in maintaining the cleanliness quality of personnel and flight hardware throughout instrument assembly.

Bottom-up and top-down influences at untrained conditions determine perceptual learning specificity and transfer

PubMed Central

Xiong, Ying-Zi; Zhang, Jun-Yun; Yu, Cong

2016-01-01

Perceptual learning is often orientation and location specific, which may indicate neuronal plasticity in early visual areas. However, learning specificity diminishes with additional exposure of the transfer orientation or location via irrelevant tasks, suggesting that the specificity is related to untrained conditions, likely because neurons representing untrained conditions are neither bottom-up stimulated nor top-down attended during training. To demonstrate these top-down and bottom-up contributions, we applied a “continuous flash suppression” technique to suppress the exposure stimulus into sub-consciousness, and with additional manipulations to achieve pure bottom-up stimulation or top-down attention with the transfer condition. We found that either bottom-up or top-down influences enabled significant transfer of orientation and Vernier discrimination learning. These results suggest that learning specificity may result from under-activations of untrained visual neurons due to insufficient bottom-up stimulation and/or top-down attention during training. High-level perceptual learning thus may not functionally connect to these neurons for learning transfer. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14614.001 PMID:27377357

Are Autonomous and Controlled Motivations School-Subjects-Specific?

PubMed

Chanal, Julien; Guay, Frédéric

2015-01-01

This research sought to test whether autonomous and controlled motivations are specific to school subjects or more general to the school context. In two cross-sectional studies, 252 elementary school children (43.7% male; mean age = 10.7 years, SD = 1.3 years) and 334 junior high school children (49.7% male, mean age = 14.07 years, SD = 1.01 years) were administered a questionnaire assessing their motivation for various school subjects. Results based on structural equation modeling using the correlated trait-correlated method minus one model (CTCM-1) showed that autonomous and controlled motivations assessed at the school subject level are not equally school-subject-specific. We found larger specificity effects for autonomous (intrinsic and identified) than for controlled (introjected and external) motivation. In both studies, results of factor loadings and the correlations with self-concept and achievement demonstrated that more evidence of specificity was obtained for autonomous regulations than for controlled ones. These findings suggest a new understanding of the hierarchical and multidimensional academic structure of autonomous and controlled motivations and of the mechanisms involved in the development of types of regulations for school subjects.

Are Autonomous and Controlled Motivations School-Subjects-Specific?

PubMed Central

Chanal, Julien; Guay, Frédéric

2015-01-01

This research sought to test whether autonomous and controlled motivations are specific to school subjects or more general to the school context. In two cross-sectional studies, 252 elementary school children (43.7% male; mean age = 10.7 years, SD = 1.3 years) and 334 junior high school children (49.7% male, mean age = 14.07 years, SD = 1.01 years) were administered a questionnaire assessing their motivation for various school subjects. Results based on structural equation modeling using the correlated trait-correlated method minus one model (CTCM-1) showed that autonomous and controlled motivations assessed at the school subject level are not equally school-subject-specific. We found larger specificity effects for autonomous (intrinsic and identified) than for controlled (introjected and external) motivation. In both studies, results of factor loadings and the correlations with self-concept and achievement demonstrated that more evidence of specificity was obtained for autonomous regulations than for controlled ones. These findings suggest a new understanding of the hierarchical and multidimensional academic structure of autonomous and controlled motivations and of the mechanisms involved in the development of types of regulations for school subjects. PMID:26247788

Why weight? Modelling sample and observational level variability improves power in RNA-seq analyses.

PubMed

Liu, Ruijie; Holik, Aliaksei Z; Su, Shian; Jansz, Natasha; Chen, Kelan; Leong, Huei San; Blewitt, Marnie E; Asselin-Labat, Marie-Liesse; Smyth, Gordon K; Ritchie, Matthew E

2015-09-03

Variations in sample quality are frequently encountered in small RNA-sequencing experiments, and pose a major challenge in a differential expression analysis. Removal of high variation samples reduces noise, but at a cost of reducing power, thus limiting our ability to detect biologically meaningful changes. Similarly, retaining these samples in the analysis may not reveal any statistically significant changes due to the higher noise level. A compromise is to use all available data, but to down-weight the observations from more variable samples. We describe a statistical approach that facilitates this by modelling heterogeneity at both the sample and observational levels as part of the differential expression analysis. At the sample level this is achieved by fitting a log-linear variance model that includes common sample-specific or group-specific parameters that are shared between genes. The estimated sample variance factors are then converted to weights and combined with observational level weights obtained from the mean-variance relationship of the log-counts-per-million using 'voom'. A comprehensive analysis involving both simulations and experimental RNA-sequencing data demonstrates that this strategy leads to a universally more powerful analysis and fewer false discoveries when compared to conventional approaches. This methodology has wide application and is implemented in the open-source 'limma' package. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Aspects of science engagement, student background, and school characteristics: Impacts on science achievement of U.S. students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grabau, Larry J.

Science achievement of U.S. students has lagged significantly behind other nations; educational reformers have suggested science engagement may enhance this critical measure. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was science-focused and measured science achievement along with nine aspects of science engagement: science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities. I used multilevel modeling techniques to address both aspects of science engagement and science achievement as outcome variables in the context of student background and school characteristics. Treating aspects of science engagement as outcome variables provided tests for approaches for their enhancement; meanwhile, treating science achievement as the outcome variable provided tests for the influence of the aspects of science engagement on science achievement under appropriate controls. When aspects of science engagement were treated as outcome variables, gender and father's SES had frequent (significant) influences, as did science teaching strategies which focused on applications or models and hands-on activities over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. When science achievement was treated as the outcome variable, each aspect of science engagement was significant, and eight had medium or large effect sizes (future-oriented science motivation was the exception). The science teaching strategy which involved hands-on activities frequently enhanced science achievement over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. Policy recommendations for U.S. science educators included enhancing eight aspects of science engagement and implementing two specific science teaching strategies (focus on applications or models and hands-on activities). Focused implementation of these research findings could enhance both science engagement and science achievement of U.S. students. I identified five keylimitations of my research project: the age of the dataset, the lack of racial/ethnic identifiers, the low proportion of student-level variance accounted for by multilevel models with aspects of science engagement as outcome variables, the lack of class-level measures, and the lack of inclusion of students' epistemological and fixed/flexible beliefs. These limitations provide opportunities for further investigations into these critical issues in science education.

Analytical method for the accurate determination of tricothecenes in grains using LC-MS/MS: a comparison between MRM transition and MS3 quantitation.

PubMed

Lim, Chee Wei; Tai, Siew Hoon; Lee, Lin Min; Chan, Sheot Harn

2012-07-01

The current food crisis demands unambiguous determination of mycotoxin contamination in staple foods to achieve safer food for consumption. This paper describes the first accurate LC-MS/MS method developed to analyze tricothecenes in grains by applying multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transition and MS(3) quantitation strategies in tandem. The tricothecenes are nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside, fusarenon X, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, and HT-2 and T-2 toxins. Acetic acid and ammonium acetate were used to convert the analytes into their respective acetate adducts and ammonium adducts under negative and positive MS polarity conditions, respectively. The mycotoxins were separated by reversed-phase LC in a 13.5-min run, ionized using electrospray ionization, and detected by tandem mass spectrometry. Analyte-specific mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios were used to perform quantitation under MRM transition and MS(3) (linear ion trap) modes. Three experiments were made for each quantitation mode and matrix in batches over 6 days for recovery studies. The matrix effect was investigated at concentration levels of 20, 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 μg kg(-1) (n = 3) in 5 g corn flour and rice flour. Extraction with acetonitrile provided a good overall recovery range of 90-108% (n = 3) at three levels of spiking concentration of 40, 80, and 120 μg kg(-1). A quantitation limit of 2-6 μg kg(-1) was achieved by applying an MRM transition quantitation strategy. Under MS(3) mode, a quantitation limit of 4-10 μg kg(-1) was achieved. Relative standard deviations of 2-10% and 2-11% were reported for MRM transition and MS(3) quantitation, respectively. The successful utilization of MS(3) enabled accurate analyte fragmentation pattern matching and its quantitation, leading to the development of analytical methods in fields that demand both analyte specificity and fragmentation fingerprint-matching capabilities that are unavailable under MRM transition.

Proactive monitoring of a wind turbine array with lidar measurements, SCADA data and a data-driven RANS solver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iungo, G.; Said, E. A.; Santhanagopalan, V.; Zhan, L.

2016-12-01

Power production of a wind farm and durability of wind turbines are strongly dependent on non-linear wake interactions occurring within a turbine array. Wake dynamics are highly affected by the specific site conditions, such as topography and local atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, contingencies through the life of a wind farm, such as turbine ageing and off-design operations, make prediction of wake interactions and power performance a great challenge in wind energy. In this work, operations of an onshore wind turbine array were monitored through lidar measurements, SCADA and met-tower data. The atmospheric wind field investing the wind farm was estimated by using synergistically the available data through five different methods, which are characterized by different confidence levels. By combining SCADA data and the lidar measurements, it was possible to estimate power losses connected with wake interactions. For this specific array, power losses were estimated to be 4% and 2% of the total power production for stable and convective atmospheric regimes, respectively. The entire dataset was then leveraged for the calibration of a data-driven RANS (DDRANS) solver for prediction of wind turbine wakes and power production. The DDRANS is based on a parabolic formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations with axisymmetry and boundary layer approximations, which allow achieving very low computational costs. Accuracy in prediction of wind turbine wakes and power production is achieved through an optimal tuning of the turbulence closure model. The latter is based on a mixing length model, which was developed based on previous wind turbine wake studies carried out through large eddy simulations and wind tunnel experiments. Several operative conditions of the wind farm under examination were reproduced through DDRANS for different stability regimes, wind directions and wind velocity. The results show that DDRANS is capable of achieving a good level of accuracy in prediction of power production and wake velocity field associated with the turbine array.

Deep radio imaging of the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field : the nature of the faint radio population, and the star-formation history of the Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arumugam, Vinodiran

2013-08-01

Breast cancer remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Assessment of the axillary lymph nodes is part of the staging of the disease. Advances in surgical management of breast cancer have seen a move towards intra-operative lymph node assessment that facilitates an immediate axillary clearance if it is indicated. Raman spectroscopy, a technique based on the inelastic scattering of light, has previously been shown to be capable of differentiating between normal and malignant tissue. These results, based on the biochemical composition of the tissue, potentially allow for this technique to be utilised in this clinical context. The aim of this study was to evaluate the facility of Raman spectroscopy to both assess axillary lymph node tissue within the theatre setting and to achieve results that were comparable to other intra-operative techniques within a clinically relevant time frame. Initial experiments demonstrated that these aims were feasible within the context of both the theatre environment and current surgical techniques. A laboratory based feasibility study involving 17 patients and 38 lymph node samples achieved sensivities and specificities of >90% in unsupervised testing. 339 lymph node samples from 66 patients were subsequently assessed within the theatre environment. Chemometric analysis of this data demonstrated sensitivities of up to 94% and specificities of up to 99% in unsupervised testing. The best results were achieved when comparing negative nodes from N0 patients and nodes containing macrometastases. Spectral analysis revealed increased levels of lipid in the negative nodes and increased DNA and protein levels in the positive nodes. Further studies highlighted the reproducibility of these results using different equipment, users and time from excision. This study uses Raman spectroscopy for the first time in an operating theatre and demonstrates that the results obtained, in real-time, are comparable, if not superior, to current intra-operative techniques of lymph nodes assessment.

Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

PubMed

Pradhan, Prajal; Fischer, Günther; van Velthuizen, Harrij; Reusser, Dominik E; Kropp, Juergen P

2015-01-01

Global food production needs to be increased by 60-110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O) to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45-73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22-46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2-3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends on the way management strategies for closing yield gaps are chosen and implemented.

Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

PubMed Central

Pradhan, Prajal; Fischer, Günther; van Velthuizen, Harrij; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Juergen P.

2015-01-01

Global food production needs to be increased by 60–110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O) to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45–73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22–46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2–3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends on the way management strategies for closing yield gaps are chosen and implemented. PMID:26083456

Importance of Reactive Agility and Change of Direction Speed in Differentiating Performance Levels in Junior Soccer Players: Reliability and Validity of Newly Developed Soccer-Specific Tests

PubMed Central

Pojskic, Haris; Åslin, Erik; Krolo, Ante; Jukic, Ivan; Uljevic, Ognjen; Spasic, Miodrag; Sekulic, Damir

2018-01-01

Agility is a significant determinant of success in soccer; however, studies have rarely presented and evaluated soccer-specific tests of reactive agility (S_RAG) and non-reactive agility (change of direction speed – S_CODS) or their applicability in this sport. The aim of this study was to define the reliability and validity of newly developed tests of the S_RAG and S_CODS to discriminate between the performance levels of junior soccer players. The study consisted of 20 players who were involved at the highest national competitive rank (all males; age: 17.0 ± 0.9 years), divided into three playing positions (defenders, midfielders, and forwards) and two performance levels (U17 and U19). Variables included body mass (BM), body height, body fat percentage, 20-m sprint, squat jump, countermovement jump, reactive-strength-index, unilateral jump, 1RM-back-squat, S_CODS, and three protocols of S_RAG. The reliabilities of the S_RAG and S_CODS were appropriate to high (ICC: 0.70 to 0.92), with the strongest reliability evidenced for the S_CODS. The S_CODS and S_RAG shared 25–40% of the common variance. Playing positions significantly differed in BM (large effect-size differences [ES]; midfielders were lightest) and 1RM-back-squat (large ES; lowest results in midfielders). The performance levels significantly differed in age and experience in soccer; U19 achieved better results in the S_CODS (t-test: 3.61, p < 0.05, large ES) and two S_RAG protocols (t-test: 2.14 and 2.41, p < 0.05, moderate ES). Newly developed tests of soccer-specific agility are applicable to differentiate U17 and U19 players. Coaches who work with young soccer athletes should be informed that the development of soccer-specific CODS and RAG in this age is mostly dependent on training of the specific motor proficiency. PMID:29867552

Using marketing research methods to evaluate a stage-specific intervention.

PubMed

Poscente, Neila; Rothstein, Marsha; Irvine, M Jane

2002-01-01

To show how marketing methods can be used to distribute and evaluate a health promotion intervention. Mass media promotion was used to communicate a physical activity resource. Brief telephone interviews were used to screen callers and recruit participants into a controlled trial. Follow-up was conducted 3 months later. Information was gained about the attitudes and motivation of callers. The majority of participants (study and control) made significant changes in their activity levels. The study demonstrated that even when mass media channels are used, market segmentation can be achieved and program evaluation conducted.

Stratospheric cruise emission reduction program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diehl, L. A.; Reck, G. M.; Marek, C. J.; Szaniszlo, A. J.

1977-01-01

A recently implemented NASA effort specifically aimed at reducing cruise oxides of nitrogen from high-altitude aircraft is discussed. The desired emission levels and the combustor technology required to achieve them are discussed. A brief overview of the SCERP operating plan is given. Lean premixed-prevaporized combustion and some of the potential difficulties that are associated with applying this technique to gas turbine combustors are examined. Base technology was developed in several key areas. These fundamental studies are viewed as a requirement for successful implementation of the lean premixed combustion technique.

Detection of biological molecules using chemical amplification and optical sensors

DOEpatents

Van Antwerp, William Peter; Mastrototaro, John Joseph

2001-01-01

Methods are provided for the determination of the concentration of biological levels of polyhydroxylated compounds, particularly glucose. The methods utilize an amplification system that is an analyte transducer immobilized in a polymeric matrix, where the system is implantable and biocompatible. Upon interrogation by an optical system, the amplification system produces a signal capable of detection external to the skin of the patient. Quantitation of the analyte of interest is achieved by measurement of the emitted signal. Specifically, the analyte transducer immobilized in a polymeric matrix can be a boronic acid moiety.