Industrial Energy Audit Guidebook: Guidelines for Conducting an Energy Audit in Industrial Facilities

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

Hasanbeigi, Ali; Price, Lynn

Various studies in different countries have shown that significant energy-efficiency improvement opportunities exist in the industrial sector, many of which are cost-effective. These energy-efficiency options include both cross-cutting as well as sector-specific measures. However, industrial plants are not always aware of energy-efficiency improvement potentials. Conducting an energy audit is one of the first steps in identifying these potentials. Even so, many plants do not have the capacity to conduct an effective energy audit. In some countries, government policies and programs aim to assist industry to improve competitiveness through increased energy efficiency. However, usually only limited technical and financial resources formore » improving energy efficiency are available, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Information on energy auditing and practices should, therefore, be prepared and disseminated to industrial plants. This guidebook provides guidelines for energy auditors regarding the key elements for preparing for an energy audit, conducting an inventory and measuring energy use, analyzing energy bills, benchmarking, analyzing energy use patterns, identifying energy-efficiency opportunities, conducting cost-benefit analysis, preparing energy audit reports, and undertaking post-audit activities. The purpose of this guidebook is to assist energy auditors and engineers in the plant to conduct a well-structured and effective energy audit.« less

Assisting People with Multiple Disabilities and Minimal Motor Behavior to Improve Computer Pointing Efficiency through a Mouse Wheel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Chang, Man-Ling; Shih, Ching-Tien

2009-01-01

This study evaluated whether two people with multiple disabilities and minimal motor behavior would be able to improve their pointing performance using finger poke ability with a mouse wheel through a Dynamic Pointing Assistive Program (DPAP) and a newly developed mouse driver (i.e., a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, changes a…

Assisting People with Multiple Disabilities Improve Their Computer-Pointing Efficiency with Hand Swing through a Standard Mouse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Chiu, Sheng-Kai; Chu, Chiung-Ling; Shih, Ching-Tien; Liao, Yung-Kun; Lin, Chia-Chen

2010-01-01

This study evaluated whether two people with multiple disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance using hand swing with a standard mouse through an Extended Dynamic Pointing Assistive Program (EDPAP) and a newly developed mouse driver (i.e., a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and changes a mouse into a precise…

76 FR 40646 - Notice of Availability of Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-11

..., Assistant General Counsel for Legislation, Regulation, and Energy Efficiency, U.S. Department of Energy... ineffectively used. Related to appliance efficiency standards rulemakings, two comments expressed concern that... encouraged DOE to streamline its reporting databases to improve efficiency and reduce maintenance costs...

Assisting People with Developmental Disabilities to Improve Computer Pointing Efficiency through Multiple Mice and Automatic Pointing Assistive Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang

2011-01-01

This study combines multi-mice technology (people with disabilities can use standard mice, instead of specialized alternative computer input devices, to achieve complete mouse operation) with an assistive pointing function (i.e. cursor-capturing, which enables the user to move the cursor to the target center automatically), to assess whether two…

Anesthetic Challenges in Robotic-assisted Urologic Surgery

PubMed Central

Hsu, Richard L; Kaye, Alan D; Urman, Richard D

2013-01-01

Robotic-assisted surgery has evolved over the past two decades with constantly improving technology, assisting surgeons in multiple subspecialty disciplines. The surgical requirements of lithotomy and steep Trendelenburg positions, along with the creation of a pneumoperitoneum and limited access to the patient, all present anesthetic management challenges in urologic surgery. Patient positioning requirements can cause significant physiologic effects and may result in many complications. Good communication among team members and knowledge of the nuances of robotic surgery have the potential to improve patient outcomes, increase efficiency, and reduce surgical and anesthetic complications. PMID:24659914

75 FR 3847 - Weatherization Assistance Program for Low-Income Persons

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-25

... technological improvements and escalating energy prices since 1993 justify allowing weatherization programs to... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 10 CFR Part 440 [Docket No. EEWAP0515] RIN 1904-AB97 Weatherization Assistance Program for Low-Income Persons AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy...

Anesthetic Considerations in Robotic-Assisted Gynecologic Surgery

PubMed Central

Kaye, Alan D.; Vadivelu, Nalini; Ahuja, Nitin; Mitra, Sukanya; Silasi, Dan; Urman, Richard D.

2013-01-01

Background Robotic-assisted surgery has evolved over the past 2 decades with constantly improving technology that assists surgeons in multiple subspecialty disciplines. The surgical requirements of lithotomy and steep Trendelenburg positions, along with the creation of a pneumoperitoneum and lack of direct access to the patient all present management challenges in gynecologic surgery. Patient positioning requirements can have significant physiologic effects and can result in many complications. Methods This review focuses on the anesthetic and surgical implications of robot-assisted technology in gynecologic surgery. Conclusion Good communication among team members and knowledge of the nuances of robotic surgery have the potential to improve patient outcomes, increase efficiency, and reduce complications. PMID:24358000

Exploring SWAp's contribution to the efficient allocation and use of resources in the health sector in Zambia.

PubMed

Chansa, Collins; Sundewall, Jesper; McIntyre, Di; Tomson, Göran; Forsberg, Birger C

2008-07-01

Zambia introduced a sector-wide approach (SWAp) in the health sector in 1993. The goal was to improve efficiency in the use of domestic funds and externally sourced development assistance by integrating these into a joint sectoral framework. Over a decade into its existence, however, the SWAp remains largely unevaluated. This study explores whether the envisaged improvements have been achieved by studying developments in administrative, technical and allocative efficiency in the Zambian health sector from 1990-2006. A case study was conducted using interviews and analysis of secondary data. Respondents represented a cross-section of stakeholders in the Zambian health sector. Secondary data from 1990-2006 were collected for six indicators related to administrative, technical and allocative efficiency. The results showed small improvements in administrative efficiency. Transaction costs still appeared to be high despite the introduction of the SWAp. Indicators for technical efficiency showed a drop in hospital bed utilization rates and government share of funding for drugs. As for allocative efficiency, budget execution did not improve with the SWAp, although there were large variations between both donors and year. Funding levels had apparently improved at district level but declined for hospitals. Finally, the SWAp had not succeeded in bringing all external assistance together under a common framework. Despite strong commitment to implement the SWAp in Zambia, the envisaged efficiency improvements do not seem to have been attained. Possible explanations could be that the SWAp has not been fully developed or that not all parties have completely embraced it. SWAp is not ruled out as a coordination model, but the current setup in Zambia has not proved to be fully effective.

Assisting People with Multiple Disabilities and Minimal Motor Behavior to Improve Computer Drag-and-Drop Efficiency through a Mouse Wheel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang

2011-01-01

This study evaluated whether two people with multiple disabilities and minimal motor behavior would be able to improve their Drag-and-Drop (DnD) performance using their finger/thumb poke ability with a mouse scroll wheel through a Dynamic Drag-and-Drop Assistive Program (DDnDAP). A multiple probe design across participants was used in this study…

Options to improve energy efficiency for educational building

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jahan, Mafruha

The cost of energy is a major factor that must be considered for educational facility budget planning purpose. The analysis of energy related issues and options can be complex and requires significant time and detailed effort. One way to facilitate the inclusion of energy option planning in facility planning efforts is to utilize a tool that allows for quick appraisal of the facility energy profile. Once such an appraisal is accomplished, it is then possible to rank energy improvement options consistently with other facility needs and requirements. After an energy efficiency option has been determined to have meaningful value in comparison with other facility planning options, it is then possible to utilize the initial appraisal as the basis for an expanded consideration of additional facility and energy use detail using the same analytic system used for the initial appraisal. This thesis has developed a methodology and an associated analytic model to assist in these tasks and thereby improve the energy efficiency of educational facilities. A detailed energy efficiency and analysis tool is described that utilizes specific university building characteristics such as size, architecture, envelop, lighting, occupancy, thermal design which allows reducing the annual energy consumption. Improving the energy efficiency of various aspects of an educational building's energy performance can be complex and can require significant time and experience to make decisions. The approach developed in this thesis initially assesses the energy design for a university building. This initial appraisal is intended to assist administrators in assessing the potential value of energy efficiency options for their particular facility. Subsequently this scoping design can then be extended as another stage of the model by local facility or planning personnel to add more details and engineering aspects to the initial screening model. This approach can assist university planning efforts to identify the most cost effective combinations of energy efficiency strategies. The model analyzes and compares the payback periods of all proposed Energy Performance Measures (EPMs) to determine which has the greatest potential value.

7 CFR 4280.101 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS AND GRANTS Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency... agricultural producers and rural small businesses for the purpose of purchasing and installing renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements in rural areas. Financial assistance to any single entity may...

Compiler-assisted multiple instruction rollback recovery using a read buffer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alewine, N. J.; Chen, S.-K.; Fuchs, W. K.; Hwu, W.-M.

1993-01-01

Multiple instruction rollback (MIR) is a technique that has been implemented in mainframe computers to provide rapid recovery from transient processor failures. Hardware-based MIR designs eliminate rollback data hazards by providing data redundancy implemented in hardware. Compiler-based MIR designs have also been developed which remove rollback data hazards directly with data-flow transformations. This paper focuses on compiler-assisted techniques to achieve multiple instruction rollback recovery. We observe that some data hazards resulting from instruction rollback can be resolved efficiently by providing an operand read buffer while others are resolved more efficiently with compiler transformations. A compiler-assisted multiple instruction rollback scheme is developed which combines hardware-implemented data redundancy with compiler-driven hazard removal transformations. Experimental performance evaluations indicate improved efficiency over previous hardware-based and compiler-based schemes.

75 FR 47525 - Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Renewable Energy Feasibility Studies Grants Under the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-06

... systems and for energy efficiency improvement projects; grants for conducting energy audits; grants for... grants and guaranteed loans; Energy audit and renewable energy development assistance grants; and... subpart C to address energy audit and renewable energy development assistance grants. Together, these two...

Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative

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

Capella, Arthur

The Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative represented a comprehensive and collaborative approach to promoting and implementing energy efficiency improvements. The initiative was designed to focus on implementing energy efficiency improvements in residential units, while simultaneously supporting general marketing of the benefits of implementing energy efficiency measures. The ultimate goal of Fayette County’s Better Buildings Initiative was to implement a total of 1,067 residential energy efficiency retrofits with a minimum 15% estimated energy efficiency savings per unit. Program partners included: United States Department of Energy, Allegheny Power, and Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette, Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, and various local partners.more » The program was open to any Fayette County residents who own their home and meet the prequalifying conditions. The level of assistance offered depended upon household income and commitment to undergo a BPI – Certified Audit and implement energy efficiency measures, which aimed to result in at least a 15% reduction in energy usage. The initiative was designed to focus on implementing energy efficiency improvements in residential units, while simultaneously supporting general marketing of the benefits of implementing energy efficiency measures. Additionally, the program had components that involved recruitment and training for employment of persons in the energy sector (green jobs), as well as marketing and implementation of a commercial or community facilities component. The residential component of Fayette County’s Better Buildings Initiative involved a comprehensive approach, providing assistance to low- moderate- and market-rate homeowners. The initiative will also coordinate activities with local utility providers to further incentivize energy efficiency improvements among qualifying homeowners. The commercial component of Fayette County’s Better Building Initiative involved grants and loans to assist up to $15,000 projects per commercial structure with a mixture of a grant and financing at 0% for up to three – (3) years. The maximum award can be a $5,000 grant and a $10,000 loan. For projects less than $15,000, the award will have a ratio of 1/3 grant and 2/3 loan.« less

Using RFID Positioning Technology to Construct an Automatic Rehabilitation Scheduling Mechanism.

PubMed

Wang, Ching-Sheng; Hung, Lun-Ping; Yen, Neil Y

2016-01-01

Accurately and efficiently identifying the location of patients during the course of rehabilitation is an important issue. Wireless transmission technology can reach this goal. Tracking technologies such as RFID (Radio frequency identification) can support process improvement and improve efficiencies of rehabilitation. There are few published models or methods to solve the problem of positioning and apply this technology in the rehabilitation center. We propose a mechanism to enhance the accuracy of positioning technology and provide information about turns and obstacles on the path; and user-centered services based on location-aware to enhanced quality care in rehabilitation environment. This paper outlines the requirements and the role of RFID in assisting rehabilitation environment. A prototype RFID hospital support tool is established. It is designed to provide assistance for monitoring rehabilitation patients. It can simultaneously calculate the rehabilitant's location and the duration of treatment, and automatically record the rehabilitation course of the rehabilitant, so as to improve the management efficiency of the rehabilitation program.

Improving patient safety and optimizing nursing teamwork using crew resource management techniques.

PubMed

West, Priscilla; Sculli, Gary; Fore, Amanda; Okam, Nwoha; Dunlap, Cleveland; Neily, Julia; Mills, Peter

2012-01-01

This project describes the application of the "sterile cockpit rule," a crew resource management (CRM) technique, targeted to improve efficacy and safety for nursing assistants in the performance of patient care duties. Crew resource management techniques have been successfully implemented in the aviation industry to improve flight safety. Application of these techniques can improve patient safety in medical settings. The Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center for Patient Safety conducted a CRM training program in select VA nursing units. One unit developed a novel application of the sterile cockpit rule to create protected time for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) while they collected vital signs and blood glucose data at the beginning of each shift. The typical nursing authority structure was reversed, with senior nurses protecting CNAs from distractions. This process led to improvements in efficiency and communication among nurses, with the added benefit of increased staff morale. Crew resource management techniques can be used to improve efficiency, morale, and patient safety in the healthcare setting.

The impact of false warnings on partial and full lane departure warnings effectiveness and acceptance in car driving.

PubMed

Navarro, Jordan; Yousfi, Elsa; Deniel, Jonathan; Jallais, Christophe; Bueno, Mercedes; Fort, Alexandra

2016-12-01

In the past, lane departure warnings (LDWs) were demonstrated to improve driving behaviours during lane departures but little is known about the effects of unreliable warnings. This experiment focused on the influence of false warnings alone or in combination with missed warnings and warning onset on assistance effectiveness and acceptance. Two assistance unreliability levels (33 and 17%) and two warning onsets (partial and full lane departure) were manipulated in order to investigate interaction. Results showed that assistance, regardless unreliability levels and warning onsets, improved driving behaviours during lane departure episodes and outside of these episodes by favouring better lane-keeping performances. Full lane departure and highly unreliable warnings, however, reduced assistance efficiency. Drivers' assistance acceptance was better for the most reliable warnings and for the subsequent warnings. The data indicate that imperfect LDWs (false warnings or false and missed warnings) further improve driving behaviours compared to no assistance. Practitioner Summary: This study revealed that imperfect lane departure warnings are able to significantly improve driving performances and that warning onset is a key element for assistance effectiveness and acceptance. The conclusion may be of particular interest for lane departure warning designers.

Membrane-assisted vapor stripping: energy efficient hybrid distillation-vapor permeation process for alcohol-water separation

EPA Science Inventory

BACKGROUND: Energy efficient alternatives to distillation for alcohol recovery from dilute solution are needed to improve biofuel sustainability. A process integrating steam stripping with a vapor compression step and a vapor permeation membrane separation step is proposed. The...

Energy efficient recovery and dehydration of ethanol from fermentation broths by Membrane Assisted Vapor Stripping technology

EPA Science Inventory

Distillation combined with molecular sieve dehydration is the current state of the art for fuel grade ethanol production from fermentation broths. To improve the sustainability of bioethanol production, energy efficient separation alternatives are needed, particularly for lower ...

Rail Safety/Equipment Crashworthiness : Volume 1. A Systems Analysis of Injury Minimization in Rail Systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-07-01

The Department of Transportation, Transportation Systems Center (TSC), is providing technical assistance to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in a program to improve railroad safety and efficiency by providing a technological basis for improv...

Radial Inflow Turboexpander Redesign

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

William G. Price

2001-09-24

Steamboat Envirosystems, LLC (SELC) was awarded a grant in accordance with the DOE Enhanced Geothermal Systems Project Development. Atlas-Copco Rotoflow (ACR), a radial expansion turbine manufacturer, was responsible for the manufacturing of the turbine and the creation of the new computer program. SB Geo, Inc. (SBG), the facility operator, monitored and assisted ACR's activities as well as provided installation and startup assistance. The primary scope of the project is the redesign of an axial flow turbine to a radial inflow turboexpander to provide increased efficiency and reliability at an existing facility. In addition to the increased efficiency and reliability, themore » redesign includes an improved reduction gear design, and improved shaft seal design, and upgraded control system and a greater flexibility of application« less

Navigating change: how outreach facilitators can help clinicians improve patient outcomes.

PubMed

Laferriere, Dianne; Liddy, Clare; Nash, Kate; Hogg, William

2012-01-01

The objective of this study was to describe outreach facilitation as an effective method of assisting and supporting primary care practices to improve processes and delivery of care. We spent 4 years working with 83 practices in Eastern Ontario, Canada, on the Improved Delivery of Cardiovascular Care through the Outreach Facilitation program. Primary care practices, even if highly motivated, face multiple challenges when providing quality patient care. Outreach facilitation can be an effective method of assisting and supporting practices to make the changes necessary to improve processes and delivery of care. Multiple jurisdictions use outreach facilitation for system redesign, improved efficiencies, and advanced access. The development and implementation of quality improvement programs using practice facilitation can be challenging. Our research team has learned valuable lessons in developing tools, finding resources, and assisting practices to reach their quality improvement goals. These lessons can lead to improved experiences for the practices and overall improved outcomes for the patients they serve.

[Lean thinking and brain-dead patient assistance in the organ donation process].

PubMed

Pestana, Aline Lima; dos Santos, José Luís Guedes; Erdmann, Rolf Hermann; da Silva, Elza Lima; Erdmann, Alacoque Lorenzini

2013-02-01

Organ donation is a complex process that challenges health system professionals and managers. This study aimed to introduce a theoretical model to organize brain-dead patient assistance and the organ donation process guided by the main lean thinking ideas, which enable production improvement through planning cycles and the development of a proper environment for successful implementation. Lean thinking may make the process of organ donation more effective and efficient and may contribute to improvements in information systematization and professional qualifications for excellence of assistance. The model is configured as a reference that is available for validation and implementation by health and nursing professionals and managers in the management of potential organ donors after brain death assistance and subsequent transplantation demands.

Eco Assist Techniques through Real-time Monitoring of BEV Energy Usage Efficiency

PubMed Central

Kim, Younsun; Lee, Ingeol; Kang, Sungho

2015-01-01

Energy efficiency enhancement has become an increasingly important issue for battery electric vehicles. Even if it can be improved in many ways, the driver’s driving pattern strongly influences the battery energy consumption of a vehicle. In this paper, eco assist techniques to simply implement an energy-efficient driving assistant system are introduced, including eco guide, eco control and eco monitoring methods. The eco guide is provided to control the vehicle speed and accelerator pedal stroke, and eco control is suggested to limit the output power of the battery. For eco monitoring, the eco indicator and eco report are suggested to teach eco-friendly driving habits. The vehicle test, which is done in four ways, consists of federal test procedure (FTP)-75, new european driving cycle (NEDC), city and highway cycles, and visual feedback with audible warnings is provided to attract the driver’s voluntary participation. The vehicle test result shows that the energy usage efficiency can be increased up to 19.41%. PMID:26121611

Cognitive Load Theory vs. Constructivist Approaches: Which Best Leads to Efficient, Deep Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogel-Walcutt, J. J.; Gebrim, J. B.; Bowers, C.; Carper, T. M.; Nicholson, D.

2011-01-01

Computer-assisted learning, in the form of simulation-based training, is heavily focused upon by the military. Because computer-based learning offers highly portable, reusable, and cost-efficient training options, the military has dedicated significant resources to the investigation of instructional strategies that improve learning efficiency…

Ambient Assisted Living and ageing: preliminary results of RITA project.

PubMed

Aquilano, Michela; Cavallo, Filippo; Bonaccorsi, Manuele; Esposito, Raffaele; Rovini, Erika; Filippi, Massimo; Esposito, Dario; Dario, Paolo; Carrozza, Maria Chiara

2012-01-01

The ageing of population is a social phenomenon that most of worldwide countries are facing. They are, and will be even more in the future, indeed trying to find solutions for improving quality of life of their elderly citizens. The project RITA wants to demonstrate that an update of the current socio-medical services with an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) approach could improve the service efficiency and the quality of life of both elderly and caregiver. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained in RITA.

[Benefits of nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic to self-cycle-management and self-efficiency of infertility patients].

PubMed

Li, Xiao-Qin; Sun, Chao-Feng; Guo, Mei

2017-06-01

To investigate the benefits of nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic to self-cycle-management and self-efficiency of the outpatients with infertility. We randomly divided 600 females preliminarily diagnosed with infertility into a control and an experimental group, 288 in the former and 285 in the latter group excluding those whose husbands had azoospermia. For the women patients of the experimental group, we conducted nursing care intervention concerning related knowledge, skills, diet, excise, medication, and psychology, by one-to-one consultation, individualized or group communication, establishing files, telephone follow-up, and wechat guidance. After 3 months of intervention, we compared the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of cycle management, sense of self-efficiency, satisfaction, and anxiety score between the two groups of patients. In comparison with the controls, the patients of the experimental group showed significantly better knowledge about assisted reproduction and higher effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction (P <0.05), but a markedly lower degree of anxiety (P <0.05). Nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic can improve the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction and reduce the anxiety of the patients.

Teaching Laboratory Management Principles and Practices Through Mentorship and Graduated Responsibility: The Assistant Medical Directorship.

PubMed

Hanley, Timothy; Sowder, Aleksandra M; Palmer, Cheryl Ann; Weiss, Ronald L

2016-01-01

With the changing landscape of medicine in general, and pathology in particular, a greater emphasis is being placed on laboratory management as a means of controlling spiraling medical costs and improving health-care efficiency. To meet this challenge, pathology residency programs have begun to incorporate formal laboratory management training into their curricula, using institutional curricula and/or online laboratory management courses offered by professional organizations. At the University of Utah, and its affiliated national reference laboratory, ARUP Laboratories, Inc, interested residents are able to supplement the departmental lecture-based and online laboratory management curriculum by participating in assistant medical directorship programs in one of several pathology subspecialty disciplines. The goals of many of the assistant medical directorship positions include the development of laboratory management skills and competencies. A survey of current and recent assistant medical directorship participants revealed that the assistant medical directorship program serves as an excellent means of improving laboratory management skills, as well as improving performance as a fellow and practicing pathologist.

Model-assisted survey regression estimation with the lasso

Treesearch

Kelly S. McConville; F. Jay Breidt; Thomas C. M. Lee; Gretchen G. Moisen

2017-01-01

In the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, as in other natural resource surveys, many auxiliary variables are available for use in model-assisted inference about finite population parameters. Some of this auxiliary information may be extraneous, and therefore model selection is appropriate to improve the efficiency of the survey...

75 FR 60165 - Notice Regarding Consideration and Processing of Applications for Financial Assistance Under the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-29

... program of financial assistance to the rail industry in the form of loans and loan guarantees and other..., 2005 (70 FR 56207) and provides policy guidance. The public has an interest in how federal funds are... following: Reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and otherwise improve energy efficiency of rail operations...

Evaluating a Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) Technique for Efficient Classroom Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luo, Beate

2016-01-01

This study investigates a computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) technique that combines oral reading with peer review to improve pronunciation of Taiwanese English major students. In addition to traditional in-class instruction, students were given a short passage every week along with a recording of the respective text, read by a native…

Using Power Ultrasound to Accelerate Food Freezing Processes: Effects on Freezing Efficiency and Food Microstructure.

PubMed

Zhang, Peizhi; Zhu, Zhiwei; Sun, Da-Wen

2018-05-31

Freezing is an effective way of food preservation. However, traditional freezing methods have the disadvantages of low freezing efficiency and generation of large ice crystals, leading to possible damage of food quality. Power ultrasound assisted freezing as a novel technique can effectively reduce the adverse effects during freezing process. This paper gives an overview on recent researches of power ultrasound technique to accelerate the food freezing processes and illustrates the main principles of power ultrasound assisted freezing. The effects of power ultrasound on liquid food, model solid food as well as fruit and vegetables are discussed, respectively, from the aspects of increasing freezing rate and improving microstructure. It is shown that ultrasound assisted freezing can effectively improve the freezing efficiency and promote the formation of small and evenly distributed ice crystals, resulting in better food quality. Different inherent properties of food samples affect the effectiveness of ultrasound application and optimum ultrasound parameters depend on the nature of the samples. The application of ultrasound to the food industry is more likely on certain types of food products and more efforts are still needed to realize the industrial translation of laboratory results.

Systems Engineering Methodology for Fuel Efficiency and its Application to the TARDEC Fuel Efficient Demonstrator (FED) Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-19

highlight the benefits of regenerative braking . Parameters within the drive cycle may include vehicle speed, elevation/grade changes, road surface...assist to downsize the engine due to infinite maximum speed requirements • Drive cycle less suited to regenerative braking improvement compared to...will be cycle dependent. A high speed drive cycle may for example drive a focus on aerodynamic improvements, while high frequency of braking will

Study on Gap Flow Field Simulation in Small Hole Machining of Ultrasonic Assisted EDM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yu; Chang, Hao; Zhang, Wenchao; Ma, Fujian; Sha, Zhihua; Zhang, Shengfang

2017-12-01

When machining a small hole with high aspect ratio in EDM, it is hard for the flushing liquid entering the bottom gap and the debris could hardly be removed, which results in the accumulation of debris and affects the machining efficiency and machining accuracy. The assisted ultrasonic vibration can improve the removal of debris in the gap. Based on dynamics simulation software Fluent, a 3D model of debris movement in the gap flow field of EDM small hole machining assisted with side flushing and ultrasonic vibration is established in this paper. When depth to ratio is 3, the laws of different amplitudes and frequencies on debris distribution and removal are quantitatively analysed. The research results show that periodic ultrasonic vibration can promote the movement of debris, which is beneficial to the removal of debris in the machining gap. Compared to traditional small hole machining in EDM, the debris in the machining gap is greatly reduced, which ensures the stability of machining process and improves the machining efficiency.

Compiler-Assisted Multiple Instruction Rollback Recovery Using a Read Buffer. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alewine, Neal Jon

1993-01-01

Multiple instruction rollback (MIR) is a technique to provide rapid recovery from transient processor failures and was implemented in hardware by researchers and slow in mainframe computers. Hardware-based MIR designs eliminate rollback data hazards by providing data redundancy implemented in hardware. Compiler-based MIR designs were also developed which remove rollback data hazards directly with data flow manipulations, thus eliminating the need for most data redundancy hardware. Compiler-assisted techniques to achieve multiple instruction rollback recovery are addressed. It is observed that data some hazards resulting from instruction rollback can be resolved more efficiently by providing hardware redundancy while others are resolved more efficiently with compiler transformations. A compiler-assisted multiple instruction rollback scheme is developed which combines hardware-implemented data redundancy with compiler-driven hazard removal transformations. Experimental performance evaluations were conducted which indicate improved efficiency over previous hardware-based and compiler-based schemes. Various enhancements to the compiler transformations and to the data redundancy hardware developed for the compiler-assisted MIR scheme are described and evaluated. The final topic deals with the application of compiler-assisted MIR techniques to aid in exception repair and branch repair in a speculative execution architecture.

Improving the enzymolysis efficiency of potato protein by simultaneous dual-frequency energy-gathered ultrasound pretreatment: Thermodynamics and kinetics.

PubMed

Cheng, Yu; Liu, Yun; Wu, Juan; Ofori Donkor, Prince; Li, Ting; Ma, Haile

2017-07-01

The thermodynamics and kinetics of traditional and simultaneous dual frequency energy-gathered ultrasound (SDFU) assisted enzymolysis of potato protein were investigated to get the knowledge of the mechanisms on the SDFU's promoting efficiency during enzymolysis. The concentration of potato protein hydrolysate and parameters of thermodynamic and kinetic during traditional and SDFU assisted enzymolysis were determined. The results showed that potato protein hydrolysate concentration of SDFU assisted enzymolysis was higher than traditional enzymolysis at the hydrolysis time of 60min (p<0.05) whereas not significantly different at 120min (p>0.05). In some cases, SDFU assisted enzymolysis took less hydrolysis time than traditional enzymolysis when the similar conversion rates of potato protein were obtained. The thermodynamic papameters including the energy of activation (E a ), enthalpy of activation (△H), entropy of activation (△S) were reduced by ultrasound pretreatment while Gibbs free energy of activation (△G) increased little (1.6%). Also, kinetic papameters including Michaelis constant (K M ) and catalytic rate constant (k cat ) decreased by ultrasound pretreatment. On the contrary, reaction rate constants (k) of SDFU assisted enzymolysis were higher than that of traditional enzymolysis (p<0.05). It was indicated that the efficiency of SDFU assisted enzymolysis was higher than traditional enzymolysis in a limited time. The higher efficiency of SDFU assisted enzymolysis was related with the decrease of E a and K M by lowering the energy barrier between ground and active state and increasing affinity between substrate and enzyme. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Austin Energy: Pumping System Improvement Project Saves Energy and Improves Performance at a Power Plant

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

Not Available

2005-06-01

This two-page performance spotlight describes how, in 2004, Austin Energy (the electric utility for the city of Austin, Texas) began saving about $1.2 million in energy and maintenance costs annually as a direct result of a pumping system efficiency project. The project was designed to improve the efficiency of the circulating water pumping system serving the utility's 405-MW steam turbine. A U.S. Department of Energy Qualified Pumping System Assessment Tool Specialist at Flowserve Corporation assisted in the initial assessment of the system.

Assisting People with Disabilities Improves Their Collaborative Pointing Efficiency through the Use of the Mouse Scroll Wheel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang

2013-01-01

This study provided that people with multiple disabilities can have a collaborative working chance in computer operations through an Enhanced Multiple Cursor Dynamic Pointing Assistive Program (EMCDPAP, a new kind of software that replaces the standard mouse driver, changes a mouse wheel into a thumb/finger poke detector, and manages mouse…

78 FR 24714 - Notice of Funds Availability Inviting Applications for the Federal-State Marketing Improvement...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

... channels. Assist in the development of more efficient marketing methods, practices, and facilities to bring... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Marketing Service [Doc. No. AMS-TM-12-0053; TM-12-03] Notice of Funds Availability Inviting Applications for the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program...

Improved efficiency of NiOx-based p-i-n perovskite solar cells by using PTEG-1 as electron transport layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groeneveld, Bart G. H. M.; Najafi, Mehrdad; Steensma, Bauke; Adjokatse, Sampson; Fang, Hong-Hua; Jahani, Fatemeh; Qiu, Li; ten Brink, Gert H.; Hummelen, Jan C.; Loi, Maria Antonietta

2017-07-01

We present efficient p-i-n type perovskite solar cells using NiOx as the hole transport layer and a fulleropyrrolidine with a triethylene glycol monoethyl ether side chain (PTEG-1) as electron transport layer. This electron transport layer leads to higher power conversion efficiencies compared to perovskite solar cells with PCBM (phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester). The improved performance of PTEG-1 devices is attributed to the reduced trap-assisted recombination and improved charge extraction in these solar cells, as determined by light intensity dependence and photoluminescence measurements. Through optimization of the hole and electron transport layers, the power conversion efficiency of the NiOx/perovskite/PTEG-1 solar cells was increased up to 16.1%.

Advanced Traffic Signal Control Algorithms

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-05-01

Vehicle convoys (platoons) hold a promise for significant efficiency improvements of freight and passenger transportation through better system integration. Through the use of advanced driver assistance, vehicles in a convoy can keep shorter distance...

Compiler-assisted multiple instruction rollback recovery using a read buffer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alewine, Neal J.; Chen, Shyh-Kwei; Fuchs, W. Kent; Hwu, Wen-Mei W.

1995-01-01

Multiple instruction rollback (MIR) is a technique that has been implemented in mainframe computers to provide rapid recovery from transient processor failures. Hardware-based MIR designs eliminate rollback data hazards by providing data redundancy implemented in hardware. Compiler-based MIR designs have also been developed which remove rollback data hazards directly with data-flow transformations. This paper describes compiler-assisted techniques to achieve multiple instruction rollback recovery. We observe that some data hazards resulting from instruction rollback can be resolved efficiently by providing an operand read buffer while others are resolved more efficiently with compiler transformations. The compiler-assisted scheme presented consists of hardware that is less complex than shadow files, history files, history buffers, or delayed write buffers, while experimental evaluation indicates performance improvement over compiler-based schemes.

Enhancing Arithmetic and Word-Problem Solving Skills Efficiently by Individualized Computer-Assisted Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoppek, Wolfgang; Tulis, Maria

2010-01-01

The fluency of basic arithmetical operations is a precondition for mathematical problem solving. However, the training of skills plays a minor role in contemporary mathematics instruction. The authors proposed individualization of practice as a means to improve its efficiency, so that the time spent with the training of skills is minimized. As a…

RNAi assisted genome evolution unveils yeast mutants with improved xylose utilization.

PubMed

HamediRad, Mohammad; Lian, Jiazhang; Li, Hejun; Zhao, Huimin

2018-06-01

Xylose is a major component of lignocellulosic biomass, one of the most abundant feedstocks for biofuel production. Therefore, efficient and rapid conversion of xylose to ethanol is crucial in the viability of lignocellulosic biofuel plants. In this study, RNAi Assisted Genome Evolution (RAGE) was used to improve the xylose utilization rate in SR8, one of the most efficient publicly available xylose utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. To identify gene targets for further improvement, we created a genome-scale library consisting of both genetic over-expression and down-regulation mutations in SR8. Followed by screening in media containing xylose as the sole carbon source, yeast mutants with 29% faster xylose utilization, and 45% higher ethanol productivity were obtained relative to the parent strain. Two known and two new effector genes were identified in these mutant strains. Notably, down-regulation of CDC11, an essential gene, resulted in faster xylose utilization, and this gene target cannot be identified in genetic knock-out screens. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Missouri commercial vehicle operations : state business plan

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-05-15

This business plan is intended to assist this state in improving its commercial vehicle operation regulation, guide the deployment and installation of intelligent transportation systems and to implement these systems in an efficient and cost effectiv...

Electric field assisted sintering to improve the performance of nanostructured dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shojaeifar, Mohsen; Mohajerani, Ezeddin; Fathollahi, Mohammadreza

2018-01-01

Herein, we report the application of electric field assisted sintering (EFAS) procedure in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The EFAS process improved DSSC performance by enhancing optical and electrical characteristics simultaneously. The EFAS procedure is shown to be capable of reducing the TiO2 nanoparticle aggregation leading to the higher surface area for dye molecules adsorbates. Lower nanoparticle aggregation can be evidently observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy imaging. By applying an external electric field, the current density and conversion efficiency improved significantly about 30% and 45%, respectively. UV-Visible spectra of the desorbed dye molecules on the porous nanoparticles bedding confirm a higher amount of dye loading in the presence of an external electric field. Correspondingly, comprehensive J-V characteristics modeling reveals the enhancement of the diffusion coefficient by EFAS process. The proposed method can be applied to improve the efficiency of the mesostructured hybrid perovskite solar cells, photodetectors, and quantum dot-sensitized solar cells, as well as reduction of the surface area loss in all porous media.

Study on heat pipe assisted thermoelectric power generation system from exhaust gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, Ri-Guang; Park, Jong-Chan; Rhi, Seok-Ho; Lee, Kye-Bock

2017-11-01

Currently, most fuel consumed by vehicles is released to the environment as thermal energy through the exhaust pipe. Environmentally friendly vehicle technology needs new methods to increase the recycling efficiency of waste exhaust thermal energy. The present study investigated how to improve the maximum power output of a TEG (Thermoelectric generator) system assisted with a heat pipe. Conventionally, the driving energy efficiency of an internal combustion engine is approximately less than 35%. TEG with Seebeck elements is a new idea for recycling waste exhaust heat energy. The TEG system can efficiently utilize low temperature waste heat, such as industrial waste heat and solar energy. In addition, the heat pipe can transfer heat from the automobile's exhaust gas to a TEG. To improve the efficiency of the thermal power generation system with a heat pipe, effects of various parameters, such as inclination angle, charged amount of the heat pipe, condenser temperature, and size of the TEM (thermoelectric element), were investigated. Experimental studies, CFD simulation, and the theoretical approach to thermoelectric modules were carried out, and the TEG system with heat pipe (15-20% charged, 20°-30° inclined configuration) showed the best performance.

Manufacturing Improvement Program for the Oil and Gas Industry Supply Chain and Marketing Cluster

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

Taylor, Robert

This project supported upgrades for manufacturing companies in the oil and natural gas supply chain in Oklahoma. The goal is to provide assistance that will lead to the improved efficiency advancement of the manufacturing processes currently used by the existing manufacturing clients. The basis for the work is to improve the economic environment for the clients and the communities they serve.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications in mixed passenger-freight convoys : [final report].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-09-01

Vehicle convoys (platoons) hold a promise for significant efficiency improvements of freight and : passenger transportation through better system integration. Through the use of advanced driver : assistance, vehicles in a convoy can keep shorter dist...

Arterial intelligent transportation systems : infrastructure elements and traveler information requirements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-08-01

Applying Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to arterial systems allows TxDOT to significantly enhance : transportation system operation efficiency and improve traffic mobility. However, no guidelines are available to : assist TxDOT staff in sel...

Study on chemical mechanical polishing of silicon wafer with megasonic vibration assisted.

PubMed

Zhai, Ke; He, Qing; Li, Liang; Ren, Yi

2017-09-01

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is the primary method to realize the global planarization of silicon wafer. In order to improve this process, a novel method which combined megasonic vibration to assist chemical mechanical polishing (MA-CMP) is developed in this paper. A matching layer structure of polishing head was calculated and designed. Silicon wafers are polished by megasonic assisted chemical mechanical polishing and traditional chemical mechanical polishing respectively, both coarse polishing and precision polishing experiments were carried out. With the use of megasonic vibration, the surface roughness values Ra reduced from 22.260nm to 17.835nm in coarse polishing, and the material removal rate increased by approximately 15-25% for megasonic assisted chemical mechanical polishing relative to traditional chemical mechanical polishing. Average Surface roughness values Ra reduced from 0.509nm to 0.387nm in precision polishing. The results show that megasonic assisted chemical mechanical polishing is a feasible method to improve polishing efficiency and surface quality. The material removal and finishing mechanisms of megasonic vibration assisted polishing are investigated too. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Panorama parking assistant system with improved particle swarm optimization method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Ruzhong; Zhao, Yong; Li, Zhichao; Jiang, Weigang; Wang, Xin'an; Xu, Yong

2013-10-01

A panorama parking assistant system (PPAS) for the automotive aftermarket together with a practical improved particle swarm optimization method (IPSO) are proposed in this paper. In the PPAS system, four fisheye cameras are installed in the vehicle with different views, and four channels of video frames captured by the cameras are processed as a 360-deg top-view image around the vehicle. Besides the embedded design of PPAS, the key problem for image distortion correction and mosaicking is the efficiency of parameter optimization in the process of camera calibration. In order to address this problem, an IPSO method is proposed. Compared with other parameter optimization methods, the proposed method allows a certain range of dynamic change for the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, and can exploit only one reference image to complete all of the optimization; therefore, the efficiency of the whole camera calibration is increased. The PPAS is commercially available, and the IPSO method is a highly practical way to increase the efficiency of the installation and the calibration of PPAS in automobile 4S shops.

Crosstalk mitigation using pilot assisted least square algorithm in OFDM-carrying orbital angular momentum multiplexed free-space-optical communication links.

PubMed

Sun, Tengfen; Liu, Minwen; Li, Yingchun; Wang, Min

2017-10-16

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the performance of crosstalk mitigation for 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (16QAM-OFDM) signals carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexed free-space-optical communication (FSO) links using the pilot assisted Least Square (LS) algorithm. At the demodulating spatial light modulators (SLMs), we launch the distorted phase holograms which have the information of atmospheric turbulence obeying the modified Hill spectrum. And crosstalk can be introduced by these holograms with the experimental verification. The pilot assisted LS algorithm can efficiently improve the quality of system performance, the points of constellations get closer to the reference points and around two orders of magnitude improvement of bit-error rate (BER) is obtained.

Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee: Public Health Working Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA formed this workgroup to assist in meeting its long-term goal of creating a publically-available framework that improves the reporting, quality and efficient use of pesticide incident data to ensure high-quality, science-based pesticide decisions.

A new method for optimization of low-thrust gravity-assist sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maiwald, V.

2017-09-01

Recently missions like Hayabusa and Dawn have shown the relevance and benefits of low-thrust spacecraft concerning the exploration of our solar system. In general, the efficiency of low-thrust propulsion is one means of improving mission payload mass. At the same time, gravity-assist maneuvers can serve as mission enablers, as they have the capability to provide "free energy." A combination of both, gravity-assist and low-thrust propulsion, has the potential to generally improve mission performance, i.e. planning and optimization of gravity-assist sequences for low-thrust missions is a desirable asset. Currently no established methods exist to include the gravity-assist partners as optimization variable for low-thrust missions. The present paper explains how gravity-assists are planned and optimized, including the gravity-assist partners, for high-thrust missions and discusses the possibility to transfer the established method, based on the Tisserand Criterion, to low-thrust missions. It is shown how the Tisserand Criterion needs to be adapted using a correction term for the low-thrust situation. It is explained why this necessary correction term excludes an a priori evaluation of sequences and therefore their planning and an alternate approach is proposed. Preliminary results of this method, by application of a Differential Evolution optimization algorithm, are presented and discussed, showing that the method is valid but can be improved. Two constraints on the search space are briefly presented for that aim.

Nanostructured Materials for Solar Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Sheila; Raffaelle, Ryne; Castro, Stephanie; Fahey, S.; Gennett, T.; Tin, P.

2003-01-01

The use of both inorganic and organic nanostructured materials in producing high efficiency photovoltaics is discussed in this paper. Recent theoretical results indicate that dramatic improvements in device efficiency may be attainable through the use of semiconductor quantum dots in an ordinary p-i-n solar cell. In addition, it has also recently been demonstrated that quantum dots can also be used to improve conversion efficiencies in polymeric thin film solar cells. A similar improvement in these types of cells has also been observed by employing single wall carbon nanotubes. This relatively new carbon allotrope may assist both in the disassociation of excitons as well as carrier transport through the composite material. This paper reviews the efforts that are currently underway to produce and characterize these nanoscale materials and to exploit their unique properties.

Weatherization Innovation Pilot Program (WIPP): Technical Assistance Summary

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

Hollander, A.

2014-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs Office (WIPO) launched the Weatherization Innovation Pilot Program (WIPP) to accelerate innovations in whole-house weatherization and advance DOE's goal of increasing the energy efficiency and health and safety of low-income residences without the utilization of additional taxpayer funding. Sixteen WIPP grantees were awarded a total of $30 million in Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) funds in September 2010. These projects focused on: including nontraditional partners in weatherization service delivery; leveraging significant non-federal funding; and improving the effectiveness of low-income weatherization through the use of newmore » materials, technologies, behavior-change models, and processes.« less

[Microwave assisted UV electrodeless discharge lamp photochemical degradation of 4-chlorophenol in aquatic solutions].

PubMed

Ai, Zhi-hui; Jiang, Jun-qing; Yang, Peng; Zhou, Tao; Lu, Xiao-hua

2004-07-01

A microwave assisted UV electrodeless discharge lamp system (MW/UV) was used for photo-degradation of 4CP simulated wastewater. In order to evaluate the degradation efficiency of 4CP, UV spectrophotometry and ion chromatography were used for determination of 4CP and Cl- respectively. The degradation rate in MW/UV system was higher than that in the UV system within 120min, which were 52.40% and 21.56% respectively. The degradation efficiency was improved by increasing pH value of the solution, aerating O2 gas, enhancing light intensity, or adding H2O2 oxidant. The degradation of 4CP under MW/UV accords with the first order kinetics equation.

Composition of the Essential Oil of Aristolochia Manshurientsis Kom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiuhong; Xin, Guang; Zhao, Lichun; Xiao, Zhigang; Xue, Bai

2018-03-01

This study demonstrated the chemical constituents of the essential oil of Aristolochia manshurientsis Kom and improved the essential oil efficiency by the enzyme-assisted extraction followed by hydrodistillation. The essential oils of Aristolochia manshurientsis Kom acquired by hydrodistillation after the solvent extraction with and without the assistance of cellulase have been investigated by gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The predominant constituents of both types of essential oils are camphene, 1,7,7-trimethyl-bicyclo [2.2.1] hept-2-yl acetate, 1,6-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethyl) naphthalene, caryophyllene oxide, borneol, and (-)-Spathulenol. The enzyme-assisted extraction not only increased extracting efficiency of the essential oil from 4.93% to 9.36%, but also facilitated the extraction of additional eight compounds such as 2-methano(-6,6-dimethyl) bicycle [3.1.1] hept-2-ene, (+)--terpineol and 1-propyl-3-(propen-1-yl) adamantane, which were not identified from the non-enzyme extraction sample.

A hydraulic assist for a manual skyline lock

Treesearch

Cleveland J. Biller

1977-01-01

A hydraulic locking mechanism was designed to replace the manual skyline lock on a small standing skyline with gravity carriage. It improved the efficiency of the operation by reducing setup and takedown times and reduced the hazard to the crew.

Evaluation Methodology for Surface Engineering Techniques to Improve Powertrain Efficiency in Military Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

Conducting metrology, surface analysis, and metallography/ fractography interrogations of samples to correlate microstructure with friction...are examined using a variety of methods such as metallography, chemical analysis, fractography , and hardness measurements. These methods assist in

78 FR 45277 - Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Development of a...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-26

... that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens. The Bureau accomplishes its...

Ceria nanocubic-ultrasonication assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for pathogenic bacteria analysis.

PubMed

Abdelhamid, Hani Nasser; Bhaisare, Mukesh L; Wu, Hui-Fen

2014-03-01

A new ceria (CeO2) nanocubic modified surfactant is used as the basis of a novel nano-based microextraction technique for highly sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus). The technique uses ultrasound enhanced surfactant-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UESA-DLLME) with and without ceria (CeO2) followed by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). In order to achieve high separation efficiency, we investigated the influential parameters, including extraction time of ultrasonication, type and volume of the extraction solvent and surfactant. Among various surfactants, the cationic surfactants can selectively offer better extraction efficiency on bacteria analysis than that of the anionic surfactants due to the negative charges of bacteria cell membranes. Extractions of the bacteria lysate from aqueous samples via UESA-DLLME-MALDI-MS were successfully achieved by using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB, 10.0 µL, 1.0×10(-3) M) as surfactants in chlorobenzene (10.0 µL) and chloroform (10.0 µL) as the optimal extracting solvent for P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, respectively. Ceria nanocubic was synthesized, and functionalized with CTAB (CeO2@CTAB) and then characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and optical spectroscopy (UV and FTIR). CeO2@CTAB demonstrates high extraction efficiency, improve peaks ionization, and enhance resolution. The prime reasons for these improvements are due to the large surface area of nanoparticles, and its absorption that coincides with the wavelength of MALDI laser (337 nm, N2 laser). CeO2@CTAB-based microextraction offers lowest detectable concentrations tenfold lower than that of without nanoceria. The present approach has been successfully applied to detect pathogenic bacteria at low concentrations of 10(4)-10(5) cfu/mL (without ceria) and at 10(3)-10(4) cfu/mL (with ceria) from bacteria suspensions. Finally, the current approach was applied for analyzing the pathogenic bacteria in biological samples (blood and serum). Ceria assist surfactant (CeO2@CTAB) liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME) offers better extraction efficiency than that of using the surfactant in LLME alone. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aeronautical Satellite-Assisted Process for Information Exchange Through Network Technologies (Aero-SAPIENT) Conducted

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zernic, Michael J.

2002-01-01

Broadband satellite communications for aeronautics marries communication and network technologies to address NASA's goals in information technology base research and development, thereby serving the safety and capacity needs of the National Airspace System. This marriage of technology increases the interactivity between airborne vehicles and ground systems. It improves decision-making and efficiency, reduces operation costs, and improves the safety and capacity of the National Airspace System. To this end, a collaborative project called the Aeronautical Satellite Assisted Process for Information Exchange through Network Technologies, or Aero-SAPIENT, was conducted out of Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, during November and December 2000.

Comparative genome analysis of a thermotolerant Escherichia coli obtained by Genome Replication Engineering Assisted Continuous Evolution (GREACE) and its parent strain provides new understanding of microbial heat tolerance.

PubMed

Luan, Guodong; Bao, Guanhui; Lin, Zhao; Li, Yang; Chen, Zugen; Li, Yin; Cai, Zhen

2015-12-25

Heat tolerance of microbes is of great importance for efficient biorefinery and bioconversion. However, engineering and understanding of microbial heat tolerance are difficult and insufficient because it is a complex physiological trait which probably correlates with all gene functions, genetic regulations, and cellular metabolisms and activities. In this work, a novel strain engineering approach named Genome Replication Engineering Assisted Continuous Evolution (GREACE) was employed to improve the heat tolerance of Escherichia coli. When the E. coli strain carrying a mutator was cultivated under gradually increasing temperature, genome-wide mutations were continuously generated during genome replication and the mutated strains with improved thermotolerance were autonomously selected. A thermotolerant strain HR50 capable of growing at 50°C on LB agar plate was obtained within two months, demonstrating the efficiency of GREACE in improving such a complex physiological trait. To understand the improved heat tolerance, genomes of HR50 and its wildtype strain DH5α were sequenced. Evenly distributed 361 mutations covering all mutation types were found in HR50. Closed material transportations, loose genome conformation, and possibly altered cell wall structure and transcription pattern were the main differences of HR50 compared with DH5α, which were speculated to be responsible for the improved heat tolerance. This work not only expanding our understanding of microbial heat tolerance, but also emphasizing that the in vivo continuous genome mutagenesis method, GREACE, is efficient in improving microbial complex physiological trait. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

X Marks the Spot: Creating and Managing a Single Service Point to Improve Customer Service and Maximize Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venner, Mary Ann; Keshmiripour, Seti

2016-01-01

This article will describe how merging service points in an academic library is an opportunity to improve customer service and utilize staffing resources more efficiently. Combining service points provides libraries with the ability to create a more positive library experience for patrons by minimizing the ping-pong effect for assistance. The…

Assisting People with Multiple Disabilities by Improving Their Computer Pointing Efficiency with an Automatic Target Acquisition Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Shih, Ching-Tien; Peng, Chin-Ling

2011-01-01

This study evaluated whether two people with multiple disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance through an Automatic Target Acquisition Program (ATAP) and a newly developed mouse driver (i.e. a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and is able to monitor mouse movement and intercept click action). Initially, both…

Integrated Planning for Telepresence With Time Delays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnston, Mark; Rabe, Kenneth

2009-01-01

A conceptual "intelligent assistant" and an artificial-intelligence computer program that implements the intelligent assistant have been developed to improve control exerted by a human supervisor over a robot that is so distant that communication between the human and the robot involves significant signal-propagation delays. The goal of the effort is not only to help the human supervisor monitor and control the state of the robot, but also to improve the efficiency of the robot by allowing the supervisor to "work ahead". The intelligent assistant is an integrated combination of an artificial-intelligence planner and a monitor of states of both the human supervisor and the remote robot. The novelty of the system lies in the way it uses the planner to reason about the states at both ends of the time delay. The purpose served by the assistant is to provide advice to the human supervisor about current and future activities, derived from a sequence of high-level goals to be achieved.

Enhancing battery efficiency for pervasive health-monitoring systems based on electronic textiles.

PubMed

Zheng, Nenggan; Wu, Zhaohui; Lin, Man; Yang, Laurence Tianruo

2010-03-01

Electronic textiles are regarded as one of the most important computation platforms for future computer-assisted health-monitoring applications. In these novel systems, multiple batteries are used in order to prolong their operational lifetime, which is a significant metric for system usability. However, due to the nonlinear features of batteries, computing systems with multiple batteries cannot achieve the same battery efficiency as those powered by a monolithic battery of equal capacity. In this paper, we propose an algorithm aiming to maximize battery efficiency globally for the computer-assisted health-care systems with multiple batteries. Based on an accurate analytical battery model, the concept of weighted battery fatigue degree is introduced and the novel battery-scheduling algorithm called predicted weighted fatigue degree least first (PWFDLF) is developed. Besides, we also discuss our attempts during search PWFDLF: a weighted round-robin (WRR) and a greedy algorithm achieving highest local battery efficiency, which reduces to the sequential discharging policy. Evaluation results show that a considerable improvement in battery efficiency can be obtained by PWFDLF under various battery configurations and current profiles compared to conventional sequential and WRR discharging policies.

Cost effective nuclear commercial grade dedication

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

Maletz, J.J.; Marston, M.J.

1991-01-01

This paper describes a new computerized database method to create/edit/view specification technical data sheets (mini-specifications) for procurement of spare parts for nuclear facility maintenance and to develop information that could support possible future facility life extension efforts. This method may reduce cost when compared with current manual methods. The use of standardized technical data sheets (mini-specifications) for items of the same category improves efficiency. This method can be used for a variety of tasks, including: Nuclear safety-related procurement; Non-safety related procurement; Commercial grade item procurement/dedication; Evaluation of replacement items. This program will assist the nuclear facility in upgrading its procurementmore » activities consistent with the recent NUMARC Procurement Initiative. Proper utilization of the program will assist the user in assuring that the procured items are correct for the applications, provide data to assist in detecting fraudulent materials, minimize human error in withdrawing database information, improve data retrievability, improve traceability, and reduce long-term procurement costs.« less

Enhanced permeability, selectivity, and antifouling ability of CNTs/Al2O3 membrane under electrochemical assistance.

PubMed

Fan, Xinfei; Zhao, Huimin; Liu, Yanming; Quan, Xie; Yu, Hongtao; Chen, Shuo

2015-02-17

Membrane filtration provides effective solutions for removing contaminants, but achieving high permeability, good selectivity, and antifouling ability remains a great challenge for existing membrane filtration technologies. In this work, membrane filtration coupled with electrochemistry has been developed to enhance the filtration performance of a CNTs/Al2O3 membrane. The as-prepared CNTs/Al2O3 membrane, obtained by coating interconnected CNTs on an Al2O3 substrate, presented good pore-size tunability, mechanical stability, and electroconductivity. For the removal of a target (silica spheres as a probe) with a size comparable to the membrane pore size, the removal efficiency and flux at +1.5 V were 1.1 and 1.5 times higher, respectively, than those without electrochemical assistance. Moreover, the membrane also exhibited a greatly enhanced removal efficiency for contaminants smaller than the membrane pores, providing enhancements of 4 orders of magnitude and a factor of 5.7 for latex particles and phenol, respectively. These results indicated that both the permeability and the selectivity of CNTs/Al2O3 membranes can be significantly improved by electrochemical assistance, which was further confirmed by the removal of natural organic matter (NOM). The permeate flux and NOM removal efficiency at +1.5 V were about 1.6 and 3.0 times higher, respectively, than those without electrochemical assistance. In addition, the lost flux of the fouled membrane was almost completely recovered by an electrochemically assisted backwashing process.

System and process for polarity swing assisted regeneration of gas selective capture liquids

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

Heldebrant, David J.; Tegrotenhuis, Ward E.; Freeman, Charles J.

A polarity swing-assisted regeneration (PSAR) process is disclosed for improving the efficiency of releasing gases chemically bound to switchable ionic liquids. Regeneration of the SWIL involves addition of a quantity of non-polar organic compound as an anti-solvent to destabilize the SWIL, which aids in release of the chemically bound gas. The PSAR decreases gas loading of a SWIL at a given temperature and increases the rate of gas release compared to heating in the absence of anti-solvent.

An optimal controller for an electric ventricular-assist device: theory, implementation, and testing.

PubMed

Klute, G K; Tasch, U; Geselowitz, D B

1992-04-01

This paper addresses the development and testing of an optimal position feedback controller for the Penn State electric ventricular-assist device (EVAD). The control law is designed to minimize the expected value of the EVAD's power consumption for a targeted patient population. The closed-loop control law is implemented on an Intel 8096 microprocessor and in vitro test runs show that this controller improves the EVAD's efficiency by 15-21%, when compared with the performance of the currently used feedforward control scheme.

Energy transmission and power sources for mechanical circulatory support devices to achieve total implantability.

PubMed

Wang, Jake X; Smith, Joshua R; Bonde, Pramod

2014-04-01

Left ventricular assist device therapy has radically improved congestive heart failure survival with smaller rotary pumps. The driveline used to power today's left ventricular assist devices, however, continues to be a source of infection, traumatic damage, and rehospitalization. Previous attempts to wirelessly power left ventricular assist devices using transcutaneous energy transfer systems have been limited by restrictions on separation distance and alignment between the transmit and receive coils. Resonant electrical energy transfer allows power delivery at larger distances without compromising safety and efficiency. This review covers the efforts to wirelessly power mechanical circulatory assist devices and the progress made in enhancing their energy sources. Copyright © 2014 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards Context-Aware and User-Centered Analysis in Assistive Environments: A Methodology and a Software Tool.

PubMed

Fontecha, Jesús; Hervás, Ramón; Mondéjar, Tania; González, Iván; Bravo, José

2015-10-01

One of the main challenges on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is to reach an appropriate acceptance level of the assistive systems, as well as to analyze and monitor end user tasks in a feasible and efficient way. The development and evaluation of AAL solutions based on user-centered perspective help to achive these goals. In this work, we have designed a methodology to integrate and develop analytics user-centered tools into assistive systems. An analysis software tool gathers information of end users from adapted psychological questionnaires and naturalistic observation of their own context. The aim is to enable an in-deep analysis focused on improving the life quality of elderly people and their caregivers.

Characterization of dynamic droplet impaction and deposit formation on leaf surfaces

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Elucidation of droplet dynamic impaction and deposition formation on leaf surfaces would assist to optimize application strategies, improve biological control efficiency, and minimize pesticide waste. A custom-designed system consisting of two high-speed digital cameras and a uniform-size droplet ge...

Reductive Bis-addition of Aromatic Aldehydes to α,β-Unsaturated Esters via the Use of Sm/Cu(I) in Air: A Route to the Construction of Furofuran Lignans.

PubMed

Liu, Yongjun; Tian, Guang; Li, Jingjing; Qi, Yan; Wen, Yonghong; Du, Feng

2017-06-02

The novel bis-addition of benzaldehydes to acrylates or maleates was achieved by the direct use of samarium metal with the assistance of CuI under mild conditions under dry air, and the useful 2-hydroxylalkyl-γ-butyrolactons and lignan derivatives were thus constructed with high efficiency. The key factors that influence the reaction efficiency were investigated. The use of potassium iodide and molecular sieves as additives can improve the reaction efficiency remarkably.

Evolution of robot-assisted orthotopic ileal neobladder formation: a step-by-step update to the University of Southern California (USC) technique.

PubMed

Chopra, Sameer; de Castro Abreu, Andre Luis; Berger, Andre K; Sehgal, Shuchi; Gill, Inderbir; Aron, Monish; Desai, Mihir M

2017-01-01

To describe our, step-by-step, technique for robotic intracorporeal neobladder formation. The main surgical steps to forming the intracorporeal orthotopic ileal neobladder are: isolation of 65 cm of small bowel; small bowel anastomosis; bowel detubularisation; suture of the posterior wall of the neobladder; neobladder-urethral anastomosis and cross folding of the pouch; and uretero-enteral anastomosis. Improvements have been made to these steps to enhance time efficiency without compromising neobladder configuration. Our technical improvements have resulted in an improvement in operative time from 450 to 360 min. We describe an updated step-by-step technique of robot-assisted intracorporeal orthotopic ileal neobladder formation. © 2016 The Authors BJU International © 2016 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Simple Sonication Improves Protein Signal in Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Li-En; Su, Pin-Rui; Wu, Hsin-Yi; Hsu, Cheng-Chih

2018-02-01

Proper matrix application is crucial in obtaining high quality matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). Solvent-free sublimation was essentially introduced as an approach of homogeneous coating that gives small crystal size of the organic matrix. However, sublimation has lower extraction efficiency of analytes. Here, we present that a simple sonication step after the hydration in standard sublimation protocol significantly enhances the sensitivity of MALDI MSI. This modified procedure uses a common laboratory ultrasonicator to immobilize the analytes from tissue sections without noticeable delocalization. Improved imaging quality with additional peaks above 10 kDa in the spectra was thus obtained upon sonication treatment. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Nafion®-catalyzed microwave-assisted Ritter reaction: An atom-economic solvent-free synthesis of amides

EPA Science Inventory

An atom-economic solvent-free synthesis of amides by the Ritter reaction of alcohols and nitriles under microwave irradiation is reported. This green protocol is catalyzed by solid supported Nafion®NR50 with improved efficiency and reduced waste production.

Introduction to Computer Aided Instruction in the Language Laboratory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughett, Harvey L.

The first half of this book focuses on the rationale, ideas, and information for the use of technology, including microcomputers, to improve language teaching efficiency. Topics discussed include foreign language computer assisted instruction (CAI), hardware and software selection, computer literacy, educational computing organizations, ease of…

77 FR 20781 - Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Rural Energy for America Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-06

... grants and guaranteed loans for the development and construction of renewable energy systems and for energy efficiency improvement projects; grants for conducting energy audits; grants for conducting renewable energy development assistance; and grants for conducting renewable energy system feasibility...

75 FR 32459 - National Energy Rating Program for Homes

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-08

... Homes AGENCY: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy. ACTION: Request for... parties to assist DOE in developing a voluntary National Energy Rating Program for Homes. The purpose of this program is to encourage consumers to invest in energy improvements in existing homes by providing...

76 FR 71287 - Public Housing Energy Audits

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-17

...-AC84 Public Housing Energy Audits AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: This rule proposes to revise HUD's energy audit requirements... identifying energy-efficient measures that need to be addressed in the audit and procedures for improved...

Reimagining Financial Aid to Improve Student Access and Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NJ1), 2013

2013-01-01

As the student aid programs rapidly approach reauthorization in 2014, they continue to face severe funding and efficiency problems. With grant assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through their "Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery" (RADD) project, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators…

Improving efficiency, reducing infection, and enhancing experience.

PubMed

Massa, Judith

For health professionals to make an informed choice and tailor each bed bath to the individual needs of the patient, they must firstly understand the different bed bath options available, their impact on skin integrity, and any associated risks they may pose to the patient in terms of cross-infection. Only with this knowledge can health professionals determine the appropriate form and frequency of the bed bath. Specialist wipes offer significant improvements in skin care and a reduced risk of cross-infection, compared with the traditional soap and water bed bath. Use of these wipes also improves the efficiency of the process, which links to the Productive Ward Initiative and results in clinical staff (i.e. nursing staff, healthcare assistants) having more time available to undertake additional patient care activities. This product focus highlights the benefits of moving to a wipe-based bed bath method, and the significant efficiency savings that can be realized as a result.

Multivariate analysis of the volatile components in tobacco based on infrared-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Yang, Yanqin; Pan, Yuanjiang; Zhou, Guojun; Chu, Guohai; Jiang, Jian; Yuan, Kailong; Xia, Qian; Cheng, Changhe

2016-11-01

A novel infrared-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method has been developed for the rapid determination of the volatile components in tobacco. The optimal extraction conditions for maximizing the extraction efficiency were as follows: 65 μm polydimethylsiloxane-divinylbenzene fiber, extraction time of 20 min, infrared power of 175 W, and distance between the infrared lamp and the headspace vial of 2 cm. Under the optimum conditions, 50 components were found to exist in all ten tobacco samples from different geographical origins. Compared with conventional water-bath heating and nonheating extraction methods, the extraction efficiency of infrared-assisted extraction was greatly improved. Furthermore, multivariate analysis including principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and similarity analysis were performed to evaluate the chemical information of these samples and divided them into three classifications, including rich, moderate, and fresh flavors. The above-mentioned classification results were consistent with the sensory evaluation, which was pivotal and meaningful for tobacco discrimination. As a simple, fast, cost-effective, and highly efficient method, the infrared-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction technique is powerful and promising for distinguishing the geographical origins of the tobacco samples coupled to suitable chemometrics. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microwave-Assisted Ignition for Improved Internal Combustion Engine Efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeFilippo, Anthony Cesar

The ever-present need for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation motivates this investigation of a novel ignition technology for internal combustion engine applications. Advanced engines can achieve higher efficiencies and reduced emissions by operating in regimes with diluted fuel-air mixtures and higher compression ratios, but the range of stable engine operation is constrained by combustion initiation and flame propagation when dilution levels are high. An advanced ignition technology that reliably extends the operating range of internal combustion engines will aid practical implementation of the next generation of high-efficiency engines. This dissertation contributes to next-generation ignition technology advancement by experimentally analyzing a prototype technology as well as developing a numerical model for the chemical processes governing microwave-assisted ignition. The microwave-assisted spark plug under development by Imagineering, Inc. of Japan has previously been shown to expand the stable operating range of gasoline-fueled engines through plasma-assisted combustion, but the factors limiting its operation were not well characterized. The present experimental study has two main goals. The first goal is to investigate the capability of the microwave-assisted spark plug towards expanding the stable operating range of wet-ethanol-fueled engines. The stability range is investigated by examining the coefficient of variation of indicated mean effective pressure as a metric for instability, and indicated specific ethanol consumption as a metric for efficiency. The second goal is to examine the factors affecting the extent to which microwaves enhance ignition processes. The factors impacting microwave enhancement of ignition processes are individually examined, using flame development behavior as a key metric in determining microwave effectiveness. Further development of practical combustion applications implementing microwave-assisted spark technology will benefit from predictive models which include the plasma processes governing the observed combustion enhancement. This dissertation documents the development of a chemical kinetic mechanism for the plasma-assisted combustion processes relevant to microwave-assisted spark ignition. The mechanism includes an existing mechanism for gas-phase methane oxidation, supplemented with electron impact reactions, cation and anion chemical reactions, and reactions involving vibrationally-excited and electronically-excited species. Calculations using the presently-developed numerical model explain experimentally-observed trends, highlighting the relative importance of pressure, temperature, and mixture composition in determining the effectiveness of microwave-assisted ignition enhancement.

Impact of computer-assisted data collection, evaluation and management on the cancer genetic counselor's time providing patient care.

PubMed

Cohen, Stephanie A; McIlvried, Dawn E

2011-06-01

Cancer genetic counseling sessions traditionally encompass collecting medical and family history information, evaluating that information for the likelihood of a genetic predisposition for a hereditary cancer syndrome, conveying that information to the patient, offering genetic testing when appropriate, obtaining consent and subsequently documenting the encounter with a clinic note and pedigree. Software programs exist to collect family and medical history information electronically, intending to improve efficiency and simplicity of collecting, managing and storing this data. This study compares the genetic counselor's time spent in cancer genetic counseling tasks in a traditional model and one using computer-assisted data collection, which is then used to generate a pedigree, risk assessment and consult note. Genetic counselor time spent collecting family and medical history and providing face-to-face counseling for a new patient session decreased from an average of 85-69 min when using the computer-assisted data collection. However, there was no statistically significant change in overall genetic counselor time on all aspects of the genetic counseling process, due to an increased amount of time spent generating an electronic pedigree and consult note. Improvements in the computer program's technical design would potentially minimize data manipulation. Certain aspects of this program, such as electronic collection of family history and risk assessment, appear effective in improving cancer genetic counseling efficiency while others, such as generating an electronic pedigree and consult note, do not.

How registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and resident aides spend time in nursing homes: An observational study.

PubMed

McCloskey, Rose; Donovan, Cindy; Stewart, Connie; Donovan, Alicia

2015-09-01

Calls for improved conditions in nursing homes have pointed to the importance of optimizing the levels and skills of care providers. Understanding the work of care providers will help to determine if staff are being used to their full potential and if opportunities exist for improved efficiencies. To explore the activities of care providers in different nursing homes and to identify if variations exist within and across homes and shifts. A multi-centre cross-sectional observational work flow study was conducted in seven different nursing homes sites in one Canadian province. Data were collected by a research assistant who conducted 368 h of observation. The research assistant collected data by following an identical route in each site and recording observations on staff activities. Findings indicate staff activities vary across roles, sites and shifts. Licensed practical nurses (nursing assistants) have the greatest variation in their role while registered nurses have the least amount of variability. In some sites both registered nurses and licensed practical nurses perform activities that may be safely delegated to others. Care providers spend as much as 53.7% of their time engaged in non-value added activities. There may be opportunities for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to delegate some of their activities to non-regulated workers. The time care providers spend in non-value activities suggest there may be opportunities to improve efficiencies within the nursing home setting. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The efficiency of genome-wide selection for genetic improvement of net merit.

PubMed

Togashi, K; Lin, C Y; Yamazaki, T

2011-10-01

Four methods of selection for net merit comprising 2 correlated traits were compared in this study: 1) EBV-only index (I₁), which consists of the EBV of both traits (i.e., traditional 2-trait BLUP selection); 2) GEBV-only index (I₂), which comprises the genomic EBV (GEBV) of both traits; 3) GEBV-assisted index (I₃), which combines both the EBV and the GEBV of both traits; and 4) GBV-assisted index (I₄), which combines both the EBV and the true genomic breeding value (GBV) of both traits. Comparisons of these indices were based on 3 evaluation criteria [selection accuracy, genetic response (ΔH), and relative efficiency] under 64 scenarios that arise from combining 2 levels of genetic correlation (r(G)), 2 ratios of genetic variances between traits, 2 ratios of the genomic variance to total genetic variances for trait 1, 4 accuracies of EBV, and 2 proportions of r(G) explained by the GBV. Both selection accuracy and genetic responses of the indices I₁, I₃, and I₄ increased as the accuracy of EBV increased, but the efficiency of the indices I₃ and I₄ relative to I₁ decreased as the accuracy of EBV increased. The relative efficiency of both I₃ and I₄ was generally greater when the accuracy of EBV was 0.6 than when it was 0.9, suggesting that the genomic markers are most useful to assist selection when the accuracy of EBV is low. The GBV-assisted index I₄ was superior to the GEBV-assisted I₃ in all 64 cases examined, indicating the importance of improving the accuracy of prediction of genomic breeding values. Other parameters being identical, increasing the genetic variance of a high heritability trait would increase the genetic response of the genomic indices (I₂, I₃, and I₄). The genetic responses to I₂, I₃, and I(4) was greater when the genetic correlation between traits was positive (r(G) = 0.5) than when it was negative (r(G) = -0.5). The results of this study indicate that the effectiveness of the GEBV-assisted index I₃ is affected by heritability of and genetic correlation between traits, the ratio of genetic variances between traits, the genomic-genetic variance ratio of each index trait, the proportion of genetic correlation accounted for by the genomic markers, and the accuracy of predictions of both EBV and GBV. However, most of these affecting factors are genetic characteristics of a population that is beyond the control of the breeders. The key factor subject to manipulation is to maximize both the proportion of the genetic variance explained by GEBV and the accuracy of both GEBV and EBV. The developed procedures provide means to investigate the efficiency of various genomic indices for any given combination of the genetic factors studied.

78 FR 16447 - Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program (RCEP) for the Technical Assistance and Continuing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-15

... vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies and agency partners that cooperate with State VR agencies in providing VR and other rehabilitation services (e.g., Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Client... following outcomes: Improved quality of VR services, increased effectiveness and efficiency of State VR...

Economic Modeling as a Component of Academic Strategic Planning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacKinnon, Joyce; Sothmann, Mark; Johnson, James

2001-01-01

Computer-based economic modeling was used to enable a school of allied health to define outcomes, identify associated costs, develop cost and revenue models, and create a financial planning system. As a strategic planning tool, it assisted realistic budgeting and improved efficiency and effectiveness. (Contains 18 references.) (SK)

7 CFR 4280.114 - Laws that contain other compliance requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program Section A. Grants § 4280.114 Laws that..., such as the initiation of construction, will result in project ineligibility. (e) Executive Order 12898. When a project is proposed and financial assistance requested, the Agency will conduct a Civil Rights...

Reimagining Financial Aid to Improve Student Access and Outcomes. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NJ1), 2013

2013-01-01

As the student aid programs rapidly approach reauthorization in 2014, they continue to face severe funding and efficiency problems. With grant assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through their "Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery" (RADD) project, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) examined…

Merging Quality Processes & Tools with DACUM.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLennan, Krystyna S.

This paper explains how merging DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) analysis with quality initiatives can reduce waste, increase job efficiency, assist in development of standard operating procedures, and involve employees in positive job improvement methods. In the first half of the paper, the following principles of total quality management (TQM)…

The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation, Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Administration for Children & Families, 2010

2010-01-01

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), a unit within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to improve the economic and social well-being of children and families. In collaboration…

Policy Dimensions of Analytics in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersen, Rodney J.

2012-01-01

The current higher education landscape is replete with demands for improving accountability, increasing efficiency, and controlling costs. At the same time, information technologies make it easier to collect and analyze information to measure outcomes or to assist in decision making. Consequently, there is a higher demand for better information…

7 CFR 4280.114 - Laws that contain other compliance requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program Section A. Grants § 4280.114 Laws that... of this title. Initial reviews will be conducted after Form RD 400-4 is signed and all subsequent... practicable after they decide to pursue any form of financial assistance directly or indirectly available...

Development of the first consensus genetic map of intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium) using genotyping-by-sequencing

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium) has been identified as a candidate for domestication and improvement as a perennial grain, forage, and biofuel crop by several active breeding programs. To accelerate this process using genomics-assisted breeding, efficient genotyping methods and gen...

Determination of zilpaterol in sheep urine and tissues using immunochromatographic assay

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Introduction: Zilpaterol is a feed additive used to increase weight gain, improve feed efficiency, and increase carcass leanness in cattle. An on-site analytical method is needed to determine zilpaterol exposure in animals to assist producer and trade groups in avoiding un-necessary animal or carca...

Leveraging Intelligent Vehicle Technologies to Maximize Fuel Economy (Presentation)

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

Gonder, J.

2011-11-01

Advancements in vehicle electronics, along with communication and sensing technologies, have led to a growing number of intelligent vehicle applications. Example systems include those for advanced driver information, route planning and prediction, driver assistance, and crash avoidance. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is exploring ways to leverage intelligent vehicle systems to achieve fuel savings. This presentation discusses several potential applications, such as providing intelligent feedback to drivers on specific ways to improve their driving efficiency, and using information about upcoming driving to optimize electrified vehicle control strategies for maximum energy efficiency and battery life. The talk also covers the potentialmore » of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and related technologies to deliver significant fuel savings in addition to providing safety and convenience benefits.« less

Technical assistance for law-enforcement communications: Case study report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reilly, N. B.; Mustain, J. A.

1979-01-01

Methods developed to improve police communications systems are described. Use of queueing analysis shows several ways of improving time of response to inquiries made from the field for license plate checks and for information on current wants and warrants, through a state multiple switcher network. Design criteria for more efficient centralized switching equipment are developed. A message load problem experienced in a dispatch center is analyzed, showing that communications could be improved by adding communications channels, not by adding people.

Is the addition of an assisted driving Hamiltonian always useful for adiabatic evolution?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jie; Lu, Songfeng; Li, Li

2017-04-01

It has been known that when an assisted driving item is added to the main system Hamiltonian, the efficiency of the resultant adiabatic evolution can be significantly improved. In some special cases, it can be seen that only through adding an assisted driving Hamiltonian can the resulting adiabatic evolution be made not to fail. Thus the additional driving Hamiltonian plays an important role in adiabatic computing. In this paper, we show that if the driving Hamiltonian is chosen inappropriately, the adiabatic computation may still fail. More importantly, we find that the adiabatic computation can only succeed if the assisted driving Hamiltonian has a relatively fixed form. This may help us understand why in the related literature all of the driving Hamiltonians used share the same form.

[Evaluation on effect of treatment and assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients in Hunan Province from 2004 to 2013].

PubMed

Li, Sheng-ming; Zhao, Zheng-yuan; Peng, Zai-zhi; Wang, Zhang-hua; Li, Yuan; Guo, Feng-ying; Ren, Guang-hui

2014-08-01

To comprehensively evaluate the effect of the program of treatment and assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients in Hunan Province from 2004 to 2013. The fund investment of the program, the profits of hospitals and the improvement of the patients' health were investigated by data collection and questionnaire survey. The evaluation index system of treatment and assistance to advanced schistosomiasis in Hunan Province was constructed by the Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process, and the program was assessed comprehensively. The evaluation index system including 6 primary indices and 33 secondary indices was established. Among all the primary indices, the score of the treatment and assistance (22.25) was the highest, and that of the satisfaction assessment (8.15) was the lowest, and the score of the comprehensive assessment was 87.06. The average cure rate of the patients was 13.08% from 2004 to 2013. More than 60% of the patients' disease condition got better, and nearly 70% of the patients' psychological condition improved, and more than 70% of patients' self-help ability and social contact improved, as well as family happiness increased. In addition, the annual average cost for caretakers decreased by 2000 Yuan, and the profits of all the fixed-point hospitals for treatment and assistance increased. The effectiveness and efficiency of the treatment and assistance to advanced schistosomiasis patients in Hunan Province is obvious, and the government should continuously invest in the program.

Disorder-assisted quantum transport in suboptimal decoherence regimes

PubMed Central

Novo, Leonardo; Mohseni, Masoud; Omar, Yasser

2016-01-01

We investigate quantum transport in binary tree structures and in hypercubes for the disordered Frenkel-exciton Hamiltonian under pure dephasing noise. We compute the energy transport efficiency as a function of disorder and dephasing rates. We demonstrate that dephasing improves transport efficiency not only in the disordered case, but also in the ordered one. The maximal transport efficiency is obtained when the dephasing timescale matches the hopping timescale, which represent new examples of the Goldilocks principle at the quantum scale. Remarkably, we find that in weak dephasing regimes, away from optimal levels of environmental fluctuations, the average effect of increasing disorder is to improve the transport efficiency until an optimal value for disorder is reached. Our results suggest that rational design of the site energies statistical distributions could lead to better performances in transport systems at nanoscale when their natural environments are far from the optimal dephasing regime. PMID:26726133

Learning to design rehabilitation devices through the H-CARD course: project-based learning of rehabilitation technology design.

PubMed

Roach, Nick; Hussain, Asif; Burdet, Etienne

2012-01-01

The aging population and the wish to improve quality of life, as well as the economic pressure to work longer, call for intuitive and efficient assistive and rehabilitation technologies. Therefore, we have developed a project based education paradigm in the design of assistive and rehabilitation devices. Using a miniature wireless sensing and feedback platform, the multimodal interactive motor assessment and training environment (MIMATE), students from different engineering backgrounds were able to develop innovative devices implementing rehabilitative games in the short span of a one-term course. We describe here this novel H-CARD course on the human-centered design of assistive and rehabilitative devices.

Eutrophic water purification efficiency using a combination of hydrodynamic cavitation and ozonation on a pilot scale.

PubMed

Li, Wei-Xin; Tang, Chuan-Dong; Wu, Zhi-Lin; Wang, Wei-Min; Zhang, Yu-Feng; Zhao, Yi; Cravotto, Giancarlo

2015-04-01

This paper presents the purification of eutrophic water using a combination of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and ozonation (O3) at a continuous flow of 0.8 m(3) h(-1) on a pilot scale. The maximum removal rate of chlorophyll a using O3 alone and the HC/O3 combination was 62.3 and 78.8%, respectively, under optimal conditions, where the ozone utilization efficiency was 64.5 and 94.8% and total energy consumption was 8.89 and 8.25 kWh m(-3), respectively. Thus, the removal rate of chlorophyll a and the ozone utilization efficiency were improved by 26.5% and 46.9%, respectively, by using the combined technique. Meanwhile, total energy consumption was reduced by 7.2%. Turbidity linearly decreased with chlorophyll a removal rate, but no linear relationship exists between the removal of COD or UV254 and chlorophyll a. As expected, the suction-cavitation-assisted O3 exhibited higher energy efficiency than the extrusion-cavitation-assisted O3 and O3 alone methods.

Efficient Solar-Thermal Energy Harvest Driven by Interfacial Plasmonic Heating-Assisted Evaporation.

PubMed

Chang, Chao; Yang, Chao; Liu, Yanming; Tao, Peng; Song, Chengyi; Shang, Wen; Wu, Jianbo; Deng, Tao

2016-09-07

The plasmonic heating effect of noble nanoparticles has recently received tremendous attention for various important applications. Herein, we report the utilization of interfacial plasmonic heating-assisted evaporation for efficient and facile solar-thermal energy harvest. An airlaid paper-supported gold nanoparticle thin film was placed at the thermal energy conversion region within a sealed chamber to convert solar energy into thermal energy. The generated thermal energy instantly vaporizes the water underneath into hot vapors that quickly diffuse to the thermal energy release region of the chamber to condense into liquids and release the collected thermal energy. The condensed water automatically flows back to the thermal energy conversion region under the capillary force from the hydrophilic copper mesh. Such an approach simultaneously realizes efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion and rapid transportation of converted thermal energy to target application terminals. Compared to conventional external photothermal conversion design, the solar-thermal harvesting device driven by the internal plasmonic heating effect has reduced the overall thermal resistance by more than 50% and has demonstrated more than 25% improvement of solar water heating efficiency.

Physics and engineering aspects of cell and tissue imaging systems: microscopic devices and computer assisted diagnosis.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaodong; Ren, Liqiang; Zheng, Bin; Liu, Hong

2013-01-01

The conventional optical microscopes have been used widely in scientific research and in clinical practice. The modern digital microscopic devices combine the power of optical imaging and computerized analysis, archiving and communication techniques. It has a great potential in pathological examinations for improving the efficiency and accuracy of clinical diagnosis. This chapter reviews the basic optical principles of conventional microscopes, fluorescence microscopes and electron microscopes. The recent developments and future clinical applications of advanced digital microscopic imaging methods and computer assisted diagnosis schemes are also discussed.

The VRLA modular wound design for 42 V mild hybrid systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinidad, F.; Gimeno, C.; Gutiérrez, J.; Ruiz, R.; Sainz, J.; Valenciano, J.

Mild hybrid vehicles with 42 V electrical systems require advanced batteries with low cost, very high reliability and peak power performance. Valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries could provide better performance/cost ratio than any other electrochemical couples, by improving their cycle life performance at partial state-of-charge (SoC), charge acceptance of the negative plate and thermal management under power assist conditions. Modular wound designs are being developed for this application, because they can combine the best attributes of the high power VRLA designs (low resistance and high compression) with a more efficient thermal management and could improve reliability by reducing the potential cell failures in manufacturing (better quality control could be assured for individual 3-cell modules than for complete 18-cell block batteries). Thermal management is an important issue for VRLA batteries in a power assist cycling profile. Although water cooling is very efficient, it is not economical and increases the weight of the complete storage system. The modular VRLA design allows air circulation around the external walls of every cell in order to maintain the temperature around 40 °C, even at very high power cycling profiles. In order to increase the life at higher depth-of-discharge (DoD) and consequently to optimise the weight of the complete battery systems, a new 6 V module has been designed with improved thermal management features. Cycle life performance under partial-SoC conditions (around 60% SoC) has been tested in both 6 and 12 V modules. The basic power assist profile as specified by the European car manufacturers is composed of a high power discharge (boost) period followed by a rest (cruise) and recharge in three steps (regenerative braking). Very good results have been obtained for 12 V VRLA spiral wound batteries under power assist profile (more than 200,000 cycles at 1.25% DoD, equivalent to 2500 times the nominal capacity), but smaller 6 V modules, although providing very promising results (50,000 power assist cycles at 2.5% DoD, equivalent to 1250 times the nominal capacity), still need further improvement to comply with the very demanding conditions of mild hybrid vehicles. Failure mode is related to negative active material sulfation, that could be overcome by improving charge acceptance with high surface conducting additives in the active material.

[DGRW-update: neurology--from empirical strategies towards evidence based interventions].

PubMed

Schupp, W

2011-12-01

Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and neuropathies are the most important diseases in neurological rehabilitation financed by the German Pension Insurance. The primary goal is vocational (re)integration. Driven by multiple findings of neuroscience research the traditional holistic approach with mainly empirically derived strategies was developed further and improved by new evidence-based interventions. This process had been, and continues to be, necessary to meet the health-economic pressures for ever shorter and more efficient rehab measures. Evidence-based interventions refer to symptom-oriented measures, to team-management concepts, as well as to education and psychosocial interventions. Drug therapy and/or neurophysiological measures can be added to increase neuroregeneration and neuroplasticity. Evidence-based aftercare concepts support sustainability and steadiness of rehab results.Mirror therapy, robot-assisted training, mental training, task-specific training, and above all constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) can restore motor arm and hand functions. Treadmill training and robot-assisted training improve stance and gait. Botulinum toxine injections in combination with physical and redressing methods are superior in managing spasticity. Guideline-oriented management of associated pain syndromes (myofascial, neuropathic, complex-regional=dystrophic) improve primary outcome and quality of life. Drug therapy with so-called co-analgetics and physical therapy play an important role in pain management. Swallowing disorders lead to higher mortality and morbidity in the acute phase; stepwise diagnostics (screening, endoscopy, radiology) and specific swallowing therapy can reduce these risks and frequently can restore normal eating und drinking.In our modern industrial societies communicative and cognitive disturbances are more impairing than the above mentioned disorders. Speech and language therapy (SLT) is dominant in communicative disorders; the therapists use communicative and/or linguistics-oriented strategies. SLT must begin early after disease onset and with high frequency to elicit good results. PC-assisted (self-)training, possibly telemedically applied, can increase training frequency and time and, hence, improve outcome in aphasia. High-frequency and task-specific training, often PC-assisted, were found to be relevant for improving cognitive functions in all dimensions. Several strategies seem to be efficient in neglect. Visual field deficits can be treated restitutively and compensatingly by PC-assisted training. Attention, memory and executive dysfunctions each require multimodal specific treatment strategies, performed in single and group therapy and in PC-assisted training. Also, education of patients to cope with their impairments and disabilities is another important part. Combined medically and vocationally oriented rehabilitation settings are necessary for raising the rate of return-to-work, especially in patients with motor hand impairments or cognitive disorders. Education of patients and relatives to cope with the chronic neurological diseases and disablements highly improve the sustainability of rehab results and can, in the long run, also reduce mortality and admission to nursing homes. Appropriate physical activity and sports are relevant in the phase of aftercare, by stabilizing both motor coordination and cognitive factors; in MS patients fatigue can be diminished effectively.The main mental comorbidities are anxiety and depression. Pharmacological and psychological treatments have been found to be equally important in this context. Frequently, these mental disorders appear in the phase of aftercare and long-term course only, then worsening outcome sustainability. Efficient concepts to deal with this aspect are still missing. The ambulatory health care system can not cope with it until now.The multitude of evidence-based interventions have over the last 20 years after the Rehab Commission of the Federation of the German Pension Insurance Institutes contributed decisively to even improving primary outcomes and quality of life of neurological patients in spite of shortened length of stay and other restrictions. Neurorehabilitative research, especially the clinically oriented part, had a major influence on the process of professionalization of all members in the neurorehabilitative team. This fact enables new and more efficient organizational structures and working processes within the team; the discussion on this topic has however only just started. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Self-Assembly Assisted Fabrication of Dextran-Based Nanohydrogels with Reduction-Cleavable Junctions for Applications as Efficient Drug Delivery Systems

PubMed Central

Wang, Hao; Dai, Tingting; Zhou, Shuyan; Huang, Xiaoxiao; Li, Songying; Sun, Kang; Zhou, Guangdong; Dou, Hongjing

2017-01-01

In order to overcome the key challenge in improving both fabrication efficiency and their drug delivery capability of anti-cancer drug delivery systems (ACDDS), here polyacrylic acid (PAA) grafted dextran (Dex) nanohydrogels (NGs) with covalent crosslinked structure bearing redox sensitive disulfide crosslinking junctions (Dex-SS-PAA) were synthesized efficiently through a one-step self-assembly assisted methodology (SAA). The Dex-SS-PAA were subsequently conjugated with doxorubicin through an acid-labile hydrazone bond (Dex-SS-PAA-DOX). The in vitro drug release behavior, anti-cancer effects in vivo, and biosafety of the as-prepared acid- and redox-dual responsive biodegradable NGs were systematically investigated. The results revealed that the Dex-SS-PAA-DOX exhibited pH- and redox-controlled drug release, greatly reduced the toxicity of free DOX, while exhibiting a strong ability to inhibit the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumors. Our study demonstrated that the Dex-SS-PAA-DOX NGs are very promising candidates as ACDDS for anti-cancer therapeutics. PMID:28071743

Fluid dynamic characteristics of the VentrAssist rotary blood pump.

PubMed

Tansley, G; Vidakovic, S; Reizes, J

2000-06-01

The VentrAssist pump has no shaft or seal, and the device is unique in design because the rotor is suspended passively by hydrodynamic forces, and urging is accomplished by an integrated direct current motor rotor that also acts as the pump impeller. This device has led to many challenges in its fluidic design, namely large flow-blockage from impeller blades, low stiffness of bearings with concomitant impeller displacement under pulsatile load conditions, and very small running clearances. Low specific speed and radial blade off-flow were selected in order to minimize the hemolysis. Pulsatile and steady-flow tests show the impeller is stable under normal operating conditions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used to optimize flow paths and reduce net axial force imbalance to acceptably small values. The latest design of the pump achieved a system efficiency of 18% (in 30% hematocrit of red blood cells suspended in phosphate-buffered saline), and efficiency was optimized over the range of operating conditions. Parameters critical to improving pump efficiency were investigated.

Plasma-assisted CO2 conversion: optimizing performance via microwave power modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Britun, Nikolay; Silva, Tiago; Chen, Guoxing; Godfroid, Thomas; van der Mullen, Joost; Snyders, Rony

2018-04-01

Significant improvement in the energy efficiency of plasma-assisted CO2 conversion is achieved with applied power modulation in a surfaguide microwave discharge. The obtained values of CO2 conversion and energy efficiency are, respectively, 0.23 and 0.33 for a 0.95 CO2  +  0.05 N2 gas mixture. Analysis of the energy relaxation mechanisms shows that power modulation can potentially affect the vibrational-translational energy exchange in plasma. In our case, however, this mechanism does not play a major role, likely due to the low degree of plasma non-equilibrium in the considered pressure range. Instead, the gas residence time in the discharge active zone together with plasma pulse duration are found to be the main factors affecting the CO2 conversion efficiency at low plasma pulse repetition rates. This effect is confirmed experimentally by the in situ time-resolved two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence measurements of CO molecular density produced in the discharge as a result of CO2 decomposition.

Self-Assembly Assisted Fabrication of Dextran-Based Nanohydrogels with Reduction-Cleavable Junctions for Applications as Efficient Drug Delivery Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hao; Dai, Tingting; Zhou, Shuyan; Huang, Xiaoxiao; Li, Songying; Sun, Kang; Zhou, Guangdong; Dou, Hongjing

2017-01-01

In order to overcome the key challenge in improving both fabrication efficiency and their drug delivery capability of anti-cancer drug delivery systems (ACDDS), here polyacrylic acid (PAA) grafted dextran (Dex) nanohydrogels (NGs) with covalent crosslinked structure bearing redox sensitive disulfide crosslinking junctions (Dex-SS-PAA) were synthesized efficiently through a one-step self-assembly assisted methodology (SAA). The Dex-SS-PAA were subsequently conjugated with doxorubicin through an acid-labile hydrazone bond (Dex-SS-PAA-DOX). The in vitro drug release behavior, anti-cancer effects in vivo, and biosafety of the as-prepared acid- and redox-dual responsive biodegradable NGs were systematically investigated. The results revealed that the Dex-SS-PAA-DOX exhibited pH- and redox-controlled drug release, greatly reduced the toxicity of free DOX, while exhibiting a strong ability to inhibit the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumors. Our study demonstrated that the Dex-SS-PAA-DOX NGs are very promising candidates as ACDDS for anti-cancer therapeutics.

Practice-based skill acquisition of pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair propulsion versus regular handrim propulsion in novices.

PubMed

de Klerk, Rick; Lutjeboer, Thijs; Vegter, Riemer J K; van der Woude, Lucas H V

2018-06-26

Regular handrim wheelchair (RHW) propulsion is straining for the upper extremities and wheelchair users often experience overuse problems. A recent advancement in wheelchair technology that could assist users is the pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair (PAPAW). PAPAWs are challenging to control, yet it is unclear how people learn to use a PAPAW. The purpose of this study is to examine early skill acquisition through practice in PAPAWs and compare it with RHWs. Twenty-four able-bodied novices were randomly allocated to either the RHW group or the PAPAW group. The experiment consisted of five sessions with three blocks of 4 min steady-state practice at 1.11 m/s and 0.21 W/kg. Finally, a transfer to the other mode was made. Data were collected with a drag-test, breath-by-breath spirometry, and a motion capture system. The last minute of each four-minute block was used for analysis. A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for group, time, and interaction effects. Both groups improved their (assisted) mechanical efficiency, reduced their stroke rate, right-left and forward-backward deviation on the treadmill, and had a lower rate of perceived exertion (RPE) over time. (Assisted) mechanical efficiency was higher for the PAPAW group than for the RHW group and RPE was lower. However, left-right and forward-backward deviation was also found to be higher in the PAPAW group. At the group level the energetic cost of RHW and PAPAW propulsion can be lowered through low-intensity practice in novice users. The PAPAW is more 'efficient' than the RHW given the reduced energy requirement of the user from the motor assist, but more difficult to control. Future studies on PAPAWs should focus on the control needs of the user and their interaction with the power-assist technology.

75 FR 69653 - Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-15

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [Case No. CW-015] Energy... November 4, 2010. Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Decision and...)(1)(iii). The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (the Assistant Secretary...

An ambient assisted living approach in designing domiciliary services combined with innovative technologies for patients with Alzheimer's disease: a case study.

PubMed

Cavallo, Filippo; Aquilano, Michela; Arvati, Marco

2015-02-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most disabling diseases to affect large numbers of elderly people worldwide. Because of the characteristics of this disease, patients with AD require daily assistance from service providers both in nursing homes and at home. Domiciliary assistance has been demonstrated to be cost effective and efficient in the first phase of the disease, helping to slow down the course of the illness, improve the quality of life and care, and extend independence for patients and caregivers. In this context, the aim of this work is to demonstrate the technical effectiveness and acceptability of an innovative domiciliary smart sensor system for providing domiciliary assistance to patients with AD which has been developed with an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) approach. The design, development, testing, and evaluation of the innovative technological solution were performed by a multidisciplinary team. In all, 15 sociomedical operators and 14 patients with AD were directly involved in defining the end-users' needs and requirements, identifying design principles with acceptability and usability features and evaluating the technological solutions before and after the real experimentation. A modular technological system was produced to help caregivers continuously monitor the health status, safety, and daily activities of patients with AD. During the experimentation, the acceptability, utility, usability, and efficacy of this system were evaluated as quite positive. The experience described in this article demonstrated that AAL technologies are feasible and effective nowadays and can be actively used in assisting patients with AD in their homes. The extensive involvement of caregivers in the experimentation allowed to assess that there is, through the use of the technological system, a proven improvement in care performance and efficiency of care provision by both formal and informal caregivers and consequently an increase in the quality of life of patients, their relatives, and their caregivers. © The Author(s) 2014.

Distance-Learning for Advanced Military Education: Using Wargame Simulation Course as an Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keh, Huan-Chao; Wang, Kuei-Min; Wai, Shu-Shen; Huang, Jiung-yao; Hui, Lin; Wu, Ji-Jen

2008-01-01

Distance learning in advanced military education can assist officers around the world to become more skilled and qualified for future challenges. Through well-chosen technology, the efficiency of distance-learning can be improved significantly. In this paper we present the architecture of Advanced Military Education-Distance Learning (AME-DL)…

User-Centred Design for Chinese-Oriented Spoken English Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Ping; Pan, Yingxin; Li, Chen; Zhang, Zengxiu; Shi, Qin; Chu, Wenpei; Liu, Mingzhuo; Zhu, Zhiting

2016-01-01

Oral production is an important part in English learning. Lack of a language environment with efficient instruction and feedback is a big issue for non-native speakers' English spoken skill improvement. A computer-assisted language learning system can provide many potential benefits to language learners. It allows adequate instructions and instant…

Plasma-assisted nitrogen doping of VACNTs for efficiently enhancing the supercapacitor performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mashayekhi, Alireza; Hosseini, Seyed Mahmoud; Hassanpour Amiri, Morteza; Namdar, Naser; Sanaee, Zeinab

2016-06-01

Nitrogen doping of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) using plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition has been investigated to improve the supercapacitance performance of CNTs. Incorporating electrochemical measurements on the open-ended nitrogen-doped CNTs, showed the achievement of 6 times improvement in the capacitance value. For nitrogen-doped CNTs on silicon substrate, specific capacitance of 60 F g-1 was obtained in 0.5 M KCl solution, with capacity retention ratio above 90 % after cycled at 0.1 A g-1 for 5000 cycles. Using this sample, a symmetric supercapacitance was fabricated which showed the power density of 37.5 kW kg-1. The facile fabrication approach and its excellent capacitance improvement, propose it as an efficient technique for enhancing the supercapacitance performance of the carbon-based electrodes.

Effective sulfur and energy recovery from hydrogen sulfide through incorporating an air-cathode fuel cell into chelated-iron process.

PubMed

Sun, Min; Song, Wei; Zhai, Lin-Feng; Cui, Yu-Zhi

2013-12-15

The chelated-iron process is among the most promising techniques for the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal due to its double advantage of waste minimization and resource recovery. However, this technology has encountered the problem of chelate degradation which made it difficult to ensure reliable and economical operation. This work aims to develop a novel fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process which employs an air-cathode fuel cell for the catalyst regeneration. By using such a process, sulfur and electricity were effectively recovered from H2S and the problem of chelate degradation was well controlled. Experiment on a synthetic sulfide solution showed the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process could maintain high sulfur recovery efficiencies generally above 90.0%. The EDTA was preferable to NTA as the chelating agent for electricity generation, given the Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) of 17.8 ± 0.5% to 75.1 ± 0.5% for the EDTA-chelated process versus 9.6 ± 0.8% to 51.1 ± 2.7% for the NTA-chelated process in the pH range of 4.0-10.0. The Fe (III)/S(2-) ratio exhibited notable influence on the electricity generation, with the CEs improved by more than 25% as the Fe (III)/S(2-) molar ratio increased from 2.5:1 to 3.5:1. Application of this novel process in treating a H2S-containing biogas stream achieved 99% of H2S removal efficiency, 78% of sulfur recovery efficiency, and 78.6% of energy recovery efficiency, suggesting the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process was effective to remove the H2S from gas streams with favorable sulfur and energy recovery efficiencies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does user-centred design affect the efficiency, usability and safety of CPOE order sets?

PubMed

Chan, Julie; Shojania, Kaveh G; Easty, Anthony C; Etchells, Edward E

2011-05-01

Application of user-centred design principles to Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems may improve task efficiency, usability or safety, but there is limited evaluative research of its impact on CPOE systems. We evaluated the task efficiency, usability, and safety of three order set formats: our hospital's planned CPOE order sets (CPOE Test), computer order sets based on user-centred design principles (User Centred Design), and existing pre-printed paper order sets (Paper). 27 staff physicians, residents and medical students. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Methods Participants completed four simulated order set tasks with three order set formats (two CPOE Test tasks, one User Centred Design, and one Paper). Order of presentation of order set formats and tasks was randomized. Users received individual training for the CPOE Test format only. Completion time (efficiency), requests for assistance (usability), and errors in the submitted orders (safety). 27 study participants completed 108 order sets. Mean task times were: User Centred Design format 273 s, Paper format 293 s (p=0.73 compared to UCD format), and CPOE Test format 637 s (p<0.0001 compared to UCD format). Users requested assistance in 31% of the CPOE Test format tasks, whereas no assistance was needed for the other formats (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in number of errors between formats. The User Centred Design format was more efficient and usable than the CPOE Test format even though training was provided for the latter. We conclude that application of user-centred design principles can enhance task efficiency and usability, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation.

Does user-centred design affect the efficiency, usability and safety of CPOE order sets?

PubMed Central

Chan, Julie; Shojania, Kaveh G; Easty, Anthony C

2011-01-01

Background Application of user-centred design principles to Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems may improve task efficiency, usability or safety, but there is limited evaluative research of its impact on CPOE systems. Objective We evaluated the task efficiency, usability, and safety of three order set formats: our hospital's planned CPOE order sets (CPOE Test), computer order sets based on user-centred design principles (User Centred Design), and existing pre-printed paper order sets (Paper). Participants 27staff physicians, residents and medical students. Setting Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an academic hospital in Toronto, Canada. Methods Participants completed four simulated order set tasks with three order set formats (two CPOE Test tasks, one User Centred Design, and one Paper). Order of presentation of order set formats and tasks was randomized. Users received individual training for the CPOE Test format only. Main Measures Completion time (efficiency), requests for assistance (usability), and errors in the submitted orders (safety). Results 27 study participants completed 108 order sets. Mean task times were: User Centred Design format 273 s, Paper format 293 s (p=0.73 compared to UCD format), and CPOE Test format 637 s (p<0.0001 compared to UCD format). Users requested assistance in 31% of the CPOE Test format tasks, whereas no assistance was needed for the other formats (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in number of errors between formats. Conclusions The User Centred Design format was more efficient and usable than the CPOE Test format even though training was provided for the latter. We conclude that application of user-centred design principles can enhance task efficiency and usability, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation. PMID:21486886

Evaluation of the Effect of Decision Support on the Efficiency of Primary Care Providers in the Outpatient Practice

PubMed Central

Hankey, Ronald A.; Decker, Lindsay K.; Cha, Stephen S.; Greenes, Robert A.; Liu, Hongfang; Chaudhry, Rajeev

2015-01-01

Background: Clinical decision support (CDS) for primary care has been shown to improve delivery of preventive services. However, there is little evidence for efficiency of physicians due to CDS assistance. In this article, we report a pilot study for measuring the impact of CDS on the time spent by physicians for deciding on preventive services and chronic disease management. Methods: We randomly selected 30 patients from a primary care practice, and assigned them to 10 physicians. The physicians were requested to perform chart review to decide on preventive services and chronic disease management for the assigned patients. The patients assignment was done in a randomized crossover design, such that each patient received 2 sets of recommendations—one from a physician with CDS assistance and the other from a different physician without CDS assistance. We compared the physician recommendations made using CDS assistance, with the recommendations made without CDS assistance. Results: The physicians required an average of 1 minute 44 seconds, when they were they had access to the decision support system and 5 minutes when they were unassisted. Hence the CDS assistance resulted in an estimated saving of 3 minutes 16 seconds (65%) of the physicians’ time, which was statistically significant (P < .0001). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of recommendations. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CDS assistance significantly reduced the time spent by physicians for deciding on preventive services and chronic disease management. The result needs to be confirmed by performing similar studies at other institutions. PMID:25155103

Rolling resistance and propulsion efficiency of manual and power-assisted wheelchairs.

PubMed

Pavlidou, Efthymia; Kloosterman, Marieke G M; Buurke, Jaap H; Rietman, Johan S; Janssen, Thomas W J

2015-11-01

Rolling resistance is one of the main forces resisting wheelchair propulsion and thus affecting stress exerted on the upper limbs. The present study investigates the differences in rolling resistance, propulsion efficiency and energy expenditure required by the user during power-assisted and manual propulsion. Different tire pressures (50%, 75%, 100%) and two different levels of motor assistance were tested. Drag force, energy expenditure and propulsion efficiency were measured in 10 able-bodied individuals under different experimental settings on a treadmill. Results showed that drag force levels were significantly higher in the 50%, compared to the 75% and 100% inflation conditions. In terms of wheelchair type, the manual wheelchair displayed significantly lower drag force values than the power-assisted one. The use of extra-power-assisted wheelchair appeared to be significantly superior to conventional power-assisted and manual wheelchairs concerning both propulsion efficiency and energy expenditure required by the user. Overall, the results of the study suggest that the use of power-assisted wheelchair was more efficient and required less energy input by the user, depending on the motor assistance provided. Copyright © 2015 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electronic Performance Support for Operational Systems: A Case Study of the Link Monitor and Control Operator Assistant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, Randall W., Jr.; Cooper, Lynne P.

1993-01-01

For complex operational systems, help needs to come from the inside out. It is often not realistic to call a help desk for problems that need immediate attention, especially for tasks that put a heavy cognitive load on the system operator. This session addresses the issues associated with providing electronic performance support for operational systems, including situations where the system is already fielded and can only change through evolution rather than revolution. We present a case study based on our experiences in developing the Link Monitor and Control Operator Assistant for NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The goals of the Operator Assistant are to improve the operability of the system and increase the efficiency of mission operations.

Baylor Gyro Pump: a completely seal-less centrifugal pump aiming for long-term circulatory support.

PubMed

Ohara, Y; Sakuma, I; Makinouchi, K; Damm, G; Glueck, J; Mizuguchi, K; Naito, K; Tasai, K; Orime, Y; Takatani, S

1993-07-01

A seal-less centrifugal pump aiming for long-term circulatory support has been developed. In this model, shaft seals that cause thrombus formation and blood leakage were eliminated. A brushless direct current motor was incorporated as a driving unit, and pivot bearings were used to support the impeller. With reference to its motor-driven system, this pump was named the M-Gyro Pump. The first model (M1) yielded an index of hemolysis of 0.005 g/100 L using bovine blood and demonstrated satisfactory performance as a right heart assist for 2 days (4 L/min, 60 mm Hg, 1,800 rpm). The second model (M2) has been developed for left heart assist by employing a stronger motor. The pump capacity was improved to 6 L/min against 240 mm Hg at 1,800 rpm, but significant heat generation was observed. By optimization of motor efficiency, the M2 model can be improved to meet the requirements of a pump for left heart assist.

Alternative Surfactants for Improved Efficiency of In Situ Tryptic Proteolysis of Fingermarks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Ekta; Clench, Malcolm R.; West, Andy; Marshall, Peter S.; Marshall, Nathan; Francese, Simona

2015-06-01

Despite recent improvements to in situ proteolysis strategies, a higher efficiency is still needed to increase both the number of peptides detected and the associated ion intensity, leading to a complete and reliable set of biomarkers for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. In the study presented here, an extract of a systematic study is illustrated investigating a range of surfactants assisting trypsin proteolytic activity. Method development was trialled on fingermarks; this specimen results from a transfer of sweat from an individual's fingertip to a surface upon contact. As sweat carries a plethora of biomolecules, including peptides and proteins, fingermarks are, potentially, a very valuable specimen for non-invasive prognostic or diagnostic screening. A recent study has demonstrated the opportunity to quickly detect peptides and small proteins in fingermarks using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry Profiling (MALDI MSP). However, intact detection bears low sensitivity and does not allow species identification; therefore, a shotgun proteomic approach was employed involving in situ proteolysis. Data demonstrate that in fingermarks, further improvements to the existing method can be achieved using MEGA-8 as surfactant in higher percentages as well as combinations of different detergents. Also, for the first time, Rapigest SF, normally used in solution digestions, has been shown to successfully work also for in situ proteolysis.

Surrogate-Assisted Genetic Programming With Simplified Models for Automated Design of Dispatching Rules.

PubMed

Nguyen, Su; Zhang, Mengjie; Tan, Kay Chen

2017-09-01

Automated design of dispatching rules for production systems has been an interesting research topic over the last several years. Machine learning, especially genetic programming (GP), has been a powerful approach to dealing with this design problem. However, intensive computational requirements, accuracy and interpretability are still its limitations. This paper aims at developing a new surrogate assisted GP to help improving the quality of the evolved rules without significant computational costs. The experiments have verified the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms as compared to those in the literature. Furthermore, new simplification and visualisation approaches have also been developed to improve the interpretability of the evolved rules. These approaches have shown great potentials and proved to be a critical part of the automated design system.

Anticipation, Teamwork, and Cognitive Load: Chasing Efficiency during Robot-Assisted Surgery

PubMed Central

Sexton, Kevin; Johnson, Amanda; Gotsch, Amanda; Hussein, Ahmed A.; Cavuoto, Lora; Guru, Khurshid A.

2018-01-01

Introduction Robot-assisted surgery (RAS) has changed the traditional operating room, occupying more space with equipment and isolating console surgeons away from the patients and their team. We aimed to evaluate how anticipation of surgical steps and familiarity between team members impacted efficiency and safety. Methods We analyzed recordings (video and audio) of 12 robot-assisted radical prostatectomies. Any requests between surgeon and the team members were documented and classified by personnel, equipment type, mode of communication, level of inconvenience in fulfilling the request, and anticipation. Surgical team members completed questionnaires assessing team familiarity and cognitive load (NASA-TLX). Predictors of team efficiency were assessed using Pearson correlation and stepwise linear regression. Results 1330 requests were documented of which 413 (31%) were anticipated. Anticipation correlated negatively with operative time resulting in overall 8% reduction of OR time. Team familiarity negatively correlated with inconveniences. Anticipation ratio, percent of requests that were nonverbal, and total request duration were significantly correlated with the console surgeons’ cognitive load (r=0.77, p=0.006; r=0.63, p=0.04; and r=0.70, p=0.02, respectively). Conclusions Anticipation and active engagement by the surgical team resulted in shorter operative time; and higher familiarity scores were associated with fewer inconveniences. Less anticipation and nonverbal requests were also associated with lower cognitive load for the console surgeon. Training efforts to increase anticipation and team familiarity can improve team efficiency during RAS. PMID:28689193

Computer-assisted diagnosis of melanoma.

PubMed

Fuller, Collin; Cellura, A Paul; Hibler, Brian P; Burris, Katy

2016-03-01

The computer-assisted diagnosis of melanoma is an exciting area of research where imaging techniques are combined with diagnostic algorithms in an attempt to improve detection and outcomes for patients with skin lesions suspicious for malignancy. Once an image has been acquired, it undergoes a processing pathway which includes preprocessing, enhancement, segmentation, feature extraction, feature selection, change detection, and ultimately classification. Practicality for everyday clinical use remains a vital question. A successful model must obtain results that are on par or outperform experienced dermatologists, keep costs at a minimum, be user-friendly, and be time efficient with high sensitivity and specificity. ©2015 Frontline Medical Communications.

An online education approach to population health in a global society.

PubMed

Utley-Smith, Queen

2017-07-01

Health professions education content must keep pace with the ever-evolving and changing health care system. Population-based health care is advocated as a way to improve health outcomes, particularly in a technologically advanced health system like the United States. At the same time, global health knowledge is increasingly valued in health professions education, including nursing. This article describes the design and implementation of an online population health course with a global viewpoint intended to accommodate the need for improved knowledge and skill application for graduate nurses. Attention was also given to faculty efficiency during the process of design and implementation. This population-global health course was piloted in a renovated master's curriculum for two semesters. Administering a Course Improvement Survey after initial course offerings assisted faculty to assess and target essential course changes. Data were collected from 106 registered nurse graduate students. Population and global health course objectives were met and students identified areas for course enhancement. Students (90%-94%) reported achieving increased knowledge of population health and global health. Like other creative works, the first rendition of a course requires pedagogical adjustments and editing. Formal student input, when built into the design and implementation of a course can assist faculty to be efficient when crafting essential course changes for subsequent semesters. Data from the survey showed that major population and global subject matter was being grasped by students, the data also revealed that tweaking specific online strategies like making all course content mobile would enhance the course. The course development process and course improvement evaluation for this Population Health in a Global Society course proved valuable in the education of nurses, and helped maintain faculty work efficiency. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Investing in People: A Strategy to Address America's Workforce Crisis. Background Papers. Vols. I-II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Labor, Washington, DC. Commission on Workforce Quality and Labor Market Efficiency.

The 49 papers in these two volumes were prepared to assist the Commission on Workforce Quality and Labor Market Efficiency in making recommendations for improving the U.S. work force. The papers summarize existing research and make recommendations on subjects reflecting seven Commission tasks: (1) examine the roles and effectiveness of privately…

Genome-wide SNP identification, linkage map construction and QTL mapping for mineral nutrient concentrations and contents in pea (Pisum sativum L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Marker-assisted breeding is now routinely used in major crops to facilitate more efficient cultivar improvement. This has been significantly enabled by the use of next-generation sequencing technology to identify loci and markers associated with traits of interest. While rich in a variety of nutriti...

Consistency in the Reporting of Sensitive Behaviors by Adolescent American Indian Women: A Comparison of Interviewing Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullany, Britta; Barlow, Allison; Neault, Nicole; Billy, Trudy; Hastings, Ranelda; Coho-Mescal, Valerie; Lorenzo, Sherilyn; Walkup, John T.

2013-01-01

Computer-assisted interviewing techniques have increasingly been used in program and research settings to improve data collection quality and efficiency. Little is known, however, regarding the use of such techniques with American Indian (AI) adolescents in collecting sensitive information. This brief compares the consistency of AI adolescent…

Polyelectrolyte-assisted preparation of gold nanocluster-doped silica particles with high incorporation efficiency and improved stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Haonan; Huang, Zhenzhen; Guo, Zilong; Yang, Wensheng

2017-07-01

In this paper, we reported an approach for efficient incorporation of glutathione-capped gold nanoclusters (GSH-Au NCs) into silica particles with the assistance of a polyelectrolyte, poly-diallyldimethyl-ammoniumchloride (PDDA). In this approach, the negatively charged GSH-Au NCs were firstly mixed with the positively charged PDDA to form PDDA-Au NC complexes. Then, the complexes were added into a pre-hydrolyzed Stöber system to get the Au NCs-doped silica particles. With increased ratio of PDDA in the complexes, the negative charges on surface of the Au NCs were neutralized gradually and finally reversed to positive in presence of excess PDDA, which facilitated the incorporation of the Au NCs into the negatively charged silica matrix. Under the optimal amount of PDDA in the complexes, the incorporation efficiency of Au NCs could be as high as 88%. After being incorporated into the silica matrix, the Au NCs become much robust against pH and heavy metal ions attributed to the protection effect of silica and PDDA. This approach was also extendable to highly efficient incorporation of other negatively charged metal nanoclusters, such as bovine serum albumin-capped Cu nanoclusters, into silica matrix.

Application of ionic liquids based enzyme-assisted extraction of chlorogenic acid from Eucommia ulmoides leaves.

PubMed

Liu, Tingting; Sui, Xiaoyu; Li, Li; Zhang, Jie; Liang, Xin; Li, Wenjing; Zhang, Honglian; Fu, Shuang

2016-01-15

A new approach for ionic liquid based enzyme-assisted extraction (ILEAE) of chlorogenic acid (CGA) from Eucommia ulmoides is presented in which enzyme pretreatment was used in ionic liquids aqueous media to enhance extraction yield. For this purpose, the solubility of CGA and the activity of cellulase were investigated in eight 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids. Cellulase in 0.5 M [C6mim]Br aqueous solution was found to provide better performance in extraction. The factors of ILEAE procedures including extraction time, extraction phase pH, extraction temperatures and enzyme concentrations were investigated. Moreover, the novel developed approach offered advantages in term of yield and efficiency compared with other conventional extraction techniques. Scanning electronic microscopy of plant samples indicated that cellulase treated cell wall in ionic liquid solution was subjected to extract, which led to more efficient extraction by reducing mass transfer barrier. The proposed ILEAE method would develope a continuous process for enzyme-assisted extraction including enzyme incubation and solvent extraction process. In this research, we propose a novel view for enzyme-assisted extraction of plant active component, besides concentrating on enzyme facilitated cell wall degradation, focusing on improvement of bad permeability of ionic liquids solutions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intelligent single switch wheelchair navigation.

PubMed

Ka, Hyun W; Simpson, Richard; Chung, Younghyun

2012-11-01

We have developed an intelligent single switch scanning interface and wheelchair navigation assistance system, called intelligent single switch wheelchair navigation (ISSWN), to improve driving safety, comfort and efficiency for individuals who rely on single switch scanning as a control method. ISSWN combines a standard powered wheelchair with a laser rangefinder, a single switch scanning interface and a computer. It provides the user with context sensitive and task specific scanning options that reduce driving effort based on an interpretation of sensor data together with user input. Trials performed by 9 able-bodied participants showed that the system significantly improved driving safety and efficiency in a navigation task by significantly reducing the number of switch presses to 43.5% of traditional single switch wheelchair navigation (p < 0.001). All participants made a significant improvement (39.1%; p < 0.001) in completion time after only two trials.

A Brief History of Airborne Self-Spacing Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, Terence S.

2009-01-01

This paper presents a history of seven of the more significant airborne and airborne-assisted aircraft spacing concepts that have been developed and evaluated during the past 40 years. The primary focus of the earlier concepts was on enhancing airport terminal area productivity and reducing air traffic controller workload. The more recent efforts were designed to increase runway throughput through improved aircraft spacing precision at landing. The latest concepts are aimed at supporting more fuel efficient and lower community noise operations while maintaining or increasing runway throughput efficiency.

Superoxide radical and UV irradiation in ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization (UAOD): A potential alternative for greener fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Ngo Yeung

This study is aimed at improving the current ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization (UAOD) process by utilizing superoxide radical as oxidant. Research was also conducted to investigate the feasibility of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-assisted desulfurization. These modifications can enhance the process with the following achievements: (1) Meet the upcoming sulfur standards on various fuels including diesel fuel oils and residual oils; (2) More efficient oxidant with significantly lower consumption in accordance with stoichiometry; (3) Energy saving by 90%; (4) Greater selectivity in petroleum composition. Currently, the UAOD process and subsequent modifications developed in University of Southern California by Professor Yen's research group have demonstrated high desulfurization efficiencies towards various fuels with the application of 30% wt. hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. The UAOD process has demonstrated more than 50% desulfurization of refractory organic sulfur compounds with the use of Venturella type catalysts. Application of quaternary ammonium fluoride as phase transfer catalyst has significantly improved the desulfurization efficiency to 95%. Recent modifications incorporating ionic liquids have shown that the modified UAOD process can produce ultra-low sulfur, or near-zero sulfur diesels under mild conditions with 70°C and atmospheric pressure. Nevertheless, the UAOD process is considered not to be particularly efficient with respect to oxidant and energy consumption. Batch studies have demonstrated that the UAOD process requires 100 fold more oxidant than the stoichiometic requirement to achieve high desulfurization yield. The expected high costs of purchasing, shipping and storage of the oxidant would reduce the practicability of the process. The excess use of oxidant is not economically desirable, and it also causes environmental and safety issues. Post treatments would be necessary to stabilize the unspent oxidant residual to prevent the waste stream from becoming reactive or even explosive. High energy consumption is another drawback in the UAOD process. A typical 10 minutes ultrasonication applied in the UAOD process to achieve 95% desulfurization for 20g of diesel requires 450 kJ of energy, which is equivalent to approximately 50% of the energy that can be provided by the treated diesel. This great expenditure of energy is impractical for industries to adopt. In this study, modifications of the UAOD process, including the application of superoxide and selection of catalysts, were applied to lower the oxidant dosage and to improve the applicability towards heavy-distillates such as residual oil. The results demonstrated that the new system required 80% less oxidant as compared to previous generations of UAOD process without the loss of desulfurization efficiency. The new system demonstrated its suitability towards desulfurizing commercial mid-distillates including jet fuels, marine gas oil and sour diesel. This process also demonstrated a new method to desulfurize residual oil with high desulfurization yields. The new process development has been supported by Eco Energy Solutions Inc., Reno, Nevada and Intelligent Energy Inc., Long Beach, California. A feasibility study on UV assisted desulfurization by replacing ultrasound with UV irradiation was also conducted. The study demonstrated that the UV assisted desulfurization process consumes 90% less energy than the comparable process using ultrasonication. These process modifications demonstrated over 98% desulfurization efficiency on diesel oils and more than 75% on residual oils with significantly less oxidant and energy consumption. Also the feasibility to desulfurize commercial sour heavy oil was demonstrated. Based on the UAOD process and the commercialized modifications by Wan and Cheng, the feasible applications of superoxide and UV irradiation in the UAOD process could provide deep-desulfurization on various fuels with practical cost.

Modelling and characterization of photothermal effects assisted with gold nanorods in ex vivo samples and in a murine model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamela Rivera, Horacio; Rodríguez Jara, Félix; Cunningham, Vincent

2011-03-01

We discuss in this article the implementation of a laser-tissue interaction and bioheat-transfer 2-D finite-element model for Photothermal Therapy assisted with Gold Nanorods. We have selected Gold Nanorods as absorbing nanostructures in order to improve the efficiency of using compact diode lasers because of their high opto-thermal conversion efficiency at 808 and 850 nm. The goal is to model the distribution of the optical energy among the tissue including the skin absorption effects and the tissue thermal response, with and without the presence of Gold Nanorods. The heat generation due to the optical energy absorption and the thermal propagation will be computationally modeled and optimized. The model has been evaluated and compared with experimental ex-vivo data in fresh chicken muscle samples and in-vivo BALB/c mice animal model.

Resin-assisted Enrichment of N-terminal Peptides for Characterizing Proteolytic Processing

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

Kim, Jong Seo; Dai, Ziyu; Aryal, Uma K.

2013-06-17

Proteolytic processing is a ubiquitous, irreversible posttranslational modification that plays an important role in cellular regulation in all living organisms. Herein we report a resin-assisted positive selection method for specifically enriching protein N-terminal peptides to facilitate the characterization of proteolytic processing events by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In this approach, proteins are initially reduced and alkylated and their lysine residues are converted to homoarginines. Then, protein N-termini are selectively converted to reactive thiol groups. We demonstrate that these sequential reactions were achieved with nearly quantitative efficiencies. Thiol-containing N-terminal peptides are then captured (>98% efficiency) by a thiol-affinity resin, a significantmore » improvement over the traditional avidin/biotin enrichment. Application to cell lysates of Aspergillus niger, a filamentous fungus of interest for biomass degradation, enabled the identification of 1672 unique protein N-termini and proteolytic cleavage sites from 690 unique proteins.« less

Increasingly mobile: How new technologies can enhance qualitative research

PubMed Central

Moylan, Carrie Ann; Derr, Amelia Seraphia; Lindhorst, Taryn

2015-01-01

Advances in technology, such as the growth of smart phones, tablet computing, and improved access to the internet have resulted in many new tools and applications designed to increase efficiency and improve workflow. Some of these tools will assist scholars using qualitative methods with their research processes. We describe emerging technologies for use in data collection, analysis, and dissemination that each offer enhancements to existing research processes. Suggestions for keeping pace with the ever-evolving technological landscape are also offered. PMID:25798072

An efficient synthesis strategy for metal-organic frameworks: Dry-gel synthesis of MOF-74 framework with high yield and improved performance

DOE PAGES

Das, Atanu Kumar; Vemuri, Rama Sesha; Kutnyakov, Igor; ...

2016-06-16

Here, vapor-assisted dry-gel synthesis of MOF-74 structure, specifically NiMOF-74 from its synthetic precursors, was conducted with high yield and improved performance showing promise for gas (CO 2) and water adsorption applications. Unlike conventional synthesis, which takes 72 h, this kinetic study showed that NiMOF-74 forms within 12 h under dry-gel conditions with similar performance characteristics and exhibits the best performance characteristics after 48 h of heating.

Energy Efficiency Financing for Low- and Moderate-Income Households: Current State of the Market, Issues, and Opportunities

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

Leventis, Greg; Kramer, Chris; Schwartz, Lisa

Ensuring that low- and moderate-income (LMI) households have access to energy efficiency is equitable, provides energy savings as a resource to meet energy needs, and can support multiple policy goals, such as affordable energy, job creation, and improved public health. Although the need is great, many LMI households may not be able to afford efficiency improvements or may be inhibited from adopting efficiency for other reasons. Decision-makers across the country are currently exploring the challenges and potential solutions to ramping up adoption of efficiency in LMI households, including the use of financing. The report’s objective is to offer state andmore » local policymakers, state utility regulators, program administrators, financial institutions, consumer advocates and other LMI stakeholders with an understanding of: -The relationship between LMI communities and financing for energy efficiency, including important considerations for its use such as consumer protections -The larger programmatic context of grant-based assistance and other related resources supporting LMI household energy efficiency -Lessons learned from existing energy efficiency financing programs serving LMI households -Financing products used by these programs and their relative advantages and disadvantages in addressing barriers to financing or to energy efficiency uptake for LMI households« less

Enhancement of Beaconless Location-Based Routing with Signal Strength Assistance for Ad-Hoc Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Guowei; Itoh, Kenichi; Sato, Takuro

Routing in Ad-hoc networks is unreliable due to the mobility of the nodes. Location-based routing protocols, unlike other protocols which rely on flooding, excel in network scalability. Furthermore, new location-based routing protocols, like, e. g. BLR [1], IGF [2], & CBF [3] have been proposed, with the feature of not requiring beacons in MAC-layer, which improve more in terms of scalability. Such beaconless routing protocols can work efficiently in dense network areas. However, these protocols' algorithms have no ability to avoid from routing into sparse areas. In this article, historical signal strength has been added as a factor into the BLR algorithm, which avoids routing into sparse area, and consequently improves the global routing efficiency.

Assisted closed-loop optimization of SSVEP-BCI efficiency

PubMed Central

Fernandez-Vargas, Jacobo; Pfaff, Hanns U.; Rodríguez, Francisco B.; Varona, Pablo

2012-01-01

We designed a novel assisted closed-loop optimization protocol to improve the efficiency of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) based on steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP). In traditional paradigms, the control over the BCI-performance completely depends on the subjects' ability to learn from the given feedback cues. By contrast, in the proposed protocol both the subject and the machine share information and control over the BCI goal. Generally, the innovative assistance consists in the delivery of online information together with the online adaptation of BCI stimuli properties. In our case, this adaptive optimization process is realized by (1) a closed-loop search for the best set of SSVEP flicker frequencies and (2) feedback of actual SSVEP magnitudes to both the subject and the machine. These closed-loop interactions between subject and machine are evaluated in real-time by continuous measurement of their efficiencies, which are used as online criteria to adapt the BCI control parameters. The proposed protocol aims to compensate for variability in possibly unknown subjects' state and trait dimensions. In a study with N = 18 subjects, we found significant evidence that our protocol outperformed classic SSVEP-BCI control paradigms. Evidence is presented that it takes indeed into account interindividual variabilities: e.g., under the new protocol, baseline resting state EEG measures predict subjects' BCI performances. This paper illustrates the promising potential of assisted closed-loop protocols in BCI systems. Probably their applicability might be expanded to innovative uses, e.g., as possible new diagnostic/therapeutic tools for clinical contexts and as new paradigms for basic research. PMID:23443214

Assisted closed-loop optimization of SSVEP-BCI efficiency.

PubMed

Fernandez-Vargas, Jacobo; Pfaff, Hanns U; Rodríguez, Francisco B; Varona, Pablo

2013-01-01

We designed a novel assisted closed-loop optimization protocol to improve the efficiency of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) based on steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP). In traditional paradigms, the control over the BCI-performance completely depends on the subjects' ability to learn from the given feedback cues. By contrast, in the proposed protocol both the subject and the machine share information and control over the BCI goal. Generally, the innovative assistance consists in the delivery of online information together with the online adaptation of BCI stimuli properties. In our case, this adaptive optimization process is realized by (1) a closed-loop search for the best set of SSVEP flicker frequencies and (2) feedback of actual SSVEP magnitudes to both the subject and the machine. These closed-loop interactions between subject and machine are evaluated in real-time by continuous measurement of their efficiencies, which are used as online criteria to adapt the BCI control parameters. The proposed protocol aims to compensate for variability in possibly unknown subjects' state and trait dimensions. In a study with N = 18 subjects, we found significant evidence that our protocol outperformed classic SSVEP-BCI control paradigms. Evidence is presented that it takes indeed into account interindividual variabilities: e.g., under the new protocol, baseline resting state EEG measures predict subjects' BCI performances. This paper illustrates the promising potential of assisted closed-loop protocols in BCI systems. Probably their applicability might be expanded to innovative uses, e.g., as possible new diagnostic/therapeutic tools for clinical contexts and as new paradigms for basic research.

Implantable physiologic controller for left ventricular assist devices with telemetry capability.

PubMed

Asgari, Siavash S; Bonde, Pramod

2014-01-01

Rotary type left ventricular assist devices have mitigated the problem of durability associated with earlier pulsatile pumps and demonstrated improved survival. However, the compromise is the loss of pulsatility due to continuous flow and retained percutaneous driveline leading to increased mortality and morbidity. Lack of pulsatility is implicated in increased gastrointestinal bleeding, aortic incompetence, and diastolic hypertension. We present a novel, wirelessly powered, ultra-compact, implantable physiologic controller capable of running a left ventricular assist device in a pulsatile mode with wireless power delivery. The schematic of our system was laid out on a circuit board to wirelessly receive power and run a left ventricular assist device with required safety and backup measures. We have embedded an antenna and wireless network for telemetry. Multiple signal processing steps and controlling algorithm were incorporated. The controller was tested in in vitro and in vivo experiments. The controller drove left ventricular assist devices continuously for 2 weeks in an in vitro setup and in vivo without any failure. Our controller is more power efficient than the current Food and Drug Administration-approved left ventricular assist device controllers. When used with electrocardiography synchronization, the controller allowed on-demand customization of operation with instantaneous flow and revolutions per minute changes, resulting in a pulsatile flow with adjustable pulse pressure. Our test results prove the system to be remarkably safe, accurate, and efficient. The unique combination of wireless powering and small footprint makes this system an ideal totally implantable physiologic left ventricular assist device system. Copyright © 2014 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Frito-Lay North America/NREL CRADA: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-06-176

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

Walker, A.

2013-06-01

Frito Lay North America (FLNA) requires technical assistance for the evaluation and implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in production facilities and distribution centers across North America. Services provided by NREL do not compete with those available in the private sector, but rather provide FLNA with expertise to create opportunities for the private sector renewable/efficiency industries and to inform FLNA decision making regarding cost-effective projects. Services include: identifying the most cost-effective project locations based on renewable energy resource data, utility data, incentives and other parameters affecting projects; assistance with feasibility studies; procurement specifications; design reviews; and other servicesmore » to support FNLA in improving resource efficiency at facilities. This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) establishes the terms and conditions under which FLNA may access capabilities unique to the laboratory and required by FLNA. Each subsequent task issued under this umbrella agreement would include a scope-of-work, budget, schedule, and provisions for intellectual property specific to that task.« less

Quantum error correction assisted by two-way noisy communication

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhuo; Yu, Sixia; Fan, Heng; Oh, C. H.

2014-01-01

Pre-shared non-local entanglement dramatically simplifies and improves the performance of quantum error correction via entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs). However, even considering the noise in quantum communication only, the non-local sharing of a perfectly entangled pair is technically impossible unless additional resources are consumed, such as entanglement distillation, which actually compromises the efficiency of the codes. Here we propose an error-correcting protocol assisted by two-way noisy communication that is more easily realisable: all quantum communication is subjected to general noise and all entanglement is created locally without additional resources consumed. In our protocol the pre-shared noisy entangled pairs are purified simultaneously by the decoding process. For demonstration, we first present an easier implementation of the well-known EAQECC [[4, 1, 3; 1

Quantum error correction assisted by two-way noisy communication.

PubMed

Wang, Zhuo; Yu, Sixia; Fan, Heng; Oh, C H

2014-11-26

Pre-shared non-local entanglement dramatically simplifies and improves the performance of quantum error correction via entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs). However, even considering the noise in quantum communication only, the non-local sharing of a perfectly entangled pair is technically impossible unless additional resources are consumed, such as entanglement distillation, which actually compromises the efficiency of the codes. Here we propose an error-correcting protocol assisted by two-way noisy communication that is more easily realisable: all quantum communication is subjected to general noise and all entanglement is created locally without additional resources consumed. In our protocol the pre-shared noisy entangled pairs are purified simultaneously by the decoding process. For demonstration, we first present an easier implementation of the well-known EAQECC [[4, 1, 3; 1

Applying Lean Six Sigma methodologies to improve efficiency, timeliness of care, and quality of care in an internal medicine residency clinic.

PubMed

Fischman, Daniel

2010-01-01

Patients' connectedness to their providers has been shown to influence the success of preventive health and disease management programs. Lean Six Sigma methodologies were employed to study workflow processes, patient-physician familiarity, and appointment compliance to improve continuity of care in an internal medicine residency clinic. We used a rapid-cycle test to evaluate proposed improvements to the baseline-identified factors impeding efficient clinic visits. Time-study, no-show, and patient-physician familiarity data were collected to evaluate the effect of interventions to improve clinic efficiency and continuity of medical care. Forty-seven patients were seen in each of the intervention and control groups. The wait duration between the end of triage and the resident-patient encounter was statistically shorter for the intervention group. Trends toward shorter wait times for medical assistant triage and total encounter were also seen in the intervention group. On all measures of connectedness, both the physicians and patients in the intervention group showed a statistically significant increased familiarity with each other. This study shows that incremental changes in workflow processes in a residency clinic can have a significant impact on practice efficiency and adherence to scheduled visits for preventive health care and chronic disease management. This project used a structured "Plan-Do-Study-Act" approach.

13 CFR 101.500 - Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Small Business Energy Efficiency... ADMINISTRATION Small Business Energy Efficiency § 101.500 Small Business Energy Efficiency Program. (a) The.../energy, building on the Energy Star for Small Business Program, to assist small business concerns in...

13 CFR 101.500 - Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Small Business Energy Efficiency... ADMINISTRATION Small Business Energy Efficiency § 101.500 Small Business Energy Efficiency Program. (a) The.../energy, building on the Energy Star for Small Business Program, to assist small business concerns in...

13 CFR 101.500 - Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Small Business Energy Efficiency... ADMINISTRATION Small Business Energy Efficiency § 101.500 Small Business Energy Efficiency Program. (a) The.../energy, building on the Energy Star for Small Business Program, to assist small business concerns in...

13 CFR 101.500 - Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Small Business Energy Efficiency... ADMINISTRATION Small Business Energy Efficiency § 101.500 Small Business Energy Efficiency Program. (a) The.../energy, building on the Energy Star for Small Business Program, to assist small business concerns in...

13 CFR 101.500 - Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Small Business Energy Efficiency... ADMINISTRATION Small Business Energy Efficiency § 101.500 Small Business Energy Efficiency Program. (a) The.../energy, building on the Energy Star for Small Business Program, to assist small business concerns in...

Student Engagement and Completion in Precalculus Precalculus Mega Section: Efficiently Assisting Student Engagement and Completion with Communications and Information Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brusi, Rima; Portnoy, Arturo; Toro, Nilsa

2013-01-01

The Precalculus Mega Section project was developed with the main purpose of improving the overall performance of the student body in Precalculus, an important gatekeeper course that affects student engagement and completion, with typical drop/failure rates of over 50 percent. Strategies such as integration of technology and additional practice…

78 FR 70958 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Recordkeeping for HUD's Continuum of Care Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-27

... Foreclosures and Enhance became Public Law 111-22; Division B of this law is the HEARTH Act. As amended by the HEARTH Act, Subpart C of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act establishes the Continuum of Care... et seq.). The HEARTH Act was designed to improve administrative efficiency and enhance response...

[Remediation efficiency of lead-contaminated soil at an industrial site by ultrasonic-assisted chemical extraction].

PubMed

Wang, Xin-jie; Huang, Jin-lou; Liu, Zhi-qiang; Yue, Xi

2013-09-01

This research chose five lead-contaminated sites of a lead-acid battery factory to analyze the speciation distribution and concentration of lead. Under the same conditions (0.1 mol x L(-1) EDTA,30 min, 25 degrees C), the removal effect of heavy metal was compared between ultrasonic-assisted chemical extraction (UCE) and conventional chemical extraction ( CCE), and the variation of lead speciation was further explored. The results showed that the lead removal efficiency of UCE was significantly better than CCE. The lead removal efficiency of WS, A, B, C and BZ was 10.06%, 48.29%, 48.69%, 53.28% and 36.26% under CCE. While the removal efficiency of the UCE was 22.42%, 69.31%, 71.00%, 74.49% and 71.58%, with the average efficiency higher by 22%. By comparing the speciation distribution of the two washing methods, it was found that the acid extractable content maintained or decreased after UCE, whereas it showed an increasing trend after CCE. The reduction effect of the reducible was as high as 98% by UCE. UCE also showed a more efficient reduction effect of the organic matter-sulfite bounded form and the residual form. Hence, it is feasible to improve the washing efficiency of heavy metal contained in soil by conducting the cleaning process with the help of ultrasonic wave, which is a simple and fast mean to remove lead from contaminated sites.

A new approach to road accident rescue.

PubMed

Morales, Alejandro; González-Aguilera, Diego; López, Alfonso I; Gutiérrez, Miguel A

2016-01-01

This article develops and validates a new methodology and tool for rescue assistance in traffic accidents, with the aim of improving its efficiency and safety in the evacuation of people, reducing the number of victims in road accidents. Different tests supported by professionals and experts have been designed under different circumstances and with different categories of damaged vehicles coming from real accidents and simulated trapped victims in order to calibrate and refine the proposed methodology and tool. To validate this new approach, a tool called App_Rescue has been developed. This tool is based on the use of a computer system that allows an efficient access to the technical information of the vehicle and sanitary information of the common passengers. The time spent during rescue using the standard protocol and the proposed method was compared. This rescue assistance system allows us to make vital information accessible in posttrauma care services, improving the effectiveness of interventions by the emergency services, reducing the rescue time and therefore minimizing the consequences involved and the number of victims. This could often mean saving lives. In the different simulated rescue operations, the rescue time has been reduced an average of 14%.

Highly Efficient Release of Glycopeptides from Hydrazide Beads by Hydroxylamine Assisted PNGase F Deglycosylation for N-Glycoproteome Analysis.

PubMed

Huang, Junfeng; Wan, Hao; Yao, Yating; Li, Jinan; Cheng, Kai; Mao, Jiawei; Chen, Jin; Wang, Yan; Qin, Hongqiang; Zhang, Weibing; Ye, Mingliang; Zou, Hanfa

2015-10-20

Selective enrichment of glycopeptides from complex sample followed by cleavage of N-glycans by PNGase F to expose an easily detectable mark on the former glycosylation sites has become the popular protocol for comprehensive glycoproteome analysis. On account of the high enrichment specificity, hydrazide chemistry based solid-phase extraction of N-linked glycopeptides technique has sparked numerous interests. However, the enzymatic release of glycopeptides captured by hydrazide beads through direct incubation of the beads with PNGase F is not efficient due to the inherent steric hindrance effect. In this study, we developed a hydroxylamine assisted PNGase F deglycosylation (HAPD) method using the hydroxylamine to release glycopeptides captured on the hydrazide beads through the cleavage of hydrazone bonds by transamination followed with the PNGase F deglycosylation of the released glycopeptides in the free solution. Because of the homogeneous condition for the deglycosylation, the recovery of deglycosylated peptides (deglycopeptides) was improved significantly. It was found that 27% more N-glycosylation sites were identified by the HAPD strategy compared with the conventional method. Moreover, the ratio of identified N-terminal glycosylated peptides was improved over 5-fold.

New Developments in Robotics and Single-site Gynecologic Surgery.

PubMed

Matthews, Catherine A

2017-06-01

Within the last 10 years there have been significant advances in minimal-access surgery. Although no emerging technology has demonstrated improved outcomes or fewer complications than standard laparoscopy, the introduction of the robotic surgical platform has significantly lowered abdominal hysterectomy rates. While operative time and cost were higher in robotic-assisted procedures when the technology was first introduced, newer studies demonstrate equivalent or improved robotic surgical efficiency with increased experience. Single-port hysterectomy has not improved postoperative pain or subjective cosmetic results. Emerging platforms with flexible, articulating instruments may increase the uptake of single-port procedures including natural orifice transluminal endoscopic cases.

Residential Building Energy Code Field Study

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

R. Bartlett, M. Halverson, V. Mendon, J. Hathaway, Y. Xie

This document presents a methodology for assessing baseline energy efficiency in new single-family residential buildings and quantifying related savings potential. The approach was developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program with the objective of assisting states as they assess energy efficiency in residential buildings and implementation of their building energy codes, as well as to target areas for improvement through energy codes and broader energy-efficiency programs. It is also intended to facilitate a consistent and replicable approach to research studies of this type and establish a transparent data setmore » to represent baseline construction practices across U.S. states.« less

Efficient direct solar-to-hydrogen conversion by in situ interface transformation of a tandem structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

May, Matthias M.; Lewerenz, Hans-Joachim; Lackner, David; Dimroth, Frank; Hannappel, Thomas

2015-09-01

Photosynthesis is nature's route to convert intermittent solar irradiation into storable energy, while its use for an industrial energy supply is impaired by low efficiency. Artificial photosynthesis provides a promising alternative for efficient robust carbon-neutral renewable energy generation. The approach of direct hydrogen generation by photoelectrochemical water splitting utilizes customized tandem absorber structures to mimic the Z-scheme of natural photosynthesis. Here a combined chemical surface transformation of a tandem structure and catalyst deposition at ambient temperature yields photocurrents approaching the theoretical limit of the absorber and results in a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 14%. The potentiostatically assisted photoelectrode efficiency is 17%. Present benchmarks for integrated systems are clearly exceeded. Details of the in situ interface transformation, the electronic improvement and chemical passivation are presented. The surface functionalization procedure is widely applicable and can be precisely controlled, allowing further developments of high-efficiency robust hydrogen generators.

Efficient direct solar-to-hydrogen conversion by in situ interface transformation of a tandem structure

PubMed Central

May, Matthias M.; Lewerenz, Hans-Joachim; Lackner, David; Dimroth, Frank; Hannappel, Thomas

2015-01-01

Photosynthesis is nature's route to convert intermittent solar irradiation into storable energy, while its use for an industrial energy supply is impaired by low efficiency. Artificial photosynthesis provides a promising alternative for efficient robust carbon-neutral renewable energy generation. The approach of direct hydrogen generation by photoelectrochemical water splitting utilizes customized tandem absorber structures to mimic the Z-scheme of natural photosynthesis. Here a combined chemical surface transformation of a tandem structure and catalyst deposition at ambient temperature yields photocurrents approaching the theoretical limit of the absorber and results in a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 14%. The potentiostatically assisted photoelectrode efficiency is 17%. Present benchmarks for integrated systems are clearly exceeded. Details of the in situ interface transformation, the electronic improvement and chemical passivation are presented. The surface functionalization procedure is widely applicable and can be precisely controlled, allowing further developments of high-efficiency robust hydrogen generators. PMID:26369620

Computer-assisted abdominal surgery: new technologies.

PubMed

Kenngott, H G; Wagner, M; Nickel, F; Wekerle, A L; Preukschas, A; Apitz, M; Schulte, T; Rempel, R; Mietkowski, P; Wagner, F; Termer, A; Müller-Stich, Beat P

2015-04-01

Computer-assisted surgery is a wide field of technologies with the potential to enable the surgeon to improve efficiency and efficacy of diagnosis, treatment, and clinical management. This review provides an overview of the most important new technologies and their applications. A MEDLINE database search was performed revealing a total of 1702 references. All references were considered for information on six main topics, namely image guidance and navigation, robot-assisted surgery, human-machine interface, surgical processes and clinical pathways, computer-assisted surgical training, and clinical decision support. Further references were obtained through cross-referencing the bibliography cited in each work. Based on their respective field of expertise, the authors chose 64 publications relevant for the purpose of this review. Computer-assisted systems are increasingly used not only in experimental studies but also in clinical studies. Although computer-assisted abdominal surgery is still in its infancy, the number of studies is constantly increasing, and clinical studies start showing the benefits of computers used not only as tools of documentation and accounting but also for directly assisting surgeons during diagnosis and treatment of patients. Further developments in the field of clinical decision support even have the potential of causing a paradigm shift in how patients are diagnosed and treated.

Compact light-emitting diode lighting ring for video-assisted thoracic surgery.

PubMed

Lu, Ming-Kuan; Chang, Feng-Chen; Wang, Wen-Zhe; Hsieh, Chih-Cheng; Kao, Fu-Jen

2014-01-01

In this work, a foldable ring-shaped light-emitting diode (LED) lighting assembly, designed to attach to a rubber wound retractor, is realized and tested through porcine animal experiments. Enabled by the small size and the high efficiency of LED chips, the lighting assembly is compact, flexible, and disposable while providing direct and high brightness lighting for more uniform background illumination in video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). When compared with a conventional fiber bundle coupled light source that is usually used in laparoscopy and endoscopy, the much broader solid angle of illumination enabled by the LED assembly allows greatly improved background lighting and imaging quality in VATS.

Drivers' safety needs, behavioural adaptations and acceptance of new driving support systems.

PubMed

Saad, Farida; Van Elslande, Pierre

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the contribution of two complementary approaches for designing and evaluating new driver support systems likely to improve the operation and safety of the road traffic system. The first approach is based on detailed analyses of traffic crashes so as to estimate drivers' needs for assistance and the situational constraints that safety functions should address to be efficient. The second approach is based on in depth-analyses of behavioral adaptations induced by the usage of new driver support systems in regular driving situations and on drivers' acceptance of the assistance provided by the systems.

Operational Efficiency and Productivity Improvement Initiatives in a Large Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.

PubMed

Reed, Grant W; Hantz, Scott; Cunningham, Rebecca; Krishnaswamy, Amar; Ellis, Stephen G; Khot, Umesh; Rak, Joe; Kapadia, Samir R

2018-02-26

This study sought to report outcomes from an efficiency improvement project in a large cardiac cath lab. Operational inefficiencies are common in the cath lab, yet solutions are challenging. A detailed report describing and providing solutions for these inefficiencies may be valuable in guiding improvements in productivity. In this observational study, the authors report metrics of efficiency before and after a cath lab quality improvement program in June 2014. Main outcomes included lab room start times, room turnaround times, laboratory use, and employee satisfaction. Time series analysis was used to assess trend over time. Chi-square testing and analysis of variance were used to assess change before and after the initiative. The principal changes included implementation of a pyramidal nursing schedule, increased use of an electronic scheduling system, and increased utilization of a preparation and recovery area. Comparing before with after the program, start times improved an average of 17 min, and on-time starts improved from 61.8% to 81.7% (p = 0.0024). Turnaround times improved from 20.5 min to 16.4 min (trend p < 0.0001), and the proportion of days at full lab utilization improved from 7.7% to 77.3% (p < 0.00001). There were no increases in overtime, night, or weekend cases. There was a reduction in full time employees from 36.1 in 2013 to 29.6 in 2016, with an improvement in employee satisfaction. A systematic approach to reducing inefficiencies can improve cath lab start times, turnaround times, and overall productivity. This knowledge may be helpful in assisting other cath labs in similar efficiency improvement initiatives. Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction for fMRI (aE-REMCOR).

PubMed

Wong, Chung-Ki; Zotev, Vadim; Misaki, Masaya; Phillips, Raquel; Luo, Qingfei; Bodurka, Jerzy

2016-04-01

Head motions during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) impair fMRI data quality and introduce systematic artifacts that can affect interpretation of fMRI results. Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings performed simultaneously with fMRI provide high-temporal-resolution information about ongoing brain activity as well as head movements. Recently, an EEG-assisted retrospective motion correction (E-REMCOR) method was introduced. E-REMCOR utilizes EEG motion artifacts to correct the effects of head movements in simultaneously acquired fMRI data on a slice-by-slice basis. While E-REMCOR is an efficient motion correction approach, it involves an independent component analysis (ICA) of the EEG data and identification of motion-related ICs. Here we report an automated implementation of E-REMCOR, referred to as aE-REMCOR, which we developed to facilitate the application of E-REMCOR in large-scale EEG-fMRI studies. The aE-REMCOR algorithm, implemented in MATLAB, enables an automated preprocessing of the EEG data, an ICA decomposition, and, importantly, an automatic identification of motion-related ICs. aE-REMCOR has been used to perform retrospective motion correction for 305 fMRI datasets from 16 subjects, who participated in EEG-fMRI experiments conducted on a 3T MRI scanner. Performance of aE-REMCOR has been evaluated based on improvement in temporal signal-to-noise ratio (TSNR) of the fMRI data, as well as correction efficiency defined in terms of spike reduction in fMRI motion parameters. The results show that aE-REMCOR is capable of substantially reducing head motion artifacts in fMRI data. In particular, when there are significant rapid head movements during the scan, a large TSNR improvement and high correction efficiency can be achieved. Depending on a subject's motion, an average TSNR improvement over the brain upon the application of aE-REMCOR can be as high as 27%, with top ten percent of the TSNR improvement values exceeding 55%. The average correction efficiency over the 305 fMRI scans is 18% and the largest achieved efficiency is 71%. The utility of aE-REMCOR on the resting state fMRI connectivity of the default mode network is also examined. The motion-induced position-dependent error in the DMN connectivity analysis is shown to be reduced when aE-REMCOR is utilized. These results demonstrate that aE-REMCOR can be conveniently and efficiently used to improve fMRI motion correction in large clinical EEG-fMRI studies. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Institutionalising health technology assessment: establishing the Medical Technology Assessment Board in India.

PubMed

Downey, Laura E; Mehndiratta, Abha; Grover, Ashoo; Gauba, Vijay; Sheikh, Kabir; Prinja, Shankar; Singh, Ravinder; Cluzeau, Francoise A; Dabak, Saudamini; Teerawattananon, Yot; Kumar, Sanjiv; Swaminathan, Soumya

2017-01-01

India is at crossroads with a commitment by the government to universal health coverage (UHC), driving efficiency and tackling waste across the public healthcare sector. Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important policy reform that can assist policy-makers to tackle inequities and inefficiencies by improving the way in which health resources are allocated towards cost-effective, appropriate and feasible interventions. The equitable and efficient distribution of health budget resources, as well as timely uptake of good value technologies, are critical to strengthen the Indian healthcare system. The government of India is set to establish a Medical Technology Assessment Board to evaluate existing and new health technologies in India, assist choices between comparable technologies for adoption by the healthcare system and improve the way in which priorities for health are set. This initiative aims to introduce a more transparent, inclusive, fair and evidence-based process by which decisions regarding the allocation of health resources are made in India towards the ultimate goal of UHC. In this analysis article, we report on plans and progress of the government of India for the institutionalisation of HTA in the country. Where India is home to one-sixth of the global population, improving the health services that the population receives will have a resounding impact not only for India but also for global health.

Institutionalising health technology assessment: establishing the Medical Technology Assessment Board in India

PubMed Central

Downey, Laura E; Mehndiratta, Abha; Grover, Ashoo; Gauba, Vijay; Sheikh, Kabir; Prinja, Shankar; Singh, Ravinder; Cluzeau, Francoise A; Dabak, Saudamini; Teerawattananon, Yot; Kumar, Sanjiv; Swaminathan, Soumya

2017-01-01

India is at crossroads with a commitment by the government to universal health coverage (UHC), driving efficiency and tackling waste across the public healthcare sector. Health technology assessment (HTA) is an important policy reform that can assist policy-makers to tackle inequities and inefficiencies by improving the way in which health resources are allocated towards cost-effective, appropriate and feasible interventions. The equitable and efficient distribution of health budget resources, as well as timely uptake of good value technologies, are critical to strengthen the Indian healthcare system. The government of India is set to establish a Medical Technology Assessment Board to evaluate existing and new health technologies in India, assist choices between comparable technologies for adoption by the healthcare system and improve the way in which priorities for health are set. This initiative aims to introduce a more transparent, inclusive, fair and evidence-based process by which decisions regarding the allocation of health resources are made in India towards the ultimate goal of UHC. In this analysis article, we report on plans and progress of the government of India for the institutionalisation of HTA in the country. Where India is home to one-sixth of the global population, improving the health services that the population receives will have a resounding impact not only for India but also for global health. PMID:29225927

Utilization of Portable Radios to Improve Ophthalmology Clinic Efficiency in an Academic Setting.

PubMed

Davis, Alexander S; Elkeeb, Ahmed M; Vizzeri, Gianmarco; Godley, Bernard F

2016-03-01

Improvement in clinic efficiency in the ambulatory setting is often looked at as an area for development of lean management strategies to deliver a higher quality of healthcare while reducing errors, costs, and delays. To examine the benefits of improving team communication and its impact on clinic flow and efficiency, we describe a time-motion study performed in an academic outpatient Ophthalmology clinic and its objective and subjective results. Compared to clinic encounters without the use of the portable radios, objective data demonstrated an overall significant decreases in mean workup time (15.18 vs. 13.10), room wait (13.10 vs. 10.47), and decreased the total time needed with an MD per encounter (9.45 vs. 6.63). Subjectively, significant improvements were seen in careprovider scores for patient flow (60.78 vs. 84.29), getting assistance (61.89 vs. 88.57), moving patient charts (54.44 vs. 85.71), teamwork (69.56 vs. 91.0), communications (62.33 vs. 90.43), providing quality patient care (76.22 vs. 89.57), and receiving input on the ability to see walk-in patients (80.11 vs. 90.43). For academic purposes, an improvement in engagement in patient care and learning opportunities was noted by the clinic resident-in-training during the pilot study. Portable radios in our pilot study were preferred over the previous method of communication and demonstrates significant improvements in certain areas of clinical efficiency, subjective perception of teamwork and communications, and academic learning.

Marker-assisted selection in plant breeding for salinity tolerance.

PubMed

Ashraf, M; Akram, N A; Mehboob-Ur-Rahman; Foolad, M R

2012-01-01

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is the process of using morphological, biochemical, or DNA markers as indirect selection criteria for selecting agriculturally important traits in crop breeding. This process is used to improve the effectiveness or efficiency of selection for the traits of interest in breeding programs. The significance of MAS as a tool for crop improvement has been extensively investigated in different crop -species and for different traits. The use of MAS for manipulating simple/qualitative traits is straightforward and has been well reported. However, MAS for the improvement of complex/polygenic traits, including plant tolerance/resistance to abiotic stresses, is more complicated, although its usefulness has been recognized. With the recent advances in marker technology, including high-throughput genotyping of plants, together with the development of nested association mapping populations, it is expected that the utility of MAS for breeding for stress tolerance traits will increase. In this chapter, we describe the basic procedure for using MAS in crop breeding for salt tolerance.

Improved collagen extraction from jellyfish (Acromitus hardenbergi) with increased physical-induced solubilization processes.

PubMed

Khong, Nicholas M H; Yusoff, Fatimah Md; Jamilah, B; Basri, Mahiran; Maznah, I; Chan, Kim Wei; Armania, Nurdin; Nishikawa, Jun

2018-06-15

Efficiency and effectiveness of collagen extraction process contribute to huge impacts to the quality, supply and cost of the collagen produced. Jellyfish is a potential sustainable source of collagen where their applications are not limited by religious constraints and threats of transmittable diseases. The present study compared the extraction yield, physico-chemical properties and toxicology in vitro of collagens obtained by the conventional acid-assisted and pepsin-assisted extraction to an improved physical-aided extraction process. By increasing physical intervention, the production yield increased significantly compared to the conventional extraction processes (p < .05). Collagen extracted using the improved process was found to possess similar proximate and amino acids composition to those extracted using pepsin (p > .05) while retaining high molecular weight distributions and polypeptide profiles similar to those extracted using only acid. Moreover, they exhibited better appearance, instrumental colour and were found to be non-toxic in vitro and free of heavy metal contamination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laser-assisted heating of a plasmonic nanofluid in a microchannel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, Timothy

The work presented in this study analyses the theoretical modeling and experimentation of laser-assisted heating of plasmonic nanofluids (PNFs) in a microchannel for accurate, efficient, and ultra-fast heating of a microdroplet. Suspended plasmonic nanoparticles exhibit strong light absorption and scattering upon the excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSPs), resulting in intense and rapid photothermal heating. Several multi-stepped computational models were utilized to theoretically characterize and verify the laser-assisted heating behavior of gold nanoshells (GNS) and gold nanorod (GNR) plasmonic nanofluid droplets in a microchannel. From the experimental investigation, a full range of controllable steady-state temperatures, room temperature to 100°C, are confirmed to be achievable for the 780-nm-tuned plasmonic nanofluid. Droplet fluid heating is verified to occur as a result of LSP excitation, in time scales of milliseconds, and to be repeatable over many cycles. Additionally, the significance and effects of parameters in the process, such as nanoparticle structure, volumetric concentration, microchannel depth, and laser power density are established. The obtained results in this research may be integrated into other existing microfluidic technologies and biological techniques, such as the polymerase chain reaction, where accurate and ultra-fast heating of microdroplets in a microchannel can greatly improve efficiency.

Efficient phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soils using plant-endophyte partnerships.

PubMed

Feng, Nai-Xian; Yu, Jiao; Zhao, Hai-Ming; Cheng, Yu-Ting; Mo, Ce-Hui; Cai, Quan-Ying; Li, Yan-Wen; Li, Hui; Wong, Ming-Hung

2017-04-01

Soil pollution with organic contaminants is one of the most intractable environmental problems today, posing serious threats to humans and the environment. Innovative strategies for remediating organic-contaminated soils are critically needed. Phytoremediation, based on the synergistic actions of plants and their associated microorganisms, has been recognized as a powerful in situ approach to soil remediation. Suitable combinations of plants and their associated endophytes can improve plant growth and enhance the biodegradation of organic contaminants in the rhizosphere and/or endosphere, dramatically expediting the removal of organic pollutants from soils. However, for phytoremediation to become a more widely accepted and predictable alternative, a thorough understanding of plant-endophyte interactions is needed. Many studies have recently been conducted on the mechanisms of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation of organic contaminants in soils. In this review, we highlight the superiority of organic pollutant-degrading endophytes for practical applications in phytoremediation, summarize alternative strategies for improving phytoremediation, discuss the fundamental mechanisms of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation, and present updated information regarding the advances, challenges, and new directions in the field of endophyte-assisted phytoremediation technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Expert System for the Development of Efficient Parallel Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jost, Gabriele; Chun, Robert; Jin, Hao-Qiang; Labarta, Jesus; Gimenez, Judit

2004-01-01

We have built the prototype of an expert system to assist the user in the development of efficient parallel code. The system was integrated into the parallel programming environment that is currently being developed at NASA Ames. The expert system interfaces to tools for automatic parallelization and performance analysis. It uses static program structure information and performance data in order to automatically determine causes of poor performance and to make suggestions for improvements. In this paper we give an overview of our programming environment, describe the prototype implementation of our expert system, and demonstrate its usefulness with several case studies.

Controlling surface property of K2SiF6:Mn4+ for improvement of lighting-emitting diode reliability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Juseong; Jang, Inseok; Song, Gwang Yeom; Kim, Wan-Ho; Jeon, Sie-Wook; Kim, Jae-Pil

2018-05-01

The surface property of moisture-sensitive K2SiF6:Mn4+ (KSF) as a red-emitting phosphor was controlled through dry-type surface modification in order to improve the photo-performance and reliability of lighting-emitting diode (LED). The phosphor surface was modified with silane coupling agents having different carbon chain length by plasma-assisted method. Comparing between as-prepared and modified KSF, water-resistance and photo-emission efficiency were enhanced due to the formation of hydrophobic shell and the elimination of surface quenching sites. Moreover, the dispersibility of phosphor was increased as increasing the carbon chain length of silane because the interfacial affinity between phosphor and encapsulant was improved. After fabricating LED device, the enhancement of photo-performance and long-term reliability could be successfully achieved in LED device with modified phosphor. It is attributed to that the degradation of phosphor efficiency by moisture was suppressed and heat dissipation in LED PKG was improved through the surface modification.

[Analysis of foreign experience of usage of automation systems of medication distribution in prevention and treatment facilities].

PubMed

Miroshnichenko, Iu V; Umarov, S Z

2012-12-01

One of the ways of increase of effectiveness and safety of patients medication supplement is the use of automated systems of distribution, through which substantially increases the efficiency and safety of patients' medication supplement, achieves significant economy of material and financial resources for medication assistance and possibility of systematical improvement of its accessibility and quality.

The Role of Cooperative Learning Type Team Assisted Individualization to Improve the Students' Mathematics Communication Ability in the Subject of Probability Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tinungki, Georgina Maria

2015-01-01

The importance of learning mathematics can not be separated from its role in all aspects of life. Communicating ideas by using mathematics language is even more practical, systematic, and efficient. In order to overcome the difficulties of students who have insufficient understanding of mathematics material, good communications should be built in…

Leveraging Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) Senior Leadership Corps Diversity to Improve Efficiency

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

licensing , and board certification requirements . A few of these specialties include physician assistant, physical therapist, optometrist, podiatrist...the Deputy Surgeon General (MC), the AFMS Family Practice consultant (MC), 5 Family Practice physicians (MC), 2 nurses (NC), 2 medical technicians...specifically require clinicians, instead of taking advantage of their valuable clinical training in the MTFs. To illustrate, moving one family practice

Genetic complexity of miscanthus cell wall composition and biomass quality for biofuels.

PubMed

van der Weijde, Tim; Kamei, Claire L Alvim; Severing, Edouard I; Torres, Andres F; Gomez, Leonardo D; Dolstra, Oene; Maliepaard, Chris A; McQueen-Mason, Simon J; Visser, Richard G F; Trindade, Luisa M

2017-05-25

Miscanthus sinensis is a high yielding perennial grass species with great potential as a bioenergy feedstock. One of the challenges that currently impedes commercial cellulosic biofuel production is the technical difficulty to efficiently convert lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel. The development of feedstocks with better biomass quality will improve conversion efficiency and the sustainability of the value-chain. Progress in the genetic improvement of biomass quality may be substantially expedited by the development of genetic markers associated to quality traits, which can be used in a marker-assisted selection program. To this end, a mapping population was developed by crossing two parents of contrasting cell wall composition. The performance of 182 F1 offspring individuals along with the parents was evaluated in a field trial with a randomized block design with three replicates. Plants were phenotyped for cell wall composition and conversion efficiency characters in the second and third growth season after establishment. A new SNP-based genetic map for M. sinensis was built using a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach, which resulted in 464 short-sequence uniparental markers that formed 16 linkage groups in the male map and 17 linkage groups in the female map. A total of 86 QTLs for a variety of biomass quality characteristics were identified, 20 of which were detected in both growth seasons. Twenty QTLs were directly associated to different conversion efficiency characters. Marker sequences were aligned to the sorghum reference genome to facilitate cross-species comparisons. Analyses revealed that for some traits previously identified QTLs in sorghum occurred in homologous regions on the same chromosome. In this work we report for the first time the genetic mapping of cell wall composition and bioconversion traits in the bioenergy crop miscanthus. These results are a first step towards the development of marker-assisted selection programs in miscanthus to improve biomass quality and facilitate its use as feedstock for biofuel production.

ANSYS-MATLAB co-simulation of mucus flow distribution and clearance effectiveness of a new simulated cough device.

PubMed

Ren, Shuai; Shi, Yan; Cai, Maolin; Zhao, Hongmei; Zhang, Zhaozhi; Zhang, Xiaohua Douglas

2018-06-01

Coughing is an irritable reaction that protects the respiratory system from infection and improves mucus clearance. However, for the patients who cannot cough autonomously, an assisted cough device is essential for mucus clearance. Considering the low efficiency of current assisted cough devices, a new simulated cough device based on the pneumatic system is proposed in this paper. Given the uncertainty of airflow rates necessary to clear mucus from airways, the computational fluid dynamics Eulerian wall film model and cough efficiency (CE) were used in this study to simulate the cough process and evaluate cough effectiveness. The Ansys-Matlab co-simulation model was set up and verified through experimental studies using Newtonian fluids. Next, model simulations were performed using non-Newtonian fluids, and peak cough flow (PCF) and PCF duration time were analyzed to determine their influence on mucus clearance. CE growth rate (λ) was calculated to reflect the CE variation trend. From the numerical simulation results, we find that CE rises as PCF increases while the growth rate trends to slow as PCF increases; when PCF changes from 60 to 360 L/min, CE changes from 3.2% to 51.5% which is approximately 16 times the initial value. Meanwhile, keeping a long PCF duration time could greatly improve CE under the same cough expired volume and PCF. The results indicated that increasing the PCF and PCF duration time can improve the efficiency of mucus clearance. This paper provides a new approach and a research direction for control strategy in simulated cough devices for airway mucus clearance. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Estimation by simulation of the efficiency of the French marker-assisted selection program in dairy cattle (Open Access publication)

PubMed Central

Guillaume, François; Fritz, Sébastien; Boichard, Didier; Druet, Tom

2008-01-01

The efficiency of the French marker-assisted selection (MAS) was estimated by a simulation study. The data files of two different time periods were used: April 2004 and 2006. The simulation method used the structure of the existing French MAS: same pedigree, same marker genotypes and same animals with records. The program simulated breeding values and new records based on this existing structure and knowledge on the QTL used in MAS (variance and frequency). Reliabilities of genetic values of young animals (less than one year old) obtained with and without marker information were compared to assess the efficiency of MAS for evaluation of milk, fat and protein yields and fat and protein contents. Mean gains of reliability ranged from 0.015 to 0.094 and from 0.038 to 0.114 in 2004 and 2006, respectively. The larger number of animals genotyped and the use of a new set of genetic markers can explain the improvement of MAS reliability from 2004 to 2006. This improvement was also observed by analysis of information content for young candidates. The gain of MAS reliability with respect to classical selection was larger for sons of sires with genotyped progeny daughters with records. Finally, it was shown that when superiority of MAS over classical selection was estimated with daughter yield deviations obtained after progeny test instead of true breeding values, the gain was underestimated. PMID:18096117

Experimental investigation on cleaning of corroded ancient coins using a Nd:YAG laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Huazhong; Lu, Jian; Ni, Xiaowu; Shen, Zhonghua

2017-05-01

The objective of the work reported is to study experimentally on the removal of corrosion layer from the ancient coins using laser beam as the conservation tool. With the use of Q-switched Nd:YAG laser radiation at 1064 nm, dry laser cleaning, steam laser cleaning and chemical-assisted laser cleaning were used to find out a more suitable and efficient laser treatment for corrosion removal. Cleaning tests were performed on ancient Chinese coins. Experimental results shows that the dry laser cleaning was not successful at removing all types of corrosion crust. It was possible to remove the outer thicker layer of the corrosion products (typically known as patina), but failed on the thinner layer of cuprite. The steam laser cleaning could decrease the initial removal threshold and improve the removal efficiency especially for the oxidation with powdery structure. As for chemical-assisted laser treatment, the cleaning results demonstrate that the combination of laser and chemical reagent could provide a considerable improvement in corrosion removal compared with the conventional laser treatments. Most of the corrosion contaminant was stripped, even the cuprite layer. Moreover, no secondary pollution was formed on the cleaned surface. X-ray fluorescence was applied to determine the variation of composition of surface layer and bulk metal before and after the coins cleaned. It shows that all of the three laser treatments were efficient to reduce the chlorine concentration on the surface of the coins more than 75%.

Achieving High Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yang

2015-03-01

Recently, metal halide perovskite based solar cell with the characteristics of rather low raw materials cost, great potential for simple process and scalable production, and extreme high power conversion efficiency (PCE), have been highlighted as one of the most competitive technologies for next generation thin film photovoltaic (PV). In UCLA, we have realized an efficient pathway to achieve high performance pervoskite solar cells, where the findings are beneficial to this unique materials/devices system. Our recent progress lies in perovskite film formation, defect passivation, transport materials design, interface engineering with respect to high performance solar cell, as well as the exploration of its applications beyond photovoltaics. These achievements include: 1) development of vapor assisted solution process (VASP) and moisture assisted solution process, which produces perovskite film with improved conformity, high crystallinity, reduced recombination rate, and the resulting high performance; 2) examination of the defects property of perovskite materials, and demonstration of a self-induced passivation approach to reduce carrier recombination; 3) interface engineering based on design of the carrier transport materials and the electrodes, in combination with high quality perovskite film, which delivers 15 ~ 20% PCEs; 4) a novel integration of bulk heterojunction to perovskite solar cell to achieve better light harvest; 5) fabrication of inverted solar cell device with high efficiency and flexibility and 6) exploration the application of perovskite materials to photodetector. Further development in film, device architecture, and interfaces will lead to continuous improved perovskite solar cells and other organic-inorganic hybrid optoelectronics.

Breakdown assisted by a novel electron drift injection in the J-TEXT tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Nengchao; Jin, Hai; Zhuang, Ge; Ding, Yonghua; Pan, Yuan; Cen, Yishun; Chen, Zhipeng; Huang, Hai; Liu, Dequan; Rao, Bo; Zhang, Ming; Zou, Bichen

2014-07-01

A novel electron drift injection (EDI) system aiming to improve breakdown behavior has been designed and constructed on the Joint Texas EXperiment Tokamak Tokamak. Electrons emitted by the system undergo the E×B drift, ∇B drift and curvature drift in sequence in order to traverse the confining magnetic field. A local electrostatic well, generated by a concave-shaped plate biased more negative than the cathode, is introduced to interrupt the emitted electrons moving along the magnetic field line (in the parallel direction) in an attempt to bring an enhancement of the injection efficiency and depth. A series of experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of this method, and a penetration distance deeper than 9.5 cm is achieved. Notable breakdown improvements, including the reduction of breakdown delay and average loop voltage, are observed for discharges assisted by EDI. The lower limit of successfully ionized pressure is expanded.

Microwave-assisted in situ synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-BiVO4 composite photocatalysts and their enhanced photocatalytic performance for the degradation of ciprofloxacin.

PubMed

Yan, Yan; Sun, Shaofang; Song, Yang; Yan, Xu; Guan, Weisheng; Liu, Xinlin; Shi, Weidong

2013-04-15

To improve the photodegradation efficiency for ciprofloxacin (CIP), a new-type microwave-assisted in situ growth method is developed for the preparation of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) -BiVO4 composite photocatalysts. The as-produced RGO-BiVO4 composite photocatalysts show extremely high enhancement of CIP degradation ratio over the pure BiVO4 photocatalyst under visible light. Specially, the 2 wt% RGO-BiVO4 composite photocatalyst exhibits the highest CIP degradation ratio (68.2%) in 60 min, which is over 3 times than that (22.7%) of the pure BiVO4 particles. The enhancement of photocatalytic activities of RGO-BiVO4 photocatalysts can be attributed to the effective separation of electron-hole pairs rather than the improvement of light absorption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design of cladding rods-assisted depressed-core few-mode fibers with improved modal spacing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jiawei; Zhang, Jie

2018-03-01

This paper investigates the design details of cladding rods-assisted (CRA) depressed-core (DC) few-mode fibers (FMFs) that feature more equally spaced linearly polarized (LP) modal effective indices, suitable for high-spatial-density weakly-coupled mode-division multiplexing systems. The influences of the index profile of cladding rods on LP mode-resolved effective index, bending sensitivity, and effective area Aeff, are numerically described. Based on the design considerations of LP modal Aeff-dependent spatial efficiency and LP modal bending loss-dependent robustness, the small LP21-LP02 and LP22-LP03 modal spacing limitations, encountered in state-of-the-art weakly-coupled step-index FMFs, have been substantially improved by at least 25%. In addition, the proposed CRA DC FMFs also show sufficiently large effective areas (in excess of 110 μm2) for all guided LP modes, which are expected to exhibit good nonlinear performance.

Pressure-assisted thermal sterilization of soup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibeshi, Kidane; Farid, Mohammed M.

2010-12-01

The overall efficiency of an existing scale-up pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) unit was investigated with regards to inactivation of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores suspended in pumpkin soup. The PATS unit is a double pipe heat exchanger in which the soup is pumped into its inner high pressure tube and constrained by two high pressure valves, while steam is continuously passed through the annular region to heat the content. The technology is based on pressure generation by thermal expansion of the liquid in an enclosure. In this work, the addition of an air line to push the treated liquid food out of the existing PATS unit has improved the overall quality of the treated samples, as evidenced by achieving higher log reduction of the spores. Compared with thermal processing, the application of PATS shows the potential for lowering the thermal treatment temperature, offering improved food quality.

Promoting Charge Separation and Injection by Optimizing the Interfaces of GaN:ZnO Photoanode for Efficient Solar Water Oxidation.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiliang; Zong, Xu; Gao, Yuying; Han, Jingfeng; Xu, Zhiqiang; Li, Zheng; Ding, Chunmei; Wang, Shengyang; Li, Can

2017-09-13

Photoelectrochemical water splitting provides an attractive way to store solar energy in molecular hydrogen as a kind of sustainable fuel. To achieve high solar conversion efficiency, the most stringent criteria are effective charge separation and injection in electrodes. Herein, efficient photoelectrochemical water oxidation is realized by optimizing charge separation and surface charge transfer of GaN:ZnO photoanode. The charge separation can be greatly improved through modified moisture-assisted nitridation and HCl acid treatment, by which the interfaces in GaN:ZnO solid solution particles are optimized and recombination centers existing at the interfaces are depressed in GaN:ZnO photoanode. Moreover, a multimetal phosphide of NiCoFeP was employed as water oxidation cocatalyst to improve the charge injection at the photoanode/electrolyte interface. Consequently, it significantly decreases the overpotential and brings the photocurrent to a benchmark of 3.9 mA cm -2 at 1.23 V vs RHE and a solar conversion efficiency over 1% was obtained.

A novel approach of magnetorheological abrasive fluid finishing with swirling-assisted inlet flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheradmand, Saeid; Esmailian, Mojtaba; Fatahy, A.

Abrasive flow machining has been the pioneer of new finishing processes. Rotating workpiece and imposing a magnetic field using magnetorheological working medium are some assisting manipulations to improve surface finishing, because they can increase the forces on the workpiece surface. Similarly, swirling the inlet flow using stationary swirler vanes, as a novel idea, may also increase forces on the surface, and then raise the material removal, with a lower expense and energy consumption compared with the case of workpiece rotation. Thus, in this paper, surface roughness improvement is studied in a pipe with rotating inlet flow of a magnetorheological finishing medium under imposing a magnetic field. The results are compared with the case of rotating workpiece, using 3D numerical simulation. The governing hydrodynamic parameters are investigated in both cases to monitor the flow variations. It is shown that surface roughness is improved by rotating inlet flow. However, it is found that finishing in the entrance length of swirling-assisted inlet flow can be so economical for short length workpieces, compared with the case of rotating workpiece, with very near Ra values. By comparison of the numerical results and published experimental data, current study also shows the ability of the numerical simulation, as an inexpensive and efficient tool, to predict the surface roughness changes in finishing processes.

High-performance ternary blend polymer solar cells involving both energy transfer and hole relay processes.

PubMed

Lu, Luyao; Chen, Wei; Xu, Tao; Yu, Luping

2015-06-04

The integration of multiple materials with complementary absorptions into a single junction device is regarded as an efficient way to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, because of increased complexity with one more component, only limited high-performance ternary systems have been demonstrated previously. Here we report an efficient ternary blend OSC with a PCE of 9.2%. We show that the third component can reduce surface trap densities in the ternary blend. Detailed studies unravel that the improved performance results from synergistic effects of enlarged open circuit voltage, suppressed trap-assisted recombination, enhanced light absorption, increased hole extraction, efficient energy transfer and better morphology. The working mechanism and high device performance demonstrate new insights and design guidelines for high-performance ternary blend solar cells and suggest that ternary structure is a promising platform to boost the efficiency of OSCs.

Impact of electrical conductivity on acid hydrolysis of guar gum under induced electric field.

PubMed

Li, Dandan; Zhang, Yao; Yang, Na; Jin, Zhengyu; Xu, Xueming

2018-09-01

This study aimed to improve induced electric field (IEF)-assisted hydrolysis of polysaccharide by controlling electrical conductivity. As the conductivity of reaction medium was increased, the energy efficiency of IEF was increased because of deceased impedance, as well as enhanced output voltage and temperature, thus the hydrolysis of guar gum (GG) was accelerated under IEF. Changes in weight-average molecular weight (Mw) suggested that IEF-assisted hydrolysis of GG could be described by the first-order kinetics 1/Mw ∝ kt, with the rate constant (k), varying directly with the medium conductivity. Although IEF-assisted hydrolysis largely disrupted the morphological structure of GG, it had no impact on the chemical structure. In comparison to native GG, the steady shear viscosity of hydrolyzed GG dramatically declined while the thermal stability slightly decreased. This study extended the knowledge of electrical conductivity upon IEF-assisted acid hydrolysis of GG and might contribute to a better utilization of IEF for polysaccharide modification. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound: a subexploited tool for sample preparation in metabolomics.

PubMed

Luque de Castro, M D; Delgado-Povedano, M M

2014-01-02

Metabolomics, one of the most recently emerged "omics", has taken advantage of ultrasound (US) to improve sample preparation (SP) steps. The metabolomics-US assisted SP step binomial has experienced a dissimilar development that has depended on the area (vegetal or animal) and the SP step. Thus, vegetal metabolomics and US assisted leaching has received the greater attention (encompassing subdisciplines such as metallomics, xenometabolomics and, mainly, lipidomics), but also liquid-liquid extraction and (bio)chemical reactions in metabolomics have taken advantage of US energy. Also clinical and animal samples have benefited from US assisted SP in metabolomics studies but in a lesser extension. The main effects of US have been shortening of the time required for the given step, and/or increase of its efficiency or availability for automation; nevertheless, attention paid to potential degradation caused by US has been scant or nil. Achievements and weak points of the metabolomics-US assisted SP step binomial are discussed and possible solutions to the present shortcomings are exposed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

10 CFR 431.21 - Procedures for recognition and withdrawal of recognition of accreditation bodies and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Electric... Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal... comments in a written statement submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable...

Ultrasound assisted enhancement in natural dye extraction from beetroot for industrial applications and natural dyeing of leather.

PubMed

Sivakumar, Venkatasubramanian; Anna, J Lakshmi; Vijayeeswarri, J; Swaminathan, G

2009-08-01

There is a growing demand for eco-friendly/non-toxic colorants, specifically for health sensitive applications such as coloration of food and dyeing of child textile/leather garments. Recently, dyes derived from natural sources for these applications have emerged as an important alternative to potentially harmful synthetic dyes and pose need for suitable effective extraction methodologies. The present paper focus on the influence of process parameters for ultrasound assisted leaching of coloring matter from plant materials. In the present work, extraction of natural dye from beetroot using ultrasound has been studied and compared with static/magnetic stirring as a control process at 45 degrees C. The influence of process parameters on the extraction efficiency such as ultrasonic output power, time, pulse mode, effect of solvent system and amount of beetroot has been studied. The use of ultrasound is found to have significant improvement in the extraction efficiency of colorant obtained from beetroot. Based on the experiments it has been found that a mixture of 1:1 ethanol-water with 80W ultrasonic power for 3h contact time provided better yield and extraction efficiency. Pulse mode operation may be useful in reducing electrical energy consumption in the extraction process. The effect of the amount of beetroot used in relation to extraction efficiency has also been studied. Two-stage extraction has been studied and found to be beneficial for improving the yield for higher amounts of beetroot. Significant 8% enhancement in % yield of colorant has been achieved with ultrasound, 80W as compared to MS process both using 1:1 ethanol-water. The coloring ability of extracted beet dye has been tested on substrates such as leather and paper and found to be suitable for dyeing. Ultrasound is also found to be beneficial in natural dyeing of leather with improved rate of exhaustion. Both the dyed substrates have better color values for ultrasonic beet extract as inferred from reflectance measurement. Therefore, the present study clearly offers efficient extraction methodology from natural dye resources such as beetroot with ultrasound even dispensing with external heating. Thereby, also making eco-friendly non-toxic dyeing of fibrous substances a potential viable option.

Blending of brain-machine interface and vision-guided autonomous robotics improves neuroprosthetic arm performance during grasping.

PubMed

Downey, John E; Weiss, Jeffrey M; Muelling, Katharina; Venkatraman, Arun; Valois, Jean-Sebastien; Hebert, Martial; Bagnell, J Andrew; Schwartz, Andrew B; Collinger, Jennifer L

2016-03-18

Recent studies have shown that brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) offer great potential for restoring upper limb function. However, grasping objects is a complicated task and the signals extracted from the brain may not always be capable of driving these movements reliably. Vision-guided robotic assistance is one possible way to improve BMI performance. We describe a method of shared control where the user controls a prosthetic arm using a BMI and receives assistance with positioning the hand when it approaches an object. Two human subjects with tetraplegia used a robotic arm to complete object transport tasks with and without shared control. The shared control system was designed to provide a balance between BMI-derived intention and computer assistance. An autonomous robotic grasping system identified and tracked objects and defined stable grasp positions for these objects. The system identified when the user intended to interact with an object based on the BMI-controlled movements of the robotic arm. Using shared control, BMI controlled movements and autonomous grasping commands were blended to ensure secure grasps. Both subjects were more successful on object transfer tasks when using shared control compared to BMI control alone. Movements made using shared control were more accurate, more efficient, and less difficult. One participant attempted a task with multiple objects and successfully lifted one of two closely spaced objects in 92 % of trials, demonstrating the potential for users to accurately execute their intention while using shared control. Integration of BMI control with vision-guided robotic assistance led to improved performance on object transfer tasks. Providing assistance while maintaining generalizability will make BMI systems more attractive to potential users. NCT01364480 and NCT01894802 .

Energy Efficiency Measures to Incorporate into Remodeling Projects

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

Liaukus, C.

2014-12-01

Energy improvements in a home are often approached as one concerted effort, beginning with a simple walk-through assessment or more in-depth energy audit and followed by the installation of recommended energy measures. While this approach allows for systems thinking to guide the efforts, comprehensive energy improvements of this nature are undertaken by a relatively small number of the households in our nation compared to more piecemeal remodeling efforts. Even when programs like the Weatherization Assistance Program and Home Performance with ENERGY STAR are considered, homes that have had a comprehensive energy makeover still represent a small fraction of the 111.1more » million households. In this report, the U.S Department of Energy Building America Retrofit Alliance research team looks at the improvement of a home's energy performance in an opportunistic way: it examines what can be done to incorporate energy efficiency measures into general remodeling work and home repair projects. This allows for the possibility for people who would not normally pursue energy efficiency but will remodel their kitchen or re-side their home to improve their home's performance at the same time. There are challenges to this approach, not the least of which being that the work will take place over time in potentially many separate projects. The opportunity to improve a home's energy efficiency at one time expands or contracts with the scope of the remodel. As such, guidance on how to do each piece thoughtfully and with consideration for potential future projects, is critical.« less

Improving Operating Room Efficiency via Reduction and Standardization of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery Instrumentation.

PubMed

Friend, Tynan H; Paula, Ashley; Klemm, Jason; Rosa, Mark; Levine, Wilton

2018-05-28

Being the economic powerhouses of most large medical centers, operating rooms (ORs) require the highest levels of teamwork, communication, and efficiency in order to optimize patient safety and reduce hospital waste. A major component of OR waste comes from unused surgical instrumentation; instruments that are frequently prepared for procedures but are never touched by the surgical team still require a full reprocessing cycle at the conclusion of the case. Based on our own previous successes in the perioperative domain, in this work we detail an initiative that reduces surgical instrumentation waste of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) procedures by placing thoracotomy conversion instrumentation in a standby location and designing a specific instrument kit to be used solely for VATS cases. Our estimates suggest that this initiative will reduce at least 91,800 pounds of unnecessary surgical instrumentation from cycling through our ORs and reprocessing department annually, resulting in increased OR team communication without sacrificing the highest standard of patient safety.

High permeable microporous structured carbon counter electrode assisted by polystyrene sphere for fully printable perovskite solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, Haijun; Li, Yongtao; Zhang, Chuanxiang; Wang, Kang; Wang, Jiayue; Tan, Bin; Han, Linxuan; Tao, Jie

2018-03-01

The permeability of the carbon counter electrode (CCE) is critical to the HTM-free fully printable perovskite solar cells. In this work, we report a CCE assisted by polystyrene spheres (PS-spheres) as pore-forming agent to gain microporous structure for a better permeability. Due to its decomposition temperature at 400 °C, the porous structure is obtained in the carbon layer easily. By optimization towards the contents of PS-spheres in CCE, the filling rate of perovskite solution and the photovoltaic performance of the device have been significantly improved. Using this method, an average efficiency enhancement of 22% has been obtained for HTM-free fully printable perovskite solar cells, resulting in a better fill rate of CH3NH3PbI3 and an efficiency of 4.49%. This kind of CCE with the advantages of simple, easy preparation process and well performance, show excellent potential application in perovskite solar cells.

Efficient ASK-assisted system for expression and purification of plant F-box proteins.

PubMed

Li, Haiou; Yao, Ruifeng; Ma, Sui; Hu, Shuai; Li, Suhua; Wang, Yupei; Yan, Chun; Xie, Daoxin; Yan, Jianbin

2017-11-01

Ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation plays an essential role in plant growth and development as well as responses to environmental and endogenous signals. F-box protein is one of the key components of the SCF (SKP1-CUL1-F-box protein) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, which recruit specific substrate proteins for subsequent ubiquitination and 26S proteasome-mediated degradation to regulate developmental processes and signaling networks. However, it is not easy to obtain purified F-box proteins with high activity due to their unstable protein structures. Here, we found that Arabidopsis SKP-like proteins (ASKs) can significantly improve soluble expression of F-box proteins and maintain their bioactivity. We established an efficient ASK-assisted method to express and purify plant F-box proteins. The method meets a broad range of criteria required for the biochemical analysis or protein crystallization of plant F-box proteins. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Accurate Analysis and Evaluation of Acidic Plant Growth Regulators in Transgenic and Nontransgenic Edible Oils with Facile Microwave-Assisted Extraction-Derivatization.

PubMed

Liu, Mengge; Chen, Guang; Guo, Hailong; Fan, Baolei; Liu, Jianjun; Fu, Qiang; Li, Xiu; Lu, Xiaomin; Zhao, Xianen; Li, Guoliang; Sun, Zhiwei; Xia, Lian; Zhu, Shuyun; Yang, Daoshan; Cao, Ziping; Wang, Hua; Suo, Yourui; You, Jinmao

2015-09-16

Determination of plant growth regulators (PGRs) in a signal transduction system (STS) is significant for transgenic food safety, but may be challenged by poor accuracy and analyte instability. In this work, a microwave-assisted extraction-derivatization (MAED) method is developed for six acidic PGRs in oil samples, allowing an efficient (<1.5 h) and facile (one step) pretreatment. Accuracies are greatly improved, particularly for gibberellin A3 (-2.72 to -0.65%) as compared with those reported (-22 to -2%). Excellent selectivity and quite low detection limits (0.37-1.36 ng mL(-1)) are enabled by fluorescence detection-mass spectrum monitoring. Results show the significant differences in acidic PGRs between transgenic and nontransgenic oils, particularly 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (1-NAA), implying the PGRs induced variations of components and genes. This study provides, for the first time, an accurate and efficient determination for labile PGRs involved in STS and a promising concept for objectively evaluating the safety of transgenic foods.

Thermoelectric refrigerator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Brian V. (Inventor); Smith, Jr., Malcolm C. (Inventor); McGrath, Ralph D. (Inventor); Gilley, Michael D. (Inventor); Criscuolo, Lance (Inventor); Nelson, John L. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

A refrigerator is provided which combines the benefits of superinsulation materials with thermoelectric devices and phase change materials to provide an environmentally benign system that is energy efficient and can maintain relatively uniform temperatures for extended periods of time with relatively low electrical power requirements. The refrigerator includes a thermoelectric assembly having a thermoelectric device with a hot sink and a cold sink. The superinsulation materials include a plurality of vacuum panels. The refrigerator is formed from an enclosed structure having a door. The vacuum panels may be contained within the walls of the enclosed structure and the door. By mounting the thermoelectric assembly on the door, the manufacturer of the enclosed structure is simplified and the overall R rating of the refrigerator increased. Also an electrical motor and propellers may be mounted on the door to assist in the circulation of air to improve the efficiency of the cold sink and the hot sink. A propeller and/or impeller is preferably mounted within the refrigerator to assist in establishing the desired air circulation flow path.

Studies on Tasar Cocoon Cooking Using Permeation Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javali, Uday C.; Malali, Kiran B.; Ramya, H. G.; Naik, Subhas V.; Padaki, Naveen V.

2018-02-01

Cocoon cooking is an important process before reeling of tasar silk yarn. Cooking ensures loosening of the filaments in the tasar cocoons thereby easing the process of yarn withdrawal during reeling process. Tasar cocoons have very hard shell and hence these cocoons need chemical cooking process to loosen the silk filaments. Attempt has been made in this article to study the effect of using vacuum permeation chamber for tasar cocoon cooking in order to reduce the cooking time and improve the quality of tasar silk yarn. Vacuum assisted permeation cooking method has been studied in this article on tasar daba cocoons for cooking efficiency, deflossing and reelability. Its efficiency has been evaluated with respect to different cooking methods viz, traditional and open pan cooking methods. The tasar silk produced after reeling process has been tested for fineness, strength and cohesion properties. Results indicate that permeation method of tasar cooking ensures uniform cooking with higher efficiency along with better reeling performance and improved yarn properties.

Dual enhancement of electroluminescence efficiency and operational stability by rapid upconversion of triplet excitons in OLEDs

PubMed Central

Furukawa, Taro; Nakanotani, Hajime; Inoue, Munetomo; Adachi, Chihaya

2015-01-01

Recently, triplet harvesting via a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) process has been established as a realistic route for obtaining ultimate internal electroluminescence (EL) quantum efficiency in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the possibility that the rather long transient lifetime of the triplet excited states would reduce operational stability due to an increased chance for unwarranted chemical reactions has been a concern. Herein, we demonstrate dual enhancement of EL efficiency and operational stability in OLEDs by employing a TADF molecule as an assistant dopant and a fluorescent molecule as an end emitter. The proper combination of assistant dopant and emitter molecules realized a “one-way” rapid Förster energy transfer of singlet excitons from TADF molecules to fluorescent emitters, reducing the number of cycles of intersystem crossing (ISC) and reverse ISC in the TADF molecules and resulting in a significant enhancement of operational stability compared to OLEDs with a TADF molecule as the end emitter. In addition, we found that the presence of this rapid energy transfer significantly suppresses singlet-triplet annihilation. Using this finely-tuned rapid triplet-exciton upconversion scheme, OLED performance and lifetime was greatly improved. PMID:25673259

Effects of consistent food presentation on efficiency of eating and nutritive value of food consumed by children with severe neurological impairment.

PubMed

Pinnington, L; Hegarty, J

1999-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to determine what implications consistent presentation of food, delivered by an assistive feeding device at a position regarded as optimal, would have for the maintenance of food intake, duration of meals, and efficiency of eating. The trial employed an AB within-subjects design and extended over a 9-month period. Twenty children, aged 7 to 17 years, with severe neurological impairment and associated eating difficulties, were studied. The effects of the intervention were compared by examination of diaries recording the sizes and composition of meals consumed during designated periods and by precautionary measures of growth and weight. Although no statistically significant changes in weight were recorded overall, meals presented consistently were consumed less efficiently and sometimes more slowly than were standard ones, where food was presented by hand. However, no change occurred in the amount of energy and protein consumed, which suggested that the children's ability to thrive was neither improved nor further compromised by participation in the study. The findings have implications for the way in which children are assisted during mealtimes by their caregivers.

Ligand Assisted Stabilization of Fluorescence Nanoparticles; an Insight on the Fluorescence Characteristics, Dispersion Stability and DNA Loading Efficiency of Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Rhouati, Amina; Hayat, Akhtar; Mishra, Rupesh K; Bueno, Diana; Shahid, Shakir Ahmad; Muñoz, Roberto; Marty, Jean Louis

2016-07-01

This work reports on the ligand assisted stabilization of Fluospheres® carboxylate modified nanoparticles (FCMNPs), and subsequently investigation on the DNA loading capacity and fluorescence response of the modified particles. The designed fluorescence bioconjugate was characterized with enhanced fluorescence characteristics, good stability and large surface area with high DNA loading efficiency. For comparison purpose, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) with three different length strands were used as cross linkers to modify the particles, and their DNA loading capacity and fluorescence characteristics were investigated. By comparing the performance of the particles, we found that the most improved fluorescence characteristics, enhanced DNA loading and high dispersion stability were obtained, when employing PEG of long spacer arm length. The designed fluorescence bioconjugate was observed to maintain all its characteristics under varying pH over an extended period of time. These types of bioconjugates are in great demand for fluorescence imaging and in vivo fluorescence biomedical application, especially when most of the as synthesized fluorescence particles cannot withstand to varying in vivo physiological conditions with decreases in fluorescence response and DNA loading efficiency.

Design and analysis of linear oscillatory single-phase permanent magnet generator for free-piston stirling engine systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jeong-Man; Choi, Jang-Young; Lee, Kyu-Seok; Lee, Sung-Ho

2017-05-01

This study focuses on the design and analysis of a linear oscillatory single-phase permanent magnet generator for free-piston stirling engine (FPSE) systems. In order to implement the design of linear oscillatory generator (LOG) for suitable FPSEs, we conducted electromagnetic analysis of LOGs with varying design parameters. Then, detent force analysis was conducted using assisted PM. Using the assisted PM gave us the advantage of using mechanical strength by detent force. To improve the efficiency, we conducted characteristic analysis of eddy-current loss with respect to the PM segment. Finally, the experimental result was analyzed to confirm the prediction of the FEA.

Global Optimization of N-Maneuver, High-Thrust Trajectories Using Direct Multiple Shooting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vavrina, Matthew A.; Englander, Jacob A.; Ellison, Donald H.

2016-01-01

The performance of impulsive, gravity-assist trajectories often improves with the inclusion of one or more maneuvers between flybys. However, grid-based scans over the entire design space can become computationally intractable for even one deep-space maneuver, and few global search routines are capable of an arbitrary number of maneuvers. To address this difficulty a trajectory transcription allowing for any number of maneuvers is developed within a multi-objective, global optimization framework for constrained, multiple gravity-assist trajectories. The formulation exploits a robust shooting scheme and analytic derivatives for computational efficiency. The approach is applied to several complex, interplanetary problems, achieving notable performance without a user-supplied initial guess.

Anticipation, teamwork and cognitive load: chasing efficiency during robot-assisted surgery.

PubMed

Sexton, Kevin; Johnson, Amanda; Gotsch, Amanda; Hussein, Ahmed A; Cavuoto, Lora; Guru, Khurshid A

2018-02-01

Robot-assisted surgery (RAS) has changed the traditional operating room (OR), occupying more space with equipment and isolating console surgeons away from the patients and their team. We aimed to evaluate how anticipation of surgical steps and familiarity between team members impacted efficiency. We analysed recordings (video and audio) of 12 robot-assisted radical prostatectomies. Any requests between surgeon and the team members were documented and classified by personnel, equipment type, mode of communication, level of inconvenience in fulfilling the request and anticipation. Surgical team members completed questionnaires assessing team familiarity and cognitive load (National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Task Load Index). Predictors of team efficiency were assessed using Pearson correlation and stepwise linear regression. 1330 requests were documented, of which 413 (31%) were anticipated. Anticipation correlated negatively with operative time, resulting in overall 8% reduction of OR time. Team familiarity negatively correlated with inconveniences. Anticipation ratio, per cent of requests that were non-verbal and total request duration were significantly correlated with the console surgeons' cognitive load (r=0.77, p=0.006; r=0.63, p=0.04; and r=0.70, p=0.02, respectively). Anticipation and active engagement by the surgical team resulted in shorter operative time, and higher familiarity scores were associated with fewer inconveniences. Less anticipation and non-verbal requests were also associated with lower cognitive load for the console surgeon. Training efforts to increase anticipation and team familiarity can improve team efficiency during RAS. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Using the Nintendo Wii Fit and body weight support to improve aerobic capacity, balance, gait ability, and fear of falling: two case reports.

PubMed

Miller, Carol A; Hayes, Dawn M; Dye, Kelli; Johnson, Courtney; Meyers, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Lower limb amputation in older adults has a significant impact on balance, gait, and cardiovascular fitness, resulting in diminished community participation. The purpose of this case study was to describe the effects of a balance training program utilizing the Nintendo Wii™ Fit (Nintendo of America, Inc, Redmond, Washington) balance board and body-weight supported gait training on aerobic capacity, balance, gait, and fear of falling in two persons with transfemoral amputation. Participant A, a 62 year-old male 32 months post traumatic transfemoral amputation, reported fear of falling and restrictions in community activity. Participant B, a 58 year-old male 9 years post transfemoral amputation, reported limited energy and balance deficits during advanced gait activities. 6-weeks, 2 supervised sessions per week included 20 minutes of Nintendo™ Wii Fit Balance gaming and 20 minutes of gait training using Body Weight Support. Measures included oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), economy of movement, dynamic balance (Biodex platform system), Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale, and spatial-temporal parameters of gait (GAITRite). Both participants demonstrated improvement in dynamic balance, balance confidence, economy of movement, and spatial-temporal parameters of gait. Participant A reduced the need for an assistive device during community ambulation. Participant B improved his aerobic capacity, indicated by an increase in OUES. This case study illustrated that the use of Nintendo Wii™ Fit training and Body Weight Support were effective interventions to achieve functional goals for improving balance confidence, reducing use of assistive devices, and increasing energy efficiency when ambulating with a transfemoral prosthesis.

Need for multicriteria evaluation of generic drug policies.

PubMed

Kaló, Zoltán; Holtorf, Anke-Peggy; Alfonso-Cristancho, Rafael; Shen, Jie; Ágh, Tamás; Inotai, András; Brixner, Diana

2015-03-01

Policymakers tend to focus on improving patented drug policies because they are under pressure from patients, physicians, and manufacturers to increase access to novel therapies. The success of pharmaceutical innovation over the last few decades has led to the availability of many off-patent drugs to treat disease areas with the greatest public health need. Therefore, the success of public health programs in improving the health status of the total population is highly dependent on the efficiency of generic drug policies. The objective of this article was to explore factors influencing the true efficiency of generic prescription drug policies in supporting public health initiatives in the developed world. Health care decision makers often assess the efficiency of generic drug policies by the level of price erosion and market share of generics. Drug quality, bioequivalence, in some cases drug formulations, supply reliability, medical adherence and persistence, health outcomes, and nondrug costs, however, are also attributes of success for generic drug policies. Further methodological research is needed to measure and improve the efficiency of generic drug policies. This also requires extension of the evidence base of the impact of generic drugs, partly based on real-world evidence. Multicriteria decision analysis may assist policymakers and researchers to evaluate the true value of generic drugs. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Improving actuation efficiency through variable recruitment hydraulic McKibben muscles: modeling, orderly recruitment control, and experiments.

PubMed

Meller, Michael; Chipka, Jordan; Volkov, Alexander; Bryant, Matthew; Garcia, Ephrahim

2016-11-03

Hydraulic control systems have become increasingly popular as the means of actuation for human-scale legged robots and assistive devices. One of the biggest limitations to these systems is their run time untethered from a power source. One way to increase endurance is by improving actuation efficiency. We investigate reducing servovalve throttling losses by using a selective recruitment artificial muscle bundle comprised of three motor units. Each motor unit is made up of a pair of hydraulic McKibben muscles connected to one servovalve. The pressure and recruitment state of the artificial muscle bundle can be adjusted to match the load in an efficient manner, much like the firing rate and total number of recruited motor units is adjusted in skeletal muscle. A volume-based effective initial braid angle is used in the model of each recruitment level. This semi-empirical model is utilized to predict the efficiency gains of the proposed variable recruitment actuation scheme versus a throttling-only approach. A real-time orderly recruitment controller with pressure-based thresholds is developed. This controller is used to experimentally validate the model-predicted efficiency gains of recruitment on a robot arm. The results show that utilizing variable recruitment allows for much higher efficiencies over a broader operating envelope.

KARL: A Knowledge-Assisted Retrieval Language. M.S. Thesis Final Report, 1 Jul. 1985 - 31 Dec. 1987

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Triantafyllopoulos, Spiros

1985-01-01

Data classification and storage are tasks typically performed by application specialists. In contrast, information users are primarily non-computer specialists who use information in their decision-making and other activities. Interaction efficiency between such users and the computer is often reduced by machine requirements and resulting user reluctance to use the system. This thesis examines the problems associated with information retrieval for non-computer specialist users, and proposes a method for communicating in restricted English that uses knowledge of the entities involved, relationships between entities, and basic English language syntax and semantics to translate the user requests into formal queries. The proposed method includes an intelligent dictionary, syntax and semantic verifiers, and a formal query generator. In addition, the proposed system has a learning capability that can improve portability and performance. With the increasing demand for efficient human-machine communication, the significance of this thesis becomes apparent. As human resources become more valuable, software systems that will assist in improving the human-machine interface will be needed and research addressing new solutions will be of utmost importance. This thesis presents an initial design and implementation as a foundation for further research and development into the emerging field of natural language database query systems.

78 FR 41387 - Petition for Waiver and Notice of Granting the Application for Interim Waiver of ASKO Appliances...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-10

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [Case No. CD-008] Petition... DOE Residential Clothes Dryer Test Procedure AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy... Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (the Assistant Secretary) if it is determined...

77 FR 49443 - Decision and Order Granting a Waiver to Sanyo From the Department of Energy Residential...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-16

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [Case No. RF-022] Decision... Refrigerator-Freezer Test Procedures AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of... characteristics. The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (the Assistant Secretary) may...

Investigating the effectiveness of technologies applied to assist seniors: A systematic literature review.

PubMed

Khosravi, Pouria; Ghapanchi, Amir Hossein

2016-01-01

Recently, a number of Information and Communication Technologies have emerged with the aim to provide innovative and efficient ways to help seniors in their daily life and to reduce the cost of healthcare. Studies have been conducted to introduce an assistive technology to support seniors and to investigate the acceptance of these assistive technologies; however, research illustrating the effectiveness of assistive technologies is scant. This study undertakes a systematic literature review of ScienceDirect, PubMed, ProQuest and IEEE Explore databases to investigate current empirical studies on the assistive technologies applied in aged care. Our systematic review of an initial set of 2035 studies published from 2000 to 2014 examines the role of assistive technologies in seniors' daily lives, from enhancements in their mobility to improvements in the social connectedness and decreases in readmission to hospitals. This study found eight key issues in aged care that have been targeted by researchers from different disciplines (e.g., ICT, health and social science), namely, dependent living, fall risk, chronic disease, dementia, social isolation, depression, poor well-being, and poor medication management. This paper also identified the assistive technologies that have been proposed to overcome those problems, and we categorised these assistive technologies into six clusters, namely, general ICT, robotics, telemedicine, sensor technology, medication management applications, and video games. In addition, we analyzed the effectiveness of the identified technologies and noted that some technologies can change and enhance seniors' daily lives and relieve their problems. Our analysis showed a significant growth in the number of publications in this area in the past few years. It also showed that most of the studies in this area have been conducted in North America. Assistive technologies are a reality and can be applied to improve quality of life, especially among older age groups. This study identified various assistive technologies proposed by ICT researchers to assist the elderly. We also identified the effectiveness of the proposed technologies. This review shows that, although assistive technologies have been positively evaluated, more studies are needed regarding the outcome and effectiveness of these technologies. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Reliability Analysis for AFTI-F16 SRFCS Using ASSIST and SURE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, N. Eva

2001-01-01

This paper reports the results of a study on reliability analysis of an AFTI-16 Self-Repairing Flight Control System (SRFCS) using software tools SURE (Semi-Markov Unreliability Range Evaluator and ASSIST (Abstract Semi-Markov Specification Interface to the SURE Tool). The purpose of the study is to investigate the potential utility of the software tools in the ongoing effort of the NASA Aviation Safety Program, where the class of systems must be extended beyond the originally intended serving class of electronic digital processors. The study concludes that SURE and ASSIST are applicable to reliability, analysis of flight control systems. They are especially efficient for sensitivity analysis that quantifies the dependence of system reliability on model parameters. The study also confirms an earlier finding on the dominant role of a parameter called a failure coverage. The paper will remark on issues related to the improvement of coverage and the optimization of redundancy level.

Clinician attitudes, social norms and intentions to use a computer-assisted intervention.

PubMed

Buti, Allison L; Eakins, Danielle; Fussell, Holly; Kunkel, Lynn E; Kudura, Aisha; McCarty, Dennis

2013-04-01

The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) works to bridge the gap between research and practice and tested a Web-delivered psychosocial intervention (the Therapeutic Education System, TES) in 10 community treatment centers. Computer-assisted therapies, such as Web-delivered interventions, may improve the consistency and efficiency of treatment for alcohol and drug use disorders. Prior to the start of the study, we surveyed counselors (N=96) in participating treatment centers and assessed counselor attitudes, perceived social norms and intentions to use a Web-delivered intervention. Analysis of the intention to adopt a Web-delivered intervention assessed the influence of attitudes and perceived social norms. Perceived social norms were a significant contributor to clinician intention to adopt Web-based interventions while attitude was not. To promote successful implementation, it may be helpful to create social norms supportive of computer-assisted therapies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive automatic assessment of retinal vascular abnormalities for computer-assisted retinopathy grading.

PubMed

Joshi, Vinayak; Agurto, Carla; VanNess, Richard; Nemeth, Sheila; Soliz, Peter; Barriga, Simon

2014-01-01

One of the most important signs of systemic disease that presents on the retina is vascular abnormalities such as in hypertensive retinopathy. Manual analysis of fundus images by human readers is qualitative and lacks in accuracy, consistency and repeatability. Present semi-automatic methods for vascular evaluation are reported to increase accuracy and reduce reader variability, but require extensive reader interaction; thus limiting the software-aided efficiency. Automation thus holds a twofold promise. First, decrease variability while increasing accuracy, and second, increasing the efficiency. In this paper we propose fully automated software as a second reader system for comprehensive assessment of retinal vasculature; which aids the readers in the quantitative characterization of vessel abnormalities in fundus images. This system provides the reader with objective measures of vascular morphology such as tortuosity, branching angles, as well as highlights of areas with abnormalities such as artery-venous nicking, copper and silver wiring, and retinal emboli; in order for the reader to make a final screening decision. To test the efficacy of our system, we evaluated the change in performance of a newly certified retinal reader when grading a set of 40 color fundus images with and without the assistance of the software. The results demonstrated an improvement in reader's performance with the software assistance, in terms of accuracy of detection of vessel abnormalities, determination of retinopathy, and reading time. This system enables the reader in making computer-assisted vasculature assessment with high accuracy and consistency, at a reduced reading time.

Effect of impeller design and spacing on gas exchange in a percutaneous respiratory assist catheter.

PubMed

Jeffries, R Garrett; Frankowski, Brian J; Burgreen, Greg W; Federspiel, William J

2014-12-01

Providing partial respiratory assistance by removing carbon dioxide (CO2 ) can improve clinical outcomes in patients suffering from acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute respiratory distress syndrome. An intravenous respiratory assist device with a small (25 Fr) insertion diameter eliminates the complexity and potential complications associated with external blood circuitry and can be inserted by nonspecialized surgeons. The impeller percutaneous respiratory assist catheter (IPRAC) is a highly efficient CO2 removal device for percutaneous insertion to the vena cava via the right jugular or right femoral vein that utilizes an array of impellers rotating within a hollow-fiber membrane bundle to enhance gas exchange. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of new impeller designs and impeller spacing on gas exchange in the IPRAC using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and in vitro deionized water gas exchange testing. A CFD gas exchange and flow model was developed to guide a progressive impeller design process. Six impeller blade geometries were designed and tested in vitro in an IPRAC device with 2- or 10-mm axial spacing and varying numbers of blades (2-5). The maximum CO2 removal efficiency (exchange per unit surface area) achieved was 573 ± 8 mL/min/m(2) (40.1 mL/min absolute). The gas exchange rate was found to be largely independent of blade design and number of blades for the impellers tested but increased significantly (5-10%) with reduced axial spacing allowing for additional shaft impellers (23 vs. 14). CFD gas exchange predictions were within 2-13% of experimental values and accurately predicted the relative improvement with impellers at 2- versus 10-mm axial spacing. The ability of CFD simulation to accurately forecast the effects of influential design parameters suggests it can be used to identify impeller traits that profoundly affect facilitated gas exchange. Copyright © 2014 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The science of trail surveys: Recreation ecology provides new tools for managing wilderness trails

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marion, Jeffrey L.; Wimpey, Jeremy F.; Park, Logan O.

2011-01-01

Recreation ecology examines the effects of recreation on protected area ecosystems. One core focus of recreation ecology research is trail science, including the development of efficient protocols to assess and monitor the type and severity of resource impacts, analyses to improve knowledge of factors that influence trail conditions, and studies to assist land managers in improving trail design, maintenance, and visitor management. This article reviews alternative trail survey methodologies most useful for the management of wilderness and backcountry trail networks. Illustrations and implications from survey data for trail planning, design, and management are included.

Beacon communities aim to use health information technology to transform the delivery of care.

PubMed

Maxson, Emily R; Jain, Sachin H; McKethan, Aaron N; Brammer, Craig; Buntin, Melinda Beeuwkes; Cronin, Kelly; Mostashari, Farzad; Blumenthal, David

2010-09-01

The Beacon Community Program, authorized under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), aims to demonstrate the potential for health information technology to enable local improvements in health care quality, cost efficiency, and population health. If successful, these communitywide efforts will yield important lessons that will assist other communities seeking to harness technology to achieve and sustain health care improvements. This paper highlights key programmatic details that reflect the meaningful use of technology in the fifteen Beacon communities. It describes the innovations they propose and provides insight into current and future challenges.

The improved photovoltaic performance of phenothiazine-dithienopyrrole based dyes with auxiliary acceptors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Ming-Liang; Zhu, Yi-Zhou; Liu, Shuang; Liu, Qing-Long; Ye, Dan; Wang, Bing; Zheng, Jian-Yu

2018-05-01

Incorporating alkyl chain decorated dithienopyrrole π-spacer with phenothiazine donor has proven to be efficient strategy for constructing novel dyes, which can achieve both large short-circuit current (Jsc) and high open-circuit voltage (Voc) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To promote the light harvesting capability, auxiliary acceptors including benzotriazole (BTZ), benzothiadiazole (BTD), and quinoxaline (Qu) have been inserted into the skeleton of dyes, and much improved Jsc have been realized. Meantime, the rational design of alkyl chains endows dyes JY53 and JY55 a good shielding effect from the penetration of electrolyte, guaranteeing a high Voc (over 810 mV) through retarding unwanted interfacial charge recombination. As a result, with the assistance of introduced auxiliary acceptors and alkyl chains, the photovoltaic performance of devices have been significantly improved, and dye JY55 has achieved an excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.06% with Jsc of 19.18 mA cm-2, Voc of 829 mV, and FF of 0.63 under AM 1.5 G irradiation.

Mining Productive-Associated Periodic-Frequent Patterns in Body Sensor Data for Smart Home Care

PubMed Central

Ismail, Walaa N.; Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi

2017-01-01

The understanding of various health-oriented vital sign data generated from body sensor networks (BSNs) and discovery of the associations between the generated parameters is an important task that may assist and promote important decision making in healthcare. For example, in a smart home scenario where occupants’ health status is continuously monitored remotely, it is essential to provide the required assistance when an unusual or critical situation is detected in their vital sign data. In this paper, we present an efficient approach for mining the periodic patterns obtained from BSN data. In addition, we employ a correlation test on the generated patterns and introduce productive-associated periodic-frequent patterns as the set of correlated periodic-frequent items. The combination of these measures has the advantage of empowering healthcare providers and patients to raise the quality of diagnosis as well as improve treatment and smart care, especially for elderly people in smart homes. We develop an efficient algorithm named PPFP-growth (Productive Periodic-Frequent Pattern-growth) to discover all productive-associated periodic frequent patterns using these measures. PPFP-growth is efficient and the productiveness measure removes uncorrelated periodic items. An experimental evaluation on synthetic and real datasets shows the efficiency of the proposed PPFP-growth algorithm, which can filter a huge number of periodic patterns to reveal only the correlated ones. PMID:28445441

Mining Productive-Associated Periodic-Frequent Patterns in Body Sensor Data for Smart Home Care.

PubMed

Ismail, Walaa N; Hassan, Mohammad Mehedi

2017-04-26

The understanding of various health-oriented vital sign data generated from body sensor networks (BSNs) and discovery of the associations between the generated parameters is an important task that may assist and promote important decision making in healthcare. For example, in a smart home scenario where occupants' health status is continuously monitored remotely, it is essential to provide the required assistance when an unusual or critical situation is detected in their vital sign data. In this paper, we present an efficient approach for mining the periodic patterns obtained from BSN data. In addition, we employ a correlation test on the generated patterns and introduce productive-associated periodic-frequent patterns as the set of correlated periodic-frequent items. The combination of these measures has the advantage of empowering healthcare providers and patients to raise the quality of diagnosis as well as improve treatment and smart care, especially for elderly people in smart homes. We develop an efficient algorithm named PPFP-growth (Productive Periodic-Frequent Pattern-growth) to discover all productive-associated periodic frequent patterns using these measures. PPFP-growth is efficient and the productiveness measure removes uncorrelated periodic items. An experimental evaluation on synthetic and real datasets shows the efficiency of the proposed PPFP-growth algorithm, which can filter a huge number of periodic patterns to reveal only the correlated ones.

Efficient Cleavage of Lignin–Carbohydrate Complexes and Ultrafast Extraction of Lignin Oligomers from Wood Biomass by Microwave‐Assisted Treatment with Deep Eutectic Solvent

PubMed Central

Liu, Yongzhuang; Chen, Wenshuai; Xia, Qinqin; Guo, Bingtuo; Wang, Qingwen; Liu, Shouxin; Liu, Yixing; Li, Jian

2017-01-01

Abstract Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant and renewable resource for the production of biobased value‐added fuels, chemicals, and materials, but its effective exploitation by an energy‐efficient and environmentally friendly strategy remains a challenge. Herein, a facile approach for efficiently cleaving lignin–carbohydrate complexes and ultrafast fractionation of components from wood by microwave‐assisted treatment with deep eutectic solvent is reported. The solvent was composed of sustainable choline chloride and oxalic acid dihydrate, and showed a hydrogen‐bond acidity of 1.31. Efficient fractionation of lignocellulose with the solvent was realized by heating at 80 °C under 800 W microwave irradiation for 3 min. The extracted lignin showed a low molecular weight of 913, a low polydispersity of 1.25, and consisted of lignin oligomers with high purity (ca. 96 %), and thus shows potential in downstream production of aromatic chemicals. The other dissolved matter mainly comprised glucose, xylose, and hydroxymethylfurfural. The undissolved material was cellulose with crystal I structure and a crystallinity of approximately 75 %, which can be used for fabricating nanocellulose. Therefore, this work promotes an ultrafast lignin‐first biorefinery approach while simultaneously keeping the undissolved cellulose available for further utilization. This work is expected to contribute to improving the economics of overall biorefining of lignocellulosic biomass. PMID:28054749

[Quality concept in health care. Methodology for its measurement].

PubMed

Morera Guitart, J

2003-12-01

It is increasingly necessary that the neurologists achieve basic knowledgement in clinical management and medical care quality. We will review the concepts of medical care quality (MCQ). Of the definitions checked, we want to emphasize the following aspects. a) application of current scientific knowledge; b) interpersonal relationship; c) environment where the assistance is dispensed; d) results in health; e) cost of assistance; f) risks for the patient and g) patient satisfaction. For the analysis of the MCQ we could distinguish several components: scientific-technical component, efficacy, effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility, continuity, equity, appropriateness, and satisfaction of the patient and of the professional. One of the main objectives to measure the MCQ is to improve the assistance itself. For its measurement we can employ diverse methods depending on our objective: to improve the process, to do Benchmarking, to know the satisfaction of the patients or to guarantee the quality of the medical attention. The most used tools for this measurement are: establishment of criteria-indicator-standard for quality, elaboration of satisfaction questionnaires, interviews to key informant, analysis of complaints and claims of patients and professionals, and clinical audits. The role of the neurologist in the achievement of a high quality neurological attention if fundamental. Therefore, it is necessary some specific formation on: scientific and technical matter, communicative abilities, teamworking, management and organisation of tasks and pharmaco-economic evaluation, and a cultural change that involves every professional on the co-responsibility of the continuous improvement of the processes and of the results of his work, advancing gradually towards the excellence of medical assistance.

Ovulation Statuses of Surrogate Gilts Are Associated with the Efficiency of Excellent Pig Cloning.

PubMed

Huan, Yanjun; Hu, Kui; Xie, Bingteng; Shi, Yongqian; Wang, Feng; Zhou, Yang; Liu, Shichao; Huang, Bo; Zhu, Jiang; Liu, Zhongfeng; He, Yilong; Li, Jingyu; Kong, Qingran; Liu, Zhonghua

2015-01-01

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an assisted reproductive technique that can produce multiple copies of excellent livestock. However, low cloning efficiency limits the application of SCNT. In this study, we systematically investigated the major influencing factors related to the overall cloning efficiency in pigs. Here, 13620 cloned embryos derived from excellent pigs were transferred into 79 surrogate gilts, and 119 live cloned piglets were eventually generated. During cloning, group of cloned embryos derived from excellent Landrace or Large white pigs presented no significant differences of cleavage and blastocyst rates, blastocyst cell numbers, surrogate pregnancy and delivery rates, average numbers of piglets born and alive and cloning efficiencies, and group of 101-150, 151-200 or 201-250 cloned embryos transferred per surrogate also displayed a similar developmental efficiency. When estrus stage of surrogate gilts was compared, group of embryo transfer on Day 2 of estrus showed significantly higher pregnancy rate, delivery rate, average number of piglets born, average alive piglet number or cloning efficiency than group on Day 1, Day 3, Day 4 or Day 5, respectively (P<0.05). And, in comparison with the preovulation and postovulation groups, group of surrogate gilts during periovulation displayed a significantly higher overall cloning efficiency (P<0.05). Further investigation of surrogate estrus stage and ovulation status displayed that ovulation status was the real factor underlying estrus stage to determine the overall cloning efficiency. And more, follicle puncture for preovulation, not transfer position shallowed for preovulation or deepened for postovulation, significantly improved the average number of piglets alive and cloning efficiency (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that ovulation status of surrogate gilts was the fundamental factor determining the overall cloning efficiency of excellent pigs, and follicle puncture, not transfer position change, improved cloning efficiency. This work would have important implications in preserving and breeding excellent livestock and improving the overall cloning efficiency.

Ovulation Statuses of Surrogate Gilts Are Associated with the Efficiency of Excellent Pig Cloning

PubMed Central

Huan, Yanjun; Hu, Kui; Xie, Bingteng; Shi, Yongqian; Wang, Feng; Zhou, Yang; Liu, Shichao; Huang, Bo; Zhu, Jiang; Liu, Zhongfeng; He, Yilong; Li, Jingyu; Kong, Qingran; Liu, Zhonghua

2015-01-01

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an assisted reproductive technique that can produce multiple copies of excellent livestock. However, low cloning efficiency limits the application of SCNT. In this study, we systematically investigated the major influencing factors related to the overall cloning efficiency in pigs. Here, 13620 cloned embryos derived from excellent pigs were transferred into 79 surrogate gilts, and 119 live cloned piglets were eventually generated. During cloning, group of cloned embryos derived from excellent Landrace or Large white pigs presented no significant differences of cleavage and blastocyst rates, blastocyst cell numbers, surrogate pregnancy and delivery rates, average numbers of piglets born and alive and cloning efficiencies, and group of 101–150, 151–200 or 201–250 cloned embryos transferred per surrogate also displayed a similar developmental efficiency. When estrus stage of surrogate gilts was compared, group of embryo transfer on Day 2 of estrus showed significantly higher pregnancy rate, delivery rate, average number of piglets born, average alive piglet number or cloning efficiency than group on Day 1, Day 3, Day 4 or Day 5, respectively (P<0.05). And, in comparison with the preovulation and postovulation groups, group of surrogate gilts during periovulation displayed a significantly higher overall cloning efficiency (P<0.05). Further investigation of surrogate estrus stage and ovulation status displayed that ovulation status was the real factor underlying estrus stage to determine the overall cloning efficiency. And more, follicle puncture for preovulation, not transfer position shallowed for preovulation or deepened for postovulation, significantly improved the average number of piglets alive and cloning efficiency (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that ovulation status of surrogate gilts was the fundamental factor determining the overall cloning efficiency of excellent pigs, and follicle puncture, not transfer position change, improved cloning efficiency. This work would have important implications in preserving and breeding excellent livestock and improving the overall cloning efficiency. PMID:26565717

Highly Efficient LiYF4:Yb(3+), Er(3+) Upconversion Single Crystal under Solar Cell Spectrum Excitation and Photovoltaic Application.

PubMed

Chen, Xu; Xu, Wen; Song, Hongwei; Chen, Cong; Xia, Haiping; Zhu, Yongsheng; Zhou, Donglei; Cui, Shaobo; Dai, Qilin; Zhang, Jiazhong

2016-04-13

Luminescent upconversion is a promising way to harvest near-infrared (NIR) sunlight and transforms it into visible light that can be directly absorbed by active materials of solar cells and improve their power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, it is still a great challenge to effectively improve the PCE of solar cells with the assistance of upconversion. In this work, we demonstrate the application of the transparent LiYF4:Yb(3+), Er(3+) single crystal as an independent luminescent upconverter to improve the PCE of perovskite solar cells. The LiYF4:Yb(3+), Er(3+) single crystal is prepared by an improved Bridgman method, and its internal quantum efficiency approached to 5.72% under 6.2 W cm(-2) 980 nm excitation. The power-dependent upconversion luminescence indicated that under the excitation of simulated sunlight the (4)F(9/2)-(4)I(15/2) red emission originally results from the cooperation of a 1540 nm photon and a 980 nm photon. Furthermore, when the single crystal is placed in front of the perovskite solar cells, the PCE is enhanced by 7.9% under the irradiation of simulated sunlight by 7-8 solar constants. This work implies the upconverter not only can serve as proof of principle for improving PCE of solar cells but also is helpful to practical application.

Seasonal variation in assisted conception cycles and the influence of photoperiodism on outcome in in vitro fertilization cycles.

PubMed

Wood, Simon; Quinn, Alison; Troupe, Stephen; Kingsland, Charles; Lewis-Jones, Iwan

2006-12-01

The effect of seasonality and daylight length on mammalian reproduction leading to spring births has been well established, and is known as photoperiodism. In assisted reproduction there is much greater uncertainty as to the effect of seasonality. This was a 4-year retrospective analysis of 2709 standardised cycles of IVF/ICSI. Data was analysed with regard to the 1642 cycles occurring during the months of extended daylight (Apr-Sept) and those 1067 cycles during winter months of restricted light length (Oct-Mar). The results showed that there was significant improvement in assisted conception outcomes in cycles performed in summer (lighter) months with more efficient ovarian stimulation 766iu v880iu/per oocyte retrieved (p=0.006). There was similarly a significantly improved implantation rate per embryo transferred 11.42% vs 9.35% (p=0.011) and greater clinical pregnancy rate 20% vs 15% (p=0.0033) during summer cycles. This study appears to demonstrate a significant benefit of increased daylight length on outcomes of IVF/ICSI cycles. Whilst the exact mechanism of this is unclear, it would seem probable that melatonin may have actions at multiple sites and on multiple levels of the reproductive tract, and may exert a more profound effect on outcomes of assisted conception cycles than has been previously considered.

A Glider-Assisted Link Disruption Restoration Mechanism in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Jin, Zhigang; Wang, Ning; Su, Yishan; Yang, Qiuling

2018-02-07

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have become a hot research topic. In UASNs, nodes can be affected by ocean currents and external forces, which could result in sudden link disruption. Therefore, designing a flexible and efficient link disruption restoration mechanism to ensure the network connectivity is a challenge. In the paper, we propose a glider-assisted restoration mechanism which includes link disruption recognition and related link restoring mechanism. In the link disruption recognition mechanism, the cluster heads collect the link disruption information and then schedule gliders acting as relay nodes to restore the disrupted link. Considering the glider's sawtooth motion, we design a relay location optimization algorithm with a consideration of both the glider's trajectory and acoustic channel attenuation model. The utility function is established by minimizing the channel attenuation and the optimal location of glider is solved by a multiplier method. The glider-assisted restoration mechanism can greatly improve the packet delivery rate and reduce the communication energy consumption and it is more general for the restoration of different link disruption scenarios. The simulation results show that glider-assisted restoration mechanism can improve the delivery rate of data packets by 15-33% compared with cooperative opportunistic routing (OVAR), the hop-by-hop vector-based forwarding (HH-VBF) and the vector based forward (VBF) methods, and reduce communication energy consumption by 20-58% for a typical network's setting.

A Glider-Assisted Link Disruption Restoration Mechanism in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Wang, Ning; Su, Yishan; Yang, Qiuling

2018-01-01

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have become a hot research topic. In UASNs, nodes can be affected by ocean currents and external forces, which could result in sudden link disruption. Therefore, designing a flexible and efficient link disruption restoration mechanism to ensure the network connectivity is a challenge. In the paper, we propose a glider-assisted restoration mechanism which includes link disruption recognition and related link restoring mechanism. In the link disruption recognition mechanism, the cluster heads collect the link disruption information and then schedule gliders acting as relay nodes to restore the disrupted link. Considering the glider’s sawtooth motion, we design a relay location optimization algorithm with a consideration of both the glider’s trajectory and acoustic channel attenuation model. The utility function is established by minimizing the channel attenuation and the optimal location of glider is solved by a multiplier method. The glider-assisted restoration mechanism can greatly improve the packet delivery rate and reduce the communication energy consumption and it is more general for the restoration of different link disruption scenarios. The simulation results show that glider-assisted restoration mechanism can improve the delivery rate of data packets by 15–33% compared with cooperative opportunistic routing (OVAR), the hop-by-hop vector-based forwarding (HH-VBF) and the vector based forward (VBF) methods, and reduce communication energy consumption by 20–58% for a typical network’s setting. PMID:29414898

Maximizing Efficiency and Reducing Robotic Surgery Costs Using the NASA Task Load Index.

PubMed

Walters, Carrie; Webb, Paula J

2017-10-01

Perioperative leaders at our facility were struggling to meet efficiency targets for robotic surgery procedures while also maintaining the satisfaction of the surgical team. We developed a human resources time and motion study tool and used it in conjunction with the NASA Task Load Index to observe and analyze the required workload of personnel assigned to 25 robotic surgery procedures. The time and motion study identified opportunities to enlist the help of nonlicensed support personnel to ensure safe patient care and improve OR efficiency. Using the NASA Task Load Index demonstrated that high temporal, effort, and physical demands existed for personnel assisting with and performing robotic surgery. We believe that this process could be used to develop cost-effective staffing models, resulting in safe and efficient care for all surgical patients. Copyright © 2017 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the tip of the tongue: learning typing and pointing with an intra-oral computer interface.

PubMed

Caltenco, Héctor A; Breidegard, Björn; Struijk, Lotte N S Andreasen

2014-07-01

To evaluate typing and pointing performance and improvement over time of four able-bodied participants using an intra-oral tongue-computer interface for computer control. A physically disabled individual may lack the ability to efficiently control standard computer input devices. There have been several efforts to produce and evaluate interfaces that provide individuals with physical disabilities the possibility to control personal computers. Training with the intra-oral tongue-computer interface was performed by playing games over 18 sessions. Skill improvement was measured through typing and pointing exercises at the end of each training session. Typing throughput improved from averages of 2.36 to 5.43 correct words per minute. Pointing throughput improved from averages of 0.47 to 0.85 bits/s. Target tracking performance, measured as relative time on target, improved from averages of 36% to 47%. Path following throughput improved from averages of 0.31 to 0.83 bits/s and decreased to 0.53 bits/s with more difficult tasks. Learning curves support the notion that the tongue can rapidly learn novel motor tasks. Typing and pointing performance of the tongue-computer interface is comparable to performances of other proficient assistive devices, which makes the tongue a feasible input organ for computer control. Intra-oral computer interfaces could provide individuals with severe upper-limb mobility impairments the opportunity to control computers and automatic equipment. Typing and pointing performance of the tongue-computer interface is comparable to performances of other proficient assistive devices, but does not cause fatigue easily and might be invisible to other people, which is highly prioritized by assistive device users. Combination of visual and auditory feedback is vital for a good performance of an intra-oral computer interface and helps to reduce involuntary or erroneous activations.

User involvement in service delivery predicts outcomes of assistive technology use: a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Borg, Johan; Larsson, Stig; Ostergren, Per-Olof; Rahman, A S M Atiqur; Bari, Nazmul; Khan, A H M Noman

2012-09-20

Knowledge about the relation between user involvement in the provision of assistive technology and outcomes of assistive technology use is a prerequisite for the development of efficient service delivery strategies. However, current knowledge is limited, particularly from low-income countries where affordability is an issue. The objective was therefore to explore the relation between outcomes of assistive technology use and user involvement in the service delivery process in Bangladesh. Using structured interviews, data from 136 users of hearing aids and 149 users of manual wheelchairs were collected. Outcomes were measured using the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA), which was adapted for wheelchair users. Predictors of user involvement included preference, measurement and training. Users reported outcomes comparable to those found in other high- and low-income countries. User involvement increased the likelihood for reporting better outcomes except for measurement among hearing aid users. The findings support the provision of assistive technology as a strategy to improve the participation of people with disabilities in society. They also support current policies and guidelines for user-involvement in the service delivery process. Simplified strategies for provision of hearing aids may be explored.

Robot-assisted lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer in china: initial experience and techniques.

PubMed

Zhao, Xiaojing; Qian, Liqiang; Lin, Hao; Tan, Qiang; Luo, Qingquan

2010-03-01

To summarize our initial experience in robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy. Methods Five patients underwent lobectomy using da Vinci S HD Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California). During the operation, we respectively made four ports over chest wall for positioning robotic endoscope, left and right robotic arms and auxiliary instruments without retracting ribs. The procedure followed sequential anatomy as complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy did, and lymph node dissection followed international standard. All patients successfully underwent complete robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy. Neither additional incisions nor emergent conversion to a thoracotomy happened. Frozen dissection during lobectomy showed non-small-cell lung cancer in four patients, who afterwards underwent systemic lymph node dissection, while the case left was with tuberculoma and didn't undergo lymph node dissection. Recurrent air leak occurred in one case, so chest tube was kept for drainage, and one week later, the patient was extubated due to improvement. All other patients recovered well postoperatively without obvious postoperative complications. Robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery is feasible with good operability, clear visual field, reliable action and its supriority of trouble free; exquisite operative skills are required to ensure a stable and safe operation; robot-assisted surgery is efficiency and patients recover well postoperatively.

A review of the functionalities of smart walkers.

PubMed

Martins, Maria; Santos, Cristina; Frizera, Anselmo; Ceres, Ramón

2015-10-01

There is a need to conceptualize and improve the investigation and developments in assistive devices, focusing on the design and effectiveness of walkers in the user's rehabilitation process and functional compensation. This review surveys the importance of smart walkers in maintaining mobility and discusses their potential in rehabilitation and their demands as assistive devices. It also presents related research in addressing and quantifying the smart walker's efficiency and influence on gait. Besides, it discusses smart walkers focusing on studies related to the concept of autonomous and shared-control and manual guidance, the use of smart walkers as personal helpers to sit-to-stand and diagnostic tools for patients' rehabilitation through the evaluation of their gait. Copyright © 2015 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of coblation in resection of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.

PubMed

Cannon, Daniel E; Poetker, David M; Loehrl, Todd A; Chun, Robert H

2013-06-01

We present a series of 4 patients with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) who underwent Coblation-assisted endoscopic resection after preoperative embolization, and discuss the use and advantages of endoscopic Coblation-assisted resection of JNA. Our limited case series suggests that Coblation may be used in the resection of JNA after embolization in a relatively safe, efficient, and effective manner. Coblation allows for decreased bleeding, less need for instrumentation, and improved visualization. There are limited published data in the literature to date on the use of Coblation in endoscopic JNA resection. We describe its use in a more extensive tumor than those previously reported. Further studies are needed to fully define the safety and utility of Coblation technology for this application.

[Study on assistant cleaning of ultrasound for the ultrafiltration membrane].

PubMed

Zhang, Guojun; Liu, Zhongzhou

2003-11-01

The effects of ultrasounds with different frequency on membrane performance were investigated in this paper. The experimental results show that there were nearly no effects of 20 W ultrasound on membrane retention coefficient, but it decreased seriously when the ultrasound power was above 30 W. On the basis of these results, low frequency ultrasound (20 W) was introduced to assist the chemical cleaning in the ultrafiltration process of wastewater from bank note printing works. The cleaning time could be shortened from 20-30 min to 5 min by the ultra-liberation and ultra-blend effects of ultrasound, therefore, the cleaning efficiency was highly improved. However, the fouling substances could not be cleaned entirely in the simple physical cleaning process by SEM analysis.

A Framework to Survey the Energy Efficiency of Installed Motor Systems

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

Rao, Prakash; Hasanbeigi, Ali; McKane, Aimee

2013-08-01

While motors are ubiquitous throughout the globe, there is insufficient data to properly assess their level of energy efficiency across regional boundaries. Furthermore, many of the existing data sets focus on motor efficiency and neglect the connected drive and system. Without a comprehensive survey of the installed motor system base, a baseline energy efficiency of a country or region’s motor systems cannot be developed. The lack of data impedes government agencies, utilities, manufacturers, distributers, and energy managers when identifying where to invest resources to capture potential energy savings, creating programs aimed at reducing electrical energy consumption, or quantifying the impactsmore » of such programs. This paper will outline a data collection framework for use when conducting a survey under a variety of execution models to characterize motor system energy efficiency within a country or region. The framework is intended to standardize the data collected ensuring consistency across independently conducted surveys. Consistency allows for the surveys to be leveraged against each other enabling comparisons to motor system energy efficiencies from other regions. In creating the framework, an analysis of various motor driven systems, including compressed air, pumping, and fan systems, was conducted and relevant parameters characterizing the efficiency of these systems were identified. A database using the framework will enable policymakers and industry to better assess the improvement potential of their installed motor system base particularly with respect to other regions, assisting in efforts to promote improvements to the energy efficiency of motor driven systems.« less

Enhancing Thermoelectric Performance Using Nonlinear Transport Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Jian-Hua; Imry, Yoseph

2017-06-01

We study nonlinear transport effects on the maximum efficiency and power for both inelastic and elastic thermoelectric generators. The former device refers to phonon-assisted hopping in double quantum dots, while the latter device is represented by elastic tunneling through a single quantum dot. We find that nonlinear thermoelectric transport can lead to enhanced efficiency and power for both types of devices. A comprehensive survey of various quantum-dot energy, temperature, and parasitic heat conduction reveals that the nonlinear transport-induced improvements of the maximum efficiency and power are overall much more significant for inelastic devices than for elastic devices, even for temperature biases as small as Th=1.2 Tc (Th and Tc are the temperatures of the hot and cold reservoirs, respectively). The underlying mechanism is revealed as due to the fact that, unlike the Fermi distribution, the Bose distribution is not bounded when the temperature bias increases. A large flux density of absorbed phonons leads to a great enhancement of the electrical current, output power, and energy efficiency, dominating over the concurrent increase of the parasitic heat current. Our study reveals that nonlinear transport effects can be a useful tool for improving thermoelectric performance.

Interpersonal relationships and safety culture in Brazilian health care organisations.

PubMed

Migowski, Eliana R; Oliveira Júnior, Nery; Riegel, Fernando; Migowski, Sérgio A

2018-06-20

To examine the association between interpersonal relationships, nursing leadership and patient safety culture and the impact on the efficiency of hospitals. Hospitals are still affected by the increased complexity of the treatments offered and by the diverse knowledge of professionals involved, which has made this assistance model ineffective, expensive and unsustainable over time. A qualitative study of 32 professionals from three large hospitals in Southern Brazil was made. Semi-structured interviews, document analysis and analysis of electronic records were used. All the hospitals had infection rates and an average stay higher than their goal. Lack of interpersonal relationships and physicians failing to commit to organisational objectives were demonstrated. Nursing leadership styles are not definitive factors to improving patient safety and efficiency. The flaws in consolidating interpersonal relationships seem to be related to difficulties in consolidating patient safety culture, which prevented hospitals reaching their efficiency indicators. Professionals who work at the patients' bedside should be involved in the development of strategies, in order to commit them to the organisational objectives. The consolidation of interpersonal relationships of nursing professionals can lead to improvements with medical professionals, with positive impacts on patient safety and efficiency. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Single-Chip Solar Energy Harvesting IC Using Integrated Photodiodes for Biomedical Implant Applications.

PubMed

Chen, Zhiyuan; Law, Man-Kay; Mak, Pui-In; Martins, Rui P

2017-02-01

In this paper, an ultra-compact single-chip solar energy harvesting IC using on-chip solar cell for biomedical implant applications is presented. By employing an on-chip charge pump with parallel connected photodiodes, a 3.5 × efficiency improvement can be achieved when compared with the conventional stacked photodiode approach to boost the harvested voltage while preserving a single-chip solution. A photodiode-assisted dual startup circuit (PDSC) is also proposed to improve the area efficiency and increase the startup speed by 77%. By employing an auxiliary charge pump (AQP) using zero threshold voltage (ZVT) devices in parallel with the main charge pump, a low startup voltage of 0.25 V is obtained while minimizing the reversion loss. A 4 V in gate drive voltage is utilized to reduce the conduction loss. Systematic charge pump and solar cell area optimization is also introduced to improve the energy harvesting efficiency. The proposed system is implemented in a standard 0.18- [Formula: see text] CMOS technology and occupies an active area of 1.54 [Formula: see text]. Measurement results show that the on-chip charge pump can achieve a maximum efficiency of 67%. With an incident power of 1.22 [Formula: see text] from a halogen light source, the proposed energy harvesting IC can deliver an output power of 1.65 [Formula: see text] at 64% charge pump efficiency. The chip prototype is also verified using in-vitro experiment.

Digital technologies and chronic disease management.

PubMed

Georgeff, Michael

2014-12-01

Digital technologies will become a major part of our healthcare system, with particular impact in primary care. However, many healthcare professionals are not sufficiently informed of the digital technologies available today and how they and their patients can gain substantial benefit from adoption of these technologies. To raise awareness of the potential benefits of using digital technologies for improving practice efficiencies and patient health outcomes. Implementing best practice care for patients with chronic and complex conditions is one of the greatest challenges facing general practice and other primary care providers. It has been suggested that digital technologies could assist by decreasing the administrative burden of care delivery, improving quality of care, increasing practice efficiencies and better supporting patient self-management. In this paper, we consider some areas in the management of chronic and long-term conditions where digital and mobile health solutions can make a difference today.

Light-Trapping Characteristics of Ag Nanoparticles for Enhancing the Energy Conversion Efficiency of Hybrid Solar Cells.

PubMed

Fan, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Weijia; Ma, Qiang; Yan, Lanqin; Xu, Lihua; Fu, Yaolong

2017-10-18

In this paper, we investigated the optical and electrical characteristics of hybrid solar cells using silicon pyramid/Ag nanoparticle and nanowire/Ag nanoparticle nanocomposite structures, which are obtained by the Ag-assisted electroless etching method. We introduced the application of the physical and chemical properties of Ag nanoparticles on four kinds of solar cells: silicon pyramid, silicon pyramid/PEDOT:PSS, silicon nanowire, and silicon nanowire/PEDOT:PSS. We simulated the absorption of these structures for different parameters. Furthermore, we also show the result of the current density-voltage (J-V) characterization of the sample with Ag nanoparticles, which exhibits an improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) in contrast to the samples without Ag nanoparticles. It was found that the properties of light-trapping of Ag nanoparticles have a prominent impact on improving the PCE of hybrid solar cells.

Intuitive adaptive orientation control of assistive robots for people living with upper limb disabilities.

PubMed

Vu, Dinh-Son; Allard, Ulysse Cote; Gosselin, Clement; Routhier, Francois; Gosselin, Benoit; Campeau-Lecours, Alexandre

2017-07-01

Robotic assistive devices enhance the autonomy of individuals living with physical disabilities in their day-to-day life. Although the first priority for such devices is safety, they must also be intuitive and efficient from an engineering point of view in order to be adopted by a broad range of users. This is especially true for assistive robotic arms, as they are used for the complex control tasks of daily living. One challenge in the control of such assistive robots is the management of the end-effector orientation which is not always intuitive for the human operator, especially for neophytes. This paper presents a novel orientation control algorithm designed for robotic arms in the context of human-robot interaction. This work aims at making the control of the robot's orientation easier and more intuitive for the user, in particular, individuals living with upper limb disabilities. The performance and intuitiveness of the proposed orientation control algorithm is assessed through two experiments with 25 able-bodied subjects and shown to significantly improve on both aspects.

Fiber Bragg grating sensor-based communication assistance device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padma, Srivani; Umesh, Sharath; Pant, Shweta; Srinivas, Talabattula; Asokan, Sundarrajan

2016-08-01

Improvements in emergency medicine in the form of efficient life supporting systems and intensive care have increased the survival rate in critically injured patients; however, in some cases, severe brain and spinal cord injuries can result in a locked-in syndrome or other forms of paralysis, and communication with these patients may become restricted or impossible. The present study proposes a noninvasive, real-time communication assistive methodology for those with restricted communication ability, employing a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor. The communication assistive methodology comprises a breath pattern analyzer using an FBG sensor, which acquires the exhalation force that is converted into strain variations on a cantilever. The FBG breath pattern analyzer along with specific breath patterns, which are programmed to give specific audio output commands, constitutes the proposed fiber Bragg grating sensor-based communication assistive device. The basic communication can be carried out by instructing the patients with restricted communication ability to perform the specific breath patterns. The present approach is intended to be an alternative to the common approach of brain-computer interface in which an instrument is utilized for learning of brain responses.

High-performance ternary blend polymer solar cells involving both energy transfer and hole relay processes

DOE PAGES

Lu, Luyao; Chen, Wei; Xu, Tao; ...

2015-06-04

The integration of multiple materials with complementary absorptions into a single junction device is regarded as an efficient way to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, because of increased complexity with one more component, only limited high-performance ternary systems have been demonstrated previously. Here we report an efficient ternary blend OSC with a PCE of 9.2%. We show that the third component can reduce surface trap densities in the ternary blend. Detailed studies unravel that the improved performance results from synergistic effects of enlarged open circuit voltage, suppressed trap-assisted recombination, enhanced light absorption, increasedmore » hole extraction, efficient energy transfer and better morphology. As a result, the working mechanism and high device performance demonstrate new insights and design guidelines for high-performance ternary blend solar cells and suggest that ternary structure is a promising platform to boost the efficiency of OSCs.« less

Diagnostic accuracy of a two-item screen for drug use developed from the alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST).

PubMed

Tiet, Quyen Q; Leyva, Yani; Moos, Rudolf H; Smith, Brandy

2016-07-01

The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) is a screening instrument to detect substance use in primary care (PC). To screen for illicit substances (excluding tobacco and alcohol), the ASSIST consists of 8-57 questions and requires complicated scoring. To improve the efficiency of screening of drug misuse in PC, this study constructed and validated a two-item screen for drug use from the ASSIST. Guided by previous reviews, the ASSIST was revised. Patients were recruited in VA primary care clinics (N=1283). Half of the sample was used to develop the ASSIST-Drug; the other half was used to validate it. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Inventory of Drug Use Consequences were the criterion measures. A brief, two-item ASSIST-Drug was constructed. Based on the development sample, the ASSIST-Drug was 94.1% sensitive and 89.6% specific for drug use disorders. Based on the validation sample, it was 95.4% sensitive and 87.8% specific. The ASSIST-Drug also had comparable sensitivity and specificity to identify drug use negative consequences, as well as for diverse subgroups of patients in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, educational levels, and post traumatic stress disorder status. The ASSIST-Drug may be a useful screening tool for PC settings. It is reliable, brief, and easy to remember, administer and score. It is sensitive and specific for drug use disorders and drug use negative consequences, and the predictive properties are consistent across subgroup of patients. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Increased detection of precancerous cervical lesions with adjunctive dynamic spectral imaging.

PubMed

DeNardis, Sara A; Lavin, Philip T; Livingston, Jeff; Salter, William R; James-Patrick, Nanette; Papagiannakis, Emmanouil; Olson, Christopher G; Weinberg, Lori

2017-01-01

To validate, in US community-based colposcopy clinics, previous reports of increased detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) with biopsies selected using dynamic spectral imaging (DSI) mapping after standard colposcopy. Cross-sectional observational study of 26 colposcopists across nine clinics recruiting consecutive colposcopy patients. Standard assessment with biopsy selections was completed before seeing the DSI map which was subsequently interpreted and used for additional biopsies per clinical judgment. Primary measure was the number of women with CIN2+ detected by DSI-assisted biopsies, over those detected by standard colposcopy biopsies. A total of 887 women were recruited. After exclusions, 881 women and 1,189 biopsies were analyzed. Standard biopsy detected 78 women with CIN2+ and DSI-assisted biopsies another 34, increasing the detection rate from 8.85% to 12.71% ( p =0.00016). This was achieved with 16.16% of DSI-assisted biopsies finding CIN2+ compared to 13.24% for the preceding standard biopsies. For secondary specificity analysis, 431 women had only

Increased detection of precancerous cervical lesions with adjunctive dynamic spectral imaging

PubMed Central

DeNardis, Sara A; Lavin, Philip T; Livingston, Jeff; Salter, William R; James-Patrick, Nanette; Papagiannakis, Emmanouil; Olson, Christopher G; Weinberg, Lori

2017-01-01

Objective To validate, in US community-based colposcopy clinics, previous reports of increased detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) with biopsies selected using dynamic spectral imaging (DSI) mapping after standard colposcopy. Study design Cross-sectional observational study of 26 colposcopists across nine clinics recruiting consecutive colposcopy patients. Standard assessment with biopsy selections was completed before seeing the DSI map which was subsequently interpreted and used for additional biopsies per clinical judgment. Primary measure was the number of women with CIN2+ detected by DSI-assisted biopsies, over those detected by standard colposcopy biopsies. Results A total of 887 women were recruited. After exclusions, 881 women and 1,189 biopsies were analyzed. Standard biopsy detected 78 women with CIN2+ and DSI-assisted biopsies another 34, increasing the detection rate from 8.85% to 12.71% (p=0.00016). This was achieved with 16.16% of DSI-assisted biopsies finding CIN2+ compared to 13.24% for the preceding standard biopsies. For secondary specificity analysis, 431 women had only

Progress with oocyte cryopreservation.

PubMed

Porcu, Eleonora; Venturoli, Stefano

2006-06-01

This article reviews human oocyte cryopreservation, one of the most stimulating challenges of assisted reproduction technology. Since the first steps in assisted reproduction technology, researchers have pursued this goal, to greatly improve the management of infertility treatments. This present review depicts the present state of research and clinical applications of this methodology. Recent literature focuses on the possible mechanisms of oocyte damage caused by temperature and cryoprotectant injury and forecasts possible technological solutions. Several papers illustrate encouraging results in the increasing clinical application of this procedure. Findings give support to several indications of human female gamete cryostorage. Oocyte cryopreservation might replace embryo freezing. Egg freezing offers an alternative to women at risk of losing their reproductive function, caused by antineoplastic treatments, endometriosis, ovarian surgery or genetic premature ovarian failure. In addition, oocyte storage may contribute to an increase in in-vitro fertilization flexibility. Despite the early disappointing results, recent technical modifications have improved the clinical efficiency greatly, with the birth of several healthy children.

Marker-assisted selection: an approach for precision plant breeding in the twenty-first century.

PubMed

Collard, Bertrand C Y; Mackill, David J

2008-02-12

DNA markers have enormous potential to improve the efficiency and precision of conventional plant breeding via marker-assisted selection (MAS). The large number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping studies for diverse crops species have provided an abundance of DNA marker-trait associations. In this review, we present an overview of the advantages of MAS and its most widely used applications in plant breeding, providing examples from cereal crops. We also consider reasons why MAS has had only a small impact on plant breeding so far and suggest ways in which the potential of MAS can be realized. Finally, we discuss reasons why the greater adoption of MAS in the future is inevitable, although the extent of its use will depend on available resources, especially for orphan crops, and may be delayed in less-developed countries. Achieving a substantial impact on crop improvement by MAS represents the great challenge for agricultural scientists in the next few decades.

Alternative Speech Communication System for Persons with Severe Speech Disorders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selouani, Sid-Ahmed; Sidi Yakoub, Mohammed; O'Shaughnessy, Douglas

2009-12-01

Assistive speech-enabled systems are proposed to help both French and English speaking persons with various speech disorders. The proposed assistive systems use automatic speech recognition (ASR) and speech synthesis in order to enhance the quality of communication. These systems aim at improving the intelligibility of pathologic speech making it as natural as possible and close to the original voice of the speaker. The resynthesized utterances use new basic units, a new concatenating algorithm and a grafting technique to correct the poorly pronounced phonemes. The ASR responses are uttered by the new speech synthesis system in order to convey an intelligible message to listeners. Experiments involving four American speakers with severe dysarthria and two Acadian French speakers with sound substitution disorders (SSDs) are carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methods. An improvement of the Perceptual Evaluation of the Speech Quality (PESQ) value of 5% and more than 20% is achieved by the speech synthesis systems that deal with SSD and dysarthria, respectively.

Laser-assisted manufacturing of super-insulation materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Zhang, Tao; Park, Byung Kyu; Lee, Woo Il; Hwang, David

2017-02-01

Being lightweight materials with good mechanical and thermal properties, hollow glass micro-particles (HGMPs) have been widely studied for multiple applications. In this study, it is shown that by using reduced binder fraction diluted in solvent, enables minimal contacts among the HGMPs assisted by a natural capillary trend, as confirmed by optical and electron microscope imaging. Such material architecture fabricated in a composite level proves to have enhanced thermal insulation performance through quantitative thermal conductivity measurement. Mechanical strength has also been evaluated in terms of particle-binder bonding by tensile test via in-situ microscope inspection. Effect of laser treatment was examined for further improvement of thermal and mechanical properties by selective binder removal and efficient redistribution of remaining binder components. The fabricated composite materials have potential applications to building insulation materials for their scalable manufacturing nature, improved thermal insulation performance and reasonable mechanical strength. Further studies are needed to understand mechanical and thermal properties of the resulting composites, and key fabrication mechanisms involved with laser treatment of complex multi-component and multi-phase systems.

A cross-disciplinary response to improve test activities: The corporate memory capitalization in Ariane4 test domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vo, Dinh Phuoc; Soler, Christian; Aussenac, N.; Macchion, D.

1993-01-01

The Assembly, Integration, Test, and Validation (AIT/AIV) of the Ariane4 Vehicle Equipment Bay was held at Matra Marconi Space (MMS) site of Toulouse for several years. For this activity, incident interpretation necessitates a great deal of different knowledge. When complex faults occur, particularly those appearing during overall control tests, experts of various domains (EGSE, software, on-board equipment) have to join for investigation sessions. Thus, an assistance tool for the identification of faulty equipment will improve the efficiency of diagnosis and the overall productivity of test activities. As a solution, the Aramiihs laboratory proposed considering the opportunity of a knowledge based system intended to assist the tester in diagnosis. This knowledge based system is, in fact, a short-term achievement of a long-term goal which is the capitalization of corporate memory in the Ariane4 test domain. Aramiihs is a research unit where engineers from MMS and researchers from the IRIT-CNRS cooperate on problems concerning new types of man-system interaction.

Optimal Number of Thermoelectric Couples in a Heat Pipe Assisted Thermoelectric Generator for Waste Heat Recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tongjun; Wang, Tongcai; Luan, Weiling; Cao, Qimin

2017-05-01

Waste heat recovery through thermoelectric generators is a promising way to improve energy conversion efficiency. This paper proposes a type of heat pipe assisted thermoelectric generator (HP-TEG) system. The expandable evaporator and condenser surface of the heat pipe facilitates the intensive assembly of thermoelectric (TE) modules to compose a compact device. Compared with a conventional layer structure thermoelectric generator, this system is feasible for the installment of more TE couples, thus increasing power output. To investigate the performance of the HP-TEG and the optimal number of TE couples, a theoretical model was presented and verified by experiment results. Further theoretical analysis results showed the performance of the HP-TEG could be further improved by optimizing the parameters, including the inlet air temperature, the thermal resistance of the heating section, and thermal resistance of the cooling structure. Moreover, applying a proper number of TE couples is important to acquire the best power output performance.

Single-mode light source fabrication based on colloidal quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jianfeng; Chen, Bing; Baig, Sarfaraz; Wang, Michael R.

2009-02-01

There are huge market demands for innovative, cheap and efficient light sources, including light emitting devices, such as LEDs and lasers. However, the light source development in the visible spectral range encounters significant difficulties these years. The available visible wavelength LEDs or lasers are few, large and expensive. The main challenge lies at the lack of efficient light media. Semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) have recently commanded considerable attention. As a result of quantum confinement effect, the emission color of these QDs covers the whole visible spectral range and can be modified dramatically by simply changing their size. Such spectral tunability, together with large photoluminescence quantum yield and photostability, make QDs attractive for potential applications in a variety of light emitting technologies. However, there are still several technical problems that hinder their application as light sources. One main issue is how to fabricate these QDs into a solid state device while still retaining their original optical emission properties. A vacuum assisted micro-fluidic fabrication of guided wave devices has demonstrated low waveguide propagation loss, lower crosstalk, and improved waveguide structures. We report herein the combination of the excellent emission properties of QDs and novel vacuum assisted micro-fluidic photonic structure fabrication technique to realize single-mode efficient light sources.

Computer-assisted design of organic synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaminaka, H.

1986-01-01

The computer programs to design synthetic pathways of organic compounds have been utilized throughout the world since the first system was reported by Corey in 1969, and the LHASA was reported in1972 to become the predominant system. Many programs have been reported mainly in the United States and Europe, and groups of corporations, especially chemical companies, have been trying to improve programs and increase the efficiency of research. In Japan, unfortunately, no concrete movement in this area has been seen. Of course, it goes without saying that these kinds of programs are effective for efficient research, but the remarkable aspect is that these can present unexpected data to the researchers to stimulate them to develop new ideas.

Improving the Small-Business Role in Turkish Defense Acquisitions: Recommendations from U.S. Best Practices

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

not take into account the effects of the Global Crisis as it impacts the small business assistance programs. Data related to Small and Medium Sized...unanticipated by many scholars and members of the policy community , but what was even more surprising than the resurgence itself was the primary...innovative because of their responsiveness to “changing market demands,” flexible structures, and “efficient internal communication ” (Mogee, 2003, p. 3

Genome-scale engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with single-nucleotide precision.

PubMed

Bao, Zehua; HamediRad, Mohammad; Xue, Pu; Xiao, Han; Tasan, Ipek; Chao, Ran; Liang, Jing; Zhao, Huimin

2018-07-01

We developed a CRISPR-Cas9- and homology-directed-repair-assisted genome-scale engineering method named CHAnGE that can rapidly output tens of thousands of specific genetic variants in yeast. More than 98% of target sequences were efficiently edited with an average frequency of 82%. We validate the single-nucleotide resolution genome-editing capability of this technology by creating a genome-wide gene disruption collection and apply our method to improve tolerance to growth inhibitors.

Numerical Simulation of Hydrogen Assisted Cracking in Supermartensitic Stainless Steel Welds

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-27

Arc efficiency dependent on welding process (for GTAW it is in the range of 0.45 - 0 .7 5)TrDw2] 0 ,,or Fraction of hydrogen concentration at the...8 Figure 2-4: Region of y-, 6- and a-phase in the iron- chromium ...improve corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of this steel[sPM3 7 ][SPM 47] Since chromium with a content in the range of 11 to 14 wt.-% and

Electrostatic-Force-Assisted Dispensing Printing to Construct High-Aspect-Ratio of 0.79 Electrodes on a Textured Surface with Improved Adhesion and Contact Resistivity

PubMed Central

Shin, Dong-Youn; Yoo, Sung-Soo; Song, Hee-eun; Tak, Hyowon; Byun, Doyoung

2015-01-01

As a novel route to construct fine and abnormally high-aspect-ratio electrodes with excellent adhesion and reduced contact resistivity on a textured surface, an electrostatic-force-assisted dispensing printing technique is reported and compared with conventional dispensing and electrohydrodynamic jet printing techniques. The electrostatic force applied between a silver paste and the textured surface of a crystalline silicon solar cell wafer significantly improves the physical adhesion of the electrodes, whereas those fabricated using a conventional dispensing printing technique peel off with a silver paste containing 2 wt% of a fluorosurfactant. Moreover, the contact resistivity and dimensionless deviation of total resistance are significantly reduced from 2.19 ± 1.53 mΩ·cm2 to 0.98 ± 0.92 mΩ·cm2 and from 0.10 to 0.03, respectively. By utilizing electrodes with an abnormally high-aspect-ratio of 0.79 (the measured thickness and width are 30.4 μm and 38.3 μm, respectively), the cell efficiency is 17.2% on a polycrystalline silicon solar cell with an emitter sheet resistance of 60 Ω/sq. This cell efficiency is considerably higher than previously reported values obtained using a conventional electrohydrodynamic jet printing technique, by +0.48–3.5%p. PMID:26576857

Influence of alkali metals (Na, Li, Rb) on the performance of electrostatic spray-assisted vapor deposited Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altamura, Giovanni; Wang, Mingqing; Choy, Kwang-Leong

2016-02-01

Electrostatic Spray-Assisted Vapor Deposition (ESAVD) is a non-vacuum and cost-effective method to deposit metal oxide, various sulphide and chalcogenide at large scale. In this work, ESAVD was used to deposit Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 (CZTSSe) absorber. Different alkali metals like Na, Li and Rb were incorporated in CZTSSe compounds to further improve the photovoltaic performances of related devices. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, no experimental study has been carried out to test the effect of Li and Rb incorporation in CZTSSe solar cells. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and glow discharge spectroscopy have been used to characterize the phase purity, morphology and composition of as-deposited CZTSSe thin films. Photovoltaic properties of the resulting devices were determined by completing the solar cells as follows: Mo/CZTSSe/CdS/i-ZnO/Al:ZnO/Ni/Al. The results showed that Li, Na and Rb incorporation can increase power conversion efficiency of CZTS devices up to 5.5%. The introduction of a thiourea treatment, has improved the quality of the absorber|buffer interface, pushed the device efficiency up to 6.3% which is at the moment the best reported result for ESAVD deposited CZTSSe solar cells.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of hemicellulose and phenolic compounds from bamboo bast fiber powder

PubMed Central

Su, Jing; Vielnascher, Robert; Silva, Carla; Cavaco-Paulo, Artur; Guebitz, Georg M.

2018-01-01

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of hemicellulose and phenolic compounds from bamboo bast fibre powder was investigated. The effect of ultrasonic probe depth and power input parameters on the type and amount of products extracted was assessed. The results of input energy and radical formation correlated with the calculated values for the anti-nodal point (λ/4; 16.85 mm, maximum amplitude) of the ultrasonic wave in aqueous medium. Ultrasonic treatment at optimum probe depth of 15 mm improve 2.6-fold the extraction efficiencies of hemicellulose and phenolic lignin compounds from bamboo bast fibre powder. LC-Ms-Tof (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-time of flight) analysis indicated that ultrasound led to the extraction of coniferyl alcohol, sinapyl alcohol, vanillic acid, cellobiose, in contrast to boiling water extraction only. At optimized conditions, ultrasound caused the formation of radicals confirmed by the presence of (+)-pinoresinol which resulted from the radical coupling of coniferyl alcohol. Ultrasounds revealed to be an efficient methodology for the extraction of hemicellulosic and phenolic compounds from woody bamboo without the addition of harmful solvents. PMID:29856764

Developing a successful robotics program.

PubMed

Luthringer, Tyler; Aleksic, Ilija; Caire, Arthur; Albala, David M

2012-01-01

Advancements in the robotic surgical technology have revolutionized the standard of care for many surgical procedures. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the important considerations in developing a new robotics program at a given healthcare institution. Patients' interest in robotic-assisted surgery has and continues to grow because of improved outcomes and decreased periods of hospitalization. Resulting market forces have created a solid foundation for the implementation of robotic surgery into surgical practice. Given proper surgeon experience and an efficient system, robotic-assisted procedures have been cost comparable to open surgical alternatives. Surgeon training and experience is closely linked to the efficiency of a new robotics program. Formally trained robotic surgeons have better patient outcomes and shorter operative times. Training in robotics has shown no negative impact on patient outcomes or mentor learning curves. Individual economic factors of local healthcare settings must be evaluated when planning for a new robotics program. The high cost of the robotic surgical platform is best offset with a large surgical volume. A mature, experienced surgeon is integral to the success of a new robotics program.

Solar TiO2-assisted photocatalytic degradation of IGCC power station effluents using a Fresnel lens.

PubMed

Monteagudo, J M; Durán, A; Guerra, J; García-Peña, F; Coca, P

2008-03-01

The heterogeneous TiO2 assisted photocatalytic degradation of wastewater from a thermoelectric power station under concentrated solar light irradiation using a Fresnel lens has been studied. The efficiency of photocatalytic degradation was determined from the analysis of cyanide and formate removal. Firstly, the influence of the initial concentration of H2O2 and TiO2 on the degradation kinetics of cyanides and formates was studied based on a factorial experimental design. Experimental kinetic constants were fitted using neural networks. Results showed that the photocatalytic process was effective for cyanides destruction (mainly following a molecular mechanism), whereas most of formates (degraded mainly via a radical path) remained unaffected. Finally, to improve formates degradation, the effect of lowering pH on their degradation rate was evaluated after complete cyanide destruction. The photooxidation efficiency of formates reaches a maximum at pH around 5-6. Above pH 6, formate anion is subjected to electrostatic repulsion with the negative surface of TiO2. At pH<4.5, formate adsorption and photon absorption are reduced due to some catalyst agglomeration.

Nongeminate Radiative Recombination of Free Charges in Cation-Exchanged PbS Quantum Dot Films

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

Marshall, Ashley R.; Beard, Matthew C.; Johnson, Justin C.

2016-06-01

Using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy we explore the radiative recombination pathways in PbS quantum dots (QDs) synthesized by two methods. We compare conventionally synthesized PbS from a PbO precursor to PbS synthesized using cation-exchange from CdS QDs. We show that strongly coupled films of PbS QDs from the cation-exchange luminesce with significant efficiency at room temperature. This is in stark contrast to conventional PbS QDs, which have exceedingly weak room temperature emission. Moreover, the power dependence of the emission is quadratic, indicating bimolecular radiative recombination that is reasonably competitive with trap-assisted recombination, a feature previously unreported in coupled PbS QD films.more » We interpret these results in terms of a greatly reduced defect concentration for cation-exchanged QDs that mitigates the influence of trap-assisted recombination. Cation-exchanged QDs have recently been employed in highly efficient and air-stable lead chalcogenide QD devices, and the reduced number of trap states inferred here may lead to improved current collection and higher open circuit voltage.« less

Nongeminate radiative recombination of free charges in cation-exchanged PbS quantum dot films

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

Marshall, Ashley R.; Beard, Matthew C.; Johnson, Justin C.

2016-06-01

Using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy we explore the radiative recombination pathways in PbS quantum dots (QDs) synthesized by two methods. We compare conventionally synthesized PbS from a PbO precursor to PbS synthesized using cation-exchange from CdS QDs. We show that strongly coupled films of PbS QDs from the cation-exchange luminesce with significant efficiency at room temperature. This is in stark contrast to conventional PbS QDs, which have exceedingly weak room temperature emission. Moreover, the power dependence of the emission is quadratic, indicating bimolecular radiative recombination that is reasonably competitive with trap-assisted recombination, a feature previously unreported in coupled PbS QD films.more » We interpret these results in terms of a greatly reduced defect concentration for cation-exchanged QDs that mitigates the influence of trap-assisted recombination. Cation-exchanged QDs have recently been employed in highly efficient and air-stable lead chalcogenide QD devices, and the reduced number of trap states inferred here may lead to improved current collection and higher open circuit voltage.« less

Mission Assessment of the Faraday Accelerator with Radio-frequency Assisted Discharge (FARAD)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dankanich, John W.; Polzin, Kurt A.

2008-01-01

Pulsed inductive thrusters have typically been considered for future, high-power, missions requiring nuclear electric propulsion. These high-power systems, while promising equivalent or improved performance over state-of-the-art propulsion systems, presently have no planned missions for which they are well suited. The ability to efficiently operate an inductive thruster at lower energy and power levels may provide inductive thrusters near term applicability and mission pull. The Faraday Accelerator with Radio-frequency Assisted Discharge concept demonstrated potential for a high-efficiency, low-energy pulsed inductive thruster. The added benefits of energy recapture and/or pulse compression are shown to enhance the performance of the pulsed inductive propulsion system, yielding a system that con compete with and potentially outperform current state-of-the-art electric propulsion technologies. These enhancements lead to mission-level benefits associated with the use of a pulsed inductive thruster. Analyses of low-power near to mid-term missions and higher power far-term missions are undertaken to compare the performance of pulsed inductive thrusters with that delivered by state-of-the-art and development-level electric propulsion systems.

Development of a miniature motor-driven pulsatile LVAD driven by a fuzzy controller.

PubMed

Okamoto, Eiji; Makino, Tsutomu; Tanaka, Shuji; Yasuda, Takahiko; Akasaka, Yuta; Tani, Makiko; Inoue, Yusuke; Mitoh, Ayumu; Mitamura, Yoshinori

2007-01-01

We have been developing a small, lightweight motor-driven pulsatile left ventricular assist device (LVAD) with a ball screw. The motor-driven LVAD consists of a brushless DC motor and a ball screw. The attractive magnetic force between Nd-Fe-B magnets (with a diameter of 5 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm) mounted in holes in a silicone rubber sheet (thickness 2 mm) and an iron plate adhered onto the a diaphragm of the blood pump can provide optimum active blood filling during the pump filling phase. The LVAD has a stroke volume of 55 ml and an overall volume of 285 ml; it weighs 360 g. The controller mainly consists of a fuzzy logic position and velocity controller to apply doctors' and engineers' knowledge to control the LVAD. Each unit of the controller consists of a functionally independent program module for easy improvement of the controller's performance. The LVAD was evaluated in in vitro experiments using a mock circulation. A maximum pump outflow of 5.1 l/min was obtained at a drive rate of 95 bpm against an afterload of 95 mmHg, and active filling using the attractive magnetic force provided a pump output of 3.6 l/min at a drive rate of 75 bpm under a preload of 0 mmHg. The operating efficiency of the LVAD was measured at between 8% and 10.5%. While the LVAD can provide adequate pump outflow for cardiac assistance, further upgrading of the software and improvement of the blood pump are required to improve pump performance and efficiency.

Paralympic sports medicine--current evidence in winter sport: considerations in the development of equipment standards for paralympic athletes.

PubMed

Burkett, Brendan

2012-01-01

To highlight and discuss the considerations for the future development of equipment standards for Winter Paralympic sports. Literature searches were performed (in English) during May 2011 using the key words "technology, winter sport, Olympic, and Paralympic" in the computerized databases PubMed, PsycINFO, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. In addition, personal scientific observations were made at several Winter Paralympic Games. The retrieved articles were screened and assessed for relevance to the biological, biomechanical, and sport medicine aspects of equipment. There are 3 key areas in which technology has influenced sports performance in Paralympic winter sports, namely, specialized prostheses, crutch skis or outriggers (in lieu of poles), and sport-specific wheelchairs (such as the sit-ski). From a sport medicine perspective, a crucial factor not considered in the standard laboratory test of mechanical efficiency is the influence of the human-equipment connection, such as the stump-to-prosthesis interface or the required human-to-wheelchair control. This connectivity is critical to the effective operation of the assistive device. When assessing the efficiency of this equipment, the not-so-obvious, holistic, compensatory factors need to be considered. Assistive equipment is fundamental for a person with a disability to participate and compete in winter sport activities. Although there have been improvements in the mechanical function of some assistive devices, the key issue is matching the residual function of the person with the assistive equipment. Equitable access to this technology will also ensure that the fundamental spirit of fair play that underpins the Paralympic Games is maintained.

Comparative study of alkylthiols and alkylamines for the phase transfer of gold nanoparticles from an aqueous phase to n-hexane.

PubMed

Li, Lingxiangyu; Leopold, Kerstin; Schuster, Michael

2013-05-01

An efficient ligand-assisted phase transfer method has been developed to transfer gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs, d: 5-25 nm) from an aqueous solution to n-hexane. Four different ligands, namely 1-dodecanethiol (DDT), 1-octadecanethiol (ODT), dodecylamine (DDA), and octadecylamine (ODA) were investigated, and DDT was found to be the most efficient ligand. It appears that the molar ratio of DDT to Au-NPs is a critical factor affecting the transfer efficiency, and 270-310 is found to be the optimum range, under which the transfer efficiency is >96%. Moreover, the DDT-assisted phase transfer can preserve the shape and size of the Au-NPs, which was confirmed by UV-vis spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Additionally, the transferred Au-NPs still can be well dispersed in the n-hexane phase and remain stable for at least 2 weeks. On the other hand, the ODT-, DDA-, and ODA-assisted phase transfer is fraught with problems either related to transfer efficiency or NPs aggregation. Overall, the DDT-assisted phase transfer of Au-NPs provides a rapid and efficient method to recover Au-NPs from an aqueous solution to n-hexane. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve the Success of Women Assistant Professors.

PubMed

Grisso, Jeane Ann; Sammel, Mary Dupuis; Rubenstein, Arthur H; Speck, Rebecca M; Conant, Emily F; Scott, Patricia; Tuton, Lucy Wolf; Westring, Alyssa Friede; Friedman, Stewart; Abbuhl, Stephanie B

2017-05-01

Given the persistent disparity in the advancement of women compared with men faculty in academic medicine, it is critical to develop effective interventions to enhance women's careers. We carried out a cluster-randomized, multifaceted intervention to improve the success of women assistant professors at a research-intensive medical school. Twenty-seven departments/divisions were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. The three-tiered intervention included components that were aimed at (1) the professional development of women assistant professors, (2) changes at the department/division level through faculty-led task forces, and (3) engagement of institutional leaders. Generalized linear models were used to test associations between assignment and outcomes, adjusting for correlations induced by the clustered design. Academic productivity and work self-efficacy improved significantly over the 3-year trial in both intervention and control groups, but the improvements did not differ between the groups. Average hours worked per week declined significantly more for faculty in the intervention group as compared with the control group (-3.82 vs. -1.39 hours, respectively, p = 0.006). The PhD faculty in the intervention group published significantly more than PhD controls; however, no differences were observed between MDs in the intervention group and MDs in the control group. Significant improvements in academic productivity and work self-efficacy occurred in both intervention and control groups, potentially due to school-wide intervention effects. A greater decline in work hours in the intervention group despite similar increases in academic productivity may reflect learning to "work smarter" or reveal efficiencies brought about as a result of the multifaceted intervention. The intervention appeared to benefit the academic productivity of faculty with PhDs, but not MDs, suggesting that interventions should be more intense or tailored to specific faculty groups.

Advanced Industrial Materials Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stooksbury, F.

1994-06-01

The mission of the Advanced Industrial Materials (AIM) program is to commercialize new/improved materials and materials processing methods that will improve energy efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. Program investigators in the DOE national laboratories are working with about 100 companies, including 15 partners in CRDA's. Work is being done on intermetallic alloys, ceramic composites, metal composites, polymers, engineered porous materials, and surface modification. The program supports other efforts in the Office of Industrial Technologies to assist the energy-consuming process industries. The aim of the AIM program is to bring materials from basic research to industrial application to strengthen the competitive position of US industry and save energy.

Golf ball-assisted electrospray ionization of mass spectrometry for the determination of trace amino acids in complex samples.

PubMed

Li, Yen-Hsien; Chen, Chung-Yu; Kuo, Cheng-Hsiung; Lee, Maw-Rong

2016-09-28

During the electrospray ionization (ESI) process, ions move through a heated capillary aperture to be detected on arrival at a mass analyzer. However, the ESI process creates an ion plume, which expands into an ion cloud with an area larger than that of the heated capillary aperture, significantly contributing to an ion loss of 50% due to coulombic repulsion. The use of DC and RF fields to focus ions from the ion source into the vacuum chamber has been proposed in the literature, but the improvement of ion transmission efficiency is limited. To improve ion transmission, in this study we propose a novel method using a home-made golf ball positioned between the ion source and the inlet of the mass analyzer to hydrodynamically focus the ions passing through the golf ball. The ion plume produced by the ESI process passes through the golf ball will reduce the size of the ion cloud then be focused and most of them flowed into the mass analyzer. Therefore, the sensitivity will be improved, the aim of this investigation is to study the enhancing of the signal using golf ball-assisted electrospray ionization liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine 20 trace amino acids in complex samples, including tea, urine and serum. The results showed that the analytical performance of the determination of the 20 amino acids in tea, urine and serum samples using the home-made golf ball-assisted ESI source is better than that of a commercial ESI source. The signal intensities of the 20 amino acids were enhanced by factors of 2-2700, 11-2525, and 31-342680 in oolong tea, urine and serum analyses, respectively. The precision of the proposed method ranged from 1-9%, 0.4-9% and 0.4-8% at low, medium and high concentration levels of amino acids, respectively. The home-made golf ball-assisted ESI source effectively increased the signal intensity and enhanced the ion transmission efficiency and is also an easy, convenient and economical device. This technique can be applied to the analysis of trace compounds in complex matrices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Antigravity ESD - double-balloon-assisted underwater with traction hybrid technique.

PubMed

Sharma, Sam K; Hiratsuka, Takahiro; Hara, Hisashi; Milsom, Jeffrey W

2018-06-01

 Complex colorectal polyps or those positioned in difficult anatomic locations are an endoscopic therapeutic challenge. Underwater endoscopic submucosal dissection (UESD) is a potential technical solution to facilitate efficient polyp removal. In addition, endoscopic tissue retraction has been confined to limited methods of varying efficacy and complexity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a unique UESD technique for removing complex polyps using double-balloon-assisted retraction (R).  Using fresh ex-vivo porcine rectum, 4-cm polyps were created using electrosurgery and positioned at "6 o'clock" within an established ESD model. Six resections were performed in each group. Underwater techniques were facilitated using a novel double-balloon platform (Dilumen, Lumendi, Westport, Connecticut, United States).  UESD-R had a significantly shorter total procedural time than cap-assisted ESD and UESD alone (24 vs. 58 vs. 56 mins). UESD-R produced a dissection time on average of 5 minutes, attributed to the retraction provided. There was also a subjective significant reduction in electrosurgical smoke with the underwater techniques contributing to improved visualization.  Here we report the first ex-vivo experience of a unique double-balloon endoscopic platform optimized for UESD with tissue traction capability. UESD-R removed complex lesions in significantly shorter time than conventional means. The combined benefits of UESD and retraction appeared to be additive when tackling complex polyps and should be studied further.

An experimental investigation of pulsed laser-assisted machining of AISI 52100 steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panjehpour, Afshin; Soleymani Yazdi, Mohammad R.; Shoja-Razavi, Reza

2014-11-01

Grinding and hard turning are widely used for machining of hardened bearing steel parts. Laser-assisted machining (LAM) has emerged as an efficient alternative to grinding and hard turning for hardened steel parts. In most cases, continuous-wave lasers were used as a heat source to cause localized heating prior to material removal by a cutting tool. In this study, an experimental investigation of pulsed laser-assisted machining of AISI 52100 bearing steel was conducted. The effects of process parameters (i.e., laser mean power, pulse frequency, pulse energy, cutting speed and feed rate) on state variables (i.e., material removal temperature, specific cutting energy, surface roughness, microstructure, tool wear and chip formation) were investigated. At laser mean power of 425 W with frequency of 120 Hz and cutting speed of 70 m/min, the benefit of LAM was shown by 25% decrease in specific cutting energy and 18% improvement in surface roughness, as compared to those of the conventional machining. It was shown that at constant laser power, the increase of laser pulse energy causes the rapid increase in tool wear rate. Pulsed laser allowed efficient control of surface temperature and heat penetration in material removal region. Examination of the machined subsurface microstructure and microhardness profiles showed no change under LAM and conventional machining. Continuous chips with more uniform plastic deformation were produced in LAM.

A mixed-method evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth-based parent-mediated intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Pickard, Katherine E; Wainer, Allison L; Bailey, Kathryn M; Ingersoll, Brooke R

2016-10-01

Research within the autism spectrum disorder field has called for the use of service delivery models that are able to more efficiently disseminate evidence-based practices into community settings. This study employed telehealth methods in order to deliver an Internet-based, parent training intervention for autism spectrum disorder, ImPACT Online. This study used mixed-methods analysis to create a more thorough understanding of parent experiences likely to influence the adoption and implementation of the program in community settings. Specific research questions included (1) What are parents' perceptions of the online program? (2) How does ImPACT Online compare to other services that parents are accessing for their children? And (3) Do parents' experience in, and perceptions of, the program differ based on whether they received a therapist-assisted version of the program? Results from 28 parents of a child with autism spectrum disorder indicate that parents saw improvements in their child's social communication skills and their own competence during the course of the program, regardless of whether they received therapist assistance. However, qualitative interviews indicate that parents who received therapist assistance were more likely endorse the acceptability and observability of the program. These findings support the potential for Internet-based service delivery to more efficiently disseminate evidence-based parent training interventions for autism spectrum disorder. © The Author(s) 2016.

Current patents and future development underlying marker-assisted breeding in major grain crops.

PubMed

Utomo, Herry S; Linscombe, Steve D

2009-01-01

Genomics and molecular markers provide new tools to assemble and mobilize important traits from different genetic backgrounds, including breeding lines and cultivars from different parts of the world and their related wild ancestors, to improve the quality and yield of the existing commercial cultivars to meet the increasing challenges of global food demand. The basic techniques of marker-assisted breeding, such as isolating DNA, amplifying DNA of interest using publicly available primers, and visualizing DNA fragments using standard polyacrylamid gel, have been described in the literature and, therefore, are available to scientists and breeders without any restrictions. A more sophisticated high-throughput system that includes proprietary chemicals and reagents, parts and equipments, software, and methods or processes, has been a subject of intensive patents and trade secrets. The high-throughput systems offer a more efficient way to discover associated QTLs for traits of economic importance. Therefore, an increasing number of patents of highly valued genes and QTLs is expected. This paper will discuss and review current patents associated with genes and QTLs utilized in marker-assisted breeding in major grain crops. The availability of molecular markers for important agronomic traits combined with more efficient marker detection systems will help reach the full benefit of MAS in the breeding effort to reassemble potential genes and recapture critical genes among the breeding lines that were lost during domestication to help boost crop production worldwide.

Computer-Assisted Face Processing Instruction Improves Emotion Recognition, Mentalizing, and Social Skills in Students with ASD.

PubMed

Rice, Linda Marie; Wall, Carla Anne; Fogel, Adam; Shic, Frederick

2015-07-01

This study examined the extent to which a computer-based social skills intervention called FaceSay was associated with improvements in affect recognition, mentalizing, and social skills of school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). FaceSay offers students simulated practice with eye gaze, joint attention, and facial recognition skills. This randomized control trial included school-aged children meeting educational criteria for autism (N = 31). Results demonstrated that participants who received the intervention improved their affect recognition and mentalizing skills, as well as their social skills. These findings suggest that, by targeting face-processing skills, computer-based interventions may produce changes in broader cognitive and social-skills domains in a cost- and time-efficient manner.

Design and numeric evaluation of a novel axial-flow left ventricular assist device.

PubMed

Toptop, Koral; Kadipasaoglu, Kamuran A

2013-01-01

Virtual design characteristics and performance of the first Turkish axial-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) are presented, with emphasis on rotor geometry. The patented rotor design includes a central flow channel carved inside the main block, which carries permanent magnets. A concentric rotor-stator gap minimizes the distance between respective magnets, improving electromagnetic efficiency and creating a second blood pathway. Dual sets of three helical blades, placed on the shaft and external surface of the rotor block, ensure unidirectionality. Hemodynamic performance was tested with computational fluid dynamics (CFD); and rotor-blade geometry was optimized, to maximize overall efficiency d and minimize backflow and wall shear stresses. For a shaft radius of 4.5 mm, rotor blade height of 2.5 mm, and blade inlet and exit metal angles of 67° and 32°, pump operation at the nominal head-flow combination (5 L/min and 100.4 mm Hg) was achieved at a rotor speed of 10,313 rpm. At the nominal point, backflow as percent of total flow was 7.29 and 29.87% at rotor inlet and exit, respectively; overall hydraulic efficiency reached 21.59%; and maximum area-averaged shroud shear was 520 Pa. Overall efficiency peaked at 24.07% for a pump flow of 6.90 L/min, and averaged at 22.57% within the flow range of 4-8 L/min. We concluded that the design satisfies initial rotor design criteria, and that continued studies with diffuser optimization and transient flow analysis are warranted.

Efficient regeneration and improved sonication-assisted Agrobacterium transformation (SAAT) method for Catharanthus roseus.

PubMed

Alam, Pravej; Khan, Zainul Abdeen; Abdin, Malik Zainul; Khan, Jawaid A; Ahmad, Parvaiz; Elkholy, Shereen F; Sharaf-Eldin, Mahmoud A

2017-05-01

Catharanthus roseus is an important medicinal plant known for its pharmacological qualities such as antimicrobial, anticancerous, antifeedant, antisterility, antidiabetic activities. More than 130 bioactive compounds like vinblastine, vindoline and vincristine have been synthesized in this plant. Extensive studies have been carried out for optimization regeneration and transformation protocols. Most of the protocol described are laborious and time-consuming. Due to sophisticated protocol of regeneration and genetic transformation, the production of these bioactive molecules is less and not feasible to be commercialized worldwide. Here we have optimized the efficient protocol for regeneration and transformation to minimize the time scale and enhance the transformation frequency through Agrobacterium and sonication-assisted transformation (SAAT) method. In this study, hypocotyl explants responded best for maximal production of transformed shoots. The callus percentage were recorded 52% with 1.0 mg L -1 (BAP) and 0.5 mg L -1 (NAA) while 80% shoot percentage obtained with 4.0 mg L -1 (BAP) and 0.05 mg L -1 (NAA). The microscopic studies revealed that the expression of GFP was clearly localized in leaf tissue of the C. roseus after transformation of pRepGFP0029 construct. Consequently, transformation efficiency was revealed on the basis of GFP localization. The transformation efficiency of SAAT method was 6.0% comparable to 3.5% as conventional method. Further, PCR analysis confirmed the integration of the nptII gene in the transformed plantlets of C. roseus.

Recent advances in nanoscale-metal assisted biochar derived from waste biomass used for heavy metals removal.

PubMed

Ho, Shih-Hsin; Zhu, Shishu; Chang, Jo-Shu

2017-12-01

Pollution of heavy metals (HMs) is a detrimental treat to human health and need to be cleaned up in a proper way. Biochar (BC), a low-cost and "green" adsorbent, has attracted significant attention due to its considerable HMs removal capacity. In particular, nano-metals have recently been used to assist BC in improving its reactivity, surface texture and magnetism. Synthesis methods and metal precursors greatly influence the properties and structures of the nanocomposites, thereby affecting their HMs removal performance. This review presents advances in synthesis methods, formation mechanisms and surface characteristics of BC nanocomposites, along with the discussions on HMs removal mechanisms and the effects of environmental factors on HMs removal efficiency. Performance of using BC nanocomposites to remediate real HMs-containing wastewater and issues associated with its process scale-up are also discussed. This review aims to provide useful information to facilitate the development of HMs removal by nanoscale-metal assisted BC. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laser-assisted metal spinning for an efficient and flexible processing of challenging materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brummer, C.; Eck, S.; Marsoner, S.; Arntz, K.; Klocke, F.

2016-03-01

The demand for components made from high performance materials like titanium or nickel-based alloys as well as strain-hardening stainless steel is steadily increasing. However, conventional forming operations conducted on these materials are generally very laborious and time-consuming. This is where the limitations of metal spinning also become apparent. Using a laser to apply heat localized to the forming zone during metal spinning facilitates to enhance the formability of a material. In order to analyse the potential of the new manufacturing process, experimental investigations on laser-assisted shear forming and multi-pass metal spinning have been performed with austenitic stainless steel X5CrNi18-10, nickel-based alloy Inconel 718 and titanium grade 2. It could be demonstrated that the formability of these materials can be enhanced by laser-assistance. Besides the resulting enhancement of forming limits for metal spinning of challenging materials, the forming forces were reduced and the product quality was improved significantly.

Evaluation and Impact of Workflow Interruptions During Robot-assisted Surgery.

PubMed

Allers, Jenna C; Hussein, Ahmed A; Ahmad, Nabeeha; Cavuoto, Lora; Wing, Joseph F; Hayes, Robin M; Hinata, Nobuyuki; Bisantz, Ann M; Guru, Khurshid A

2016-06-01

To analyze and categorize causes for interruptions during robot-assisted surgery. We analyzed 10 robot-assisted prostatectomies that were performed by 3 surgeons from October 2014 to June 2015. Interruptions to surgery were defined in terms of duration, stage of surgery, personnel involved, reasons, and impact of the interruption on the surgical workflow. The main reasons for interruptions included the following: console surgeons switching (29%); preparation of the surgical equipment, such as cleaning or changing the camera (29%) or an instrument (27%); or when a suture, stapler, or clip was needed (12%). The most common interruption duration was 10-29 seconds (47.6%), and the least common interruption duration was greater than 90 seconds (3.6%). Additionally, about 14% of the interruptions were considered avoidable, whereas the remaining 86% of interruptions were necessary for surgery. By identifying and analyzing interruptions, we can develop evidence-based strategies to improve operating room efficiency, lower costs, and advance patient safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Tan, J; Yan, Y; Hager, F

Purpose: Radiation therapy has evolved to become not only more precise and potent, but also more complicated to monitor and deliver. More rigorous and comprehensive quality assurance is needed to safeguard ever advancing radiation therapy. ICRU standards dictate that an ever growing set of treatment parameters are manually checked weekly by medical physicists. This “weekly chart check” procedure is laborious and subject to human errors or other factors. A computer-assisted chart checking process will enable more complete and accurate human review of critical parameters, reduce the risk of medical errors, and improve the efficiency. Methods: We developed a web-based softwaremore » system that enables a thorough weekly quality assurance checks. In the backend, the software retrieves all machine parameters from a Treatment Management System (TMS) and compares them against the corresponding ones from the treatment planning system. They are also checked for validity against preset rules. The results are displayed as a web page in the front-end for physicists to review. Then a summary report is generated and uploaded automatically to the TMS as a record for weekly chart checking. Results: The software system has been deployed on a web server in our department’s intranet, and has been tested thoroughly by our clinical physicists. A plan parameter would be highlighted when it is off the preset limit. The developed system has changed the way of checking charts with significantly improved accuracy, efficiency, and completeness. It has been shown to be robust, fast, and easy to use. Conclusion: A computer-assisted system has been developed for efficient, accurate, and comprehensive weekly chart checking. The system has been extensively validated and is being implemented for routine clinical use.« less

Mixed-Organic-Cation (FA)x(MA)1-xPbI3 Planar Perovskite Solar Cells with 16.48% Efficiency via a Low-Pressure Vapor-Assisted Solution Process.

PubMed

Chen, Jing; Xu, Jia; Xiao, Li; Zhang, Bing; Dai, Songyuan; Yao, Jianxi

2017-01-25

Compared to that of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite (MAPbI 3 ), formamidinium lead iodide perovskite (FAPbI 3 ) has a smaller energy band gap and greater potential efficiency. To prevent the transformation of α-FAPbI 3 to δ-FAPbI 3 , preparation of (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 was regarded as an effective route. Usually, the planar (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 perovskite solar cells are fabricated by a solution process. Herein, we report a low-pressure vapor-assisted solution process (LP-VASP) for the growth of (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 perovskite solar cells that features improved electron transportation, uniform morphology, high power conversion efficiency (PCE), and better crystal stability. In LP-VASP, the (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 films were formed by the reaction between the PbI 2 film with FAI and MAI vapor in a very simple vacuum oven. LP-VASP is an inexpensive way to batch-process solar cells, avoiding the repeated deposition solution process for PbI 2 films, and the device had a low cost. We demonstrate that, with an increase in the MAI content, the (101) peak position of FAPbI 3 shifts toward the (110) peak position of MAPbI 3 , the (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 perovskites are stable, and no decomposition or phase transition is observed after 14 days. The photovoltaic performance was effectively improved by the introduction of MA + with the highest efficiency being 16.48% under conditions of 40 wt % MAI. The carrier lifetime of (FA) x (MA) 1-x PbI 3 perovskite films is approximately three times longer than that of pure FAPbI 3 . Using this process, solar cells with a large area of 1.00 cm 2 were fabricated with the PCE of 8.0%.

SU-F-T-453: Improved Head and Neck SBRT Treatment Planning Using PlanIQ

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

Wang, H; Wang, C; Phan, J

Purpose: Treatment planning for Head and Neck(HN) re-irradiation is a challenge because of ablative doses to target volume and strict critical structure constraints. PlanIQ(Sun Nuclear Corporation) can assess the feasibility of clinical goals and quantitatively measure plan quality. Here, we assess whether incorporation of PlanIQ in our SBRT treatment planning process can improve plan quality and planning efficiency. Methods: From 2013–2015, 35 patients (29 retrospective, 6 prospective) with recurrent HN tumors were treated with SBRT using VMAT treatment plans. The median prescription dose was 45 Gy in 5 fractions. We retrospectively reviewed the treatment plans and physician directives of ourmore » first 29 patients and generated score functions of the dosimetric goals used in our practice and obtained a baseline histogram. We then re-optimized 12 plans that had potential to further reduce organs-at-risk (OAR) doses according to PlanIQ feasibility DVH and plan quality analysis and compared them to the original plans. We applied our new PlanIQ-assisted planning process for our 6 most recently treated patients and evaluated the plan quality and planning efficiency. Results: The mean plan quality metric(PQM) and feasibility adjusted PQM(APQM) scores of our initial 29 treatment plans were 77.1±13.1 and 88.7±11.9, respectively (0–100 scale). The PQM and APQM scores for the 12 optimized plans improved from 75.9±11.0 and 85.1±10.2 to 80.7±9.3 and 90.2±8.0, respectively (p<0.005). Using our newly developed PlanIQ-assisted planning process, the PQM and APQM scores for the 6 most recently treated patients were 93.6±6.5 and 99.1±0.6, respectively. The planning goals were more straightforward to minimize OAR doses during optimization, thus less planning and revision time were used than before. Conclusion: PlanIQ has the potential to provide achievable planning goals and also improve plan quality and planning efficiency.« less

MoS2 quantum dots@TiO2 nanotube composites with enhanced photoexcited charge separation and high-efficiency visible-light driven photocatalysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Fenfen; Rong, Yuefei; Wan, Junmin; Hu, Zhiwen; Peng, Zhiqin; Wang, Bing

2018-03-01

MoS2 quantum dots (QDs) that are 5 nm in size were deposited on the surface of ultrathin TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) with 5 nm wall thickness by using an improved hydrothermal method to form a MoS2 QDs@TNT visible-light photocatalyst. The ultrathin TNTs with high percentage of photocatalytic reactive facets were fabricated by the commercially available TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) through an improved hydrothermal method, and the MoS2 QDs were acquired by using a surfactant-assisted technique. The novel MoS2 QDs@TNT photocatalysts showed excellent photocatalytic activity with a decolorization rate of 92% or approximately 3.5 times more than that of pure TNTs for the high initial concentration of methylene blue solution (20 mg l-1) within 40 min under visible-light irradiation. MoS2 as the co-catalysts favored the broadening of TNTs into the visible-light absorption scope. The quantum confinement and edge effects of the MoS2 QDs and the heterojunction formed between the MoS2 QDs and TNTs efficiently extended the lifetime of photoinduced charges, impeded the recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, and improved the visible-light-driven high-efficiency photocatalysis.

Energy and the Oil-Importing Developing Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunkerley, Joy; Ramsay, William

1982-05-01

Oil-importing developing countries will need more energy during the 1980's to sustain development and to support their subsistence sectors. Development plans must be revised to reflect the potentially disastrous effects of high-cost oil on foreign exchange reserves and on national indebtedness. Energy use efficiency must be increased, and wider use must be made of domestic sources of energy--of conventional fossil and hydro sources and of new and renewable options such as biomass and other solar resources. The international community can help by careful management of world financial flows and trade agreements, expansion of capital assistance, and provision of technical assistance. The importance of improving levels of scientific and technical expertise in the less-developed countries is a challege to the worldwide scientific and engineering community.

Evaluation of microsurgical tasks with OCT-guided and/or robot-assisted ophthalmic forceps

PubMed Central

Yu, Haoran; Shen, Jin-Hui; Shah, Rohan J.; Simaan, Nabil; Joos, Karen M.

2015-01-01

Real-time intraocular optical coherence tomography (OCT) visualization of tissues with surgical feedback can enhance retinal surgery. An intraocular 23-gauge B-mode forward-imaging co-planar OCT-forceps, coupling connectors and algorithms were developed to form a unique ophthalmic surgical robotic system. Approach to the surface of a phantom or goat retina by a manual or robotic-controlled forceps, with and without real-time OCT guidance, was performed. Efficiency of lifting phantom membranes was examined. Placing the co-planar OCT imaging probe internal to the surgical tool reduced instrument shadowing and permitted constant tracking. Robotic assistance together with real-time OCT feedback improved depth perception accuracy. The first-generation integrated OCT-forceps was capable of peeling membrane phantoms despite smooth tips. PMID:25780736

An automation-assisted generic approach for biological sample preparation and LC-MS/MS method validation.

PubMed

Zhang, Jie; Wei, Shimin; Ayres, David W; Smith, Harold T; Tse, Francis L S

2011-09-01

Although it is well known that automation can provide significant improvement in the efficiency of biological sample preparation in quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis, it has not been widely implemented in bioanalytical laboratories throughout the industry. This can be attributed to the lack of a sound strategy and practical procedures in working with robotic liquid-handling systems. Several comprehensive automation assisted procedures for biological sample preparation and method validation were developed and qualified using two types of Hamilton Microlab liquid-handling robots. The procedures developed were generic, user-friendly and covered the majority of steps involved in routine sample preparation and method validation. Generic automation procedures were established as a practical approach to widely implement automation into the routine bioanalysis of samples in support of drug-development programs.

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jung, Yoon

2016-01-01

Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) is a decision support tool to assist airline ramp controllers and ATC tower controllers to manage traffic on the airport surface to significantly improve efficiency and predictability in surface operations. The core function of the tool is the runway scheduler which generates an optimal solution for runway sequence and schedule of departure aircraft, which would minimize system delay and maximize runway throughput. The presentation also discusses the latest status of NASA's current surface research through a collaboration with an airline partner, where a tool is developed for airline ramp operators to assist departure pushback operations. The presentation describes the concept of the SARDA tool and results from human-in-the-loop simulations conducted in 2012 for Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and 2014 for Charlotte airport ramp tower.

Development of a novel ultrasound-assisted headspace liquid-phase microextraction and its application to the analysis of chlorophenols in real aqueous samples.

PubMed

Xu, Hui; Liao, Ying; Yao, Jinrong

2007-10-05

A new sample pretreatment technique, ultrasound-assisted headspace liquid-phase microextraction was developed as mentioned in this paper. In the technique, the volatile analytes were headspace extracted into a small drop of solvent, which suspended on the bottom of a cone-shaped PCR tube instead of the needle tip of a microsyringe. More solvent could be suspended in the PCR tube than microsyringe due to the larger interfacial tension, thus the analysis sensitivity was significantly improved with the increase of the extractant volume. Moreover, ultrasound-assisted extraction and independent controlling temperature of the extractant and the sample were performed to enhance the extraction efficiency. Following the extraction, the solvent-loaded sample was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Chlorophenols (2-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,6-dichlorophenol) were chosen as model analytes to investigate the feasibility of the method. The experimental conditions related to the extraction efficiency were systematically studied. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limit (S/N=3), intra- and inter-day RSD were 6 ng mL(-1), 4.6%, 3.9% for 2-chlorophenol, 12 ng mL(-1), 2.4%, 8.8% for 2,4-dichlorophenol and 23 ng mL(-1), 3.3%, 5.3% for 2,6-dichlorophenol, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine chlorophenols in real aqueous samples. Good recoveries ranging from 84.6% to 100.7% were obtained. In addition, the extraction efficiency of our method and the conventional headspace liquid-phase microextraction were compared; the extraction efficiency of the former was about 21 times higher than that of the latter. The results demonstrated that the proposed method is a promising sample pretreatment approach, its advantages over the conventional headspace liquid-phase microextraction include simple setup, ease of operation, rapidness, sensitivity, precision and no cross-contamination. The method is very suitable for the analysis of trace volatile and semivolatile pollutants in real aqueous sample.

The health hazard assessment process in support of joint weapon system acquisitions.

PubMed

Kluchinsky, Timothy A; Jokel, Charles R; Cambre, John V; Goddard, Donald E; Batts, Robert W

2013-01-01

Since 1981, the Army's HHA Program has provided an invaluable service to combat developers and materiel program managers by providing recommendations designed to eliminate or control health hazards associated with materiel and weapon systems. The program has consistently strived to improve its services by providing more meaningful and efficient assistance to the acquisition community. In the uncertain fiscal times ahead, the Army's HHA Program will continue to provide valuable and cost-effective solutions to mitigate the health risks of weapons systems.

Baseline tests of the battronic Minivan electric delivery van

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dustin, M. O.; Soltis, R. F.; Bozek, J. M.; Maslowski, E. A.

1977-01-01

An electric passenger vehicle was tested to develop data characterizing the state of the art of electric and hybrid vehicles. The test measured vehicle maximum speed, range at constant speed, range over stop-and-go driving schedules, maximum acceleration, gradeability and limit, road energy consumption, road power, indicated energy consumption, braking capability and battery charge efficiency. The data obtained are to serve as a baseline to compare improvements in electric and hybrid vehicle technologies and to assist in establishing performance standards.

A clinical research analytics toolkit for cohort study.

PubMed

Yu, Yiqin; Zhu, Yu; Sun, Xingzhi; Tao, Ying; Zhang, Shuo; Xu, Linhao; Pan, Yue

2012-01-01

This paper presents a clinical informatics toolkit that can assist physicians to conduct cohort studies effectively and efficiently. The toolkit has three key features: 1) support of procedures defined in epidemiology, 2) recommendation of statistical methods in data analysis, and 3) automatic generation of research reports. On one hand, our system can help physicians control research quality by leveraging the integrated knowledge of epidemiology and medical statistics; on the other hand, it can improve productivity by reducing the complexities for physicians during their cohort studies.

76 FR 21109 - Rural Energy for America Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-14

...The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Agency) is establishing an interim rule for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which is authorized under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. This interim rule modifies the existing grant and guaranteed loan program for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. In addition, it adds a grant program for feasibility studies for renewable energy systems and a grant program for energy audits and renewable energy development assistance, as provided in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.

Plasma Heating Simulation in the VASIMR System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ilin, Andrew V.; ChangDiaz, Franklin R.; Squire, Jared P.; Carter, Mark D.

2005-01-01

The paper describes the recent development in the simulation of the ion-cyclotron acceleration of the plasma in the VASIMR experiment. The modeling is done using an improved EMIR code for RF field calculation together with particle trajectory code for plasma transport calculat ion. The simulation results correlate with experimental data on the p lasma loading and predict higher ICRH performance for a higher density plasma target. These simulations assist in optimizing the ICRF anten na so as to achieve higher VASIMR efficiency.

Firefighters' Radios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

Public Technology Inc. asked for NASA assistance to devise the original firefighter's radio. Good short-range radio communications are essential during a fire to coordinate hose lines, rescue victims, and otherwise increase efficiency. Useful firefighting tool is lower cost, more rugged short range two-way radio. Inductorless electronic circuit replaced inductances and coils in radio circuits with combination of transistors and other low-cost components. Substitution promises reduced circuit size and cost. Enhanced electrical performance made radio more durable and improved maintainability by incorporating modular construction.

Inclusive design--assistive technology for people with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Heidrich, Regina; Bassani, Patrícia

2012-01-01

The first sentence of the Abstract should follow the word "Abstract." on the same line. The abstract should be clear, descriptive, self-explanatory and no longer than 200 words. It should also be suitable for publication in abstracting services. Do not include references or formulae in the abstract. This study reports the work of the Inclusive Design research project conducted with a group of children with cerebral palsy Our project has been working with Assistive Technology and has been developing an expanded mouse and a keyboard. Nowadays, we are working as a researcher of Cognitive Ergonomics and of Inclusive Education. The goal of our project is to establish an interdisciplinary study that focus the developing of a research in Ergonomics Design, contributing to improve the assistance to people with special needs. One applied the pedagogical approach, using Vygotsky's Social-historic Theory that advocates the concept of each individual's experiences are important to improve them. The development methodology was based on user-centered design. The results showed that as long as the students applied the new technologies they developed superior psychological processes towards social interaction, autonomy, taking part in class activities more efficiently. Also, we verified how important the new technologies in class were, considering the methodologies, objectives full and effective described on this study. This way, we do hope, from the data obtained on this research, to contribute with the ones who believe that the improvement of handicap students' inclusion in class is a reality.

Selection of the most influential factors on the water-jet assisted underwater laser process by adaptive neuro-fuzzy technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolić, Vlastimir; Petković, Dalibor; Lazov, Lyubomir; Milovančević, Miloš

2016-07-01

Water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting has shown some advantages as it produces much less turbulence, gas bubble and aerosols, resulting in a more gentle process. However, this process has relatively low efficiency due to different losses in water. It is important to determine which parameters are the most important for the process. In this investigation was analyzed the water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters forecasting based on the different parameters. The method of ANFIS (adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system) was applied to the data in order to select the most influential factors for water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters forecasting. Three inputs are considered: laser power, cutting speed and water-jet speed. The ANFIS process for variable selection was also implemented in order to detect the predominant factors affecting the forecasting of the water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters. According to the results the combination of laser power cutting speed forms the most influential combination foe the prediction of water-jet assisted underwater laser cutting parameters. The best prediction was observed for the bottom kerf-width (R2 = 0.9653). The worst prediction was observed for dross area per unit length (R2 = 0.6804). According to the results, a greater improvement in estimation accuracy can be achieved by removing the unnecessary parameter.

Sonochemical enzyme-catalyzed regioselective acylation of flavonoid glycosides.

PubMed

Ziaullah; Rupasinghe, H P Vasantha

2016-04-01

This work compares a highly efficient and alternative method of sonication-assisted lipase catalyzed acylation of quercetin-3-O-glucoside and phloretin-2'-glucoside, using Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozyme 435(®)), with a range of fatty acids. In this study, sonication-assisted irradiation coupled with stirring has been found to be more efficient and economical than conventional reaction conditions. Sonication-assisted acylation accelerated the reactions and reduced the time required by 4-5 folds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Continuous directed evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases

PubMed Central

Bryson, David I.; Fan, Chenguang; Guo, Li-Tao; Miller, Corwin; Söll, Dieter; Liu, David R.

2017-01-01

Directed evolution of orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) enables site-specific installation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins. Traditional evolution techniques typically produce AARSs with greatly reduced activity and selectivity compared to their wild-type counterparts. We designed phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE) selections to rapidly produce highly active and selective orthogonal AARSs through hundreds of generations of evolution. PACE of a chimeric Methanosarcina spp. pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) improved its enzymatic efficiency (kcat/KMtRNA) 45-fold compared to the parent enzyme. Transplantation of the evolved mutations into other PylRS-derived synthetases improved yields of proteins containing non-canonical residues up to 9.7-fold. Simultaneous positive and negative selection PACE over 48 h greatly improved the selectivity of a promiscuous Methanocaldococcus jannaschii tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase variant for site-specific incorporation of p-iodo-L-phenylalanine. These findings offer new AARSs that increase the utility of orthogonal translation systems and establish the capability of PACE to efficiently evolve orthogonal AARSs with high activity and amino acid specificity. PMID:29035361

High-Performance Ultrathin Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Silicon Solar Cells via Solution-Processed Interface Modification.

PubMed

Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Yinan; Song, Tao; Shen, Xinlei; Yu, Xuegong; Lee, Shuit-Tong; Sun, Baoquan; Jia, Baohua

2017-07-05

Organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells based on n-type crystalline silicon and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) exhibited promising efficiency along with a low-cost fabrication process. In this work, ultrathin flexible silicon substrates, with a thickness as low as tens of micrometers, were employed to fabricate hybrid solar cells to reduce the use of silicon materials. To improve the light-trapping ability, nanostructures were built on the thin silicon substrates by a metal-assisted chemical etching method (MACE). However, nanostructured silicon resulted in a large amount of surface-defect states, causing detrimental charge recombination. Here, the surface was smoothed by solution-processed chemical treatment to reduce the surface/volume ratio of nanostructured silicon. Surface-charge recombination was dramatically suppressed after surface modification with a chemical, associated with improved minority charge-carrier lifetime. As a result, a power conversion efficiency of 9.1% was achieved in the flexible hybrid silicon solar cells, with a substrate thickness as low as ∼14 μm, indicating that interface engineering was essential to improve the hybrid junction quality and photovoltaic characteristics of the hybrid devices.

Data-Driven Benchmarking of Building Energy Efficiency Utilizing Statistical Frontier Models

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

Kavousian, A; Rajagopal, R

2014-01-01

Frontier methods quantify the energy efficiency of buildings by forming an efficient frontier (best-practice technology) and by comparing all buildings against that frontier. Because energy consumption fluctuates over time, the efficiency scores are stochastic random variables. Existing applications of frontier methods in energy efficiency either treat efficiency scores as deterministic values or estimate their uncertainty by resampling from one set of measurements. Availability of smart meter data (repeated measurements of energy consumption of buildings) enables using actual data to estimate the uncertainty in efficiency scores. Additionally, existing applications assume a linear form for an efficient frontier; i.e.,they assume that themore » best-practice technology scales up and down proportionally with building characteristics. However, previous research shows that buildings are nonlinear systems. This paper proposes a statistical method called stochastic energy efficiency frontier (SEEF) to estimate a bias-corrected efficiency score and its confidence intervals from measured data. The paper proposes an algorithm to specify the functional form of the frontier, identify the probability distribution of the efficiency score of each building using measured data, and rank buildings based on their energy efficiency. To illustrate the power of SEEF, this paper presents the results from applying SEEF on a smart meter data set of 307 residential buildings in the United States. SEEF efficiency scores are used to rank individual buildings based on energy efficiency, to compare subpopulations of buildings, and to identify irregular behavior of buildings across different time-of-use periods. SEEF is an improvement to the energy-intensity method (comparing kWh/sq.ft.): whereas SEEF identifies efficient buildings across the entire spectrum of building sizes, the energy-intensity method showed bias toward smaller buildings. The results of this research are expected to assist researchers and practitioners compare and rank (i.e.,benchmark) buildings more robustly and over a wider range of building types and sizes. Eventually, doing so is expected to result in improved resource allocation in energy-efficiency programs.« less

The application of a "6S Lean" initiative to improve workflow for emergency eye examination rooms.

PubMed

Nazarali, Samir; Rayat, Jaspreet; Salmonson, Hilary; Moss, Theodora; Mathura, Pamela; Damji, Karim F

2017-10-01

Ophthalmology residents on call at the Royal Alexandra Hospital identified workplace disorganization and lack of standardization in emergency eye examination rooms as an impediment to efficient patient treatment. The aim of the study was to use the "6S Lean" model to improve workflow in eye examination rooms at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. With the assistance of quality improvement consultants, the "6S Lean" model was applied to the current operation of the emergency eye clinic examination rooms. This model, considering 8 waste categories, was then used to recommend and implement changes to the examination rooms and to workplace protocols to enhance efficiency and safety. Eye examination rooms were improved with regards to setup, organization of supplies, inventory control, and maintenance. All targets were achieved, and the 5S audit checklist score increased by 33 points from 44 to 77. Implementation of the 6S methodology is a simple approach that removes inefficiencies from the workplace. The ophthalmology clinic removed waste from all 8 waste categories, increased audit results, mitigated patient and resident safety risks, and ultimately redirected resident time back to patient care delivery. Copyright © 2017 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhanced Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Mesoporous-Macroporous TiO2 Photoanode Obtained Using ZnO Template

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Trang T. T.; Mathews, Nripan; Lam, Yeng-Ming; Mhaisalkar, Subodh

2017-06-01

Improved light harvesting efficiency can be achieved by enhancing the optical properties of the titanium dioxide (TiO2) photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), leading to higher power conversion efficiency. By incorporating submicrometer cavities in TiO2 mesoporous film, using zinc oxide (ZnO) particles as a template, a bimodal pore size structure has been created, called a mesoporous-macroporous nanostructure. This photoanode structure consists of 20-nm TiO2 nanoparticles with two kinds of pores with size of 20 nm (mesopores) and 500 nm (macropores). Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction studies showed no trace of ZnO in the TiO2 after removal by TiCl4 treatment. Higher diffuse transmittance of this film compared with the standard transparent photoanode provides evidence of improved light scattering. When employed in a device, the incident-photon-to-current efficiency of ZnO-assisted devices showed enhancement at longer wavelengths, corresponding to the Mie light scattering effect with the macropores as scattering centers. This resulted in overall higher power conversion efficiency of the DSSC. In this work, a nonvolatile gel ionic liquid was used as the electrolyte to also demonstrate the benefit of this structure in combination with a viscous electrolyte and its promising application to prolong the stability of DSSCs.

Study and optimization of the ultrasound-enhanced cleaning of an ultrafiltration ceramic membrane through a combined experimental-statistical approach.

PubMed

Alventosa-deLara, E; Barredo-Damas, S; Alcaina-Miranda, M I; Iborra-Clar, M I

2014-05-01

Membrane fouling is one of the main drawbacks of ultrafiltration technology during the treatment of dye-containing effluents. Therefore, the optimization of the membrane cleaning procedure is essential to improve the overall efficiency. In this work, a study of the factors affecting the ultrasound-assisted cleaning of an ultrafiltration ceramic membrane fouled by dye particles was carried out. The effect of transmembrane pressure (0.5, 1.5, 2.5 bar), cross-flow velocity (1, 2, 3 ms(-1)), ultrasound power level (40%, 70%, 100%) and ultrasound frequency mode (37, 80 kHz and mixed wave) on the cleaning efficiency was evaluated. The lowest frequency showed better results, although the best cleaning performance was obtained using the mixed wave mode. A Box-Behnken Design was used to find the optimal conditions for the cleaning procedure through a response surface study. The optimal operating conditions leading to the maximum cleaning efficiency predicted (32.19%) were found to be 1.1 bar, 3 ms(-1) and 100% of power level. Finally, the optimized response was compared to the efficiency of a chemical cleaning with NaOH solution, with and without the use of ultrasound. By using NaOH, cleaning efficiency nearly triples, and it improves up to 25% by adding ultrasound. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tribal Energy Program, Assisting Tribes to Realize Their Energy Visions (Brochure), Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)

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

Not Available

2013-06-01

This 12-page brochure provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Tribal Energy Program and describes the financial, technical, and educational assistance it provides to help tribes develop their renewable energy resources and reduce their energy consumption.

Coupling of ultrasound-assisted extraction and expanded bed adsorption for simplified medicinal plant processing and its theoretical model: extraction and enrichment of ginsenosides from Radix Ginseng as a case study.

PubMed

Mi, Jianing; Zhang, Min; Zhang, Hongyang; Wang, Yuerong; Wu, Shikun; Hu, Ping

2013-02-01

A high-efficient and environmental-friendly method for the preparation of ginsenosides from Radix Ginseng using the method of coupling of ultrasound-assisted extraction with expanded bed adsorption is described. Based on the optimal extraction conditions screened by surface response methodology, ginsenosides were extracted and adsorbed, then eluted by the two-step elution protocol. The comparison results between the coupling of ultrasound-assisted extraction with expanded bed adsorption method and conventional method showed that the former was better than the latter in both process efficiency and greenness. The process efficiency and energy efficiency of the coupling of ultrasound-assisted extraction with expanded bed adsorption method rapidly increased by 1.4-fold and 18.5-fold of the conventional method, while the environmental cost and CO(2) emission of the conventional method were 12.9-fold and 17.0-fold of the new method. Furthermore, the theoretical model for the extraction of targets was derived. The results revealed that the theoretical model suitably described the process of preparing ginsenosides by the coupling of ultrasound-assisted extraction with expanded bed adsorption system. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Rapid and efficient proteolysis through laser-assisted immobilized enzyme reactors.

PubMed

Zhang, Peng; Gao, Mingxia; Zhu, Shaochun; Lei, Jie; Zhang, Xiangmin

2011-11-25

In this report, laser radiation (808nm) for the first time was employed to enhance the efficiency of proteolysis through immobilized enzyme reactor (IMER). IMER based monolithic support was prepared in the fused-silica capillary via a simple two-step procedure including acryloylation on trypsin surface and in situ aqueous polymerization/immobilization. The feasibility and high efficiency of the laser-assisted IMER were demonstrated by the digestion of bovine serum albumin (BSA), cytochrome c (Cyt-c) and β-casein. The digestion process was achieved in 60s. The peptides were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS, yielding the sequence coverage of 33% for BSA, 73% for Cyt-c and 22% for β-casein. The comparisons between the in-solution digestion and on IMER reaction with/without laser assistance were made. To further confirm its efficiency in proteome analysis, the laser-assisted IMER was also applied to the analysis of one fraction of human serum sample through two-dimensional (2-D) separation of strong anion exchange/reversed-phase liquid chromatography (SAX/RPLC). After a database search, 49 unique peptides corresponding to 5 proteins were identified. The results showed that the laser-assisted IMER provides a promising platform for the high-throughput protein identification. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

31 CFR 205.5 - What are the thresholds for major Federal assistance programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... AND PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENT FEDERAL-STATE FUNDS TRANSFERS Rules Applicable to Federal Assistance..., a State receiving $1 billion in Federal Assistance would use Table A to learn that its threshold...

31 CFR 205.5 - What are the thresholds for major Federal assistance programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... AND PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENT FEDERAL-STATE FUNDS TRANSFERS Rules Applicable to Federal Assistance..., a State receiving $1 billion in Federal Assistance would use Table A to learn that its threshold...

31 CFR 205.5 - What are the thresholds for major Federal assistance programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... AND PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENT FEDERAL-STATE FUNDS TRANSFERS Rules Applicable to Federal Assistance..., a State receiving $1 billion in Federal Assistance would use Table A to learn that its threshold...

31 CFR 205.5 - What are the thresholds for major Federal assistance programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... AND PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENT FEDERAL-STATE FUNDS TRANSFERS Rules Applicable to Federal Assistance..., a State receiving $1 billion in Federal Assistance would use Table A to learn that its threshold...

DPOI: Distributed software system development platform for ocean information service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Zhongwen; Hu, Keyong; Jiang, Yongguo; Sun, Zhaosui

2015-02-01

Ocean information management is of great importance as it has been employed in many areas of ocean science and technology. However, the developments of Ocean Information Systems (OISs) often suffer from low efficiency because of repetitive work and continuous modifications caused by dynamic requirements. In this paper, the basic requirements of OISs are analyzed first, and then a novel platform DPOI is proposed to improve development efficiency and enhance software quality of OISs by providing off-the-shelf resources. In the platform, the OIS is decomposed hierarchically into a set of modules, which can be reused in different system developments. These modules include the acquisition middleware and data loader that collect data from instruments and files respectively, the database that stores data consistently, the components that support fast application generation, the web services that make the data from distributed sources syntactical by use of predefined schemas and the configuration toolkit that enables software customization. With the assistance of the development platform, the software development needs no programming and the development procedure is thus accelerated greatly. We have applied the development platform in practical developments and evaluated its efficiency in several development practices and different development approaches. The results show that DPOI significantly improves development efficiency and software quality.

Energy efficient engine. Low pressure turbine test hardware detailed design report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cherry, D. G.; Gay, C. H.; Lenahan, D. T.

1982-01-01

The low pressure turbine for the energy efficient engine is a five-stage configuration with moderate aerodynamic loading incorporating advanced features of decambered airfoils and extended blade overlaps at platforms and shrouds. Mechanical integrity of 18,000 hours on flowpath components and 36,000 hours on all other components is achieved along with no aeromechanical instabilities within the steady-state operating range. Selection of a large number (156) of stage 4 blades, together with an increased stage 4 vane-to-blade gap, assists in achieving FAR 36 acoustic goals. Active clearance control (ACC) of gaps at blade tips and interstage seals is achieved by fan air cooling judiciously applied at responsive locations on the casing. This ACC system is a major improvement in preventing deterioration of the 0.0381 cm (0.015 in.) clearances required to meet the integrated-core/low-spool turbine efficiency goal of 91.1% and the light propulsion system efficiency goal of 91.7%.

Interfacial engineering of metal-insulator-semiconductor junctions for efficient and stable photoelectrochemical water oxidation

PubMed Central

Digdaya, Ibadillah A.; Adhyaksa, Gede W. P.; Trześniewski, Bartek J.; Garnett, Erik C.; Smith, Wilson A.

2017-01-01

Solar-assisted water splitting can potentially provide an efficient route for large-scale renewable energy conversion and storage. It is essential for such a system to provide a sufficiently high photocurrent and photovoltage to drive the water oxidation reaction. Here we demonstrate a photoanode that is capable of achieving a high photovoltage by engineering the interfacial energetics of metal–insulator–semiconductor junctions. We evaluate the importance of using two metals to decouple the functionalities for a Schottky contact and a highly efficient catalyst. We also illustrate the improvement of the photovoltage upon incidental oxidation of the metallic surface layer in KOH solution. Additionally, we analyse the role of the thin insulating layer to the pinning and depinning of Fermi level that is responsible to the resulting photovoltage. Finally, we report the advantage of using dual metal overlayers as a simple protection route for highly efficient metal–insulator–semiconductor photoanodes by showing over 200 h of operational stability. PMID:28660883

Power-plant modernization program in Latvia. Desk Study Report No. 1. Export trade information

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

Not Available

1992-08-01

The Government of Latvia has requested the U.S. Trade and Development Program's (TDP's) assistance in financing the cost of a feasibility study to develop a modernization program for its thermal power stations aimed at improving their performance and efficiency. The consultant will work with engineers and managers of Latvenergo, Latvia's power utility, to review the performance of the country's two thermal power stations and carry out a detailed study for the rehabilitation and modernization of the TEC-2 thermal power station in Riga. The overall goal of the program will be to maximize the output capacity of the country's two powermore » stations through the implementation of economically efficient rehabilitation projects.« less

Chondroitin sulfate-polyethylenimine copolymer-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as an efficient magneto-gene carrier for microRNA-encoding plasmid DNA delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, Yu-Lun; Chou, Han-Lin; Liao, Zi-Xian; Huang, Shih-Jer; Ke, Jyun-Han; Liu, Yu-Sheng; Chiu, Chien-Chih; Wang, Li-Fang

2015-04-01

MicroRNA-128 (miR-128) is an attractive therapeutic molecule with powerful glioblastoma regulation properties. However, miR-128 lacks biological stability and leads to poor delivery efficacy in clinical applications. In our previous study, we demonstrated two effective transgene carriers, including polyethylenimine (PEI)-decorated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as well as chemically-conjugated chondroitin sulfate-PEI copolymers (CPs). In this contribution, we report optimized conditions for coating CPs onto the surfaces of SPIONs, forming CPIOs, for magneto-gene delivery systems. The optimized weight ratio of the CPs and SPIONs is 2 : 1, which resulted in the formation of a stable particle as a good transgene carrier. The hydrodynamic diameter of the CPIOs is ~136 nm. The gel electrophoresis results demonstrate that the weight ratio of CPIO/DNA required to completely encapsulate pDNA is >=3. The in vitro tests of CPIO/DNA were done in 293 T, CRL5802, and U87-MG cells in the presence and absence of an external magnetic field. The magnetofection efficiency of CPIO/DNA was measured in the three cell lines with or without fetal bovine serum (FBS). CPIO/DNA exhibited remarkably improved gene expression in the presence of the magnetic field and 10% FBS as compared with a gold non-viral standard, PEI/DNA, and a commercial magnetofection reagent, PolyMag/DNA. In addition, CPIO/DNA showed less cytotoxicity than PEI/DNA and PolyMag/DNA against the three cell lines. The transfection efficiency of the magnetoplex improved significantly with an assisted magnetic field. In miR-128 delivery, a microRNA plate array and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to demonstrate that CPIO/pMIRNA-128 indeed expresses more miR-128 with the assisted magnetic field than without. In a biodistribution test, CPIO/Cy5-DNA showed higher accumulation at the tumor site where an external magnet is placed nearby.MicroRNA-128 (miR-128) is an attractive therapeutic molecule with powerful glioblastoma regulation properties. However, miR-128 lacks biological stability and leads to poor delivery efficacy in clinical applications. In our previous study, we demonstrated two effective transgene carriers, including polyethylenimine (PEI)-decorated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as well as chemically-conjugated chondroitin sulfate-PEI copolymers (CPs). In this contribution, we report optimized conditions for coating CPs onto the surfaces of SPIONs, forming CPIOs, for magneto-gene delivery systems. The optimized weight ratio of the CPs and SPIONs is 2 : 1, which resulted in the formation of a stable particle as a good transgene carrier. The hydrodynamic diameter of the CPIOs is ~136 nm. The gel electrophoresis results demonstrate that the weight ratio of CPIO/DNA required to completely encapsulate pDNA is >=3. The in vitro tests of CPIO/DNA were done in 293 T, CRL5802, and U87-MG cells in the presence and absence of an external magnetic field. The magnetofection efficiency of CPIO/DNA was measured in the three cell lines with or without fetal bovine serum (FBS). CPIO/DNA exhibited remarkably improved gene expression in the presence of the magnetic field and 10% FBS as compared with a gold non-viral standard, PEI/DNA, and a commercial magnetofection reagent, PolyMag/DNA. In addition, CPIO/DNA showed less cytotoxicity than PEI/DNA and PolyMag/DNA against the three cell lines. The transfection efficiency of the magnetoplex improved significantly with an assisted magnetic field. In miR-128 delivery, a microRNA plate array and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to demonstrate that CPIO/pMIRNA-128 indeed expresses more miR-128 with the assisted magnetic field than without. In a biodistribution test, CPIO/Cy5-DNA showed higher accumulation at the tumor site where an external magnet is placed nearby. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr01404b

White Light Emission from Cucurbituril-Based Host-Guest Interaction in the Solid State: New Function of the Macrocyclic Host.

PubMed

Xia, Yu; Chen, Shiyan; Ni, Xin-Long

2018-04-18

Energy transfer and interchange are central for fabricating white light-emitting organic materials. However, increasing the efficiency of light energy transfer remains a considerable challenge because of the occurrence of "cross talk". In this work, by exploiting the unique photophysical properties of cucurbituril-triggered host-guest interactions, the two complementary luminescent colors blue and yellow for white light emission were independently obtained from a single fluorophore dye rather than energy transfer. Further study suggested that the rigid cavity of cucurbiturils efficiently prevented the aggregation of the dye and improved its thermal stability in the solid state by providing a regular nanosized fence for each encapsulated dye molecule. As a result, a novel macrocycle-assisted supramolecular approach for obtaining solid, white light-emitting organic materials with low cost, high efficiency, and easy scale-up was successfully demonstrated.

Last Mile Towards Efficient Healthcare Delivery in Switzerland: eHealth Enabled Applications Could Speed Up the Care Process.

PubMed

Deng, Yihan; Bürkle, Thomas; Holm, Jürgen; Zetz, Erwin; Denecke, Kerstin

2018-01-01

A precise and timely care delivery depends on an efficient triage performed by primary care providers and smooth collaboration with other medical specialities. In recent years telemedicine gained increasing importance for efficient care delivery. It's use, however, has been limited by legal issues, missing digital infrastructures, restricted support from health insurances and the digital divide in the population. A new era towards eHealth and telemedicine starts with the establishment of national eHealth regulations and laws. In Switzerland, a nation-wide digital infrastructure and electronic health record will be established. But appropriate healthcare apps to improve patient care based on this infrastructure remain rare. In this paper, we present two applications (self-anamnesis and eMedication assistant) for eHealth enabled care delivery which have the potential to speed up diagnosis and treatment.

Ultrafast synthesis and characterization of carbonated hydroxyapatite nanopowders via sonochemistry-assisted microwave process.

PubMed

Zou, Zhaoyong; Lin, Kaili; Chen, Lei; Chang, Jiang

2012-11-01

Herein, carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHAp) nanopowders were synthesized via sonochemistry-assisted microwave process. The influences of microwave and ultrasonic irradiation on the crystallinity, morphology, yield, Ca/P molar ratio, specific surface area and dispersibility were investigated and compared with the conventional precipitation method. The results showed that sonochemistry-assisted microwave process significantly increased the synthetic efficiency. The well-crystallized nanopowders could be obtained at high yield of 98.8% in ultra-short-period of 5min. In addition, the crystallization process was promoted with the increase of ultrasonic and microwave power and the reaction time during the sonochemistry-assisted microwave process. The sonochemistry assistance also remarkably increased the specific surface area and dispersibility of the as-obtained products. These results suggest that the sonochemistry-assisted microwave process is an effective approach to synthesize CHAp with high efficiency. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Simpson, L.

ITN Energy Systems, Inc., and Global Solar Energy, Inc., with the assistance of NREL's PV Manufacturing R&D program, have continued the advancement of CIGS production technology through the development of trajectory-oriented predictive/control models, fault-tolerance control, control-platform development, in-situ sensors, and process improvements. Modeling activities to date include the development of physics-based and empirical models for CIGS and sputter-deposition processing, implementation of model-based control, and application of predictive models to the construction of new evaporation sources and for control. Model-based control is enabled through implementation of reduced or empirical models into a control platform. Reliability improvement activities include implementation of preventivemore » maintenance schedules; detection of failed sensors/equipment and reconfiguration to continue processing; and systematic development of fault prevention and reconfiguration strategies for the full range of CIGS PV production deposition processes. In-situ sensor development activities have resulted in improved control and indicated the potential for enhanced process status monitoring and control of the deposition processes. Substantial process improvements have been made, including significant improvement in CIGS uniformity, thickness control, efficiency, yield, and throughput. In large measure, these gains have been driven by process optimization, which, in turn, have been enabled by control and reliability improvements due to this PV Manufacturing R&D program. This has resulted in substantial improvements of flexible CIGS PV module performance and efficiency.« less

Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (BAIHP)

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

McIlvaine, Janet; Chandra, Subrato; Barkaszi, Stephen

This final report summarizes the work conducted by the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (www.baihp.org) for the period 9/1/99-6/30/06. BAIHP is led by the Florida Solar Energy Center of the University of Central Florida and focuses on factory built housing. In partnership with over 50 factory and site builders, work was performed in two main areas--research and technical assistance. In the research area--through site visits in over 75 problem homes, we discovered the prime causes of moisture problems in some manufactured homes and our industry partners adopted our solutions to nearly eliminate this vexing problem. Through testing conducted in overmore » two dozen housing factories of six factory builders we documented the value of leak free duct design and construction which was embraced by our industry partners and implemented in all the thousands of homes they built. Through laboratory test facilities and measurements in real homes we documented the merits of 'cool roof' technologies and developed an innovative night sky radiative cooling concept currently being tested. We patented an energy efficient condenser fan design, documented energy efficient home retrofit strategies after hurricane damage, developed improved specifications for federal procurement for future temporary housing, compared the Building America benchmark to HERS Index and IECC 2006, developed a toolkit for improving the accuracy and speed of benchmark calculations, monitored the field performance of over a dozen prototype homes and initiated research on the effectiveness of occupancy feedback in reducing household energy use. In the technical assistance area we provided systems engineering analysis, conducted training, testing and commissioning that have resulted in over 128,000 factory built and over 5,000 site built homes which are saving their owners over $17,000,000 annually in energy bills. These include homes built by Palm Harbor Homes, Fleetwood, Southern Energy Homes, Cavalier and the manufacturers participating in the Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Home program. We worked with over two dozen Habitat for Humanity affiliates and helped them build over 700 Energy Star or near Energy Star homes. We have provided technical assistance to several show homes constructed for the International builders show in Orlando, FL and assisted with other prototype homes in cold climates that save 40% over the benchmark reference. In the Gainesville Fl area we have several builders that are consistently producing 15 to 30 homes per month in several subdivisions that meet the 30% benchmark savings goal. We have contributed to the 2006 DOE Joule goals by providing two community case studies meeting the 30% benchmark goal in marine climates.« less

Final priority; technical assistance to improve state data capacity--National Technical Assistance Center to improve state capacity to accurately collect and report IDEA data. Final priority.

PubMed

2013-05-20

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Technical Assistance to Improve State Data Capacity program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus attention on an identified national need to provide technical assistance (TA) to States to improve their capacity to meet the data collection and reporting requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We intend this priority to establish a TA center to improve State capacity to accurately collect and report IDEA data (Data Center).

Laser assisted microdissection, an efficient technique to understand tissue specific gene expression patterns and functional genomics in plants.

PubMed

Gautam, Vibhav; Sarkar, Ananda K

2015-04-01

Laser assisted microdissection (LAM) is an advanced technology used to perform tissue or cell-specific expression profiling of genes and proteins, owing to its ability to isolate the desired tissue or cell type from a heterogeneous population. Due to the specificity and high efficiency acquired during its pioneering use in medical science, the LAM technique has quickly been adopted for use in many biological researches. Today, it has become a potent tool to address a wide range of questions in diverse field of plant biology. Beginning with comparative transcriptome analysis of different tissues such as reproductive parts, meristems, lateral organs, roots etc., LAM has also been extensively used in plant-pathogen interaction studies, proteomics, and metabolomics. In combination with next generation sequencing and proteomics analysis, LAM has opened up promising opportunities in the area of large scale functional studies in plants. Ever since the advent of this technique, significant improvements have been achieved in term of its instrumentation and method, which has made LAM a more efficient tool applicable in wider research areas. Here, we discuss the advancement of LAM technique with special emphasis on its methodology and highlight its scope in modern research areas of plant biology. Although we put emphasis on use of LAM in transcriptome studies, which is mostly used, we also discuss its recent application and scope in proteome and metabolome studies.

Efficient ECH-assisted plasma start-up using trapped particle configuration in the versatile experiment spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, YoungHwa; Lee, Jeongwon; Jo, JongGab; Jung, Bong-Ki; Lee, HyunYeong; Chung, Kyoung-Jae; Na, Yong-Su; Hahm, T. S.; Hwang, Y. S.

2017-01-01

An efficient and robust ECH (electron cyclotron heating)-assisted plasma start-up scheme with a low loop voltage and low volt-second consumption utilizing the trapped particle configuration (TPC) has been developed in the versatile experiment spherical torus (VEST). The TPC is a mirror-like magnetic field configuration providing a vertical magnetic field in the same direction as the equilibrium field. It significantly enhances ECH pre-ionization with enhanced particle confinement due to its mirror effect, and intrinsically provides an equilibrium field with a stable decay index enabling prompt plasma current initiation. Consequently, the formation of TPC before the onset of the loop voltage allows the plasma to start up with a lower loop voltage and lower volt-second consumption as well as a wider operation range in terms of ECH pre-ionization power and H2 filling pressure. The TPC can improve the widely-used field null configuration significantly for more efficient start-up when ECH pre-ionization is used. This can then be utilized in superconducting tokamaks requiring a low loop voltage start-up, such as ITER, or in spherical tori with limited volt-seconds. The TPC can be particularly useful in superconducting tokamaks with a limited current slew-rate of superconducting PF coils, as it can save volt-second consumption before plasma current initiation by providing prompt initiation with an intrinsic stable equilibrium field.

Efficiency of a hybrid-type plasma-assisted fuel reformation system

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

Matveev, I.B.; Serbin, S.I.; Lux, S.M.

2008-12-15

The major advantages of a new plasma-assisted fuel reformation system are its cost effectiveness and technical efficiency. Applied Plasma Technologies has proposed its new highly efficient hybrid-type plasma-assisted system for organic fuel combustion and gasification. The system operates as a multimode multipurpose reactor in a wide range of plasma feedstock gases and turndown ratios. This system also has convenient and simultaneous feeding of several reagents in the reaction zone such as liquid fuels, coal, steam, and air. A special methodology has been developed for such a system in terms of heat balance evaluation and optimization. This methodology considers all existingmore » and possible energy streams, which could influence the system's efficiency. The developed hybrid-type plasma system could be suitable for combustion applications, mobile and autonomous small- to mid-size liquid fuel and coal gasification modules, hydrogen-rich gas generators, waste-processing facilities, and plasma chemical reactors.« less

Fabrication of 20.19% Efficient Single-Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell with Inverted Pyramid Microstructure.

PubMed

Zhang, Chunyang; Chen, Lingzhi; Zhu, Yingjie; Guan, Zisheng

2018-04-03

This paper reports inverted pyramid microstructure-based single-crystalline silicon (sc-Si) solar cell with a conversion efficiency up to 20.19% in standard size of 156.75 × 156.75 mm 2 . The inverted pyramid microstructures were fabricated jointly by metal-assisted chemical etching process (MACE) with ultra-low concentration of silver ions and optimized alkaline anisotropic texturing process. And the inverted pyramid sizes were controlled by changing the parameters in both MACE and alkaline anisotropic texturing. Regarding passivation efficiency, the textured sc-Si with normal reflectivity of 9.2% and inverted pyramid size of 1 μm was used to fabricate solar cells. The best batch of solar cells showed a 0.19% higher of conversion efficiency and a 0.22 mA cm -2 improvement in short-circuit current density, and the excellent photoelectric property surpasses that of the same structure solar cell reported before. This technology shows great potential to be an alternative for large-scale production of high efficient sc-Si solar cells in the future.

Computerized Bone Age Estimation Using Deep Learning Based Program: Evaluation of the Accuracy and Efficiency.

PubMed

Kim, Jeong Rye; Shim, Woo Hyun; Yoon, Hee Mang; Hong, Sang Hyup; Lee, Jin Seong; Cho, Young Ah; Kim, Sangki

2017-12-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of a new automatic software system for bone age assessment and to validate its feasibility in clinical practice. A Greulich-Pyle method-based deep-learning technique was used to develop the automatic software system for bone age determination. Using this software, bone age was estimated from left-hand radiographs of 200 patients (3-17 years old) using first-rank bone age (software only), computer-assisted bone age (two radiologists with software assistance), and Greulich-Pyle atlas-assisted bone age (two radiologists with Greulich-Pyle atlas assistance only). The reference bone age was determined by the consensus of two experienced radiologists. First-rank bone ages determined by the automatic software system showed a 69.5% concordance rate and significant correlations with the reference bone age (r = 0.992; p < 0.001). Concordance rates increased with the use of the automatic software system for both reviewer 1 (63.0% for Greulich-Pyle atlas-assisted bone age vs 72.5% for computer-assisted bone age) and reviewer 2 (49.5% for Greulich-Pyle atlas-assisted bone age vs 57.5% for computer-assisted bone age). Reading times were reduced by 18.0% and 40.0% for reviewers 1 and 2, respectively. Automatic software system showed reliably accurate bone age estimations and appeared to enhance efficiency by reducing reading times without compromising the diagnostic accuracy.

Improved conventional and microwave-assisted silylation protocols for simultaneous gas chromatographic determination of tocopherols and sterols: Method development and multi-response optimization.

PubMed

Poojary, Mahesha M; Passamonti, Paolo

2016-12-09

This paper reports on improved conventional thermal silylation (CTS) and microwave-assisted silylation (MAS) methods for simultaneous determination of tocopherols and sterols by gas chromatography. Reaction parameters in each of the methods developed were systematically optimized using a full factorial design followed by a central composite design. Initially, experimental conditions for CTS were optimized using a block heater. Further, a rapid MAS was developed and optimized. To understand microwave heating mechanisms, MAS was optimized by two distinct modes of microwave heating: temperature-controlled MAS and power-controlled MAS, using dedicated instruments where reaction temperature and microwave power level were controlled and monitored online. Developed methods: were compared with routine overnight derivatization. On a comprehensive level, while both CTS and MAS were found to be efficient derivatization techniques, MAS significantly reduced the reaction time. The optimal derivatization temperature and time for CTS found to be 55°C and 54min, while it was 87°C and 1.2min for temperature-controlled MAS. Further, a microwave power of 300W and a derivatization time 0.5min found to be optimal for power-controlled MAS. The use of an appropriate derivatization solvent, such as pyridine, was found to be critical for the successful determination. Catalysts, like potassium acetate and 4-dimethylaminopyridine, enhanced the efficiency slightly. The developed methods showed excellent analytical performance in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The pediatric orthopaedics workforce demands, needs, and resources.

PubMed

Schwend, Richard M

2009-01-01

The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America Practice Management Committee evaluated current and future pediatric orthopaedic workforce needs. The resulting informational article summarizes its findings and makes recommendations for improvement of our workforce. Whereas policy decisions are often in the hands of the government with its emphasis on access and cost containment, the area that we can control, the quality of our workforce should be our primary effort. Specific recommendations include the prospective collection of accurate workforce data, increasing the interest of residents and students to enter our specialty, assisting members to improve practice efficiencies and assuming leadership in the musculoskeletal education of our primary care colleagues. We expect that by improving our workforce and professional work environment, we can make a difference for our young patients and for the society.

Phytoremediation: plant-endophyte partnerships take the challenge

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

Weyens, N.; van der Lelie, D.; Taghavi, S.

A promising field to exploit plant-endophyte partnerships is the remediation of contaminated soils and (ground) water. Many plant growth promoting endophytes can assist their host plant to overcome contaminant-induced stress responses, thus providing improved plant growth. During phytoremediation of organic contaminants, plants can further benefit from endophytes possessing appropriate degradation pathways and metabolic capabilities, leading to more efficient contaminant degradation and reduction of both phytotoxicity and evapotranspiration of volatile contaminants. For phytoremediation of toxic metals, endophytes possessing a metal-resistance/sequestration system can lower metal phytotoxicity and affect metal translocation to the above-ground plant parts. Furthermore, endophytes that can degrade organic contaminantsmore » and deal with or, even better, improve extraction of the metals offer promising ways to improve phytoremediation of mixed pollution.« less

New software system to improve AGU membership management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEntee, Chris

2012-06-01

Almost 2 years ago, AGU began investigating how it could more efficiently manage member and customer records as well as support processes that currently run on multiple systems. I am pleased to announce that on 25 June, as the result of intense efforts, AGU will migrate to a new database software system that will house the majority of AGU operations. AGU staff will have more tools at their disposal to assist members, and members will have more intuitive and user-friendly options when using the online interface to update their profiles or make purchases. I am particularly excited about this major improvement to our infrastructure because it better positions AGU to achieve goals in its strategic plan.

A Framework for Intelligent Battlefield Treatment System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jian; Wu, Biao; Yi, Renjie; Zhu, Jie

With the development of high technology weapon, the execution and precision of weapon have made great improvement, which arouse many new challenge for treatment of war wounds. It is very urgent to research how to reduce casualty of individual solider. However, researches focus only on daily application recently. This paper discusses Intelligent Battlefield Treatment System (IBTS), and designs the framework of the service-oriented system based on WCF. The system has the following functions: testing the physical condition of a solider, disposing the distress signals intelligently, dispatching rescuers and assisting self-rescue or mutual-rescue to the wounded. The IBTS characteristics of data aggregate, multi-platform operation and data sharing can improve the treatment efficiency.

Design and Implementation of a Set-Top Box-Based Homecare System Using Hybrid Cloud.

PubMed

Lin, Bor-Shing; Hsiao, Pei-Chi; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Lee, I-Jung; Jan, Gene Eu

2015-11-01

Telemedicine has become a prevalent topic in recent years, and several telemedicine systems have been proposed; however, such systems are an unsuitable fit for the daily requirements of users. The system proposed in this study was developed as a set-top box integrated with the Android™ (Google, Mountain View, CA) operating system to provide a convenient and user-friendly interface. The proposed system can assist with family healthcare management, telemedicine service delivery, and information exchange among hospitals. To manage the system, a novel type of hybrid cloud architecture was also developed. Updated information is stored on a public cloud, enabling medical staff members to rapidly access information when diagnosing patients. In the long term, the stored data can be reduced to improve the efficiency of the database. The proposed design offers a robust architecture for storing data in a homecare system and can thus resolve network overload and congestion resulting from accumulating data, which are inherent problems in centralized architectures, thereby improving system efficiency.

Reduced-graphene-oxide supported tantalum-based electrocatalysts: Controlled nitrogen doping and oxygen reduction reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiaoyun; Mo, Qijie; Guo, Yulin; Chen, Nana; Gao, Qingsheng

2018-03-01

Controlled N-doping is feasible to engineer the surface stoichiometry and the electronic configuration of metal-oxide electrocatalysts toward efficient oxygen reduction reactions (ORR). Taking reduced graphene oxide supported tantalum-oxides (TaOx/RGO) for example, this work illustrated the controlled N-doping in both metal-oxides and carbon supports, and the contribution to the improved ORR activity. The active N-doped TaOx/RGO electrocatalysts were fabricated via SiO2-assisted pyrolysis, in which the amount and kind of N-doping were tailored toward efficient electrocatalysis. The optimal nanocomposites showed a quite positive half-wave potential (0.80 V vs. RHE), the excellent long-term stability, and the outstanding tolerance to methanol crossing. The improvement in ORR was reasonably attributed to the synergy between N-doped TaOx and N-doped RGO. Elucidating the importance of controlled N-doping for electrocatalysis, this work will open up new opportunities to explore noble-metal-free materials for renewable energy applications.

Ergonomic evaluation of 3D plane positioning using a mouse and a haptic device.

PubMed

Paul, Laurent; Cartiaux, Olivier; Docquier, Pierre-Louis; Banse, Xavier

2009-12-01

Preoperative planning and intraoperative assistance are needed to improve accuracy in tumour surgery. To be accepted, these processes must be efficient. An experiment was conducted to compare a mouse and a haptic device, with and without force feedback, to perform plan positioning in a 3D space. Ergonomics and performance factors were investigated during the experiment. Positioning strategies were observed. The task completion time, number of 3D orientations and failure rate were analysed. A questionnaire on ergonomics was filled out by each participant. The haptic device showed a significantly lower failure rate and was quicker and more ergonomic than the mouse. The force feedback was not beneficial to the accomplishment of the task. The haptic device is intuitive, ergonomic and more efficient than the mouse for positioning a 3D plane into a 3D space. Useful observations regarding positioning strategies will improve the integration of haptic devices into medical applications. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A climate responsive urban design tool: a platform to improve energy efficiency in a dry hot climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Dallal, Norhan; Visser, Florentine

2017-09-01

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, new urban developments should address the climatic conditions to improve outdoor comfort and to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. This article describes a design tool that supports climate responsive design for a dry hot climate. The approach takes the climate as an initiator for the conceptual urban form with a more energy-efficient urban morphology. The methodology relates the different passive strategies suitable for major climate conditions in MENA region (dry-hot) to design parameters that create the urban form. This parametric design approach is the basis for a tool that generates conceptual climate responsive urban forms so as to assist the urban designer early in the design process. Various conceptual scenarios, generated by a computational model, are the results of the proposed platform. A practical application of the approach is conducted on a New Urban Community in Aswan (Egypt), showing the economic feasibility of the resulting urban form and morphology, and the proposed tool.

Partnership between CTSI and Business Schools Can Promote Best Practices for Core Facilities and Resources

PubMed Central

Reeves, Lilith; Dunn‐Jensen, Linda M.; Baldwin, Timothy T.; Tatikonda, Mohan V.

2013-01-01

Abstract Biomedical research enterprises require a large number of core facilities and resources to supply the infrastructure necessary for translational research. Maintaining the financial viability and promoting efficiency in an academic environment can be particularly challenging for medical schools and universities. The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute sought to improve core and service programs through a partnership with the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. The program paired teams of Masters of Business Administration students with cores and programs that self‐identified the need for assistance in project management, financial management, marketing, or resource efficiency. The projects were developed by CTSI project managers and business school faculty using service‐learning principles to ensure learning for students who also received course credit for their participation. With three years of experience, the program demonstrates a successful partnership that improves clinical research infrastructure by promoting business best practices and providing a valued learning experience for business students. PMID:23919365

Partnership between CTSI and business schools can promote best practices for core facilities and resources.

PubMed

Reeves, Lilith; Dunn-Jensen, Linda M; Baldwin, Timothy T; Tatikonda, Mohan V; Cornetta, Kenneth

2013-08-01

Biomedical research enterprises require a large number of core facilities and resources to supply the infrastructure necessary for translational research. Maintaining the financial viability and promoting efficiency in an academic environment can be particularly challenging for medical schools and universities. The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute sought to improve core and service programs through a partnership with the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. The program paired teams of Masters of Business Administration students with cores and programs that self-identified the need for assistance in project management, financial management, marketing, or resource efficiency. The projects were developed by CTSI project managers and business school faculty using service-learning principles to ensure learning for students who also received course credit for their participation. With three years of experience, the program demonstrates a successful partnership that improves clinical research infrastructure by promoting business best practices and providing a valued learning experience for business students. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Peer-assisted learning model enhances clinical clerk's procedural skills.

PubMed

Huang, Chia-Chang; Hsu, Hui-Chi; Yang, Ling-Yu; Chen, Chen-Huan; Yang, Ying-Ying; Chang, Ching-Chih; Chuang, Chiao-Lin; Lee, Wei-Shin; Lee, Fa-Yauh; Hwang, Shinn-Jang

2018-05-17

Failure to transfer procedural skills learned in a laboratory to the bedside is commonly due to a lack of peer support/stimulation. A digital platform (Facebook) allows new clinical clerks to share experiences and tips that help augment their procedural skills in a peer-assisted learning/teaching method. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the innovation of using the digital platform to support the transfer of laboratory-trained procedural skills in the clinical units. Volunteer clinical clerks (n = 44) were enrolled into the peer-assisted learning (PAL) group, which was characterized by the peer-assisted learning of procedural skills during their final 3-month clinical clerkship block. Other clerks (n = 51) did not join the procedural skills-specific Facebook group and served as the self-directed learning regular group. The participants in both the PAL and regular groups completed pre- and post-intervention self-assessments for general self-assessed efficiency ratings (GSER) and skills specific self-assessed efficiency ratings (SSSER) for performing vein puncture, intravenous (IV) catheter and nasogastric (NG) tube insertion. Finally, all clerks received the post-intervention 3-station Objective Structured Clinical Skills Examination (OSCE) to test their proficiency for the abovementioned three procedural skills. Higher cumulative numbers of vein punctures, IV catheter insertions and NG tube insertions at the bedside were carried out by the PAL group than the regular group. A greater improvement in GSERs and SSSERs for medical procedures was found in the PAL group than in the regular group. The PAL group obtained higher procedural skills scores in the post-intervention OSCEs than the regular group. Our study suggested that the implementation of a procedural skill-specific digital platform effectively helps clerks to transfer laboratory-trained procedural skills into the clinical units. In comparison with the regular self-directed learning group, the peer-assisted learning characteristics of Facebook give additional benefits to the PAL group by enhancing their procedural skills. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

Magnetic nanoparticles enhance adenovirus transduction in vitro and in vivo.

PubMed

Sapet, Cédric; Pellegrino, Christophe; Laurent, Nicolas; Sicard, Flavie; Zelphati, Olivier

2012-05-01

Adenoviruses are among the most powerful gene delivery systems. Even if they present low potential for oncogenesis, there is still a need for minimizing widespread delivery to avoid deleterious reactions. In this study, we investigated Magnetofection efficiency to concentrate and guide vectors for an improved targeted delivery. Magnetic nanoparticles formulations were complexed to a replication defective Adenovirus and were used to transduce cells both in vitro and in vivo. A new integrated magnetic procedure for cell sorting and genetic modification (i-MICST) was also investigated. Magnetic nanoparticles enhanced viral transduction efficiency and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. They accelerated the transduction kinetics and allowed non-permissive cells infection. Magnetofection greatly improved adenovirus-mediated DNA delivery in vivo and provided a magnetic targeting. The i-MICST results established the efficiency of magnetic nanoparticles assisted viral transduction within cell sorting columns. The results showed that the combination of Magnetofection and Adenoviruses represents a promising strategy for gene therapy. Recently, a new integrated method to combine clinically approved magnetic cell isolation devices and genetic modification was developed. In this study, we validated that magnetic cell separation and adenoviral transduction can be accomplished in one reliable integrated and safe system.

Study on real-time force feedback for a master-slave interventional surgical robotic system.

PubMed

Guo, Shuxiang; Wang, Yuan; Xiao, Nan; Li, Youxiang; Jiang, Yuhua

2018-04-13

In robot-assisted catheterization, haptic feedback is important, but is currently lacking. In addition, conventional interventional surgical robotic systems typically employ a master-slave architecture with an open-loop force feedback, which results in inaccurate control. We develop herein a novel real-time master-slave (RTMS) interventional surgical robotic system with a closed-loop force feedback that allows a surgeon to sense the true force during remote operation, provide adequate haptic feedback, and improve control accuracy in robot-assisted catheterization. As part of this system, we also design a unique master control handle that measures the true force felt by a surgeon, providing the basis for the closed-loop control of the entire system. We use theoretical and empirical methods to demonstrate that the proposed RTMS system provides a surgeon (using the master control handle) with a more accurate and realistic force sensation, which subsequently improves the precision of the master-slave manipulation. The experimental results show a substantial increase in the control accuracy of the force feedback and an increase in operational efficiency during surgery.

An innovative intermittent-vacuum assisted thermophilic anaerobic digestion process for effective animal manure utilization and treatment.

PubMed

Zhang, Renchuan; Anderson, Erik; Addy, Min; Deng, Xiangyuan; Kabir, Fayal; Lu, Qian; Ma, Yiwei; Cheng, Yanling; Liu, Yuhuan; Chen, Paul; Ruan, Roger

2017-11-01

Intermittent-vacuum stripping (IVS) was developed as a pretreatment for thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) to improve methanogenesis and hydrolysis activity through preventing free ammonia and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) inhibition from liquid swine manure (LSM). Over 98% of ammonia and 38% organic nitrogen were removed in 60min from 55°C to 85°C with vacuum pressure (from 100.63±3.79mmHg to 360.91±7.39mmHg) at initial pH 10.0 by IVS. Thermophilic methanogenesis and hydrolysis activity of pretreated LSM increased 52.25% (from 11.56±1.75% to 17.60±0.49%) in 25days and 40% (from 10days to 6days) in bio-methane potential assay. Over 80% H 2 S and total nitrogen were removed by IVS assistance, while around 70% nitrogen was recycled as ammonium sulfate. Therefore, IVS-TAD combination could be an effective strategy to improve TAD efficiency, whose elution is more easily utilized in algae cultivation and/or hydroponic system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of an ultrasonic physiotherapy system with pulse wave feedback control.

PubMed

Peng, Ran; Luo, Yang; Li, Zhangyong; Wang, Wei; Pang, Yu

2017-07-20

Due to different physical and biological mechanisms behind ultrasound hyperthermia and phonophoresis, the requirement for ultrasound power, frequency and control modes varies. This paper introduces an adaptive ultrasonic physiotherapy system based on real-time surveillance over physiological characteristics of the patients, which in turn assists the individual treatment and dose limitation in auxiliary rehabilitation. The method essentially takes advantage of distinctive characteristics of two different phases (systole and diastole) of the human cardiac cycle as a medium for modulation. The abundance of blood flow during systole enables energy exchange for hyperthermia while blood flow insufficiency caused by diastole assists in drug penetration. Said method could improve the adjuvant therapy as it provides partial drug penetration and therapeutic dosage control. By adjusting time window and intensity of multi-frequency ultrasound, it is possible to reduce the irradiation dosage to around 22% of that during continuous irradiation at 1 MHz. The method shows high potential in clinical practice. Frequency-tuning ultrasound therapy would be more efficient regarding drug penetration and improve the therapeutic efficacy of hyperthermia.

Cu-modified alkalinized g-C3N4 as photocatalytically assisted heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Qimei; Chen, Yingying; Wang, Lingli; Ai, Shasha; Ding, Hanming

2017-12-01

Alkalinized graphitic carbon nitride (CNK-OH) has been synthesized by one-step thermal poly-condensation method, and Cu-modified alkalinized g-C3N4 (Cu-CNK-OH) has been prepared by impregnation approach over CNK-OH. These copper species in Cu-CNK-OH are embedded in the frame of CNK-OH mostly via the Cu-N bonds. Cu-CNK-OH has been employed as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst to degrade rhodamine B (RhB). Both the production efficiency of hydroxyl radicals and the transformation rate of Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox pair increase under visible-light irradiation. As a result, Cu-CNK-OH exhibits improved Fenton-like catalytic activity on the degradation of RhB. The synergetic interaction between Fenton-like process and photocatalytic process also contributes such improvement. The hydroxyl radicals and holes are the major reactive species in the photocatalytically assisted Fenton-like process. This study provides a valuable strategy for metal modification of alkalinized g-C3N4 with enhanced Fenton-like catalytic performance for the degradation of organic contaminants.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction and quantitation of oils from Syzygium aromaticum flower bud (clove) with supercritical carbon dioxide.

PubMed

Yang, Yu-Chiao; Wei, Ming-Chi; Hong, Show-Jen

2014-01-03

This study evaluated ultrasound-assisted supercritical carbon dioxide (USC-CO2) extraction for determining the extraction yields of oils and the contents of eugenol, β-caryophyllene, eugenyl acetate and α-humulene from clove buds. Compared to traditional SC-CO2 extraction, USC-CO2 extraction might provide a 13.5% increase in the extraction yield for the oil while utilizing less severe operating parameters, such as temperature, pressure, CO2 flow rate and the time consumed by the process. Our results were comparable to those obtained using the heat reflux extraction method, though the yield was improved by 20.8% using USC-CO2. In kinetic studies, the USC-CO2 extraction of clove oil followed second-order kinetics. The activation energy for the oil extraction was 76.56kJ/mol. The USC-CO2 procedure facilitated the use of mild extraction conditions, improved extraction efficiency and the quality of products and is a potential method for industry. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Real-Time Control of an Exoskeleton Hand Robot with Myoelectric Pattern Recognition.

PubMed

Lu, Zhiyuan; Chen, Xiang; Zhang, Xu; Tong, Kay-Yu; Zhou, Ping

2017-08-01

Robot-assisted training provides an effective approach to neurological injury rehabilitation. To meet the challenge of hand rehabilitation after neurological injuries, this study presents an advanced myoelectric pattern recognition scheme for real-time intention-driven control of a hand exoskeleton. The developed scheme detects and recognizes user's intention of six different hand motions using four channels of surface electromyography (EMG) signals acquired from the forearm and hand muscles, and then drives the exoskeleton to assist the user accomplish the intended motion. The system was tested with eight neurologically intact subjects and two individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The overall control accuracy was [Formula: see text] for the neurologically intact subjects and [Formula: see text] for the SCI subjects. The total lag of the system was approximately 250[Formula: see text]ms including data acquisition, transmission and processing. One SCI subject also participated in training sessions in his second and third visits. Both the control accuracy and efficiency tended to improve. These results show great potential for applying the advanced myoelectric pattern recognition control of the wearable robotic hand system toward improving hand function after neurological injuries.

Results From Cs Activated GaN Photocathode Development for MCP Detector Systems at GSFC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norton, Tim; Woodgate, Bruce; Stock, Joe; Hilton, George; Ulmer, Mel; Aslam, Shahid; Vispute, R. D.

2003-01-01

We describe the development of high quantum efficiency W photocathodes for use in large area two dimensional microchannel plate based detector arrays to enable new W space astronomy missions. Future W missions will require improvements in detector sensitivity, which has the most leverage for cost-effective improvements in overall telescope/instrument sensitivity. We use new materials such as p-doped GaN, AIGaN, ZnMgO, Sic and diamond. We have currently obtained QE values > 40 % at 185 nm with Cesiated GaN, and hope to demonstrate higher values in the future. By using controlled internal fields and nano-structuring of the surfaces, we plan to provide field emission assistance for photoelectrons while maintaining their energy distinction from dark noise electrons. We will transfer these methods from GaN to ZnMgO, a new family of wide band-gap materials more compatible with microchannel plates. We also are exploring technical parameters such as doping profiles, internal and external field strengths, angle of incidence, field emission assistance, surface preparation, etc.

Electropolar effects on anaerobic fermentation of lignocellulosic materials in novel single-electrode cells.

PubMed

Qu, Guangfei; Qiu, Weixia; Liu, Yuhuan; Zhong, Dongwei; Ning, Ping

2014-05-01

As a promising renewable energy technology, anaerobic fermentation is consistently limited by low production and calorific value of biogas, along with the difficulty of lignocellulose degradation. The effects of polarity and micro-voltage on anaerobic fermentation from lignocellulosic materials were investigated in single-electrode fermenter to explore cost-efficient technology. The results illustrated that the biogas production and quality were significantly affected by electric polarity. And cathode-assisted fermentation led to more positive effects than anode-assisted. Compared with results in control group without electrode, the average biogas and methane yield under cathodic micro-voltage (-250 mV) were astonishingly improved by 2.82 and 2.44 mL g(-1)d(-1) respectively. Meanwhile, the degradation ratios of lignin and cellulose were also improved by 23.11% and 19.46%. It demonstrated that single micro-voltage can not only promote lignocellulose degradation but biogas production and calorific value. These micro-voltage effects on fermentation process also provided great opportunity to breakthrough the present limitation of lignocellulosic materials fermentation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional computed tomography reconstruction for operative planning in robotic segmentectomy: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Le Moal, Julien; Peillon, Christophe; Dacher, Jean-Nicolas

2018-01-01

Background The objective of our pilot study was to assess if three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction performed by Visible Patient™ could be helpful for the operative planning, efficiency and safety of robot-assisted segmentectomy. Methods Between 2014 and 2015, 3D reconstructions were provided by the Visible Patient™ online service and used for the operative planning of robotic segmentectomy. To obtain 3D reconstruction, the surgeon uploaded the anonymized computed tomography (CT) image of the patient to the secured Visible Patient™ server and then downloaded the model after completion. Results Nine segmentectomies were performed between 2014 and 2015 using a pre-operative 3D model. All 3D reconstructions met our expectations: anatomical accuracy (bronchi, arteries, veins, tumor, and the thoracic wall with intercostal spaces), accurate delimitation of each segment in the lobe of interest, margin resection, free space rotation, portability (smartphone, tablet) and time saving technique. Conclusions We have shown that operative planning by 3D CT using Visible Patient™ reconstruction is useful in our practice of robot-assisted segmentectomy. The main disadvantage is the high cost. Its impact on reducing complications and improving surgical efficiency is the object of an ongoing study. PMID:29600049

Three-dimensional computed tomography reconstruction for operative planning in robotic segmentectomy: a pilot study.

PubMed

Le Moal, Julien; Peillon, Christophe; Dacher, Jean-Nicolas; Baste, Jean-Marc

2018-01-01

The objective of our pilot study was to assess if three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction performed by Visible Patient™ could be helpful for the operative planning, efficiency and safety of robot-assisted segmentectomy. Between 2014 and 2015, 3D reconstructions were provided by the Visible Patient™ online service and used for the operative planning of robotic segmentectomy. To obtain 3D reconstruction, the surgeon uploaded the anonymized computed tomography (CT) image of the patient to the secured Visible Patient™ server and then downloaded the model after completion. Nine segmentectomies were performed between 2014 and 2015 using a pre-operative 3D model. All 3D reconstructions met our expectations: anatomical accuracy (bronchi, arteries, veins, tumor, and the thoracic wall with intercostal spaces), accurate delimitation of each segment in the lobe of interest, margin resection, free space rotation, portability (smartphone, tablet) and time saving technique. We have shown that operative planning by 3D CT using Visible Patient™ reconstruction is useful in our practice of robot-assisted segmentectomy. The main disadvantage is the high cost. Its impact on reducing complications and improving surgical efficiency is the object of an ongoing study.

Optimization of extraction efficiency by shear emulsifying assisted enzymatic hydrolysis and functional properties of dietary fiber from deoiled cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.).

PubMed

Ma, Mengmei; Mu, Taihua; Sun, Hongnan; Zhang, Miao; Chen, Jingwang; Yan, Zhibin

2015-07-15

This study evaluated the optimal conditions for extracting dietary fiber (DF) from deoiled cumin by shear emulsifying assisted enzymatic hydrolysis (SEAEH) using the response surface methodology. Fat adsorption capacity (FAC), glucose adsorption capacity (GAC), and bile acid retardation index (BRI) were measured to evaluate the functional properties of the extracted DF. The results revealed that the optimal extraction conditions included an enzyme to substrate ratio of 4.5%, a reaction temperature of 57 °C, a pH value of 7.7, and a reaction time of 155 min. Under these conditions, DF extraction efficiency and total dietary fiber content were 95.12% and 84.18%, respectively. The major components of deoiled cumin DF were hemicellulose (37.25%) and cellulose (33.40%). FAC and GAC increased with decreasing DF particle size (51-100 μm), but decreased with DF particle sizes <26 μm; BRI increased with decreasing DF particle size. The results revealed that SEAEH is an effective method for extracting DF. DF with particle size 26-51 μm had improved functional properties. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Metal-assisted electroless fabrication of nanoporous p-GaN for increasing the light extraction efficiency of light emitting diodes

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

Wang Ruijun; Liu Duo; Zuo Zhiyuan

2012-03-15

We report metal-assisted electroless fabrication of nanoporous p-GaN to improve the light extraction efficiency of GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). Although it has long been believed that p-GaN cannot be etched at room temperature, in this study we find that Ag nanocrystals (NCs) on the p-GaN surface enable effective etching of p-GaN in a mixture of HF and K{sub 2}S{sub 2}O{sub 8} under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. It is further shown that the roughened GaN/air interface enables strong scattering of photons emitted from the multiple quantum wells (MQWs). The light output power measurements indicate that the nanoporous LEDs obtained after 10more » min etching show a 32.7% enhancement in light-output relative to the conventional LEDs at an injection current of 20 mA without significant increase of the operating voltage. In contrast, the samples etched for 20 min show performance degradation when compared with those etched for 10 min, this is attributed to the current crowding effect and increased surface recombination rate.« less

Efficiently reducing transition curvature in heat-assisted magnetic recording with state-of-the-art write heads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogler, Christoph; Abert, Claas; Bruckner, Florian; Suess, Dieter

2017-05-01

Curvatures of bit transitions on granular media are a serious problem for the read-back process. We address this fundamental issue and propose a possibility to efficiently reduce transition curvatures with state-of-the-art heat-assisted magnetic recording heads. We compare footprints of conventional with those of the proposed head design on different media, consisting of exchange coupled and single phase grains. Additionally, we investigate the impact of various recording parameters, such as the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the applied heat pulse and the coercivity gradient near the write temperature of the recording grains. The footprints are calculated with a coarse grained model, based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch equation. The presented simulations show a transition curvature reduction of up to 40%, in the case of a medium with exchange coupled grains and a heat pulse with a FWHM of 40 nm. We further give the reason for the straightening of the bit transitions, by means of basic considerations with regard to the effective recording time window of the write process. Besides the transition curvature reduction, the proposed head design yields an improvement of the transition jitter in both down-track and off-track directions.

Enhancement of photovoltaic response in multilayer MoS2 induced by plasma doping.

PubMed

Wi, Sungjin; Kim, Hyunsoo; Chen, Mikai; Nam, Hongsuk; Guo, L Jay; Meyhofer, Edgar; Liang, Xiaogan

2014-05-27

Layered transition-metal dichalcogenides hold promise for making ultrathin-film photovoltaic devices with a combination of excellent photovoltaic performance, superior flexibility, long lifetime, and low manufacturing cost. Engineering the proper band structures of such layered materials is essential to realize such potential. Here, we present a plasma-assisted doping approach for significantly improving the photovoltaic response in multilayer MoS2. In this work, we fabricated and characterized photovoltaic devices with a vertically stacked indium tin oxide electrode/multilayer MoS2/metal electrode structure. Utilizing a plasma-induced p-doping approach, we are able to form p-n junctions in MoS2 layers that facilitate the collection of photogenerated carriers, enhance the photovoltages, and decrease reverse dark currents. Using plasma-assisted doping processes, we have demonstrated MoS2-based photovoltaic devices exhibiting very high short-circuit photocurrent density values up to 20.9 mA/cm(2) and reasonably good power-conversion efficiencies up to 2.8% under AM1.5G illumination, as well as high external quantum efficiencies. We believe that this work provides important scientific insights for leveraging the optoelectronic properties of emerging atomically layered two-dimensional materials for photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications.

Viewpoint matters: objective performance metrics for surgeon endoscope control during robot-assisted surgery.

PubMed

Jarc, Anthony M; Curet, Myriam J

2017-03-01

Effective visualization of the operative field is vital to surgical safety and education. However, additional metrics for visualization are needed to complement other common measures of surgeon proficiency, such as time or errors. Unlike other surgical modalities, robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) enables data-driven feedback to trainees through measurement of camera adjustments. The purpose of this study was to validate and quantify the importance of novel camera metrics during RAMIS. New (n = 18), intermediate (n = 8), and experienced (n = 13) surgeons completed 25 virtual reality simulation exercises on the da Vinci Surgical System. Three camera metrics were computed for all exercises and compared to conventional efficiency measures. Both camera metrics and efficiency metrics showed construct validity (p < 0.05) across most exercises (camera movement frequency 23/25, camera movement duration 22/25, camera movement interval 19/25, overall score 24/25, completion time 25/25). Camera metrics differentiated new and experienced surgeons across all tasks as well as efficiency metrics. Finally, camera metrics significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with completion time (camera movement frequency 21/25, camera movement duration 21/25, camera movement interval 20/25) and overall score (camera movement frequency 20/25, camera movement duration 19/25, camera movement interval 20/25) for most exercises. We demonstrate construct validity of novel camera metrics and correlation between camera metrics and efficiency metrics across many simulation exercises. We believe camera metrics could be used to improve RAMIS proficiency-based curricula.

How to Improve the Design and Delivery of High-Quality Technical Assistance. Newsletter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 2005

2005-01-01

Educators often use the term technical assistance to define services delivered or received in the pursuit of school- and district-improvement initiatives. More specifically, technical assistance can be defined as any assistance that identifies, selects, or designs research-based solutions and practices to support school improvement (Mattson &…

Bath-Ambience-A Mechatronic System for Assisting the Caregivers of Bedridden People.

PubMed

Bezerra, Karolina; Machado, José; Carvalho, Vítor; Castro, Marcelo; Costa, Pedro; Matos, Demétrio; Soares, Filomena

2017-05-18

The health of older people is receiving special attention and dedication nowadays, with the aim of increasing their general wellbeing and quality of life. Studies into different aspects of the care of the elderly have found that emphasis should be given to solving problems related to bathing in different situations and environments. In particular, it is important to develop new assistive technologies to streamline and ease the burden of a caregiver's daily tasks. Generally-speaking, in the case of bedridden patients, bathing is typically carried out manually by a caregiver, using towels, sponges, and a water basin. Nevertheless, this apparently simple task needs some precautions in order to avoid the risk of microbial infections, falls and other injuries. With that in mind, this paper presents the design of a portable washing system, called Bath-Ambience, which enables bedridden patients to be bathed efficiently without having to be moved from their position. This portable system can be installed in different situations, both in a domestic setting, and in specialized institutions, and allows the caregiver to perform the bathing tasks without compromising health and safety, thereby making it possible to offer a comfortable and hygienic procedure to patients, improving their quality of life. This paper presents the design of the portable Bath-Ambience washing system, which provides efficient assistance for bathing bedridden patients without moving them to another place. This system is mainly dedicated for integration a smart home application in to allow bathing everywhere.

Bath-Ambience—A Mechatronic System for Assisting the Caregivers of Bedridden People

PubMed Central

Bezerra, Karolina; Machado, José; Carvalho, Vítor; Castro, Marcelo; Costa, Pedro; Matos, Demétrio; Soares, Filomena

2017-01-01

The health of older people is receiving special attention and dedication nowadays, with the aim of increasing their general wellbeing and quality of life. Studies into different aspects of the care of the elderly have found that emphasis should be given to solving problems related to bathing in different situations and environments. In particular, it is important to develop new assistive technologies to streamline and ease the burden of a caregiver’s daily tasks. Generally-speaking, in the case of bedridden patients, bathing is typically carried out manually by a caregiver, using towels, sponges, and a water basin. Nevertheless, this apparently simple task needs some precautions in order to avoid the risk of microbial infections, falls and other injuries. With that in mind, this paper presents the design of a portable washing system, called Bath-Ambience, which enables bedridden patients to be bathed efficiently without having to be moved from their position. This portable system can be installed in different situations, both in a domestic setting, and in specialized institutions, and allows the caregiver to perform the bathing tasks without compromising health and safety, thereby making it possible to offer a comfortable and hygienic procedure to patients, improving their quality of life. This paper presents the design of the portable Bath-Ambience washing system, which provides efficient assistance for bathing bedridden patients without moving them to another place. This system is mainly dedicated for integration a smart home application in to allow bathing everywhere. PMID:28524114

Apply creative thinking of decision support in electrical nursing record.

PubMed

Hao, Angelica Te-Hui; Hsu, Chien-Yeh; Li-Fang, Huang; Jian, Wen-Shan; Wu, Li-Bin; Kao, Ching-Chiu; Lu, Mei-Show; Chang, Her-Kung

2006-01-01

The nursing process consists of five interrelated steps: assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and evaluation. In the nursing process, the nurse collects a great deal of data and information. The amount of data and information may exceed the amount the nurse can process efficiently and correctly. Thus, the nurse needs assistance to become proficient in the planning of nursing care, due to the difficulty of simultaneously processing a large set of information. Computer systems are viewed as tools to expand the capabilities of the nurse's mind. Using computer technology to support clinicians' decision making may provide high-quality, patient-centered, and efficient healthcare. Although some existing nursing information systems aid in the nursing process, they only provide the most fundamental decision support--i.e., standard care plans associated with common nursing diagnoses. Such a computerized decision support system helps the nurse develop a care plan step-by-step. But it does not assist the nurse in the decision-making process. The decision process about how to generate nursing diagnoses from data and how to individualize the care plans still reminds of the nurse. The purpose of this study is to develop a pilot structure in electronic nursing record system integrated with international nursing standard for improving the proficiency and accuracy of plan of care in clinical pathway process. The proposed pilot systems not only assist both student nurses and nurses who are novice in nursing practice, but also experts who need to work in a practice area which they are not familiar with.

Genetic Dissection of Root Morphological Traits Related to Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Brassica napus L. under Two Contrasting Nitrogen Conditions

PubMed Central

Wang, Jie; Dun, Xiaoling; Shi, Jiaqin; Wang, Xinfa; Liu, Guihua; Wang, Hanzhong

2017-01-01

As the major determinant for nutrient uptake, root system architecture (RSA) has a massive impact on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). However, little is known the molecular control of RSA as related to NUE in rapeseed. Here, a rapeseed recombinant inbred line population (BnaZNRIL) was used to investigate root morphology (RM, an important component for RSA) and NUE-related traits under high-nitrogen (HN) and low-nitrogen (LN) conditions by hydroponics. Data analysis suggested that RM-related traits, particularly root size had significantly phenotypic correlations with plant dry biomass and N uptake irrespective of N levels, but no or little correlation with N utilization efficiency (NUtE), providing the potential to identify QTLs with pleiotropy or specificity for RM- and NUE-related traits. A total of 129 QTLs (including 23 stable QTLs, which were repeatedly detected at least two environments or different N levels) were identified and 83 of them were integrated into 22 pleiotropic QTL clusters. Five RM-NUE, ten RM-specific and three NUE-specific QTL clusters with same directions of additive-effect implied two NUE-improving approaches (RM-based and N utilization-based directly) and provided valuable genomic regions for NUE improvement in rapeseed. Importantly, all of four major QTLs and most of stable QTLs (20 out of 23) detected here were related to RM traits under HN and/or LN levels, suggested that regulating RM to improve NUE would be more feasible than regulating N efficiency directly. These results provided the promising genomic regions for marker-assisted selection on RM-based NUE improvement in rapeseed. PMID:29033971

Anticipatory detection of turning in humans for intuitive control of robotic mobility assistance.

PubMed

Farkhatdinov, Ildar; Roehri, Nicolas; Burdet, Etienne

2017-09-26

Many wearable lower-limb robots for walking assistance have been developed in recent years. However, it remains unclear how they can be commanded in an intuitive and efficient way by their user. In particular, providing robotic assistance to neurologically impaired individuals in turning remains a significant challenge. The control should be safe to the users and their environment, yet yield sufficient performance and enable natural human-machine interaction. Here, we propose using the head and trunk anticipatory behaviour in order to detect the intention to turn in a natural, non-intrusive way, and use it for triggering turning movement in a robot for walking assistance. We therefore study head and trunk orientation during locomotion of healthy adults, and investigate upper body anticipatory behaviour during turning. The collected walking and turning kinematics data are clustered using the k-means algorithm and cross-validation tests and k-nearest neighbours method are used to evaluate the performance of turning detection during locomotion. Tests with seven subjects exhibited accurate turning detection. Head anticipated turning by more than 400-500 ms in average across all subjects. Overall, the proposed method detected turning 300 ms after its initiation and 1230 ms before the turning movement was completed. Using head anticipatory behaviour enabled to detect turning faster by about 100 ms, compared to turning detection using only pelvis orientation measurements. Finally, it was demonstrated that the proposed turning detection can improve the quality of human-robot interaction by improving the control accuracy and transparency.

Sense of agency in continuous action: Assistance-induced performance improvement is self-attributed even with knowledge of assistance.

PubMed

Inoue, Kazuya; Takeda, Yuji; Kimura, Motohiro

2017-02-01

In a task involving continuous action to achieve a goal, the sense of agency increases with an improvement in task performance that is induced by unnoticed computer assistance. This study investigated how explicit instruction about the existence of computer assistance affects the increase of sense of agency that accompanies performance improvement. Participants performed a continuous action task in which they controlled the direction of motion of a dot to a goal by pressing keys. When instructions indicated the absence of assistance, the sense of agency increased with performance improvement induced by computer assistance, replicating previous findings. Interestingly, this increase of sense of agency was also observed even when instructions indicated the presence of assistance. These results suggest that even when a plausible cause of performance improvement other than one's own action exists, the improvement can be misattributed to one's own control of action, resulting in an increased sense of agency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Virtual screening of mandelate racemase mutants with enhanced activity based on binding energy in the transition state.

PubMed

Gu, Jiali; Liu, Min; Guo, Fei; Xie, Wenping; Lu, Wenqiang; Ye, Lidan; Chen, Zhirong; Yuan, Shenfeng; Yu, Hongwei

2014-02-05

Mandelate racemase (MR) is a promising candidate for the dynamic kinetic resolution of racemates. However, the poor activity of MR towards most of its non-natural substrates limits its widespread application. In this work, a virtual screening method based on the binding energy in the transition state was established to assist in the screening of MR mutants with enhanced catalytic efficiency. Using R-3-chloromandelic acid as a model substrate, a total of 53 mutants were constructed based on rational design in the two rounds of screening. The number of mutants for experimental validation was brought down to 17 by the virtual screening method, among which 14 variants turned out to possess improved catalytic efficiency. The variant V26I/Y54V showed 5.2-fold higher catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)) towards R-3-chloromandelic acid than that observed for the wild-type enzyme. Using this strategy, mutants were successfully obtained for two other substrates, R-mandelamide and R-2-naphthylglycolate (V26I and V29L, respectively), both with a 2-fold improvement in catalytic efficiency. These results demonstrated that this method could effectively predict the trend of mutational effects on catalysis. Analysis from the energetic and structural assays indicated that the enhanced interactions between the active sites and the substrate in the transition state led to improved catalytic efficiency. It was concluded that this virtual screening method based on the binding energy in the transition state was beneficial in enzyme rational redesign and helped to better understand the catalytic properties of the enzyme. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of Robotics in Children: A brave New World!

PubMed

Spinoit, Anne-Françoise; Nguyen, Hiep; Subramaniam, Ramnath

2017-04-01

The key in the evolution towards minimally invasive surgery is the availability of appropriate equipment, especially when procedures involve children. While robotic procedures in adults continue to struggle to prove measurable advantages compared with open or classical laparoscopic ones, the use of the robotic platform (RP) in pediatric urology is steadily increasing. To review the contemporary literature regarding the use of robotic-assisted (RA) urologic interventions in children. A nonsystematic review of the literature was conducted through PubMed database between 2002 and 2017, with an emphasis on large series. A few major challenges must be considered before using the RP in children: anesthesia, placement of trocars, and technical difficulties related to small space. To date, only the robot-assisted pyeloplasty is recognized as safe and efficient with an equivalent outcome compared to the open or classical laparoscopy; this was supported by large multicentric studies, which are not available for most of the other procedures. RA procedure in children has been proven safe and effective. Still in its infancy, further data over time is likely to prove different RA procedures to be equivalent to open or laparoscopy in terms of outcome. The advent of the robotic platform means an evolution towards minimizing surgical trauma for the child. Currently, the available platforms designed for adults are adapted to work in children. However, it might be expected in the future that new technologies will improve the technical possibilities to improve the robotic platform for minimally invasive surgery in children. To date, a few applications are considered safe and efficient (in experienced hands), considering that the team has to be aware of some challenges to overcome regarding anesthesia, material, and technique adaptation to the patient. The most accepted robotic applications in children comprises of the robot-assisted pyeloplasty, hemi-nephrectomy, and ureteric reimplantation. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development project

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

Not Available

1991-12-31

Energy costs impact low income communities more than anyone else. Low income residents pay a larger percentage of their incomes for energy costs. In addition, they generally have far less discretionary energy use to eliminate in response to increasing energy prices. Furthermore, with less discretionary income, home energy efficiency improvements are often too expensive. Small neighborhood businesses are in the same situation. Improved efficiency in the use of energy can improve this situation by reducing energy costs for residents and local businesses. More importantly, energy management programs can increase the demand for local goods and services and lead to themore » creation of new job training and employment opportunities. In this way, neighborhood based energy efficiency programs can support community economic development. The present project, undertaken with the support of the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force, was intended to serve as a demonstration of energy/economic programming at the neighborhood level. The San Francisco Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development (NEED) project was designed to be a visible demonstration of bringing the economic development benefits of energy management home to low-income community members who need it most. To begin, a Community Advisory Committee was established to guide the design of the programs to best meet needs of the community. Subsequently three neighborhood energy/economic development programs were developed: The small business energy assistance program; The youth training and weatherization program; and, The energy review of proposed housing development projects.« less

Structured nursing communication on interdisciplinary acute care teams improves perceptions of safety, efficiency, understanding of care plan and teamwork as well as job satisfaction.

PubMed

Gausvik, Christian; Lautar, Ashley; Miller, Lisa; Pallerla, Harini; Schlaudecker, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Efficient, accurate, and timely communication is required for quality health care and is strongly linked to health care staff job satisfaction. Developing ways to improve communication is key to increasing quality of care, and interdisciplinary care teams allow for improved communication among health care professionals. This study examines the patient- and family-centered use of structured interdisciplinary bedside rounds (SIBR) on an acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit in a 555-bed metropolitan community hospital. This mixed methods study surveyed 24 nurses, therapists, patient care assistants, and social workers to measure perceptions of teamwork, communication, understanding of the plan for the day, safety, efficiency, and job satisfaction. A similar survey was administered to a control group of 38 of the same staff categories on different units in the same hospital. The control group units utilized traditional physician-centric rounding. Significant differences were found in each category between the SIBR staff on the ACE unit and the control staff. Nurse job satisfaction is an important marker of retention and recruitment, and improved communication may be an important aspect of increasing this satisfaction. Furthermore, improved communication is key to maintaining a safe hospital environment with quality patient care. Interdisciplinary team rounds that take place at the bedside improve both nursing satisfaction and related communication markers of quality and safety, and may help to achieve higher nurse retention and safer patient care. These results point to the interconnectedness and dual benefit to both job satisfaction and patient quality of care that can come from enhancements to team communication.

Studies on Obtaining Assistance by Travelers Who Are Deaf-Blind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourquin, Eugene; Moon, James

2008-01-01

This article presents a brief history of crossing or assistance cards for travelers who are deaf-blind, along with two studies on variables that predict effective solicitation of assistance to cross a street. Although gender does not greatly affect efficiency, the larger size of a communication card positively influences the receipt of assistance.…

[Research and Implementation of Vital Signs Monitoring System Based on Cloud Platform].

PubMed

Yu, Man; Tan, Anzu; Huang, Jianqi

2018-05-30

Through analyzing the existing problems in the current mode, the vital signs monitoring information system based on cloud platform is designed and developed. The system's aim is to assist nurse carry out vital signs nursing work effectively and accurately. The system collects, uploads and analyzes patient's vital signs data by PDA which connecting medical inspection equipments. Clinical application proved that the system can effectively improve the quality and efficiency of medical care and may reduce medical expenses. It is alse an important practice result to build a medical cloud platform.

Process and apparatus for recovery of fissionable materials from spent reactor fuel by anodic dissolution

DOEpatents

Tomczuk, Zygmunt; Miller, William E.; Wolson, Raymond D.; Gay, Eddie C.

1991-01-01

An electrochemical process and apparatus for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from spent metal clad fuel pins is disclosed. The process uses secondary reactions between U.sup.+4 cations and elemental uranium at the anode to increase reaction rates and improve anodic efficiency compared to prior art processes. In another embodiment of the process, secondary reactions between Cd.sup.+2 cations and elemental uranium to form uranium cations and elemental cadmium also assists in oxidizing the uranium at the anode.

Pollution prevention opportunity assessment for Facilities Maintenance Team (FMT) paint shop.

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

Klossner, Kristin Ann

This Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessment (PPOA) was conducted for Sandia National Laboratories/California Facilities Maintenance Team Paint Shop Operations in August and September 2002. The primary purpose of this PPOA is to provide recommendations to assist Paint Shop personnel in reducing the generation of waste and improving the efficiency of their processes. This report contains a summary of the information collected and analyses performed and recommends options for implementation. The Sandia National Laboratories Pollution Prevention staff will continue to work with the Paint Shop to implement the recommendations.

Strategies to optimize the performance of Robotic-assisted ­laparoscopic hysterectomy

PubMed Central

Lambrou, N.; Diaz, R.E.; Hinoul, P.; Parris, D.; Shoemaker, K.; Yoo, A.; Schwiers, M.

2014-01-01

A hybrid technique of robot-assisted, laparoscopic hysterectomy using the ENSEAL® Tissue Sealing Device is described in a retrospective, consecutive, observational case series. Over a 45 month period, 590 robot-assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomies +/- oophorectomy for benign and malignant indications were performed by a single surgeon with a bedside assistant at a tertiary healthcare center. Patient demographics, indications for surgery, comorbidities, primary and secondary surgical procedures, total operative and surgical time, estimated blood loss (EBL), length of stay (LOS), complications, transfusions and subsequent readmissions were analyzed. The overall complication rate was 5.9% with 35 patients experiencing 69 complications. Mean (SD) surgery time, operating room (OR) time, EBL, and LOS for the entire cohort were 75.5 (39.42) minutes, 123.8 (41.15) minutes, 83.1 (71.29) millilitres, and 1.2 (0.93) days, respectively. Mean surgery time in the first year (2009) was 91.6 minutes, which declined significantly each year by 18.0, 19.0, and 24.3 minutes, respectively. EBL and LOS did not vary ­significantly across the entire series. Using the cumulative sum method, an optimization curve for surgery time was evaluated, with three distinct optimization phases observed. In summary, the use of an advanced laparoscopic tissue-sealing device by a bedside surgical assistant provided an improved operative efficiency and reliable vessel sealing during robotic hysterectomy. PMID:25374656

A Craniomaxillofacial Surgical Assistance Workstation for Enhanced Single-Stage Reconstruction Using Patient-Specific Implants.

PubMed

Murphy, Ryan J; Liacouras, Peter C; Grant, Gerald T; Wolfe, Kevin C; Armand, Mehran; Gordon, Chad R

2016-11-01

Craniomaxillofacial reconstruction with patient-specific, customized craniofacial implants (CCIs) is ideal for skeletal defects involving areas of aesthetic concern-the non-weight-bearing facial skeleton, temporal skull, and/or frontal-forehead region. Results to date are superior to a variety of "off-the-shelf" materials, but require a protocol computed tomography scan and preexisting defect for computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing of the CCI. The authors developed a craniomaxillofacial surgical assistance workstation to address these challenges and intraoperatively guide CCI modification for an unknown defect size/shape. First, the surgeon designed an oversized CCI based on his/her surgical plan. Intraoperatively, the surgeon resected the bone and digitized the resection using a navigation pointer. Next, a projector displayed the limits of the craniofacial bone defect onto the prefabricated, oversized CCI for the size modification process; the surgeon followed the projected trace to modify the implant. A cadaveric study compared the standard technique (n = 1) to the experimental technique (n = 5) using surgical time and implant fit. The technology reduced the time and effort needed to resize the oversized CCI by an order of magnitude as compared with the standard manual resizing process. Implant fit was consistently better for the computer-assisted case compared with the control by at least 30%, requiring only 5.17 minutes in the computer-assisted cases compared with 35 minutes for the control. This approach demonstrated improvement in surgical time and accuracy of CCI-based craniomaxillofacial reconstruction compared with previously reported methods. The craniomaxillofacial surgical assistance workstation will provide craniofacial surgeons a computer-assisted technology for effective and efficient single-stage reconstruction when exact craniofacial bone defect sizes are unknown.

Microwave-assisted solvothermal synthesis of hierarchical TiO2 microspheres for efficient electro-field-assisted-photocatalytic removal of tributyltin in tannery wastewater.

PubMed

Zhao, Yang; Huang, Zhiding; Chang, Wenkai; Wei, Chao; Feng, Xugen; Ma, Lin; Qi, Xiaoxia; Li, Zenghe

2017-07-01

Organotin compounds have been widely used in recent decades, however, the residential tributyltin (TBT) in environment has potential harmful effects on human health due to the disruption of endocrine system even at trace level. Herein, this work reports on an effective electro-field-assisted-photocatalytic technique for removal of TBT by applying an electric field to photocatalysis of as-prepared hierarchical TiO 2 microspheres. The synthesis of catalytic materials is based on a self-assembly process induced by microwave-assisted solvothermal reaction. Hierarchical TiO 2 microspheres consisting of nanowires can be obtained in short time with this facile method and possess high surface area and superior optical properties. As the catalyst, it was found that the reaction rate constant of electro-field-assisted-photocatalytic removal (0.0488 min -1 ) of TBT exhibited almost a 9 fold improvement as compared to that of photocatalysis (0.0052 min -1 ). The proposed mechanism of electro-field-assisted-photocatalytic removal of TBT was verified by using 117 Sn-enriched TBT spike solution as an isotopic tracer. In addition, varying impacts from some key reaction conditions, such as voltage of potential, pH value and the presence of Cr and formaldehyde were also discussed. The overall satisfactory TBT removal performance of the proposed electro-field-assisted-photocatalysis procedure with hierarchical TiO 2 microspheres, which was validated using actual tannery wastewater samples from three different kinds of tanning procedures. These attributes suggest that this electro-field-assisted-photocatalysis may have broad applications for the treatment of tannery wastewater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Phosphorus Deficiency in West African Pearl Millet and Sorghum Production Systems: Promising Options for Crop Improvement

PubMed Central

Gemenet, Dorcus C.; Leiser, Willmar L.; Beggi, Francesca; Herrmann, Ludger H.; Vadez, Vincent; Rattunde, Henry F. W.; Weltzien, Eva; Hash, Charles T.; Buerkert, Andreas; Haussmann, Bettina I. G.

2016-01-01

West Africa (WA) is among the most food insecure regions. Rapid human population growth and stagnating crop yields greatly contribute to this fact. Poor soil fertility, especially low plant available phosphorus (P) is constraining food production in the region. P-fertilizer use in WA is among the lowest in the world due to inaccessibility and high prices, often unaffordable to resource-poor subsistence farmers. This article provides an overview of soil P-deficiency in WA and opportunities to overcome it by exploiting sorghum and pearl millet genetic diversity. The topic is examined from the perspectives of plant breeding, soil science, plant physiology, plant nutrition, and agronomy, thereby referring to recent results obtained in a joint interdisciplinary research project, and reported literature. Specific objectives are to summarize: (1) The global problem of P scarcity and how it will affect WA farmers; (2) Soil P dynamics in WA soils; (3) Plant responses to P deficiency; (4) Opportunities to breed for improved crop adaptation to P-limited conditions; (5) Challenges and trade-offs for improving sorghum and pearl millet adaptation to low-P conditions in WA; and (6) Systems approaches to address soil P-deficiency in WA. Sorghum and pearl millet in WA exhibit highly significant genetic variation for P-uptake efficiency, P-utilization efficiency, and grain yield under P-limited conditions indicating the possibility of breeding P-efficient varieties. Direct selection under P-limited conditions was more efficient than indirect selection under high-P conditions. Combining P-uptake and P-utilization efficiency is recommendable for WA to avoid further soil mining. Genomic regions responsible for P-uptake, P-utilization efficiency, and grain yield under low-P have been identified in WA sorghum and pearl millet, and marker-assisted selection could be possible once these genomic regions are validated. Developing P-efficient genotypes may not, however, be a sustainable solution in itself in the long-term without replenishing the P removed from the system in harvested produce. We therefore propose the use of integrated soil fertility management and systems-oriented management such as enhanced crop-tree-livestock integration in combination with P-use-efficiency-improved varieties. Recycling P from animal bones, human excreta and urine are also possible approaches toward a partially closed and efficient P cycle in WA. PMID:27721815

Overcoming Phosphorus Deficiency in West African Pearl Millet and Sorghum Production Systems: Promising Options for Crop Improvement.

PubMed

Gemenet, Dorcus C; Leiser, Willmar L; Beggi, Francesca; Herrmann, Ludger H; Vadez, Vincent; Rattunde, Henry F W; Weltzien, Eva; Hash, Charles T; Buerkert, Andreas; Haussmann, Bettina I G

2016-01-01

West Africa (WA) is among the most food insecure regions. Rapid human population growth and stagnating crop yields greatly contribute to this fact. Poor soil fertility, especially low plant available phosphorus (P) is constraining food production in the region. P-fertilizer use in WA is among the lowest in the world due to inaccessibility and high prices, often unaffordable to resource-poor subsistence farmers. This article provides an overview of soil P-deficiency in WA and opportunities to overcome it by exploiting sorghum and pearl millet genetic diversity. The topic is examined from the perspectives of plant breeding, soil science, plant physiology, plant nutrition, and agronomy, thereby referring to recent results obtained in a joint interdisciplinary research project, and reported literature. Specific objectives are to summarize: (1) The global problem of P scarcity and how it will affect WA farmers; (2) Soil P dynamics in WA soils; (3) Plant responses to P deficiency; (4) Opportunities to breed for improved crop adaptation to P-limited conditions; (5) Challenges and trade-offs for improving sorghum and pearl millet adaptation to low-P conditions in WA; and (6) Systems approaches to address soil P-deficiency in WA. Sorghum and pearl millet in WA exhibit highly significant genetic variation for P-uptake efficiency, P-utilization efficiency, and grain yield under P-limited conditions indicating the possibility of breeding P-efficient varieties. Direct selection under P-limited conditions was more efficient than indirect selection under high-P conditions. Combining P-uptake and P-utilization efficiency is recommendable for WA to avoid further soil mining. Genomic regions responsible for P-uptake, P-utilization efficiency, and grain yield under low-P have been identified in WA sorghum and pearl millet, and marker-assisted selection could be possible once these genomic regions are validated. Developing P-efficient genotypes may not, however, be a sustainable solution in itself in the long-term without replenishing the P removed from the system in harvested produce. We therefore propose the use of integrated soil fertility management and systems-oriented management such as enhanced crop-tree-livestock integration in combination with P-use-efficiency-improved varieties. Recycling P from animal bones, human excreta and urine are also possible approaches toward a partially closed and efficient P cycle in WA.

Improved methods of AAV-mediated gene targeting for human cell lines using ribosome-skipping 2A peptide

PubMed Central

Karnan, Sivasundaram; Ota, Akinobu; Konishi, Yuko; Wahiduzzaman, Md; Hosokawa, Yoshitaka; Konishi, Hiroyuki

2016-01-01

The adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based targeting vector has been one of the tools commonly used for genome modification in human cell lines. It allows for relatively efficient gene targeting associated with 1–4-log higher ratios of homologous-to-random integration of targeting vectors (H/R ratios) than plasmid-based targeting vectors, without actively introducing DNA double-strand breaks. In this study, we sought to improve the efficiency of AAV-mediated gene targeting by introducing a 2A-based promoter-trap system into targeting constructs. We generated three distinct AAV-based targeting vectors carrying 2A for promoter trapping, each targeting a GFP-based reporter module incorporated into the genome, PIGA exon 6 or PIGA intron 5. The absolute gene targeting efficiencies and H/R ratios attained using these vectors were assessed in multiple human cell lines and compared with those attained using targeting vectors carrying internal ribosome entry site (IRES) for promoter trapping. We found that the use of 2A for promoter trapping increased absolute gene targeting efficiencies by 3.4–28-fold and H/R ratios by 2–5-fold compared to values obtained with IRES. In CRISPR-Cas9-assisted gene targeting using plasmid-based targeting vectors, the use of 2A did not enhance the H/R ratios but did upregulate the absolute gene targeting efficiencies compared to the use of IRES. PMID:26657635

ICECAP: an integrated, general-purpose, automation-assisted IC50/EC50 assay platform.

PubMed

Li, Ming; Chou, Judy; King, Kristopher W; Jing, Jing; Wei, Dong; Yang, Liyu

2015-02-01

IC50 and EC50 values are commonly used to evaluate drug potency. Mass spectrometry (MS)-centric bioanalytical and biomarker labs are now conducting IC50/EC50 assays, which, if done manually, are tedious and error-prone. Existing bioanalytical sample preparation automation systems cannot meet IC50/EC50 assay throughput demand. A general-purpose, automation-assisted IC50/EC50 assay platform was developed to automate the calculations of spiking solutions and the matrix solutions preparation scheme, the actual spiking and matrix solutions preparations, as well as the flexible sample extraction procedures after incubation. In addition, the platform also automates the data extraction, nonlinear regression curve fitting, computation of IC50/EC50 values, graphing, and reporting. The automation-assisted IC50/EC50 assay platform can process the whole class of assays of varying assay conditions. In each run, the system can handle up to 32 compounds and up to 10 concentration levels per compound, and it greatly improves IC50/EC50 assay experimental productivity and data processing efficiency. © 2014 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Accelerating literature curation with text-mining tools: a case study of using PubTator to curate genes in PubMed abstracts

PubMed Central

Lu, Zhiyong

2012-01-01

Today’s biomedical research has become heavily dependent on access to the biological knowledge encoded in expert curated biological databases. As the volume of biological literature grows rapidly, it becomes increasingly difficult for biocurators to keep up with the literature because manual curation is an expensive and time-consuming endeavour. Past research has suggested that computer-assisted curation can improve efficiency, but few text-mining systems have been formally evaluated in this regard. Through participation in the interactive text-mining track of the BioCreative 2012 workshop, we developed PubTator, a PubMed-like system that assists with two specific human curation tasks: document triage and bioconcept annotation. On the basis of evaluation results from two external user groups, we find that the accuracy of PubTator-assisted curation is comparable with that of manual curation and that PubTator can significantly increase human curatorial speed. These encouraging findings warrant further investigation with a larger number of publications to be annotated. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/PubTator/ PMID:23160414

Rich-burn, flame-assisted fuel cell, quick-mix, lean-burn (RFQL) combustor and power generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milcarek, Ryan J.; Ahn, Jeongmin

2018-03-01

Micro-tubular flame-assisted fuel cells (mT-FFC) were recently proposed as a modified version of the direct flame fuel cell (DFFC) operating in a dual chamber configuration. In this work, a rich-burn, quick-mix, lean-burn (RQL) combustor is combined with a micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell (mT-SOFC) stack to create a rich-burn, flame-assisted fuel cell, quick-mix, lean-burn (RFQL) combustor and power generation system. The system is tested for rapid startup and achieves peak power densities after only 35 min of testing. The mT-FFC power density and voltage are affected by changes in the fuel-lean and fuel-rich combustion equivalence ratio. Optimal mT-FFC performance favors high fuel-rich equivalence ratios and a fuel-lean combustion equivalence ratio around 0.80. The electrical efficiency increases by 150% by using an intermediate temperature cathode material and improving the insulation. The RFQL combustor and power generation system achieves rapid startup, a simplified balance of plant and may have applications for reduced NOx formation and combined heat and power.

Cost effectiveness and efficiency in assistive technology service delivery.

PubMed

Warren, C G

1993-01-01

In order to develop and maintain a viable service delivery program, the realities of cost effectiveness and cost efficiency in providing assistive technology must be addressed. Cost effectiveness relates to value of the outcome compared to the expenditures. Cost efficiency analyzes how a provider uses available resources to supply goods and services. This paper describes how basic business principles of benefit/cost analysis can be used to determine cost effectiveness. In addition, basic accounting principles are used to illustrate methods of evaluating a program's cost efficiency. Service providers are encouraged to measure their own program's effectiveness and efficiency (and potential viability) in light of current trends. This paper is meant to serve as a catalyst for continued dialogue on this topic.

Noise-assisted energy transport in electrical oscillator networks with off-diagonal dynamical disorder.

PubMed

León-Montiel, Roberto de J; Quiroz-Juárez, Mario A; Quintero-Torres, Rafael; Domínguez-Juárez, Jorge L; Moya-Cessa, Héctor M; Torres, Juan P; Aragón, José L

2015-11-27

Noise is generally thought as detrimental for energy transport in coupled oscillator networks. However, it has been shown that for certain coherently evolving systems, the presence of noise can enhance, somehow unexpectedly, their transport efficiency; a phenomenon called environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT) or dephasing-assisted transport. Here, we report on the experimental observation of such effect in a network of coupled electrical oscillators. We demonstrate that by introducing stochastic fluctuations in one of the couplings of the network, a relative enhancement in the energy transport efficiency of 22.5 ± 3.6% can be observed.

Body weight supported treadmill training versus traditional training in patients dependent on walking assistance after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Høyer, Ellen; Jahnsen, Reidun; Stanghelle, Johan Kvalvik; Strand, Liv Inger

2012-01-01

Treadmill training with body weight support (TTBWS) for relearning walking ability after brain damage is an approach under current investigation. Efficiency of this method beyond traditional training is lacking evidence, especially in patients needing walking assistance after stroke. The objective of this study was to investigate change in walking and transfer abilities, comparing TTBWS with traditional walking training. A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial was conducted. Sixty patients referred for multi-disciplinary primary rehabilitation were assigned into one of two intervention groups, one received 30 sessions of TTBWS plus traditional training, the other traditional training alone. Daily training was 1 hr. Outcome measures were Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), Walking, Functional Independence Measure (FIM); shorter transfer and stairs, 10 m and 6-min walk tests. Substantial improvements in walking and transfer were shown within both groups after 5 and 11 weeks of intervention. Overall no statistical significant differences were found between the groups, but 12 of 17 physical measures tended to show improvements in favour of the treadmill approach. Both training strategies provided significant improvements in the tested activities, suggesting that similar outcomes can be obtained in the two modalities by systematic, intensive and goal directed training.

Biometrically modulated collaborative control for an assistive wheelchair.

PubMed

Urdiales, Cristina; Fernandez-Espejo, Blanca; Annicchiaricco, Roberta; Sandoval, Francisco; Caltagirone, Carlo

2010-08-01

To operate a wheelchair, people with severe physical disabilities may require assistance, which can be provided by robotization. However, medical experts report that an excess of assistance may lead to loss of residual skills, so that it is important to provide just the right amount of assistance. This work proposes a collaborative control system based on weighting the robot's and the user's commands by their respective efficiency to reactively obtain an emergent controller. Thus, the better the person operates, the more control he/she gains. Tests with volunteers have proven, though, that some users may require extra assistance when they become stressed. Hence, we propose a controller that can change the amount of support taking into account supplementary biometric data. In this work, we use an off-the-shelf wearable pulse oximeter. Experiments have demonstrated that volunteers could use our wheelchair in a more efficient way due to the proposed biometric modulated collaborative control.

Drought tolerance in potato (S. tuberosum L.): Can we learn from drought tolerance research in cereals?

PubMed

Monneveux, Philippe; Ramírez, David A; Pino, María-Teresa

2013-05-01

Drought tolerance is a complex trait of increasing importance in potato. Our knowledge is summarized concerning drought tolerance and water use efficiency in this crop. We describe the effects of water restriction on physiological characteristics, examine the main traits involved, report the attempts to improve drought tolerance through in vitro screening and marker assisted selection, list the main genes involved and analyze the potential interest of native and wild potatoes to improve drought tolerance. Drought tolerance has received more attention in cereals than in potato. The review compares these crops for indirect selection methods available for assessment of drought tolerance related traits, use of genetic resources, progress in genomics, application of water saving techniques and availability of models to anticipate the effects of climate change on yield. It is concluded that drought tolerance improvement in potato could greatly benefit from the transfer of research achievements in cereals. Several promising research directions are presented, such as the use of fluorescence, reflectance, color and thermal imaging and stable isotope techniques to assess drought tolerance related traits, the application of the partial root-zone drying technique to improve efficiency of water supply and the exploitation of stressful memory to enhance hardiness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual differences and their impact on the safety and the efficiency of human-wheelchair systems.

PubMed

Jipp, Meike

2012-12-01

The extent to which individual differences in fine motor abilities affect indoor safety and efficiency of human-wheelchair systems was examined. To reduce the currently large number of indoor wheelchair accidents, assistance systems with a high level of automation were developed. It was proposed to adapt the wheelchair's level of automation to the user's ability to steer the device to avoid drawbacks of highly automated wheelchairs. The state of the art, however, lacks an empirical identification of those abilities. A study with 23 participants is described. The participants drove through various sections of a course with a powered wheelchair. Repeatedly measured criteria were safety (numbers of collisions) and efficiency (times required for reaching goals). As covariates, the participants' fine motor abilities were assessed. A random coefficient modeling approach was conducted to analyze the data,which were available on two levels as course sections were nested within participants.The participants' aiming, precision, and armhand speed contributed significantly to both criteria: Participants with lower fine motor abilities had more collisions and required more time for reaching goals. Adapting the wheelchair's level of automation to these fine motor abilities can improve indoor safety and efficiency. In addition, the results highlight the need to further examine the impact of individual differences on the design of automation features for powered wheelchairs as well as other applications of automation. The results facilitate the improvement of current wheelchair technology.

On optimal designs of transparent WDM networks with 1 + 1 protection leveraged by all-optical XOR network coding schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dao, Thanh Hai

2018-01-01

Network coding techniques are seen as the new dimension to improve the network performances thanks to the capability of utilizing network resources more efficiently. Indeed, the application of network coding to the realm of failure recovery in optical networks has been marking a major departure from traditional protection schemes as it could potentially achieve both rapid recovery and capacity improvement, challenging the prevailing wisdom of trading capacity efficiency for speed recovery and vice versa. In this context, the maturing of all-optical XOR technologies appears as a good match to the necessity of a more efficient protection in transparent optical networks. In addressing this opportunity, we propose to use a practical all-optical XOR network coding to leverage the conventional 1 + 1 optical path protection in transparent WDM optical networks. The network coding-assisted protection solution combines protection flows of two demands sharing the same destination node in supportive conditions, paving the way for reducing the backup capacity. A novel mathematical model taking into account the operation of new protection scheme for optimal network designs is formulated as the integer linear programming. Numerical results based on extensive simulations on realistic topologies, COST239 and NSFNET networks, are presented to highlight the benefits of our proposal compared to the conventional approach in terms of wavelength resources efficiency and network throughput.

Heterostructured ZnFe2O4/Fe2TiO5/TiO2 Composite Nanotube Arrays with an Improved Photocatalysis Degradation Efficiency Under Simulated Sunlight Irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Kun; Wang, Kunzhou; Chen, Lin; Wang, Xinqing; Fan, Qingbo; Courtois, Jérémie; Liu, Yuliang; Tuo, Xianguo; Yan, Minhao

2018-03-01

To improve the visible light absorption and photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TONTAs), ZnFe2O4 (ZFO) nanocrystals were perfused into pristine TONTA pipelines using a novel bias voltage-assisted perfusion method. ZFO nanocrystals were well anchored on the inner walls of the pristine TONTAs when the ZFO suspensions (0.025 mg mL-1) were kept under a 60 V bias voltage for 1 h. After annealing at 750 °C for 2 h, the heterostructured ZFO/Fe2TiO5 (FTO)/TiO2 composite nanotube arrays were successfully obtained. Furthermore, Fe3+ was reduced to Fe2+ when solid solution reactions occurred at the interface of ZFO and the pristine TONTAs. Introducing ZFO significantly enhanced the visible light absorption of the ZFO/FTO/TONTAs relative to that of the annealed TONTAs. The coexistence of type I and staggered type II band alignment in the ZFO/FTO/TONTAs facilitated the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, thereby improving the efficiency of the ZFO/FTO/TONTAs for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue when irradiated with simulated sunlight. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Rule-based land use/land cover classification in coastal areas using seasonal remote sensing imagery: a case study from Lianyungang City, China.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaoyan; Chen, Longgao; Li, Yingkui; Xi, Wenjia; Chen, Longqian

2015-07-01

Land use/land cover (LULC) inventory provides an important dataset in regional planning and environmental assessment. To efficiently obtain the LULC inventory, we compared the LULC classifications based on single satellite imagery with a rule-based classification based on multi-seasonal imagery in Lianyungang City, a coastal city in China, using CBERS-02 (the 2nd China-Brazil Environmental Resource Satellites) images. The overall accuracies of the classification based on single imagery are 78.9, 82.8, and 82.0% in winter, early summer, and autumn, respectively. The rule-based classification improves the accuracy to 87.9% (kappa 0.85), suggesting that combining multi-seasonal images can considerably improve the classification accuracy over any single image-based classification. This method could also be used to analyze seasonal changes of LULC types, especially for those associated with tidal changes in coastal areas. The distribution and inventory of LULC types with an overall accuracy of 87.9% and a spatial resolution of 19.5 m can assist regional planning and environmental assessment efficiently in Lianyungang City. This rule-based classification provides a guidance to improve accuracy for coastal areas with distinct LULC temporal spectral features.

A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve the Success of Women Assistant Professors

PubMed Central

Grisso, Jeane Ann; Sammel, Mary Dupuis; Rubenstein, Arthur H.; Speck, Rebecca M.; Conant, Emily F.; Scott, Patricia; Tuton, Lucy Wolf; Westring, Alyssa Friede; Friedman, Stewart

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Given the persistent disparity in the advancement of women compared with men faculty in academic medicine, it is critical to develop effective interventions to enhance women's careers. We carried out a cluster-randomized, multifaceted intervention to improve the success of women assistant professors at a research-intensive medical school. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven departments/divisions were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. The three-tiered intervention included components that were aimed at (1) the professional development of women assistant professors, (2) changes at the department/division level through faculty-led task forces, and (3) engagement of institutional leaders. Generalized linear models were used to test associations between assignment and outcomes, adjusting for correlations induced by the clustered design. Results: Academic productivity and work self-efficacy improved significantly over the 3-year trial in both intervention and control groups, but the improvements did not differ between the groups. Average hours worked per week declined significantly more for faculty in the intervention group as compared with the control group (−3.82 vs. −1.39 hours, respectively, p = 0.006). The PhD faculty in the intervention group published significantly more than PhD controls; however, no differences were observed between MDs in the intervention group and MDs in the control group. Conclusions: Significant improvements in academic productivity and work self-efficacy occurred in both intervention and control groups, potentially due to school-wide intervention effects. A greater decline in work hours in the intervention group despite similar increases in academic productivity may reflect learning to “work smarter” or reveal efficiencies brought about as a result of the multifaceted intervention. The intervention appeared to benefit the academic productivity of faculty with PhDs, but not MDs, suggesting that interventions should be more intense or tailored to specific faculty groups. PMID:28281865

Value impact assessment: A preliminary assessment of improvement opportunities at the Quantico Central Heating Plant

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

Brambley, M.R.; Weakley, S.A.

1990-09-01

This report presents the results of a preliminary assessment of opportunities for improvement at the US Marine Corps (USMC) Quantico, Virginia, Central Heating Plant (CHP). This study is part of a program intended to provide the CHP staff with a computerized Artificial Intelligence (AI) decision support system that will assist in a more efficient, reliable, and safe operation of their plant. As part of the effort to provide the AI decision support system, a team of six scientists and engineers from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) visited the plant to characterize the conditions and environment of the CHP. This assessmentmore » resulted in a list of potential performance improvement opportunities at the CHP. In this report, 12 of these opportunities are discussed and qualitatively analyzed. 70 refs., 7 figs., 6 tabs.« less

A Novel Well Drill Assisted with High-Frequency Vibration Using the Bending Mode

PubMed Central

Qi, Xinda; Chen, Weishan; Tang, Xintian; Shi, Shengjun

2018-01-01

It is important for companies to increase the efficiency of drilling as well as prolong the lifetime of the drilling tool. Since some previous investigations indicated that a superposition of well drilling with an additional vibration increases the drilling efficiency, this paper introduces a novel well drill which is assisted with additional vibrations by means of piezoelectric sandwich bending vibration transducer. The proposed drill uses bending vibrations in two different directions to from an elliptical trajectory movement, which can help the drill to break the surface of hard material more efficiently and clean away the lithic fragments more easily. The proposed well drill with bending vibration transducer is designed to have a resonance frequency of the first bending vibration mode of about 1779 Hz. The motion equation of the particle on the edge of the drill bit is developed and analyzed. The vibration trajectory of the particle on the edge of the drill bit is calculated by using finite element method. A prototype of the proposed drill using bending vibrations is fabricated and tested to verify the aim of drilling efficiency increase. The feed speed of the vibration assisted drilling is tested to be about 0.296 mm/s when the excitation voltage of the transducer is 300 V, while this speed decreases to about 0.195 mm/s when no vibration is added. This comparison shows that the feed speed of the vibration assisted drilling is about 52% higher than that of the normal drilling, which means the proposed drill has a better efficiency and it is important to consider vibration superimposition in well drilling. In addition, the surface of the drill hole gained by the vibration assisted drilling is smoother than that of the normal drilling, which makes the clearance easier. PMID:29641481

Spray drift and off-target loss reduction with a precision air-assisted sprayer

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spray drift and off-target losses are inherent problems of conventional air-assisted sprayers. Their low efficiencies cause environmental pollutions resulting in public anxieties. A new drift reduction technology incorporating laser scanning capabilities with a variable-rate air-assisted sprayer w...

Reinforcement learning interfaces for biomedical database systems.

PubMed

Rudowsky, I; Kulyba, O; Kunin, M; Parsons, S; Raphan, T

2006-01-01

Studies of neural function that are carried out in different laboratories and that address different questions use a wide range of descriptors for data storage, depending on the laboratory and the individuals that input the data. A common approach to describe non-textual data that are referenced through a relational database is to use metadata descriptors. We have recently designed such a prototype system, but to maintain efficiency and a manageable metadata table, free formatted fields were designed as table entries. The database interface application utilizes an intelligent agent to improve integrity of operation. The purpose of this study was to investigate how reinforcement learning algorithms can assist the user in interacting with the database interface application that has been developed to improve the performance of the system.

Plasma deposition and surface modification techniques for wear resistance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spalvins, T.

1982-01-01

The ion-assisted or plasma coating technology is discussed as it applies to the deposition of hard, wear resistant refractory compound films. Of the many sputtering and ion plating modes and configurations the reactive magnetron sputtering and the reactive triode ion plating techniques are the preferred ones to deposit wear resistant coatings for tribological applications. Both of these techniques incorporate additional means to enhance the ionization efficiency and chemical reaction to precision tailor desirable tribological characteristics. Interrelationships between film formation, structure, and ribological properties are strictly controlled by the deposition parameters and the substrate condition. The enhanced ionization contributes to the excellent adherence and coherence, reduced internal stresses and improved structural growth to form dense, cohesive, equiaxed grain structure for improved wear resistance and control.

Refined hyperentanglement purification of two-photon systems for high-capacity quantum communication with cavity-assisted interaction

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

Du, Fang-Fang; Li, Tao; Long, Gui-Lu, E-mail: gllong@tsinghua.edu.cn

Hyperentanglement, defined as the entanglement in multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs) of a photonic quantum system, has attracted much attention recently as it can improve the channel capacity of quantum communication largely. Here we present a refined hyperentanglement purification protocol (hyper-EPP) for two-photon systems in mixed hyperentangled states in both the spatial-mode and polarization DOFs, assisted by cavity quantum electrodynamics. By means of the spatial (polarization) quantum state transfer process, the quantum states that are discarded in the previous hyper-EPPs can be preserved. That is, the spatial (polarization) state of a four-photon system with high fidelity can be transformed intomore » another four-photon system with low fidelity, not disturbing its polarization (spatial) state, which makes this hyper-EPP take the advantage of possessing a higher efficiency.« less

Sample preparation for sequencing hits from one-bead-one-peptide combinatorial libraries by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Martínez-Ceron, María C; Giudicessi, Silvana L; Marani, Mariela M; Albericio, Fernando; Cascone, Osvaldo; Erra-Balsells, Rosa; Camperi, Silvia A

2010-05-15

Optimization of bead analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) after the screening of one-bead-one-peptide combinatorial libraries was achieved, involving the fine-tuning of the whole process. Guanidine was replaced by acetonitrile (MeCN)/acetic acid (AcOH)/water (H(2)O), improving matrix crystallization. Peptide-bead cleavage with NH(4)OH was cheaper and safer than, yet as efficient as, NH(3)/tetrahydrofuran (THF). Peptide elution in microtubes instead of placing the beads in the sample plate yielded more sample aliquots. Successive dry layers deposit sample preparation was better than the dried droplet method. Among the matrices analyzed, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid resulted in the best peptide ion yield. Cluster formation was minimized by the addition of additives to the matrix. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Descent Assisted Split Habitat Lunar Lander Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mazanek, Daniel D.; Goodliff, Kandyce; Cornelius, David M.

2008-01-01

The Descent Assisted Split Habitat (DASH) lunar lander concept utilizes a disposable braking stage for descent and a minimally sized pressurized volume for crew transport to and from the lunar surface. The lander can also be configured to perform autonomous cargo missions. Although a braking-stage approach represents a significantly different operational concept compared with a traditional two-stage lander, the DASH lander offers many important benefits. These benefits include improved crew egress/ingress and large-cargo unloading; excellent surface visibility during landing; elimination of the need for deep-throttling descent engines; potentially reduced plume-surface interactions and lower vertical touchdown velocity; and reduced lander gross mass through efficient mass staging and volume segmentation. This paper documents the conceptual study on various aspects of the design, including development of sortie and outpost lander configurations and a mission concept of operations; the initial descent trajectory design; the initial spacecraft sizing estimates and subsystem design; and the identification of technology needs

Merlin: Computer-Aided Oligonucleotide Design for Large Scale Genome Engineering with MAGE.

PubMed

Quintin, Michael; Ma, Natalie J; Ahmed, Samir; Bhatia, Swapnil; Lewis, Aaron; Isaacs, Farren J; Densmore, Douglas

2016-06-17

Genome engineering technologies now enable precise manipulation of organism genotype, but can be limited in scalability by their design requirements. Here we describe Merlin ( http://merlincad.org ), an open-source web-based tool to assist biologists in designing experiments using multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE). Merlin provides methods to generate pools of single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides (oligos) for MAGE experiments by performing free energy calculation and BLAST scoring on a sliding window spanning the targeted site. These oligos are designed not only to improve recombination efficiency, but also to minimize off-target interactions. The application further assists experiment planning by reporting predicted allelic replacement rates after multiple MAGE cycles, and enables rapid result validation by generating primer sequences for multiplexed allele-specific colony PCR. Here we describe the Merlin oligo and primer design procedures and validate their functionality compared to OptMAGE by eliminating seven AvrII restriction sites from the Escherichia coli genome.

Noninvasive imaging systems for gametes and embryo selection in IVF programs: a review.

PubMed

Omidi, Marjan; Faramarzi, Azita; Agharahimi, Azam; Khalili, Mohammad Ali

2017-09-01

Optimizing the efficiency of the in vitro fertilization procedure by improving pregnancy rates and reducing the risks of multiple pregnancies simultaneously are the primary goals of the current assisted reproductive technology program. With the move to single embryo transfers, the need for more cost-effective and noninvasive methods for embryo selection prior to transfer is paramount. These aims require advancement in a more acquire gametes/embryo testing and selection procedures using high-tech devices. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to evaluate the efficacy of noninvasive imaging systems in the current literatures, focusing on the potential clinical application in infertile patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatments. In this regards, three advanced imaging systems of motile sperm organelle morphology examination, polarization microscopy and time-lapse monitoring for the best selection of the gametes and preimplantation embryos are introduced in full. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society.

Microwave-Assisted Hydro-Distillation of Essential Oil from Rosemary: Comparison with Traditional Distillation

PubMed Central

Moradi, Sara; Fazlali, Alireza; Hamedi, Hamid

Background: Hydro-distillation (HD) method is a traditional technique which is used in most industrial companies. Microwave-assisted Hydro-distillation (MAHD) is an advanced HD technique utilizing a microwave oven in the extraction process. Methods: In this research, MAHD of essential oils from the aerial parts (leaves) of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) was studied and the results were compared with those of the conventional HD in terms of extraction time, extraction efficiency, chemical composition, quality of the essential oils and cost of the operation. Results: Microwave hydro-distillation was superior in terms of saving energy and extraction time (30 min, compared to 90 min in HD). Chromatography was used for quantity analysis of the essential oils composition. Quality of essential oil improved in MAHD method due to an increase of 17% in oxygenated compounds. Conclusion: Consequently, microwave hydro-distillation can be used as a substitute of traditional hydro-distillation. PMID:29296263

Traverse Planning Experiments for Future Planetary Surface Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoffman, Stephen J.; Voels, Stephen A.; Mueller, Robert P.; Lee, Pascal C.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the investigation is to evaluate methodology and data requirements for remotely-assisted robotic traverse of extraterrestrial planetary surface to support human exploration program, assess opportunities for in-transit science operations, and validate landing site survey and selection techniques during planetary surface exploration mission analog demonstration at Haughton Crater on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. Additionally, 1) identify quality of remote observation data sets (i.e., surface imagery from orbit) required for effective pre-traverse route planning and determine if surface level data (i.e., onboard robotic imagery or other sensor data) is required for a successful traverse, and if additional surface level data can improve traverse efficiency or probability of success (TRPF Experiment). 2) Evaluate feasibility and techniques for conducting opportunistic science investigations during this type of traverse. (OSP Experiment). 3) Assess utility of remotely-assisted robotic vehicle for landing site validation survey. (LSV Experiment).

Users' evaluation of the Navy Computer-Assisted Medical Diagnosis System.

PubMed

Merrill, L L; Pearsall, D M; Gauker, E D

1996-01-01

U.S. Navy Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDCs) aboard small ships and submarines are responsible for all clinical and related health care duties while at sea. During deployment, life-threatening illnesses sometimes require evacuation to a shore-based treatment facility. At-sea evacuations are dangerous, expensive, and may compromise the mission of the vessel. Therefore, Group Medical Officers and IDCs were trained to use the Navy Computer-Assisted Medical Diagnosis (NCAMD) system during deployment. They were then surveyed to evaluate the NCAMD system. Their responses show that NCAMD is a cost-efficient, user-friendly package. It is easy to learn, and is especially valuable for training in the diagnosis of chest and abdominal complaints. However, the delivery of patient care at sea would significantly improve if computer hardware were upgraded to current industry standards. Also, adding various computer peripheral devices, structured forms, and reference materials to the at-sea clinician's resources could enhance shipboard patient care.

Old, New, and Emerging Immunohistochemical Markers in Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma.

PubMed

Cheung, Veronica K Y; Gill, Anthony J; Chou, Angela

2018-05-19

The evolution of genetic research over the past two decades has greatly improved the understanding of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas. It is now accepted that more than one third of pheochromocytoma and paragangliomas arise in the context of syndromic disease, usually hereditary. The genetic profile of these tumors also has important prognostic implications which may help guide treatment. Accompanying the changing molecular landscape is the development of new immunohistochemical markers. Initially used in assisting with diagnosis, immunohistochemical markers have now become an important adjunct to screening programs for inherited conditions and subsequently as prognostic markers. The accessibility and efficiency of immunohistochemistry bring pathologists to the forefront in triaging patients based on tumor genotype-phenotype. In this review, we provide an update on the role of immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas, as an adjunct to assessment for hereditary disease and finally as a potential tool to assist risk stratification.

Microwave-Assisted Hydro-Distillation of Essential Oil from Rosemary: Comparison with Traditional Distillation.

PubMed

Moradi, Sara; Fazlali, Alireza; Hamedi, Hamid

2018-01-01

Hydro-distillation (HD) method is a traditional technique which is used in most industrial companies. Microwave-assisted Hydro-distillation (MAHD) is an advanced HD technique utilizing a microwave oven in the extraction process. In this research, MAHD of essential oils from the aerial parts (leaves) of rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis L. ) was studied and the results were compared with those of the conventional HD in terms of extraction time, extraction efficiency, chemical composition, quality of the essential oils and cost of the operation. Microwave hydro-distillation was superior in terms of saving energy and extraction time (30 min , compared to 90 min in HD). Chromatography was used for quantity analysis of the essential oils composition. Quality of essential oil improved in MAHD method due to an increase of 17% in oxygenated compounds. Consequently, microwave hydro-distillation can be used as a substitute of traditional hydro-distillation.

75 FR 34657 - Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New Federal Buildings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-18

... Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New Federal Buildings AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and....S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Federal Energy Management... June 11, 2010. Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. [FR Doc. 2010...

Current perspectives in robotic assisted surgery.

PubMed

Binet, Aurélien; Ballouhey, Quentin; Chaussy, Yann; de Lambert, Guénolée; Braïk, Karim; Villemagne, Thierry; Becmeur, François; Fourcade, Laurent; Lardy, Hubert

2018-02-23

From classical surgery to Robotic Assisted Surgery, there is a long way allowed by Minimal Invasive Surgery' improvements. The last three decades have witnessed a prodigious development of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and especially in the field of laparoscopic pediatric surgery but there are several limitations in the use of conventional laparoscopic surgery and Robotic Assisted Surgery was developed to relieve these drawbacks. This new technology enables today the performance of a wide variety of procedures in children with a minimally invasive approach. As for all new technologies, an objective evaluation is essential with the need to respond to several questions: Is the technology feasible? Is the technology safe? Is the technology efficient? Does it bring about benefits compared with current technology? What are the procedures derived from most benefits of robotic assistance? How to assume the transition from open surgery to Minimal Invasive access for RAS? In the first part of this article, the authors give details about technical concerns and then describe the implementation process with its organization, pitfalls, successes, and issues from human resources and financial standpoints. The learning curve is then described and a special focus on small children weighing less than 15 Kg is developed. Finally, the concept of evaluation of this emerging technology is evocated and financial concerns are developed.

Design and implementation of a system for laser assisted milling of advanced materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xuefeng; Feng, Gaocheng; Liu, Xianli

2016-09-01

Laser assisted machining is an effective method to machine advanced materials with the added benefits of longer tool life and increased material removal rates. While extensive studies have investigated the machining properties for laser assisted milling(LAML), few attempts have been made to extend LAML to machining parts with complex geometric features. A methodology for continuous path machining for LAML is developed by integration of a rotary and movable table into an ordinary milling machine with a laser beam system. The machining strategy and processing path are investigated to determine alignment of the machining path with the laser spot. In order to keep the material removal temperatures above the softening temperature of silicon nitride, the transformation is coordinated and the temperature interpolated, establishing a transient thermal model. The temperatures of the laser center and cutting zone are also carefully controlled to achieve optimal machining results and avoid thermal damage. These experiments indicate that the system results in no surface damage as well as good surface roughness, validating the application of this machining strategy and thermal model in the development of a new LAML system for continuous path processing of silicon nitride. The proposed approach can be easily applied in LAML system to achieve continuous processing and improve efficiency in laser assisted machining.

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction and Identification of Natural Antioxidants from the Fruit of Melastoma sanguineum Sims.

PubMed

Zhou, Tong; Xu, Dong-Ping; Lin, Sheng-Jun; Li, Ya; Zheng, Jie; Zhou, Yue; Zhang, Jiao-Jiao; Li, Hua-Bin

2017-02-18

The fruit of Melastoma sanguineum Sims is an edible and sweet wild fruit. In our previous study, the fruit was found to have a strong antioxidant property. In this study, an ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method was developed to extract natural antioxidants from the fruit of Melastoma sanguineum Sims, and a response surface methodology was used to optimize the conditions of UAE to maximize the extraction efficiency. The influence of five independent extraction parameters (ethanol concentration, solvent/material ratio, extracting time, temperature, and ultrasound power) on the extraction efficiency were investigated using a single factor experiment, and then a central composite rotatable design was used to investigate the interaction of three key parameters. The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions were 42.98% ethanol, 28.29 mL/g solvent/material ratio, 34.29 min extracting time, 60 °C temperature, and 600 W ultrasound power. Under these conditions, the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) value of the extracts was 1074.61 ± 32.56 μmol Trolox/g dry weight (DW). Compared with conventional maceration (723.27 ± 11.61 μmol Trolox/g DW) and Soxhlet extraction methods (518.37 ± 23.23 μmol Trolox/g DW), the UAE method improved the extraction efficiency, in a shorter period of time. In addition, epicatechin gallate, epicatechin, rutin, epigallocatechin, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, and quercetin, were identified and quantified in the fruit extracts of Melastoma sanguineum Sims by UPLC-MS/MS.

[Analysis of triterpenoids in Ganoderma lucidum by microwave-assisted continuous extraction].

PubMed

Lu, Yan-fang; An, Jing; Jiang, Ye

2015-04-01

For further improving the extraction efficiency of microwave extraction, a microwave-assisted contijuous extraction (MACE) device has been designed and utilized. By contrasting with the traditional methods, the characteristics and extraction efficiency of MACE has also been studied. The method was validated by the analysis of the triterpenoids in Ganoderma lucidum. The extraction conditions of MACE were: using 95% ethanol as solvent, microwave power 200 W and radiation time 14.5 min (5 cycles). The extraction results were subsequently compared with traditional heat reflux extraction ( HRE) , soxhlet extraction (SE), ultrasonic extraction ( UE) as well as the conventional microwave extraction (ME). For triterpenoids, the two methods based on the microwaves (ME and MACE) were in general capable of finishing the extraction in 10, 14.5 min, respectively, while other methods should consume 60 min and even more than 100 min. Additionally, ME can produce comparable extraction results as the classical HRE and higher extraction yield than both SE and UE, however, notably lower extraction yield than MASE. More importantly, the purity of the crud extract by MACE is far better than the other methods. MACE can effectively combine the advantages of microwave extraction and soxhlet extraction, thus enabling a more complete extraction of the analytes of TCMs in comparison with ME. And therefore makes the analytic result more accurate. It provides a novel, high efficient, rapid and reliable pretreatment technique for the analysis of TCMs, and it could potentially be extended to ingredient preparation or extracting techniques of TCMs.

Highly efficient and autocatalytic H2₂ dissociation for CO₂ reduction into formic acid with zinc.

PubMed

Jin, Fangming; Zeng, Xu; Liu, Jianke; Jin, Yujia; Wang, Lunying; Zhong, Heng; Yao, Guodong; Huo, Zhibao

2014-03-28

Artificial photosynthesis, specifically H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction with solar energy, is regarded as one of the most promising methods for sustainable energy and utilisation of environmental resources. However, a highly efficient conversion still remains extremely challenging. The hydrogenation of CO2 is regarded as the most commercially feasible method, but this method requires either exotic catalysts or high-purity hydrogen and hydrogen storage, which are regarded as an energy-intensive process. Here we report a highly efficient method of H2O dissociation for reducing CO2 into chemicals with Zn powder that produces formic acid with a high yield of approximately 80%, and this reaction is revealed for the first time as an autocatalytic process in which an active intermediate, ZnH(-) complex, serves as the active hydrogen. The proposed process can assist in developing a new concept for improving artificial photosynthetic efficiency by coupling geochemistry, specifically the metal-based reduction of H2O and CO2, with solar-driven thermochemistry for reducing metal oxide into metal.

An efficient and scalable pipeline for epitope tagging in mammalian stem cells using Cas9 ribonucleoprotein

PubMed Central

Dewari, Pooran Singh; Southgate, Benjamin; Mccarten, Katrina; Monogarov, German; O'Duibhir, Eoghan; Quinn, Niall; Tyrer, Ashley; Leitner, Marie-Christin; Plumb, Colin; Kalantzaki, Maria; Blin, Carla; Finch, Rebecca; Bressan, Raul Bardini; Morrison, Gillian; Jacobi, Ashley M; Behlke, Mark A; von Kriegsheim, Alex; Tomlinson, Simon; Krijgsveld, Jeroen

2018-01-01

CRISPR/Cas9 can be used for precise genetic knock-in of epitope tags into endogenous genes, simplifying experimental analysis of protein function. However, Cas9-assisted epitope tagging in primary mammalian cell cultures is often inefficient and reliant on plasmid-based selection strategies. Here, we demonstrate improved knock-in efficiencies of diverse tags (V5, 3XFLAG, Myc, HA) using co-delivery of Cas9 protein pre-complexed with two-part synthetic modified RNAs (annealed crRNA:tracrRNA) and single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) repair templates. Knock-in efficiencies of ~5–30%, were achieved without selection in embryonic stem (ES) cells, neural stem (NS) cells, and brain-tumor-derived stem cells. Biallelic-tagged clonal lines were readily derived and used to define Olig2 chromatin-bound interacting partners. Using our novel web-based design tool, we established a 96-well format pipeline that enabled V5-tagging of 60 different transcription factors. This efficient, selection-free and scalable epitope tagging pipeline enables systematic surveys of protein expression levels, subcellular localization, and interactors across diverse mammalian stem cells. PMID:29638216

Highly efficient and autocatalytic H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction into formic acid with zinc

PubMed Central

Jin, Fangming; Zeng, Xu; Liu, Jianke; Jin, Yujia; Wang, Lunying; Zhong, Heng; Yao, Guodong; Huo, Zhibao

2014-01-01

Artificial photosynthesis, specifically H2O dissociation for CO2 reduction with solar energy, is regarded as one of the most promising methods for sustainable energy and utilisation of environmental resources. However, a highly efficient conversion still remains extremely challenging. The hydrogenation of CO2 is regarded as the most commercially feasible method, but this method requires either exotic catalysts or high-purity hydrogen and hydrogen storage, which are regarded as an energy-intensive process. Here we report a highly efficient method of H2O dissociation for reducing CO2 into chemicals with Zn powder that produces formic acid with a high yield of approximately 80%, and this reaction is revealed for the first time as an autocatalytic process in which an active intermediate, ZnH− complex, serves as the active hydrogen. The proposed process can assist in developing a new concept for improving artificial photosynthetic efficiency by coupling geochemistry, specifically the metal-based reduction of H2O and CO2, with solar-driven thermochemistry for reducing metal oxide into metal. PMID:24675820

Hybrid heterojunction solar cell based on organic-inorganic silicon nanowire array architecture.

PubMed

Shen, Xiaojuan; Sun, Baoquan; Liu, Dong; Lee, Shuit-Tong

2011-12-07

Silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWs) on a planar silicon wafer can be fabricated by a simple metal-assisted wet chemical etching method. They can offer an excellent light harvesting capability through light scattering and trapping. In this work, we demonstrated that the organic-inorganic solar cell based on hybrid composites of conjugated molecules and SiNWs on a planar substrate yielded an excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.70%. The high efficiency was ascribed to two aspects: one was the improvement of the light absorption by SiNWs structure on the planar components; the other was the enhancement of charge extraction efficiency, resulting from the novel top contact by forming a thin organic layer shell around the individual silicon nanowire. On the contrary, the sole planar junction solar cell only exhibited a PCE of 6.01%, due to the lower light trapping capability and the less hole extraction efficiency. It indicated that both the SiNWs structure and the thin organic layer top contact were critical to achieve a high performance organic/silicon solar cell. © 2011 American Chemical Society

76 FR 33332 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Technical Assistance and Capacity Building under the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-08

... of key Departmental objectives, including but not limited to, energy efficiency and green building... Awards for the Technical Assistance and Capacity Building under the Transformation Initiative Program...) for the Technical Assistance and Capacity Building under the Transformation Initiative program for...

ASERA: A spectrum eye recognition assistant for quasar spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Hailong; Zhang, Haotong; Zhang, Yanxia; Lei, Yajuan; Dong, Yiqiao; Zhao, Yongheng

2013-11-01

Spectral type recognition is an important and fundamental step of large sky survey projects in the data reduction for further scientific research, like parameter measurement and statistic work. It tends out to be a huge job to manually inspect the low quality spectra produced from the massive spectroscopic survey, where the automatic pipeline may not provide confident type classification results. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of spectral classification, we develop a semi-automated toolkit named ASERA, ASpectrum Eye Recognition Assistant. The main purpose of ASERA is to help the user in quasar spectral recognition and redshift measurement. Furthermore it can also be used to recognize various types of spectra of stars, galaxies and AGNs (Active Galactic Nucleus). It is an interactive software allowing the user to visualize observed spectra, superimpose template spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and interactively access related spectral line information. It is an efficient and user-friendly toolkit for the accurate classification of spectra observed by LAMOST (the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope). The toolkit is available in two modes: a Java standalone application and a Java applet. ASERA has a few functions, such as wavelength and flux scale setting, zoom in and out, redshift estimation, spectral line identification, which helps user to improve the spectral classification accuracy especially for low quality spectra and reduce the labor of eyeball check. The function and performance of this tool is displayed through the recognition of several quasar spectra and a late type stellar spectrum from the LAMOST Pilot survey. Its future expansion capabilities are discussed.

Gradient Self-Doped CuBi2O4 with Highly Improved Charge Separation Efficiency.

PubMed

Wang, Fuxian; Septina, Wilman; Chemseddine, Abdelkrim; Abdi, Fatwa F; Friedrich, Dennis; Bogdanoff, Peter; van de Krol, Roel; Tilley, S David; Berglund, Sean P

2017-10-25

A new strategy of using forward gradient self-doping to improve the charge separation efficiency in metal oxide photoelectrodes is proposed. Gradient self-doped CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes are prepared with forward and reverse gradients in copper vacancies using a two-step, diffusion-assisted spray pyrolysis process. Decreasing the Cu/Bi ratio of the CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes introduces Cu vacancies that increase the carrier (hole) concentration and lowers the Fermi level, as evidenced by a shift in the flat band toward more positive potentials. Thus, a gradient in Cu vacancies leads to an internal electric field within CuBi 2 O 4 , which can facilitate charge separation. Compared to homogeneous CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes, CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes with a forward gradient show highly improved charge separation efficiency and enhanced photoelectrochemical performance for reduction reactions, while CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes with a reverse gradient show significantly reduced charge separation efficiency and photoelectrochemical performance. The CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes with a forward gradient produce record AM 1.5 photocurrent densities for CuBi 2 O 4 up to -2.5 mA/cm 2 at 0.6 V vs RHE with H 2 O 2 as an electron scavenger, and they show a charge separation efficiency of 34% for 550 nm light. The gradient self-doping accomplishes this without the introduction of external dopants, and therefore the tetragonal crystal structure and carrier mobility of CuBi 2 O 4 are maintained. Lastly, forward gradient self-doped CuBi 2 O 4 photocathodes are protected with a CdS/TiO 2 heterojunction and coated with Pt as an electrocatalyst. These photocathodes demonstrate photocurrent densities on the order of -1.0 mA/cm 2 at 0.0 V vs RHE and evolve hydrogen with a faradaic efficiency of ∼91%.

The Changing Nature of Technical Assistance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noggle, Nelson L.

The changing nature of technical assistance activities and evaluation for compensatory education programs was discussed. The emphasis is on the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 1 Technical Assistance Centers (TAC) and their clients. Improvement of school practices demands that the technical assistance process be developed…

Laser-assisted in vitro fertilization facilitates fertilization of vitrified-warmed C57BL/6 mouse oocytes with fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa, producing live pups.

PubMed

Woods, Stephanie E; Qi, Peimin; Rosalia, Elizabeth; Chavarria, Tony; Discua, Allan; Mkandawire, John; Fox, James G; García, Alexis

2014-01-01

The utility of cryopreserved mouse gametes for reproduction of transgenic mice depends on development of assisted reproductive technologies, including vitrification of unfertilized mouse oocytes. Due to hardening of the zona pellucida, spermatozoa are often unable to penetrate vitrified-warmed (V-W) oocytes. Laser-assisted in vitro fertilization (LAIVF) facilitates fertilization by allowing easier penetration of spermatozoa through a perforation in the zona. We investigated the efficiency of V-W C57BL/6NTac oocytes drilled by the XYClone laser, compared to fresh oocytes. By using DAP213 for cryoprotection, 83% (1,470/1,762) of vitrified oocytes were recovered after warming and 78% were viable. Four groups were evaluated for two-cell embryo and live offspring efficiency: 1) LAIVF using V-W oocytes, 2) LAIVF using fresh oocytes, 3) conventional IVF using V-W oocytes and 4) conventional IVF using fresh oocytes. First, the groups were tested using fresh C57BL/6NTac spermatozoa (74% motile, 15 million/ml). LAIVF markedly improved the two-cell embryo efficiency using both V-W (76%, 229/298) and fresh oocytes (69%, 135/197), compared to conventional IVF (7%, 12/182; 6%, 14/235, respectively). Then, frozen-thawed C57BL/6NTac spermatozoa (35% motile, 15 million/ml) were used and LAIVF was again found to enhance fertilization efficiency, with two-cell embryo rates of 87% (298/343) using V-W oocytes (P<0.05, compared to fresh spermatozoa), and 73% (195/266) using fresh oocytes. Conventional IVF with frozen-thawed spermatozoa using V-W (6%, 10/168) and fresh (5%, 15/323) oocytes produced few two-cell embryos. Although live offspring efficiency following embryo transfer was greater with conventional IVF (35%, 18/51; LAIVF: 6%, 50/784), advantage was seen with LAIVF in live offspring obtained from total oocytes (5%, 50/1,010; conventional IVF: 2%, 18/908). Our results demonstrated that zona-drilled V-W mouse oocytes can be used for IVF procedures using both fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa, producing live pups. The ability to cryopreserve mouse gametes for LAIVF may facilitate management of large-scale transgenic mouse production facilities.

The Technical Efficiency of Earthquake Medical Rapid Response Teams Following Disasters: The Case of the 2010 Yushu Earthquake in China.

PubMed

Liu, Xu; Tang, Bihan; Yang, Hongyang; Liu, Yuan; Xue, Chen; Zhang, Lulu

2015-12-04

Performance assessments of earthquake medical rapid response teams (EMRRTs), particularly the first responders deployed to the hardest hit areas following major earthquakes, should consider efficient and effective use of resources. This study assesses the daily technical efficiency of EMRRTs in the emergency period immediately following the 2010 Yushu earthquake in China. Data on EMRRTs were obtained from official daily reports of the general headquarters for Yushu earthquake relief, the emergency office of the National Ministry of Health, and the Health Department of Qinghai Province, for a sample of data on 15 EMRRTs over 62 days. Data envelopment analysis was used to examine the technical efficiency in a constant returns to scale model, a variable returns to scale model, and the scale efficiency of EMRRTs. Tobit regression was applied to analyze the effects of corresponding influencing factors. The average technical efficiency scores under constant returns to scale, variable returns to scale, and the scale efficiency scores of the 62 units of analysis were 77.95%, 89.00%, and 87.47%, respectively. The staff-to-bed ratio was significantly related to global technical efficiency. The date of rescue was significantly related to pure technical efficiency. The type of institution to which an EMRRT belonged and the staff-to-bed ratio were significantly related to scale efficiency. This study provides evidence that supports improvements to EMRRT efficiency and serves as a reference for earthquake emergency medical rapid assistance leaders and teams.

Selecting Power-Efficient Signal Features for a Low-Power Fall Detector.

PubMed

Wang, Changhong; Redmond, Stephen J; Lu, Wei; Stevens, Michael C; Lord, Stephen R; Lovell, Nigel H

2017-11-01

Falls are a serious threat to the health of older people. A wearable fall detector can automatically detect the occurrence of a fall and alert a caregiver or an emergency response service so they may deliver immediate assistance, improving the chances of recovering from fall-related injuries. One constraint of such a wearable technology is its limited battery life. Thus, minimization of power consumption is an important design concern, all the while maintaining satisfactory accuracy of the fall detection algorithms implemented on the wearable device. This paper proposes an approach for selecting power-efficient signal features such that the minimum desirable fall detection accuracy is assured. Using data collected in simulated falls, simulated activities of daily living, and real free-living trials, all using young volunteers, the proposed approach selects four features from a set of ten commonly used features, providing a power saving of 75.3%, while limiting the error rate of a binary classification decision tree fall detection algorithm to 7.1%.Falls are a serious threat to the health of older people. A wearable fall detector can automatically detect the occurrence of a fall and alert a caregiver or an emergency response service so they may deliver immediate assistance, improving the chances of recovering from fall-related injuries. One constraint of such a wearable technology is its limited battery life. Thus, minimization of power consumption is an important design concern, all the while maintaining satisfactory accuracy of the fall detection algorithms implemented on the wearable device. This paper proposes an approach for selecting power-efficient signal features such that the minimum desirable fall detection accuracy is assured. Using data collected in simulated falls, simulated activities of daily living, and real free-living trials, all using young volunteers, the proposed approach selects four features from a set of ten commonly used features, providing a power saving of 75.3%, while limiting the error rate of a binary classification decision tree fall detection algorithm to 7.1%.

Chondroitin sulfate-polyethylenimine copolymer-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as an efficient magneto-gene carrier for microRNA-encoding plasmid DNA delivery.

PubMed

Lo, Yu-Lun; Chou, Han-Lin; Liao, Zi-Xian; Huang, Shih-Jer; Ke, Jyun-Han; Liu, Yu-Sheng; Chiu, Chien-Chih; Wang, Li-Fang

2015-05-14

MicroRNA-128 (miR-128) is an attractive therapeutic molecule with powerful glioblastoma regulation properties. However, miR-128 lacks biological stability and leads to poor delivery efficacy in clinical applications. In our previous study, we demonstrated two effective transgene carriers, including polyethylenimine (PEI)-decorated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as well as chemically-conjugated chondroitin sulfate-PEI copolymers (CPs). In this contribution, we report optimized conditions for coating CPs onto the surfaces of SPIONs, forming CPIOs, for magneto-gene delivery systems. The optimized weight ratio of the CPs and SPIONs is 2 : 1, which resulted in the formation of a stable particle as a good transgene carrier. The hydrodynamic diameter of the CPIOs is ∼136 nm. The gel electrophoresis results demonstrate that the weight ratio of CPIO/DNA required to completely encapsulate pDNA is ≥3. The in vitro tests of CPIO/DNA were done in 293 T, CRL5802, and U87-MG cells in the presence and absence of an external magnetic field. The magnetofection efficiency of CPIO/DNA was measured in the three cell lines with or without fetal bovine serum (FBS). CPIO/DNA exhibited remarkably improved gene expression in the presence of the magnetic field and 10% FBS as compared with a gold non-viral standard, PEI/DNA, and a commercial magnetofection reagent, PolyMag/DNA. In addition, CPIO/DNA showed less cytotoxicity than PEI/DNA and PolyMag/DNA against the three cell lines. The transfection efficiency of the magnetoplex improved significantly with an assisted magnetic field. In miR-128 delivery, a microRNA plate array and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to demonstrate that CPIO/pMIRNA-128 indeed expresses more miR-128 with the assisted magnetic field than without. In a biodistribution test, CPIO/Cy5-DNA showed higher accumulation at the tumor site where an external magnet is placed nearby.

Noise-assisted energy transport in electrical oscillator networks with off-diagonal dynamical disorder

PubMed Central

León-Montiel, Roberto de J.; Quiroz-Juárez, Mario A.; Quintero-Torres, Rafael; Domínguez-Juárez, Jorge L.; Moya-Cessa, Héctor M.; Torres, Juan P.; Aragón, José L.

2015-01-01

Noise is generally thought as detrimental for energy transport in coupled oscillator networks. However, it has been shown that for certain coherently evolving systems, the presence of noise can enhance, somehow unexpectedly, their transport efficiency; a phenomenon called environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT) or dephasing-assisted transport. Here, we report on the experimental observation of such effect in a network of coupled electrical oscillators. We demonstrate that by introducing stochastic fluctuations in one of the couplings of the network, a relative enhancement in the energy transport efficiency of 22.5 ± 3.6% can be observed. PMID:26610864

A parametric study of the microwave plasma-assisted combustion of premixed ethylene/air mixtures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuh, Che A.; Wu, Wei; Wang, Chuji

2017-11-01

A parametric study of microwave argon plasma assisted combustion (PAC) of premixed ethylene/air mixtures was carried out using visual imaging, optical emission spectroscopy and cavity ringdown spectroscopy as diagnostic tools. The parameters investigated included the plasma feed gas flow rate, the plasma power, the fuel equivalence ratio and the total flow rate of the fuel/air mixture. The combustion enhancement effects were characterized by the minimum ignition power, the flame length and the fuel efficiency of the combustor. It was found that: (1) increasing the plasma feed gas flow rate resulted in a decrease in the flame length, an increase in the minimum ignition power for near stoichiometric fuel equivalence ratios and a corresponding decrease in the minimum ignition power for ultra-lean and rich fuel equivalence ratios; (2) at a constant plasma power, increasing the total flow rate of the ethylene/air mixture from 1.0 slm to 1.5 slm resulted in an increase in the flame length and a reduction in the fuel efficiency; (3) increasing the plasma power resulted in a slight increase in flame length as well as improved fuel efficiency with fewer C2(d) and CH(A) radicals present downstream of the flame; (4) increasing the fuel equivalence ratio caused an increase in flame length but at a reduced fuel efficiency when plasma power was kept constant; and (5) the ground state OH(X) number density was on the order of 1015 molecules/cm3 and was observed to drop downstream along the propagation axis of the flame at all parameters investigated. Results suggest that each of the parameters independently influences the PAC processes.

Efficiency enhancement of blue light emitting diodes by eliminating V-defects from InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well structures through GaN capping layer control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Sheng-Chieh; Li, Ming-Jui; Fang, Hsin-Chiao; Tu, Chia-Hao; Liu, Chuan-Pu

2018-05-01

A facile method for fabricating blue light-emitting diodes (B-LEDs) with small embedded quantum dots (QDs) and enhanced light emission is demonstrated by tuning the temperature of the growing GaN capping layer to eliminate V-defects. As the growth temperature increases from 770 °C to 840 °C, not only does the density of the V-defects reduce from 4.12 ∗ 108 #/cm2 nm to zero on a smooth surface, but the QDs also get smaller. Therefore, the growth mechanism of smaller QDs assisted by elimination of V-defects is discussed. Photoluminescence and electroluminescence results show that smaller embedded QDs can improve recombination efficiency, and thus achieve higher peak intensity with smaller peak broadening. Accordingly, the external quantum efficiency of the B-LEDs with smaller QDs is enhanced, leading to a 6.8% increase in light output power in lamp-form package LEDs.

Barium: An Efficient Cathode Layer for Bulk-heterojunction Solar Cells

PubMed Central

Gupta, Vinay; Kyaw, Aung Ko Ko; Wang, Dong Hwan; Chand, Suresh; Bazan, Guillermo C.; Heeger, Alan J.

2013-01-01

We report Barium (Ba) cathode layer for bulk-heterojunction solar cells which enhanced the fill factor (FF) of p-DTS(FBTTh2)2/PC71BM BHJ solar cell up to 75.1%, one of the highest value reported for an organic solar cell. The external quantum efficiency exceeds 80%. Analysis of recombination mechanisms using the current-voltage (J–V) characteristics at various light intensities in the BHJ solar cell layer reveals that Ba prevents trap assisted Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination at the interface and with different thicknesses of the Ba, the recombination shifts towards bimolecular from monomolecular. Moreover, Ba increases shunt resistance and decreases the series resistance significantly. This results in an increase in the charge collection probability leading to high FF. This work identifies a new cathode interlayer which outclasses the all the reported interlayers in increasing FF leading to high power conversion efficiency and have significant implications in improving the performance of BHJ solar cells. PMID:23752562

Cationic polyacrylamide enhancing cellulase treatment efficiency of hardwood kraft-based dissolving pulp.

PubMed

Wang, Qiang; Liu, Shanshan; Yang, Guihua; Chen, Jiachuan; Ni, Yonghao

2015-05-01

Cellulase treatment for decreasing viscosity and increasing Fock reactivity of dissolving pulp is a promising approach to reduce the use of toxic chemicals, such as hypochlorite in the dissolving pulp manufacturing process in the industry. Improving the cellulase treatment efficiency during the process is of practical interest. In the present study, the concept of using cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) to enhance the cellulase treatment efficiency was demonstrated. This was mainly attributed to the increased cellulase adsorption onto cellulose fibers based on the patching/bridging mechanism. Results showed that the cellulase adsorption was increased by about 20% with the addition of 250 ppm of CPAM under the same conditions as those of the control. It was found that the viscosity decrease and Fock reactivity increase for the cellulase treatment was enhanced from using CPAM. The CPAM-assisted cellulase treatment concept may provide a practical alternative to the present hypochlorite-based technology for viscosity control in the industry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review of catalytic microwave pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass for value-added fuel and chemicals.

PubMed

Morgan, Hervan Marion; Bu, Quan; Liang, Jianghui; Liu, Yujing; Mao, Hanping; Shi, Aiping; Lei, Hanwu; Ruan, Roger

2017-04-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable resource and can be efficiently converted into bio-energy by a bio-refinery. From the various techniques available for biomass thermo-chemical conversion; microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP) seems to be the very promising. The principles of microwave technology were reviewed and the parameters for the efficient production of bio-oil using microwave technology were summarized. Microwave technology by itself cannot efficiently produce high quality bio-oil products, catalysts are used to improve the reaction conditions and selectivity for valued products during MAP. The catalysts used to optimize MAP are revised in the development of this article. The origins for bio-oils that are phenol rich or hydrocarbon rich are reviewed and their experimental results were summarized. The kinetics of MAP is discussed briefly in the development of the article. Future prospects and scientific development of MAP are also considered in the development of this article. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automation-assisted cervical cancer screening in manual liquid-based cytology with hematoxylin and eosin staining.

PubMed

Zhang, Ling; Kong, Hui; Ting Chin, Chien; Liu, Shaoxiong; Fan, Xinmin; Wang, Tianfu; Chen, Siping

2014-03-01

Current automation-assisted technologies for screening cervical cancer mainly rely on automated liquid-based cytology slides with proprietary stain. This is not a cost-efficient approach to be utilized in developing countries. In this article, we propose the first automation-assisted system to screen cervical cancer in manual liquid-based cytology (MLBC) slides with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain, which is inexpensive and more applicable in developing countries. This system consists of three main modules: image acquisition, cell segmentation, and cell classification. First, an autofocusing scheme is proposed to find the global maximum of the focus curve by iteratively comparing image qualities of specific locations. On the autofocused images, the multiway graph cut (GC) is performed globally on the a* channel enhanced image to obtain cytoplasm segmentation. The nuclei, especially abnormal nuclei, are robustly segmented by using GC adaptively and locally. Two concave-based approaches are integrated to split the touching nuclei. To classify the segmented cells, features are selected and preprocessed to improve the sensitivity, and contextual and cytoplasm information are introduced to improve the specificity. Experiments on 26 consecutive image stacks demonstrated that the dynamic autofocusing accuracy was 2.06 μm. On 21 cervical cell images with nonideal imaging condition and pathology, our segmentation method achieved a 93% accuracy for cytoplasm, and a 87.3% F-measure for nuclei, both outperformed state of the art works in terms of accuracy. Additional clinical trials showed that both the sensitivity (88.1%) and the specificity (100%) of our system are satisfyingly high. These results proved the feasibility of automation-assisted cervical cancer screening in MLBC slides with H&E stain, which is highly desirable in community health centers and small hospitals. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Strength training, walking, and social activity improve sleep in nursing home and assisted living residents: randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Richards, Kathy C; Lambert, Corinne; Beck, Cornelia K; Bliwise, Donald L; Evans, William J; Kalra, Gurpreet K; Kleban, Morton H; Lorenz, Rebecca; Rose, Karen; Gooneratne, Nalaka S; Sullivan, Dennis H

2011-02-01

To compare the effects of physical resistance strength training and walking (E), individualized social activity (SA), and E and SA (ESA) with a usual care control group on total nocturnal sleep time in nursing home and assisted living residents. Pretest-posttest experimental design with assignment to one of four groups for 7 weeks: E (n=55), SA (n=50), ESA (n=41), and usual care control (n=47). Ten nursing homes and three assisted living facilities. One hundred ninety-three residents were randomly assigned; 165 completed the study. The E group participated in high-intensity physical resistance strength training 3 days a week and on 2 days walked for up to 45 minutes, the SA group received social activity 1 hour daily 5 days a week, the ESA group received both E and SA, and the control group participated in usual activities provided in the homes. Total nocturnal sleep time was measured using 2 nights of polysomnography before and 2 nights of polysomnography after the intervention. Sleep efficiency (SE), non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, rapid eye movement sleep, and sleep onset latency were also analyzed. Total nocturnal sleep time was significantly greater in the ESA group than in the control group (adjusted means 364.2 minutes vs 328.9 minutes), as was SE and NREM sleep. High-intensity physical resistance strength training and walking combined with social activity significantly improved sleep in nursing home and assisted living residents. The interventions by themselves did not have significant effects on sleep in this population. © 2011, Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation © 2011, The American Geriatrics Society.

A comprehensive evaluation of novel oximes in creation of butyrylcholinesterase-based nerve agent bioscavengers

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

Katalinić, Maja; Maček Hrvat, Nikolina

A well-considered treatment of acute nerve agents poisoning involves the exogenous administration of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE, EC 3.1.1.8) as a stoichiometric bioscavenger efficient in preventing cholinergic crises caused by acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7) inhibition. An additional improvement in medical countermeasures would be to use oximes that could reactivate BChE as well to upgrade bioscavenging from stoichiometric to oxime-assisted catalytic. Therefore, in this paper we investigated the potency of 39 imidazolium and benzimidazolium oximes (36 compounds synthesized for the first time) to be considered as the reactivators specifically designed for reactivation of phosphylated human BChE. Their efficiency in the reactivation of paraoxon-,more » VX-, and tabun-inhibited human BChE, as well as human AChE was tested and compared with the efficiencies of HI-6 and obidoxime, used in medical practice today. A comprehensive analysis was performed for the most promising oximes defining kinetic parameters of reactivation as well as interactions with uninhibited BChE. Furthermore, experimental data were compared with computational studies (docking, QSAR analysis) as a starting point in future oxime structure refinement. Considering the strict criteria set for in vivo applications, we determined the cytotoxicity of lead oximes on two cell lines. Among the tested oxime library, one imidazolium compound was selected for preliminary in vivo antidotal study in mice. The obtained protection in VX poisoning outlines its potential in development oxime-assisted OP-bioscavenging with BChE. - Highlights: • 36 new imidazolium and benzimidazolium oximes were designed and synthesized. • In vitro reactivation kinetics of phosphylated butyrylcholinesterase was studded. • The modes of actions were elucidated by QSAR and docking simulations. • Protection in VX poisoning was 6.3 × LD{sub 50} in in vivo antidotal study in mice. • Imidazolium oxime-assisted catalysis is feasible for OP-bioscavenging with BChE.« less

Influence of direct and alternating current electric fields on efficiency promotion and leaching risk alleviation of chelator assisted phytoremediation.

PubMed

Luo, Jie; Cai, Limei; Qi, Shihua; Wu, Jian; Sophie Gu, Xiaowen

2018-03-01

Direct and alternating current electric fields with various voltages were used to improve the decontamination efficiency of chelator assisted phytoremediation for multi-metal polluted soil. The alleviation effect of electric field on leaching risk caused by chelator application during phytoremediation process was also evaluated. Biomass yield, pollutant uptake and metal leaching retardation under alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) electric fields were compared. The biomass yield of Eucalyptus globulus under AC fields with various voltages (2, 4 and 10 V) were 3.91, 4.16 and 3.67kg, respectively, significantly higher than the chelator treatment without electric field (2.71kg). Besides growth stimulation, AC fields increased the metal concentrations of plant tissues especially in aerial parts manifested by the raised translocation factor of different metals. Direct current electric fields with low and moderate voltages increased the biomass production of the species to 3.45 and 3.12kg, respectively, while high voltage on the contrary suppressed the growth of the plants (2.66kg). Under DC fields, metal concentrations elevated obviously with increasing voltages and the metal translocation factors were similar under all voltages. Metal extraction per plant achieved the maximum value under moderate voltage due to the greatest biomass production. DC field with high voltage (10V) decreased the volume of leachate from the chelator treatment without electric field from 1224 to 56mL, while the leachate gathered from AC field treatments raised from 512 to 670mL. DC field can retard the downward movement of metals caused by chelator application more effectively relative to AC field due to the constant water flow and electroosmosis direction. Alternating current field had more promotive effect on chelator assisted phytoremediation efficiency than DC field illustrated by more metal accumulation in the species. However, with the consideration of leaching risk, DC field with moderate voltage was the optimal supplementary technique for phytoremediation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound-assisted lipase-catalyzed synthesis of D-isoascorbyl palmitate: process optimization and Kinetic evaluation.

PubMed

Cui, Feng-Jie; Zhao, Hong-Xia; Sun, Wen-Jing; Wei, Zhuan; Yu, Si-Lian; Zhou, Qiang; Dong, Ying

2013-12-09

D-isoascorbic acid is a food antioxidant additive and used in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). High solubility in water (about 150 g/L at 25°C) reduces its effectiveness in stabilizing fats and oils. Our research group had successfully synthesized D-isoascorbyl palmitate using immobilized lipase Novozym 435 as a biocatalyst. Low production efficiency of D-isoascorbyl palmitate is still a problem for industrial production due to the long reaction time of over 24 h. In the present work, ultrasonic treatment was applied for accelerating the reaction process. The operation parameters were optimized to obtain the maximum D-isoascorbyl palmitate conversion rate by using a 5-level-4-factor Central Composite Design (CCD) and Response Surface Methdology (RSM). The reaction apparent kinetic parameters under the ultrasound treatment and mechanical shaking conditions were also determined and compared. Results showed that ultrasound treatment decreased the reaction time by over 50%. D-isoascorbyl palmitate yielded to 94.32 ± 0.17% and the productivity reached to 8.67 g L-1 h-1 under the optimized conditions as: 9% of enzyme load (w/w), 61°C of reaction temperature, 1:5 of D- isoascorbic-to-palmitic acid molar ratio, and 137 W of the ultrasound power. The immobilized lipase Novozym 435 could be reused for 7 times with 65% of the remained D-isoascorbyl palmitate conversion rate. The reaction kinetics showed that the maximum apparent reaction rate (vmax) of the ultrasound-assisted reaction was 2.85 times higher than that of the mechanical shaking, which proved that ultrasound treatment significantly enhanced the reaction efficiency. A systematic study on ultrasound-assisted enzymatic esterification for D-isoascorbyl palmitate production is reported. The results show a promising perspective of the ultrasound technique to reduce the reaction time and improve the production efficiency. The commercial D-isoascorbyl palmitate synthesis will be potentially realized due to this ultrasound-promoted esters synthesis method.

Performance and microbial community dynamics of electricity-assisted sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for treatment of saline petrochemical wastewater.

PubMed

Liu, Jiaxin; Shi, Shengnan; Ji, Xiangyu; Jiang, Bei; Xue, Lanlan; Li, Meidi; Tan, Liang

2017-07-01

High-salinity wastewater is often difficult to treat by common biological technologies due to salinity stress on the bacterial community. Electricity-assisted anaerobic technologies have significantly enhanced the treatment performance by alleviating the impact of salinity stress on the bacterial community, but electricity-assisted aerobic technologies have less been reported. Herein, a novel bio-electrochemistry system has been designed and operated in which a pair of stainless iron mesh-graphite plate electrodes were installed into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR, designated as S1) to strengthen the performance of saline petrochemical wastewater under aerobic conditions. The removal efficiency of phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in S1 were 94.1 and 91.2%, respectively, on day 45, which was clearly higher than the removal efficiency of a single SBR (S2) and an electrochemical reactor (S3), indicating that a coupling effect existed between the electrochemical process and biodegradation. A certain amount of salinity (≤8000 mg/L) could enhance the treatment performance in S1 but weaken that in S2. Illumina sequencing revealed that microbial communities in S1 on days 45 and 91 were richer and more diverse than in S2, which suggests that electrical stimulation could enhance the diversity and richness of the microbial community, and reduce the negative effect of salinity on the microorganisms and enrich some salt-adapted microorganisms, thus improve the ability of S1 to respond to salinity stress. This novel bio-electrochemistry system was shown to be an alternative technology for the high saline petrochemical wastewater.

A pedagogical shift from direct instruction: Technology-assisted inquiry learning (TAIL) in chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Rena Zhihong

The purpose of this study was to develop a student-centered Technology-Assisted Inquiry Learning (TAIL) pedagogical approach and compare it with the traditional, teacher-centered, direct instruction approach in a chemistry classroom. The study investigated how the TAIL approach affected community college chemistry students' (n = 21) learning gains and perceptions during a 1.5-hour intervention when compared with the direct instruction approach. A mixed methodology was used that included both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Results led to the following three key findings for novice learners: (a) TAIL had a statistically significant effect on students' procedural application skills improvement when compared with direct instruction; (b) The magnitude of the between-group difference (Cohen's d = 1.41) indicated that TAIL had a cumulative effect on students' learning gains due to its ability to incorporate multiple components including Inquiry, Guidance, Technology, and Collaboration; (c) When combining measures of students' performance and perceived mental effort, TAIL demonstrated high-instructional efficiency with a significant difference in teaching factual knowledge and procedural applications when compared with direct instruction. In summary, the outcome of this study demonstrated both the effectiveness and efficiency of the TAIL approach as a student-centered pedagogy in teaching a basic scientific topic. This study provided a practical demonstration of the pedagogical shift in teaching science from teacher-centered direct instruction to student-centered learning by using computer software as a pedagogical agent. The results of the study contribute to the literature in the fields of guided inquiry learning pedagogy and technology-assisted science teaching.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of gymnemic acids from Gymnema sylvestre leaves and its effect on insulin-producing RINm-5 F β cell lines.

PubMed

Sheoran, Sunita; Panda, Bibhu Prasad; Admane, Prasad S; Panda, Amulya Kumar; Wajid, Saima

2015-01-01

Gymnema sylvestre is an important anti-diabetic medicinal plant, hence it is necessary to study the effective extraction of its active medicinal components. To develop an efficient ultrasound-assisted extraction method for anti-diabetic gymnemic acids from Gymnema sylvestre leaves and measure their effect on insulin-producing RINm-5 F β cells. Box-Behnken's design and response surface methodology was applied to the ultrasound-assisted extraction of gymnemic acids from Gymnema sylvestre leaves. Analysis of gymnemic acids was carried out by high-performance thin-layer chromatography by converting total gymnemic acids into gymnemagenin by alkali hydrolysis. Effects of extracts on insulin production were tested on cultured, insulin-producing RINm-5 F β cell lines. The point prediction tool of the design expert software predicted 397.9 mg gymnemic acids per gram of the defatted G. sylvestre leaves using ultrasound-assisted extraction, with ethanol at 60 °C for 30 min. The predicted condition shows 93.34% validity under experimental conditions. The ultrasound-assisted extract caused up to about four times more insulin production from RINm-5 F β cells than extracts obtained from Soxhlet extraction. Response surface methodology was successfully used to improve the extraction of gymnemic acids from G. sylvestre leaves. The ultrasound-assisted extraction process may be a better alternative to prepare such herbal extracts because it saves time and may prevent excess degradation of the target analytes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Establishment of a Charge Reversal Derivatization Strategy to Improve the Ionization Efficiency of Limaprost and Investigation of the Fragmentation Patterns of Limaprost Derivatives Via Exclusive Neutral Loss and Survival Yield Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Dong; Meng, Xiangjun; Ren, Tianming; Fawcett, John Paul; Wang, Hualu; Gu, Jingkai

2018-04-01

Sensitivity is generally an issue in bioassays of prostaglandins and their synthetic analogs due to their extremely low concentration in vivo. To improve the ionization efficiency of limaprost, an oral prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) synthetic analog, we investigated a charge reversal derivatization strategy in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). We established that the cholamine derivative exhibits much greater signal intensity in the positive-ion mode compared with limaprost in the negative ion mode. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) involved exclusive neutral mass loss and positive charge migration to form stable cationic product ions with the positive charge on the limaprost residue rather than on the modifying group. This has the effect of maintaining the efficiency and specificity of multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and avoiding cross talk. CID fragmentation patterns of other limaprost derivatives allowed us to relate the dissociation tendency of different neutral leaving groups to an internal energy distribution scale based on the survival yield method. Knowledge of the energy involved in the production of stabilized positive ions will potentially assist the selection of suitable derivatization reagents for the analysis of a wide variety of lipid acids. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Shell Layer Thickness-Dependent Photocatalytic Activity of Sputtering Synthesized Hexagonally Structured ZnO-ZnS Composite Nanorods

PubMed Central

Liang, Yuan-Chang; Lo, Ya-Ru; Wang, Chein-Chung; Xu, Nian-Cih

2018-01-01

ZnO-ZnS core-shell nanorods are synthesized by combining the hydrothermal method and vacuum sputtering. The core-shell nanorods with variable ZnS shell thickness (7–46 nm) are synthesized by varying ZnS sputtering duration. Structural analyses demonstrated that the as-grown ZnS shell layers are well crystallized with preferring growth direction of ZnS (002). The sputtering-assisted synthesized ZnO-ZnS core-shell nanorods are in a wurtzite structure. Moreover, photoluminance spectral analysis indicated that the introduction of a ZnS shell layer improved the photoexcited electron and hole separation efficiency of the ZnO nanorods. A strong correlation between effective charge separation and the shell thickness aids the photocatalytic behavior of the nanorods and improves their photoresponsive nature. The results of comparative degradation efficiency toward methylene blue showed that the ZnO-ZnS nanorods with the shell thickness of approximately 17 nm have the highest photocatalytic performance than the ZnO-ZnS nanorods with other shell layer thicknesses. The highly reusable catalytic efficiency and superior photocatalytic performance of the ZnO-ZnS nanorods with 17 nm-thick ZnS shell layer supports their potential for environmental applications. PMID:29316671

Bacterial magnetic particles improve testes-mediated transgene efficiency in mice.

PubMed

Wang, Chao; Sun, Guanghong; Wang, Ye; Kong, Nana; Chi, Yafei; Yang, Leilei; Xin, Qiliang; Teng, Zhen; Wang, Xu; Wen, Yujun; Li, Ying; Xia, Guoliang

2017-11-01

Nano-scaled materials have been proved to be ideal DNA carriers for transgene. Bacterial magnetic particles (BMPs) help to reduce the toxicity of polyethylenimine (PEI), an efficient gene-transferring agent, and assist tissue transgene ex vivo. Here, the effectiveness of the BMP-PEI complex-conjugated foreign DNAs (BPDs) in promoting testes-mediated gene transfer (TMGT) in mouse was compared with that of liposome-conjugated foreign DNAs. The results proved that through testes injection, the clusters of BPDs successfully reached the cytoplasm and the nuclear of spermatogenesis cell, and expressed in testes of transgene founder mice. Additionally, the ratio of founder mice obtained from BPDs (88%) is about 3 times higher than the control (25%) (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the motility of sperms recovered from epididymis of the founder mice from BPD group were significantly improved, as compared with the control (p < 0.01). Based on classic breeding, the ratio of transgene mice within the first filial was significantly higher in BPDs compared with the control (73.8% versus 11.6%, p < 0.05). TMGT in this study did not produce visible histological changes in the testis. In conclusion, nano-scaled BPDs could be an alternative strategy for efficiently producing transgene mice in vivo.

Vapor cycle energy system for implantable circulatory assist devices. Annual progress report, Jul 1975--May 1976

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

Watelet, R.P.; Ruggles, A.E.; Hagen, K.G.

1976-05-01

The development status of a heart assist system driven by a nuclear fueled, electronically controlled vapor cycle engine termed the tidal regenerator engine (TRE) is described. The TRE pressurization is controlled by a torque motor coupled to a displacer. The electrical power for the sensor, electronic logic and actuator is provided by thermoelectric modules interposed between the engine superheater and boiler. The TRE is direct coupled to an assist blood pump which also acts as a blood-cooled heat exchanger, pressure-volume transformer and sensor for the electronic logic. Engine cycle efficiency in excess of 14% has been demonstrated routinely. Overall systemmore » efficiency on 33 watts of over 9% has been demonstrated. A binary version of this engine in the annular configuration is now being tested. The preliminary tests demonstrated 10% cycle efficiency on the first buildup which ran well and started easily.« less

Vapor cycle energy system for implantable circulatory assist devices. Annual report, Jul 1973-Jul 1974

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

Hagen, K.G.

1974-08-01

The report describes the development status of a heart assist system driven by a nuclear fueled, electronically controlled vapor cycle engine termed the tidal regenerator engine (TRE). The TRE pressurization (typically from 5-160 psia) is controlled by a torque motor coupled to a displacer. The electrical power for the sensor, electronic logic and actuator is provided by a thermoelectric module interposed between the engine superheater and boiler. The TRE is directly coupled to an assist blood pump which also acts as a blood-cooled heat exchanger, pressure-volume transformer and sensor for the electronic logic. Engine efficiencies in excess of 10 percentmore » have been demonstrated. A binary version of the engine with twice the potential efficiency is being investigated. Efficiency values as high as 13 percent have been achieved to date. (GRA)« less

Exploiting Wild Relatives for Genomics-assisted Breeding of Perennial Crops

PubMed Central

Migicovsky, Zoë; Myles, Sean

2017-01-01

Perennial crops are vital contributors to global food production and nutrition. However, the breeding of new perennial crops is an expensive and time-consuming process due to the large size and lengthy juvenile phase of many species. Genomics provides a valuable tool for improving the efficiency of breeding by allowing progeny possessing a trait of interest to be selected at the seed or seedling stage through marker-assisted selection (MAS). The benefits of MAS to a breeder are greatest when the targeted species takes a long time to reach maturity and is expensive to grow and maintain. Thus, MAS holds particular promise in perennials since they are often costly and time-consuming to grow to maturity and evaluate. Well-characterized germplasm that breeders can tap into for improving perennials is often limited in genetic diversity. Wild relatives are a largely untapped source of desirable traits including disease resistance, fruit quality, and rootstock characteristics. This review focuses on the use of genomics-assisted breeding in perennials, especially as it relates to the introgression of useful traits from wild relatives. The identification of genetic markers predictive of beneficial phenotypes derived from wild relatives is hampered by genomic tools designed for domesticated species that are often ill-suited for use in wild relatives. There is therefore an urgent need for better genomic resources from wild relatives. A further barrier to exploiting wild diversity through genomics is the phenotyping bottleneck: well-powered genetic mapping requires accurate and cost-effective characterization of large collections of diverse wild germplasm. While genomics will always be used in combination with traditional breeding methods, it is a powerful tool for accelerating the speed and reducing the costs of breeding while harvesting the potential of wild relatives for improving perennial crops. PMID:28421095

Exploiting Wild Relatives for Genomics-assisted Breeding of Perennial Crops.

PubMed

Migicovsky, Zoë; Myles, Sean

2017-01-01

Perennial crops are vital contributors to global food production and nutrition. However, the breeding of new perennial crops is an expensive and time-consuming process due to the large size and lengthy juvenile phase of many species. Genomics provides a valuable tool for improving the efficiency of breeding by allowing progeny possessing a trait of interest to be selected at the seed or seedling stage through marker-assisted selection (MAS). The benefits of MAS to a breeder are greatest when the targeted species takes a long time to reach maturity and is expensive to grow and maintain. Thus, MAS holds particular promise in perennials since they are often costly and time-consuming to grow to maturity and evaluate. Well-characterized germplasm that breeders can tap into for improving perennials is often limited in genetic diversity. Wild relatives are a largely untapped source of desirable traits including disease resistance, fruit quality, and rootstock characteristics. This review focuses on the use of genomics-assisted breeding in perennials, especially as it relates to the introgression of useful traits from wild relatives. The identification of genetic markers predictive of beneficial phenotypes derived from wild relatives is hampered by genomic tools designed for domesticated species that are often ill-suited for use in wild relatives. There is therefore an urgent need for better genomic resources from wild relatives. A further barrier to exploiting wild diversity through genomics is the phenotyping bottleneck: well-powered genetic mapping requires accurate and cost-effective characterization of large collections of diverse wild germplasm. While genomics will always be used in combination with traditional breeding methods, it is a powerful tool for accelerating the speed and reducing the costs of breeding while harvesting the potential of wild relatives for improving perennial crops.

Pumpless extracorporeal interventional lung assist in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: a prospective pilot study.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Markus; Bein, Thomas; Arlt, Matthias; Philipp, Alois; Rupprecht, Leopold; Mueller, Thomas; Lubnow, Matthias; Graf, Bernhard M; Schlitt, Hans J

2009-01-01

Pumpless interventional lung assist (iLA) is used in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) aimed at improving extracorporeal gas exchange with a membrane integrated in a passive arteriovenous shunt. In previous studies, feasibility and safety of the iLA system was demonstrated, but no survival benefit was observed. In the present pilot study we tested the hypothesis that timely initiation of iLA using clear algorithms and an improved cannulation technique will positively influence complication rates and management of lung protective ventilation. iLA was implemented in 51 patients from multiple aetiologies meeting ARDS-criteria (American-European Consensus) for more than 12 hours. Initiation of iLA followed an algorithm for screening, careful evaluation and insertion technique. Patients with cardiac insufficiency or severe peripheral vascular disease were not considered suitable for iLA. Arterial and venous cannulae were inserted using a new strategy (ultrasound evaluation of vessels by an experienced team, using cannulae of reduced diameter). The incidence of complications and the effects on tidal volumes and inspiratory plateau pressures were primary outcome parameters, while oxygenation improvement and carbon dioxide removal capabilities were secondary study parameters. Initiation of iLA resulted in a marked removal in arterial carbon dioxide allowing a rapid reduction in tidal volume (

Hybridization between multi-objective genetic algorithm and support vector machine for feature selection in walker-assisted gait.

PubMed

Martins, Maria; Costa, Lino; Frizera, Anselmo; Ceres, Ramón; Santos, Cristina

2014-03-01

Walker devices are often prescribed incorrectly to patients, leading to the increase of dissatisfaction and occurrence of several problems, such as, discomfort and pain. Thus, it is necessary to objectively evaluate the effects that assisted gait can have on the gait patterns of walker users, comparatively to a non-assisted gait. A gait analysis, focusing on spatiotemporal and kinematics parameters, will be issued for this purpose. However, gait analysis yields redundant information that often is difficult to interpret. This study addresses the problem of selecting the most relevant gait features required to differentiate between assisted and non-assisted gait. For that purpose, it is presented an efficient approach that combines evolutionary techniques, based on genetic algorithms, and support vector machine algorithms, to discriminate differences between assisted and non-assisted gait with a walker with forearm supports. For comparison purposes, other classification algorithms are verified. Results with healthy subjects show that the main differences are characterized by balance and joints excursion in the sagittal plane. These results, confirmed by clinical evidence, allow concluding that this technique is an efficient feature selection approach. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Evaluation of Energy Efficiency for a Soft Wearable Robotic Suit.

PubMed

Jin, Shanhai; Iwamoto, Noriyasu; Hashimoto, Kazunobu; Yamamoto, Motoji

2016-10-12

This paper presents a new soft wearable robotic suit for energy-efficient walking in daily activities for elderly persons. The presented robotic suit provides a small yet effective assistive force for hip flexion through winding belts that include elastic elements. In addition, it does not restrict the range of movement in the lower limbs. Moreover, its structure is simple and lightweight, and thus wearers can easily take the device on and off by themselves. Experimental results on nine elderly subjects (age = 74.23.7 years) show that the robotic suit worn and powered on (PON) significantly reduced energy expenditure by an average of 5.9 % compared with the condition of worn but powered off (POFF). Furthermore, compared with the POFF condition, there was a significant improvement in gait characteristics in the PON condition for all subjects.

Space-assisted irrigation management: an operational perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calera Belmonte, Alfonso; Jochum, Anne M.; Cuesta Garcia, Andres

2004-10-01

Irrigation Advisory Services (IAS) are the natural management instruments to achieve a better efficiency in the use of water for irrigation. IAS help farmers to apply water according to the actual crop water requirements and thus, to optimize production and cost-effectiveness. The project DEMETER (DEMonstration of Earth observation TEchnologies in Routine irrigation advisory services) aims at assessing and demonstrating how the performance and cost-effectiveness of IAS is substantially improved by the incorporation of Earth observation (EO) techniques and Information Society Technology (IT) into their day-to-day operations. EO allows for efficiently monitoring crop water requirements of each field in extended areas. The incorporation of IT in the generation and distribution of information makes that information easily available to IAS and to its associated farmers (the end-users) in a personalized way. This paper describes the methodology and selected results.

Accelerating global optimization of aerodynamic shapes using a new surrogate-assisted parallel genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahimi, Mehdi; Jahangirian, Alireza

2017-12-01

An efficient strategy is presented for global shape optimization of wing sections with a parallel genetic algorithm. Several computational techniques are applied to increase the convergence rate and the efficiency of the method. A variable fidelity computational evaluation method is applied in which the expensive Navier-Stokes flow solver is complemented by an inexpensive multi-layer perceptron neural network for the objective function evaluations. A population dispersion method that consists of two phases, of exploration and refinement, is developed to improve the convergence rate and the robustness of the genetic algorithm. Owing to the nature of the optimization problem, a parallel framework based on the master/slave approach is used. The outcomes indicate that the method is able to find the global optimum with significantly lower computational time in comparison to the conventional genetic algorithm.

Life cycle design metrics for energy generation technologies: Method, data, and case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, Joyce; Lee, Seung-Jin; Elter, John; Boussu, Jeff; Boman, Sarah

A method to assist in the rapid preparation of Life Cycle Assessments of emerging energy generation technologies is presented and applied to distributed proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems. The method develops life cycle environmental design metrics and allows variations in hardware materials, transportation scenarios, assembly energy use, operating performance and consumables, and fuels and fuel production scenarios to be modeled and comparisons to competing systems to be made. Data and results are based on publicly available U.S. Life Cycle Assessment data sources and are formulated to allow the environmental impact weighting scheme to be specified. A case study evaluates improvements in efficiency and in materials recycling and compares distributed proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems to other distributed generation options. The results reveal the importance of sensitivity analysis and system efficiency in interpreting case studies.

78 FR 66375 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the OneCPD Plus: Technical Assistance and Capacity Building...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-05

... of key Departmental objectives, including but not limited to, energy efficiency and green building... Awards for the OneCPD Plus: Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Under the Transformation... Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the OneCPD Plus: Technical Assistance and Capacity Building...

Design and Implementation of a Set-Top Box–Based Homecare System Using Hybrid Cloud

PubMed Central

Lin, Bor-Shing; Hsiao, Pei-Chi; Cheng, Po-Hsun; Jan, Gene Eu

2015-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Telemedicine has become a prevalent topic in recent years, and several telemedicine systems have been proposed; however, such systems are an unsuitable fit for the daily requirements of users. Materials and Methods: The system proposed in this study was developed as a set-top box integrated with the Android™ (Google, Mountain View, CA) operating system to provide a convenient and user-friendly interface. The proposed system can assist with family healthcare management, telemedicine service delivery, and information exchange among hospitals. To manage the system, a novel type of hybrid cloud architecture was also developed. Results: Updated information is stored on a public cloud, enabling medical staff members to rapidly access information when diagnosing patients. In the long term, the stored data can be reduced to improve the efficiency of the database. Conclusions: The proposed design offers a robust architecture for storing data in a homecare system and can thus resolve network overload and congestion resulting from accumulating data, which are inherent problems in centralized architectures, thereby improving system efficiency. PMID:26075333

A light-trapping strategy for nanocrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells using three-dimensionally assembled nanoparticle structures.

PubMed

Ha, Kyungyeon; Jang, Eunseok; Jang, Segeun; Lee, Jong-Kwon; Jang, Min Seok; Choi, Hoseop; Cho, Jun-Sik; Choi, Mansoo

2016-02-05

We report three-dimensionally assembled nanoparticle structures inducing multiple plasmon resonances for broadband light harvesting in nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells. A three-dimensional multiscale (3DM) assembly of nanoparticles generated using a multi-pin spark discharge method has been accomplished over a large area under atmospheric conditions via ion-assisted aerosol lithography. The multiscale features of the sophisticated 3DM structures exhibit surface plasmon resonances at multiple frequencies, which increase light scattering and absorption efficiency over a wide spectral range from 350-1100 nm. The multiple plasmon resonances, together with the antireflection functionality arising from the conformally deposited top surface of the 3D solar cell, lead to a 22% and an 11% improvement in power conversion efficiency of the nc-Si:H thin-film solar cells compared to flat cells and cells employing nanoparticle clusters, respectively. Finite-difference time-domain simulations were also carried out to confirm that the improved device performance mainly originates from the multiple plasmon resonances generated from three-dimensionally assembled nanoparticle structures.

Application of BiFeO3-based on nickel foam composites with a highly efficient catalytic activity and easily recyclable in Fenton-like process under microwave irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shuo; Zhang, Guangshan; Zheng, Heshan; Zheng, Yongjie; Wang, Peng

2018-05-01

In this study, BiFeO3 (BFO) powders decorated on nickel foam (NF) with a high catalytic activity are prepared via a one-step microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The factors that influence the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) with BFO/NFs as catalysts are optimized to improve the catalytic activity in a microwave-enhanced Fenton-like process. BFO/NF exhibit a superior catalytic activity with a high BPA removal ratio (98.4%) and TOC removal ratio (69.5%) within 5 min. Results indicate that NF significantly affect the improvement of the catalytic activity of BFO because it served as a source of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) during degradation. The amount of •OH generated by BFO/NF is approximately 1.65-fold higher than that by pure BFO. After six reaction cycles, the stability and reusability of •OH remain high. These findings provide new insights into the synthesis of composites on heterogeneous catalysts with high efficiency and easy recyclability for water treatment applications.

Improved biomass and lipid production in Synechocystis sp. NN using industrial wastes and nano-catalyst coupled transesterification for biodiesel production.

PubMed

Jawaharraj, Kalimuthu; Karpagam, Rathinasamy; Ashokkumar, Balasubramaniem; Kathiresan, Shanmugam; Moorthy, Innasi Muthu Ganesh; Arumugam, Muthu; Varalakshmi, Perumal

2017-10-01

In this study, the improved biomass (1.6 folds) and lipid (1.3 folds) productivities in Synechocystis sp. NN using agro-industrial wastes supplementation through hybrid response surface methodology-genetic algorithm (RSM-GA) for cost-effective methodologies for biodiesel production was achieved. Besides, efficient harvesting in Synechocystis sp. NN was achieved by electroflocculation (flocculation efficiency 97.8±1.2%) in 10min when compared to other methods. Furthermore, different pretreatment methods were employed for lipid extraction and maximum lipid content of 19.3±0.2% by Synechocystis sp. NN was attained by ultrasonication than microwave and liquid nitrogen assisted pretreatment methods. The highest FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) conversion of 36.5±8.3mg FAME/g biomass was obtained using titanium oxide as heterogeneous nano-catalyst coupled whole-cell transesterification based method. Conclusively, Synechocystis sp. NN may be used as a biodiesel feedstock and its fuel production can be enriched by hybrid RSM-GA and nano-catalyst technologies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relative Sustainability of Natural Gas Assisted High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock Production from Biomass

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

Tan, Eric C; Zhang, Yi Min; Cai, Hao

Biomass-derived hydrocarbon fuel technologies are being developed and pursued for better economy, environment, and society benefits underpinning the sustainability of transportation energy. Increasing availability and affordability of natural gas (NG) in the US can play an important role in assisting renewable fuel technology development, primarily in terms of economic feasibility. When a biorefinery is co-processing NG with biomass, the current low cost of NG coupled with the higher NG carbon conversion efficiency potentially allow for cost competitiveness of the fuel while achieving a minimum GHG emission reduction of 50 percent or higher compared to petroleum fuel. This study evaluates themore » relative sustainability of the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction (IDL) of biomass (and with NG co-feed) through methanol/dimethyl ether intermediates. The sustainability metrics considered in this study include minimum fuel selling price (MFSP), carbon conversion efficiency, life cycle GHG emissions, life cycle water consumption, fossil energy return on investment (EROI), GHG emission avoidance cost, and job creation. Co-processing NG can evidently improve the MFSP. Evaluation of the relative sustainability can shed light on the biomass-NG synergistic impacts and sustainability trade-offs associated with the IDL as high-octane gasoline blendstock production.« less

High-speed homogenization coupled with microwave-assisted extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the direct determination of alkaloids and flavonoids in fresh Isatis tinctoria L. hairy root cultures.

PubMed

Jiao, Jiao; Gai, Qing-Yan; Zhang, Lin; Wang, Wei; Luo, Meng; Zu, Yuan-Gang; Fu, Yu-Jie

2015-06-01

A new, simple and efficient analysis method for fresh plant in vitro cultures-namely, high-speed homogenization coupled with microwave-assisted extraction (HSH-MAE) followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-was developed for simultaneous determination of six alkaloids and eight flavonoids in Isatis tinctoria hairy root cultures (ITHRCs). Compared with traditional methods, the proposed HSH-MAE offers the advantages of easy manipulation, higher efficiency, energy saving, and reduced waste. Cytohistological studies were conducted to clarify the mechanism of HSH-MAE at cellular/tissue levels. Moreover, the established LC-MS/MS method showed excellent linearity, precision, repeatability, and reproducibility. The HSH-MAE-LC-MS/MS method was also successfully applied for screening high-productivity ITHRCs. Overall, this study opened up a new avenue for the direct determination of secondary metabolic profiles from fresh plant in vitro cultures, which is valuable for improving quality control of plant cell/organ cultures and sheds light on the metabolomic analysis of biological samples. Graphical Abstract HSH-MAE-LC-MS/MS opened up a new avenue for the direct determination of alkaloids and flavonoids in fresh Isatis tinctoria hairy root cultures.

Crystallization of perovskite film using ambient moisture and water as co-solvent for efficient planar perovskite solar cell (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, Ashish; Reza, Khan M.; Gaml, Eman; Adhikari, Nirmal; Qiao, Qiquan

2016-09-01

Smooth, compact and defect free morphology of perovskite is highly desired for enhanced device performance. Several routes such as thermal annealing, use of solvent mixtures, growth under controlled humidity has been adopted to obtain crystalline, smooth and defect free perovskite film. Herein we showed direct use of water (H2O) as co-solvent in precursor solution and have optimized the water content required to obtain smooth and dense film. Varying concentration of water was used in precursor solution of CH3NH3I and PbI2 mixed in γ-butyrolactone (GBL) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Perovskite films were crystallized using toluene assisted solvent engineering method using GBL:DMSO:H2O as solvent mixture. The amount of water was varied from 1% to 25%, which resulted in change in film morphology and perovskite crystallinity. It was concluded that an appropriate amount of water is required to assist the crystallization process to obtain smooth pin-hole free morphology. The change in morphology led to improved fill factor in the device, with highest efficiency 14%, which was significantly higher than devices made from perovskite film without adding water. We also showed that addition of up to 25% by volume of water does not significantly change the device performance.

Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers (SERC) Vermont Highlight (Fact Sheet)

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

Not Available

2012-01-01

Case study on Vermont's innovative strategy for helping low-income families save energy through its Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers (SERC) program. The DOE Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) granted Vermont to give its weatherization clients access to solar energy systems and one-on-one assistance from energy efficiency coaches to help clients achieve meaningful and long-lasting reductions in their energy bills. Vermont-SERC is administered by the Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity and is carried out by five local weatherization agencies. The purpose of the program is to identify technologies and new approaches-in this case, solar energy and energy efficiency coaches-that can improve weatherizationmore » services to low-income clients. The program selects households that have previously received weatherization services. This has several advantages. First, the clients already understand how weatherization works and are willing to strive for additional energy savings. Second, the weatherization agencies are working with clients who have previously had weatherization and therefore have complete energy usage data from utility bills collected during the first energy upgrade installation. This allows the agencies to select the best potential candidates for solar energy. Agencies have existing knowledge of the homes and can pre-screen them for potential structural problems or lack of south-facing exposure.« less

A Population Genetics Model of Marker-Assisted Selection

PubMed Central

Luo, Z. W.; Thompson, R.; Woolliams, J. A.

1997-01-01

A deterministic two-loci model was developed to predict genetic response to marker-assisted selection (MAS) in one generation and in multiple generations. Formulas were derived to relate linkage disequilibrium in a population to the proportion of additive genetic variance used by MAS, and in turn to an extra improvement in genetic response over phenotypic selection. Predictions of the response were compared to those predicted by using an infinite-loci model and the factors affecting efficiency of MAS were examined. Theoretical analyses of the present study revealed the nonlinearity between the selection intensity and genetic response in MAS. In addition to the heritability of the trait and the proportion of the marker-associated genetic variance, the frequencies of the selectively favorable alleles at the two loci, one marker and one quantitative trait locus, were found to play an important role in determining both the short- and long-term efficiencies of MAS. The evolution of linkage disequilibrium and thus the genetic response over several generations were predicted theoretically and examined by simulation. MAS dissipated the disequilibrium more quickly than drift alone. In some cases studied, the rate of dissipation was as large as that to be expected in the circumstance where the true recombination fraction was increased by three times and selection was absent. PMID:9215918

UV-light-assisted ethanol sensing characteristics of g-C3N4/ZnO composites at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Jiali; Wang, Tao; Wang, Chuang; Liu, Dechen

2018-05-01

A highly efficient UV-light-assisted room temperature sensor based on g-C3N4/ZnO composites were prepared by an in situ precipitation method. The thermostability, composition, structure, and morphology properties of the as-prepared g-C3N4/ZnO composites were characterized by TGA, XRD, FT-IR, TEM, and XPS, respectively. And then, we studied the ethanol (C2H5OH) sensing performance of the g-C3N4/ZnO composites at the room temperature. Compared with pure ZnO and g-C3N4, the gas sensing activity of g-C3N4/ZnO composites was greatly improved at room temperature, for example, the g-C3N4/ZnO-8% composites showed an obvious response of 121-40 ppm C2H5OH at room temperature, which was 60 times higher than the pure ZnO based on the sensors under the same condition. The great enhancement of the C2H5OH sensing properties of composites can be understood by the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers of g-C3N4/ZnO heterogeneous and the UV-light catalytic effect. Finally, a possible mechanism for the gas sensing activity was proposed.

A random forest learning assisted "divide and conquer" approach for peptide conformation search.

PubMed

Chen, Xin; Yang, Bing; Lin, Zijing

2018-06-11

Computational determination of peptide conformations is challenging as it is a problem of finding minima in a high-dimensional space. The "divide and conquer" approach is promising for reliably reducing the search space size. A random forest learning model is proposed here to expand the scope of applicability of the "divide and conquer" approach. A random forest classification algorithm is used to characterize the distributions of the backbone φ-ψ units ("words"). A random forest supervised learning model is developed to analyze the combinations of the φ-ψ units ("grammar"). It is found that amino acid residues may be grouped as equivalent "words", while the φ-ψ combinations in low-energy peptide conformations follow a distinct "grammar". The finding of equivalent words empowers the "divide and conquer" method with the flexibility of fragment substitution. The learnt grammar is used to improve the efficiency of the "divide and conquer" method by removing unfavorable φ-ψ combinations without the need of dedicated human effort. The machine learning assisted search method is illustrated by efficiently searching the conformations of GGG/AAA/GGGG/AAAA/GGGGG through assembling the structures of GFG/GFGG. Moreover, the computational cost of the new method is shown to increase rather slowly with the peptide length.

Investigation of an intelligent system for fiber optic-based epidural anesthesia.

PubMed

Gong, Cihun-Siyong Alex; Ting, Chien-Kun

2014-01-01

Even though there have been many approaches to assist the anesthesiologists in performing regional anesthesia, none of the prior arts may be said as an unrestricted technique. The lack of a design that is with sufficient sensitivity to the targets of interest and automatic indication of needle placement makes it difficult to all-round implementation of field usage of objectiveness. In addition, light-weight easy-to-use realization is the key point of portability. This paper reports on an intelligent system of epidural space identification using optical technique, with particular emphasis on efficiency-enhanced aspects. Statistical algorithms, implemented in a dedicated field-programmable hardware platform along with an on-platform application-specific integrated chip, used to advance real-time self decision making in needle advancement are discussed together with the feedback results. Clinicians' viewpoint of improving the correct rate of our technique is explained in detail. Our study demonstrates not only that the improved system is able to behave as if it is a skillful anesthesiologist but also it has potential to bring promising assist into clinical use under varied conditions and small amount of sample, provided that several concerns are addressed.

[Ultrasonic sludge treatment and its application on aerobic digestion].

PubMed

Li, Huan; Jin, Yi-ying; Nie, Yong-feng; Li, Lei; Yang, Hai-ying

2007-07-01

In order to enhance the degradation efficiency of waste activated sludge (WAS) in conventional aerobic digestion, various ultrasonic assisted treatment methods were investigated including ultrasonic disintegration of influent sludge, ultrasonic improvement of influent sludge activity and ultrasonic disintegration of return sludge. Firstly the effects of ultrasonic sludge treatment were studied to choose appropriate ultrasonic parameters, and then the experiments of aerobic digestion with different ultrasonic treatments were carried out. The results show that 1.0 W/mL, 10 minutes ultrasonic treatment can increase soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) in the supernatant phase of sludge sample by 5.4 times and decrease total suspended solid (TSS) by 16%; 0.05 W/mL, 10 min ultrasonic treatment can increase the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of sludge sample by 29%. The two kinds of ultrasonic influent sludge pretreatment can't improve aerobic digestion effectively. Ultrasonic return sludge disintegration can enhance the volatile suspended solid (VSS) degradation ratio by 15%. Furthermore, the settlement performance of digested sludge is still good and the pollutant concentrations of supernatant phase increase slightly. So ultrasonic return sludge disintegration is considered as the most appropriate assisted treatment mode for aerobic digestion.

Implementation of a handheld electronic point-of-care billing system improved efficiency in the critical care unit.

PubMed

Fahy, Brenda G; Ketzler, Jonathan T

2007-01-01

Coding and billing are time consuming and important considerations for critical care practitioners. A 1-year prospective, observational study incorporated the use of a personal digital assistant and MDeverywhere software (Hauppauge, New York) for patient coding and billing. Twelve months of data were examined before electronic implementation (pre-elec) and compared with a 12-month period after implementation (post-elec) by using an unpaired t test or z test with P < .05 considered significant. The total number of charges was 2479 pre-elec and 2243 post-elec. The days from date of service to billing for services significantly decreased from 37.8 pre-elec to 12.4 post-elec (P < .001); days in accounts receivable significantly decreased from 92.0 to 73.0 (P < .001). The net collection rate increased from 44.7% pre-elec to 49.3% post-elec (P < .001). Duplicate charges significantly decreased from 5.0% pre-elec to 1.4% post-elec ( P < .001). The return on investment was 1.97-fold (197%). The initiation of personal digital assistant technology to facilitate billing and coding resulted in significant improvements.

Profit versus public health: the need to improve the food environment in recreational facilities.

PubMed

Olstad, Dana Lee; Raine, Kim D

2013-01-08

Despite their wellness mandate, many publicly funded recreational facilities offer primarily unhealthy foods. Governments have developed programs and resources to assist facilities to improve their food offerings, however the challenge to incent preferential sale of healthier foods remains substantial. In the Canadian province of Alberta, uptake of government-issued voluntary nutrition guidelines for recreational facilities has been limited, and offers of free assistance to implement them as part of a research study were not embraced. Financial constraints appear to be the most important barrier to offering healthier items in Alberta's recreational facilities, as facility and food service managers perceive that selling healthier foods is unprofitable and might jeopardize sponsorship agreements. Mandatory government regulation may therefore be required to overcome the barriers to offering healthier foods in this setting. The advantages of a regulatory approach appear to outweigh any disadvantages, with benefits for population health, more effective use of public funds, and greater equity for the public and industry. Adverse effects on corporate profitability and freedom of choice are expected to be limited. Regulation may offer an efficient, effective and equitable means of ensuring that recreational facilities support child health and do not undermine it by exposing children to unhealthy food environments.

Enhancing magnetic nanoparticle-based DNA transfection: Intracellular-active cassette features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vernon, Matthew Martin

Efficient plasmid DNA transfection of embryonic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, neural cell lines and the majority of primary cell lines is a current challenge in gene therapy research. Magnetic nanoparticle-based DNA transfection is a gene vectoring technique that is promising because it is capable of outperforming most other non-viral transfection methods in terms of both transfection efficiency and cell viability. The nature of the DNA vector implemented depends on the target cell phenotype, where the particle surface chemistry and DNA binding/unbinding kinetics of the DNA carrier molecule play a critical role in the many steps required for successful gene transfection. Accordingly, Neuromag, an iron oxide/polymer nanoparticle optimized for transfection of neural phenotypes, outperforms many other nanoparticles and lipidbased DNA carriers. Up to now, improvements to nanomagnetic transfection techniques have focused mostly on particle functionalization and transfection parameter optimization (cell confluence, growth media, serum starvation, magnet oscillation parameters, etc.). None of these parameters are capable of assisting the nuclear translocation of delivered plasmid DNA once the particle-DNA complex is released from the endosome and dissociates in the cell's cytoplasm. In this study, incorporation of a DNA targeting sequence (DTS) feature in the transfecting plasmid DNA confers improved nuclear translocation, demonstrating significant improvement in nanomagnetic transfection efficiency in differentiated SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Other parameters, such as days in vitro, are also found to play a role and represent potential targets for further optimization.