Towards co-packaging of photonics and microelectronics in existing manufacturing facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janta-Polczynski, Alexander; Cyr, Elaine; Bougie, Jerome; Drouin, Alain; Langlois, Richard; Childers, Darrell; Takenobu, Shotaro; Taira, Yoichi; Lichoulas, Ted W.; Kamlapurkar, Swetha; Engelmann, Sebastian; Fortier, Paul; Boyer, Nicolas; Barwicz, Tymon

2018-02-01

The impact of integrated photonics on optical interconnects is currently muted by challenges in photonic packaging and in the dense integration of photonic modules with microelectronic components on printed circuit boards. Single mode optics requires tight alignment tolerance for optical coupling and maintaining this alignment in a cost-efficient package can be challenging during thermal excursions arising from downstream microelectronic assembly processes. In addition, the form factor of typical fiber connectors is incompatible with the dense module integration expected on printed circuit boards. We have implemented novel approaches to interfacing photonic chips to standard optical fibers. These leverage standard high throughput microelectronic assembly tooling and self-alignment techniques resulting in photonic packaging that is scalable in manufacturing volume and in the number of optical IOs per chip. In addition, using dense optical fiber connectors with space-efficient latching of fiber patch cables results in compact module size and efficient board integration, bringing the optics closer to the logic chip to alleviate bandwidth bottlenecks. This packaging direction is also well suited for embedding optics in multi-chip modules, including both photonic and microelectronic chips. We discuss the challenges and rewards in this type of configuration such as thermal management and signal integrity.

Using Linked Electronic Health Records to Estimate Healthcare Costs: Key Challenges and Opportunities.

PubMed

Asaria, Miqdad; Grasic, Katja; Walker, Simon

2016-02-01

This paper discusses key challenges and opportunities that arise when using linked electronic health records (EHR) in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), with a particular focus on estimating healthcare costs. These challenges and opportunities are framed in the context of a case study modelling the costs of stable coronary artery disease in England. The challenges and opportunities discussed fall broadly into the categories of (1) handling and organising data of this size and sensitivity; (2) extracting clinical endpoints from datasets that have not been designed and collected with such endpoints in mind; and (3) the principles and practice of costing resource use from routinely collected data. We find that there are a number of new challenges and opportunities that arise when working with EHR compared with more traditional sources of data for HEOR. These call for greater clinician involvement and intelligent use of sensitivity analysis.

Strategies to Address Common Challenges When Teaching in an Active Learning Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Christina I.; Gorman, Kristen S.

2014-01-01

This chapter provides practical strategies for addressing common challenges that arise for teachers in active learning classrooms. Our strategies come from instructors with experience teaching in these environments.

Laboratory Exercises to Examine Recombination & Aneuploidy in "Drosophila"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venema, Dennis R.

2009-01-01

Chromosomal aneuploidy, a deviation from an exact multiple of an organism's haploid chromosome number, is a difficult concept for students to master. Aneuploidy arising from chromosomal non-disjunction (NDJ) is particularly problematic for students, since it arises in the context of meiosis, itself a challenging subject. Students learning NDJ are…

Understanding Leadership in Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances: A Chilean Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahumada, Luis; Galdames, Sergio; Clarke, Simon

2016-01-01

During the last 10 years, research into schools facing challenging circumstances has attracted the attention of researchers around the world. The aim of this study was to understand the challenges that school leaders face as they per form their work, the nature of the context in which these challenges arise, the strategies school leaders adopt to…

Ethical and professional challenges posed by patients with genetic concerns: a report of focus group discussions with genetic counselors, physicians, and nurses.

PubMed

Veach, P M; Bartels, D M; LeRoy, B S

2001-04-01

Ninety-seven physicians, nurses, and genetic counselors from four regions within the United States participated in focus groups to identify the types of ethical and professional challenges that arise when their patients have genetic concerns. Responses were taped and transcribed and then analyzed using the Hill et al. (1997, Counsel Psychol 25:517-522) Consensual Qualitative Research method of analysis. Sixteen major ethical and professional domains and 63 subcategories were identified. Major domains are informed consent; withholding information; facing uncertainty; resource allocation; value conflicts, directiveness/nondirectiveness; determining the primary patient; professional identity issues; emotional responses; diversity issues; confidentiality; attaining/maintaining proficiency; professional misconduct; discrimination; colleague error; and documentation. Implications for practitioners who deal with genetic issues and recommendations for additional research are given.

Human-Interaction Challenges in UAV-Based Autonomous Surveillance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Michael; Harris, Robert; Shafto, Michael G.

2004-01-01

Autonomous UAVs provide a platform for intelligent surveillance in application domains ranging from security and military operations to scientific information gathering and land management. Surveillance tasks are often long duration, requiring that any approach be adaptive to changes in the environment or user needs. We describe a decision- theoretic model of surveillance, appropriate for use on our autonomous helicopter, that provides a basis for optimizing the value of information returned by the UAV. From this approach arise a range of challenges in making this framework practical for use by human operators lacking specialized knowledge of autonomy and mathematics. This paper describes our platform and approach, then describes human-interaction challenges arising from this approach that we have identified and begun to address.

Navigating the Challenges Arising from University-School Collaborative Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Mak, Pauline

2016-01-01

Despite increasing evidence showing the benefits language teachers can reap from university-school collaborative action research (CAR), scant attention has been given to how university researchers collaborate with language teachers, what challenges they might encounter, and how they navigate such challenges in CAR. To fill the gap, this study…

Development of a Mental Health Nursing Simulation: Challenges and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidd, Lori I.; Morgan, Karyn I.; Savery, John R.

2012-01-01

Nursing education programs are proliferating rapidly in the United States in an effort to meet demand for nurse professionals. Multiple challenges arise from this rapid expansion. One challenge is finding sufficient clinical sites to accommodate students. Increased competition for scarce resources requires creativity in clinical contracting. This…

Diversifying Academic and Professional Identities in Higher Education: Some Management Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitchurch, Celia; Gordon, George

2010-01-01

This paper draws on an international study of the management challenges arising from diversifying academic and professional identities in higher education. These challenges include, for instance, the introduction of practice-based disciplines with different traditions such as health and social care, the changing aspirations and expectations of…

STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING SITE AND RECRUITMENT CHALLENGES IN RESEARCH STUDIES BASED IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

PubMed Central

Chlan, Linda; Guttormson, Jill; Tracy, Mary Fran; Bremer, Karin Lindstrom

2009-01-01

Although enrolling a sufficient number of participants is a challenge for any multisite clinical trial, recruiting patients who are critically ill and receiving mechanical ventilatory support presents additional challenges because of the severity of the patients’ illness and the impediments to their communication. Recruitment challenges related to the research sites, nursing staff, and research participants faced in the first 2 years of a 4-year multisite clinical trial of a patient-directed music intervention for managing anxiety in the intensive care unit were determined. Strategies to overcome these challenges, and thereby increase enrollment, were devised. Individual strategies, such as timing of screening on a unit, were tailored to each participating site to enhance recruitment for this trial. Other strategies, such as obtaining a waiver for a participant’s signature, were instituted across all participating sites. Through implementation of these various strategies, the mean monthly enrollment of participants increased by 50%. Investigators are advised to plan well in advance of starting recruitment for a clinical trial based in an intensive care unit, anticipate peaks and valleys in recruitment, and be proactive in addressing issues creatively as the issues arise. PMID:19723861

Three-dimensional phonon population anisotropy in silicon nanomembranes

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

McElhinny, Kyle M.; Gopalakrishnan, Gokul; Holt, Martin V.

Nanoscale single crystals possess modified phonon dispersions due to the truncation of the crystal. The introduction of surfaces alters the population of phonons relative to the bulk and introduces anisotropy arising from the breaking of translational symmetry. Such modifications exist throughout the Brillouin zone, even in structures with dimensions of several nanometers, posing a challenge to the characterization of vibrational properties and leading to uncertainty in predicting the thermal, optical, and electronic properties of nanomaterials. Synchrotron x-ray thermal diffuse scattering studies find that freestanding Si nanomembranes with thicknesses as large as 21 nm exhibit a higher scattering intensity per unitmore » thickness than bulk silicon. In addition, the anisotropy arising from the finite thickness of these membranes produces particularly intense scattering along reciprocal-space directions normal to the membrane surface compared to corresponding in-plane directions. These results reveal the dimensions at which calculations of materials properties and device characteristics based on bulk phonon dispersions require consideration of the nanoscale size of the crystal.« less

Direct to consumer genetic testing-law and policy concerns in Ireland.

PubMed

de Paor, Aisling

2017-11-25

With rapid scientific and technological advances, the past few years has witnessed the emergence of a new genetic era and a growing understanding of the genetic make-up of human beings. These advances have propelled the introduction of companies offering direct to consumer (DTC) genetic testing, which facilitates the direct provision of such tests to consumers, (for example, via the internet). Although DTC genetic testing offers benefits by enhancing consumer accessibility to such technology, promoting proactive healthcare and increasing genetic awareness, it presents a myriad of challenges, from an ethical, legal and regulatory perspective. As DTC genetic testing usually eliminates the need for a medical professional in accessing genetic tests, this lack of professional guidance and counselling may result in misinterpretation and confusion regarding results. In addition, an evident concern relates to the scientific validity and quality of these tests. A further problem arising is the lack or inadequacy of regulation in this field. Despite the increasing accessibility of DTC genetic testing, this legislative vacuum is apparent in Ireland, where there is no concrete legislation. This article explores the main ethical, legal and regulatory issues arising with the advent of rapid advances in DTC genetic testing in Ireland. Further, with inevitable future advances in genetic science, as well as increasing internet accessibility, the challenges presented are likely to become more amplified. In consideration of the ethical and legal challenges, this paper highlights the regulation of DTC genetic testing as a growing concern in Ireland, recognising its importance to both the scientific community as well as in respect of enhancing consumer confidence in such technologies.

Microstructural Development and Technical Challenges in Laser Additive Manufacturing: Case Study with a 316L Industrial Part

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marya, Manuel; Singh, Virendra; Marya, Surendar; Hascoet, Jean Yves

2015-08-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) brings disruptive changes to the ways parts, and products are designed, fabricated, tested, qualified, inspected, marketed, and sold. These changes introduce novel technical challenges and concerns arising from the maturity and diversity of today's AM processes, feedstock materials, and process parameter interactions. AM bears a resemblance with laser and electron beam welding in the so-called conduction mode, which involves a multitude of dynamic physical events between the projected feedstock and a moving heat source that eventually influence AM part properties. For this paper, an air vent was selected for its thin-walled, hollow, and variable cross section, and limited size. The studied air vents, randomly selected from a qualification batch, were fabricated out of 316L stainless steel using a 4 kW fiber laser powder-fed AM system, referred to as construction laser additive direct (CLAD). These were systematically characterized by microhardness indentation, visual examination, optical and scanning electron microscopy, and electron-back-scattering diffraction in order to determine AM part suitability for service and also broadly discuss metallurgical phenomena. The paper then briefly expands the discussion to include additional engineering alloys and further analyze relationships between AM process parameters and AM part properties, consistently utilizing past experience with the same powder-fed CLAD 3D printer, the well-established science and technology of welding and joining, and recent publications on additive manufacturing.

ARISE to the Challenge: Partnering with Urban Youth to Improve Educational Research and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Tara M.

2010-01-01

This paper examines Action Research into School Exclusion (Project ARISE), a two-year research partnership between K-12 students and university researchers. Based on the principles of participatory action research (PAR), the project intentionally brought together university researchers, K-12 students, and pre-service teachers to bridge research…

Enrolling Advisers in Governing Privatised Agricultural Extension in Australia: Challenges and Opportunities for the Research, Development and Extension System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paschen, Jana-Axinja; Reichelt, Nicole; King, Barbara; Ayre, Margaret; Nettle, Ruth

2017-01-01

Purpose: Current developments in the Australian agricultural research, development and extension (RD&E) system exemplify the complex governance challenges arising from the international privatisation of agricultural extension. Presenting early challenges emerging from a multi-stakeholder project aimed at stimulating the role of the private…

Is Particle Physics Ready for the LHC

ScienceCinema

Lykken, Joseph

2017-12-09

The advent of the Large Hadron Collider in 2007 entails daunting challenges to particle physicists. The first set of challenges will arise from trying to separate new physics from old. The second set of challenges will come in trying to interpret the new discoveries. I will describe a few of the scariest examples.

Ethical Challenges of Military Social Workers Serving in a Combat Zone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Catherine A.; Rycraft, Joan R.

2010-01-01

Often faced with ethical challenges that may appear extraordinary, military social workers comprise a distinctive subgroup of the social work profession. From the unique paradigms in which they practice their craft, obvious questions about how military social workers address the ethical challenges inherent to their wartime mission arise. Using a…

Cluster randomization and political philosophy.

PubMed

Chwang, Eric

2012-11-01

In this paper, I will argue that, while the ethical issues raised by cluster randomization can be challenging, they are not new. My thesis divides neatly into two parts. In the first, easier part I argue that many of the ethical challenges posed by cluster randomized human subjects research are clearly present in other types of human subjects research, and so are not novel. In the second, more difficult part I discuss the thorniest ethical challenge for cluster randomized research--cases where consent is genuinely impractical to obtain. I argue that once again these cases require no new analytic insight; instead, we should look to political philosophy for guidance. In other words, the most serious ethical problem that arises in cluster randomized research also arises in political philosophy. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Confrontation, Consolidation, and Recognition: The Oocyte’s Perspective on the Incoming Sperm

PubMed Central

Miller, David

2015-01-01

From the oocyte’s perspective, the incoming sperm poses a significant challenge. Despite (usually) arising from a male of the same species, the sperm is a “foreign” body that may carry with it additional, undesirable factors such as transposable elements (mainly retroposons) into the egg. These factors can arise either during spermatogenesis or while the sperm is moving through the epididymis or the female genital tract. Furthermore, in addition to the paternal genome, the sperm also carries its own complex repertoire of RNAs into the egg that includes mRNAs, lncRNAs, and sncRNAs. Last, the paternal genome itself is efficiently packaged into a protamine (nucleo-toroid) and histone (nucleosome)-based chromatin scaffold within which much of the RNA is embedded. Taken together, the sperm delivers a far more complex package to the egg than was originally thought. Understanding this complexity, at both the compositional and structural level, depends largely on investigating sperm chromatin from both the genomic (DNA packaging) and epigenomic (RNA carriage and extant histone modifications) perspectives. Why this complexity has arisen and its likely purpose requires us to look more closely at what happens in the oocyte when the sperm gains entry and the processes that then take place preparing the paternal (and maternal) genomes for syngamy. PMID:25957313

Ethical Dilemmas in Disaster Medicine

PubMed Central

Ozge Karadag, C; Kerim Hakan, A

2012-01-01

Background Disasters may lead to ethical challenges that are different from usual medical practices. In addition, disaster situations are related with public health ethics more than medical ethics, and accordingly may require stronger effort to achieve a balance between individual and collective rights. This paper aims to review some ethical dilemmas that arise in disasters and mainly focuses on health services. Disasters vary considerably with respect to their time, place and extent; therefore, ethical questions may not always have `one-size-fits-all` answers. On the other hand, embedding ethical values and principles in every aspect of health-care is of vital importance. Reviewing legal and organizational regulations, developing health-care related guidelines, and disaster recovery plans, establishing on-call ethics committees as well as adequate in-service training of health-care workers for ethical competence are among the most critical steps. It is only by making efforts before disasters, that ethical challenges can be minimized in disaster responses. PMID:23285411

Potential of Continuous Manufacturing for Liposomal Drug Products.

PubMed

Worsham, Robert D; Thomas, Vaughan; Farid, Suzanne S

2018-05-21

Over the last several years, continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals has evolved from bulk APIs and solid oral dosages into the more complex realm of biologics. The development of continuous downstream processing techniques has allowed biologics manufacturing to realize the benefits (e.g. improved economics, more consistent quality) that come with continuous processing. If relevant processing techniques and principles are selected, the opportunity arises to develop continuous manufacturing designs for additional pharmaceutical products including liposomal drug formulations. Liposome manufacturing has some inherent aspects that make it favorable for a continuous process. Other aspects such as formulation refinement, materials of construction, and aseptic processing need development, but present an achievable challenge. This paper reviews the current state of continuous manufacturing technology applicable to liposomal drug product manufacturing and an assessment of the challenges and potential of this application. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Saudi Vigilance Program: Challenges and lessons learned.

PubMed

Alharf, Adel; Alqahtani, Nasser; Saeed, Ghazi; Alshahrani, Ali; Alshahrani, Mubarak; Aljasser, Nasser; Alquwaizani, Mohammed; Bawazir, Saleh

2018-03-01

Pharmacovigilance is vital to public health. Adopting a robust spontaneous reporting system for adverse drug events can counteract most hazards that arise from utilizing medicinal products. Prior to the establishment of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), the number of pharmacovigilance-related activities in Saudi Arabia was limited. In 2009, the SFDA established the National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Center (Saudi Vigilance). The pharmacovigilance system has remarkably improved during the past few years. Several initiatives have been taken to improve the program's performance. These initiatives include initiation of pharmacovigilance guidelines, enhancement of communication and reporting tools, training sessions for concerned staff and healthcare providers, and compliance from stakeholders. This review article provides an overview of what the Saudi Vigilance program is, focusing on the scope, mission and vision, hierarchy, operational themes, and overall work processes. Additionally, we will shed light on the challenges we encountered during the early phase and on our future plans.

How do humans inspect BPMN models: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Haisjackl, Cornelia; Soffer, Pnina; Lim, Shao Yi; Weber, Barbara

2018-01-01

Even though considerable progress regarding the technical perspective on modeling and supporting business processes has been achieved, it appears that the human perspective is still often left aside. In particular, we do not have an in-depth understanding of how process models are inspected by humans, what strategies are taken, what challenges arise, and what cognitive processes are involved. This paper contributes toward such an understanding and reports an exploratory study investigating how humans identify and classify quality issues in BPMN process models. Providing preliminary answers to initial research questions, we also indicate other research questions that can be investigated using this approach. Our qualitative analysis shows that humans adapt different strategies on how to identify quality issues. In addition, we observed several challenges appearing when humans inspect process models. Finally, we present different manners in which classification of quality issues was addressed.

Development and Application of Plasma Actuators for Active Control of High-Speed and High Reynolds Number Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sammy, Mo

2010-01-01

Active flow control is often used to manipulate flow instabilities to achieve a desired goal (e.g. prevent separation, enhance mixing, reduce noise, etc.). Instability frequencies normally scale with flow velocity scale and inversely with flow length scale (U/l). In a laboratory setting for such flow experiments, U is high, but l is low, resulting in high instability frequency. In addition, high momentum and high background noise & turbulence in the flow necessitate high amplitude actuation. Developing a high amplitude and high frequency actuator is a major challenge. Ironically, these requirements ease up in application (but other issues arise).

Peer-Assessment in Higher Education--Twenty-First Century Practices, Challenges and the Way Forward

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashenafi, Michael Mogessie

2017-01-01

Peer assessment in higher education has been studied for decades. Despite the substantial amount of research carried out, peer assessment has yet to make significant advances. This review identifies themes of recent research and highlights the challenges that have hampered its advance. Most of these challenges arise from the manual nature of peer…

An overview of current approaches and future challenges in physiological monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horst, Richard L.

1988-01-01

Sufficient evidence exists from laboratory studies to suggest that physiological measures can be useful as an adjunct to behavioral and subjective measures of human performance and capabilities. Thus it is reasonable to address the conceptual and engineering challenges that arise in applying this technology in operational settings. Issues reviewed include the advantages and disadvantages of constructs such as mental states, the need for physiological measures of performance, areas of application for physiological measures in operational settings, which measures appear to be most useful, problem areas that arise in the use of these measures in operational settings, and directions for future development.

The Challenges of Digital Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLeod, Scott

2015-01-01

Because digital devices and online environments can simultaneously be transformatively empowering and maddeningly disruptive, the work of integrating digital learning tools into schools is usually difficult and complex. Common challenges arise, however, and can be thoughtfully addressed by proactive leadership. In the end, technology change in…

GraphMeta: Managing HPC Rich Metadata in Graphs

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

Dai, Dong; Chen, Yong; Carns, Philip

High-performance computing (HPC) systems face increasingly critical metadata management challenges, especially in the approaching exascale era. These challenges arise not only from exploding metadata volumes, but also from increasingly diverse metadata, which contains data provenance and arbitrary user-defined attributes in addition to traditional POSIX metadata. This ‘rich’ metadata is becoming critical to supporting advanced data management functionality such as data auditing and validation. In our prior work, we identified a graph-based model as a promising solution to uniformly manage HPC rich metadata due to its flexibility and generality. However, at the same time, graph-based HPC rich metadata anagement also introducesmore » significant challenges to the underlying infrastructure. In this study, we first identify the challenges on the underlying infrastructure to support scalable, high-performance rich metadata management. Based on that, we introduce GraphMeta, a graphbased engine designed for this use case. It achieves performance scalability by introducing a new graph partitioning algorithm and a write-optimal storage engine. We evaluate GraphMeta under both synthetic and real HPC metadata workloads, compare it with other approaches, and demonstrate its advantages in terms of efficiency and usability for rich metadata management in HPC systems.« less

Accelerated failure time models for semi-competing risks data in the presence of complex censoring.

PubMed

Lee, Kyu Ha; Rondeau, Virginie; Haneuse, Sebastien

2017-12-01

Statistical analyses that investigate risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are often subject to a number of challenges. Some of these challenges arise due to practical considerations regarding data collection such that the observation of AD events is subject to complex censoring including left-truncation and either interval or right-censoring. Additional challenges arise due to the fact that study participants under investigation are often subject to competing forces, most notably death, that may not be independent of AD. Towards resolving the latter, researchers may choose to embed the study of AD within the "semi-competing risks" framework for which the recent statistical literature has seen a number of advances including for the so-called illness-death model. To the best of our knowledge, however, the semi-competing risks literature has not fully considered analyses in contexts with complex censoring, as in studies of AD. This is particularly the case when interest lies with the accelerated failure time (AFT) model, an alternative to the traditional multiplicative Cox model that places emphasis away from the hazard function. In this article, we outline a new Bayesian framework for estimation/inference of an AFT illness-death model for semi-competing risks data subject to complex censoring. An efficient computational algorithm that gives researchers the flexibility to adopt either a fully parametric or a semi-parametric model specification is developed and implemented. The proposed methods are motivated by and illustrated with an analysis of data from the Adult Changes in Thought study, an on-going community-based prospective study of incident AD in western Washington State. © 2017, The International Biometric Society.

Financing Academic Departments of Psychiatry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liptzin, Benjamin; Meyer, Roger E.

2011-01-01

Objective: The authors describe the many financial challenges facing academic departments of psychiatry and the resulting opportunities that may arise. Method: The authors review the history of financial challenges, the current economic situation, and what may lie ahead for academic departments of psychiatry. Results: The current environment has…

Ethical Issues and Practical Challenges in Suicide Research.

PubMed

Hom, Melanie A; Podlogar, Matthew C; Stanley, Ian H; Joiner, Thomas E

2017-03-01

Research with human subjects represents a critical avenue for suicide prevention efforts; however, such research is not without its ethical and practical challenges. Specifically, given the nature of research with individuals at elevated risk for suicide (e.g., increased concerns regarding participant safety, adverse events, liability, difficulties often arise during the institutional review board (IRB) evaluation and approval process. This paper aims to discuss IRB-related issues associated with suicide prevention research, including researcher and IRB panel member responsibilities, suicide risk assessment and management ethics and procedures, informed consent considerations, preparation of study protocols, and education and training. Points to consider and components to potentially include in an IRB application for suicide-related research are additionally provided. Literature relevant to ethics in suicide research and suicide risk assessment and management was reviewed and synthesized. Suicide research can be conducted in accordance with ethical principles while also furthering the science of suicide prevention. Despite the challenging nature of suicide prevention research, empirically informed solutions exist to address difficulties that may emerge in interfacing with IRBs. There remain areas for improvement in the IRB approval process that warrant further investigation and work.

The legal and ethical concerns that arise from using complex predictive analytics in health care.

PubMed

Cohen, I Glenn; Amarasingham, Ruben; Shah, Anand; Xie, Bin; Lo, Bernard

2014-07-01

Predictive analytics, or the use of electronic algorithms to forecast future events in real time, makes it possible to harness the power of big data to improve the health of patients and lower the cost of health care. However, this opportunity raises policy, ethical, and legal challenges. In this article we analyze the major challenges to implementing predictive analytics in health care settings and make broad recommendations for overcoming challenges raised in the four phases of the life cycle of a predictive analytics model: acquiring data to build the model, building and validating it, testing it in real-world settings, and disseminating and using it more broadly. For instance, we recommend that model developers implement governance structures that include patients and other stakeholders starting in the earliest phases of development. In addition, developers should be allowed to use already collected patient data without explicit consent, provided that they comply with federal regulations regarding research on human subjects and the privacy of health information. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

The potential benefits of repeated measure experiments for fish disease-challenge host-pathogen investigations.

PubMed

Hall, L Malcolm; Collins, Catherine; Collet, Bertrand

2018-02-02

The utility of molecular response data arising from in-vivo single and repeated measure fish disease-challenge experiments is compared. An in-silico 'experiment' involving the generation of two imaginary immune-molecule quantity response profiles over time for individual animals was carried out. Daily 'observed' molecule quantities were drawn from the 'known' individual response profiles to mimic the results of single and repeated measurement. The results indicate that repeated measure experiments are required to infer individual level response profiles, and that these experiments also provide more accurate summary statistics and data more suited to inferring the dependent ordering of the molecular response. Additionally repeated measure experiments utilise fewer animals than single measure experiments. These results are described alongside a discussion of experimental methodological issues pertinent to the adoption of aquatic animal repeated measure experimental designs. We conclude that investigators need to take particular care when making inferences from single measure experiments and that serious consideration should be given to using repeated measure experiments for in-vivo fish disease-challenge investigations. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical Challenges in Biomarker-Driven Drug Development.

PubMed

Hey, Spencer Phillips

2018-01-01

The increasing importance of biomarkers-as drivers of research and drug development activity, surrogate outcomes in clinical trials, and the centerpiece of precision medicine-raises many new ethical challenges. In what follows, I briefly review some of the major ethical challenges and debates already identified in the literature, and then describe a new ethical challenge that arises from the abstract nature of biomarker hypotheses. © 2017 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Towards addressing transient learning challenges in undergraduate physics: an example from electrostatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fredlund, T.; Linder, C.; Airey, J.

2015-09-01

In this article we characterize transient learning challenges as learning challenges that arise out of teaching situations rather than conflicts with prior knowledge. We propose that these learning challenges can be identified by paying careful attention to the representations that students produce. Once a transient learning challenge has been identified, teachers can create interventions to address it. By illustration, we argue that an appropriate way to design such interventions is to create variation around the disciplinary-relevant aspects associated with the transient learning challenge.

Mucosal melanoma: a clinically and biologically unique disease entity.

PubMed

Carvajal, Richard D; Spencer, Sharon A; Lydiatt, William

2012-03-01

Mucosal melanoma (MM) is an aggressive and clinically complex malignancy made more challenging by its relative rarity. Because of the rarity of MM as a whole, and because of the unique biology and clinical challenges of MM arising from each anatomic location, understanding of this disease and its optimal management remains limited. The impact of various treatment strategies on disease control and survival has been difficult to assess because of the small size of most reported series of MM arising from any one particular site, the retrospective nature of most series, and the lack of a uniform comprehensive staging system for this disease. This article summarizes the clinical, pathologic, and molecular features, and the diagnostic and therapeutic considerations for the management of MM, underscoring the similarities and differences from cutaneous melanoma. Furthermore, the distinct clinical features and management implications unique to melanoma arising from the mucosal surfaces of the head and neck, the anorectal region, and the female genital tract are highlighted.

Identifying Unique Ethical Challenges of Indigenous Field-Workers: A Commentary on Alexander and Richman's "Ethical Dilemmas in Evaluations Using Indigenous Research Workers"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Nick L.

2008-01-01

In contrast with nonindigenous workers, to what extent do unique ethical problems arise when indigenous field-workers participate in field studies? Three aspects of study design and operation are considered: data integrity issues, risk issues, and protection issues. Although many of the data quality issues that arise with the use of indigenous…

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-20

to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the...combatants could pursue legal challenges regarding their detention or other wartime actions taken by the Executive. The Bush Administration initially...that are likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-17

immigration consequences. This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to...legal challenges regarding their detention or other wartime actions taken by the Executive. The Bush Administration initially believed that Guantanamo...major legal issues that are likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses

It’s about time: How do sky surveys manage uncertainty about scientific needs many years into the future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darch, Peter T.; Sands, Ashley E.

2016-06-01

Sky surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), generate data on an unprecedented scale. While many scientific projects span a few years from conception to completion, sky surveys are typically on the scale of decades. This paper focuses on critical challenges arising from long timescales, and how sky surveys address these challenges.We present findings from a study of LSST, comprising interviews (n=58) and observation. Conceived in the 1990s, the LSST Corporation was formed in 2003, and construction began in 2014. LSST will commence data collection operations in 2022 for ten years.One challenge arising from this long timescale is uncertainty about future needs of the astronomers who will use these data many years hence. Sources of uncertainty include scientific questions to be posed, astronomical phenomena to be studied, and tools and practices these astronomers will have at their disposal. These uncertainties are magnified by the rapid technological and scientific developments anticipated between now and the start of LSST operations.LSST is implementing a range of strategies to address these challenges. Some strategies involve delaying resolution of uncertainty, placing this resolution in the hands of future data users. Other strategies aim to reduce uncertainty by shaping astronomers’ data analysis practices so that these practices will integrate well with LSST once operations begin.One approach that exemplifies both types of strategy is the decision to make LSST data management software open source, even now as it is being developed. This policy will enable future data users to adapt this software to evolving needs. In addition, LSST intends for astronomers to start using this software well in advance of 2022, thereby embedding LSST software and data analysis approaches in the practices of astronomers.These findings strengthen arguments for making the software supporting sky surveys available as open source. Such arguments usually focus on reuse potential of software, and enhancing replicability of analyses. In this case, however, open source software also promises to mitigate the critical challenge of anticipating the needs of future data users.

Ethical dilemmas in pediatric and adolescent psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

PubMed

Cole, Cristie M; Falcone, Tatiana; Caplan, Rochelle; Timmons-Mitchell, Jane; Jares, Kristine; Ford, Paul J

2014-08-01

To date, only a very narrow window of ethical dilemmas in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) has been explored. Numerous distinct ethical dilemmas arise in diagnosing and treating pediatric and adolescent patients with PNESs. Important ethical values at stake include trust, transparency, confidentiality, professionalism, autonomy of all stakeholders, and justice. In order to further elucidate the ethical challenges in caring for this population, an ethical analysis of the special challenges faced in four specific domains is undertaken: (1) conducting and communicating a diagnosis of PNESs, (2) advising patients about full transparency and disclosure to community including patients' peers, (3) responding to requests to continue antiepileptic drugs, and (4) managing challenges arising from school policy and procedure. An analysis of these ethical issues is essential for the advancement of best care practices that promote the overall well-being of patients and their families. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethical Dilemmas in Pediatric and Adolescent Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures

PubMed Central

Cole, Cristie M.; Falcone, Tatiana; Caplan, Rochelle; Timmons-Mitchell, Jane; Jares, Kristine; Ford, Paul J.

2014-01-01

To date only a very narrow window of ethical dilemmas in psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) have been explored. Numerous distinct ethical dilemmas arise in diagnosing and treating pediatric and adolescent patients with PNES. Important ethical values at stake include trust, transparency, confidentiality, professionalism, autonomy of all stakeholders and justice. In order to further elucidate the ethical challenges in caring for this population, an ethical analysis of the special challenges faced in four specific domains is undertaken: (1) conducting and communicating a diagnosis of PNES; (2) advising patients about full transparency and disclosure to community including patients’ peers; (3) responding to requests to continue anti-epileptic drugs; and (4) managing challenges arising from school policy and procedure. An analysis of these ethical issues is essential for the advancement of best care practices that promote the overall well-being of patients and their families. PMID:25022823

Classroom Management Challenges in the Dance Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Dawn

2007-01-01

Teaching dance can be a challenge because of the unique classroom-management situations that arise from the dynamic nature of the class content. Management is a delicate navigation of advance planning; rule setting; the establishment and implementation of daily protocols, routines, and interventions; and the teacher's own presentation. This…

An Ethics Challenge for School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Froeschle, Janet G.; Crews, Charles

2010-01-01

Ethical issues arise more often for school counselors than for those who work in other settings (Remley, 2002). The challenge of working not only with minors but also with other stakeholders including parents, teachers, school administrators, and community members sets the stage for potential legal and ethical dilemmas. Awareness and adherence to…

Technology and Higher Education: Challenges in the Halls of Academe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duhaney, Devon C.

2005-01-01

As new technologies become a part of the 'landscape' of universities and colleges, many questions arise concerning the transformation resulting from their utilization in these institutions. This paper discusses the increasing use of technology for education, training, and development in higher education, and challenges that higher education faces…

Action Research Facilitated by University-School Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Lee, Icy

2015-01-01

While Action Research (AR) is promoted as a powerful route for teachers' professional development, different contextual challenges may arise during the process; teachers may be helped to overcome these challenges with the guidance of external facilitators. Drawing on data from interviews and the teachers' AR reports, this article explores how two…

Access and benefit sharing (ABS) under the convention on biological diversity (CBD): implications for microbial biological control

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Researchers and implementers of biological control are confronted with a variety of scientific, regulatory and administrative challenges to their biological control programs. One developing challenge will arise from the implementation of provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) co...

Tensions and Challenges in China's Education Policy Borrowing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Charlene

2016-01-01

Background: This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices. Sources of evidence: The…

Researching across Boundaries and Borders: The Challenges for Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowl, Marion; Cooke, Sandra; Hockings, Christine

2008-01-01

This article explores some of the challenges of conducting action research in higher education. It arises from an ongoing research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (ESRC/TLRP), "Learning and Teaching for Social Diversity and Difference", which examines the dynamics of…

Implementation Challenges for a Constructivist Physical Education Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Xihe; Ennis, Catherine D.; Chen, Ang

2011-01-01

Background: Curriculum fidelity describes the extent to which a curriculum is implemented faithfully as planned. Curriculum fidelity issues may arise when teachers implement the curriculum inconsistently due to differences in philosophy, barriers in the setting, or other local concerns. Purpose: The study examined challenges that a teacher faced…

The Cognitive Benefits of Exercise in Youth.

PubMed

Diamond, Alex B

2015-01-01

As our schools and children struggle to meet ever-changing and mandated academic standards, challenges in the time spent on physical activity continue to arise. On the other hand, however, we continue to face a global climate mired in the midst of an obesity epidemic. It is widely accepted that the health benefits of exercise are wide-ranging and powerful. It appears that cognitive function and academic achievement are additional realms beyond the physical where exercise is beneficial. The school setting presents a unique public health opportunity to enact change on a variety of levels. As sports medicine and exercise specialists, we need to support efforts that increase access to quality physical fitness across the board for all children.

Transnational Approaches to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Challenges and Possible Guiding Principles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bovill, C.; Jordan, L.; Watters, N.

2015-01-01

The higher education sector has become increasingly internationalised over recent decades. This paper examines a range of challenges that can arise where teaching staff in one context support and implement learning and teaching initiatives in another international context--transnational teaching. We use examples and experiences from our own…

77 FR 48162 - Announcement of Requirements and Registration for the Challenge To Identify Audacious Goals in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-13

... science and describe current specific research needs and opportunities. The current NEI strategic planning... worldwide. The creativity arising from a variety of new perspectives is expected to generate new research... and Registration for the Challenge To Identify Audacious Goals in Vision Research and Blindness...

Small-Scale Design Experiments as Working Space for Larger Mobile Communication Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowe, Sarah; Stuedahl, Dagny

2014-01-01

In this paper, a design experiment using Instagram as a cultural probe is submitted as a method for analyzing the challenges that arise when considering the implementation of social media within a distributed communication space. It outlines how small, iterative investigations can reveal deeper research questions relevant to the education of…

Challenges and Opportunities in Analysing Students Modelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanco-Anaya, Paloma; Justi, Rosária; Díaz de Bustamante, Joaquín

2017-01-01

Modelling-based teaching activities have been designed and analysed from distinct theoretical perspectives. In this paper, we use one of them--the model of modelling diagram (MMD)--as an analytical tool in a regular classroom context. This paper examines the challenges that arise when the MMD is used as an analytical tool to characterise the…

Helping Students Navigate Faith Challenges in the Biblical Studies Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, Carolyn J.; Clark-Soles, Jaime

2012-01-01

What happens when students encounter the academic study of the Bible in the seminary or undergraduate classroom? Does a teacher have a responsibility to help students navigate challenges to Christian faith that might arise? What pedagogical problems and opportunities does this encounter present? How does this issue manifest differently in…

The Psychological Study of Video Game Players: Methodological Challenges and Practical Advice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Daniel; Delfabbro, Paul; Griffiths, Mark

2009-01-01

Video game playing has received increased academic interest over the last few decades, particularly with regard to the psychological understanding of addiction. Based on the many studies carried out by the authors, this paper summarises some of the methodological challenges which may arise when studying video game players, including obstacles…

Adaptive Teaching for English Language Arts: Following the Pathway of Classroom Data in Preservice Teacher Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Athanases, Steven Z.; Bennett, Lisa H.; Wahleithner, Juliet Michelsen

2015-01-01

Consensus exists that effective teaching includes capacity to adapt instruction to respond to student learning challenges as they arise. Adaptive teachers may keep pace with rapidly evolving youth literacies and students' increasing cultural and linguistic diversity. Teachers are challenged to critically examine pedagogy when some contexts expect…

Automated Source-Code-Based Testing of Object-Oriented Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerlich, Ralf; Gerlich, Rainer; Dietrich, Carsten

2014-08-01

With the advent of languages such as C++ and Java in mission- and safety-critical space on-board software, new challenges for testing and specifically automated testing arise. In this paper we discuss some of these challenges, consequences and solutions based on an experiment in automated source- code-based testing for C++.

Developing patient rapport, trust and therapeutic relationships.

PubMed

Price, Bob

2017-08-09

Rapport is established at the first meeting between the patient and nurse, and is developed throughout the therapeutic relationship. However, challenges can arise during this process. Initially, nurses can establish trust with the patient through the questions they ask, however, as care progresses, the nurse will be required to demonstrate a commitment to maintaining the patient's psychological well-being. When the therapeutic relationship ends, the nurse should assist the patient to assess progress and plan the next stage of recovery. This article provides three reflective exercises using case study examples to demonstrate how rapport is developed and sustained. Evidence is provided to identify why challenges arise in the therapeutic relationship and how the nurse can ensure they provide care that the patient regards as genuine.

Comparative Effectiveness Research in Oncology

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Although randomized controlled trials represent the gold standard for comparative effective research (CER), a number of additional methods are available when randomized controlled trials are lacking or inconclusive because of the limitations of such trials. In addition to more relevant, efficient, and generalizable trials, there is a need for additional approaches utilizing rigorous methodology while fully recognizing their inherent limitations. CER is an important construct for defining and summarizing evidence on effectiveness and safety and comparing the value of competing strategies so that patients, providers, and policymakers can be offered appropriate recommendations for optimal patient care. Nevertheless, methodological as well as political and social challenges for CER remain. CER requires constant and sophisticated methodological oversight of study design and analysis similar to that required for randomized trials to reduce the potential for bias. At the same time, if appropriately conducted, CER offers an opportunity to identify the most effective and safe approach to patient care. Despite rising and unsustainable increases in health care costs, an even greater challenge to the implementation of CER arises from the social and political environment questioning the very motives and goals of CER. Oncologists and oncology professional societies are uniquely positioned to provide informed clinical and methodological expertise to steer the appropriate application of CER toward critical discussions related to health care costs, cost-effectiveness, and the comparative value of the available options for appropriate care of patients with cancer. PMID:23697601

Negotiating contracts for vendor-financed purchases of EHR systems. Providers face extraordinary challenges securing financing for HIT projects, especially ones required to capitalize on ARRA incentives.

PubMed

Fox, Steven J; Schick, Vadim

2010-01-01

In this economic climate, healthcare providers may face extraordinary challenges securing financing for health IT projects, especially ones required to capitalize on the incentives in ARRA. Vendor financing may be the best option for many such providers. While such arrangements may often seem a win-win for both parties, providers should be aware of the many potential pitfalls inherent in vendorfinanced deals, including: 1.) additional pressure from vendors to accept their standard contractual terms and conditions because vendors have much more leverage if they are also the creditor in the transaction; 2.) failing to obtain necessary warranties and representations from vendors that their systems will comply with all relevant requirements under ARRA and will permit the provider to achieve meaningful use; and 3.) dealing with problems arising if the vendors' product fails to achieve certification, or the provider fails to achieve "meaningful use" in a timely manner.

Challenges to quantitative applications of Landsat observations for the urban thermal environment.

PubMed

Chen, Feng; Yang, Song; Yin, Kai; Chan, Paul

2017-09-01

Since the launch of its first satellite in 1972, the Landsat program has operated continuously for more than forty years. A large data archive collected by the Landsat program significantly benefits both the academic community and society. Thermal imagery from Landsat sensors, provided with relatively high spatial resolution, is suitable for monitoring urban thermal environment. Growing use of Landsat data in monitoring urban thermal environment is demonstrated by increasing publications on this subject, especially over the last decade. Urban thermal environment is usually delineated by land surface temperature (LST). However, the quantitative and accurate estimation of LST from Landsat data is still a challenge, especially for urban areas. This paper will discuss the main challenges for urban LST retrieval, including urban surface emissivity, atmospheric correction, radiometric calibration, and validation. In addition, we will discuss general challenges confronting the continuity of quantitative applications of Landsat observations. These challenges arise mainly from the scan line corrector failure of the Landsat 7 ETM+ and channel differences among sensors. Based on these investigations, the concerns are to: (1) show general users the limitation and possible uncertainty of the retrieved urban LST from the single thermal channel of Landsat sensors; (2) emphasize efforts which should be done for the quantitative applications of Landsat data; and (3) understand the potential challenges for the continuity of Landsat observation (i.e., thermal infrared) for global change monitoring, while several climate data record programs being in progress. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Towards Synergistic Electrode-Electrolyte Design Principles for Nonaqueous Li-O[Formula: see text] batteries.

PubMed

Khetan, Abhishek; Krishnamurthy, Dilip; Viswanathan, Venkatasubramanian

2018-03-20

One route toward sustainable land and aerial transportation is based on electrified vehicles. To enable electrification in transportation, there is a need for high-energy-density batteries, and this has led to an enormous interest in lithium-oxygen batteries. Several critical challenges remain with respect to realizing a practical lithium-oxygen battery. In this article, we present a detailed overview of theoretical efforts to formulate design principles for identifying stable electrolytes and electrodes with the desired functionality and stability. We discuss design principles relating to electrolytes and the additional stability challenges that arise at the cathode-electrolyte interface. Based on a thermodynamic analysis, we discuss two important requirements for the cathode: the ability to nucleate the desired discharge product, Li[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text], and the ability to selectively activate only this discharge product while suppressing lithium oxide, the undesired secondary discharge product. We propose preliminary guidelines for determining the chemical stability of the electrode and illustrate the challenge associated with electrode selection using the examples of carbon cathodes and transition metals. We believe that a synergistic design framework for identifying electrolyte-electrode formulations is needed to realize a practical Li-O[Formula: see text] battery.

Integrating Remote Sensing Data with Socioeconomic Data: Sensitivity, Confidentiality, Privacy, and Intellectual Property Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downs, R. R.; Adamo, S. B.

2014-12-01

The integration of remote sensing data with socioeconomic data presents new opportunities for scientific discovery and analysis that can improve understanding of the environmental sustainability issues that society faces today. Such integrated data products and services can be used to study interdisciplinary issues by investigators representing various disciplines. In addition to the scientific benefits that can be attained by integrating remote sensing data with socioeconomic data, the integration of these data also present challenges that reflect the complex issues that arise when sharing and integrating different types of science data. When integrating one or more datasets that contain sensitive information, data producers need to be aware of the limitations that have been placed upon the data to protect private property, species or other inhabitants that reside on the property, or restricted information about a particular location. Similarly, confidentiality and privacy issues are a concern for data that have been collected about individual humans and families who have volunteered to serve as human research subjects or whose personal information may have been collected without their knowledge. In addition, intellectual property rights that are associated with a particular dataset may prevent integration with other data or pose constraints on the use of the resulting data products or services. These challenges will be described along with approaches that can be applied to address them when planning projects that involve the integration of remote sensing data with socioeconomic data.

Facing Up to the Learning Organisation Challenge: Key Issues from a European Perspective. Volume I. CEDEFOP Reference Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nyhan, Barry; Cressey, Peter; Tomassini, Massimo; Kelleher, Michael; Poell, Rob

This first volume of a two-volume publication provides an analytical overview of main questions emerging from recent European research and development projects related to the learning organization. Chapter 1 provides context for the European learning organization challenge and presents four main messages arising from the learning organization…

Resettlement Outcomes for People with Severe Challenging Behaviour Moving from Institutional to Community Living

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Jonathan; Felce, David; Allen, David; Meek, Andrea

2011-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life consequences arising from the resettlement of adults with challenging behaviour severe enough to be deemed to require continuing healthcare from a traditional learning disability hospital to new purpose-built bungalows. The new accommodation was provided by a specialist NHS…

Cloud Implementation in Organizations: Critical Success Factors, Challenges, and Impacts on the IT Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suo, Shuguang

2013-01-01

Organizations have been forced to rethink business models and restructure facilities through IT innovation as they have faced the challenges arising from globalization, mergers and acquisitions, big data, and the ever-changing demands of customers. Cloud computing has emerged as a new computing paradigm that has fundamentally shaped the business…

Challenges in the Use of Social Networking Sites to Trace Potential Research Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsh, Jackie; Bishop, Julia C.

2014-01-01

This paper reports on a number of challenges faced in tracing contributors to research projects that were originally conducted many decades previously. The need to trace contributors in this way arises in projects which focus on involving research participants in previous studies who have not been maintained on a database, or with whom the…

Towards Integrative Religious Education in Belgium and Flanders: Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loobuyck, Patrick; Franken, Leni

2011-01-01

This article describes the way in which religious education (RE) has been organised in Flanders and Belgium, and gives attention to the problems and challenges that arise these days. We argue that the "Schoolpact" of 1958 which implies separate RE in different religions in public schools needs a revision. Therefore, we propose an…

Using Personnel and Financial Data for Reporting Purposes: What Are the Challenges to Using Such Data Accurately?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valcik, Nicolas A.; Stigdon, Andrea D.

2008-01-01

Although institutional researchers devote a great deal of time mining and using student data to fulfill mandatory federal and state reports and analyze institutional effectiveness, financial and personnel information is also necessary for such endeavors. In this article, the authors discuss the challenges that arise from extracting data from…

Competing Priorities and Challenges: Principal Leadership for Social Justice along the U.S.-Mexico Border

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMatthews, David Edward

2016-01-01

Background/Context: Previous research has focused on the importance of a social justice leadership approach to improve schools that serve marginalized students, but less attention has been focused on potential dilemmas associated with social justice leadership and the ways in which principals prioritize when dilemmas or challenges arise.…

The challenges and opportunities of conducting a clinical trial in a low resource setting: the case of the Cameroon mobile phone SMS (CAMPS) trial, an investigator initiated trial.

PubMed

Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Thabane, Lehana; Ongolo-Zogo, Pierre; Lang, Trudie

2011-06-09

Conducting clinical trials in developing countries often presents significant ethical, organisational, cultural and infrastructural challenges to researchers, pharmaceutical companies, sponsors and regulatory bodies. Globally, these regions are under-represented in research, yet this population stands to gain more from research in these settings as the burdens on health are greater than those in developed resourceful countries. However, developing countries also offer an attractive setting for clinical trials because they often have larger treatment naive populations with higher incidence rates of disease and more advanced stages. These factors can present a reduction in costs and time required to recruit patients. So, balance needs to be found where research can be encouraged and supported in order to bring maximum public health benefits to these communities. The difficulties with such trials arise from problems with obtaining valid informed consent, ethical compensation mechanisms for extremely poor populations, poor health infrastructure and considerable socio-economic and cultural divides. Ethical concerns with trials in developing countries have received attention, even though many other non-ethical issues may arise. Local investigator initiated trials also face a variety of difficulties that have not been adequately reported in literature. This paper uses the example of the Cameroon Mobile Phone SMS trial to describe in detail, the specific difficulties encountered in an investigator-initiated trial in a developing country. It highlights administrative, ethical, financial and staff related issues, proposes solutions and gives a list of additional documentation to ease the organisational process.

Anterior mandibular ameloblastoma

PubMed Central

Bhandarwar, Ajay H.; Bakhshi, Girish D.; Borisa, Ashok D.; Wagh, Amol; Kapoor, Rajat; Kori, Channabasappa G.

2012-01-01

Ameloblastoma is a benign odontogenic tumor. These are usually asymptomatic until a large size is attained. Ameloblastoma has tendency to spread locally and has a high recurrence rate. Majority of ameloblastomas (80%) arise from the mandible. Ameloblastoma arising from anterior mandibular region (symphysis-menti) is rare. Very few cases of midline anterior ameloblastomas are reported in the literature. They often require wide local excision. Reconstruction of mandible in these cases is challenging. We present a case of mandibular ameloblastoma arising from symphysis-menti. Patient underwent wide surgical excision of the tumor followed by immediate reconstruction using free fibular vascular flap, stabilized with titanium reconstructive plates. A brief case report ands review of literature is presented. PMID:24765429

Integrating high levels of variable renewable energy into electric power systems

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

Kroposki, Benjamin

As more variable renewable energy (VRE) such as wind and solar are integrated into electric power systems, technical challenges arise from the need to maintain the balance between load and generation at all timescales. This paper examines the challenges with integrating ultra-high levels of VRE into electric power system, reviews a range of solutions to these challenges, and provides a description of several examples of ultra-high VRE systems that are in operation today.

Integrating high levels of variable renewable energy into electric power systems

DOE PAGES

Kroposki, Benjamin

2017-11-17

As more variable renewable energy (VRE) such as wind and solar are integrated into electric power systems, technical challenges arise from the need to maintain the balance between load and generation at all timescales. This paper examines the challenges with integrating ultra-high levels of VRE into electric power system, reviews a range of solutions to these challenges, and provides a description of several examples of ultra-high VRE systems that are in operation today.

A longitudinal study of smokers' exposure to cigarette smoke and the effects of spontaneous product switching.

PubMed

Cunningham, Anthony; Sommarström, Johan; Camacho, Oscar M; Sisodiya, Ajit S; Prasad, Krishna

2015-06-01

A challenge in investigating the effect of public health policies on cigarette consumption and exposure arises from variation in a smoker's exposure from cigarette to cigarette and the considerable differences between smokers. In addition, limited data are available on the effects of spontaneous product switching on a smoker's cigarette consumption and exposure to smoke constituents. Over 1000 adult smokers of the same commercial 10mg International Organization for Standardization (ISO) tar yield cigarette were recruited into the non-residential, longitudinal study across 10 cities in Germany. Cigarette consumption, mouth level exposure to tar and nicotine and biomarkers of exposure to nicotine and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone were measured every 6months over a 3 and a half year period. Cigarette consumption remained stable through the study period and did not vary significantly when smokers spontaneously switched products. Mouth level exposure decreased for smokers (n=111) who switched to cigarettes of 7mg ISO tar yield or lower. In addition, downward trends in mouth level exposure estimates were observed for smokers who did not switch cigarettes. Data from this study illustrate some of the challenges in measuring smokers' long-term exposure to smoke constituents in their everyday environment. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generating carbon finance through avoided deforestation and its potential to create climatic, conservation and human development benefits.

PubMed

Ebeling, Johannes; Yasué, Maï

2008-05-27

Recent proposals to compensate developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation (RED) under forthcoming climate change mitigation regimes are receiving increasing attention. Here we demonstrate that if RED credits were traded on international carbon markets, even moderate decreases in deforestation rates could generate billions of Euros annually for tropical forest conservation. We also discuss the main challenges for a RED mechanism that delivers real climatic benefits. These include providing sufficient incentives while only rewarding deforestation reductions beyond business-as-usual scenarios, addressing risks arising from forest degradation and international leakage, and ensuring permanence of emission reductions. Governance may become a formidable challenge for RED because some countries with the highest RED potentials score poorly on governance indices. In addition to climate mitigation, RED funds could help achieve substantial co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and human development. However, this will probably require targeted additional support because the highest biodiversity threats and human development needs may exist in countries that have limited income potentials from RED. In conclusion, how successfully a market-based RED mechanism can contribute to climate change mitigation, conservation and development will strongly depend on accompanying measures and carefully designed incentive structures involving governments, business, as well as the conservation and development communities.

Unresolved Issues and New Challenges in Teaching English to Young Learners: The Case of South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garton, Sue

2014-01-01

The introduction of languages, especially English, into the primary curriculum around the world has been one of the major language-in-education policy developments in recent years. In countries where English has been compulsory for a number of years, the question arises as to what extent the numerous and well-documented challenges faced by the…

History Educators and the Challenge of Immersive Pasts: A Critical Review of Virtual Reality "Tools" and History Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, John

2008-01-01

This paper will undertake a critical review of the impact of virtual reality tools on the teaching of history. Virtual reality is useful in several different ways. History educators, elementary and secondary school teachers and professors, can all profit from the digital environment. Challenges arise quickly however. Virtual reality technologies…

The Perceived Benefits and Difficulties in Introducing and Maintaining Supervision Groups in a SEMH Special School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, Jonathan; Baines, Ed

2018-01-01

Supervision groups are often used in professional settings and are introduced to address and provide support in relation to the challenges that arise in everyday practice. Although group supervision is common amongst a range of helping professions, its use in schools is rare. Little research exists as to the merits and challenges of providing…

The Perils of a Lack of Student Engagement: Reflections of a "Lonely, Brave, and Rather Exposed" Online Instructor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stott, Philip

2016-01-01

Wholly online presentation of courses is becoming increasingly common, but poor levels of student engagement pose challenges to institutions, instructors and students. In this paper, I explore the risks arising from those challenges using an analysis of the presentation of a wildlife management course as a model, comparing data about levels of…

ENVIRONMENTAL IMMUNOCHEMISTRY

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental immunochemical methods are responding to the changing needs of regulatory and monitoring programs and are meeting new analytical challenges as they arise. Immunoassays are being developed for screening multiple organophosphorous (OP) pesticides (0,0-diethyl thionate...

High Voltage Hybrid Electric Propulsion - Multilayered Functional Insulation System (MFIS) NASA-GRC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lizcano, M.

2017-01-01

High power transmission cables pose a key challenge in future Hybrid Electric Propulsion Aircraft. The challenge arises in developing safe transmission lines that can withstand the unique environment found in aircraft while providing megawatts of power. High voltage AC, variable frequency cables do not currently exist and present particular electrical insulation challenges since electrical arcing and high heating are more prevalent at higher voltages and frequencies. Identifying and developing materials that maintain their dielectric properties at high voltage and frequencies is crucial.

Psychoactive Substance Dependence: A Dentist's Challenge.

PubMed

Millar, Lynsey

2015-05-01

Given the number of individuals who are dependent on alcohol and/or drugs, it is inevitable that they will present for dental treatment. They are at an increased risk of dental disease for multiple reasons. This paper aims to provide an overview for general dental practitioners (GDPs) of the challenges that can arise in treating such patients, alongside some suggestions for meeting these challenges. General issues are taken into consideration first, then a focus is made on each of the most common substances, together with their implications in dentistry.

Minimized virus binding for tests of barrier materials.

PubMed Central

Lytle, C D; Routson, L B

1995-01-01

Viruses are used to test the barrier properties of materials. Binding of virus particles during passage through holes in the material may yield misleading test results. The choices of challenge virus and suspending medium may be important for minimizing confounding effects that might arise from such binding. In this study, different surrogate viruses, as well as different support media, were evaluated to determine optimal test parameters. Two membranes with high-binding properties (nitrocellulose and cationic polysulfone) were used as filters to compare binding activities of different surrogate challenge viruses (MS2, phi X174, T7, PRD1, and phi 6) in different media. The media consisted of buffered saline with surfactants, serum, or culture broth as additives. In addition, elution rates of viruses that bound to the membranes were determined. The results suggest that viruses can bind by hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, with phi X174 displaying the lowest level of binding by either process. The nonionic detergents Triton X-100 and Tween 80 (0.1%) equally minimized hydrophobic interactions. Neither anionic nor cationic surfactants were as effective at nontoxic levels. Serum was effective at reducing both hydrophobic and electrostatic binding, with 2% being sufficient for eliminating binding under our test conditions. Thus, phi X174 remains the best choice as a surrogate virus to test barrier materials, and Triton X-100 (0.1%) remains a good choice for reducing hydrophobic binding. In addition, binding of viruses by barrier materials is unlikely to prevent passage of blood-borne pathogens. PMID:7574603

Multimodality Imaging Approach towards Primary Aortic Sarcomas Arising after Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair: Case Series Report.

PubMed

Kamran, Mudassar; Fowler, Kathryn J; Mellnick, Vincent M; Sicard, Gregorio A; Narra, Vamsi R

2016-06-01

Primary aortic neoplasms are rare. Aortic sarcoma arising after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is a scarce subset of primary aortic malignancies, reports of which are infrequent in the published literature. The diagnosis of aortic sarcoma is challenging due to its non-specific clinical presentation, and the prognosis is poor due to delayed diagnosis, rapid proliferation, and propensity for metastasis. Post-EVAR, aortic sarcomas may mimic other more common aortic processes on surveillance imaging. Radiologists are rarely knowledgeable about this rare entity for which multimodality imaging and awareness are invaluable in early diagnosis. A series of three pathologically confirmed cases are presented to display the multimodality imaging features and clinical presentations of aortic sarcoma arising after EVAR.

Beyond "Two Cultures": Guidance for Establishing Effective Researcher/Health System Partnerships

PubMed Central

Bowen, Sarah; Botting, Ingrid; Graham, Ian D.; Huebner, Lori-Anne

2017-01-01

Background: The current literature proposing criteria and guidelines for collaborative health system research often fails to differentiate between: (a) various types of partnerships, (b) collaborations formed for the specific purpose of developing a research proposal and those based on long-standing relationships, (c) researcher vs. decision-maker initiatives, and (d) the underlying drivers for the collaboration. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 decision-makers and researchers who partnered on a Canadian major peer-reviewed grant proposal in 2013. Objectives of this exploration of participants’ experiences with health system research collaboration were to: (a) explore perspectives and experience with research collaboration in general; (b) identify characteristics and strategies associated with effective partnerships; and (c) provide guidance for development of effective research partnerships. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed: transcripts were qualitatively analyzed using a general inductive approach. Results: Findings suggest that the common "two cultures" approach to research/decision-maker collaboration provides an inadequate framework for understanding the complexity of research partnerships. Many commonly-identified challenges to researcher/knowledge user (KU) collaboration are experienced as manageable by experienced research teams. Additional challenges (past experience with research and researchers; issues arising from previous collaboration; and health system dynamics) may be experienced in partnerships based on existing collaborations, and interact with partnership demands of time and communication. Current research practice may discourage KUs from engaging in collaborative research, in spite of strong beliefs in its potential benefits. Practical suggestions for supporting collaborations designed to respond to real-time health system challenges were identified. Conclusion: Participants’ experience with previous research activities, factors related to the established collaboration, and interpersonal, intra- and inter-organizational dynamics may present additional challenges to research partnerships built on existing collaboration. Differences between researchers and KUs may pose no greater challenges than differences among KUs (at various levels, and representing diverse perspectives and organizations) themselves. Effective "relationship brokering" is essential for meaningful collaboration. PMID:28005540

Challenges in the Assessment and Treatment of Health Anxiety: The Case of Mrs. A.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCabe, Randi E.; Antony, Martin M.

2004-01-01

Health anxiety can present a challenge for clinicians, both from the perspective of assigning a "DSM-IV" diagnosis and in developing an appropriate treatment plan. The case of Mrs. A. illustrates some of the complexities that arise in the diagnosis and treatment of health anxiety. Mrs. A. is a 60-year-old retired teacher who presented to a…

Early Childhood Education and Care in Austria: Challenges and Education Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smidt, Wilfried

2018-01-01

After a first peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, early childhood education and care (ECEC) again plays an important role in the educational system in Austria. Over 90% of 3-5-year-old children attend non-familial institutions such as preschools. A consequence of this development is that new challenges arise, which have become the subject of…

Challenges of Partnership Research: Insights from a Collaborative Partnership in Evidence-Informed Public Health Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Traynor, Robyn; Dobbins, Maureen; DeCorby, Kara

2015-01-01

The investment of decision makers in research can increase the likelihood that relevant and timely practice-based research questions are asked and that these findings are readily taken up into policy and practice. While many positive benefits may be gained from this type of research, various challenges may also arise along the way. These include:…

Education, Gender and Islam in China: The Place of Religious Education in Challenging and Sustaining "Undisputed Traditions" among Chinese Muslim Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaschok, Maria; Chan, Hau Ming Vicky

2009-01-01

The essay investigates the place of religious and secular education in the lives of Chinese Muslim women. Education is treated as a site where state and society are reproduced and/or challenged, where tensions arise over control of minds and bodies, and over interpretations and uses of religion and culture. Specifically, the essay compares…

Issues of Shared Parenting of LGBTQ Children and Youth in Foster Care: Preparing Foster Parents for New Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craig-Oldsen, Heather; Craig, J. Ann; Morton, Thomas

2006-01-01

Foster parents have increasingly assumed new and challenging roles during the past decade. Meeting the developmental, attachment, and grieving needs of children and youth in out of home care is challenging by itself, but can become even more difficult with the issues that arise when the child is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning…

Annual Research Review: The nature and classification of reading disorders – a commentary on proposals for DSM-5

PubMed Central

Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2012-01-01

This article reviews our understanding of reading disorders in children and relates it to current proposals for their classification in DSM-5. There are two different, commonly occurring, forms of reading disorder in children which arise from different underlying language difficulties. Dyslexia (as defined in DSM-5), or decoding difficulty, refers to children who have difficulty in mastering the relationships between the spelling patterns of words and their pronunciations. These children typically read aloud inaccurately and slowly, and experience additional problems with spelling. Dyslexia appears to arise principally from a weakness in phonological (speech sound) skills, and there is good evidence that it can be ameliorated by systematic phonic teaching combined with phonological awareness training. The other major form of reading difficulty is reading comprehension impairment. These children read aloud accurately and fluently, but have difficulty understanding what they have read. Reading comprehension impairment appears to arise from weaknesses in a range of oral language skills including poor vocabulary knowledge, weak grammatical skills and difficulties in oral language comprehension. We suggest that the omission of reading comprehension impairment from DSM-5 is a serious one that should be remedied. Both dyslexia and reading comprehension impairment are dimensional in nature, and show strong continuities with other disorders of language. We argue that recognizing the continuities between reading and language disorders has important implications for assessment and treatment, and we note that the high rates of comorbidity between reading disorders and other seemingly disparate disorders (including ADHD and motor disorders) raises important challenges for understanding these disorders. PMID:22141434

Lucky Belief in Science Education - Gettier Cases and the Value of Reliable Belief-Forming Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brock, Richard

2018-05-01

The conceptualisation of knowledge as justified true belief has been shown to be, at the very least, an incomplete account. One challenge to the justified true belief model arises from the proposition of situations in which a person possesses a belief that is both justified and true which some philosophers intuit should not be classified as knowledge. Though situations of this type have been imagined by a number of writers, they have come to be labelled Gettier cases. Gettier cases arise when a fallible justification happens to lead to a true belief in one context, a case of `lucky belief'. In this article, it is argued that students studying science may make claims that resemble Gettier cases. In some contexts, a student may make a claim that is both justified and true but which arises from an alternative conception of a scientific concept. A number of instances of lucky belief in topics in science education are considered leading to an examination of the criteria teachers use to assess students' claims in different contexts. The possibility of lucky belief leads to the proposal that, in addition to the acquisition of justified true beliefs, the development of reliable belief-forming processes is a significant goal of science education. The pedagogic value of various kinds of claims is considered and, it is argued, the criteria used to judge claims may be adjusted to suit the context of assessment. It is suggested that teachers should be alert to instances of lucky belief that mask alternative conceptions.

An algorithmic framework for multiobjective optimization.

PubMed

Ganesan, T; Elamvazuthi, I; Shaari, Ku Zilati Ku; Vasant, P

2013-01-01

Multiobjective (MO) optimization is an emerging field which is increasingly being encountered in many fields globally. Various metaheuristic techniques such as differential evolution (DE), genetic algorithm (GA), gravitational search algorithm (GSA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) have been used in conjunction with scalarization techniques such as weighted sum approach and the normal-boundary intersection (NBI) method to solve MO problems. Nevertheless, many challenges still arise especially when dealing with problems with multiple objectives (especially in cases more than two). In addition, problems with extensive computational overhead emerge when dealing with hybrid algorithms. This paper discusses these issues by proposing an alternative framework that utilizes algorithmic concepts related to the problem structure for generating efficient and effective algorithms. This paper proposes a framework to generate new high-performance algorithms with minimal computational overhead for MO optimization.

An Algorithmic Framework for Multiobjective Optimization

PubMed Central

Ganesan, T.; Elamvazuthi, I.; Shaari, Ku Zilati Ku; Vasant, P.

2013-01-01

Multiobjective (MO) optimization is an emerging field which is increasingly being encountered in many fields globally. Various metaheuristic techniques such as differential evolution (DE), genetic algorithm (GA), gravitational search algorithm (GSA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) have been used in conjunction with scalarization techniques such as weighted sum approach and the normal-boundary intersection (NBI) method to solve MO problems. Nevertheless, many challenges still arise especially when dealing with problems with multiple objectives (especially in cases more than two). In addition, problems with extensive computational overhead emerge when dealing with hybrid algorithms. This paper discusses these issues by proposing an alternative framework that utilizes algorithmic concepts related to the problem structure for generating efficient and effective algorithms. This paper proposes a framework to generate new high-performance algorithms with minimal computational overhead for MO optimization. PMID:24470795

Caregiving and Sibling Relationships: Challenges and Opportunities

MedlinePlus

... can also lead to strained connections and painful conflict. One major source of sibling friction is the ... they vie for mom’s attention and affection. Another conflict can arise when one sibling is in denial ...

Item Difficulty in the Evaluation of Computer-Based Instruction: An Example from Neuroanatomy

PubMed Central

Chariker, Julia H.; Naaz, Farah; Pani, John R.

2012-01-01

This article reports large item effects in a study of computer-based learning of neuroanatomy. Outcome measures of the efficiency of learning, transfer of learning, and generalization of knowledge diverged by a wide margin across test items, with certain sets of items emerging as particularly difficult to master. In addition, the outcomes of comparisons between instructional methods changed with the difficulty of the items to be learned. More challenging items better differentiated between instructional methods. This set of results is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that instruction may be more efficient if sets of consistently difficult items are the targets of instructional methods particularly suited to them. Second, there is wide variation in the published literature regarding the outcomes of empirical evaluations of computer-based instruction. As a consequence, many questions arise as to the factors that may affect such evaluations. The present paper demonstrates that the level of challenge in the material that is presented to learners is an important factor to consider in the evaluation of a computer-based instructional system. PMID:22231801

A true branchial fistula in the context of branchiootic syndrome: challenges of diagnosis and management.

PubMed

Jovic, Thomas H; Saldanha, Francesca; Kuo, Rachel; Ahmad, Tariq

2014-09-01

The presence of a branchial fistula with communication both internally and externally: a 'true' branchial fistula is rare, and may arise in the context of autosomal dominant conditions such as branchiootic syndrome and branchiootorenal syndrome. We discuss the case of a true branchial fistula, which recurred after initial surgical excision, in a patient with branchiootic syndrome. The residual tract was dissected in a second operation through stepladder neck incisions and removed in toto via an intraoral approach. No renal abnormalities were detected on investigation with ultrasound. Incomplete excision of a branchial sinus is likely to cause recurrence however intraoperative visualisation of the tract can can sometimes prove challenging. An combined intraoral and external approach aids delineation and tract definition when there is a true branchial fistula and can therefore facilitate a complete excision. Suspicion of an hereditary aetiology should be raised in patients with bilateral or preauricular features, or a positive family history, which may then prompt additional renal and genetic investigation. Copyright © 2014 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item difficulty in the evaluation of computer-based instruction: an example from neuroanatomy.

PubMed

Chariker, Julia H; Naaz, Farah; Pani, John R

2012-01-01

This article reports large item effects in a study of computer-based learning of neuroanatomy. Outcome measures of the efficiency of learning, transfer of learning, and generalization of knowledge diverged by a wide margin across test items, with certain sets of items emerging as particularly difficult to master. In addition, the outcomes of comparisons between instructional methods changed with the difficulty of the items to be learned. More challenging items better differentiated between instructional methods. This set of results is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that instruction may be more efficient if sets of consistently difficult items are the targets of instructional methods particularly suited to them. Second, there is wide variation in the published literature regarding the outcomes of empirical evaluations of computer-based instruction. As a consequence, many questions arise as to the factors that may affect such evaluations. The present article demonstrates that the level of challenge in the material that is presented to learners is an important factor to consider in the evaluation of a computer-based instructional system. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Anatomists.

Graphene: A Cathode Material of Choice for Aluminium-ion Battery.

PubMed

Das, Shyamal

2018-03-22

The pairing of an aluminum anode with a cathode of high energy and power densities determines the future of aluminum-ion battery technology. The arising natural question is - "Is there any suitable cathode material which is capable of storing sufficiently large amount of trivalent aluminum-ions at relatively higher operating potential?". The wonder material "graphene" emerges to be a befitting answer. Graphene footprint in research arena of aluminum-ion battery could be seen merely three years ago. However, the research progress in this front is tremendous and applauding. Outperforming all other known cathode materials, graphene made several remarkable breakthroughs in offering extraordinary energy density, power density, cycle life, thermal stability, safety and flexibility. The future of Al-graphene couple is indeed brighter, if utmost emphasis is drawn right away to surmount the inherent technological challenges. This minireview comprehensively highlights the electrochemical performances, advantages and challenges of graphene as cathode in aluminum-ion battery in conjugation with chloroaluminate based electrolytes. Additionally, the complex mechanism of charge storage in graphene is also elaborated. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Modernizing Evolutionary Anthropology : Introduction to the Special Issue.

PubMed

Mattison, Siobhán M; Sear, Rebecca

2016-12-01

Evolutionary anthropology has traditionally focused on the study of small-scale, largely self-sufficient societies. The increasing rarity of these societies underscores the importance of such research yet also suggests the need to understand the processes by which such societies are being lost-what we call "modernization"-and the effects of these processes on human behavior and biology. In this article, we discuss recent efforts by evolutionary anthropologists to incorporate modernization into their research and the challenges and rewards that follow. Advantages include that these studies allow for explicit testing of hypotheses that explore how behavior and biology change in conjunction with changes in social, economic, and ecological factors. In addition, modernization often provides a source of "natural experiments" since it may proceed in a piecemeal fashion through a population. Challenges arise, however, in association with reduced variability in fitness proxies such as fertility, and with the increasing use of relatively novel methodologies in evolutionary anthropology, such as the analysis of secondary data. Confronting these challenges will require careful consideration but will lead to an improved understanding of humanity. We conclude that the study of modernization offers the prospect of developing a richer evolutionary anthropology, by encompassing ultimate and proximate explanations for behavior expressed across the full range of human societies.

The Evolving Risk of Climate Change and National Security: People not Polar Bears

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titley, D.

2014-12-01

This talk will provide a general overview of climate change and discuss why this is a national security issue. Climate change is about people, about water, and about change itself. Understanding the rate of climate change, relative to the abilities of both humans and ecosystems to adapt is critical. I will briefly describe the multiple, independent lines of evidence that the climate is changing, and that the primary cause of this change is a change in atmospheric composition caused by the burning of fossil fuels. I will cover the history of climate change as seen within the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Navy, how this challenge is being addressed from budgetary, policy, and political angles, and what are the greatest challenges to national security that arise from climate change and in particular, the associated changes in the Arctic. I will conclude with an assessment of future challenges and opportunities regarding climate change, from science, policy, and political perspectives, and why we know enough to take significant action now, even if we don't know every detail about the future. In addition, this talk will address how to effectively talk about climate change through the use of analogies, plain, non-jargon English, and even a little humor.

Updates on Managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Natural Products: Towards Antidiabetic Drug Development.

PubMed

Alam, Fahmida; Islam, Md Asiful; Kamal, M A; Gan, Siew Hua

2016-08-13

Over the years, natural products have shown success as antidiabetics in vitro, in vivo and in clinical trials. Because natural product-derived drugs are more affordable and effective with fewer side-effects compared to conventional therapies, pharmaceutical research is increasingly leaning towards the discovery of new antidiabetic drugs from natural products targeting pathways or components associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) pathophysiology. However, the drug discovery process is very lengthy and costly with significant challenges. Therefore, various techniques are currently being developed for the preclinical research phase of drug discovery with the aim of drug development with less time and efforts from natural products. In this review, we have provided an update on natural products including fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, beverages and mushrooms with potential antidiabetic activities from in vivo, in vitro and clinical studies. Synergistic interactions between natural products and antidiabetic drugs; and potential antidiabetic active compounds from natural products are also documented to pave the way for combination treatment and new drug discovery, respectively. Additionally, a brief idea of the drug discovery process along with the challenges that arise during drug development from natural products and the methods to conquer those challenges are discussed to create a more convenient future drug discovery process.

Studying the neural bases of prism adaptation using fMRI: A technical and design challenge.

PubMed

Bultitude, Janet H; Farnè, Alessandro; Salemme, Romeo; Ibarrola, Danielle; Urquizar, Christian; O'Shea, Jacinta; Luauté, Jacques

2017-12-01

Prism adaptation induces rapid recalibration of visuomotor coordination. The neural mechanisms of prism adaptation have come under scrutiny since the observations that the technique can alleviate hemispatial neglect following stroke, and can alter spatial cognition in healthy controls. Relative to non-imaging behavioral studies, fMRI investigations of prism adaptation face several challenges arising from the confined physical environment of the scanner and the supine position of the participants. Any researcher who wishes to administer prism adaptation in an fMRI environment must adjust their procedures enough to enable the experiment to be performed, but not so much that the behavioral task departs too much from true prism adaptation. Furthermore, the specific temporal dynamics of behavioral components of prism adaptation present additional challenges for measuring their neural correlates. We developed a system for measuring the key features of prism adaptation behavior within an fMRI environment. To validate our configuration, we present behavioral (pointing) and head movement data from 11 right-hemisphere lesioned patients and 17 older controls who underwent sham and real prism adaptation in an MRI scanner. Most participants could adapt to prismatic displacement with minimal head movements, and the procedure was well tolerated. We propose recommendations for fMRI studies of prism adaptation based on the design-specific constraints and our results.

Emerging technologies and web accessibility: research challenges and opportunities focussing on vision issues.

PubMed

Harper, Simon; Yesilada, Yeliz

2012-01-01

This is a technological review paper focussed on identifying both the research challenges and opportunities for further investigation arising from emerging technologies, and it does not aim to propose any recommendation or standard. It is focussed on blind and partially sighted World Wide Web (Web) users along with others who use assistive technologies. The Web is a fast moving interdisciplinary domain in which new technologies, techniques and research is in perpetual development. It is often difficult to maintain a holistic view of new developments within the multiple domains which together make up the Web. This suggests that knowledge of the current developments and predictions of future developments are additionally important for the accessibility community. Web accessibility has previously been characterised by the correction of our past mistakes to make the current Web fulfil the original vision of access for all. New technologies were not designed with accessibility in mind and technologies that could be useful for addressing accessibility issues were not identified or adopted by the accessibility community. We wish to enable the research community to undertake preventative measures and proactively address challenges, while recognising opportunities, before they become unpreventable or require retrospective technological enhancement. This article then reviews emerging trends within the Web and Web Accessibility domains.

Toward high throughput optical metamaterial assemblies.

PubMed

Fontana, Jake; Ratna, Banahalli R

2015-11-01

Optical metamaterials have unique engineered optical properties. These properties arise from the careful organization of plasmonic elements. Transitioning these properties from laboratory experiments to functional materials may lead to disruptive technologies for controlling light. A significant issue impeding the realization of optical metamaterial devices is the need for robust and efficient assembly strategies to govern the order of the nanometer-sized elements while enabling macroscopic throughput. This mini-review critically highlights recent approaches and challenges in creating these artificial materials. As the ability to assemble optical metamaterials improves, new unforeseen opportunities may arise for revolutionary optical devices.

Processes and Challenges in Identifying Learning Disabilities among Students Who Are English Language Learners in Three New York State Districts. Issues & Answers. REL 2010-No. 085

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Maria Teresa; Parker, Caroline; Akbayin, Bercem; McTigue, Anna

2010-01-01

Using interviews with district and school personnel and documents from state and district web sites in three districts in New York State, the study examines practices for identifying learning disabilities among students who are English language learners and the challenges that arise. Specifically, two research questions guided the project: (1)…

Making the right decisions in a consolidating market.

PubMed

Kaufman, Kenneth; Grube, Mark E

2009-07-01

Market forces may lead to increased consolidation in the healthcare industry, creating both opportunities and challenges. Opportunities for small hospitals and health systems include partnering with stronger organizations, while for larger organizations, acquiring potentially undervalued hospitals can yield the benefits associated with increased size and scale. Potential barriers to success arise in three areas-strategy, finance, and operations. Healthcare executives must understand and be willing to fully address these challenges.

GMLC Extreme Event Modeling -- Slow-Dynamics Models for Renewable Energy Resources

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

Korkali, M.; Min, L.

The need for slow dynamics models of renewable resources in cascade modeling essentially arises from the challenges associated with the increased use of solar and wind electric power. Indeed, the main challenge is that the power produced by wind and sunlight is not consistent; thus, renewable energy resources tend to have variable output power on many different timescales, including the timescales that a cascade unfolds.

Moving beyond regression techniques in cardiovascular risk prediction: applying machine learning to address analytic challenges

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Benjamin A.; Navar, Ann Marie; Carter, Rickey E.

2017-01-01

Abstract Risk prediction plays an important role in clinical cardiology research. Traditionally, most risk models have been based on regression models. While useful and robust, these statistical methods are limited to using a small number of predictors which operate in the same way on everyone, and uniformly throughout their range. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the use of machine-learning methods for development of risk prediction models. Typically presented as black box approaches, most machine-learning methods are aimed at solving particular challenges that arise in data analysis that are not well addressed by typical regression approaches. To illustrate these challenges, as well as how different methods can address them, we consider trying to predicting mortality after diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We use data derived from our institution's electronic health record and abstract data on 13 regularly measured laboratory markers. We walk through different challenges that arise in modelling these data and then introduce different machine-learning approaches. Finally, we discuss general issues in the application of machine-learning methods including tuning parameters, loss functions, variable importance, and missing data. Overall, this review serves as an introduction for those working on risk modelling to approach the diffuse field of machine learning. PMID:27436868

Schools as Sites for Recruiting Participants and Implementing Research.

PubMed

Bartlett, Robin; Wright, Tiffany; Olarinde, Tia; Holmes, Tara; Beamon, Emily R; Wallace, Debra

2017-01-01

Schools can be a valuable resource for recruitment of participants for research involving children, adolescents, and parents. Awareness of the benefits and challenges of working with schools can assist researchers in developing effective school partnerships. This article discusses the advantages of conducting research within the school system as well as the challenges that may also arise. Such challenges include developing key contacts, building relationships, logistical arrangements, and facilitating trust in the research topic and team. Suggestions for strategies to forge successful collaborative relationships with schools are provided.

First-Principles Monte Carlo Simulations of Reaction Equilibria in Compressed Vapors

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Predictive modeling of reaction equilibria presents one of the grand challenges in the field of molecular simulation. Difficulties in the study of such systems arise from the need (i) to accurately model both strong, short-ranged interactions leading to the formation of chemical bonds and weak interactions arising from the environment, and (ii) to sample the range of time scales involving frequent molecular collisions, slow diffusion, and infrequent reactive events. Here we present a novel reactive first-principles Monte Carlo (RxFPMC) approach that allows for investigation of reaction equilibria without the need to prespecify a set of chemical reactions and their ideal-gas equilibrium constants. We apply RxFPMC to investigate a nitrogen/oxygen mixture at T = 3000 K and p = 30 GPa, i.e., conditions that are present in atmospheric lightning strikes and explosions. The RxFPMC simulations show that the solvation environment leads to a significantly enhanced NO concentration that reaches a maximum when oxygen is present in slight excess. In addition, the RxFPMC simulations indicate the formation of NO2 and N2O in mole fractions approaching 1%, whereas N3 and O3 are not observed. The equilibrium distributions obtained from the RxFPMC simulations agree well with those from a thermochemical computer code parametrized to experimental data. PMID:27413785

Inference on network statistics by restricting to the network space: applications to sexual history data.

PubMed

Goyal, Ravi; De Gruttola, Victor

2018-01-30

Analysis of sexual history data intended to describe sexual networks presents many challenges arising from the fact that most surveys collect information on only a very small fraction of the population of interest. In addition, partners are rarely identified and responses are subject to reporting biases. Typically, each network statistic of interest, such as mean number of sexual partners for men or women, is estimated independently of other network statistics. There is, however, a complex relationship among networks statistics; and knowledge of these relationships can aid in addressing concerns mentioned earlier. We develop a novel method that constrains a posterior predictive distribution of a collection of network statistics in order to leverage the relationships among network statistics in making inference about network properties of interest. The method ensures that inference on network properties is compatible with an actual network. Through extensive simulation studies, we also demonstrate that use of this method can improve estimates in settings where there is uncertainty that arises both from sampling and from systematic reporting bias compared with currently available approaches to estimation. To illustrate the method, we apply it to estimate network statistics using data from the Chicago Health and Social Life Survey. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

EPR-dosimetry of ionizing radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Mariia; Vakhnin, Dmitrii; Tyshchenko, Igor

2017-09-01

This article discusses the problems that arise during the radiation sterilization of medical products. It is propose the solution based on alanine EPR-dosimetry. The parameters of spectrometer and methods of absorbed dose calculation are given. In addition, the problems that arise during heavy particles irradiation are investigated.

Legal Challenges and Pitfalls for Start-up Companies - 48 Common Questions and Answers.

PubMed

Staehelin, Matthias

2014-12-01

Transforming a business idea into reality requires a legal implementation plan. The following 48 questions and answers address key issues that typically arise in start-up situations. Early planning can help avoid costly mistakes.

Computational Molecular Modeling for Evaluating the Toxicity of Environmental Chemicals: Prioritizing Bioassay Requirements

EPA Science Inventory

This commentary provides an overview of the challenges that arise from applying molecular modeling tools developed and commonly used for pharmaceutical discovery to the problem of predicting the potential toxicities of environmental chemicals.

The structure of a thermophilic kinase shapes fitness upon random circular permutation

PubMed Central

Jones, Alicia M.; Mehta, Manan M.; Thomas, Emily E.; Atkinson, Joshua T.; Segall-Shapiro, Thomas H.; Liu, Shirley; Silberg, Jonathan J.

2016-01-01

Proteins can be engineered for synthetic biology through circular permutation, a sequence rearrangement where native protein termini become linked and new termini are created elsewhere through backbone fission. However, it remains challenging to anticipate a protein’s functional tolerance to circular permutation. Here, we describe new transposons for creating libraries of randomly circularly permuted proteins that minimize peptide additions at their termini, and we use transposase mutagenesis to study the tolerance of a thermophilic adenylate kinase (AK) to circular permutation. We find that libraries expressing permuted AK with either short or long peptides amended to their N-terminus yield distinct sets of active variants and present evidence that this trend arises because permuted protein expression varies across libraries. Mapping all sites that tolerate backbone cleavage onto AK structure reveals that the largest contiguous regions of sequence that lack cleavage sites are proximal to the phosphotransfer site. A comparison of our results with a range of structure-derived parameters further showed that retention of function correlates to the strongest extent with the distance to the phosphotransfer site, amino acid variability in an AK family sequence alignment, and residue-level deviations in superimposed AK structures. Our work illustrates how permuted protein libraries can be created with minimal peptide additions using transposase mutagenesis, and they reveal a challenge of maintaining consistent expression across permuted variants in a library that minimizes peptide additions. Furthermore, these findings provide a basis for interpreting responses of thermophilic phosphotransferases to circular permutation by calibrating how different structure-derived parameters relate to retention of function in a cellular selection. PMID:26976658

The Structure of a Thermophilic Kinase Shapes Fitness upon Random Circular Permutation.

PubMed

Jones, Alicia M; Mehta, Manan M; Thomas, Emily E; Atkinson, Joshua T; Segall-Shapiro, Thomas H; Liu, Shirley; Silberg, Jonathan J

2016-05-20

Proteins can be engineered for synthetic biology through circular permutation, a sequence rearrangement in which native protein termini become linked and new termini are created elsewhere through backbone fission. However, it remains challenging to anticipate a protein's functional tolerance to circular permutation. Here, we describe new transposons for creating libraries of randomly circularly permuted proteins that minimize peptide additions at their termini, and we use transposase mutagenesis to study the tolerance of a thermophilic adenylate kinase (AK) to circular permutation. We find that libraries expressing permuted AKs with either short or long peptides amended to their N-terminus yield distinct sets of active variants and present evidence that this trend arises because permuted protein expression varies across libraries. Mapping all sites that tolerate backbone cleavage onto AK structure reveals that the largest contiguous regions of sequence that lack cleavage sites are proximal to the phosphotransfer site. A comparison of our results with a range of structure-derived parameters further showed that retention of function correlates to the strongest extent with the distance to the phosphotransfer site, amino acid variability in an AK family sequence alignment, and residue-level deviations in superimposed AK structures. Our work illustrates how permuted protein libraries can be created with minimal peptide additions using transposase mutagenesis, and it reveals a challenge of maintaining consistent expression across permuted variants in a library that minimizes peptide additions. Furthermore, these findings provide a basis for interpreting responses of thermophilic phosphotransferases to circular permutation by calibrating how different structure-derived parameters relate to retention of function in a cellular selection.

Imaging of the oral cavity.

PubMed

Meesa, Indu Rekha; Srinivasan, Ashok

2015-01-01

The oral cavity is a challenging area in head and neck imaging because of its complex anatomy and the numerous pathophysiologies that involve its contents. This challenge is further compounded by the ubiquitous artifacts that arise from the dental amalgam, which compromise image quality. In this article, the anatomy of the oral cavity is discussed in brief, followed by a description of the imaging technique and some common pathologic abnormalities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health worker motivation in the context of HIV care and treatment challenges in Mbeya Region, Tanzania: A qualitative study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Health worker motivation can potentially affect the provision of health services. The HIV pandemic has placed additional strain on health service provision through the extra burden of increased testing and counselling, treating opportunistic infections and providing antiretroviral treatment. The aim of this paper is to explore the challenges generated by HIV care and treatment and their impact on health worker motivation in Mbeya Region, Tanzania. Methods Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with health workers across the range of health care professions in health facilities in two high HIV-prevalence districts of Mbeya Region, Tanzania. A qualitative framework analysis was adopted for data analysis. Results The negative impact of HIV-related challenges on health worker motivation was confirmed by this study. Training seminars and workshops related to HIV contributed to the shortage of health workers in the facilities. Lower status workers were frequently excluded from training and were more severely affected by the consequent increase in workload as seminars were usually attended by higher status professionals who controlled access. Constant and consistent complaints by clients have undermined health workers' expectations of trust and recognition. Health workers were forced to take responsibility for dealing with problems arising from organisational inefficiencies within the health system. Conclusion HIV-related challenges undermine motivation among health workers in Mbeya, Tanzania with the burden falling most heavily on lower status workers. Strained relations between health workers and the community they serve, further undermine motivation of health workers. PMID:21992700

Seminary Formation: A Case Study from the Pontifical Beda College, Rome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strange, Roderick

2015-01-01

This case study account reviews issues related to seminary formation and education at the Beda College, Rome, including Fundamentals of Formation, Community Life, Organizing Formation, Intellectual Formation, Spiritual Formation, Pastoral Formation, and the challenges arising in these fields.

Nurses' views on challenging doctors' practice in an acute hospital.

PubMed

Churchman, J J; Doherty, C

To explore the extent to which nurses are willing to challenge doctors' practice in everyday situations in an acute NHS hospital. Qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews with 12 nurses in an acute NHS hospital in England. Participants believed that they challenged doctors' practice and acted as patients' advocates. However, data revealed that nurses questioned doctors' practice only under specific circumstances. Nurses would not challenge doctors if they perceived that this would result in conflict or stress, if they were afraid of the doctor or feared reprisal. Nurses are discouraged from challenging doctors' practice by the structural inequality arising from the gender division of labour and doctors' expert knowledge and status (medical dominance) in the workplace.

Chemical synthesis of a homoserine-mutant of the antibacterial, head-to-tail cyclized protein AS-48 by α-ketoacid–hydroxylamine (KAHA) ligation† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures, supplementary results, and spectroscopic data for new compounds. See DOI: 10.1039/c7sc00789b Click here for additional data file.

PubMed Central

Rohrbacher, Florian; Zwicky, André

2017-01-01

An antibacterial cyclic AS-48 protein was chemically synthesized by α-ketoacid–hydroxylamine (KAHA) ligation. Initial challenges associated with the exceptionally hydrophobic segments arising from the amphiphilic nature of the protein were resolved by the development of bespoke reaction conditions for hydrophobic segments, using hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as a co-solvent. The synthetic protein displays similar biological activity and properties to those of the native protein. To support the current understanding of its antibacterial mode of action, we demonstrate the ability of AS-48 to be incorporated into synthetic multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). PMID:28580120

The application of CFD to the modelling of fires in complex geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, A. D.; Clarke, D. S.; Guilbert, P.; Jones, I. P.; Simcox, S.; Wilkes, N. S.

The application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to industrial safety is a challenging activity. In particular it involves the interaction of several different physical processes, including turbulence, combustion, radiation, buoyancy, compressible flow and shock waves in complex three-dimensional geometries. In addition, there may be multi-phase effects arising, for example, from sprinkler systems for extinguishing fires. The FLOW3D software (1-3) from Computational Fluid Dynamics Services (CFDS) is in widespread use in industrial safety problems, both within AEA Technology, and also by CFDS's commercial customers, for example references (4-13). This paper discusses some other applications of FLOW3D to safety problems. These applications illustrate the coupling of the gas flows with radiation models and combustion models, particularly for complex geometries where simpler radiation models are not applicable.

Interprofessional Clinical Ethics Education: The Promise of Cross-Disciplinary Problem-Based Learning.

PubMed

Kurtz, Melissa J; Starbird, Laura E

2016-09-01

A review of Lin et al.'s pilot study exploring the effects of an interprofessional, problem-based learning clinical ethics curriculum on Taiwanese medical and nursing students' attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration highlights the benefits of interprofessional collaboration and offers insight into how problem-based learning might be universally applied in ethics education. Interprofessional collaboration is an ideal approach for exploring ethical dilemmas because it involves all relevant professionals in discussions about ethical values that arise in patient care. Interprofessional ethics collaboration is challenging to implement, however, given time constraints and organizational and practice demands. Nevertheless, we suggest that when professionals collaborate, they can collectively express greater commitment to the patient. We also suggest future research avenues that can explore additional benefits of interprofessional collaboration in clinical ethics. © 2016 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

The Incidence and Fate of Volatile Methyl Siloxanes in a Crewed Spacecraft Cabin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perry, Jay L.; Kayatin, Matthew J.

2017-01-01

Volatile methyl siloxanes (VMS) arise from diverse, pervasive sources aboard crewed spacecraft ranging from materials offgassing to volatilization from personal care products. These sources lead to a persistent VMS compound presence in the cabin environment that must be considered for robust life support system design. Volatile methyl siloxane compound stability in the cabin environment presents an additional technical issue because degradation products such as dimethylsilanediol (DMSD) are highly soluble in water leading to a unique load challenge for water purification processes. The incidence and fate of VMS compounds as observed in the terrestrial atmosphere, water, and surface (soil) environmental compartments have been evaluated as an analogy for a crewed cabin environment. Volatile methyl siloxane removal pathways aboard crewed spacecraft are discussed and a material balance accounting for a DMSD production mechanism consistent with in-flight observations is presented.

Annual research review: the nature and classification of reading disorders--a commentary on proposals for DSM-5.

PubMed

Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2012-05-01

This article reviews our understanding of reading disorders in children and relates it to current proposals for their classification in DSM-5. There are two different, commonly occurring, forms of reading disorder in children which arise from different underlying language difficulties. Dyslexia (as defined in DSM-5), or decoding difficulty, refers to children who have difficulty in mastering the relationships between the spelling patterns of words and their pronunciations. These children typically read aloud inaccurately and slowly, and experience additional problems with spelling. Dyslexia appears to arise principally from a weakness in phonological (speech sound) skills, and there is good evidence that it can be ameliorated by systematic phonic teaching combined with phonological awareness training. The other major form of reading difficulty is reading comprehension impairment. These children read aloud accurately and fluently, but have difficulty understanding what they have read. Reading comprehension impairment appears to arise from weaknesses in a range of oral language skills including poor vocabulary knowledge, weak grammatical skills and difficulties in oral language comprehension. We suggest that the omission of reading comprehension impairment from DSM-5 is a serious one that should be remedied. Both dyslexia and reading comprehension impairment are dimensional in nature, and show strong continuities with other disorders of language. We argue that recognizing the continuities between reading and language disorders has important implications for assessment and treatment, and we note that the high rates of comorbidity between reading disorders and other seemingly disparate disorders (including ADHD and motor disorders) raises important challenges for understanding these disorders. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Clinical Challenges in the Growing Medical Marijuana Field.

PubMed

Barker, Jonathan

2018-03-01

Unique clinical challenges arise with the growing number of patients who possess medical marijuana cards. Medical marijuana patients with mental disorders can have worsening symptoms with marijuana use. Often there is sparse continuity of care between the patient and the medical marijuana practitioner. Lack of communication between the patient's treating practitioners and the practitioner who has authorized the medical marijuana can be problematic. This article is a discussion of the new clinical challenges practitioners are likely to encounter with the growing number of medical marijuana patients. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2018-03.asp].

Clinical Challenges in the Growing Medical Marijuana Field.

PubMed

Barker, Jonathan

2018-02-02

Unique clinical challenges arise with the growing number of patients who possess medical marijuana cards. Medical marijuana patients with mental disorders can have worsening symptoms with marijuana use. Often there is sparse continuity of care between the patient and the medical marijuana practitioner. Lack of communication between the patient's treating practitioners and the practitioner who has authorized the medical marijuana can be problematic. This article is a discussion of the new clinical challenges practitioners are likely to encounter with the growing number of medical marijuana patients. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2018-02.asp].

How Cities Breathe: Ground-Referenced, Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging Precursor Measurements To Space-Based Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leifer, Ira; Tratt, David; Quattrochi, Dale; Bovensmann, Heinrich; Gerilowski, Konstantin; Buchwitz, Michael; Burrows, John

2013-01-01

Methane's (CH4) large global warming potential (Shindell et al., 2012) and likely increasing future emissions due to global warming feedbacks emphasize its importance to anthropogenic greenhouse warming (IPCC, 2007). Furthermore, CH4 regulation has far greater near-term climate change mitigation potential versus carbon dioxide CO2, the other major anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) (Shindell et al., 2009). Uncertainties in CH4 budgets arise from the poor state of knowledge of CH4 sources - in part from a lack of sufficiently accurate assessments of the temporal and spatial emissions and controlling factors of highly variable anthropogenic and natural CH4 surface fluxes (IPCC, 2007) and the lack of global-scale (satellite) data at sufficiently high spatial resolution to resolve sources. Many important methane (and other trace gases) sources arise from urban and mega-urban landscapes where anthropogenic activities are centered - most of humanity lives in urban areas. Studying these complex landscape tapestries is challenged by a wide and varied range of activities at small spatial scale, and difficulty in obtaining up-to-date landuse data in the developed world - a key desire of policy makers towards development of effective regulations. In the developing world, challenges are multiplied with additional political access challenges. As high spatial resolution satellite and airborne data has become available, activity mapping applications have blossomed - i.e., Google maps; however, tap a minute fraction of remote sensing capabilities due to limited (three band) spectral information. Next generation approaches that incorporate high spatial resolution hyperspectral and ultraspectral data will allow detangling of the highly heterogeneous usage megacity patterns by providing diagnostic identification of chemical composition from solids (refs) to gases (refs). To properly enable these next generation technologies for megacity include atmospheric radiative transfer modeling the complex and often aerosol laden, humid, urban microclimates, atmospheric transport and profile monitoring, spatial resolution, temporal cycles (diurnal and seasonal which involve interactions with the surrounding environment diurnal and seasonal cycles) and representative measurement approaches given traffic realities. Promising approaches incorporate contemporaneous airborne remote sensing and in situ measurements, nocturnal surface surveys, with ground station measurement

Developing Tomorrow's Integrated Community Health Systems: A Leadership Challenge for Public Health and Primary Care

PubMed Central

Welton, William E.; Kantner, Theodore A.; Katz, Sheila Moriber

1997-01-01

As the nation's health system moves away from earlier models to one grounded in population health and market-based systems of care, new challenges arise for public health professionals, primary care practitioners, health plan and institutional managers, and community leaders. Among the challenges are the need to develop creative concepts of organization and accountability and to assure that dynamic, system-oriented structures support the new kind of leadership that is required. Developing tomorrow's integrated community health systems will challenge the leadership skills and integrative abilities of public health professionals, primary care practitioners, and managers. These leaders and their new organizations must, in turn, assume increased accountability for improving community health. PMID:9184684

Solar ultraviolet radiation in a changing climate

EPA Science Inventory

The projected large increases in damaging ultraviolet radiation as a result of global emissions of ozone-depleting substances have been forestalled by the success of the Montreal Protocol. New challenges are now arising in relation to climate change. We highlight the complex inte...

Susceptibility of Redundant Versus Singular Clock Domains Implemented in SRAM-Based FPGA TMR Designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Melanie D.; LaBel, Kenneth A.; Pellish, Jonathan

2016-01-01

We present the challenges that arise when using redundant clock domains due to their clock-skew. Radiation data show that a singular clock domain (DTMR) provides an improved TMR methodology for SRAM-based FPGAs over redundant clocks.

Global trade and assisted reproductive technologies: regulatory challenges in international surrogacy.

PubMed

Nelson, Erin

2013-01-01

International surrogacy is an increasingly common phenomenon and an important global health challenge. Legal rules are a key consideration for the participants in international surrogacy arrangements. In some cases the law can help to resolve the complex issues that arise in this context, but it is important to consider the role played by law in contributing to the complex conflicts that such arrangements can generate. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Work-based learning: challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Gallagher, Ann; Holland, Lesley

This article discusses some of the challenges and opportunities arising from the development and implementation of an innovative work-based open and distance learning programme available exclusively to healthcare assistants working in general health and mental health practice. The programme is based on a partnership between the sponsoring organisation and the Open University. The focus is on the development of standards of proficiency, service user involvement, partnership working, skills development and the pedagogic implications of a work-based learning format.

Context-specific and/or context-free challenges and opportunities in writing scholarly reviews in health care management: a conceptual note.

PubMed

Blair, John D

2011-01-01

Challenges and opportunities arise from the significantly different perspectives of context-specific versus context-free researchers and the literatures they contribute to. Reviews of one type or the other or both types of literatures may provide different understandings of the state of the art in a particular area of health care management. Suggestions for writing quality reviews are also included along with suggested topics for future reviews.

Opportunities and challenges in developing deep learning models using electronic health records data: a systematic review.

PubMed

Xiao, Cao; Choi, Edward; Sun, Jimeng

2018-06-08

To conduct a systematic review of deep learning models for electronic health record (EHR) data, and illustrate various deep learning architectures for analyzing different data sources and their target applications. We also highlight ongoing research and identify open challenges in building deep learning models of EHRs. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for papers on deep learning studies using EHR data published between January 1, 2010, and January 31, 2018. We summarize them according to these axes: types of analytics tasks, types of deep learning model architectures, special challenges arising from health data and tasks and their potential solutions, as well as evaluation strategies. We surveyed and analyzed multiple aspects of the 98 articles we found and identified the following analytics tasks: disease detection/classification, sequential prediction of clinical events, concept embedding, data augmentation, and EHR data privacy. We then studied how deep architectures were applied to these tasks. We also discussed some special challenges arising from modeling EHR data and reviewed a few popular approaches. Finally, we summarized how performance evaluations were conducted for each task. Despite the early success in using deep learning for health analytics applications, there still exist a number of issues to be addressed. We discuss them in detail including data and label availability, the interpretability and transparency of the model, and ease of deployment.

Moving beyond regression techniques in cardiovascular risk prediction: applying machine learning to address analytic challenges.

PubMed

Goldstein, Benjamin A; Navar, Ann Marie; Carter, Rickey E

2017-06-14

Risk prediction plays an important role in clinical cardiology research. Traditionally, most risk models have been based on regression models. While useful and robust, these statistical methods are limited to using a small number of predictors which operate in the same way on everyone, and uniformly throughout their range. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the use of machine-learning methods for development of risk prediction models. Typically presented as black box approaches, most machine-learning methods are aimed at solving particular challenges that arise in data analysis that are not well addressed by typical regression approaches. To illustrate these challenges, as well as how different methods can address them, we consider trying to predicting mortality after diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We use data derived from our institution's electronic health record and abstract data on 13 regularly measured laboratory markers. We walk through different challenges that arise in modelling these data and then introduce different machine-learning approaches. Finally, we discuss general issues in the application of machine-learning methods including tuning parameters, loss functions, variable importance, and missing data. Overall, this review serves as an introduction for those working on risk modelling to approach the diffuse field of machine learning. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.

Measurement Challenges in International Agreements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luke, John

2006-10-01

Making measurements in support of international agreements can pose many challenges both from a policy and science point of view. Policy issues may arise because physics measurements made in the area of arms control or disarmament may be deemed too intrusive since they could possibly reveal sensitive information about the material that is being interrogated. Therefore, agreements must include a framework for safeguarding against the potential release of this information. Most of the scientific issues center around the fact that it is desirable to make high quality measurements without any operator interaction. This leads to the development of instrumentation and software that are very stable and robust. Due to different concerns, policy and science priorities may be at odds with one another. Therefore, it is the scientist's challenge - in this field - to keep policy makers informed by conveying what is technically possible and what is not in a manner that is easily understood and also negotiable. In this paper we will discuss some of the technology that has been developed to address some of these challenges in various international and model agreements. We will discuss the principle of informational barrier used in these measurement technologies to safeguard the release of sensitive information. We will also discuss some of the pitfalls that may arise when policy is ill informed about the physical constraints in the making of measurements of nuclear materials.

Addressing unmet mental health and substance abuse needs: a partnered planning effort between grassroots community agencies, faith-based organizations, service providers, and academic institutions.

PubMed

Wong, Eunice C; Chung, Bowen; Stover, Gabriel; Stockdale, Susan; Jones, Felica; Litt, Paula; Klap, Ruth S; Patel, Kavita; Wells, Kenneth B

2011-01-01

To conduct a process evaluation of the Restoration Center Los Angeles, a community-academic partnered planning effort aimed at holistically addressing the unmet mental health and substance abuse needs of the Los Angeles African American community. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions on key domains of partnership effectiveness were conducted with a random stratified sample of participants varying by level of involvement. Eleven partners representing grassroots community agencies, faith-based organizations, service providers, and academic institutions. Common themes identified by an evaluation consultant and partners relating to partnership effectiveness, perceived benefits and costs, and future expectations. Findings underscore the importance of considering the potential issues that may arise with the increasing diversity of partners and perspectives. Many of the challenges and facilitating factors that arise within academic-community partnerships were similarly experienced between the diverse set of community partners. Challenges that affected partnership development between community-to-community partners included differences in expectations regarding the final goal of the project, trust-building, and the distribution of funds. Despite such challenges, partners were able to jointly develop a final set of recommendations for the creation of restoration centers, which was viewed as a major accomplishment. Limited guidance exists on how to navigate differences that arise between community members who have shared identities on some dimensions (eg, African American ethnicity, Los Angeles residence) but divergent identities on other dimensions (eg, formal church affiliation). With increasing diversity of community representation, careful attention needs to be dedicated to not only the development of academic-community partnerships but also community-community partnerships.

Evaluation of target efficiencies for solid-liquid separation steps in biofuels production.

PubMed

Kochergin, Vadim; Miller, Keith

2011-01-01

Development of liquid biofuels has entered a new phase of large scale pilot demonstration. A number of plants that are in operation or under construction face the task of addressing the engineering challenges of creating a viable plant design, scaling up and optimizing various unit operations. It is well-known that separation technologies account for 50-70% of both capital and operating cost. Additionally, reduction of environmental impact creates technological challenges that increase project cost without adding to the bottom line. Different technologies vary in terms of selection of unit operations; however, solid-liquid separations are likely to be a major contributor to the overall project cost. Despite the differences in pretreatment approaches, similar challenges arise for solid-liquid separation unit operations. A typical process for ethanol production from biomass includes several solid-liquid separation steps, depending on which particular stream is targeted for downstream processing. The nature of biomass-derived materials makes it either difficult or uneconomical to accomplish complete separation in a single step. Therefore, setting realistic efficiency targets for solid-liquid separations is an important task that influences overall process recovery and economics. Experimental data will be presented showing typical characteristics for pretreated cane bagasse at various stages of processing into cellulosic ethanol. Results of generic material balance calculations will be presented to illustrate the influence of separation target efficiencies on overall process recoveries and characteristics of waste streams.

Implicitly solving phase appearance and disappearance problems using two-fluid six-equation model

DOE PAGES

Zou, Ling; Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin

2016-01-25

Phase appearance and disappearance issue presents serious numerical challenges in two-phase flow simulations using the two-fluid six-equation model. Numerical challenges arise from the singular equation system when one phase is absent, as well as from the discontinuity in the solution space when one phase appears or disappears. In this work, a high-resolution spatial discretization scheme on staggered grids and fully implicit methods were applied for the simulation of two-phase flow problems using the two-fluid six-equation model. A Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) method was used to solve the discretized nonlinear problem. An improved numerical treatment was proposed and proved to be effectivemore » to handle the numerical challenges. The treatment scheme is conceptually simple, easy to implement, and does not require explicit truncations on solutions, which is essential to conserve mass and energy. Various types of phase appearance and disappearance problems relevant to thermal-hydraulics analysis have been investigated, including a sedimentation problem, an oscillating manometer problem, a non-condensable gas injection problem, a single-phase flow with heat addition problem and a subcooled flow boiling problem. Successful simulations of these problems demonstrate the capability and robustness of the proposed numerical methods and numerical treatments. As a result, volume fraction of the absent phase can be calculated effectively as zero.« less

Families of returned defence force personnel: a changing landscape of challenges.

PubMed

Berle, David; Steel, Zachary

2015-08-01

This paper aims to identify the key challenges experienced by the families of defence force personnel following deployment. We undertook a selective review of four post-deployment challenges to the families of defence force personnel: (1) changes to relationships; (2) changes to family member roles and responsibilities; (3) adjustment of children and parenting challenges; and (4) anger, family conflict and violence. Emerging issues in the area of post-deployment adjustment are also discussed. Empirical studies of post-deployment family adjustment are lacking. Each of the reviewed challenges can contribute to psychological difficulties and precipitate contact with mental health services. The challenges faced by defence force personnel when returning from deployment arise within a family context. Clinicians should thoroughly assess these factors in families following deployment, but also recognise family strengths and resilience to these challenges. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

A spoonful of care ethics: The challenges of enriching medical education.

PubMed

van Reenen, Eva; van Nistelrooij, Inge

2017-01-01

Nursing Ethics has featured several discussions on what good care comprises and how to achieve good care practices. We should "nurse" ethics by continuously reflecting on the way we "do" ethics, which is what care ethicists have been doing over the past few decades and continue to do so. Ethics is not limited to nursing but extends to all caring professions. In 2011, Elin Martinsen argued in this journal that care should be included as a core concept in medical ethical terminology because of "the harm to which patients may be exposed owing to a lack of care in the clinical encounter," specifically between doctors and patients. However, Martinsen leaves the didactical challenges arising from such a venture open for further enquiry. In this article, we explore the challenges arising from implementing care-ethical insights into medical education. Medical education in the Netherlands is investigated through a "care-ethical lens". This means exploring the possibility of enriching medical education with care-ethical insights, while at the same time discovering possible challenges emerging from such an undertaking. Participants and research context: This paper has been written from the academic context of a master in care ethics and policy. Ethical considerations: We have tried to be fair and respectful to the authors discussed and take a neutral stance towards the findings portrayed. Several challenges are identified, which we narrow down to two types: didactical and non-didactical. In order to overcome these challenges, we must not underestimate the possible resistance to a paradigm shift. Our efforts should mainly target the learning that takes place in the clinical phases of medical training and should be accompanied by the creation of awareness in healthcare practice.

The Effects of Race Conditions When Implementing Single-Source Redundant Clock Trees in Triple Modular Redundant Synchronous Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Melanie D.; Kim, Hak S.; Phan, Anthony M.; Seidleck, Christina M.; Label, Kenneth A.; Pellish, Jonathan A.; Campola, Michael J.

2016-01-01

We present the challenges that arise when using redundant clock domains due to their time-skew. Radiation data show that a singular clock domain provides an improved triple modular redundant (TMR) scheme over redundant clocks.

Through the Front Door.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geller, Joseph

2002-01-01

Discusses challenges that arise in creating school entranceways that meld accessibility with attractiveness, noting the importance of considering both aesthetic impact and the design mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Creative solutions include tying a walkway into a progressive stair; incorporating the ramp into a masonry…

ENVIRONMENTAL IMMUNOCHEMISTRY AT THE U.S. EPA, NATIONAL EXPOSURE RESEARCH LABORATORY'S HUMAN EXPOSURE BRANCH

EPA Science Inventory

Immunoehemical methods are responding to the changing needs of regulatory and monitoring programs and are meeting new analytical challenges as they arise. Recent advances in environmental immunoehemistry have expanded the role of immunoassays from field screening methods to hig...

EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES WITH MASS SPECTROMETRY

EPA Science Inventory

Much has been achieved in the way of environmental protection over the last 30 years. However, as we learn more, new concerns arise. This presentation will discuss emerging contaminants that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies are currently concerned...

Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baidak, Nathalie; Horvath, Anna; Sharp, Caroline; Kearney, Caroline

2009-01-01

Education in European countries is subject to many competing demands which have an influence on the organisation and content of arts education. Increasing globalisation has brought both benefits and challenges, including those arising from increased international competition, migration and multiculturalism, advancements in technology and the…

A Comparison of Solver Performance for Complex Gastric Electrophysiology Models

PubMed Central

Sathar, Shameer; Cheng, Leo K.; Trew, Mark L.

2016-01-01

Computational techniques for solving systems of equations arising in gastric electrophysiology have not been studied for efficient solution process. We present a computationally challenging problem of simulating gastric electrophysiology in anatomically realistic stomach geometries with multiple intracellular and extracellular domains. The multiscale nature of the problem and mesh resolution required to capture geometric and functional features necessitates efficient solution methods if the problem is to be tractable. In this study, we investigated and compared several parallel preconditioners for the linear systems arising from tetrahedral discretisation of electrically isotropic and anisotropic problems, with and without stimuli. The results showed that the isotropic problem was computationally less challenging than the anisotropic problem and that the application of extracellular stimuli increased workload considerably. Preconditioning based on block Jacobi and algebraic multigrid solvers were found to have the best overall solution times and least iteration counts, respectively. The algebraic multigrid preconditioner would be expected to perform better on large problems. PMID:26736543

Emerging Biometric Modalities: Challenges and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gafurov, Davrondzhon

Recent advances in sensor technology and wide spread use of various electronics (computers, PDA, mobile phones etc.) provide new opportunities for capturing and analyses of novel physiological and behavioural traits of human beings for biometric authentication. This paper presents an overview of several such types of human characteristics that have been proposed as alternatives to traditional types of biometrics. We refer to these characteristics as emerging biometrics. We survey various types of emerging modalities and techniques, and discuss their pros and cons. Emerging biometrics faces several limitations and challenges which include subject population coverage (focusing mostly on adults); unavailability of benchmark databases; little research with respect to vulnerability/robustness against attacks; and some privacy concerns they may arise. In addition, recognition performance of emerging modalities are generally less accurate compared to the traditional biometrics. Despite all of these emerging biometrics posses their own benefits and advantages compared to traditional biometrics which makes them still attractive for research. First of all, emerging biometrics can always serve as a complementary source for identity information; they can be suitable in applications where traditional biometrics are difficult or impossible to adapt such as continuous or periodic re-verification of the user's identity etc.

Stochastic characterization of small-scale algorithms for human sensory processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neri, Peter

2010-12-01

Human sensory processing can be viewed as a functional H mapping a stimulus vector s into a decisional variable r. We currently have no direct access to r; rather, the human makes a decision based on r in order to drive subsequent behavior. It is this (typically binary) decision that we can measure. For example, there may be two external stimuli s[0] and s[1], mapped onto r[0] and r[1] by the sensory apparatus H; the human chooses the stimulus associated with largest r. This kind of decisional transduction poses a major challenge for an accurate characterization of H. In this article, we explore a specific approach based on a behavioral variant of reverse correlation techniques, where the input s contains a target signal corrupted by a controlled noisy perturbation. The presence of the target signal poses an additional challenge because it distorts the otherwise unbiased nature of the noise source. We consider issues arising from both the decisional transducer and the target signal, their impact on system identification, and ways to handle them effectively for system characterizations that extend to second-order functional approximations with associated small-scale cascade models.

Advances in understanding tumour evolution through single-cell sequencing.

PubMed

Kuipers, Jack; Jahn, Katharina; Beerenwinkel, Niko

2017-04-01

The mutational heterogeneity observed within tumours poses additional challenges to the development of effective cancer treatments. A thorough understanding of a tumour's subclonal composition and its mutational history is essential to open up the design of treatments tailored to individual patients. Comparative studies on a large number of tumours permit the identification of mutational patterns which may refine forecasts of cancer progression, response to treatment and metastatic potential. The composition of tumours is shaped by evolutionary processes. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing offer the possibility to analyse the evolutionary history and accompanying heterogeneity of tumours at an unprecedented resolution, by sequencing single cells. New computational challenges arise when moving from bulk to single-cell sequencing data, leading to the development of novel modelling frameworks. In this review, we present the state of the art methods for understanding the phylogeny encoded in bulk or single-cell sequencing data, and highlight future directions for developing more comprehensive and informative pictures of tumour evolution. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Evolutionary principles - heterogeneity in cancer?, edited by Dr. Robert A. Gatenby. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy: A general equilibrium perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Samuel Garner

The conversion of biomass to energy represents a promising pathway forward in efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation and electricity sectors. In addition to potential benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and increased energy security, bioenergy production also presents a unique set of challenges. These challenges include tradeoffs between food and fuel production, distortions in energy markets, and terrestrial emissions associated with changing land-use patterns. Each of these challenges arises from market-mediated responses to bioenergy production, and are therefore largely economic in nature. This dissertation directly addresses these opportunities and challenges by evaluating the economic impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy, focusing on both existing and future biomass-to-energy pathways. The analysis approaches the issue from a global, economy-wide perspective, reflecting two important facts. First, that large-scale bioenergy production connects multiple sectors of the economy due to the use of agricultural land resources for biomass production, and competition with fossil fuels in energy markets. Second, markets for both agricultural and energy commodities are highly integrated globally, causing domestic policies to have international effects. The reader can think of this work as being comprised of three parts. Part I provides context through an extensive review of the literature on the market-mediated effects of conventional biofuel production (Chapter 2) and develops a general equilibrium modeling framework for assessing the extent to which these phenomenon present a challenge for future bioenergy pathways (Chapter 3). Part II (Chapter 4) explores the economic impacts of the lignocellulosic biofuel production targets set in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard on global agricultural and energy commodity markets. Part III (Chapter 5) extends the analysis to consider potential inefficiencies associated with policy-induced competition for biomass between the electricity and transportation fuel sectors.

Translating stem cell research: challenges at the research frontier.

PubMed

Magnus, David

2010-01-01

This paper will address the translation of basic stem cell research into clinical research. While "stem cell" trials are sometimes used to describe established practices of bone marrow transplantation or transplantation of primary cells derived from bone marrow, for the purposes of this paper, I am primarily focusing on stem cell trials which are far less established, including use of hESC derived stem cells. The central ethical challenges in stem cell clinical trials arise in frontier research, not in standard, well-established areas of research.

Employee vs independent contractor.

PubMed

Kolender, Ellen

2012-01-01

Finding qualified personnel for the cancer registry department has become increasingly difficult, as experienced abstractors retire and cancer diagnoses increase. Faced with hiring challenges, managers turn to teleworkers to fill positions and accomplish work in a timely manner. Suddenly, the hospital hires new legal staff and all telework agreements are disrupted. The question arises: Are teleworkers employees or independent contractors? Creating telework positions requires approval from the legal department and human resources. Caught off-guard in the last quarter of the year, I found myself again faced with hiring challenges.

Challenges facing the distribution of an artificial-intelligence-based system for nursing.

PubMed

Evans, S

1985-04-01

The marketing and successful distribution of artificial-intelligence-based decision-support systems for nursing face special barriers and challenges. Issues that must be confronted arise particularly from the present culture of the nursing profession as well as the typical organizational structures in which nurses predominantly work. Generalizations in the literature based on the limited experience of physician-oriented artificial intelligence applications (predominantly in diagnosis and pharmacologic treatment) must be modified for applicability to other health professions.

Climate change and evolutionary adaptation.

PubMed

Hoffmann, Ary A; Sgrò, Carla M

2011-02-24

Evolutionary adaptation can be rapid and potentially help species counter stressful conditions or realize ecological opportunities arising from climate change. The challenges are to understand when evolution will occur and to identify potential evolutionary winners as well as losers, such as species lacking adaptive capacity living near physiological limits. Evolutionary processes also need to be incorporated into management programmes designed to minimize biodiversity loss under rapid climate change. These challenges can be met through realistic models of evolutionary change linked to experimental data across a range of taxa.

First-principles Monte Carlo simulations of reaction equilibria in compressed vapors

DOE PAGES

Fetisov, Evgenii O.; Kuo, I-Feng William; Knight, Chris; ...

2016-06-13

Predictive modeling of reaction equilibria presents one of the grand challenges in the field of molecular simulation. Difficulties in the study of such systems arise from the need (i) to accurately model both strong, short-ranged interactions leading to the formation of chemical bonds and weak interactions arising from the environment, and (ii) to sample the range of time scales involving frequent molecular collisions, slow diffusion, and infrequent reactive events. Here we present a novel reactive first-principles Monte Carlo (RxFPMC) approach that allows for investigation of reaction equilibria without the need to prespecify a set of chemical reactions and their ideal-gasmore » equilibrium constants. We apply RxFPMC to investigate a nitrogen/oxygen mixture at T = 3000 K and p = 30 GPa, i.e., conditions that are present in atmospheric lightning strikes and explosions. The RxFPMC simulations show that the solvation environment leads to a significantly enhanced NO concentration that reaches a maximum when oxygen is present in slight excess. In addition, the RxFPMC simulations indicate the formation of NO 2 and N 2O in mole fractions approaching 1%, whereas N 3 and O 3 are not observed. Lastly, the equilibrium distributions obtained from the RxFPMC simulations agree well with those from a thermochemical computer code parametrized to experimental data.« less

First-principles Monte Carlo simulations of reaction equilibria in compressed vapors

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

Fetisov, Evgenii O.; Kuo, I-Feng William; Knight, Chris

Predictive modeling of reaction equilibria presents one of the grand challenges in the field of molecular simulation. Difficulties in the study of such systems arise from the need (i) to accurately model both strong, short-ranged interactions leading to the formation of chemical bonds and weak interactions arising from the environment, and (ii) to sample the range of time scales involving frequent molecular collisions, slow diffusion, and infrequent reactive events. Here we present a novel reactive first-principles Monte Carlo (RxFPMC) approach that allows for investigation of reaction equilibria without the need to prespecify a set of chemical reactions and their ideal-gasmore » equilibrium constants. We apply RxFPMC to investigate a nitrogen/oxygen mixture at T = 3000 K and p = 30 GPa, i.e., conditions that are present in atmospheric lightning strikes and explosions. The RxFPMC simulations show that the solvation environment leads to a significantly enhanced NO concentration that reaches a maximum when oxygen is present in slight excess. In addition, the RxFPMC simulations indicate the formation of NO 2 and N 2O in mole fractions approaching 1%, whereas N 3 and O 3 are not observed. Lastly, the equilibrium distributions obtained from the RxFPMC simulations agree well with those from a thermochemical computer code parametrized to experimental data.« less

Practical Weak-lensing Shear Measurement with Metacalibration

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

Sheldon, Erin S.; Huff, Eric M.

2017-05-20

Metacalibration is a recently introduced method to accurately measure weak gravitational lensing shear using only the available imaging data, without need for prior information about galaxy properties or calibration from simulations. The method involves distorting the image with a small known shear, and calculating the response of a shear estimator to that applied shear. The method was shown to be accurate in moderate-sized simulations with galaxy images that had relatively high signal-to-noise ratios, and without significant selection effects. In this work we introduce a formalism to correct for both shear response and selection biases. We also observe that for imagesmore » with relatively low signal-to-noise ratios, the correlated noise that arises during the metacalibration process results in significant bias, for which we develop a simple empirical correction. To test this formalism, we created large image simulations based on both parametric models and real galaxy images, including tests with realistic point-spread functions. We varied the point-spread function ellipticity at the five-percent level. In each simulation we applied a small few-percent shear to the galaxy images. We introduced additional challenges that arise in real data, such as detection thresholds, stellar contamination, and missing data. We applied cuts on the measured galaxy properties to induce significant selection effects. Using our formalism, we recovered the input shear with an accuracy better than a part in a thousand in all cases.« less

Assimilating South African medical students trained in Cuba into the South African medical education system: reflections from an identity perspective.

PubMed

Donda, B M; Hift, R J; Singaram, V S

2016-10-24

In terms of the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration programme, an agreement between the governments of South Africa and Cuba, cohorts of South African students receive their initial five years medical training at a Cuban university before returning to South Africa for a six to twelve months orientation before integration into the local final year class. It is common for these students to experience academic difficulty on their return. Frequently this is viewed merely as a matter of a knowledge deficit. We argue that the problem arises from a fundamental divergence in the outcomes of the Cuban and South African medical curricula, each of which is designed with a particular healthcare system in mind. Using the discrepancy theory of identity proposed by Higgins in 1987, we discuss the challenges experienced by the returning Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration students in terms of a potential crisis of identity and suggest interventions which may prove valuable in promoting academic success and successful integration. Though providing additional training to address the gap in skills and knowledge in returning students is an important part of their successful reintegration, this could be insufficient on its own and must be complemented by a range of measures designed to ameliorate the discrepancies in identity which arise from the transition from one educational model to another.

41 CFR 102-72.69 - What additional terms and conditions apply to an Executive agencies' delegation of ancillary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... liability and property damage insurance policies to cover claims arising from or relating to the contractor... liability, either directly or indirectly, for any contractual claims or disputes that arise out of or relate to the performance of ancillary repair and alteration work, except to the extent such claim or...

41 CFR 102-72.69 - What additional terms and conditions apply to an Executive agencies' delegation of ancillary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... alteration work, the Executive agency shall deliver, or cause its contractor to deliver, to the building... liability and property damage insurance policies to cover claims arising from or relating to the contractor... liability, either directly or indirectly, for any contractual claims or disputes that arise out of or relate...

41 CFR 102-72.69 - What additional terms and conditions apply to an Executive agencies' delegation of ancillary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... alteration work, the Executive agency shall deliver, or cause its contractor to deliver, to the building... liability and property damage insurance policies to cover claims arising from or relating to the contractor... liability, either directly or indirectly, for any contractual claims or disputes that arise out of or relate...

41 CFR 102-72.69 - What additional terms and conditions apply to an Executive agencies' delegation of ancillary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... alteration work, the Executive agency shall deliver, or cause its contractor to deliver, to the building... liability and property damage insurance policies to cover claims arising from or relating to the contractor... liability, either directly or indirectly, for any contractual claims or disputes that arise out of or relate...

41 CFR 102-72.69 - What additional terms and conditions apply to an Executive agencies' delegation of ancillary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... alteration work, the Executive agency shall deliver, or cause its contractor to deliver, to the building... liability and property damage insurance policies to cover claims arising from or relating to the contractor... liability, either directly or indirectly, for any contractual claims or disputes that arise out of or relate...

Tracking Decimal Misconceptions: Strategic Instructional Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffin, Linda B.

2016-01-01

Understanding the decimal system is challenging, requiring coordination of place-value concepts with features of whole-number and fraction knowledge (Moloney and Stacey 1997). Moreover, the learner must discern if and how previously learned concepts and procedures apply. The process is complex, and misconceptions will naturally arise. In a…

Institutionalizing Equitable Policies and Practices for Contingent Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kezar, Adrianna; Sam, Cecile

2013-01-01

This study is a qualitative inquiry into the institutionalization of equitable policies for non-tenure-track faculty. Through the theoretical framework of institutionalization, we examine factors and strategies forwarding various policies and practices and the challenges that arise. The results highlight themes throughout the stages of…

Minority Adolescent Stress and Coping

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzales, Nancy A.; George, Preethy E.; Fernandez, Aida Cristina; Huerta, Violeta L.

2005-01-01

Many of the stressful life events and daily hassles of adolescence are similar for youths despite differences in cultural background or place of residence. However, adolescents from diverse cultural groups often encounter unique challenges that arise from the particular cultural-ecological niches they inhabit by virtue of their ethnic group…

MODIS EVI as a Surrogate for Net Primary Production across Precipitation Regimes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

According to Global Climate Models (GCMs) the occurrence of extreme events of precipitation will be more frequent in the future. Therefore, important challenges arise regarding climate variability, which are mainly related to the understanding of ecosystem responses to changes in precipitation patte...

Subscriptions Are Us: Content, Access, & Collections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Lisa Carlucci

2012-01-01

In a time of increasingly digital distribution, challenging questions arise regarding what people own, what they want to access to, and how they develop and maintain collections. What considerations influence their decision making, as individuals and libraries shift toward more subscription-oriented content? Digital access to e-books and…

Primary Teachers, Policy, and Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrie, Kirsten; lisahunter,

2011-01-01

This article focuses on the challenges arising for primary school teachers who have responsibility for teaching physical education (PE) and who are working in particularly complex and contestable policy contexts. In New Zealand provision of physical education is identified as occurring amidst multiple, and not necessarily compatible, sets of…

Perioperative management of patients with severe hypophosphataemia secondary to oncogenic osteomalacia: Our experience and review of literature

PubMed Central

Verma, Alka; Tewari, Saipriya; Kannaujia, Ashish

2017-01-01

Oncogenic osteomalacia (OOM) is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome associated with mesenchymal tumours. It is characterised by phosphaturia, hypophosphataemia, decreased serum Vitamin D3 levels and severe osteomalacia. OOM-inducing tumours are usually benign, arising either from bone or soft tissue, with extremities and craniofacial region being the most common sites. Surgical resection of the tumour remains the mainstay of treatment. Challenges to an anaesthesiologist arise when such patients are planned for surgical resection of the underlying tumour. All the perioperative dilemmas are directly related to the severe hypophosphataemia. We describe three such cases of OOM and their perioperative management. PMID:28794533

Hydatid cyst of urinary bladder associated with pregnancy:a case report.

PubMed

Kanagal, Deepa V; Hanumanalu, Lokeshchandra C

2010-07-01

Echinococcosis or hydatid disease which is caused by Echinococcus group of cestodes is very rare in pregnancy. While liver and lungs are commonly involved, other sites can be rarely affected. The management of hydatid disease in pregnancy is challenging in view of varied presentation and manifestation. We report a case of hydatid cyst arising from the bladder associated with pregnancy and presenting with abdominal pain. The cyst was surgically removed and the bladder wash was given with povidone-iodine. The postoperative recovery was uneventful with ongoing pregnancy. This is to our knowledge, the first case of hydatid cyst arising from the bladder associated with pregnancy to be reported.

The Biomedical Resource Ontology (BRO) to Enable Resource Discovery in Clinical and Translational Research

PubMed Central

Tenenbaum, Jessica D.; Whetzel, Patricia L.; Anderson, Kent; Borromeo, Charles D.; Dinov, Ivo D.; Gabriel, Davera; Kirschner, Beth; Mirel, Barbara; Morris, Tim; Noy, Natasha; Nyulas, Csongor; Rubenson, David; Saxman, Paul R.; Singh, Harpreet; Whelan, Nancy; Wright, Zach; Athey, Brian D.; Becich, Michael J.; Ginsburg, Geoffrey S.; Musen, Mark A.; Smith, Kevin A.; Tarantal, Alice F.; Rubin, Daniel L; Lyster, Peter

2010-01-01

The biomedical research community relies on a diverse set of resources, both within their own institutions and at other research centers. In addition, an increasing number of shared electronic resources have been developed. Without effective means to locate and query these resources, it is challenging, if not impossible, for investigators to be aware of the myriad resources available, or to effectively perform resource discovery when the need arises. In this paper, we describe the development and use of the Biomedical Resource Ontology (BRO) to enable semantic annotation and discovery of biomedical resources. We also describe the Resource Discovery System (RDS) which is a federated, inter-institutional pilot project that uses the BRO to facilitate resource discovery on the Internet. Through the RDS framework and its associated Biositemaps infrastructure, the BRO facilitates semantic search and discovery of biomedical resources, breaking down barriers and streamlining scientific research that will improve human health. PMID:20955817

Three-dimensionally bonded spongy graphene material with super compressive elasticity and near-zero Poisson’s ratio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yingpeng; Yi, Ningbo; Huang, Lu; Zhang, Tengfei; Fang, Shaoli; Chang, Huicong; Li, Na; Oh, Jiyoung; Lee, Jae Ah; Kozlov, Mikhail; Chipara, Alin C.; Terrones, Humberto; Xiao, Peishuang; Long, Guankui; Huang, Yi; Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Long; Lepró, Xavier; Haines, Carter; Lima, Márcio Dias; Lopez, Nestor Perea; Rajukumar, Lakshmy P.; Elias, Ana L.; Feng, Simin; Kim, Seon Jeong; Narayanan, N. T.; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Terrones, Mauricio; Aliev, Ali; Chu, Pengfei; Zhang, Zhong; Baughman, Ray H.; Chen, Yongsheng

2015-01-01

It is a challenge to fabricate graphene bulk materials with properties arising from the nature of individual graphene sheets, and which assemble into monolithic three-dimensional structures. Here we report the scalable self-assembly of randomly oriented graphene sheets into additive-free, essentially homogenous graphene sponge materials that provide a combination of both cork-like and rubber-like properties. These graphene sponges, with densities similar to air, display Poisson’s ratios in all directions that are near-zero and largely strain-independent during reversible compression to giant strains. And at the same time, they function as enthalpic rubbers, which can recover up to 98% compression in air and 90% in liquids, and operate between -196 and 900 °C. Furthermore, these sponges provide reversible liquid absorption for hundreds of cycles and then discharge it within seconds, while still providing an effective near-zero Poisson’s ratio.

Three-dimensionally bonded spongy graphene material with super compressive elasticity and near-zero Poisson's ratio.

PubMed

Wu, Yingpeng; Yi, Ningbo; Huang, Lu; Zhang, Tengfei; Fang, Shaoli; Chang, Huicong; Li, Na; Oh, Jiyoung; Lee, Jae Ah; Kozlov, Mikhail; Chipara, Alin C; Terrones, Humberto; Xiao, Peishuang; Long, Guankui; Huang, Yi; Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Long; Lepró, Xavier; Haines, Carter; Lima, Márcio Dias; Lopez, Nestor Perea; Rajukumar, Lakshmy P; Elias, Ana L; Feng, Simin; Kim, Seon Jeong; Narayanan, N T; Ajayan, Pulickel M; Terrones, Mauricio; Aliev, Ali; Chu, Pengfei; Zhang, Zhong; Baughman, Ray H; Chen, Yongsheng

2015-01-20

It is a challenge to fabricate graphene bulk materials with properties arising from the nature of individual graphene sheets, and which assemble into monolithic three-dimensional structures. Here we report the scalable self-assembly of randomly oriented graphene sheets into additive-free, essentially homogenous graphene sponge materials that provide a combination of both cork-like and rubber-like properties. These graphene sponges, with densities similar to air, display Poisson's ratios in all directions that are near-zero and largely strain-independent during reversible compression to giant strains. And at the same time, they function as enthalpic rubbers, which can recover up to 98% compression in air and 90% in liquids, and operate between -196 and 900 °C. Furthermore, these sponges provide reversible liquid absorption for hundreds of cycles and then discharge it within seconds, while still providing an effective near-zero Poisson's ratio.

Serology in the 21st Century: The Molecular-Level Analysis of the Serum Antibody Repertoire

PubMed Central

Wine, Yariv; Horton, Andrew P.; Ippolito, Gregory C.; Georgiou, George

2015-01-01

The ensemble of antibodies found in serum and secretions represents the key adaptive component of B-cell mediated humoral immunity. The antibody repertoire is shaped by the historical record of exposure to exogenous factors such as pathogens and vaccines, as well as by endogenous host-intrinsic factors such as genetics, self-antigens, and age. Thanks to very recent technology advancements it is now becoming possible to identify and quantify the individual antibodies comprising the serological repertoire. In parallel, the advent of high throughput methods for antigen and immunosignature discovery opens up unprecedented opportunities to transform our understanding of numerous key questions in adaptive humoral immunity, including the nature and dynamics of serological memory, the role of polyspecific antibodies in health and disease and how protective responses to infections or vaccine challenge arise. Additionally, these technologies also hold great promise for therapeutic antibody and biomarker discovery in a variety of settings PMID:26172290

Semi-Supervised Marginal Fisher Analysis for Hyperspectral Image Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, H.; Liu, J.; Pan, Y.

2012-07-01

The problem of learning with both labeled and unlabeled examples arises frequently in Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. While marginal Fisher analysis is a supervised method, which cannot be directly applied for Semi-supervised classification. In this paper, we proposed a novel method, called semi-supervised marginal Fisher analysis (SSMFA), to process HSI of natural scenes, which uses a combination of semi-supervised learning and manifold learning. In SSMFA, a new difference-based optimization objective function with unlabeled samples has been designed. SSMFA preserves the manifold structure of labeled and unlabeled samples in addition to separating labeled samples in different classes from each other. The semi-supervised method has an analytic form of the globally optimal solution, and it can be computed based on eigen decomposition. Classification experiments with a challenging HSI task demonstrate that this method outperforms current state-of-the-art HSI-classification methods.

Research lessons learned: occupational therapy with culturally diverse mothers of premature infants.

PubMed

Reid, Denise T; Chiu, Teresa M L

2011-06-01

Evaluation studies of the effectiveness of home-based occupational therapy are scarce but are needed to justify the impact of occupational therapy intervention. When the intervention is for persons from diverse cultural backgrounds, additional research challenges arise. To share lessons learned in conducting home-based occupational therapy research with Canadian, and immigrant South Asian and Chinese mothers of premature infants in a large Canadian city. Lessons learned were to implement a culturally sensitive recruitment process, change the research design to include more interviews and focus groups, and be aware of the need for culturally appropriate instruments. Researchers need to be sensitized to the Western cultural values upon which most research designs and instrumentation are constructed. Involvement of a culturally diverse research team, openness to feedback, adaptability, and critical reflection on what is important to the cultural groups are among the suggestions for researchers planning home-based occupational therapy research with culturally diverse populations.

Regulation of Pituitary Stem Cells by Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition Events and Signaling Pathways

PubMed Central

Cheung, Leonard Y. M.; Davis, Shannon W.; Brinkmeier, Michelle L.; Camper, Sally A.; Pérez-Millán, María Inés

2017-01-01

The anterior pituitary gland is comprised of specialized cell-types that produce and secrete polypeptide hormones in response to hypothalamic input and feedback from target organs. These specialized cells arise from stem cells that express SOX2 and the pituitary transcription factor PROP1, which is necessary to establish the stem cell pool and promote an epithelial to mesenchymal-like transition, releasing progenitors from the niche. The adult anterior pituitary responds to physiological challenge by mobilizing the SOX2-expressing progenitor pool and producing additional hormone-producing cells. Knowledge of the role of signaling pathways and extracellular matrix components in these processes may lead to improvements in the efficiency of differentiation of embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells into hormone producing cells in vitro. Advances in our basic understanding of pituitary stem cell regulation and differentiation may lead to improved diagnosis and treatment for patients with hypopituitarism. PMID:27650955

School nurse book clubs: an innovative strategy for lifelong learning.

PubMed

Greenawald, Deborah A; Adams, Theresa M

2008-04-01

Recognizing the ongoing need for continuing education for school nurses, the authors discuss the use of school nurse book clubs as an innovative lifelong-learning strategy. Current research supports the use of literature in nursing education. This article discusses the benefits of book club participation for school nurses and includes suggested fiction and nonfiction books that can be used to enhance nursing knowledge and practice. Through reading and discussion, school nurses can increase their knowledge of nursing history and current health care issues, thus becoming better prepared to address challenging issues that arise in practice. In addition, the use of literature as a learning strategy allows school nurses to broaden their understanding of unique cultural factors that influence the health beliefs and practices of students and their families. Book club participation can also assist school nurses in honing leadership and communication skills and becoming energized to become better advocates for children and families.

The past, current and future of diagnosis and management of pleural disease

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Pleural disease is frequently encountered by the chest physician. Pleural effusions arise as the sequelae of underlying disease processes including pressure/volume imbalances, infection and malignancy. In addition to pleural effusions, persistent air leaks after surgery and bronchopleural fistulae remain a challenge. Our understanding of pleural disease including its diagnosis and management, have made tremendous strides. The introduction of the molecular detection of organism specific infection, risk stratification and improvements in the non-surgical treatment of patients with pleural infection are all within reach and may be the standard of care in the very near future. Malignant pleural effusion management continues to evolve with the introduction of tunneled pleural catheters and procedures combining that and chemical pleurodesis. These advances in the diagnostic and therapeutic evaluation of pleural disease as well as what seems to be an increasing multidisciplinary interest in the space foretell a bright future. PMID:26807281

Does the "new philosophy" in predictive, preventive and personalised medicine require new ethics?

PubMed

Gefenas, Eugenijus; Cekanauskaite, Asta; Tuzaite, Egle; Dranseika, Vilius; Characiejus, Dainius

2011-06-01

This paper maps the ethical issues that arise in the context of personalised medicine. First, it highlights the ethical problems related to increased predictive power of modern diagnostic interventions. Such problems emerge because the ability to identify individuals or groups of individuals that can potentially benefit from a particular therapeutic intervention also raises a question of personal responsibility for health-related behaviour and lifestyle. The second major area of ethical concern is related to health prevention and distributive justice. The paper discusses the ethical challenges brought by the personalised medicine in the context of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Genetic Testing for Health Purposes. Finally, it notes that the issue of consent in the context of biobanks, the need to rethink the prevalent models of research designs and to communicate relevant findings to the donors of biological materials deserve further discussion.

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

Vörös, Márton; Brawand, Nicholas P.; Galli, Giulia

Lead chalcogenide (PbX) nanoparticles are promising materials for solar energy conversion. However, the presence of trap states in their electronic gap limits their usability, and developing a universal strategy to remove trap states is a persistent challenge. Using calculations based on density functional theory, we show that hydrogen acts as an amphoteric impurity on PbX nanoparticle surfaces; hydrogen atoms may passivate defects arising from ligand imbalance or off-stoichiometric surface terminations irrespective of whether they originate from cation or anion excess. In addition, we show, using constrained density functional theory calculations, that hydrogen treatment of defective nanoparticles is also beneficial formore » charge transport in films. We also find that hydrogen adsorption on stoichiometric nanoparticles leads to electronic doping, preferentially n-type. Lastly, our findings suggest that postsynthesis hydrogen treatment of lead chalcogenide nanoparticle films is a viable approach to reduce electronic trap states or to dope well-passivated films.« less

Misadministration of radiation therapy in veterinary medicine: a case report and literature review.

PubMed

Arkans, M M; Gieger, T L; Nolan, M W

2017-03-01

Recent technical advancements in radiation therapy have allowed for improved targeting of tumours and sparing nearby normal tissues, while simultaneously decreasing the risk for medical errors by incorporating additional safety checks into electronic medical record keeping systems. The benefits of these new technologies, however, depends on their proper integration and use in the oncology clinic. Despite the advancement of technology for treatment delivery and medical record keeping, misadministration errors have a significant impact on patient care in veterinary oncology. The first part of this manuscript describes a medical incident that occurred at an academic veterinary referral hospital, in a dog receiving a combination of stereotactic radiation therapy and full-course intensity-modulated, image-guided radiation therapy. The second part of the report is a literature review, which explores misadministration errors and novel challenges which arise with the implementation of advancing technologies in veterinary radiation oncology. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Scoping Review of Frailty and Acute Care in Middle-Aged and Older Individuals with Recommendations for Future Research

PubMed Central

Hogan, David B.; Maxwell, Colleen J.; Afilalo, Jonathan; Arora, Rakesh C.; Bagshaw, Sean M.; Basran, Jenny; Bergman, Howard; Bronskill, Susan E.; Carter, Caitlin A.; Dixon, Elijah; Hemmelgarn, Brenda; Madden, Kenneth; Mitnitski, Arnold; Rolfson, Darryl; Stelfox, Henry T.; Tam-Tham, Helen; Wunsch, Hannah

2017-01-01

There is general agreement that frailty is a state of heightened vulnerability to stressors arising from impairments in multiple systems leading to declines in homeostatic reserve and resiliency, but unresolved issues persist about its detection, underlying pathophysiology, and relationship with aging, disability, and multimorbidity. A particularly challenging area is the relationship between frailty and hospitalization. Based on the deliberations of a 2014 Canadian expert consultation meeting and a scoping review of the relevant literature between 2005 and 2015, this discussion paper presents a review of the current state of knowledge on frailty in the acute care setting, including its prevalence and ability to both predict the occurrence and outcomes of hospitalization. The examination of the available evidence highlighted a number of specific clinical and research topics requiring additional study. We conclude with a series of consensus recommendations regarding future research priorities in this important area. PMID:28396706

Good, now keep going: challenging the status quo in STEM pipeline and access programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiseman, Dawn; Herrmann, Randy

2018-03-01

This contribution engages in conversation with McMahon, Griese, and Kenyon (this issue) to consider how the SURE program they describe represents a pragmatic approach to addressing the issue of underrepresentation of Indigenous people in STEM post-secondary programs. We explore how such programs are generally positioned and how they might be positioned differently to challenge the status quo within Western post-secondary institutions. The challenge arises from moving beyond the immediate pragmatics of addressing an identifiable issue framed as a problem to considering how post-secondary institutions and people developing access recruitment programs might begin unlearning colonialism.

The Effects of Race Conditions when Implementing Single-Source Redundant Clock Trees in Triple Modular Redundant Synchronous Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Melanie D.; Label, Kenneth A.; Pellish, Jonathan

2016-01-01

We present the challenges that arise when using redundant clock domains due to their clock-skew. Heavy-ion radiation data show that a singular clock domain (DTMR) provides an improved TMR methodology for SRAM-based FPGAs over redundant clocks.

Assessing the Quality of Expertise Differences in the Comprehension of Medical Visualizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gegenfurtner, Andreas; Siewiorek, Anna; Lehtinen, Erno; Saljo, Roger

2013-01-01

Understanding how best to assess expertise, the situational variations of expertise, and distinctive qualities of expertise that arises from particular workplace experiences, presents an important challenge. Certainly, at this time, there is much interest in identifying standard occupational measures and competences, which are not well aligned…

Teaching Computer Science Courses in Distance Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huan, Xiaoli; Shehane, Ronald; Ali, Adel

2011-01-01

As the success of distance learning (DL) has driven universities to increase the courses offered online, certain challenges arise when teaching computer science (CS) courses to students who are not physically co-located and have individual learning schedules. Teaching CS courses involves high level demonstrations and interactivity between the…

An Open Conversation on Using Eye-Gaze Methods in Studies of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venker, Courtney E.; Kover, Sara T.

2015-01-01

Purpose: Eye-gaze methods have the potential to advance the study of neurodevelopmental disorders. Despite their increasing use, challenges arise in using these methods with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and in reporting sufficient methodological detail such that the resulting research is replicable and interpretable. Method: This…

Religious Education and Religious Pluralism in the New Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena

2010-01-01

This article examines some of the pertinent challenges arising out of personal experiences encountered through teaching religion and theology within an African environment. What the author describes as the "new Africa" in his title is a continent that has transitioned from slavery and colonialism into a global fraternity of democratic…

Education and the Possibility of Outsider Understanding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridges, David

2009-01-01

In education issues to do with insider and outsider understanding arise in debates about religious education and about certain areas of research, and in argument about education for international understanding. Here I challenge the dichotomy between insider and outsider, arguing that a more collectivist view of human identity combined with…

Sustainability: Why the Language and Ethics of Sustainability Matter in the Geoscience Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzger, Ellen P.; Curren, Randall R.

2017-01-01

Because challenges to sustainability arise at the intersection of human and biophysical systems they are inescapably embedded in social contexts and involve multiple stakeholders with diverse and often conflicting needs and value systems. Addressing complex and solution-resistant problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and…

Digital Citizenship in the Afterschool Space: Implications for Education for Sustainable Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Patrick

2015-01-01

Education for sustainable development (ESD) challenges traditional curricula and formal schooling in important ways. ESD requires systemic thinking, interdisciplinarity and is strengthened through the contributions of all disciplines. As with any transformative societal and technological shift, new questions arise when educators are required to…

Sawtooth Functions. Classroom Notes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirst, Keith

2004-01-01

Using MAPLE enables students to consider many examples which would be very tedious to work out by hand. This applies to graph plotting as well as to algebraic manipulation. The challenge is to use these observations to develop the students' understanding of mathematical concepts. In this note an interesting relationship arising from inverse…

Specifying and Refining a Measurement Model for a Computer-Based Interactive Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Roy; Mislevy, Robert J.

2004-01-01

The challenges of modeling students' performance in computer-based interactive assessments include accounting for multiple aspects of knowledge and skill that arise in different situations and the conditional dependencies among multiple aspects of performance. This article describes a Bayesian approach to modeling and estimating cognitive models…

Open Educational Resources for Call Teacher Education: The iTILT Interactive Whiteboard Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whyte, Shona; Schmid, Euline Cutrim; van Hazebrouck Thompson, Sanderin; Oberhofer, Margret

2014-01-01

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities arising during the development of open educational resources (OERs) to support communicative language teaching (CLT) with interactive whiteboards (IWBs). iTILT (interactive Technologies in Language Teaching), a European Lifelong Learning Project, has two main aims: (a) to promote "best…

Seeing the Unseen: Molecular Visualization in Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finnan, Jeff; Taylor-Papp, Kim; Duran, Mesut

2005-01-01

In high school biology, students are challenged by many molecular concepts and structures. They meander through a number of molecular structures, some in macromolecular form: carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides. Student difficulties arise in part from inability to visualize what they can't easily see. Students struggle moving from…

Creating Dialogue: The Role of Urban and Metropolitan Universities in Fostering Civil Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Milton K.

2003-01-01

This keynote address encourages urban and metropolitan universities to be courageous and creative in meeting new social and economic challenges. Explores why universities, products of the Age of Reason, must now face the competitive pressures arising from a collapse of the Authority of Reason. (EV)

Globalisation, Mergers and "Inadvertent Multi-Campus Universities": Reflections from Wales

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeeman, Nadine; Benneworth, Paul

2017-01-01

Multi-site universities face the challenge of integrating campuses that may have different profiles and orientations arising from place-specific attachments. Multi-campus universities created via mergers seeking to ensure long-term financial sustainability, and increasing their attractiveness to students, create a tension in campuses' purposes. We…

Legal Challenges to Single-Sex Colleges Expected to Spread.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaschik, Scott

1990-01-01

Court cases arising out of the current legal and political controversy over the Virginia Military Institute's policy of admitting only men are examined as they apply to the nation's three other publicly supported single-sex colleges: the Citadel (South Carolina), Mississippi University for Women, and Texas Woman's University. (DB)

Adapting Manualized Treatments: Treating Anxiety Disorders among Native Americans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Coteau, Tami; Anderson, Jessiline; Hope, Debra

2006-01-01

Although there is a small but growing body of literature examining the psychopathology of anxiety among Native Americans, no data are available regarding the efficacy of empirically supported treatments for anxiety disorders among Native Americans. Moreover, exceptional challenges arise in adapting mainstream approaches to Native Americans, such…

Convergence of Dynamic Vegetation Net Productivity Responses to Precipitation Variability from 10 Years of MODIS EVI

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

According to Global Climate Models (GCMs) the occurrence of extreme events of precipitation will be more frequent in the future. Therefore, important challenges arise regarding climate variability, which are mainly related to the understanding of ecosystem responses to changes in precipitation patte...

School Transportation Issues, Laws and Concerns: Implications for Future Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durick, Jody M.

2010-01-01

Nearly all building administrators are confronted with a variety of transportation issues. Challenges, concerns and questions can arise from various aspects, including student misbehaviors, transportation laws and its implications at the school level, to importance and implementation of a school bus safety program. As new and upcoming future…

Primary and Secondary Contamination Mechanisms in ASR Modeling and Design of Practical Management

EPA Science Inventory

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a useful water resource management option for water storage and reuse. Its increased use is recognized in adaptation to the ever increasing problem of water availability, both in timing and flow. Challenges in the ASR process may arise from...

Critical Text Analysis: Linking Language and Cultural Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wharton, Sue

2011-01-01

Many UK universities offer degree programmes in English Language specifically for non-native speakers of English. Such programmes typically include not only language development but also development in various areas of content knowledge. A challenge that arises is to design courses in different areas that mutually support each other, thus…

Inhibiting Intuitive Thinking in Mathematics Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Michael O. J.

2015-01-01

The papers in this issue describe recent collaborative research into the role of inhibition of intuitive thinking in mathematics education. This commentary reflects on this research from a mathematics education perspective and draws attention to some of the challenges that arise in collaboration between research fields with different cultures,…

Delivering the "Write" Message: The Memo and Transformational Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Bill; And Others

Since the vast majority of conflict situations arise from a breakdown in the communication process, where one individual misunderstands something generated by another, the crucial challenge for leaders lies in avoiding misunderstandings. Leaders must remember, when formulating all sorts of correspondence, that when a "sender" forms a message and…

Towards Constructions of Musical Childhoods: Diversity and Digital Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Susan

2009-01-01

The changing economic, social, cultural and technological circumstances in which children live impact significantly on the ways in which early childhood is both viewed and experienced. Understanding the implications, the potentials, the challenges that arise as a consequence of the diversity and technological changes that characterise contemporary…

Everyday Ethics in Dementia Day Care: Narratives of Crossing the Line.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasselkus, Betty Risteen

1997-01-01

Examines the ethical aspects of the experience of providing day care to dementia patients. Results, based on telephone interviews (N=40), indicate that ethical challenges arise in everyday incidents when participants, staff, or family members "cross the line" of acceptable behavior. Staff responses ranged from benign manipulation to…

Indigenous Autoethnography: Formulating Our Knowledge, Our Way

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houston, Jennifer

2007-01-01

This paper seeks to engage the cultural interface where Indigenous knowledge meets Western academia, by questioning the validity of traditional research methods. Firstly, it is a response to the challenges facing Indigenous people confronted with the ethical and methodological issues arising from academic research. Secondly, it is a journey "into"…

Conflict as a Catalyst for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jehangir, Rashne R.

2012-01-01

The author challenges her students and herself to engage with tough issues like class, race, gender, disability, and homophobia. In this article, she discusses how she helps them learn from, and even embrace, the conflict that inevitably arises. Constructive management of classroom conflict begins with creating a cooperative learning environment…

Consistent Query Answering of Conjunctive Queries under Primary Key Constraints

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pema, Enela

2014-01-01

An inconsistent database is a database that violates one or more of its integrity constraints. In reality, violations of integrity constraints arise frequently under several different circumstances. Inconsistent databases have long posed the challenge to develop suitable tools for meaningful query answering. A principled approach for querying…

Risky Business: Whose "Right Thing" Are We Talking about?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monseau, Virginia R.

2008-01-01

Questioning the dichotomy of right and wrong, Virginia R. Monseau explores the tensions that arise from choices teachers make when trying to "do the right thing." From warning teachers about difficult students to presenting sensitive materials that challenge student belief systems, Monseau advises educators to pay close attention,…

Exhibiting the Field for Learning: Telling New York's Stories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saunders, Angharad

2011-01-01

This paper explores the challenges of engaging and assessing students in residential field learning. Fieldwork presents students with complex learning environments, wherein they are asked to participate in a variety of learning activities. Difficulties arise, however, over how to sustain engagement in field learning while simultaneously capturing…

Knowledge and Vision in Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Mary M.

2006-01-01

The author challenges the role of knowledge in teaching by pointing out the variety of issues and concerns teachers must simultaneously address. Teachers use two strategies to manage their multidimensional space: They develop integrated habits and rules of thumb for handling situations as they arise, and they plan their lessons by envisioning them…

City Slickers: Let the Cattle Speak for Themselves

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodcock, Ray

2006-01-01

"City Slickers", the classic movie starring Billy Crystal, portrays a man who rediscovers a part of himself during a two-week cattle drive adventure in the rugged American West. His rediscovery arises from the challenge itself, with minimal psychologically oriented discussion or "processing." The belief that such a thing can…

Will Learning to Solve One-Step Equations Pose a Challenge to 8th Grade Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngu, Bing Hiong; Phan, Huy P.

2017-01-01

Assimilating multiple interactive elements simultaneously in working memory to allow understanding to occur, while solving an equation, would impose a high cognitive load. "Element interactivity" arises from the interaction between elements within and across operational and relational lines. Moreover, operating with special features…

Primary and Secondary Contamination Mechanisms for Consideration in ASR Modeling and Practical Management

EPA Science Inventory

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a useful water resource management option for water storage and reuse. Its increased use is recognized in adaptation to the ever increasing problem of water availability, both in timing and flow. Challenges in the ASR process may arise from...

The Option of Rationality in the Source of Joy of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bondergaard, Jette

1998-01-01

Examines challenges arising from a growing consciousness of environmental problems and their implications for education in general and for early childhood education specifically. Argues that cultures should consider both human rights and environmental protection, that they need to develop solidarity and create peaceful ways of living. Maintains…

Students and Real World Applications: Still a Challenging Mix

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galbraith, Peter

2013-01-01

Rhetoric about the importance of students being equipped to apply mathematics to relevant problems arising in their lives, individually, as citizens, and in the workplace has never been matched by serious policy or curricular support. This paper identifies and elaborates authenticity implications for addressing this issue, and describes aspects of…

System-on-Chip Considerations for Heterogeneous Integration of CMOS and Fluidic Bio-Interfaces.

PubMed

Datta-Chaudhuri, Timir; Smela, Elisabeth; Abshire, Pamela A

2016-12-01

CMOS chips are increasingly used for direct sensing and interfacing with fluidic and biological systems. While many biosensing systems have successfully combined CMOS chips for readout and signal processing with passive sensing arrays, systems that co-locate sensing with active circuits on a single chip offer significant advantages in size and performance but increase the complexity of multi-domain design and heterogeneous integration. This emerging class of lab-on-CMOS systems also poses distinct and vexing technical challenges that arise from the disparate requirements of biosensors and integrated circuits (ICs). Modeling these systems must address not only circuit design, but also the behavior of biological components on the surface of the IC and any physical structures. Existing tools do not support the cross-domain simulation of heterogeneous lab-on-CMOS systems, so we recommend a two-step modeling approach: using circuit simulation to inform physics-based simulation, and vice versa. We review the primary lab-on-CMOS implementation challenges and discuss practical approaches to overcome them. Issues include new versions of classical challenges in system-on-chip integration, such as thermal effects, floor-planning, and signal coupling, as well as new challenges that are specifically attributable to biological and fluidic domains, such as electrochemical effects, non-standard packaging, surface treatments, sterilization, microfabrication of surface structures, and microfluidic integration. We describe these concerns as they arise in lab-on-CMOS systems and discuss solutions that have been experimentally demonstrated.

The evolution of different maternal investment strategies in two closely related desert vertebrates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ennen, Joshua R.; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Averill-Murray, Roy C.; Yackulic, Charles B.; Agha, Mickey; Loughran, Caleb; Tennant, Laura A.; Sinervo, Barry

2017-01-01

We compared egg size phenotypes and tested several predictions from the optimal egg size (OES) and bet-hedging theories in two North American desert-dwelling sister tortoise taxa, Gopherus agassizii and G. morafkai, that inhabit different climate spaces: relatively unpredictable and more predictable climate spaces, respectively. Observed patterns in both species differed from the predictions of OES in several ways. Mean egg size increased with maternal body size in both species. Mean egg size was inversely related to clutch order in G. agassizii, a strategy more consistent with the within-generation hypothesis arising out of bet-hedging theory or a constraint in egg investment due to resource availability, and contrary to theories of density dependence, which posit that increasing hatchling competition from later season clutches should drive selection for larger eggs. We provide empirical evidence that one species, G. agassizii, employs a bet-hedging strategy that is a combination of two different bet-hedging hypotheses. Additionally, we found some evidence for G. morafkai employing a conservative bet-hedging strategy. (e.g., lack of intra- and interclutch variation in egg size relative to body size). Our novel adaptive hypothesis suggests the possibility that natural selection favors smaller offspring in late-season clutches because they experience a more benign environment or less energetically challenging environmental conditions (i.e., winter) than early clutch progeny, that emerge under harsher and more energetically challenging environmental conditions (i.e., summer). We also discuss alternative hypotheses of sexually antagonistic selection, which arise from the trade-offs of son versus daughter production that might have different optima depending on clutch order and variation in temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) among clutches. Resolution of these hypotheses will require long-term data on fitness of sons versus daughters as a function of incubation environment, data as yet unavailable for any species with TSD.

The evolution of different maternal investment strategies in two closely related desert vertebrates.

PubMed

Ennen, Joshua R; Lovich, Jeffrey E; Averill-Murray, Roy C; Yackulic, Charles B; Agha, Mickey; Loughran, Caleb; Tennant, Laura; Sinervo, Barry

2017-05-01

We compared egg size phenotypes and tested several predictions from the optimal egg size (OES) and bet-hedging theories in two North American desert-dwelling sister tortoise taxa, Gopherus agassizii and G. morafkai , that inhabit different climate spaces: relatively unpredictable and more predictable climate spaces, respectively. Observed patterns in both species differed from the predictions of OES in several ways. Mean egg size increased with maternal body size in both species. Mean egg size was inversely related to clutch order in G. agassizii , a strategy more consistent with the within-generation hypothesis arising out of bet-hedging theory or a constraint in egg investment due to resource availability, and contrary to theories of density dependence, which posit that increasing hatchling competition from later season clutches should drive selection for larger eggs. We provide empirical evidence that one species, G. agassizii , employs a bet-hedging strategy that is a combination of two different bet-hedging hypotheses. Additionally, we found some evidence for G. morafkai employing a conservative bet-hedging strategy. (e.g., lack of intra- and interclutch variation in egg size relative to body size). Our novel adaptive hypothesis suggests the possibility that natural selection favors smaller offspring in late-season clutches because they experience a more benign environment or less energetically challenging environmental conditions (i.e., winter) than early clutch progeny, that emerge under harsher and more energetically challenging environmental conditions (i.e., summer). We also discuss alternative hypotheses of sexually antagonistic selection, which arise from the trade-offs of son versus daughter production that might have different optima depending on clutch order and variation in temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) among clutches. Resolution of these hypotheses will require long-term data on fitness of sons versus daughters as a function of incubation environment, data as yet unavailable for any species with TSD.

Using simulation and virtual machines to identify information assurance requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, Sheila B.; Stytz, Martin R.

2010-04-01

The US military is changing its philosophy, approach, and technologies used for warfare. In the process of achieving this vision for high-speed, highly mobile warfare, there are a number of issues that must be addressed and solved; issues that are not addressed by commercial systems because Department of Defense (DoD) Information Technology (IT) systems operate in an environment different from the commercial world. The differences arise from the differences in the scope and skill used in attacks upon DoD systems, the interdependencies between DoD software systems used for network centric warfare (NCW), and the need to rely upon commercial software components in virtually every DoD system. As a result, while NCW promises more effective and efficient means for employing DoD resources, it also increases the vulnerability and allure of DoD systems to cyber attack. A further challenge arises due to the rapid changes in software and information assurance (IA) requirements and technologies over the course of a project. Therefore, the four challenges that must be addressed are determining how to specify the information assurance requirements for a DoD system, minimizing changes to commercial software, incorporation of new system and IA requirements in a timely manner with minimal impact, and insuring that the interdependencies between systems do not result in cyber attack vulnerabilities. In this paper, we address all four issues. In addition to addressing the four challenges outlined above, the interdependencies and interconnections between systems indicate that the IA requirements for a system must consider two important facets of a system's IA defensive capabilities. The facets are the types of IA attacks that the system must repel and the ability of a system to insure that any IA attack that penetrates the system is contained within the system and does not spread. The IA requirements should be derived from threat assessments for the system as well as for the need to address the four requirements challenges outlined above. To address these issues, we developed a system architecture and acquisition approach designed to separate the system's IA capabilities requirements and development from the other system capability requirements; thereby, allowing the IA capabilities to be developed rapidly and assessed separately from the other system capabilities. Simulation environments and technologies allow us to test and evaluate solutions to the issues while also insuring that the system being tested and the solution are not exposed to real-world threats.

Accounting for the phenomenology and varieties of auditory verbal hallucination within a predictive processing framework

PubMed Central

Wilkinson, Sam

2018-01-01

Two challenges that face popular self-monitoring theories (SMTs) of auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) are that they cannot account for the auditory phenomenology of AVHs and that they cannot account for their variety. In this paper I show that both challenges can be met by adopting a predictive processing framework (PPF), and by viewing AVHs as arising from abnormalities in predictive processing. I show how, within the PPF, both the auditory phenomenology of AVHs, and three subtypes of AVH, can be accounted for. PMID:25286243

Advances and challenges in hair restoration of curly Afrocentric hair.

PubMed

Rogers, Nicole E; Callender, Valerie D

2014-04-01

Although the biochemical composition of hair is similar among racial and ethnic groups, the hair structure between them varies, and individuals with curly hair pose specific challenges and special considerations when a surgical option for alopecia is considered. Hair restoration in this population should therefore be approached with knowledge on the clinical characteristics of curly hair, hair grooming techniques that may influence the management, unique indications for the procedure, surgical instrumentation used, and the complications that may arise. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethics in the Legal and Business Practices of Radiation Oncology.

PubMed

Wall, Terry J

2017-10-01

Ethical issues arise when a professional endeavor such as medicine, which seeks to place the well-being of others over the self-interest of the practitioner, meets granular business and legal decisions involved in making a livelihood out of a professional calling. The use of restrictive covenants, involvement in self-referral patterns, and maintaining appropriate comity among physicians while engaged in the marketplace are common challenges in radiation oncology practice. A paradigm of analysis is presented to help navigate these management challenges. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New challenges of the ARISE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanc, Elisabeth

2015-04-01

It has been robustly demonstrated that variations in the circulation of the middle atmosphere influence weather and climate throughout the troposphere all the way to the Earth's surface. A key part of the coupling between the troposphere and stratosphere occurs through the propagation and breaking of planetary-scale Rossby waves and gravity waves. Limited observation of the middle atmosphere and these waves in particular limits the ability to faithfully reproduce the dynamics of the middle atmosphere in numerical weather prediction and climate models. The ARISE project combines for the first time international networks with complementary technologies such as infrasound, lidar and airglow. This joint network provided advanced data products that started to be used as benchmarks for weather forecast models. The ARISE network also allows enhanced and detailed monitoring of other extreme events in the Earth system such as erupting volcanoes, magnetic storms, tornadoes and tropical thunderstorms. In order to improve the ability of the network to monitor atmospheric dynamics, ARISE proposes to extend i) the existing network coverage in Africa and the high latitudes, ii) the altitude range in the stratosphere and mesosphere, iii) the observation duration using routine observation modes, and to use complementary existing infrastructures and innovative instrumentations. Data will be collected over the long term to improve weather forecasting to monthly or seasonal timescales, to monitor atmospheric extreme events and climate change. ARISE focuses on the link between models and observations for future assimilation of data by operational weather forecasting models. Among the applications, ARISE2 proposes infrasound remote volcano monitoring to provide notifications to civil aviation.

Linguistic and Cultural Challenges in Communication and Translation in US-Sponsored HIV Prevention Research in Emerging Economies

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Linguistic and cultural differences can impede comprehension among potential research participants during the informed consent process, but how researchers and IRBs respond to these challenges in practice is unclear. We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 researchers, research ethics committee (REC) chairs and members from 8 different countries with emerging economies, involved in HIV-related research sponsored by HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), regarding the ethical and regulatory challenges they face in this regard. In the interviews, problems with translating study materials often arose as major concerns. Four sets of challenges were identified concerning linguistic and cultural translations of informed consent documents and other study materials, related to the: (1) context, (2) process, (3) content and (4) translation of these documents. Host country contextual issues included low literacy rates, education (e.g., documents may need to be written below 5th grade reading level), and experiences with research, and different views of written documentation. Certain terms and concepts may not exist in other languages, or have additional connotations that back translations do not always reveal. Challenges arise because of not only the content of word-for-word, literal translation, but the linguistic form of the language, such as tone (e.g., appropriate forms of politeness vs. legalese, seen as harsh), syntax, manner of questions posed, and the concept of the consent); and the contexts of use affect meaning. Problems also emerged in bilateral communications – US IRBs may misunderstand local practices, or communicate insufficiently the reasons for their decisions to foreign RECs. In sum, these data highlight several challenges that have received little, if any, attention in past literature on translation of informed consent and study materials, and have crucial implications for improving practice, education, research and policy, suggesting several strategies, including needs for broader open-source multilingual lexicons, and more awareness of the complexities involved. PMID:26225759

Linguistic and Cultural Challenges in Communication and Translation in US-Sponsored HIV Prevention Research in Emerging Economies.

PubMed

Hanrahan, Donna; Sexton, Patrina; Hui, Katrina; Teitcher, Jennifer; Sugarman, Jeremy; London, Alex John; Barnes, Mark; Purpura, James; Klitzman, Robert

2015-01-01

Linguistic and cultural differences can impede comprehension among potential research participants during the informed consent process, but how researchers and IRBs respond to these challenges in practice is unclear. We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 researchers, research ethics committee (REC) chairs and members from 8 different countries with emerging economies, involved in HIV-related research sponsored by HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), regarding the ethical and regulatory challenges they face in this regard. In the interviews, problems with translating study materials often arose as major concerns. Four sets of challenges were identified concerning linguistic and cultural translations of informed consent documents and other study materials, related to the: (1) context, (2) process, (3) content and (4) translation of these documents. Host country contextual issues included low literacy rates, education (e.g., documents may need to be written below 5th grade reading level), and experiences with research, and different views of written documentation. Certain terms and concepts may not exist in other languages, or have additional connotations that back translations do not always reveal. Challenges arise because of not only the content of word-for-word, literal translation, but the linguistic form of the language, such as tone (e.g., appropriate forms of politeness vs. legalese, seen as harsh), syntax, manner of questions posed, and the concept of the consent); and the contexts of use affect meaning. Problems also emerged in bilateral communications--US IRBs may misunderstand local practices, or communicate insufficiently the reasons for their decisions to foreign RECs. In sum, these data highlight several challenges that have received little, if any, attention in past literature on translation of informed consent and study materials, and have crucial implications for improving practice, education, research and policy, suggesting several strategies, including needs for broader open-source multilingual lexicons, and more awareness of the complexities involved.

Dynamics of the middle atmosphere as observed by the ARISE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanc, Elisabeth

2015-04-01

The atmosphere is a complex system submitted to disturbances in a wide range of scales, including high frequency sources as volcanoes, thunderstorms, tornadoes and at larger scales, gravity waves from deep convection or wind over mountains, atmospheric tides and planetary waves. These waves affect the different atmospheric layers submitted to different temperature and wind systems which strongly control the general atmospheric circulation. The full description of gravity and planetary waves constitutes a challenge for the development of future models of atmosphere and climate. The objective of this paper is to present a review of recent advances obtained in this topic, especially in the framework of the ARISE (Atmospheric dynamics Research InfraStructure in Europe) project

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

Kamran, Mudassar, E-mail: kamranm@mir.wustl.edu; Fowler, Kathryn J., E-mail: fowlerk@mir.wustl.edu; Mellnick, Vincent M., E-mail: mellnickv@mir.wustl.edu

Primary aortic neoplasms are rare. Aortic sarcoma arising after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is a scarce subset of primary aortic malignancies, reports of which are infrequent in the published literature. The diagnosis of aortic sarcoma is challenging due to its non-specific clinical presentation, and the prognosis is poor due to delayed diagnosis, rapid proliferation, and propensity for metastasis. Post-EVAR, aortic sarcomas may mimic other more common aortic processes on surveillance imaging. Radiologists are rarely knowledgeable about this rare entity for which multimodality imaging and awareness are invaluable in early diagnosis. A series of three pathologically confirmed cases are presented tomore » display the multimodality imaging features and clinical presentations of aortic sarcoma arising after EVAR.« less

Quenching rate for a nonlocal problem arising in the micro-electro mechanical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jong-Shenq; Hu, Bei

2018-03-01

In this paper, we study the quenching rate of the solution for a nonlocal parabolic problem which arises in the study of the micro-electro mechanical system. This question is equivalent to the stabilization of the solution to the transformed problem in self-similar variables. First, some a priori estimates are provided. In order to construct a Lyapunov function, due to the lack of time monotonicity property, we then derive some very useful and challenging estimates by a delicate analysis. Finally, with this Lyapunov function, we prove that the quenching rate is self-similar which is the same as the problem without the nonlocal term, except the constant limit depends on the solution itself.

Transformational leadership can improve workforce competencies.

PubMed

Thompson, Juliana

2012-03-01

Staffing problems can arise because of poor delegation skills or a failure by leaders to respond appropriately to economic factors and patient demographics. Training dilemmas, meanwhile, can arise because of managers' confusion about what constitutes 'training' and what constitutes 'education', and where responsibility of provision lies, with the consequence that they neglect these activities. This article uses Kouzes and Posner's (2009) transformational leadership model to show how managers can respond. Leaders who challenge budgets, consider new ways of working and engage effectively with the workforce can improve productivity and care, while those who invest in appropriate learning will have a highly trained workforce. The author explains how integration of leadership roles and management functions can lead to innovative problem solving.

Scientists' attitudes on science and values: Case studies and survey methods in philosophy of science.

PubMed

Steel, Daniel; Gonnerman, Chad; O'Rourke, Michael

2017-06-01

This article examines the relevance of survey data of scientists' attitudes about science and values to case studies in philosophy of science. We describe two methodological challenges confronting such case studies: 1) small samples, and 2) potential for bias in selection, emphasis, and interpretation. Examples are given to illustrate that these challenges can arise for case studies in the science and values literature. We propose that these challenges can be mitigated through an approach in which case studies and survey methods are viewed as complementary, and use data from the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative to illustrate this claim. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applying evolutionary biology to address global challenges

PubMed Central

Carroll, Scott P.; Jørgensen, Peter Søgaard; Kinnison, Michael T.; Bergstrom, Carl T.; Denison, R. Ford; Gluckman, Peter; Smith, Thomas B.; Strauss, Sharon Y.; Tabashnik, Bruce E.

2014-01-01

Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens and pests that evolve too quickly, and the second from the inability of many valued species to adapt quickly enough. Applied evolutionary biology provides a suite of strategies to address these global challenges that threaten human health, food security, and biodiversity. This review highlights both progress and gaps in genetic, developmental and environmental manipulations across the life sciences that either target the rate and direction of evolution, or reduce the mismatch between organisms and human-altered environments. Increased development and application of these underused tools will be vital in meeting current and future targets for sustainable development. PMID:25213376

Ethical Issues in Sports Medicine

PubMed Central

Greenfield, Bruce H.; West, Charles Robert

2012-01-01

Ethical issues present a challenge for health care professionals working with athletes of sports teams. Health care professionals—including the team physician, the physical therapist, and the athletic trainer—are faced with the challenge of returning an athlete to competition as quickly as possible but as safely as possible. Conflicts of interest arise due to conflicting obligations of the team physician to the athlete and other members of the sports organization, including coaches and the team owner. The multiple stakeholders involved in sports teams challenge the traditional notion of confidentiality and autonomy. The aims of this article are to explicate the ethics of sports medicine, highlight the ethical issues, and provide some strategies and suggestions for ethical decision making. PMID:24179585

Global Collaboration in Acute Care Clinical Research: Opportunities, Challenges, and Needs.

PubMed

Marshall, John C

2017-02-01

The most impactful research in critical care comes from trials groups led by clinician-investigators who study questions arising through the day-to-day care of critically ill patients. The success of this model reflects both "necessity"-the paucity of new therapies introduced through industry-led research-and "clinical reality"-nuanced modulation of standard practice can have substantial impact on clinically important outcomes. Success in a few countries has fueled efforts to build similar models around the world and to collaborate on an unprecedented scale in large international trials. International collaboration brings opportunity-the more rapid completion of clinical trials, enhanced generalizability of the results of these trials, and a focus on questions that have evoked international curiosity. It has changed practice, improved outcomes, and enabled an international response to pandemic threats. It also brings challenges. Investigators may feel threatened by the loss of autonomy inherent in collaboration, and appropriate models of academic credit are yet to be developed. Differences in culture, practice, ethical frameworks, research experience, and resource availability create additional imbalances. Patient and family engagement in research is variable and typically inadequate. Funders are poorly equipped to evaluate and fund international collaborative efforts. Yet despite or perhaps because of these challenges, the discipline of critical care is leading the world in crafting new models of clinical research collaboration that hold the promise of not only improving the care of the most vulnerable patients in the healthcare system but also transforming the way that we conduct clinical research.

ISO 50001 for US Commercial Buildings - Current Status and Opportunities

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

Liu, Jingjing; Sheaffer, Paul

''ISO 50001: 2011 Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use'' is a voluntary International Standard which provides organizations a proven framework to manage energy and continuously improve their energy performance. Implementing ISO 50001 in the commercial building sector has its unique opportunities and challenges in comparison with the industrial sector. The energy footprint of a portfolio of commercial buildings can be just as significant as a large industrial facility in comparison. There are many energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings that can be addressed without capital investments, and the perceived risks for making energy improvements can be lower thanmore » in the industrial sector. In addition, the energy-consuming systems in commercial buildings are limited in types and have many similarities across buildings, which makes it much easier to standardize many ISO 50001 required processes, 5 procedures and documents to simplify implementation. There are also some sector-unique challenges, such as less familiar with ISO systems and the certification process. Another challenge arises from the complexity in some buildings’ ownership, tenancy, and O&M responsibilities. This whitepaper discusses these opportunities and issues in detail. The paper also recommends the characteristics of organizations in the commercial building sector that can benefit the most from adopting the ISO 50001 standard – namely the “suitable market”. Eight segments (education, food sales, retail, inpatient health care, hospitality, office buildings, laboratories and data centers) within the commercial building sector are highlighted.« less

Can It Be Fixed? The Challenge of Remediating Problem Dispositions and Lessons Learned

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Kevin M.; Bush, Sarah B.; Bucalos, Anne

2012-01-01

Defining and assessing dispositions continues to be a conundrum for many teacher education programs, particularly when significant dispositional concerns arise that warrant intervention. This study focuses on the analysis of dispositions intervention data from one institution to identify the trends and patterns that could further inform the…

Serious Games for Assessment: Welcome to the Jungle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kato, Pamela M.; de Klerk, Sebastiaan

2017-01-01

Serious games are increasingly being explored for use as assessment tools in broad domains. Drawing from research in these domains, we present important advantages and challenges that arise when using games for assessment. In light of this context and as an introduction to this special issue on Serious Games and Assessments, we introduce the…

Assessing the Early Literacy Skills of Toddlers: The Development of Four Foundational Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weigel, Daniel J.; Martin, Sally S.; Lowman, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Several challenges arise when researchers or practitioners attempt to assess the literacy skills of toddlers, including a lack of developmentally appropriate measures, toddlers' more limited communication ability, and how literacy is defined in the years before age three. This paper describes four new measures of early literacy development and…

How Can Social Psychology and Group Dynamics Assist in Curriculum Development?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chin, Jeffrey; May, Matthew; Sullivan-Chin, Honora; Woodrick, Kaylyn

2014-01-01

This article discusses some of the challenges departments face as they embark on curriculum development. The interpersonal dynamics of a department are often the first and most difficult obstacle to overcome but are often overlooked. The author suggests some strategies for how to address these issues as they arise.

The Second Educational Revolution: Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, A.; Halverson, R.

2010-01-01

This paper drew upon a recent book ("Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology") to summarize a number of prospects and challenges arising from the appropriation of digital technology into learning and educational practice. Tensions between traditional models of schooling and the affordances of digital media were noted, while the promise of…

Infusing the New Technologies Debate with a Socio-Economic Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Bruce

2014-01-01

Dramatic changes occurred in the international economy in the latter part of the twentieth century. CERI, the Centre for Education Research and Innovation at the OECD, was an important contributor to the understanding of the nature and implications of these developments, and in foreshadowing the central policy challenges which would arise. Jarl…

Implementing Coteaching and Cogenerative Dialoguing in Urban Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobin, Kenneth; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2005-01-01

Over the past 7 years the authors have been involved in the development of a new model for the education of science teachers that has the potential to address teacher education in challenging urban settings characterized by problems such as teacher turnover and retention, low job satisfaction, and contradictions arising from cultural and ethnic…

Renewable energy and wildlife conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Khalil, Mona

2016-09-09

The renewable energy sector is rapidly expanding and diversifying the power supply of the country. Yet, as our Nation works to advance renewable energy and to conserve wildlife, some conflicts arise. To address these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting innovative research and developing workable solutions to reduce impacts of renewable energy production on wildlife.

Mapping the Journey: Visualising Collaborative Experiences for Sustainable Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Muireann; Bhamra, Tracy

2017-01-01

The paradigm of design is changing. Designers now need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to participate in the global move towards a sustainable future. The challenges arise as Design for Sustainability deals with very complex and often contradictory issues. Collaborative learning experiences recognise that these…

Unstated and Unjust: Juggling Relational Requirements of Professional Experience for Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buckworth, Jenny

2017-01-01

Overarching tasks faced by initial teacher education (ITE) students comprise a multitude of factors, not least learning to marry theoretical learning with practical application. Part of this learning is the gradual construction of relationships with learners and colleagues. Another, less exposed, challenge arises from a disparity of outlook that…

E-Counselling Implementation: Students' Life Stories and Counselling Technologies in Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kolog, Emmanuel Awuni; Sutinen, Erkki; Vanhalakka-Ruoho, Marjatta

2014-01-01

Given the current global trend of mimicking real life situations into digital counselling games and its related digital counselling platforms, we decided to contextually understand from the Ghanaian senior high school students, their life challenges arising from their life stories. The study also explores the extent to which ICT is currently being…

Practitioners Who Work with Parents with Intellectual Disability: Stress, Coping and Training Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Olivia; Chester, Andrea; Mildon, Robyn; Matthews, Jan

2008-01-01

Background: Challenges for practitioners who work with parents with intellectual disability arise from several sources. The purpose of the current study was to identify the stressors experienced by practitioners who work with parents with intellectual disability in Australia, investigate coping strategies and explore training needs so as to inform…

Expanding Opportunities and Building Competencies for Young People: A New Agenda for Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuadra, Ernesto; Moreno, Juan Manuel

2005-01-01

The purpose of this report is to set forth policy options for supporting developing countries and transition economies in adapting their secondary education systems to demands arising from the successful expansion of primary education and the socioeconomic challenges presented by globalization and the knowledge-based economy. The report analyzes…

Teaching Sustainability in Higher Education: Pedagogical Styles That Make a Difference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seatter, Carol Scarff; Ceulemans, Kim

2017-01-01

The challenge of teaching sustainable development in higher education can mean that students--as future citizens--are left without insight, commitment, or a sense of their position regarding meaningful beliefs and actions related to sustainability. A paradox arises when educators approach a sustainability curriculum that has the potential to…

A Sociocultural Reflection on Formative Assessment and Collaborative Challenges in the States of Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crossouard, Barbara

2009-01-01

Drawing upon data arising from an evaluation carried out for the Jersey educational authority, this article discusses the interaction of two professional development initiatives, formative assessment and critical skills thinking, bringing the two initiatives together from the perspective of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). This allows…

Aggression and Young Children. Research in Practice Series. Volume 11, Number 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szarkowicz, Diane Louise

2004-01-01

The "Research in Practice Series" is a practical, easy-to-read resource, offering effective new approaches for those challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children. Early Childhood Australia's "Research in Practice Series" is an essential resource for those involved in the early childhood field.…

Tough Choices for Teachers: Ethical Challenges in Today's Schools and Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Infantino, Robert; Wilke, Rebecca

2009-01-01

From lesson-planning to instructional practice to classroom management, teachers must make choices constantly and consistently. Sometimes these decisions are easy, but there are some decisions that are very difficult. Such delicate decisions often arise in the world of education and may be detrimental to one's career. Thoughtful decision-making…

Praxis in Early Childhood Research with Infants and Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salamon, Andi

2017-01-01

As emerging literature reflects, "praxis" is an important and useful concept for thinking about the many aspects of early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood research. In this article, I seek to contribute to discussions about praxis in ECE as a valuable concept for meeting the ethical challenges that arise in participatory…

Dreaming the Research Process: A Psychotherapeutic Contribution to the Culture of Healthcare Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macaskie, Jane; Lees, John

2011-01-01

This paper challenges the neglect of psychotherapeutic methods in therapy research and discusses the use of methods arising directly from therapy practice to generate research data. Recent developments in therapy research culture are critiqued in order to contextualise the present contribution. The research design and methodology evolve from the…

Use of Missing Data Methods in Longitudinal Studies: The Persistence of Bad Practices in Developmental Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jelicic, Helena; Phelps, Erin; Lerner, Richard M.

2009-01-01

Developmental science rests on describing, explaining, and optimizing intraindividual changes and, hence, empirically requires longitudinal research. Problems of missing data arise in most longitudinal studies, thus creating challenges for interpreting the substance and structure of intraindividual change. Using a sample of reports of longitudinal…

The CHANCE Program: Promoting Learning for Teachers and Students via Experience and Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Jacqueline S.

2006-01-01

Today's high school students and biology teachers alike face challenges arising from constantly-changing environments. From global warming to species reduction to energy policy, the issues the students will face will have immediate and long-lasting implications. At the same time, biology teachers are charged with achieving legislated standards,…

Promoting the UK Doctorate: Opportunities and Challenges. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emery, Faye; Metcalfe, Janet

2009-01-01

The last decade has seen increased interest in various aspects of the UK doctorate. This report brings together issues arising from national policy developments, the doctoral researcher cohort, the diversification of doctoral level provision in the UK and the development of the third cycle in the Bologna process. Through discussions with key…

Assessment of Native Languages for Food Safety Training Programs for Meat Industry Employees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Sherrlyn S.; Cordray, Joseph C.; Sapp, Stephen; Sebranek, Joseph G.; Anderson, Barbara; Wenger, Matt

2012-01-01

Challenges arise when teaching food safety to culturally diverse employees working in meatpacking and food manufacturing industries. A food safety training program was developed in English, translated into Spanish, and administered to 1,265 adult learners. Assessments were conducted by comparing scores before and immediately following training.…

Governing Knowledge: The Formalization Dilemma in the Governance of the Public Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woelert, Peter

2015-01-01

This paper offers a conceptually novel contribution to the understanding of the distinctive governance challenges arising from the increasing reliance on formalized knowledge in the governance of research activities. It uses the current Australian research governance system as an example--a system which exhibits a comparatively strong degree of…

"Which Hat Are You Wearing Today?" Ethical Challenges in Dual Employment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bjorner, Susan N.

1991-01-01

Establishes a framework for personal decision making for librarians confronted with conflict of interest situations that arise as a result of working part-time as a freelance information entrepreneur and part-time as a library employee. Codes of ethics of professional organizations are examined, and the organizational environment is considered.…

Multiscale socioeconomic assessment across large ecosystems: lessons from practice

Treesearch

Rebecca J. McLain; Ellen M. Donoghue; Jonathan Kusel; Lita Buttolph; Susan Charnley

2008-01-01

Implementation of ecosystem management projects has created a demand for socioeconomic assessments to predict or evaluate the impacts of ecosystem policies. Social scientists for these assessments face challenges that, although not unique to such projects, are more likely to arise than in smaller scale ones. This article summarizes lessons from our experiences with...

Telling Tales over Time: Constructing and Deconstructing the School Calendar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Joel; Brown, Robert S.

2003-01-01

The September-to-June school calendar has been a fixture of North America for almost a century. Its origins have usually been told as an unexamined tale attributed to features of nineteenth century rural society. We challenge this interpretation by suggesting that multiple pressures arising from increasing urbanization influenced its roots. We…

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Art Appreciation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, Sophia S. M.

2010-01-01

Background: Under the challenge of many post-modern theories and critics on art and art history, the boundaries and definition of art has becoming more diverse. Conventional art appreciation no longer covers all the debates and issues arising from the complex meaning of art in the modern world. Art education today must widen students' vision of…

Task Design for L2 Oral Practice in Audioblogs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appel, Christine; Borges, Federico

2012-01-01

The development of oral skills poses a challenge in language teaching whether this takes place face-to-face, through distance education or in blended learning contexts. Two main problems arise: first of all students don't have enough opportunity to use their target language orally, and secondly, students oral performance is mostly unrecorded and…

The Future Of Vouchers: Lessons from the Adoption, Design, and Court Challenges of Florida's Three Voucher Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Douglas N.; Herrington, Carolyn D.; Albee, Amy

2007-01-01

This study considers why Florida has been the most aggressive state in adopting school vouchers. Vouchers are consistent with Florida's tradition of aggressive educational accountability policies, arising from the state's moderate social conservatism, openness to privatization, and state demographic characteristics. Even with this fertile…

Surveying the Scene: Learning Metaphors, Survey Design and the Workplace Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felstead, Alan; Fuller, Alison; Unwin, Lorna; Ashton, David; Butler, Peter; Lee, Tracey

2005-01-01

The skills debate in many European countries has for many years been preoccupied with the supply of qualified individuals and participation in training events. However, recent case-study work suggests that qualifications and training are partial measures of skill development as most learning arises naturally out of the demands and challenges of…

Integrative Nursing and Health Sciences Initiatives for the 21st Century: Vision and Pedagogy at One Jesuit University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Suzanne Hetzel; Crabtree, Robbin D.; Kelly, Patrick

2013-01-01

The powerful and complex mandates arising from reports such as "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health" and "Health Professionals for a New Century: Transforming Education to Strengthen Health Systems in an Interdependent World" challenge colleges and universities to reconsider how they deliver nursing…

On the Political Economy of Educational Vouchers. NBER Working Paper No. 17986

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epple, Dennis N.; Romano, Richard

2012-01-01

Two significant challenges hamper analyses of collective choice of educational vouchers. One is the multi-dimensional choice set arising from the interdependence of the voucher, public education spending, and taxation. The other is that household preferences between public and private schooling vary with the policy chosen. Even absent a voucher,…

Mediation Analysis in a Latent Growth Curve Modeling Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Soest, Tilmann; Hagtvet, Knut A.

2011-01-01

This article presents several longitudinal mediation models in the framework of latent growth curve modeling and provides a detailed account of how such models can be constructed. Logical and statistical challenges that might arise when such analyses are conducted are also discussed. Specifically, we discuss how the initial status (intercept) and…

Numerical Relativity, Black Hole Mergers, and Gravitational Waves: Part I

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Centrella, Joan

2012-01-01

This series of 3 lectures will present recent developments in numerical relativity, and their applications to simulating black hole mergers and computing the resulting gravitational waveforms. In this first lecture, we introduce the basic ideas of numerical relativity, highlighting the challenges that arise in simulating gravitational wave sources on a computer.

Introduction: Religious and Spiritual Issues in Medical Genetics

PubMed Central

Fanning, Joseph B.; Clayton, Ellen Wright

2009-01-01

This article provides an overview of a special issue on the religious and spiritual concerns that arise in the provision of genetic services. It introduces some of the challenges in defining religion and spirituality and provides contexts and summaries for the empirical and normative research that appears in the issue. PMID:19170098

Energy Conservation in Dissipative Processes: Teacher Expectations and Strategies Associated with Imperceptible Thermal Energy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daane, Abigail R.; McKagan, Sarah B.; Vokos, Stamatis; Scherr, Rachel E.

2015-01-01

Research has demonstrated that many students and some teachers do not consistently apply the conservation of energy principle when analyzing mechanical scenarios. In observing elementary and secondary teachers engaged in learning activities that require tracking and conserving energy, we find that challenges to energy conservation often arise in…

Understanding and Confronting Alcohol-Induced Risky Behavior among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dornier, Lucien J.; Fauquier, Katharine J.; Field, April R.; Budden, Michael C.

2010-01-01

Confronting alcohol abuse is a challenge for most higher education institutions. Each year, students are admitted to hospitals for issues arising from the misuse of alcohol. The deaths of some engaged in alcohol related activities is especially worrisome. Factors such as age and financial standing could impact the likelihood of abuse. So-called…

Contesting Reform: Bernstein's Pedagogic Device and Madrasah Education in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Charlene

2010-01-01

This paper highlights the active role played by various pedagogic agents in contesting the state educational reforms for madrasahs in Singapore. Drawing upon Basil Bernstein's pedagogic device, the paper identifies tensions and challenges that arise from the attempts by the state to implement curriculum reforms. The paper contends that the stakes…

Challenges and Opportunities for the School System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capogna, Stefania

2015-01-01

Educational agencies are going through a difficult transition, with important consequences in terms of de-legitimacy of the social mandate historically assigned to the school. The reason for this widespread unease can be traced to the fact that today we live in a complex system. This paper arises within this problematic framework with the intent…

Specifying and Refining a Measurement Model for a Simulation-Based Assessment. CSE Report 619.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Roy; Mislevy, Robert J.

2004-01-01

The challenges of modeling students' performance in simulation-based assessments include accounting for multiple aspects of knowledge and skill that arise in different situations and the conditional dependencies among multiple aspects of performance in a complex assessment. This paper describes a Bayesian approach to modeling and estimating…

The Justiciability Doctrine and Selected State Education Finance Constitutional Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, R. Craig; Lange, George

2006-01-01

Public education funding in the past 40 years has increased significantly, with parties turning to the judiciary in order to address perceived educational opportunity inequities arising from state education finance distribution formulas. As the 21st century opens, the question of public education finance is set squarely before the courts. This…

Water Cycle Extremes: from Observations to Decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawford, R. G.; Unninayar, S.; Berod, D.

2015-12-01

Extremes in the water cycle (droughts and floods) pose major challenges for water resource managers and emergency services. These challenges arise from observational and prediction systems, advisory services, impact reduction strategies, and cleanup and recovery operations. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) through its Water Strategy ("GEOSS Water Strategy: from observations to decisions") is seeking to provide systems that will enable its members to more effectively meet their information needs prior to and during an extreme event. This presentation reviews the wide range of impacts that arise from extremes in the water cycle and the types of data and information needed to plan for and respond to these extreme events. It identifies the capabilities and limitations of current observational and analysis systems in defining the scale, timing, intensity and impacts of water cycle extremes and in directing society's response to them. This summary represents an early preliminary assessment of the global and regional information needs of water resource managers and begins to outline a strategy within GEO for using Earth Observations and ancillary information to address these needs.

Kapteyn series arising in radiation problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lerche, I.; Tautz, R. C.

2008-01-01

In discussing radiation from multiple point charges or magnetic dipoles, moving in circles or ellipses, a variety of Kapteyn series of the second kind arises. Some of the series have been known in closed form for a hundred years or more, others appear not to be available to analytic persuasion. This paper shows how 12 such generic series can be developed to produce either closed analytic expressions or integrals that are not analytically tractable. In addition, the method presented here may be of benefit when one has other Kapteyn series of the second kind to consider, thereby providing an additional reason to consider such series anew.

Ethical challenges in conducting clinical research in lung cancer

PubMed Central

Tod, Angela M.

2016-01-01

The article examines ethical challenges that arise with clinical lung cancer research focusing on design, recruitment, conduct and dissemination. Design: problems related to equipoise can arise in lung cancer studies. Equipoise is an ethics precondition for RCTs and exists where there is insufficient evidence to decide which of two or more treatments is best. Difficulties arise in deciding what level of uncertainty constitutes equipoise and who should be in equipoise, for example, patients might not be even where clinicians are. Patient and public involvement (PPI) can reduce but not remove the problems. Recruitment: (I) lung cancer studies can be complex, making it difficult to obtain good quality consent. Some techniques can help, such as continuous consent. But researchers should not expect consent to be the sole protection for participants’ welfare. This protection is primarily done elsewhere in the research process, for example, in ethics review; (II) the problem of desperate volunteers: some patients only consent to a trial because it gives them a 50/50 option of the treatment they want and can be disappointed or upset if randomised to the other arm. This is not necessarily unfair, given clinical equipoise. However, it should be avoided where possible, for example, by using alternative trial designs; (III) the so-called problem of therapeutic misconception: this is the idea that patients are mistaken if they enter trials believing this to be in their clinical best interest. We argue the problem is misconceived and relates only to certain health systems. Conduct: lung cancer trials face standard ethical challenges with regard to trial conduct. PPI could be used in decisions about criteria for stopping rules. Dissemination: as in other trial areas, it is important that all results, including negative ones, are reported. We argue also that the role of PPI with regard to dissemination is currently under-developed. PMID:27413698

Oral Vaccination Through Peyer's Patches: Update on Particle Uptake.

PubMed

Pais Soares, Edna Filipa; Fernandes Borges, Olga Maria

2018-01-01

Oral immunization has numerous advantages over parenteral administrations. In addition to ease administration, more effective pathogen elimination on the mucosa before spreading into the blood circulation, constitutes the main benefit. This is particularly true for pathogens that enter the body through the oral route. On the other hand, it is the most challenging administration route for peptides, proteins and recombinant antigens due to gastrointestinal (GI) tract, numerous barriers including the harsh environment and the inherent weak immunogenicity. In addition to the adjuvant properties, polymeric particles arise as the most promising strategy to overcome poor antigen bioavailability/ stability upon oral administration. The Peyer's patches have been considered an important structure of the gut associate lymphoid tissue (GALT) for the initiation of the immune response towards particulate oral antigens. The transport mechanism of both, nano and microparticles across intestinal mucosa, particularly throughout Peyer's patches, is discussed in this review. We provide a short and concise update (last decade) focused on the importance of particle physicochemical properties, M-cell ligands and size-dependent transport and intracellular fate concerning Peyer's patches targeted oral vaccination. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Predictive modeling of solidification during laser additive manufacturing of nickel superalloys: recent developments, future directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Supriyo

2018-01-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes produce parts with improved physical, chemical, and mechanical properties compared to conventional manufacturing processes. In AM processes, intricate part geometries are produced from multicomponent alloy powder, in a layer-by-layer fashion with multipass laser melting, solidification, and solid-state phase transformations, in a shorter manufacturing time, with minimal surface finishing, and at a reasonable cost. However, there is an increasing need for post-processing of the manufactured parts via, for example, stress relieving heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing to achieve homogeneous microstructure and properties at all times. Solidification in an AM process controls the size, shape, and distribution of the grains, the growth morphology, the elemental segregation and precipitation, the subsequent solid-state phase changes, and ultimately the material properties. The critical issues in this process are linked with multiphysics (such as fluid flow and diffusion of heat and mass) and multiscale (lengths, times and temperature ranges) challenges that arise due to localized rapid heating and cooling during AM processing. The alloy chemistry-process-microstructure-property-performance correlation in this process will be increasingly better understood through multiscale modeling and simulation.

The health benefits of wine.

PubMed

German, J B; Walzem, R L

2000-01-01

Epidemiologic studies from numerous disparate populations reveal that individuals with the habit of daily moderate wine consumption enjoy significant reductions in all-cause and particularly cardiovascular mortality when compared with individuals who abstain or who drink alcohol to excess. Researchers are working to explain this observation in molecular and nutritional terms. Moderate ethanol intake from any type of beverage improves lipoprotein metabolism and lowers cardiovascular mortality risk. The question now is whether wine, particularly red wine with its abundant content of phenolic acids and polyphenols, confers additional health benefits. Discovering the nutritional properties of wine is a challenging task, which requires that the biological actions and bioavailability of the >200 individual phenolic compounds be documented and interpreted within the societal factors that stratify wine consumption and the myriad effects of alcohol alone. Further challenge arises because the health benefits of wine address the prevention of slowly developing diseases for which validated biomarkers are rare. Thus, although the benefits of the polyphenols from fruits and vegetables are increasingly accepted, consensus on wine is developing more slowly. Scientific research has demonstrated that the molecules present in grapes and in wine alter cellular metabolism and signaling, which is consistent mechanistically with reducing arterial disease. Future research must address specific mechanisms both of alcohol and of polyphenolic action and develop biomarkers of their role in disease prevention in individuals.

BAYESIAN PROTEIN STRUCTURE ALIGNMENT.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Abel; Schmidler, Scott C

The analysis of the three-dimensional structure of proteins is an important topic in molecular biochemistry. Structure plays a critical role in defining the function of proteins and is more strongly conserved than amino acid sequence over evolutionary timescales. A key challenge is the identification and evaluation of structural similarity between proteins; such analysis can aid in understanding the role of newly discovered proteins and help elucidate evolutionary relationships between organisms. Computational biologists have developed many clever algorithmic techniques for comparing protein structures, however, all are based on heuristic optimization criteria, making statistical interpretation somewhat difficult. Here we present a fully probabilistic framework for pairwise structural alignment of proteins. Our approach has several advantages, including the ability to capture alignment uncertainty and to estimate key "gap" parameters which critically affect the quality of the alignment. We show that several existing alignment methods arise as maximum a posteriori estimates under specific choices of prior distributions and error models. Our probabilistic framework is also easily extended to incorporate additional information, which we demonstrate by including primary sequence information to generate simultaneous sequence-structure alignments that can resolve ambiguities obtained using structure alone. This combined model also provides a natural approach for the difficult task of estimating evolutionary distance based on structural alignments. The model is illustrated by comparison with well-established methods on several challenging protein alignment examples.

Extensive Mobilome-Driven Genome Diversification in Mouse Gut-Associated Bacteroides vulgatus mpk

PubMed Central

Lange, Anna; Beier, Sina; Steimle, Alex; Autenrieth, Ingo B.; Huson, Daniel H.; Frick, Julia-Stefanie

2016-01-01

Like many other Bacteroides species, Bacteroides vulgatus strain mpk, a mouse fecal isolate which was shown to promote intestinal homeostasis, utilizes a variety of mobile elements for genome evolution. Based on sequences collected by Pacific Biosciences SMRT sequencing technology, we discuss the challenges of assembling and studying a bacterial genome of high plasticity. Additionally, we conducted comparative genomics comparing this commensal strain with the B. vulgatus type strain ATCC 8482 as well as multiple other Bacteroides and Parabacteroides strains to reveal the most important differences and identify the unique features of B. vulgatus mpk. The genome of B. vulgatus mpk harbors a large and diverse set of mobile element proteins compared with other sequenced Bacteroides strains. We found evidence of a number of different horizontal gene transfer events and a genome landscape that has been extensively altered by different mobilization events. A CRISPR/Cas system could be identified that provides a possible mechanism for preventing the integration of invading external DNA. We propose that the high genome plasticity and the introduced genome instabilities of B. vulgatus mpk arising from the various mobilization events might play an important role not only in its adaptation to the challenging intestinal environment in general, but also in its ability to interact with the gut microbiota. PMID:27071651

Practical Weak-lensing Shear Measurement with Metacalibration

DOE PAGES

Sheldon, Erin S.; Huff, Eric M.

2017-05-19

We report that metacalibration is a recently introduced method to accurately measure weak gravitational lensing shear using only the available imaging data, without need for prior information about galaxy properties or calibration from simulations. The method involves distorting the image with a small known shear, and calculating the response of a shear estimator to that applied shear. The method was shown to be accurate in moderate-sized simulations with galaxy images that had relatively high signal-to-noise ratios, and without significant selection effects. In this work we introduce a formalism to correct for both shear response and selection biases. We also observemore » that for images with relatively low signal-to-noise ratios, the correlated noise that arises during the metacalibration process results in significant bias, for which we develop a simple empirical correction. To test this formalism, we created large image simulations based on both parametric models and real galaxy images, including tests with realistic point-spread functions. We varied the point-spread function ellipticity at the five-percent level. In each simulation we applied a small few-percent shear to the galaxy images. We introduced additional challenges that arise in real data, such as detection thresholds, stellar contamination, and missing data. We applied cuts on the measured galaxy properties to induce significant selection effects. Finally, using our formalism, we recovered the input shear with an accuracy better than a part in a thousand in all cases.« less

Two neutron correlations in photo-fission

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

Dale, D. S.; Kosinov, O.; Forest, T.

2016-01-01

A large body of experimental work has established the strong kinematical correlation between fission fragments and fission neutrons. Here, we report on the progress of investigations of the potential for strong two neutron correlations arising from the nearly back-to-back nature of the two fission fragments that emit these neutrons in the photo-fission process. In initial measurements, a pulsed electron linear accelerator was used to generate bremsstrahlung photons that impinged upon an actinide target, and the energy and opening angle distributions of coincident neutrons were measured using a large acceptance neutron detector array. A planned comprehensive set of measurements of twomore » neutron correlations in the photo-fission of actinides is expected to shed light on several fundamental aspects of the fission process including the multiplicity distributions associated with the light and heavy fission fragments, the nuclear temperatures of the fission fragments, and the mass distribution of the fission fragments as a function of energy released. In addition to these measurements providing important nuclear data, the unique kinematics of fission and the resulting two neutron correlations have the potential to be the basis for a new tool to detect fissionable materials. A key technical challenge of this program arises from the need to perform coincidence measurements with a low duty factor, pulsed electron accelerator. This has motivated the construction of a large acceptance neutron detector array, and the development of data analysis techniques to directly measure uncorrelated two neutron backgrounds.« less

Virtual reality: a reality for future military pilotage?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McIntire, John P.; Martinsen, Gary L.; Marasco, Peter L.; Havig, Paul R.

2009-05-01

Virtual reality (VR) systems provide exciting new ways to interact with information and with the world. The visual VR environment can be synthetic (computer generated) or be an indirect view of the real world using sensors and displays. With the potential opportunities of a VR system, the question arises about what benefits or detriments a military pilot might incur by operating in such an environment. Immersive and compelling VR displays could be accomplished with an HMD (e.g., imagery on the visor), large area collimated displays, or by putting the imagery on an opaque canopy. But what issues arise when, instead of viewing the world directly, a pilot views a "virtual" image of the world? Is 20/20 visual acuity in a VR system good enough? To deliver this acuity over the entire visual field would require over 43 megapixels (MP) of display surface for an HMD or about 150 MP for an immersive CAVE system, either of which presents a serious challenge with current technology. Additionally, the same number of sensor pixels would be required to drive the displays to this resolution (and formidable network architectures required to relay this information), or massive computer clusters are necessary to create an entirely computer-generated virtual reality with this resolution. Can we presently implement such a system? What other visual requirements or engineering issues should be considered? With the evolving technology, there are many technological issues and human factors considerations that need to be addressed before a pilot is placed within a virtual cockpit.

Circulatory Insufficiency and Hypotension Related to the Ductus Arteriosus in Neonates

PubMed Central

Rios, Danielle R.; Bhattacharya, Soume; Levy, Philip T.; McNamara, Patrick J.

2018-01-01

The biological role of the ductus arteriosus (DA) in neonates varies from an innocent bystander role during normal postnatal transition, to a supportive role when there is compromise to either systemic or pulmonary blood flow, to a pathological state in the presence of hemodynamically significant systemic to pulmonary shunts, as occurs in low birth weight infants. Among a wide array of clinical manifestations arising due to the ductal entity, systemic circulatory insufficiency and hypotension are of significant concern as they are particularly challenging to manage. An understanding of the physiologic interplay between the DA and the circulatory system is the key to developing appropriate targeted therapeutic strategies. In this review, we discuss the relationship of systemic hypotension to the DA, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and a precise individual approach to intensive care support. We particularly focus on the variable states of hypotension arising directly due to a hemodynamically significant DA or seen in the period following successful surgical ligation. In addition, we explore the mechanistic contributions of the ductus to circulatory insufficiency that may manifest during the transitional period, states of maladapted transition (such as acute pulmonary hypertension of the newborn), and congenital heart disease (both ductal dependent and non-ductal dependent lesions). Understanding the dynamic modulator role of the ductus according to the ambient physiology enables a more precise approach to management. We review the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, monitoring, and therapeutic intervention for the spectrum of DA-related circulatory compromise. PMID:29600242

Innovative work behavior of managers: Implications regarding stressful challenges of modernized public- and private-sector organizations

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Sudeshna Basu; Ray, Anjali

2009-01-01

Background: The present study was firstly aimed to find out the nature of stressful life events arising out of the innovative challenges in modernized organizations; and secondly, it tried to identify the relationship between innovative work behavior of managers and the levels of stress arising out of stressful events in modernized organizations (public and private) in West Bengal. Materials and Methods: Data was collected from a sample of 200 managers, by using 3 tools (General Information Schedule, Life Event Inventory and Innovative Work Behavior Scale) through a face-to-face interview. Responses were subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The data was statistically treated for ‘t’ and ANOVA. Results: Data highlighted the fact that the qualitative profile of stressful events in the lives of managers expressed specificity in terms of their organizational type (public- and private-sector modernized organizations), and levels of stress from stressful life events were significantly higher among the modernized private-sector managers than those among public-sector managers. The prevalence of innovative work behavior was moderately higher among managers of private-sector modernized organizations than their counterparts in public-sector organizations. The trends of innovative work behavior of the managers indicated much variability due to interaction of their level of perceived stressful challenges for innovation and the global forces of change that have unleashed dynamic, systematic and higher expectation level from them. PMID:21180486

Innovative work behavior of managers: Implications regarding stressful challenges of modernized public- and private-sector organizations.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Sudeshna Basu; Ray, Anjali

2009-07-01

The present study was firstly aimed to find out the nature of stressful life events arising out of the innovative challenges in modernized organizations; and secondly, it tried to identify the relationship between innovative work behavior of managers and the levels of stress arising out of stressful events in modernized organizations (public and private) in West Bengal. Data was collected from a sample of 200 managers, by using 3 tools (General Information Schedule, Life Event Inventory and Innovative Work Behavior Scale) through a face-to-face interview. Responses were subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The data was statistically treated for 't' and ANOVA. Data highlighted the fact that the qualitative profile of stressful events in the lives of managers expressed specificity in terms of their organizational type (public- and private-sector modernized organizations), and levels of stress from stressful life events were significantly higher among the modernized private-sector managers than those among public-sector managers. The prevalence of innovative work behavior was moderately higher among managers of private-sector modernized organizations than their counterparts in public-sector organizations. The trends of innovative work behavior of the managers indicated much variability due to interaction of their level of perceived stressful challenges for innovation and the global forces of change that have unleashed dynamic, systematic and higher expectation level from them.

Editorial: Cognitive Architectures, Model Comparison and AGI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebiere, Christian; Gonzalez, Cleotilde; Warwick, Walter

2010-12-01

Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence share compatible goals of understanding and possibly generating broadly intelligent behavior. In order to determine if progress is made, it is essential to be able to evaluate the behavior of complex computational models, especially those built on general cognitive architectures, and compare it to benchmarks of intelligent behavior such as human performance. Significant methodological challenges arise, however, when trying to extend approaches used to compare model and human performance from tightly controlled laboratory tasks to complex tasks involving more open-ended behavior. This paper describes a model comparison challenge built around a dynamic control task, the Dynamic Stocks and Flows. We present and discuss distinct approaches to evaluating performance and comparing models. Lessons drawn from this challenge are discussed in light of the challenge of using cognitive architectures to achieve Artificial General Intelligence.

A comparative study of proliferative nodules and lethal melanomas in congenital nevi from children.

PubMed

Yélamos, Oriol; Arva, Nicoleta C; Obregon, Roxana; Yazdan, Pedram; Wagner, Annette; Guitart, Joan; Gerami, Pedram

2015-03-01

Differentiating proliferative nodules (PNs) from melanomas arising in congenital nevi (CN) is a considerable challenge for dermatopathologists. Most of the specimens dermatopathologists assess that deal with this differential diagnosis involve proliferations of melanocytes arising in the dermis. In this study, we compare the clinical, histologic, and molecular findings of these 2 conditions. In our database, we found 22 examples of PNs arising in the dermis of CN and 2 cases of lethal melanomas arising from the dermis/epidermis of CN of children. Importantly, we found that among dermal melanocytic proliferations arising from CN in children, PNs are far more common than lethal melanomas. Clinically, multiplicity of lesions favored a diagnosis of PNs, whereas ulceration was infrequent in PNs compared with lethal melanomas. Histologically, PNs showed several distinct patterns including expansile nodules of epithelioid melanocytes with mitotic counts lower than that seen in the melanomas (1.67 vs. 12.5 mitoses/mm), a small round blue cell pattern often highly mitotically active, neurocristic-like, blue nevus-like, a nevoid melanoma-like pattern, or an undifferentiated spindle cell pattern. The lethal melanomas both featured expansile nodules of epithelioid melanocytes with high mitotic counts (range, 5 to 20 mitoses/mm) and an ulcerated overlying epidermis. At the molecular level, the PNs showed mostly whole chromosomal copy number aberrations, which in some cases were accompanied by rare partial chromosomal aberrations, whereas both lethal melanomas showed highly elevated copy number aberrations involving 6p25 without gains of the long arm of chromosome 6.

Building Self-Discipline to Promote Learning: Students' Volitional Strategies to Navigate the Demands of Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elstad, Eyvind

2008-01-01

Volitional issues are important in today's classrooms where autonomous students are expected to manage school demands on their own. A new kind of challenge has appeared with the advent of free Internet access in the classroom. Motivational conflicts may therefore arise between (1) immediate rewards of electronic chatting, surfing, and games and…

The Relationship between Stroop Interference and Facilitation Effects: Statistical Artifacts, Baselines, and a Reassessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Tracy L.

2011-01-01

The relationship between interference and facilitation effects in the Stroop task is poorly understood yet central to its implications. At question is the modal view that they arise from a single mechanism--the congruency of color and word. Two developments have challenged that view: (a) the belief that facilitation effects are fractionally small…

Triadic Model for Working with Parents in Child Therapy Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeon, Mi-Hee; Myers, Charles E.

2017-01-01

Child therapists face challenges regarding whether they should meet needs of not only their child-clients but needs of the parents of their clients. Their difficulties arise from the fact that although they are specialized in counseling children, the majority of them lack proper training in or education on working with parents (Lolan, 2011). Given…

What Happened and Why? Considering the Role of Truth and Memory in Peace Education Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauritzen, Solvor Mjøberg; Nodeland, Tuva Skjelbred

2017-01-01

This paper is an exploration of challenges arising in the interplay between a standardised peace education curriculum and a localised post-conflict setting. Drawing on interview data from two Kenyan schools, the paper explores the reception of peace education initiatives implemented in Kenya following the post-election violence of 2007/2008…

Agricultural Extension Services and Market Regulation: Learning from a Comparison of Six EU Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laurent, Catherine; Cerf, Marianne; Labarthe, Pierre

2006-01-01

If farmers are to meet the new challenges facing agriculture (environment, rural development, etc.), appropriate knowledge has to be produced. But observations in six EU countries (France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) show that unexpected problems arise when technical support for agriculture is linked to market regulation,…

Critical Perspectives on Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood: Building an Inclusive Curriculum and Provision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ang, Lynn

2010-01-01

This paper presents a discussion of the complexities that arise from addressing issues of cultural diversity in the early years context. It explores the challenges of developing an effective early years provision and pedagogy that values cultural difference within the framework of a mandated curriculum, "The Early Years Foundation Stage…

Radiometric calibration of an ultra-compact microbolometer thermal imaging module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riesland, David W.; Nugent, Paul W.; Laurie, Seth; Shaw, Joseph A.

2017-05-01

As microbolometer focal plane array formats are steadily decreasing, new challenges arise in correcting for thermal drift in the calibration coefficients. As the thermal mass of the cameras decrease the focal plane becomes more sensitive to external thermal inputs. This paper shows results from a temperature compensation algorithm for characterizing and radiometrically calibrating a FLIR Lepton camera.

Standing Firm on Slippery Slopes: Understanding Ethical Boundaries in Student Affairs Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liddell, Debora; Hornak, Anne M.; Ignelzi, Michael G.

2016-01-01

Understanding ethical boundaries in student affairs work can be challenging and difficult to navigate for student affairs professionals. The purpose of this article is to examine the complexities of dual relationships and the ethical issues that may arise. As a result, the authors offer tools to (a) identify various perspectives in resolving…

Navigating Graduate School: Insights and Recommendations for a Productive Degree Path

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cambria, Jenna

2015-01-01

Beginning graduate school can be an exciting experience; however, given the new social and intellectual experiences, there will be unique challenges that arise during your graduate program. Within this article, the author shares what was useful, helpful suggestions others have offered her, and pieces of advice she wishes she knew going in. In the…

Constructing the Cosmopolitan Subject: Teaching Secondary School Literature in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poon, Angelia Mui Cheng

2010-01-01

This article discusses the ambitious educational reforms of the Singapore government in response to the challenges of globalization vis-a-vis the specific issues arising from the case of teaching Literature in secondary schools. It shows how the Singapore state is invested in a particular view of globalization and argues how recent scholarly moves…

If Not the Brain, Then What? A Paradigm for Preservice Intervention Specialists that Provides an Understanding of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Mary T.

2011-01-01

This article contends that although Intervention Specialists are presented with a variety of children with diverse challenges that arise from neurological dysfunction, few teacher education programs adequately prepare teachers to understand, recognize and address these needs. The University of Findlay requires candidates in the post-baccalaureate…

Researching Emotion and Affect in the History of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sobe, Noah W.

2012-01-01

This exploratory paper was prepared for a symposium held at the 2011 ISCHE conference in which participants were asked to envision future challenges in the historiography of education, to predict where the field was moving, and to imagine what innovations and new interests would arise in the subsequent 30 years. While the paper is playfully…

Towards "Law Education for All": Teaching School Students about the Law in Australia and Pakistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vlaardingerbroek, Barend; Traikovski, Louie; Hussain, Irshad

2014-01-01

Law-related topics arise in the school curricula of both developed and developing countries. Civics/citizenship education and social studies tend to be the curricular mediums into which law topics are inserted. This paper details law education at school level in Australia (State of Victoria) and Pakistan. The main challenge facing the…

Com"position": Ecocomposition, Aristotle, and the First-Year Writing Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moe, Peter Wayne

2011-01-01

I see a parallel between the illiteracy I witnessed while working in the court system and the challenges facing first-year writers at the university. In both cases, problems arise due to unfamiliarity with the discourse community into which one enters. In response, because much of the language governing composition and rhetoric is rife with place…

Routes of Knowledge: Toward a Methodological Framework for Tracing the Historical Impact of International Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christensen, Ivan Lind; Ydesen, Christian

2015-01-01

Recent trends in the historiography of international organizations are occupied with tracing their historical impact on national contexts. There is, however, no consensus on how to conduct this type of analysis methodologically. This article examines the methodological challenges arising from this type of research. While a great deal of…

Global variability in leaf respiration in relation to climate, plant functional types and leaf traits

Treesearch

Owen K. Atkin; Keith J. Bloomfield; Peter B. Reich; Mark G. Tjoelker; Gregory P. Asner; Damien Bonal; Gerhard Bonisch; Matt G. Bradford; Lucas A. Cernusak; Eric G. Cosio; Danielle Creek; Kristine Y. Crous; Tomas F. Domingues; Jeffrey S. Dukes; John J. G. Egerton; John R. Evans; Graham D. Farquhar; Nikolaos M. Fyllas; Paul P. G. Gauthier; Emanuel Gloor; Teresa E. Gimeno; Kevin L. Griffin; Rossella Guerrieri; Mary A. Heskel; Chris Huntingford; Franc_oise Yoko Ishida; Jens Kattge; Hans Lambers; Michael J. Liddell; Jon Lloyd; Christopher H. Lusk; Roberta E. Martin; Ayal P. Maksimov; Trofim C. Maximov; Yadvinder Malhi; Belinda E. Medlyn; Patrick Meir; Lina M. Mercado; Nicholas Mirotchnick; Desmond Ng; Ulo Niinemets; Odhran S. O’Sullivan; Oliver L. Phillips; Lourens Poorter; Pieter Poot; I. Colin Prentice; Norma Salinas; Lucy M. Rowland; Michael G. Ryan; Stephen Sitch; Martijn Slot; Nicholas G. Smith; Matthew H. Turnbull; Mark C. VanderWel; Fernando Valladares; Erik J. Veneklaas; Lasantha K. Weerasinghe; Christian Wirth; Ian J. Wright; Kirk R. Wythers; Jen Xiang; Shuang Xiang; Joana Zaragoza-Castells

2015-01-01

A challenge for the development of terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) and associated land surface components of Earth system models (ESMs) is improving representation of carbon (C) exchange between terrestrial plants and the atmosphere, and incorporating biological variation arising from diversity in plant functional types (PFTs) and climate (Sitch et al.,...

The Cross-Script Length Effect: Further Evidence Challenging PDP Models of Reading Aloud

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rastle, Kathleen; Havelka, Jelena; Wydell, Taeko N.; Coltheart, Max; Besner, Derek

2009-01-01

The interaction between length and lexical status is one of the key findings used in support of models of reading aloud that postulate a serial process in the orthography-to-phonology translation (B. S. Weekes, 1997). However, proponents of parallel models argue that this effect arises in peripheral visual or articulatory processes. The authors…

The Spatial Politics of Gender in EAP Classroom Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appleby, Roslyn

2009-01-01

This paper explores some of the challenges faced by EAP teachers as they address gender issues that arise when teaching in a non-Western cultural context. It draws on interviews with four Australian teachers regarding their experiences in delivering EAP programs in East Timor as part of an international aid effort, and focuses on critical…

Towards a Humanism of Knowledge, Action and Cooperation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haddad, Georges; Aubin, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

This article begins by looking at two reports, commissioned in the second half of the 20th century to investigate the impact of social change on education and to propose strategies for tackling new challenges arising from this. The first report, published in 1972, was the so-called Faure report (named after French lawyer and politician Edgar…

Material-Specific Lateralization of Working Memory in the Medial Temporal Lobe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Dylan D.; Sziklas, Viviane; Garver, Krista E.; Jones-Gotman, Marilyn

2009-01-01

Mnemonic deficits in patients with medial temporal lobe (MTL) damage arising from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are traditionally constrained to long-term episodic memory, sparing short-term and working memory (WM). This view of WM as being independent of MTL structures has recently been challenged by a small number of patient and neuroimaging…

Opportunity from Crisis: A Common Agenda for Higher Education and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacob, Merle; Hellström, Tomas

2014-01-01

This paper makes a plea for the construction of a common agenda for higher education and science, technology and innovation (STI) policy research. The public higher education and research sector in all countries is currently in the grip of several challenges arising from increased accountability, internationalization and in some cases dwindling…

Travelling Teens: A Parents' Guide to Family Relocation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linke, Pam

2005-01-01

Moving house is becoming a more common aspect of modern life; but this does not make it any easier to cope with the many issues that arise--from the everyday practicalities, to the social and emotional challenges involved. Families who are required to relocate face the potentially difficult task of settling each family member into the new…

"Do They Think We Live in Huts?"--Cultural Essentialism and the Challenges of Facilitating Professional Development in Cross-Cultural Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvaré, Bretton T.

2017-01-01

Depending on the particular definition of culture they employ, pedagogical approaches meant to promote integration, inclusion, and empowerment across cultural divides can end up magnifying existing feelings of alienation, exclusion, and disempowerment. This article explores the negative consequences that can arise when "funds of…

Direct Whole-Genome Sequencing of Cutaneous Strains of Haemophilus ducreyi

PubMed Central

Fookes, Maria; Wagner, Josef; Ghinai, Rosanna; Sokana, Oliver; Sarkodie, Yaw-Adu; Solomon, Anthony W.; Mabey, David C.W.; Thomson, Nicholas R.

2018-01-01

Haemophilus ducreyi, which causes chancroid, has emerged as a cause of pediatric skin disease. Isolation of H. ducreyi in low-income settings is challenging, limiting phylogenetic investigation. Next-generation sequencing demonstrates that cutaneous strains arise from class I and II H. ducreyi clades and that class II may represent a distinct subspecies. PMID:29553314

Use of Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) with High Throughput Exposure Predictions as a Risk-Based Screening Approach of Several Thousand Commodity Chemicals (SOT Poster)

EPA Science Inventory

Although progress has been made with HTS (high throughput screening) in profiling biological activity (e.g., EPA’s ToxCast™), challenges arise interpreting HTS results in the context of adversity & converting HTS assay concentrations to equivalent human doses for the broad domain...

Prioritizing Threats to Patient Safety in Rural Primary Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Ranjit; Singh, Ashok; Servoss, Timothy J.; Singh, Gurdev

2007-01-01

Context: Rural primary care is a complex environment in which multiple patient safety challenges can arise. To make progress in improving safety with limited resources, each practice needs to identify those safety problems that pose the greatest threat to patients and focus efforts on these. Purpose: To describe and field-test a novel approach to…

Business as Usual? It's Just Not an Option

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blewitt, John

2010-01-01

There is no doubt that in order to address the serious challenges arising from anthropogenic--or human-produced--climate change, Britain, along with the rest of the world, needs to adopt policies and develop skills that will create a low-carbon economy with a highly effective use of renewable and natural resources. People need to create the…

Geography Teachers' Concepts of Working with Thinking through Geography Strategies--Results of an Empirical Reconstructive Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Applis, Stefan

2016-01-01

The educational standards in geography in the German-speaking world separately refer to the areas of competence of judgment and evaluation and thus attach outstanding importance to reflective value orientation in geography classes. The tasks and challenges that arise from that for geography teachers will be investigated in a…

Low-cost training technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, A. T.

1984-01-01

The differences between flight training technology and flight simulation technology are highlighted. Examples of training technologies are provided, including the Navy's training system and the interactive cockpit training device. Training problems that might arise in the near future are discussed. These challenges follow from the increased amount and variety of information that a pilot must have access to in the cockpit.

Research in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching and Learning in New Zealand (2006-2010)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ker, Alastair; Adams, Rebecca; Skyrme, Gillian

2013-01-01

This survey gives an overview of research into language teaching and learning in New Zealand over a five-year period, including the context of that research. The majority of New Zealanders are monolingual English speakers, yet the country faces complex linguistic challenges arising from its bicultural foundations and the multicultural society it…

Ethics and the Promotion of Inclusiveness within Qualitative Research: Case Examples from Asia and the Pacific

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czymoniewicz-Klippel, Melina T.; Brijnath, Bianca; Crockett, Belinda

2010-01-01

Qualitative researchers are often confronted by ethical challenges when making research decisions because current guidelines and principles guiding research ethics do not wholly cover the concerns that can arise in complex social research situations. In this article, the authors explore this dilemma in relation to our experiences of conducting…

Juggling Higher Education Study and Family Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webber, Louise

2017-01-01

Women with families face particular challenges when they undertake Higher Education. Questions arise about coping with the demands of study, new family routines, and the changed identity when mother becomes student: Can I manage it all? How will my family react? Will they give me the time and support I need? The author, herself a mother and…

Ethical issues in sports medicine: a review and justification for ethical decision making and reasoning.

PubMed

Greenfield, Bruce H; West, Charles Robert

2012-11-01

Ethical issues present a challenge for health care professionals working with athletes of sports teams. Health care professionals-including the team physician, the physical therapist, and the athletic trainer-are faced with the challenge of returning an athlete to competition as quickly as possible but as safely as possible. Conflicts of interest arise due to conflicting obligations of the team physician to the athlete and other members of the sports organization, including coaches and the team owner. The multiple stakeholders involved in sports teams challenge the traditional notion of confidentiality and autonomy. The aims of this article are to explicate the ethics of sports medicine, highlight the ethical issues, and provide some strategies and suggestions for ethical decision making.

Time-resolved structural studies at synchrotrons and X-ray free electron lasers: opportunities and challenges

PubMed Central

Neutze, Richard; Moffat, Keith

2012-01-01

X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) are potentially revolutionary X-ray sources because of their very short pulse duration, extreme peak brilliance and high spatial coherence, features that distinguish them from today’s synchrotron sources. We review recent time-resolved Laue diffraction and time-resolved wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) studies at synchrotron sources, and initial static studies at XFELs. XFELs have the potential to transform the field of time-resolved structural biology, yet many challenges arise in devising and adapting hardware, experimental design and data analysis strategies to exploit their unusual properties. Despite these challenges, we are confident that XFEL sources are poised to shed new light on ultrafast protein reaction dynamics. PMID:23021004

Capacity Payments in Restructured Markets under Low and High Penetration Levels of Renewable Energy

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

Jenkin, Thomas; Beiter, Philipp; Margolis, Robert

2016-02-01

Growing levels of variable renewable energy resources arguably create new challenges for capacity market designs, because variable renewable energy suppresses wholesale energy prices while providing relatively little capacity. This effect becomes more pronounced the higher the variable renewable energy penetration in a market. The purpose of this report is threefold. First, we provide a brief outline of the purpose and design of various capacity markets using administratively determined capacity demand curves. Second, we discuss some of the main challenges raised in existing literature and a set of interviews that we conducted with market participants, regulators, and observers. Third, we considermore » some of the challenges to capacity markets that arise with higher variable renewable energy penetration.« less

Sacro-anterior haemangiopericytoma: a case report

PubMed Central

Ge, Xiu-Hong; Liu, Shuai-Shuai; Shan, Hu-Sheng; Wang, Zhi-Min; Li, Qian-Wen

2014-01-01

Haemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare vascular tumor with borderline malignancy, considerable histological variability, and unpredictable clinical and biological behavior. HPC can present a diagnostic challenge because of its indeterminate clinical, radiological, and pathological features. HPC generally presents in adulthood and is equally frequent in both sexes. HPC can arise in any site in the body as a slowly growing and painless mass. The precise cell type origin of HPC is uncertain. One third of HPCs occur in the head and neck areas. Exceptional cases of hemangioblastoma arising outside the head and neck areas have been reported, but little is known about their clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features. This study reports on a case of a large sacro-anterior HPC in a 65-year-old male. PMID:25009757

Extra-anatomic endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm with a horseshoe kidney supplied by the aneurysmal aorta.

PubMed

Rey, Jorge; Golpanian, Samuel; Yang, Jane K; Moreno, Enrique; Velazquez, Omaida C; Goldstein, Lee J; Chahwala, Veer

2015-07-01

Abdominal aortic aneurysm complicated by a horseshoe kidney (HSK, fused kidney) represents a unique challenge for repair. Renal arteries arising from the aneurysmal aorta can further complicate intervention. Reports exist describing the repair of these complex anatomies using fenestrated endografts, hybrid open repairs (debranching), and open aneurysmorrhaphy with preservation of renal circulation. We describe an extra-anatomic, fully endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm with a HSK partially supplied by a renal artery arising from the aneurysm. We successfully applied aortouni-iliac endografting, femorofemoral bypass, and retrograde renal artery perfusion via the contralateral femoral artery to exclude the abdominal aortic aneurysm and preserve circulation to the HSK. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lesions of the Broad Ligament: A Review.

PubMed

Heller, Debra S

2015-01-01

The differential diagnosis of lesions arising in the broad ligament is quite large. Many of these lesions can be clinically interpreted before surgery as adnexal or uterine neoplasms. Although some lesions are similar to those arising in other müllerian sites, there are unique lesions as well. The lesions are uncommon and may prove challenging to clinicians. The purpose was to review the scope of lesions affecting the broad ligament. A literature review was conducted. A Medline search was performed using the terms broad ligament, mesosalpinx, and mesovarium. A review of the scope of broad ligament lesions is presented to assist in developing a differential diagnosis if a patient with such a lesion is encountered. Copyright © 2015 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some remarks on anthropic approaches to the strong CP problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dine, Michael; Haskins, Laurel Stephenson; Ubaldi, Lorenzo; Xu, Di

2018-05-01

The peculiar value of θ is a challenge to the notion of an anthropic landscape. We briefly review the possibility that a suitable axion might arise from an anthropic requirement of dark matter. We then consider an alternative suggestion of Kaloper and Terning that θ might be correlated with the cosmological constant. We note that in a landscape one expects that θ is determined by the expectation value of one or more axions. We discuss how a discretuum of values of θ might arise with an energy distribution dominated by QCD, and find the requirements to be quite stringent. Given such a discretuum, we find no circumstances where small θ might be selected by anthropic requirements on the cosmological constant.

Don't blame the 'bio'--blame the 'ethics': varieties of (bio)ethics and the challenge of pluralism.

PubMed

Charlesworth, Max

2005-01-01

We tend to think that the difficulties in bioethics spring from the novel and alarming issues that arise due to discoveries in the new biosciences and biotechnologies. But many of the crucial difficulties in bioethics arise from the assumption we make about ethics. This paper offers a brief overview of bioethics, and relates ethical 'principlism' to 'ethical fundamentalism.' It then reviews some alternative approaches that have emerged during the second phase of bioethics and argues for a neo-Aristotelian approach. Misconceptions about ethical principles and ethical reasoning not only distort our views of the business of bioethics, but they also prevent us from facing up to the formidable problems posed by ethical pluralism in so-called liberal societies.

Designing patient-centric applications for chronic disease management.

PubMed

Tsalatsanis, Athanasios; Gil-Herrera, Eleazar; Yalcin, Ali; Djulbegovic, Benjamin; Barnes, Laura

2011-01-01

Chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are the leading causes of disability and death in the developed world. Technological interventions such as mobile applications have the ability to facilitate and motivate patients in chronic disease management, but these types of interventions present considerable design challenges. The primary objective of this paper is to present the challenges arising from the design and implementation of software applications aiming to assist patients in chronic disease management. We also outline preliminary results regarding a self-management application currently under development targeting young adults suffering from type 1 diabetes.

Hemorrhagic cystitis: A challenge to the urologist

PubMed Central

Manikandan, R.; Kumar, Santosh; Dorairajan, Lalgudi N.

2010-01-01

Severe hemorrhagic cystitis often arises from anticancer chemotherapy or radiotherapy for pelvic malignancies. Infectious etiologies are less common causes except in immunocompromised hosts. These cases can be challenging problems for the urologist and a source of substantial morbidity and sometimes mortality for the patients. A variety of modalities of treatment have been described for the management of hemorrhagic cystitis but there is none that is uniformly effective. Some progress has been made in the understanding and management of viral hemorrhagic cystitis. This article reviews the common causes of severe hemorrhagic cystitis and the currently available management options. PMID:20877590

Workplace diversity and public policy: challenges and opportunities for psychology.

PubMed

Fassinger, Ruth E

2008-01-01

This article outlines both challenges and opportunities for psychology of issues related to diversity in education and work. For the purposes of this discussion, "diverse" populations include four groups currently marginalized and disadvantaged in the U.S. workplace: women, people of color, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities. An overview of employment participation patterns for these groups is presented, workplace barriers arising from marginalized status are highlighted, and the article concludes with a discussion of work-related legislative and public policy fronts that can be informed and influenced by the contributions of psychologists. Copyright (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Aspirin and Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs Hypersensitivity and Management.

PubMed

Modena, Brian; White, Andrew A; Woessner, Katharine M

2017-11-01

Aspirin and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used in the United States and throughout the world for a variety of indications. Several unique hypersensitivity syndromes exist to this class of medications, making them one of the common reasons for consultation to the allergist. The lack of any laboratory-based diagnostic studies to assist in identifying the culprits in these reactions make evaluation of aspirin and NSAID hypersensitivity challenging. Identifying patients appropriate for oral challenge and/or desensitization protocols is the standard pragmatic approach to this issue when it arises. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Accounting for the phenomenology and varieties of auditory verbal hallucination within a predictive processing framework.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Sam

2014-11-01

Two challenges that face popular self-monitoring theories (SMTs) of auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) are that they cannot account for the auditory phenomenology of AVHs and that they cannot account for their variety. In this paper I show that both challenges can be met by adopting a predictive processing framework (PPF), and by viewing AVHs as arising from abnormalities in predictive processing. I show how, within the PPF, both the auditory phenomenology of AVHs, and three subtypes of AVH, can be accounted for. Copyright © 2014 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical decision-making and secondary findings in systems medicine.

PubMed

Fischer, T; Brothers, K B; Erdmann, P; Langanke, M

2016-05-21

Systems medicine is the name for an assemblage of scientific strategies and practices that include bioinformatics approaches to human biology (especially systems biology); "big data" statistical analysis; and medical informatics tools. Whereas personalized and precision medicine involve similar analytical methods applied to genomic and medical record data, systems medicine draws on these as well as other sources of data. Given this distinction, the clinical translation of systems medicine poses a number of important ethical and epistemological challenges for researchers working to generate systems medicine knowledge and clinicians working to apply it. This article focuses on three key challenges: First, we will discuss the conflicts in decision-making that can arise when healthcare providers committed to principles of experimental medicine or evidence-based medicine encounter individualized recommendations derived from computer algorithms. We will explore in particular whether controlled experiments, such as comparative effectiveness trials, should mediate the translation of systems medicine, or if instead individualized findings generated through "big data" approaches can be applied directly in clinical decision-making. Second, we will examine the case of the Riyadh Intensive Care Program Mortality Prediction Algorithm, pejoratively referred to as the "death computer," to demonstrate the ethical challenges that can arise when big-data-driven scoring systems are applied in clinical contexts. We argue that the uncritical use of predictive clinical algorithms, including those envisioned for systems medicine, challenge basic understandings of the doctor-patient relationship. Third, we will build on the recent discourse on secondary findings in genomics and imaging to draw attention to the important implications of secondary findings derived from the joint analysis of data from diverse sources, including data recorded by patients in an attempt to realize their "quantified self." This paper examines possible ethical challenges that are likely to be raised as systems medicine to be translated into clinical medicine. These include the epistemological challenges for clinical decision-making, the use of scoring systems optimized by big data techniques and the risk that incidental and secondary findings will significantly increase. While some ethical implications remain still hypothetical we should use the opportunity to prospectively identify challenges to avoid making foreseeable mistakes when systems medicine inevitably arrives in routine care.

Managing flood risks in the Mekong Delta: How to address emerging challenges under climate change and socioeconomic developments.

PubMed

Hoang, Long Phi; Biesbroek, Robbert; Tri, Van Pham Dang; Kummu, Matti; van Vliet, Michelle T H; Leemans, Rik; Kabat, Pavel; Ludwig, Fulco

2018-02-24

Climate change and accelerating socioeconomic developments increasingly challenge flood-risk management in the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta-a typical large, economically dynamic and highly vulnerable delta. This study identifies and addresses the emerging challenges for flood-risk management. Furthermore, we identify and analyse response solutions, focusing on meaningful configurations of the individual solutions and how they can be tailored to specific challenges using expert surveys, content analysis techniques and statistical inferences. Our findings show that the challenges for flood-risk management are diverse, but critical challenges predominantly arise from the current governance and institutional settings. The top-three challenges include weak collaboration, conflicting management objectives and low responsiveness to new issues. We identified 114 reported solutions and developed six flood management strategies that are tailored to specific challenges. We conclude that the current technology-centric flood management approach is insufficient given the rapid socioecological changes. This approach therefore should be adapted towards a more balanced management configuration where technical and infrastructural measures are combined with institutional and governance resolutions. Insights from this study contribute to the emerging repertoire of contemporary flood management solutions, especially through their configurations and tailoring to specific challenges.

CARAPACE: a novel composite advanced robotic actuator powering assistive compliant exoskeleton: preliminary design.

PubMed

Masia, Lorenzo; Cappello, Leonardo; Morasso, Pietro; Lachenal, Xavier; Pirrera, Alberto; Weaver, Paul; Mattioni, Filippo

2013-06-01

A novel actuator is introduced that combines an elastically compliant composite structure with conventional electromechanical elements. The proposed design is analogous to that used in Series Elastic Actuators, its distinctive feature being that the compliant composite part offers different stable configurations. In other words, its elastic potential presents points of local minima that correspond to robust stable positions (multistability). This potential is known a priori as a function of the structural geometry, thus providing tremendous benefits in terms of control implementation. Such knowledge enables the complexities arising from the additional degrees of freedom associated with link deformations to be overcome and uncover challenges that extends beyond those posed by standard rigidlink robot dynamics. It is thought that integrating a multistable elastic element in a robotic transmission can provide new scenarios in the field of assistive robotics, as the system may help a subject to stand or carry a load without the need for an active control effort by the actuators.

Microgravity Science Glovebox

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roark, Walt; Cockrell, Dave; Coker, Cindy; Baugher, Charles

2001-01-01

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a versatile research facility designed to permit the flexibility of crew manipulated investigations on the International Space Station (ISS). The MSG configuration has been planned around the concept of an experimental workstation where a variety of experiments can be installed and operated in a fashion very similar to their operation in a ground-based laboratory. The approach has been to provide a large working volume with a significant set of power, data and imaging resources, all enclosed, but accessible by the crew through sealed glove ports. This arrangement allows the advantage of interactive experimentation without unduly compromising the experiment design with restrictions imposed by protective and containment challenges that normally arise in manned space-flight laboratories. In addition, the data and imaging resources allow cooperative monitoring of experiment progress between the crew and ground-based scientists. As ISS utilization evolves, the MSG is scheduled to become a major pathfinder for developing and exploiting the scientific advantages of truly enabling the coupling of experimentation in space with an evaluative response from the crew and investigators.

Luminous blue variables and the fates of very massive stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Nathan

2017-09-01

Luminous blue variables (LBVs) had long been considered massive stars in transition to the Wolf-Rayet (WR) phase, so their identification as progenitors of some peculiar supernovae (SNe) was surprising. More recently, environment statistics of LBVs show that most of them cannot be in transition to the WR phase after all, because LBVs are more isolated than allowed in this scenario. Additionally, the high-mass H shells around luminous SNe IIn require that some very massive stars above 40 M⊙ die without shedding their H envelopes, and the precursor outbursts are a challenge for understanding the final burning sequences leading to core collapse. Recent evidence suggests a clear continuum in pre-SN mass loss from super-luminous SNe IIn, to regular SNe IIn, to SNe II-L and II-P, whereas most stripped-envelope SNe seem to arise from a separate channel of lower-mass binary stars rather than massive WR stars. This article is part of the themed issue 'Bridging the gap: from massive stars to supernovae'.

The Problem with Paradigms: Bateman's Worldview as a Case Study.

PubMed

Tang-Martinez, Zuleyma; Ryder, T Brandt

2005-11-01

Bateman's principles, their corollaries and predictions constitute a paradigm for the study of sexual selection theory, evolution of mating systems, parental investment theory, and sexual dimorphism in male and female behavior. Some aspects of this paradigm have been challenged in recent years, while others have been supported by empirical and theoretical research. We re-examine Bateman's 1948 paper in detail, including some methodological problems. Additionally, we review three areas in which an over-reliance on Bateman's predictions about sexual dynamics hindered our ability to understand the potential importance of certain behaviors: 1) male mate choice and sperm allocation; 2) the role of females in initiating and soliciting extra-pair copulations and fertilizations; and 3) the role of females in lekking systems, in which recent evidence suggests that copulations with multiple males (polyandrous behavior) may be common. We conclude this introduction to the symposium by emphasizing the heuristic value of Bateman's contributions, as well as the problems that arise when Bateman's paradigm is viewed through the lens of modern behavioral ecology and evolutionary theory.

Quantum measurement of a rapidly rotating spin qubit in diamond.

PubMed

Wood, Alexander A; Lilette, Emmanuel; Fein, Yaakov Y; Tomek, Nikolas; McGuinness, Liam P; Hollenberg, Lloyd C L; Scholten, Robert E; Martin, Andy M

2018-05-01

A controlled qubit in a rotating frame opens new opportunities to probe fundamental quantum physics, such as geometric phases in physically rotating frames, and can potentially enhance detection of magnetic fields. Realizing a single qubit that can be measured and controlled during physical rotation is experimentally challenging. We demonstrate quantum control of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center within a diamond rotated at 200,000 rpm, a rotational period comparable to the NV spin coherence time T 2 . We stroboscopically image individual NV centers that execute rapid circular motion in addition to rotation and demonstrate preparation, control, and readout of the qubit quantum state with lasers and microwaves. Using spin-echo interferometry of the rotating qubit, we are able to detect modulation of the NV Zeeman shift arising from the rotating NV axis and an external DC magnetic field. Our work establishes single NV qubits in diamond as quantum sensors in the physically rotating frame and paves the way for the realization of single-qubit diamond-based rotation sensors.

Privacy considerations in the context of an Australian observational database.

PubMed

Duszynski, K M; Beilby, J J; Marley, J E; Walker, D C; Pratt, N L

2001-12-01

Observational databases are increasingly acknowledged for their value in clinical investigation. Australian general practice in particular presents an exciting opportunity to examine treatment in a natural setting. The paper explores issues such as privacy and confidentiality--foremost considerations when conducting this form of pharmacoepidemiological research. Australian legislation is currently addressing these exact issues in order to establish clear directives regarding ethical concerns. The development of a pharmacoepidemiological database arising from the integration of computerized Australian general practice records is described in addition, to the challenges associated with creating a database which considers patient privacy. The database known as 'Medic-GP', presently contains more than 950,000 clinical notes (including consultations, pathology, diagnostic imaging and adverse reactions) over a 5-year time period and relates to 55,000 patients. The paper then details a retrospective study which utilized the database to examine the interaction between antibiotic prescribing and patient outcomes from a community perspective, following a policy intervention. This study illustrates the application of computerized general practice records in research.

CRISPR/Cas9: Transcending the Reality of Genome Editing.

PubMed

Chira, Sergiu; Gulei, Diana; Hajitou, Amin; Zimta, Alina-Andreea; Cordelier, Pierre; Berindan-Neagoe, Ioana

2017-06-16

With the expansion of the microbiology field of research, a new genome editing tool arises from the biology of bacteria that holds the promise of achieving precise modifications in the genome with a simplicity and versatility that surpasses previous genome editing methods. This new technique, commonly named CRISPR/Cas9, led to a rapid expansion of the biomedical field; more specifically, cancer characterization and modeling have benefitted greatly from the genome editing capabilities of CRISPR/Cas9. In this paper, we briefly summarize recent improvements in CRISPR/Cas9 design meant to overcome the limitations that have arisen from the nuclease activity of Cas9 and the influence of this technology in cancer research. In addition, we present challenges that might impede the clinical applicability of CRISPR/Cas9 for cancer therapy and highlight future directions for designing CRISPR/Cas9 delivery systems that might prove useful for cancer therapeutics. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantum measurement of a rapidly rotating spin qubit in diamond

PubMed Central

Fein, Yaakov Y.; Hollenberg, Lloyd C. L.; Scholten, Robert E.

2018-01-01

A controlled qubit in a rotating frame opens new opportunities to probe fundamental quantum physics, such as geometric phases in physically rotating frames, and can potentially enhance detection of magnetic fields. Realizing a single qubit that can be measured and controlled during physical rotation is experimentally challenging. We demonstrate quantum control of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center within a diamond rotated at 200,000 rpm, a rotational period comparable to the NV spin coherence time T2. We stroboscopically image individual NV centers that execute rapid circular motion in addition to rotation and demonstrate preparation, control, and readout of the qubit quantum state with lasers and microwaves. Using spin-echo interferometry of the rotating qubit, we are able to detect modulation of the NV Zeeman shift arising from the rotating NV axis and an external DC magnetic field. Our work establishes single NV qubits in diamond as quantum sensors in the physically rotating frame and paves the way for the realization of single-qubit diamond-based rotation sensors. PMID:29736417

Predictive models of lyophilization process for development, scale-up/tech transfer and manufacturing.

PubMed

Zhu, Tong; Moussa, Ehab M; Witting, Madeleine; Zhou, Deliang; Sinha, Kushal; Hirth, Mario; Gastens, Martin; Shang, Sherwin; Nere, Nandkishor; Somashekar, Shubha Chetan; Alexeenko, Alina; Jameel, Feroz

2018-07-01

Scale-up and technology transfer of lyophilization processes remains a challenge that requires thorough characterization of the laboratory and larger scale lyophilizers. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to develop computer-based models of both laboratory and manufacturing scale lyophilizers in order to understand the differences in equipment performance arising from distinct designs. CFD coupled with steady state heat and mass transfer modeling of the vial were then utilized to study and predict independent variables such as shelf temperature and chamber pressure, and response variables such as product resistance, product temperature and primary drying time for a given formulation. The models were then verified experimentally for the different lyophilizers. Additionally, the models were applied to create and evaluate a design space for a lyophilized product in order to provide justification for the flexibility to operate within a certain range of process parameters without the need for validation. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The multi-copy simultaneous search methodology: a fundamental tool for structure-based drug design.

PubMed

Schubert, Christian R; Stultz, Collin M

2009-08-01

Fragment-based ligand design approaches, such as the multi-copy simultaneous search (MCSS) methodology, have proven to be useful tools in the search for novel therapeutic compounds that bind pre-specified targets of known structure. MCSS offers a variety of advantages over more traditional high-throughput screening methods, and has been applied successfully to challenging targets. The methodology is quite general and can be used to construct functionality maps for proteins, DNA, and RNA. In this review, we describe the main aspects of the MCSS method and outline the general use of the methodology as a fundamental tool to guide the design of de novo lead compounds. We focus our discussion on the evaluation of MCSS results and the incorporation of protein flexibility into the methodology. In addition, we demonstrate on several specific examples how the information arising from the MCSS functionality maps has been successfully used to predict ligand binding to protein targets and RNA.

Predicting the long-term effects of human-robot interaction: a reflection on responsibility in medical robotics.

PubMed

Datteri, Edoardo

2013-03-01

This article addresses prospective and retrospective responsibility issues connected with medical robotics. It will be suggested that extant conceptual and legal frameworks are sufficient to address and properly settle most retrospective responsibility problems arising in connection with injuries caused by robot behaviours (which will be exemplified here by reference to harms occurred in surgical interventions supported by the Da Vinci robot, reported in the scientific literature and in the press). In addition, it will be pointed out that many prospective responsibility issues connected with medical robotics are nothing but well-known robotics engineering problems in disguise, which are routinely addressed by roboticists as part of their research and development activities: for this reason they do not raise particularly novel ethical issues. In contrast with this, it will be pointed out that novel and challenging prospective responsibility issues may emerge in connection with harmful events caused by normal robot behaviours. This point will be illustrated here in connection with the rehabilitation robot Lokomat.

The valence-fluctuating ground state of plutonium

DOE PAGES

Janoschek, Marc; Das, Pinaki; Chakrabarti, Bismayan; ...

2015-07-10

A central issue in material science is to obtain understanding of the electronic correlations that control complex materials. Such electronic correlations frequently arise because of the competition of localized and itinerant electronic degrees of freedom. Although the respective limits of well-localized or entirely itinerant ground states are well understood, the intermediate regime that controls the functional properties of complex materials continues to challenge theoretical understanding. We have used neutron spectroscopy to investigate plutonium, which is a prototypical material at the brink between bonding and nonbonding configurations. In addition, our study reveals that the ground state of plutonium is governed bymore » valence fluctuations, that is, a quantum mechanical superposition of localized and itinerant electronic configurations as recently predicted by dynamical mean field theory. Our results not only resolve the long-standing controversy between experiment and theory on plutonium’s magnetism but also suggest an improved understanding of the effects of such electronic dichotomy in complex materials.« less

Hydrogen treatment as a detergent of electronic trap states in lead chalcogenide nanoparticles

DOE PAGES

Vörös, Márton; Brawand, Nicholas P.; Galli, Giulia

2016-11-15

Lead chalcogenide (PbX) nanoparticles are promising materials for solar energy conversion. However, the presence of trap states in their electronic gap limits their usability, and developing a universal strategy to remove trap states is a persistent challenge. Using calculations based on density functional theory, we show that hydrogen acts as an amphoteric impurity on PbX nanoparticle surfaces; hydrogen atoms may passivate defects arising from ligand imbalance or off-stoichiometric surface terminations irrespective of whether they originate from cation or anion excess. In addition, we show, using constrained density functional theory calculations, that hydrogen treatment of defective nanoparticles is also beneficial formore » charge transport in films. We also find that hydrogen adsorption on stoichiometric nanoparticles leads to electronic doping, preferentially n-type. Lastly, our findings suggest that postsynthesis hydrogen treatment of lead chalcogenide nanoparticle films is a viable approach to reduce electronic trap states or to dope well-passivated films.« less

Construction of exact constants of motion and effective models for many-body localized systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goihl, M.; Gluza, M.; Krumnow, C.; Eisert, J.

2018-04-01

One of the defining features of many-body localization is the presence of many quasilocal conserved quantities. These constants of motion constitute a cornerstone to an intuitive understanding of much of the phenomenology of many-body localized systems arising from effective Hamiltonians. They may be seen as local magnetization operators smeared out by a quasilocal unitary. However, accurately identifying such constants of motion remains a challenging problem. Current numerical constructions often capture the conserved operators only approximately, thus restricting a conclusive understanding of many-body localization. In this work, we use methods from the theory of quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium to establish an alternative approach for finding a complete set of exact constants of motion which are in addition guaranteed to represent Pauli-z operators. By this we are able to construct and investigate the proposed effective Hamiltonian using exact diagonalization. Hence, our work provides an important tool expected to further boost inquiries into the breakdown of transport due to quenched disorder.

High-fidelity spin entanglement using optimal control.

PubMed

Dolde, Florian; Bergholm, Ville; Wang, Ya; Jakobi, Ingmar; Naydenov, Boris; Pezzagna, Sébastien; Meijer, Jan; Jelezko, Fedor; Neumann, Philipp; Schulte-Herbrüggen, Thomas; Biamonte, Jacob; Wrachtrup, Jörg

2014-02-28

Precise control of quantum systems is of fundamental importance in quantum information processing, quantum metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy. When scaling up quantum registers, several challenges arise: individual addressing of qubits while suppressing cross-talk, entangling distant nodes and decoupling unwanted interactions. Here we experimentally demonstrate optimal control of a prototype spin qubit system consisting of two proximal nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. Using engineered microwave pulses, we demonstrate single electron spin operations with a fidelity F≈0.99. With additional dynamical decoupling techniques, we further realize high-quality, on-demand entangled states between two electron spins with F>0.82, mostly limited by the coherence time and imperfect initialization. Crosstalk in a crowded spectrum and unwanted dipolar couplings are simultaneously eliminated to a high extent. Finally, by high-fidelity entanglement swapping to nuclear spin quantum memory, we demonstrate nuclear spin entanglement over a length scale of 25 nm. This experiment underlines the importance of optimal control for scalable room temperature spin-based quantum information devices.

Moving It Along: A study of healthcare professionals' experience with ethics consultations.

PubMed

Crigger, Nancy; Fox, Maria; Rosell, Tarris; Rojjanasrirat, Wilaiporn

2017-05-01

Ethics consultation is the traditional way of resolving challenging ethical questions raised about patient care in the United States. Little research has been published on the resolution process used during ethics consultations and on how this experience affects healthcare professionals who participate in them. The purpose of this qualitative research was to uncover the basic process that occurs in consultation services through study of the perceptions of healthcare professionals. The researchers in this study used a constructivist grounded theory approach that represents how one group of professionals experienced ethics consultations in their hospital in the United States. The results were sufficient to develop an initial theory that has been named after the core concept: Moving It Along. Three process stages emerged from data interpretation: moral questioning, seeing the big picture, and coming together. It is hoped that this initial work stimulates additional research in describing and understanding the complex social process that occurs for healthcare professionals as they address the difficult moral issues that arise in clinical practice.

A comprehensive review on pre-treatment strategy for lignocellulosic food industry waste: Challenges and opportunities.

PubMed

Ravindran, Rajeev; Jaiswal, Amit Kumar

2016-01-01

Lignocellulose is a generic term used to describe plant biomass. It is the most abundant renewable carbon resource in the world and is mainly composed of lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses. Most of the food and food processing industry waste are lignocellulosic in nature with a global estimate of up to 1.3 billion tons/year. Lignocellulose, on hydrolysis, releases reducing sugars which is used for the production of bioethanol, biogas, organic acids, enzymes and biosorbents. However, structural conformation, high lignin content and crystalline cellulose hinder its use for value addition. Pre-treatment strategies facilitate the exposure of more cellulose and hemicelluloses for enzymatic hydrolysis. The present article confers about the structure of lignocellulose and how it influences enzymatic degradation emphasising the need for pre-treatments along with a comprehensive analysis and categorisation of the same. Finally, this article concludes with a detailed discussion on microbial/enzymatic inhibitors that arise post pre-treatment and strategies to eliminate them. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges in biobank governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Biological sample and data transfer within and out of Africa is steeped in controversy With the H3Africa project now aiming to establish biobanks in Africa, it is essential that there are ethical and legal governance structures in place to oversee the operation of these biobanks. Such governance is essential to ensuring that donors are protected, that cultural perspectives are respected and that researchers have a ready availability of ethically sourced biological samples. Methods A literature review of all legislation, regulations, guidelines and standard operating procedures on informed consent, confidentiality and the transfer of biological samples amongst countries in Sub-Saharan Africa was conducted. In addition, an examination of the websites of departments of health and national ethics committees was performed. Researchers and research ethics scholars in the field in various African countries were contacted for assistance. A literature review of all studies examining participants views on issues related to biobanking in Africa was carried out and five separate studies were found. Results It was found that biobanking guidelines differ substantially across Sub-Saharan Africa regarding biobanking and often conflicted across borders. This has the potential to negatively impact collaboration. Furthermore, the guidelines in place often do not recognise the ethical difficulties arising from the transfer of biological samples and are unsuitable to regulate biobanks. Additionally, there is insufficient research into the views of research participants and stakeholders on the use of biological /samples. Conclusion Collaboration is necessary to ensure the success of biobanking projects in Africa. To achieve this, there should be some harmonization of guidelines across Africa which would aid in transferring biological samples across borders. These guidelines should reflect the unique ethical issues arising out of the storage and secondary uses of biological samples. Finally, further research into the views of research participants is necessary. Such studies should aid in the drafting of any new harmonization guidelines. PMID:24025667

Challenges in biobank governance in Sub-Saharan Africa.

PubMed

Staunton, Ciara; Moodley, Keymanthri

2013-09-11

Biological sample and data transfer within and out of Africa is steeped in controversy With the H3Africa project now aiming to establish biobanks in Africa, it is essential that there are ethical and legal governance structures in place to oversee the operation of these biobanks. Such governance is essential to ensuring that donors are protected, that cultural perspectives are respected and that researchers have a ready availability of ethically sourced biological samples. A literature review of all legislation, regulations, guidelines and standard operating procedures on informed consent, confidentiality and the transfer of biological samples amongst countries in Sub-Saharan Africa was conducted. In addition, an examination of the websites of departments of health and national ethics committees was performed. Researchers and research ethics scholars in the field in various African countries were contacted for assistance. A literature review of all studies examining participants views on issues related to biobanking in Africa was carried out and five separate studies were found. It was found that biobanking guidelines differ substantially across Sub-Saharan Africa regarding biobanking and often conflicted across borders. This has the potential to negatively impact collaboration. Furthermore, the guidelines in place often do not recognise the ethical difficulties arising from the transfer of biological samples and are unsuitable to regulate biobanks. Additionally, there is insufficient research into the views of research participants and stakeholders on the use of biological /samples. Collaboration is necessary to ensure the success of biobanking projects in Africa. To achieve this, there should be some harmonization of guidelines across Africa which would aid in transferring biological samples across borders. These guidelines should reflect the unique ethical issues arising out of the storage and secondary uses of biological samples. Finally, further research into the views of research participants is necessary. Such studies should aid in the drafting of any new harmonization guidelines.

Complexities and Challenges of Singapore Nurses Providing Postacute Home Care in Multicultural Communities: A Grounded Theory Study.

PubMed

Wong, Alfred Ka-Shing; Ong, Shu Fen; Matchar, David Bruce; Lie, Desiree; Ng, Reuben; Yoon, Kirsten Eom; Wong, Chek Hooi

2017-10-01

Studies are needed to inform the preparation of community nurses to address patient behavioral and social factors contributing to unnecessary readmissions to hospital. This study uses nurses' input to understand challenges faced during home care, to derive a framework to address the challenges. Semistructured interviews were conducted to saturation with 16 community nurses in Singapore. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts independently coded for emergent themes. Themes were interpreted using grounded theory. Seven major themes emerged from 16 interviews: Strained social relationships, complex care decision-making processes within families, communication barriers, patient's or caregiver neglect of health issues, building and maintaining trust, trial-and-error nature of work, and dealing with uncertainty. Community nurses identified uncertainty arising from complexities in social-relational, personal, and organizational factors as a central challenge. Nursing education should focus on navigating and managing uncertainty at the personal, patient, and family levels.

Stigma and mental health challenges in medical students

PubMed Central

Hankir, Ahmed Khaldoon; Northall, Amy; Zaman, Rashid

2014-01-01

Despite the perception that medical students and doctors should be ‘invincible’, mental health challenges are common in this population. Medical students and doctors have low levels of help seeking for their own psychiatric problems often only presenting to mental health services once a crisis arises. Fear of exposure to stigmatisation is a crucial factor contributing to symptom concealment and is a barrier to accessing mental health services. Autobiographical narratives of the ‘Wounded Healer’ are gaining popularity among medical students and doctors with mental health challenges both as an effective form of adjunctive therapy and as a means to campaign against stigma. Indeed, the results of a randomised controlled trial to assess the efficacy of Coming Out Proud with mental illness revealed immediate positive effects on stigma stress-related variables. We provide an autobiographical narrative from a medical student who has first-hand experience with mental health challenges. PMID:25183806

Challenges in evaluating cancer as a clinical outcome in postapproval studies of drug safety

PubMed Central

Pinheiro, Simone P.; Rivera, Donna R.; Graham, David J.; Freedman, Andrew N.; Major, Jacqueline M.; Penberthy, Lynne; Levenson, Mark; Bradley, Marie C.; Wong, Hui-Lee; Ouellet-Hellstrom, Rita

2017-01-01

Pharmaceuticals approved in the United States are largely not known human carcinogens. However, cancer signals associated with pharmaceuticals may be hypothesized or arise after product approval. There are many study designs that can be used to evaluate cancer as an outcome in the postapproval setting. Because prospective systematic collection of cancer outcomes from a large number of individuals may be lengthy, expensive, and challenging, leveraging data from large existing databases are an integral approach. Such studies have the capability to evaluate the clinical experience of a large number of individuals, yet there are unique methodological challenges involved in their use to evaluate cancer outcomes. To discuss methodological challenges and potential solutions, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute convened a two-day public meeting in 2014. This commentary summarizes the most salient issues discussed at the meeting. PMID:27663208

Challenges in evaluating cancer as a clinical outcome in postapproval studies of drug safety.

PubMed

Pinheiro, Simone P; Rivera, Donna R; Graham, David J; Freedman, Andrew N; Major, Jacqueline M; Penberthy, Lynne; Levenson, Mark; Bradley, Marie C; Wong, Hui-Lee; Ouellet-Hellstrom, Rita

2016-11-01

Pharmaceuticals approved in the United States are largely not known human carcinogens. However, cancer signals associated with pharmaceuticals may be hypothesized or arise after product approval. There are many study designs that can be used to evaluate cancer as an outcome in the postapproval setting. Because prospective systematic collection of cancer outcomes from a large number of individuals may be lengthy, expensive, and challenging, leveraging data from large existing databases are an integral approach. Such studies have the capability to evaluate the clinical experience of a large number of individuals, yet there are unique methodological challenges involved in their use to evaluate cancer outcomes. To discuss methodological challenges and potential solutions, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute convened a two-day public meeting in 2014. This commentary summarizes the most salient issues discussed at the meeting. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Invasive species management: Ensuring the 'cure' is not worse than the condition

Treesearch

Sharlene E. Sing; Robert K. D. Peterson; Bruce D. Maxwell

2007-01-01

The challenge in effectively managing invasive species arises out of our subjective response to the problem: 1) these species do not belong in our ecosystems; and 2) their impact on our ecosystems will be negative.1 These visceral responses typically dove-tail into the fundamental management objective: get rid of it! Society promotes the idea that good management is...

Assessment Practices in Higher Education & Results of the German Research Program Modeling and Measuring Competencies in Higher Education (KoKoHs)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga; Pant, Hans Anand; Kuhn, Christiane; Toepper, Miriam; Lautenbach, Corinna

2016-01-01

The ever-increasing internationalization of study programs and global mobility of students call for greater transparency of and valid information on the knowledge and skills students acquire over the course of their studies. Several theoretical and methodological challenges arise from the immense diversity of degree courses, study programs, and…

Research to Establish the Validity, Reliability, and Clinical Utility of a Comprehensive Language Assessment of Mandarin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Xueman Lucy; de Villiers, Jill; Ning, Chunyan; Rolfhus, Eric; Hutchings, Teresa; Lee, Wendy; Jiang, Fan; Zhang, Yi Wen

2017-01-01

Purpose: With no existing gold standard for comparison, challenges arise for establishing the validity of a new standardized Mandarin language assessment normed in mainland China. Method: A new assessment, Diagnostic Receptive and Expressive Assessment of Mandarin (DREAM), was normed with a stratified sample of 969 children ages 2;6 (years;months)…

Truancy: A Look at Definitions in the USA and Other Territories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gentle-Genitty, Carolyn; Karikari, Isaac; Chen, Haiping; Wilka, Eric; Kim, Jangmin

2015-01-01

There is no shortage of definitions for truancy. One state may house many different definitions and there are a variety of challenges arising from this fact. One of the most important to researchers, policy-makers and educators alike, is that because of the lack of uniformity and consistency, it is difficult to compile and ascertain the totality…

Trauma to the Psyche and Soma: A Case Study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbid Problems Arising from a Road Traffic Collision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wald, Jaye; Taylor, Steven

2006-01-01

Randomized controlled studies have shown that cognitive-behavioral therapies are effective for treating various forms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with most research focusing on combat or sexual-assault-related PTSD. A challenge currently facing researchers and practitioners is to develop specialized protocols for treating other forms…

Good Practices in Team Teaching in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carless, David R.

2006-01-01

Team teaching between native English speaking teachers and local L2 English teachers has become an increasingly common phenomenon in schooling in the East Asia region. The relevant literature reports some positive impacts of team teaching and also highlights some of the challenges or conflicts which arise. The aim of this paper is to focus on…

An Evaluation of the "New Deal" in Further Education Colleges in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loo, Sai; Lucas, Norman

2004-01-01

The article starts by providing a brief historical context for the introduction of the New Deal and then describes the aims and structure of the New Deal in FE (Further Education) colleges. Based on a small-scale research project on FE colleges in London and south-east England, the article analyses issues and challenges arising from the experience…

The Reforming Trajectory of the Italian Educational System. Site-Based Management and Decentralisation as a Challenge for Democratic Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grimaldi, Emiliano; Serpieri, Roberto

2010-01-01

This article aims to present some tensions embedded in the Italian educational reform, arising both from the enactment of neo-liberal policies and the possibilities of democratic development opened up by the introduction of schools' site-based management and decentralisation. The article uses discourses as heuristic devices and presents two case…

The Development of Public Managers' Reflexive Capacities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broussine, Michael; Ahmad, Yusuf

2013-01-01

The aim of this article is to discuss ways in which we as educators of public managers can help our students deal effectively with the challenges thrown up by the sweeping cuts in public services arising as a consequence of the fiscal crisis brought about by the failure of the banks. While our focus is on the UK, we feel that the issues raised…

Architecture Knowledge for Evaluating Scalable Databases

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-16

problems, arising from the proliferation of new data models and distributed technologies for building scalable, available data stores . Architects must...longer are relational databases the de facto standard for building data repositories. Highly distributed, scalable “ NoSQL ” databases [11] have emerged...This is especially challenging at the data storage layer. The multitude of competing NoSQL database technologies creates a complex and rapidly

"We Created That Space with Everybody:" Constructing a Community-Based Space of Belonging and "Familia" in a Latina/o Youth Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ventura, Julissa

2017-01-01

As the Latino population grows across the United States and particularly in places outside traditional gateway cities, questions arise around the challenges and opportunities for Latinos in these new areas of settlement. Situated within this context of Latino demographic change, this article examines the construction of a youth-led, grassroots…

OIDDE Learning Model: Improving Higher Order Thinking Skills of Biology Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Husamah; Fatmawati, Diani; Setyawan, Dwi

2018-01-01

As the massive advancement in 21st century, the role of education is to prepare generations in mastering the skills they need to face the challenges arised in their era. OIDDE is the abbreviation for Orientation, Identify, Discussion, Decision, and Engage in behaviour. The learning model designed by Hudha et al. (2016) is expected to be able to…

Evidence-Based Practice in Special Education and Cultural Adaptations: Challenges and Implications for Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Mian; Lam, Yeana

2017-01-01

Many issues arise in the discussion of the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement and implementation science in special education and specific educational practices for students with severe disabilities. Yet cultural adaptations of EBPs, which have emerged as an area of research in other fields, are being left out as a focus of EBP discourse. The…

Bridging Cultures between Home and School: A Guide for Teachers--With a Special Focus on Immigrant Latino Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trumbull, Elise; Rothstein-Fisch, Carrie; Greenfield, Patricia M.; Quiroz, Blanca

This book focuses on how to meet the challenges of education in a pluralistic society, presenting the Bridging Cultures framework, which is designed for understanding differences and conflicts that arise in situations where school culture is more individualistic than the home value system. Six sections examine: (1) "The Bridging Cultures…

Potential Teaching Model for Applying Novel Approaches of Renewed Estonian National Curriculum into Visual Art Classes in Primary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vahter, Edna

2015-01-01

In 2010, the renewed national curriculum was legislated in Estonia. Major changes include a new list of cross-curricular topics, increased importance of integration and specification of the components of the art learning process. In this situation, the question arises--how to fully implement the challenges of the renewed curriculum in primary…

Learning to Be Affected: Matters of Pedagogy in "The Artists' Soup Kitchen"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springgay, Stephanie; Zaliwska, Zofia

2017-01-01

Expanding on the robust contributions by feminist new materialist scholars this essay focuses on two concepts--affect and rhythm--in order to elaborate on matters of pedagogy and a politics of attunement. If one of the key challenges that arises from feminist new materialism is that the human can no longer be taken for granted, then this prompts…

The Involvement of External Agencies in Extra-Curricular Physical Education: Reinforcing or Challenging Gender and Ability Inequities?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Shaun D.; Penney, Dawn

2016-01-01

Within the UK and internationally, schools are increasingly being encouraged to call on external agencies and draw on the services of individuals, including sport coaches, to "help teach or lead sports within the school setting and out of school time". This trend arises from and has contributed to a changing policy landscape and…

Improved Flux Formulations for Unsteady Low Mach Number Flows

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

challenging problem since it requires the resolution of disparate time scales. Unsteady effects may arise from a combination of hydrodynamic effects...Many practical applications including rotorcraft flows, jets and shear layers include a combination of both acoustic and hydrodynamic effects...are computed independently as scalar formulations thus making it possible to independently tailor the dissipation for hydrodynamic and acoustic

A Review of Parent-Professional Partnerships and Some New Obligations and Concerns Arising from the Introduction of the SEND Code of Practice 2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hellawell, Beate

2017-01-01

This article contributes a current thematic review of literature about the challenges of productive parent-professional partnership working relating to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It also reports on an empirical project which explored early experiences of professionals working under the newly…

Digital Storytelling: Putting Young Asylum Seekers at the Heart of the Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

López-Bech, Laura; Zúñiga, Rodolfo

2017-01-01

As new stories from asylum seekers and refugees permeate the reality of European societies today, a whole new set of challenges and opportunities arise for building a common sense of belonging. Spaces for intercultural dialogue become crucial in connecting us all in a way that allows us to discover "the other" through our own process of…

Education Outcomes and Poverty: A Reassessment. Education, Poverty and International Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colclough, Christopher, Ed.

2012-01-01

What do we know about the outcomes of education in developing countries? Where are the gaps in our knowledge, and why are they important to fill? What are the policy challenges that underlie these knowledge gaps, and how can education best contribute to eliminating the problem of widespread poverty in the developing world? This book arises out of…

Starting small: Revisiting young children's perceptions of social withdrawal in China.

PubMed

Ding, Xuechen; Coplan, Robert J; Sang, Biao; Liu, Junsheng; Pan, Tingting; Cheng, Chen

2015-06-01

In this reply to the commentaries by Xinyin Chen, Charissa Cheah, Yiyuan Xu, and Dawn Watling, we further discuss the conceptual and methodological challenges that arise when attempting to study beliefs about social withdrawal (1) in the unique cultural context of China and (2) in the unique developmental age period of early childhood. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

The King and Prisoner Puzzle: A Way of Introducing the Components of Logical Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roh, Kyeong Hah; Lee, Yong Hah; Tanner, Austin

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide issues related to student understanding of logical components that arise when solving word problems. We designed a logic problem called the King and Prisoner Puzzle--a linguistically simple, yet logically challenging problem. In this paper, we describe various student solutions to the puzzle and discuss the…

Teaching Conflict Management Skills in Schools: Prerequisite for Peace and Achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawo, Jane Irene A.; Wagah, Mical Ongachi

2011-01-01

The Kenyan society is experiencing a lot of conflicts, some with devastating effects such as deaths, starvation, disease and destruction. These normally arise out of difference between people. Secondary schools being part of the society have not been left out of this challenge as evidenced by mass media reports on strikes, demonstrations and…

Loop amplitudes in an extended gravity theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunbar, David C.; Godwin, John H.; Jehu, Guy R.; Perkins, Warren B.

2018-05-01

We extend the S-matrix of gravity by the addition of the minimal three-point amplitude or equivalently adding R3 terms to the Lagrangian. We demonstrate how Unitarity can be used to simply examine the renormalisability of this theory and determine the R4 counter-terms that arise at one-loop. We find that the combination of R4 terms that arise in the extended theory is complementary to the R4 counter-term associated with supersymmetric Lagrangians.

Economic evaluation of health promotion interventions for older people: do applied economic studies meet the methodological challenges?

PubMed

Huter, Kai; Dubas-Jakóbczyk, Katarzyna; Kocot, Ewa; Kissimova-Skarbek, Katarzyna; Rothgang, Heinz

2018-01-01

In the light of demographic developments health promotion interventions for older people are gaining importance. In addition to methodological challenges arising from the economic evaluation of health promotion interventions in general, there are specific methodological problems for the particular target group of older people. There are especially four main methodological challenges that are discussed in the literature. They concern measurement and valuation of informal caregiving, accounting for productivity costs, effects of unrelated cost in added life years and the inclusion of 'beyond-health' benefits. This paper focuses on the question whether and to what extent specific methodological requirements are actually met in applied health economic evaluations. Following a systematic review of pertinent health economic evaluations, the included studies are analysed on the basis of four assessment criteria that are derived from methodological debates on the economic evaluation of health promotion interventions in general and economic evaluations targeting older people in particular. Of the 37 studies included in the systematic review, only very few include cost and outcome categories discussed as being of specific relevance to the assessment of health promotion interventions for older people. The few studies that consider these aspects use very heterogeneous methods, thus there is no common methodological standard. There is a strong need for the development of guidelines to achieve better comparability and to include cost categories and outcomes that are relevant for older people. Disregarding these methodological obstacles could implicitly lead to discrimination against the elderly in terms of health promotion and disease prevention and, hence, an age-based rationing of public health care.

Ethical challenges faced by healthcare professionals who care for suicidal patients: a scoping review.

PubMed

Saigle, Victoria; Racine, Eric

2018-04-17

For each one of the approximately 800,000 people who die from suicide every year, an additional twenty people attempt suicide. Many of these attempts result in hospitalization or in contact with other healthcare services. However, many personal, educational, and institutional barriers make it difficult for healthcare professionals to care for suicidal individuals. We reviewed literature that discusses suicidal patients in healthcare settings in order to highlight common ethical issues and to identify knowledge gaps. A sample was generated via PubMed using keywords "[(ethics OR *ethic*) AND suicid*] AND [English (Language) OR French (Language)]" (final N = 52), ethics content was extracted according to scoping review methodology, and categorized thematically. We identified three main areas posing ethical challenges for health professionals caring for suicidal individuals and their families. These were: (1) making clinical decisions for patients in acute care or when presented with specific circumstances; (2) issues arising from therapeutic relationships in chronic care, and (3) organizational factors. There is considerable uncertainty about how to resolve ethical issues when caring for someone who is suicidal. The stigma associated with suicide and mental illness, problems associated with risk-benefit assessments, and the fear of being held liable for malpractice should a patient die by suicide were overarching themes present across these three categories. Caring for suicidal patients is clinically and ethically challenging. The current literature highlights the complexity and range of decisions that need to be made. More attention should be paid to the difficulties faced by healthcare professionals and the development of solutions.

The effort to rehabilitate workers' compensation.

PubMed

Barth, P S

1976-06-01

State workers' compensation laws have been subjected to criticism since their inception; pressure to change them is now increasing. Most of the current challenge arise from dissatisfaction with the level of benefits available to disabled workers or their survivors, and, to a lesser degree, with the extent of program coverage. In response to this challenge, changes will occur that my range from reform-simply raising benefit levels and extending coverage-to program redesign, implying major structural revisions or abolishment of the system. For several reasons, including public apathy, the role of interest groups, and experience with other social insurance programs, it seems likely that basic structural shifts will not occur in the near future. While the criticism of these state laws is widespread, the problems can be dealt with in the existing framework. One area, however, could conceivably arouse sufficient public and legislative interest to upset this forecast. If it develops that the system is excluding large numbers of individuals disabled or killed by occupational diseases, workers' compensation laws could be placed in jeopardy. While evidence on this is scarce, it is clear that the current system compensates only a small number of serious cases of disability arising from occupational diseases.

Resolving legal, ethical, and human rights challenges in HIV vaccine research.

PubMed

Patterson, D

2000-01-01

In the absence of a cure for AIDS, attention has turned to the possibility of developing a preventive vaccine for HIV infection. Yet many scientific, ethical, legal, and economic obstacles remain. At the current rate, the development and production of an effective vaccine could take 15 to 20 years or longer. If tens of millions more HIV infections and deaths are to be avoided in the coming decades, vaccine research needs to be greatly expedited. Furthermore, it must be undertaken ethically, and the products of this research must benefit people in developing countries. This article, an edited and updated version of a paper presented at "Putting Third First," addresses challenges arising in HIV preventive vaccine research in developing countries. It does not address clinical research in developing countries relating to treatments or therapeutic vaccines. Nor does it address legal and ethical issues relating to HIV vaccine research in industrialized countries, although similar issues arise in both contexts. The article concludes that while ethical codes are silent on the obligation to undertake research and development, international law provides strong legal obligations--particularly with regard to industrialized states--that should be invoked to accelerate HIV vaccine development, and distribution.

A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter

DOE PAGES

Adhikari, R.

2017-01-13

Here, we present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. First, we review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterilemore » neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. Our paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.« less

A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adhikari, R.; Agostini, M.; Ky, N. Anh; Araki, T.; Archidiacono, M.; Bahr, M.; Baur, J.; Behrens, J.; Bezrukov, F.; Bhupal Dev, P. S.; Borah, D.; Boyarsky, A.; de Gouvea, A.; Pires, C. A. de S.; de Vega, H. J.; Dias, A. G.; Di Bari, P.; Djurcic, Z.; Dolde, K.; Dorrer, H.; Durero, M.; Dragoun, O.; Drewes, M.; Drexlin, G.; Düllmann, Ch. E.; Eberhardt, K.; Eliseev, S.; Enss, C.; Evans, N. W.; Faessler, A.; Filianin, P.; Fischer, V.; Fleischmann, A.; Formaggio, J. A.; Franse, J.; Fraenkle, F. M.; Frenk, C. S.; Fuller, G.; Gastaldo, L.; Garzilli, A.; Giunti, C.; Glück, F.; Goodman, M. C.; Gonzalez-Garcia, M. C.; Gorbunov, D.; Hamann, J.; Hannen, V.; Hannestad, S.; Hansen, S. H.; Hassel, C.; Heeck, J.; Hofmann, F.; Houdy, T.; Huber, A.; Iakubovskyi, D.; Ianni, A.; Ibarra, A.; Jacobsson, R.; Jeltema, T.; Jochum, J.; Kempf, S.; Kieck, T.; Korzeczek, M.; Kornoukhov, V.; Lachenmaier, T.; Laine, M.; Langacker, P.; Lasserre, T.; Lesgourgues, J.; Lhuillier, D.; Li, Y. F.; Liao, W.; Long, A. W.; Maltoni, M.; Mangano, G.; Mavromatos, N. E.; Menci, N.; Merle, A.; Mertens, S.; Mirizzi, A.; Monreal, B.; Nozik, A.; Neronov, A.; Niro, V.; Novikov, Y.; Oberauer, L.; Otten, E.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Pallavicini, M.; Pantuev, V. S.; Papastergis, E.; Parke, S.; Pascoli, S.; Pastor, S.; Patwardhan, A.; Pilaftsis, A.; Radford, D. C.; Ranitzsch, P. C.-O.; Rest, O.; Robinson, D. J.; Rodrigues da Silva, P. S.; Ruchayskiy, O.; Sanchez, N. G.; Sasaki, M.; Saviano, N.; Schneider, A.; Schneider, F.; Schwetz, T.; Schönert, S.; Scholl, S.; Shankar, F.; Shrock, R.; Steinbrink, N.; Strigari, L.; Suekane, F.; Suerfu, B.; Takahashi, R.; Van, N. Thi Hong; Tkachev, I.; Totzauer, M.; Tsai, Y.; Tully, C. G.; Valerius, K.; Valle, J. W. F.; Venos, D.; Viel, M.; Vivier, M.; Wang, M. Y.; Weinheimer, C.; Wendt, K.; Winslow, L.; Wolf, J.; Wurm, M.; Xing, Z.; Zhou, S.; Zuber, K.

2017-01-01

We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved—cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics—in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.

Chess Revision: Acquiring the Rules of Chess Variants through FOL Theory Revision from Examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muggleton, Stephen; Paes, Aline; Santos Costa, Vítor; Zaverucha, Gerson

The game of chess has been a major testbed for research in artificial intelligence, since it requires focus on intelligent reasoning. Particularly, several challenges arise to machine learning systems when inducing a model describing legal moves of the chess, including the collection of the examples, the learning of a model correctly representing the official rules of the game, covering all the branches and restrictions of the correct moves, and the comprehensibility of such a model. Besides, the game of chess has inspired the creation of numerous variants, ranging from faster to more challenging or to regional versions of the game. The question arises if it is possible to take advantage of an initial classifier of chess as a starting point to obtain classifiers for the different variants. We approach this problem as an instance of theory revision from examples. The initial classifier of chess is inspired by a FOL theory approved by a chess expert and the examples are defined as sequences of moves within a game. Starting from a standard revision system, we argue that abduction and negation are also required to best address this problem. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our approach.

A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter

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

Adhikari, R.

Here, we present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. First, we review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterilemore » neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. Our paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.« less

What is involved in medicines management across care boundaries? A qualitative study of healthcare practitioners' experiences in the case of acute kidney injury

PubMed Central

Morris, Rebecca L; Blakeman, Tom; Ashcroft, Darren M

2017-01-01

Objectives To examine the role of individual and collective cognitive work in managing medicines for acute kidney injury (AKI), this being an example of a clinical scenario that crosses the boundaries of care organisations and specialties. Design Qualitative design, informed by a realist perspective and using semistructured interviews as the data source. The data were analysed using template analysis. Setting Primary, secondary and intermediate care in England. Participants 12 General practitioners, 10 community pharmacists, 7 hospital doctors and 7 hospital pharmacists, all with experience of involvement in preventing or treating AKI. Results We identified three main themes concerning participants' experiences of managing medicines in AKI. In the first theme, challenges arising from the clinical context, AKI is identified as a technically complex condition to identify and treat, often requiring judgements to be made about renal functioning against the context of the patient's general well-being. In the second theme, challenges arising from the organisational context, the crossing of professional and organisational boundaries is seen to introduce problems for the coordination of clinical activities, for example by disrupting information flows. In the third theme, meeting the challenges, participants identify ways in which they overcome the challenges they face in order to ensure effective medicines management, for example by adapting their work practices and tools. Conclusions These themes indicate the critical role of cognitive work on the part of healthcare practitioners, as individuals and as teams, in ensuring effective medicines management during AKI. Our findings suggest that the capabilities underlying this work, for example decision-making, communication and team coordination, should be the focus of training and work design interventions to improve medicines management for AKI or for other conditions. PMID:28100559

Scaling up the global nursing health workforce: contributions of an international organization.

PubMed

Rukholm, Ellen E; Stamler, Lynnette Leeseberg; Talbot, Lise R; Bednash, Geraldine; Raines, Fay; Potempa, Kathleen; Nugent, Pauline; Clark, Dame Jill Macleod; Bernhauser, Sue; Parfitt, Barbara

2009-01-01

In this paper key highlights of the scholarly work presented at the Toronto 2008 Global Alliance for Nursing Education & Scholarship (GANES) conference are summarized, challenges opportunities and issues facing nursing education globally arising from the conference discourse are outlined and initial steps are suggested as a way forward to a shared global view of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education and scholarship. This shared view arises from beginning understandings of the issues and opportunities we face globally starting with and building upon the lessons learned from the literature and from the experiences of nursing educators and nursing education organization locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The theme of the groundbreaking GANES Toronto conference was "Educating the future nursing and health workforce: A global challenge". One hundred seventy delegates from 17 countries attended the event, with over 80 papers presented. A primary focus of GANES is the contribution of a strategic alliance of national nursing education organizations to contribute to nursing education leading practices and policy that address the scaling up of global nursing and health workforce. The founding members of GANES see a clear link between a strong educational infrastructure and strong scholarship activities in nursing and the ability of a society to be healthy and prosperous. Evidence presented at the recent GANES conference supports that belief. Through the strength of partnerships and other capacity-building efforts, member countries can support each other to address the global nursing education and health challenges while respecting the local issues.

Ethics for pandemics beyond influenza: Ebola, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and anticipating future ethical challenges in pandemic preparedness and response.

PubMed

Smith, Maxwell J; Silva, Diego S

2015-01-01

The unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa has raised several novel ethical issues for global outbreak preparedness. It has also illustrated that familiar ethical issues in infectious disease management endure despite considerable efforts to understand and mitigate such issues in the wake of past outbreaks. To improve future global outbreak preparedness and response, we must examine these shortcomings and reflect upon the current state of ethical preparedness. To this end, we focus our efforts in this article on the examination of one substantial area: ethical guidance in pandemic plans. We argue that, due in part to their focus on considerations arising specifically in relation to pandemics of influenza origin, pandemic plans and their existing ethical guidance are ill-equipped to anticipate and facilitate the navigation of unique ethical challenges that may arise in other infectious disease pandemics. We proceed by outlining three reasons why this is so, and situate our analysis in the context of the EVD outbreak and the threat posed by drug-resistant tuberculosis: (1) different infectious diseases have distinct characteristics that challenge anticipated or existing modes of pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, (2) clear, transparent, context-specific ethical reasoning and justification within current influenza pandemic plans are lacking, and (3) current plans neglect the context of how other significant pandemics may manifest. We conclude the article with several options for reflecting upon and ultimately addressing ethical issues that may emerge with different infectious disease pandemics.

Opportunities and challenges for the application of SP measurements to monitor subsurface flow (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, M.; Vinogradov, J.; MacAllister, D.; Butler, A. P.; Leinov, E.; Zhang, J.

2013-12-01

Measurements of self-potential (SP) have been proposed or applied to monitor flow in the shallow subsurface in numerous settings, including volcanoes, earthquake zones, geothermal fields and hydrocarbon reservoirs, to detect leaks from dams, tanks and embankments, and to characterize groundwater flow and hydraulic properties. To interpret the measurements, it is generally assumed that the SP is dominated by the streaming potential, arising from the drag of excess electrical charge in the diffuse part of the electrical double layer at the mineral-fluid interfaces. The constitutive equation relating electrical current density j to the driving forces ▽V and ▽P is then j = -σ▽V -σC▽P=-σ▽V + Qv (1) where V is the streaming potential, P is the water pressure, σ is the saturated rock conductivity, v is the Darcy velocity, C is the streaming potential coupling coefficient, and Q is the excess charge transported by the flow. Equation (1) shows that there is a close relationship between flow properties of interest, such as the pressure gradient or Darcy velocity, and the streaming potential component of the SP. Hence SP measurements are an attractive method to monitor subsurface flow. However, the problem with interpreting the measurements is that both C and Q can vary over orders of magnitude, in response to variations in pore-water salinity, temperature, rock texture, and the presence of NAPLs in the pore-space. Moreover, additional current sources may be present if there are gradients in concentration or temperature, arising from differential rates of ion migration down gradient (diffusion potentials), and because of charge exclusion from the pore-space (exclusion potentials). In general, these additional current sources are neglected. This talk suggests a potential new opportunity for the application of SP measurements to monitor subsurface flow, in which the signal of interest arises from salinity rather than pressure gradients. Saline intrusion into freshwater aquifers is a global problem, threatening the water supply of millions of people in coastal settlements. Abstraction rates could be much more efficiently managed if encroaching saline water could be detected before it arrived at the borehole. However, current monitoring is based largely on borehole conductivity measurements, which requires a dense network of monitoring boreholes to map the saline front. Recent laboratory and field experiments suggest that the concentration gradient associated with the front generates an SP signal which can be detected at an abstraction well prior to the arrival of the front, potentially allowing monitoring using a comparatively cheap array of non-polarising borehole electrodes. Current challenges in interpreting SP measurements for subsurface flow are also discussed, particularly the use of models to predict the values of C and Q. The importance of accounting for the pore-level distribution of flow and excess charge in such models is emphasised, and a way forward is suggested in which pore-scale network models, used previously to predict relative permeability and capillary pressure, are extended to include charge transport at the pore-level.

Baryogenesis at a lepton-number-breaking phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Andrew J.; Tesi, Andrea; Wang, Lian-Tao

2017-10-01

We study a scenario in which the baryon asymmetry of the universe arises from a cosmological phase transition where lepton-number is spontaneously broken. If the phase transition is first order, a lepton-number asymmetry can arise at the bubble wall, through dynamics similar to electroweak baryogenesis, but involving right-handed neutrinos. In addition to the usual neutrinoless double beta decay in nuclear experiments, the model may be probed through a variety of "baryogenesis by-products", which include a stochastic background of gravitational waves created by the colliding bubbles. Depending on the model, other aspects may include a network of topological defects that produce their own gravitational waves, additional contribution to dark radiation, and a light pseudo-Goldstone boson (majoron) as dark matter candidate.

Orbiter entry aerothermodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ried, R. C.

1985-01-01

The challenge in the definition of the entry aerothermodynamic environment arising from the challenge of a reliable and reusable Orbiter is reviewed in light of the existing technology. Select problems pertinent to the orbiter development are discussed with reference to comprehensive treatments. These problems include boundary layer transition, leeward-side heating, shock/shock interaction scaling, tile gap heating, and nonequilibrium effects such as surface catalysis. Sample measurements obtained from test flights of the Orbiter are presented with comparison to preflight expectations. Numerical and wind tunnel simulations gave efficient information for defining the entry environment and an adequate level of preflight confidence. The high quality flight data provide an opportunity to refine the operational capability of the orbiter and serve as a benchmark both for the development of aerothermodynamic technology and for use in meeting future entry heating challenges.

Ethical issues in nanomedicine: Tempest in a teapot?

PubMed

Allon, Irit; Ben-Yehudah, Ahmi; Dekel, Raz; Solbakk, Jan-Helge; Weltring, Klaus-Michael; Siegal, Gil

2017-03-01

Nanomedicine offers remarkable options for new therapeutic avenues. As methods in nanomedicine advance, ethical questions conjunctly arise. Nanomedicine is an exceptional niche in several aspects as it reflects risks and uncertainties not encountered in other areas of medical research or practice. Nanomedicine partially overlaps, partially interlocks and partially exceeds other medical disciplines. Some interpreters agree that advances in nanotechnology may pose varied ethical challenges, whilst others argue that these challenges are not new and that nanotechnology basically echoes recurrent bioethical dilemmas. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the ethical issues related to nanomedicine and to reflect on the question whether nanomedicine generates ethical challenges of new and unique nature. Such a determination should have implications on regulatory processes and professional conducts and protocols in the future.

Global Interconnectivity Between Mobile Satellite and Terrestrial Users: Call Signalling Issues and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estabrook, Polly; Moon, Todd; Spade, Rob

1996-01-01

This paper will discuss some of the challenges in connecting mobile satellite users and mobile terrestrial users in a cost efficient manner and with a grade of service comparable to that of satellite to fixed user calls. Issues arising from the translation between the mobility management protocols resident at the satellite Earth station and those resident at cellular switches - either GSM (Group Special Mobile) or IS-41 (used by U.S. digital cellular systems) type - will be discussed. The impact of GSM call routing procedures on the call setup of a satellite to roaming GSM user will be described. Challenges facing provision of seamless call handoff between satellite and cellular systems will be given. A summary of the issues explored in the paper are listed and future work outlined.

Theoretical size distribution of fossil taxa: analysis of a null model.

PubMed

Reed, William J; Hughes, Barry D

2007-03-22

This article deals with the theoretical size distribution (of number of sub-taxa) of a fossil taxon arising from a simple null model of macroevolution. New species arise through speciations occurring independently and at random at a fixed probability rate, while extinctions either occur independently and at random (background extinctions) or cataclysmically. In addition new genera are assumed to arise through speciations of a very radical nature, again assumed to occur independently and at random at a fixed probability rate. The size distributions of the pioneering genus (following a cataclysm) and of derived genera are determined. Also the distribution of the number of genera is considered along with a comparison of the probability of a monospecific genus with that of a monogeneric family.

Design of experiments and data analysis challenges in calibration for forensics applications

DOE PAGES

Anderson-Cook, Christine M.; Burr, Thomas L.; Hamada, Michael S.; ...

2015-07-15

Forensic science aims to infer characteristics of source terms using measured observables. Our focus is on statistical design of experiments and data analysis challenges arising in nuclear forensics. More specifically, we focus on inferring aspects of experimental conditions (of a process to produce product Pu oxide powder), such as temperature, nitric acid concentration, and Pu concentration, using measured features of the product Pu oxide powder. The measured features, Y, include trace chemical concentrations and particle morphology such as particle size and shape of the produced Pu oxide power particles. Making inferences about the nature of inputs X that were usedmore » to create nuclear materials having particular characteristics, Y, is an inverse problem. Therefore, statistical analysis can be used to identify the best set (or sets) of Xs for a new set of observed responses Y. One can fit a model (or models) such as Υ = f(Χ) + error, for each of the responses, based on a calibration experiment and then “invert” to solve for the best set of Xs for a new set of Ys. This perspectives paper uses archived experimental data to consider aspects of data collection and experiment design for the calibration data to maximize the quality of the predicted Ys in the forward models; that is, we assume that well-estimated forward models are effective in the inverse problem. In addition, we consider how to identify a best solution for the inferred X, and evaluate the quality of the result and its robustness to a variety of initial assumptions, and different correlation structures between the responses. In addition, we also briefly review recent advances in metrology issues related to characterizing particle morphology measurements used in the response vector, Y.« less

Design of experiments and data analysis challenges in calibration for forensics applications

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

Anderson-Cook, Christine M.; Burr, Thomas L.; Hamada, Michael S.

Forensic science aims to infer characteristics of source terms using measured observables. Our focus is on statistical design of experiments and data analysis challenges arising in nuclear forensics. More specifically, we focus on inferring aspects of experimental conditions (of a process to produce product Pu oxide powder), such as temperature, nitric acid concentration, and Pu concentration, using measured features of the product Pu oxide powder. The measured features, Y, include trace chemical concentrations and particle morphology such as particle size and shape of the produced Pu oxide power particles. Making inferences about the nature of inputs X that were usedmore » to create nuclear materials having particular characteristics, Y, is an inverse problem. Therefore, statistical analysis can be used to identify the best set (or sets) of Xs for a new set of observed responses Y. One can fit a model (or models) such as Υ = f(Χ) + error, for each of the responses, based on a calibration experiment and then “invert” to solve for the best set of Xs for a new set of Ys. This perspectives paper uses archived experimental data to consider aspects of data collection and experiment design for the calibration data to maximize the quality of the predicted Ys in the forward models; that is, we assume that well-estimated forward models are effective in the inverse problem. In addition, we consider how to identify a best solution for the inferred X, and evaluate the quality of the result and its robustness to a variety of initial assumptions, and different correlation structures between the responses. In addition, we also briefly review recent advances in metrology issues related to characterizing particle morphology measurements used in the response vector, Y.« less

ProteinTracker: an application for managing protein production and purification

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Laboratories that produce protein reagents for research and development face the challenge of deciding whether to track batch-related data using simple file based storage mechanisms (e.g. spreadsheets and notebooks), or commit the time and effort to install, configure and maintain a more complex laboratory information management system (LIMS). Managing reagent data stored in files is challenging because files are often copied, moved, and reformatted. Furthermore, there is no simple way to query the data if/when questions arise. Commercial LIMS often include additional modules that may be paid for but not actually used, and often require software expertise to truly customize them for a given environment. Findings This web-application allows small to medium-sized protein production groups to track data related to plasmid DNA, conditioned media samples (supes), cell lines used for expression, and purified protein information, including method of purification and quality control results. In addition, a request system was added that includes a means of prioritizing requests to help manage the high demand of protein production resources at most organizations. ProteinTracker makes extensive use of existing open-source libraries and is designed to track essential data related to the production and purification of proteins. Conclusions ProteinTracker is an open-source web-based application that provides organizations with the ability to track key data involved in the production and purification of proteins and may be modified to meet the specific needs of an organization. The source code and database setup script can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/proteintracker. This site also contains installation instructions and a user guide. A demonstration version of the application can be viewed at http://www.proteintracker.org. PMID:22574679

Comparing consistency of R2* and T2*-weighted BOLD analysis of resting state fetal fMRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seshamani, Sharmishtaa; Blazejewska, Anna I.; Gatenby, Christopher; Mckown, Susan; Caucutt, Jason; Dighe, Manjiri; Studholme, Colin

2015-03-01

Understanding when and how resting state brain functional activity begins in the human brain is an increasing area of interest in both basic neuroscience and in the clinical evaluation of the brain during pregnancy and after premature birth. Although fMRI studies have been carried out on pregnant women since the 1990's, reliable mapping of brain function in utero is an extremely challenging problem due to the unconstrained fetal head motion. Recent studies have employed scrubbing to exclude parts of the time series and whole subjects from studies in order to control the confounds of motion. Fundamentally, even after correction of the location of signals due to motion, signal intensity variations are a fundamental limitation, due to coil sensitivity and spin history effects. An alternative technique is to use a more parametric MRI signal derived from multiple echoes that provides a level of independence from basic MRI signal variation. Here we examine the use of R2* mapping combined with slice based multi echo geometric distortion correction for in-utero studies. The challenges for R2* mapping arise from the relatively low signal strength of in-utero data. In this paper we focus on comparing activation detection in-utero using T2W and R2* approaches. We make use a subset of studies with relatively limited motion to compare the activation patterns without the additional confound of significant motion. Results at different gestational ages indicate comparable agreement in many activation patterns when limited motion is present, and the detection of some additional networks in the R2* data, not seen in the T2W results.

Recent progress and challenges in population genetics of polyploid organisms: an overview of current state-of-the-art molecular and statistical tools.

PubMed

Dufresne, France; Stift, Marc; Vergilino, Roland; Mable, Barbara K

2014-01-01

Despite the importance of polyploidy and the increasing availability of new genomic data, there remain important gaps in our knowledge of polyploid population genetics. These gaps arise from the complex nature of polyploid data (e.g. multiple alleles and loci, mixed inheritance patterns, association between ploidy and mating system variation). Furthermore, many of the standard tools for population genetics that have been developed for diploids are often not feasible for polyploids. This review aims to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in polyploid population genetics and to identify the main areas where further development of molecular techniques and statistical theory is required. We review commonly used molecular tools (amplified fragment length polymorphism, microsatellites, Sanger sequencing, next-generation sequencing and derived technologies) and their challenges associated with their use in polyploid populations: that is, allele dosage determination, null alleles, difficulty of distinguishing orthologues from paralogues and copy number variation. In addition, we review the approaches that have been used for population genetic analysis in polyploids and their specific problems. These problems are in most cases directly associated with dosage uncertainty and the problem of inferring allele frequencies and assumptions regarding inheritance. This leads us to conclude that for advancing the field of polyploid population genetics, most priority should be given to development of new molecular approaches that allow efficient dosage determination, and to further development of analytical approaches to circumvent dosage uncertainty and to accommodate 'flexible' modes of inheritance. In addition, there is a need for more simulation-based studies that test what kinds of biases could result from both existing and novel approaches. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Distinctions between fraud, bias, errors, misunderstanding, and incompetence.

PubMed

DeMets, D L

1997-12-01

Randomized clinical trials are challenging not only in their design and analysis, but in their conduct as well. Despite the best intentions and efforts, problems often arise in the conduct of trials, including errors, misunderstandings, and bias. In some instances, key players in a trial may discover that they are not able or competent to meet requirements of the study. In a few cases, fraudulent activity occurs. While none of these problems is desirable, randomized clinical trials are usually found sufficiently robust by many key individuals to produce valid results. Other problems are not tolerable. Confusion may arise among scientists, scientific and lay press, and the public about the distinctions between these areas and their implications. We shall try to define these problems and illustrate their impact through a series of examples.

Business Ethics 101 for the biotech industry.

PubMed

MacDonald, Chris

2004-01-01

Biotechnology companies face ethical challenges of two distinct types: bioethical challenges faced on account of the nature of work in the life sciences, and corporate ethical challenges on account of their nature as commercial entities. The latter set of challenges has received almost no attention at all in the academic literature or media. This paper begins to remedy that lacuna, examining ethical issues that arise specifically on account of the status of biotech companies as commercial entities. The focus here is on three representative issues: product safety, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance. It is argued that each of these issues poses particular ethical challenges for companies in the biotech sector. In the area of product safety, it is noted that biotech companies face particular challenges in determining what counts as a "safe" product, given the contentious nature of what might count as a "harm" in the biotech field. In the area of corporate social responsibility, the adoption of a "stakeholder approach" and an attempt to manage the social consequences of products pose special challenges for biotech companies. This is due to the enormous range of groups and individuals claiming to have a stake in the doings of such companies, and the trenchant controversies over just what the social consequences of various biotechnologies might be. In the area of corporate governance, biotech companies need to seek out and follow best practices regarding the ways in which information, authority, and influence flow between a company's shareholders, managers, and Board of Directors, if they are to avoid duplicating the ethical and financial scandal that brought down ImClone. An important meta-issue, here--one that renders each of these corporate ethical challenges more vexing--is the difficulty of finding the appropriate benchmarks for ethical corporate behavior in a field as controversial, and as rapidly evolving, as biotechnology. Three programmatic suggestions can be made: Firstly, scholars and others interested in the ethical performance of the biotech sector must seek out and build opportunities for richer interdisciplinary collaboration. Secondly, companies within the biotech sector must seek out expertise and build capacity and competency in dealing with the corporate ethical issues that arise in their sector. Finally, companies in the biotech sector should explore the opportunities for collective problem solving afforded by the existence of local, national, and international industry associations such as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, BIOTECanada, and EuropaBio.

Sequence of neuron origin and neocortical laminar fate: relation to cell cycle of origin in the developing murine cerebral wall

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takahashi, T.; Goto, T.; Miyama, S.; Nowakowski, R. S.; Caviness, V. S. Jr

1999-01-01

Neurons destined for each region of the neocortex are known to arise approximately in an "inside-to-outside" sequence from a pseudostratified ventricular epithelium (PVE). This sequence is initiated rostrolaterally and propagates caudomedially. Moreover, independently of location in the PVE, the neuronogenetic sequence in mouse is divisible into 11 cell cycles that occur over a 6 d period. Here we use a novel "birth hour" method that identifies small cohorts of neurons born during a single 2 hr period, i.e., 10-20% of a single cell cycle, which corresponds to approximately 1.5% of the 6 d neuronogenetic period. This method shows that neurons arising with the same cycle of the 11 cycle sequence in mouse have common laminar fates even if they arise from widely separated positions on the PVE (neurons of fields 1 and 40) and therefore arise at different embryonic times. Even at this high level of temporal resolution, simultaneously arising cells occupy more than one cortical layer, and there is substantial overlap in the distributions of cells arising with successive cycles. We demonstrate additionally that the laminar representation of cells arising with a given cycle is little if at all modified over the early postnatal interval of histogenetic cell death. We infer from these findings that cell cycle is a neuronogenetic counting mechanism and that this counting mechanism is integral to subsequent processes that determine cortical laminar fate.

Constructibility Challenges for Perimeter Control Blasting and Slope Development in Shale and Other "Weak" Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scarpato, D. J.

2016-02-01

Slope construction in shale can present some interesting challenges for geotechnical design engineers and contractors alike. There are challenges that can be expected and designed for; however, all too frequently, such challenges manifest themselves as "surprises" in the field. Common constructibility challenges can include drill hole deviation during drilling for controlled blasting; and, excavation slope instability arising from inconsistent perimeter control drilling. Drill hole deviation results from the cumulative effects from both drilling mechanics and rock mass conditions. Once a hole has initiated the deviation trajectory, it is difficult to rectify drill steel position. Although such challenges are not necessarily unique to shale, they are often exacerbated by weak, weathered and transversely isotropic nature of bedrock conditions. All too often, the working assumption is that shale is "soft" and easily excavatable; however, this blanket assumption can prove to be costly. This paper is intended to provide design professionals and contractors with the practical considerations needed to avoid the "surprises" associated with drill hole deviation, and minimize the potential for costly claims.

Seven challenges for modelling indirect transmission: Vector-borne diseases, macroparasites and neglected tropical diseases

PubMed Central

Hollingsworth, T. Déirdre; Pulliam, Juliet R.C.; Funk, Sebastian; Truscott, James E.; Isham, Valerie; Lloyd, Alun L.

2015-01-01

Many of the challenges which face modellers of directly transmitted pathogens also arise when modelling the epidemiology of pathogens with indirect transmission – whether through environmental stages, vectors, intermediate hosts or multiple hosts. In particular, understanding the roles of different hosts, how to measure contact and infection patterns, heterogeneities in contact rates, and the dynamics close to elimination are all relevant challenges, regardless of the mode of transmission. However, there remain a number of challenges that are specific and unique to modelling vector-borne diseases and macroparasites. Moreover, many of the neglected tropical diseases which are currently targeted for control and elimination are vector-borne, macroparasitic, or both, and so this article includes challenges which will assist in accelerating the control of these high-burden diseases. Here, we discuss the challenges of indirect measures of infection in humans, whether through vectors or transmission life stages and in estimating the contribution of different host groups to transmission. We also discuss the issues of “evolution-proof” interventions against vector-borne disease. PMID:25843376

Matched computed tomography segmentation and demographic data for oropharyngeal cancer radiomics challenges

PubMed Central

Elhalawani, Hesham; Mohamed, Abdallah S.R.; White, Aubrey L.; Zafereo, James; Wong, Andrew J.; Berends, Joel E.; AboHashem, Shady; Williams, Bowman; Aymard, Jeremy M.; Kanwar, Aasheesh; Perni, Subha; Rock, Crosby D.; Cooksey, Luke; Campbell, Shauna; Ding, Yao; Lai, Stephen Y.; Marai, Elisabeta G.; Vock, David; Canahuate, Guadalupe M.; Freymann, John; Farahani, Keyvan; Kalpathy-Cramer, Jayashree; Fuller, Clifton D.

2017-01-01

Cancers arising from the oropharynx have become increasingly more studied in the past few years, as they are now epidemic domestically. These tumors are treated with definitive (chemo)radiotherapy, and have local recurrence as a primary mode of clinical failure. Recent data suggest that ‘radiomics’, or extraction of image texture analysis to generate mineable quantitative data from medical images, can reflect phenotypes for various cancers. Several groups have shown that developed radiomic signatures, in head and neck cancers, can be correlated with survival outcomes. This data descriptor defines a repository for head and neck radiomic challenges, executed via a Kaggle in Class platform, in partnership with the MICCAI society 2016 annual meeting.These public challenges were designed to leverage radiomics and/or machine learning workflows to discriminate HPV phenotype in one challenge (HPV status challenge) and to identify patients who will develop a local recurrence in the primary tumor volume in the second one (Local recurrence prediction challenge) in a segmented, clinically curated anonymized oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) data set. PMID:28675381

Seven challenges for modelling indirect transmission: vector-borne diseases, macroparasites and neglected tropical diseases.

PubMed

Hollingsworth, T Déirdre; Pulliam, Juliet R C; Funk, Sebastian; Truscott, James E; Isham, Valerie; Lloyd, Alun L

2015-03-01

Many of the challenges which face modellers of directly transmitted pathogens also arise when modelling the epidemiology of pathogens with indirect transmission--whether through environmental stages, vectors, intermediate hosts or multiple hosts. In particular, understanding the roles of different hosts, how to measure contact and infection patterns, heterogeneities in contact rates, and the dynamics close to elimination are all relevant challenges, regardless of the mode of transmission. However, there remain a number of challenges that are specific and unique to modelling vector-borne diseases and macroparasites. Moreover, many of the neglected tropical diseases which are currently targeted for control and elimination are vector-borne, macroparasitic, or both, and so this article includes challenges which will assist in accelerating the control of these high-burden diseases. Here, we discuss the challenges of indirect measures of infection in humans, whether through vectors or transmission life stages and in estimating the contribution of different host groups to transmission. We also discuss the issues of "evolution-proof" interventions against vector-borne disease. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical Transport and Low-Frequency Noise in Chemical Vapor Deposited Single-Layer MoS2 Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-18

dependent noise in both passivated and etched devices could be explained by carrier number fluctuation arising from random trapping and de -trapping of...for 30 min at room temperature, followed by a de -ionized water/acetone/isopropanol rinse. Additional details about the processing steps can be found in...trends in these devices. 4 Nanotechnology 25 (2014) 155702 D Sharma et al Carrier number fluctuations arise from dynamic trapping and de -trapping of free

44 CFR 65.9 - Review and response by the Administrator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... questions or problems arise during review, FEMA will consult the Chief Executive Officer of the community (CEO), the community official designated by the CEO, and/or the requester for resolution. Upon receipt... additional 90 days is required to evaluate the scientific or technical data submitted; or (g) Additional data...

44 CFR 65.9 - Review and response by the Administrator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... questions or problems arise during review, FEMA will consult the Chief Executive Officer of the community (CEO), the community official designated by the CEO, and/or the requester for resolution. Upon receipt... additional 90 days is required to evaluate the scientific or technical data submitted; or (g) Additional data...

A Note on the Kirchhoff and Additive Degree-Kirchhoff Indices of Graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yujun; Klein, Douglas J.

2015-06-01

Two resistance-distance-based graph invariants, namely, the Kirchhoff index and the additive degree-Kirchhoff index, are studied. A relation between them is established, with inequalities for the additive degree-Kirchhoff index arising via the Kirchhoff index along with minimum, maximum, and average degrees. Bounds for the Kirchhoff and additive degree-Kirchhoff indices are also determined, and extremal graphs are characterised. In addition, an upper bound for the additive degree-Kirchhoff index is established to improve a previously known result.

The canine model of dietary hypersensitivity.

PubMed

Day, Michael J

2005-11-01

IgE-mediated dietary hypersensitivity affects approximately 1% of the canine population. There are no breed associations and < or =50% of the patients are aged <1 year at presentation. The most common causative allergens are beef, chicken, milk, eggs, maize, wheat and soyabean. Affected dogs generally display cutaneous disease and 10-15% of the patients may have concurrent alimentary involvement. Diagnosis is currently based on dietary restriction followed by provocation. Procedures for the detection of serum allergen-specific IgE and IgG antibodies are widely available, but these tests correlate poorly with clinical presentation and dietary testing. Recent studies have demonstrated the allergen specificity of IgE antibodies by immunoblotting and have described blood lymphocyte proliferative responses to food allergens. In addition to investigations of spontaneously-arising dietary hypersensitivity, it has also proved possible to study this disorder experimentally. Small colonies of dogs sensitive to particular dietary proteins have been used to study clinical and serological responses to allergen challenge. Hypersensitivity has been experimentally induced in dogs of an atopic phenotype by repeated subcutaneous injection of alum-adjuvanted dietary allergen during neonatal life. These models have been used to trial a range of modified protein or hydrolysate diets. The dog provides a unique large-animal model for investigation of the immunopathogenesis of human dietary hypersensitivity. The dog is closely related genetically to man and shares environmental disease triggers with man. Spontaneously arising canine dietary hypersensitivity is a good clinical mimic of the human disease, and ability to therapeutically manipulate this adverse response in the dog might lead to benefits for human patients.

Nanotechnology: Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyyappan, Meyya

2003-01-01

Nanotechnology seeks to exploit novel physical, chemical, biological, mechanical, electrical, and other properties, which arise primarily due to the nanoscale nature of certain materials. A key example is carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which exhibit unique electrical and extraordinary mechanical properties and offer remarkable potential for revolutionary applications in electronics devices, computing, and data storage technology, sensors, composites, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), and as tip in scanning probe microscopy (SPM) for imaging and nanolithography. Thus the CNT synthesis, characterization, and applications touch upon all disciplines of science and engineering. This presentation will provide an overview and progress report on this and other major research candidates in Nanotechnology and address opportunities and challenges ahead.

Cloud-based mobility management in heterogeneous wireless networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kravchuk, Serhii; Minochkin, Dmytro; Omiotek, Zbigniew; Bainazarov, Ulan; Weryńska-Bieniasz, RóŻa; Iskakova, Aigul

2017-08-01

Mobility management is the key feature that supports the roaming of users between different systems. Handover is the essential aspect in the development of solutions supporting mobility scenarios. The handover process becomes more complex in a heterogeneous environment compared to the homogeneous one. Seamlessness and reduction of delay in servicing the handover calls, which can reduce the handover dropping probability, also require complex algorithms to provide a desired QoS for mobile users. A challenging problem to increase the scalability and availability of handover decision mechanisms is discussed. The aim of the paper is to propose cloud based handover as a service concept to cope with the challenges that arise.

Monogenic Mouse Models of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Common Mechanisms and Missing Links

PubMed Central

Hulbert, Samuel W.; Jiang, Yong-hui

2016-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) present unique challenges in the fields of genetics and neurobiology because of the clinical and molecular heterogeneity underlying these disorders. Genetic mutations found in ASD patients provide opportunities to dissect the molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying autistic behaviors using animal models. Ongoing studies of genetically modified models have offered critical insight into possible common mechanisms arising from different mutations, but links between molecular abnormalities and behavioral phenotypes remain elusive. The challenges encountered in modeling autism in mice demand a new analytic paradigm that integrates behavioral analysis with circuit-level analysis in genetically modified models with strong construct validity. PMID:26733386

Characterization of the Multi-Blade 10B-based detector at the CRISP reflectometer at ISIS for neutron reflectometry at ESS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piscitelli, F.; Mauri, G.; Messi, F.; Anastasopoulos, M.; Arnold, T.; Glavic, A.; Höglund, C.; Ilves, T.; Lopez Higuera, I.; Pazmandi, P.; Raspino, D.; Robinson, L.; Schmidt, S.; Svensson, P.; Varga, D.; Hall-Wilton, R.

2018-05-01

The Multi-Blade is a Boron-10-based gaseous thermal neutron detector developed to face the challenge arising in neutron reflectometry at neutron sources. Neutron reflectometers are challenging instruments in terms of instantaneous counting rate and spatial resolution. This detector has been designed according to the requirements given by the reflectometers at the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Sweden. The Multi-Blade has been installed and tested on the CRISP reflectometer at the ISIS neutron and muon source in U.K.. The results on the detailed detector characterization are discussed in this manuscript.

A survey on hair modeling: styling, simulation, and rendering.

PubMed

Ward, Kelly; Bertails, Florence; Kim, Tae-Yong; Marschner, Stephen R; Cani, Marie-Paule; Lin, Ming C

2007-01-01

Realistic hair modeling is a fundamental part of creating virtual humans in computer graphics. This paper surveys the state of the art in the major topics of hair modeling: hairstyling, hair simulation, and hair rendering. Because of the difficult, often unsolved problems that arise in all these areas, a broad diversity of approaches are used, each with strengths that make it appropriate for particular applications. We discuss each of these major topics in turn, presenting the unique challenges facing each area and describing solutions that have been presented over the years to handle these complex issues. Finally, we outline some of the remaining computational challenges in hair modeling.

Future consequences and challenges for dairy cow production systems arising from climate change in Central Europe - a review.

PubMed

Gauly, M; Bollwein, H; Breves, G; Brügemann, K; Dänicke, S; Daş, G; Demeler, J; Hansen, H; Isselstein, J; König, S; Lohölter, M; Martinsohn, M; Meyer, U; Potthoff, M; Sanker, C; Schröder, B; Wrage, N; Meibaum, B; von Samson-Himmelstjerna, G; Stinshoff, H; Wrenzycki, C

2013-05-01

It is well documented that global warming is unequivocal. Dairy production systems are considered as important sources of greenhouse gas emissions; however, little is known about the sensitivity and vulnerability of these production systems themselves to climate warming. This review brings different aspects of dairy cow production in Central Europe into focus, with a holistic approach to emphasize potential future consequences and challenges arising from climate change. With the current understanding of the effects of climate change, it is expected that yield of forage per hectare will be influenced positively, whereas quality will mainly depend on water availability and soil characteristics. Thus, the botanical composition of future grassland should include species that are able to withstand the changing conditions (e.g. lucerne and bird's foot trefoil). Changes in nutrient concentration of forage plants, elevated heat loads and altered feeding patterns of animals may influence rumen physiology. Several promising nutritional strategies are available to lower potential negative impacts of climate change on dairy cow nutrition and performance. Adjustment of feeding and drinking regimes, diet composition and additive supplementation can contribute to the maintenance of adequate dairy cow nutrition and performance. Provision of adequate shade and cooling will reduce the direct effects of heat stress. As estimated genetic parameters are promising, heat stress tolerance as a functional trait may be included into breeding programmes. Indirect effects of global warming on the health and welfare of animals seem to be more complicated and thus are less predictable. As the epidemiology of certain gastrointestinal nematodes and liver fluke is favourably influenced by increased temperature and humidity, relations between climate change and disease dynamics should be followed closely. Under current conditions, climate change associated economic impacts are estimated to be neutral if some form of adaptation is integrated. Therefore, it is essential to establish and adopt mitigation strategies covering available tools from management, nutrition, health and plant and animal breeding to cope with the future consequences of climate change on dairy farming.

Marine Science Aids the Development of Antifouling Coatings,

DTIC Science & Technology

new toxic additives, tributyltin antifouling compounds and biocidal organometallic polymers. Future developments which may arise from fundamental biochemical research work on marine organisms are indicated. (Author)

Environmental chemical exposures and human epigenetics

PubMed Central

Hou, Lifang; Zhang, Xiao; Wang, Dong; Baccarelli, Andrea

2012-01-01

Every year more than 13 million deaths worldwide are due to environmental pollutants, and approximately 24% of diseases are caused by environmental exposures that might be averted through preventive measures. Rapidly growing evidence has linked environmental pollutants with epigenetic variations, including changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs. Environ mental chemicals and epigenetic changes All of these mechanisms are likely to play important roles in disease aetiology, and their modifications due to environmental pollutants might provide further understanding of disease aetiology, as well as biomarkers reflecting exposures to environmental pollutants and/or predicting the risk of future disease. We summarize the findings on epigenetic alterations related to environmental chemical exposures, and propose mechanisms of action by means of which the exposures may cause such epigenetic changes. We discuss opportunities, challenges and future directions for future epidemiology research in environmental epigenomics. Future investigations are needed to solve methodological and practical challenges, including uncertainties about stability over time of epigenomic changes induced by the environment, tissue specificity of epigenetic alterations, validation of laboratory methods, and adaptation of bioinformatic and biostatistical methods to high-throughput epigenomics. In addition, there are numerous reports of epigenetic modifications arising following exposure to environmental toxicants, but most have not been directly linked to disease endpoints. To complete our discussion, we also briefly summarize the diseases that have been linked to environmental chemicals-related epigenetic changes. PMID:22253299

Achieving the Desired Transformation: Thoughts on Next Steps for Outcomes-Based Medical Education.

PubMed

Holmboe, Eric S; Batalden, Paul

2015-09-01

Since the introduction of the outcomes-based medical education (OBME) movement, progress toward implementation has been active but challenging. Much of the angst and criticism has been directed at the approaches to assessment that are associated with outcomes-based or competency frameworks, particularly defining the outcomes. In addition, these changes to graduate medical education (GME) are concomitant with major change in health care systems--specifically, changes to increase quality and safety while reducing cost. Every sector, from medical education to health care delivery and financing, is in the midst of substantial change and disruption.The recent release of the Institute of Medicine's report on the financing and governance of GME highlights the urgent need to accelerate the transformation of medical education. One source of continued tension within the medical education community arises from the assumption that the much-needed increases in value and improvement in health care can be achieved by holding the current educational structures and architecture of learning in place while concomitantly withdrawing resources. The authors of this Perspective seek to reframe the important and necessary debate surrounding the current challenges to implementing OBME. Building on recent change and service theories (e.g., Theory U and coproduction), they propose several areas of redirection, including reexamination of curricular models and greater involvement of learners, teachers, and regulators in cocreating new training models, to help facilitate the desired transformation in medical education.

Extensive Mobilome-Driven Genome Diversification in Mouse Gut-Associated Bacteroides vulgatus mpk.

PubMed

Lange, Anna; Beier, Sina; Steimle, Alex; Autenrieth, Ingo B; Huson, Daniel H; Frick, Julia-Stefanie

2016-04-25

Like many other Bacteroides species, Bacteroides vulgatus strain mpk, a mouse fecal isolate which was shown to promote intestinal homeostasis, utilizes a variety of mobile elements for genome evolution. Based on sequences collected by Pacific Biosciences SMRT sequencing technology, we discuss the challenges of assembling and studying a bacterial genome of high plasticity. Additionally, we conducted comparative genomics comparing this commensal strain with the B. vulgatus type strain ATCC 8482 as well as multiple other Bacteroides and Parabacteroides strains to reveal the most important differences and identify the unique features of B. vulgatus mpk. The genome of B. vulgatus mpk harbors a large and diverse set of mobile element proteins compared with other sequenced Bacteroides strains. We found evidence of a number of different horizontal gene transfer events and a genome landscape that has been extensively altered by different mobilization events. A CRISPR/Cas system could be identified that provides a possible mechanism for preventing the integration of invading external DNA. We propose that the high genome plasticity and the introduced genome instabilities of B. vulgatus mpk arising from the various mobilization events might play an important role not only in its adaptation to the challenging intestinal environment in general, but also in its ability to interact with the gut microbiota. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Adenomyosis and Endometrial Cancer: Literature Review.

PubMed

Habiba, Marwan; Pluchino, Nicola; Petignat, Patrick; Bianchi, Paola; Brosens, Ivo A; Benagiano, Giuseppe

2018-06-06

To confirm the origin of cancer found in both the endometrium and the myometrium is difficult. Cancer may spread from the endometrium into adenomyotic foci or vice versa. Also, premalignant changes may arise at either or both sites. Investigating disease origin enhances our understanding of pathophysiology and prognosis. Additional critical questions are whether women with adenomyosis have a higher risk of endometrial cancer; whether the invasive properties and prognosis of cancer in adenomyosis differ from those arising in the eutopic endometrium and whether the ectopic glandular tissue in adenomyosis becomes altered in the presence of eutopic endometrial cancer. A final question is whether cancer arising within adenomyosis carries a worse prognosis because of its location within the myometrium and the possibility that the presence of adenomyosis facilitates invasion of cancer arising in the eutopic endometrium. The present review explores currently available literature in an attempt to answer these questions and to examine clinical presentations, diagnostic criteria, pathogenesis and prognosis. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Issues in Estimating Program Effects and Studying Implementation in Large-Scale Educational Experiments: The Case of a Connected Classroom Technology Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shin, Hye Sook

2009-01-01

Using data from a nationwide, large-scale experimental study of the effects of a connected classroom technology on student learning in algebra (Owens et al., 2004), this dissertation focuses on challenges that can arise in estimating treatment effects in educational field experiments when samples are highly heterogeneous in terms of various…

Closing the Guantanamo Detention Center: Legal Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-14

immigration law. This report provides an overview of major legal issues likely to arise as a result of executive and legislative action to close the...possibility that suspected enemy combatants could pursue legal challenges regarding their detention or other wartime actions taken by the Executive. The...and legislative action to close the Guantanamo detention facility. It discusses legal issues related to the transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees

Accelerated Schools as Learning Organizations: Cases from the University of New Orleans Accelerated School Network.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunner, Ilse; And Others

Organizations are the product of the ideas and interactions of those who work in them. The challenge for learning in organizations is to have a shared purpose and vision of the organization, to develop new ideas arising out of the vision and purpose, to test the ideas in the organizational reality, and to communicate that knowledge to other…

Educational Game as Supplemental Learning Tool: Benefits, Challenges, and Tensions Arising from Use in an Elementary School Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Scott; Dondlinger, Mary Jo; Stein, Richard; Barab, Sasha

2009-01-01

This article examines the qualitative findings from a mixed-methods comparison study of the use of an online multi-user virtual environment called Anytown which supplemented face-to-face writing instruction in a fourth grade classroom to determine implications for the design of such environments and the reported impact of this design on students…

Could Practicum Placements in Contrasting Contexts Support the Preparation of Pre-Service Teachers for an Envisaged Inclusive Education System? A South African Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusznyak, Lee; Walton, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

In contexts where inclusive education is nascent, teacher educators face the challenge of preparing pre-service teachers for a system that does not yet exist. While this might be possible through university-based coursework, difficulties arise when so few sites that model inclusive pedagogies are available for practicum placements. This article…

Introducing E-Learning in a South African Higher Education Institution: Challenges Arising from an Intervention and Possible Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bharuthram, Sharita; Kies, Carolynn

2013-01-01

This article draws on research conducted at a tertiary institution in South Africa as part of the redesigning of an English for Educational Development (EED) course to include an e-learning online discussion component. The subject material used was based on HIV/AIDS topics that students had to debate within an online discussion forum. Framed by…

Young People's Health as a Challenge for Physical Education in Schools in the Twenty-First Century: The Case of Flanders (Belgium)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seghers, Jan; de Martelaer, Kristine; Cardon, Greet

2009-01-01

Background: A lack of physical activity (PA) and the occurrence of overweight and obesity among school-aged youth have become a major societal problem. Arising from the general concern about the future generations' health, schools have been found to be potentially important settings to promote positive health behaviour, since all pupils can be…

Engineering the Mechanical Properties of Polymer Networks with Precise Doping of Primary Defects.

PubMed

Chan, Doreen; Ding, Yichuan; Dauskardt, Reinhold H; Appel, Eric A

2017-12-06

Polymer networks are extensively utilized across numerous applications ranging from commodity superabsorbent polymers and coatings to high-performance microelectronics and biomaterials. For many applications, desirable properties are known; however, achieving them has been challenging. Additionally, the accurate prediction of elastic modulus has been a long-standing difficulty owing to the presence of loops. By tuning the prepolymer formulation through precise doping of monomers, specific primary network defects can be programmed into an elastomeric scaffold, without alteration of their resulting chemistry. The addition of these monomers that respond mechanically as primary defects is used both to understand their impact on the resulting mechanical properties of the materials and as a method to engineer the mechanical properties. Indeed, these materials exhibit identical bulk and surface chemistry, yet vastly different mechanical properties. Further, we have adapted the real elastic network theory (RENT) to the case of primary defects in the absence of loops, thus providing new insights into the mechanism for material strength and failure in polymer networks arising from primary network defects, and to accurately predict the elastic modulus of the polymer system. The versatility of the approach we describe and the fundamental knowledge gained from this study can lead to new advancements in the development of novel materials with precisely defined and predictable chemical, physical, and mechanical properties.

Microemulsion utility in pharmaceuticals: Implications for multi-drug delivery.

PubMed

Callender, Shannon P; Mathews, Jessica A; Kobernyk, Katherine; Wettig, Shawn D

2017-06-30

Emulsion technology has been utilized extensively in the pharmaceutical industry. This article presents a comprehensive review of the literature on an important subcategory of emulsions, microemulsions. Microemulsions are optically transparent, thermodynamically stable colloidal systems, 10-100nm diameter, that form spontaneously upon mixing of oil, water and emulsifier. This review is the first to address advantages and disadvantages, as well as considerations and challenges in multi-drug delivery. For the period 1 January 2011-30 April 2016, 431 publications related to microemulsion drug delivery were identified and screened according to microemulsion, drug classification, and surfactant types. Results indicate the use of microemulsions predominantly in lipophilic drug delivery (79.4%) via oil-in-water microemulsions and non-ionic surfactants (90%) for oral or topical administration. Cancer is the disease state most targeted followed by inflammatory diseases, microbial infections and cardiovascular disease. Key generalizations from this analysis include: 1) microemulsion formulation is largely based on trial-and-error despite over 1200 publications related to microemulsion drug delivery since their discovery in 1943; 2) characterization using methods including interfacial tension, droplet size, electrical conductivity, turbidity and viscosity may provide additional information for greater predictability; 3) microemulsion drug delivery publications arise primarily from China (27%) and India (21%) suggesting additional research opportunities elsewhere. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theoretical size distribution of fossil taxa: analysis of a null model

PubMed Central

Reed, William J; Hughes, Barry D

2007-01-01

Background This article deals with the theoretical size distribution (of number of sub-taxa) of a fossil taxon arising from a simple null model of macroevolution. Model New species arise through speciations occurring independently and at random at a fixed probability rate, while extinctions either occur independently and at random (background extinctions) or cataclysmically. In addition new genera are assumed to arise through speciations of a very radical nature, again assumed to occur independently and at random at a fixed probability rate. Conclusion The size distributions of the pioneering genus (following a cataclysm) and of derived genera are determined. Also the distribution of the number of genera is considered along with a comparison of the probability of a monospecific genus with that of a monogeneric family. PMID:17376249

A Review on Potential Issues and Challenges in MR Imaging

PubMed Central

Kanakaraj, Jagannathan

2013-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive technique that has been developed for its excellent depiction of soft tissue contrasts. Instruments capable of ultra-high field strengths, ≥7 Tesla, were recently engineered and have resulted in higher signal-to-noise and higher resolution images. This paper presents various subsystems of the MR imaging systems like the magnet subsystem, gradient subsystem, and also various issues which arise due to the magnet. Further, it also portrays finer details about the RF coils and transceiver and also various limitations of the RF coils and transceiver. Moreover, the concept behind the data processing system and the challenges related to it were also depicted. Finally, the various artifacts associated with the MR imaging were clearly pointed out. It also presents a brief overview about all the challenges related to MR imaging systems. PMID:24381523

Dead Reckoning in the Desert Ant: A Defence of Connectionist Models.

PubMed

Mole, Christopher

2014-01-01

Dead reckoning is a feature of the navigation behaviour shown by several creatures, including the desert ant. Recent work by C. Randy Gallistel shows that some connectionist models of dead reckoning face important challenges. These challenges are thought to arise from essential features of the connectionist approach, and have therefore been taken to show that connectionist models are unable to explain even the most primitive of psychological phenomena. I show that Gallistel's challenges are successfully met by one recent connectionist model, proposed by Ulysses Bernardet, Sergi Bermúdez i Badia, and Paul F.M.J. Verschure. The success of this model suggests that there are ways to implement dead reckoning with neural circuits that fall within the bounds of what many people regard as neurobiologically plausible, and so that the wholesale dismissal of the connectionist modelling project remains premature.

A Computational Approach for Probabilistic Analysis of Water Impact Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horta, Lucas G.; Mason, Brian H.; Lyle, Karen H.

2009-01-01

NASA's development of new concepts for the Crew Exploration Vehicle Orion presents many similar challenges to those worked in the sixties during the Apollo program. However, with improved modeling capabilities, new challenges arise. For example, the use of the commercial code LS-DYNA, although widely used and accepted in the technical community, often involves high-dimensional, time consuming, and computationally intensive simulations. The challenge is to capture what is learned from a limited number of LS-DYNA simulations to develop models that allow users to conduct interpolation of solutions at a fraction of the computational time. This paper presents a description of the LS-DYNA model, a brief summary of the response surface techniques, the analysis of variance approach used in the sensitivity studies, equations used to estimate impact parameters, results showing conditions that might cause injuries, and concluding remarks.

Dynamics of the middle atmosphere as observed by the ARISE project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanc, E.

2015-12-01

It has been strongly demonstrated that variations in the circulation of the middle atmosphere influence weather and climate all the way to the Earth's surface. A key part of this coupling occurs through the propagation and breaking of planetary and gravity waves. However, limited observations prevent to faithfully reproduce the dynamics of the middle atmosphere in numerical weather prediction and climate models. The main challenge of the ARISE (Atmospheric dynamics InfraStructure in Europe) project is to combine existing national and international observation networks including: the International infrasound monitoring system developed for the CTBT (Comprehensive nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty) verification, the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Changes) lidar network, European observation infrastructures at mid latitudes (OHP observatory), tropics (Maïdo observatory), high latitudes (ALOMAR and EISCAT), infrasound stations which form a dense European network and satellites. The ARISE network is unique by its coverage (polar to equatorial regions in the European longitude sector), its altitude range (from troposphere to mesosphere and ionosphere) and the involved scales both in time (from seconds to tens of years) and space (from tens of meters to thousands of kilometers). Advanced data products are produced with the scope to assimilate data in the Weather Prediction models to improve future forecasts over weeks and seasonal time scales. ARISE observations are especially relevant for the monitoring of extreme events such as thunderstorms, volcanoes, meteors and at larger scales, deep convection and stratospheric warming events for physical processes description and study of long term evolution with climate change. Among the applications, ARISE fosters integration of innovative methods for remote detection of non-instrumented volcanoes including distant eruption characterization to provide notifications with reliable confidence indices to the civil aviation.

Aneurysms of the petrous internal carotid artery: anatomy, origins, and treatment.

PubMed

Liu, James K; Gottfried, Oren N; Amini, Amin; Couldwell, William T

2004-11-15

Aneurysms arising in the petrous segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are rare. Although the causes of petrous ICA aneurysms remain unclear, traumatic, infectious, and congenital origins have been implicated in their development. These lesions can be detected incidentally on routine neuroimaging. Patients can also present with a wide spectrum of signs and symptoms, including cranial nerve palsies, Horner syndrome, pulsatile tinnitus, epistaxis, and otorrhagia. The treatment of petrous ICA aneurysms remains challenging. Treatment options include close observation, endovascular therapies, and surgical trapping with or without revascularization. Management dilemmas exist, particularly for incidental lesions found in asymptomatic patients. The authors review the literature and discuss the anatomy of the petrous ICA as well as the pathophysiological features of aneurysms arising in this region, and they propose a management paradigm with current treatment options.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx arising in multifocal pharyngolaryngeal oncocytic papillary cystadenoma: a case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Stenner, Markus; Müller, Klaus-Michael; Koopmann, Mario; Rudack, Claudia

2014-09-01

We report on a rare case of a laryngeal carcinoma arising in a multifocal pharyngolaryngeal oncocytic papillary cystadenoma (OPC). The disease of a 63-year-old man is well documented by computed and positron emission tomography, histology, and electron microscopy. We could show that an OPC can even develop in the pharynx. The coexistence of both tumors makes this a challenging diagnosis for pathologists. Treated by surgery and radiotherapy, both lesions dissolved. Based on the literature available, we discuss the theory that the laryngeal carcinoma might be the result of a true metaplasia facilitated by chronic irritation and recommend a regular follow-up for OPC too. As in benign oncocytic lesions, we could show that the detection of numerous mitochondria is a diagnostic indicator for malignant variants as well.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Larynx Arising in Multifocal Pharyngolaryngeal Oncocytic Papillary Cystadenoma

PubMed Central

Stenner, Markus; Müller, Klaus-Michael; Koopmann, Mario; Rudack, Claudia

2014-01-01

Abstract We report on a rare case of a laryngeal carcinoma arising in a multifocal pharyngolaryngeal oncocytic papillary cystadenoma (OPC). The disease of a 63-year-old man is well documented by computed and positron emission tomography, histology, and electron microscopy. We could show that an OPC can even develop in the pharynx. The coexistence of both tumors makes this a challenging diagnosis for pathologists. Treated by surgery and radiotherapy, both lesions dissolved. Based on the literature available, we discuss the theory that the laryngeal carcinoma might be the result of a true metaplasia facilitated by chronic irritation and recommend a regular follow-up for OPC too. As in benign oncocytic lesions, we could show that the detection of numerous mitochondria is a diagnostic indicator for malignant variants as well. PMID:25211046

Nanomedicine – challenge and perspectives

PubMed Central

Riehemann, Kristina; Schneider, Stefan W.; Luger, Thomas A.; Godin, Biana; Ferrari, Mauro; Fuchs, Harald

2014-01-01

Nanomedicine introduces nanotechnology concepts into medicine and thus joins two large cross disciplinary fields with an unprecedented societal and economical potential arising from the natural combination of specific achievements in the respective fields. The common basis evolves from the molecular scale properties relevant in the two fields. Nanoanalytical tools such as local probes and molecular imaging techniques, allow us to characterize surface and interface properties at a nanometer scale at predefined locations, while elaborated chemical approaches offer the opportunity for the control and addressing of surfaces e. g. for targeted drug delivery, enhanced biocompatibility and neuroprosthetic purposes. This commonality opens a wide variety of economic fields both of industrial and clinical interests. However, concerns arise in this cross disciplinary area about toxicological aspects and ethical implications. This review gives an overview of selected recent developments of nanotechnology applied on medical objectives. PMID:19142939

Toward methodological emancipation in applied health research.

PubMed

Thorne, Sally

2011-04-01

In this article, I trace the historical groundings of what have become methodological conventions in the use of qualitative approaches to answer questions arising from the applied health disciplines and advocate an alternative logic more strategically grounded in the epistemological orientations of the professional health disciplines. I argue for an increasing emphasis on the modification of conventional qualitative approaches to the particular knowledge demands of the applied practice domain, challenging the merits of what may have become unwarranted attachment to theorizing. Reorienting our methodological toolkits toward the questions arising within an evidence-dominated policy agenda, I encourage my applied health disciplinary colleagues to make themselves useful to that larger project by illuminating that which quantitative research renders invisible, problematizing the assumptions on which it generates conclusions, and filling in the gaps in knowledge needed to make decisions on behalf of people and populations.

An XMM-Newton Study of the Mixed-morphology Supernova Remnant G346.6-0.2

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

Auchettl, Katie; Lopez, Laura; Ng, C-Y.

We present an X-ray imaging and spectroscopic study of the molecular cloud interacting mixed-morphology supernova remnant G346.6–0.2 using XMM-Newton . The X-ray spectrum of the remnant is well described by a recombining plasma that most likely arises from adiabatic cooling and has subsolar abundances of Mg, Si, and S. Our fits also suggest the presence of either an additional power-law component with a photon index of ∼2 or an additional thermal component with a temperature of ∼2.0 keV. We investigate the possible origin of this component and suggest that it could arise from either the Galactic ridge X-ray emission, anmore » unidentified pulsar wind nebula, or X-ray synchrotron emission from high-energy particles accelerated at the shock. However, deeper, high-resolution observations of this object are needed to shed light on the presence and origin of this feature. Based on its morphology, its Galactic latitude, the density of the surrounding environment, and its association with a dense molecular cloud, G346.6–0.2 most likely arises from a massive progenitor that underwent core collapse.« less

Qualitative Analysis and Detection of the Pyrolytic Products of JWH-018 and 11 Additional Synthetic Cannabinoids in the Presence of Common Herbal Smoking Substrates.

PubMed

Raso, Stephen; Bell, Suzanne

2017-07-01

Synthetic cannabinoids have become a ubiquitous challenge in forensic toxicology and seized drug analysis. Thermal degradation products have yet to be identified and evaluated for toxicity in comparison to parent and metabolic compounds. An investigation into these pyrolytic products, as the major route of ingestion is inhalation, may produce additional insight to understand the toxicity of synthetic cannabinoids. The pyrolysis of JWH-018 and 11 additional synthetic cannabinoids and six herbal plant substrates were conducted using an in-house constructed smoking simulator. After pyrolysis of herbal material alone, the plant substrate was spiked with the drug compounds to 2-5% w/w concentrations. Samples were collected, filtered, evaporated under nitrogen gas, reconstituted in methanol, and analyzed via gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. Pyrolysis of the plant material alone produced 10 consistently observed compounds between the six plant species. The pyrolysis of the synthetic cannabinoids produced a total of 52 pyrolytic compounds, where 32 were unique to a particular parent compound and the remaining 20 were common products between multiple cannabinoids. The thermal degradation followed three major pathways that are outlined to assist in producing a predictive model for new synthetic cannabinoids that may arise in case samples. The observed pyrolytic products are also viable options for analysis in post mortem samples and the evaluation of toxicity. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Change Levers for Unifying Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to the Adoption and Diffusion of e-Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Gurmak; Hardaker, Glenn

2017-01-01

Using Giddens' theory of structuration as a theoretical framework, this paper outlines how five prominent United Kingdom universities aimed to integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches to the adoption and diffusion of e-learning. The aim of this paper is to examine the major challenges that arise from the convergence of bottom-up perspectives…

Anomaly detection for analysis of annual inventory data: a quality control approach

Treesearch

Francis A. Roesch; Paul C. Van Deusen

2010-01-01

Annual forest inventories present special challenges and opportunities for those analyzing the data arising from them. Here, we address one question currently being asked by analysts of the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program’s quickly accumulating annual inventory data. The question is simple but profound: When combining the next year’s data for...

Participation in Lifelong Learning: Reality or Myth? Issues Arising from a United Kingdom Coalfield Closure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thursfield, Denise; Henderson, Roger

2004-01-01

In the spring of 2004, the Selby Coalfield, the largest of the remaining coal mines in the United Kingdom (UK) will close and 2071 employees will lose their jobs. The impact of the closure will be severe in the surrounding area, and will present a challenge to local employment services and training agencies. It will also test the UK government's…

Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy. Teacher's Resource Book [and Student Text]. Public Policy Debate in the Classroom. Choices for the 21st Century Education Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackadar, Andy

This curriculum material, part of a continuing series on current and historical international issues, addresses the issues arising from the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. On the morning of September 11, 2001, as people watched in horror, terrorist attacks were successfully launched against the United…

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE: Peru on Track for Free and Fair Elections but Faces Major Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-03-14

Procesos Electorales , ONPE), and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Registro Nacional de Identificacion y Estado Civil, RENIEC...kind of intentional fraud and intimidation that arose last year and the type of incidental mistakes that can arise in any large election. Once the...organization Amount Technical assistance $3,298,438 Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales 1,520,000 International Foundation for

Mechanistic analysis of challenge-response experiments.

PubMed

Shotwell, M S; Drake, K J; Sidorov, V Y; Wikswo, J P

2013-09-01

We present an application of mechanistic modeling and nonlinear longitudinal regression in the context of biomedical response-to-challenge experiments, a field where these methods are underutilized. In this type of experiment, a system is studied by imposing an experimental challenge, and then observing its response. The combination of mechanistic modeling and nonlinear longitudinal regression has brought new insight, and revealed an unexpected opportunity for optimal design. Specifically, the mechanistic aspect of our approach enables the optimal design of experimental challenge characteristics (e.g., intensity, duration). This article lays some groundwork for this approach. We consider a series of experiments wherein an isolated rabbit heart is challenged with intermittent anoxia. The heart responds to the challenge onset, and recovers when the challenge ends. The mean response is modeled by a system of differential equations that describe a candidate mechanism for cardiac response to anoxia challenge. The cardiac system behaves more variably when challenged than when at rest. Hence, observations arising from this experiment exhibit complex heteroscedasticity and sharp changes in central tendency. We present evidence that an asymptotic statistical inference strategy may fail to adequately account for statistical uncertainty. Two alternative methods are critiqued qualitatively (i.e., for utility in the current context), and quantitatively using an innovative Monte-Carlo method. We conclude with a discussion of the exciting opportunities in optimal design of response-to-challenge experiments. © 2013, The International Biometric Society.

Physical constraints on biological integral control design for homeostasis and sensory adaptation.

PubMed

Ang, Jordan; McMillen, David R

2013-01-22

Synthetic biology includes an effort to use design-based approaches to create novel controllers, biological systems aimed at regulating the output of other biological processes. The design of such controllers can be guided by results from control theory, including the strategy of integral feedback control, which is central to regulation, sensory adaptation, and long-term robustness. Realization of integral control in a synthetic network is an attractive prospect, but the nature of biochemical networks can make the implementation of even basic control structures challenging. Here we present a study of the general challenges and important constraints that will arise in efforts to engineer biological integral feedback controllers or to analyze existing natural systems. Constraints arise from the need to identify target output values that the combined process-plus-controller system can reach, and to ensure that the controller implements a good approximation of integral feedback control. These constraints depend on mild assumptions about the shape of input-output relationships in the biological components, and thus will apply to a variety of biochemical systems. We summarize our results as a set of variable constraints intended to provide guidance for the design or analysis of a working biological integral feedback controller. Copyright © 2013 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identifying viable regulatory and innovation pathways for regenerative medicine: a case study of cultured red blood cells.

PubMed

Mittra, J; Tait, J; Mastroeni, M; Turner, M L; Mountford, J C; Bruce, K

2015-01-25

The creation of red blood cells for the blood transfusion markets represents a highly innovative application of regenerative medicine with a medium term (5-10 year) prospect for first clinical studies. This article describes a case study analysis of a project to derive red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, including the systemic challenges arising from (i) the selection of appropriate and viable regulatory protocols and (ii) technological constraints related to stem cell manufacture and scale up to clinical Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard. The method used for case study analysis (Analysis of Life Science Innovation Systems (ALSIS)) is also innovative, demonstrating a new approach to social and natural science collaboration to foresight product development pathways. Issues arising along the development pathway include cell manufacture and scale-up challenges, affected by regulatory demands emerging from the innovation ecosystem (preclinical testing and clinical trials). Our discussion reflects on the efforts being made by regulators to adapt the current pharmaceuticals-based regulatory model to an allogeneic regenerative medicine product and the broader lessons from this case study for successful innovation and translation of regenerative medicine therapies, including the role of methodological and regulatory innovation in future development in the field. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Joint Symposium of Korean Cancer Association & UICC-ARO-Cross-boundary cancer studies: cancer and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Asia.

PubMed

Park, Eun-Cheol; Kawahara, Norie; Nozaki, Shinjiro; Thabrany, Hasbullah; Yoshimi, Shunya; Park, Sohee; Lee, Duk Hyoung; Akaza, Hideyuki; Roh, Jae Kyung

2017-09-01

On 16 June 2016, the Korean Cancer Association (KCA) and Union for International Cancer Control-Asia Regional Office (UICC-ARO) organized a joint symposium as part of the official program of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Korean Cancer Association to discuss the topic 'Cross-boundary Cancer Studies: Cancer and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Asia.' Universal Health Coverage is included in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The objectives of UHC are to ensure that all people can receive high-quality medical services, are protected from public health risks, and are prevented from falling into poverty due to medical costs or loss of income arising from illness. The participants discussed the growing cost of cancer in the Asian region and the challenges that this poses to the establishment and deployment of UHC in the countries of Asia, all of which face budgetary and other systemic constraints in controlling cancer in the region. Representatives from Korea, Japan and Indonesia reported on the status of UHC in their countries and the challenges that are being faced, many of which are common to other countries in Asia. In addition to country-specific presentations about the progress of and challenges facing UHC, there were also presentations from WHO Kobe Centre concerning advancing UHC in non-communicable diseases and prospects for further collaboration and research on UHC. A presentation from the University of Tokyo also highlighted the need to focus on multidisciplinary studies in an age of globalization and digitization. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Improving hazard communication through collaborative participatory workshops: challenges and opportunities experienced at Turrialba volcano, Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Manen, S. M.; Avard, G.; Martinez, M.; de Moor, M. J.

2014-12-01

Communication is key to disaster risk management before, during and after a hazardous event occurs. In this study we used a participatory design approach to increase disaster preparedness levels around Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica) in collaboration with local communities. We organised five participatory workshops in communities around Turrialba volcano, 2 in February 2014 and a further 3 in May 2014. A total of 101 people attended and participants included the general public, decision makers and relevant government employees. The main finding of the workshops was that people want more information, specifically regarding 1) the activity level at the volcano and 2) how to prepare. In addition, the source of information was identified as an important factor in communication, with credibility and integrity being key. This outcome highlights a communication gap between the communities at risk and the institutions monitoring the volcano, who publish their scientific results monthly. This strong and explicitly expressed desire for more information should be acknowledged and responded to. However, this gives rise to the challenge of how to communicate: how to change the delivery and/or content of the messages already disseminated for greater effectiveness. In our experience, participatory workshops provide a successful mechanism for effective communication. However, critically evaluating the workshops reveals a number of challenges and opportunities, with the former arising from human, cultural and resource factors, specifically the need to develop people's capacity to participate, whereas the latter is predominantly represented by participant empowerment. As disasters are mostly felt at individual, household and community levels, improving communication, not at but with these stakeholders, is an important component of a comprehensive disaster resilience strategy. This work provides an initial insight into the potential value of participatory design approaches for communication of hazard information.

Induction of indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase and kynurenine 3-monooxygenase in rat brain following a systemic inflammatory challenge: a role for IFN-gamma?

PubMed

Connor, Thomas J; Starr, Neasa; O'Sullivan, Joan B; Harkin, Andrew

2008-08-15

Inflammation-mediated dysregulation of the kynurenine pathway has been implicated as a contributor to a number of major brain disorders. Consequently, we examined the impact of a systemic inflammatory challenge on kynurenine pathway enzyme expression in rat brain. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) expression was induced in cortex and hippocampus following systemic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Whilst IDO expression was paralleled by increased circulating interferon (IFN)-gamma concentrations, IFN-gamma expression in the brain was only modestly altered following LPS administration. In contrast, induction of IDO was associated with increased central tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 expression. Similarly, in cultured glial cells LPS-induced IDO expression was accompanied by increased TNF-alpha and IL-6 expression, whereas IFN-gamma was not detectable. These findings indicate that IFN-gamma is not required for LPS-induced IDO expression in brain. A robust increase in kynurenine-3-monooxygenase (KMO) expression was observed in rat brain 24h post LPS, without any change in kynurenine aminotransferase II (KAT II) expression. In addition, we report that constitutive expression of KAT II is approximately 8-fold higher than KMO in cortex and 20-fold higher in hippocampus. Similarly, in glial cells constitutive expression of KAT II was approximately 16-fold higher than KMO, and expression of KMO but not KAT II was induced by LPS. These data are the first to demonstrate that a systemic inflammatory challenge stimulates KMO expression in brain; a situation that is likely to favour kynurenine metabolism in a neurotoxic direction. However, our observation that expression of KAT II is much higher than KMO in rat brain is likely to counteract potential neurotoxicity that could arise from KMO induction following an acute inflammation.

Proceedings of International Wire and Cable Symposium (41st) Held in Reno, Nevada on November 16, 17, 18, and 19, 1992.

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

confirmed for same group delay, and thus no dispersion will arise. fiber. However, if birefringence arises due to stress resulting from non -circularity...55 nF/KM OTHER MATERIALS M -75 nF/KM X - NON STD. 0 - STRANDED STEEL WIRES CORE MESSENGER (S.S.CABLE) 4,4 STRANDING: C - CONVENTIONAL STRANDING ( GROUP ...evaluated, and the process control automated [7]. Therefore, additional work is needed to method for lines is confirmed. Based on the experimental

Beyond Descartes and Newton: Recovering life and humanity.

PubMed

Kauffman, Stuart A; Gare, Arran

2015-12-01

Attempts to 'naturalize' phenomenology challenge both traditional phenomenology and traditional approaches to cognitive science. They challenge Edmund Husserl's rejection of naturalism and his attempt to establish phenomenology as a foundational transcendental discipline, and they challenge efforts to explain cognition through mainstream science. While appearing to be a retreat from the bold claims made for phenomenology, it is really its triumph. Naturalized phenomenology is spearheading a successful challenge to the heritage of Cartesian dualism. This converges with the reaction against Cartesian thought within science itself. Descartes divided the universe between res cogitans, thinking substances, and res extensa, the mechanical world. The latter won with Newton and we have, in most of objective science since, literally lost our mind, hence our humanity. Despite Darwin, biologists remain children of Newton, and dream of a grand theory that is epistemologically complete and would allow lawful entailment of the evolution of the biosphere. This dream is no longer tenable. We now have to recognize that science and scientists are within and part of the world we are striving to comprehend, as proponents of endophysics have argued, and that physics, biology and mathematics have to be reconceived accordingly. Interpreting quantum mechanics from this perspective is shown to both illuminate conscious experience and reveal new paths for its further development. In biology we must now justify the use of the word "function". As we shall see, we cannot prestate the ever new biological functions that arise and constitute the very phase space of evolution. Hence, we cannot mathematize the detailed becoming of the biosphere, nor write differential equations for functional variables we do not know ahead of time, nor integrate those equations, so no laws "entail" evolution. The dream of a grand theory fails. In place of entailing laws, a post-entailing law explanatory framework is proposed in which Actuals arise in evolution that constitute new boundary conditions that are enabling constraints that create new, typically unprestatable, Adjacent Possible opportunities for further evolution, in which new Actuals arise, in a persistent becoming. Evolution flows into a typically unprestatable succession of Adjacent Possibles. Given the concept of function, the concept of functional closure of an organism making a living in its world, becomes central. Implications for patterns in evolution include historical reconstruction, and statistical laws such as the distribution of extinction events, or species per genus, and the use of formal cause, not efficient cause, laws. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Incorporating information from the U.S. Department of Energy low-dose program into regulatory decision-making: three policy integration challenges.

PubMed

Locke, Paul A

2009-11-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) sponsors a research program aimed at gaining a better understanding of how low-dose radiation affects cellular functioning and progression toward disease. There have been calls to incorporate into regulatory decision-making the scientific information that this program has produced. After a discussion of the evolution of radiation protection law and the weight-of-evidence approach that agencies employ, this paper offers some preliminary thoughts about how to approach this complex and important policy question. Three implementation challenges are identified and discussed. The first implementation challenge involves explaining low-dose effects in a systems biology model. The second challenge arises when issues of population susceptibility are juxtaposed against molecular and mechanistic studies, such as those that make up much of the U.S. DOE low-dose program. The third challenge concerns integrating the results of radiation epidemiology, especially epidemiologic studies among cohorts that are exposed to low dose and low-dose rate radiation, with the results of U.S. DOE low-dose studies.

Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Shells as Enabling Material for Information-Rich Design and Architecture.

PubMed

Schwartz, Mathew; Lenzini, Gabriele; Geng, Yong; Rønne, Peter B; Ryan, Peter Y A; Lagerwall, Jan P F

2018-05-14

The responsive and dynamic character of liquid crystals (LCs), arising from their ability to self-organize into long-range ordered structures while maintaining fluidity, has given them a role as key enabling materials in the information technology that surrounds us today. Ongoing research hints at future LC-based technologies of entirely different types, for instance by taking advantage of the peculiar behavior of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) subject to curvature. Spherical shells of CLC reflect light omnidirectionally with specific polarization and wavelength, tunable from the UV to the infrared (IR) range, with complex patterns arising when many of them are brought together. Here, these properties are analyzed and explained, and future application opportunities from an interdisciplinary standpoint are discussed. By incorporating arrangements of CLC shells in smart facades or vehicle coatings, or in objects of high value subject to counterfeiting, game-changing future uses might arise in fields spanning information security, design, and architecture. The focus here is on the challenges of a digitized and information-rich future society where humans increasingly rely on technology and share their space with autonomous vehicles, drones, and robots. © 2018 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.