Sample records for collective coordinate method

  1. Self-consistent collective coordinate for reaction path and inertial mass

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wen, Kai; Nakatsukasa, Takashi

    2016-11-01

    We propose a numerical method to determine the optimal collective reaction path for a nucleus-nucleus collision, based on the adiabatic self-consistent collective coordinate (ASCC) method. We use an iterative method, combining the imaginary-time evolution and the finite amplitude method, for the solution of the ASCC coupled equations. It is applied to the simplest case, α -α scattering. We determine the collective path, the potential, and the inertial mass. The results are compared with other methods, such as the constrained Hartree-Fock method, Inglis's cranking formula, and the adiabatic time-dependent Hartree-Fock (ATDHF) method.

  2. Collective coordinates and constrained hamiltonian systems

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

    Dayi, O.F.

    1992-07-01

    A general method of incorporating collective coordinates (transformation of fields into an overcomplete basis) with constrained hamiltonian systems is given where the original phase space variables and collective coordinates can be bosonic or/and fermionic. This method is illustrated by applying it to the SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory and its BFV-BRST quantization is discussed. Moreover, this formalism is used to give a systematic way of converting second class constraints into effectively first class ones, by considering second class constraints as first class constraints and gauge fixing conditions. This approach is applied to the massive superparticle. Proca lagrangian, and some topological quantum fieldmore » theories.« less

  3. 10 CFR 207.3 - Method of collecting energy information under ESECA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Method of collecting energy information under ESECA. 207.3 Section 207.3 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.3 Method of collecting energy...

  4. 10 CFR 207.3 - Method of collecting energy information under ESECA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Method of collecting energy information under ESECA. 207.3 Section 207.3 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.3 Method of collecting energy...

  5. 10 CFR 207.3 - Method of collecting energy information under ESECA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Method of collecting energy information under ESECA. 207.3 Section 207.3 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.3 Method of collecting energy...

  6. 10 CFR 207.3 - Method of collecting energy information under ESECA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Method of collecting energy information under ESECA. 207.3 Section 207.3 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.3 Method of collecting energy...

  7. 10 CFR 207.3 - Method of collecting energy information under ESECA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Method of collecting energy information under ESECA. 207.3 Section 207.3 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.3 Method of collecting energy...

  8. A method for topological analysis of high nuclearity coordination clusters and its application to Mn coordination compounds.

    PubMed

    Kostakis, George E; Blatov, Vladislav A; Proserpio, Davide M

    2012-04-21

    A novel method for the topological description of high nuclearity coordination clusters (CCs) was improved and applied to all compounds containing only manganese as a metal center, the data on which are collected in the CCDC (CCDC 5.33 Nov. 2011). Using the TOPOS program package that supports this method, we identified 539 CCs with five or more Mn centers adopting 159 topologically different graphs. In the present database all the Mn CCs are collected and illustrated in such a way that can be searched by cluster topological symbol and nuclearity, compound name and Refcode. The main principles for such an analysis are described herein as well as useful applications of this method.

  9. A theoretical model for the collective motion of proteins by means of principal component analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kamberaj, Hiqmet

    2011-02-01

    A coarse grained model in the frame work of principal component analysis is presented. We used a bath of harmonic oscillators approach, based on classical mechanics, to derive the generalized Langevin equations of motion for the collective coordinates. The dynamics of the protein collective coordinates derived from molecular dynamics simulations have been studied for the Bovine Pancreatic Trypsin Inhibitor. We analyzed the stability of the method by studying structural fluctuations of the C a atoms obtained from a 20 ns molecular dynamics simulation. Subsequently, the dynamics of the collective coordinates of protein were characterized by calculating the dynamical friction coefficient and diffusion coefficients along with time-dependent correlation functions of collective coordinates. A dual diffusion behavior was observed with a fast relaxation time of short diffusion regime 0.2-0.4 ps and slow relaxation time of long diffusion about 1-2 ps. In addition, we observed a power law decay of dynamical friction coefficient with exponent for the first five collective coordinates varying from -0.746 to -0.938 for the real part and from -0.528 to -0.665 for its magnitude. It was found that only the first ten collective coordinates are responsible for configuration transitions occurring on time scale longer than 50 ps.

  10. Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method forMatrix and Tensor Factorization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-11

    AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2016-0046 Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method for Matrix and Tensor Factorization U Kang Korea...maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or   any other aspect...Designing Feature and Data Parallel Stochastic Coordinate Descent Method for Matrix and Tensor Factorization 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA2386

  11. You're a "What"? Recycling Coordinator

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Torpey, Elka Maria

    2011-01-01

    Recycling coordinators supervise curbside and dropoff recycling programs for municipal governments or private firms. Today, recycling is mandatory in many communities. And advancements in collection and processing methods have helped to increase the quantity of materials for which the recycling coordinator is responsible. In some communities,…

  12. Spatio-temporal hierarchy in the dynamics of a minimalist protein model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsunaga, Yasuhiro; Baba, Akinori; Li, Chun-Biu; Straub, John E.; Toda, Mikito; Komatsuzaki, Tamiki; Berry, R. Stephen

    2013-12-01

    A method for time series analysis of molecular dynamics simulation of a protein is presented. In this approach, wavelet analysis and principal component analysis are combined to decompose the spatio-temporal protein dynamics into contributions from a hierarchy of different time and space scales. Unlike the conventional Fourier-based approaches, the time-localized wavelet basis captures the vibrational energy transfers among the collective motions of proteins. As an illustrative vehicle, we have applied our method to a coarse-grained minimalist protein model. During the folding and unfolding transitions of the protein, vibrational energy transfers between the fast and slow time scales were observed among the large-amplitude collective coordinates while the other small-amplitude motions are regarded as thermal noise. Analysis employing a Gaussian-based measure revealed that the time scales of the energy redistribution in the subspace spanned by such large-amplitude collective coordinates are slow compared to the other small-amplitude coordinates. Future prospects of the method are discussed in detail.

  13. Numerical study of a multigrid method with four smoothing methods for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general coordinates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeng, S.; Wesseling, P.

    1993-01-01

    The performance of a linear multigrid method using four smoothing methods, called SCGS (Symmetrical Coupled GauBeta-Seidel), CLGS (Collective Line GauBeta-Seidel), SILU (Scalar ILU), and CILU (Collective ILU), is investigated for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general coordinates, in association with Galerkin coarse grid approximation. Robustness and efficiency are measured and compared by application to test problems. The numerical results show that CILU is the most robust, SILU the least, with CLGS and SCGS in between. CLGS is the best in efficiency, SCGS and CILU follow, and SILU is the worst.

  14. The reality of virtual anthropology: Comparing digitizer and laser scan data collection methods for the quantitative assessment of the cranium.

    PubMed

    Algee-Hewitt, Bridget F B; Wheat, Amber D

    2016-05-01

    The use of geometric morphometry to study cranial variation has steadily grown in appeal over the past decade in biological anthropology. Publication trends suggest that the most popular methods for three-dimensional data acquisition involve landmark-based coordinate data collection using a digitizer. Newer laser scan approaches are seeing increasing use, owing to the benefits that densely sampled data offer. While both of these methods have their utility, research that investigates their compatibility is lacking. The purpose of this project is to compare, quantitatively, craniometrics collected with a digitizer against data extracted from laser scans using the same individuals and laboratory conditions. Three-dimensional (x,y,z) coordinates and traditional inter-landmark distances (ILDs) were obtained with a Microscribe digitizer and 360° color models produced from NextEngine laser scans for 38 adult crania representing five cemeteries from the ADBOU skeletal collection in Denmark. Variance-based tests were performed to evaluate the disagreement between data collected with a digitizer and from laser scan models. Consideration was given to differences among landmarks by type, between ILDs calculated from landmark coordinates, and in morphology for the cemetery populations. Further, the reliability of laser scan data collection was assessed by intra-observer error tests. Researchers should be aware of the potential error associated with the use of Types II and III landmarks and the limitations on reliability imposed by object-to-scanner placement. This project reveals how laser scans can provide a valuable digital archive of cranial material that can be reasonably exploited for the "virtual" collection of coordinates and the calculation of ILDs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Informatics Tools to Improve Clinical Research

    PubMed Central

    Argraves, S; Brandt, CA; Money, R; Nadkarni, P

    2005-01-01

    During the conduct of complex clinical trials, there are numerous sources and types of data collection and project coordination problems. Methods and approaches to address the conduct of a trial vary in both the cost and time to perform and the potential benefit. Informatics tools can help trial coordinators and investigators ensure the collection of high quality research data during all phases of a clinical trial. PMID:16779170

  16. Collective coordinates theory for discrete soliton ratchets in the sine-Gordon model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sánchez-Rey, Bernardo; Quintero, Niurka R.; Cuevas-Maraver, Jesús; Alejo, Miguel A.

    2014-10-01

    A collective coordinate theory is developed for soliton ratchets in the damped discrete sine-Gordon model driven by a biharmonic force. An ansatz with two collective coordinates, namely the center and the width of the soliton, is assumed as an approximated solution of the discrete nonlinear equation. The dynamical equations of these two collective coordinates, obtained by means of the generalized travelling wave method, explain the mechanism underlying the soliton ratchet and capture qualitatively all the main features of this phenomenon. The numerical simulation of these equations accounts for the existence of a nonzero depinning threshold, the nonsinusoidal behavior of the average velocity as a function of the relative phase between the harmonics of the driver, the nonmonotonic dependence of the average velocity on the damping, and the existence of nontransporting regimes beyond the depinning threshold. In particular, it provides a good description of the intriguing and complex pattern of subspaces corresponding to different dynamical regimes in parameter space.

  17. Collective coordinates theory for discrete soliton ratchets in the sine-Gordon model.

    PubMed

    Sánchez-Rey, Bernardo; Quintero, Niurka R; Cuevas-Maraver, Jesús; Alejo, Miguel A

    2014-10-01

    A collective coordinate theory is developed for soliton ratchets in the damped discrete sine-Gordon model driven by a biharmonic force. An ansatz with two collective coordinates, namely the center and the width of the soliton, is assumed as an approximated solution of the discrete nonlinear equation. The dynamical equations of these two collective coordinates, obtained by means of the generalized travelling wave method, explain the mechanism underlying the soliton ratchet and capture qualitatively all the main features of this phenomenon. The numerical simulation of these equations accounts for the existence of a nonzero depinning threshold, the nonsinusoidal behavior of the average velocity as a function of the relative phase between the harmonics of the driver, the nonmonotonic dependence of the average velocity on the damping, and the existence of nontransporting regimes beyond the depinning threshold. In particular, it provides a good description of the intriguing and complex pattern of subspaces corresponding to different dynamical regimes in parameter space.

  18. A panning DLT procedure for three-dimensional videography.

    PubMed

    Yu, B; Koh, T J; Hay, J G

    1993-06-01

    The direct linear transformation (DLT) method [Abdel-Aziz and Karara, APS Symposium on Photogrammetry. American Society of Photogrammetry, Falls Church, VA (1971)] is widely used in biomechanics to obtain three-dimensional space coordinates from film and video records. This method has some major shortcomings when used to analyze events which take place over large areas. To overcome these shortcomings, a three-dimensional data collection method based on the DLT method, and making use of panning cameras, was developed. Several small single control volumes were combined to construct a large total control volume. For each single control volume, a regression equation (calibration equation) is developed to express each of the 11 DLT parameters as a function of camera orientation, so that the DLT parameters can then be estimated from arbitrary camera orientations. Once the DLT parameters are known for at least two cameras, and the associated two-dimensional film or video coordinates of the event are obtained, the desired three-dimensional space coordinates can be computed. In a laboratory test, five single control volumes (in a total control volume of 24.40 x 2.44 x 2.44 m3) were used to test the effect of the position of the single control volume on the accuracy of the computed three dimensional space coordinates. Linear and quadratic calibration equations were used to test the effect of the order of the equation on the accuracy of the computed three dimensional space coordinates. For four of the five single control volumes tested, the mean resultant errors associated with the use of the linear calibration equation were significantly larger than those associated with the use of the quadratic calibration equation. The position of the single control volume had no significant effect on the mean resultant errors in computed three dimensional coordinates when the quadratic calibration equation was used. Under the same data collection conditions, the mean resultant errors in the computed three dimensional coordinates associated with the panning and stationary DLT methods were 17 and 22 mm, respectively. The major advantages of the panning DLT method lie in the large image sizes obtained and in the ease with which the data can be collected. The method also has potential for use in a wide variety of contexts. The major shortcoming of the method is the large amount of digitizing necessary to calibrate the total control volume. Adaptations of the method to reduce the amount of digitizing required are being explored.

  19. Alpha-beta coordination method for collective search

    DOEpatents

    Goldsmith, Steven Y.

    2002-01-01

    The present invention comprises a decentralized coordination strategy called alpha-beta coordination. The alpha-beta coordination strategy is a family of collective search methods that allow teams of communicating agents to implicitly coordinate their search activities through a division of labor based on self-selected roles and self-determined status. An agent can play one of two complementary roles. An agent in the alpha role is motivated to improve its status by exploring new regions of the search space. An agent in the beta role is also motivated to improve its status, but is conservative and tends to remain aggregated with other agents until alpha agents have clearly identified and communicated better regions of the search space. An agent can select its role dynamically based on its current status value relative to the status values of neighboring team members. Status can be determined by a function of the agent's sensor readings, and can generally be a measurement of source intensity at the agent's current location. An agent's decision cycle can comprise three sequential decision rules: (1) selection of a current role based on the evaluation of the current status data, (2) selection of a specific subset of the current data, and (3) determination of the next heading using the selected data. Variations of the decision rules produce different versions of alpha and beta behaviors that lead to different collective behavior properties.

  20. Content Structure as a Design Strategy Variable in Concept Acquisition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tennyson, Robert D.; Tennyson, Carol L.

    Three methods of sequencing coordinate concepts (simultaneous, collective, and successive) were investigated with a Bayesian, computer-based, adaptive control system. The data analysis showed that when coordinate concepts are taught simultaneously (contextually similar concepts presented at the same time), student performance is superior to either…

  1. A cluster phase analysis for collective behavior in team sports.

    PubMed

    López-Felip, Maurici A; Davis, Tehran J; Frank, Till D; Dixon, James A

    2018-06-01

    Collective behavior can be defined as the ability of humans to coordinate with others through a complex environment. Sports offer exquisite examples of this dynamic interplay, requiring decision making and other perceptual-cognitive skills to adjust individual decisions to the team self-organization and vice versa. Considering players of a team as periodic phase oscillators, synchrony analyses can be used to model the coordination of a team. Nonetheless, a main limitation of current models is that collective behavior is context independent. In other words, players on a team can be highly synchronized without this corresponding to a meaningful coordination dynamics relevant to the context of the game. Considering these issues, the aim of this study was to develop a method of analysis sensitive to the context for evidence-based measures of collective behavior. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Empirical Data Collection and Analysis Using Camtasia and Transana

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thorsteinsson, Gisli; Page, Tom

    2009-01-01

    One of the possible techniques for collecting empirical data is video recordings of a computer screen with specific screen capture software. This method for collecting empirical data shows how students use the BSCWII (Be Smart Cooperate Worldwide--a web based collaboration/groupware environment) to coordinate their work and collaborate in…

  3. Characterization of a Dynamic String Method for the Construction of Transition Pathways in Molecular Reactions

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Margaret E.; Hummer, Gerhard

    2012-01-01

    We explore the theoretical foundation of different string methods used to find dominant reaction pathways in high-dimensional configuration spaces. Pathways are assessed by the amount of reactive flux they carry and by their orientation relative to the committor function. By examining the effects of transforming between different collective coordinates that span the same underlying space, we unmask artificial coordinate dependences in strings optimized to follow the free energy gradient. In contrast, strings optimized to follow the drift vector produce reaction pathways that are significantly less sensitive to reparameterizations of the collective coordinates. The differences in these paths arise because the drift vector depends on both the free energy gradient and the diffusion tensor of the coarse collective variables. Anisotropy and position dependence of diffusion tensors arise commonly in spaces of coarse variables, whose generally slow dynamics are obtained by nonlinear projections of the strongly coupled atomic motions. We show here that transition paths constructed to account for dynamics by following the drift vector will (to a close approximation) carry the maximum reactive flux both in systems with isotropic position dependent diffusion, and in systems with constant but anisotropic diffusion. We derive a simple method for calculating the committor function along paths that follow the reactive flux. Lastly, we provide guidance for the practical implementation of the dynamic string method. PMID:22616575

  4. Relation of a†a terms to higher-order terms in the adiabatic expansion for large-amplitude collective motion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sato, Koichi

    2017-12-01

    We investigate the relation of a^\\dagger a terms in the collective operator to the higher-order terms in the adiabatic self-consistent collective coordinate (ASCC) method. In the ASCC method, a state vector is written as e^{i\\hat G(q,p,n)}|φ(q)> with \\hat G(q,p,n), which is a function of the collective coordinate q, its conjugate momentum p, and the particle number n. According to the generalized Thouless theorem, \\hat G can be written as a linear combination of two-quasiparticle creation and annihilation operators a^\\dagger_μ a^\\dagger_ν and a_ν a_μ. We show that, if a^\\dagger a terms are included in \\hat G(q,p,n), it corresponds to the higher-order terms in the adiabatic expansion of \\hat G. This relation serves as a prescription to determine the higher-order collective operators from the a^\\dagger a part of the collective operator, once it is given, without solving the higher-order equations of motion.

  5. Analytical Dynamics and Nonrigid Spacecraft Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Likins, P. W.

    1974-01-01

    Application to the simulation of idealized spacecraft are considered both for multiple-rigid-body models and for models consisting of combination of rigid bodies and elastic bodies, with the elastic bodies being defined either as continua, as finite-element systems, or as a collection of given modal data. Several specific examples are developed in detail by alternative methods of analytical mechanics, and results are compared to a Newton-Euler formulation. The following methods are developed from d'Alembert's principle in vector form: (1) Lagrange's form of d'Alembert's principle for independent generalized coordinates; (2) Lagrange's form of d'Alembert's principle for simply constrained systems; (3) Kane's quasi-coordinate formulation of D'Alembert's principle; (4) Lagrange's equations for independent generalized coordinates; (5) Lagrange's equations for simply constrained systems; (6) Lagrangian quasi-coordinate equations (or the Boltzmann-Hamel equations); (7) Hamilton's equations for simply constrained systems; and (8) Hamilton's equations for independent generalized coordinates.

  6. 75 FR 57277 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-20

    ... patients served, pharmaceuticals prescribed, pricing, and other sources of support to provide AIDS... formulary, eligibility criteria for enrollment, and cost-saving strategies including coordinating with Medicaid). The quarterly report represents the best method for HRSA to determine how ADAP grants are being...

  7. Variational approach to studying solitary waves in the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with complex potentials

    DOE PAGES

    Mertens, Franz G.; Cooper, Fred; Arevalo, Edward; ...

    2016-09-15

    Here in this paper, we discuss the behavior of solitary wave solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) as they interact with complex potentials, using a four-parameter variational approximation based on a dissipation functional formulation of the dynamics. We concentrate on spatially periodic potentials with the periods of the real and imaginary part being either the same or different. Our results for the time evolution of the collective coordinates of our variational ansatz are in good agreement with direct numerical simulation of the NLSE. We compare our method with a collective coordinate approach of Kominis and give examples where themore » two methods give qualitatively different answers. In our variational approach, we are able to give analytic results for the small oscillation frequency of the solitary wave oscillating parameters which agree with the numerical solution of the collective coordinate equations. We also verify that instabilities set in when the slope dp(t)/dv(t) becomes negative when plotted parametrically as a function of time, where p(t) is the momentum of the solitary wave and v(t) the velocity.« less

  8. Variational approach to studying solitary waves in the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with complex potentials

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

    Mertens, Franz G.; Cooper, Fred; Arevalo, Edward

    Here in this paper, we discuss the behavior of solitary wave solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) as they interact with complex potentials, using a four-parameter variational approximation based on a dissipation functional formulation of the dynamics. We concentrate on spatially periodic potentials with the periods of the real and imaginary part being either the same or different. Our results for the time evolution of the collective coordinates of our variational ansatz are in good agreement with direct numerical simulation of the NLSE. We compare our method with a collective coordinate approach of Kominis and give examples where themore » two methods give qualitatively different answers. In our variational approach, we are able to give analytic results for the small oscillation frequency of the solitary wave oscillating parameters which agree with the numerical solution of the collective coordinate equations. We also verify that instabilities set in when the slope dp(t)/dv(t) becomes negative when plotted parametrically as a function of time, where p(t) is the momentum of the solitary wave and v(t) the velocity.« less

  9. A benchmark for reaction coordinates in the transition path ensemble

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The molecular mechanism of a reaction is embedded in its transition path ensemble, the complete collection of reactive trajectories. Utilizing the information in the transition path ensemble alone, we developed a novel metric, which we termed the emergent potential energy, for distinguishing reaction coordinates from the bath modes. The emergent potential energy can be understood as the average energy cost for making a displacement of a coordinate in the transition path ensemble. Where displacing a bath mode invokes essentially no cost, it costs significantly to move the reaction coordinate. Based on some general assumptions of the behaviors of reaction and bath coordinates in the transition path ensemble, we proved theoretically with statistical mechanics that the emergent potential energy could serve as a benchmark of reaction coordinates and demonstrated its effectiveness by applying it to a prototypical system of biomolecular dynamics. Using the emergent potential energy as guidance, we developed a committor-free and intuition-independent method for identifying reaction coordinates in complex systems. We expect this method to be applicable to a wide range of reaction processes in complex biomolecular systems. PMID:27059559

  10. Coordinating Multi-Rover Systems: Evaluation Functions for Dynamic and Noisy Environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Turner, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian

    2005-01-01

    This paper addresses the evolution of control strategies for a collective: a set of entities that collectively strives to maximize a global evaluation function that rates the performance of the full system. Directly addressing such problems by having a population of collectives and applying the evolutionary algorithm to that population is appealing, but the search space is prohibitively large in most cases. Instead, we focus on evolving control policies for each member of the collective. The fundamental issue in this approach is how to create an evaluation function for each member of the collective that is both aligned with the global evaluation function and is sensitive to the fitness changes of the member, while relatively insensitive to the fitness changes of other members. We show how to construct evaluation functions in dynamic, noisy and communication-limited collective environments. On a rover coordination problem, a control policy evolved using aligned and member-sensitive evaluations outperfoms global evaluation methods by up to 400%. More notably, in the presence of a larger number of rovers or rovers with noisy and communication limited sensors, the proposed method outperforms global evaluation by a higher percentage than in noise-free conditions with a small number of rovers.

  11. An Approach for High-precision Stand-alone Positioning in a Dynamic Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Halis Saka, M.; Metin Alkan, Reha; Ozpercin, Alişir

    2015-04-01

    In this study, an algorithm is developed for precise positioning in dynamic environment utilizing a single geodetic GNSS receiver using carrier phase data. In this method, users should start the measurement on a known point near the project area for a couple of seconds making use of a single dual-frequency geodetic-grade receiver. The technique employs iono-free carrier phase observations with precise products. The equation of the algorithm is given below; Sm(t(i+1))=SC(ti)+[ΦIF (t(i+1) )-ΦIF (ti)] where, Sm(t(i+1)) is the phase-range between satellites and the receiver, SC(ti) is the initial range computed from the initial known point coordinates and the satellite coordinates and ΦIF is the ionosphere-free phase measurement (in meters). Tropospheric path delays are modelled using the standard tropospheric model. To accomplish the process, an in-house program was coded and some functions were adopted from Easy-Suite available at http://kom.aau.dk/~borre/easy. In order to assess the performance of the introduced algorithm in a dynamic environment, a dataset from a kinematic test measurement was used. The data were collected from a kinematic test measurement in Istanbul, Turkey. In the test measurement, a geodetic dual-frequency GNSS receiver, Ashtech Z-Xtreme, was set up on a known point on the shore and a couple of epochs were recorded for initialization. The receiver was then moved to a vessel and data were collected for approximately 2.5 hours and the measurement was finalized on a known point on the shore. While the kinematic measurement on the vessel were carried out, another GNSS receiver was set up on a geodetic point with known coordinates on the shore and data were collected in static mode to calculate the reference trajectory of the vessel using differential technique. The coordinates of the vessel were calculated for each measurement epoch with the introduced method. With the purpose of obtaining more robust results, all coordinates were calculated once again by inversely, i.e. from the last epoch to the first one. In this way, the estimated coordinates were also controlled. The average of both computed coordinates were used as vessel coordinates and then compared with the known-coordinates those of geodetic receiver epoch by epoch. The results indicate that the calculated coordinates from the introduced method are consistent with the reference trajectory with an accuracy of about 1 decimeter. In contrast, the findings imply lower accuracy for height components with an accuracy of about 2 decimeters. This accuracy level meets the requirement of many applications including some marine applications, precise hydrographic surveying, dredging, attitude control of ships, buoys and floating platforms, marine geodesy, navigation and oceanography.

  12. MonitoringResources.org—Supporting coordinated and cost-effective natural resource monitoring across organizations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bayer, Jennifer M.; Scully, Rebecca A.; Weltzin, Jake F.

    2018-05-21

    Natural resource managers who oversee the Nation’s resources require data to support informed decision-making at a variety of spatial and temporal scales that often cross typical jurisdictional boundaries such as states, agency regions, and watersheds. These data come from multiple agencies, programs, and sources, often with their own methods and standards for data collection and organization. Coordinating standards and methods is often prohibitively time-intensive and expensive. MonitoringResources.org offers a suite of tools and resources that support coordination of monitoring efforts, cost-effective planning, and sharing of knowledge among organizations. The website was developed by the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership—a collaboration of Federal, state, tribal, local, and private monitoring programs—and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration and USGS. It is a key component of a coordinated monitoring and information network.

  13. New methods, algorithms, and software for rapid mapping of tree positions in coordinate forest plots

    Treesearch

    A. Dan Wilson

    2000-01-01

    The theories and methodologies for two new tree mapping methods, the Sequential-target method and the Plot-origin radial method, are described. The methods accommodate the use of any conventional distance measuring device and compass to collect horizontal distance and azimuth data between source or reference positions (origins) and target trees. Conversion equations...

  14. Towards implementing coordinated healthy lifestyle promotion in primary care: a mixed method study.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Kristin; Bendtsen, Preben; Krevers, Barbro

    2015-01-01

    Primary care is increasingly being encouraged to integrate healthy lifestyle promotion in routine care. However, implementation has been suboptimal. Coordinated care could facilitate lifestyle promotion practice but more empirical knowledge is needed about the implementation process of coordinated care initiatives. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a coordinated healthy lifestyle promotion initiative in a primary care setting. A mixed method, convergent, parallel design was used. Three primary care centres took part in a two-year research project. Data collection methods included individual interviews, document data and questionnaires. The General Theory of Implementation was used as a framework in the analysis to integrate the data sources. Multi-disciplinary teams were implemented in the centres although the role of the teams as a resource for coordinated lifestyle promotion was not fully embedded at the centres. Embedding of the teams was challenged by differences among the staff, patients and team members on resources, commitment, social norms and roles. The study highlights the importance of identifying and engaging key stakeholders early in an implementation process. The findings showed how the development phase influenced the implementation and embedding processes, which add aspects to the General Theory of Implementation.

  15. Efficiently sampling conformations and pathways using the concurrent adaptive sampling (CAS) algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahn, Surl-Hee; Grate, Jay W.; Darve, Eric F.

    2017-08-01

    Molecular dynamics simulations are useful in obtaining thermodynamic and kinetic properties of bio-molecules, but they are limited by the time scale barrier. That is, we may not obtain properties' efficiently because we need to run microseconds or longer simulations using femtosecond time steps. To overcome this time scale barrier, we can use the weighted ensemble (WE) method, a powerful enhanced sampling method that efficiently samples thermodynamic and kinetic properties. However, the WE method requires an appropriate partitioning of phase space into discrete macrostates, which can be problematic when we have a high-dimensional collective space or when little is known a priori about the molecular system. Hence, we developed a new WE-based method, called the "Concurrent Adaptive Sampling (CAS) algorithm," to tackle these issues. The CAS algorithm is not constrained to use only one or two collective variables, unlike most reaction coordinate-dependent methods. Instead, it can use a large number of collective variables and adaptive macrostates to enhance the sampling in the high-dimensional space. This is especially useful for systems in which we do not know what the right reaction coordinates are, in which case we can use many collective variables to sample conformations and pathways. In addition, a clustering technique based on the committor function is used to accelerate sampling the slowest process in the molecular system. In this paper, we introduce the new method and show results from two-dimensional models and bio-molecules, specifically penta-alanine and a triazine trimer.

  16. Environmental Sampling & Analytical Methods (ESAM) Program - Home

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    ESAM is a comprehensive program to facilitate a coordinated response to a chemical, radiochemical, biotoxin or pathogen contamination incident focusing on sample collection, processing, and analysis to provide quality results to the field.

  17. The national program for long term seed storage for ash germplasm preservation

    Treesearch

    R.P. Karrfalt

    2017-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) began ash (Fraxinus) germplasm preservation in 2005, through seed collections for long term seed storage. The work was coordinated with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Collections have been accomplished through many cooperators. Various methods of outreach were deployed to solicit cooperators. No...

  18. Developing community based rehabilitation for cancer survivors: organizing for coordination and coherence in practice

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Increasing incidences of cancer combined with prolonged survival have raised the need for developing community based rehabilitation. The objectives of the analysis were to describe and interpret the key issues related to coordination and coherence of community-based cancer rehabilitation in Denmark and to provide insights relevant for other contexts. Methods Twenty-seven rehabilitation managers across 15 municipalities in Denmark comprised the sample. The study was designed with a combination of data collection methods including questionnaires, individual interviews, and focus groups. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze the data. Results A lack of shared cultures among health care providers and systems of delivery was a primary barrier to collaboration which was essential for establishing coordination of care. Formal multidisciplinary steering committees, team-based organization, and informal relationships were fundamental for developing coordination and coherence. Conclusions Coordination and coherence in community-based rehabilitation relies on increased collaboration, which may best be optimized by use of shared frameworks within and across systems. Results highlight the challenges faced in practical implementation of community rehabilitation and point to possible strategies for its enhancement. PMID:24004881

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

    Hao, He; Sun, Yannan; Carroll, Thomas E.

    We propose a coordination algorithm for cooperative power allocation among a collection of commercial buildings within a campus. We introduced thermal and power models of a typical commercial building Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, and utilize model predictive control to characterize their power flexibility. The power allocation problem is formulated as a cooperative game using the Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) concept, in which buildings collectively maximize the product of their utilities subject to their local flexibility constraints and a total power limit set by the campus coordinator. To solve the optimal allocation problem, a distributed protocol is designedmore » using dual decomposition of the Nash bargaining problem. Numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed allocation method« less

  20. Design and Control of Large Collections of Learning Agents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Agogino, Adrian

    2001-01-01

    The intelligent control of multiple autonomous agents is an important yet difficult task. Previous methods used to address this problem have proved to be either too brittle, too hard to use, or not scalable to large systems. The 'Collective Intelligence' project at NASA/Ames provides an elegant, machine-learning approach to address these problems. This approach mathematically defines some essential properties that a reward system should have to promote coordinated behavior among reinforcement learners. This work has focused on creating additional key properties and algorithms within the mathematics of the Collective Intelligence framework. One of the additions will allow agents to learn more quickly, in a more coordinated manner. The other will let agents learn with less knowledge of their environment. These additions will allow the framework to be applied more easily, to a much larger domain of multi-agent problems.

  1. Analysis of Decentralized Variable Structure Control for Collective Search by Mobile Robots

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

    Feddema, J.; Goldsmith, S.; Robinett, R.

    1998-11-04

    This paper presents an analysis of a decentralized coordination strategy for organizing and controlling a team of mobile robots performing collective search. The alpha-beta coordination strategy is a family of collective search algorithms that allow teams of communicating robots to implicitly coordinate their search activities through a division of labor based on self-selected roIes. In an alpha-beta team. alpha agents are motivated to improve their status by exploring new regions of the search space. Beta a~ents are conservative, and reiy on the alpha agents to provide advanced information on favorable regions of the search space. An agent selects its currentmore » role dynamically based on its current status value relative to the current status values of the other team members. Status is determined by some function of the agent's sensor readings, and is generally a measurement of source intensity at the agent's current location. Variations on the decision rules determining alpha and beta behavior produce different versions of the algorithm that lead to different global properties. The alpha-beta strategy is based on a simple finite-state machine that implements a form of Variable Structure Control (VSC). The VSC system changes the dynamics of the collective system by abruptly switching at defined states to alternative control laws . In VSC, Lyapunov's direct method is often used to design control surfaces which guide the system to a given goal. We introduce the alpha-beta aIgorithm and present an analysis of the equilibrium point and the global stability of the alpha-beta algorithm based on Lyapunov's method.« less

  2. Analysis of decentralized variable structure control for collective search by mobile robots

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goldsmith, Steven Y.; Feddema, John T.; Robinett, Rush D., III

    1998-10-01

    This paper presents an analysis of a decentralized coordination strategy for organizing and controlling a team of mobile robots performing collective search. The alpha- beta coordination strategy is a family of collective search algorithms that allow teams of communicating robots to implicitly coordinate their search activities through a division of labor based on self-selected roles. In an alpha- beta team, alpha agents are motivated to improve their status by exploring new regions of the search space. Beta agents are conservative, and rely on the alpha agents to provide advanced information on favorable regions of the search space. An agent selects its current role dynamically based on its current status value relative to the current status values of the other team members. Status is determined by some function of the agent's sensor readings, and is generally a measurement of source intensity at the agent's current location. Variations on the decision rules determining alpha and beta behavior produce different versions of the algorithm that lead to different global properties. The alpha-beta strategy is based on a simple finite-state machine that implements a form of Variable Structure Control (VSC). The VSC system changes the dynamics of the collective system by abruptly switching at defined states to alternative control laws. In VSC, Lyapunov's direct method is often used to design control surfaces which guide the system to a given goal. We introduce the alpha- beta algorithm and present an analysis of the equilibrium point and the global stability of the alpha-beta algorithm based on Lyapunov's method.

  3. Photogrammetry: An available surface characterization tool for solar concentrators. Part 1: Measurements of surfaces

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

    Shortis, M.R.; Johnston, G.H.G.

    1996-08-01

    Close range photogrammetry is a sensing technique that allows the three-dimensional coordinates of selected points on a surface of almost any dimension and orientation to be assessed. Surface characterizations of paraboloidal reflecting surfaces at the ANU using photogrammetry have indicated that three-dimensional coordinate precisions approach 1:20,000 are readily achievable using this technique. This allows surface quality assessments to be made of large solar collecting devices with a precision that is difficult to achieve with other methods.

  4. Identifying and collecting pertinent medical records for centralized abstraction in a multi-center randomized clinical trial: The model used by the American College of Radiology arm of the National Lung Screening Trial

    PubMed Central

    Gareen, Ilana F.; Sicks, JoRean; Adams, Amanda; Moline, Denise; Coffman-Kadish, Nancy

    2012-01-01

    Background In clinical trials and epidemiologic studies, information on medical care utilization and health outcomes is often obtained from medical records. For multi-center studies, this information may be gathered by personnel at individual sites or by staff at a central coordinating center. We describe the process used to develop a HIPAA-compliant centralized process to collect medical record information for a large multi-center cancer screening trial. Methods The framework used to select, request, and track medical records incorporated a participant questionnaire with unique identifiers for each medical provider. De-identified information from the questionnaires was sent to the coordinating center indexed by these identifiers. The central coordinating center selected specific medical providers for abstraction and notified sites using these identifiers. The site personnel then linked the identifiers with medical provider information. Staff at the sites collected medical records and provided them for central abstraction. Results Medical records were successfully obtained and abstracted to ascertain information on outcomes and health care utilization in a study with over 18,000 study participants. Collection of records required for outcomes related to positive screening examinations and lung cancer diagnosis exceeded 90%. Collection of records for all aims was 87.32%. Conclusions We designed a successful centralized medical record abstraction process that may be generalized to other research settings, including observational studies. The coordinating center received no identifying data. The process satisfied requirements imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and concerns of site institutional review boards with respect to protected health information. PMID:22982342

  5. FELIX-2.0: New version of the finite element solver for the time dependent generator coordinate method with the Gaussian overlap approximation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Regnier, D.; Dubray, N.; Verrière, M.; Schunck, N.

    2018-04-01

    The time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) is a powerful method to study the large amplitude collective motion of quantum many-body systems such as atomic nuclei. Under the Gaussian Overlap Approximation (GOA), the TDGCM leads to a local, time-dependent Schrödinger equation in a multi-dimensional collective space. In this paper, we present the version 2.0 of the code FELIX that solves the collective Schrödinger equation in a finite element basis. This new version features: (i) the ability to solve a generalized TDGCM+GOA equation with a metric term in the collective Hamiltonian, (ii) support for new kinds of finite elements and different types of quadrature to compute the discretized Hamiltonian and overlap matrices, (iii) the possibility to leverage the spectral element scheme, (iv) an explicit Krylov approximation of the time propagator for time integration instead of the implicit Crank-Nicolson method implemented in the first version, (v) an entirely redesigned workflow. We benchmark this release on an analytic problem as well as on realistic two-dimensional calculations of the low-energy fission of 240Pu and 256Fm. Low to moderate numerical precision calculations are most efficiently performed with simplex elements with a degree 2 polynomial basis. Higher precision calculations should instead use the spectral element method with a degree 4 polynomial basis. We emphasize that in a realistic calculation of fission mass distributions of 240Pu, FELIX-2.0 is about 20 times faster than its previous release (within a numerical precision of a few percents).

  6. Wireless data collection of self-administered surveys using tablet computers.

    PubMed

    Singleton, Kyle W; Lan, Mars; Arnold, Corey; Vahidi, Mani; Arangua, Lisa; Gelberg, Lillian; Bui, Alex A T

    2011-01-01

    The accurate and expeditious collection of survey data by coordinators in the field is critical in the support of research studies. Early methods that used paper documentation have slowly evolved into electronic capture systems. Indeed, tools such as REDCap and others illustrate this transition. However, many current systems are tailored web-browsers running on desktop/laptop computers, requiring keyboard and mouse input. We present a system that utilizes a touch screen interface running on a tablet PC with consideration for portability, limited screen space, wireless connectivity, and potentially inexperienced and low literacy users. The system was developed using C#, ASP.net, and SQL Server by multiple programmers over the course of a year. The system was developed in coordination with UCLA Family Medicine and is currently deployed for the collection of data in a group of Los Angeles area clinics of community health centers for a study on drug addiction and intervention.

  7. A microscopic derivation of nuclear collective rotation-vibration model and its application to nuclei

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

    Gulshani, P., E-mail: matlap@bell.net

    We derive a microscopic version of the successful phenomenological hydrodynamic model of Bohr-Davydov-Faessler-Greiner for collective rotation-vibration motion of an axially symmetric deformed nucleus. The derivation is not limited to small oscillation amplitude. The nuclear Schrodinger equation is canonically transformed to collective co-ordinates, which is then linearized using a constrained variational method. The associated constraints are imposed on the wavefunction rather than on the particle co-ordinates. The approach yields three self-consistent, time-reversal invariant, cranking-type Schrodinger equations for the rotation-vibration and intrinsic motions, and a self-consistency equation. For harmonic oscillator mean-field potentials, these equations are solved in closed forms for excitation energy,more » cut-off angular momentum, and other nuclear properties for the ground-state rotational band in some deformed nuclei. The results are compared with measured data.« less

  8. Wireless Data Collection of Self-administered Surveys using Tablet Computers

    PubMed Central

    Singleton, Kyle W.; Lan, Mars; Arnold, Corey; Vahidi, Mani; Arangua, Lisa; Gelberg, Lillian; Bui, Alex A.T.

    2011-01-01

    The accurate and expeditious collection of survey data by coordinators in the field is critical in the support of research studies. Early methods that used paper documentation have slowly evolved into electronic capture systems. Indeed, tools such as REDCap and others illustrate this transition. However, many current systems are tailored web-browsers running on desktop/laptop computers, requiring keyboard and mouse input. We present a system that utilizes a touch screen interface running on a tablet PC with consideration for portability, limited screen space, wireless connectivity, and potentially inexperienced and low literacy users. The system was developed using C#, ASP.net, and SQL Server by multiple programmers over the course of a year. The system was developed in coordination with UCLA Family Medicine and is currently deployed for the collection of data in a group of Los Angeles area clinics of community health centers for a study on drug addiction and intervention. PMID:22195187

  9. Coordination and Management of Multisite Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies: Experience from a Multisite Reflexology Intervention Trial

    PubMed Central

    Rahbar, Mohammad H.; Wyatt, Gwen; Sikorskii, Alla; Victorson, David; Ardjomand-Hessabi, Manouchehr

    2011-01-01

    Background Multisite randomized clinical trials allow for increased research collaboration among investigators and expedite data collection efforts. As a result, government funding agencies typically look favorably upon this approach. As the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) continues to evolve, so do increased calls for the use of more rigorous study design and trial methodologies, which can present challenges for investigators. Purpose To describe the processes involved in the coordination and management of a multisite randomized clinical trial of a CAM intervention. Methods Key aspects related to the coordination and management of a multisite CAM randomized clinical trial are presented, including organizational and site selection considerations, recruitment concerns and issues related to data collection and randomization to treatment groups. Management and monitoring of data, as well as quality assurance procedures are described. Finally, a real world perspective is shared from a recently conducted multisite randomized clinical trial of reflexology for women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Results The use of multiple sites in the conduct of CAM-based randomized clinical trials can provide an efficient, collaborative and robust approach to study coordination and data collection that maximizes efficiency and ensures the quality of results. Conclusions Multisite randomized clinical trial designs can offer the field of CAM research a more standardized and efficient approach to examine the effectiveness of novel therapies and treatments. Special attention must be given to intervention fidelity, consistent data collection and ensuring data quality. Assessment and reporting of quantitative indicators of data quality should be required. PMID:21664296

  10. Rapid New Methods for Paint Collection and Lead Extraction

    EPA Science Inventory

    Chronic exposure of children to lead (Ph) can result in permanent physiologic impairment. In adults, it can cause irritability, poor muscle coordination, and nerve damage to the sense organs and nerves controlling the body. Surfaces coated with Pb-containing paints are potential ...

  11. Assessing the work of medical audit advisory groups in promoting audit in general practice.

    PubMed

    Baker, R; Hearnshaw, H; Cooper, A; Cheater, F; Robertson, N

    1995-12-01

    Objectives--To determine the role of medical audit advisory groups in audit activities in general practice. Design--Postal questionnaire survey. Subjects--All 104 advisory groups in England and Wales in 1994. Main measures--Monitoring audit: the methods used to classify audits, the methods used by the advisory group to collect data on audits from general practices, the proportion of practices undertaking audit. Directing and coordinating audits: topics and number of practices participating in multipractice audits. Results--The response rate was 86-5%. In 1993-4, 54% of the advisory groups used the Oxfordshire or Kirklees methods for classifying audits, or modifications of them. 99% of the advisory groups collected data on audit activities at least once between 1991-2 and 1993-4. Visits, questionnaires, and other methods were used to collect information from all or samples of practices in each of the advisory group's areas. Some advisory groups used different methods in different years. In 1991-2, 57% of all practices participated in some audit, in 1992-3, 78%, and in 1993-4, 86%. 428 multipractice audits were identified. The most popular topic was diabetes. Conclusions--Advisory groups have been active in monitoring audit in general practice. However, the methods used to classify and collect information about audits in general practices varied widely. The number of practices undertaking audit increased between 1991-2 and 1993 1. The large number of multipractice audits supports the view that the advisory groups have directed and coordinated audit activities. This example of a national audit programme for general practice may be helpful in other countries in which the introduction of quality assurance is being considered.

  12. Geometric analysis characterizes molecular rigidity in generic and non-generic protein configurations

    PubMed Central

    Budday, Dominik; Leyendecker, Sigrid; van den Bedem, Henry

    2015-01-01

    Proteins operate and interact with partners by dynamically exchanging between functional substates of a conformational ensemble on a rugged free energy landscape. Understanding how these substates are linked by coordinated, collective motions requires exploring a high-dimensional space, which remains a tremendous challenge. While molecular dynamics simulations can provide atomically detailed insight into the dynamics, computational demands to adequately sample conformational ensembles of large biomolecules and their complexes often require tremendous resources. Kinematic models can provide high-level insights into conformational ensembles and molecular rigidity beyond the reach of molecular dynamics by reducing the dimensionality of the search space. Here, we model a protein as a kinematic linkage and present a new geometric method to characterize molecular rigidity from the constraint manifold Q and its tangent space Q at the current configuration q. In contrast to methods based on combinatorial constraint counting, our method is valid for both generic and non-generic, e.g., singular configurations. Importantly, our geometric approach provides an explicit basis for collective motions along floppy modes, resulting in an efficient procedure to probe conformational space. An atomically detailed structural characterization of coordinated, collective motions would allow us to engineer or allosterically modulate biomolecules by selectively stabilizing conformations that enhance or inhibit function with broad implications for human health. PMID:26213417

  13. Geometric analysis characterizes molecular rigidity in generic and non-generic protein configurations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Budday, Dominik; Leyendecker, Sigrid; van den Bedem, Henry

    2015-10-01

    Proteins operate and interact with partners by dynamically exchanging between functional substates of a conformational ensemble on a rugged free energy landscape. Understanding how these substates are linked by coordinated, collective motions requires exploring a high-dimensional space, which remains a tremendous challenge. While molecular dynamics simulations can provide atomically detailed insight into the dynamics, computational demands to adequately sample conformational ensembles of large biomolecules and their complexes often require tremendous resources. Kinematic models can provide high-level insights into conformational ensembles and molecular rigidity beyond the reach of molecular dynamics by reducing the dimensionality of the search space. Here, we model a protein as a kinematic linkage and present a new geometric method to characterize molecular rigidity from the constraint manifold Q and its tangent space Tq Q at the current configuration q. In contrast to methods based on combinatorial constraint counting, our method is valid for both generic and non-generic, e.g., singular configurations. Importantly, our geometric approach provides an explicit basis for collective motions along floppy modes, resulting in an efficient procedure to probe conformational space. An atomically detailed structural characterization of coordinated, collective motions would allow us to engineer or allosterically modulate biomolecules by selectively stabilizing conformations that enhance or inhibit function with broad implications for human health.

  14. Invisible Base Electrode Coordinates Approximation for Simultaneous SPECT and EEG Data Visualization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kowalczyk, L.; Goszczynska, H.; Zalewska, E.; Bajera, A.; Krolicki, L.

    2014-04-01

    This work was performed as part of a larger research concerning the feasibility of improving the localization of epileptic foci, as compared to the standard SPECT examination, by applying the technique of EEG mapping. The presented study extends our previous work on the development of a method for superposition of SPECT images and EEG 3D maps when these two examinations are performed simultaneously. Due to the lack of anatomical data in SPECT images it is a much more difficult task than in the case of MRI/EEG study where electrodes are visible in morphological images. Using the appropriate dose of radioisotope we mark five base electrodes to make them visible in the SPECT image and then approximate the coordinates of the remaining electrodes using properties of the 10-20 electrode placement system and the proposed nine-ellipses model. This allows computing a sequence of 3D EEG maps spanning on all electrodes. It happens, however, that not all five base electrodes can be reliably identified in SPECT data. The aim of the current study was to develop a method for determining the coordinates of base electrode(s) missing in the SPECT image. The algorithm for coordinates approximation has been developed and was tested on data collected for three subjects with all visible electrodes. To increase the accuracy of the approximation we used head surface models. Freely available model from Oostenveld research based on data from SPM package and our own model based on data from our EEG/SPECT studies were used. For data collected in four cases with one electrode not visible we compared the invisible base electrode coordinates approximation for Oostenveld and our models. The results vary depending on the missing electrode placement, but application of the realistic head model significantly increases the accuracy of the approximation.

  15. Maritime Search and Rescue via Multiple Coordinated UAS

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-12

    performed by a set of UAS. Our investigation covers the detection of multiple mobile objects by a heterogeneous collection of UAS. Three methods (two...account for contingencies such as airspace deconfliction. Results are produced using simulation to verify the capability of the proposed method and to...compare the various par- titioning methods . Results from this simulation show that great gains in search efficiency can be made when the search space is

  16. FELIX-1.0: A finite element solver for the time dependent generator coordinate method with the Gaussian overlap approximation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Regnier, D.; Verrière, M.; Dubray, N.; Schunck, N.

    2016-03-01

    We describe the software package FELIX that solves the equations of the time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) in N-dimensions (N ≥ 1) under the Gaussian overlap approximation. The numerical resolution is based on the Galerkin finite element discretization of the collective space and the Crank-Nicolson scheme for time integration. The TDGCM solver is implemented entirely in C++. Several additional tools written in C++, Python or bash scripting language are also included for convenience. In this paper, the solver is tested with a series of benchmarks calculations. We also demonstrate the ability of our code to handle a realistic calculation of fission dynamics.

  17. Comparison between collective coordinate models for domain wall motion in PMA nanostrips in the presence of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vandermeulen, J.; Nasseri, S. A.; Van de Wiele, B.; Durin, G.; Van Waeyenberge, B.; Dupré, L.

    2018-03-01

    Lagrangian-based collective coordinate models for magnetic domain wall (DW) motion rely on an ansatz for the DW profile and a Lagrangian approach to describe the DW motion in terms of a set of time-dependent collective coordinates: the DW position, the DW magnetization angle, the DW width and the DW tilting angle. Another approach was recently used to derive similar equations of motion by averaging the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation without any ansatz, and identifying the relevant collective coordinates afterwards. In this paper, we use an updated version of the semi-analytical equations to compare the Lagrangian-based collective coordinate models with micromagnetic simulations for field- and STT-driven (spin-transfer torque-driven) DW motion in Pt/CoFe/MgO and Pt/Co/AlOx nanostrips. Through this comparison, we assess the accuracy of the different models, and provide insight into the deviations of the models from simulations. It is found that the lack of terms related to DW asymmetry in the Lagrangian-based collective coordinate models significantly contributes to the discrepancy between the predictions of the most accurate Lagrangian-based model and the micromagnetic simulations in the field-driven case. This is in contrast to the STT-driven case where the DW remains symmetric.

  18. Development of quantitative analysis method for stereotactic brain image: assessment of reduced accumulation in extent and severity using anatomical segmentation.

    PubMed

    Mizumura, Sunao; Kumita, Shin-ichiro; Cho, Keiichi; Ishihara, Makiko; Nakajo, Hidenobu; Toba, Masahiro; Kumazaki, Tatsuo

    2003-06-01

    Through visual assessment by three-dimensional (3D) brain image analysis methods using stereotactic brain coordinates system, such as three-dimensional stereotactic surface projections and statistical parametric mapping, it is difficult to quantitatively assess anatomical information and the range of extent of an abnormal region. In this study, we devised a method to quantitatively assess local abnormal findings by segmenting a brain map according to anatomical structure. Through quantitative local abnormality assessment using this method, we studied the characteristics of distribution of reduced blood flow in cases with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). Using twenty-five cases with DAT (mean age, 68.9 years old), all of whom were diagnosed as probable Alzheimer's disease based on NINCDS-ADRDA, we collected I-123 iodoamphetamine SPECT data. A 3D brain map using the 3D-SSP program was compared with the data of 20 cases in the control group, who age-matched the subject cases. To study local abnormalities on the 3D images, we divided the whole brain into 24 segments based on anatomical classification. We assessed the extent of an abnormal region in each segment (rate of the coordinates with a Z-value that exceeds the threshold value, in all coordinates within a segment), and severity (average Z-value of the coordinates with a Z-value that exceeds the threshold value). This method clarified orientation and expansion of reduced accumulation, through classifying stereotactic brain coordinates according to the anatomical structure. This method was considered useful for quantitatively grasping distribution abnormalities in the brain and changes in abnormality distribution.

  19. Lessons Learned Designing and Using an Online Discussion Forum for Care Coordinators in Primary Care.

    PubMed

    Ferrante, Jeanne M; Friedman, Asia; Shaw, Eric K; Howard, Jenna; Cohen, Deborah J; Shahidi, Laleh

    2015-10-18

    While an increasing number of researchers are using online discussion forums for qualitative research, few authors have documented their experiences and lessons learned to demonstrate this method's viability and validity in health services research. We comprehensively describe our experiences, from start to finish, of designing and using an asynchronous online discussion forum for collecting and analyzing information elicited from care coordinators in Patient-Centered Medical Homes across the United States. Our lessons learned from each phase, including planning, designing, implementing, using, and ending this private online discussion forum, provide some recommendations for other health services researchers considering this method. An asynchronous online discussion forum is a feasible, efficient, and effective method to conduct a qualitative study, particularly when subjects are health professionals. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. A qualitative analysis of success stories from Michiana Coordinated School Health Leadership institute participants.

    PubMed

    Dewitt, Natalie; Lohrmann, David K; O'Neill, James; Clark, Jeffrey K

    2011-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to detect and document common themes among success stories, along with challenges, as related by participants in the Michiana Coordinated School Health Leadership Institute. Four-member teams from 18 Michigan and Indiana school districts participated in semiannual Institute workshops over a 3-year period and were tasked with implementing Coordinated School Health Programs (CSHPs). Qualitative methods were used to generate themes from interviews. Data were gathered through a combined survey/interview process related to programmatic successes, evidence of success, and implementation challenges. One participant from 11 of 18 participating school districts completed the survey/interview. Each participant reported at least 1 success that had a positive effect on students and/or staff, many of which were related to the federally mandated wellness policy. With some notable exceptions, success was based on subjective judgments rather than systematically collected data. Unanimous expression of time constraints and being overworked in their current positions constituted major challenges. Although the Institute required only process evaluation, some participants collected outcome data, a task that is important in validating the benefits of CSHPs. Most districts were not able to hire the recommended coordinator to ensure implementation of health program planning initially developed during the institute. Encouragingly, at the time of data collection many teams were still acting to ensure health programming remained a priority. Nevertheless, without the network of social support provided by the Institute, some respondents struggled to maintain momentum. © 2011, American School Health Association.

  1. A Novel Electronic Data Collection System for Large-Scale Surveys of Neglected Tropical Diseases

    PubMed Central

    King, Jonathan D.; Buolamwini, Joy; Cromwell, Elizabeth A.; Panfel, Andrew; Teferi, Tesfaye; Zerihun, Mulat; Melak, Berhanu; Watson, Jessica; Tadesse, Zerihun; Vienneau, Danielle; Ngondi, Jeremiah; Utzinger, Jürg; Odermatt, Peter; Emerson, Paul M.

    2013-01-01

    Background Large cross-sectional household surveys are common for measuring indicators of neglected tropical disease control programs. As an alternative to standard paper-based data collection, we utilized novel paperless technology to collect data electronically from over 12,000 households in Ethiopia. Methodology We conducted a needs assessment to design an Android-based electronic data collection and management system. We then evaluated the system by reporting results of a pilot trial and from comparisons of two, large-scale surveys; one with traditional paper questionnaires and the other with tablet computers, including accuracy, person-time days, and costs incurred. Principle Findings The electronic data collection system met core functions in household surveys and overcame constraints identified in the needs assessment. Pilot data recorders took 264 (standard deviation (SD) 152 sec) and 260 sec (SD 122 sec) per person registered to complete household surveys using paper and tablets, respectively (P = 0.77). Data recorders felt a lack of connection with the interviewee during the first days using electronic devices, but preferred to collect data electronically in future surveys. Electronic data collection saved time by giving results immediately, obviating the need for double data entry and cross-correcting. The proportion of identified data entry errors in disease classification did not differ between the two data collection methods. Geographic coordinates collected using the tablets were more accurate than coordinates transcribed on a paper form. Costs of the equipment required for electronic data collection was approximately the same cost incurred for data entry of questionnaires, whereas repeated use of the electronic equipment may increase cost savings. Conclusions/Significance Conducting a needs assessment and pilot testing allowed the design to specifically match the functionality required for surveys. Electronic data collection using an Android-based technology was suitable for a large-scale health survey, saved time, provided more accurate geo-coordinates, and was preferred by recorders over standard paper-based questionnaires. PMID:24066147

  2. FELIX-2.0: New version of the finite element solver for the time dependent generator coordinate method with the Gaussian overlap approximation

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

    Regnier, D.; Dubray, N.; Verriere, M.

    The time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) is a powerful method to study the large amplitude collective motion of quantum many-body systems such as atomic nuclei. Under the Gaussian Overlap Approximation (GOA), the TDGCM leads to a local, time-dependent Schrödinger equation in a multi-dimensional collective space. In this study, we present the version 2.0 of the code FELIX that solves the collective Schrödinger equation in a finite element basis. This new version features: (i) the ability to solve a generalized TDGCM+GOA equation with a metric term in the collective Hamiltonian, (ii) support for new kinds of finite elements and different typesmore » of quadrature to compute the discretized Hamiltonian and overlap matrices, (iii) the possibility to leverage the spectral element scheme, (iv) an explicit Krylov approximation of the time propagator for time integration instead of the implicit Crank–Nicolson method implemented in the first version, (v) an entirely redesigned workflow. We benchmark this release on an analytic problem as well as on realistic two-dimensional calculations of the low-energy fission of 240Pu and 256Fm. Low to moderate numerical precision calculations are most efficiently performed with simplex elements with a degree 2 polynomial basis. Higher precision calculations should instead use the spectral element method with a degree 4 polynomial basis. Finally, we emphasize that in a realistic calculation of fission mass distributions of 240Pu, FELIX-2.0 is about 20 times faster than its previous release (within a numerical precision of a few percents).« less

  3. FELIX-2.0: New version of the finite element solver for the time dependent generator coordinate method with the Gaussian overlap approximation

    DOE PAGES

    Regnier, D.; Dubray, N.; Verriere, M.; ...

    2017-12-20

    The time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) is a powerful method to study the large amplitude collective motion of quantum many-body systems such as atomic nuclei. Under the Gaussian Overlap Approximation (GOA), the TDGCM leads to a local, time-dependent Schrödinger equation in a multi-dimensional collective space. In this study, we present the version 2.0 of the code FELIX that solves the collective Schrödinger equation in a finite element basis. This new version features: (i) the ability to solve a generalized TDGCM+GOA equation with a metric term in the collective Hamiltonian, (ii) support for new kinds of finite elements and different typesmore » of quadrature to compute the discretized Hamiltonian and overlap matrices, (iii) the possibility to leverage the spectral element scheme, (iv) an explicit Krylov approximation of the time propagator for time integration instead of the implicit Crank–Nicolson method implemented in the first version, (v) an entirely redesigned workflow. We benchmark this release on an analytic problem as well as on realistic two-dimensional calculations of the low-energy fission of 240Pu and 256Fm. Low to moderate numerical precision calculations are most efficiently performed with simplex elements with a degree 2 polynomial basis. Higher precision calculations should instead use the spectral element method with a degree 4 polynomial basis. Finally, we emphasize that in a realistic calculation of fission mass distributions of 240Pu, FELIX-2.0 is about 20 times faster than its previous release (within a numerical precision of a few percents).« less

  4. Linking clinician interaction and coordination to clinical performance in Patient-Aligned Care Teams.

    PubMed

    Hysong, Sylvia J; Thomas, Candice L; Spitzmüller, Christiane; Amspoker, Amber B; Woodard, LeChauncy; Modi, Varsha; Naik, Aanand D

    2016-01-15

    Team coordination within clinical care settings is a critical component of effective patient care. Less is known about the extent, effectiveness, and impact of coordination activities among professionals within VA Patient-Aligned Care Teams (PACTs). This study will address these gaps by describing the specific, fundamental tasks and practices involved in PACT coordination, their impact on performance measures, and the role of coordination task complexity. First, we will use a web-based survey of coordination practices among 1600 PACTs in the national VHA. Survey findings will characterize PACT coordination practices and assess their association with clinical performance measures. Functional job analysis, using 6-8 subject matter experts who are 3rd and 4th year residents in VA Primary Care rotations, will be utilized to identify the tasks involved in completing clinical performance measures to standard. From this, expert ratings of coordination complexity will be used to determine the level of coordinative complexity required for each of the clinical performance measures drawn from the VA External Peer Review Program (EPRP). For objective 3, data collected from the first two methods will evaluate the effect of clinical complexity on the relationships between measures of PACT coordination and their ratings on the clinical performance measures. Results from this study will support successful implementation of coordinated team-based work in clinical settings by providing knowledge regarding which aspects of care require the most complex levels of coordination and how specific coordination practices impact clinical performance.

  5. Preface: Special Topic on Reaction Pathways

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clementi, Cecilia; Henkelman, Graeme

    2017-10-01

    This Special Topic Issue on Reaction Pathways collects original research articles illustrating the state of the art in the development and application of methods to describe complex chemical systems in terms of relatively simple mechanisms and collective coordinates. A broad range of applications is presented, spanning the sub-fields of biophysics and material science, in an attempt to showcase the similarities in the formulation of the approaches and highlight the different needs of the different application domains.

  6. Comparative study of the requantization of the time-dependent mean field for the dynamics of nuclear pairing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, Fang; Nakatsukasa, Takashi

    2018-04-01

    To describe quantal collective phenomena, it is useful to requantize the time-dependent mean-field dynamics. We study the time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (TDHFB) theory for the two-level pairing Hamiltonian, and compare results of different quantization methods. The one constructing microscopic wave functions, using the TDHFB trajectories fulfilling the Einstein-Brillouin-Keller quantization condition, turns out to be the most accurate. The method is based on the stationary-phase approximation to the path integral. We also examine the performance of the collective model which assumes that the pairing gap parameter is the collective coordinate. The applicability of the collective model is limited for the nuclear pairing with a small number of single-particle levels, because the pairing gap parameter represents only a half of the pairing collective space.

  7. Patterns of coordination and clinical outcomes: a study of surgical services.

    PubMed Central

    Young, G J; Charns, M P; Desai, K; Khuri, S F; Forbes, M G; Henderson, W; Daley, J

    1998-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that surgical services combining relatively high levels of feedback and programming approaches to the coordination of surgical staff would have better quality of care than surgical services using low levels of both coordination approaches as well as those surgical service using low levels of either coordination approach. STUDY SETTING: A study sample of 44 academically affiliated surgical services that are part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. STUDY DESIGN: In a cross-sectional analysis, surgical services were assigned to one of three groups based on their scores on feedback and programming coordination measures: high on both measures; high on one measure, low on the other; and low on both. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess differences among these groups with respect to three quality indicators: risk-adjusted mortality, risk-adjusted morbidity, and staff perceptions of quality. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity came from an outcomes reporting program within the Department of Veterans Affairs that entails the prospective collection of clinical data from patient charts. Data on coordination practices and perceived quality came from a survey of surgical staff at each of the 44 participating surgical services. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The group of surgical services using high feedback and high programming had the best perceived quality. This group also had the lowest morbidity, but the difference was statistically significant with respect to only one of the two other groups: the group with low feedback and low programming. No significant group differences were found for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Study results provide partial support for the hypothesis that high levels of feedback and programming should be combined for optimal quality of care. Study results also suggest that staff coordination is more important for improving morbidity than mortality in surgical services. PMID:9865218

  8. 76 FR 4361 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-25

    ... served, pharmaceuticals prescribed, pricing, sources of support to provide AIDS medication treatment... for enrollment, and cost-saving strategies including coordination with Medicaid). The quarterly report represents the best method for HRSA to determine how ADAP Grants are expended and to provide answers to...

  9. 77 FR 60127 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-02

    ... improvement methods to address the obesity epidemic in communities across the country. A key part of that... program and policy interventions to address childhood obesity. The HWC is being implemented in two... obesity. Community team interviews will be conducted with the team coordinator, the quality improvement...

  10. FELIX-1.0: A finite element solver for the time dependent generator coordinate method with the Gaussian overlap approximation

    DOE PAGES

    Regnier, D.; Verriere, M.; Dubray, N.; ...

    2015-11-30

    In this study, we describe the software package FELIX that solves the equations of the time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) in NN-dimensions (N ≥ 1) under the Gaussian overlap approximation. The numerical resolution is based on the Galerkin finite element discretization of the collective space and the Crank–Nicolson scheme for time integration. The TDGCM solver is implemented entirely in C++. Several additional tools written in C++, Python or bash scripting language are also included for convenience. In this paper, the solver is tested with a series of benchmarks calculations. We also demonstrate the ability of our code to handle amore » realistic calculation of fission dynamics.« less

  11. 40 CFR 761.283 - Determination of the number of samples to collect and sample collection locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... sampling points after the recleaning, but select three new pairs of sampling coordinates. (i) Beginning in the southwest corner (lower left when facing magnetic north) of the area to be sampled, measure in... new pair of sampling coordinates. Continue to select pairs of sampling coordinates until three are...

  12. Ground registration of data from an airborne scatterometer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Richter, J. C.

    1981-01-01

    A portion of the data for the agricultural soil moisture experiment, conducted near Colby, Kansas, was collected from four scatterometers mounted on an aircraft. A method is outlined for locating the scatterometer footprints with respect to a ground-based coordinate system. The method requires the airplane's flight parameters along with aerial photography acquired simultaneously with the scatterometer data. Listings of the programs used in the registration process are included.

  13. Functionally relevant protein motions: Extracting basin-specific collective coordinates from molecular dynamics trajectories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pan, Patricia Wang; Dickson, Russell J.; Gordon, Heather L.; Rothstein, Stuart M.; Tanaka, Shigenori

    2005-01-01

    Functionally relevant motion of proteins has been associated with a number of atoms moving in a concerted fashion along so-called "collective coordinates." We present an approach to extract collective coordinates from conformations obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The power of this technique for differentiating local structural fuctuations between classes of conformers obtained by clustering is illustrated by analyzing nanosecond-long trajectories for the response regulator protein Spo0F of Bacillus subtilis, generated both in vacuo and using an implicit-solvent representation. Conformational clustering is performed using automated histogram filtering of the inter-Cα distances. Orthogonal (varimax) rotation of the vectors obtained by principal component analysis of these interresidue distances for the members of individual clusters is key to the interpretation of collective coordinates dominating each conformational class. The rotated loadings plots isolate significant variation in interresidue distances, and these are associated with entire mobile secondary structure elements. From this we infer concerted motions of these structural elements. For the Spo0F simulations employing an implicit-solvent representation, collective coordinates obtained in this fashion are consistent with the location of the protein's known active sites and experimentally determined mobile regions.

  14. 28 CFR 812.3 - Coordination with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLECTION AND USE OF DNA INFORMATION § 812.3 Coordination with the Federal... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample when the Federal Bureau of Prisons releases an inmate to... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample from a District of Columbia Code offender when CSOSA...

  15. 28 CFR 812.3 - Coordination with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLECTION AND USE OF DNA INFORMATION § 812.3 Coordination with the Federal... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample when the Federal Bureau of Prisons releases an inmate to... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample from a District of Columbia Code offender when CSOSA...

  16. 28 CFR 812.3 - Coordination with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLECTION AND USE OF DNA INFORMATION § 812.3 Coordination with the Federal... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample when the Federal Bureau of Prisons releases an inmate to... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample from a District of Columbia Code offender when CSOSA...

  17. 28 CFR 812.3 - Coordination with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLECTION AND USE OF DNA INFORMATION § 812.3 Coordination with the Federal... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample when the Federal Bureau of Prisons releases an inmate to... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample from a District of Columbia Code offender when CSOSA...

  18. 28 CFR 812.3 - Coordination with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLECTION AND USE OF DNA INFORMATION § 812.3 Coordination with the Federal... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample when the Federal Bureau of Prisons releases an inmate to... documentation regarding the collection of a DNA sample from a District of Columbia Code offender when CSOSA...

  19. Seventh Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods. Part 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Melson, N. Duane (Editor); Manteuffel, Tom A. (Editor); McCormick, Steve F. (Editor); Douglas, Craig C. (Editor)

    1996-01-01

    The Seventh Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods was held on April 2-7, 1995 at Copper Mountain, Colorado. This book is a collection of many of the papers presented at the conference and so represents the conference proceedings. NASA Langley graciously provided printing of this document so that all of the papers could be presented in a single forum. Each paper was reviewed by a member of the conference organizing committee under the coordination of the editors. The vibrancy and diversity in this field are amply expressed in these important papers, and the collection clearly shows the continuing rapid growth of the use of multigrid acceleration techniques.

  20. Lessons Learned Designing and Using an Online Discussion Forum for Care Coordinators in Primary Care

    PubMed Central

    Ferrante, Jeanne M.; Friedman, Asia; Shaw, Eric K.; Howard, Jenna; Cohen, Deborah J.; Shahidi, Laleh

    2016-01-01

    While an increasing number of researchers are using online discussion forums for qualitative research, few authors have documented their experiences and lessons learned to demonstrate this method’s viability and validity in health services research. We comprehensively describe our experiences, from start to finish, of designing and using an asynchronous online discussion forum for collecting and analyzing information elicited from care coordinators in Patient-Centered Medical Homes across the United States. Our lessons learned from each phase, including planning, designing, implementing, using, and ending this private online discussion forum, provide some recommendations for other health services researchers considering this method. An asynchronous online discussion forum is a feasible, efficient, and effective method to conduct a qualitative study, particularly when subjects are health professionals. PMID:26481942

  1. Research and implementation of group animation based on normal cloud model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Min; Wei, Bin; Peng, Bao

    2011-12-01

    Group Animation is a difficult technology problem which always has not been solved in computer Animation technology, All current methods have their limitations. This paper put forward a method: the Motion Coordinate and Motion Speed of true fish group was collected as sample data, reverse cloud generator was designed and run, expectation, entropy and super entropy are gotten. Which are quantitative value of qualitative concept. These parameters are used as basis, forward cloud generator was designed and run, Motion Coordinate and Motion Speed of two-dimensional fish group animation are produced, And two spirit state variable about fish group : the feeling of hunger, the feeling of fear are designed. Experiment is used to simulated the motion state of fish Group Animation which is affected by internal cause and external cause above, The experiment shows that the Group Animation which is designed by this method has strong Realistic.

  2. Which Components of Medical Homes Reduce the Time Burden on Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs?

    PubMed Central

    Miller, Jane E; Nugent, Colleen N; Russell, Louise B

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To examine which components of medical homes affect time families spend arranging/coordinating health care for their children with special health care needs (CSHCNs) and providing health care at home. Data Sources 2009–2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN), a population-based survey of 40,242 CSHCNs. Study Design NS-CSHCN is a cross-sectional, observational study. We used generalized ordered logistic regression, testing for nonproportional odds in the associations between each of five medical home components and time burden, controlling for insurance, child health, and sociodemographics. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Medical home components were collected using Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative definitions. Principal Findings Family-centered care, care coordination, and obtaining needed referrals were associated with 15–32 percent lower odds of time burdens arranging/coordinating and 16–19 percent lower odds providing health care. All five components together were associated with lower odds of time burdens, with greater reductions for higher burdens providing care. Conclusions Three of the five medical home components were associated with lower family time burdens arranging/coordinating and providing health care for children with chronic conditions. If the 55 percent of CSHCNs lacking medical homes had one, the share of families with time burdens arranging care could be reduced by 13 percent. PMID:25100200

  3. Obstacles to the coordination of delivering integrated prenatal HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B testing services in Guangdong: using a needs assessment approach.

    PubMed

    Xia, Jianhong; Rutherford, Shannon; Ma, Yuanzhu; Wu, Li; Gao, Shuang; Chen, Tingting; Lu, Xiao; Zhang, Xiaozhuang; Chu, Cordia

    2015-03-24

    Integration of services for Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) into routine maternal and child health care is promoted as a priority strategy by the WHO to facilitate the implementation of PMTCT. Integration of services emphasizes inter-sectoral coordination in the health systems to provide convenient services for clients. China has been integrating prenatal HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B testing services since 2009. However, as the individual health systems are complex, effective coordination among different health agencies is challenging. Few studies have examined the factors that affect the coordination of such complex systems. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of and examine challenges for integrated service delivery. Findings will provide the basis for strategy development to enhance the effective delivery of integrated services. The research was conducted in Guangdong province in 2013 using a needs assessment approach that includes qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative data was collected through a survey and from routine monitoring for PMTCT and qualitative data was collected through stakeholder interviews. Routine monitoring data used to assess key indicators of coordination suggested numerous coordination problems. The rates of prenatal HIV (95%), syphilis (47%) and hepatitis B (47%) test were inconsistent. An average of only 20% of the HIV positive mothers was referred in the health systems. There were no regular meetings among different health agencies and the clients indicated complicated service processes. The major obstacles to the coordination of delivering these integrated services are lack of service resource integration; and lack of a mechanism for coordination of the health systems, with no uniform guidelines, clear roles or consistent evaluation. The key obstacles that have been identified in this study hinder the coordination of the delivery of integrated services. Our recommendations include: 1) Facilitate integration of the funding and information systems by fully combining the service resources of different health agencies into one unit; 2) Establish regular meetings to facilitate exchange of information and address problems; 3) Establish a client referral network between different health agencies with agreed guidelines, clear roles and consistent evaluation.

  4. Overcoming Communication Restrictions in Collectives

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian K.

    2004-01-01

    Many large distributed system are characterized by having a large number of components (eg., agents, neurons) whose actions and interactions determine a %orld utility which rates the performance of the overall system. Such collectives are often subject to communication restrictions, making it difficult for components which try to optimize their own private utilities, to take actions that also help optimize the world utility. In this article we address that coordination problem and derive four utility functions which present different compromises between how aligned a component s private utility is with the world utility and how readily that component can determine the actions that optimize its utility. The results show that the utility functions specifically derived to operate under communication restrictions outperform both traditional methods and previous collective-based methods by up to 75%.

  5. Parallel-aware, dedicated job co-scheduling within/across symmetric multiprocessing nodes

    DOEpatents

    Jones, Terry R.; Watson, Pythagoras C.; Tuel, William; Brenner, Larry; ,Caffrey, Patrick; Fier, Jeffrey

    2010-10-05

    In a parallel computing environment comprising a network of SMP nodes each having at least one processor, a parallel-aware co-scheduling method and system for improving the performance and scalability of a dedicated parallel job having synchronizing collective operations. The method and system uses a global co-scheduler and an operating system kernel dispatcher adapted to coordinate interfering system and daemon activities on a node and across nodes to promote intra-node and inter-node overlap of said interfering system and daemon activities as well as intra-node and inter-node overlap of said synchronizing collective operations. In this manner, the impact of random short-lived interruptions, such as timer-decrement processing and periodic daemon activity, on synchronizing collective operations is minimized on large processor-count SPMD bulk-synchronous programming styles.

  6. Analysing collaboration among HIV agencies through combining network theory and relational coordination.

    PubMed

    Khosla, Nidhi; Marsteller, Jill Ann; Hsu, Yea Jen; Elliott, David L

    2016-02-01

    Agencies with different foci (e.g. nutrition, social, medical, housing) serve people living with HIV (PLHIV). Serving needs of PLHIV comprehensively requires a high degree of coordination among agencies which often benefits from more frequent communication. We combined Social Network theory and Relational Coordination theory to study coordination among HIV agencies in Baltimore. Social Network theory implies that actors (e.g., HIV agencies) establish linkages amongst themselves in order to access resources (e.g., information). Relational Coordination theory suggests that high quality coordination among agencies or teams relies on the seven dimensions of frequency, timeliness and accuracy of communication, problem-solving communication, knowledge of agencies' work, mutual respect and shared goals. We collected data on frequency of contact from 57 agencies using a roster method. Response options were ordinal ranging from 'not at all' to 'daily'. We analyzed data using social network measures. Next, we selected agencies with which at least one-third of the sample reported monthly or more frequent interaction. This yielded 11 agencies whom we surveyed on seven relational coordination dimensions with questions scored on a Likert scale of 1-5. Network density, defined as the proportion of existing connections to all possible connections, was 20% when considering monthly or higher interaction. Relational coordination scores from individual agencies to others ranged between 1.17 and 5.00 (maximum possible score 5). The average scores for different dimensions across all agencies ranged between 3.30 and 4.00. Shared goals (4.00) and mutual respect (3.91) scores were highest, while scores such as knowledge of each other's work and problem-solving communication were relatively lower. Combining theoretically driven analyses in this manner offers an innovative way to provide a comprehensive picture of inter-agency coordination and the quality of exchange that underlies collaborative ties. These methods together can identify areas that could be targeted to promote closer ties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. A self-learning algorithm for biased molecular dynamics

    PubMed Central

    Tribello, Gareth A.; Ceriotti, Michele; Parrinello, Michele

    2010-01-01

    A new self-learning algorithm for accelerated dynamics, reconnaissance metadynamics, is proposed that is able to work with a very large number of collective coordinates. Acceleration of the dynamics is achieved by constructing a bias potential in terms of a patchwork of one-dimensional, locally valid collective coordinates. These collective coordinates are obtained from trajectory analyses so that they adapt to any new features encountered during the simulation. We show how this methodology can be used to enhance sampling in real chemical systems citing examples both from the physics of clusters and from the biological sciences. PMID:20876135

  8. Strategies to Maximize Data Collection Response Rates in a Randomized Control Trial Focused on Children with Medical Complexity.

    PubMed

    Finkelstein, Stanley M; Celebrezze, Margaret; Cady, Rhonda; Lunos, Scott; Looman, Wendy S

    2016-04-01

    Obtaining complete and timely subject data is key to the success of clinical trials, particularly for studies requiring data collected from subjects at home or other remote sites. A multifaceted strategy for data collection in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) focused on care coordination for children with medical complexity is described. The influences of data collection mode, incentives, and study group membership on subject response patterns are analyzed. Data collection included monthly healthcare service utilization (HCSU) calendars and annual surveys focused on care coordination outcomes. One hundred sixty-three families were enrolled in the 30-month TeleFamilies RCT. Subjects were 2-15 years of age at enrollment. HCSU data were collected by parent/guardian self-report using mail, e-mail, telephone, or texting. Surveys were collected by mail. Incentives were provided for completed surveys after 8 months to improve collection returns. Outcome measures were the number of HCSU calendars and surveys returned, the return interval, data collection mode, and incentive impact. Return rates of 90% for HCSU calendars and 82% for annual surveys were achieved. Mean return intervals were 72 and 65 days for HCSU and surveys, respectively. Survey response increased from 55% to 95% after introduction of a gift card and added research staff. High return rates for HCSU calendars and health-related surveys are attainable but required a flexible and personnel-intensive approach to collection methods. Family preference for data collection approach should be obtained at enrollment, should be modified as needed, and requires flexible options, training, intensive staff/family interaction, and patience.

  9. Incident Management Systems and Building Emergency Management Capacity during the 2014-2016 Ebola Epidemic - Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

    PubMed

    Brooks, Jennifer C; Pinto, Meredith; Gill, Adrienne; Hills, Katherine E; Murthy, Shivani; Podgornik, Michelle N; Hernandez, Luis F; Rose, Dale A; Angulo, Frederick J; Rzeszotarski, Peter

    2016-07-08

    Establishing a functional incident management system (IMS) is important in the management of public health emergencies. In response to the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease (Ebola) epidemic in West Africa, CDC established the Emergency Management Development Team (EMDT) to coordinate technical assistance for developing emergency management capacity in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. EMDT staff, deployed staff, and partners supported each country to develop response goals and objectives, identify gaps in response capabilities, and determine strategies for coordinating response activities. To monitor key programmatic milestones and assess changes in emergency management and response capacities over time, EMDT implemented three data collection methods in country: coordination calls, weekly written situation reports, and an emergency management dashboard tool. On the basis of the information collected, EMDT observed improvements in emergency management capacity over time in all three countries. The collaborations in each country yielded IMS structures that streamlined response and laid the foundation for long-term emergency management programs.The activities summarized in this report would not have been possible without collaboration with many U.S and international partners (http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/partners.html).

  10. Coordination and standardization of federal sedimentation activities

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Glysson, G. Douglas; Gray, John R.

    1997-01-01

    - precipitation information critical to water resources management. Memorandum M-92-01 covers primarily freshwater bodies and includes activities, such as "development and distribution of consensus standards, field-data collection and laboratory analytical methods, data processing and interpretation, data-base management, quality control and quality assurance, and water- resources appraisals, assessments, and investigations." Research activities are not included.

  11. Mother's Perspective toward Al-Quran Education for Hearing Impaired Children in Malaysia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghadim, Nafiseh Alaghehband; Jomhari, Nazean; Alias, Norlidah; Rashid, Syar Meeze Mohd; Yusoff, Mohd Yakub Zulkifli Bin Mohd

    2013-01-01

    An interview with parents of children with hearing impairment was carried out in the initial study since the coordinated effort of parents and children is essential in the education of children. Considering that this interview was appropriate for collecting qualitative-oriented data, it has been chosen as the knowledge elicitation method. In most…

  12. Assessment of the Sustainability Capacity of a Coordinated Approach to Chronic Disease Prevention.

    PubMed

    Moreland-Russell, Sarah; Combs, Todd; Polk, LaShaun; Dexter, Sarah

    This article outlines some factors that influenced the sustainability capacity of a coordinated approach to chronic disease prevention in state and territory health departments. This study involved a cross-sectional design and mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool (PSAT), a 40-item multiple-choice instrument that assesses 8 domains of sustainability capacity (environmental support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, program evaluation, program adaptation, communications, and strategic planning). Qualitative data were collected via phone interviews. The PSAT was administered to staff and stakeholders from public health departments in 50 US states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, who were involved in the implementation of coordinated chronic disease programs. Phone interviews were conducted with program coordinators in each state. Sustainability score patterns and state-level categorical results, as well as strengths and opportunities for improvement across the 8 program sustainability domains, were explored. On average, programs reported the strongest sustainability capacity in the domains of program adaptation, environmental support, and organizational capacity, while funding stability, strategic planning, and communications yielded lowest scores, indicating weakest capacity. Scores varied the most by state in environmental support and strategic planning. The PSAT results highlight the process through which states approached the sustainability of coordinated chronic disease initiatives. This process included an initial focus on program evaluation and partnerships with transfer of priority to long-term strategic planning, communications, and funding stability to further establish coordinated chronic disease efforts. Qualitative interviews provided further context to PSAT results, indicating that leadership, communications, partnerships, funding stability, and policy change were perceived as keys to success of the transition. Integrating these findings into future efforts may help those in transition establish greater sustainability capacity. The PSAT results and interviews provide insight into the capacity for sustainability for programs transitioning from traditional siloed programs to coordinated chronic disease programs.

  13. iMODFIT: efficient and robust flexible fitting based on vibrational analysis in internal coordinates.

    PubMed

    Lopéz-Blanco, José Ramón; Chacón, Pablo

    2013-11-01

    Here, we employed the collective motions extracted from Normal Mode Analysis (NMA) in internal coordinates (torsional space) for the flexible fitting of atomic-resolution structures into electron microscopy (EM) density maps. The proposed methodology was validated using a benchmark of simulated cases, highlighting its robustness over the full range of EM resolutions and even over coarse-grained representations. A systematic comparison with other methods further showcased the advantages of this proposed methodology, especially at medium to lower resolutions. Using this method, computational costs and potential overfitting problems are naturally reduced by constraining the search in low-frequency NMA space, where covalent geometry is implicitly maintained. This method also effectively captures the macromolecular changes of a representative set of experimental test cases. We believe that this novel approach will extend the currently available EM hybrid methods to the atomic-level interpretation of large conformational changes and their functional implications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Dimensionality reduction of collective motion by principal manifolds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gajamannage, Kelum; Butail, Sachit; Porfiri, Maurizio; Bollt, Erik M.

    2015-01-01

    While the existence of low-dimensional embedding manifolds has been shown in patterns of collective motion, the current battery of nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods is not amenable to the analysis of such manifolds. This is mainly due to the necessary spectral decomposition step, which limits control over the mapping from the original high-dimensional space to the embedding space. Here, we propose an alternative approach that demands a two-dimensional embedding which topologically summarizes the high-dimensional data. In this sense, our approach is closely related to the construction of one-dimensional principal curves that minimize orthogonal error to data points subject to smoothness constraints. Specifically, we construct a two-dimensional principal manifold directly in the high-dimensional space using cubic smoothing splines, and define the embedding coordinates in terms of geodesic distances. Thus, the mapping from the high-dimensional data to the manifold is defined in terms of local coordinates. Through representative examples, we show that compared to existing nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods, the principal manifold retains the original structure even in noisy and sparse datasets. The principal manifold finding algorithm is applied to configurations obtained from a dynamical system of multiple agents simulating a complex maneuver called predator mobbing, and the resulting two-dimensional embedding is compared with that of a well-established nonlinear dimensionality reduction method.

  15. Processing of Digital Plates1.2m of Baldone Observatory Schmidt Telescope

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eglitis, Ilgmars; Andruk, Vitaly

    2017-04-01

    The aim of this research is to evaluate accuracy of Plate Processing Method and to perform a detailed study of the Epson Expression 10000XL scanner, which was used to digitize plates from the database collection of the 1.2 m Schmidt Telescope installed in the Baldone Observatory. Special software developed in LINUX/MIDAS/ROMAFOT environment was used for processing the scans. Results of the digitized files with grey gradations of 8- and 16-bits were compared; an estimation of the accuracy of the developed method for rectangular coordinates determination and photometry was made. Errors in the instrumental system are ±0.026 pixels and ±0.024m for coordinates and stellar magnitudes respectively. To evaluate the repeatability of the scanner's astrometric and photometric errors, six consecutive scans of one plate were processed with a spatial separation of 1200 dpi. The following error estimations are obtained for stars brighter than U< 13.5m: σxy = ±0.021 to 0.027 pixels and σm = ±0.014m to 0.016m for rectangular coordinates and instrumental stellar magnitudes respectively.

  16. Metadynamics in the conformational space nonlinearly dimensionally reduced by Isomap

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spiwok, Vojtěch; Králová, Blanka

    2011-12-01

    Atomic motions in molecules are not linear. This infers that nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods can outperform linear ones in analysis of collective atomic motions. In addition, nonlinear collective motions can be used as potentially efficient guides for biased simulation techniques. Here we present a simulation with a bias potential acting in the directions of collective motions determined by a nonlinear dimensionality reduction method. Ad hoc generated conformations of trans,trans-1,2,4-trifluorocyclooctane were analyzed by Isomap method to map these 72-dimensional coordinates to three dimensions, as described by Brown and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 064118 (2008)]. Metadynamics employing the three-dimensional embeddings as collective variables was applied to explore all relevant conformations of the studied system and to calculate its conformational free energy surface. The method sampled all relevant conformations (boat, boat-chair, and crown) and corresponding transition structures inaccessible by an unbiased simulation. This scheme allows to use essentially any parameter of the system as a collective variable in biased simulations. Moreover, the scheme we used for mapping out-of-sample conformations from the 72D to 3D space can be used as a general purpose mapping for dimensionality reduction, beyond the context of molecular modeling.

  17. Deadlock-free class routes for collective communications embedded in a multi-dimensional torus network

    DOEpatents

    Chen, Dong; Eisley, Noel A.; Steinmacher-Burow, Burkhard; Heidelberger, Philip

    2013-01-29

    A computer implemented method and a system for routing data packets in a multi-dimensional computer network. The method comprises routing a data packet among nodes along one dimension towards a root node, each node having input and output communication links, said root node not having any outgoing uplinks, and determining at each node if the data packet has reached a predefined coordinate for the dimension or an edge of the subrectangle for the dimension, and if the data packet has reached the predefined coordinate for the dimension or the edge of the subrectangle for the dimension, determining if the data packet has reached the root node, and if the data packet has not reached the root node, routing the data packet among nodes along another dimension towards the root node.

  18. Seventh Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods. Part 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Melson, N. Duane; Manteuffel, Tom A.; McCormick, Steve F.; Douglas, Craig C.

    1996-01-01

    The Seventh Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods was held on 2-7 Apr. 1995 at Copper Mountain, Colorado. This book is a collection of many of the papers presented at the conference and so represents the conference proceedings. NASA Langley graciously provided printing of this document so that all of the papers could be presented in a single forum. Each paper was reviewed by a member of the conference organizing committee under the coordination of the editors. The multigrid discipline continues to expand and mature, as is evident from these proceedings. The vibrancy in this field is amply expressed in these important papers, and the collection shows its rapid trend to further diversity and depth.

  19. The Sixth Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods, part 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Melson, N. Duane (Editor); Mccormick, Steve F. (Editor); Manteuffel, Thomas A. (Editor)

    1993-01-01

    The Sixth Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods was held on April 4-9, 1993, at Copper Mountain, Colorado. This book is a collection of many of the papers presented at the conference and so represents the conference proceedings. NASA Langley graciously provided printing of this document so that all of the papers could be presented in a single forum. Each paper was reviewed by a member of the conference organizing committee under the coordination of the editors. The multigrid discipline continues to expand and mature, as is evident from these proceedings. The vibrancy in this field is amply expressed in these important papers, and the collection clearly shows its rapid trend to further diversity and depth.

  20. Protein normal-mode dynamics: trypsin inhibitor, crambin, ribonuclease and lysozyme.

    PubMed

    Levitt, M; Sander, C; Stern, P S

    1985-02-05

    We have developed a new method for modelling protein dynamics using normal-mode analysis in internal co-ordinates. This method, normal-mode dynamics, is particularly well suited for modelling collective motion, makes possible direct visualization of biologically interesting modes, and is complementary to the more time-consuming simulation of molecular dynamics trajectories. The essential assumption and limitation of normal-mode analysis is that the molecular potential energy varies quadratically. Our study starts with energy minimization of the X-ray co-ordinates with respect to the single-bond torsion angles. The main technical task is the calculation of second derivative matrices of kinetic and potential energy with respect to the torsion angle co-ordinates. These enter into a generalized eigenvalue problem, and the final eigenvalues and eigenvectors provide a complete description of the motion in the basic 0.1 to 10 picosecond range. Thermodynamic averages of amplitudes, fluctuations and correlations can be calculated efficiently using analytical formulae. The general method presented here is applied to four proteins, trypsin inhibitor, crambin, ribonuclease and lysozyme. When the resulting atomic motion is visualized by computer graphics, it is clear that the motion of each protein is collective with all atoms participating in each mode. The slow modes, with frequencies of below 10 cm-1 (a period of 3 ps), are the most interesting in that the motion in these modes is segmental. The root-mean-square atomic fluctuations, which are dominated by a few slow modes, agree well with experimental temperature factors (B values). The normal-mode dynamics of these four proteins have many features in common, although in the larger molecules, lysozyme and ribonuclease, there is low frequency domain motion about the active site.

  1. 78 FR 63569 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-24

    ... Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations... Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations...: Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations...

  2. 75 FR 56657 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-16

    ... Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations... Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations...: Cognitive and Psychological Research Coordinated by Statistics of Income on Behalf of All IRS Operations...

  3. 5 CFR 179.213 - Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Coordinating salary offset with other... REGULATIONS CLAIMS COLLECTION STANDARDS Salary Offset § 179.213 Coordinating salary offset with other agencies... intent of this regulation. (2) The designated salary offset coordinator will be responsible for: (i...

  4. The evolution of distributed sensing and collective computation in animal populations

    PubMed Central

    Hein, Andrew M; Rosenthal, Sara Brin; Hagstrom, George I; Berdahl, Andrew; Torney, Colin J; Couzin, Iain D

    2015-01-01

    Many animal groups exhibit rapid, coordinated collective motion. Yet, the evolutionary forces that cause such collective responses to evolve are poorly understood. Here, we develop analytical methods and evolutionary simulations based on experimental data from schooling fish. We use these methods to investigate how populations evolve within unpredictable, time-varying resource environments. We show that populations evolve toward a distinctive regime in behavioral phenotype space, where small responses of individuals to local environmental cues cause spontaneous changes in the collective state of groups. These changes resemble phase transitions in physical systems. Through these transitions, individuals evolve the emergent capacity to sense and respond to resource gradients (i.e. individuals perceive gradients via social interactions, rather than sensing gradients directly), and to allocate themselves among distinct, distant resource patches. Our results yield new insight into how natural selection, acting on selfish individuals, results in the highly effective collective responses evident in nature. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10955.001 PMID:26652003

  5. Facilitators and Barriers to Care Coordination in Patient-centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) from Coordinators’ Perspectives

    PubMed Central

    Friedman, Asia; Howard, Jenna; Shaw, Eric K.; Cohen, Deborah J.; Shahidi, Laleh; Ferrante, Jeanne M.

    2016-01-01

    Background Care coordinators are increasingly featured in patient-centered medical home (PCMH) projects, yet little research examines how coordinators themselves define and experience their role. This is the first study describing experiences of care coordinators across the US from their own perspectives. Methods This qualitative study used a 5-month private, online discussion forum to gather data from 25 care coordinators from PCMH practices representing diversity in practice size, setting, and type. Participants answered questions and interacted with one another, creating an online social learning collaborative while allowing for data collection for research. Results Coordinators identified barriers and facilitators in their work at the organization/system level, the interpersonal level, and the individual level. Some factors emerged as both barriers and facilitators, including the functionality of clinical information technology; the availability of community resources; interactions with clinicians and other health care facilities; interactions with patients; and self-care practices for mental health and wellness. Colocation and full integration into practices were other key facilitators, whereas excessive case loads and data management responsibilities were felt to be important barriers. Conclusions While all the barriers and facilitators were important to performing coordinators’ roles, relationship building materialized as key to effective care coordination, whether with clinicians, patients, or outside organizations. We discuss implications for practice and provide suggestions for further research. PMID:26769881

  6. 77 FR 74687 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Application for Employment Authorization, Form I-765...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-17

    ... Policy and Strategy, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC... money incurred by applicants for the following aspects of this information collection: The time burden... contacted at: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts...

  7. 75 FR 6684 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Multifamily Housing Service...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5380-N-02] Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Grant AGENCY: Office of the... Information: Title of Proposal: Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program. OMB Control Number, if...

  8. Community Strategic Visioning as a Method to Define and Address Poverty: An Analysis from Select Rural Montana Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lachapelle, Paul; Austin, Eric; Clark, Daniel

    2010-01-01

    Community strategic visioning is a citizen-based planning process in which diverse sectors of a community collectively determine a future state and coordinate a plan of action. Twenty-one communities in rural Montana participated in a multi-phase poverty reduction program that culminated in a community strategic vision process. Research on this…

  9. Control Coordination of Multiple Agents Through Decision Theoretic and Economic Methods

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-02-01

    instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information...investigated the design of test data for benchmarking such optimization algorithms. Our other research on combinatorial auctions included I...average combination rule. We exemplified these theoretical results with experiments on stock market data , demonstrating how ensembles of classifiers can

  10. 77 FR 33605 - Privacy Act of 1974: Implementation of Exemptions; Department of Homeland Security Office of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-07

    ... operations center for the Department of Homeland Security.'' Through the NOC, OPS provides real-time...-003 Operations Collection, Planning, Coordination, Reporting, Analysis, and Fusion System of Records... System of Records.'' The DHS/OPS-003 Operations Collection, Planning, Coordination, Reporting, Analysis...

  11. 78 FR 40490 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Form I-129...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-05

    ... Policy and Strategy, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC... terms of time and money incurred by applicants for the following aspects of this information collection..., Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington...

  12. 42 CFR 412.612 - Coordination of the collection of patient assessment data.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Coordination of the collection of patient assessment data. 412.612 Section 412.612 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEMS FOR INPATIENT HOSPITAL...

  13. Pickett angles and Cremer-Pople coordinates as collective variables for the enhanced sampling of six-membered ring conformations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sega, M.; Autieri, E.; Pederiva, F.

    2011-01-01

    Although completely equivalent for the description of puckered ring conformers, the two popular coordinates sets of Strauss-Pickett dihedral angles and Cremer-Pople spherical coordinates are shown to have contrasting features when employed as collective variables in free-energy calculations with accelerated sampling techniques. Results from a 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation at conformational equilibrium and from combined metadynamics/umbrella sampling calculations of glucose are exploited to elucidate these differences.

  14. Compilation of methods in orbital mechanics and solar geometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Buglia, James J.

    1988-01-01

    This paper contains a collection of computational algorithms for determining geocentric ephemerides of Earth satellites, useful for both mission planning and data reduction applications. Special emphasis is placed on the computation of sidereal time, and on the determination of the geocentric coordinate of the center of the Sun, all to the accuracy found in the Astronomical Almanac. The report is completely self-contained in that no requirement is placed on any external source of information, and hence, these methods are ideal for computer application.

  15. Evaluation of a collective kitchens program: using the Population Health Promotion Model.

    PubMed

    Fano, Tara J; Tyminski, Sheila M; Flynn, Mary A T

    2004-01-01

    To evaluate the impact of the Calgary Health Region Collective Kitchen Program on various Population Health Promotion Model health determinants, data were collected through mail-in questionnaires that examined the members' (n=331) and coordinators' (n=58) perspectives of the program. Seventy-nine members (24%) and 26 coordinators (45%) were included in the study. Three incomplete questionnaires (from prenatal program members) were discarded. Sixty-one percent of members who reported income level and family size (n=61) had incomes below the low-income cut-off. Fifty-eight members (73%) reported improvements in their lives because of the program. Sixty-four members (81%) perceived they learned to feed their families healthier foods. The members reported their fruit and vegetable consumption before and since joining a collective kitchen, and the proportion of those consuming at least five fruit and vegetable servings a day rose from 29% to 47%. The most common reasons for joining this program concerned social interactions and support. Over 90% of the coordinators perceived that they were competent to coordinate a kitchen. The results indicate that the collective kitchens program addresses several health determinants, and may increase members' capacity to attain food security and to achieve improved nutritional health.

  16. Application of 3D Laser Scanning Technology in Inspection and Dynamic Reserves Detection of Open-Pit Mine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Zhumin; Wei, Shiyu; Jiang, Jun

    2017-10-01

    The traditional open-pit mine mining rights verification and dynamic reserve detection means rely on the total station and RTK to collect the results of the turning point coordinates of mining surface contours. It resulted in obtaining the results of low precision and large error in the means that is limited by the traditional measurement equipment accuracy and measurement methods. The three-dimensional scanning technology can obtain the three-dimensional coordinate data of the surface of the measured object in a large area at high resolution. This paper expounds the commonly used application of 3D scanning technology in the inspection and dynamic reserve detection of open mine mining rights.

  17. Electronic Data Collection Options for Practice-Based Research Networks

    PubMed Central

    Pace, Wilson D.; Staton, Elizabeth W.

    2005-01-01

    PURPOSE We wanted to describe the potential benefits and problems associated with selected electronic methods of collecting data within practice-based research networks (PBRNs). METHODS We considered a literature review, discussions with PBRN researchers, industry information, and personal experience. This article presents examples of selected PBRNs’ use of electronic data collection. RESULTS Collecting research data in the geographically dispersed PBRN environment requires considerable coordination to ensure completeness, accuracy, and timely transmission of the data, as well as a limited burden on the participants. Electronic data collection, particularly at the point of care, offers some potential solutions. Electronic systems allow use of transparent decision algorithms and improved data entry and data integrity. These systems may improve data transfer to the central office as well as tracking systems for monitoring study progress. PBRNs have available to them a wide variety of electronic data collection options, including notebook computers, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and browser-based systems that operate independent of or over the Internet. Tablet PCs appear particularly advantageous for direct patient data collection in an office environment. PDAs work well for collecting defined data elements at the point of care. Internet-based systems work well for data collection that can be completed after the patient visit, as most primary care offices do not support Internet connectivity in examination rooms. CONCLUSIONS When planning to collect data electronically, it is important to match the electronic data collection method to the study design. Focusing an inappropriate electronic data collection method onto users can interfere with accurate data gathering and may also anger PBRN members. PMID:15928215

  18. 75 FR 42376 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; NTIA/FCC Web-based Frequency Coordination System

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-21

    ... Information Collection; Comment Request; NTIA/FCC Web- based Frequency Coordination System AGENCY: National.... Abstract The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) hosts a Web-based system...) bands that are shared on a co-primary basis by federal and non-federal users. The Web-based system...

  19. 78 FR 49480 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; NTIA/FCC Web-based Frequency Coordination System

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-14

    ... Information Collection; Comment Request; NTIA/FCC Web- based Frequency Coordination System AGENCY: National... INFORMATION: I. Abstract The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) hosts a web... (RF) bands that are shared on a co-primary basis by federal and non-federal users. The web-based...

  20. 75 FR 5591 - Notice of Public Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-03

    ...: 3060-0953. Title: Sections 95.1111 and 95.1113, Frequency Coordination/ Coordinator, Wireless Medical...,728 responses. Estimated Time Per Response: 4 hours (average). Frequency of Response: On occasion... expiring information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as an extension (no change in...

  1. Brain collection, standardized neuropathologic assessment, and comorbidity in ADNI participants

    PubMed Central

    Franklin, Erin E.; Perrin, Richard J.; Vincent, Benjamin; Baxter, Michael; Morris, John C.; Cairns, Nigel J.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Neuropathology Core (ADNI-NPC) facilitates brain donation, ensures standardized neuropathologic assessments, and maintains a tissue resource for research. Methods The ADNI-NPC coordinates with performance sites to promote autopsy consent, facilitate tissue collection and autopsy administration, and arrange sample delivery to the NPC, for assessment using NIA-AA neuropathologic diagnostic criteria. Results The ADNI-NPC has obtained 45 participant specimens and neuropathologic assessments have been completed in 36 to date. Challenges in obtaining consent at some sites have limited the voluntary autopsy rate to 58%. Among assessed cases, clinical diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer disease (AD) is 97%; however, 58% show neuropathologic comorbidities. Discussion Challenges facing autopsy consent and coordination are largely resource-related. The neuropathologic assessments indicate that ADNI’s clinical diagnostic accuracy for AD is high; however, many AD cases have comorbidities that may impact the clinical presentation, course, and imaging and biomarker results. These neuropathologic data permit multimodal and genetic studies of these comorbidities to improve diagnosis and provide etiologic insights. PMID:26194314

  2. Soft Regulation with Crowd Recommendation: Coordinating Self-Interested Agents in Sociotechnical Systems under Imperfect Information.

    PubMed

    Luo, Yu; Iyengar, Garud; Venkatasubramanian, Venkat

    2016-01-01

    Regulating emerging industries is challenging, even controversial at times. Under-regulation can result in safety threats to plant personnel, surrounding communities, and the environment. Over-regulation may hinder innovation, progress, and economic growth. Since one typically has limited understanding of, and experience with, the novel technology in practice, it is difficult to accomplish a properly balanced regulation. In this work, we propose a control and coordination policy called soft regulation that attempts to strike the right balance and create a collective learning environment. In soft regulation mechanism, individual agents can accept, reject, or partially accept the regulator's recommendation. This non-intrusive coordination does not interrupt normal operations. The extent to which an agent accepts the recommendation is mediated by a confidence level (from 0 to 100%). Among all possible recommendation methods, we investigate two in particular: the best recommendation wherein the regulator is completely informed and the crowd recommendation wherein the regulator collects the crowd's average and recommends that value. We show by analysis and simulations that soft regulation with crowd recommendation performs well. It converges to optimum, and is as good as the best recommendation for a wide range of confidence levels. This work sheds a new theoretical perspective on the concept of the wisdom of crowds.

  3. Soft Regulation with Crowd Recommendation: Coordinating Self-Interested Agents in Sociotechnical Systems under Imperfect Information

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Regulating emerging industries is challenging, even controversial at times. Under-regulation can result in safety threats to plant personnel, surrounding communities, and the environment. Over-regulation may hinder innovation, progress, and economic growth. Since one typically has limited understanding of, and experience with, the novel technology in practice, it is difficult to accomplish a properly balanced regulation. In this work, we propose a control and coordination policy called soft regulation that attempts to strike the right balance and create a collective learning environment. In soft regulation mechanism, individual agents can accept, reject, or partially accept the regulator’s recommendation. This non-intrusive coordination does not interrupt normal operations. The extent to which an agent accepts the recommendation is mediated by a confidence level (from 0 to 100%). Among all possible recommendation methods, we investigate two in particular: the best recommendation wherein the regulator is completely informed and the crowd recommendation wherein the regulator collects the crowd’s average and recommends that value. We show by analysis and simulations that soft regulation with crowd recommendation performs well. It converges to optimum, and is as good as the best recommendation for a wide range of confidence levels. This work sheds a new theoretical perspective on the concept of the wisdom of crowds. PMID:26977699

  4. From metadynamics to dynamics.

    PubMed

    Tiwary, Pratyush; Parrinello, Michele

    2013-12-06

    Metadynamics is a commonly used and successful enhanced sampling method. By the introduction of a history dependent bias which depends on a restricted number of collective variables it can explore complex free energy surfaces characterized by several metastable states separated by large free energy barriers. Here we extend its scope by introducing a simple yet powerful method for calculating the rates of transition between different metastable states. The method does not rely on a previous knowledge of the transition states or reaction coordinates, as long as collective variables are known that can distinguish between the various stable minima in free energy space. We demonstrate that our method recovers the correct escape rates out of these stable states and also preserves the correct sequence of state-to-state transitions, with minimal extra computational effort needed over ordinary metadynamics. We apply the formalism to three different problems and in each case find excellent agreement with the results of long unbiased molecular dynamics runs.

  5. From Metadynamics to Dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tiwary, Pratyush; Parrinello, Michele

    2013-12-01

    Metadynamics is a commonly used and successful enhanced sampling method. By the introduction of a history dependent bias which depends on a restricted number of collective variables it can explore complex free energy surfaces characterized by several metastable states separated by large free energy barriers. Here we extend its scope by introducing a simple yet powerful method for calculating the rates of transition between different metastable states. The method does not rely on a previous knowledge of the transition states or reaction coordinates, as long as collective variables are known that can distinguish between the various stable minima in free energy space. We demonstrate that our method recovers the correct escape rates out of these stable states and also preserves the correct sequence of state-to-state transitions, with minimal extra computational effort needed over ordinary metadynamics. We apply the formalism to three different problems and in each case find excellent agreement with the results of long unbiased molecular dynamics runs.

  6. The Sixth Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods, part 1

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Melson, N. Duane (Editor); Manteuffel, T. A. (Editor); Mccormick, S. F. (Editor)

    1993-01-01

    The Sixth Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods was held on 4-9 Apr. 1993, at Copper Mountain, CO. This book is a collection of many of the papers presented at the conference and as such represents the conference proceedings. NASA LaRC graciously provided printing of this document so that all of the papers could be presented in a single forum. Each paper was reviewed by a member of the conference organizing committee under the coordination of the editors. The multigrid discipline continues to expand and mature, as is evident from these proceedings. The vibrancy in this field is amply expressed in these important papers, and the collection clearly shows its rapid trend to further diversity and depth.

  7. Metadynamics in the conformational space nonlinearly dimensionally reduced by Isomap.

    PubMed

    Spiwok, Vojtěch; Králová, Blanka

    2011-12-14

    Atomic motions in molecules are not linear. This infers that nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods can outperform linear ones in analysis of collective atomic motions. In addition, nonlinear collective motions can be used as potentially efficient guides for biased simulation techniques. Here we present a simulation with a bias potential acting in the directions of collective motions determined by a nonlinear dimensionality reduction method. Ad hoc generated conformations of trans,trans-1,2,4-trifluorocyclooctane were analyzed by Isomap method to map these 72-dimensional coordinates to three dimensions, as described by Brown and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 064118 (2008)]. Metadynamics employing the three-dimensional embeddings as collective variables was applied to explore all relevant conformations of the studied system and to calculate its conformational free energy surface. The method sampled all relevant conformations (boat, boat-chair, and crown) and corresponding transition structures inaccessible by an unbiased simulation. This scheme allows to use essentially any parameter of the system as a collective variable in biased simulations. Moreover, the scheme we used for mapping out-of-sample conformations from the 72D to 3D space can be used as a general purpose mapping for dimensionality reduction, beyond the context of molecular modeling. © 2011 American Institute of Physics

  8. Principal coordinate analysis assisted chromatographic analysis of bacterial cell wall collection: A robust classification approach.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Keshav; Cava, Felipe

    2018-04-10

    In the present work, Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) is introduced to develop a robust model to classify the chromatographic data sets of peptidoglycan sample. PcoA captures the heterogeneity present in the data sets by using the dissimilarity matrix as input. Thus, in principle, it can even capture the subtle differences in the bacterial peptidoglycan composition and can provide a more robust and fast approach for classifying the bacterial collection and identifying the novel cell wall targets for further biological and clinical studies. The utility of the proposed approach is successfully demonstrated by analysing the two different kind of bacterial collections. The first set comprised of peptidoglycan sample belonging to different subclasses of Alphaproteobacteria. Whereas, the second set that is relatively more intricate for the chemometric analysis consist of different wild type Vibrio Cholerae and its mutants having subtle differences in their peptidoglycan composition. The present work clearly proposes a useful approach that can classify the chromatographic data sets of chromatographic peptidoglycan samples having subtle differences. Furthermore, present work clearly suggest that PCoA can be a method of choice in any data analysis workflow. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Dynamics and Control of Flexible Space Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Likins, P. W.

    1970-01-01

    The purpose of this report is twofold: (1) to survey the established analytic procedures for the simulation of controlled flexible space vehicles, and (2) to develop in detail methods that employ a combination of discrete and distributed ("modal") coordinates, i.e., the hybrid-coordinate methods. Analytic procedures are described in three categories: (1) discrete-coordinate methods, (2) hybrid-coordinate methods, and (3) vehicle normal-coordinate methods. Each of these approaches is described and analyzed for its advantages and disadvantages, and each is found to have an area of applicability. The hybrid-coordinate method combines the efficiency of the vehicle normal-coordinate method with the versatility of the discrete-coordinate method, and appears to have the widest range of practical application. The results in this report have practical utility in two areas: (1) complex digital computer simulation of flexible space vehicles of arbitrary configuration subject to realistic control laws, and (2) preliminary control system design based on transfer functions for linearized models of dynamics and control laws.

  10. On the ambiguity of conformational states: A B&S-LEUS simulation study of the helical conformations of decaalanine in water

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bieler, Noah S.; Hünenberger, Philippe H.

    2015-04-01

    Estimating the relative stabilities of different conformational states of a (bio-)molecule using molecular dynamics simulations involves two challenging problems: the conceptual problem of how to define the states of interest and the technical problem of how to properly sample these states, along with achieving a sufficient number of interconversion transitions. In this study, the two issues are addressed in the context of a decaalanine peptide in water, by considering the 310-, α-, and π-helical states. The simulations rely on the ball-and-stick local-elevation umbrella-sampling (B&S-LEUS) method. In this scheme, the states are defined as hyperspheres (balls) in a (possibly high dimensional) collective-coordinate space and connected by hypercylinders (sticks) to ensure transitions. A new object, the pipe, is also introduced here to handle curvilinear pathways. Optimal sampling within the so-defined space is ensured by confinement and (one-dimensional) memory-based biasing potentials associated with the three different kinds of objects. The simulation results are then analysed in terms of free energies using reweighting, possibly relying on two distinct sets of collective coordinates for the state definition and analysis. The four possible choices considered for these sets are Cartesian coordinates, hydrogen-bond distances, backbone dihedral angles, or pairwise sums of successive backbone dihedral angles. The results concerning decaalanine underline that the concept of conformational state may be extremely ambiguous, and that its tentative absolute definition as a free-energy basin remains subordinated to the choice of a specific analysis space. For example, within the force-field employed and depending on the analysis coordinates selected, the 310-helical state may refer to weakly overlapping collections of conformations, differing by as much as 25 kJ mol-1 in terms of free energy. As another example, the π-helical state appears to correspond to a free-energy basin for three choices of analysis coordinates, but to be unstable with the fourth one. The problem of conformational-state definition may become even more intricate when comparison with experiment is involved, where the state definition relies on spectroscopic or functional observables.

  11. On the ambiguity of conformational states: A B&S-LEUS simulation study of the helical conformations of decaalanine in water.

    PubMed

    Bieler, Noah S; Hünenberger, Philippe H

    2015-04-28

    Estimating the relative stabilities of different conformational states of a (bio-)molecule using molecular dynamics simulations involves two challenging problems: the conceptual problem of how to define the states of interest and the technical problem of how to properly sample these states, along with achieving a sufficient number of interconversion transitions. In this study, the two issues are addressed in the context of a decaalanine peptide in water, by considering the 310-, α-, and π-helical states. The simulations rely on the ball-and-stick local-elevation umbrella-sampling (B&S-LEUS) method. In this scheme, the states are defined as hyperspheres (balls) in a (possibly high dimensional) collective-coordinate space and connected by hypercylinders (sticks) to ensure transitions. A new object, the pipe, is also introduced here to handle curvilinear pathways. Optimal sampling within the so-defined space is ensured by confinement and (one-dimensional) memory-based biasing potentials associated with the three different kinds of objects. The simulation results are then analysed in terms of free energies using reweighting, possibly relying on two distinct sets of collective coordinates for the state definition and analysis. The four possible choices considered for these sets are Cartesian coordinates, hydrogen-bond distances, backbone dihedral angles, or pairwise sums of successive backbone dihedral angles. The results concerning decaalanine underline that the concept of conformational state may be extremely ambiguous, and that its tentative absolute definition as a free-energy basin remains subordinated to the choice of a specific analysis space. For example, within the force-field employed and depending on the analysis coordinates selected, the 310-helical state may refer to weakly overlapping collections of conformations, differing by as much as 25 kJ mol(-1) in terms of free energy. As another example, the π-helical state appears to correspond to a free-energy basin for three choices of analysis coordinates, but to be unstable with the fourth one. The problem of conformational-state definition may become even more intricate when comparison with experiment is involved, where the state definition relies on spectroscopic or functional observables.

  12. Variational formulation of macroparticle models for electromagnetic plasma simulations

    DOE PAGES

    Stamm, Alexander B.; Shadwick, Bradley A.; Evstatiev, Evstati G.

    2014-06-01

    A variational method is used to derive a self-consistent macroparticle model for relativistic electromagnetic kinetic plasma simulations. Extending earlier work, discretization of the electromagnetic Low Lagrangian is performed via a reduction of the phase-space distribution function onto a collection of finite-sized macroparticles of arbitrary shape and discretization of field quantities onto a spatial grid. This approach may be used with lab frame coordinates or moving window coordinates; the latter can greatly improve computational efficiency for studying some types of laser-plasma interactions. The primary advantage of the variational approach is the preservation of Lagrangian symmetries, which in our case leads tomore » energy conservation and thus avoids difficulties with grid heating. In addition, this approach decouples particle size from grid spacing and relaxes restrictions on particle shape, leading to low numerical noise. The variational approach also guarantees consistent approximations in the equations of motion and is amenable to higher order methods in both space and time. We restrict our attention to the 1.5-D case (one coordinate and two momenta). Lastly, simulations are performed with the new models and demonstrate energy conservation and low noise.« less

  13. Coordination meetings as a means of fostering collective learning among jury members involved in the validation of prior learning (VPL).

    PubMed

    Sandrine, Cortessis

    2012-01-01

    Jury members involved in the validation of prior learning (VPL) are supposed to draw parallels between the skills the candidate has acquired and the criteria established in relation to the frame of reference. The recalibration of criteria is a form of collective work. During meetings, jury members face common obstacles together. They try to sidestep the prescribed work and then collectively take ownership of it. Collective meetings allow responsibilities to be shared. This contrast between the imposition of extremely narrow prescribed work and the possibility of modifying prescribed work during collective meetings, sets a dialogic process in motion. Such a process gives jury members the opportunity to evolve in their practices. This ensures that jury members are always in a position to reflect on their own methods of action.

  14. A novel method of robot location using RFID and stereo vision

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Diansheng; Zhang, Guanxin; Li, Zhen

    2012-04-01

    This paper proposed a new global localization method for mobile robot based on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) and stereo vision, which makes the robot obtain global coordinates with good accuracy when quickly adapting to unfamiliar and new environment. This method uses RFID tags as artificial landmarks, the 3D coordinate of the tags under the global coordinate system is written in the IC memory. The robot can read it through RFID reader; meanwhile, using stereo vision, the 3D coordinate of the tags under the robot coordinate system is measured. Combined with the robot's attitude coordinate system transformation matrix from the pose measuring system, the translation of the robot coordinate system to the global coordinate system is obtained, which is also the coordinate of the robot's current location under the global coordinate system. The average error of our method is 0.11m in experience conducted in a 7m×7m lobby, the result is much more accurate than other location method.

  15. Primary care nursing role and care coordination: an observational study of nursing work in a community health center.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Daren R; St Hilaire, Daniel; Flinter, Margaret

    2012-05-31

    Care coordination is a core element of the Patient-Centered Medical Home and requires an effective, well educated nursing staff. A greater understanding of roles and tasks currently being carried out by nurses in primary care is needed to help practices determine how best to implement care coordination and transform into PCMHs. We conducted an observational study of primary care nursing in a Community Health Center by creating a classification schema for nursing responsibilities, directly observing and tracking nurses' work, and categorizing their activities. Ten nurses in eight different practice sites were observed for a total of 61 hours. The vast majority of nursing time was spent in vaccine and medication administration; telephone work; and charting and paper work, while only 15% of their time was spent in activity that was classified broadly as care coordination. Care coordination work appeared to be subsumed by other daily tasks, many of which could have been accomplished by other, lesser trained members of the health care team. Practices looking to implement care coordination need a detailed look at work flow, task assignments, and a critical assessment of staffing, adhering to the principal of each team member working to the highest level of his or her education and license. Care coordination represents a distinct responsibility that requires dedicated nursing time, separate from the day to day tasks in a busy practice. To fully support these new functions, reimbursement models are needed that support such non visit-based work and provide incentives to coordinate and manage complex cases, achieve improved clinical outcomes and enhance efficiency of the health system. This article describes our study methods, data collection, and analysis, results, and discussion about reorganizing nursing roles to promote care coordination.

  16. The rules of information aggregation and emergence of collective intelligent behavior.

    PubMed

    Bettencourt, Luís M A

    2009-10-01

    Information is a peculiar quantity. Unlike matter and energy, which are conserved by the laws of physics, the aggregation of knowledge from many sources can in fact produce more information (synergy) or less (redundancy) than the sum of its parts. This feature can endow groups with problem-solving strategies that are superior to those possible among noninteracting individuals and, in turn, may provide a selection drive toward collective cooperation and coordination. Here we explore the formal properties of information aggregation as a general principle for explaining features of social organization. We quantify information in terms of the general formalism of information theory, which also prescribes the rules of how different pieces of evidence inform the solution of a given problem. We then show how several canonical examples of collective cognition and coordination can be understood through principles of minimization of uncertainty (maximization of predictability) under information pooling over many individuals. We discuss in some detail how collective coordination in swarms, markets, natural language processing, and collaborative filtering may be guided by the optimal aggregation of information in social collectives. We also identify circumstances when these processes fail, leading, for example, to inefficient markets. The contrast to approaches to understand coordination and collaboration via decision and game theory is also briefly discussed. Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  17. The effect of synthetic method and annealing temperature on metal site preference in Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3.

    PubMed

    Walker, James D S; Grosvenor, Andrew P

    2013-08-05

    Magnetoelectric materials couple both magnetic and electronic properties, making them attractive for use in multifunctional devices. The magnetoelectric AFeO3 compounds (Pna2(1); A = Al, Ga) have received attention as the properties of the system depend on composition as well as the synthetic method used. Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3. (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) was synthesized by the sol-gel and coprecipitation methods and studied by X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES). Al L(2,3-), Ga K-, and Fe K-edge XANES spectra were collected to examine how the average metal coordination number (CN) changes with the synthetic method. Al and Fe were found to prefer octahedral sites, while Ga prefers the tetrahedral site. It was found that composition played a larger role in determining site occupancies than synthetic method. Samples made by the sol-gel or ceramic methods (reported previously; Walker, J. D. S.; Grosvenor, A. P. J. Solid State Chem. 2013, 197, 147-153) showed smaller spectral changes than samples made via the coprecipitation method. This is attributed to greater ion mobility in samples synthesized via coprecipitation as the reactants do not have a long-range polymeric or oxide network during synthesis like samples synthesized via the sol-gel or ceramic method. Increasing annealing temperature increases the average coordination number of Al, and to a lesser extent Ga, while the average coordination number of Fe decreases. This study indicates that greater disorder is observed when the Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3. compounds have high Al content, and when annealed at higher temperatures.

  18. Brain coordination dynamics: True and false faces of phase synchrony and metastability

    PubMed Central

    Tognoli, Emmanuelle; Kelso, J.A. Scott

    2009-01-01

    Understanding the coordination of multiple parts in a complex system such as the brain is a fundamental challenge. We present a theoretical model of cortical coordination dynamics that shows how brain areas may cooperate (integration) and at the same time retain their functional specificity (segregation). This model expresses a range of desirable properties that the brain is known to exhibit, including self-organization, multi-functionality, metastability and switching. Empirically, the model motivates a thorough investigation of collective phase relationships among brain oscillations in neurophysiological data. The most serious obstacle to interpreting coupled oscillations as genuine evidence of inter-areal coordination in the brain stems from volume conduction of electrical fields. Spurious coupling due to volume conduction gives rise to zero-lag (inphase) and antiphase synchronization whose magnitude and persistence obscure the subtle expression of real synchrony. Through forward modeling and the help of a novel colorimetric method, we show how true synchronization can be deciphered from continuous EEG patterns. Developing empirical efforts along the lines of continuous EEG analysis constitutes a major response to the challenge of understanding how different brain areas work together. Key predictions of cortical coordination dynamics can now be tested thereby revealing the essential modus operandi of the intact living brain. PMID:18938209

  19. 75 FR 2595 - Proposed Information Collection (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Activity: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-15

    ... (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Health.... Title: Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey, VA Form 10-0481. OMB... program will receive survey questions through a messaging device located in their home. Patients can...

  20. Conflict and coordination in the provision of public goods: a conceptual analysis of continuous and step-level games.

    PubMed

    Abele, Susanne; Stasser, Garold; Chartier, Christopher

    2010-11-01

    Conflicts between individual and collective interests are ubiquitous in social life. Experimental studies have investigated the resolution of such conflicts using public goods games with either continuous or step-level payoff functions. Game theory and social interdependence theory identify consequential differences between these two types of games. Continuous function games are prime examples of social dilemmas because they always contain a conflict between individual and collective interests, whereas step-level games can be construed as social coordination games. Step-level games often provide opportunities for coordinated solutions that benefit both the collective and the individuals. For this and other reasons, the authors conclude that one cannot safely generalize results obtained from step-level to continuous-form games (or vice versa). Finally, the authors identify specific characteristics of the payoff function in public goods games that conceptually mark the transition from a pure dilemma to a coordination problem nested within a dilemma.

  1. Increasing reliability of APACHE II scores in a medical-surgical intensive care unit: a quality improvement study.

    PubMed

    Donahoe, Laura; McDonald, Ellen; Kho, Michelle E; Maclennan, Margaret; Stratford, Paul W; Cook, Deborah J

    2009-01-01

    Given their clinical, research, and administrative purposes, scores on the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II should be reliable, whether calculated by health care personnel or a clinical information system. To determine reliability of APACHE II scores calculated by a clinical information system and by health care personnel before and after a multifaceted quality improvement intervention. APACHE II scores of 37 consecutive patients admitted to a closed, 15-bed, university-affiliated intensive care unit were collected by a research coordinator, a database clerk, and a clinical information system. After a quality improvement intervention focused on health care personnel and the clinical information system, the same methods were used to collect data on 32 consecutive patients. The research coordinator and the clerk did not know each other's scores or the information system's score. The data analyst did not know the source of the scores until analysis was complete. APACHE II scores obtained by the clerk and the research coordinator were highly reliable (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.88 before vs 0.80 after intervention; P = .25). No significant changes were detected after the intervention; however, compared with scores of the research coordinator, the overall reliability of APACHE II scores calculated by the clinical information system improved (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.24 before intervention vs 0.91 after intervention, P < .001). After completion of a quality improvement intervention, health care personnel and a computerized clinical information system calculated sufficiently reliable APACHE II scores for clinical, research, and administrative purposes.

  2. Coordination and management of multicenter clinical studies in trauma: Experience from the PRospective Observational Multicenter Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) Study

    PubMed Central

    Rahbar, Mohammad H.; Fox, Erin E.; del Junco, Deborah J.; Cotton, Bryan A.; Podbielski, Jeanette M.; Matijevic, Nena; Cohen, Mitchell J.; Schreiber, Martin A.; Zhang, Jiajie; Mirhaji, Parsa; Duran, Sarah; Reynolds, Robert J.; Benjamin-Garner, Ruby; Holcomb, John B.

    2011-01-01

    Aim Early death due to hemorrhage is a major consequence of traumatic injury. Transfusion practices differ among hospitals and it is unknown which transfusion practices improve survival. This report describes the experience of the PRospective Observational Multicenter Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) Study Data Coordination Center in designing and coordinating a study to examine transfusion practices at ten Level 1 trauma centers in the U.S. Methods PROMMTT was a multisite prospective observational study of severely injured transfused trauma patients. The clinical sites collected real-time information on the timing and amounts of blood product infusions as well as colloids and crystalloids, vital signs, initial diagnostic and clinical laboratory tests, life saving interventions and other clinical care data. Results Between July 2009 and October 2010, PROMMTT screened 12,561 trauma admissions and enrolled 1,245 patients who received one or more blood transfusions within 6 hours of ED admission. A total of 297 massive transfusions were observed over the course of the study at a combined rate of 5.0 massive transfusion patients/week. Conclusion PROMMTT is the first multisite study to collect real-time prospective data on trauma patients requiring transfusion. Support from the Department of Defense and collaborative expertise from the ten participating centers helped to demonstrate the feasibility of prospective trauma transfusion studies. The observational data collected from this study will be an invaluable resource for research in trauma surgery and it will guide the design and conduct of future randomized trials. PMID:22001613

  3. Development of a cerebrospinal fluid lateral reservoir model in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

    PubMed

    Lester McCully, Cynthia M; Bacher, John; MacAllister, Rhonda P; Steffen-Smith, Emilie A; Saleem, Kadharbatcha; Thomas, Marvin L; Cruz, Rafael; Warren, Katherine E

    2015-02-01

    Rapid, serial, and humane collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in nonhuman primates (NHP) is an essential element of numerous research studies and is currently accomplished via two different models. The CSF reservoir model (FR) combines a catheter in the 4th ventricle with a flexible silastic reservoir to permit circulating CSF flow. The CSF lateral port model (LP) consists of a lateral ventricular catheter and an IV port that provides static access to CSF and volume restrictions on sample collection. The FR model is associated with an intensive, prolonged recovery and frequent postsurgical hydrocephalus and nonpatency, whereas the LP model is associated with an easier recovery. To maximize the advantages of both systems, we developed the CSF lateral reservoir model (LR), which combines the beneficial features of the 2 previous models but avoids their limitations by using a reservoir for circulating CSF flow combined with catheter placement in the lateral ventricle. Nine adult male rhesus monkeys were utilized in this study. Pre-surgical MRI was performed to determine the coordinates of the lateral ventricle and location of choroid plexus (CP). The coordinates were determined to avoid the CP and major blood vessels. The predetermined coordinates were 100% accurate, according to MRI validation. The LR system functioned successfully in 67% of cases for 221 d, and 44% remain functional at 426 to 510 d postoperatively. Compared with established models, our LR model markedly reduced postoperative complications and recovery time. Development of the LR model was successful in rhesus macaques and is a useful alternative to the FR and LP methods of CSF collection from nonhuman primates.

  4. Shared knowledge or shared affordances? Insights from an ecological dynamics approach to team coordination in sports.

    PubMed

    Silva, Pedro; Garganta, Júlio; Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith; Aguiar, Paulo

    2013-09-01

    Previous research has proposed that team coordination is based on shared knowledge of the performance context, responsible for linking teammates' mental representations for collective, internalized action solutions. However, this representational approach raises many questions including: how do individual schemata of team members become reformulated together? How much time does it take for this collective cognitive process to occur? How do different cues perceived by different individuals sustain a general shared mental representation? This representational approach is challenged by an ecological dynamics perspective of shared knowledge in team coordination. We argue that the traditional shared knowledge assumption is predicated on 'knowledge about' the environment, which can be used to share knowledge and influence intentions of others prior to competition. Rather, during competitive performance, the control of action by perceiving surrounding informational constraints is expressed in 'knowledge of' the environment. This crucial distinction emphasizes perception of shared affordances (for others and of others) as the main communication channel between team members during team coordination tasks. From this perspective, the emergence of coordinated behaviours in sports teams is based on the formation of interpersonal synergies between players resulting from collective actions predicated on shared affordances.

  5. Ab initio calculation of proton-coupled electron transfer rates using the external-potential representation: A ubiquinol complex in solution

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

    Yamamoto, Takeshi; Kato, Shigeki

    2007-06-14

    In quantum-mechanical/molecular-mechanical (QM/MM) treatment of chemical reactions in condensed phases, one solves the electronic Schroedinger equation for the solute (or an active site) under the electrostatic field from the environment. This Schroedinger equation depends parametrically on the solute nuclear coordinates R and the external electrostatic potential V. This fact suggests that one may use R and V as natural collective coordinates for describing the entire system, where V plays the role of collective solvent variables. In this paper such an (R,V) representation of the QM/MM canonical ensemble is described, with particular focus on how to treat charge transfer processes inmore » this representation. As an example, the above method is applied to the proton-coupled electron transfer of a ubiquinol analog with phenoxyl radical in acetonitrile solvent. Ab initio free-energy surfaces are calculated as functions of R and V using the reference interaction site model self-consistent field method, the equilibrium points and the minimum free-energy crossing point are located in the (R,V) space, and then the kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) are evaluated approximately. The results suggest that a stiffer proton potential at the transition state may be responsible for unusual KIEs observed experimentally for related systems.« less

  6. QUICR-learning for Multi-Agent Coordination

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Agogino, Adrian K.; Tumer, Kagan

    2006-01-01

    Coordinating multiple agents that need to perform a sequence of actions to maximize a system level reward requires solving two distinct credit assignment problems. First, credit must be assigned for an action taken at time step t that results in a reward at time step t > t. Second, credit must be assigned for the contribution of agent i to the overall system performance. The first credit assignment problem is typically addressed with temporal difference methods such as Q-learning. The second credit assignment problem is typically addressed by creating custom reward functions. To address both credit assignment problems simultaneously, we propose the "Q Updates with Immediate Counterfactual Rewards-learning" (QUICR-learning) designed to improve both the convergence properties and performance of Q-learning in large multi-agent problems. QUICR-learning is based on previous work on single-time-step counterfactual rewards described by the collectives framework. Results on a traffic congestion problem shows that QUICR-learning is significantly better than a Q-learner using collectives-based (single-time-step counterfactual) rewards. In addition QUICR-learning provides significant gains over conventional and local Q-learning. Additional results on a multi-agent grid-world problem show that the improvements due to QUICR-learning are not domain specific and can provide up to a ten fold increase in performance over existing methods.

  7. Coordinated Collection Development via CD-ROM. A Pilot Project Granted by LSCA Title III Funds to Crosby Library, Gonzaga University. Final Narrative Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peterson, Elaine; Carr, Mary M.

    Three colleges in the state of Washington--Gonzaga College (Crosby Library), Whitworth College, and Eastern Washington University--received grants from the Fred Meyer Charitable Trust and the Library Services and Construction Act to facilitate coordinated collection development in the areas of education and business/economics, so that their…

  8. Coordination and Collective Decision Making

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-08-21

    Fisheries , (06 2014): 1. doi: 10.1111/faf.12084 L. Giuggioli, J. R. Potts, D. I. Rubenstein, S. A. Levin. Stigmergy, collective actions, and animal ...terrestrial and marine food webs, as well as enabling interspecies interactions such as reproduction. Eulerian models describe aggregations of animals in...achieved in decision-making. Animal groups frequently display highly coordinated movements, and provide an excellent vehicle by which to understand

  9. 45 CFR 708.9 - Coordinating offset with another Federal agency.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Coordinating offset with another Federal agency. 708.9 Section 708.9 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS COLLECTION BY SALARY OFFSET FROM INDEBTED CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES § 708.9 Coordinating...

  10. MINNESOTA COORDINATION UNIT FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MOSS, JEROME, JR.; NELSON, HOWARD F.

    THE MINNESOTA COORDINATION UNIT FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION WAS ESTABLISHED IN JUNE 1965 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOR THE PURPOSES OF COORDINATING AND STIMULATING OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION RESEARCH, COLLECTING AND DISSEMINATING THE RESULTS OF THAT RESEARCH, PROVIDING TECHNICAL CONSULTATION AND RESEARCH TRAINING, AND…

  11. 75 FR 39020 - Proposed Information Collection Activity; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-07

    ... Policy Experts, and State-level Coordinators.. Discussion Guide for use with Program Directors 25 1 2.5... other study activities, ACF seeks to identify the types of strategies that should be tested within the..., coordinators (e.g. state-level coordinators), subsidized and transitional employment program directors and...

  12. 12 CFR 1704.29 - Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Coordinating salary offset with other agencies... HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT OFHEO ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS DEBT COLLECTION Salary Offset § 1704.29 Coordinating salary offset with other agencies. (a) Responsibility of OFHEO as the creditor agency. (1) OFHEO...

  13. 75 FR 15496 - Agency Information Collection (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT)) Activity Under OMB Review

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-29

    ... (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT)) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Health... INFORMATION: Title: Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey, VA Form 10-0481. OMB... program will receive survey questions through a messaging device located in their home. Patients can...

  14. 78 FR 76193 - Agency Information Collection (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-16

    ... Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey) Activities Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans... patient perspective on satisfaction with the CCHT program and messaging devices. DATES: Comments must be...: Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey, VA Form 10-0481. Type of Review...

  15. 78 FR 53506 - Proposed Information Collection (Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-29

    ... Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey, VA Form 10-0481); Activity: Comment Request... required to obtain patient perspective on satisfaction with the CCHT program and messaging devices. DATES.... Titles: Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Patient Satisfaction Survey, VA Form 10-0481. OMB...

  16. Electronic data collection options for practice-based research networks.

    PubMed

    Pace, Wilson D; Staton, Elizabeth W

    2005-01-01

    We wanted to describe the potential benefits and problems associated with selected electronic methods of collecting data within practice-based research networks (PBRNs). We considered a literature review, discussions with PBRN researchers, industry information, and personal experience. This article presents examples of selected PBRNs' use of electronic data collection. Collecting research data in the geographically dispersed PBRN environment requires considerable coordination to ensure completeness, accuracy, and timely transmission of the data, as well as a limited burden on the participants. Electronic data collection, particularly at the point of care, offers some potential solutions. Electronic systems allow use of transparent decision algorithms and improved data entry and data integrity. These systems may improve data transfer to the central office as well as tracking systems for monitoring study progress. PBRNs have available to them a wide variety of electronic data collection options, including notebook computers, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and browser-based systems that operate independent of or over the Internet. Tablet PCs appear particularly advantageous for direct patient data collection in an office environment. PDAs work well for collecting defined data elements at the point of care. Internet-based systems work well for data collection that can be completed after the patient visit, as most primary care offices do not support Internet connectivity in examination rooms. When planning to collect data electronically, it is important to match the electronic data collection method to the study design. Focusing an inappropriate electronic data collection method onto users can interfere with accurate data gathering and may also anger PBRN members.

  17. Refining Collective Coordinates and Improving Free Energy Representation in Variational Enhanced Sampling.

    PubMed

    Yang, Yi Isaac; Parrinello, Michele

    2018-06-12

    Collective variables are used often in many enhanced sampling methods, and their choice is a crucial factor in determining sampling efficiency. However, at times, searching for good collective variables can be challenging. In a recent paper, we combined time-lagged independent component analysis with well-tempered metadynamics in order to obtain improved collective variables from metadynamics runs that use lower quality collective variables [ McCarty, J.; Parrinello, M. J. Chem. Phys. 2017 , 147 , 204109 ]. In this work, we extend these ideas to variationally enhanced sampling. This leads to an efficient scheme that is able to make use of the many advantages of the variational scheme. We apply the method to alanine-3 in water. From an alanine-3 variationally enhanced sampling trajectory in which all the six dihedral angles are biased, we extract much better collective variables able to describe in exquisite detail the protein complex free energy surface in a low dimensional representation. The success of this investigation is helped by a more accurate way of calculating the correlation functions needed in the time-lagged independent component analysis and from the introduction of a new basis set to describe the dihedral angles arrangement.

  18. 3D Analysis of Human Embryos and Fetuses Using Digitized Datasets From the Kyoto Collection.

    PubMed

    Takakuwa, Tetsuya

    2018-06-01

    Three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the human embryonic and early-fetal period has been performed using digitized datasets obtained from the Kyoto Collection, in which the digital datasets play a primary role in research. Datasets include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquired with 1.5 T, 2.35 T, and 7 T magnet systems, phase-contrast X-ray computed tomography (CT), and digitized histological serial sections. Large, high-resolution datasets covering a broad range of developmental periods obtained with various methods of acquisition are key elements for the studies. The digital data have gross merits that enabled us to develop various analysis. Digital data analysis accelerated the speed of morphological observations using precise and improved methods by providing a suitable plane for a morphometric analysis from staged human embryos. Morphometric data are useful for quantitatively evaluating and demonstrating the features of development and for screening abnormal samples, which may be suggestive in the pathogenesis of congenital malformations. Morphometric data are also valuable for comparing sonographic data in a process known as "sonoembryology." The 3D coordinates of anatomical landmarks may be useful tools for analyzing the positional change of interesting landmarks and their relationships during development. Several dynamic events could be explained by differential growth using 3D coordinates. Moreover, 3D coordinates can be utilized in mathematical analysis as well as statistical analysis. The 3D analysis in our study may serve to provide accurate morphologic data, including the dynamics of embryonic structures related to developmental stages, which is required for insights into the dynamic and complex processes occurring during organogenesis. Anat Rec, 301:960-969, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. How wet should be the reaction coordinate for ligand unbinding?

    PubMed

    Tiwary, Pratyush; Berne, B J

    2016-08-07

    We use a recently proposed method called Spectral Gap Optimization of Order Parameters (SGOOP) [P. Tiwary and B. J. Berne, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 2839 (2016)], to determine an optimal 1-dimensional reaction coordinate (RC) for the unbinding of a bucky-ball from a pocket in explicit water. This RC is estimated as a linear combination of the multiple available order parameters that collectively can be used to distinguish the various stable states relevant for unbinding. We pay special attention to determining and quantifying the degree to which water molecules should be included in the RC. Using SGOOP with under-sampled biased simulations, we predict that water plays a distinct role in the reaction coordinate for unbinding in the case when the ligand is sterically constrained to move along an axis of symmetry. This prediction is validated through extensive calculations of the unbinding times through metadynamics and by comparison through detailed balance with unbiased molecular dynamics estimate of the binding time. However when the steric constraint is removed, we find that the role of water in the reaction coordinate diminishes. Here instead SGOOP identifies a good one-dimensional RC involving various motional degrees of freedom.

  20. How wet should be the reaction coordinate for ligand unbinding?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tiwary, Pratyush; Berne, B. J.

    2016-08-01

    We use a recently proposed method called Spectral Gap Optimization of Order Parameters (SGOOP) [P. Tiwary and B. J. Berne, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 2839 (2016)], to determine an optimal 1-dimensional reaction coordinate (RC) for the unbinding of a bucky-ball from a pocket in explicit water. This RC is estimated as a linear combination of the multiple available order parameters that collectively can be used to distinguish the various stable states relevant for unbinding. We pay special attention to determining and quantifying the degree to which water molecules should be included in the RC. Using SGOOP with under-sampled biased simulations, we predict that water plays a distinct role in the reaction coordinate for unbinding in the case when the ligand is sterically constrained to move along an axis of symmetry. This prediction is validated through extensive calculations of the unbinding times through metadynamics and by comparison through detailed balance with unbiased molecular dynamics estimate of the binding time. However when the steric constraint is removed, we find that the role of water in the reaction coordinate diminishes. Here instead SGOOP identifies a good one-dimensional RC involving various motional degrees of freedom.

  1. How wet should be the reaction coordinate for ligand unbinding?

    PubMed Central

    Tiwary, Pratyush; Berne, B. J.

    2016-01-01

    We use a recently proposed method called Spectral Gap Optimization of Order Parameters (SGOOP) [P. Tiwary and B. J. Berne, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 2839 (2016)], to determine an optimal 1-dimensional reaction coordinate (RC) for the unbinding of a bucky-ball from a pocket in explicit water. This RC is estimated as a linear combination of the multiple available order parameters that collectively can be used to distinguish the various stable states relevant for unbinding. We pay special attention to determining and quantifying the degree to which water molecules should be included in the RC. Using SGOOP with under-sampled biased simulations, we predict that water plays a distinct role in the reaction coordinate for unbinding in the case when the ligand is sterically constrained to move along an axis of symmetry. This prediction is validated through extensive calculations of the unbinding times through metadynamics and by comparison through detailed balance with unbiased molecular dynamics estimate of the binding time. However when the steric constraint is removed, we find that the role of water in the reaction coordinate diminishes. Here instead SGOOP identifies a good one-dimensional RC involving various motional degrees of freedom. PMID:27497545

  2. A Qualitative Phenomenology of Christian Middle School Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Instruction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferrin, Patricia Ann

    The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study will be to explore curriculum coordinators, teachers, and principals' implementation of Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI) in Christian middle school science classes in the central Virginia area. IBI will be referred to as "a teaching method that combines the curiosity of students and the scientific method to enhance the development of critical thinking skills while learning science" (Warner & Myers, 2008, p.3). A qualitative phenomenology study will be made to consider the requirements and implementation of IBI in the Christian middle schools as compared to the requirements and implementation of IBI in the National Science Education Standard (NSES). Curriculum coordinators, teachers, and principals, and participated in this study from five Christian middle schools in the central Virginia area. The guiding theories include John Dewey's (1948) Constructivism, Lev Vygotsky's (1998) Social Constructivism, and William Glasser's (2005) Choice Theory as they relate to the beliefs curriculum coordinators, teachers, and principals have regarding the implementation of IBI. A primary research question for this study is, "If research supports successful outcomes of IBI, then how and why do Christian CMSST, principals, and curriculum coordinators implement or not implement IBI?" Interviews, classroom observations, and document reviews were used for triangulation and data collection. The data analysis used in this study were completed by using Moustakas' (1994) seven step thematic coding derived from the observations, interview transcriptions, and school documents in the form of lesson plans and objectives (Merriam, 2009; Moustakas, 1994).

  3. A three dimensional point cloud registration method based on rotation matrix eigenvalue

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Chao; Zhou, Xiang; Fei, Zixuan; Gao, Xiaofei; Jin, Rui

    2017-09-01

    We usually need to measure an object at multiple angles in the traditional optical three-dimensional measurement method, due to the reasons for the block, and then use point cloud registration methods to obtain a complete threedimensional shape of the object. The point cloud registration based on a turntable is essential to calculate the coordinate transformation matrix between the camera coordinate system and the turntable coordinate system. We usually calculate the transformation matrix by fitting the rotation center and the rotation axis normal of the turntable in the traditional method, which is limited by measuring the field of view. The range of exact feature points used for fitting the rotation center and the rotation axis normal is approximately distributed within an arc less than 120 degrees, resulting in a low fit accuracy. In this paper, we proposes a better method, based on the invariant eigenvalue principle of rotation matrix in the turntable coordinate system and the coordinate transformation matrix of the corresponding coordinate points. First of all, we control the rotation angle of the calibration plate with the turntable to calibrate the coordinate transformation matrix of the corresponding coordinate points by using the least squares method. And then we use the feature decomposition to calculate the coordinate transformation matrix of the camera coordinate system and the turntable coordinate system. Compared with the traditional previous method, it has a higher accuracy, better robustness and it is not affected by the camera field of view. In this method, the coincidence error of the corresponding points on the calibration plate after registration is less than 0.1mm.

  4. Study protocol: identifying and delivering point-of-care information to improve care coordination.

    PubMed

    Hysong, Sylvia J; Che, Xinxuan; Weaver, Sallie J; Petersen, Laura A

    2015-10-19

    The need for deliberately coordinated care is noted by many national-level organizations. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently transitioned primary care clinics nationwide into Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) to provide more accessible, coordinated, comprehensive, and patient-centered care. To better serve this purpose, PACTs must be able to successfully sequence and route interdependent tasks to appropriate team members while also maintaining collective situational awareness (coordination). Although conceptual frameworks of care coordination exist, few explicitly articulate core behavioral markers of coordination or the related information needs of team members attempting to synchronize complex care processes across time for a shared patient population. Given this gap, we partnered with a group of frontline primary care personnel at ambulatory care sites to identify the specific information needs of PACT members that will enable them to coordinate their efforts to provide effective, coordinated care. The study has three objectives: (1) development of measurable, prioritized point-of-care criteria for effective PACT coordination; (2) identifying the specific information needed at the point of care to optimize coordination; and (3) assessing the effect of adopting the aforementioned coordination standards on PACT clinicians' coordination behaviors. The study consists of three phases. In phase 1, we will employ the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES), a structured approach to performance measure creation from industrial/organizational psychology, to develop coordination measures with a design team of 6-10 primary care personnel; in phase 2, we will conduct focus groups with the phase 1 design team to identify point-of-care information needs. Phase 3 is a two-arm field experiment (n PACT = 28/arm); intervention arm PACTs will receive monthly feedback reports using the measures developed in phase 1 and attend brief monthly feedback sessions. Control arm PACTs will receive no intervention. PACTs will be followed prospectively for up to 1 year. This project combines both action research and implementation science methods to address important gaps in the existing care coordination literature using a partnership-based research design. It will provide an evidence-based framework for care coordination by employing a structured methodology for a systematic approach to care coordination in PACT settings and identifying the information needs that produce the most successful coordination of care. ISRCTN15412521.

  5. A Coordinated Approach to Raising the Socio-Economic Status of Latinos in California.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lopez, Elias, Ed.; Puddefoot, Ginny, Ed.; Gandara, Patricia, Ed.

    This report presents a collection of papers that focuses on a coordinated approach to raising the socioeconomic status of Hispanic Americans living in California. After presenting "The Need for a Coordinated Approach," the papers are: "Preschool Access" (Theresa Garcia, Sandra Gutierrez, and Giovanna Stark); "K-12…

  6. 5 CFR 1639.28 - Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Coordinating salary offset with other... CLAIMS COLLECTION Salary Offset § 1639.28 Coordinating salary offset with other agencies. (a... employee is in the process of separating and has not received a final salary check or other final payment(s...

  7. 45 CFR 2506.33 - How will the Corporation coordinate salary offsets with other agencies?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How will the Corporation coordinate salary offsets... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COLLECTION OF DEBTS Salary Offset § 2506.33 How will the Corporation coordinate salary offsets with other agencies? (a) Responsibilities of the...

  8. 12 CFR 313.49 - Coordinating salary offset with other agencies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Coordinating salary offset with other agencies... PRACTICE PROCEDURES FOR CORPORATE DEBT COLLECTION Salary Offset § 313.49 Coordinating salary offset with... employee has consented to the salary offset in writing or has signed a statement acknowledging receipt of...

  9. Efficiently sampling conformations and pathways using the concurrent adaptive sampling (CAS) algorithm

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

    Ahn, Surl-Hee; Grate, Jay W.; Darve, Eric F.

    Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are useful in obtaining thermodynamic and kinetic properties of bio-molecules but are limited by the timescale barrier, i.e., we may be unable to efficiently obtain properties because we need to run microseconds or longer simulations using femtoseconds time steps. While there are several existing methods to overcome this timescale barrier and efficiently sample thermodynamic and/or kinetic properties, problems remain in regard to being able to sample un- known systems, deal with high-dimensional space of collective variables, and focus the computational effort on slow timescales. Hence, a new sampling method, called the “Concurrent Adaptive Sampling (CAS) algorithm,”more » has been developed to tackle these three issues and efficiently obtain conformations and pathways. The method is not constrained to use only one or two collective variables, unlike most reaction coordinate-dependent methods. Instead, it can use a large number of collective vari- ables and uses macrostates (a partition of the collective variable space) to enhance the sampling. The exploration is done by running a large number of short simula- tions, and a clustering technique is used to accelerate the sampling. In this paper, we introduce the new methodology and show results from two-dimensional models and bio-molecules, such as penta-alanine and triazine polymer« less

  10. Generations of orthogonal surface coordinates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Blottner, F. G.; Moreno, J. B.

    1980-01-01

    Two generation methods were developed for three dimensional flows where the computational domain normal to the surface is small. With this restriction the coordinate system requires orthogonality only at the body surface. The first method uses the orthogonal condition in finite-difference form to determine the surface coordinates with the metric coefficients and curvature of the coordinate lines calculated numerically. The second method obtains analytical expressions for the metric coefficients and for the curvature of the coordinate lines.

  11. Residential area streetlight intelligent monitoring management system based on ZigBee and GPRS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liang, Guozhuang; Xu, Xiaoyu

    2017-05-01

    According to current situation of green environmental protection lighting policy and traditional residential lighting system automation degree, low energy efficiency, difficult to management and other problems, the residential area streetlight monitoring management system based on ZigBee and GPRS is proposed. This design is put forward by using sensor technology, ZigBee and GPRS wireless communication technology network. To realize intelligent lighting parameters adjustment, coordination control method of various kinds of sensors is used. The system through multiple ZigBee nodes topology network to collect street light's information, each subnet through the ZigBee coordinator and GPRS network to transmit data. The street lamps can be put on or off, or be adjusted the brightness automatic ally according to the surrounding environmental illumination.

  12. Leading at the Coal-Face: The World as Experienced by Subject Coordinators in Australian Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holt, Dale; Cohen, Lynne; Campbell-Evans, Glenda; Chang, Paul; Macdonald, Ian; McDonald, Jacquie

    2013-01-01

    This article is based on nationally funded research into the role, capabilities, challenges and professional development needs of subject coordinators in Australian higher education. The second of three data collection phases involved a multi-institutional survey of staff in the role of subject coordinator with the aim of understanding the role…

  13. Evaluating Comparative Effectiveness Research Priorities for Care Coordination in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Community-Based eDelphi Study

    PubMed Central

    Alber, Julia; Paige, Samantha; Castro, Daniela; Singh, Briana

    2015-01-01

    Background Despite research supporting the use of care coordination in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), there is relatively little known about the comparative effectiveness of different strategies used to organize care for patients. To investigate the most important COPD care coordination strategies, community-based stakeholder input is needed, especially from medically underserved populations. Web-based platforms are electronic tools now being used to bring together individuals from underrepresented populations to share input and obtain clarification on comparative effectiveness research (CER) ideas, questions, and hypotheses. Objective Use low computer-literate, collaborative survey technology to evaluate stakeholder priorities for CER in COPD care coordination. Methods A mixed-method, concurrent triangulation design was used to collect survey data from a virtual advisory board of community-based stakeholders including medically underserved patients with COPD, informal caregivers, clinicians, and research scientists. The eDelphi method was used to conduct 3 iterative rounds of Web-based surveys. In the first 2 survey rounds, panelists viewed a series of “mini research prospectus” YouTube video presentations and rated their level of agreement with the importance of 10 COPD care coordination topics using 7-point Likert scales. In the final third-round survey, panelists ranked (1=most important, 8=least important) and commented on 8 remaining topics that panelists favored most throughout the first 2 survey rounds. Following the third-round survey, panelists were asked to provide feedback on the potential impact of a Web-based stakeholder engagement network dedicated to improving CER in COPD. Results Thirty-seven panelists rated the following care coordination topics as most important (lower means indicate greater importance): (1) measurement of quality of care (mean 2.73, SD 1.95); (2) management of COPD with other chronic health issues (mean 2.92, SD 1.67); (3) pulmonary rehabilitation as a model for care (mean 3.72; SD 1.93); (4) quality of care coordination (mean 4.12, SD 2.41); and (5) comprehensive COPD patient education (mean 4.27, SD 2.38). Stakeholder comments on the relative importance of these care coordination topics primarily addressed the importance of comparing strategies for COPD symptom management and evaluating new methods for patient-provider communication. Approximately one half of the virtual panel assembled indicated that a Web-based stakeholder engagement network could enable more online community meetings (n=19/37, 51%) and facilitate more opportunities to suggest, comment on, and vote for new CER ideas in COPD (n=18/37, 49%). Conclusions Members of this unique virtual advisory board engaged in a structured Web-based communication process that identified the most important community-specific COPD care coordination research topics and questions. Findings from this study support the need for more CER that evaluates quality of care measures used to assess the delivery of treatments and interventions among medically underserved patients with COPD. PMID:26268741

  14. Pan-Canadian assessment of pandemic immunization data collection: study methodology

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background The collection of individual-level pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza immunization data was considered important to facilitate optimal vaccine delivery and accurate assessment of vaccine coverage. These data are also critical for research aimed at evaluating the new vaccine's safety and effectiveness. Systems used to collect immunization data include manual approaches in which data are collected and retained on paper, electronic systems in which data are captured on computer at the point of vaccination and hybrid systems which are comprised of both computerized and manual data collection components. This study's objective was to compare the efficiencies and perceptions of data collection methods employed during Canada's pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination campaign. Methods/Design A pan-Canadian observational study was conducted in a convenience sample of public health clinics and healthcare institutions during the H1N1 vaccination campaign in the fall of 2009. The study design consisted of three stages: Stage 1 involved passive observation of the site's layout, processes and client flow; Stage 2 entailed timing site staff on 20 clients through five core immunization tasks: i) client registration, ii) medical history collection, iii) medical history review, iv) vaccine administration record keeping and v) preparation of proof of vaccine administration for the client; in Stage 3, site staff completed a questionnaire regarding perceived usability of the site's data collection approach. Before the national study began, a pilot study was conducted in three seasonal influenza vaccination sites in Ontario, to both test that the proposed methodology was logistically feasible and to determine inter-rater reliability in the measurements of the research staff. Comparative analyses will be conducted across the range of data collection methods with respect to time required to collect immunization data, number and type of individual-level data elements collected, and clinic staff perceptions of the usability of the method employed at their site, using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Discussion Various data collection methods were employed at immunization sites across Canada during the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination campaign. Our comparison of methods can facilitate planning an efficient, coordinated approach for collecting immunization data in future influenza seasons. PMID:20624270

  15. The Neural Network In Coordinate Transformation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Urusan, Ahmet Yucel

    2011-12-01

    In international literature, Coordinate operations is divided into two categories. They are coordinate conversion and coordinate transformation. Coordinates converted from coordinate system A to coordinate system B in the same datum (mean origine, scale and axis directions are same) by coordinate conversion. There are two different datum in coordinate transformation. The basis of each datum to a different coordinate reference system. In Coordinate transformation, coordinates are transformed from coordinate reference system A to coordinate referance system B. Geodetic studies based on physical measurements. Coordinate transformation needs identical points which were measured in each coordinate reference system (A and B). However it is difficult (and need a big reserved budget) to measure in some places like as top of mountain, boundry of countries and seaside. In this study, this sample problem solution was researched. The method of learning which is one of the neural network methods, was used for solution of this problem.

  16. Reaching a Consensus: Terminology and Concepts Used in Coordination and Decision-Making Research.

    PubMed

    Pyritz, Lennart W; King, Andrew J; Sueur, Cédric; Fichtel, Claudia

    2011-12-01

    Research on coordination and decision-making in humans and nonhuman primates has increased considerably throughout the last decade. However, terminology has been used inconsistently, hampering the broader integration of results from different studies. In this short article, we provide a glossary containing the central terms of coordination and decision-making research. The glossary is based on previous definitions that have been critically revised and annotated by the participants of the symposium "Where next? Coordination and decision-making in primate groups" at the XXIIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS) in Kyoto, Japan. We discuss a number of conceptual and methodological issues and highlight consequences for their implementation. In summary, we recommend that future studies on coordination and decision-making in animal groups do not use the terms "combined decision" and "democratic/despotic decision-making." This will avoid ambiguity as well as anthropocentric connotations. Further, we demonstrate the importance of 1) taxon-specific definitions of coordination parameters (initiation, leadership, followership, termination), 2) differentiation between coordination research on individual-level process and group-level outcome, 3) analyses of collective action processes including initiation and termination, and 4) operationalization of successful group movements in the field to collect meaningful and comparable data across different species.

  17. The 1000 Genomes Project: data management and community access.

    PubMed

    Clarke, Laura; Zheng-Bradley, Xiangqun; Smith, Richard; Kulesha, Eugene; Xiao, Chunlin; Toneva, Iliana; Vaughan, Brendan; Preuss, Don; Leinonen, Rasko; Shumway, Martin; Sherry, Stephen; Flicek, Paul

    2012-04-27

    The 1000 Genomes Project was launched as one of the largest distributed data collection and analysis projects ever undertaken in biology. In addition to the primary scientific goals of creating both a deep catalog of human genetic variation and extensive methods to accurately discover and characterize variation using new sequencing technologies, the project makes all of its data publicly available. Members of the project data coordination center have developed and deployed several tools to enable widespread data access.

  18. Scientific basis for learning transfer from movements to urinary bladder functions for bladder repair in human patients with CNS injury.

    PubMed

    Schalow, G

    2010-01-01

    Coordination Dynamics Therapy (CDT) has been shown to be able to partly repair CNS injury. The repair is based on a movement-based re-learning theory which requires at least three levels of description: the movement or pattern (and anamnesis) level, the collective variable level, and the neuron level. Upon CDT not only the actually performed movement pattern itself is repaired, but the entire dynamics of CNS organization is improved, which is the theoretical basis for (re-) learning transfer. The transfer of learning for repair from jumping on springboard and exercising on a special CDT and recording device to urinary bladder functions is investigated at the neuron level. At the movement or pattern level, the improvement of central nervous system (CNS) functioning in human patients can be seen (or partly measured) by the improvement of the performance of the pattern. At the collective variable level, coordination tendencies can be measured by the so-called 'coordination dynamics' before, during and after treatment. At the neuron level, re-learning can additionally be assessed by surface electromyography (sEMG) as alterations of single motor unit firings and motor programs. But to express the ongoing interaction between the numerous neural, muscular, and metabolic elements involved in perception and action, it is relevant to inquire how the individual afferent and efferent neurons adjust their phase and frequency coordination to other neurons to satisfy learning task requirements. With the single-nerve fibre action potential recording method it was possible to measure that distributed single neurons communicate by phase and frequency coordination. It is shown that this timed firing of neurons is getting impaired upon injury and has to be improved by learning The stability of phase and frequency coordination among afferent and efferent neuron firings can be related to pattern stability. The stability of phase and frequency coordination at the neuron level can therefore be assessed integratively at the (non-invasive) collective variable level by the arrhythmicity of turning (coordination dynamics) when a patient is exercising on a special CDT device. Upon jumping on springboard and exercising on the special CDT device, the intertwined neuronal networks, subserving movements (somatic) and urinary bladder functions (autonomic and somatic) in the sacral spinal cord, are synchronously activated and entrained to give rise to learning transfer from movements to bladder functions. Jumping on springboard and other movements primarily repair the pattern dynamics, whereas the exactly coordinated performed movements, performed on the special CDT device for turning, primarily improve the preciseness of the timed firing of neurons. The synchronous learning of perceptuomotor and perceptuobladder functioning from a dynamical perspective (giving rise to learning transfer) can be understood at the neuron level. Especially the activated phase and frequency coordination upon natural stimulation under physiologic and pathophysiologic conditions among a and gamma-motoneurons, muscle spindle afferents, touch and pain afferents, and urinary bladder stretch and tension receptor afferents in the human sacral spinal cord make understandable that somatic and parasympathetic functions are integrated in their functioning and give rise to learning transfer from movements to bladder functions. The power of this human treatment research project lies in the unit of theory, diagnostic/measurement, and praxis, namely that CNS injury can partly be repaired, including urinary bladder functions, and the repair can partly be understood even at the neuron level of description in human.

  19. [Differentiation by geometric morphometrics among 11 Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) in Colombia].

    PubMed

    Calle, David Alonso; Quiñones, Martha Lucía; Erazo, Holmes Francisco; Jaramillo, Nicolás

    2008-09-01

    The correct identification of the Anopheles species of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus is important because this subgenus includes the main malaria vectors in Colombia. This information is necessary for focusing a malaria control program. Geometric morphometrics were used to evaluate morphometric variation of 11 species of subgenus Nyssorhynchus present in Colombia and to distinguish females of each species. Materials and methods. The specimens were obtained from series and family broods from females collected with protected human hosts as attractants. The field collected specimens and their progeny were identified at each of the associated stages by conventional keys. For some species, wild females were used. Landmarks were selected on wings from digital pictures from 336 individuals, and digitized with coordinates. The coordinate matrix was processed by generalized Procrustes analysis which generated size and shape variables, free of non-biological variation. Size and shape variables were analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistics. The subdivision of subgenus Nyssorhynchus in sections is not correlated with wing shape. Discriminant analyses correctly classified 97% of females in the section Albimanus and 86% in the section Argyritarsis. In addition, these methodologies allowed the correct identification of 3 sympatric species from Putumayo which have been difficult to identify in the adult female stage. The geometric morphometrics were demonstrated to be a very useful tool as an adjunct to taxonomy of females the use of this method is recommended in studies of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus in Colombia.

  20. NMR Mapping of Protein Conformational Landscapes using Coordinated Behavior of Chemical Shifts upon Ligand Binding

    PubMed Central

    Cembran, Alessandro; Kim, Jonggul; Gao, Jiali; Veglia, Gianluigi

    2014-01-01

    Proteins exist as an ensemble of conformers that are distributed on free energy landscapes resembling folding funnels. While the most stable conformers populate low energy basins, protein function is often carried out through low-populated conformational states that occupy high energy basins. Ligand binding shifts the populations of these states, changing the distribution of these conformers. Understanding how the equilibrium among the states is altered upon ligand binding, interaction with other binding partners, and/or mutations and post-translational modifications is of critical importance for explaining allosteric signaling in proteins. Here, we propose a statistical analysis of the chemical shifts (CONCISE, COordiNated ChemIcal Shifts bEhavior) for the interpretation of protein conformational equilibria following linear trajectories of NMR chemical shifts. CONCISE enables one to quantitatively measure the population shifts associated with ligand titrations and estimate the degree of collectiveness of the protein residues’ response to ligand binding, giving a concise view of the structural transitions. The combination of CONCISE with thermocalorimetric and kinetic data allows one to depict a protein’s approximate conformational energy landscape. We tested this method with the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, a ubiquitous enzyme that undergoes conformational transitions upon both nucleotide and pseudo-substrate binding. When complemented with chemical shift covariance analysis (CHESCA), this new method offers both collective response and residue-specific correlations for ligand binding to proteins. PMID:24604024

  1. Variationally optimal selection of slow coordinates and reaction coordinates in macromolecular systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noe, Frank

    To efficiently simulate and generate understanding from simulations of complex macromolecular systems, the concept of slow collective coordinates or reaction coordinates is of fundamental importance. Here we will introduce variational approaches to approximate the slow coordinates and the reaction coordinates between selected end-states given MD simulations of the macromolecular system and a (possibly large) basis set of candidate coordinates. We will then discuss how to select physically intuitive order paremeters that are good surrogates of this variationally optimal result. These result can be used in order to construct Markov state models or other models of the stationary and kinetics properties, in order to parametrize low-dimensional / coarse-grained model of the dynamics. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, European Research Council.

  2. A method of indirect registration of the coordinates of condylar points with a six-degree-of-freedom jaw tracker.

    PubMed

    Huang, B Y; Durrant, C J; Johnson, C W L; Murray, G M

    2002-06-30

    Previous studies have indicated that the location of a condylar point can significantly influence its trajectory. The aim of this investigation was to develop a method of registering the location of radiographically defined condylar points in the coordinate system of a six-degree-of-freedom jaw-tracking device and to determine the accuracy of this method by using a perspex model in one experiment and a dry skull in another. A direct measurement ('the gold standard') of condylar point coordinates in the coordinate system of JAWS3D was done using a three-dimensional (3D) digitizer (MicroScribe-3DX). The indirect measurement used a distributed fiducial marker as the interface between the coordinate system of MicroScribe-3DX (which was used to register the fiducial marker and the JAWS3D coordinate system) and the coordinate system of the CT scans (used to define condyle anatomy and the relation with the fiducial marker). The coordinates of condylar points could then be calculated in the coordinate system of JAWS3D. The results showed that the indirect method could register condylar point coordinates on either side to an accuracy of approximately 0.5 mm.

  3. Impacts of dialysis transportation on Florida's coordinated public transportation programs.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-04-01

    The National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) at the University of South Florida (USF) collected quantitative and qualitative data from Community Transportation Coordinators (CTCs) throughout Florida. An online survey and a series of personal inter...

  4. Email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders.

    PubMed

    Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Meyer, Barbara; Car, Josip

    2012-08-15

    Email is a popular and commonly-used method of communication, but its use in health care is not routine. Where email communication has been utilised in health care, its purposes have included the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders, but the effects of using email in this way are not known. This review considers the use of email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and reminders for attendance; particularly scheduling, rescheduling and cancelling healthcare appointments, and providing prompts/reminders for attendance at appointments. To assess the effects of using email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders, compared to other forms of coordinating appointments and reminders, on outcomes for health professionals, patients and carers, and health services, including harms. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010),and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists and contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies of interventions that use email for scheduling health appointments, for reminders for a scheduled health appointment or for ongoing coordination of health appointments and that took the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two review authors independently assessed the titles and abstracts of retrieved citations. No studies were identified for inclusion. Consequently, no data collection or analysis was possible. No studies met the inclusion criteria, therefore there are no results to report on the use of email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders. No conclusions on the effects of using email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders could be made and thus no recommendations for practice can be stipulated. Given the significant theoretical opportunities that email presents, there is a need for rigorous studies addressing the review question, but this may involve addressing barriers concerning trial development and implementation.

  5. Self-adaptive enhanced sampling in the energy and trajectory spaces: accelerated thermodynamics and kinetic calculations.

    PubMed

    Gao, Yi Qin

    2008-04-07

    Here, we introduce a simple self-adaptive computational method to enhance the sampling in energy, configuration, and trajectory spaces. The method makes use of two strategies. It first uses a non-Boltzmann distribution method to enhance the sampling in the phase space, in particular, in the configuration space. The application of this method leads to a broad energy distribution in a large energy range and a quickly converged sampling of molecular configurations. In the second stage of simulations, the configuration space of the system is divided into a number of small regions according to preselected collective coordinates. An enhanced sampling of reactive transition paths is then performed in a self-adaptive fashion to accelerate kinetics calculations.

  6. Coordinated garbage collection for raid array of solid state disks

    DOEpatents

    Dillow, David A; Ki, Youngjae; Oral, Hakki S; Shipman, Galen M; Wang, Feiyi

    2014-04-29

    An optimized redundant array of solid state devices may include an array of one or more optimized solid-state devices and a controller coupled to the solid-state devices for managing the solid-state devices. The controller may be configured to globally coordinate the garbage collection activities of each of said optimized solid-state devices, for instance, to minimize the degraded performance time and increase the optimal performance time of the entire array of devices.

  7. Intra- and inter-group coordination patterns reveal collective behaviors of football players near the scoring zone.

    PubMed

    Duarte, Ricardo; Araújo, Duarte; Freire, Luís; Folgado, Hugo; Fernandes, Orlando; Davids, Keith

    2012-12-01

    This study examined emergent coordination processes in collective patterns of behavior in 3 vs 3 sub-phases of the team sport of association football near the scoring zone. We identified coordination tendencies for the centroid (i.e., team center) and surface area (i.e., occupied space) of each sub-group of performers (n=20 plays). We also compared these kinematic variables at three key moments of play using mixed-model ANOVAs. The centroids demonstrated a strong symmetric relation that described the coordinated attacking/defending actions of performers in this sub-phase of play. Conversely, analysis of the surface area of each team did not reveal a clear coordination pattern between sub-groups. But the difference in the occupied area between the attacking and defending sub-groups significantly increased over time. Findings emphasized that major changes in sub-group behaviors occurred just before an assisted pass was made (i.e., leading to a loss of stability in the 3 vs 3 sub-phases). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Development of parallel algorithms for electrical power management in space applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Berry, Frederick C.

    1989-01-01

    The application of parallel techniques for electrical power system analysis is discussed. The Newton-Raphson method of load flow analysis was used along with the decomposition-coordination technique to perform load flow analysis. The decomposition-coordination technique enables tasks to be performed in parallel by partitioning the electrical power system into independent local problems. Each independent local problem represents a portion of the total electrical power system on which a loan flow analysis can be performed. The load flow analysis is performed on these partitioned elements by using the Newton-Raphson load flow method. These independent local problems will produce results for voltage and power which can then be passed to the coordinator portion of the solution procedure. The coordinator problem uses the results of the local problems to determine if any correction is needed on the local problems. The coordinator problem is also solved by an iterative method much like the local problem. The iterative method for the coordination problem will also be the Newton-Raphson method. Therefore, each iteration at the coordination level will result in new values for the local problems. The local problems will have to be solved again along with the coordinator problem until some convergence conditions are met.

  9. Pan-Canadian assessment of pandemic immunization data collection: study methodology.

    PubMed

    Pereira, Jennifer A; Quach, Susan; Heidebrecht, Christine; Foisy, Julie; Quan, Sherman; Finkelstein, Michael; Sikora, Christopher A; Bettinger, Julie A; Buckeridge, David L; McCarthy, Anne; Deeks, Shelley; Kwong, Jeffrey C

    2010-06-08

    The collection of individual-level pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza immunization data was considered important to facilitate optimal vaccine delivery and accurate assessment of vaccine coverage. These data are also critical for research aimed at evaluating the new vaccine's safety and effectiveness. Systems used to collect immunization data include manual approaches in which data are collected and retained on paper, electronic systems in which data are captured on computer at the point of vaccination and hybrid systems which are comprised of both computerized and manual data collection components. This study's objective was to compare the efficiencies and perceptions of data collection methods employed during Canada's pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination campaign. A pan-Canadian observational study was conducted in a convenience sample of public health clinics and healthcare institutions during the H1N1 vaccination campaign in the fall of 2009. The study design consisted of three stages: Stage 1 involved passive observation of the site's layout, processes and client flow; Stage 2 entailed timing site staff on 20 clients through five core immunization tasks: i) client registration, ii) medical history collection, iii) medical history review, iv) vaccine administration record keeping and v) preparation of proof of vaccine administration for the client; in Stage 3, site staff completed a questionnaire regarding perceived usability of the site's data collection approach. Before the national study began, a pilot study was conducted in three seasonal influenza vaccination sites in Ontario, to both test that the proposed methodology was logistically feasible and to determine inter-rater reliability in the measurements of the research staff. Comparative analyses will be conducted across the range of data collection methods with respect to time required to collect immunization data, number and type of individual-level data elements collected, and clinic staff perceptions of the usability of the method employed at their site, using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Various data collection methods were employed at immunization sites across Canada during the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccination campaign. Our comparison of methods can facilitate planning an efficient, coordinated approach for collecting immunization data in future influenza seasons.

  10. Operationalizing Heedful Interrelating: How Attending, Responding, and Feeling Comprise Coordinating and Predict Performance in Self-Managing Teams.

    PubMed

    Stephens, John Paul; Lyddy, Christopher J

    2016-01-01

    Team coordination implies a system of individual behavioral contributions occurring within a network of interpersonal relationships to achieve a collective goal. Current research on coordination has emphasized its relational aspects, but has not adequately accounted for how team members also simultaneously manage individual behavioral contributions and represent the whole system of the team's work. In the current study, we develop theory and test how individuals manage all three aspects of coordinating through the three facets described in the theory of heedful interrelating. We operationalize the facet of contributing as distributing attention between self and others, subordinating as responsively communicating, and representing as feeling the system of the team's work as a cohesive whole. We then test the relationships among these facets and their influence on team performance in an experiment with 50 ad hoc triads of undergraduate student self-managing teams tasked with collectively composing a song in the lab. In analyzing thin-slices of video data of these teams' coordination, we found that teams with members displaying greater dispersion of attentional distribution and more responsive communicating experienced a stronger feeling of the team as a whole. Responsive communication also predicted team performance. Accounting for how the three aspects of coordinating are managed by individual team members provides a more critical understanding of heedful interrelating, and insight into emergent coordination processes.

  11. Operationalizing Heedful Interrelating: How Attending, Responding, and Feeling Comprise Coordinating and Predict Performance in Self-Managing Teams

    PubMed Central

    Stephens, John Paul; Lyddy, Christopher J.

    2016-01-01

    Team coordination implies a system of individual behavioral contributions occurring within a network of interpersonal relationships to achieve a collective goal. Current research on coordination has emphasized its relational aspects, but has not adequately accounted for how team members also simultaneously manage individual behavioral contributions and represent the whole system of the team's work. In the current study, we develop theory and test how individuals manage all three aspects of coordinating through the three facets described in the theory of heedful interrelating. We operationalize the facet of contributing as distributing attention between self and others, subordinating as responsively communicating, and representing as feeling the system of the team's work as a cohesive whole. We then test the relationships among these facets and their influence on team performance in an experiment with 50 ad hoc triads of undergraduate student self-managing teams tasked with collectively composing a song in the lab. In analyzing thin-slices of video data of these teams' coordination, we found that teams with members displaying greater dispersion of attentional distribution and more responsive communicating experienced a stronger feeling of the team as a whole. Responsive communication also predicted team performance. Accounting for how the three aspects of coordinating are managed by individual team members provides a more critical understanding of heedful interrelating, and insight into emergent coordination processes. PMID:27047407

  12. 76 FR 2416 - Civil Rights Division, Federal Coordination and Compliance Section; Agency Information Collection...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-13

    ..., national origin, sex, religion, age, or other bases. Federal Coordination and Compliance Section serves as..., religion, age, or other bases by a public or private entity may, by himself or herself or by an authorized...

  13. Methods for Determining Aircraft Surface State at Lesser-Equipped Airports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roach, Keenan; Null, Jody

    2016-01-01

    Tactical departure scheduling within a terminal airspace must accommodate a wide spectrum of surveillance and communication capabilities at multiple airports. The success of such a scheduler is highly dependent upon the knowledge of a departure's state while it is still on the surface. Airports within a common Terminal RAdar CONtrol (TRACON) airspace possess varying levels of surface surveillance infrastructure which directly impacts uncertainties in wheels-off times. Large airports have access to surface surveillance data, which is shared with the TRACON, while lesser-equipped airports still rely solely on controllers in Air Traffic Control Towers (Towers). Coordination between TRACON and Towers can be greatly enhanced when the TRACON controller has access to the surface surveillance and the associated decision-support tools at well-equipped airports. Similar coordination at lesser-equipped airports is still based on verbal communications. This paper investigates possible methods to reduce the uncertainty in wheels-off time predictions at the lesser-equipped airports through the novel use of Over-the-Air (OTA) data transmissions. We also discuss the methods and equipment used to collect sample data at lesser-equipped airports within a large US TRACON, as well as the data evaluation to determine if meaningful information can be extracted from it.

  14. Multi-model stereo restitution

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Dueholm, K.S.

    1990-01-01

    Methods are described that permit simultaneous orientation of many small-frame photogrammetric models in an analytical plotter. The multi-model software program enables the operator to move freely between the oriented models during interpretation and mapping. Models change automatically when the measuring mark is moved from one frame to another, moving to the same ground coordinates in the neighboring model. Thus, data collection and plotting can be performed continuously across model boundaries. The orientation of the models is accomplished by a bundle block adjustment. -from Author

  15. Free energy from molecular dynamics with multiple constraints

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    den Otter, W. K.; Briels, W. J.

    In molecular dynamics simulations of reacting systems, the key step to determining the equilibrium constant and the reaction rate is the calculation of the free energy as a function of the reaction coordinate. Intuitively the derivative of the free energy is equal to the average force needed to constrain the reaction coordinate to a constant value, but the metric tensor effect of the constraint on the sampled phase space distribution complicates this relation. The appropriately corrected expression for the potential of mean constraint force method (PMCF) for systems in which only the reaction coordinate is constrained was published recently. Here we will consider the general case of a system with multiple constraints. This situation arises when both the reaction coordinate and the 'hard' coordinates are constrained, and also in systems with several reaction coordinates. The obvious advantage of this method over the established thermodynamic integration and free energy perturbation methods is that it avoids the cumbersome introduction of a full set of generalized coordinates complementing the constrained coordinates. Simulations of n -butane and n -pentane in vacuum illustrate the method.

  16. New estimates of the Martian landers and rovers coordinates by combining Doppler data and topography model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Le Maistre, Sebastien

    2015-11-01

    We propose here a new method to determine the three coordinates of a spacecraft landed on Mars with a high accuracy as early as the very beginning of the mission. The method consists of determining first the in-equatorial plane coordinates with Doppler data only and then inferring the Z-coordinate (along the polar axis) using the MOLA topography model. The method is applied to several landed missions, providing good estimate of the Z-coordinate of Viking lander 1, Pathfinder and Spirit, but failing to improve the Z of Opportunity and Viking lander 2. Finally, the method is applied in the InSight landing ellipse showing the high probability to get InSight’s Z coordinate with a precision better than 10m after only a couple of days of observations.

  17. 75 FR 57737 - Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection; National Veterinary Services...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-22

    ...] Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection; National Veterinary Services Laboratories... Service's intention to request approval of an information collection associated with National Veterinary...' Information Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851-2908. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: National Veterinary...

  18. Analysis For Monitoring the Earth Science Afternoon Constellation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Demarest, Peter; Richon, Karen V.; Wright, Frank

    2005-01-01

    The Earth Science Afternoon Constellation consists of Aqua, Aura, PARASOL, CALIPSO, Cloudsat, and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO). The coordination of flight dynamics activities between these missions is critical to the safety and success of the Afternoon Constellation. This coordination is based on two main concepts, the control box and the zone-of-exclusion. This paper describes how these two concepts are implemented in the Constellation Coordination System (CCS). The CCS is a collection of tools that enables the collection and distribution of flight dynamics products among the missions, allows cross-mission analyses to be performed through a web-based interface, performs automated analyses to monitor the overall constellation, and notifies the missions of changes in the status of the other missions.

  19. Assessment of district health system within inter-sectoral context in Nepal.

    PubMed

    Bhusal, C L; Singh, S P; Aryal, K K; Jha, B K; Ghimire, N; Shah, N; Khatiwada, D; Magar, A

    2013-05-01

    Inter-sectoral coordination has been one of the different factors in the district health system that produces efficient output which has been identified by the Alma Ata declaration as an essential component to achieve notion of 'Health for All'. This study was therefore aimed to describe the major four key functions of the health systems and to find out the situation of inter-sectoral coordination in Nepal. A mixed method with Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and In-Depth Interview with relevant personnel to collect the majority of the data was carried out from June 2012 to November 2012 from six districts selected purposively based on the health performance indicators. The major findings in relation to the key functions of district health systems showed that the overall management of the district health system happens under the leadership of chief of District Health Office of Public health office with the cooperation of all the personnel in different sections in a predetermined pattern and inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration exist only to a very limited extent. The major constraints for inter-sectoral coordination to be effective is lack of its planning and enforcement where inter-sectoral coordination could be important for both preventive and promotive health care, waste management, water supply and sanitation, health service utilization, pesticides and human health, agriculture and nutrition, air pollution. The main components in the district health system needs an immediate attention and inter-sectoral effort should be initiated from the central level and implemented in all the levels.

  20. Method and system for formation and withdrawal of a sample from a surface to be analyzed

    DOEpatents

    Van Berkel, Gary J.; Kertesz, Vilmos

    2017-10-03

    A method and system for formation and withdrawal of a sample from a surface to be analyzed utilizes a collection instrument having a port through which a liquid solution is conducted onto the surface to be analyzed. The port is positioned adjacent the surface to be analyzed, and the liquid solution is conducted onto the surface through the port so that the liquid solution conducted onto the surface interacts with material comprising the surface. An amount of material is thereafter withdrawn from the surface. Pressure control can be utilized to manipulate the solution balance at the surface to thereby control the withdrawal of the amount of material from the surface. Furthermore, such pressure control can be coordinated with the movement of the surface relative to the port of the collection instrument within the X-Y plane.

  1. Care Coordination: Empowering Families, a Promising Practice to Facilitate Medical Home Use Among Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

    PubMed

    Ufer, Lisa Gorman; Moore, Julie A; Hawkins, Kristen; Gembel, Gina; Entwistle, David N; Hoffman, David

    2018-05-01

    Introduction This paper describes the care coordination training program and results of an evaluation from its pilot in seven states. Despite the importance of practice-based care coordination, only 42.3% of children with special health care needs (CYSHCN) met all needed components of care coordination as defined by the Maternal Child Health Bureau. Recognizing that children with medically complex conditions often have lower rates of achieving care coordination within a medical home, the Region 4 Midwest Genetics Collaborative worked with families to develop a training to empower families in care coordination. The Care Coordination: Empowering Families(CCEF) training provides families with the knowledge, tools, and resources to engage with health, education and family support systems. This article gives an overview of the training and comprehensive evaluation. Methods Participants were family caregivers of children with genetic conditions and other special health care needs recruited in one of seven pilot states. Evaluation data were collected from 190 participants prior to and immediately following the training. An additional follow-up assessment one full year post training was completed by 80 participants (a response rate of 42%). Results Families who attended the training report being the primary source of care coordination for their children and 83.7% see their role in their child's healthcare changing as a result of the training. The findings suggest that peer support and communication with providers increased as a result of the training over the course of the study. The data suggest that the training impacted how the family interacts with the child's doctor, including initiating conversations to prepare their child for transition to adult health care. Further, families report system-level improvements 1 year later compared to the pre-training assessment. Discussion CCEF training is a promising practice for facilitating medical home use among CYSHCN.

  2. A fast fully constrained geometric unmixing of hyperspectral images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Xin; Li, Xiao-run; Cui, Jian-tao; Zhao, Liao-ying; Zheng, Jun-peng

    2014-11-01

    A great challenge in hyperspectral image analysis is decomposing a mixed pixel into a collection of endmembers and their corresponding abundance fractions. This paper presents an improved implementation of Barycentric Coordinate approach to unmix hyperspectral images, integrating with the Most-Negative Remove Projection method to meet the abundance sum-to-one constraint (ASC) and abundance non-negativity constraint (ANC). The original barycentric coordinate approach interprets the endmember unmixing problem as a simplex volume ratio problem, which is solved by calculate the determinants of two augmented matrix. One consists of all the members and the other consist of the to-be-unmixed pixel and all the endmembers except for the one corresponding to the specific abundance that is to be estimated. In this paper, we first modified the algorithm of Barycentric Coordinate approach by bringing in the Matrix Determinant Lemma to simplify the unmixing process, which makes the calculation only contains linear matrix and vector operations. So, the matrix determinant calculation of every pixel, as the original algorithm did, is avoided. By the end of this step, the estimated abundance meet the ASC constraint. Then, the Most-Negative Remove Projection method is used to make the abundance fractions meet the full constraints. This algorithm is demonstrated both on synthetic and real images. The resulting algorithm yields the abundance maps that are similar to those obtained by FCLS, while the runtime is outperformed as its computational simplicity.

  3. Calculating Free Energies Using Average Force

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Darve, Eric; Pohorille, Andrew; DeVincenzi, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    A new, general formula that connects the derivatives of the free energy along the selected, generalized coordinates of the system with the instantaneous force acting on these coordinates is derived. The instantaneous force is defined as the force acting on the coordinate of interest so that when it is subtracted from the equations of motion the acceleration along this coordinate is zero. The formula applies to simulations in which the selected coordinates are either unconstrained or constrained to fixed values. It is shown that in the latter case the formula reduces to the expression previously derived by den Otter and Briels. If simulations are carried out without constraining the coordinates of interest, the formula leads to a new method for calculating the free energy changes along these coordinates. This method is tested in two examples - rotation around the C-C bond of 1,2-dichloroethane immersed in water and transfer of fluoromethane across the water-hexane interface. The calculated free energies are compared with those obtained by two commonly used methods. One of them relies on determining the probability density function of finding the system at different values of the selected coordinate and the other requires calculating the average force at discrete locations along this coordinate in a series of constrained simulations. The free energies calculated by these three methods are in excellent agreement. The relative advantages of each method are discussed.

  4. Stereoscopic motion analysis in densely packed clusters: 3D analysis of the shimmering behaviour in Giant honey bees.

    PubMed

    Kastberger, Gerald; Maurer, Michael; Weihmann, Frank; Ruether, Matthias; Hoetzl, Thomas; Kranner, Ilse; Bischof, Horst

    2011-02-08

    The detailed interpretation of mass phenomena such as human escape panic or swarm behaviour in birds, fish and insects requires detailed analysis of the 3D movements of individual participants. Here, we describe the adaptation of a 3D stereoscopic imaging method to measure the positional coordinates of individual agents in densely packed clusters. The method was applied to study behavioural aspects of shimmering in Giant honeybees, a collective defence behaviour that deters predatory wasps by visual cues, whereby individual bees flip their abdomen upwards in a split second, producing Mexican wave-like patterns. Stereoscopic imaging provided non-invasive, automated, simultaneous, in-situ 3D measurements of hundreds of bees on the nest surface regarding their thoracic position and orientation of the body length axis. Segmentation was the basis for the stereo matching, which defined correspondences of individual bees in pairs of stereo images. Stereo-matched "agent bees" were re-identified in subsequent frames by the tracking procedure and triangulated into real-world coordinates. These algorithms were required to calculate the three spatial motion components (dx: horizontal, dy: vertical and dz: towards and from the comb) of individual bees over time. The method enables the assessment of the 3D positions of individual Giant honeybees, which is not possible with single-view cameras. The method can be applied to distinguish at the individual bee level active movements of the thoraces produced by abdominal flipping from passive motions generated by the moving bee curtain. The data provide evidence that the z-deflections of thoraces are potential cues for colony-intrinsic communication. The method helps to understand the phenomenon of collective decision-making through mechanoceptive synchronization and to associate shimmering with the principles of wave propagation. With further, minor modifications, the method could be used to study aspects of other mass phenomena that involve active and passive movements of individual agents in densely packed clusters.

  5. Stereoscopic motion analysis in densely packed clusters: 3D analysis of the shimmering behaviour in Giant honey bees

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The detailed interpretation of mass phenomena such as human escape panic or swarm behaviour in birds, fish and insects requires detailed analysis of the 3D movements of individual participants. Here, we describe the adaptation of a 3D stereoscopic imaging method to measure the positional coordinates of individual agents in densely packed clusters. The method was applied to study behavioural aspects of shimmering in Giant honeybees, a collective defence behaviour that deters predatory wasps by visual cues, whereby individual bees flip their abdomen upwards in a split second, producing Mexican wave-like patterns. Results Stereoscopic imaging provided non-invasive, automated, simultaneous, in-situ 3D measurements of hundreds of bees on the nest surface regarding their thoracic position and orientation of the body length axis. Segmentation was the basis for the stereo matching, which defined correspondences of individual bees in pairs of stereo images. Stereo-matched "agent bees" were re-identified in subsequent frames by the tracking procedure and triangulated into real-world coordinates. These algorithms were required to calculate the three spatial motion components (dx: horizontal, dy: vertical and dz: towards and from the comb) of individual bees over time. Conclusions The method enables the assessment of the 3D positions of individual Giant honeybees, which is not possible with single-view cameras. The method can be applied to distinguish at the individual bee level active movements of the thoraces produced by abdominal flipping from passive motions generated by the moving bee curtain. The data provide evidence that the z-deflections of thoraces are potential cues for colony-intrinsic communication. The method helps to understand the phenomenon of collective decision-making through mechanoceptive synchronization and to associate shimmering with the principles of wave propagation. With further, minor modifications, the method could be used to study aspects of other mass phenomena that involve active and passive movements of individual agents in densely packed clusters. PMID:21303539

  6. Variations in data collection can influence outcome measures of BMI measuring programmes.

    PubMed

    Townsend, Nick; Rutter, Harry; Foster, Charlie

    2011-10-01

    The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes the surveillance of obesity prevalence through standardized and harmonized surveillance systems. However, variations in data collection between countries, or between coordinating regions in countries can affect outcome measures. Multilevel analysis of 2007/08 National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) data estimating the relationship between BMI z-score and data collection variations within coordinating regions whilst adjusting for individual-level and school-level variables. The 2007/08 NCMP collected height and weight measurements for 478,381 Reception year pupils (4-5-year-olds) and 496,297 year 6 pupils (10-11-year-olds) from 17,279 primary schools in 152 data collection coordinating regions in England. Data collection variables accounted for 29.7% of the regional variation in BMI z-score for Reception year pupils but only 5.3% for the older Year 6 pupils. Digit preference in the rounding of weight measurements had the greatest impact of all the data collection variables, explaining 26.4% of the regional variation in BMI z-score for Reception year pupils and 4.0% for Year 6 pupils. Although variations in data collection may have a small effect on individual measurements their impact can be magnified when scaled up to regional or national figures. All measurement programmes must regularly identify and minimize variations in data collection to improve accuracy of outcome measures. These factors include those identified within this study: participation and opt out rates, the time in the year the measurements are taken and the recording of measurements to the correct decimal place.

  7. Connecting the Kinetics and Energy Landscape of tRNA Translocation on the Ribosome

    PubMed Central

    Whitford, Paul C.; Blanchard, Scott C.; Cate, Jamie H. D.; Sanbonmatsu, Karissa Y.

    2013-01-01

    Functional rearrangements in biomolecular assemblies result from diffusion across an underlying energy landscape. While bulk kinetic measurements rely on discrete state-like approximations to the energy landscape, single-molecule methods can project the free energy onto specific coordinates. With measures of the diffusion, one may establish a quantitative bridge between state-like kinetic measurements and the continuous energy landscape. We used an all-atom molecular dynamics simulation of the 70S ribosome (2.1 million atoms; 1.3 microseconds) to provide this bridge for specific conformational events associated with the process of tRNA translocation. Starting from a pre-translocation configuration, we identified sets of residues that collectively undergo rotary rearrangements implicated in ribosome function. Estimates of the diffusion coefficients along these collective coordinates for translocation were then used to interconvert between experimental rates and measures of the energy landscape. This analysis, in conjunction with previously reported experimental rates of translocation, provides an upper-bound estimate of the free-energy barriers associated with translocation. While this analysis was performed for a particular kinetic scheme of translocation, the quantitative framework is general and may be applied to energetic and kinetic descriptions that include any number of intermediates and transition states. PMID:23555233

  8. Connecting the kinetics and energy landscape of tRNA translocation on the ribosome.

    PubMed

    Whitford, Paul C; Blanchard, Scott C; Cate, Jamie H D; Sanbonmatsu, Karissa Y

    2013-01-01

    Functional rearrangements in biomolecular assemblies result from diffusion across an underlying energy landscape. While bulk kinetic measurements rely on discrete state-like approximations to the energy landscape, single-molecule methods can project the free energy onto specific coordinates. With measures of the diffusion, one may establish a quantitative bridge between state-like kinetic measurements and the continuous energy landscape. We used an all-atom molecular dynamics simulation of the 70S ribosome (2.1 million atoms; 1.3 microseconds) to provide this bridge for specific conformational events associated with the process of tRNA translocation. Starting from a pre-translocation configuration, we identified sets of residues that collectively undergo rotary rearrangements implicated in ribosome function. Estimates of the diffusion coefficients along these collective coordinates for translocation were then used to interconvert between experimental rates and measures of the energy landscape. This analysis, in conjunction with previously reported experimental rates of translocation, provides an upper-bound estimate of the free-energy barriers associated with translocation. While this analysis was performed for a particular kinetic scheme of translocation, the quantitative framework is general and may be applied to energetic and kinetic descriptions that include any number of intermediates and transition states.

  9. 76 FR 10367 - Agency Information Collection Request; 60-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-02-24

    .... Proposed Project: Research Evaluation and Impact Assessment of ARRA Comparative Effectiveness Research... under real-world conditions in diverse populations and clinical practice settings, that is, comparative... Coordinating Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research (FCCCER) to help coordinate and minimize duplicative...

  10. 75 FR 54885 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-09

    ... Researchers, Policy Experts, and State- level Coordinators Discussion Guide for Use with Program 25 1 2.5 63... subsidized and transitional employment programs. Through this information collection and other study....g. state-level coordinators), subsidized and transitional employment program directors and staffs...

  11. UTM Well Coordinates for the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS)

    DOE Data Explorer

    Lim, David

    2014-12-19

    A series of oscillatory pumping tests were performed at the BHRS. The data collected from these wells will be used to tomographically image the shallow subsurface. This excel file only contains well coordinates for all wells at the Boise site.

  12. 76 FR 13200 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 1660-0062; State...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-10

    ... losses from hazards, and to establish a coordinated process to implement the plan, taking advantage of a... maintenance, or capital and start-up costs associated with this collection of information. Comments Comments...

  13. Determination of plasma displacement based on eddy current diagnostics for the Keda Torus eXperiment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tu, Cui; Li, Hong; Liu, Adi; Li, Zichao; Zhang, Yuan; You, Wei; Tan, Mingsheng; Luo, Bing; Adil, Yolbarsop; Hu, Jintong; Wu, Yanqi; Yan, Wentan; Xie, Jinlin; Lan, Tao; Mao, Wenzhe; Ding, Weixing; Xiao, Chijin; Zhuang, Ge; Liu, Wandong

    2017-10-01

    The measurement of plasma displacement is one of the most basic diagnostic tools in the study of plasma equilibrium and control in a toroidal magnetic confinement configuration. During pulse discharge, the eddy current induced in the vacuum vessel and shell will produce an additional magnetic field at the plasma boundary, which will have a significant impact on the measurement of plasma displacement using magnetic probes. In the newly built Keda Torus eXperiment (KTX) reversed field pinch device, the eddy current in the composite shell can be obtained at a high spatial resolution. This device offers a new way to determine the plasma displacement for KTX through the multipole moment expansion of the eddy current, which can be obtained by unique probe arrays installed on the inner and outer surfaces of the composite shell. In an ideal conductor shell approximation, the method of multipole moment expansion of the poloidal eddy current for measuring the plasma displacement in toroidal coordinates, is more accurate than the previous method based on symmetrical magnetic probes, which yielded results in cylindrical coordinates. Through an analytical analysis of many current filaments and numerical simulations of the current distribution in toroidal coordinates, the scaling relation between the first moment of the eddy current and the center of gravity of the plasma current is obtained. In addition, the origin of the multipole moment expansion of the eddy current in KTX is retrieved simultaneously. Preliminary data on the plasma displacement have been collected using these two methods during short pulse discharges in the KTX device, and the results of the two methods are in reasonable agreement.

  14. Effect of the refractive index on the hawking temperature: an application of the Hamilton-Jacobi method

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

    Sakalli, I., E-mail: izzet.sakalli@emu.edu.tr; Mirekhtiary, S. F., E-mail: fatemeh.mirekhtiary@emu.edu.tr

    2013-10-15

    Hawking radiation of a non-asymptotically flat 4-dimensional spherically symmetric and static dilatonic black hole (BH) via the Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) method is studied. In addition to the naive coordinates, we use four more different coordinate systems that are well-behaved at the horizon. Except for the isotropic coordinates, direct computation by the HJ method leads to the standard Hawking temperature for all coordinate systems. The isotropic coordinates allow extracting the index of refraction from the Fermat metric. It is explicitly shown that the index of refraction determines the value of the tunneling rate and its natural consequence, the Hawking temperature. The isotropicmore » coordinates in the conventional HJ method produce a wrong result for the temperature of the linear dilaton. Here, we explain how this discrepancy can be resolved by regularizing the integral possessing a pole at the horizon.« less

  15. Pairing-induced speedup of nuclear spontaneous fission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sadhukhan, Jhilam; Dobaczewski, J.; Nazarewicz, W.; Sheikh, J. A.; Baran, A.

    2014-12-01

    Background: Collective inertia is strongly influenced at the level crossing at which the quantum system changes its microscopic configuration diabatically. Pairing correlations tend to make the large-amplitude nuclear collective motion more adiabatic by reducing the effect of these configuration changes. Competition between pairing and level crossing is thus expected to have a profound impact on spontaneous fission lifetimes. Purpose: To elucidate the role of nucleonic pairing on spontaneous fission, we study the dynamic fission trajectories of 264Fm and 240Pu using the state-of-the-art self-consistent framework. Methods: We employ the superfluid nuclear density functional theory with the Skyrme energy density functional SkM* and a density-dependent pairing interaction. Along with shape variables, proton and neutron pairing correlations are taken as collective coordinates. The collective inertia tensor is calculated within the nonperturbative cranking approximation. The fission paths are obtained by using the least action principle in a four-dimensional collective space of shape and pairing coordinates. Results: Pairing correlations are enhanced along the minimum-action fission path. For the symmetric fission of 264Fm, where the effect of triaxiality on the fission barrier is large, the geometry of the fission pathway in the space of the shape degrees of freedom is weakly impacted by pairing. This is not the case for 240Pu, where pairing fluctuations restore the axial symmetry of the dynamic fission trajectory. Conclusions: The minimum-action fission path is strongly impacted by nucleonic pairing. In some cases, the dynamical coupling between shape and pairing degrees of freedom can lead to a dramatic departure from the static picture. Consequently, in the dynamical description of nuclear fission, particle-particle correlations should be considered on the same footing as those associated with shape degrees of freedom.

  16. Exploring the process of capacity-building among community-based health promotion workers in Alberta, Canada.

    PubMed

    Montemurro, Genevieve R; Raine, Kim D; Nykiforuk, Candace I J; Mayan, Maria

    2014-09-01

    Community capacity-building is a central element to health promotion. While capacity-building features, domains and relationships to program sustainability have been well examined, information on the process of capacity-building as experienced by practitioners is needed. This study examined this process as experienced by coordinators working within a community-based chronic disease prevention project implemented in four communities in Alberta (Canada) from 2005-2010 using a case study approach with a mixed-method design. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews, a focus group and program documents tracking coordinator activity. Qualitative analysis followed the constant comparative method using open, axial and selective coding. Quantitative data were analyzed for frequency of major activity distribution. Capacity-building process involves distinct stages of networking, information exchange, partnering, prioritizing, planning/implementing and supporting/ sustaining. Stages are incremental though not always linear. Contextual factors exert a great influence on the process. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Generation, recognition, and consistent fusion of partial boundary representations from range images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohlhepp, Peter; Hanczak, Andrzej M.; Li, Gang

    1994-10-01

    This paper presents SOMBRERO, a new system for recognizing and locating 3D, rigid, non- moving objects from range data. The objects may be polyhedral or curved, partially occluding, touching or lying flush with each other. For data collection, we employ 2D time- of-flight laser scanners mounted to a moving gantry robot. By combining sensor and robot coordinates, we obtain 3D cartesian coordinates. Boundary representations (Brep's) provide view independent geometry models that are both efficiently recognizable and derivable automatically from sensor data. SOMBRERO's methods for generating, matching and fusing Brep's are highly synergetic. A split-and-merge segmentation algorithm with dynamic triangular builds a partial (21/2D) Brep from scattered data. The recognition module matches this scene description with a model database and outputs recognized objects, their positions and orientations, and possibly surfaces corresponding to unknown objects. We present preliminary results in scene segmentation and recognition. Partial Brep's corresponding to different range sensors or viewpoints can be merged into a consistent, complete and irredundant 3D object or scene model. This fusion algorithm itself uses the recognition and segmentation methods.

  18. 77 FR 69497 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Funding Availability for OneCPD...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-19

    ... Proposed Information Collection to OMB; Funding Availability for OneCPD Technical Assistance and Capacity..., prevent and reduce homelessness, improve data collection and reporting, and use coordinated neighborhood... increase the supply of affordable housing units, prevent and reduce homelessness, improve data collection...

  19. 29 CFR 42.21 - Data collection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Data collection. 42.21 Section 42.21 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT § 42.21 Data collection. (a) For each protective statute, ESA, OSHA, and the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) shall regularly collect statistical data reflecting their...

  20. 29 CFR 42.21 - Data collection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Data collection. 42.21 Section 42.21 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT § 42.21 Data collection. (a) For each protective statute, ESA, OSHA, and the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) shall regularly collect statistical data reflecting their...

  1. 29 CFR 42.21 - Data collection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Data collection. 42.21 Section 42.21 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT § 42.21 Data collection. (a) For each protective statute, ESA, OSHA, and the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) shall regularly collect statistical data reflecting their...

  2. 29 CFR 42.21 - Data collection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Data collection. 42.21 Section 42.21 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT § 42.21 Data collection. (a) For each protective statute, ESA, OSHA, and the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) shall regularly collect statistical data reflecting their...

  3. 29 CFR 42.21 - Data collection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Data collection. 42.21 Section 42.21 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT § 42.21 Data collection. (a) For each protective statute, ESA, OSHA, and the Office of the Solicitor (SOL) shall regularly collect statistical data reflecting their...

  4. Optimizing clinical and organizational practice in cancer survivor transitions between specialized oncology and primary care teams: a realist evaluation of multiple case studies.

    PubMed

    Tremblay, Dominique; Prady, Catherine; Bilodeau, Karine; Touati, Nassera; Chouinard, Maud-Christine; Fortin, Martin; Gaboury, Isabelle; Rodrigue, Jean; L'Italien, Marie-France

    2017-12-16

    Cancer is now viewed as a chronic disease, presenting challenges to follow-up and survivorship care. Models to shift from haphazard, suboptimal and fragmented episodes of care to an integrated cancer care continuum must be developed, tested and implemented. Numerous studies demonstrate improved care when follow-up is assured by both oncology and primary care providers rather than either group alone. However, there is little data on the roles assumed by specialized oncology teams and primary care providers and the extent to which they work together. This study aims to develop, pilot test and measure outcomes of an innovative risk-based coordinated cancer care model for patients transitioning from specialized oncology teams to primary care providers. This multiple case study using a sequential mixed-methods design rests on a theory-driven realist evaluation approach to understand how transitions might be improved. The cases are two health regions in Quebec, Canada, defined by their geographic territory. Each case includes a Cancer Centre and three Family Medicine Groups selected based on differences in their determining characteristics. Qualitative data will be collected from document review (scientific journal, grey literature, local documentation), semi-directed interviews with key informants, and observation of care coordination practices. Qualitative data will be supplemented with a survey to measure the outcome of the coordinated model among providers (scope of practice, collaboration, relational coordination, leadership) and patients diagnosed with breast, colorectal or prostate cancer (access to care, patient-centredness, communication, self-care, survivorship profile, quality of life). Results from descriptive and regression analyses will be triangulated with thematic analysis of qualitative data. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods data will be interpreted within and across cases in order to identify context-mechanism associations that explain outcomes. The study will provide empirical data on a risk-based coordinated model of cancer care to guide actions at different levels in the health system. This in-depth multiple case study using a realist approach considers both the need for context-specific intervention research and the imperative to address research gaps regarding coordinated models of cancer care.

  5. Coordinated Hard Sphere Mixture (CHaSM): A fast approximate model for oxide and silicate melts at extreme conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolf, A. S.; Asimow, P. D.; Stevenson, D. J.

    2015-12-01

    Recent first-principles calculations (e.g. Stixrude, 2009; de Koker, 2013), shock-wave experiments (Mosenfelder, 2009), and diamond-anvil cell investigations (Sanloup, 2013) indicate that silicate melts undergo complex structural evolution at high pressure. The observed increase in cation-coordination (e.g. Karki, 2006; 2007) induces higher compressibilities and lower adiabatic thermal gradients in melts as compared with their solid counterparts. These properties are crucial for understanding the evolution of impact-generated magma oceans, which are dominated by the poorly understood behavior of silicates at mantle pressures and temperatures (e.g. Stixrude et al. 2009). Probing these conditions is difficult for both theory and experiment, especially given the large compositional space (MgO-SiO2-FeO-Al2O3-etc). We develop a new model to understand and predict the behavior of oxide and silicate melts at extreme P-T conditions (Wolf et al., 2015). The Coordinated Hard Sphere Mixture (CHaSM) extends the Hard Sphere mixture model, accounting for the range of coordination states for each cation in the liquid. Using approximate analytic expressions for the hard sphere model, this fast statistical method compliments classical and first-principles methods, providing accurate thermodynamic and structural property predictions for melts. This framework is applied to the MgO system, where model parameters are trained on a collection of crystal polymorphs, producing realistic predictions of coordination evolution and the equation of state of MgO melt over a wide P-T range. Typical Mg-coordination numbers are predicted to evolve continuously from 5.25 (0 GPa) to 8.5 (250 GPa), comparing favorably with first-principles Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. We begin extending the model to a simplified mantle chemistry using empirical potentials (generally accurate over moderate pressure ranges, <~30 GPa), yielding predictions rooted in statistical representations of melt structure that compare well with more time-consuming classical MD calculations. This approach also sheds light on the universality of the increasing Grüneisen parameter trend for liquids (opposite that of solids), which directly reflects their progressive evolution toward more compact solid-like structures upon compression.

  6. Relation between coordinate systems describing the dynamics of a loaded Stewart platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petrova, V. I.

    2018-05-01

    The paper puts forward formulae for transformation of coordinates in three coordinate frames used for the study of motion of a loaded Stewart platform, which is the central mechanism of the dynamic bench. A new method for finding the law of variation of coordinates is proposed. This method depends on solving the problem-specific system of differential equations.

  7. Thermodynamic integration of the free energy along a reaction coordinate in Cartesian coordinates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    den Otter, W. K.

    2000-05-01

    A generalized formulation of the thermodynamic integration (TI) method for calculating the free energy along a reaction coordinate is derived. Molecular dynamics simulations with a constrained reaction coordinate are used to sample conformations. These are then projected onto conformations with a higher value of the reaction coordinate by means of a vector field. The accompanying change in potential energy plus the divergence of the vector field constitute the derivative of the free energy. Any vector field meeting some simple requirements can be used as the basis of this TI expression. Two classes of vector fields are of particular interest here. The first recovers the conventional TI expression, with its cumbersome dependence on a full set of generalized coordinates. As the free energy is a function of the reaction coordinate only, it should in principle be possible to derive an expression depending exclusively on the definition of the reaction coordinate. This objective is met by the second class of vector fields to be discussed. The potential of mean constraint force (PMCF) method, after averaging over the unconstrained momenta, falls in this second class. The new method is illustrated by calculations on the isomerization of n-butane, and is compared with existing methods.

  8. Primary Care and Public Health Activities in Select US Health Centers: Documenting Successes, Barriers, and Lessons Learned

    PubMed Central

    Shi, Leiyu; Chowdhury, Joya; Sripipatana, Alek; Zhu, Jinsheng; Sharma, Ravi; Hayashi, A. Seiji; Daly, Charles A.; Tomoyasu, Naomi; Nair, Suma; Ngo-Metzger, Quyen

    2012-01-01

    Objectives. We examined primary care and public health activities among federally funded health centers, to better understand their successes, the barriers encountered, and the lessons learned. Methods. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data from 9 health centers, stratified by administrative division, urban–rural location, and race/ethnicity of patients served. Descriptive data on patient and institutional characteristics came from the Uniform Data System, which collects data from all health centers annually. We administered questionnaires and conducted phone interviews with key informants. Results. Health centers performed well on primary care coordination and community orientation scales and reported conducting many essential public health activities. We identified specific needs for integrating primary care and public health: (1) more funding for collaborations and for addressing the social determinants of health, (2) strong leadership to champion collaborations, (3) trust building among partners, with shared missions and clear expectations of responsibilities, and (4) alignment and standardization of data collection, analysis, and exchange. Conclusions. Lessons learned from health centers should inform strategies to better integrate public health with primary care. PMID:22690975

  9. Data-driven modeling reveals cell behaviors controlling self-organization during Myxococcus xanthus development

    PubMed Central

    Cotter, Christopher R.; Schüttler, Heinz-Bernd; Igoshin, Oleg A.; Shimkets, Lawrence J.

    2017-01-01

    Collective cell movement is critical to the emergent properties of many multicellular systems, including microbial self-organization in biofilms, embryogenesis, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. However, even the best-studied systems lack a complete picture of how diverse physical and chemical cues act upon individual cells to ensure coordinated multicellular behavior. Known for its social developmental cycle, the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus uses coordinated movement to generate three-dimensional aggregates called fruiting bodies. Despite extensive progress in identifying genes controlling fruiting body development, cell behaviors and cell–cell communication mechanisms that mediate aggregation are largely unknown. We developed an approach to examine emergent behaviors that couples fluorescent cell tracking with data-driven models. A unique feature of this approach is the ability to identify cell behaviors affecting the observed aggregation dynamics without full knowledge of the underlying biological mechanisms. The fluorescent cell tracking revealed large deviations in the behavior of individual cells. Our modeling method indicated that decreased cell motility inside the aggregates, a biased walk toward aggregate centroids, and alignment among neighboring cells in a radial direction to the nearest aggregate are behaviors that enhance aggregation dynamics. Our modeling method also revealed that aggregation is generally robust to perturbations in these behaviors and identified possible compensatory mechanisms. The resulting approach of directly combining behavior quantification with data-driven simulations can be applied to more complex systems of collective cell movement without prior knowledge of the cellular machinery and behavioral cues. PMID:28533367

  10. Three-dimensional structure of Erwinia carotovora L-asparaginase

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

    Kislitsyn, Yu. A.; Kravchenko, O. V.; Nikonov, S. V.

    2006-10-15

    Three-dimensional structure of Erwinia carotovora L-asparaginase, which has antitumor activity and is used for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was solved at 3 A resolution and refined to R{sub cryst} = 20% and R{sub free} = 28%. Crystals of recombinant Erwinia carotovora L-asparaginase were grown by the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method from protein solutions in a HEPES buffer (pH 6.5) and PEG MME 5000 solutions in a cacodylate buffer (pH 6.5) as the precipitant. Three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data were collected up to 3 A resolution from one crystal at room temperature. The structure was solved by the molecular replacement methodmore » using the coordinates of Erwinia chrysanthemi L-asparaginase as the starting model. The coordinates refined with the use of the CNS program package were deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB code 1ZCF)« less

  11. Research on Coordinate Transformation Method of Gb-Sar Image Supported by 3d Laser Scanning Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, P.; Xing, C.

    2018-04-01

    In the image plane of GB-SAR, identification of deformation distribution is usually carried out by artificial interpretation. This method requires analysts to have adequate experience of radar imaging and target recognition, otherwise it can easily cause false recognition of deformation target or region. Therefore, it is very meaningful to connect two-dimensional (2D) plane coordinate system with the common three-dimensional (3D) terrain coordinate system. To improve the global accuracy and reliability of the transformation from 2D coordinates of GB-SAR images to local 3D coordinates, and overcome the limitation of traditional similarity transformation parameter estimation method, 3D laser scanning data is used to assist the transformation of GB-SAR image coordinates. A straight line fitting method for calculating horizontal angle was proposed in this paper. After projection into a consistent imaging plane, we can calculate horizontal rotation angle by using the linear characteristics of the structure in radar image and the 3D coordinate system. Aided by external elevation information by 3D laser scanning technology, we completed the matching of point clouds and pixels on the projection plane according to the geometric projection principle of GB-SAR imaging realizing the transformation calculation of GB-SAR image coordinates to local 3D coordinates. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is verified by the GB-SAR deformation monitoring experiment on the high slope of Geheyan dam.

  12. Identifying and collecting pertinent medical records for centralized abstraction in a multi-center randomized clinical trial: the model used by the American College of Radiology arm of the National Lung Screening Trial.

    PubMed

    Gareen, Ilana F; Sicks, JoRean D; Jain, Amanda Adams; Moline, Denise; Coffman-Kadish, Nancy

    2013-01-01

    In clinical trials and epidemiologic studies, information on medical care utilization and health outcomes is often obtained from medical records. For multi-center studies, this information may be gathered by personnel at individual sites or by staff at a central coordinating center. We describe the process used to develop a HIPAA-compliant centralized process to collect medical record information for a large multi-center cancer screening trial. The framework used to select, request, and track medical records incorporated a participant questionnaire with unique identifiers for each medical provider. De-identified information from the questionnaires was sent to the coordinating center indexed by these identifiers. The central coordinating center selected specific medical providers for abstraction and notified sites using these identifiers. The site personnel then linked the identifiers with medical provider information. Staff at the sites collected medical records and provided them for central abstraction. Medical records were successfully obtained and abstracted to ascertain information on outcomes and health care utilization in a study with over 18,000 study participants. Collection of records required for outcomes related to positive screening examinations and lung cancer diagnosis exceeded 90%. Collection of records for all aims was 87.32%. We designed a successful centralized medical record abstraction process that may be generalized to other research settings, including observational studies. The coordinating center received no identifying data. The process satisfied requirements imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and concerns of site institutional review boards with respect to protected health information. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. tICA-Metadynamics: Accelerating Metadynamics by Using Kinetically Selected Collective Variables.

    PubMed

    M Sultan, Mohammad; Pande, Vijay S

    2017-06-13

    Metadynamics is a powerful enhanced molecular dynamics sampling method that accelerates simulations by adding history-dependent multidimensional Gaussians along selective collective variables (CVs). In practice, choosing a small number of slow CVs remains challenging due to the inherent high dimensionality of biophysical systems. Here we show that time-structure based independent component analysis (tICA), a recent advance in Markov state model literature, can be used to identify a set of variationally optimal slow coordinates for use as CVs for Metadynamics. We show that linear and nonlinear tICA-Metadynamics can complement existing MD studies by explicitly sampling the system's slowest modes and can even drive transitions along the slowest modes even when no such transitions are observed in unbiased simulations.

  14. The operating room charge nurse: coordinator and communicator.

    PubMed Central

    Moss, J.; Xiao, Y.; Zubaidah, S.

    2001-01-01

    To achieve the potential inherent in the use of computer applications in distributed environments, we need to understand the information needs of users. The purpose of this descriptive study was to document the communication of an operating room charge nurse to inform the design of technological communication applications for operating room coordination. A data collection tool was developed to record: 1) the purpose of the communication, 2) mode of communication, 3) the target individual, and 4) the length of time taken for each occurrence. The chosen data collection categories provided a functional structure for data collection and analysis involving communication. Study findings are discussed within the context of application design. PMID:11825234

  15. Coordination and collaboration to document the global cotton germplasm resources

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Coordinated efforts to collect and maintain cotton genetic resources have increased over the last 100 years to insure the worldwide economic value of cotton fiber and cotton byproducts. The classified genetic resources of cotton are extensive and include five tetraploid species in the primary gene ...

  16. Leadership: Its Genealogy, Configuration and Trajectory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gronn, Peter

    2010-01-01

    This article provides a longitudinal analysis of leadership. In the first section of the article, the evidence reviewed indicates how, historically, leadership has been significant in various societal arrangements in the co-ordination of actions for collective purposes. Such co-ordination may also be facilitated through self-organisation, except…

  17. Application of coordinate transform on ball plate calibration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wei, Hengzheng; Wang, Weinong; Ren, Guoying; Pei, Limei

    2015-02-01

    For the ball plate calibration method with coordinate measurement machine (CMM) equipped with laser interferometer, it is essential to adjust the ball plate parallel to the direction of laser beam. It is very time-consuming. To solve this problem, a method based on coordinate transformation between machine system and object system is presented. With the fixed points' coordinates of the ball plate measured in the object system and machine system, the transformation matrix between the coordinate systems is calculated. The laser interferometer measurement data error due to the placement of ball plate can be corrected with this transformation matrix. Experimental results indicate that this method is consistent with the handy adjustment method. It avoids the complexity of ball plate adjustment. It also can be applied to the ball beam calibration.

  18. Adaptively biased molecular dynamics for free energy calculations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Babin, Volodymyr; Roland, Christopher; Sagui, Celeste

    2008-04-01

    We present an adaptively biased molecular dynamics (ABMD) method for the computation of the free energy surface of a reaction coordinate using nonequilibrium dynamics. The ABMD method belongs to the general category of umbrella sampling methods with an evolving biasing potential and is inspired by the metadynamics method. The ABMD method has several useful features, including a small number of control parameters and an O(t ) numerical cost with molecular dynamics time t. The ABMD method naturally allows for extensions based on multiple walkers and replica exchange, where different replicas can have different temperatures and/or collective variables. This is beneficial not only in terms of the speed and accuracy of a calculation, but also in terms of the amount of useful information that may be obtained from a given simulation. The workings of the ABMD method are illustrated via a study of the folding of the Ace-GGPGGG-Nme peptide in a gaseous and solvated environment.

  19. A comparison of methods for computing the sigma-coordinate pressure gradient force for flow over sloped terrain in a hybrid theta-sigma model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, D. R.; Uccellini, L. W.

    1983-01-01

    In connection with the employment of the sigma coordinates introduced by Phillips (1957), problems can arise regarding an accurate finite-difference computation of the pressure gradient force. Over steeply sloped terrain, the calculation of the sigma-coordinate pressure gradient force involves computing the difference between two large terms of opposite sign which results in large truncation error. To reduce the truncation error, several finite-difference methods have been designed and implemented. The present investigation has the objective to provide another method of computing the sigma-coordinate pressure gradient force. Phillips' method is applied for the elimination of a hydrostatic component to a flux formulation. The new technique is compared with four other methods for computing the pressure gradient force. The work is motivated by the desire to use an isentropic and sigma-coordinate hybrid model for experiments designed to study flow near mountainous terrain.

  20. Bound-Preserving Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Conservative Phase Space Advection in Curvilinear Coordinates

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

    Mezzacappa, Anthony; Endeve, Eirik; Hauck, Cory D.

    We extend the positivity-preserving method of Zhang & Shu [49] to simulate the advection of neutral particles in phase space using curvilinear coordinates. The ability to utilize these coordinates is important for non-equilibrium transport problems in general relativity and also in science and engineering applications with specific geometries. The method achieves high-order accuracy using Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) discretization of phase space and strong stabilitypreserving, Runge-Kutta (SSP-RK) time integration. Special care in taken to ensure that the method preserves strict bounds for the phase space distribution function f; i.e., f ϵ [0, 1]. The combination of suitable CFL conditions and themore » use of the high-order limiter proposed in [49] is su cient to ensure positivity of the distribution function. However, to ensure that the distribution function satisfies the upper bound, the discretization must, in addition, preserve the divergencefree property of the phase space ow. Proofs that highlight the necessary conditions are presented for general curvilinear coordinates, and the details of these conditions are worked out for some commonly used coordinate systems (i.e., spherical polar spatial coordinates in spherical symmetry and cylindrical spatial coordinates in axial symmetry, both with spherical momentum coordinates). Results from numerical experiments - including one example in spherical symmetry adopting the Schwarzschild metric - demonstrate that the method achieves high-order accuracy and that the distribution function satisfies the maximum principle.« less

  1. Modeling Multi-Agent Self-Organization through the Lens of Higher Order Attractor Dynamics.

    PubMed

    Butner, Jonathan E; Wiltshire, Travis J; Munion, A K

    2017-01-01

    Social interaction occurs across many time scales and varying numbers of agents; from one-on-one to large-scale coordination in organizations, crowds, cities, and colonies. These contexts, are characterized by emergent self-organization that implies higher order coordinated patterns occurring over time that are not due to the actions of any particular agents, but rather due to the collective ordering that occurs from the interactions of the agents. Extant research to understand these social coordination dynamics (SCD) has primarily examined dyadic contexts performing rhythmic tasks. To advance this area of study, we elaborate on attractor dynamics, our ability to depict them visually, and quantitatively model them. Primarily, we combine difference/differential equation modeling with mixture modeling as a way to infer the underlying topological features of the data, which can be described in terms of attractor dynamic patterns. The advantage of this approach is that we are able to quantify the self-organized dynamics that agents exhibit, link these dynamics back to activity from individual agents, and relate it to other variables central to understanding the coordinative functionality of a system's behavior. We present four examples that differ in the number of variables used to depict the attractor dynamics (1, 2, and 6) and range from simulated to non-simulated data sources. We demonstrate that this is a flexible method that advances scientific study of SCD in a variety of multi-agent systems.

  2. Administrative Coordination in Non-Profit Human Service Delivery Networks: The Role of Competition and Trust

    PubMed Central

    Bunger, Alicia C.

    2014-01-01

    Non-profit human service organizations operating within the same regional network are often faced with dual pressure to compete as well as coordinate administrative operations (by sharing funding, staff or space) to enhance efficiency. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that competing organizations coordinate, despite the risks. Trust, or perceived trustworthiness between two organizations may mitigate the negative influence of competition on coordination, however there have been few explicit tests of this hypothesis among non-profit organizations. Drawing on quantitative data collected from a network of 36 non-profit children’s behavioral health organizations, this paper empirically tests how competition and perceived trustworthiness interact to influence administrative coordination. Results support the hypothesis that trustworthiness moderates the influence of competition on administrative coordination. Findings suggest that as competing non-profit leaders build trust, the more their agencies coordinate their administrative functions. This study highlights the importance of leaders’ perceptions for organizational strategy. PMID:25349468

  3. 75 FR 51437 - Notice of Request for Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection (Advanced Meat...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-20

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Food Safety and Inspection Service [Docket No. FSIS-2010-0025] Notice of... Coordinator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 6065, South...'Connell, Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 Independence...

  4. Examining Individual and Collective Level Mathematical Progress

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rasmussen, Chris; Wawro, Megan; Zandieh, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    A challenge in mathematics education research is to coordinate different analyses to develop a more comprehensive account of teaching and learning. We contribute to these efforts by expanding the constructs in Cobb and Yackel's (Educational Psychologist 31:175-190, 1996) interpretive framework that allow for coordinating social and individual…

  5. 77 FR 63922 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Notice 2009-52

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-17

    ... Credit in Lieu of Production Tax Credit; Coordination With Department of Treasury Grants for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits. DATES: Written comments should be received on or before December... INFORMATION: Title: Election of Investment Tax Credit in Lieu of Production Tax Credit; Coordination With...

  6. 77 FR 61473 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Voluntary Customer Surveys To Implement E.O. 12862...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-09

    ... Voluntary Customer Surveys To Implement E.O. 12862 Coordinated by the Corporate Planning and Performance... required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently... Coordinated by [[Page 61474

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

    Hopwood, J.E.; Affeldt, B.

    An IBM personal computer (PC), a Gerber coordinate digitizer, and a collection of other instruments make up a system known as the Coordinate Digitizer Interactive Processor (CDIP). The PC extracts coordinate data from the digitizer through a special interface, and then, after reformatting, transmits the data to a remote VAX computer, a floppy disk, and a display terminal. This system has improved the efficiency of producing printed circuit-board artwork and extended the useful life of the Gerber GCD-1 Digitizer. 1 ref., 12 figs.

  8. Oversight and Community Connections: Building Support for Data Collection by Making it Meaningful

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Halpern, M.

    2017-12-01

    The continued collection and availability of federal government data becomes more vulnerable when few people know it exists or appreciate its utility. Policymakers will only fight for continued investment in data collection if they can see tangible benefits and feel pressure to do so. Many datasets and analysis tools exist that can benefit from more publicity. Through multiple case studies, we will explore methods that experts can use to connect with local communities and institutions for data sharing and analysis projects that assist with community development and resilience while demonstrating the importance of federal data to people's lives. We will discuss the types of collaborations that are most likely to result in successful outcomes. We will suggest ways that scientists can communicate their successes with policymakers and coordinate with other scientists across the country to ensure that data collection and availability continues to be a national priority, and any attempts to reduce capacity are met with efficient resistance.

  9. 75 FR 68609 - Agency Information Collection Request; 30-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-08

    ... Pregnancy Prevention Approaches: Implementation Study Data Collection--OMB No. 0990-New--Office of... collection. OAH is overseeing and coordinating adolescent pregnancy prevention evaluation efforts as part of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. OAH is working collaboratively with the Office of the...

  10. Comparison between iteration schemes for three-dimensional coordinate-transformed saturated-unsaturated flow model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    An, Hyunuk; Ichikawa, Yutaka; Tachikawa, Yasuto; Shiiba, Michiharu

    2012-11-01

    SummaryThree different iteration methods for a three-dimensional coordinate-transformed saturated-unsaturated flow model are compared in this study. The Picard and Newton iteration methods are the common approaches for solving Richards' equation. The Picard method is simple to implement and cost-efficient (on an individual iteration basis). However it converges slower than the Newton method. On the other hand, although the Newton method converges faster, it is more complex to implement and consumes more CPU resources per iteration than the Picard method. The comparison of the two methods in finite-element model (FEM) for saturated-unsaturated flow has been well evaluated in previous studies. However, two iteration methods might exhibit different behavior in the coordinate-transformed finite-difference model (FDM). In addition, the Newton-Krylov method could be a suitable alternative for the coordinate-transformed FDM because it requires the evaluation of a 19-point stencil matrix. The formation of a 19-point stencil is quite a complex and laborious procedure. Instead, the Newton-Krylov method calculates the matrix-vector product, which can be easily approximated by calculating the differences of the original nonlinear function. In this respect, the Newton-Krylov method might be the most appropriate iteration method for coordinate-transformed FDM. However, this method involves the additional cost of taking an approximation at each Krylov iteration in the Newton-Krylov method. In this paper, we evaluated the efficiency and robustness of three iteration methods—the Picard, Newton, and Newton-Krylov methods—for simulating saturated-unsaturated flow through porous media using a three-dimensional coordinate-transformed FDM.

  11. Coordinate references for the indoor/outdoor seamless positioning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruan, Ling; Zhang, Ling; Long, Yi; Cheng, Fei

    2018-05-01

    Indoor positioning technologies are being developed rapidly, and seamless positioning which connected indoor and outdoor space is a new trend. The indoor and outdoor positioning are not applying the same coordinate system and different indoor positioning scenes uses different indoor local coordinate reference systems. A specific and unified coordinate reference frame is needed as the space basis and premise in seamless positioning application. Trajectory analysis of indoor and outdoor integration also requires a uniform coordinate reference. However, the coordinate reference frame in seamless positioning which can applied to various complex scenarios is lacking of research for a long time. In this paper, we proposed a universal coordinate reference frame in indoor/outdoor seamless positioning. The research focus on analysis and classify the indoor positioning scenes and put forward the coordinate reference system establishment and coordinate transformation methods in each scene. And, through some experiments, the calibration method feasibility was verified.

  12. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection Update: U.S. Government Takes Steps to Promote Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection Through Meaningful Use Guidelines.

    PubMed

    Cahill, Sean; Makadon, Harvey J

    2014-09-01

    Collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI) in healthcare settings and in electronic health records (EHRs) is essential to understanding, addressing, and reducing LGBT health disparities. The federal government took two key steps in early 2014 in support of asking SO/GI questions in clinical settings as part of the meaningful use of EHRs. First, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology issued proposed 2015 Edition Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) Criteria, which suggest Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) code sets for SO/GI data collection in 2017. To facilitate the effective and accurate collection of SO/GI data, 153 LGBT and HIV groups recommended that the national coordinator request that the National Library of Medicine develop new codes to reflect SO/GI data. Second, the Health Information Technology Policy Committee submitted recommendations to the national coordinator, including the recommendation that "CEHRT [certified EHR technology] provides the functionality to capture … sexual orientation, gender identity." If the national coordinator accepts this recommendation, it will be put up for public comment in fall 2014 along with other Stage 3 proposed rules. Also, the 2017 Edition CEHRT Notice of Proposed Rule Making Criteria will be up for comment in fall 2014. Final Stage 3 Meaningful Use Guidelines will be published in summer 2015, and other key steps will take place into 2017. A critical parallel step is the training of clinical staff on LGBT health disparities and how to use SO/GI data and manage them in ways that meet the clinical needs of LGBT patients and protect confidentiality and privacy. We must also educate LGBT community members about why offering this information is important for their health and how collecting SO/GI data in EHRs is an important step to understanding LGBT health, reducing disparities, and improving outcomes.

  13. Coordination control of flexible manufacturing systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Menon, Satheesh R.

    One of the first attempts was made to develop a model driven system for coordination control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS). The structure and activities of the FMS are modeled using a colored Petri Net based system. This approach has the advantage of being able to model the concurrency inherent in the system. It provides a method for encoding the system state, state transitions and the feasible transitions at any given state. Further structural analysis (for detecting conflicting actions, deadlocks which might occur during operation, etc.) can be performed. The problem is also addressed of implementing and testing the behavior of existing dynamic scheduling approaches in simulations of realistic situations. A simulation architecture was proposed and performance evaluation was carried out for establishing the correctness of the model, stability of the system from a structural (deadlocks) and temporal (boundedness of backlogs) points of view, and for collection of statistics for performance measures such as machine and robot utilizations, average wait times and idle times of resources. A real-time implementation architecture for the coordination controller was also developed and implemented in a software simulated environment. Given the current technology of FMS control, the model-driven colored Petri net-based approach promises to develop a very flexible control environment.

  14. D Coordinate Transformation Using Artificial Neural Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Konakoglu, B.; Cakır, L.; Gökalp, E.

    2016-10-01

    Two coordinate systems used in Turkey, namely the ED50 (European Datum 1950) and ITRF96 (International Terrestrial Reference Frame 1996) coordinate systems. In most cases, it is necessary to conduct transformation from one coordinate system to another. The artificial neural network (ANN) is a new method for coordinate transformation. One of the biggest advantages of the ANN is that it can determine the relationship between two coordinate systems without a mathematical model. The aim of this study was to investigate the performances of three different ANN models (Feed Forward Back Propagation (FFBP), Cascade Forward Back Propagation (CFBP) and Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN)) with regard to 2D coordinate transformation. To do this, three data sets were used for the same study area, the city of Trabzon. The coordinates of data sets were measured in the ED50 and ITRF96 coordinate systems by using RTK-GPS technique. Performance of each transformation method was investigated by using the coordinate differences between the known and estimated coordinates. The results showed that the ANN algorithms can be used for 2D coordinate transformation in cases where optimum model parameters are selected.

  15. Community Currency Trading Method through Partial Transaction Intermediary Process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kido, Kunihiko; Hasegawa, Seiichi; Komoda, Norihisa

    A community currency is local money that is issued by local governments or Non-Profit Organization (NPO) to support social services. The purpose of introducing community currencies is to regenerate communities by fostering mutual aids among community members. In this paper, we propose a community currency trading method through partial intermediary process, under operational environments without introducing coordinators all the time. In this method, coordinators perform coordination between service users and service providers during several months from the start point of transactions. After the period of coordination, participants spontaneously make transactions based on their trust area and a trust evaluation method based on the number of provided services and complaint information. This method is especially effective to communities with close social networks and low trustworthiness. The proposed method is evaluated through multi-agent simulation.

  16. Evolutionary games with coordination and self-dependent interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Király, Balázs; Szabó, György

    2017-01-01

    Multistrategy evolutionary games are studied on a square lattice when the pair interactions are composed of coordinations between strategy pairs and an additional term with self-dependent payoff. We describe a method for determining the strength of each elementary coordination component in n -strategy potential games. Using analytical and numerical methods, the presence and absence of Ising-type order-disorder phase transitions are studied when a single pair coordination is extended by some types of self-dependent elementary games. We also introduce noise-dependent three-strategy equivalents of the n -strategy elementary coordination games.

  17. Evolving Multi Rover Systems in Dynamic and Noisy Environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian

    2005-01-01

    In this chapter, we address how to evolve control strategies for a collective: a set of entities that collectively strives to maximize a global evaluation function that rates the performance of the full system. Addressing such problems by directly applying a global evolutionary algorithm to a population of collectives is unworkable because the search space is prohibitively large. Instead, we focus on evolving control policies for each member of the collective, where each member is trying to maximize the fitness of its own population. The main difficulty with this approach is creating fitness evaluation functions for the members of the collective that induce the collective to achieve high performance with respect to the system level goal. To overcome this difficulty, we derive member evaluation functions that are both aligned with the global evaluation function (ensuring that members trying to achieve high fitness results in a collective with high fitness) and sensitive to the fitness of each member (a member's fitness depends more on its own actions than on actions of other members). In a difficult rover coordination problem in dynamic and noisy environments, we show how to construct evaluation functions that lead to good collective behavior. The control policy evolved using aligned and member-sensitive evaluations outperforms global evaluation methods by up to a factor of four. in addition we show that the collective continues to perform well in the presence of high noise levels and when the environment is highly dynamic. More notably, in the presence of a larger number of rovers or rovers with noisy sensors, the improvements due to the proposed method become significantly more pronounced.

  18. Finite element method formulation in polar coordinates for transient heat conduction problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duda, Piotr

    2016-04-01

    The aim of this paper is the formulation of the finite element method in polar coordinates to solve transient heat conduction problems. It is hard to find in the literature a formulation of the finite element method (FEM) in polar or cylindrical coordinates for the solution of heat transfer problems. This document shows how to apply the most often used boundary conditions. The global equation system is solved by the Crank-Nicolson method. The proposed algorithm is verified in three numerical tests. In the first example, the obtained transient temperature distribution is compared with the temperature obtained from the presented analytical solution. In the second numerical example, the variable boundary condition is assumed. In the last numerical example the component with the shape different than cylindrical is used. All examples show that the introduction of the polar coordinate system gives better results than in the Cartesian coordinate system. The finite element method formulation in polar coordinates is valuable since it provides a higher accuracy of the calculations without compacting the mesh in cylindrical or similar to tubular components. The proposed method can be applied for circular elements such as boiler drums, outlet headers, flux tubes. This algorithm can be useful during the solution of inverse problems, which do not allow for high density grid. This method can calculate the temperature distribution in the bodies of different properties in the circumferential and the radial direction. The presented algorithm can be developed for other coordinate systems. The examples demonstrate a good accuracy and stability of the proposed method.

  19. Single-baseline RTK GNSS Positioning for Hydrographic Surveying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metin Alkan, Reha; Murat Ozulu, I.; Ilçi, Veli; Kahveci, Muzaffer

    2015-04-01

    Positioning with GNSS technique can be carried out in two ways, absolute and relative. It has been possible to reach a few meters absolute point positioning accuracies in real time after disabling SA permanently in May 2000. Today, accuracies obtainable from absolute point positioning using code observations are not sufficient for most surveying applications. Thus to meet higher accuracy requirements, differential methods using single or dual frequency geodetic-grade GNSS receivers that measure carrier phase have to be used. However, this method requires time-cost field and office works and if the measurement is not carried out with conventional RTK method, user needs a GNSS data processing software to estimate the coordinates. If RTK is used, at least two or more GNSS receivers are required, one as a reference and the other as a rover. Moreover, the distance between the receivers must not exceed 15-20 km in order to be able to rapidly and reliably resolve the carrier phase ambiguities. On the other hand, based on the innovations and improvements in satellite geodesy and GNSS modernization studies occurred within the last decade, many new positioning methods and new approaches have been developed. One of them is Network-RTK (or commonly known as CORS) and the other is Single-baseline RTK. These methods are widely used for many surveying applications in many countries. The user of the system can obtain his/her position within a few cm level of accuracy in real-time with only a single GNSS receiver that has Network RTK (CORS) capability. When compared with the conventional differential and RTK methods, this technique has several significant advantages as it is easy to use and it produces accurate, cost-effective and rapid solutions. In Turkey, establishment of a multi-base RTK network was completed and opened for civilian use in 2009. This network is called CORS-TR and consists of 146 reference stations having about 80-100 km interstation distances. It is possible for a user to determine his/her position with a few cm accuracy in real time in Turkey. Besides, there are some province municipalities in Turkey which have established their own local CORS networks such as Istanbul (with 9 reference stations) and Ankara (with 10 reference stations). There is also a local RTK base station which disseminates real time position corrections for surveyors in Çorum province and is operated by Çorum Municipality. This is the first step of establishing a complete local CORS network in Çorum (the municipality has plans to increase this number and establish a CORS network within a few years). At the time of this study, unfortunately, national CORS-TR stations in Çorum Province were under maintenance and thus we could not receive corrections from our national CORS network. Instead, Çorum Province's local RTK reference station's corrections were used during the study. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the accuracy performance of the Single-baseline RTK GNSS system operated by Çorum Municipality in marine environment. For this purpose, a kinematic test measurement was carried out at Obruk Dam, Çorum, Turkey. During the test measurement, a small vessel equipped with a dual-frequency geodetic-grade GNSS receiver, Spectra Precision ProMark 500, was used. The coordinates of the vessel were obtained from the Single-baseline RTK system in ITRF datum in real-time with fix solutions. At the same time, the raw kinematic GNSS data were also recorded to the receiver in order to estimate the known coordinates of the vessel with post-processed differential kinematic technique. In this way, GPS data were collected under the same conditions, which allowed precise assessment of the used system. The measurements were carried out along the survey profiles for about 1 hour. During the kinematic test, another receiver was set up on a geodetic point at the shore and data were collected in static mode to calculate the coordinates of the vessel for each epoch. As mentioned above, the vessel coordinates were estimated very accurately by using data collected on shore and vessel by using differential GNSS technique. The Single-baseline RTK-derived coordinates were compared with those obtained from the post-processing of the GNSS data for each epoch. Computed differences show that the coordinates agree with the relative solutions at 7 cm and below in position. Some marine applications like precise hydrographic surveying, monitoring silt accretion and erosion in rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and harbor areas; marine geodynamics; automatic docking; dredging; construction work; attitude control of ships, buoys and floating platforms, require high accuracy better than 0.1 m in position and height. Results obtained from this application show that Single-baseline RTK and/or CORS systems can reliably be utilized for the above mentioned marine applications and some others especially for positioning as a strong alternative to the conventional differential methods.

  20. GCN and VOEvent - A Status Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barthelmy, Scott

    2006-01-01

    The GRB Coordinates Network (GCN) has filled an important niche in the conduct and progress of research on GRB for more than 14 years. The methods used to collect and distribute the positions, lightcurves, spectra, and images on GRB is real time (a few seconds) will be reviewed. For the research on GRBs to continue to move forward and for other fields of transient astronomy to move forward, enhancements are needed to the GCN. VOEvents is one of those changes, and that addition will be described here. The enhanced system will be called VO-GCN.

  1. Tissue stiffening coordinates morphogenesis by triggering collective cell migration in vivo.

    PubMed

    Barriga, Elias H; Franze, Kristian; Charras, Guillaume; Mayor, Roberto

    2018-02-22

    Collective cell migration is essential for morphogenesis, tissue remodelling and cancer invasion. In vivo, groups of cells move in an orchestrated way through tissues. This movement involves mechanical as well as molecular interactions between cells and their environment. While the role of molecular signals in collective cell migration is comparatively well understood, how tissue mechanics influence collective cell migration in vivo remains unknown. Here we investigated the importance of mechanical cues in the collective migration of the Xenopus laevis neural crest cells, an embryonic cell population whose migratory behaviour has been likened to cancer invasion. We found that, during morphogenesis, the head mesoderm underlying the cephalic neural crest stiffens. This stiffening initiates an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in neural crest cells and triggers their collective migration. To detect changes in their mechanical environment, neural crest cells use mechanosensation mediated by the integrin-vinculin-talin complex. By performing mechanical and molecular manipulations, we show that mesoderm stiffening is necessary and sufficient to trigger neural crest migration. Finally, we demonstrate that convergent extension of the mesoderm, which starts during gastrulation, leads to increased mesoderm stiffness by increasing the cell density underneath the neural crest. These results show that convergent extension of the mesoderm has a role as a mechanical coordinator of morphogenesis, and reveal a link between two apparently unconnected processes-gastrulation and neural crest migration-via changes in tissue mechanics. Overall, we demonstrate that changes in substrate stiffness can trigger collective cell migration by promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in vivo. More broadly, our results raise the idea that tissue mechanics combines with molecular effectors to coordinate morphogenesis.

  2. Science Education and the Material Culture of the Nineteenth-Century Classroom: Physics and Chemistry in Spanish Secondary Schools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simon, Josep; Cuenca-Lorente, Mar

    2012-02-01

    Although a large number of Spanish secondary schools have preserved an important scientific heritage, including large scientific instrument collections, this heritage has never been officially protected. Their current state is very diverse, and although several research projects have attempted to initiate their recovery and use, their lack of coordination and wide range of methodological approaches has limited their impact. This paper presents a case-study integrated in a new project supported by the Catalan Scientific Instrument Commission (COMIC) whose final aim is the establishment of a research hub for the preservation, study and use of Spanish scientific instrument collections. Major aims in this project are promoting a better coordination of Spanish projects in this field, and furthering international research on science pedagogy and the material culture of science. The major focus of COMIC is currently the recovery of secondary school collections. This paper provides first, a historical account of the development of secondary education in Spain, and the contemporary establishment of physics and chemistry school collections. Second, we focus on a case-study of three Spanish schools (Valencia, Castellón, and Alicante). Finally, we provide a brief overview of current projects to preserve Spanish school collections, and discuss how COMIC can contribute to help to coordinate them, and to take a step forward interdisciplinary research in this context.

  3. System and method for evaluating wind flow fields using remote sensing devices

    DOEpatents

    Schroeder, John; Hirth, Brian; Guynes, Jerry

    2016-12-13

    The present invention provides a system and method for obtaining data to determine one or more characteristics of a wind field using a first remote sensing device and a second remote sensing device. Coordinated data is collected from the first and second remote sensing devices and analyzed to determine the one or more characteristics of the wind field. The first remote sensing device is positioned to have a portion of the wind field within a first scanning sector of the first remote sensing device. The second remote sensing device is positioned to have the portion of the wind field disposed within a second scanning sector of the second remote sensing device.

  4. 76 FR 76164 - Agency Information Collection Request; 60-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-06

    .... Proposed Project: Evaluation of Pregnancy Prevention Approaches: First Follow-Up Data Collection--OMB No... approval by OMB on a revised data collection. OAH is overseeing and coordinating adolescent pregnancy prevention evaluation efforts as part of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. OAH is working...

  5. Materials Center Collections and Procedures: Suggested Modifications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davis, Larry L.

    This description of a three year project of services to educators by the Kentucky Department of Education Materials Center includes the current collections, future collections, and the anticipated procedures necessary to provide optimum service and best utilize those materials. The plan involves better coordination between the three major…

  6. Primary health care service delivery networks for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes: using social network methods to describe interorganisational collaboration in a rural setting.

    PubMed

    McDonald, Julie; Jayasuriya, Rohan; Harris, Mark Fort

    2011-01-01

    Adults with type 2 diabetes or with behavioural risk factors require comprehensive and well coordinated responses from a range of health care providers who often work in different organisational settings. This study examines three types of collaborative links between organisations involved in a rural setting. Social network methods were employed using survey data on three types of links, and data was collected from a purposive sample of 17 organisations representing the major provider types. The analysis included a mix of unconfirmed and confirmed links, and network measures. General practices were the most influential provider group in initiating referrals, and they referred to the broadest range of organisations in the network. Team care arrangements formed a small part of the general practice referral network. They were used more for access to private sector allied health care providers and less for sharing care with public sector health services. Involvement in joint programs/activities was limited to public and non-government sector services, with no participation from the private sector. The patterns of interactions suggest that informal referral networks provide access to services and coordination of care for individual patients with diabetes. Two population subgroups would benefit from more proactive approaches to ensure equitable access to services and coordination of care across organisational boundaries: people with more complex health care needs and people at risk of developing diabetes.

  7. Determinants of supply chain coordination of milk and dairy industries in Ethiopia: a case of Addis Ababa and its surroundings.

    PubMed

    Lemma, Habtamu Regassa; Singh, Rajwinder; Kaur, Navjot

    2015-01-01

    Coordination of different business activities among units becomes vital as organizations pay much attention to their core activities. Thus, their fruitfulness constantly relies on their capacity to coordinate their internal and external activities in the supply chain outside their own boundaries. Giving consideration to these obvious reasons, this paper aims to investigate the determinants of supply chain coordination of milk and dairy industries. The data were collected from 330 milk suppliers, processors, and retailers in the central part of Ethiopia. The structural equation modeling has been employed to develop the structural relationship between key constructs and measured variables. In total, 15 measured variables for coordination in the supply chain have been identified. These are further grouped into four factors namely, non-price coordination, price coordination, relationships and product development decision. It has been observed that the implementation of these factors could maximize the coordination linkage among supply chain members. Thus, dairy sectors should take the identified coordination factors into account in each of their business dealings.

  8. Joint Coordination and Muscle Activities of Ballet Dancers During Tiptoe Standing.

    PubMed

    Tanabe, Hiroko; Fujii, Keisuke; Kouzaki, Motoki

    2017-01-01

    We aimed to investigate joint coordination of lower limbs in dancers during tiptoe standing and the relationship between joint coordination and muscle coactivation. Seven female ballet dancers performed tiptoe standing with six leg positions (fi e classical dance positions and one modern dance position) for 10 s. The kinematic data of the metatarsophalangeal (MP), ankle, knee, and hip joints was collected, and surface electromyography (EMG) of over 13 lower limb muscles was conducted. Principal component analysis was performed to determine joint coordination. MP-ankle and ankle-knee had in-phase coordination, whereas knee-hip showed anti-phase coordination in the sagittal plane. In addition, most EMG-EMG coherence around the MP and ankle joints was significant up to 50 Hz when these two joints swayed with in-phase. This suggests that different joint coordination patterns are associated with neural processing related to different muscle coactivation patterns. In conclusion, ballet dancers showed in-phase coordination from the MP to knee joints, which was associated with muscle coactivation to a higher frequency domain (up to 50 Hz) in comparison with anti-phase coordination.

  9. Columbia River Coordinated Information System (CIS); Data Catalog, 1992 Technical Report.

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

    O'Connor, Dick; Allen, Stan; Reece, Doug

    1993-05-01

    The Columbia River Coordinated Information system (CIS) Project started in 1989 to address regional data sharing. Coordinated exchange and dissemination of any data must begin with dissemination of information about those data, such as: what is available; where the data are stored; what form they exist in; who to contact for further information or access to these data. In Phase II of this Project (1991), a Data Catalog describing the contents of regional datasets and less formal data collections useful for system monitoring and evaluation projects was built to improve awareness of their existence. Formal datasets are described in amore » `Dataset Directory,` while collections of data are Used to those that collect such information in the `Data Item Directory.` The Data Catalog will serve regional workers as a useful reference which centralizes the institutional knowledge of many data contacts into a single source. Recommendations for improvement of the Catalog during Phase III of this Project include addressing gaps in coverage, establishing an annual maintenance schedule, and loading the contents into a PC-based electronic database for easier searching and cross-referencing.« less

  10. 78 FR 9357 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-08

    ... documents to the State Rural Energy Coordinator. Need and Use of the Information: RBS will use the collected... use funds for authorized purposes. Without this collection of information RBS would be unable to meet...

  11. CAMERRA: An analysis tool for the computation of conformational dynamics by evaluating residue-residue associations.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Quentin R; Lindsay, Richard J; Shen, Tongye

    2018-02-21

    A computational method which extracts the dominant motions from an ensemble of biomolecular conformations via a correlation analysis of residue-residue contacts is presented. The algorithm first renders the structural information into contact matrices, then constructs the collective modes based on the correlated dynamics of a selected set of dynamic contacts. Associated programs can bridge the results for further visualization using graphics software. The aim of this method is to provide an analysis of conformations of biopolymers from the contact viewpoint. It may assist a systematical uncovering of conformational switching mechanisms existing in proteins and biopolymer systems in general by statistical analysis of simulation snapshots. In contrast to conventional correlation analyses of Cartesian coordinates (such as distance covariance analysis and Cartesian principal component analysis), this program also provides an alternative way to locate essential collective motions in general. Herein, we detail the algorithm in a stepwise manner and comment on the importance of the method as applied to decoding allosteric mechanisms. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Final report of coordination and cooperation with the European Union on embankment failure analysis

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    There has been an emphasis in the European Union (EU) community on the investigation of extreme flood processes and the uncertainties related to these processes. Over a 3-year period, the EU and the U.S. dam safety community (1) coordinated their efforts and collected information needed to integrate...

  13. Health Is Academic. A Guide to Coordinated School Health Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marx, Eva, Ed.; Wooley, Susan Frelick, Ed.; Northrop, Daphne, Ed.

    This book presents a collection of papers that define comprehensive school health programs and their components and provide action steps for their implementation at the local, state, and national levels: (1) "Linking Health and Learning: An Overview of Coordinated School Health Programs" (Floretta Dukes McKenzie and Julius B. Richmond); (2)…

  14. 45 CFR 1150.23 - How will the Endowment coordinate salary offsets with other agencies?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false How will the Endowment coordinate salary offsets with other agencies? 1150.23 Section 1150.23 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS COLLECTION OF...

  15. 77 FR 64513 - Proposed Administrative Agreement for Collection of CERCLA Past Costs

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-22

    ..., Coordinator, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V, 77 W. Jackson Boulevard... addressed to: Ms. Cheryl Allen, Coordinator, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.... Cheryl Allen of the Office of Public Affairs (P-19J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V, 77W...

  16. 45 CFR 1150.23 - How will the Endowment coordinate salary offsets with other agencies?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How will the Endowment coordinate salary offsets with other agencies? 1150.23 Section 1150.23 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS COLLECTION OF...

  17. Language Coordinators Resource Kit. Section Ten: Picture Bank.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peace Corps, Washington, DC. Information Collection and Exchange Div.

    The guide is one section of a resource kit designed to assist Peace Corps language instruction coordinators in countries around the world in understanding the principles underlying second language learning and teaching and in organizing instructional programs. This section contains a collection of pictures that can be used as visual aids in…

  18. 36 CFR 1201.33 - How will NARA coordinate salary offsets with other agencies?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... salary offsets with other agencies? 1201.33 Section 1201.33 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION GENERAL RULES COLLECTION OF CLAIMS Salary Offset § 1201.33 How will NARA coordinate salary offsets with other agencies? (a) Responsibilities of NARA as the creditor agency...

  19. 76 FR 28949 - Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Importation of Tomatoes...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-19

    ...] Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Importation of Tomatoes From... with regulations governing the importation of tomatoes from Spain, Chile, France, Morocco, and Western... Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851-2908. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Importation of Tomatoes From...

  20. 78 FR 52008 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-21

    ... community engagement; including meetings with community agencies and residents and Attendance at or planning... comments from members of the public and affected parties concerning the collection of information described... through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e...

  1. 78 FR 79696 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-31

    ...-14FA] Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations In compliance with the... public health-based surveillance system to coordinate the collection, collation, analysis, and... system to describe the public health impacts on the population of the United States. The ATSDR is seeking...

  2. Improving care coordination using organisational routines.

    PubMed

    Prætorius, Thim

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to systematically apply theory of organisational routines to standardised care pathways. The explanatory power of routines is used to address open questions in the care pathway literature about their coordinating and organising role, the way they change and can be replicated, the way they are influenced by the organisation and the way they influence health care professionals. Theory of routines is systematically applied to care pathways in order to develop theoretically derived propositions. Care pathways mirror routines by being recurrent, collective and embedded and specific to an organisation. In particular, care pathways resemble standard operating procedures that can give rise to recurrent collective action patterns. In all, 11 propositions related to five categories are proposed by building on these insights: care pathways and coordination, change, replication, the organisation and health care professionals. Research limitations/implications - The paper is conceptual and uses care pathways as illustrative instances of hospital routines. The propositions provide a starting point for empirical research. The analysis highlights implications that health care professionals and managers have to consider in relation to coordination, change, replication, the way the organisation influences care pathways and the way care pathways influence health care professionals. Originality/value - Theory on organisational routines offers fundamental, yet unexplored, insights into hospital processes, including in particular care coordination.

  3. Model test on partial expansion in stratified subsidence during foundation pit dewatering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Jianxiu; Deng, Yansheng; Ma, Ruiqiang; Liu, Xiaotian; Guo, Qingfeng; Liu, Shaoli; Shao, Yule; Wu, Linbo; Zhou, Jie; Yang, Tianliang; Wang, Hanmei; Huang, Xinlei

    2018-02-01

    Partial expansion was observed in stratified subsidence during foundation pit dewatering. However, the phenomenon was suspected to be an error because the compression of layers is known to occur when subsidence occurs. A slice of the subsidence cone induced by drawdown was selected as the prototype. Model tests were performed to investigate the phenomenon. The underlying confined aquifer was generated as a movable rigid plate with a hinge at one end. The overlying layers were simulated with remolded materials collected from a construction site. Model tests performed under the conceptual model indicated that partial expansion occurred in stratified settlements under coordination deformation and consolidation conditions. During foundation pit dewatering, rapid drawdown resulted in rapid subsidence in the dewatered confined aquifer. The rapidly subsiding confined aquifer top was the bottom deformation boundary of the overlying layers. Non-coordination deformation was observed at the top and bottom of the subsiding overlying layers. The subsidence of overlying layers was larger at the bottom than at the top. The layers expanded and became thicker. The phenomenon was verified using numerical simulation method based on finite difference method. Compared with numerical simulation results, the boundary effect of the physical tests was obvious in the observation point close to the movable endpoint. The tensile stress of the overlying soil layers induced by the underlying settlement of dewatered confined aquifer contributed to the expansion phenomenon. The partial expansion of overlying soil layers was defined as inversed rebound. The inversed rebound was induced by inversed coordination deformation. Compression was induced by the consolidation in the overlying soil layers because of drainage. Partial expansion occurred when the expansion exceeded the compression. Considering the inversed rebound, traditional layer-wise summation method for calculating subsidence should be revised and improved.

  4. On functional determinants of matrix differential operators with multiple zero modes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Falco, G. M.; Fedorenko, Andrei A.; Gruzberg, Ilya A.

    2017-12-01

    We generalize the method of computing functional determinants with a single excluded zero eigenvalue developed by McKane and Tarlie to differential operators with multiple zero eigenvalues. We derive general formulas for such functional determinants of r× r matrix second order differential operators O with 0 < n ≤slant 2r linearly independent zero modes. We separately discuss the cases of the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, when the number of zero modes cannot exceed r, and the case of twisted boundary conditions, including the periodic and anti-periodic ones, when the number of zero modes is bounded above by 2r. In all cases the determinants with excluded zero eigenvalues can be expressed only in terms of the n zero modes and other r-n or 2r-n (depending on the boundary conditions) solutions of the homogeneous equation O h=0 , in the spirit of Gel’fand-Yaglom approach. In instanton calculations, the contribution of the zero modes is taken into account by introducing the so-called collective coordinates. We show that there is a remarkable cancellation of a factor (involving scalar products of zero modes) between the Jacobian of the transformation to the collective coordinates and the functional fluctuation determinant with excluded zero eigenvalues. This cancellation drastically simplifies instanton calculations when one uses our formulas.

  5. A novel method for improving the accuracy of coordinate transformation in multiple measurement systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, W. L.; Li, Y. W.

    2017-09-01

    Large-scale dimensional metrology usually requires a combination of multiple measurement systems, such as laser tracking, total station, laser scanning, coordinate measuring arm and video photogrammetry, etc. Often, the results from different measurement systems must be combined to provide useful results. The coordinate transformation is used to unify coordinate frames in combination; however, coordinate transformation uncertainties directly affect the accuracy of the final measurement results. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for improving the accuracy of coordinate transformation, combining the advantages of the best-fit least-square and radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. First of all, the configuration of coordinate transformation is introduced and a transformation matrix containing seven variables is obtained. Second, the 3D uncertainty of the transformation model and the residual error variable vector are established based on the best-fit least-square. Finally, in order to optimize the uncertainty of the developed seven-variable transformation model, we used the RBF neural network to identify the uncertainty of the dynamic, and unstructured, owing to its great ability to approximate any nonlinear function to the designed accuracy. Intensive experimental studies were conducted to check the validity of the theoretical results. The results show that the mean error of coordinate transformation decreased from 0.078 mm to 0.054 mm after using this method in contrast with the GUM method.

  6. Internal Coordinate Molecular Dynamics: A Foundation for Multiscale Dynamics

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Internal coordinates such as bond lengths, bond angles, and torsion angles (BAT) are natural coordinates for describing a bonded molecular system. However, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods that are widely used for proteins, DNA, and polymers are based on Cartesian coordinates owing to the mathematical simplicity of the equations of motion. However, constraints are often needed with Cartesian MD simulations to enhance the conformational sampling. This makes the equations of motion in the Cartesian coordinates differential-algebraic, which adversely impacts the complexity and the robustness of the simulations. On the other hand, constraints can be easily placed in BAT coordinates by removing the degrees of freedom that need to be constrained. Thus, the internal coordinate MD (ICMD) offers an attractive alternative to Cartesian coordinate MD for developing multiscale MD method. The torsional MD method is a special adaptation of the ICMD method, where all the bond lengths and bond angles are kept rigid. The advantages of ICMD simulation methods are the longer time step size afforded by freezing high frequency degrees of freedom and performing a conformational search in the more important low frequency torsional degrees of freedom. However, the advancements in the ICMD simulations have been slow and stifled by long-standing mathematical bottlenecks. In this review, we summarize the recent mathematical advancements we have made based on spatial operator algebra, in developing a robust long time scale ICMD simulation toolkit useful for various applications. We also present the applications of ICMD simulations to study conformational changes in proteins and protein structure refinement. We review the advantages of the ICMD simulations over the Cartesian simulations when used with enhanced sampling methods and project the future use of ICMD simulations in protein dynamics. PMID:25517406

  7. Real-time deformations of organ based on structural mechanics for surgical simulators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nakaguchi, Toshiya; Tagaya, Masashi; Tamura, Nobuhiko; Tsumura, Norimichi; Miyake, Yoichi

    2006-03-01

    This research proposes the deformation model of organs for the development of the medical training system using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. First, the proposed model calculates the strains of coordinate axis. Secondly, the deformation is obtained by mapping the coordinate of the object to the strained coordinate. We assume the beams in the coordinate space to calculate the strain of the coordinate axis. The forces acting on the object are converted to the forces applied to the beams. The bend and the twist of the beams are calculated based on the theory of structural mechanics. The bend is derived by the finite element method. We propose two deformation methods which differ in the position of the beams in the coordinate space. One method locates the beams along the three orthogonal axes (x, y, z). Another method locates the beam in the area where the deformation is large. In addition, the strain of the coordinate axis is attenuated in proportion to the distance from the point of action to consider the attenuation of the stress which is a viscoelastic feature of the organs. The proposed model needs less computational cost compared to the conventional deformation method since our model does not need to divide the object into the elasticity element. The proposed model was implemented in the laparoscopic surgery training system, and a real-time deformation can be realized.

  8. [Coupling coordination evaluation method between eco-environment quality and economic development level in contiguous special poverty-stricken areas of China].

    PubMed

    Wang, Yan-hui; Li, Jing-yi

    2015-05-01

    It is one of the important strategies in the new period of national poverty alleviation and development to maintain the basic balance between the ecological environment and economic development, and to promote the coordinated sustainable development of economy and ecological environment. Taking six contiguous special poverty-stricken areas as the study areas, a coupling coordination evaluation method between eco-environment quality and economic development level in contiguous special poverty-stricken areas was explored in this paper. The region' s ecological poverty index system was proposed based on the natural attribute of ecological environment, and the ecological environment quality evaluation method was built up by using AHP weighting method, followed by the design of the coupling coordination evaluation method between the ecological environment indices and the county economic poverty comprehensive indices. The coupling coordination degrees were calculated and their spatial representation differentiations were analyzed respectively at district, province, city, and county scales. Results showed that approximately half of the counties in the study areas achieved the harmoniously coordinated development. However, the ecological environmental quality and the economic development in most counties could not be synchronized, where mountains, rivers and other geographic features existed roughly as a dividing line of the coordinated development types. The phenomena of dislocation between the ecological environment and economic development in state-level poor counties were more serious than those of local poor counties.

  9. 78 FR 66070 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Tribal...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-04

    ... exercise of his discretion, to grant a tribe's request to be designed as a ``participating tribe'' on an... by the Attorney General, after coordinating with the Secretary of the Interior, consulting with...

  10. Effects of relational coordination among colleagues and span of control on work engagement among home-visiting nurses.

    PubMed

    Naruse, Takashi; Sakai, Mahiro; Nagata, Satoko

    2016-04-01

    Home-visiting nursing agencies are required to foster staff nurse's work engagement; thus, the factors related to work engagement require identification. This study examined relational coordination among colleagues and agency span of control on the work engagement of home-visiting nurses. Cross-sectional data from 93 staff nurses in 31 home-visiting nursing agencies were collected via a survey and analyzed using mixed linear regression. There was no significant main effect of relational coordination among nurse colleagues on work engagement. In large agencies with a large span of control, relational coordination among nursing colleagues predicted work engagement. Nursing managers' relational coordination was found to be positively associated with staff nurse work engagement. Agency span of control is a moderating factor on the positive effect of relational coordination with nursing colleagues on staff nurse work engagement. © 2016 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

  11. The plan to coordinate NEHRP post-earthquake investigations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Holzer, Thomas L.; Borcherdt, Roger D.; Comartin, Craig D.; Hanson, Robert D.; Scawthorn, Charles R.; Tierney, Kathleen; Youd, T. Leslie

    2003-01-01

    This is the plan to coordinate domestic and foreign post-earthquake investigations supported by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). The plan addresses coordination of both the NEHRP agencies—Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Science Foundation (NSF), and U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)—and their partners. The plan is a framework for both coordinating what is going to be done and identifying responsibilities for post-earthquake investigations. It does not specify what will be done. Coordination is addressed in various time frames ranging from hours to years after an earthquake. The plan includes measures for (1) gaining rapid and general agreement on high-priority research opportunities, and (2) conducting the data gathering and fi eld studies in a coordinated manner. It deals with identifi cation, collection, processing, documentation, archiving, and dissemination of the results of post-earthquake work in a timely manner and easily accessible format.

  12. Collective decision-making in microbes

    PubMed Central

    Ross-Gillespie, Adin; Kümmerli, Rolf

    2014-01-01

    Microbes are intensely social organisms that routinely cooperate and coordinate their activities to express elaborate population level phenotypes. Such coordination requires a process of collective decision-making, in which individuals detect and collate information not only from their physical environment, but also from their social environment, in order to arrive at an appropriately calibrated response. Here, we present a conceptual overview of collective decision-making as it applies to all group-living organisms; we introduce key concepts and principles developed in the context of animal and human group decisions; and we discuss, with appropriate examples, the applicability of each of these concepts in microbial contexts. In particular, we discuss the roles of information pooling, control skew, speed vs. accuracy trade-offs, local feedbacks, quorum thresholds, conflicts of interest, and the reliability of social information. We conclude that collective decision-making in microbes shares many features with collective decision-making in higher taxa, and we call for greater integration between this fledgling field and other allied areas of research, including in the humanities and the physical sciences. PMID:24624121

  13. PHARYNGEAL SWALLOWING MECHANICS SECONDARY TO HEMISPHERIC STROKE

    PubMed Central

    May, Nelson H; Pisegna, Jessica M; Marchina, Sarah; Langmore, Susan E; Kumar, Sandeep; Pearson, William G

    2016-01-01

    Goals Computational Analysis of Swallowing Mechanics is a method that utilizes multivariate shape change analysis to uncover covariant elements of pharyngeal swallowing mechanics associated with impairment using videofluoroscopic swallowing studies. The goals of this preliminary study were to (1) characterize swallowing mechanics underlying stroke related dysphagia, (2) decipher the impact of left and right hemispheric stroke on pharyngeal swallowing mechanics, and (3) determine pharyngeal swallowing mechanics associated with penetration-aspiration status. Materials and Methods Videofluoroscopic swallowing studies of 18 dysphagic patients with hemispheric infarcts and age and gender matched controls were selected from well-controlled data sets. Patient data including laterality, and penetration-aspiration status was collected. Coordinates mapping muscle group action during swallowing were collected from videos. Multivariate morphometric analyses of coordinates associated with stroke, affected hemisphere, and penetration-aspiration status were performed. Findings Pharyngeal swallowing mechanics differed significantly in the following comparisons: stroke vs. controls (D=2.19, p<.0001); right hemispheric stroke vs. controls (D=3.64, p<.0001); left hemispheric stroke vs. controls (D=2.06, p<.0001); right hemispheric stroke vs. left hemispheric stroke (D=2.89, p<.0001); and penetration-aspiration vs. within normal limits (D=2.25, p<.0001). Differences in pharyngeal swallowing mechanics associated with each comparison were visualized using eigenvectors. Conclusion While current literature focuses on timing changes in stroke-related dysphagia, this data suggests that mechanical changes are also functionally important. Pharyngeal swallowing mechanics differed by affected hemisphere and penetration-aspiration status. Computational Analysis of Swallowing Mechanics can be used to identify patient specific swallowing impairment associated with stroke injury that could help guide rehabilitation strategies to improve swallowing outcomes. PMID:27913200

  14. A multi-segment foot model based on anatomically registered technical coordinate systems: method repeatability and sensitivity in pediatric planovalgus feet.

    PubMed

    Saraswat, Prabhav; MacWilliams, Bruce A; Davis, Roy B; D'Astous, Jacques L

    2013-01-01

    Several multisegment foot models have been proposed and some have been used to study foot pathologies. These models have been tested and validated on typically developed populations; however application of such models to feet with significant deformities presents an additional set of challenges. For the first time, in this study, a multisegment foot model is tested for repeatability in a population of children with symptomatic abnormal feet. The results from this population are compared to the same metrics collected from an age matched (8-14 years) typically developing population. The modified Shriners Hospitals for Children, Greenville (mSHCG) foot model was applied to ten typically developing children and eleven children with planovalgus feet by two clinicians. Five subjects in each group were retested by both clinicians after 4-6 weeks. Both intra-clinician and inter-clinician repeatability were evaluated using static and dynamic measures. A plaster mold method was used to quantify variability arising from marker placement error. Dynamic variability was measured by examining trial differences from the same subjects when multiple clinicians carried out the data collection multiple times. For hindfoot and forefoot angles, static and dynamic variability in both groups was found to be less than 4° and 6° respectively. The mSHCG model strategy of minimal reliance on anatomical markers for dynamic measures and inherent flexibility enabled by separate anatomical and technical coordinate systems resulted in a model equally repeatable in typically developing and planovalgus populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Cooperation, Coordination, and Trust in Virtual Teams: Insights from Virtual Games

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Korsgaard, M. Audrey; Picot, Arnold; Wigand, Rolf T.; Welpe, Isabelle M.; Assmann, Jakob J.

    This chapter considers fundamental concepts of effective virtual teams, illustrated by research on Travian, a massively multiplayer online strategy game wherein players seek to build empires. Team inputs are the resources that enable individuals to work interdependently toward a common goal, including individual and collective capabilities, shared knowledge structures, and leadership style. Team processes, notably coordination and cooperation, transform team inputs to desired collective outcomes. Because the members of virtual teams are geographically dispersed, relying on information and communication technology, three theories are especially relevant for understanding how they can function effectively: social presence theory, media richness theory, and media synchronicity theory. Research in settings like Travian can inform our understanding of structures, processes, and performance of virtual teams. Such research could provide valuable insight into the emergence and persistence of trust and cooperation, as well as the impact of different communication media for coordination and information management in virtual organizations.

  16. A Rapid Coordinate Transformation Method Applied in Industrial Robot Calibration Based on Characteristic Line Coincidence.

    PubMed

    Liu, Bailing; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua; Shi, Xiaojia

    2016-02-18

    Coordinate transformation plays an indispensable role in industrial measurements, including photogrammetry, geodesy, laser 3-D measurement and robotics. The widely applied methods of coordinate transformation are generally based on solving the equations of point clouds. Despite the high accuracy, this might result in no solution due to the use of ill conditioned matrices. In this paper, a novel coordinate transformation method is proposed, not based on the equation solution but based on the geometric transformation. We construct characteristic lines to represent the coordinate systems. According to the space geometry relation, the characteristic line scan is made to coincide by a series of rotations and translations. The transformation matrix can be obtained using matrix transformation theory. Experiments are designed to compare the proposed method with other methods. The results show that the proposed method has the same high accuracy, but the operation is more convenient and flexible. A multi-sensor combined measurement system is also presented to improve the position accuracy of a robot with the calibration of the robot kinematic parameters. Experimental verification shows that the position accuracy of robot manipulator is improved by 45.8% with the proposed method and robot calibration.

  17. A Rapid Coordinate Transformation Method Applied in Industrial Robot Calibration Based on Characteristic Line Coincidence

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Bailing; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua; Shi, Xiaojia

    2016-01-01

    Coordinate transformation plays an indispensable role in industrial measurements, including photogrammetry, geodesy, laser 3-D measurement and robotics. The widely applied methods of coordinate transformation are generally based on solving the equations of point clouds. Despite the high accuracy, this might result in no solution due to the use of ill conditioned matrices. In this paper, a novel coordinate transformation method is proposed, not based on the equation solution but based on the geometric transformation. We construct characteristic lines to represent the coordinate systems. According to the space geometry relation, the characteristic line scan is made to coincide by a series of rotations and translations. The transformation matrix can be obtained using matrix transformation theory. Experiments are designed to compare the proposed method with other methods. The results show that the proposed method has the same high accuracy, but the operation is more convenient and flexible. A multi-sensor combined measurement system is also presented to improve the position accuracy of a robot with the calibration of the robot kinematic parameters. Experimental verification shows that the position accuracy of robot manipulator is improved by 45.8% with the proposed method and robot calibration. PMID:26901203

  18. Analysis of an ultrasonically rotating droplet by moving particle semi-implicit and distributed point source method in a rotational coordinate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wada, Yuji; Yuge, Kohei; Tanaka, Hiroki; Nakamura, Kentaro

    2017-07-01

    Numerical analysis on the rotation of an ultrasonically levitated droplet in centrifugal coordinate is discussed. A droplet levitated in an acoustic chamber is simulated using the distributed point source method and the moving particle semi-implicit method. Centrifugal coordinate is adopted to avoid the Laplacian differential error, which causes numerical divergence or inaccuracy in the global coordinate calculation. Consequently, the duration of calculation stability has increased 30 times longer than that in a the previous paper. Moreover, the droplet radius versus rotational acceleration characteristics show a similar trend to the theoretical and experimental values in the literature.

  19. Perceived Discrimination, Racial Identity, and Multisystem Stress Response to Social Evaluative Threat Among African American Men and Women

    PubMed Central

    Lucas, Todd; Wegner, Rhiana; Pierce, Jennifer; Lumley, Mark A.; Laurent, Heidemarie K.; Granger, Douglas A.

    2015-01-01

    Objective Understanding individual differences in the psychobiology of the stress response is critical to grasping how psychosocial factors contribute to racial and ethnic health disparities. However, the ways in which environmentally sensitive biological systems coordinate in response to acute stress is not well understood. We employed a social-evaluative stressor task to investigate coordination among the autonomic nervous system (ANS), hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, immune/inflammatory system, and neurotrophic response system in a community sample of 85 healthy African American men and women. Methods Six saliva samples – two collected before and four collected during and after the stressor – were assayed for cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAs; HPA-axis markers), salivary α amylase (sAA; ANS marker), salivary c-reactive protein (sCRP; inflammatory/immune marker), and salivary nerve growth factor (sNGF; neurotrophic marker). Individual differences in perceived discrimination and racial identity were also measured. Results Factor analysis demonstrated that stress systems were largely dissociated before stressor exposure, but became aligned during event and recovery phases into functional biological stress responses (factor loadings .71to.96). Coordinated responses were related to interactions of perceived discrimination and racial identity: when racial identity was strong, high perceived discrimination was associated with low hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis arousal at baseline (B’s = .68 to.72, p < .001) and during the task (B’s =.46 to .62, p ≤ .049), and a robust inflammatory response (sCRP) during recovery (B’s =.72 to.94, p ≤ .002). Conclusion Culturally-relevant social perceptions are linked to a specific pattern of changing alignment in biological stress responses. Better understanding these links may significantly advance understanding of stress-related illnesses and health disparities. PMID:27806018

  20. La méthode des coordonnées curvilignes appliquée à la diffraction par des réseaux dont le profil est donné par des équations paramétriques: application à la diffraction par un réseau cycloïdal The method of curvilinear coordinates applied to the problem of scattering from surface-relief gratings defined by parametric equations: application to scattering from a cycloidal grating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granet, Gérard; Chandezon, Jean

    1997-11-01

    The method of curvilinear coordinates is formulated using the coordinate transformations given by parametric equations. As an illustration, a translation coordinate system and a relaxation coordinate system are used to calculate the reflectivities of various cycloidal profiles. We show, with this example, that parametric coordinate systems permit one to handle profiles that previously had been out of reach owing to their sharpness.

  1. 78 FR 63487 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Form I-129...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-24

    ... interested in the public's experience, input, and estimates on the burden in terms of time and money incurred....regulations.gov . We may also be contacted at: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination... 21, 2013. Laura Dawkins, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S...

  2. Dynamics of Electron Transfer for a Nonsuperexchange Coherent Mechanism. I

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-10-13

    observation. In the treatment three collective nuclear coordinates are introduced, permitting independent reorganization energies for each reactive center... nuclear coordinates are introduced, permitting independent reorganization energies for each reactive center. With certain approximations, namely, equal...numerically. One rough but simple analytical result for the latter is also given. tPresent address: Departmento de Quimica , Facultad de Ciencias

  3. Visualizing Hyolaryngeal Mechanics in Swallowing Using Dynamic MRI

    PubMed Central

    Pearson, William G.; Zumwalt, Ann C.

    2013-01-01

    Introduction Coordinates of anatomical landmarks are captured using dynamic MRI to explore whether a proposed two-sling mechanism underlies hyolaryngeal elevation in pharyngeal swallowing. A principal components analysis (PCA) is applied to coordinates to determine the covariant function of the proposed mechanism. Methods Dynamic MRI (dMRI) data were acquired from eleven healthy subjects during a repeated swallows task. Coordinates mapping the proposed mechanism are collected from each dynamic (frame) of a dynamic MRI swallowing series of a randomly selected subject in order to demonstrate shape changes in a single subject. Coordinates representing minimum and maximum hyolaryngeal elevation of all 11 subjects were also mapped to demonstrate shape changes of the system among all subjects. MophoJ software was used to perform PCA and determine vectors of shape change (eigenvectors) for elements of the two-sling mechanism of hyolaryngeal elevation. Results For both single subject and group PCAs, hyolaryngeal elevation accounted for the first principal component of variation. For the single subject PCA, the first principal component accounted for 81.5% of the variance. For the between subjects PCA, the first principal component accounted for 58.5% of the variance. Eigenvectors and shape changes associated with this first principal component are reported. Discussion Eigenvectors indicate that two-muscle slings and associated skeletal elements function as components of a covariant mechanism to elevate the hyolaryngeal complex. Morphological analysis is useful to model shape changes in the two-sling mechanism of hyolaryngeal elevation. PMID:25090608

  4. 75 FR 65016 - Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-21

    ... Astronomy Coordination Zone in Puerto Rico. Form No.: N/A. Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved... enable the Arecibo Radio Astronomy Observatory to receive information needed to assess whether an...

  5. 77 FR 11142 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, State/Local...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-24

    ..., and to establish a coordinated process to implement the plan, taking advantage of a wide-range of... maintenance costs for technical services. There are no annual start-up or capital costs. The estimated annual...

  6. 76 FR 44942 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-27

    ... binge drinking behavior. The current approval is under OMB No. 0930-0298, which expires on 4/30/ 12... grantees are expected to provide leadership and coordination on the planning and implementation of the SPF... questions have been added to address SAMHSA's need to collect information on binge drinking behavior. These...

  7. 77 FR 62241 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-12

    ... or any other aspect of this collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (1... other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden. 1. Type of... products (MA-PD plans). PDPs must offer a basic drug benefit. Medicare Advantage Coordinated Care Plans (MA...

  8. 76 FR 78225 - Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Importation of Citrus...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-16

    ...] Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Importation of Citrus From Peru... an information collection associated with regulations for the importation of citrus from Peru. DATES... from Peru, contact Mr. Tony Rom[aacute]n, Import Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and Compliance...

  9. Computerized Tests of Team Performance and Crew Coordination Suitable for Military/Aviation Settings.

    PubMed

    Lawson, Ben D; Britt, Thomas W; Kelley, Amanda M; Athy, Jeremy R; Legan, Shauna M

    2017-08-01

    The coordination of team effort on shared tasks is an area of inquiry. A number of tests of team performance in challenging environments have been developed without comparison or standardization. This article provides a systematic review of the most accessible and usable low-to-medium fidelity computerized tests of team performance and determines which are most applicable to military- and aviation-relevant research, such as studies of group command, control, communication, and crew coordination. A search was conducted to identify computerized measures of team performance. In addition to extensive literature searches (DTIC, Psychinfo, PubMed), the authors reached out to team performance researchers at conferences and through electronic communication. Identified were 57 potential tests according to 6 specific selection criteria (e.g., the requirement for automated collection of team performance and coordination processes, the use of military-relevant scenarios). The following seven tests (listed alphabetically) were considered most suitable for military needs: Agent Enabled Decision Group Environment (AEDGE), C3Conflict, the C3 (Command, Control, & Communications) Interactive Task for Identifying Emerging Situations (NeoCITIES), Distributed Dynamic Decision Making (DDD), Duo Wondrous Original Method Basic Awareness/Airmanship Test (DuoWOMBAT), the Leader Development Simulator (LDS), and the Planning Task for Teams (PLATT). Strengths and weaknesses of these tests are described and recommendations offered to help researchers identify the test most suitable for their particular needs. Adoption of a few standard computerized test batteries to study team performance would facilitate the evaluation of interventions intended to enhance group performance in multiple challenging military and aerospace operational environments.Lawson BD, Britt TW, Kelley AM, Athy JR, Legan SM. Computerized tests of team performance and crew coordination suitable for military/aviation settings. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(8):722-729.

  10. Hydrothermal recrystallization of transition metal nitroprussides. Formation of the most stable phases

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Echevarría, F.; Reguera, L.; González M, M.; Galicia, J.; Ávila, M.; Reguera, E.

    2018-02-01

    Hydrothermal recrystallization appears to be an appropriate treatment to explore the structural diversity of porous coordination polymers. In this contribution, such a post-synthesis treatment is applied to divalent transition metal nitroprussides, T[Fe(CN)5NO]•xH2O with T =Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd. This family of compounds forms an interesting series of nanoporous coordination polymers with a wide structural diversity, related to the synthesis route used and the solid hydration degree (x). The effect of a hydrothermal recrystallization of previously prepared fine powders using the precipitation method, on their crystal structure and related properties is herein discussed. In this series of coordination polymers, for Fe, Co, Ni the precipitated powders are obtained as cubic phase, with a high porosity related to presence of systematic vacancies for building unit [Fe(CN)5NO]. For Fe and Co a structural transition, from cubic to orthorhombic, was observed, which is associated to formation of a most compact structure. The crystal structure for the new orthorhombic phases was refined from the collected powder HR-XRD patterns. For Ni, the cubic phase remains stable even for large heating time, which is ascribed to the high polarizing power of this metal. The high porosity for the cubic phase allows an easy accommodation for the local deformations around the Ni atom coordination sphere. The structural information from XRD was complemented with CO2 and H2 adsorption and TG data, IR and UV-vis spectra, and magnetic measurements. The magnetic data, through the presence of spin-orbit coupling for Fe and Co in the two phases, provide fine details on the coordination environment for the metal linked at the N ends of the CN group.

  11. Coordinated Hard Sphere Mixture (CHaSM): A simplified model for oxide and silicate melts at mantle pressures and temperatures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wolf, Aaron S.; Asimow, Paul D.; Stevenson, David J.

    2015-08-01

    We develop a new model to understand and predict the behavior of oxide and silicate melts at extreme temperatures and pressures, including deep mantle conditions like those in the early Earth magma ocean. The Coordinated Hard Sphere Mixture (CHaSM) is based on an extension of the hard sphere mixture model, accounting for the range of coordination states available to each cation in the liquid. By utilizing approximate analytic expressions for the hard sphere model, this method is capable of predicting complex liquid structure and thermodynamics while remaining computationally efficient, requiring only minutes of calculation time on standard desktop computers. This modeling framework is applied to the MgO system, where model parameters are trained on a collection of crystal polymorphs, producing realistic predictions of coordination evolution and the equation of state of MgO melt over a wide range of pressures and temperatures. We find that the typical coordination number of the Mg cation evolves continuously upward from 5.25 at 0 GPa to 8.5 at 250 GPa. The results produced by CHaSM are evaluated by comparison with predictions from published first-principles molecular dynamics calculations, indicating that CHaSM is accurately capturing the dominant physics controlling the behavior of oxide melts at high pressure. Finally, we present a simple quantitative model to explain the universality of the increasing Grüneisen parameter trend for liquids, which directly reflects their progressive evolution toward more compact solid-like structures upon compression. This general behavior is opposite that of solid materials, and produces steep adiabatic thermal profiles for silicate melts, thus playing a crucial role in magma ocean evolution.

  12. The Paris Declaration in practice: challenges of health sector aid coordination at the district level in Zambia

    PubMed Central

    Sundewall, Jesper; Forsberg, Birger C; Jönsson, Kristina; Chansa, Collins; Tomson, Göran

    2009-01-01

    Background The increasing resources available for and number of partners providing health sector aid have stimulated innovations, notably, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, which aim to improve aid coordination. In this, one of the first studies to analyse implementation of aid coordination below national level, the aim was to investigate the effect of the Paris Declaration on coordination of health sector aid at the district level in Zambia. Methods The study was carried out in three districts of Zambia. Data were collected via interviews with health centre staff, district managers and officials from the Ministry of Health, and from district action plans, financial reports and accounts, and health centre ledger cards. Four indicators of coordination related to external-partner activity, common arrangements used by external partners and predictability of funding were analysed and assessed in relation to the 2010 targets set by the Paris Declaration. Findings While the activity of external partners at the district level has increased, funding and activities provided by these partners are often not included in local plans. HIV/AIDS support show better integration in planning and implementation at the district level than other support. Regarding common arrangements used for fund disbursement, the share of resources provided as programme-based support is not increasing. The predictability of funds coming from outside the government financing mechanism is low. Conclusion Greater efforts to integrate partners in district level planning and implementation are needed. External partners must improve the predictability of their support and be more proactive in informing the districts about their intended contributions. With the deadline for achieving the targets set by the Paris Declaration fast approaching, it is time for the signatories to accelerate its implementation. PMID:19505300

  13. Developmental Coordination Disorder, An Umbrella Term for Motor Impairments in Children: Nature and Co-Morbid Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Vaivre-Douret, Laurence; Lalanne, Christophe; Golse, Bernard

    2016-01-01

    Background: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) defines a heterogeneous class of children exhibiting marked impairment in motor coordination as a general group of deficits in fine and gross motricity (subtype mixed group) common to all research studies, and with a variety of other motor disorders that have been little investigated. No consensus about symptoms and etiology has been established. Methods: Data from 58 children aged 6 to 13 years with DCD were collected on DSM-IV criteria, similar to DSM-5 criteria. They had no other medical condition and inclusion criteria were strict (born full-term, no medication, no occupational/physical therapy). Multivariate statistical methods were used to evidence relevant interactions between discriminant features in a general DCD subtype group and to highlight specific co-morbidities. The study examined age-calibrated standardized scores from completed assessments of psychological, neuropsychological, and neuropsychomotor functions, and more specifically the presence of minor neurological dysfunctions (MND) including neurological soft signs (NSS), without evidence of focal neurological brain involvement. These were not considered in most previous studies. Results: Findings show the salient DCD markers for the mixed subtype (imitation of gestures, digital perception, digital praxia, manual dexterity, upper, and lower limb coordination), vs. surprising co-morbidities, with 33% of MND with mild spasticity from phasic stretch reflex (PSR), not associated with the above impairments but rather with sitting tone (p = 0.004) and dysdiadochokinesia (p = 0.011). PSR was not specific to a DCD subtype but was related to increased impairment of coordination between upper and lower limbs and manual dexterity. Our results highlight the major contribution of an extensive neuro-developmental assessment (mental and physical). Discussion: The present study provides important new evidence in favor of a complete physical neuropsychomotor assessment, including neuromuscular tone examination, using appropriate standardized neurodevelopmental tools (common tasks across ages with age-related normative data) in order to distinguish motor impairments gathered under the umbrella term of developmental coordination disorders (subcortical vs. cortical). Mild spasticity in the gastrocnemius muscles, such as phasic stretch reflex (PSR), suggests disturbances of the motor pathway, increasing impairment of gross and fine motricity. These findings contribute to understanding the nature of motor disorders in DCD by taking account of possible co-morbidities (corticospinal tract disturbances) to improve diagnosis and adapt treatment programmes in clinical practice. PMID:27148114

  14. Emergence of HGF/SF-Induced Coordinated Cellular Motility

    PubMed Central

    Zaritsky, Assaf; Natan, Sari; Ben-Jacob, Eshel; Tsarfaty, Ilan

    2012-01-01

    Collective cell migration plays a major role in embryonic morphogenesis, tissue remodeling, wound repair and cancer invasion. Despite many decades of extensive investigations, only few analytical tools have been developed to enhance the biological understanding of this important phenomenon. Here we present a novel quantitative approach to analyze long term kinetics of bright field time-lapse wound healing. Fully-automated spatiotemporal measures and visualization of cells' motility and implicit morphology were proven to be sound, repetitive and highly informative compared to single-cell tracking analysis. We study cellular collective migration induced by tyrosine kinase-growth factor signaling (Met-Hepatocyte Growth Factor/Scatter Factor (HGF/SF)). Our quantitative approach is applied to demonstrate that collective migration of the adenocarcinoma cell lines is characterized by simple morpho-kinetics. HGF/SF induces complex morpho-kinetic coordinated collective migration: cells at the front move faster and are more spread than those further away from the wound edge. As the wound heals, distant cells gradually accelerate and enhance spread and elongation –resembling the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), and then the cells become more spread and maintain higher velocity than cells located closer to the wound. Finally, upon wound closure, front cells halt, shrink and round up (resembling mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) phenotype) while distant cells undergo the same process gradually. Met inhibition experiments further validate that Met signaling dramatically alters the morpho-kinetic dynamics of the healing wound. Machine-learning classification was applied to demonstrate the generalization of our findings, revealing even subtle changes in motility patterns induced by Met-inhibition. It is concluded that activation of Met-signaling induces an elaborated model in which cells lead a coordinated increased motility along with gradual differentiation-based collective cell motility dynamics. Our quantitative phenotypes may guide future investigation on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tyrosine kinase-induced coordinate cell motility and morphogenesis in metastasis. PMID:22970283

  15. International Coordination of Exploring and Using Lunar Polar Volatiles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gruener, J. E.; Suzuki, N. H.; Carpenter, J. D.

    2016-01-01

    Fourteen international space agencies are participating in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), working together to advance a long-range strategy for human and robotic space exploration beyond low earth orbit. The ISECG is a voluntary, non-binding international coordination mechanism through which individual agencies may exchange information regarding interests, objectives, and plans in space exploration with the goal of strengthening both individual exploration programs as well as the collective effort. The ISECG has developed a Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) that reflects the coordinated international dialog and continued preparation for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, beginning with the Moon and cis-lunar space, and continuing to near-Earth asteroids, and Mars.

  16. Children's Glasses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akerskog, Gunnar; Soderlund, Jan

    1980-07-01

    There is a common opinion among eye specialists and opticians that children's glasses often are not shaped for optimal fitting. A fundamental reason for this is the lack of data for the shaping of the bows, with the result that most children's glasses are reduced copies of adult's glasses. This report describes a photogrammetric method for collection of primary data for manufac-turing bows for children. An ordinary amateur camera was equipped with a stereo-adapter. With a few arrangements, such as projecting a pattern on the face and keeping the hair away from the ears, 600 children were photographed. A calibration photograph was exposed at the beginning and end of each film or when the equipment had been transported or otherwise disturbed. The photographs were measured in a stereocomparator and the coordinates analytically corrected for distortion. After determination of model coordinates the requested geometric information, such as pupillar distance, eye-ear distance, location of the bridge of the nose etc, was calculated. The shapes of average noses were presented as profile plots.

  17. The Use Of Videography For Three-Dimensional Motion Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hawkins, D. A.; Hawthorne, D. L.; DeLozier, G. S.; Campbell, K. R.; Grabiner, M. D.

    1988-02-01

    Special video path editing capabilities with custom hardware and software, have been developed for use in conjunction with existing video acquisition hardware and firmware. This system has simplified the task of quantifying the kinematics of human movement. A set of retro-reflective markers are secured to a subject performing a given task (i.e. walking, throwing, swinging a golf club, etc.). Multiple cameras, a video processor, and a computer work station collect video data while the task is performed. Software has been developed to edit video files, create centroid data, and identify marker paths. Multi-camera path files are combined to form a 3D path file using the DLT method of cinematography. A separate program converts the 3D path file into kinematic data by creating a set of local coordinate axes and performing a series of coordinate transformations from one local system to the next. The kinematic data is then displayed for appropriate review and/or comparison.

  18. 76 FR 47566 - Agency Information Collection Extension; Correction

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-05

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Agency Information Collection Extension; Correction AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of... INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Goldstein, Buy American Coordinator, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable...

  19. The Open Method of Coordination and the Implementation of the Bologna Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Veiga, Amelia; Amaral, Alberto

    2006-01-01

    In this paper the authors argue that the use of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in the implementation of the Bologna process presents coordination problems that do not allow for the full coherence of the results. As the process is quite complex, involving three different levels (European, national and local) and as the final actors in the…

  20. Local co-ordination and case management can enhance Indigenous eye care – a qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Indigenous adults suffer six times more blindness than other Australians but 94% of this vision loss is unnecessary being preventable or treatable. We have explored the barriers and solutions to improve Indigenous eye health and proposed significant system changes required to close the gap for Indigenous eye health. This paper aims to identify the local co-ordination and case management requirements necessary to improve eye care for Indigenous Australians. Methods A qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, stakeholder workshops and meetings was conducted in community, private practice, hospital, non-government organisation and government settings. Data were collected at 21 sites across Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 289 people working in Indigenous health and eye care; focus group discussions with 81 community members; stakeholder workshops involving 86 individuals; and separate meetings with 75 people. 531 people participated in the consultations. Barriers and issues were identified through thematic analysis and policy solutions developed through iterative consultation. Results Poorly co-ordinated eye care services for Indigenous Australians are inefficient and costly and result in poorer outcomes for patients, communities and health care providers. Services are more effective where there is good co-ordination of services and case management of patients along the pathway of care. The establishment of clear pathways of care, development local and regional partnerships to manage services and service providers and the application of sufficient workforce with clear roles and responsibilities have the potential to achieve important improvements in eye care. Conclusions Co-ordination is a key to close the gap in eye care for Indigenous Australians. Properly co-ordinated care and support along the patient pathway through case management will save money by preventing dropout of patients who haven’t received treatment and a successfully functioning system will encourage more people to enter for care. PMID:23822115

  1. Benefits and Challenges of Scaling Up Expansion of Marine Protected Area Networks in the Verde Island Passage, Central Philippines.

    PubMed

    Horigue, Vera; Pressey, Robert L; Mills, Morena; Brotánková, Jana; Cabral, Reniel; Andréfouët, Serge

    2015-01-01

    Locally-established marine protected areas (MPAs) have been proven to achieve local-scale fisheries and conservation objectives. However, since many of these MPAs were not designed to form ecologically-connected networks, their contributions to broader-scale goals such as complementarity and connectivity can be limited. In contrast, integrated networks of MPAs designed with systematic conservation planning are assumed to be more effective--ecologically, socially, and economically--than collections of locally-established MPAs. There is, however, little empirical evidence that clearly demonstrates the supposed advantages of systematic MPA networks. A key reason is the poor record of implementation of systematic plans attributable to lack of local buy-in. An intermediate scenario for the expansion of MPAs is scaling up of local decisions, whereby locally-driven MPA initiatives are coordinated through collaborative partnerships among local governments and their communities. Coordination has the potential to extend the benefits of individual MPAs and perhaps to approach the potential benefits offered by systematic MPA networks. We evaluated the benefits of scaling up local MPAs to form networks by simulating seven expansion scenarios for MPAs in the Verde Island Passage, central Philippines. The scenarios were: uncoordinated community-based establishment of MPAs; two scenarios reflecting different levels of coordinated MPA expansion through collaborative partnerships; and four scenarios guided by systematic conservation planning with different contexts for governance. For each scenario, we measured benefits through time in terms of achievement of objectives for representation of marine habitats. We found that: in any governance context, systematic networks were more efficient than non-systematic ones; systematic networks were more efficient in broader governance contexts; and, contrary to expectations but with caveats, the uncoordinated scenario was slightly more efficient than the coordinated scenarios. Overall, however, coordinated MPA networks have the potential to be more efficient than the uncoordinated ones, especially when coordinated planning uses systematic methods.

  2. Benefits and Challenges of Scaling Up Expansion of Marine Protected Area Networks in the Verde Island Passage, Central Philippines

    PubMed Central

    Horigue, Vera; Pressey, Robert L.; Mills, Morena; Brotánková, Jana; Cabral, Reniel; Andréfouët, Serge

    2015-01-01

    Locally-established marine protected areas (MPAs) have been proven to achieve local-scale fisheries and conservation objectives. However, since many of these MPAs were not designed to form ecologically-connected networks, their contributions to broader-scale goals such as complementarity and connectivity can be limited. In contrast, integrated networks of MPAs designed with systematic conservation planning are assumed to be more effective—ecologically, socially, and economically—than collections of locally-established MPAs. There is, however, little empirical evidence that clearly demonstrates the supposed advantages of systematic MPA networks. A key reason is the poor record of implementation of systematic plans attributable to lack of local buy-in. An intermediate scenario for the expansion of MPAs is scaling up of local decisions, whereby locally-driven MPA initiatives are coordinated through collaborative partnerships among local governments and their communities. Coordination has the potential to extend the benefits of individual MPAs and perhaps to approach the potential benefits offered by systematic MPA networks. We evaluated the benefits of scaling up local MPAs to form networks by simulating seven expansion scenarios for MPAs in the Verde Island Passage, central Philippines. The scenarios were: uncoordinated community-based establishment of MPAs; two scenarios reflecting different levels of coordinated MPA expansion through collaborative partnerships; and four scenarios guided by systematic conservation planning with different contexts for governance. For each scenario, we measured benefits through time in terms of achievement of objectives for representation of marine habitats. We found that: in any governance context, systematic networks were more efficient than non-systematic ones; systematic networks were more efficient in broader governance contexts; and, contrary to expectations but with caveats, the uncoordinated scenario was slightly more efficient than the coordinated scenarios. Overall, however, coordinated MPA networks have the potential to be more efficient than the uncoordinated ones, especially when coordinated planning uses systematic methods. PMID:26288089

  3. Interpolation schemes for peptide rearrangements.

    PubMed

    Bauer, Marianne S; Strodel, Birgit; Fejer, Szilard N; Koslover, Elena F; Wales, David J

    2010-02-07

    A variety of methods (in total seven) comprising different combinations of internal and Cartesian coordinates are tested for interpolation and alignment in connection attempts for polypeptide rearrangements. We consider Cartesian coordinates, the internal coordinates used in CHARMM, and natural internal coordinates, each of which has been interfaced to the OPTIM code and compared with the corresponding results for united-atom force fields. We show that aligning the methylene hydrogens to preserve the sign of a local dihedral angle, rather than minimizing a distance metric, provides significant improvements with respect to connection times and failures. We also demonstrate the superiority of natural coordinate methods in conjunction with internal alignment. Checking the potential energy of the interpolated structures can act as a criterion for the choice of the interpolation coordinate system, which reduces failures and connection times significantly.

  4. Assessing Cardiac Metabolism: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

    PubMed

    Taegtmeyer, Heinrich; Young, Martin E; Lopaschuk, Gary D; Abel, E Dale; Brunengraber, Henri; Darley-Usmar, Victor; Des Rosiers, Christine; Gerszten, Robert; Glatz, Jan F; Griffin, Julian L; Gropler, Robert J; Holzhuetter, Hermann-Georg; Kizer, Jorge R; Lewandowski, E Douglas; Malloy, Craig R; Neubauer, Stefan; Peterson, Linda R; Portman, Michael A; Recchia, Fabio A; Van Eyk, Jennifer E; Wang, Thomas J

    2016-05-13

    In a complex system of interrelated reactions, the heart converts chemical energy to mechanical energy. Energy transfer is achieved through coordinated activation of enzymes, ion channels, and contractile elements, as well as structural and membrane proteins. The heart's needs for energy are difficult to overestimate. At a time when the cardiovascular research community is discovering a plethora of new molecular methods to assess cardiac metabolism, the methods remain scattered in the literature. The present statement on "Assessing Cardiac Metabolism" seeks to provide a collective and curated resource on methods and models used to investigate established and emerging aspects of cardiac metabolism. Some of those methods are refinements of classic biochemical tools, whereas most others are recent additions from the powerful tools of molecular biology. The aim of this statement is to be useful to many and to do justice to a dynamic field of great complexity. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

  5. Assessing Cardiac Metabolism

    PubMed Central

    Taegtmeyer, Heinrich; Young, Martin E.; Lopaschuk, Gary D.; Abel, E. Dale; Brunengraber, Henri; Darley-Usmar, Victor; Des Rosiers, Christine; Gerszten, Robert; Glatz, Jan F.; Griffin, Julian L.; Gropler, Robert J.; Holzhuetter, Hermann-Georg; Kizer, Jorge R.; Lewandowski, E. Douglas; Malloy, Craig R.; Neubauer, Stefan; Peterson, Linda R.; Portman, Michael A.; Recchia, Fabio A.; Van Eyk, Jennifer E.; Wang, Thomas J.

    2016-01-01

    In a complex system of interrelated reactions, the heart converts chemical energy to mechanical energy. Energy transfer is achieved through coordinated activation of enzymes, ion channels, and contractile elements, as well as structural and membrane proteins. The heart’s needs for energy are difficult to overestimate. At a time when the cardiovascular research community is discovering a plethora of new molecular methods to assess cardiac metabolism, the methods remain scattered in the literature. The present statement on “Assessing Cardiac Metabolism” seeks to provide a collective and curated resource on methods and models used to investigate established and emerging aspects of cardiac metabolism. Some of those methods are refinements of classic biochemical tools, whereas most others are recent additions from the powerful tools of molecular biology. The aim of this statement is to be useful to many and to do justice to a dynamic field of great complexity. PMID:27012580

  6. Comparison of methods for developing the dynamics of rigid-body systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ju, M. S.; Mansour, J. M.

    1989-01-01

    Several approaches for developing the equations of motion for a three-degree-of-freedom PUMA robot were compared on the basis of computational efficiency (i.e., the number of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions). Of particular interest was the investigation of the use of computer algebra as a tool for developing the equations of motion. Three approaches were implemented algebraically: Lagrange's method, Kane's method, and Wittenburg's method. Each formulation was developed in absolute and relative coordinates. These six cases were compared to each other and to a recursive numerical formulation. The results showed that all of the formulations implemented algebraically required fewer calculations than the recursive numerical algorithm. The algebraic formulations required fewer calculations in absolute coordinates than in relative coordinates. Each of the algebraic formulations could be simplified, using patterns from Kane's method, to yield the same number of calculations in a given coordinate system.

  7. The Coordinate Transformation Method of High Resolution dem Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Chaode; Guo, Wang; Li, Aimin

    2018-04-01

    Coordinate transformation methods of DEM data can be divided into two categories. One reconstruct based on original vector elevation data. The other transforms DEM data blocks by transforming parameters. But the former doesn't work in the absence of original vector data, and the later may cause errors at joint places between adjoining blocks of high resolution DEM data. In view of this problem, a method dealing with high resolution DEM data coordinate transformation is proposed. The method transforms DEM data into discrete vector elevation points, and then adjusts positions of points by bi-linear interpolation respectively. Finally, a TIN is generated by transformed points, and the new DEM data in target coordinate system is reconstructed based on TIN. An algorithm which can find blocks and transform automatically is given in this paper. The method is tested in different terrains and proved to be feasible and valid.

  8. Self-consistent-field perturbation theory for the Schröautdinger equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goodson, David Z.

    1997-06-01

    A method is developed for using large-order perturbation theory to solve the systems of coupled differential equations that result from the variational solution of the Schröautdinger equation with wave functions of product form. This is a noniterative, computationally efficient way to solve self-consistent-field (SCF) equations. Possible applications include electronic structure calculations using products of functions of collective coordinates that include electron correlation, vibrational SCF calculations for coupled anharmonic oscillators with selective coupling of normal modes, and ab initio calculations of molecular vibration spectra without the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.

  9. The framework for simulation of bioinspired security mechanisms against network infrastructure attacks.

    PubMed

    Shorov, Andrey; Kotenko, Igor

    2014-01-01

    The paper outlines a bioinspired approach named "network nervous system" and methods of simulation of infrastructure attacks and protection mechanisms based on this approach. The protection mechanisms based on this approach consist of distributed procedures of information collection and processing, which coordinate the activities of the main devices of a computer network, identify attacks, and determine necessary countermeasures. Attacks and protection mechanisms are specified as structural models using a set-theoretic approach. An environment for simulation of protection mechanisms based on the biological metaphor is considered; the experiments demonstrating the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms are described.

  10. Barriers to and Facilitators of Inter-Organizational Coordination in Response to Disasters: A Grounded Theory Approach.

    PubMed

    Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Khankeh, Hamid Reza; Zaboli, Rouhollah; Ravangard, Ramin; Malmir, Isa

    2017-06-01

    Coordination is a major challenge in the field of health in disasters, mostly because of the complex nature of health-related activities. This was a qualitative study based on the grounded theory approach. A total of 22 experts in the field of health in disasters participated in the study. The data were collected through in-depth interviews and literature review. The collected data were then analyzed by use of MAXQDA 2010 software (VERBI Software GmbH). The lack of a strategic view in the field of health in disasters, a lack of coordination of necessities and infrastructures, insufficient enforcement, a higher priority given to an organizational approach rather than a national approach, and the field of disasters not being a priority in the health system were noted as barriers to inter-organizational coordination. The facilitators of inter-organizational coordination noted were the importance of public participation in the field of health in disasters, having a process and systematic view in the field of health in disasters, the necessity of understanding and managing resources and information in the field of health in disasters, and having a feedback and evaluation system in the health system after disasters. It is recommended that developing common beliefs and goals be given priority in making plans and policies in the field of health in disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:318-325).

  11. Validation of a Mobile Device for Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation Tinnitus Therapy.

    PubMed

    Hauptmann, Christian; Wegener, Alexander; Poppe, Hendrik; Williams, Mark; Popelka, Gerald; Tass, Peter A

    2016-10-01

    Sound-based tinnitus intervention stimuli include broad-band noise signals with subjectively adjusted bandwidths used as maskers delivered by commercial devices or hearing aids, environmental sounds broadly described and delivered by both consumer devices and hearing aids, music recordings specifically modified and delivered in a variety of different ways, and other stimuli. Acoustic coordinated reset neuromodulation therapy for tinnitus reduction has unique and more stringent requirements compared to all other sound-based tinnitus interventions. These include precise characterization of tinnitus pitch and loudness, and effective provision of patient-controlled daily therapy signals at defined frequencies, levels, and durations outside of the clinic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an approach to accommodate these requirements including evaluation of a mobile device, validation of an automated tinnitus pitch-matching algorithm and assessment of a patient's ability to control stimuli and collect repeated outcome measures. The experimental design involved direct laboratory measurements of the sound delivery capabilities of a mobile device, comparison of an automated, adaptive pitch-matching method to a traditional manual method and measures of a patient's ability to understand and manipulate a mobile device graphic user interface to both deliver the therapy signals and collect the outcome measures. This study consisted of 5 samples of a common mobile device for the laboratory measures and a total of 30 adult participants: 15 randomly selected normal-hearing participants with simulated tinnitus for validation of a tinnitus pitch-matching algorithm and 15 sequentially selected patients already undergoing tinnitus therapy for evaluation of patient usability. No tinnitus intervention(s) were specifically studied as a component of this study. Data collection involved laboratory measures of mobile devices, comparison of manual and automated adaptive tinnitus pitch-matching psychoacoustic procedures in the same participant analyzed for absolute differences (t test), variance differences (f test), and range comparisons, and assessment of patient usability including questionnaire measures and logs of patient observations. Mobile devices are able to reliably and accurately deliver the acoustic therapy signals. There was no difference in mean pitch matches (t test, p > 0.05) between an automated adaptive method compared to a traditional manual pitch-matching method. However, the variability of the automated pitch-matching method was much less (f test, p < 0.05) with twice as many matches within the predefined error range (±5%) compared to the manual pitch-matching method (80% versus 40%). After a short initial training, all participants were able to use the mobile device effectively and to perform the required tasks without further professional assistance. American Academy of Audiology

  12. Applications of an exponential finite difference technique

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

    Handschuh, R.F.; Keith, T.G. Jr.

    1988-07-01

    An exponential finite difference scheme first presented by Bhattacharya for one dimensional unsteady heat conduction problems in Cartesian coordinates was extended. The finite difference algorithm developed was used to solve the unsteady diffusion equation in one dimensional cylindrical coordinates and was applied to two and three dimensional conduction problems in Cartesian coordinates. Heat conduction involving variable thermal conductivity was also investigated. The method was used to solve nonlinear partial differential equations in one and two dimensional Cartesian coordinates. Predicted results are compared to exact solutions where available or to results obtained by other numerical methods.

  13. In vitro validation and reliability study of electromagnetic skin sensors for evaluation of end range of motion positions of the hip.

    PubMed

    Audenaert, E A; Vigneron, L; Van Hoof, T; D'Herde, K; van Maele, G; Oosterlinck, D; Pattyn, C

    2011-12-01

    There is growing evidence that femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a probable risk factor for the development of early osteoarthritis in the nondysplastic hip. As FAI arises with end range of motion activities, measurement errors related to skin movement might be higher than anticipated when using previously reported methods for kinematic evaluation of the hip. We performed an in vitro validation and reliability study of a noninvasive method to define pelvic and femur positions in end range of motion activities of the hip using an electromagnetic tracking device. Motion data, collected from sensors attached to the bone and skin of 11 cadaver hips, were simultaneously obtained and compared in a global reference frame. Motion data were then transposed in the hip joint local coordinate systems. Observer-related variability in locating the anatomical landmarks required to define the local coordinate system and variability of determining the hip joint center was evaluated. Angular root mean square (RMS) differences between the bony and skin sensors averaged 3.2° (SD 3.5°) and 1.8° (SD 2.3°) in the global reference frame for the femur and pelvic sensors, respectively. Angular RMS differences between the bony and skin sensors in the hip joint local coordinate systems ranged at end range of motion and dependent on the motion under investigation from 1.91 to 5.81°. The presented protocol for evaluation of hip motion seems to be suited for the 3-D description of motion relevant to the experimental and clinical evaluation of femoroacetabular impingement.

  14. Efficiency and the Rise of State Coordinating Boards for Higher Education 1905-1945. ASHE Annual Meeting 1980 Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Donald T., Jr.

    Developments in American higher education from 1905-1945 to increase efficiency and coordination are discussed. Data were collected on the costs of instruction, utilization of facilities, and the distribution of faculty time in order to find ways to reduce wastage and increase efficiency. A certain amount of this wastage resulted from competition…

  15. Wide-Angle Multistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar: Focused Image Formation and Aliasing Artifact Mitigation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-07-01

    Progress in Applied Computational Electro- magnetics. ACES, Syracuse, NY, 2004. 91. Mahafza, Bassem R. Radar Systems Analysis and Design Using MATLAB...Figure Page 4.5. RCS chamber coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 4.6. AFIT’s RCS Chamber...4.11. Frequency domain schematic of RCS data collection . . . . . . 98 4.12. Spherical coordinate system for RCS data calibration . . . . . . 102 4.13

  16. Linux OS Jitter Measurements at Large Node Counts using a BlueGene/L

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

    Jones, Terry R; Tauferner, Mr. Andrew; Inglett, Mr. Todd

    2010-01-01

    We present experimental results for a coordinated scheduling implementation of the Linux operating system. Results were collected on an IBM Blue Gene/L machine at scales up to 16K nodes. Our results indicate coordinated scheduling was able to provide a dramatic improvement in scaling performance for two applications characterized as bulk synchronous parallel programs.

  17. EXEL; Experience for Children in Learning. Parent-Directed Activities to Develop: Oral Expression, Visual Discrimination, Auditory Discrimination, Motor Coordination.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Behrmann, Polly; Millman, Joan

    The activities collected in this handbook are planned for parents to use with their children in a learning experience. They can also be used in the classroom. Sections contain games designed to develop visual discrimination, auditory discrimination, motor coordination and oral expression. An objective is given for each game, and directions for…

  18. The Risk of Reduced Physical Activity in Children with Probable Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Prospective Longitudinal Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Dido; Lingam, Raghu; Mattocks, Calum; Riddoch, Chris; Ness, Andy; Emond, Alan

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that children with probable Developmental Coordination Disorder have an increased risk of reduced moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), using data from a large population based study. Prospectively collected data from 4331 children (boys = 2065, girls = 2266) who had completed motor…

  19. Effectiveness of Mechanisms and Models of Coordination between Organizations, Agencies and Bodies Providing or Financing Health Services in Humanitarian Crises: A Systematic Review

    PubMed Central

    Akl, Elie A.; El-Jardali, Fadi; Bou Karroum, Lama; El-Eid, Jamale; Brax, Hneine; Akik, Chaza; Osman, Mona; Hassan, Ghayda; Itani, Mira; Farha, Aida; Pottie, Kevin; Oliver, Sandy

    2015-01-01

    Background Effective coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises is required to ensure efficiency of services, avoid duplication, and improve equity. The objective of this review was to assess how, during and after humanitarian crises, different mechanisms and models of coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services compare in terms of access to health services and health outcomes. Methods We registered a protocol for this review in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews under number PROSPERO2014:CRD42014009267. Eligible studies included randomized and nonrandomized designs, process evaluations and qualitative methods. We electronically searched Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the WHO Global Health Library and websites of relevant organizations. We followed standard systematic review methodology for the selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. Results Of 14,309 identified citations from databases and organizations' websites, we identified four eligible studies. Two studies used mixed-methods, one used quantitative methods, and one used qualitative methods. The available evidence suggests that information coordination between bodies providing health services in humanitarian crises settings may be effective in improving health systems inputs. There is additional evidence suggesting that management/directive coordination such as the cluster model may improve health system inputs in addition to access to health services. None of the included studies assessed coordination through common representation and framework coordination. The evidence was judged to be of very low quality. Conclusion This systematic review provides evidence of possible effectiveness of information coordination and management/directive coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises. Our findings can inform the research agenda and highlight the need for improving conduct and reporting of research in this field. PMID:26332670

  20. Multi-energy Coordinated Evaluation for Energy Internet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Dongqiang; Sun, Jian; Wang, Cunping; Hong, Xiao; Ma, Xiufan; Xiong, Wenting; Shen, Yaqi

    2017-05-01

    This paper reviews the current research status of multi-energy coordinated evaluation for energy Internet. Taking the coordinated optimization effect of wind energy, solar energy and other energy sources into consideration, 17 evaluation indexes, such as the substitution coefficient of cold heat and power, the ratio of wind and solar energy, and the rate of energy storage ratio, were designed from five aspects, including the acceptance of renewable energy, energy complementary alternative benefits, peak valley difference, the degree of equipment utilization and user needs. At the same time, this article attaches importance to the economic and social benefits of the coordination of multiple energy sources. Ultimately, a comprehensive multi-energy coordination evaluation index system of regional energy Internet was put forward from the safe operation, coordination and optimization, economic and social benefits four aspects, and a comprehensive evaluation model was established. This model uses the optimal combination weighting method based on moment estimation and Topsis evaluation analysis method, so both the subjective and objective weight of the index are considered and the coordinate evaluation of multi-energy is realized. Finally the perfection of the index system and the validity of the evaluation method are verified by a case analysis.

  1. Medical Image Retrieval Using Multi-Texton Assignment.

    PubMed

    Tang, Qiling; Yang, Jirong; Xia, Xianfu

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, we present a multi-texton representation method for medical image retrieval, which utilizes the locality constraint to encode each filter bank response within its local-coordinate system consisting of the k nearest neighbors in texton dictionary and subsequently employs spatial pyramid matching technique to implement feature vector representation. Comparison with the traditional nearest neighbor assignment followed by texton histogram statistics method, our strategies reduce the quantization errors in mapping process and add information about the spatial layout of texton distributions and, thus, increase the descriptive power of the image representation. We investigate the effects of different parameters on system performance in order to choose the appropriate ones for our datasets and carry out experiments on the IRMA-2009 medical collection and the mammographic patch dataset. The extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has superior performance.

  2. Using Video Games to Teach Game Design: A Gaming Collection for Libraries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mastel, Kristen; Huston, Dave

    2009-01-01

    Game-design programs are relatively new in the world of academia, as the author of this article discovered when she worked as Brown College's librarian and learning resource center coordinator. With that newness comes the challenge of determining a "core" collection of materials to support the discipline. This kind of core collection is…

  3. Automated Rugosity Values From High Frequency Multibeam Sonar Data for Benthic Habitat Classification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Diurba, E. S.; Appelgate, B.

    2005-12-01

    Rugosity literally means wrinkled, or marked with folds and ridges. When applied to seafloor texture, rugosity is one piece of the puzzle that is necessary in order to understand benthic habitats. On a simple level, rugosity is a proxy for habitat complexity and serves as a basis for predicting population density as well as species inhabitants (Friedlander, 1998). Traditionally, rugosity was calculated by draping a chain of known length over the seafloor and comparing the total chain length with the distance the chain covered. The equation Rugosity=100*(length of chain/ actual length of chain) was then applied to get a percent rugosity. However, the process is time consuming and provides little information about the overall bottom roughness. Our objective was to develop a new acoustic method for measuring rugosity and employ this method in conjunction with other types of data, to rapidly characterize the seafloor of a coral reef environment. We developed an automated algorithm to determine the acoustic rugosity of seafloor surfaces from a 240 kHz multibeam sonar data on a ping-by-ping basis. The multibeam data was collected in 2003 during a survey of an anchorage along the NW side of Saipan. This data, collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), utilized a RESON SeaBat 8101 multibeam sonar that has a vertical resolution of 1.25cm and a range capability of 300m. Each 150 degree ping consists of 101 beams that are each individually logged with x (distance across the ping), and z (depth) coordinates. The rugosity algorithm bins the beams along each ping and uses the x and z coordinates to calculate rugosity. By binning the data solely in the cross-track direction, all rugosity calculations preserve the spatial resolution without distortions from along-track averaging and gridding. This method allows for extremely detailed data sets and quick information about surveyed areas that would otherwise have taken years for divers to manually collect to the same level of resolution. The final product is an objectively derived, quantitative map that is easily comparable to the bathymetry and sidescan data. We present results of this method, using various bin sizes, to show how they compare with other spatial indications of rugosity, as well as with manual and optical rugosity measurements.

  4. Development of a Coordinate Transformation method for direct georeferencing in map projection frames

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Haitao; Zhang, Bing; Wu, Changshan; Zuo, Zhengli; Chen, Zhengchao

    2013-03-01

    This paper develops a novel Coordinate Transformation method (CT-method), with which the orientation angles (roll, pitch, heading) of the local tangent frame of the GPS/INS system are transformed into those (omega, phi, kappa) of the map projection frame for direct georeferencing (DG). Especially, the orientation angles in the map projection frame were derived from a sequence of coordinate transformations. The effectiveness of orientation angles transformation was verified through comparing with DG results obtained from conventional methods (Legat method and POSPac method) using empirical data. Moreover, the CT-method was also validated with simulated data. One advantage of the proposed method is that the orientation angles can be acquired simultaneously while calculating position elements of exterior orientation (EO) parameters and auxiliary points coordinates by coordinate transformation. These three methods were demonstrated and compared using empirical data. Empirical results show that the CT-method is both as sound and effective as Legat method. Compared with POSPac method, the CT-method is more suitable for calculating EO parameters for DG in map projection frames. DG accuracy of the CT-method and Legat method are at the same level. DG results of all these three methods have systematic errors in height due to inconsistent length projection distortion in the vertical and horizontal components, and these errors can be significantly reduced using the EO height correction technique in Legat's approach. Similar to the results obtained with empirical data, the effectiveness of the CT-method was also proved with simulated data. POSPac method: The method is presented by Applanix POSPac software technical note (Hutton and Savina, 1997). It is implemented in the POSEO module of POSPac software.

  5. Users manual for coordinate generation code CRDSRA

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shamroth, S. J.

    1985-01-01

    Generation of a viable coordinate system represents an important component of an isolated airfoil Navier-Stokes calculation. The manual describes a computer code for generation of such a coordinate system. The coordinate system is a general nonorthogonal one in which high resolution normal to the airfoil is obtained in the vicinity of the airfoil surface, and high resolution along the airfoil surface is obtained in the vicinity of the airfoil leading edge. The method of generation is a constructive technique which leads to a C type coordinate grid. The method of construction as well as input and output definitions are contained herein. The computer code itself as well as a sample output is being submitted to COSMIC.

  6. Interpersonal Coordination: Methods, Achievements, and Challenges

    PubMed Central

    Cornejo, Carlos; Cuadros, Zamara; Morales, Ricardo; Paredes, Javiera

    2017-01-01

    Research regarding interpersonal coordination can be traced back to the early 1960s when video recording began to be utilized in communication studies. Since then, technological advances have extended the range of techniques that can be used to accurately study interactional phenomena. Although such a diversity of methods contributes to the improvement of knowledge concerning interpersonal coordination, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a comprehensive view of the field. In the present article, we review the main capture methods by describing their major findings, levels of description and limitations. We group them into three categories: video analysis, motion tracking, and psychophysiological and neurophysiological techniques. Revised evidence suggests that interpersonal coordination encompasses a family of morphological and temporal synchronies at different levels and that it is closely related to the construction and maintenance of a common social and affective space. We conclude by arguing that future research should address methodological challenges to advance the understanding of coordination phenomena. PMID:29021769

  7. Compensation of Horizontal Gravity Disturbances for High Precision Inertial Navigation

    PubMed Central

    Cao, Juliang; Wu, Meiping; Lian, Junxiang; Cai, Shaokun; Wang, Lin

    2018-01-01

    Horizontal gravity disturbances are an important factor that affects the accuracy of inertial navigation systems in long-duration ship navigation. In this paper, from the perspective of the coordinate system and vector calculation, the effects of horizontal gravity disturbance on the initial alignment and navigation calculation are simultaneously analyzed. Horizontal gravity disturbances cause the navigation coordinate frame built in initial alignment to not be consistent with the navigation coordinate frame in which the navigation calculation is implemented. The mismatching of coordinate frame violates the vector calculation law, which will have an adverse effect on the precision of the inertial navigation system. To address this issue, two compensation methods suitable for two different navigation coordinate frames are proposed, one of the methods implements the compensation in velocity calculation, and the other does the compensation in attitude calculation. Finally, simulations and ship navigation experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed methods. PMID:29562653

  8. Algorithm for transforming the coordinates of lunar objects while changing from various coordinate systems into the selenocentric one

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazurova, Elena; Mikhaylov, Aleksandr

    2013-04-01

    The selenocentric network of objects setting the coordinate system on the Moon, with the origin coinciding with the mass centre and axes directed along the inertia axes can become one of basic elements of the coordinate-time support for lunar navigation with use of cartographic materials and control objects. A powerful array of highly-precise and multiparameter information obtained by modern space vehicles allows one to establish Lunar Reference Frames (LRF) of an essentially another accuracy. Here, a special role is played by the results of scanning the lunar surface by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter(LRO) American mission. The coordinates of points calculated only from the results of laser scanning have high enough accuracy of position definition with respect to each other, but it is possible to check up the real accuracy of spatial tie and improve the coordinates only by a network of points whose coordinates are computed both from laser scanning and other methods too, for example, by terrestrial laser location, space photogrammetry methods, and so on. The paper presents the algorithm for transforming selenocentric coordinate systems and the accuracy estimation of changing from one lunar coordinate system to another one. Keywords: selenocentric coordinate system, coordinate-time support.

  9. 77 FR 36250 - Information Collection Request; Request for Aerial Photography

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-18

    ... the responsibility for conducting and coordinating the FSA's aerial photography, remote sensing... FSA Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO) uses the information from this form to collect the customer... respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other...

  10. 75 FR 57792 - Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-22

    ...: Sections 25.203(i) and 73.1030(a)(2), Radio Astronomy Coordination Zone in Puerto Rico. Form No.: N/A. Type... notification procedures enable the Arecibo Radio Astronomy Observatory to receive information needed to assess...

  11. Collection Development Policy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Dianne H., Ed.

    This detailed written guide of the Valdosta State College Library coordinates the library's collection development policies with specific teaching and research needs of the college. It identifies subject subdivisions supporting the work of the departments, guides daily book selection, and provides guidance in the duplication of materials, location…

  12. TADPLOT program, version 2.0: User's guide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hammond, Dana P.

    1991-01-01

    The TADPLOT Program, Version 2.0 is described. The TADPLOT program is a software package coordinated by a single, easy-to-use interface, enabling the researcher to access several standard file formats, selectively collect specific subsets of data, and create full-featured publication and viewgraph quality plots. The user-interface was designed to be independent from any file format, yet provide capabilities to accommodate highly specialized data queries. Integrated with an applications software network, data can be assessed, collected, and viewed quickly and easily. Since the commands are data independent, subsequent modifications to the file format will be transparent, while additional file formats can be integrated with minimal impact on the user-interface. The graphical capabilities are independent of the method of data collection; thus, the data specification and subsequent plotting can be modified and upgraded as separate functional components. The graphics kernel selected adheres to the full functional specifications of the CORE standard. Both interface and postprocessing capabilities are fully integrated into TADPLOT.

  13. Accompanying coordinate expansion and recurrence relation method using a transfer relation scheme for electron repulsion integrals with high angular momenta and long contractions

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

    Hayami, Masao; Seino, Junji; Nakai, Hiromi, E-mail: nakai@waseda.jp

    An efficient algorithm for the rapid evaluation of electron repulsion integrals is proposed. The present method, denoted by accompanying coordinate expansion and transferred recurrence relation (ACE-TRR), is constructed using a transfer relation scheme based on the accompanying coordinate expansion and recurrence relation method. Furthermore, the ACE-TRR algorithm is extended for the general-contraction basis sets. Numerical assessments clarify the efficiency of the ACE-TRR method for the systems including heavy elements, whose orbitals have long contractions and high angular momenta, such as f- and g-orbitals.

  14. Interpretation of long- and short-wavelength magnetic anomalies

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    DeNoyer, John M.; Barringer, Anthony R.

    1980-01-01

    Magset was launched on October 30, 1979. More than a decade of examining existing data, devising appropriate models of the global magnetic field, and extending methods for interpreting long-wavelength magnetic anomalies preceded this launch Magnetic data collected by satellite can be interrupted by using a method of analysis that quantitively describes the magnetic field resulting from three-dimensional geologic structures that are bounded by an arbitrary number of polygonal faces, Each face my have any orientation and three or more sides. At each point of the external field, the component normal to each face is obtained by using an expression for the solid angle subtended by a generalized polygon. The "cross" of tangential components are relatively easy to obtain for the same polygons. No approximations have been made related to orbit height that restrict the dimensions of the polygons relative to the distance from the external field points. This permits the method to be used to model shorter wavelength anomalies obtained from aircraft or ground surveys. The magnetic fields for all the structures considered are determine in the same rectangular coordinate system. The coordinate system is in depended from the orientation of geologic trends and permits multiple structures or bodies to be included in the same magnetic field calculations. This single reference system also simplified adjustments in position and direction to account for earth curvature in regional interpretation.

  15. Fast Measurement and Reconstruction of Large Workpieces with Freeform Surfaces by Combining Local Scanning and Global Position Data

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Zhe; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua; Liang, Baoqiu

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a new approach for the measurement and reconstruction of large workpieces with freeform surfaces. The system consists of a handheld laser scanning sensor and a position sensor. The laser scanning sensor is used to acquire the surface and geometry information, and the position sensor is utilized to unify the scanning sensors into a global coordinate system. The measurement process includes data collection, multi-sensor data fusion and surface reconstruction. With the multi-sensor data fusion, errors accumulated during the image alignment and registration process are minimized, and the measuring precision is significantly improved. After the dense accurate acquisition of the three-dimensional (3-D) coordinates, the surface is reconstructed using a commercial software piece, based on the Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) surface. The system has been evaluated, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using reference measurements provided by a commercial laser scanning sensor. The method has been applied for the reconstruction of a large gear rim and the accuracy is up to 0.0963 mm. The results prove that this new combined method is promising for measuring and reconstructing the large-scale objects with complex surface geometry. Compared with reported methods of large-scale shape measurement, it owns high freedom in motion, high precision and high measurement speed in a wide measurement range. PMID:26091396

  16. A Taxonomy of Coordination Mechanisms Used in Real-Time Software Based on Domain Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-12-01

    real - time operating system . CMU/SEI-93-TR-34 3 1.3 Related Work Several taxonomies...coordination methods supported by a real - time operating system is presented by Ripps. The classification of the coordination methods rests upon a set...mechanisms avail- able today. The classification proposed by Ripps [Ripps 89] includes the mechanisms supported by a real - time operating system .

  17. Estimation of two-dimensional motion velocity using ultrasonic signals beamformed in Cartesian coordinate for measurement of cardiac dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaburaki, Kaori; Mozumi, Michiya; Hasegawa, Hideyuki

    2018-07-01

    Methods for the estimation of two-dimensional (2D) velocity and displacement of physiological tissues are necessary for quantitative diagnosis. In echocardiography with a phased array probe, the accuracy in the estimation of the lateral motion is lower than that of the axial motion. To improve the accuracy in the estimation of the lateral motion, in the present study, the coordinate system for ultrasonic beamforming was changed from the conventional polar coordinate to the Cartesian coordinate. In a basic experiment, the motion velocity of a phantom, which was moved at a constant speed, was estimated by the conventional and proposed methods. The proposed method reduced the bias error and standard deviation in the estimated motion velocities. In an in vivo measurement, intracardiac blood flow was analyzed by the proposed method.

  18. Quantifying care coordination using natural language processing and domain-specific ontology

    PubMed Central

    Popejoy, Lori L; Khalilia, Mohammed A; Popescu, Mihail; Galambos, Colleen; Lyons, Vanessa; Rantz, Marilyn; Hicks, Lanis; Stetzer, Frank

    2015-01-01

    Objective This research identifies specific care coordination activities used by Aging in Place (AIP) nurse care coordinators and home healthcare (HHC) nurses when coordinating care for older community-dwelling adults and suggests a method to quantify care coordination. Methods A care coordination ontology was built based on activities extracted from 11 038 notes labeled with the Omaha Case management category. From the parsed narrative notes of every patient, we mapped the extracted activities to the ontology, from which we computed problem profiles and quantified care coordination for all patients. Results We compared two groups of patients: AIP who received enhanced care coordination (n=217) and HHC who received traditional care (n=691) using 128 135 narratives notes. Patients were tracked from the time they were admitted to AIP or HHC until they were discharged. We found that patients in AIP received a higher dose of care coordination than HHC in most Omaha problems, with larger doses being given in AIP than in HHC in all four Omaha categories. Conclusions ‘Communicate’ and ‘manage’ activities are widely used in care coordination. This confirmed the expert hypothesis that nurse care coordinators spent most of their time communicating about their patients and managing problems. Overall, nurses performed care coordination in both AIP and HHC, but the aggregated dose across Omaha problems and categories is larger in AIP. PMID:25324557

  19. Flight deck crew coordination indices of workload and situation awareness in terminal operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ellis, Kyle Kent Edward

    Crew coordination in the context of aviation is a specifically choreographed set of tasks performed by each pilot, defined for each phase of flight. Based on the constructs of effective Crew Resource Management and SOPs for each phase of flight, a shared understanding of crew workload and task responsibility is considered representative of well-coordinated crews. Nominal behavior is therefore defined by SOPs and CRM theory, detectable through pilot eye-scan. This research investigates the relationship between the eye-scan exhibited by each pilot and the level of coordination between crewmembers. Crew coordination was evaluated based on each pilot's understanding of the other crewmember's workload. By contrasting each pilot's workload-understanding, crew coordination was measured as the summed absolute difference of each pilot's understanding of the other crewmember's reported workload, resulting in a crew coordination index. The crew coordination index rates crew coordination on a scale ranging across Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor. Eye-scan behavior metrics were found to reliably identify a reduction in crew coordination. Additionally, crew coordination was successfully characterized by eye-scan behavior data using machine learning classification methods. Identifying eye-scan behaviors on the flight deck indicative of reduced crew coordination can be used to inform training programs and design enhanced avionics that improve the overall coordination between the crewmembers and the flight deck interface. Additionally, characterization of crew coordination can be used to develop methods to increase shared situation awareness and crew coordination to reduce operational and flight technical errors. Ultimately, the ability to reduce operational and flight technical errors made by pilot crews improves the safety of aviation.

  20. [Method for evaluating the positional accuracy of a six-degrees-of-freedom radiotherapy couch using high definition digital cameras].

    PubMed

    Takemura, Akihiro; Ueda, Shinichi; Noto, Kimiya; Kurata, Yuichi; Shoji, Saori

    2011-01-01

    In this study, we proposed and evaluated a positional accuracy assessment method with two high-resolution digital cameras for add-on six-degrees-of-freedom radiotherapy (6D) couches. Two high resolution digital cameras (D5000, Nikon Co.) were used in this accuracy assessment method. These cameras were placed on two orthogonal axes of a linear accelerator (LINAC) coordinate system and focused on the isocenter of the LINAC. Pictures of a needle that was fixed on the 6D couch were taken by the cameras during couch motions of translation and rotation of each axis. The coordinates of the needle in the pictures were obtained using manual measurement, and the coordinate error of the needle was calculated. The accuracy of a HexaPOD evo (Elekta AB, Sweden) was evaluated using this method. All of the mean values of the X, Y, and Z coordinate errors in the translation tests were within ±0.1 mm. However, the standard deviation of the Z coordinate errors in the Z translation test was 0.24 mm, which is higher than the others. In the X rotation test, we found that the X coordinate of the rotational origin of the 6D couch was shifted. We proposed an accuracy assessment method for a 6D couch. The method was able to evaluate the accuracy of the motion of only the 6D couch and revealed the deviation of the origin of the couch rotation. This accuracy assessment method is effective for evaluating add-on 6D couch positioning.

  1. Fission fragment charge and mass distributions in 239Pu(n ,f ) in the adiabatic nuclear energy density functional theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Regnier, D.; Dubray, N.; Schunck, N.; Verrière, M.

    2016-05-01

    Background: Accurate knowledge of fission fragment yields is an essential ingredient of numerous applications ranging from the formation of elements in the r process to fuel cycle optimization for nuclear energy. The need for a predictive theory applicable where no data are available, together with the variety of potential applications, is an incentive to develop a fully microscopic approach to fission dynamics. Purpose: In this work, we calculate the pre-neutron emission charge and mass distributions of the fission fragments formed in the neutron-induced fission of 239Pu using a microscopic method based on nuclear density functional theory (DFT). Methods: Our theoretical framework is the nuclear energy density functional (EDF) method, where large-amplitude collective motion is treated adiabatically by using the time-dependent generator coordinate method (TDGCM) under the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). In practice, the TDGCM is implemented in two steps. First, a series of constrained EDF calculations map the configuration and potential-energy landscape of the fissioning system for a small set of collective variables (in this work, the axial quadrupole and octupole moments of the nucleus). Then, nuclear dynamics is modeled by propagating a collective wave packet on the potential-energy surface. Fission fragment distributions are extracted from the flux of the collective wave packet through the scission line. Results: We find that the main characteristics of the fission charge and mass distributions can be well reproduced by existing energy functionals even in two-dimensional collective spaces. Theory and experiment agree typically within two mass units for the position of the asymmetric peak. As expected, calculations are sensitive to the structure of the initial state and the prescription for the collective inertia. We emphasize that results are also sensitive to the continuity of the collective landscape near scission. Conclusions: Our analysis confirms that the adiabatic approximation provides an effective scheme to compute fission fragment yields. It also suggests that, at least in the framework of nuclear DFT, three-dimensional collective spaces may be a prerequisite to reach 10% accuracy in predicting pre-neutron emission fission fragment yields.

  2. Results of the NIST National Ball Plate Round Robin.

    PubMed

    Caskey, G W; Phillips, S D; Borchardt, B R

    1997-01-01

    This report examines the results of the ball plate round robin administered by NIST. The round robin was part of an effort to assess the current state of industry practices for measurements made using coordinate measuring machines. Measurements of a two-dimensional ball plate (240 mm by 240 mm) on 41 coordinate measuring machines were collected and analyzed. Typically, the deviations of the reported X and Y coordinates from the calibrated values were within ± 5 μm, with some coordinate deviations exceeding 20.0 μm. One of the most significant observations from these data was that over 75 % of the participants failed to correctly estimate their measurement error on one or more of the ball plate spheres.

  3. 77 FR 35393 - Biennial Progress Report of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-13

    ... Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) AGENCY: Division of the National Toxicology... Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) announces the availability of the Biennial Progress Report 2010-2011: Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods. The report was...

  4. A New Global Regression Analysis Method for the Prediction of Wind Tunnel Model Weight Corrections

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ulbrich, Norbert Manfred; Bridge, Thomas M.; Amaya, Max A.

    2014-01-01

    A new global regression analysis method is discussed that predicts wind tunnel model weight corrections for strain-gage balance loads during a wind tunnel test. The method determines corrections by combining "wind-on" model attitude measurements with least squares estimates of the model weight and center of gravity coordinates that are obtained from "wind-off" data points. The method treats the least squares fit of the model weight separate from the fit of the center of gravity coordinates. Therefore, it performs two fits of "wind- off" data points and uses the least squares estimator of the model weight as an input for the fit of the center of gravity coordinates. Explicit equations for the least squares estimators of the weight and center of gravity coordinates are derived that simplify the implementation of the method in the data system software of a wind tunnel. In addition, recommendations for sets of "wind-off" data points are made that take typical model support system constraints into account. Explicit equations of the confidence intervals on the model weight and center of gravity coordinates and two different error analyses of the model weight prediction are also discussed in the appendices of the paper.

  5. Preferred color correction for digital LCD TVs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Kyoung Tae; Kim, Choon-Woo; Ahn, Ji-Young; Kang, Dong-Woo; Shin, Hyun-Ho

    2009-01-01

    Instead of colorimetirc color reproduction, preferred color correction is applied for digital TVs to improve subjective image quality. First step of the preferred color correction is to survey the preferred color coordinates of memory colors. This can be achieved by the off-line human visual tests. Next step is to extract pixels of memory colors representing skin, grass and sky. For the detected pixels, colors are shifted towards the desired coordinates identified in advance. This correction process may result in undesirable contours on the boundaries between the corrected and un-corrected areas. For digital TV applications, the process of extraction and correction should be applied in every frame of the moving images. This paper presents a preferred color correction method in LCH color space. Values of chroma and hue are corrected independently. Undesirable contours on the boundaries of correction are minimized. The proposed method change the coordinates of memory color pixels towards the target color coordinates. Amount of correction is determined based on the averaged coordinate of the extracted pixels. The proposed method maintains the relative color difference within memory color areas. Performance of the proposed method is evaluated using the paired comparison. Results of experiments indicate that the proposed method can reproduce perceptually pleasing images to viewers.

  6. 78 FR 31568 - Proposed Collection; 60-day Comment Request: Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-24

    ... Comment Request: Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Portfolio Analysis SUMMARY: In compliance with the... the proposed project, contact: The Office of Autism Research Coordination, NIMH, NIH, Neuroscience.... Proposed Collection: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research Portfolio Analysis, 0925--NEW--National...

  7. 75 FR 27344 - Agency Information Collection Request. 30-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-14

    ... techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden. To obtain...-NEW--Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Abstract: Recognizing the potential of health information technology (IT), Congress incorporated the Health Information Technology for...

  8. 75 FR 37409 - Information Collection; Submission for OMB Review, Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-29

    ..., mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g... programs and practices. This program helps fulfill the Corporation's strategic goals of engaging Americans... provide, or stimulate the creation of resources to coordinate service, service-learning, and community...

  9. 77 FR 70475 - Comment Request for Information Collection for Contractor Information Gathering, Extension...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-26

    ... Collection for Contractor Information Gathering, Extension Without Revisions AGENCY: Employment and Training... contractor information gathering and reporting requirements (expiration date November 30, 2012). DATES... Job Corps program is such that many activities required of contractors must be coordinated with other...

  10. Substrate stiffness regulates cadherin-dependent collective migration through myosin-II contractility

    PubMed Central

    Ng, Mei Rosa; Besser, Achim

    2012-01-01

    The mechanical microenvironment is known to influence single-cell migration; however, the extent to which mechanical cues affect collective migration of adherent cells is not well understood. We measured the effects of varying substrate compliance on individual cell migratory properties in an epithelial wound-healing assay. Increasing substrate stiffness increased collective cell migration speed, persistence, and directionality as well as the coordination of cell movements. Dynamic analysis revealed that wounding initiated a wave of motion coordination from the wound edge into the sheet. This was accompanied by a front-to-back gradient of myosin-II activation and establishment of cell polarity. The propagation was faster and farther reaching on stiff substrates, indicating that substrate stiffness affects the transmission of directional cues. Manipulation of myosin-II activity and cadherin–catenin complexes revealed that this transmission is mediated by coupling of contractile forces between neighboring cells. Thus, our findings suggest that the mechanical environment integrates in a feedback with cell contractility and cell–cell adhesion to regulate collective migration. PMID:23091067

  11. Large-deformation modal coordinates for nonrigid vehicle dynamics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Likins, P. W.; Fleischer, G. E.

    1972-01-01

    The derivation of minimum-dimension sets of discrete-coordinate and hybrid-coordinate equations of motion of a system consisting of an arbitrary number of hinge-connected rigid bodies assembled in tree topology is presented. These equations are useful for the simulation of dynamical systems that can be idealized as tree-like arrangements of substructures, with each substructure consisting of either a rigid body or a collection of elastically interconnected rigid bodies restricted to small relative rotations at each connection. Thus, some of the substructures represent elastic bodies subjected to small strains or local deformations, but possibly large gross deformations, in the hybrid formulation, distributed coordinates referred to herein as large-deformation modal coordinates, are used for the deformations of these substructures. The equations are in a form suitable for incorporation into one or more computer programs to be used as multipurpose tools in the simulation of spacecraft and other complex electromechanical systems.

  12. BUFR TABLE B - WMO AND LOCAL (NCEP) DESCRIPTORS AS WELL AS THOSE AWAITING

    Science.gov Websites

    09 Reserved 0 10 Non-coordinate location (vertical) Height, altitude, pressure and derivatives . calibration method, wind profiler mode, radiance channel combinations, hardware configurations, etc. 0 26 Non -coordinate location (time) Defines time and time derivatives that are not coordinates 0 27 Non-coordinate

  13. Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation for OIF/OEF Returnees with Combat Related Trama

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-02-01

    for all veterans with polytrauma, including accurate and efficient screening instruments, educational material for patients and families, family...be Lisa Johnson- Greene . Teresita Manahan, ARNP will lead the care coordination efforts at The Miami VA. Data collection and Care Coordination...instruments at six month intervals including baseline. They are the Functional Independence Measure and Functional Assessment Measure ( FIM /FAM); CHART, The

  14. An Exploratory Study of Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators' Knowledge and Experience of Working with Children Who Have Sustained a Brain Injury

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howe, Julia; Ball, Heather

    2017-01-01

    This research aimed to measure Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators' knowledge of the educational implications of acquired brain injury in children and young people and whether experience of working with pupils with a brain injury or additional training impacts upon this knowledge. Data was collected within one local authority in England using…

  15. Optimal Sampling of a Reaction Coordinate in Molecular Dynamics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pohorille, Andrew

    2005-01-01

    Estimating how free energy changes with the state of a system is a central goal in applications of statistical mechanics to problems of chemical or biological interest. From these free energy changes it is possible, for example, to establish which states of the system are stable, what are their probabilities and how the equilibria between these states are influenced by external conditions. Free energies are also of great utility in determining kinetics of transitions between different states. A variety of methods have been developed to compute free energies of condensed phase systems. Here, I will focus on one class of methods - those that allow for calculating free energy changes along one or several generalized coordinates in the system, often called reaction coordinates or order parameters . Considering that in almost all cases of practical interest a significant computational effort is required to determine free energy changes along such coordinates it is hardly surprising that efficiencies of different methods are of great concern. In most cases, the main difficulty is associated with its shape along the reaction coordinate. If the free energy changes markedly along this coordinate Boltzmann sampling of its different values becomes highly non-uniform. This, in turn, may have considerable, detrimental effect on the performance of many methods for calculating free energies.

  16. A New Method of High-Precision Positioning for an Indoor Pseudolite without Using the Known Point Initialization.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Yinzhi; Zhang, Peng; Guo, Jiming; Li, Xin; Wang, Jinling; Yang, Fei; Wang, Xinzhe

    2018-06-20

    Due to the great influence of multipath effect, noise, clock and error on pseudorange, the carrier phase double difference equation is widely used in high-precision indoor pseudolite positioning. The initial position is determined mostly by the known point initialization (KPI) method, and then the ambiguities can be fixed with the LAMBDA method. In this paper, a new method without using the KPI to achieve high-precision indoor pseudolite positioning is proposed. The initial coordinates can be quickly obtained to meet the accuracy requirement of the indoor LAMBDA method. The detailed processes of the method follows: Aiming at the low-cost single-frequency pseudolite system, the static differential pseudolite system (DPL) method is used to obtain the low-accuracy positioning coordinates of the rover station quickly. Then, the ambiguity function method (AFM) is used to search for the coordinates in the corresponding epoch. The real coordinates obtained by AFM can meet the initial accuracy requirement of the LAMBDA method, so that the double difference carrier phase ambiguities can be correctly fixed. Following the above steps, high-precision indoor pseudolite positioning can be realized. Several experiments, including static and dynamic tests, are conducted to verify the feasibility of the new method. According to the results of the experiments, the initial coordinates with the accuracy of decimeter level through the DPL can be obtained. For the AFM part, both a one-meter search scope and two-centimeter or four-centimeter search steps are used to ensure the precision at the centimeter level and high search efficiency. After dealing with the problem of multiple peaks caused by the ambiguity cosine function, the coordinate information of the maximum ambiguity function value (AFV) is taken as the initial value of the LAMBDA, and the ambiguities can be fixed quickly. The new method provides accuracies at the centimeter level for dynamic experiments and at the millimeter level for static ones.

  17. A three-dimensional, compressible, laminar boundary-layer method for general fuselages. Volume 1: Numerical method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wie, Yong-Sun

    1990-01-01

    A procedure for calculating 3-D, compressible laminar boundary layer flow on general fuselage shapes is described. The boundary layer solutions can be obtained in either nonorthogonal 'body oriented' coordinates or orthogonal streamline coordinates. The numerical procedure is 'second order' accurate, efficient and independent of the cross flow velocity direction. Numerical results are presented for several test cases, including a sharp cone, an ellipsoid of revolution, and a general aircraft fuselage at angle of attack. Comparisons are made between numerical results obtained using nonorthogonal curvilinear 'body oriented' coordinates and streamline coordinates.

  18. Generalization and modularization of two-dimensional adaptive coordinate transformations for the Fourier modal method.

    PubMed

    Küchenmeister, Jens

    2014-04-21

    The Fourier modal method (FMM) has advanced greatly by using adaptive coordinates and adaptive spatial resolution. The convergence characteristics were shown to be improved significantly, a construction principle for suitable meshes was demonstrated and a guideline for the optimal choice of the coordinate transformation parameters was found. However, the construction guidelines published so far rely on a certain restriction that is overcome with the formulation presented in this paper. Moreover, a modularization principle is formulated that significantly eases the construction of coordinate transformations in unit cells with reappearing shapes and complex sub-structures.

  19. Nonadiabatic dynamics of electron transfer in solution: Explicit and implicit solvent treatments that include multiple relaxation time scales

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

    Schwerdtfeger, Christine A.; Soudackov, Alexander V.; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon, E-mail: shs3@illinois.edu

    2014-01-21

    The development of efficient theoretical methods for describing electron transfer (ET) reactions in condensed phases is important for a variety of chemical and biological applications. Previously, dynamical dielectric continuum theory was used to derive Langevin equations for a single collective solvent coordinate describing ET in a polar solvent. In this theory, the parameters are directly related to the physical properties of the system and can be determined from experimental data or explicit molecular dynamics simulations. Herein, we combine these Langevin equations with surface hopping nonadiabatic dynamics methods to calculate the rate constants for thermal ET reactions in polar solvents formore » a wide range of electronic couplings and reaction free energies. Comparison of explicit and implicit solvent calculations illustrates that the mapping from explicit to implicit solvent models is valid even for solvents exhibiting complex relaxation behavior with multiple relaxation time scales and a short-time inertial response. The rate constants calculated for implicit solvent models with a single solvent relaxation time scale corresponding to water, acetonitrile, and methanol agree well with analytical theories in the Golden rule and solvent-controlled regimes, as well as in the intermediate regime. The implicit solvent models with two relaxation time scales are in qualitative agreement with the analytical theories but quantitatively overestimate the rate constants compared to these theories. Analysis of these simulations elucidates the importance of multiple relaxation time scales and the inertial component of the solvent response, as well as potential shortcomings of the analytical theories based on single time scale solvent relaxation models. This implicit solvent approach will enable the simulation of a wide range of ET reactions via the stochastic dynamics of a single collective solvent coordinate with parameters that are relevant to experimentally accessible systems.« less

  20. Measuring primary care organizational capacity for diabetes care coordination: the Diabetes Care Coordination Readiness Assessment.

    PubMed

    Weeks, Douglas L; Polello, Jennifer M; Hansen, Daniel T; Keeney, Benjamin J; Conrad, Douglas A

    2014-01-01

    Not all primary care clinics are prepared to implement care coordination services for chronic conditions, such as diabetes. Understanding true capacity to coordinate care is an important first-step toward establishing effective and efficient care coordination. Yet, we could identify no diabetes-specific instruments to systematically assess readiness and/or status of primary care clinics to engage in diabetes care coordination. This report describes the development and initial validation of the Diabetes Care Coordination Readiness Assessment (DCCRA), which is intended to measure primary care clinic readiness to coordinate care for adult patients with diabetes. The instrument was developed through iterative item generation within a framework of five domains of care coordination: Organizational Capacity, Care Coordination, Clinical Management, Quality Improvement, and Technical Infrastructure. Validation data was collected on 39 primary care clinics. Content validity, inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the 49-item instrument were assessed. Inter-rater agreement indices per item ranged from 0.50 to 1.0. Cronbach's alpha of the entire instrument was 0.964, and for the five domain scales ranged from 0.688 to 0.961. Clinics with existing care coordinators were rated as more ready to support care coordination than clinics without care coordinators for the entire DCCRA and for each domain, supporting construct validity. As providers increasingly attempt to adopt patient-centered approaches, introduction of the DCCRA is timely and appropriate for assisting clinics with identifying gaps in provision of care coordination services. The DCCRA's strengths include promising psychometric properties. A valid measure of diabetes care coordination readiness should be useful in diabetes program evaluation, assistance with quality improvement initiatives, and measurement of patient-centered care in research.

  1. Normalized Index of Synergy for Evaluating the Coordination of Motor Commands

    PubMed Central

    Togo, Shunta; Imamizu, Hiroshi

    2015-01-01

    Humans perform various motor tasks by coordinating the redundant motor elements in their bodies. The coordination of motor outputs is produced by motor commands, as well properties of the musculoskeletal system. The aim of this study was to dissociate the coordination of motor commands from motor outputs. First, we conducted simulation experiments where the total elbow torque was generated by a model of a simple human right and left elbow with redundant muscles. The results demonstrated that muscle tension with signal-dependent noise formed a coordinated structure of trial-to-trial variability of muscle tension. Therefore, the removal of signal-dependent noise effects was required to evaluate the coordination of motor commands. We proposed a method to evaluate the coordination of motor commands, which removed signal-dependent noise from the measured variability of muscle tension. We used uncontrolled manifold analysis to calculate a normalized index of synergy. Simulation experiments confirmed that the proposed method could appropriately represent the coordinated structure of the variability of motor commands. We also conducted experiments in which subjects performed the same task as in the simulation experiments. The normalized index of synergy revealed that the subjects coordinated their motor commands to achieve the task. Finally, the normalized index of synergy was applied to a motor learning task to determine the utility of the proposed method. We hypothesized that a large part of the change in the coordination of motor outputs through learning was because of changes in motor commands. In a motor learning task, subjects tracked a target trajectory of the total torque. The change in the coordination of muscle tension through learning was dominated by that of motor commands, which supported the hypothesis. We conclude that the normalized index of synergy can be used to evaluate the coordination of motor commands independently from the properties of the musculoskeletal system. PMID:26474043

  2. Social Motor Coordination in Unaffected Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients: A Potential Intermediate Phenotype

    PubMed Central

    Del-Monte, Jonathan; Capdevielle, Delphine; Varlet, Manuel; Marin, Ludovic; Schmidt, Richard C.; Salesse, Robin N.; Bardy, Benoît G.; Boulenger, Jean Philippe; Gély-Nargeot, Marie Christine; Attal, Jérôme; Raffard, Stéphane

    2013-01-01

    Intermediate endophenotypes emerge as an important concept in the study of schizophrenia. Although research on phenotypes mainly investigated cognitive, metabolic or neurophysiological markers so far, some authors also examined the motor behavior anomalies as a potential trait-marker of the disease. However, no research has investigated social motor coordination despite the possible importance of its anomalies in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was thus to determine whether coordination modifications previously demonstrated in schizophrenia are trait-markers that might be associated with the risk for this pathology. Interpersonal motor coordination in 27 unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 27 healthy controls was assessed using a hand-held pendulum task to examine the presence of interpersonal coordination impairments in individuals at risk for the disorder. Measures of neurologic soft signs, clinical variables and neurocognitive functions were collected to assess the cognitive and clinical correlates of social coordination impairments in at-risk relatives. After controlling for potential confounding variables, unaffected relatives of schizophrenia patients had impaired intentional interpersonal coordination compared to healthy controls while unintentional interpersonal coordination was preserved. More specifically, in intentional coordination, the unaffected relatives of schizophrenia patients exhibited coordination patterns that had greater variability and in which relatives did not lead the coordination. These results show that unaffected relatives of schizophrenia patients, like the patients themselves, also present deficits in intentional interpersonal coordination. For the first time, these results suggest that intentional interpersonal coordination impairments might be a potential motor intermediate endophenotype of schizophrenia opening new perspectives for early diagnosis. PMID:24106467

  3. The GeoViz Toolkit: Using component-oriented coordination methods for geographic visualization and analysis

    PubMed Central

    Hardisty, Frank; Robinson, Anthony C.

    2010-01-01

    In this paper we present the GeoViz Toolkit, an open-source, internet-delivered program for geographic visualization and analysis that features a diverse set of software components which can be flexibly combined by users who do not have programming expertise. The design and architecture of the GeoViz Toolkit allows us to address three key research challenges in geovisualization: allowing end users to create their own geovisualization and analysis component set on-the-fly, integrating geovisualization methods with spatial analysis methods, and making geovisualization applications sharable between users. Each of these tasks necessitates a robust yet flexible approach to inter-tool coordination. The coordination strategy we developed for the GeoViz Toolkit, called Introspective Observer Coordination, leverages and combines key advances in software engineering from the last decade: automatic introspection of objects, software design patterns, and reflective invocation of methods. PMID:21731423

  4. Oral Microbiota and Risk for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a High-Risk Area of China.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xingdong; Winckler, Björn; Lu, Ming; Cheng, Hongwei; Yuan, Ziyu; Yang, Yajun; Jin, Li; Ye, Weimin

    2015-01-01

    Poor oral health has been linked with an increased risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We investigated whether alteration of oral microbiota is associated with ESCC risk. Fasting saliva samples were collected from 87 incident and histopathologicallly diagnosed ESCC cases, 63 subjects with dysplasia and 85 healthy controls. All subjects were also interviewed with a questionnaire. V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA was amplified and sequenced by 454-pyrosequencing platform. Carriage of each genus was compared by means of multivariate-adjusted odds ratios derived from logistic regression model. Relative abundance was compared using Metastats method. Beta diversity was estimated using Unifrac and weighted Unifrac distances. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was applied to ordinate dissimilarity matrices. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the coordinates between different groups. ESCC subjects had an overall decreased microbial diversity compared to control and dysplasia subjects (P<0.001). Decreased carriage of genera Lautropia, Bulleidia, Catonella, Corynebacterium, Moryella, Peptococcus and Cardiobacterium were found in ESCC subjects compared to non-ESCC subjects. Multinomial logistic regression analyses on PCoA coordinates also revealed that ESCC subjects had significantly different levels for several coordinates compared to non-ESCC subjects. In conclusion, we observed a correlation between altered salivary bacterial microbiota and ESCC risk. The results of our study on the saliva microbiome are of particular interest as it reflects the shift in microbial communities. Further studies are warranted to verify this finding, and if being verified, to explore the underlying mechanisms.

  5. 76 FR 14399 - Agency Information Collection Request; 60-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-16

    .... Proposed Project: Evaluation of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Approaches and the Impact Evaluation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Grantees: Baseline Data Collection--OMB No. OS-0990--NEW-- Office of... overseeing and coordinating adolescent pregnancy prevention evaluation efforts as part of the Teen Pregnancy...

  6. 75 FR 76750 - BOEMRE Information Collection Activity: 1010-0183, Information Requirements for Exploration Plans...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-09

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement [Docket... for Exploration Plans, Development and Production Plans, and Development Operations Coordination Documents on the OCS NTL, Renewal of a Collection; Submitted for Office of Management and Budget (OMB...

  7. 77 FR 2963 - Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-725F); Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-20

    ... submitting the information collection FERC-725F, ``Mandatory Reliability Standards for Nuclear Plant...: Title: FERC-725F Mandatory Reliability Standards for Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination OMB Control No... added a new section 215 to the FPA, which required a Commission-certified Electric Reliability...

  8. Digital Elevation Models of the Pre-Eruption 2000 Crater and 2004-07 Dome-Building Eruption at Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Messerich, J.A.; Schilling, S.P.; Thompson, R.A.

    2008-01-01

    Presented in this report are 27 digital elevation model (DEM) datasets for the crater area of Mount St. Helens. These datasets include pre-eruption baseline data collected in 2000, incremental model subsets collected during the 2004-07 dome building eruption, and associated shaded-relief image datasets. Each dataset was collected photogrammetrically with digital softcopy methods employing a combination of manual collection and iterative compilation of x,y,z coordinate triplets utilizing autocorrelation techniques. DEM data points collected using autocorrelation methods were rigorously edited in stereo and manually corrected to ensure conformity with the ground surface. Data were first collected as a triangulated irregular network (TIN) then interpolated to a grid format. DEM data are based on aerotriangulated photogrammetric solutions for aerial photograph strips flown at a nominal scale of 1:12,000 using a combination of surveyed ground control and photograph-identified control points. The 2000 DEM is based on aerotriangulation of four strips totaling 31 photographs. Subsequent DEMs collected during the course of the eruption are based on aerotriangulation of single aerial photograph strips consisting of between three and seven 1:12,000-scale photographs (two to six stereo pairs). Most datasets were based on three or four stereo pairs. Photogrammetric errors associated with each dataset are presented along with ground control used in the photogrammetric aerotriangulation. The temporal increase in area of deformation in the crater as a result of dome growth, deformation, and translation of glacial ice resulted in continual adoption of new ground control points and abandonment of others during the course of the eruption. Additionally, seasonal snow cover precluded the consistent use of some ground control points.

  9. A Novel Three-Dimensional Vector Analysis of Axial Globe Position in Thyroid Eye Disease

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Jie; Yuan, Yifei; Zhang, Rui; Huang, Wenhu

    2017-01-01

    Purpose. To define a three-dimensional (3D) vector method to describe the axial globe position in thyroid eye disease (TED). Methods. CT data from 59 patients with TED were collected and 3D images were reconstructed. A reference coordinate system was established, and the coordinates of the corneal apex and the eyeball center were calculated to obtain the globe vector EC→. The measurement reliability was evaluated. The parameters of EC→ were analyzed and compared with the results of two-dimensional (2D) CT measurement, Hertel exophthalmometry, and strabismus tests. Results. The reliability of EC→ measurement was excellent. The difference between EC→ and 2D CT measurement was significant (p = 0.003), and EC→ was more consistent with Hertel exophthalmometry than with 2D CT measurement (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between EC→ and Hirschberg test, and a strong correlation was found between EC→ and synoptophore test. When one eye had a larger deviation angle than its fellow, its corneal apex shifted in the corresponding direction, but the shift of the eyeball center was not significant. The parameters of EC→ were almost perfectly consistent with the geometrical equation. Conclusions. The establishment of a 3D globe vector is feasible and reliable, and it could provide more information in the axial globe position. PMID:28491471

  10. The structure of MgO-SiO2 glasses at elevated pressure.

    PubMed

    Wilding, Martin; Guthrie, Malcolm; Kohara, Shinji; Bull, Craig L; Akola, Jaakko; Tucker, Matt G

    2012-06-06

    The magnesium silicate system is an important geophysical analogue and neutron diffraction data from glasses formed in this system may also provide an initial framework for understanding the structure-dependent properties of related liquids that are important during planetary formation. Neutron diffraction data collected in situ for a single composition (38 mol% SiO(2)) magnesium silicate glass sample shows local changes in structure as pressure is increased from ambient conditions to 8.6 GPa at ambient temperature. A method for obtaining the fully corrected, total structure factor, S(Q), has been developed that allows accurate structural characterization as this weakly scattering glass sample is compressed. The measured S(Q) data indicate changes in chemical ordering with pressure and the real-space transforms show an increase in Mg-O coordination number and a distortion of the local environment around magnesium ions. We have used reverse Monte Carlo methods to compare the high pressure and ambient pressure structures and also compare the high pressure form with a more silica-poor glass (Mg(2)SiO(4)) that represents the approach to a more dense, void-free and topologically ordered structure. The Mg-O coordination number increases with pressure and we also find that the degree of continuous connectivity of Si-O bonds increases via a collapse of interstices.

  11. Effects-Driven Participatory Design: Learning from Sampling Interruptions.

    PubMed

    Brandrup, Morten; Østergaard, Kija Lin; Hertzum, Morten; Karasti, Helena; Simonsen, Jesper

    2017-01-01

    Participatory design (PD) can play an important role in obtaining benefits from healthcare information technologies, but we contend that to fulfil this role PD must incorporate feedback from real use of the technologies. In this paper we describe an effects-driven PD approach that revolves around a sustained focus on pursued effects and uses the experience sampling method (ESM) to collect real-use feedback. To illustrate the use of the method we analyze a case that involves the organizational implementation of electronic whiteboards at a Danish hospital to support the clinicians' intra- and interdepartmental coordination. The hospital aimed to reduce the number of phone calls involved in coordinating work because many phone calls were seen as unnecessary interruptions. To learn about the interruptions we introduced an app for capturing quantitative data and qualitative feedback about the phone calls. The investigation showed that the electronic whiteboards had little potential for reducing the number of phone calls at the operating ward. The combination of quantitative data and qualitative feedback worked both as a basis for aligning assumptions to data and showed ESM as an instrument for triggering in-situ reflection. The participant-driven design and redesign of the way data were captured by means of ESM is a central contribution to the understanding of how to conduct effects-driven PD.

  12. Telehealth coordinators in hospital based telehealth services: Who are they and what do they do?

    PubMed

    Edirippulige, Sisira; Armfield, Nigel R; Greenup, Phil; Bryett, Andrew

    2016-12-01

    Many studies have identified the importance of 'telehealth coordinators' for successful telehealth implementation and operation. However, little is known about the telehealth coordinators' functions, the skills and competencies required and the reasons for their influence. This study aimed to examine the key functions of telehealth coordinators in the Queensland public health system, their perceptions about their role, and the level of competencies to support this role. All telehealth coordinators within Queensland Health Telehealth Services were invited to complete a questionnaire. We collected: (i) demographic information; (ii) details of their telehealth work; and (iii) information about knowledge and skills relevant to their telehealth coordinator role. Eighteen of 20 (90%) participants completed and submitted the survey. Telehealth coordinators were responsible for a range of tasks relating to telehealth consultations, technical assistance, administration, research, promotion and marketing. Nearly all telehealth coordinators (n = 17, 94%) were confident in carrying out the tasks of their job. The majority of telehealth coordinators (n = 13, 72%) thought education and training relating to telehealth would help improve their job. The top three topics that telehealth coordinators were keen to learn about were: (i) examples of clinical use of telehealth; (ii) types of technologies used; and (iii) telehealth clinical and business models. Our participants were all hospital-based; as the use of telehealth is growing outside of the traditional hospital settings, the role of telehealth coordinators is likely to change. © The Author(s) 2016.

  13. Analyzing Impact Area of Osym Offices in Istanbul by Idw Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kalkan, Y.; Ozturk, O.; Gülnerman, A. G.; Bilgi, S.

    2016-12-01

    OSYM is the main institute for organizing the national level large scale exams in Turkey. According to the Ministry of National Education of Turkey data, there are 17.588.958 students in the country. Therefore, OSYM has a significant role for everyone from every level of education. More than 15% of the total students are studying in Istanbul. These students have various exams throughout a year, which brings some procedures for each exam to be applied. OSYM Coordination Offices were founded to meet the demands and procedures of these exams and applicants. There are 9 Coordination Offices in Istanbul. Moreover, OSYM Application Centers were founded as support units to OSYM Coordination Offices. These units are under the high schools. There are 67 OSYM Application Centers in Istanbul. In the study, spatial distribution of OSYM Coordination Offices and OSYM Application Centers in Istanbul have been studied related to the transportation network of each district of Istanbul city. Origin Destination Cost Matrix (ODCM) and Invers Distance Weighting (IDW) Method were used to visualize the distribution of OSYM Coordination Offices and Application Centers accessibilities. ODCM measures the nearest paths along the transportation network from origins to destinations. IDW is one of the several interpolation methods allocating values to unknown points. ODCM Method was used to calculate the distances over the transportation network. The results obtained from ODCM Method were used in IDW Method to interpolate the weightings of the OSYM offices and centers. Accessibility of the OSYM Coordination Offices and Application Centers has been detected according to surrounding transportation network. Spatial distribution of existing offices and application centers were evaluated by districts of Istanbul city in conclusion of the study by the ODCM and IDW Methods.

  14. Dimensions and geometry of the temporomandibular joint and masseter muscles.

    PubMed

    Zurowski, R; Gosek, M; Aleksandrowicz, R

    1976-01-01

    The bio-engineering team presents its suggestion of a method for the measurement of the temporomandibular joint and masseter muscles in order to determine the parameters necessary for exact sciences and indispensable for unified and objective cognitive studies. Ten formalin-fixed human cadavers served for the studies. The preparations were prepared by the modified method of anatomical procedure. Linear and angular measurements of temporomandibular joint and masseter muscles were carried out with the use of the three-dimensional Cartesian system of OXYZ coordinates in relation to frontal, sagittal and horizontal planes. The physiological cross-sections of the masseter, temporal, lateral and medial pterygoid muscles were also determined. The collected data make it possible to develop a mathematical three-dimensioned model of the osseo-articulo-muscular system of the mastication organ.

  15. Contributions of the SDR Task Network tool to Calibration and Validation of the NPOESS Preparatory Project instruments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feeley, J.; Zajic, J.; Metcalf, A.; Baucom, T.

    2009-12-01

    The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) team is planning post-launch activities to calibrate the NPP sensors and validate Sensor Data Records (SDRs). The IPO has developed a web-based data collection and visualization tool in order to effectively collect, coordinate, and manage the calibration and validation tasks for the OMPS, ATMS, CrIS, and VIIRS instruments. This tool is accessible to the multi-institutional Cal/Val teams consisting of the Prime Contractor and Government Cal/Val leads along with the NASA NPP Mission team, and is used for mission planning and identification/resolution of conflicts between sensor activities. Visualization techniques aid in displaying task dependencies, including prerequisites and exit criteria, allowing for the identification of a critical path. This presentation will highlight how the information is collected, displayed, and used to coordinate the diverse instrument calibration/validation teams.

  16. Clinical integration of billing for a pediatric nephrology and transplant program.

    PubMed

    Tietjen, Andrea L; Orsini, Jenoveva; Mulgaonkar, Shamkant; Morgan, Debbie

    2003-09-01

    To develop and implement a billing process that fully integrates all activities of a pediatric nephrology and transplant program, by facilitating and coordinating data from patients, physicians, hospitals, and third-party billing services to maximize revenues. Financial operations were analyzed via a randomized audit of patient charts that focused on office procedures and revenue collection. Results based on monthly reports documenting revenue received and outstanding, procedures billed, and patient registration accuracy. The combination of improvements in patient registration, chart documentation, new billing sheets with procedure and diagnosis codes, physician in-service education, upgraded charges, and the recredentialing of all practice physicians realized an increase in revenue collections from 18% in 2000 to 89% in 2001. The need to integrate and coordinate information is vital for both billing accuracy and revenue collections. Integration of clinical services and billing procedures has maximized performance, profitability, and accuracy while decreasing administrative time and costs.

  17. A regional method for craniofacial reconstruction based on coordinate adjustments and a new fusion strategy.

    PubMed

    Deng, Qingqiong; Zhou, Mingquan; Wu, Zhongke; Shui, Wuyang; Ji, Yuan; Wang, Xingce; Liu, Ching Yiu Jessica; Huang, Youliang; Jiang, Haiyan

    2016-02-01

    Craniofacial reconstruction recreates a facial outlook from the cranium based on the relationship between the face and the skull to assist identification. But craniofacial structures are very complex, and this relationship is not the same in different craniofacial regions. Several regional methods have recently been proposed, these methods segmented the face and skull into regions, and the relationship of each region is then learned independently, after that, facial regions for a given skull are estimated and finally glued together to generate a face. Most of these regional methods use vertex coordinates to represent the regions, and they define a uniform coordinate system for all of the regions. Consequently, the inconsistence in the positions of regions between different individuals is not eliminated before learning the relationships between the face and skull regions, and this reduces the accuracy of the craniofacial reconstruction. In order to solve this problem, an improved regional method is proposed in this paper involving two types of coordinate adjustments. One is the global coordinate adjustment performed on the skulls and faces with the purpose to eliminate the inconsistence of position and pose of the heads; the other is the local coordinate adjustment performed on the skull and face regions with the purpose to eliminate the inconsistence of position of these regions. After these two coordinate adjustments, partial least squares regression (PLSR) is used to estimate the relationship between the face region and the skull region. In order to obtain a more accurate reconstruction, a new fusion strategy is also proposed in the paper to maintain the reconstructed feature regions when gluing the facial regions together. This is based on the observation that the feature regions usually have less reconstruction errors compared to rest of the face. The results demonstrate that the coordinate adjustments and the new fusion strategy can significantly improve the craniofacial reconstructions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Segmentation and feature extraction of cervical spine x-ray images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Long, L. Rodney; Thoma, George R.

    1999-05-01

    As part of an R&D project in mixed text/image database design, the National Library of Medicine has archived a collection of 17,000 digitized x-ray images of the cervical and lumbar spine which were collected as part of the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). To make this image data available and usable to a wide audience, we are investigating techniques for indexing the image content by automated or semi-automated means. Indexing of the images by features of interest to researchers in spine disease and structure requires effective segmentation of the vertebral anatomy. This paper describes work in progress toward this segmentation of the cervical spine images into anatomical components of interest, including anatomical landmarks for vertebral location, and segmentation and identification of individual vertebrae. Our work includes developing a reliable method for automatically fixing an anatomy-based coordinate system in the images, and work to adaptively threshold the images, using methods previously applied by researchers in cardioangiography. We describe the motivation for our work and present our current results in both areas.

  19. Relation between the national handbook of recommended methods for water data acquisition and ASTM standards

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Glysson, G. Douglas; Skinner, John V.

    1991-01-01

    In the late 1950's, intense demands for water and growing concerns about declines in the quality of water generated the need for more water-resources data. About thirty Federal agencies, hundreds of State, county and local agencies, and many private organizations had been collecting water data. However, because of differences in procedures and equipment, many of the data bases were incompatible. In 1964, as a step toward establishing more uniformity, the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget, OMB) issued 'Circular A-67' which presented guidelines for collecting water data and also served as a catalyst for creating the Office of Water Data Coordination (OWDC) within the U.S. Geological Survey. This paper discusses past, present, and future aspects of the relation between methods in the National Handbook and standards published by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Committee D-19 on Water's Subcommittee D-19.07 on Sediment, Geomorphology, and Open Channel Flow. The discussion also covers historical aspects of standards - development work jointly conducted by OWDC and ASTM.

  20. Challenges to effective crisis management: using information and communication technologies to coordinate emergency medical services and emergency department teams.

    PubMed

    Reddy, Madhu C; Paul, Sharoda A; Abraham, Joanna; McNeese, Michael; DeFlitch, Christopher; Yen, John

    2009-04-01

    The purpose of this study is to identify the major challenges to coordination between emergency department (ED) teams and emergency medical services (EMS) teams. We conducted a series of focus groups involving both ED and EMS team members using a crisis scenario as the basis of the focus group discussion. We also collected organizational workflow data. We identified three major challenges to coordination between ED and EMS teams including ineffectiveness of current information and communication technologies, lack of common ground, and breakdowns in information flow. The three challenges highlight the importance of designing systems from socio-technical perspective. In particular, these inter-team coordination systems must support socio-technical issues such as awareness, context, and workflow between the two teams.

  1. An Encoding Method for Compressing Geographical Coordinates in 3d Space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qian, C.; Jiang, R.; Li, M.

    2017-09-01

    This paper proposed an encoding method for compressing geographical coordinates in 3D space. By the way of reducing the length of geographical coordinates, it helps to lessen the storage size of geometry information. In addition, the encoding algorithm subdivides the whole space according to octree rules, which enables progressive transmission and loading. Three main steps are included in this method: (1) subdividing the whole 3D geographic space based on octree structure, (2) resampling all the vertices in 3D models, (3) encoding the coordinates of vertices with a combination of Cube Index Code (CIC) and Geometry Code. A series of geographical 3D models were applied to evaluate the encoding method. The results showed that this method reduced the storage size of most test data by 90 % or even more under the condition of a speed of encoding and decoding. In conclusion, this method achieved a remarkable compression rate in vertex bit size with a steerable precision loss. It shall be of positive meaning to the web 3d map storing and transmission.

  2. A 3D terrain reconstruction method of stereo vision based quadruped robot navigation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ge, Zhuo; Zhu, Ying; Liang, Guanhao

    2017-01-01

    To provide 3D environment information for the quadruped robot autonomous navigation system during walking through rough terrain, based on the stereo vision, a novel 3D terrain reconstruction method is presented. In order to solve the problem that images collected by stereo sensors have large regions with similar grayscale and the problem that image matching is poor at real-time performance, watershed algorithm and fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm are combined for contour extraction. Aiming at the problem of error matching, duel constraint with region matching and pixel matching is established for matching optimization. Using the stereo matching edge pixel pairs, the 3D coordinate algorithm is estimated according to the binocular stereo vision imaging model. Experimental results show that the proposed method can yield high stereo matching ratio and reconstruct 3D scene quickly and efficiently.

  3. Non-Unitary Boson Mapping and Its Application to Nuclear Collective Motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takada, K.

    First, the general theory of boson mapping for even-number many-fermion systems is surveyed. In order to overcome the confusion concerning the so-called unphysical or spurious states in the boson mapping, the correct concept of the unphysical states is precisely given in a clear-cut way. Next, a method to apply the boson mapping to a truncated many-fermion Hilbert space consisting of collective phonons is proposed, by putting special emphasis on the Dyson-type non-unitary boson mapping. On the basis of this method, it becomes possible for the first time to apply the Dyson-type boson mapping to analyses of collective motions in realistic nuclei. This method is also extended to be applicable to odd-number-fermion systems. As known well, the Dyson-type boson mapping is a non-unitary transformation and it gives a non-Hermitian boson Hamiltonian. It is not easy (but not impossible) to solve the eigenstates of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. A Hermitian treatment of this non-Hermitian eigenvalue problem is discussed and it is shown that this treatment is a very good approximation. Using this Hermitian treatment, we can obtain the normal-ordered Holstein-Primakoff-type boson expansion in the multi-collective-phonon subspace. Thereby the convergence of the boson expansion can be tested. Some examples of application of the Dyson-type non-unitary boson mapping to simplified models and realistic nuclei are also shown, and we can see that it is quite useful for analysis of the collective motions in realistic nuclei. In contrast to the above-mentioned ordinary type of boson mapping, which may be called a ``static'' boson mapping, the Dyson-type non-unitary selfconsistent-collective-coordinate method is discussed. The latter is, so to speak, a ``dynamical'' boson mapping, which is a dynamical extension of the ordinary boson mapping to be capable to include the coupling effects from the non-collective degrees of freedom selfconsistently. Thus all of the Dyson-type non-unitary boson mapping from A to Z is summarized in this paper.

  4. Coordinating Learning Agents for Active Information Collection

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-06-30

    the experiments were not particularly sensitive to this parameter. By limiting the number of actions that are updated (DANT-L in black/ dark ), the...Bazzan, A. and Ossowski, S. (eds.), Applications of Agent Technology in Traffic and Transportation (Springer, 2005). [19] Mataric , M. J., Coordination...organizing market (1998), preprint cond- mat/9802177. [19] Jones, C. and Mataric , M. J., Adaptive division of labor in large-scale multi-robot systems, in IEEE

  5. Coordinating Council. Fourth Meeting: NACA Documents Database Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    This NASA Scientific and Technical Information Coordination Council meeting dealt with the topic 'NACA Documents Database Project'. The following presentations were made and reported on: NACA documents database project study plan, AIAA study, the Optimal NACA database, Deficiencies in online file, NACA documents: Availability and Preservation, the NARA Collection: What is in it? and What to do about it?, and NACA foreign documents and availability. Visuals are available for most presentations.

  6. 75 FR 52711 - Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection; National Animal Health Monitoring...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-27

    ...] Notice of Request for Approval of an Information Collection; National Animal Health Monitoring System... to support the National Animal Health Monitoring System Sheep 2011 Study. DATES: We will consider all... Coordinator, at (301) 851-2908. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: National Animal Health Monitoring System...

  7. 78 FR 54617 - Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Credit Account Approval...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-09-05

    ...] Notice of Request for Extension of Approval of an Information Collection; Credit Account Approval for... (202) 799-7039 before coming. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on credit account... Coordinator, at (301) 851-2908. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: Credit Account Approval for Reimbursable...

  8. Curricula and Syllabi in Hydrology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France).

    This collection of papers is intended to provide a means for the exchange of information on hydrological techniques and for the coordination of research and data collection. The objectives and trends in hydrological education are presented. The International Hydrological Decade (IHD) Working Group on Education recommends a series of topics that…

  9. 76 FR 33768 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-09

    ... the application may be obtained through the appropriate State Primary Care Offices, State Primary Care..., and by supporting their efforts to build better systems of care. The NHSC Site Application, which.... Dated: June 6, 2011. Reva Harris, Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination. [FR...

  10. Using Collective Argumentation to Engage Students in a Primary Mathematics Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Raymond

    2017-01-01

    This article focuses on using sociocultural theory to support student engagement with mathematics. The sociocultural approach used, collective argumentation (CA), is based on interactive principles necessary for coordinating student engagement in the discourse of the classroom. A goal of the research was to explore the affordances and constraints…

  11. 75 FR 39695 - 60-Day Notice; Agency Information Collection Request; 60-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-12

    .... Proposed Project: Evaluation of Pregnancy Prevention Approaches: First Follow-Up Data Collection--OMB No... overseeing and coordinating adolescent pregnancy prevention evaluation efforts as part of the Teen Pregnancy... for Children and Families (ACF) on adolescent pregnancy prevention activities. OAH has provided...

  12. 75 FR 52345 - Agency Information Collection Request. 60-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-25

    ... masters degree programs, for both health care and information technology students.'' The evaluation of the... Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), HHS In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c... of information technology to minimize the information collection burden. To obtain copies of the...

  13. 75 FR 13288 - Agency Information Collection Request; 30-Day Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-19

    ... techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden. To obtain... notice directly to the OS OMB Desk Officer; faxed to OMB at 202-395-5806. Proposed Project: Attitudes...-NEW- Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Abstract: Electronic health...

  14. 78 FR 17674 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Public Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-22

    ... Office of Women's Health (OWH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Coordinating... innovative ways of reducing obesity in lesbian and bisexual women. The planned intervention developed in St... what is currently known about local LB women's community norms, common barriers to health, patterns of...

  15. 78 FR 23898 - Notice of Request for a New Information Collection (Accredited Laboratory Contact Update Form)

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-23

    ... Request for a New Information Collection (Accredited Laboratory Contact Update Form) AGENCY: Food Safety... compilation of updated contact information for Accredited Laboratories. DATES: Comments on this notice must be... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact John O'Connell, Paperwork Reduction Act Coordinator, Food Safety and...

  16. 78 FR 78361 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-12-26

    ... 14-14FA] Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations In compliance... component. The NTSIP is the only federal public health-based surveillance system to coordinate the... necessary to establish this surveillance system to describe the public health impacts on the population of...

  17. 24 CFR 1000.236 - What are eligible administrative and planning expenses?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... administrative management; (2) Coordination monitoring and evaluation; (3) Preparation of the IHP including data collection and transition costs; (4) Preparation of the annual performance report; and (5) Challenge to and collection of data for purposes of challenging the formula. (b) Staff and overhead costs directly related to...

  18. 24 CFR 1000.236 - What are eligible administrative and planning expenses?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... administrative management; (2) Coordination monitoring and evaluation; (3) Preparation of the IHP including data collection and transition costs; (4) Preparation of the annual performance report; and (5) Challenge to and collection of data for purposes of challenging the formula. (b) Staff and overhead costs directly related to...

  19. 10 CFR 207.4 - Confidentiality of energy information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Confidentiality of energy information. 207.4 Section 207.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.4 Confidentiality of energy information. (a...

  20. 10 CFR 207.4 - Confidentiality of energy information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Confidentiality of energy information. 207.4 Section 207.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.4 Confidentiality of energy information. (a...

  1. 10 CFR 207.4 - Confidentiality of energy information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Confidentiality of energy information. 207.4 Section 207.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.4 Confidentiality of energy information. (a...

  2. 10 CFR 207.4 - Confidentiality of energy information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Confidentiality of energy information. 207.4 Section 207.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.4 Confidentiality of energy information. (a...

  3. 10 CFR 207.4 - Confidentiality of energy information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Confidentiality of energy information. 207.4 Section 207.4 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OIL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION Collection of Information Under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 § 207.4 Confidentiality of energy information. (a...

  4. IFLA General Conference, 1986. LIBER. Papers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague (Netherlands).

    Three papers on special book collections were presented at the 1986 IFLA general conference. They include: (1) "Far Eastern Collections in the United Kingdom" (B. C. Bloomfield, United Kingdom), which discusses the background of Eastern Studies in the United Kingdom (UK) and the coordination of library provision for Far Eastern…

  5. Modular control of endothelial sheet migration

    PubMed Central

    Vitorino, Philip; Meyer, Tobias

    2008-01-01

    Growth factor-induced migration of endothelial cell monolayers enables embryonic development, wound healing, and angiogenesis. Although collective migration is widespread and therapeutically relevant, the underlying mechanism by which cell monolayers respond to growth factor, sense directional signals, induce motility, and coordinate individual cell movements is only partially understood. Here we used RNAi to identify 100 regulatory proteins that enhance or suppress endothelial sheet migration into cell-free space. We measured multiple live-cell migration parameters for all siRNA perturbations and found that each targeted protein primarily regulates one of four functional outputs: cell motility, directed migration, cell–cell coordination, or cell density. We demonstrate that cell motility regulators drive random, growth factor-independent motility in the presence or absence of open space. In contrast, directed migration regulators selectively transduce growth factor signals to direct cells along the monolayer boundary toward open space. Lastly, we found that regulators of cell–cell coordination are growth factor-independent and reorient randomly migrating cells inside the sheet when boundary cells begin to migrate. Thus, cells transition from random to collective migration through a modular control system, whereby growth factor signals convert boundary cells into pioneers, while cells inside the monolayer reorient and follow pioneers through growth factor-independent migration and cell–cell coordination. PMID:19056882

  6. Designing and implementing sample and data collection for an international genetics study: the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC).

    PubMed

    Hilner, Joan E; Perdue, Letitia H; Sides, Elizabeth G; Pierce, June J; Wägner, Ana M; Aldrich, Alan; Loth, Amanda; Albret, Lotte; Wagenknecht, Lynne E; Nierras, Concepcion; Akolkar, Beena

    2010-01-01

    The Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) is an international project whose primary aims are to: (a) discover genes that modify type 1 diabetes risk; and (b) expand upon the existing genetic resources for type 1 diabetes research. The initial goal was to collect 2500 affected sibling pair (ASP) families worldwide. T1DGC was organized into four regional networks (Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, and the United Kingdom) and a Coordinating Center. A Steering Committee, with representatives from each network, the Coordinating Center, and the funding organizations, was responsible for T1DGC operations. The Coordinating Center, with regional network representatives, developed study documents and data systems. Each network established laboratories for: DNA extraction and cell line production; human leukocyte antigen genotyping; and autoantibody measurement. Samples were tracked from the point of collection, processed at network laboratories and stored for deposit at National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Central Repositories. Phenotypic data were collected and entered into the study database maintained by the Coordinating Center. T1DGC achieved its original ASP recruitment goal. In response to research design changes, the T1DGC infrastructure also recruited trios, cases, and controls. Results of genetic analyses have identified many novel regions that affect susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. T1DGC created a resource of data and samples that is accessible to the research community. Participation in T1DGC was declined by some countries due to study requirements for the processing of samples at network laboratories and/or final deposition of samples in NIDDK Central Repositories. Re-contact of participants was not included in informed consent templates, preventing collection of additional samples for functional studies. T1DGC implemented a distributed, regional network structure to reach ASP recruitment targets. The infrastructure proved robust and flexible enough to accommodate additional recruitment. T1DGC has established significant resources that provide a basis for future discovery in the study of type 1 diabetes genetics.

  7. Effectiveness of Mechanisms and Models of Coordination between Organizations, Agencies and Bodies Providing or Financing Health Services in Humanitarian Crises: A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Akl, Elie A; El-Jardali, Fadi; Bou Karroum, Lama; El-Eid, Jamale; Brax, Hneine; Akik, Chaza; Osman, Mona; Hassan, Ghayda; Itani, Mira; Farha, Aida; Pottie, Kevin; Oliver, Sandy

    2015-01-01

    Effective coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises is required to ensure efficiency of services, avoid duplication, and improve equity. The objective of this review was to assess how, during and after humanitarian crises, different mechanisms and models of coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services compare in terms of access to health services and health outcomes. We registered a protocol for this review in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews under number PROSPERO2014:CRD42014009267. Eligible studies included randomized and nonrandomized designs, process evaluations and qualitative methods. We electronically searched Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the WHO Global Health Library and websites of relevant organizations. We followed standard systematic review methodology for the selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. Of 14,309 identified citations from databases and organizations' websites, we identified four eligible studies. Two studies used mixed-methods, one used quantitative methods, and one used qualitative methods. The available evidence suggests that information coordination between bodies providing health services in humanitarian crises settings may be effective in improving health systems inputs. There is additional evidence suggesting that management/directive coordination such as the cluster model may improve health system inputs in addition to access to health services. None of the included studies assessed coordination through common representation and framework coordination. The evidence was judged to be of very low quality. This systematic review provides evidence of possible effectiveness of information coordination and management/directive coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises. Our findings can inform the research agenda and highlight the need for improving conduct and reporting of research in this field.

  8. Equidistant map projections of a triaxial ellipsoid with the use of reduced coordinates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pędzich, Paweł

    2017-12-01

    The paper presents a new method of constructing equidistant map projections of a triaxial ellipsoid as a function of reduced coordinates. Equations for x and y coordinates are expressed with the use of the normal elliptic integral of the second kind and Jacobian elliptic functions. This solution allows to use common known and widely described in literature methods of solving such integrals and functions. The main advantage of this method is the fact that the calculations of x and y coordinates are practically based on a single algorithm that is required to solve the elliptic integral of the second kind. Equations are provided for three types of map projections: cylindrical, azimuthal and pseudocylindrical. These types of projections are often used in planetary cartography for presentation of entire and polar regions of extraterrestrial objects. The paper also contains equations for the calculation of the length of a meridian and a parallel of a triaxial ellipsoid in reduced coordinates. Moreover, graticules of three coordinates systems (planetographic, planetocentric and reduced) in developed map projections are presented. The basic properties of developed map projections are also described. The obtained map projections may be applied in planetary cartography in order to create maps of extraterrestrial objects.

  9. Towards nonaxisymmetry; initial results using the Flux Coordinate Independent method in BOUT++

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shanahan, B. W.; Hill, P.; Dudson, B. D.

    2016-11-01

    Fluid simulation of stellarator edge transport is difficult due to the complexities of mesh generation; the stochastic edge and strong nonaxisymmetry inhibit the use of field aligned coordinate systems. The recent implementation of the Flux Coordinate Independent method for calculating parallel derivatives in BOUT++ has allowed for more complex geometries. Here we present initial results of nonaxisymmetric diffusion modelling as a step towards stellarator turbulence modelling. We then present initial (non-turbulent) transport modelling using the FCI method and compare the results with analytical calculations. The prospects for future stellarator transport and turbulence modelling are discussed.

  10. The computer coordination method and research of inland river traffic based on ship database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Shanshan; Li, Gen

    2018-04-01

    A computer coordinated management method for inland river ship traffic is proposed in this paper, Get the inland ship's position, speed and other navigation information by VTS, building ship's statics and dynamic data bases, writing a program of computer coordinated management of inland river traffic by VB software, Automatic simulation and calculation of the meeting states of ships, Providing ship's long-distance collision avoidance information. The long-distance collision avoidance of ships will be realized. The results show that, Ships avoid or reduce meetings, this method can effectively control the macro collision avoidance of ships.

  11. How to differentiate collective variables in free energy codes: Computer-algebra code generation and automatic differentiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giorgino, Toni

    2018-07-01

    The proper choice of collective variables (CVs) is central to biased-sampling free energy reconstruction methods in molecular dynamics simulations. The PLUMED 2 library, for instance, provides several sophisticated CV choices, implemented in a C++ framework; however, developing new CVs is still time consuming due to the need to provide code for the analytical derivatives of all functions with respect to atomic coordinates. We present two solutions to this problem, namely (a) symbolic differentiation and code generation, and (b) automatic code differentiation, in both cases leveraging open-source libraries (SymPy and Stan Math, respectively). The two approaches are demonstrated and discussed in detail implementing a realistic example CV, the local radius of curvature of a polymer. Users may use the code as a template to streamline the implementation of their own CVs using high-level constructs and automatic gradient computation.

  12. Ground registration of data from an airborne Multifrequency Microwave Radiometer (MfMR). [Colby, Kansas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Richter, J. C. (Principal Investigator)

    1981-01-01

    The agricultural soil moisture experiment was conducted near Colby, Kansas, in July and August 1978. A portion of the data collected was taken with a five band microwave radiometer. A method of locating the radiometer footprints with respect to a ground based coordinate system is documented. The procedure requires that the airplane's flight parameters along with aerial photography be acquired simultaneously with the radiometer data. The software which documented reads in data from the precision radiation thermometer (PRT Model 5) and attaches the scene temperature to the corresponding multifrequency microwave radiometer data. Listings of the programs used in the registration process are included.

  13. Atlas Toolkit: Fast registration of 3D morphological datasets in the absence of landmarks

    PubMed Central

    Grocott, Timothy; Thomas, Paul; Münsterberg, Andrea E.

    2016-01-01

    Image registration is a gateway technology for Developmental Systems Biology, enabling computational analysis of related datasets within a shared coordinate system. Many registration tools rely on landmarks to ensure that datasets are correctly aligned; yet suitable landmarks are not present in many datasets. Atlas Toolkit is a Fiji/ImageJ plugin collection offering elastic group-wise registration of 3D morphological datasets, guided by segmentation of the interesting morphology. We demonstrate the method by combinatorial mapping of cell signalling events in the developing eyes of chick embryos, and use the integrated datasets to predictively enumerate Gene Regulatory Network states. PMID:26864723

  14. Identifying and prioritizing phenological data products and tools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Enquist, Carolyn A. F.; Rosemartin, Alyssa; Schwartz, Mark D.

    2012-09-01

    USA National Phenology Network Research Coordination Network Meeting; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 22-23 May 2012 Phenology is the study of reoccurring life cycle events in plants and animals, such as bird migrations, emergence from hibernation, flowering, and carbon cycling. Changes in the timing of phenological events are widely recognized as indicators of the effects of climate change on ecosystems. Phenological data can be used to inform wildlife management, wildfire and pollen forecasting, and the planning of events such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Until recently, collection of phenological data using standardized methods was relatively rare, limiting their use in science, management, and decision making.

  15. Atlas Toolkit: Fast registration of 3D morphological datasets in the absence of landmarks.

    PubMed

    Grocott, Timothy; Thomas, Paul; Münsterberg, Andrea E

    2016-02-11

    Image registration is a gateway technology for Developmental Systems Biology, enabling computational analysis of related datasets within a shared coordinate system. Many registration tools rely on landmarks to ensure that datasets are correctly aligned; yet suitable landmarks are not present in many datasets. Atlas Toolkit is a Fiji/ImageJ plugin collection offering elastic group-wise registration of 3D morphological datasets, guided by segmentation of the interesting morphology. We demonstrate the method by combinatorial mapping of cell signalling events in the developing eyes of chick embryos, and use the integrated datasets to predictively enumerate Gene Regulatory Network states.

  16. Evaluation of Agency Non-Code Layered Pressure Vessels (LPVs) . Volume 2; Appendices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prosser, William H.

    2014-01-01

    In coordination with the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the respective Center Pressure System Managers (PSMs), the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) was requested to formulate a consensus draft proposal for the development of additional testing and analysis methods to establish the technical validity, and any limitation thereof, for the continued safe operation of facility non-code layered pressure vessels. The PSMs from each NASA Center were asked to participate as part of the assessment team by providing, collecting, and reviewing data regarding current operations of these vessels. This document contains the appendices to the main report.

  17. The Framework for Simulation of Bioinspired Security Mechanisms against Network Infrastructure Attacks

    PubMed Central

    Kotenko, Igor

    2014-01-01

    The paper outlines a bioinspired approach named “network nervous system" and methods of simulation of infrastructure attacks and protection mechanisms based on this approach. The protection mechanisms based on this approach consist of distributed prosedures of information collection and processing, which coordinate the activities of the main devices of a computer network, identify attacks, and determine nessesary countermeasures. Attacks and protection mechanisms are specified as structural models using a set-theoretic approach. An environment for simulation of protection mechanisms based on the biological metaphor is considered; the experiments demonstrating the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms are described. PMID:25254229

  18. Coordinating Post-Tsunami Field Surveys in the us

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kong, L. S.; Chiesa, C.; Dunbar, P. K.; Huart, J.; Richards, K.; Shulters, M.; Stein, A.; Tamura, G.; Wilson, R. I.; Young, E.

    2011-12-01

    Post-tsunami scientific field surveys are critical for improving the understanding of tsunamis and developing tools and programs to mitigate their effects. After a destructive tsunami, international, national, and local tsunami scientists need to gather information, much of which is perishable or degrades significantly with time. An influx of researchers can put stress on countries already overwhelmed by humanitarian response to the disaster and by the demands of emergency management and other support agencies. In the United States, in addition to university research scientists, government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS), and state/territorial emergency management agencies and geological surveys endeavor to collect physical and social science data to better understand the physics of tsunamis and the impact they have on coastal communities and ecosystems. After a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Joint Field Office works with state/territory emergency management agencies to coordinate response to disasters. In the short-term, the collection and immediate sharing of data enable decision-making that better organizes and deploys often-limited resources to the areas most critically in need of response; and in the long-term, improves recovery planning that will mitigate the losses from the next tsunami. Recent tsunamis have emphasized the need for improved coordination of data collection among scientists and federal, state, and local emergency managers. Improved coordination will ensure data collection efforts are carried out in a safe, secure, efficient, and timely manner. To improve coordination of activities that will better integrate the scientific investigations with government response, the US National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program and Pacific Risk Management 'Ohana (PRiMO) are working together to develop a consistent framework for a tsunami technical clearinghouse (TTC). The goals of the TTC, which would include at a minimum an electronic information server but could also include a physical location, are to: 1) assist in the response to, damage assessment of, and early recovery from the natural disaster; 2) facilitate researcher access to the affected areas; and 3) contribute to the capture of valuable and perishable data. The Working Group, composed of representatives from NOAA, USGS, FEMA, and state and local emergency managers and geoscientists, will engage with other stakeholders and the science community to review existing national standard operating procedures for post-tsunami scientific field surveys and data collection, as well as make recommendations for domestic application. The outcomes are intended to propose a national structure that can be consistently implemented within each state and territory.

  19. A multi-segment foot model based on anatomically registered technical coordinate systems: method repeatability in pediatric feet.

    PubMed

    Saraswat, Prabhav; MacWilliams, Bruce A; Davis, Roy B

    2012-04-01

    Several multi-segment foot models to measure the motion of intrinsic joints of the foot have been reported. Use of these models in clinical decision making is limited due to lack of rigorous validation including inter-clinician, and inter-lab variability measures. A model with thoroughly quantified variability may significantly improve the confidence in the results of such foot models. This study proposes a new clinical foot model with the underlying strategy of using separate anatomic and technical marker configurations and coordinate systems. Anatomical landmark and coordinate system identification is determined during a static subject calibration. Technical markers are located at optimal sites for dynamic motion tracking. The model is comprised of the tibia and three foot segments (hindfoot, forefoot and hallux) and inter-segmental joint angles are computed in three planes. Data collection was carried out on pediatric subjects at two sites (Site 1: n=10 subjects by two clinicians and Site 2: five subjects by one clinician). A plaster mold method was used to quantify static intra-clinician and inter-clinician marker placement variability by allowing direct comparisons of marker data between sessions for each subject. Intra-clinician and inter-clinician joint angle variability were less than 4°. For dynamic walking kinematics, intra-clinician, inter-clinician and inter-laboratory variability were less than 6° for the ankle and forefoot, but slightly higher for the hallux. Inter-trial variability accounted for 2-4° of the total dynamic variability. Results indicate the proposed foot model reduces the effects of marker placement variability on computed foot kinematics during walking compared to similar measures in previous models. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. The force pyramid: a spatial analysis of force application during virtual reality brain tumor resection.

    PubMed

    Azarnoush, Hamed; Siar, Samaneh; Sawaya, Robin; Zhrani, Gmaan Al; Winkler-Schwartz, Alexander; Alotaibi, Fahad Eid; Bugdadi, Abdulgadir; Bajunaid, Khalid; Marwa, Ibrahim; Sabbagh, Abdulrahman Jafar; Del Maestro, Rolando F

    2017-07-01

    OBJECTIVE Virtual reality simulators allow development of novel methods to analyze neurosurgical performance. The concept of a force pyramid is introduced as a Tier 3 metric with the ability to provide visual and spatial analysis of 3D force application by any instrument used during simulated tumor resection. This study was designed to answer 3 questions: 1) Do study groups have distinct force pyramids? 2) Do handedness and ergonomics influence force pyramid structure? 3) Are force pyramids dependent on the visual and haptic characteristics of simulated tumors? METHODS Using a virtual reality simulator, NeuroVR (formerly NeuroTouch), ultrasonic aspirator force application was continually assessed during resection of simulated brain tumors by neurosurgeons, residents, and medical students. The participants performed simulated resections of 18 simulated brain tumors with different visual and haptic characteristics. The raw data, namely, coordinates of the instrument tip as well as contact force values, were collected by the simulator. To provide a visual and qualitative spatial analysis of forces, the authors created a graph, called a force pyramid, representing force sum along the z-coordinate for different xy coordinates of the tool tip. RESULTS Sixteen neurosurgeons, 15 residents, and 84 medical students participated in the study. Neurosurgeon, resident and medical student groups displayed easily distinguishable 3D "force pyramid fingerprints." Neurosurgeons had the lowest force pyramids, indicating application of the lowest forces, followed by resident and medical student groups. Handedness, ergonomics, and visual and haptic tumor characteristics resulted in distinct well-defined 3D force pyramid patterns. CONCLUSIONS Force pyramid fingerprints provide 3D spatial assessment displays of instrument force application during simulated tumor resection. Neurosurgeon force utilization and ergonomic data form a basis for understanding and modulating resident force application and improving patient safety during tumor resection.

  1. Using social media to assess care coordination goals and plans for leukemia patients and survivors.

    PubMed

    Strekalova, Yulia A; Hawkins, Kimberly E; Drusbosky, Leylah M; Cogle, Cristopher R

    2018-05-23

    Care coordination has been shown to have a positive effect on the management of chronic disease. Specific to the management of leukemia, coordination may occur between primary care physician, medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cardiologists, and genetics specialists. Experiencing gaps in communication and care coordination, many health consumers seek instrumental support in their social circles, including online forums and networks. The goal of this theory-guided study was to provide an in-depth assessment of how individuals use online forums to deliberate about their goals and plans for leukemia care coordination. Guided by the planning theory of communication, the data were collected from the American Cancer Society Cancer Survivors Network and included 125 original posts and 1,248 responses. Thematic analysis and axial coding were applied to analyze the data. Goal-related themes included overcoming the diffusion of care coordination and achieving health management cohesion. Planning themes included social health management, communication self-efficacy, and role deliberation. Online patient forums provide an interactive platform for patients and caregivers to engage in active conversations, which in turn can serve as identifiers of care coordination needs. Communication with those who share similar experiences allows cancer patients and survivors to accumulate functional health literacy, gain communication self-efficacy, and articulate a care coordination role acceptable to them.

  2. Coordination as a function of skill level in the gymnastics longswing.

    PubMed

    Williams, Genevieve K R; Irwin, Gareth; Kerwin, David G; Hamill, Joseph; Van Emmerik, Richard E A; Newell, Karl M

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of inter-joint coordination at different levels of skilled performance to: (1) distinguish learners who were successful versus unsuccessful in terms of their task performance; (2) investigate the pathways of change during the learning of a new coordination pattern and (3) examine how the learner's coordination patterns relate to those of experts in the longswing gymnastics skill. Continuous relative phase of hip and shoulder joint motions was examined for longswings performed by two groups of novices, successful (n = 4) and unsuccessful (n = 4) over five practice sessions, and two expert gymnasts. Principal component analysis showed that during longswing positions where least continuous relative phase variability occurred for expert gymnasts, high variability distinguished the successful from the unsuccessful novice group. Continuous relative phase profiles of successful novices became more out-of-phase over practice and less similar to the closely in-phase coupling of the expert gymnasts. Collectively, the findings support the proposition that at the level in inter-joint coordination a technique emerges that facilitates successful performance but is not more like an expert's movement coordination. This finding questions the appropriateness of inferring development towards a "gold champion" movement coordination.

  3. Protostellar hydrodynamics: Constructing and testing a spacially and temporally second-order accurate method. 2: Cartesian coordinates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Myhill, Elizabeth A.; Boss, Alan P.

    1993-01-01

    In Boss & Myhill (1992) we described the derivation and testing of a spherical coordinate-based scheme for solving the hydrodynamic equations governing the gravitational collapse of nonisothermal, nonmagnetic, inviscid, radiative, three-dimensional protostellar clouds. Here we discuss a Cartesian coordinate-based scheme based on the same set of hydrodynamic equations. As with the spherical coorrdinate-based code, the Cartesian coordinate-based scheme employs explicit Eulerian methods which are both spatially and temporally second-order accurate. We begin by describing the hydrodynamic equations in Cartesian coordinates and the numerical methods used in this particular code. Following Finn & Hawley (1989), we pay special attention to the proper implementations of high-order accuracy, finite difference methods. We evaluate the ability of the Cartesian scheme to handle shock propagation problems, and through convergence testing, we show that the code is indeed second-order accurate. To compare the Cartesian scheme discussed here with the spherical coordinate-based scheme discussed in Boss & Myhill (1992), the two codes are used to calculate the standard isothermal collapse test case described by Bodenheimer & Boss (1981). We find that with the improved codes, the intermediate bar-configuration found previously disappears, and the cloud fragments directly into a binary protostellar system. Finally, we present the results from both codes of a new test for nonisothermal protostellar collapse.

  4. Measurement tools for assessment of older age bipolar disorder: A systematic review of the recent global literature.

    PubMed

    Rej, Soham; Quayle, William; Forester, Brent P; Dols, Annemiek; Gatchel, Jennifer; Chen, Peijun; Gough, Sarah; Fox, Rebecca; Sajatovic, Martha; Strejilevich, Sergio A; Eyler, Lisa T

    2018-06-01

    More than 50% of people with bipolar disorder will be age 60 years or older by 2030. There is a need for more data to guide assessment and treatment in older age bipolar disorder (OABD); however, interpretation of findings from small, single-site studies may not be generalizable and there are few large trials. As a step in the direction of coordinated large-scale OABD data collection, it is critical to identify which measurements are currently used and identify potential gaps in domains typically assessed. An international group of OABD experts performed a systematic literature review to identify studies examining OABD in the past 6 years. Relevant articles were assessed to categorize the types of clinical, cognitive, biomarker, and neuroimaging OABD tools routinely used in OABD studies. A total of 53 papers were identified, with a broad range of assessments. Most studies evaluated demographic and clinical domains, with fewer studies assessing cognition. There are relatively few biomarker and neuroimaging data, and data collection methods were less comprehensively covered. Assessment tools used in the recent OABD literature may help to identify both a minimum and a comprehensive dataset that should be evaluated in OABD. Our review also highlights gaps where key clinical outcomes have not been routinely assessed. Biomarker and neuroimaging assessment could be further developed and standardized. Clinical data could be combined with neuroimaging, genetic, and other biomarkers in large-scale coordinated data collection to further improve our understanding of OABD phenomenology and biology, thereby contributing to research that advances care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Providing Undergraduate Research Opportunities Through the World Rivers Observatory Collaborative Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gillies, S. L.; Marsh, S. J.; Janmaat, A.; Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B.; Voss, B.; Holmes, R. M.

    2013-12-01

    Successful research collaboration exists between the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), a primarily undergraduate-serving university located on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and the World Rivers Observatory that is coordinated through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC). The World Rivers Observatory coordinates time-series sampling of 15 large rivers, with particular focus on the large Arctic rivers, the Ganges-Brahmaputra, Congo, Fraser, Yangtze (Changjiang), Amazon, and Mackenzie River systems. The success of this international observatory critically depends on the participation of local collaborators, such as UFV, that are necessary in order to collect temporally resolved data from these rivers. Several faculty members and undergraduate students from the Biology and Geography Departments of UFV received on-site training from the lead-PIs of the Global Rivers Observatory. To share information and ensure good quality control of sampling methods, WHOI and WHRC hosted two international workshops at Woods Hole for collaborators. For the past four years, faculty and students from UFV have been collecting a variety of bi-monthly water samples from the Fraser River for the World Rivers Observatory. UFV undergraduate students who become involved learn proper sampling techniques and are given the opportunity to design and conduct their own research. Students have collected, analyzed and presented data from this project at regional, national, and international scientific meetings. UFV undergraduate students have also been hosted by WHOI and WHRC as guest students to work on independent research projects. While at WHOI and WHRC, students are able to conduct research using state-of-the-art specialized research facilities not available at UFV.

  6. Strategy for implementing research in hydrology to promote space science among school children in Nigeria

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alabi, Omowumi O.

    2015-04-01

    This paper describes a proposed activity to introduce school children in Nigeria to research in hydrology through the public outreach coordinated by the United Nations affiliated African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E). Over the years, ARCSSTE-E has established a vibrant relationship with Nigerian schools through periodic zonal and national space educational workshops organized for students and teachers. The enthusiasm displayed by the students, coupled with the brilliant performance in the evaluation tests, indicated that this method of informal education is suitable for stimulating the interest of Nigerian pre-collegiate youths in space science and technology, and also to inspire the young learners and develop their interest in the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Because only few representatives from each school can participate in these public outreach programs, it became expedient for the Centre to inaugurate space clubs in schools as a forum for students and teachers to meet regularly to discuss space related issues. Since the first space club was officially launched in 2007, the Centre has inaugurated over 300 space clubs in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, strategically distributed over the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The presentation highlights a space club activity designed to introduce the students to precipitation data collection, with locally fabricated rain gauges. The paper also documents the proposed post-data collection activities in which ARCSSTE-E, acting as the coordinating Centre will collaborate with other national and international organizations to standardize and utilize the rainfall data collected by the students for ground validation of satellite data from the Global Precipitation Measurement. Key words: Public Outreach, Space Club, Human Capacity Development, Hydrologic Research, Global Precipitation Measurement.

  7. Combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics simulation of Ca2+/ammonia solution based on the ONIOM-XS method: Octahedral coordination and implication to biology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kerdcharoen, Teerakiat; Morokuma, Keiji

    2003-05-01

    An extension of the ONIOM (Own N-layered Integrated molecular Orbital and molecular Mechanics) method [M. Svensson, S. Humbel, R. D. J. Froese, T. Mutsubara, S. Sieber, and K. Morokuma, J. Phys. Chem. 100, 19357 (1996)] for simulation in the condensed phase, called ONIOM-XS (XS=eXtension to Solvation) [T. Kerdcharoen and K. Morokuma, Chem. Phys. Lett. 355, 257 (2002)], was applied to investigate the coordination of Ca2+ in liquid ammonia. A coordination number of 6 is found. Previous simulations based on pair potential or pair potential plus three-body correction gave values of 9 and 8.2, respectively. The new value is the same as the coordination number most frequently listed in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and Protein Data Bank (PDB). N-Ca-N angular distribution reveals a near-octahedral coordination structure. Inclusion of many-body interactions (which amounts to 25% of the pair interactions) into the potential energy surface is essential for obtaining reasonable coordination number. Analyses of the metal coordination in water, water-ammonia mixture, and in proteins reveals that cation/ammonia solution can be used to approximate the coordination environment in proteins.

  8. In-vivo measurement of dynamic joint motion using high speed biplane radiography and CT: application to canine ACL deficiency.

    PubMed

    Tashman, Scott; Anderst, William

    2003-04-01

    Dynamic assessment of three-dimensional (3D) skeletal kinematics is essential for understanding normal joint function as well as the effects of injury or disease. This paper presents a novel technique for measuring in-vivo skeletal kinematics that combines data collected from high-speed biplane radiography and static computed tomography (CT). The goals of the present study were to demonstrate that highly precise measurements can be obtained during dynamic movement studies employing high frame-rate biplane video-radiography, to develop a method for expressing joint kinematics in an anatomically relevant coordinate system and to demonstrate the application of this technique by calculating canine tibio-femoral kinematics during dynamic motion. The method consists of four components: the generation and acquisition of high frame rate biplane radiographs, identification and 3D tracking of implanted bone markers, CT-based coordinate system determination, and kinematic analysis routines for determining joint motion in anatomically based coordinates. Results from dynamic tracking of markers inserted in a phantom object showed the system bias was insignificant (-0.02 mm). The average precision in tracking implanted markers in-vivo was 0.064 mm for the distance between markers and 0.31 degree for the angles between markers. Across-trial standard deviations for tibio-femoral translations were similar for all three motion directions, averaging 0.14 mm (range 0.08 to 0.20 mm). Variability in tibio-femoral rotations was more dependent on rotation axis, with across-trial standard deviations averaging 1.71 degrees for flexion/extension, 0.90 degree for internal/external rotation, and 0.40 degree for varus/valgus rotation. Advantages of this technique over traditional motion analysis methods include the elimination of skin motion artifacts, improved tracking precision and the ability to present results in a consistent anatomical reference frame.

  9. Care coordination experiences of people with disabilities enrolled in medicaid managed care.

    PubMed

    Bowers, Anne; Owen, Randall; Heller, Tamar

    2017-10-01

    To understand the impact of experience and contacts with care coordinators on Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) enrollees with disabilities. Primary data was collected from a random sample of 6000 out of the 100,000 people with disabilities enrolled in one state's mandatory MMC program. Surveys were conducted through the mail, telephone, and Internet; 1041 surveys were completed. The sample used for analysis included 442 MMC enrollees who received care coordination. Regression analyses were conducted with the outcomes of number of unmet health care needs and enrollee appraisal of the health services they received. Race, age, gender, and disability variables controlled for demographic differences, and the independent variables included enrollee experience with a care coordinator (coordinator knowledge of enrollee medical history and whether the coordinator took into account enrollee wishes and input) and frequency of contact with a care coordinator. Positive enrollee experiences with care coordinators significantly related to more positive enrollee health service appraisals and fewer unmet health care needs; frequency of contact did not have any significant impacts. People with mental health disabilities and intellectual/developmental disabilities had significantly lower health service appraisals. People with mental health disabilities had significantly more unmet needs. Quality of care coordination, but not frequency of contact alone, is associated with better health outcomes for MMC enrollees. Implications for rehabilitation Care coordination is a core component of managed care and facilitates effective healthcare management for people with complex chronic conditions and disabilities. Better experiences with care coordinators is related to fewer unmet healthcare needs and more positive health care service appraisals for Medicaid managed care enrollees. The continuous development of person-centered care coordination strategies and training programs emphasizing quality relationships between coordinators and consumers should be prioritized.

  10. A systematic review of the care coordination measurement landscape

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Care coordination has increasingly been recognized as an important aspect of high-quality health care delivery. Robust measures of coordination processes will be essential tools to evaluate, guide and support efforts to understand and improve coordination, yet little agreement exists among stakeholders about how to best measure care coordination. We aimed to review and characterize existing measures of care coordination processes and identify areas of high and low density to guide future measure development. Methods We conducted a systematic review of measures published in MEDLINE through April 2012 and identified from additional key sources and informants. We characterized included measures with respect to the aspects of coordination measured (domain), measurement perspective (patient/family, health care professional, system representative), applicable settings and patient populations (by age and condition), and data used (survey, chart review, administrative claims). Results Among the 96 included measure instruments, most relied on survey methods (88%) and measured aspects of communication (93%), in particular the transfer of information (81%). Few measured changing coordination needs (11%). Nearly half (49%) of instruments mapped to the patient/family perspective; 29% to the system representative and 27% to the health care professionals perspective. Few instruments were applicable to settings other than primary care (58%), inpatient facilities (25%), and outpatient specialty care (22%). Conclusions New measures are needed that evaluate changing coordination needs, coordination as perceived by health care professionals, coordination in the home health setting, and for patients at the end of life. PMID:23537350

  11. Analysis and Compensation for Lateral Chromatic Aberration in a Color Coding Structured Light 3D Measurement System.

    PubMed

    Huang, Junhui; Xue, Qi; Wang, Zhao; Gao, Jianmin

    2016-09-03

    While color-coding methods have improved the measuring efficiency of a structured light three-dimensional (3D) measurement system, they decreased the measuring accuracy significantly due to lateral chromatic aberration (LCA). In this study, the LCA in a structured light measurement system is analyzed, and a method is proposed to compensate the error caused by the LCA. Firstly, based on the projective transformation, a 3D error map of LCA is constructed in the projector images by using a flat board and comparing the image coordinates of red, green and blue circles with the coordinates of white circles at preselected sample points within the measurement volume. The 3D map consists of the errors, which are the equivalent errors caused by LCA of the camera and projector. Then in measurements, error values of LCA are calculated and compensated to correct the projector image coordinates through the 3D error map and a tri-linear interpolation method. Eventually, 3D coordinates with higher accuracy are re-calculated according to the compensated image coordinates. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified in the following experiments.

  12. Analysis and Compensation for Lateral Chromatic Aberration in a Color Coding Structured Light 3D Measurement System

    PubMed Central

    Huang, Junhui; Xue, Qi; Wang, Zhao; Gao, Jianmin

    2016-01-01

    While color-coding methods have improved the measuring efficiency of a structured light three-dimensional (3D) measurement system, they decreased the measuring accuracy significantly due to lateral chromatic aberration (LCA). In this study, the LCA in a structured light measurement system is analyzed, and a method is proposed to compensate the error caused by the LCA. Firstly, based on the projective transformation, a 3D error map of LCA is constructed in the projector images by using a flat board and comparing the image coordinates of red, green and blue circles with the coordinates of white circles at preselected sample points within the measurement volume. The 3D map consists of the errors, which are the equivalent errors caused by LCA of the camera and projector. Then in measurements, error values of LCA are calculated and compensated to correct the projector image coordinates through the 3D error map and a tri-linear interpolation method. Eventually, 3D coordinates with higher accuracy are re-calculated according to the compensated image coordinates. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified in the following experiments. PMID:27598174

  13. A method to correct coordinate distortion in EBSD maps

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

    Zhang, Y.B., E-mail: yubz@dtu.dk; Elbrønd, A.; Lin, F.X.

    2014-10-15

    Drift during electron backscatter diffraction mapping leads to coordinate distortions in resulting orientation maps, which affects, in some cases significantly, the accuracy of analysis. A method, thin plate spline, is introduced and tested to correct such coordinate distortions in the maps after the electron backscatter diffraction measurements. The accuracy of the correction as well as theoretical and practical aspects of using the thin plate spline method is discussed in detail. By comparing with other correction methods, it is shown that the thin plate spline method is most efficient to correct different local distortions in the electron backscatter diffraction maps. -more » Highlights: • A new method is suggested to correct nonlinear spatial distortion in EBSD maps. • The method corrects EBSD maps more precisely than presently available methods. • Errors less than 1–2 pixels are typically obtained. • Direct quantitative analysis of dynamic data are available after this correction.« less

  14. Evaluating the Sustainability of School-Based Health Centers.

    PubMed

    Navarro, Stephanie; Zirkle, Dorothy L; Barr, Donald A

    2017-01-01

    The United States is facing a surge in the number of school-based health centers (SBHCs) owing to their success in delivering positive health outcomes and increasing access to care. To preserve this success, experts have developed frameworks for creating sustainable SBHCs; however, little research has affirmed or added to these models. This research seeks to analyze elements of sustainability in a case study of three SBHCs in San Diego, California, with the purpose of creating a research-based framework of SBHC sustainability to supplement expertly derived models. Using a mixed methods study design, data were collected from interviews with SBHC stakeholders, observations in SBHCs, and SBHC budgets. A grounded theory qualitative analysis and a quantitative budget analysis were completed to develop a theoretical framework for the sustainability of SBHCs. Forty-one interviews were conducted, 6 hours of observations were completed, and 3 years of SBHC budgets were analyzed to identify care coordination, community buy-in, community awareness, and SBHC partner cooperation as key themes of sustainability promoting patient retention for sustainable billing and reimbursement levels. These findings highlight the unique ways in which SBHCs gain community buy-in and awareness by becoming trusted sources of comprehensive and coordinated care within communities and among vulnerable populations. Findings also support ideas from expert models of SBHC sustainability calling for well-defined and executed community partnerships and quality coordinated care in the procurement of sustainable SBHC funding.

  15. Robust Coordination for Large Sets of Simple Rovers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian

    2006-01-01

    The ability to coordinate sets of rovers in an unknown environment is critical to the long-term success of many of NASA;s exploration missions. Such coordination policies must have the ability to adapt in unmodeled or partially modeled domains and must be robust against environmental noise and rover failures. In addition such coordination policies must accommodate a large number of rovers, without excessive and burdensome hand-tuning. In this paper we present a distributed coordination method that addresses these issues in the domain of controlling a set of simple rovers. The application of these methods allows reliable and efficient robotic exploration in dangerous, dynamic, and previously unexplored domains. Most control policies for space missions are directly programmed by engineers or created through the use of planning tools, and are appropriate for single rover missions or missions requiring the coordination of a small number of rovers. Such methods typically require significant amounts of domain knowledge, and are difficult to scale to large numbers of rovers. The method described in this article aims to address cases where a large number of rovers need to coordinate to solve a complex time dependent problem in a noisy environment. In this approach, each rover decomposes a global utility, representing the overall goal of the system, into rover-specific utilities that properly assign credit to the rover s actions. Each rover then has the responsibility to create a control policy that maximizes its own rover-specific utility. We show a method of creating rover-utilities that are "aligned" with the global utility, such that when the rovers maximize their own utility, they also maximize the global utility. In addition we show that our method creates rover-utilities that allow the rovers to create their control policies quickly and reliably. Our distributed learning method allows large sets rovers be used unmodeled domains, while providing robustness against rover failures and changing environments. In experimental simulations we show that our method scales well with large numbers of rovers in addition to being robust against noisy sensor inputs and noisy servo control. The results show that our method is able to scale to large numbers of rovers and achieves up to 400% performance improvement over standard machine learning methods.

  16. A transformation method for deriving from a photograph, position and heading of a vehicle in a plane

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sleeper, R. K.; Smith, E. G.

    1976-01-01

    Equations have been derived that transform perspectively viewed planar surface coordinates, as seen in a photograph, into coordinates of the original plane surface. These transformation equations are developed in terms of nine geometric variables that define the photographic setup and are redefined in terms of eight parameters. The parameters are then treated as independent quantities that fully characterize the transformation and are expressed directly in terms of the four corner coordinates of a reference rectangle in the object plane and their coordinates as seen in a photograph. Vehicle position is determined by transforming the perspectively viewed coordinate position of a representative vehicle target into runway coordinates. Vehicle heading is determined from the runway coordinates of two vehicle target points. When the targets are elevated above the plane of the reference grid, the computation of the heading angle is unaffected; however, the computation of the target position may require adjustment of two parameters. Methods are given for adjusting the parameters for elevation and an example is included for both nonelevated and elevated target conditions.

  17. Spectral analysis for GNSS coordinate time series using chirp Fourier transform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feng, Shengtao; Bo, Wanju; Ma, Qingzun; Wang, Zifan

    2017-12-01

    Spectral analysis for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) coordinate time series provides a principal tool to understand the intrinsic mechanism that affects tectonic movements. Spectral analysis methods such as the fast Fourier transform, Lomb-Scargle spectrum, evolutionary power spectrum, wavelet power spectrum, etc. are used to find periodic characteristics in time series. Among spectral analysis methods, the chirp Fourier transform (CFT) with less stringent requirements is tested with synthetic and actual GNSS coordinate time series, which proves the accuracy and efficiency of the method. With the length of series only limited to even numbers, CFT provides a convenient tool for windowed spectral analysis. The results of ideal synthetic data prove CFT accurate and efficient, while the results of actual data show that CFT is usable to derive periodic information from GNSS coordinate time series.

  18. Extracting 3d Semantic Information from Video Surveillance System Using Deep Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, J. S.; Cao, J.; Mao, B.; Shen, D. Q.

    2018-04-01

    At present, intelligent video analysis technology has been widely used in various fields. Object tracking is one of the important part of intelligent video surveillance, but the traditional target tracking technology based on the pixel coordinate system in images still exists some unavoidable problems. Target tracking based on pixel can't reflect the real position information of targets, and it is difficult to track objects across scenes. Based on the analysis of Zhengyou Zhang's camera calibration method, this paper presents a method of target tracking based on the target's space coordinate system after converting the 2-D coordinate of the target into 3-D coordinate. It can be seen from the experimental results: Our method can restore the real position change information of targets well, and can also accurately get the trajectory of the target in space.

  19. Geometric registration of images by similarity transformation using two reference points

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kang, Yong Q. (Inventor); Jo, Young-Heon (Inventor); Yan, Xiao-Hai (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    A method for registering a first image to a second image using a similarity transformation. The each image includes a plurality of pixels. The first image pixels are mapped to a set of first image coordinates and the second image pixels are mapped to a set of second image coordinates. The first image coordinates of two reference points in the first image are determined. The second image coordinates of these reference points in the second image are determined. A Cartesian translation of the set of second image coordinates is performed such that the second image coordinates of the first reference point match its first image coordinates. A similarity transformation of the translated set of second image coordinates is performed. This transformation scales and rotates the second image coordinates about the first reference point such that the second image coordinates of the second reference point match its first image coordinates.

  20. Using "Functional" Target Coordinates of the Subthalamic Nucleus to Assess the Indirect and Direct Methods of the Preoperative Planning: Do the Anatomical and Functional Targets Coincide?

    PubMed

    Rabie, Ahmed; Verhagen Metman, Leo; Slavin, Konstantin V

    2016-12-21

    To answer the question of whether the anatomical center of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), as calculated indirectly from stereotactic atlases or by direct visualization on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), corresponds to the best functional target. Since the neighboring red nucleus (RN) is well visualized on MRI, we studied the relationships of the final target to its different borders. We analyzed the data of 23 PD patients (46 targets) who underwent bilateral frame-based STN deep brain stimulation (DBS) procedure with microelectrode recording guidance. We calculated coordinates of the active contact on DBS electrode on postoperative MRI, which we referred to as the final "functional/optimal" target. The coordinates calculated by the atlas-based "indirect" and "direct" methods, as well as the coordinates of the different RN borders were compared to these final coordinates. The mean ± SD of the final target coordinates was 11.7 ± 1.5 mm lateral (X), 2.4 ± 1.5 mm posterior (Y), and 6.1 ± 1.7 mm inferior to the mid-commissural point (Z). No significant differences were found between the "indirect" X, Z coordinates and those of the final targets. The "indirect" Y coordinate was significantly posterior to Y of the final target, with mean difference of 0.6 mm ( p = 0.014). No significant differences were found between the "direct" X, Y, and Z coordinates and those of the final targets. The functional STN target is located in direct proximity to its anatomical center. During preoperative targeting, we recommend using the "direct" method, and taking into consideration the relationships of the final target to the mid-commissural point (MCP) and the different RN borders.

  1. Application of singular value decomposition to structural dynamics systems with constraints

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Juang, J.-N.; Pinson, L. D.

    1985-01-01

    Singular value decomposition is used to construct a coordinate transformation for a linear dynamic system subject to linear, homogeneous constraint equations. The method is compared with two commonly used methods, namely classical Gaussian elimination and Walton-Steeves approach. Although the classical method requires fewer numerical operations, the singular value decomposition method is more accurate and convenient in eliminating the dependent coordinates. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the application of the method.

  2. A Robust High-Accuracy Ultrasound Indoor Positioning System Based on a Wireless Sensor Network.

    PubMed

    Qi, Jun; Liu, Guo-Ping

    2017-11-06

    This paper describes the development and implementation of a robust high-accuracy ultrasonic indoor positioning system (UIPS). The UIPS consists of several wireless ultrasonic beacons in the indoor environment. Each of them has a fixed and known position coordinate and can collect all the transmissions from the target node or emit ultrasonic signals. Every wireless sensor network (WSN) node has two communication modules: one is WiFi, that transmits the data to the server, and the other is the radio frequency (RF) module, which is only used for time synchronization between different nodes, with accuracy up to 1 μ s. The distance between the beacon and the target node is calculated by measuring the time-of-flight (TOF) for the ultrasonic signal, and then the position of the target is computed by some distances and the coordinate of the beacons. TOF estimation is the most important technique in the UIPS. A new time domain method to extract the envelope of the ultrasonic signals is presented in order to estimate the TOF. This method, with the envelope detection filter, estimates the value with the sampled values on both sides based on the least squares method (LSM). The simulation results show that the method can achieve envelope detection with a good filtering effect by means of the LSM. The highest precision and variance can reach 0.61 mm and 0.23 mm, respectively, in pseudo-range measurements with UIPS. A maximum location error of 10.2 mm is achieved in the positioning experiments for a moving robot, when UIPS works on the line-of-sight (LOS) signal.

  3. Mathematical model and coordination algorithms for ensuring complex security of an organization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Novoseltsev, V. I.; Orlova, D. E.; Dubrovin, A. S.; Irkhin, V. P.

    2018-03-01

    The mathematical model of coordination when ensuring complex security of the organization is considered. On the basis of use of a method of casual search three types of algorithms of effective coordination adequate to mismatch level concerning security are developed: a coordination algorithm at domination of instructions of the coordinator; a coordination algorithm at domination of decisions of performers; a coordination algorithm at parity of interests of the coordinator and performers. Assessment of convergence of the algorithms considered above it was made by carrying out a computing experiment. The described algorithms of coordination have property of convergence in the sense stated above. And, the following regularity is revealed: than more simply in the structural relation the algorithm, for the smaller number of iterations is provided to those its convergence.

  4. Beyond HRV: attractor reconstruction using the entire cardiovascular waveform data for novel feature extraction.

    PubMed

    Aston, Philip J; Christie, Mark I; Huang, Ying H; Nandi, Manasi

    2018-03-01

    Advances in monitoring technology allow blood pressure waveforms to be collected at sampling frequencies of 250-1000 Hz for long time periods. However, much of the raw data are under-analysed. Heart rate variability (HRV) methods, in which beat-to-beat interval lengths are extracted and analysed, have been extensively studied. However, this approach discards the majority of the raw data. Our aim is to detect changes in the shape of the waveform in long streams of blood pressure data. Our approach involves extracting key features from large complex data sets by generating a reconstructed attractor in a three-dimensional phase space using delay coordinates from a window of the entire raw waveform data. The naturally occurring baseline variation is removed by projecting the attractor onto a plane from which new quantitative measures are obtained. The time window is moved through the data to give a collection of signals which relate to various aspects of the waveform shape. This approach enables visualisation and quantification of changes in the waveform shape and has been applied to blood pressure data collected from conscious unrestrained mice and to human blood pressure data. The interpretation of the attractor measures is aided by the analysis of simple artificial waveforms. We have developed and analysed a new method for analysing blood pressure data that uses all of the waveform data and hence can detect changes in the waveform shape that HRV methods cannot, which is confirmed with an example, and hence our method goes 'beyond HRV'.

  5. Beyond HRV: attractor reconstruction using the entire cardiovascular waveform data for novel feature extraction

    PubMed Central

    Aston, Philip J; Christie, Mark I; Huang, Ying H; Nandi, Manasi

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Advances in monitoring technology allow blood pressure waveforms to be collected at sampling frequencies of 250–1000 Hz for long time periods. However, much of the raw data are under-analysed. Heart rate variability (HRV) methods, in which beat-to-beat interval lengths are extracted and analysed, have been extensively studied. However, this approach discards the majority of the raw data. Objective: Our aim is to detect changes in the shape of the waveform in long streams of blood pressure data. Approach: Our approach involves extracting key features from large complex data sets by generating a reconstructed attractor in a three-dimensional phase space using delay coordinates from a window of the entire raw waveform data. The naturally occurring baseline variation is removed by projecting the attractor onto a plane from which new quantitative measures are obtained. The time window is moved through the data to give a collection of signals which relate to various aspects of the waveform shape. Main results: This approach enables visualisation and quantification of changes in the waveform shape and has been applied to blood pressure data collected from conscious unrestrained mice and to human blood pressure data. The interpretation of the attractor measures is aided by the analysis of simple artificial waveforms. Significance: We have developed and analysed a new method for analysing blood pressure data that uses all of the waveform data and hence can detect changes in the waveform shape that HRV methods cannot, which is confirmed with an example, and hence our method goes ‘beyond HRV’. PMID:29350622

  6. Embryonic cell-cell adhesion: a key player in collective neural crest migration.

    PubMed

    Barriga, Elias H; Mayor, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    Cell migration is essential for morphogenesis, adult tissue remodeling, wound healing, and cancer cell migration. Cells can migrate as individuals or groups. When cells migrate in groups, cell-cell interactions are crucial in order to promote the coordinated behavior, essential for collective migration. Interestingly, recent evidence has shown that cell-cell interactions are also important for establishing and maintaining the directionality of these migratory events. We focus on neural crest cells, as they possess extraordinary migratory capabilities that allow them to migrate and colonize tissues all over the embryo. Neural crest cells undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition at the same time than perform directional collective migration. Cell-cell adhesion has been shown to be an important source of planar cell polarity and cell coordination during collective movement. We also review molecular mechanisms underlying cadherin turnover, showing how the modulation and dynamics of cell-cell adhesions are crucial in order to maintain tissue integrity and collective migration in vivo. We conclude that cell-cell adhesion during embryo development cannot be considered as simple passive resistance to force, but rather participates in signaling events that determine important cell behaviors required for cell migration. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Penalized nonparametric scalar-on-function regression via principal coordinates

    PubMed Central

    Reiss, Philip T.; Miller, David L.; Wu, Pei-Shien; Hua, Wen-Yu

    2016-01-01

    A number of classical approaches to nonparametric regression have recently been extended to the case of functional predictors. This paper introduces a new method of this type, which extends intermediate-rank penalized smoothing to scalar-on-function regression. In the proposed method, which we call principal coordinate ridge regression, one regresses the response on leading principal coordinates defined by a relevant distance among the functional predictors, while applying a ridge penalty. Our publicly available implementation, based on generalized additive modeling software, allows for fast optimal tuning parameter selection and for extensions to multiple functional predictors, exponential family-valued responses, and mixed-effects models. In an application to signature verification data, principal coordinate ridge regression, with dynamic time warping distance used to define the principal coordinates, is shown to outperform a functional generalized linear model. PMID:29217963

  8. Patient-reported care coordination: associations with primary care continuity and specialty care use.

    PubMed

    Liss, David T; Chubak, Jessica; Anderson, Melissa L; Saunders, Kathleen W; Tuzzio, Leah; Reid, Robert J

    2011-01-01

    Care coordination is increasingly recognized as a necessary element of high-quality, patient-centered care. This study investigated (1) the association between care coordination and continuity of primary care, and (2) differences in this association by level of specialty care use. We conducted a cross-sectional study of Medicare enrollees with select chronic conditions in an integrated health care delivery system in Washington State. We collected survey information on patient experiences and automated health care utilization data for 1 year preceding survey completion. Coordination was defined by the coordination measure from the short form of the Ambulatory Care Experiences Survey (ACES). Continuity was measured by primary care visit concentration. Patients who had 10 or more specialty care visits were classified as high users. Linear regression was used to estimate the association between coordination and continuity, controlling for potential confounders and clustering within clinicians. We used a continuity-by-specialty interaction term to determine whether the continuity-coordination association was modified by high specialty care use. Among low specialty care users, an increase of 1 standard deviation (SD) in continuity was associated with an increase of 2.71 in the ACES coordination scale (P <.001). In high specialty care users, we observed no association between continuity and reported coordination (P= .77). High use of specialty care may strain the ability of primary care clinicians to coordinate care effectively. Future studies should investigate care coordination interventions that allow for appropriate specialty care referrals without diminishing the ability of primary care physicians to manage overall patient care.

  9. A collection of edge-based elements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kempel, Leo C.; Volakis, John L.

    1992-01-01

    Edge-based elements have proved useful in solving electromagnetic problems since they are nondivergent. Previous authors have presented several two and three dimensional elements. Herein, we present four types of elements which are suitable for modeling several types of three dimensional geometries. Distorted brick and triangular prism elements are given in cartesian coordinates as well as the specialized cylindrical shell and pie-shaped prism elements which are suitable for problems best described in polar cylindrical coordinates.

  10. Multi-disciplinary optimization of aeroservoelastic systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Karpel, Mordechay

    1991-01-01

    New methods were developed for efficient aeroservoelastic analysis and optimization. The main target was to develop a method for investigating large structural variations using a single set of modal coordinates. This task was accomplished by basing the structural modal coordinates on normal modes calculated with a set of fictitious masses loading the locations of anticipated structural changes. The following subject areas are covered: (1) modal coordinates for aeroelastic analysis with large local structural variations; and (2) time simulation of flutter with large stiffness changes.

  11. Untangling cultural inheritance: language diversity and long-house architecture on the Pacific northwest coast

    PubMed Central

    Jordan, Peter; O'Neill, Sean

    2010-01-01

    Many recent studies of cultural inheritance have focused on small-scale craft traditions practised by single individuals, which do not require coordinated participation by larger social collectives. In this paper, we address this gap in the cultural transmission literature by investigating diversity in the vernacular architecture of the Pacific northwest coast, where communities of hunter–fisher–gatherers constructed immense wooden long-houses at their main winter villages. Quantitative analyses of long-house styles along the coastline draw on a range of models and methods from the biological sciences and are employed to test hypotheses relating to basic patterns of macro-scale cultural diversification, and the degree to which the transmission of housing traits has been constrained by the region's numerous linguistic boundaries. The results indicate relatively strong branching patterns of cultural inheritance and also close associations between regional language history and housing styles, pointing to the potentially crucial role played by language boundaries in structuring large-scale patterns of cultural diversification, especially in relation to ‘collective’ cultural traditions like housing that require substantial inputs of coordinated labour. PMID:21041212

  12. High Order Finite Difference Methods, Multidimensional Linear Problems and Curvilinear Coordinates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nordstrom, Jan; Carpenter, Mark H.

    1999-01-01

    Boundary and interface conditions are derived for high order finite difference methods applied to multidimensional linear problems in curvilinear coordinates. The boundary and interface conditions lead to conservative schemes and strict and strong stability provided that certain metric conditions are met.

  13. Destruction of Invariant Surfaces and Magnetic Coordinates for Perturbed Magnetic Fields

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

    S.R. Hudson

    2003-11-20

    Straight-field-line coordinates are constructed for nearly integrable magnetic fields. The coordinates are based on the robust, noble-irrational rotational-transform surfaces, whose existence is determined by an application of Greene's residue criterion. A simple method to locate these surfaces is described. Sequences of surfaces with rotational-transform converging to low order rationals maximize the region of straight-field-line coordinates.

  14. An Exponential Finite Difference Technique for Solving Partial Differential Equations. M.S. Thesis - Toledo Univ., Ohio

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Handschuh, Robert F.

    1987-01-01

    An exponential finite difference algorithm, as first presented by Bhattacharya for one-dimensianal steady-state, heat conduction in Cartesian coordinates, has been extended. The finite difference algorithm developed was used to solve the diffusion equation in one-dimensional cylindrical coordinates and applied to two- and three-dimensional problems in Cartesian coordinates. The method was also used to solve nonlinear partial differential equations in one (Burger's equation) and two (Boundary Layer equations) dimensional Cartesian coordinates. Predicted results were compared to exact solutions where available, or to results obtained by other numerical methods. It was found that the exponential finite difference method produced results that were more accurate than those obtained by other numerical methods, especially during the initial transient portion of the solution. Other applications made using the exponential finite difference technique included unsteady one-dimensional heat transfer with temperature varying thermal conductivity and the development of the temperature field in a laminar Couette flow.

  15. A simple orbit-attitude coupled modelling method for large solar power satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Qingjun; Wang, Bo; Deng, Zichen; Ouyang, Huajiang; Wei, Yi

    2018-04-01

    A simple modelling method is proposed to study the orbit-attitude coupled dynamics of large solar power satellites based on natural coordinate formulation. The generalized coordinates are composed of Cartesian coordinates of two points and Cartesian components of two unitary vectors instead of Euler angles and angular velocities, which is the reason for its simplicity. Firstly, in order to develop natural coordinate formulation to take gravitational force and gravity gradient torque of a rigid body into account, Taylor series expansion is adopted to approximate the gravitational potential energy. The equations of motion are constructed through constrained Hamilton's equations. Then, an energy- and constraint-conserving algorithm is presented to solve the differential-algebraic equations. Finally, the proposed method is applied to simulate the orbit-attitude coupled dynamics and control of a large solar power satellite considering gravity gradient torque and solar radiation pressure. This method is also applicable to dynamic modelling of other rigid multibody aerospace systems.

  16. Coordinate alignment of combined measurement systems using a modified common points method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, G.; Zhang, P.; Xiao, W.

    2018-03-01

    The co-ordinate metrology has been extensively researched for its outstanding advantages in measurement range and accuracy. The alignment of different measurement systems is usually achieved by integrating local coordinates via common points before measurement. The alignment errors would accumulate and significantly reduce the global accuracy, thus need to be minimized. In this thesis, a modified common points method (MCPM) is proposed to combine different traceable system errors of the cooperating machines, and optimize the global accuracy by introducing mutual geometric constraints. The geometric constraints, obtained by measuring the common points in individual local coordinate systems, provide the possibility to reduce the local measuring uncertainty whereby enhance the global measuring certainty. A simulation system is developed in Matlab to analyze the feature of MCPM using the Monto-Carlo method. An exemplary setup is constructed to verify the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method associated with laser tracker and indoor iGPS systems. Experimental results show that MCPM could significantly improve the alignment accuracy.

  17. exponential finite difference technique for solving partial differential equations

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

    Handschuh, R.F.

    1987-01-01

    An exponential finite difference algorithm, as first presented by Bhattacharya for one-dimensianal steady-state, heat conduction in Cartesian coordinates, has been extended. The finite difference algorithm developed was used to solve the diffusion equation in one-dimensional cylindrical coordinates and applied to two- and three-dimensional problems in Cartesian coordinates. The method was also used to solve nonlinear partial differential equations in one (Burger's equation) and two (Boundary Layer equations) dimensional Cartesian coordinates. Predicted results were compared to exact solutions where available, or to results obtained by other numerical methods. It was found that the exponential finite difference method produced results that weremore » more accurate than those obtained by other numerical methods, especially during the initial transient portion of the solution. Other applications made using the exponential finite difference technique included unsteady one-dimensional heat transfer with temperature varying thermal conductivity and the development of the temperature field in a laminar Couette flow.« less

  18. The U.S culture collection network lays the foundation for progress in preservation of valuable microbial resources

    Treesearch

    K. McCluskey; A. Alvarez; R. Bennett; D. Bokati; K. Boundy-Mills; D. D. Brown; C. T. Bull; M. Coffey; T. Dreaden; C. Duke; G. Dye; E. Ehmke; K. Eversole; K. Fenstermacher; D. Geiser; Jessie A. Glaeser; S. Greene; L. Gribble; M. P. Griffith; K. Hanser; R. Humber; B. W. Johnson; A. Kermode; M. Krichevsky; M. Laudon; J. Leach; J. Leslie; M. May; U. Melcher; D. Nobles; N. R. Fonseca; S. Robinson; M. Ryan; J. Scott; C. Silflow; A. Vidaver; K. M. Webb; J. E. Wertz; S. Yentsch; S. Zehr

    2016-01-01

    The U.S. Culture Collection Network was formed in 2012 by a group of culture collection scientists and stakeholders in order to continue the progress established previously through efforts of an ad hoc group. The network is supported by a Research Coordination Network grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and has the goals of promoting interaction among...

  19. The U.S.Culture Collection Network lays the foundation for progress in preservation of valuable microbial resources

    Treesearch

    Kevin McCluskey; Anne Alvarez; Rick Bennett; Deepak Bokati; Kyria Boundy-Mills; Daniel Brown; Carolee T. Bull; Michael Coffey; Tyler Dreaden; Clifford Duke; Greg Dye; Erin Ehmke; Kellye Eversole; Kristi Fenstermacher; David Geiser; Jessie A. Glaeser; Stephanie Greene; Lisa Gribble; M. Patrick Griffith; Kathryn Hanser; Richard Humber; Barbara W. Johnson; Anthony Kermode; Micah Krichevsky; Matt Laudon; Jan Leach; John Leslie; Meghan May; Ulrich Melcher; David Nobles; Natalia Risso Fonseca; Sara Robinson; Matthew Ryan; James Scott; Carolyn Silflow; Anne Vidaver; Kimberly M. Webb; John E. Wertz; Sara Yentsch; Sarah Zehr

    2016-01-01

    The U. S. Culture Collection Network was formed in 2012 by a group of culture collection scientists and stakeholders in order to continue the progress established previously through efforts of an ad hock group.  The network is supported by a Research Coordination Network grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and has the goals of promoting interaction...

  20. A Cross-Sectional Comparison of Perceived Quality of Primary Care by Hypertensive Patients in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China

    PubMed Central

    Li, Haitao; Wei, Xiaolin; Wong, Martin Chi-Sang; Wong, Samuel Yeung-Shan; Yang, Nan; Griffiths, Sian M.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Hypertension should be best managed under primary care settings. This study aimed to compare, between Shanghai and Shenzhen, the perceived quality of primary care in terms of accessibility, continuity, co-ordination, and comprehensiveness among hypertensive patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China. Multistage random sampling method was used to select 8 community health centers. Data from primary care users were collected through on-site face-to-face interviews using the primary care assessment tool. Good quality standard was set as a value of 3 for each attribute and a value of 18 for total score. We included 568 patients in Shanghai and 128 patients in Shenzhen. Compared with those in Shenzhen, hypertensive patients in Shanghai reported a higher score in co-ordination of information (3.37 vs 3.66; P < 0.001), but lower scores in continuity of care (3.36 vs 3.27; P < 0.001), and comprehensiveness-service provision (3.26 vs 2.79; P < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in total scores between the 2 cities (18.19 vs 18.15). Over 3-quarters of hypertensive patients in both cities reported accessibility (97.2% vs 91.4%) and co-ordination of services (76.1% vs 80.5%) under good quality standard, while <1-quarter of them rated continuity of care (23.6% vs 22.7%), co-ordination of information (4.8% vs 21.1%), and comprehensiveness-service availability (15.1% vs 25.0%) under that standard. Compared with Shenzhen, the perceived quality of primary care for hypertensive patients in Shanghai was better in terms of co-ordination of information, but poorer on continuity of care and comprehensiveness-service provision. Our study suggests that there is room for quality improvement in both cities. PMID:26313780

  1. Price schedules coordination for electricity pool markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Legbedji, Alexis Motto

    2002-04-01

    We consider the optimal coordination of a class of mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints, which is formally interpreted as a resource-allocation problem. Many decomposition techniques were proposed to circumvent the difficulty of solving large systems with limited computer resources. The considerable improvement in computer architecture has allowed the solution of large-scale problems with increasing speed. Consequently, interest in decomposition techniques has waned. Nonetheless, there is an important class of applications for which decomposition techniques will still be relevant, among others, distributed systems---the Internet, perhaps, being the most conspicuous example---and competitive economic systems. Conceptually, a competitive economic system is a collection of agents that have similar or different objectives while sharing the same system resources. In theory, constructing a large-scale mathematical program and solving it centrally, using currently available computing power can optimize such systems of agents. In practice, however, because agents are self-interested and not willing to reveal some sensitive corporate data, one cannot solve these kinds of coordination problems by simply maximizing the sum of agent's objective functions with respect to their constraints. An iterative price decomposition or Lagrangian dual method is considered best suited because it can operate with limited information. A price-directed strategy, however, can only work successfully when coordinating or equilibrium prices exist, which is not generally the case when a weak duality is unavoidable. Showing when such prices exist and how to compute them is the main subject of this thesis. Among our results, we show that, if the Lagrangian function of a primal program is additively separable, price schedules coordination may be attained. The prices are Lagrange multipliers, and are also the decision variables of a dual program. In addition, we propose a new form of augmented or nonlinear pricing, which is an example of the use of penalty functions in mathematical programming. Applications are drawn from mathematical programming problems of the form arising in electric power system scheduling under competition.

  2. Unified Planetary Coordinates System: A Searchable Database of Geodetic Information

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Becker, K. J.a; Gaddis, L. R.; Soderblom, L. A.; Kirk, R. L.; Archinal, B. A.; Johnson, J. R.; Anderson, J. A.; Bowman-Cisneros, E.; LaVoie, S.; McAuley, M.

    2005-01-01

    Over the past 40 years, an enormous quantity of orbital remote sensing data has been collected for Mars from many missions and instruments. Unfortunately these datasets currently exist in a wide range of disparate coordinate systems, making it extremely difficult for the scientific community to easily correlate, combine, and compare data from different Mars missions and instruments. As part of our work for the PDS Imaging Node and on behalf of the USGS Astrogeology Team, we are working to solve this problem and to provide the NASA scientific research community with easy access to Mars orbital data in a unified, consistent coordinate system along with a wide variety of other key geometric variables. The Unified Planetary Coordinates (UPC) system is comprised of two main elements: (1) a database containing Mars orbital remote sensing data computed using a uniform coordinate system, and (2) a process by which continual maintainance and updates to the contents of the database are performed.

  3. 77 FR 14531 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Web-Based Assessment of the NHLBI Clinical Studies Support...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-12

    ... Request; Web-Based Assessment of the NHLBI Clinical Studies Support Center (CSSC) SUMMARY: In compliance... the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Proposed Collection: Title: Web...); coordinating meeting space and logistics for in-person meetings, Web conferences, and teleconferences; managing...

  4. 76 FR 48171 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-08

    ... through the appropriate State Primary Care Offices, State Primary Care Associations and the NHSC. The... to build better systems of care. The NHSC Site Application, which renames and revises the previous... Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination. [FR Doc. 2011-20077 Filed 8-5-11; 8:45 am...

  5. Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) experiments data collection, analysis, and publication

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Long, Terry N.; Alzmann, Melanie O.

    1992-01-01

    The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) program experiments data collection, analysis, and publication activities are described. These activities were associated with both the satellite chemical release and a planned Puerto Rico sounding rocket campaign. To coordinate these activities, a working group meeting was organized and conducted.

  6. Meeting report: 2nd workshop of the United States culture collection network (May 19-21, 2014, State College, PA, USA)

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This report summarizes the activities and outcomes of the second workshop of the US Culture Collection Network, formally an activity of the US National Science Foundation sponsored Research Coordination Network for a Community of ex situ Microbial Germplasm Repositories. The workshop included presen...

  7. Dynamics of essential collective motions in proteins: Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stepanova, Maria

    2007-11-01

    A general theoretical background is introduced for characterization of conformational motions in protein molecules, and for building reduced coarse-grained models of proteins, based on the statistical analysis of their phase trajectories. Using the projection operator technique, a system of coupled generalized Langevin equations is derived for essential collective coordinates, which are generated by principal component analysis of molecular dynamic trajectories. The number of essential degrees of freedom is not limited in the theory. An explicit analytic relation is established between the generalized Langevin equation for essential collective coordinates and that for the all-atom phase trajectory projected onto the subspace of essential collective degrees of freedom. The theory introduced is applied to identify correlated dynamic domains in a macromolecule and to construct coarse-grained models representing the conformational motions in a protein through a few interacting domains embedded in a dissipative medium. A rigorous theoretical background is provided for identification of dynamic correlated domains in a macromolecule. Examples of domain identification in protein G are given and employed to interpret NMR experiments. Challenges and potential outcomes of the theory are discussed.

  8. Construction Theory and Noise Analysis Method of Global CGCS2000 Coordinate Frame

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Z.; Wang, F.; Bai, J.; Li, Z.

    2018-04-01

    The definition, renewal and maintenance of geodetic datum has been international hot issue. In recent years, many countries have been studying and implementing modernization and renewal of local geodetic reference coordinate frame. Based on the precise result of continuous observation for recent 15 years from state CORS (continuously operating reference system) network and the mainland GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) network between 1999 and 2007, this paper studies the construction of mathematical model of the Global CGCS2000 frame, mainly analyzes the theory and algorithm of two-step method for Global CGCS2000 Coordinate Frame formulation. Finally, the noise characteristic of the coordinate time series are estimated quantitatively with the criterion of maximum likelihood estimation.

  9. First-year results of the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network: 2012–2013 Northern hemisphere influenza season

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) was developed to improve understanding of severe influenza infection, as represented by hospitalized cases. The GIHSN is composed of coordinating sites, mainly affiliated with health authorities, each of which supervises and compiles data from one to seven hospitals. This report describes the distribution of influenza viruses A(H1N1), A(H3N2), B/Victoria, and B/Yamagata resulting in hospitalization during 2012–2013, the network’s first year. Methods In 2012–2013, the GIHSN included 21 hospitals (five in Spain, five in France, four in the Russian Federation, and seven in Turkey). All hospitals used a reference protocol and core questionnaire to collect data, and data were consolidated at five coordinating sites. Influenza infection was confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Hospitalized patients admitted within 7 days of onset of influenza-like illness were included in the analysis. Results Of 5034 patients included with polymerase chain reaction results, 1545 (30.7%) were positive for influenza. Influenza A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and both B lineages co-circulated, although distributions varied greatly between coordinating sites and over time. All age groups were affected. A(H1N1) was the most common influenza strain isolated among hospitalized adults 18–64 years of age at four of five coordinating sites, whereas A(H3N2) and B viruses were isolated more often than A(H1N1) in adults ≥65 years of age at all five coordinating sites. A total of 16 deaths and 20 intensive care unit admissions were recorded among patients with influenza. Conclusions Influenza strains resulting in hospitalization varied greatly between coordinating sites and over time. These first-year results of the GIHSN are relevant, useful, and timely. Due to its broad regional representativeness and sustainable framework, this growing network should contribute substantially to understanding the epidemiology of influenza, particularly for more severe disease. PMID:24903737

  10. Going beyond Clustering in MD Trajectory Analysis: An Application to Villin Headpiece Folding

    PubMed Central

    Rajan, Aruna; Freddolino, Peter L.; Schulten, Klaus

    2010-01-01

    Recent advances in computing technology have enabled microsecond long all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of biological systems. Methods that can distill the salient features of such large trajectories are now urgently needed. Conventional clustering methods used to analyze MD trajectories suffer from various setbacks, namely (i) they are not data driven, (ii) they are unstable to noise and changes in cut-off parameters such as cluster radius and cluster number, and (iii) they do not reduce the dimensionality of the trajectories, and hence are unsuitable for finding collective coordinates. We advocate the application of principal component analysis (PCA) and a non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) method to reduce MD trajectories and overcome the drawbacks of clustering. To illustrate the superiority of nMDS over other methods in reducing data and reproducing salient features, we analyze three complete villin headpiece folding trajectories. Our analysis suggests that the folding process of the villin headpiece is structurally heterogeneous. PMID:20419160

  11. Going beyond clustering in MD trajectory analysis: an application to villin headpiece folding.

    PubMed

    Rajan, Aruna; Freddolino, Peter L; Schulten, Klaus

    2010-04-15

    Recent advances in computing technology have enabled microsecond long all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of biological systems. Methods that can distill the salient features of such large trajectories are now urgently needed. Conventional clustering methods used to analyze MD trajectories suffer from various setbacks, namely (i) they are not data driven, (ii) they are unstable to noise and changes in cut-off parameters such as cluster radius and cluster number, and (iii) they do not reduce the dimensionality of the trajectories, and hence are unsuitable for finding collective coordinates. We advocate the application of principal component analysis (PCA) and a non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) method to reduce MD trajectories and overcome the drawbacks of clustering. To illustrate the superiority of nMDS over other methods in reducing data and reproducing salient features, we analyze three complete villin headpiece folding trajectories. Our analysis suggests that the folding process of the villin headpiece is structurally heterogeneous.

  12. Applicability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Research on Aeolian Processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Algimantas, Česnulevičius; Artūras, Bautrėnas; Linas, Bevainis; Donatas, Ovodas; Kęstutis, Papšys

    2018-02-01

    Surface dynamics and instabilities are characteristic of aeolian formation. The method of surface comparison is regarded as the most appropriate one for evaluation of the intensity of aeolian processes and the amount of transported sand. The data for surface comparison can be collected by topographic survey measurements and using unmanned aerial vehicles. Time cost for relief microform fixation and measurement executing topographic survey are very high. The method of unmanned aircraft aerial photographs fixation also encounters difficulties because there are no stable clear objects and contours that enable to link aerial photographs, to determine the boundaries of captured territory and to ensure the accuracy of surface measurements. Creation of stationary anchor points is irrational due to intense sand accumulation and deflation in different climate seasons. In September 2015 and in April 2016 the combined methodology was applied for evaluation of intensity of aeolian processes in the Curonian Spit. Temporary signs (marks) were installed on the surface, coordinates of the marks were fixed using GPS and then flight of unmanned aircraft was conducted. The fixed coordinates of marks ensure the accuracy of measuring aerial imagery and the ability to calculate the possible corrections. This method was used to track and measure very small (micro-rank) relief forms (5-10 cm height and 10-20 cm length). Using this method morphometric indicators of micro-terraces caused by sand dunes pressure to gytia layer were measured in a non-contact way. An additional advantage of the method is the ability to accurately link the repeated measurements. The comparison of 3D terrain models showed sand deflation and accumulation areas and quantitative changes in the terrain very clearly.

  13. Rapid Measurement of Tectonic Deformation Using Structure-from-Motion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pickering, A.; DeLong, S.; Lienkaemper, J. J.; Hecker, S.; Prentice, C. S.; Schwartz, D. P.; Sickler, R. R.

    2016-12-01

    Rapid collection and distribution of accurate surface slip data after earthquakes can support emergency response, help coordinate scientific response, and constrain coseismic slip that can be rapidly overprinted by postseismic slip, or eliminated as evidence of surface deformation is repaired or obscured. Analysis of earthquake deformation can be achieved quickly, repeatedly and inexpensively with the use of Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. Traditional methods of measuring surface slip (e.g. manual measurement with tape measures) have proven inconsistent and irreproducible, and sophisticated methods such as laser scanning require specialized equipment and longer field time. Here we present a simple, cost-effective workflow for rapid, three-dimensional imaging and measurement of features affected by earthquake rupture. As part of a response drill performed by the USGS and collaborators on May 11, 2016, geologists documented offset cultural features along the creeping Hayward Fault in northern California, in simulation of a surface-rupturing earthquake. We present several photo collections from smart phones, tablets, and DSLR cameras from a number of locations along the fault collected by users with a range of experience. Using professionally calibrated photogrammetric scale bars we automatically and accurately scale our 3D models to 1 mm accuracy for precise measurement in three dimensions. We then generate scaled 3D point clouds and extract offsets from manual measurement and multiple linear regression for comparison with collected terrestrial scanner data. These results further establish dense photo collection and SfM processing as an important, low-cost, rapid means of quantifying surface deformation in the critical hours after a surface-rupturing earthquake and emphasize that researchers with minimal training can rapidly collect three-dimensional data that can be used to analyze and archive the surface effects of damaging earthquakes.

  14. European Birth Cohorts for Environmental Health Research

    PubMed Central

    Casas, Maribel; Bergström, Anna; Carmichael, Amanda; Cordier, Sylvaine; Eggesbø, Merete; Eller, Esben; Fantini, Maria P.; Fernández, Mariana F.; Fernández-Somoano, Ana; Gehring, Ulrike; Grazuleviciene, Regina; Hohmann, Cynthia; Karvonen, Anne M.; Keil, Thomas; Kogevinas, Manolis; Koppen, Gudrun; Krämer, Ursula; Kuehni, Claudia E.; Magnus, Per; Majewska, Renata; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo; Patelarou, Evridiki; Petersen, Maria Skaalum; Pierik, Frank H.; Polanska, Kinga; Porta, Daniela; Richiardi, Lorenzo; Santos, Ana Cristina; Slama, Rémy; Sram, Radim J.; Thijs, Carel; Tischer, Christina; Toft, Gunnar; Trnovec, Tomáš; Vandentorren, Stephanie; Vrijkotte, Tanja G.M.; Wilhelm, Michael; Wright, John; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark

    2011-01-01

    Background: Many pregnancy and birth cohort studies investigate the health effects of early-life environmental contaminant exposure. An overview of existing studies and their data is needed to improve collaboration, harmonization, and future project planning. Objectives: Our goal was to create a comprehensive overview of European birth cohorts with environmental exposure data. Methods: Birth cohort studies were included if they a) collected data on at least one environmental exposure, b) started enrollment during pregnancy or at birth, c) included at least one follow-up point after birth, d) included at least 200 mother–child pairs, and e) were based in a European country. A questionnaire collected information on basic protocol details and exposure and health outcome assessments, including specific contaminants, methods and samples, timing, and number of subjects. A full inventory can be searched on www.birthcohortsenrieco.net. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 37 cohort studies of > 350,000 mother–child pairs in 19 European countries. Only three cohorts did not participate. All cohorts collected biological specimens of children or parents. Many cohorts collected information on passive smoking (n = 36), maternal occupation (n = 33), outdoor air pollution (n = 27), and allergens/biological organisms (n = 27). Fewer cohorts (n = 12–19) collected information on water contamination, ionizing or nonionizing radiation exposures, noise, metals, persistent organic pollutants, or other pollutants. All cohorts have information on birth outcomes; nearly all on asthma, allergies, childhood growth and obesity; and 26 collected information on child neurodevelopment. Conclusion: Combining forces in this field will yield more efficient and conclusive studies and ultimately improve causal inference. This impressive resource of existing birth cohort data could form the basis for longer-term and worldwide coordination of research on environment and child health. PMID:21878421

  15. Computational Methods for Configurational Entropy Using Internal and Cartesian Coordinates.

    PubMed

    Hikiri, Simon; Yoshidome, Takashi; Ikeguchi, Mitsunori

    2016-12-13

    The configurational entropy of solute molecules is a crucially important quantity to study various biophysical processes. Consequently, it is necessary to establish an efficient quantitative computational method to calculate configurational entropy as accurately as possible. In the present paper, we investigate the quantitative performance of the quasi-harmonic and related computational methods, including widely used methods implemented in popular molecular dynamics (MD) software packages, compared with the Clausius method, which is capable of accurately computing the change of the configurational entropy upon temperature change. Notably, we focused on the choice of the coordinate systems (i.e., internal or Cartesian coordinates). The Boltzmann-quasi-harmonic (BQH) method using internal coordinates outperformed all the six methods examined here. The introduction of improper torsions in the BQH method improves its performance, and anharmonicity of proper torsions in proteins is identified to be the origin of the superior performance of the BQH method. In contrast, widely used methods implemented in MD packages show rather poor performance. In addition, the enhanced sampling of replica-exchange MD simulations was found to be efficient for the convergent behavior of entropy calculations. Also in folding/unfolding transitions of a small protein, Chignolin, the BQH method was reasonably accurate. However, the independent term without the correlation term in the BQH method was most accurate for the folding entropy among the methods considered in this study, because the QH approximation of the correlation term in the BQH method was no longer valid for the divergent unfolded structures.

  16. Analysis of mixed model in gear transmission based on ADAMS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Xiufeng; Wang, Yabin

    2012-09-01

    The traditional method of mechanical gear driving simulation includes gear pair method and solid to solid contact method. The former has higher solving efficiency but lower results accuracy; the latter usually obtains higher precision of results while the calculation process is complex, also it is not easy to converge. Currently, most of the researches are focused on the description of geometric models and the definition of boundary conditions. However, none of them can solve the problems fundamentally. To improve the simulation efficiency while ensure the results with high accuracy, a mixed model method which uses gear tooth profiles to take the place of the solid gear to simulate gear movement is presented under these circumstances. In the process of modeling, build the solid models of the mechanism in the SolidWorks firstly; Then collect the point coordinates of outline curves of the gear using SolidWorks API and create fit curves in Adams based on the point coordinates; Next, adjust the position of those fitting curves according to the position of the contact area; Finally, define the loading conditions, boundary conditions and simulation parameters. The method provides gear shape information by tooth profile curves; simulates the mesh process through tooth profile curve to curve contact and offer mass as well as inertia data via solid gear models. This simulation process combines the two models to complete the gear driving analysis. In order to verify the validity of the method presented, both theoretical derivation and numerical simulation on a runaway escapement are conducted. The results show that the computational efficiency of the mixed model method is 1.4 times over the traditional method which contains solid to solid contact. Meanwhile, the simulation results are more closely to theoretical calculations. Consequently, mixed model method has a high application value regarding to the study of the dynamics of gear mechanism.

  17. Minimization of deviations of gear real tooth surfaces determined by coordinate measurements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Litvin, F. L.; Kuan, C.; Wang, J.-C.; Handschuh, R. F.; Masseth, J.; Maruyama, N.

    1992-01-01

    The deviations of a gear's real tooth surface from the theoretical surface are determined by coordinate measurements at the grid of the surface. A method was developed to transform the deviations from Cartesian coordinates to those along the normal at the measurement locations. Equations are derived that relate the first order deviations with the adjustment to the manufacturing machine-tool settings. The deviations of the entire surface are minimized. The minimization is achieved by application of the least-square method for an overdetermined system of linear equations. The proposed method is illustrated with a numerical example for hypoid gear and pinion.

  18. Tensor calculus in polar coordinates using Jacobi polynomials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vasil, Geoffrey M.; Burns, Keaton J.; Lecoanet, Daniel; Olver, Sheehan; Brown, Benjamin P.; Oishi, Jeffrey S.

    2016-11-01

    Spectral methods are an efficient way to solve partial differential equations on domains possessing certain symmetries. The utility of a method depends strongly on the choice of spectral basis. In this paper we describe a set of bases built out of Jacobi polynomials, and associated operators for solving scalar, vector, and tensor partial differential equations in polar coordinates on a unit disk. By construction, the bases satisfy regularity conditions at r = 0 for any tensorial field. The coordinate singularity in a disk is a prototypical case for many coordinate singularities. The work presented here extends to other geometries. The operators represent covariant derivatives, multiplication by azimuthally symmetric functions, and the tensorial relationship between fields. These arise naturally from relations between classical orthogonal polynomials, and form a Heisenberg algebra. Other past work uses more specific polynomial bases for solving equations in polar coordinates. The main innovation in this paper is to use a larger set of possible bases to achieve maximum bandedness of linear operations. We provide a series of applications of the methods, illustrating their ease-of-use and accuracy.

  19. Collective Cellular Decision-Making Gives Developmental Plasticity: A Model of Signaling in Branching Roots

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCleery, W. Tyler; Mohd-Radzman, Nadiatul A.; Grieneisen, Veronica A.

    Cells within tissues can be regarded as autonomous entities that respond to their local environment and signaling from neighbors. Cell coordination is particularly important in plants, where root architecture must strategically invest resources for growth to optimize nutrient acquisition. Thus, root cells are constantly adapting to environmental cues and neighbor communication in a non-linear manner. To explain such plasticity, we view the root as a swarm of coupled multi-cellular structures, ''metamers'', rather than as a continuum of identical cells. These metamers are individually programmed to achieve a local objective - developing a lateral root primordia, which aids in local foraging of nutrients. Collectively, such individual attempts may be halted, structuring root architecture as an emergent behavior. Each metamer's decision to branch is coordinated locally and globally through hormone signaling, including processes of controlled diffusion, active polar transport, and dynamic feedback. We present a physical model of the signaling mechanism that coordinates branching decisions in response to the environment. This work was funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Program, Project No. 601062, SWARM-ORGAN.

  20. iMODS: internal coordinates normal mode analysis server.

    PubMed

    López-Blanco, José Ramón; Aliaga, José I; Quintana-Ortí, Enrique S; Chacón, Pablo

    2014-07-01

    Normal mode analysis (NMA) in internal (dihedral) coordinates naturally reproduces the collective functional motions of biological macromolecules. iMODS facilitates the exploration of such modes and generates feasible transition pathways between two homologous structures, even with large macromolecules. The distinctive internal coordinate formulation improves the efficiency of NMA and extends its applicability while implicitly maintaining stereochemistry. Vibrational analysis, motion animations and morphing trajectories can be easily carried out at different resolution scales almost interactively. The server is versatile; non-specialists can rapidly characterize potential conformational changes, whereas advanced users can customize the model resolution with multiple coarse-grained atomic representations and elastic network potentials. iMODS supports advanced visualization capabilities for illustrating collective motions, including an improved affine-model-based arrow representation of domain dynamics. The generated all-heavy-atoms conformations can be used to introduce flexibility for more advanced modeling or sampling strategies. The server is free and open to all users with no login requirement at http://imods.chaconlab.org. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Top