Comparing the appropriate geographic region for assessing built environmental correlates with walking trips using different metrics and model approaches

PubMed Central

Tribby, Calvin P.; Miller, Harvey J.; Brown, Barbara B.; Smith, Ken R.; Werner, Carol M.

2017-01-01

There is growing international evidence that supportive built environments encourage active travel such as walking. An unsettled question is the role of geographic regions for analyzing the relationship between the built environment and active travel. This paper examines the geographic region question by assessing walking trip models that use two different regions: walking activity spaces and self-defined neighborhoods. We also use two types of built environment metrics, perceived and audit data, and two types of study design, cross-sectional and longitudinal, to assess these regions. We find that the built environment associations with walking are dependent on the type of metric and the type of model. Audit measures summarized within walking activity spaces better explain walking trips compared to audit measures within self-defined neighborhoods. Perceived measures summarized within self-defined neighborhoods have mixed results. Finally, results differ based on study design. This suggests that results may not be comparable among different regions, metrics and designs; researchers need to consider carefully these choices when assessing active travel correlates. PMID:28237743

Two intelligent materials, both of which are self-forming and self-repairing; one also self-senses and recycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dry, Carolyn M.

1996-04-01

Two self-forming and repair polymer cementitious composites were developed over a decade apart by the author. Both relied on a nature based paradigm as a model for building, in particular bone formation, repair, and degradation. For the first composite, the proposed material accreted from the ocean, made from a fluids based chemistry, that of seawater. The land based system was not built in-situ but relied on a man made supply of materials which were self-forming, self-repairing and dissolving. But in both cases a fluid based chemistry was necessary for self-building, repair and recycling of a bone-like composite material.

Parental perception of built environment characteristics and built environment use among Latino families: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Heerman, William J; Mitchell, Stephanie J; Thompson, Jessica; Martin, Nina C; Sommer, Evan C; van Bakergem, Margaret; Taylor, Julie Lounds; Buchowski, Maciej S; Barkin, Shari L

2016-11-22

Perception of undesirable features may inhibit built environment use for physical activity among underserved families with children at risk for obesity. To examine the association of perceived availability, condition, and safety of the built environment with its self-reported use for physical activity, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis on baseline data from a randomized controlled trial. Adjusted Poisson regression was used to test the association between the primary independent variables (perceived availability, physical condition, and safety) with the primary outcome of self-reported use of built environment structures. Among 610 parents (90% Latino) of preschool-age children, 158 (26%) reported that there were no available built environment structures for physical activity in the neighborhood. The use of built environment structures was associated with the perceived number of available structures (B = 0.34, 95% CI 0.31, 0.37, p < 0.001) and their perceived condition (B = 0.19, 95% CI 0.12, 0.27, p = 0.001), but not with perceived safety (B = 0.00, 95% CI -0.01, 0.01, p = 0.7). In this sample of underserved families, perceived availability and condition of built environment structures were associated with use rather than perceived safety. To encourage physical activity among underserved families, communities need to invest in the condition and availability of built environment structures. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01316653 ) on March 11, 2011.

Test Rover at JPL During Preparation for Mars Rover Low-Angle Selfie

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-19

This view of a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, results from advance testing of arm positions and camera pointings for taking a low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. This rehearsal in California led to a dramatic Aug. 5, 2015, selfie of Curiosity, online at PIA19807. Curiosity's arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took 92 of component images that were assembled into that mosaic. The rover team positioned the camera lower in relation to the rover body than for any previous full self-portrait of Curiosity. This practice version was taken at JPL's Mars Yard in July 2013, using the Vehicle System Test Bed (VSTB) rover, which has a test copy of MAHLI on its robotic arm. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19810

Neighbourhood urban form and individual-level correlates of leisure-based screen time in Canadian adults

PubMed Central

McCormack, Gavin R; Mardinger, Cynthia

2015-01-01

Objectives Despite evidence for an association between the built environment and physical activity, less evidence exists regarding relations between the built environment and sedentary behaviour. This study investigated the extent to which objectively assessed and self-reported neighbourhood walkability, in addition to individual-level characteristics, were associated with leisure-based screen time in adults. We hypothesised that leisure-based screen time would be lower among adults residing in objectively assessed and self-reported ‘high walkable’ versus ‘low walkable’ neighbourhoods. Setting The study was undertaken in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2007/2008. Participants A random cross-section of adults who provided complete telephone interview and postal survey data (n=1906) was included. Captured information included leisure-based screen time, moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity physical activity, perceived neighbourhood walkability, sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported health status, and self-reported height and weight. Based on objectively assessed built characteristics, participant's neighbourhoods were identified as being low, medium or high walkable. Primary and secondary outcome measures Using multiple linear regression, hours of leisure-based screen time per day was regressed on self-reported and objectively assessed walkability adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related covariates. Results Compared to others, residing in an objectively assessed high walkable neighbourhood, women, having a college education, at least one child at home, a household income ≥$120 000/year, and a registered motor vehicle at home, reporting very good-to-excellent health and healthy weight, and achieving 60 min/week of vigorous-intensity physical activity were associated (p<0.05) with less leisure-based screen time. Marital status, dog ownership, season, self-reported walkability and achieving 210 min of moderate-intensity physical activity were not significantly associated with leisure-based screen time. Conclusions Improving neighbourhood walkability could decrease leisure-based television and computer screen time. Programmes aimed at reducing sedentary behaviour may want to consider an individual's sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity level, health status and weight status, in addition to the walkability of their neighbourhood as these factors were found to be important independent correlates of leisure-based screen time. PMID:26608640

Wavefront reversal technique for self-referencing collimation testing

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

Hii, King Ung; Kwek, Kuan Hiang

2010-02-01

We present a wavefront reversal technique to produce a dual-field fringe pattern for self-referencing collimation testing in wedge-plate lateral-shear interferometry. The method requires only a suitably placed cubic beam splitter to produce two replicas of the fringe field formed by the wedge-plate lateral-shear interferometer. One of the replicas has a fringe pattern that is the reverse of the other. With these two fringe fields, the collimation testing has a built-in reference, and the detection sensitivity is twice that of a single-wedge-plate technique.

A randomised control trial of physical activity in a perceived environment on self-esteem and mood in UK adolescents.

PubMed

Wood, Carly; Angus, Caroline; Pretty, Jules; Sandercock, Gavin; Barton, Jo

2013-01-01

This study assessed whether exercising whilst viewing natural or built scenes affected self-esteem (SE) and mood in adolescents. Twenty-five adolescents participated in three exercise tests on consecutive days. A graded exercise test established the work rate equivalent to 50% heart rate reserve for use in subsequent constant load tests (CLTs). Participants undertook two 15-min CLTs in random order viewing scenes of either natural or built environments. Participants completed Rosenberg's SE scale and the adolescent profile of mood states questionnaire pre- and post-exercise. There was a significant main effect for SE (F(1) = 6.10; P < 0.05) and mood (F(6) = 5.29; P < 0.001) due to exercise, but no effect of viewing different environmental scenes (P > 0.05). Short bouts of moderate physical activity can have a positive impact on SE and mood in adolescents. Future research should incorporate field studies to examine the psychological effects of contact with real environments.

Fabrication and testing of freestanding Si nanogratings for UV filtration on space-based particle sensors.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Pran; Zurbuchen, Thomas H; Guo, L Jay

2009-08-12

We demonstrate complete fabrication process integration and device performance of sturdy, self-supported transmission gratings in silicon. Gratings are patterned with nanoimprint lithography and aluminum liftoff on silicon-on-insulator wafers. Double-sided deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) creates freestanding 120 nm half-pitch gratings with 2000 nm depth and built-in 1 mm pitch bulk silicon support structures. Optical characterization demonstrates 10(-4) transmission of UV in the 190-250 nm band while a 25-30% geometric transparency allows particles to pass unimpeded for space plasma measurements.

Quantum random number generation

DOE PAGES

Ma, Xiongfeng; Yuan, Xiao; Cao, Zhu; ...

2016-06-28

Quantum physics can be exploited to generate true random numbers, which play important roles in many applications, especially in cryptography. Genuine randomness from the measurement of a quantum system reveals the inherent nature of quantumness -- coherence, an important feature that differentiates quantum mechanics from classical physics. The generation of genuine randomness is generally considered impossible with only classical means. Based on the degree of trustworthiness on devices, quantum random number generators (QRNGs) can be grouped into three categories. The first category, practical QRNG, is built on fully trusted and calibrated devices and typically can generate randomness at a highmore » speed by properly modeling the devices. The second category is self-testing QRNG, where verifiable randomness can be generated without trusting the actual implementation. The third category, semi-self-testing QRNG, is an intermediate category which provides a tradeoff between the trustworthiness on the device and the random number generation speed.« less

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

Ma, Xiongfeng; Yuan, Xiao; Cao, Zhu

Quantum physics can be exploited to generate true random numbers, which play important roles in many applications, especially in cryptography. Genuine randomness from the measurement of a quantum system reveals the inherent nature of quantumness -- coherence, an important feature that differentiates quantum mechanics from classical physics. The generation of genuine randomness is generally considered impossible with only classical means. Based on the degree of trustworthiness on devices, quantum random number generators (QRNGs) can be grouped into three categories. The first category, practical QRNG, is built on fully trusted and calibrated devices and typically can generate randomness at a highmore » speed by properly modeling the devices. The second category is self-testing QRNG, where verifiable randomness can be generated without trusting the actual implementation. The third category, semi-self-testing QRNG, is an intermediate category which provides a tradeoff between the trustworthiness on the device and the random number generation speed.« less

Rayleigh Scattering for Measuring Flow in a Nozzle Testing Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gomez, Carlos R.; Panda, Jayanta

2006-01-01

A molecular Rayleigh-scattering-based air-density measurement system was built in a large nozzle-and-engine-component test facility for surveying supersonic plumes from jet-engine exhaust. A molecular Rayleigh-scattering-based air-density measurement system was built in a large nozzle-and-enginecomponent test facility for surveying supersonic plumes from jet-engine exhaust

Association between Neighborhood Walkability, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body-Mass Index

PubMed Central

Hoehner, Christine M.; Handy, Susan L.; Yan, Yan; Blair, teven N.; Berrigan, David

2011-01-01

Many studies have found cross-sectional associations between characteristics of the neighborhood built environment and physical activity (PA) behavior. However, most are based on self-reported PA, which is known to result in overestimation of PA and differential misclassification by demographic and biological characteristics. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an objective marker of PA because it is primarily determined by PA. Furthermore, it is causally related to long-term health outcomes. Therefore, analyses of the association between CRF and built environment could strengthen arguments for the importance of built environment influences on health. We examined the association between neighborhood walkability and CRF and body-mass index (BMI). This cross-sectional analysis included 16,543 adults (5,017 women, 11,526 men) aged 18–90 years with home addresses in Texas who had a comprehensive clinical examination between 1987 and 2005. Outcomes included CRF from total duration on a maximal exercise treadmill test and measured BMI. Three neighborhood walkability factors emerged from principal components analyses of block-group measures derived from the U.S. Census. In multilevel adjusted analyses, the neighborhood walkability factors were significantly associated with CRF and BMI among men and women in the expected direction. An interaction between one of the neighborhood factors and age was also observed. The interaction suggested that living in neighborhoods with older homes and with residents traveling shorter distances to work was more strongly positively associated with CRF among younger adults and more strongly negatively associated with BMI among older adults. In conclusion, neighborhood characteristics hypothesized to support more PA and less driving were associated with higher levels of CRF and lower BMI. Demonstration of an association between built environment characteristics and CRF is a significant advance over past studies based on self-reported PA. Nevertheless, stronger causal evidence depends on more robust study designs and sophisticated measures of the environment, behavior, and their physiological consequences. PMID:22030212

Self-Efficacy, Planning, or a Combination of Both? A Longitudinal Experimental Study Comparing Effects of Three Interventions on Adolescents' Body Fat.

PubMed

Luszczynska, Aleksandra; Hagger, Martin S; Banik, Anna; Horodyska, Karolina; Knoll, Nina; Scholz, Urte

2016-01-01

The superiority of an intervention combining two sets of theory-based behavior change techniques targeting planning and self-efficacy over an intervention targeting planning only or self-efficacy only has rarely been investigated. We compared the influence of self-efficacy, planning, and self-efficacy+planning interventions with an education-based control condition on adolescents' body fat, assuming mediating effects of respective social cognitive variables and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The moderating role of the built environment was examined. Participants (N = 1217, aged 14-18 years) were randomly assigned to four conditions: planning (n = 270), self-efficacy (n = 311), self-efficacy+planning (n = 351), and control (n = 285). The measurement was conducted at baseline (T1), two-month follow-up (T2), and fourteen-month follow-up (T3). Interventions/control group procedures were delivered at T1 and T2. Percent of body fat tissue (measured at T1 and T3) was the main outcome. Social cognitive mediators (self-efficacy and planning) were assessed at T1 and T2. The behavioral mediator (MVPA) and the presence of built MVPA facilities (the moderator) were evaluated at T1 and T3. Similar small increases of body fat were found across the three intervention groups, but the increment of body fat was significantly larger in the control group. On average, differences between control and intervention groups translated to approximately 1% of body fat. Effects of the interventions on body fat were mediated by relevant social cognitive variables and MVPA. A lower increase of body fat was found among intervention group participants who had access to newly-built MVPA facilities. We found no superiority of an intervention targeting two social cognitive variables over the intervention targeting one cognition only.

Error detection and correction unit with built-in self-test capability for spacecraft applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Timoc, Constantin

1990-01-01

The objective of this project was to research and develop a 32-bit single chip Error Detection and Correction unit capable of correcting all single bit errors and detecting all double bit errors in the memory systems of a spacecraft. We designed the 32-bit EDAC (Error Detection and Correction unit) based on a modified Hamming code and according to the design specifications and performance requirements. We constructed a laboratory prototype (breadboard) which was converted into a fault simulator. The correctness of the design was verified on the breadboard using an exhaustive set of test cases. A logic diagram of the EDAC was delivered to JPL Section 514 on 4 Oct. 1988.

Evolution of solid rocket booster component testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lessey, Joseph A.

1989-01-01

The evolution of one of the new generation of test sets developed for the Solid Rocket Booster of the U.S. Space Transportation System. Requirements leading to factory checkout of the test set are explained, including the evolution from manual to semiautomated toward fully automated status. Individual improvements in the built-in test equipment, self-calibration, and software flexibility are addressed, and the insertion of fault detection to improve reliability is discussed.

Interactions of psychosocial factors with built environments in explaining adolescents' active transportation.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaobo; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli L; Frank, Lawrence D; Saelens, Brian E; Geremia, Carrie; Kerr, Jacqueline; Glanz, Karen; Carlson, Jordan A; Sallis, James F

2017-07-01

The present study examined independent and interacting associations of psychosocial and neighborhood built environment variables with adolescents' reported active transportation. Moderating effects of adolescent sex were explored. Mixed-effects regression models were conducted on data from the Teen Environment and Neighborhood observational study (N=928) in the Seattle, WA and Baltimore regions 2009-2011. Frequency index of active transportation to neighborhood destinations (dependent variable) and 7 psychosocial measures were reported by adolescents. Built environment measures included home walkability and count of nearby parks and recreation facilities using GIS procedures and streetscape quality from environmental audits. Results indicated all 3 environmental variables and 3 psychosocial variables (self-efficacy, social support from peers, and enjoyment of physical activity) had significant positive main effects with active transportation (Ps<0.05). Three of 21 two-way interactions were significant in explaining active transportation (Ps<0.1): self-efficacy×GIS-based walkability index, barriers to activity in neighborhood×MAPS streetscape scores, and self-efficacy×GIS-based counts of parks and recreation facilities. In each two-way interaction the highest active transportation was found among adolescents with the combination of activity-supportive built environment and positive psychosocial characteristics. Three-way interactions with sex indicated similar associations for girls and boys, with one exception. Results provided modest support for the ecological model principle of interactions across levels, highlight the importance of both built environment and psychosocial factors in shaping adolescents' active transportation, demonstrated the possibility of sex-specific findings, and suggested strategies for improving adolescents' active transportation may be most effective when targeting multiple levels of influence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improvement of a Pneumatic Control Valve with Self-Holding Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dohta, Shujiro; Akagi, Tetsuya; Kobayashi, Wataru; Shimooka, So; Masago, Yusuke

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a small-sized, lightweight and low-cost control valve with low energy consumption and to apply it to the assistive system. We have developed some control valves; a tiny on/off valve using a vibration motor, and an on/off valve with self-holding function. We have also proposed and tested the digital servo valve with self-holding function using permanent magnets and a small-sized servo motor. In this paper, in order to improve the valve, an analytical model of the digital servo valve is proposed. And the simulated results by using the analytical model and identified parameters were compared with the experimental results. Then, the improved digital servo valve was designed based on the calculated results and tested. As a result, we realized the digital servo valve that can control the flow rate more precisely while maintaining its volume and weight compared with the previous valve. As an application of the improved valve, a position control system of rubber artificial muscle was built and the position control was performed successfully.

A photovoltaic self-powered gas sensor based on a single-walled carbon nanotube/Si heterojunction.

PubMed

Liu, L; Li, G H; Wang, Y; Wang, Y Y; Li, T; Zhang, T; Qin, S J

2017-12-07

We present a novel photovoltaic self-powered gas sensor based on a p-type single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) and n-type silicon (n-Si) heterojunction. The energy from visible light suffices to drive the device owing to a built-in electric field (BEF) induced by the differences between the Fermi levels of SWNTs and n-Si.

"I Think It's Low Self-Esteem". Teachers' Judgements: A Cautionary Tale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, David; Parker, Donna

2006-01-01

Although there is a debate about the importance of self-esteem in education, many primary teachers wish to help children who suffer from low self-esteem. However, in order to do this, we first have to identify such children. It is almost taken for granted that we can make quite accurate judgements based on the knowledge built up through day-to-day…

Acceptability and Feasibility of a Social-Entrepreneurship Model to Promote HIV Self-testing and linkage to care among MSM

PubMed Central

Zhong, Fei; Tang, Weiming; Cheng, Weibin; Lin, Peng; Wu, Qiongmiao; Cai, Yanshan; Tang, Songyuan; Fan, Lirui; Zhao, Yuteng; Chen, Xi; Mao, Jessica; Meng, Gang; Tucker, Joseph D.; Xu, Huifang

2017-01-01

Background HIV self-testing (HIVST) offers an opportunity to increase HIV testing among people not reached by facility-based services. However, the promotion of HIVST is limited due to insufficient community engagement. We built a Social Entrepreneurship Model (SET) to promote HIVST linkage to care among Chinese MSM in Guangzhou. Method SET model includes a few key steps: Each participant first completed an online survey, and paid a $23 USD (refundable) deposit to get a HIVST kit and a syphilis self-testing (SST) kit. After the testing, the results were sent to the platform by the participants and interpreted by CDC staff. Meanwhile, the deposit was returned to each participant. Finally, the CBO contacted the participants to provide counseling services, confirmation testing and linkage to care. Result During April–June of 2015, a total of 198 MSM completed a preliminary survey and purchased self-testing kits. Among them, the majority were aged under 34 (84.4%) and met partners online (93.1%). In addition, 68.9% of participants ever tested for HIV, and 19.5% had ever performed HIVST. Overall, feedback was received from 192 (97.0%) participants. Among these, 14 people did not use kits, and the HIV and syphilis prevalence among these users were of 4.5% (8/178) and 3.7% (6/178), respectively. All of the screened HIV-positive cases sought further confirmation testing and were linked to care. Conclusion Using an online SET model to promote HIV and syphilis among Chinese MSM is acceptable and feasible, and this model adds a new testing platform to the current testing service system. PMID:27601301

Discrimination of Active and Weakly Active Human BACE1 Inhibitors Using Self-Organizing Map and Support Vector Machine.

PubMed

Li, Hang; Wang, Maolin; Gong, Ya-Nan; Yan, Aixia

2016-01-01

β-secretase (BACE1) is an aspartyl protease, which is considered as a novel vital target in Alzheimer`s disease therapy. We collected a data set of 294 BACE1 inhibitors, and built six classification models to discriminate active and weakly active inhibitors using Kohonen's Self-Organizing Map (SOM) method and Support Vector Machine (SVM) method. Each molecular descriptor was calculated using the program ADRIANA.Code. We adopted two different methods: random method and Self-Organizing Map method, for training/test set split. The descriptors were selected by F-score and stepwise linear regression analysis. The best SVM model Model2C has a good prediction performance on test set with prediction accuracy, sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP) and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 89.02%, 90%, 88%, 0.78, respectively. Model 1A is the best SOM model, whose accuracy and MCC of the test set were 94.57% and 0.98, respectively. The lone pair electronegativity and polarizability related descriptors importantly contributed to bioactivity of BACE1 inhibitor. The Extended-Connectivity Finger-Prints_4 (ECFP_4) analysis found some vitally key substructural features, which could be helpful for further drug design research. The SOM and SVM models built in this study can be obtained from the authors by email or other contacts.

3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment, In Space Manufacturing (LPS, 4)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bean, Quincy; Cooper, Ken; Werkheiser, Niki

2015-01-01

The 3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment has been an ongoing effort for several years. In June 2014 the technology demonstration 3D printer was launched to the International Space Station. In November 2014 the first 21 parts were manufactured in orbit marking the beginning of a paradigm shift that will allow astronauts to be more self-sufficient and pave the way to larger scale orbital manufacturing. Prior to launch the 21 parts were built on the ground with the flight unit with the same feedstock. These ground control samples are to be tested alongside the flight samples in order to determine if there is a measurable difference between parts built on the ground vs. parts built in space. As of this writing, testing has not yet commenced. Tests to be performed are structured light scanning for volume and geometric discrepancies, CT scanning for density measurement, destructive testing of mechanical samples, and SEM analysis for inter-laminar adhesion discrepancies. Additionally, an ABS material characterization was performed on mechanical samples built from the same CAD files as the flight and ground samples on different machine / feedstock combinations. The purpose of this testing was twofold: first to obtain mechanical data in order to have a baseline comparison for the flight and ground samples and second to ascertain if there is a measurable difference between machines and feedstock.

Built-in self-repair of VLSI memories employing neural nets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazumder, Pinaki

1998-10-01

The decades of the Eighties and the Nineties have witnessed the spectacular growth of VLSI technology, when the chip size has increased from a few hundred devices to a staggering multi-millon transistors. This trend is expected to continue as the CMOS feature size progresses towards the nanometric dimension of 100 nm and less. SIA roadmap projects that, where as the DRAM chips will integrate over 20 billion devices in the next millennium, the future microprocessors may incorporate over 100 million transistors on a single chip. As the VLSI chip size increase, the limited accessibility of circuit components poses great difficulty for external diagnosis and replacement in the presence of faulty components. For this reason, extensive work has been done in built-in self-test techniques, but little research is known concerning built-in self-repair. Moreover, the extra hardware introduced by conventional fault-tolerance techniques is also likely to become faulty, therefore causing the circuit to be useless. This research demonstrates the feasibility of implementing electronic neural networks as intelligent hardware for memory array repair. Most importantly, we show that the neural network control possesses a robust and degradable computing capability under various fault conditions. Overall, a yield analysis performed on 64K DRAM's shows that the yield can be improved from as low as 20 percent to near 99 percent due to the self-repair design, with overhead no more than 7 percent.

Commercialization of an S-band standing-wave electron accelerator for industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, Jin-Hyeok; Kwak, Gyeong-Il; Han, Jae-Ik; Lee, Gyu-Baek; Jeon, Seong-Hwan; Kim, Jae-Young; Hwang, Cheol-Bin; Lee, Gi-Yong; Kim, Young-Man; Park, Sung-Ju

2016-09-01

An electron accelerator system has been developed for use in industrial, as well as possible medical, applications. Based on our experiences achieved during prototype system development and various electron beam acceleration tests, we have built a stable and compact system for sales purposes. We have integrated a self-developed accelerating cavity, an E-gun pulse driver, a radio-frequency (RF) power system, a vacuum system, a cooling system, etc. into a frame with a size of 1800 × 1000 × 1500 mm3. The accelerating structure is a side-coupled standing-wave type operating in the π/2 mode (tuned to~3 GHz). The RF power is provided by using a magnetron driven by a solid-state modulator. The electron gun is a triode type with a dispenser cathode (diameter of 11 mm). The system is capable of delivering a maximum 900-W average electron beam power with tight focusing at the target. Until now, we have performed various electron beam tests and X-ray beam tests after having built the system, have completed the beam assessment for commercializations, and have been preparing full-fledged sales activity. This article reports on our system development processes and on some of our early test results for commercializations.

Repeatability of self-report measures of physical activity, sedentary and travel behaviour in Hong Kong adolescents for the iHealt(H) and IPEN - Adolescent studies.

PubMed

Cerin, Ester; Sit, Cindy H P; Huang, Ya-Jun; Barnett, Anthony; Macfarlane, Duncan J; Wong, Stephen S H

2014-06-06

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour are important contributors to adolescents' health. These behaviours may be affected by the school and neighbourhood built environments. However, current evidence on such effects is mainly limited to Western countries. The International Physical Activity and the Environment Network (IPEN)-Adolescent study aims to examine associations of the built environment with adolescent physical activity and sedentary behaviour across five continents.We report on the repeatability of measures of in-school and out-of school physical activity, plus measures of out-of-school sedentary and travel behaviours adopted by the IPEN - Adolescent study and adapted for Chinese-speaking Hong Kong adolescents participating in the international Healthy environments and active living in teenagers-(Hong Kong) [iHealt(H)] study, which is part of IPEN-Adolescent. Items gauging in-school physical activity and out-of-school physical activity, and out-of-school sedentary and travel behaviours developed for the IPEN - Adolescent study were translated from English into Chinese, adapted, and pilot tested. Sixty-eight Chinese-speaking 12-17 year old secondary school students (36 boys; 32 girls) residing in areas of Hong Kong differing in transport-related walkability were recruited. They self-completed the survey items twice, 8-16 days apart. Test-retest reliability was assessed for the whole sample and by gender using one-way random effects intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Test-retest reliability of items with restricted variability was assessed using percentage agreement. Overall test-retest reliability of items and scales was moderate to excellent (ICC = 0.47-0.92). Items with restricted variability in responses had a high percentage agreement (92%-100%). Test-retest reliability was similar in girls and boys, with the exception of daily hours of homework (reliability higher in girls) and number of school-based sports teams or after-school physical activity classes (reliability higher in boys). The translated and adapted self-report measures of physical activity, sedentary and travel behaviours used in the iHealt(H) study are sufficiently reliable. Levels of reliability are comparable or slightly higher than those observed for the original measures.

The American Welfare State and Future Challanges to Black Education in the Age of Science and Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Floyd W., III

The emerging "Managerial Estate," based as it is on knowledge, services, science, and technology, with built-in theories of expendability for people considered obsolete, will increasingly force Afro-Americans and historically-black institutions of higher learning to emphasize self-reliance and self determination. Moreover, urban public schools…

Introducing Live ePortfolios to Support Self Organised Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkham, Thomas; Winfield, Sandra; Smallwood, Angela; Coolin, Kirstie; Wood, Stuart; Searchwell, Louis

2009-01-01

This paper presents a platform on which a new generation of applications targeted to aid the self-organised learner can be presented. The new application is enabled by innovations in trust-based security of data built upon emerging infrastructures to aid federated data access in the UK education sector. Within the proposed architecture, users and…

Research of built-in self test technology on cable-free self-positioning seismograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huaizhu, Z.; Lin, J.; Chen, Z.; Zhang, L.; Yang, H.; Zheng, F.

2011-12-01

Cable-free self-positioning seismograph is the key instrument and equipment required for deep seismic exploration in China. In order to measure the performance of seismic data acquisition systems whether meet exploration requirements , to ensure the accuracy of seismic data, and to ensure equipment reliability and stability, a built-in self test solution of the cable-free self-positioning seismic recorder is provided. Within a 24-bits Σ-Δ DAC, the seismograph can produce sine, step, pulse and other high-precision analog test signal, with dynamic range of 120dB or more, through the FPGA to control the analog multiplexer switching the input signal acquisition channels, and start the 24-bit Σ-Δ ADC in the instrument internal simultaneously to acquisition the test signal data, carries on the fast Fournier transformation by instrument internal CPU, to achieve the instrument of analysis and calculation of performance indicators, including: the equivalent noise and drift, common mode rejection ratio (CMRR), crosstalk, harmonic distortion, dynamic range, channel response consistency, detector impulse response , etc. A lot of testing experiments about the various parameters were performed and studied currently. By setting different sampling rate (1Hz, 5Hz, ..., 4kHz), each of the measurement system noise level was measured, and the maximum noise is about 0.5μV; the crosstalk between channels was tested using the 31.25Hz sine wave, the result is more than-120dB with sampling rate of 1kHz; the harmonic distortion was measured by adding the high-precision sine wave signals of different frequencies, such as 500Hz, 250 Hz, 125 Hz, 62.5 Hz, 31.25 Hz, 15.625 Hz, 7.812 Hz, 3.90625Hz, etc. the calculated results is in-118dB or more. The experimental results show that, the parameters of the cable-free self-positioning of the seismic recorder meet the technical requirements for the deep exploration, compared to the corresponding parameters with the 428XL seismograph of the French Sercel company, the instrument in performance has reached the advanced level of overseas equipment.

FPGA-based gating and logic for multichannel single photon counting

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

Pooser, Raphael C; Earl, Dennis Duncan; Evans, Philip G

2012-01-01

We present results characterizing multichannel InGaAs single photon detectors utilizing gated passive quenching circuits (GPQC), self-differencing techniques, and field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based logic for both diode gating and coincidence counting. Utilizing FPGAs for the diode gating frontend and the logic counting backend has the advantage of low cost compared to custom built logic circuits and current off-the-shelf detector technology. Further, FPGA logic counters have been shown to work well in quantum key distribution (QKD) test beds. Our setup combines multiple independent detector channels in a reconfigurable manner via an FPGA backend and post processing in order to perform coincidencemore » measurements between any two or more detector channels simultaneously. Using this method, states from a multi-photon polarization entangled source are detected and characterized via coincidence counting on the FPGA. Photons detection events are also processed by the quantum information toolkit for application testing (QITKAT)« less

Self-Efficacy, Planning, or a Combination of Both? A Longitudinal Experimental Study Comparing Effects of Three Interventions on Adolescents’ Body Fat

PubMed Central

Luszczynska, Aleksandra; Hagger, Martin S.; Banik, Anna; Horodyska, Karolina; Knoll, Nina; Scholz, Urte

2016-01-01

Background The superiority of an intervention combining two sets of theory-based behavior change techniques targeting planning and self-efficacy over an intervention targeting planning only or self-efficacy only has rarely been investigated. Purpose We compared the influence of self-efficacy, planning, and self-efficacy+planning interventions with an education-based control condition on adolescents’ body fat, assuming mediating effects of respective social cognitive variables and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The moderating role of the built environment was examined. Methods Participants (N = 1217, aged 14–18 years) were randomly assigned to four conditions: planning (n = 270), self-efficacy (n = 311), self-efficacy+planning (n = 351), and control (n = 285). The measurement was conducted at baseline (T1), two-month follow-up (T2), and fourteen-month follow-up (T3). Interventions/control group procedures were delivered at T1 and T2. Percent of body fat tissue (measured at T1 and T3) was the main outcome. Social cognitive mediators (self-efficacy and planning) were assessed at T1 and T2. The behavioral mediator (MVPA) and the presence of built MVPA facilities (the moderator) were evaluated at T1 and T3. Results Similar small increases of body fat were found across the three intervention groups, but the increment of body fat was significantly larger in the control group. On average, differences between control and intervention groups translated to approximately 1% of body fat. Effects of the interventions on body fat were mediated by relevant social cognitive variables and MVPA. A lower increase of body fat was found among intervention group participants who had access to newly-built MVPA facilities. Conclusions We found no superiority of an intervention targeting two social cognitive variables over the intervention targeting one cognition only. PMID:27410961

46 CFR 153.7 - Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983: Application. 153.7 Section 153.7 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS...

Towards organ printing: engineering an intra-organ branched vascular tree.

PubMed

Visconti, Richard P; Kasyanov, Vladimir; Gentile, Carmine; Zhang, Jing; Markwald, Roger R; Mironov, Vladimir

2010-03-01

Effective vascularization of thick three-dimensional engineered tissue constructs is a problem in tissue engineering. As in native organs, a tissue-engineered intra-organ vascular tree must be comprised of a network of hierarchically branched vascular segments. Despite this requirement, current tissue-engineering efforts are still focused predominantly on engineering either large-diameter macrovessels or microvascular networks. We present the emerging concept of organ printing or robotic additive biofabrication of an intra-organ branched vascular tree, based on the ability of vascular tissue spheroids to undergo self-assembly. The feasibility and challenges of this robotic biofabrication approach to intra-organ vascularization for tissue engineering based on organ-printing technology using self-assembling vascular tissue spheroids including clinically relevantly vascular cell sources are analyzed. It is not possible to engineer 3D thick tissue or organ constructs without effective vascularization. An effective intra-organ vascular system cannot be built by the simple connection of large-diameter vessels and microvessels. Successful engineering of functional human organs suitable for surgical implantation will require concomitant engineering of a 'built in' intra-organ branched vascular system. Organ printing enables biofabrication of human organ constructs with a 'built in' intra-organ branched vascular tree.

Mechanical Design, Simulation, and Testing of Self-Aligning Gaussian Telescope and Stand for ITER LFS Reflectometer Diagnostic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broughton, Rachel; Gomez, Michael; Zolfaghari, Ali; Morris, Lewis

2016-10-01

A self-aligning Gaussian telescope has been designed to compensate for the effect of movement in the ITER vacuum vessel on the transmission line. The purpose of the setup is to couple microwaves into and out of the vessel across the vacuum windows while allowing for both slow movements of the vessel, due to thermal growth, and rapid movements, due to vibrations and disruptions. Additionally, a test stand has been designed specifically to hold this telescope in order to imitate these movements. Consequently, this will allow for the assessment of the efficacy in applying the self-aligning Gaussian telescope approach. The motions of the test stand, as well as the stress on the telescope mechanism, have been virtually simulated using ANSYS workbench. A prototype of this test stand and self-aligning telescope will be built using a combination of custom machined parts and ordered parts. The completed mechanism will be tested at the lab in four different ways: slow single- and multi-direction movements, rapid multi-direction movement, functional laser alignment and self-aligning tests, and natural frequency tests. Once the prototype successfully passes all requirements, it will be tested with microwaves in the LFSR transmission line test stand at General Atomics. This work is supported by US DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Automatic personality assessment through social media language.

PubMed

Park, Gregory; Schwartz, H Andrew; Eichstaedt, Johannes C; Kern, Margaret L; Kosinski, Michal; Stillwell, David J; Ungar, Lyle H; Seligman, Martin E P

2015-06-01

Language use is a psychologically rich, stable individual difference with well-established correlations to personality. We describe a method for assessing personality using an open-vocabulary analysis of language from social media. We compiled the written language from 66,732 Facebook users and their questionnaire-based self-reported Big Five personality traits, and then we built a predictive model of personality based on their language. We used this model to predict the 5 personality factors in a separate sample of 4,824 Facebook users, examining (a) convergence with self-reports of personality at the domain- and facet-level; (b) discriminant validity between predictions of distinct traits; (c) agreement with informant reports of personality; (d) patterns of correlations with external criteria (e.g., number of friends, political attitudes, impulsiveness); and (e) test-retest reliability over 6-month intervals. Results indicated that language-based assessments can constitute valid personality measures: they agreed with self-reports and informant reports of personality, added incremental validity over informant reports, adequately discriminated between traits, exhibited patterns of correlations with external criteria similar to those found with self-reported personality, and were stable over 6-month intervals. Analysis of predictive language can provide rich portraits of the mental life associated with traits. This approach can complement and extend traditional methods, providing researchers with an additional measure that can quickly and cheaply assess large groups of participants with minimal burden. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Geographic Information System (Gis) for Culinary in Pekanbaru using Herversine Formula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yunefri, Yogi; Devega, Mariza; Kristanto, Dwi

2017-12-01

Pekanbaru is one of a big city in Indonesia with 897.767 inhabitants’ population on 2010. There are various cultures of the population. That diversity presents the difference of culinary in Pekanbaru, so Pekanbaru be one of the cities which appropriate for culinary that give charm circumstance and worth to taste. One of the obstacles that often occur is the tourists still difficult to find the right and nice place to eat, close to tourism place and find information about culinary is difficult as well. Therefore a web-based GIS application built to give information about culinary in Pekanbaru. This application built through some steps, i.e. system analysis, design system, implementation, and testing. This application built using PHP as a programming language and harversine Formula as a method to fine the closest distance. After it built the application, the data of culinary tested used black box. The result shows that testing using this application is similar with the manual test. Thus the application has been built correctly.

Formal Analysis of Self-Efficacy in Job Interviewee’s Mental State Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajoge, N. S.; Aziz, A. A.; Yusof, S. A. Mohd

2017-08-01

This paper presents a formal analysis approach for self-efficacy model of interviewee’s mental state during a job interview session. Self-efficacy is a construct that has been hypothesised to combine with motivation and interviewee anxiety to define state influence of interviewees. The conceptual model was built based on psychological theories and models related to self-efficacy. A number of well-known relations between events and the course of self-efficacy are summarized from the literature and it is shown that the proposed model exhibits those patterns. In addition, this formal model has been mathematically analysed to find out which stable situations exist. Finally, it is pointed out how this model can be used in a software agent or robot-based platform. Such platform can provide an interview coaching approach where support to the user is provided based on their individual metal state during interview sessions.

Question 7: Biosynthesis of Phosphatidic Acid in Liposome Compartments Toward the Self-Reproduction of Minimal Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuruma, Yutetsu

2007-10-01

Self-reproduction is one of main properties that define living cells. In order to explore the self-reproduction process for the study of early cells, and to develop a research line somehow connected to the origin of life, we have built up a constructive ‘synthetic cells (minimal cells)’ approach. The minimal cells approach consists in the investigation of the minimal number of elements to accomplish simple cell-like processes like self-reproduction. Such approach belongs to the field of synthetic biology. The minimal cells are reconstructed from a totally reconstituted cell-free protein synthesis system (PURESYSTEM) and liposome compartments as containers. Based on this approach, we synthesized two membrane proteins (enzymes), GPAT and LPAAT, which are involved in the phosphatidic acid biosynthesis in bacteria. Both membrane proteins were successfully synthesized by PURESYSTEM encapsulated inside POPC liposomes. Additionally, the enzymatic activity of GPAT was restored by mixing the expressed enzyme with lipid and by forming liposomes in situ. Through these experimental evidences, here we present a possible model to achieve self-reproduction in minimal cells. Our results would contribute to the idea that early cells could have been built by an extremely small number of genes.

USGS VDP Infrasound Sensor Evaluation

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

Slad, George William; Merchant, Bion J.

2016-10-01

Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated two infrasound sensors, the model VDP100 and VDP250, built in-house at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. The purpose of the infrasound sensor evaluation was to determine a measured sensitivity, self-noise, dynamic range and nominal transfer function. Notable features of the VDP sensors include novel and durable construction and compact size.

Autonomous Inspection of Electrical Transmission Structures with Airborne UV Sensors - NASA Report on Dominion Virginia Power Flights of November 2016

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Andrew J.; Schubert, Matthew; Nicholas Rymer

2017-01-01

The report details test and measurement flights to demonstrate autonomous UAV inspection of high voltage electrical transmission structures. A UAV built with commercial, off-the-shelf hardware and software, supplemented with custom sensor logging software, measured ultraviolet emissions from a test generator placed on a low-altitude substation and a medium-altitude switching tower. Since corona discharge precedes catastrophic electrical faults on high-voltage structures, detection and geolocation of ultraviolet emissions is needed to develop a UAV-based self-diagnosing power grid. Signal readings from an onboard ultraviolet sensor were validated during flight with a commercial corona camera. Geolocation was accomplished with onboard GPS; the UAV position was logged to a local ground station and transmitted in real time to a NASA server for tracking in the national airspace.

The self-built ecovillage in L'Aquila, Italy: community resilience as a grassroots response to environmental shock.

PubMed

Fois, Francesca; Forino, Giuseppe

2014-10-01

The paper applies the community resilience approach to the post-disaster case of Pescomaggiore, an Italian village affected by the L'Aquila earthquake in 2009. A group of residents refused to accept the housing recovery solutions proposed by the government, opting for autonomous recovery. They developed a housing project in the form of a self-built ecovillage, characterised by earthquake-proof buildings made of straw and wood. The project is a paradigmatic example of a community-based response to an external shock. It illustrates the concept of 'community resilience', which is widely explored in the scientific debate but still vaguely defined. Based on qualitative methodologies, the paper seeks to understand how the community resilience process can be enacted in alternative social practices such as ecovillages. The goal is to see under which conditions natural disasters can be considered windows of opportunity for sustainability. © 2014 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2014.

Design of Deformation Monitoring System for Volcano Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islamy, M. R. F.; Salam, R. A.; Munir, M. M.; Irsyam, M.; Khairurrijal

2016-08-01

Indonesia has many active volcanoes that are potentially disastrous. It needs good mitigation systems to prevent victims and to reduce casualties from potential disaster caused by volcanoes eruption. Therefore, the system to monitor the deformation of volcano was built. This system employed telemetry with the combination of Radio Frequency (RF) communications of XBEE and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) communication of SIM900. There are two types of modules in this system, first is the coordinator as a parent and second is the node as a child. Each node was connected to coordinator forming a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) with a star topology and it has an inclinometer based sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS), and an XBEE module. The coordinator collects data to each node, one a time, to prevent collision data between nodes, save data to SD Card and transmit data to web server via GPRS. Inclinometer was calibrated with self-built in calibrator and tested in high temperature environment to check the durability. The GPS was tested by displaying its position in web server via Google Map Application Protocol Interface (API v.3). It was shown that the coordinator can receive and transmit data from every node to web server very well and the system works well in a high temperature environment.

Towards organ printing: engineering an intra-organ branched vascular tree

PubMed Central

Visconti, Richard P; Kasyanov, Vladimir; Gentile, Carmine; Zhang, Jing; Markwald, Roger R; Mironov, Vladimir

2013-01-01

Importance of the field Effective vascularization of thick three-dimensional engineered tissue constructs is a problem in tissue engineering. As in native organs, a tissue-engineered intra-organ vascular tree must be comprised of a network of hierarchically branched vascular segments. Despite this requirement, current tissue-engineering efforts are still focused predominantly on engineering either large-diameter macrovessels or microvascular networks. Areas covered in this review We present the emerging concept of organ printing or robotic additive biofabrication of an intra-organ branched vascular tree, based on the ability of vascular tissue spheroids to undergo self-assembly. What the reader will gain The feasibility and challenges of this robotic biofabrication approach to intra-organ vascularization for tissue engineering based on organ-printing technology using self-assembling vascular tissue spheroids including clinically relevantly vascular cell sources are analyzed. Take home message It is not possible to engineer 3D thick tissue or organ constructs without effective vascularization. An effective intra-organ vascular system cannot be built by the simple connection of large-diameter vessels and microvessels. Successful engineering of functional human organs suitable for surgical implantation will require concomitant engineering of a ‘built in’ intra-organ branched vascular system. Organ printing enables biofabrication of human organ constructs with a ‘built in’ intra-organ branched vascular tree. PMID:20132061

Evaluation of Microtensile Bond Strength and Microleakage of a Self-adhering Flowable Composite.

PubMed

Yuan, He; Li, Mingyang; Guo, Bin; Gao, Yuan; Liu, HongLing; Li, Jiyao

2015-12-01

To evaluate the microtensile bond strength (μTBS) and marginal sealing ability of a self-adhering flowable composite between dentin and composite interfaces, as well as the microleakage of Class V restorations. The occlusal thirds of 40 third molars were removed and randomly divided into 4 groups according to the applied adhesive: Adper Easy One (AEO, 3M ESPE), Clearfil SE Bond (CSEB, Kuraray), Prime & Bond NT (PBNT, Dentsply) and a self-adhering flowable composite (Dyad Flow, DF, Kerr). Filtek Flowable (3M ESPE) resin composite crowns were then built up in the first three groups; in group DF, composite crowns were built up without the application of an adhesive. Thirty stick-shaped microspecimens were prepared per group, 10 of which were used for morphological observation of bonded interfaces by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after decalcification. The remaining microspecimens underwent microtensile bond strength testing and the failure mode was analyzed. Microleakage evaluation was performed on 10 premolars per group in which standardized box-shaped Class V cavities were prepared. After 500 thermocycles, the premolars were immersed in 1% methylene blue for 24 h, and three slices from each tooth were observed under a stereomicroscope and scored. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, Student-Newman-Keuls and chi-square tests. The PBNT group presented the highest μTBS values, followed by the CSEB and AEO groups, which did not differ significantly from each other. The DF group showed the lowest μTBS values. No significant differences in microleakage were observed among these four groups. Although individual usage of the self-adhering flowable composite showed the lowest bond strength, the same marginal sealing ability was observed as that of combining self-etching and etch-and-rinse adhesives with flowable composite.

Online system for knowledge assessment enhances students' results on school knowledge test.

PubMed

Kralj, Benjamin; Glazar, Sasa Aleksej

2013-01-01

Variety of online tools were built to help assessing students' performance in school. Many teachers changed their methods of assessment from paper-and-pencil (P&P) to online systems. In this study we analyse the influence that using an online system for knowledge assessment has on students' knowledge. Based on both a literature study and our own research we designed and built an online system for knowledge assessment. The system is evaluated using two groups of primary school teachers and students (N = 686) in Slovenia: an experimental and a control group. Students solved P&P exams on several occasions. The experimental group was allowed to access the system either at school or at home for a limited period during the presentation of a selected school topic. Students in the experimental group were able to solve tasks and compare their own achievements with those of their coevals. A comparison of the P&P school exams results achieved by both groups revealed a positive effect on subject topic comprehension for those with access to the online self-assessment system.

Flight demonstration of a self repairing flight control system in a NASA F-15 fighter aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Urnes, James M.; Stewart, James; Eslinger, Robert

1990-01-01

Battle damage causing loss of control capability can compromise mission objectives and even result in aircraft loss. The Self Repairing Flight Control System (SRFCS) flight development program directly addresses this issue with a flight control system design that measures the damage and immediately refines the control system commands to preserve mission potential. The system diagnostics process detects in flight the type of faults that are difficult to isolate post flight, and thus cause excessive ground maintenance time and cost. The control systems of fighter aircraft have the control power and surface displacement to maneuver the aircraft in a very large flight envelope with a wide variation in airspeed and g maneuvering conditions, with surplus force capacity available from each control surface. Digital flight control processors are designed to include built-in status of the control system components, as well as sensor information on aircraft control maneuver commands and response. In the event of failure or loss of a control surface, the SRFCS utilizes this capability to reconfigure control commands to the remaining control surfaces, thus preserving maneuvering response. Correct post-flight repair is the key to low maintainability support costs and high aircraft mission readiness. The SRFCS utilizes the large data base available with digital flight control systems to diagnose faults. Built-in-test data and sensor data are used as inputs to an Onboard Expert System process to accurately identify failed components for post-flight maintenance action. This diagnostic technique has the advantage of functioning during flight, and so is especially useful in identifying intermittent faults that are present only during maneuver g loads or high hydraulic flow requirements. A flight system was developed to test the reconfiguration and onboard maintenance diagnostics concepts on a NASA F-15 fighter aircraft.

Variations on a Theme: Colleague Consultant Networks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garth, Russell; Rehnke, Mary Ann

1991-01-01

Although the use of formal consulting networks based in higher education's professional associations has declined somewhat, other, less formal strategies for identifying colleague consultants show promise. Flexible networks are being built on the principle of cooperative self-help, without centralized facilitation, to enable colleges to find…

An experimental study of a self-confined flow with ring-vorticity distribution. Ph.D. Thesis. Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, K. M.; Moore, F. K.

1976-01-01

A new form of self-confined flow was investigated in which a recirculation zone forms away from any solid boundary. An inviscid flow analysis indicated that in a purely meridional axisymmetric flow a stationary, spherical, self-confined region should occur in the center of a streamlined divergent-convergent enlargement zone. The spherical confinement region would be at rest and at constant pressure. Experimental investigations were carried out in a specially built test apparatus to establish the desired confined flow. The streamlined divergent-convergent interior shape of the test section was fabricated according to the theoretical calculation for a particular streamline. The required inlet vorticity distribution was generated by producing a velocity profile with a shaped gauze screen in the straight pipe upstream of the test section. Fluid speed and turbulence intensity were measured with a constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer system. The measured results indicated a very orderly and stable flow field.

"Chemical transformers" from nanoparticle ensembles operated with logic.

PubMed

Motornov, Mikhail; Zhou, Jian; Pita, Marcos; Gopishetty, Venkateshwarlu; Tokarev, Ihor; Katz, Evgeny; Minko, Sergiy

2008-09-01

The pH-responsive nanoparticles were coupled with information-processing enzyme-based systems to yield "smart" signal-responsive hybrid systems with built-in Boolean logic. The enzyme systems performed AND/OR logic operations, transducing biochemical input signals into reversible structural changes (signal-directed self-assembly) of the nanoparticle assemblies, thus resulting in the processing and amplification of the biochemical signals. The hybrid system mimics biological systems in effective processing of complex biochemical information, resulting in reversible changes of the self-assembled structures of the nanoparticles. The bioinspired approach to the nanostructured morphing materials could be used in future self-assembled molecular robotic systems.

Secure Embedded System Design Methodologies for Military Cryptographic Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-31

Fault- Tree Analysis (FTA); Built-In Self-Test (BIST) Introduction Secure access-control systems restrict operations to authorized users via methods...failures in the individual software/processor elements, the question of exactly how unlikely is difficult to answer. Fault- Tree Analysis (FTA) has a...Collins of Sandia National Laboratories for years of sharing his extensive knowledge of Fail-Safe Design Assurance and Fault- Tree Analysis

Design, construction, and testing a purpose-built climate-controlled solvent vapor annealing chamber for guided self-assembly of block polymer thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gnabasik, Ryan; Haase, Rustin; Baruth, Andrew

2014-03-01

Despite its efficacy to produce well-ordered, periodic nanostructures, the intricate role multiple parameters play in solvent vapor annealing has not been fully established. In solvent vapor annealing a thin polymer film is exposed to the vapors of a solvent(s) thus forming a swollen and mobile layer to direct the self-assembly process at the nanoscale. Recent developments in both theory and experiment have directly identified critical parameters, but controlling them in any systematic way has proven non-trivial. These identified parameters include vapor pressure, solvent concentration in the film, and, critically, the solvent evaporation rate. To explore their role, a purpose-built solvent vapor annealing chamber was designed and constructed. The all-metal chamber is inert to solvent exposure and pneumatically actuated valves allow for precision timing in the introduction and withdrawal of solvent vapor. Furthermore, the mass flow controlled inlet, chamber pressure gauges, in situ spectral reflectance-based thickness monitoring, and high precision micrometer relief valve, give real-time monitoring and control during the annealing and evaporation phases. Using atomic force microscopy to image the annealed films, we are able to map out the parameter space for a series of polystyrene- b-polylactide (Mn = 75 kg/mol and fPLA = 0.28) block polymer thin films with an intrinsic cylindrical morphology and identify their role in directed assembly. Funded by Creighton University Summer Research Grant.

The impact of the built environment on health across the life course: design of a cross-sectional data linkage study

PubMed Central

Villanueva, Karen; Pereira, Gavin; Knuiman, Matthew; Bull, Fiona; Wood, Lisa; Christian, Hayley; Foster, Sarah; Boruff, Bryan J; Beesley, Bridget; Hickey, Sharyn; Joyce, Sarah; Nathan, Andrea; Saarloos, Dick; Giles-Corti, Billie

2013-01-01

Introduction The built environment is increasingly recognised as being associated with health outcomes. Relationships between the built environment and health differ among age groups, especially between children and adults, but also between younger, mid-age and older adults. Yet few address differences across life stage groups within a single population study. Moreover, existing research mostly focuses on physical activity behaviours, with few studying objective clinical and mental health outcomes. The Life Course Built Environment and Health (LCBEH) project explores the impact of the built environment on self-reported and objectively measured health outcomes in a random sample of people across the life course. Methods and analysis This cross-sectional data linkage study involves 15 954 children (0–15 years), young adults (16–24 years), adults (25–64 years) and older adults (65+years) from the Perth metropolitan region who completed the Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System survey administered by the Department of Health of Western Australia from 2003 to 2009. Survey data were linked to Western Australia's (WA) Hospital Morbidity Database System (hospital admission) and Mental Health Information System (mental health system outpatient) data. Participants’ residential address was geocoded and features of their ‘neighbourhood’ were measured using Geographic Information Systems software. Associations between the built environment and self-reported and clinical health outcomes will be explored across varying geographic scales and life stages. Ethics and dissemination The University of Western Australia's Human Research Ethics Committee and the Department of Health of Western Australia approved the study protocol (#2010/1). Findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at local, national and international conferences, thus contributing to the evidence base informing the design of healthy neighbourhoods for all residents. PMID:23325897

Guidelines for Design and Test of a Built-In Self Test (BIST) Circuit For Space Radiation Studies of High-Speed IC Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carts, M. A.; Marshall, P. W.; Reed, R.; Curie, S.; Randall, B.; LaBel, K.; Gilbert, B.; Daniel, E.

2006-01-01

Serial Bit Error Rate Testing under radiation to characterize single particle induced errors in high-speed IC technologies generally involves specialized test equipment common to the telecommunications industry. As bit rates increase, testing is complicated by the rapidly increasing cost of equipment able to test at-speed. Furthermore as rates extend into the tens of billions of bits per second test equipment ceases to be broadband, a distinct disadvantage for exploring SEE mechanisms in the target technologies. In this presentation the authors detail the testing accomplished in the CREST project and apply the knowledge gained to establish a set of guidelines suitable for designing arbitrarily high speed radiation effects tests.

Self-activating intelligent home using bluetooth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karthikeyan, P.; Sumanth, N.; Jude, S.

2017-11-01

Homes today need to exploit the various technologies available to make them intelligent. In this paper, a wireless system is proposed to automate home appliances using Bluetooth. This system can be used from a Bluetooth module that is closer than 10 meters to the system. Once in range, various appliances can be self-activated by the software that is built into a microcontroller. It is envisioned to offer automation of doors, lights and various electrical appliances. It also offers a complete user based automation for an improved personal experience.

A Model for Increasing Access: Teenage Pregnancy Prevention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Henry W.; And Others

1990-01-01

The United States leads all other developed nations in inappropriate teenage pregnancies and the educational and societal consequences. Describes activities of the community-based I Have a Future Program (IHAF), built on the premise that changes in sex behavior must be pursued in a framework of enhancing self-esteem and presenting positive…

Dual Sulfide-Disulfide Crosslinked Networks with Rapid and Room Temperature Self-Healability.

PubMed

An, So Young; Noh, Seung Man; Nam, Joon Hyun; Oh, Jung Kwon

2015-07-01

Polymer-based crosslinked networks with intrinsic self-repairing ability have emerged due to their built-in ability to repair physical damages. Here, novel dual sulfide-disulfide crosslinked networks (s-ssPxNs) are reported exhibiting rapid and room temperature self-healability within seconds to minutes, with no extra healing agents and no change under any environmental conditions. The method to synthesize these self-healable networks utilizes a combination of well-known crosslinking chemistry: photoinduced thiol-ene click-type radical addition, generating lightly sulfide-crosslinked polysulfide-based networks with excess thiols, and their oxidation, creating dynamic disulfide crosslinkages to yield the dual s-ssPxNs. The resulting s-ssPxN networks show rapid self-healing within 30 s to 30 min at room temperature, as well as self-healing elasticity with reversible viscoelastic properties. These results, combined with tunable self-healing kinetics, demonstrate the versatility of the method as a new means to synthesize smart multifunctional polymeric materials. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Simulating Self-Assembly with Simple Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapaport, D. C.

Results from recent molecular dynamics simulations of virus capsid self-assembly are described. The model is based on rigid trapezoidal particles designed to form polyhedral shells of size 60, together with an atomistic solvent. The underlying bonding process is fully reversible. More extensive computations are required than in previous work on icosahedral shells built from triangular particles, but the outcome is a high yield of closed shells. Intermediate clusters have a variety of forms, and bond counts provide a useful classification scheme

Self-assembled thin films of Fe3O4-Ag composite nanoparticles for spintronic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chengpeng; Leung, Chi Wah; Pong, Philip W. T.

2017-10-01

Controlled self-assembly of multi-component magnetic nanoparticles could lead to nanomaterial-based magnetic devices with novel structures and intriguing properties. Herein, self-assembled thin films of Fe3O4-Ag composite nanoparticles (CNPs) with hetero-dimeric shapes were fabricated using interfacial assembly method. The CNP-assembled thin films were further transferred to patterned silicon substrates followed by vacuum annealing, producing CNP-based magnetoresistive (MR) devices. Due to the presence of intra-particle interfaces and inter-particle barriers, an enhanced MR ratio and a non-linear current-voltage relation were observed in the device. The results of this work can potentially pave the way to the future exploration and development of spintronic devices built from composite nanomaterials.

A Web-Based Self-Testing System with Some Features of Web 2.0: Design and Primary Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Xiaolei; Liu, Haitao; Bao, Zhen; Ju, Bo; Wang, Zhenghong

2010-01-01

Self-testing is a means to check learning effect. Besides time-space restriction, there are many deficiencies in traditional offline self-testing. With the development of information technology, learners can have self-testing on the Internet. Self-testing on Internet, namely, web-based self-testing, overcomes time-space limitation of traditional…

Computer aided design of Langasite resonant cantilevers: analytical models and simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellier, C. R.; Leblois, T. G.; Durand, S.

2010-05-01

Analytical models for the piezoelectric excitation and for the wet micromachining of resonant cantilevers are proposed. Firstly, computations of metrological performances of micro-resonators allow us to select special cuts and special alignment of the cantilevers. Secondly the self-elaborated simulator TENSOSIM based on the kinematic and tensorial model furnishes etching shapes of cantilevers. As the result the number of selected cuts is reduced. Finally the simulator COMSOL® is used to evaluate the influence of final etching shape on metrological performances and especially on the resonance frequency. Changes in frequency are evaluated and deviating behaviours of structures with less favourable built-ins are tested showing that the X cut is the best cut for LGS resonant cantilevers vibrating in flexural modes (type 1 and type 2) or in torsion mode.

Accelerated load testing of geosynthetic base reinforced pavement test sections.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-02-01

The main objective of this research is to evaluate the benefits of geosynthetic stabilization and reinforcement of subgrade/base aggregate layers in flexible pavements built on weak subgrades and the effect of pre-rut pavement sections, prior to the ...

Autonomy and social norms in a three factor grief model predicting perinatal grief in India.

PubMed

Roberts, Lisa R; Lee, Jerry W

2014-01-01

Perinatal grief following stillbirth is a significant social and mental health burden. We examined associations among the following latent variables: autonomy, social norms, self-despair, strained coping, and acute grief-among poor, rural women in India who experienced stillbirth. A structural equation model was built and tested using quantitative data from 347 women of reproductive age in Chhattisgarh. Maternal acceptance of traditional social norms worsens self-despair and strained coping, and increases the autonomy granted to women. Greater autonomy increases acute grief. Greater despair and acute grief increase strained coping. Social and cultural factors were found to predict perinatal grief in India.

Design and implementation of self-balancing coaxial two wheel robot based on HSIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Tianlian; Zhang, Hua; Dai, Xin; Xia, Xianfeng; Liu, Ran; Qiu, Bo

2007-12-01

This thesis has studied the control problem concerning position and orientation control of self-balancing coaxial two wheel robot based on the human simulated intelligent control (HSIC) theory. Adopting Lagrange equation, the dynamic model of self-balancing coaxial two-wheel Robot is built up, and the Sensory-motor Intelligent Schemas (SMIS) of HSIC controller for the robot is designed by analyzing its movement and simulating the human controller. In robot's motion process, by perceiving position and orientation of the robot and using multi-mode control strategy based on characteristic identification, the HSIC controller enables the robot to control posture. Utilizing Matlab/Simulink, a simulation platform is established and a motion controller is designed and realized based on RT-Linux real-time operating system, employing high speed ARM9 processor S3C2440 as kernel of the motion controller. The effectiveness of the new design is testified by the experiment.

Non-aqueous aluminium-air battery based on ionic liquid electrolyte

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revel, Renaud; Audichon, Thomas; Gonzalez, Serge

2014-12-01

A promising metal-air secondary battery based on aluminium-oxygen couple is described. In this paper, we observed that an aluminium-air battery employing EMImCl, AlCl3 room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) as electrolyte and aluminium as negative electrode, has an exceptional reduced self-discharged rate. Due to its new and innovative type of electrolyte, this aluminium-air battery can support relatively high current densities (up to 0.6 mA cm-2) and an average voltage of 0.6-0.8 V. Such batteries may find immediate applications, as they can provide an internal, built-in autonomous and self-sustained energy source.

Spatiotemporal Built-up Land Density Mapping Using Various Spectral Indices in Landsat-7 ETM+ and Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS (Case Study: Surakarta City)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Risky, Yanuar S.; Aulia, Yogi H.; Widayani, Prima

2017-12-01

Spectral indices variations support for rapid and accurate extracting information such as built-up density. However, the exact determination of spectral waves for built-up density extraction is lacking. This study explains and compares the capabilities of 5 variations of spectral indices in spatiotemporal built-up density mapping using Landsat-7 ETM+ and Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS in Surakarta City on 2002 and 2015. The spectral indices variations used are 3 mid-infrared (MIR) based indices such as the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Urban Index (UI) and Built-up and 2 visible based indices such as VrNIR-BI (visible red) and VgNIR-BI (visible green). Linear regression statistics between ground value samples from Google Earth image in 2002 and 2015 and spectral indices for determining built-up land density. Ground value used amounted to 27 samples for model and 7 samples for accuracy test. The classification of built-up density mapping is divided into 9 classes: unclassified, 0-12.5%, 12.5-25%, 25-37.5%, 37.5-50%, 50-62.5%, 62.5-75%, 75-87.5% and 87.5-100 %. Accuracy of built-up land density mapping in 2002 and 2015 using VrNIR-BI (81,823% and 73.235%), VgNIR-BI (78.934% and 69.028%), NDBI (34.870% and 74.365%), UI (43.273% and 64.398%) and Built-up (59.755% and 72.664%). Based all spectral indices, Surakarta City on 2000-2015 has increased of built-up land density. VgNIR-BI has better capabilities for built-up land density mapping on Landsat-7 ETM + and Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS.

High angle of attack position sensing for the Southampton University magnetic suspension and balance system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parker, David H.

1987-01-01

An all digital five channel position detection system is to be installed in the Southampton University Magnetic Suspension and Balance System (SUMSBS). The system is intended to monitor a much larger range of model pitch attitudes than has been possible hitherto, up to a maximum of a 90 degree angle of attack. It is based on the use of self-scanning photodiode arrays and illuminating laser light beams, together with purpose built processing electronics. The principles behind the design of the system are discussed, together with the results of testing one channel of the system which was used to control the axial position of a magnetically suspended model in SUMSBS. The removal of optically coupled heave position information from the axial position sensing channel is described.

Digital PCR on an integrated self-priming compartmentalization chip.

PubMed

Zhu, Qiangyuan; Qiu, Lin; Yu, Bingwen; Xu, Yanan; Gao, Yibo; Pan, Tingting; Tian, Qingchang; Song, Qi; Jin, Wei; Jin, Qinhan; Mu, Ying

2014-03-21

An integrated on-chip valve-free and power-free microfluidic digital PCR device is for the first time developed by making use of a novel self-priming compartmentalization and simple dehydration control to realize 'divide and conquer' for single DNA molecule detection. The high gas solubility of PDMS is exploited to provide the built-in power of self-priming so that the sample and oil are sequentially sucked into the device to realize sample self-compartmentalization based on surface tension. The lifespan of its self-priming capability was about two weeks tested using an air-tight packaging bottle sealed with a small amount of petroleum jelly, which is significant for a practical platform. The SPC chip contains 5120 independent 5 nL microchambers, allowing the samples to be compartmentalized completely. Using this platform, three different abundances of lung cancer related genes are detected to demonstrate the feasibility and flexibility of the microchip for amplifying a single nucleic acid molecule. For maximal accuracy, within less than 5% of the measurement deviation, the optimal number of positive chambers is between 400 and 1250 evaluated by the Poisson distribution, which means one panel can detect an average of 480 to 4804 template molecules. This device without world-to-chip connections eliminates the constraint of the complex pipeline control, and is an integrated on-chip platform, which would be a significant improvement to digital PCR automation and more user-friendly.

The use of twin screw extruders for feeding coal against pressures of up to 1500 PSI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiedmann, W.; Mack, W. A.

1977-01-01

Recent tests with a twin-screw, co-rotating extruder which was successfully used to convey and feed coal against pressures of up to 1500 psi are described. Intermeshing and self-wiping, co-rotating twin-screws give greatly improved conveying and pressure built-up capabilities and avoid hangup and eventual decomposition of coal particles in the screw flights. The conveying action of intermeshing, self-wiping, co-rotating extruder systems approaches that of a positive displacement pump. With this feature, it is possible to maintain very accurate control over all aspects of product conveyance in the extruder, i.e., intake, conveyance and pressure buildup.

Learning Strategies Model to Enhance Thai Undergraduate Students' Self-Efficacy Beliefs in EIL Textual Reading Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kakew, Jiraporn; Damnet, Anamai

2017-01-01

This classroom based research of a learning strategies model was designed to investigate its application in a mixed-ability classroom. The study built on Oxford's language learning strategies model (1990, 2001) and fulfilled it with rhetorical strategies to accommodate challenges encountered in the paradigm of English as an international language…

Reducing tobacco use among low socio-economic status youth in Delhi, India: outcomes from project ACTIVITY, a cluster randomized trial

PubMed Central

Harrell, Melissa B.; Arora, Monika; Bassi, Shalini; Gupta, Vinay K.; Perry, Cheryl L.; Srinath Reddy, K.

2016-01-01

To test the efficacy of an intervention to reduce tobacco use among youth (10–19 years old) in slum communities in Delhi, India. This community-based cluster-randomized trial included 14 slums composed of purposely built resettlement colonies and adjacent inhabitant-built Jhuggi Jhopris. Youth in the intervention received a 2 year multiple-component intervention: (a) youth and adult leader training; (b) peer-led interactive activities and outreach; (c) tobacco cessation camps; and (d) enforcement of India’s Tobacco Control Law (smoke-free environments and youth access). Overall, no differences between the intervention and control conditions were observed over time; self-reported tobacco use declined in both groups. However, when stratified by type of residence, a significant decrease was observed among youth in the resettlement colonies in the intervention group for overall tobacco use (slope = −0.69) and cigarette and bidi smoking (slope = −0.66), compared to an increase in the control group (slope = 0.24 and 0.12, respectively) (P < 0.001). No differences in smokeless tobacco (SLT) use were observed for either group. Comprehensive community-based interventions that engage youth can be effective in reducing smoking among disadvantaged youth in India. More intensive interventions, like tax increases or large-scale media campaigns, appear warranted for the most marginalized in this context and for SLT products. PMID:27540182

The role of the built environment in explaining educational inequalities in walking and cycling among adults in the Netherlands.

PubMed

van Wijk, Daniël C; Groeniger, Joost Oude; van Lenthe, Frank J; Kamphuis, Carlijn B M

2017-03-31

This study examined whether characteristics of the residential built environment (i.e. population density, level of mixed land use, connectivity, accessibility of facilities, accessibility of green) contributed to educational inequalities in walking and cycling among adults. Data from participants (32-82 years) of the 2011 survey of the Dutch population-based GLOBE study were used (N = 2375). Highest attained educational level (independent variable) and walking for transport, cycling for transport, walking in leisure time and cycling in leisure time (dependent variables) were self-reported in the survey. GIS-systems were used to obtain spatial data on residential built environment characteristics. A four-step mediation-based analysis with log-linear regression models was used to examine to contribution of the residential built environment to educational inequalities in walking and cycling. As compared to the lowest educational group, the highest educational group was more likely to cycle for transport (RR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04-1.23), walk in leisure time (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.04-1.21), and cycle in leisure time (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22). Objective built environment characteristics were related to these outcomes, but contributed minimally to educational inequalities in walking and cycling. On the other hand, compared to the lowest educational group, the highest educational group was less likely to walk for transport (RR 0.91, 95% CI 0.82-1.01), which could partly be attributed to differences in the built environment. This study found that objective built environment characteristics contributed minimally to educational inequalities in walking and cycling in the Netherlands.

[The durability of three self-etch adhesives bonded to dentin].

PubMed

Tian, Fu-Cong; Wang, Xiao-Yan; Gao, Xue-Jun

2013-04-01

To investigate the durability of self-etch adhesives bonded to dentin in vitro. Forty-two extracted human molars were selected and occlusal dentin surfaces were exposed. The teeth were randomly distributed into three groups based on adhesives applied. The one-step self-etch adhesive B(Adper Prompt) and C(G-Bond) and two-step self-etch adhesive A (Clearfil SE bond) were used. After application of the adhesives to the dentin surfaces, composite crowns were built up, after 24 h water storage, the teeth were sectioned longitudinally into sticks (1.0 mm×1.0 mm bonding area) for microtensile testing or slabs (1 mm thick) for scanning electron microscopec (SEM) observation. Bonding strength (mTBS) and nano-leakage were evaluated immediately after cutting or after 6 months in water. The mTBS was analyzed using one-way ANOVA (SPSS 13.0). The nanoleakage was observed by SEM with a backscattered electron detector. Both adhesives and water storage time affected the mTBS. All adhesives showed decreased bond strength after six-month water aging [A dropped from (40.60 ± 5.76) MPa to (36.04 ± 3.15) MPa; B dropped from (19.06 ± 1.50) MPa to (11.19 ± 1.97) MPa; C dropped from (17.75 ± 1.10) MPa to (9.14 ± 1.15) MPa] (P < 0.05). B and C showed lower mTBS than A after aging (P < 0.05). Compared to A, nanoleakage was more obvious after aging for B and C. All self-etch adhesives tested were probably influenced by water aging, however, the two-step adhesive showed better durability than the one-step adhesives.

Semi-Autonomous Control with Cyber-Pain for Artificial Muscles and Smart Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-15

avoid some key failure modes. Our approach has built on our developments in dynamic self-sensing and realistic simulation of DEA electromechanics...local controller) to avoid some key failure modes. Our approach has built on our developments in dynamic self-sensing and realistic simulation of DEA...strains [4]. In its natural state long polymer backbones are entangled with intermittent cross-links tying neighbouring backbones together. The soft

Can blogging enhance subjective well-being through self-disclosure?

PubMed

Ko, Hsiu-Chia; Kuo, Feng-Yang

2009-02-01

Based on the self-disclosure theory and the social capital theory, this study investigates if bloggers' self-disclosure enhances their social capital and if these capitals in turn enhance perception of subjective well-being (SWB). The results reveal that the self-disclosure of bloggers significantly and directly affects a blogger's perception of social integration, bonding social capital, and bridge social capital, which in turn promote bloggers' SWB. It appears that as bloggers share their inner thoughts of their moods/feelings with others through writing, they may gain greater social support and improve their social integration. Therefore, self-disclosure through blogging may serve as the core of building intimate relationships. Furthermore, social capital, built through blogging, may improve a blogger's satisfaction with his or her social contact, interpersonal communication, and overall quality of life.

Performance Comparison of Finemet and Metglas Tape Cores Under Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms with DC Bias (POSTPRINT)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

dc converter-based test system was built to intentionally introduce inductor current harmonics by varying the filter capacitance and parasitic...the inclusion of distorted waveforms obtained by varying filter capacitance. At higher frequencies, the Metglas cores were found to exhibit greater...was built to intentionally introduce inductor current harmonics by varying the filter capacitance and parasitic inductance of the test system. Both

Design and fabrication of miniaturized PEM fuel cell combined microreactor with self-regulated hydrogen mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balakrishnan, A.; Frei, M.; Kerzenmacher, S.; Reinecke, H.; Mueller, C.

2015-12-01

In this work we present the design and fabrication of the miniaturized PEM fuel cell combined microreactor system with hydrogen regulation mechanism and testing of prototype microreactor. The system consists of two components (i) fuel cell component and (ii) microreactor component. The fuel cell component represents the miniaturized PEM fuel cell system (combination of screen printed fuel cell assembly and an on-board hydrogen storage medium). Hydrogen production based on catalytic hydrolysis of chemical hydride takes place in the microreactor component. The self-regulated hydrogen mechanism based on the gaseous hydrogen produced from the catalytic hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) gets accumulated as bubbles at the vicinity of the hydrophobic coated hydrogen exhaust holes. When the built up hydrogen bubbles pressure exceeds the burst pressure at the hydrogen exhaust holes the bubble collapses. This collapse causes a surge of fresh NaBH4 solution onto the catalyst surface leading to the removal of the reaction by-products formed at the active sites of the catalyst. The catalyst used in the system is platinum deposited on a base substrate. Nickel foam, carbon porous medium (CPM) and ceramic plate were selected as candidates for base substrate for developing a robust catalyst surface. For the first time the platinum layer fabricated by pulsed electrodeposition and dealloying (EPDD) technique is used for hydrolysis of NaBH4. The major advantages of such platinum catalyst layers are its high surface area and their mechanical stability. Prototype microreactor system with self-regulated hydrogen mechanism is demonstrated.

Could strength of exposure to the residential neighbourhood modify associations between walkability and physical activity?

PubMed

Ivory, Vivienne C; Blakely, Tony; Pearce, Jamie; Witten, Karen; Bagheri, Nasser; Badland, Hannah; Schofield, Grant

2015-12-01

The importance of neighbourhoods for health and wellbeing may vary according to an individual's reliance on their local resources, but this assertion is rarely tested. We investigate whether greater neighbourhood 'exposure' through reliance on or engagement with the residential setting magnifies neighbourhood-health associations. Three built environment characteristics (destination density, streetscape (attractiveness of built environment) and street connectivity) and two physical activity components (weekday and weekend accelerometer counts) were measured for 2033 residents living in 48 neighbourhoods within four New Zealand cities in 2009-2010, giving six different built environment-physical activity associations. Interactions for each built environment-physical activity association with four individual-level characteristics (acting as proxies for exposure: gender, working status, car access, and income) were assessed with multi-level regression models; a total of 24 'tests'. Of the 12 weekday built environment-physical activity tests, 5 interaction terms were significant (p < 0.05) in the expected direction (e.g. stronger streetscape-physical activity among those with restricted car access). For weekend tests, one association was statistically significant. No significant tests were contradictory. Pooled across the 12 weekday physical activity 'tests', a 1 standard deviation increase in the walkability of the built environment was associated with an overall 3.8% (95% CI: 3.6%-4.1%) greater increase in weekday physical activity across all the types of people we hypothesised to spend more time in their residential neighbourhood, and for weekend physical activity it was 4.2% (95% CI 3.9%-4.5%). Using multiple evaluation methods, interactions were in line with our hypothesis, with a stronger association seen for proxy exposure indicators (for example, restricted car access). Added to the wider evidence base, our study strengthens causal evidence of an effect of the built environment on physical activity, and highlights that health gains from improvements of the residential neighbourhood may be greater for some people. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling Self-Healing of Concrete Using Hybrid Genetic Algorithm–Artificial Neural Network

PubMed Central

Ramadan Suleiman, Ahmed; Nehdi, Moncef L.

2017-01-01

This paper presents an approach to predicting the intrinsic self-healing in concrete using a hybrid genetic algorithm–artificial neural network (GA–ANN). A genetic algorithm was implemented in the network as a stochastic optimizing tool for the initial optimal weights and biases. This approach can assist the network in achieving a global optimum and avoid the possibility of the network getting trapped at local optima. The proposed model was trained and validated using an especially built database using various experimental studies retrieved from the open literature. The model inputs include the cement content, water-to-cement ratio (w/c), type and dosage of supplementary cementitious materials, bio-healing materials, and both expansive and crystalline additives. Self-healing indicated by means of crack width is the model output. The results showed that the proposed GA–ANN model is capable of capturing the complex effects of various self-healing agents (e.g., biochemical material, silica-based additive, expansive and crystalline components) on the self-healing performance in cement-based materials. PMID:28772495

Modeling Self-Healing of Concrete Using Hybrid Genetic Algorithm-Artificial Neural Network.

PubMed

Ramadan Suleiman, Ahmed; Nehdi, Moncef L

2017-02-07

This paper presents an approach to predicting the intrinsic self-healing in concrete using a hybrid genetic algorithm-artificial neural network (GA-ANN). A genetic algorithm was implemented in the network as a stochastic optimizing tool for the initial optimal weights and biases. This approach can assist the network in achieving a global optimum and avoid the possibility of the network getting trapped at local optima. The proposed model was trained and validated using an especially built database using various experimental studies retrieved from the open literature. The model inputs include the cement content, water-to-cement ratio (w/c), type and dosage of supplementary cementitious materials, bio-healing materials, and both expansive and crystalline additives. Self-healing indicated by means of crack width is the model output. The results showed that the proposed GA-ANN model is capable of capturing the complex effects of various self-healing agents (e.g., biochemical material, silica-based additive, expansive and crystalline components) on the self-healing performance in cement-based materials.

46 CFR 153.7 - Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS General § 153.7 Ships built before December 27, 1977 and...

46 CFR 153.7 - Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS General § 153.7 Ships built before December 27, 1977 and...

46 CFR 153.7 - Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS General § 153.7 Ships built before December 27, 1977 and...

46 CFR 153.7 - Ships built before December 27, 1977 and non-self-propelled ships built before July 1, 1983...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) CERTAIN BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES SHIPS CARRYING BULK LIQUID, LIQUEFIED GAS, OR COMPRESSED GAS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS General § 153.7 Ships built before December 27, 1977 and...

Using built environment characteristics to predict walking for exercise

PubMed Central

Lovasi, Gina S; Moudon, Anne V; Pearson, Amber L; Hurvitz, Philip M; Larson, Eric B; Siscovick, David S; Berke, Ethan M; Lumley, Thomas; Psaty, Bruce M

2008-01-01

Background Environments conducive to walking may help people avoid sedentary lifestyles and associated diseases. Recent studies developed walkability models combining several built environment characteristics to optimally predict walking. Developing and testing such models with the same data could lead to overestimating one's ability to predict walking in an independent sample of the population. More accurate estimates of model fit can be obtained by splitting a single study population into training and validation sets (holdout approach) or through developing and evaluating models in different populations. We used these two approaches to test whether built environment characteristics near the home predict walking for exercise. Study participants lived in western Washington State and were adult members of a health maintenance organization. The physical activity data used in this study were collected by telephone interview and were selected for their relevance to cardiovascular disease. In order to limit confounding by prior health conditions, the sample was restricted to participants in good self-reported health and without a documented history of cardiovascular disease. Results For 1,608 participants meeting the inclusion criteria, the mean age was 64 years, 90 percent were white, 37 percent had a college degree, and 62 percent of participants reported that they walked for exercise. Single built environment characteristics, such as residential density or connectivity, did not significantly predict walking for exercise. Regression models using multiple built environment characteristics to predict walking were not successful at predicting walking for exercise in an independent population sample. In the validation set, none of the logistic models had a C-statistic confidence interval excluding the null value of 0.5, and none of the linear models explained more than one percent of the variance in time spent walking for exercise. We did not detect significant differences in walking for exercise among census areas or postal codes, which were used as proxies for neighborhoods. Conclusion None of the built environment characteristics significantly predicted walking for exercise, nor did combinations of these characteristics predict walking for exercise when tested using a holdout approach. These results reflect a lack of neighborhood-level variation in walking for exercise for the population studied. PMID:18312660

Short- and Long-Term Impacts of Neighborhood Built Environment on Self-Rated Health of Older Adults.

PubMed

Spring, Amy

2018-01-18

Proximity to health care, healthy foods, and recreation is linked to improved health in older adults while deterioration of the built environment is a risk factor for poor health. Yet, it remains unclear whether individuals prone to good health self-select into favorable built environments and how long-term exposure to deteriorated environments impacts health. This study uses a longitudinal framework to address these questions. The study analyzes 3,240 Americans aged 45 or older from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with good self-reported health at baseline, and follows them from 1999 to 2013. At each biennial survey wave, individual data are combined with data on services in the neighborhood of residence (defined as the zip code) from the Economic Census. The analysis overcomes the problem of residential self-selection by employing marginal structural models and inverse probability of treatment weights. Logistic regression estimates indicate that long-term exposure to neighborhood built environments that lack health-supportive services (e.g., physicians, pharmacies, grocery stores, senior centers, and recreational facilities) and are commercially declined (i.e., have a high density of liquor stores, pawn shops, and fast food outlets) increases the risk of fair/poor self-rated health compared to more average neighborhoods. Short-term exposure to the same environments as compared to average neighborhoods has no bearing on self-rated health after adjusting for self-selection. Results highlight the importance of expanding individuals' access to health-supportive services prior to their reaching old age, and expanding access for people unlikely to attain residence in service-dense neighborhoods. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Bilateral upper limb trainer with virtual reality for post-stroke rehabilitation: case series report.

PubMed

Sampson, Michael; Shau, Yio-Wha; King, Marcus James

2012-01-01

Stroke is a leading cause of disability with many survivors having upper limb (UL) hemiparesis. UL rehabilitation using bilateral exercise enhances outcomes and the Bilateral Upper Limb Trainer (BUiLT) was developed to provide symmetrical, bilateral arm exercise in a 'forced' and self-assistive manner, incorporating virtual reality (VR) to provide direction and task specificity to users as well as action observation-execution and greater motivation to exercise. The BUiLT + VR system was trialled on five post-stroke participants with UL hemiparesis: one sub-acute and four chronic. The intervention was supplied for 45 min, 4 days/week for 6 weeks. The Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity score (FMA-UE) was used as the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcome measures used were UL isometric strength and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire. The BUiLT + VR therapy increased FMA-UE scores from 1 to 5 and overall strength in the shoulder and elbow. Motivation at the end of intervention was positive. Therapy using the BUiLT + VR system is reliable, can be administered safely and has a positive trend of benefit as measured by the FMA-UE, isometric strength testing and IMI questionnaire.

Bonding quality of contemporary dental cements to sandblasted esthetic crown copings.

PubMed

Abdelaziz, Khalid M; Al-Qahtani, Nasser M; Al-Shehri, Abdulrahman S; Abdelmoneam, Adel M

2012-05-01

To evaluate the shear bond strength of current luting cements to sandblasted crown-coping substrates. Specimens of nickel-chromium, pressable glass ceramic, and zirconia crown-coping substrates were sandblasted in three groups (n = 30 each) with 50 (group 1), 110 (group 2), and 250 μm (group 3) alumina particles at a pressure of 250 kPa. Cylinders of glass ionomer, universal resin, and self-adhesive resin cements were then built up on the sandblasted substrate surfaces of each group (n = 10). All bonded specimens were stressed to evaluate the cement-substrate shear bond strength. Both the mode and incidence of bond failure were also considered. No difference was noticed between all test groups in terms of cement-substrate bond strength. In comparison to self-adhesive type, the universal resin cement provided lower bond strengths to both metal and glass-ceramic substrates in group 1. The self-adhesive resin cement provided the highest bond strengths to the zirconia substrates in groups 2 and 3. The adhesive type of bond failure was common in the metal and zirconia substrates in all groups. Cement-substrate bonding quality is not affected by the size of sandblasting particles. Resin cements bond better to different coping substrates. Self-adhesive resin cement is the best choice to bond zirconia-based substrates. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Digital Platforms as Factor Transforming Management Models in Businesses and Industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimitrakiev, D.; Molodchik, A. V.

2018-05-01

Increasingly, digital platforms are built into the value chain, acting as an intermediary between the manufacturer and the consumer. The paper presents tendencies and features of business model transformation in connection with management of the new digital technologies. The limitations of traditional business models and the capabilities of business models based on digital platforms and self-organization were revealed. In the study, the viability of the new business model for the dental industry was confirmed and the new concept of the branch self-organizing control system based on the information platform, blockchain, cryptocurrency and reward of target consumer is offered, including mechanisms that make the model attractive for both the consumer and the service provider.

Built-In Data-Flow Integration Testing in Large-Scale Component-Based Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piel, Éric; Gonzalez-Sanchez, Alberto; Gross, Hans-Gerhard

Modern large-scale component-based applications and service ecosystems are built following a number of different component models and architectural styles, such as the data-flow architectural style. In this style, each building block receives data from a previous one in the flow and sends output data to other components. This organisation expresses information flows adequately, and also favours decoupling between the components, leading to easier maintenance and quicker evolution of the system. Integration testing is a major means to ensure the quality of large systems. Their size and complexity, together with the fact that they are developed and maintained by several stake holders, make Built-In Testing (BIT) an attractive approach to manage their integration testing. However, so far no technique has been proposed that combines BIT and data-flow integration testing. We have introduced the notion of a virtual component in order to realize such a combination. It permits to define the behaviour of several components assembled to process a flow of data, using BIT. Test-cases are defined in a way that they are simple to write and flexible to adapt. We present two implementations of our proposed virtual component integration testing technique, and we extend our previous proposal to detect and handle errors in the definition by the user. The evaluation of the virtual component testing approach suggests that more issues can be detected in systems with data-flows than through other integration testing approaches.

Safety and privacy outcomes from a moderated online social therapy for young people with first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

Gleeson, John F; Lederman, Reeva; Wadley, Greg; Bendall, Sarah; McGorry, Patrick D; Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario

2014-04-01

Internet-based treatments for early psychosis offer considerable promise, but safety and security need to be established. This study pilot tested Horyzons, a novel online treatment application that integrates purpose-built moderated social networking with psychoeducation for recovery from early psychosis. Safety, privacy, and security were evaluated during a one-month single-group trial with 20 young consumers recovering from early psychosis who were recruited in Melbourne, Australia. Known clinical risk factors informed the safety protocol. Safety, privacy, and security were evaluated with respect to relapse and self-harm, users' perceptions of safety and privacy, and activity using Horyzons. No clinical or security problems with use of Horyzons were noted. Participants described feeling safe and trusting Horyzons. Private moderated online social networking combined with psychoeducation was a safe and secure therapeutic environment for consumers recovering from a first episode of psychosis. Testing the intervention in a randomized controlled trial is warranted.

East Europe Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-02

new economic-financial mechanism based upon workers self -management has created ad- ditional possibilities for widespread use of the levers of...wheeled robots , new families of computerized industrial trucks with built-in electronic systems and modules, and the production of cargo trucks, buses...achieved by the broad application of key technologies. Solid material and intellectual precondi- tions for this have been created in a new way

1. West elevations of barrier (Building 4216/E17) and Monitor Building ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. West elevations of barrier (Building 4216/E-17) and Monitor Building (4203/E-4). Barrier is built of wood infilled with earth, intended to protect Monitor Building from flying debris should anything at Test Stand 'A' explode. Building 4203/E-4 is built of reinforced concrete; equipment on top of it is cooling tower for refrigeration equipment in Test Stand 'A' machinery room. Electrical utility poles are typical at the facility, and carry 4,800 volts 3-phase alternating current. - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Test Stand A, Control Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

A bioartificial environment for kidney epithelial cells based on a supramolecular polymer basement membrane mimic and an organotypical culture system.

PubMed

Mollet, Björne B; Bogaerts, Iven L J; van Almen, Geert C; Dankers, Patricia Y W

2017-06-01

Renal applications in healthcare, such as renal replacement therapies and nephrotoxicity tests, could potentially benefit from bioartificial kidney membranes with fully differentiated and functional human tubular epithelial cells. A replacement of the natural environment of these cells is required to maintain and study cell functionality cell differentiation in vitro. Our approach was based on synthetic supramolecular biomaterials to mimic the natural basement membrane (BM) on which these cells grow and a bioreactor to provide the desired organotypical culture parameters. The BM mimics were constructed from ureidopyrimidinone (UPy)-functionalized polymer and bioactive peptides by electrospinning. The resultant membranes were shown to have a hierarchical fibrous BM-like structure consisting of self-assembled nanofibres within the electrospun microfibres. Human kidney-2 (HK-2) epithelial cells were cultured on the BM mimics under organotypical conditions in a custom-built bioreactor. The bioreactor facilitated in situ monitoring and functionality testing of the cultures. Cell viability and the integrity of the epithelial cell barrier were demonstrated inside the bioreactor by microscopy and transmembrane leakage of fluorescently labelled inulin, respectively. Furthermore, HK-2 cells maintained a polarized cell layer and showed modulation of both gene expression of membrane transporter proteins and metabolic activity of brush border enzymes when subjected to a continuous flow of culture medium inside the new bioreactor for 21 days. These results demonstrated that both the culture and study of renal epithelial cells was facilitated by the bioartificial in vitro environment that is formed by synthetic supramolecular BM mimics in our custom-built bioreactor. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of a blended learning module on self-reported learning performances in baccalaureate nursing students.

PubMed

Hsu, Li-Ling; Hsieh, Suh-Ing

2011-11-01

This article is a report of a quasi-experimental study of the effects of blended modules on nursing students' learning of ethics course content. There is yet to be an empirically supported mix of strategies on which a working blended learning model can be built for nursing education. This was a two-group pretest and post-test quasi-experimental study in 2008 involving a total of 233 students. Two of the five clusters were designated the experimental group to experience a blended learning model, and the rest were designated the control group to be given classroom lectures only. The Case Analysis Attitude Scale, Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale, Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, and Metacognition Scale were used in pretests and post-tests for the students to rate their own performance. In this study, the experimental group did not register significantly higher mean scores on the Case Analysis Attitude Scale at post-test and higher mean ranks on the Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale, the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, and the Metacognition Scale at post-test than the control group. Moreover, the experimental group registered significant progress in the mean ranks on the Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale and the Metacognition Scale from pretest to post-test. No between-subjects effects of four scales at post-test were found. Newly developed course modules, be it blended learning or a combination of traditional and innovative components, should be tested repeatedly for effectiveness and popularity for the purpose of facilitating the ultimate creation of a most effective course module for nursing education. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

220GHz wideband 3D imaging radar for concealed object detection technology development and phenomenology studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, Duncan A.; Macfarlane, David G.; Bryllert, Tomas

2016-05-01

We present a 220 GHz 3D imaging `Pathfinder' radar developed within the EU FP7 project CONSORTIS (Concealed Object Stand-Off Real-Time Imaging for Security) which has been built to address two objectives: (i) to de-risk the radar hardware development and (ii) to enable the collection of phenomenology data with ~1 cm3 volumetric resolution. The radar combines a DDS-based chirp generator and self-mixing multiplier technology to achieve a 30 GHz bandwidth chirp with such high linearity that the raw point response is close to ideal and only requires minor nonlinearity compensation. The single transceiver is focused with a 30 cm lens mounted on a gimbal to acquire 3D volumetric images of static test targets and materials.

Laser Transmitter Aims At Laser Beacon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hemmati, Hamid; Lesh, James R.

1993-01-01

Transmitter part of developmental optical communication system. Compact, lightweight, partially-self-aiming laser transmitter built to verify some capabilities of developmental free-space optical communication system. Design capable of providing 0.5 Mbps data return over range equal to Moon-Earth distance. Breadboard of transmitting terminal constructed and tested in laboratory. Prototype transmitter includes receiving circuitry that keeps it aimed at beacon, once brought into initial alignment within about 1.7 degrees of line of sight to beacon.

Compact development and VMT: environmental determinism, self-selection, or some of both?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ewing, Reid; Hamidi, Shima; Grace, James B.

2016-01-01

There is a long-running debate in the planning literature about the effects of the built environment on travel behavior and the degree to which apparent effects are due to the tendency of households to self-select into neighborhoods that reinforce their travel preferences. Those who want to walk will choose walkable neighborhoods, and those who want to use transit will choose transit-served neighborhoods. These households might have walked or used transit more than their neighbors wherever they lived. Most previous studies have shown that individual attitudes attenuate the relationship between the residential environment and travel choices, and so the effect of the built environment on travel may be overestimated. But there are other researchers who argue the reverse, claiming that residential preferences reinforce built environmental influences. This study assesses the relative importance of the built environment and residential preferences/travel attitudes for a sample of 962 households in the Greater Salt Lake region using structural equation modeling. For the sake of simplicity, we extracted two factors using principal component analysis, one representing the built environment and the other representing residential preferences/attitudes. Our findings are consistent with the view that the neighborhood built environment and residential preferences both influence household’s travel, that the built environment is the stronger influence, and that the built environment affects travel through two causal pathways, one direct and the other indirect, through attitudes.

Development of an Organic Rankine-Cycle power module for a small community solar thermal power experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kiceniuk, T.

1985-01-01

An organic Rankine-cycle (ORC) power module was developed for use in a multimodule solar power plant to be built and operated in a small community. Many successful components and subsystems, including the reciever, power conversion subsystem, energy transport subsystem, and control subsystem, were tested. Tests were performed on a complete power module using a test bed concentrator in place of the proposed concentrator. All major single-module program functional objectives were met and the multimodule operation presented no apparent problems. The hermetically sealed, self-contained, ORC power conversion unit subsequently successfully completed a 300-hour endurance run with no evidence of wear or operating problems.

Mass Properties Measurement in the X-38 Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, Wayne L.

2004-01-01

This paper details the techniques used in measuring the mass properties for the X-38 family of test vehicles. The X-38 Project was a NASA internal venture in which a series of test vehicles were built in order to develop a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station. Three atmospheric test vehicles and one spaceflight vehicle were built to develop the technologies required for a CRV. The three atmospheric test vehicles have undergone flight-testing by a combined team from the NASA Johnson Space Center and the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The flight-testing was performed at Edward's Air Force Base in California. The X-38 test vehicles are based on the X-24A, which flew in the '60s and '70s. Scaled Composites, Inc. of Mojave, California, built the airframes and the vehicles were outfitted at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Mass properties measurements on the atmospheric test vehicles included weight and balance by the three-point suspension method, four-point suspension method, three load cells on jackstands, and on three in-ground platform scales. Inertia measurements were performed as well in which Ixx, Iyy, Izz, and Ixz were obtained. This paper describes each technique and the relative merits of each. The proposed measurement methods for an X-38 spaceflight test vehicle will also be discussed. This vehicle had different measurement challenges, but integrated vehicle measurements were never conducted. The spaceflight test vehicle was also developed by NASA and was scheduled to fly on the Space Shuttle before the project was cancelled.

Reducing Tobacco Use among Low Socio-Economic Status Youth in Delhi, India: Outcomes from Project ACTIVITY, a Cluster Randomized Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrell, Melissa B.; Arora, Monika; Bassi, Shalini; Gupta, Vinay K.; Perry, Cheryl L.; Reddy, K. Srinath

2016-01-01

To test the efficacy of an intervention to reduce tobacco use among youth (10-19 years old) in slum communities in Delhi, India. This community-based cluster-randomized trial included 14 slums composed of purposely built resettlement colonies and adjacent inhabitant-built Jhuggi Jhopris. Youth in the intervention received a 2 year…

HOME - An application of fault-tolerant techniques and system self-testing. [independent computer for helicopter flight control command monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holden, D. G.

1975-01-01

Hard Over Monitoring Equipment (HOME) has been designed to complement and enhance the flight safety of a flight research helicopter. HOME is an independent, highly reliable, and fail-safe special purpose computer that monitors the flight control commands issued by the flight control computer of the helicopter. In particular, HOME detects the issuance of a hazardous hard-over command for any of the four flight control axes and transfers the control of the helicopter to the flight safety pilot. The design of HOME incorporates certain reliability and fail-safe enhancement design features, such as triple modular redundancy, majority logic voting, fail-safe dual circuits, independent status monitors, in-flight self-test, and a built-in preflight exerciser. The HOME design and operation is described with special emphasis on the reliability and fail-safe aspects of the design.

A Novel Application of Fourier Transform Spectroscopy with HEMT Amplifiers at Microwave Frequencies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkinson, David T.; Page, Lyman

1995-01-01

The goal was to develop cryogenic high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) based radiometers and use them to measure the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In particular, a novel Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) built entirely of waveguide components would be developed. A dual-polarization Ka-band HEMT radiometer and a similar Q-band radiometer were built. In a series of measurements spanning three years made from a ground-based site in Saskatoon, SK, the amplitude, frequency spectrum, and spatial frequency spectrum of the anisotropy were measured. A prototype Ka-band FTS was built and tested, and a simplified version is proposed for the MAP satellite mission. The 1/f characteristics of HEMT amplifiers were quantified using correlation techniques.

Field-induced assembly of colloidal ellipsoids into well-defined microtubules

PubMed Central

Crassous, Jérôme J.; Mihut, Adriana M.; Wernersson, Erik; Pfleiderer, Patrick; Vermant, Jan; Linse, Per; Schurtenberger, Peter

2014-01-01

Current theoretical attempts to understand the reversible formation of stable microtubules and virus shells are generally based on shape-specific building blocks or monomers, where the local curvature of the resulting structure is explicitly built-in via the monomer geometry. Here we demonstrate that even simple ellipsoidal colloids can reversibly self-assemble into regular tubular structures when subjected to an alternating electric field. Supported by model calculations, we discuss the combined effects of anisotropic shape and field-induced dipolar interactions on the reversible formation of self-assembled structures. Our observations show that the formation of tubular structures through self-assembly requires much less geometrical and interaction specificity than previously thought, and advance our current understanding of the minimal requirements for self-assembly into regular virus-like structures. PMID:25409686

Feasibility of a Secure Wireless Sensing Smartwatch Application for the Self-Management of Pediatric Asthma

PubMed Central

Hosseini, Anahita; Buonocore, Chris M.; Hashemzadeh, Sepideh; Hojaiji, Hannaneh; Kalantarian, Haik; Sideris, Costas; Bui, Alex A.T.; Sarrafzadeh, Majid

2017-01-01

To address the need for asthma self-management in pediatrics, the authors present the feasibility of a mobile health (mHealth) platform built on their prior work in an asthmatic adult and child. Real-time asthma attack risk was assessed through physiological and environmental sensors. Data were sent to a cloud via a smartwatch application (app) using Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant cryptography and combined with online source data. A risk level (high, medium or low) was determined using a random forest classifier and then sent to the app to be visualized as animated dragon graphics for easy interpretation by children. The feasibility of the system was first tested on an adult with moderate asthma, then usability was examined on a child with mild asthma over several weeks. It was found during feasibility testing that the system is able to assess asthma risk with 80.10 ± 14.13% accuracy. During usability testing, it was able to continuously collect sensor data, and the child was able to wear, easily understand and enjoy the use of the system. If tested in more individuals, this system may lead to an effective self-management program that can reduce hospitalization in those who suffer from asthma. PMID:28771168

Effect of Saliva on the Tensile Bond Strength of Different Generation Adhesive Systems: An In-Vitro Study.

PubMed

Gupta, Nimisha; Tripathi, Abhay Mani; Saha, Sonali; Dhinsa, Kavita; Garg, Aarti

2015-07-01

Newer development of bonding agents have gained a better understanding of factors affecting adhesion of interface between composite and dentin surface to improve longevity of restorations. The present study evaluated the influence of salivary contamination on the tensile bond strength of different generation adhesive systems (two-step etch-and-rinse, two-step self-etch and one-step self-etch) during different bonding stages to dentin where isolation is not maintained. Superficial dentin surfaces of 90 extracted human molars were randomly divided into three study Groups (Group A: Two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive system; Group B: Two-step self-etch adhesive system and Group C: One-step self-etch adhesive system) according to the different generation of adhesives used. According to treatment conditions in different bonding steps, each Group was further divided into three Subgroups containing ten teeth in each. After adhesive application, resin composite blocks were built on dentin and light cured subsequently. The teeth were then stored in water for 24 hours before sending for testing of tensile bond strength by Universal Testing Machine. The collected data were then statistically analysed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD test. One-step self-etch adhesive system revealed maximum mean tensile bond strength followed in descending order by Two-step self-etch adhesive system and Two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive system both in uncontaminated and saliva contaminated conditions respectively. Unlike One-step self-etch adhesive system, saliva contamination could reduce tensile bond strength of the two-step self-etch and two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive system. Furthermore, the step of bonding procedures and the type of adhesive seems to be effective on the bond strength of adhesives contaminated with saliva.

Practical Implementation of Semi-Automated As-Built Bim Creation for Complex Indoor Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, S.; Jung, J.; Heo, J.

2015-05-01

In recent days, for efficient management and operation of existing buildings, the importance of as-built BIM is emphasized in AEC/FM domain. However, fully automated as-built BIM creation is a tough issue since newly-constructed buildings are becoming more complex. To manage this problem, our research group has developed a semi-automated approach, focusing on productive 3D as-built BIM creation for complex indoor environments. In order to test its feasibility for a variety of complex indoor environments, we applied the developed approach to model the `Charlotte stairs' in Lotte World Mall, Korea. The approach includes 4 main phases: data acquisition, data pre-processing, geometric drawing, and as-built BIM creation. In the data acquisition phase, due to its complex structure, we moved the scanner location several times to obtain the entire point clouds of the test site. After which, data pre-processing phase entailing point-cloud registration, noise removal, and coordinate transformation was followed. The 3D geometric drawing was created using the RANSAC-based plane detection and boundary tracing methods. Finally, in order to create a semantically-rich BIM, the geometric drawing was imported into the commercial BIM software. The final as-built BIM confirmed that the feasibility of the proposed approach in the complex indoor environment.

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Findings from a Community-Based Cultural Mental Health Intervention for American Indian Youth and Their Families

PubMed Central

Goodkind, Jessica; LaNoue, Marianna; Lee, Christopher; Freeland, Lance; Freund, Rachel

2014-01-01

Through a CBPR partnership, university and American Indian (AI) tribal members developed and tested Our Life intervention to promote mental health of AI youth and their families by addressing root causes of violence, trauma, and substance abuse. Based on premises that well-being is built on a foundation of traditional cultural beliefs and practices, and that it requires a process of healing and understanding, the 6-month intervention had four components: 1) recognizing/healing historical trauma; 2) reconnecting to traditional culture; 3) parenting/social skill-building; and 4) strengthening family relationships through equine-assisted activities. Feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, and preliminary outcomes were examined in a mixed-method within-group design. Engagement and retention were challenging, suggesting that families faced numerous barriers to participation. Youth who completed the program experienced significant increases in cultural identity, self-esteem, positive coping strategies, quality of life, and social adjustment. Qualitative data supported these findings and suggested additional positive effects. PMID:25414529

Development of remote data acquisition system based on OPC for brake test bench

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yiwei; Wu, Mengling; Tian, Chun; Ma, Tianhe

2017-08-01

The 1:1 train brake system test bench can be used to carry out brake-related adhesion-slid control, stability test, noise test and dynamic test. To collect data of the test bench, a data acquisition method is needed. In this paper, the remote data acquisition system of test bench is built by LabVIEW based on OPC technology. Unlike the traditional hardwire way connecting PLC acquisition module with sensors, the novel method is used to collect data and share them through the internal LAN built by Ethernet switches, which avoids the complex wiring interference in an easy, efficient and flexible way. The system has been successfully applied to the data acquisition activities of the comprehensive brake system test bench of CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Haitai Brake Equipment Co., Ltd., and the relationship test between the adhesion coefficient and the slip-ratio is realized. The speed signal, torque signal and brake disc temperature can be collected and displayed. The results show that the system is reliable, convenient, and efficient, and can meet the requirements of data acquisition.

Does Facial Resemblance Enhance Cooperation?

PubMed Central

Giang, Trang; Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel

2012-01-01

Facial self-resemblance has been proposed to serve as a kinship cue that facilitates cooperation between kin. In the present study, facial resemblance was manipulated by morphing stimulus faces with the participants' own faces or control faces (resulting in self-resemblant or other-resemblant composite faces). A norming study showed that the perceived degree of kinship was higher for the participants and the self-resemblant composite faces than for actual first-degree relatives. Effects of facial self-resemblance on trust and cooperation were tested in a paradigm that has proven to be sensitive to facial trustworthiness, facial likability, and facial expression. First, participants played a cooperation game in which the composite faces were shown. Then, likability ratings were assessed. In a source memory test, participants were required to identify old and new faces, and were asked to remember whether the faces belonged to cooperators or cheaters in the cooperation game. Old-new recognition was enhanced for self-resemblant faces in comparison to other-resemblant faces. However, facial self-resemblance had no effects on the degree of cooperation in the cooperation game, on the emotional evaluation of the faces as reflected in the likability judgments, and on the expectation that a face belonged to a cooperator rather than to a cheater. Therefore, the present results are clearly inconsistent with the assumption of an evolved kin recognition module built into the human face recognition system. PMID:23094095

Directed block copolymer self-assembly implemented via surface-embedded electrets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mei-Ling; Wang, Dong; Wan, Li-Jun

2016-02-01

Block copolymer (BCP) nanolithography is widely recognized as a promising complementary approach to circumvent the feature size limits of conventional photolithography. The directed self-assembly of BCP thin film to form ordered nanostructures with controlled orientation and localized pattern has been the key challenge for practical nanolithography applications. Here we show that BCP nanopatterns can be directed on localized surface electrets defined by electron-beam irradiation to realize diverse features in a simple, effective and non-destructive manner. Charged electrets can generate a built-in electric field in BCP thin film and induce the formation of perpendicularly oriented microdomain of BCP film. The electret-directed orientation control of BCP film can be either integrated with mask-based patterning technique or realized by electron-beam direct-writing method to fabricate microscale arbitrary lateral patterns down to single BCP cylinder nanopattern. The electret-directed BCP self-assembly could provide an alternative means for BCP-based nanolithography, with high resolution.

A portable telescope based on the ALIBAVA system for test beam studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernabeu, J.; Casse, G.; Garcia, C.; Greenall, A.; Lacasta, C.; Lozano, M.; Marti-Garcia, S.; Pellegrini, G.; Rodriguez, J.; Ullan, M.; Tsurin, I.

2013-12-01

A test beam telescope has been built using the ALIBAVA system to drive its data acquisition. The basic telescope planes consist of four XYT stations. Each station is built from a detector board with two strip sensors, mounted one in each side (strips crossing at 90°). The ensemble is coupled to an ALIBAVA daughter board. These stations act as reference frame and allow a precise track reconstruction. The system is triggered by the coincidence signal of the two scintillators located up and down stream. The telescope can hold several devices under tests. Each ALIBAVA daughter board is linked to its corresponding mother board. The system can hold up to 16 mother boards. A master board synchronizes and controls all the mother boards and collects their data. The off-line analysis software has been developed to study the charge collection, cluster width, tracking efficiency, resolution, etc., of the devices under test. Moreover, the built-in ALIBAVA TDC allows the analysis of the time profile of the device signal. The ALIBAVA telescope has been successfully operated in two test runs at the DESY and CERN-SPS beam lines.

Confabulation Based Real-time Anomaly Detection for Wide-area Surveillance Using Heterogeneous High Performance Computing Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

system accuracy. The AnRAD system was also generalized for the additional application of network intrusion detection . A self-structuring technique...to Host- based Intrusion Detection Systems using Contiguous and Discontiguous System Call Patterns,” IEEE Transactions on Computer, 63(4), pp. 807...square kilometer areas. The anomaly recognition and detection (AnRAD) system was built as a cogent confabulation network . It represented road

MgZnO High Voltage Thin Film Transistors on Glass for Inverters in Building Integrated Photovoltaics

DOE PAGES

Hong, Wen-Chiang; Ku, Chieh-Jen; Li, Rui; ...

2016-10-10

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have attracted considerable interests because of its aesthetically attractive appearance and overall low cost. In BIPV, system integration on a glass substrate like windows is essential to cover a large area of a building with low cost. But, the conventional high voltage devices in inverters have to be built on the specially selected single crystal substrates, limiting its application for large area electronic systems, such as the BIPV. We demonstrate a Magnesium Zinc Oxide (MZO) based high voltage thin film transistor (HVTFT) built on a transparent glass substrate. We designed devices with unique ring-type structures andmore » use modulated Mg doping in the channel - gate dielectric interface, resulting in a blocking voltage of over 600 V. In addition to BIPV, the MZO HVTFT based inverter technology also creates new opportunities for emerging self-powered smart glass.« less

MgZnO High Voltage Thin Film Transistors on Glass for Inverters in Building Integrated Photovoltaics.

PubMed

Hong, Wen-Chiang; Ku, Chieh-Jen; Li, Rui; Abbaslou, Siamak; Reyes, Pavel; Wang, Szu-Ying; Li, Guangyuan; Lu, Ming; Sheng, Kuang; Lu, Yicheng

2016-10-10

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have attracted considerable interests because of its aesthetically attractive appearance and overall low cost. In BIPV, system integration on a glass substrate like windows is essential to cover a large area of a building with low cost. However, the conventional high voltage devices in inverters have to be built on the specially selected single crystal substrates, limiting its application for large area electronic systems, such as the BIPV. We demonstrate a Magnesium Zinc Oxide (MZO) based high voltage thin film transistor (HVTFT) built on a transparent glass substrate. The devices are designed with unique ring-type structures and use modulated Mg doping in the channel - gate dielectric interface, resulting in a blocking voltage of over 600 V. In addition to BIPV, the MZO HVTFT based inverter technology also creates new opportunities for emerging self-powered smart glass.

MgZnO High Voltage Thin Film Transistors on Glass for Inverters in Building Integrated Photovoltaics

PubMed Central

Hong, Wen-Chiang; Ku, Chieh-Jen; Li, Rui; Abbaslou, Siamak; Reyes, Pavel; Wang, Szu-Ying; Li, Guangyuan; Lu, Ming; Sheng, Kuang; Lu, Yicheng

2016-01-01

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have attracted considerable interests because of its aesthetically attractive appearance and overall low cost. In BIPV, system integration on a glass substrate like windows is essential to cover a large area of a building with low cost. However, the conventional high voltage devices in inverters have to be built on the specially selected single crystal substrates, limiting its application for large area electronic systems, such as the BIPV. We demonstrate a Magnesium Zinc Oxide (MZO) based high voltage thin film transistor (HVTFT) built on a transparent glass substrate. The devices are designed with unique ring-type structures and use modulated Mg doping in the channel - gate dielectric interface, resulting in a blocking voltage of over 600 V. In addition to BIPV, the MZO HVTFT based inverter technology also creates new opportunities for emerging self-powered smart glass. PMID:27721484

Validation of the COURAGE Built Environment Self-Reported Questionnaire.

PubMed

Raggi, Alberto; Quintas, Rui; Bucciarelli, Paola; Franco, Maria Grazia; Andreotti, Alessandra; Miret, Marta; Zawisza, Katarzyna; Olaya, Beatriz; Chatterji, Somnath; Sainio, Päivi; Frisoni, Giovanni Battista; Martinuzzi, Andrea; Minicuci, Nadia; Power, Mick; Leonardi, Matilde

2014-01-01

The built environment (BE) impacts on people's disability and health, in terms of overweight, depression, alcohol abuse, poor self-rated health and presence of psychological symptoms; it is reasonable to assume that BE also impacts on participation levels. This paper presents the validation of the COURAGE Built Environment Self-Reported Questionnaire (CBE-SR), an instrument designed to evaluate BE in the context of health and disability. Subjects participating to COURAGE, a cross-sectional study conducted on 10,800 citizens of Poland, Finland and Spain, completed a protocol inclusive of the CBE-SR. Psychometric properties and factor structure were analysed, and factor scores created. Gender differences, differences between persons from different age groups and persons reporting the environment as facilitating, hindering or neutral were calculated. Eight items were deleted so that the final version of CBE-SR comprises 19 items. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.743 to 0.906, and test-retest stability was demonstrated for the majority of items. Four subscales were identified: Usability of the neighbourhood environment; Hindrance of walkable environment; Easiness of use of public buildings, places and facilities; and Risk of accidents and usability of the living place. Younger respondents reported their neighbourhood as more usable but perceived walkways as more hindering and public buildings as less easy to use; gender differences were almost inexistent. The CBE-SR is a four-scale instrument with good psychometric properties that measures the person-environment interaction. It is sensitive across age groups and is consistent with the subject's overall judgement of the degree to which the environment is facilitating or hindering. Poor built environments have a negative impact on the level of a person's participation. However, instruments measuring the person-environment interaction are lacking. The CBE-SR is a valid and reliable instrument that researchers can use to assess the relationships between the intrinsic health state and the objective features of the environment. Understanding this relationship would provide further insight into the need of addressing the individual's functioning either by means of interventions directed to the individual or by making changes to the individual's environment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Compressive sensing sectional imaging for single-shot in-line self-interference incoherent holography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, Jiawen; Clark, David C.; Kim, Myung K.

2016-05-01

A numerical reconstruction method based on compressive sensing (CS) for self-interference incoherent digital holography (SIDH) is proposed to achieve sectional imaging by single-shot in-line self-interference incoherent hologram. The sensing operator is built up based on the physical mechanism of SIDH according to CS theory, and a recovery algorithm is employed for image restoration. Numerical simulation and experimental studies employing LEDs as discrete point-sources and resolution targets as extended sources are performed to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the method. The intensity distribution and the axial resolution along the propagation direction of SIDH by angular spectrum method (ASM) and by CS are discussed. The analysis result shows that compared to ASM the reconstruction by CS can improve the axial resolution of SIDH, and achieve sectional imaging. The proposed method may be useful to 3D analysis of dynamic systems.

The Role of Visualization in Learning from Computer-Based Images. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piburn, Michael D.; Reynolds, Stephen J.; McAuliffe, Carla; Leedy, Debra E.; Birk, James P.; Johnson, Julia K.

2005-01-01

Among the sciences, the practice of geology is especially visual. To assess the role of spatial ability in learning geology, we designed an experiment using: (1) web-based versions of spatial visualization tests, (2) a geospatial test, and (3) multimedia instructional modules built around QuickTime Virtual Reality movies. Students in control and…

The Third Flight Magnet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McGhee, R. Wayne

1998-01-01

A self-shielded superconducting magnet was designed for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator Program. This is the third magnet built from this design. The magnets utilize Cryomagnetics' patented ultra-low current technology. The magnetic system is capable of reaching a central field of two tesla at slightly under two amperes and has a total inductance of 1068 henries. This final report details the requirements of the magnet, the specifications of the resulting magnet, the test procedures and test result data for the third magnet (Serial # C-654-M), and recommended precautions for use of the magnet.

A Pattern-Based Definition of Urban Context Using Remote Sensing and GIS

PubMed Central

Benza, Magdalena; Weeks, John R.; Stow, Douglas A.; López-Carr, David; Clarke, Keith C.

2016-01-01

In Sub-Saharan Africa rapid urban growth combined with rising poverty is creating diverse urban environments, the nature of which are not adequately captured by a simple urban-rural dichotomy. This paper proposes an alternative classification scheme for urban mapping based on a gradient approach for the southern portion of the West African country of Ghana. Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and European Remote Sensing Satellite-2 (ERS-2) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery are used to generate a pattern based definition of the urban context. Spectral mixture analysis (SMA) is used to classify a Landsat scene into Built, Vegetation and Other land covers. Landscape metrics are estimated for Built and Vegetation land covers for a 450 meter uniform grid covering the study area. A measure of texture is extracted from the SAR imagery and classified as Built/Non-built. SMA based measures of Built and Vegetation fragmentation are combined with SAR texture based Built/Non-built maps through a decision tree classifier to generate a nine class urban context map capturing the transition from unsettled land at one end of the gradient to the compact urban core at the other end. Training and testing of the decision tree classifier was done using very high spatial resolution reference imagery from Google Earth. An overall classification agreement of 77% was determined for the nine-class urban context map, with user’s accuracy (commission errors) being lower than producer’s accuracy (omission errors). Nine urban contexts were classified and then compared with data from the 2000 Census of Ghana. Results suggest that the urban classes appropriately differentiate areas along the urban gradient. PMID:27867227

A Pattern-Based Definition of Urban Context Using Remote Sensing and GIS.

PubMed

Benza, Magdalena; Weeks, John R; Stow, Douglas A; López-Carr, David; Clarke, Keith C

2016-09-15

In Sub-Saharan Africa rapid urban growth combined with rising poverty is creating diverse urban environments, the nature of which are not adequately captured by a simple urban-rural dichotomy. This paper proposes an alternative classification scheme for urban mapping based on a gradient approach for the southern portion of the West African country of Ghana. Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and European Remote Sensing Satellite-2 (ERS-2) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery are used to generate a pattern based definition of the urban context. Spectral mixture analysis (SMA) is used to classify a Landsat scene into Built, Vegetation and Other land covers. Landscape metrics are estimated for Built and Vegetation land covers for a 450 meter uniform grid covering the study area. A measure of texture is extracted from the SAR imagery and classified as Built/Non-built. SMA based measures of Built and Vegetation fragmentation are combined with SAR texture based Built/Non-built maps through a decision tree classifier to generate a nine class urban context map capturing the transition from unsettled land at one end of the gradient to the compact urban core at the other end. Training and testing of the decision tree classifier was done using very high spatial resolution reference imagery from Google Earth. An overall classification agreement of 77% was determined for the nine-class urban context map, with user's accuracy (commission errors) being lower than producer's accuracy (omission errors). Nine urban contexts were classified and then compared with data from the 2000 Census of Ghana. Results suggest that the urban classes appropriately differentiate areas along the urban gradient.

Self-Reconfigurable Robots

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

HENSINGER, DAVID M.; JOHNSTON, GABRIEL A.; HINMAN-SWEENEY, ELAINE M.

2002-10-01

A distributed reconfigurable micro-robotic system is a collection of unlimited numbers of distributed small, homogeneous robots designed to autonomously organize and reorganize in order to achieve mission-specified geometric shapes and functions. This project investigated the design, control, and planning issues for self-configuring and self-organizing robots. In the 2D space a system consisting of two robots was prototyped and successfully displayed automatic docking/undocking to operate dependently or independently. Additional modules were constructed to display the usefulness of a self-configuring system in various situations. In 3D a self-reconfiguring robot system of 4 identical modules was built. Each module connects to its neighborsmore » using rotating actuators. An individual component can move in three dimensions on its neighbors. We have also built a self-reconfiguring robot system consisting of 9-module Crystalline Robot. Each module in this robot is actuated by expansion/contraction. The system is fully distributed, has local communication (to neighbors) capabilities and it has global sensing capabilities.« less

Performance Analysis and Parametric Study of a Natural Convection Solar Air Heater With In-built Oil Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhote, Yogesh; Thombre, Shashikant

2016-10-01

This paper presents the thermal performance of the proposed double flow natural convection solar air heater with in-built liquid (oil) sensible heat storage. Unused engine oil was used as thermal energy storage medium due to its good heat retaining capacity even at high temperatures without evaporation. The performance evaluation was carried out for a day of the month March for the climatic conditions of Nagpur (India). A self reliant computational model was developed using computational tool as C++. The program developed was self reliant and compute the performance parameters for any day of the year and would be used for major cities in India. The effect of change in storage oil quantity and the inclination (tilt angle) on the overall efficiency of the solar air heater was studied. The performance was tested initially at different storage oil quantities as 25, 50, 75 and 100 l for a plate spacing of 0.04 m with an inclination of 36o. It has been found that the solar air heater gives the best performance at a storage oil quantity of 50 l. The performance of the proposed solar air heater is further tested for various combinations of storage oil quantity (50, 75 and 100 l) and the inclination (0o, 15o, 30o, 45o, 60o, 75o, 90o). It has been found that the proposed solar air heater with in-built oil storage shows its best performance for the combination of 50 l storage oil quantity and 60o inclination. Finally the results of the parametric study was also presented in the form of graphs carried out for a fixed storage oil quantity of 25 l, plate spacing of 0.03 m and at an inclination of 36o to study the behaviour of various heat transfer and fluid flow parameters of the solar air heater.

The Downside of Marketization: A Multilevel Analysis of Housing Tenure and Types in Reform-era Urban China

PubMed Central

Fu, Qiang; Zhu, Yushu; Ren, Qiang

2015-01-01

Based on data from the 2005 National Population Sample Survey and compiled covariates of 205 prefectures, this research adopted principal-component and multilevel-logistic analyses to study homeownership in urban China. Although the housing reform has severed the link between work units and residence, working in state sectors (government, state-owned enterprises and collective firms) remained significant in determining a household’s entitlement to reform-era housing with heavy subsidies or better qualities. While the prefecture-level index of marketization reduced local homeownership of self-built housing, affordable housing and privatized housing, its effect is moderated by cross-level interactions with income, education and working in state sectors across different types of housing. Meanwhile, the index of political and market connections promoted all types of homeownership except for self-built housing. By situating the downside of marketization within a context of urban transformation, this research not only challenges the teleological premise of the neoliberal market transition theory but calls for research on institutional dynamics and social consequences of urban transformation in China. PMID:25432608

The downside of marketization: a multilevel analysis of housing tenure and types in reform-era urban China.

PubMed

Fu, Qiang; Zhu, Yushu; Ren, Qiang

2015-01-01

Based on data from the 2005 National Population Sample Survey and compiled covariates of 205 prefectures, this research adopted principal-component and multilevel-logistic analyses to study homeownership in urban China. Although the housing reform has severed the link between work units and residence, working in state sectors (government, state-owned enterprises and collective firms) remained significant in determining a household's entitlement to reform-era housing with heavy subsidies or better qualities. While the prefecture-level index of marketization reduced local homeownership of self-built housing, affordable housing and privatized housing, its effect is moderated by cross-level interactions with income, education and working in state sectors across different types of housing. Meanwhile, the index of political and market connections promoted all types of homeownership except for self-built housing. By situating the downside of marketization within a context of urban transformation, this research not only challenges the teleological premise of the neoliberal market transition theory but calls for research on institutional dynamics and social consequences of urban transformation in China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reading for Character: 40 Lessons for Middle School Classrooms Based on "The Book of Virtues."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shail, Linda G.

The character traits children assimilate during their growing-up years will determine how they behave, how they see themselves, how they treat others, and the type of adults they will become. Children who develop character built on honesty, respect, diligence, and self control will be better able to handle the frustrations and disappointments of…

Acceptability of self-conducted home-based HIV testing among men who have sex with men in Brazil: data from an on-line survey

PubMed Central

Lippman, Sheri A.; Périssé, André R. S.; Veloso, Valdiléa G.; Sullivan, Patrick S.; Buchbinder, Susan; Sineath, R. Craig; Grinsztejn, Beatriz

2014-01-01

The Brazilian HIV/AIDS epidemic is concentrated among men who have sex with men (MSM), however HIV testing rates among MSM are not commensurate with their risk. Strategies to expand early diagnosis may include use of self-conducted home-based testing kits, which are now available for purchase in the US. In April 2011 we conducted a survey with Brazilian MSM using Facebook to assess HIV testing preferences and acceptability of home-based testing. Among 356 previously tested, HIV-negative MSM, 47% reported a preference for home-based testing, 27% preferred clinic-based testing, and 26% had no preference. Less frequent testers and those who had considered testing but failed to test were more likely to prefer home-based testing. Close to 90% reported that they would use self-test kits; 62% and 54% said they would use home-based testing to make choices about unprotected sex with regular and new partners, respectively. Concerns included difficulty to understand the tests (32%) and receiving results alone (23%). Overall, home-based testing may appeal to MSM and result in increased testing frequency. Research on feasibility and utilization of self-tests in practice is needed. PMID:24896048

Self-sustained micro mechanical oscillator with linear feedback

DOE PAGES

Chen, Changyao; Zanette, Damian H.; Guest, Jeffrey R.; ...

2016-07-01

Autonomous oscillators, such as clocks and lasers, produce periodic signals without any external frequency reference. In order to sustain stable periodic motions, there needs to be external energy supply as well as nonlinearity built into the oscillator to regulate the amplitude. Usually, nonlinearity is provided by the sustaining feedback mechanism, which also supplies energy, whereas the constituent resonator that determines the output frequency stays linear. Here we propose a new self-sustaining scheme that relies on the nonlinearity originating from the resonator itself to limit the oscillation amplitude, while the feedback remains linear. We introduce a model to describe the workingmore » principle of the self-sustained oscillations and validate it with experiments performed on a nonlinear microelectromechanical (MEMS) based oscillator.« less

Requirements-Based Conformance Testing of ARINC 653 Real-Time Operating Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maksimov, Andrey

2010-08-01

Requirements-based testing is emphasized in avionics certification documents because this strategy has been found to be the most effective at revealing errors. This paper describes the unified requirements-based approach to the creation of conformance test suites for mission-critical systems. The approach uses formal machine-readable specifications of requirements and finite state machine model for test sequences generation on-the-fly. The paper also presents the test system for automated test generation for ARINC 653 services built on this approach. Possible application of the presented approach to various areas of avionics embedded systems testing is discussed.

Comparision of photogrammetric point clouds with BIM building elements for construction progress monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuttas, S.; Braun, A.; Borrmann, A.; Stilla, U.

2014-08-01

For construction progress monitoring a planned state of the construction at a certain time (as-planed) has to be compared to the actual state (as-built). The as-planed state is derived from a building information model (BIM), which contains the geometry of the building and the construction schedule. In this paper we introduce an approach for the generation of an as-built point cloud by photogrammetry. It is regarded that that images on a construction cannot be taken from everywhere it seems to be necessary. Because of this we use a combination of structure from motion process together with control points to create a scaled point cloud in a consistent coordinate system. Subsequently this point cloud is used for an as-built - as-planed comparison. For that voxels of an octree are marked as occupied, free or unknown by raycasting based on the triangulated points and the camera positions. This allows to identify not existing building parts. For the verification of the existence of building parts a second test based on the points in front and behind the as-planed model planes is performed. The proposed procedure is tested based on an inner city construction site under real conditions.

OBIST methodology incorporating modified sensitivity of pulses for active analogue filter components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khade, R. H.; Chaudhari, D. S.

2018-03-01

In this paper, oscillation-based built-in self-test method is used to diagnose catastrophic and parametric faults in integrated circuits. Sallen-Key low pass filter and high pass filter circuits with different gains are used to investigate defects. Variation in seven parameters of operational amplifier (OP-AMP) like gain, input impedance, output impedance, slew rate, input bias current, input offset current, input offset voltage and catastrophic as well as parametric defects in components outside OP-AMP are introduced in the circuit and simulation results are analysed. Oscillator output signal is converted to pulses which are used to generate a signature of the circuit. The signature and pulse count changes with the type of fault present in the circuit under test (CUT). The change in oscillation frequency is observed for fault detection. Designer has flexibility to predefine tolerance band of cut-off frequency and range of pulses for which circuit should be accepted. The fault coverage depends upon the required tolerance band of the CUT. We propose a modification of sensitivity of parameter (pulses) to avoid test escape and enhance yield. Result shows that the method provides 100% fault coverage for catastrophic faults.

Predictors of Study Success from a Teacher's Perspective of the Quality of the Built Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kok, Herman; Mobach, Mark; Omta, Onno

2015-01-01

The article aims to find predictors of study success from a teacher's perspective that relate to the built environment. The research is based on a national online survey among 1752 teachers at 18 Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences. Multivariate data analyses were used to test the hypothesis that the quality of spatial and functional aspects at…

Autonomous self-healing structural composites with bio-inspired design

PubMed Central

D’Elia, Eleonora; Eslava, Salvador; Miranda, Miriam; Georgiou, Theoni K.; Saiz, Eduardo

2016-01-01

Strong and tough natural composites such as bone, silk or nacre are often built from stiff blocks bound together using thin interfacial soft layers that can also provide sacrificial bonds for self-repair. Here we show that it is possible exploit this design in order to create self-healing structural composites by using thin supramolecular polymer interfaces between ceramic blocks. We have built model brick-and-mortar structures with ceramic contents above 95 vol% that exhibit strengths of the order of MPa (three orders of magnitude higher than the interfacial polymer) and fracture energies that are two orders of magnitude higher than those of the glass bricks. More importantly, these properties can be fully recovered after fracture without using external stimuli or delivering healing agents. This approach demonstrates a very promising route towards the design of strong, ideal self-healing materials able to self-repair repeatedly without degradation or external stimuli. PMID:27146382

Autonomous self-healing structural composites with bio-inspired design.

PubMed

D'Elia, Eleonora; Eslava, Salvador; Miranda, Miriam; Georgiou, Theoni K; Saiz, Eduardo

2016-05-05

Strong and tough natural composites such as bone, silk or nacre are often built from stiff blocks bound together using thin interfacial soft layers that can also provide sacrificial bonds for self-repair. Here we show that it is possible exploit this design in order to create self-healing structural composites by using thin supramolecular polymer interfaces between ceramic blocks. We have built model brick-and-mortar structures with ceramic contents above 95 vol% that exhibit strengths of the order of MPa (three orders of magnitude higher than the interfacial polymer) and fracture energies that are two orders of magnitude higher than those of the glass bricks. More importantly, these properties can be fully recovered after fracture without using external stimuli or delivering healing agents. This approach demonstrates a very promising route towards the design of strong, ideal self-healing materials able to self-repair repeatedly without degradation or external stimuli.

Autonomous self-healing structural composites with bio-inspired design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Elia, Eleonora; Eslava, Salvador; Miranda, Miriam; Georgiou, Theoni K.; Saiz, Eduardo

2016-05-01

Strong and tough natural composites such as bone, silk or nacre are often built from stiff blocks bound together using thin interfacial soft layers that can also provide sacrificial bonds for self-repair. Here we show that it is possible exploit this design in order to create self-healing structural composites by using thin supramolecular polymer interfaces between ceramic blocks. We have built model brick-and-mortar structures with ceramic contents above 95 vol% that exhibit strengths of the order of MPa (three orders of magnitude higher than the interfacial polymer) and fracture energies that are two orders of magnitude higher than those of the glass bricks. More importantly, these properties can be fully recovered after fracture without using external stimuli or delivering healing agents. This approach demonstrates a very promising route towards the design of strong, ideal self-healing materials able to self-repair repeatedly without degradation or external stimuli.

Monitoring of the electrical parameters in off-grid solar power system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idzkowski, Adam; Leoniuk, Katarzyna; Walendziuk, Wojciech

2016-09-01

The aim of this work was to make a monitoring dedicated to an off-grid installation. A laboratory set, which was built for that purpose, was equipped with a PV panel, a battery, a charge controller and a load. Additionally, to monitor electrical parameters from this installation there were used: LabJack module (data acquisition card), measuring module (self-built) and a computer with a program, which allows to measure and present the off-grid installation parameters. The program was made in G language using LabVIEW software. The designed system enables analyzing the currents and voltages of PV panel, battery and load. It makes also possible to visualize them on charts and to make reports from registered data. The monitoring system was also verified by a laboratory test and in real conditions. The results of this verification are also presented.

Self-organization comprehensive real-time state evaluation model for oil pump unit on the basis of operating condition classification and recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Wei; Yu, Xuchao; Zhang, Laibin; Lu, Wenqing

2018-05-01

In oil transmission station, the operating condition (OC) of an oil pump unit sometimes switches accordingly, which will lead to changes in operating parameters. If not taking the switching of OCs into consideration while performing a state evaluation on the pump unit, the accuracy of evaluation would be largely influenced. Hence, in this paper, a self-organization Comprehensive Real-Time State Evaluation Model (self-organization CRTSEM) is proposed based on OC classification and recognition. However, the underlying model CRTSEM is built through incorporating the advantages of Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model (FCEM) first. That is to say, independent state models are established for every state characteristic parameter according to their distribution types (i.e. the Gaussian distribution and logistic regression distribution). Meanwhile, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized to calculate the weights of state characteristic parameters. Then, the OC classification is determined by the types of oil delivery tasks, and CRTSEMs of different standard OCs are built to constitute the CRTSEM matrix. On the other side, the OC recognition is realized by a self-organization model that is established on the basis of Back Propagation (BP) model. After the self-organization CRTSEM is derived through integration, real-time monitoring data can be inputted for OC recognition. At the end, the current state of the pump unit can be evaluated by using the right CRTSEM. The case study manifests that the proposed self-organization CRTSEM can provide reasonable and accurate state evaluation results for the pump unit. Besides, the assumption that the switching of OCs will influence the results of state evaluation is also verified.

Adsorbent testing and mathematical modeling of a solid amine regenerative CO2 and H2O removal system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeng, F. F.; Williamson, R. G.; Quellette, F. A.; Edeen, M. A.; Lin, C. H.

1991-01-01

The paper examines the design and the construction details of the test bed built for testing a solid-amine-based Regenerable CO2 Removal System (RCRS) built at the NASA/Johnson Space Center for the extended Orbiter missions. The results of tests are presented, including those for the adsorption breakthrough and the adsorption and desorption of CO2 and H2O vapor. A model for predicting the performance of regenerative CO2 and H2O vapor adsorption of the solid amine system under various operating conditions was developed in parallel with the testing of the test stand, using the coefficient of mass transfer calculated from test results. The results of simulations are shown to predict the adsorption performance of the Extended Duration Orbiter test bed fairly well. For the application to the RCRS at various operating conditions the model has to be modified.

The effect of web quest and team-based learning on students' self-regulation.

PubMed

Badiyepeymaie Jahromi, Zohreh; Mosalanejad, Leili; Rezaee, Rita

2016-04-01

In this study, the authors aimed to examine the effects of cooperative learning methods using Web Quest and team-based learning on students' self-direction, self-regulation, and academic achievement. This is a comparative study of students taking a course in mental health and psychiatric disorders. In two consecutive years, a group of students were trained using the WebQuest approach as a teaching strategy (n = 38), while the other group was taught using team-based learning (n=39). Data gathering was based on Guglielmino's self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) and Buford's self-regulation questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive test using M (IQR), Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the Mann-Whitney U-test in SPSS software, version 13. p<0.05 was considered as the significance level. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test showed that the participants' self- directed (self-management) and self-regulated learning differed between the two groups (p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively). Wilcoxon test revealed that self-directed learning indices (self-control and self-management) were differed between the two strategies before and after the intervention. However, the scores related to learning (students' final scores) were higher in the WebQuest approach than in team-based learning. By employing modern educational approaches, students are not only more successful in their studies but also acquire the necessary professional skills for future performance. Further research to compare the effects of new methods of teaching is required.

A Cross-Sectional Investigation of the Importance of Park Features for Promoting Regular Physical Activity in Parks.

PubMed

Costigan, Sarah A; Veitch, Jenny; Crawford, David; Carver, Alison; Timperio, Anna

2017-11-02

Parks in the US and Australia are generally underutilised, and park visitors typically engage in low levels of physical activity (PA). Better understanding park features that may encourage visitors to be active is important. This study examined the perceived importance of park features for encouraging park-based PA and examined differences by sex, age, parental-status and participation in PA. Cross-sectional surveys were completed by local residents ( n = 2775) living near two parks (2013/2015). Demographic variables, park visitation and leisure-time PA were self-reported, respondents rated the importance of 20 park features for encouraging park-based PA in the next fortnight. Chi-square tests of independence examined differences in importance of park features for PA among sub-groups of local residents (sex, age, parental-status, PA). Park features ranked most important for park-based PA were: well maintained (96.2%), feel safe (95.4%), relaxing atmosphere (91.2%), easy to get to (91.7%), and shady trees (90.3%). All subgroups ranked 'well maintained' as most important. Natural and built environment features of parks are important for promoting adults' park-based PA, and should be considered in park (re)design.

Novel High Integrity Bio-Inspired Systems with On-Line Self-Test and Self-Repair Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samie, Mohammad; Dragffy, Gabriel; Pipe, Tony

2011-08-01

Since the beginning of life nature has been developing some remarkable solutions to the problem of creating reliable systems that can operate under difficult environmental and fault conditions. Yet, no matter how sophisticated our systems are, we are still unable to match the high degree of reliability that biological organisms posses. Since the early '90s attempts have been made to adapt biological properties and processes to the design of electronic systems but the results have always been unduly complex.This paper, proposes a novel model using a radically new approach to construct highly reliable electronic systems with online fault repair properties. It uses the characteristics and behaviour of unicellular bacteria and bacterial communities to achieve this. The result is a configurable bio-inspired cellular array architecture that, with built-in self-diagnostic and self-repair properties, can implement any application specific electronic system but is particularly suited for safety critical environments, such as space.

49 CFR 223.9 - Requirements for new or rebuilt equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... cab windows. (b) Cabooses, including yard cabooses, built or rebuilt after June 30, 1980, must be equipped with certified glazing in all windows. (c) Passenger cars, including self-propelled passenger cars, built or rebuilt after June 30, 1980, must be equipped with certified glazing in all windows and at...

Clinical evaluation of high-risk HPV detection on self-samples using the indicating FTA-elute solid-carrier cartridge.

PubMed

Geraets, D T; van Baars, R; Alonso, I; Ordi, J; Torné, A; Melchers, W J G; Meijer, C J L M; Quint, W G V

2013-06-01

High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing in cervical screening is usually performed on physician-taken cervical smears in liquid-based medium. However, solid-state specimen carriers allow easy, non-hazardous storage and transportation and might be suitable for self-collection by non-responders in screening and in low-resource settings. We evaluated the adequacy of self-collected cervicovaginal (c/v) samples using a Viba-brush stored on an Indicating FTA-elute cartridge (FTA-based self-sampling) for hrHPV testing in women referred to a gynecology clinic due to an abnormal smear. 182 women accepted to self-collect a c/v sample. After self-sampling, a physician obtained a conventional liquid-based cervical smear. Finally, women were examined by colposcopy and a biopsy was taken when clinically indicated. Self-samples required only simple DNA elution, and DNA was extracted from physician-obtained samples. Both samples were tested for 14 hrHPVs by GP5+/6+-EIA-LQ Test and SPF(10)-DEIA-LiPA(25). Both assays detected significantly more hrHPV in physician-collected specimens than in self-collected samples (75.3% and 67.6% by SPF(10); 63.3% and 53.3% by GP5+/6+, respectively). The combination of physician-collected specimen and GP5+/6+ testing demonstrated the optimal balance in sensitivity (98.0%) and specificity (48.1%) for CIN2+ detection in this referral population. A test system of FTA-based self-collection and SPF(10) hrHPV detection approached this sensitivity (95.9%) and specificity (42.9%). These results show that the clinical performance of hrHPV detection is determined by both the sample collection system and the test method. FTA-based self-collection with SPF(10) testing might be valuable when a liquid-based medium cannot be used, but requires further investigation in screening populations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using patient data similarities to predict radiation pneumonitis via a self-organizing map

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shifeng; Zhou, Sumin; Yin, Fang-Fang; Marks, Lawrence B.; Das, Shiva K.

2008-01-01

This work investigates the use of the self-organizing map (SOM) technique for predicting lung radiation pneumonitis (RP) risk. SOM is an effective method for projecting and visualizing high-dimensional data in a low-dimensional space (map). By projecting patients with similar data (dose and non-dose factors) onto the same region of the map, commonalities in their outcomes can be visualized and categorized. Once built, the SOM may be used to predict pneumonitis risk by identifying the region of the map that is most similar to a patient's characteristics. Two SOM models were developed from a database of 219 lung cancer patients treated with radiation therapy (34 clinically diagnosed with Grade 2+ pneumonitis). The models were: SOMall built from all dose and non-dose factors and, for comparison, SOMdose built from dose factors alone. Both models were tested using ten-fold cross validation and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis. Models SOMall and SOMdose yielded ten-fold cross-validated ROC areas of 0.73 (sensitivity/specificity = 71%/68%) and 0.67 (sensitivity/specificity = 63%/66%), respectively. The significant difference between the cross-validated ROC areas of these two models (p < 0.05) implies that non-dose features add important information toward predicting RP risk. Among the input features selected by model SOMall, the two with highest impact for increasing RP risk were: (a) higher mean lung dose and (b) chemotherapy prior to radiation therapy. The SOM model developed here may not be extrapolated to treatment techniques outside that used in our database, such as several-field lung intensity modulated radiation therapy or gated radiation therapy.

Comparative Research on Human Settlements in Asian Rural Areas Based on Collaborative Construction Mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Sui; Chaoyang, Sun; Mo, Li

2018-02-01

Rural planning is perceived as a spatial planning centered on the human settlements and there are many activities for rural reconstruction and researches conducted from the perspective of active intervention, with fewer studies regarding the village as the main body for the establishment of self-built system. And the other-organization built by the rural areas is strongly oriented. In Asian countries like China, South Korea and Japan, there are farming traditions, in which the familial and small-scale farmland holding and agricultural production mode are deep-rooted. Traditional agriculture and rural areas are not fundamentally changed by industrialization and modernization process. And the small-scale peasant in the East is marked by the decentralized possession of farmland and management in the rural areas and a large number of farmers to be remained. But the rural population keeps decreasing. After analyzing the status quo of human settlements in China, Korea and Japan, the paper makes an analysis from the different ways of thinking and professional perspective and focuses on putting forward the solutions to the problems on macro level, with the feasibility of the practical significance and the landing researches still staying in the testing stage. In the context of increasingly missing regional and contextual features, the launching and researches of “co-constructed community” as the folk protection way to emerging rural heritage are just started, and the researches on rural construction in Northeast China from the perspective of catalyst are absent. The contact agent with the catalytic action mechanism of seeing big things through small ones fits the rural areas marked by vast territory and diversified aspect, which is applicable to the bottom-up operation mechanism autonomously built by the villagers.

A brief test of the Hewlett-Packard MEMS seismic accelerometer

USGS Publications Warehouse

Homeijer, Brian D.; Milligan, Donald J.; Hutt, Charles R.

2014-01-01

Testing was performed on a prototype of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) seismic accelerometer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory. This prototype was built using discrete electronic components. The self-noise level was measured during low seismic background conditions and found to be 9.8 ng/√Hz at periods below 0.2 s (frequencies above 5 Hz). The six-second microseism noise was also discernible. The HP MEMS accelerometer was compared to a Geotech Model GS-13 reference seismometer during seismic noise and signal levels well above the self-noise of the accelerometer. Matching power spectral densities (corrected for accelerometer and seismometer responses to represent true ground motion) indicated that the HP MEMS accelerometer has a flat (constant) response to acceleration from 0.0125 Hz to at least 62.5 Hz. Tilt calibrations of the HP MEMS accelerometer verified that the flat response to acceleration extends to 0 Hz. Future development of the HP MEMS accelerometer includes replacing the discreet electronic boards with a low power application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and increasing the dynamic range of the sensor to detect strong motion signals above one gravitational acceleration, while maintaining the self-noise observed during these tests.

Self-heating forecasting for thick laminate specimens in fatigue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lahuerta, F.; Westphal, T.; Nijssen, R. P. L.

2014-12-01

Thick laminate sections can be found from the tip to the root in most common wind turbine blade designs. Obtaining accurate and reliable design data for thick laminates is subject of investigations, which include experiments on thick laminate coupons. Due to the poor thermal conductivity properties of composites and the material self-heating that occurs during the fatigue loading, high temperature gradients may appear through the laminate thickness. In the case of thick laminates in high load regimes, the core temperature might influence the mechanical properties, leading to premature failures. In the present work a method to forecast the self-heating of thick laminates in fatigue loading is presented. The mechanical loading is related with the laminate self-heating, via the cyclic strain energy and the energy loss ratio. Based on this internal volumetric heat load a thermal model is built and solved to obtain the temperature distribution in the transient state. Based on experimental measurements of the energy loss factor for 10mm thick coupons, the method is described and the resulting predictions are compared with experimental surface temperature measurements on 10 and 30mm UD thick laminate specimens.

A high power lithium thionyl chloride battery for space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shah, Pinakin M.

1993-01-01

A high power, 28 V, 330 A h, active lithium thionyl chloride battery has been developed for use as main and payload power sources on an expendable launch vehicle. Nine prismatic cells, along with the required electrical components and a built-in heater system, are efficiently packaged resulting in significant weight savings over presently used silver-zinc batteries. The high rate capability is achieved by designing the cells with a large electrochemical surface area and impregnating an electrocatalyst, polymeric phthalocyanine, into the carbon cathodes. Passivation effects are reduced with the addition of sulfur dioxide into the thionyl chloride electrolyte solution. The results of conducting a detailed thermal analysis are utilized to establish the heater design parameters and the thermal insulation requirements of the battery. An analysis of cell internal pressure and vent characteristics clearly illustrates the margins of safety under different operating conditions. Performance of fresh cells is discussed using polarization scan and discharge data at different rates and temperatures. Self-discharge rate is estimated based upon test results on cells after storage. Results of testing a complete prototype battery are described.

Investigation of 14.5mm API Self-Sealing/Crashworthy Fuel Tank Material

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-09-01

describes the results of a f-rogram for a crashworthy, 14.5mm API tolerant fuel cell construction developed and subjected co qualification testing. The...Paragraphs 4.6.6.4 and 4.6.6.5), which were not required by contract. Two fuel tanks were built of a construction designated by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber...TABLES 3 INTRODUCTION 4 FUEL TANK MATERIAL DESIGN STUDY (TASK I) 4 QUALIFIC/.TION OF CONSTRUCTION (TASK 11) ........ 5 FUEL TANK GUNFIRE 12

PBX 9502 Gas Generation Progress Report FY17

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

Holmes, Matthew David; Erickson, Michael Andrew Englert

The self-ignition (“cookoff”) behavior of PBX 9502 depends on the dynamic evolution of gas permeability and physical damage in the material. The time-resolved measurement of product gas generation yields insight regarding the crucial properties that dominate cookoff behavior. We report on small-scale laboratory testing performed in FY17, in which small unconfined samples of PBX 9502 were heated in a small custom-built sealed pressure vessel to self-ignition. We recorded time-lapse video of the evolving physical changes in the sample, quasi-static long-duration pressure rise, then high-speed video and dynamic pressure rise of the cookoff event. We report the full pressure attained duringmore » the cookoff of a 1.02g sample in a free volume of 62.5 cm 3.« less

Hardware interface unit for control of shuttle RMS vibrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindsay, Thomas S.; Hansen, Joseph M.; Manouchehri, Davoud; Forouhar, Kamran

1994-01-01

Vibration of the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS) increases the time for task completion and reduces task safety for manipulator-assisted operations. If the dynamics of the manipulator and the payload can be physically isolated, performance should improve. Rockwell has developed a self contained hardware unit which interfaces between a manipulator arm and payload. The End Point Control Unit (EPCU) is built and is being tested at Rockwell and at the Langley/Marshall Coupled, Multibody Spacecraft Control Research Facility in NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Building a Virtual Environment for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support

PubMed Central

Johnson, Constance; Feenan, Kevin; Setliff, Glenn; Pereira, Katherine; Hassell, Nancy; Beresford, Henry F.; Epps, Shelly; Nicollerat, Janet; Tatum, William; Feinglos, Mark; Vorderstrasse, Allison

2015-01-01

The authors developed an immersive diabetes community to provide diabetes self-management education and support for adults with type 2 diabetes. In this article the authors describe the procedures used to develop this virtual environment (VE). Second Life Impacts Diabetes Education & Self-Management (SLIDES), the VE for our diabetes community was built in Second Life. Social Cognitive Theory, behavioral principles and key aspects of virtual environments related to usability were applied in the development in this VE. Collaboration between researchers, clinicians and information technology (IT) specialists occurred throughout the development process. An interactive community was successfully built and utilized to provide diabetes self-management education and support. VEs for health applications may be innovative and enticing, yet it must be kept in mind that there are substantial effort, expertise, and usability factors that must be considered in the development of these environments for health care consumers. PMID:25699133

Home-based HIV testing for men who have sex with men in China: a novel community-based partnership to complement government programs.

PubMed

Tao, Jun; Li, Ming-ying; Qian, Han-Zhu; Wang, Li-Juan; Zhang, Zheng; Ding, Hai-Feng; Ji, Ya-Cheng; Li, Dong-liang; Xiao, Dong; Hazlitt, Melissa; Vermund, Sten H; Xiu, Xiangfei; Bao, Yugang

2014-01-01

The coverage of HIV testing among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) remains low after the scale-up of free HIV testing at government-sponsored testing sites. We evaluated the feasibility of home-based HIV self-testing and the willingness to be HIV tested at community-based organizations (CBO). We recruited MSM via on-line advertisement, where they completed an on-line informed consent and subsequent questionnaire survey. Eligible MSM received HIV rapid testing kits by mail, performed the test themselves and reported the result remotely. Of the 220 men taking a home-based HIV self-testing, 33 MSM (15%) were seropositive. Nearly 65% of the men reported that they were willing to take HIV testing at CBO, while 28% preferred receiving free HIV testing in the government programs at local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Older and lower-income MSM, those who self-reported homosexual orientation, men with no history of sexually transmitted diseases and a lower number of sexual partners in the past six months were associated with preference for taking HIV testing at CBOs. The top three self-reported existing barriers for HIV testing were: no perception of HIV risk (56%), fear of an HIV positive result being reported to the government (41%), and fear of a positive HIV test result (36%). Home-based HIV self-testing is an alternative approach for increasing the coverage of HIV testing among Chinese MSM. CBO-based HIV testing is a potential alternative, but further studies are needed to evaluate its feasibility.

Searching for a relevant definition of sarcopenia: results from the cross-sectional EPIDOS study

PubMed Central

Dupuy, Charlotte; Lauwers-Cances, Valérie; Guyonnet, Sophie; Gentil, Catherine; Abellan Van Kan, Gabor; Beauchet, Olivier; Schott, Anne-Marie; Vellas, Bruno; Rolland, Yves

2015-01-01

Background The diversity of definitions proposed for sarcopenia has been rarely tested in the same population, and so far, their clinical utilities for predicting physical difficulties could not be clearly understood. Our objective is to report the prevalence of sarcopenia and the characteristics of sarcopenic community-dwelling older women according to the different definitions of sarcopenia currently proposed. We also assessed these definitions for their incremental predictive value over currently standard predictors for some self-reported difficulties in physical function and knee extension strength. Methods Cross-sectional analysis included data from 3025 non-disabled women aged 75 years or older without previous history of hip fracture from the inclusion visit of the EPIDémiologie de l'OStéoporose study. A total body composition evaluation was available for 2725 women. Sarcopenia was defined using six different definitions of sarcopenia based on different muscle mass, gait speed, and grip strength cut-offs. Self-reported difficulties in physical function and knee extension strength were collected. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models were built for each physical dysfunction, and the predictive capacity of sarcopenia (one model for each definition) was studied using the C-statistic, the net reclassification index, or adjusted R2. Results The estimated prevalence of sarcopenia ranged from 3.3–20.0%. Only 85 participants (3.1%) were identified having sarcopenia according to all definitions. All definitions were, to some degree, associated with self-reported difficulties in physical function and knee extension strength, but none improved the predictive ability of the self-reported difficulties in physical function. Conversely, all definitions accounted for a small but significant amount of explained variation for predicting knee extension strength. Conclusions Prevalence of sarcopenia varies widely depending on the definition adopted. Based on this research, the current definitions for sarcopenia does not substantially increment the predictive value of clinical characteristics of patients to predict self-reported physical difficulties and knee extension strength. PMID:26136190

Will an Unsupervised Self-Testing Strategy for HIV Work in Health Care Workers of South Africa? A Cross Sectional Pilot Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Pant Pai, Nitika; Behlim, Tarannum; Abrahams, Lameze; Vadnais, Caroline; Shivkumar, Sushmita; Pillay, Sabrina; Binder, Anke; Deli-Houssein, Roni; Engel, Nora; Joseph, Lawrence; Dheda, Keertan

2013-01-01

Background In South Africa, stigma, discrimination, social visibility and fear of loss of confidentiality impede health facility-based HIV testing. With 50% of adults having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime, private, alternative testing options are urgently needed. Non-invasive, oral self-tests offer a potential for a confidential, unsupervised HIV self-testing option, but global data are limited. Methods A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2012 in health care workers based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. An innovative, unsupervised, self-testing strategy was evaluated for feasibility; defined as completion of self-testing process (i.e., self test conduct, interpretation and linkage). An oral point-of-care HIV test, an Internet and paper-based self-test HIV applications, and mobile phones were synergized to create an unsupervised strategy. Self-tests were additionally confirmed with rapid tests on site and laboratory tests. Of 270 health care workers (18 years and above, of unknown HIV status approached), 251 consented for participation. Findings Overall, about 91% participants rated a positive experience with the strategy. Of 251 participants, 126 evaluated the Internet and 125 the paper-based application successfully; completion rate of 99.2%. All sero-positives were linked to treatment (completion rate:100% (95% CI, 66.0–100). About half of sero-negatives were offered counselling on mobile phones; completion rate: 44.6% (95% CI, 38.0–51.0). A majority of participants (78.1%) were females, aged 18–24 years (61.4%). Nine participants were found sero-positive after confirmatory tests (prevalence 3.6% 95% CI, 1.8–6.9). Six of nine positive self-tests were accurately interpreted; sensitivity: 66.7% (95% CI, 30.9–91.0); specificity:100% (95% CI, 98.1–100). Interpretation Our unsupervised self-testing strategy was feasible to operationalize in health care workers in South Africa. Linkages were successfully operationalized with mobile phones in all sero-positives and about half of the sero-negatives sought post-test counselling. Controlled trials and implementation research studies are needed before a scale-up is considered. PMID:24312185

Will an unsupervised self-testing strategy for HIV work in health care workers of South Africa? A cross sectional pilot feasibility study.

PubMed

Pant Pai, Nitika; Behlim, Tarannum; Abrahams, Lameze; Vadnais, Caroline; Shivkumar, Sushmita; Pillay, Sabrina; Binder, Anke; Deli-Houssein, Roni; Engel, Nora; Joseph, Lawrence; Dheda, Keertan

2013-01-01

In South Africa, stigma, discrimination, social visibility and fear of loss of confidentiality impede health facility-based HIV testing. With 50% of adults having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime, private, alternative testing options are urgently needed. Non-invasive, oral self-tests offer a potential for a confidential, unsupervised HIV self-testing option, but global data are limited. A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2012 in health care workers based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. An innovative, unsupervised, self-testing strategy was evaluated for feasibility; defined as completion of self-testing process (i.e., self test conduct, interpretation and linkage). An oral point-of-care HIV test, an Internet and paper-based self-test HIV applications, and mobile phones were synergized to create an unsupervised strategy. Self-tests were additionally confirmed with rapid tests on site and laboratory tests. Of 270 health care workers (18 years and above, of unknown HIV status approached), 251 consented for participation. Overall, about 91% participants rated a positive experience with the strategy. Of 251 participants, 126 evaluated the Internet and 125 the paper-based application successfully; completion rate of 99.2%. All sero-positives were linked to treatment (completion rate:100% (95% CI, 66.0-100). About half of sero-negatives were offered counselling on mobile phones; completion rate: 44.6% (95% CI, 38.0-51.0). A majority of participants (78.1%) were females, aged 18-24 years (61.4%). Nine participants were found sero-positive after confirmatory tests (prevalence 3.6% 95% CI, 1.8-6.9). Six of nine positive self-tests were accurately interpreted; sensitivity: 66.7% (95% CI, 30.9-91.0); specificity:100% (95% CI, 98.1-100). Our unsupervised self-testing strategy was feasible to operationalize in health care workers in South Africa. Linkages were successfully operationalized with mobile phones in all sero-positives and about half of the sero-negatives sought post-test counselling. Controlled trials and implementation research studies are needed before a scale-up is considered.

Single crystalline SmB6 nanowires for self-powered, broadband photodetectors covering mid-infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yong; Lai, Jiawei; Kong, Lingjian; Ma, Junchao; Lin, Zhu; Lin, Fang; Zhu, Rui; Xu, Jun; Huang, Shiu-Ming; Tang, Dongsheng; Liu, Song; Zhang, Zhensheng; Liao, Zhi-Min; Sun, Dong; Yu, Dapeng

2018-04-01

Self-powered photodetectors with a broadband response have attracted great attention due to their potential applications in sensing, imaging, communication, and spectroscopy. Specifically, those with the detection wavelength range covering mid-infrared at room temperature are very challenging and highly desired. Here, the photoresponse of self-powered SmB6 photodetectors is demonstrated through the spatially resolved photocurrent mapping. The photocurrent originates from the interface between the SmB6 and Au electrodes due to the charge separation by built-in electric fields at the interface. It exhibits a stable photoresponse over broadband wavelengths ranging from 488 nm to 10.6 μm at room-temperature. Our results suggest that the chemical vapor deposition grown SmB6 nanowires could be promising candidates for future broadband self-powered detectors and pave the way toward SmB6-based optoelectronic applications.

Usage of purchased self-tests for HIV and sexually transmitted infections in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: results of population-based and serial cross-sectional studies among the general population and sexual risk groups

PubMed Central

Bil, Janneke P; Prins, Maria; Stolte, Ineke G; Dijkshoorn, Henriëtte; Heijman, Titia; Snijder, Marieke B; Davidovich, Udi; Zuure, Freke R

2017-01-01

Objectives There are limited data on the usage of commercially bought self-tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Therefore, we studied HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants among the general population and sexual risk groups between 2007 and 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Setting Data were collected in four different studies among the general population (S1–2) and sexual risk groups (S3–4). Participants S1–Amsterdam residents participating in representative population-based surveys (2008 and 2012; n=6044) drawn from the municipality register; S2–Participants of a population-based study stratified by ethnicity drawn from the municipality register of Amsterdam (2011–2015; n=17 603); S3–Men having sex with men (MSM) participating in an HIV observational cohort study (2008 and 2013; n=597) and S4–STI clinic clients participating in a cross-sectional survey (2007–2012; n=5655). Primary and secondary outcome measures Prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants. Results The prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage in the preceding 6–12 months varied between 1% and 2% across studies. Chlamydia self-tests were most commonly used, except among MSM in S3. Chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage increased over time among the representative sample of Amsterdam residents (S1) and chlamydia self-test usage increased over time among STI clinic clients (S4). Self-test usage was associated with African Surinamese or Ghanaian ethnic origin (S2), being woman or MSM (S1 and 4) and having had a higher number of sexual partners (S1–2). Among those in the general population who tested for HIV/STI in the preceding 12 months, 5–9% used a self-test. Conclusions Despite low HIV/STI self-test usage, we observed increases over time in chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage. Furthermore, self-test usage was higher among high-risk individuals in the general population. It is important to continue monitoring self-test usage and informing the public about the unknown quality of available self-tests in the Netherlands and about the pros and cons of self-testing. PMID:28939577

[Analysis on accuracy and influencing factors of oral fluid-based rapid HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men].

PubMed

Li, Youfang; Wang, Yumiao; Zhang, Renzhong; Wang, Jue; Li, Zhiqing; Wang, Ling; Pan, Songfeng; Yang, Yanling; Ma, Yanling; Jia, Manhong

2016-01-01

To understood the accuracy of oral fluid-based rapid HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) and related factors. Survey was conducted among MSM selected through non-probability sampling to evaluate the quality of their rapid HIV self-testing, and related information was analyzed. The most MSM were aged 21-30 years (57.0%). Among them, 45.7% had educational level of college or above, 78.5% were unmarried, 59.3% were casual laborers. The overall accuracy rate of oral fluid based self-testing was 95.0%, the handling of"inserting test paper into tube as indicated by arrow on it"had the highest accuracy rate (98.0%), and the handling of"gently upsetting tube for 3 times"had lowest accuracy rate (65.0%); Chi-square analysis showed that educational level, no touch with middle part of test paper, whether reading the instruction carefully, whether understanding the instruction and inserting test paper into tube as indicated by the arrow on it were associated with the accuracy of oral fluid-based rapid HIV self-testing, (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that educational level, no touch with middle part of test paper and understanding instructions were associated with the accuracy of oral fluid-based rapid HIV self-testing. The accuracy of oral fluid-based rapid HIV self-testing was high among MSM, the accuracy varied with the educational level of the MSM. Touch with the middle part of test paper or not and understanding the instructions or not might influence the accuracy of the self-testing.

Pilot evaluation of a group therapy program for children bereaved by suicide.

PubMed

Daigle, Marc S; Labelle, Réal J

2012-01-01

Thousands of children are bereaved each year by suicide, yet there exists very little literature specifically on the psychological care, programs, and interventions available to help them. (1) To build and validate theoretical models for the Group Therapy Program for Children Bereaved by Suicide (PCBS); (2) to test these models in a preliminary evaluation. In the first part, we built theoretical models, which were then validated by scientists and clinicians. In the second part, the sessions of the PCBS were observed and rated. The participating children were tested pre- and postprogram. Positive changes were observed in the participating children in terms of basic safety, realistic understanding and useful knowledge, inappropriate behaviors, physical and psychological symptoms, child-parent and child-child communication, capacity for social and affective reinvestment, actualization of new models of self and the world, self-esteem, awareness and use of tools, cognitive, verbal, written and drawing abilities, cognitive dissonance, ambivalence, antagonism, and isolation. The changes reported in the bereaved children show that the PCBS has some efficacy.

Use of tablet-based kiosks in the emergency department to guide patient HIV self-testing with a point-of-care oral fluid test.

PubMed

Gaydos, Charlotte A; Solis, Melissa; Hsieh, Yu-Hsiang; Jett-Goheen, Mary; Nour, Samah; Rothman, Richard E

2013-09-01

Despite successes in efforts to integrate HIV testing into routine care in emergency departments, challenges remain. Kiosk-facilitated, directed HIV self-testing offers one novel approach to address logistical challenges. Emergency department patients, 18-64 years, were recruited to evaluate use of tablet-based-kiosks to guide patients to conduct their own point-of-care HIV tests followed by standard-of-care HIV tests by healthcare workers. Both tests were OraQuick Advance tests. Of 955 patients approached, 473 (49.5%) consented; 467 completed the test, and 100% had concordant results with healthcare workers. Median age was 41 years, 59.6% were female, 74.8% were African-American, and 19.6% were White. In all, 99.8% of patients believed the self-test was "definitely" or "probably" correct; 91.7% of patients "trusted their results very much"; 99.8% reported "overall" self-testing was "easy or somewhat easy" to perform. Further, 96.9% indicated they would "probably" or "definitely" test themselves at home were the HIV test available for purchase; 25.9% preferred self-testing versus 34.4% who preferred healthcare professional testing (p>0.05). Tablet-based kiosk testing proved to be highly feasible, acceptable, and an accurate method of conducting rapid HIV self-testing in this study; however, rates of engagement were moderate. More research will be required to ascertain barriers to increased engagement for self-testing.

A self-controlled trial to evaluate the use of active hearing defenders in the engine rooms of operational naval vessels.

PubMed

Ong, M; Choo, J T L; Low, E

2004-02-01

Active Hearing Defenders are established hearing protectors with in-built electro-acoustics that shut-off ambient noise while allowing effective communication between users. A blinded, self-controlled trial was conducted among naval servicemen to compare the effectiveness of two types of active hearing defenders (Howard-Leight Thunder TM and COM-55) in relation to passive hearing defenders in an operational environment. Subjects felt that the active hearing defenders were more comfortable, durable, and that the active hearing defenders helped them work better. When subjects were tested with a speech discrimination battery (Central Institute of the Deaf, Spondee Word lists), there was a significant difference (p value of 0.04, using the Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA test) between the two active and the passive defenders. However, no significant difference was found between the two types of active hearing defenders. Active hearing defenders are an acceptable and efficacious means of hearing protection in noisy environments.

Mining Clinicians' Electronic Documentation to Identify Heart Failure Patients with Ineffective Self-Management: A Pilot Text-Mining Study.

PubMed

Topaz, Maxim; Radhakrishnan, Kavita; Lei, Victor; Zhou, Li

2016-01-01

Effective self-management can decrease up to 50% of heart failure hospitalizations. Unfortunately, self-management by patients with heart failure remains poor. This pilot study aimed to explore the use of text-mining to identify heart failure patients with ineffective self-management. We first built a comprehensive self-management vocabulary based on the literature and clinical notes review. We then randomly selected 545 heart failure patients treated within Partners Healthcare hospitals (Boston, MA, USA) and conducted a regular expression search with the compiled vocabulary within 43,107 interdisciplinary clinical notes of these patients. We found that 38.2% (n = 208) patients had documentation of ineffective heart failure self-management in the domains of poor diet adherence (28.4%), missed medical encounters (26.4%) poor medication adherence (20.2%) and non-specified self-management issues (e.g., "compliance issues", 34.6%). We showed the feasibility of using text-mining to identify patients with ineffective self-management. More natural language processing algorithms are needed to help busy clinicians identify these patients.

Indoor mildew odour in old housing was associated with adult allergic symptoms, asthma, chronic bronchitis, vision, sleep and self-rated health: USA NHANES, 2005-2006.

PubMed

Shiue, Ivy

2015-09-01

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis has shown the effect of indoor mildew odour on allergic rhinitis risk, but its relation to other common chronic health outcomes in adults has not been investigated. Therefore, it was aimed to examine the relationship of indoor mildew odour and common health outcomes in adults in a national and population-based setting. Data was retrieved from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 2005-2006, including the available information on demographics, housing characteristics, self-reported health conditions and urinary concentrations of environmental chemicals. T test, chi-squared test and survey-weighted logistic regression modelling were performed. Of all American adults (n = 4979), 744 (15.1%) reported indoor mildew odour or musty smell in their households. People who reported indoor mildew odour or musty smell also reported poorer self-rated health, sleep complaints, chronic bronchitis, asthma attack, itchy rash, sneezing and poor vision. In addition, people who reported indoor mildew odour or musty smell also tended to reside in older housing that were built 20 years earlier. However, there were no significant statistical associations found between indoor mildew odour or musty smell and urinary concentrations of environmental chemicals, which was also found to be associated with old housing. People who lived in older housing with indoor mildew odour or musty smell tended to have chronic health problems. To protect occupants in old housing from chronic illnesses associated with indoor mildew odour, elimination of the odour sources should be explored in future research and therefore public health and housing programs. Graphical abstract Pathway from old housing to musty smell, environmental chemicals and then health outcomes.

The effect of web quest and team-based learning on students’ self-regulation

PubMed Central

BADIYEPEYMAIE JAHROMI, ZOHREH; MOSALANEJAD, LEILI; REZAEE, RITA

2016-01-01

Introduction In this study, the authors aimed to examine the effects of cooperative learning methods using Web Quest and team-based learning on students’ self-direction, self-regulation, and academic achievement. Method This is a comparative study of students taking a course in mental health and psychiatric disorders. In two consecutive years, a group of students were trained using the WebQuest approach as a teaching strategy (n = 38), while the other group was taught using team-based learning (n=39). Data gathering was based on Guglielmino’s self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) and Buford’s self-regulation questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive test using M (IQR), Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the Mann–Whitney U-test in SPSS software, version 13. p<0.05 was considered as the significance level. Results The results of the Mann–Whitney U test showed that the participants’ self- directed (self-management) and self-regulated learning differed between the two groups (p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively). Wilcoxon test revealed that self-directed learning indices (self-control and self-management) were differed between the two strategies before and after the intervention. However, the scores related to learning (students’ final scores) were higher in the WebQuest approach than in team-based learning. Conclusion By employing modern educational approaches, students are not only more successful in their studies but also acquire the necessary professional skills for future performance. Further research to compare the effects of new methods of teaching is required. PMID:27104202

Autonomous self-powered structural health monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qing, Xinlin P.; Anton, Steven R.; Zhang, David; Kumar, Amrita; Inman, Daniel J.; Ooi, Teng K.

2010-03-01

Structural health monitoring technology is perceived as a revolutionary method of determining the integrity of structures involving the use of multidisciplinary fields including sensors, materials, system integration, signal processing and interpretation. The core of the technology is the development of self-sufficient systems for the continuous monitoring, inspection and damage detection of structures with minimal labor involvement. A major drawback of the existing technology for real-time structural health monitoring is the requirement for external electrical power input. For some applications, such as missiles or combat vehicles in the field, this factor can drastically limit the use of the technology. Having an on-board electrical power source that is independent of the vehicle power system can greatly enhance the SHM system and make it a completely self-contained system. In this paper, using the SMART layer technology as a basis, an Autonomous Self-powered (ASP) Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system has been developed to solve the major challenge facing the transition of SHM systems into field applications. The architecture of the self-powered SHM system was first designed. There are four major components included in the SHM system: SMART Layer with sensor network, low power consumption diagnostic hardware, rechargeable battery with energy harvesting device, and host computer with supporting software. A prototype of the integrated self-powered active SHM system was built for performance and functionality testing. Results from the evaluation tests demonstrated that a fully charged battery system is capable of powering the SHM system for active scanning up to 10 hours.

Mathematical modeling and characteristic analysis for over-under turbine based combined cycle engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Jingxue; Chang, Juntao; Ma, Jicheng; Bao, Wen; Yu, Daren

2018-07-01

The turbine based combined cycle engine has become the most promising hypersonic airbreathing propulsion system for its superiority of ground self-starting, wide flight envelop and reusability. The simulation model of the turbine based combined cycle engine plays an important role in the research of performance analysis and control system design. In this paper, a turbine based combined cycle engine mathematical model is built on the Simulink platform, including a dual-channel air intake system, a turbojet engine and a ramjet. It should be noted that the model of the air intake system is built based on computational fluid dynamics calculation, which provides valuable raw data for modeling of the turbine based combined cycle engine. The aerodynamic characteristics of turbine based combined cycle engine in turbojet mode, ramjet mode and mode transition process are studied by the mathematical model, and the influence of dominant variables on performance and safety of the turbine based combined cycle engine is analyzed. According to the stability requirement of thrust output and the safety in the working process of turbine based combined cycle engine, a control law is proposed that could guarantee the steady output of thrust by controlling the control variables of the turbine based combined cycle engine in the whole working process.

Review of self-awareness and its clinical application in stroke rehabilitation.

PubMed

Leung, Daniel P K; Liu, Karen P Y

2011-09-01

The objectives of this study were (i) to explore, following a literature review, the concepts of self-awareness, its assessment, and intervention for self-awareness deficits, as well as its clinical significance in stroke rehabilitation; and (ii) to apply the concepts of self-awareness in the context of a rehabilitation program. The search was conducted by the electronic databases Web of Science, Science Direct, MEDLINE, and PsychcInfo. A systematic literature search of publications written in English between 1980 and 2010 was conducted using the keywords, self-awareness or self-regulation. The search was limited to the following keywords: stroke, deficits, assessment, intervention, and rehabilitation. Two important conceptual models, namely, the Pyramid Model of Self-Awareness and the Dynamic Comprehensive Model of Awareness, were reviewed. Suggestions were made to the constraint-induced movement therapy for enhancement of both assessment and treatment of self-awareness deficits. In conclusion, self-awareness is essential for the success of rehabilitation. It is hoped that more studies can be conducted on the effectiveness of awareness enhancement programs incorporated in on-going therapies can be conducted, so that the evidence base can be further built up in this evolving area of practice.

Lateral photovoltaic effect in flexible free-standing reduced graphene oxide film for self-powered position-sensitive detection

PubMed Central

Moon, In Kyu; Ki, Bugeun; Yoon, Seonno; Oh, Jungwoo

2016-01-01

Lightweight, simple and flexible self-powered photodetectors are urgently required for the development and application of advanced optical systems for the future of wearable electronic technology. Here, using a low-temperature reduction process, we report a chemical approach for producing freestanding monolithic reduced graphene oxide papers with different gradients of the carbon/oxygen concentration ratio. We also demonstrate a novel type of freestanding monolithic reduced graphene oxide self-powered photodetector based on a symmetrical metal–semiconductor–metal structure. Upon illumination by a 633-nm continuous wave laser, the lateral photovoltage is observed to vary linfearly with the laser position between two electrodes on the reduced graphene oxide surface. This result may suggest that the lateral photovoltaic effect in the reduced graphene oxide film originates from the built-in electric field by the combination of both the photothermal electric effect and the gradient of the oxygen-to-carbon composition. These results represent substantial progress toward novel, chemically synthesized graphene-based photosensors and suggest one-step integration of graphene-based optoelectronics in the future. PMID:27634110

A Large-Scale Analysis of Impact Factor Biased Journal Self-Citations.

PubMed

Chorus, Caspar; Waltman, Ludo

2016-01-01

Based on three decades of citation data from across scientific fields of science, we study trends in impact factor biased self-citations of scholarly journals, using a purpose-built and easy to use citation based measure. Our measure is given by the ratio between i) the relative share of journal self-citations to papers published in the last two years, and ii) the relative share of journal self-citations to papers published in preceding years. A ratio higher than one suggests that a journal's impact factor is disproportionally affected (inflated) by self-citations. Using recently reported survey data, we show that there is a relation between high values of our proposed measure and coercive journal self-citation malpractices. We use our measure to perform a large-scale analysis of impact factor biased journal self-citations. Our main empirical result is, that the share of journals for which our measure has a (very) high value has remained stable between the 1980s and the early 2000s, but has since risen strongly in all fields of science. This time span corresponds well with the growing obsession with the impact factor as a journal evaluation measure over the last decade. Taken together, this suggests a trend of increasingly pervasive journal self-citation malpractices, with all due unwanted consequences such as inflated perceived importance of journals and biased journal rankings.

Improved sensitivity of vaginal self-collection and high-risk human papillomavirus testing.

PubMed

Belinson, Jerome L; Du, Hui; Yang, Bin; Wu, Ruifang; Belinson, Suzanne E; Qu, Xinfeng; Pretorius, Robert G; Yi, Xin; Castle, Philip E

2012-04-15

Self-collected vaginal specimens tested for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) have been shown to be less sensitive for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer (≥CIN 3) than physician-collected endocervical specimens. To increase the sensitivity of self-collected specimens, we studied a self-sampling device designed to obtain a larger specimen from the upper vagina (POI/NIH self-sampler) and a more sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based HR-HPV assay. Women (10,000) were screened with cervical cytology and HR-HPV testing of vaginal self-collected and endocervical physician-collected specimens. Women were randomly assigned to use either a novel self-collection device (POI/NIH self-sampler) or conical-shaped brush (Qiagen). The self-collected and clinician-collected specimens were assayed by Cervista (Hologic) and the research only PCR-based matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF). Women with any abnormal screening test underwent colposcopy and biopsy. Women (8,556), mean age of 38.9, had complete data; 1.6% had ≥ CIN 3. For either HR-HPV assay, the sensitivity was similar for the two self-collection devices. Tested with Cervista, the sensitivity for ≥CIN 3 of self-collected specimens was 70.9% and for endocervical specimens was 95.0% (p = 0.0001). Tested with MALDI-TOF, the sensitivity for ≥CIN 3 of self-collected specimens was 94.3% and for endocervical specimens was also 94.3% (p = 1.0). A self-collected sample using a PCR-based assay with the capability of very high throughput has similar sensitivity as a direct endocervical specimen obtained by a physician. Large population-based screening "events" in low-resource settings could be achieved by promoting self-collection and centralized high-throughput, low-cost testing by PCR-based MALDI-TOF. Copyright © 2011 UICC.

Packet based serial link realized in FPGA dedicated for high resolution infrared image transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bieszczad, Grzegorz

2015-05-01

In article the external digital interface specially designed for thermographic camera built in Military University of Technology is described. The aim of article is to illustrate challenges encountered during design process of thermal vision camera especially related to infrared data processing and transmission. Article explains main requirements for interface to transfer Infra-Red or Video digital data and describes the solution which we elaborated based on Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) physical layer and signaling scheme. Elaborated link for image transmission is built using FPGA integrated circuit with built-in high speed serial transceivers achieving up to 2500Gbps throughput. Image transmission is realized using proprietary packet protocol. Transmission protocol engine was described in VHDL language and tested in FPGA hardware. The link is able to transmit 1280x1024@60Hz 24bit video data using one signal pair. Link was tested to transmit thermal-vision camera picture to remote monitor. Construction of dedicated video link allows to reduce power consumption compared to solutions with ASIC based encoders and decoders realizing video links like DVI or packed based Display Port, with simultaneous reduction of wires needed to establish link to one pair. Article describes functions of modules integrated in FPGA design realizing several functions like: synchronization to video source, video stream packeting, interfacing transceiver module and dynamic clock generation for video standard conversion.

Development and Validation of a Portable Hearing Self-Testing System Based on a Notebook Personal Computer.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; Yang, Dong; Xiong, Fen; Yu, Lan; Ji, Fei; Wang, Qiu-Ju

2015-09-01

Hearing loss affects more than 27 million people in mainland China. It would be helpful to develop a portable and self-testing audiometer for the timely detection of hearing loss so that the optimal clinical therapeutic schedule can be determined. The objective of this study was to develop a software-based hearing self-testing system. The software-based self-testing system consisted of a notebook computer, an external sound card, and a pair of 10-Ω insert earphones. The system could be used to test the hearing thresholds by individuals themselves in an interactive manner using software. The reliability and validity of the system at octave frequencies of 0.25 Hz to 8.0 kHz were analyzed in three series of experiments. Thirty-seven normal-hearing particpants (74 ears) were enrolled in experiment 1. Forty individuals (80 ears) with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) participated in experiment 2. Thirteen normal-hearing participants (26 ears) and 37 participants (74 ears) with SNHL were enrolled in experiment 3. Each participant was enrolled in only one of the three experiments. In all experiments, pure-tone audiometry in a sound insulation room (standard test) was regarded as the gold standard. SPSS for Windows, version 17.0, was used for statistical analysis. The paired t-test was used to compare the hearing thresholds between the standard test and software-based self-testing (self-test) in experiments 1 and 2. In experiment 3 (main study), one-way analysis of variance and post hoc comparisons were used to compare the hearing thresholds among the standard test and two rounds of the self-test. Linear correlation analysis was carried out for the self-tests performed twice. The concordance was analyzed between the standard test and the self-test using the kappa method. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Experiments 1 and 2: The hearing thresholds determined by the two methods were not significantly different at frequencies of 250, 500, or 8000 Hz (p > 0.05) but were significantly different at frequencies of 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz (p < 0.05), except for 1000 Hz in the right ear in experiment 2. Experiment 3: The hearing thresholds determined by the standard test and self-tests repeated twice were not significantly different at any frequency (p > 0.05). The overall sensitivity of the self-test method was 97.6%, and the specificity was 98.3%. The sensitivity was 97.6% and the specificity was 97% for the patients with SNHL. The self-test had significant concordance with the standard test (kappa value = 0.848, p < 0.001). This portable hearing self-testing system based on a notebook personal computer is a reliable and sensitive method for hearing threshold assessment and monitoring. American Academy of Audiology.

The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning Approach Based on Multiple Intelligences in Terms of Student’s Achievement, Mathematical Connection Ability, and Self-Esteem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kartikasari, A.; Widjajanti, D. B.

2017-02-01

The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of learning approach using problem-based learning based on multiple intelligences in developing student’s achievement, mathematical connection ability, and self-esteem. This study is experimental research with research sample was 30 of Grade X students of MIA III MAN Yogyakarta III. Learning materials that were implemented consisting of trigonometry and geometry. For the purpose of this study, researchers designed an achievement test made up of 44 multiple choice questions with respectively 24 questions on the concept of trigonometry and 20 questions for geometry. The researcher also designed a connection mathematical test and self-esteem questionnaire that consisted of 7 essay questions on mathematical connection test and 30 items of self-esteem questionnaire. The learning approach said that to be effective if the proportion of students who achieved KKM on achievement test, the proportion of students who achieved a minimum score of high category on the results of both mathematical connection test and self-esteem questionnaire were greater than or equal to 70%. Based on the hypothesis testing at the significance level of 5%, it can be concluded that the learning approach using problem-based learning based on multiple intelligences was effective in terms of student’s achievement, mathematical connection ability, and self-esteem.

Neutronics Comparison Analysis of the Water Cooled Ceramics Breeding Blanket for CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jia; Zhang, Xiaokang; Gao, Fangfang; Pu, Yong

2016-02-01

China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is an ITER-like fusion engineering test reactor that is intended to fill the scientific and technical gaps between ITER and DEMO. One of the main missions of CFETR is to achieve a tritium breeding ratio that is no less than 1.2 to ensure tritium self-sufficiency. A concept design for a water cooled ceramics breeding blanket (WCCB) is presented based on a scheme with the breeder and the multiplier located in separate panels for CFETR. Based on this concept, a one-dimensional (1D) radial built breeding blanket was first designed, and then several three-dimensional models were developed with various neutron source definitions and breeding blanket module arrangements based on the 1D radial build. A set of nuclear analyses have been carried out to compare the differences in neutronics characteristics given by different calculation models, addressing neutron wall loading (NWL), tritium breeding ratio (TBR), fast neutron flux on inboard side and nuclear heating deposition on main in-vessel components. The impact of differences in modeling on the nuclear performance has been analyzed and summarized regarding the WCCB concept design. supported by the National Special Project for Magnetic Confined Nuclear Fusion Energy (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2014GB122000, and 2014GB119000), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

[Assessment of land use environmental impacts in urban built-up area: a case study in main built-up area of Nanchang City].

PubMed

Chen, Wen-Bo; Liu, Shi-Yu; Yu, Dun; Zou, Qiu-Ming

2009-07-01

Based on the relevant studies of land use environmental impacts and the characteristics of urban land use, a conceptual model on the assessment of land use environmental impacts in urban built-up area was established. This model grouped the land use environmental impacts in built-up area into four basic processes, i. e., detailization, abstractization, matching, and evaluation. A case study was conducted in the main built-up area of Nanchang City, with noise, smell, dust, and hazard as the impact factors. In the test area, noise had a widespread impact, its impacting area accounting for 59% of the total, smell and dust impacts centralized in the east and south parts, while hazard impact was centralized in the southeast part, an industrial area. This assessment model of four basic processes was practical, and could provide basis for the decision-making of urban land use management and planning.

Feasibility of supervised self-testing using an oral fluid-based HIV rapid testing method: a cross-sectional, mixed method study among pregnant women in rural India.

PubMed

Sarkar, Archana; Mburu, Gitau; Shivkumar, Poonam Varma; Sharma, Pankhuri; Campbell, Fiona; Behera, Jagannath; Dargan, Ritu; Mishra, Surendra Kumar; Mehra, Sunil

2016-01-01

HIV self-testing can increase coverage of essential HIV services. This study aimed to establish the acceptability, concordance and feasibility of supervised HIV self-testing among pregnant women in rural India. A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was conducted among 202 consenting pregnant women in a rural Indian hospital between August 2014 and January 2015. Participants were provided with instructions on how to self-test using OraQuick(®) HIV antibody test, and subsequently asked to self-test under supervision of a community health worker. Test results were confirmed at a government-run integrated counselling and testing centre. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on patient demographics and the ease, acceptability and difficulties of self-testing. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 35 participants to understand their experiences. In total, 202 participants performed the non-invasive, oral fluid-based, rapid test under supervision for HIV screening. Acceptance rate was 100%. Motivators for self-testing included: ease of testing (43.4%), quick results (27.3%) and non-invasive procedure (23.2%). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% for 201 tests, and one test was invalid. Concordance of test result interpretation between community health workers and participants was 98.5% with a Cohen's Kappa (k) value of k=0.566 with p<0.001 for inter-rater agreement. Although 92.6% participants reported that the instructions for the test were easy to understand, 18.7% required the assistance of a supervisor to self-test. Major themes that emerged from the qualitative interviews indicated the importance of the following factors in influencing acceptability of self-testing: clarity and accessibility of test instructions; time-efficiency and convenience of testing; non-invasiveness of the test; and fear of incorrect results. Overall, 96.5% of the participants recommended that the OraQuick(®) test kits should become publicly available. Self-testing for HIV status using an oral fluid-based rapid test under the supervision of a community health worker was acceptable and feasible among pregnant women in rural India. Participants were supportive of making self-testing publicly available. Policy guidelines and implementation research are required to advance HIV self-testing for larger populations at scale.

Feasibility of supervised self-testing using an oral fluid-based HIV rapid testing method: a cross-sectional, mixed method study among pregnant women in rural India

PubMed Central

Sarkar, Archana; Mburu, Gitau; Shivkumar, Poonam Varma; Sharma, Pankhuri; Campbell, Fiona; Behera, Jagannath; Dargan, Ritu; Mishra, Surendra Kumar; Mehra, Sunil

2016-01-01

Introduction HIV self-testing can increase coverage of essential HIV services. This study aimed to establish the acceptability, concordance and feasibility of supervised HIV self-testing among pregnant women in rural India. Methods A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was conducted among 202 consenting pregnant women in a rural Indian hospital between August 2014 and January 2015. Participants were provided with instructions on how to self-test using OraQuick® HIV antibody test, and subsequently asked to self-test under supervision of a community health worker. Test results were confirmed at a government-run integrated counselling and testing centre. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on patient demographics and the ease, acceptability and difficulties of self-testing. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 35 participants to understand their experiences. Results In total, 202 participants performed the non-invasive, oral fluid-based, rapid test under supervision for HIV screening. Acceptance rate was 100%. Motivators for self-testing included: ease of testing (43.4%), quick results (27.3%) and non-invasive procedure (23.2%). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% for 201 tests, and one test was invalid. Concordance of test result interpretation between community health workers and participants was 98.5% with a Cohen's Kappa (k) value of k=0.566 with p<0.001 for inter-rater agreement. Although 92.6% participants reported that the instructions for the test were easy to understand, 18.7% required the assistance of a supervisor to self-test. Major themes that emerged from the qualitative interviews indicated the importance of the following factors in influencing acceptability of self-testing: clarity and accessibility of test instructions; time-efficiency and convenience of testing; non-invasiveness of the test; and fear of incorrect results. Overall, 96.5% of the participants recommended that the OraQuick® test kits should become publicly available. Conclusions Self-testing for HIV status using an oral fluid-based rapid test under the supervision of a community health worker was acceptable and feasible among pregnant women in rural India. Participants were supportive of making self-testing publicly available. Policy guidelines and implementation research are required to advance HIV self-testing for larger populations at scale. PMID:27630096

Does Built Environment Matter to Early Adolescents' Physical Activity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Jen-Jia; Ting, Tzu-Cheng

2014-01-01

This study examined the relationship of built environments to physical activity among adolescents aged 12 to 14 years old. The study sample included 269 junior high school students studying in Nangang District, Taipei, Taiwan. Sample physical activity data were obtained by surveying adolescents using a self-administered short version of the…

Home-Based HIV Testing for Men Who Have Sex with Men in China: A Novel Community-Based Partnership to Complement Government Programs

PubMed Central

Qian, Han-Zhu; Wang, Li-Juan; Zhang, Zheng; Ding, Hai-Feng; Ji, Ya-Cheng; Li, Dong-liang; Xiao, Dong; Hazlitt, Melissa; Vermund, Sten H.; Xiu, Xiangfei; Bao, Yugang

2014-01-01

Background The coverage of HIV testing among Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) remains low after the scale-up of free HIV testing at government-sponsored testing sites. We evaluated the feasibility of home-based HIV self-testing and the willingness to be HIV tested at community-based organizations (CBO). Methods We recruited MSM via on-line advertisement, where they completed an on-line informed consent and subsequent questionnaire survey. Eligible MSM received HIV rapid testing kits by mail, performed the test themselves and reported the result remotely. Results Of the 220 men taking a home-based HIV self-testing, 33 MSM (15%) were seropositive. Nearly 65% of the men reported that they were willing to take HIV testing at CBO, while 28% preferred receiving free HIV testing in the government programs at local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Older and lower-income MSM, those who self-reported homosexual orientation, men with no history of sexually transmitted diseases and a lower number of sexual partners in the past six months were associated with preference for taking HIV testing at CBOs. The top three self-reported existing barriers for HIV testing were: no perception of HIV risk (56%), fear of an HIV positive result being reported to the government (41%), and fear of a positive HIV test result (36%). Conclusion Home-based HIV self-testing is an alternative approach for increasing the coverage of HIV testing among Chinese MSM. CBO-based HIV testing is a potential alternative, but further studies are needed to evaluate its feasibility. PMID:25051160

Sources Of Evolution Of The Japan Air Self Defense Force’s Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

has built an air defense operation based air power .2 However, some argue that it is difficult to call JASDF’s strategy defensive when analyzing...offensively. He asserted that air power should continue the offensive operations because the enemy is overwhelmed with psychological nervousness by just...naval activities in the East China Sea when the JASDF fails to maintain the air superiority capability balance in the region. In fact, while the most of

Online self-test identifies women at high familial breast cancer risk in population-based breast cancer screening without inducing anxiety or distress.

PubMed

van Erkelens, A; Sie, A S; Manders, P; Visser, A; Duijm, L E; Mann, R M; Ten Voorde, M; Kroeze, H; Prins, J B; Hoogerbrugge, N

2017-06-01

Identifying high familial breast cancer (FBC) risk improves detection of yet unknown BRCA1/2-mutation carriers, for whom BC risk is both highly likely and potentially preventable. We assessed whether a new online self-test could identify women at high FBC risk in population-based BC screening without inducing anxiety or distress. After their visit for screening mammography, women were invited by email to take an online self-test for identifying highly increased FBC risk-based on Dutch guidelines. Exclusion criteria were previously diagnosed as increased FBC risk or a personal history of BC. Anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Dutch Version), distress (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale) and BC risk perception were assessed using questionnaires, which were completed immediately before and after taking the online self-test and 2 weeks later. Of the 562 women invited by email, 406 (72%) completed the online self-test while 304 also completed questionnaires (response rate 54%). After exclusion criteria, 287 (51%) were included for data analysis. Median age was 56 years (range 50-74). A high or moderate FBC risk was identified in 12 (4%) and three (1%) women, respectively. After completion of the online self-test, anxiety and BC risk perception were decreased while distress scores remained unchanged. Levels were below clinical relevance. Most women (85%) would recommend the self-test; few (3%) would not. The online self-test identified previously unknown women at high FBC risk (4%), who may carry a BRCA1/2-mutation, without inducing anxiety or distress. We therefore recommend offering this self-test to women who attend population-based screening mammography for the first time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 1944.410 - Processing preapplications, applications, and completing grant dockets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) PROGRAM REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) HOUSING Self-Help... about the amount of the grant funds being requested, area(s) to be served, need for self-help housing in the area(s), the number of self-help units proposed to be built, rehabilitated or repaired during the...

Information therapy: The strategic role of prescribed information in disease self-management.

PubMed

Mettler, Molly; Kemper, Donald W

2006-01-01

Imagine this: evidence-based medical information specifically written for and prescribed to a patient with chronic illness, targeted to that patient's specific "moment in care" and designed to help that patient manage his or her illness. Imagine "information therapy" built into every clinical encounter that a patient has with a physician or other health care service. Information therapy is defined as the timely prescription and availability of evidence-based health information to meet individuals' specific needs and support sound decision making. Information therapy is a new disease management tool that provides cost-effective disease management support to a much larger portion of the chronically ill population than is generally reached. This paper is a practical presentation of information therapy, its role in predictive modeling and disease self-management, and its potential for improving the outcomes of chronic care.

Unscented Kalman filter assimilation of time-lapse self-potential data for monitoring solute transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yi-an; Liu, Lanbo; Zhu, Xiaoxiong

2017-08-01

Monitoring the extent and evolution of contaminant plumes in local and regional groundwater systems from existing landfills is critical in contamination control and remediation. The self-potential survey is an efficient and economical nondestructive geophysical technique that can be used to investigate underground contaminant plumes. Based on the unscented transform, we have built a Kalman filtering cycle to conduct time-lapse data assimilation for monitoring the transport of solute based on the solute transport experiment using a bench-scale physical model. The data assimilation was formed by modeling the evolution based on the random walk model and observation correcting based on the self-potential forward. Thus, monitoring self-potential data can be inverted by the data assimilation technique. As a result, we can reconstruct the dynamic process of the contaminant plume instead of using traditional frame-to-frame static inversion, which may cause inversion artifacts. The data assimilation inversion algorithm was evaluated through noise-added synthetic time-lapse self-potential data. The result of the numerical experiment shows validity, accuracy and tolerance to the noise of the dynamic inversion. To validate the proposed algorithm, we conducted a scaled-down sandbox self-potential observation experiment to generate time-lapse data that closely mimics the real-world contaminant monitoring setup. The results of physical experiments support the idea that the data assimilation method is a potentially useful approach for characterizing the transport of contamination plumes using the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) data assimilation technique applied to field time-lapse self-potential data.

Laser Doppler, velocimeter system for turbine stator cascade studies and analysis of statistical biasing errors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seasholtz, R. G.

1977-01-01

A laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) built for use in the Lewis Research Center's turbine stator cascade facilities is described. The signal processing and self contained data processing are based on a computing counter. A procedure is given for mode matching the laser to the probe volume. An analysis is presented of biasing errors that were observed in turbulent flow when the mean flow was not normal to the fringes.

Circular analysis in complex stochastic systems

PubMed Central

Valleriani, Angelo

2015-01-01

Ruling out observations can lead to wrong models. This danger occurs unwillingly when one selects observations, experiments, simulations or time-series based on their outcome. In stochastic processes, conditioning on the future outcome biases all local transition probabilities and makes them consistent with the selected outcome. This circular self-consistency leads to models that are inconsistent with physical reality. It is also the reason why models built solely on macroscopic observations are prone to this fallacy. PMID:26656656

Reduced mate availability leads to evolution of self-fertilization and purging of inbreeding depression in a hermaphrodite.

PubMed

Noël, Elsa; Chemtob, Yohann; Janicke, Tim; Sarda, Violette; Pélissié, Benjamin; Jarne, Philippe; David, Patrice

2016-03-01

Basic models of mating-system evolution predict that hermaphroditic organisms should mostly either cross-fertilize, or self-fertilize, due to self-reinforcing coevolution of inbreeding depression and outcrossing rates. However transitions between mating systems occur. A plausible scenario for such transitions assumes that a decrease in pollinator or mate availability temporarily constrains outcrossing populations to self-fertilize as a reproductive assurance strategy. This should trigger a purge of inbreeding depression, which in turn encourages individuals to self-fertilize more often and finally to reduce male allocation. We tested the predictions of this scenario using the freshwater snail Physa acuta, a self-compatible hermaphrodite that preferentially outcrosses and exhibits high inbreeding depression in natural populations. From an outbred population, we built two types of experimental evolution lines, controls (outcrossing every generation) and constrained lines (in which mates were often unavailable, forcing individuals to self-fertilize). After ca. 20 generations, individuals from constrained lines initiated self-fertilization earlier in life and had purged most of their inbreeding depression compared to controls. However, their male allocation remained unchanged. Our study suggests that the mating system can rapidly evolve as a response to reduced mating opportunities, supporting the reproductive assurance scenario of transitions from outcrossing to selfing. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Multilevel modelling of built environment characteristics related to neighbourhood walking activity in older adults

PubMed Central

Li, F.; Fisher, K; Brownson, R.; Bosworth, M.

2005-01-01

Objective: To examine the relation between built environment factors (representing several dimensions of urban form of neighbourhoods) and walking activity at both the neighbourhood level and the resident level, in an older adult sample. Design, setting, participants: A cross sectional, multilevel design with neighbourhoods as the primary sampling unit and senior residents as the secondary unit. Five hundred and seventy seven residents (mean age = 74 years, SD = 6.3 years) participated in the survey, which was conducted among 56 city defined neighbourhoods in Portland, Oregon, USA. Neighbourhood level variables were constructed using geographical information systems. Resident level variables consisted of a mix of self reports and geocoded data on the built environment. Main outcome measure: Self reported neighbourhood walking. Main results: A positive relation was found between built environment factors (density of places of employment, household density, green and open spaces for recreation, number of street intersections) and walking activity at the neighbourhood level. At the resident level, perceptions of safety for walking and number of nearby recreational facilities were positively related to high levels of walking activity. A significant interaction was observed between number of street intersections and perceptions of safety from traffic. Conclusions: Certain neighbourhood built environment characteristics related to urban form were positively associated with walking activity in the neighbourhoods of senior residents. Public health promotion of walking activity/urban mobility and the design of interventions need to consider the contribution of neighbourhood level built environment influences. PMID:15965138

Association of Self-Perceived Physical Competence and Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Childhood--A Follow-Up Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamari, Lotta; Heinonen, Olli J.; Aromaa, Minna; Asanti, Riitta; Koivusilta, Leena; Koski, Pasi; Laaksonen, Camilla; Matomäki, Jaakko; Pahkala, Katja; Pakarinen, Anni; Suominen, Sakari; Salanterä, Sanna

2017-01-01

Background: The basis of self-perceived physical competence is built in childhood and school personnel have an important role in this developmental process. We investigated the association between initial self-perceived physical competence and reported leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) longitudinally in 10-, 12-, and 15-year-old children.…

An online study combining the constructs from the theory of planned behaviour and protection motivation theory in predicting intention to test for chlamydia in two testing contexts.

PubMed

Powell, Rachael; Pattison, Helen M; Francis, Jill J

2016-01-01

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection that has potentially serious consequences unless detected and treated early. The health service in the UK offers clinic-based testing for chlamydia but uptake is low. Identifying the predictors of testing behaviours may inform interventions to increase uptake. Self-tests for chlamydia may facilitate testing and treatment in people who avoid clinic-based testing. Self-testing and being tested by a health care professional (HCP) involve two contrasting contexts that may influence testing behaviour. However, little is known about how predictors of behaviour differ as a function of context. In this study, theoretical models of behaviour were used to assess factors that may predict intention to test in two different contexts: self-testing and being tested by a HCP. Individuals searching for or reading about chlamydia testing online were recruited using Google Adwords. Participants completed an online questionnaire that addressed previous testing behaviour and measured constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Protection Motivation Theory, which propose a total of eight possible predictors of intention. The questionnaire was completed by 310 participants. Sufficient data for multiple regression were provided by 102 and 118 respondents for self-testing and testing by a HCP respectively. Intention to self-test was predicted by vulnerability and self-efficacy, with a trend-level effect for response efficacy. Intention to be tested by a HCP was predicted by vulnerability, attitude and subjective norm. Thus, intentions to carry out two testing behaviours with very similar goals can have different predictors depending on test context. We conclude that interventions to increase self-testing should be based on evidence specifically related to test context.

Performance of a Micro-Strip Gas Chamber for event wise, high rate thermal neutron detection with accurate 2D position determination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mindur, B.; Alimov, S.; Fiutowski, T.; Schulz, C.; Wilpert, T.

2014-12-01

A two-dimensional (2D) position sensitive detector for neutron scattering applications based on low-pressure gas amplification and micro-strip technology was built and tested with an innovative readout electronics and data acquisition system. This detector contains a thin solid neutron converter and was developed for time- and thus wavelength-resolved neutron detection in single-event counting mode, which improves the image contrast in comparison with integrating detectors. The prototype detector of a Micro-Strip Gas Chamber (MSGC) was built with a solid natGd/CsI thermal neutron converter for spatial resolutions of about 100 μm and counting rates up to 107 neutrons/s. For attaining very high spatial resolutions and counting rates via micro-strip readout with centre-of-gravity evaluation of the signal amplitude distributions, a fast, channel-wise, self-triggering ASIC was developed. The front-end chips (MSGCROCs), which are very first signal processing components, are read out into powerful ADC-FPGA boards for on-line data processing and thereafter via Gigabit Ethernet link into the data receiving PC. The workstation PC is controlled by a modular, high performance dedicated software suite. Such a fast and accurate system is crucial for efficient radiography/tomography, diffraction or imaging applications based on high flux thermal neutron beam. In this paper a brief description of the detector concept with its operation principles, readout electronics requirements and design together with the signals processing stages performed in hardware and software are presented. In more detail the neutron test beam conditions and measurement results are reported. The focus of this paper is on the system integration, two dimensional spatial resolution, the time resolution of the readout system and the imaging capabilities of the overall setup. The detection efficiency of the detector prototype is estimated as well.

Usage of purchased self-tests for HIV and sexually transmitted infections in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: results of population-based and serial cross-sectional studies among the general population and sexual risk groups.

PubMed

Bil, Janneke P; Prins, Maria; Stolte, Ineke G; Dijkshoorn, Henriëtte; Heijman, Titia; Snijder, Marieke B; Davidovich, Udi; Zuure, Freke R

2017-09-21

There are limited data on the usage of commercially bought self-tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Therefore, we studied HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants among the general population and sexual risk groups between 2007 and 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Data were collected in four different studies among the general population (S1 - 2) and sexual risk groups (S3 - 4). S1 - Amsterdam residents participating in representative population-based surveys (2008 and 2012; n=6044) drawn from the municipality register; S2 - Participants of a population-based study stratified by ethnicity drawn from the municipality register of Amsterdam (2011-2015; n=17 603); S3 - Men having sex with men (MSM) participating in an HIV observational cohort study (2008 and 2013; n=597) and S4 - STI clinic clients participating in a cross-sectional survey (2007-2012; n=5655). Prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants. The prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage in the preceding 6-12 months varied between 1% and 2% across studies. Chlamydia self-tests were most commonly used, except among MSM in S3. Chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage increased over time among the representative sample of Amsterdam residents (S1) and chlamydia self-test usage increased over time among STI clinic clients (S4). Self-test usage was associated with African Surinamese or Ghanaian ethnic origin (S2), being woman or MSM (S1 and 4) and having had a higher number of sexual partners (S1-2). Among those in the general population who tested for HIV/STI in the preceding 12 months, 5-9% used a self-test. Despite low HIV/STI self-test usage, we observed increases over time in chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage. Furthermore, self-test usage was higher among high-risk individuals in the general population. It is important to continue monitoring self-test usage and informing the public about the unknown quality of available self-tests in the Netherlands and about the pros and cons of self-testing. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Re-building Daniell Cell with a Li-ion exchange Film

PubMed Central

Dong, Xiaoli; Wang, Yonggang; Xia, Yongyao

2014-01-01

Daniell cell (i.e. Zn-Cu battery) is widely used in chemistry curricula to illustrate how batteries work, although it has been supplanted in the late 19th century by more modern battery designs because of Cu2+-crossover-induced self-discharge and un-rechargeable characteristic. Herein, it is re-built by using a ceramic Li-ion exchange film to separate Cu and Zn electrodes for preventing Cu2+-crossover between two electrodes. The re-built Zn-Cu battery can be cycled for 150 times without capacity attenuation and self-discharge, and displays a theoretical energy density of 68.3 Wh kg−1. It is more important that both electrodes of the battery are renewable, reusable, low toxicity and environmentally friendly. Owing to these advantages mentioned above, the re-built Daniell cell can be considered as a promising and green stationary power source for large-scale energy storage. PMID:25369833

eLearning techniques supporting problem based learning in clinical simulation.

PubMed

Docherty, Charles; Hoy, Derek; Topp, Helena; Trinder, Kathryn

2005-08-01

This paper details the results of the first phase of a project using eLearning to support students' learning within a simulated environment. The locus was a purpose built clinical simulation laboratory (CSL) where the School's philosophy of problem based learning (PBL) was challenged through lecturers using traditional teaching methods. a student-centred, problem based approach to the acquisition of clinical skills that used high quality learning objects embedded within web pages, substituting for lecturers providing instruction and demonstration. This encouraged student nurses to explore, analyse and make decisions within the safety of a clinical simulation. Learning was facilitated through network communications and reflection on video performances of self and others. Evaluations were positive, students demonstrating increased satisfaction with PBL, improved performance in exams, and increased self-efficacy in the performance of nursing activities. These results indicate that eLearning techniques can help students acquire clinical skills in the safety of a simulated environment within the context of a problem based learning curriculum.

Grounding Collaborative Learning in Semantics-Based Critiquing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheung, William K.; Mørch, Anders I.; Wong, Kelvin C.; Lee, Cynthia; Liu, Jiming; Lam, Mason H.

2007-01-01

In this article we investigate the use of latent semantic analysis (LSA), critiquing systems, and knowledge building to support computer-based teaching of English composition. We have built and tested an English composition critiquing system that makes use of LSA to analyze student essays and compute feedback by comparing their essays with…

OPINION: Safe exponential manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phoenix, Chris; Drexler, Eric

2004-08-01

In 1959, Richard Feynman pointed out that nanometre-scale machines could be built and operated, and that the precision inherent in molecular construction would make it easy to build multiple identical copies. This raised the possibility of exponential manufacturing, in which production systems could rapidly and cheaply increase their productive capacity, which in turn suggested the possibility of destructive runaway self-replication. Early proposals for artificial nanomachinery focused on small self-replicating machines, discussing their potential productivity and their potential destructiveness if abused. In the light of controversy regarding scenarios based on runaway replication (so-called 'grey goo'), a review of current thinking regarding nanotechnology-based manufacturing is in order. Nanotechnology-based fabrication can be thoroughly non-biological and inherently safe: such systems need have no ability to move about, use natural resources, or undergo incremental mutation. Moreover, self-replication is unnecessary: the development and use of highly productive systems of nanomachinery (nanofactories) need not involve the construction of autonomous self-replicating nanomachines. Accordingly, the construction of anything resembling a dangerous self-replicating nanomachine can and should be prohibited. Although advanced nanotechnologies could (with great difficulty and little incentive) be used to build such devices, other concerns present greater problems. Since weapon systems will be both easier to build and more likely to draw investment, the potential for dangerous systems is best considered in the context of military competition and arms control.

Explaining Discrepancies Between the Digit Triplet Speech-in-Noise Test Score and Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Older Adults.

PubMed

Pronk, Marieke; Deeg, Dorly J H; Kramer, Sophia E

2018-04-17

The purpose of this study is to determine which demographic, health-related, mood, personality, or social factors predict discrepancies between older adults' functional speech-in-noise test result and their self-reported hearing problems. Data of 1,061 respondents from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were used (ages ranged from 57 to 95 years). Functional hearing problems were measured using a digit triplet speech-in-noise test. Five questions were used to assess self-reported hearing problems. Scores of both hearing measures were dichotomized. Two discrepancy outcomes were created: (a) being unaware: those with functional but without self-reported problems (reference is aware: those with functional and self-reported problems); (b) reporting false complaints: those without functional but with self-reported problems (reference is well: those without functional and self-reported hearing problems). Two multivariable prediction models (logistic regression) were built with 19 candidate predictors. The speech reception threshold in noise was kept (forced) as a predictor in both models. Persons with higher self-efficacy (to initiate behavior) and higher self-esteem had a higher odds to being unaware than persons with lower self-efficacy scores (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13 and 1.11, respectively). Women had a higher odds than men (OR = 1.47). Persons with more chronic diseases and persons with worse (i.e., higher) speech-in-noise reception thresholds in noise had a lower odds to being unaware (OR = 0.85 and 0.91, respectively) than persons with less diseases and better thresholds, respectively. A higher odds to reporting false complaints was predicted by more depressive symptoms (OR = 1.06), more chronic diseases (OR = 1.21), and a larger social network (OR = 1.02). Persons with higher self-efficacy (to complete behavior) had a lower odds (OR = 0.86), whereas persons with higher self-esteem had a higher odds to report false complaints (OR = 1.21). The explained variance of both prediction models was small (Nagelkerke R2 = .11 for the unaware model, and .10 for the false complaints model). The findings suggest that a small proportion of the discrepancies between older individuals' results on a speech-in-noise screening test and their self-reports of hearing problems can be explained by the unique context of these individuals. The likelihood of discrepancies partly depends on a person's health (chronic diseases), demographics (gender), personality (self-efficacy to initiate behavior and to persist in adversity, self-esteem), mood (depressive symptoms), and social situation (social network size). Implications are discussed.

Environmental chemicals mediated the effect of old housing on adult health problems: US NHANES, 2009-2010.

PubMed

Shiue, Ivy; Bramley, Glen

2015-01-01

Housing conditions affect occupants continuously, and health interventions have shown a positive association between housing investment or improvement and occupant's health. However, the sources of the housing problems were less understood. Since it was observed that lead dust and chloroanisoles released from housing (materials) as indoor pollutants affected child's health, we now aimed to examine the relationships among built year, environmental chemicals and individual health in adults in a national and population-based setting. Data were retrieved from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2010, including demographics, housing characteristics, self-reported health status, biomarkers and blood and urinary chemical concentrations. Adults aged 20 and above were included for statistical analysis (n = 5,793). Analysis involved chi-square test, t test, and survey-weighted general linear regression and logistic regression modelling. People who resided in older housing built before 1990 tended to report chronic bronchitis, liver problems, stroke, heart failure, diabetes, asthma and emphysema. Higher values in HDL cholesterol, blood lead and blood cadmium and having positive responses of hepatitis A, B, C and E antibodies among occupants were also observed. Furthermore, higher environmental chemical concentrations related to old housing including urinary cadmium, cobalt, platinum, mercury, 2,5-dichlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol concentrations and mono-cyclohexyl phthalate and mono-isobutyl phthalate metabolites were shown in occupants as well. Older housing (≥30 years) seemed to contribute to the amount of environmental chemicals that affected human health. Regular monitoring, upgrading and renovation of housing to remove environmental chemicals and policy to support people in deprived situations against environmental injustice would be needed.

Equal Rights to Trial for Women: Sex Bias in the Law of Self Defense.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Elizabeth

1980-01-01

Examines how sexual stereotypes of women and the male orientation built into the law prevents judges and jurors from appreciating the circumstances of battered women's perception and their acts of self-defense. (Author/MK)

Microdevelopment during an activity-based science lesson

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parziale, Jim

1997-11-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the microdevelopment of task-related skills during a classroom science activity. Pairs of fifth and pairs of seventh grade students were videotaped as they constructed marshmallow and toothpick bridges. A skill theory based system of analysis was developed and used to detect the construction of new understandings. Patterns of change observed in these understandings were used to infer three means of self-construction: shifts of focus, bridging mechanisms and distributed cognition. Shift of focus is a mechanism used by students to efficiently explore a web of possibilities, collect ideas and make observations for later coordination as new understandings. Bridging mechanisms are partially built conversational structures that scaffolded the construction of higher level thinking structures. Students used the distributed cognition mechanism to test the adaptiveness of their design ideas without the need to fully coordinate an understandings of these designs. An integrated model of these three mechanisms is proposed specific to this task. This model describes how these mechanisms spontaneously emerged and interacted to support the construction of mental representations.

Accuracy of human papillomavirus testing on self-collected versus clinician-collected samples: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Arbyn, Marc; Verdoodt, Freija; Snijders, Peter J F; Verhoef, Viola M J; Suonio, Eero; Dillner, Lena; Minozzi, Silvia; Bellisario, Cristina; Banzi, Rita; Zhao, Fang-Hui; Hillemanns, Peter; Anttila, Ahti

2014-02-01

Screening for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is more effective in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer than screening using Pap smears. Moreover, HPV testing can be done on a vaginal sample self-taken by a woman, which offers an opportunity to improve screening coverage. However, the clinical accuracy of HPV testing on self-samples is not well-known. We assessed whether HPV testing on self-collected samples is equivalent to HPV testing on samples collected by clinicians. We identified relevant studies through a search of PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they fulfilled all of the following selection criteria: a cervical cell sample was self-collected by a woman followed by a sample taken by a clinician; a high-risk HPV test was done on the self-sample (index test) and HPV-testing or cytological interpretation was done on the specimen collected by the clinician (comparator tests); and the presence or absence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 (CIN2) or worse was verified by colposcopy and biopsy in all enrolled women or in women with one or more positive tests. The absolute accuracy for finding CIN2 or worse, or CIN grade 3 (CIN3) or worse of the index and comparator tests as well as the relative accuracy of the index versus the comparator tests were pooled using bivariate normal models and random effect models. We included data from 36 studies, which altogether enrolled 154 556 women. The absolute accuracy varied by clinical setting. In the context of screening, HPV testing on self-samples detected, on average, 76% (95% CI 69-82) of CIN2 or worse and 84% (72-92) of CIN3 or worse. The pooled absolute specificity to exclude CIN2 or worse was 86% (83-89) and 87% (84-90) to exclude CIN3 or worse. The variation of the relative accuracy of HPV testing on self-samples compared with tests on clinician-taken samples was low across settings, enabling pooling of the relative accuracy over all studies. The pooled sensitivity of HPV testing on self-samples was lower than HPV testing on a clinician-taken sample (ratio 0·88 [95% CI 0·85-0·91] for CIN2 or worse and 0·89 [0·83-0·96] for CIN3 or worse). Also specificity was lower in self-samples versus clinician-taken samples (ratio 0·96 [0·95-0·97] for CIN2 or worse and 0·96 [0·93-0·99] for CIN3 or worse). HPV testing with signal-based assays on self-samples was less sensitive and specific than testing on clinician-based samples. By contrast, some PCR-based HPV tests generally showed similar sensitivity on both self-samples and clinician-based samples. In screening programmes using signal-based assays, sampling by a clinician should be recommended. However, HPV testing on a self-sample can be suggested as an additional strategy to reach women not participating in the regular screening programme. Some PCR-based HPV tests could be considered for routine screening after careful piloting assessing feasibility, logistics, population compliance, and costs. The 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission, the Belgian Foundation against Cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the German Guideline Program in Oncology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated iodine monitor system. [for aqueous solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The feasibility of a direct spectrophotometric measurement of iodine in water was established. An iodine colorimeter, was built to demonstrate the practicality of this technique. The specificity of this method was verified when applied to an on-line system where a reference solution cannot be used, and a preliminary design is presented for an automated iodine measuring and controlling system meeting the desired specifications. An Automated iodine monitor/controller system based on this preliminary design was built, tested, and delivered to the Johnson Space Center.

Effects of Buffer Size and Shape on Associations between the Built Environment and Energy Balance

PubMed Central

Berrigan, David; Hart, Jaime E.; Hipp, J. Aaron; Hoehner, Christine M.; Kerr, Jacqueline; Major, Jacqueline M.; Oka, Masayoshi; Laden, Francine

2014-01-01

Uncertainty in the relevant spatial context may drive heterogeneity in findings on the built environment and energy balance. To estimate the effect of this uncertainty, we conducted a sensitivity analysis defining intersection and business densities and counts within different buffer sizes and shapes on associations with self-reported walking and body mass index. Linear regression results indicated that the scale and shape of buffers influenced study results and may partly explain the inconsistent findings in the built environment and energy balance literature. PMID:24607875

Training and testing ERP-BCIs under different mental workload conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Yufeng; Wang, Peiyuan; Chen, Yuqian; Gu, Bin; Qi, Hongzhi; Zhou, Peng; Ming, Dong

2016-02-01

Objective. As one of the most popular and extensively studied paradigms of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), event-related potential-based BCIs (ERP-BCIs) are usually built and tested in ideal laboratory settings in most existing studies, with subjects concentrating on stimuli and intentionally avoiding possible distractors. This study is aimed at examining the effect of simultaneous mental activities on ERP-BCIs by manipulating various levels of mental workload during the training and/or testing of an ERP-BCI. Approach. Mental workload was manipulated during the training or testing of a row-column P300-speller to investigate how and to what extent the spelling performance and the ERPs evoked by the oddball stimuli are affected by simultaneous mental workload. Main results. Responses of certain ERP components, temporal-occipital N200 and the late reorienting negativity evoked by the oddball stimuli and the classifiability of ERP features between targets and non-targets decreased with the increase of mental workload encountered by the subject. However, the effect of mental workload on the performance of ERP-BCI was not always negative but depended on the conditions where the ERP-BCI was built and applied. The performance of ERP-BCI built under an ideal lab setting without any irrelevant mental activities declined with the increasing mental workload of the testing data. However, the performance was significantly improved when an ERP-BCI was built under an appropriate mental workload level, compared to that built under speller-only conditions. Significance. The adverse effect of concurrent mental activities may present a challenge for ERP-BCIs trained in ideal lab settings but which are to be used in daily work, especially when users are performing demanding mental processing. On the other hand, the positive effects of the mental workload of the training data suggest that introducing appropriate mental workload during training ERP-BCIs is of potential benefit to the performance in practical applications.

Sequential programmable self-assembly: Role of cooperative interactions

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

Jonathan D. Halverson; Tkachenko, Alexei V.

Here, we propose a general strategy of “sequential programmable self-assembly” that enables a bottom-up design of arbitrary multi-particle architectures on nano- and microscales. We show that a naive realization of this scheme, based on the pairwise additive interactions between particles, has fundamental limitations that lead to a relatively high error rate. This can be overcome by using cooperative interparticle binding. The cooperativity is a well known feature of many biochemical processes, responsible, e.g., for signaling and regulations in living systems. Here we propose to utilize a similar strategy for high precision self-assembly, and show that DNA-mediated interactions provide a convenientmore » platform for its implementation. In particular, we outline a specific design of a DNA-based complex which we call “DNA spider,” that acts as a smart interparticle linker and provides a built-in cooperativity of binding. We demonstrate versatility of the sequential self-assembly based on spider-functionalized particles by designing several mesostructures of increasing complexity and simulating their assembly process. This includes a number of finite and repeating structures, in particular, the so-called tetrahelix and its several derivatives. Due to its generality, this approach allows one to design and successfully self-assemble virtually any structure made of a “GEOMAG” magnetic construction toy, out of nanoparticles. According to our results, once the binding cooperativity is strong enough, the sequential self-assembly becomes essentially error-free.« less

Sequential programmable self-assembly: Role of cooperative interactions

DOE PAGES

Jonathan D. Halverson; Tkachenko, Alexei V.

2016-03-04

Here, we propose a general strategy of “sequential programmable self-assembly” that enables a bottom-up design of arbitrary multi-particle architectures on nano- and microscales. We show that a naive realization of this scheme, based on the pairwise additive interactions between particles, has fundamental limitations that lead to a relatively high error rate. This can be overcome by using cooperative interparticle binding. The cooperativity is a well known feature of many biochemical processes, responsible, e.g., for signaling and regulations in living systems. Here we propose to utilize a similar strategy for high precision self-assembly, and show that DNA-mediated interactions provide a convenientmore » platform for its implementation. In particular, we outline a specific design of a DNA-based complex which we call “DNA spider,” that acts as a smart interparticle linker and provides a built-in cooperativity of binding. We demonstrate versatility of the sequential self-assembly based on spider-functionalized particles by designing several mesostructures of increasing complexity and simulating their assembly process. This includes a number of finite and repeating structures, in particular, the so-called tetrahelix and its several derivatives. Due to its generality, this approach allows one to design and successfully self-assemble virtually any structure made of a “GEOMAG” magnetic construction toy, out of nanoparticles. According to our results, once the binding cooperativity is strong enough, the sequential self-assembly becomes essentially error-free.« less

Firefighters' communication transceiver test plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, R. J.

1984-05-01

The requirements for the operational testing of the firefighters communication transceiver were identified. The major concerns centered around the integrity and reliability of the firefighter/microphone interface. The major concern about the radio hardware was that it be intrinsically safe in hazardous atmospheres and that the system not interfere with the fit or facial seal of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The greatest concern for operational testing purposes as the reliability and clarity of the line of communication between the firefighter and those on the fireground with whom he must maintain contact. A desire to test any units developed in both training exercises and in real responses to hazardous material incidents was expressed. It is felt that a VOX-microphone built into the SCBA facemask gives the best performance. A voice-pickup product device which combines a bone conduction microphone and a speaker into a single ear mounted unit is examined.

Firefighters' communication transceiver test plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wallace, R. J.

1984-01-01

The requirements for the operational testing of the firefighters communication transceiver were identified. The major concerns centered around the integrity and reliability of the firefighter/microphone interface. The major concern about the radio hardware was that it be intrinsically safe in hazardous atmospheres and that the system not interfere with the fit or facial seal of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The greatest concern for operational testing purposes as the reliability and clarity of the line of communication between the firefighter and those on the fireground with whom he must maintain contact. A desire to test any units developed in both training exercises and in real responses to hazardous material incidents was expressed. It is felt that a VOX-microphone built into the SCBA facemask gives the best performance. A voice-pickup product device which combines a bone conduction microphone and a speaker into a single ear mounted unit is examined.

Construction of a High Temperature Teg Measurement System for the Evaluation of Thermoelectric Oxide Modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Populoh, S.; Trottmann, M.; Brunko, O. C.; Thiel, P.; Weidenkaff, A.

2013-08-01

A dedicated test stand was developed and built to characterize the efficiency, power output and open circuit voltage of various thermoelectric generators (TEGs) based on tellurides, heusler compounds and thermoelectric oxides. The test stand allows measurements of TEGs of sizes up to 4 cm × 4 cm at hot side temperatures up to 1150 K in different atmospheres. Special care was taken about the heat flux measurement by precise measurement of the temperature distribution within the reference block. In order to demonstrate the functionality of the test stand thermoelectric oxide modules (TOM) were built from n-type perovskite-type manganates and p-type cuprates. The modules were tested regarding their stability, maximum power output and efficiency at temperatures up to 1100 K. The TOMs withstand large temperature gradients and operated in ambient air yielding high power densities.

Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolutionary Strategy for Drift Correction of Electronic Nose Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Carlo, S.; Falasconi, M.; Sanchez, E.; Sberveglieri, G.; Scionti, A.; Squillero, G.; Tonda, A.

2011-09-01

Electronic Noses (ENs) might represent a simple, fast, high sample throughput and economic alternative to conventional analytical instruments [1]. However, gas sensors drift still limits the EN adoption in real industrial setups due to high recalibration effort and cost [2]. In fact, pattern recognition (PaRC) models built in the training phase become useless after a period of time, in some cases a few weeks. Although algorithms to mitigate the drift date back to the early 90 this is still a challenging issue for the chemical sensor community [3]. Among other approaches, adaptive drift correction methods adjust the PaRC model in parallel with data acquisition without need of periodic calibration. Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) [4] and Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) networks [5] have been already tested in the past with fair success. This paper presents and discusses an original methodology based on a Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES) [6], suited for stochastic optimization of complex problems.

High-Resolution Uitra Low Power, Intergrated Aftershock and Microzonation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passmore, P.; Zimakov, L. G.

2012-12-01

Rapid Aftershock Mobilization plays an essential role in the understanding of both focal mechanism and rupture propagation caused by strong earthquakes. A quick assessment of the data provides a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of the entire earthquake process in-situ. Aftershock study also provides practical information for local authorities regarding the post earthquake activity, which is very important in order to conduct the necessary actions for public safety in the area affected by the strong earthquake. Refraction Technology, Inc. has developed a self-contained, fully integrated Aftershock System, model 160-03, providing the customer simple and quick deployment during aftershock emergency mobilization and microzonation studies. The 160-03 has no external cables or peripheral equipment for command/control and operation in the field. The 160-03 contains three major components integrated in one case: a) 24-bit resolution state-of-the art low power ADC with CPU and Lid interconnect boards; b) power source; and c) three component 2 Hz sensors (two horizontals and one vertical), and built-in ±4g accelerometer. Optionally, the 1 Hz sensors can be built-in the 160-03 system at the customer's request. The self-contained rechargeable battery pack provides power autonomy up to 7 days during data acquisition at 200 sps on continuous three weak motion and triggered three strong motion recording channels. For longer power autonomy, the 160-03 Aftershock System battery pack can be charged from an external source (solar power system). The data in the field is recorded to a built-in swappable USB flash drive. The 160-03 configuration is fixed based on a configuration file stored on the system, so no external command/control interface is required for parameter setup in the field. For visual control of the system performance in the field, the 160-03 has a built-in LED display which indicates the systems recording status as well as a hot swappable USB drive and battery status. The detailed specifications and performance are presented and discussed.;

Cable testing for Fermilab's high field magnets using small racetrack coils

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

Feher, S.; Ambrosio, G.; Andreev, N.

As part of the High Field Magnet program at Fermilab simple magnets have been designed utilizing small racetrack coils based on a sound mechanical structure and bladder technique developed by LBNL. Two of these magnets have been built in order to test Nb{sub 3}Sn cables used in cos-theta dipole models. The powder-in-tube strand based cable exhibited excellent performance. It reached its critical current limit within 14 quenches. Modified jelly roll strand based cable performance was limited by magnetic instabilities at low fields as previously tested dipole models which used similar cable.

Built-up Areas Extraction in High Resolution SAR Imagery based on the method of Multiple Feature Weighted Fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, X.; Zhang, J. X.; Zhao, Z.; Ma, A. D.

2015-06-01

Synthetic aperture radar in the application of remote sensing technology is becoming more and more widely because of its all-time and all-weather operation, feature extraction research in high resolution SAR image has become a hot topic of concern. In particular, with the continuous improvement of airborne SAR image resolution, image texture information become more abundant. It's of great significance to classification and extraction. In this paper, a novel method for built-up areas extraction using both statistical and structural features is proposed according to the built-up texture features. First of all, statistical texture features and structural features are respectively extracted by classical method of gray level co-occurrence matrix and method of variogram function, and the direction information is considered in this process. Next, feature weights are calculated innovatively according to the Bhattacharyya distance. Then, all features are weighted fusion. At last, the fused image is classified with K-means classification method and the built-up areas are extracted after post classification process. The proposed method has been tested by domestic airborne P band polarization SAR images, at the same time, two groups of experiments based on the method of statistical texture and the method of structural texture were carried out respectively. On the basis of qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis based on the built-up area selected artificially is enforced, in the relatively simple experimentation area, detection rate is more than 90%, in the relatively complex experimentation area, detection rate is also higher than the other two methods. In the study-area, the results show that this method can effectively and accurately extract built-up areas in high resolution airborne SAR imagery.

Differences in associations between active transportation and built environmental exposures when expressed using different components of individual activity spaces.

PubMed

van Heeswijck, Torbjorn; Paquet, Catherine; Kestens, Yan; Thierry, Benoit; Morency, Catherine; Daniel, Mark

2015-05-01

This study assessed relationships between built environmental exposures measured within components of individual activity spaces (i.e., travel origins, destinations and paths in-between), and use of active transportation in a metropolitan setting. Individuals (n=37,165) were categorised as using active or sedentary transportation based on travel survey data. Generalised Estimating Equations analysis was used to test relationships with active transportation. Strength and significance of relationships between exposures and active transportation varied for different components of the activity space. Associations were strongest when including travel paths in expression of the built environment. Land use mix and greenness were negatively related to active transportation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-assembling, protein-based intracellular bacterial organelles: emerging vehicles for encapsulating, targeting and delivering therapeutical cargoes

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Many bacterial species contain intracellular nano- and micro-compartments consisting of self-assembling proteins that form protein-only shells. These structures are built up by combinations of a reduced number of repeated elements, from 60 repeated copies of one unique structural element self-assembled in encapsulins of 24 nm to 10,000-20,000 copies of a few protein species assembled in a organelle of around 100-150 nm in cross-section. However, this apparent simplicity does not correspond to the structural and functional sophistication of some of these organelles. They package, by not yet definitely solved mechanisms, one or more enzymes involved in specific metabolic pathways, confining such reactions and sequestering or increasing the inner concentration of unstable, toxics or volatile intermediate metabolites. From a biotechnological point of view, we can use the self assembling properties of these particles for directing shell assembling and enzyme packaging, mimicking nature to design new applications in biotechnology. Upon appropriate engineering of the building blocks, they could act as a new family of self-assembled, protein-based vehicles in Nanomedicine to encapsulate, target and deliver therapeutic cargoes to specific cell types and/or tissues. This would provide a new, intriguing platform of microbial origin for drug delivery. PMID:22046962

An approach to built-in test for shipboard machinery systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hegner, H. R.

This paper presents an approach for incorporating built-in test (BIT) into shipboard machinery systems. BIT, as used herein, denotes both built-in test and on-line monitoring. Since sensors are a key element to a successful machinery monitoring system, an assessment of shipboard sensors is included in the paper. Specific design examples are also presented for a marine diesel engine, gas turbine engine, and air conditioning plant.

Accuracy and Cost-Effectiveness of Cervical Cancer Screening by High-Risk HPV DNA Testing of Self-Collected Vaginal Samples

PubMed Central

Balasubramanian, Akhila; Kulasingam, Shalini L.; Baer, Atar; Hughes, James P.; Myers, Evan R.; Mao, Constance; Kiviat, Nancy B.; Koutsky, Laura A.

2010-01-01

Objective Estimate the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening strategies based on high-risk HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples. Materials and Methods A subset of 1,665 women (18-50 years of age) participating in a cervical cancer screening study were screened by liquid-based cytology and by high-risk HPV DNA testing of both self-collected vaginal swab samples and clinician-collected cervical samples. Women with positive/abnormal screening test results and a subset of women with negative screening test results were triaged to colposcopy. Based on individual and combined test results, five screening strategies were defined. Estimates of sensitivity and specificity for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse were calculated and a Markov model was used to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each strategy. Results Compared to cytology-based screening, high-risk HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples was more sensitive (68%, 95%CI=58%-78% versus 85%, 95%CI=76%-94%) but less specific (89%, 95%CI=86%-91% versus 73%, 95%CI=67%-79%). A strategy of high-risk HPV DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples followed by cytology triage of HPV positive women, was comparably sensitive (75%, 95%CI=64%-86%) and specific (88%, 95%CI=85%-92%) to cytology-based screening. In-home self-collection for high-risk HPV DNA detection followed by in-clinic cytology triage had a slightly lower lifetime cost and a slightly higher quality-adjusted life expectancy than did cytology-based screening (ICER of triennial screening compared to no screening was $9,871/QALY and $12,878/QALY, respectively). Conclusions Triennial screening by high-risk HPV DNA testing of in-home, self-collected vaginal samples followed by in-clinic cytology triage was cost-effective. PMID:20592553

Active application of primer acid on acid-treated enamel: Influence on the bond effectiveness of self-etch adhesives systems.

PubMed

Araújo, Cíntia Tereza Pimenta; Prieto, Lúcia Trazzi; Costa, Daiane Cristianismo; Bosso, Mariana Avalone; Coppini, Erick Kamiya; Dias, Carlos Tadeu Santos; Paulillo, Luis Alexandre Maffei Sartini

2017-08-01

Evaluate the composite-to-enamel bond after passive or active application of self-etching primer systems on polished or pre-etched enamel with phosphoric acid. Two self-etch adhesives systems (SEAS) were used: Clearfil SE Bond and Easy Bond. Third human molars were divided into 8 groups (N = 10). The crown of each tooth was sectioned into halves and the mesial/distal surfaces were used. The adhesives were actively or passively applied on enamel with or without prior phosphoric-acid etching. Resin composite cylinders were built after adhesive application. After stored in relative humidity for 24 hr/37°C the specimens were subjected to microshear test in universal testing a machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/minute. The results were analyzed with three-way ANOVA and the Tukey test. The enamel-etching pattern was evaluated under SEM. The 2-step SEAS system presented significantly higher adhesive bond strength means (47.37 MPa) than the 1-step (36.87 MPa). A poor enamel- etching pattern was observed in active mode showing irregular and short resin tags, however there was not compromised the bond strength. Active or passive application produced similar values of bond strength to enamel regardless of enamel pretreatment and type of SEAS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Decoding spectrotemporal features of overt and covert speech from the human cortex

PubMed Central

Martin, Stéphanie; Brunner, Peter; Holdgraf, Chris; Heinze, Hans-Jochen; Crone, Nathan E.; Rieger, Jochem; Schalk, Gerwin; Knight, Robert T.; Pasley, Brian N.

2014-01-01

Auditory perception and auditory imagery have been shown to activate overlapping brain regions. We hypothesized that these phenomena also share a common underlying neural representation. To assess this, we used electrocorticography intracranial recordings from epileptic patients performing an out loud or a silent reading task. In these tasks, short stories scrolled across a video screen in two conditions: subjects read the same stories both aloud (overt) and silently (covert). In a control condition the subject remained in a resting state. We first built a high gamma (70–150 Hz) neural decoding model to reconstruct spectrotemporal auditory features of self-generated overt speech. We then evaluated whether this same model could reconstruct auditory speech features in the covert speech condition. Two speech models were tested: a spectrogram and a modulation-based feature space. For the overt condition, reconstruction accuracy was evaluated as the correlation between original and predicted speech features, and was significant in each subject (p < 10−5; paired two-sample t-test). For the covert speech condition, dynamic time warping was first used to realign the covert speech reconstruction with the corresponding original speech from the overt condition. Reconstruction accuracy was then evaluated as the correlation between original and reconstructed speech features. Covert reconstruction accuracy was compared to the accuracy obtained from reconstructions in the baseline control condition. Reconstruction accuracy for the covert condition was significantly better than for the control condition (p < 0.005; paired two-sample t-test). The superior temporal gyrus, pre- and post-central gyrus provided the highest reconstruction information. The relationship between overt and covert speech reconstruction depended on anatomy. These results provide evidence that auditory representations of covert speech can be reconstructed from models that are built from an overt speech data set, supporting a partially shared neural substrate. PMID:24904404

Realtime system for GLAS on WHT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skvarč, Jure; Tulloch, Simon; Myers, Richard M.

2006-06-01

The new ground layer adaptive optics system (GLAS) on the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma will be based on the existing natural guide star adaptive optics system called NAOMI. A part of the new developments is a new control system for the tip-tilt mirror. Instead of the existing system, built around a custom built multiprocessor computer made of C40 DSPs, this system uses an ordinary PC machine and a Linux operating system. It is equipped with a high sensitivity L3 CCD camera with effective readout noise of nearly zero. The software design for the tip-tilt system is being completely redeveloped, in order to make a use of object oriented design which should facilitate easier integration with the rest of the observing system at the WHT. The modular design of the system allows incorporation of different centroiding and loop control methods. To test the system off-sky, we have built a laboratory bench using an artificial light source and a tip-tilt mirror. We present results of tip-tilt correction quality using different centroiding algorithms and different control loop methods at different light levels. This system will serve as a testing ground for a transition to a completely PC-based real-time control system.

Credit BG. View looking southwest at Test Stand "D" complex. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit BG. View looking southwest at Test Stand "D" complex. In the background at left is the Steam Generator Plant 4280/E-81 built in 1972 to house four gas-fired Clayton flash boilers. The boilers were later supplemented by the electrically heated steam accumulator (sphere) to supply steam to the various ejectors at Test Stand "D" vacuum test cells - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Test Stand D, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

Implementation and validation of a CubeSat laser transmitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kingsbury, R. W.; Caplan, D. O.; Cahoy, K. L.

2016-03-01

The paper presents implementation and validation results for a CubeSat-scale laser transmitter. The master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) design produces a 1550 nm, 200mW average power optical signal through the use of a directly modulated laser diode and a commercial fiber amplifier. The prototype design produces high-fidelity M-ary pulse position modulated (PPM) waveforms (M=8 to 128), targeting data rates > 10 Mbit/s while meeting a constraining 8W power allocation. We also present the implementation of an avalanche photodiode (APD) receiver with measured transmitter-to-receiver performance within 3 dB of theory. Via loopback, the compact receiver design can provide built-in self-test and calibration capabilities, and supports incremental on-orbit testing of the design.

Gender stereotype-consistent memories: How system justification motivation distorts the recollection of information related to the self.

PubMed

Bonnot, Virginie; Krauth-Gruber, Silvia

2018-01-01

Research based on system justification theory has shown that women's self-perceptions may be altered by the motivation to justify the system and its inequalities. Self-perceptions being built on past experiences, the present study aimed to explore how system justification motivation induced through a system dependency manipulation may alter both women's recall of autobiographical memories and their behavior. Women who were led to feel highly dependent on the social system perceived themselves as more competent and recalled memories of higher competence in the verbal domain compared with the negatively stereotyped scientific domain. Women's behavioral choices (between doing a verbal or a math exercise) also revealed a higher preference for the gender stereotype-consistent verbal exercise in the high-system dependency condition, as compared with the low-system dependency condition. These results suggest that gender stereotypes may not only satisfy self- or group-serving motivation but also the need to perceive the system in a positive light.

Integrating Problem-Based Learning and Simulation: Effects on Student Motivation and Life Skills.

PubMed

Roh, Young Sook; Kim, Sang Suk

2015-07-01

Previous research has suggested that a teaching strategy integrating problem-based learning and simulation may be superior to traditional lecture. The purpose of this study was to assess learner motivation and life skills before and after taking a course involving problem-based learning and simulation. The design used repeated measures with a convenience sample of 83 second-year nursing students who completed the integrated course. Data from a self-administered questionnaire measuring learner motivation and life skills were collected at pretest, post-problem-based learning, and post-simulation time points. Repeated-measures analysis of variance determined that the mean scores for total learner motivation (F=6.62, P=.003), communication (F=8.27, P<.001), problem solving (F=6.91, P=.001), and self-directed learning (F=4.45, P=.016) differed significantly between time points. Post hoc tests using the Bonferroni correction revealed that total learner motivation and total life skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation and from post-problem-based learning test to postsimulation test. Subscales of learner motivation and life skills, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem-solving skills, and self-directed learning skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation test and from post-problem-based learning test to post-simulation test. The results demonstrate that an integrating problem-based learning and simulation course elicits significant improvement in learner motivation and life skills. Simulation plus problem-based learning is more effective than problem-based learning alone at increasing intrinsic goal orientation, task value, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem solving, and self-directed learning.

Self-activated ultrahigh chemosensitivity of oxide thin film nanostructures for transparent sensors

PubMed Central

Moon, Hi Gyu; Shim, Young-Soek; Kim, Do Hong; Jeong, Hu Young; Jeong, Myoungho; Jung, Joo Young; Han, Seung Min; Kim, Jong Kyu; Kim, Jin-Sang; Park, Hyung-Ho; Lee, Jong-Heun; Tuller, Harry L.; Yoon, Seok-Jin; Jang, Ho Won

2012-01-01

One of the top design priorities for semiconductor chemical sensors is developing simple, low-cost, sensitive and reliable sensors to be built in handheld devices. However, the need to implement heating elements in sensor devices, and the resulting high power consumption, remains a major obstacle for the realization of miniaturized and integrated chemoresistive thin film sensors based on metal oxides. Here we demonstrate structurally simple but extremely efficient all oxide chemoresistive sensors with ~90% transmittance at visible wavelengths. Highly effective self-activation in anisotropically self-assembled nanocolumnar tungsten oxide thin films on glass substrate with indium-tin oxide electrodes enables ultrahigh response to nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds with detection limits down to parts per trillion levels and power consumption less than 0.2 microwatts. Beyond the sensing performance, high transparency at visible wavelengths creates opportunities for their use in transparent electronic circuitry and optoelectronic devices with avenues for further functional convergence. PMID:22905319

Changes in self-reported disability after performance-based tests in obese and non-obese individuals diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee.

PubMed

Coriolano, Kamary; Aiken, Alice; Pukall, Caroline; Harrison, Mark

2015-01-01

The purposes of this study are three-fold: (1) To examine whether the WOMAC questionnaire should be obtained before or after performance-based tests. (2) To assess whether self-reported disability scores before and after performance-based tests differ between obese and non-obese individuals. (3) To observe whether physical activity and BMI predict self-reported disability before and after performance based tests. A longitudinal study included thirty one participants diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis (OA) using the Kellgren-Lawrence Scale by an orthopedic surgeon. All WOMAC scores were significantly higher after as compared to before the completion of performance-based tests. This pattern of results suggested that the WOMAC questionnaire should be administered to individuals with OA after performance-based tests. The obese OA was significantly different compared to the non-obese OA group on all WOMAC scores. Physical activity and BMI explained a significant proportion of variance of self-reported disability. Obese individuals with knee OA may over-estimate their ability to perform physical activities, and may under-estimate their level of disability compared to non-obese individuals with knee OA. In addition, self-reported physical activity seems to be a strong indicator of disability in individuals with knee OA, particularly for individuals with a sedentary life style. Implications for Rehabilitation Osteoarthritis is a progressive joint disabling condition that restricts physical function and participation in daily activities, particularity in elderly individuals. Obesity is a comorbidity commonly associated with osteoarthritis and it appears to increase self-reported disability in those diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee. In a relatively small sample, this study recommends that rehabilitation professionals obtain self-report questionnaires of disability after performance-based tests in obese individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee as they are more likely to give an accurate representation of their level of ability at this time.

A Rule-Based Modeling for the Description of Flexible and Self-healing Business Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boukhebouze, Mohamed; Amghar, Youssef; Benharkat, Aïcha-Nabila; Maamar, Zakaria

In this paper we discuss the importance of ensuring that business processes are label robust and agile at the same time robust and agile. To this end, we consider reviewing the way business processes are managed. For instance we consider offering a flexible way to model processes so that changes in regulations are handled through some self-healing mechanisms. These changes may raise exceptions at run-time if not properly reflected on these processes. To this end we propose a new rule based model that adopts the ECA rules and is built upon formal tools. The business logic of a process can be summarized with a set of rules that implement an organization’s policies. Each business rule is formalized using our ECAPE formalism (Event-Condition-Action-Post condition- post Event). This formalism allows translating a process into a graph of rules that is analyzed in terms of reliably and flexibility.

Tensile bond strength of filled and unfilled adhesives to dentin.

PubMed

Braga, R R; Cesar, P F; Gonzaga, C C

2000-04-01

To determine the tensile bond strength of three filled and two unfilled adhesives applied to bovine dentin. Fragments of the labial dentin of bovine incisors were embedded in PVC cylinders with self-cure acrylic resin, and ground flat using 200 grit and 600 grit sandpaper. The following adhesive systems were tested (n=10): Prime & Bond NT, Prime & Bond NT dual cure, Prime & Bond 2.1, OptiBond Solo and Single Bond. A 3 mm-diameter bonding surface was delimited using a perforated adhesive tape. After etching with 37% phosphoric acid and adhesive application, a resin-based composite truncated cone (TPH, shade A3) was built. Tensile test was performed after 24 hrs storage in distilled water at 37 degrees C. Failure mode was accessed using a x10 magnification stereomicroscope. Weibull statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the characteristic strength between Single Bond and Prime & Bond NT dual cure, and between Single Bond and Prime & Bond 2.1. The Weibull parameter (m) was statistically similar among the five groups. Single Bond and Prime & Bond NT showed areas of dentin cohesive failure in most of the specimens. For OptiBond Solo, Prime & Bond NT dual cure and Prime & Bond 2.1 failure was predominantly adhesive.

Development and preliminary testing of a web-based, self-help application for disaster-affected families

PubMed Central

Yuen, Erica K; Gros, Kirstin; Welsh, Kyleen E; McCauley, Jenna; Resnick, Heidi S; Danielson, Carla K; Price, Matthew; Ruggiero, Kenneth J

2015-01-01

Technology-based self-help interventions have the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental healthcare, especially for families affected by natural disasters. However, development of these interventions is a complex process and poses unique challenges. Usability testing, which assesses the ability of individuals to use an application successfully, can have a significant impact on the quality of a self-help intervention. This article describes (a) the development of a novel web-based multi-module self-help intervention for disaster-affected adolescents and their parents and (b) a mixed-methods formal usability study to evaluate user response. A total of 24 adolescents were observed, videotaped, and interviewed as they used the depressed mood component of the self-help intervention. Quantitative results indicated an above-average user experience, and qualitative analysis identified 120 unique usability issues. We discuss the challenges of developing self-help applications, including design considerations and the value of usability testing in technology-based interventions, as well as our plan for widespread dissemination. PMID:25933798

Scaling, clustering and avalanches for steel beads in an external magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marquinez, Alyse; Thvedt, Ingrid; Lehman, S. Y.; Jacobs, D. T.

2011-03-01

We investigated avalanches using uniform 3mm steel spheres (``beads'') dropped onto a conical bead pile within a uniform magnetic field. The bead pile is built by pouring beads onto a circular base where the bottom layer of beads had been glued randomly. Beads are then individually dropped from a fixed height after which the pile is massed. This process is repeated for thousands of bead drops. By measuring the number of avalanches of a given size that occurred during the experiment, the resulting avalanche size distribution was compared to a power law description as predicted by self-organized criticality. As the magnetic field intensity increased, the beads clustered to give a larger angle of repose and we measured the change in the avalanche size distribution. The moments of the distribution give a sensitive test of mean-field theory as the universality class for these bead piles. We acknowledge support from Research Corporation and NSF-REU grant DMR 0649112.

Bidirectional private key exchange using delay-coupled semiconductor lasers.

PubMed

Porte, Xavier; Soriano, Miguel C; Brunner, Daniel; Fischer, Ingo

2016-06-15

We experimentally demonstrate a key exchange cryptosystem based on the phenomenon of identical chaos synchronization. In our protocol, the private key is symmetrically generated by the two communicating partners. It is built up from the synchronized bits occurring between two current-modulated bidirectionally coupled semiconductor lasers with additional self-feedback. We analyze the security of the exchanged key and discuss the amplification of its privacy. We demonstrate private key generation rates up to 11  Mbit/s over a public channel.

Injecting Errors for Testing Built-In Test Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gender, Thomas K.; Chow, James

2010-01-01

Two algorithms have been conceived to enable automated, thorough testing of Built-in test (BIT) software. The first algorithm applies to BIT routines that define pass/fail criteria based on values of data read from such hardware devices as memories, input ports, or registers. This algorithm simulates effects of errors in a device under test by (1) intercepting data from the device and (2) performing AND operations between the data and the data mask specific to the device. This operation yields values not expected by the BIT routine. This algorithm entails very small, permanent instrumentation of the software under test (SUT) for performing the AND operations. The second algorithm applies to BIT programs that provide services to users application programs via commands or callable interfaces and requires a capability for test-driver software to read and write the memory used in execution of the SUT. This algorithm identifies all SUT code execution addresses where errors are to be injected, then temporarily replaces the code at those addresses with small test code sequences to inject latent severe errors, then determines whether, as desired, the SUT detects the errors and recovers

Modeling and validation of photometric characteristics of space targets oriented to space-based observation.

PubMed

Wang, Hongyuan; Zhang, Wei; Dong, Aotuo

2012-11-10

A modeling and validation method of photometric characteristics of the space target was presented in order to track and identify different satellites effectively. The background radiation characteristics models of the target were built based on blackbody radiation theory. The geometry characteristics of the target were illustrated by the surface equations based on its body coordinate system. The material characteristics of the target surface were described by a bidirectional reflectance distribution function model, which considers the character of surface Gauss statistics and microscale self-shadow and is obtained by measurement and modeling in advance. The contributing surfaces of the target to observation system were determined by coordinate transformation according to the relative position of the space-based target, the background radiation sources, and the observation platform. Then a mathematical model on photometric characteristics of the space target was built by summing reflection components of all the surfaces. Photometric characteristics simulation of the space-based target was achieved according to its given geometrical dimensions, physical parameters, and orbital parameters. Experimental validation was made based on the scale model of the satellite. The calculated results fit well with the measured results, which indicates the modeling method of photometric characteristics of the space target is correct.

Flexible Self-Powered GaN Ultraviolet Photoswitch with Piezo-Phototronic Effect Enhanced On/Off Ratio.

PubMed

Peng, Mingzeng; Liu, Yudong; Yu, Aifang; Zhang, Yang; Liu, Caihong; Liu, Jingyu; Wu, Wei; Zhang, Ke; Shi, Xieqing; Kou, Jinzong; Zhai, Junyi; Wang, Zhong Lin

2016-01-26

Flexible self-powered sensing is urgently needed for wearable, portable, sustainable, maintenance-free and long-term applications. Here, we developed a flexible and self-powered GaN membrane-based ultraviolet (UV) photoswitch with high on/off ratio and excellent sensitivity. Even without any power supply, the driving force of UV photogenerated carriers can be well boosted by the combination of both built-in electric field and piezoelectric polarization field. The asymmetric metal-semiconductor-metal structure has been elaborately utilized to enhance the carrier separation and transport for highly sensitive UV photoresponse. Its UV on/off ratio and detection sensitivity reach to 4.67 × 10(5) and 1.78 × 10(12) cm·Hz(0.5) W(1-), respectively. Due to its excellent mechanical flexibility, the piezoelectric polarization field in GaN membrane can be easily tuned/controlled based on piezo-phototronic effect. Under 1% strain, a stronger and broader depletion region can be obtained to further enhance UV on/off ratio up to 154%. As a result, our research can not only provide a deep understanding of local electric field effects on self-powered optoelectronic detection, but also promote the development of self-powered flexible optoelectronic devices and integrated systems.

Using a Social Network Strategy to Distribute HIV Self-Test Kits to African American and Latino MSM.

PubMed

Lightfoot, Marguerita A; Campbell, Chadwick K; Moss, Nicholas; Treves-Kagan, Sarah; Agnew, Emily; Kang Dufour, Mi-Suk; Scott, Hyman; Sa'id, Aria M; Lippman, Sheri A

2018-05-04

Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately impacted globally by the HIV epidemic. Studies suggest that HIV Self-testing (HIVST) is highly acceptable among MSM. Social network strategies to increase testing are effective in reaching MSM, particularly MSM of color, who may not otherwise test. We tested a social-network based strategy to distribute HIVST kits to African American and Latino MSM. This study was conducted in Alameda County, California a large, urban/suburban county with an HIV epidemic mirroring the national HIV epidemic. From January 2016 to March 2017, 30 AAMSM, LMSM, and Transgender women were trained as peer recruiters and asked to distribute five self-test kits to MSM social network members and support those who test positive in linking to care. Testers completed an online survey following their test. We compared peer-distributed HIVST testing outcomes to outcomes from Alameda County's targeted, community-based HIV testing programs using chi-squared tests. Peers distributed HIVST to 143 social and sexual network members, of whom 110 completed the online survey. Compared to MSM who utilized the County's sponsored testing programs, individuals reached through the peer-based self-testing strategy were significantly more likely to have never tested for HIV (3.51% vs. 0.41%, p<0.01) and to report a positive test result (6.14% vs 1.49%, p<0.01). Findings suggest that a network-based strategy for self-test distribution is a promising intervention to increase testing uptake and reduce undiagnosed infections among African American and Latino MSM.

Self-Test Procedures for Gas Sensors Embedded in Microreactor Systems

PubMed Central

Helwig, Andreas; Hackner, Angelika; Zappa, Dario; Sberveglieri, Giorgio

2018-01-01

Metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors sensitively respond to a wide variety of combustible, explosive and poisonous gases. However, due to the lack of a built-in self-test capability, MOX gas sensors have not yet been able to penetrate safety-critical applications. In the present work we report on gas sensing experiments performed on MOX gas sensors embedded in ceramic micro-reaction chambers. With the help of an external micro-pump, such systems can be operated in a periodic manner alternating between flow and no-flow conditions, thus allowing repetitive measurements of the sensor resistances under clean air, R0, and under gas exposure, Rgas, to be obtained, even under field conditions. With these pairs of resistance values, eventual drifts in the sensor baseline resistance can be detected and drift-corrected values of the relative resistance response Resp=(R0−Rgas)/R0 can be determined. Residual poisoning-induced changes in the relative resistance response can be detected by reference to humidity measurements taken with room-temperature-operated capacitive humidity sensors which are insensitive to the poisoning processes operative on heated MOX gas sensors. PMID:29401673

Building Internet-Based Electronic Performance Support for Teaching and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laffey, James M.; Musser, Dale

The College of Education, University of Missouri-Columbia is developing and testing a suite of tools that utilize the Internet and work as a system to support learning from field experiences. These tools are built to support preservice teachers, field-based mentors, and college faculty as they collaborate, engage in practice, document their…

The relationship between the quality of the built environment and the quality of life of people with dementia in residential care.

PubMed

Fleming, Richard; Goodenough, Belinda; Low, Lee-Fay; Chenoweth, Lynn; Brodaty, Henry

2016-07-01

While there is considerable evidence on the impact of specific design features on problems associated with dementia, the link between the quality of the built environment and quality of life of people with dementia is largely unexplored. This study explored the environmental and personal characteristics that are associated with quality of life in people with dementia living in residential aged care. Data were obtained from 275 residents of 35 aged care homes and analysed using linear regression. The quality of the built environment was significantly associated with the quality of life of the resident measured by global self-report. Environmental ratings were not associated with proxy or detailed self-report ratings. Higher quality of life is associated with buildings that facilitate engagement with a variety of activities both inside and outside, are familiar, provide a variety of private and community spaces and the amenities and opportunities to take part in domestic activities. © The Author(s) 2014.

Using Elearning techniques to support problem based learning within a clinical simulation laboratory.

PubMed

Docherty, Charles; Hoy, Derek; Topp, Helena; Trinder, Kathryn

2004-01-01

This paper details the results of the first phase of a project that used eLearning to support students' learning within a simulated environment. The locus was a purpose built Clinical Simulation Laboratory (CSL) where the School's newly adopted philosophy of Problem Based Learning (PBL) was challenged through lecturers reverting to traditional teaching methods. The solution, a student-centred, problem-based approach to the acquisition of clinical skills was developed using learning objects embedded within web pages that substituted for lecturers providing instruction and demonstration. This allowed lecturers to retain their facilitator role, and encouraged students to explore, analyse and make decisions within the safety of a clinical simulation. Learning was enhanced through network communications and reflection on video performances of self and others. Evaluations were positive, students demonstrating increased satisfaction with PBL, improved performance in exams, and increased self-efficacy in the performance of nursing activities. These results indicate that an elearning approach can support PBL in delivering a student centred learning experience.

Self-organized modularization in evolutionary algorithms.

PubMed

Dauscher, Peter; Uthmann, Thomas

2005-01-01

The principle of modularization has proven to be extremely successful in the field of technical applications and particularly for Software Engineering purposes. The question to be answered within the present article is whether mechanisms can also be identified within the framework of Evolutionary Computation that cause a modularization of solutions. We will concentrate on processes, where modularization results only from the typical evolutionary operators, i.e. selection and variation by recombination and mutation (and not, e.g., from special modularization operators). This is what we call Self-Organized Modularization. Based on a combination of two formalizations by Radcliffe and Altenberg, some quantitative measures of modularity are introduced. Particularly, we distinguish Built-in Modularity as an inherent property of a genotype and Effective Modularity, which depends on the rest of the population. These measures can easily be applied to a wide range of present Evolutionary Computation models. It will be shown, both theoretically and by simulation, that under certain conditions, Effective Modularity (as defined within this paper) can be a selection factor. This causes Self-Organized Modularization to take place. The experimental observations emphasize the importance of Effective Modularity in comparison with Built-in Modularity. Although the experimental results have been obtained using a minimalist toy model, they can lead to a number of consequences for existing models as well as for future approaches. Furthermore, the results suggest a complex self-amplification of highly modular equivalence classes in the case of respected relations. Since the well-known Holland schemata are just the equivalence classes of respected relations in most Simple Genetic Algorithms, this observation emphasizes the role of schemata as Building Blocks (in comparison with arbitrary subsets of the search space).

Advancing Autonomous Operations for Deep Space Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haddock, Angie T.; Stetson, Howard K.

2014-01-01

Starting in Jan 2012, the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Autonomous Mission Operations (AMO) Project began to investigate the ability to create and execute "single button" crew initiated autonomous activities [1]. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) designed and built a fluid transfer hardware test-bed to use as a sub-system target for the investigations of intelligent procedures that would command and control a fluid transfer test-bed, would perform self-monitoring during fluid transfers, detect anomalies and faults, isolate the fault and recover the procedures function that was being executed, all without operator intervention. In addition to the development of intelligent procedures, the team is also exploring various methods for autonomous activity execution where a planned timeline of activities are executed autonomously and also the initial analysis of crew procedure development. This paper will detail the development of intelligent procedures for the NASA MSFC Autonomous Fluid Transfer System (AFTS) as well as the autonomous plan execution capabilities being investigated. Manned deep space missions, with extreme communication delays with Earth based assets, presents significant challenges for what the on-board procedure content will encompass as well as the planned execution of the procedures.

The development of poly(vinyl chloride) [PVC] extrusions for a 14,000-ton self-supporting structure for the detection of neutrinos

DOE PAGES

Grudzinski, James J.; Talaga, Richard L.; Pla-Dalmau, Anna; ...

2014-12-16

The NOvA Neutrino Experiment has built a one of a kind self-supporting plastic structure, potentially the largest ever built. The PVC structure serves as a neutrino detector and is composed of 28 individual blocks that measure 15.5 m (51 feet) high by 15.5 m (51 feet) wide by 2.1 m (7 feet) deep. The primary parts in the detector construction are 15.5m (51 foot), 15-cell PVC extrusions. These extrusions from the basis of the detector modules which are laminated together in a crossed pattern to form the individual blocks and then filled with mineral oil based liquid scintillator. The self-supportingmore » nature of the detector places important structural requirements on both the PVC formulation and the extrusions. Block assembly requirements impose narrow geometric tolerances. Due to the method of detecting neutrinos, the extrusions must possess exceptionally high reflectivity over a particular wavelength range. The requirement places additional restrictions on the components of the PVC formulation. Altogether, the PVC extrusions have to maintain important reflectivity characteristics, provide structural support to the detector, and meet relatively tight geometric requirements for assembly. In order to meet these constraints, a custom PVC formulation had to be created and extruded. Here, we describe the purpose and requirements of the NOvA detector leading to the production of our unique PVC extrusion, summarize the R&D process, and discuss the lessons learned.« less

Acceptability and feasibility of HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men in Peru and Brazil

PubMed Central

Volk, Jonathan E; Lippman, Sheri A; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Lama, Javier R; Fernandes, Nilo M; Gonzales, Pedro; Hessol, Nancy A; Buchbinder, Susan

2015-01-01

HIV self-testing has the potential to increase testing frequency and uptake. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of HIV self-testing in a sample of sexually active men who have sex with men in Peru and Brazil. Participants were trained to use a whole blood rapid HIV self-test and instructed to use the self-test monthly during this three-month study. Test acceptability was measured with self-reported use of the test at the one-month and three-month study visits, and test feasibility was assessed by direct observation of self-test administration at the final three-month visit. A total of 103 participants (52 in Peru and 51 in Brazil) were enrolled, and 86% completed the three-month study. Nearly all participants reported use of the self-test (97% at one-month and 98% at three-month visit), and all participants correctly interpreted the self-administered test results when observed using the test at the final study visit. HIV self-testing with a blood-based assay was highly acceptable and feasible. HIV self-testing may have the potential to increase testing frequency and to reach high-risk men who have sex with men not currently accessing HIV-testing services. PMID:25971262

Acceptability and feasibility of HIV self-testing among men who have sex with men in Peru and Brazil.

PubMed

Volk, Jonathan E; Lippman, Sheri A; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Lama, Javier R; Fernandes, Nilo M; Gonzales, Pedro; Hessol, Nancy A; Buchbinder, Susan

2016-06-01

HIV self-testing has the potential to increase testing frequency and uptake. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of HIV self-testing in a sample of sexually active men who have sex with men (MSM) in Peru and Brazil. Participants were trained to use a whole blood rapid HIV self-test and instructed to use the self-test monthly during this three-month study. Test acceptability was measured with self-reported use of the test at the one-month and three-month study visits, and test feasibility was assessed by direct observation of self-test administration at the final three-month visit. A total of 103 participants (52 in Peru and 51 in Brazil) were enrolled, and 86% completed the three-month study. Nearly all participants reported use of the self-test (97% at one-month and 98% at three-month visit), and all participants correctly interpreted the self-administered test results when observed using the test at the final study visit. HIV self-testing with a blood-based assay was highly acceptable and feasible. HIV self-testing may have the potential to increase testing frequency and to reach high-risk MSM not currently accessing HIV-testing services. © The Author(s) 2015.

Towards an exact correlated orbital theory for electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartlett, Rodney J.

2009-12-01

The formal and computational attraction of effective one-particle theories like Hartree-Fock and density functional theory raise the question of how far such approaches can be taken to offer exact results for selected properties of electrons in atoms, molecules, and solids. Some properties can be exactly described within an effective one-particle theory, like principal ionization potentials and electron affinities. This fact can be used to develop equations for a correlated orbital theory (COT) that guarantees a correct one-particle energy spectrum. They are built upon a coupled-cluster based frequency independent self-energy operator presented here, which distinguishes the approach from Dyson theory. The COT also offers an alternative to Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT), whose objective is to represent the electronic density exactly as a single determinant, while paying less attention to the energy spectrum. For any estimate of two-electron terms COT offers a litmus test of its accuracy for principal Ip's and Ea's. This feature for approximating the COT equations is illustrated numerically.

Condition monitoring of 3G cellular networks through competitive neural models.

PubMed

Barreto, Guilherme A; Mota, João C M; Souza, Luis G M; Frota, Rewbenio A; Aguayo, Leonardo

2005-09-01

We develop an unsupervised approach to condition monitoring of cellular networks using competitive neural algorithms. Training is carried out with state vectors representing the normal functioning of a simulated CDMA2000 network. Once training is completed, global and local normality profiles (NPs) are built from the distribution of quantization errors of the training state vectors and their components, respectively. The global NP is used to evaluate the overall condition of the cellular system. If abnormal behavior is detected, local NPs are used in a component-wise fashion to find abnormal state variables. Anomaly detection tests are performed via percentile-based confidence intervals computed over the global and local NPs. We compared the performance of four competitive algorithms [winner-take-all (WTA), frequency-sensitive competitive learning (FSCL), self-organizing map (SOM), and neural-gas algorithm (NGA)] and the results suggest that the joint use of global and local NPs is more efficient and more robust than current single-threshold methods.

Effects of buffer size and shape on associations between the built environment and energy balance.

PubMed

James, Peter; Berrigan, David; Hart, Jaime E; Hipp, J Aaron; Hoehner, Christine M; Kerr, Jacqueline; Major, Jacqueline M; Oka, Masayoshi; Laden, Francine

2014-05-01

Uncertainty in the relevant spatial context may drive heterogeneity in findings on the built environment and energy balance. To estimate the effect of this uncertainty, we conducted a sensitivity analysis defining intersection and business densities and counts within different buffer sizes and shapes on associations with self-reported walking and body mass index. Linear regression results indicated that the scale and shape of buffers influenced study results and may partly explain the inconsistent findings in the built environment and energy balance literature. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Micelle structure in a deep eutectic solvent: a small-angle scattering study.

PubMed

Sanchez-Fernandez, A; Edler, K J; Arnold, T; Heenan, R K; Porcar, L; Terrill, N J; Terry, A E; Jackson, A J

2016-05-18

In recent years many studies into green solvents have been undertaken and deep eutectic solvents (DES) have emerged as sustainable and green alternatives to conventional solvents since they may be formed from cheap non-toxic organic precursors. In this study we examine amphiphile behaviour in these novel media to test our understanding of amphiphile self-assembly within environments that have an intermediate polarity between polar and non-polar extremes. We have built on our recently published results to present a more detailed structural characterisation of micelles of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) within the eutectic mixture of choline chloride and urea. Here we show that SDS adopts an unusual cylindrical aggregate morphology, unlike that seen in water and other polar solvents. A new morphology transition to shorter aggregates was found with increasing concentration. The self-assembly of SDS was also investigated in the presence of water; which promotes the formation of shorter aggregates.

Self-esteem among nursing assistants: reliability and validity of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

PubMed

McMullen, Tara; Resnick, Barbara

2013-01-01

To establish the reliability and validity of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) when used with nursing assistants (NAs). Testing the RSES used baseline data from a randomized controlled trial testing the Res-Care Intervention. Female NAs were recruited from nursing homes (n = 508). Validity testing for the positive and negative subscales of the RSES was based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modeling and Rasch analysis. Estimates of reliability were based on Rasch analysis and the person separation index. Evidence supports the reliability and validity of the RSES in NAs although we recommend minor revisions to the measure for subsequent use. Establishing reliable and valid measures of self-esteem in NAs will facilitate testing of interventions to strengthen workplace self-esteem, job satisfaction, and retention.

Evolution and Our Inner Conflict

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Edward O.

2013-01-01

Are human beings intrinsically good but corruptible by the forces of evil, or the reverse, innately sinful yet redeemable by the forces of good? Are people built to pledge their lives to a group, even to the risk of death, or the opposite, built to place one's self and one's families above all else? Scientific evidence, a good part of it…

Using a Web-Based Approach to Assess Test-Retest Reliability of the "Hypertension Self-Care Profile" Tool in an Asian Population: A Validation Study.

PubMed

Koh, Yi Ling Eileen; Lua, Yi Hui Adela; Hong, Liyue; Bong, Huey Shin Shirley; Yeo, Ling Sui Jocelyn; Tsang, Li Ping Marianne; Ong, Kai Zhi; Wong, Sook Wai Samantha; Tan, Ngiap Chuan

2016-03-01

Essential hypertension often requires affected patients to self-manage their condition most of the time. Besides seeking regular medical review of their life-long condition to detect vascular complications, patients have to maintain healthy lifestyles in between physician consultations via diet and physical activity, and to take their medications according to their prescriptions. Their self-management ability is influenced by their self-efficacy capacity, which can be assessed using questionnaire-based tools. The "Hypertension Self-Care Profile" (HTN-SCP) is 1 such questionnaire assessing self-efficacy in the domains of "behavior," "motivation," and "self-efficacy." This study aims to determine the test-retest reliability of HTN-SCP in an English-literate Asian population using a web-based approach. Multiethnic Asian patients, aged 40 years and older, with essential hypertension were recruited from a typical public primary care clinic in Singapore. The investigators guided the patients to fill up the web-based 60-item HTN-SCP in English using a tablet or smartphone on the first visit and refilled the instrument 2 weeks later in the retest. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated using Cronbach's Alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), respectively. The t test was used to determine the relationship between the overall HTN-SCP scores of the patients and their self-reported self-management activities. A total of 160 patients completed the HTN-SCP during the initial test, from which 71 test-retest responses were completed. No floor or ceiling effect was found for the scores for the 3 subscales. Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were 0.857, 0.948, and 0.931 for "behavior," "motivation," and "self-efficacy" domains respectively, indicating high internal consistency. The item-total correlation ranges for the 3 scales were from 0.105 to 0.656 for Behavior, 0.401 to 0.808 for Motivation, 0.349 to 0.789 for Self-efficacy. The corresponding ICC scores of 0.671, 0.762, and 0.720 for these respective domains showed good test-retest reliability. The correlation of the HTN-SCP scores and patients' reported self-management measures were significant, except for keeping their food diary. HTN-SCP showed satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability in an English literate Asian population. A web-based approach is feasible if similar studies are needed to validate its translated versions of the tool for wider application in the local multilingual population.

[Construction and validation of an evaluation tool of sexual health using self-administered questionnaires for an application to metabolic diseases].

PubMed

Petit, F; Hubert-Buron, A; Mollet-Boudjemline, A; Sechepine, A; Milcent, K; Guyonnet, C; Labrune, P

2013-03-01

To elaborate and validate in general population a survey built with self-administered questionnaires in French about evaluation of sexual health for an application to men and women with metabolic disease. Study built with four questionnaires (socio-familial environment [MSPSS scale], self-esteem [Rosenberg scale], anxiety and depression scale [Sigmund and Snaith scale], and male [BISF-M] or female [BISF-W] sexuality) translated in French and distributed to 232 men and 260 women. Hundred and eleven men aged 18 to 56 years and 142 women aged 20 to 60 years answered the self-administered questionnaire. Analysis showed several links between self-esteem, anxiety and depression and the different domains of male sexuality, justifying their association. Comparison between men and women confirmed the differences of sexual approach between the two sexes. Results in our population were concordant with those already reported in literature, indicating the validity and the reliability of our questionnaire and its multiparametric approach. Data obtained in this population will allow to use this multiparametric tool with patients affected by a metabolic disease. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Rural Youth Culture: "Keten" in the Netherlands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haartsen, Tialda; Strijker, Dirk

2010-01-01

A remarkable present-day phenomenon in rural areas in the Netherlands is that young people, mostly males, often meet in small groups in self-built or at least self-fitted out sheds or caravans ("keten"). At first glance, these "keten" seem to be substitutes for more official entertainment sites in the relatively sparsely…

The use of programmable logic controllers (PLC) for rocket engine component testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nail, William; Scheuermann, Patrick; Witcher, Kern

1991-01-01

Application of PLCs to the rocket engine component testing at a new Stennis Space Center Component Test Facility is suggested as an alternative to dedicated specialized computers. The PLC systems are characterized by rugged design, intuitive software, fault tolerance, flexibility, multiple end device options, networking capability, and built-in diagnostics. A distributed PLC-based system is projected to be used for testing LH2/LOx turbopumps required for the ALS/NLS rocket engines.

Strongly Coupled Fluid-Body Dynamics in the Immersed Boundary Projection Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chengjie; Eldredge, Jeff D.

2014-11-01

A computational algorithm is developed to simulate dynamically coupled interaction between fluid and rigid bodies. The basic computational framework is built upon a multi-domain immersed boundary method library, whirl, developed in previous work. In this library, the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow are solved on a uniform Cartesian grid by the vorticity-based immersed boundary projection method of Colonius and Taira. A solver for the dynamics of rigid-body systems is also included. The fluid and rigid-body solvers are strongly coupled with an iterative approach based on the block Gauss-Seidel method. Interfacial force, with its intimate connection with the Lagrange multipliers used in the fluid solver, is used as the primary iteration variable. Relaxation, developed from a stability analysis of the iterative scheme, is used to achieve convergence in only 2-4 iterations per time step. Several two- and three-dimensional numerical tests are conducted to validate and demonstrate the method, including flapping of flexible wings, self-excited oscillations of a system of linked plates and three-dimensional propulsion of flexible fluked tail. This work has been supported by AFOSR, under Award FA9550-11-1-0098.

Photocatalytic oxide films in the built environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Österlund, Lars; Topalian, Zareh

2014-11-01

The possibility to increase human comfort in buildings is a powerful driving force for the introduction of new technology. Among other things our sense of comfort depends on air quality, temperature, lighting level, and the possibility of having visual contact between indoors and outdoors. Indeed there is an intimate connection between energy, comfort, and health issues in the built environment, leading to a need for intelligent building materials and green architecture. Photocatalytic materials can be applied as coatings, filters, and be embedded in building materials to provide self-cleaning, antibacterial, air cleaning, deodorizing, and water cleaning functions utilizing either solar light or artificial illumination sources - either already present in buildings, or by purposefully designed luminaries. Huge improvements in indoor comfort can thus be made, and also alleviate negative health effects associated with buildings, such as the sick-house syndrome. At the same time huge cost savings can be made by reducing maintenance costs. Photocatalytic oxides can be chemically modified by changing their acid-base surface properties, which can be used to overcome deactivation problems commonly encountered for TiO2 in air cleaning applications. In addition, the wetting properties of oxides can be tailored by surface chemical modifications and thus be made e.g. oleophobic and water repellent. Here we show results of surface acid modified TiO2 coatings on various substrates by means of photo-fixation of surface sulfate species by a method invented in our group. In particular, we show that such surface treatments of photocatalytic concrete made by mixing TiO2 nanoparticles in reactive concrete powders result in concrete surfaces with beneficial self-cleaning properties. We propose that such approaches are feasible for a number of applications in the built environment, including glass, tiles, sheet metals, plastics, etc.

Optical correlators for recognition of human face thermal images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Joanna; Podbielska, Halina; Suchwalko, Artur; Mazurkiewicz, Jacek

2005-09-01

In this paper, the application of the optical correlators for face thermograms recognition is described. The thermograms were colleted from 27 individuals. For each person 10 pictures in different conditions were recorded and the data base composed of 270 images was prepared. Two biometric systems based on joint transform correlator and 4f correlator were built. Each system was designed for realizing two various tasks: verification and identification. The recognition systems were tested and evaluated according to the Face Recognition Vendor Tests (FRVT).

In vitro assessment of competency for different lingual brackets in sliding mechanics.

PubMed

Lalithapriya, S; Kumaran, N Kurunji; Rajasigamani, K

2015-01-01

To determine the static frictional resistance of different lingual brackets at different second order angulations when coupled with stainless steel (SS) archwire in dry and wet conditions. Using a modified jig, frictional resistance was evaluated under different conditions for a total of 270 upper premolar lingual brackets (0.018″ × 0.025″ - conventional - 7(th) generation and STb, self-ligating - evolution) with no in-built tip or torque together with 0.016″ × 0.022″ straight length SS archwires. For conventional brackets, the archwire was secured with 0.008″ preformed SS short ligature ties. One way analysis of variance with Tukey HSD as post-hoc test was applied for degree wise and bracket wise comparison within dry condition and wet condition. For pair wise comparison Student's t-test was used. Under both conditions the static frictional resistance is significantly higher for self-ligating brackets at 0°, while at 5° and 10° it is higher for 7(th) generation brackets. Statistically, significant difference does not exist at 0° between conventional brackets and the same was found at 5° and 10° between STb and self-ligating brackets. With an increase in second order angulations, all the evaluated samples exhibited an increased frictional value. Wet condition samples obtained a higher value than their corresponding dry condition. The self-ligating bracket evaluated in this in vitro study is not beneficial in reducing friction during en-mass retraction due to its interactive clip type.

Development and preliminary testing of a web-based, self-help application for disaster-affected families.

PubMed

Yuen, Erica K; Gros, Kirstin; Welsh, Kyleen E; McCauley, Jenna; Resnick, Heidi S; Danielson, Carla K; Price, Matthew; Ruggiero, Kenneth J

2016-09-01

Technology-based self-help interventions have the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental healthcare, especially for families affected by natural disasters. However, development of these interventions is a complex process and poses unique challenges. Usability testing, which assesses the ability of individuals to use an application successfully, can have a significant impact on the quality of a self-help intervention. This article describes (a) the development of a novel web-based multi-module self-help intervention for disaster-affected adolescents and their parents and (b) a mixed-methods formal usability study to evaluate user response. A total of 24 adolescents were observed, videotaped, and interviewed as they used the depressed mood component of the self-help intervention. Quantitative results indicated an above-average user experience, and qualitative analysis identified 120 unique usability issues. We discuss the challenges of developing self-help applications, including design considerations and the value of usability testing in technology-based interventions, as well as our plan for widespread dissemination. © The Author(s) 2015.

Selective buckling via states of self-stress in topological metamaterials

PubMed Central

Paulose, Jayson; Meeussen, Anne S.; Vitelli, Vincenzo

2015-01-01

States of self-stress—tensions and compressions of structural elements that result in zero net forces—play an important role in determining the load-bearing ability of structures ranging from bridges to metamaterials with tunable mechanical properties. We exploit a class of recently introduced states of self-stress analogous to topological quantum states to sculpt localized buckling regions in the interior of periodic cellular metamaterials. Although the topological states of self-stress arise in the linear response of an idealized mechanical frame of harmonic springs connected by freely hinged joints, they leave a distinct signature in the nonlinear buckling behavior of a cellular material built out of elastic beams with rigid joints. The salient feature of these localized buckling regions is that they are indistinguishable from their surroundings as far as material parameters or connectivity of their constituent elements are concerned. Furthermore, they are robust against a wide range of structural perturbations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this topological design through analytical and numerical calculations as well as buckling experiments performed on two- and three-dimensional metamaterials built out of stacked kagome lattices. PMID:26056303

Design and the parametric testing of the space station prototype integrated vapor compression distillation water recovery module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reveley, W. F.; Nuccio, P. P.

1975-01-01

Potable water for the Space Station Prototype life support system is generated by the vapor compression technique of vacuum distillation. A description of a complete three-man modular vapor compression water renovation loop that was built and tested is presented; included are all of the pumps, tankage, chemical post-treatment, instrumentation, and controls necessary to make the loop representative of an automatic, self-monitoring, null gravity system. The design rationale is given and the evolved configuration is described. Presented next are the results of an extensive parametric test during which distilled water was generated from urine and urinal flush water with concentration of solids in the evaporating liquid increasing progressively to 60 percent. Water quality, quantity and production rate are shown together with measured energy consumption rate in terms of watt-hours per kilogram of distilled water produced.

Surgical skill acquisition with self-directed practice using computer-based video training.

PubMed

Jowett, Nathan; LeBlanc, Vicki; Xeroulis, George; MacRae, Helen; Dubrowski, Adam

2007-02-01

Computer-based video training (CBVT) provides flexible opportunities for surgical trainees to learn fundamental technical skills, but may be ineffective in self-directed practice settings because of poor trainee self-assessment. This study examined whether CBVT is effective in a self-directed learning environment among novice trainees. Thirty novice trainees used CBVT to learn the 1-handed square knot while self-assessing their proficiency every 3 minutes. On reaching self-assessed skill proficiency, trainees were randomized to either cease practice or to complete additional practice. Performance was evaluated with computer and expert-based measures during practice and on pretests, posttests, and 1-week retention tests. Analyses revealed performance improvements for both groups (all P < .05), but no differences between the 2 groups (all P > .05) on all tests. CBVT for the 1-handed square knot is effective in a self-directed learning environment among novices. This lends support to the implementation of self-directed digital media-based learning within surgical curricula.

Design of interactive health drama built on social realism.

PubMed

Graspemo, Gabriella; Hassling, Linda; Nordfeldt, Sam; Eriksson, Hendrik; Timpka, Toomas

2004-01-01

There are many psychosocial aspects of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Educational multimedia can support patients with chronic diseases and their families by communicating narratives based on social realism. The production of such socio-realistic interactive health dramas requires systematic methods, especially for the identification of significant stories. The aim of this study is to explore the use of self-documentary video in the design of an Interactive Health Drama environment to support diabetic adolescents and their families. In particular, the potential of the self-documentary video for story development in combination with qualitative interviews were explored. The proposed approach, when further developed, is intended to enable all types of chronic disease patients to work with their specific psychosocial problems in a supportive and stimulating environment adapted to their personality and preferences.

Demonstration and Evaluation of the Heed the Speed Pedestrian Safety Program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-07-01

This study built upon the work of Blomberg and Cleven (2006) in Arizona, where they developed and pilot-tested the concept of Heed the Speed, a neighborhood-based combination of enforcement, education, and modest engineering designed to reduce vehicl...

On-Wafer Measurement of a Silicon-Based CMOS VCO at 324 GHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samoska, Lorene; Man Fung, King; Gaier, Todd; Huang, Daquan; Larocca, Tim; Chang, M. F.; Campbell, Richard; Andrews, Michael

2008-01-01

The world s first silicon-based complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) integrated-circuit voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) operating in a frequency range around 324 GHz has been built and tested. Concomitantly, equipment for measuring the performance of this oscillator has been built and tested. These accomplishments are intermediate steps in a continuing effort to develop low-power-consumption, low-phase-noise, electronically tunable signal generators as local oscillators for heterodyne receivers in submillimeter-wavelength (frequency > 300 GHz) scientific instruments and imaging systems. Submillimeter-wavelength imaging systems are of special interest for military and law-enforcement use because they could, potentially, be used to detect weapons hidden behind clothing and other opaque dielectric materials. In comparison with prior submillimeter- wavelength signal generators, CMOS VCOs offer significant potential advantages, including great reductions in power consumption, mass, size, and complexity. In addition, there is potential for on-chip integration of CMOS VCOs with other CMOS integrated circuitry, including phase-lock loops, analog- to-digital converters, and advanced microprocessors.

Review of research and developments in self healing composite materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy Madara, Sahith; Sarath Raj, N. S.; Pon Selvan, Chithirai, Dr.

2018-04-01

Self-healing materials are artificial or synthetically created substances that have the built-in ability to automatically repair damage to themselves without any external diagnosis of the problem or human intervention. This article presents the current research and developments in self-healing composite materials. A detailed study is conducted on various types of self-healing composites with their self-healing mechanisms. The applications of self-healing materials in various fields including space sector is also discussed. Economics and Future outlooks for self-healing smart materials is highlighted at the end of the article. This research article will be useful to manufacturers, policy makers and researchers widely.

Optimization of self-aligned double patterning (SADP)-compliant layout designs using pattern matching for sub-20nm metal routing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lynn T.-N.; Schroeder, Uwe Paul; Madhavan, Sriram

2017-03-01

A pattern-based methodology for optimizing SADP-compliant layout designs is developed based on identifying cut mask patterns and replacing them with pre-characterized fixing solutions. A pattern-based library of difficult-tomanufacture cut patterns with pre-characterized fixing solutions is built. A pattern-based engine searches for matching patterns in the decomposed layouts. When a match is found, the engine opportunistically replaces the detected pattern with a pre-characterized fixing solution. The methodology was demonstrated on a 7nm routed metal2 block. A small library of 30 cut patterns increased the number of more manufacturable cuts by 38% and metal-via enclosure by 13% with a small parasitic capacitance impact of 0.3%.

Ultra-High-Performance Concrete And Advanced Manufacturing Methods For Modular Construction

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

Sawab, Jamshaid; Lim, Ing; Mo, Yi-Lung

Small modular reactors (SMR) allow for less onsite construction, increase nuclear material security, and provide a flexible and cost-effective energy alternative. SMR can be factory-built as modular components, and shipped to desired locations for fast assembly. This project successfully developed a new class of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), which features a compressive strength greater than 22 ksi (150 MPa) without special treatment and self-consolidating characteristics desired for SMR modular construction. With an ultra-high strength and dense microstructure, it will facilitate rapid construction of steel plate-concrete (SC) beams and walls with thinner and lighter modules, and can withstand harsh environments andmore » mechanical loads anticipated during the service life of nuclear power plants. In addition, the self-consolidating characteristics are crucial for the fast construction and assembly of SC modules with reduced labor costs and improved quality. Following the UHPC material development, the capacity of producing self-consolidating UHPC in mass quantities was investigated and compared to accepted self-consolidating concrete standards. With slightly adjusted mixing procedure using large-scale gravity-based mixers (compared with small-scale force-based mixer), the self-consolidating UHPC has been successfully processed at six cubic yards; the product met both minimum compressive strength requirements and self-consolidating concrete standards. Steel plate-UHPC beams (15 ft. long, 12 in. wide and 16 in. deep) and wall panels (40 in. X 40 in. X 3 in.) were then constructed using the self-consolidating UHPC without any external vibration. Quality control guidelines for producing UHPC in large scale were developed. When the concrete is replaced by UHPC in a steel plate concrete (SC) beam, it is critical to evaluate its structural behavior with both flexure and shear-governed failure modes. In recent years, SC has been widely used for buildings and nuclear containment structures to resist lateral forces induced by severe earthquakes and heavy winds. SC modules have good potential for SMR because of their cost-effectiveness and reduced construction time. However, the minimum shear reinforcement (i.e. cross tie) ratio needs to be determined for the steel plate-UHPC (S-UHPC) beams to exhibit a ductile failure mode. In this project, S-UHPC beams were designed and constructed. The beams were tested to evaluate structural capacity and identify the minimum cross ties ratios. In addition, as the bond between UHPC and steel plate is essential for ensuring structural integrity under shear and flexure, it was measured and examined in this project through digital image correlation system and smart piezoelectric aggregate sensors. Large-scale testing and finite element simulation were also performed on S-UHPC wall panels. New bond slip-based constitutive models of steel plate were developed for S-UHPC, which were used in finite element analysis program to predict S-UHPC behavior under shear. The results were well validated through experimental data. The long-term durability of UHPC were established in this project. UHPC specimens were tested under free shrinkage, restrained shrinkage, elevated temperature, water permeation, chloride diffusion, corrosion, and alkali silica reaction. UHPC has demonstrated significantly improved durability compared with control concrete specimens. This research led to a new generation of steel plate-UHPC modules for SMR that can provide large benefits to the electric power industry. Taking advantage of the high strength and durability of UHPC, their modularity and ease of assembly can address the high cost barriers of typical nuclear power plants.« less

Protein-only, antimicrobial peptide-containing recombinant nanoparticles with inherent built-in antibacterial activity.

PubMed

Serna, Naroa; Sánchez-García, Laura; Sánchez-Chardi, Alejandro; Unzueta, Ugutz; Roldán, Mónica; Mangues, Ramón; Vázquez, Esther; Villaverde, Antonio

2017-09-15

The emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistances is a serious concern in human and animal health. In this context, naturally occurring cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) might play a main role in a next generation of drugs against bacterial infections. Taking an innovative approach to design self-organizing functional proteins, we have generated here protein-only nanoparticles with intrinsic AMP microbicide activity. Using a recombinant version of the GWH1 antimicrobial peptide as building block, these materials show a wide antibacterial activity spectrum in absence of detectable toxicity on mammalian cells. The GWH1-based nanoparticles combine clinically appealing properties of nanoscale materials with full biocompatibility, structural and functional plasticity and biological efficacy exhibited by proteins. Because of the largely implemented biological fabrication of recombinant protein drugs, the protein-based platform presented here represents a novel and scalable strategy in antimicrobial drug design, that by solving some of the limitations of AMPs offers a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. The low molecular weight antimicrobial peptide GWH1 has been engineered to oligomerize as self-assembling protein-only nanoparticles of around 50nm. In this form, the peptide exhibits potent and broad antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, without any harmful effect over mammalian cells. As a solid proof-of-concept, this finding strongly supports the design and biofabrication of nanoscale antimicrobial materials with in-built functionalities. The protein-based homogeneous composition offer advantages over alternative materials explored as antimicrobial agents, regarding biocompatibility, biodegradability and environmental suitability. Beyond the described prototype, this transversal engineering concept has wide applicability in the design of novel nanomedicines for advanced treatments of bacterial infections. Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Descriptive and Criterion-Referenced Self-Assessment with L2 Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brantmeier, Cindy; Vanderplank, Robert

2008-01-01

Brantmeier [Brantmeier, C., 2006. "Advanced L2 learners and reading placement: self-assessment, computer-based testing, and subsequent performance." 'System 34" (1), 15-35] found that self-assessment (SA) of second language (L2) reading ability is not an accurate predictor for computer-based testing or subsequent classroom performance. With 359…

SEASAT A satellite scatterometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bianchi, R.; Heath, A.; Marsh, S.; Borusiewicz, J.

1978-01-01

The analyses performed in the early period of the program which formed the basis of the sensor design is reviewed, along with the sensor design. The test program is outlined, listing all tests performed and the environmental exposure (simulated) for each, as applicable. Ground support equipment designed and built for assembly integration and field testing is described. The software developed during the program and the algorithms/flow diagrams which formed the bases for the software are summarized.

Light-weight analyzer for odor recognition

DOEpatents

Vass, Arpad A; Wise, Marcus B

2014-05-20

The invention provides a light weight analyzer, e.g., detector, capable of locating clandestine graves. The detector utilizes the very specific and unique chemicals identified in the database of human decompositional odor. This detector, based on specific chemical compounds found relevant to human decomposition, is the next step forward in clandestine grave detection and will take the guess-work out of current methods using canines and ground-penetrating radar, which have historically been unreliable. The detector is self contained, portable and built for field use. Both visual and auditory cues are provided to the operator.

Usage and acceptability of HIV self-testing in men who have sex with men in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Wong, Horas Tze Hoo; Tam, Hoi Yan; Chan, Denise Pui Chung; Lee, Shui Shan

2015-03-01

Whilst studies on over-the-counter HIV tests continue to accumulate after FDA's approval of OraQuick Advance in 2012, few have focused on men who have sex with men (MSM) in Asian cities. An internet survey was conducted on 1,122 MSM in Hong Kong, revealing a low usage (6.1 %) and acceptability rate (43.8 %) on self-testing despite its availability in the market. Hierarchical logistic regression models showed that having received relevant information and users' attitudes on self-testing were the determinants of usage and acceptability. These factors had greater effects than sexual behaviors and social-networking on MSM's decision on self-testing. Majority of ever self-testers only repeated the self-test after a non-negative result, and overall only 26.6 % went for a formal test subsequent to the self-test. Concerns regarding the tests' accuracy were expressed by respondents. In conclusion, appropriate and accessible information and evidence-based guidance are needed to incorporate self-testing into HIV prevention strategies targeting MSM.

Obesity and the built environment at different urban scales: examining the literature.

PubMed

Garfinkel-Castro, Andrea; Kim, Keuntae; Hamidi, Shima; Ewing, Reid

2017-01-01

The majority of people now live in an urban (or suburban) environment. The built (material) environment, its vehicular and pedestrian infrastructure, buildings, and public realm places, are the places used for working, living, and recreating. The environment currently favors and facilitates motorized vehicles generally, and private automobiles especially. The prioritization given to vehicles reduces opportunities for other, more active modes of travel such as walking and bicycling. Though the built environment cannot be said to directly affect human obesity, the built environment clearly has a relationship to obesity as a consequence of physical activity. Most concerning is that rates of obesity have risen as cars have become increasingly privileged, leading to places that favor driving over walking or bicycling. This review examines current empirical literature on the environment and obesity at 3 key urban scales: macro, meso, and micro. Other key issues examined include longitudinal studies and self-selection bias. Evidence for a relationship between urban and suburban environments and obesity is found in the literature, but the lack of longitudinal research and research controlling for self-selection bias remains underrepresented. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reliability and validity of DS-ADHD: A decision support system on attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.

PubMed

Chu, Kuo-Chung; Huang, Yu-Shu; Tseng, Chien-Fu; Huang, Hsin-Jou; Wang, Chih-Huan; Tai, Hsin-Yi

2017-03-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the reliability of the clinical use of the self-built decision support system, diagnosis-supported attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (DS-ADHD), in an effort to develop the DS-ADHD system, by probing into the development of indicating patterns of past screening support systems for ADHD. The study collected data based on 107 subjects, who were divided into two groups, non-ADHD and ADHD, based on the doctor's determination, using the DSM-IV diagnostic standards. The two groups then underwent Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) and DS-ADHD testing. The survey and testing results underwent one-way ANOVA and split-half method statistical analysis, in order to further understand whether there were any differences between the DS-ADHD and the identification tools used in today's clinical trials. The results of the study are as follows: 1) The ROC area between the TOVA and the clinical identification rate is 0.787 (95% confidence interval: 0.701-0.872); 2) The ROC area between the DS-ADHD and the clinical identification rate is 0.867 (95% confidence interval: 0.801-0.933). The study results show that DS-ADHD has the characteristics of screening for ADHD, based on its reliability and validity. It does not display any statistical differences when compared with TOVA systems that are currently on the market. However, the system is more effective and the accuracy rate is better than TOVA. It is a good tool to screen ADHD not only in Chinese children, but also in western country. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-linear modelling and control of semi-active suspensions with variable damping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Huang; Long, Chen; Yuan, Chao-Chun; Jiang, Hao-Bin

2013-10-01

Electro-hydraulic dampers can provide variable damping force that is modulated by varying the command current; furthermore, they offer advantages such as lower power, rapid response, lower cost, and simple hardware. However, accurate characterisation of non-linear f-v properties in pre-yield and force saturation in post-yield is still required. Meanwhile, traditional linear or quarter vehicle models contain various non-linearities. The development of a multi-body dynamics model is very complex, and therefore, SIMPACK was used with suitable improvements for model development and numerical simulations. A semi-active suspension was built based on a belief-desire-intention (BDI)-agent model framework. Vehicle handling dynamics were analysed, and a co-simulation analysis was conducted in SIMPACK and MATLAB to evaluate the BDI-agent controller. The design effectively improved ride comfort, handling stability, and driving safety. A rapid control prototype was built based on dSPACE to conduct a real vehicle test. The test and simulation results were consistent, which verified the simulation.

Transformers: Shape-Changing Space Systems Built with Robotic Textiles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoica, Adrian

2013-01-01

Prior approaches to transformer-like robots had only very limited success. They suffer from lack of reliability, ability to integrate large surfaces, and very modest change in overall shape. Robots can now be built from two-dimensional (2D) layers of robotic fabric. These transformers, a new kind of robotic space system, are dramatically different from current systems in at least two ways. First, the entire transformer is built from a single, thin sheet; a flexible layer of a robotic fabric (ro-fabric); or robotic textile (ro-textile). Second, the ro-textile layer is foldable to small volume and self-unfolding to adapt shape and function to mission phases.

Influence of the wording of evaluation items on outcome-based evaluation results for large-group teaching in anatomy, biochemistry and legal medicine.

PubMed

Anders, Sven; Pyka, Katharina; Mueller, Tjark; von Streinbuechel, Nicole; Raupach, Tobias

2016-11-01

Student learning outcome is an important dimension of teaching quality in undergraduate medical education. Measuring an increase in knowledge during teaching requires repetitive objective testing which is usually not feasible. As an alternative, student learning outcome can be calculated from student self-ratings. Comparative self-assessment (CSA) gain reflects the performance difference before and after teaching, adjusted for initial knowledge. It has been shown to be a valid proxy measure of actual learning outcome derived from objective tests. However, student self-ratings are prone to a number of confounding factors. In the context of outcome-based evaluation, the wording of self-rating items is crucial to the validity of evaluation results. This randomized trial assessed whether including qualifiers in these statements impacts on student ratings and CSA gain. First-year medical students self-rated their initial (then-test) and final (post-test) knowledge for lectures in anatomy, biochemistry and legal medicine, respectively, and 659 questionnaires were retrieved. Six-point scales were used for self-ratings with 1 being the most positive option. Qualifier use did not affect then-test ratings but was associated with slightly less favorable post-test ratings. Consecutively, mean CSA gain was smaller for items containing qualifiers than for items lacking qualifiers (50.6±15.0% vs. 56.3±14.6%, p=0.079). The effect was more pronounced (Cohen's d=0.82) for items related to anatomy. In order to increase fairness of outcome-based evaluation and increase the comparability of CSA gain data across subjects, medical educators should agree on a consistent approach (qualifiers for all items or no qualifiers at all) when drafting self-rating statements for outcome-based evaluation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

5. "TEST STAND 13, CONCRETE STRUCTURAL SECTIONS AND DETAILS." Specifications ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. "TEST STAND 1-3, CONCRETE STRUCTURAL SECTIONS AND DETAILS." Specifications No. OC12-50-10; Drawing No. 60-09-06; no sheet number within title block. D.O. SERIES 1109/17, Rev. A. Stamped: AS BUILT; NO CHANGES. Date of Revision A: 11/1/50. - Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, Test Stand 1-3, Test Area 1-115, northwest end of Saturn Boulevard, Boron, Kern County, CA

Proof of concept of a 45-second cardiorespiratory fitness self-test for coronary artery disease patients based on accelerometry.

PubMed

Papini, Gabriele; Bonomi, Alberto G; Stut, Wim; Kraal, Jos J; Kemps, Hareld M C; Sartor, Francesco

2017-01-01

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) provides important diagnostic and prognostic information. It is measured directly via laboratory maximal testing or indirectly via submaximal protocols making use of predictor parameters such as submaximal [Formula: see text], heart rate, workload, and perceived exertion. We have established an innovative methodology, which can provide CRF prediction based only on body motion during a periodic movement. Thirty healthy subjects (40% females, 31.3 ± 7.8 yrs, 25.1 ± 3.2 BMI) and eighteen male coronary artery disease (CAD) (56.6 ± 7.4 yrs, 28.7 ± 4.0 BMI) patients performed a [Formula: see text] test on a cycle ergometer as well as a 45 second squatting protocol at a fixed tempo (80 bpm). A tri-axial accelerometer was used to monitor movements during the squat exercise test. Three regression models were developed to predict CRF based on subject characteristics and a new accelerometer-derived feature describing motion decay. For each model, the Pearson correlation coefficient and the root mean squared error percentage were calculated using the leave-one-subject-out cross-validation method (rcv, RMSEcv). The model built with all healthy individuals' data showed an rcv = 0.68 and an RMSEcv = 16.7%. The CRF prediction improved when only healthy individuals with normal to lower fitness (CRF<40 ml/min/kg) were included, showing an rcv = 0.91 and RMSEcv = 8.7%. Finally, our accelerometry-based CRF prediction CAD patients, the majority of whom taking β-blockers, still showed high accuracy (rcv = 0.91; RMSEcv = 9.6%). In conclusion, motion decay and subject characteristics could be used to predict CRF in healthy people as well as in CAD patients taking β-blockers, accurately. This method could represent a valid alternative for patients taking β-blockers, but needs to be further validated in a larger population.

Status of the irradiation test vehicle for testing fusion materials in the Advanced Test Reactor

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

Tsai, H.; Gomes, I.C.; Smith, D.L.

1998-09-01

The design of the irradiation test vehicle (ITV) for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) has been completed. The main application for the ITV is irradiation testing of candidate fusion structural materials, including vanadium-base alloys, silicon carbide composites, and low-activation steels. Construction of the vehicle is underway at the Lockheed Martin Idaho Technology Company (LMITCO). Dummy test trains are being built for system checkout and fine-tuning. Reactor insertion of the ITV with the dummy test trains is scheduled for fall 1998. Barring unexpected difficulties, the ITV will be available for experiments in early 1999.

Complexity in built environment, health, and destination walking: a neighborhood-scale analysis.

PubMed

Carlson, Cynthia; Aytur, Semra; Gardner, Kevin; Rogers, Shannon

2012-04-01

This study investigates the relationships between the built environment, the physical attributes of the neighborhood, and the residents' perceptions of those attributes. It focuses on destination walking and self-reported health, and does so at the neighborhood scale. The built environment, in particular sidewalks, road connectivity, and proximity of local destinations, correlates with destination walking, and similarly destination walking correlates with physical health. It was found, however, that the built environment and health metrics may not be simply, directly correlated but rather may be correlated through a series of feedback loops that may regulate risk in different ways in different contexts. In particular, evidence for a feedback loop between physical health and destination walking is observed, as well as separate feedback loops between destination walking and objective metrics of the built environment, and destination walking and perception of the built environment. These feedback loops affect the ability to observe how the built environment correlates with residents' physical health. Previous studies have investigated pieces of these associations, but are potentially missing the more complex relationships present. This study proposes a conceptual model describing complex feedback relationships between destination walking and public health, with the built environment expected to increase or decrease the strength of the feedback loop. Evidence supporting these feedback relationships is presented.

Modeling Research Project Risks with Fuzzy Maps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodea, Constanta Nicoleta; Dascalu, Mariana Iuliana

2009-01-01

The authors propose a risks evaluation model for research projects. The model is based on fuzzy inference. The knowledge base for fuzzy process is built with a causal and cognitive map of risks. The map was especially developed for research projects, taken into account their typical lifecycle. The model was applied to an e-testing research…

Home health nursing: towards a professional practice model.

PubMed

Michaels, D B

1994-04-01

A rapidly growing caseload led this home healthcare agency in New England to develop and implement a new management structure built around the belief that 1) Professionals can manage their own practice and function as part of a self-directed work team; 2) Management's role is to foster an organizational culture which facilitates this; and 3) Total quality management is based on people-oriented service. A "flex-time" system, competitive compensation and empowerment stemming from responsible autonomy have begun to reduce turnover and enhance "word of mouth" advertising.

Self-Assembled ROS-Sensitive Polymer-Peptide Therapeutics Incorporating Built-in Reporters for Evaluation of Treatment Efficacy.

PubMed

Qiao, Zeng-Ying; Zhao, Wen-Jing; Cong, Yong; Zhang, Di; Hu, Zhiyuan; Duan, Zhong-Yu; Wang, Hao

2016-05-09

One of the major challenges in current cancer therapy is to maximize therapeutic effect and evaluate tumor progression under the scheduled treatment protocol. To address these challenges, we synthesized the cytotoxic peptide (KLAKLAK)2 (named KLAK) conjugated amphiphilic poly(β-thioester)s copolymers (H-P-K) composed of reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensitive backbones and hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) side chains. H-P-K could self-assemble into micelle-like nanoparticles by hydrophobic interaction with copolymer backbones as cores and PEG and KLAK as shells. The assembled polymer-peptide nanoparticles remarkably improved cellular internalization and accumulation of therapeutic KLAK in cells. Compared to free KLAK peptide, the antitumor activity of H-P-K was significantly enhanced up to ∼400 times, suggesting the effectiveness of the nanoscaled polymer-peptide conjugation as biopharmaceuticals. The higher antitumor activity of nanoparticles was attributed to the efficient disruption of mitochondrial membranes and subsequent excessive ROS production in cells. To realize the ROS monitoring and treatment evaluation, we encapsulated squaraine (SQ) dyes as built-in reporters in ROS-sensitive H-P-K micelles. The overgenerated ROS around mitochondria stimulated the swelling of nanoparticles and subsequent release of SQ, which formed H-aggregates and significantly increased the photoacoustic (PA) signal. We believed that this self-assembled polymer-peptide nanotherapeutics incorporating built-in reporters has great potential for high antitumor performance and in situ treatment evaluation.

Effects of perceived affectionless control parenting on working models of the self and other.

PubMed

Otani, Koichi; Suzuki, Akihito; Matsumoto, Yoshihiko; Enokido, Masanori; Shirata, Toshinori

2016-08-30

Attachment theory contends that insecure working models of the self and other built through negative attachment experiences are predisposing factors for depression and anxiety disorders. Meanwhile, patients with these psychiatric disorders tend to perceive that they received the affectionless control parenting, which is a combination of lack of care and overprotection. To test the hypothesis that the affectionless control parenting impairs the formation of positive working models, we examined the effects of perceived parenting styles on qualities of working models. The subjects were 691 healthy Japanese volunteers. Working models of the self and other were assessed by the Relationship Scales Questionnaire. Perceived parental rearing was evaluated by the Parental Bonding Instrument, which has the care and protection subscales. Parental rearing was classified into one of the four types defined by combinations of levels of care and protection. In all combinations of recipient sexes and parental sexes, the subjects with the affectionless control parenting (low care/high protection) had lower scores of the self-model and other-model than those with the optimal parenting (high care/low protection). The present study suggests that the affectionless control parenting impairs the formation of positive working models of the self and other. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

tscvh R Package: Computational of the two samples test on microarray-sequencing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fajriyah, Rohmatul; Rosadi, Dedi

2017-12-01

We present a new R package, a tscvh (two samples cross-variance homogeneity), as we called it. This package is a software of the cross-variance statistical test which has been proposed and introduced by Fajriyah ([3] and [4]), based on the cross-variance concept. The test can be used as an alternative test for the significance difference between two means when sample size is small, the situation which is usually appeared in the bioinformatics research. Based on its statistical distribution, the p-value can be also provided. The package is built under a homogeneity of variance between samples.

Computer Administered Safety Planning for Individuals at Risk for Suicide: Development and Usability Testing.

PubMed

Boudreaux, Edwin D; Brown, Gregory K; Stanley, Barbara; Sadasivam, Rajani S; Camargo, Carlos A; Miller, Ivan W

2017-05-15

Safety planning is a brief intervention that has become an accepted practice in many clinical settings to help prevent suicide. Even though it is quick compared to other approaches, it frequently requires 20 min or more to complete, which can impede adoption. A self-administered, Web-based safety planning application could potentially reduce clinician time, help promote standardization and quality, and provide enhanced ability to share the created plan. The aim of this study was to design, build, and test the usability of a Web-based, self-administered safety planning application. We employed a user-centered software design strategy led by a multidisciplinary team. The application was tested for usability with a target sample of suicidal patients. Detailed observations, structured usability ratings, and Think Aloud procedures were used. Suicidal ideation intensity and perceived ability to cope were assessed pre-post engagement with the Web application. A total of 30 participants were enrolled. Usability ratings were generally strong, and all patients successfully built a safety plan. However, the completeness of the safety plan varied. The mean number of steps completed was 5.5 (SD 0.9) out of 6, with 90% (27/30) of participants completing at least 5 steps and 67% (20/30) completing all 6 steps. Some safety planning steps were viewed as inapplicable to some individuals. Some confusion in instructions led to modifications to improve understandability of each step. Ratings of suicide intensity after completion of the application were significantly lower than preratings, pre: mean 5.11 (SD 2.9) versus post: mean 4.46 (SD 3.0), t 27 =2.49, P=.02. Ratings of ability to cope with suicidal thoughts after completion of the application were higher than preratings, with the difference approaching statistical significance, pre: mean 5.93 (SD 2.9), post: mean 6.64 (SD 2.4), t 27 =-2.03, P=.05. We have taken the first step toward identifying the components needed to maximize usability of a self-administered, Web-based safety planning application. Results support initial consideration of the application as an adjunct to clinical contact. This allows for the clinician or other personnel to provide clarification, when needed, to help the patient build the plan, and to help review and revise the draft. ©Edwin D Boudreaux, Gregory K Brown, Barbara Stanley, Rajani S Sadasivam, Carlos A Camargo Jr, Ivan W Miller. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 15.05.2017.

Saturn Apollo Program

NASA Image and Video Library

1960-01-01

The F-1 engine was developed and built by Rocketdyne under the direction of the Marshall Space Flight Center. It measured 19 feet tall by 12.5 feet at the nozzle exit, and produced a 1,500,000-pound thrust using liquid oxygen and kerosene as the propellant. The image shows an F-1 engine being test fired at the Test Stand 1-C at the Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Manipulation of Microenvironment with a Built-in Electrochemical Actuator in Proximity of a Dissolved Oxygen Microsensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Chang-Soo; Lee, Cae-Hyang; Fiering, Jason O.; Ufer, Stefan; Scarantino, Charles W.; Nagle, H. Troy; Fiering, Jason O.; Ufer, Stefan; Nagle, H. Troy; Scarantino, Charles W.

2004-01-01

Abstract - Biochemical sensors for continuous monitoring require dependable periodic self- diagnosis with acceptable simplicity to check its functionality during operation. An in situ self- diagnostic technique for a dissolved oxygen microsensor is proposed in an effort to devise an intelligent microsensor system with an integrated electrochemical actuation electrode. With a built- in platinum microelectrode that surrounds the microsensor, two kinds of microenvironments, called the oxygen-saturated or oxygen-depleted phases, can be created by water electrolysis depending on the polarity. The functionality of the microsensor can be checked during these microenvironment phases. The polarographic oxygen microsensor is fabricated on a flexible polyimide substrate (Kapton) and the feasibility of the proposed concept is demonstrated in a physiological solution. The sensor responds properly during the oxygen-generating and oxygen- depleting phases. The use of these microenvironments for in situ self-calibration is discussed to achieve functional integration as well as structural integration of the microsensor system.

Association Between the Built Environment in School Neighborhoods With Physical Activity Among New York City Children, 2012

PubMed Central

Gray, Heewon Lee; Quinn, James; Rundle, Andrew G.; Contento, Isobel R.; Koch, Pamela A.

2016-01-01

Introduction The benefits of physical activity for health and well-being are well established, yet built environment characteristics in the school neighborhood may constrain students’ ability to engage in physical activity and contribute to the considerable variation in physical activity among students at different schools. Methods Baseline data from the Food, Health and Choices obesity prevention trial were used to create multilevel linear models of the relationship between fifth-grade students’ (n = 952) physical activity and related psychosocial factors and characteristics of the built environment of the school’s neighborhood (park access, public transportation density, total crime, and walkability), controlling for age and body mass index z scores. Results Total crime was inversely associated with boys’ light physical activity duration (β = −0.189; P = .02) and behavioral intention for physical activity (β = −0.178; P = .03). Boys’ habit strength for physical activity was positively associated with public transportation density (β = 0.375; P = .02) and negatively associated with total crime (β = −0.216; P = .01), explaining 67% of between-school variation. Girls’ frequency of light physical activity was positively associated with park access (β = 0.188; P = .04). Built environment characteristics explained 97% of the between-school variation in girls’ self-efficacy in walking for exercise. Conclusions Characteristics of the built environment surrounding schools were associated with and explain between-school variation in students’ physical activity and several theory-based psychosocial factors. Partnerships between public health practitioners, policy makers, and school administrators may be warranted to shape the school neighborhood, specifically to decrease crime rates and increase park access, to encourage physical activity in youth. PMID:27536902

Effect of educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model on promoting self-care behaviors of type-2 diabetes patients.

PubMed

Shabibi, Parisa; Zavareh, Mohammad Sadegh Abedzadeh; Sayehmiri, Kourosh; Qorbani, Mostafa; Safari, Omid; Rastegarimehr, Babak; Mansourian, Morteza

2017-12-01

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which patients require lifelong self-care behaviors. The present study offset to determine the effect of educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on promoting self-care behaviors of type 2 diabetes patients in Ilam, Iran 2014. A quasi-experimental research was conducted based on HBM in which 70 type 2 diabetic patients from Ilam, western Iran in 2014 were selected by multi-stage random sampling. A self-designed questionnaire was used, and pre-test was administered, subsequently, the educational intervention sessions were provided in the form of presentation, questions and answers, group discussion, and practical demonstrations in four sessions over a period of one month. Two months after the intervention, the post-tests were administered. The data were analyzed via SPSS 20 applying independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, and univariate and multivariate regressions at a significance level of less than 0.05. The mean scores of susceptibility, severity, perceived benefits and barriers, self-efficacy, and self-care behaviors were at average and lower levels before the intervention; nonetheless, after the educational intervention, the mean score of each HBM construct and the self-care behaviors significantly increased (p<0.001). Health education through HBM promotes the self-care behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes.

How do changes to the built environment influence walking behaviors? a longitudinal study within a university campus in Hong Kong

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Previous studies testing the association between the built environment and walking behavior have been largely cross-sectional and have yielded mixed results. This study reports on a natural experiment in which changes to the built environment were implemented at a university campus in Hong Kong. Longitudinal data on walking behaviors were collected using surveys, one before and one after changes to the built environment, to test the influence of changes to the built environment on walking behavior. Methods Built environment data are from a university campus in Hong Kong, and include land use, campus bus services, pedestrian network, and population density data collected from campus maps, the university developmental office, and field surveys. Walking behavior data were collected at baseline in March 2012 (n = 198) and after changes to the built environment from the same cohort of subjects in December 2012 (n = 169) using a walking diary. Geographic information systems (GIS) was used to map walking routes and built environment variables, and compare each subject’s walking behaviors and built environment exposure before and after the changes to the built environment. Walking behavior outcomes were changes in: i) walking distance, ii) destination-oriented walking, and iii) walked altitude range. Multivariable linear regression models were used to test for associations between changes to the built environment and changes in walking behaviors. Results Greater pedestrian network connectivity predicted longer walking distances and an increased likelihood of walking as a means of transportation. The increased use of recreational (vs. work) buildings, largely located at mid-range altitudes, as well as increased population density predicted greater walking distances.Having more bus services and a greater population density encouraged people to increase their walked altitude range. Conclusions In this longitudinal study, changes to the built environment were associated with changes in walking behaviors. Use of GIS combined with walking diaries presents a practical method for mapping and measuring changes in the built environment and walking behaviors, respectively. Additional longitudinal studies can help clarify the relationships between the built environment and walking behaviors identified in this natural experiment. PMID:25069949

A meta-learning system based on genetic algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pellerin, Eric; Pigeon, Luc; Delisle, Sylvain

2004-04-01

The design of an efficient machine learning process through self-adaptation is a great challenge. The goal of meta-learning is to build a self-adaptive learning system that is constantly adapting to its specific (and dynamic) environment. To that end, the meta-learning mechanism must improve its bias dynamically by updating the current learning strategy in accordance with its available experiences or meta-knowledge. We suggest using genetic algorithms as the basis of an adaptive system. In this work, we propose a meta-learning system based on a combination of the a priori and a posteriori concepts. A priori refers to input information and knowledge available at the beginning in order to built and evolve one or more sets of parameters by exploiting the context of the system"s information. The self-learning component is based on genetic algorithms and neural Darwinism. A posteriori refers to the implicit knowledge discovered by estimation of the future states of parameters and is also applied to the finding of optimal parameters values. The in-progress research presented here suggests a framework for the discovery of knowledge that can support human experts in their intelligence information assessment tasks. The conclusion presents avenues for further research in genetic algorithms and their capability to learn to learn.

Numerical Modeling of Propellant Boiloff in Cryogenic Storage Tank

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, A. K.; Steadman, T. E.; Maroney, J. L.

2007-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) describes the thermal modeling effort undertaken at Marshall Space Flight Center to support the Cryogenic Test Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for a study of insulation materials for cryogenic tanks in order to reduce propellant boiloff during long-term storage. The Generalized Fluid System Simulation program has been used to model boiloff in 1,000-L demonstration tanks built for testing the thermal performance of glass bubbles and perlite insulation. Numerical predictions of boiloff rate and ullage temperature have been compared with the measured data from the testing of demonstration tanks. A satisfactory comparison between measured and predicted data has been observed for both liquid nitrogen and hydrogen tests. Based on the experience gained with the modeling of the demonstration tanks, a numerical model of the liquid hydrogen storage tank at launch complex 39 at KSC was built. The predicted boiloff rate of hydrogen has been found to be in good agreement with observed field data. This TM describes three different models that have been developed during this period of study (March 2005 to June 2006), comparisons with test data, and results of parametric studies.

Development of an Agent-Based Model to Investigate the Impact of HIV Self-Testing Programs on Men Who Have Sex With Men in Atlanta and Seattle.

PubMed

Luo, Wei; Katz, David A; Hamilton, Deven T; McKenney, Jennie; Jenness, Samuel M; Goodreau, Steven M; Stekler, Joanne D; Rosenberg, Eli S; Sullivan, Patrick S; Cassels, Susan

2018-06-29

In the United States HIV epidemic, men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the most profoundly affected group. Prevention science is increasingly being organized around HIV testing as a launch point into an HIV prevention continuum for MSM who are not living with HIV and into an HIV care continuum for MSM who are living with HIV. An increasing HIV testing frequency among MSM might decrease future HIV infections by linking men who are living with HIV to antiretroviral care, resulting in viral suppression. Distributing HIV self-test (HIVST) kits is a strategy aimed at increasing HIV testing. Our previous modeling work suggests that the impact of HIV self-tests on transmission dynamics will depend not only on the frequency of tests and testers' behaviors but also on the epidemiological and testing characteristics of the population. The objective of our study was to develop an agent-based model to inform public health strategies for promoting safe and effective HIV self-tests to decrease the HIV incidence among MSM in Atlanta, GA, and Seattle, WA, cities representing profoundly different epidemiological settings. We adapted and extended a network- and agent-based stochastic simulation model of HIV transmission dynamics that was developed and parameterized to investigate racial disparities in HIV prevalence among MSM in Atlanta. The extension comprised several activities: adding a new set of model parameters for Seattle MSM; adding new parameters for tester types (ie, regular, risk-based, opportunistic-only, or never testers); adding parameters for simplified pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake following negative results for HIV tests; and developing a conceptual framework for the ways in which the provision of HIV self-tests might change testing behaviors. We derived city-specific parameters from previous cohort and cross-sectional studies on MSM in Atlanta and Seattle. Each simulated population comprised 10,000 MSM and targeted HIV prevalences are equivalent to 28% and 11% in Atlanta and Seattle, respectively. Previous studies provided sufficient data to estimate the model parameters representing nuanced HIV testing patterns and HIV self-test distribution. We calibrated the models to simulate the epidemics representing Atlanta and Seattle, including matching the expected stable HIV prevalence. The revised model facilitated the estimation of changes in 10-year HIV incidence based on counterfactual scenarios of HIV self-test distribution strategies and their impact on testing behaviors. We demonstrated that the extension of an existing agent-based HIV transmission model was sufficient to simulate the HIV epidemics among MSM in Atlanta and Seattle, to accommodate a more nuanced depiction of HIV testing behaviors than previous models, and to serve as a platform to investigate how HIV self-tests might impact testing and HIV transmission patterns among MSM in Atlanta and Seattle. In our future studies, we will use the model to test how different HIV self-test distribution strategies might affect HIV incidence among MSM. ©Wei Luo, David A Katz, Deven T Hamilton, Jennie McKenney, Samuel M Jenness, Steven M Goodreau, Joanne D Stekler, Eli S Rosenberg, Patrick S Sullivan, Susan Cassels. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 29.06.2018.

High-speed logic integrated circuits with solution-processed self-assembled carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Shu-Jen; Tang, Jianshi; Kumar, Bharat; Falk, Abram; Farmer, Damon; Tulevski, George; Jenkins, Keith; Afzali, Ali; Oida, Satoshi; Ott, John; Hannon, James; Haensch, Wilfried

2017-09-01

As conventional monolithic silicon technology struggles to meet the requirements for the 7-nm technology node, there has been tremendous progress in demonstrating the scalability of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors down to the size that satisfies the 3-nm node and beyond. However, to date, circuits built with carbon nanotubes have overlooked key aspects of a practical logic technology and have stalled at simple functionality demonstrations. Here, we report high-performance complementary carbon nanotube ring oscillators using fully manufacturable processes, with a stage switching frequency of 2.82 GHz. The circuit was built on solution-processed, self-assembled carbon nanotube arrays with over 99.9% semiconducting purity, and the complementary feature was achieved by employing two different work function electrodes.

High-speed logic integrated circuits with solution-processed self-assembled carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Han, Shu-Jen; Tang, Jianshi; Kumar, Bharat; Falk, Abram; Farmer, Damon; Tulevski, George; Jenkins, Keith; Afzali, Ali; Oida, Satoshi; Ott, John; Hannon, James; Haensch, Wilfried

2017-09-01

As conventional monolithic silicon technology struggles to meet the requirements for the 7-nm technology node, there has been tremendous progress in demonstrating the scalability of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors down to the size that satisfies the 3-nm node and beyond. However, to date, circuits built with carbon nanotubes have overlooked key aspects of a practical logic technology and have stalled at simple functionality demonstrations. Here, we report high-performance complementary carbon nanotube ring oscillators using fully manufacturable processes, with a stage switching frequency of 2.82 GHz. The circuit was built on solution-processed, self-assembled carbon nanotube arrays with over 99.9% semiconducting purity, and the complementary feature was achieved by employing two different work function electrodes.

Long range surface plasmon resonance with ultra-high penetration depth for self-referenced sensing and ultra-low detection limit using diverging beam approach

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

Isaacs, Sivan, E-mail: sivan.isaacs@gmail.com; Abdulhalim, Ibrahim; NEW CREATE Programme, School of Materials Science and Engineering, 1 CREATE Way, Research Wing, #02-06/08, Singapore 138602

2015-05-11

Using an insulator-metal-insulator structure with dielectric having refractive index (RI) larger than the analyte, long range surface plasmon (SP) resonance exhibiting ultra-high penetration depth is demonstrated for sensing applications of large bioentities at wavelengths in the visible range. Based on the diverging beam approach in Kretschmann-Raether configuration, one of the SP resonances is shown to shift in response to changes in the analyte RI while the other is fixed; thus, it can be used as a built in reference. The combination of the high sensitivity, high penetration depth and self-reference using the diverging beam approach in which a dark linemore » is detected of the high sensitivity, high penetration depth, self-reference, and the diverging beam approach in which a dark line is detected using large number of camera pixels with a smart algorithm for sub-pixel resolution, a sensor with ultra-low detection limit is demonstrated suitable for large bioentities.« less

Comparing the Effects of Simulation-Based and Traditional Teaching Methods on the Critical Thinking Abilities and Self-Confidence of Nursing Students.

PubMed

Alamrani, Mashael Hasan; Alammar, Kamila Ahmad; Alqahtani, Sarah Saad; Salem, Olfat A

2018-06-01

Critical thinking and self-confidence are imperative to success in clinical practice. Educators should use teaching strategies that will help students enhance their critical thinking and self-confidence in complex content such as electrocardiogram interpretation. Therefore, teaching electrocardiogram interpretation to students is important for nurse educators. This study compares the effect of simulation-based and traditional teaching methods on the critical thinking and self-confidence of students during electrocardiogram interpretation sessions. Thirty undergraduate nursing students volunteered to participate in this study. The participants were divided into intervention and control groups, which were taught respectively using the simulation-based and traditional teaching programs. All of the participants were asked to complete the study instrumentpretest and posttest to measure their critical thinking and self-confidence. Improvement was observed in the control and experimental groups with respect to critical thinking and self-confidence, as evidenced by the results of the paired samples t test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p < .05). However, the independent t test and Mann-Whitney U test indicate that the difference between the two groups was not significant (p > .05). This study evaluated an innovative simulation-based teaching method for nurses. No significant differences in outcomes were identified between the simulator-based and traditional teaching methods, indicating that well-implemented educational programs that use either teaching method effectively promote critical thinking and self-confidence in nursing students. Nurse educators are encouraged to design educational plans with clear objectives to improve the critical thinking and self-confidence of their students. Future research should compare the effects of several teaching sessions using each method in a larger sample.

What do Key Stakeholders Think About HIV Self-Testing in Canada? Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey.

PubMed

Pai, N Pant; Smallwood, M; Gulati, D; Lapczak, N; Musten, A; Gaydos, C; Johnston, C; Steben, M; Wong, T; Engel, N; Kim, J

2018-02-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) self-testing presents an empowering alternative to facility-based testing for reaching undiagnosed HIV infected individuals, but is not currently available in Canada. We surveyed stakeholders (clinical providers, public health professionals, researchers) engaged in HIV testing initiatives nationwide to identify the concerns, opportunities and challenges to implementing HIV self-testing in Canada. An online cross-sectional survey was disseminated by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Centre for REACH 2.0 National HIV & sexually transmitted and blood borne infections working group to stakeholders nationwide, with a target sample size of 200. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using a mixed-methods, respondent-informed approach, to inform subsequent HIV self-testing in a country where self-testing is not yet accessible. A total of 183 responses were received. A majority (70.7%) (128/181) felt that self-testing was a necessary investment to reach the undiagnosed. 64.6% (117/181) felt that self-tests should be made available to their clients and 71.5% (128/179) of respondents agreed that self-test instructions required improvements. However, 50% (90/180) felt that self-testing will pose an economic challenge to current HIV testing models. Regardless, 21% urged for timely action and availability of HIV self-tests. Thematic analyses reflected the following concerns: (a) need for affordable self-tests, (b) need for expedited, customized, and accessible linkages to counselling, (c) concern for patients to cope with positive self-test results, (d) accuracy of self-tests to detect acute HIV and (e) liability in the context of non-disclosure. Stakeholders agreed to the provision of an option of HIV self-testing to reach the undiagnosed individuals. Concerns regarding costs and accuracy of self-tests, expedited linkages to counselling, and integration of self-test within prevailing HIV testing models, will need to be addressed before their widespread implementation.

Initial Usability and Feasibility Evaluation of a Personal Health Record-Based Self-Management System for Older Adults.

PubMed

Sheehan, Barbara; Lucero, Robert J

2015-01-01

Electronic personal health record-based (ePHR-based) self-management systems can improve patient engagement and have an impact on health outcomes. In order to realize the benefits of these systems, there is a need to develop and evaluate heath information technology from the same theoretical underpinnings. Using an innovative usability approach based in human-centered distributed information design (HCDID), we tested an ePHR-based falls-prevention self-management system-Self-Assessment via a Personal Health Record (i.e., SAPHeR)-designed using HCDID principles in a laboratory. And we later evaluated SAPHeR's use by community-dwelling older adults at home. The innovative approach used in this study supported the analysis of four components: tasks, users, representations, and functions. Tasks were easily learned and features such as text-associated images facilitated task completion. Task performance times were slow, however user satisfaction was high. Nearly seven out of every ten features desired by design participants were evaluated in our usability testing of the SAPHeR system. The in vivo evaluation suggests that older adults could improve their confidence in performing indoor and outdoor activities after using the SAPHeR system. We have applied an innovative consumer-usability evaluation. Our approach addresses the limitations of other usability testing methods that do not utilize consistent theoretically based methods for designing and testing technology. We have successfully demonstrated the utility of testing consumer technology use across multiple components (i.e., task, user, representational, functional) to evaluate the usefulness, usability, and satisfaction of an ePHR-based self-management system.

High Temperature Capacitive Strain Gage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wnuk, Stephen P., Jr.; Wnuk, Stephen P., III; Wnuk, V. P.

1990-01-01

Capacitive strain gages designed for measurements in wind tunnels to 2000 F were built and evaluated. Two design approaches were followed. One approach was based on fixed capacitor plates with a movable ground plane inserted between the plates to effect differential capacitive output with strain. The second approach was based on movable capacitor plates suspended between sapphire bearings, housed in a rugged body, and arranged to operate as a differential capacitor. A sapphire bearing gage (1/4 in. diameter x 1 in. in size) was built with a range of 50,000 and a resolution of 200 microstrain. Apparent strain on Rene' 41 was less than + or - 1000 microstrain from room temperature to 2000 F. Three gage models were built from the Ground Plane Differential concept. The first was 1/4 in. square by 1/32 in. high and useable to 700 F. The second was 1/2 in. square by 1/16 in. high and useable to 1440 F. The third, also 1/2 in. square by 1/16 in. high was expected to operate in the 1600 to 2000 F range, but was not tested because time and funding ended.

High temperature capacitive strain gage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wnuk, Stephen P., Jr.; Wnuk, Stephen P., III; Wnuk, V. P.

1990-01-01

Capacitive strain gages designed for measurements in wind tunnels to 2000 F were built and evaluated. Two design approaches were followed. One approach was based on fixed capacitor plates with a movable ground plane inserted between the plates to effect differential capacitive output with strain. The second approach was based on movable capacitor plates suspended between sapphire bearings, housed in a rugged body, and arranged to operate as a differential capacitor. A sapphire bearing gage (1/4 in. diameter x 1 in. in size) was built with a range of 50,000 and a resolution of 200 microstrain. Apparent strain on Rene' 41 was less than + or - 1000 microstrain from room temperature to 2000 F. Three gage models were built from the Ground Plane Differential concept. The first was 1/4 in. square by 1/32 in. high and useable to 700 F. The second was 1/2 in. square by 1/16 in. high and useable to 1440 F. The third, also 1/2 in. square by 1/16 in. high was expected to operate in the 1600 to 2000 F range, but was not tested because time and funding ended.

Direct provision versus facility collection of HIV self-tests among female sex workers in Uganda: A cluster-randomized controlled health systems trial.

PubMed

Ortblad, Katrina; Kibuuka Musoke, Daniel; Ngabirano, Thomson; Nakitende, Aidah; Magoola, Jonathan; Kayiira, Prossy; Taasi, Geoffrey; Barresi, Leah G; Haberer, Jessica E; McConnell, Margaret A; Oldenburg, Catherine E; Bärnighausen, Till

2017-11-01

HIV self-testing allows HIV testing at any place and time and without health workers. HIV self-testing may thus be particularly useful for female sex workers (FSWs), who should test frequently but face stigma and financial and time barriers when accessing healthcare facilities. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled health systems trial among FSWs in Kampala, Uganda, to measure the effect of 2 HIV self-testing delivery models on HIV testing and linkage to care outcomes. FSW peer educator groups (1 peer educator and 8 participants) were randomized to either (1) direct provision of HIV self-tests, (2) provision of coupons for free collection of HIV self-tests in a healthcare facility, or (3) standard of care HIV testing. We randomized 960 participants in 120 peer educator groups from October 18, 2016, to November 16, 2016. Participants' median age was 28 years (IQR 24-32). Our prespecified primary outcomes were self-report of any HIV testing at 1 month and at 4 months; our prespecified secondary outcomes were self-report of HIV self-test use, seeking HIV-related medical care and ART initiation. In addition, we analyzed 2 secondary outcomes that were not prespecified: self-report of repeat HIV testing-to understand the intervention effects on frequent testing-and self-reported facility-based testing-to quantify substitution effects. Participants in the direct provision arm were significantly more likely to have tested for HIV than those in the standard of care arm, both at 1 month (risk ratio [RR] 1.33, 95% CI 1.17-1.51, p < 0.001) and at 4 months (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07-1.22, p < 0.001). Participants in the direct provision arm were also significantly more likely to have tested for HIV than those in the facility collection arm, both at 1 month (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.07-1.31, p = 0.001) and at 4 months (RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05, p = 0.02). At 1 month, fewer participants in the intervention arms had sought medical care for HIV than in the standard of care arm, but these differences were not significant and were reduced in magnitude at 4 months. There were no statistically significant differences in ART initiation across study arms. At 4 months, participants in the direct provision arm were significantly more likely to have tested twice for HIV than those in the standard of care arm (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.29-1.77, p < 0.001) and those in the facility collection arm (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.37, p = 0.001). Participants in the HIV self-testing arms almost completely replaced facility-based testing with self-testing. Two adverse events related to HIV self-testing were reported: interpersonal violence and mental distress. Study limitations included self-reported outcomes and limited generalizability beyond FSWs in similar settings. In this study, HIV self-testing appeared to be safe and increased recent and repeat HIV testing among FSWs. We found that direct provision of HIV self-tests was significantly more effective in increasing HIV testing among FSWs than passively offering HIV self-tests for collection in healthcare facilities. HIV self-testing could play an important role in supporting HIV interventions that require frequent HIV testing, such as HIV treatment as prevention, behavior change for transmission reduction, and pre-exposure prophylaxis. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02846402.

Benefits and Potential Harms of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Self-Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: An Implementation Perspective.

PubMed

Qin, Yilu; Tang, Weiming; Nowacki, Amy; Mollan, Katie; Reifeis, Sarah A; Hudgens, Michael G; Wong, Ngai-Sze; Li, Haochu; Tucker, Joseph D; Wei, Chongyi

2017-04-01

Human immunodeficiency virus self-testing (HIVST) holds great promise for reaching high-risk key populations who do not access facility-based services. We sought to characterize unsupervised HIVST implementation among men who have sex with men in China. We conducted a nationwide online survey in China. Eligible men were at least 16 years, had anal sex with a man, and had recent condomless sex. We assessed benefits (first-time testing, increased testing frequency, confirmatory testing) and potential harms (coercion, violence, suicidality) of HIVST. Among men who have sex with men who reported ever testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we identified correlates of HIVST as first-time HIV test being a self-test using multivariable logistic regression. Among 1610 men who met the eligibility criteria and started the survey, 1189 (74%) completed it. Three hundred forty-one (29%) of 1189 reported ever self-testing for HIV. Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence was 7% (24/341) among self-testers and 5% (15/306) among non-self-testers. Two hundred (59%) of 341 men who self-tested reported HIVST as a first-time HIV test. Thirty-one (9%) men experienced coercion with HIVST. Thirty-one (78%) of 40 men with positive HIV self-tests sought confirmation. Multivariable analysis revealed that HIVST as first-time HIV test was associated with younger age (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-0.99), not being "out" (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.60-3.28), not using the internet to meet sex partners (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.22-0.69), and group sex (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.02-2.9). Human immunodeficiency virus self-testing reached high-risk individuals that had never received facility-based testing. Further implementation research is needed to better understand HIVST outside of research programs.

ZnO nanoneedle/H2O solid-liquid heterojunction-based self-powered ultraviolet detector

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

ZnO nanoneedle arrays were grown vertically on a fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass by hydrothermal method at a relatively low temperature. A self-powered photoelectrochemical cell-type UV detector was fabricated using the ZnO nanoneedles as the active photoanode and H2O as the electrolyte. This solid-liquid heterojunction offers an enlarged ZnO/water contact area and a direct pathway for electron transport simultaneously. By connecting this UV photodetector to an ammeter, the intensity of UV light can be quantified using the output short-circuit photocurrent without a power source. High photosensitivity, excellent spectral selectivity, and fast photoresponse at zero bias are observed in this UV detector. The self-powered behavior can be well explained by the formation of a space charge layer near the interface of the solid-liquid heterojunction, which results in a built-in potential and makes the solid-liquid heterojunction work in photovoltaic mode. PMID:24103153

Mechanical Testing of Common-Use Polymeric Materials with an In-House-Built Apparatus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedrosa, Cristiana; Mendes, Joaquim; Magalhaes, Fernao D.

2006-01-01

A low-cost tensile testing machine was built for testing polymeric films. This apparatus also allows for tear-strength and flexural tests. The experimental results, obtained from common-use materials, selected by the students, such as plastic bags, illustrate important aspects of the mechanical behavior of polymeric materials. Some of the tests…

Perceptions of HIV Self-Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States: A Qualitative Analysis.

PubMed

Freeman, Arin E; Sullivan, Patrick; Higa, Darrel; Sharma, Akshay; MacGowan, Robin; Hirshfield, Sabina; Greene, George J; Gravens, Laura; Chavez, Pollyanna; McNaghten, A D; Johnson, Wayne D; Mustanski, Brian

2018-02-01

HIV testing is the gateway into both prevention and treatment services. It is important to understand how men who have sex with men (MSM) perceive HIV self-tests. We conducted focus groups and individual interviews to collect feedback on two HIV self-tests, and on a dried blood spot (DBS) specimen collection kit. Perceptions and attitudes around HIV self-testing (HIVST), and willingness to distribute HIV self-tests to others were assessed. MSM reported HIVST to be complementary to facility-based testing, and liked this approach because it offers privacy and convenience, does not require counseling, and could lead to linkage to care. However, they also had concerns around the accuracy of HIV self-tests, their cost, and receiving a positive test result without immediate access to follow-up services. Despite these issues, they perceived HIVST as a positive addition to their HIV prevention toolbox.

Usefulness of the Mobile Virtual Reality Self-Training for Overcoming a Fear of Heights.

PubMed

Hong, Yeon-Ju; Kim, Hesun Erin; Jung, Young Hoon; Kyeong, Sunghyon; Kim, Jae-Jin

2017-12-01

A mobile virtual reality system, equipped with built-in variables such as heart rate (HR), gaze-down data, and subjective fear rating, can allow individuals with a fear of heights to overcome it by self-training. This study aimed to verify the efficacy and safety of the training program. Forty-eight volunteers completed the four-session self-training program over 2 weeks. They were allocated into either low- or high-fear group by the Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ)-anxiety scores, and then the changes of the built-in variables and AQ-anxiety scores were analyzed between the groups. The safety was assessed using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). The AQ-anxiety scores were significantly decreased after self-training in both groups, and the degree of decrease was significantly greater in the high-fear group than in the low-fear group. Gaze-down percentage and subjective fear rating showed a significant group difference, but HR did not. The SSQ scores were within the acceptable level. These results suggest that the training effect was greater in the high-fear group than in the low-fear group. This mobile program may be safely applicable to self-training for individuals with high scores on the fear of heights by repeated exposure to virtual environments with the embedded feedback system.

A study of two unsupervised data driven statistical methodologies for detecting and classifying damages in structural health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tibaduiza, D.-A.; Torres-Arredondo, M.-A.; Mujica, L. E.; Rodellar, J.; Fritzen, C.-P.

2013-12-01

This article is concerned with the practical use of Multiway Principal Component Analysis (MPCA), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Squared Prediction Error (SPE) measures and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) to detect and classify damages in mechanical structures. The formalism is based on a distributed piezoelectric active sensor network for the excitation and detection of structural dynamic responses. Statistical models are built using PCA when the structure is known to be healthy either directly from the dynamic responses or from wavelet coefficients at different scales representing Time-frequency information. Different damages on the tested structures are simulated by adding masses at different positions. The data from the structure in different states (damaged or not) are then projected into the different principal component models by each actuator in order to obtain the input feature vectors for a SOM from the scores and the SPE measures. An aircraft fuselage from an Airbus A320 and a multi-layered carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) plate are used as examples to test the approaches. Results are presented, compared and discussed in order to determine their potential in structural health monitoring. These results showed that all the simulated damages were detectable and the selected features proved capable of separating all damage conditions from the undamaged state for both approaches.

A low-cost photonic biosensor built on a polymer platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Linghua; Kodeck, Valérie; Van Vlierberghe, Sandra; Ren, Jun; Teng, Jie; Han, Xiuyou; Jian, Xigao; Baets, Roel; Morthier, Geert; Zhao, Mingshan

2011-12-01

Planar integrated optical biosensors are becoming more and more important as they facilitate label-free and real time monitoring biosensing with high sensitivity. In this paper, the systematic research on one kind of optical biosensor, based on a resonant principle in a polymer ring resonator, will be presented. Reduced footprint and high sensitivity are advantages of this kind of biosensor. Rather than expensive CMOS fabrication, the device with high performance is fabricated through a simple UV based soft imprint technique utilizing self-developed low loss polymer material. The measurement results for the bulk sensing of a NaCl solution and the surface sensing of a minimal amount of avidin molecules in a buffered solution will be presented.

A self-testing dynamic RAM chip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Y.; Hayes, J. P.

1985-02-01

A novel approach to making very large dynamic RAM chips self-testing is presented. It is based on two main concepts: on-chip generation of regular test sequences with very high fault coverage, and concurrent testing of storage-cell arrays to reduce overall testing time. The failure modes of a typical 64 K RAM employing one-transistor cells are analyzed to identify their test requirements. A comprehensive test generation algorithm that can be implemented with minimal modification to a standard cell layout is derived. The self-checking peripheral circuits necessary to implement this testing algorithm are described, and the self-testing RAM is briefly evaluated.

A design for living technology: experiments with the mind time machine.

PubMed

Ikegami, Takashi

2013-01-01

Living technology aims to help people expand their experiences in everyday life. The environment offers people ways to interact with it, which we call affordances. Living technology is a design for new affordances. When we experience something new, we remember it by the way we perceive and interact with it. Recent studies in neuroscience have led to the idea of a default mode network, which is a baseline activity of a brain system. The autonomy of artificial life must be understood as a sort of default mode that self-organizes its baseline activity, preparing for its external inputs and its interaction with humans. I thus propose a method for creating a suitable default mode as a design principle for living technology. I built a machine called the mind time machine (MTM), which runs continuously for 10 h per day and receives visual data from its environment using 15 video cameras. The MTM receives and edits the video inputs while it self-organizes the momentary now. Its base program is a neural network that includes chaotic dynamics inside the system and a meta-network that consists of video feedback systems. Using this system as the hardware and a default mode network as a conceptual framework, I describe the system's autonomous behavior. Using the MTM as a testing ground, I propose a design principle for living technology.

Aerodynamic results of a separation test (CA20) conducted at the Boeing transonic wind tunnel using 0.030-scale models of the configuration 140A/B (modified) SSV orbiter (model no. 45-0) and the Boeing 747 carrier (model no. AX 1319 I-1), volume 1. [wind tunnel tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dziubala, T.; Esparza, V.; Gillins, R. L.; Petrozzi, M.

1975-01-01

A Rockwell built 0.030-scale 45-0 modified Space Shuttle Orbiter Configuration 14?A/B model and a Boeing built 0.030-scale 747 carrier model were tested to provide six component force and moment data for each vehicle in proximity to the other at a matrix of relative positions, attitudes and test conditions (angles of attack and sideslip were varied). Orbiter model support system tare effects were determined for corrections to obtain support-free aerodynamics. In addition to the balance force data, pressures were measured. Pressure orifices were located at the base of the Orbiter, on either side of the vertical blade strut, and at the mid-root chord on either side of the vertical tail. Strain gages were installed on the Boeing 747 vertical tail to indicate buffet onset. Photographs of aerodynamic configurations tested are shown.

Safe RESIDential Environments? A longitudinal analysis of the influence of crime-related safety on walking.

PubMed

Foster, Sarah; Hooper, Paula; Knuiman, Matthew; Christian, Hayley; Bull, Fiona; Giles-Corti, Billie

2016-02-16

Numerous cross-sectional studies have investigated the premise that the perception of crime will cause residents to constrain their walking; however the findings to date are inconclusive. In contrast, few longitudinal or prospective studies have examined the impact of crime-related safety on residents walking behaviours. This study used longitudinal data to test whether there is a causal relationship between crime-related safety and walking in the local neighbourhood. Participants in the RESIDential Environments Project (RESIDE) in Perth, Australia, completed a questionnaire before moving to their new neighbourhood (n = 1813) and again approximately one (n = 1467), three (n = 1230) and seven years (n = 531) after relocating. Self-report measures included neighbourhood perceptions (modified NEWS items) and walking inside the neighbourhood (min/week). Objective built environmental measures were generated for each participant's 1600 m neighbourhood at each time-point, and the count of crimes reported to police were generated at the suburb-level for the first three time-points only. The impact of crime-related safety on walking was examined in SAS using the Proc Mixed procedure (marginal repeated measures model with unrestricted variance pattern). Initial models controlled for demographics, time and self-selection, and subsequent models progressively adjusted for other built and social environment factors based on a social ecological model. For every increase of one level on a five-point Likert scale in perceived safety from crime, total walking within the local neighbourhood increased by 18.0 min/week (p = 0.000). This relationship attenuated to an increase of 10.5 min/week after accounting for other built and social environment factors, but remained significant (p = 0.008). Further analyses examined transport and recreational walking separately. In the fully adjusted models, each increase in safety from crime was associated with a 7.0 min/week increase in recreational walking (p = 0.009), however findings for transport walking were non-significant. All associations between suburb-level crime and walking were non-significant. This study provides longitudinal evidence of a potential causal relationship between residents' perceptions of safety from crime and recreational walking. Safety perceptions appeared to influence recreational walking, rather than transport-related walking. Given the popularity of recreational walking and the need to increase levels of physical activity, community social and physical environmental interventions that foster residents' feelings of safety are likely to increase recreational walking and produce public health gains.

Integrated modelling of H-mode pedestal and confinement in JET-ILW

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saarelma, S.; Challis, C. D.; Garzotti, L.; Frassinetti, L.; Maggi, C. F.; Romanelli, M.; Stokes, C.; Contributors, JET

2018-01-01

A pedestal prediction model Europed is built on the existing EPED1 model by coupling it with core transport simulation using a Bohm-gyroBohm transport model to self-consistently predict JET-ILW power scan for hybrid plasmas that display weaker power degradation than the IPB98(y, 2) scaling of the energy confinement time. The weak power degradation is reproduced in the coupled core-pedestal simulation. The coupled core-pedestal model is further tested for a 3.0 MA plasma with the highest stored energy achieved in JET-ILW so far, giving a prediction of the stored plasma energy within the error margins of the measured experimental value. A pedestal density prediction model based on the neutral penetration is tested on a JET-ILW database giving a prediction with an average error of 17% from the experimental data when a parameter taking into account the fuelling rate is added into the model. However the model fails to reproduce the power dependence of the pedestal density implying missing transport physics in the model. The future JET-ILW deuterium campaign with increased heating power is predicted to reach plasma energy of 11 MJ, which would correspond to 11-13 MW of fusion power in equivalent deuterium-tritium plasma but with isotope effects on pedestal stability and core transport ignored.

Performance of a large size triple GEM detector at high particle rate for the CBM Experiment at FAIR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adak, Rama Prasad; Kumar, Ajit; Dubey, Anand Kumar; Chattopadhyay, Subhasis; Das, Supriya; Raha, Sibaji; Samanta, Subhasis; Saini, Jogender

2017-02-01

In CBM Experiment at FAIR, dimuons will be detected by a Muon Chamber (MUCH) consisting of segmented absorbers of varying widths and tracking chambers sandwiched between the absorber-pairs. In this fixed target heavy-ion collision experiment, operating at highest interaction rate of 10 MHz for Au+Au collision, the inner region of the 1st detector will face a particle rate of 1 MHz/cm2. To operate at such a high particle density, GEM technology based detectors have been selected for the first two stations of MUCH. We have reported earlier the performance of several small-size GEM detector prototypes built at VECC for use in MUCH. In this work, we report on a large GEM prototype tested with proton beam of momentum 2.36 GeV/c at COSY-Jülich Germany. The detector was read out using nXYTER operated in self-triggering mode. An efficiency higher than 96% at ΔVGEM = 375.2 V was achieved. The variation of efficiency with the rate of incoming protons has been found to vary within 2% when tested up to a maximum rate of 2.8 MHz/cm2. The gain was found to be stable at high particle rate with a maximum variation of ∼9%.

Estimating the value of a Country's built assets: investment-based exposure modelling for global risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniell, James; Pomonis, Antonios; Gunasekera, Rashmin; Ishizawa, Oscar; Gaspari, Maria; Lu, Xijie; Aubrecht, Christoph; Ungar, Joachim

2017-04-01

In order to quantify disaster risk, there is a demand and need for determining consistent and reliable economic value of built assets at national or sub national level exposed to natural hazards. The value of the built stock in the context of a city or a country is critical for risk modelling applications as it allows for the upper bound in potential losses to be established. Under the World Bank probabilistic disaster risk assessment - Country Disaster Risk Profiles (CDRP) Program and rapid post-disaster loss analyses in CATDAT, key methodologies have been developed that quantify the asset exposure of a country. In this study, we assess the complementary methods determining value of building stock through capital investment data vs aggregated ground up values based on built area and unit cost of construction analyses. Different approaches to modelling exposure around the world, have resulted in estimated values of built assets of some countries differing by order(s) of magnitude. Using the aforementioned methodology of comparing investment data based capital stock and bottom-up unit cost of construction values per square meter of assets; a suitable range of capital stock estimates for built assets have been created. A blind test format was undertaken to compare the two types of approaches from top-down (investment) and bottom-up (construction cost per unit), In many cases, census data, demographic, engineering and construction cost data are key for bottom-up calculations from previous years. Similarly for the top-down investment approach, distributed GFCF (Gross Fixed Capital Formation) data is also required. Over the past few years, numerous studies have been undertaken through the World Bank Caribbean and Central America disaster risk assessment program adopting this methodology initially developed by Gunasekera et al. (2015). The range of values of the building stock is tested for around 15 countries. In addition, three types of costs - Reconstruction cost (building back to the standard required by building codes); Replacement cost (gross capital stock) and Book value (net capital stock - depreciated value of assets) are discussed and the differences in methodologies assessed. We then examine historical costs (reconstruction and replacement) and losses (book value) of natural disasters versus this upper bound of capital stock in various locations to examine the impact of a reasonable capital stock estimate. It is found that some historic loss estimates in publications are not reasonable given the value of assets at the time of the event. This has applications for quantitative disaster risk assessment and development of country disaster risk profiles, economic analyses and benchmarking upper loss limits of built assets damaged due to natural hazards.

Self-Test Procedures for Gas Sensors Embedded in Microreactor Systems.

PubMed

Helwig, Andreas; Hackner, Angelika; Müller, Gerhard; Zappa, Dario; Sberveglieri, Giorgio

2018-02-03

Metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors sensitively respond to a wide variety of combustible, explosive and poisonous gases. However, due to the lack of a built-in self-test capability, MOX gas sensors have not yet been able to penetrate safety-critical applications. In the present work we report on gas sensing experiments performed on MOX gas sensors embedded in ceramic micro-reaction chambers. With the help of an external micro-pump, such systems can be operated in a periodic manner alternating between flow and no-flow conditions, thus allowing repetitive measurements of the sensor resistances under clean air, R 0 , and under gas exposure, R g a s , to be obtained, even under field conditions. With these pairs of resistance values, eventual drifts in the sensor baseline resistance can be detected and drift-corrected values of the relative resistance response R e s p = ( R 0 - R g a s ) / R 0 can be determined. Residual poisoning-induced changes in the relative resistance response can be detected by reference to humidity measurements taken with room-temperature-operated capacitive humidity sensors which are insensitive to the poisoning processes operative on heated MOX gas sensors.

3. Credit USAF, ca. 1945. Original housed in the Records ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. Credit USAF, ca. 1945. Original housed in the Records of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Record Group 373. National Archives. Cartographic and Architectural Branch. Washington, D.C. Aerial orthophoto map 16PS5M79-IV23 of Muroc Flight Test Base (North Base), north faces up with runway at the top and Rogers Dry Lake at the lower right. Ammunition huts (not extant in 1995) appear in a cluster just south of the west end of the runway. Note runway markings on lakebed. Linear feature at very top of image is rocket sled test track designed and built 1944-1945. - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, North Base Road, Boron, Kern County, CA

[Comics for citizenship].

PubMed

Caruso, Francisco; Silveira, Cristina

2009-01-01

A new method for working with scientific, healthcare, historic, sociological, linguistic and other concepts through comic books is presented for youth from public high schools in Rio de Janeiro. The method is based on the pedagogy inspired by Bachelard, according to which scientific knowledge and artistic production are integrated by the stimulus to creativity. It shows how it is capable of contributing to the recuperation of students' self-esteem and increasing motivation to study and how through a creative process and emphasis on a critical spirit, youths construct their citizenship, based on re-readings and translations of a new world built of sciences, dreams and images, which are made concrete in comics, some of which illustrate the text.

The Effectiveness of the Harm Reduction Group Therapy Based on Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory on Risky Behaviors of Drug-Dependent Sex Worker Women.

PubMed

Rabani-Bavojdan, Marjan; Rabani-Bavojdan, Mozhgan; Rajabizadeh, Ghodratollah; Kaviani, Nahid; Bahramnejad, Ali; Ghaffari, Zohreh; Shafiei-Bafti, Mehdi

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the harm reduction group therapy based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory on risky behaviors of sex workers in Kerman, Iran. A quasi-experimental two-group design (a random selection with pre-test and post-test) was used. A risky behaviors questionnaire was used to collect. The sample was selected among sex workers referring to drop-in centers in Kerman. Subjects were allocated to two groups and were randomly classified into two experimental and control groups. The sample group consisted of 56 subjects. The experimental design was carried out during 12 sessions, and the post-test was performed one month and two weeks after the completion of the sessions. The results were analyzed statistically. By reducing harm based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory, the risky behaviors of the experimental group, including injection behavior, sexual behavior, violence, and damage to the skin, were significantly reduced in the pre-test compared to the post-test (P < 0.010). The harm reduction group therapy based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory can reduce the risky behaviors of sex workers.

Psychology of computer use: IX. A menu of self-administered microcomputer-based neurotoxicology tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, R. S.; Baltzley, D. R.; Wilkes, R. L.; Kuntz, L. A.

1989-01-01

This study examined the feasibility of repeated self-administration of a newly developed battery of mental acuity tests which may have application in screening for fitness-for-duty or for persons who may be exposed to environmental stress, toxic agents, or disease. 16 subjects self-administered 18 microcomputer-based tests (13 new, 5 "core"), without proctors, over 10 sessions. The hardware performed well throughout the study and the tests appeared to be easily self-administered. Stabilities and reliabilities of the tests from the "core" battery were comparable to those obtained previously under more controlled experimental conditions. Eight of the new tests exceeded minimum criteria for metric and practical requirements and can be recommended as additions to the menu. Although the average retest reliability was high, cross-correlations between tests were low, implying factorial diversity. The menu can be used to form batteries with flexible total testing time which are likely to tap different mental processes and functions.

Improving behaviour in self-testing (IBIS): Study on frequency of use, consequences, information needs and use, and quality of currently available consumer information (protocol)

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Self-tests are available to consumers for more than 25 conditions, ranging from infectious diseases to cardiovascular risk factors. Self-tests are defined as in-vitro tests on body materials such as blood, urine, faeces, or saliva that are initiated by consumers to diagnose a particular disorder or risk factor without involving a medical professional. In 2006, 16% of a sample of Dutch Internet users had ever used at least one self-test and 17% intended to use a self-test in the future. The objectives of this study are to determine (1) the frequency of self-test use, (2) the consumers' reasons for using or not using a self-test, (3) the information that is used by self-testers in the different self-test stages and the consumers' interpretation of the quality of this information, (4) the consumers' response to self-test results in terms of their confidence in the result, reassurance by the test result, and follow-up behaviour, (5) the information consumers report to need in the decision making process of using or not using a self-test, and in further management on the basis of the self-test result, and (6) the quality of the currently available consumer information on a selected set of self-tests. Methods Mixed methods study with (1) a cross-sectional study consisting of a two-phase Internet-questionnaire, (2) semi-structured interviews with self-testers and consumers who intend to use a self-test, and (3) the assessment of the quality of consumer information of self-tests. The Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour will serve as the theoretical basis for the questionnaires and the interview topic guides. Conclusions The self-testing area is still in a state of flux and therefore it is expected that self-test use will increase in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which combines quantitative and qualitative research to identify consumers' information needs and use concerning self-testing, and the consumers' actual follow-up behaviour based on the self-test result, and simultaneously investigates the quality of the currently available consumer information. The results of this study will be used as an input in developing consumer information on self-testing. PMID:20682031

Improving behaviour in self-testing (IBIS): Study on frequency of use, consequences, information needs and use, and quality of currently available consumer information (protocol).

PubMed

Grispen, Janaica E J; Ickenroth, Martine H P; de Vries, Nanne K; Dinant, Geert-Jan; Ronda, Gaby; van der Weijden, Trudy

2010-08-03

Self-tests are available to consumers for more than 25 conditions, ranging from infectious diseases to cardiovascular risk factors. Self-tests are defined as in-vitro tests on body materials such as blood, urine, faeces, or saliva that are initiated by consumers to diagnose a particular disorder or risk factor without involving a medical professional. In 2006, 16% of a sample of Dutch Internet users had ever used at least one self-test and 17% intended to use a self-test in the future. The objectives of this study are to determine (1) the frequency of self-test use, (2) the consumers' reasons for using or not using a self-test, (3) the information that is used by self-testers in the different self-test stages and the consumers' interpretation of the quality of this information, (4) the consumers' response to self-test results in terms of their confidence in the result, reassurance by the test result, and follow-up behaviour, (5) the information consumers report to need in the decision making process of using or not using a self-test, and in further management on the basis of the self-test result, and (6) the quality of the currently available consumer information on a selected set of self-tests. Mixed methods study with (1) a cross-sectional study consisting of a two-phase Internet-questionnaire, (2) semi-structured interviews with self-testers and consumers who intend to use a self-test, and (3) the assessment of the quality of consumer information of self-tests. The Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour will serve as the theoretical basis for the questionnaires and the interview topic guides. The self-testing area is still in a state of flux and therefore it is expected that self-test use will increase in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which combines quantitative and qualitative research to identify consumers' information needs and use concerning self-testing, and the consumers' actual follow-up behaviour based on the self-test result, and simultaneously investigates the quality of the currently available consumer information. The results of this study will be used as an input in developing consumer information on self-testing.

Understanding the Independent and Joint Associations of the Home and Workplace Built Environments on Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Mass Index

PubMed Central

Hoehner, Christine M.; Allen, Peg; Barlow, Carolyn E.; Marx, Christine M.; Brownson, Ross C.; Schootman, Mario

2013-01-01

This observational study examined the associations of built environment features around the home and workplace with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) based on a treadmill test and body mass index (BMI) (weight (kg)/height (m)2). The study included 8,857 adults aged 20–88 years who completed a preventive medical examination in 2000–2007 while living in 12 Texas counties. Analyses examining workplace neighborhood characteristics included a subset of 4,734 participants. Built environment variables were derived around addresses by using geographic information systems. Models were adjusted for individual-level and census block group–level demographics and socioeconomic status, smoking, BMI (in CRF models), and all other home or workplace built environment variables. CRF was associated with higher intersection density, higher number of private exercise facilities around the home and workplace, larger area of vegetation around the home, and shorter distance to the closest city center. Aside from vegetation, these same built environment features around the home were also associated with BMI. Participants who lived and worked in neighborhoods in the lowest tertiles for intersection density and the number of private exercise facilities had lower CRF and higher BMI values than participants who lived and worked in higher tertiles for these variables. This study contributes new evidence to suggest that built environment features around homes and workplaces may affect health. PMID:23942215

Modelling submerged coastal environments: Remote sensing technologies, techniques, and comparative analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Chris

Built upon remote sensing and GIS littoral zone characterization methodologies of the past decade, a series of loosely coupled models aimed to test, compare and synthesize multi-beam SONAR (MBES), Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry (ALB), and satellite based optical data sets in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, eco-region. Bathymetry and relative intensity metrics for the MBES and ALB data sets were run through a quantitative and qualitative comparison, which included outputs from the Benthic Terrain Modeller (BTM) tool. Substrate classification based on relative intensities of respective data sets and textural indices generated using grey level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM) were investigated. A spatial modelling framework built in ArcGIS(TM) for the derivation of bathymetric data sets from optical satellite imagery was also tested for proof of concept and validation. Where possible, efficiencies and semi-automation for repeatable testing was achieved using ArcGIS(TM) ModelBuilder. The findings from this study could assist future decision makers in the field of coastal management and hydrographic studies. Keywords: Seafloor terrain characterization, Benthic Terrain Modeller (BTM), Multi-beam SONAR, Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry, Satellite Derived Bathymetry, ArcGISTM ModelBuilder, Textural analysis, Substrate classification.

False Operation of Static Random Access Memory Cells under Alternating Current Power Supply Voltage Variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawada, Takuya; Takata, Hidehiro; Nii, Koji; Nagata, Makoto

2013-04-01

Static random access memory (SRAM) cores exhibit susceptibility against power supply voltage variation. False operation is investigated among SRAM cells under sinusoidal voltage variation on power lines introduced by direct RF power injection. A standard SRAM core of 16 kbyte in a 90 nm 1.5 V technology is diagnosed with built-in self test and on-die noise monitor techniques. The sensitivity of bit error rate is shown to be high against the frequency of injected voltage variation, while it is not greatly influenced by the difference in frequency and phase against SRAM clocking. It is also observed that the distribution of false bits is substantially random in a cell array.

Self-testing for HIV: a new option for HIV prevention?

PubMed

Spielberg, Freya; Levine, Ruth O; Weaver, Marcia

2004-10-01

Self-testing has the potential to be an innovative component to community-wide HIV-prevention strategies. This testing method could serve populations who do not have access to standard voluntary counselling and testing services or because of privacy concerns, stigma, transport costs, or other barriers do not use facility-based, standard HIV testing. This paper reviews recent research on the acceptability, feasibility, and cost of rapid testing and home-specimen collection for HIV, and suggests that self-testing may be another important strategy for diagnosing HIV infection. Several research questions are posed that should be answered before self-testing is realised.

Novel nanofluidic chemical cells based on self-assembled solid-state SiO2 nanotubes.

PubMed

Zhu, Hao; Li, Haitao; Robertson, Joseph W F; Balijepalli, Arvind; Krylyuk, Sergiy; Davydov, Albert V; Kasianowicz, John J; Suehle, John S; Li, Qiliang

2017-10-27

Novel nanofluidic chemical cells based on self-assembled solid-state SiO 2 nanotubes on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate have been successfully fabricated and characterized. The vertical SiO 2 nanotubes with a smooth cavity are built from Si nanowires which were epitaxially grown on the SOI substrate. The nanotubes have rigid, dry-oxidized SiO 2 walls with precisely controlled nanotube inner diameter, which is very attractive for chemical-/bio-sensing applications. No dispersion/aligning procedures were involved in the nanotube fabrication and integration by using this technology, enabling a clean and smooth chemical cell. Such a robust and well-controlled nanotube is an excellent case of developing functional nanomaterials by leveraging the strength of top-down lithography and the unique advantage of bottom-up growth. These solid, smooth, clean SiO 2 nanotubes and nanofluidic devices are very encouraging and attractive in future bio-medical applications, such as single molecule sensing and DNA sequencing.

Novel nanofluidic chemical cells based on self-assembled solid-state SiO2 nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hao; Li, Haitao; Robertson, Joseph W. F.; Balijepalli, Arvind; Krylyuk, Sergiy; Davydov, Albert V.; Kasianowicz, John J.; Suehle, John S.; Li, Qiliang

2017-10-01

Novel nanofluidic chemical cells based on self-assembled solid-state SiO2 nanotubes on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate have been successfully fabricated and characterized. The vertical SiO2 nanotubes with a smooth cavity are built from Si nanowires which were epitaxially grown on the SOI substrate. The nanotubes have rigid, dry-oxidized SiO2 walls with precisely controlled nanotube inner diameter, which is very attractive for chemical-/bio-sensing applications. No dispersion/aligning procedures were involved in the nanotube fabrication and integration by using this technology, enabling a clean and smooth chemical cell. Such a robust and well-controlled nanotube is an excellent case of developing functional nanomaterials by leveraging the strength of top-down lithography and the unique advantage of bottom-up growth. These solid, smooth, clean SiO2 nanotubes and nanofluidic devices are very encouraging and attractive in future bio-medical applications, such as single molecule sensing and DNA sequencing.

[Influence of thermalcycling on bonding durability of self-etch adhesives with dentin].

PubMed

Tian, Fu-cong; Wang, Xiao-yan; Gao, Xue-jun

2014-04-18

To investigate influence of thermalcycling on the bonding durability of two one-step products [Adper Prompt (AP) and G-bond (GB)] and one two-step self-etching adhesive [Clearfil SE bond (SE)] with dentin in vitro. Forty-two extracted human molars were selected. The superficial dentin was exposed by grinding off the enamel. The teeth were randomly distributed into six groups with varied bonding protocols. The adhesives were applied to the dentin surface. Composite crowns were built up, then the samples were cut longitudinally into sticks with 1.0 mm×1.0 mm bonding area [for microtensile bond strength (MTBS) testing] or 1.0 mm thick slabs (for nanoleakage observation). Bonding performance was evaluated with or without thermalcyling. For the MTBS testing, the strength values were statistically analysed using One-Way ANOVA. Four slabs in each group were observed for nanoleakage by SEM with a backscattered electron detector. Thermalcycling procedures affected MTBS. In the two one-step groups, the MTBS decreased significantly (P<0.05) after thermalcycling [AP group from (19.06±1.50) MPa to (12.62±2.10) MPa; GB group from (17.75±1.10) MPa to (6.24±0.42)MPa]. But in SE groups, MTBS did not significantly affect [(45.80±2.97) MPa compared with(40.60±5.76) MPa]. As a whole, one-step self-etching adhesives showed lower MTBS than two-step bonding system after aging.For AP and GB, continuous nanoleakage appearance was notable and more obvious than for SE. Thermalcycling can affect the bonding performance of self-etch adhesives including decrease of bond strength and nanoleakage pattern. one-step self-etch adhesives showed more obvious change compared with their two-step counterparts.

Comparing self-guided learning and educator-guided learning formats for simulation-based clinical training.

PubMed

Brydges, Ryan; Carnahan, Heather; Rose, Don; Dubrowski, Adam

2010-08-01

In this paper, we tested the over-arching hypothesis that progressive self-guided learning offers equivalent learning benefit vs. proficiency-based training while limiting the need to set proficiency standards. We have shown that self-guided learning is enhanced when students learn on simulators that progressively increase in fidelity during practice. Proficiency-based training, a current gold-standard training approach, requires achievement of a criterion score before students advance to the next learning level. Baccalaureate nursing students (n = 15/group) practised intravenous catheterization using simulators that differed in fidelity (i.e. students' perceived realism). Data were collected in 2008. Proficiency-based students advanced from low- to mid- to high-fidelity after achieving a proficiency criterion at each level. Progressive students self-guided their progression from low- to mid- to high-fidelity. Yoked control students followed an experimenter-defined progressive practice schedule. Open-ended students moved freely between the simulators. One week after practice, blinded experts evaluated students' skill transfer on a standardized patient simulation. Group differences were examined using analyses of variance. Proficiency-based students scored highest on the high-fidelity post-test (effect size = 1.22). An interaction effect showed that the Progressive and Open-ended groups maintained their performance from post-test to transfer test, whereas the Proficiency-based and Yoked control groups experienced a significant decrease (P < 0.05). Surprisingly, most Open-ended students (73%) chose the progressive practice schedule. Progressive training and proficiency-based training resulted in equivalent transfer test performance, suggesting that progressive students effectively self-guided when to transition between simulators. Students' preference for the progressive practice schedule indicates that educators should consider this sequence for simulation-based training.

Measuring the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in a community-based sample of young people

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Self-reported anthropometric data are commonly used to estimate prevalence of obesity in population and community-based studies. We aim to: 1) Determine whether survey participants are able and willing to self-report height and weight; 2) Assess the accuracy of self-reported compared to measured anthropometric data in a community-based sample of young people. Methods Participants (16–29 years) of a behaviour survey, recruited at a Melbourne music festival (January 2011), were asked to self-report height and weight; researchers independently weighed and measured a sub-sample. Body Mass Index was calculated and overweight/obesity classified as ≥25kg/m2. Differences between measured and self-reported values were assessed using paired t-test/Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Accurate report of height and weight were defined as <2cm and <2kg difference between self-report and measured values, respectively. Agreement between classification of overweight/obesity by self-report and measured values was assessed using McNemar’s test. Results Of 1405 survey participants, 82% of males and 72% of females self-reported their height and weight. Among 67 participants who were also independently measured, self-reported height and weight were significantly less than measured height (p=0.01) and weight (p<0.01) among females, but no differences were detected among males. Overall, 52% accurately self-reported height, 30% under-reported, and 18% over-reported; 34% accurately self-reported weight, 52% under-reported and 13% over-reported. More females (70%) than males (35%) under-reported weight (p=0.01). Prevalence of overweight/obesity was 33% based on self-report data and 39% based on measured data (p=0.16). Conclusions Self-reported measurements may underestimate weight but accurately identified overweight/obesity in the majority of this sample of young people. PMID:23170838

Compact Optical Correlators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregory, Don A.; Kirsch, James C.

1989-02-01

In the past 15 years, a dozen or so designs have been proposed for compact optical correlators. Of these, maybe one-third of them have actually been built and only a few of those tested. This paper will give an overview of some of the systems that have been built as well as mention some promising early and current designs that have not been built. The term compact, as used in the title of this paper, will be applied very loosely; to mean smaller than a laboratory size optical table. To date, only one correlator has been built and tested that actually can be called miniature. This softball size correlator was built by the Perkin-Elmer Corporation for the U. S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. More will be said about this correlator in following sections.

Understanding Web Activity Patterns among Teachers, Students and Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmons, Royce; Clark, B.; Lim, M.

2017-01-01

This study sought to understand generational and role differences in web usage of teachers, teacher candidates and K-12 students in a state in the USA (n = 2261). The researchers employed unique methods, which included using a custom-built persistent web browser to track user behaviours free of self-report, self-selection and perception bias.…

Understanding the Relationship between Activity and Neighbourhoods (URBAN) Study: research design and methodology.

PubMed

Badland, Hannah M; Schofield, Grant M; Witten, Karen; Schluter, Philip J; Mavoa, Suzanne; Kearns, Robin A; Hinckson, Erica A; Oliver, Melody; Kaiwai, Hector; Jensen, Victoria G; Ergler, Christina; McGrath, Leslie; McPhee, Julia

2009-07-10

Built environment attributes are recognized as being important contributors to physical activity (PA) engagement and body size in adults and children. However, much of the existing research in this emergent public health field is hindered by methodological limitations, including: population and site homogeneity, reliance on self-report measures, aggregated measures of PA, and inadequate statistical modeling. As an integral component of multi-country collaborative research, the Understanding the Relationship between Activity and Neighbourhoods (URBAN) Study seeks to overcome these limitations by determining the strengths of association between detailed measures of the neighborhood built environment with PA levels across multiple domains and body size measures in adults and children. This article outlines the research protocol developed for the URBAN Study. The URBAN Study is a multi-centered, stratified, cross-sectional research design, collecting data across four New Zealand cities. Within each city, 12 neighborhoods were identified and selected for investigation based on higher or lower walkability and Māori demographic attributes. Neighborhoods were selected to ensure equal representation of these characteristics. Within each selected neighborhood, 42 households are being randomly selected and an adult and child (where possible) recruited into the study. Data collection includes: objective and self-reported PA engagement, neighborhood perceptions, demographics, and body size measures. The study was designed to recruit approximately 2,000 adults and 250 children into the project. Other aspects of the study include photovoice, which is a qualitative assessment of built environment features associated with PA engagement, an audit of the neighborhood streetscape environment, and an individualized neighborhood walkability profile centered on each participant's residential address. Multilevel modeling will be used to examine the individual-level and neighborhood-level relationships with PA engagement and body size. The URBAN Study is applying a novel scientifically robust research design to provide urgently needed epidemiological information regarding the associations between the built environment and health outcomes. The findings will contribute to a larger, international initiative in which similar neighborhood selection and PA measurement procedures are utilized across eight countries. Accordingly, this study directly addresses the international priority issues of increasing PA engagement and decreasing obesity levels.

Understanding the Relationship between Activity and Neighbourhoods (URBAN) Study: research design and methodology

PubMed Central

Badland, Hannah M; Schofield, Grant M; Witten, Karen; Schluter, Philip J; Mavoa, Suzanne; Kearns, Robin A; Hinckson, Erica A; Oliver, Melody; Kaiwai, Hector; Jensen, Victoria G; Ergler, Christina; McGrath, Leslie; McPhee, Julia

2009-01-01

Background Built environment attributes are recognized as being important contributors to physical activity (PA) engagement and body size in adults and children. However, much of the existing research in this emergent public health field is hindered by methodological limitations, including: population and site homogeneity, reliance on self-report measures, aggregated measures of PA, and inadequate statistical modeling. As an integral component of multi-country collaborative research, the Understanding the Relationship between Activity and Neighbourhoods (URBAN) Study seeks to overcome these limitations by determining the strengths of association between detailed measures of the neighborhood built environment with PA levels across multiple domains and body size measures in adults and children. This article outlines the research protocol developed for the URBAN Study. Methods and design The URBAN Study is a multi-centered, stratified, cross-sectional research design, collecting data across four New Zealand cities. Within each city, 12 neighborhoods were identified and selected for investigation based on higher or lower walkability and Māori demographic attributes. Neighborhoods were selected to ensure equal representation of these characteristics. Within each selected neighborhood, 42 households are being randomly selected and an adult and child (where possible) recruited into the study. Data collection includes: objective and self-reported PA engagement, neighborhood perceptions, demographics, and body size measures. The study was designed to recruit approximately 2,000 adults and 250 children into the project. Other aspects of the study include photovoice, which is a qualitative assessment of built environment features associated with PA engagement, an audit of the neighborhood streetscape environment, and an individualized neighborhood walkability profile centered on each participant's residential address. Multilevel modeling will be used to examine the individual-level and neighborhood-level relationships with PA engagement and body size. Discussion The URBAN Study is applying a novel scientifically robust research design to provide urgently needed epidemiological information regarding the associations between the built environment and health outcomes. The findings will contribute to a larger, international initiative in which similar neighborhood selection and PA measurement procedures are utilized across eight countries. Accordingly, this study directly addresses the international priority issues of increasing PA engagement and decreasing obesity levels. PMID:19589175

Vehicle for Space Transfer and Recovery (VSTAR), volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

The Vehicle Space Transfer and Recovery (VSTAR) system is designed as a manned orbital transfer vehicle (MOTV) with the primary mission of Satellite Launch and Repair (SLR). VSTAR will provide for economic use of high altitude spaceflight for both the public and private sector. VSTAR components will be built and tested using earth based facilities. These components will then be launched using the space shuttle, into low earth orbit (LEO) where it will be constructed on a U.S. built space station. Once in LEO the vehicle components will be assembled in modules which can then be arranged in various configurations to perform the required missions.

Testing of Selective Laser Melting Turbomachinery Applicable to Exploration Upper Stage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calvert, Marty; Turpin, Jason; Nettles, Mindy

2015-01-01

This task is to design, fabricate, and spin test to failure a Ti6-4 hydrogen turbopump impeller that was built using the selective laser melting (SLM) fabrication process (fig. 1). The impeller is sized around upper stage engine requirements. In addition to the spin burst test, material testing will be performed on coupons that are built with the impeller.

Psychophysical and Patient Factors as Determinants of Pain, Function and Health Status in Shoulder Disorders

PubMed Central

Uddin, Zakir; MacDermid, Joy C.; Moro, Jaydeep; Galea, Victoria; Gross, Anita R.

2016-01-01

Objective: To estimate the extent to which psychophysical quantitative sensory test (QST) and patient factors (gender, age and comorbidity) predict pain, function and health status in people with shoulder disorders. To determine if there are gender differences for QST measures in current perception threshold (CPT), vibration threshold (VT) and pressure pain (PP) threshold and tolerance. Design: A cross-sectional study design. Setting: MacHAND Clinical Research Lab at McMaster University. Subjects: 34 surgical and 10 nonsurgical participants with shoulder pain were recruited. Method: Participants completed the following patient reported outcomes: pain (Numeric Pain Rating, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Shoulder Pain and Disability Index) and health status (Short Form-12). Participants completed QST at 4 standardized locations and then an upper extremity performance-based endurance test (FIT-HaNSA). Pearson r’s were computed to determine the relationships between QST variables and patient factors with either pain, function or health status. Eight regression models were built to analysis QST’s and patient factors separately as predictors of either pain, function or health status. An independent sample t-test was done to evaluate the gender effect on QST. Results: Greater PP threshold and PP tolerance was significantly correlated with higher shoulder functional performance on the FIT-HANSA (r =0.31-0.44) and lower self-reported shoulder disability (r = -0.32 to -0.36). Higher comorbidity was consistently correlated (r =0.31-0.46) with more pain, and less function and health status. Older age was correlated to more pain intensity and less function (r =0.31-0.57). In multivariate models, patient factors contributed significantly to pain, function or health status models (r2 =0.19-0.36); whereas QST did not. QST was significantly different between males and females [in PP threshold (3.9 vs. 6.2, p < .001) and PP tolerance (7.6 vs. 2.6, p < .001) and CPT (1.6 vs. 2.3, p =.02)]. Conclusion: Psychophysical dimensions and patient factors (gender, age and comorbidity) affect self-reported and performance-based outcome measures in people with shoulder disorders. PMID:29399220

Noise Performance of a 72 m Suspended FABRY-PÉROT Cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumas, Jean-Charles; Ju, Li; Barriga, Pablo; Zhao, Chunnong; Woolley, Andrew A.; Blair, David G.

We report on a seismic isolator with a relatively compact 3 m stack, combining new passive isolation techniques. It consists of three cascaded passive 3D isolator stages suspended from an Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) horizontal Robert linkage stage which itself is suspended from a ULF 3D pre-isolator. The 3D isolators use self-damping pendulums and Euler springs for the horizontal and vertical stages respectively, while the 3D pre-isolator is the combination of an inverse pendulum which provides low frequency horizontal pre-isolation, and a LaCoste linkage for low frequency vertical pre-isolation. Two isolators suspending mirror test masses have been built to form a 72 m optical cavity in order to test their performance. We report results which demonstrate residual motion at nanometer level at frequencies above 1 Hz.

Rapid optimization method of the strong stray light elimination for extremely weak light signal detection.

PubMed

Wang, Geng; Xing, Fei; Wei, Minsong; You, Zheng

2017-10-16

The strong stray light has huge interference on the detection of weak and small optical signals, and is difficult to suppress. In this paper, a miniaturized baffle with angled vanes was proposed and a rapid optimization model of strong light elimination was built, which has better suppression of the stray lights than the conventional vanes and can optimize the positions of the vanes efficiently and accurately. Furthermore, the light energy distribution model was built based on the light projection at a specific angle, and the light propagation models of the vanes and sidewalls were built based on the Lambert scattering, both of which act as the bias of a calculation method of stray light. Moreover, the Monte-Carlo method was employed to realize the Point Source Transmittance (PST) simulation, and the simulation result indicated that it was consistent with the calculation result based on our models, and the PST could be improved by 2-3 times at the small incident angles for the baffle designed by the new method. Meanwhile, the simulation result was verified by laboratory tests, and the new model with derived analytical expressions which can reduce the simulation time significantly.

A Type of Non-cable Self-Posioning Seismograph Served For SinoProbe Project In China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, H.; Lin, J.; Chen, Z.; Zhang, L.; Huaizhu, Z.; Zheng, F.; Seismic Instrument Design Team

2011-12-01

A type of cableless self-positioning telemetry seismograph designed for deep exploration is introduced in this article. The seismograph adopts 24-bit ADC and the analog circuits are designed carefully to attain a low noise level of 300nV RMS. It also uses 24-bit DAC and FPGA circuits to perform self-test including noise level, trace crosstalk, CMRR, harmonic distortion, geophone resitor testing, pulse testing, gain calibration and etc. As the testing result shows, the analog acquisition performances are similar to the most popular seismograph 428XL system from Sercel. However, the seismograph has a different structure with 428XL. It gets rid of cables and stores seismic data in mass non-volatile memory, and meanwhile it employs GPS combined with Compass global navigation satellite system to implement synchronous data aquisiton and self-positioning. In addition, the seismograph has a built-in WiFi module and can communicate with a cental server in Ad-hoc mode or AP mode depending on the distance between the seismograph and the central server. The working status and seismic data quality can be monitored through the WiFi network and some seismic data can be transmitted back on demand. When the distance between adjacent seismographs exceed 500 metres, the Compass global navigation satellite system which supports global communication can be used to send necessary data. At last, dynamic power management is emplyed and the system working voltage and frequency will be changed as the system runs into different status, and also all circuit modules can be switched off when not needed. Because of all the benefits listed above, the seismograph can be used in a variety of ways as needed, such as seismic network, deep seismic reflection exploration, wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction exploration, ore zone seismic exploration and etc. To sum up, the cable-less self-positioning seismograph employs mass non-volatile storage technology, global navigation satellite sytem, WiFi modules and dynamic power management technology to attain a flexible data acquisition system suitable for most of the seismic deep exploration in SinoProbe launched in China.

Sociodemographic Moderators of Environment-Physical Activity Associations: Results From the International Prevalence Study.

PubMed

Perez, Lilian G; Conway, Terry L; Bauman, Adrian; Kerr, Jacqueline; Elder, John P; Arredondo, Elva M; Sallis, James F

2018-01-01

Associations between the built environment and physical activity (PA) may vary by sociodemographic factors. However, such evidence from international studies is limited. This study tested the moderating effects of sociodemographic factors on associations between perceived environment and self-reported total PA among adults from the International Prevalence Study. Between 2002 and 2003, adults from 9 countries (N = 10,258) completed surveys assessing total PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short), perceived environment, and sociodemographics (age, gender, and education). Total PA was dichotomized as meeting/not meeting (a) high PA levels and (b) minimum PA guidelines. Logistic models tested environment by sociodemographic interactions (24 total). Education and gender moderated the association between safety from crime and meeting high PA levels (interaction P < .05), with inverse associations found only among the high education group and men. Education and gender also moderated associations of safety from crime and the presence of transit stops with meeting minimum PA guidelines (interaction P < .05), with positive associations found for safety from crime only among women and presence of transit stops only among men and the high education group. The limited number of moderating effects found provides support for population-wide environment-PA associations. International efforts to improve built environments are needed to promote health-enhancing PA and maintain environmental sustainability.

Memristor-CMOS hybrid integrated circuits for reconfigurable logic.

PubMed

Xia, Qiangfei; Robinett, Warren; Cumbie, Michael W; Banerjee, Neel; Cardinali, Thomas J; Yang, J Joshua; Wu, Wei; Li, Xuema; Tong, William M; Strukov, Dmitri B; Snider, Gregory S; Medeiros-Ribeiro, Gilberto; Williams, R Stanley

2009-10-01

Hybrid reconfigurable logic circuits were fabricated by integrating memristor-based crossbars onto a foundry-built CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) platform using nanoimprint lithography, as well as materials and processes that were compatible with the CMOS. Titanium dioxide thin-film memristors served as the configuration bits and switches in a data routing network and were connected to gate-level CMOS components that acted as logic elements, in a manner similar to a field programmable gate array. We analyzed the chips using a purpose-built testing system, and demonstrated the ability to configure individual devices, use them to wire up various logic gates and a flip-flop, and then reconfigure devices.

Patient autonomy and choice in healthcare: self-testing devices as a case in point.

PubMed

Greaney, Anna-Marie; O'Mathúna, Dónal P; Scott, P Anne

2012-11-01

This paper aims to critique the phenomenon of advanced patient autonomy and choice in healthcare within the specific context of self-testing devices. A growing number of self-testing medical devices are currently available for home use. The premise underpinning many of these devices is that they assist individuals to be more autonomous in the assessment and management of their health. Increased patient autonomy is assumed to be a good thing. We take issue with this assumption and argue that self-testing provides a specific example how increased patient autonomy and choice within healthcare might not best serve the patient population. We propose that current interpretations of autonomy in healthcare are based on negative accounts of liberty to the detriment of a more relational understanding. We also propose that Kantian philosophy is often applied to the healthcare arena in an inappropriate manner. We draw on the philosophical literature and examples from the self-testing process to support these claims. We conclude by offering an alternative account of autonomy based on the interrelated concepts of relationality, care and responsibility.

Characterization of the near-term electric vehicle (ETV-1) breadboard propulsion system over the SAE J227a driving schedule D

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sargent, N. B.; Dustin, M. O.

1981-01-01

The electric test vehicle one (ETV-1) was built from the ground up with present state of the art technology. Two vehicles were built and are presently being evaluated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A duplicate set of propulsion system components was built, mounted on a breadboard, and delivered to NASA's Lewis Research Center for testing on the road load simulator (RLS). Driving cycle tests completed on the system are described.

Reconfigurable HIL Testing of Earth Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

In recent years, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing has carved a strong niche in several industries, such as automotive, aerospace, telecomm, and consumer electronics. As desktop computers have realized gains in speed, memory size, and data storage capacity, hardware/software platforms have evolved into high performance, deterministic HIL platforms, capable of hosting the most demanding applications for testing components and subsystems. Using simulation software to emulate the digital and analog I/O signals of system components, engineers of all disciplines can now test new systems in realistic environments to evaluate their function and performance prior to field deployment. Within the Aerospace industry, space-borne satellite systems are arguably some of the most demanding in terms of their requirement for custom engineering and testing. Typically, spacecraft are built one or few at a time to fulfill a space science or defense mission. In contrast to other industries that can amortize the cost of HIL systems over thousands, even millions of units, spacecraft HIL systems have been built as one-of-a-kind solutions, expensive in terms of schedule, cost, and risk, to assure satellite and spacecraft systems reliability. The focus of this paper is to present a new approach to HIL testing for spacecraft systems that takes advantage of a highly flexible hardware/software architecture based on National Instruments PXI reconfigurable hardware and virtual instruments developed using LabVIEW. This new approach to HIL is based on a multistage/multimode spacecraft bus emulation development model called Reconfigurable Hardware In-the-Loop or RHIL.

WE-AB-204-11: Development of a Nuclear Medicine Dosimetry Module for the GPU-Based Monte Carlo Code ARCHER

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

Liu, T; Lin, H; Xu, X

Purpose: To develop a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the GPU-based Monte Carlo code ARCHER. Methods: We have developed a nuclear medicine dosimetry module for the fast Monte Carlo code ARCHER. The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo transport kernel included in ARCHER is built upon the Dose Planning Method code (DPM). The developed module manages the radioactive decay simulation by consecutively tracking several types of radiation on a per disintegration basis using the statistical sampling method. Optimization techniques such as persistent threads and prefetching are studied and implemented. The developed module is verified against the VIDA code, which is based onmore » Geant4 toolkit and has previously been verified against OLINDA/EXM. A voxelized geometry is used in the preliminary test: a sphere made of ICRP soft tissue is surrounded by a box filled with water. Uniform activity distribution of I-131 is assumed in the sphere. Results: The self-absorption dose factors (mGy/MBqs) of the sphere with varying diameters are calculated by ARCHER and VIDA respectively. ARCHER’s result is in agreement with VIDA’s that are obtained from a previous publication. VIDA takes hours of CPU time to finish the computation, while it takes ARCHER 4.31 seconds for the 12.4-cm uniform activity sphere case. For a fairer CPU-GPU comparison, more effort will be made to eliminate the algorithmic differences. Conclusion: The coupled electron-photon Monte Carlo code ARCHER has been extended to radioactive decay simulation for nuclear medicine dosimetry. The developed code exhibits good performance in our preliminary test. The GPU-based Monte Carlo code is developed with grant support from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering through an R01 grant (R01EB015478)« less

Research on Equivalent Tests of Dynamics of On-orbit Soft Contact Technology Based on On-Orbit Experiment Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, F.; Dong, Z. H.; Ye, X.

2018-05-01

Currently, space robots have been become a very important means of space on-orbit maintenance and support. Many countries are taking deep research and experiment on this. Because space operation attitude is very complicated, it is difficult to model them in research lab. This paper builds up a complete equivalent experiment framework according to the requirement of proposed space soft-contact technology. Also, this paper carries out flexible multi-body dynamics parameters verification for on-orbit soft-contact mechanism, which combines on-orbit experiment data, the built soft-contact mechanism equivalent model and flexible multi-body dynamics equivalent model that is based on KANE equation. The experiment results approve the correctness of the built on-orbit soft-contact flexible multi-body dynamics.

Experimental study of effectiveness of four radon mitigation solutions, based on underground depressurization, tested in prototype housing built in a high radon area in Spain.

PubMed

Frutos Vázquez, Borja; Olaya Adán, Manuel; Quindós Poncela, Luis Santiago; Sainz Fernandez, Carlos; Fuente Merino, Ismael

2011-04-01

The present paper discusses the results of an empirical study of four approaches to reducing indoor radon concentrations based on depressurization techniques in underground sumps. The experiments were conducted in prototype housing built in an area of Spain where the average radon concentration at a depth of 1 m is 250 kBq m(-3). Sump effectiveness was analysed in two locations: underneath the basement, which involved cutting openings into the foundation, ground storey and roof slabs, and outside the basement walls, which entailed digging a pit alongside the building exterior. The effectiveness of both sumps was likewise tested with passive and forced ventilation methods. The systems proved to be highly efficient, lowering radon levels by 91-99%, except in the solution involving passive ventilation and the outside sump, where radon levels were reduced by 53-55%. At wind speeds of over 8 m/s, however, passive ventilation across an outside sump lowered radon levels by 95% due to a Venturi effect induced drop in pressure. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Height-resolved large-sample INAA of a 1 m long, 13 cm diameter ditch-bottom sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blaauw, M.; Baas, H. W.; Donze, M.

2003-06-01

A facility for instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of large samples (up to 1 m long and 15 cm diameter) has been built. Correction methods for the simultaneous occurrence of neutron self-shielding and gamma-ray self-attenuation effects have been implemented and tested with a variety of samples. Now, the method has been extended to allow for the interpretation of scanned, collimated measurements, where results are obtained for individual voxels. As a validation and demonstration, a ditch-bottom sample of the maximum size was taken in a frozen condition. It was cut in 2 cm slices, still frozen, and put together again with each slice in a 2 cm height Petri dish divided in three sections. This allowed for verification of the results by ordinary INAA. Possible explanations for the discrepancies we observed between ordinary and large-sample INAA in the region where the concentration gradients are the steepest are discussed.

Reducing the Cost of System Administration of a Disk Storage System Built from Commodity Components

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-05-01

quickly by using checkpointing and roll-forward logs. Microsoft Tiger is a video server built from commodity PCs which they call “cubs” [ BBD +96, BFD97...20 cents per megabyte using street prices of components. 3.2.2 Redundancy In designing the TD prototype, we have taken care to ensure it does not have... Td /GridPix/, 1999. [ATP99] Satoshi Asami, Nisha Talagala, and David Patterson. Designing a self-maintaining storage system. In Proceedings of the

A Climate of Excellence: Paving the Way for Student Success at Miami-Dade South's Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watters, Robert D.

1986-01-01

Describes Miami-Dade Community College and its librarians. Examines ways South Campus has built, stretched, and promoted the use of library resources. Discusses several student success-oriented strategies; e.g., self-guided cassette tours, "Time Savers" study guides, self-instructional library skills programs, audiovisual productions,…

Built-In-Test Equipment Requirements Workshop. Workshop Presentation

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

quantitatively evaluated in test. (2) It is necessary to develop the statistical methods that should be used for predicting and confirming of diagnostic...of different performance levels of BIT peacetime and wartime applications, and the corresponding manpower and other support requirements should be...reports. The scope of the workshop involves the areas of require- ments for built-in-test and diagnostics, and the methods of testing to ensure that the

Use of diagnostic self-tests on body materials among Internet users in the Netherlands: prevalence and correlates of use

PubMed Central

Ronda, Gaby; Portegijs, Piet; Dinant, Geert-Jan; Buntinx, Frank; Norg, Roelf; van der Weijden, Trudy

2009-01-01

Background A range of self-tests on body materials has become available to the general public, but the extent of their use has hardly been studied. This study examined how many people use diagnostic self-tests on body materials such as blood or urine, as well as the type of tests that are used, and factors associated with their use. Methods Cross-sectional survey. Participants were recruited from an existing Dutch Internet panel of 12,529 persons, and information was collected by means of a structured Internet-based questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess correlates of self-test use. Results Response to the survey was 63%. Sixteen percent of the respondents said they had ever used at least one self-test, with a mean of 2.1 tests per self-tester. The most frequently reported self-tests were those for diabetes and cholesterol. Self-testers generally reported lower health status and had a higher BMI than non-testers. On the other hand, they were more likely to engage in health-related behaviour such as the use of dietary supplements and homeopathic medicine. Conclusion Self-testing proved to be relatively prevalent among Dutch Internet users. We therefore think that it is essential to develop appropriate information for consumers, health care providers and policymakers, about the pros and cons of self-testing and specific self-tests. More test-specific research is needed. PMID:19358708

Microcomputer control of an electronically commutated dc motor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Sharkawi, M. A.; Coleman, J. S.; Mehdi, I. S.; Sommer, D. L.

A microcomputer control system for an electronically commutated dc motor (ECM) has been designed, built and tested. A 3-hp, 270-volt, samarium-cobalt brushless dc motor is controlled by an Intel 8086-based microcomputer. The main functions of the microcomputer are to control the speed of the motor, to provide forward or reverse rotation, to brake, and to protect the motor and its power electronic switching circuits from overcurrents. The necessary interface circuits were designed and built, and the system components have been integrated and tested. It is shown that the proposed ECM system with the microcomputer control operate the motor reliably over a wide range of speeds. The purpose of this effort is to develop the motorcontroller for driving electromechanical actuators for flight control and other aircraft applications.

Vibroacoustic Response of Residential Housing due to Sonic Boom Exposure: A Summary of two Field Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klos, Jacob; Buehrle, Ralph; Sullivan, Brenda; Gavin, Joseph; Salamone, Joseph; Haering, Edward A., jr.; Miller, Denise M.

2008-01-01

Two experiments have been performed to measure the vibroacoustic response of houses exposed to sonic booms. In 2006, an old home in the base housing area of Edwards Air Force Base, built around 1960 and demolished in 2007, was instrumented with 288 transducers. During a 2007 follow-on test, a newer home in the base housing area, built in 1997, was instrumented with 112 transducers. For each experiment, accelerometers were placed on walls, windows and ceilings in bedrooms of the house to measure the vibration response of the structure. Microphones were placed outside and inside the house to measure the excitation field and resulting interior sound field. The vibroacoustic response of each house was measured for sonic boom amplitudes spanning from 2.4 to 96 Pa (0.05 to 2 lbf/sq ft). The boom amplitudes were systematically varied using a unique dive maneuver of an F/A-18 airplane. In total, the database for both houses contains vibroacoustic response data for 154 sonic booms. In addition, several tests were performed with mechanical shaker excitation of the structure to characterize the forced response of the houses. The purpose of this paper is to summarize all the data from these experiments that are available to the research community, and to compare and contrast the vibroacoustic behavior of these two dissimilar houses.

A pilot study of community-based self-sampling for HPV testing among non-attenders of cervical cancer screening programs in El Salvador.

PubMed

Laskow, Bari; Figueroa, Ruben; Alfaro, Karla M; Scarinci, Isabel C; Conlisk, Elizabeth; Maza, Mauricio; Chang, Judy C; Cremer, Miriam

2017-08-01

To establish the feasibility and acceptability of home-based HPV self-sampling among women who did not attend screening appointments in rural El Salvador. In a cross-sectional study, data were collected from May 2015 to January 2016 among 60 women aged 30-59 years who were not pregnant, provided informed consent, had not been screened in 2 years, had no history of pre-cancer treatment, and did not attend a scheduled HPV screening. Participants completed questionnaires and received educational information before being given an opportunity to self-sample with the Hybrid Capture 2 High Risk HPV DNA Test. Self-sampling was accepted by 41 (68%) participants. Almost all women chose to self-sample because the process was easy (40/41, 98%), could be performed at home (40/41, 98%), and saved time (38/41, 93%), and because they felt less embarrassed (33/41, 80%). The most common reason for declining the test was not wanting to be screened (8/19, 42%). The prevalence of high-risk HPV types among women who accepted self-sampling was 17% (7/41). For most women, community-based self-sampling was an acceptable way to participate in a cervical cancer screening program. In low-resource countries, incorporating community-based self-sampling into screening programs might improve coverage of high-risk women. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

How Do They Do It: Working Women Meeting Physical Activity Recommendations

PubMed Central

Gell, Nancy M.; Wadsworth, Danielle D.

2014-01-01

Objective To identify factors that facilitate adherence to physical activity among employed women. Methods Participants were 103 employed women (Mean 44.4 years ±11.8). Measures included physical activity by accelerometry, location by global positioning systems, and psychosocial constructs, perception of worksite policies and the built environment by questionnaire. Results Meeting physical activity recommendations was significantly associated with use of the built environment, self-regulation, perception of higher land-use mix diversity, and perception of lower infrastructure and safety for walking. Perception of worksite policies, self-efficacy, and social support were not associated with meeting recommendations. Conclusions The findings provide evidence that working women’s physical activity behavior is influenced by both psychosocial and environmental factors. PMID:24765681

Active vibration attenuating seat suspension for an armored helicopter crew seat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sztein, Pablo Javier

An Active Vibration Attenuating Seat Suspension (AVASS) for an MH-60S helicopter crew seat is designed to protect the occupants from harmful whole-body vibration (WBV). Magnetorheological (MR) suspension units are designed, fabricated and installed in a helicopter crew seat. These MR isolators are built to work in series with existing Variable Load Energy Absorbers (VLEAs), have minimal increase in weight, and maintain crashworthiness for the seat system. Refinements are discussed, based on testing, to minimize friction observed in the system. These refinements include the addition of roller bearings to replace friction bearings in the existing seat. Additionally, semi-active control of the MR dampers is achieved using special purpose built custom electronics integrated into the seat system. Experimental testing shows that an MH-60S retrofitted with AVASS provides up to 70.65% more vibration attenuation than the existing seat configuration as well as up to 81.1% reduction in vibration from the floor.

SeeStar: an open-source, low-cost imaging system for subsea observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cazenave, F.; Kecy, C. D.; Haddock, S.

2016-02-01

Scientists and engineers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have collaborated to develop SeeStar, a modular, light weight, self-contained, low-cost subsea imaging system for short- to long-term monitoring of marine ecosystems. SeeStar is composed of separate camera, battery, and LED lighting modules. Two versions of the system exist: one rated to 300 meters depth, the other rated to 1500 meters. Users can download plans and instructions from an online repository and build the system using low-cost off-the-shelf components. The system utilizes an easily programmable Arduino based controller, and the widely distributed GoPro camera. The system can be deployed in a variety of scenarios taking still images and video and can be operated either autonomously or tethered on a range of platforms, including ROVs, AUVs, landers, piers, and moorings. Several Seestar systems have been built and used for scientific studies and engineering tests. The long-term goal of this project is to have a widely distributed marine imaging network across thousands of locations, to develop baselines of biological information.

Design of an Eye Limiting Resolution Visual System Using Commercial-Off-the-Shelf Equipment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sweet, Barbara T.; Giovannetti, Dean P.

2008-01-01

A feasibility study was conducted to determine if a flight simulator with an eye-limiting resolution out-the-window (OTW) visual system could be built using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology and used to evaluate the visual performance of Air Force pilots in an operations context. Results of this study demonstrate that an eye limiting OTW visual system can be built using COTS technology. Further, a series of operationally-based tasks linked to clinical vision tests can be used within the synthetic environment to demonstrate a correlation and quantify the level of correlation between vision and operational aviation performance.

Effects of a Web-Based Decision Aid Regarding Diagnostic Self-Testing. A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ickenroth, Martine H. P.; Grispen, J. E. J.; de Vries, N. K.; Dinant, G. J.; Ronda, G.; van der Weijden, T.

2016-01-01

Currently, there are many diagnostic self-tests on body materials available to consumers. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an online decision aid on diagnostic self-testing for cholesterol and diabetes on knowledge among consumers with an intention to take these tests. A randomized controlled trial was designed. A total of 1259…

TITANIUM DIOXIDE AND ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT: A SUSTAINABLE AND INEXPENSIVE SOLUTION FOR ADDRESSING DRINKING WATER QUALITY ISSUES IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

EPA Science Inventory

The Ti0₂ based purification system reactor was built and tested by various diagnostic techniques for its efficacy in detoxification of water against organic and biological matter. Initial experiments were done with ultraviolet lamp as ...

49 CFR 268.11 - Project eligibility standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... to run the Corridor or the project—once built and paid for—as a completely self-sustaining entity, in... location of their critical habitat; identification of navigable waterways, wetlands and other sensitive...

Adolescents’ experience of a rapid HIV self-testing device in youth-friendly clinic settings in Cape Town South Africa: a cross-sectional community based usability study

PubMed Central

Smith, Philip; Wallace, Melissa; Bekker, Linda-Gail

2016-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Since HIV testing in South African adolescents and young adults is sub-optimal, the objective of the current study was to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of an HIV rapid self-testing device in adolescents and young people at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre and Mobile Clinic. Methods: Self-presenting adolescents and young adults were invited to participate in a study investigating the fidelity, usability and acceptability of the AtomoRapid HIV Rapid self-testing device. Trained healthcare workers trained participants to use the device before the participant conducted the HIV self-test with device usage instructions. The healthcare worker then conducted a questionnaire-based survey to assess outcomes. Results: Of the 224 enrolled participants between 16 and 24 years of age, 155 (69,2%) were female. Overall, fidelity was high; 216 (96,4%) participants correctly completed the test and correctly read and interpreted the HIV test result. There were eight (3,6%) user errors overall; six participants failed to prick their finger even though the lancet fired correctly. There were two user errors where participants failed to use the capillary tube correctly. Participants rated acceptability and usability highly, with debut testers giving significantly higher ratings for both. Younger participants gave significantly higher ratings of acceptability. Conclusions: Adolescents and young adults found HIV self-testing highly acceptable with the AtomoRapid and they used the device accurately. Further research should investigate how, where and when to deploy HIV self-testing as a means to accompany existing strategies in reaching the UNAIDS goal to test 90% of all individuals worldwide. PMID:28406597

Self-consistency tests of large-scale dynamics parameterizations for single-column modeling

DOE PAGES

Edman, Jacob P.; Romps, David M.

2015-03-18

Large-scale dynamics parameterizations are tested numerically in cloud-resolving simulations, including a new version of the weak-pressure-gradient approximation (WPG) introduced by Edman and Romps (2014), the weak-temperature-gradient approximation (WTG), and a prior implementation of WPG. We perform a series of self-consistency tests with each large-scale dynamics parameterization, in which we compare the result of a cloud-resolving simulation coupled to WTG or WPG with an otherwise identical simulation with prescribed large-scale convergence. In self-consistency tests based on radiative-convective equilibrium (RCE; i.e., no large-scale convergence), we find that simulations either weakly coupled or strongly coupled to either WPG or WTG are self-consistent, butmore » WPG-coupled simulations exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior as the strength of the coupling to WPG is varied. We also perform self-consistency tests based on observed forcings from two observational campaigns: the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) and the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Summer 1995 IOP. In these tests, we show that the new version of WPG improves upon prior versions of WPG by eliminating a potentially troublesome gravity-wave resonance.« less

Development of self and peer performance assessment on iodometric titration experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nahadi; Siswaningsih, W.; Kusumaningtyas, H.

2018-05-01

This study aims to describe the process in developing of reliable and valid assessment to measure students’ performance on iodometric titration and the effect of the self and peer assessment on students’ performance. The self and peer-instrument provides valuable feedback for the student performance improvement. The developed assessment contains rubric and task for facilitating self and peer assessment. The participants are 24 students at the second-grade student in certain vocational high school in Bandung. The participants divided into two groups. The first 12 students involved in the validity test of the developed assessment, while the remain 12 students participated for the reliability test. The content validity was evaluated based on the judgment experts. Test result of content validity based on judgment expert show that the developed performance assessment instrument categorized as valid on each task with the realibity classified as very good. Analysis of the impact of the self and peer assessment implementation showed that the peer instrument supported the self assessment.

Neighbourhood built environment characteristics associated with different types of physical activity in Canadian adults.

PubMed

McCormack, Gavin R

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to estimate the associations between neighbourhood built environment characteristics and transportation walking (TW), recreational walking (RW), and moderate-intensity (MPA) and vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) in adults independent of sociodemographic characteristics and residential self-selection (i.e. the reasons related to physical activity associated with a person's choice of neighbourhood). In 2007 and 2008, 4423 Calgary adults completed land-based telephone interviews capturing physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics and reasons for residential self-selection. Using spatial data, we estimated population density, proportion of green space, path/cycleway length, business density, bus stop density, city-managed tree density, sidewalk length, park type mix and recreational destination mix within a 1.6 km street network distance from the participants' geolocated residential postal code. Generalized linear models estimated the associations between neighbourhood built environment characteristics and weekly neighbourhood-based physical activity participation (≥ 10 minutes/week; odds ratios [ORs]) and, among those who reported participation, duration of activity (unstandardized beta coefficients [B]). The sample included more women (59.7%) than men (40.3%) and the mean (standard deviation) age was 47.1 (15.6) years. TW participation was associated with intersection (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.20) and business (OR = 1.52; 1.29 to 1.78) density, and sidewalk length (OR = 1.19; 1.09 to 1.29), while TW minutes was associated with business (B = 19.24 minutes/week; 11.28 to 27.20) and tree (B = 6.51; 2.29 to 10.72 minutes/week) density, and recreational destination mix (B = -8.88 minutes/ week; -12.49 to -5.28). RW participation was associated with path/cycleway length (OR = 1.17; 1.05 to 1.31). MPA participation was associated with recreational destination mix (OR = 1.09; 1.01 to 1.17) and sidewalk length (OR = 1.10; 1.02 to 1.19); however, MPA minutes was negatively associated with population density (B = -8.65 minutes/ week; -15.32 to -1.98). VPA participation was associated with sidewalk length (OR = 1.11; 1.02 to 1.20), path/cycleway length (OR = 1.12; 1.02 to 1.24) and proportion of neighbourhood green space (OR = 0.89; 0.82 to 0.98). VPA minutes was associated with tree density (B = 7.28 minutes/week; 0.39 to 14.17). Some neighbourhood built environment characteristics appear important for supporting physical activity participation while others may be more supportive of increasing physical activity duration. Modifications that increase the density of utilitarian destinations and the quantity of available sidewalks in established neighbourhoods could increase overall levels of neighbourhood-based physical activity.

Delta II ICESat-2 Booster Transport

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-17

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II booster is transported to Space Launch Complex-2 where it will launch NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, satellite. This will be the last flight for the venerable Delta II rocket. ICESat-2, which is being built and tested by Orbital ATK in Gilbert, Arizona, will carry a single instrument called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS. The ATLAS instrument is being built and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Once in orbit, the satellite is designed to measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much, Earth’s frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, are changing.

Delta II ICESat-2 Booster Transport

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-17

At NASA's Building 836, the Spacecraft Labs Telemetry Station at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II booster is transported to Space Launch Complex-2 where it will launch NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, satellite. This will be the last flight for the venerable Delta II rocket. ICESat-2, which is being built and tested by Orbital ATK in Gilbert, Arizona, will carry a single instrument called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS. The ATLAS instrument is being built and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Once in orbit, the satellite is designed to measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much, Earth’s frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, are changing.

Delta II ICESat-2 Booster Transport

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-17

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II booster arrives at Space Launch Complex-2 where it will launch NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, satellite. This will be the last flight for the venerable Delta II rocket. ICESat-2, which is being built and tested by Orbital ATK in Gilbert, Arizona, will carry a single instrument called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS. The ATLAS instrument is being built and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. Once in orbit, the satellite is designed to measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much, Earth’s frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, are changing.

Self monitoring of glucose by people with diabetes: evidence based practice.

PubMed Central

Gallichan, M.

1997-01-01

The inappropriate use of self monitoring of glucose is wasteful of NHS resources and can cause psychological harm. Although a few patients find that self monitoring enables them to understand and take control of their diabetes, many people with diabetes are performing inaccurate or unnecessary tests. There is no convincing evidence that self monitoring improves glycaemic control, nor that blood testing is necessarily better than urine testing. It may be appropriate for some patients not to monitor their own glucose but to rely instead on regular laboratory estimations of glycaemic control. Glucose self monitoring should be performed only when it serves an identified purpose. It is widely assumed that glucose self monitoring, preferably of blood glucose concentrations, is desirable or even essential for everyone with diabetes. It is common for patients who have previously tested their urine, or have done no glucose monitoring at home, to be taught to measure their blood glucose when they are admitted to hospital. In the community too, patients are often encouraged to monitor their blood glucose, and newly diagnosed patients of all ages are usually taught to measure their blood glucose concentrations. Self monitoring can sometimes be useful, but evidence is mounting that its indiscriminate use is of questionable value. In 1995, Pounds 42.6 million was spent on home monitoring of glucose in the United Kingdom (Intercontinental Medical Statistics, personal communication). Is this enormous cost justified? Is blood testing necessarily better than urine testing? Is glucose self monitoring always necessary, or is it sometimes a waste of time and money? Are recommendations for self monitoring based on sound evidence? PMID:9099125

View looking west at Test Stand 'A' complex in morning ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

View looking west at Test Stand 'A' complex in morning sun. View shows Monitor Building 4203/E-4 at left, barrier (Building 4216/E-17) to right of 4203/E-4, and Test Stand 'A' tower. Attached structure to lower left of tower is Test Stand 'A' machine room which contained refrigeration equipment. Building in right background with Test Stand 'A' tower shadow on it is Assembly Building 4288/E-89, built in 1984. Row of ground-mounted brackets in foreground was used to carry electrical cable and/or fuel lines. - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Test Stand A, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

Testing light concentrators prototypes for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hénault, François; Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier; Jocou, Laurent; Arezki, Brahim; Magnard, Yves; Khélifi, Bruno; Manigot, Pascal; Olive, Jean-François; Jean, Pierre; Punch, Michael

2017-09-01

With more than 30 Medium-Size Telescopes (MST) located in both North and South hemispheres, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) shall be the largest cosmic gamma ray detector ever built. Each MST focal plane consists in an array of some 1800 photomultipliers equipped with their own light concentrating optics in order to maximizing the amount of Cherenkov radiation collected by the telescope and to block stray light originating from ground environment. Within the CTA Consortium, the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) is in charge of designing, subcontracting the realization to industry, and testing the MST light concentrators. Two different optical solutions were pre-selected, respectively based on CPCs (Winston cones) and non-imaging concentrating lenses. Prototypes were manufactured by different industrial companies and tested in our laboratory on a test bench specifically built for the project. After shortly describing both optical designs, this communication is essentially focused at experimental results. Each type of concentrator has been submitted to extensive performance measurements, including radiometric efficiency at different wavelengths, rejection curves, and qualitative shape error test. The final selected concentrator is the CPC, although non-imaging lenses exhibit interesting properties in terms of radiometric performance.

Comparison Between a Self-Administered and Supervised Version of a Web-Based Cognitive Test Battery: Results From the NutriNet-Santé Cohort Study.

PubMed

Assmann, Karen E; Bailet, Marion; Lecoffre, Amandine C; Galan, Pilar; Hercberg, Serge; Amieva, Hélène; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle

2016-04-05

Dementia is a major public health problem, and repeated cognitive data from large epidemiological studies could help to develop efficient measures of early prevention. Data collection by self-administered online tools could drastically reduce the logistical and financial burden of such large-scale investigations. In this context, it is important to obtain data concerning the comparability of such new online tools with traditional, supervised modes of cognitive assessment. Our objective was to compare self-administration of the Web-based NutriNet-Santé cognitive test battery (NutriCog) with administration by a neuropsychologist. The test battery included four tests, measuring, among others aspects, psychomotor speed, attention, executive function, episodic memory, working memory, and associative memory. Both versions of the cognitive battery were completed by 189 volunteers (either self-administered version first, n=99, or supervised version first, n=90). Subjects also completed a satisfaction questionnaire. Concordance was assessed by Spearman correlation. Agreement between both versions varied according to the investigated cognitive task and outcome variable. Spearman correlations ranged between .42 and .73. Moreover, a majority of participants responded that they "absolutely" or "rather" agreed that the duration of the self-administered battery was acceptable (184/185, 99.5%), that the tasks were amusing (162/185, 87.6%), that the instructions were sufficiently detailed (168/185; 90.8%) and understandable (164/185, 88.7%), and that they had overall enjoyed the test battery (182/185, 98.4%). The self-administered version of the Web-based NutriCog cognitive test battery provided similar information as the supervised version. Thus, integrating repeated cognitive evaluations into large cohorts via the implementation of self-administered online versions of traditional test batteries appears to be feasible.

Structure Assembly by a Heterogeneous Team of Robots Using State Estimation, Generalized Joints, and Mobile Parallel Manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Komendera, Erik E.; Adhikari, Shaurav; Glassner, Samantha; Kishen, Ashwin; Quartaro, Amy

2017-01-01

Autonomous robotic assembly by mobile field robots has seen significant advances in recent decades, yet practicality remains elusive. Identified challenges include better use of state estimation to and reasoning with uncertainty, spreading out tasks to specialized robots, and implementing representative joining methods. This paper proposes replacing 1) self-correcting mechanical linkages with generalized joints for improved applicability, 2) assembly serial manipulators with parallel manipulators for higher precision and stability, and 3) all-in-one robots with a heterogeneous team of specialized robots for agent simplicity. This paper then describes a general assembly algorithm utilizing state estimation. Finally, these concepts are tested in the context of solar array assembly, requiring a team of robots to assemble, bond, and deploy a set of solar panel mockups to a backbone truss to an accuracy not built into the parts. This paper presents the results of these tests.

The relationship between the built environment and habitual levels of physical activity in South African older adults: a pilot study.

PubMed

Kolbe-Alexander, Tracy L; Pacheco, Kyla; Tomaz, Simone A; Karpul, David; Lambert, Estelle V

2015-05-30

Previous research has shown that the built environment plays a role in habitual levels of physical activity (PA), however much of this research has been conducted in adults and higher income countries. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the strength of association between the built environment and PA in South African older adults. Participants were recruited (n = 44, mean age 65 ± 8.5 years) from two suburbs, representing either a high socioeconomic (HSA) or low socioeconomic area (LSA). Self-reported PA, and subjective assessments of neighborhood walkability (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, NEWS) was measured. Participants wore Actigraph GT3x accelerometers to objectively quantify PA. HSA participants reported significantly more leisure-time and less transport PA. Objectively measured and self-reported MVPA was significantly higher in HSA participants. NEWS 'Land-use Mix' was negatively associated with leisure-time MVPA, (r(2) = 0.20; p < 0.02). In addition, neighborhood aesthetics was positively associated with leisure-time physical activity (r(2) = 0.33; p = 0.02). 'Safety from traffic' was inversely associated with travel-related PA (r(2) = 0.14, p = 0.01). None of the other NEWS scores were associated with PA for the total group. Leisure-time and transport-related PA was influenced by socio-economic status. Attributes of the perceived built environment associated with leisure-time and total MVPA in older South Africa adults were different in low- and high- income settings.

Association of Self-Perceived Physical Competence and Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Childhood-A Follow-Up Study.

PubMed

Hamari, Lotta; Heinonen, Olli J; Aromaa, Minna; Asanti, Riitta; Koivusilta, Leena; Koski, Pasi; Laaksonen, Camilla; Matomäki, Jaakko; Pahkala, Katja; Pakarinen, Anni; Suominen, Sakari; Salanterä, Sanna

2017-04-01

The basis of self-perceived physical competence is built in childhood and school personnel have an important role in this developmental process. We investigated the association between initial self-perceived physical competence and reported leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) longitudinally in 10-, 12-, and 15-year-old children. This longitudinal follow-up study comprises pupils from an elementary school cohort (N = 1346) in the city of Turku, Finland (175,000 inhabitants). The self-perceived physical competence (fitness and appearance) and LTPA data were collected with questionnaires. The full longitudinal data were available from 571 pupils based on repeated studies at the ages of 10, 12, and 15 years in 2004, 2006, and 2010. We analyzed the association of self-perceived physical competence and LTPA using regression models. Self-perceived physical competence was positively associated with LTPA at all ages (10 years p < .05, 12 years p < .0001, 15 years p < .0001). Increase in the self-perceived physical fitness scores was likely to associate with higher LTPA at each age point (10 years [odds ratio, OR] = 1.18, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.09-1.27; 12 years [OR] = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.18-1.37; and 15 years [OR] = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.19-1.38). Self-perceived physical competence is associated with LTPA in children and adolescents, and the association is strengthened with age. © 2017, American School Health Association.

Implementation and Operational Research: Effectiveness and Patient Acceptability of a Sexually Transmitted Infection Self-Testing Program in an HIV Care Setting.

PubMed

Barbee, Lindley A; Tat, Susana; Dhanireddy, Shireesha; Marrazzo, Jeanne M

2016-06-01

Rates of screening for bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STI) among men who have sex with men in HIV care settings remain low despite high prevalence of these infections. STI self-testing may help increase screening rates in clinical settings. We implemented an STI self-testing program at a large, urban HIV care clinic and evaluated its effectiveness and acceptability. We compared measures obtained during the first year of the STI self-testing program (Intervention Year, April 1, 2013-March 31, 2014) to Baseline Year (January 1, 2012-December 31, 2012) to determine: (1) overall clinic change in STI testing coverage and diagnostic yield and; (2) program-specific outcomes including appropriate anatomic site screening and patient-reported acceptability. Overall, testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia increased significantly between Baseline and Intervention Year, and 50% more gonococcal and 47% more chlamydial infections were detected. Syphilis testing coverage remained unchanged. Nearly 95% of 350 men who participated in the STI self-testing program completed site-specific testing appropriately based on self-reported exposures, and 92% rated their self-testing experience as "good" or "very good." STI self-testing in HIV care settings significantly increases testing coverage and detection of gonorrhea and chlamydia, and the program is acceptable to patients. Additional interventions to increase syphilis screening rates are needed.

Self-Efficacy and Its Relationship with Social Skills and the Quality of Decision-Making among the Students of Prince Sattam Bin Abdul-Aziz University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-mehsin, Salama Aqeel

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to reveal the self-efficacy and social skills and their relationship to the quality of decision-making at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University students, and determine the extent of the contribution of self-efficacy and social skills to the quality of decision-making. To achieve this, a questionnaire was built to identify…

F-1 Gas Generator test

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-03

THE GAS GENERATOR TO AN F-1 ENGINE, THE MOST POWERFUL ROCKET ENGINE EVER BUILT, IS TEST-FIRED AT NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, ON SEPT. 3. ALTHOUGH THE ENGINE WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT TO POWER THE SATURN V ROCKETS DURING AMERICA'S MISSIONS TO THE MOON, THIS TEST ARTICLE HAD NEW PARTS CREATED USING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, OR 3-D PRINTING, TO TEST THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDING NEW ENGINE DESIGNS.

Transport of LCLS-II 1.3 Ghz cryomodule to SLAC

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

McGee, M. W.; Arkan, T.; Peterson, T.

2016-06-30

In a partnership with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) and Jefferson Lab, Fermilab will assemble and test 17 of the 35 total 1.3 GHz cryomodules for the Linac Coherent Light Source II (LCLS-II) Project. These include a prototype built and delivered by each Lab. Another two 3.9 GHz cryomodules will be built, tested and transported by Fermilab to SLAC. Each assembly will be transported over-the-road from Fermilab or Jefferson Lab using specific routes to SLAC. The transport system consists of a base frame, isolation fixture and upper protective truss. The strongback cryomodule lifting fixture is described along with other supportingmore » equipment used for both over-the-road transport and local (on-site) transport at Fermilab. Initially, analysis of fragile components and stability studies will be performed in order to assess the risk associated with over-the-road transport of a fully assembled cryomodule.« less

Student Perceptions of and Confidence in Self-Care Course Concepts Using Team-based Learning.

PubMed

Frame, Tracy R; Gryka, Rebecca; Kiersma, Mary E; Todt, Abby L; Cailor, Stephanie M; Chen, Aleda M H

2016-04-25

Objective. To evaluate changes in student perceptions of and confidence in self-care concepts after completing a team-based learning (TBL) self-care course. Methods. Team-based learning was used at two universities in first professional year, semester-long self-care courses. Two instruments were created and administered before and after the semester. The instruments were designed to assess changes in student perceptions of self-care using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) domains and confidence in learning self-care concepts using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to evaluate pre/post changes, and Mann Whitney U tests were used to evaluate university differences. Results. Fifty-three Cedarville University and 58 Manchester University students completed both instruments (100% and 92% response rates, respectively). Student self-care perceptions with TPB decreased significantly on nine of 13 items for Cedarville and decreased for one of 13 items for Manchester. Student confidence in self-care concepts improved significantly on all questions for both universities. Conclusion. Data indicate TBL self-care courses were effective in improving student confidence about self-care concepts. Establishing students' skill sets prior to entering the profession is beneficial because pharmacists will use self-directed learning to expand their knowledge and adapt to problem-solving situations.

Student Perceptions of and Confidence in Self-Care Course Concepts Using Team-based Learning

PubMed Central

Gryka, Rebecca; Kiersma, Mary E.; Todt, Abby L.; Cailor, Stephanie M.; Chen, Aleda M. H.

2016-01-01

Objective. To evaluate changes in student perceptions of and confidence in self-care concepts after completing a team-based learning (TBL) self-care course. Methods. Team-based learning was used at two universities in first professional year, semester-long self-care courses. Two instruments were created and administered before and after the semester. The instruments were designed to assess changes in student perceptions of self-care using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) domains and confidence in learning self-care concepts using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to evaluate pre/post changes, and Mann Whitney U tests were used to evaluate university differences. Results. Fifty-three Cedarville University and 58 Manchester University students completed both instruments (100% and 92% response rates, respectively). Student self-care perceptions with TPB decreased significantly on nine of 13 items for Cedarville and decreased for one of 13 items for Manchester. Student confidence in self-care concepts improved significantly on all questions for both universities. Conclusion. Data indicate TBL self-care courses were effective in improving student confidence about self-care concepts. Establishing students’ skill sets prior to entering the profession is beneficial because pharmacists will use self-directed learning to expand their knowledge and adapt to problem-solving situations. PMID:27170817

Outcomes of a Character Strengths-Based Intervention on Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy of Psychiatrically Hospitalized Youths.

PubMed

Toback, Rebecca L; Graham-Bermann, Sandra A; Patel, Paresh D

2016-05-01

Mental health treatment approaches based on character strengths can be used to complement the traditional focus on functional impairment. The study tested use of a character strengths-based intervention to enhance the self-esteem and self-efficacy of psychiatrically hospitalized youths. Eighty-one hospitalized adolescents were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. The intervention used the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth to discover character strengths and incorporate them into coping skills. Self-efficacy and self-esteem were measured at baseline, postintervention, two weeks, and three months. Self-esteem and self-efficacy initially increased in both groups, but only the intervention group showed sustained improvement. The intervention was associated with increased self-efficacy at two weeks and increased self-efficacy and self-esteem at three months. A brief, easily administered character strengths-based intervention may be an adjunctive tool in the treatment of psychiatrically hospitalized youths.

Direct provision versus facility collection of HIV self-tests among female sex workers in Uganda: A cluster-randomized controlled health systems trial

PubMed Central

Kibuuka Musoke, Daniel; Ngabirano, Thomson; Nakitende, Aidah; Magoola, Jonathan; Kayiira, Prossy; Taasi, Geoffrey; Barresi, Leah G.; McConnell, Margaret A.; Bärnighausen, Till

2017-01-01

Background HIV self-testing allows HIV testing at any place and time and without health workers. HIV self-testing may thus be particularly useful for female sex workers (FSWs), who should test frequently but face stigma and financial and time barriers when accessing healthcare facilities. Methods and findings We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled health systems trial among FSWs in Kampala, Uganda, to measure the effect of 2 HIV self-testing delivery models on HIV testing and linkage to care outcomes. FSW peer educator groups (1 peer educator and 8 participants) were randomized to either (1) direct provision of HIV self-tests, (2) provision of coupons for free collection of HIV self-tests in a healthcare facility, or (3) standard of care HIV testing. We randomized 960 participants in 120 peer educator groups from October 18, 2016, to November 16, 2016. Participants’ median age was 28 years (IQR 24–32). Our prespecified primary outcomes were self-report of any HIV testing at 1 month and at 4 months; our prespecified secondary outcomes were self-report of HIV self-test use, seeking HIV-related medical care and ART initiation. In addition, we analyzed 2 secondary outcomes that were not prespecified: self-report of repeat HIV testing—to understand the intervention effects on frequent testing—and self-reported facility-based testing—to quantify substitution effects. Participants in the direct provision arm were significantly more likely to have tested for HIV than those in the standard of care arm, both at 1 month (risk ratio [RR] 1.33, 95% CI 1.17–1.51, p < 0.001) and at 4 months (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07–1.22, p < 0.001). Participants in the direct provision arm were also significantly more likely to have tested for HIV than those in the facility collection arm, both at 1 month (RR 1.18, 95% CI 1.07–1.31, p = 0.001) and at 4 months (RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05, p = 0.02). At 1 month, fewer participants in the intervention arms had sought medical care for HIV than in the standard of care arm, but these differences were not significant and were reduced in magnitude at 4 months. There were no statistically significant differences in ART initiation across study arms. At 4 months, participants in the direct provision arm were significantly more likely to have tested twice for HIV than those in the standard of care arm (RR 1.51, 95% CI 1.29–1.77, p < 0.001) and those in the facility collection arm (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.08–1.37, p = 0.001). Participants in the HIV self-testing arms almost completely replaced facility-based testing with self-testing. Two adverse events related to HIV self-testing were reported: interpersonal violence and mental distress. Study limitations included self-reported outcomes and limited generalizability beyond FSWs in similar settings. Conclusions In this study, HIV self-testing appeared to be safe and increased recent and repeat HIV testing among FSWs. We found that direct provision of HIV self-tests was significantly more effective in increasing HIV testing among FSWs than passively offering HIV self-tests for collection in healthcare facilities. HIV self-testing could play an important role in supporting HIV interventions that require frequent HIV testing, such as HIV treatment as prevention, behavior change for transmission reduction, and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02846402 PMID:29182634

“Just Because It's Out There, People Aren't Going to Use It.” HIV Self-Testing Among Young, Black MSM, and Transgender Women

PubMed Central

Wilton, Leo; Hirshfield, Sabina; Chiasson, Mary Ann; Usher, DaShawn; Lucy, Debbie; McCrossin, Jermaine; Greene, Emily; Koblin, Beryl

2015-01-01

Abstract HIV disproportionately affects young black MSM and transgender women in the US. Increasing HIV testing rates among these populations is a critical public health goal. Although HIV self-tests are commercially available, there is a need to better understand access to and uptake of HIV self-testing among this population. Here, we report results of a qualitative study of 30 young black MSM and transgender women residing in the New York City area to understand facilitators of and barriers to a range of HIV testing approaches, including self-testing. Mean age was 23.7 years (SD = 3.4). Over half (54%) had some college or an associate's degree, yet 37% had an annual personal income of less than $10,000 per year. Most (64%) participants had tested in the past 6 months; venues included community health/free clinics, medical offices, mobile testing units, hospitals, emergency departments, and research sites. Just one participant reported ever using a commercially available HIV self-test. Facilitators of self-testing included convenience, control, and privacy, particularly as compared to venue-based testing. Barriers to self-testing included the cost of the test, anxiety regarding accessing the test, concerns around correct test operation, and lack of support if a test result is positive. Participants indicated that instruction in correct test operation and social support in the event of a positive test result may increase the likelihood that they would use the self-test. Alongside developing new approaches to HIV prevention, developing ways to increase HIV self-testing is a public health priority for young, black MSM, and transgender women. PMID:26376029

Drug Prevention by Increasing Self-Esteem: Influence of Teaching Approaches and Gender on Different Consumption Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heyne, Thomas; Bogner, Franz X.

2013-01-01

Our study focused on an educational intervention designed to increase the self-esteem of low-achieving eighth graders. The intervention was a substance-specific life skills program built upon teacher-centered versus student-centered teaching methods. A cluster analysis identified four consumption groups prior to the intervention: A potentially…

Complete diagnostics of pyroactive structures for smart systems of optoelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bravina, Svetlana L.; Morozovsky, Nicholas V.

1998-04-01

The results of study of pyroelectric phenomena in ferroelectric materials for evidence of the possibility to embody the functions promising for creation of smart systems for optoelectronic applications are presented. Designing such systems requires the development of methods for non- destructive complete diagnostics preferably by developing the self-diagnostic ability inherent in materials with the features of smart/intelligent ones. The complex method of complete non-destructive qualification of pyroactive materials based on the method of dynamic photopyroelectric effect allows the determination of pyroelectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, dielectric and thermophysical characteristics. The measuring system which allows the study of these characteristics and also memory effects, switching effects, fatigue and degradation process, self-repair process and others is presented. Sample pyroactive system with increased intelligence, such as systems with built-in adaptive controllable domain structure promising for functional optics are developed and peculiarities of their characterization are discussed.

Developing Web-Based Assessment Strategies for Facilitating Junior High School Students to Perform Self-Regulated Learning in an E-Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Tzu-Hua

2011-01-01

This research refers to the self-regulated learning strategies proposed by Pintrich (1999) in developing a multiple-choice Web-based assessment system, the Peer-Driven Assessment Module of the Web-based Assessment and Test Analysis system (PDA-WATA). The major purpose of PDA-WATA is to facilitate learner use of self-regulatory learning behaviors…

Middle School Students' Perceptions of Safety: A Mixed-Methods Study.

PubMed

Sweeney, Shannon M; Von Hagen, Leigh Ann

2015-10-01

Active travel to school has been on the decline, despite its beneficial influence on children's current and future well-being. Adults' safety perceptions have been shown to influence children's active travel. Children's perceptions, particularly of safety, may be an important link not only to their present health and travel behaviors, but also their future health and behaviors. This study examined middle school students' perceptions of the built environment and safety. Overall, 776 students from 3 schools in Hudson County, New Jersey participated in a visual survey and structured, interactive classroom discussions. Emergent themes from the discussions were tested using multivariate statistical models. Findings suggest that older students, boys, and students who self-identified as black, rated built environment scenes as safer. Students also perceived being near adults, traveling in a group, and using crosswalks as significantly safer and want additional recognition of these to further improve safety. Students perceived that being near a school, in daylight, and aesthetics as factors contributing to safety. Schools and municipalities may increase programs for students to travel in groups, prioritize maintenance in school zones, and increase the number of crossing guards, particularly outside the immediate school proximity to further improve safety. © 2015, American School Health Association.

An Adaptive Testing System for Supporting Versatile Educational Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yueh-Min; Lin, Yen-Ting; Cheng, Shu-Chen

2009-01-01

With the rapid growth of computer and mobile technology, it is a challenge to integrate computer based test (CBT) with mobile learning (m-learning) especially for formative assessment and self-assessment. In terms of self-assessment, computer adaptive test (CAT) is a proper way to enable students to evaluate themselves. In CAT, students are…

South African HIV self-testing policy and guidance considerations.

PubMed

Venter, Francois; Majam, Mohammed; Jankelowitz, Lauren; Adams, Siraaj; Moorhouse, Michelle; Carmona, Sergio; Stevens, Wendy; Msimanga, Busisiwe R; Allen, David; Balani, Pooja; Nevhutalu, Zwoitwaho; Rhagnath, Naleni; Shroufi, Amir; Devillé, Walter; Kazangarare, Victoria; van der Wiel, Renee; Templeman, Hugo; Puren, Adrian; Tucker, Tim; van Cutsem, Gilles; Conradie, Francesca; Dong, Krista; Chidarikire, Thato; Gray, Andy

2017-01-01

The gap in HIV testing remains significant and new modalities such as HIV self-testing (HIVST) have been recommended to reach key and under-tested populations. In December 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Guidelines on HIV Self-Testing and Partner Notification: A Supplement to the Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Testing Services (HTS) and urged member countries to develop HIVST policy and regulatory frameworks. In South Africa, HIVST was included as a supplementary strategy in the National HIV Testing Services Policy in 2016, and recently, guidelines for HIVST were included in the South African National Strategic Plan for HIV, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis 2017-2022. This document serves as an additional guidance for the National HIV Testing Services Policy 2016, with specific focus on HIVST. It is intended for policy advocates, clinical and non-clinical HTS providers, health facility managers and healthcare providers in private and public health facilities, non-governmental, community-based and faith-based organisations involved in HTS and outreach, device manufacturers, workplace programmes and institutes of higher education.

Interactions between psychosocial and built environment factors in explaining older adults' physical activity.

PubMed

Carlson, Jordan A; Sallis, James F; Conway, Terry L; Saelens, Brian E; Frank, Lawrence D; Kerr, Jacqueline; Cain, Kelli L; King, Abby C

2012-01-01

To evaluate ecological model predictions of cross-level interactions among psychosocial and environmental correlates of physical activity in 719 community-dwelling older adults in the Baltimore, Maryland and Seattle, Washington areas during 2005-2008. Walkability, access to parks and recreation facilities and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) minutes per week (min/week) were measured objectively. Neighborhood aesthetics, walking facilities, social support, self-efficacy, barriers and transportation and leisure walking min/week were self-reported. Walkability interacted with social support in explaining total MVPA (B=13.71) and with social support (B=7.90), self-efficacy (B=7.66) and barriers (B=-8.26) in explaining walking for transportation. Aesthetics interacted with barriers in explaining total MVPA (B=-12.20) and walking facilities interacted with self-efficacy in explaining walking for leisure (B=-10.88; Ps<.05). Summarizing across the interactions, living in a supportive environment (vs. unsupportive) was related to 30-59 more min/week of physical activity for participants with more positive psychosocial attributes, but only 0-28 more min/week for participants with less positive psychosocial attributes. Results supported synergistic interactions between built environment and psychosocial factors in explaining physical activity among older adults. Findings suggest multilevel interventions may be most effective in increasing physical activity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Not Available

The Phase I program and the design plan for the Phase II Experiment Integration wherein the AAI Corporation's 24/1 concentrating collector is used to produce hot water to cure concrete blocks is described. This concept has a tremendous potential since each block requires about 1500 Btu for curing at a temperature of 140/sup 0/F to 180/sup 0/F. To demonstrate this process, the solar hot water system will be installed at the new block fabricating plant being built by the York Building Products Co., Inc. at Harrisburg, Pa. A circular underground curing tank will be the storage tank for the solarmore » system. Since the plane is new, no retrofitting is required. The collectors will be mounted on the roof of the new block producing facility. A full-scale 256 ft/sup 2/ module of the 24/1 collector has been built and tested by AAI Corporation. A 9216 ft/sup 2/ array of collectors is required for this experiment. AAI Corporation is pursuing a development program planned to culminate in the marketing of the 24/1 collector at a selling price of $7 to $10 per square foot. The collector is built in 9 ft by 34 ft modules and is self-supporting with pads located at the four corners. It can be inclined at the most favorable angle for solar performance, and can be located on a roof, or as a separate unit on the ground. A final design and performance analysis and an economic analysis are presented. (WHK)« less

Design, construction, and testing of a five active axes magnetic bearing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delprete, Cristiana; Genta, Giancarlo; Carabelli, Stefano

1994-01-01

A high speed electric spindle based on active electromagnetic suspension technology has been designed, built, and tested. The main goal of the research work was the construction of a highly modular unit which can be used for teaching and research purposes. The design of the electromechanical components and of the control unit is described in detail, together with the characterization tests performed on the various subsystems. A description of the preliminary tests on the unit, conducted at speeds not in excess of the first deformation critical speed of the rotor, concludes the work.

Supervision and computerized neurocognitive baseline test performance in high school athletes: an initial investigation.

PubMed

Kuhn, Andrew Warren; Solomon, Gary S

2014-01-01

Computerized neuropsychological testing batteries have provided a time-efficient and cost-efficient way to assess and manage the neurocognitive aspects of patients with sport-related concussion. These tests are straightforward and mostly self-guided, reducing the degree of clinician involvement required by traditional clinical neuropsychological paper-and-pencil tests. To determine if self-reported supervision status affected computerized neurocognitive baseline test performance in high school athletes. Retrospective cohort study. Supervised testing took place in high school computer libraries or sports medicine clinics. Unsupervised testing took place at the participant's home or another location with computer access. From 2007 to 2012, high school athletes across middle Tennessee (n = 3771) completed computerized neurocognitive baseline testing (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing [ImPACT]). They reported taking the test either supervised by a sports medicine professional or unsupervised. These athletes (n = 2140) were subjected to inclusion and exclusion criteria and then matched based on age, sex, and number of prior concussions. We extracted demographic and performance-based data from each de-identified baseline testing record. Paired t tests were performed between the self-reported supervised and unsupervised groups, comparing the following ImPACT baseline composite scores: verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor (processing) speed, reaction time, impulse control, and total symptom score. For differences that reached P < .05, the Cohen d was calculated to measure the effect size. Lastly, a χ(2) analysis was conducted to compare the rate of invalid baseline testing between the groups. All statistical tests were performed at the 95% confidence interval level. Self-reported supervised athletes demonstrated better visual motor (processing) speed (P = .004; 95% confidence interval [0.28, 1.52]; d = 0.12) and faster reaction time (P < .001; 95% confidence interval [-0.026, -0.014]; d = 0.21) composite scores than self-reported unsupervised athletes. Speed-based tasks were most affected by self-reported supervision status, although the effect sizes were relatively small. These data lend credence to the hypothesis that supervision status may be a factor in the evaluation of ImPACT baseline test scores.

IS Success Model in E-Learning Context Based on Students' Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeze, Ronald D.; Alshare, Khaled A.; Lane, Peggy L.; Wen, H. Joseph

2010-01-01

This study utilized the Information Systems Success (ISS) model in examining e-learning systems success. The study was built on the premise that system quality (SQ) and information quality (IQ) influence system use and user satisfaction, which in turn impact system success. A structural equation model (SEM), using LISREL, was used to test the…

SEU induced errors observed in microprocessor systems

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

Asenek, V.; Underwood, C.; Oldfield, M.

In this paper, the authors present software tools for predicting the rate and nature of observable SEU induced errors in microprocessor systems. These tools are built around a commercial microprocessor simulator and are used to analyze real satellite application systems. Results obtained from simulating the nature of SEU induced errors are shown to correlate with ground-based radiation test data.

Shake-table testing of a self-centering precast reinforced concrete frame with shear walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xilin; Yang, Boya; Zhao, Bin

2018-04-01

The seismic performance of a self-centering precast reinforced concrete (RC) frame with shear walls was investigated in this paper. The lateral force resistance was provided by self-centering precast RC shear walls (SPCW), which utilize a combination of unbonded prestressed post-tensioned (PT) tendons and mild steel reinforcing bars for flexural resistance across base joints. The structures concentrated deformations at the bottom joints and the unbonded PT tendons provided the self-centering restoring force. A 1/3-scale model of a five-story self-centering RC frame with shear walls was designed and tested on a shake-table under a series of bi-directional earthquake excitations with increasing intensity. The acceleration response, roof displacement, inter-story drifts, residual drifts, shear force ratios, hysteresis curves, and local behaviour of the test specimen were analysed and evaluated. The results demonstrated that seismic performance of the test specimen was satisfactory in the plane of the shear wall; however, the structure sustained inter-story drift levels up to 2.45%. Negligible residual drifts were recorded after all applied earthquake excitations. Based on the shake-table test results, it is feasible to apply and popularize a self-centering precast RC frame with shear walls as a structural system in seismic regions.

Women's views on human papillomavirus self-sampling: focus groups to assess acceptability, invitation letters and a test kit in the Australian setting.

PubMed

Sultana, Farhana; Mullins, Robyn; Murphy, Michael; English, Dallas R; Simpson, Julie A; Drennan, Kelly T; Heley, Stella; Wrede, C David; Brotherton, Julia M L; Saville, Marion; Gertig, Dorota M

2015-08-01

Background The study evaluated acceptability, invitation letters and the test kit for a trial of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling among never- and under-screened women in Australia. Victorian women, 30-69 years, who had never had a Pap test or were overdue for one, participated. Four focus groups including eight to nine participants segmented by age (30-49 and 50-69 years) and screening history (never- and under-screened) were conducted in August 2013. Discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim and data analysed using thematic content analysis. The response to the concept of HPV self-sampling was positive. Decision-making was largely influenced by the content of a pre-invitation letter. Appealing features of self-sampling were cost (free), convenience (home-based) and anticipated less discomfort (with a swab) than a Pap test. Small kits that fit in mailboxes were preferred over post office parcel collection. The perceived barriers include concerns about test accuracy and lack of confidence that a home-based test would give the same results as a physician administered test. Women wanted information on the timing of receipt of the results and information about the organisation providing the test. HPV self-sampling is a possible alternative for Australian women who are reluctant to have a Pap test and may increase the likelihood of participation in cervical cancer screening if women's concerns about it can be addressed. The findings of this study are relevant for researchers, policymakers and practitioners implementing self-sampling for under-screened women as part of cervical screening programs.

Communication: Hilbert-space partitioning of the molecular one-electron density matrix with orthogonal projectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanfleteren, Diederik; Van Neck, Dimitri; Bultinck, Patrick; Ayers, Paul W.; Waroquier, Michel

2010-12-01

A double-atom partitioning of the molecular one-electron density matrix is used to describe atoms and bonds. All calculations are performed in Hilbert space. The concept of atomic weight functions (familiar from Hirshfeld analysis of the electron density) is extended to atomic weight matrices. These are constructed to be orthogonal projection operators on atomic subspaces, which has significant advantages in the interpretation of the bond contributions. In close analogy to the iterative Hirshfeld procedure, self-consistency is built in at the level of atomic charges and occupancies. The method is applied to a test set of about 67 molecules, representing various types of chemical binding. A close correlation is observed between the atomic charges and the Hirshfeld-I atomic charges.

Principles and Applications of Ultrasonic-Based Nondestructive Methods for Self-Healing in Cementitious Materials

PubMed Central

Ahn, Eunjong; Kim, Hyunjun; Sim, Sung-Han; Shin, Sung Woo; Shin, Myoungsu

2017-01-01

Recently, self-healing technologies have emerged as a promising approach to extend the service life of social infrastructure in the field of concrete construction. However, current evaluations of the self-healing technologies developed for cementitious materials are mostly limited to lab-scale experiments to inspect changes in surface crack width (by optical microscopy) and permeability. Furthermore, there is a universal lack of unified test methods to assess the effectiveness of self-healing technologies. Particularly, with respect to the self-healing of concrete applied in actual construction, nondestructive test methods are required to avoid interrupting the use of the structures under evaluation. This paper presents a review of all existing research on the principles of ultrasonic test methods and case studies pertaining to self-healing concrete. The main objective of the study is to examine the applicability and limitation of various ultrasonic test methods in assessing the self-healing performance. Finally, future directions on the development of reliable assessment methods for self-healing cementitious materials are suggested. PMID:28772640

Looking Up at Mars Rover Curiosity in Buckskin Selfie

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-19

This low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the site from which it reached down to drill into a rock target called "Buckskin" on lower Mount Sharp. The selfie combines several component images taken by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on Aug. 5, 2015, during the 1,065th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. For scale, the rover's wheels are 20 inches (50 centimeters) in diameter and about 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide. This view is a portion of a larger panorama available at PIA19807. A close look reveals a small rock stuck onto Curiosity's left middle wheel (on the right in this head-on view). The rock had been seen previously during periodic monitoring of wheel condition about three weeks earlier, in the MAHLI raw image at http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=1046MH0002640000400290E01_DXXX&s=1046. MAHLI is mounted at the end of the rover's robotic arm. For this self-portrait, the rover team positioned the camera lower in relation to the rover body than for any previous full self-portrait of Curiosity. This yielded a view that includes the rover's "belly," as in a partial self-portrait (/catalog/PIA16137) taken about five weeks after Curiosity's August 2012 landing inside Mars' Gale Crater. The selfie at Buckskin does not include the rover's robotic arm beyond a portion of the upper arm held nearly vertical from the shoulder joint. With the wrist motions and turret rotations used in pointing the camera for the component images, the arm was positioned out of the shot in the frames or portions of frames used in this mosaic. This process was used previously in acquiring and assembling Curiosity self-portraits taken at sample-collection sites "Rocknest" (PIA16468), "John Klein" (PIA16937), "Windjana" (PIA18390) and "Mojave" (PIA19142). MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19808

Are Participants in a Street-Based HIV Testing Program Able to Perform Their Own Rapid Test and Interpret the Results?

PubMed Central

de la Fuente, Luis; Rosales-Statkus, María Elena; Hoyos, Juan; Pulido, José; Santos, Sara; Bravo, María José; Barrio, Gregorio; Fernández-Balbuena, Sonia; Belza, María José

2012-01-01

Objective Availability of over-the-counter rapid HIV tests could improve access to testing those reluctant or unable to use current services. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of HIV self-testing using a finger-stick whole-blood rapid test (Determine™ HIV Combo) to detect both antigen and antibody. Methods Before being tested, 313 participants in a street-based testing program were given adapted instructions and a test kit, and performed the self-test without supervision. These participants, together with another 207 who performed supervised self-testing, received additional instructions on how to interpret the test results shown in six colour photos and filled out a questionnaire. Logistic regression and generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used in the statistical analysis. Results About 8.0% (95%CI:4.8%–11.2%) obtained an invalid self-test. An invalid result was inversely associated with male participants who had sex with men (OR = 0.3;95%CI:0.1–1.0). Of the 3111 photos interpreted,4.9% (95%CI:4.1–5.7) were incorrect. Only 1.1% (95%CI:0.3–1.8) of the positive results were interpreted as negative. Age 30 or older (OR = 2.1; 95%CI:1.2–3.7), having been born in Latin America (OR = 1.6; 95%CI:1.1–2.2),and not having university education (OR = 2.1;95%CI:1.2–3.7) were associated with misinterpreting test results in the GEE. Participant's perceptions of both their proficiency when conducting the test and interpretation were related with actual outcomes. Most participants (83.9%) were more motivated than before to use the self-test in the future, and 51.7% would pay >10 Euros for the test if it was sold in pharmacies. Conclusions This is the first study showing that blood-based self-testing with current technology is feasible in HIV-negative participants demanding the test and without prior training or supervision. Bearing in mind that it was conducted under difficult weather conditions and using a complex kit, over-the-counter tests could be a feasible option to complement current diagnostic strategies. More studies are needed to accommodate technology, minimise interpretation mistakes and provide on-line support. PMID:23056342

Ethical implications of HIV self-testing: the game is far from being over.

PubMed

Bain, Luchuo Engelbert; Ditah, Chobufo Muchi; Awah, Paschal Kum; Ekukwe, Nkoke Clovis

2016-01-01

The use of combined Anti-Retroviral Therapy (cART) has been revolutionary in the history of the fight against HIV-AIDS, with remarkable reductions in HIV associated morbidity and mortality. Knowing one's HIV status early, not only increases chances of early initiation of effective, affordable and available treatment, but has lately been associated with an important potential to reduce disease transmission. A public health priority lately has been to lay emphasis on early and wide spread HIV screening. With many countries having already in the market over the counter self-testing kits, the ethical question whether self-testing in HIV with such kits is acceptable remains unanswered. Many Western authors have been firm on the fact that this approach enhances patient autonomy and is ethically grounded. We argue that the notion of patient autonomy as proposed by most ethicists assumes perfect understanding of information around HIV, neglects HIV associated stigma as well as proper identification of risky situations that warrant an HIV test. Putting traditional clinic based HIV screening practice into the shadows might be too early, especially for developing countries and potentially very dangerous. Encouraging self-testing as a measure to accompany clinic based testing in our opinion stands as main precondition for public health to invest in HIV self-testing. We agree with most authors that hard to reach risky groups like men and Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) are easily reached with the self-testing approach. However, linking self-testers to the medical services they need remains a key challenge, and an understudied indispensable obstacle in making this approach to obtain its desired goals.

Capillarics: pre-programmed, self-powered microfluidic circuits built from capillary elements.

PubMed

Safavieh, Roozbeh; Juncker, David

2013-11-07

Microfluidic capillary systems employ surface tension effects to manipulate liquids, and are thus self-powered and self-regulated as liquid handling is structurally and chemically encoded in microscale conduits. However, capillary systems have been limited to perform simple fluidic operations. Here, we introduce complex capillary flow circuits that encode sequential flow of multiple liquids with distinct flow rates and flow reversal. We first introduce two novel microfluidic capillary elements including (i) retention burst valves and (ii) robust low aspect ratio trigger valves. These elements are combined with flow resistors, capillary retention valves, capillary pumps, and open and closed reservoirs to build a capillary circuit that, following sample addition, autonomously delivers a defined sequence of multiple chemicals according to a preprogrammed and predetermined flow rate and time. Such a circuit was used to measure the concentration of C-reactive protein. This work illustrates that as in electronics, complex capillary circuits may be built by combining simple capillary elements. We define such circuits as "capillarics", and introduce symbolic representations. We believe that more complex circuits will become possible by expanding the library of building elements and formulating abstract design rules.

Standard symptom- and sexual history-based testing misses anorectal Chlamydia trachomatis and neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in swingers and men who have sex with men.

PubMed

van Liere, Geneviève A F S; Hoebe, Christian J P A; Niekamp, Anne-Marie; Koedijk, Femke D H; Dukers-Muijrers, Nicole H T M

2013-04-01

Currently, individuals at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are tested extragenitally only if indicated, most often when there is a history of self-reported symptoms or self-reported anal sex. The sensitivity of such selective symptom- and sexual history-based testing for detection of anorectal STD has not been determined. All men having sex with men (MSM) and swingers (heterosexual couples who have sex with other heterosexual couples and their self-identified heterosexual sex partners) attending our STD clinic (consults: n = 1690) from January 2010 until February 2011 were universally tested for urogenital, anorectal, and oropharyngeal Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections (STD). We compared STD prevalence at anorectal site based on universal versus selective testing. Sensitivity of selective symptom- and sexual history-based testing for anorectal STD was 52% for homosexual MSM, 40% for bisexual MSM, 43% for bisexual male swingers, 40% for heterosexual male swingers, and 47% for female swingers. Universal testing of STD clinic clients who were MSM and swingers yielded more than half of all anorectal STD infections and is more sensitive for identifying anorectal STD infections compared with selective testing. Universal testing may be a more effective strategy for interrupting the ongoing transmission in high-risk sexual networks.

Influence of design and clinical factors on the removal force ratio in tapered implant-abutment interfaces.

PubMed

Aguirrebeitia, Josu; Abasolo, Mikel; Müftü, Sinan; Vallejo, Javier

2017-04-01

A previous study investigated the effects of the preload and taper-angle mismatch in tapered implant systems on the removal force characteristics of the self-locking mechanism. The present study builds upon the previous one and introduces the effects of the time elapsed between insertion and removal and the presence of saliva in the implant-abutment interface as 2 new additional parameters. The purpose of this in vitro study was to elucidate the influences of design and clinical parameters on the removal force for implant systems that use tapered interference fit (TIF) type connections by measuring the force needed to remove an abutment from an implant. Ninety-six implants with tapered abutment-implant interfaces specifically built for an unreplicated factorial design were tested on a custom-built workbench for removal force. Four levels were chosen for the preload, F P , and the taper mismatch Δθ; 3 levels for the wait time t; and 2 levels for the saliva presence s at the interface. A regression model was used based on physical reasoning and a theoretical understanding of the interface. A 4-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the influence of the main effects and interactions (α=.05). The experiments strongly indicated that preload, taper mismatch, and saliva presence are relevant variables in removal force. The wait time becomes important when its effect is evaluated along with the preload. The results of this study can be used for decision making in the design and use of TIF type systems. The study supports the use of artificial saliva in any implant design experiment because of its significance in the removal force of the abutment. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring the relationships among performance-based functional ability, self-rated disability, perceived instrumental support, and depression: a structural equation model analysis.

PubMed

Weil, Joyce; Hutchinson, Susan R; Traxler, Karen

2014-11-01

Data from the Women's Health and Aging Study were used to test a model of factors explaining depressive symptomology. The primary purpose of the study was to explore the association between performance-based measures of functional ability and depression and to examine the role of self-rated physical difficulties and perceived instrumental support in mediating the relationship between performance-based functioning and depression. The inclusion of performance-based measures allows for the testing of functional ability as a clinical precursor to disability and depression: a critical, but rarely examined, association in the disablement process. Structural equation modeling supported the overall fit of the model and found an indirect relationship between performance-based functioning and depression, with perceived physical difficulties serving as a significant mediator. Our results highlight the complementary nature of performance-based and self-rated measures and the importance of including perception of self-rated physical difficulties when examining depression in older persons. © The Author(s) 2014.

Municipal Officials' Participation in Built Environment Policy Development in the United States.

PubMed

Lemon, Stephenie C; Goins, Karin Valentine; Schneider, Kristin L; Brownson, Ross C; Valko, Cheryl A; Evenson, Kelly R; Eyler, Amy A; Heinrich, Katie M; Litt, Jill; Lyn, Rodney; Reed, Hannah L; Tompkins, Nancy O'Hara; Maddock, Jay

2015-01-01

This study examined municipal officials' participation in built environment policy initiatives focused on land use design, transportation, and parks and recreation. Web-based cross-sectional survey. Eighty-three municipalities with 50,000 or more residents in eight states. Four hundred fifty-three elected and appointed municipal officials. Outcomes included self-reported participation in land use design, transportation, and parks and recreation policy to increase physical activity. Independent variables included respondent position; perceptions of importance, barriers, and beliefs regarding physical activity and community design and layout; and physical activity partnership participation. Multivariable logistic regression models. Compared to other positions, public health officials had lower participation in land use design (78.3% vs. 29.0%), transportation (78.1% vs. 42.1%), and parks and recreation (67.1% vs. 26.3%) policy. Perceived limited staff was negatively associated with participation in each policy initiative. Perceptions of the extent to which physical activity was considered in community design and physical activity partnership participation were positively associated with participation in each. Perceived lack of collaboration was associated with less land use design and transportation policy participation, and awareness that community design affects physical activity was associated with more participation. Perceived lack of political will was associated with less parks and recreation policy participation. Public health officials are underrepresented in built environment policy initiatives. Improving collaborations may improve municipal officials' policy participation.

Zinc-chloride battery technology - Status 1983

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowan, J. W.; Carr, P.; Warde, C. J.; Henriksen, G. L.

Zinc-chloride batteries are presently under development at Energy Development Associates (EDA) for load-leveling, electric-vehicle, and specialty applications. A 500-kWh battery system has been built at Detroit Edison's Charlotte substation near downtown Detroit. Following shakedown testing, this system will be installed at the Battery Energy Storage Test (BEST) Facility in Hillsborough, New Jersey, in July 1983. Data is presented also for a prototype 50-kWh battery which has successfully operated through 150 cycles. EDA has built and tested three 4-passenger automobiles. The maximum range achieved on a single charge was 200 miles at 40 mph. Recently, the electric-vehicle battery program at EDA has focused on commercial vehicles. Two vans, each powered with a 45-kWh zinc-chloride battery, have been built and track tested. These vehicles, which carry a payload of 1,000 pounds, have a top speed of 55 mph and an operational range in excess of 80 miles. In the specialty battery area, two 6-kWh 12-V reserve batteries have been built and tested. This type of battery offers the prospect of long shelf life and an energy density in excess of 100 Wh/lb.

Self-test web-based pure-tone audiometry: validity evaluation and measurement error analysis.

PubMed

Masalski, Marcin; Kręcicki, Tomasz

2013-04-12

Potential methods of application of self-administered Web-based pure-tone audiometry conducted at home on a PC with a sound card and ordinary headphones depend on the value of measurement error in such tests. The aim of this research was to determine the measurement error of the hearing threshold determined in the way described above and to identify and analyze factors influencing its value. The evaluation of the hearing threshold was made in three series: (1) tests on a clinical audiometer, (2) self-tests done on a specially calibrated computer under the supervision of an audiologist, and (3) self-tests conducted at home. The research was carried out on the group of 51 participants selected from patients of an audiology outpatient clinic. From the group of 51 patients examined in the first two series, the third series was self-administered at home by 37 subjects (73%). The average difference between the value of the hearing threshold determined in series 1 and in series 2 was -1.54dB with standard deviation of 7.88dB and a Pearson correlation coefficient of .90. Between the first and third series, these values were -1.35dB±10.66dB and .84, respectively. In series 3, the standard deviation was most influenced by the error connected with the procedure of hearing threshold identification (6.64dB), calibration error (6.19dB), and additionally at the frequency of 250Hz by frequency nonlinearity error (7.28dB). The obtained results confirm the possibility of applying Web-based pure-tone audiometry in screening tests. In the future, modifications of the method leading to the decrease in measurement error can broaden the scope of Web-based pure-tone audiometry application.

Enhanced Conformational Sampling Using Replica Exchange with Collective-Variable Tempering.

PubMed

Gil-Ley, Alejandro; Bussi, Giovanni

2015-03-10

The computational study of conformational transitions in RNA and proteins with atomistic molecular dynamics often requires suitable enhanced sampling techniques. We here introduce a novel method where concurrent metadynamics are integrated in a Hamiltonian replica-exchange scheme. The ladder of replicas is built with different strengths of the bias potential exploiting the tunability of well-tempered metadynamics. Using this method, free-energy barriers of individual collective variables are significantly reduced compared with simple force-field scaling. The introduced methodology is flexible and allows adaptive bias potentials to be self-consistently constructed for a large number of simple collective variables, such as distances and dihedral angles. The method is tested on alanine dipeptide and applied to the difficult problem of conformational sampling in a tetranucleotide.

The application of various digital subscriber line (xDSL) technologies to ITS : traffic video field assessments

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-06-01

This paper is an addendum to an earlier report (see PATH Database record no. 19339) which gives an overview of xDSL technologies. This supplement documents the field testing of an xDSL-based traffic video prototype that was built during laboratory st...

Development of self-control in children aged 3 to 9 years: Perspective from a dual-systems model

PubMed Central

Tao, Ting; Wang, Ligang; Fan, Chunlei; Gao, Wenbin

2014-01-01

The current study tested a set of interrelated theoretical propositions based on a dual-systems model of self-control. Data were collected from 2135 children aged 3 to 9 years. The results suggest that (a) there was positive growth in good self-control, whereas poor control remained relatively stable; and (b) girls performed better than boys on tests of good self-control. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for a dual-systems model of self-control theory and future empirical work. PMID:25501669

Trusses Of Tensegrity Type In A Concept Of Train Station Renovation In Żary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lechocka, Paulina

2015-09-01

The first railway station in Żary was built in 1843 in Germany. After the Second World War and years of socialism in Poland the meaning of railway decreased and its technical condition deteriorated. Now the building needs renovation and change of function. Tensegrity structures may be useful in renovation of platforms shelter. They are strut and tie construction, in which there is self-stabilization between compressed and tensioned elements. Conception of new platform shelter is based on exemplary tensegrity module consist of three struts and nine cables (called "Simplex"). Tensegrity would make railway station more modern, but not cover its original elevation.

Holographic Optical Elements as Scanning Lidar Telescopes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwemmer, Geary K.; Rallison, Richard D.; Wilkerson, Thomas D.; Guerra, David V.

2003-01-01

We have investigated and developed the use of holographic optical elements (HOE) and holographic transmission gratings for scanning lidar telescopes. By rotating a flat HOE in its own plane with the focal spot on the rotation axis, a very simple and compact conical scanning telescope is possible. We developed and tested transmission and reflection HOES for use with the first three harmonics of Nd:YAG lasers, and designed, built, and tested two lidar systems based on this technology.

Adhesion of multimode adhesives to enamel and dentin after one year of water storage.

PubMed

Vermelho, Paulo Moreira; Reis, André Figueiredo; Ambrosano, Glaucia Maria Bovi; Giannini, Marcelo

2017-06-01

This study aimed to evaluate the ultramorphological characteristics of tooth-resin interfaces and the bond strength (BS) of multimode adhesive systems to enamel and dentin. Multimode adhesives (Scotchbond Universal (SBU) and All-Bond Universal) were tested in both self-etch and etch-and-rinse modes and compared to control groups (Optibond FL and Clearfil SE Bond (CSB)). Adhesives were applied to human molars and composite blocks were incrementally built up. Teeth were sectioned to obtain specimens for microtensile BS and TEM analysis. Specimens were tested after storage for either 24 h or 1 year. SEM analyses were performed to classify the failure pattern of beam specimens after BS testing. Etching increased the enamel BS of multimode adhesives; however, BS decreased after storage for 1 year. No significant differences in dentin BS were noted between multimode and control in either evaluation period. Storage for 1 year only reduced the dentin BS for SBU in self-etch mode. TEM analysis identified hybridization and interaction zones in dentin and enamel for all adhesives. Silver impregnation was detected on dentin-resin interfaces after storage of specimens for 1 year only with the SBU and CSB. Storage for 1 year reduced enamel BS when adhesives are applied on etched surface; however, BS of multimode adhesives did not differ from those of the control group. In dentin, no significant difference was noted between the multimode and control group adhesives, regardless of etching mode. In general, multimode adhesives showed similar behavior when compared to traditional adhesive techniques. Multimode adhesives are one-step self-etching adhesives that can also be used after enamel/dentin phosphoric acid etching, but each product may work better in specific conditions.

Simulation based optimized beam velocity in additive manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vignat, Frédéric; Béraud, Nicolas; Villeneuve, François

2017-08-01

Manufacturing good parts with additive technologies rely on melt pool dimension and temperature and are controlled by manufacturing strategies often decided on machine side. Strategies are built on beam path and variable energy input. Beam path are often a mix of contour and hatching strategies filling the contours at each slice. Energy input depend on beam intensity and speed and is determined from simple thermal models to control melt pool dimensions and temperature and ensure porosity free material. These models take into account variation in thermal environment such as overhanging surfaces or back and forth hatching path. However not all the situations are correctly handled and precision is limited. This paper proposes new method to determine energy input from full built chamber 3D thermal simulation. Using the results of the simulation, energy is modified to keep melt pool temperature in a predetermined range. The paper present first an experimental method to determine the optimal range of temperature. In a second part the method to optimize the beam speed from the simulation results is presented. Finally, the optimized beam path is tested in the EBM machine and built part are compared with part built with ordinary beam path.

Neural networks underlying language and social cognition during self-other processing in Autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Kana, Rajesh K; Sartin, Emma B; Stevens, Carl; Deshpande, Hrishikesh D; Klein, Christopher; Klinger, Mark R; Klinger, Laura Grofer

2017-07-28

The social communication impairments defining autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be built upon core deficits in perspective-taking, language processing, and self-other representation. Self-referential processing entails the ability to incorporate self-awareness, self-judgment, and self-memory in information processing. Very few studies have examined the neural bases of integrating self-other representation and semantic processing in individuals with ASD. The main objective of this functional MRI study is to examine the role of language and social brain networks in self-other processing in young adults with ASD. Nineteen high-functioning male adults with ASD and 19 age-sex-and-IQ-matched typically developing (TD) control participants made "yes" or "no" judgments of whether an adjective, presented visually, described them (self) or their favorite teacher (other). Both ASD and TD participants showed significantly increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) during self and other processing relative to letter search. Analyses of group differences revealed significantly reduced activity in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), and left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) in ASD participants, relative to TD controls. ASD participants also showed significantly weaker functional connectivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) with several brain areas while processing self-related words. The LIFG and IPL are important regions functionally at the intersection of language and social roles; reduced recruitment of these regions in ASD participants may suggest poor level of semantic and social processing. In addition, poor connectivity of the ACC may suggest the difficulty in meeting the linguistic and social demands of this task in ASD. Overall, this study provides new evidence of the altered recruitment of the neural networks underlying language and social cognition in ASD. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

49 CFR 195.307 - Pressure testing aboveground breakout tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... aboveground breakout tanks. (a) For aboveground breakout tanks built into API Specification 12F and first placed in service after October 2, 2000, pneumatic testing must be in accordance with section 5.3 of API Specification 12 F (incorporated by reference, see § 195.3). (b) For aboveground breakout tanks built to API...

49 CFR 195.307 - Pressure testing aboveground breakout tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... aboveground breakout tanks. (a) For aboveground breakout tanks built into API Specification 12F and first placed in service after October 2, 2000, pneumatic testing must be in accordance with section 5.3 of API Specification 12 F (incorporated by reference, see § 195.3). (b) For aboveground breakout tanks built to API...

49 CFR 195.307 - Pressure testing aboveground breakout tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... aboveground breakout tanks. (a) For aboveground breakout tanks built into API Specification 12F and first placed in service after October 2, 2000, pneumatic testing must be in accordance with section 5.3 of API Specification 12 F (incorporated by reference, see § 195.3). (b) For aboveground breakout tanks built to API...

49 CFR 195.307 - Pressure testing aboveground breakout tanks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... aboveground breakout tanks. (a) For aboveground breakout tanks built into API Specification 12F and first placed in service after October 2, 2000, pneumatic testing must be in accordance with section 5.3 of API Specification 12 F (incorporated by reference, see § 195.3). (b) For aboveground breakout tanks built to API...

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Findings from a Community-Based Cultural Mental Health Intervention for American Indian Youth and Their Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodkind, Jessica; LaNoue, Marianna; Lee, Christopher; Freeland, Lance; Freund, Rachel

2012-01-01

Through a CBPR partnership, university and American Indian (AI) tribal members developed and tested "Our Life" intervention to promote mental health of AI youth and their families by addressing root causes of violence, trauma, and substance abuse. Based on premises that well-being is built on a foundation of traditional cultural beliefs and…

Thrust Vectoring on the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowers, Albion H.; Pahle, Joseph W.

1996-01-01

Investigations into a multiaxis thrust-vectoring system have been conducted on an F-18 configuration. These investigations include ground-based scale-model tests, ground-based full-scale testing, and flight testing. This thrust-vectoring system has been tested on the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV). The system provides thrust vectoring in pitch and yaw axes. Ground-based subscale test data have been gathered as background to the flight phase of the program. Tests investigated aerodynamic interaction and vane control effectiveness. The ground-based full-scale data were gathered from static engine runs with image analysis to determine relative thrust-vectoring effectiveness. Flight tests have been conducted at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. Parameter identification input techniques have been developed. Individual vanes were not directly controlled because of a mixer-predictor function built into the flight control laws. Combined effects of the vanes have been measured in flight and compared to combined effects of the vanes as predicted by the cold-jet test data. Very good agreement has been found in the linearized effectiveness derivatives.

Self-regulated Gd atom trapping in open Fe nanocorrals

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

Cao, R. X.; Liu, Z.; Miao, B. F.

2014-07-01

Utilizing open Fe nanocorrals built by atom manipulation, we demonstrate self-regulated Gd atom trapping in open quantum corrals. The number of Gd atoms trapped is exactly determined by the diameter of the corral. The quantization can be understood as a self-regulating process, arising from the long-range interaction between Gd atoms and the open corral. We illustrate with arrays of open corrals that such atom trapping can suppress unwanted statistical fluctuations. Our approach opens a potential pathway for nanomaterial design and fabrication with atomic-level precision.

Validity evidence for the situational judgment test paradigm in emotional intelligence measurement.

PubMed

Libbrecht, Nele; Lievens, Filip

2012-01-01

To date, various measurement approaches have been proposed to assess emotional intelligence (EI). Recently, two new EI tests have been developed based on the situational judgment test (SJT) paradigm: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding (STEU) and the Situational Test of Emotion Management (STEM). Initial attempts have been made to examine the construct-related validity of these new tests; we extend these findings by placing the tests in a broad nomological network. To this end, 850 undergraduate students completed a personality inventory, a cognitive ability test, a self-report EI test, a performance-based EI measure, the STEU, and the STEM. The SJT-based EI tests were not strongly correlated with personality and fluid cognitive ability. Regarding their relation with existing EI measures, the tests did not capture the same construct as self-report EI measures, but corresponded rather to performance-based EI measures. Overall, these results lend support for the SJT paradigm for measuring EI as an ability.

Incident Involving 30-Ah Li-ion Cell at NASA Glenn Research Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, William

2006-01-01

The key lesson learned from the February 17, 2006 cell explosion incident is that PC-based test-systems, even those having built-in watchdog monitors, can lose control and malfunction. In the case of lithiumion cell/battery testing, the stored energy can be released explosively causing considerable injury and damage to facilities. The investigation showed that although the Arbin system has a built-in watchdog monitor, the circumstances of the incident defeated the action of the watchdog and allowed the cycler to continue operation without control. An upgrade to the most recent version of Arbin software (version 4) was provided as a fix to the presumed control problem. This upgrade included newer EPROM s for the cycler microprocessor. Investigation revealed that similar incidents have occurred at other NASA centers with a variety of PC-based test instruments. JPL suffered an incident with Maccor testers and the GRC fuel cell group observed similar problems with LabView software. This is not exclusively an Arbin problem, but an issue with all PC-based systems. In this incident, it was fortunate that the event occurred after-hours with no-one in the room. The facility arrangement placed control consoles adjacent to the test chamber doors. Had someone been in the room during the event, they would have been exposed to hot debris and toxic combustion products. It was also fortunate that the exploded cell stayed inside the chamber after the door was forced open. If the cell had been ejected into the room it could have caused serious facility damage by impact and possibly caused a fire in the facility.

Mermin inequalities for GHZ contradictions in many-qutrit systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawrence, Walter

In view of recent experimental interest in multi-qutrit entanglement properties, we provide here new Mermin inequalities for use in experimental tests of many-qutrit GHZ contradictions, first predicted only recently (2013). Mermin inequalities refer here to Bell-like inequalities in which the quantum predictions are not probabilistic, thus elevating hidden variables to the status of EPR elements of reality. Earlier Bell inequalities for qutrits predate the discovery of GHZ contradictions, are based on non-concurrent observable sets, and hence cannot establish GHZ contradictions. The current Mermin inequalities are derived from those concurrent observable sets which produce GHZ contradictions, with the following results: (i) There is an operator M defined for every N >= 4 , built on two measurement bases, whose quantum eigenvalue grows as 2N, maximum classical value more slowly (1 .879N), with quantum to classical ratio being never less than 1.39, and (ii) For N = 3 , there is an M3, built on three local measurement bases, whose quantum to classical ratio is 3/2.

Towards an evolutionary theory of the origin of life based on kinetics and thermodynamics.

PubMed

Pascal, Robert; Pross, Addy; Sutherland, John D

2013-11-06

A sudden transition in a system from an inanimate state to the living state-defined on the basis of present day living organisms-would constitute a highly unlikely event hardly predictable from physical laws. From this uncontroversial idea, a self-consistent representation of the origin of life process is built up, which is based on the possibility of a series of intermediate stages. This approach requires a particular kind of stability for these stages-dynamic kinetic stability (DKS)-which is not usually observed in regular chemistry, and which is reflected in the persistence of entities capable of self-reproduction. The necessary connection of this kinetic behaviour with far-from-equilibrium thermodynamic conditions is emphasized and this leads to an evolutionary view for the origin of life in which multiplying entities must be associated with the dissipation of free energy. Any kind of entity involved in this process has to pay the energetic cost of irreversibility, but, by doing so, the contingent emergence of new functions is made feasible. The consequences of these views on the studies of processes by which life can emerge are inferred.

Photographic copy of photograph, aerial view looking down at Jet ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Photographic copy of photograph, aerial view looking down at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Edwards Test Station complex in 1961, with north toward the top of the view. Dd test station has been added to Test Stand 'D,' liquid nitrogen storage facility E-63 has been built, as well as several adjuncts to Test Stand 'C' behind earth barriers, such as oxidizer facility at 4263/E-64 and hydrogen tank at 4264/E-65. (JPL negative no. 384-3003-A, 12 December 1961) - Jet Propulsion Laboratory Edwards Facility, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, Kern County, CA

In vitro and in vivo corrosion evaluation of nickel-chromium- and copper-aluminum-based alloys.

PubMed

Benatti, O F; Miranda, W G; Muench, A

2000-09-01

The low resistance to corrosion is the major problem related to the use of copper-aluminum alloys. This in vitro and in vivo study evaluated the corrosion of 2 copper-aluminum alloys (Cu-Al and Cu-Al-Zn) compared with a nickel-chromium alloy. For the in vitro test, specimens were immersed in the following 3 corrosion solutions: artificial saliva, 0.9% sodium chloride, and 1.0% sodium sulfide. For the in vivo test, specimens were embedded in complete dentures, so that one surface was left exposed. The 3 testing sites were (1) close to the oral mucosa (partial self-cleaning site), (2) surface exposed to the oral cavity (self-cleaning site), and (3) specimen bottom surface exposed to the saliva by means of a tunnel-shaped perforation (non-self-cleaning site). Almost no corrosion occurred with the nickel-chromium alloy, for either the in vitro or in vivo test. On the other hand, the 2 copper-aluminum-based alloys exhibited high corrosion in the sulfide solution. These same alloys also underwent high corrosion in non-self-cleaning sites for the in vivo test, although minimal attack was observed in self-cleaning sites. The nickel-chromium alloy presented high resistance to corrosion. Both copper-aluminum alloys showed considerable corrosion in the sulfide solution and clinically in the non-self-cleaning site. However, in self-cleaning sites these 2 alloys did not show substantial corrosion.

Design and implementation of dynamic hybrid Honeypot network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiao, Peili; Hu, Shan-Shan; Zhai, Ji-Qiang

2013-05-01

The method of constructing a dynamic and self-adaptive virtual network is suggested to puzzle adversaries, delay and divert attacks, exhaust attacker resources and collect attacking information. The concepts of Honeypot and Honeyd, which is the frame of virtual Honeypot are introduced. The techniques of network scanning including active fingerprint recognition are analyzed. Dynamic virtual network system is designed and implemented. A virtual network similar to real network topology is built according to the collected messages from real environments in this system. By doing this, the system can perplex the attackers when Hackers attack and can further analyze and research the attacks. The tests to this system prove that this design can successfully simulate real network environment and can be used in network security analysis.

A reflective analysis of medical education research on self-regulation in learning and practice.

PubMed

Brydges, Ryan; Butler, Deborah

2012-01-01

In the health professions we expect practitioners and trainees to engage in self-regulation of their learning and practice. For example, doctors are responsible for diagnosing their own learning needs and pursuing professional development opportunities; medical residents are expected to identify what they do not know when caring for patients and to seek help from supervisors when they need it, and medical school curricula are increasingly called upon to support self-regulation as a central learning outcome. Given the importance of self-regulation in both health professions education and ongoing professional practice, our aim was to generate a snapshot of the state of the science in medical education research in this area. To achieve this goal, we gathered literature focused on self-regulation or self-directed learning undertaken from multiple perspectives. Then, with support from a multi-component theoretical framework, we created an overarching map of the themes addressed thus far and emerging findings. We built from that integrative overview to consider contributions, connections and gaps in research on self-regulation to date. Based on this reflective analysis, we conclude that the medical education community's understanding about self-regulation will continue to advance as we: (i) consider how learning is undertaken within the complex social contexts of clinical training and practice; (ii) think of self-regulation within an integrative perspective that allows us to combine disparate strands of research and to consider self-regulation across the training continuum in medicine, from learning to practice; (iii) attend to the grain size of analysis both thoughtfully and intentionally, and (iv) most essentially, extend our efforts to understand the need for and best practices in support of self-regulation. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Development of a testlet generator in re-engineering the Indonesian physics national-exams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mindyarto, Budi Naini; Mardapi, Djemari; Bastari

2017-08-01

The Indonesian Physics national-exams are end-of-course summative assessments that could be utilized to support the assessment for learning in physics educations. This paper discusses the development and evaluation of a testlet generator based on a re-engineering of Indonesian physics national exams. The exam problems were dissected and decomposed into testlets revealing the deeper understanding of the underlying physical concepts by inserting a qualitative question and its scientific reasoning question. A template-based generator was built to facilitate teachers in generating testlet variants that would be more conform to students' scientific attitude development than their original simple multiple-choice formats. The testlet generator was built using open source software technologies and was evaluated focusing on the black-box testing by exploring the generator's execution, inputs and outputs. The results showed the correctly-performed functionalities of the developed testlet generator in validating inputs, generating testlet variants, and accommodating polytomous item characteristics.

Characterization of assembled MEMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jandric, Zoran; Randall, John N.; Saini, Rahul; Nolan, Michael; Skidmore, George

2004-12-01

Zyvex is developing a low-cost high-precision method for manufacturing MEMS-based three-dimensional structures/assemblies. The assembly process relies on compliant properties of the interconnecting components. The sockets and connectors are designed to benefit from their compliant nature by allowing the mechanical component to self-align, i.e. reposition themselves to their designed, stable position, independent of the initial placement of the part by the external robot. Thus, the self-aligning property guarantees the precision of the assembled structure to be very close to, or the same, as the precision of the lithography process itself. A three-dimensional (3D) structure is achieved by inserting the connectors into the sockets through the use of a passive end-effector. We have developed the automated, high-yield, assembly procedure which permits connectors to be picked up from any location within the same die, or a separate die. This general procedure allows for the possibility to assemble parts of dissimilar materials. We have built many 3D MEMS structures, including several 3D MEMS devices such as a scanning electron microscope (SEM) micro column, mass-spectrometer column, variable optical attenuator. For these 3D MEMS structures we characterize their mechanical strength through finite element simulation, dynamic properties by finite-element analysis and experimentally with UMECH"s MEMS motion analyzer (MMA), alignment accuracy by using an in-house developed dihedral angle measurement laser autocollimator, and impact properties by performing drop tests. The details of the experimental set-ups, the measurement procedures, and the experimental data are presented in this paper.

Characterization of assembled MEMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jandric, Zoran; Randall, John N.; Saini, Rahul; Nolan, Michael; Skidmore, George

2005-01-01

Zyvex is developing a low-cost high-precision method for manufacturing MEMS-based three-dimensional structures/assemblies. The assembly process relies on compliant properties of the interconnecting components. The sockets and connectors are designed to benefit from their compliant nature by allowing the mechanical component to self-align, i.e. reposition themselves to their designed, stable position, independent of the initial placement of the part by the external robot. Thus, the self-aligning property guarantees the precision of the assembled structure to be very close to, or the same, as the precision of the lithography process itself. A three-dimensional (3D) structure is achieved by inserting the connectors into the sockets through the use of a passive end-effector. We have developed the automated, high-yield, assembly procedure which permits connectors to be picked up from any location within the same die, or a separate die. This general procedure allows for the possibility to assemble parts of dissimilar materials. We have built many 3D MEMS structures, including several 3D MEMS devices such as a scanning electron microscope (SEM) micro column, mass-spectrometer column, variable optical attenuator. For these 3D MEMS structures we characterize their mechanical strength through finite element simulation, dynamic properties by finite-element analysis and experimentally with UMECH"s MEMS motion analyzer (MMA), alignment accuracy by using an in-house developed dihedral angle measurement laser autocollimator, and impact properties by performing drop tests. The details of the experimental set-ups, the measurement procedures, and the experimental data are presented in this paper.

Self-etching adhesive on intact enamel, with and without pre-etching.

PubMed

Devarasa, G M; Subba Reddy, V V; Chaitra, N L; Swarna, Y M

2012-05-01

Bond strengths of composite resin to enamel using self-etch adhesive (SEA) Clearfil SE bond system on intact enamel and enamel pre-etched with phosphoric acid were compared. The objective was to determine if the pre-etching would increase the bond strengths of the SEA systems to intact enamel and to evaluate the effect of pre-etching on bond formation of self-etch adhesives on intact enamel. Labial surfaces of 40 caries free permanent upper central and lateral incisors were cleaned, sectioned of their roots. All specimens were mounted on acrylic block and divided randomly into four groups. In two groups the application of self-etch adhesive, Clearfil SE bond was carried as per manufacturer's instructions, composite cylinders were built, whereas in the other two groups, 37% phosphoric acid etching was done before the application of self-etching adhesives. Then the resin tags were analyzed using scanning electron microscope and shear bond strength was measured using Instron universal testing machine. When phosphoric acid was used, there was significant increase in the depth of penetration of resin tags and in the Shear Bond Strength of composite to enamel. The results indicate that out of both treatment groups, pre-etching the intact enamel with 37% phosphoric acid resulted in formation of longer resin tags and higher depth of penetration of resin tags of the Clearfil SE bond, and attaining higher bond strength of the Clearfil SE bond to intact enamel. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Design and Characterization of a Built-In CMOS TID Smart Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agustin, Javier; Gil, Carlos; Lopez-Vallejo, Marisa; Ituero, Pablo

2015-04-01

This paper describes a total ionization dose (TID) sensor that presents the following advantages: it is a digital sensor able to be integrated in CMOS circuits; it has a configurable sensitivity that allows radiation doses ranging from very low to high levels; its interface helps to integrate this design in a multidisciplinary sensor network; and it is self-timed, hence it does not need a clock signal. We designed, implemented and manufactured the sensor in a 0.35 μm CMOS commercial technology. It was irradiated with a 60Co source. This test was used to characterize the sensor in terms of the radiation response up to 575 krad. After irradiation, we monitored the sensor to control charge redistribution and annealing effects for 80 hours. We also exposed our design to meticulous temperature analysis from 0 to 50°C and we studied the acceleration on the annealing phenomena due to high temperatures. Sensor calibration takes into account the results of all tests. Finally we propose to use this sensor in a self-recovery system. The sensor manufactured in this work has an area of 0.047 mm 2, of which 22% is dedicated to measuring radiation. Its energy per conversion is 463 pJ.

Start-up and Self-sustain Test of 500 W Ultra-Micro Gas Turbine Generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Jeong Min; Park, Jun Young; Seog Choi, Bum

2013-12-01

This paper provides the performance test for start-up and self-sustaining of 500W ultra-micro gas turbine (UMGT) generator. Each component of UMGT, a centrifugal compressor, a radial turbine, an annular combustor and a shaft is already designed, manufactured and tested to meet design requirements in previous researches. However, they are not tested to work in an integrate system. Currently, integrated test unit with a compressor, a combustor and a turbine, is developed to find the proper condition of start-up and self-sustain. Ignition sequence depending on rotating speed is designed. Performance test for start-up and self-sustain is designed based on the ignition possible condition. An air impingement starter and a hot bulb inginer are applied. LPG is used as main fuel.

Implementation of a Web-Based Collaborative Process Planning System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Huifen; Liu, Tingting; Qiao, Li; Huang, Shuangxi

Under the networked manufacturing environment, all phases of product manufacturing involving design, process planning, machining and assembling may be accomplished collaboratively by different enterprises, even different manufacturing stages of the same part may be finished collaboratively by different enterprises. Based on the self-developed networked manufacturing platform eCWS(e-Cooperative Work System), a multi-agent-based system framework for collaborative process planning is proposed. In accordance with requirements of collaborative process planning, share resources provided by cooperative enterprises in the course of collaboration are classified into seven classes. Then a reconfigurable and extendable resource object model is built. Decision-making strategy is also studied in this paper. Finally a collaborative process planning system e-CAPP is developed and applied. It provides strong support for distributed designers to collaboratively plan and optimize product process though network.

An unsupervised hierarchical dynamic self-organizing approach to cancer class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data.

PubMed

Hsu, Arthur L; Tang, Sen-Lin; Halgamuge, Saman K

2003-11-01

Current Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) approaches to gene expression pattern clustering require the user to predefine the number of clusters likely to be expected. Hierarchical clustering methods used in this area do not provide unique partitioning of data. We describe an unsupervised dynamic hierarchical self-organizing approach, which suggests an appropriate number of clusters, to perform class discovery and marker gene identification in microarray data. In the process of class discovery, the proposed algorithm identifies corresponding sets of predictor genes that best distinguish one class from other classes. The approach integrates merits of hierarchical clustering with robustness against noise known from self-organizing approaches. The proposed algorithm applied to DNA microarray data sets of two types of cancers has demonstrated its ability to produce the most suitable number of clusters. Further, the corresponding marker genes identified through the unsupervised algorithm also have a strong biological relationship to the specific cancer class. The algorithm tested on leukemia microarray data, which contains three leukemia types, was able to determine three major and one minor cluster. Prediction models built for the four clusters indicate that the prediction strength for the smaller cluster is generally low, therefore labelled as uncertain cluster. Further analysis shows that the uncertain cluster can be subdivided further, and the subdivisions are related to two of the original clusters. Another test performed using colon cancer microarray data has automatically derived two clusters, which is consistent with the number of classes in data (cancerous and normal). JAVA software of dynamic SOM tree algorithm is available upon request for academic use. A comparison of rectangular and hexagonal topologies for GSOM is available from http://www.mame.mu.oz.au/mechatronics/journalinfo/Hsu2003supp.pdf

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predicts Cognitive Impairment Related to Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Lin, Qi; Rosenberg, Monica D; Yoo, Kwangsun; Hsu, Tiffany W; O'Connell, Thomas P; Chun, Marvin M

2018-01-01

Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) is a promising neuromarker for cognitive decline in aging population, based on its ability to reveal functional differences associated with cognitive impairment across individuals, and because rs-fMRI may be less taxing for participants than task-based fMRI or neuropsychological tests. Here, we employ an approach that uses rs-FC to predict the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (11 items; ADAS11) scores, which measure overall cognitive functioning, in novel individuals. We applied this technique, connectome-based predictive modeling, to a heterogeneous sample of 59 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, including normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and AD subjects. First, we built linear regression models to predict ADAS11 scores from rs-FC measured with Pearson's r correlation. The positive network model tested with leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV) significantly predicted individual differences in cognitive function from rs-FC. In a second analysis, we considered other functional connectivity features, accordance and discordance, which disentangle the correlation and anticorrelation components of activity timecourses between brain areas. Using partial least square regression and LOOCV, we again built models to successfully predict ADAS11 scores in novel individuals. Our study provides promising evidence that rs-FC can reveal cognitive impairment in an aging population, although more development is needed for clinical application.

KSC-2011-2760

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A technician guides the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft toward the Rotation and Test Fixture in cell 3 at the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There, the spacecraft will undergo inspection of its solar arrays and tests will be conducted on its propulsion subsystem. Further testing of the satellites various other systems will follow. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

KSC-2011-2762

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is secured to the Rotation and Test Fixture in cell 3 at the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There, the spacecraft will undergo inspection of its solar arrays and tests will be conducted on its propulsion subsystem. Further testing of the satellites various other systems will follow. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

KSC-2011-2761

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-04-02

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A technician secures the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft to the Rotation and Test Fixture in cell 3 at the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There, the spacecraft will undergo inspection of its solar arrays and tests will be conducted on its propulsion subsystem. Further testing of the satellites various other systems will follow. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

Motivation and Performance within a Collaborative Computer-Based Modeling Task: Relations between Students' Achievement Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, Cognitive Processing, and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sins, Patrick H. M.; van Joolingen, Wouter R.; Savelsbergh, Elwin R.; van Hout-Wolters, Bernadette

2008-01-01

Purpose of the present study was to test a conceptual model of relations among achievement goal orientation, self-efficacy, cognitive processing, and achievement of students working within a particular collaborative task context. The task involved a collaborative computer-based modeling task. In order to test the model, group measures of…

Microfluidic-Based Robotic Sampling System for Radioactive Solutions

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

Jack D. Law; Julia L. Tripp; Tara E. Smith

A novel microfluidic based robotic sampling system has been developed for sampling and analysis of liquid solutions in nuclear processes. This system couples the use of a microfluidic sample chip with a robotic system designed to allow remote, automated sampling of process solutions in-cell and facilitates direct coupling of the microfluidic sample chip with analytical instrumentation. This system provides the capability for near real time analysis, reduces analytical waste, and minimizes the potential for personnel exposure associated with traditional sampling methods. A prototype sampling system was designed, built and tested. System testing demonstrated operability of the microfluidic based sample systemmore » and identified system modifications to optimize performance.« less

Cell buffer with built-in test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ott, William E. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A cell buffer with built-in testing mechanism is provided. The cell buffer provides the ability to measure voltage provided by a power cell. The testing mechanism provides the ability to test whether the cell buffer is functioning properly and thus providing an accurate voltage measurement. The testing mechanism includes a test signal-provider to provide a test signal to the cell buffer. During normal operation, the test signal is disabled and the cell buffer operates normally. During testing, the test signal is enabled and changes the output of the cell buffer in a defined way. The change in the cell buffer output can then be monitored to determine if the cell buffer is functioning correctly. Specifically, if the voltage output of the cell buffer changes in a way that corresponds to the provided test signal, then the functioning of the cell buffer is confirmed. If the voltage output of the cell buffer does not change correctly, then the cell buffer is known not to be operating correctly. Thus, the built in testing mechanism provides the ability to quickly and accurately determine if the cell buffer is operating correctly. Furthermore, the testing mechanism provides this functionality without requiring excessive device size and complexity.

Design of Soil Salinity Policies with Tinamit, a Flexible and Rapid Tool to Couple Stakeholder-Built System Dynamics Models with Physically-Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malard, J. J.; Baig, A. I.; Hassanzadeh, E.; Adamowski, J. F.; Tuy, H.; Melgar-Quiñonez, H.

2016-12-01

Model coupling is a crucial step to constructing many environmental models, as it allows for the integration of independently-built models representing different system sub-components to simulate the entire system. Model coupling has been of particular interest in combining socioeconomic System Dynamics (SD) models, whose visual interface facilitates their direct use by stakeholders, with more complex physically-based models of the environmental system. However, model coupling processes are often cumbersome and inflexible and require extensive programming knowledge, limiting their potential for continued use by stakeholders in policy design and analysis after the end of the project. Here, we present Tinamit, a flexible Python-based model-coupling software tool whose easy-to-use API and graphical user interface make the coupling of stakeholder-built SD models with physically-based models rapid, flexible and simple for users with limited to no coding knowledge. The flexibility of the system allows end users to modify the SD model as well as the linking variables between the two models themselves with no need for recoding. We use Tinamit to couple a stakeholder-built socioeconomic model of soil salinization in Pakistan with the physically-based soil salinity model SAHYSMOD. As climate extremes increase in the region, policies to slow or reverse soil salinity buildup are increasing in urgency and must take both socioeconomic and biophysical spheres into account. We use the Tinamit-coupled model to test the impact of integrated policy options (economic and regulatory incentives to farmers) on soil salinity in the region in the face of future climate change scenarios. Use of the Tinamit model allowed for rapid and flexible coupling of the two models, allowing the end user to continue making model structure and policy changes. In addition, the clear interface (in contrast to most model coupling code) makes the final coupled model easily accessible to stakeholders with limited technical background.

Low knowledge and anecdotal use of unauthorized online HIV self-test kits among attendees at a street-based HIV rapid testing programme in Spain.

PubMed

Belza, M José; Figueroa, Carmen; Rosales-Statkus, M Elena; Ruiz, Mónica; Vallejo, Fernando; de la Fuente, Luis

2014-08-01

The objectives of this study were to estimate the percentage of potential users who know that unauthorized HIV self-tests can be purchased online and the percentage of those who have already used them, and to determine socio-demographic and behavioural correlates. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect data from attendees at a street-based HIV testing programme. Logistic regression for rare events was performed. Of the 3340 participants, 5.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.5-6.0%) had knowledge of self-tests being sold online and 7.5% (95% CI 6.6-8.5%) thought they existed but had never seen them; only 0.6% (95% CI 0.3-0.9%) had ever used one. Knowing that self-tests are sold online (odds ratio (OR) 3.6, 95% CI 2.4-5.4) and using them (OR 7.3, 95% CI 2.2-23.8) were associated with having undergone more than two previous HIV tests. Use was also associated with being neither Spanish nor Latin American (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.2-12.0) and with having a university degree (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.7). At the time of the study, the impact on the population of issues related to the use of unauthorized tests was very low. However, media coverage following the approval of self-testing in the USA might have changed the situation. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Advances in self-healing materials based on vascular networks with mechanical self-repair characteristics.

PubMed

Lee, Min Wook; An, Seongpil; Yoon, Sam S; Yarin, Alexander L

2018-02-01

Here, we review the state-of-the-art in the field of engineered self-healing materials. These materials mimic the functionalities of various natural materials found in the human body (e.g., the healing of skin and bones by the vascular system). The fabrication methods used to produce these "vascular-system-like" engineered self-healing materials, such as electrospinning (including co-electrospinning and emulsion spinning) and solution blowing (including coaxial solution blowing and emulsion blowing) are discussed in detail. Further, a few other approaches involving the use of hollow fibers are also described. In addition, various currently used healing materials/agents, such as dicyclopentadiene and Grubbs' catalyst, poly(dimethyl siloxane), and bisphenol-A-based epoxy, are described. We also review the characterization methods employed to verify the physical and chemical aspects of self-healing, that is, the methods used to confirm that the healing agent has been released and that it has resulted in healing, as well as the morphological changes induced in the damaged material by the healing agent. These characterization methods include different visualization and spectroscopy techniques and thermal analysis methods. Special attention is paid to the characterization of the mechanical consequences of self-healing. The effects of self-healing on the mechanical properties such as stiffness and adhesion of the damaged material are evaluated using the tensile test, double cantilever beam test, plane strip test, bending test, and adhesion test (e.g., blister test). Finally, the future direction of the development of these systems is discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Auditing for Score Inflation Using Self-Monitoring Assessments: Findings from Three Pilot Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koretz, Daniel; Jennings, Jennifer L.; Ng, Hui Leng; Yu, Carol; Braslow, David; Langi, Meredith

2016-01-01

Test-based accountability often produces score inflation. Most studies have evaluated inflation by comparing trends on a high-stakes test and a lower stakes audit test. However, Koretz and Beguin (2010) noted weaknesses of audit tests and suggested self-monitoring assessments (SMAs), which incorporate audit items into high-stakes tests. This…

Expanding syphilis testing: a scoping review of syphilis testing interventions among key populations.

PubMed

Ong, Jason J; Fu, Hongyun; Smith, M Kumi; Tucker, Joseph D

2018-05-01

Syphilis is an important sexually transmitted infection (STI). Despite inexpensive and effective treatment, few key populations receive syphilis testing. Innovative strategies are needed to increase syphilis testing among key populations. Areas covered: This scoping review focused on strategies to increase syphilis testing in key populations (men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, and incarcerated individuals). Expert commentary: We identified many promising syphilis testing strategies, particularly among MSM. These innovations are separated into diagnostic, clinic-based, and non-clinic based strategies. In terms of diagnostics, self-testing, dried blood spots, and point-of-care testing can decentralize syphilis testing. Effective syphilis self-testing pilots suggest the need for further attention and research. In terms of clinic-based strategies, modifying default clinical procedures can nudge physicians to more frequently recommend syphilis testing. In terms of non-clinic based strategies, venue-based screening (e.g. in correctional facilities, drug rehabilitation centres) and mobile testing units have been successfully implemented in a variety of settings. Integration of syphilis with HIV testing may facilitate implementation in settings where individuals have increased sexual risk. There is a strong need for further syphilis testing research and programs.

The Mobile Bark Blower: An Evaluation of Performance and Costs

Treesearch

Raymond L. Sarles; David M. Emanuel

1977-01-01

A custom-built bark blower truck (MOBLOW) developed in Oregon was tested for its effectiveness in applying bark mulches, sawdust, and shavings in the eastern United States. Tests determined the bark blower's performance and cost in mulching grass-legume seedings and shrub beds with 10 bark products or wood residues. Bark blower trucks built to MOBLOW...

Self-Collected versus Clinician-Collected Sampling for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Screening: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Lunny, Carole; Taylor, Darlene; Hoang, Linda; Wong, Tom; Gilbert, Mark; Lester, Richard; Krajden, Mel; Ogilvie, Gina

2015-01-01

Background The increases in STI rates since the late 1990s in Canada have occurred despite widespread primary care and targeted public health programs and in the setting of universal health care. More innovative interventions are required that would eliminate barriers to STI testing such as internet-based or mail-in home and community service testing for patients that are hard to reach, who refuse to go for clinician-based testing, or who decline an examination. Jurisdictions such as New Zealand and some American states currently use self-collected sampling, but without the required evidence to determine whether self-collected specimens are as accurate as clinician-collected specimens in terms of chlamydia and gonorrhea diagnostic accuracy. The objective of the review is to compare self-collected vaginal, urine, pharyngeal and rectal samples to our reference standard - clinician-collected cervical, urethral, pharyngeal and rectal sampling techniques to identify a positive specimen using nucleic acid amplification test assays. Methods The hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic and the fixed effect models were used to assess the accuracy of comparable specimens that were collected by patients compared to clinicians. Sensitivity and specificity estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported as our main outcome measures. Findings We included 21 studies based on over 6100 paired samples. Fourteen included studies examined chlamydia only, 6 compared both gonorrhea and chlamydia separately in the same study, and one examined gonorrhea. The six chlamydia studies comparing self-collection by vaginal swab to a clinician-collected cervical swab had the highest sensitivity (92%, 95% CI 87-95) and specificity (98%, 95% CI 97-99), compared to other specimen-types (urine/urethra or urine/cervix). Six studies compared urine self-samples to urethra clinician-collected samples in males and produced a sensitivity of 88% (95% CI 83-93) and a specificity of 99% (95% CI 0.94-0.99). Taking into account that urine samples may be less sensitive than cervical samples, eight chlamydia studies that compared urine self-collected verses clinician-collected cervical samples had a sensitivity of 87% (95% CI 81-91) and high specificity of 99% (95% CI 0.98-1.00). For gonorrhea testing, self-collected urine samples compared to clinician-collected urethra samples in males produced a sensitivity of 92% (95% CI 83-97) and specificity of 99% (95% CI 0.98-1.00). Conclusion The sensitivity and specificity of vaginal self-collected swabs compared to swabs collected by clinicians supports the use of vaginal swab as the recommended specimen of choice in home-based screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Urine samples for gonorrhea collected by men had comparably high sensitivity and specificity, so could be recommended as they can be left at room temperature for several days, allowing for the possibility of mail-in home-based testing. In populations that may not go for testing at all, do not have the option of clinical testing, or who refuse a clinical examination, self-collected screening would be a good alternative. We recommend that guidelines on how to self-collect gonorrhea and chlamydia urine, vaginal, rectal and pharyngeal specimens be published. PMID:26168051

Web-based oral health promotion program for older adults: Development and preliminary evaluation.

PubMed

Mariño, Rodrigo J; Marwaha, Parul; Barrow, Su-Yan

2016-07-01

This study reports on the impact evaluation of a Web-based oral health promotion programme aimed at improving the oral health knowledge, attitudes, practices and self-efficacy of independent-living older adults from Melbourne, Australia. With ethics approval from the University of Melbourne, a convenience sample of volunteers 55 years or older was invited to participate in a study to test a web-based oral health promotion program. Consenting volunteers were asked to undergo a structured interview as part of the pre-intervention data collection. The intervention was based on the ORHIS (Oral Health Information Seminars/Sheets) Model and involved computer interaction with six oral health presentations, with no direct oral health professional input. A one group pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design was chosen to evaluate the intervention. A series of paired t-tests were used to compare pre-test with post-test results. Forty-seven active, independent-living older adults participated in this evaluation. After the intervention participants responded with higher levels of achievement than before participating in this Web-based oral health program. Participants showed significant improvements in oral health attitudes (4.10 vs. 4.94; p<0.01), knowledge (18.37 vs. 23.83; p<0.0001), and self-efficacy (84.37 vs.89.23; p<0.01), as well as, self-reported oral hygiene practices (i.e., frequency of use of dental floss) (p<0.05). The e-ORHIS approach was successful in improving oral health knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy. As such, it represents a helpful approach for the design of (oral) health interventions in older adults. Further evaluation with a larger sample is required to test the long-term impact including the economic evaluation of the e-ORHIS approach. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a Web-based question database for students' self-assessment.

PubMed

Hammoud, Maya M; Barclay, Mel L

2002-09-01

Computer-based testing (CBT) for the purpose of the national licensure examination has increased interest among medical students in this modality of testing. The advent of Web-based question-delivery systems for self-assessment and learning has made it possible for students to practice this technology and participate in self-directed learning. Test Pilot(TM) is a Web-based program that provides a fast and easy tool for the development and deployment of online testing. Our objectives for introducing the program were to (1) develop a large database of questions for students' practice and self-assessment; (2) include multimedia tools such as illustrations and short videos to enhance learning; (3) provide a feedback tool for clerkship and site directors regarding student performance; and (4) evaluate this tool in terms of students' frequency of use, students' satisfaction, and its potential effectiveness in enhancing learning. The Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkship at the University of Michigan is held at four different sites. In the past, students have been provided with access to floppy disks that contain about 500 self-assessment questions. These questions have been reformatted, updated, and transferred to Test Pilot. Visual illustrations have been added to the questions along with more varied formats, including extended matching, fill-in, and essay questions. The questions are divided into ten-question quizzes. The students get immediate feedback after answering each question and a summary of performance at the end of each quiz. Security, access, and analysis are facilitated because the questions and responses are stored centrally. In addition, Test Pilot captures information regarding individual and collective students' performances. At the end of the rotation, students fill out a form evaluating the Test Pilot program and comparing it with the quiz disks. In addition, we are collecting data regarding the actual use of Test Pilot, which will be compared with the students' surveys and final exam scores. Test Pilot has many benefits, including access control, immediate feedback, automated scoring, interactive learning, and data analysis. The enhancement of material permitted by a Web-based system increases the depth and variety of the learning experience by adding perceptual dimensions. Test Pilot also provides the clerkship director with the capability to obtain improved measurements of student performance and captures the student's self-learning and testing process. It can potentially identify weaknesses or inconsistencies across the different sites and recognize students who may need additional help early in the rotation. Over a one-year period, most students have switched from the quiz disks to Test Pilot. The students reported satisfaction with the Web-based format and found it user friendly. They especially liked the immediate feedback. The students have requested more questions and multimedia options be added. We plan to continue the development and assessment of this learning tool.

Designing and evaluating a web-based self-management site for patients with type 2 diabetes--systematic website development and study protocol.

PubMed

Yu, Catherine H; Parsons, Janet; Mamdani, Muhammad; Lebovic, Gerald; Shah, Baiju R; Bhattacharyya, Onil; Laupacis, Andreas; Straus, Sharon E

2012-06-24

Given that patients provide the majority of their own diabetes care, patient self-management training has increasingly become recognized as an important strategy with which to improve quality of care. However, participation in self management programs is low. In addition, the efficacy of current behavioural interventions wanes over time, reducing the impact of self-management interventions on patient health. Web-based interventions have the potential to bridge the gaps in diabetes care and self-management. Our objective is to improve self-efficacy, quality of life, self-care, blood pressure, cholesterol and glycemic control and promote exercise in people with type 2 diabetes through the rigorous development and use of a web-based patient self-management intervention. This study consists of five phases: (1) intervention development; (2) feasibility testing; (3) usability testing; (4) intervention refinement; and (5) intervention evaluation using mixed methods. We will employ evidence-based strategies and tools, using a theoretical framework of self-efficacy, then elicit user feedback through focus groups and individual user testing sessions. Using iterative redesign the intervention will be refined. Once finalized, the impact of the website on patient self-efficacy, quality of life, self-care, HbA1c, LDL-cholesterol, blood pressure and weight will be assessed through a non-randomized observational cohort study using repeated measures modeling and individual interviews. Increasing use of the World Wide Web by consumers for health information and ongoing revolutions in social media are strong indicators that users are primed to welcome a new era of technology in health care. However, their full potential is hindered by limited knowledge regarding their effectiveness, poor usability, and high attrition rates. Our development and research agenda aims to address these limitations by improving usability, identifying characteristics associated with website use and attrition, and developing strategies to sustain patient use in order to maximize clinical outcomes.

Advanced Plant Habitat

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-17

A test unit, or prototype, of NASA's Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) was delivered to the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The APH is the largest plant chamber built for the agency. The base of the APH is being prepared for engineering development tests to see how the science will integrate with the various systems of the plant habitat. It will have 180 sensors and four times the light output of Veggie. The APH will be delivered to the International Space Station in March 2017.

Self-testing of binary observables based on commutation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaniewski, Jedrzej

2017-06-01

We consider the problem of certifying binary observables based on a Bell inequality violation alone, a task known as self-testing of measurements. We introduce a family of commutation-based measures, which encode all the distinct arrangements of two projective observables on a qubit. These quantities by construction take into account the usual limitations of self-testing and since they are "weighted" by the (reduced) state, they automatically deal with rank-deficient reduced density matrices. We show that these measures can be estimated from the observed Bell violation in several scenarios and the proofs rely only on standard linear algebra. The trade-offs turn out to be tight, and in particular, they give nontrivial statements for arbitrarily small violations. On the other extreme, observing the maximal violation allows us to deduce precisely the form of the observables, which immediately leads to a complete rigidity statement. In particular, we show that for all n ≥3 the n -partite Mermin-Ardehali-Belinskii-Klyshko inequality self-tests the n -partite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state and maximally incompatible qubit measurements on every party. Our results imply that any pair of projective observables on a qubit can be certified in a truly robust manner. Finally, we show that commutation-based measures give a convenient way of expressing relations among more than two observables.

Microtensile bond strength of etch-and-rinse and self-etching adhesives to intrapulpal dentin after endodontic irrigation and setting of root canal sealer.

PubMed

Wattanawongpitak, Nipaporn; Nakajima, Masatoshi; Ikeda, Masaomi; Foxton, Richard M; Tagami, Junji

2009-02-01

To evaluate the effect of endodontic irrigation regimens and calcium hydroxide root canal sealer (Sealapex) on the microtensile bond strengths (muTBS) of dual-curing resin composite (Clearfil DC Core Automix) to the intrapulpal dentin. Forty standardized coronal-half root canal dentin specimens obtained from human premolars were divided into 4 groups: group A, no treatment (control); group B, Sealapex; group C, NaOCl/Sealapex; group D, EDTA/NaOCl/Sealapex. After 7 days of storage in 100% relative humidity, Sealapex was removed. Dentin surfaces were bonded with adhesives, either etch-and-rinse (Single Bond) or self-etching (Clearfil SE Bond), and built up with resin composite. The bonded specimens were trimmed into an hourglass shape with a 1-mm2 cross-sectional area for microtensile testing (n = 20). The muTBS to intrapulpal dentin was analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Dunnett's TC test. Two teeth of each group were prepared for micromorphological analysis of dentin surface. The root canal sealer with or without endodontic irrigation significantly affected the bond strengths of resin composite to intrapulpal dentin compared with the control group (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in muTBS of each experimental group between etch-and-rinse and self-etching adhesives (p > 0.05). The dentin surface was covered with a mud-like material after sealer application for 7 days. The root canal sealer reduced the muTBS of dual-curing resin composite with etch-and-rinse and self-etching adhesive systems to intrapulpal dentin. Treatment with EDTA followed by NaOCI prior to obturation caused an additional reduction in muTBS of both adhesive systems to intrapulpal dentin.

The Making of a Self-Neglect Severity Scale

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Scott M.; Dyer, C. B.; Pavlik, V. N.; Kelly, P. A.; Lee, J.; Doody, R. S.; Regev, C.; Pickens, C.; Burnett, J.

2006-01-01

Research in elder self-neglect has lagged behind that of other forms of mistreatment, despite the fact that self-neglect is the most common allegation reported to Adult Protective Service agencies throughout the US. The lack of a gold-standard to measure self-neglect has hampered efforts to study this phenomenon. Researchers designed the Self-neglect Severity Scale (SSS) based on interviews with Adult Protective Service workers and a national expert panel. The SSS is based on observation and interview and is administered in the home to include an environmental assessment. It was piloted, extensively field tested and then revised. The CREST SSS was developed using survey data and consultation with experts in the field. This instrument utilizes observer ratings, interview responses, and assesses subjects physical and environmental domains. It also assesses functional status as it relates to health and safety issues. After field and pilot testing the SSS was finalized and is currently undergoing reliability and validity testing. The CREST SSS was developed as a state scale to provide a common language for describing cases of self-neglect. It is the first self-neglect severity scale available to researchers. If found to be both reliable and valid it can be used in future intervention studies.

The making of a self-neglect severity scale.

PubMed

Dyer, Carmel Bitondo; Kelly, P Adam; Pavlik, Valory N; Lee, Jessica; Doody, Rachelle S; Regev, Tziona; Pickens, Sabrina; Burnett, Jason; Smith, Scott M

2006-01-01

Research in elder self-neglect has lagged behind that of other forms of mistreatment, despite the fact that self-neglect is the most common allegation reported to Adult Protective Service agencies throughout the US. The lack of a gold standard to measure self-neglect has hampered efforts to study this phenomenon. Researchers designed the Self-Neglect Severity Scale (SSS) based on interviews with Adult Protective Service workers and a national expert panel. The SSS is based on observation and interview and is administered in the home to include an environmental assessment. It was piloted, extensively field tested and then revised. The CREST SSS was developed using survey data and consultation with experts in the field. This instrument utilizes observer ratings, interview responses, and assesses subjects' physical and environmental domains. It also assesses functional status as it relates to health and safety issues. After field and pilot testing, the SSS was finalized and is currently undergoing reliability and validity testing. The CREST SSS was developed as a state scale to provide a common language for describing cases of self-neglect. It is the first self-neglect severity scale available to researchers. If found to be both reliable and valid, it may be used in future intervention studies.

Drivers of Disparity: Differences in Socially Based Risk Factors of Self-Injurious and Suicidal Behaviors among Sexual Minority College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blosnich, John; Bossarte, Robert

2012-01-01

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (ie, sexual minority) populations have increased prevalence of both self-injurious and suicidal behaviors, but reasons for these disparities are poorly understood. Objective: To test the association between socially based stressors (eg, victimization, discrimination) and self-injurious behavior, suicide ideation, and…

High-Resolution Structure of a Self-Assembly-Competent Form of a Hydrophobic Peptide Captured in a Soluble [beta]-Sheet Scaffold

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

Makabe, Koki; Biancalana, Matthew; Yan, Shude

2010-02-08

{beta}-Rich self-assembly is a major structural class of polypeptides, but still little is known about its atomic structures and biophysical properties. Major impediments for structural and biophysical studies of peptide self-assemblies include their insolubility and heterogeneous composition. We have developed a model system, termed peptide self-assembly mimic (PSAM), based on the single-layer {beta}-sheet of Borrelia outer surface protein A. PSAM allows for the capture of a defined number of self-assembly-like peptide repeats within a water-soluble protein, making structural and energetic studies possible. In this work, we extend our PSAM approach to a highly hydrophobic peptide sequence. We show that amore » penta-Ile peptide (Ile{sub 5}), which is insoluble and forms {beta}-rich self-assemblies in aqueous solution, can be captured within the PSAM scaffold in a form capable of self-assembly. The 1.1-{angstrom} crystal structure revealed that the Ile{sub 5} stretch forms a highly regular {beta}-strand within this flat {beta}-sheet. Self-assembly models built with multiple copies of the crystal structure of the Ile5 peptide segment showed no steric conflict, indicating that this conformation represents an assembly-competent form. The PSAM retained high conformational stability, suggesting that the flat {beta}-strand of the Ile{sub 5} stretch primed for self-assembly is a low-energy conformation of the Ile{sub 5} stretch and rationalizing its high propensity for self-assembly. The ability of the PSAM to 'solubilize' an otherwise insoluble peptide stretch suggests the potential of the PSAM approach to the characterization of self-assembling peptides.« less

Home-Based HIV Testing and Counseling for Male Couples (Project Nexus): A Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Stephenson, Rob; Freeland, Ryan; Sullivan, Stephen P; Riley, Erin; Johnson, Brent A; Mitchell, Jason; McFarland, Deborah; Sullivan, Patrick S

2017-05-30

HIV prevalence remains high among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, yet the majority of research has focused on MSM as individuals, not as dyads, and has discussed HIV risks primarily in the context of casual sex. Nexus is an online prevention program that combines home-based HIV testing and couples HIV testing and counseling (CHTC). It allows partners in dyadic MSM relationships to receive HIV testing and care in the comfort of their designated residence, via video-based chat. By using video-based technologies (eg, VSee video chat), male couples receive counseling and support from a remote online counselor, while testing for HIV at home. This randomized control trial (RCT) aims to examine the effects of video-based counseling combined with home-based HIV testing on couples' management of HIV risk, formation and adherence to explicit sexual agreements, and sexual risk-taking. The research implements a prospective RCT of 400 online-recruited male couples: 200 self-reported concordant-negative couples and 200 self-reported discordant couples. Couples in the control arm will receive one or two home-based HIV self-testing kits and will be asked to report their results via the study's website. Couples in the experimental arm will receive one or two home-based HIV self-testing kits and will conduct these tests together under the facilitation of a remotely located counselor during a prescheduled VSee-based video CHTC session. Study assessments are taken at baseline, as well as at 3- and 6-month follow-up sessions. Project Nexus was launched in April 2016 and is ongoing. To date, 219 eligible couples have been enrolled and randomized. Combining home-based HIV testing with video-based counseling creates an opportunity to expand CHTC to male couples who (1) live outside metro areas, (2) live in rural areas without access to testing services or LGBTQ resources, or (3) feel that current clinic-based testing is not for them (eg, due to fears of discrimination associated with HIV and/or sexuality). ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02335138; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02335138 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6qHxtNIdW). ©Rob Stephenson, Ryan Freeland, Stephen P Sullivan, Erin Riley, Brent A Johnson, Jason Mitchell, Deborah McFarland, Patrick S Sullivan. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 30.05.2017.

Underground coal mine instrumentation and test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burchill, R. F.; Waldron, W. D.

1976-01-01

The need to evaluate mechanical performance of mine tools and to obtain test performance data from candidate systems dictate that an engineering data recording system be built. Because of the wide range of test parameters which would be evaluated, a general purpose data gathering system was designed and assembled to permit maximum versatility. A primary objective of this program was to provide a specific operating evaluation of a longwall mining machine vibration response under normal operating conditions. A number of mines were visited and a candidate for test evaluation was selected, based upon management cooperation, machine suitability, and mine conditions. Actual mine testing took place in a West Virginia mine.

eBiometrics: an enhanced multi-biometrics authentication technique for real-time remote applications on mobile devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuseler, Torben; Lami, Ihsan; Jassim, Sabah; Sellahewa, Harin

2010-04-01

The use of mobile communication devices with advance sensors is growing rapidly. These sensors are enabling functions such as Image capture, Location applications, and Biometric authentication such as Fingerprint verification and Face & Handwritten signature recognition. Such ubiquitous devices are essential tools in today's global economic activities enabling anywhere-anytime financial and business transactions. Cryptographic functions and biometric-based authentication can enhance the security and confidentiality of mobile transactions. Using Biometric template security techniques in real-time biometric-based authentication are key factors for successful identity verification solutions, but are venerable to determined attacks by both fraudulent software and hardware. The EU-funded SecurePhone project has designed and implemented a multimodal biometric user authentication system on a prototype mobile communication device. However, various implementations of this project have resulted in long verification times or reduced accuracy and/or security. This paper proposes to use built-in-self-test techniques to ensure no tampering has taken place on the verification process prior to performing the actual biometric authentication. These techniques utilises the user personal identification number as a seed to generate a unique signature. This signature is then used to test the integrity of the verification process. Also, this study proposes the use of a combination of biometric modalities to provide application specific authentication in a secure environment, thus achieving optimum security level with effective processing time. I.e. to ensure that the necessary authentication steps and algorithms running on the mobile device application processor can not be undermined or modified by an imposter to get unauthorized access to the secure system.

Fiber Attachment Module Experiment (FAME): Using a Multiplexed Miniature Hollow Fiber Membrane Bioreactor Solution for Rapid Process Testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lunn, Griffin; Wheeler, Raymond; Hummerick, Mary; Birmele, Michele; Richards, Jeffrey; Coutts, Janelle; Koss, Lawrence; Spencer, Lashelle.; Johnsey, Marissa; Ellis, Ronald

Bioreactor research, even today, is mostly limited to continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs). These are not an option for microgravity applications due to the lack of a gravity gradient to drive aeration as described by the Archimedes principle. This has led to testing of Hollow Fiber Membrane Bioreactors (HFMBs) for microgravity applications, including possible use for wastewater treatment systems for the International Space Station (ISS). Bioreactors and filtration systems for treating wastewater could avoid the need for harsh pretreatment chemicals and improve overall water recovery. However, the construction of these reactors is difficult and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) versions do not exist in small sizes. We have used 1-L modular HFMBs in the past, but the need to perform rapid testing has led us to consider even smaller systems. To address this, we designed and built 125-mL, rectangular reactors, which we have called the Fiber Attachment Module Experiment (FAME) system. A polycarbonate rack of four square modules was developed with each module containing removable hollow fibers. Each FAME reactor is self-contained and can be easily plumbed with peristaltic and syringe pumps for continuous recycling of fluids and feeding, as well as fitted with sensors for monitoring pH, dissolved oxygen, and gas measurements similar to their larger counterparts. The first application tested in the FAME racks allowed analysis of over a dozen fiber surface treatments and three inoculation sources to achieve rapid reactor startup and biofilm attachment (based on carbon oxidation and nitrification of wastewater). With these miniature FAME reactors, data for this multi-factorial test were collected in duplicate over a six-month period; this greatly compressed time period required for gathering data needed to study and improve bioreactor performance.

A Field Test of Web-Based Screening for Dry Eye Disease to Enhance Awareness of Eye Problems Among General Internet Users: A Latent Strategy to Promote Health

PubMed Central

Uchino, Miki; Kawazoe, Takashi; Kamiyashiki, Masaaki; Sano, Kokoro; Tsubota, Kazuo

2013-01-01

Background A Web-based self-check system including a brief questionnaire would seem to be a suitable tool for rapid disease screening. Objective The purpose of this preliminary study was to test a Web-based self-screening questionnaire for drawing attention to dry eye disease among general Internet users and identifying those with a higher risk of developing the condition. Methods A survey website was launched and used to recruit participants from general Internet users. In the first phase, volunteers were asked to complete a Web-based self-screening questionnaire containing 12 questions on dry eye symptoms. The second phase focused on the respondents who reported five or more dry eye symptoms and expressed their intention to seek medical attention. These participants performed the Schirmer test, for evaluating tear production, and completed a paper-based lifestyle questionnaire to provide relevant background data. Results Of the 1689 visitors to the website, 980 (58.0%) volunteers completed the Web-based self-screening questionnaire. Among these, 355 (36.2%) respondents reported five or more dry eye symptoms. Then, 99 (27.9%) of the symptomatic participants performed the Schirmer test and completed the paper-based lifestyle questionnaire. Out of these, 32 (32.2%) had abnormal tear production (≤5 mm). Conclusions The proposed Web-based self-screening questionnaire seems to be a promising tool for raising awareness of dry eye disease among general Internet users and identifying those with a higher risk of developing the condition, although further research is needed to validate its effectiveness. PMID:24072379

1,2,4,5-Benzenetetracarboxylic acid: a versatile hydrogen bonding template for controlling the regioselective topochemical synthesis of head-to-tail photodimers from stilbazole derivatives.

PubMed

Ortega, Gabriela; Hernández, Jesús; González, Teresa; Dorta, Romano; Briceño, Alexander

2018-05-16

The crystal engineering of hydrogen bonded organic assemblies based on 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid (H4bta) and stilbazole derivatives (1-10) is exploited to provide regio-controlled [2 + 2] photocycloadditions in the solid state. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses have revealed that all the arrays are built-up from the self-assembly of the (H2bta)2- dianion with two stilbazolium cations via O-HO- and N+-HO- charge-assisted H-bonding synthons: (4-Hstilbazolium+)2(H2bta2-). The dianion displays an interesting diversity of H-bonding motifs. Such structural flexibility allowed us to obtain four structure-types defined by the preferential formation of intramolecular or intermolecular hydrogen bonds between carboxylate-carboxylic groups. In these ionic assemblies two predominant structural H-bonding patterns were observed. The first pattern is characterised by the formation of intramolecular H-bonds in the dianion, leading to discrete assemblies based on ternary arrays. The second hydrogen pattern consists of 2-D hydrogen networks built-up from the self-assembly of anions via intermolecular H-bonds that are linked to the cations. Two additional examples, in which the dianion is self-assembled in two types of ribbons, were also observed. Another supramolecular feature predominant in all these arrays is the stacking of the cations in a head-to-tail fashion, which is controlled via cation-π interactions. These arrays are photoactive in the solid state upon UV-irradiation leading to the regioselective synthesis of rctt-cyclobutane head-to-tail-isomers in high to quantitative yield. In this work, the template tolerance either to steric or electronic effects by changing the number or positions of the supramolecular interactions exerted by distinctive functional groups was also explored. In addition, assemblies bearing 2-chloro (7 and 8) and 3-chloro-4-stilbazole (1 and 9) crystallize in two different crystalline forms, leading to novel examples of supramolecular isomers with similar solid state reactivity.

Developments to Increase the Performance, Operational Versatility and Automation of a Lunar Surface Manipulation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorsey, John T.; Jones, Thomas C.; Doggett, William R.; Roithmayr, Carlos M.; King, Bruce D.; Mikulas, Marting M.

2009-01-01

The objective of this paper is to describe and summarize the results of the development efforts for the Lunar Surface Manipulation System (LSMS) with respect to increasing the performance, operational versatility, and automation. Three primary areas of development are covered, including; the expansion of the operational envelope and versatility of the current LSMS test-bed, the design of a second generation LSMS, and the development of automation and remote control capability. The first generation LSMS, which has been designed, built, and tested both in lab and field settings, is shown to have increased range of motion and operational versatility. Features such as fork lift mode, side grappling of payloads, digging and positioning of lunar regolith, and a variety of special end effectors are described. LSMS operational viability depends on bei nagble to reposition its base from an initial position on the lander to a mobility chassis or fixed locations around the lunar outpost. Preliminary concepts are presented for the second generation LSMS design, which will perform this self-offload capability. Incorporating design improvements, the second generation will have longer reach and three times the payload capability, yet it will have approximately equivalent mass to the first generation. Lastly, this paper covers improvements being made to the control system of the LSMS test-bed, which is currently operated using joint velocity control with visual cues. These improvements include joint angle sensors, inverse kinematics, and automated controls.

Design of Integrated Database on Mobile Information System: A Study of Yogyakarta Smart City App

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurnawati, E. K.; Ermawati, E.

2018-02-01

An integration database is a database which acts as the data store for multiple applications and thus integrates data across these applications (in contrast to an Application Database). An integration database needs a schema that takes all its client applications into account. The benefit of the schema that sharing data among applications does not require an extra layer of integration services on the applications. Any changes to data made in a single application are made available to all applications at the time of database commit - thus keeping the applications’ data use better synchronized. This study aims to design and build an integrated database that can be used by various applications in a mobile device based system platforms with the based on smart city system. The built-in database can be used by various applications, whether used together or separately. The design and development of the database are emphasized on the flexibility, security, and completeness of attributes that can be used together by various applications to be built. The method used in this study is to choice of the appropriate database logical structure (patterns of data) and to build the relational-database models (Design Databases). Test the resulting design with some prototype apps and analyze system performance with test data. The integrated database can be utilized both of the admin and the user in an integral and comprehensive platform. This system can help admin, manager, and operator in managing the application easily and efficiently. This Android-based app is built based on a dynamic clientserver where data is extracted from an external database MySQL. So if there is a change of data in the database, then the data on Android applications will also change. This Android app assists users in searching of Yogyakarta (as smart city) related information, especially in culture, government, hotels, and transportation.