Sample records for computing readiness challenge

  1. Y2K compliance readiness and contingency planning.

    PubMed

    Stahl, S; Cohan, D

    1999-09-01

    As the millennium approaches, discussion of "Y2K compliance" will shift to discussion of "Y2K readiness." While "compliance" focuses on the technological functioning of one's own computers, "readiness" focuses on the operational planning required in a world of interdependence, in which the functionality of one's own computers is only part of the story. "Readiness" includes the ability to cope with potential Y2K failures of vendors, suppliers, staff, banks, utility companies, and others. Administrators must apply their traditional skills of analysis, inquiry and diligence to the manifold imaginable challenges which Y2K will thrust upon their facilities. The SPICE template can be used as a systematic tool to guide planning for this historic event.

  2. The Pathways to Enterprise Mobile Readiness: Analysis of Perceptions, Pressures, Preparedness, and Progression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, James Nathaniel

    2013-01-01

    Ubiquitous computing is a near reality in both the private and public arena. Business and personal spaces are seeing a proliferation of mobile computing devices and pervasive computing technologies. This phenomenon is creating a unique set of challenges for organizational IT professionals, specifically in the numerous spillover effects of having…

  3. Challenging Technology, and Technology Infusion into 21st Century

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chau, S. N.; Hunter, D. J.

    2001-01-01

    In preparing for the space exploration challenges of the next century, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Center for Integrated Space Micro-Systems (CISM) is chartered to develop advanced spacecraft systems that can be adapted for a large spectrum of future space missions. Enabling this task are revolutions in the miniaturization of electrical, mechanical, and computational functions. On the other hand, these revolutionary technologies usually have much lower readiness levels than those required by flight projects. The mission of the Advanced Micro Spacecraft (AMS) task in CISM is to bridge the readiness gap between advanced technologies and flight projects. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

  4. CIOs use outsourcing to revamp systems.

    PubMed

    Morrissey, J

    1995-07-24

    Faced with the challenge of keeping pace with computer technology, many chief information officers are farming out projects to experts. Outsourcing firms are circling the healthcare industry, ready to pounce on market opportunities that exceeded $1 billion in 1994.

  5. CMS results in the Combined Computing Readiness Challenge CCRC'08

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonacorsi, D.; Bauerdick, L.; CMS Collaboration

    2009-12-01

    During February and May 2008, CMS participated to the Combined Computing Readiness Challenge (CCRC'08) together with all other LHC experiments. The purpose of this worldwide exercise was to check the readiness of the Computing infrastructure for LHC data taking. Another set of major CMS tests called Computing, Software and Analysis challenge (CSA'08) - as well as CMS cosmic runs - were also running at the same time: CCRC augmented the load on computing with additional tests to validate and stress-test all CMS computing workflows at full data taking scale, also extending this to the global WLCG community. CMS exercised most aspects of the CMS computing model, with very comprehensive tests. During May 2008, CMS moved more than 3.6 Petabytes among more than 300 links in the complex Grid topology. CMS demonstrated that is able to safely move data out of CERN to the Tier-1 sites, sustaining more than 600 MB/s as a daily average for more than seven days in a row, with enough headroom and with hourly peaks of up to 1.7 GB/s. CMS ran hundreds of simultaneous jobs at each Tier-1 site, re-reconstructing and skimming hundreds of millions of events. After re-reconstruction the fresh AOD (Analysis Object Data) has to be synchronized between Tier-1 centers: CMS demonstrated that the required inter-Tier-1 transfers are achievable within a few days. CMS also showed that skimmed analysis data sets can be transferred to Tier-2 sites for analysis at sufficient rate, regionally as well as inter-regionally, achieving all goals in about 90% of >200 links. Simultaneously, CMS also ran a large Tier-2 analysis exercise, where realistic analysis jobs were submitted to a large set of Tier-2 sites by a large number of people to produce a chaotic workload across the systems, and with more than 400 analysis users in May. Taken all together, CMS routinely achieved submissions of 100k jobs/day, with peaks up to 200k jobs/day. The achieved results in CCRC'08 - focussing on the distributed workflows - are presented and discussed.

  6. Using a Computer Simulation to Improve Psychological Readiness for Job Interviewing in Unemployed Individuals of Pre-Retirement Age

    PubMed Central

    Aysina, Rimma M.; Efremova, Galina I.; Maksimenko, Zhanna A.; Nikiforov, Mikhail V.

    2017-01-01

    Unemployed individuals of pre-retirement age face significant challenges in finding a new job. This may be partly due to their lack of psychological readiness to go through a job interview. We view psychological readiness as one of the psychological attitude components. It is an active conscious readiness to interact with a certain aspect of reality, based on previously acquired experience. It includes a persons’ special competence to manage their activities and cope with anxiety. We created Job Interview Simulation Training (JIST) – a computer-based simulator, which allowed unemployed job seekers to practice interviewing repeatedly in a stress-free environment. We hypothesized that completion of JIST would be related to increase in pre-retirement job seekers’ psychological readiness for job interviewing in real life. Participants were randomized into control (n = 18) and experimental (n = 21) conditions. Both groups completed pre- and post-intervention job interview role-plays and self-reporting forms of psychological readiness for job interviewing. JIST consisted of 5 sessions of a simulated job interview, and the experimental group found it easy to use and navigate as well as helpful to prepare for interviewing. After finishing JIST-sessions the experimental group had significant decrease in heart rate during the post-intervention role-play and demonstrated significant increase in their self-rated psychological readiness, whereas the control group did not have changes in these variables. Future research may help clarify whether JIST is related to an increase in re-employment of pre-retirement job seekers. PMID:28580025

  7. Using a Computer Simulation to Improve Psychological Readiness for Job Interviewing in Unemployed Individuals of Pre-Retirement Age.

    PubMed

    Aysina, Rimma M; Efremova, Galina I; Maksimenko, Zhanna A; Nikiforov, Mikhail V

    2017-05-01

    Unemployed individuals of pre-retirement age face significant challenges in finding a new job. This may be partly due to their lack of psychological readiness to go through a job interview. We view psychological readiness as one of the psychological attitude components. It is an active conscious readiness to interact with a certain aspect of reality, based on previously acquired experience. It includes a persons' special competence to manage their activities and cope with anxiety. We created Job Interview Simulation Training (JIST) - a computer-based simulator, which allowed unemployed job seekers to practice interviewing repeatedly in a stress-free environment. We hypothesized that completion of JIST would be related to increase in pre-retirement job seekers' psychological readiness for job interviewing in real life. Participants were randomized into control (n = 18) and experimental (n = 21) conditions. Both groups completed pre- and post-intervention job interview role-plays and self-reporting forms of psychological readiness for job interviewing. JIST consisted of 5 sessions of a simulated job interview, and the experimental group found it easy to use and navigate as well as helpful to prepare for interviewing. After finishing JIST-sessions the experimental group had significant decrease in heart rate during the post-intervention role-play and demonstrated significant increase in their self-rated psychological readiness, whereas the control group did not have changes in these variables. Future research may help clarify whether JIST is related to an increase in re-employment of pre-retirement job seekers.

  8. Human Resource Information System implementation readiness in the Ethiopian health sector: a cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Dilu, Eyilachew; Gebreslassie, Measho; Kebede, Mihiretu

    2017-12-20

    Health workforce information systems in low-income countries tend to be defective with poor relationship to information sources. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is currently in a pilot implementation phase in the Federal Ministry of Health and Regional Health Bureaus of Ethiopia. Before scaling up the implementation, it is important to understand the implementation readiness of hospitals and health departments. The aims of this study were to assess the readiness for HRIS implementation, identify associated factors, and explore the implementation challenges in public hospitals and health departments of the Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study supplemented with a qualitative study was conducted from the 15th of February to the 30th of March 2016 in 19 public hospitals and health departments of the Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire includes items on socio-demographic characteristics and questions measuring technical, personal, and organizational factors adapted from the 32-item questionnaire of the Management Science for Health (MSH) HRIS readiness assessment tool. The data were entered and analyzed with statistical software. Descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were computed to identify the factors statistically associated with readiness of HRIS implementation. In-depth interviews and observation checklists were used to collect qualitative data. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. A total of 246 human resource (HR) employees and 16 key informants have been included in the study. The HR employee's level of readiness for HRIS implementation in this study was 35.8%. Employee's Internet access (AOR = 2.59, 95%CI = 1.19, 5.62), availability of separate HR section (AOR = 8.08, 95%CI = 3.69, 17.70), basic computer skills (AOR = 6.74, 95%CI = 2.75, 16.56), and fear of unemployment (AOR = 2.83, 95%CI = 1.27, 6.32) were associated with readiness of HRIS implementation. Poor logistic supply, lack of competency, poor commitment, and shortage of finance were the challenges of HRIS implementation. In this study, readiness of HRIS implementation was low. Strategies targeting to improve skills, awareness, and attitude of HR employees would facilitate the implementation process.

  9. Neural Network Research: A Personal Perspective,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-03-01

    problems in computer science and technology today. Still others do both. Whatever the focus, here isafidred to adre efforts of a wide variety of gifted ...Still others do both. Whatever the focus, here is a field ready to challenge and reward the sustained efforts of a wide variety of gifted people. 14 7eN. a rcb

  10. Information Assurance and Forensic Readiness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pangalos, Georgios; Katos, Vasilios

    Egalitarianism and justice are amongst the core attributes of a democratic regime and should be also secured in an e-democratic setting. As such, the rise of computer related offenses pose a threat to the fundamental aspects of e-democracy and e-governance. Digital forensics are a key component for protecting and enabling the underlying (e-)democratic values and therefore forensic readiness should be considered in an e-democratic setting. This position paper commences from the observation that the density of compliance and potential litigation activities is monotonically increasing in modern organizations, as rules, legislative regulations and policies are being constantly added to the corporate environment. Forensic practices seem to be departing from the niche of law enforcement and are becoming a business function and infrastructural component, posing new challenges to the security professionals. Having no a priori knowledge on whether a security related event or corporate policy violation will lead to litigation, we advocate that computer forensics need to be applied to all investigatory, monitoring and auditing activities. This would result into an inflation of the responsibilities of the Information Security Officer. After exploring some commonalities and differences between IS audit and computer forensics, we present a list of strategic challenges the organization and, in effect, the IS security and audit practitioner will face.

  11. Teachers' Perceptions about their Own and their Schools' Readiness for Computer Implementation: A South African Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    du Plessis, Andre; Webb, Paul

    2012-01-01

    This case study, involving 30 participating teachers from six previously disadvantaged South African schools, provides data on teacher perceptions of the challenges related to implementing Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The schools had minimal resources as a residual result of the South African apartheid policy prior to 1994 and…

  12. Challenges and insights for situated language processing: Comment on "Towards a computational comparative neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Knoeferle, Pia

    2016-03-01

    In his review article [19], Arbib outlines an ambitious research agenda: to accommodate within a unified framework the evolution, the development, and the processing of language in natural settings (implicating other systems such as vision). He does so with neuro-computationally explicit modeling in mind [1,2] and inspired by research on the mirror neuron system in primates. Similar research questions have received substantial attention also among other scientists [3,4,12].

  13. The Challenge: To Change the Odds for Youth by Changing the Way We Do Business--All Youth Ready for College, Work & Life

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forum for Youth Investment, 2008

    2008-01-01

    The Challenge is the definitive guide to the key ideas and resources behind Ready by 21. The Ready by 21 challenge aims to develop a solution for a common dilemma--too few young people are entering adulthood ready and our collective efforts to make a difference are far too fragmented to have a big impact. As part of the Forum's solution, leaders…

  14. Agility in adversity: Vaccines on Demand.

    PubMed

    De Groot, Anne S; Moise, Leonard; Olive, David; Einck, Leo; Martin, William

    2016-09-01

    Is the US ready for a biological attack using Ebola virus or Anthrax? Will vaccine developers be able to produce a Zika virus vaccine, before the epidemic spreads around the world? A recent report by The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense argues that the US is not ready for these challenges, however, technologies and capabilities that could address these deficiencies are within reach. Vaccine technologies have advanced and readiness has improved in recent years, due to advances in sequencing technology and computational power making the 'vaccines on demand' concept a reality. Building a robust strategy to design effective biodefense vaccines from genome sequences harvested by real-time biosurveillance will benefit from technologies that are being brought to bear on the cancer cure 'moonshot'. When combined with flexible vaccine production platforms, vaccines on demand will relegate expensive and, in some cases, insufficiently effective vaccine stockpiles to the dust heap of history.

  15. Image-guided tissue engineering

    PubMed Central

    Ballyns, Jeffrey J; Bonassar, Lawrence J

    2009-01-01

    Replication of anatomic shape is a significant challenge in developing implants for regenerative medicine. This has lead to significant interest in using medical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography to design tissue engineered constructs. Implementation of medical imaging and computer aided design in combination with technologies for rapid prototyping of living implants enables the generation of highly reproducible constructs with spatial resolution up to 25 μm. In this paper, we review the medical imaging modalities available and a paradigm for choosing a particular imaging technique. We also present fabrication techniques and methodologies for producing cellular engineered constructs. Finally, we comment on future challenges involved with image guided tissue engineering and efforts to generate engineered constructs ready for implantation. PMID:19583811

  16. Cyber Security at the District Level: Are You Ready to Prevent Unlawful, Unauthorized or Simply Misguided Use of Your Technology?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lafee, Scott

    2005-01-01

    In an era of digital technologies, school districts find themselves on a cutting edge, one that slices both ways. Technological tools like the Internet, e-mail, networked computers and such have revolutionized the way children are taught and schools are run, but they also have created new management challenges and ethical issues that many school…

  17. Toward the Language-Ready Brain: Biological Evolution and Primate Comparisons.

    PubMed

    Arbib, Michael A

    2017-02-01

    The approach to language evolution suggested here focuses on three questions: How did the human brain evolve so that humans can develop, use, and acquire languages? How can the evolutionary quest be informed by studying brain, behavior, and social interaction in monkeys, apes, and humans? How can computational modeling advance these studies? I hypothesize that the brain is language ready in that the earliest humans had protolanguages but not languages (i.e., communication systems endowed with rich and open-ended lexicons and grammars supporting a compositional semantics), and that it took cultural evolution to yield societies (a cultural constructed niche) in which language-ready brains could become language-using brains. The mirror system hypothesis is a well-developed example of this approach, but I offer it here not as a closed theory but as an evolving framework for the development and analysis of conflicting subhypotheses in the hope of their eventual integration. I also stress that computational modeling helps us understand the evolving role of mirror neurons, not in and of themselves, but only in their interaction with systems "beyond the mirror." Because a theory of evolution needs a clear characterization of what it is that evolved, I also outline ideas for research in neurolinguistics to complement studies of the evolution of the language-ready brain. A clear challenge is to go beyond models of speech comprehension to include sign language and models of production, and to link language to visuomotor interaction with the physical and social world.

  18. AIRE-Linux

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Jianfeng; Xu, Benda; Peng, Chuan; Yang, Yang; Huo, Zhuoxi

    2015-08-01

    AIRE-Linux is a dedicated Linux system for astronomers. Modern astronomy faces two big challenges: massive observed raw data which covers the whole electromagnetic spectrum, and overmuch professional data processing skill which exceeds personal or even a small team's abilities. AIRE-Linux, which is a specially designed Linux and will be distributed to users by Virtual Machine (VM) images in Open Virtualization Format (OVF), is to help astronomers confront the challenges. Most astronomical software packages, such as IRAF, MIDAS, CASA, Heasoft etc., will be integrated into AIRE-Linux. It is easy for astronomers to configure and customize the system and use what they just need. When incorporated into cloud computing platforms, AIRE-Linux will be able to handle data intensive and computing consuming tasks for astronomers. Currently, a Beta version of AIRE-Linux is ready for download and testing.

  19. Accelerated Application Development: The ORNL Titan Experience

    DOE PAGES

    Joubert, Wayne; Archibald, Richard K.; Berrill, Mark A.; ...

    2015-05-09

    The use of computational accelerators such as NVIDIA GPUs and Intel Xeon Phi processors is now widespread in the high performance computing community, with many applications delivering impressive performance gains. However, programming these systems for high performance, performance portability and software maintainability has been a challenge. In this paper we discuss experiences porting applications to the Titan system. Titan, which began planning in 2009 and was deployed for general use in 2013, was the first multi-petaflop system based on accelerator hardware. To ready applications for accelerated computing, a preparedness effort was undertaken prior to delivery of Titan. In this papermore » we report experiences and lessons learned from this process and describe how users are currently making use of computational accelerators on Titan.« less

  20. Accelerated application development: The ORNL Titan experience

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

    Joubert, Wayne; Archibald, Rick; Berrill, Mark

    2015-08-01

    The use of computational accelerators such as NVIDIA GPUs and Intel Xeon Phi processors is now widespread in the high performance computing community, with many applications delivering impressive performance gains. However, programming these systems for high performance, performance portability and software maintainability has been a challenge. In this paper we discuss experiences porting applications to the Titan system. Titan, which began planning in 2009 and was deployed for general use in 2013, was the first multi-petaflop system based on accelerator hardware. To ready applications for accelerated computing, a preparedness effort was undertaken prior to delivery of Titan. In this papermore » we report experiences and lessons learned from this process and describe how users are currently making use of computational accelerators on Titan.« less

  1. ISCB: past-present perspective for the International Society for Computational Biology.

    PubMed

    Rost, Burkhard

    2014-01-01

    Since its establishment in 1997, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) has contributed importantly toward advancing the understanding of living systems through computation. The ISCB represents nearly 3000 members working in >70 countries. It has doubled the number of members since 2007. At the same time, the number of meetings organized by the ISCB has increased from two in 2007 to eight in 2013, and the society has cemented many lasting alliances with regional societies and specialist groups. ISCB is ready to grow into a challenging and promising future. The progress over the past 7 years has resulted from the vision, and possibly more importantly, the passion and hard working dedication of many individuals.

  2. ISCB: past-present perspective for the International Society for Computational Biology.

    PubMed

    Rost, Burkhard

    2013-12-15

    Since its establishment in 1997, International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) has contributed importantly toward advancing the understanding of living systems through computation. The ISCB represents nearly 3000 members working in >70 countries. It has doubled the number of members since 2007. At the same time, the number of meetings organized by the ISCB has increased from two in 2007 to eight in 2013, and the society has cemented many lasting alliances with regional societies and specialist groups. ISCB is ready to grow into a challenging and promising future. The progress over the past 7 years has resulted from the vision, and possibly more importantly, the passion and hard working dedication of many individuals.

  3. Computer Skills Training and Readiness to Work with Computers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mor, Dalit; Laks, Hagar; Hershkovitz, Arnon

    2016-01-01

    In today's job market, computer skills are part of the prerequisites for many jobs. In this paper, we report on a study of readiness to work with computers (the dependent variable) among unemployed women (N = 54) after participating in a unique, web-supported training focused on computer skills and empowerment. Overall, the level of participants'…

  4. Mystery #28

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2017-06-14

    ... ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA’s MISR (Multi-angle Imaging ... ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA’s MISR (Multi-angle Imaging ...

  5. Uncover the Cloud for Geospatial Sciences and Applications to Adopt Cloud Computing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, C.; Huang, Q.; Xia, J.; Liu, K.; Li, J.; Xu, C.; Sun, M.; Bambacus, M.; Xu, Y.; Fay, D.

    2012-12-01

    Cloud computing is emerging as the future infrastructure for providing computing resources to support and enable scientific research, engineering development, and application construction, as well as work force education. On the other hand, there is a lot of doubt about the readiness of cloud computing to support a variety of scientific research, development and educations. This research is a project funded by NASA SMD to investigate through holistic studies how ready is the cloud computing to support geosciences. Four applications with different computing characteristics including data, computing, concurrent, and spatiotemporal intensities are taken to test the readiness of cloud computing to support geosciences. Three popular and representative cloud platforms including Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, and NASA Nebula as well as a traditional cluster are utilized in the study. Results illustrates that cloud is ready to some degree but more research needs to be done to fully implemented the cloud benefit as advertised by many vendors and defined by NIST. Specifically, 1) most cloud platform could help stand up new computing instances, a new computer, in a few minutes as envisioned, therefore, is ready to support most computing needs in an on demand fashion; 2) the load balance and elasticity, a defining characteristic, is ready in some cloud platforms, such as Amazon EC2, to support bigger jobs, e.g., needs response in minutes, while some are not ready to support the elasticity and load balance well. All cloud platform needs further research and development to support real time application at subminute level; 3) the user interface and functionality of cloud platforms vary a lot and some of them are very professional and well supported/documented, such as Amazon EC2, some of them needs significant improvement for the general public to adopt cloud computing without professional training or knowledge about computing infrastructure; 4) the security is a big concern in cloud computing platform, with the sharing spirit of cloud computing, it is very hard to ensure higher level security, except a private cloud is built for a specific organization without public access, public cloud platform does not support FISMA medium level yet and may never be able to support FISMA high level; 5) HPC jobs needs of cloud computing is not well supported and only Amazon EC2 supports this well. The research is being taken by NASA and other agencies to consider cloud computing adoption. We hope the publication of the research would also benefit the public to adopt cloud computing.

  6. MISR Where on Earth…? Mystery Image Quiz #29

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2017-09-07

    ... ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA’s MISR (Multi-angle Imaging ... ready for a challenge? Become a geographical detective and solve the latest mystery quiz from NASA’s MISR (Multi-angle Imaging ...

  7. Readiness of healthcare providers for eHealth: the case from primary healthcare centers in Lebanon.

    PubMed

    Saleh, Shadi; Khodor, Rawya; Alameddine, Mohamad; Baroud, Maysa

    2016-11-10

    eHealth can positively impact the efficiency and quality of healthcare services. Its potential benefits extend to the patient, healthcare provider, and organization. Primary healthcare (PHC) settings may particularly benefit from eHealth. In these settings, healthcare provider readiness is key to successful eHealth implementation. Accordingly, it is necessary to explore the potential readiness of providers to use eHealth tools. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the readiness of healthcare providers working in PHC centers in Lebanon to use eHealth tools. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess participants' socio-demographics, computer use, literacy, and access, and participants' readiness for eHealth implementation (appropriateness, management support, change efficacy, personal beneficence). The study included primary healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, other providers) working in 22 PHC centers distributed across Lebanon. Descriptive and bivariate analyses (ANOVA, independent t-test, Kruskal Wallis, Tamhane's T2) were used to compare participant characteristics to the level of readiness for the implementation of eHealth. Of the 541 questionnaires, 213 were completed (response rate: 39.4 %). The majority of participants were physicians (46.9 %), and nurses (26.8 %). Most physicians (54.0 %), nurses (61.4 %), and other providers (50.9 %) felt comfortable using computers, and had access to computers at their PHC center (physicians: 77.0 %, nurses: 87.7 %, others: 92.5 %). Frequency of computer use varied. The study found a significant difference for personal beneficence, management support, and change efficacy among different healthcare providers, and relative to participants' level of comfort using computers. There was a significant difference by level of comfort using computers and appropriateness. A significant difference was also found between those with access to computers in relation to personal beneficence and change efficacy; and between frequency of computer use and change efficacy. The implementation of eHealth cannot be achieved without the readiness of healthcare providers. This study demonstrates that the majority of healthcare providers at PHC centers across Lebanon are ready for eHealth implementation. The findings of this study can be considered by decision makers to enhance and scale-up the use of eHealth in PHC centers nationally. Efforts should be directed towards capacity building for healthcare providers.

  8. Children Are Ready to Learn, but Are We? The Role of Adult Relations in School Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abo-Zena, Mona M.; New, Rebecca Staples

    2012-01-01

    Contrary to the concept of school readiness as achieving a particular set of attributes considered essential for educational success, this article is grounded in the assumption that all children are ready to learn, but what they are expected to learn varies widely from one cultural setting and historic period to another. The authors challenge the…

  9. Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain.

    PubMed

    Arbib, Michael A

    2016-03-01

    We make the case for developing a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology to inform the analysis of the function and evolution of the human brain. First, we update the mirror system hypothesis on the evolution of the language-ready brain by (i) modeling action and action recognition and opportunistic scheduling of macaque brains to hypothesize the nature of the last common ancestor of macaque and human (LCA-m); and then we (ii) introduce dynamic brain modeling to show how apes could acquire gesture through ontogenetic ritualization, hypothesizing the nature of evolution from LCA-m to the last common ancestor of chimpanzee and human (LCA-c). We then (iii) hypothesize the role of imitation, pantomime, protosign and protospeech in biological and cultural evolution from LCA-c to Homo sapiens with a language-ready brain. Second, we suggest how cultural evolution in Homo sapiens led from protolanguages to full languages with grammar and compositional semantics. Third, we assess the similarities and differences between the dorsal and ventral streams in audition and vision as the basis for presenting and comparing two models of language processing in the human brain: A model of (i) the auditory dorsal and ventral streams in sentence comprehension; and (ii) the visual dorsal and ventral streams in defining "what language is about" in both production and perception of utterances related to visual scenes provide the basis for (iii) a first step towards a synthesis and a look at challenges for further research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arbib, Michael A.

    2016-03-01

    We make the case for developing a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology to inform the analysis of the function and evolution of the human brain. First, we update the mirror system hypothesis on the evolution of the language-ready brain by (i) modeling action and action recognition and opportunistic scheduling of macaque brains to hypothesize the nature of the last common ancestor of macaque and human (LCA-m); and then we (ii) introduce dynamic brain modeling to show how apes could acquire gesture through ontogenetic ritualization, hypothesizing the nature of evolution from LCA-m to the last common ancestor of chimpanzee and human (LCA-c). We then (iii) hypothesize the role of imitation, pantomime, protosign and protospeech in biological and cultural evolution from LCA-c to Homo sapiens with a language-ready brain. Second, we suggest how cultural evolution in Homo sapiens led from protolanguages to full languages with grammar and compositional semantics. Third, we assess the similarities and differences between the dorsal and ventral streams in audition and vision as the basis for presenting and comparing two models of language processing in the human brain: A model of (i) the auditory dorsal and ventral streams in sentence comprehension; and (ii) the visual dorsal and ventral streams in defining ;what language is about; in both production and perception of utterances related to visual scenes provide the basis for (iii) a first step towards a synthesis and a look at challenges for further research.

  11. Assessing Learners' Perceived Readiness for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL): A Study on Initial Development and Validation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xiong, Yao; So, Hyo-Jeong; Toh, Yancy

    2015-01-01

    The main purpose of this study was to develop an instrument that assesses university students' perceived readiness for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Assessment in CSCL research had predominantly focused on measuring "after-collaboration" outcomes and "during-collaboration" behaviors while…

  12. Ready-to-use foods for management of moderate acute malnutrition: Considerations for scaling up production and use in programs

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ready-to-use foods are one of the available strategies for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), but challenges remain in the use of these products in programs at scale. This paper focuses on two challenges: the need for cheaper formulations using locally available ingredients that are...

  13. Counselors as Policy Actors: Challenges to Systemic Involvement in College and Career Readiness Policy in Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stone-Johnson, Corrie

    2015-01-01

    Enacting college and career readiness policy in secondary schools requires systemic involvement of all school professionals, but identifying the specific roles that should be played by teachers and counselors remains a challenge. The study reported in this article used qualitative interviews with counselors and teachers to describe this challenge…

  14. Ready for All Destinations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boykin, Wesley; Dougherty, Chrys; Lummus-Robinson, Mary

    2010-01-01

    The intensifying attention to college and career readiness of late poses many challenges for public education, but it also presents opportunities for innovative changes in the quality and type of education provided to students. To take full advantage, educators must have a clear answer to this question: What does college and career readiness mean…

  15. Effects of Home and School Computer Use on School Readiness and Cognitive Development among Head Start Children: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Xiaoming; Atkins, Melissa S.; Stanton, Bonita

    2006-01-01

    Data from 122 Head Start children were analyzed to examine the impact of computer use on school readiness and psychomotor skills. Children in the experimental group were given the opportunity to work on a computer for 15-20 minutes per day with their choice of developmentally appropriate educational software, while the control group received a…

  16. Grid today, clouds on the horizon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shiers, Jamie

    2009-04-01

    By the time of CCP 2008, the largest scientific machine in the world - the Large Hadron Collider - had been cooled down as scheduled to its operational temperature of below 2 degrees Kelvin and injection tests were starting. Collisions of proton beams at 5+5 TeV were expected within one to two months of the initial tests, with data taking at design energy ( 7+7 TeV) foreseen for 2009. In order to process the data from this world machine, we have put our "Higgs in one basket" - that of Grid computing [The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), in: Proceedings of the Conference on Computational Physics 2006 (CCP 2006), vol. 177, 2007, pp. 219-223]. After many years of preparation, 2008 saw a final "Common Computing Readiness Challenge" (CCRC'08) - aimed at demonstrating full readiness for 2008 data taking, processing and analysis. By definition, this relied on a world-wide production Grid infrastructure. But change - as always - is on the horizon. The current funding model for Grids - which in Europe has been through 3 generations of EGEE projects, together with related projects in other parts of the world, including South America - is evolving towards a long-term, sustainable e-infrastructure, like the European Grid Initiative (EGI) [The European Grid Initiative Design Study, website at http://web.eu-egi.eu/]. At the same time, potentially new paradigms, such as that of "Cloud Computing" are emerging. This paper summarizes the results of CCRC'08 and discusses the potential impact of future Grid funding on both regional and international application communities. It contrasts Grid and Cloud computing models from both technical and sociological points of view. Finally, it discusses the requirements from production application communities, in terms of stability and continuity in the medium to long term.

  17. Through the Bugscope

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hadley, Kathryn; Korb, Michele

    2007-01-01

    The projection screen in the dimly lit auditorium was ready and an online chat window was open on the computer screen. Computer experts and entomologists were ready on the other end. One by one, students filled up the rows of seats eagerly anticipating what was going to happen next. Each student was asked to close their eyes. Ms. Hadley asked…

  18. Data Collaboration in New York City: The Challenges of Linking High School and Post-Secondary Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilkes, Shani; Brohawn, Kathryn; Mevs, Pascale; Lee, Jaein

    2012-01-01

    Education leaders across the country confront a growing challenge: too many students are not college ready when they leave high school. Although indicators exist to identify students at risk of dropping out of high school, few indicators of students' college readiness are currently in place, and few districts have linked indicators to practices…

  19. A School-University Math and Science P-16 Partnership: Lessons Learned in Promoting College and Career Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alford, Betty; Rudolph, Amanda; Beal, Heather Olson; Hill, Brenda

    2014-01-01

    Increasing rigor in secondary school classrooms for college and career readiness is a priority throughout the nation with the adoption of more challenging standards for student performance and is an important role for school leaders in creating conditions in schools to meet this challenge (Young, 2012). P-16 partnerships can assist by aligning the…

  20. What language is the language-ready brain ready for?. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Croft, William

    2016-03-01

    Arbib's computational comparative neuroprimatology [1] is a welcome model for cognitive linguists, that is, linguists who ground their models of language in human cognition and language use in social interaction. Arbib argues that language emerged via biological and cultural coevolution [1]; linguistic knowledge is represented by constructions, and semantic representations of linguistic constructions are grounded in embodied perceptual-motor schemas (the mirror system hypothesis). My comments offer some refinements from a linguistic point of view.

  1. Computer-Based Assessment of School Readiness and Early Reasoning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Csapó, Beno; Molnár, Gyöngyvér; Nagy, József

    2014-01-01

    This study explores the potential of using online tests for the assessment of school readiness and for monitoring early reasoning. Four tests of a face-to-face-administered school readiness test battery (speech sound discrimination, relational reasoning, counting and basic numeracy, and deductive reasoning) and a paper-and-pencil inductive…

  2. High-Resolution X-Ray Telescopes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    ODell, Stephen L.; Brissenden, Roger J.; Davis, William; Elsner, Ronald F.; Elvis, Martin; Freeman, Mark; Gaetz, Terry; Gorenstein, Paul; Gubarev, Mikhail V.

    2010-01-01

    Fundamental needs for future x-ray telescopes: a) Sharp images => excellent angular resolution. b) High throughput => large aperture areas. Generation-X optics technical challenges: a) High resolution => precision mirrors & alignment. b) Large apertures => lots of lightweight mirrors. Innovation needed for technical readiness: a) 4 top-level error terms contribute to image size. b) There are approaches to controlling those errors. Innovation needed for manufacturing readiness. Programmatic issues are comparably challenging.

  3. Implementation of Co-Teaching Approach in an Inclusive Classroom: Overview of the Challenges, Readiness, and Role of Special Education Teacher

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamdan, Abdul Rahim; Anuar, Muhammad Khairul; Khan, Aqeel

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the relationship aspect of the challenge, readiness, and the role of special education teacher (SET) in implementing common approaches in inclusive classrooms. Experiences as a moderator were used to see the effect of the co-teaching component. This study used a sampling method that involved 240…

  4. Technology Readiness, Internet Self-Efficacy and Computing Experience of Professional Accounting Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lai, Ming-Ling

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to assess the state of technology readiness of professional accounting students in Malaysia, to examine their level of internet self-efficacy, to assess their prior computing experience, and to explore if they are satisfied with the professional course that they are pursuing in improving their technology skills.…

  5. Readiness for living technology: a comparative study of the uptake of robot technology in the Danish health-care sector.

    PubMed

    Peronard, Jean-Paul

    2013-01-01

    This article is a comparative analysis between workers in health care with high and low degree of readiness for living technology such as robotics. To explore the differences among workers' readiness, statistical analysis was conducted in a data set obtained from 200 respondents. The results showed important differences between high- and low-readiness types on issues such as staff security, documentation, autonomy, and future challenges.

  6. Exascale computing and what it means for shock physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Germann, Timothy

    2015-06-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to launch an Exascale Computing Initiative, to address the myriad challenges required to deploy and effectively utilize an exascale-class supercomputer (i.e., one capable of performing 1018 operations per second) in the 2023 timeframe. Since physical (power dissipation) requirements limit clock rates to at most a few GHz, this will necessitate the coordination of on the order of a billion concurrent operations, requiring sophisticated system and application software, and underlying mathematical algorithms, that may differ radically from traditional approaches. Even at the smaller workstation or cluster level of computation, the massive concurrency and heterogeneity within each processor will impact computational scientists. Through the multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary Exascale Co-design Center for Materials in Extreme Environments (ExMatEx), we have initiated an early and deep collaboration between domain (computational materials) scientists, applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and hardware architects, in order to establish the relationships between algorithms, software stacks, and architectures needed to enable exascale-ready materials science application codes within the next decade. In my talk, I will discuss these challenges, and what it will mean for exascale-era electronic structure, molecular dynamics, and engineering-scale simulations of shock-compressed condensed matter. In particular, we anticipate that the emerging hierarchical, heterogeneous architectures can be exploited to achieve higher physical fidelity simulations using adaptive physics refinement. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research.

  7. Building block synthesis using the polymerase chain assembly method.

    PubMed

    Marchand, Julie A; Peccoud, Jean

    2012-01-01

    De novo gene synthesis allows the creation of custom DNA molecules without the typical constraints of traditional cloning assembly: scars, restriction site incompatibility, and the quest to find all the desired parts to name a few. Moreover, with the help of computer-assisted design, the perfect DNA molecule can be created along with its matching sequence ready to download. The challenge is to build the physical DNA molecules that have been designed with the software. Although there are several DNA assembly methods, this section presents and describes a method using the polymerase chain assembly (PCA).

  8. Differences in Readiness between Rural Hospitals and Primary Care Providers for Telemedicine Adoption and Implementation: Findings from a Statewide Telemedicine Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Amy Brock; Probst, Janice C.; Shah, Kyle; Chen, Zhimin; Garr, David

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Published advantages of and challenges with telemedicine led us to examine the scope of telemedicine adoption, implementation readiness, and barriers in a southern state where adoption has been historically low. We hypothesized that rural hospitals and primary care providers (RPCPs) differ on adoption, readiness, and implementation…

  9. Bridging the provenance gap: opportunities and challenges tracking in and ex silico provenance in sUAS workflows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomer, A.

    2017-12-01

    Data provenance - the record of the varied processes that went into the creation of a dataset, as well as the relationships between resulting data objects - is necessary to support the reusability, reproducibility and reliability of earth science data. In sUAS-based research, capturing provenance can be particularly challenging because of the breadth and distributed nature of the many platforms used to collect, process and analyze data. In any given project, multiple drones, controllers, computers, software systems, sensors, cameras, imaging processing algorithms and data processing workflows are used over sometimes long periods of time. These platforms and processing result in dozens - if not hundreds - of data products in varying stages of readiness-for-analysis and sharing. Provenance tracking mechanisms are needed to make the relationships between these many data products explicit, and therefore more reusable and shareable. In this talk, I discuss opportunities and challenges in tracking provenance in sUAS-based research, and identify gaps in current workflow-capture technologies. I draw on prior work conducted as part of the IMLS-funded Site-Based Data Curation project in which we developed methods of documenting in and ex silico (that is, computational and non-computation) workflows, and demonstrate this approaches applicability to research with sUASes. I conclude with a discussion of ontologies and other semantic technologies that have potential application in sUAS research.

  10. A Qualitative Readiness-Requirements Assessment Model for Enterprise Big-Data Infrastructure Investment

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

    Olama, Mohammed M; McNair, Wade; Sukumar, Sreenivas R

    2014-01-01

    In the last three decades, there has been an exponential growth in the area of information technology providing the information processing needs of data-driven businesses in government, science, and private industry in the form of capturing, staging, integrating, conveying, analyzing, and transferring data that will help knowledge workers and decision makers make sound business decisions. Data integration across enterprise warehouses is one of the most challenging steps in the big data analytics strategy. Several levels of data integration have been identified across enterprise warehouses: data accessibility, common data platform, and consolidated data model. Each level of integration has its ownmore » set of complexities that requires a certain amount of time, budget, and resources to implement. Such levels of integration are designed to address the technical challenges inherent in consolidating the disparate data sources. In this paper, we present a methodology based on industry best practices to measure the readiness of an organization and its data sets against the different levels of data integration. We introduce a new Integration Level Model (ILM) tool, which is used for quantifying an organization and data system s readiness to share data at a certain level of data integration. It is based largely on the established and accepted framework provided in the Data Management Association (DAMA-DMBOK). It comprises several key data management functions and supporting activities, together with several environmental elements that describe and apply to each function. The proposed model scores the maturity of a system s data governance processes and provides a pragmatic methodology for evaluating integration risks. The higher the computed scores, the better managed the source data system and the greater the likelihood that the data system can be brought in at a higher level of integration.« less

  11. A qualitative readiness-requirements assessment model for enterprise big-data infrastructure investment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olama, Mohammed M.; McNair, Allen W.; Sukumar, Sreenivas R.; Nutaro, James J.

    2014-05-01

    In the last three decades, there has been an exponential growth in the area of information technology providing the information processing needs of data-driven businesses in government, science, and private industry in the form of capturing, staging, integrating, conveying, analyzing, and transferring data that will help knowledge workers and decision makers make sound business decisions. Data integration across enterprise warehouses is one of the most challenging steps in the big data analytics strategy. Several levels of data integration have been identified across enterprise warehouses: data accessibility, common data platform, and consolidated data model. Each level of integration has its own set of complexities that requires a certain amount of time, budget, and resources to implement. Such levels of integration are designed to address the technical challenges inherent in consolidating the disparate data sources. In this paper, we present a methodology based on industry best practices to measure the readiness of an organization and its data sets against the different levels of data integration. We introduce a new Integration Level Model (ILM) tool, which is used for quantifying an organization and data system's readiness to share data at a certain level of data integration. It is based largely on the established and accepted framework provided in the Data Management Association (DAMADMBOK). It comprises several key data management functions and supporting activities, together with several environmental elements that describe and apply to each function. The proposed model scores the maturity of a system's data governance processes and provides a pragmatic methodology for evaluating integration risks. The higher the computed scores, the better managed the source data system and the greater the likelihood that the data system can be brought in at a higher level of integration.

  12. Insourcing and Outsourcing for U.S. Department of Defense IT Projects: A Model

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-01-01

    positioning or reduced force readiness. This paper provides an introduction to the insourcing and outsourcing dilemma in today’s fiscally challenged ...force readiness. This paper provides an introduction to the insourcing and outsourcing dilemma in today?s fiscally challenged environment. It discusses...could risk loss to its global competitive posture, which in turn could impact the ability of the U.S. to defend itself by hampering national security

  13. Army National Guard: Regionally Aligned Brigade Force of First Choice

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-16

    include Access to the National Guard; Training, Transient, Holding, and School (TTHS); Medical/ Dental Readiness; and Full Time Manning. Finally...Another policy that merits revision is the Medical and Dental Readiness Management Policies and Programs. One of the greatest challenges to the...Reserve Components’ ability to establish itself as an operational force is medical and dental readiness. Currently, RC members incur a cost to

  14. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Palo Duro Homes — Palo Duro Homes, Albuquerque, NM

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

    none,

    2014-09-01

    This builder was honored for Most DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes Built in the 2014 Housing Innovation Awards. By July 2014, Palo Duro had completed 152 homes since the program began in 2013 (under the original program title DOE Challenge Home), all of them certified to the stringent efficiency requirements of DOE’s Zero Energy Ready Home program.

  15. Computer usage among nurses in rural health-care facilities in South Africa: obstacles and challenges.

    PubMed

    Asah, Flora

    2013-04-01

    This study discusses factors inhibiting computer usage for work-related tasks among computer-literate professional nurses within rural healthcare facilities in South Africa. In the past two decades computer literacy courses have not been part of the nursing curricula. Computer courses are offered by the State Information Technology Agency. Despite this, there seems to be limited use of computers by professional nurses in the rural context. Focus group interviews held with 40 professional nurses from three government hospitals in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Contributing factors were found to be lack of information technology infrastructure, restricted access to computers and deficits in regard to the technical and nursing management support. The physical location of computers within the health-care facilities and lack of relevant software emerged as specific obstacles to usage. Provision of continuous and active support from nursing management could positively influence computer usage among professional nurses. A closer integration of information technology and computer literacy skills into existing nursing curricula would foster a positive attitude towards computer usage through early exposure. Responses indicated that change of mindset may be needed on the part of nursing management so that they begin to actively promote ready access to computers as a means of creating greater professionalism and collegiality. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  16. The Influence of Learner Readiness on Student Satisfaction and Academic Achievement in an Online Program at Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirmizi, Özkan

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to measure the self-perceptions of distance education learners in terms of learner readiness and to determine the predictors of satisfaction and success in distance education. Learner readiness consists of five sub-dimensions: (1) computer/internet self-efficacy, (2) self-directed learning, (3) learner control, (4)…

  17. Carbon Nanotube Thin Film Transistors for Flat Panel Display Application.

    PubMed

    Liang, Xuelei; Xia, Jiye; Dong, Guodong; Tian, Boyuan; Peng, Lianmao

    2016-12-01

    Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising materials for both high performance transistors for high speed computing and thin film transistors for macroelectronics, which can provide more functions at low cost. Among macroelectronics applications, carbon nanotube thin film transistors (CNT-TFT) are expected to be used soon for backplanes in flat panel displays (FPDs) due to their superior performance. In this paper, we review the challenges of CNT-TFT technology for FPD applications. The device performance of state-of-the-art CNT-TFTs are compared with the requirements of TFTs for FPDs. Compatibility of the fabrication processes of CNT-TFTs and current TFT technologies are critically examined. Though CNT-TFT technology is not yet ready for backplane production line of FPDs, the challenges can be overcome by close collaboration between research institutes and FPD manufacturers in the short term.

  18. Are We Ready for Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography-based Target Volume Definition in Lymphoma Radiation Therapy?

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

    Yeoh, Kheng-Wei; Mikhaeel, N. George, E-mail: George.Mikhaeel@gstt.nhs.uk

    2013-01-01

    Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) has become indispensable for the clinical management of lymphomas. With consistent evidence that it is more accurate than anatomic imaging in the staging and response assessment of many lymphoma subtypes, its utility continues to increase. There have therefore been efforts to incorporate PET/CT data into radiation therapy decision making and in the planning process. Further, there have also been studies investigating target volume definition for radiation therapy using PET/CT data. This article will critically review the literature and ongoing studies on the above topics, examining the value and methods of adding PET/CTmore » data to the radiation therapy treatment algorithm. We will also discuss the various challenges and the areas where more evidence is required.« less

  19. ASC ATDM Level 2 Milestone #5325: Asynchronous Many-Task Runtime System Analysis and Assessment for Next Generation Platforms.

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

    Baker, Gavin Matthew; Bettencourt, Matthew Tyler; Bova, Steven W.

    2015-09-01

    This report provides in-depth information and analysis to help create a technical road map for developing next- generation Orogramming mocleN and runtime systemsl that support Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) work- load requirements. The focus herein is on 4synchronous many-task (AMT) model and runtime systems, which are of great interest in the context of "Oriascale7 computing, as they hold the promise to address key issues associated with future extreme-scale computer architectures. This report includes a thorough qualitative and quantitative examination of three best-of-class AIM] runtime systemsHCharm-HE, Legion, and Uintah, all of which are in use as part of the Centers.more » The studies focus on each of the runtimes' programmability, performance, and mutability. Through the experiments and analysis presented, several overarching Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program II (PSAAP-II) Ascl findings emerge. From a performance perspective, AIVT11runtimes show tremendous potential for addressing extreme- scale challenges. Empirical studies show an AM11 runtime can mitigate performance heterogeneity inherent to the machine itself and that Message Passing Interface (MP1) and AM11runtimes perform comparably under balanced con- ditions. From a programmability and mutability perspective however, none of the runtimes in this study are currently ready for use in developing production-ready Sandia ASCIapplications. The report concludes by recommending a co- design path forward, wherein application, programming model, and runtime system developers work together to define requirements and solutions. Such a requirements-driven co-design approach benefits the community as a whole, with widespread community engagement mitigating risk for both application developers developers. and high-performance computing inntime systein« less

  20. Public safety answering point readiness for wireless E-911 in New York State.

    PubMed

    Bailey, Bob W; Scott, Jay M; Brown, Lawrence H

    2003-01-01

    To determine the level of wireless enhanced 911 readiness among New York's primary public safety answering points. This descriptive study utilized a simple, single-page survey that was distributed in August 2001, with telephone follow-up concluding in January 2002. Surveys were distributed to directors of the primary public safety answering points in each of New York's 62 counties. Information was requested regarding current readiness for providing wireless enhanced 911 service, hardware and software needs for implementing the service, and the estimated costs for obtaining the necessary hardware and software. Two directors did not respond and could not be contacted by telephone; three declined participation; one did not operate an answering point; and seven provided incomplete responses, resulting in usable data from 49 (79%) of the state's public safety answering points. Only 27% of the responding public safety answering points were currently wireless enhanced 911 ready. Specific needs included obtaining or upgrading computer systems (16%), computer-aided dispatch systems (53%), mapping software (71%), telephone systems (27%), and local exchange carrier trunk lines (42%). The total estimated hardware and software costs for achieving wireless enhanced 911 readiness was between 16 million and 20 million dollars. New York's primary public safety answering points are not currently ready to provide wireless enhanced 911 service, and the cost for achieving readiness could be as high as 20 million dollars.

  1. A practical implementation science heuristic for organizational readiness: R = MC2

    PubMed Central

    Cook, Brittany S.; Lamont, Andrea; Wandersman, Abraham; Castellow, Jennifer; Katz, Jason; Beidas, Rinad S.

    2015-01-01

    There are many challenges when an innovation (i.e., a program, process, or policy that is new to an organization) is actively introduced into an organization. One critical component for successful implementation is the organization’s readiness for the innovation. In this article, we propose a practical implementation science heuristic, abbreviated as R= MC2. We propose that organizational readiness involves: 1) the motivation to implement an innovation, 2) the general capacities of an organization, and 3) the innovation-specific capacities needed for a particular innovation. Each of these components can be assessed independently and be used formatively. The heuristic can be used by organizations to assess readiness to implement and by training and technical assistance providers to help build organizational readiness. We present an illustration of the heuristic by showing how behavioral health organizations differ in readiness to implement a peer specialist initiative. Implications for research and practice of organizational readiness are discussed. PMID:26668443

  2. Effects of Mobile Phone-Based App Learning Compared to Computer-Based Web Learning on Nursing Students: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Objectives This study aimed to determine the effect of mobile-based discussion versus computer-based discussion on self-directed learning readiness, academic motivation, learner-interface interaction, and flow state. Methods This randomized controlled trial was conducted at one university. Eighty-six nursing students who were able to use a computer, had home Internet access, and used a mobile phone were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to either the mobile phone app-based discussion group (n = 45) or a computer web-based discussion group (n = 41). The effect was measured at before and after an online discussion via self-reported surveys that addressed academic motivation, self-directed learning readiness, time distortion, learner-learner interaction, learner-interface interaction, and flow state. Results The change in extrinsic motivation on identified regulation in the academic motivation (p = 0.011) as well as independence and ability to use basic study (p = 0.047) and positive orientation to the future in self-directed learning readiness (p = 0.021) from pre-intervention to post-intervention was significantly more positive in the mobile phone app-based group compared to the computer web-based discussion group. Interaction between learner and interface (p = 0.002), having clear goals (p = 0.012), and giving and receiving unambiguous feedback (p = 0.049) in flow state was significantly higher in the mobile phone app-based discussion group than it was in the computer web-based discussion group at post-test. Conclusions The mobile phone might offer more valuable learning opportunities for discussion teaching and learning methods in terms of self-directed learning readiness, academic motivation, learner-interface interaction, and the flow state of the learning process compared to the computer. PMID:25995965

  3. 78 FR 54743 - National Preparedness Month, 2013

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-09-06

    ... again, America faces crises that test our readiness and challenge our resolve--from natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods to shootings, cyber incidents, and even acts of terrorism. While... our efforts on readying ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, and our Nation for any crisis we...

  4. Formation Flying for Satellites and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Merrill, Garrick

    2015-01-01

    The shrinking size of satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is enabling lower cost missions. As sensors and electronics continue to downsize, the next step is multiple vehicles providing different perspectives or variations for more precise measurements. While flying a single satellite or UAV autonomously is a challenge, flying multiple vehicles in a precise formation is even more challenging. The goal of this project is to develop a scalable mesh network between vehicles (satellites or UAVs) to share real-time position data and maintain formations autonomously. Newly available low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf credit card size computers will be used as the basis for this network. Mesh networking techniques will be used to provide redundant links and a flexible network. The Small Projects Rapid Integration and Test Environment Lab will be used to simulate formation flying of satellites. UAVs built by the Aero-M team will be used to demonstrate the formation flying in the West Test Area. The ability to test in flight on NASA-owned UAVs allows this technology to achieve a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) (TRL-4 for satellites and TRL-7 for UAVs). The low cost of small UAVs and the availability of a large test range (West Test Area) dramatically reduces the expense of testing. The end goal is for this technology to be ready to use on any multiple satellite or UAV mission.

  5. Measuring readiness for and satisfaction with a hand hygiene e-learning course among healthcare workers in a paediatric oncology centre in Guatemala City

    PubMed Central

    Gonzalez, Miriam L.; Melgar, Mario; Homsi, Maysam; Shuler, Ana; Antillon-Klussmann, Federico; Matheu, Laura; Ramirez, Marylin; Grant, Michael M.; Lowther, Deborah L.; Relyea, George; Caniza, Miguela A.

    2017-01-01

    E-learning has been widely used in the infection control field and has been recommended for use in hand hygiene (HH) programs by the World Health Organization. Such strategies are effective and efficient for infection control, but factors such as learner readiness for this method should be determined to assure feasibility and suitability in low- to middle-income countries. We developed a tailored, e-learning, Spanish-language HH course based on the WHO guidelines for HH in healthcare settings for the pediatric cancer center in Guatemala City. We aimed to identify e-readiness factors that influenced HH course completion and evaluate HCWs’ satisfaction. Pearson’s chi-square test of independence was used to retrospectively compare e-readiness factors and course-completion status (completed, non-completed, and never-started). We surveyed 194 HCWs for e-readiness; 116 HCWs self-enrolled in the HH course, and 55 responded to the satisfaction survey. Most e-readiness factors were statistically significant between course-completion groups. Moreover, students were significantly more likely to complete the course if they had a computer with an Internet connection (P=0.001) and self-reported comfort with using a computer several times a week (p=0.001) and communicating through online technologies (p=0.001). Previous online course experience was not a significant factor (p=0.819). E-readiness score averages varied among HCWs, and mean scores for all e-readiness factors were significantly higher among medical doctors than among nurses. Nearly all respondents to the satisfaction survey agreed that e-learning was as effective as the traditional teaching method. Evaluating HCWs’ e-readiness is essential while integrating technologies into educational programs in low- to middle-income countries. PMID:29147140

  6. Measuring readiness for and satisfaction with a hand hygiene e-learning course among healthcare workers in a paediatric oncology centre in Guatemala City.

    PubMed

    Gonzalez, Miriam L; Melgar, Mario; Homsi, Maysam; Shuler, Ana; Antillon-Klussmann, Federico; Matheu, Laura; Ramirez, Marylin; Grant, Michael M; Lowther, Deborah L; Relyea, George; Caniza, Miguela A

    2016-01-01

    E-learning has been widely used in the infection control field and has been recommended for use in hand hygiene (HH) programs by the World Health Organization. Such strategies are effective and efficient for infection control, but factors such as learner readiness for this method should be determined to assure feasibility and suitability in low- to middle-income countries. We developed a tailored, e-learning, Spanish-language HH course based on the WHO guidelines for HH in healthcare settings for the pediatric cancer center in Guatemala City. We aimed to identify e-readiness factors that influenced HH course completion and evaluate HCWs' satisfaction. Pearson's chi-square test of independence was used to retrospectively compare e-readiness factors and course-completion status (completed, non-completed, and never-started). We surveyed 194 HCWs for e-readiness; 116 HCWs self-enrolled in the HH course, and 55 responded to the satisfaction survey. Most e-readiness factors were statistically significant between course-completion groups. Moreover, students were significantly more likely to complete the course if they had a computer with an Internet connection (P=0.001) and self-reported comfort with using a computer several times a week (p=0.001) and communicating through online technologies (p=0.001). Previous online course experience was not a significant factor (p=0.819). E-readiness score averages varied among HCWs, and mean scores for all e-readiness factors were significantly higher among medical doctors than among nurses. Nearly all respondents to the satisfaction survey agreed that e-learning was as effective as the traditional teaching method. Evaluating HCWs' e-readiness is essential while integrating technologies into educational programs in low- to middle-income countries.

  7. Software Assurance Curriculum Project Volume 4: Community College Education

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-01

    no previous programming or computer science experience expected) • Precalculus -ready (that is, proficiency sufficient to enter college-level... precalculus course) • English Composition I-ready (that is, proficiency sufficient to enter college-level English I course) Co-Requisite Discrete

  8. Computer Starters!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Instructor, 1983

    1983-01-01

    Instructor's Computer-Using Teachers Board members give practical tips on how to get a classroom ready for a new computer, introduce students to the machine, and help them learn about programing and computer literacy. Safety, scheduling, and supervision requirements are noted. (PP)

  9. The clients’ readiness to use mental health care services: Experiences and perceptions from Iranian context

    PubMed Central

    Alavi, Mousa; Irajpour, Alireza

    2013-01-01

    Background: Underutilization of mental health care services has been a challenge for the health care providers for many years. This challenge could be met in part by improving the clients’ readiness to use such services. This study aimed to introduce the important aspects of the clients’ readiness to use mental health services in the Iranian context. Materials and Methods: A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews was undertaken using a constant comparative approach. Participants (11 health professionals consisting of 3 physicians, 7 nurses, 1 psychologist, and 5 patients/their family members) were recruited from educational hospitals affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The credibility and trustworthiness was grounded on four aspects: factual value, applicability, consistency, and neutrality. Results: The study findings uncovered two important aspects of the clients’ readiness for utilizing mental health care services. These are described through two themes and related sub-themes: “The clients’ awareness” implies the cognitive aspect of readiness and “the clients’ attitudes” implies the psychological aspect of readiness, both of which have perceived to cultivate a fertile context through which the clients could access and use the mental health services more easily. Conclusions: For the health care system in Isfahan, Iran to be successful in delivering mental health services, training programs directed to prepare service users should be considered. Improving the clients’ favorable attitudes and awareness should be considered. PMID:24554948

  10. The clients' readiness to use mental health care services: Experiences and perceptions from Iranian context.

    PubMed

    Alavi, Mousa; Irajpour, Alireza

    2013-11-01

    Underutilization of mental health care services has been a challenge for the health care providers for many years. This challenge could be met in part by improving the clients' readiness to use such services. This study aimed to introduce the important aspects of the clients' readiness to use mental health services in the Iranian context. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews was undertaken using a constant comparative approach. Participants (11 health professionals consisting of 3 physicians, 7 nurses, 1 psychologist, and 5 patients/their family members) were recruited from educational hospitals affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The credibility and trustworthiness was grounded on four aspects: factual value, applicability, consistency, and neutrality. The study findings uncovered two important aspects of the clients' readiness for utilizing mental health care services. These are described through two themes and related sub-themes: "The clients' awareness" implies the cognitive aspect of readiness and "the clients' attitudes" implies the psychological aspect of readiness, both of which have perceived to cultivate a fertile context through which the clients could access and use the mental health services more easily. For the health care system in Isfahan, Iran to be successful in delivering mental health services, training programs directed to prepare service users should be considered. Improving the clients' favorable attitudes and awareness should be considered.

  11. Ready or Not: The Academic College Readiness of Southeast Asian Americans

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Her, Chia S.

    2014-01-01

    The educational experiences of Southeast Asian Americans, particularly Cambodian Americans, Hmong Americans, Laotian Americans, and Vietnamese Americans, are characterized by numerous challenges, which can be attributed to their migration history, socioeconomic status, and English proficiency. By the end of 11th grade, a high percentage of…

  12. The Tyranny of Age.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Start, K. B.

    This paper challenges the belief that the only way the Australian educational system can work is by grouping students by chronological age. Chronological age developed over time as the benchmark for school readiness, despite readiness problems created by individual differences among students of the same age. The organization of the classroom,…

  13. Capstone Business Course Assessment: Exploring Student Readiness Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Payne, Stephen L.; Flynn, Jan; Whitfield, J. Michael

    2008-01-01

    In addition to assessment of student-learning outcomes in capstone business courses, an assessment concern is student readiness for these typical capstone experiences. A review of both (a) the literature on learning retention or application and student dispositions for undertaking significant learning challenges and (b) the authors' preliminary…

  14. Grabbing Third Rails: Courageous Responses to Persistent Equity Gaps

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prystowsky, Richard J.; Herrera, Jordan; Crowley, Cara; Lowery­-Hart, Russell; Fannon, Sherri

    2017-01-01

    Student success efforts often focus on issues related to students' college-readiness, but the authors of a recent book, "Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success," challenge higher education professionals to take a different approach. The admission of increasingly greater numbers of students from…

  15. Ready…, Set, Go!. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iriki, Atsushi

    2016-03-01

    ;Language-READY brain; in the title of this article [1] seems to be the expression that the author prefers to use to illustrate his theoretical framework. The usage of the term ;READY; appears to be of extremely deep connotation, for three reasons. Firstly, of course it needs a ;principle; - the depth and the width of the computational theory depicted here is as expected from the author's reputation. However, ;readiness; implies that it is much more than just ;a theory;. That is, such a principle is not static, but it rather has dynamic properties, which are ready to gradually proceed to flourish once brains are put in adequate conditions to make time progressions - namely, evolution and development. So the second major connotation is that this article brought in the perspectives of the comparative primatology as a tool to relativise the language-realizing human brains among other animal species, primates in particular, in the context of evolutionary time scale. The tertiary connotation lies in the context of the developmental time scale. The author claims that it is the interaction of the newborn with its care takers, namely its mother and other family or social members in its ecological conditions, that brings the brain mechanism subserving language faculty to really mature to its final completion. Taken together, this article proposes computational theories and mechanisms of Evo-Devo-Eco interactions for language acquisition in the human brains.

  16. Operational readiness review phase-1 final report for WRAP-1

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

    Bowen, W., Westinghouse Hanford

    1996-12-27

    This report documents the Operational Readiness Review for WRAP-1 Phase-1 operations. The report includes all criteria, lines of inquiry with resulting Findings and Observations. The review included assessing operational capability of the organization and the computer controlled process and facility systems.

  17. Perspectives in numerical astrophysics:

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reverdy, V.

    2016-12-01

    In this discussion paper, we investigate the current and future status of numerical astrophysics and highlight key questions concerning the transition to the exascale era. We first discuss the fact that one of the main motivation behind high performance simulations should not be the reproduction of observational or experimental data, but the understanding of the emergence of complexity from fundamental laws. This motivation is put into perspective regarding the quest for more computational power and we argue that extra computational resources can be used to gain in abstraction. Then, the readiness level of present-day simulation codes in regard to upcoming exascale architecture is examined and two major challenges are raised concerning both the central role of data movement for performances and the growing complexity of codes. Software architecture is finally presented as a key component to make the most of upcoming architectures while solving original physics problems.

  18. Back to the future: virtualization of the computing environment at the W. M. Keck Observatory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCann, Kevin L.; Birch, Denny A.; Holt, Jennifer M.; Randolph, William B.; Ward, Josephine A.

    2014-07-01

    Over its two decades of science operations, the W.M. Keck Observatory computing environment has evolved to contain a distributed hybrid mix of hundreds of servers, desktops and laptops of multiple different hardware platforms, O/S versions and vintages. Supporting the growing computing capabilities to meet the observatory's diverse, evolving computing demands within fixed budget constraints, presents many challenges. This paper describes the significant role that virtualization is playing in addressing these challenges while improving the level and quality of service as well as realizing significant savings across many cost areas. Starting in December 2012, the observatory embarked on an ambitious plan to incrementally test and deploy a migration to virtualized platforms to address a broad range of specific opportunities. Implementation to date has been surprisingly glitch free, progressing well and yielding tangible benefits much faster than many expected. We describe here the general approach, starting with the initial identification of some low hanging fruit which also provided opportunity to gain experience and build confidence among both the implementation team and the user community. We describe the range of challenges, opportunities and cost savings potential. Very significant among these was the substantial power savings which resulted in strong broad support for moving forward. We go on to describe the phasing plan, the evolving scalable architecture, some of the specific technical choices, as well as some of the individual technical issues encountered along the way. The phased implementation spans Windows and Unix servers for scientific, engineering and business operations, virtualized desktops for typical office users as well as more the more demanding graphics intensive CAD users. Other areas discussed in this paper include staff training, load balancing, redundancy, scalability, remote access, disaster readiness and recovery.

  19. Identifying the readiness of patients in implementing telemedicine in northern Louisiana for an oncology practice.

    PubMed

    Gurupur, Varadraj; Shettian, Kruparaj; Xu, Peixin; Hines, Scott; Desselles, Mitzi; Dhawan, Manish; Wan, Thomas Th; Raffenaud, Amanda; Anderson, Lindsey

    2017-09-01

    This study identified the readiness factors that may create challenges in the use of telemedicine among patients in northern Louisiana with cancer. To identify these readiness factors, the team of investigators developed 19 survey questions that were provided to the patients or to their caregivers. The team collected responses from 147 respondents from rural and urban residential backgrounds. These responses were used to identify the individuals' readiness for utilising telemedicine through factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha reliability test, analysis of variance and ordinary least squares regression. The analysis results indicated that the favourable factor (positive readiness item) had a mean value of 3.47, whereas the unfavourable factor (negative readiness item) had a mean value of 2.76. Cronbach's alpha reliability test provided an alpha value of 0.79. Overall, our study indicated a positive attitude towards the use of telemedicine in northern Louisiana.

  20. Readiness for Solving Story Problems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunlap, William F.

    1982-01-01

    Readiness activities are described which are designed to help learning disabled (LD) students learn to perform computations in story problems. Activities proceed from concrete objects to numbers and involve the students in devising story problems. The language experience approach is incorporated with the enactive, iconic, and symbolic levels of…

  1. Measuring the Operational Readiness of an Air Force Network Warfare Squadron

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-06-01

    Abstract As part of its unit activation, the 315th Network Warfare Squadron (NWS) needed to measure and report its progression of unit readiness...NWS unit readiness should be measured and reported by SORTS Category Levels (C-Level) to support wartime missions, not by IOC and FOC milestones...This paper reviews SORTS computations and provides a case study of a notional Air Force NWS to propose that any new cyber squadron should report

  2. Ready, Steady, Go! Strategies to Improve Texans' Financial Readiness to Pay for College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helmcamp, Leslie

    2011-01-01

    Texas faces numerous challenges, but also abundant opportunities to build the middle class and increase prosperity. Unfortunately, too many Texans are sidelined, lacking access to opportunities to learn, earn, and save to secure a prosperous future for themselves and their families. A college education provides opportunities for Texans to obtain…

  3. Non-Deployable Soldiers: Understanding the Army’s Challenge

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-05-07

    TERMS Medically Not Ready (MNR), Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), Disability Evaluation System (DES), Physical Evaluation Board (PEB), Medical Evaluation... Board (MEB), MOS Medical Retention Board (MMRB), Human Capital Enterprise, Personnel Management, Physical Evaluations System. 16. SECURITY...Medically Not Ready (MNR), Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), Disability Evaluation System (DES), Physical Evaluation Board (PEB), Medical Evaluation

  4. 76 FR 53563 - Applications for New Awards; Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-26

    ... of early education interventions on cognitive and social development. Teachers College Record, 112(3... support they need to enter kindergarten ready to succeed. Just as career and college readiness were at the... and family supports are thus critical, and health and family engagement are key elements in high...

  5. Uncovering University Students' Readiness through Their Assessment of Workplace Communication Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Magogwe, Joel M.; Nkosana, Leonard B. M.; Ntereke, Beauty B.

    2014-01-01

    Employers in today's competitive and challenging global world prefer employees who possess "soft skills" in addition to "hard skills" because they make an impact and create a good impression in the workplace. This study examined employment readiness of the University of Botswana (UB) students who took the Advanced Communication…

  6. College Readiness for All: The Challenge for Urban High Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roderick, Melissa; Nagaoka, Jenny; Coca, Vanessa

    2009-01-01

    Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca focus on the importance of improving college access and readiness for low-income and minority students in urban high schools. They stress the aspirations-attainment gap: although the college aspirations of all U.S. high school students, regardless of race, ethnicity, and family income, have…

  7. Determining when a set of compute nodes participating in a barrier operation on a parallel computer are ready to exit the barrier operation

    DOEpatents

    Blocksome, Michael A [Rochester, MN

    2011-12-20

    Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for determining when a set of compute nodes participating in a barrier operation on a parallel computer are ready to exit the barrier operation that includes, for each compute node in the set: initializing a barrier counter with no counter underflow interrupt; configuring, upon entering the barrier operation, the barrier counter with a value in dependence upon a number of compute nodes in the set; broadcasting, by a DMA engine on the compute node to each of the other compute nodes upon entering the barrier operation, a barrier control packet; receiving, by the DMA engine from each of the other compute nodes, a barrier control packet; modifying, by the DMA engine, the value for the barrier counter in dependence upon each of the received barrier control packets; exiting the barrier operation if the value for the barrier counter matches the exit value.

  8. Gaia Launch Imminent: A Review of Practices (Good and Bad) in Building the Gaia Ground Segment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Mullane, W.

    2014-05-01

    As we approach launch the Gaia ground segment is ready to process a steady stream of complex data coming from Gaia at L2. This talk will focus on the software engineering aspects of the ground segment. Of course in a short paper it is difficult to cover everything but an attempt will be made to highlight some good things, like the Dictionary Tool and some things to be careful with like computer aided software engineering tools. The usefulness of some standards like ECSS will be touched upon. Testing is also certainly part of this story as are Challenges or Rehearsals so they will not go without mention.

  9. The development of an online decision support tool for organizational readiness for change.

    PubMed

    Khan, Sobia; Timmings, Caitlyn; Moore, Julia E; Marquez, Christine; Pyka, Kasha; Gheihman, Galina; Straus, Sharon E

    2014-05-10

    Much importance has been placed on assessing readiness for change as one of the earliest steps of implementation, but measuring it can be a complex and daunting task. Organizations and individuals struggle with how to reliably and accurately measure readiness for change. Several measures have been developed to help organizations assess readiness, but these are often underused due to the difficulty of selecting the right measure. In response to this challenge, we will develop and test a prototype of a decision support tool that is designed to guide individuals interested in implementation in the selection of an appropriate readiness assessment measure for their setting. A multi-phase approach will be used to develop the decision support tool. First, we will identify key measures for assessing organizational readiness for change from a recently completed systematic review. Included measures will be those developed for healthcare settings (e.g., acute care, public health, mental health) and that have been deemed valid and reliable. Second, study investigators and field experts will engage in a mapping exercise to categorize individual items of included measures according to key readiness constructs from an existing framework. Third, a stakeholder panel will be recruited and consulted to determine the feasibility and relevance of the selected measures using a modified Delphi process. Fourth, findings from the mapping exercise and stakeholder consultation will inform the development of a decision support tool that will guide users in appropriately selecting change readiness measures. Fifth, the tool will undergo usability testing. Our proposed decision support tool will address current challenges in the field of organizational change readiness by aiding individuals in selecting a valid and reliable assessment measure that is relevant to user needs and practice settings. We anticipate that implementers and researchers who use our tool will be more likely to conduct readiness for change assessments in their settings when planning for implementation. This, in turn, may contribute to more successful implementation outcomes. We will test this tool in a future study to determine its efficacy and impact on implementation processes.

  10. The Effect of Interactive CD-ROM/Digitized Audio Courseware on Reading among Low-Literate Adults.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gretes, John A.; Green, Michael

    1994-01-01

    Compares a multimedia adult literacy instructional course, Reading to Educate and Develop Yourself (READY), to traditional classroom instruction by studying effects of replacing conventional learning tools with computer-assisted instruction (CD-ROMs and audio software). Results reveal that READY surpassed traditional instruction for virtually…

  11. PREPARING FOR EXASCALE: ORNL Leadership Computing Application Requirements and Strategy

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

    Joubert, Wayne; Kothe, Douglas B; Nam, Hai Ah

    2009-12-01

    In 2009 the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), elicited petascale computational science requirements from leading computational scientists in the international science community. This effort targeted science teams whose projects received large computer allocation awards on OLCF systems. A clear finding of this process was that in order to reach their science goals over the next several years, multiple projects will require computational resources in excess of an order of magnitude more powerful than those currently available. Additionally, for themore » longer term, next-generation science will require computing platforms of exascale capability in order to reach DOE science objectives over the next decade. It is generally recognized that achieving exascale in the proposed time frame will require disruptive changes in computer hardware and software. Processor hardware will become necessarily heterogeneous and will include accelerator technologies. Software must undergo the concomitant changes needed to extract the available performance from this heterogeneous hardware. This disruption portends to be substantial, not unlike the change to the message passing paradigm in the computational science community over 20 years ago. Since technological disruptions take time to assimilate, we must aggressively embark on this course of change now, to insure that science applications and their underlying programming models are mature and ready when exascale computing arrives. This includes initiation of application readiness efforts to adapt existing codes to heterogeneous architectures, support of relevant software tools, and procurement of next-generation hardware testbeds for porting and testing codes. The 2009 OLCF requirements process identified numerous actions necessary to meet this challenge: (1) Hardware capabilities must be advanced on multiple fronts, including peak flops, node memory capacity, interconnect latency, interconnect bandwidth, and memory bandwidth. (2) Effective parallel programming interfaces must be developed to exploit the power of emerging hardware. (3) Science application teams must now begin to adapt and reformulate application codes to the new hardware and software, typified by hierarchical and disparate layers of compute, memory and concurrency. (4) Algorithm research must be realigned to exploit this hierarchy. (5) When possible, mathematical libraries must be used to encapsulate the required operations in an efficient and useful way. (6) Software tools must be developed to make the new hardware more usable. (7) Science application software must be improved to cope with the increasing complexity of computing systems. (8) Data management efforts must be readied for the larger quantities of data generated by larger, more accurate science models. Requirements elicitation, analysis, validation, and management comprise a difficult and inexact process, particularly in periods of technological change. Nonetheless, the OLCF requirements modeling process is becoming increasingly quantitative and actionable, as the process becomes more developed and mature, and the process this year has identified clear and concrete steps to be taken. This report discloses (1) the fundamental science case driving the need for the next generation of computer hardware, (2) application usage trends that illustrate the science need, (3) application performance characteristics that drive the need for increased hardware capabilities, (4) resource and process requirements that make the development and deployment of science applications on next-generation hardware successful, and (5) summary recommendations for the required next steps within the computer and computational science communities.« less

  12. How to Make STEM Education Cool for Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steel, David

    2012-01-01

    Of all U.S. high school students who graduated in 2011, only 45 percent were ready for college-level math and a mere 30 percent were ready for science, according to ACT, a college-entrance testing agency. These data reflect the great challenge facing the United States in preparing students for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)…

  13. Using the Rasch Model to Determine Equivalence of Forms In the Trilingual Lollipop Readiness Test

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lang, W. Steve; Chew, Alex L.; Crownover, Carol; Wilkerson, Judy R.

    2007-01-01

    Determining the cross-cultural equivalence of multilingual tests is a challenge that is more complex than simple horizontal equating of test forms. This study examines the functioning of a trilingual test of preschool readiness to determine the equivalence. Different forms of the test have previously been examined using classical statistical…

  14. Developing MOOCs to Narrow the College Readiness Gap: Challenges and Recommendations for a Writing Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandi-Rao, Shoba; Devers, Christopher J.

    2015-01-01

    Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have demonstrated the potential to deliver quality and cost effective course materials to large numbers of students. Approximately 60% of first-year students at community colleges are underprepared for college-level coursework. One reason for low graduation rates is the lack of the overall college readiness.…

  15. College and Career Readiness in Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siskin, Leslie Santee

    2013-01-01

    The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

  16. The Relationship between an Individual's Margin in Life and Readiness for Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Madsen, Susan R.; Cameron, John; Miller, Duane; Warren, Emily

    2004-01-01

    Effectively managing change is one of the most critical challenges organizations today face. Increasing the readiness for change (RFC) of employees may be one of the most important interventions an organization can initiate. This study investigated the relationship of employee RFC and margin in life (MIL). It studied the relationship of various…

  17. Many Teachers Not Ready for the Common Core

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawchuk, Stephen

    2012-01-01

    A national survey of school districts last fall by the Center on Education Policy found that fewer than half of the districts had planned professional development aligned to the Common Core State Standards this school year. The challenge of getting the nation's 3.2 million K-12 public school teachers ready to teach to the standards is enormous.…

  18. An Examination of Leadership Readiness and Empowerment among Full-Time Nursing Faculty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bilder, Loretta Lynn

    2014-01-01

    Leadership skills in faculty and administrators are vital given the complex challenges faced in higher education, yet little is known about how best to prepare for a leadership role. According to the literature in other disciplines, empowerment can be identified as a primary antecedent to leadership readiness. Empowerment has been studied related…

  19. Is the EdTPA the Right Choice for Evaluating Teacher Readiness?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parkes, Kelly A.; Powell, Sean R.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze the edTPA, a performance assessment created by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) and administered by Pearson, Inc., to assess the professional readiness of student teachers. We challenge claims made in support of using this assessment, specifically within the…

  20. The Coming Challenge: Are Community Colleges Ready for the New Wave of Contextual Learners?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hull, Dan; Souders, John C., Jr.

    1996-01-01

    Defines contextual learning, or presenting new information to students in familiar contexts. Argues that community colleges must be ready for an anticipated increase in contextual learners due to its use in tech prep programs. Describes elements of contextual learning, its application in the classroom, and ways that colleges can prepare for…

  1. Beyond a Logic of Quality: Opening Space for Material-Discursive Practices of "Readiness" in Early Years Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Katherine

    2016-01-01

    This article is an exploration of the possibilities encountered through shifting from a "logic of quality" to a "space of meaning-making" within early years education. Focusing on ideas of "readiness", this discussion aims to challenge normative understandings that relate this concept to the predictable achievement of…

  2. Improving College and Career Readiness through Challenge-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shuptrine, Carl

    2013-01-01

    High school students in an Advanced Video class addressed the challenge of increasing community awareness. Students followed a challenge-based learning model developing guiding questions and activities to determine solutions for implementation. Literature supported the use of project-based learning that fostered partnerships outside of the…

  3. Challenges to recruitment and retention of African Americans in the gene-environment trial of response to dietary interventions (GET READI) for heart health

    PubMed Central

    Kennedy, Betty M.; Harsha, David W.; Bookman, Ebony B.; Hill, Yolanda R.; Rankinen, Tuomo; Rodarte, Ruben Q.; Murla, Connie D.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, challenges to recruiting African Americans specifically for a dietary feeding trial are examined, learning experiences gained and suggestions to overcome these challenges in future trials are discussed. A total of 333 individuals were randomized in the trial and 234 (167 sibling pairs and 67 parents/siblings) completed the dietary intervention and required DNA blood sampling for genetic analysis. The trial used multiple strategies for recruitment. Hand distributed letters and flyers through mass distribution at various churches resulted in the largest number (n = 153, 46%) of African Americans in the trial. Word of mouth accounted for the second largest number (n = 120, 36%) and included prior study participants. These two recruitment sources represented 82% (n = 273) of the total number of individuals randomized in GET READI. The remaining 18% (n = 60) consisted of a combination of sources including printed message on check stubs, newspaper articles, radio and TV appearances, screening events and presentations. Though challenging, the recruitment efforts for GET READI produced a significant number of African American participants despite the inability to complete the trial as planned because of low recruitment yields. Nevertheless, the recruitment process produced substantial numbers that successfully completed all study requirements. PMID:21865154

  4. Assessing self-efficacy and college readiness level among new undergraduate students in computer science using metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Othman, Wan Nor Afiqah Wan; Abdullah, Aziman

    2018-04-01

    This preliminary study was conducted to address the issue of academic planning skills among new university student. Due to lack of proper measurement mechanism for awareness and readiness among students, this study proposes Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) to assess the connection between student self-efficacy and college readiness. Qualitative and quantitative approach were used by provide an online self-assessment for new student of Faculty of Computer Systems & Software Engineering (FSKKP) and analyse the data respectively. The possible relationships between MAI and College Readiness Item (CRI) in self-assessment has been evaluated. The sample size of 368 respondents from UMP are responding to the online self-assessment. The initial finding shows most student (71%) of the respondent lack of skills in planning. We manage to use Pearson Product-moment correlation coefficient to find the significant relationship between MAI and CRI. Thus, we found that College Readiness provide sufficient evidence that there is a significant correlation with most of MAI items. The findings also indicated not much difference was found between gender in terms of self-efficacy level. This paper suggests the MAI and CRI is a reliable and valid scale to respond the planning skills issues among new university students.

  5. Welding. Module 8 of the Vocational Education Readiness Test (VERT).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Edward L., Comp.

    Focusing on welding, this module is one of eight included in the Vocational Education Readiness Tests (VERT). The module begins by listing the objectives of the module and describing tools and equipment needed. The remainder of the module contains sections on manipulative skills, trade vocabulary, tool identification, trade computational skills,…

  6. Masonry. Module 5 of the Vocational Education Readiness Test (VERT).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Edward L., Comp.

    Focusing on masonry, this module is one of eight included in the Vocational Education Readiness Tests (VERT). The module begins by listing the objectives of the module and describing tools and equipment needed. The remainder of the module contains sections on manipulative skills, trade vocabulary, tool identification, trade computational skills,…

  7. Organisational readiness: exploring the preconditions for success in organisation-wide patient safety improvement programmes.

    PubMed

    Burnett, Susan; Benn, Jonathan; Pinto, Anna; Parand, Anam; Iskander, Sandra; Vincent, Charles

    2010-08-01

    Patient safety has been high on the agenda for more than a decade. Despite many national initiatives aimed at improving patient safety, the challenge remains to find coherent and sustainable organisation-wide safety-improvement programmes. In the UK, the Safer Patients' Initiative (SPI) was established to address this challenge. Important in the success of such an endeavour is understanding 'readiness' at the organisational level, identifying the preconditions for success in this type of programme. This article reports on a case study of the four NHS organisations participating in the first phase of SPI, examining the perceptions of organisational readiness and the relationship of these factors with impact by those actively involved in the initiative. A mixed-methods design was used, involving a survey and semistructured interviews with senior executive leads, the principal SPI programme coordinator and the four operational leads in each of the SPI clinical work areas in all four organisations taking part in the first phase of SPI. This preliminary work would suggest that prior to the start of organisation-wide quality- and safety-improvement programmes, organisations would benefit from an assessment of readiness with time spent in the preparation of the organisational infrastructure, processes and culture. Furthermore, a better understanding of the preconditions that mark an organisation as ready for improvement work would allow policymakers to set realistic expectations about the outcomes of safety campaigns.

  8. Instructional Computer Use in the Community College: A Discussion of the Research and Its Implications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bower, Beverly L.

    1998-01-01

    Reviews research on the instructional benefits of computer technology. Discusses the computer readiness of students, faculty, and institutions, and suggests that despite mixed findings, political and organizational realities indicate computer-based instruction is a feasible alternative for community colleges. Therefore, educators should continue…

  9. A Nanotechnology-Ready Computing Scheme based on a Weakly Coupled Oscillator Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vodenicarevic, Damir; Locatelli, Nicolas; Abreu Araujo, Flavio; Grollier, Julie; Querlioz, Damien

    2017-03-01

    With conventional transistor technologies reaching their limits, alternative computing schemes based on novel technologies are currently gaining considerable interest. Notably, promising computing approaches have proposed to leverage the complex dynamics emerging in networks of coupled oscillators based on nanotechnologies. The physical implementation of such architectures remains a true challenge, however, as most proposed ideas are not robust to nanotechnology devices’ non-idealities. In this work, we propose and investigate the implementation of an oscillator-based architecture, which can be used to carry out pattern recognition tasks, and which is tailored to the specificities of nanotechnologies. This scheme relies on a weak coupling between oscillators, and does not require a fine tuning of the coupling values. After evaluating its reliability under the severe constraints associated to nanotechnologies, we explore the scalability of such an architecture, suggesting its potential to realize pattern recognition tasks using limited resources. We show that it is robust to issues like noise, variability and oscillator non-linearity. Defining network optimization design rules, we show that nano-oscillator networks could be used for efficient cognitive processing.

  10. A Nanotechnology-Ready Computing Scheme based on a Weakly Coupled Oscillator Network.

    PubMed

    Vodenicarevic, Damir; Locatelli, Nicolas; Abreu Araujo, Flavio; Grollier, Julie; Querlioz, Damien

    2017-03-21

    With conventional transistor technologies reaching their limits, alternative computing schemes based on novel technologies are currently gaining considerable interest. Notably, promising computing approaches have proposed to leverage the complex dynamics emerging in networks of coupled oscillators based on nanotechnologies. The physical implementation of such architectures remains a true challenge, however, as most proposed ideas are not robust to nanotechnology devices' non-idealities. In this work, we propose and investigate the implementation of an oscillator-based architecture, which can be used to carry out pattern recognition tasks, and which is tailored to the specificities of nanotechnologies. This scheme relies on a weak coupling between oscillators, and does not require a fine tuning of the coupling values. After evaluating its reliability under the severe constraints associated to nanotechnologies, we explore the scalability of such an architecture, suggesting its potential to realize pattern recognition tasks using limited resources. We show that it is robust to issues like noise, variability and oscillator non-linearity. Defining network optimization design rules, we show that nano-oscillator networks could be used for efficient cognitive processing.

  11. A Nanotechnology-Ready Computing Scheme based on a Weakly Coupled Oscillator Network

    PubMed Central

    Vodenicarevic, Damir; Locatelli, Nicolas; Abreu Araujo, Flavio; Grollier, Julie; Querlioz, Damien

    2017-01-01

    With conventional transistor technologies reaching their limits, alternative computing schemes based on novel technologies are currently gaining considerable interest. Notably, promising computing approaches have proposed to leverage the complex dynamics emerging in networks of coupled oscillators based on nanotechnologies. The physical implementation of such architectures remains a true challenge, however, as most proposed ideas are not robust to nanotechnology devices’ non-idealities. In this work, we propose and investigate the implementation of an oscillator-based architecture, which can be used to carry out pattern recognition tasks, and which is tailored to the specificities of nanotechnologies. This scheme relies on a weak coupling between oscillators, and does not require a fine tuning of the coupling values. After evaluating its reliability under the severe constraints associated to nanotechnologies, we explore the scalability of such an architecture, suggesting its potential to realize pattern recognition tasks using limited resources. We show that it is robust to issues like noise, variability and oscillator non-linearity. Defining network optimization design rules, we show that nano-oscillator networks could be used for efficient cognitive processing. PMID:28322262

  12. Generation of Simulated Tracking Data for LADEE Operational Readiness Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Woodburn, James; Policastri, Lisa; Owens, Brandon

    2015-01-01

    Operational Readiness Tests were an important part of the pre-launch preparation for the LADEE mission. The generation of simulated tracking data to stress the Flight Dynamics System and the Flight Dynamics Team was important for satisfying the testing goal of demonstrating that the software and the team were ready to fly the operational mission. The simulated tracking was generated in a manner to incorporate the effects of errors in the baseline dynamical model, errors in maneuver execution and phenomenology associated with various tracking system based components. The ability of the mission team to overcome these challenges in a realistic flight dynamics scenario indicated that the team and flight dynamics system were ready to fly the LADEE mission. Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment.

  13. The Impact and Promise of Open-Source Computational Material for Physics Teaching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christian, Wolfgang

    2017-01-01

    A computer-based modeling approach to teaching must be flexible because students and teachers have different skills and varying levels of preparation. Learning how to run the ``software du jour'' is not the objective for integrating computational physics material into the curriculum. Learning computational thinking, how to use computation and computer-based visualization to communicate ideas, how to design and build models, and how to use ready-to-run models to foster critical thinking is the objective. Our computational modeling approach to teaching is a research-proven pedagogy that predates computers. It attempts to enhance student achievement through the Modeling Cycle. This approach was pioneered by Robert Karplus and the SCIS Project in the 1960s and 70s and later extended by the Modeling Instruction Program led by Jane Jackson and David Hestenes at Arizona State University. This talk describes a no-cost open-source computational approach aligned with a Modeling Cycle pedagogy. Our tools, curricular material, and ready-to-run examples are freely available from the Open Source Physics Collection hosted on the AAPT-ComPADRE digital library. Examples will be presented.

  14. Defining a New North Star: Aligning Local Control Accountability Plans to College and Career Readiness. Policy Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beach, Paul; Thier, Michael; Lench, Sarah Collins; Coleman, Matt

    2015-01-01

    Educators have the increasingly difficult task of preparing students to live, learn, and work in the 21st century. Amidst those challenges, a growing body of research suggests that college and career readiness depends upon students' ability to think critically, learn how to learn, communicate, and collaborate. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era…

  15. Lessons Learned about Instruction from Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in College and Career Ready Assessments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heritage, Margaret; Lazarus, Sheryl S.

    2016-01-01

    The new large-scale assessments rolled out by consortia and states are designed to measure student achievement of rigorous college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. Recent surveys of teachers in several states indicate that students with disabilities like many features of the new assessments, but that there also are challenges. This Brief was…

  16. Public webinar: Wildland Fire Sensors Challenge

    EPA Science Inventory

    This multi-agency challenge seeks a field-ready prototype system capable of measuring constituents of smoke, including particulates, carbon monoxide, ozone, and carbon dioxide, over the wide range of levels expected during wildland fires. The prototype system should be accurate, ...

  17. Critical Components of Online Learning Readiness and Their Relationships with Learner Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cigdem, Harun; Ozturk, Mustafa

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to examine the relationship between certain factors of online learning readiness and learners' end-of-course achievements. The study was conducted at a two-year post-secondary Turkish military school within the scope of the course titled Computer Literacy, which was designed and implemented in a blended way. The data were…

  18. Students' Readiness for E-Learning: A Case Study of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tuntirojanawong, Suttiwan

    2013-01-01

    The process of e-learning is the operations that involve humans, computers, the Internet, and instructional material, and that produces the outputs to learners and the organization. The purposes of this research were (1) to study students' readiness for e-learning of graduate students majoring in educational administration, School of Educational…

  19. Responding to Hostility: Evidence-Based Guidance for Communication during Planned Organizational Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Kim Sydow; Carmichael, Pierson; Naidoo, Jefrey S.

    2015-01-01

    Hostile challenges to planned organization change are common and challenging to deal with effectively. Little research has explained successful responses to such stakeholder hostility. To address this gap, we use the concept of readiness to characterize the content of hostile challenges. We also use rhetorical strategies based on speech act theory…

  20. Is Particle Physics Ready for the LHC

    ScienceCinema

    Lykken, Joseph

    2017-12-09

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

  1. Impact of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs on ACT Performance, Graduation Rate, and Staff Perception of Postsecondary Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maultsby, SaVon

    2016-01-01

    This study is a review of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) in the Public Schools of Robeson County and the impact it had on ACT scores, graduation rate, and staff perception of economically challenged and minority student enrollment in postsecondary education. This mixed-methods study used quantitative…

  2. In Their Own Words: Using Self-Assessments of College Readiness to Develop Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Verrell, Paul A.; McCabe, Norah R.

    2015-01-01

    The pathway to success in college can be bumpy. To smooth it we first investigated self-assessment of college readiness by undergraduates in terms of skills and habits required for college success. In a survey of almost 700 students, one of every two reported that their college work was more challenging than expected. Although 70% reported that…

  3. Advancing HIV/AIDS prevention among American Indians through capacity building and the community readiness model.

    PubMed

    Thurman, Pamela Jumper; Vernon, Irene S; Plested, Barbara

    2007-01-01

    Although HIV/AIDS prevention has presented challenges over the past 25 years, prevention does work! To be most effective, however, prevention must be specific to the culture and the nature of the community. Building the capacity of a community for prevention efforts is not an easy process. If capacity is to be sustained, it must be practical and utilize the resources that already exist in the community. Attitudes vary across communities; resources vary, political climates are constantly varied and changing. Communities are fluid-always changing, adapting, growing. They are "ready" for different things at different times. Readiness is a key issue! This article presents a model that has experienced a high level of success in building community capacity for effective prevention/intervention for HIV/AIDS and offers case studies for review. The Community Readiness Model provides both quantitative and qualitative information in a user-friendly structure that guides a community through the process of understanding the importance of the measure of readiness. The model identifies readiness- appropriate strategies, provides readiness scores for evaluation, and most important, involves community stakeholders in the process. The article will demonstrate the importance of developing strategies consistent with readiness levels for more cost-effective and successful prevention efforts.

  4. Mixed Picture of Readiness for Adoption of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs in Communities: Exploratory Surveys of State Program Delivery Systems

    PubMed Central

    Schainker, Lisa M.; Redmond, Cleve; Ralston, Ekaterina; Yeh, Hsiu-Chen; Perkins, Daniel F.

    2015-01-01

    An emerging literature highlights the potential for broader dissemination of evidence-based prevention programs in communities through existing state systems, such as the land grant university Extension outreach system and departments of public education and health (DOE– DPH). This exploratory study entailed surveying representatives of the national Extension system and DOE– DPH, to evaluate dissemination readiness factors, as part of a larger project on an evidence-based program delivery model called PROSPER. In addition to assessing systems’ readiness factors, differences among US regions and comparative levels of readiness between state systems were evaluated. The Extension web-based survey sample N was 958 and the DOE–DPH telephone survey N was 338, with response rates of 23 and 79 %, respectively. Extension survey results suggested only a moderate level of overall readiness nationally, with relatively higher perceived need for collaborative efforts and relatively lower perceived resource availability. There were significant regional differences on all factors, generally favoring the Northeast. Results from DOE–DPH surveys showed significantly higher levels for all readiness factors, compared with Extension systems. Overall, the findings present a mixed picture. Although there were clear challenges related to measuring readiness in complex systems, addressing currently limited dissemination resources, and devising strategies for optimizing readiness, all systems showed some readiness-related strengths. PMID:25791916

  5. a Hadoop-Based Distributed Framework for Efficient Managing and Processing Big Remote Sensing Images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, C.; Hu, F.; Hu, X.; Zhao, S.; Wen, W.; Yang, C.

    2015-07-01

    Various sensors from airborne and satellite platforms are producing large volumes of remote sensing images for mapping, environmental monitoring, disaster management, military intelligence, and others. However, it is challenging to efficiently storage, query and process such big data due to the data- and computing- intensive issues. In this paper, a Hadoop-based framework is proposed to manage and process the big remote sensing data in a distributed and parallel manner. Especially, remote sensing data can be directly fetched from other data platforms into the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). The Orfeo toolbox, a ready-to-use tool for large image processing, is integrated into MapReduce to provide affluent image processing operations. With the integration of HDFS, Orfeo toolbox and MapReduce, these remote sensing images can be directly processed in parallel in a scalable computing environment. The experiment results show that the proposed framework can efficiently manage and process such big remote sensing data.

  6. Measuring E-Learning Readiness among EFL Teachers in Intermediate Public Schools in Saudi Arabia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Furaydi, Ahmed Ajab

    2013-01-01

    This study will determine their readiness level for the e-learning in several aspects such as attitude toward e-learning, and computer literacy also this study attempt to investigate the main the barriers that EFL teachers have to overcome while incorporating e-learning into their teaching. The theory upon which the study was technology acceptance…

  7. Using Ada: The deeper challenges

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Feinberg, David A.

    1986-01-01

    The Ada programming language and the associated Ada Programming Support Environment (APSE) and Ada Run Time Environment (ARTE) provide the potential for significant life-cycle cost reductions in computer software development and maintenance activities. The Ada programming language itself is standardized, trademarked, and controlled via formal validation procedures. Though compilers are not yet production-ready as most would desire, the technology for constructing them is sufficiently well known and understood that time and money should suffice to correct current deficiencies. The APSE and ARTE are, on the other hand, significantly newer issues within most software development and maintenance efforts. Currently, APSE and ARTE are highly dependent on differing implementer concepts, strategies, and market objectives. Complex and sophisticated mission-critical computing systems require the use of a complete Ada-based capability, not just the programming language itself; yet the range of APSE and ARTE features which must actually be utilized can vary significantly from one system to another. As a consequence, the need to understand, objectively evaluate, and select differing APSE and ARTE capabilities and features is critical to the effective use of Ada and the life-cycle efficiencies it is intended to promote. It is the selection, collection, and understanding of APSE and ARTE which provide the deeper challenges of using Ada for real-life mission-critical computing systems. Some of the current issues which must be clarified, often on a case-by-case basis, in order to successfully realize the full capabilities of Ada are discussed.

  8. A Study of Student-Teachers' Readiness to Use Computers in Teaching: An Empirical Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Padmavathi, M.

    2016-01-01

    This study attempts to analyze student-teachers' attitude towards the use of computers for classroom teaching. Four dimensions of computer attitude on a Likert-type five-point scale were used: Affect (liking), Perceived usefulness, Perceived Control, and Behaviour Intention to use computers. The effect of student-teachers' subject area, years of…

  9. An Evaluation of ChalleNGe Graduates DOD Employability

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2018-01-22

    initial reading and applied math TABE scores are more likely to complete ChalleNGe. In addition, those graduates who begin ChalleNGe with higher TABE...students arrive at ChalleNGe at low levels of reading comprehension, writing, and basic math ; they simply are not ready to acquire a second language...positive, long-term impacts for ChalleNGe graduates. Our previous work has shown that cadets with higher initial reading and applied math TABE scores are

  10. MEDICAL OPERATIONS IN DENIED ENVIRONMENTS (MODE): ARE OUR AF MEDICS READY

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-02-28

    modernization spending, more than the sum of the previous three administrations combined.16 Regional actors believe China’s increased A2/AD capabilities...requirements makes achieving the right personnel with sufficient medical readiness especially challenging.37 20 AF planners use unit type codes ... Codes (AFSCs) as a manpower-classification system to group together personnel that have similar duties, skills, and required training. The Air Force

  11. Using Motivational Interviewing to Impact Readiness of RNs to Return to the Classroom.

    PubMed

    Phifer, Lynne; Robeano, Karen; Ivey, Angela; Blood-Siegfried, Jane

    2018-06-01

    Supporting nurses with associate degrees in nursing (ADNs) to return to school is challenging for nurse executives. Strategies include tuition reimbursement, scholarships, and flexible scheduling. Despite these measures, it is anticipated that we will fall short of a goal of 80% bachelor's degree-prepared nurses by 2020. The aim of this project was to increase ADN-prepared RN readiness to return to school through motivational interviewing.

  12. Assessing Organizational Readiness for a Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Intervention in Skilled Nursing Facilities

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Yuan; Flum, Marian; West, Cheryl; Punnett, Laura

    2018-01-01

    The long-term care sector is characterized by high morbidity and employee turnover, along with associated costs. Effective health protection and health promotion are important to improve physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is an essential precursor to the successful implementation of workplace programs addressing work climate, structure of tasks and relationships, and other issues that may be perceived as challenging by some within the institution. This study qualitatively assessed readiness of five skilled nursing facilities for a participatory occupational health/health promotion intervention. Selection criteria were developed to screen for program feasibility and ability to conduct prospective evaluations, and information was collected from managers and employees (interviews and focus groups). Three centers were selected for the program, and the first year of formative evaluation and intervention experience was then reviewed to evaluate and modify our selection criteria after the fact. Lessons learned include adding assessment of communication and the structure of problem solving to our selection criteria, improving methods to assess management support in a concrete (potentially nonverbal) form, and obtaining a stated financial commitment and resources to enable the team to function. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is challenging, although necessary to implement effective and sustainable health promotion programs in specific organizations. PMID:25715335

  13. Developing hybrid near-space technologies for affordable access to suborbital space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Badders, Brian David

    High power rockets and high altitude balloons are two near-space technologies that could be combined in order to provide access to the mesosphere and, eventually, suborbital space. This "rockoon" technology has been used by several large budget space programs before being abandoned in favor of even more expensive, albeit more accurate, ground launch systems. With the increased development of nano-satellites and atmospheric sensors, combined with rising interest in global atmospheric data, there is an increase in desire for affordable access to extreme altitudes that does not necessarily require the precision of ground launches. Development of hybrid near-space technologies for access to over 200k ft. on a small budget brings many challenges within engineering, systems integration, cost analysis, market analysis, and business planning. This research includes the design and simulation testing of all the systems needed for a safe and reusable launch system, the cost analysis for initial production, the development of a business plan, and the development of a marketing plan. This project has both engineering and scientific significance in that it can prove the space readiness of new technologies, raise their technology readiness levels (TRLs), expedite the development process, and also provide new data to the scientific community. It also has the ability to stimulate university involvement in the aerospace industry and help to inspire the next generation of workers in the space sector. Previous development of high altitude balloon/high power rocket hybrid systems have been undertaken by government funded military programs or large aerospace corporations with varying degrees of success. However, there has yet to be a successful flight with this type of system which provides access to the upper mesosphere in a university setting. This project will aim to design and analyze a viable system while testing the engineering process under challenging budgetary constraints. The technical, engineering, and systems integration challenges that will be investigated are rocket design, launch platform design, communications, ignition systems, recovery systems, and stabilization methods. This will be done using rocket performance simulation software, computer-aided design software, and computational fluid dynamic analysis software. The business planning is also an important part of this research. Through detailed market analysis, the needs for the proposed product/services being developed will be assessed. Through the combination of detailed cost analysis and the market needs, the economic viability of this launch system will be determined.

  14. Organizational factors associated with readiness for change in residential aged care settings.

    PubMed

    von Treuer, Kathryn; Karantzas, Gery; McCabe, Marita; Mellor, David; Konis, Anastasia; Davison, Tanya E; O'Connor, Daniel

    2018-02-01

    Organizational change is inevitable in any workplace. Previous research has shown that leadership and a number of organizational climate and contextual variables can affect the adoption of change initiatives. The effect of these workplace variables is particularly important in stressful work sectors such as aged care where employees work with challenging older clients who frequently exhibit dementia and depression. This study sought to examine the effect of organizational climate and leadership variables on organizational readiness for change across 21 residential aged care facilities. Staff from each facility (N = 255) completed a self-report measure assessing organizational factors including organizational climate, leadership and readiness for change. A hierarchical regression model revealed that the organizational climate variables of work pressure, innovation, and transformational leadership were predictive of employee perceptions of organizational readiness for change. These findings suggest that within aged care facilities an organization's capacity to change their organizational climate and leadership practices may enhance an organization's readiness for change.

  15. Iteration and Prototyping in Creating Technical Specifications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flynt, John P.

    1994-01-01

    Claims that the development process for computer software can be greatly aided by the writers of specifications if they employ basic iteration and prototyping techniques. Asserts that computer software configuration management practices provide ready models for iteration and prototyping. (HB)

  16. Year 2000 Readiness Kit: A Compilation of Y2K Resources for Schools, Colleges and Universities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Department of Education, Washington, DC.

    This kit was developed to assist the postsecondary education community's efforts to resolve the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem. The kit includes a description of the Y2K problem, an assessment of the readiness of colleges and universities, a checklist for institutions, a Y2K communications strategy, articles on addressing the problem in academic…

  17. Tele-Medicine Applications of an ISDN-Based Tele-Working Platform

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2001-10-25

    developed over the Hellenic Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), is based on user terminals (personal computers), networking apparatus, and a...key infrastructure, ready to offer enhanced message switching and translation in response to market trends [8]. Three (3) years ago, the Hellenic PTT...should outcome to both an integrated Tele- Working platform, a main central database (completed with maintenance facilities), and a ready-to-be

  18. Workplace safety in Bangladesh ready-made garment sector: 3 years after the Rana Plaza collapse.

    PubMed

    Barua, Uttama; Ansary, Mehedi Ahmed

    2017-12-01

    Workplace safety is one of the most important issues in industries worldwide, and is endangered by industrial accidents. Different industrial disasters have resulted in several initiatives worldwide to protect human life and reduce material damage, both nationally and internationally. In Bangladesh, the ready-made garment (RMG) industry is one of the most important export-oriented business sectors, which is facing challenges to ensure workplace safety. The Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh is the consequence of such non-compliance. The accident resulted in different local and global initiatives to address the challenges. This article reviews progress and achievement of the initiatives to reduce vulnerability in the Bangladesh RMG industry within 3 years after the deadly accident. In the long run, the challenge is to maintain momentum already created for achieving sustainability in the RMG sector in Bangladesh and maintaining compliance even after the end of support from external partners.

  19. Transforming Executive Fire Officers-A Paradigm Shift to Meet the Intelligence Needs of the 21st Century Fire Service

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    the non-police public. Additionally, inclusion will have positive returns by generating political support in the best- case scenario. Conversely, an...is challenged to adapt its practices, policies and strategic objectives if it is to maintain the highest state of operational readiness. Inclusion of...readiness. Inclusion of firefighters into the information and intelligence- sharing framework will require a systemic transformation by both the fire

  20. Health Professionals' readiness to implement electronic medical record system at three hospitals in Ethiopia: a cross sectional study.

    PubMed

    Biruk, Senafekesh; Yilma, Tesfahun; Andualem, Mulusew; Tilahun, Binyam

    2014-12-12

    Electronic medical record systems are being implemented in many countries to support healthcare services. However, its adoption rate remains low, especially in developing countries due to technological, financial, and organizational factors. There is lack of solid evidence and empirical research regarding the pre implementation readiness of healthcare providers. The aim of this study is to assess health professionals' readiness and to identify factors that affect the acceptance and use of electronic medical recording system in the pre implementation phase at hospitals of North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia. An institution based cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted on 606 study participants from January to July 2013 at 3 hospitals in northwest Ethiopia. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The data were entered using the Epi-Info version 3.5.1 software and analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. Descriptive statistics, bi-variate, and multi-variate logistic regression analyses were used to describe the study objectives and assess the determinants of health professionals' readiness for the system. Odds ratio at 95% CI was used to describe the association between the study and the outcome variables. Out of 606 study participants only 328 (54.1%) were found ready to use the electronic medical recording system according to our criteria assessment. The majority of the study participants, 432 (71.3%) and 331(54.6%) had good knowledge and attitude for EMR system, respectively. Gender (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI: [1.26, 2.78]), attitude (AOR = 1.56, 95% CI: [1.03, 2.49]), knowledge (AOR = 2.12, 95% CI: [1.32, 3.56]), and computer literacy (AOR =1.64, 95% CI: [0.99, 2.68]) were significantly associated with the readiness for EMR system. In this study, the overall health professionals' readiness for electronic medical record system and utilization was 54.1% and 46.5%, respectively. Gender, knowledge, attitude, and computer related skills were the determinants of the presence of a relatively low readiness and utilization of the system. Increasing awareness, knowledge, and skills of healthcare professionals on EMR system before system implementation is necessary to increase its adoption.

  1. Fast and accurate reference-free alignment of subtomograms.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yuxiang; Pfeffer, Stefan; Hrabe, Thomas; Schuller, Jan Michael; Förster, Friedrich

    2013-06-01

    In cryoelectron tomography alignment and averaging of subtomograms, each dnepicting the same macromolecule, improves the resolution compared to the individual subtomogram. Major challenges of subtomogram alignment are noise enhancement due to overfitting, the bias of an initial reference in the iterative alignment process, and the computational cost of processing increasingly large amounts of data. Here, we propose an efficient and accurate alignment algorithm via a generalized convolution theorem, which allows computation of a constrained correlation function using spherical harmonics. This formulation increases computational speed of rotational matching dramatically compared to rotation search in Cartesian space without sacrificing accuracy in contrast to other spherical harmonic based approaches. Using this sampling method, a reference-free alignment procedure is proposed to tackle reference bias and overfitting, which also includes contrast transfer function correction by Wiener filtering. Application of the method to simulated data allowed us to obtain resolutions near the ground truth. For two experimental datasets, ribosomes from yeast lysate and purified 20S proteasomes, we achieved reconstructions of approximately 20Å and 16Å, respectively. The software is ready-to-use and made public to the community. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Applied Operations Research: Augmented Reality in an Industrial Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cole, Stuart K.

    2015-01-01

    Augmented reality is the application of computer generated data or graphics onto a real world view. Its use provides the operator additional information or a heightened situational awareness. While advancements have been made in automation and diagnostics of high value critical equipment to improve readiness, reliability and maintenance, the need for assisting and support to Operations and Maintenance staff persists. AR can improve the human machine interface where computer capabilities maximize the human experience and analysis capabilities. NASA operates multiple facilities with complex ground based HVCE in support of national aerodynamics and space exploration, and the need exists to improve operational support and close a gap related to capability sustainment where key and experienced staff consistently rotate work assignments and reach their expiration of term of service. The initiation of an AR capability to augment and improve human abilities and training experience in the industrial environment requires planning and establishment of a goal and objectives for the systems and specific applications. This paper explored use of AR in support of Operation staff in real time operation of HVCE and its maintenance. The results identified include identification of specific goal and objectives, challenges related to availability and computer system infrastructure.

  3. Lessons learned from the ATLAS performance studies of the Iberian Cloud for the first LHC running period

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sánchez-Martínez, V.; Borges, G.; Borrego, C.; del Peso, J.; Delfino, M.; Gomes, J.; González de la Hoz, S.; Pacheco Pages, A.; Salt, J.; Sedov, A.; Villaplana, M.; Wolters, H.

    2014-06-01

    In this contribution we describe the performance of the Iberian (Spain and Portugal) ATLAS cloud during the first LHC running period (March 2010-January 2013) in the context of the GRID Computing and Data Distribution Model. The evolution of the resources for CPU, disk and tape in the Iberian Tier-1 and Tier-2s is summarized. The data distribution over all ATLAS destinations is shown, focusing on the number of files transferred and the size of the data. The status and distribution of simulation and analysis jobs within the cloud are discussed. The Distributed Analysis tools used to perform physics analysis are explained as well. Cloud performance in terms of the availability and reliability of its sites is discussed. The effect of the changes in the ATLAS Computing Model on the cloud is analyzed. Finally, the readiness of the Iberian Cloud towards the first Long Shutdown (LS1) is evaluated and an outline of the foreseen actions to take in the coming years is given. The shutdown will be a good opportunity to improve and evolve the ATLAS Distributed Computing system to prepare for the future challenges of the LHC operation.

  4. ALC: automated reduction of rule-based models

    PubMed Central

    Koschorreck, Markus; Gilles, Ernst Dieter

    2008-01-01

    Background Combinatorial complexity is a challenging problem for the modeling of cellular signal transduction since the association of a few proteins can give rise to an enormous amount of feasible protein complexes. The layer-based approach is an approximative, but accurate method for the mathematical modeling of signaling systems with inherent combinatorial complexity. The number of variables in the simulation equations is highly reduced and the resulting dynamic models show a pronounced modularity. Layer-based modeling allows for the modeling of systems not accessible previously. Results ALC (Automated Layer Construction) is a computer program that highly simplifies the building of reduced modular models, according to the layer-based approach. The model is defined using a simple but powerful rule-based syntax that supports the concepts of modularity and macrostates. ALC performs consistency checks on the model definition and provides the model output in different formats (C MEX, MATLAB, Mathematica and SBML) as ready-to-run simulation files. ALC also provides additional documentation files that simplify the publication or presentation of the models. The tool can be used offline or via a form on the ALC website. Conclusion ALC allows for a simple rule-based generation of layer-based reduced models. The model files are given in different formats as ready-to-run simulation files. PMID:18973705

  5. Is Your Mission Ready for the Information Age?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oblinger, Diana G.

    1999-01-01

    Urges institutions of higher education to evaluate their mission statements in light of current trends, especially the pervasive influence of information technology. Raises evaluative questions concerning information technology and distance learning, student services, the campus library, research computing, administrative computing, and public…

  6. TU-G-BRB-05: Panel Discussion: Clinical Trials in Proton and Ion Therapy - Are We Ready?

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

    Schulte, R.

    2015-06-15

    Proton therapy, in particular, and ion therapy, just beginning, are becoming an increasing focus of attention in clinical radiation oncology and medical physics. Both modalities have been criticized of lacking convincing evidence from randomized trials proving their efficacy, justifying the higher costs involved in these therapies. This session will provide an overview of the current status of clinical trials in proton therapy, including recent developments in ion therapy. As alluded to in the introductory talk by Dr. Schulte, opinions are diverging widely as to the usefulness and need for clinical trials in particle therapy and the challenge of equipoise. Themore » lectures will highlight some of the challenges that surround clinical trials in particle therapy. One, presented by Dr. Choy from UT Southwestern, is that new technology and even different types of particles such as helium and carbon ions are introduced into this environment, increasing the phase space of clinical variables. The other is the issue of medical physics quality assurance with physical phantoms, presented by Mrs. Taylor from IROC Houston, which is more challenging because 3D and 4D image guidance and active delivery techniques are in relatively early stages of development. The role of digital phantoms in developing clinical treatment planning protocols and as a QA tool will also be highlighted by Dr. Lee from NCI. The symposium will be rounded off by a panel discussion among the Symposium speakers, arguing pro or con the need and readiness for clinical trials in proton and ion therapy. Learning Objectives: To get an update on the current status of clinical trials allowing or mandating proton therapy. Learn about the status of planned clinical trials in the U.S. and worldwide involving ion therapy. Discuss the challenges in the design and QA of clinical trials in particle therapy. Learn about existing and future physical and computational anthropomorphic phantoms for charged particle clinical trial development and support. Research reported in this presentation is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National; Institutes of Health under Award Number P20CA183640.« less

  7. SPARCCS - Smartphone-Assisted Readiness, Command and Control System

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-06-01

    and database needs. By doing this SPARCCS takes advantage of all the capabilities cloud computing has to offer, especially that of disbursed data...40092829/ Microsoft. (2011). Cloud Computing . Retrieved September 24, 2011, http ://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/guides/cloud_computing/2...Command, and Control System) to address these issues. We use smartphones in conjunction with cloud computing to extend the benefits of collaborative

  8. The emergence of grammar in a language-ready brain. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hawkins, John A.

    2016-03-01

    Arbib makes the interesting proposal [3, §1.6] that the first Homo sapiens could have been ;language-ready;, without possessing the kind of rich lexicon, grammar and compositional semantics that we see in the world's languages today. This early language readiness would have consisted of a set of ;protolanguage; abilities, which he enumerates (1-7 in §1.6), supported by brain mechanisms unique to humans. The transition to full ;language; (properties 8-11 in §1.6 and §3) would have required no changes in the genome, he argues, but could have resulted from cultural evolution plus some measure of Baldwinian evolution favoring offspring with greater linguistic skill. The full picture is set out in [1].

  9. Mechanization of Cataloging Procedures *

    PubMed Central

    Kilgour, Frederick G.

    1965-01-01

    The Columbia-Harvard-Yale Medical Libraries Computerization Project has put into operation its mechanized procedure for the production of catalog cards. Cards produced are in final form ready to be filed into a card catalog. Catalogers prepare copy on a worksheet from which punched cards are punched. An IBM 1401 computer processes the decklets of punched cards on magnetic tape to produce the expanded decklets of punched cards needed to print the various packs of catalog cards required to go into different catalogs. Next, the computer punches the expanded decklets of cards to operate an 870 Document Writer, which types out the catalog cards in final form. Cost of cards ready to file is 12.5 cents per card. Images PMID:14271110

  10. States Move toward Computer Science Standards. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 17

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tilley-Coulson, Eve

    2016-01-01

    While educators and parents recognize computer science as a key skill for career readiness, only five states have adopted learning standards in this area. Tides are changing, however, as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recognizes with its call on states to provide a "well-rounded education" for students, to include computer science…

  11. Health workers’ knowledge of and attitudes towards computer applications in rural African health facilities

    PubMed Central

    Sukums, Felix; Mensah, Nathan; Mpembeni, Rose; Kaltschmidt, Jens; Haefeli, Walter E.; Blank, Antje

    2014-01-01

    Background The QUALMAT (Quality of Maternal and Prenatal Care: Bridging the Know-do Gap) project has introduced an electronic clinical decision support system (CDSS) for pre-natal and maternal care services in rural primary health facilities in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Tanzania. Objective To report an assessment of health providers’ computer knowledge, experience, and attitudes prior to the implementation of the QUALMAT electronic CDSS. Design A cross-sectional study was conducted with providers in 24 QUALMAT project sites. Information was collected using structured questionnaires. Chi-squared tests and one-way ANOVA describe the association between computer knowledge, attitudes, and other factors. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted to gain further insights. Results A total of 108 providers responded, 63% were from Tanzania and 37% from Ghana. The mean age was 37.6 years, and 79% were female. Only 40% had ever used computers, and 29% had prior computer training. About 80% were computer illiterate or beginners. Educational level, age, and years of work experience were significantly associated with computer knowledge (p<0.01). Most (95.3%) had positive attitudes towards computers – average score (±SD) of 37.2 (±4.9). Females had significantly lower scores than males. Interviews and group discussions showed that although most were lacking computer knowledge and experience, they were optimistic about overcoming challenges associated with the introduction of computers in their workplace. Conclusions Given the low levels of computer knowledge among rural health workers in Africa, it is important to provide adequate training and support to ensure the successful uptake of electronic CDSSs in these settings. The positive attitudes to computers found in this study underscore that also rural care providers are ready to use such technology. PMID:25361721

  12. Health workers' knowledge of and attitudes towards computer applications in rural African health facilities.

    PubMed

    Sukums, Felix; Mensah, Nathan; Mpembeni, Rose; Kaltschmidt, Jens; Haefeli, Walter E; Blank, Antje

    2014-01-01

    The QUALMAT (Quality of Maternal and Prenatal Care: Bridging the Know-do Gap) project has introduced an electronic clinical decision support system (CDSS) for pre-natal and maternal care services in rural primary health facilities in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Tanzania. To report an assessment of health providers' computer knowledge, experience, and attitudes prior to the implementation of the QUALMAT electronic CDSS. A cross-sectional study was conducted with providers in 24 QUALMAT project sites. Information was collected using structured questionnaires. Chi-squared tests and one-way ANOVA describe the association between computer knowledge, attitudes, and other factors. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted to gain further insights. A total of 108 providers responded, 63% were from Tanzania and 37% from Ghana. The mean age was 37.6 years, and 79% were female. Only 40% had ever used computers, and 29% had prior computer training. About 80% were computer illiterate or beginners. Educational level, age, and years of work experience were significantly associated with computer knowledge (p<0.01). Most (95.3%) had positive attitudes towards computers - average score (±SD) of 37.2 (±4.9). Females had significantly lower scores than males. Interviews and group discussions showed that although most were lacking computer knowledge and experience, they were optimistic about overcoming challenges associated with the introduction of computers in their workplace. Given the low levels of computer knowledge among rural health workers in Africa, it is important to provide adequate training and support to ensure the successful uptake of electronic CDSSs in these settings. The positive attitudes to computers found in this study underscore that also rural care providers are ready to use such technology.

  13. Coast Guard: Opportunities Exist to Further Improve Acquisition Management Capabilities

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-04-01

    Coast Guard’s significant acquisition challenges, including project challenges in its Deepwater program. GAO’s prior work on the Coast Guard...to defense readiness. We have reported extensively on the Coast Guard’s significant acquisition challenges, including its Deepwater program, which...prior work on the Deepwater acquisition program identified problems in costs, management, and oversight that have led to delivery delays and other

  14. Are you ready? Exploring readiness to engage in exercise among people living with HIV and multimorbidity in Toronto, Canada: a qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    Simonik, Alya; Vader, Kyle; Ellis, Denine; Kesbian, Dirouhi; Leung, Priscilla; Jachyra, Patrick; Chan Carusone, Soo; O'Brien, Kelly K

    2016-01-01

    Objectives Our aim was to explore readiness to engage in exercise among people living with HIV and multimorbidity. Design We conducted a descriptive qualitative study using face-to-face semistructured interviews with adults living with HIV. Setting We recruited adults (18 years or older) who self-identified as living with HIV and 2 or more additional health-related conditions from a specialty hospital in Toronto, Canada. Participants 14 participants with a median age of 50 years and median number of 9 concurrent health-related conditions participated in the study. The majority of participants were men (64%) with an undetectable viral load (71%). Outcome measures We asked participants to describe their readiness to engage in exercise and explored how contextual factors influenced their readiness. We analysed interview transcripts using thematic analysis. Results We developed a framework to describe readiness to engage in exercise and the interplay of factors and their influence on readiness among adults with HIV and multimorbidity. Readiness was described as a diverse, dynamic and fluctuating spectrum ranging from not thinking about exercise to routinely engaging in daily exercise. Readiness was influenced by the complex and episodic nature of HIV and multimorbidity comprised of physical impairments, mental health challenges and uncertainty from HIV and concurrent health conditions. This key factor created a context within which 4 additional subfactors (social supports, perceptions and beliefs, past experience with exercise, and accessibility) may further hinder or facilitate an individual's position along the spectrum of readiness to exercise. Conclusions Readiness to engage in exercise among people living with HIV is a dynamic and fluctuating construct that may be influenced by the episodic nature of HIV and multimorbidity and 4 subfactors. Strategies to facilitate readiness to exercise should consider the interplay of these factors in order to enhance physical activity and subsequently improve health outcomes of people with HIV and multimorbidity. PMID:26956163

  15. DOD Financial Management: The Army Faces Significant Challenges in Achieving Audit Readiness for Its Military Pay

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    Page ii GAO-12-406 Army Military Pay Audit Readiness Abbreviations ARISS Army Recruiting Information Support System ASA (M&RA) Assistant...personnel file in the Army Recruiting Information Support System ( ARISS ). This file contains the recruit’s full name, contact information, country of...system, that is, ARISS for the Army, and a paper copy, referred to as a “Packet,” is created that accompanies the recruit to the training installation

  16. Assessing Organizational Readiness for a Participatory Occupational Health/Health Promotion Intervention in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yuan; Flum, Marian; West, Cheryl; Punnett, Laura

    2015-09-01

    The long-term care sector is characterized by high morbidity and employee turnover, along with associated costs. Effective health protection and health promotion are important to improve physical and psychosocial well-being of caregivers. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is an essential precursor to the successful implementation of workplace programs addressing work climate, structure of tasks and relationships, and other issues that may be perceived as challenging by some within the institution. This study qualitatively assessed readiness of five skilled nursing facilities for a participatory occupational health/health promotion intervention. Selection criteria were developed to screen for program feasibility and ability to conduct prospective evaluations, and information was collected from managers and employees (interviews and focus groups). Three centers were selected for the program, and the first year of formative evaluation and intervention experience was then reviewed to evaluate and modify our selection criteria after the fact. Lessons learned include adding assessment of communication and the structure of problem solving to our selection criteria, improving methods to assess management support in a concrete (potentially nonverbal) form, and obtaining a stated financial commitment and resources to enable the team to function. Assessment of organizational readiness for change is challenging, although necessary to implement effective and sustainable health promotion programs in specific organizations. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

  17. Expanding Astronomy Education Innovations to the International Community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, Stephanie J.; Slater, Timothy F.; Tatge, Coty; Guffey, Sarah Katie

    2015-08-01

    In the course of learning astronomy, it is generally accepted that successful science learning experiences should result in learners developing a meaningful understanding of the nature of science as inquiry where: (i) students are engaged in questions; (ii) students are designing plans to pursue data; and (iii) students are generating and defending conclusions based on evidence they have collected. In support of these goals, we have systematically field-test three separate instructional tools that are ready to be field-tested beyond the United States. The first of these is called LECTURE-TUTORIALS. These are self-contained, classroom-ready, collaborative group activities. The materials are designed specifically to be easily integrated into the lecture course and directly address the needs of busy faculty for effective, student-centered, classroom-ready materials that do not require a drastic course revision for implementation. Students are asked to reason about difficult concepts, while working in pairs, and to discuss their ideas openly. The second of these is a series of computer-mediated, inquiry learning experiences based upon an inquiry-oriented teaching approach framed by the notions of BACKWARDS-FADED SCAFFOLDING as an overarching theme for instruction that leverage online science data. BFS is a strategy where the conventional and rigidly linear scientific method is turned on its head and students are first taught how to create conclusions based on evidence, then how experimental design creates evidence, and only at the end introduces students to - what we believe is the most challenging part of inquiry - inventing scientifically appropriate questions. Third, contemporary ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS, including the TOAST and EGGS surveys, for astronomy & geology have been developed to help teachers measure the success of their implementation. Evaluation results consistently suggest that these tools help teachers better engage students in self-directed scientific discourse and increase their knowledge.

  18. Technology readiness assessments: A retrospective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mankins, John C.

    2009-11-01

    The development of new system capabilities typically depends upon the prior success of advanced technology research and development efforts. These systems developments inevitably face the three major challenges of any project: performance, schedule and budget. Done well, advanced technology programs can substantially reduce the uncertainty in all three of these dimensions of project management. Done poorly, or not at all, and new system developments suffer from cost overruns, schedule delays and the steady erosion of initial performance objectives. It is often critical for senior management to be able to determine which of these two paths is more likely—and to respond accordingly. The challenge for system and technology managers is to be able to make clear, well-documented assessments of technology readiness and risks, and to do so at key points in the life cycle of the program. In the mid 1970s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced the concept of "technology readiness levels" (TRLs) as a discipline-independent, programmatic figure of merit (FOM) to allow more effective assessment of, and communication regarding the maturity of new technologies. In 1995, the TRL scale was further strengthened by the articulation of the first definitions of each level, along with examples (J. Mankins, Technology readiness levels, A White Paper, NASA, Washington, DC, 1995. [1]). Since then, TRLs have been embraced by the U.S. Congress' General Accountability Office (GAO), adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), and are being considered for use by numerous other organizations. Overall, the TRLs have proved to be highly effective in communicating the status of new technologies among sometimes diverse organizations. This paper will review the concept of "technology readiness assessments", and provide a retrospective on the history of "TRLs" during the past 30 years. The paper will conclude with observations concerning prospective future directions for the important discipline of technology readiness assessments.

  19. Learning in the cloud: a new challenge for a global teaching system in optics and photonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sultana, Razia; Christ, Andreas; Feisst, Markus; Curticapean, Dan

    2014-07-01

    Nowadays, it is assumed of many applications, companies and parts of the society to be always available online. However, according to [Times, Oct, 31 2011], 73% of the world population do not use the internet and thus aren't "online" at all. The most common reasons for not being "online" are expensive personal computer equipment and high costs for data connections, especially in developing countries that comprise most of the world's population (e.g. parts of Africa, Asia, Central and South America). However it seems that these countries are leap-frogging the "PC and landline" age and moving directly to the "mobile" age. Decreasing prices for smart phones with internet connectivity and PC-like operating systems make it more affordable for these parts of the world population to join the "always-online" community. Storing learning content in a way accessible to everyone, including mobile and smart phones, seems therefore to be beneficial. This way, learning content can be accessed by personal computers as well as by mobile and smart phones and thus be accessible for a big range of devices and users. A new trend in the Internet technologies is to go to "the cloud". This paper discusses the changes, challenges and risks of storing learning content in the "cloud". The experiences were gathered during the evaluation of the necessary changes in order to make our solutions and systems "cloud-ready".

  20. Advances and challenges in logical modeling of cell cycle regulation: perspective for multi-scale, integrative yeast cell models

    PubMed Central

    Todd, Robert G.; van der Zee, Lucas

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The eukaryotic cell cycle is robustly designed, with interacting molecules organized within a definite topology that ensures temporal precision of its phase transitions. Its underlying dynamics are regulated by molecular switches, for which remarkable insights have been provided by genetic and molecular biology efforts. In a number of cases, this information has been made predictive, through computational models. These models have allowed for the identification of novel molecular mechanisms, later validated experimentally. Logical modeling represents one of the youngest approaches to address cell cycle regulation. We summarize the advances that this type of modeling has achieved to reproduce and predict cell cycle dynamics. Furthermore, we present the challenge that this type of modeling is now ready to tackle: its integration with intracellular networks, and its formalisms, to understand crosstalks underlying systems level properties, ultimate aim of multi-scale models. Specifically, we discuss and illustrate how such an integration may be realized, by integrating a minimal logical model of the cell cycle with a metabolic network. PMID:27993914

  1. 77 FR 50512 - Announcement of Requirements and Registration for Dare To Prepare (D2P) Challenge

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-21

    ... improve nationwide preparedness awareness and readiness. HHS/CDC will use social media outlets (blog... Process for Participants This challenge will be internet-based using a variety of social media platforms...) containing profane language, violence or weapons, sexually explicit content, or personal attacks on people or...

  2. Guidelines to Design Engineering Education in the Twenty-First Century for Supporting Innovative Product Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Violante, Maria Grazia; Vezzetti, Enrico

    2017-01-01

    In the twenty-first century, meeting our technological challenges demands educational excellence, a skilled populace that is ready for the critical challenges society faces. There is widespread consensus, however, that education systems are failing to adequately prepare all students with the essential twenty-first century knowledge and skills…

  3. Remedial Course Enrollments and Student Outcomes in Maine's Public Higher Education Institutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Amy F.

    2016-01-01

    College readiness remains a large policy challenge for both K­-12 schools and higher education institutions. Students who need to pursue remedial coursework before being able to enroll in introductory college requirements face financial and logistical challenges that create barriers to degree progression. In an effort to gain additional…

  4. The Role of a Temperament Intervention in Kindergarten Children's Standardized Academic Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collings, Ashleigh; O'Connor, Erin; McClowry, Sandee

    2017-01-01

    Previous research finds that children experience a range of school readiness challenges (e.g., Chartier, Walker, & Naimark, 2010; Zill, 1999). Such challenges vary by children's gender, temperament, and participation in school-based interventions (e.g., Mullola et al., 2011; Bramlett, Scott, Rowell, 2000). However, the examination of child…

  5. Standards, Assessment, and Readiness: Addressing Postsecondary Transition Issues across State Lines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michelau, Demarée K.

    2015-01-01

    This brief describes major challenges ahead for states, institutions, and most importantly, students as the standards and assessments from the Common Core Standards (CCSS) are implemented. It also offers recommendations to create a network structure that would assist K-12 and higher education leaders in addressing those challenges. To begin the…

  6. A Challenging High School Education for All

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    US Department of Education, 2006

    2006-01-01

    High school is the training ground for college and work. Today, most good jobs require a college education. The way for children to get ready for college is to take challenging courses. The level of math, science and foreign language education students receive will be important for American global competitiveness and national security. In…

  7. Progress in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate in SREB States. Challenge to Lead

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaye, Rebecca Daugherty

    2006-01-01

    Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states lead the nation in student participation in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs. SREB states know that getting students engaged in a challenging high school curriculum is the most important step they can take to promote college readiness. Advanced Placement (AP) courses and…

  8. In It for the Long Haul: Parent-Teacher Partnerships for Addressing Preschool Children's Challenging Behaviors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuhn, Miriam; Marvin, Christine A.; Knoche, Lisa L.

    2017-01-01

    The "Getting Ready" intervention aims to strengthen parent-teacher partnerships to promote positive child outcomes. This study focused on the team process and social validity of the intervention when young children displayed challenging behaviors. Qualitative analysis yielded seven themes that provided a rich description of the preschool…

  9. USSR Report: Cybernetics, Computers and Automation Technology

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-12-03

    Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences: "Ready for Dialogue"] [Text] Computers in schools, auditoria , and educational laboratories are an phenomenon to which we...professional-technical academies and VUZ auditoria . Obviously, the color of the screens and the characters on them is of major importance for people

  10. Microcomputers in the Curriculum: Micros and the First R.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balajthy, Ernest; Reinking, David

    1985-01-01

    Introduces the range of computer software currently available to aid in developing children's basic skills in reading, including programs for reading readiness, word recognition, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and learning motivation. Additional information on software and computer use is provided in sidebars by Gwen Solomon and…

  11. Ready To Buy a Computer?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rourke, Martha; Rourke, Patrick

    1974-01-01

    The school district business manager can make sound, cost-conscious decisions in the purchase of computer equipment by developing a list of cost-justified applications for automation, considering the software, writing performance specifications for bidding or negotiating a contract, and choosing the vendor wisely prior to the purchase; and by…

  12. Predictors of medication adherence in high risk youth of color living with HIV.

    PubMed

    Macdonell, Karen E; Naar-King, Sylvie; Murphy, Debra A; Parsons, Jeffrey T; Harper, Gary W

    2010-07-01

    To test predictors of medication adherence in high-risk racial or ethnic minority youth living with HIV (YLH) using a conceptual model of social cognitive predictors including a continuous measure of motivational readiness. Youth were participants in a multi-site clinical trial examining the efficacy of a motivational intervention. Racial-minority YLH (primarily African American) who were prescribed antiretroviral medication were included (N = 104). Data were collected using computer-assisted personal interviewing method via an Internet-based application and questionnaires. Using path analysis with bootstrapping, most youth reported suboptimal adherence, which predicted higher viral load. Higher motivational readiness predicted optimal adherence, and higher social support predicted readiness. Decisional balance was indirectly related to adherence. The model provided a plausible framework for understanding adherence in this population. Culturally competent interventions focused on readiness and social support may be helpful for improving adherence in YLH.

  13. Technology Solutions Case Study: Zero Energy Ready Home and the Challenge of Hot Water on Demand

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

    None

    Production builders in the Stapleton community of Denver, Colorado, now build 2,300-ft2 or larger homes that earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® through the Certified Homes Program, Version 3. These builders are repositioning to build comparably sized homes to the standards of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. Most ZERH criteria align closely with ENERGY STAR and are familiar to these builders.

  14. EOSlib, Version 3

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

    Woods, Nathan; Menikoff, Ralph

    2017-02-03

    Equilibrium thermodynamics underpins many of the technologies used throughout theoretical physics, yet verification of the various theoretical models in the open literature remains challenging. EOSlib provides a single, consistent, verifiable implementation of these models, in a single, easy-to-use software package. It consists of three parts: a software library implementing various published equation-of-state (EOS) models; a database of fitting parameters for various materials for these models; and a number of useful utility functions for simplifying thermodynamic calculations such as computing Hugoniot curves or Riemann problem solutions. Ready availability of this library will enable reliable code-to- code testing of equation-of-state implementations, asmore » well as a starting point for more rigorous verification work. EOSlib also provides a single, consistent API for its analytic and tabular EOS models, which simplifies the process of comparing models for a particular application.« less

  15. DARMA v. Beta 0.5

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

    Hollman, David; Lifflander, Jonathon; Wilke, Jeremiah

    2017-03-14

    DARMA is a portability layer for asynchronous many-task (AMT) runtime systems. AMT runtime systems show promise to mitigate challenges imposed by next generation high performance computing architectures. However, current runtime system technologies are not production-ready. DARMA is a portability layer that seeks to insulate application developers from idiosyncrasies of individual runtime systems, thereby facilitating application-developer use of these technologies. DARMA comprises a frontend application programming interface (API) for application developers, a backend API for runtime system developers, and a translation that translates frontend API calls into backend API calls. Application developers use C++ abstractions to annotate both data and tasksmore » in their code. The DARMA translation layer uses C++ template metaprogramming to capture data-task dependencies, and provides this information to a potential backend runtime system via a series of backend API calls.« less

  16. Ready, Set, Change! Development and usability testing of an online readiness for change decision support tool for healthcare organizations.

    PubMed

    Timmings, Caitlyn; Khan, Sobia; Moore, Julia E; Marquez, Christine; Pyka, Kasha; Straus, Sharon E

    2016-02-24

    To address challenges related to selecting a valid, reliable, and appropriate readiness assessment measure in practice, we developed an online decision support tool to aid frontline implementers in healthcare settings in this process. The focus of this paper is to describe a multi-step, end-user driven approach to developing this tool for use during the planning stages of implementation. A multi-phase, end-user driven approach was used to develop and test the usability of a readiness decision support tool. First, readiness assessment measures that are valid, reliable, and appropriate for healthcare settings were identified from a systematic review. Second, a mapping exercise was performed to categorize individual items of included measures according to key readiness constructs from an existing framework. Third, a modified Delphi process was used to collect stakeholder ratings of the included measures on domains of feasibility, relevance, and likelihood to recommend. Fourth, two versions of a decision support tool prototype were developed and evaluated for usability. Nine valid and reliable readiness assessment measures were included in the decision support tool. The mapping exercise revealed that of the nine measures, most measures (78 %) focused on assessing readiness for change at the organizational versus the individual level, and that four measures (44 %) represented all constructs of organizational readiness. During the modified Delphi process, stakeholders rated most measures as feasible and relevant for use in practice, and reported that they would be likely to recommend use of most measures. Using data from the mapping exercise and stakeholder panel, an algorithm was developed to link users to a measure based on characteristics of their organizational setting and their readiness for change assessment priorities. Usability testing yielded recommendations that were used to refine the Ready, Set, Change! decision support tool . Ready, Set, Change! decision support tool is an implementation support that is designed to facilitate the routine incorporation of a readiness assessment as an early step in implementation. Use of this tool in practice may offer time and resource-saving implications for implementation.

  17. Framework for Designing The Assessment Models of Readiness SMEs to Adopt Indonesian National Standard (SNI), Case Study: SMEs Batik in Surakarta

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fahma, Fakhrina; Zakaria, Roni; Fajar Gumilang, Royan

    2018-03-01

    Since the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is released, the opportunity to expand market share has become very open, but the level of competition is also very high. Standardization is believed to be an important factor in seizing opportunities in the AEC’s era and other free trade agreements in the future. Standardization activities in industry can be proven by obtaining certification of SNI (Indonesian National Standard). This is a challenge for SMEs, considering that currently only 20% of SMEs had SNI certification both product and process. This research will be designed a model of readiness assessment to obtain SNI certification for SMEs. The stages of model development used an innovative approach by Roger (2003). Variables that affect the readiness of SMEs are obtained from product certification requirements established by BSN (National Standardization Agency) and LSPro (Certification body). This model will be used for mapping the readiness for SNI certification of SMEs’product. The level of readiness of SMEs is determined by the percentage of compliance with those requirements. Based on the result of this study, the five variables are determined as main aspects to assess SME readiness. For model validation, trials were conducted on Batik SMEs in Laweyan Surakarta.

  18. Information Technology: Making It All Fit. Track II: Managing Technologies Integration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    CAUSE, Boulder, CO.

    Nine papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track II, Managing Technologies Integration, are presented. They include: "Computing in the '90s--Will We Be Ready for the Applications Needed?" (Stephen Patrick); "Glasnost, The Era of 'Openness'" (Bernard W. Gleason); "Academic and Administrative Computing: Are They Really…

  19. Are Computer Science Students Ready for the Real World.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliot, Noreen

    The typical undergraduate program in computer science includes an introduction to hardware and operating systems, file processing and database organization, data communication and networking, and programming. However, many graduates may lack the ability to integrate the concepts "learned" into a skill set and pattern of approaching problems that…

  20. Are You Ready for Mobile Learning?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corbeil, Joseph Rene; Valdes-Corbeil, Maria Elena

    2007-01-01

    Mobile learning is defined as the intersection of mobile computing (the application of small, portable, and wireless computing and communication devices) and e-learning (learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology). Consequently, it comes as no surprise that sooner or later people would begin to…

  1. 19 CFR 10.14 - Fabricated components subject to the exemption.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ....14 Section 10.14 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... assembly for a computer is assembled in the United States by soldering American-made and foreign-made... electronic function and is ready for incorporation into the computer. The foreign-made components have...

  2. 19 CFR 10.14 - Fabricated components subject to the exemption.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ....14 Section 10.14 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... assembly for a computer is assembled in the United States by soldering American-made and foreign-made... electronic function and is ready for incorporation into the computer. The foreign-made components have...

  3. 19 CFR 10.14 - Fabricated components subject to the exemption.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ....14 Section 10.14 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... assembly for a computer is assembled in the United States by soldering American-made and foreign-made... electronic function and is ready for incorporation into the computer. The foreign-made components have...

  4. 19 CFR 10.14 - Fabricated components subject to the exemption.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ....14 Section 10.14 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... assembly for a computer is assembled in the United States by soldering American-made and foreign-made... electronic function and is ready for incorporation into the computer. The foreign-made components have...

  5. Addressing capability computing challenges of high-resolution global climate modelling at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anantharaj, Valentine; Norman, Matthew; Evans, Katherine; Taylor, Mark; Worley, Patrick; Hack, James; Mayer, Benjamin

    2014-05-01

    During 2013, high-resolution climate model simulations accounted for over 100 million "core hours" using Titan at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). The suite of climate modeling experiments, primarily using the Community Earth System Model (CESM) at nearly 0.25 degree horizontal resolution, generated over a petabyte of data and nearly 100,000 files, ranging in sizes from 20 MB to over 100 GB. Effective utilization of leadership class resources requires careful planning and preparation. The application software, such as CESM, need to be ported, optimized and benchmarked for the target platform in order to meet the computational readiness requirements. The model configuration needs to be "tuned and balanced" for the experiments. This can be a complicated and resource intensive process, especially for high-resolution configurations using complex physics. The volume of I/O also increases with resolution; and new strategies may be required to manage I/O especially for large checkpoint and restart files that may require more frequent output for resiliency. It is also essential to monitor the application performance during the course of the simulation exercises. Finally, the large volume of data needs to be analyzed to derive the scientific results; and appropriate data and information delivered to the stakeholders. Titan is currently the largest supercomputer available for open science. The computational resources, in terms of "titan core hours" are allocated primarily via the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) and ASCR Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC) programs, both sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Titan is a Cray XK7 system, capable of a theoretical peak performance of over 27 PFlop/s, consists of 18,688 compute nodes, with a NVIDIA Kepler K20 GPU and a 16-core AMD Opteron CPU in every node, for a total of 299,008 Opteron cores and 18,688 GPUs offering a cumulative 560,640 equivalent cores. Scientific applications, such as CESM, are also required to demonstrate a "computational readiness capability" to efficiently scale across and utilize 20% of the entire system. The 0,25 deg configuration of the spectral element dynamical core of the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM-SE), the atmospheric component of CESM, has been demonstrated to scale efficiently across more than 5,000 nodes (80,000 CPU cores) on Titan. The tracer transport routines of CAM-SE have also been ported to take advantage of the hybrid many-core architecture of Titan using GPUs [see EGU2014-4233], yielding over 2X speedup when transporting over 100 tracers. The high throughput I/O in CESM, based on the Parallel IO Library (PIO), is being further augmented to support even higher resolutions and enhance resiliency. The application performance of the individual runs are archived in a database and routinely analyzed to identify and rectify performance degradation during the course of the experiments. The various resources available at the OLCF now support a scientific workflow to facilitate high-resolution climate modelling. A high-speed center-wide parallel file system, called ATLAS, capable of 1 TB/s, is available on Titan as well as on the clusters used for analysis (Rhea) and visualization (Lens/EVEREST). Long-term archive is facilitated by the HPSS storage system. The Earth System Grid (ESG), featuring search & discovery, is also used to deliver data. The end-to-end workflow allows OLCF users to efficiently share data and publish results in a timely manner.

  6. Virtual Modeling for Cities of the Future. State-Of Art and Virtual Modeling for Cities of the Future. State-Of Art AN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Valencia, J.; Muñoz-Nieto, A.; Rodriguez-Gonzalvez, P.

    2015-02-01

    3D virtual modeling, visualization, dissemination and management of urban areas is one of the most exciting challenges that must face geomatics in the coming years. This paper aims to review, compare and analyze the new technologies, policies and software tools that are in progress to manage urban 3D information. It is assumed that the third dimension increases the quality of the model provided, allowing new approaches to urban planning, conservation and management of architectural and archaeological areas. Despite the fact that displaying 3D urban environments is an issue nowadays solved, there are some challenges to be faced by geomatics in the coming future. Displaying georeferenced linked information would be considered the first challenge. Another challenge to face is to improve the technical requirements if this georeferenced information must be shown in real time. Are there available software tools ready for this challenge? Are they useful to provide services required in smart cities? Throughout this paper, many practical examples that require 3D georeferenced information and linked data will be shown. Computer advances related to 3D spatial databases and software that are being developed to convert rendering virtual environment to a new enriched environment with linked information will be also analyzed. Finally, different standards that Open Geospatial Consortium has assumed and developed regarding the three-dimensional geographic information will be reviewed. Particular emphasis will be devoted on KML, LandXML, CityGML and the new IndoorGML.

  7. Program Setup Time and Learning Curves associated with "ready to fly" Drone Mapping Hardware and Software.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wilcox, T.

    2016-12-01

    How quickly can students (and educators) get started using a "ready to fly" UAS and popular publicly available photogrammetric mapping software for student research at the undergraduate level? This poster presentation focuses on the challenges of starting up your own drone-mapping program for undergraduate research in a compressed timescale of three months. Particular focus will be given to learning the operation of the platforms, hardware and software interface challenges, and using these electronic systems in real-world field settings that pose a range of physical challenges to both operators and equipment. We will be using a combination of the popular DJI Phantom UAS and Pix4D mapping software to investigate mass wasting processes and potential hazards present in public lands popular with recreational users. Projects are aimed at characterizing active geological hazards that operate on short timescales and may include gully headwall erosion in Flaming Geyser State Park and potential landslide instability within Capital State Forest, both in the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

  8. What are the characteristics of 'sexually ready' adolescents? Exploring the sexual readiness of youth in urban poor Accra.

    PubMed

    Biney, Adriana A E; Dodoo, F Nii-Amoo

    2016-01-05

    Adolescent sexual activity, especially among the urban poor, remains a challenge. Despite numerous interventions and programs to address the negative consequences arising from early and frequent sexual activity among youth in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, only slight progress has been made. A plausible explanation is that our understanding of what adolescents think about sex and about their own sexuality is poor. In that sense, examining how adolescents in urban poor communities think about their sexual readiness, and identifying characteristics associated with that sexual self-concept dimension, should deepen our understanding of this topical issue. A total of 196 male and female adolescents, ages 12 to 19, were surveyed in the 2011 RIPS Urban Health and Poverty Project in Accra, Ghana. The youth responded to three statements which determined their levels of sexual readiness. Other background characteristics were also obtained enabling the assessment of the correlates of their preparedness to engage in sex. The data were analyzed using ordered logistic regression models. Overall, the majority of respondents did not consider themselves ready for sex. Multivariate analyses indicated that sexual experience, exposure to pornographic movies, gender, ethnicity and household wealth were significantly linked to their readiness for sex. Sexual readiness is related to sexual activity as well as other characteristics of the adolescents, suggesting the need to consider these factors in the design of programs and interventions to curb early sex. The subject of sexual readiness has to be investigated further to ensure adolescents do not identify with any negative effects of this sexual self-view.

  9. Readiness of organizations for change, motivation and conflict-handling intentions: senior nursing students' perceptions.

    PubMed

    Mrayyan, Majd T; Modallal, Rola; Awamreh, Khitam; Atoum, Maysoun; Abdullah, Muna; Suliman, Samah

    2008-03-01

    This study examined the perceptions of 62 senior nursing students of the readiness of Jordanian organizations for change, students' motivators and their conflict-handling intentions. Such concepts should be taught at Schools of Nursing in order to prepare the students as nurses in the near future. It is found that the course of "Nursing Leadership and Management" has positive influence on students' understanding of the studied concepts. This descriptive study was conducted in seven hospitals. Grossman and Valiga's (2000) [Grossman, S., Valiga, T.M., 2000. The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing. F.A. Davis, Philadelphia, pp. 147-148.] instrument was used to measure the readiness of organizations for change. As they progress in the course, the students' perceptions about the organizational readiness to change increased; the students "somehow" perceived that the Jordanian organizations were ready to change. The students were asked what motivates and they were asked about their conflict-handling techniques. Senior nursing students reported that private hospitals were better than governmental hospitals in their readiness for change. In general, male students perceived the readiness of organizations for change more positively than female students. The students were mainly motivated by "achievement" and used "collaboration" as a primary conflict-handling technique. Further studies are needed to explore in-depth the concept of the readiness of organizations for change. Achievement is a strong motivator that should be encouraged among students. Conflict-handling techniques in general and collaboration in particular should be taught for nursing students as these techniques will influence their future professional lives.

  10. Are Young Adults with Special Needs Ready for the Physical Work Demands?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ratzon, N.; Schejter, T.; Alon, E.; Schreuer, N.

    2011-01-01

    Youth and Adolescents with Special Needs (YASN) face many challenges during transition into employment. Although most of their physical challenges are secondary, yet they call for attention since most of them are hired for blue collar jobs. Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) should be adapted to prepare them addressing the physical job-demands,…

  11. Goals and Objectives of the 21st Century Challenge Plan.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tennessee State Dept. of Education, Nashville.

    The statewide goals and objectives of Tennessee's plan for educational excellence, the 21st Century Challenge, are outlined in this legislative committee report. The major initiatives under each goal will be implemented within 3 to 4 years. Goals and an example of the several objectives under each goal are: first grade readiness (e.g., require all…

  12. One Goal, Two Institutions: How a Community College and 4-Year University Partner to Bridge Student College Readiness Gaps

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Dawna; Lowry, Kimberly M.

    2017-01-01

    Recent national attention on college completion poses unique challenges and opportunities for community colleges. Moving underprepared students through basic skills educational courses to degree attainment represents an ongoing challenge. With more than 60% of community college students enrolled in remedial education, 2-year institutions must…

  13. Training and Personnel Systems Technology R&D Program Description FY 1988/1989. Revision

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-05-20

    scenario software /database, and computer generated imagery (CIG) subsystem resources; (d) investigation of feasibility of, and preparation of plans... computer language to Army flight simulator for demonstration and evaluation. The objective is to have flight simulators which use the same software as...the Automated Performance and Readiness Training System (APARTS), which is a computer software system which facilitates training management through

  14. An Evaluation of ChalleNGe Graduates DOD Employability

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-12-01

    long-term impacts for ChalleNGe graduates. Our previous work has shown that cadets with higher initial reading and applied math TABE scores are...levels of reading comprehension, writing, and basic math ; they simply are not ready to acquire a second language. In addition, program directors noted...graduates. Our previous work has shown that cadets with higher initial reading and applied math TABE scores are more likely to complete ChalleNGe. In

  15. Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model With Mappings to ACE Requirements for the General Availability User Environment Capabilities Release Version 1.1

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

    Vigil,Benny Manuel; Ballance, Robert; Haskell, Karen

    Cielo is a massively parallel supercomputer funded by the DOE/NNSA Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, and operated by the Alliance for Computing at Extreme Scale (ACES), a partnership between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The primary Cielo compute platform is physically located at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model documents the capabilities and the environment to be provided for the Q1 FY12 Level 2 Cielo Capability Computing (CCC) Platform Production Readiness Milestone. This document describes specific capabilities, tools, and procedures to support both local and remote users. The model ismore » focused on the needs of the ASC user working in the secure computing environments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory, or Sandia National Laboratories, but also addresses the needs of users working in the unclassified environment. The Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model maps the provided capabilities to the tri-Lab ASC Computing Environment (ACE) Version 8.0 requirements. The ACE requirements reflect the high performance computing requirements for the Production Readiness Milestone user environment capabilities of the ASC community. A description of ACE requirements met, and those requirements that are not met, are included in each section of this document. The Cielo Computing Environment, along with the ACE mappings, has been issued and reviewed throughout the tri-Lab community.« less

  16. Career readiness in adult survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Strauser, David; Klosky, James L.; Brinkman, Tara M.; Wong, Alex W.K.; Chan, Fong; Lanctot, Jennifer Q.; Ojha, Rohit P.; Robison, Leslie L.; Hudson, Melissa M.; Ness, Kirsten K.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose Adult survivors of childhood cancer experience difficulties in obtaining and maintaining employment. Employment-related challenges are associated with treatment-related health conditions, and may also be related to vocational factors such as career readiness, skill acquisition, and work experience. Unfortunately, little is known about how treatment, health and vocational related factors interact to impact career development among childhood cancer survivors. Methods 385 adult survivors of childhood cancer (42.1% male, median age 38 (21-62) years), participating in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study, completed a work experiences survey that included measures of career readiness and vocational identity. Logistic regression was used to compare characteristics of survivors in the low career readiness category to those in the medium or high career readiness category, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to evaluate associations between career readiness, vocational identity, treatment intensity and physical/emotional health. Results Low career readiness was prevalent in 17.4% of survivors. Univariate analysis did not identify any significant associations between cancer treatment-related factors and career readiness. Unemployed survivors (Odds ratio (OR) 2.3, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.2-4.5), those who were not college graduates (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.6-5.6), and those who had no personal income (OR 5.9, 95% CI 1.7-30.9) were at increased risk of low career readiness. SEM indicated that associations between treatment intensity, physical health, age at diagnosis and career readiness were mediated by emotional health and vocational identity. 63%, 35%, and 10% of the variance in career readiness, vocational identity, and emotional health, respectively, were explained by this theoretical model. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that individuals who reported low levels of career readiness were more likely to be unemployed, earn less than $40,000 per year, and were less likely to graduate from high school. The final structural model indicates that vocational identity and emotional health accounted for the indirect effect of treatment intensity, age a diagnosis, and physical health on career readiness. Implications for Cancer Survivors Addressing career readiness may be important to improve employment outcomes for adult survivors of childhood cancer. PMID:25047713

  17. KSC-00pp1575

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    This camper-equipped truck known as “Old Blue” served as mobile field command center for the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC. It has been replaced with a larger vehicle that includes a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine, plus its own onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  18. KSC-00pp1576

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    This new specially equipped vehicle serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed at KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or CCAFS

  19. KSC00pp1576

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    This new specially equipped vehicle serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed at KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or CCAFS

  20. KSC00pp1575

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    This camper-equipped truck known as “Old Blue” served as mobile field command center for the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC. It has been replaced with a larger vehicle that includes a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine, plus its own onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  1. A multichannel model-based methodology for extubation readiness decision of patients on weaning trials.

    PubMed

    Casaseca-de-la-Higuera, Pablo; Simmross-Wattenberg, Federico; Martín-Fernández, Marcos; Alberola-López, Carlos

    2009-07-01

    Discontinuation of mechanical ventilation is a challenging task that involves a number of subtle clinical issues. The gradual removal of the respiratory support (referred to as weaning) should be performed as soon as autonomous respiration can be sustained. However, the prediction rate of successful extubation is still below 25% based on previous studies. Construction of an automatic system that provides information on extubation readiness is thus desirable. Recent works have demonstrated that the breathing pattern variability is a useful extubation readiness indicator, with improving performance when multiple respiratory signals are jointly processed. However, the existing methods for predictor extraction present several drawbacks when length-limited time series are to be processed in heterogeneous groups of patients. In this paper, we propose a model-based methodology for automatic readiness prediction. It is intended to deal with multichannel, nonstationary, short records of the breathing pattern. Results on experimental data yield an 87.27% of successful readiness prediction, which is in line with the best figures reported in the literature. A comparative analysis shows that our methodology overcomes the shortcomings of so far proposed methods when applied to length-limited records on heterogeneous groups of patients.

  2. On the Matrix Exponential Function

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hou, Shui-Hung; Hou, Edwin; Pang, Wan-Kai

    2006-01-01

    A novel and simple formula for computing the matrix exponential function is presented. Specifically, it can be used to derive explicit formulas for the matrix exponential of a general matrix A satisfying p(A) = 0 for a polynomial p(s). It is ready for use in a classroom and suitable for both hand as well as symbolic computation.

  3. Can We Apply TAM in Computer-Based Classes?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, David; Williams, Denise

    2013-01-01

    While students may struggle in any classroom and consequently require help beyond the schedule meeting time and place of the class, computer-based courses pose the additional hurdle of requiring ready access to hardware and software that may be unavailable or inconvenient for students outside of the classroom and its scheduled meeting time. This…

  4. Many States unprepared for 'Y2K' computer woes.

    PubMed

    1998-12-25

    Most computer systems that States use to process health benefits are not Y2K compliant, which could jeopardize Medicaid application processing. This could cause recipients to lose benefits or experience delays in payments. Only seven states have reported that their systems are ready for the year 2000. Contact information is provided.

  5. Using Storytelling to Hone Language Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snider, Michelle

    2008-01-01

    A first glance into the classroom where Phillip Tillery teaches may leave visitors overwhelmed due by the array of high-tech equipment wired and ready for access by his students. Some students are working independently at computers while others are immersed in teams at a green screen and motion-capture setup. Various computer programs with myriad…

  6. Clean Energy Technologies Ready for Climate Change Challenge

    Science.gov Websites

    environmental problems is well founded, the director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory said today renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in solving environmental problems is clear, Truly said

  7. Self-management and Transition to Adult Health Care in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Team Process.

    PubMed

    Mahan, John D; Betz, Cecily L; Okumura, Megumi J; Ferris, Maria E

    2017-07-01

    As health care continues to evolve, the need for more effective health care transition (HCT) for all youth, but particularly children with chronic conditions and special health care needs, becomes even more important. With more than 90% of adolescents with chronic medical conditions now surviving into adulthood, suboptimal transition can lead to poorer quality of life and less successful adulthood.Through a series of clinical vignettes, the challenges of HCT are presented herein and accompanied by comments that underscore how these adolescents can best be helped to transition to successful adulthood. Several methods are presented to assess the readiness of adolescents and young adults (AYA) for transition. The process of transition can be divided into 3 stages: 1) setting the stage: initiation of HCT services and transition readiness assessment, 2) moving forward: ongoing provision of HCT services, and 3) reaching the goal: transfer of care and transition to adulthood.Several valuable suggestions for incorporating the HCT process into the health care system and improving HCT programs through a quality improvement (QI) approach are outlined. Future challenges in HCT include developing more precise assessments of transition status or transition readiness, better understanding the status and specific needs of AYA with chronic health care needs, continued program evaluation and QI efforts, and more reliance on patients and families to teach us about the challenges and methods in HCT that most effectively work for them. © American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017. All rights reserved.

  8. En sus marcas--Listos--A leer! Para las familias: Actividades de lenguaje para la primera infancia y ninez entre el nacimiento y los 5 anos. El reto: A leer, America! (Ready--Set--Read! For Families: Early Childhood Language Activities for Children from Birth through Age Five. America Reads Challenge).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Department of Education, Washington, DC.

    This Ready--Set--Read Kit includes an activity guide for families, a 1997-98 early childhood activity calendar, and an early childhood growth wallchart. The activity guide presents activities and ideas that families (adults who have nurturing relationships with a child--a mother, father, grandparent, other relative, or close friend) can use to…

  9. Health Telematics: A challenge for Healthcare Quality

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2001-10-25

    coordination of medical professionals and the quality of care. A a consequence, Health Telematics is a striking challenge for : 1. The communication between... professionals . Many experiences of professional networks all around the world demonstrate the feasibility and the benefits of such an electronic...communication between doctors, nurses, hospitals, labs... 2. The communication between professionals and their patients. Are the professionals ready

  10. Interoperability and complementarity of simulation tools for beamline design in the OASYS environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rebuffi, Luca; Sanchez del Rio, Manuel

    2017-08-01

    In the next years most of the major synchrotron radiation facilities around the world will upgrade to 4th-generation Diffraction Limited Storage Rings using multi-bend-achromat technology. Moreover, several Free Electron Lasers are ready-to-go or in phase of completion. These events represent a huge challenge for the optics physicists responsible of designing and calculating optical systems capable to exploit the revolutionary characteristics of the new photon beams. Reliable and robust beamline design is nowadays based on sophisticated computer simulations only possible by lumping together different simulation tools. The OASYS (OrAnge SYnchrotron Suite) suite drives several simulation tools providing new mechanisms of interoperability and communication within the same software environment. OASYS has been successfully used during the conceptual design of many beamline and optical designs for the ESRF and Elettra- Sincrotrone Trieste upgrades. Some examples are presented showing comparisons and benchmarking of simulations against calculated and experimental data.

  11. Calibration Testing of Network Tap Devices

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

    Popovsky, Barbara; Chee, Brian; Frincke, Deborah A.

    2007-11-14

    Abstract: Understanding the behavior of network forensic devices is important to support prosecutions of malicious conduct on computer networks as well as legal remedies for false accusations of network management negligence. Individuals who seek to establish the credibility of network forensic data must speak competently about how the data was gathered and the potential for data loss. Unfortunately, manufacturers rarely provide information about the performance of low-layer network devices at a level that will survive legal challenges. This paper proposes a first step toward an independent calibration standard by establishing a validation testing methodology for evaluating forensic taps against manufacturermore » specifications. The methodology and the theoretical analysis that led to its development are offered as a conceptual framework for developing a standard and to "operationalize" network forensic readiness. This paper also provides details of an exemplar test, testing environment, procedures and results.« less

  12. Enhancing the many-to-many relations across IHE document sharing communities.

    PubMed

    Ribeiro, Luís S; Costa, Carlos; Oliveira, José Luís

    2012-01-01

    The Integrating Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) initiative is an ongoing project aiming to enable true inter-site interoperability in the health IT field. IHE is a work in progress and many challenges need to be overcome before the healthcare Institutions may share patient clinical records transparently and effortless. Configuring, deploying and testing an IHE document sharing community requires a significant effort to plan and maintain the supporting IT infrastructure. With the new paradigm of cloud computing is now possible to launch software devices on demand and paying accordantly to the usage. This paper presents a framework designed with purpose of expediting the creation of IHE document sharing communities. It provides semi-ready templates of sharing communities that will be customized according the community needs. The framework is a meeting point of the healthcare institutions, creating a favourable environment that might converge in new inter-institutional professional relationships and eventually the creation of new Affinity Domains.

  13. General service and child immunization-specific readiness assessment of healthcare facilities in two selected divisions in Bangladesh.

    PubMed

    Shawon, Md Shajedur Rahman; Adhikary, Gourab; Ali, Md Wazed; Shamsuzzaman, Md; Ahmed, Shahabuddin; Alam, Nurul; Shackelford, Katya A; Woldeab, Alexander; Lim, Stephen S; Levine, Aubrey; Gakidou, Emmanuela; Uddin, Md Jasim

    2018-01-25

    Service readiness of health facilities is an integral part of providing comprehensive quality healthcare to the community. Comprehensive assessment of general and service-specific (i.e. child immunization) readiness will help to identify the bottlenecks in healthcare service delivery and gaps in equitable service provision. Assessing healthcare facilities readiness also helps in optimal policymaking and resource allocation. A health facility survey was conducted between March 2015 and December 2015 in two purposively selected divisions in Bangladesh; i.e. Rajshahi division (high performing) and Sylhet division (low performing). A total of 123 health facilities were randomly selected from different levels of service, both public and private, with variation in sizes and patient loads from the list of facilities. Data on various aspects of healthcare facility were collected by interviewing key personnel. General service and child immunization specific service readiness were assessed using the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) manual developed by World Health Organization (WHO). The analyses were stratified by division and level of healthcare facilities. The general service readiness index for pharmacies, community clinics, primary care facilities and higher care facilities were 40.6%, 60.5%, 59.8% and 69.5%, respectively in Rajshahi division and 44.3%, 57.8%, 57.5% and 73.4%, respectively in Sylhet division. Facilities at all levels had the highest scores for basic equipment (ranged between 51.7% and 93.7%) and the lowest scores for diagnostic capacity (ranged between 0.0% and 53.7%). Though facilities with vaccine storage capacity had very high levels of service readiness for child immunization, facilities without vaccine storage capacity lacked availability of many tracer items. Regarding readiness for newly introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), most of the surveyed facilities reported lack of sufficient funding and resources (antigen) for training programs. Our study suggested that health facilities suffered from lack of readiness in various aspects, most notably in diagnostic capacity. Conversely, with very few challenges, nearly all the health facilities designated to provide immunization services were ready to deliver routine childhood immunization services as well as newly introduced PCV and IPV.

  14. Disaggregating asthma: Big investigation versus big data.

    PubMed

    Belgrave, Danielle; Henderson, John; Simpson, Angela; Buchan, Iain; Bishop, Christopher; Custovic, Adnan

    2017-02-01

    We are facing a major challenge in bridging the gap between identifying subtypes of asthma to understand causal mechanisms and translating this knowledge into personalized prevention and management strategies. In recent years, "big data" has been sold as a panacea for generating hypotheses and driving new frontiers of health care; the idea that the data must and will speak for themselves is fast becoming a new dogma. One of the dangers of ready accessibility of health care data and computational tools for data analysis is that the process of data mining can become uncoupled from the scientific process of clinical interpretation, understanding the provenance of the data, and external validation. Although advances in computational methods can be valuable for using unexpected structure in data to generate hypotheses, there remains a need for testing hypotheses and interpreting results with scientific rigor. We argue for combining data- and hypothesis-driven methods in a careful synergy, and the importance of carefully characterized birth and patient cohorts with genetic, phenotypic, biological, and molecular data in this process cannot be overemphasized. The main challenge on the road ahead is to harness bigger health care data in ways that produce meaningful clinical interpretation and to translate this into better diagnoses and properly personalized prevention and treatment plans. There is a pressing need for cross-disciplinary research with an integrative approach to data science, whereby basic scientists, clinicians, data analysts, and epidemiologists work together to understand the heterogeneity of asthma. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Challenges for Navy Officer Personnel Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-04-01

    Aline Quester, Russell Beland, and William Mulligan. Ship Material Readiness. CNA Professional Paper 467 (Revised). Feb. 1991. 4825 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1850 703-824-2000 www.cna.org DAB-2014-U-007152-Final-7

  16. Development of the PRE-HIT instrument: patient readiness to engage in health information technology.

    PubMed

    Koopman, Richelle J; Petroski, Gregory F; Canfield, Shannon M; Stuppy, Julie A; Mehr, David R

    2014-01-28

    Technology-based aids for lifestyle change are becoming more prevalent for chronic conditions. Important "digital divides" remain, as well as concerns about privacy, data security, and lack of motivation. Researchers need a way to characterize participants' readiness to use health technologies. To address this need, we created an instrument to measure patient readiness to engage with health technologies among adult patients with chronic conditions. Initial focus groups to determine domains, followed by item development and refinement, and exploratory factor analysis to determine final items and factor structure. The development sample included 200 patients with chronic conditions from 6 family medicine clinics. From 98 potential items, 53 best candidate items were examined using exploratory factor analysis. Pearson's Correlation for Test/Retest reliability at 3 months. The final instrument had 28 items that sorted into 8 factors with associated Cronbach's alpha: 1) Health Information Need (0.84), 2) Computer/Internet Experience (0.87), 3) Computer Anxiety (0.82), 4) Preferred Mode of Interaction (0.73), 5) Relationship with Doctor (0.65), 6) Cell Phone Expertise (0.75), 7) Internet Privacy (0.71), and 8) No News is Good News (0.57). Test-retest reliability for the 8 subscales ranged from (0.60 to 0.85). The Patient Readiness to Engage in Health Internet Technology (PRE-HIT) instrument has good psychometric properties and will be an aid to researchers investigating technology-based health interventions. Future work will examine predictive validity.

  17. Development of the PRE-HIT instrument: patient readiness to engage in health information technology

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Technology-based aids for lifestyle change are becoming more prevalent for chronic conditions. Important “digital divides” remain, as well as concerns about privacy, data security, and lack of motivation. Researchers need a way to characterize participants’ readiness to use health technologies. To address this need, we created an instrument to measure patient readiness to engage with health technologies among adult patients with chronic conditions. Methods Initial focus groups to determine domains, followed by item development and refinement, and exploratory factor analysis to determine final items and factor structure. The development sample included 200 patients with chronic conditions from 6 family medicine clinics. From 98 potential items, 53 best candidate items were examined using exploratory factor analysis. Pearson’s Correlation for Test/Retest reliability at 3 months. Results The final instrument had 28 items that sorted into 8 factors with associated Cronbach’s alpha: 1) Health Information Need (0.84), 2) Computer/Internet Experience (0.87), 3) Computer Anxiety (0.82), 4) Preferred Mode of Interaction (0.73), 5) Relationship with Doctor (0.65), 6) Cell Phone Expertise (0.75), 7) Internet Privacy (0.71), and 8) No News is Good News (0.57). Test-retest reliability for the 8 subscales ranged from (0.60 to 0.85). Conclusion The Patient Readiness to Engage in Health Internet Technology (PRE-HIT) instrument has good psychometric properties and will be an aid to researchers investigating technology-based health interventions. Future work will examine predictive validity. PMID:24472182

  18. Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Final Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Engelland, Shawn A.; Capps, Richard; Day, Kevin Brian; Kistler, Matthew Stephen; Gaither, Frank; Juro, Greg

    2013-01-01

    After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows that may be subject to constraints that create localized demand/capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) and Frontline Managers (FLMs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool, based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release time is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that improves tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions and departure runway assignments to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept reduces uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs and FLMs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station in Dallas/Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents research results from the PDRC research activity. Companion papers present the Concept of Operations and a Technology Description.

  19. Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Technology Description

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Engelland, Shawn A.; Capps, Richard; Day, Kevin; Robinson, Corissia; Null, Jody R.

    2013-01-01

    After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demand-capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center TMC to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that uses this technology to improve tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept helps reduce uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station (NTX) in Dallas-Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents the Technology Description. Companion papers include the Final Report and a Concept of Operations.

  20. Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC): NASA to FAA Research Transition

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Engelland, Shawn; Davis, Thomas J.

    2013-01-01

    After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demand-capacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity, Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) and Frontline Managers (FLMs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release time is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that improves tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions and departure runway assignments to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept reduces uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs and FLMs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station in Dallas-Fort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations.

  1. Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) Concept of Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Engelland, Shawn; Capps, Richard A.; Day, Kevin Brian

    2013-01-01

    After takeoff, aircraft must merge into en route (Center) airspace traffic flows which may be subject to constraints that create localized demandcapacity imbalances. When demand exceeds capacity Traffic Management Coordinators (TMCs) often use tactical departure scheduling to manage the flow of departures into the constrained Center traffic flow. Tactical departure scheduling usually involves use of a Call for Release (CFR) procedure wherein the Tower must call the Center TMC to coordinate a release time prior to allowing the flight to depart. In present-day operations release times are computed by the Center Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) decision support tool based upon manual estimates of aircraft ready time verbally communicated from the Tower to the Center. The TMA-computed release is verbally communicated from the Center back to the Tower where it is relayed to the Local controller as a release window that is typically three minutes wide. The Local controller will manage the departure to meet the coordinated release time window. Manual ready time prediction and verbal release time coordination are labor intensive and prone to inaccuracy. Also, use of release time windows adds uncertainty to the tactical departure process. Analysis of more than one million flights from January 2011 indicates that a significant number of tactically scheduled aircraft missed their en route slot due to ready time prediction uncertainty. Uncertainty in ready time estimates may result in missed opportunities to merge into constrained en route flows and lead to lost throughput. Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plans call for development of Tower automation systems capable of computing surface trajectory-based ready time estimates. NASA has developed the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC) concept that uses this technology to improve tactical departure scheduling by automatically communicating surface trajectory-based ready time predictions to the Center scheduling tool. The PDRC concept also incorporates earlier NASA and FAA research into automation-assisted CFR coordination. The PDRC concept helps reduce uncertainty by automatically communicating coordinated release times with seconds-level precision enabling TMCs to work with target times rather than windows. NASA has developed a PDRC prototype system that integrates the Center's TMA system with a research prototype Tower decision support tool. A two-phase field evaluation was conducted at NASA's North Texas Research Station (NTX) in DallasFort Worth. The field evaluation validated the PDRC concept and demonstrated reduced release time uncertainty while being used for tactical departure scheduling of more than 230 operational flights over 29 weeks of operations. This paper presents the Concept of Operations. Companion papers include the Final Report and a Technology Description. ? SUBJECT:

  2. The Challenges in Applying Magnetroesistive Sensors on the 'Curiosity' Rover

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Michael R.

    2013-01-01

    Magnetoresistive Sensors were selected for use on the motor encoders throughout the Curiosity Rover for motor position feedback devices. The Rover contains 28 acuators with a corresponding number of encoder assemblies. The environment on Mars provides opportunities for challenges to any hardware design. The encoder assemblies presented several barriers that had to be vaulted in order to say the rover was ready to fly. The environment and encoder specific design features provided challenges that had to be solved in time to fly.

  3. Military genomics: a perspective on the successes and challenges of genomic medicine in the Armed Services.

    PubMed

    De Castro, Mauricio J; Turner, Clesson E

    2017-11-01

    We describe the impact genomics has on the health and readiness of the military service member, highlight several examples of the current and future plans for genomic medicine within the military, discuss challenges to implementation and provide recommendations to address some of those challenges. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. The Experiences of One New York City High School Cohort: Opportunities, Successes, and Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ready, Douglas; Hatch, Thomas; Warner, Miya; Chu, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

  5. Using Q Methodology to Assess Learning Outcomes Following the Implementation of a Concept-Based Curriculum.

    PubMed

    Hensel, Desiree

    The use of a concept-based curriculum in nursing education is increasing, but assessing its impact remains challenging. This project discusses how Q methodology was used to evaluate our prelicensure program's outcome of creating practitioners who were ready to practice in diverse environments before and after a concept-based curricular revision. The successes and challenges of the revision are discussed.

  6. Legal dimensions of neural antecedents to voluntary action.

    PubMed

    Patterson, Dennis

    2014-01-01

    This article considers the arguments of Nachev and Hacker in the context of claims that Libet's experiments regarding the readiness potential pose challenges for the criminal law, specifically for the distinction between voluntary and involuntary acts.

  7. Readiness of communities to engage with childhood obesity prevention initiatives in disadvantaged areas of Victoria, Australia.

    PubMed

    Cyril, Sheila; Polonsky, Michael; Green, Julie; Agho, Kingsley; Renzaho, Andre

    2017-07-01

    Objective Disadvantaged communities bear a disproportionate burden of childhood obesity and show low participation in childhood obesity prevention initiatives. This study aims to examine the level of readiness of disadvantaged communities to engage with childhood obesity prevention initiatives. Methods Using the community readiness model, 95 semi-structured interviews were conducted among communities in four disadvantaged areas of Victoria, Australia. Community readiness analysis and paired t-tests were performed to assess the readiness levels of disadvantaged communities to engage with childhood obesity prevention initiatives. Results The results showed that disadvantaged communities demonstrated low levels of readiness (readiness score=4/9, 44%) to engage with the existing childhood obesity prevention initiatives, lacked knowledge of childhood obesity and its prevention, and reported facing challenges in initiating and sustaining participation in obesity prevention initiatives. Conclusion This study highlights the need to improve community readiness by addressing low obesity-related literacy levels among disadvantaged communities and by facilitating the capacity-building of bicultural workers to deliver obesity prevention messages to these communities. Integrating these needs into existing Australian health policy and practice is of paramount importance for reducing obesity-related disparities currently prevailing in Australia. What is known about the topic? Childhood obesity prevalence is plateauing in developed countries including Australia; however, obesity-related inequalities continue to exist in Australia especially among communities living in disadvantaged areas, which experience poor engagement in childhood obesity prevention initiatives. Studies in the USA have found that assessing disadvantaged communities' readiness to participate in health programs is a critical initial step in reducing the disproportionate obesity burden among these communities. However, no studies in Australia have assessed disadvantaged communities' readiness to engage in obesity prevention initiatives. What does this paper add? This paper addresses the current gap in the knowledge of disadvantaged communities' level of readiness to engage in childhood obesity prevention initiatives in Australia. The study also identified the key factors responsible for low readiness of disadvantaged communities to participate in current childhood obesity prevention services. By using the Community Readiness model this study shows the readiness levels specific to the various dimensions of the model; Understanding dimension-specific readiness allows us to identify strategies that are tailored to each dimension, as guided by the model. What are the implications for practitioners? With the increasing burden of childhood obesity on disadvantaged communities, policymakers and health practitioners are facing a crisis in obesity prevention and management. Almost every year, new interventions are being planned and implemented. However if the target communities are not ready to participate in the available interventions these efforts are futile. This study exposes the key factors responsible for low readiness to participate in current obesity prevention services by disadvantaged communities. Addressing these key factors and improving readiness before designing new interventions will improve the participation of disadvantaged communities in those interventions. The study findings ultimately have the potential of reducing obesity-related disparities in Australia.

  8. The new Mobile Command Center at KSC is important addition to emergency preparedness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    This new specially equipped vehicle serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed at KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or CCAFS.

  9. KSC00pp1574

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Charles Street, Roger Scheidt and Robert ZiBerna, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, sit in the conference room inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. Nicknamed “The Brute,” it also features computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  10. KSC00pp1573

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Robert ZiBerna, Roger Scheidt and Charles Street, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, practice for an emergency scenario inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  11. KSC-00pp1574

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Charles Street, Roger Scheidt and Robert ZiBerna, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, sit in the conference room inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. Nicknamed “The Brute,” it also features computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  12. KSC-00pp1573

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Robert ZiBerna, Roger Scheidt and Charles Street, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, practice for an emergency scenario inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  13. The new Mobile Command Center at KSC is important addition to emergency preparedness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    This camper-equipped truck known as '''Old Blue''' served as mobile field command center for the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC. It has been replaced with a larger vehicle that includes a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine, plus its own onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

  14. Computational Gene Expression Modeling Identifies Salivary Biomarker Analysis that Predict Oral Feeding Readiness in the Newborn

    PubMed Central

    Maron, Jill L.; Hwang, Jooyeon S.; Pathak, Subash; Ruthazer, Robin; Russell, Ruby L.; Alterovitz, Gil

    2014-01-01

    Objective To combine mathematical modeling of salivary gene expression microarray data and systems biology annotation with RT-qPCR amplification to identify (phase I) and validate (phase II) salivary biomarker analysis for the prediction of oral feeding readiness in preterm infants. Study design Comparative whole transcriptome microarray analysis from 12 preterm newborns pre- and post-oral feeding success was used for computational modeling and systems biology analysis to identify potential salivary transcripts associated with oral feeding success (phase I). Selected gene expression biomarkers (15 from computational modeling; 6 evidence-based; and 3 reference) were evaluated by RT-qPCR amplification on 400 salivary samples from successful (n=200) and unsuccessful (n=200) oral feeders (phase II). Genes, alone and in combination, were evaluated by a multivariate analysis controlling for sex and post-conceptional age (PCA) to determine the probability that newborns achieved successful oral feeding. Results Advancing post-conceptional age (p < 0.001) and female sex (p = 0.05) positively predicted an infant’s ability to feed orally. A combination of five genes, NPY2R (hunger signaling), AMPK (energy homeostasis), PLXNA1 (olfactory neurogenesis), NPHP4 (visual behavior) and WNT3 (facial development), in addition to PCA and sex, demonstrated good accuracy for determining feeding success (AUROC = 0.78). Conclusions We have identified objective and biologically relevant salivary biomarkers that noninvasively assess a newborn’s developing brain, sensory and facial development as they relate to oral feeding success. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development of oral feeding readiness through translational and computational methods may improve clinical decision making while decreasing morbidities and health care costs. PMID:25620512

  15. Chinese baccalaureate nursing students' readiness for self-directed learning.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Hao Bin; Williams, Beverly A; Fang, Jin Bo; Pang, Dong

    2012-05-01

    This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 536 Chinese nursing students to explore students' readiness for self-directed learning (SDL). The Self-Directed Learning Readiness (SDLR) Scale for nursing education (Chinese translation version) was used. The value of the content validity index tested by five experts was 0.915. A measure of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.925 on the total scale. Students possessed readiness for SDL with a mean score of 157.72 (S.D.=15.08, 62.3% in high level, and 37.7% in low level). The attributes of Chinese students, such as a strong sense of responsibility and perseverance, due diligence and rigorous self-discipline, enable students to take the initiative and responsibility for their own learning. The existing variation in students' readiness for SDL is helpful in identifying student characteristics that might be used to modify learning activities for these students. Senior students had higher scores for SDLR than junior students. This finding likely reflects the maturational process of developing self-directedness. Promoting SDL skills is a challenging process for faculty members and students. It is helpful if nurse educators assess the learning styles and preferences of their students in order to determine the level of SDL activities to include from year to year in the curriculum. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. The Application of the Haddon Matrix to Public Health Readiness and Response Planning

    PubMed Central

    Barnett, Daniel J.; Balicer, Ran D.; Blodgett, David; Fews, Ayanna L.; Parker, Cindy L.; Links, Jonathan M.

    2005-01-01

    State and local health departments continue to face unprecedented challenges in preparing for, recognizing, and responding to threats to the public’s health. The attacks of 11 September 2001 and the ensuing anthrax mailings of 2001 highlighted the public health readiness and response hurdles posed by intentionally caused injury and illness. At the same time, recent natural disasters have highlighted the need for comparable public health readiness and response capabilities. Public health readiness and response activities can be conceptualized similarly for intentional attacks, natural disasters, and human-caused accidents. Consistent with this view, the federal government has adopted the all-hazards response model as its fundamental paradigm. Adoption of this paradigm provides powerful improvements in efficiency and efficacy, because it reduces the need to create a complex family of situation-specific preparedness and response activities. However, in practice, public health preparedness requires additional models and tools to provide a framework to better understand and prioritize emergency readiness and response needs, as well as to facilitate solutions; this is particularly true at the local health department level. Here, we propose to extend the use of the Haddon matrix—a conceptual model used for more than two decades in injury prevention and response strategies—for this purpose. PMID:15866764

  17. 2015 Pandemic Influenza Readiness Assessment Among US Public Health Emergency Preparedness Awardees.

    PubMed

    Fitzgerald, Thomas J; Moulia, Danielle L; Graitcer, Samuel B; Vagi, Sara J; Dopson, Stephanie A

    2017-09-01

    To assess how US Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) awardees plan to respond to an influenza pandemic with vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Pandemic Influenza Readiness Assessment, an online survey sent to PHEP directors, to analyze, in part, the readiness of PHEP awardees to vaccinate 80% of the populations of their jurisdictions with 2 doses of pandemic influenza vaccine, separated by 21 days, within 16 weeks of vaccine availability. Thirty-eight of 60 (63.3%) awardees reported being able to vaccinate their populations within 16 weeks; 38 (63.3%) planned to allocate more than 20% of their pandemic vaccine supply to points of dispensing (PODs). Thirty-four of 58 (58.6%) reported staffing as a challenge to vaccinating 80% of their populations; 28 of 60 (46.7%) reported preparedness workforce decreases, and 22 (36.7%) reported immunization workforce decreases between January 2012 and July 2015. Awardees relied on PODs to vaccinate segments of their jurisdictions despite workforce decreases. Planners must ensure readiness for POD sites to vaccinate, but should also leverage complementary sites and providers to augment public health response.

  18. En sus marcas--Listos--A leer! Para los cuidadores de ninos pequenos: Actividades de lenguaje para la primera infancia y ninez entre el nacimiento y los 5 anos. El reto: A leer, America! (Ready--Set--Read! For Caregivers: Early Childhood Language Activities for Children from Birth through Age Five. America Reads Challenge).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Department of Education, Washington, DC.

    This Ready--Set--Read Kit includes an activity guide for caregivers, a 1997-98 early childhood activity calendar, and an early childhood growth chart. The activity guide presents activities and ideas that caregivers (family child care providers and the teachers, staff, and volunteers in child development programs) can use to help young children…

  19. Development of a COTS Mass Storage Unit for the Space Readiness Coherent Lidar Experiment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liggin, Karl; Clark, Porter

    1999-01-01

    The technology to develop a Mass Storage Unit (MSU) using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hard drives is an on-going challenge to meet the Space Readiness Coherent Lidar Experiment (SPARCLE) program requirements. A conceptual view of SPARCLE's laser collecting atmospheric data from the shuttle is shown in Figure 1. The determination to develop this technology required several in depth studies before an actual COTS hard drive was selected to continue this effort. Continuing the development of the MSU can, and will, serve future NASA programs that require larger data storage and more on-board processing.

  20. Predicting implementation from organizational readiness for change: a study protocol

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background There is widespread interest in measuring organizational readiness to implement evidence-based practices in clinical care. However, there are a number of challenges to validating organizational measures, including inferential bias arising from the halo effect and method bias - two threats to validity that, while well-documented by organizational scholars, are often ignored in health services research. We describe a protocol to comprehensively assess the psychometric properties of a previously developed survey, the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment. Objectives Our objective is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the psychometric properties of the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment incorporating methods specifically to address threats from halo effect and method bias. Methods and Design We will conduct three sets of analyses using longitudinal, secondary data from four partner projects, each testing interventions to improve the implementation of an evidence-based clinical practice. Partner projects field the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment at baseline (n = 208 respondents; 53 facilities), and prospectively assesses the degree to which the evidence-based practice is implemented. We will conduct predictive and concurrent validities using hierarchical linear modeling and multivariate regression, respectively. For predictive validity, the outcome is the change from baseline to follow-up in the use of the evidence-based practice. We will use intra-class correlations derived from hierarchical linear models to assess inter-rater reliability. Two partner projects will also field measures of job satisfaction for convergent and discriminant validity analyses, and will field Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment measures at follow-up for concurrent validity (n = 158 respondents; 33 facilities). Convergent and discriminant validities will test associations between organizational readiness and different aspects of job satisfaction: satisfaction with leadership, which should be highly correlated with readiness, versus satisfaction with salary, which should be less correlated with readiness. Content validity will be assessed using an expert panel and modified Delphi technique. Discussion We propose a comprehensive protocol for validating a survey instrument for assessing organizational readiness to change that specifically addresses key threats of bias related to halo effect, method bias and questions of construct validity that often go unexplored in research using measures of organizational constructs. PMID:21777479

  1. Probabilistic simulation of concurrent engineering of propulsion systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chamis, C. C.; Singhal, S. N.

    1993-01-01

    Technology readiness and the available infrastructure is assessed for timely computational simulation of concurrent engineering for propulsion systems. Results for initial coupled multidisciplinary, fabrication-process, and system simulators are presented including uncertainties inherent in various facets of engineering processes. An approach is outlined for computationally formalizing the concurrent engineering process from cradle-to-grave via discipline dedicated workstations linked with a common database.

  2. Is the "Net Generation" Ready for Digital Citizenship? Perspectives from the IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013. Policy Brief No. 6

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watkins, Ryan; Engel, Laura C.; Hastedt, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    The rise of digital information and communication technologies (ICT) has made the acquisition of computer and information literacy (CIL) a leading factor in creating an engaged, informed, and employable citizenry. However, are young people, often described as "digital natives" or the "net generation," developing the necessary…

  3. Keewatin Region Educational Authority Pilot Education Project: Computer-Assisted Learning. Preliminary Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolter, Heidi; And Others

    A project was conducted to improve and expand academic upgrading, job readiness, and special skill training for adults in the Keewatin Region through the implementation of computer-assisted learning (CAL). It was intended as a response to the special needs of unemployed Inuit who were not reached in the past by traditional training programs and…

  4. A Virtual Astronomical Research Machine in No Time (VARMiNT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beaver, John

    2012-05-01

    We present early results of using virtual machine software to help make astronomical research computing accessible to a wider range of individuals. Our Virtual Astronomical Research Machine in No Time (VARMiNT) is an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine with free, open-source software already installed and configured (and in many cases documented). The purpose of VARMiNT is to provide a ready-to-go astronomical research computing environment that can be freely shared between researchers, or between amateur and professional, teacher and student, etc., and to circumvent the often-difficult task of configuring a suitable computing environment from scratch. Thus we hope that VARMiNT will make it easier for individuals to engage in research computing even if they have no ready access to the facilities of a research institution. We describe our current version of VARMiNT and some of the ways it is being used at the University of Wisconsin - Fox Valley, a two-year teaching campus of the University of Wisconsin System, as a means to enhance student independent study research projects and to facilitate collaborations with researchers at other locations. We also outline some future plans and prospects.

  5. Microbiological Challenge Testing for Listeria Monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Food: A Practical Approach.

    PubMed

    Spanu, Carlo; Scarano, Christian; Ibba, Michela; Pala, Carlo; Spanu, Vincenzo; De Santis, Enrico Pietro Luigi

    2014-12-09

    Food business operators (FBOs) are the primary responsible for the safety of food they place on the market. The definition and validation of the product's shelf-life is an essential part for ensuring microbiological safety of food and health of consumers. In the frame of the Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, FBOs shall conduct shelf-life studies in order to assure that their food does not exceed the food safety criteria throughout the defined shelf-life. In particular this is required for ready-to-eat (RTE) food that supports the growth of Listeria monocytogenes . Among other studies, FBOs can rely on the conclusion drawn by microbiological challenge tests. A microbiological challenge test consists in the artificial contamination of a food with a pathogen microorganism and aims at simulating its behaviour during processing and distribution under the foreseen storage and handling conditions. A number of documents published by international health authorities and research institutions describes how to conduct challenge studies. The authors reviewed the existing literature and described the methodology for implementing such laboratory studies. All the main aspects for the conduction of L. monocytogenes microbiological challenge tests were considered, from the selection of the strains, preparation and choice of the inoculum level and method of contamination, to the experimental design and data interpretation. The objective of the present document is to provide an exhaustive and practical guideline for laboratories that want to implement L. monocytogenes challenge testing on RTE food.

  6. Microbiological Challenge Testing for Listeria Monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Food: A Practical Approach

    PubMed Central

    Scarano, Christian; Ibba, Michela; Pala, Carlo; Spanu, Vincenzo; De Santis, Enrico Pietro Luigi

    2014-01-01

    Food business operators (FBOs) are the primary responsible for the safety of food they place on the market. The definition and validation of the product’s shelf-life is an essential part for ensuring microbiological safety of food and health of consumers. In the frame of the Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, FBOs shall conduct shelf-life studies in order to assure that their food does not exceed the food safety criteria throughout the defined shelf-life. In particular this is required for ready-to-eat (RTE) food that supports the growth of Listeria monocytogenes. Among other studies, FBOs can rely on the conclusion drawn by microbiological challenge tests. A microbiological challenge test consists in the artificial contamination of a food with a pathogen microorganism and aims at simulating its behaviour during processing and distribution under the foreseen storage and handling conditions. A number of documents published by international health authorities and research institutions describes how to conduct challenge studies. The authors reviewed the existing literature and described the methodology for implementing such laboratory studies. All the main aspects for the conduction of L. monocytogenes microbiological challenge tests were considered, from the selection of the strains, preparation and choice of the inoculum level and method of contamination, to the experimental design and data interpretation. The objective of the present document is to provide an exhaustive and practical guideline for laboratories that want to implement L. monocytogenes challenge testing on RTE food. PMID:27800369

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

    None

    In this project, three production home builders—K. Hovnanian Homes, David Weekley Homes, and Transformations, Inc.—partnered with Building America team Building Science Corporation to evaluate the certification of five test homes to the new DOE Challenge Home program performance standard (now DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program). The builders identified key benefits and barriers that impacted the certification of the test homes, and the likelihood of whether DOE Challenge Home certification would be pursued in future homes

  8. Deep Space Exploration: Will We Be Ready? Infectious Diseases, Microgravity and Other Forces Affecting Health Pose Challenges for Humans Planning to Explore Space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    LaRocco, Mark T.; Pierson, Duane L.

    1999-01-01

    In contemplating space travel beyond earth orbits, we humans face significant barriers and major challenges. Although researchers involved in several scientific subdisciplines, including space medicine and space life sciences, may provide insights to help overcome those barriers, their efforts are at an early stage of development, leaving open many questions of potentially major consequence.

  9. Financing and current capacity for REDD+ readiness and monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification in the Congo Basin

    PubMed Central

    Maniatis, Danae; Gaugris, Jérôme; Mollicone, Danilo; Scriven, Joel; Corblin, Alexis; Ndikumagenge, Cleto; Aquino, André; Crete, Philippe; Sanz-Sanchez, Maria-José

    2013-01-01

    This paper provides the first critical analysis of the financing and current capacity for REDD+ readiness in the Congo Basin, with a particular focus on the REDD+ component of national forest monitoring and measurement, reporting and verification (M&MRV). We focus on three areas of analysis: (i) general financing for REDD+ readiness especially M&MRV; (ii) capacity and information for REDD+ implementation and M&MRV; (iii) prospects and challenges for REDD+ and M&MRV readiness in terms of financing and capacity. For the first area of analysis, a REDD+ and M&MRV readiness financing database was created based on the information from the REDD+ voluntary database and Internet searches. For the second area of analysis, a qualitative approach to data collection was adopted (semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, surveys and observations). All 10 countries were visited between 2010 and 2012. We find that: (i) a significant amount of REDD+ financing flows into the Congo Basin (±US$550 million or almost half of the REDD+ financing for the African continent); (ii) across countries, there is an important disequilibrium in terms of REDD+ and M&MRV readiness financing, political engagement, comprehension and capacity, which also appears to be a key barrier to countries receiving equal resources; (iii) most financing appears to go to smaller scale (subnational) REDD+ projects; (iv) four distinct country groups in terms of REDD+ readiness and M&MRV status are identified; and (v) the Congo Basin has a distinct opportunity to have a specific REDD+ financing window for large-scale and more targeted national REDD+ programmes through a specific fund for the region. PMID:23878337

  10. Organizational readiness in specialty mental health care.

    PubMed

    Hamilton, Alison B; Cohen, Amy N; Young, Alexander S

    2010-01-01

    Implementing quality improvement efforts in clinics is challenging. Assessment of organizational "readiness" for change can set the stage for implementation by providing information regarding existing strengths and deficiencies, thereby increasing the chance of a successful improvement effort. This paper discusses organizational assessment in specialty mental health, in preparation for improving care for individuals with schizophrenia. To assess organizational readiness for change in specialty mental health in order to facilitate locally tailored implementation strategies. EQUIP-2 is a site-level controlled trial at nine VA medical centers (four intervention, five control). Providers at all sites completed an organizational readiness for change (ORC) measure, and key stakeholders at the intervention sites completed a semi-structured interview at baseline. At the four intervention sites, 16 administrators and 43 clinical staff completed the ORC, and 38 key stakeholders were interviewed. The readiness domains of training needs, communication, and change were the domains with lower mean scores (i.e., potential deficiencies) ranging from a low of 23.8 to a high of 36.2 on a scale of 10-50, while staff attributes of growth and adaptability had higher mean scores (i.e., potential strengths) ranging from a low of 35.4 to a high of 41.1. Semi-structured interviews revealed that staff perceptions and experiences of change and decision-making are affected by larger structural factors such as change mandates from VA headquarters. Motivation for change, organizational climate, staff perceptions and beliefs, and prior experience with change efforts contribute to readiness for change in specialty mental health. Sites with less readiness for change may require more flexibility in the implementation of a quality improvement intervention. We suggest that uptake of evidence-based practices can be enhanced by tailoring implementation efforts to the strengths and deficiencies of the organizations that are implementing quality improvement changes.

  11. Financing and current capacity for REDD+ readiness and monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification in the Congo Basin.

    PubMed

    Maniatis, Danae; Gaugris, Jérôme; Mollicone, Danilo; Scriven, Joel; Corblin, Alexis; Ndikumagenge, Cleto; Aquino, André; Crete, Philippe; Sanz-Sanchez, Maria-José

    2013-01-01

    This paper provides the first critical analysis of the financing and current capacity for REDD+ readiness in the Congo Basin, with a particular focus on the REDD+ component of national forest monitoring and measurement, reporting and verification (M&MRV). We focus on three areas of analysis: (i) general financing for REDD+ readiness especially M&MRV; (ii) capacity and information for REDD+ implementation and M&MRV; (iii) prospects and challenges for REDD+ and M&MRV readiness in terms of financing and capacity. For the first area of analysis, a REDD+ and M&MRV readiness financing database was created based on the information from the REDD+ voluntary database and Internet searches. For the second area of analysis, a qualitative approach to data collection was adopted (semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, surveys and observations). All 10 countries were visited between 2010 and 2012. We find that: (i) a significant amount of REDD+ financing flows into the Congo Basin (±US$550 million or almost half of the REDD+ financing for the African continent); (ii) across countries, there is an important disequilibrium in terms of REDD+ and M&MRV readiness financing, political engagement, comprehension and capacity, which also appears to be a key barrier to countries receiving equal resources; (iii) most financing appears to go to smaller scale (subnational) REDD+ projects; (iv) four distinct country groups in terms of REDD+ readiness and M&MRV status are identified; and (v) the Congo Basin has a distinct opportunity to have a specific REDD+ financing window for large-scale and more targeted national REDD+ programmes through a specific fund for the region.

  12. A pilot test of a motivational interviewing social network intervention to reduce substance use among housing first residents.

    PubMed

    Kennedy, David P; Osilla, Karen Chan; Hunter, Sarah B; Golinelli, Daniela; Maksabedian Hernandez, Ervant; Tucker, Joan S

    2018-03-01

    This article presents findings of a pilot test of a Motivational Interviewing social network intervention (MI-SNI) to enhance motivation to reduce high risk alcohol and other drug (AOD) use among formerly homeless individuals transitioning to housing. Delivered in-person by a facilitator trained in MI, this four-session computer-assisted intervention provides personalized social network visualization feedback to help participants understand the people in their network who trigger their alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and those who support abstinence. If ready, participants are encouraged to make changes to their social network to help reduce their own high-risk behavior. Participants were 41 individuals (33 male, 7 female, 1 other; 23 African-American, 5 non-Latino White, 6 Latino, 7 other, mean age 48) who were transitioning from homelessness to permanent supportive housing. They were randomly assigned to either the MI-SNI condition or usual care. Readiness to change AOD use, AOD abstinence self-efficacy, and AOD use were assessed at baseline and shortly after the final intervention session for the MI-SNI arm and around 3-months after baseline for the control arm. Acceptability of the intervention was also evaluated. MI-SNI participants reported increased readiness to change AOD use compared to control participants. We also conducted a subsample analysis for participants at one housing program and found a significant intervention effect on readiness to change AOD use, AOD abstinence self-efficacy, and alcohol use compared to control participants. Participants rated the intervention as highly acceptable. We conclude that a brief computer-assisted Motivational Interviewing social network intervention has potential to efficaciously impact readiness to change AOD use, AOD abstinence self-efficacy, and AOD use among formerly homeless individuals transitioning to permanent supportive housing, and warrants future study in larger clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1986-01-01

    As result of the Challenger accident, the alternative possibility for launch of the ROSAT mission with an Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle is being considered. An overview of the problems involved in having the ROSAT flight ready for either a Shuttle or Atlas/Centaur launch is presented.

  14. Building Change Readiness Practices for Information Technology Support Staff

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perkins, Dianna Joseph

    2014-01-01

    With the turbulent economic conditions of the healthcare market, organizational leaders are faced with significant factors driving unprecedented change. Healthcare organizations are challenged with reimbursement reductions, high costs, modification of government regulations, and demanding healthcare consumers. Survival for healthcare organizations…

  15. Assessment-Ready Preservice Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kelting-Gibson, Lynn; Karsted, Kimberly; Weikert, Angela

    2013-01-01

    As teacher educators search for ways to prepare future educators for the challenges of assessment implementation, we suggest that authentic practice by preservice teachers in an informal learning environment promotes assessment implementation. The analysis of 28 volunteer assessment students' reflections revealed that practicing assessment…

  16. Cloud GIS Based Watershed Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bediroğlu, G.; Colak, H. E.

    2017-11-01

    In this study, we generated a Cloud GIS based watershed management system with using Cloud Computing architecture. Cloud GIS is used as SAAS (Software as a Service) and DAAS (Data as a Service). We applied GIS analysis on cloud in terms of testing SAAS and deployed GIS datasets on cloud in terms of DAAS. We used Hybrid cloud computing model in manner of using ready web based mapping services hosted on cloud (World Topology, Satellite Imageries). We uploaded to system after creating geodatabases including Hydrology (Rivers, Lakes), Soil Maps, Climate Maps, Rain Maps, Geology and Land Use. Watershed of study area has been determined on cloud using ready-hosted topology maps. After uploading all the datasets to systems, we have applied various GIS analysis and queries. Results shown that Cloud GIS technology brings velocity and efficiency for watershed management studies. Besides this, system can be easily implemented for similar land analysis and management studies.

  17. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Manatee County Habitat for Humanity, Ellenton, Florida

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

    none,

    2013-09-01

    In this 18-home community, all homes are LEED Platinum and meet ENERGY STAR for Homes Version 3 requirements, HERS 23–53. Half way through the project, Habitat for Humanity heard about the DOE Challenge Home program and signed on, committing to build the next home, a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,143 ft2 duplex, to Challenge Home criteria. The home is the first DOE Challenge Home in Manatee County, and was awarded a 2013 Housing Innovation Award in the affordable builder category.

  18. Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Significant Risks Remain to Department of Education's Student Financial Aid Systems. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willemssen, Joel C.

    This testimony discusses the risks faced by the U.S. Department of Education due to the year 2000 (Y2K) computing crisis, focusing on student financial aid systems, the actions the Department has taken in recent months to address these risks, and the key issues the Department must deal with if its computer systems are to be ready for the century…

  19. AMCP Partnership Forum: Biosimilars--Ready, Set, Launch.

    PubMed

    2016-04-01

    Through 2020, reference biologic products will lose patent protection that will be worth $54 billion to the U.S. economy. Consequently, interest in biosimilars is intensifying across the health care industry. Managed care organizations (MCOs) are depending on the savings opportunity that bio-similars promise. After the first FDA approval of a biosimilar in March 2015, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) convened a biosimilar Partnership Forum on June 10-11, 2015. The goal of this forum was to address current readiness of MCOs to optimize biosimilars; identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities with regard to biosimilars; and recommend education and training content to help AMCP best meet the needs of its members and stakeholders. The forum brought together multiple stakeholders from MCOs, pharmacy benefit managers, specialty pharmacies, integrated delivery networks, federal government and standards setting organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and the pharmaceutical industry. Through a series of 4 one-hour webinars and a 1.5-day live workgroup session, participants identified current challenges and readiness issues in addressing biosimilars. These challenges included lack of a consolidated educational strategy for incorporating biosimilars into the clinical decision-making process; deficiencies in current levels of federal (e.g., the FDA) or state (e.g., departments of insurance) guidance; limited intelligence on pricing strategies and consideration of stakeholder contracting alignment and risk sharing; and operational implementation issues. Participants identified necessary tactics for executing a successful bio-similar strategy. These tactics included creating a broad multiple stakeholder coalition to support educational efforts to gain public, provider, and other stakeholder acceptance; aligning utilization incentives through reimbursement policies and programs; encouraging benefit design and stakeholder collaboration; advancing the coding and technology infrastructure to support operations, contracting, billing, reimbursement, and reporting needs; and having appropriate active surveillance mechanisms to enable assessment of the clinical performance of biosimilars and their innovator products. Participants recommended guidance for AMCP to optimally support its membership and stakeholders with educational and training programs at multiple venues; a platform for regular communications and updates; and advocacy, community promotion, and education. The AMCP Partnership Forum entitled "Biosimilars-Ready, Set, Launch" and the development of this report were supported by Abbvie, Amgen, Apotex, Boehringer, Merck, Momenta, and Sandoz.

  20. The new Mobile Command Center at KSC is important addition to emergency preparedness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    Charles Street, Roger Scheidt and Robert ZiBerna, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, sit in the conference room inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. Nicknamed '''The Brute,''' it also features computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

  1. The new Mobile Command Center at KSC is important addition to emergency preparedness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    Robert ZiBerna, Roger Scheidt and Charles Street, the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, practice for an emergency scenario inside the Mobile Command Center, a specially equipped vehicle. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

  2. Heuristic methods for the single machine scheduling problem with different ready times and a common due date

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Birgin, Ernesto G.; Ronconi, Débora P.

    2012-10-01

    The single machine scheduling problem with a common due date and non-identical ready times for the jobs is examined in this work. Performance is measured by the minimization of the weighted sum of earliness and tardiness penalties of the jobs. Since this problem is NP-hard, the application of constructive heuristics that exploit specific characteristics of the problem to improve their performance is investigated. The proposed approaches are examined through a computational comparative study on a set of 280 benchmark test problems with up to 1000 jobs.

  3. Bio-inspired Autonomic Structures: a middleware for Telecommunications Ecosystems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manzalini, Antonio; Minerva, Roberto; Moiso, Corrado

    Today, people are making use of several devices for communications, for accessing multi-media content services, for data/information retrieving, for processing, computing, etc.: examples are laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, mp3 players, smart cards and smart appliances. One of the most attracting service scenarios for future Telecommunications and Internet is the one where people will be able to browse any object in the environment they live: communications, sensing and processing of data and services will be highly pervasive. In this vision, people, machines, artifacts and the surrounding space will create a kind of computational environment and, at the same time, the interfaces to the network resources. A challenging technological issue will be interconnection and management of heterogeneous systems and a huge amount of small devices tied together in networks of networks. Moreover, future network and service infrastructures should be able to provide Users and Application Developers (at different levels, e.g., residential Users but also SMEs, LEs, ASPs/Web2.0 Service roviders, ISPs, Content Providers, etc.) with the most appropriate "environment" according to their context and specific needs. Operators must be ready to manage such level of complication enabling their latforms with technological advanced allowing network and services self-supervision and self-adaptation capabilities. Autonomic software solutions, enhanced with innovative bio-inspired mechanisms and algorithms, are promising areas of long term research to face such challenges. This chapter proposes a bio-inspired autonomic middleware capable of leveraging the assets of the underlying network infrastructure whilst, at the same time, supporting the development of future Telecommunications and Internet Ecosystems.

  4. Hospitals need to help Medicare HMOs.

    PubMed

    Johnson, D E

    1998-09-01

    Many of the health maintenance organizations that rushed to create Medicare products are bailing out of their Medicare contracts. Donald E.L. Johnson writes that Medicare HMOs face market and government challenges, and hospitals should try to anticipate HMOs' next moves and have responses ready.

  5. Quality Physical Education. NASPE Resource Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2013

    2013-01-01

    A quality physical education program provides learning opportunities, appropriate instruction, meaningful and challenging content, and student and program assessment. In addition, a quality physical education improves mental alertness, academic performance, and readiness and enthusiasm for learning in the nation's youth. This brief provides a list…

  6. Psychosocial Research and the Hospitalized Adolescent: Approaches and Challenges.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Denholm, Carey J.; Joschko, Michael

    1988-01-01

    Notes that hospitalized adolescents are often participants in psychosocial research. Presents examples of studies within four approaches (instructional, theoretical, informational, experimental) to describe behaviors of hospitalized adolescents. Discusses impact of various illness states (acute, chronic, terminal) and readiness of adolescent to be…

  7. International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Examining College Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conley, David; McGaughy, Charis; Davis-Molin, Whitney; Farkas, Rachel; Fukuda, Erin

    2014-01-01

    The International Baccalaureate (IB) works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. This three-phase study prepared by the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) on behalf of the International Baccalaureate Organization explored the impact…

  8. Formulation and Stability of Solutions.

    PubMed

    Akers, Michael J

    2016-01-01

    Ready-to-use solutions are the most preferable and most common dosage forms for injectable and topical ophthalmic products. Drugs formulated as solution almost always have chemical and physical stability challenges as well as solubility limitations and the need to prevent inadvertent microbial contamination issues. This article, which takes us through a discussion of optimizing the physical stability of solutions, represents the first of a series of articles discussing how these challenges and issues are addressed.

  9. Isolation of Salmonella from ready-to-eat poultry meat and evaluation of its survival at low temperature, microwaving and simulated gastric fluids.

    PubMed

    Akbar, Ali; Anal, Anil Kumar

    2015-05-01

    A study was conducted to evaluate the risk of Salmonella contamination and its survival at different stages in chill ready-to-eat poultry meat products chain. Samples (n = 181) were collected and examined for the presence of Salmonella species. The bacteria were initially identified against polyvalent antisera "O" and "H", followed by confirmation with 16 s rDNA. The single Salmonella, isolate from the tested food samples showed 99.8 % phylogenetic similarity with Salmonella enterica. It was further evaluated for antibiotic sensitivity pattern and found resistant to four antibiotics including ampicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and nalidixic acid. Salmonella associated with ready-to-eat poultry meat products were found active at storage temperature ≥4 °C in a challenge study. It was revealed that shape and weight of the meat pieces have direct influence on the reduction of pathogens during microwave heating. The 30 and 60 s microwaving (with radiation power fixed at 900 W) was found ineffective for the elimination of target bacteria (10(6)-10(7) CFU/g) in meat pieces with weight ≥90 g. Salmonella enterica was able to survive in simulated gastric fluid. The storage temperature and microwaving were found critical point for the transfer of pathogens through ready-to-eat poultry meat products to consumer in chill ready-to-eat poultry meat chain.

  10. Automation of Periodic Reports

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1975-06-01

    The manual is a user's guide to the automation of the 'Summary of National Transportation Statistics.' The System is stored on the in-house PDP-10 computer to provide ready access and retrieval of the data. The information stored in the system includ...

  11. 77 FR 38306 - GFIRST Conference Stakeholder Evaluation

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-27

    ...), National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) will...- CERT, [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: GFIRST is DHS's premier cyber conference and continually seeks to enhance collaborative efforts among cyber constituencies, partners, and stakeholders. The...

  12. Ready-to-use foods for management of moderate acute malnutrition: considerations for scaling up production and use in programs.

    PubMed

    Osendarp, Saskia; Rogers, Beatrice; Ryan, Kelsey; Manary, Mark; Akomo, Peter; Bahwere, Paluku; Belete, Hilina; Zeilani, Mamane; Islam, Munirul; Dibari, Filippo; De Pee, Saskia

    2015-03-01

    Ready-to-use foods are one of the available strategies for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), but challenges remain in the use of these products in programs at scale. This paper focuses on two challenges: the need for cheaper formulations using locally available ingredients that are processed in a safe, reliable, and financially sustainable local production facility; and the effective use of these products in large-scale community-based programs. Linear programming tools can be used successfully to design local compositions that are in line with international guidelines, low in cost, and acceptable, and the efficacy of these local formulations in the treatment of MAM was recently demonstrated in Malawi. The production of local formulations for programs at scale relies on the existence of a reliable and efficient local production facility. Technical assistance may be required in the development of sustainable business models at an early stage in the process, taking into account the stringent product quality and safety criteria and the required investments. The use of ready-to-use products, as of any food supplement, in programs at scale will be affected by the practice of household sharing and diversion of these products for other uses. Additional measures can be considered to account for sharing. These products designed for the treatment and prevention of MAM are to be used in community-based programs and should therefore be used in conjunction with other interventions and designed so that they do not replace the intake of other foods and breastmilk. Remaining challenges and implications for the (operations) research agenda are discussed.

  13. State of the art and taxonomy of prognostics approaches, trends of prognostics applications and open issues towards maturity at different technology readiness levels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Javed, Kamran; Gouriveau, Rafael; Zerhouni, Noureddine

    2017-09-01

    Integrating prognostics to a real application requires a certain maturity level and for this reason there is a lack of success stories about development of a complete Prognostics and Health Management system. In fact, the maturity of prognostics is closely linked to data and domain specific entities like modeling. Basically, prognostics task aims at predicting the degradation of engineering assets. However, practically it is not possible to precisely predict the impending failure, which requires a thorough understanding to encounter different sources of uncertainty that affect prognostics. Therefore, different aspects crucial to the prognostics framework, i.e., from monitoring data to remaining useful life of equipment need to be addressed. To this aim, the paper contributes to state of the art and taxonomy of prognostics approaches and their application perspectives. In addition, factors for prognostics approach selection are identified, and new case studies from component-system level are discussed. Moreover, open challenges toward maturity of the prognostics under uncertainty are highlighted and scheme for an efficient prognostics approach is presented. Finally, the existing challenges for verification and validation of prognostics at different technology readiness levels are discussed with respect to open challenges.

  14. A Community-Based Exergaming Physical Activity Program Improves Readiness-to-Change and Self-Efficacy Among Rural-Residing Older Adults.

    PubMed

    Sowle, Ashleigh J; Francis, Sarah L; Margrett, Jennifer A; Shelley, Mack C; Franke, Warren D

    2017-07-01

    Rural-residing older adults (OA) are not meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations, such that identifying methods of increasing PA among OA remains an ongoing challenge. This study evaluated the effect of a community-based exergaming program on PA readiness-to-change and self-efficacy among rural-residing OA (n = 265). There was a significant (p = .008) increase in readiness-to-change classification from PRE to POST. Significant increases in self-efficacy, or confidence in their ability to be physically active for a prescribed period of time, were detected for 35 (p = .011) and 40 min (p = .035) of continuous PA. PA self-efficacy change for 35 min of continuous PA (F [3,137] = 3.973, p = .010) and 40 min of continuous PA (F [3,137) = 2.893, p = .038) were influenced by the interaction between PRE self-reported health and PRE PA readiness-to-change levels. Results suggest that an exergaming-themed PA intervention is effective at increasing PA participation and self-efficacy for PA among rural-residing OA.

  15. Thinking Big

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kastens, Kim; Krumhansl, Ruth; Baker, Irene

    2015-01-01

    This article is aimed at teachers already experienced with activities involving small, student-collected data sets and who are now ready to begin working with large, online data sets collected by scientists and engineers. The authors discuss challenges, instructional strategies, and sources of appropriate lesson plans. With guidance, plus online…

  16. Languages: Passport to a Changing World.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lo Bianco, Joseph

    1992-01-01

    Describes the natures of changes in political structures that are leading to a new internationalism and economic interdependence and discusses Australia's readiness to meet the ensuing challenges. Effective international exchange requires the highest levels of communicative capability and reaffirms the rationale for the social purposes of language…

  17. Coast guard : observations on the fiscal year 2010 budget and related performance and management challenges.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-07-01

    The U.S. Coast Guard, a component : of the Department of Homeland : Security (DHS), conducts 11 : statutory missions that range from : marine safety to defense readiness. : To enhance mission performance, : the Coast Guard is implementing a : moderni...

  18. Partnering to provide simulated learning to address Interprofessional Education Collaborative core competencies.

    PubMed

    Murphy, Judy I; Nimmagadda, Jayashree

    2015-05-01

    Learning to effectively communicate and work with other professionals requires skill, yet interprofessional education is often not included in the undergraduate healthcare provider curriculum. Simulation is an effective pedagogy to bring students from multiple professions together for learning. This article describes a pilot study where nursing and social work students learned together in a simulated learning activity, which was evaluated to by the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). The RIPLS was used before and after the simulated activity to determine if this form of education impacted students' perceptions of readiness to learn together. Students from both professions improved in their RIPLS scores. Students were also asked to identify their interprofessional strengths and challenges before and after the simulation. Changes were identified in qualitative data where reports of strengths and challenges indicated learning and growth had occurred. In conclusion, this pilot study suggests that interprofessional simulation can be an effective method to integrate Interprofessional Education Collaborative core competencies into the curriculum.

  19. Team-Based Learning in a Community Health Nursing Course: Improving Academic Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Miles, Jane M; Larson, Kim L; Swanson, Melvin

    2017-07-01

    Population health concepts, such as upstream thinking, present challenging ideas to undergraduate nursing students grounded in an acute care orientation. The purpose of this study was to describe how team-based learning (TBL) influenced academic outcomes in a community health nursing course. A descriptive correlational design examined the relationship among student scores on individual readiness assurance tests (iRATs), team readiness assurance tests (tRATs), and the final examination. The sample included 221 nursing students who had completed the course. A large positive correlation was found between iRAT and final examination scores. For all students, the mean tRAT score was higher than the mean iRAT score. A moderate positive correlation existed between tRAT and final examination scores. The study contributes to understanding the effects of TBL pedagogy on student academic outcomes in nursing education. TBL is a valuable teaching method in a course requiring the application of challenging concepts. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):425-429.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  20. Computational simulation of concurrent engineering for aerospace propulsion systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chamis, C. C.; Singhal, S. N.

    1992-01-01

    Results are summarized of an investigation to assess the infrastructure available and the technology readiness in order to develop computational simulation methods/software for concurrent engineering. These results demonstrate that development of computational simulations methods for concurrent engineering is timely. Extensive infrastructure, in terms of multi-discipline simulation, component-specific simulation, system simulators, fabrication process simulation, and simulation of uncertainties - fundamental in developing such methods, is available. An approach is recommended which can be used to develop computational simulation methods for concurrent engineering for propulsion systems and systems in general. Benefits and facets needing early attention in the development are outlined.

  1. Computational simulation for concurrent engineering of aerospace propulsion systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chamis, C. C.; Singhal, S. N.

    1993-01-01

    Results are summarized for an investigation to assess the infrastructure available and the technology readiness in order to develop computational simulation methods/software for concurrent engineering. These results demonstrate that development of computational simulation methods for concurrent engineering is timely. Extensive infrastructure, in terms of multi-discipline simulation, component-specific simulation, system simulators, fabrication process simulation, and simulation of uncertainties--fundamental to develop such methods, is available. An approach is recommended which can be used to develop computational simulation methods for concurrent engineering of propulsion systems and systems in general. Benefits and issues needing early attention in the development are outlined.

  2. Computational simulation for concurrent engineering of aerospace propulsion systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chamis, C. C.; Singhal, S. N.

    1993-02-01

    Results are summarized for an investigation to assess the infrastructure available and the technology readiness in order to develop computational simulation methods/software for concurrent engineering. These results demonstrate that development of computational simulation methods for concurrent engineering is timely. Extensive infrastructure, in terms of multi-discipline simulation, component-specific simulation, system simulators, fabrication process simulation, and simulation of uncertainties--fundamental to develop such methods, is available. An approach is recommended which can be used to develop computational simulation methods for concurrent engineering of propulsion systems and systems in general. Benefits and issues needing early attention in the development are outlined.

  3. One-to-One Laptop Programs: Do Students in Identified Illinois High Schools Have an Advantage When State Assessments Are Computer-Based?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bleyer, Charles T.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine if students in identified Illinois high schools who were a part of a one-to-one (1:1) laptop program achieved higher results on the computer-based Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment than students in identified Illinois high schools that did not…

  4. An Air Force Guide to Computer Program Configuration Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1977-08-01

    Various other constraints may’also prevent full completion of the Part I specification for a complex missi-on CPCI in all of its typically massive detail...specifications for developmental CPCIs. Relations of documentation to actual computer program modules is often such as to prevent -ready identification and...names and organizational alignments of the contractor activities ;,.ay vary, but the functions should be represented. The prgram office CCB is the

  5. Getting Ready for Micros.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roth, Gene L.; And Others

    1984-01-01

    Four colleagues at Idaho State University describe how they used the DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) process to figure out what microcomputer competencies vocational educators need. Competencies include developing a personal plan for microcomputer competency; integrating computer-based instruction (CBI) into the vocational curriculum; planning,…

  6. 77 FR 12320 - Information Collection Request: GFIRST Conference Stakeholder Evaluation

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-29

    ... Communications (CS&C), National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team... personal information provided. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of DHS's premier cyber conference is to continually seek to enhance collaborative efforts between cyber constituencies, partners and...

  7. Federal Barriers to Innovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Raegen; Lake, Robin

    2012-01-01

    With educational outcomes inadequate, resources tight, and students' academic needs growing more complex, America's education system is certainly ready for technological innovation. And technology itself is ripe to be exploited. Devices harnessing cheap computing power have become smart and connected. Voice recognition, artificial intelligence,…

  8. Carbothermal Production of Magnesium: Csiro's Magsonic™ Process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prentice, Leon H.; Nagle, Michael W.; Barton, Timothy R. D.; Tassios, Steven; Kuan, Benny T.; Witt, Peter J.; Constanti-Carey, Keri K.

    Carbothermal production has been recognized as conceptually the simplest and cleanest route to magnesium metal, but has suffered from technical challenges of development and scale-up. Work by CSIRO has now successfully demonstrated the technology using supersonic quenching of magnesium vapor (the MagSonic™ Process). Key barriers to process development have been overcome: the experimental program has achieved sustained operation, no nozzle blockage, minimal reversion, and safe handling of pyrophoric powders. The laboratory equipment has been operated at industrially relevant magnesium vapor concentrations (>25% Mg) for multiple runs with no blockage. Novel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of the shock quenching and metal vapor condensation has informed nozzle design and is supported by experimental data. Reversion below 10% has been demonstrated, and magnesium successfully purified (>99.9%) from the collected powder. Safe operating procedures have been developed and demonstrated, minimizing the risk of powder explosion. The MagSonic™ Process is now ready to progress to significantly larger scale and continuous operation.

  9. New approaches: innovations in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and support.

    PubMed

    Engelking, C

    1994-01-01

    To discuss and project changes in cancer care in the 21st century. Projections are based on synthesis of multiple scholarly, professional, and governmental information sources. Changes will be reflected in the areas of patient subgrouping for more effective prevention and treatment; a redesigned therapeutic paradigm; a mind-body renaissance emphasizing holism and quality of life; and an accentuated influence of ethics on oncology nursing practice arising from healthcare reform and new scientific understanding of the human gene. Opportunities for nurses resulting from these changes include roles as genetic-risk analysts, health-education media designers, patient readiness evaluators, technology accessors, partners in a holistic care center, and treatment options advisors. Nurses will need to respond to these challenges by expanding their knowledge base with respect to genetics and computer science, refining the interactive skills that are necessary to address the psychosocial aspects of cancer care, and assimilating new technology while designing strategies to minimize the dehumanizing consequences of technology dependency.

  10. Design and methodological considerations of an effectiveness trial of a computer-assisted intervention: an example from the NIDA Clinical Trials Network.

    PubMed

    Campbell, Aimee N C; Nunes, Edward V; Miele, Gloria M; Matthews, Abigail; Polsky, Daniel; Ghitza, Udi E; Turrigiano, Eva; Bailey, Genie L; VanVeldhuisen, Paul; Chapdelaine, Rita; Froias, Autumn; Stitzer, Maxine L; Carroll, Kathleen M; Winhusen, Theresa; Clingerman, Sara; Perez, Livangelie; McClure, Erin; Goldman, Bruce; Crowell, A Rebecca

    2012-03-01

    Computer-assisted interventions hold the promise of minimizing two problems that are ubiquitous in substance abuse treatment: the lack of ready access to treatment and the challenges to providing empirically-supported treatments. Reviews of research on computer-assisted treatments for mental health and substance abuse report promising findings, but study quality and methodological limitations remain an issue. In addition, relatively few computer-assisted treatments have been tested among illicit substance users. This manuscript describes the methodological considerations of a multi-site effectiveness trial conducted within the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA's) National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The study is evaluating a web-based version of the Community Reinforcement Approach, in addition to prize-based contingency management, among 500 participants enrolled in 10 outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. Several potential effectiveness trial designs were considered and the rationale for the choice of design in this study is described. The study uses a randomized controlled design (with independent treatment arm allocation), intention-to-treat primary outcome analysis, biological markers for the primary outcome of abstinence, long-term follow-up assessments, precise measurement of intervention dose, and a cost-effectiveness analysis. Input from community providers during protocol development highlighted potential concerns and helped to address issues of practicality and feasibility. Collaboration between providers and investigators supports the utility of infrastructures that enhance research partnerships to facilitate effectiveness trials and dissemination of promising, technologically innovative treatments. Outcomes from this study will further the empirical knowledge base on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of computer-assisted treatment in clinical treatment settings. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Design and Methodological Considerations of an Effectiveness Trial of a Computer-assisted Intervention: An Example from the NIDA Clinical Trials Network

    PubMed Central

    Campbell, Aimee N. C.; Nunes, Edward V.; Miele, Gloria M.; Matthews, Abigail; Polsky, Daniel; Ghitza, Udi E.; Turrigiano, Eva; Bailey, Genie L.; VanVeldhuisen, Paul; Chapdelaine, Rita; Froias, Autumn; Stitzer, Maxine L.; Carroll, Kathleen M.; Winhusen, Theresa; Clingerman, Sara; Perez, Livangelie; McClure, Erin; Goldman, Bruce; Crowell, A. Rebecca

    2011-01-01

    Computer-assisted interventions hold the promise of minimizing two problems that are ubiquitous in substance abuse treatment: the lack of ready access to treatment and the challenges to providing empirically-supported treatments. Reviews of research on computer-assisted treatments for mental health and substance abuse report promising findings, but study quality and methodological limitations remain an issue. In addition, relatively few computer-assisted treatments have been tested among illicit substance users. This manuscript describes the methodological considerations of a multi-site effectiveness trial conducted within the National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA's) National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The study is evaluating a web-based version of the Community Reinforcement Approach, in addition to prize-based contingency management, among 500 participants enrolled in 10 outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. Several potential effectiveness trial designs were considered and the rationale for the choice of design in this study is described. The study uses a randomized controlled design (with independent treatment arm allocation), intention-to-treat primary outcome analysis, biological markers for the primary outcome of abstinence, long-term follow-up assessments, precise measurement of intervention dose, and a cost-effectiveness analysis. Input from community providers during protocol development highlighted potential concerns and helped to address issues of practicality and feasibility. Collaboration between providers and investigators supports the utility of infrastructures that enhance research partnerships to facilitate effectiveness trials and dissemination of promising, technologically innovative treatments. Outcomes from this study will further the empirical knowledge base on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of computer-assisted treatment in clinical treatment settings. PMID:22085803

  12. Probing the crystal structure landscape by doping: 4-bromo, 4-chloro and 4-methylcinnamic acids.

    PubMed

    Desiraju, Gautam R; Chakraborty, Shaunak; Joseph, Sumy

    2018-06-11

    Accessing the data points in the crystal structure landscape of a molecule is a challenging task, either experimentally or computationally. We have charted the crystal structure landscape of 4-bromocinnamic acid (4BCA) experimentally and computationally: experimental doping is achieved with 4-methylcinnamic acid (4MCA) to obtain new crystal structures; computational doping is performed with 4-chlorocinnamic acid (4CCA) as a model system, because of the difficulties associated in parameterizing the Br-atom. The landscape of 4CCA is explored experimentally in turn, also by doping it with 4MCA, and is found to bear a close resemblance to the landscape of 4BCA, justifying the ready miscibility of these two halogenated cinnamic acids to form solid solutions without any change in crystal structure. In effect, 4MCA, 4CCA and 4BCA form a commutable group of crystal structures, which may be realized experimentally or computationally, and constitute the landscape. Unlike the results obtained by Kitaigorodskii and others, all but two of the multiple solid solutions obtained in the methyl-doping experiments take structures that are different from the hitherto observed crystal forms of the parent compounds. Even granted that the latter might be inherently polymorphic, this unusual observation provokes the suggestion that solid solution formation may be used to probe the crystal structure landscape. The influence of pi...pi interactions, weak hydrogen bonds and halogen bonds in directing the formation of these new structures is also seen. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Climate Change Readiness Assessment and Planning for the Nation's Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities

    EPA Science Inventory

    The performance and sustainability of the Nation’s urban water resources infrastructure may be adversely impacted by changes in global climate, population patterns, economic stability and other emerging issues. How does the Nation’s water industry view these impending challenges...

  14. Readiness of food composition databases and food component analysis systems for nutrigenomics

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The study objective was to discuss the international implications of using nutrigenomics as the basis for individualized health promotion and chronic disease prevention and the challenges it presents to existing nutrient databases and nutrient analysis systems. Definitions and research methods of nu...

  15. Educating Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barton, Erin E.; Harn, Beth

    2012-01-01

    Every 20 minutes, another child is diagnosed with autism. Are you ready to meet this growing educational challenge? This authoritative guide for practitioners--early interventionists, teachers, school counselors and psychologists--provides practical strategies for addressing the unique needs of children on the autism spectrum and their families.…

  16. Designing Rural School Improvement Networks: Aspirations and Actualities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hargreaves, Andy; Parsley, Danette; Cox, Elizabeth K.

    2015-01-01

    Rural school educators are often isolated and have few opportunities to learn from neighboring schools or colleagues. This is an especially daunting challenge for low-performing rural schools faced with implementing significant reform efforts (e.g., turnaround approaches, educator effectiveness systems, college- and career-ready standards and…

  17. The new risk paradigm for chemical process security and safety.

    PubMed

    Moore, David A

    2004-11-11

    The world of safety and security in the chemical process industries has certainly changed since 11 September, but the biggest challenges may be yet to come. This paper will explain that there is a new risk management paradigm for chemical security, discuss the differences in interpreting this risk versus accidental risk, and identify the challenges we can anticipate will occur in the future on this issue. Companies need to be ready to manage the new chemical security responsibilities and to exceed the expectations of the public and regulators. This paper will outline the challenge and a suggested course of action.

  18. A new in silico classification model for ready biodegradability, based on molecular fragments.

    PubMed

    Lombardo, Anna; Pizzo, Fabiola; Benfenati, Emilio; Manganaro, Alberto; Ferrari, Thomas; Gini, Giuseppina

    2014-08-01

    Regulations such as the European REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals) often require chemicals to be evaluated for ready biodegradability, to assess the potential risk for environmental and human health. Because not all chemicals can be tested, there is an increasing demand for tools for quick and inexpensive biodegradability screening, such as computer-based (in silico) theoretical models. We developed an in silico model starting from a dataset of 728 chemicals with ready biodegradability data (MITI-test Ministry of International Trade and Industry). We used the novel software SARpy to automatically extract, through a structural fragmentation process, a set of substructures statistically related to ready biodegradability. Then, we analysed these substructures in order to build some general rules. The model consists of a rule-set made up of the combination of the statistically relevant fragments and of the expert-based rules. The model gives good statistical performance with 92%, 82% and 76% accuracy on the training, test and external set respectively. These results are comparable with other in silico models like BIOWIN developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); moreover this new model includes an easily understandable explanation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. The Cableshop.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rohrer, Daniel M.

    "Cableshop" is an experimental cable television service offering three- to seven-minute broadcast segments of product or community information and using a combination of telephone, computer, and video technology. Viewers participating in the service will have a choice of items ready for viewing listed on a "menu" channel and…

  20. 17 CFR 1.32 - Segregated account; daily computation and record.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... business day, on a currency-by-currency basis: (1) The total amount of customer funds on deposit in... traded on a “ready market” as defined in Rule 15c3-1(c)(11)(i) of the Securities and Exchange Commission...

  1. Electronic School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Executive Educator, 1994

    1994-01-01

    This issue of "The Electronic School" features a special forum on computer networking. Articles specifically focus on network operating systems, cabling requirements, and network architecture. Tom Wall argues that virtual reality is not yet ready for classroom use. B.J. Novitsky profiles two high schools experimenting with CD-ROM…

  2. The new Mobile Command Center at KSC is important addition to emergency preparedness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2000-01-01

    Charles Street, part of the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, uses a phone on the specially equipped emergency response vehicle. The vehicle, nicknamed '''The Brute,''' serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

  3. KSC-00pp1572

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Charles Street, part of the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, uses a phone on the specially equipped emergency response vehicle. The vehicle, nicknamed “The Brute,” serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  4. KSC00pp1572

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2000-09-21

    Charles Street, part of the Emergency Preparedness team at KSC, uses a phone on the specially equipped emergency response vehicle. The vehicle, nicknamed “The Brute,” serves as a mobile command center for emergency preparedness staff and other support personnel when needed. It features a conference room, computer work stations, mobile telephones and a fax machine. It also can generate power with its onboard generator. Besides being ready to respond in case of emergencies during launches, the vehicle must be ready to help address fires, security threats, chemical spills, terrorist attaches, weather damage or other critical situations that might face KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

  5. Geomagnetically induced currents: Science, engineering, and applications readiness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pulkkinen, A.; Bernabeu, E.; Thomson, A.; Viljanen, A.; Pirjola, R.; Boteler, D.; Eichner, J.; Cilliers, P. J.; Welling, D.; Savani, N. P.; Weigel, R. S.; Love, J. J.; Balch, C.; Ngwira, C. M.; Crowley, G.; Schultz, A.; Kataoka, R.; Anderson, B.; Fugate, D.; Simpson, J. J.; MacAlester, M.

    2017-07-01

    This paper is the primary deliverable of the very first NASA Living With a Star Institute Working Group, Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) Working Group. The paper provides a broad overview of the current status and future challenges pertaining to the science, engineering, and applications of the GIC problem. Science is understood here as the basic space and Earth sciences research that allows improved understanding and physics-based modeling of the physical processes behind GIC. Engineering, in turn, is understood here as the "impact" aspect of GIC. Applications are understood as the models, tools, and activities that can provide actionable information to entities such as power systems operators for mitigating the effects of GIC and government agencies for managing any potential consequences from GIC impact to critical infrastructure. Applications can be considered the ultimate goal of our GIC work. In assessing the status of the field, we quantify the readiness of various applications in the mitigation context. We use the Applications Readiness Level (ARL) concept to carry out the quantification.

  6. Geomagnetically induced currents: Science, engineering, and applications readiness

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pulkkinen, Antti; Bernabeu, E.; Thomson, A.; Viljanen, A.; Pirjola, R.; Boteler, D.; Eichner, J.; Cilliers, P.J.; Welling, D.; Savani, N.P.; Weigel, R.S.; Love, Jeffrey J.; Balch, Christopher; Ngwira, C.M.; Crowley, G.; Schultz, Adam; Kataoka, R.; Anderson, B.; Fugate, D.; Simpson, J.J.; MacAlester, M.

    2017-01-01

    This paper is the primary deliverable of the very first NASA Living With a Star Institute Working Group, Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GIC) Working Group. The paper provides a broad overview of the current status and future challenges pertaining to the science, engineering, and applications of the GIC problem. Science is understood here as the basic space and Earth sciences research that allows improved understanding and physics-based modeling of the physical processes behind GIC. Engineering, in turn, is understood here as the “impact” aspect of GIC. Applications are understood as the models, tools, and activities that can provide actionable information to entities such as power systems operators for mitigating the effects of GIC and government agencies for managing any potential consequences from GIC impact to critical infrastructure. Applications can be considered the ultimate goal of our GIC work. In assessing the status of the field, we quantify the readiness of various applications in the mitigation context. We use the Applications Readiness Level (ARL) concept to carry out the quantification.

  7. Bioprinting: an assessment based on manufacturing readiness levels.

    PubMed

    Wu, Changsheng; Wang, Ben; Zhang, Chuck; Wysk, Richard A; Chen, Yi-Wen

    2017-05-01

    Over the last decade, bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. With recent advances in additive manufacturing, bioprinting is poised to provide patient-specific therapies and new approaches for tissue and organ studies, drug discoveries and even food manufacturing. Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) is a method that has been applied to assess manufacturing maturity and to identify risks and gaps in technology-manufacturing transitions. Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is used to evaluate the maturity of a technology. This paper reviews recent advances in bioprinting following the MRL scheme and addresses corresponding MRL levels of engineering challenges and gaps associated with the translation of bioprinting from lab-bench experiments to ultimate full-scale manufacturing of tissues and organs. According to our step-by-step TRL and MRL assessment, after years of rigorous investigation by the biotechnology community, bioprinting is on the cusp of entering the translational phase where laboratory research practices can be scaled up into manufacturing products specifically designed for individual patients.

  8. Health promotion research in active duty army soldiers: The road to a fit and ready force.

    PubMed

    McCarthy, Mary S; Elshaw, Evelyn B; Szekely, Barbara M; Pflugeisen, Bethann

    In the last decade the Military Health System has changed its paradigm to focus on health promotion and disease prevention. This paper reviews a decade of research exploring the effects of military life on nutritional status and bone health of Army soldiers. Descriptive and experimental approaches have assessed occupational demands on soldiers in variable environments that require optimal nutrition status and physical health. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the military has risen dramatically and the implications for health, readiness, productivity, and cost demands attention. The related nutritional deficits such as suboptimal vitamin D status likely contribute to musculoskeletal injuries which have a greater impact on the performance and readiness of soldiers than any other medical condition in peacetime or conflict. The greatest challenge in our system for health is optimizing the performance of all soldiers while minimizing health risks and long-term disability resulting from occupational hazards, particularly those inherent to war. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. The readiness of postgraduate health sciences students for interprofessional education in iran.

    PubMed

    Vafadar, Zohreh; Vanaki, Zohreh; Ebadi, Abbas

    2015-01-01

    Interprofessional education has been recognized as an effective educational approach towards enabling students to provide comprehensive and safe team care for promotion of health outcomes of patients. This study was conducted in order to assess the readiness of postgraduate health science students for interprofessional education/learning, as well as identify barriers to the implementation of such an approach in Iran from the students' point of view. This was a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2013 on 500 postgraduate students in three main professional groups: medical, nursing and other allied health professions across a number of Iranian Universities using the convenience sampling method. Quantitative Data were collected through self-administering the Readiness for InterProfessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire with acceptable internal consistency (? = 0.86). The data were analyzed by SPSS18. Qualitative data were gathered by an open-ended questionnaire and analyzed by qualitative content analysis method. The mean score of the students' readiness (M=80, SD=8.6) was higher than the average score on the Scale (47.5). In comparison between groups, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in their readiness (p>0.05). Also four main categories were identified as barriers to implementation of interprofessional education from the students' point of view; the categories were an inordinately profession-oriented, individualistic culture, style of management and weak evidence. An acceptable degree of readiness and a generally favorable attitude among students towards interprofessional education show that there are appropriate attitudinal and motivational backgrounds for implementation of interprofessional education, but it is necessary to remove the barriers by long-term strategic planning and advancing of interprofessional education in order to address health challenges.

  10. Journey toward a patient-centered medical home: readiness for change in primary care practices.

    PubMed

    Wise, Christopher G; Alexander, Jeffrey A; Green, Lee A; Cohen, Genna R; Koster, Christina R

    2011-09-01

    Information is limited regarding the readiness of primary care practices to make the transformational changes necessary to implement the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model. Using comparative, qualitative data, we provide practical guidelines for assessing and increasing readiness for PCMH implementation. We used a comparative case study design to assess primary care practices' readiness for PCMH implementation in sixteen practices from twelve different physician organizations in Michigan. Two major components of organizational readiness, motivation and capability, were assessed. We interviewed eight practice teams with higher PCMH scores and eight with lower PCMH scores, along with the leaders of the physician organizations of these practices, yielding sixty-six semistructured interviews. The respondents from the higher and lower PCMH scoring practices reported different motivations and capabilities for pursuing PCMH. Their motivations pertained to the perceived value of PCMH, financial incentives, understanding of specific PCMH requirements, and overall commitment to change. Capabilities that were discussed included the time demands of implementation, the difficulty of changing patients' behavior, and the challenges of adopting health information technology. Enhancing the implementation of PCMH within practices included taking an incremental approach, using data, building a team and defining roles of its members, and meeting regularly to discuss the implementation. The respondents valued external organizational support, regardless of its source. The respondents from the higher and lower PCMH scoring practices commented on similar aspects of readiness-motivation and capability-but offered very different views of them. Our findings suggest the importance of understanding practice perceptions of the motivations for PCMH and the capability to undertake change. While this study identified some initial approaches that physician organizations and practices have used to prepare for practice redesign, we need much more information about their effectiveness. © 2011 Milbank Memorial Fund. Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.

  11. Determining registered nurses' readiness for evidence-based practice.

    PubMed

    Thiel, Linda; Ghosh, Yashowanto

    2008-01-01

    As health care systems worldwide move toward instituting evidence-based practice (EBP), its implementation can be challenging. Conducting a baseline assessment to determine nurses' readiness for EBP presents opportunities to plan strategies before implementation. Although a growing body of research literature is focused on implementing EBP, little attention has been paid to assessing nurses' readiness for EBP. The purpose of this study was to assess registered nurses' readiness for EBP in a moderate-sized acute care hospital in the Midwestern United States before implementation of a hospital-wide nursing EBP initiative. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used; 121 registered nurses completed the survey. The participants (n= 121) completed the 64-item Nurses' Readiness for Evidence-Based Practice Survey that allowed measurement of information needs, knowledge and skills, culture, and attitudes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a post hoc analysis. The majority (72.5%) of respondents indicated that when they needed information, they consulted colleagues and peers rather than using journals and books; 24% of nurses surveyed used the health database, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). The respondents perceived their EBP knowledge level as moderate. Cultural EBP scores were moderate, with unit scores being higher than organizational scores. The nurses' attitudes toward EBP were positive. The post hoc analysis showed many significant correlations. Nurses have access to technological resources and perceive that they have the ability to engage in basic information gathering but not in higher level evidence gathering. The elements important to EBP such as a workplace culture and positive attitudes are present and can be built upon. A "site-specific" baseline assessment provides direction in planning EBP initiatives. The Nurses' Readiness for EBP Survey is a streamlined tool with established reliability and validity.

  12. The Readiness of Postgraduate Health Sciences Students for Interprofessional Education in Iran

    PubMed Central

    Vafadar, Zohreh; Vanaki, Zohreh; Ebadi, Abbas

    2015-01-01

    Aim: Interprofessional education has been recognized as an effective educational approach towards enabling students to provide comprehensive and safe team care for promotion of health outcomes of patients. This study was conducted in order to assess the readiness of postgraduate health science students for interprofessional education/learning, as well as identify barriers to the implementation of such an approach in Iran from the students’ point of view. Methods: This was a cross–sectional and descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2013 on 500 postgraduate students in three main professional groups: medical, nursing and other allied health professions across a number of Iranian Universities using the convenience sampling method. Quantitative Data were collected through self-administering the Readiness for InterProfessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire with acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.86). The data were analyzed by SPSS18. Qualitative data were gathered by an open–ended questionnaire and analyzed by qualitative content analysis method. Results: The mean score of the students’ readiness (M=80, SD=8.6) was higher than the average score on the Scale (47.5). In comparison between groups, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in their readiness (p>0.05). Also four main categories were identified as barriers to implementation of interprofessional education from the students’ point of view; the categories were an inordinately profession-oriented, individualistic culture, style of management and weak evidence. Conclusion: An acceptable degree of readiness and a generally favorable attitude among students towards interprofessional education show that there are appropriate attitudinal and motivational backgrounds for implementation of interprofessional education, but it is necessary to remove the barriers by long-term strategic planning and advancing of interprofessional education in order to address health challenges. PMID:25946930

  13. New algorithms to represent complex pseudoknotted RNA structures in dot-bracket notation.

    PubMed

    Antczak, Maciej; Popenda, Mariusz; Zok, Tomasz; Zurkowski, Michal; Adamiak, Ryszard W; Szachniuk, Marta

    2018-04-15

    Understanding the formation, architecture and roles of pseudoknots in RNA structures are one of the most difficult challenges in RNA computational biology and structural bioinformatics. Methods predicting pseudoknots typically perform this with poor accuracy, often despite experimental data incorporation. Existing bioinformatic approaches differ in terms of pseudoknots' recognition and revealing their nature. A few ways of pseudoknot classification exist, most common ones refer to a genus or order. Following the latter one, we propose new algorithms that identify pseudoknots in RNA structure provided in BPSEQ format, determine their order and encode in dot-bracket-letter notation. The proposed encoding aims to illustrate the hierarchy of RNA folding. New algorithms are based on dynamic programming and hybrid (combining exhaustive search and random walk) approaches. They evolved from elementary algorithm implemented within the workflow of RNA FRABASE 1.0, our database of RNA structure fragments. They use different scoring functions to rank dissimilar dot-bracket representations of RNA structure. Computational experiments show an advantage of new methods over the others, especially for large RNA structures. Presented algorithms have been implemented as new functionality of RNApdbee webserver and are ready to use at http://rnapdbee.cs.put.poznan.pl. mszachniuk@cs.put.poznan.pl. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  14. Pc-Based Floating Point Imaging Workstation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guzak, Chris J.; Pier, Richard M.; Chinn, Patty; Kim, Yongmin

    1989-07-01

    The medical, military, scientific and industrial communities have come to rely on imaging and computer graphics for solutions to many types of problems. Systems based on imaging technology are used to acquire and process images, and analyze and extract data from images that would otherwise be of little use. Images can be transformed and enhanced to reveal detail and meaning that would go undetected without imaging techniques. The success of imaging has increased the demand for faster and less expensive imaging systems and as these systems become available, more and more applications are discovered and more demands are made. From the designer's perspective the challenge to meet these demands forces him to attack the problem of imaging from a different perspective. The computing demands of imaging algorithms must be balanced against the desire for affordability and flexibility. Systems must be flexible and easy to use, ready for current applications but at the same time anticipating new, unthought of uses. Here at the University of Washington Image Processing Systems Lab (IPSL) we are focusing our attention on imaging and graphics systems that implement imaging algorithms for use in an interactive environment. We have developed a PC-based imaging workstation with the goal to provide powerful and flexible, floating point processing capabilities, along with graphics functions in an affordable package suitable for diverse environments and many applications.

  15. Salt as a public health challenge in continental European convenience and ready meals.

    PubMed

    Kanzler, Sonja; Hartmann, Christina; Gruber, Anita; Lammer, Guido; Wagner, Karl-Heinz

    2014-11-01

    To assess the salt content of continental European convenience and ready meals. A multistage study in which, after laboratory analysis of the products' salt contents (n 32), new salt-reduced meals were developed through food reformulation. Additionally, a comprehensive survey of convenience meals from the Austrian market (n 572) was conducted to evaluate the salt contents of a wider product range. Six continental European countries participated. No subjects enrolled. The salt contents of continental European convenience and ready meals mostly exceeded 1·8 g/100 g, which is 30 % of the targeted daily intake level; some contained even more than the recommended daily intake of 6 g. The highest salt contents were found in pizzas and pasta dishes, the lowest ones in sweet meals. Large variations in salt levels were found not only between and within meal type categories, but also between similar meals from different producers. In addition, our approach to develop new salt-reduced meals showed that a stepwise reduction of the ready meals' salt contents is possible without compromising the sensory quality. To address the problem of hypertension and increased risk for CVD through high salt intake, a reduction of the salt levels in continental European convenience and ready meals is urgently needed, since they are providing a major part of the daily salt intake. Successful national-wide salt reduction strategies in the UK or Finland have already demonstrated the public health impact of this setting.

  16. Critical Thinking Traits of Top-Tier Experts and Implications for Computer Science Education

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-08-01

    field of cognitive theory ," [Papert 1999] used his work while developing the Logo programming language. 19 Although other researchers had developed ...of computer expert systems influenced the development of current theories dealing with cognitive abilities. One of the most important initiatives by...multitude of factors involved. He also builds on the cognitive development work of Piaget and is not ready to abandon the generalist approach. Instead, he

  17. Capacity and readiness for quality improvement among home and community-based service providers.

    PubMed

    Abrahamson, Kathleen; Myers, Jaclyn; Arling, Greg; Davila, Heather; Mueller, Christine; Abery, Brian; Cai, Yun

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to explore home and community-based service (HCBS) providers' perspectives of organizational readiness for quality improvement (QI). Data were obtained from a survey of participants (N = 56) in a state-sponsored HCBS QI initiative. Quality improvement challenges included lack of time and resources, staff apprehension or resistance, resistance from consumers and families, and project sustainability. Support from leadership was viewed as an important factor in participating organizations' decision to engage in QI. Internal resources available to support QI varied widely between participating organizations, with differences observed between smaller and larger agencies, as well as between provider types and populations served.

  18. Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect in Saudi Arabia: Are We Ready?

    PubMed Central

    Almuneef, Maha; Al-Eissa, Majid

    2011-01-01

    Although child abuse and neglect (CAN) have been recognized by medical professionals for the last 20 years, child protection services and child maltreatment prevention programs are still emerging in Saudi Arabia. This paper will review the progress made in the country in terms of recognition and implementation of child protection services. Furthermore, it will draw attention to the essential steps required to start child maltreatment prevention programs, as CAN prevention is currently viewed as a global healthcare priority with an emphasis on evidence-based interventions. In addition, this paper will assess Saudi Arabia's readiness to prevent CAN and the challenges that will be faced by the professionals in implementing evidence-based CAN prevention programs. PMID:22048511

  19. Challenges for Civil-Military Integration During Stability Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-04-10

    has propose the establishment of “a standing [Interagency Task Force] IATF headquarters core element that is ready to deploy to an operation on short...notice…[that] would be the foundation for building the rest of an IATF once an operation was anticipated. See Prepared Statement Michèle A. Flournoy

  20. Higher Education Act Reauthorization: Homeless and Foster Youth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, 2008

    2008-01-01

    Youth experiencing homelessness or in foster care face numerous barriers to higher education. Inadequate college readiness, the complexity of the financial aid process, and lack of housing and support services once enrolled in college make obtaining a college degree an often insurmountable challenge. Yet a college education offers these youth the…

  1. A New World Ahead: Are We Ready?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Greg M.; Provo, Joanne

    2006-01-01

    There is no question that organization development (OD) scholars and practitioners are confronted with new and increasingly complex challenges in helping their clients cope with a tidal wave of continuous change. The questions they face today focus on the impact of leadership, technology, globalization, and the new generations entering the…

  2. Rethinking the High School Diploma

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finn, Chester E., Jr.; Kahlenberg, Richard D.; Kress, Sandy

    2015-01-01

    As states move to implement the Common Core State Standards, key challenges remain. One is how to make sure a high school diploma acknowledges what students have achieved. Should states adopt a two tiered diploma, in which students who pass internationally aligned Common Core exams at a career- and college-ready level receive an…

  3. Self-Renewal for Self-Preservation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sistrunk, Walter E.

    This speech explores the concept of professional self-renewal. The presenter seeks to understand why some professionals always seem fresh, energetic, and ready for new challenges, whereas others are perpetually tired, bored, and irritated with the demands of their work. Referring to McGregor's management theories, the paper infers that Theory X…

  4. TIMMS Advanced 2015 Assessment Frameworks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mullis, Ina V. S., Ed.; Martin, Michael O., Ed.

    2014-01-01

    It is critical for countries to ensure that capable secondary school students receive further preparation in advanced mathematics and science, so that they are ready to enter challenging university-level studies that prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This group of students will become the…

  5. Toward Full Development of the Person.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riedesel, Brian C.

    1979-01-01

    The Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) is presented as a theoretical model for the promotion of more complete development of the individual. SCI's applied aspect, the Transcendental Meditation program, is discussed in terms of research data and its application to the developmental concepts of readiness, intensity of challenge, and identity.…

  6. Lab Report Blues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Diaz, Andrew

    2004-01-01

    For middle school students, writing a formal lab report can be challenging. For middle level teachers, reading students lab reports can be overwhelming. After grading report after report with incomplete procedures, incorrect graphs, and missing conclusions, the author's frustration level was at an all-time high. Ready to try anything, he thought,…

  7. Early Opportunities to Strengthen Academic Readiness: Effects of Summer Learning on Mathematics Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Catherine A.; Adelson, Jill L.; Kearney, Kelly L.; Cash, Kathleen; O'Brien, Rebecca

    2018-01-01

    Students who come from low-income backgrounds tend to be underidentified and underserved in gifted education. Early interventions with learners of high potential from underserved groups, including exposure to challenging curriculum and summer opportunities, are important for nurturing these students' talents and preparing them for advanced…

  8. Assessment for All

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Science Scope, 2005

    2005-01-01

    There are many ways of assessing students and the work they do, and many ways of getting them ready for those assessments. Special needs students provide an extra challenge to educators because they have difficulty preparing for assessment and often more difficulty communicating what they know. It is not enough to be a thoughtful, lab-focused…

  9. The Effect of Reading on Second-Language Learners' Production in Tasks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collentine, Karina

    2016-01-01

    Tasks provide engaging ways to involve learners in meaningful, real-world activities with the foreign language (FL). Yet selecting classroom tasks suitable to learners' linguistic readiness is challenging, and task-based research is exploring the relationship between learners' overall abilities (e.g., reading, grammatical) and the complexity and…

  10. Lipid-based nutrient supplements: how can they combat child malnutrition?

    PubMed

    Dewey, Kathryn G; Arimond, Mary

    2012-01-01

    Kathryn Dewey and Mary Arimond discuss new research in PLOS Medicine that assesses the effect of blanket provision of ready-to-use supplementary food to children at high risk of malnutrition in Chad, and highlight some of the challenges of investigating the efficacy of supplementary foods for malnourished children.

  11. The Techy Teacher/Join the TED-Ed Club

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tucker, Catlin

    2016-01-01

    Classrooms exist in an insular environment, and the work done there often feels disconnected from students' lives, interests, and hobbies. However, students today must cultivate the ability to navigate an increasingly connected global society. Global-ready graduates must be able to tackle real-world challenges, publish their work online, and…

  12. Interactive Communication by Applying Contemporary Media in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tatkovic, Nevenka; Ruzic, Maja

    2005-01-01

    Today society has become a multimedia society, turned towards new forms of communication, ready for changes and the new communicational challenges. The students, surrounded by PCs, mobile phones and ever so sophisticated software, videos, wireless sets and TVs, DVDs, satellite transmissions and "the media above all other media"--the…

  13. Preventing Students with Disabilities from Dropping out

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pyle, Nicole; Wexler, Jade

    2012-01-01

    Schools are tasked with the challenge of not only raising graduation rates for students with and without disabilities but also preparing these students to meet college and career readiness standards. Recent studies and reviews of the literature suggest promising practices to ensure that educators meet these goals by increasing students' engagement…

  14. Challenges in Assessing for Postsecondary Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mellard, Daryl F.; Anderson, Gretchen

    2007-01-01

    Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

  15. Are nutrient databases and nutrient analysis systems ready for the International implications of nutrigenomics?

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Our objective is to discuss the implications internationally of the increased focus on nutrigenomics as the underlying basis for individualized health promotion and chronic disease prevention and the challenges presented to existing nutrient database and nutrient analysis systems by these trends. De...

  16. Longitudinal Evaluation of Quality Improvement and Public Health Accreditation Readiness in Nebraska Local Health Departments, 2011-2016.

    PubMed

    Chen, Li-Wu; Gregg, Abbey; Palm, David

    Public health accreditation is intended to improve the performance of public health departments, and quality improvement (QI) is an important component of the Public Health Accreditation Board process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the QI maturity and accreditation readiness of local health departments (LHDs) in Nebraska during a 6-year period that included several statewide initiatives to progress readiness, including funding and technical assistance. We used a mixed-methods approach that consisted of both online surveys and key informant interviews to assess QI maturity and accreditation readiness. Nineteen of Nebraska's 21 LHDs completed the survey in 2011 and 2013, 20 of 20 LHDs completed the survey in 2015, and 19 of 20 LHDs completed the survey in 2016. We facilitated a large group discussion with staff members from 16 LHDs in 2011, and we conducted key informant interviews with staff members from 4 LHDs in 2015. Both QI maturity and accreditation readiness improved from 2011 to 2016. In 2011, of 19 LHDs, only 6 LHD directors agreed that their LHD had a culture that focused on QI, but this number increased every year up to 12 in 2016. The number of LHDs that had a high capacity to engage in QI efforts improved from 3 in 2011 to 8 in 2016. The number of LHDs with a QI plan increased from 3 in 2011 to 10 in 2016. The number of LHDs that were confident in their ability to obtain Public Health Accreditation Board accreditation improved from 6 in 2011 to 13 in 2016. Although their QI maturity generally increased over time, LHDs interviewed in 2015 still faced challenges adopting a formal QI system. External financial and technical support helped LHDs build their QI maturity and accreditation readiness. Funding and technical assistance can improve LHDs' QI maturity and accreditation readiness. Improvement takes time and sustained efforts by LHDs, and support from external partners (eg, state health departments) helps build LHDs' QI maturity and accreditation readiness.

  17. Promoting community readiness for physical activity among older adults in Germany--protocol of the ready to change intervention trial.

    PubMed

    Brand, Tilman; Gansefort, Dirk; Rothgang, Heinz; Röseler, Sabine; Meyer, Jochen; Zeeb, Hajo

    2016-02-01

    Healthy ageing is an important concern for many societies facing the challenge of an ageing population. Physical activity (PA) is a major contributor to healthy ageing; however insufficient PA levels are prevalent in old age in Germany. Community capacity building and community involvement are often recommended as key strategies to improve equitable access to prevention and health promotion. However, evidence for the effectiveness of these strategies is scarce. This study aims to assess the community readiness for PA promotion in local environments and to analyse the utility of strategies to increase community readiness for reaching vulnerable groups. We designed a mixed method intervention trial comprising three study modules. The first module includes an assessment of community readiness for PA interventions in older adults. The assessment is carried out in a sample of 24 municipalities in the Northwest of Germany using structured key informant interviews. In the second module, eight municipalities with the low community readiness are selected from the sample and randomly assigned to one of two study groups: active enhancement of community readiness (intervention) versus no enhancement (control). After enhancing community readiness in the active enhancement group, older adults in both study groups will be recruited for participation in a PA intervention. Participation rates are compared between the study groups to evaluate the effects of the intervention. In addition, a cost-effectiveness analysis is carried out calculating recruitment costs per person reached in the two study groups. In the third module, qualitative interviews are conducted with participants and non-participants of the PA intervention exploring reasons for participation or non-participation. This study offers the potential to contribute to the evidence base of reaching vulnerable older adults for PA interventions and provide ideas on how to reduce participation barriers. Its findings will inform governmental authorities, professionals, academics, and NGOs with an estimate of resources necessary to achieve equitable access to physical activity programs for vulnerable older adults. German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00009564 (Date of registration 03-11-2015).

  18. Health impact assessment – A survey on quantifying tools

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

    Fehr, Rainer, E-mail: rainer.fehr@uni-bielefeld.de; Mekel, Odile C.L., E-mail: odile.mekel@lzg.nrw.de; Fintan Hurley, J., E-mail: fintan.hurley@iom-world.org

    Integrating human health into prospective impact assessments is known to be challenging. This is true for both approaches: dedicated health impact assessments (HIA) as well as inclusion of health into more general impact assessments. Acknowledging the full range of participatory, qualitative, and quantitative approaches, this study focuses on the latter, especially on computational tools for quantitative health modelling. We conducted a survey among tool developers concerning the status quo of development and availability of such tools; experiences made with model usage in real-life situations; and priorities for further development. Responding toolmaker groups described 17 such tools, most of them beingmore » maintained and reported as ready for use and covering a wide range of topics, including risk & protective factors, exposures, policies, and health outcomes. In recent years, existing models have been improved and were applied in new ways, and completely new models emerged. There was high agreement among respondents on the need to further develop methods for assessment of inequalities and uncertainty. The contribution of quantitative modeling to health foresight would benefit from building joint strategies of further tool development, improving the visibility of quantitative tools and methods, and engaging continuously with actual and potential users. - Highlights: • A survey investigated computational tools for health impact quantification. • Formal evaluation of such tools has been rare. • Handling inequalities and uncertainties are priority areas for further development. • Health foresight would benefit from tool developers and users forming a community. • Joint development strategies across computational tools are needed.« less

  19. MCST Research Operations | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Readiness. Laboratory Utilization. Custom Research Equipment Design-Build Capabilities. Add short description Concept and Design Design Requirements Assessment Controls and Automation Design-Build Services International (SEMI) S2 standard assessment Computer-Aided Design (CAD)/Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P

  20. Technology in the Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gladhart, Marsha A.

    1994-01-01

    Reviews two computer software programs for children: (1) "Ready, Set, Read with Bananas and Jack" (Sierra Discovery Series), available for Windows or Macintosh systems, which uses animation and sound to teach early reading skills; and (2) "Word Connection" (Action Software), a Macintosh program that creates word puzzles. (MDM)

  1. Two possible driving forces supporting the evolution of animal communication. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moulin-Frier, Clément; Verschure, Paul F. M. J.

    2016-03-01

    In the target paper [1], M.A. Arbib proposes a quite exhaustive review of the (often computational) models developed during the last decades that support his detailed scenario on language evolution (the Mirror System Hypothesis, MSH). The approach considers that language evolved from a mirror system for grasping already present in LCA-m (the last common ancestor of macaques and humans), to a simple imitation system for grasping present in LCA-c (the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans), to a complex imitation system for grasping that developed in the hominid line since that ancestor. MSH considers that this complex imitation system is a key evolutionary step for a language-ready brain, providing all the required elements for an open-ended gestural communication system. The transition from the gestural (bracchio-manual and visual) to the vocal (articulatory and auditory) domain is supposed to be a less important evolutionary step.

  2. Comparison of OPC job prioritization schemes to generate data for mask manufacturing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lewis, Travis; Veeraraghavan, Vijay; Jantzen, Kenneth; Kim, Stephen; Park, Minyoung; Russell, Gordon; Simmons, Mark

    2015-03-01

    Delivering mask ready OPC corrected data to the mask shop on-time is critical for a foundry to meet the cycle time commitment for a new product. With current OPC compute resource sharing technology, different job scheduling algorithms are possible, such as, priority based resource allocation and fair share resource allocation. In order to maximize computer cluster efficiency, minimize the cost of the data processing and deliver data on schedule, the trade-offs of each scheduling algorithm need to be understood. Using actual production jobs, each of the scheduling algorithms will be tested in a production tape-out environment. Each scheduling algorithm will be judged on its ability to deliver data on schedule and the trade-offs associated with each method will be analyzed. It is now possible to introduce advance scheduling algorithms to the OPC data processing environment to meet the goals of on-time delivery of mask ready OPC data while maximizing efficiency and reducing cost.

  3. Large-Scale Sentinel-1 Processing for Solid Earth Science and Urgent Response using Cloud Computing and Machine Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hua, H.; Owen, S. E.; Yun, S. H.; Agram, P. S.; Manipon, G.; Starch, M.; Sacco, G. F.; Bue, B. D.; Dang, L. B.; Linick, J. P.; Malarout, N.; Rosen, P. A.; Fielding, E. J.; Lundgren, P.; Moore, A. W.; Liu, Z.; Farr, T.; Webb, F.; Simons, M.; Gurrola, E. M.

    2017-12-01

    With the increased availability of open SAR data (e.g. Sentinel-1 A/B), new challenges are being faced with processing and analyzing the voluminous SAR datasets to make geodetic measurements. Upcoming SAR missions such as NISAR are expected to generate close to 100TB per day. The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) project can now generate geocoded unwrapped phase and coherence products from Sentinel-1 TOPS mode data in an automated fashion, using the ISCE software. This capability is currently being exercised on various study sites across the United States and around the globe, including Hawaii, Central California, Iceland and South America. The automated and large-scale SAR data processing and analysis capabilities use cloud computing techniques to speed the computations and provide scalable processing power and storage. Aspects such as how to processing these voluminous SLCs and interferograms at global scales, keeping up with the large daily SAR data volumes, and how to handle the voluminous data rates are being explored. Scene-partitioning approaches in the processing pipeline help in handling global-scale processing up to unwrapped interferograms with stitching done at a late stage. We have built an advanced science data system with rapid search functions to enable access to the derived data products. Rapid image processing of Sentinel-1 data to interferograms and time series is already being applied to natural hazards including earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and land subsidence due to fluid withdrawal. We will present the status of the ARIA science data system for generating science-ready data products and challenges that arise from being able to process SAR datasets to derived time series data products at large scales. For example, how do we perform large-scale data quality screening on interferograms? What approaches can be used to minimize compute, storage, and data movement costs for time series analysis in the cloud? We will also present some of our findings from applying machine learning and data analytics on the processed SAR data streams. We will also present lessons learned on how to ease the SAR community onto interfacing with these cloud-based SAR science data systems.

  4. Modeling the growth boundary of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat cooked meat products as a function of the product salt, moisture, potassium lactate, and sodium diacetate concentrations.

    PubMed

    Legan, J D; Seman, D L; Milkowski, A L; Hirschey, J A; Vandeven, M H

    2004-10-01

    A central composite response surface design was used to determine the time to growth of Listeria monocytogenes as a function of four continuous variables: added sodium chloride (0.8 to 3.6%), sodium diacetate (0 to 0.2%), potassium lactate syrup (60% [wt/wt]; 0.25 to 9.25%), and finished-product moisture (45.5 to 83.5%) in ready-to-eat cured meat products. The design was repeated for ready-to-eat uncured meat products giving a fifth categorical variable for cure status. Products were stored at 4 degrees C. The results were modeled using a generalized regression approach. All five main effects, six two-factor interactions, and two quadratic terms were statistically significant. The model was used to show the boundary between growth and no-growth conditions at 4 degrees C using contour plots of time to growth. It was validated using independent challenge studies of cured and uncured products. Generally, the model predicted well, particularly for cured products, where it will be useful for establishing conditions that prevent the growth of L. monocytogenes. For uncured products, there was good agreement overall between predicted and observed times to growth, but the model is less thoroughly validated than for cured products. The model should initially only be used for screening of formulations likely to prevent growth of Listeria monocytogenes in uncured products, with recommendations subject to confirmation by challenge studies.

  5. Recent achievements in real-time computational seismology in Taiwan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, S.; Liang, W.; Huang, B.

    2012-12-01

    Real-time computational seismology is currently possible to be achieved which needs highly connection between seismic database and high performance computing. We have developed a real-time moment tensor monitoring system (RMT) by using continuous BATS records and moment tensor inversion (CMT) technique. The real-time online earthquake simulation service is also ready to open for researchers and public earthquake science education (ROS). Combine RMT with ROS, the earthquake report based on computational seismology can provide within 5 minutes after an earthquake occurred (RMT obtains point source information < 120 sec; ROS completes a 3D simulation < 3 minutes). All of these computational results are posted on the internet in real-time now. For more information, welcome to visit real-time computational seismology earthquake report webpage (RCS).

  6. RabbitQR: fast and flexible big data processing at LSST data rates using existing, shared-use hardware

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kotulla, Ralf; Gopu, Arvind; Hayashi, Soichi

    2016-08-01

    Processing astronomical data to science readiness was and remains a challenge, in particular in the case of multi detector instruments such as wide-field imagers. One such instrument, the WIYN One Degree Imager, is available to the astronomical community at large, and, in order to be scientifically useful to its varied user community on a short timescale, provides its users fully calibrated data in addition to the underlying raw data. However, time-efficient re-processing of the often large datasets with improved calibration data and/or software requires more than just a large number of CPU-cores and disk space. This is particularly relevant if all computing resources are general purpose and shared with a large number of users in a typical university setup. Our approach to address this challenge is a flexible framework, combining the best of both high performance (large number of nodes, internal communication) and high throughput (flexible/variable number of nodes, no dedicated hardware) computing. Based on the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol, we a developed a Server-Manager- Worker framework. In addition to the server directing the work flow and the worker executing the actual work, the manager maintains a list of available worker, adds and/or removes individual workers from the worker pool, and re-assigns worker to different tasks. This provides the flexibility of optimizing the worker pool to the current task and workload, improves load balancing, and makes the most efficient use of the available resources. We present performance benchmarks and scaling tests, showing that, today and using existing, commodity shared- use hardware we can process data with data throughputs (including data reduction and calibration) approaching that expected in the early 2020s for future observatories such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

  7. An assessment of pharmacists’ readiness for paperless labeling: a national survey

    PubMed Central

    Ho, Yun-Xian; Chen, Qingxia; Nian, Hui; Johnson, Kevin B

    2014-01-01

    Objective To assess the state of readiness for the adoption of paperless labeling among a nationally representative sample of pharmacies, including chain pharmacies, independent retail pharmacies, hospitals, and other rural or urban dispensing sites. Methods Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to analyze responses to a cross-sectional survey disseminated to American Pharmacists Association pharmacists nationwide. The survey assessed factors related to pharmacists’ attitudinal readiness (ie, perceptions of impact) and pharmacies’ structural readiness (eg, availability of electronic resources, internet access) for the paperless labeling initiative. Results We received a total of 436 survey responses (6% response rate) from pharmacists representing 44 US states and territories. Across the spectrum of settings we studied, pharmacists had work access to computers, printers, fax machines and access to the internet or intranet. Approximately 79% of respondents believed that the initiative would improve the adequacy of drug information available in their work site and 95% believed it would either not change (33%) or would improve (62%) communication to patients. Overall, respondents’ comments supported advancing the initiative; however, some comments revealed reservations regarding corporate or pharmacy buy-in, success of implementation, and ease of adoption. Conclusions This is the first nationwide study to report about pharmacists’ perspectives on paperless labeling. In general, pharmacists believe they are ready and that their pharmacies are well equipped for the transition to paperless labeling. Further exploration of perspectives from product label manufacturers and corporate pharmacy offices is needed to understand fully what will be necessary to complete this transition. PMID:23523874

  8. An assessment of pharmacists' readiness for paperless labeling: a national survey.

    PubMed

    Ho, Yun-Xian; Chen, Qingxia; Nian, Hui; Johnson, Kevin B

    2014-01-01

    To assess the state of readiness for the adoption of paperless labeling among a nationally representative sample of pharmacies, including chain pharmacies, independent retail pharmacies, hospitals, and other rural or urban dispensing sites. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to analyze responses to a cross-sectional survey disseminated to American Pharmacists Association pharmacists nationwide. The survey assessed factors related to pharmacists' attitudinal readiness (ie, perceptions of impact) and pharmacies' structural readiness (eg, availability of electronic resources, internet access) for the paperless labeling initiative. We received a total of 436 survey responses (6% response rate) from pharmacists representing 44 US states and territories. Across the spectrum of settings we studied, pharmacists had work access to computers, printers, fax machines and access to the internet or intranet. Approximately 79% of respondents believed that the initiative would improve the adequacy of drug information available in their work site and 95% believed it would either not change (33%) or would improve (62%) communication to patients. Overall, respondents' comments supported advancing the initiative; however, some comments revealed reservations regarding corporate or pharmacy buy-in, success of implementation, and ease of adoption. This is the first nationwide study to report about pharmacists' perspectives on paperless labeling. In general, pharmacists believe they are ready and that their pharmacies are well equipped for the transition to paperless labeling. Further exploration of perspectives from product label manufacturers and corporate pharmacy offices is needed to understand fully what will be necessary to complete this transition.

  9. The meaning of computers to a group of men who are homeless.

    PubMed

    Miller, Kathleen Swenson; Bunch-Harrison, Stacey; Brumbaugh, Brett; Kutty, Rekha Sankaran; FitzGerald, Kathleen

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the experience with computers and the meaning of computers to a group of homeless men living in a long-term shelter. This descriptive exploratory study used semistructured interviews with seven men who had been given access to computers and had participated in individually tailored occupation based interventions through a Work Readiness Program. Three themes emerged from analyzing the interviews: access to computers, computers as a bridge to life-skill development, and changed self-perceptions as a result of connecting to technology. Because they lacked computer knowledge and feared failure, the majority of study participants had not sought out computers available through public access. The need for access to computers, the potential use of computers as a medium for intervention, and the meaning of computers to these men who represent the digital divide are described in this study.

  10. MacMouse. Developing Preschool Readiness Concepts and Skills with HyperCard and MacRecorder.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitterman, L. Jeffrey

    Through developments with the use of the "Apple Macintosh" computer, "HyperCard," and "MacRecorder," children in preschool handicapped programs are now capable of participating in appropriate computerized learning experiences. "HyperCard" allows educators to produce their own computerized instructional…

  11. Three Years Old, Going on Four.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luetke-Stahlman, Barbara

    1990-01-01

    The adoptive mother of a hearing-impaired preschool girl describes ways the family has integrated language practice into every facet of the child's life. The paper focuses on practicing speech, learning language, getting ready for reading, using computers, family involvement in signing, socialization and independence, child care, preschool team…

  12. Readiness to change and therapy outcomes of an innovative psychotherapy program for surgical patients: results from a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Krampe, Henning; Salz, Anna-Lena; Kerper, Léonie F; Krannich, Alexander; Schnell, Tatjana; Wernecke, Klaus-Dieter; Spies, Claudia D

    2017-12-29

    Readiness to change is a pivotal construct for psychotherapy research and a major target of motivational interventions. Our primary objective was to examine whether pre-treatment readiness to change moderated therapy effects of Bridging Intervention in Anesthesiology (BRIA), an innovative psychotherapy approach for surgical patients. This stepped care program aims at motivating and supporting surgical patients with mental disorders to engage in psychosocial mental health care. The major steps of BRIA are two motivational interventions with different intensity. The first step of the program consists of preoperative computer-assisted psychosocial self-assessment including screening for psychological distress and automatically composed computerized brief written advice (BWA). In the second step, patients participate in postoperative psychotherapy sessions combining motivational interviewing with cognitive behavioural therapy (BRIA psychotherapy sessions). We performed regression-based moderator analyses on data from a recent randomized controlled trial published by our research group. The sample comprised 220 surgical patients with diverse comorbid mental disorders according to ICD-10. The most frequent disorders were mood, anxiety, substance use and adjustment disorders. The patients had a mean age of 43.31 years, and 60.90% were women. In a regression model adjusted for pre-treatment psychological distress, we investigated whether readiness to change moderated outcome differences between (1) the BRIA psychotherapy sessions and (2) no psychotherapy / BWA only. Multiple regression analyses showed that readiness to change moderated treatment effects regarding the primary outcomes "Participation in psychosocial mental health care options at month 6" (p = 0.03) and "Having approached psychosocial mental health care options at month 6" (p = 0.048) but not regarding the secondary outcome "Change of general psychological distress between baseline assessment and month 6" (p = 0.329). Probing the moderation effect with the Johnson-Neyman technique revealed that BRIA psychotherapy sessions were superior to BWA in patients with low to moderate readiness, but not in those with high readiness. Readiness to change may act as moderator of the efficacy of psychosocial therapy. Combinations of motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy may be effective particularly in patients with a variety of mental disorders and low readiness to change. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01357694.

  13. The New Zealand Hacker Case: A Post Mortem

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

    Popovsky, Barbara; Ryan, Daniel J.; Frincke, Deborah A.

    2005-10-01

    A typical incident response pits technicians against networks that aren't prepared forensically. [1, 2] If practitioners do consider collecting network forensic data, they face a choice between expending extraordinary effort (time and money) collecting forensically sound data, or simply restoring the network as quickly as possible. In this context, the concept of organizational network forensic readiness has emerged. The following is a discussion of selected computer crime cases, using publically available information, spanning a period of time of several years, that together demonstrate the need for a preventive and proactive response to malicious intrusion over a reactive one. It concludesmore » with recommendations for how to "operationalize" organizational network forensic readiness.« less

  14. Searching for Global Literacy: Oregon's Essential Skills Movement and the Challenges of Transformation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, John T.; Thorpe, Steve

    2012-01-01

    In January 2007, the Oregon State Board of Education mandated a new Oregon diploma that strengthened high school graduation requirements with the aim of improving student readiness for college and career. Among the major changes was a requirement that students demonstrate proficiency in nine "essential skills" that included the…

  15. Decisions You Can Live with

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glanz, Jeffrey

    2009-01-01

    Resolving ethical dilemmas is no easy task, and there are no ready-made recipes or guidelines to follow. A principal, as a critically thinking individual with a well-thought-out belief system, will be challenged to think on his or her feet when confronting situations that require ethical decision making. This article presents three ethical…

  16. Equitable Education for All: Using a Comprehensive Instructional Model to Improve Preschool Teacher Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlson, Abby G.; Curby, Timothy W.; Brown, Chavaughn A.; Trygstad, Kelly M.; Truong, Felicia R.

    2017-01-01

    The current study evaluates the effectiveness of a comprehensive instructional model, ("Every Child Ready"), as a vehicle to provide equitable education experiences for all children by compensating for gaps in teacher knowledge. The ECR instructional model addresses several challenges facing the early childhood landscape. Specifically,…

  17. Three Mistakes Made Worldwide in "Getting Children Ready" for School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pretti-Frontczak, Kristie; Harjusola-Webb, Sanna; Chin, Margaret; Grisham-Brown, Jennifer; Acar, Serra; Heo, Kay; Corby, Maureen; Zeng, Songtian

    2016-01-01

    An ever changing, ever diversifying, and ever-complex global society needs educational policies and practices that support and prepare all young children. In particular, policies and practices are needed that help children become well-rounded citizens. At the same time, there is no denying the many challenges and issues children, families, and…

  18. Devil in the Details: Making Sensible Modifications to No Child Left Behind

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritter, Gary W.; Lucas, Christopher J.

    2006-01-01

    Achieving full compliance with the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation poses major challenges for most of the nation's states. Structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with ranking representatives from a number of so-called high-readiness states: California, Florida, New York, South Carolina,…

  19. A Sales Representative Is Made: An Innovative Sales Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levin, Michael A.; Peterson, Lori T.

    2016-01-01

    Job openings for nonscientific business-to-business sales professionals will increase over the next 10 years. A small private university in the Midwest has developed an innovative sales course to help create professionals who are ready to fill this need. This article addresses the challenges of creating a meaningful, hands-on, experiential course…

  20. Using Design Experiments to Understand Secondary Classroom Comprehension Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaughn, Sharon; Simmons, Deborah; Wanzek, Jeanne

    2013-01-01

    Adolescents in the United States and their teachers face an enormous academic challenge with respect to reading comprehension. College and career readiness standards outlined in the Common Core (2012) place increased emphasis on preparing students to read increasingly complex text across a range of disciplinary content areas. At issue is how to…

  1. The Challenge of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Honors Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yager, Susan

    2016-01-01

    Students with autism are increasingly present on college campuses, and because many young adults with autism are cognitively gifted, it follows that honors programs and colleges are obliged to be aware of this "invisible" disability and be ready to accommodate, and educate, honors students on the autism spectrum. Susan Yager describes…

  2. The Next Generation Science Standards: The Features and Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pruitt, Stephen L.

    2014-01-01

    Beginning in January of 2010, the Carnegie Corporation of New York funded a two-step process to develop a new set of state developed science standards intended to prepare students for college and career readiness in science. These new internationally benchmarked science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were completed in…

  3. Alabama's Education Report Card 2010-11

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alabama Department of Education, 2012

    2012-01-01

    Public education in Alabama is moving in the right direction and is poised to be a national model for the college and career readiness of its students. Through some of the most challenging financial circumstances, public education in Alabama has continued to show great promise in many areas, including reading, math, and science. The success of…

  4. Faculty Intervention as Support for First-Year Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Naidoo, Ana'dhavelli; Lemmens, Juan-Claude

    2015-01-01

    The impetus for this study is grounded in a strategic decision by management to measure readiness for university education as part of an early alert and referral system. The motivation for this project is also rooted in literature that points out that the South African higher education system faces challenges with students entering the system…

  5. The Retention Challenge--Should We Include Parents?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cartmell, Brandy Mallory

    2015-01-01

    University campuses continue to see an increase in the number of helicopter parents, those parents who are hovering about the campus, ready to swoop down and rescue their children at the first sign of distress (Cartmell and McCullough 2014). Retention personnel on campus questioned whether it would be possible to develop initiatives that would…

  6. A Blueprint for Reform. The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    US Department of Education, 2010

    2010-01-01

    On Saturday, March 13, the Obama administration released its blueprint for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which would ask states to adopt college- and career-ready standards and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. The proposal challenges the nation to embrace educational standards that…

  7. Equitable Access by Design. A Conceptual Framework for Integrated Student Supports within Linked Learning Pathways

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    de Velasco, Jorge Ruiz; Newman, Elizabeth; Borsato, Graciela

    2016-01-01

    This report proposes a conceptual framework for defining and implementing a system of integrated student supports that provides equitable access to college and career readiness via Linked Learning pathways in high schools. The framework emphasizes the central commitment of the Linked Learning approach to challenge prevailing norms of…

  8. Empowering School Teachers for Emerging Technologies: An Action Plan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Misra, Pradeep Kumar

    2010-01-01

    "Possessing openness to emerging technologies is critical for teachers in the technology-rich 21st Century as technology continues to accelerate at a rapid rate. Readiness for new technologies is a challenge associated with change. Teachers who resist change may impede and/or limit their students' learning and skills. Teachers, therefore,…

  9. Challenges, Assets, and Innovations: Considerations for Secondary Education in Rural Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Youth Policy Forum, 2010

    2010-01-01

    This brief summarizes the lessons learned during a February 2010 AYPF study mission to North Carolina that examined how rural education systems are providing high quality instruction and improving the readiness of young people for life beyond high school. Participants learned about how federal and state policies and funding streams affect rural…

  10. Summary Brief: International Baccalaureate Standards Development and Alignment Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conley, David T.; Ward, Terri

    2009-01-01

    Although the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is offered by many high schools in the United States and considered to be challenging and rich in content, the curriculum has not been analyzed to determine its alignment with college readiness standards or state educational standards in the U.S. The research methodology employed by…

  11. Observed Emotional and Behavioral Indicators of Motivation Predict School Readiness in Head Start Graduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berhenke, Amanda; Miller, Alison L.; Brown, Eleanor; Seifer, Ronald; Dickstein, Susan

    2011-01-01

    Emotions and behaviors observed during challenging tasks are hypothesized to be valuable indicators of young children's motivation, the assessment of which may be particularly important for children at risk for school failure. The current study demonstrated reliability and concurrent validity of a new observational assessment of motivation in…

  12. College Readiness and Workforce Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Thomas G.; Cook, Harry J.

    2011-01-01

    One of the key points of agreement among educators is that highly successful schools must disseminate best practices so that all can benefit. Eastern Technical High School, part of Baltimore County (MD) Public Schools, is a career and technical education (CTE) high school where students gain the knowledge and skills they need to pursue a career in…

  13. Survival Skills for the Principalship CD Companion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blaydes, John

    2004-01-01

    Today's principals face unique challenges--demands of time, knowledge, and organization, which take their toll on even the most flexible leader. A complement to the insightful "Survival Skills for the Principalship: A Treasure Chest of Time-Savers, Short-Cuts, and Strategies to Help You Keep a Balance in Your Life" (ED495598), this ready-to-edit…

  14. Getting Political: An Action Guide for Librarians and Library Supporters.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Anne M.

    In order to meet today's financial challenges, libraries must be ready, willing, and able to enter the arena of politics and compete for scarce public funding. This book offers librarians, library workers, trustees, and friends' organizations practical advice, case studies, and step-by-step guidance for evaluating the existing local political…

  15. Defense.gov Special Report: 2015 Fiscal Budget

    Science.gov Websites

    . Story Chairman Stresses Need for Military Balance in Hearing Pay and compensation are only one part of a broader challenge to the Defense Department to maintain the balance the military needs to fight the Priorities DOD Strives for Balance Between Lifestyle, Readiness Pacom, U.S. Forces Korea Commanders Discuss

  16. Success of Student Internship in Engineering Industry: A Faculty Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prabhu, B. Vittaldasa; Kudva S., Aditya

    2016-01-01

    Student internship plays a major role in transforming the engineering interns to ready-to-use professionals. Learning at the workplace has become a challenge for the interns due to several issues. A knowledge gap analysis has been depicted considering all stakeholders of the internship, including the intern, faculty, institution and the industrial…

  17. Making It Real: A Practice-Based Early Childhood Teacher Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vartuli, Sue; Snider, Karrie; Holley, Maggie

    2016-01-01

    In early childhood teacher education programs, the reality of educational systems must be understood and teacher candidates must be ready to deal with the current challenges schools face. The rationale and application of the principles of practice based teacher education are presented in this article. Practice-based teacher education programs…

  18. Characteristics of Primary Teacher Training Programmes on Inclusion: A Literature Focus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kurniawati, Farida; De Boer, Anke A.; Minnaert, A. E. M. G.; Mangunsong, Frieda

    2014-01-01

    Background: The implementation of inclusive education creates challenges for classroom teachers who have to meet the learning needs of students with and without special educational needs (SEN). Research has revealed that teachers' readiness and willingness to accommodate the learning needs of students with SEN was determined by their…

  19. College-Ready Urban Black, Hispanic, and Biracial Students: Why Are They Not Applying to College?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindsey, DeLois

    2012-01-01

    The study explored reasons why Black, Hispanic, and Biracial, first generation high school seniors who wish to attend college, do not apply. The literature indicated that these populations have consistently lower rates of college enrollment and educational attainment than Whites and Asians (Ashburn, 2008). Enrollment challenges included…

  20. Getting Ready for the Real World: Student Perspectives on Bringing Industry Collaboration into the Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcketti, Sara B.; Karpova, Elena

    2014-01-01

    Learning through industry collaborations is critical in decreasing the gap between the real world and the academic environment. Working on challenges drawn from industry can increase students' knowledge and future employability, thus enhancing labor force preparation. This study explored students' perceptions (n = 110) of the benefits…

  1. Determining If Phylogenetic Relatedness of Listeria Monocytogenes Isolates Corresponds to Persistence in Poultry Processing Plants Using Whole-Genome Sequencing

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Introduction: Controlling Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products and in food processing facilities is challenging. Surveys have found that some L. monocytogenes types are more persistent in processing facilities than others, but the reason is unknown. It is possible persist...

  2. Effective Teaching: Preparation and Implementation. Fourth Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunt, Gilbert H.; Wiseman, Dennis G.; Touzel, Timothy J.

    2009-01-01

    Schools today have transcended from the chalkboard to the whiteboard and are populated by students who are not frightened to use the technology of this new age of learning. During this period of dynamic change, teachers must be ready to meet the challenges of preparing students for a global society characterized by diversity and ever-increasing…

  3. MasterMind: Empower Yourself with Mental Health. A Program for Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tacker, Katherine A.; Dobie, Sharon

    2008-01-01

    Background: Teachers need classroom-based programs to develop and support mental health fitness in adolescents because this age group faces significant challenges to their mental health. There is a paucity of such ready-made programs. This article describes the development and proposed implementation of a low-cost, effective, adaptable, 6-week,…

  4. State College- and Career-Ready High School Graduation Requirements. Updated

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achieve, Inc., 2013

    2013-01-01

    Research by Achieve, ACT, and others suggests that for high school graduates to be prepared for success in a wide range of postsecondary settings, they need to take four years of challenging mathematics--covering Advanced Algebra; Geometry; and data, probability, and statistics content--and four years of rigorous English aligned with college- and…

  5. Striving Together: Early Lessons in Achieving Collective Impact in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edmondson, Jeff; Zimpher, Nancy L.

    2014-01-01

    In 2006, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky had been suffering from many of the same challenges facing metro regions across the country. Despite significant investments in education from the public and private sectors, outcomes were alarming: Kindergarten readiness was below fifty percent, and nearly half of the students in the Cincinnati Public…

  6. 3 CFR 9009 - Proclamation 9009 of August 30, 2013. National Preparedness Month, 2013

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... America A Proclamation Time and again, America faces crises that test our readiness and challenge our resolve—from natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods to shootings, cyber incidents, and..., and our Nation for any crisis we may face. My Administration is committed to preparing our country for...

  7. Division I Men's Basketball Scholarship: The Challenges of Being a Black Male Athlete

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wright, Lonnie

    2015-01-01

    The Qualitative research will explore issues that interface particularly with Black student- athletes on Division 1 basketball scholarships regarding academic readiness, academic support, family support and how the experience of a Division 1 scholarship impacted their lives. The population of Black student-athletes that the focus of the research…

  8. Teaching GLEE-dership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sweet, Kati; Bruce, Jackie

    2016-01-01

    In a world where more and more emphasis is being put on the importance of teaching leadership skills to work ready undergraduate students, instructors are often met with the challenge of finding current, engaging, real world examples to use in their classrooms. In the case of this application, the instructors propose the use of the characters and…

  9. Mindset and Behavior Strategies and the Effect on College and Career Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Maria Teresa

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between early career and college interventions and college-going self-efficacy of suburban fourth and fifth grade students. This study further explored how a suburban school district addressed challenges and evaluated the perceptions of the system's strategies and implementation of a…

  10. Differentiated Instruction: Are Hong Kong In-Service Teachers Ready?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wan, Sally Wai-Yan

    2017-01-01

    Differentiated instruction (DI) is nothing new and is believed to be an effective research-based strategy to cater for learner diversity. Differentiation involves finding multiple ways to structure a lesson so that each student is provided with an opportunity to work at a moderately challenging level. Previous studies, however, found that teachers…

  11. Understanding the Writing Habits of Tomorrow's Students: Technology and College Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Relles, Stefani R.; Tierney, William G.

    2013-01-01

    This article reports on a study analyzing the digital skills of 91 low-income students enrolled in writing remediation. Findings suggest that technological demands widen the equity dimensions of the college preparation gap by aggravating the academic challenges remedial writers already face. Suggestions to support the compound literacy needs of…

  12. Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: Teachers' Attitudes and Requirements for Environmental Accommodations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gal, Eynat; Schreur, Naomi; Engel-Yeger, Batya

    2010-01-01

    Teachers in general education are expected to cope with students with diverse needs. They might not always be ready or sufficiently supported to meet these challenges. The current study aims at identifying child, teacher and environmental barriers to inclusion. Specifically it addresses the importance of preschool teachers' attitudes as the human…

  13. Human Resource Education in the Middle East Region

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dirani, Khalil M.; Hamie, Christine Silva

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of human resource development (HRD) education in Middle Eastern countries. In particular, the authors discuss the current state of HRD education, country readiness and challenges that hinder HRD progress in Middle Eastern countries. They argue that HRD programs need to prepare young…

  14. Stamps, Sarcophagi, and Songs: Teaching World History with Online Resources

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schrum, Kelly

    2012-01-01

    Teaching world history is challenging. In addition to covering the history of the world geographically and chronologically, it is difficult to find high quality, translated materials ready for classroom use. The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University offers free, online materials, including primary sources,…

  15. Yes, Everyone Can Be College Ready

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burris, Carol Corbett; Murphy, John

    2014-01-01

    The authors, pioneers in detracking and in shrinking achievement gaps, pose a question: Is it possible to have all students in a large high school successfully complete a challenging curriculum that gives them practice in the habits and skills necessary for success in college? The answer, they say, "is a resounding yes." This article…

  16. Primates, computation, and the path to language. Reply to comments on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arbib, Michael A.

    2016-03-01

    The target article [6], henceforth TA, had as its main title Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology. This unpacks into three claims: Comparative Primatology: If one wishes to understand the behavior of any one primate species (whether monkey, ape or human - TA did not discuss, e.g., lemurs but that study could well be of interest), one will gain new insight by comparing behaviors across species, sharpening one's analysis of one class of behaviors by analyzing similarities and differences between two or more species.

  17. Proposed Interoperability Readiness Level Assessment for Mission Critical Interfaces During Navy Acquisition

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-12-01

    This involves zeroing and recreating the interoperability arrays and other variables used in the simulation. Since the constants do not change from run......Using this algorithm, the process of encrypting/decrypting data requires very little computation, and the generation of the random pads can be

  18. Get Ready for Generation Next.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wellner, Alison

    1999-01-01

    "Generation Next" are the 68 million people born between 1977 and 1994. They are the first generation that has grown up with such technologies as computers, the Internet, compact disks, and microwaves and they have more education than previous generations. They will have an effect on trainers and training methods in the workplace. (JOW)

  19. DSB Task Force on Cyber Supply Chain

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-02-06

    27 3.4 Cybersecurity for Commercial and Open Source Components...Communications and Intelligence ASD(L&MR): Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness ASD(R&E): Assistant Secretary of Defense...system BSIMM: Building Security in Maturity Model C4ISR: command, control, communications, computers, intelligence , surveillance and

  20. 14 CFR Section 24 - Profit and Loss Elements

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Maintenance Burden” shall reflect a memorandum allocation by each air carrier of the total expenses included... operation personnel in readiness for assignment to an in-flight status. (2) “Maintenance” shall include all... line 5 of this schedule. (f) “Operating Profit (Loss)” shall be computed by subtracting the total...

  1. 14 CFR Section 24 - Profit and Loss Elements

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Maintenance Burden” shall reflect a memorandum allocation by each air carrier of the total expenses included... operation personnel in readiness for assignment to an in-flight status. (2) “Maintenance” shall include all... line 5 of this schedule. (f) “Operating Profit (Loss)” shall be computed by subtracting the total...

  2. 14 CFR Section 24 - Profit and Loss Elements

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Maintenance Burden” shall reflect a memorandum allocation by each air carrier of the total expenses included... operation personnel in readiness for assignment to an in-flight status. (2) “Maintenance” shall include all... line 5 of this schedule. (f) “Operating Profit (Loss)” shall be computed by subtracting the total...

  3. Connecting to the Future

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kennedy, Mike

    2010-01-01

    For the generation of people whose classroom memories consist of chalk squeaking on a blackboard, weather-beaten textbooks and a ready supply of sharpened No. 2 pencils, the resources available to students in many 21st-century American schools may seem unfamiliar, even amazing. Computer networks with access to the Internet--wired or wireless--have…

  4. Get Ready, Get Set, Go Read! Motivation through Competition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cook, Sybilla

    1997-01-01

    Illustrates how teachers and librarians can use competitive activities to motivate children to read and to encourage personal achievement and group cooperation. Discusses computer games and the group-oriented bees, bowls, circles and quiz contests. Notes the benefits in terms of social interaction, communication, resource-center use, and…

  5. Working Hand in Hand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Portnoy, Sean

    2008-01-01

    In this article, the author talks about Urban Tech, a New York City-based organization that works with schools to teach students the life skills it believes are necessary for academic achievement and workforce readiness. Its Youth Leadership Academy program uses a variety of computer-based, interactive elements to educate students on such topics…

  6. Are We Ready for the Virtual Library? Technology Push, Market Pull and Organisational Response.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilbert, J. D.

    1993-01-01

    Discusses virtual libraries, i.e., library services available to users via personal computers; considers the issues of technological development, user demands, and organizational response; and describes progress toward virtual libraries in the Netherlands, including networks, online systems, navigation tools, subject classification, coordination…

  7. Choosing and Using Text-to-Speech Software

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peters, Tom; Bell, Lori

    2007-01-01

    This article describes a computer-based technology for generating speech called text-to-speech (TTS). This software is ready for widespread use by libraries, other organizations, and individual users. It offers the affordable ability to turn just about any electronic text that is not image-based into an artificially spoken communication. The…

  8. Databases for K-8 Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Terrence E., Jr.

    2004-01-01

    Today's elementary school students have been exposed to computers since birth, so it is not surprising that they are so proficient at using them. As a result, they are ready to search databases that include topics and information appropriate for their age level. Subscription databases are digital copies of magazines, newspapers, journals,…

  9. Security Code Red or Ready? Leaders Sharing--For Tech Leaders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Don; Kelly, Pat

    2005-01-01

    Increasingly, teachers rely on computer software and networks to both enhance curriculum management and provide engaging learning opportunities in instruction. New software is enabling more frequent formative assessments to better focus day-to-day lessons on the unique needs of individual learners. Administrators use increasingly complex data…

  10. Ready Set. . .Authoring Systems to Get You Started on Interactive Video Design.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhodes, Dent M.; Azbell, Janet White

    1986-01-01

    Evaluates four authoring systems used to develop computer aided interactive video: The Instructor, InfoWriter, IDeAS, and ProCAL2. The information provided includes hardware requirements, compatibility with videotape and/or videodisc, instructional options available, user data-management capabilities, procedures for logging tapes, and access for…

  11. Please Ask Gently: Using Culturally Targeted Communication Strategies to Initiate End-of-Life Care Discussions With Older Chinese Americans.

    PubMed

    Chi, Han-Lin; Cataldo, Janine; Ho, Evelyn Y; Rehm, Roberta S

    2018-01-01

    Health-care providers (HCPs) find facilitating end-of-life (EOL) care discussions challenging, especially with patients whose ethnicities differ from their own. Currently, there is little guidance on how to initiate and facilitate such discussions with older Chinese Americans (≥55 years) and their families. To explore communication strategies for HCPs to initiate EOL care discussions with older Chinese Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area. This qualitative (focused) ethnographic study included field observations and individual semistructured interviews with 14 community-dwelling older Chinese Americans who lived independently at home, 9 adult children, and 7 HCPs. Responses were analyzed using open coding, memos, and comparison across participants. The study participants emphasized the importance of assessing readiness for early EOL care discussions. All recommended using indirect communication approaches to determine older Chinese Americans' readiness. Indirect communication can be culturally targeted and applied at both system-wide (ie, health-care system) and individual (ie, HCP) levels. To institutionalize the practice, health-care facilities should implement EOL care discussion inquiries as part of routine during check-in or intake questionnaires. In individual practice, using depersonalized communication strategies to initiate the discussion was recommended to determine older Chinese Americans' readiness. Assessing readiness should be an essential and necessary action for early EOL care discussions. Culturally targeted assessment of older Chinese Americans includes using indirect communication approaches to initiate an EOL care discussion to determine their readiness. In addition to health-care system integration, providers should implement and evaluate proposed EOL discussion initiation prompts with their older Chinese American patients.

  12. Organizational factors associated with readiness to implement and translate a primary care based telemedicine behavioral program to improve blood pressure control: the HTN-IMPROVE study

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Hypertension is prevalent and often sub-optimally controlled; however, interventions to improve blood pressure control have had limited success. Objectives Through implementation of an evidence-based nurse-delivered self-management phone intervention to facilitate hypertension management within large complex health systems, we sought to answer the following questions: What is the level of organizational readiness to implement the intervention? What are the specific facilitators, barriers, and contextual factors that may affect organizational readiness to change? Study design Each intervention site from three separate Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs), which represent 21 geographic regions across the US, agreed to enroll 500 participants over a year with at least 0.5 full time equivalent employees of nursing time. Our mixed methods approach used a priori semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders (n = 27) including nurses, physicians, administrators, and information technology (IT) professionals between 2010 and 2011. Researchers iteratively identified facilitators and barriers of organizational readiness to change (ORC) and implementation. Additionally, an ORC survey was conducted with the stakeholders who were (n = 102) preparing for program implementation. Results Key ORC facilitators included stakeholder buy-in and improving hypertension. Positive organizational characteristics likely to impact ORC included: other similar programs that support buy-in, adequate staff, and alignment with the existing site environment; improved patient outcomes; is positive for the professional nurse role, and is evidence-based; understanding of the intervention; IT infrastructure and support, and utilization of existing equipment and space. The primary ORC barrier was unclear long-term commitment of nursing. Negative organizational characteristics likely to impact ORC included: added workload, competition with existing programs, implementation length, and limited available nurse staff time; buy-in is temporary until evidence shows improved outcomes; contacting patients and the logistics of integration into existing workflow is a challenge; and inadequate staffing is problematic. Findings were complementary across quantitative and qualitative analyses. Conclusions The model of organizational change identified key facilitators and barriers of organizational readiness to change and successful implementation. This study allows us to understand the needs and challenges of intervention implementation. Furthermore, examination of organizational facilitators and barriers to implementation of evidence-based interventions may inform dissemination in other chronic diseases. PMID:24010683

  13. Models of care for musculoskeletal health: a cross-sectional qualitative study of Australian stakeholders' perspectives on relevance and standardised evaluation.

    PubMed

    Briggs, Andrew M; Jordan, Joanne E; Speerin, Robyn; Jennings, Matthew; Bragge, Peter; Chua, Jason; Slater, Helen

    2015-11-16

    The prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal conditions are predicted to rapidly escalate in the coming decades. Effective strategies are required to minimise 'evidence-practice', 'burden-policy' and 'burden-service' gaps and optimise health system responsiveness for sustainable, best-practice healthcare. One mechanism by which evidence can be translated into practice and policy is through Models of Care (MoCs), which provide a blueprint for health services planning and delivery. While evidence supports the effectiveness of musculoskeletal MoCs for improving health outcomes and system efficiencies, no standardised national approach to evaluation in terms of their 'readiness' for implementation and 'success' after implementation, is yet available. Further, the value assigned to MoCs by end users is uncertain. This qualitative study aimed to explore end users' views on the relevance of musculoskeletal MoCs to their work and value of a standardised evaluation approach. A cross-sectional qualitative study was undertaken. Subject matter experts (SMEs) with health, policy and administration and consumer backgrounds were drawn from three Australian states. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed and piloted to explore perceptions about musculoskeletal MoCs including: i) aspects important to their work (or life, for consumers) ii) usefulness of standardised evaluation frameworks to judge 'readiness' and 'success' and iii) challenges associated with standardised evaluation. Verbatim transcripts were analysed by two researchers using a grounded theory approach to derive key themes. Twenty-seven SMEs (n = 19; 70.4 % female) including five (18.5 %) consumers participated in the study. MoCs were perceived as critical for influencing and initiating changes to best-practice healthcare planning and delivery and providing practical guidance on how to implement and evaluate services. A 'readiness' evaluation framework assessing whether critical components across the health system had been considered prior to implementation was strongly supported, while 'success' was perceived as an already familiar evaluation concept. Perceived challenges associated with standardised evaluation included identifying, defining and measuring key 'readiness' and 'success' indicators; impacts of systems and context changes; cost; meaningful stakeholder consultation and developing a widely applicable framework. A standardised evaluation framework that includes a strong focus on 'readiness' is important to ensure successful and sustainable implementation of musculoskeletal MoCs.

  14. Organizational factors associated with readiness to implement and translate a primary care based telemedicine behavioral program to improve blood pressure control: the HTN-IMPROVE study.

    PubMed

    Shaw, Ryan J; Kaufman, Miriam A; Bosworth, Hayden B; Weiner, Bryan J; Zullig, Leah L; Lee, Shoou-Yih Daniel; Kravetz, Jeffrey D; Rakley, Susan M; Roumie, Christianne L; Bowen, Michael E; Del Monte, Pamela S; Oddone, Eugene Z; Jackson, George L

    2013-09-08

    Hypertension is prevalent and often sub-optimally controlled; however, interventions to improve blood pressure control have had limited success. Through implementation of an evidence-based nurse-delivered self-management phone intervention to facilitate hypertension management within large complex health systems, we sought to answer the following questions: What is the level of organizational readiness to implement the intervention? What are the specific facilitators, barriers, and contextual factors that may affect organizational readiness to change? Each intervention site from three separate Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs), which represent 21 geographic regions across the US, agreed to enroll 500 participants over a year with at least 0.5 full time equivalent employees of nursing time. Our mixed methods approach used a priori semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders (n = 27) including nurses, physicians, administrators, and information technology (IT) professionals between 2010 and 2011. Researchers iteratively identified facilitators and barriers of organizational readiness to change (ORC) and implementation. Additionally, an ORC survey was conducted with the stakeholders who were (n = 102) preparing for program implementation. Key ORC facilitators included stakeholder buy-in and improving hypertension. Positive organizational characteristics likely to impact ORC included: other similar programs that support buy-in, adequate staff, and alignment with the existing site environment; improved patient outcomes; is positive for the professional nurse role, and is evidence-based; understanding of the intervention; IT infrastructure and support, and utilization of existing equipment and space.The primary ORC barrier was unclear long-term commitment of nursing. Negative organizational characteristics likely to impact ORC included: added workload, competition with existing programs, implementation length, and limited available nurse staff time; buy-in is temporary until evidence shows improved outcomes; contacting patients and the logistics of integration into existing workflow is a challenge; and inadequate staffing is problematic. Findings were complementary across quantitative and qualitative analyses. The model of organizational change identified key facilitators and barriers of organizational readiness to change and successful implementation. This study allows us to understand the needs and challenges of intervention implementation. Furthermore, examination of organizational facilitators and barriers to implementation of evidence-based interventions may inform dissemination in other chronic diseases.

  15. Can Clouds replace Grids? Will Clouds replace Grids?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shiers, J. D.

    2010-04-01

    The world's largest scientific machine - comprising dual 27km circular proton accelerators cooled to 1.9oK and located some 100m underground - currently relies on major production Grid infrastructures for the offline computing needs of the 4 main experiments that will take data at this facility. After many years of sometimes difficult preparation the computing service has been declared "open" and ready to meet the challenges that will come shortly when the machine restarts in 2009. But the service is not without its problems: reliability - as seen by the experiments, as opposed to that measured by the official tools - still needs to be significantly improved. Prolonged downtimes or degradations of major services or even complete sites are still too common and the operational and coordination effort to keep the overall service running is probably not sustainable at this level. Recently "Cloud Computing" - in terms of pay-per-use fabric provisioning - has emerged as a potentially viable alternative but with rather different strengths and no doubt weaknesses too. Based on the concrete needs of the LHC experiments - where the total data volume that will be acquired over the full lifetime of the project, including the additional data copies that are required by the Computing Models of the experiments, approaches 1 Exabyte - we analyze the pros and cons of Grids versus Clouds. This analysis covers not only technical issues - such as those related to demanding database and data management needs - but also sociological aspects, which cannot be ignored, neither in terms of funding nor in the wider context of the essential but often overlooked role of science in society, education and economy.

  16. Balancing Materiel Readiness Risks and Concurrency in Weapon System Acquisition: A Handbook for Program Managers

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-07-15

    ftViCCii UWNC COMMAND MIX CM AFT DCP OUTUNC moo ffEOUCST FOR PROGRAM DECISION DRAFT DCP AFSC REVIEW RECOWMEM CATIONS OHI*OC Arse wioc...CS.P3 F16. El*. P» MCA Exhibit 4-6b. EMBEDDED COMPUTER HARDWARE vs. SOFTWARE Exhibit 4-6c. DoD EMBEDDED COMPUTER MARKET 31.J1...the mix of stores carried by that vehicle 6. Anticipated combat tactics employed by the carrying or launching vehicle and its maneuvering

  17. CONVEX mini manual

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tennille, Geoffrey M.; Howser, Lona M.

    1993-01-01

    The use of the CONVEX computers that are an integral part of the Supercomputing Network Subsystems (SNS) of the Central Scientific Computing Complex of LaRC is briefly described. Features of the CONVEX computers that are significantly different than the CRAY supercomputers are covered, including: FORTRAN, C, architecture of the CONVEX computers, the CONVEX environment, batch job submittal, debugging, performance analysis, utilities unique to CONVEX, and documentation. This revision reflects the addition of the Applications Compiler and X-based debugger, CXdb. The document id intended for all CONVEX users as a ready reference to frequently asked questions and to more detailed information contained with the vendor manuals. It is appropriate for both the novice and the experienced user.

  18. Emerging challenges in implementing universal health coverage in Asia.

    PubMed

    Bredenkamp, Caryn; Evans, Timothy; Lagrada, Leizel; Langenbrunner, John; Nachuk, Stefan; Palu, Toomas

    2015-11-01

    As countries in Asia converge on the goal of universal health coverage (UHC), some common challenges are emerging. One is how to ensure coverage of the informal sector so as to make UHC truly universal; a second is how to design a benefit package that is responsive and appropriate to current health challenges, yet fiscally sustainable; and a third is how to ensure "supply-side readiness", i.e. the availability and quality of services, which is a necessary condition for translating coverage into improvements in health outcomes. Using examples from the Asia region, this paper discusses these three challenges and how they are being addressed. On the first challenge, two promising approaches emerge: using general revenues to fully cover the informal sector, or employing a combination of tax subsidies, non-financial incentives and contributory requirements. The former can produce fast results, but places pressure on government budgets and may induce informality, while the latter will require a strong administrative mandate and systems to track the ability-to-pay. With respect to benefit packages, we find considerable variation in the nature and rigor of processes underlying the selection and updating of the services included. Also, in general, packages do not yet focus sufficiently on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related preventive outpatient care. Finally, there are large variations and inequities in the supply-side readiness, in terms of availability of infrastructure, equipment, essential drugs and staffing, to deliver on the promises of UHC. Health worker competencies are also a constraint. While the UHC challenges are common, experience in overcoming these challenges is varied and many of the successes appear to be highly context-specific. This implies that researchers and policymakers need to rigorously, and regularly, assess different approaches, and share these findings across countries in Asia - and across the world. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  19. CHALLENGES FOR IMPLEMENTING A PTSD PREVENTIVE GENOMIC SEQUENCING PROGRAM IN THE U.S. MILITARY

    PubMed Central

    Lázaro-Muñoz, Gabriel; Juengst, Eric T.

    2015-01-01

    There is growing interest in using the quickly developing field of genomics to contribute to military readiness and effectiveness. Specifically, influential military advisory panels have recommended that the U.S. military apply genomics to help treat, prevent, or minimize the risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among service members. This article highlights some important scientific, legal, and ethical challenges regarding the development and deployment of a preventive genomic sequencing (PGS) program to predict the risk of PTSD among military service members. PMID:26401056

  20. Formulation and Stability of Solutions.

    PubMed

    Akers, Michael J

    2016-01-01

    Ready-to-use solutions are the most preferable and most common dosage forms for injectable and topical ophthalmic products. Drugs formulated as solution almost always have chemical and physical stability challenges as well as solubility limitations and the need to prevent inadvertent microbial contamination issues. The first in this series of articles took us through a discussion of optimizing the physical stability of solutions. This article concludes this series of articles with a discussion on foreign particles, protein aggregation, and immunogenicity; optimizing microbiological activity; and osmolality (tonicity) agents, and discusses how these challenges and issues are addressed.

  1. Shared decision making as part of value based care: New U.S. policies challenge our readiness.

    PubMed

    Spatz, Erica S; Elwyn, Glyn; Moulton, Benjamin W; Volk, Robert J; Frosch, Dominick L

    2017-06-01

    Shared decision making in the United States is increasingly being recognized as part of value-based care. During the last decade, several state and federal initiatives have linked shared decision making with reimbursement and increased protection from litigation. Additionally, private and public foundations are increasingly funding studies to identify best practices for moving shared decision making from the research world into clinical practice. These shifts offer opportunities and challenges for ensuring effective implementation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

  2. Modified team-based learning strategy to improve human anatomy learning: A pilot study at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia.

    PubMed

    Martínez, Emilio G; Tuesca, Rafael

    2014-01-01

    As part of an institutional program sponsored by the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia, we developed an educational research study on two sessions of human anatomy in which we combined team-based learning (TBL) and the use of iPads. Study data included the TBL, assessments applied during the course, student's grades on mid-term examinations and students' perceptions of their experiences. Students reported a positive attitude toward the use of the TBL sessions, and the results showed a significant improvement in their learning between the first and second sessions. Significantly positive correlations (P < 0.05) were obtained between (a) the individual students' readiness test performance 1 and mid-term examination 1, (b) the individual readiness test performances from Session 1 to Session 2, and (c) the group readiness test performances from the first and second sessions. These results point to positive learning experiences for these students. Analyses of the students' reflections on their activities also pointed toward future challenges. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

  3. Improvements in State and Local Planning for Mass Dispensing of Medical Countermeasures: The Technical Assistance Review Program, United States, 2007-2014.

    PubMed

    Renard, Paul G; Vagi, Sara J; Reinold, Chris M; Silverman, Brenda L; Avchen, Rachel N

    2017-09-01

    To evaluate and describe outcomes of state and local medical countermeasure preparedness planning, which is critical to ensure rapid distribution and dispensing of a broad spectrum of life-saving medical assets during a public health emergency. We used 2007 to 2014 state and local data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Technical Assistance Review. We calculated descriptive statistics from 50 states and 72 local Cities Readiness Initiative jurisdictions that participated in the Technical Assistance Review annually. From 2007 to 2014, the average overall Technical Assistance Review score increased by 13% for states and 41% for Cities Readiness Initiative jurisdictions. In 2014, nearly half of states achieved the maximum possible overall score (100), and 94% of local Cities Readiness Initiative jurisdictions achieved a score of 90 or more. Despite challenges, effective and timely medical countermeasure distribution and dispensing is possible with appropriate planning, staff, and resources. However, vigilance in training, exercising, and improving plans from lessons learned in a sustained, coordinated way is critical to ensure continued public health preparedness success.

  4. Data-proximate Visualization via Unidata Cloud Technologies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fisher, W. I.; Oxelson Ganter, J.; Weber, J.

    2016-12-01

    The rise in cloud computing, coupled with the growth of "Big Data", has lead to a migration away from local scientific data storage. The increasing size of remote scientific data sets increase, however, makes it difficult for scientists to subject them to large-scale analysis and visualization. These large datasets can take an inordinate amount of time to download; subsetting is a potential solution, but subsetting services are not yet ubiquitous. Data providers may also pay steep prices, as many cloud providers meter data based on how much data leaves their cloud service.The solution to this problem is a deceptively simple one; move data analysis and visualization tools to the cloud, so that scientists may perform data-proximate analysis and visualization. This results in increased transfer speeds, while egress costs are lowered or completely eliminated. The challenge now becomes creating tools which are cloud-ready.The solution to this challenge is provided by Application Streaming. This technology allows a program to run entirely on a remote virtual machine while still allowing for interactivity and dynamic visualizations. When coupled with containerization technology such as Docker, we are able to easily deploy legacy analysis and visualization software to the cloud whilst retaining access via a desktop, netbook, a smartphone, or the next generation of hardware, whatever it may be.Unidata has harnessed Application Streaming to provide a cloud-capable version of our visualization software, the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). This work will examine the challenges associated with adapting the IDV to an application streaming platform, and include a brief discussion of the underlying technologies involved.

  5. Cloud-based data-proximate visualization and analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fisher, Ward

    2017-04-01

    The rise in cloud computing, coupled with the growth of "Big Data", has lead to a migration away from local scientific data storage. The increasing size of remote scientific data sets increase, however, makes it difficult for scientists to subject them to large-scale analysis and visualization. These large datasets can take an inordinate amount of time to download; subsetting is a potential solution, but subsetting services are not yet ubiquitous. Data providers may also pay steep prices, as many cloud providers meter data based on how much data leaves their cloud service. The solution to this problem is a deceptively simple one; move data analysis and visualization tools to the cloud, so that scientists may perform data-proximate analysis and visualization. This results in increased transfer speeds, while egress costs are lowered or completely eliminated. The challenge now becomes creating tools which are cloud-ready. The solution to this challenge is provided by Application Streaming. This technology allows a program to run entirely on a remote virtual machine while still allowing for interactivity and dynamic visualizations. When coupled with containerization technology such as Docker, we are able to easily deploy legacy analysis and visualization software to the cloud whilst retaining access via a desktop, netbook, a smartphone, or the next generation of hardware, whatever it may be. Unidata has harnessed Application Streaming to provide a cloud-capable version of our visualization software, the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). This work will examine the challenges associated with adapting the IDV to an application streaming platform, and include a brief discussion of the underlying technologies involved.

  6. Report on the first round of the Mock LISA Data Challenges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arnaud, K. A.; Auger, G.; Babak, S.; Baker, J. G.; Benacquista, M. J.; Bloomer, E.; Brown, D. A.; Camp, J. B.; Cannizzo, J. K.; Christensen, N.; Clark, J.; Cornish, N. J.; Crowder, J.; Cutler, C.; Finn, L. S.; Halloin, H.; Hayama, K.; Hendry, M.; Jeannin, O.; Królak, A.; Larson, S. L.; Mandel, I.; Messenger, C.; Meyer, R.; Mohanty, S.; Nayak, R.; Numata, K.; Petiteau, A.; Pitkin, M.; Plagnol, E.; Porter, E. K.; Prix, R.; Roever, C.; Stroeer, A.; Thirumalainambi, R.; Thompson, D. E.; Toher, J.; Umstaetter, R.; Vallisneri, M.; Vecchio, A.; Veitch, J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Whelan, J. T.; Woan, G.

    2007-10-01

    The Mock LISA Data Challenges (MLDCs) have the dual purpose of fostering the development of LISA data analysis tools and capabilities, and demonstrating the technical readiness already achieved by the gravitational-wave community in distilling a rich science payoff from the LISA data output. The first round of MLDCs has just been completed: nine challenges consisting of data sets containing simulated gravitational-wave signals produced either by galactic binaries or massive black hole binaries embedded in simulated LISA instrumental noise were released in June 2006 with deadline for submission of results at the beginning of December 2006. Ten groups have participated in this first round of challenges. All of the challenges had at least one entry which successfully characterized the signal to better than 95% when assessed via a correlation with phasing ambiguities accounted for. Here, we describe the challenges, summarize the results and provide a first critical assessment of the entries.

  7. An Exploration of the Readiness, Challenges and Expected Support for Their Overseas Study of Chinese Business and Management Programme Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Chengbo; Li, Xiaomei; Ou, Xuan; O'Kane, James; Mao, Zhaofang; Zhang, Wenquan

    2015-01-01

    Chinese students are the largest international student cohort in the higher education institutions of English-speaking developed countries. The paper explores strategies to enhance the Chinese students' learning efficacy in overseas institutions. This research differs from other research focusing on international students already in…

  8. Lessons from life. The biology of business transformation.

    PubMed

    Rose, J S

    2001-01-01

    Biology and business face similar challenges when it comes to change. Living organisms experience constant change. And successful health care organizations must be ready and willing to embrace transition if they are to survive. Take an in-depth look at the biology-to-business metaphor and see how to better manage information technology changes in your organization.

  9. Career Decision-Making and College and Career Access among Recent African Immigrant Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wambu, Grace; Hutchison, Brian; Pietrantoni, Zachary

    2017-01-01

    The number of African immigrant youth in American classrooms is on the rise. School counselors are uniquely positioned to help these students to be college and career ready. Using the Social Cognitive Career Theory framework, this article aims to address the unique career development needs, college and career access challenges faced by African…

  10. Setting the Bar for High-Ability Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greene, Buck; Cross, Tracy L.

    2013-01-01

    Secondary school principals face no shortage of issues and challenges when it comes to ensuring that their teachers and students are ready for the Common Core State Standards. With so many issues competing for scarce time and resources, it is understandable that for many school leaders, the needs of high-ability and high-potential students are not…

  11. Advanced Math Equals Career Readiness. Math Works

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Achieve, Inc., 2013

    2013-01-01

    The equation is simple: No matter their background, students who take challenging math courses in high school get better jobs and earn more money throughout their entire lives. This paper stresses that: (1) Higher-level math opens doors for any and all postsecondary programs and keeps it open for advancement beyond entry-level jobs; and (2)…

  12. Embracing the Archives: How NPR Librarians Turned Their Collection into a Workflow Tool

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sin, Lauren; Daugert, Katie

    2013-01-01

    Several years ago, National Public Radio (NPR) librarians began developing a new content management system (CMS). It was intended to offer desktop access for all NPR-produced content, including transcripts, audio, and metadata. Fast-forward to 2011, and their shiny, new database, Artemis, was ready for debut. Their next challenge: to teach a staff…

  13. Redesign of the Undergraduate Business Curriculum: The Way Forward, a Paradigm Shift

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berry, Priscilla

    2008-01-01

    The need to reform the undergraduate business curriculum was in evidence before 9/11 and is more imperative since the stock market disintegration beginning in December 2007. The stakeholders will not tolerate the old methods of functional teaching for business school graduates. Graduates must be work ready and the challenges to business schools…

  14. Work Integrated Learning for Engineering Qualifications: A Spanner in the Works?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mutereko, Sybert; Wedekind, Volker

    2016-01-01

    Work-integrated learning (WIL) has been identified as a way of equipping graduates with attributes that make them work-ready. Many higher education institutions (HEIs) require their students to go through a compulsory work place learning form (WPL) of WIL. The complications of WPL can affect HEIs' student throughput. To address this challenge, a…

  15. Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen's Guide For Planning and Design. Second Edition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bingler, Steven; Quinn, Linda; Sullivan, Kevin

    2003-01-01

    As the twenty-first century begins, America faces a daunting challenge: The "baby boom echo" is ready for school. The children of World War Two's baby boomers, millions of youngsters are crowding into schools across the nation. Thousands of new schools will be needed to accommodate them. This demand for educational facilities is…

  16. Are Your Students Ready for Anatomy and Physiology? Developing Tools to Identify Students at Risk for Failure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gultice, Amy; Witham, Ann; Kallmeyer, Robert

    2015-01-01

    High failure rates in introductory college science courses, including anatomy and physiology, are common at institutions across the country, and determining the specific factors that contribute to this problem is challenging. To identify students at risk for failure in introductory physiology courses at our open-enrollment institution, an online…

  17. Are Commercial "Personal Robots" Ready for Language Learning? Focus on Second Language Speech

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moussalli, Souheila; Cardoso, Walcir

    2016-01-01

    Today's language classrooms are challenged with limited classroom time and lack of input, and output practice in a stress-free environment (Hsu, 2015). The use of commercial, readily available tools such as Personal Robots (PRs; e.g. Amazon's Echo, Jibo) might promote language learning by freeing up class time, allowing for a more focused…

  18. When Are Students Ready for Research Methods? A Curriculum Mapping Argument for the Political Science Major

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergbower, Matthew L.

    2017-01-01

    For many political science programs, research methods courses are a fundamental component of the recommended undergraduate curriculum. However, instructors and students often see these courses as the most challenging. This study explores when it is most appropriate for political science majors to enroll and pass a research methods course. The…

  19. Designing a Women's Refuge: An Interdisciplinary Health, Architecture and Landscape Collaboration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dean, Suzanne; Williams, Claire; Donnelly, Samantha; Levett-Jones, Tracy

    2017-01-01

    University programs are currently faced with a number of challenges: how to engage students as active learners, how to ensure graduates are "work ready" with broad and relevant professional skills, and how to support students to see their potential as agents of social change and contributors to social good. This paper presents the…

  20. An Unsure Start for Young Children in English Urban Primary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Darbyshire, Nicky; Finn, Bev; Griggs, Sarah; Ford, Chris

    2014-01-01

    This article, written by three research-active teachers and their academic partner, registers concerns with the ways the so-called "achievement gap" is portrayed in policy announcements in England. It charts a challenge to the current view that it is the task of urban nursery and primary schools to train children to be school-ready. It…

  1. Sustainability of High-Level Isolation Capabilities among US Ebola Treatment Centers.

    PubMed

    Herstein, Jocelyn J; Biddinger, Paul D; Gibbs, Shawn G; Le, Aurora B; Jelden, Katelyn C; Hewlett, Angela L; Lowe, John J

    2017-06-01

    To identify barriers to maintaining and applying capabilities of US high-level isolation units (HLIUs) used during the Ebola virus disease outbreak, during 2016 we surveyed HLIUs. HLIUs identified sustainability challenges and reported the highly infectious diseases they would treat. HLIUs expended substantial resources in development but must strategize models of sustainability to maintain readiness.

  2. Global Visions. Teaching Suggestions and Activity Masters for Unit 1: The Global Marketplace.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Procter and Gamble Educational Services, Cincinnati, OH.

    This is a classroom-ready program about the U.S. economy's number one challenge: globalization. Few historical forces have more power to shape students' lives than globalization, the gradual economic integration of all the world's nations. This program is designed to supplement social studies courses in economics, government, U.S. and world…

  3. "Not All of Us Finns Communicate the Same Way Either": Teachers' Perceptions of Interculturality in Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Itkonen, Tuija; Talib, Mirja-Tytti; Dervin, Fred

    2015-01-01

    This article examines teachers' perspectives on interculturality and diversity within the context of upper secondary vocational education and training (VET) in Finland. Increasing diversity in VET education challenges teachers' sense of interculturality and their readiness to interact with and treat the "other" fairly. Compared to other…

  4. An Analysis of the Impact of Financial Factors on the Well-Being of Military Officers

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-12-01

    34 Figure 18. Job Fields of Participants ...........................................................................34 Figure 19...financial environment as their civilian counterparts, but with some unique challenges and unique benefits. Benefits include relative job stability...instruction goes on to state that personal financial management services shall support the commander, promote readiness and retention , include education

  5. Overcoming Roadblocks on the Way to Work. Bridges to Work Field Report. Field Report Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Mark; Palubinsky, Beth; Tierney, Joseph

    Five programs in the Bridges to Work demonstration have functioned as a labor market exchange--with the main services being job matching and transportation coordination--for job-ready inner-city workers and suburban employment. The logistics of transportation have been simple; the basics of employment have been an ongoing challenge. Sites have…

  6. Auditing the TK and TPACK Confidence of Pre-Service Teachers: Are They Ready for the Profession?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jamieson-Proctor, Romina; Finger, Glenn; Albion, Peter

    2010-01-01

    Teacher education graduates need appropriate levels of confidence and capabilities in relation to technological knowledge (TK) as a basis for having technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) to meet the challenges of learning and teaching in the 21st century. However, it should not be assumed that tomorrow's teachers enter the profession…

  7. Business-School Cooperatives: Meeting Educational Needs. Bar/School Partnership Programs Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Elenor

    Business-school cooperatives are a potential solution to the need of students and educators to learn more about business, its functions in U.S. society, and the need of businesses to have a future workforce ready to face the challenges of an increasingly more complicated and highly technical work atmosphere. Such cooperatives, which are an…

  8. "Loko i'a": Enriching Educational Waters for Hawaiian Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sumida, Anna Y.

    2005-01-01

    In this article, the author proposes to offer a glimpse into the practical challenges of teaching literacy in a public school setting where students enter classrooms at various stages of reading readiness. The author begins with the case of Kahea, a kindergarten student reading at an emergent literacy level, as an illustration of some of the…

  9. The Future of CTE: Programs of Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shumer, Rob; Digby, Cynthia

    2012-01-01

    Education in today's world is very challenging. From concerns over the funding of career and technical education (CTE) to discussions about the achievement gap and dropout prevention, to debates about what it means to be college- and career-ready, the role of CTE in educational reform paradoxically is both at the forefront and on the backburner of…

  10. Formation of Future Teachers' Professional Competence on the Basis of Polylingual Approach: The State Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhorabekova, Ainur N.

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays the institutions of higher education are facing new challenges, the which aim is to provide highly qualified specialists who have mastered not only professional knowledge, but also ready for intercultural multilingual communication, solving problems independently, teaching subjects in two or more languages. For teacher training, we need a…

  11. Challenges in Accessing Early Childhood Education and Care for Children in Refugee Families in Massachusetts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gross, Jeff; Ntagengwa, Christine

    2016-01-01

    For refugee households, stable child-care arrangements are a key underpinning of working parents' employment success and family self-sufficiency, and thus an important goal of refugee case management. Given the well-documented impact of early learning services on children's school readiness and long-term cognitive, socioemotional, and educational…

  12. A Guide to Understanding National Board Certification: 2009-10 Candidacy Cycle

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Federation of Teachers (NJ), 2009

    2009-01-01

    This guide is intended to lead candidates through the National Board Certification process and help them address some of the challenges that past candidates have identified. This guide is divided into seven sections: (1) Am I Ready? contains information on those things candidates need to know and do before they begin putting together their…

  13. School Counselors Supporting the Career and College Preparedness of Students from Poverty: Using the CARE Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Glenda S.

    2017-01-01

    Children living in poverty face challenges progressing through the educational system prepared adequately for college and/or career (ACT, 2015; Newell, 2013). With momentum gained through national movements, such as the First Lady Michele Obama's 2014 Reach Higher initiative, and state initiatives on college and career readiness, a call has been…

  14. Ready to Lead, but How? Teachers' Experiences in High-Poverty Urban Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Susan Moore; Reinhorn, Stefanie K.; Charner-Laird, Megin; Kraft, Matthew A.; Ng, Monica; Papay, John P.

    2014-01-01

    Background/Context: Many strategies to improve failing urban schools rest on efforts to improve leadership within the school. Effective school-based leadership depends not only on the activities of the principal, but also on teachers' efforts to address school-wide challenges. Research has shown that the principal is pivotal in such ventures,…

  15. The Chicago Handbook for Teachers: A Practical Guide to the College Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brinkley, Alan; Dessants, Betty; Flamm, Michael; Fleming, Cynthia; Forcey, Charles; Rothschild, Eric

    This book is designed to offer practical advice to beginning, as well as experienced, teachers of college courses on navigating many of the common challenges faced both in and outside the classroom. Chapters include "Getting Ready," which covers three discrete components of course design: deciding what you want students to learn, choosing…

  16. Responding to a Changing Labor Market: The Challenges for Community-Based Organizations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Plastrik, Peter

    Changes in the labor market and rising expectations of employers, government, and job seekers are putting enormous pressure on non-profit, community based organizations (CBOs) in the field of work force development. Providing intensive services for hard-to-serve populations costs more than serving clients who are more "job ready," yet increased…

  17. Train Employees and Officials to be Ready for Privacy Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernstein, Joan E.

    2007-01-01

    In this article, the author recounts her experience in 2005 as a library director at the Mount Laurel Library in New Jersey. She thought her people at the library were in fairly good shape in terms of the professional staff's understanding of the confidentiality rules governing their customer information. However, she was wrong. This was driven…

  18. Diplomas Count 2009. Broader Horizons: The Challenge of College Readiness for All Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Education Week, 2009

    2009-01-01

    President Obama is the most prominent of a growing number of American policymakers to embrace the idea that some form of postsecondary education is crucial to students' success after high school. This year's edition of "Diplomas Count", a report by "Education Week" and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center,…

  19. Evaluation of Space Food for Commercial Astronauts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahlstrom, Britt Karin

    As commercial aerospace companies advance toward manned spaceflight, they must overcome many hurdles - not only technical, but also human. One of the greatest human challenges they face is food. Throughout the history of human spaceflight, astronauts have primarily eaten food developed by government space agencies. Now, with manned commercial flights on the horizon, astronauts will be provided with an entirely new diet - one comprised of commercially available, ready-to-eat food. Yet will this diet keep astronauts nourished, satisfied with their diet, and both psychologically and physically healthy? The purpose of this parallel crossover design study was to evaluate (a) nutrient intake, (b) food satisfaction, (c) psychological health, and (d) physical health in commercial aerospace employees (N = 7) as they ate a diet of commercial, ready-to-eat food for four days, as compared to eating as normal for four days. Findings from this study showed that the ready-to-eat diet did not lead to any significant changes in caloric intake, psychological health, or physical health, aside from weight loss. It is not clear whether this weight loss was due to the loss of body fat, muscle, or water. When eating the ready-to-eat food, participants reported being slightly less satisfied with the variety, reported lower cravings for sweets, and reported the food was slightly less hedonically rewarding. In post-study interviews, participants reported they wanted to see more meats, fruits, vegetables, and desserts added to the ready-to-eat diet, so as to provide more meal-like structure. Overall, these findings show the diet could be used in commercial spaceflight after making simple changes. The diet could also be used by individuals in remote areas on Earth and to provide food assistance to individuals in disaster or emergency situations. Due to the increasing popularity of ready-to-eat food around the world, these findings also provide knowledge about the potential consequences of modern eating trends.

  20. Survey of Commercially Available Computer-Readable Bibliographic Data Bases.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schneider, John H., Ed.; And Others

    This document contains the results of a survey of 94 U. S. organizations, and 36 organizations in other countries that were thought to prepare machine-readable data bases. Of those surveyed, 55 organizations (40 in U. S., 15 in other countries) provided completed camera-ready forms describing 81 commercially available, machine-readable data bases…

  1. Let's Prepare--Not Repair--Our At Risk Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Merrell, Jean Groves

    Project Earlybird assists at-risk students to anticipate the upcoming classwork and be ready for the lessons when the teacher presents them. The project is a before/after school program in which elementary students in grades 2 through 5 are given extra help with reading, mainly using computers. Elements of the program include: (1) raising…

  2. The Uniform Migrant Student Record Transfer System. A Position Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Committee on the Education of Migrant Children, New York, NY.

    Initiated in the mid-sixties under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Uniform Migrant Student Record Transfer System (UMSRTS) was designed to maintain ready accessibility via computer data base to the health and academic records of migrant children. The National Committee on the Education of Migrant Children (NCEMC)…

  3. What Does Quality Programming Mean for High Achieving Students?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Samudzi, Cleo

    2008-01-01

    The Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing (Missouri Academy) is a two-year accelerated, early-entrance-to-college, residential school that matches the level, complexity and pace of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of high achieving high school students. The school is a part of Northwest Missouri State University…

  4. Learning Computer Hardware by Doing: Are Tablets Better than Desktops?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raven, John; Qalawee, Mohamed; Atroshi, Hanar

    2016-01-01

    In this world of rapidly evolving technologies, educational institutions often struggle to keep up with change. Change often requires a state of readiness at both the micro and macro levels. This paper looks at a tertiary institution that undertook a significant technology change initiative by introducing tablet based components for teaching a…

  5. 30 CFR 75.1912 - Fire suppression systems for permanent underground diesel fuel storage facilities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... electrical system failure. (g) Electrically operated detection and actuation circuits shall be monitored and... operated, a means shall be provided to indicate the functional readiness status of the detection system. (h... susceptible to alteration or recorded electronically in a secured computer system that is not susceptible to...

  6. 30 CFR 75.1912 - Fire suppression systems for permanent underground diesel fuel storage facilities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... electrical system failure. (g) Electrically operated detection and actuation circuits shall be monitored and... operated, a means shall be provided to indicate the functional readiness status of the detection system. (h... susceptible to alteration or recorded electronically in a secured computer system that is not susceptible to...

  7. 30 CFR 75.1912 - Fire suppression systems for permanent underground diesel fuel storage facilities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... electrical system failure. (g) Electrically operated detection and actuation circuits shall be monitored and... operated, a means shall be provided to indicate the functional readiness status of the detection system. (h... susceptible to alteration or recorded electronically in a secured computer system that is not susceptible to...

  8. 30 CFR 75.1912 - Fire suppression systems for permanent underground diesel fuel storage facilities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... electrical system failure. (g) Electrically operated detection and actuation circuits shall be monitored and... operated, a means shall be provided to indicate the functional readiness status of the detection system. (h... susceptible to alteration or recorded electronically in a secured computer system that is not susceptible to...

  9. 30 CFR 75.1912 - Fire suppression systems for permanent underground diesel fuel storage facilities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... electrical system failure. (g) Electrically operated detection and actuation circuits shall be monitored and... operated, a means shall be provided to indicate the functional readiness status of the detection system. (h... susceptible to alteration or recorded electronically in a secured computer system that is not susceptible to...

  10. Technological Barriers to Success in Distance Education: The Revolving Door of Online Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roe, Richard Thomas

    2011-01-01

    Taking online courses has become a delivery mode of choice for many students. This collaborative study focuses on the impact of college readiness; technological resources, and course design on student success in an online introduction to computers distance education course within the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). The…

  11. NASA integrated vehicle health management technology experiment for X-37

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwabacher, Mark; Samuels, Jeff; Brownston, Lee

    2002-07-01

    The NASA Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Technology Experiment for X-37 was intended to run IVHM software on board the X-37 spacecraft. The X-37 is an unpiloted vehicle designed to orbit the Earth for up to 21 days before landing on a runway. The objectives of the experiment were to demonstrate the benefits of in-flight IVHM to the operation of a Reusable Launch Vehicle, to advance the Technology Readiness Level of this IVHM technology within a flight environment, and to demonstrate that the IVHM software could operate on the Vehicle Management Computer. The scope of the experiment was to perform real-time fault detection and isolation for X-37's electrical power system and electro-mechanical actuators. The experiment used Livingstone, a software system that performs diagnosis using a qualitative, model-based reasoning approach that searches system-wide interactions to detect and isolate failures. Two of the challenges we faced were to make this research software more efficient so that it would fit within the limited computational resources that were available to us on the X-37 spacecraft, and to modify it so that it satisfied the X-37's software safety requirements. Although the experiment is currently unfunded, the development effort resulted in major improvements in Livingstone's efficiency and safety. This paper reviews some of the details of the modeling and integration efforts, and some of the lessons that were learned.

  12. Development of proton computed tomography detectors for applications in hadron therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bashkirov, Vladimir A.; Johnson, Robert P.; Sadrozinski, Hartmut F.-W.; Schulte, Reinhard W.

    2016-02-01

    Radiation therapy with protons and heavier ions is an attractive form of cancer treatment that could enhance local control and survival of cancers that are currently difficult to cure and lead to less side effects due to sparing of normal tissues. However, particle therapy faces a significant technical challenge because one cannot accurately predict the particle range in the patient using data provided by existing imaging technologies. Proton computed tomography (pCT) is an emerging imaging modality capable of improving the accuracy of range prediction. In this paper, we describe the successive pCT scanners designed and built by our group with the goal to support particle therapy treatment planning and image guidance by reconstructing an accurate 3D map of the stopping power relative to water in patient tissues. The pCT scanners we have built to date consist of silicon telescopes, which track the proton before and after the object to be reconstructed, and an energy or range detector, which measures the residual energy and/or range of the protons used to evaluate the water equivalent path length (WEPL) of each proton in the object. An overview of a decade-long evolution of the conceptual design of pCT scanners and their calibration is given. Results of scanner performance tests are presented, which demonstrate that the latest pCT scanner approaches readiness for clinical applications in hadron therapy.

  13. Computer-mediated and face-to-face communication in metastatic cancer support groups.

    PubMed

    Vilhauer, Ruvanee P

    2014-08-01

    To compare the experiences of women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in computer-mediated and face-to-face support groups. Interviews from 18 women with MBC, who were currently in computer-mediated support groups (CMSGs), were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The CMSGs were in an asynchronous mailing list format; women communicated exclusively via email. All the women were also, or had previously been, in a face-to-face support group (FTFG). CMSGs had both advantages and drawbacks, relative to face-to-face groups (FTFGs), for this population. Themes examined included convenience, level of support, intimacy, ease of expression, range of information, and dealing with debilitation and dying. CMSGs may provide a sense of control and a greater level of support. Intimacy may take longer to develop in a CMSG, but women may have more opportunities to get to know each other. CMSGs may be helpful while adjusting to a diagnosis of MBC, because women can receive support without being overwhelmed by physical evidence of disability in others or exposure to discussions about dying before they are ready. However, the absence of nonverbal cues in CMSGs also led to avoidance of topics related to death and dying when women were ready to face them. Agendas for discussion, the presence of a facilitator or more time in CMSGs may attenuate this problem. The findings were discussed in light of prevailing research and theories about computer-mediated communication. They have implications for designing CMSGs for this population.

  14. The ontogeny of great ape gesture - not a simple story. Comment on "Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain" by Michael A. Arbib

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liebal, Katja

    2016-03-01

    Although there is an increasing number of studies investigating gestural communication in primates other than humans in both natural and captive settings [1], very little is known about how they acquire their gestures. Different mechanisms have been proposed, including genetic transmission [2], social learning [3], or ontogenetic ritualization [4]. This latter mechanism is central to Arbib's paper [5], because he uses dyadic brain modeling - that is ;modeling the brains of two creatures as they interact with each other, so that the action of one affects the perception of the other and so the cycle of interactions continues, with both brains changing in the process; - to explain how gestures might emerge in ontogeny from previously non-communicative behaviors over the course of repeated and increasingly abbreviated and thus ritualized interactions. The aim of my comment is to discuss the current evidence from primate gesture research with regard the different mechanisms proposed for gesture acquisition and how this might confirm or challenge Arbib's approach.

  15. User-friendly InSAR Data Products: Fast and Simple Timeseries (FAST) Processing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zebker, H. A.

    2017-12-01

    Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) methods provide high resolution maps of surface deformation applicable to many scientific, engineering and management studies. Despite its utility, the specialized skills and computer resources required for InSAR analysis remain as barriers for truly widespread use of the technique. Reduction of radar scenes to maps of temporal deformation evolution requires not only detailed metadata describing the exact radar and surface acquisition geometries, but also a software package that can combine these for the specific scenes of interest. Furthermore, the radar range-Doppler radar coordinate system itself is confusing, so that many users find it hard to incorporate even useful products in their customary analyses. And finally, the sheer data volume needed to represent interferogram time series makes InSAR analysis challenging for many analysis systems. We show here that it is possible to deliver radar data products to users that address all of these difficulties, so that the data acquired by large, modern satellite systems are ready to use in more natural coordinates, without requiring further processing, and in as small volume as possible.

  16. Beyond image quality: designing engaging interactions with digital products

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Ridder, Huib; Rozendaal, Marco C.

    2008-02-01

    Ubiquitous computing (or Ambient Intelligence) promises a world in which information is available anytime anywhere and with which humans can interact in a natural, multimodal way. In such world, perceptual image quality remains an important criterion since most information will be displayed visually, but other criteria such as enjoyment, fun, engagement and hedonic quality are emerging. This paper deals with engagement, the intrinsically enjoyable readiness to put more effort into exploring and/or using a product than strictly required, thus attracting and keeping user's attention for a longer period of time. The impact of the experienced richness of an interface, both visually and degree of possible manipulations, was investigated in a series of experiments employing game-like user interfaces. This resulted in the extension of an existing conceptual framework relating engagement to richness by means of two intermediating variables, namely experienced challenge and sense of control. Predictions from this revised framework are evaluated against results of an earlier experiment assessing the ergonomic and hedonic qualities of interactive media. Test material consisted of interactive CD-ROM's containing presentations of three companies for future customers.

  17. Ontology-Oriented Programming for Biomedical Informatics.

    PubMed

    Lamy, Jean-Baptiste

    2016-01-01

    Ontologies are now widely used in the biomedical domain. However, it is difficult to manipulate ontologies in a computer program and, consequently, it is not easy to integrate ontologies with databases or websites. Two main approaches have been proposed for accessing ontologies in a computer program: traditional API (Application Programming Interface) and ontology-oriented programming, either static or dynamic. In this paper, we will review these approaches and discuss their appropriateness for biomedical ontologies. We will also present an experience feedback about the integration of an ontology in a computer software during the VIIIP research project. Finally, we will present OwlReady, the solution we developed.

  18. Computer interface system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Anderson, T. O. (Inventor)

    1976-01-01

    An interface logic circuit permitting the transfer of information between two computers having asynchronous clocks is disclosed. The information transfer involves utilization of control signals (including request, return-response, ready) to generate properly timed data strobe signals. Noise problems are avoided because each control signal, upon receipt, is verified by at least two clock pulses at the receiving computer. If control signals are verified, a data strobe pulse is generated to accomplish a data transfer. Once initiated, the data strobe signal is properly completed independently of signal disturbances in the control signal initiating the data strobe signal. Completion of the data strobe signal is announced by automatic turn-off of a return-response control signal.

  19. Readying health services for climate change: a policy framework for regional development.

    PubMed

    Bell, Erica

    2011-05-01

    Climate change presents the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century. However, many public health leaders feel ill equipped to face the challenges of climate change and have been unable to make climate change a priority in service development. I explore how to achieve a regionally responsive whole-of-systems approach to climate change in the key operational areas of a health service: service governance and culture, service delivery, workforce development, asset management, and financing. The relative neglect of implementation science means that policymakers need to be proactive about sourcing and developing models and processes to make health services ready for climate change. Health research funding agencies should urgently prioritize applied, regionally responsive health services research for a future of climate change.

  20. Readying Health Services for Climate Change: A Policy Framework for Regional Development

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Climate change presents the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century. However, many public health leaders feel ill equipped to face the challenges of climate change and have been unable to make climate change a priority in service development. I explore how to achieve a regionally responsive whole-of-systems approach to climate change in the key operational areas of a health service: service governance and culture, service delivery, workforce development, asset management, and financing. The relative neglect of implementation science means that policymakers need to be proactive about sourcing and developing models and processes to make health services ready for climate change. Health research funding agencies should urgently prioritize applied, regionally responsive health services research for a future of climate change. PMID:21421953

  1. Degrees of Freedom: Varying Routes to Math Readiness and the Challenge of Intersegmental Alignment (Report 2 of a 3-Part Series)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burdman, Pamela

    2015-01-01

    The conventional algebra-intensive math curriculum commonly dictates students' options for entering and completing college, including their ability to transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. The assumption that higher-level algebra is necessary for college success has led some equity advocates to promote algebra for all students. Nearly…

  2. Innovation in Higher Education in China: Are Teachers Ready to Integrate ICT in English Language Teaching?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hu, Zhiwen; McGrath, Ian

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a study of ICT-related teacher development in the context of a national reform of College English teaching in China. The reform, in which emphasis was placed on use of information and communications technology (ICT) in classroom teaching and self-access learning, had challenged teachers of English as a foreign language to…

  3. Early Childhood Educators Teaching and Learning in Professional Learning Communities: A New Approach to Professional Development for Preschool Teachers in a Southern California School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fairfield, Robin

    2011-01-01

    Early childhood education teachers have been challenged with the demands for accountability in literacy and English language development, as well as kindergarten readiness skills of preschool children. Researchers have studied professional learning communities (PLCs) as a framework for professional development and student achievement. However, few…

  4. Where There Is a WIL There Is a Way: Using a Critical Reflective Approach to Enhance Work Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wingrove, Dallas; Turner, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    Creating authentic learning experiences that prepare students for their future work in an ever-changing workforce represents a key challenge in higher education. One key way to enable the integration of learning and work is to foster students' capacity for critical reflection and reflexive thinking. This paper seeks to contribute to knowledge of…

  5. Educational Trust: Relational and Structural Perspectives on Young People on the Margins of the Education System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Görlich, Anne; Katznelson, Noemi

    2015-01-01

    Background: Across Europe and the Nordic countries, it is widely agreed that the high proportion of 15-30-year olds not in employment, education or training is a challenge, which needs to be tackled by focusing on education. The political and institutional focus is on individual training readiness, individual qualification processes, individual…

  6. Students' Perceptions and Readiness towards Mobile Learning in Colleges of Education: A Nigerian Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chaka, John Gyang; Govender, Irene

    2017-01-01

    Access to quality education is becoming a huge challenge in Nigeria, in view of the exponential growth in its population, coupled with ethno-religious crises and other acts of terrorism. A large chunk of the country's population--about 26% have no access to education, as existing teaching and learning facilities have become inadequate. Some…

  7. Early College Designs: An Increasingly Popular College-Readiness Strategy for School Districts to Reach More Traditionally Underserved Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vargas, Joel H.; Miller, Marc S.

    2011-01-01

    Once a radical concept, early college high schools are flying soundly today. The challenge today--and the excitement of those involved--centers on learning from this successful innovation and bringing the early college design to many more young people. Expansion is taking place through the creation of early college districts covering all students…

  8. A Comparison of Team-Based Learning Formats: Can We Minimize Stress While Maximizing Results?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Cynthia J.; Falcone, Jeff C.; Metz, Michael J.

    2015-01-01

    Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a collaborative teaching method in which students utilize course content to solve challenging problems. A modified version of TBL is used at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Students complete questions on the Individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT) then gather in pre-assigned groups to retake the…

  9. Factors Influencing the Uptake of a Mechatronics Curriculum Initiative in Five Australian Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nicholas, Howard; Ng, Wan

    2012-01-01

    While the ready-made Lego[TM] Robotics kits are popular in schools and are used by students at both primary and secondary year levels, using the Picaxe microcontroller (chip) to create simple electronic devices, including robotic devices is less popular. The latter imposes an additional challenge as a result of the need to construct the universal…

  10. Serving Community College Students on Probation: Four-Year Findings from Chaffey College's Opening Doors Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiss, Michael; Brock, Thomas; Sommo, Colleen; Rudd, Timothy; Turner, Mary Clair

    2011-01-01

    Community colleges across the United States face a difficult challenge. On the one hand, they are "open access" institutions, with a mission to serve students from all backgrounds and at varying levels of college readiness. On the other hand, they must uphold high academic standards in order to maintain accreditation and prepare students…

  11. Serving Community College Students on Probation: Four-Year Findings from Chaffey College's Opening Doors Program. Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weiss, Michael; Brock, Thomas; Sommo, Colleen; Rudd, Timothy; Turner, Mary Clair

    2011-01-01

    Community colleges across the United States face a difficult challenge. On the one hand, they are "open access" institutions, with a mission to serve students from all backgrounds and at varying levels of college readiness. On the other hand, they must uphold high academic standards in order to maintain accreditation and prepare students…

  12. Food: The Challenge to Manage. [Project ECOLogy ELE Pak, Roush Pak].

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roush, Judy

    This is one of a series of units for environmental education developed by the Highline Public Schools. The unit is designed for students at the senior high level who have a basic knowledge of nutrition, some experience in menu planning, and who are ready to put this knowledge of nutrition to work in selecting foods to attain maximum nutrition with…

  13. The Long-Term Impact of Systematic Student Support in Elementary School: Reducing High School Dropout

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walsh, Mary E.; Lee-St. John, Terrence J.; Raczek, Anastasia; Foley, Claire

    2015-01-01

    Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Preventing dropout is a challenge because students fail to complete high school for a myriad of reasons that involve factors inside and outside of schools. This article describes City Connects, an intervention implemented in schools in Massachusetts,…

  14. Curriculum Integration: Helping Career and Technical Education Students Truly Develop College and Career Readiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Park, Travis; Pearson, Donna; Richardson, George B.

    2017-01-01

    All students need to learn how to read, write, solve mathematics problems, and understand and apply scientific principles to succeed in college and/or careers. The challenges posed by entry-level career fields are no less daunting than those posed by college-level study. Thus, career and technical education students must learn effective math,…

  15. Improving Urban Student Achievement Through Early Childhood Reform: What State Policymakers Can Do. Issue Paper. Early Childhood Reform Issue Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kagan, Sharon Lynn

    2004-01-01

    For over four decades, American policymakers have focused their attention on readying young children for school. Despite noble policy efforts, durable investments and a persistent belief in the ability of early childhood education to offset social inequities, significant challenges exist for America's urban young children as they enter school.…

  16. Readiness levels for spacecraft information technologies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mackey, R.; Some, R.; Aljabri, A.

    2003-01-01

    Presented in this paper is a modified interpretation of the traditional TRLs aimed solely at information technology. The intent of this new set of definitions is twofold: First, to enable a definitive measurement of progress among developing information technologies for spacecraft; and second, to clarify particular challenges and requirements that must be met as these technologies are validated in increasingly realistic environments.

  17. Coloring the College Pathway: A More Culturally Responsive Approach to College Readiness and Access for Students of Color in Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welton, Anjalé D.; Martinez, Melissa A.

    2014-01-01

    Considering the current structural challenges that exist for students of color (SOC) in accessing a higher education, an epistemology is needed that better represents the complex process SOC endure in this pursuit. College access literature either proposes stages (Hossler and Gallagher in "Coll Univ" 62(3):207-221, 1987), contextual…

  18. Education Priorities for the 83rd Texas Legislature: Policy Recommendations for Public Education and Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Business Leadership Council, 2013

    2013-01-01

    Texas' ability to create an education system that delivers on workforce and post-secondary readiness for all students is crucial to our long-term prosperity. We must fully transform our state's education system to meet the challenges and opportunities so clearly evident today. Yet, according to a report commissioned by the Houston Endowment from…

  19. The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, 2017

    2017-01-01

    The question of how the U.S. will develop a citizenry with the skills necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century has attracted the attention of legislators, scientists, and educators. Answering this question leads inevitably to its roots: how well are we preparing young children to enter kindergarten ready to learn? Educators in k-12…

  20. The Perkins Act of 2006: Connecting Career and Technical Education with the College and Career Readiness Agenda. Achieve Policy Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meeder, Hans

    2008-01-01

    Policymakers and educators around the nation are wrestling with an important challenge--how to raise expectations for high school achievement, while increasing relevance and engagement in learning to keep students in school. Career and technical education (CTE) is receiving renewed attention as a strategy for increasing school engagement and rigor…

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