Usability of stereoscopic view in teleoperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boonsuk, Wutthigrai

2015-03-01

Recently, there are tremendous growths in the area of 3D stereoscopic visualization. The 3D stereoscopic visualization technology has been used in a growing number of consumer products such as the 3D televisions and the 3D glasses for gaming systems. This technology refers to the idea that human brain develops depth of perception by retrieving information from the two eyes. Our brain combines the left and right images on the retinas and extracts depth information. Therefore, viewing two video images taken at slightly distance apart as shown in Figure 1 can create illusion of depth [8]. Proponents of this technology argue that the stereo view of 3D visualization increases user immersion and performance as more information is gained through the 3D vision as compare to the 2D view. However, it is still uncertain if additional information gained from the 3D stereoscopic visualization can actually improve user performance in real world situations such as in the case of teleoperation.

Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) Deskbook

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

information such as expiration date and lot number. DoD will probably be in a position to use a commercially proven technology with an inherently low...federal regulations, DoD was able to gain approval of pyridostigmine bromide for prophylaxis against the lethal effects of the soman nerve agent . H...www.fda.gov/cber/ H.4 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act United States Code, Title 21 – Food and Drugs (21USC

Divergence and Convergence of Risky Decision Making Across Prospective Gains and Losses: Preferences and Strategies

PubMed Central

Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A.; Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A.

2015-01-01

People choose differently when facing potential gains than when facing potential losses. Clear gross differences in decision making between gains and losses have been empirically demonstrated in numerous studies (e.g., framing effect, risk preference, loss aversion). However, theories maintain that there are strong underlying connections (e.g., reflection effect). We investigated the relationship between gains and losses decision making, examining risk preferences, and choice strategies (the reliance on option information) using a monetary gamble task with interleaved trials. For risk preferences, participants were on average risk averse in the gains domain and risk neutral/seeking in the losses domain. We specifically tested for a theoretically hypothesized correlation between individual risk preferences across the gains and losses domains (the reflection effect), but found no significant relationship in the predicted direction. Interestingly, despite the lack of reflected risk preferences, cross-domain risk preferences were still informative of individual choice behavior. For choice strategies, in both domains participants relied more heavily on the maximizing strategy than the satisficing strategy, with increased reliance on the maximizing strategy in the losses domain. Additionally, while there is no mathematical reliance between the risk preference and strategy metrics, within both domains there were significant relationships between risk preferences and strategies—the more participants relied upon the maximizing strategy the more risk neutral they were (equating value and utility maximization). These results demonstrate the complexity of gains and losses decision making, indicating the apparent contradiction that their underlying cognitive/neural processes are both dissociable and overlapping. PMID:26733779

Divergence and Convergence of Risky Decision Making Across Prospective Gains and Losses: Preferences and Strategies.

PubMed

Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A; Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A

2015-01-01

People choose differently when facing potential gains than when facing potential losses. Clear gross differences in decision making between gains and losses have been empirically demonstrated in numerous studies (e.g., framing effect, risk preference, loss aversion). However, theories maintain that there are strong underlying connections (e.g., reflection effect). We investigated the relationship between gains and losses decision making, examining risk preferences, and choice strategies (the reliance on option information) using a monetary gamble task with interleaved trials. For risk preferences, participants were on average risk averse in the gains domain and risk neutral/seeking in the losses domain. We specifically tested for a theoretically hypothesized correlation between individual risk preferences across the gains and losses domains (the reflection effect), but found no significant relationship in the predicted direction. Interestingly, despite the lack of reflected risk preferences, cross-domain risk preferences were still informative of individual choice behavior. For choice strategies, in both domains participants relied more heavily on the maximizing strategy than the satisficing strategy, with increased reliance on the maximizing strategy in the losses domain. Additionally, while there is no mathematical reliance between the risk preference and strategy metrics, within both domains there were significant relationships between risk preferences and strategies-the more participants relied upon the maximizing strategy the more risk neutral they were (equating value and utility maximization). These results demonstrate the complexity of gains and losses decision making, indicating the apparent contradiction that their underlying cognitive/neural processes are both dissociable and overlapping.

Effects of eHealth Literacy on General Practitioner Consultations: A Mediation Analysis

PubMed Central

Fitzpatrick, Mary Anne; Hess, Alexandra; Sudbury-Riley, Lynn; Hartung, Uwe

2017-01-01

Background Most evidence (not all) points in the direction that individuals with a higher level of health literacy will less frequently utilize the health care system than individuals with lower levels of health literacy. The underlying reasons of this effect are largely unclear, though people’s ability to seek health information independently at the time of wide availability of such information on the Internet has been cited in this context. Objective We propose and test two potential mediators of the negative effect of eHealth literacy on health care utilization: (1) health information seeking and (2) gain in empowerment by information seeking. Methods Data were collected in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States using a Web-based survey administered by a company specialized on providing online panels. Combined, the three samples resulted in a total of 996 baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965 who had used the Internet to search for and share health information in the previous 6 months. Measured variables include eHealth literacy, Internet health information seeking, the self-perceived gain in empowerment by that information, and the number of consultations with one’s general practitioner (GP). Path analysis was employed for data analysis. Results We found a bundle of indirect effect paths showing a positive relationship between health literacy and health care utilization: via health information seeking (Path 1), via gain in empowerment (Path 2), and via both (Path 3). In addition to the emergence of these indirect effects, the direct effect of health literacy on health care utilization disappeared. Conclusions The indirect paths from health literacy via information seeking and empowerment to GP consultations can be interpreted as a dynamic process and an expression of the ability to find, process, and understand relevant information when that is necessary. PMID:28512081

Research Experiences of Staff within a Specialist UK Higher Education Institution: Challenges, Opportunities and Priorities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hemmings, Brian; Hill, Doug; Sharp, John

2013-01-01

The study discussed here was based on a collective case approach involving a specialist UK higher education institution. Six individual interviews were carried out with a cross-sectional sample of the institution's staff members. Additional information was gained through observations and examination of relevant documents. These data were…

Professional Development for Biology Teachers in the Knowledge Economy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eiser, Simone; Knight, Bruce Allen

2008-01-01

Increasingly, the general media cover new advancements and research in the field of biology. Stem cell research, emerging diseases and bioethics are some of the issues gaining public attention. The rate of increase of these new developments creates additional challenges to teachers of biology as they try to remain abreast of new information and…

The Continental Margins Program in Georgia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cocker, M.D.; Shapiro, E.A.

1999-01-01

From 1984 to 1993, the Georgia Geologic Survey (GGS) participated in the Minerals Management Service-funded Continental Margins Program. Geological and geophysical data acquisition focused on offshore stratigraphic framework studies, phosphate-bearing Miocene-age strata, distribution of heavy minerals, near-surface alternative sources of groundwater, and development of a PC-based Coastal Geographic Information System (GIS). Seven GGS publications document results of those investigations. In addition to those publications, direct benefits of the GGS's participation include an impetus to the GGS's investigations of economic minerals on the Georgia coast, establishment of a GIS that includes computer hardware and software, and seeds for additional investigations through the information and training acquired as a result of the Continental Margins Program. These addtional investigations are quite varied in scope, and many were made possible because of GIS expertise gained as a result of the Continental Margins Program. Future investigations will also reap the benefits of the Continental Margins Program.From 1984 to 1993, the Georgia Geologic Survey (GGS) participated in the Minerals Management Service-funded Continental Margins Program. Geological and geophysical data acquisition focused on offshore stratigraphic framework studies, phosphate-bearing Miocene-age strata, distribution of heavy minerals, near-surface alternative sources of groundwater, and development of a PC-based Coastal Geographic Information System (GIS). Seven GGS publications document results of those investigations. In addition to those publications, direct benefits of the GGS's participation include an impetus to the GGS's investigations of economic minerals on the Georgia coast, establishment of a GIS that includes computer hardware and software, and seeds for additional investigations through the information and training acquired as a result of the Continental Margins Program. These additional investigations are quite varied in scope, and many were made possible because of GIS expertise gained as a result of the Continental Margins Program. Future investigations will also reap the benefits of the Continental Margins Program.

Age-related changes in decision making: comparing informed and noninformed situations.

PubMed

Van Duijvenvoorde, Anna C K; Jansen, Brenda R J; Bredman, Joren C; Huizenga, Hilde M

2012-01-01

Advantageous decision making progressively develops into early adulthood, most specifically in complex and motivationally salient decision situations in which direct feedback on gains and losses is provided (Figner & Weber, 2011). However, the factors that underlie this developmental improvement in decision making are still not well understood. The current study therefore investigates 2 potential factors, long-term memory and working memory, by assigning a large developmental sample (7-29 years of age) to a condition with either high or low demands on long-term and working memory. The first condition featured an age-adapted version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994; i.e., a noninformed situation), whereas the second condition provided an external store where explicit information on gains, losses, and probabilities per choice option was presented (i.e., an informed situation). Consistent with previous developmental IGT studies, children up to age 12 did not learn to prefer advantageous options in the noninformed condition. In contrast, all age groups learned to prefer the advantageous options in the informed conditions, although a slight developmental increase in advantageous decision making remained. These results indicate that lowering dependence on long-term and working memory improves children's advantageous decision making. The results additionally suggest that other factors, like inhibitory control processes, may play an additional role in the development of advantageous decision making.

Incentive payments are not related to expected health gain in the pay for performance scheme for UK primary care: cross-sectional analysis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The General Medical Services primary care contract for the United Kingdom financially rewards performance in 19 clinical areas, through the Quality and Outcomes Framework. Little is known about how best to determine the size of financial incentives in pay for performance schemes. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that performance indicators with larger population health benefits receive larger financial incentives. Methods We performed cross sectional analyses to quantify associations between the size of financial incentives and expected health gain in the 2004 and 2006 versions of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. We used non-parametric two-sided Spearman rank correlation tests. Health gain was measured in expected lives saved in one year and in quality adjusted life years. For each quality indicator in an average sized general practice we tested for associations first, between the marginal increase in payment and the health gain resulting from a one percent point improvement in performance and second, between total payment and the health gain at the performance threshold for maximum payment. Results Evidence for lives saved or quality adjusted life years gained was found for 28 indicators accounting for 41% of the total incentive payments. No statistically significant associations were found between the expected health gain and incentive gained from a marginal 1% increase in performance in either the 2004 or 2006 version of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. In addition no associations were found between the size of financial payment for achievement of an indicator and the expected health gain at the performance threshold for maximum payment measured in lives saved or quality adjusted life years. Conclusions In this subgroup of indicators the financial incentives were not aligned to maximise health gain. This disconnection between incentive and expected health gain risks supporting clinical activities that are only marginally effective, at the expense of more effective activities receiving lower incentives. When designing pay for performance programmes decisions about the size of the financial incentive attached to an indicator should be informed by information on the health gain to be expected from that indicator. PMID:22507660

Plane down in the city: Operation Crash and Surge.

PubMed

Kann, Duane F; Draper, Thomas W

2014-01-01

This article is about the experiences gained from the largest full-scale exercise ever conducted in the State of Florida, specifically regarding the Orlando International Airport (MCO) venues. The exercise was centred on an airplane crashing into a hotel just outside of MCO property. The scenario clarified details regarding Incident Command and the unique jurisdictional responsibilities associated with a large-scale mass casualty incident. There were additional challenges with airline operations, walking wounded, and information sharing that provided valuable experiences toward enhancing emergency operations. This article also outlines information gained by the MCO "go team" that traveled to San Francisco following the crash of Asiana flight 214. This real-life incident shone a light on many of the strengths and opportunities found throughout the MCO exercise and this article shows the interrelationship of both of these invaluable experiences.

Post-Fire Analysis of Solid-Sawn Heavy Timber Beams

Treesearch

Robert H. White; Frank E. Woeste

2013-01-01

After fire exposure, design professionals are sometimes called upon to determine if the charred heavy timbers (Figure 1) are safe for future use without additional support or repairs. In this article, the authors present a sequence of reasoned steps that will help design professionals analyze charred timbers and gain the type of information needed to...

Planning Intervention Using Dynamic Assessments: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasson, Natalie; Dodd, Barbara

2014-01-01

Dynamic assessments (DA) of language have been shown to be a useful addition to the battery of tests used to diagnose language impairments in children, and to evaluate their skills. The current article explores the value of the information gained from a DA in planning intervention for a child with language impairment. A single case study was used…

20 CFR 416.996 - Continued disability or blindness benefits pending appeal of a medical cessation determination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., unless you have completed a trial work period and are engaging in substantial gainful activity. If you... you. If you have returned to work, we will request additional information about this work activity. Unless your earnings cause your income to be too much to receive benefits, your continued benefits will...

Teacher Education, Teacher Effectiveness, and Developmental Psychology. Report No. 75-15.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brophy, Jere E.; Evertson, Carolyn M.

This paper presents some of the major findings of the Texas Teacher Effectiveness Study, an investigation of the teacher characteristics that correlate with ability to produce student learning gain. In addition to general information about the study and its findings, specific attention is drawn to contrasts between optimal behavior in low SES and…

Low-template methods yield limited extra information for PowerPlex® Fusion 6C profiling.

PubMed

Duijs, Francisca; van de Merwe, Linda; Sijen, Titia; Benschop, Corina C G

2018-06-01

Advances in autosomal DNA profiling systems enable analyzing increased numbers of short tandem repeat (STR) loci in one reaction. Increasing the number of STR loci increases the amount of information that may be obtained from a (crime scene) sample. In this study, we examined whether even more allelic information can be obtained by applying low-template methods. To this aim, the performance of the PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR typing system was assessed when increasing the number of PCR cycles or enhancing the capillary electrophoresis (CE) injection settings. Results show that applying these low-template methods yields limited extra information and comes at cost of more background noise. In addition, the gain in detection of alleles was much smaller when compared to the gain when applying low-template methods to the 15-loci AmpFLSTR® NGM™ system. Consequently, the PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR typing system was implemented using standard settings only; low-template methods were not implemented for our routine forensic casework. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Additive Classical Capacity of Quantum Channels Assisted by Noisy Entanglement.

PubMed

Zhuang, Quntao; Zhu, Elton Yechao; Shor, Peter W

2017-05-19

We give a capacity formula for the classical information transmission over a noisy quantum channel, with separable encoding by the sender and limited resources provided by the receiver's preshared ancilla. Instead of a pure state, we consider the signal-ancilla pair in a mixed state, purified by a "witness." Thus, the signal-witness correlation limits the resource available from the signal-ancilla correlation. Our formula characterizes the utility of different forms of resources, including noisy or limited entanglement assistance, for classical communication. With separable encoding, the sender's signals across multiple channel uses are still allowed to be entangled, yet our capacity formula is additive. In particular, for generalized covariant channels, our capacity formula has a simple closed form. Moreover, our additive capacity formula upper bounds the general coherent attack's information gain in various two-way quantum key distribution protocols. For Gaussian protocols, the additivity of the formula indicates that the collective Gaussian attack is the most powerful.

Effect of intermittent kangaroo mother care on weight gain of low birth weight neonates with delayed weight gain.

PubMed

Samra, Nashwa M; Taweel, Amal El; Cadwell, Karin

2013-01-01

To evaluate intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with additional opportunities to breastfeed on weight gain of low birth weight (LBW) neonates with delayed weight gain. 40 LBW neonates were followed to see whether KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed improved weight gain. In the KMC group, the mean age of regaining birth weight was significantly less (15.68 vs. 24.56 days) and the average daily weight gain was significantly higher (22.09 vs. 10.39 g, p < .001) than controls. KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed was found to be an effective intervention for LBWs with delayed weight gain and should be considered to be an effective strategy.

Antipsychotic metabolic effects: weight gain, diabetes mellitus, and lipid abnormalities.

PubMed

McIntyre, R S; McCann, S M; Kennedy, S H

2001-04-01

To review published and nonpublished literature describing changes in weight, glucose homeostasis, and lipid milieu with antipsychotics. A Medline search was completed using the words weight gain, diabetes mellitus, cholesterol, triglycerides, risperidone, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, predictors, prolactin, obesity, and conventional antipsychotics. Publications, including original articles, review articles, letters to the editor, abstracts or posters presented at professional meetings in the last 4 years, and references from published articles, were collected. Manufacturers, including Eli Lilly Canada Inc, JanssenOrtho Inc, Pfizer Canada Inc, AstraZeneca Inc, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, were contacted to retrieve additional medical information. The topic of antipsychotic-induced weight gain is understudied, and there are relatively few well-controlled studies. Weight gain as a side effect has been described with both conventional and atypical antipsychotics. Moreover, some atypical antipsychotics are associated with de novo diabetes mellitus and increased serum triglyceride levels. Predictors of weight gain may be age, baseline body mass index, appetite stimulation, previous antipsychotic exposure, and antipsychotic treatment duration. Significant weight gain is reported with the existing atypical antipsychotics. The weight gain described is highly distressing to patients, may reduce treatment adherence, and may increase the relative risk for diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia. Physicians employing these agents should routinely monitor weight, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles.

Exploring the Design and Role of Mobile Apps for Healthcare Providers to Find Teratogenic Information

PubMed Central

Lie, Lily; Shetty, Vishwas; Gupta, Karan; Polifka, Janine E; Markham, Glen; Albee, Sarah; Collins, Carol; Hsieh, Gary

2017-01-01

Healthcare providers (HCPs) caring for pregnant patients often need information on drug risks to the embryo or fetus, but such complex information takes time to find and is difficult to convey on an app. In this work, we first surveyed 167 HCPs to understand their current teratogen information-seeking practices to help inform our general design goals. Using the insights gained, we then designed a prototype of a mobile app and tested it with 22 HCPs. We learned that HCP ’s information needs in this context can be grouped into 3 types: to understand, to decide, and to explain. Different sets of information and features may be needed to support these different needs. Further, while some HCPs had concerns about appearing unprofessional and unknowledgeable when using the app in front of patients, many did not. They noted that incorporating mobile information apps into practice improves information access, can help signal care and technology-savviness, in addition to providing an opportunity to engage and educate patients. Implications for design and additional features for reference apps for HCPs are discussed. PMID:29854178

Parity-time-symmetry enhanced optomechanically-induced-transparency

PubMed Central

Li, Wenlin; Jiang, Yunfeng; Li, Chong; Song, Heshan

2016-01-01

We propose and analyze a scheme to enhance optomechanically-induced-transparency (OMIT) based on parity-time-symmetric optomechanical system. Our results predict that an OMIT window which does not exist originally can appear in weak optomechanical coupling and driving system via coupling an auxiliary active cavity with optical gain. This phenomenon is quite different from these reported in previous works in which the gain is considered just to damage OMIT phenomenon even leads to electromagnetically induced absorption or inverted-OMIT. Such enhanced OMIT effects are ascribed to the additional gain which can increase photon number in cavity without reducing effective decay. We also discuss the scheme feasibility by analyzing recent experiment parameters. Our work provide a promising platform for the coherent manipulation and slow light operation, which has potential applications for quantum information processing and quantum optical device. PMID:27489193

Determinants of change in body weight and body fat distribution over 5.5 years in a sample of free-living black South African women.

PubMed

Chantler, Sarah; Dickie, Kasha; Micklesfield, Lisa K; Goedecke, Julia H

To identify socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of weight gain in a sample of premenopasual black South African (SA) women. Changes in body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, computerised tomography), socio-economic status (SES) and behavioural/lifestyle factors were measured in 64 black SA women at baseline (27 ± 8 years) and after 5.5 years. A lower body mass index (BMI) and nulliparity, together with access to sanitation, were significant determinants of weight gain and change in body fat distribution over 5.5 years. In addition, younger women increased their body weight more than their older counterparts, but this association was not independent of other determinants. Further research is required to examine the effect of changing SES, as well as the full impact of childbearing on weight gain over time in younger women with lower BMIs. This information will suggest areas for possible intervention to prevent long-term weight gain in these women.

Effects of entanglement in an ideal optical amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franson, J. D.; Brewster, R. A.

2018-04-01

In an ideal linear amplifier, the output signal is linearly related to the input signal with an additive noise that is independent of the input. The decoherence of a quantum-mechanical state as a result of optical amplification is usually assumed to be due to the addition of quantum noise. Here we show that entanglement between the input signal and the amplifying medium can produce an exponentially-large amount of decoherence in an ideal optical amplifier even when the gain is arbitrarily close to unity and the added noise is negligible. These effects occur for macroscopic superposition states, where even a small amount of gain can leave a significant amount of which-path information in the environment. Our results show that the usual input/output relation of a linear amplifier does not provide a complete description of the output state when post-selection is used.

Effect of Intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care on Weight Gain of Low Birth Weight Neonates With Delayed Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Samra, Nashwa M.; Taweel, Amal El; Cadwell, Karin

2013-01-01

Objective: To evaluate intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with additional opportunities to breastfeed on weight gain of low birth weight (LBW) neonates with delayed weight gain. Methods: 40 LBW neonates were followed to see whether KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed improved weight gain. Results: In the KMC group, the mean age of regaining birth weight was significantly less (15.68 vs. 24.56 days) and the average daily weight gain was significantly higher (22.09 vs. 10.39 g, p < .001) than controls. Conclusion: KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed was found to be an effective intervention for LBWs with delayed weight gain and should be considered to be an effective strategy. PMID:24868132

Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Jonathan D.

2005-01-01

Several norms for how people should assess a question's usefulness have been proposed, notably Bayesian diagnosticity, information gain (mutual information), Kullback-Liebler distance, probability gain (error minimization), and impact (absolute change). Several probabilistic models of previous experiments on categorization, covariation assessment,…

A Curricular Intervention for Teaching and Learning: Measurement of Gains of First-Year College Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Thomas D.; Lemon, Mark A.

2016-01-01

There is continued debate about the changing and varied nature of first year college courses in American higher education institutions; therefore, additional research is needed to inform faculty and administration of the specific areas on which to focus for teaching and learning in these courses. This study is one possible approach to easily…

Actual Time Required for Dynamic Fluoroscopic Intraoperative Cholangiography

PubMed Central

Whitwam, Paul; Turner, David; Kennedy, Kathy; Hashmi, Syed

2005-01-01

Objectives: This study was undertaken to determine the actual amount of time a dynamic fluoroscopic intraoperative cholangiogram adds to a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A secondary objective was to define the information gained from this procedure. Methods: A consecutive case study of 52 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy was used. Time was recorded from placement of a laparoscopic hemoclip across the cystic duct at its junction with the gallbladder until successful completion of the intraoperative cholangiogram. The mean, median, and range of times for these cases, as well as the results and false-negative rates, were determined. Results: Cholangiography was successfully completed in 96% of patients. The mean time added to laparoscopic cholecystectomy by the addition of dynamic fluoroscopic intraoperative cholangiography was 4.3 minutes. The median time was 3.0 minutes. The times ranged from 2.0 minutes to 16.0 minutes. Choledocholithiasis was present in 15.4% of these patients. The false-positive rate was zero in this study. Conclusions: Dynamic fluoroscopic intraoperative cholangiogram was fast and efficient. The information gained was significant in that 15% of patients proceeded on to laparoscopic common bile duct exploration. We conclude that intraoperative cholangiography should be a routine addition to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. PMID:15984705

Effects of eHealth Literacy on General Practitioner Consultations: A Mediation Analysis.

PubMed

Schulz, Peter Johannes; Fitzpatrick, Mary Anne; Hess, Alexandra; Sudbury-Riley, Lynn; Hartung, Uwe

2017-05-16

Most evidence (not all) points in the direction that individuals with a higher level of health literacy will less frequently utilize the health care system than individuals with lower levels of health literacy. The underlying reasons of this effect are largely unclear, though people's ability to seek health information independently at the time of wide availability of such information on the Internet has been cited in this context. We propose and test two potential mediators of the negative effect of eHealth literacy on health care utilization: (1) health information seeking and (2) gain in empowerment by information seeking. Data were collected in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States using a Web-based survey administered by a company specialized on providing online panels. Combined, the three samples resulted in a total of 996 baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965 who had used the Internet to search for and share health information in the previous 6 months. Measured variables include eHealth literacy, Internet health information seeking, the self-perceived gain in empowerment by that information, and the number of consultations with one's general practitioner (GP). Path analysis was employed for data analysis. We found a bundle of indirect effect paths showing a positive relationship between health literacy and health care utilization: via health information seeking (Path 1), via gain in empowerment (Path 2), and via both (Path 3). In addition to the emergence of these indirect effects, the direct effect of health literacy on health care utilization disappeared. The indirect paths from health literacy via information seeking and empowerment to GP consultations can be interpreted as a dynamic process and an expression of the ability to find, process, and understand relevant information when that is necessary. ©Peter Johannes Schulz, Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, Alexandra Hess, Lynn Sudbury-Riley, Uwe Hartung. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 16.05.2017.

Diverter Decision Aiding for In-Flight Diversions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rudolph, Frederick M.; Homoki, David A.; Sexton, George A.

1990-01-01

It was determined that artificial intelligence technology can provide pilots with the help they need in making the complex decisions concerning en route changes in a flight plan. A diverter system should have the capability to take all of the available information and produce a recommendation to the pilot. Phase three illustrated that using Joshua to develop rules for an expert system and a Statice database provided additional flexibility by permitting the development of dynamic weighting of diversion relevant parameters. This increases the fidelity of the AI functions cited as useful in aiding the pilot to perform situational assessment, navigation rerouting, flight planning/replanning, and maneuver execution. Additionally, a prototype pilot-vehicle interface (PVI) was designed providing for the integration of both text and graphical based information. Advanced technologies were applied to PVI design, resulting in a hierarchical menu based architecture to increase the efficiency of information transfer while reducing expected workload. Additional efficiency was gained by integrating spatial and text displays into an integrated user interface.

Empathy Modulates the Evaluation Processing of Altruistic Outcomes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xin; Hu, Xinmu; Shi, Kan; Mai, Xiaoqin

2018-01-01

Empathy plays a central role in social decisions involving psychological conflict, such as whether to help another person at the cost of one’s own interests. Using the event-related potential (ERP) technique, the current study explored the neural mechanisms underlying the empathic effect on the evaluation processing of outcomes in conflict-of-interest situations, in which the gain of others resulted in the performer’s loss. In the high-empathy condition, the beneficiaries were underprivileged students who were living in distress (stranger in need). In the low-empathy condition, the beneficiaries were general students without miserable information (stranger not in need). ERP results showed that the FRN was more negative-going for self no-gain than self gain, but showed reversed pattern for other’s outcome (i.e., more negative for gain than no-gain) in the low-empathy condition, indicating that participants interpreted the gain of others as the loss of themselves. However, the reversed FRN pattern was not observed in the high-empathy condition, suggesting that the neural responses to one’s own loss are buffered by empathy. In addition, the P3 valence effect was observed only in the self condition, but not in the two stranger conditions, indicating that the P3 is more sensitive to self-relevant information. Moreover, the results of subjective rating showed that more empathic concern and altruistic motivation were elicited in the high-empathy condition than in the low-empathy condition, and these scores had negative linear correlations only with the FRN, but not with the P3. These findings suggest that when outcomes following altruistic decisions involve conflict of interest, the early stage of the processing of outcome evaluation could be modulated by the empathic level. PMID:29670553

Parabolic replicator dynamics and the principle of minimum Tsallis information gain

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Non-linear, parabolic (sub-exponential) and hyperbolic (super-exponential) models of prebiological evolution of molecular replicators have been proposed and extensively studied. The parabolic models appear to be the most realistic approximations of real-life replicator systems due primarily to product inhibition. Unlike the more traditional exponential models, the distribution of individual frequencies in an evolving parabolic population is not described by the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) Principle in its traditional form, whereby the distribution with the maximum Shannon entropy is chosen among all the distributions that are possible under the given constraints. We sought to identify a more general form of the MaxEnt principle that would be applicable to parabolic growth. Results We consider a model of a population that reproduces according to the parabolic growth law and show that the frequencies of individuals in the population minimize the Tsallis relative entropy (non-additive information gain) at each time moment. Next, we consider a model of a parabolically growing population that maintains a constant total size and provide an “implicit” solution for this system. We show that in this case, the frequencies of the individuals in the population also minimize the Tsallis information gain at each moment of the ‘internal time” of the population. Conclusions The results of this analysis show that the general MaxEnt principle is the underlying law for the evolution of a broad class of replicator systems including not only exponential but also parabolic and hyperbolic systems. The choice of the appropriate entropy (information) function depends on the growth dynamics of a particular class of systems. The Tsallis entropy is non-additive for independent subsystems, i.e. the information on the subsystems is insufficient to describe the system as a whole. In the context of prebiotic evolution, this “non-reductionist” nature of parabolic replicator systems might reflect the importance of group selection and competition between ensembles of cooperating replicators. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Viswanadham Sridhara (nominated by Claus Wilke), Puushottam Dixit (nominated by Sergei Maslov), and Nick Grishin. For the complete reviews, see the Reviewers’ Reports section. PMID:23937956

Artificial Sweeteners: A systematic review of metabolic effects in youth

PubMed Central

Brown, Rebecca J.; De Banate, Mary Ann; Rother, Kristina I.

2010-01-01

Epidemiological data have demonstrated an association between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. Evidence of a causal relationship linking artificial sweetener use to weight gain and other metabolic health effects is limited. However, recent animal studies provide intriguing information that supports an active metabolic role of artificial sweeteners. This systematic review examines the current literature on artificial sweetener consumption in children and its health effects. Eighteen studies were identified. Data from large, epidemiologic studies support the existence of an association between artificially-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children. Randomized controlled trials in children are very limited, and do not clearly demonstrate either beneficial or adverse metabolic effects of artificial sweeteners. Presently, there is no strong clinical evidence for causality regarding artificial sweetener use and metabolic health effects, but it is important to examine possible contributions of these common food additives to the global rise in pediatric obesity and diabetes. PMID:20078374

Artificial sweeteners: a systematic review of metabolic effects in youth.

PubMed

Brown, Rebecca J; de Banate, Mary Ann; Rother, Kristina I

2010-08-01

Epidemiological data have demonstrated an association between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. Evidence of a causal relationship linking artificial sweetener use to weight gain and other metabolic health effects is limited. However, recent animal studies provide intriguing information that supports an active metabolic role of artificial sweeteners. This systematic review examines the current literature on artificial sweetener consumption in children and its health effects. Eighteen studies were identified. Data from large, epidemiologic studies support the existence of an association between artificially-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children. Randomized controlled trials in children are very limited, and do not clearly demonstrate either beneficial or adverse metabolic effects of artificial sweeteners. Presently, there is no strong clinical evidence for causality regarding artificial sweetener use and metabolic health effects, but it is important to examine possible contributions of these common food additives to the global rise in pediatric obesity and diabetes.

A method for calculating minimum biodiversity offset multipliers accounting for time discounting, additionality and permanence

PubMed Central

Laitila, Jussi; Moilanen, Atte; Pouzols, Federico M

2014-01-01

Biodiversity offsetting, which means compensation for ecological and environmental damage caused by development activity, has recently been gaining strong political support around the world. One common criticism levelled at offsets is that they exchange certain and almost immediate losses for uncertain future gains. In the case of restoration offsets, gains may be realized after a time delay of decades, and with considerable uncertainty. Here we focus on offset multipliers, which are ratios between damaged and compensated amounts (areas) of biodiversity. Multipliers have the attraction of being an easily understandable way of deciding the amount of offsetting needed. On the other hand, exact values of multipliers are very difficult to compute in practice if at all possible. We introduce a mathematical method for deriving minimum levels for offset multipliers under the assumption that offsetting gains must compensate for the losses (no net loss offsetting). We calculate absolute minimum multipliers that arise from time discounting and delayed emergence of offsetting gains for a one-dimensional measure of biodiversity. Despite the highly simplified model, we show that even the absolute minimum multipliers may easily be quite large, in the order of dozens, and theoretically arbitrarily large, contradicting the relatively low multipliers found in literature and in practice. While our results inform policy makers about realistic minimal offsetting requirements, they also challenge many current policies and show the importance of rigorous models for computing (minimum) offset multipliers. The strength of the presented method is that it requires minimal underlying information. We include a supplementary spreadsheet tool for calculating multipliers to facilitate application. PMID:25821578

Information sensitivity functions to assess parameter information gain and identifiability of dynamical systems.

PubMed

Pant, Sanjay

2018-05-01

A new class of functions, called the 'information sensitivity functions' (ISFs), which quantify the information gain about the parameters through the measurements/observables of a dynamical system are presented. These functions can be easily computed through classical sensitivity functions alone and are based on Bayesian and information-theoretic approaches. While marginal information gain is quantified by decrease in differential entropy, correlations between arbitrary sets of parameters are assessed through mutual information. For individual parameters, these information gains are also presented as marginal posterior variances, and, to assess the effect of correlations, as conditional variances when other parameters are given. The easy to interpret ISFs can be used to (a) identify time intervals or regions in dynamical system behaviour where information about the parameters is concentrated; (b) assess the effect of measurement noise on the information gain for the parameters; (c) assess whether sufficient information in an experimental protocol (input, measurements and their frequency) is available to identify the parameters; (d) assess correlation in the posterior distribution of the parameters to identify the sets of parameters that are likely to be indistinguishable; and (e) assess identifiability problems for particular sets of parameters. © 2018 The Authors.

U.S. Department of Education 2008 No Child Left Behind -- Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Statistical Summary of National Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2008

2008-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior in their state or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. This document includes 2008 statistical information for public and private blue ribbon schools for 45 states. In addition to summarized totals,…

Comparison of standardized versus individualized caloric prescriptions in the nutritional rehabilitation of inpatients with anorexia nervosa

PubMed Central

Haynos, Ann F.; Snipes, Cassandra; Guarda, Angela; Mayer, Laurel E.; Attia, Evelyn

2015-01-01

Objective Sparse research informs how caloric prescriptions should be advanced during nutritional rehabilitation of inpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN). This study compared the impact of a standardized caloric increase approach, in which increases occurred on a predetermined schedule, to an individualized approach, in which increases occurred only following insufficient weight gain, on rate, pattern, and cumulative amount of weight gain and other weight restoration outcomes. Method This study followed a natural experiment design comparing AN inpatients consecutively admitted before (n = 35) and after (n = 35) an institutional change from individualized to standardized caloric prescriptions. Authors examined the impact of prescription plan on weekly weight gain in the first treatment month using multilevel modeling. Within a subsample remaining inpatient through weight restoration (n = 40), multiple regressions examined the impact of caloric prescription plan on time to weight restoration, length of hospitalization, maximum caloric prescription, discharge BMI, and incidence of activity restriction and edema. Results There were significant interactions between prescription plan and quadratic time on average weekly weight gain (p = .03) and linear time on cumulative weekly weight gain (p < .001). Under the standardized plan, patients gained in an accelerated curvilinear pattern (p = .04) and, therefore, gained cumulatively greater amounts of weight over time (p < .001). Additionally, 30% fewer patients required activity restriction under the standardized plan. Discussion Standardized caloric prescriptions may confer advantage by facilitating accelerated early weight gain and lower incidence of bed rest without increasing the incidence of refeeding syndrome. PMID:26769581

Assessing the utility of autofluorescence-based pulmonary optical endomicroscopy to predict the malignant potential of solitary pulmonary nodules in humans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seth, Sohan; Akram, Ahsan R.; McCool, Paul; Westerfeld, Jody; Wilson, David; McLaughlin, Stephen; Dhaliwal, Kevin; Williams, Christopher K. I.

2016-08-01

Solitary pulmonary nodules are common, often incidental findings on chest CT scans. The investigation of pulmonary nodules is time-consuming and often leads to protracted follow-up with ongoing radiological surveillance, however, clinical calculators that assess the risk of the nodule being malignant exist to help in the stratification of patients. Furthermore recent advances in interventional pulmonology include the ability to both navigate to nodules and also to perform autofluorescence endomicroscopy. In this study we assessed the efficacy of incorporating additional information from label-free fibre-based optical endomicrosopy of the nodule on assessing risk of malignancy. Using image analysis and machine learning approaches, we find that this information does not yield any gain in predictive performance in a cohort of patients. Further advances with pulmonary endomicroscopy will require the addition of molecular tracers to improve information from this procedure.

Side-information-dependent correlation channel estimation in hash-based distributed video coding.

PubMed

Deligiannis, Nikos; Barbarien, Joeri; Jacobs, Marc; Munteanu, Adrian; Skodras, Athanassios; Schelkens, Peter

2012-04-01

In the context of low-cost video encoding, distributed video coding (DVC) has recently emerged as a potential candidate for uplink-oriented applications. This paper builds on a concept of correlation channel (CC) modeling, which expresses the correlation noise as being statistically dependent on the side information (SI). Compared with classical side-information-independent (SII) noise modeling adopted in current DVC solutions, it is theoretically proven that side-information-dependent (SID) modeling improves the Wyner-Ziv coding performance. Anchored in this finding, this paper proposes a novel algorithm for online estimation of the SID CC parameters based on already decoded information. The proposed algorithm enables bit-plane-by-bit-plane successive refinement of the channel estimation leading to progressively improved accuracy. Additionally, the proposed algorithm is included in a novel DVC architecture that employs a competitive hash-based motion estimation technique to generate high-quality SI at the decoder. Experimental results corroborate our theoretical gains and validate the accuracy of the channel estimation algorithm. The performance assessment of the proposed architecture shows remarkable and consistent coding gains over a germane group of state-of-the-art distributed and standard video codecs, even under strenuous conditions, i.e., large groups of pictures and highly irregular motion content.

Determinants of change in body weight and body fat distribution over 5.5 years in a sample of free-living black South African women

PubMed Central

Chantler, Sarah; Dickie, Kasha; Micklesfield, Lisa K; Goedecke, Julia H; Goedecke, Julia H; Micklesfield, Lisa K

2016-01-01

Summary Objective To identify socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of weight gain in a sample of premenopasual black South African (SA) women. Methods Changes in body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, computerised tomography), socio-economic status (SES) and behavioural/lifestyle factors were measured in 64 black SA women at baseline (27 ± 8 years) and after 5.5 years. Results A lower body mass index (BMI) and nulliparity, together with access to sanitation, were significant determinants of weight gain and change in body fat distribution over 5.5 years. In addition, younger women increased their body weight more than their older counterparts, but this association was not independent of other determinants. Conclusion Further research is required to examine the effect of changing SES, as well as the full impact of childbearing on weight gain over time in younger women with lower BMIs. This information will suggest areas for possible intervention to prevent long-term weight gain in these women. PMID:27224680

Understanding the nature of information seeking behavior in critical care: implications for the design of health information technology.

PubMed

Kannampallil, Thomas G; Franklin, Amy; Mishra, Rashmi; Almoosa, Khalid F; Cohen, Trevor; Patel, Vimla L

2013-01-01

Information in critical care environments is distributed across multiple sources, such as paper charts, electronic records, and support personnel. For decision-making tasks, physicians have to seek, gather, filter and organize information from various sources in a timely manner. The objective of this research is to characterize the nature of physicians' information seeking process, and the content and structure of clinical information retrieved during this process. Eight medical intensive care unit physicians provided a verbal think-aloud as they performed a clinical diagnosis task. Verbal descriptions of physicians' activities, sources of information they used, time spent on each information source, and interactions with other clinicians were captured for analysis. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. We found that the information seeking process was exploratory and iterative and driven by the contextual organization of information. While there was no significant differences between the overall time spent paper or electronic records, there was marginally greater relative information gain (i.e., more unique information retrieved per unit time) from electronic records (t(6)=1.89, p=0.1). Additionally, information retrieved from electronic records was at a higher level (i.e., observations and findings) in the knowledge structure than paper records, reflecting differences in the nature of knowledge utilization across resources. A process of local optimization drove the information seeking process: physicians utilized information that maximized their information gain even though it required significantly more cognitive effort. Implications for the design of health information technology solutions that seamlessly integrate information seeking activities within the workflow, such as enriching the clinical information space and supporting efficient clinical reasoning and decision-making, are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Additive Manufacturing Design Considerations for Liquid Engine Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitten, Dave; Hissam, Andy; Baker, Kevin; Rice, Darron

2014-01-01

The Marshall Space Flight Center's Propulsion Systems Department has gained significant experience in the last year designing, building, and testing liquid engine components using additive manufacturing. The department has developed valve, duct, turbo-machinery, and combustion device components using this technology. Many valuable lessons were learned during this process. These lessons will be the focus of this presentation. We will present criteria for selecting part candidates for additive manufacturing. Some part characteristics are 'tailor made' for this process. Selecting the right parts for the process is the first step to maximizing productivity gains. We will also present specific lessons we learned about feature geometry that can and cannot be produced using additive manufacturing machines. Most liquid engine components were made using a two-step process. The base part was made using additive manufacturing and then traditional machining processes were used to produce the final part. The presentation will describe design accommodations needed to make the base part and lessons we learned about which features could be built directly and which require the final machine process. Tolerance capabilities, surface finish, and material thickness allowances will also be covered. Additive Manufacturing can produce internal passages that cannot be made using traditional approaches. It can also eliminate a significant amount of manpower by reducing part count and leveraging model-based design and analysis techniques. Information will be shared about performance enhancements and design efficiencies we experienced for certain categories of engine parts.

Assessing non-additive effects in GBLUP model.

PubMed

Vieira, I C; Dos Santos, J P R; Pires, L P M; Lima, B M; Gonçalves, F M A; Balestre, M

2017-05-10

Understanding non-additive effects in the expression of quantitative traits is very important in genotype selection, especially in species where the commercial products are clones or hybrids. The use of molecular markers has allowed the study of non-additive genetic effects on a genomic level, in addition to a better understanding of its importance in quantitative traits. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the GBLUP model in different genetic models and relationship matrices and their influence on the estimates of genetic parameters. We used real data of the circumference at breast height in Eucalyptus spp and simulated data from a population of F 2 . Three commonly reported kinship structures in the literature were adopted. The simulation results showed that the inclusion of epistatic kinship improved prediction estimates of genomic breeding values. However, the non-additive effects were not accurately recovered. The Fisher information matrix for real dataset showed high collinearity in estimates of additive, dominant, and epistatic variance, causing no gain in the prediction of the unobserved data and convergence problems. Estimates presented differences of genetic parameters and correlations considering the different kinship structures. Our results show that the inclusion of non-additive effects can improve the predictive ability or even the prediction of additive effects. However, the high distortions observed in the variance estimates when the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumption is violated due to the presence of selection or inbreeding can converge at zero gains in models that consider epistasis in genomic kinship.

[The Prognostic Validity of the Functional Capacity Evaluation ELA in Work-Related Medical Rehabilitation].

PubMed

Bühne, David; Alles, Torsten; Hetzel, Christian; Froböse, Ingo

2018-04-01

The aim of the study was to determine the ability of FCE (Functional Capacity Evaluation) to predict sustained return-to-work (RTW). A multicentric prospective cohort study was conducted in cooperation with 4 outpatient rehabilitation clinics. The sample consisted of 198 patients. Sustained RTW was defined as a combination of employment at 3-month follow-up with a low level of sick leave (dependent variable 1) resp. with a moderate or better rating of the current work ability with respect to the physical demands at work (dependent variable 2). Based on questionnaires and FCE information, logistic regression models were calculated to predict sustained RTW. The FCE-information at discharge predicted sustained RTW after adjusting for assessors (Odds Ratio - OR=17.2 [95% CI: 6.2-57.8] resp. OR 12.8 [95% CI: 5.1-32.1]) as well as after adjusting for additional RTW predictors (OR 14.6 [95% CI: 4.8-44.9] resp. OR 10.1 [95% CI: 3.5-29.4]). Concerning dependent variable 1 and the FCE-information at admission there was a gain of information towards a model based on patient self-reports (OR 2.6 [95% CI: 1.1-6.0]). The study supports the predictive validity of crude and adjusted FCE-information. The gain of information towards patient self-reports is unclear. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Representation of potential information gain to measure the price of anarchy on ISR activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz-Peña, Hector J.; Hirsch, Michael; Karwan, Mark; Nagi, Rakesh; Sudit, Moises

2013-05-01

One of the main technical challenges facing intelligence analysts today is effectively determining information gaps from huge amounts of collected data. Moreover, getting the right information to/from the right person (e.g., analyst, warfighter on the edge) at the right time in a distributed environment has been elusive to our military forces. Synchronization of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities to maximize the efficient utilization of limited resources (both in quantity and capabilities) has become critically important to increase the accuracy and timeliness of overall information gain. Given this reality, we are interested in quantifying the degradation of solution quality (i.e., information gain) as a centralized system synchronizing ISR activities (from information gap identification to information collection and dissemination) moves to a more decentralized framework. This evaluation extends the concept of price of anarchy, a measure of the inefficiency of a system when agents maximize decisions without coordination, by considering different levels of decentralization. Our initial research representing the potential information gain in geospatial and time discretized spaces is presented. This potential information gain map can represent a consolidation of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield products as input to automated ISR synchronization tools. Using the coordination of unmanned vehicles (UxVs) as an example, we developed a mathematical programming model for multi-perspective optimization in which each UxV develops its own fight plan to support mission objectives based only on its perspective of the environment (i.e., potential information gain map). Information is only exchanged when UxVs are part of the same communication network.

A study of surface temperatures, clouds and net radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dhuria, Harbans

1994-01-01

The study is continuing and it is focused on examining seasonal relationships between climate parameters such as the surface temperatures, the net radiation and cloud types and amount on a global basis for the period February 1985 to January 1987. The study consists of an analysis of the combined Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (ISCCP) products. The main emphasis is on obtaining the information about the interactions and relationships of Earth Radiation Budget parameters, cloud and temperature information. The purpose is to gain additional qualitative and quantitative insight into the cloud climate relationship.

Review of Extracting Information From the Social Web for Health Personalization

PubMed Central

Karlsen, Randi; Bonander, Jason

2011-01-01

In recent years the Web has come into its own as a social platform where health consumers are actively creating and consuming Web content. Moreover, as the Web matures, consumers are gaining access to personalized applications adapted to their health needs and interests. The creation of personalized Web applications relies on extracted information about the users and the content to personalize. The Social Web itself provides many sources of information that can be used to extract information for personalization apart from traditional Web forms and questionnaires. This paper provides a review of different approaches for extracting information from the Social Web for health personalization. We reviewed research literature across different fields addressing the disclosure of health information in the Social Web, techniques to extract that information, and examples of personalized health applications. In addition, the paper includes a discussion of technical and socioethical challenges related to the extraction of information for health personalization. PMID:21278049

Relationship Between Excessive Gestational Weight Gain and Neonatal Adiposity in Women With Mild Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

PubMed

Blackwell, Sean C; Landon, Mark B; Mele, Lisa; Reddy, Uma M; Casey, Brian M; Wapner, Ronald J; Varner, Michael W; Rouse, Dwight J; Thorp, John M; Sciscione, Anthony; Catalano, Patrick; Saade, George; Caritis, Steve N; Sorokin, Yoram; Grobman, William A

2016-12-01

To evaluate the relationships among excessive gestational weight gain, neonatal adiposity, and adverse obstetric outcomes in women with mild gestational diabetes mellitus. This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter randomized clinical trial of women with mild gestational diabetes mellitus. Based on self-reported prepregnancy body weight, gestational weight gain was categorized as excessive if it was greater than 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines. Maternal outcomes and neonatal anthropomorphic characteristics were compared between women with excessive weight gain and those without excessive weight gain. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to adjust for confounding factors. We studied 841 women who participated in the main trial and had prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and delivery information available (n=431 treatment group, n=410 no treatment). After adjustment for factors including treatment and prepregnancy BMI, excessive weight gain remained associated with large for gestational age (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.81-4.93), birth weight greater than 4,000 g (adjusted OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.54-4.40), preeclampsia (adjusted OR 2.96, 95% CI 1.35-7.03), and cesarean delivery for labor arrest (adjusted OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.30-4.44). In addition, excessive weight gain was independently associated with increased total neonatal fat (P<.001) and birth weight (P<.001). In women with both treated and untreated mild gestational diabetes mellitus, excessive gestational weight gain was independently associated with both greater birth weight and adiposity.

Searching Online for Information About Vaccination: Assessing the Influence of User-Specific Cognitive Factors Using Eye-Tracking.

PubMed

Kessler, Sabrina Heike; Zillich, Arne Freya

2018-04-20

In Germany, the Internet is gaining increasing importance for laypeople as a source of health information, including information about vaccination. While previous research has focused on the characteristics of online information about vaccination, this study investigated the influence of relevant user-specific cognitive factors on users' search behavior for online information about vaccination. Additionally, it examined how searching online for information about vaccination influences users' attitudes toward vaccination. We conducted an experimental study with 56 undergraduate students from a German university that consisted of a survey and eye-tracking while browsing the Internet, followed by a content analysis of the eye-tracking data. The results show that the users exposed themselves to balanced and diverse online information about vaccination. However, none of the examined cognitive factors (attitude toward vaccination, attitude salience, prior knowledge about vaccination, need for cognition, and cognitive involvement) influenced the amount of time users spent searching the Internet for information about vaccination. Our study was not able to document any effects of attitude-consistent selective exposure to online information about vaccination. In addition, we found no effect on attitude change after having searched the Internet for vaccine-related information. Thus, users' search behavior regarding vaccination seems to be relatively stable.

The Economic Gains of Achieving Reduced Alcohol Consumption Targets for Australia

PubMed Central

Magnus, Anne; Cadilhac, Dominique; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby; Pearce, Dora; Carter, Rob

2012-01-01

Objectives. To inform prevention policy, we estimated the economic benefits to health, production, and leisure in the 2008 Australian population of a realistic target reduction in per capita annual adult alcohol consumption. Methods. We chose a target of 6.4 liters annually per capita on average. We modeled lifetime health benefits as fewer incident cases of alcohol-related disease, deaths, and disability adjusted life years. We estimated production gains with surveyed participation and absenteeism rates. We valued gains with friction cost and human capital methods. We estimated and valued household production and leisure gains from time-use surveys. Results. A reduction of 3.4 liters of alcohol consumed annually per capita would result in one third fewer incident cases of disease (98 000), deaths (380), working days lost (5 million), days of home-based production lost (54 000), and a A$ 789-million health sector cost reduction. Workforce production had a A$ 427 million gain when we used the friction cost method. By contrast, we estimated a loss of 28 000 leisure days and 1000 additional early retirements. Conclusions. Economic savings and health benefits from reduced alcohol consumption may be substantial—particularly in the health sector with reduced alcohol-related disease and injury. PMID:22594720

Investigating message-framing effects in the context of a tailored intervention promoting physical activity.

PubMed

van 't Riet, Jonathan; Ruiter, Robert A C; Werrij, Marieke Q; de Vries, Hein

2010-04-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains associated with healthy behaviour or the losses associated with unhealthy behaviour. It has been argued that gain-framed messages promoting physical activity (PA) are more effective than loss-framed messages, but empirical findings are inconsistent. Also, no previous studies investigated the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages in the context of a computer-tailored PA intervention. In this study, we provided participants with computer-generated tailored feedback concerning their PA levels. In total, 787 participants entered in the study, of whom 299 completed all measures at a 3-month follow-up. We investigated whether gain- and loss-framed messages promoting PA affected information acceptance, attitude, intention and behaviour differently. The results showed that gain-framed messages resulted in stronger intentions to be physically active than loss-framed messages. This did not result in a significant increase in actual PA, however, as measured by a 3-month follow-up assessment. For information acceptance and attitude, a non-significant advantage of gain-framed messages was found. All effects had small effect sizes. Thus, whereas gain-framed information might be more persuasive than loss-framed information when it comes to promoting PA, the differences between gain- and loss-framed messages are likely to be small.

Landmark Estimation of Survival and Treatment Effect in a Randomized Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Parast, Layla; Tian, Lu; Cai, Tianxi

2013-01-01

Summary In many studies with a survival outcome, it is often not feasible to fully observe the primary event of interest. This often leads to heavy censoring and thus, difficulty in efficiently estimating survival or comparing survival rates between two groups. In certain diseases, baseline covariates and the event time of non-fatal intermediate events may be associated with overall survival. In these settings, incorporating such additional information may lead to gains in efficiency in estimation of survival and testing for a difference in survival between two treatment groups. If gains in efficiency can be achieved, it may then be possible to decrease the sample size of patients required for a study to achieve a particular power level or decrease the duration of the study. Most existing methods for incorporating intermediate events and covariates to predict survival focus on estimation of relative risk parameters and/or the joint distribution of events under semiparametric models. However, in practice, these model assumptions may not hold and hence may lead to biased estimates of the marginal survival. In this paper, we propose a semi-nonparametric two-stage procedure to estimate and compare t-year survival rates by incorporating intermediate event information observed before some landmark time, which serves as a useful approach to overcome semi-competing risks issues. In a randomized clinical trial setting, we further improve efficiency through an additional calibration step. Simulation studies demonstrate substantial potential gains in efficiency in terms of estimation and power. We illustrate our proposed procedures using an AIDS Clinical Trial Protocol 175 dataset by estimating survival and examining the difference in survival between two treatment groups: zidovudine and zidovudine plus zalcitabine. PMID:24659838

78 FR 74125 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Measuring Educational Gain in the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-10

...; Comment Request; Measuring Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education AGENCY... respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received... Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education. OMB Control Number: 1830-0567. Type of...

77 FR 60025 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Information Collection Tools

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-01

... an existing final regulation, INTL-485-89 (TD 8400), Taxation of Gain or Loss from Certain... information collection tools, reporting, and record-keeping requirements: (1) Title: Taxation of Gain or Loss... to make elections concerning the taxation of exchange gain or loss on certain foreign currency...

Universality of optimal measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarrach, Rolf; Vidal, Guifré

1999-11-01

We present optimal and minimal measurements on identical copies of an unknown state of a quantum bit when the quality of measuring strategies is quantified with the gain of information (Kullback-or mutual information-of probability distributions). We also show that the maximal gain of information occurs, among isotropic priors, when the state is known to be pure. Universality of optimal measurements follows from our results: using the fidelity or the gain of information, two different figures of merits, leads to exactly the same conclusions for isotropic distributions. We finally investigate the optimal capacity of N copies of an unknown state as a quantum channel of information.

Methodologies for the Statistical Analysis of Memory Response to Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosser, Alexandre L.; Gupta, Viyas; Tsiligiannis, Georgios; Frost, Christopher D.; Zadeh, Ali; Jaatinen, Jukka; Javanainen, Arto; Puchner, Helmut; Saigné, Frédéric; Virtanen, Ari; Wrobel, Frédéric; Dilillo, Luigi

2016-08-01

Methodologies are proposed for in-depth statistical analysis of Single Event Upset data. The motivation for using these methodologies is to obtain precise information on the intrinsic defects and weaknesses of the tested devices, and to gain insight on their failure mechanisms, at no additional cost. The case study is a 65 nm SRAM irradiated with neutrons, protons and heavy ions. This publication is an extended version of a previous study [1].

Biological imaging with coherent Raman scattering microscopy: a tutorial

PubMed Central

Alfonso-García, Alba; Mittal, Richa; Lee, Eun Seong; Potma, Eric O.

2014-01-01

Abstract. Coherent Raman scattering (CRS) microscopy is gaining acceptance as a valuable addition to the imaging toolset of biological researchers. Optimal use of this label-free imaging technique benefits from a basic understanding of the physical principles and technical merits of the CRS microscope. This tutorial offers qualitative explanations of the principles behind CRS microscopy and provides information about the applicability of this nonlinear optical imaging approach for biological research. PMID:24615671

Spatial Lattice Modulation for MIMO Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jiwook; Nam, Yunseo; Lee, Namyoon

2018-06-01

This paper proposes spatial lattice modulation (SLM), a spatial modulation method for multipleinput-multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The key idea of SLM is to jointly exploit spatial, in-phase, and quadrature dimensions to modulate information bits into a multi-dimensional signal set that consists oflattice points. One major finding is that SLM achieves a higher spectral efficiency than the existing spatial modulation and spatial multiplexing methods for the MIMO channel under the constraint ofM-ary pulseamplitude-modulation (PAM) input signaling per dimension. In particular, it is shown that when the SLM signal set is constructed by using dense lattices, a significant signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) gain, i.e., a nominal coding gain, is attainable compared to the existing methods. In addition, closed-form expressions for both the average mutual information and average symbol-vector-error-probability (ASVEP) of generic SLM are derived under Rayleigh-fading environments. To reduce detection complexity, a low-complexity detection method for SLM, which is referred to as lattice sphere decoding, is developed by exploiting lattice theory. Simulation results verify the accuracy of the conducted analysis and demonstrate that the proposed SLM techniques achieve higher average mutual information and lower ASVEP than do existing methods.

Effects of linear and nonlinear speech rate changes on speech intelligibility in stationary and fluctuating maskers

PubMed Central

Cooke, Martin; Aubanel, Vincent

2017-01-01

Algorithmic modifications to the durational structure of speech designed to avoid intervals of intense masking lead to increases in intelligibility, but the basis for such gains is not clear. The current study addressed the possibility that the reduced information load produced by speech rate slowing might explain some or all of the benefits of durational modifications. The study also investigated the influence of masker stationarity on the effectiveness of durational changes. Listeners identified keywords in sentences that had undergone linear and nonlinear speech rate changes resulting in overall temporal lengthening in the presence of stationary and fluctuating maskers. Relative to unmodified speech, a slower speech rate produced no intelligibility gains for the stationary masker, suggesting that a reduction in information rate does not underlie intelligibility benefits of durationally modified speech. However, both linear and nonlinear modifications led to substantial intelligibility increases in fluctuating noise. One possibility is that overall increases in speech duration provide no new phonetic information in stationary masking conditions, but that temporal fluctuations in the background increase the likelihood of glimpsing additional salient speech cues. Alternatively, listeners may have benefitted from an increase in the difference in speech rates between the target and background. PMID:28618803

Feature Selection Using Information Gain for Improved Structural-Based Alert Correlation

PubMed Central

Siraj, Maheyzah Md; Zainal, Anazida; Elshoush, Huwaida Tagelsir; Elhaj, Fatin

2016-01-01

Grouping and clustering alerts for intrusion detection based on the similarity of features is referred to as structurally base alert correlation and can discover a list of attack steps. Previous researchers selected different features and data sources manually based on their knowledge and experience, which lead to the less accurate identification of attack steps and inconsistent performance of clustering accuracy. Furthermore, the existing alert correlation systems deal with a huge amount of data that contains null values, incomplete information, and irrelevant features causing the analysis of the alerts to be tedious, time-consuming and error-prone. Therefore, this paper focuses on selecting accurate and significant features of alerts that are appropriate to represent the attack steps, thus, enhancing the structural-based alert correlation model. A two-tier feature selection method is proposed to obtain the significant features. The first tier aims at ranking the subset of features based on high information gain entropy in decreasing order. The‏ second tier extends additional features with a better discriminative ability than the initially ranked features. Performance analysis results show the significance of the selected features in terms of the clustering accuracy using 2000 DARPA intrusion detection scenario-specific dataset. PMID:27893821

Informed consent in physiotherapy practice: it is not what is said but how it is said.

PubMed

Copnell, G

2018-03-01

This paper discusses the concept of informed consent in the context of contemporary biomedical ethics. A change in UK law regarding what information should be provided to patients has brought to the fore the role of physiotherapists in the process of gaining informed consent. It is important that physiotherapists are aware of how this change in the law will affect their practice. For an individual to consent, they need to have both the capacity and freedom to exercise rational thought. These concepts are challenged in contemporary biomedical ethics. An individual's ability to make rational decisions has been increasingly questioned by empirical evidence from behavioural psychology. In addition, the concept of freedom in contemporary neoliberal societies has also been critically examined. Liberal paternalism has been advocated by some as a means of helping patients to make better decisions about their care. Actualised as a 'nudge', liberal paternalism has been influential in a number of health policies, and has recently been discussed as a means of gaining consent from patients for assessments and treatments. Physiotherapists engage directly with patients and, through this engagement, construct a therapeutic environment that aims to build mutual trust. This paper questions the legitimacy of informed consent, and presents the argument that, through communicative actions, physiotherapists nudge patients into consenting to assessments and treatments. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Managing Space Situational Awareness Using the Space Surveillance Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-11-14

This  report examines  the  use   of  utility metrics  from  two  forms  of  expected  information  gain for each object‐sensor pair as well as the...examines the use of utility metrics from two forms of expected information gain for each object-sensor pair as well as the approximated stability of the...estimation errors in order to work towards a tasking strategy. The information theoretic approaches use the calculation of Fisher information gain

Resolution of Probabilistic Weather Forecasts with Application in Disease Management.

PubMed

Hughes, G; McRoberts, N; Burnett, F J

2017-02-01

Predictive systems in disease management often incorporate weather data among the disease risk factors, and sometimes this comes in the form of forecast weather data rather than observed weather data. In such cases, it is useful to have an evaluation of the operational weather forecast, in addition to the evaluation of the disease forecasts provided by the predictive system. Typically, weather forecasts and disease forecasts are evaluated using different methodologies. However, the information theoretic quantity expected mutual information provides a basis for evaluating both kinds of forecast. Expected mutual information is an appropriate metric for the average performance of a predictive system over a set of forecasts. Both relative entropy (a divergence, measuring information gain) and specific information (an entropy difference, measuring change in uncertainty) provide a basis for the assessment of individual forecasts.

Invited Paper Optical Resonators For Associative Memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Dana Z.

1986-06-01

One can construct a memory having associative characteristics using optical resonators with an internal gain medium. The device operates on the principle that an optical resonator employing a holographic grating can have user prescribed eigenmodes. Information that is to be recalled is contained in the hologram. Each information entity (e.g. an image of a cat) defines an eigenmode of the resonator. The stored information is accessed by injecting partial information (e.g. an image of the cat's ear) into the resonator. The appropriate eigenmode is selected through a competitive process in a gain medium placed inside the resonator. With a net gain greater than one, the gain amplifies the field belonging to the eigenmode that most resembles the injected field; the other eigenmodes are suppressed via the competition for the gain. One can expect this device to display several intriguing features such as recall transitions and creativity. I will discuss some of the general properties of this class of devices and present the results from a series of experiments with a simple holographic resonator employing photorefractive gain.

Approximate reversibility in the context of entropy gain, information gain, and complete positivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buscemi, Francesco; Das, Siddhartha; Wilde, Mark M.

2016-06-01

There are several inequalities in physics which limit how well we can process physical systems to achieve some intended goal, including the second law of thermodynamics, entropy bounds in quantum information theory, and the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. Recent results provide physically meaningful enhancements of these limiting statements, determining how well one can attempt to reverse an irreversible process. In this paper, we apply and extend these results to give strong enhancements to several entropy inequalities, having to do with entropy gain, information gain, entropic disturbance, and complete positivity of open quantum systems dynamics. Our first result is a remainder term for the entropy gain of a quantum channel. This result implies that a small increase in entropy under the action of a subunital channel is a witness to the fact that the channel's adjoint can be used as a recovery map to undo the action of the original channel. We apply this result to pure-loss, quantum-limited amplifier, and phase-insensitive quantum Gaussian channels, showing how a quantum-limited amplifier can serve as a recovery from a pure-loss channel and vice versa. Our second result regards the information gain of a quantum measurement, both without and with quantum side information. We find here that a small information gain implies that it is possible to undo the action of the original measurement if it is efficient. The result also has operational ramifications for the information-theoretic tasks known as measurement compression without and with quantum side information. Our third result shows that the loss of Holevo information caused by the action of a noisy channel on an input ensemble of quantum states is small if and only if the noise can be approximately corrected on average. We finally establish that the reduced dynamics of a system-environment interaction are approximately completely positive and trace preserving if and only if the data processing inequality holds approximately.

Effect of additional optical pumping injection into the ground-state ensemble on the gain and the phase recovery acceleration of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jungho

2014-02-01

The effect of additional optical pumping injection into the ground-state ensemble on the ultrafast gain and the phase recovery dynamics of electrically-driven quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers is numerically investigated by solving 1088 coupled rate equations. The ultrafast gain and the phase recovery responses are calculated with respect to the additional optical pumping power. Increasing the additional optical pumping power can significantly accelerate the ultrafast phase recovery, which cannot be done by increasing the injection current density.

Education and Library Services for Community Information Utilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farquhar, John A.

The concept of "computer utility"--the provision of computing and information service by a utility in the form of a national network to which any person desiring information could gain access--has been gaining interest among the public and among the technical community. This report on planning community information utilities discusses the…

AlphaMate: a program for optimising selection, maintenance of diversity, and mate allocation in breeding programs.

PubMed

Gorjanc, Gregor; Hickey, John M

2018-05-02

AlphaMate is a flexible program that optimises selection, maintenance of genetic diversity, and mate allocation in breeding programs. It can be used in animal and cross- and self-pollinating plant populations. These populations can be subject to selective breeding or conservation management. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimisation of a valid mating plan that is solved with an evolutionary algorithm. A valid mating plan is defined by a combination of mating constraints (the number of matings, the maximal number of parents, the minimal/equal/maximal number of contributions per parent, or allowance for selfing) that are gender specific or generic. The optimisation can maximize genetic gain, minimize group coancestry, minimize inbreeding of individual matings, or maximize genetic gain for a given increase in group coancestry or inbreeding. Users provide a list of candidate individuals with associated gender and selection criteria information (if applicable) and coancestry matrix. Selection criteria and coancestry matrix can be based on pedigree or genome-wide markers. Additional individual or mating specific information can be included to enrich optimisation objectives. An example of rapid recurrent genomic selection in wheat demonstrates how AlphaMate can double the efficiency of converting genetic diversity into genetic gain compared to truncation selection. Another example demonstrates the use of genome editing to expand the gain-diversity frontier. Executable versions of AlphaMate for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms are available at http://www.AlphaGenes.roslin.ed.ac.uk/AlphaMate. gregor.gorjanc@roslin.ed.ack.uk.

Thermal shock tests with beryllium coupons in the electron beam facility JUDITH

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

Roedig, M.; Duwe, R.; Schuster, J.L.A.

1995-09-01

Several grades of American and Russian beryllium have been tested in high heat flux tests by means of an electron beam facility. For safety reasons, major modifications of the facility had to be fulfilled in advance to the tests. The influence of energy densities has been investigated in the range between 1 and 7 MJ/m{sup 2}. In addition the influence of an increasing number of shots at constant energy density has been studied. For all samples, surface profiles have been measured before and after the experiments. Additional information has been gained from scanning electron microscopy, and from metallography.

26 CFR 1.6041-1 - Return of information as to payments of $600 or more.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... other gains, profits, and income aggregating $600 or more. (ii) Information returns required under other... engaged for gain or profit, but also organizations the activities of which are not for the purpose of gain... circumstances, that person— (i) Performs management or oversight functions in connection with the payment (this...

Using cross correlations to calibrate lensing source redshift distributions: Improving cosmological constraints from upcoming weak lensing surveys

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

De Putter, Roland; Doré, Olivier; Das, Sudeep

2014-01-10

Cross correlations between the galaxy number density in a lensing source sample and that in an overlapping spectroscopic sample can in principle be used to calibrate the lensing source redshift distribution. In this paper, we study in detail to what extent this cross-correlation method can mitigate the loss of cosmological information in upcoming weak lensing surveys (combined with a cosmic microwave background prior) due to lack of knowledge of the source distribution. We consider a scenario where photometric redshifts are available and find that, unless the photometric redshift distribution p(z {sub ph}|z) is calibrated very accurately a priori (bias andmore » scatter known to ∼0.002 for, e.g., EUCLID), the additional constraint on p(z {sub ph}|z) from the cross-correlation technique to a large extent restores the cosmological information originally lost due to the uncertainty in dn/dz(z). Considering only the gain in photo-z accuracy and not the additional cosmological information, enhancements of the dark energy figure of merit of up to a factor of four (40) can be achieved for a SuMIRe-like (EUCLID-like) combination of lensing and redshift surveys, where SuMIRe stands for Subaru Measurement of Images and Redshifts). However, the success of the method is strongly sensitive to our knowledge of the galaxy bias evolution in the source sample and we find that a percent level bias prior is needed to optimize the gains from the cross-correlation method (i.e., to approach the cosmology constraints attainable if the bias was known exactly).« less

Linear-quadratic-Gaussian synthesis with reduced parameter sensitivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, J. Y.; Mingori, D. L.

1992-01-01

We present a method for improving the tolerance of a conventional LQG controller to parameter errors in the plant model. The improvement is achieved by introducing additional terms reflecting the structure of the parameter errors into the LQR cost function, and also the process and measurement noise models. Adjusting the sizes of these additional terms permits a trade-off between robustness and nominal performance. Manipulation of some of the additional terms leads to high gain controllers while other terms lead to low gain controllers. Conditions are developed under which the high-gain approach asymptotically recovers the robustness of the corresponding full-state feedback design, and the low-gain approach makes the closed-loop poles asymptotically insensitive to parameter errors.

Estimating Additive and Non-Additive Genetic Variances and Predicting Genetic Merits Using Genome-Wide Dense Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers

PubMed Central

Su, Guosheng; Christensen, Ole F.; Ostersen, Tage; Henryon, Mark; Lund, Mogens S.

2012-01-01

Non-additive genetic variation is usually ignored when genome-wide markers are used to study the genetic architecture and genomic prediction of complex traits in human, wild life, model organisms or farm animals. However, non-additive genetic effects may have an important contribution to total genetic variation of complex traits. This study presented a genomic BLUP model including additive and non-additive genetic effects, in which additive and non-additive genetic relation matrices were constructed from information of genome-wide dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. In addition, this study for the first time proposed a method to construct dominance relationship matrix using SNP markers and demonstrated it in detail. The proposed model was implemented to investigate the amounts of additive genetic, dominance and epistatic variations, and assessed the accuracy and unbiasedness of genomic predictions for daily gain in pigs. In the analysis of daily gain, four linear models were used: 1) a simple additive genetic model (MA), 2) a model including both additive and additive by additive epistatic genetic effects (MAE), 3) a model including both additive and dominance genetic effects (MAD), and 4) a full model including all three genetic components (MAED). Estimates of narrow-sense heritability were 0.397, 0.373, 0.379 and 0.357 for models MA, MAE, MAD and MAED, respectively. Estimated dominance variance and additive by additive epistatic variance accounted for 5.6% and 9.5% of the total phenotypic variance, respectively. Based on model MAED, the estimate of broad-sense heritability was 0.506. Reliabilities of genomic predicted breeding values for the animals without performance records were 28.5%, 28.8%, 29.2% and 29.5% for models MA, MAE, MAD and MAED, respectively. In addition, models including non-additive genetic effects improved unbiasedness of genomic predictions. PMID:23028912

Using practical and social information to influence flood adaptation behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allaire, Maura C.

2016-08-01

As the prospect for more frequent and severe extreme weather events gains scientific support, many nations are evaluating mitigation and adaptation options. Insurance and home retrofits could reduce household welfare losses due to flood events. Yet even after disasters, households often fail to take risk mitigation actions. This paper presents the first randomized field experiment that tests the effect of information provision on household uptake of flood insurance and home retrofits. A sample of 364 flood-prone households in Bangkok was randomly split into treatment and control groups. The treatment group received practical details on home retrofits and flood insurance as well as social information regarding the insurance purchase decisions of peers. Results indicate that the information intervention increased insurance purchases by about five percentage points, while no effect was detected for home retrofits. This effect is nearly equal to the increase in uptake that the national insurance program in Thailand has achieved through all other means since its establishment in 2012. If scaled up to include all uninsured, flood-prone households in Bangkok, nearly 70,000 additional households could be insured. The results suggest that well-designed information interventions could increase uptake of flood insurance, without additional premium subsidies or mandates.

How much is new information worth? Evaluating the financial benefit of resolving management uncertainty

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maxwell, Sean L.; Rhodes, Jonathan R.; Runge, Michael C.; Possingham, Hugh P.; Ng, Chooi Fei; McDonald Madden, Eve

2015-01-01

Conservation decision-makers face a trade-off between spending limited funds on direct management action, or gaining new information in an attempt to improve management performance in the future. Value-of-information analysis can help to resolve this trade-off by evaluating how much management performance could improve if new information was gained. Value-of-information analysis has been used extensively in other disciplines, but there are only a few examples where it has informed conservation planning, none of which have used it to evaluate the financial value of gaining new information. We address this gap by applying value-of-information analysis to the management of a declining koala Phascolarctos cinereuspopulation. Decision-makers responsible for managing this population face uncertainty about survival and fecundity rates, and how habitat cover affects mortality threats. The value of gaining new information about these uncertainties was calculated using a deterministic matrix model of the koala population to find the expected population growth rate if koala mortality threats were optimally managed under alternative model hypotheses, which represented the uncertainties faced by koala managers. Gaining new information about survival and fecundity rates and the effect of habitat cover on mortality threats will do little to improve koala management. Across a range of management budgets, no more than 1·7% of the budget should be spent on resolving these uncertainties. The value of information was low because optimal management decisions were not sensitive to the uncertainties we considered. Decisions were instead driven by a substantial difference in the cost efficiency of management actions. The value of information was up to forty times higher when the cost efficiencies of different koala management actions were similar. Synthesis and applications. This study evaluates the ecological and financial benefits of gaining new information to inform a conservation problem. We also theoretically demonstrate that the value of reducing uncertainty is highest when it is not clear which management action is the most cost efficient. This study will help expand the use of value-of-information analyses in conservation by providing a cost efficiency metric by which to evaluate research or monitoring.

Ultra-Wideband UHF Microstrip Array for GeoSAR Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Robert F.; Huang, John

1998-01-01

GeoSAR is a program sponsored by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to develop an airborne, radar- based, commercial terrain mapping system for identification of geologic, seismic, and environmental information, it has two (dual-band at X and UHF) state-of-the-art interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ground mapping systems. The UHF interferometric system is utilized to penetrate the vegetation canopy and obtain true ground surface height information, while the Xband system will provide capability of mapping the top foliage surface. This paper presents the UHF antenna system where the required center frequency is 350 MHz with a 160 MHz of bandwidth (46% from 270 MHz to 430 MHz). The antenna is required to have dual-linear polarization with a peak gain of 10 dB at the center frequency and a minimum gain of 8 dB toward two ends of the frequency band. One of the most challenging tasks, in addition to achieving the 46% bandwidth, is to develop an antenna with small enough size to fit in the wing-tip pod of a Gulfstream II aircraft.

Thermodiffusion as a probe of protein hydration for streptavidin and the streptavidin-biotin complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niether, Doreen; Sarter, Mona; König, Bernd; Zamponi, Michaela; Fitter, Jörg; Stadler, Andreas; Wiegand, Simone

2018-01-01

Molecular recognition via protein-ligand interactions is of fundamental importance to numerous processes in living organisms. Microscale thermophoresis (MST) uses the sensitivity of the thermophoretic response upon ligand binding to access information on the reaction kinetics. Additionally, thermophoresis is promising as a tool to gain information on the hydration layer, as the temperature dependence of the thermodiffusion behaviour is sensitive to solute-solvent interactions. To quantify the influence of structural fluctuations and conformational motion of the protein on the entropy change of its hydration layer upon ligand binding, we combine quasi-elastic incoherent neutron scattering (QENS) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) data from literature. However, preliminary results show that replacing water with deuterated water leads to changes of the thermophoretic measurements, which are similar to the changes observed upon binding by biotin. In order to gain a better understanding of the hydration layer all measurements need to be performed in heavy water. This will open a route to develop a microscopic understanding of the correlation between the strength and number of hydrogen bonds and the thermophoretic behaviour.

The impact of health information technology adoption by outpatient facilities on pregnancy outcomes.

PubMed

Deily, Mary E; Hu, Tianyan; Terrizzi, Sabrina; Chou, Shin-Yi; Meyerhoefer, Chad D

2013-02-01

Examine whether health information technology (HIT) at nonhospital facilities (NHFs) improves health outcomes and decreases resource use at hospitals within the same heath care network, and whether the impact of HIT varies as providers gain experience using the technologies. Administrative claims data on 491,832 births in Pennsylvania during 1998-2004 from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and HIT applications data from the Dorenfest Institute. Fixed-effects regression analysis of the impact of HIT at NHFs on adverse birth outcomes and resource use. Greater use of clinical HIT applications by NHFs is associated with reduced incidence of obstetric trauma and preventable complications, as well as longer lengths of stay. In addition, the beneficial effects of HIT increase the longer that technologies have been in use. However, we find no consistent evidence on whether or how nonclinical HIT in NHFs affects either resource use or health outcomes. Clinical HIT applications at NHFs may reduce the likelihood of adverse birth outcomes, particularly after physicians and staff gain experience using the technologies. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

The Impact of Health Information Technology Adoption by Outpatient Facilities on Pregnancy Outcomes

PubMed Central

Deily, Mary E; Hu, Tianyan; Terrizzi, Sabrina; Chou, Shin-Yi; Meyerhoefer, Chad D

2013-01-01

Objective Examine whether health information technology (HIT) at nonhospital facilities (NHFs) improves health outcomes and decreases resource use at hospitals within the same heath care network, and whether the impact of HIT varies as providers gain experience using the technologies. Data Sources Administrative claims data on 491,832 births in Pennsylvania during 1998–2004 from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and HIT applications data from the Dorenfest Institute. Study Design Fixed-effects regression analysis of the impact of HIT at NHFs on adverse birth outcomes and resource use. Principal Findings Greater use of clinical HIT applications by NHFs is associated with reduced incidence of obstetric trauma and preventable complications, as well as longer lengths of stay. In addition, the beneficial effects of HIT increase the longer that technologies have been in use. However, we find no consistent evidence on whether or how nonclinical HIT in NHFs affects either resource use or health outcomes. Conclusions Clinical HIT applications at NHFs may reduce the likelihood of adverse birth outcomes, particularly after physicians and staff gain experience using the technologies. PMID:22742682

The economic value of drought information: Application to water resources management decisions in Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrote, Luis; Sordo, Alvaro; Iglesias, Ana

2016-04-01

Information is valuable when it improves decision-making (e.g., actions can be adjusted to better suit the situation at hand) and enables the mitigation of damage. However, quantifying the value of information is often difficult. Here we explore a general approach to understand the economic value of drought information for water managers framing our approach in the precautionary principle that reminds us that uncertainty is not a reason to postpone or avoid action. We explore how decision making can disregard uncertain effects, taking a short-term approach and focusing instead on the certain costs and benefits of taking action. Two main questions arise: How do we know that advanced drought information is actually helping decisions?; and What is the value of information in the decision process? The approach is applied to several regulated water resources systems in Spain. It first views drought information as a factor in the decision process which can be used by water managers to reduce uncertainty. Second, the value of drought information is the expected gain in a decision outcome (utility) from using additional information. Finally, the gains of improved information are compared with the information collection costs. Here we estimate the value by taking into account the accuracy of the drought information, the subjective probabilities about the value, analyzed as Bayesian probabilities, and the ability or skill of the stakeholders to apply the drought information to modify their actions. Since information may be considered a public good (non-rivalry and non-excludability), it may justify public policy in the provision of information, considering social costs and benefits. The application of the framework to the Spanish case studies shows that information benefits exceeds to costs when drought frequency is 20-40% above normal values; below these values uncertainty in the decisions dominate the results; above these values, the management decisions are limited even with perfect information.

Reducing Heat Gains and Cooling Loads Through Roof Structure Configurations of A House in Medan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handayani Lubis, Irma; Donny Koerniawan, Mochamad

2018-05-01

Heat gains and heat losses through building surfaces are the main factors that determine the building’s cooling and heating loads. Roof as a building surface that has the most exposed area to the sun, contribute most of heat gains in the building. Therefore, the amount of solar heat gains on the roofs need to be minimized by roof structure configurations. This research aims to discover the optimization of roof structure configurations (coating material, structure material, inclination, overhang, and insulation) as one of passive design strategies that reduce heat gains and cooling loads of a house in Medan. The result showed that case four, white-painted metal roof combined with 45° roof pitched, 1.5m overhang, and addition of insulation, indicates the minimum heat gains production and the less cooling loads during clear sky day but not in the overcast sky condition. In conclusion, heat gains and cooling loads of a house in Medan could be diminished during clear sky day by the addition of roof coating with high reflectance low solar absorbtance, the slope roof, the extension of wider veranda, and the addition of insulation in the roof structure.

Saccharin and aspartame, compared with sucrose, induce greater weight gain in adult Wistar rats, at similar total caloric intake levels.

PubMed

Feijó, Fernanda de Matos; Ballard, Cíntia Reis; Foletto, Kelly Carraro; Batista, Bruna Aparecida Melo; Neves, Alice Magagnin; Ribeiro, Maria Flávia Marques; Bertoluci, Marcello Casaccia

2013-01-01

It has been suggested that the use of nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) can lead to weight gain, but evidence regarding their real effect in body weight and satiety is still inconclusive. Using a rat model, the present study compares the effect of saccharin and aspartame to sucrose in body weight gain and in caloric intake. Twenty-nine male Wistar rats received plain yogurt sweetened with 20% sucrose, 0.3% sodium saccharin or 0.4% aspartame, in addition to chow and water ad libitum, while physical activity was restrained. Measurements of cumulative body weight gain, total caloric intake, caloric intake of chow and caloric intake of sweetened yogurt were performed weekly for 12 weeks. Results showed that addition of either saccharin or aspartame to yogurt resulted in increased weight gain compared to addition of sucrose, however total caloric intake was similar among groups. In conclusion, greater weight gain was promoted by the use of saccharin or aspartame, compared with sucrose, and this weight gain was unrelated to caloric intake. We speculate that a decrease in energy expenditure or increase in fluid retention might be involved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Orbital Evasive Target Tracking and Sensor Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-30

maximize the total information gain in the observer-to-target assignment. We compare the information based approach to the game theoretic criterion where...tracking with multiple space borne observers. The results indicate that the game theoretic approach is more effective than the information based approach in...sensor management is to maximize the total information gain in the observer-to-target assignment. We compare the information based approach to the game

Relationship Between Optimal Gain and Coherence Zone in Flight Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gracio, Bruno Jorge Correia; Pais, Ana Rita Valente; vanPaassen, M. M.; Mulder, Max; Kely, Lon C.; Houck, Jacob A.

2011-01-01

In motion simulation the inertial information generated by the motion platform is most of the times different from the visual information in the simulator displays. This occurs due to the physical limits of the motion platform. However, for small motions that are within the physical limits of the motion platform, one-to-one motion, i.e. visual information equal to inertial information, is possible. It has been shown in previous studies that one-to-one motion is often judged as too strong, causing researchers to lower the inertial amplitude. When trying to measure the optimal inertial gain for a visual amplitude, we found a zone of optimal gains instead of a single value. Such result seems related with the coherence zones that have been measured in flight simulation studies. However, the optimal gain results were never directly related with the coherence zones. In this study we investigated whether the optimal gain measurements are the same as the coherence zone measurements. We also try to infer if the results obtained from the two measurements can be used to differentiate between simulators with different configurations. An experiment was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center which used both the Cockpit Motion Facility and the Visual Motion Simulator. The results show that the inertial gains obtained with the optimal gain are different than the ones obtained with the coherence zone measurements. The optimal gain is within the coherence zone.The point of mean optimal gain was lower and further away from the one-to-one line than the point of mean coherence. The zone width obtained for the coherence zone measurements was dependent on the visual amplitude and frequency. For the optimal gain, the zone width remained constant when the visual amplitude and frequency were varied. We found no effect of the simulator configuration in both the coherence zone and optimal gain measurements.

Apollo experience report: Mission planning for Apollo entry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graves, C. A.; Harpold, J. C.

1972-01-01

The problems encountered and the experience gained in the entry mission plans, flight software, trajectory-monitoring procedures, and backup trajectory-control techniques of the Apollo Program should provide a foundation upon which future spacecraft programs can be developed. Descriptions of these entry activities are presented. Also, to provide additional background information needed for discussion of the Apollo entry experience, descriptions of the entry targeting for the Apollo 11 mission and the postflight analysis of the Apollo 10 mission are presented.

World Oil Prices and Production Trends in AEO2010 (released in AEO2010)

EIA Publications

2010-01-01

In Annual Energy Outlook 2010, the price of light, low-sulfur (or "sweet") crude oil delivered at Cushing, Oklahoma, is tracked to represent movements in world oil prices. The Energy Information Administration makes projections of future supply and demand for "total liquids,"" which includes conventional petroleum liquids -- such as conventional crude oil, natural gas plant liquids, and refinery gain -- in addition to unconventional liquids, which include biofuels, bitumen, coal-to-liquids (CTL), gas-to-liquids (GTL), extra-heavy oils, and shale oil.

Robust Control for the Mercury Laser Altimeter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenberg, Jacob S.

2006-01-01

Mercury Laser Altimeter Science Algorithms is a software system for controlling the laser altimeter aboard the Messenger spacecraft, which is to enter into orbit about Mercury in 2011. The software will control the altimeter by dynamically modifying hardware inputs for gain, threshold, channel-disable flags, range-window start location, and range-window width, by using ranging information provided by the spacecraft and noise counts from instrument hardware. In addition, because of severe bandwidth restrictions, the software also selects returns for downlink.

Genetic privacy in sports: clearing the hurdles.

PubMed

Callier, Shawneequa

2012-12-01

As genomic medicine continues to advance and inform clinical care, knowledge gained is likely to influence sports medicine and training practices. Susceptibility to injury, sudden cardiac failure, and other serious conditions may one day be tackled on a subclinical level through genetic testing programs. In addition, athletes may increasingly consider using genetic testing services to maximize their performance potential. This paper assesses the role of privacy and genetic discrimination laws that would apply to athletes who engage in genetic testing and the limits of these protections.

Predicting losing and gaining river reaches in lowland New Zealand based on a statistical methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jing; Zammit, Christian; Dudley, Bruce

2017-04-01

The phenomenon of losing and gaining in rivers normally takes place in lowland where often there are various, sometimes conflicting uses for water resources, e.g., agriculture, industry, recreation, and maintenance of ecosystem function. To better support water allocation decisions, it is crucial to understand the location and seasonal dynamics of these losses and gains. We present a statistical methodology to predict losing and gaining river reaches in New Zealand based on 1) information surveys with surface water and groundwater experts from regional government, 2) A collection of river/watershed characteristics, including climate, soil and hydrogeologic information, and 3) the random forests technique. The surveys on losing and gaining reaches were conducted face-to-face at 16 New Zealand regional government authorities, and climate, soil, river geometry, and hydrogeologic data from various sources were collected and compiled to represent river/watershed characteristics. The random forests technique was used to build up the statistical relationship between river reach status (gain and loss) and river/watershed characteristics, and then to predict for river reaches at Strahler order one without prior losing and gaining information. Results show that the model has a classification error of around 10% for "gain" and "loss". The results will assist further research, and water allocation decisions in lowland New Zealand.

Who is dropping your course?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storrs, Alex; Ghent, C.; Labattaglia, R.

2011-01-01

We present an analysis of pre and post instruction instruments in a basic astronomy course. This analysis is built on the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI, Bardar et al. 2007). In addition to assessing our student's gain in knowledge of this fundamental topic, we have added some demographic questions. While the primary purpose is to compare the gain in knowledge during a semester of instruction to changes in instruction, we also look at the demographics of students who take the pretest but not the posttest. These students are usually excluded from this type of analysis. We look for trends in the demographic information among students who drop the course, and suggest ways to make the course more palatable. References: Bardar et al., 2007: "Development and Validation of the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory", Astr. Ed. Rev. 5(2), 103-113

Information Gain Based Dimensionality Selection for Classifying Text Documents

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

Dumidu Wijayasekara; Milos Manic; Miles McQueen

2013-06-01

Selecting the optimal dimensions for various knowledge extraction applications is an essential component of data mining. Dimensionality selection techniques are utilized in classification applications to increase the classification accuracy and reduce the computational complexity. In text classification, where the dimensionality of the dataset is extremely high, dimensionality selection is even more important. This paper presents a novel, genetic algorithm based methodology, for dimensionality selection in text mining applications that utilizes information gain. The presented methodology uses information gain of each dimension to change the mutation probability of chromosomes dynamically. Since the information gain is calculated a priori, the computational complexitymore » is not affected. The presented method was tested on a specific text classification problem and compared with conventional genetic algorithm based dimensionality selection. The results show an improvement of 3% in the true positives and 1.6% in the true negatives over conventional dimensionality selection methods.« less

Prenatal Exposure to Traffic Pollution: Associations with Reduced Fetal Growth and Rapid Infant Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Fleisch, Abby F.; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L.; Koutrakis, Petros; Schwartz, Joel D.; Kloog, Itai; Melly, Steven; Coull, Brent A.; Zanobetti, Antonella; Gillman, Matthew W.; Gold, Diane R.; Oken, Emily

2014-01-01

Background Prenatal air pollution exposure inhibits fetal growth, but implications for postnatal growth are unknown. Methods We assessed weights and lengths of US infants in the Project Viva cohort at birth and 6 months. We estimated third-trimester residential air pollution exposures using spatiotemporal models. We estimated neighborhood traffic density and roadway proximity at birth address using geographic information systems. We performed linear and logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic variables, fetal growth, and gestational age at birth. Results Mean birth weight-for-gestational age z-score (fetal growth) was 0.17 (SD = 0.97; n=2,114), 0-6 month weight-for-length gain was 0.23 z-units (SD = 1.11; n=689), and 17% had weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months of age. Infants exposed to the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of neighborhood traffic density had lower fetal growth (−0.13 units [95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.25 to −0.01]), more rapid 0-6 month weight-for-length gain (0.25 units [95% CI = 0.01 to 0.49]), and higher odds of weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months (1.84 [95% CI = 1.11 to 3.05]). Neighborhood traffic density was additionally associated with an infant being in both the lowest quartile of fetal growth and highest quartile of 0-6 month weight-for-length gain (Q4 vs. Q1, OR = 3.01 [95% CI = 1.08 to 8.44]). Roadway proximity and third-trimester black carbon exposure were similarly associated with growth outcomes. For third-trimester PM2.5, effect estimates were in the same direction, but smaller and imprecise. Conclusions Infants exposed to higher traffic-related pollution in early life may exhibit more rapid postnatal weight gain in addition to reduced fetal growth. PMID:25437317

Prenatal exposure to traffic pollution: associations with reduced fetal growth and rapid infant weight gain.

PubMed

Fleisch, Abby F; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L; Koutrakis, Petros; Schwartz, Joel D; Kloog, Itai; Melly, Steven; Coull, Brent A; Zanobetti, Antonella; Gillman, Matthew W; Gold, Diane R; Oken, Emily

2015-01-01

Prenatal air pollution exposure inhibits fetal growth, but implications for postnatal growth are unknown. We assessed weights and lengths of US infants in the Project Viva cohort at birth and 6 months. We estimated 3rd-trimester residential air pollution exposures using spatiotemporal models. We estimated neighborhood traffic density and roadway proximity at birth address using geographic information systems. We performed linear and logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic variables, fetal growth, and gestational age at birth. Mean birth weight-for-gestational age z-score (fetal growth) was 0.17 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.97; n = 2,114), 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain was 0.23 z-units (SD = 1.11; n = 689), and 17% had weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months of age. Infants exposed to the highest (vs. lowest) quartile of neighborhood traffic density had lower fetal growth (-0.13 units [95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.25 to -0.01]), more rapid 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain (0.25 units [95% CI = 0.01 to 0.49]), and higher odds of weight-for-length ≥95th percentile at 6 months (1.84 [95% CI = 1.11 to 3.05]). Neighborhood traffic density was additionally associated with an infant being in both the lowest quartile of fetal growth and the highest quartile of 0- to 6-month weight-for-length gain (Q4 vs. Q1, odds ratio = 3.01 [95% CI = 1.08 to 8.44]). Roadway proximity and 3rd-trimester black carbon exposure were similarly associated with growth outcomes. For 3rd-trimester particulate matter (PM2.5), effect estimates were in the same direction, but smaller and imprecise. Infants exposed to higher traffic-related pollution in early life may exhibit more rapid postnatal weight gain in addition to reduced fetal growth.

On Selecting Commercial Information Systems

PubMed Central

Möhr, J.R.; Sawinski, R.; Kluge, A.; Alle, W.

1984-01-01

As more commercial information systems become available, the methodology for their selection gains importance. An instances where the method employed for the selection of laboratory information systems was multilevel assessment. The method is described and the experience gained in the project is summarized and discussed. Evidence is provided that the employed method is comprehensive, reproducible, valid and economic.

Constructing network scheme of connecting with Internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Ganghua

2001-06-01

Nowadays people are more and more imminent for information's gain; time of gaining information is stressed; demand for information quantity is larger and larger. These make us have to scan again our communication pattern. Purpose of this article is comparing a few ways to connect with Internet to find a way that is proper to us.

Value of information and natural resources decision-making

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, Byron K.; Johnson, Fred A.

2015-01-01

Though the potential for information to measurably improve management has been highlighted for several decades, in recent years the “value of information” has surfaced with increasing frequency in natural resources. However, the use of this phrase belies the fact that many in natural resources have only a limited understanding about what it actually means, how to measure it, and what to do with it. We introduce and describe several forms of the value of information in a context of the management of renewable natural resources. The value of information is discussed in terms of a potential gain in value with the addition of new information, as well as a loss in value associated with the absence of information. Value metrics are developed for uncertainty about resource status as well as resource processes and responses to management. We provide a common notation for the metrics of value, and discuss linkages of the value of information to strategic approaches such as adaptive resources management and partially observable decision processes.

Weight changes in euthyroid patients undergoing thyroidectomy.

PubMed

Jonklaas, Jacqueline; Nsouli-Maktabi, Hala

2011-12-01

Thyroidectomized patients frequently report weight gain resistant to weight loss efforts, identifying their thyroidectomy as the event precipitating subsequent weight gain. We wished to determine whether recently thyroidectomized euthyroid patients gained more weight over 1 year than matched euthyroid patients with preexisting hypothyroidism. We performed a retrospective chart review of subjects receiving medical care at an academic medical center. One hundred twenty patients had their weight and thyroid status documented after thyroidectomy and achievement of euthyroidism on thyroid hormone replacement, and one year later. Three additional groups of 120 patients with preexisting hypothyroidism, no thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer were matched for age, gender, menopausal status, height, and weight. Anthropometric data were documented at two time points 1 year apart. We compared the weight changes and body mass index changes occurring over a 1-year period in the four groups. Patients with recent postsurgical hypothyroidism gained 3.1 kg during the year, whereas matched patients with preexisting hypothyroidism gained 2.2 kg. The patients without thyroid disease and those with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism gained 1.3 and 1.2 kg, respectively. The weight gain in the thyroidectomized group was significantly greater than that in the matched hypothyroid group (p-value 0.004), the group without thyroid disease (p-value 0.001), and the patients with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism (p-value 0.001). Within the thyroidectomized group, the weight gain in menopausal women was greater than in either premenopausal women (4.4 vs. 2.3 kg, p-value 0.007) or men (4.4 vs. 2.5 kg, p-value 0.013). Patients who had undergone thyroidectomy in the previous year did, in fact, gain more weight than their matched counterparts with preexisting hypothyroidism. In addition, all patients with hypothyroidism, even though treated to achieve euthyroidism, experienced more weight gain than both subjects without hypothyroidism and subjects with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism. The greatest weight gain in the thyroidectomized group was in menopausal women. These data raise the question of an unidentified factor related to taking thyroid hormone replacement that is associated with weight gain, with an additional intriguing effect of thyroidectomy itself. Menopausal status confers additional risk. These groups should be targeted for diligent weight loss efforts.

Enhancement of signal-to-noise ratio in Brillouin optical time domain analyzers by dual-probe detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iribas, Haritz; Loayssa, Alayn; Sauser, Florian; Llera, Miguel; Le Floch, Sébastien

2017-04-01

We demonstrate a simple technique to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in Brillouin optical time-domain analysis sensors by the addition of gain and loss processes. The technique is based on the shift of the pump pulse optical frequency in a double-sideband probe system, so that the gain and loss processes take place at different frequencies. In this manner, the loss and the gain do not cancel each other out, and it makes possible to take advantage of both informations at the same time, obtaining an improvement of 3 dB on the SNR. Furthermore, the technique does not need an optical filtering, so that larger improvement on SNR and a simplification of the setup are obtained. The method is experimentally demonstrated in a 101 km fiber spool, obtaining a measurement uncertainty of 2.6 MHz (2σ) at the worst-contrast position for 2 m spatial resolution. This leads, to the best of our knowledge, to the highest figure-of-merit in a BOTDA without using coding or raman amplification.

KCNT1 gain-of-function in two epilepsy phenotypes is reversed by quinidine

PubMed Central

Milligan, Carol J.; Li, Melody; Gazina, Elena V.; Heron, Sarah E.; Nair, Umesh; Trager, Chantel; Reid, Christopher A.; Venkat, Anu; Younkin, Donald P.; Dlugos, Dennis J.; Petrovski, Slavé; Goldstein, David B.; Dibbens, Leanne M.; Scheffer, Ingrid E.; Berkovic, Samuel F; Petrou, Steven

2014-01-01

Objective Mutations in KCNT1 have been implicated in autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE) and epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS). More recently, a whole exome sequencing study of epileptic encephalopathies identified an additional de novo mutation in one proband with EIMFS. We aim to investigate the electrophysiological and pharmacological characteristics of hKCNT1 mutations and examine developmental expression levels. Methods Here we use a Xenopus laevis oocyte based automated two-electrode voltage-clamp assay. The effects of quinidine (100 and 300 µM) are also tested. Using quantitative RT-PCR, the relative levels of mouse brain mKcnt1 mRNA expression are determined. Results We demonstrate that KCNT1 mutations implicated in epilepsy cause a marked increase in function. Importantly, there was a significant group difference in gain-of-function between mutations associated with ADNFLE and EIMFS. Finally, exposure to quinidine significantly reduces this gain-of-function for all mutations studied. Interpretation These results establish direction for a targeted therapy and potentially exemplify a translational paradigm for in vitro studies informing novel therapies in a neuropsychiatric disease. PMID:24591078

Information regarding restorative dentistry for new graduates.

PubMed

Kalsi, A S; Lewis, N J; Hemmings, K W

2016-10-07

A recent national survey has shown the need for clarification regarding the various disciplines encompassed by restorative dentistry and their respective training pathways. This document aims to address this by outlining the remit of restorative dentistry, in addition to the various job roles involved. This information is being disseminated by the British Society for Restorative Dentistry, and given the relevance to referrers and those looking for insight into the speciality, it has been reproduced here. Roles within the speciality range from dentists with special interests to specialists and consultants, whether primarily academic or clinical. The choice that a new graduate may make to choose a specific route will likely depend on a number of factors, often specific to each individual. Guidance on ways to gain experience and sources of further information are also provided.

Evaluation as a critical factor of success in local public health accreditation programs.

PubMed

Tremain, Beverly; Davis, Mary; Joly, Brenda; Edgar, Mark; Kushion, Mary L; Schmidt, Rita

2007-01-01

This article presents the variety of approaches used to conduct evaluations of performance improvement or accreditation systems, while illustrating the complexity of conducting evaluations to inform local public health practice. We, in addition, hope to inform the Exploring Accreditation Program about relevant experiences involving accreditation and performance assessment processes, specifically evaluation, as it debates and discusses a national voluntary model. A background of each state is given. To further explore these issues, interviews were conducted with each state's evaluator to gain more in-depth information on the many different evaluation strategies and approaches used. On the basis of the interviews, the authors provide several overall themes, which suggest that evaluation is a critical tool and success factor for performance assessment or accreditation programs.

Gains in Life Expectancy Associated with Higher Education in Men

PubMed Central

Bijwaard, Govert E.; van Poppel, Frans; Ekamper, Peter; Lumey, L. H.

2015-01-01

Background Many studies show large differences in life expectancy across the range of education, intelligence, and socio-economic status. As educational attainment, intelligence, and socio-economic status are highly interrelated, appropriate methods are required to disentangle their separate effects. The aim of this paper is to present a novel method to estimate gains in life expectancy specifically associated with increased education. Our analysis is based on a structural model in which education level, IQ at age 18 and mortality all depend on (latent) intelligence. The model allows for (selective) educational choices based on observed factors and on an unobserved factor capturing intelligence. Our estimates are based on information from health examinations of military conscripts born in 1944–1947 in The Netherlands and their vital status through age 66 (n = 39,798). Results Our empirical results show that men with higher education have lower mortality. Using structural models to account for education choice, the estimated gain in life expectancy for men moving up one educational level ranges from 0.3 to 2 years. The estimated gain in months alive over the observational period ranges from -1.2 to 5.7 months. The selection effect is positive and amounts to a gain of one to two months. Decomposition of the selection effect shows that the gain from selection on (latent) intelligence is larger than the gain from selection on observed factors and amounts to 1.0 to 1.7 additional months alive. Conclusion Our findings confirm the strong selection into education based on socio-economic status and intelligence. They also show significant higher life expectancy among individuals with higher education after the selectivity of education choice has been taken into account. Based on these estimates, it is plausible therefore that increases in education could lead to increases in life expectancy. PMID:26496647

Gains in Life Expectancy Associated with Higher Education in Men.

PubMed

Bijwaard, Govert E; van Poppel, Frans; Ekamper, Peter; Lumey, L H

2015-01-01

Many studies show large differences in life expectancy across the range of education, intelligence, and socio-economic status. As educational attainment, intelligence, and socio-economic status are highly interrelated, appropriate methods are required to disentangle their separate effects. The aim of this paper is to present a novel method to estimate gains in life expectancy specifically associated with increased education. Our analysis is based on a structural model in which education level, IQ at age 18 and mortality all depend on (latent) intelligence. The model allows for (selective) educational choices based on observed factors and on an unobserved factor capturing intelligence. Our estimates are based on information from health examinations of military conscripts born in 1944-1947 in The Netherlands and their vital status through age 66 (n = 39,798). Our empirical results show that men with higher education have lower mortality. Using structural models to account for education choice, the estimated gain in life expectancy for men moving up one educational level ranges from 0.3 to 2 years. The estimated gain in months alive over the observational period ranges from -1.2 to 5.7 months. The selection effect is positive and amounts to a gain of one to two months. Decomposition of the selection effect shows that the gain from selection on (latent) intelligence is larger than the gain from selection on observed factors and amounts to 1.0 to 1.7 additional months alive. Our findings confirm the strong selection into education based on socio-economic status and intelligence. They also show significant higher life expectancy among individuals with higher education after the selectivity of education choice has been taken into account. Based on these estimates, it is plausible therefore that increases in education could lead to increases in life expectancy.

Intimate Partner Violence and 5-Year Weight Change in Young Women: A Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Ayour, Noussaiba; Canney, Suzanne; Eisenberg, Marla E.; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and obesity are national public health problems that are potentially associated. We examined the association between IPV exposure and 5-year weight gain in young women. We also examined whether depressive mood conferred additional increases in weight gain. Materials and Methods: Analyses were conducted among women in Project EAT, a longitudinal cohort study of weight-related health, which has collected data at three 5-year survey waves: “EAT I” (mean age 15 years), “EAT II” (mean age 19 years), and “EAT III” (mean age 25 years). Height and body weight were self-reported at each survey wave. IPV victimization and depressive mood were assessed on the EAT II survey. The study comprised women with data on IPV and body mass index (BMI) (N = 619). Linear regression analyses examined (1) 5-year (EAT II to EAT III) BMI change as a function of IPV exposure and (2) 5-year BMI change as a function of depressive mood at EAT II in women with and without IPV exposure. Results: Almost 20% of the study sample reported IPV. Women exposed to both physical and sexual IPV at EAT II gained 1.1 kg/m2 (95% CI −0.2 to 2.4) more, over 5 years, than women unexposed to IPV, although this did not reach statistical significance. Among those with IPV exposure, depressive mood at EAT II was associated with an additional increase in BMI of 1.8 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.2–3.4) relative to no depressive mood. Conclusion: Survivors of IPV with depressive mood may have accelerated weight gain. Trauma-informed obesity prevention strategies may be warranted in this group. PMID:28075656

Bias to pollen odors is affected by early exposure and foraging experience.

PubMed

Arenas, A; Farina, W M

2014-07-01

In many pollinating insects, foraging preferences are adjusted on the basis of floral cues learned at the foraging site. In addition, olfactory experiences gained at early adult stages might also help them to initially choose food sources. To understand pollen search behavior of honeybees, we studied how responses elicited by pollen-based odors are biased in foraging-age workers according to (i) their genetic predisposition to collect pollen, (ii) pollen related information gained during foraging and (iii) different experiences with pollen gained at early adult ages. Bees returning to the hive carrying pollen loads, were strongly biased to unfamiliar pollen bouquets when tested in a food choice device against pure odors. Moreover, pollen foragers' orientation response was specific to the odors emitted by the pollen type they were carrying on their baskets, which suggests that foragers retrieve pollen odor information to recognize rewarding flowers outside the hive. We observed that attraction to pollen odor was mediated by the exposure to a pollen diet during the first week of life. We did not observe the same attraction in foraging-age bees early exposed to an artificial diet that did not contain pollen. Contrary to the specific response observed to cues acquired during foraging, early exposure to single-pollen diets did not bias orientation response towards a specific pollen odor in foraging-age bees (i.e. bees chose equally between the exposed and the novel monofloral pollen odors). Our results show that pollen exposure at early ages together with olfactory experiences gained in a foraging context are both relevant to bias honeybees' pollen search behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Suturing training in Augmented Reality: gaining proficiency in suturing skills faster.

PubMed

Botden, S M B I; de Hingh, I H J T; Jakimowicz, J J

2009-09-01

Providing informative feedback and setting goals tends to motivate trainees to practice more extensively. Augmented Reality simulators retain the benefit of realistic haptic feedback and additionally generate objective assessment and informative feedback during the training. This study researched the performance curve of the adapted suturing module on the ProMIS Augmented Reality simulator. Eighteen novice participants were pretrained on the MIST-VR to become acquainted with laparoscopy. Subsequently, they practiced 16 knots on the suturing module, of which the assessment scores were recorded to evaluate the gain in laparoscopic suturing skills. The scoring of the assessment method was calculated from the "time spent in the correct area" during the knot tying and the quality of the knot. Both the baseline knot and the knot at the top of the performance curve were assessed by two independent objective observers, by means of a standardized evaluation form, to objectify the gain in suturing skills. There was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the second knot (mean 72.59, standard deviation (SD) 16.28) and the top of the performance curve (mean 95.82, SD 3.05; p < 0.001, paired t-test). The scoring of the objective observers also differed significantly (mean 11.83 and 22.11, respectively; SD 3.37 and 3.89, respectively; p < 0.001) (interobserver reliability Cronbach's alpha = 0.96). The median amount of repetitions to reach the top of the performance curve was eight, which also showed significant differences between both the assessment score (mean 88.14, SD 13.53, p < 0.001) and scoring of the objective observers of the second knot (mean 20.51, SD 4.14; p < 0.001). This adapted suturing module on the ProMIS Augmented Reality laparoscopic simulator is a potent tool for gaining laparoscopic suturing skills.

Adoption of innovations by specialised nurses: personal, work and organisational characteristics.

PubMed

van der Weide, Marian; Smits, Jeroen

2004-04-01

To gain insight in the factors that influence the adoption of professional information by specialised nurses, we studied the effects of individual, work and organisational characteristics on the extent to which continence nurses gained knowledge and made use of a book on nursing diagnosis and interventions for patients with urinary incontinence, which they received as a present. Subjects were all members of the Dutch Association of Continence Nurses. Data collection took place via a postal questionnaire with closed questions. In total, 109 valid questionnaires (78%) were received back. Stepwise selected ordered logit models were estimated with reading the book and knowledge and use of five selected parts of it as dependent variables and individual, work and organisational characteristics as independent variables. The most important factors found to promote reading of the book and taking knowledge of the parts of it were a personal characteristic of the nurses called "information directedness" (or eagerness to acquire professional information from other sources), the presence of an "innovative atmosphere" at the department, and "relevance" of the information for daily nursing practice. The most important factors found to promote the use of the book are (again) information directedness, working at a (relatively) small department and having experience with nursing diagnosis. Results suggest that nurses differ in the degree to which they are open to innovations and that information directedness might be a useful indicator of this characteristic. In addition, the degree of innovativeness of the atmosphere at the department and the relevance of the innovation for nursing practice are important factors influencing the success or failure of innovations in nursing practice.

Continuous-variable quantum homomorphic signature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ke; Shang, Tao; Liu, Jian-wei

2017-10-01

Quantum cryptography is believed to be unconditionally secure because its security is ensured by physical laws rather than computational complexity. According to spectrum characteristic, quantum information can be classified into two categories, namely discrete variables and continuous variables. Continuous-variable quantum protocols have gained much attention for their ability to transmit more information with lower cost. To verify the identities of different data sources in a quantum network, we propose a continuous-variable quantum homomorphic signature scheme. It is based on continuous-variable entanglement swapping and provides additive and subtractive homomorphism. Security analysis shows the proposed scheme is secure against replay, forgery and repudiation. Even under nonideal conditions, it supports effective verification within a certain verification threshold.

Time-dependent spatial intensity profiles of near-infrared idler pulses from nanosecond optical parametric oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olafsen, L. J.; Olafsen, J. S.; Eaves, I. K.

2018-06-01

We report on an experimental investigation of the time-dependent spatial intensity distribution of near-infrared idler pulses from an optical parametric oscillator measured using an infrared (IR) camera, in contrast to beam profiles obtained using traditional knife-edge techniques. Comparisons show the information gained by utilizing the thermal camera provides more detail than the spatially- or time-averaged measurements from a knife-edge profile. Synchronization, averaging, and thresholding techniques are applied to enhance the images acquired. The additional information obtained can improve the process by which semiconductor devices and other IR lasers are characterized for their beam quality and output response and thereby result in IR devices with higher performance.

IQ Gains and the Binet Decrements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flynn, James R.

1984-01-01

Thorndike's Stanford-Binet data suggest that from 1932 to 1971-72 preschool children enjoyed greater IQ gains than older children, possibly due to the rise of television. Additional analysis indicated that gains were either due to sampling error or totally antedated 1947. Gains of 12 IQ points were found for Americans. (Author/EGS)

Georgia Interactive Network--GaIN--for Medical Information. Final Grant Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rankin, Jocelyn A.

This report describes the development of the Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information (GaIN), a project initially funded by a three-year (1983-1986) National Library of Medicine resource project grant. Designed to serve as a model network to transmit information via computer directly to health professionals, GaIN now operates through a…

Prognostic value, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of high sensitivity C-reactive protein as a marker in primary prevention of major cardiac events.

PubMed

Schnell-Inderst, Petra; Schwarzer, Ruth; Göhler, Alexander; Grandi, Norma; Grabein, Kristin; Stollenwerk, Björn; Klauß, Volker; Wasem, Jürgen; Siebert, Uwe

2009-05-12

In a substantial portion of patients (= 25%) with coronary heart disease (CHD), a myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death without prior symptoms is the first manifestation of disease. The use of new risk predictors for CHD such as the high-sensitivity C-reactive Protein (hs-CRP) in addition to established risk factors could improve prediction of CHD. As a consequence of the altered risk assessment, modified preventive actions could reduce the number of cardiac death and non-fatal myocardial infarction. Does the additional information gained through the measurement of hs-CRP in asymptomatic patients lead to a clinically relevant improvement in risk prediction as compared to risk prediction based on traditional risk factors and is this cost-effective? A literature search of the electronic databases of the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) was conducted. Selection, data extraction, assessment of the study-quality and synthesis of information was conducted according to the methods of evidence-based medicine. Eight publications about predictive value, one publication on the clinical efficacy and three health-economic evaluations were included. In the seven study populations of the prediction studies, elevated CRP-levels were almost always associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events and non-fatal myocardial infarctions or cardiac death and severe cardiovascular events. The effect estimates (odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR), hazard ratio (HR)), once adjusted for traditional risk factors, demonstrated a moderate, independent association between hs-CRP and cardiac and cardiovascular events that fell in the range of 0.7 to 2.47. In six of the seven studies, a moderate increase in the area under the curve (AUC) could be detected by adding hs-CRP as a predictor to regression models in addition to established risk factors though in three cases this was not statistically significant. The difference [in the AUC] between the models with and without hs-CRP fell between 0.00 and 0.023 with a median of 0.003. A decision-analytic modeling study reported a gain in life-expectancy for those using statin therapy for populations with elevated hs-CRP levels and normal lipid levels as compared to statin therapy for those with elevated lipid levels (approximately 6.6 months gain in life-expectancy for 58 year olds). Two decision-analytic models (three publications) on cost-effectiveness reported incremental cost-effectiveness ratios between Euro 8,700 and 50,000 per life year gained for the German context and between 52,000 and 708,000 for the US context. The empirical input data for the model is highly uncertain. No sufficient evidence is available to support the notion that hs-CRP-values should be measured during the global risk assessment for CAD or cardiovascular disease in addition to the traditional risk factors. The additional measurement of the hs-CRP-level increases the incremental predictive value of the risk prediction. It has not yet been clarified whether this increase is clinically relevant resulting in reduction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. For people with medium cardiovascular risk (5 to 20% in ten years) additional measurement of hs-CRP seems most likely to be clinical relevant to support the decision as to whether or not additional statin therapy should be initiated for primary prevention. Statin therapy can reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular events for asymptomatic individuals with normal lipid and elevated hs-CRP levels. However, this is not enough to provide evidence for a clinical benefit of hs-CRP-screening. The cost-effectiveness of general hs-CRP-screening as well as screening among only those with normal lipid levels remains unknown at present.

The information trail of the 'Freshman 15'--a systematic review of a health myth within the research and popular literature.

PubMed

Brown, Cecelia

2008-03-01

How does health misinformation become part of the American and Canadian vernacular? Twenty-three databases were searched for articles discussing university freshmen weight gain. Research articles were examined for methodology, number and gender of the participants and weight gain. Popular press articles were reviewed for the types of information published: expert/anecdotal, weight gain, nutrition, exercise, health and alcohol. A timeline of article publication dates was generated. Twenty peer-reviewed, 19 magazine, 146 newspaper, and 141 university newspaper articles were discovered. Appearance of media articles about the 'Freshman 15' mirrored the peer-reviewed articles, yet the information did not reliably depict the research. Research indicated a weight gain of less than five pounds (2.268 kg), while half of the popular press publications claimed a 15-pound (6.804 kg) weight gain. The misinformation was frequently accompanied by information about achieving weight control through diet, exercise, stress reduction and alcohol avoidance. Understanding of how the concept of the 'Freshman 15' developed indicates that remediation efforts are needed. Collaborative efforts between health science and academic librarians, faculty and journalists to construct new paradigms for the translation of scientific evidence into information that individuals can use for decisions about health and well-being is suggested.

Determining Type I and Type II Errors when Applying Information Theoretic Change Detection Metrics for Data Association and Space Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkins, M.; Moyer, E. J.; Hussein, Islam I.; Schumacher, P. W., Jr.

Correlating new detections back to a large catalog of resident space objects (RSOs) requires solving one of three types of data association problems: observation-to-track, track-to-track, or observation-to-observation. The authors previous work has explored the use of various information divergence metrics for solving these problems: Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence, mutual information, and Bhattacharrya distance. In addition to approaching the data association problem strictly from the metric tracking aspect, we have explored fusing metric and photometric data using Bayesian probabilistic reasoning for RSO identification to aid in our ability to correlate data to specific RS Os. In this work, we will focus our attention on the KL Divergence, which is a measure of the information gained when new evidence causes the observer to revise their beliefs. We can apply the Principle of Minimum Discrimination Information such that new data produces as small an information gain as possible and this information change is bounded by ɛ. Choosing an appropriate value for ɛ for both convergence and change detection is a function of your risk tolerance. Small ɛ for change detection increases alarm rates while larger ɛ for convergence means that new evidence need not be identical in information content. We need to understand what this change detection metric implies for Type I α and Type II β errors when we are forced to make a decision on whether new evidence represents a true change in characterization of an object or is merely within the bounds of our measurement uncertainty. This is unclear for the case of fusing multiple kinds and qualities of characterization evidence that may exist in different metric spaces or are even semantic statements. To this end, we explore the use of Sequential Probability Ratio Testing where we suppose that we may need to collect additional evidence before accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis that a change has occurred. In this work, we will explore the effects of choosing ɛ as a function of α and β. Our intent is that this work will help bridge understanding between the well-trodden grounds of Type I and Type II errors and changes in information theoretic content.

Thermodynamical interpretation of an adaptive walk on a Mt. Fuji-type fitness landscape: Einstein relation-like formula holds in a stochastic evolution.

PubMed

Aita, Takuyo; Husimi, Yuzuru

2003-11-21

We have theoretically studied the statistical properties of adaptive walks (or hill-climbing) on a Mt. Fuji-type fitness landscape in the multi-dimensional sequence space through mathematical analysis and computer simulation. The adaptive walk is characterized by the "mutation distance" d as the step-width of the walker and the "population size" N as the number of randomly generated d-fold point mutants to be screened. In addition to the fitness W, we introduced the following quantities analogous to thermodynamical concepts: "free fitness" G(W) is identical with W+T x S(W), where T is the "evolutionary temperature" T infinity square root of d/lnN and S(W) is the entropy as a function of W, and the "evolutionary force" X is identical with d(G(W)/T)/dW, that is caused by the mutation and selection pressure. It is known that a single adaptive walker rapidly climbs on the fitness landscape up to the stationary state where a "mutation-selection-random drift balance" is kept. In our interpretation, the walker tends to the maximal free fitness state, driven by the evolutionary force X. Our major findings are as follows: First, near the stationary point W*, the "climbing rate" J as the expected fitness change per generation is described by J approximately L x X with L approximately V/2, where V is the variance of fitness distribution on a local landscape. This simple relationship is analogous to the well-known Einstein relation in Brownian motion. Second, the "biological information gain" (DeltaG/T) through adaptive walk can be described by combining the Shannon's information gain (DeltaS) and the "fitness information gain" (DeltaW/T).

Dynamic search and working memory in social recall.

PubMed

Hills, Thomas T; Pachur, Thorsten

2012-01-01

What are the mechanisms underlying search in social memory (e.g., remembering the people one knows)? Do the search mechanisms involve dynamic local-to-global transitions similar to semantic search, and are these transitions governed by the general control of attention, associated with working memory span? To find out, we asked participants to recall individuals from their personal social networks and measured each participant's working memory capacity. Additionally, participants provided social-category and contact-frequency information about the recalled individuals as well as information about the social proximity among the recalled individuals. On the basis of these data, we tested various computational models of memory search regarding their ability to account for the patterns in which participants recalled from social memory. Although recall patterns showed clustering based on social categories, models assuming dynamic transitions between representations cued by social proximity and frequency information predicted participants' recall patterns best-no additional explanatory power was gained from social-category information. Moreover, individual differences in the time between transitions were positively correlated with differences in working memory capacity. These results highlight the role of social proximity in structuring social memory and elucidate the role of working memory for maintaining search criteria during search within that structure.

Optimization of Easy Atomic Force Microscope (ezAFM) Controls for Semiconductor Nanostructure Profiling

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

in the vertical (z) directions. There are several instruments controls like proportional, integral , and derivative (PID) gain as well as tip force...the PID control, where P stands for proportional gain, I stands for integral gain, and D stands for derivative gain. An additional parameter that...contributes to the scanned image quality is set point. Proportional gain is multiplied by the error to adjust controller output and integral gain sums

Active-learning strategies to develop health literacy knowledge and skills.

PubMed

Devraj, Radhika; Butler, Lakesha M; Gupchup, Gireesh V; Poirier, Therese I

2010-10-11

To implement active-learning exercises in a required pharmacy course and assess their impact on students' knowledge and confidence in identifying and communicating with patients with low health literacy, as part of a required course in cultural competency, health literacy, and health beliefs. Active-learning activities including administering health literacy assessments, identifying informal signs of low health literacy, conducting mock patient counseling sessions, rating the readability of drug information, analyzing information in drug advertisements, and writing patient education materials were incorporated into the 6-sesssion health literacy portion of the course. A pretest and posttest showed that students' knowledge of health literacy increased, and a retrospective pretest found improvement in students' confidence in their ability to care for patients with low health literacy. In-class discussions provided informal evidence that students gained new knowledge from the active-learning activities. The addition of active-learning activities was effective in teaching health literacy concepts to pharmacy students.

Collaborating to optimize nursing students' agency information technology use.

PubMed

Fetter, Marilyn S

2009-01-01

As the learning laboratory for gaining actual patient care experience, clinical agencies play an essential role in nursing education. With an information technology revolution transforming healthcare, nursing programs are eager for their students to learn the latest informatics systems and technologies. However, many healthcare institutions are struggling to meet their own information technology needs and report limited resources and other as barriers to nursing student training. In addition, nursing students' information technology access and use raise security and privacy concerns. With the goal of a fully electronic health record by 2014, it is imperative that agencies and educational programs collaborate. They need to establish educationally sound, cost-effective, and secure policies and procedures for managing students' use of information technology systems. Strategies for evaluating options, selecting training methods, and ensuring data security are shared, along with strategies that may reap clinical, economic, and educational benefits. Students' information technology use raises numerous issues that the nursing profession must address to participate in healthcare's transformation into the digital age.

IMMAN: free software for information theory-based chemometric analysis.

PubMed

Urias, Ricardo W Pino; Barigye, Stephen J; Marrero-Ponce, Yovani; García-Jacas, César R; Valdes-Martiní, José R; Perez-Gimenez, Facundo

2015-05-01

The features and theoretical background of a new and free computational program for chemometric analysis denominated IMMAN (acronym for Information theory-based CheMoMetrics ANalysis) are presented. This is multi-platform software developed in the Java programming language, designed with a remarkably user-friendly graphical interface for the computation of a collection of information-theoretic functions adapted for rank-based unsupervised and supervised feature selection tasks. A total of 20 feature selection parameters are presented, with the unsupervised and supervised frameworks represented by 10 approaches in each case. Several information-theoretic parameters traditionally used as molecular descriptors (MDs) are adapted for use as unsupervised rank-based feature selection methods. On the other hand, a generalization scheme for the previously defined differential Shannon's entropy is discussed, as well as the introduction of Jeffreys information measure for supervised feature selection. Moreover, well-known information-theoretic feature selection parameters, such as information gain, gain ratio, and symmetrical uncertainty are incorporated to the IMMAN software ( http://mobiosd-hub.com/imman-soft/ ), following an equal-interval discretization approach. IMMAN offers data pre-processing functionalities, such as missing values processing, dataset partitioning, and browsing. Moreover, single parameter or ensemble (multi-criteria) ranking options are provided. Consequently, this software is suitable for tasks like dimensionality reduction, feature ranking, as well as comparative diversity analysis of data matrices. Simple examples of applications performed with this program are presented. A comparative study between IMMAN and WEKA feature selection tools using the Arcene dataset was performed, demonstrating similar behavior. In addition, it is revealed that the use of IMMAN unsupervised feature selection methods improves the performance of both IMMAN and WEKA supervised algorithms. Graphic representation for Shannon's distribution of MD calculating software.

Aging and loss decision making: increased risk aversion and decreased use of maximizing information, with correlated rationality and value maximization.

PubMed

Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A; Sim, Sam K Y; Chee, Michael W L; Mullette-Gillman, O'Dhaniel A

2015-01-01

We investigated how adult aging specifically alters economic decision-making, focusing on examining alterations in uncertainty preferences (willingness to gamble) and choice strategies (what gamble information influences choices) within both the gains and losses domains. Within each domain, participants chose between certain monetary outcomes and gambles with uncertain outcomes. We examined preferences by quantifying how uncertainty modulates choice behavior as if altering the subjective valuation of gambles. We explored age-related preferences for two types of uncertainty, risk, and ambiguity. Additionally, we explored how aging may alter what information participants utilize to make their choices by comparing the relative utilization of maximizing and satisficing information types through a choice strategy metric. Maximizing information was the ratio of the expected value of the two options, while satisficing information was the probability of winning. We found age-related alterations of economic preferences within the losses domain, but no alterations within the gains domain. Older adults (OA; 61-80 years old) were significantly more uncertainty averse for both risky and ambiguous choices. OA also exhibited choice strategies with decreased use of maximizing information. Within OA, we found a significant correlation between risk preferences and choice strategy. This linkage between preferences and strategy appears to derive from a convergence to risk neutrality driven by greater use of the effortful maximizing strategy. As utility maximization and value maximization intersect at risk neutrality, this result suggests that OA are exhibiting a relationship between enhanced rationality and enhanced value maximization. While there was variability in economic decision-making measures within OA, these individual differences were unrelated to variability within examined measures of cognitive ability. Our results demonstrate that aging alters economic decision-making for losses through changes in both individual preferences and the strategies individuals employ.

Extended Graph-Based Models for Enhanced Similarity Search in Cavbase.

PubMed

Krotzky, Timo; Fober, Thomas; Hüllermeier, Eyke; Klebe, Gerhard

2014-01-01

To calculate similarities between molecular structures, measures based on the maximum common subgraph are frequently applied. For the comparison of protein binding sites, these measures are not fully appropriate since graphs representing binding sites on a detailed atomic level tend to get very large. In combination with an NP-hard problem, a large graph leads to a computationally demanding task. Therefore, for the comparison of binding sites, a less detailed coarse graph model is used building upon so-called pseudocenters. Consistently, a loss of structural data is caused since many atoms are discarded and no information about the shape of the binding site is considered. This is usually resolved by performing subsequent calculations based on additional information. These steps are usually quite expensive, making the whole approach very slow. The main drawback of a graph-based model solely based on pseudocenters, however, is the loss of information about the shape of the protein surface. In this study, we propose a novel and efficient modeling formalism that does not increase the size of the graph model compared to the original approach, but leads to graphs containing considerably more information assigned to the nodes. More specifically, additional descriptors considering surface characteristics are extracted from the local surface and attributed to the pseudocenters stored in Cavbase. These properties are evaluated as additional node labels, which lead to a gain of information and allow for much faster but still very accurate comparisons between different structures.

Financial effects of health information technology: a systematic review.

PubMed

Low, Alexander F H; Phillips, Andrew B; Ancker, Jessica S; Patel, Ashwin R; Kern, Lisa M; Kaushal, Rainu

2013-11-01

Health information technology (HIT) is widely viewed as an important lever with which to improve the quality and efficiency of the healthcare system. However, there has long been debate about its financial effects. To characterize the existing data on the financial effects of HIT and to consider the implications for the effect of HIT on healthcare spending. Systematic literature review. We identified articles by (1) searching PubMed using the intersection of terms related to HIT applications and terms related to financial or economic effect; and (2) reviewing the reference lists of the included articles as well as additional policy articles and literature reviews. A total of 57 articles met our inclusion criteria, including 43 articles (75%) reporting financial benefits to a stakeholder associated with HIT. These included 26 articles (46%) reporting cost savings, 6 articles (11%) reporting revenue gains, and 11 articles (19%) reporting a mixture of cost savings and revenue gains. Among articles with experimental study designs, 22 of 34 (65%) reported financial benefits; and among articles explicitly measuring costs and benefits, 19 of 21 (90%) reported financial benefits. The most prevalent mechanisms were savings on administrative goods and/or personnel, savings on pharmaceuticals, and revenue gains through improved billing. Overall there is a dearth of articles on this topic, especially ones with strong study designs and financial analyses. HIT can have financial benefits, but more research is required, especially on HIT's effects under emerging delivery and payment reform efforts.

Framing the ultimatum game: the contribution of simulation.

PubMed

Tomasino, Barbara; Lotto, Lorella; Sarlo, Michela; Civai, Claudia; Rumiati, Rino; Rumiati, Raffaella I

2013-01-01

It has now become widely accepted that economic decisions are influenced by cognitive and emotional processes. In the present study, we aimed at disentangling the neural mechanisms associated with the way in which the information is formulated, i.e., framing effect, in terms of gain or loss, which influences people's decisions. Participants played a fMRI version of the Ultimatum Game (UG) where we manipulated bids through two different frames: the expression "I give you" (gain) focusing on money the respondent would receive if she/he agreed with the proponent, and the expression "I take" (loss) focusing on the money that would be removed from the respondent in the event that she/he accepted the offer. Neuroimaging data revealed a frame by response interaction, showing an increase of neural activity in the right rolandic operculum/insular cortex, the anterior cingulate, among other regions, for accepting the frame "I take" vs. rejecting, as compared to accepting the frame "I give you" vs. rejecting. In addition, the left occipito-temporal junction was activated for "I take" vs. "I give you" for offer 5, corresponding to the equal offer made unpleasant by the presence of the frame "I take," where is the proposer that takes the money. Our data extend the current understanding of the neural substrates of social decision making, by disentangling the structures sensitive to the way in which the information is formulated (i.e., framing effect), in terms of gain or loss.

Gaining informed consent for blood transfusion.

PubMed

Whitmore, Emma; Gerrard, Rebecca; Coffey, Kairen

Transfusion of blood and blood products is a common procedure that has significant benefits but is also associated with serious risks. Patients needing blood transfusion require full information on these benefits and risks in order to make informed consent. This article, the first in a five-part series, discusses the process of gaining consent and resources available to support patients and health professionals in this.

An Analysis of Alternatives for Gaining Capacity So as to Maintain Access to the University of California. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.5.06

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, C. Judson

2006-01-01

This paper analyzes the need for providing additional undergraduate enrollment capacity at the University of California (UC) and of alternatives for gaining such capacity at UC and, by extension, other public research universities. In addition to the creation of new campuses, other approaches are capable of giving significant additional capacity…

Genetic gain and economic values of selection strategies including semen traits in three- and four-way crossbreeding systems for swine production.

PubMed

González-Peña, D; Knox, R V; MacNeil, M D; Rodriguez-Zas, S L

2015-03-01

Four semen traits: volume (VOL), concentration (CON), progressive motility of spermatozoa (MOT), and abnormal spermatozoa (ABN) provide complementary information on boar fertility. Assessment of the impact of selection for semen traits is hindered by limited information on economic parameters. Objectives of this study were to estimate economic values for semen traits and to evaluate the genetic gain when these traits are incorporated into traditional selection strategies in a 3-tier system of swine production. Three-way (maternal nucleus lines A and B and paternal nucleus line C) and 4-way (additional paternal nucleus line D) crossbreeding schemes were compared. A novel population structure that accommodated selection for semen traits was developed. Three selection strategies were simulated. Selection Strategy I (baseline) encompassed selection for maternal traits: number of pigs born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LBW), adjusted 21-d litter weight (A21), and number of pigs at 21 d (N21); and paternal traits: number of days to 113.5 kg (D113), backfat (BF), ADG, feed efficiency (FE), and carcass lean % (LEAN). Selection Strategy II included Strategy I and the number of usable semen doses per collection (DOSES), a function of the 4 semen traits. Selection Strategy III included Strategy I and the 4 semen traits individually. The estimated economic values of VOL, CON, MOT, ABN, and DOSES for 7 to 1 collections/wk ranged from $0.21 to $1.44/mL, $0.12 to $0.83/10 spermatozoa/mm, $0.61 to $12.66/%, -$0.53 to -$10.88/%, and $2.01 to $41.43/%, respectively. The decrease in the relative economic values of semen traits and DOSES with higher number of collections per wk was sharper between 1 and 2.33 collections/wk than between 2.33 and 7 collections/wk. The higher economic value of MOT and ABN relative to VOL and CON could be linked to the genetic variances and covariances of these traits. Average genetic gains for the maternal traits were comparable across strategies. Genetic gains for paternal traits, excluding semen traits, were greater in selection Strategy I than Strategies III and II. Genetic gains for paternal and maternal traits were greater in the 4- and 3-way schemes, respectively. The selection strategy including the 4 semen traits is recommended because this approach enables genetic gains for these traits without compromising the genetic gains for maternal traits and with minimal losses in genetic gains for paternal traits.

Weight Changes in Euthyroid Patients Undergoing Thyroidectomy

PubMed Central

Nsouli-Maktabi, Hala

2011-01-01

Background Thyroidectomized patients frequently report weight gain resistant to weight loss efforts, identifying their thyroidectomy as the event precipitating subsequent weight gain. We wished to determine whether recently thyroidectomized euthyroid patients gained more weight over 1 year than matched euthyroid patients with preexisting hypothyroidism. Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of subjects receiving medical care at an academic medical center. One hundred twenty patients had their weight and thyroid status documented after thyroidectomy and achievement of euthyroidism on thyroid hormone replacement, and one year later. Three additional groups of 120 patients with preexisting hypothyroidism, no thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer were matched for age, gender, menopausal status, height, and weight. Anthropometric data were documented at two time points 1 year apart. We compared the weight changes and body mass index changes occurring over a 1-year period in the four groups. Results Patients with recent postsurgical hypothyroidism gained 3.1 kg during the year, whereas matched patients with preexisting hypothyroidism gained 2.2 kg. The patients without thyroid disease and those with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism gained 1.3 and 1.2 kg, respectively. The weight gain in the thyroidectomized group was significantly greater than that in the matched hypothyroid group (p-value 0.004), the group without thyroid disease (p-value 0.001), and the patients with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism (p-value 0.001). Within the thyroidectomized group, the weight gain in menopausal women was greater than in either premenopausal women (4.4 vs. 2.3 kg, p-value 0.007) or men (4.4 vs. 2.5 kg, p-value 0.013). Conclusion Patients who had undergone thyroidectomy in the previous year did, in fact, gain more weight than their matched counterparts with preexisting hypothyroidism. In addition, all patients with hypothyroidism, even though treated to achieve euthyroidism, experienced more weight gain than both subjects without hypothyroidism and subjects with iatrogenic hyperthyroidism. The greatest weight gain in the thyroidectomized group was in menopausal women. These data raise the question of an unidentified factor related to taking thyroid hormone replacement that is associated with weight gain, with an additional intriguing effect of thyroidectomy itself. Menopausal status confers additional risk. These groups should be targeted for diligent weight loss efforts. PMID:22066482

Laser velocimetry in highly three-dimensional and vortical flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Novak, C. J.; Huie, C. R.; Cornelius, K. C.

1986-01-01

The need for experimentally determined 3-D velocity information is crucial to the understanding of highly 3-dimensional and vortical flow fields. In addition to gaining an understanding of the physics of flow fields, a correlation of velocity data is needed for advanced computational modelling. A double pass method for acquiring 3-D flow field information using a 2-D laser velocimeter (LV) is described. The design and implementation of a 3-D LV with expanded capabilities to acquire real-time 3-D flow field information are also described. Finally, the use of such an instrument in a wind tunnel study of a generic fighter configuration is described. The results of the wind tunnel study highlight the complexities of 3-D flow fields, particularly when the vortex behavior is examined over a range of angles of attack.

Hydrologic evaluation of a hypothetical coal-mining site near Chrisney, Spencer County, Indiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zogorski, John S.; Ramey, Daniel S.; Lambert, Paul W.; Martin, Jeffrey D.; Warner, Robert E.

1980-01-01

was completed to improve the understanding of the kinds of information needed to make such assessments by: (a) reviewing the regulations to determine what hydrologic information is required; (b) preparing an example hydrologic assessment based on the regulations; and (c) using the experience gained in (a) and (b) to identify areas lacking or needing additional data to make the required assessment. Hydrologic data for the study area were obtained from published and unpublished reports, maps, aerial photographs, personal interviews with residents in the area of the hypothetical mine site, and discussions with experts in the field. Where data were unavailable, "synthetic" data were generated by extrapolation from proximate or similar watersheds and (or) by assumptions based on experience or theory. Some field data were collected to corroborate and augment information originating from all these sources.

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Gain- versus loss-framed messages following health risk information: The effects on leisure time physical activity beliefs and cognitions.

PubMed

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

2013-12-01

The primary purpose was to examine the relative effectiveness of chronic disease and psychological health risk information combined with gain- versus loss-framed leisure time physical activity (LTPA) messages for changing perceived personal risk, LTPA response efficacy (i.e., the belief that LTPA can effectively reduce risk), and LTPA intentions. A secondary purpose was to explore the relationship between message framing and cognitive processing. Baseline assessments of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems, LTPA response efficacy, and intentions were measured among 96 individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants read population-specific information about the risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems following SCI, and perceived risk was reassessed. Participants were then randomized to read LTPA response efficacy messages emphasizing the benefits of LTPA (gain framed) or the risks of inactivity (loss framed). Immediately following message exposure, cognitive processing (i.e., thought listing and message recall), LTPA response efficacy, and LTPA intentions were assessed. Changes in perceived risk were observed following exposure to health risk information. Changes in LTPA response efficacy and intentions were greater following loss-framed messages targeting psychological health compared with gain-framed messages. Greater cognitive processing was observed following loss-framed messages compared with gain-framed messages. Following exposure to psychological health risk information, loss-framed messages may be more effective than gain-framed messages for eliciting cognitive processing and changing LTPA beliefs and intentions.

Indicators of carbon storage in U.S. ecosystems: baseline for terrestrial carbon accounting.

PubMed

Negra, Christine; Sweedo, Caroline Cremer; Cavender-Bares, Kent; O'Malley, Robin

2008-01-01

Policymakers, program managers, and landowners need information about net terrestrial carbon sequestration in forests, croplands, grasslands, and shrublands to understand the cumulative effects of carbon trading programs, expanding biofuels production, and changing environmental conditions in addition to agricultural and forestry uses. Objective information systems that establish credible baselines and track changes in carbon storage can provide the accountability needed for carbon trading programs to achieve durable carbon sequestration and for biofuels initiatives to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. A multi-sector stakeholder design process was used to produce a new indicator for the 2008 State of the Nation's Ecosystems report that presents metrics of carbon storage for major ecosystem types, specifically change in the amount of carbon gained or lost over time and the amount of carbon stored per unit area (carbon density). These metrics have been developed for national scale use, but are suitable for adaptation to multiple scales such as individual farm and forest parcels, carbon offset markets and integrated national and international assessments. To acquire the data necessary for a complete understanding of how much, and where, carbon is gained or lost by U.S. ecosystems, expansion and integration of monitoring programs will be required.

[Classification in medicine. An introductory reflection on its aim and object].

PubMed

Giere, W

2007-07-01

Human beings are born with the ability to recognize Gestalt and to classify. However, all classifications depend on their circumstances and intentions. There is no ultimate classification, and there is no one correct classification in medicine either. Examples for classifications of diagnoses, symptoms and procedures are discussed. The path to gaining knowledge and the basic difference between collecting data (patient file) and sorting data (register) will be illustrated using the BAIK information model. Additionally the model shows how the doctor can profit from the active electronic patient file which automatically offers him other relevant information for his current decision and saves time. "Without classification no new knowledge, no new knowledge through classification". This paradox will be solved eventually: a change of paradigms requires the overcoming of the currently valid classification system in medicine as well. Finally more precise recommendations will be given on how doctors can be freed from the burden of the need to classify and how the whole health system can gain much more valid data without limiting the doctors' freedom and creativity through co-ordinated use of IT, all while saving money at the same time.

Computer viruses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denning, Peter J.

1988-01-01

The worm, Trojan horse, bacterium, and virus are destructive programs that attack information stored in a computer's memory. Virus programs, which propagate by incorporating copies of themselves into other programs, are a growing menace in the late-1980s world of unprotected, networked workstations and personal computers. Limited immunity is offered by memory protection hardware, digitally authenticated object programs,and antibody programs that kill specific viruses. Additional immunity can be gained from the practice of digital hygiene, primarily the refusal to use software from untrusted sources. Full immunity requires attention in a social dimension, the accountability of programmers.

Sounding of the Ion Energization Region: Resolving Ambiguities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBelle, James

2003-01-01

Dartmouth College provided a single-channel high-frequency wave receiver to the Sounding of the Ion Energization Region: Resolving Ambiguities (SIERRA) rocket experiment launched from Poker Flat, Alaska, in January 2002. The receiver used signals from booms, probes, preamplifiers, and differential amplifiers provided by Cornell University coinvestigators. Output was to a dedicated 5 MHz telemetry link provided by WFF, with a small amount of additional Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) telemetry required for the receiver gain information. We also performed preliminary analysis of the data. The work completed is outlined below, in chronological order.

What information do consumers consider, and how do they look for it, when shopping for groceries online?☆

PubMed Central

Benn, Yael; Webb, Thomas L.; Chang, Betty P.I.; Reidy, John

2015-01-01

Previous research investigating what information shoppers seek when purchasing groceries has used either lab-experiments or observed shoppers in supermarkets. The present research investigates this question in a relatively naturalistic online-grocery environment. Forty participants completed their weekly shopping online while their eye-movements were recorded. Ten of the participants were subsequently interviewed to gain insight into their information seeking behaviour. We found that, when looking for products, 95% of participants navigated through the ‘virtual departments’, 80% used the ‘search’ facility, and 68% browsed the special offer pages. Once on the product pages, participants tended to look at the pictures of products, rather than examine detailed product information. To explain these findings, we suggest that online grocery sites simulate familiar supermarket environments, which may explain why consumers prefer to browse categories of products rather than use search terms. We also suggest that additional strategies are needed if consumers are to be encouraged to view detailed product information. PMID:25660339

Predicting cancer risk knowledge and information seeking: the role of social and cognitive factors.

PubMed

Hovick, Shelly R; Liang, Ming-Ching; Kahlor, Leeann

2014-01-01

This study tests an expanded Structural Influence Model (SIM) to gain a greater understanding of the social and cognitive factors that contribute to disparities in cancer risk knowledge and information seeking. At the core of this expansion is the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM). This study employed an online sample (N = 1,007) of African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White adults. The addition of four cognitive predictors to the SIM substantially increased variance explained in cancer risk knowledge (R(2) = .29) and information seeking (R(2) = .56). Health literacy mediated the effects of social determinants (socioeconomic status [SES] and race/ethnicity) on cancer risk knowledge, while subjective norms mediated their effects on cancer risk information seeking. Social capital and perceived seeking control were also shown to be important mediators of the relationships between SES and cancer communication outcomes. Our results illustrate the social and cognitive mechanisms by which social determinants impact cancer communication outcomes, as well as several points of intervention to reduce communication disparities.

The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR): a comprehensive database and web-based information retrieval, analysis, and visualization system for a model plant

PubMed Central

Huala, Eva; Dickerman, Allan W.; Garcia-Hernandez, Margarita; Weems, Danforth; Reiser, Leonore; LaFond, Frank; Hanley, David; Kiphart, Donald; Zhuang, Mingzhe; Huang, Wen; Mueller, Lukas A.; Bhattacharyya, Debika; Bhaya, Devaki; Sobral, Bruno W.; Beavis, William; Meinke, David W.; Town, Christopher D.; Somerville, Chris; Rhee, Seung Yon

2001-01-01

Arabidopsis thaliana, a small annual plant belonging to the mustard family, is the subject of study by an estimated 7000 researchers around the world. In addition to the large body of genetic, physiological and biochemical data gathered for this plant, it will be the first higher plant genome to be completely sequenced, with completion expected at the end of the year 2000. The sequencing effort has been coordinated by an international collaboration, the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative (AGI). The rationale for intensive investigation of Arabidopsis is that it is an excellent model for higher plants. In order to maximize use of the knowledge gained about this plant, there is a need for a comprehensive database and information retrieval and analysis system that will provide user-friendly access to Arabidopsis information. This paper describes the initial steps we have taken toward realizing these goals in a project called The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) (www.arabidopsis.org). PMID:11125061

Incorporating Health Information Technology and Pharmacy Informatics in a Pharmacy Professional Didactic Curriculum -with a Team-based Learning Approach.

PubMed

Hincapie, Ana L; Cutler, Timothy W; Fingado, Amanda R

2016-08-25

Objective. To incorporate a pharmacy informatics program in the didactic curriculum of a team-based learning institution and to assess students' knowledge of and confidence with health informatics during the course. Design. A previously developed online pharmacy informatics course was adapted and implemented into a team-based learning (TBL) 3-credit-hour drug information course for doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students in their second didactic year. During a period of five weeks (15 contact hours), students used the online pharmacy informatics modules as part of their readiness assurance process. Additional material was developed to comply with the TBL principles. Online pre/postsurveys were administered to evaluate knowledge gained and students' perceptions of the informatics program. Assessment. Eighty-three second-year students (84% response rate) completed the surveys. Participants' knowledge of electronic health records, computerized physician order entry, pharmacy information systems, and clinical decision support was significantly improved. Additionally, their confidence significantly improved in terms of describing health informatics terminology, describing the benefits and barriers of using health information technology, and understanding reasons for systematically processing health information. Conclusion. Students responded favorably to the incorporation of pharmacy informatics content into a drug information course using a TBL approach. Students met the learning objectives of seven thematic areas and had positive attitudes toward the course after its completion.

Distinguishing between direct and indirect directional couplings in large oscillator networks: Partial or non-partial phase analyses?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rings, Thorsten; Lehnertz, Klaus

2016-09-01

We investigate the relative merit of phase-based methods for inferring directional couplings in complex networks of weakly interacting dynamical systems from multivariate time-series data. We compare the evolution map approach and its partialized extension to each other with respect to their ability to correctly infer the network topology in the presence of indirect directional couplings for various simulated experimental situations using coupled model systems. In addition, we investigate whether the partialized approach allows for additional or complementary indications of directional interactions in evolving epileptic brain networks using intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from an epilepsy patient. For such networks, both direct and indirect directional couplings can be expected, given the brain's connection structure and effects that may arise from limitations inherent to the recording technique. Our findings indicate that particularly in larger networks (number of nodes ≫10 ), the partialized approach does not provide information about directional couplings extending the information gained with the evolution map approach.

Insights into Chronic Functional Movement Disorders: The Value of Qualitative Psychiatric Interviews.

PubMed

Epstein, Steven A; Maurer, Carine W; LaFaver, Kathrin; Ameli, Rezvan; Sinclair, Stephen; Hallett, Mark

Patients with functional movement disorders (FMDs) are commonly seen by neurologists and psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists. Research literature provides scant information about the subjective experiences of individuals with this often chronic problem. To enhance our understanding of psychologic aspects of FMDs by conducting qualitative interviews of research subjects. In total, 36 patients with FMDs were recruited from the Human Motor Control clinic at the National Institutes of Health. Each subject participated in a qualitative psychiatric interview and a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview. Of our 36 subjects, 28 had current or lifetime psychiatric disorders in addition to conversion disorder and 22 had current disorders. Qualitative interviews provided rich information on patients' understanding of their illnesses and impaired cognitive processing of emotions. Our study supports the addition of open-ended qualitative interviews to delineate emotional dynamics and conceptual frameworks among such patients. Exploratory interviews generate enhanced understanding of such complex patients, above and beyond that gained by assessing DSM diagnostic comorbidities. Copyright © 2016 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved.

Behavioral assessment of adaptive feedback equalization in a digital hearing aid.

PubMed

French-St George, M; Wood, D J; Engebretson, A M

1993-01-01

An evaluation was made of the efficacy of a digital feedback equalization algorithm employed by the Central Institute for the Deaf Wearable Adaptive Digital Hearing Aid. Three questions were addressed: 1) Does acoustic feedback limit gain adjustments made by hearing aid users? 2) Does feedback equalization permit users with hearing-impairment to select more gain without feedback? and, 3) If more gain is used when feedback equalization is active, does word identification performance improve? Nine subjects with hearing impairment participated in the study. Results suggest that listeners with hearing impairment are indeed limited by acoustic feedback when listening to soft speech (55 dB A) in quiet. The average listener used an additional 4 dB gain when feedback equalization was active. This additional gain resulted in an average 10 rationalized arcsine units (RAU) improvement in word identification score.

Is cost effectiveness sustained after weekend inpatient rehabilitation? 12 month follow up from a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Brusco, Natasha Kareem; Watts, Jennifer J; Shields, Nora; Taylor, Nicholas F

2015-04-18

Our previous work showed that providing additional rehabilitation on a Saturday was cost effective in the short term from the perspective of the health service provider. This study aimed to evaluate if providing additional rehabilitation on a Saturday was cost effective at 12 months, from a health system perspective inclusive of private costs. Cost effectiveness analyses alongside a single-blinded randomized controlled trial with 12 months follow up inclusive of informal care. Participants were adults admitted to two publicly funded inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The control group received usual care rehabilitation services from Monday to Friday and the intervention group received usual care plus additional Saturday rehabilitation. Incremental cost effectiveness ratios were reported as cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained and for a minimal clinical important difference (MCID) in functional independence. A total of 996 patients [mean age 74 years (SD 13)] were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 496) or control group (n = 500). The intervention was associated with improvements in QALY and MCID in function, as well as a non-significant reduction in cost from admission to 12 months (mean difference (MD) AUD$6,325; 95% CI -4,081 to 16,730; t test p = 0.23 and MWU p = 0.06), and a significant reduction in cost from admission to 6 months (MD AUD$6,445; 95% CI 3,368 to 9,522; t test p = 0.04 and MWU p = 0.01). There is a high degree of certainty that providing additional rehabilitation services on Saturday is cost effective. Sensitivity analyses varying the cost of informal carers and self-reported health service utilization, favored the intervention. From a health system perspective inclusive of private costs the provision of additional Saturday rehabilitation for inpatients is likely to have sustained cost savings per QALY gained and for a MCID in functional independence, for the inpatient stay and 12 months following discharge, without a cost shift into the community. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry November 2009 ACTRN12609000973213.

Adaptive Sampling of Time Series During Remote Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, David R.

2012-01-01

This work deals with the challenge of online adaptive data collection in a time series. A remote sensor or explorer agent adapts its rate of data collection in order to track anomalous events while obeying constraints on time and power. This problem is challenging because the agent has limited visibility (all its datapoints lie in the past) and limited control (it can only decide when to collect its next datapoint). This problem is treated from an information-theoretic perspective, fitting a probabilistic model to collected data and optimizing the future sampling strategy to maximize information gain. The performance characteristics of stationary and nonstationary Gaussian process models are compared. Self-throttling sensors could benefit environmental sensor networks and monitoring as well as robotic exploration. Explorer agents can improve performance by adjusting their data collection rate, preserving scarce power or bandwidth resources during uninteresting times while fully covering anomalous events of interest. For example, a remote earthquake sensor could conserve power by limiting its measurements during normal conditions and increasing its cadence during rare earthquake events. A similar capability could improve sensor platforms traversing a fixed trajectory, such as an exploration rover transect or a deep space flyby. These agents can adapt observation times to improve sample coverage during moments of rapid change. An adaptive sampling approach couples sensor autonomy, instrument interpretation, and sampling. The challenge is addressed as an active learning problem, which already has extensive theoretical treatment in the statistics and machine learning literature. A statistical Gaussian process (GP) model is employed to guide sample decisions that maximize information gain. Nonsta tion - ary (e.g., time-varying) covariance relationships permit the system to represent and track local anomalies, in contrast with current GP approaches. Most common GP models are stationary, e.g., the covariance relationships are time-invariant. In such cases, information gain is independent of previously collected data, and the optimal solution can always be computed in advance. Information-optimal sampling of a stationary GP time series thus reduces to even spacing, and such models are not appropriate for tracking localized anomalies. Additionally, GP model inference can be computationally expensive.

Amelioration of ethionine toxicity in the chick.

PubMed

Lowry, K R; Baker, D H

1987-06-01

Several chick bioassays were conducted to evaluate means of ameliorating ethionine toxicity. Supplementing a corn-soy diet marginally deficient in sulfur amino acids (methionine + cystine) with .075% D,L-ethionine reduced weight gain in 8-day-old chicks by 70% compared to gains of unsupplemented controls. Dietary addition of .50% DL-methionine prevented reduction in weight gain and feed intake resulting from ethionine supplementation whereas feeding supplemental L-cystine was without effect. Supplementation of the ethionine-containing diet with either choline or betaine ameliorated the growth depression, although neither compound was able to completely overcome the toxic effects of ethionine. Dietary ethionine did not affect plasma levels of free methionine or cystine but did increase plasma free glycine 6-fold. Dietary addition of .50% DL-methionine caused normalization of plasma glycine levels whereas it elevated plasma methionine concentration. Although results suggested the possibility of ethionine-induced serine or threonine deficiency, dietary additions of .75% L-serine or .75% L-threonine failed to improve chick weight gain. These studies suggest that ethionine, in addition to affecting transsulfuration and transmethylation activity may exert specific effects on certain amino acids in tissue pools.

Gain- and Loss-Related Brain Activation Are Associated with Information Search Differences in Risky Gambles: An fMRI and Eye-Tracking Study.

PubMed

Häusler, Alexander Niklas; Oroz Artigas, Sergio; Trautner, Peter; Weber, Bernd

2016-01-01

People differ in the way they approach and handle choices with unsure outcomes. In this study, we demonstrate that individual differences in the neural processing of gains and losses relates to attentional differences in the way individuals search for information in gambles. Fifty subjects participated in two independent experiments. Participants first completed an fMRI experiment involving financial gains and losses. Subsequently, they performed an eye-tracking experiment on binary choices between risky gambles, each displaying monetary outcomes and their respective probabilities. We find that individual differences in gain and loss processing relate to attention distribution. Individuals with a stronger reaction to gains in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex paid more attention to monetary amounts, while a stronger reaction in the ventral striatum to losses was correlated with an increased attention to probabilities. Reaction in the posterior cingulate cortex to losses was also found to correlate with an increased attention to probabilities. Our data show that individual differences in brain activity and differences in information search processes are closely linked.

Gain- and Loss-Related Brain Activation Are Associated with Information Search Differences in Risky Gambles: An fMRI and Eye-Tracking Study

PubMed Central

Trautner, Peter

2016-01-01

Abstract People differ in the way they approach and handle choices with unsure outcomes. In this study, we demonstrate that individual differences in the neural processing of gains and losses relates to attentional differences in the way individuals search for information in gambles. Fifty subjects participated in two independent experiments. Participants first completed an fMRI experiment involving financial gains and losses. Subsequently, they performed an eye-tracking experiment on binary choices between risky gambles, each displaying monetary outcomes and their respective probabilities. We find that individual differences in gain and loss processing relate to attention distribution. Individuals with a stronger reaction to gains in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex paid more attention to monetary amounts, while a stronger reaction in the ventral striatum to losses was correlated with an increased attention to probabilities. Reaction in the posterior cingulate cortex to losses was also found to correlate with an increased attention to probabilities. Our data show that individual differences in brain activity and differences in information search processes are closely linked. PMID:27679814

Short and Sweet: The Persuasive Effects of Message Framing and Temporal Context in Antismoking Warning Labels.

PubMed

Mollen, Saar; Engelen, Susanne; Kessels, Loes T E; van den Putte, Bas

2017-01-01

Current warning labels on cigarette packages are generally focused on long-term losses that can be incurred if one continues smoking. This study compares the effects of these labels against warning labels that stress short-term losses of smoking as well as labels that stress short- and long-term benefits that can be obtained when one quits smoking. A 2 (message frame: gain vs. loss) × 2 (temporal context: short vs. long term) between-subjects experiment was conducted among 132 smokers, with attitude toward quitting smoking and intention to quit smoking, as well as information-seeking behavior and message recall, as the dependent variables. Findings were in line with theory regarding message framing and temporal discounting, showing enhanced effects of gain over loss frames and short-term over long-term consequences on warning labels for attitudes and intentions. In addition, an interaction between message frame and temporal context was found. Especially, gain-framed messages showed stronger effects on intentions to quit smoking than loss-framed messages when warning labels concerned short-term outcomes. Findings suggest that current warning labels, with an emphasis on long-term negative health outcomes, should be reconsidered.

A Genomic Selection Index Applied to Simulated and Real Data

PubMed Central

Ceron-Rojas, J. Jesus; Crossa, José; Arief, Vivi N.; Basford, Kaye; Rutkoski, Jessica; Jarquín, Diego; Alvarado, Gregorio; Beyene, Yoseph; Semagn, Kassa; DeLacy, Ian

2015-01-01

A genomic selection index (GSI) is a linear combination of genomic estimated breeding values that uses genomic markers to predict the net genetic merit and select parents from a nonphenotyped testing population. Some authors have proposed a GSI; however, they have not used simulated or real data to validate the GSI theory and have not explained how to estimate the GSI selection response and the GSI expected genetic gain per selection cycle for the unobserved traits after the first selection cycle to obtain information about the genetic gains in each subsequent selection cycle. In this paper, we develop the theory of a GSI and apply it to two simulated and four real data sets with four traits. Also, we numerically compare its efficiency with that of the phenotypic selection index (PSI) by using the ratio of the GSI response over the PSI response, and the PSI and GSI expected genetic gain per selection cycle for observed and unobserved traits, respectively. In addition, we used the Technow inequality to compare GSI vs. PSI efficiency. Results from the simulated data were confirmed by the real data, indicating that GSI was more efficient than PSI per unit of time. PMID:26290571

Information gains from cosmic microwave background experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seehars, Sebastian; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre; Paranjape, Aseem; Akeret, Joël

2014-07-01

To shed light on the fundamental problems posed by dark energy and dark matter, a large number of experiments have been performed and combined to constrain cosmological models. We propose a novel way of quantifying the information gained by updates on the parameter constraints from a series of experiments which can either complement earlier measurements or replace them. For this purpose, we use the Kullback-Leibler divergence or relative entropy from information theory to measure differences in the posterior distributions in model parameter space from a pair of experiments. We apply this formalism to a historical series of cosmic microwave background experiments ranging from Boomerang to WMAP, SPT, and Planck. Considering different combinations of these experiments, we thus estimate the information gain in units of bits and distinguish contributions from the reduction of statistical errors and the "surprise" corresponding to a significant shift of the parameters' central values. For this experiment series, we find individual relative entropy gains ranging from about 1 to 30 bits. In some cases, e.g. when comparing WMAP and Planck results, we find that the gains are dominated by the surprise rather than by improvements in statistical precision. We discuss how this technique provides a useful tool for both quantifying the constraining power of data from cosmological probes and detecting the tensions between experiments.

Quantifying the mechanisms of domain gain in animal proteins.

PubMed

Buljan, Marija; Frankish, Adam; Bateman, Alex

2010-01-01

Protein domains are protein regions that are shared among different proteins and are frequently functionally and structurally independent from the rest of the protein. Novel domain combinations have a major role in evolutionary innovation. However, the relative contributions of the different molecular mechanisms that underlie domain gains in animals are still unknown. By using animal gene phylogenies we were able to identify a set of high confidence domain gain events and by looking at their coding DNA investigate the causative mechanisms. Here we show that the major mechanism for gains of new domains in metazoan proteins is likely to be gene fusion through joining of exons from adjacent genes, possibly mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination. Retroposition and insertion of exons into ancestral introns through intronic recombination are, in contrast to previous expectations, only minor contributors to domain gains and have accounted for less than 1% and 10% of high confidence domain gain events, respectively. Additionally, exonization of previously non-coding regions appears to be an important mechanism for addition of disordered segments to proteins. We observe that gene duplication has preceded domain gain in at least 80% of the gain events. The interplay of gene duplication and domain gain demonstrates an important mechanism for fast neofunctionalization of genes.

Qualitative analysis of gain spectra of InGaAlAs/InP lasing nano-heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lal, Pyare; Yadav, Rashmi; Sharma, Meha; Rahman, F.; Dalela, S.; Alvi, P. A.

2014-08-01

This paper deals with the studies of lasing characteristics along with the gain spectra of compressively strained and step SCH based In0.71Ga0.21Al0.08As/InP lasing nano-heterostructure within TE polarization mode, taking into account the variation in well width of the single quantum well of the nano-heterostructure. In addition, the compressive conduction and valence bands dispersion profiles for quantum well of the material composition In0.71Ga0.21Al0.08As at temperature 300 K and strain 1.12% have been studied using 4 × 4 Luttinger Hamiltonian. For the proposed nano-heterostructure, the quantum well width dependence of differential gain, refractive index change and relaxation oscillation frequency with current density have been studied. Moreover, the G-J characteristics of the nano-heterostructure at different well widths have also been investigated, that provided significant information about threshold current density, threshold gain and transparency current density. The results obtained in the study of nano-heterostructure suggest that the gain and relaxation oscillation frequency both are decreased with increasing quantum well width but the required lasing wavelength is found to shift towards higher values. On behalf of qualitative analysis of the structure, the well width of 6 nm is found more suitable for lasing action at the wavelength of 1.55 μm due to minimum optical attenuation and minimum dispersion within the waveguide. The results achieved are, therefore, very important in the emerging area of nano-optoelectronics.

Proliferation capacity of T-lymphocytes is affected transiently after a long-term weight gain in Beagle dogs.

PubMed

Van de Velde, H; Janssens, G P J; Rochus, K; Duchateau, L; Scharek-Tedin, L; Zentek, J; Nguyen, P; Cox, E; Buyse, J; Biourge, V; Hesta, M

2013-04-15

Across species obesity is associated with several disorders but in companion animals little information is available on the impact of chronic obesity on immune competence. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether weight gain and stable obese bodyweight affects the immune cell response. Obesity was induced in eight adult healthy beagle dogs (weight gain group; WGG) by a weight gain period (WGP) of 47 weeks, which was immediately followed by a period (stable period: SP) of stable obesity of 26 weeks. Eight adult healthy beagle dogs were included as a control group (CG) and remained at their ideal bodyweight throughout the entire study. Body composition was measured at five intervening time-points. Concentration of serum leptin and inflammatory cytokines, functionality of lymphocytes and phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes were evaluated at ten intervening time-points. Serum leptin concentration was rising during the WGP in the WGG but went to lower concentrations during the SP. At the end of long-term weight gain, a decreased mitogen-induced proliferation of T-lymphocytes was noted but this alteration seemed to be transient after stabilization of bodyweight. This finding may imply an altered immune response for dogs with different energy balances. However, no systemic low grade inflammation or alteration in other immune cell functions was observed. Consequently it is suggested that the change in energy balance during the onset of obesity (becoming obese versus being obese), evokes an additional obesity-related disorder in dogs, i.e. impaired T-lymphocyte immune function. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

20 CFR 220.142 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... business, this tends to show that the claimant has the ability to work at the substantial gainful activity... claimant has the necessary skills and ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. (d) If the... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false General information about work activity. 220...

20 CFR 416.973 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... operation of a business, this tends to show that you have the ability to work at the substantial gainful... ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. Examples of the special conditions that may... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false General information about work activity. 416...

20 CFR 220.142 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... business, this tends to show that the claimant has the ability to work at the substantial gainful activity... claimant has the necessary skills and ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. (d) If the... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2013-04-01 2012-04-01 true General information about work activity. 220...

20 CFR 220.142 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... business, this tends to show that the claimant has the ability to work at the substantial gainful activity... claimant has the necessary skills and ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. (d) If the... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2014-04-01 2012-04-01 true General information about work activity. 220...

20 CFR 416.973 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... operation of a business, this tends to show that you have the ability to work at the substantial gainful... ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. Examples of the special conditions that may... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false General information about work activity. 416...

20 CFR 416.973 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... operation of a business, this tends to show that you have the ability to work at the substantial gainful... ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level. Examples of the special conditions that may... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false General information about work activity. 416...

Informant Agreement in Treatment Gains for Child Anxiety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benjamin, Courtney L.; Puleo, Connor M.; Kendall, Philip C.

2011-01-01

The present study examined multiple informant agreement in reports of treatment gains in a sample of children (M age = 10.27) treated for social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Mothers and fathers agreed on their child's improvement, and parents and children also generally agreed on the child's improvement.…

Low-mobility channel tracking for MIMO-OFDM communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagadarai, Srikanth; Wyglinski, Alexander M.; Anderson, Christopher R.

2013-12-01

It is now well understood that by exploiting the available additional spatial dimensions, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems provide capacity gains, compared to a single-input single-output systems without increasing the overall transmit power or requiring additional bandwidth. However, these large capacity gains are feasible only when the perfect knowledge of the channel is available to the receiver. Consequently, when the channel knowledge is imperfect, as is common in practical settings, the impact of the achievable capacity needs to be evaluated. In this study, we begin with a general MIMO framework at the outset and specialize it to the case of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems by decoupling channel estimation from data detection. Cyclic-prefixed OFDM systems have attracted widespread interest due to several appealing characteristics not least of which is the fact that a single-tap frequency-domain equalizer per subcarrier is sufficient due to the circulant structure of the resulting channel matrix. We consider a low-mobility wireless channel which exhibits inter-block channel variations and apply Kalman tracking when MIMO-OFDM communication is performed. Furthermore, we consider the signal transmission to contain a stream of training and information symbols followed by information symbols alone. By relying on predicted channel states when training symbols are absent, we aim to understand how the improvements in channel capacity are affected by imperfect channel knowledge. We show that the Kalman recursion procedure can be simplified by the optimal minimum mean square error training design. Using the simplified recursion, we derive capacity upper and lower bounds to evaluate the performance of the system.

Information sampling behavior with explicit sampling costs

PubMed Central

Juni, Mordechai Z.; Gureckis, Todd M.; Maloney, Laurence T.

2015-01-01

The decision to gather information should take into account both the value of information and its accrual costs in time, energy and money. Here we explore how people balance the monetary costs and benefits of gathering additional information in a perceptual-motor estimation task. Participants were rewarded for touching a hidden circular target on a touch-screen display. The target’s center coincided with the mean of a circular Gaussian distribution from which participants could sample repeatedly. Each “cue” — sampled one at a time — was plotted as a dot on the display. Participants had to repeatedly decide, after sampling each cue, whether to stop sampling and attempt to touch the hidden target or continue sampling. Each additional cue increased the participants’ probability of successfully touching the hidden target but reduced their potential reward. Two experimental conditions differed in the initial reward associated with touching the hidden target and the fixed cost per cue. For each condition we computed the optimal number of cues that participants should sample, before taking action, to maximize expected gain. Contrary to recent claims that people gather less information than they objectively should before taking action, we found that participants over-sampled in one experimental condition, and did not significantly under- or over-sample in the other. Additionally, while the ideal observer model ignores the current sample dispersion, we found that participants used it to decide whether to stop sampling and take action or continue sampling, a possible consequence of imperfect learning of the underlying population dispersion across trials. PMID:27429991

Use of Visual Cues by Adults With Traumatic Brain Injuries to Interpret Explicit and Inferential Information.

PubMed

Brown, Jessica A; Hux, Karen; Knollman-Porter, Kelly; Wallace, Sarah E

2016-01-01

Concomitant visual and cognitive impairments following traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may be problematic when the visual modality serves as a primary source for receiving information. Further difficulties comprehending visual information may occur when interpretation requires processing inferential rather than explicit content. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy with which people with and without severe TBI interpreted information in contextually rich drawings. Fifteen adults with and 15 adults without severe TBI. Repeated-measures between-groups design. Participants were asked to match images to sentences that either conveyed explicit (ie, main action or background) or inferential (ie, physical or mental inference) information. The researchers compared accuracy between participant groups and among stimulus conditions. Participants with TBI demonstrated significantly poorer accuracy than participants without TBI extracting information from images. In addition, participants with TBI demonstrated significantly higher response accuracy when interpreting explicit rather than inferential information; however, no significant difference emerged between sentences referencing main action versus background information or sentences providing physical versus mental inference information for this participant group. Difficulties gaining information from visual environmental cues may arise for people with TBI given their difficulties interpreting inferential content presented through the visual modality.

Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays.

PubMed

Mejias, Jorge F; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

2014-01-01

The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry-also known as "open-loop feedback"-, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain.

Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays

PubMed Central

Mejias, Jorge F.; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

2014-01-01

The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry—also known as “open-loop feedback”—, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain. PMID:24616694

Theoretical study of the mechanism of CH2CO + CN reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hao; He, Hong-Qing; Hong, Bo; Chang, Ying-Fei; An, Zhe; Wang, Rong-Shun

The potential energy surface information of the CH2CO + CN reaction is obtained at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level. To gain further mechanistic knowledge, higher-level single-point calculations for the stationary points are performed at the QCISD(T)/6-311++G(d,p) level. The CH2CO + CN reaction proceeds through four possible mechanisms: direct hydrogen abstraction, olefinic carbon addition-elimination, carbonyl carbon addition-elimination, and side oxygen addition-elimination. Our calculations demonstrate that R?IM1?TS3?P3: CH2CN + CO is the energetically favorable channel; however, channel R?IM2?TS4?P4: CH2NC + CO is considerably competitive, especially as the temperature increases (R, IM, TS, and P represent reactant, intermediate, transition state, and product, respectively). The present study may be helpful in probing the mechanism of the CH2CO + CN reaction.

Cost-effectiveness of vaccination of the elderly against herpes zoster in The Netherlands.

PubMed

de Boer, Pieter T; Pouwels, Koen B; Cox, Juul M; Hak, Eelko; Wilschut, Jan C; Postma, Maarten J

2013-02-18

Each year a substantial number of Dutch elderly suffers from herpes zoster (HZ), caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV). A potential complication of HZ is postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) which results in a prolonged loss of quality of life. A large randomized clinical trial, labelled the Shingles Prevention study (SPS), demonstrated that a live attenuated VZV vaccine can reduce the incidence of HZ and PHN. We aimed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of vaccination of the elderly against HZ versus no such vaccination in The Netherlands. A cohort model was developed to compare the costs and effects in a vaccinated and a non-vaccinated age- and gender-stratified cohort of immune-competent elderly. Vaccination age was varied from 60 to 75 years. Data from published literature such as the SPS were used for transition probabilities. The study was performed from the societal as well as the health care payer's perspective and results were expressed in euros per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. In the base case, we estimated that vaccination of a cohort of 100,000 60-year-olds would prevent 4136 cases of HZ, 305 cases of PHN resulting in a QALY-gain of 209. From the societal perspective, a total of €1.9 million was saved and the ICER was €35,555 per QALY gained when a vaccine price of €87 was used. Vaccination of women resulted in a lower ICER than vaccination of men (€33,258 vs. €40,984 per QALY gained). The vaccination age with the most favourable ICER was 70 years (€29,664 per QALY gained). Parameters with a major impact on the ICER were the vaccine price and HZ incidence rates. In addition, the model was sensitive to utility of mild pain, vaccine efficacy at the moment of uptake and the duration of protection induced by the vaccine. Vaccination against HZ might be cost-effective for ages ranging from 60 to 75 when a threshold of €50,000 per QALY gained would be used, at €20,000 per QALY this might not be the case. Additional information on the duration of vaccine-protection is needed to further optimize cost-effectiveness estimations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Femtosecond Nonlinearities in Indium Gallium Arsenic Phosphide Diode Lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Katherine Lavin

Semiconductor optical amplifiers are receiving increasing attention for possible applications to broadband optical communication and switching systems. In this thesis we report the results of an extensive experimental study of the ultrafast gain and refractive index nonlinearities in 1.5 μm InGaAsP laser diode amplifiers. The temporal resolution afforded by the femtosecond optical pulses used in these experiments allows us to study carrier interactions with other carriers as well as carrier interactions with the lattice. The 100-200 fs optical pulses used in the pump -probe experiments are generated by an Additive Pulse Modelocked color center laser. The measured group velocity dispersion in the diodes ranged from -0.6 to -0.95 mu m^{-1 }. Differences in the group velocity for TE - and TM-polarized pulses suggested that cross-polarized pump-probe pulses walk off from each other in the diode. This walk-off can diminish the time resolution of some experiments. A novel heterodyne pump-probe technique was developed to distinguish collinear, copolarized, pump and probe pulses that were nominally at the same wavelength. Comparing cross-polarized and copolarized pump-probe results yielded new information about the physical mechanisms responsible for nonlinear gain in the diodes. We observed a gain compression across the entire bandwidth of the diode, associated with carrier heating. The hot carrier distribution cooled back to the lattice temperature with a 0.6 to 1.0 ps time constant, depending on the device structure. In addition, we observed a 0.1 to 0.25 ps delay in onset of carrier heating. Large gain compression due to two photon absorption was also observed. A small portion of the nonlinear gain is attributed to spectral hole burning. Pulsewidth-dependent output saturation energies were explained by a rate equation model that included the effect of carrier heating. Measurements of pump-induced probe phase changes revealed index nonlinearities due to delayed carrier heating and an instantaneous electronic, or virtual process. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617 -253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.).

Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sample McMeeking, L. B.; Weinberg, A. E.

2013-12-01

Research experiences for undergraduates (REU) have been shown to be effective in improving undergraduate students' personal/professional development, ability to synthesize knowledge, improvement in research skills, professional advancement, and career choice. Adding to the literature on REU programs, a new conceptual model situating REU within a context of participatory action research (PAR) is presented and compared with data from a PAR-based coastal climate research experience that took place in Summer 2012. The purpose of the interdisciplinary Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates (PAREU) model is to act as an additional year to traditional, lab-based REU where undergraduate science students, social science experts, and community members collaborate to develop research with the goal of enacting change. The benefits to traditional REU's are well established and include increased content knowledge, better research skills, changes in attitudes, and greater career awareness gained by students. Additional positive outcomes are expected from undergraduate researchers (UR) who participate in PAREU, including the ability to better communicate with non-scientists. With highly politicized aspects of science, such as climate change, this becomes especially important for future scientists. Further, they will be able to articulate the relevance of science research to society, which is an important skill, especially given the funding climate where agencies require broader impacts statements. Making science relevant may also benefit URs who wish to apply their science research. Finally, URs will gain social science research skills by apprenticing in a research project that includes science and social science research components, which enables them to participate in future education and outreach. The model also positively impacts community members by elevating their voices within and outside the community, particularly in areas severely underserved socially and politically. The PAREU model empowers the community to take action from the research they, themselves, conducted, and enables them to carry out future research. Finally, many of these communities (and the general public) lack the understanding of the nature of science, which leads to ignorance on the part of citizens in areas of science such as climate change. By participating in science/social science research, community members gain a better understanding of the nature of science, making them more informed citizens. The PAREU model is theoretically grounded in decades of research in social science and documented impacts of student research experiences. In addition to providing practical benefits for communities with needs solvable by scientific research, the model builds on and expands student skills gained from traditional REU programs Deep and sustained engagement among scientists, social scientists, and community leaders is expected to create better informed citizens and improve their ability to solve problems.

Development and Pilot Testing of the Eating4two Mobile Phone App to Monitor Gestational Weight Gain.

PubMed

Knight-Agarwal, Catherine; Davis, Deborah Lee; Williams, Lauren; Davey, Rachel; Cox, Robert; Clarke, Adam

2015-06-05

The number of pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m(2) or more is increasing, which has important implications for antenatal care. Various resource-intensive interventions have attempted to assist women in managing their weight gain during pregnancy with limited success. A mobile phone app has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions. This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the Eating4Two app, which aims to provide women with a simple gestational weight gain (GWG) calculator, general dietary information, and the motivation to achieve a healthy weight gain during pregnancy. The project involved the development of app components, including a graphing function that allows the user to record their weight throughout the pregnancy and to receive real-time feedback on weight gain progress and general information on antenatal nutrition. Stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The app was pilot tested with 10 pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey, 2 focus groups, and 1 individual interview. The Eating4Two app took 7 months to develop and evaluate. It involved several disciplines--including nutrition and dietetics, midwifery, public health, and information technology--at the University of Canberra. Participants found the Eating4Two app to be a motivational tool but would have liked scales or other markers on the graph that demonstrated exact weight gain. They also liked the nutrition information; however, many felt it should be formatted in a more user friendly way. The Eating4Two app was viewed by participants in our study as an innovative support system to help motivate healthy behaviors during pregnancy and as a credible resource for accessing nutrition-focused information. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for use in a clinical intervention trial.

Development and Pilot Testing of the Eating4two Mobile Phone App to Monitor Gestational Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Davis, Deborah Lee; Williams, Lauren; Davey, Rachel; Cox, Robert; Clarke, Adam

2015-01-01

Background The number of pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m2 or more is increasing, which has important implications for antenatal care. Various resource-intensive interventions have attempted to assist women in managing their weight gain during pregnancy with limited success. A mobile phone app has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions. Objective This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the Eating4Two app, which aims to provide women with a simple gestational weight gain (GWG) calculator, general dietary information, and the motivation to achieve a healthy weight gain during pregnancy. Methods The project involved the development of app components, including a graphing function that allows the user to record their weight throughout the pregnancy and to receive real-time feedback on weight gain progress and general information on antenatal nutrition. Stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The app was pilot tested with 10 pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey, 2 focus groups, and 1 individual interview. Results The Eating4Two app took 7 months to develop and evaluate. It involved several disciplines--including nutrition and dietetics, midwifery, public health, and information technology--at the University of Canberra. Participants found the Eating4Two app to be a motivational tool but would have liked scales or other markers on the graph that demonstrated exact weight gain. They also liked the nutrition information; however, many felt it should be formatted in a more user friendly way. Conclusions The Eating4Two app was viewed by participants in our study as an innovative support system to help motivate healthy behaviors during pregnancy and as a credible resource for accessing nutrition-focused information. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for use in a clinical intervention trial. PMID:26048313

The scope of additive manufacturing in cryogenics, component design, and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stautner, W.; Vanapalli, S.; Weiss, K.-P.; Chen, R.; Amm, K.; Budesheim, E.; Ricci, J.

2017-12-01

Additive manufacturing techniques using composites or metals are rapidly gaining momentum in cryogenic applications. Small or large, complex structural components are now no longer limited to mere design studies but can now move into the production stream thanks to new machines on the market that allow for light-weight, cost optimized designs with short turnaround times. The potential for cost reductions from bulk materials machined to tight tolerances has become obvious. Furthermore, additive manufacturing opens doors and design space for cryogenic components that to date did not exist or were not possible in the past, using bulk materials along with elaborate and expensive machining processes, e.g. micromachining. The cryogenic engineer now faces the challenge to design toward those new additive manufacturing capabilities. Additionally, re-thinking designs toward cost optimization and fast implementation also requires detailed knowledge of mechanical and thermal properties at cryogenic temperatures. In the following we compile the information available to date and show a possible roadmap for additive manufacturing applications of parts and components typically used in cryogenic engineering designs.

Behavior modification techniques used to prevent gestational diabetes: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Skouteris, Helen; Morris, Heather; Nagle, Cate; Nankervis, Alison

2014-04-01

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and obesity is increasing in developed countries, presenting significant challenges to acute care and public health. The aim of this study is to systematically review published controlled trials evaluating behavior modification interventions to prevent the development of GDM. Nine studies were identified involving such techniques as repetition of information, use of verbal and written educational information, goal setting, and planning, in addition to group and individual counseling sessions. Of the 3 trials with GDM incidence as a primary outcome, only 1 showed a significant reduction. GDM was a secondary outcome in 6 studies where the prevention of excessive gestational weight gain was the primary outcome and only 1 trial study determined an effective intervention. The small number of effective interventions highlights a significant gap in evidence to inform maternity health policy and practice.

14C BOMB-PULSE DATING AND STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS FOR GROWTH RATE AND DIETARY INFORMATION IN BREAST CANCER?

PubMed Central

Lång, K.; Eriksson Stenström, K.; Rosso, A.; Bech, M.; Zackrisson, S.; Graubau, D.; Mattsson, S.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to perform an initial investigation of the possibility to determine breast cancer growth rate with 14C bomb-pulse dating. Tissues from 11 breast cancers, diagnosed in 1983, were retrieved from a regional biobank. The estimated average age of the majority of the samples overlapped the year of collection (1983) within 3σ. Thus, this first study of tumour tissue has not yet demonstrated that 14C bomb-pulse dating can obtain information on the growth of breast cancer. However, with further refinement, involving extraction of cell types and components, there is a possibility that fundamental knowledge of tumour biology might still be gained by the bomb-pulse technique. Additionally, δ 13C and δ 15N analyses were performed to obtain dietary and metabolic information, and to serve as a base for improvement of the age determination. PMID:27179119

In A Survey, Marked Inconsistency In How Oncologists Judged Value Of High-Cost Cancer Drugs In Relation To Gains In Survival

PubMed Central

Ubel, Peter A.; Berry, Scott R.; Nadler, Eric; Bell, Chaim M.; Kozminski, Michael A.; Palmer, Jennifer A.; Evans, William K.; Strevel, Elizabeth L.; Neumann, Peter J.

2013-01-01

Amid calls for physicians to become better stewards of the nation’s health care resources, it is important to gain insight into how physicians think about the cost-effectiveness of new treatments. Expensive new cancer treatments that can extend life raise questions about whether physicians are prepared to make “value for money” tradeoffs when treating patients. We asked oncologists in the United States and Canada how much benefit, in additional months of life expectancy, a new drug would need to provide to justify its cost and warrant its use in an individual patient. The majority of oncologists agreed that a new cancer treatment that might add a year to a patient’s life would be worthwhile if the cost was less than $100,000. But when given a hypothetical case of an individual patient to review, the oncologists also endorsed a hypothetical drug whose cost might be as high as $250,000 per life-year gained. The results show that oncologists are not consistent in deciding how many months an expensive new therapy should extend a person’s life before the cost of therapy is justified. Moreover, the benefit that oncologists demand from new treatments in terms of length of survival does not necessarily increase according to the price of the treatment. The findings suggest that policy makers should find ways to improve how physicians are educated on the use of cost-effectiveness information and to influence physician decision making through clinical guidelines that incorporate cost-effectiveness information. PMID:22492887

Feasibility of approaches combining sensor and source features in brain-computer interface.

PubMed

Ahn, Minkyu; Hong, Jun Hee; Jun, Sung Chan

2012-02-15

Brain-computer interface (BCI) provides a new channel for communication between brain and computers through brain signals. Cost-effective EEG provides good temporal resolution, but its spatial resolution is poor and sensor information is blurred by inherent noise. To overcome these issues, spatial filtering and feature extraction techniques have been developed. Source imaging, transformation of sensor signals into the source space through source localizer, has gained attention as a new approach for BCI. It has been reported that the source imaging yields some improvement of BCI performance. However, there exists no thorough investigation on how source imaging information overlaps with, and is complementary to, sensor information. Information (visible information) from the source space may overlap as well as be exclusive to information from the sensor space is hypothesized. Therefore, we can extract more information from the sensor and source spaces if our hypothesis is true, thereby contributing to more accurate BCI systems. In this work, features from each space (sensor or source), and two strategies combining sensor and source features are assessed. The information distribution among the sensor, source, and combined spaces is discussed through a Venn diagram for 18 motor imagery datasets. Additional 5 motor imagery datasets from the BCI Competition III site were examined. The results showed that the addition of source information yielded about 3.8% classification improvement for 18 motor imagery datasets and showed an average accuracy of 75.56% for BCI Competition data. Our proposed approach is promising, and improved performance may be possible with better head model. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Gonioscopy - How, Why, What for?

PubMed

Unterlauft, J D

2017-08-01

Aim Gonioscopy is used to exam the anterior chamber angle and the neighbouring structures. Gonioscopy can be performed using a contact lens, with the patient sitting at the slit lamp or in a supine position. Due to the total inner reflection of the cornea, the anterior chamber angle would otherwise be invisible in a healthy eye. During normal daily clinical routine, gonioscopy is often omitted, due to lack of time, although additional information could be gained. Materials and Methods The aim is to give a summary of the diagnostic possibilities using gonioscopy and to emphasise the importance of this relatively easy clinical method. Results The development of gonioscopy, the appropriate tools, proper procedure at the slit lamp and the most popular grading systems are described. In addition, an overview of detectable pathological changes in the anterior chamber angle is given and future prospects about developments in gonioscopy. Conclusion Gonioscopy can provide additional information otherwise missed by slit lamp examination or ophthalmoscopy alone. Up to now, no (semi-)automatic devices have been developed which could completely replace gonioscopy. Therefore gonioscopy remains an important part of a complete ophthalmological examination and should be learned, mastered and performed regularly by every ophthalmologist. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Energy Scaling of Nanosecond Gain-Switched Cr2+:ZnSe Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

outcoupler or absorption from the lightly-doped active ions. Additionally, the edges of the crystals are cut at the Brewster angle , which raises...experiments we used Brewster cut Cr:ZnSe gain elements with a chromium concentration of 8x1018 cm-3. Under Cr:Tm:Ho:YAG pumping, the first Cr:ZnSe laser...the energy scaling of nanosecond gain-switched Cr:ZnSe lasers is optimization of the gain medium. In this study we used Brewster cut Cr:ZnSe gain

Discriminative analysis of lip motion features for speaker identification and speech-reading.

PubMed

Cetingül, H Ertan; Yemez, Yücel; Erzin, Engin; Tekalp, A Murat

2006-10-01

There have been several studies that jointly use audio, lip intensity, and lip geometry information for speaker identification and speech-reading applications. This paper proposes using explicit lip motion information, instead of or in addition to lip intensity and/or geometry information, for speaker identification and speech-reading within a unified feature selection and discrimination analysis framework, and addresses two important issues: 1) Is using explicit lip motion information useful, and, 2) if so, what are the best lip motion features for these two applications? The best lip motion features for speaker identification are considered to be those that result in the highest discrimination of individual speakers in a population, whereas for speech-reading, the best features are those providing the highest phoneme/word/phrase recognition rate. Several lip motion feature candidates have been considered including dense motion features within a bounding box about the lip, lip contour motion features, and combination of these with lip shape features. Furthermore, a novel two-stage, spatial, and temporal discrimination analysis is introduced to select the best lip motion features for speaker identification and speech-reading applications. Experimental results using an hidden-Markov-model-based recognition system indicate that using explicit lip motion information provides additional performance gains in both applications, and lip motion features prove more valuable in the case of speech-reading application.

Experiences in Bridging the Gap between Science and Decision Making at NASA's GSFC Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kempler, Steven; Teng, Bill; Friedl, Lawrence; Lynnes, Chris; Leptoukh, Gregory

2008-01-01

Recognizing the significance of NASA remote sensing Earth science data in monitoring and better understanding our planet s natural environment, NASA has implemented the Decision Support Through Earth Science Research Results program (NASA ROSES solicitations). a) This successful program has yielded several monitoring, surveillance, and decision support systems through collaborations with benefiting organizations. b) The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has participated in this program on two projects (one complete, one ongoing), and has had opportune ad hoc collaborations gaining much experience in the formulation, management, development, and implementation of decision support systems utilizing NASA Earth science data. c) In addition, GES DISC s understanding of Earth science missions and resulting data and information, including data structures, data usability and interpretation, data interoperability, and information management systems, enables the GES DISC to identify challenges that come with bringing science data to decision makers. d) The purpose of this presentation is to share GES DISC decision support system project experiences in regards to system sustainability, required data quality (versus timeliness), data provider understanding of how decisions are made, and the data receivers willingness to use new types of information to make decisions, as well as other topics. In addition, defining metrics that really evaluate success will be exemplified.

Noiseless intensity amplification of repetitive signals by coherent addition using the temporal Talbot effect

PubMed Central

Maram, Reza; Van Howe, James; Li, Ming; Azaña, José

2014-01-01

Amplification of signal intensity is essential for initiating physical processes, diagnostics, sensing, communications and measurement. During traditional amplification, the signal is amplified by multiplying the signal carriers through an active gain process, requiring the use of an external power source. In addition, the signal is degraded by noise and distortions that typically accompany active gain processes. We show noiseless intensity amplification of repetitive optical pulse waveforms with gain from 2 to ~20 without using active gain. The proposed method uses a dispersion-induced temporal self-imaging (Talbot) effect to redistribute and coherently accumulate energy of the original repetitive waveforms into fewer replica waveforms. In addition, we show how our passive amplifier performs a real-time average of the wave-train to reduce its original noise fluctuation, as well as enhances the extinction ratio of pulses to stand above the noise floor. Our technique is applicable to repetitive waveforms in any spectral region or wave system. PMID:25319207

Does the NRS Capture Changes in Communication during Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation?

PubMed

Barr, Leigh G; Kubilius, Barbra; Ansley, Barb; Whiteman, Rhonda; Sahlas, Demetrios J

2017-10-01

In Ontario, the National Rehabilitation Reporting System (NRS) is mandated for use as a measurement of change for stroke patients after admission to and discharge from rehabilitation. The NRS includes the functional independence measure (FIM) and supplementary measurement items developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Uncertainty exists regarding the efficacy of the NRS as the sole measure of outcome for communication in stroke rehabilitation patients. The use of additional speech-language pathology outcome measurement tools for this population has therefore been suggested. This study sought to establish whether the FIM and CIHI communication items capture quantifiable gains during stroke rehabilitation and therefore whether additional measures are needed to assess outcomes. A retrospective analysis was completed of 1252 complete data records of stroke patients discharged from inpatient rehabilitation at Hamilton Health Sciences between 2006 and 2011. Statistically significant improvements were observed in all total matched FIM scores (M = 72.68 to M = 96.39, P < .001) and for each expression (M = 4.61 to M = 5.35, P < .001) and comprehension (M = 4.69 to M = 5.33, P < .001) subscale. The most severely affected group demonstrated the greatest gains. These findings were independent of stroke severity. Additional outcome measurement tools for communication are therefore not required to assess outcomes in rehabilitation of stroke patients, although additional research is necessary to evaluate the clinical significance of the improvements that are observed using existing measurements of change. Copyright © 2017 National Stroke Association. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Influence of Climate Forecasts on Farmer Decisions as Planned Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artikov, Ikrom; Hoffman, Stacey J.; Lynne, Gary D.; Pytlik Zillig, Lisa M.; Hu, Qi; Tomkins, Alan J.; Hubbard, Kenneth G.; Hayes, Michael J.; Waltman, William

2006-09-01

Results of a set of four regression models applied to recent survey data of farmers in eastern Nebraska suggest the causes that drive farmer intentions of using weather and climate information and forecasts in farming decisions. The model results quantify the relative importance of attitude, social norm, perceived behavioral control, and financial capability in explaining the influence of climate-conditions information and short-term and long-term forecasts on agronomic, crop insurance, and crop marketing decisions. Attitude, serving as a proxy for the utility gained from the use of such information, had the most profound positive influence on the outcome of all the decisions, followed by norms. The norms in the community, as a proxy for the utility gained from allowing oneself to be influenced by others, played a larger role in agronomic decisions than in insurance or marketing decisions. In addition, the interaction of controllability (accuracy, availability, reliability, timeliness of weather and climate information), self-efficacy (farmer ability and understanding), and general preference for control was shown to be a substantive cause. Yet control variables also have an economic side: The farm-sales variable as a measure of financial ability and motivation intensified and clarified the role of control while also enhancing the statistical robustness of the attitude and norms variables in better clarifying how they drive the influence. Overall, the integrated model of planned behavior from social psychology and derived demand from economics, that is, the “planned demand model,” is more powerful than models based on either of these approaches alone. Taken together, these results suggest that the “human dimension” needs to be better recognized so as to improve effective use of climate and weather forecasts and information for farming decision making.

A Farewell to Informative and Persuasive Speeches: A Rationale and a Proposal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeman, James V.

The current use of "informative and persuasive" speeches as public address types cannot be justified on functional grounds. The types of speeches chosen through which to gain adherence of minds are secondary to what it is that an individual wishes to gain adherence to. Specifically, the chosen thesis will determine the type of speeches…

Search Interview Techniques, Information Gain, and User Satisfaction with Online Bibliographic Retrieval Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auster, Ethel; Lawton, Stephen B.

This research study involved a systematic investigation into the relationships among: (1) the techniques used by search analysts during preliminary interviews with users before engaging in online retrieval of bibliographic citations; (2) the amount of new information gained by the user as a result of the search; and (3) the user's ultimate…

Contextual marketing--the real business of the Internet.

PubMed

Kenny, D; Marshall, J F

2000-01-01

The painful truth is that the Internet has been a letdown for most companies--largely because the dominant model for Internet commerce, the destination Web site, doesn't suit the needs of those companies or their customers. Most consumer product companies don't provide enough value or dynamic information to induce customers to make the repeat visits--and disclose the detailed information--that make such sites profitable. In this article, David Kenny and John F. Marshall suggest that companies discard the notion that a Web site equals an Internet strategy. Instead of trying to create destinations that people will come to, companies need to use the power and reach of the Internet to deliver tailored messages and information to customers. Companies have to become what the authors call "contextual marketers." Delivering the most relevant information possible to consumers in the most timely manner possible will become feasible, the authors say, as access moves beyond the PC to shopping malls, retail stores, airports, bus stations, and even cars. The authors describe how the ubiquitous Internet will hasten the demise of the destination Web site--and open up scads of opportunities to reach customers through marketing "mobilemediaries," such as smart cards, e-wallets, and bar code scanners. The companies that master the complexity of the ubiquitous Internet will gain significant advantages: they'll gain greater intimacy with customers and target market segments more efficiently. The ones that don't will be dismissed as nuisances, the authors conclude. They suggest ways to become welcome additions--not unwelcome intrusions--to customers' lives.

Pre-K Benefits: The Facts on Fade-Out

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2015

2015-01-01

As policymakers adopt policies for pre-K programs, they want to know that the programs are effective. Do the gains last? This brief report presents information that pre-k yields short-term academic gains; pre-k yields long-term academic gains; and pre-k yields substantial nonacademic benefits.

78 FR 63566 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 8838

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-24

... concerning Form 8838, Consent To Extend the Time To Assess Tax Under Section 367-Gain Recognition Agreement... . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Consent To Extend the Time To Assess Tax Under Section 367- Gain Recognition... the transferor makes a gain recognition agreement. This agreement allows the transferor to defer the...

Dealing with aggressive behavior within the health care team: a leadership challenge.

PubMed

Hynes, Patricia; Kissoon, Niranjan; Hamielec, Cindy M; Greene, Anne Marie; Simone, Carmine

2006-06-01

During an interdisciplinary Canadian leadership forum [ (click on the Conferences icon)], participants were challenged to develop an approach to a difficult leadership/management situation. In a scenario involving aggressive behavior among health care providers, participants identified that, before responding, an appropriate leader should collect additional information to identify the core problem(s) causing such behavior. Possibilities include stress; lack of clear roles, responsibilities, and standard operating procedures; and, finally, lack of training on important leadership/management skills. As a result of these core problems, several potential solutions are possible, all with potential obstacles to implementation. Additional education around communication and team interaction was felt to be a priority. In summary, clinical leaders probably have a great deal to gain from augmenting their leadership/management skills.

String Theory - Using Kites for Introducing Remote Sensing and In-Situ Measurement Concepts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bland, G.; Bydlowski, D.; Henry, A.

2016-12-01

Kites are often overlooked as a practical and accessible tool for gaining an aerial perspective. This perspective can be used as a proxy for the vantage points of space and aircraft, particularly when introducing the concepts of remote sensing and in-situ measurements that form the foundation of much of NASA's Earth science research. Kites combined with miniature cameras and instrumentation, can easily and affordably be used in formal and informal learning environments to demonstrate techniques and develop skills related to gathering information from above. Additionally, collaborative team work can play an important role, particularly in the form of synthesizing flight operations. Hands-on technology exploration can be a component as well, as there are numerous possibilities for creating sensor systems, line-handling techniques, and understanding kite flight itself.

Framing and Claiming: How Information-Framing Affects Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior

PubMed Central

Brown, Jeffrey R.; Kapteyn, Arie; Mitchell, Olivia S.

2017-01-01

This paper provides evidence that Social Security benefit claiming decisions are strongly affected by framing and are thus inconsistent with expected utility theory. Using a randomized experiment that controls for both observable and unobservable differences across individuals, we find that the use of a “breakeven analysis” encourages early claiming. Respondents are more likely to delay when later claiming is framed as a gain, and the claiming age is anchored at older ages. Additionally, the financially less literate, individuals with credit card debt, and those with lower earnings are more influenced by framing than others. PMID:28579641

Connections between survey calibration estimators and semiparametric models for incomplete data

PubMed Central

Lumley, Thomas; Shaw, Pamela A.; Dai, James Y.

2012-01-01

Survey calibration (or generalized raking) estimators are a standard approach to the use of auxiliary information in survey sampling, improving on the simple Horvitz–Thompson estimator. In this paper we relate the survey calibration estimators to the semiparametric incomplete-data estimators of Robins and coworkers, and to adjustment for baseline variables in a randomized trial. The development based on calibration estimators explains the ‘estimated weights’ paradox and provides useful heuristics for constructing practical estimators. We present some examples of using calibration to gain precision without making additional modelling assumptions in a variety of regression models. PMID:23833390

Higher education for deaf students: research priorities in the new millennium.

PubMed

Lang, Harry G

2002-01-01

A review of research on deaf students in higher education reveals a significant body of knowledge about the barriers these students face in gaining access to information in the classroom. Much less is known about the potential solutions to these problems. In addition, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of such support services as interpreting, note taking, real-time captioning, and tutoring, particularly with regard to their impact on academic achievement. This article summarizes relevant research and suggests directions for educational researchers interested in enhancing academic success and the retention of deaf students in higher education programs.

Framing and Claiming: How Information-Framing Affects Expected Social Security Claiming Behavior.

PubMed

Brown, Jeffrey R; Kapteyn, Arie; Mitchell, Olivia S

2016-03-01

This paper provides evidence that Social Security benefit claiming decisions are strongly affected by framing and are thus inconsistent with expected utility theory. Using a randomized experiment that controls for both observable and unobservable differences across individuals, we find that the use of a "breakeven analysis" encourages early claiming. Respondents are more likely to delay when later claiming is framed as a gain, and the claiming age is anchored at older ages. Additionally, the financially less literate, individuals with credit card debt, and those with lower earnings are more influenced by framing than others.

Wireless connectivity for health and sports monitoring: a review.

PubMed

Armstrong, S

2007-05-01

This is a review of health and sports monitoring research that uses or could benefit from wireless connectivity. New, enabling wireless connectivity standards are evaluated for their suitability, and an assessment of current exploitation of these technologies is summarised. An example of the application is given, highlighting the capabilities of a network of wireless sensors. Issues of timing and power consumption in a battery-powered system are addressed to highlight the benefits networking can provide, and a suggestion of how monitoring different biometric signals might allow one to gain additional information about an athlete or patient is made.

Wireless connectivity for health and sports monitoring: a review

PubMed Central

Armstrong, S

2007-01-01

This is a review of health and sports monitoring research that uses or could benefit from wireless connectivity. New, enabling wireless connectivity standards are evaluated for their suitability, and an assessment of current exploitation of these technologies is summarised. An example of the application is given, highlighting the capabilities of a network of wireless sensors. Issues of timing and power consumption in a battery‐powered system are addressed to highlight the benefits networking can provide, and a suggestion of how monitoring different biometric signals might allow one to gain additional information about an athlete or patient is made. PMID:17224446

Promoting participation in physical activity using framed messages: an application of prospect theory.

PubMed

Latimer, Amy E; Rench, Tara A; Rivers, Susan E; Katulak, Nicole A; Materese, Stephanie A; Cadmus, Lisa; Hicks, Althea; Keany Hodorowski, Julie; Salovey, Peter

2008-11-01

Messages designed to motivate participation in physical activity usually emphasize the benefits of physical activity (gain-framed) as well as the costs of inactivity (loss-framed). The framing implications of prospect theory suggest that the effectiveness of these messages could be enhanced by providing gain-framed information only. We compared the effectiveness of gain-, loss-, and mixed-framed messages for promoting moderate to vigorous physical activity. Randomized trial. Sedentary, healthy callers to the US National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (N=322) received gain-, loss-, or mixed-framed messages on three occasions (baseline, Week 1, and Week 5). Social cognitive variables and self-reported physical activity were assessed at baseline, Week 2, and Week 9. Separate regression analyses were conducted to examine message effects at each assessment point. At Week 2, gain- and mixed-framed messages resulted in stronger intentions and greater self-efficacy than loss-framed messages. At Week 9, gain-framed messages resulted in greater physical activity participation than loss- or mixed-framed messages. Social cognitive variables at Week 2 did not mediate the Week 9 framing effects on physical activity participation. Using gain-framed messages exclusively may be a means of increasing the efficacy of physical activity materials.

Effect of aging and direction of impulse in video head impulse test.

PubMed

Kim, Tae Hwan; Kim, Min-Beom

2017-09-12

The aim of this study was to identify the difference of gain value in the video head impulse test (vHIT) according to the age of the patient and the direction of the impulse. All participants were subjected to vHIT with horizontal semicircular canal (HSCC). vHIT with vertical canal (posterior and anterior semicircular canal [PSCC and ASCC]) additionally was performed in 434 participants. The mean vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain was maintained in patients in the HSCC at below 70 years (1.025 ± 0.08) and in the vertical canal at below 80 years (PSCC: 0.965 ± 0.12, ASCC: 0.975 ± 0.14). However, the decrease of VOR gain was significant in patients over 70 years in the HSCC (0.978 ± 0.35, P < .001) and in patients over 80 years in the vertical canal (PSCC: 0.828 ± 0.16, ASCC: 0.851 ± 0.13, P < .001). In addition, a VOR gain of rightward impulse was higher than the leftward impulse, but there was no difference based on the direction of impulse in the vertical impulse test. VOR gain declines with increasing age, over 70 years on the horizontal canal, and over 80 years on the vertical canal. Additionally, horizontal VOR gain of rightward impulse was higher than the leftward impulse in right-eye recordings only, but the vertical canal showed no difference of gain according to the direction of impulse. 2b. Laryngoscope, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy.

PubMed

Stender, S; Dyerberg, J; Astrup, A

2007-06-01

Although nutrition experts might be able to navigate the menus of fast-food restaurant chains, and based on the nutritional information, compose apparently 'healthy' meals, there are still many reasons why frequent fast-food consumption at most chains is unhealthy and contributes to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. Fast food generally has a high-energy density, which, together with large portion sizes, induces over consumption of calories. In addition, we have found it to be a myth that the typical fast-food meal is the same worldwide. Chemical analyses of 74 samples of fast-food menus consisting of French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries in 2005-2006 showed that the total fat content of the same menu varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC. In addition, fast food from major chains in most countries still contains unacceptably high levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (IP-TFA). IP-TFA have powerful biological effects and may contribute to increased weight gain, abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The food quality and portion size need to be improved before it is safe to eat frequently at most fast-food chains.

Magneto-therapy of human joint cartilage.

PubMed

Wierzcholski, Krzysztof; Miszczak, Andrzej

2017-01-01

The topic of the present paper concerns the human joint cartilage therapy performed by the magnetic induction field. There is proved the thesis that the applied magnetic field for concrete cartilage illness should depend on the proper relative and concrete values of applied magnetic induction, intensity as well the time of treatment duration. Additionally, very important are frequencies and amplitudes of magnetic field as well as magnetic permeability of the synovial fluid. The research methods used in this paper include: magnetic induction field produced by a new Polish and German magneto electronic devices for the therapy of human joint cartilage diseases, stationary and movable magnetic applicators, magnetic bandage, ferrofluid injections, author's experience gained in Germany research institutes and practical results after measurements and information from patients. The results of this paper concern concrete parameters of time dependent electro-magnetic field administration during the joint cartilage therapy duration and additionally concern the corollaries which are implied from reading values gained on the magnetic induction devices. The main conclusions obtained in this paper are as follows: Time dependent magnetic induction field increases the dynamic viscosity of movable synovial fluid and decreases symptoms of cartilage illness for concrete intensity of magnetic field and concrete field line architecture. The ferrofluid therapy and phospholipids bilayer simultaneously with the administrated external electromagnetic field, increases the dynamic viscosity of movable synovial fluid.

Women's Reflections on Formal Sex Education and the Advantage of Gaining Informal Sexual Knowledge through a Feminist Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Nichole

2016-01-01

By recognising the limitations of formal sex education, young people are able to seek out alternative material, gaining informal sexual knowledge through their own means and through a wide variety of sources. This paper derives from part of a larger study centred on feminism and heterosexuality in practice which features 17 feminist-identified…

Examining Information Problem-Solving, Knowledge, and Application Gains within Two Instructional Methods: Problem-Based and Computer-Mediated Participatory Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newell, Terrance S.

2008-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of two instructional methods--problem-based instruction within a face-to-face context and computer-mediated participatory simulation--in increasing students' content knowledge and application gains in the area of information problem-solving. The instructional methods were implemented over a four-week period. A…

"Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain": Correction to Nelson (2005)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Jonathan D.

2007-01-01

Reports an error in "Finding Useful Questions: On Bayesian Diagnosticity, Probability, Impact, and Information Gain" by Jonathan D. Nelson (Psychological Review, 2005[Oct], Vol 112[4], 979-999). In Table 13, the data should indicate that 7% of females had short hair and 93% of females had long hair. The calculations and discussion in the article…

ImmuneQuest: Assessment of a Video Game as a Supplement to an Undergraduate Immunology Course.

PubMed

Raimondi, Stacey L

2016-05-01

The study of immunology, particularly in this day and age, is an integral aspect of the training of future biologists, especially health professionals. Unfortunately, many students lose interest in or lack true comprehension of immunology due to the jargon of the field, preventing them from gaining a true conceptual understanding that is essential to all biological learning. To that end, a new video game, ImmuneQuest, has been developed that allows undergraduate students to "be" cells in the immune system, finding and attacking pathogens, while answering questions to earn additional abilities. The ultimate goal of ImmuneQuest is to allow students to understand how the major cells in the immune system work together to fight disease, rather than focusing on them as separate entities as is more commonly done in lecture material. This work provides the first assessment of ImmuneQuest in an upper-level immunology course. Students had significant gains in learning of information presented in ImmuneQuest compared with information discussed in lecture only. Furthermore, while students found the game "frustrating" at times, they agreed that the game aided their learning and recommended it for future courses. Taken together, these results suggest that ImmuneQuest appears to be a useful tool to supplement lecture material and increase student learning and comprehension.

210Pb as a tool for establishing sediment chronologies: examples of potentials and limitations of conventional dating models.

PubMed

Kirchner, Gerald

2011-05-01

For aquatic sediments, the use of (210)Pb originating from the decay of atmospheric (222)Rn is a well-established methodology to estimate sediment ages and sedimentation rates. Traditionally, the measurement of (210)Pb in soils and sediments involved laborious and time-consuming radiochemical separation procedures. Due to the recent development of advanced planar ('n-type') semi-conductors with high efficiencies in the low-energy range which enable the gamma-spectrometric analysis of the 46.5 keV decay line of (210)Pb, sediment dating using this radionuclide has gained renewed interest. In this contribution, potentials and limitations of the (210)Pb methodology and of the models used for estimating sediment ages and sedimentation rates are discussed and illustrated by examples of freshwater and marine sediments. Comparison with the use of (137)Cs shows that the information which may be gained by these two tracers is complementary. As a consequence, both radionuclides should be used in combination for dating of recent sediments. It is shown that for various sedimentation regimes additional information from other sources (e.g. sediment lithology) may be needed to establish a reliable chronology. A strategy for sediment dating using (210)Pb is recommended. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acoustic emission beamforming for enhanced damage detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLaskey, Gregory C.; Glaser, Steven D.; Grosse, Christian U.

2008-03-01

As civil infrastructure ages, the early detection of damage in a structure becomes increasingly important for both life safety and economic reasons. This paper describes the analysis procedures used for beamforming acoustic emission techniques as well as the promising results of preliminary experimental tests on a concrete bridge deck. The method of acoustic emission offers a tool for detecting damage, such as cracking, as it occurs on or in a structure. In order to gain meaningful information from acoustic emission analyses, the damage must be localized. Current acoustic emission systems with localization capabilities are very costly and difficult to install. Sensors must be placed throughout the structure to ensure that the damage is encompassed by the array. Beamforming offers a promising solution to these problems and permits the use of wireless sensor networks for acoustic emission analyses. Using the beamforming technique, the azmuthal direction of the location of the damage may be estimated by the stress waves impinging upon a small diameter array (e.g. 30mm) of acoustic emission sensors. Additional signal discrimination may be gained via array processing techniques such as the VESPA process. The beamforming approach requires no arrival time information and is based on very simple delay and sum beamforming algorithms which can be easily implemented on a wireless sensor or mote.

The porcupine caribou herd

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffith, Brad; Douglas, David C.; Walsh, Noreen E.; Young, Donald D.; McCabe, Thomas R.; Russell, Donald E.; White, Robert G.; Cameron, Raymond D.; Whitten, Kenneth R.; Douglas, David C.; Reynolds, Patricia E.; Rhode, E.B.

2002-01-01

Documentation of the natural range of variation in ecological, life history, and physiological characteristics of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) of the Porcupine caribou herd is a necessary base for detecting or predicting any potential effects of industrial development on the performance (e.g., distribution, demography, weight-gain of individuals) of the herd. To demonstrate an effect of development, post-development performance must differ from pre-development performance while accounting for any natural environmental trends.We had 2 working hypotheses for our investigations: 1) performance of the Porcupine caribou herd was associated with environmental patterns and habitat quality, and 2) access to important habitats was a key influence on demography.We sought to document the range of natural variation in habitat conditions, herd size, demography (defined here as survival and reproduction), sources and magnitude of mortality, distribution, habitat use, and weight gain and loss, and to develop an understanding of the interactions among these characteristics of the herd.In addition, we investigated ways that we could use this background information, combined with auxiliary information from the adjacent Central Arctic caribou herd, to predict the direction and magnitude of any potential effects of industrial oil development in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Porcupine caribou herd calf survival on the herd's calving grounds during June.

Accuracy and Tuning of Flow Parsing for Visual Perception of Object Motion During Self-Motion

PubMed Central

Niehorster, Diederick C.

2017-01-01

How do we perceive object motion during self-motion using visual information alone? Previous studies have reported that the visual system can use optic flow to identify and globally subtract the retinal motion component resulting from self-motion to recover scene-relative object motion, a process called flow parsing. In this article, we developed a retinal motion nulling method to directly measure and quantify the magnitude of flow parsing (i.e., flow parsing gain) in various scenarios to examine the accuracy and tuning of flow parsing for the visual perception of object motion during self-motion. We found that flow parsing gains were below unity for all displays in all experiments; and that increasing self-motion and object motion speed did not alter flow parsing gain. We conclude that visual information alone is not sufficient for the accurate perception of scene-relative motion during self-motion. Although flow parsing performs global subtraction, its accuracy also depends on local motion information in the retinal vicinity of the moving object. Furthermore, the flow parsing gain was constant across common self-motion or object motion speeds. These results can be used to inform and validate computational models of flow parsing. PMID:28567272

Socially Strategic Ecological Restoration: A Game-Theoretic Analysis Shortened: Socially Strategic Restoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buckley, Mark; Haddad, Brent M.

2006-07-01

Major transitions in a multiple-use or mosaic landscape often lead to frictions among new and existing users. In this article, we consider the problem of ecological restoration within a mosaic landscape in which restoration activities elicit feedbacks from individuals and groups that are harmed by restoration outcomes. Using game theory, we identify three potential outcomes ranked by the extent of restoration of ecosystem services and processes: nonstrategic, noncooperative strategic equilibrium, and cooperative bargaining solution. We identify conditions under which additional restoration can decrease the overall flow of ecosystem services and processes. A “strategic restorationist” will cease new restoration activities when the net effect of defensive response moves by farmers offsets gains. Imperfect information regarding expected payoffs to farmers can lead to inefficient overshooting or undershooting the optimal scale, geographical positioning, and form of restoration. Gains to all parties from cooperation might exist. As a case study and to aid model design, we consider restoration activities on California’s upper Sacramento River.

Incorporating lower grade toxicity information into dose finding designs

PubMed Central

Iasonos, Alexia; Zohar, Sarah; O’Quigley, John

2012-01-01

Background Toxicity grades underlie the definition of a dose limiting toxicity (DLT) but in the majority of phase I designs, the information contained in the individual grades is not used. Some authors have argued that it may be more appropriate to consider a polytomous rather than dichotomous response. Purpose We investigate whether the added information on individual grades can improve the operating characteristics of the Continual Reassessment Method (CRM). Methods We compare the original CRM design for a binary response with two stage CRM designs which make di erent use of lower-grade toxicity information via simulations. Specifically we study; a two-stage design that utilizes lower-grade toxicities in the first stage only, during the initial non model-based escalation, and two-stage designs where lower grades are used throughout the trial via explicit models. We postulate a model relating the rates of lower grade toxicities to the rate of DLTs, or assume the relative rates of low to high grade toxicities is unknown. The designs were compared in terms of accuracy, patient allocation and precision. Results Significant gains can be achieved when using grades in the first stage of a two-stage design. Otherwise, only modest improvements are seen when the information on grades is exploited via the use of explicit models, where the parameters are known precisely. CRM with some use of grade information, increases the number of patients treated at the MTD by approximately 5%. The additional information from lower grades can lead to a small increase in the precision of our estimate of the MTD. Limitations Our comparisons are not exhaustive and it would be worth studying other models and situations. Conclusions Although, the gains in performance were not as great as we had hoped, we observed no cases where the performance of CRM was poorer. Our recommendation is that investigators might consider using graded toxicities at the design stage. PMID:21835856

Aging and loss decision making: increased risk aversion and decreased use of maximizing information, with correlated rationality and value maximization

PubMed Central

Kurnianingsih, Yoanna A.; Sim, Sam K. Y.; Chee, Michael W. L.; Mullette-Gillman, O’Dhaniel A.

2015-01-01

We investigated how adult aging specifically alters economic decision-making, focusing on examining alterations in uncertainty preferences (willingness to gamble) and choice strategies (what gamble information influences choices) within both the gains and losses domains. Within each domain, participants chose between certain monetary outcomes and gambles with uncertain outcomes. We examined preferences by quantifying how uncertainty modulates choice behavior as if altering the subjective valuation of gambles. We explored age-related preferences for two types of uncertainty, risk, and ambiguity. Additionally, we explored how aging may alter what information participants utilize to make their choices by comparing the relative utilization of maximizing and satisficing information types through a choice strategy metric. Maximizing information was the ratio of the expected value of the two options, while satisficing information was the probability of winning. We found age-related alterations of economic preferences within the losses domain, but no alterations within the gains domain. Older adults (OA; 61–80 years old) were significantly more uncertainty averse for both risky and ambiguous choices. OA also exhibited choice strategies with decreased use of maximizing information. Within OA, we found a significant correlation between risk preferences and choice strategy. This linkage between preferences and strategy appears to derive from a convergence to risk neutrality driven by greater use of the effortful maximizing strategy. As utility maximization and value maximization intersect at risk neutrality, this result suggests that OA are exhibiting a relationship between enhanced rationality and enhanced value maximization. While there was variability in economic decision-making measures within OA, these individual differences were unrelated to variability within examined measures of cognitive ability. Our results demonstrate that aging alters economic decision-making for losses through changes in both individual preferences and the strategies individuals employ. PMID:26029092

20 CFR 404.1573 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... business, this tends to show that you have the ability to work at the substantial gainful activity level... working at the substantial gainful activity level. If you are unable, because of your impairments, to do..., this does not show that you are working at the substantial gainful activity level. (c) If your work is...

24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

24 CFR 3280.508 - Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Thermal Protection § 3280.508 Heat loss, heat gain and cooling load calculations. (a) Information, values... Loads—Manufactured Homes—February 1992-PNL 8006, HUD User No. 0005945. (c) Areas where the insulation... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Heat loss, heat gain and cooling...

26 CFR 1.6041-1 - Return of information as to payments of $600 or more.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Interest (including original issue discount), rents, royalties, annuities, pensions, and other gains... section 6041(a), includes not only those so engaged for gain or profit, but also organizations the activities of which are not for the purpose of gain or profit. Thus, the term includes the organizations...

76 FR 32406 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 4684

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-06

... compute their gain or loss from casualties or thefts, and to summarize such gains and losses. The data is used to verify that the correct gain or loss has been computed. Current Actions: There are no changes... information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the...

20 CFR 404.1573 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... working at the substantial gainful activity level. If you are unable, because of your impairments, to do... people doing similar work, this may show that you are not working at the substantial gainful activity..., this does not show that you are working at the substantial gainful activity level. (c) If your work is...

5 CFR 1630.4 - Request for notification and access.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... obtain information about or gain access to TSP records about you If you want: If you are a participant... personnel or payroll records Call or write to TSP record keeper. To gain access to a record about you Call... record keeper to gain access to loan status and repayments, earnings, contributions allocation elections...

Risk Assessment Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prassinos, Peter G.; Lyver, John W., IV; Bui, Chinh T.

2011-01-01

Risk assessment is used in many industries to identify and manage risks. Initially developed for use on aeronautical and nuclear systems, risk assessment has been applied to transportation, chemical, computer, financial, and security systems among others. It is used to gain an understanding of the weaknesses or vulnerabilities in a system so modification can be made to increase operability, efficiency, and safety and to reduce failure and down-time. Risk assessment results are primary inputs to risk-informed decision making; where risk information including uncertainty is used along with other pertinent information to assist management in the decision-making process. Therefore, to be useful, a risk assessment must be directed at specific objectives. As the world embraces the globalization of trade and manufacturing, understanding the associated risk become important to decision making. Applying risk assessment techniques to a global system of development, manufacturing, and transportation can provide insight into how the system can fail, the likelihood of system failure and the consequences of system failure. The risk assessment can identify those elements that contribute most to risk and identify measures to prevent and mitigate failures, disruptions, and damaging outcomes. In addition, risk associated with public and environment impact can be identified. The risk insights gained can be applied to making decisions concerning suitable development and manufacturing locations, supply chains, and transportation strategies. While risk assessment has been mostly applied to mechanical and electrical systems, the concepts and techniques can be applied across other systems and activities. This paper provides a basic overview of the development of a risk assessment.

Associations of the pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain with pregnancy outcomes in Taiwanese women.

PubMed

Tsai, I-Hsien; Chen, Chih-Ping; Sun, Fang-Ju; Wu, Chia-Hsun; Yeh, Sung-Ling

2012-01-01

Pre-pregnancy weight and gestational weight gain (GWG) are important factors in both maternal and infant outcomes. Little information is available in relation to different levels of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and body weight gain on obstetric outcomes in Taiwan. This study investigated the associations between pregnancy complications with pre-pregnant BMI and GWG, in Taiwanese women. Data were extracted from a delivery room information bank on all women delivering singleton babies in a medical center. Eight hundred and sixty pregnant women were included. The collected variables included basic information, GWG, and pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Pregnant women were categorized according to their pre-pregnant BMI and GWG to evaluate the impacts of pre-pregnant BMI and maternal weight gain on the risk of pregnancy complications. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed, and odds ratios were calculated. Pre-pregnancy BMI>=24 kg/m2 increased the risks of gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, and preterm labor. Preeclampsia and Cesarean delivery were positively associated with high weight gains (>18 kg), whereas a low birth weight and preterm labor were strongly associated with low weight gains (<10 kg). A higher birth weight was found with a GWG of >14 kg in women who were underweight and normal weight before pregnancy. An appropriate maternal BMI (18.5-24 kg/m2) at conception followed by a suitable gestational weight gain (10-14 kg) has substantial impact on the overall health of pregnant women and would lead to better obstetric management for Taiwanese women.

Linear dynamic range enhancement in a CMOS imager

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pain, Bedabrata (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A CMOS imager with increased linear dynamic range but without degradation in noise, responsivity, linearity, fixed-pattern noise, or photometric calibration comprises a linear calibrated dual gain pixel in which the gain is reduced after a pre-defined threshold level by switching in an additional capacitance. The pixel may include a novel on-pixel latch circuit that is used to switch in the additional capacitance.

Exploring a model-driven architecture (MDA) approach to health care information systems development.

PubMed

Raghupathi, Wullianallur; Umar, Amjad

2008-05-01

To explore the potential of the model-driven architecture (MDA) in health care information systems development. An MDA is conceptualized and developed for a health clinic system to track patient information. A prototype of the MDA is implemented using an advanced MDA tool. The UML provides the underlying modeling support in the form of the class diagram. The PIM to PSM transformation rules are applied to generate the prototype application from the model. The result of the research is a complete MDA methodology to developing health care information systems. Additional insights gained include development of transformation rules and documentation of the challenges in the application of MDA to health care. Design guidelines for future MDA applications are described. The model has the potential for generalizability. The overall approach supports limited interoperability and portability. The research demonstrates the applicability of the MDA approach to health care information systems development. When properly implemented, it has the potential to overcome the challenges of platform (vendor) dependency, lack of open standards, interoperability, portability, scalability, and the high cost of implementation.

What information do consumers consider, and how do they look for it, when shopping for groceries online?

PubMed

Benn, Yael; Webb, Thomas L; Chang, Betty P I; Reidy, John

2015-06-01

Previous research investigating what information shoppers seek when purchasing groceries has used either lab-experiments or observed shoppers in supermarkets. The present research investigates this question in a relatively naturalistic online-grocery environment. Forty participants completed their weekly shopping online while their eye-movements were recorded. Ten of the participants were subsequently interviewed to gain insight into their information seeking behaviour. We found that, when looking for products, 95% of participants navigated through the 'virtual departments', 80% used the 'search' facility, and 68% browsed the special offer pages. Once on the product pages, participants tended to look at the pictures of products, rather than examine detailed product information. To explain these findings, we suggest that online grocery sites simulate familiar supermarket environments, which may explain why consumers prefer to browse categories of products rather than use search terms. We also suggest that additional strategies are needed if consumers are to be encouraged to view detailed product information. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Visualising large hierarchies with Flextree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Hongzhi; Curran, Edwin P.; Sterritt, Roy

2003-05-01

One of the main tasks in Information Visualisation research is creating visual tools to facilitate human understanding of large and complex information spaces. Hierarchies, being a good mechanism in organising such information, are ubiquitous. Although much research effort has been spent on finding useful representations for hierarchies, visualising large hierarchies is still a difficult topic. One of the difficulties is how to show both tructure and node content information in one view. Another is how to achieve multiple foci in a focus+context visualisation. This paper describes a novel hierarchy visualisation technique called FlexTree to address these problems. It contains some important features that have not been exploited so far. In this visualisation, a profile or contour unique to the hierarchy being visualised can be gained in a histogram-like layout. A normalised view of a common attribute of all nodes can be acquired, and selection of this attribute is controllable by the user. Multiple foci are consistently accessible within a global context through interaction. Furthermore it can handle a large hierarchy that contains several thousand nodes in a PC environment. In addition results from an informal evaluation are also presented.

ADHD Rehabilitation through Video Gaming: A Systematic Review Using PRISMA Guidelines of the Current Findings and the Associated Risk of Bias

PubMed Central

Strahler Rivero, Thiago; Herrera Nuñez, Lina Maria; Uehara Pires, Emmy; Amodeo Bueno, Orlando Francisco

2015-01-01

Empirical research studies have highlighted the need to investigate whether video game can be useful as a tool within a neuropsychological rehabilitation program for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. However, little is known about the possible gains that this kind of video game-based interventions can produce and even if these gains can be transferred to real life abilities. The present paper aims to uncover key information related to the use of video game in ADHD neuropsychological rehabilitation/intervention by focusing on its gains and its capability to transfer/generalize these gains to real life situation via a systematic review of the empirical literature. The PRISMA guidelines were adopted. Internet-based bibliographic searches were conducted via seven major electronic databases (i.e., PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Core Collection BIOSIS Citation Index, MEDLINE, SciELO Citation Index, and PubMed) to access studies examining the association between video game interventions in ADHD patients and behavioral and cognitive outcomes. A total of 14 empirical studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified. The studies reported the attention, working memory, and the behavioral aspects as the main target of the intervention. Cognitive and behavioral gains were reported after the video game training (VGT). However, many bias related to the choice of outcome instruments, sampling and blindness of assessors, weaken the results power. Additional researches are important to clarify the effects and stability of the VGT programs, and an important effort should be made to construct better methods to assess improvements on everyday cognitive abilities and real world functioning. PMID:26557098

Modeling additive and non-additive effects in a hybrid population using genome-wide genotyping: prediction accuracy implications

PubMed Central

Bouvet, J-M; Makouanzi, G; Cros, D; Vigneron, Ph

2016-01-01

Hybrids are broadly used in plant breeding and accurate estimation of variance components is crucial for optimizing genetic gain. Genome-wide information may be used to explore models designed to assess the extent of additive and non-additive variance and test their prediction accuracy for the genomic selection. Ten linear mixed models, involving pedigree- and marker-based relationship matrices among parents, were developed to estimate additive (A), dominance (D) and epistatic (AA, AD and DD) effects. Five complementary models, involving the gametic phase to estimate marker-based relationships among hybrid progenies, were developed to assess the same effects. The models were compared using tree height and 3303 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers from 1130 cloned individuals obtained via controlled crosses of 13 Eucalyptus urophylla females with 9 Eucalyptus grandis males. Akaike information criterion (AIC), variance ratios, asymptotic correlation matrices of estimates, goodness-of-fit, prediction accuracy and mean square error (MSE) were used for the comparisons. The variance components and variance ratios differed according to the model. Models with a parent marker-based relationship matrix performed better than those that were pedigree-based, that is, an absence of singularities, lower AIC, higher goodness-of-fit and accuracy and smaller MSE. However, AD and DD variances were estimated with high s.es. Using the same criteria, progeny gametic phase-based models performed better in fitting the observations and predicting genetic values. However, DD variance could not be separated from the dominance variance and null estimates were obtained for AA and AD effects. This study highlighted the advantages of progeny models using genome-wide information. PMID:26328760

Information Use Differences in Hot and Cold Risk Processing: When Does Information About Probability Count in the Columbia Card Task?

PubMed

Markiewicz, Łukasz; Kubińska, Elżbieta

2015-01-01

This paper aims to provide insight into information processing differences between hot and cold risk taking decision tasks within a single domain. Decision theory defines risky situations using at least three parameters: outcome one (often a gain) with its probability and outcome two (often a loss) with a complementary probability. Although a rational agent should consider all of the parameters, s/he could potentially narrow their focus to only some of them, particularly when explicit Type 2 processes do not have the resources to override implicit Type 1 processes. Here we investigate differences in risky situation parameters' influence on hot and cold decisions. Although previous studies show lower information use in hot than in cold processes, they do not provide decision weight changes and therefore do not explain whether this difference results from worse concentration on each parameter of a risky situation (probability, gain amount, and loss amount) or from ignoring some parameters. Two studies were conducted, with participants performing the Columbia Card Task (CCT) in either its Cold or Hot version. In the first study, participants also performed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to monitor their ability to override Type 1 processing cues (implicit processes) with Type 2 explicit processes. Because hypothesis testing required comparison of the relative importance of risky situation decision weights (gain, loss, probability), we developed a novel way of measuring information use in the CCT by employing a conjoint analysis methodology. Across the two studies, results indicated that in the CCT Cold condition decision makers concentrate on each information type (gain, loss, probability), but in the CCT Hot condition they concentrate mostly on a single parameter: probability of gain/loss. We also show that an individual's CRT score correlates with information use propensity in cold but not hot tasks. Thus, the affective dimension of hot tasks inhibits correct information processing, probably because it is difficult to engage Type 2 processes in such circumstances. Individuals' Type 2 processing abilities (measured by the CRT) assist greater use of information in cold tasks but do not help in hot tasks.

Information Use Differences in Hot and Cold Risk Processing: When Does Information About Probability Count in the Columbia Card Task?

PubMed Central

Markiewicz, Łukasz; Kubińska, Elżbieta

2015-01-01

Objective: This paper aims to provide insight into information processing differences between hot and cold risk taking decision tasks within a single domain. Decision theory defines risky situations using at least three parameters: outcome one (often a gain) with its probability and outcome two (often a loss) with a complementary probability. Although a rational agent should consider all of the parameters, s/he could potentially narrow their focus to only some of them, particularly when explicit Type 2 processes do not have the resources to override implicit Type 1 processes. Here we investigate differences in risky situation parameters' influence on hot and cold decisions. Although previous studies show lower information use in hot than in cold processes, they do not provide decision weight changes and therefore do not explain whether this difference results from worse concentration on each parameter of a risky situation (probability, gain amount, and loss amount) or from ignoring some parameters. Methods: Two studies were conducted, with participants performing the Columbia Card Task (CCT) in either its Cold or Hot version. In the first study, participants also performed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to monitor their ability to override Type 1 processing cues (implicit processes) with Type 2 explicit processes. Because hypothesis testing required comparison of the relative importance of risky situation decision weights (gain, loss, probability), we developed a novel way of measuring information use in the CCT by employing a conjoint analysis methodology. Results: Across the two studies, results indicated that in the CCT Cold condition decision makers concentrate on each information type (gain, loss, probability), but in the CCT Hot condition they concentrate mostly on a single parameter: probability of gain/loss. We also show that an individual's CRT score correlates with information use propensity in cold but not hot tasks. Thus, the affective dimension of hot tasks inhibits correct information processing, probably because it is difficult to engage Type 2 processes in such circumstances. Individuals' Type 2 processing abilities (measured by the CRT) assist greater use of information in cold tasks but do not help in hot tasks. PMID:26635652

Integration of genomic information into sport horse breeding programs for optimization of accuracy of selection.

PubMed

Haberland, A M; König von Borstel, U; Simianer, H; König, S

2012-09-01

Reliable selection criteria are required for young riding horses to increase genetic gain by increasing accuracy of selection and decreasing generation intervals. In this study, selection strategies incorporating genomic breeding values (GEBVs) were evaluated. Relevant stages of selection in sport horse breeding programs were analyzed by applying selection index theory. Results in terms of accuracies of indices (r(TI) ) and relative selection response indicated that information on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes considerably increases the accuracy of breeding values estimated for young horses without own or progeny performance. In a first scenario, the correlation between the breeding value estimated from the SNP genotype and the true breeding value (= accuracy of GEBV) was fixed to a relatively low value of r(mg) = 0.5. For a low heritability trait (h(2) = 0.15), and an index for a young horse based only on information from both parents, additional genomic information doubles r(TI) from 0.27 to 0.54. Including the conventional information source 'own performance' into the before mentioned index, additional SNP information increases r(TI) by 40%. Thus, particularly with regard to traits of low heritability, genomic information can provide a tool for well-founded selection decisions early in life. In a further approach, different sources of breeding values (e.g. GEBV and estimated breeding values (EBVs) from different countries) were combined into an overall index when altering accuracies of EBVs and correlations between traits. In summary, we showed that genomic selection strategies have the potential to contribute to a substantial reduction in generation intervals in horse breeding programs.

Performance scaling via passive pulse shaping in cavity-enhanced optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification.

PubMed

Siddiqui, Aleem M; Moses, Jeffrey; Hong, Kyung-Han; Lai, Chien-Jen; Kärtner, Franz X

2010-06-15

We show that an enhancement cavity seeded at the full repetition rate of the pump laser can automatically reshape small-signal gain across the interacting pulses in an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier for close-to-optimal operation, significantly increasing both the gain bandwidth and the conversion efficiency, in addition to boosting gain for high-repetition-rate amplification. Applied to a degenerate amplifier, the technique can provide an octave-spanning gain bandwidth.

A Multimodal Deep Log-Based User Experience (UX) Platform for UX Evaluation

PubMed Central

Ali Khan, Wajahat; Hur, Taeho; Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz Syed; Ul Hassan, Anees; Lee, Sungyoung

2018-01-01

The user experience (UX) is an emerging field in user research and design, and the development of UX evaluation methods presents a challenge for both researchers and practitioners. Different UX evaluation methods have been developed to extract accurate UX data. Among UX evaluation methods, the mixed-method approach of triangulation has gained importance. It provides more accurate and precise information about the user while interacting with the product. However, this approach requires skilled UX researchers and developers to integrate multiple devices, synchronize them, analyze the data, and ultimately produce an informed decision. In this paper, a method and system for measuring the overall UX over time using a triangulation method are proposed. The proposed platform incorporates observational and physiological measurements in addition to traditional ones. The platform reduces the subjective bias and validates the user’s perceptions, which are measured by different sensors through objectification of the subjective nature of the user in the UX assessment. The platform additionally offers plug-and-play support for different devices and powerful analytics for obtaining insight on the UX in terms of multiple participants. PMID:29783712

A Multimodal Deep Log-Based User Experience (UX) Platform for UX Evaluation.

PubMed

Hussain, Jamil; Khan, Wajahat Ali; Hur, Taeho; Bilal, Hafiz Syed Muhammad; Bang, Jaehun; Hassan, Anees Ul; Afzal, Muhammad; Lee, Sungyoung

2018-05-18

The user experience (UX) is an emerging field in user research and design, and the development of UX evaluation methods presents a challenge for both researchers and practitioners. Different UX evaluation methods have been developed to extract accurate UX data. Among UX evaluation methods, the mixed-method approach of triangulation has gained importance. It provides more accurate and precise information about the user while interacting with the product. However, this approach requires skilled UX researchers and developers to integrate multiple devices, synchronize them, analyze the data, and ultimately produce an informed decision. In this paper, a method and system for measuring the overall UX over time using a triangulation method are proposed. The proposed platform incorporates observational and physiological measurements in addition to traditional ones. The platform reduces the subjective bias and validates the user's perceptions, which are measured by different sensors through objectification of the subjective nature of the user in the UX assessment. The platform additionally offers plug-and-play support for different devices and powerful analytics for obtaining insight on the UX in terms of multiple participants.

Confidence in the safety of blood for transfusion: the effect of message framing.

PubMed

Farrell, K; Ferguson, E; James, V; Lowe, K C

2001-11-01

Blood transfusion is a universally used, life-saving medical intervention. However, there are increasing concerns among patients about blood safety. This study investigates the effect of message framing, a means of presenting information, on confidence in blood transfusion safety. The same factual information regarding the safety of blood for transfusion was presented to a sample of 254 adult students (donors and nondonors) as either a gain frame (lives saved), a loss frame (lives lost), or a combined frame (a loss frame expressed in a positive context). This provided a basic two-way, between-subjects design with 1) blood donation history (donors vs. nondonors) and 2) message frame (gain, loss, and combined) functioning as the between-groups factors. It was hypothesized that participants would consider blood safer if information was presented as a gain frame. The role of stress appraisals as potential mediators of the framing effect was also explored. As predicted, participants receiving the gain-frame information were significantly more confident of the safety of blood for transfusion than those receiving loss-frame information or both. This was unaffected by donation history or appraisals of stress associated with transfusion. The extent to which blood was considered safe was negatively associated, independently of framing effects, with perceptions that transfusion was threatening. Information about transfusion should be conveyed to patients in a form focusing on the positive, rather than the negative, known facts about the safety of blood.

Informal Training in Staff Networks to Support Dissemination of Health Promotion Programs

PubMed Central

Ramanadhan, Shoba; Wiecha, Jean L.; Gortmaker, Steven L.; Emmons, Karen M.; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula

2011-01-01

Purpose To study informal skill transfer via staff networks as a complement to formal training among afterschool childcare providers implementing a health promotion program. Design Cross-sectional, sociometric network analysis. Setting Boston Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) afterschool programs implementing the iPLAY program. Participants All 91 staff members at 20 sites were eligible; 80 completed the survey (88% response rate). Measures At the network level, network density measured system-level connectedness. At the staff level, the independent variable was out degree, the number of individuals to whom respondents noted a program-related connection. The dependent variable was skill gains, the number of key implementation skills gained from the network. Analysis We mapped the staff program-related social network. We utilized multiple linear regression to estimate the relationship between out degree and skill gains, and we adjusted for clustering of staff in sites. Results Most staff (77%) reported gaining at least one skill from the network, but only 2% of potential network connections were established. The regression model showed that out degree (i.e., number of program-related contacts) was significantly associated with skill gains (β = .48, p < .01) independent of other variables. Conclusion Informal skill transfer in staff networks may be a useful complement to formal training for implementation of health promotion programs, but informal skill transfer was likely underutilized in this network. Future research employing longitudinal and/or multisite data should examine these findings in greater detail. PMID:20809826

HealthRecSys: A semantic content-based recommender system to complement health videos.

PubMed

Sanchez Bocanegra, Carlos Luis; Sevillano Ramos, Jose Luis; Rizo, Carlos; Civit, Anton; Fernandez-Luque, Luis

2017-05-15

The Internet, and its popularity, continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. Watching videos online is very popular; it is estimated that 500 h of video are uploaded onto YouTube, a video-sharing service, every minute and that, by 2019, video formats will comprise more than 80% of Internet traffic. Health-related videos are very popular on YouTube, but their quality is always a matter of concern. One approach to enhancing the quality of online videos is to provide additional educational health content, such as websites, to support health consumers. This study investigates the feasibility of building a content-based recommender system that links health consumers to reputable health educational websites from MedlinePlus for a given health video from YouTube. The dataset for this study includes a collection of health-related videos and their available metadata. Semantic technologies (such as SNOMED-CT and Bio-ontology) were used to recommend health websites from MedlinePlus. A total of 26 healths professionals participated in evaluating 253 recommended links for a total of 53 videos about general health, hypertension, or diabetes. The relevance of the recommended health websites from MedlinePlus to the videos was measured using information retrieval metrics such as the normalized discounted cumulative gain and precision at K. The majority of websites recommended by our system for health videos were relevant, based on ratings by health professionals. The normalized discounted cumulative gain was between 46% and 90% for the different topics. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using a semantic content-based recommender system to enrich YouTube health videos. Evaluation with end-users, in addition to healthcare professionals, will be required to identify the acceptance of these recommendations in a nonsimulated information-seeking context.

Reducing alcohol consumption to minimize weight gain and facilitate smoking cessation among military beneficiaries.

PubMed

Sobell, Mark B; Peterson, Alan L; Sobell, Linda Carter; Brundige, Antoinette; Hunter, Christopher M; Hunter, Christine M; Goodie, Jeffrey L; Agrawal, Sangeeta; Hrysko-Mullen, Ann S; Isler, William C

2017-12-01

Smoking cessation-related weight gain can have significant negative health and career consequences for military personnel. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation may decrease weight gain and relapse. A randomized clinical trial of military beneficiaries compared a standard smoking cessation (i.e., brief informational) intervention (N=159), with a brief motivational smoking cessation intervention that emphasized reduced drinking to lessen caloric intake and minimize weight gain (N=158). Participants who received the motivational intervention were significantly more likely to quit smoking at the 3-month follow-up (p=0.02), but the differences were not maintained at 6 (p=0.18) or 12months (p=0.16). Neither weight change nor alcohol reduction distinguished the 2 groups. Smoking cessation rates at 12months (motivational group=32.91%, informational group=25.79%) were comparable to previous studies, but successful cessation was not mediated by reduced drinking. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation did not result in decreased weight gain or improved outcomes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Host Genome Influence on Gut Microbial Composition and Microbial Prediction of Complex Traits in Pigs.

PubMed

Camarinha-Silva, Amelia; Maushammer, Maria; Wellmann, Robin; Vital, Marius; Preuss, Siegfried; Bennewitz, Jörn

2017-07-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the interplay between gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota, host genetics, and complex traits in pigs using extended quantitative-genetic methods. The study design consisted of 207 pigs that were housed and slaughtered under standardized conditions, and phenotyped for daily gain, feed intake, and feed conversion rate. The pigs were genotyped with a standard 60 K SNP chip. The GIT microbiota composition was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing technology. Eight from 49 investigated bacteria genera showed a significant narrow sense host heritability, ranging from 0.32 to 0.57. Microbial mixed linear models were applied to estimate the microbiota variance for each complex trait. The fraction of phenotypic variance explained by the microbial variance was 0.28, 0.21, and 0.16 for daily gain, feed conversion, and feed intake, respectively. The SNP data and the microbiota composition were used to predict the complex traits using genomic best linear unbiased prediction (G-BLUP) and microbial best linear unbiased prediction (M-BLUP) methods, respectively. The prediction accuracies of G-BLUP were 0.35, 0.23, and 0.20 for daily gain, feed conversion, and feed intake, respectively. The corresponding prediction accuracies of M-BLUP were 0.41, 0.33, and 0.33. Thus, in addition to SNP data, microbiota abundances are an informative source of complex trait predictions. Since the pig is a well-suited animal for modeling the human digestive tract, M-BLUP, in addition to G-BLUP, might be beneficial for predicting human predispositions to some diseases, and, consequently, for preventative and personalized medicine. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

Technology Transfer External Metrics, Research, Success Stories, and Participation on Evaluation Team for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trivoli, George W.

1996-01-01

This research report is divided into four sections. The first section is related to participation on the team that evaluated the proposals for the X-33 project and the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) during mid-May; prior to beginning the 1996 Summer Faculty Fellowship. The second section discusses the various meetings attended related to the technology evaluation process. The third section is related to various research and evaluation activities engaged in by this researcher. The final section discusses several success stories this researcher aided in preparing. Despite the fact that this researcher is not an engineer or science faculty, invaluable knowledge and experience have been gained at MSFC. Although related to the previous summer's research, the research has been new, varied, and challenging. This researcher was fortunate to have had maximum interaction with NASA colleague, David Cockrell. It would be a privilege and honor to continue a relationship with the Technology Transfer Office. In addition, we will attempt to aid in the establishment of a continuous formalized relationship between MSFC and Jacksonville State University. Dr. David Watts, Vice President for Academic Affairs, J.S.U., is interested in having the Technology Division cooperating with MSFC in sharing information and working tech transfer inquiries. The principal benefits gained by this researcher include the opportunity to conduct research in a non-academic, real world environment. In addition, the opportunity to be involved in aiding with the decision process for the choice of the next generation of space transportation system was a once in a lifetime experience. This researcher has gained enhanced respect and understanding of MSFC/NASA staff and facilities.

The relative persuasiveness of gain-framed versus loss-Framed HIV testing message: evidence from a field experiment in northwest Ethiopia.

PubMed

Bekalu, Mesfin Awoke; Eggermont, Steven

2014-01-01

This study assessed the relative advantages of gain- versus loss-framed messages for promoting HIV testing among a sample of urban and rural residents in northwest Ethiopia. The authors randomly assigned 394 participants to read gain-framed (n = 196) or loss-framed (n = 198) HIV testing message prepared in a form of brochure. Experience with HIV testing, concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, and urbanity versus rurality significantly moderated the effects of framing on intention to test for HIV. A gain-frame advantage was found among urbanites, participants with high experience with HIV testing, and those with high concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, suggesting a more likely construal of HIV testing as a prevention behavior among these individuals. In contrast, a loss-frame advantage was found among ruralites and participants with low concern about and information needs on HIV/AIDS, suggesting a more likely construal of HIV testing as a detection behavior among such individuals. Moreover, gain- and loss-framing led to similar outcomes among individuals with low levels of experience with HIV testing, with a slight advantage for the loss-framed message. All of the framing effects obtained were of small to medium size.

Where Non-Science Majors Get Information about Science and How They Rate that Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, Sanlyn; Impey, Chris; Nieberding, Megan; Romine, James

2014-11-01

College non-science major courses represent one of the last science courses many students will ever take. We report on a study of 400 undergraduate non-majors students enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at the University of Arizona to gain insight into where they get their information about science and their perception of that information. Students completed an online survey during the 2013-2014 school year. In addition to demographic information, students reported where they obtained information about science when they want to know something both for their own knowledge as well as information for a course assignment. They reported their interest in different science topics, rated the reliability of different sources of information, and reported how important science was to their life, including their future career choice.Overall, students reported getting information from a variety of online sources when looking up a topic for their own knowledge, including internet searches (71%), Wikipedia (46%), and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (45%). When asked where they got information for course assignments, most reported from assigned readings (82%) but a large percentage still reported getting information from online sources such as internet searches (60%), Wikipedia (30%) and online science sites (e.g. NASA) (20%). Overall, students rated professors/teachers and textbooks at the most reliable sources of scientific information and rated social media sites, blogs and Wikipedia as the least reliable sources of scientific information. Additionally, friends and family members were rated as less reliable sources of scientific information than similar information found on multiple websites. Students’ interest in science and self-reported knowledge in science was positively correlated. There was a significant positive correlation between those who reported that they liked science and felt that science was important to their future career. Overall, our results are giving us insights into how our non-science majors get and evaluate scientific information.

The Evolving Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension.

PubMed

Foshat, Michelle; Boroumand, Nahal

2017-05-01

- An explosion of information on pulmonary hypertension has occurred during the past few decades. The perception of this disease has shifted from purely clinical to incorporate new knowledge of the underlying pathology. This transfer has occurred in light of advancements in pathophysiology, histology, and molecular medical diagnostics. - To update readers about the evolving understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension and to demonstrate how pathology has shaped the current classification. - Information presented at the 5 World Symposia on pulmonary hypertension held since 1973, with the last meeting occurring in 2013, was used in this review. - Pulmonary hypertension represents a heterogeneous group of disorders that are differentiated based on differences in clinical, hemodynamic, and histopathologic features. Early concepts of pulmonary hypertension were largely influenced by pharmacotherapy, hemodynamic function, and clinical presentation of the disease. The initial nomenclature for pulmonary hypertension segregated the clinical classifications from pathologic subtypes. Major restructuring of this disease classification occurred between the first and second symposia, which was the first to unite clinical and pathologic information in the categorization scheme. Additional changes were introduced in subsequent meetings, particularly between the third and fourth World Symposia meetings, when additional pathophysiologic information was gained. Discoveries in molecular diagnostics significantly progressed the understanding of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Continued advancements in imaging modalities, mechanistic pathogenicity, and molecular biomarkers will enable physicians to define pulmonary hypertension phenotypes based on the pathobiology and allow for treatment customization.

The Effects of Gain- versus Loss-Framed Messages Following Health Risk Information on Physical Activity in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis.

PubMed

Lithopoulos, Alexander; Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

2017-06-01

Few people with multiple sclerosis engage in physical activity. Messaging interventions may motivate more physical activity among these individuals. The purpose of this online study was to evaluate an intervention presenting participants with multiple sclerosis (N = 237) with risk information (i.e., information demonstrating people with multiple sclerosis are more likely to experience certain health issues) or no risk information followed by gain- or loss-framed physical activity messages. Participants completed questionnaires on Days 1, 6, and 28 and received information material on Days 2-5. The dependent variables were as follows: physical activity intentions and behavior, response and task efficacy, perceived threat (i.e., perception of threat to health issues relevant to people with multiple sclerosis), and avoidance (i.e., avoiding thinking about/doing something about the health issues presented in the messages). Analyses indicated physical activity and response efficacy increased over time. Also, participants receiving risk information had higher levels of physical activity and perceived threat. However, manipulation checks showed no differences between participants regarding perceptions of risk information or gain/loss-framed messages. Despite the lack of impact of the framing intervention, this study suggests that a brief informational intervention can positively influence physical activity and certain correlates of physical activity among people with multiple sclerosis.

The role of gravity in leaf blade curvatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayes, A. B.

1984-01-01

In the past year we have gained useful information on several aspects of leaf blade growth. The most important observations are as follows: The C(14)-1AA moves preferentially in a gravipositive dorsiventral direction through the blade. This movement is inhibited by inversion of the blade. The responding cells in leaf blade hyponasty are in the lower epidermis and bundle sheath cells. Two additional responses in the leaf were characterized. In addition to blade curvature, the leaf shows petiole curvature and changes in the liminal angle subtended by the pulvinus. Ethylene production was studied under a number of conditions. The blade, rather than the petiole or pulvinus, is the principal site of auxin-promoted ethylene synthesis. The effects of a variety of agents on the blade, including gibberellic acid, abscisic acid, vanadate, low pH buffers, and blue light were reviewed.

Experimental demonstration of entanglement-assisted coding using a two-mode squeezed vacuum state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizuno, Jun; Wakui, Kentaro; Furusawa, Akira; Sasaki, Masahide

2005-01-01

We have experimentally realized the scheme initially proposed as quantum dense coding with continuous variables [

Coherent state coding approaches the capacity of non-Gaussian bosonic channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huber, Stefan; König, Robert

2018-05-01

The additivity problem asks if the use of entanglement can boost the information-carrying capacity of a given channel beyond what is achievable by coding with simple product states only. This has recently been shown not to be the case for phase-insensitive one-mode Gaussian channels, but remains unresolved in general. Here we consider two general classes of bosonic noise channels, which include phase-insensitive Gaussian channels as special cases: these are attenuators with general, potentially non-Gaussian environment states and classical noise channels with general probabilistic noise. We show that additivity violations, if existent, are rather minor for all these channels: the maximal gain in classical capacity is bounded by a constant independent of the input energy. Our proof shows that coding by simple classical modulation of coherent states is close to optimal.

Clinical decision making in response to performance validity test failure in a psychiatric setting.

PubMed

Marcopulos, Bernice A; Caillouet, Beth A; Bailey, Christopher M; Tussey, Chriscelyn; Kent, Julie-Ann; Frederick, Richard

2014-01-01

This study examined the clinical utility of a performance validity test (PVT) for screening consecutive referrals (N = 436) to a neuropsychology service at a state psychiatric hospital treating both civilly committed and forensic patients. We created a contingency table with Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) pass/fail (355/81) and secondary gain present/absent (181/255) to examine pass rates associated with patient demographic, clinical and forensic status characteristics. Of the 81 failed PVTs, 48 had secondary gain defined as active criminal legal charges; 33 failed PVTs with no secondary gain. These individuals tended to be older, female, Caucasian, and civilly committed compared with the group with secondary gain who failed. From estimations of TOMM False Positive Rate and True Positive Rate we estimated base rates of neurocognitive malingering for our clinical population using the Test Validation Summary (TVS; Frederick & Bowden, 2009 ). Although PVT failure is clearly more common in a group with secondary gain (31%), there were a number of false positives (11%). Clinical ratings of patients without gain who failed suggested cognitive deficits, behavioral issues, and inattention. Low scores on PVTs in the absence of secondary gain provide useful information on test engagement and can inform clinical decisions about testing.

Genetic Gains Through Testing and Crossing Longleaf Pine Plus Trees

Treesearch

Calvin F. Bey; E. Bayne Snyder

1978-01-01

A progeny test of 226 superior tree selections from nine geographic sources across the South confirmed earlier results that showed the Gulf Coast source superior in survival and growth. Family variation within a region was large and provided additional genetic gain. Control-pollinated tests of elite x elite trees yielded even more gains. Progeny of the elite x elite...

47 CFR 15.407 - General technical requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... maximum antenna gain does not exceed 6 dBi. In addition, the maximum power spectral density shall not exceed 17 dBm in any 1 megahertz band. If transmitting antennas of directional gain greater than 6 dBi... reduced by the amount in dB that the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6 dBi. The maximum e.i.r.p...

26 CFR 1.1362-2 - Termination of election.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... a basis of $5,000, for $10,000 (a gain of $5,000). S sells Property K, in which S has a basis of $12... account only to the extent of capital gain net income (as defined in section 1222). (B) Sales of stock or... stock or securities are taken into account only to the extent of gains therefrom. In addition, for...

26 CFR 1.1362-2 - Termination of election.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... a basis of $5,000, for $10,000 (a gain of $5,000). S sells Property K, in which S has a basis of $12... account only to the extent of capital gain net income (as defined in section 1222). (B) Sales of stock or... stock or securities are taken into account only to the extent of gains therefrom. In addition, for...

26 CFR 1.1362-2 - Termination of election.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... a basis of $5,000, for $10,000 (a gain of $5,000). S sells Property K, in which S has a basis of $12... account only to the extent of capital gain net income (as defined in section 1222). (B) Sales of stock or... stock or securities are taken into account only to the extent of gains therefrom. In addition, for...

26 CFR 1.1362-2 - Termination of election.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... a basis of $5,000, for $10,000 (a gain of $5,000). S sells Property K, in which S has a basis of $12... account only to the extent of capital gain net income (as defined in section 1222). (B) Sales of stock or... stock or securities are taken into account only to the extent of gains therefrom. In addition, for...

Measurement-device-independent semiquantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Jinjun; Li, Qin; Wu, Chunhui; Chan, Wai Hong; Zhang, Shengyu

Semiquantum key distribution (SQKD) allows two parties to share a common string when one of them is quantum and the other has rather limited quantum capability. Almost all existing SQKD protocols have been proved to be robust in theory, namely that if an eavesdropper tries to gain information, he will inevitably induce some detectable errors. However, ideal devices do not exist in reality and their imperfection may result in side-channel attacks, which can be used by an adversary to get some information on the secret key string. In this paper, we design a measurement-device-independent SQKD protocol for the first time, which can remove the threat of all detector side-channel attacks and show that it is also robust. In addition, we discuss the possible use of the proposed protocol in real-world applications and in QKD networks.

Sleep-obesity relation: underlying mechanisms and consequences for treatment.

PubMed

St-Onge, M-P

2017-02-01

Short sleep duration has been associated with obesity in numerous epidemiological studies. However, such association studies cannot establish evidence of causality. Clinical intervention studies, on the other hand, can provide information on a causal effect of sleep duration on markers of weight gain: energy intake and energy expenditure. Herein is an overview of the science related to the impact of sleep restriction, in the context of clinical intervention studies, on energy intake, energy expenditure and body weight. Additionally, studies that evaluate the impact of sleep restriction on weight loss and the impact of sleep extension on appetite are discussed. Information to date suggests that weight management is hindered when attempted in the context of sleep restriction, and the public should be made aware of the negative consequences of sleep restriction for weight regulation. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

Forensic Taxonomy of Android Social Apps.

PubMed

Azfar, Abdullah; Choo, Kim-Kwang Raymond; Liu, Lin

2017-03-01

An Android social app taxonomy incorporating artifacts that are of forensic interest will enable users and forensic investigators to identify the personally identifiable information (PII) stored by the apps. In this study, 30 popular Android social apps were examined. Artifacts of forensic interest (e.g., contacts lists, chronology of messages, and timestamp of an added contact) were recovered. In addition, images were located, and Facebook token strings used to tie account identities and gain access to information entered into Facebook by a user were identified. Based on the findings, a two-dimensional taxonomy of the forensic artifacts of the social apps is proposed. A comparative summary of existing forensic taxonomies of different categories of Android apps, designed to facilitate timely collection and analysis of evidentiary materials from Android devices, is presented. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Sudden gains in cognitive therapy and interpersonal therapy for social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Bohn, Christiane; Aderka, Idan M; Schreiber, Franziska; Stangier, Ulrich; Hofmann, Stefan G

2013-02-01

The present study examined the effects of sudden gains on treatment outcome in a randomized controlled trial including individual cognitive therapy (CT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Participants were 67 individuals with SAD who received 16 treatment sessions. Symptom severity at each session was assessed using the Social Phobia Weekly Summary Scale (Clark et al., 2003). Results indicate that 22.4% of participants experienced a sudden gain during treatment. Individuals with sudden gains had significantly lower social anxiety symptoms at post-treatment and follow-up compared to individuals without sudden gains. Sudden gains in CT and IPT had similar magnitudes, frequencies, and timings. However, sudden gains resulted in lower levels of post-treatment symptoms in CT compared to IPT. Cognitive changes did not precede sudden gains, but sudden gains resulted in cognitive changes. Sudden gains in CT and IPT for SAD are predictive of long-term outcome. In addition, the effect of sudden gains may be greater in CT compared to IPT.

Spatial downscaling of soil prediction models based on weighted generalized additive models in smallholder farm settings.

PubMed

Xu, Yiming; Smith, Scot E; Grunwald, Sabine; Abd-Elrahman, Amr; Wani, Suhas P; Nair, Vimala D

2017-09-11

Digital soil mapping (DSM) is gaining momentum as a technique to help smallholder farmers secure soil security and food security in developing regions. However, communications of the digital soil mapping information between diverse audiences become problematic due to the inconsistent scale of DSM information. Spatial downscaling can make use of accessible soil information at relatively coarse spatial resolution to provide valuable soil information at relatively fine spatial resolution. The objective of this research was to disaggregate the coarse spatial resolution soil exchangeable potassium (K ex ) and soil total nitrogen (TN) base map into fine spatial resolution soil downscaled map using weighted generalized additive models (GAMs) in two smallholder villages in South India. By incorporating fine spatial resolution spectral indices in the downscaling process, the soil downscaled maps not only conserve the spatial information of coarse spatial resolution soil maps but also depict the spatial details of soil properties at fine spatial resolution. The results of this study demonstrated difference between the fine spatial resolution downscaled maps and fine spatial resolution base maps is smaller than the difference between coarse spatial resolution base maps and fine spatial resolution base maps. The appropriate and economical strategy to promote the DSM technique in smallholder farms is to develop the relatively coarse spatial resolution soil prediction maps or utilize available coarse spatial resolution soil maps at the regional scale and to disaggregate these maps to the fine spatial resolution downscaled soil maps at farm scale.

Laser-driven electron acceleration in a plasma channel with an additional electric field

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

Cheng, Li-Hong; Xue, Ju-Kui, E-mail: xuejk@nwnu.edu.cn; Liu, Jie, E-mail: liu-jie@iapcm.ac.cn

2016-05-15

We examine the electron acceleration in a two-dimensional plasma channel under the action of a laser field and an additional static electric field. We propose to design an appropriate additional electric field (its direction and location), in order to launch the electron onto an energetic trajectory. We find that the electron acceleration strongly depends on the coupled effects of the laser polarization, the direction, and location of the additional electric field. The additional electric field affects the electron dynamics by changing the dephasing rate. Particularly, a suitably designed additional electric field leads to a considerable energy gain from the lasermore » pulse after the interaction with the additional electric field. The electron energy gain from the laser with the additional electric field can be much higher than that without the additional electric field. This engineering provides a possible means for producing high energetic electrons.« less

Consumer health information seeking in social media: a literature review.

PubMed

Zhao, Yuehua; Zhang, Jin

2017-12-01

The objective of this literature review was to summarise current research regarding how consumers seek health-related information from social media. Primarily, we hope to reveal characteristics of existing studies investigating the health topics that consumers have discussed in social media, ascertaining the roles social media have played in consumers' information-seeking processes and discussing the potential benefits and concerns of accessing consumer health information in social media. The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched for existing literature on consumer health information seeking in social media. The search returned 214 articles, of which 21 met the eligibility criteria following review of full-text documents. Between 2011 and 2016, twenty-one studies published explored various topics related to consumer information seeking in social media. These ranged from online discussions on specific diseases (e.g. diabetes) to public health concerns (e.g. pesticide residues). Consumers' information needs vary depending on the health issues of interest. Benefits of health seeking on social media, in addition to filling a need for health information, include the social and emotional support health consumers gain from peer-to-peer interactions. These benefits, however, are tempered by concerns of information quality and authority and lead to decreased consumer engagement. © 2017 Health Libraries Group.

Use and acceptance of Wiki systems for students of veterinary medicine

PubMed Central

Kolski, Darius; Arlt, Sebastian; Birk, Stephan; Heuwieser, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Objective: Wiki systems are gaining importance concerning the use in education, especially among young users. The aim of our study was to examine, how students of veterinary medicine commonly use wiki systems, whether they consider a veterinary wiki system useful and if they would participate in writing content. Methodology: For data collection a questionnaire was provided to students (n=210) of the faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. It contained questions regarding the use of Wikipedia in general and concerning educational issues. Results: Most respondents, especially students in the first years, had comprehensive experience in the use of Wikipedia and veterinary wiki systems. In contrast, the experience in writing or editing of information was low (8.6% Wikipedia, 15.3% veterinary wiki systems). Male students had significantly more writing experience than females (p=0,008). In addition, students of the higher years were more experienced in writing and editing than students of the first year (7.4% in the 4th year). The familiarity with wiki systems offered by universities was low. The majority of students (96.2%) are willing to use veterinary wiki systems as an information tool in the future. Nevertheless, only a low percentage is willing to write or edit content. Many students, however, expect a better learning success when writing own texts. In general, students consider the quality of information in a wiki system as correct. Conclusion: In conclusion, wiki systems are considered a useful tool to gain information. This will lead to a successful implementation of wiki systems in veterinary education. A main challenge will be to develop concepts to activate students to participate not only in reading but in the writing and editing process. PMID:23467415

Characterizing of tissue microstructure with single-detector polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Bin; Harman, Michelle; Giattina, Susanne; Stamper, Debra L.; Demakis, Charles; Chilek, Mark; Raby, Stephanie; Brezinski, Mark E.

2006-06-01

Assessing tissue birefringence with imaging modality polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) could improve the characterization of in vivo tissue pathology. Among the birefringent components, collagen may provide invaluable clinical information because of its alteration in disorders ranging from myocardial infarction to arthritis. But the features required of clinical imaging modality in these areas usually include the ability to assess the parameter of interest rapidly and without extensive data analysis, the characteristics that single-detector PS-OCT demonstrates. But beyond detecting organized collagen, which has been previously demonstrated and confirmed with the appropriate histological techniques, additional information can potentially be gained with PS-OCT, including collagen type, form versus intrinsic birefringence, the collagen angle, and the presence of multiple birefringence materials. In part I, we apply the simple but powerful fast-Fourier transform (FFT) to both PS-OCT mathematical modeling and in vitro bovine meniscus for improved PS-OCT data analysis. The FFT analysis yields, in a rapid, straightforward, and easily interpreted manner, information on the presence of multiple birefringent materials, distinguishing the true anatomical structure from patterns in image resulting from alterations in the polarization state and identifying the tissue/phantom optical axes. Therefore the use of the FFT analysis of PS-OCT data provides information on tissue composition beyond identifying the presence of organized collagen in real time and directly from the image without extensive mathematical manipulation or data analysis. In part II, Helistat phantoms (collagen type I) are analyzed with the ultimate goal of improved tissue characterization. This study, along with the data in part I, advance the insights gained from PS-OCT images beyond simply determining the presence or absence of birefringence.

Frequency conversion system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sanders, Steven (Inventor); Waarts, Robert G. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A frequency conversion system comprises first and second gain sources providing first and second frequency radiation outputs where the second gain source receives as input the output of the first gain source and, further, the second gain source comprises a Raman or Brillouin gain fiber for wave shifting a portion of the radiation of the first frequency output into second frequency radiation output to provided a combined output of first and second frequencies. Powers are gain enhanced by the addition of a rare earth amplifier or oscillator, or a Raman/Brillouin amplifier or oscillator between the high power source and the NFM device. Further, polarization conversion using Raman or Brillouin wavelength shifting is provided to optimize frequency conversion efficiency in the NFM device.

Implementation of generalized quantum measurements: Superadditive quantum coding, accessible information extraction, and classical capacity limit

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

Takeoka, Masahiro; Fujiwara, Mikio; Mizuno, Jun

2004-05-01

Quantum-information theory predicts that when the transmission resource is doubled in quantum channels, the amount of information transmitted can be increased more than twice by quantum-channel coding technique, whereas the increase is at most twice in classical information theory. This remarkable feature, the superadditive quantum-coding gain, can be implemented by appropriate choices of code words and corresponding quantum decoding which requires a collective quantum measurement. Recently, an experimental demonstration was reported [M. Fujiwara et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 167906 (2003)]. The purpose of this paper is to describe our experiment in detail. Particularly, a design strategy of quantum-collective decodingmore » in physical quantum circuits is emphasized. We also address the practical implication of the gain on communication performance by introducing the quantum-classical hybrid coding scheme. We show how the superadditive quantum-coding gain, even in a small code length, can boost the communication performance of conventional coding techniques.« less

Identifying buried segments of active faults in the northern Rio Grande Rift using aeromagnetic, LiDAR,and gravity data, south-central Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grauch, V.J.S.; Ruleman, Chester A.

2013-01-01

Combined interpretation of aeromagnetic and LiDAR data builds on the strength of the aeromagnetic method to locate normal faults with significant offset under cover and the strength of LiDAR interpretation to identify the age and sense of motion of faults. Each data set helps resolve ambiguities in interpreting the other. In addition, gravity data can be used to infer the sense of motion for totally buried faults inferred solely from aeromagnetic data. Combined interpretation to identify active faults at the northern end of the San Luis Basin of the northern Rio Grande rift has confirmed general aspects of previous geologic mapping but has also provided significant improvements. The interpretation revises and extends mapped fault traces, confirms tectonic versus fluvial origins of steep stream banks, and gains additional information on the nature of active and potentially active partially and totally buried faults. Detailed morphology of surfaces mapped from the LiDAR data helps constrain ages of the faults that displace the deposits. The aeromagnetic data provide additional information about their extents in between discontinuous scarps and suggest that several totally buried, potentially active faults are present on both sides of the valley.

Beef cattle welfare in the USA: identification of priorities for future research.

PubMed

Tucker, Cassandra B; Coetzee, Johann F; Stookey, Joseph M; Thomson, Daniel U; Grandin, Temple; Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Karen S

2015-12-01

This review identifies priorities for beef cattle welfare research in the USA. Based on our professional expertise and synthesis of existing literature, we identify two themes in intensive aspects of beef production: areas where policy-based actions are needed and those where additional research is required. For some topics, considerable research informs best practice, yet gaps remain between scientific knowledge and implementation. For example, many of the risk factors and management strategies to prevent respiratory disease are understood, but only used by a relatively small portion of the industry. This is an animal health issue that will require leadership and discussion to gain widespread adoption of practices that benefit cattle welfare. There is evidence of success when such actions are taken, as illustrated by the recent improvements in handling at US slaughter facilities. Our highest priorities for additional empirical evidence are: the effect of technologies used to either promote growth or manage cattle in feedlots, identification of management risk factors for disease in feedlots, and management decisions about transport (rest stops, feed/water deprivation, climatic conditions, stocking density). Additional research is needed to inform science-based recommendations about environmental features such as dry lying areas (mounds), shade, water and feed, as well as trailer design.

Bureaucracy stifles medical research in Britain: a tale of three trials.

PubMed

Snooks, Helen; Hutchings, Hayley; Seagrove, Anne; Stewart-Brown, Sarah; Williams, John; Russell, Ian

2012-08-16

Recent developments aiming to standardise and streamline processes of gaining the necessary approvals to carry out research in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK), have resulted in lengthy and costly delays. The national UK governmental Department of Health's Research Governance Framework (RGF) for Health and Social Care requires that appropriate checks be conducted before research involving human participants, their organs, tissues or data can commence in the NHS. As a result, medical research has been subjected to increased regulation and governance, with the requirement for approvals from numerous regulatory and monitoring bodies. In addition, the processes and outcomes of the attribution of costs in NHS research have caused additional difficulties for researchers. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate, through three trial case studies, the difficulties encountered during the set-up and recruitment phases of these trials, related to gaining the necessary ethical and governance approvals and applying for NHS costs to undertake and deliver the research. Empirical evidence about delays and difficulties related to regulation and governance of medical research was gathered during the period 2009-2010 from three UK randomised controlled trials with sites in England, Wales and Scotland (1. SAFER 2- an emergency care based trial of a protocol for paramedics to refer patients directly to community based falls services; 2. COnStRUCT- a trial of two drugs for acute ulcerative colitis; and 3. Family Links - a trial of a public health intervention, a 10 week community based parenting programme). Findings and recommendations were reported in response to a call for evidence from The Academy of Medical Sciences regarding difficulties encountered in conducting medical research arising from R&D governance and regulation, to inform national policy. Difficulties and delays in navigating and gaining the appropriate approvals and NHS costs required to undertake the research were encountered in all three trials, at various points in the bureaucratic processes of ethical and research and information governance approvals. Conduct of each of the three trials was delayed by at least 12 months, with costs increasing by 30 - 40%. Whilst the three trials encountered a variety of challenges, there were common issues. The processes for gaining approvals were overly complex and differed between sites and UK countries; guidance about processes was unclear; and information regarding how to define and claim NHS costs for undertaking the research was inconsistent. The competitive advantage of a publicly funded, open access health system for undertaking health services research and clinical trials within the UK has been outweighed in recent years by stifling bureaucratic structures and processes for governance of research. The recommendations of the Academy of Medical Sciences are welcomed, and the effects of their implementation are awaited with interest. SAFER 2: ISRCTN 60481756; COnStRUCT: ISRCTN22663589; Family Links: ISRCTN 13929732.

Information transfer with rate-modulated Poisson processes: a simple model for nonstationary stochastic resonance.

PubMed

Goychuk, I

2001-08-01

Stochastic resonance in a simple model of information transfer is studied for sensory neurons and ensembles of ion channels. An exact expression for the information gain is obtained for the Poisson process with the signal-modulated spiking rate. This result allows one to generalize the conventional stochastic resonance (SR) problem (with periodic input signal) to the arbitrary signals of finite duration (nonstationary SR). Moreover, in the case of a periodic signal, the rate of information gain is compared with the conventional signal-to-noise ratio. The paper establishes the general nonequivalence between both measures notwithstanding their apparent similarity in the limit of weak signals.

Rejection or selection: influence of framing in investment decisions.

PubMed

Cheng, Pi-Yueh; Chiou, Wen-Bin

2010-02-01

According to prospect theory, reflection effects result in preferences for risk-averse choices in gain situations and risk-seeking choices in loss situations. However, relevant literature in regard to decision making has suggested that positive information receives more weight in a selection task, whereas negative information receives more weight in a rejection task. The present study examined whether the nature of a decision task (selection vs rejection) would moderate the reflection effects. Undergraduates (47 men, 49 women; M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 1.1), selected according to specific screening criteria, participated in an experimental study. Typical reflection effects were observed in both selection and rejection task conditions. More importantly, negative information (i.e., the information about probable loss in risky choice of gain situations and the information about certain loss in cautious choice of loss situations) provided in the context of a rejection task received more weight and resulted in more frequent endorsements of the cautious choice in gain situations and of the risky choice in loss situations. Hence, the findings suggest that a decision context characterized by rejection may expand the reflection effects and thereby provide important information about situations in which investment decisions occur in a context characterized by rejection.

Decisions reduce sensitivity to subsequent information.

PubMed

Bronfman, Zohar Z; Brezis, Noam; Moran, Rani; Tsetsos, Konstantinos; Donner, Tobias; Usher, Marius

2015-07-07

Behavioural studies over half a century indicate that making categorical choices alters beliefs about the state of the world. People seem biased to confirm previous choices, and to suppress contradicting information. These choice-dependent biases imply a fundamental bound of human rationality. However, it remains unclear whether these effects extend to lower level decisions, and only little is known about the computational mechanisms underlying them. Building on the framework of sequential-sampling models of decision-making, we developed novel psychophysical protocols that enable us to dissect quantitatively how choices affect the way decision-makers accumulate additional noisy evidence. We find robust choice-induced biases in the accumulation of abstract numerical (experiment 1) and low-level perceptual (experiment 2) evidence. These biases deteriorate estimations of the mean value of the numerical sequence (experiment 1) and reduce the likelihood to revise decisions (experiment 2). Computational modelling reveals that choices trigger a reduction of sensitivity to subsequent evidence via multiplicative gain modulation, rather than shifting the decision variable towards the chosen alternative in an additive fashion. Our results thus show that categorical choices alter the evidence accumulation mechanism itself, rather than just its outcome, rendering the decision-maker less sensitive to new information. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Recent updates on recombinant human growth hormone outcomes and adverse events.

PubMed

Watson, Sara E; Rogol, Alan D

2013-02-01

To provide up-to-date information on outcomes and adverse events associated with the use of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). We will focus on patients with Prader Willi Syndrome and Idiopathic Short Stature. We will also discuss recent reports on long-term adverse events from the European database. Prader Willi Syndrome is associated with hypogonadism, which does not appear to be affected by treatment with rhGH. However, there is new evidence that treatment may improve cognition. For patients with Idiopathic Short Stature, the gain in near adult height with treatment with rhGH appears to be 3-4 cm. Although a recent analysis of this group shows that certain patient characteristics may help identify those most likely to have a good response to treatment. Additionally, the safety and appropriateness of growth hormone treatments in Europe study released preliminary data from patients treated in two separate locations that showed conflicting information on risk of mortality from treatment with rhGH. Although we will continue to receive new information regarding the safety and effects of treatment with rhGH, it is important to discuss the risks and benefits with our patients. Additionally, it is incumbent on us to help guide the treatment to those most likely to benefit.

Motivating medical information system performance by system quality, service quality, and job satisfaction for evidence-based practice.

PubMed

Chang, Ching-Sheng; Chen, Su-Yueh; Lan, Yi-Ting

2012-11-21

No previous studies have addressed the integrated relationships among system quality, service quality, job satisfaction, and system performance; this study attempts to bridge such a gap with evidence-based practice study. The convenience sampling method was applied to the information system users of three hospitals in southern Taiwan. A total of 500 copies of questionnaires were distributed, and 283 returned copies were valid, suggesting a valid response rate of 56.6%. SPSS 17.0 and AMOS 17.0 (structural equation modeling) statistical software packages were used for data analysis and processing. The findings are as follows: System quality has a positive influence on service quality (γ11= 0.55), job satisfaction (γ21= 0.32), and system performance (γ31= 0.47). Service quality (β31= 0.38) and job satisfaction (β32= 0.46) will positively influence system performance. It is thus recommended that the information office of hospitals and developers take enhancement of service quality and user satisfaction into consideration in addition to placing b on system quality and information quality when designing, developing, or purchasing an information system, in order to improve benefits and gain more achievements generated by hospital information systems.

Augmenting matrix factorization technique with the combination of tags and genres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Tinghuai; Suo, Xiafei; Zhou, Jinjuan; Tang, Meili; Guan, Donghai; Tian, Yuan; Al-Dhelaan, Abdullah; Al-Rodhaan, Mznah

2016-11-01

Recommender systems play an important role in our daily life and are becoming popular tools for users to find what they are really interested in. Matrix factorization methods, which are popular recommendation methods, have gained high attention these years. With the rapid growth of the Internet, lots of information has been created, like social network information, tags and so on. Along with these, a few matrix factorization approaches have been proposed which incorporate the personalized information of users or items. However, except for ratings, most of the matrix factorization models have utilized only one kind of information to understand users' interests. Considering the sparsity of information, in this paper, we try to investigate the combination of different information, like tags and genres, to reveal users' interests accurately. With regard to the generalization of genres, a constraint is added when genres are utilized to find users' similar ;soulmates;. In addition, item regularizer is also considered based on latent semantic indexing (LSI) method with the item tags. Our experiments are conducted on two real datasets: Movielens dataset and Douban dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that the combination of tags and genres is really helpful to reveal users' interests.

Concept for an off-line gain stabilisation method.

PubMed

Pommé, S; Sibbens, G

2004-01-01

Conceptual ideas are presented for an off-line gain stabilisation method for spectrometry, in particular for alpha-particle spectrometry at low count rate. The method involves list mode storage of individual energy and time stamp data pairs. The 'Stieltjes integral' of measured spectra with respect to a reference spectrum is proposed as an indicator for gain instability. 'Exponentially moving averages' of the latter show the gain shift as a function of time. With this information, the data are relocated stochastically on a point-by-point basis.

Examining the provisional guidelines for weight gain in twin pregnancies: a retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Lutsiv, Olha; Hulman, Adam; Woolcott, Christy; Beyene, Joseph; Giglia, Lucy; Armson, B Anthony; Dodds, Linda; Neupane, Binod; McDonald, Sarah D

2017-09-29

Weight gain during pregnancy has an important impact on maternal and neonatal health. Unlike the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for weight gain in singleton pregnancies, those for twin gestations are termed "provisional", as they are based on limited data. The objectives of this study were to determine the neonatal and maternal outcomes associated with gaining weight below, within and above the IOM provisional guidelines on gestational weight gain in twin pregnancies, and additionally, to explore ranges of gestational weight gain among women who delivered twins at the recommended gestational age and birth weight, and those who did not. A retrospective cohort study of women who gave birth to twins at ≥20 weeks gestation, with a birth weight ≥ 500 g was conducted in Nova Scotia, Canada (2003-2014). Our primary outcome of interest was small for gestational age (<10th percentile). In order to account for gestational age at delivery, weekly rates of 2nd and 3rd trimester weight gain were used to categorize women as gaining below, within, or above guidelines. We performed traditional regression analyses for maternal outcomes, and to account for the correlated nature of the neonatal outcomes in twins, we used generalized estimating equations (GEE). A total of 1482 twins and 741 mothers were included, of whom 27%, 43%, and 30% gained below, within, and above guidelines, respectively. The incidence of small for gestational age in these three groups was 30%, 21%, and 20%, respectively, and relative to gaining within guidelines, the adjusted odds ratios were 1.44 (95% CI 1.01-2.06) for gaining below and 0.92 (95% CI 0.62-1.36) for gaining above. The gestational weight gain in women who delivered twins at 37-42 weeks with average birth weight ≥ 2500 g and those who delivered twins outside of the recommend ranges were comparable to each other and the IOM recommendations. While gestational weight gain below guidelines for twins was associated with some adverse neonatal outcomes, additional research exploring alternate ranges of gestational weight gain in twin pregnancies is warranted, in order to optimize neonatal and maternal outcomes.

How are information seeking, scanning, and processing related to beliefs about the roles of genetics and behavior in cancer causation?

PubMed Central

Waters, Erika A.; Wheeler, Courtney; Hamilton, Jada G.

2016-01-01

Background Understanding that cancer is caused by both genetic and behavioral risk factors is an important component of genomic literacy. However, a considerable percentage of people in the U.S. do not endorse such multifactorial beliefs. Methods Using nationally representative cross-sectional data from the U.S. Health Information National Trends Survey (N=2,529), we examined how information seeking, information scanning, and key information processing characteristics were associated with endorsing a multifactorial model of cancer causation. Results Multifactorial beliefs about cancer were more common among respondents who engaged in cancer information scanning (p=.001), were motivated to process health information (p=.005), and who reported a family history of cancer (p=.0002). Respondents who reported having previous negative information seeking experiences had lower odds of endorsing multifactorial beliefs (p=.01). Multifactorial beliefs were not associated with cancer information seeking, trusting cancer information obtained from the Internet, trusting cancer information from a physician, self-efficacy for obtaining cancer information, numeracy, or being aware of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (ps>.05). Conclusion Gaining additional understanding of how people access, process, and use health information will be critical for the continued development and dissemination of effective health communication interventions and for the further translation of genomics research to public health and clinical practice. PMID:27661291

How Are Information Seeking, Scanning, and Processing Related to Beliefs About the Roles of Genetics and Behavior in Cancer Causation?

PubMed

Waters, Erika A; Wheeler, Courtney; Hamilton, Jada G

2016-01-01

Understanding that cancer is caused by both genetic and behavioral risk factors is an important component of genomic literacy. However, a considerable percentage of people in the United States do not endorse such multifactorial beliefs. Using nationally representative cross-sectional data from the U.S. Health Information National Trends Survey (N = 2,529), we examined how information seeking, information scanning, and key information-processing characteristics were associated with endorsing a multifactorial model of cancer causation. Multifactorial beliefs about cancer were more common among respondents who engaged in cancer information scanning (p = .001), were motivated to process health information (p = .005), and reported a family history of cancer (p = .0002). Respondents who reported having previous negative information-seeking experiences had lower odds of endorsing multifactorial beliefs (p = .01). Multifactorial beliefs were not associated with cancer information seeking, trusting cancer information obtained from the Internet, trusting cancer information from a physician, self-efficacy for obtaining cancer information, numeracy, or being aware of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (ps > .05). Gaining additional understanding of how people access, process, and use health information will be critical for the continued development and dissemination of effective health communication interventions and for the further translation of genomics research to public health and clinical practice.

Estimating the cost of no-shows and evaluating the effects of mitigation strategies.

PubMed

Berg, Bjorn P; Murr, Michael; Chermak, David; Woodall, Jonathan; Pignone, Michael; Sandler, Robert S; Denton, Brian T

2013-11-01

To measure the cost of nonattendance ("no-shows") and benefit of overbooking and interventions to reduce no-shows for an outpatient endoscopy suite. We used a discrete-event simulation model to determine improved overbooking scheduling policies and examine the effect of no-shows on procedure utilization and expected net gain, defined as the difference in expected revenue based on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reimbursement rates and variable costs based on the sum of patient waiting time and provider and staff overtime. No-show rates were estimated from historical attendance (18% on average, with a sensitivity range of 12%-24%). We then evaluated the effectiveness of scheduling additional patients and the effect of no-show reduction interventions on the expected net gain. The base schedule booked 24 patients per day. The daily expected net gain with perfect attendance is $4433.32. The daily loss attributed to the base case no-show rate of 18% is $725.42 (16.4% of net gain), ranging from $472.14 to $1019.29 (10.7%-23.0% of net gain). Implementing no-show interventions reduced net loss by $166.61 to $463.09 (3.8%-10.5% of net gain). The overbooking policy of 9 additional patients per day resulted in no loss in expected net gain when compared with the reference scenario. No-shows can significantly decrease the expected net gain of outpatient procedure centers. Overbooking can help mitigate the impact of no-shows on a suite's expected net gain and has a lower expected cost of implementation to the provider than intervention strategies.

Eta Carinae: An Observational Testbed for 3-D Interacting Wind Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gull, Theodore; Madura, Tom; Groh, Jose; Corcoran, Mike; Owocki, Stan

2011-01-01

Eta Car, with its very massive interacting winds, provides shocked arc-like structures dense enough to trace in forbidden emission lines out to 0.7" (1700 AU). As the massive binary is in a very elliptical orbit (e approx. 0.9), the spatial and velocity structures of these winds change over the 5.54 year period. We can tract ionization structures by several forbidden emission lines. With the addition of radiative transfer on a time-step frame-by-frame basis, we are learning much new information on the ballistic structures, and may gain insight on how molecules and dust might form in these very massive systems.

Design and validation of instruments to measure knowledge.

PubMed

Elliott, T E; Regal, R R; Elliott, B A; Renier, C M

2001-01-01

Measuring health care providers' learning after they have participated in educational interventions that use experimental designs requires valid, reliable, and practical instruments. A literature review was conducted. In addition, experience gained from designing and validating instruments for measuring the effect of an educational intervention informed this process. The eight main steps for designing, validating, and testing the reliability of instruments for measuring learning outcomes are presented. The key considerations and rationale for this process are discussed. Methods for critiquing and adapting existent instruments and creating new ones are offered. This study may help other investigators in developing valid, reliable, and practical instruments for measuring the outcomes of educational activities.

STARPAHC systems report. Volume 2: Operational performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The Space Technology Applied to Rural Papago Advanced Health Care (STARPAHC) demonstrated the value and potential of telemedicine using physician's assistants for providing quality health care delivery to people in a remote area. Generally, the program's achievements were to: (1) establish the feasibility of the STARPAHC concept in the delivery of health care; (2) gain information for developing health care systems for future manned spacecraft; (3) determine the constraints and capabilities involved in the interaction between physicians and non-physician health care personnel; (4) determine effectiveness of the STARPAHC technique; and (5) define the additional developments that are needed and/or most valuable to improving telemedicine and its exportable potential.

In silico analysis of Schmidtea mediterranea TIR domain-containing proteins.

PubMed

Tsoumtsa, Landry Laure; Sougoufora, Seynabou; Torre, Cedric; Lemichez, Emmanuel; Pontarotti, Pierre; Ghigo, Eric

2018-09-01

While genetic evidence points towards an absence of Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs) in Platyhelminthes, the Toll/IL-1 Receptor (TIR)-domains that drive the assembly of signalling complexes downstream TLR are present in these organisms. Here, we undertook the characterisation of the repertoire of TIR-domain containing proteins in Schmidtea mediterranea in order to gain valuable information on TLR evolution in metazoan. We report the presence of twenty proteins containing between one and two TIR domains. In addition, our phylogenetic-based reconstruction approach identified Smed-SARM and Smed-MyD88 as conserved TLR adaptors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and characteristics of the hardware for Skylab experiment S015

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thirolf, R. G.

1975-01-01

Details are given regarding the hardware for the Skylab S015 experiment, which was designed to detect the effects of zero gravity on cell growth rates. Experience gained in hardware-related considerations is presented for use of researchers concerned with future research of this type and further study of the S015 results. Brief descriptions are given of the experiment hardware, the hardware configuration for the critical design review, the major configuration changes, the final configuration, and the postflight review and analysis. An appendix describes pertinent documentation, film, and hardware that are available to qualified researchers; sources for additional or special information are given.

Management of lymphatic malformations in children.

PubMed

Bagrodia, Naina; Defnet, Ann M; Kandel, Jessica J

2015-06-01

To review the literature on lymphatic malformations and to provide current opinion about the management of these lesions. Current treatment options include nonoperative management, surgery, sclerotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, and laser therapy. New therapies are emerging, including sildenafil, propranolol, sirolimus, and vascularized lymph node transfer. The primary focus of management centers on the patient's quality of life. Multimodal treatment of lymphatic malformations continues to expand as new information about the biology and genetics of these lesions is discovered, in addition to knowledge gained from clinical practice. A patient-centered approach should guide timing and modality of treatment. Continued study of lymphatic malformations will increase and solidify a treatment algorithm for these complicated lesions.

Chondrule Crystallization Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hweins, R. H.; Connolly, H. C., Jr.; Lofgren, G. E.; Libourel, G.

2004-01-01

Given the great diversity of chondrules, laboratory experiments are invaluable in yielding information on chondrule formation process(es) and for deciphering their initial conditions of formation together with their thermal history. In addition, they provide some critical parameters for astrophysical models of the solar system and of nebular disk evolution in particular (partial pressures, temperature, time, opacity, etc). Most of the experiments simulating chondrules have assumed formation from an aggregate of solid grains, with total pressure of no importance and with virtually no gain or loss of elements from or to the ambient environment. They used pressed pellets attached to wires and suffered from some losses of alkalis and Fe.

Social and legal frame conditions for 3D (and) bioprinting in medicine.

PubMed

Bauer, Heide-Katharina; Heller, Martin; Fink, Matthias; Maresch, Daniela; Gartner, Johannes; Gassner, Ulrich M; Al-Nawas, Bilal

The beginnings of three-dimensional (3D) printing and bioprinting can be traced to as early as 1984. From printing inorganic models for the generation of biologic scaffolds, additive manufacturing (AM) developed to the direct printing of organic materials, including specialized tissues, proteins, and cells. In recent years, these technologies have gained significantly in relevance, and there have been several innovations, especially in the field of regenerative medicine. It is becoming increasingly important to consider the economic and social aspects of AM, particularly in education and information of medical human resources, society, and politics, as well as for the establishment of homogenous, globally adapted legal regulations.

Transverse pumped laser amplifier architecture

DOEpatents

Bayramian, Andrew James; Manes, Kenneth R.; Deri, Robert; Erlandson, Alvin; Caird, John; Spaeth, Mary L.

2015-05-19

An optical gain architecture includes a pump source and a pump aperture. The architecture also includes a gain region including a gain element operable to amplify light at a laser wavelength. The gain region is characterized by a first side intersecting an optical path, a second side opposing the first side, a third side adjacent the first and second sides, and a fourth side opposing the third side. The architecture further includes a dichroic section disposed between the pump aperture and the first side of the gain region. The dichroic section is characterized by low reflectance at a pump wavelength and high reflectance at the laser wavelength. The architecture additionally includes a first cladding section proximate to the third side of the gain region and a second cladding section proximate to the fourth side of the gain region.

Transverse pumped laser amplifier architecture

DOEpatents

Bayramian, Andrew James; Manes, Kenneth; Deri, Robert; Erlandson, Al; Caird, John; Spaeth, Mary

2013-07-09

An optical gain architecture includes a pump source and a pump aperture. The architecture also includes a gain region including a gain element operable to amplify light at a laser wavelength. The gain region is characterized by a first side intersecting an optical path, a second side opposing the first side, a third side adjacent the first and second sides, and a fourth side opposing the third side. The architecture further includes a dichroic section disposed between the pump aperture and the first side of the gain region. The dichroic section is characterized by low reflectance at a pump wavelength and high reflectance at the laser wavelength. The architecture additionally includes a first cladding section proximate to the third side of the gain region and a second cladding section proximate to the fourth side of the gain region.

Releases of whooping cranes to the Florida nonmigratory flock: a structured decision-making approach: report to the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, September 22, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Clinton T.; Converse, Sarah J.; Folk, Martin J.; Boughton, Robin; Brooks, Bill; French, John B.; O'Meara, Timothy; Putnam, Michael; Rodgers, James; Spalding, Marilyn

2008-01-01

We used a structured decision-making approach to inform the decision of whether the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission should request of the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team that additional whooping crane chicks be released into the Florida Non-Migratory Population (FNMP). Structured decision-making is an application of decision science that strives to produce transparent, replicable, and defensible decisions that recognize the appropriate roles of management policy and science in decision-making. We present a multi-objective decision framework, where management objectives include successful establishment of a whooping crane population in Florida, minimization of costs, positive public relations, information gain, and providing a supply of captive-reared birds to alternative crane release projects, such as the Eastern Migratory Population. We developed models to predict the outcome relative to each of these objectives under 29 different scenarios of the release methodology used from 1993 to 2004, including options of no further releases and variable numbers of releases per year over the next 5-30 years. In particular, we developed a detailed set of population projection models, which make substantially different predictions about the probability of successful establishment of the FNMP. We used expert elicitation to develop prior model weights (measures of confidence in population model predictions); the results of the population model weighting and modelaveraging exercise indicated that the probability of successful establishment of the FNMP ranged from 9% if no additional releases are made, to as high as 41% with additional releases. We also used expert elicitation to develop weights (relative values) on the set of identified objectives, and we then used a formal optimization technique for identifying the optimal decision, which considers the tradeoffs between objectives. The optimal decision was identified as release of 3 cohorts (24 birds) per year over the next 10 years. However, any decision that involved release of 1-3 cohorts (8-24 birds) per year over the next 5 to 20 years, as well as decisions that involve skipping releases in every other year, performed better in our analysis than the alternative of no further releases. These results were driven by the relatively high objective weights that experts placed on the population objective (i.e., successful establishment of the FNMP) and the information gain objective (where releases are expected to accelerate learning on what was identified as a primary uncertainty: the demographic performance of wild-hatched birds). Additional considerations that were not formally integrated into the analysis are also discussed.

Using Small Group Debates to Actively Engage Students in an Introductory Microbiology Course†

PubMed Central

Shaw, Joyce A.

2012-01-01

Debates stimulate critical thinking and can be a highly effective way to actively engage students in the classroom. This paper describes a small group debate format in which groups of four to six students debated preassigned topics in microbiology in front of the rest of the class. Rapid advancements in science, especially in microbiology, provide the scaffolding for students to locate and share evidence-based information from a plethora of complex and often conflicting sources. Student-generated debate presentations can be a welcome respite from the lecture format. Debates were scheduled throughout the course to coincide with topics being covered. Questionnaires distributed immediately after each debate revealed that the debates were well received by students and were effective in changing student attitudes and misconceptions. Debate preparation provided students the opportunity to gain proficiency in accessing information from electronic databases, to use resources from professional organizations, and to synthesize and analyze information. In addition, the debate process gave students experience in developing oral communication skills. PMID:23653803

14C BOMB-PULSE DATING AND STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS FOR GROWTH RATE AND DIETARY INFORMATION IN BREAST CANCER?

PubMed

Lång, K; Eriksson Stenström, K; Rosso, A; Bech, M; Zackrisson, S; Graubau, D; Mattsson, S

2016-06-01

The purpose of this study was to perform an initial investigation of the possibility to determine breast cancer growth rate with (14)C bomb-pulse dating. Tissues from 11 breast cancers, diagnosed in 1983, were retrieved from a regional biobank. The estimated average age of the majority of the samples overlapped the year of collection (1983) within 3σ Thus, this first study of tumour tissue has not yet demonstrated that (14)C bomb-pulse dating can obtain information on the growth of breast cancer. However, with further refinement, involving extraction of cell types and components, there is a possibility that fundamental knowledge of tumour biology might still be gained by the bomb-pulse technique. Additionally, δ (13)C and δ (15)N analyses were performed to obtain dietary and metabolic information, and to serve as a base for improvement of the age determination. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Simulation of quitting smoking in the military shows higher lifetime medical spending more than offset by productivity gains.

PubMed

Yang, Wenya; Dall, Timothy M; Zhang, Yiduo; Zhang, Shiping; Arday, David R; Dorn, Patricia W; Jain, Anjali

2012-12-01

Despite the documented benefits of quitting smoking, studies have found that smokers who quit may have higher lifetime medical costs, in part because of increased risk for medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, brought on by associated weight gain. Using a simulation model and data on 612,332 adult smokers in the US Department of Defense's TRICARE Prime health plan in 2008, we estimated that cessation accompanied by weight gain would increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years, and that the average lifetime reduction in medical expenditures from improved health ($5,600) would be offset by additional expenditures resulting from prolonged life ($7,300). Results varied by age and sex: For females ages 18-44 at time of cessation, there would be net savings of $1,200 despite additional medical expenditures from prolonged life. Avoidance of weight gain after quitting smoking would increase average life expectancy by four additional months and reduce mean extra spending resulting from prolonged life by $700. Overall, the average net lifetime health care cost increase of $1,700 or less per ex-smoker would be modest and, for employed people, more than offset by even one year's worth of productivity gains. These results boost the case for smoking cessation programs in the military in particular, along with not selling cigarettes in commissaries or at reduced prices.

Assessing the impact of case sensitivity and term information gain on biomedical concept recognition.

PubMed

Groza, Tudor; Verspoor, Karin

2015-01-01

Concept recognition (CR) is a foundational task in the biomedical domain. It supports the important process of transforming unstructured resources into structured knowledge. To date, several CR approaches have been proposed, most of which focus on a particular set of biomedical ontologies. Their underlying mechanisms vary from shallow natural language processing and dictionary lookup to specialized machine learning modules. However, no prior approach considers the case sensitivity characteristics and the term distribution of the underlying ontology on the CR process. This article proposes a framework that models the CR process as an information retrieval task in which both case sensitivity and the information gain associated with tokens in lexical representations (e.g., term labels, synonyms) are central components of a strategy for generating term variants. The case sensitivity of a given ontology is assessed based on the distribution of so-called case sensitive tokens in its terms, while information gain is modelled using a combination of divergence from randomness and mutual information. An extensive evaluation has been carried out using the CRAFT corpus. Experimental results show that case sensitivity awareness leads to an increase of up to 0.07 F1 against a non-case sensitive baseline on the Protein Ontology and GO Cellular Component. Similarly, the use of information gain leads to an increase of up to 0.06 F1 against a standard baseline in the case of GO Biological Process and Molecular Function and GO Cellular Component. Overall, subject to the underlying token distribution, these methods lead to valid complementary strategies for augmenting term label sets to improve concept recognition.

Stochastic and information-thermodynamic structures of population dynamics in a fluctuating environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Tetsuya J.; Sughiyama, Yuki

2017-07-01

Adaptation in a fluctuating environment is a process of fueling environmental information to gain fitness. Living systems have gradually developed strategies for adaptation from random and passive diversification of the phenotype to more proactive decision making, in which environmental information is sensed and exploited more actively and effectively. Understanding the fundamental relation between fitness and information is therefore crucial to clarify the limits and universal properties of adaptation. In this work, we elucidate the underlying stochastic and information-thermodynamic structure in this process, by deriving causal fluctuation relations (FRs) of fitness and information. Combined with a duality between phenotypic and environmental dynamics, the FRs reveal the limit of fitness gain, the relation of time reversibility with the achievability of the limit, and the possibility and condition for gaining excess fitness due to environmental fluctuation. The loss of fitness due to causal constraints and the limited capacity of real organisms is shown to be the difference between time-forward and time-backward path probabilities of phenotypic and environmental dynamics. Furthermore, the FRs generalize the concept of the evolutionary stable state (ESS) for fluctuating environment by giving the probability that the optimal strategy on average can be invaded by a suboptimal one owing to rare environmental fluctuation. These results clarify the information-thermodynamic structures in adaptation and evolution.

75 FR 28328 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Regulation Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-20

... of gain on a partnership's sale of qualified small business stock and deferral of gain on a partner's... information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the...

78 FR 13401 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request For Regulation Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-27

... must generally file a gain recognition agreement with the IRS in order to defer gain on a Code section... for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall...

48 CFR 1509.505-4 - Obtaining access to proprietary information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY ACQUISITION PLANNING CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS Organizational Conflicts of Interests 1509.505-4 Obtaining access to proprietary information. Contractors gaining access to confidential business... business information. ...

Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain influence neonatal neurobehaviour.

PubMed

Aubuchon-Endsley, Nicki; Morales, Monique; Giudice, Christina; Bublitz, Margaret H; Lester, Barry M; Salisbury, Amy L; Stroud, Laura R

2017-04-01

Maternal weight before and during pregnancy is associated with offspring neurobehaviour in childhood. We investigated maternal weight prior to and during pregnancy in relation to neonatal neurobehaviour. We hypothesized that maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain would be associated with poor neonatal attention and affective functioning. Participants (n = 261) were recruited, weighed and interviewed during their third trimester of pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy weight was self-reported and validated for 210 participants, with robust agreement with medical chart review (r = 0.99). Neurobehaviour was measured with the NICU Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS) administered on Days 2 and 32 postpartum. Maternal exclusion criteria included severe or persistent physical or mental health conditions (e.g. chronic disease or diagnoses of Bipolar Disorder or Psychotic Spectrum Disorders), excessive substance use, and social service/foster care involvement or difficulty understanding English. Infants were from singleton, full-term (37-42 weeks gestation) births with no major medical concerns. Outcome variables were summary scores on the NNNS (n = 75-86). For women obese prior to pregnancy, those gaining in excess of Institute of Medicine guidelines had infants with poorer regulation, lower arousal and higher lethargy. There were no main effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index on neurobehaviour. Women gaining above Institute of Medicine recommendations had neonates with better quality of movement. Additional studies to replicate and extend results past the neonatal period are needed. Results could support underlying mechanisms explaining associations between maternal perinatal weight and offspring outcomes. These mechanisms may inform future prevention/intervention strategies. © 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. © 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Gaining Ground in the Middle School Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. The Informed Educator Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Educational Research Service, 2011

2011-01-01

This "Informed Educator" draws content from several reports as well as a PowerPoint presentation that describe findings from a study conducted by EdSource and its research partners from Stanford University and the American Institutes for Research. The project--Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better--focused on…

I owe you: age-related similarities and differences in associative memory for gains and losses.

PubMed

Castel, Alan D; Friedman, Michael C; McGillivray, Shannon; Flores, Cynthia C; Murayama, Kou; Kerr, Tyson; Drolet, Aimee

2016-09-01

Older adults often experience associative memory impairments but can sometimes remember important information. The current experiments investigate potential age-related similarities and differences associate memory for gains and losses. Younger and older participants were presented with faces and associated dollar amounts, which indicated how much money the person "owed" the participant, and were later given a cued recall test for the dollar amount. Experiment 1 examined face-dollar amount pairs while Experiment 2 included negative dollar amounts to examine both gains and losses. While younger adults recalled more information relative to older adults, both groups were more accurate in recalling the correct value associated with high-value faces compared to lower-value faces and remembered gist-information about the values. However, negative values (losses) did not have a strong impact on recall among older adults versus younger adults, illustrating important associative memory differences between younger and older adults.

Improving attention control in dysphoria through cognitive training: transfer effects on working memory capacity and filtering efficiency.

PubMed

Owens, Max; Koster, Ernst H W; Derakshan, Nazanin

2013-03-01

Impaired filtering of irrelevant information from working memory is thought to underlie reduced working memory capacity for relevant information in dysphoria. The current study investigated whether training-related gains in working memory performance on the adaptive dual n-back task could result in improved inhibitory function. Efficacy of training was monitored in a change detection paradigm allowing measurement of a sustained event-related potential asymmetry sensitive to working memory capacity and the efficient filtering of irrelevant information. Dysphoric participants in the training group showed training-related gains in working memory that were accompanied by gains in working memory capacity and filtering efficiency compared to an active control group. Results provide important initial evidence that behavioral performance and neural function in dysphoria can be improved by facilitating greater attentional control. Copyright © 2013 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

I Owe You: Age-Related Similarities and Differences in Associative Memory for Gains and Losses

PubMed Central

Castel, Alan D.; Friedman, Michael C.; McGillivray, Shannon; Flores, Cynthia C.; Murayama, Kou; Kerr, Tyson; Drolet, Aimee

2016-01-01

Older adults often experience associative memory impairments but can sometimes remember important information. The current experiments investigate potential age-related similarities and differences associate memory for gains and losses. Younger and older participants were presented with faces and associated dollar amounts, which indicated how much money the person “owed” the participant, and were later given a cued recall test for the dollar amount. Experiment 1 examined face-dollar amount pairs while Experiment 2 included negative dollar amounts to examine both gains and losses. While younger adults recalled more information relative to older adults, both groups were more accurate in recalling the correct value associated with high value faces compared to lower value faces and remembered gist-information about the values. However, negative values (losses) did not have a strong impact on recall among older adults versus younger adults, illustrating important associative memory differences between younger and older adults. PMID:26847137

Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among Hispanic women.

PubMed

Tovar, Alison; Chasan-Taber, Lisa; Bermudez, Odilia I; Hyatt, Raymond R; Must, Aviva

2010-11-01

Pregnancy weight gain may be a risk factor for the development of obesity highlighting the importance of identifying psychosocial risk factors for pregnancy weight gain. The goal of this qualitative pilot study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among predominantly Puerto Rican women, a group with higher rates of obesity as compared to non-Hispanic white women. We conducted four focus groups stratified by level of acculturation and BMI. Women reported receiving advice about pregnancy weight gain predominantly from nutritionists and family members rather than from their physicians. The majority of overweight/obese women reported that they had not received any recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy from physicians. Pregnancy weight gain advice was not consistent with the 1990 Institute of Medicine Guidelines. Overall, attitudes towards weight gain recommendations differed by weight status, whereas feelings and dietary beliefs about weight gain differed according to level of acculturation. Our findings inform behavior change strategies for meeting pregnancy weight gain recommendations.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Regarding Weight Gain During Pregnancy Among Hispanic Women

PubMed Central

Chasan-Taber, Lisa; Bermudez, Odilia I.; Hyatt, Raymond R.; Must, Aviva

2012-01-01

Pregnancy weight gain may be a risk factor for the development of obesity highlighting the importance of identifying psychosocial risk factors for pregnancy weight gain. The goal of this qualitative pilot study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding weight gain during pregnancy among predominantly Puerto Rican women, a group with higher rates of obesity as compared to non-Hispanic white women. We conducted four focus groups stratified by level of acculturation and BMI. Women reported receiving advice about pregnancy weight gain predominantly from nutritionists and family members rather than from their physicians. The majority of overweight/obese women reported that they had not received any recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy from physicians. Pregnancy weight gain advice was not consistent with the 1990 Institute of Medicine Guidelines. Overall, attitudes towards weight gain recommendations differed by weight status, whereas feelings and dietary beliefs about weight gain differed according to level of acculturation. Our findings inform behavior change strategies for meeting pregnancy weight gain recommendations. PMID:19760160

Information Assurance: Detection & Response to Web Spam Attacks

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-28

such as blogs, social bookmarking ( folksonomies ), and wikis continue to gain its popularity, concerns about the rapid proliferation of Web spam has...Attacks Report Title ABSTRACT As online social media applications such as blogs, social bookmarking ( folksonomies ), and wikis continue to gain its... folksonomies ), and wikis continue to gain its popularity, concerns about the rapid proliferation of Web spam has grown in recent years. These applications

Environmental monitoring and assessment of landscape dynamics in southern coast of the Caspian Sea through intensity analysis and imprecise land-use data.

PubMed

Hasani, Mohammad; Sakieh, Yousef; Dezhkam, Sadeq; Ardakani, Tahereh; Salmanmahiny, Abdolrassoul

2017-04-01

A hierarchical intensity analysis of land-use change is applied to evaluate the dynamics of a coupled urban coastal system in Rasht County, Iran. Temporal land-use layers of 1987, 1999, and 2011 are employed, while spatial accuracy metrics are only available for 2011 data (overall accuracy of 94%). The errors in 1987 and 1999 layers are unknown, which can influence the accuracy of temporal change information. Such data were employed to examine the size and the type of errors that could justify deviations from uniform change intensities. Accordingly, errors comprising 3.31 and 7.47% of 1999 and 2011 maps, respectively, could explain all differences from uniform gains and errors including 5.21 and 1.81% of 1987 and 1999 maps, respectively, could explain all deviations from uniform losses. Additional historical information is also applied for uncertainty assessment and to separate probable map errors from actual land-use changes. In this regard, historical processes in Rasht County can explain different types of transition that are either consistent or inconsistent to known processes. The intensity analysis assisted in identification of systematic transitions and detection of competitive categories, which cannot be investigated through conventional change detection methods. Based on results, built-up area is the most active gaining category in the area and wetland category with less areal extent is more sensitive to intense land-use change processes. Uncertainty assessment results also indicated that there are no considerable classification errors in temporal land-use data and these imprecise layers can reliably provide implications for informed decision making.

Cost-utility of a disease management program for patients with asthma.

PubMed

Steuten, Lotte; Palmer, Stephen; Vrijhoef, Bert; van Merode, Frits; Spreeuwenberg, Cor; Severens, Hans

2007-01-01

The long-term cost-utility of a disease management program (DMP) for adults with asthma was assessed compared to usual care. A DMP for patients with asthma has been developed and implemented in the region of Maastricht (The Netherlands). By integrating care, the program aims to continuously improve quality of care within existing budgets. A clinical trial was performed over a period of 15 months to collect data on costs and effects of the program and usual care. These data were used to inform a probabilistic decision-analytic model to estimate the 5-year impact of the program beyond follow-up. A societal perspective was adopted, with outcomes assessed in terms of costs per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The DMP is associated with a gain in QALYs compared to usual care (2.7+/-.2 versus 3.4+/-.8), at lower costs (3,302+/-314 euro versus 2,973+/-304 euro), thus leading to dominance. The probability that disease management is the more cost-effective strategy is 76 percent at a societal willingness to pay (WTP) for an additional QALY of 0 euro, reaching 95 percent probability at a WTP of 1,000 euro per additional QALY. Organizing health care according to the principles of disease management for adults with asthma has a high probability of being cost-effective and is associated with a gain in QALYs at lower costs.

Catching the whispers from Uranus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartok, C. D.

1986-01-01

Sophisticated telecommunications techniques are described that were used to acquire images of Uranus, its 14 moons and ten narrow rings darker than coal. The images, equal in quality to those transmitted from Saturn several years earlier despite the signal being weaker by 6 dB due to the increased distance, were received from Voyager 2 during its January 24, 1986 flyby of Uranus. Solutions to the problem of the weakening signal were found in modifications to Voyager's image processing system and NASA's ground tracking network. In April 1985, Voyager's prime flight data computer was reconfigured to accept only nonimaging science data, and its backup, only imaging data; the latter was reprogrammed to determine only arithmetic differences between adjacent pixel intensities rather than absolute intensities. By image compression, equivalent imaging information could be sent at lower bit rates. Instead of Golay coding, Reed-Solomon onboard encoding was used. These techniques gained the equivalent of 4-dB in imaging yield. Additional improvements were gained by using earth station antennas in pairs (the Parkes radio telescope and the Canberra ground station antenna). Moves under way to prepare for the Voyager encounter with Neptune in 1989 are described (using additional antennas and arrays, scaling up the Deep Space Network antennas from 64 m to 70 m, etc.) to assure almost Saturn-equivalent pictures despite a further 3.5-dB drop in signal strength.

Rapid and reliable determination of the halogenating peroxidase activity in blood samples.

PubMed

Flemmig, Jörg; Schwarz, Pauline; Bäcker, Ingo; Leichsenring, Anna; Lange, Franziska; Arnhold, Jürgen

2014-12-15

By combining easy and fast leukocyte enrichment with aminophenyl-fluorescein (APF) staining we developed a method to quickly and specifically address the halogenating activity of the immunological relevant blood heme peroxidases myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase, respectively. For leukocyte enrichment a two-fold hypotonic lysis procedure of the blood with Millipore water was chosen which represents a cheap, fast and reliable method to diminish the amount of erythrocytes in the samples. This procedure is shown to be suitable both to human and murine blood micro-samples, making it also applicable to small animal experiments with recurring blood sampling. As all types of leukocytes are kept in the sample during the preparation, they can be analysed separately after discrimination during the flow cytometry analysis. This also holds for all heme peroxidase-containing cells, namely neutrophils, eosinophils and monocytes. Moreover additional parameters (e.g. antibody staining) can be combined with the heme peroxidase activity determination to gain additional information about the different immune cell types. Based on previous results we applied APF for specifically addressing the halogenating activity of leukocyte peroxidases in blood samples. This dye is selectively oxidized by the MPO and EPO halogenation products hypochlorous and hypobromous acid. This approach may provide a suitable tool to gain more insights into the immune-physiological role of the halogenating activity of heme peroxidases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 15696 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; Migrant Education Even Start...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-30

... learning gains on measures of English language acquisition; (3) the percentage of school-age adults who... learning gains on measures of language development; (6) the average number of letters preschool-age...

Moles of a Substance per Cell Is a Highly Informative Dosing Metric in Cell Culture

PubMed Central

Wagner, Brett A.; Buettner, Garry R.

2015-01-01

Background The biological consequences upon exposure of cells in culture to a dose of xenobiotic are not only dependent on biological variables, but also the physical aspects of experiments e.g. cell number and media volume. Dependence on physical aspects is often overlooked due to the unrecognized ambiguity in the dominant metric used to express exposure, i.e. initial concentration of xenobiotic delivered to the culture medium over the cells. We hypothesize that for many xenobiotics, specifying dose as moles per cell will reduce this ambiguity. Dose as moles per cell can also provide additional information not easily obtainable with traditional dosing metrics. Methods Here, 1,4-benzoquinone and oligomycin A are used as model compounds to investigate moles per cell as an informative dosing metric. Mechanistic insight into reactions with intracellular molecules, differences between sequential and bolus addition of xenobiotic and the influence of cell volume and protein content on toxicity are also investigated. Results When the dose of 1,4-benzoquinone or oligomycin A was specified as moles per cell, toxicity was independent of the physical conditions used (number of cells, volume of medium). When using moles per cell as a dose-metric, direct quantitative comparisons can be made between biochemical or biological endpoints and the dose of xenobiotic applied. For example, the toxicity of 1,4-benzoquinone correlated inversely with intracellular volume for all five cell lines exposed (C6, MDA-MB231, A549, MIA PaCa-2, and HepG2). Conclusions Moles per cell is a useful and informative dosing metric in cell culture. This dosing metric is a scalable parameter that: can reduce ambiguity between experiments having different physical conditions; provides additional mechanistic information; allows direct comparison between different cells; affords a more uniform platform for experimental design; addresses the important issue of repeatability of experimental results, and could increase the translatability of information gained from in vitro experiments. PMID:26172833

Greater nutrition knowledge is associated with lower 1-year postpartum weight retention in low-income women.

PubMed

Nuss, Henry; Freeland-Graves, Jeanne; Clarke, Kristine; Klohe-Lehman, Deborah; Milani, Tracey J

2007-10-01

The purpose of this study was to assess nutrition knowledge during early and late postpartum in a sample of low-income and minority women, and to determine if that knowledge had any relationship to weight retention at 1-year postpartum. A questionnaire was developed and validated in a sample of 151 low-income new mothers. This instrument was then administered to a separate sample of mothers (n=140) of similar demographics to assess nutrition knowledge at 0 to 1 days and 12 months postpartum. In addition, a survey of nutrition information sources was administered at both time points. Nutrition knowledge was compared with 12-month postpartum weight retention and demographic variables. Women who retained less than 5% of weight gained during pregnancy had greater knowledge of nutrition at 0 months (53% vs 49%, P<0.05) and 12 months (55% vs 51%, P<0.05) than those who retained 5% or more of weight gained during pregnancy. Whites had higher nutrition knowledge scores than non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics. Women who lactated 6 months or more had more knowledge than those who lactated less than 6 months. Higher knowledge test scores were observed among women who used the Internet and books/magazines as their source for information. These results indicate that assessment of nutrition knowledge in early postpartum can identify women at risk for significant weight retention.

Recovering full coherence in a qubit by measuring half of its environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miatto, Filippo M.; Piché, Kevin; Brougham, Thomas; Boyd, Robert W.

2015-12-01

When a quantum system interacts with its environment it may incur in decoherence. Quantum erasure makes it possible to restore coherence in a system by gaining information about its environment, but measuring the whole of it may be prohibitive: Realistically, one might be forced to address only an accessible subspace and neglect the rest. In such a case, under what conditions will quantum erasure still be effective? In this work we compute analytically the largest recoverable coherence of a random qubit plus environment state and we show that it approaches 100% with overwhelmingly high probability as long as the dimension of the accessible subspace of the environment is larger than √{D }, where D is the dimension of the whole environment. Additionally, we find a sharp transition between a linear behavior and a power-law behavior as soon as the dimension of the inaccessible environment exceeds the dimension of the accessible one. Our results imply that the typical states of a qubit plus environment system admit a measurement spanning only about √{D } degrees of freedom, any outcome of which projects the qubit on a maximally coherent state. This suggests, for instance, that in the dynamics of open quantum systems, if the interactions are known, it would in principle be possible to gain sufficient information and restore coherence in a qubit by dealing with a fraction of the physical resources.

Mixed Reality Meets Pharmaceutical Development.

PubMed

Forrest, William P; Mackey, Megan A; Shah, Vivek M; Hassell, Kerry M; Shah, Prashant; Wylie, Jennifer L; Gopinath, Janakiraman; Balderhaar, Henning; Li, Li; Wuelfing, W Peter; Helmy, Roy

2017-12-01

As science evolves, the need for more efficient and innovative knowledge transfer capabilities becomes evident. Advances in drug discovery and delivery sciences have directly impacted the pharmaceutical industry, though the added complexities have not shortened the development process. These added complexities also make it difficult for scientists to rapidly and effectively transfer knowledge to offset the lengthened drug development timelines. While webcams, camera phones, and iPads have been explored as potential new methods of real-time information sharing, the non-"hands-free" nature and lack of viewer and observer point-of-view render them unsuitable for the R&D laboratory or manufacturing setting. As an alternative solution, the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headset was evaluated as a more efficient, hands-free method of knowledge transfer and information sharing. After completing a traditional method transfer between 3 R&D sites (Rahway, NJ; West Point, PA and Schnachen, Switzerland), a retrospective analysis of efficiency gain was performed through the comparison of a mock method transfer between NJ and PA sites using the HoloLens. The results demonstrated a minimum 10-fold gain in efficiency, weighing in from a savings in time, cost, and the ability to have real-time data analysis and discussion. In addition, other use cases were evaluated involving vendor and contract research/manufacturing organizations. Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Audiovisual integration of emotional signals in voice and face: an event-related fMRI study.

PubMed

Kreifelts, Benjamin; Ethofer, Thomas; Grodd, Wolfgang; Erb, Michael; Wildgruber, Dirk

2007-10-01

In a natural environment, non-verbal emotional communication is multimodal (i.e. speech melody, facial expression) and multifaceted concerning the variety of expressed emotions. Understanding these communicative signals and integrating them into a common percept is paramount to successful social behaviour. While many previous studies have focused on the neurobiology of emotional communication in the auditory or visual modality alone, far less is known about multimodal integration of auditory and visual non-verbal emotional information. The present study investigated this process using event-related fMRI. Behavioural data revealed that audiovisual presentation of non-verbal emotional information resulted in a significant increase in correctly classified stimuli when compared with visual and auditory stimulation. This behavioural gain was paralleled by enhanced activation in bilateral posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and right thalamus, when contrasting audiovisual to auditory and visual conditions. Further, a characteristic of these brain regions, substantiating their role in the emotional integration process, is a linear relationship between the gain in classification accuracy and the strength of the BOLD response during the bimodal condition. Additionally, enhanced effective connectivity between audiovisual integration areas and associative auditory and visual cortices was observed during audiovisual stimulation, offering further insight into the neural process accomplishing multimodal integration. Finally, we were able to document an enhanced sensitivity of the putative integration sites to stimuli with emotional non-verbal content as compared to neutral stimuli.

A qualitative study examining methods of accessing and identifying research relevant to clinical practice among rehabilitation clinicians.

PubMed

Patel, Drasti; Koehmstedt, Christine; Jones, Rebecca; Coffey, Nathan T; Cai, Xinsheng; Garfinkel, Steven; Shaewitz, Dahlia M; Weinstein, Ali A

2017-01-01

Research examining the utilization of evidence-based practice (EBP) specifically among rehabilitation clinicians is limited. The objective of this study was to examine how various rehabilitative clinicians including physical therapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation counselors, and physiatrists are gaining access to literature and whether they are able to implement the available research into practice. A total of 21 total clinicians were interviewed via telephone. Using NVivo, a qualitative analysis of the responses was performed. There were similarities found with respect to the information-seeking behaviors and translation of research across the different clinician types. Lack of time was reported to be a barrier for both access to literature and implementation of research across all clinician types. The majority of clinicians who reported having difficulty with utilizing the published literature indicated that the literature was not applicable to their practice, the research was not specific enough to be put into practice, or the research found was too outdated to be relevant. In addition, having a supportive work environment aided in the search and utilization of research through providing resources central to assisting clinicians in gaining access to health information. Our study identified several barriers that affect EBP for rehabilitation clinicians. The findings suggest the need for researchers to ensure that their work is applicable and specific to clinical practice for implementation to occur.

Preterm Infant Massage Therapy Research: A Review

PubMed Central

Field, Tiffany; Diego, Miguel; Hernandez-Reif, Maria

2010-01-01

In this paper, preterm infant massage therapy studies are reviewed. Massage therapy has led to weight gain in preterm infants when moderate pressure massage was provided. In studies on passive movement of the limbs, preterm infants also gained significantly more weight, and their bone density also increased. Research on ways of delivering the massage is also explored including using mothers versus therapists and the added effects of using oils. The use of mothers as therapists was effective in at least one study. The use of oils including coconut oil and safflower oil enhanced the average weight gain, and the transcutaneous absorption of oil also increased triglycerides. In addition, the use of synthetic oil increased vagal activity, which may indirectly contribute to weight gain. The weight gain was associated with shorter hospital stays and, thereby, significant hospital cost savings. Despite these benefits, preterm infant massage is only practiced in 38% of neonatal intensive care units. This may relate to the underlying mechanisms not being well understood. The increases noted in vagal activity, gastric motility, insulin and IGF-1 levels following moderate pressure massage are potential underlying mechanisms. However, those variables combined do not explain all of the variance in weight gain, highlighting the need for additional mechanism studies. PMID:20137814

The 20 GHz circularly polarized, high temperature superconducting microstrip antenna array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrow, Jarrett D.; Williams, Jeffery T.; Long, Stuart A.; Wolfe, John C.

1994-01-01

The primary goal was to design and characterize a four-element, 20 GHz, circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna fabricated from YBa2Cu3O(x) superconductor. The purpose is to support a high temperature superconductivity flight communications experiment between the space shuttle orbiter and the ACTS satellite. This study is intended to provide information into the design, construction, and feasibility of a circularly polarized superconducting 20 GHz downlink or cross-link antenna. We have demonstrated that significant gain improvements can be realized by using superconducting materials for large corporate fed array antennas. In addition, we have shown that when constructed from superconducting materials, the efficiency, and therefore the gain, of microstrip patches increases if the substrate is not so thick that the dominant loss mechanism for the patch is radiation into the surface waves of the conductor-backed substrate. We have considered two design configurations for a superconducting 20 GHz four-element circularly polarized microstrip antenna array. The first is the Huang array that uses properly oriented and phased linearly polarized microstrip patch elements to realize a circularly polarized pattern. The second is a gap-coupled array of circularly polarized elements. In this study we determined that although the Huang array operates well on low dielectric constant substrates, its performance becomes extremely sensitive to mismatches, interelement coupling, and design imperfections for substrates with high dielectric constants. For the gap-coupled microstrip array, we were able to fabricate and test circularly polarized elements and four-element arrays on LaAlO3 using sputtered copper films. These antennas were found to perform well, with relatively good circular polarization. In addition, we realized a four-element YBa2Cu3O(x) array of the same design and measured its pattern and gain relative to a room temperature copper array. The patterns were essentially the same as that for the copper array. The measured gain of the YBCO antenna was greater than that for the room temperature copper design at temperatures below 82K, reaching a value of 3.4 dB at the lowest temperatures.

Message framing for health: moderation by perceived susceptibility and motivational orientation in a diverse sample of Americans.

PubMed

Updegraff, John A; Brick, Cameron; Emanuel, Amber S; Mintzer, Roy E; Sherman, David K

2015-01-01

The present study examined how gain- and loss-framed informational videos about oral health influence self-reported flossing behavior over a 6-month period, as well as the roles of perceived susceptibility to oral health problems and approach/avoidance motivational orientation in moderating these effects. An age and ethnically diverse sample of 855 American adults were randomized to receive no health message, or either a gain-framed or loss-framed video presented on the Internet. Self-reported flossing was assessed longitudinally at 2 and 6 months. Among the entire sample, susceptibility interacted with frame to predict flossing. Participants who watched a video where the frame (gain/loss) matched perceived susceptibility (low/high) had significantly greater likelihood of flossing at recommended levels at the 6-month follow-up, compared with those who viewed a mismatched video or no video at all. However, young adults (18-24) showed stronger moderation by motivational orientation than by perceived susceptibility, in line with previous work largely conducted with young adult samples. Brief informational interventions can influence long-term health behavior, particularly when the gain- or loss-frame of the information matches the recipient's beliefs about their health outcome risks.

Binocular contrast-gain control for natural scenes: Image structure and phase alignment.

PubMed

Huang, Pi-Chun; Dai, Yu-Ming

2018-05-01

In the context of natural scenes, we applied the pattern-masking paradigm to investigate how image structure and phase alignment affect contrast-gain control in binocular vision. We measured the discrimination thresholds of bandpass-filtered natural-scene images (targets) under various types of pedestals. Our first experiment had four pedestal types: bandpass-filtered pedestals, unfiltered pedestals, notch-filtered pedestals (which enabled removal of the spatial frequency), and misaligned pedestals (which involved rotation of unfiltered pedestals). Our second experiment featured six types of pedestals: bandpass-filtered, unfiltered, and notch-filtered pedestals, and the corresponding phase-scrambled pedestals. The thresholds were compared for monocular, binocular, and dichoptic viewing configurations. The bandpass-filtered pedestal and unfiltered pedestals showed classic dipper shapes; the dipper shapes of the notch-filtered, misaligned, and phase-scrambled pedestals were weak. We adopted a two-stage binocular contrast-gain control model to describe our results. We deduced that the phase-alignment information influenced the contrast-gain control mechanism before the binocular summation stage and that the phase-alignment information and structural misalignment information caused relatively strong divisive inhibition in the monocular and interocular suppression stages. When the pedestals were phase-scrambled, the elimination of the interocular suppression processing was the most convincing explanation of the results. Thus, our results indicated that both phase-alignment information and similar image structures cause strong interocular suppression. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Qualitative Assessment of Key Messages about Nutrition and Weight Gain in Pregnancy in Printed Educational Materials in Alberta.

PubMed

Forbes, Laura; Baarda, Janis; Mayan, Maria; Bell, Rhonda C

2017-12-01

Printed educational materials are a common source of health information, although their effectiveness in improving women's knowledge or self-care in pregnancy has been questioned. This study describes the information in printed educational materials that address healthy eating during pregnancy and gestational weight gain (GWG) that are currently used in Alberta, Canada. Content of 6 resources was analyzed using a constant comparison qualitative approach. Resources emphasized healthy eating, prenatal supplements, folate supplementation, and healthy weight gain. More resources discussed the importance of "eating enough" than provided guidance on avoiding excessive GWG. Themes identified were: "everything is important" meaning that all healthy behaviours are important, making prioritization difficult; "more is more" emphasized eating more over moderation; "everyone is individual" suggests women seek individualized care through the care provider; and "contradictions" describes differences in content and recommendations within and between resources. New or revised versions of resources should provide congruent information with up-to-date recommendations that are easily prioritized. Care providers should be aware of contradictory information or information that does not align with current recommendations within printed educational materials and be ready to help women address the areas important for her personal behaviour change.

Technology architecture guidelines for a health care system.

PubMed

Jones, D T; Duncan, R; Langberg, M L; Shabot, M M

2000-01-01

Although the demand for use of information technology within the healthcare industry is intensifying, relatively little has been written about guidelines to optimize IT investments. A technology architecture is a set of guidelines for technology integration within an enterprise. The architecture is a critical tool in the effort to control information technology (IT) operating costs by constraining the number of technologies supported. A well-designed architecture is also an important aid to integrating disparate applications, data stores and networks. The authors led the development of a thorough, carefully designed technology architecture for a large and rapidly growing health care system. The purpose and design criteria are described, as well as the process for gaining consensus and disseminating the architecture. In addition, the processes for using, maintaining, and handling exceptions are described. The technology architecture is extremely valuable to health care organizations both in controlling costs and promoting integration.

[Research progress and application prospect of near infrared spectroscopy in soil nutrition analysis].

PubMed

Ding, Hai-quan; Lu, Qi-peng

2012-01-01

"Digital agriculture" or "precision agriculture" is an important direction of modern agriculture technique. It is the combination of the modern information technique and traditional agriculture and becomes a hotspot field in international agriculture research in recent years. As a nondestructive, real-time, effective and exact analysis technique, near infrared spectroscopy, by which precision agriculture could be carried out, has vast prospect in agrology and gradually gained the recognition. The present paper intends to review the basic theory of near infrared spectroscopy and its applications in the field of agrology, pointing out that the direction of NIR in agrology should based on portable NIR spectrograph in order to acquire qualitative or quantitative information from real-time measuring in field. In addition, NIRS could be combined with space remote sensing to macroscopically control the way crop is growing and the nutrition crops need, to change the current state of our country's agriculture radically.

CSRQ: Communication-Efficient Secure Range Queries in Two-Tiered Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Dai, Hua; Ye, Qingqun; Yang, Geng; Xu, Jia; He, Ruiliang

2016-01-01

In recent years, we have seen many applications of secure query in two-tiered wireless sensor networks. Storage nodes are responsible for storing data from nearby sensor nodes and answering queries from Sink. It is critical to protect data security from a compromised storage node. In this paper, the Communication-efficient Secure Range Query (CSRQ)—a privacy and integrity preserving range query protocol—is proposed to prevent attackers from gaining information of both data collected by sensor nodes and queries issued by Sink. To preserve privacy and integrity, in addition to employing the encoding mechanisms, a novel data structure called encrypted constraint chain is proposed, which embeds the information of integrity verification. Sink can use this encrypted constraint chain to verify the query result. The performance evaluation shows that CSRQ has lower communication cost than the current range query protocols. PMID:26907293

Impacts of Maximizing Tendencies on Experience-Based Decisions.

PubMed

Rim, Hye Bin

2017-06-01

Previous research on risky decisions has suggested that people tend to make different choices depending on whether they acquire the information from personally repeated experiences or from statistical summary descriptions. This phenomenon, called as a description-experience gap, was expected to be moderated by the individual difference in maximizing tendencies, a desire towards maximizing decisional outcome. Specifically, it was hypothesized that maximizers' willingness to engage in extensive information searching would lead maximizers to make experience-based decisions as payoff distributions were given explicitly. A total of 262 participants completed four decision problems. Results showed that maximizers, compared to non-maximizers, drew more samples before making a choice but reported lower confidence levels on both the accuracy of knowledge gained from experiences and the likelihood of satisfactory outcomes. Additionally, maximizers exhibited smaller description-experience gaps than non-maximizers as expected. The implications of the findings and unanswered questions for future research were discussed.

Technology architecture guidelines for a health care system.

PubMed Central

Jones, D. T.; Duncan, R.; Langberg, M. L.; Shabot, M. M.

2000-01-01

Although the demand for use of information technology within the healthcare industry is intensifying, relatively little has been written about guidelines to optimize IT investments. A technology architecture is a set of guidelines for technology integration within an enterprise. The architecture is a critical tool in the effort to control information technology (IT) operating costs by constraining the number of technologies supported. A well-designed architecture is also an important aid to integrating disparate applications, data stores and networks. The authors led the development of a thorough, carefully designed technology architecture for a large and rapidly growing health care system. The purpose and design criteria are described, as well as the process for gaining consensus and disseminating the architecture. In addition, the processes for using, maintaining, and handling exceptions are described. The technology architecture is extremely valuable to health care organizations both in controlling costs and promoting integration. PMID:11079913

The NASA Lewis Research Center SBIR program: An assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grimes, Hubert H.; Metzger, Marie E.; Kim, Walter S.

1993-01-01

An assessment was made of the NASA Lewis Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program for the years 1983 to 1989. The assessment was based on the study of 99 Phase 1 contracts and 39 Phase 2 contracts. The overall impact of SBIR was found to be very positive, contributing strongly to many NASA programs. In addition, many successful efforts were commercialized benefiting the small business, federal agencies, and the aerospace industry. The program was evaluated in terms of contract quality, innovativeness, comparison to the state-of-the-art, achievement of goals, difficulty, and impact. Program difficulties were also identified, which could suggest possible program improvements. Much of the information gained in this assessment provided a basis for a SBIR data base which will be updated every year. This data base is computerized and will provide an excellent source of information about past SBIR efforts and company capabilities.

Fast quantitative optical detection of heat dissipation by surface plasmon polaritons.

PubMed

Möller, Thomas B; Ganser, Andreas; Kratt, Martina; Dickreuter, Simon; Waitz, Reimar; Scheer, Elke; Boneberg, Johannes; Leiderer, Paul

2018-06-13

Heat management at the nanoscale is an issue of increasing importance. In optoelectronic devices the transport and decay of plasmons contribute to the dissipation of heat. By comparison of experimental data and simulations we demonstrate that it is possible to gain quantitative information about excitation, propagation and decay of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a thin gold stripe supported by a silicon membrane. The temperature-dependent optical transmissivity of the membrane is used to determine the temperature distribution around the metal stripe with high spatial and temporal resolution. This method is complementary to techniques where the propagation of SPPs is monitored optically, and provides additional information which is not readily accessible by other means. In particular, we demonstrate that the thermal conductivity of the membrane can also be derived from our analysis. The results presented here show the high potential of this tool for heat management studies in nanoscale devices.

Different gain/loss sensitivity and social adaptation ability in gifted adolescents during a public goods game.

PubMed

Chung, Dongil; Yun, Kyongsik; Kim, Jin Ho; Jang, Bosun; Jeong, Jaeseung

2011-02-16

Gifted adolescents are considered to have high IQs with advanced mathematical and logical performances, but are often thought to suffer from social isolation or emotional mal-adaptation to the social group. The underlying mechanisms that cause stereotypic portrayals of gifted adolescents are not well known. We aimed to investigate behavioral performance of gifted adolescents during social decision-making tasks to assess their affective and social/non-social cognitive abilities. We examined cooperation behaviors of 22 gifted and 26 average adolescents during an iterative binary public goods (PG) game, a multi-player social interaction game, and analyzed strategic decision processes that include cooperation and free-riding. We found that the gifted adolescents were more cooperative than average adolescents. Particularly, comparing the strategies for the PG game between the two groups, gifted adolescents were less sensitive to loss, yet were more sensitive to gain. Additionally, the behavioral characteristics of average adolescents, such as low trust of the group and herding behavior, were not found in gifted adolescents. These results imply that gifted adolescents have a high cognitive ability but a low ability to process affective information or to adapt in social groups compared with average adolescents. We conclude that gain/loss sensitivity and the ability to adapt in social groups develop to different degrees in average and gifted adolescents.

Spectrally Shaped DP-16QAM Super-Channel Transmission with Multi-Channel Digital Back-Propagation

PubMed Central

Maher, Robert; Xu, Tianhua; Galdino, Lidia; Sato, Masaki; Alvarado, Alex; Shi, Kai; Savory, Seb J.; Thomsen, Benn C.; Killey, Robert I.; Bayvel, Polina

2015-01-01

The achievable transmission capacity of conventional optical fibre communication systems is limited by nonlinear distortions due to the Kerr effect and the difficulty in modulating the optical field to effectively use the available fibre bandwidth. In order to achieve a high information spectral density (ISD), while simultaneously maintaining transmission reach, multi-channel fibre nonlinearity compensation and spectrally efficient data encoding must be utilised. In this work, we use a single coherent super-receiver to simultaneously receive a DP-16QAM super-channel, consisting of seven spectrally shaped 10GBd sub-carriers spaced at the Nyquist frequency. Effective nonlinearity mitigation is achieved using multi-channel digital back-propagation (MC-DBP) and this technique is combined with an optimised forward error correction implementation to demonstrate a record gain in transmission reach of 85%; increasing the maximum transmission distance from 3190 km to 5890 km, with an ISD of 6.60 b/s/Hz. In addition, this report outlines for the first time, the sensitivity of MC-DBP gain to linear transmission line impairments and defines a trade-off between performance and complexity. PMID:25645457

The metabolic response to excitotoxicity - lessons from single-cell imaging.

PubMed

Connolly, Niamh M C; Prehn, Jochen H M

2015-04-01

Excitotoxicity is a pathological process implicated in neuronal death during ischaemia, traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. Excitotoxicity is caused by excess levels of glutamate and over-activation of NMDA or calcium-permeable AMPA receptors on neuronal membranes, leading to ionic influx, energetic stress and potential neuronal death. The metabolic response of neurons to excitotoxicity is complex and plays a key role in the ability of the neuron to adapt and recover from such an insult. Single-cell imaging is a powerful experimental technique that can be used to study the neuronal metabolic response to excitotoxicity in vitro and, increasingly, in vivo. Here, we review some of the knowledge of the neuronal metabolic response to excitotoxicity gained from in vitro single-cell imaging, including calcium and ATP dynamics and their effects on mitochondrial function, along with the contribution of glucose metabolism, oxidative stress and additional neuroprotective signalling mechanisms. Future work will combine knowledge gained from single-cell imaging with data from biochemical and computational techniques to garner holistic information about the metabolic response to excitotoxicity at the whole brain level and transfer this knowledge to a clinical setting.

A Bayesian Attractor Model for Perceptual Decision Making

PubMed Central

Bitzer, Sebastian; Bruineberg, Jelle; Kiebel, Stefan J.

2015-01-01

Even for simple perceptual decisions, the mechanisms that the brain employs are still under debate. Although current consensus states that the brain accumulates evidence extracted from noisy sensory information, open questions remain about how this simple model relates to other perceptual phenomena such as flexibility in decisions, decision-dependent modulation of sensory gain, or confidence about a decision. We propose a novel approach of how perceptual decisions are made by combining two influential formalisms into a new model. Specifically, we embed an attractor model of decision making into a probabilistic framework that models decision making as Bayesian inference. We show that the new model can explain decision making behaviour by fitting it to experimental data. In addition, the new model combines for the first time three important features: First, the model can update decisions in response to switches in the underlying stimulus. Second, the probabilistic formulation accounts for top-down effects that may explain recent experimental findings of decision-related gain modulation of sensory neurons. Finally, the model computes an explicit measure of confidence which we relate to recent experimental evidence for confidence computations in perceptual decision tasks. PMID:26267143

Prediction of protein subcellular localization by weighted gene ontology terms.

PubMed

Chi, Sang-Mun

2010-08-27

We develop a new weighting approach of gene ontology (GO) terms for predicting protein subcellular localization. The weights of individual GO terms, corresponding to their contribution to the prediction algorithm, are determined by the term-weighting methods used in text categorization. We evaluate several term-weighting methods, which are based on inverse document frequency, information gain, gain ratio, odds ratio, and chi-square and its variants. Additionally, we propose a new term-weighting method based on the logarithmic transformation of chi-square. The proposed term-weighting method performs better than other term-weighting methods, and also outperforms state-of-the-art subcellular prediction methods. Our proposed method achieves 98.1%, 99.3%, 98.1%, 98.1%, and 95.9% overall accuracies for the animal BaCelLo independent dataset (IDS), fungal BaCelLo IDS, animal Höglund IDS, fungal Höglund IDS, and PLOC dataset, respectively. Furthermore, the close correlation between high-weighted GO terms and subcellular localizations suggests that our proposed method appropriately weights GO terms according to their relevance to the localizations. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An update of preliminary perspectives gained from Individual Plant Examination of External Events (IPEEE) submittal reviews

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

Rubin, A.M.; Chen, J.T.; Chokshi, N.

1998-03-01

As a result of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) initiated Individual Plant Examination of External Events (IPEEE) program, virtually every operating commercial nuclear power reactor in the US has performed an assessment of severe accident risk due to external events. To date, the USNRC staff has received 63 IPEEE submittals and will receive an additional 11 by mid 1998. Currently, 49 IPEEE submittals are under various stages ore view. This paper is based on the information available for those 41 plants for which at least preliminary Technical Evaluation Reports have been prepared by the review teams. The goal ofmore » the review is to ascertain whether the licensee`s IPEEE process is capable of identifying external events-induced severe accident vulnerabilities and cost-effective safety improvements to either eliminate or reduce the impact of these vulnerabilities. The review does not, however, attempt to validate or verify the results of the licensee`s IPEEE. The primary objective of this paper is to provide an update on the preliminary perspectives and insights gained from the IPEEE process.« less

Parietal neurons encode expected gains in instrumental information

PubMed Central

Foley, Nicholas C.; Kelly, Simon P.; Mhatre, Himanshu; Gottlieb, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

In natural behavior, animals have access to multiple sources of information, but only a few of these sources are relevant for learning and actions. Beyond choosing an appropriate action, making good decisions entails the ability to choose the relevant information, but fundamental questions remain about the brain’s information sampling policies. Recent studies described the neural correlates of seeking information about a reward, but it remains unknown whether, and how, neurons encode choices of instrumental information, in contexts in which the information guides subsequent actions. Here we show that parietal cortical neurons involved in oculomotor decisions encode, before an information sampling saccade, the reduction in uncertainty that the saccade is expected to bring for a subsequent action. These responses were distinct from the neurons’ visual and saccadic modulations and from signals of expected reward or reward prediction errors. Therefore, even in an instrumental context when information and reward gains are closely correlated, individual cells encode decision variables that are based on informational factors and can guide the active sampling of action-relevant cues. PMID:28373569

The order of information processing alters economic gain-loss framing effects.

PubMed

Kwak, Youngbin; Huettel, Scott

2018-01-01

Adaptive decision making requires analysis of available information during the process of choice. In many decisions that information is presented visually - which means that variations in visual properties (e.g., salience, complexity) can potentially influence the process of choice. In the current study, we demonstrate that variation in the left-right positioning of risky and safe decision options can influence the canonical gain-loss framing effect. Two experiments were conducted using an economic framing task in which participants chose between gambles and certain outcomes. The first experiment demonstrated that the magnitude of the gain-loss framing effect was greater when the certain option signaling the current frame was presented on the left side of the visual display. Eye-tracking data during task performance showed a left-gaze bias for initial fixations, suggesting that the option presented on the left side was processed first. Combination of eye-tracking and choice data revealed that there was a significant effect of direction of first gaze (i.e. left vs. right) as well as an interaction between gaze direction and identity of the first fixated information (i.e. certain vs. gamble) regardless of frame. A second experiment presented the gamble and certain options in a random order, with a temporal delay between their presentations. We found that the magnitude of gain-loss framing was larger when the certain option was presented first, regardless of left and right positioning, only in individuals with lower risk-taking tendencies. The effect of presentation order on framing was not present in high risk-takers. These results suggest that the sequence of visual information processing as well as their left-right positioning can bias choices by changing the impact of the presented information during risky decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Management of Preconditioned Calves and Impacts of Preconditioning.

PubMed

Hilton, W Mark

2015-07-01

When studying the practice of preconditioning (PC) calves, many factors need to be examined to determine if cow-calf producers should make this investment. Factors such as average daily gain, feed efficiency, available labor, length of the PC period, genetics, and marketing options must be analyzed. The health sales price advantage is an additional benefit in producing and selling PC calves but not the sole determinant of PC's financially feasibility. Studies show that a substantial advantage of PC is the selling of additional pounds at a cost of gain well below the marginal return of producing those additional pounds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost Effectiveness of the Angiotensin Receptor Neprilysin Inhibitor Sacubitril/Valsartan for Patients with Chronic Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction in the Netherlands: A Country Adaptation Analysis Under the Former and Current Dutch Pharmacoeconomic Guidelines.

PubMed

Ramos, Isaac Corro; Versteegh, Matthijs M; de Boer, Rudolf A; Koenders, Jolanda M A; Linssen, Gerard C M; Meeder, Joan G; Rutten-van Mölken, Maureen P M H

2017-12-01

To describe the adaptation of a global health economic model to determine whether treatment with the angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor LCZ696 is cost effective compared with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril in adult patients with chronic heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction in the Netherlands; and to explore the effect of performing the cost-effectiveness analyses according to the new pharmacoeconomic Dutch guidelines (updated during the submission process of LCZ696), which require a value-of-information analysis and the inclusion of indirect medical costs of life-years gained. We adapted a UK model to reflect the societal perspective in the Netherlands by including travel expenses, productivity loss, informal care costs, and indirect medical costs during the life-years gained and performed a preliminary value-of-information analysis. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio obtained was €17,600 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. This was robust to changes in most structural assumptions and across different subgroups of patients. Probability sensitivity analysis results showed that the probability that LCZ696 is cost-effective at a €50,000 per QALY threshold is 99.8%, with a population expected value of perfect information of €297,128. On including indirect medical costs of life-years gained, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €26,491 per QALY gained, and LCZ696 was 99.46% cost effective at €50,000 per QALY, with a population expected value of perfect information of €2,849,647. LCZ696 is cost effective compared with enalapril under the former and current Dutch guidelines. However, the (monetary) consequences of making a wrong decision were considerably different in both scenarios. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Communicating infectious disease prevalence through graphics: Results from an international survey.

PubMed

Fagerlin, Angela; Valley, Thomas S; Scherer, Aaron M; Knaus, Megan; Das, Enny; Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J

2017-07-13

Graphics are increasingly used to represent the spread of infectious diseases (e.g., influenza, Zika, Ebola); however, the impact of using graphics to adequately inform the general population is unknown. To examine whether three ways of visually presenting data (heat map, dot map, or picto-trendline)-all depicting the same information regarding the spread of a hypothetical outbreak of influenza-influence intent to vaccinate, risk perception, and knowledge. Survey with participants randomized to receive a simulated news article accompanied by one of the three graphics that communicated prevalence of influenza and number of influenza-related deaths. International online survey. 16,510 adults living in 11 countries selected using stratified random sampling based on age and gender. After reading the article and viewing the presented graphic, participants completed a survey that measured interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, knowledge gained, interest in additional information about the disease, and perception of the graphic. Heat maps and picto-trendlines were evaluated more positively than dot maps. Heat maps were more effective than picto-trendlines and no different from dot maps at increasing interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, and interest in additional information about the disease. Heat maps and picto-trendlines were more successful at conveying knowledge than dot maps. Overall, heat maps were the only graphic to be superior in every outcome. Results are based on a hypothetical scenario. Heat maps are a viable option to promote interest in and concern about infectious diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

76 FR 66012 - Partner's Distributive Share

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-25

[email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background Subchapter K is intended to permit taxpayers to... Revenue Code provides that a partner's distributive share of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit... that a partner's distributive share of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit (or item thereof) shall...

Random Photon Absorption Model Elucidates How Early Gain Control in Fly Photoreceptors Arises from Quantal Sampling

PubMed Central

Song, Zhuoyi; Zhou, Yu; Juusola, Mikko

2016-01-01

Many diurnal photoreceptors encode vast real-world light changes effectively, but how this performance originates from photon sampling is unclear. A 4-module biophysically-realistic fly photoreceptor model, in which information capture is limited by the number of its sampling units (microvilli) and their photon-hit recovery time (refractoriness), can accurately simulate real recordings and their information content. However, sublinear summation in quantum bump production (quantum-gain-nonlinearity) may also cause adaptation by reducing the bump/photon gain when multiple photons hit the same microvillus simultaneously. Here, we use a Random Photon Absorption Model (RandPAM), which is the 1st module of the 4-module fly photoreceptor model, to quantify the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation. We show how quantum-gain-nonlinearity already results from photon sampling alone. In the extreme case, when two or more simultaneous photon-hits reduce to a single sublinear value, quantum-gain-nonlinearity is preset before the phototransduction reactions adapt the quantum bump waveform. However, the contribution of quantum-gain-nonlinearity in light adaptation depends upon the likelihood of multi-photon-hits, which is strictly determined by the number of microvilli and light intensity. Specifically, its contribution to light-adaptation is marginal (≤ 1%) in fly photoreceptors with many thousands of microvilli, because the probability of simultaneous multi-photon-hits on any one microvillus is low even during daylight conditions. However, in cells with fewer sampling units, the impact of quantum-gain-nonlinearity increases with brightening light. PMID:27445779

Internal gain in Er-doped As₂S₃ chalcogenide planar waveguides.

PubMed

Yan, Kunlun; Vu, Khu; Madden, Steve

2015-03-01

Low-loss erbium-doped As₂S₃ planar waveguides are fabricated by cothermal evaporation and plasma etching. Internal gain in the telecommunications band is demonstrated for the first time in any chalcogenide glass and additionally in a thin film planar waveguide amplifier configuration.

Two additional principles for determining which species to monitor.

PubMed

Wilson, Howard B; Rhodes, Jonathan R; Possingham, Hugh P

2015-11-01

Monitoring to detect population declines is widespread, but also costly. There is, consequently, a need to optimize monitoring to maximize cost-effectiveness. Here we develop a quantitative decision analysis framework for how to optimally allocate resources for monitoring among species. By keeping the framework simple, we analytically establish two new principles about which species are optimal to monitor for detecting declines: (1) those that lie on the boundary between species being allocated resources for conservation action and species that are not and (2) those with the greatest uncertainty in whether they are declining. These two principles are in addition to other factors that are also important in monitoring decisions, such as complementarity. We demonstrate the efficacy of these principles when other factors are not present, and show how the two principles can be combined. This analysis demonstrates that the most cost-effective species to monitor are ones where the information gained from monitoring is most likely to change the allocation of funds for action, not necessarily the most vulnerable or endangered. We suggest these results are general and apply to all ecological monitoring, not just of biological species: monitoring and information are only valuable when they are likely to change how people act.

e-Stars Template Builder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Brian

2003-01-01

e-Stars Template Builder is a computer program that implements a concept of enabling users to rapidly gain access to information on projects of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The information about a given project is not stored in a data base, but rather, in a network that follows the project as it develops. e-Stars Template Builder resides on a server computer, using Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (PERL) scripts to create what are called "e-STARS node templates," which are software constructs that allow for project-specific configurations. The software resides on the server and does not require specific software on the user machine except for an Internet browser. A user's computer need not be equipped with special software (other than an Internet-browser program). e-Stars Template Builder is compatible with Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX operating systems. A user invokes e-Stars Template Builder from a browser window. Operations that can be performed by the user include the creation of child processes and the addition of links and descriptions of documentation to existing pages or nodes. By means of this addition of "child processes" of nodes, a network that reflects the development of a project is generated.

High peak-power kilohertz laser system employing single-stage multi-pass amplification

DOEpatents

Shan, Bing; Wang, Chun; Chang, Zenghu

2006-05-23

The present invention describes a technique for achieving high peak power output in a laser employing single-stage, multi-pass amplification. High gain is achieved by employing a very small "seed" beam diameter in gain medium, and maintaining the small beam diameter for multiple high-gain pre-amplification passes through a pumped gain medium, then leading the beam out of the amplifier cavity, changing the beam diameter and sending it back to the amplifier cavity for additional, high-power amplification passes through the gain medium. In these power amplification passes, the beam diameter in gain medium is increased and carefully matched to the pump laser's beam diameter for high efficiency extraction of energy from the pumped gain medium. A method of "grooming" the beam by means of a far-field spatial filter in the process of changing the beam size within the single-stage amplifier is also described.

Informal Assessment of Older Readers' Abilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siedow, Mary Dunn

1991-01-01

Explores the utility of an informal reading inventory for assessing the reading abilities of college students. Determines the amount and kinds of information that can be learned from an informal reading inventory. Determines whether information gained from the Advanced Reading Inventory differed qualitatively from that obtained from the Nelson…

Persuading People to Drink Less Alcohol: The Role of Message Framing, Temporal Focus and Autonomy.

PubMed

Churchill, Susan; Pavey, Louisa; Jessop, Donna; Sparks, Paul

2016-11-01

Health information can be used to try to persuade people to follow safe drinking recommendations. However, both the framing of information and the dispositional characteristics of message recipients need to be considered. An online study was conducted to examine how level of autonomy moderated the effect on drinking behaviour of gain- and loss-framed messages about the short- vs. long-term consequences of alcohol use. At Time 1, participants (N = 335) provided demographic information and completed a measure of autonomy. At Time 2, participants reported baseline alcohol use and read a gain-framed or loss-framed health message that highlighted either short- or long-term outcomes of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption was reported 7 days later. The results showed a significant three-way interaction between message framing (loss vs. gain), temporal focus (short-term vs. long-term) and autonomy. For low-autonomy (but not high-autonomy) individuals, the loss-framed health message was associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption than was the gain-framed message but only if the short-term outcomes were conveyed. This research provides evidence that the interaction between message framing and temporal focus may depend on a person's level of autonomy, which has implications for health promotion and the construction of effective health communication messages. We examined how autonomy moderated the effect on drinking behaviour of gain- and loss-framed messages about the short- vs. long-term consequences of alcohol use. For low-autonomy individuals, the loss-framed health message was associated with lower alcohol consumption than was the gain-framed message but only if the short-term outcomes were conveyed. © The Author 2016. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) data integration guidelines

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

In an effort to reduce winter road maintenance costs, agencies are using Road Weather : Information Systems (RWIS) to gain more information for application to surface transportation. : RWIS technologies consist of roadside Environmental Sensor Statio...

49 CFR 8.29 - Access by historical researchers and former Presidential appointees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... information or privileged information of which the applicant gains possession or knowledge as a result of the... to TOP SECRET or intelligence or communications security information is involved a special background...

49 CFR 8.29 - Access by historical researchers and former Presidential appointees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... information or privileged information of which the applicant gains possession or knowledge as a result of the... to TOP SECRET or intelligence or communications security information is involved a special background...

49 CFR 8.29 - Access by historical researchers and former Presidential appointees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... information or privileged information of which the applicant gains possession or knowledge as a result of the... to TOP SECRET or intelligence or communications security information is involved a special background...

Use of ssq rotational invariant of magnetotelluric impedances for estimating informative properties for galvanic distortion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rung-Arunwan, T.; Siripunvaraporn, W.; Utada, H.

2017-06-01

Several useful properties and parameters—a model of the regional mean one-dimensional (1D) conductivity profile, local and regional distortion indicators, and apparent gains—were defined in our recent paper using two rotational invariants (det: determinant and ssq: sum of squared elements) from a set of magnetotelluric (MT) data obtained by an array of observation sites. In this paper, we demonstrate their characteristics and benefits through synthetic examples using 1D and three-dimensional (3D) models. First, a model of the regional mean 1D conductivity profile is obtained using the average ssq impedance with different levels of galvanic distortion. In contrast to the Berdichevsky average using the average det impedance, the average ssq impedance is shown to yield a reliable estimate of the model of the regional mean 1D conductivity profile, even when severe galvanic distortion is contained in the data. Second, the local and regional distortion indicators were found to indicate the galvanic distortion as expressed by the splitting and shear parameters and to quantify their strengths in individual MT data and in the dataset as a whole. Third, the apparent gain was also shown to be a good approximation of the site gain, which is generally claimed to be undeterminable without external information. The model of the regional mean 1D profile could be used as an initial or a priori model in higher-dimensional inversions. The local and regional distortion indicators and apparent gains could be used to examine the existence and to guess the strength of the galvanic distortion. Although these conclusions were derived from synthetic tests using the Groom-Bailey distortion model, additional tests with different distortion models indicated that these conclusions are not strongly dependent on the choice of distortion model. These galvanic-distortion-related parameters would also assist in judging if a proper treatment is needed for the galvanic distortion when an MT dataset is given. Hence, this information derived from the dataset would be useful in MT data analysis and inversion.

Developing Information Storage and Retrieval Systems on the Internet: A Knowledge Management Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

search engines to find information. Most commercial search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) provide their indexing and search services...at no cost. The DoD can achieve large gains at a small cost by making public documents available to search engines . This can be achieved through the...were organized on the website dodreports.com. The results of this research revealed improvement gains of 8-20% for finding reports through commercial search engines during the first six months of

Graphene array antenna for 5G applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sa'don, Siti Nor Hafizah; Kamarudin, Muhammad Ramlee; Ahmad, Fauzan; Jusoh, Muzammil; Majid, Huda A.

2017-02-01

Fifth generation (5G) needs to provide better coverage than the previous generation. However, high frequency and millimeter wave experience penetration loss, propagation loss and even more loss in energy for long distance. Hence, a graphene array antenna is proposed for high gain to cover a long distance communications since array antenna enables in providing more directive beams. The investigation is conducted on three types of substrates with gain achieved is more than 7 dBi. The gain obtained is good since it is comparable with other studies. In addition, these antennas consume small numbers of elements to achieve high gain.

Career Preparation: An Often Omitted Element of the Advisor-Graduate Student Relationship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McManus, D. A.

2001-05-01

Most graduate research advisors care about the education of their graduate students. However, they often define "graduate education" so narrowly that it consists only of solving a research problem. This narrow definition is consistent with their principal goal as geoscientists, to understand the Earth better, and with the reward system typical of research universities, with its emphasis on research. As a result, most advisors usually well prepare students to be researchers in research universities. Research, however, is only part of a faculty member's duties. Commonly omitted is mentoring in the teaching and service duties of a faculty member. Students interested in teaching, in positions in other academic institutions, or in careers outside of academia may be perceived as questioning the advisors' career values and may not be encouraged in these interests. Graduate students should take an active role in their education. In addition to seeking information on career preparation from the campus career center and teaching center and from books, newsmagazines, newspapers, and seminars, students should also seek mentors who have demonstrated an interest in what the student is interested in: teaching and service, as well as research, or in careers outside academia. These mentors may be the students' committee members, other faculty members, or other professional geoscientists. With a broad base of information and some personal decisions, students will have a rationale for exploring careers. The questions students ask can now be more specific: How do they gain the requisite breadth in knowledge and the beneficial skills, beyond the depth of the research experience, and how do they gain opportunities to practice these skills? In short, how can they experience, and preferably practice, what professional geoscientists do in particular careers? If necessary, graduate students can work together to answer these questions by inviting experts to offer workshops in the department. In addition, change can occur within a department if enough graduate students express a need for this information directly to the graduate school. Selecting a career path is a major life decision, deserving of deliberation though open to serendipity. Graduate students deserve the benefits of all the university's resources in making this decision.

S-SIMS and MetA-SIMS study of organic additives in thin polymer coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adriaensen, L.; Vangaever, F.; Lenaerts, J.; Gijbels, R.

2006-07-01

In the present study a methodology for TOF-S-SIMS measurements is developed to gain information on the distribution of molecules on and in polymer coatings (thickness ˜100 μm). Experiments were carried out on model systems consisting of one or more additive-containing polyvinylbutyral coatings. Several organic additives were selected: carbocyanine dyes, basonyl blue and the pharmaceutical risperidone. The additives have been measured as pure compounds on a Si substrate to obtain good reference spectra. After optimisation of the sample preparation method, the coatings were embedded in epoxy resin and stored in an oven (60 °C) for 24 h. Cross-sections were made by means of a microtome. S-SIMS spectra were taken on the prepared cross-sections before and after Au was deposited on the sample surface. Compared to the untreated samples, the Au covered samples give rise to more intense secondary ion signals. Generally, signals of the intact cations were more intense than those of the fragment ions. Apart from mass spectra, images of the additive distribution in the coatings could also be acquired by recording structural ion signals. It was possible to make secondary ion images of the additive molecule ions with a (sub)-micrometer lateral resolution.

Genomic selection needs to be carefully assessed to meet specific requirements in livestock breeding programs

PubMed Central

Jonas, Elisabeth; de Koning, Dirk-Jan

2015-01-01

Genomic selection is a promising development in agriculture, aiming improved production by exploiting molecular genetic markers to design novel breeding programs and to develop new markers-based models for genetic evaluation. It opens opportunities for research, as novel algorithms and lab methodologies are developed. Genomic selection can be applied in many breeds and species. Further research on the implementation of genomic selection (GS) in breeding programs is highly desirable not only for the common good, but also the private sector (breeding companies). It has been projected that this approach will improve selection routines, especially in species with long reproduction cycles, late or sex-limited or expensive trait recording and for complex traits. The task of integrating GS into existing breeding programs is, however, not straightforward. Despite successful integration into breeding programs for dairy cattle, it has yet to be shown how much emphasis can be given to the genomic information and how much additional phenotypic information is needed from new selection candidates. Genomic selection is already part of future planning in many breeding companies of pigs and beef cattle among others, but further research is needed to fully estimate how effective the use of genomic information will be for the prediction of the performance of future breeding stock. Genomic prediction of production in crossbreeding and across-breed schemes, costs and choice of individuals for genotyping are reasons for a reluctance to fully rely on genomic information for selection decisions. Breeding objectives are highly dependent on the industry and the additional gain when using genomic information has to be considered carefully. This review synthesizes some of the suggested approaches in selected livestock species including cattle, pig, chicken, and fish. It outlines tasks to help understanding possible consequences when applying genomic information in breeding scenarios. PMID:25750652

Genomic selection needs to be carefully assessed to meet specific requirements in livestock breeding programs.

PubMed

Jonas, Elisabeth; de Koning, Dirk-Jan

2015-01-01

Genomic selection is a promising development in agriculture, aiming improved production by exploiting molecular genetic markers to design novel breeding programs and to develop new markers-based models for genetic evaluation. It opens opportunities for research, as novel algorithms and lab methodologies are developed. Genomic selection can be applied in many breeds and species. Further research on the implementation of genomic selection (GS) in breeding programs is highly desirable not only for the common good, but also the private sector (breeding companies). It has been projected that this approach will improve selection routines, especially in species with long reproduction cycles, late or sex-limited or expensive trait recording and for complex traits. The task of integrating GS into existing breeding programs is, however, not straightforward. Despite successful integration into breeding programs for dairy cattle, it has yet to be shown how much emphasis can be given to the genomic information and how much additional phenotypic information is needed from new selection candidates. Genomic selection is already part of future planning in many breeding companies of pigs and beef cattle among others, but further research is needed to fully estimate how effective the use of genomic information will be for the prediction of the performance of future breeding stock. Genomic prediction of production in crossbreeding and across-breed schemes, costs and choice of individuals for genotyping are reasons for a reluctance to fully rely on genomic information for selection decisions. Breeding objectives are highly dependent on the industry and the additional gain when using genomic information has to be considered carefully. This review synthesizes some of the suggested approaches in selected livestock species including cattle, pig, chicken, and fish. It outlines tasks to help understanding possible consequences when applying genomic information in breeding scenarios.

Locating Sensors for Detecting Source-to-Target Patterns of Special Nuclear Material Smuggling: A Spatial Information Theoretic Approach

PubMed Central

Przybyla, Jay; Taylor, Jeffrey; Zhou, Xuesong

2010-01-01

In this paper, a spatial information-theoretic model is proposed to locate sensors for detecting source-to-target patterns of special nuclear material (SNM) smuggling. In order to ship the nuclear materials from a source location with SNM production to a target city, the smugglers must employ global and domestic logistics systems. This paper focuses on locating a limited set of fixed and mobile radiation sensors in a transportation network, with the intent to maximize the expected information gain and minimize the estimation error for the subsequent nuclear material detection stage. A Kalman filtering-based framework is adapted to assist the decision-maker in quantifying the network-wide information gain and SNM flow estimation accuracy. PMID:22163641

Locating sensors for detecting source-to-target patterns of special nuclear material smuggling: a spatial information theoretic approach.

PubMed

Przybyla, Jay; Taylor, Jeffrey; Zhou, Xuesong

2010-01-01

In this paper, a spatial information-theoretic model is proposed to locate sensors for detecting source-to-target patterns of special nuclear material (SNM) smuggling. In order to ship the nuclear materials from a source location with SNM production to a target city, the smugglers must employ global and domestic logistics systems. This paper focuses on locating a limited set of fixed and mobile radiation sensors in a transportation network, with the intent to maximize the expected information gain and minimize the estimation error for the subsequent nuclear material detection stage. A Kalman filtering-based framework is adapted to assist the decision-maker in quantifying the network-wide information gain and SNM flow estimation accuracy.

Masking of errors in transmission of VAPC-coded speech

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Neil B.; Froese, Edwin L.

1990-01-01

A subjective evaluation is provided of the bit error sensitivity of the message elements of a Vector Adaptive Predictive (VAPC) speech coder, along with an indication of the amenability of these elements to a popular error masking strategy (cross frame hold over). As expected, a wide range of bit error sensitivity was observed. The most sensitive message components were the short term spectral information and the most significant bits of the pitch and gain indices. The cross frame hold over strategy was found to be useful for pitch and gain information, but it was not beneficial for the spectral information unless severe corruption had occurred.

Effects of structured versus non-structured learning on achievement and attitudes of fifth graders in a public aquarium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafka, Merryl Audrey

The investigator analyzed the main effect of a structured-learning experience in an informal setting, as well as interactions between the students' learning-style variations toward the element of structure and the imposed instructional conditions. The subjects consisted of 170 students enrolled in two public schools located in Brooklyn, New York. The students were predominantly a White multi-ethnic population consisting of 118 Caucasians, 25 Hispanics, 24 Asians, and 3 African-Americans. Three randomly assigned classes (n = 81) were provided trip sheets, which directed students on how to learn new information with written questions and directives. Three randomly assigned non-structured classes (n = 89) experienced the same exhibit in a free-form manner. Science-based criterion-referenced pre- and posttests were administered, in addition to Learning Style Inventories (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 1996) and a modified Semantic Differential Scale (Pizzo, 1981), which was used to measure attitudinal levels. The non-structured group had access to similar content information in the form of exhibit graphics, but apparently they chose not to read it as carefully or engage in the information-seeking process as intensely as the students equipped with trip sheets. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that a structured-learning experience produced significantly higher science-achievement test scores than in a non-structured-learning experience (p = .0001). In addition, there was no single learning-style variation (preference, aversion, or no preference) to structure that produced significantly higher gains than another. Furthermore, attitudinal scores were not significantly different between structured and non-structured groups, as well as among homogeneous subsets of students with learning-style variations that matched, mismatched, or indicated no-preferenced positions on the element of structure. Hence, a moderate amount of structure resulted in academic gains without diminishing attitudinal scores. The fact that students' learning-style variations for sociological, design, and perceptual preferences were simultaneously accommodated in this setting may have contributed to the overall positive effects of this structure-based intervention. The diversified teaching resources of the exhibit and the sense of self-empowerment in a student-directed environment may have elevated students' attitudes regardless of their learning-style need for structure. The students' acceptance of a trip sheet that promoted the understanding of science concepts may have contributed to academic success.

Digital mapping of mountain snowcover under European conditions. [Dischma Valley and Landwasser, Davos-Grisons, Switzerland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haefner, H. (Principal Investigator)

1980-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A method for monitoring the snow cover in high mountain terrain such as the Swiss Alps includes the rapid classification of multitemporal data for small watersheds with very high accuracy. In addition to LANDSAT channels 4,5,6 and 7 an artificial channel was created containing the average altitude information of each pixel and allowing a subdivision of the watershed in accordance to the requirements of the runoff model. Even in very small watersheds of about 40 sq km the results achieved from LANDSAT data are at least as accurate as the ones gained from measurements of orthophotographs.

Artificial sweetener use among children: epidemiology, recommendations, metabolic outcomes, and future directions

PubMed Central

Sylvetsky, Allison; Rother, Kristina I.; Brown, Rebecca

2011-01-01

Synopsis This review summarizes the existing literature pertaining to the epidemiology and current recommendations for pediatric artificial sweetener use and presents the results of studies investigating metabolic responses to artificial sweeteners among children. Observational and interventional studies testing the effects of artificial sweeteners on body weight, short-term satiety, glycemia, and glucoregulatory hormones are described. In addition, this review touches on the growing body of literature about taste, craving, and addiction to sweet taste. Gaining an understanding of the research previously conducted and the gaps that remain will inform future clinical and translational research, in order to develop evidence-based recommendations for artificial sweetener use in the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity. PMID:22093863

Economic impact of stimulated technological activity. Part 3: Case study, knowledge additions and earth links from space crew systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1971-01-01

A case study of knowledge contributions from the crew life support aspect of the manned space program is reported. The new information needed to be learned, the solutions developed, and the relation of new knowledge gained to earthly problems were investigated. Illustrations are given in the following categories: supplying atmosphere for spacecraft; providing carbon dioxide removal and recycling; providing contaminant control and removal; maintaining the body's thermal balance; protecting against the space hazards of decompression, radiation, and meteorites; minimizing fire and blast hazards; providing adequate light and conditions for adequate visual performance; providing mobility and work physiology; and providing adequate habitability.

Improving Motor and Drive System Performance – A Sourcebook for Industry

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

None

This sourcebook outlines opportunities to improve motor and drive systems performance. The sourcebook is divided into four main sections: (1) Motor and Drive System Basics: Summarizes important terms, relationships, and system design considerations relating to motor and drive systems. (2) Performance Opportunity Road Map: Details the key components of well-functioning motor and drive systems and opportunities for energy performance opportunities. (3) Motor System Economics: Offers recommendations on how to propose improvement projects based on corporate priorities, efficiency gains, and financial payback periods. (4) Where to Find Help: Provides a directory of organizations associated with motors and drives, as well asmore » resources for additional information, tools, software, videos, and training opportunities.« less

Overview of the Telescience Testbed Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rasmussen, Daryl N.; Mian, Arshad; Leiner, Barry M.

1991-01-01

The NASA's Telescience Testbed Program (TTP) conducted by the Ames Research Center is described with particular attention to the objectives, the approach used to achieve these objectives, and the expected benefits of the program. The goal of the TTP is to gain operational experience for the Space Station Freedom and the Earth Observing System programs, using ground testbeds, and to define the information and communication systems requirements for the development and operation of these programs. The results of TTP are expected to include the requirements for the remote coaching, command and control, monitoring and maintenance, payload design, and operations management. In addition, requirements for technologies such as workstations, software, video, automation, data management, and networking will be defined.

Wild about Social Media and Technology?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santascoy, S. J.

2011-09-01

It's tempting to jump on the social media bandwagon and insist your organization needs Facebook, twitter, etc. But, when funds are limited, social media and related publicity must be carefully thought out. The NASA Night Sky Network, which is managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, has developed widgets for websites and blogs, an iPhone app, and a Facebook presence. This is all to attract, inform, and reach the next generation of amateur astronomers, with no additional work needed from the amateur astronomy community who are members of the Night Sky Network. Outreach professionals will gain valuable insight from our experience, and may replicate this model to design their own social media and technology plan.

A photometric determination of twists in early-type galaxies. II

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, T. B.; Schwarzschild, M.

1979-01-01

In continuation of previous work, detailed photometric data have been obtained for two elliptical galaxies by using the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m telescope and a large SEC television camera. As before, the aim of this photometry is to gain additional information on the occurrence of twists in such galaxies; i.e., on the change of the position angle of the major axes of the isophotes from the center outward. No significant twist was found in NGC 1052. However, NGC 584 was found to have a securely observed twist of about 10 deg within 10 kpc from its center. These data strengthen previous indications that many ellipticals contain twists in their inner, bright portions.

The Principal's Role in Promoting Academic Gain.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gullatt, David E.; Lofton, Brenda D.

Principals encourage student academic gain by the ways in which they govern the school, build strong collaborative relationships, and organize and allocate professional work time. Because these activities are important predictors of academic achievement, along with quality teacher activities, further information is also provided about how…

Courseware Design by College Students: The Educational Gains.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Or-Bach, Rachel

2000-01-01

Describes the experience gained during several years of teaching courses on CBT (computer-based training) design to undergraduate students with varying backgrounds and interests. Discusses the theoretical background for the potential benefits; preparation for lifelong learning; information technology literacy and teaching multimedia development; a…

36 CFR § 1194.23 - Telecommunications products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... see displays. (f) For transmitted voice signals, telecommunications products shall provide a gain... of gain shall be provided. (g) If the telecommunications product allows a user to adjust the receive... shall not remove information needed for access or shall restore it upon delivery. (k) Products which...

The impact on productivity of a hypothetical tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.

PubMed

Nomaguchi, Takeshi; Cunich, Michelle; Zapata-Diomedi, Belen; Veerman, J Lennert

2017-06-01

To quantify the potential impact of an additional 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on productivity in Australia. We used a multi-state lifetable Markov model to examine the potential impact of an additional 20% tax on SSBs on total lifetime productivity in the paid and unpaid sectors of the economy. The study population consisted of Australians aged 20 years or older in 2010, whose health and other relevant outcomes were modelled over their remaining lifetime. The SSBs tax was estimated to reduce the number of people with obesity by 1.96% of the entire population (437,000 fewer persons with obesity), and reduce the number of employees with obesity by 317,000 persons. These effects translated into productivity gains in the paid sector of AU$751 million for the working-age population (95% confidence interval: AU$565 million to AU$954 million), using the human capital approach. In the unpaid sector, the potential productivity gains amounted to AU$1172 million (AU$929 million to AU$1435 million) using the replacement cost method. These productivity benefits are in addition to the health benefits of 35,000 life years gained and a reduction in healthcare costs of AU$425 million. An additional 20% tax on SSBs not only improves health outcomes and reduces healthcare costs, but provides productivity gains in both the paid and unpaid sectors of the economy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BILL E. KUNKLE INTERDISCIPLINARY BEEF SYMPOSIUM: A meta-analysis of research efforts aimed at reducing the impact of fescue toxicosis on cattle weight gain and feed intake.

PubMed

Gadberry, M S; Hawley, J; Beck, P A; Jennings, J A; Kegley, E B; Coffey, K P

2015-12-01

The objective of this paper is to present a systematic review and meta-analysis of research efforts aimed at recovering cattle production losses attributed to toxic endophyte-infected [ (Morgan-Jones & Gams.) Glenn, Bacon, & Hanlin comb. Nov.] tall fescue [ (Schreb.) Darbysh.]. The strategies presented include those 1) applied with forage systems, 2) based on pharmacological compounds and functional foods, and 3) based on supplemental dietary nutrients. Cattle BW gain and DM intake was the dependent response evaluated. Among the forage systems reviewed, studies with nontoxic, endophyte-infected tall fescue as a total replacement forage system demonstrated the greatest improvement in per-hectare (152 ± 27.5 kg/ha) and per-animal (0.29 ± 0.03 kg/d) BW gain. Studies with interseeded legumes have exhibited a small and highly variable BW gain effect size per hectare (52 ± 24.1 kg/ha) and per animal (0.11 ± 0.03 kg/d). The legume response was seasonal, with summer exhibiting the greatest benefit. Studies with chemicals that suppress plant growth demonstrated BW gain responses (0.17 ± 0.06 kg/d) equal to or greater than the response observed with legume studies. Cattle grazing toxic tall fescue responded well to anthelmentics, antimicrobial feed additives, and steroid implants, and the use of these technologies may additively help recover production losses. As a group, functional foods have not improved BW gain ( = 0.85). Studies with cattle supplemented with highly digestible fiber supplements observed a 0.15 kg greater BW gain compared with studies using starch- and sugar-based supplements ( < 0.05). Weight gain was positively impacted by the level of supplementation (0.06 kg/DM intake as percent BW). Supplement feed conversion was estimated at 6:1 for the highly digestible fiber supplements compared with 11:1 for starch-based supplements. Tall fescue forage DM intake was predicted to maximize at a supplemental feeding rate of 0.24% BW with a breakpoint at 0.5% BW, and total maximum DM intake (forage plus supplement) occurred at 2.7% BW when supplemental feeding approached 0.9% BW. Results from this meta-analysis should be useful for 1) establishing and comparing measured responses to theoretical improvements in BW gain when additive strategies are considered, 2) research planning, and 3) producer education.

75 FR 66665 - Program Integrity: Gainful Employment-New Programs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-29

... where there is a record of poor performance sufficient to justify additional oversight. Along the same... ineligible status or otherwise be based on the performance of the institution's gainful employment programs... would enable institutions with good performance records to offer new programs more expediently. However...

The effect of simulation courseware on critical thinking in undergraduate nursing students: multi-site pre-post study.

PubMed

Shin, Hyunsook; Ma, Hyunhee; Park, Jiyoung; Ji, Eun Sun; Kim, Dong Hee

2015-04-01

The use of simulations has been considered as opportunities for students to enhance their critical thinking (CT), but previous studies were limited because they did not provide in-depth information on the working dynamics of simulation or on the effects of the number of simulation exposures on CT. This study examined the effect of an integrated pediatric nursing simulation used in a nursing practicum on students' CT abilities and identified the effects of differing numbers of simulation exposures on CT in a multi-site environment. The study used a multi-site, pre-test, post-test design. A total of 237 nursing students at three universities enrolled in a pediatric practicum participated in this study from February to December 2013. All three schools used the same simulation courseware, including the same simulation scenarios, evaluation tools, and simulation equipment. The courseware incorporated high-fidelity simulators and standardized patients. Students at school A completed one simulation session, whereas students at schools B and C completed two and three simulation sessions, respectively. Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition tool (2008) was used to measure students' CT abilities. The gains in students' CT scores varied according to their numbers of exposures to the simulation courseware. With a single exposure, there were no statistically significant gains in CT, whereas three exposures to the courseware produced significant gains in CT. In seven subcategories of critical thinking, three exposures to the simulation courseware produced CT gains in the prudence and intellectual eagerness subcategories, and the overall simulation experience produced CT gains in the prudence, systematicity, healthy skepticism, and intellectual eagerness subcategories. Simulation courseware may produce positive learning outcomes for prudence in nursing education. In addition, the findings from the multi-site comparative study may contribute to greater understanding of how patient simulation experiences impact students' CT abilities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness thresholds: pros and cons.

PubMed

Bertram, Melanie Y; Lauer, Jeremy A; De Joncheere, Kees; Edejer, Tessa; Hutubessy, Raymond; Kieny, Marie-Paule; Hill, Suzanne R

2016-12-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis is used to compare the costs and outcomes of alternative policy options. Each resulting cost-effectiveness ratio represents the magnitude of additional health gained per additional unit of resources spent. Cost-effectiveness thresholds allow cost-effectiveness ratios that represent good or very good value for money to be identified. In 2001, the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics in Health suggested cost-effectiveness thresholds based on multiples of a country's per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). In some contexts, in choosing which health interventions to fund and which not to fund, these thresholds have been used as decision rules. However, experience with the use of such GDP-based thresholds in decision-making processes at country level shows them to lack country specificity and this - in addition to uncertainty in the modelled cost-effectiveness ratios - can lead to the wrong decision on how to spend health-care resources. Cost-effectiveness information should be used alongside other considerations - e.g. budget impact and feasibility considerations - in a transparent decision-making process, rather than in isolation based on a single threshold value. Although cost-effectiveness ratios are undoubtedly informative in assessing value for money, countries should be encouraged to develop a context-specific process for decision-making that is supported by legislation, has stakeholder buy-in, for example the involvement of civil society organizations and patient groups, and is transparent, consistent and fair.

Assessment of the Neutronic and Fuel Cycle Performance of the Transatomic Power Molten Salt Reactor Design

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

Robertson, Sean; Dewan, Leslie; Massie, Mark

This report presents results from a collaboration between Transatomic Power Corporation (TAP) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to provide neutronic and fuel cycle analysis of the TAP core design through the Department of Energy Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) Nuclear Energy Voucher program. The TAP concept is a molten salt reactor using configurable zirconium hydride moderator rod assemblies to shift the neutron spectrum in the core from mostly epithermal at beginning of life to thermal at end of life. Additional developments in the ChemTriton modeling and simulation tool provide the critical moderator-to-fuel ratio searches and time-dependent parametersmore » necessary to simulate the continuously changing physics in this complex system. The implementation of continuous-energy Monte Carlo transport and depletion tools in ChemTriton provide for full-core three-dimensional modeling and simulation. Results from simulations with these tools show agreement with TAP-calculated performance metrics for core lifetime, discharge burnup, and salt volume fraction, verifying the viability of reducing actinide waste production with this concept. Additional analyses of mass feed rates and enrichments, isotopic removals, tritium generation, core power distribution, core vessel helium generation, moderator rod heat deposition, and reactivity coeffcients provide additional information to make informed design decisions. This work demonstrates capabilities of ORNL modeling and simulation tools for neutronic and fuel cycle analysis of molten salt reactor concepts.« less

Motivating medical information system performance by system quality, service quality, and job satisfaction for evidence-based practice

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background No previous studies have addressed the integrated relationships among system quality, service quality, job satisfaction, and system performance; this study attempts to bridge such a gap with evidence-based practice study. Methods The convenience sampling method was applied to the information system users of three hospitals in southern Taiwan. A total of 500 copies of questionnaires were distributed, and 283 returned copies were valid, suggesting a valid response rate of 56.6%. SPSS 17.0 and AMOS 17.0 (structural equation modeling) statistical software packages were used for data analysis and processing. Results The findings are as follows: System quality has a positive influence on service quality (γ11= 0.55), job satisfaction (γ21= 0.32), and system performance (γ31= 0.47). Service quality (β31= 0.38) and job satisfaction (β32= 0.46) will positively influence system performance. Conclusions It is thus recommended that the information office of hospitals and developers take enhancement of service quality and user satisfaction into consideration in addition to placing b on system quality and information quality when designing, developing, or purchasing an information system, in order to improve benefits and gain more achievements generated by hospital information systems. PMID:23171394

aCGH-MAS: Analysis of aCGH by means of Multiagent System

PubMed Central

Benito, Rocío; Bajo, Javier; Rodríguez, Ana Eugenia; Abáigar, María

2015-01-01

There are currently different techniques, such as CGH arrays, to study genetic variations in patients. CGH arrays analyze gains and losses in different regions in the chromosome. Regions with gains or losses in pathologies are important for selecting relevant genes or CNVs (copy-number variations) associated with the variations detected within chromosomes. Information corresponding to mutations, genes, proteins, variations, CNVs, and diseases can be found in different databases and it would be of interest to incorporate information of different sources to extract relevant information. This work proposes a multiagent system to manage the information of aCGH arrays, with the aim of providing an intuitive and extensible system to analyze and interpret the results. The agent roles integrate statistical techniques to select relevant variations and visualization techniques for the interpretation of the final results and to extract relevant information from different sources of information by applying a CBR system. PMID:25874203

Detecting Genetic Interactions for Quantitative Traits Using m-Spacing Entropy Measure

PubMed Central

Yee, Jaeyong; Kwon, Min-Seok; Park, Taesung; Park, Mira

2015-01-01

A number of statistical methods for detecting gene-gene interactions have been developed in genetic association studies with binary traits. However, many phenotype measures are intrinsically quantitative and categorizing continuous traits may not always be straightforward and meaningful. Association of gene-gene interactions with an observed distribution of such phenotypes needs to be investigated directly without categorization. Information gain based on entropy measure has previously been successful in identifying genetic associations with binary traits. We extend the usefulness of this information gain by proposing a nonparametric evaluation method of conditional entropy of a quantitative phenotype associated with a given genotype. Hence, the information gain can be obtained for any phenotype distribution. Because any functional form, such as Gaussian, is not assumed for the entire distribution of a trait or a given genotype, this method is expected to be robust enough to be applied to any phenotypic association data. Here, we show its use to successfully identify the main effect, as well as the genetic interactions, associated with a quantitative trait. PMID:26339620

Decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with Internet gaming disorder.

PubMed

Yao, Yuan-Wei; Chen, Pin-Ru; Li, Song; Wang, Ling-Jiao; Zhang, Jin-Tao; Yip, Sarah W; Chen, Gang; Deng, Lin-Yuan; Liu, Qin-Xue; Fang, Xiao-Yi

2015-01-01

Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) tend to exhibit disadvantageous risky decision-making not only in their real life but also in laboratory tasks. Decision-making is a complex multifaceted function and different cognitive processes are involved in decision-making for gains and losses. However, the relationship between impaired decision-making and gain versus loss processing in the context of IGD is poorly understood. The main aim of the present study was to separately evaluate decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with IGD using the Cups task. Additionally, we further examined the effects of outcome magnitude and probability level on decision-making related to risky gains and losses respectively. Sixty college students with IGD and 42 matched healthy controls (HCs) participated. Results indicated that IGD subjects exhibited generally greater risk taking tendencies than HCs. In comparison to HCs, IGD subjects made more disadvantageous risky choices in the loss domain (but not in the gain domain). Follow-up analyses indicated that the impairment was associated to insensitivity to changes in outcome magnitude and probability level for risky losses among IGD subjects. In addition, higher Internet addiction severity scores were associated with percentage of disadvantageous risky options in the loss domain. These findings emphasize the effect of insensitivity to losses on disadvantageous decisions under risk in the context of IGD, which has implications for future intervention studies.

Promoting Children's Social-Emotional Skills in Preschool Can Enhance Academic and Behavioral Functioning in Kindergarten: Findings from Head Start REDI

PubMed Central

Nix, Robert L.; Bierman, Karen L.; Domitrovich, Celene E.; Gill, Sukhdeep

2013-01-01

This study examined processes of change associated with the positive preschool and kindergarten outcomes of children who received the Head Start REDI intervention, compared to “usual practice” Head Start. In a large-scale randomized-controlled trial (N = 356 children, 42% African American or Latino, all from low-income families), this study tests the logic model that improving preschool social-emotional skills (e.g., emotion understanding, social problem solving, and positive social behavior) as well as language/emergent literacy skills will promote cross-domain academic and behavioral adjustment after children transition into kindergarten. Validating this logic model, the present study finds that intervention effects on three important kindergarten outcomes (e.g., reading achievement, learning engagement, and positive social behavior) were mediated by preschool gains in the proximal social-emotional and language/emergent literacy skills targeted by the REDI intervention. Importantly, preschool gains in social-emotional skills made unique contributions to kindergarten outcomes in reading achievement and learning engagement, even after accounting for the concurrent preschool gains in vocabulary and emergent literacy skills. These findings highlight the importance of fostering at-risk children's social-emotional skills during preschool as a means of promoting school readiness. The REDI (Research-Based, Developmentally-Informed) enrichment intervention was designed to complement and strengthen the impact of existing Head Start programs in the dual domains of language/emergent literacy skills and social-emotional competencies. REDI was one of several projects funded by the Interagency School Readiness Consortium, a partnership of four federal agencies (the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Administration for Children and Families, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services in the Department of Education). The projects funded through this partnership were designed to assess how integrative early interventions for at-risk children could promote learning and development across multiple domains of functioning. In addition, the projects were charged with examining processes of change and identifying mechanisms of action by which the early childhood interventions fostered later school adjustment and academic achievement. This study examined such processes of change, with the goal of documenting hypothesized cross-domain influences on kindergarten outcomes. In particular, this study tested whether gains in the proximal language/emergent literacy and social-emotional competencies targeted during Head Start would mediate the REDI intervention effects on kindergarten academic and behavioral outcomes. In addition, it tested the hypothesis that gains in social-emotional competencies during preschool would make unique contributions to intervention effects on both academic and behavioral outcomes, even after accounting for the effects of preschool gains in language and emergent literacy skills. PMID:24311939

Civil Protection Practitioners' Response to Introducing Nowcasting in Weather Warnings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulbrich, Thorsten

2014-05-01

The HErZ project WEXICOM (Improving the process of weather warnings and extreme weather information in the chain from the meteorological forecasts to their communication for the Berlin conurbation) assesses the communication and use of weather warnings. In cooperation with DWD we conducted two online surveys with German relief forces before and after a nowcasting application was introduced into the weather warning platform FEWIS. The aim is to investigate how relief workers make use of the additional information. DWD supports German civil protection by providing the warning platform FeWIS (Fire brigade Weather Information System) for registered relief workers. The platform provides information on meteorological hazards needed to take precautions and to support rescue actions. In June 2013 DWD added nowcasted estimates of storm attributes including warning cones based on a 1x1 km grid. The tool named "GewitterMonitor" is based on NowcastMIX and uses short-term weather models and observations to derive warnings with high precision on intensity, location and timing of thunder storm cells for the following two hours. A first survey provided prior to the addition of nowcasted information investigates how users benefit from FeWIS and how they perceive its functionality and reliability. Following the introduction users gain experience applying the nowcasting tool in the thunderstorm season 2013. In Winter 2013/2014 we conducted another online survey. The post-survey comprises questions on the use of the GewitterMonitor and on how the tool supports relief forces in responding to meteorological risks. The post survey also repeats questions on the perception of functionality and function of FeWIS and poses questions derived from the previous survey. This second survey collects practitioners feedback on GewitterMonitor and allows to detect changes in how users perceive the performance of FeWIS after the addition by relating responses to the prior survey.

Use of next generation sequencing data to develop a qPCR method for specific detection of EU-unauthorized genetically modified Bacillus subtilis overproducing riboflavin.

PubMed

Barbau-Piednoir, Elodie; De Keersmaecker, Sigrid C J; Delvoye, Maud; Gau, Céline; Philipp, Patrick; Roosens, Nancy H

2015-11-11

Recently, the presence of an unauthorized genetically modified (GM) Bacillus subtilis bacterium overproducing vitamin B2 in a feed additive was notified by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). This has demonstrated that a contamination by a GM micro-organism (GMM) may occur in feed additives and has confronted for the first time,the enforcement laboratories with this type of RASFF. As no sequence information of this GMM nor any specific detection or identification method was available, Next GenerationSequencing (NGS) was used to generate sequence information. However, NGS data analysis often requires appropriate tools, involving bioinformatics expertise which is not alwayspresent in the average enforcement laboratory. This hampers the use of this technology to rapidly obtain critical sequence information in order to be able to develop a specific qPCRdetection method. Data generated by NGS were exploited using a simple BLAST approach. A TaqMan® qPCR method was developed and tested on isolated bacterial strains and on the feed additive directly. In this study, a very simple strategy based on the common BLAST tools that can be used by any enforcement lab without profound bioinformatics expertise, was successfully used toanalyse the B. subtilis data generated by NGS. The results were used to design and assess a new TaqMan® qPCR method, specifically detecting this GM vitamin B2 overproducing bacterium. The method complies with EU critical performance parameters for specificity, sensitivity, PCR efficiency and repeatability. The VitB2-UGM method also could detect the B. subtilis strain in genomic DNA extracted from the feed additive, without prior culturing step. The proposed method, provides a crucial tool for specifically and rapidly identifying this unauthorized GM bacterium in food and feed additives by enforcement laboratories. Moreover, this work can be seen as a case study to substantiate how the use of NGS data can offer an added value to easily gain access to sequence information needed to develop qPCR methods to detect unknown andunauthorized GMO in food and feed.

Multi-Objective vs. Single Objective Calibration of a Hydrologic Model using Either Different Hydrologic Signatures or Complementary Data Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mai, J.; Cuntz, M.; Zink, M.; Schaefer, D.; Thober, S.; Samaniego, L. E.; Shafii, M.; Tolson, B.

2015-12-01

Hydrologic models are traditionally calibrated against discharge. Recent studies have shown however, that only a few global model parameters are constrained using the integral discharge measurements. It is therefore advisable to use additional information to calibrate those models. Snow pack data, for example, could improve the parametrization of snow-related processes, which might be underrepresented when using only discharge. One common approach is to combine these multiple objectives into one single objective function and allow the use of a single-objective algorithm. Another strategy is to consider the different objectives separately and apply a Pareto-optimizing algorithm. Both methods are challenging in the choice of appropriate multiple objectives with either conflicting interests or the focus on different model processes. A first aim of this study is to compare the two approaches employing the mesoscale Hydrologic Model mHM at several distinct river basins over Europe and North America. This comparison will allow the identification of the single-objective solution on the Pareto front. It is elucidated if this position is determined by the weighting and scaling of the multiple objectives when combing them to the single objective. The principal second aim is to guide the selection of proper objectives employing sensitivity analyses. These analyses are used to determine if an additional information would help to constrain additional model parameters. The additional information are either multiple data sources or multiple signatures of one measurement. It is evaluated if specific discharge signatures can inform different parts of the hydrologic model. The results show that an appropriate selection of discharge signatures increased the number of constrained parameters by more than 50% compared to using only NSE of the discharge time series. It is further assessed if the use of these signatures impose conflicting objectives on the hydrologic model. The usage of signatures is furthermore contrasted to the use of additional observations such as soil moisture or snow height. The gain of using an auxiliary dataset is determined using the parametric sensitivity on the respective modeled variable.

76 FR 18743 - Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-603); Comment Request; Extension

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-05

... FERC-603 ``Critical Energy Infrastructure Information'' (OMB No. 1902-0197) is used by the Commission to implement procedures for gaining access to critical energy infrastructure information (CEII) that... information about ``existing or proposed critical infrastructure that (i) relates to the production...

The effect of betahistine, a histamine H1 receptor agonist/H3 antagonist, on olanzapine-induced weight gain in first-episode schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Poyurovsky, Michael; Pashinian, Artashes; Levi, Aya; Weizman, Ronit; Weizman, Abraham

2005-03-01

Histamine antagonism has been implicated in antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain. Betahistine, a histamine enhancer with H1 agonistic/H3 antagonistic properties (48 mg t.i.d.), was coadministered with olanzapine (10 mg/day) in three first-episode schizophrenia patients for 6 weeks. Body weight was measured at baseline and weekly thereafter. Clinical rating scales were completed at baseline and at week 6. All participants gained weight (mean weight gain 3.1+/-0.9 kg) and a similar pattern of weight gain was observed: an increase during the first 2 weeks and no additional weight gain (two patients) or minor weight loss (one patient) from weeks 3 to 6. None gained 7% of baseline weight, which is the cut-off for clinically significant weight gain. Betahistine was safe and well tolerated and did not interfere with the antipsychotic effect of olanzapine. Our findings justify a placebo-controlled evaluation of the putative weight-attenuating effect of betahistine in olanzapine-induced weight gain.

76 FR 12749 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 1660-0044...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-08

... concerning knowledge and skills gained through emergency management related courses. DATES: Comments must be... the Emergency Management Institute to self-assess the knowledge and skills gained through emergency... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID: FEMA-2011-0008...

Subwavelength atom localization via coherent manipulation of the Raman gain process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qamar, Sajid; Mehmood, Asad; Qamar, Shahid

2009-03-01

We present a simple scheme of atom localization in a subwavelength domain via manipulation of Raman gain process. We consider a four-level system with a pump and a weak probe field. In addition, we apply a coherent field to control the gain process. The system is similar to the one used by Agarwal and Dasgupta [Phys. Rev. A 70, 023802 (2004)] for the superluminal pulse propagation through Raman gain medium. For atom localization, we consider both pump and control fields to be the standing-wave fields of the cavity. We show that a much precise position of an atom passing through the standing-wave fields can be determined by measuring the gain spectrum of the probe field.

Delivering pump light to a laser gain element while maintaining access to the laser beam

DOEpatents

Beach, Raymond J.; Honea, Eric C.; Payne, Stephen A.

2001-01-01

A lens duct is used for pump delivery and the laser beam is accessed through an additional component called the intermediate beam extractor which can be implemented as part of the gain element, part of the lens duct or a separate component entirely.

Message Framing for Health: Moderation by Perceived Susceptibility and Motivational Orientation in a Diverse Sample of Americans

PubMed Central

Updegraff, John A.; Brick, Cameron; Emanuel, Amber S.; Mintzer, Roy E.; Sherman, David K.

2015-01-01

Objective The present study examined how gain- and loss-framed informational videos about oral health influence self-reported flossing behavior over a 6-month period, as well as the roles of perceived susceptibility to oral health problems and approach/avoidance motivational orientation in moderating these effects. Method An age and ethnically diverse sample of 855 American adults were randomized to receive no health message, or either a gain-framed or loss-framed video presented on the Internet. Self-reported flossing was assessed longitudinally at 2 and 6 months. Results Among the entire sample, susceptibility interacted with frame to predict flossing. Participants who watched a video where the frame (gain/loss) matched perceived susceptibility (low/high) had significantly greater likelihood of flossing at recommended levels at the 6-month follow-up, compared with those who viewed a mismatched video or no video at all. However, young adults (18–24) showed stronger moderation by motivational orientation than by perceived susceptibility, in line with previous work largely conducted with young adult samples. Conclusion Brief informational interventions can influence long-term health behavior, particularly when the gain- or loss-frame of the information matches the recipient’s beliefs about their health outcome risks. PMID:25020153

Cost-Effectiveness of an Intervention to Reduce HIV/STI Incidence and Promote Condom Use among Female Sex Workers in the Mexico–US Border Region

PubMed Central

Burgos, José L.; Gaebler, Julia A.; Strathdee, Steffanie A.; Lozada, Remedios; Staines, Hugo; Patterson, Thomas L.

2010-01-01

Background Previous research demonstrated efficacy of a brief behavioral intervention to reduce incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, cities on Mexico's border with the US. We assessed this intervention's cost-effectiveness. Methodology and Principal Findings A life-time Markov model was developed to estimate HIV cases prevented, changes in quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE), and costs per additional quality-adjusted life year gained (QALY), comparing (in US$2,009) no intervention to a once-only and annual intervention. Future costs and health benefits were discounted annually at 3%. Sensitivity analyses evaluated model robustness. We found that for a hypothetical 1,000 FSWs receiving the once-only intervention, there were 33 HIV cases prevented and 5.7 months of QALE gained compared to no intervention. The additional cost per QALY gained was US$183. For FSWs receiving the intervention annually, there were 29 additional HIV cases prevented and 4.5 additional months of QALE compared to the once-only intervention. The additional cost per QALY was US$1,075. When highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was included in the model, the annual intervention strategy resulted in net savings and dominated both once-only and no intervention strategies, and remained robust across extensive sensitivity analyses. Even when considering clinical benefits from HAART, ignoring added costs, the cost per QALY gained remained below three times the Mexican GDP per capita, and below established cost-effectiveness thresholds. Conclusions/Significance This brief intervention was shown to be cost-effective among FSWs in two Mexico-US border cities and may have application for FSWs in other resource-limited settings. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00338845 PMID:20617193

Partial Adaptation of Obtained and Observed Value Signals Preserves Information about Gains and Losses

PubMed Central

Baddeley, Michelle; Tobler, Philippe N.; Schultz, Wolfram

2016-01-01

Given that the range of rewarding and punishing outcomes of actions is large but neural coding capacity is limited, efficient processing of outcomes by the brain is necessary. One mechanism to increase efficiency is to rescale neural output to the range of outcomes expected in the current context, and process only experienced deviations from this expectation. However, this mechanism comes at the cost of not being able to discriminate between unexpectedly low losses when times are bad versus unexpectedly high gains when times are good. Thus, too much adaptation would result in disregarding information about the nature and absolute magnitude of outcomes, preventing learning about the longer-term value structure of the environment. Here we investigate the degree of adaptation in outcome coding brain regions in humans, for directly experienced outcomes and observed outcomes. We scanned participants while they performed a social learning task in gain and loss blocks. Multivariate pattern analysis showed two distinct networks of brain regions adapt to the most likely outcomes within a block. Frontostriatal areas adapted to directly experienced outcomes, whereas lateral frontal and temporoparietal regions adapted to observed social outcomes. Critically, in both cases, adaptation was incomplete and information about whether the outcomes arose in a gain block or a loss block was retained. Univariate analysis confirmed incomplete adaptive coding in these regions but also detected nonadapting outcome signals. Thus, although neural areas rescale their responses to outcomes for efficient coding, they adapt incompletely and keep track of the longer-term incentives available in the environment. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Optimal value-based choice requires that the brain precisely and efficiently represents positive and negative outcomes. One way to increase efficiency is to adapt responding to the most likely outcomes in a given context. However, too strong adaptation would result in loss of precise representation (e.g., when the avoidance of a loss in a loss-context is coded the same as receipt of a gain in a gain-context). We investigated an intermediate form of adaptation that is efficient while maintaining information about received gains and avoided losses. We found that frontostriatal areas adapted to directly experienced outcomes, whereas lateral frontal and temporoparietal regions adapted to observed social outcomes. Importantly, adaptation was intermediate, in line with influential models of reference dependence in behavioral economics. PMID:27683899

A theory of pragmatic information and its application to the quasi-species model of biological evolution.

PubMed

Weinberger, Edward D

2002-01-01

'Standard' information theory says nothing about the semantic content of information. Nevertheless, applications such as evolutionary theory demand consideration of precisely this aspect of information, a need that has motivated a largely unsuccessful search for a suitable measure of an 'amount of meaning'. This paper represents an attempt to move beyond this impasse, based on the observation that the meaning of a message can only be understood relative to its receiver. Positing that the semantic value of information is its usefulness in making an informed decision, we define pragmatic information as the information gain in the probability distributions of the receiver's actions, both before and after receipt of a message in some pre-defined ensemble. We then prove rigorously that our definition is the only one that satisfies obvious desiderata, such as the additivity of information from logically independent messages. This definition, when applied to the information 'learned' by the time evolution of a process, defies the intuitions of the few previous researchers thinking along these lines by being monotonic in the uncertainty that remains after receipt of the message, but non-monotonic in the Shannon entropy of the input ensemble. It also follows that the pragmatic information of the genetic 'messages' in an evolving population is a global Lyapunov function for Eigen's quasi-species model of biological evolution. A concluding section argues that a theory such as ours must explicitly acknowledge purposeful action, or 'agency', in such diverse fields as evolutionary theory and finance.

78 FR 37650 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-21

... or comments received go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov . Follow... to collect information from each State to identify and document methods and knowledge gained about...

Strategic information systems planning for health service providers.

PubMed

Moriarty, D D

1992-01-01

There is significant opportunity for health service providers to gain competitive advantage through the innovative use of strategic information systems. This analysis presents some key strategic information systems issues that will enable managers to identify opportunities within their organizations.

Information Literacy: Partnerships for Power.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breivik, Patricia Senn; Senn, J. A.

1993-01-01

Describes the partnerships between teacher-librarians and principals, teachers, community members, public librarians, and businesses that school children need to gain information literacy skills. Descriptions, which are adapted from the forthcoming book "Information Literacy: Resources for Elementary School Leaders," include the…

Computational Study of Chemical Reactivity Using Information-Theoretic Quantities from Density Functional Reactivity Theory for Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution Reactions.

PubMed

Wu, Wenjie; Wu, Zemin; Rong, Chunying; Lu, Tian; Huang, Ying; Liu, Shubin

2015-07-23

The electrophilic aromatic substitution for nitration, halogenation, sulfonation, and acylation is a vastly important category of chemical transformation. Its reactivity and regioselectivity is predominantly determined by nucleophilicity of carbon atoms on the aromatic ring, which in return is immensely influenced by the group that is attached to the aromatic ring a priori. In this work, taking advantage of recent developments in quantifying nucleophilicity (electrophilicity) with descriptors from the information-theoretic approach in density functional reactivity theory, we examine the reactivity properties of this reaction system from three perspectives. These include scaling patterns of information-theoretic quantities such as Shannon entropy, Fisher information, Ghosh-Berkowitz-Parr entropy and information gain at both molecular and atomic levels, quantitative predictions of the barrier height with both Hirshfeld charge and information gain, and energetic decomposition analyses of the barrier height for the reactions. To that end, we focused in this work on the identity reaction of the monosubstituted-benzene molecule reacting with hydrogen fluoride using boron trifluoride as the catalyst in the gas phase. We also considered 19 substituting groups, 9 of which are ortho/para directing and the other 9 meta directing, besides the case of R = -H. Similar scaling patterns for these information-theoretic quantities found for stable species elsewhere were disclosed for these reactions systems. We also unveiled novel scaling patterns for information gain at the atomic level. The barrier height of the reactions can reliably be predicted by using both the Hirshfeld charge and information gain at the regioselective carbon atom. The energy decomposition analysis ensued yields an unambiguous picture about the origin of the barrier height, where we showed that it is the electrostatic interaction that plays the dominant role, while the roles played by exchange-correlation and steric effects are minor but indispensable. Results obtained in this work should shed new light for better understanding of the factors governing the reactivity for this class of reactions and assisting ongoing efforts for the design of new and more efficient catalysts for such kind of transformations.

Factors affecting commercial application of embryo technologies in dairy cattle in Europe--a modelling approach.

PubMed

van Arendonk, Johan A M; Bijma, Piter

2003-01-15

Reproductive techniques have a major impact on the structure of breeding programmes, the rate of genetic gain and dissemination of genetic gain in populations. This manuscript reviews the impact of reproductive technologies on the underlying components of genetic gain and inbreeding with special reference to the role of female reproductive technology. Evaluation of alternative breeding schemes should be based on genetic gain while constraining inbreeding. Optimum breeding schemes can be characterised by: decreased importance of sib information; increased accuracy at the expense of intensity; and a factorial mating strategy. If large-scale embryo cloning becomes feasible, this will have a small impact on the rate of genetic gain but will have a large impact on the structure of breeding programmes.

77 FR 4564 - Request for Information Regarding the Reinsurance Program Under the Affordable Care Act

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-30

... a request for information (RFI) to gain market information on entities that could administer a... RFI solicits information about entities that could function as a reinsurance entity for the... more of the following functions: Collecting reinsurance contributions; Accepting and validating...

32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

32 CFR Appendix A to Part 1285 - Gaining Access to DLA Records

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Part 1285 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MISCELLANEOUS DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM Pt. 1285, App. A Appendix A to Part 1285—Gaining Access to DLA Records I. General The Defense Logistics Agency was established pursuant to...

Interactions between Signaling and Repeated Play with Borrower Default.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-10-01

is costly in terms of social welfare. Education yields a higher personal gain than socie- tal gain; consequently, more than the socially optimal...Lexington Books. Harris, M., and A. Raviv 119791, "Optimal Incentive Contracts with Imperfect Information," Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp

The Use of WebQuests for Helping Students Develop Their Information Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsui, Yuen

2010-01-01

Information literacy is generally defined as a set of abilities enabling individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the capacity to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. As a consequence of the ongoing proliferation of information resources on the Web, information literacy is required and gains a high…

Representing Where along with What Information in a Model of a Cortical Patch

PubMed Central

Roudi, Yasser; Treves, Alessandro

2008-01-01

Behaving in the real world requires flexibly combining and maintaining information about both continuous and discrete variables. In the visual domain, several lines of evidence show that neurons in some cortical networks can simultaneously represent information about the position and identity of objects, and maintain this combined representation when the object is no longer present. The underlying network mechanism for this combined representation is, however, unknown. In this paper, we approach this issue through a theoretical analysis of recurrent networks. We present a model of a cortical network that can retrieve information about the identity of objects from incomplete transient cues, while simultaneously representing their spatial position. Our results show that two factors are important in making this possible: A) a metric organisation of the recurrent connections, and B) a spatially localised change in the linear gain of neurons. Metric connectivity enables a localised retrieval of information about object identity, while gain modulation ensures localisation in the correct position. Importantly, we find that the amount of information that the network can retrieve and retain about identity is strongly affected by the amount of information it maintains about position. This balance can be controlled by global signals that change the neuronal gain. These results show that anatomical and physiological properties, which have long been known to characterise cortical networks, naturally endow them with the ability to maintain a conjunctive representation of the identity and location of objects. PMID:18369416

Information Dominance: Informations Role in Influencing Decision Making

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE INFORMATION DOMINANCE : INFORMATION’S ROLE IN INFLUENCING DECISION MAKING 5. FUNDING...unlimited INFORMATION DOMINANCE : INFORMATION’S ROLE IN INFLUENCING DECISION MAKING Geoffrey C. Gaines Lieutenant, United States Navy B.S...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited INFORMATION

Active microwave negative-index metamaterial transmission line with gain.

PubMed

Jiang, Tao; Chang, Kihun; Si, Li-Ming; Ran, Lixin; Xin, Hao

2011-11-11

We studied the active metamaterial transmission line at microwave frequency. The active composite right-handed or left-handed transmission line was designed to incorporate a germanium tunnel diode with a negative differential resistance property as the gain device at the unit cell level. Measurements of the fabricated planar transmission line structures with one-, two-, and three-unit cells showed that the addition of the dc pumped tunnel diodes not only provided gain but also maintained the left handedness of the transmission line metamaterial. Simulation results agree well with experimental observation. This work demonstrated that negative index material can be obtained with a net gain when an external source is incorporated.

Promoting cultural understanding through pediatric clinical dyads: an education research project.

PubMed

McDermott-Levy, Ruth; Cantrell, Mary Ann; Reynolds, Kathryn

2014-11-01

This project explored the experiences of six undergraduate nursing students, three American nursing students and three nursing students from the Sultan of Oman, who participated in a faculty initiated education research project as part of their pediatric clinical practicum. Students were placed in dyads, with one American-born student and one Omani student in each dyad. Omani students also were paired with American nurse preceptors. A transcript-based content analysis was used to analyze data generated from qualitative focus group student interviews and student journals. The analysis generated three themes that described how myths were dispelled, cultural barriers were broken down and knowledge gained from another cultural perspective. The nurse preceptors were surveyed at the conclusion of the program. The survey findings suggest that preceptors gained a different cultural perspective of nursing care and they were better informed of the Omani students' learning needs. There was, however, an additional investment of preceptor time in meeting the learning needs of international students. Additional faculty time was also required for preparation and time during clinical conferencing to address differences in nursing practice between U.S. and Oman while meeting course learning objectives. Overall, the educational program provided evidence of enhancing American and Omani student cultural competence and Omani student adaptation to the United States. Coupling a domestic student with an international student to form dyads from the beginning of international students' experience could be a significant enhancement to both groups of students' learning experience. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Atmospheric Measurements in Wind Power Statistical Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wharton, S.; Bulaevskaya, V.; Irons, Z.; Newman, J. F.; Clifton, A.

2015-12-01

The simplest wind power generation curves model power only as a function of the wind speed at turbine hub-height. While the latter is an essential predictor of power output, it is widely accepted that wind speed information in other parts of the vertical profile, as well as additional atmospheric variables including atmospheric stability, wind veer, and hub-height turbulence are also important factors. The goal of this work is to determine the gain in predictive ability afforded by adding additional atmospheric measurements to the power prediction model. In particular, we are interested in quantifying any gain in predictive ability afforded by measurements taken from a laser detection and ranging (lidar) instrument, as lidar provides high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of wind speed and direction at 10 or more levels throughout the rotor-disk and at heights well above. Co-located lidar and meteorological tower data as well as SCADA power data from a wind farm in Northern Oklahoma will be used to train a set of statistical models. In practice, most wind farms continue to rely on atmospheric measurements taken from less expensive, in situ instruments mounted on meteorological towers to assess turbine power response to a changing atmospheric environment. Here, we compare a large suite of atmospheric variables derived from tower measurements to those taken from lidar to determine if remote sensing devices add any competitive advantage over tower measurements alone to predict turbine power response.

Testing spatial heterogeneity with stock assessment models

PubMed Central

Eero, Margit; Silva, Alexandra; Ulrich, Clara; Pawlowski, Lionel; Holmes, Steven J.; Ibaibarriaga, Leire; De Oliveira, José A. A.; Riveiro, Isabel; Alzorriz, Nekane; Citores, Leire; Scott, Finlay; Uriarte, Andres; Carrera, Pablo; Duhamel, Erwan; Mosqueira, Iago

2018-01-01

This paper describes a methodology that combines meta-population theory and stock assessment models to gain insights about spatial heterogeneity of the meta-population in an operational time frame. The methodology was tested with stochastic simulations for different degrees of connectivity between sub-populations and applied to two case studies, North Sea cod (Gadus morua) and Northeast Atlantic sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Considering that the biological components of a population can be partitioned into discrete spatial units, we extended this idea into a property of additivity of sub-population abundances. If the additivity results hold true for putative sub-populations, then assessment results based on sub-populations will provide information to develop and monitor the implementation of finer scale/local management. The simulation study confirmed that when sub-populations are independent and not too heterogeneous with regards to productivity, the sum of stock assessment model estimates of sub-populations’ SSB is similar to the SSB estimates of the meta-population. It also showed that a strong diffusion process can be detected and that the stronger the connection between SSB and recruitment, the better the diffusion process will be detected. On the other hand it showed that weak to moderate diffusion processes are not easy to identify and large differences between sub-populations productivities may be confounded with weak diffusion processes. The application to North Sea cod and Atlantic sardine exemplified how much insight can be gained. In both cases the results obtained were sufficiently robust to support the regional analysis. PMID:29364901

For Whom Money Matters Less: Social Connectedness as a Resilience Resource in the UK.

PubMed

Richards, Lindsay

The current literature shows that both absolute and relative income are important for happiness, but there is little work emphasising how the strength of the relationship is dependent on personal and social factors. I hypothesise that social connectedness influences the money-happiness relationship because the effect of money is in part felt through the acquisition of social status, whereas status (and associated psychological benefits such as self-worth) can alternatively be gained through social connectedness. In particular, it is theorised that 'weak ties' when co-existing with good quality informal ties have a separable and additional benefit to subjective well-being, and that it is the socially isolated who have the most to gain from doing well financially. Social connectedness is conceptualised as a 'resilience resource' which has a buffering effect on subjective well-being. Data from the British Household Panel Survey are used, first to establish a measurement schema of connectedness using latent class analysis, and secondly in a multilevel model of life satisfaction with observations from seven consecutive years nested within individuals. The results show that connectedness makes a larger difference to satisfaction in times of financial stress, and that the satisfaction of the socially isolated can 'catch up' to some degree with those with larger networks when things are going well financially. The findings also confirm that those for whom money makes the smallest contribution to happiness are those with both strong and weak ties. Weak ties have an additional benefit compared to having strong ties alone. In summary, connectedness has the power to narrow the well-being gap that exists between times of financial struggle and times of relative comfort. It suggests that the psychological benefits of social integration have the capacity to displace money as a source of status and self-worth, and similarly that the importance of money may be exaggerated where these psychological gains are not available through other domains of life.

Can conflict be energizing? a study of task conflict, positive emotions, and job satisfaction.

PubMed

Todorova, Gergana; Bear, Julia B; Weingart, Laurie R

2014-05-01

Scholars have assumed that the presence of negative emotions during task conflict implies the absence of positive emotions. However, emotions researchers have shown that positive and negative emotions are not 2 ends of a bipolar continuum; rather, they represent 2 separate, orthogonal dimensions. Drawing on affective events theory, we develop and test hypotheses about the effects of task conflict on positive emotions and job satisfaction. To this end, we distinguish among the frequency, intensity, and information gained from task conflict. Using field data from 232 employees in a long-term health care organization, we find that more frequent mild task conflict expression engenders more information acquisition, but more frequent intense task conflict expression hinders it. Because of the information gains from mild task conflict expression, employees feel more active, energized, interested, and excited, and these positive active emotions increase job satisfaction. The information gained during task conflict, however, is not always energizing: It depends on the extent to which the behavioral context involves active learning and whether the conflict is cross-functional. We discuss theoretical implications for conflict, emotions, and job satisfaction in organizations. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

What and how do we communicate?

PubMed

Hugh-Jones, M

2000-01-01

The rapid, inexpensive transmission of words and data, brought about by the internet and cheap computers, is changing the world faster than anything mankind has ever experienced, reaching into nearly every aspect of our lives, public and private, commercial and governmental. We are in an Information Age with an essentially instantaneous availability of large volumes of information and data. Technological pressures have their own momentum. The changes and improvements in data handling and information sharing will take place, however much or little we do in veterinary medicine, whether at the international or national levels. In addition, there are new superpowers emerging in the world. These are the small and medium third world countries that are gradually gaining democracy through political restructuring and involving the civil society in decision making. There are also the marginal pressure groups, once too small and insignificant to be noticed. These are changing the rules by which the way the world is governed and they are doing it now by the internet and banding together to serve their common interests. The rapid provision of accurate information on animal diseases is desirable goal from a public health as well as an economic viewpoint.

E-detailing: information technology applied to pharmaceutical detailing.

PubMed

Montoya, Isaac D

2008-11-01

E-detailing can be best described as the use of information technology in the field of pharmaceutical detailing. It is becoming highly popular among pharmaceutical companies because it maximizes the time of the sales force, cuts down the cost of detailing and increases physician prescribing. Thus, the application of information technology is proving to be beneficial to both physicians and pharmaceutical companies. When e-detailing was introduced in 1996, it was limited to the US; however, numerous other countries soon adopted this novel approach to detailing and now it is popular in many developed nations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the rapid growth of e-detailing in the field of pharmaceutical marketing. A review of e-detailing literature was conducted in addition to personal conversations with physicians. E-detailing has the potential to reduce marketing costs, increase accessibility to physicians and offer many of the advantages of face-to-face detailing. E-detailing is gaining acceptance among physicians because they can access the information of a pharmaceutical product at their own time and convenience. However, the drug safety aspect of e-detailing has not been examined and e-detailing remains a supplement to traditional detailing and is not yet a replacement to it.

THE FLAG: A Web Resource of Innovative Assessment Tools for Faculty in College Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeilik, M.; Mathieu, R. D.; National InstituteScience Education; College Level-One Team

2000-12-01

Even the most dedicated college faculty often discover that their students fail to learn what was taught in their courses and that much of what students do learn is quickly forgotten after the final exam. To help college faculty improve student learning in college Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (SMET), the College Level - One Team of the National Institute for Science Education has created the "FLAG" a Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide for SMET faculty. Developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, the FLAG presents in guidebook format a diverse and robust collection of field-tested classroom assessment techniques (CATs), with supporting information on how to apply them in the classroom. Faculty can download the tools and techniques from the website, which also provides a goals clarifier, an assessment primer, a searchable database, and links to additional resources. The CATs and tools have been reviewed by an expert editorial board and the NISE team. These assessment strategies can help faculty improve the learning environments in their SMET courses especially the crucial introductory courses that most strongly shape students' college learning experiences. In addition, the FLAG includes the web-based Student Assessment of Learning Gains. The SALG offers a convenient way to evaluate the impact of your courses on students. It is based on findings that students' estimates of what they gained are more reliable and informative than their observations of what they liked about the course or teacher. It offers accurate feedback on how well the different aspects of teaching helped the students to learn. Students complete the SALG online after a generic template has been modified to fit the learning objectives and activities of your course. The results are presented to the teacher as summary statistics automatically. The FLAG can be found at the NISE "Innovations in SMET Education" website at www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1

A comparative assessment of statistical methods for extreme weather analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlögl, Matthias; Laaha, Gregor

2017-04-01

Extreme weather exposure assessment is of major importance for scientists and practitioners alike. We compare different extreme value approaches and fitting methods with respect to their value for assessing extreme precipitation and temperature impacts. Based on an Austrian data set from 25 meteorological stations representing diverse meteorological conditions, we assess the added value of partial duration series over the standardly used annual maxima series in order to give recommendations for performing extreme value statistics of meteorological hazards. Results show the merits of the robust L-moment estimation, which yielded better results than maximum likelihood estimation in 62 % of all cases. At the same time, results question the general assumption of the threshold excess approach (employing partial duration series, PDS) being superior to the block maxima approach (employing annual maxima series, AMS) due to information gain. For low return periods (non-extreme events) the PDS approach tends to overestimate return levels as compared to the AMS approach, whereas an opposite behavior was found for high return levels (extreme events). In extreme cases, an inappropriate threshold was shown to lead to considerable biases that may outperform the possible gain of information from including additional extreme events by far. This effect was neither visible from the square-root criterion, nor from standardly used graphical diagnosis (mean residual life plot), but from a direct comparison of AMS and PDS in synoptic quantile plots. We therefore recommend performing AMS and PDS approaches simultaneously in order to select the best suited approach. This will make the analyses more robust, in cases where threshold selection and dependency introduces biases to the PDS approach, but also in cases where the AMS contains non-extreme events that may introduce similar biases. For assessing the performance of extreme events we recommend conditional performance measures that focus on rare events only in addition to standardly used unconditional indicators. The findings of this study are of relevance for a broad range of environmental variables, including meteorological and hydrological quantities.

The Influence of Tactile Cognitive Maps on Auditory Space Perception in Sighted Persons.

PubMed

Tonelli, Alessia; Gori, Monica; Brayda, Luca

2016-01-01

We have recently shown that vision is important to improve spatial auditory cognition. In this study, we investigate whether touch is as effective as vision to create a cognitive map of a soundscape. In particular, we tested whether the creation of a mental representation of a room, obtained through tactile exploration of a 3D model, can influence the perception of a complex auditory task in sighted people. We tested two groups of blindfolded sighted people - one experimental and one control group - in an auditory space bisection task. In the first group, the bisection task was performed three times: specifically, the participants explored with their hands the 3D tactile model of the room and were led along the perimeter of the room between the first and the second execution of the space bisection. Then, they were allowed to remove the blindfold for a few minutes and look at the room between the second and third execution of the space bisection. Instead, the control group repeated for two consecutive times the space bisection task without performing any environmental exploration in between. Considering the first execution as a baseline, we found an improvement in the precision after the tactile exploration of the 3D model. Interestingly, no additional gain was obtained when room observation followed the tactile exploration, suggesting that no additional gain was obtained by vision cues after spatial tactile cues were internalized. No improvement was found between the first and the second execution of the space bisection without environmental exploration in the control group, suggesting that the improvement was not due to task learning. Our results show that tactile information modulates the precision of an ongoing space auditory task as well as visual information. This suggests that cognitive maps elicited by touch may participate in cross-modal calibration and supra-modal representations of space that increase implicit knowledge about sound propagation.

Constraints on quantum information field and “human gain medium” making possible functioning of social laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khrennikov, Andrei

2017-08-01

Starting with the quantum-like paradigm on application of quantum information and probability outside of physics we proceed to the social laser model describing Stimulated Amplification of Social Actions (SASA). The basic components of social laser are the quantum information field carrying information excitations and the human gain medium. The aim of this note is to analyze constraints on these components making possible SASA. The soical laser model can be used to explain the recent wave of color revolutions as well as such “unpredictable events” as Brexit and election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States of America. The presented quantum-like model is not only descriptive. We shall list explicitly conditions for creation of social laser.

High color fidelity thin film multilayer systems for head-up display use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsou, Yi-Jen D.; Ho, Fang C.

1996-09-01

Head-up display is gaining increasing access in automotive vehicles for indication and position/navigation purposes. An optical combiner, which allows the driver to receive image information from outside and inside of the automobile, is the essential part of this display device. Two multilayer thin film combiner coating systems with distinctive polarization selectivity and broad band spectral neutrality are discussed. One of the coating systems was designed to be located at the lower portion of the windshield. The coating reduced the exterior glare by approximately 45% and provided about 70% average see-through transmittance in addition to the interior information display. The other coating system was designed to be integrated with the sunshield located at the upper portion of the windshield. The coating reflected the interior information display while reducing direct sunlight penetration to 25%. Color fidelity for both interior and exterior images were maintained in both systems. This facilitated the display of full-color maps. Both coating systems were absorptionless and environmentally durable. Designs, fabrication, and performance of these coating systems are addressed.

Information-Driven Autonomous Exploration for a Vision-Based Mav

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palazzolo, E.; Stachniss, C.

2017-08-01

Most micro aerial vehicles (MAV) are flown manually by a pilot. When it comes to autonomous exploration for MAVs equipped with cameras, we need a good exploration strategy for covering an unknown 3D environment in order to build an accurate map of the scene. In particular, the robot must select appropriate viewpoints to acquire informative measurements. In this paper, we present an approach that computes in real-time a smooth flight path with the exploration of a 3D environment using a vision-based MAV. We assume to know a bounding box of the object or building to explore and our approach iteratively computes the next best viewpoints using a utility function that considers the expected information gain of new measurements, the distance between viewpoints, and the smoothness of the flight trajectories. In addition, the algorithm takes into account the elapsed time of the exploration run to safely land the MAV at its starting point after a user specified time. We implemented our algorithm and our experiments suggest that it allows for a precise reconstruction of the 3D environment while guiding the robot smoothly through the scene.

Availability of online educational content concerning topics of animal welfare.

PubMed

Petervary, Nicolette; Allen, Tim; Stokes, William S; Banks, Ron E

2016-05-01

Animal welfare is an important area of study for professionals in fields of animal care and use, and many turn to self-learning resources to gain a better understanding of topics in this area. We assessed the state of these self-learning resources by evaluating open access, freely available resources on the internet with respect to their content and the reliability of their information. We categorized content using a modified list of the topics described in the American College of Animal Welfare's Role Delineation Document, and we identified subject areas that are underrepresented among freely available resources. We identified that the field needs more content describing practical information on subtopics of animal transportation, humane education and economic issues in animal welfare. We also suggest a targeted approach to improve and increase particular aspects of content that concerns the impacts of human, animal and environment interactions on animal welfare. We recommend that veterinary societies place more emphasis on welfare policies in their websites. Additionally, the field of animal welfare would benefit from more available and authoritative information on certain species and uses of animals that are presently underrepresented.

Modes of Visual Recognition and Perceptually Relevant Sketch-based Coding for Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jobson, Daniel J.

1991-01-01

A review of visual recognition studies is used to define two levels of information requirements. These two levels are related to two primary subdivisions of the spatial frequency domain of images and reflect two distinct different physical properties of arbitrary scenes. In particular, pathologies in recognition due to cerebral dysfunction point to a more complete split into two major types of processing: high spatial frequency edge based recognition vs. low spatial frequency lightness (and color) based recognition. The former is more central and general while the latter is more specific and is necessary for certain special tasks. The two modes of recognition can also be distinguished on the basis of physical scene properties: the highly localized edges associated with reflectance and sharp topographic transitions vs. smooth topographic undulation. The extreme case of heavily abstracted images is pursued to gain an understanding of the minimal information required to support both modes of recognition. Here the intention is to define the semantic core of transmission. This central core of processing can then be fleshed out with additional image information and coding and rendering techniques.

Investigating the state of physiologically based kinetic modelling practices and challenges associated with gaining regulatory acceptance of model applications.

PubMed

Paini, Alicia; Leonard, Jeremy A; Kliment, Tomas; Tan, Yu-Mei; Worth, Andrew

2017-11-01

Physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models are used widely throughout a number of working sectors, including academia and industry, to provide insight into the dosimetry related to observed adverse health effects in humans and other species. Use of these models has increased over the last several decades, especially in conjunction with emerging alternative methods to animal testing, such as in vitro studies and data-driven in silico quantitative-structure-activity-relationship (QSAR) predictions. Experimental information derived from these new approach methods can be used as input for model parameters and allows for increased confidence in models for chemicals that did not have in vivo data for model calibration. Despite significant advancements in good modelling practice (GMP) for model development and evaluation, there remains some reluctance among regulatory agencies to use such models during the risk assessment process. Here, the results of a survey disseminated to the modelling community are presented in order to inform the frequency of use and applications of PBK models in science and regulatory submission. Additionally, the survey was designed to identify a network of investigators involved in PBK modelling and knowledgeable of GMP so that they might be contacted in the future for peer review of PBK models, especially in regards to vetting the models to such a degree as to gain a greater acceptance for regulatory purposes. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparison of two micro-beam X-ray emission techniques for actinide elemental distribution in microscopic particles originating from the hydrogen bombs involved in the Palomares (Spain) and Thule (Greenland) accidents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jimenez-Ramos, M. C.; Eriksson, M.; García-López, J.; Ranebo, Y.; García-Tenorio, R.; Betti, M.; Holm, E.

2010-09-01

In order to validate and to gain confidence in two micro-beam techniques: particle induced X-ray emission with nuclear microprobe technique (μ-PIXE) and synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence in a confocal alignment (confocal SR μ-XRF) for characterization of microscopic particles containing actinide elements (mixed plutonium and uranium) a comparative study has been performed. Inter-comparison of the two techniques is essential as the X-ray production cross-sections for U and Pu are different for protons and photons and not well defined in the open literature, especially for Pu. The particles studied consisted of nuclear weapons material, and originate either in the so called Palomares accident in Spain, 1966 or in the Thule accident in Greenland, 1968. In the determination of the average Pu/U mass ratios (not corrected by self-absorption) in the analysed microscopic particles the results from both techniques show a very good agreement. In addition, the suitability of both techniques for the analysis with good resolution (down to a few μm) of the Pu/U distribution within the particles has been proved. The set of results obtained through both techniques has allowed gaining important information concerning the characterization of the remaining fissile material in the areas affected by the aircraft accidents. This type of information is essential for long-term impact assessments of contaminated sites.

Enhancing undergraduate students' chemistry understanding through project-based learning in an IT environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barak, Miri; Dori, Yehudit Judy

2005-01-01

Project-based learning (PBL), which is increasingly supported by information technologies (IT), contributes to fostering student-directed scientific inquiry of problems in a real-world setting. This study investigated the integration of PBL in an IT environment into three undergraduate chemistry courses, each including both experimental and control students. Students in the experimental group volunteered to carry out an individual IT-based project, whereas the control students solved only traditional problems. The project included constructing computerized molecular models, seeking information on scientific phenomena, and inquiring about chemistry theories. The effect of the PBL was examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative analysis was based on a pretest, a posttest, and a final examination, which served for comparing the learning gains of the two research groups. For the qualitative analysis, we looked into the experimental students' performance, as reflected by the projects they had submitted. In addition, think alou interviews and observations helped us gain insight into the students' conceptual understanding of molecular structures. Students who participated in the IT-enhanced PBL performed significantly better than their control classmates not only on their posttest but also on their course final examination. Analyzing the qualitative findings, we concluded that the construction of computerized models and Web-based inquiry activities helped promote students' ability of mentally traversing the four levels of chemistry understanding: symbolic, macroscopic, microscopic, and process. More generally, our results indicated that incorporating IT-rich PBL into freshmen courses can enhance students' understanding of chemical concepts, theories, and molecular structures.

Healthcare in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa: obstacles and barriers to care.

PubMed

Reuter, Kim Eleanor; Geysimonyan, Aurora; Molina, Gabriela; Reuter, Peter Robert

2014-01-01

The provision of healthcare services in developing countries has received increasing attention, but inequalities persist. One nation with potential inequalities in healthcare services is Equatorial Guinea (Central-West Africa). Mitigating these inequalities is difficult, as the Equatoguinean healthcare system remains relatively understudied. In this study, we interviewed members of the healthcare community in order to: 1) learn which diseases are most common and the most common cause of death from the perspective of healthcare workers; and 2) gain an understanding of the healthcare community in Equatorial Guinea by describing how: a) healthcare workers gain their professional knowledge; b) summarizing ongoing healthcare programs aimed at the general public; c) discussing conflicts within the healthcare community and between the public and healthcare providers; d) and addressing opportunities to improve healthcare delivery. We found that some causes of death, such as serious injuries, may not be currently treatable in country, potentially due to a lack of resources and trauma care facilities. In addition, training and informational programs for both healthcare workers and the general public may not be effectively transmitting information to the intended recipients. This presents hurdles to the healthcare community, both in terms of having professional competence in healthcare delivery and in having a community that is receptive to medical care. Our data also highlight government-facility communication as an opportunity for improvement. Our research is an important first step in understanding the context of healthcare delivery in Equatorial Guinea, a country that is relatively data poor.

A Week in the Wilderness of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont: An Outdoor Science Education Course for Graduate and Undergraduate Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radencic, S.; Walker, R. M.; Anthony, K. V.

2014-12-01

Graduate and undergraduate students with an interest in science education complete an intensive three-week "Maymester" course at Mississippi State University that includes one week of field experience teaching science in outdoor environments. The focus of the course includes the history and rationales for interdisciplinary outdoor education and informal learning environments while promoting successful pedagogical practices to enhance science instruction. Students gain valuable outdoor education field experience through a week of full emersion at a residential environmental learning center at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, TN (www.gsmit.org) that challenges perceptions of what many believe are "good teaching" practices. Tremont offers multiple overnight educational options for K-12 schools, teacher professional development programs, master naturalists trainings, and citizen science opportunities to the public. Being fully immersed in the outdoors teaching and learning about Earth Science interdisciplinary topics creates a paradigm shift in what is considered to be effective teaching by the graduate and undergraduate participants. Prior to the week at Tremont, students select a Tremont created outdoor educational activity to teach their fellow the graduate and undergraduate students while at Tremont. All activities promote inquiry and hands-on exploration utilizing authentic science process skills in outdoor field research settings that can also be adapted for local school environments. At Tremont the students reside in platform tents located at the center to allow complete immersion in the culture of informal learning unique to outdoor education. In addition to gaining personal experiences leading outdoor science activities, the college students get to actively observe experts in the field of outdoor ecological education model exemplary pedagogical practices of guided inquiry and effective questioning strategies. The impact of the full emersion field experience gained by class participants will be one that they can implement into a variety of science education settings to enrich understanding of the Geosciences to diverse audiences.

Does message framing affect changes in behavioural intentions in people with psoriasis? A randomized exploratory study examining health risk communication.

PubMed

Keyworth, C; Nelson, P A; Bundy, C; Pye, S R; Griffiths, C E M; Cordingley, L

2018-08-01

Message framing is important in health communication research to encourage behaviour change. Psoriasis, a long-term inflammatory skin condition, has additional comorbidities including high levels of anxiety and cardiovascular disease (CVD), making message framing particularly important. This experimental study aimed to: (1) identify whether health messages about psoriasis presented as either gain- or loss-framed were more effective for prompting changes in behavioural intentions (BI), (2) examine whether BI were driven by a desire to improve psoriasis or reduce CVD risk; (3) examine emotional reactions to message frame; and (4) examine predictors of BI. A two by two experiment examined the effects on BI of message frame (loss vs. gain) and message focus (psoriasis symptom reduction vs. CVD risk reduction). Participants with psoriasis (n = 217) were randomly allocated to one of four evidence-based health messages related to either smoking, alcohol, diet or physical activity, using an online questionnaire. BI was the primary outcome. Analysis of variance tests and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. A significant frame by focus interaction was found for BI to reduce alcohol intake (p = .023); loss-framed messages were more effective for CVD risk reduction information, whilst gain-framed messages were more effective for psoriasis symptom reduction information. Message framing effects were not found for BI for increased physical activity and improving diet. High CVD risk was a significant predictor  of increased BI for both alcohol reduction (β = .290, p < .01) and increased physical activity (β = -.231, p < .001). Message framing may be an important factor to consider depending on the health benefit emphasised (disease symptom reduction or CVD risk reduction) and patient-stated priorities. Condition-specific health messages in psoriasis populations may increase the likelihood of message effectiveness for alcohol reduction.

Simulation-based power calculations for planning a two-stage individual participant data meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ensor, Joie; Burke, Danielle L; Snell, Kym I E; Hemming, Karla; Riley, Richard D

2018-05-18

Researchers and funders should consider the statistical power of planned Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analysis projects, as they are often time-consuming and costly. We propose simulation-based power calculations utilising a two-stage framework, and illustrate the approach for a planned IPD meta-analysis of randomised trials with continuous outcomes where the aim is to identify treatment-covariate interactions. The simulation approach has four steps: (i) specify an underlying (data generating) statistical model for trials in the IPD meta-analysis; (ii) use readily available information (e.g. from publications) and prior knowledge (e.g. number of studies promising IPD) to specify model parameter values (e.g. control group mean, intervention effect, treatment-covariate interaction); (iii) simulate an IPD meta-analysis dataset of a particular size from the model, and apply a two-stage IPD meta-analysis to obtain the summary estimate of interest (e.g. interaction effect) and its associated p-value; (iv) repeat the previous step (e.g. thousands of times), then estimate the power to detect a genuine effect by the proportion of summary estimates with a significant p-value. In a planned IPD meta-analysis of lifestyle interventions to reduce weight gain in pregnancy, 14 trials (1183 patients) promised their IPD to examine a treatment-BMI interaction (i.e. whether baseline BMI modifies intervention effect on weight gain). Using our simulation-based approach, a two-stage IPD meta-analysis has < 60% power to detect a reduction of 1 kg weight gain for a 10-unit increase in BMI. Additional IPD from ten other published trials (containing 1761 patients) would improve power to over 80%, but only if a fixed-effect meta-analysis was appropriate. Pre-specified adjustment for prognostic factors would increase power further. Incorrect dichotomisation of BMI would reduce power by over 20%, similar to immediately throwing away IPD from ten trials. Simulation-based power calculations could inform the planning and funding of IPD projects, and should be used routinely.

Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training.

PubMed

Itthipuripat, Sirawaj; Cha, Kexin; Byers, Anna; Serences, John T

2017-06-01

Selective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand, studies using highly trained nonhuman primates suggest that reductions in neural noise can better explain attentional facilitation of behavior. Given the importance of selective information processing in nearly all domains of cognition, we sought to reconcile these competing accounts by testing the hypothesis that extensive behavioral training alters the neural mechanisms that support selective attention. We tested this hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stimulus-evoked visual responses from human subjects while they performed a selective spatial attention task over the course of ~1 month. Early in training, spatial attention led to an increase in the gain of stimulus-evoked visual responses. Gain was apparent within ~100 ms of stimulus onset, and a quantitative model based on signal detection theory (SDT) successfully linked the magnitude of this gain modulation to attention-related improvements in behavior. However, after extensive training, this early attentional gain was eliminated even though there were still substantial attention-related improvements in behavior. Accordingly, the SDT-based model required noise reduction to account for the link between the stimulus-evoked visual responses and attentional modulations of behavior. These findings suggest that training can lead to fundamental changes in the way attention alters the early cortical responses that support selective information processing. Moreover, these data facilitate the translation of results across different species and across experimental procedures that employ different behavioral training regimes.

Two different mechanisms support selective attention at different phases of training

PubMed Central

Cha, Kexin; Byers, Anna; Serences, John T.

2017-01-01

Selective attention supports the prioritized processing of relevant sensory information to facilitate goal-directed behavior. Studies in human subjects demonstrate that attentional gain of cortical responses can sufficiently account for attention-related improvements in behavior. On the other hand, studies using highly trained nonhuman primates suggest that reductions in neural noise can better explain attentional facilitation of behavior. Given the importance of selective information processing in nearly all domains of cognition, we sought to reconcile these competing accounts by testing the hypothesis that extensive behavioral training alters the neural mechanisms that support selective attention. We tested this hypothesis using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure stimulus-evoked visual responses from human subjects while they performed a selective spatial attention task over the course of ~1 month. Early in training, spatial attention led to an increase in the gain of stimulus-evoked visual responses. Gain was apparent within ~100 ms of stimulus onset, and a quantitative model based on signal detection theory (SDT) successfully linked the magnitude of this gain modulation to attention-related improvements in behavior. However, after extensive training, this early attentional gain was eliminated even though there were still substantial attention-related improvements in behavior. Accordingly, the SDT-based model required noise reduction to account for the link between the stimulus-evoked visual responses and attentional modulations of behavior. These findings suggest that training can lead to fundamental changes in the way attention alters the early cortical responses that support selective information processing. Moreover, these data facilitate the translation of results across different species and across experimental procedures that employ different behavioral training regimes. PMID:28654635

78 FR 42537 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Online Survey of Web Services Employers; New...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-16

...-NEW] Agency Information Collection Activities: Online Survey of Web Services Employers; New... Information Collection: New information collection. (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Online Survey of Web... sector. It is necessary that USCIS obtains data on the E-Verify Program Web Services. Gaining an...

40 CFR 2.211 - Safeguarding of business information; penalty for wrongful disclosure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... for his or her private gain or advantage, any business information which came into his or her... any security procedures for handling and safeguarding business information which are contained in any... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Safeguarding of business information...

Informal Spaces in Collaborations: Exploring the Edges/Boundaries of Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lom, Essie; Sullenger, Karen

2011-01-01

Self-directed, informal learning is a less recognized and understood form of professional development. Researching informal learning is almost an oxymoron. The process of studying learning contexts, such as informal, self-directed professional development, raises new challenges for researchers. Gaining insights into self-directed professional…

A Comparative Analysis of the Information Sectors of South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Mee-Jean

1996-01-01

Discussion of disparities between developed and developing nations and the influence of information technology focuses on the newly industrializing countries of South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan and their development of the information sectors as strategic industries to gain international competitiveness. Topics include information activities,…

Children with Autism Show Reduced Information Seeking When Learning New Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Nicole; Hudry, Kristelle; Trembath, David; Vivanti, Giacomo

2016-01-01

Information-seeking behaviours occur when children look to adults in order to gain further information about a novel stimulus/situation. The current study investigated information seeking in children with developmental delays (DD) and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during a simulated teaching situation. Twenty preschool-aged children…

Strength of baseline inter-trial correlations forecasts adaptive capacity in the vestibulo-ocular reflex

PubMed Central

Beaton, Kara H.; Wong, Aaron L.; Lowen, Steven B.

2017-01-01

Individual differences in sensorimotor adaptability may permit customized training protocols for optimum learning. Here, we sought to forecast individual adaptive capabilities in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). Subjects performed 400 head-rotation steps (400 trials) during a baseline test, followed by 20 min of VOR gain adaptation. All subjects exhibited mean baseline VOR gain of approximately 1.0, variable from trial to trial, and showed desired reductions in gain following adaptation with variation in extent across individuals. The extent to which a given subject adapted was inversely proportional to a measure of the strength and duration of baseline inter-trial correlations (β). β is derived from the decay of the autocorrelation of the sequence of VOR gains, and describes how strongly correlated are past gain values; it thus indicates how much the VOR gain on any given trial is informed by performance on previous trials. To maximize the time that images are stabilized on the retina, the VOR should maintain a gain close to 1.0 that is adjusted predominantly according to the most recent error; hence, it is not surprising that individuals who exhibit smaller β (weaker inter-trial correlations) also exhibited the best adaptation. Our finding suggests that the temporal structure of baseline behavioral data contains important information that may aid in forecasting adaptive capacities. This has significant implications for the development of personalized physical therapy protocols for patients, and for other cases when it is necessary to adjust motor programs to maintain movement accuracy in response to pathological and environmental changes. PMID:28380076

Testing competing measures of profitability for mobile resources.

PubMed

Barrette, Maryse; Wu, Gi-Mick; Brodeur, Jacques; Giraldeau, Luc-Alain; Boivin, Guy

2009-01-01

Optimal diet theory often fails to predict a forager's diet choice when prey are mobile. Because they escape or defend themselves, mobile prey are likely to increase the forager's handling time, thereby decreasing its fitness gain rate. Many animals have been shown to select their prey so as to maximize either their fitness gain or their fitness gain rate. However, no study has yet compared directly these two measures of profitability by generating testable predictions about the choice of the forager. Under laboratory conditions, we compared these two measures of profitability, using the aphid parasitoid Aphidius colemani and its host, Myzus persicae. Fitness gain was calculated for parasitoids developing in each host instar by measuring life-history traits such as developmental time, sex ratio and fecundity. Fitness gain rate was estimated by dividing fitness gain by handling time, the time required to subdue the host. Fourth instar aphids provided the best fitness gain to parasitoids, whereas second instar aphids were the most profitable in terms of fitness gain rate. Host choice tests showed that A. colemani females preferred second instar hosts, suggesting that their decision maximizes fitness gain rate over fitness gain. Our results indicate that fitness gain rate is a reliable predictor of animal's choice for foragers exploiting resources that impose additional time cost due to their mobility.

Ultra-flat wideband single-pump Raman-enhanced parametric amplification.

PubMed

Gordienko, V; Stephens, M F C; El-Taher, A E; Doran, N J

2017-03-06

We experimentally optimize a single pump fiber optical parametric amplifier in terms of gain spectral bandwidth and gain variation (GV). We find that optimal performance is achieved with the pump tuned to the zero-dispersion wavelength of dispersion stable highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). We demonstrate further improvement of parametric gain bandwidth and GV by decreasing the HNLF length. We discover that Raman and parametric gain spectra produced by the same pump may be merged together to enhance overall gain bandwidth, while keeping GV low. Consequently, we report an ultra-flat gain of 9.6 ± 0.5 dB over a range of 111 nm (12.8 THz) on one side of the pump. Additionally, we demonstrate amplification of a 60 Gbit/s QPSK signal tuned over a portion of the available bandwidth with OSNR penalty less than 1 dB for Q² below 14 dB.

Clinically significant weight gain 1 year after occupational back injury.

PubMed

Keeney, Benjamin J; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah; Wickizer, Thomas M; Turner, Judith A; Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary; Franklin, Gary M

2013-03-01

To examine the incidence of clinically significant weight gain 1 year after occupational back injury, and risk factors for that gain. A cohort of Washington State workers with wage-replacement benefits for back injuries completed baseline and 1-year follow-up telephone interviews. We obtained additional measures from claims and medical records. Among 1263 workers, 174 (13.8%) reported clinically significant weight gain (≥7%) 1 year after occupational back injury. Women and workers who had more than 180 days on wage replacement at 1 year were twice as likely (adjusted odds ratio = 2.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.54 to 3.07; adjusted odds ratio = 2.40, 95% confidence interval = 1.63 to 3.53, respectively; both P < 0.001) to have clinically significant weight gain. Women and workers on wage replacement for more than 180 days may be susceptible to clinically significant weight gain after occupational back injury.

Clinically Significant Weight Gain One Year After Occupational Back Injury

PubMed Central

Keeney, Benjamin J.; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah; Wickizer, Thomas M.; Turner, Judith A.; Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary; Franklin, Gary M.

2014-01-01

Objective To examine the incidence of clinically significant weight gain one year after occupational back injury, and risk factors for that gain. Methods A cohort of Washington State workers with wage-replacement benefits for back injuries completed baseline and 1-year follow-up telephone interviews. We obtained additional measures from claims and medical records. Results Among 1,263 workers, 174 (13.8%) reported clinically significant weight gain (≥7%) 1 year after occupational back injury. Women and workers who had >180 days on wage replacement at 1 year were twice as likely (adjusted OR=2.17, 95% CI=1.54–3.07; adjusted OR=2.40, 95% CI=1.63–3.53, respectively; both P<0.001) to have clinically significant weight gain. Conclusions Women and workers on wage replacement >180 days may be susceptible to clinically significant weight gain following occupational back injury. PMID:23247606

Making species checklists understandable to machines - a shift from relational databases to ontologies.

PubMed

Laurenne, Nina; Tuominen, Jouni; Saarenmaa, Hannu; Hyvönen, Eero

2014-01-01

The scientific names of plants and animals play a major role in Life Sciences as information is indexed, integrated, and searched using scientific names. The main problem with names is their ambiguous nature, because more than one name may point to the same taxon and multiple taxa may share the same name. In addition, scientific names change over time, which makes them open to various interpretations. Applying machine-understandable semantics to these names enables efficient processing of biological content in information systems. The first step is to use unique persistent identifiers instead of name strings when referring to taxa. The most commonly used identifiers are Life Science Identifiers (LSID), which are traditionally used in relational databases, and more recently HTTP URIs, which are applied on the Semantic Web by Linked Data applications. We introduce two models for expressing taxonomic information in the form of species checklists. First, we show how species checklists are presented in a relational database system using LSIDs. Then, in order to gain a more detailed representation of taxonomic information, we introduce meta-ontology TaxMeOn to model the same content as Semantic Web ontologies where taxa are identified using HTTP URIs. We also explore how changes in scientific names can be managed over time. The use of HTTP URIs is preferable for presenting the taxonomic information of species checklists. An HTTP URI identifies a taxon and operates as a web address from which additional information about the taxon can be located, unlike LSID. This enables the integration of biological data from different sources on the web using Linked Data principles and prevents the formation of information silos. The Linked Data approach allows a user to assemble information and evaluate the complexity of taxonomical data based on conflicting views of taxonomic classifications. Using HTTP URIs and Semantic Web technologies also facilitate the representation of the semantics of biological data, and in this way, the creation of more "intelligent" biological applications and services.

Prostate Cancer Patient Perspectives on the Use of Information in Treatment Decision-Making: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Meta-synthesis

PubMed Central

Kandasamy, Sujane; Khalid, Ahmad Firas; Majid, Umair; Vanstone, Meredith

2017-01-01

Background Men with low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer are typically asked to choose from a variety of treatment options, including active surveillance, radical prostatectomy, or brachytherapy. The Prolaris cell cycle progression test is intended to provide additional information on personal risk status to assist men with prostate cancer in their choice of treatment. To assist with assessing that new technology, this report synthesizes qualitative research on how men with prostate cancer use information to make decisions about treatment options. Methods We performed a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis to retrieve and synthesize findings across primary qualitative studies that report on patient perspectives during prostate cancer treatment decision-making. Results Of 8,610 titles and abstracts reviewed, 29 studies are included in this report. Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer express that their information-seeking pathway extends beyond the medical information received from their health care provider. They access other social resources to attain additional medical information, lived-experience information, and medical administrative information to help support their final treatment decision. Men value privacy, trust, honesty, control, power, organization, and open communication during interactions with their health care providers. They also emphasize the importance of gaining comfort with their treatment choice, having a chance to confirm their health care provider's recommendations (validation of treatment plan), and exercising their preferred level of independence in the treatment decision-making process. Conclusions Although each prostate cancer patient is unique, studies suggest that most patients seek extensive information to help inform their treatment decisions. This may happen before, during, and after the treatment choice is made. Given the amount of information patients may access, it is important that they also establish the trustworthiness of the various types and sources of information. When information conflicts, patients may be unsure about how to proceed. Open collaboration between patients and their health care providers can help patients manage and navigate their concerns so that their values and perspectives are captured in their treatment choices. PMID:28572868

Power Smoothing of a Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Generator in Association With the Rotor-Speed-Dependent Gain

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

Kim, Yeonhee; Kang, Moses; Muljadi, Eduard

This paper proposes a power-smoothing scheme for a variable-speed wind turbine generator (WTG) that can smooth out the WTG's fluctuating power caused by varying wind speeds, and thereby keep the system frequency within a narrow range. The proposed scheme employs an additional loop based on the system frequency deviation that operates in conjunction with the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control loop. Unlike the conventional, fixed-gain scheme, its control gain is modified with the rotor speed. In the proposed scheme, the control gain is determined by considering the ratio of the output of the additional loop to that of themore » MPPT loop. To improve the contribution of the scheme toward maintaining the frequency while ensuring the stable operation of WTGs, in the low rotor speed region, the ratio is set to be proportional to the rotor speed; in the high rotor speed region, the ratio remains constant. The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated under varying wind conditions for the IEEE 14-bus system. The simulation results demonstrate that the scheme successfully operates regardless of the output power fluctuation of a WTG by adjusting the gain with the rotor speed, and thereby improves the frequency-regulating capability of a WTG.« less

Would You Do It Again? Relationship Skills Gained in a Long-Distance Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mietzner, Sara; Lin Li-Wen

2005-01-01

This study examined if experienced long-distance relationship (LDR) participants would be willing to be involved in a LDR again. In addition, although positive and negative outcomes have been reported in LDRs research, very little research investigated relationship skills gained during a LDR. Students in a Midwestern university completed…

Hafnium transistor design for neural interfacing.

PubMed

Parent, David W; Basham, Eric J

2008-01-01

A design methodology is presented that uses the EKV model and the g(m)/I(D) biasing technique to design hafnium oxide field effect transistors that are suitable for neural recording circuitry. The DC gain of a common source amplifier is correlated to the structural properties of a Field Effect Transistor (FET) and a Metal Insulator Semiconductor (MIS) capacitor. This approach allows a transistor designer to use a design flow that starts with simple and intuitive 1-D equations for gain that can be verified in 1-D MIS capacitor TCAD simulations, before final TCAD process verification of transistor properties. The DC gain of a common source amplifier is optimized by using fast 1-D simulations and using slower, complex 2-D simulations only for verification. The 1-D equations are used to show that the increased dielectric constant of hafnium oxide allows a higher DC gain for a given oxide thickness. An additional benefit is that the MIS capacitor can be employed to test additional performance parameters important to an open gate transistor such as dielectric stability and ionic penetration.

Keldysh meets Lindblad: Correlated Gain and Loss in Higher Order Perturbation Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stace, Tom; Mueller, Clemens

Motivated by correlated decay processes driving gain, loss and lasing in driven artificial quantum systems, we develop a theoretical technique using Keldysh diagrammatic perturbation theory to derive a Lindblad master equation that goes beyond the usual second order perturbation theory. We demonstrate the method on the driven dissipative Rabi model, including terms up to fourth order in the interaction between the qubit and both the resonator and environment. This results in a large class of Lindblad dissipators and associated rates which go beyond the terms that have previously been proposed to describe similar systems. All of the additional terms contribute to the system behaviour at the same order of perturbation theory. We then apply these results to analyse the phonon-assisted steady-state gain of a microwave field driving a double quantum-dot in a resonator. We show that resonator gain and loss are substantially affected by dephasing- assisted dissipative processes in the quantum-dot system. These additional processes, which go beyond recently proposed polaronic theories, are in good quantitative agreement with experimental observations.

Addressing Gender Disparity in Introductory Physics Courses: Are existing reforms enough?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finkelstein, Noah; Pollock, Steven; Dubson, Michael

2007-03-01

Previously researchers have reported that by transforming teaching practices in introductory physics, it is possible to eliminate the disparity in achievement of males and females on measures of conceptual learning. [1] We follow-up on the studies of the original researchers by comparing achievement of male and female students on measures of conceptual learning in the introductory physics courses at a large public research university. Just as the original authors find, we observe that reform teaching practices, such as the use of Peer Instruction [2] increase the learning gains of all students in introductory physics. Additionally, we observe a significant reduction in this gender gap in learning gains in some but not all of our transformed courses. Notably, however, the gender gap does not completely disappear in any of our courses. In addition to discussing learning gains, we analyze shifts in student beliefs [3] and examine correlations between student beliefs and learning gains. [1] Lorenzo, M et al. (2006).Am. J. Phys. 74(2): 118-122 [2] Mazur, E. (1997). Peer Instruction (Prentice Hall). [3] Adams, W.K et al. Physical Review, ST:PER. 2,1,010101.

Electronic business model for small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SME): a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuen, Karina; Chung, Walter W.

2001-10-01

This paper identifies three essential factors (information infrastructure, executive information system and a new manufacturing paradigm) that are used to support the development of a new business model for competitiveness. They facilitate changes in organization structure in support of business transformation. A SME can source a good manufacturing practice using a model of academic-university collaboration to gain competitive advantage in the e-business world. The collaboration facilitates the change agents to use information systems development as a vehicle to increase the capability of executives in using information and knowledge management to gain higher responsiveness and customer satisfaction. The case company is used to illustrate the application of a web-based executive information system to interface internal communications with external operation. It explains where a good manufacturing practice may be re-applied by other SMEs to acquire skills as a learning organization grows in an extended enterprise setting.

High-gain magnetized inertial fusion.

PubMed

Slutz, Stephen A; Vesey, Roger A

2012-01-13

Magnetized inertial fusion (MIF) could substantially ease the difficulty of reaching plasma conditions required for significant fusion yields, but it has been widely accepted that the gain is not sufficient for fusion energy. Numerical simulations are presented showing that high-gain MIF is possible in cylindrical liner implosions based on the MagLIF concept [S. A. Slutz et al Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] with the addition of a cryogenic layer of deuterium-tritium (DT). These simulations show that a burn wave propagates radially from the magnetized hot spot into the surrounding much denser cold DT given sufficient hot-spot areal density. For a drive current of 60 MA the simulated gain exceeds 100, which is more than adequate for fusion energy applications. The simulated gain exceeds 1000 for a drive current of 70 MA.

Economic Evaluation of a Tai Ji Quan Intervention to Reduce Falls in People With Parkinson Disease, Oregon, 2008-2011.

PubMed

Li, Fuzhong; Harmer, Peter

2015-07-30

Exercise is effective in reducing falls in people with Parkinson disease. However, information on the cost effectiveness of this approach is lacking. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of Tai Ji Quan for reducing falls among patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson disease. We used data from a previous intervention trial to analyze resource use costs related to intervention delivery and number of falls observed during a 9-month study period. Cost effectiveness was estimated via incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in which Tai Ji Quan was compared with 2 alternative interventions (Resistance training and Stretching) on the primary outcome of per fall prevented and the secondary outcome of per participant quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained. We also conducted subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Tai Ji Quan was more effective than either Resistance training or Stretching; it had the lowest cost and was the most effective in improving primary and secondary outcomes. Compared with Stretching, Tai Ji Quan cost an average of $175 less for each additional fall prevented and produced a substantial improvement in QALY gained at a lower cost. Results from subgroup and sensitivity analyses showed no variation in cost-effectiveness estimates. However, sensitivity analyses demonstrated a much lower ICER ($27) when only intervention costs were considered. Tai Ji Quan represents a cost-effective strategy for optimizing spending to prevent falls and maximize health gains in people with Parkinson disease. While these results are promising, they warrant further validation.

Imaging Cascadia coupling: optimal design for an offshore seafloor geodetic network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, E. L.; Minson, S. E.

2017-12-01

The Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is known to produce MW≈9.2 earthquakes, and accompanying tsunamis every 600 years. An outstanding question in this region (as in most offshore subduction zones) is the degree to which the megathrust is locked (i.e., the coupling rate), and whether the locked zone extends to the trench, where onshore geodetic measurements cannot uniquely resolve strain accumulation. Seafloor geodetic techniques, such as acoustic ranging combined with GNSS positioning, are capable of providing unique observations of strain accumulation near the offshore trench of subduction zones. These observations may be used to constrain megathrust coupling rate and spatial distribution, and ultimately forecast the potential size and rupture pattern of a future subduction zone earthquake, with resolution beyond the capability of onshore observations alone. However, the high cost of seafloor geodesy limits the number of stations that may be deployed and monitored. Therefore, it is essential that deployed stations be positioned in such a way to provide the most informative data for resolving subduction zone coupling. We identify optimal seafloor observation locations by minimizing the Shannon Information Entropy of potential geodetic observation locations, given the current onshore geodetic network. Because coupling rate on the Cascadia megathrust depends on the relative convergence rate between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates, the most valuable location for a single seafloor geodetic station is west of the Juan de Fuca trench, on the Juan de Fuca plate itself. Subsequent optimal locations are also identified offshore, on the hanging wall near the trench. This approach provides a quantitative assessment of the value of seafloor observations: a single offshore observation provides 30 times the information gain of an additional onshore observation, and adding many (>50) onshore observations cannot provide the information gain of a single offshore observation.

Quantifying risk: the role of absolute and relative measures in interpreting risk of adverse reactions from product labels of antipsychotic medications.

PubMed

Citrome, Leslie

2009-09-01

Pharmaceutical product labeling as approved by regulatory agencies include statements of adverse event risk. Product labels include descriptive statements such as whether events are uncommon or rare, as well as percentage occurrence for more common events. In addition tables are provided with the frequencies of the latter events for both product and placebo as observed in clinical trials. Competing products are not mentioned in a specific drug's product labeling but indirect comparisons can be made using the corresponding label information for the alternate product. Two types of tools are easily used for this purpose: absolute measures such as number needed to harm (NNH), and relative measures such as relative risk increase (RRI). The calculations for both of these types of quantitative measures are presented using as examples the oral first-line second-generation antipsychotic medications. Among three sample outcomes selected a priori, akathisia, weight gain, and discontinuation from a clinical trial because of an adverse reaction, there appears to be differences among the different antipsychotics versus placebo. Aripiprazole was associated with the highest risk for akathisia, particularly when used as adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (NNH 5, 95% CI 4-7; RRI 525%, 95% CI 267%-964%). Although insufficient information was available in product labeling to calculate the CI, olanzapine was associated with the highest risk for weight gain of at least 7% from baseline (NNH 6, RRI 640% for adults; NNH 4, RRI 314% for adolescents), and quetiapine for the indication of bipolar depression was associated with the highest risk of discontinuation from a clinical trial because of an adverse reaction (NNH 8, RRI 265% for 600 mg/d; NNH 15, RRI 137% for 300 mg/d). In conclusion, with certain limitations, it is possible for the clinician to extract information from medication product labeling regarding the frequency with which certain adverse reactions can be expected. This supplements, but does not replace, information reported directly in clinical trial reports.

76 FR 20821 - Proposed Information Collection (Disabled Veterans Application for Vocational Rehabilitation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-13

... necessary for the proper performance of VBA's functions, including whether the information will have... entitlement determination, to gain and keep suitable employment. Vocational rehabilitation also provides...

Solar-based navigation for robotic explorers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shillcutt, Kimberly Jo

2000-12-01

This thesis introduces the application of solar position and shadowing information to robotic exploration. Power is a critical resource for robots with remote, long-term missions, so this research focuses on the power generation capabilities of robotic explorers during navigational tasks, in addition to power consumption. Solar power is primarily considered, with the possibility of wind power also contemplated. Information about the environment, including the solar ephemeris, terrain features, time of day, and surface location, is incorporated into a planning structure, allowing robots to accurately predict shadowing and thus potential costs and gains during navigational tasks. By evaluating its potential to generate and expend power, a robot can extend its lifetime and accomplishments. The primary tasks studied are coverage patterns, with a variety of plans developed for this research. The use of sun, terrain and temporal information also enables new capabilities of identifying and following sun-synchronous and sun-seeking paths. Digital elevation maps are combined with an ephemeris algorithm to calculate the altitude and azimuth of the sun from surface locations, and to identify and map shadows. Solar navigation path simulators use this information to perform searches through two-dimensional space, while considering temporal changes. Step by step simulations of coverage patterns also incorporate time in addition to location. Evaluations of solar and wind power generation, power consumption, area coverage, area overlap, and time are generated for sets of coverage patterns, with on-board environmental information linked to the simulations. This research is implemented on the Nomad robot for the Robotic Antarctic Meteorite Search. Simulators have been developed for coverage pattern tests, as well as for sun-synchronous and sun-seeking path searches. Results of field work and simulations are reported and analyzed, with demonstrated improvements in efficiency, productivity and lifetime of robotic explorers, along with new solar navigation abilities.

The Effect of Conflicting Information on Media Skepticism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cozzens, Michael D.; Contractor, Noshir S.

1987-01-01

Supports the hypothesis that exposure to nonmediated information that conflicts with information gained from a media source would cause an increase in media skepticism. Suggests that media skepticism may be a useful construct for future research in communication processes and effects. (NKA)

Cluster-based analysis improves predictive validity of spike-triggered receptive field estimates

PubMed Central

Malone, Brian J.

2017-01-01

Spectrotemporal receptive field (STRF) characterization is a central goal of auditory physiology. STRFs are often approximated by the spike-triggered average (STA), which reflects the average stimulus preceding a spike. In many cases, the raw STA is subjected to a threshold defined by gain values expected by chance. However, such correction methods have not been universally adopted, and the consequences of specific gain-thresholding approaches have not been investigated systematically. Here, we evaluate two classes of statistical correction techniques, using the resulting STRF estimates to predict responses to a novel validation stimulus. The first, more traditional technique eliminated STRF pixels (time-frequency bins) with gain values expected by chance. This correction method yielded significant increases in prediction accuracy, including when the threshold setting was optimized for each unit. The second technique was a two-step thresholding procedure wherein clusters of contiguous pixels surviving an initial gain threshold were then subjected to a cluster mass threshold based on summed pixel values. This approach significantly improved upon even the best gain-thresholding techniques. Additional analyses suggested that allowing threshold settings to vary independently for excitatory and inhibitory subfields of the STRF resulted in only marginal additional gains, at best. In summary, augmenting reverse correlation techniques with principled statistical correction choices increased prediction accuracy by over 80% for multi-unit STRFs and by over 40% for single-unit STRFs, furthering the interpretational relevance of the recovered spectrotemporal filters for auditory systems analysis. PMID:28877194

Communicating infectious disease prevalence through graphics: results from an international survey

PubMed Central

Fagerlin, Angela; Valley, Thomas S.; Scherer, Aaron M.; Knaus, Megan; Das, Enny; Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J.

2017-01-01

Background Graphics are increasingly used to represent the spread of infectious diseases (e.g., influenza, Zika, Ebola); however, the impact of using graphics to adequately inform the general population is unknown. Objective To examine whether three ways of visually presenting data (heat map, dot map, or picto-trendline)—all depicting the same information regarding the spread of a hypothetical outbreak of influenza—influence intent to vaccinate, risk perception, and knowledge. Design Survey with participants randomized to receive a simulated news article accompanied by one of the three graphics that communicated prevalence of influenza and number of influenza-related deaths. Setting International online survey Participants 16,510 adults living in 11 countries selected using stratified random sampling based on age and gender Measurements After reading the article and viewing the presented graphic, participants completed a survey that measured interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, knowledge gained, interest in additional information about the disease, and perception of the graphic. Results Heat maps and picto-trendlines were evaluated more positively than dot maps. Heat maps were more effective than picto-trendlines and no different from dot maps at increasing interest in vaccination, perceived risk of contracting disease, and interest in additional information about the disease. Heat maps and picto-trendlines were more successful at conveying knowledge than dot maps. Overall, heat maps were the only graphic to be superior in every outcome. Limitations Results are based on a hypothetical scenario Conclusion Heat maps are a viable option to promote interest in and concern about infectious diseases. PMID:28647168

How health information is received by diabetic patients?

PubMed Central

Zare-Farashbandi, Firoozeh; Lalazaryan, Anasik; Rahimi, Alireza; Zadeh, Akbar Hassan

2015-01-01

Background: Knowledge of correct information-seeking behavior by the patients can provide health specialists and health information specialists with valuable information in improving health care. This study aimed to investigate the passive receipt and active seeking of health information by diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: A survey method was used in this research on 6426 diabetic patients of whom 362 patients were selected by a no percentage stratified random sampling. The Longo information-seeking behavior questionnaire was used to collect data and they were analyzed by SPSS 20 software. Results: The most common information source by diabetic patients was practitioners (3.12). The minimum usage among the information sources were from charity organizations and emergency phone lines with a usage of close to zero. The amount of health information gained passively from each source has the lowest average of 4.18 and usage of this information in making health decision has the highest average score of 5.83. Analysis of the data related to active seeking of information showed that knowledge of available medical information from each source has the lowest average score of 3.95 and ability in using the acquired information for making medical decisions has the highest average score of 5.28. The paired t-test showed that differences between passive information receipt (41.68) and active information seeking (39.20) considered as statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Because diabetic patients are more passive information receivers than active information seekers, the health information must be distributed by passive means to these patients. In addition, information-seeking behavior during different time periods should be investigated; to identify more effective distribution of health information. PMID:26261828

20 CFR 416.973 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... activity level. (b) How well you perform. We consider how well you do your work when we determine whether... that you are working at the substantial gainful activity level. If you are unable, because of your... gainful activity level. If you are doing work that involves minimal duties that make little or no demands...

20 CFR 220.142 - General information about work activity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... substantial gainful activity level. If the claimant is unable, because of his or her impairments, to do... activity level. If the claimant is doing work that involves minimal duties that make little or no demands... claimant is working at the substantial gainful activity level. (c) If the claimant's work is done under...

78 FR 48230 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Regulation Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-07

... provide rules regarding the deferral of gain on a partnership's sale of qualified small business stock and deferral of gain on a partner's sale of qualified small business stock distributed by a partnership. The... functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of...

Early Number Skills Gains and Mathematics Achievement: Intervening to Establish Successful Early Mathematics Trajectories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shanley, Lina; Clarke, Ben; Doabler, Christian T.; Kurtz-Nelson, Evangeline; Fien, Hank

2017-01-01

Early number skills, comprised of both informal and formal skills, are associated with later mathematics achievement. Thus, the development of foundational early number skills is an important aspect of early mathematics instruction. This study explored relations between early number skills gains and mathematics achievement for students at risk for…

When good is stickier than bad: Understanding gain/loss asymmetries in sequential framing effects.

PubMed

Sparks, Jehan; Ledgerwood, Alison

2017-08-01

Considerable research has demonstrated the power of the current positive or negative frame to shape people's current judgments. But humans must often learn about positive and negative information as they encounter that information sequentially over time. It is therefore crucial to consider the potential importance of sequencing when developing an understanding of how humans think about valenced information. Indeed, recent work looking at sequentially encountered frames suggests that some frames can linger outside the context in which they are first encountered, sticking in the mind so that subsequent frames have a muted effect. The present research builds a comprehensive account of sequential framing effects in both the loss and the gain domains. After seeing information about a potential gain or loss framed in positive terms or negative terms, participants saw the same issue reframed in the opposing way. Across 5 studies and 1566 participants, we find accumulating evidence for the notion that in the gain domain, positive frames are stickier than negative frames for novel but not familiar scenarios, whereas in the loss domain, negative frames are always stickier than positive frames. Integrating regulatory focus theory with the literatures on negativity dominance and positivity offset, we develop a new and comprehensive account of sequential framing effects that emphasizes the adaptive value of positivity and negativity biases in specific contexts. Our findings highlight the fact that research conducted solely in the loss domain risks painting an incomplete and oversimplified picture of human bias and suggest new directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Eyewitness identification: Bayesian information gain, base-rate effect equivalency curves, and reasonable suspicion.

PubMed

Wells, Gary L; Yang, Yueran; Smalarz, Laura

2015-04-01

We provide a novel Bayesian treatment of the eyewitness identification problem as it relates to various system variables, such as instruction effects, lineup presentation format, lineup-filler similarity, lineup administrator influence, and show-ups versus lineups. We describe why eyewitness identification is a natural Bayesian problem and how numerous important observations require careful consideration of base rates. Moreover, we argue that the base rate in eyewitness identification should be construed as a system variable (under the control of the justice system). We then use prior-by-posterior curves and information-gain curves to examine data obtained from a large number of published experiments. Next, we show how information-gain curves are moderated by system variables and by witness confidence and we note how information-gain curves reveal that lineups are consistently more proficient at incriminating the guilty than they are at exonerating the innocent. We then introduce a new type of analysis that we developed called base rate effect-equivalency (BREE) curves. BREE curves display how much change in the base rate is required to match the impact of any given system variable. The results indicate that even relatively modest changes to the base rate can have more impact on the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence than do the traditional system variables that have received so much attention in the literature. We note how this Bayesian analysis of eyewitness identification has implications for the question of whether there ought to be a reasonable-suspicion criterion for placing a person into the jeopardy of an identification procedure. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of Repeated Exposures on Information Spreading in Social Networks

PubMed Central

Zhou, Cangqi; Zhao, Qianchuan; Lu, Wenbo

2015-01-01

Clustered structure of social networks provides the chances of repeated exposures to carriers with similar information. It is commonly believed that the impact of repeated exposures on the spreading of information is nontrivial. Does this effect increase the probability that an individual forwards a message in social networks? If so, to what extent does this effect influence people’s decisions on whether or not to spread information? Based on a large-scale microblogging data set, which logs the message spreading processes and users’ forwarding activities, we conduct a data-driven analysis to explore the answer to the above questions. The results show that an overwhelming majority of message samples are more probable to be forwarded under repeated exposures, compared to those under only a single exposure. For those message samples that cover various topics, we observe a relatively fixed, topic-independent multiplier of the willingness of spreading when repeated exposures occur, regardless of the differences in network structure. We believe that this finding reflects average people’s intrinsic psychological gain under repeated stimuli. Hence, it makes sense that the gain is associated with personal response behavior, rather than network structure. Moreover, we find that the gain is robust against the change of message popularity. This finding supports that there exists a relatively fixed gain brought by repeated exposures. Based on the above findings, we propose a parsimonious model to predict the saturated numbers of forwarding activities of messages. Our work could contribute to better understandings of behavioral psychology and social media analytics. PMID:26465749

Van’t Hoff global analyses of variable temperature isothermal titration calorimetry data

PubMed Central

Freiburger, Lee A.; Auclair, Karine; Mittermaier, Anthony K.

2016-01-01

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) can provide detailed information on the thermodynamics of biomolecular interactions in the form of equilibrium constants, KA, and enthalpy changes, ΔHA. A powerful application of this technique involves analyzing the temperature dependences of ITC-derived KA and ΔHA values to gain insight into thermodynamic linkage between binding and additional equilibria, such as protein folding. We recently developed a general method for global analysis of variable temperature ITC data that significantly improves the accuracy of extracted thermodynamic parameters and requires no prior knowledge of the coupled equilibria. Here we report detailed validation of this method using Monte Carlo simulations and an application to study coupled folding and binding in an aminoglycoside acetyltransferase enzyme. PMID:28018008

Damage monitoring in historical murals by speckle interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinsch, Klaus D.; Gulker, Gerd; Joost, Holger

2003-11-01

In the conservation of historical murals it is important to identify loose plaster sections that threaten to fall off. Electronic speckle interferometry in combination with acoustic excitation of the object has been employed to monitor loose areas. To avoid disadvantages of high sound irradiation of the complete building a novel directional audio-sound source based on nonlinear mixing of ultrasound has been introduced. The optical system was revised for optimum performance in the new environment. Emphasis is placed on noise suppression to increase sensitivity. Furthermore, amplitude and phase data of object response over the frequency-range inspected are employed to gain additional information on the state of the plaster or paint. Laboratory studies on sample specimen supplement field campaigns at historical sites.

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

Warne, Larry Kevin; Jorgenson, Roy Eberhardt; Hudson, Howard Gerald

When emitters of electromagnetic energy are operated in the vicinity of sensitive components, the electric field at the component location must be kept below a certain level in order to prevent the component from being damaged, or in the case of electro-explosive devices, initiating. The V-Curve is a convenient way to set the electric field limit because it requires minimal information about the problem configuration. In this report we will discuss the basis for the V-Curve. We also consider deviations from the original V-Curve resulting from inductive versus capacitive antennas, increases in directivity gain for long antennas, decreases in inputmore » impedance when operating in a bounded region, and mismatches dictated by transmission line losses. In addition, we consider mitigating effects resulting from limited antenna sizes.« less

New research developments and insights from Metabolism

PubMed Central

Farr, Olivia M.; Camp, Michelle; Mantzoros, Christos S.

2015-01-01

In a field of great importance to daily life and clinical care, metabolic-related research covers a wealth of information and knowledge. This broad field encompasses a number of physical states that are increasingly critical to study, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, the impacts of diet, nutrition, and exercise on these physical states are an area of ever-important and expanding research. With the latest advances in metabolic research, much knowledge has been gained. Here, we present the newest findings from research published in Metabolism. We hope that these results provide not only critical knowledge needed for clinical care and daily life, but also a platform for the continuing expansion of research into metabolic-related issues. PMID:25549908

Prefetching of medical imaging data across XDS affinity domains.

PubMed

Helm, Emmanuel; Schuler, Andreas; Krauss, Oliver; Franz, Barbara

2015-01-01

Prior studies as well as medical imaging data are crucial for a radiologist to diagnose a patient. In this paper the radiological workflow is analyzed from a patient's perspective in order to gain knowledge on how possible existing prefetching strategies still can be applied in connection with a standardized distributed health information system conforming to architectures defined by IHE and ELGA. As a result an adaption to such architectures is proposed and further evaluated in a testing environment. Although the approach presented works in terms of prefetching relevant prior studies together with medical imaging data, additional research has to be carried out on how to apply intelligent search strategies in order to narrow retrieved results concerning their possible utilization for a specific diagnosis.

Proteomic approaches and their application to plant gravitropism.

PubMed

Basu, Proma; Luesse, Darron R; Wyatt, Sarah E

2015-01-01

Proteomics is a powerful technique that allows researchers a window into how an organism responds to a mutation, a specific environment, or at a distinct point during development by quantifying relative protein abundance and posttranslational modifications. Here, we describe methods for the proteomic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana tissue. Extraction protocols are provided for isolation of soluble, plasma membrane, and tonoplast proteins. In addition, basic analysis and quality metrics for MS/MS data are discussed. The protocols outlined have the potential to unlock new avenues of research that are not possible through basic genetics or transcriptomic approaches. By combining proteomic information with known gene regulatory patterns, researchers can gain a complete picture of how molecular pathways, such as those required for gravitropism, are initiated, regulated, and terminated.

Choice by value encoding and value construction: processes of loss aversion.

PubMed

Willemsen, Martijn C; Böckenholt, Ulf; Johnson, Eric J

2011-08-01

Loss aversion and reference dependence are 2 keystones of behavioral theories of choice, but little is known about their underlying cognitive processes. We suggest an additional account for loss aversion that supplements the current account of the value encoding of attributes as gains or losses relative to a reference point, introducing a value construction account. Value construction suggests that loss aversion results from biased evaluations during information search and comparison processes. We develop hypotheses that identify the influence of both accounts and examine process-tracing data for evidence. Our data suggest that loss aversion is the result of the initial direct encoding of losses that leads to the subsequent process of directional comparisons distorting attribute valuations and the final choice.

One institution's experience in transforming the health sciences library of the future.

PubMed

Allee, Nancy J; Blumenthal, Jane; Jordan, Karen; Lalla, Nadia; Lauseng, Deborah; Rana, Gurpreet; Saylor, Kate; Song, Jean

2014-01-01

Recognizing a need to be more relevant to its constituents, and aligned with institutional priorities, the Taubman Health Sciences Library redefined its mission, roles, and space. This transformation facilitated innovative, team-based collaborations within the health sciences community and the addition of new roles and responsibilities in academic and clinical engagement, research and informatics, enabling technologies, community outreach, and global health. Library space is being redesigned, and a branch library dedicated to interdisciplinary partnerships has been established. Information gained from this experience will be useful to other libraries faced with budget, resource, and staffing challenges and will offer practical ideas for becoming more integrated into the academic, research, and clinical work of the health sciences enterprise.

Chapter A6. Section 6.6. Alkalinity and Acid Neutralizing Capacity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rounds, Stewart A.; Wilde, Franceska D.

2002-01-01

Alkalinity (determined on a filtered sample) and Acid Neutralizing Capacity (ANC) (determined on a whole-water sample) are measures of the ability of a water sample to neutralize strong acid. Alkalinity and ANC provide information on the suitability of water for uses such as irrigation, determining the efficiency of wastewater processes, determining the presence of contamination by anthropogenic wastes, and maintaining ecosystem health. In addition, alkalinity is used to gain insights on the chemical evolution of an aqueous system. This section of the National Field Manual (NFM) describes the USGS field protocols for alkalinity/ANC determination using either the inflection-point or Gran function plot methods, including calculation of carbonate species, and provides guidance on equipment selection.

Social Media As a Leadership Tool for Pharmacists

PubMed Central

Toney, Blake; Goff, Debra A.; Weber, Robert J.

2015-01-01

The profession of pharmacy is currently experiencing transformational change in health system practice models with pharmacists’ provider status. Gaining buy-in and support of stakeholders in medicine, nursing, and other advocates for patient care is critical. To this end, building momentum to advance the profession will require experimentation with and utilization of more efficient ways to disseminate relevant information. Traditional methods to communicate can be inefficient and painstakingly slow. Health care providers are turning to social media to network, connect, engage, educate, and learn. Pharmacy leaders can use social media as an additional tool in the leadership toolkit. This article of the Director’s Forum shows how social media can assist pharmacy leaders in further developing patient-centered pharmacy services. PMID:26448676